A galaxy of stars paid fulsome tribute to filmmaker John McTiernan (“Die Hard,” “Predator”) and stuntman Vic Armstrong (the Indiana Jones, James Bond and Star Wars franchises) as they were both awarded Moving Target awards on Friday for their outstanding contributions to the action genre at the inaugural London Action Festival. The awards were presented
Movies
For its 75th edition, Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival, long known as a global indie cinema temple, is looking to the future while repositioning itself as a forward-thinking hub for a wider range of movies, including studio and streamer titles, with broad audience appeal. “We believe that entertainment can be both serious and fun: I don’t
Virtual reality is as good a place as any to meet people, especially during a pandemic. In documentary helmer Joe Hunting’s nonjudgmental plunge into the fast-evolving metaverse — set entirely in the realm of VRChat, where thousands of players reinvent themselves behind the avatars of their choice — we meet couples who fell in love
From the private clubs and highrises of New York to the sweltering oil fields of West Texas, B.J. Novak’s “Vengeance,” in theaters July 29, dives into a fish-out-of-water story. “The Office” alum Novak, who also wrote and stars in the dark comedy, plays Ben, a writer for The New Yorker and wannabe podcaster who finds
“Have no fear of perfection — you’ll never reach it.” A quote by Spanish artist Salvador Dalí feels appropriate when discussing the apprehension about releasing the Will Smith-starrer “Emancipation” this year. With “Killers of the Flower Moon” staying the course for 2023, and Smith posting an apology video for slapping Chris Rock at the 94th Oscars,
The shoot for “Thirteen Lives,” the feature film adaptation of the miraculous 2018 cave-diving rescue mission known as the Tham Luang cave rescue, found all principal cast members taking to the water to navigate long, recreated cave corridors. Tom Bateman, who plays one of the rescue divers in the film, recalls the hours upon hours
Four documentary filmmakers were invited to participate in the Sundance Institute’s newly created Indigenous non-fiction intensive program that concludes July 29. The three-day program was created to identify Indigenous artists creating formally bold and personal work and to uplift them with a small grant and mentorship on a current edit of their short-form documentary films.
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. An impressive slate of A24 films are coming to HBO Max next month, including Oscar-winners like 2015’s “Room” and Alex Garland’s directorial debut “Ex Machina.” A total of 28 A24 films will arrive on
The death of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man in “Avengers: Endgame” remains one of the most definitive moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It turns out that Jon Favreau, who kicked off the MCU with “Iron Man” and also directed “Iron Man 2,” tried his best not to let filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo
Hot on the heels of production for their upcoming “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have boarded a new project at Apple Original Films, Variety has confirmed. Scorsese is attached to direct an adaptation of New Yorker journalist David Grann’s upcoming nonfiction book “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and
The directors of hit Turkish biopic “Bergen,” Mehmet Binay and M. Caner Alper, have signed with CAA for representation. “Bergen” tells the story of 1980s Turkish pop singer Bergen, who grappled with a violent husband that hired someone to pour nitric acid on her face and later shot and killed her. The film follows the
Chile’s Santiago Lab, the Santiago Film Festival’s industry initiative to support Ibero-American projects in development has selected 28 titles, 14 fiction and 14 documentaries, culled out of hundreds of entries from across Latin America and Spain. Some of the titles were picked from other festivals’ industry events such as “Diamante,” from Malaga’s Mafiz; Constanza Figari’s
Focusing on Chile’s large cinematic prowess, Sanfic’s Chilean Film Competition is set to hone in on national filmmaking and a few promising co-productions from budding and established Latin American talent. Efforts backed by industry leaders Roberto Doveris, Alicia Scherson and Mexico’s Inti Cordera illustrate that Chilean filmmakers are pulling in further support by relaying poignant,
“History of the Occult” director Cristian Ponce, “The Trace We Leave Behind” producer André Pereira and “Huesera” producer Edher Campos all have projects at the 3rd Sanfic Morbido Lab, Sanfic’s genre/fantastic film showcase which looks packed with riches. Also noticeable, three of the six projects are set to be directed by female genre auteurs – Argentina’s
Argentina’s “FAN,” Colombia’s “Gloria and the Dragon” and Peru’s “Laureano” figure among seven titles at Sanfic Industria’s Productoras Lab, a novel pitching program and training facility for emerging, first or second-feature women producers in Latin America. All three titles carry good word of mouth. The producers will attend tutorials on how to think from early development
