Movies

Vying for the top prize at Swiss international doc film festival Visions du Réel, Gregoris Rentis’ debut feature “Dogwatch” is a stunning, stylized triptych that follows the stories of mercenaries Yorgos, Costa and Victor. All three work as private guards hired by ships crossing the so-called High Risk Area of the Somali coastline to protect

Story Syndicate, the production house founded by Oscar and Emmy-winning documentary powerhouse couple Dan Cogan and Liz Garbus, is bulking up its development and production team with a new hire, a promotion and a first-look deal with producer and investigative journalist Amy Herdy. The New York-based production company, which launched in 2019, was behind several

Nicolas Cage has transcended pop culture. The legendary actor has won an Oscar, starred in both blockbusters and indie titles, inspired internet memes and stolen the Declaration of Independence. Now, he’s being honored in the most Cage way possible, by starring as a version of himself, called Nick Cage, in the new Lionsgate movie “The

Operation Mincemeat was an aptly absurd code name for what was, on the face of it, a preposterous British military mission: In 1943, with Allied forces planning to invade Sicily and wrest it from fascist Axis control, two intelligence officers conspired to convince the Nazis they were targeting Greece instead, pulling off the ruse with

After Disney shut down Blue Sky Studios in 2021, it seemed all hope was lost for the highly anticipated animated feature “Nimona,” based on indie darling comic series from creator ND Stevenson’s comics of the same name. But fear not, as Netflix announced that it will release the previously scrapped film in 2023, with Chloë

With toy-related films all the rage (just look the Play-Doh movie from Emily V. Gordon and Jon M. Chu, Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie and Paramount’s “Transformers” franchise), Halloween fans have been left under-served — until now. Spirit Halloween, the iconic costume and prop store with 1,425 locations across North America, has teamed

As the Cannes Film Festival will announce its Official Selection on Thursday, Variety is starting to get a slightly clearer picture of what 75th edition will look like, though fewer titles than usual have leaked. Led by Cannes’ artistic director and general delegate Thierry Fremaux, the selection committee has been flooded with late submissions and

Many first-time directors would be first in line at the multiplex to buy a ticket to watch their movie on the big screen, but “As They Made Us” filmmaker Mayim Bialik is just wrapping a long day of shooting on her FOX sitcom “Call Me Kat.” “I’ve been working since seven in the morning, rehearsing

Sean Penn considered joining Ukraine’s resistance against Russia. “I was at the gas station in Brentwood the other day and I’m now thinking about taking up arms against Russia? What the fuck is going on?” he told the inaugural edition of new quarterly magazine Hollywood Authentic. Penn, who was in Ukraine filming a documentary about

One of the most intriguing film actors of his generation, and a pioneering advocate for numerous social causes, Elliot Page has spent the majority of his life in front of cameras. A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Page notched his first role at the age of 10, earning a Young Artist Award nomination for a

Wall Street appears to like what Warner Bros. Discovery is selling. The combined media company started off its first full day of trading Monday in the green. Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery were up almost 6% on Monday nearly an hour after opening with the 9:30 a.m. ET bell at $24.08 a share. AT&T, the

Method acting was all the rage this past awards season thanks to performances by Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Power of the Dog” and “House of Gucci” duo Lady Gaga and Jared Leto, but that style of acting doesn’t fly for Mads Mikkelsen. The actor recently told GQ UK that Method acting is “bullshit” and “pretentious.”

David Zaslav will be pounding the Diet Cokes, his soft drink of choice, this week as he sprints across the country to Warner Bros. Discovery’s various outposts. Monday, the first day the new company begins trading on the Nasdaq under the “WBD” ticker, will kick off with a visit to Hudson Yards for a series

After losing in a U.K. court in 2020, Johnny Depp will get a second chance to try to refute allegations that he abused ex-wife Amber Heard at a trial opening today in Virginia. Depp sued Heard in 2019 over an op-ed she published in the Washington Post in which she alluded to prior allegations against

Pinewood Studios Group (PSG) has posted profits of over £23.5 million ($30.6 million) in its most recent accounts. The accounts, which cover the 12-month period up to March 31, 2021, show a post-taxation profit of £23,517,000 ($30,651,565). That’s an almost £25 million ($32.5 million) increase on the previous year’s accounts, which showed a loss of

