Movies

The movie theater industry’s top lobbyist said that the persistent experimentation that saw studios release movies in cinemas at the same time they landed on streaming or on video-on-demand is over. “I am pleased to announce that simultaneous release is dead as a serious business model, and piracy is what killed it,” John Fithian, head

XTR, the award-winning nonfiction company behind “They Call Me Magic” on Apple TV Plus and the Oscar-nominated “Ascension,” announced its acquisition of a 30,000 square-foot studio located off Alvarado St. in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, just west of downtown. The new XTR Studios space includes production and post-production facilities, a sound stage,

IFC Films is moving its first pay television window to AMC+, in a bid by AMC Networks to carve out a weekly exclusive movie premiere every week of the year for its in-house streaming service. Under the new deal, announced on Tuesday, AMC+ will be the exclusive streaming home of movies from AMC Networks Film

Elmo Nüganen’s historical crime thriller “Melchior the Apothecary” has become the first Estonian film to cross the 50,000 admission mark at the local box office in the two years of the pandemic. The film, which was released by Hea Film on April 11, tops the box office with 57,456 admissions, according to Film New Europe.

Something’s happening in Oz. Jon M. Chu announced on social media that his upcoming adaptation of the musical “Wicked” will be split into two films. Universal Pictures will release the first “Wicked” movie on Dec. 25, 2024. The second “Wicked” movie will debut exactly a year later on Dec. 25, 2025. “Wicked” will mark Chu’s

Neil LaBute and Maggie Q will team up for “Fear the Night,” a new action-thriller from Quiver Distribution. Principal photography began earlier this month in Los Angeles. “Fear the Night” centers on an Iraqi war veteran named Tes as she prepares for her sister’s bachelorette party. As the festivities unfold, the party is abruptly interrupted

Following a tortuous journey and dozens of crazy rumors, the Cannes Film Festival has landed Vincent Lindon, the French actor of last year’s Palme d’Or winning “Titan,” as jury president of its 75th edition. Lindon, who won best actor in 2015 for his role in Stephane Brizé’s movie “The Measure of a Man,” will be

Kino Lorber has acquired all North American distribution rights to Elie Grappe’s Ukrainian gymnast drama “Olga,” which world premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week last year and won a prize. Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release on June 24, with 10% of proceeds to be donated to Direct Relief in Ukraine. Grappe’s debut feature, “Olga”

Ryan Reynolds will receive the 36th American Cinematheque Award. The ceremony and tribute to the actor will take place Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills. “Ryan Reynolds is a Renaissance Man 2.0 for our times,” American Cinematheque board chair Rick Nicita said in a statement Tuesday morning. “He is an

Saudi Arabia’s cinema classification board is disputing reports that the upcoming Marvel tentpole “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” has been banned in the country due to a gay character played by Xochitl Gomez. The movie finds “The Baby-Sitters Club” actor making her debut as America Chavez in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nawaf Alsabhan,

Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired pair of French movies, “The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou” and “Magdala,” which will world premiere in the Cannes sidebar, ACID. “The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou” is the feature debut of Lucas Delangle, who previously worked with Claire Simon on “The Competition,” among other films. Set in

Dominique Boutonnat, the president of France’s powerful National Film Board (CNC), who has been under formal investigation for an alleged sexual assault on his 22-year-old godson, could now face a criminal court. The Nanterre public prosecutor’s office has requested that Boutonnat’s case is brought before a criminal court following a 14-month investigation, according to news

“Father & Soldier” by Mathieu Vadepied, starring Omar Sy, Alassane Diong and Jonas Bloquet will open Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18. The Franco-Senegalese co-production, shot in France and Senegal, tells the story of Bakary Diallo, a father, who enlists in the French army in 1917 to join Thierno, his

When CGR Cinemas introduced its ICE Theater brand in 2017, among the first orders of business was finding films that could benefit from the LED-accented model. “Not all movies fit the ICE Theater experience,” says ICE Theaters exec Guillaume Thomine Desmazures. “For it to be valuable you need action and movement and color. If the

The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, whose 56th edition runs July 1-July 9, has expanded its activities aimed at supporting filmmakers, it announced Tuesday. The festival is launching KVIFF Talents, a year-round program that aims to identify talented filmmakers and support the creation of projects with international potential and a high level of originality. As

