Dominique Boutonnat has been appointed by the French government to serve a second three-year mandate as president of the National Film Board (CNC) despite the fact that he’s been indicted for alleged sexual assault and could now face trial. Boutonnat, a former producer and financier who was appointed president of the CNC in July 2019,
Movies
Canal Plus Group is in advanced discussions to acquire the film, television, and pay-TV divisions of Orange, the leading French telco group. Canal Plus Group, whose parent company is Vivendi, already owns 33.3% of OCS, the pay-TV arm of Orange, and has been distributing the service on its platform as part of its cable bundle
Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to “Next Exit” following its world premiere at Tribeca. The supernatural road movie marks the feature directorial debut of Mali Elfman and stars Katie Parker (“The Fall of the House of Usher”), Rahul Kohli (“Midnight Mass”),Rose McIver (“Ghosts”) and Karen Gillan (“Avengers: Endgame”). Magnolia is planning a theatrical
Czech/Slovak documentary-opera “Kapr Code” will receive its Czech premiere at the 26th Jihlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival, which runs Oct. 25-30, Film New Europe reports. Lucie Králová’s film focuses on the contradictory life of Czech progressive composer and prominent communist Jan Kapr (1914-88). Lightdox is handling world sales. The director found out about Kapr by
Armağan Ballantyne’s gibberish comedy “Nude Tuesday” will be the central gala at the 75th Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF). In the film, which has previously played at Tribeca and Sydney, 40-somethings Laura (Jackie van Beek) and Bruno (Damon Herriman) head to a three day couples’ retreat run by relationship and sexual healing guru Bjorg Rasmussen
Tim Burton is set to receive the 14th Lumiere Award at the Lumiere Festival, a week-long celebration of heritage movies and film masters held in Lyon, France, in October. Headed by Cannes Film Festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux, the Lumiere Festival previously honored Jane Campion, the Dardenne Brothers, Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, Martin
A marathon screening of all three “Infernal Affairs” films has been announced for the much delayed 46th edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The three films, all restored and upgraded to 4K digital prints, lead off a six- film section of Chinese-language restored classics at the festival. The HKIFF was this year postponed
Amazon Prime Video has greenlit BAFTA-nominated “Hard Stop” director George Amponsah’s feature film debut, action thriller “Gassed Up.” Now in production in London, the movie will launch on Prime Video in the U.K. and Ireland in 2023. Directed by Amponsah, and written by Archie Maddocks and Taz Skylar, the film stars Stephen Odubola (“Blue Story,”
Ascendant Films and Burton Fox Films, two of the production companies behind multi-BAFTA and BIFA-nominated restaurant drama “Boiling Point,” have merged to create Ascendant Fox. Since wrapping the critically acclaimed Stephen Graham vehicle, producer Bart Ruspoli’s Ascendant Films and Hester Ruoff’s Burton Fox Films have forged a partnership that’s currently developing a number of projects
Paramount has announced a few updates to its release calendar, delaying upcoming projects like its “A Quiet Place” entry and the John Krasinski-directed “IF” by a few months. “A Quiet Place: Day One,” which had previously been untitled, will hit theaters on March 8, 2024. The Michael Sarnoski-directed horror film had been set to bow
Michael Myers is back — again — this Halloween season in the first trailer for “Halloween Ends.” Universal has released the first look at director David Gordon Green’s third (and allegedly final) entry in the horror series. The first trailer dropped as a surprise Tuesday evening, with franchise star Jamie Lee Curtis announcing the release
SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Love and Thunder,” currently playing in theaters. When Jennifer Kaytin Robinson first got a call from Marvel Studios, it wasn’t about writing the script for “Thor: Love and Thunder” with director Taika Waititi. “I actually pitched to write ‘Captain Marvel 2,’” Robinson tells Variety. “And
A perfect storm of flatlining production budgets, galloping costs and declining revenues have led to the U.K. independent film sector being strained to the point of market failure, a report commissioned by the British Film Institute (BFI) has found. The report, An Economic Review of U.K. Independent Film, undertaken by independent research company Alma Economics,
Jordan Peele announced five years ago after the release of “Get Out” that his plan as a feature filmmaker would include four more “social thrillers,” as he liked to call them. The second was “Us,” and the third, “Nope” arrives in theaters this week with rave first reactions already behind it. While Peele’s original plan
Producers of the indie film musical “Americana Dream” have tapped Nashville-based music artists Mary Sarah and Sam Varga to play the story’s central couple, Billie Carton and Lucky Fontana. Sarah and Varga nabbed the leading roles after an extensive nationwide search for singer-songwriters to act in the original musical written and directed by Ate de
The disability community continues to be underrepresented and undervalued in the entertainment industry. Here, actor Selma Blair explains why it’s time for media to shift toward a world where everyone sees themselves represented, and how to build belonging into media. Storytelling is powerful. Stories can ultimately shape your identity and how the world sees you.
