The Oscars announced Thursday the first six presenters for the 94th Academy Awards. The list so far includes Kevin Costner (director winner for 1990’s “Dances With Wolves”), Lady Gaga (original song winner for 2018’s “A Star is Born”), Youn Yuh-jung (supporting actress winner for 2020’s “Minari”), Rosie Perez (supporting actress nominee for 1993’s “Fearless”), Chris
Movies
Filmmaker Peter Greenaway has unveiled the trailer for his next film, “Walking to Paris.” The biographical drama, Greenaway’s first feature since 2015’s romantic comedy “Eisenstein in Guanajuato,” centers on modernist Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi. Set in the early 1900s, the story takes place when Brancusi was 27-year-old and follows his 18-month trek from Bucharest to
Justin H. Min graduated from Cornell University with degrees in government and English, and after dabbling in law and a stint in journalism, he had a “crisis” moment where he decided to pursue acting. A recurring role on the Netflix hit “The Umbrella Academy” as Ben Hargreeves proved so popular he became a regular. Now he’s
Disney Original Documentary has acquired worldwide rights to “Mija,” the inspiring look at a young Latina manager who is working to change the music business. And the story may not end there for the documentary. As part of the deal, FX, which is also owned by the Walt Disney Company, will retain the rights to
Latido Films, one of Spain’s biggest vendors of Spanish-language arthouse and crossover movies, has swooped on international sales rights to “Unfinished Affairs” (“La Maniobra de la Tortuga”). Domestic distribution in Spain is handled by A Contracorriente Films, one of Spain’s top independent producer-distributors. World premiering in main competition at this year’s Malaga Festival, “Unfinished Affairs”
WarnerMedia has struck a first-look deal with German-Turkish director Fatih Akin. The tie-up marks the first exclusive deal of its kind for Akin in his 27-year career. The helmer is best known for such films as “In The Fade” (2017), “Head-On” (2004) and “Soul Kitchen” (2009). His new film, “Rheingold,” is currently shooting. The WarnerMedia
Denis Ivanov, the Ukrainian producer of critically acclaimed films including Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s “The Tribe,” Sergey Loznitsa’s “Donbass” and Oleh Sentsov’s “Rhino,” has penned an impassioned letter against Russia’s war in Ukraine, describing it as a “genocide against Ukrainians” and accusing the Russian military of war crimes. In the letter, Ivanov gave his full-throated support to
The VIEW Conference, in partnership with OGR, presents a full slate of free virtual PreVIEW panels in March featuring an array of Oscar nominees. First, on Friday, March 4, at 10 a.m. PT, will be a talk with the filmmakers behind the five nominees for animated feature. Speakers are Byron Howard, Jared Bush and Charise
Radhika Madan, star of 2018 Toronto winner “The Man Who Feels No Pain,” will play the lead in acclaimed Indian filmmaker Sudhanshu Saria’s “Sanaa.” The film, a social drama, follows a headstrong and ambitious girl who is raging against an internal battle that is rooted in unhealed trauma. Saria is writing, directing and producing via
HBO Documentary Films has acquired the rights to Academy Award-nominated documentary short “When We Were Bullies.” Directed by Jay Rosenblatt (“Phantom Limb,” “Human Remains”), the 36-minute short is a meditation of a Brooklyn schoolyard incident that occurred between the director and his fellow fifth grade classmates 50 years ago. “When We Were Bullies” was, until
The Sundance Institute has announced the 13 writers selected for its 2022 Screenwriters Intensive. Now in its 10th year, the Screenwriters Intensive is an annual two-day workshop that invites emerging creatives from historically marginalized backgrounds to develop their first full-length feature film scripts under the guidance of the Institute’s Feature Film Program. The workshop is
Palm Springs International Film Society announced today that the annual Palm Springs International ShortFest, one of the largest showcases of short-form cinema in North America, will return with in-person screenings June 21-27. For this year’s edition veteran programmer, Sudeep Sharma will act as interim 2022 ShortFest Director, with the planned maternity leave of PSIFF Artistic
Artisans are hoping for an Academy Awards do-over before the ceremony begins. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sparked outrage and frustration last week when it revealed plans to award eight craft Oscars before the live telecast and sprinkle footage of those presentations throughout the three-hour show — all to make room for
Pamela Anderson is telling her story, her way, with a new documentary set at Netflix. Anderson announced the news on social media with a handwritten note on Netflix letterhead, which reads: “My life/ A thousand imperfections/ A million misperceptions/ Wicked, wild and lost/ Nothing to live up to /I can only surprise you /Not a
The cultural landscape has reached a state where a new comic book adaptation is unleashed on the public practically every other week, yet the genre can still struggle to offer truly memorable villains for its marquee heroes to battle. That’s almost never been a problem for “Batman” though; the franchise has arguably been defined more
