Movies

British director Michael Winterbottom will start shooting his long-gestating “Promised Land,” a thriller set during the leadup to the 1948 partition of Palestine and the subsequent creation of the state of Israel, this fall in Italy. U.K. actors Douglas Booth (“The Dirt,” “That Dirty Black Bag”) and Harry Melling (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) and

WestEnd Films has closed a series of new deals on “Out of the Blue,” an upcoming thriller that brings together Neil LaBute and Diane Kruger. Rights for the film, which LaBute writes and directs, have gone to Australia and New Zealand (Kismet Movies), France (Metropolitan Filmexport), Germany (Koch Films), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Italy (Eagle

Tom Hanks, Jodie Comer, Olivia Colman, David Cronenberg and Richard Linklater head projects at a Cannes 2022 pre-sales market that looks like the most buoyant in recent years, while also ushering in what is being hailed as a new era in global rights licensing. “We’re very optimistic, expecting a pretty busy market with a lot

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov and producer Denis Ivanov are teaming up again after their last collaboration, the ‘90s-set crime drama “Rhino,” premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons sidebar last year. The new feature, “Shining World,” centers on a mother and her young son living in a small American town in the 1960s. Described by

“The Boy Who Belonged to the Sea,” the multiple award-winning 2001 novel by Canadian author Denis Theriault, has been acquired for film adaptation by fledgeling U.K. outfit the White Lotus Picture Company. Set on the rugged north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, the novel tells the story of two lonely boys united

Ron Howard’s ripped-from-the-headlines drama “Thirteen Lives” has moved to August, with the film launching globally on Amazon’s Prime Video shortly after a limited theatrical release. Produced and directed by Ron Howard, the film follows the 2018 rescue mission of a Thai soccer team and their coach who were trapped in a system of flooding underground

Toronto-based filmmaker Deepa Mehta has been making films since the 1970s, including the Oscar-nominated “Water,” part of her elements trilogy; “Bollywood/Hollywood” and “Funny Boy.” Her TV credits include “Yellowjackets,” “Little America” and “Leila.” As an immigrant to Canada from India, I felt “seen” twice in my life. And both those moments, ironically, were diametrically antithetical

Johnny Depp’s lawyer began her cross-examination of Amber Heard on Monday afternoon, seeking to undercut Heard’s claim that Depp physically assaulted her numerous times. Camille Vasquez, Depp’s attorney, presented a series of photos of Heard taken shortly after alleged incidents of violence. In the images, Heard did not appear to have bruises or other physical

Netflix has been getting member feedback on original content — ahead of its public release — for about a year, Variety has learned. Since May 2021, the streamer has been reaching out to small groups of subscribers with a proposition: The company is inviting them to participate in a panel to provide feedback on Netflix’s

In one of the first high-profile sexual assault cases in Latin America following the #MeToo reckoning, Chilean director Nicolás López, who was renowned for his raunchy box office comedy hits “Sin Filtro,” “No Estoy Loca” and the “Que Pena” trilogy, has been sentenced to five years and one day in prison for two cases of

The Crawley’s are back — but with a twist. “Downton Abbey,” the hit British TV series that ran for six seasons on PBS, is making its way onto the big screen for a second time. Rather than spawning a seventh season, writer and creator Julian Fellowes explained why he decided to transform the series into

Cannes Film Festival has responded to complaints over the online press ticketing system, saying that the fest is currently working to resolve the issue. “The technical difficulties met this morning on the online ticketing service are very likely due to acts aimed at saturating the site with ticket requests, thus preventing festival-goers from accessing it,”

Tom Blyth is headed to Panem. The actor, best known for “Billy the Kid” and “The Gilded Age,” has been cast as young President Coriolanus Snow in Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” The movie is based on the 2020 book of the same name, which is set decades before

Abhijay Prakash has been named president of Blumhouse, the genre juggernaut founded by Jason Blum over twenty years ago. Prakash joins the company from the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, where he served as president under chairman Donna Langley for nearly four years. He will oversee all business aspects at Blumhouse, succeeding veteran executive Charles Layton.

