Movies

British crew union Bectu has released the results of its latest survey, which shows that racism is still prevalent in the broadcasting industry. Conducted in partnership with the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, the survey also found that reporting mechanisms were “largely ineffective.” Among the findings of the survey were that 61% of

IFC Films nabbed North American rights to “The Lost King,” which will have its world premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Stephen Frears, the feel-good true story stars Sally Hawkins as Philippa Langley, an amateur historian who uncovered the remains of King Richard the III after they had been lost for

UTA has signed BAFTA and Golden Globe winning actor Bill Nighy in all areas. The global talent, entertainment and sports company will help build upon Nighy’s career across a range of verticals. Over a career spanning five decades, Nighy won several awards, including a supporting actor film BAFTA for “Love Actually” (2003), the BAFTA TV

Growing up, Halle Bailey was obsessed with “The Little Mermaid,” wearing out her family’s VHS tape watching and rewatching the 1989 Disney animated hit and pretending to be Ariel every time she went swimming. “Her sense of longing, her searching for herself, was something that I could resonate with,” Bailey says. “She knew where she

“Fall” is a very good “don’t look down” movie. It’s a fun, occasionally cheesy, but mostly ingeniously made thriller about two daredevil climbers, Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner), who decide to scale the B67 TV tower — an abandoned 2,049-foot communication tower that juts up in the middle of the California desert,

Utopia and Showtime have acquired the North American rights to Pulse Films’ “Meet Me in the Bathroom,” a documentary about the explosion of rock ‘n’ roll that helped define the early 2000s in New York City and ushered in a new generation of musical talent. The film, which is directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan

FESTIVALS American narrative feature projects in rough or final cut seeking finishing funds are now invited to submit to the 2022 edition of U.S. in Progress, which takes place Nov. 9-11 during the 13th American Film Festival (Nov.8-13) in Wroclaw, Poland. The strand pairs American projects in final production stages with European buyers and top

Presented at Locarno’s Cineasti del Presente competition, the first feature film of Brazilian filmmaker and curator Ana Vaz portrays the battle between the urban expansion of Brasília and the misplacement of its local fauna. It reprises some of the artist’s obsessions as well as questioning the urban identity of Brazil’s capital, denouncing both its institutional

In the mesmerizing and strangely beautiful documentary “Matter Out of Place,” which world premieres in International Competition at the Locarno Film Festival on Wednesday, Austrian director Nikolaus Geyrhalter looks at how we dispose of our trash. But, taking a broader view, he is trying to gain a better understanding of mankind, and the impact it

German director Lukas Nathrath has already lined up his next projects, Variety has found out. Following ensemble drama “One Last Evening,” which nabbed him Locarno Film Festival’s Cinegrell First Look Award consisting of post-production service worth €50,000, he will turn to “Bourgeois Paranoia” next. A mixture of dark comedy and psychological thriller, it will be

The femme fatale is alive and well in Los Angeles-set indie “No Way Out,” an old-fashioned noir dressed up in the steamy decadence of an erotic thriller. Trouble is, veteran producer Keith Kjarval’s debut solo screenplay doesn’t provide the kind of memorable characters or sharp plotting needed to punch across a dark crime melodrama. Nor

Amanda Seyfried told Porter magazine that she purposely let herself be uncomfortable on film sets earlier in her career because she felt it was the only way to keep her job. The publication noted that the Emmy and Oscar nominee “wishes she could be coming up now, in an era where intimacy coordinators are an

When Paramount got its first look at a cut of “Event Horizon” in 1997, some studio executives thought that director Paul W.S. Anderson had made a film so disturbing that it slandered outer space itself. “Someone actually said to me, ‘We’re the studio that makes Star Trek!’” Anderson recalled with a grin on his face.

Curate Management has added book and IP manager, Becca Rodriguez, to its growing team, Variety has learned. The boutique management firm, founded by film and TV lit manager Britton Rizzio, opened its doors last year and focuses on creators in film and television, aiming to shape the careers of creatives with distinct voices.  Rodriguez brings with

Biyi Bandele, the renowned Nigerian novelist, playwright and filmmaker behind 2013’s “Half of a Yellow Sun” and upcoming film “The King’s Horseman,” has died. He was 54. Bandele died on Sunday in Lagos, Nigeria, according to a Facebook post from his daughter, Temi Bandele. A cause of death was not given. “Biyi was a prodigiously

