Movies

Family comedy “Table For Six” has set an opening day local record for a comedy film in Hong Kong, to the relief of producers who were forced to digest a releasing delay of six months. The Sunny Chan-directed film opened Wednesday in Hong Kong and Macau at 61 theatres, playing a total of 608 sessions. That gave it

In a bid to support the fast-growing Latin American genre market, an inaugural residency for screenwriters, Residencia Fantástica, will take place in Jalisco, Mexico from Oct. 17 to 21. The first of its kind in Latin America, the genre residency is an initiative of Agavia Studios, Buenos Aires-based industry market Ventana Sur and its genre

MIDNIGHT MOVES Korean film sales agent Finecut has struck several deals for action thriller “Project Wolf Hunting” ahead of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness section. In Asia, the film has been licensed to Moviecloud for Taiwan, Multivision Multimedia for India, Sahamongkolfilm International for Thailand, The Klockworx for Japan. Finecut

“I see a lot of rich people here!” said Jodie Turner-Smith as she took to the stage to open the Venice Film Festival AmfAR gala and auction held Wednesday evening in the Arsenale, a former shipyard complex on the edge of the city’s Grand Canal. Urging guests to be generous, Turner-Smith, who looked stunning in

At this point, complaining about Disney’s deathless drive to cannibalize its entire library of animated classics into live-action remakes can feel as futile as complaining about capitalism itself. The studio has immense IP resources to exploit, a hungry well of content to fill, and a commercial imperative to introduce new generations of kids to the

BFI’s director of culture and Inclusion, Jen Smith, has been seconded to become the interim CEO of the Independent Standards Authority (ISA). The ISA is a new organization led by Creative U.K. and U.K. Time’s Up, aimed at strengthening efforts to tackle bullying and harassment. Time’s Up U.K. has developed the ISA in consultation with

In early 2021, while Americans were focused on the transfer of power back home, daredevil director Matthew Heineman (“Cartel Land,” “City of Ghosts”) assembled a crew and flew to Afghanistan to check in on the status of America’s longest war. At that point, Osama bin Laden had been dead a decade, the Taliban was weakened

In Disney+’s live-action remake of “Pinocchio,” Cynthia Erivo stars as the Blue Fairy, who brings the title character to life and sings the iconic song “When You Wish Upon a Star.” Next, Erivo will star in another high-profile adaptation: the film version of beloved Broadway musical “Wicked.” Erivo is set to play Elphaba in the

During his return to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, Harry Styles took a moment to address internet speculation that he spat on Chris Pine during the premiere of “Don’t Worry Darling” at Venice Film Festival. “This is our tenth show at Madison Square Garden. It’s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York.

Imagine showing up for an Airbnb rental, only to discover that another guest is already there. What would you do? Check in anyway and hope for the best? Or take the mix-up as a sign and get the heck out? In “Barbarian,” Tess (Georgina Campbell) makes the wrong decision. It’s already late, and she decides

Tom Hanks revealed on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via The Independent) that a sequel to “Forrest Gump” was a serious possibility for only 40 minutes. The Oscar-winning drama was based on the 1986 novel, which led to the 1995 book sequel “Gump and Co.” The film adaptation of the first book was a box

Make no mistake: CJ ENM is on the move. The South Korean conglomerate that has done as much as any company to build out the nation’s entertainment ecosystem is actively looking to expand its “production capability and competency.” That’s the word from Kang Ho-sung, CEO of the cluster of film, TV and music companies that

Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern devastated the Venice Film Festival with the world premiere of Florian Zeller’s “The Son,” which earned a 10-minute standing ovation. Jackman appeared visibly moved during the  film’s reception, as did the audience. Jackman hugged his young co-star Zen McGrath amid the ovation. The film, which centers on a gut-wrenching family

A new feature film based on the 1986 sports drama “Youngblood,” this time centering on an African American hockey prodigy, is in the works from Aircraft Pictures and Dolphin Entertainment. Rising filmmaker Charles Officer is on board to direct the film, which is slated to begin principal photography in early 2023. The reimagined update follows

Costume designer Arianne Phillips is no stranger to working on midcentury films. From Brad Pitt’s Hawaiian shirt in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” to Reese Witherspoon’s perky frocks in “Walk the Line,” she’s at home with a variety of 1950s looks. For Olivia Wilde’s dystopian thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” opening Sept. 23 after bowing