“DC League of Super-Pets” lifted off with $2.2 million in Thursday previews, as the Warner Bros. animated superhero comedy looks to unseat Jordan Peele’s “Nope” from its perch atop the box office charts. Over the weekend, “DC League of Super-Pets” is aiming to rack up between $20 million to $25 million when it opens in
“Bread and Salt,” which has been selected for Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section, has debuted its trailer. The film has been picked up by IKH Pictures Promotion for world sales. The film, the feature debut by director Damian Kocur, follows talented pianist Tymek, a student of the Warsaw Academy of Music, who returns to his
Will Smith has opened up about the ongoing controversy surrounding his assault of Chris Rock at this year’s Academy Awards, offering up his most unvarnished thoughts about an altercation that has marred his public image. In an emotional YouTube post, Smith addressed why he didn’t apologize to Rock when he accepted a best actor prize
Perhaps, one day, somebody will make a film in which a hastily arranged marriage of convenience between two virtual strangers doesn’t blossom into real love, and instead more tensely culminates in mutual acrimony and cathartic divorce. Until then, those inclined can moon over drippy, dopey fantasies like “Purple Hearts,” an opposites-attract romance that — give
Philippe Rousselet, Oscar-winning producer of “Coda,” “Paris, 13th District” director Jacques Audiard, sales agent Hengameh Panahi and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” filmmaker Michel Gondry are part of France’s newly revamped Oscar submission committee. The committee also includes sales agent Grégoire Melin, “11 Flowers” producer Didar Domehri and Gaumont executive Ariane Toscan du Plantier.
Netflix has unveiled footage from “Seoul Vibe,” a Korean original movie that will release on Aug. 26, 2022. The action film’s retro look harks back to the 1980s when South Korea was leaving military rule in the rear view mirror and experiencing a new kind of cool. The emphasis is on breathtaking driving sequences, classic
Paramount has reached a confidential settlement with Chubb, its insurer, over claims arising from repeated COVID-19 production delays on “Mission: Impossible 7.” The studio sued in August 2021, alleging that the insurer was trying to limit its losses to just $1 million. Paramount alleged that it was owed far more than that, and that the
The protagonist of “Joyride” is named Joy. Joy is seeking a ride out of town. How charmed or irked you are by this rather rudimentary wordplay may also determine your receptiveness to this soft-hearted, high-spirited Irish road movie, which takes a chipper, sometimes openly cheesy approach to fraught emotional terrain. Charting the unlikely camaraderie between
Olivia DeJonge has joined the cast of Cooper Raiff’s “The Trashers.” The deal comes on the heels of DeJonge’s breakout performance in “Elvis,” in which she played Priscilla Presley, the wife of the King of Rock. The film crossed $200 million globally this past weekend, becoming one of the rare movies geared towards older audiences
Michael B. Jordan will wait a little longer before returning to the ring in “Creed III.” The third “Creed” movie, which is the ninth installment in the “Rocky” film franchise, has postponed its release date from Nov. 23, 2022, to its new slot on March 3, 2023. On its new release date, MGM’s third “Creed”
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer took a pretty steep pay cut in 2022. The media chief’s total compensation dropped more than 70%, falling from $19.1 million to $5.6 million, according to public filings. The big drop is due to Feltheimer’s shrinking bonus, which was reduced from $10 million in 2021 to $2.8 million. Feltheimer’s total compensation
Industrial Light and Magic’s StageCraft suite of virtual production tools and ARRI were among the recipients of this year’s Engineering, Science and Technology Emmy Awards. The Television Academy on Thursday unveiled the 2022 recipients of the awards that honor an individual, company or organization for developments in broadcast technology. The lifetime achievement honor will be
High-flying blockbusters like “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Top Gun: Maverick” lifted IMAX earnings during the most recent fiscal quarter. Revenue at the company famous for its immersive, wide screen technology increased 45% to $74 million, up from $51 million in the prior-year period. Despite the box office rebound, the company still
Donald Trump “crashed the set” of Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” and acted like “a complete and utter buffoon,” according to cast member Cristin Milioti. The “Palm Springs” and “Made for Love” actor told The Independent that Trump decided to show up on set during a night shoot when the production was filming
Emmy-winning actress Mary Alice, known for her roles as Leticia “Lettie” Bostic on NBC‘s “A Different World” and as Effie Williams in the 1976 musical drama “Sparkle,” died Wednesday in New York City, according to the NYPD. Her birth year had been reported both as 1936 and 1941 in various sources. In “The Matrix Revolutions,”