Movies

The Belfast Film Festival has named Variety film critic Jessica Kiang and Rose Baker as its new programmers, and has also launched an inaugural feature competition. Kiang and Baker will serve as the creative leads for this year’s BFF, which runs from Nov. 3-12. Kiang will program international titles and Baker will take the lead on

Marisa Garcia and Ben Shimmel have been promoted to agent positions at WME, Variety has learned exclusively. Both Garcia and Shimmel are veterans of the talent agency’s comedy division and will continue to work for the department in their new roles, supporting the agency’s comedy roster, which includes several of the industry’s top talents, such

Paramount’s supersonic blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” has grossed $623.8 million in North America, passing “The Avengers” ($623.3 million) to become the ninth-highest grossing movie in domestic box office history. Industry experts believe the movie has enough gas in its tank to eventually pass the titles in seventh and eighth place, “Titanic” with $659 million and

Jeff Bridges was an integral part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s kickoff thanks to his turn as the villain Obadiah Stane in Jon Favreau’s 2008 franchise-launching “Iron Man.” Reflecting on his career in a recent video interview with Vanity Fair, the Oscar winner said making “Iron Man” was “wonderful” but drove him “absolutely crazy” when

“My Policeman,” a historical drama with Harry Styles,” will have its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The move signals that the Amazon Studios release has some awards season ambitions. Styles is also appearing in “Don’t Worry Darling,” another Oscar hopeful that is hitting theaters this fall after working the festival circuit.

The U.K.’s Pinewood Studios, home to the James Bond and Star Wars franchises and Disney and Marvel, has submitted a planning application for an expanded screen hub. After being granted planning permission in April for a screen industries growth hub known as Screen Hub U.K. and a film-inspired visitor attraction, Pinewood has submitted plans for

British actor Daisy Edgar-Jones, best known for her role as Marianne in the Hulu and BBC series “Normal People,” will be feted by the Locarno Film Festival with its Leopard Club Award. The Swiss fest dedicated to indie cinema will celebrate Edgar-Jones on Aug. 5 when her latest film, Olivia Newman’s “Where the Crawdads Sing,”

As Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera continues to see films and tinker with his selection before announcing the Lido lineup next week, several high-profile titles have emerged as either locked in or highly likely to be launching from the Lido. As previously anticipated by Variety, U.S. studios and streamers are set to be disembarking

Bianca Lucas’ “Love Dog” has debuted its trailer ahead of its world premiere at Locarno Film Festival in Concorso Cineasti del Presente. Lights On has bought international sales rights. The film centers on John who – after finishing a job on a Texas oil rig – returns to his home town in Mississippi, where he

On the evening ahead of its official unveiling at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is offering a first look to those already wandering the San Diego Convention Center, displaying footage of characters played by Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page and more cast members. Variety has filmed a video from the

The Kering Foundation’s first-ever Caring for Women Dinner is set to raise funds for organizations that work to support those affected by gender-based violence. The dinner will take place on September 15 in New York City and will be hosted by Anderson Cooper. Co-chaired by Salma Hayek Pinault, François-Henri Pinault, Gisele Bündchen, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel

“Nope” director Jordan Peele thought it might be taking things a little too far when a fan proposed he could be the best horror director of all time. “I know this is a hot take but at what point do we declare Jordan Peele the best horror director of all time?” wrote comic book creator

James Blunt, the British singer-songwriter behind the romantic anthem of the aughties, “You’re Beautiful,” is the focus of a new documentary. The project, which is jokingly described as “the story of an ageing, British pop star, still fighting for relevance some 17 years after his star momentarily twinkled,” will follow Blunt all across Europe during

Rising star Phoenix Raei joins Hugo Weaving as the lead of “The Rooster,” an Australian mystery drama film in which a small-town cop discovers the dead body of his best friend. The film, which has just completed principal photography in Victoria state, is directed by actor Mark Leonard Winter (“Escape From Pretoria”), making his debut

Quidditch, the real-life sport based on the beloved broom-flying game from the “Harry Potter” book and movie series, has officially been changed to “Quadball.” U.S. Quidditch and Major League Quidditch — now rebranded as U.S. Quadball (USQ) and Major League Quadball (MLQ) — both announced the name change this week. The International Quidditch Association (IQA) will