Netflix is acquiring Australian animation studio Animal Logic, which is producing films for the streamer including “The Magician’s Elephant,” directed by Wendy Rogers, and “The Shrinking of the Treehorns,” directed by Ron Howard. Animal Logic has about 800 employees, mostly based in Sydney and Vancouver. The acquisition “will help us accelerate the development of our
Brett Goldstein says he was forbidden to let anyone know that he filmed a cameo in “Thor: Love and Thunder.” Even his parents didn’t know. However, the actor’s “Ted Lasso” co-star Hannah Waddingham tells me that he asked her what he should do when the offer came in to play Hercules in the post-credit scene
Frontières International Co-Production Market – back to an in-person event after four online editions – has unveiled this year’s projects, including 18 titles in its official selection, all in advanced development stages or now financing. Ranging from the highly personal to absolutely outlandish, they make for a varied lineup. It is packed by female-centered stories,
“Madame Web” will be swinging into theaters a little later than previously announced. The upcoming “Spider-Man” spinoff film’s release date has been moved to Oct. 6, 2023, three months later than the previously announced July 2023 date. In its place, “Insidious 5” will move into “Madame Web’s” previously announced release date. The horror sequel will
Saban Films has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to “American Murderer,” a new thriller with Tom Pelphrey, Ryan Phillippe, Idina Menzel, and Jacki Weaver. The film is the debut feature of director and writer Matthew Gentile. Saban Films is planning an October 2022 release. “American Murderer” is based on the true story of Jason Derek
After two virtual ComicCon@Home conventions and one mini “special edition” event last Thanksgiving, San Diego Comic-Con is finally returning for its first full-on, in-person con in three years. The team behind the biggest fan convention in North America says it’s “burning the midnight oil” to get ready for Comic-Con, which begins with its traditional “preview
The poster for the documentary “On the Line: The Richard Williams Story” is cleverly acerbic. Against a white background stands one of the more derided — and more recently celebrated, via last year’s sports biopic, “King Richard” — figures in professional sports: Venus and Serena Williams’ father, Richard. He’s got a tennis racket in his
“Euphoria” actor Storm Reid is set to star in and produce the Paramount Pictures’ feature “Becoming Noble,” which follows a high school senior who learns she’s a princess of an African nation and travels to her home country on the continent to discover her roots, and to determine if “royal” is something she really wants
Penske Media Corp. and Getty Images have set a partnership for photographs that will include Getty representing PMC’s growing collection of exclusive images from Variety, WWD, Rolling Stone, Billboard and other brands. The deal also gives PMC brands broad access to Getty Images’ expansive archive of more than 5 million images. The companies will partner
Ethan Hawke joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe earlier this year in the Disney+ series “Moon Knight,” where he played the villainous cult leader Arthur Harrow. For fans of the actor, Hawke’s decision to join the MCU was a surprise given that he spoke critically of the comic book genre in the past. The actor’s main
“The Woman King,” a historical epic starring Viola Davis, will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The TriStar Pictures release centers on the Agojie, an all-female military regiment tasked with protecting the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s. These fighters inspired the Dora Milaje bodyguards that appear in the Black
From the heroes like Batman and Wolverine to the terrifying villains such as Joker and Thanos, superhero movies have proven to be box office juggernauts, with the likes of Marvel and DC films leading the way. However, the artists who bring them to life, notably the actors who inhabit them, are often unappreciated at award
Quinta Brunson channels her inner talk-show host to portray Oprah Winfrey in Roku’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” starring Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, as the frizzy-haired musical parodist. The movie is billed as “the unexaggerated true story about the greatest musician of our time.” “Weird,” which has a runtime of 108 minutes, is slated
Karim Ouelhaj’s fourth feature ‘Megalomaniac’ – about to world premiere at Fantasia – has been sold to South Korea’s Youngjin Creative, Japan’s STS Ent and Latin America’s Encripta, with Indeed Film handling German-speaking territories. Media Move handles world sales with XYZ in charge of North America. Ouelhaj is also about to wrap principal photography on