Benjamin Millepied, who choreographed and co-starred in 2010 Oscar nominee “Black Swan,” had been wanting to bring his take on the classic opera “Carmen” to the big screen for more than six years. The score would be one of the most important components for Millepied, who was directing a feature film solo for the first

From Sophocles to Shakespeare, it all comes back to family. Writers can get as high-concept as they like, but in the end, the world’s greatest storytellers recognize that nothing is more potent — not even romantic love — than the connections between children and their parents. Florian Zeller gets it. Before turning his attention to

FilmNation Entertainment has launched a new film production label, Infrared, naming Drew Simon as its president of production. Simon — who previously worked at New Line Cinema, Unique Features, The Mark Gordon Company and STX Entertainment — will report to FilmNation CEO Glen Basner. In his new role, he will oversee all aspects of the

The San Diego International Film Festival has announced its 2022 lineup, featuring the return of Opening Night Film Premiere & Reception, the Night of the Stars Tribute and Culinary Cinema, Variety has learned exclusively. In its 21st year, SDIFF received more than 3,000 film submissions from 82 countries. The lineup consists of 115 films total,

In the latest installment of the “Don’t Worry Darling” press saga, Florence Pugh will not attend the Q&A at the New York premiere of the Olivia Wilde-directed movie, which made its debut at the Venice Film Festival on Monday. Taking place on Sept. 19, the fan-centered event will feature a first-look at the movie four

Eugene Hernandez will be the next director of the Sundance Film Festival, becoming just the fourth person to hold the job. He joins the non-profit after a two-year stint as the director of the New York Film Festival, which he guided through a global pandemic. He takes the reins following the departure of Tabitha Jackson,

A discussion on the music of Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” and actress-producer Issa Rae will lead the Guild of Music Supervisors 8th annual State of Music in Media Conference on Oct. 1. The event will take place at the LA Film School in Hollywood, and will be an in-person and virtual hybrid event. The programming will

Backed by the country’s €1.6 billion ($1.6 billion) Spain AVS Hub plan, the Spain Film Commission (SFC) is launching an action plan that tackles head-on some of the biggest questions now facing the big-shoot locations industry. With a total budget of $5.1 million over 2021-25, the Spain Film Commission’s Action Plan breaks down five ways:

When Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) signed on to direct superhero epic “Eternals,” she was given free rein to take the film in whichever direction she chose. That creative freedom allowed her to shoot “Eternals” on Spain’s Canary Islands, among other sites. It became the Marvel film that shot the most on-location of any in the

Eva Mendes isn’t looking to return to acting anytime soon after leaving the industry about a decade ago. “I don’t really miss it,” Mendes told me when we caught up at West Hollywood’s Ardor restaurant, where she hosted a brunch to celebrate her new co-ownership of kitchen cleaning product company Skura Style. “I got tired

In the opening scene of Episode 8, Season 4 of Netflix’s “The Crown,” a young Princess Elizabeth, played by Claire Foy, addresses the British Commonwealth from Capetown, South Africa, on the occasion of her 21st birthday. What follows is a montage of people listening to her radio broadcast speech in different member countries, from India

Paris-based sales agency and production company Luxbox has released the trailer for “Trenque Lauquen,” Argentine director-producer Laura Citarella’s adventure mystery that has its world premiere Sept. 8 in the Horizons sidebar of the Venice Film Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer, which can be seen below. Filmed in two parts, Citarella’s

Noel Clarke has apparently dropped his claims against BAFTA, Conde Nast and the Guardian writers who reported at least 20 allegations of harassment and bullying against the actor and director. Last May journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne published a long piece in which they detailed numerous allegations against Clarke. It was published just weeks

Studiocanal and Working Title have unveiled the official trailer for Shekhar Kapur’s keenly anticipated cross-cultural British romantic comedy “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” The film will have its world premiere as a gala presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 10. It follows documentary-maker and dating app addict Zoe (Lily James),

Kobayashi Masahiro, the director of four films that screened at Cannes, died in Tokyo on August 20, 2022, age 68. His death was disclosed only on Wednesday, with the cause given as colonic cancer.   Born in Tokyo in 1954, Kobayashi started out as a folksinger and scriptwriter for television and erotic features called ‘pink