The Circle Women Doc Accelerator, a training program for female-identifying documentary filmmakers, has selected the four projects that will take part in its showcase as part of the Cannes Docs program of the Cannes Film Market. “Becoming Ema” by Patricia Drati and produced by Sidsel Lønvig Siersted for Danish outlet Good Company Pictures and Frame

The Locarno Film Festival will celebrate U.S. musician, performance artist and filmmaker Laurie Anderson with its lifetime achievement award dedicated to creative pioneers. The prominent Swiss fest dedicated to international indie cinema will be feting Anderson with its Vision Award Ticinomoda, and screening her two feature-length films, “Heart of a Dog” (2015) which is dedicated

Prashanth Neel’s “K.G.F: Chapter 2,” starring Yash, is one of the biggest box office hits this spring, having grossed approximately $120 million worldwide since its April 14 release. Produced by Vijay Kiragandur for Hombale Films, “K.G.F: Chapter 2” was made on a budget of $13 million and is a sequel to 2018 film “K.G.F: Chapter

Boasting a network of more than 700 screens in France, CGR Cinemas became a powerhouse in Gallic exhibition by developing markets beyond the country’s metropolitan hubs, and by foregrounding technological advancements. Of late, the cinema chain has looked outward, exporting its proprietary Immersive Cinema Experience (ICE) model to Spain, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Estonia.

Banijay Iberia has struck a strategic partnership with Alex de la Iglesia which will see the high-profile Spanish writer-director and his partner at Pokeespsie Films, actor-producer Carolina Bang, create high-end original series and fiction for Banijay. Pokeepsie Films credits include HBO Max hit “30 Coins,” co-written and directed by De La Iglesia. It is believed

Sony’s sprawling Spider-Verse is getting “way, way, way bigger,” producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller teased at CinemaCon, the annual exhibition trade show currently underway in Las Vegas. After turning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” into a critical and commercial smash, the filmmakers hyped up a crowd of movie theater owners by showing an exclusive look

Get ready for more Venom. Sony Pictures has greenlit a third installment in the Tom Hardy-led “Venom” franchise, following the back-to-back box office successes of 2021’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($502 million globally) and 2018’s “Venom” ($856 million globally). The studio also announced plans for another “Ghostbusters” installment, which will serve as a follow-up

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known by his stage name Bad Bunny, has been cast as the newest Marvel hero in Sony Pictures’ portfolio of the super characters — and will lead the standalone comic book film “El Muerto.” “El Muerto” is set to hit theaters on Jan. 12, 2024. Introduced by Sony Motion Pictures

Universal and Illumination Entertainment’s upcoming adaptation of Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. video game series has been delayed to 2023. The Super Mario Bros. adaptation was originally set to release on Dec. 21, targeting a theatrical run through the holiday season. The film will now hit theaters on April 7, 2023 in North America. A Japanese

Johnny Depp ended his testimony on Monday in his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard by declaring himself to be a victim of domestic violence. Depp’s attorney played an audio recording in which Heard suggested that if Depp went public with claims that she had beaten him, no one would believe it. “Tell the world,”

The American Cinema Editors gathered with production designers, set decorators and more as a sign of solidarity to push the Academy for inclusivity as they look ahead to the 2023 Academy Awards. Releasing a video statement that opens with a quote from director Francis Ford Coppola, “The essence of cinema is editing,” the editors addressed

“Downton Abbey: A New Era” is bookended by a wedding and a funeral. In between, a good deal happens: Babies are born and paternities questioned, long-simmering romances clinched and fresh ones set to bloom; an excursion takes a fraction of the family to France while a film crew keeps the rest of them busy back

Alec Baldwin is seen brandishing a revolver and pointing it toward the camera in footage released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office on Monday as part of its investigation into a fatal shooting on the set of “Rust.” The footage was shot on the same day that cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed

Alex Kurtzman has called his 2017 directorial effort “The Mummy” the “biggest failure of my life, both personally and professionally.” The Universal-backed adventure tentpole starred Tom Cruise and was designed to jumpstart the studio’s Dark Universe, a franchise of interconnected films based on classic Universal monster movies. “The Mummy” was universally panned by film critics

Sienna Miller recently told The Guardian that dating Jude Law is most likely one reason she was never abused by disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein. Miller was the star of the Weinstein-backed “Factory Girl,” in which she played Andy Warhol’s muse Edie Sedgwick. The actor said being in a relationship with Law shaped her connection