Movies

On Monday evening, late night television dug into Will Smith’s controversial night at the Academy Awards, discussing the moment when the actor walked onto the ceremony stage to slap Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The incident between Smith and Rock stunned audiences, both inside the Dolby

Richard Williams has weighed in on Will Smith’s controversial actions at the Academy Awards on Sunday night, when the actor walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, during the ceremony. Shortly after the altercation, Smith won the Oscar for best actor for his

Will Smith has issued an apology after slapping Chris Rock on the Oscars stage Sunday night. “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too

Harry Styles was briefly attached to Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu” remake before he dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. The New Yorker first reported the casting exit. Contacted by Variety, a representative for Styles confirmed the news. Had Styles not pulled out of the movie, then “Nosferatu” would have paired the Grammy winner

ABC’s Rob Mills was sitting in the Oscars production trailer on Sunday night when the show’s producers and director Glenn Weiss realized things were starting to go awry. “Chris Rock came on and he was doing, I think, material based on what happened that night as any comedian will do,” Mills recalled to Variety the

The feud between Will Smith and Chris Rock prior to the infamous “Oscar slap” goes back at least six years, according to sources. At the Governors Ball immediately following the telecast, Smith was the center of nearly every conversation. After congratulatory moments with nominees and winners like Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”), Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of

The 94th Academy Awards ignited Twitter and Variety’s Trending TV chart for the week of March 21 to 27, pulling in more engagements than any other TV series, award show or broadcast — including the Super Bowl — since the chart’s launch. The Oscars received nearly 33 million engagements during its three-hour-plus Sunday night broadcast

Will Smith’s slap heard around the world begs the question — what does it take to get kicked out of the Oscars? When last night’s best actor winner assaulted presenter Chris Rock during the Academy Awards on Sunday, television history was made — as was the collective undoing of Hollywood decorum. But why wasn’t Smith

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has launched a formal review following Will Smith’s assault on Chris Rock at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony. The organization behind the annual film awards show initially said it condemned violence without mentioning Smith by name, but now it is making its displeasure over the incident more explicit. “The

At Elton John’s 30th annual viewing party to benefit his AIDS Foundation, there was little danger of the crowd not sticking around after the Oscars were over, with Brandi Carlile and her full band doing an hour-long set to cap off the night. “It ain’t a mini-set,” Carlile said on the red carpet. “We’re going

It’s a problem that has plagued countless kids’ movies — and more than a few grownup ones — over the course of film history: The villain is conceived and performed with such lip-smacking relish that the nominal hero seems a simpering drag to be around by comparison. Conscious of that perennial imbalance, “The Bad Guys”

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Kristen Stewart is not one to shy away from a bold eye look. Strategically smudged under eyeliner and metallic-hued shadows are a staple of the actor’s edgy glam — and her look at the

Howard Stern compared Will Smith to Donald Trump during the March 28 episode of his long-running SiriusXM radio show (via Mediaite). Stern was responding to the drama that unfolded at the 94th Academy Awards, where Will Smith took the stage and slapped Chris Rock on live television after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett

After a year marked by a two-month lockdown and COVID restrictions, the volume of French productions surged by 43.5% in 2021, with 340 films made after widespread postponements in 2020, according to a report unveiled by the CNC (National Film Board). The number of movies produced last year is even 13% higher than in 2019,

Ever since his first trip to Russia in the late 1990s, filmmaker Antoine Cattin has always been tickled by his adopted country’s record number of national celebrations. Born in Switzerland and based in Saint Petersburg for the past two decades, Cattin has paid an up-close and rather bemused view to the parade of party days

As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law on Monday, The Walt Disney Company issued a statement vowing to help repeal the controversial legislation. “Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law,” the statement reads.

Oscars viewership rose Sunday when 15.36 million sets of eyeballs tuned into the 94th Academy Awards on ABC. The Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes-hosted show was up 56% from last year’s historic low in audience size, per time-zone-adjusted fast-national numbers from Nielsen, and rose 68% in key demo ratings to a 3.2. Looking

Oscar-winning “Cruella” costume designer Jenny Beavan called for pay equity now in the 94th Academy Awards interview room. Beavan, who won her third Oscar Sunday, spoke backstage and showed off her white shirt, which had “I am woman, hear me roar” on one sleeve cuff and on the other, “Naked without you.” Her remarks come

Whoopi Goldberg predicts the Academy will not strip Will Smith of his best actor Oscar following his altercation with Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards. Before he won the Academy Award, Smith walked onto the Oscar stage to slap Chris Rock after the comedian joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head while presenting the

Well, that was fast. The first “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie opened in February 2020. In spite of — or maybe, in some strange way, because of — fan pushback to the live-action movie’s initial CG character design, it turned out to be far better than anyone expected (the bar is exasperatingly low for video game

Diddy told Page Six that Will Smith and Chris Rock settled their feud after an altercation at the 94th Academy Awards. Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head while presenting the documentary feature category (the comedian said he could not wait to see Pinkett Smith star in “G.I. Jane 2,” a reference

If Will Smith was feeling any remorse about slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars on Sunday night, he didn’t show it. The 53-year-old best actor winner, who took home the trophy for his performance in “King Richard,” arrived at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party just after midnight with a large entourage and immediately hit the

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. “Coda” won the Oscar for best picture Sunday night, becoming the first Sundance film to take home the night’s most coveted honor — and also helping Apple make history for becoming the first streamer

Indian blockbuster “RRR,” directed by S.S. Rajamouli and starring NTR Jr and Ram Charan, has roared to a mighty INR5 billion ($65.6 million) opening weekend, according to numbers provided to Variety by producer DVV Entertainment. “RRR” (“Rise Roar Revolt”), a period action drama, debuted in third position at the U.S. box office with a $9.5

“Taylor Swift: Miss Americana” director Lana Wilson is developing a documentary feature about psychics that she’ll be presenting this week at CPH:FORUM, the international financing and co-production event held during the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX), which runs March 23-April 3. “Look Into My Eyes” is a poetic exploration of what Wilson describes as

HBO Max has boarded Nikolay Stefanov’s debut feature doc “No Place for You in Our Town” which it is co-producing with Bulgaria’s Smarty Pants Shooter, headed by writer-producer Ralitsa Golemanova. Premiering at Copenhagen’s CPH:DOX, “No Place for You in Our Town” marks HBO Max’s first original from Bulgaria. The film will drop on HBO Max

The “Bourne” movies revivified the espionage genre with their nimble, scrappy, down-and-dirty action. But they weren’t as widely imitated as one might have expected, which leaves “The Contractor” feeling like a relatively fresh chip off a not-so-old block. Chris Pine stars as a forcibly decommissioned U.S. Army careerist whom financial straits push him into a

Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Drive My Car” is now making headlines in Japan after winning the best international feature Oscar. The film is only the second from the country to take the prize, the previous one being the 2008 “Departures.” Released domestically in August, “Drive My Car” had earned only $250,000 by the end of 2021, despite

The Oscars best picture win was a March Madness upset of streaming proportions — though the slap heard round the world threatened to overshadow the achievements of “CODA” and other winners. What started out as a great improvement in the presentation was diminished by Will Smith charging the stage and smacking comedian Chris Rock after

The Oscars In Memoriam segment gave viewers a chance to remember the memorable names in film who died over the past year. But every year, viewers are surprised to see that a few recognizable names were omitted. Beloved comedian Bob Saget, who had a small handful of film appearances in movies including Richard Pryor’s “Critical