ACADEMY After a temporary COVID-induced pause, the Busan International Film Festival‘s Asian Film Academy, a talent incubator for emerging Asian filmmakers, is returning, in partnership with Chanel. The renamed Chanel X BIFF Asian Film Academy promises “a solid foundation for educating young promising Asian talents in a broader and more innovative way and provides the

French director Louise Carrin, whose home for the past 13 years has been Lausanne, Switzerland, has an urge to create every day, she tells Variety. Moviemaking being a long process, for about 10 years now she has found equal satisfaction in music. She is about to release her debut rap album “Banana Part” under her

The release of “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and “Ambulance” gave Hollywood a rare one-two-three at the South Korean box office over the weekend. But neither newcomer managed to earn $1 million in another deeply depressed session. “Sonic 2” earned $843,000 over the weekend and $979,000 over its opening five days, according to data from Kobis,

“Atlantide” is the Italian name for Atlantis, the fictional island utopia imagined by Plato, supposedly cursed by the gods and swallowed by the sea. It’s a pointed legend to evoke in a film about Venice, the sinking city that, real as it is, feels like a place we collectively dreamed into being, that could somehow

In a career that stretches back 40 years, Sean Penn has had many great roles, from Jeff Spicoli to Harvey Milk, from the surly teen sociopath of “Bad Boys” to the soulful death-row sociopath of “Dead Man Walking.” Yet there’s a role Penn is now playing that he has embraced with fierce commitment and skill,

Sam Elliott expressed his regret for voicing strong criticism for Jane Campion’s western “The Power of the Dog” on Sunday afternoon, extending apologies to Jane Campion, Benedict Cumberbatch and the gay community. Elliott offered his comments during a promotional panel for his series “1883,” a spin-off of “Yellowstone” for Paramount+, featured in Deadline’s Contenders TV

Will Smith, Chris Rock and the Academy may feel they can turn the page on this dramatic chapter following the announcement that Smith would be banned from the ceremony for 10 years. But there’s too much reliance on written statements and not enough acknowledgment that multiple apologies are missing from all parties.    For Smith, who

Stephanie Beatriz lit up the Oscars stage last month, performing a rendition of the hit song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” with her fellow voice cast members of Disney’s “Encanto.” But Disney itself is currently at the center of a different free speech issue, as the company feuds with Florida government officials over its opposition

Audrey Diwan’s Venice’s Golden Lion prize-winning “Happening,” has won France’s Alice Guy Award for the best female-directed French film of the year. The Alice Guy Prize, which was named in honor of the first female helmer, was created by veteran film journalist Veronique Le Bris in 2018 to highlight the work of women directors. The

The Fast Family is growing even bigger. “Fast and Furious” star Vin Diesel announced on Instagram that Brie Larson, who plays Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will join the cast of “Fast and Furious 10.” “Yeah yeah yeah… you see this angel over my shoulder cracking me up, you say to your self

The Motion Picture Academy’s decision to ban Will Smith from Oscar ceremonies and events for 10 years as discipline for slapping Chris Rock is little more than an extended time out for a playground bully. It’s a toothless penalty that lays bare the shallowness of Hollywood morals. At this point, the only person who can

Multiverses are so hot right now. The concept of multiple — possibly infinite — alternate realities unfolding alongside our own is decades old; physicist Hugh Everett III is widely credited for developing the theory at Princeton in the 1950s. The multiverse has cropped up in science fiction and comic books ever since, and it’s most

For the second time in Hollywood history, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are engaged. But unlike the first time, after months of dating under the paparazzi’s watch in 2002, Lopez handled the announcement herself. And because this is 2022, not 20 years earlier, the news of the couple’s engagement came via Lopez’s newsletter — called

Twenty-four years ago, director Michael Bay had yet to dream up the high-speed car chases in “Ambulance,” but was instead focused on a team of deep-core oil drillers who were tasked with saving the world from an asteroid the size of Texas. Perennial action hero Bruce Willis headlined the 1998 space movie, playing Harry S.

It’s the dawning of a new day in Hollywood, as the now officially merged WarnerMedia and Discovery will open for business as Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday. While little is known about the future of the new company, it’s clear what valuable brands, IP, executives and customers they will each be bringing to the table