The direct-to-Hulu release of “Prey,” the action-thriller prequel to “Predator,” notched the most viewing hours ever on the Disney-owned streamer in its first three days — among all TV series and movies. That would mean “Prey” had a bigger aggregate viewing-time total over three days than “The Kardashians,” which Hulu in April said was its

Following news that the award-winning documentary “Descendant” will screen as an official selection at the 60th New York Film Festival, Variety can exclusively announce that the film will launch Oct. 21 on Netflix and in select theaters. Directed by Margaret Brown (“The Order of Myths,” “Be Here to Love Me: Townes Van Zandt,” “The Great

New movies from directors Claire Denis, Park Chan-wook, Ruben Östlund, Kelly Reichardt and Paul Schrader will play at the 60th New York Film Festival, which is running from Sept. 30 through Oct. 16. On Tuesday, Film at Lincoln Center, which hosts the annual Manhattan-based celebration of cinema, unveiled the 32 films that comprise the main

IFC Films has set the U.S. release date for “Corsage,” whose star Vicky Krieps won the best performance prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. Marie Kreutzer’s film will have its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival has just announced that the

In July 2012, I showed up at the office of legendary Hollywood litigator Bert Fields along with Variety freelancer Bob Verini. We were doing a Q&A with the legendary Hollywood lawyer, a partner at Greenberg Glusker, in one of those nondescript Century City steel-and-glass skyscrapers. But once ushered into Fields’ inner sanctum, we stepped into

The first trailer for Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness” is now online to watch, if you can stomach it. The satirical dark comedy won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Östlund, who first broke out with his comedy “Force Majeur,” now has two Palme d’Or wins under his belt thanks

At Flix Brewhouse, a Texas-based luxury movie theater chain, chief revenue officer Chris Randleman is known as Mr. Sunshine. The past two years and change for the movie theater business haven’t inspired a ton of room for optimism, but Randleman remained convinced that cinemas would rebound to their former glory. Sure, it took longer than

Look at her, she’s Sandra Dee… and also a spandex-rocking stiletto queen. Those extremes were dictated by the plot of “Grease,” but Olivia Newton-John had a strong narrative arc in her recording career, too. First, she was the country-pop crossover queen who set a template for Shania Twain; then, a dance-pop princess who could well

Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Maryam Touzani’s “The Blue Caftan,” which world premiered at Cannes and won the Fipresci prize. The film, which is represented in international markets by Films Boutique, will have its North American premiere at Toronto in the Special Screenings section. Touzani’s follow-up to Un Certain Regard title

Maya Hawke and Camila Mendes are out for vengeance in the official trailer for “Do Revenge.” Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (“Someone Great”), the gen-Z dark comedy stars Mendes (“Riverdale,” “Palm Springs”) as Drea and Hawke (“Stranger Things,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) as Eleanor, two teenage girls who work together and devise a

Director Mary Harron’s “Dalíland,” a movie about influential surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, will have its world premiere as the closing night film for the 47th Toronto International Film Festival. The movie will debut on Saturday, Sept. 17 at Roy Thomson Hall. Ben Kingsley is playing Salvador Dalí in “Dalíland,” which tells the story of his

Alena Lodkina’s first feature, “Strange Colours” (2017) took her deep into the Australian outback, to the rough-as-guts opal-mining town of Lightning Ridge, before bringing her to the Venice Film Festival, where the film premiered. It augured a distinctive new mood in Australian cinema – understated but keenly observed; a little sinister – as represented in

A producer on Julia’s Murat’s Locarno competition player “Rule 34,” Brazil’s Tatiana Leite at Bubbles Project has unveiled a fulsome production slate which suggests a beginning of tentative film production renaissance in Brazil, driven by renewed state subsidy lines and the promise of regime change at October’s general elections. According to Leite, one of Brazil’s

Italy’s Satine Film has picked up Julie Lerat-Gersant’s Locarno Film Festival title “Little Ones” about teen pregnancy, Variety has learned in Locarno. In the past, the company has also released such titles as “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and Golden Bear winner “There Is No Evil.” “We aim to discover and introduce visionary and courageous

Inspired by director Marcel Beltrán’s walking on a dry, polluted lake in his hometown, Moa, in Cuba, “Moa” won the biggest prize on offer at this year’s Open Doors, a Locarno Fest co-production and talent hub dedicated, in an inspired choice, to smaller territories in Latin American and countries in the Caribbean. The focus lasts