Set to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year, the Cannes Film Festival will likely be presided over by a female executive for the first time ever. Variety has confirmed that Iris Knobloch, the former boss of WarnerMedia France, Germany, Benelux, Austria and Switzerland, is well-positioned to succeed Pierre Lescure who was re-elected for a third
One of my first big initiatives after joining Variety was to launch a weekly franchise called Artisans, a dedicated feature covering the world of the talented craftspeople who toil behind the scenes on every production made in Hollywood and elsewhere: the editors, production designers, costume and makeup artists, sound engineers and other specialists whose contributions
One of California’s leading film festivals returns with a full slate of live screenings, industry panels and starry tributes, offering movie lovers a ray of sunshine in the gloom of COVID. The Santa Barbara Intl. Film Festival (SBIFF) unspools March 2-12, for its 37th year via an in-person program. Although the fest adapted in 2021
Film studio STX has placed a subsidiary company containing the rights to Gerard Butler’s 2020 film “Greenland” into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Filed on Feb. 28 in Louisiana by ErosSTX President and General Counsel Noah Fogelson, the motion asks the bankruptcy court for relief in the form of time — time for STX to pay its
Oscar-winning producer and influential motion picture executive Alan Ladd Jr., who ushered in the “Star Wars” era of motion pictures, died Wednesday. He was 84. “With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Words cannot express how deeply he will
The Roku Channel released a first look image of Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld”) as Madonna in “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” The upcoming biopic will dive into all aspects of the legendary comedian and recording artist’s life and career — including his rise to fame with early hits like “Eat It” and “Like a Surgeon,”
AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron dropped a bombshell this week by announcing the exhibition chain will charge more for tickets to “The Batman” as part of a variable pricing experiment. Tickets to the Robert Pattinson-starring comic book tentpole will be “slightly higher than the prices… for other movies playing in the same theaters at the
Nu Boyana Film Studios, the Bulgarian production facility where Hollywood blockbusters including “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” and “The Expendables” were shot, has re-launched its production training initiative Film Forge. The first course, a week-long workshop in production design, launches on March 7 with another one for camera, grip and lighting assistants set to follow (dates TBC).
Following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, Trafalgar Releasing has set a May worldwide cinema release for Andrew Dominik’s “This Much I Know to Be True.” Shot on location in London and Brighton, the film captures the creative relationship of revered musicians Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ as they bring to life the
Brad Pitt is coming in for the kill. Sony Pictures has released the official trailer for “Bullet Train,” a new action thriller starring Pitt and directed by “Atomic Blonde” and “Deadpool 2” filmmaker David Leitch. Based on the novel “Maria Beetle” by Kōtarō Isaka, “Bullet Train” stars Pitt as Ladybug, an experienced assassin who boards
Just one day after thieves stole more than $200,000 worth of props from “The Crown” set on Feb. 24, Netflix became victim to a second heist during the French shoot for “Lupin.” Variety has confirmed that a robbery took place in a neighborhood in Nanterre, on the outskirts of Paris, where the hit show was
Revered Indian filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s hugely anticipated epic based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s classic Tamil-language novel “Ponniyin Selvan” has set a release date and first images have been released. The first part of the two-part historical film, titled “PS-1,” will release in cinemas worldwide on Sept. 30 in the Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages.
Lady Gaga may not have been nominated for an Oscar for her work in “House of Gucci,” but that doesn’t mean she won’t be busy the night of the big show. Gaga has signed on to co-host the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards viewing party alongside Billy Porter, Eric McCormack and David Furnish. The
The Venice Biennale, which is the multidisciplinary arts organization behind the Venice Film Festival, has announced that in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the fest plans to bar Russian delegations but not independent Russian filmmakers and their works. The Biennale “intends to express its full support to all the Ukrainian people and their
Alice Cabañas has been appointed the new head of the BFI Network. She will lead the network’s U.K.-wide talent development programme, overseeing management, funding, digital platforms and professional development programmes. Cabañas is joining as the BFI is developing a 10-year funding strategy in consultation with the industry and the public which will explore how best