Nearly everyone agreed last fall that Ana de Armas was one of the best parts about “No Time to Die,” Daniel Craig’s final outing as super-spy James Bond, so naturally the actor is getting asked a lot of questions about who should replace Craig in the next 007 movie. De Armas doesn’t have a name,

July 20 WednesdayJournalist Nicole Pasulka and photographer Santiago Felipe discuss their new book about the rebirth of New York’s drag scene, “How You Get Famous: Ten Years of Drag Madness in Brooklyn.”The Center, New York Vitali Klitschko, former boxing champion and now mayor of Kyiv, receives the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the 2022

Apple Original Films will distribute Jennifer Lawrence’s next film, “Causeway.” The military drama, produced in association with A24, will land in theaters and on Apple TV+ later this year. An exact release date has not been set. Lila Neugebauer, who recently directed Broadway’s revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s play “The Waverly Gallery” to great acclaim, is

When Keke Palmer got a call from Jordan Peele asking her to star in his latest film, “Nope,” she was quick to jump at the chance to join the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s mysterious project. After all, she’d already DM’d him on Instagram about a year earlier hoping to work together. Upon reading the script — which

FilmLA announced today that it expects to see production return to pre-pandemic levels within the next 12 months. After posting three consecutive record-breaking quarters, local filming in the second quarter (“Q2”) of 2022 was down by -5.8% over the same period last year. From April through June, FilmLA recorded a total of 9,220 Shoot Days

It’s a common problem. A friend or colleague recommends a TV show to binge or a movie to stream but can’t remember if it’s on Netflix or Amazon or one of those other services with a plus sign affixed to it. But a new search and discovery app aims to make sense of all the

Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.” When the announcement came that “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” the third movie in Channing Tatum’s male stripper franchise, had the greenlight, it was revealed the film would premiere directly on HBO Max. However, director Steven Soderbergh says a theatrical run is still on the table. “We’re talking about

“Saturday Night Live” breakouts Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy — the comedy trio better known as Please Don’t Destroy — are preparing for their big-screen debut. Universal Pictures has acquired a buddy comedy from the writing trio, with plans to release the movie in theaters on Aug. 18, 2023. Judd Apatow is producing

New Line Cinema is gearing up for some more fatalities. The studio has tapped Simon McQuoid to return to direct the sequel to “Mortal Kombat,” sources confirmed to Variety. McQuoid, who made his feature directorial debut with the 2021 film adaptation of the beloved fighting video game series, will direct the sequel from a script

Jordan Peele’s “Nope” is a tantalizingly creepy mixed bag of a sci-fi thriller. It’s a movie that taps into our fear and awe of UFOs, and for a while it holds us in a shivery spell. It picks the audience up and carries it along, feeding off spectral hints of the otherworldly. Yet watching the

Agent Ethan Hunt banks on himself. Tom Cruise is taking a lower fee upfront for starring in the next two “Mission: Impossible” films, which sources say leads to a meager paycheck in the $12 million to $14 million range, but he commands a significant percentage of the movies’ first-dollar gross. That means that Cruise gets

Aspiring journalist Danni Sanders (Zoey Deutch), the insecure villain at the center of writer-director Quinn Shephard’s scattershot comedy “Not Okay,” dresses the part of a contemporary Gloria Steinem, poaching the activist’s oversized glasses and face-framing blond streaks while adding her own modern accessories: rainbow-colored nails and jewelry, with a decked-out smartphone glued to her hand.

With new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer in place, the next big question mark for the organization that hosts the Oscars revolves around who will replace outgoing president David Rubin, whose term ends this summer. On Aug. 2, the AMPAS Board of Governors will select its 38th president. Whoever takes

Cinesite has acquired Montreal studio L’Atelier Animation, the outfit behind hit 3D animation films “Leap!” and “Fireheart.” Cinesite, which has operations in London, Montreal and Vancouver as well as VFX partner studios Trixter in Germany and Image Engine in Vancouver, said the deal will expand its creative and production capacity to meet demand in Quebec

At the box office, Jordan Peele is in rarified company as a director who needs only his name to draw audiences to the big screen. Even more impressive, it took only one film, 2017’s social thriller “Get Out,” to achieve that cachet. After the breakout critical and commercial success of “Get Out,” which opened to