Brilliant Pictures have unveiled first look images from upcoming shark thriller “Deep Fear” starring “Gossip Girl’s” Ed Westwick and “House of Gucci’s” Madalina Ghenea. The company is launching worldwide sales in Cannes. In the first images, Ghenea is pictured in her diving gear underwater (above) and huddled with Wetwick on the top deck of a

United Talent Agency has announced 54 promotions across more than 20 divisions. “As UTA continues to expand and thrive, we are consistently impressed by our colleagues’ work ethic, collaborative spirit and resilience,” said UTA co-President David Kramer. “This is a group who has demonstrated thought leadership, outstanding performance and commitment to our company, and we

Cannes Film Festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux didn’t just have to field questions about Russia and the dearth of female directors at the fest during his meeting with journalists on Monday afternoon. He also had to address a claim that the festival is attempting to censor the press — and confirmed that he has asked publications

Emma Thompson plays Nancy Stokes, a widow, who attempts to have proper sex for the first time in her life and hires a sex worker in the new trailer for “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.” The film, which played at Sundance earlier this year will stream on Hulu June 17. Directed by Sophie Hyde,

Red hot French stars Tahar Rahim and Virginie Efira star in director Serge Bozon’s latest film “Don Juan.” The film premieres at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cannes Premiere strand. Jilted on his wedding day, Laurent, a stage actor playing the role of the famous seducer Don Juan, cannot help but see his ex-fiancée in every

Amber Heard told jurors on Monday that she decided to divorce Johnny Depp because she was afraid she “wouldn’t survive” if she stayed in the relationship. Heard resumed her testimony after a 10-day break in the defamation trial in Fairfax, Va. Heard recounted the final months of her marriage to Depp, including a series of

“Pirates of the Caribbean” producer Jerry Bruckheimer reminded fans in a recent interview with The Sunday Times that the future of his Disney mega-franchise does not currently include Johnny Depp. The actor appeared as Jack Sparrow in all five “Pirates of the Caribbean,” earning an Oscar nomination for “Curse of the Black Pearl.” The most

In one of the first major deals of the Cannes market, Sony Pictures Classics has swooped on Un Certain Regard title “All The People I’ll Never Be.” The distributor has picked up rights in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. The film, which is written and directed by Davy Chou

While we don’t yet know what the hottest red carpet accessory will be on the famed steps of the Cannes Film Festival’s Grand Théâtre Lumière, we can tell you what it’s not: a surgical mask. Like most of the world, France has relaxed its safety protocols around COVID-19 despite the ongoing transmission of the highly-infectious

WME has signed filmmaker Iliana Sosa, whose latest documentary “What We Leave Behind” took home two prizes at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival. “What We Leave Behind,” Sosa’s first feature film, won two special jury awards at SXSW: the Louis Black “Lone Star” award and the first-ever Fandor New Voices award. Described as

Eminent editor Ariel Escalante Meza, whose feature directorial debut “The Sound of Things” was Costa Rica’s entry for the Oscars and traveled to more than 30 film festivals, is at Cannes with his new feature. “Domingo and the Mist” will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard strand. Set in the tropical mountains

George MacKay (“1917”) is set to headline alongside Lea Seydoux (“Crimes of the Future”) in “The Beast,” a decade-spanning dystopian romance thriller directed by Bertrand Bonello (“Saint Laurent”). Kinology (“Annette”) is handling international sales on “The Beast,” which will shoot in French and English and will start filming in August. Taking place between Paris and

Paris-based Luxbox has shared in exclusivity with Variety a first trailer for Manuela Martelli’s “1976,” one of Chile –and indeed Latin America’s – most anticipated feature debuts of the year which world premieres at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. “1976” is produced by two of Chile’s most go-ahead outfits – Cinestación headed by director-producer Domingo Sotomayor (“Too Late to

In a further expansive move, London-based Protagonist Pictures is teaming with Madrid’s Mogambo, executive producers on “1917,” for a multi-year, multi-title strategic financing and production partnership. Announced on the cusp of the Cannes Festival, the deal sees the two companies allying to finance, co-produce and sell up to five films a year, Protagonist CEO Dave

The mainland China box office remained moribund over the latest weekend, lacking direction or new releases and achieving nationwide revenue of just $11.4 million. The country is continuing to suffer from clusters of COVID infections that have caused mass lockdowns in some cities and the temporary closure of many cinemas. Even as there is now

After a successful pilot scheme that supported more than 65 productions, including Cannes title “Enys Men,” the U.K. Global Screen Fund has been extended through the 2024/25 financial year. The fund will disburse £21 million ($25.7 million) over three years to develop new talent, create jobs and target new audiences around the world for U.K.