Movies

International sales, distribution and production company Axxon Media has picked up a troika of films ahead of Berlinale. Leading the pack is Askar Uzabayev’s “Happiness” (“Bakhyt”) from Kazakhstan, which world premieres in the festival’s Panorama section. Making its market debut at the EFM is Algeria-set “Soula,” written and directed by Salah Issaad, a contender at the Red

Rapidly emerging as one of Spain’s foremost hothouses for new producer and creative talent, the ECAM Madrid Film School’s Incubator program has chosen five titles for its 2022 program: “Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes,” “Disposable,” “Macrame,” “Festina Lente” and “Ripli.” Launched to connect early career talent in Spain with Europe’s film industry,

Reconstruction in documentary filmmaking is an eternally divisive technique: What some deem vivid and immediate, others find distancing and artificial, cloaking and blurring reality in the language of fiction cinema. Yet what if the reconstructions don’t just feature the documentary’s real-life subjects, but are expressly conceived and realized by them — not recreating reality so

Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the Iranian auteur who is a leading voice in art house film, says independent cinema is dying in the era of streaming video. Makhmalbaf, director of Cannes prize winner “Kandahar,” Sitges and Tokyo winner “Gabbeh” and Venice winner “The Silence,” says that while streaming presents an opportunity to show a film to many

“Hail Mary,” a modern-day biblical fantasy that upends the mythology of Mary and Joseph, is in the works. “House of Gucci” actor Jack Huston and Angela Sarafyan of “Westworld” will star in the movie, which is currently in production in Mexico City. Additional cast members include newcomers Natalia del Riego and Benny Emmanuel. Rosemary Rodriguez,

When “Nanny” writer-director Nikyatu Jusu got a message from the Sundance team in late January asking to jump on a call, the first time filmmaker realized that the project must’ve won an award, which would be presented publicly the next day. First, Jusu thought that the prize might go to the film’s star Anna Diop,

The medic who rushed to help “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after Hutchins was shot on set last fall has filed a negligence lawsuit against several crew members and the film’s production entity. Cherlyn Schaefer was summoned to the church building at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, N.M., on Oct. 21, after the film’s

Put away the collection plate, “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul” finally has a buyer. Focus Features, Peacock and Jordan Peele’s MonkeyPaw Productions have acquired worldwide rights to the megachurch satire starring Sterling K. Brown and Regina Hall. The deal was worth a reported $8.5 million. The movie, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival to

Steven Soderbergh’s directorial career has included Oscar-winning dramas (“Traffic,” “Eric Brockovich”), science-fiction mind-benders (“Solaris”), heist comedies (“Ocean’s Eleven”), historical epics (“Che”) and more, but he has never crossed over into making a Hollywood superhero tentpole. Don’t expect him too, either. Speaking to The Daily Beast ahead of the streaming release of his new thriller “Kimi,”

At some point in the past decade, Hollywood stopped looking at the burgeoning Chinese box office as found money and instead embraced the theatrical market’s windfall for what it has become: a necessity. Today, whether or not blockbuster plays in China could mean the difference between hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket sales. That

Lena Dunham’s Sundance entry “Sharp Stick” has been acquired by small indie distributor Utopia for U.S. rights. Utopia plans a theatrical release later this year. The film, which follows a young woman’s unexpected quest of sexual exploration and self-discovery, marks Dunham’s first feature in 12 years since her breakout “Tiny Furniture.” “Sharp Stick” stars Kristine

Lionsgate will distribute a new Michael Jackson biopic that will be produced by “Bohemian Rhapsody’s” Graham King. The film is being made with the cooperation of the Michael Jackson estate, which may impact how it deals with the multiple allegations of child sexual abuse that were brought against the King of Pop over the course

Audrey Diwan’s “Happening,” Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” and Terence Davies’s “Benediction” won top prizes at the 2022 ICS Awards, which are handed out by the International Cinephile Society. This 19th edition marked a milestone with female talents winning best picture, director, animated film, documentary, debut feature, breakthrough

Village Roadshow sued Warner Bros. on Monday, alleging that the studio sabotaged the theatrical release of “The Matrix Resurrections” in order to drive subscribers to HBO Max. The suit stems from Warner Bros.’ controversial move to release its entire 2021 theatrical slate simultaneously on its streaming service, including “Dune,” “The Suicide Squad” and “King Richard.”

Timed to the Screen Actors Guild Awards’ voting period, Variety is rolling out a digital Voters’ Guide on Feb. 7, called Awards Circuit Down to the Wire, focused solely on the SAG Awards nominees. Use the Screen Actors Guild Awards’ Voters’ Guide to help navigate the nominations. SAG Awards voting closes on Feb. 25 12 p.m.

Chris Huvane, a partner and manager at Hollywood firm Management 360 and former magazine editor and PR executive, died Sunday night. He was 47. The cause was an apparent suicide, according to Deadline. Huvane had been open about his battles with depression. He is survived by two brothers: Slate PR partner Stephen Huvane and CAA

“The Smurfs” empire will continue to expand. Multiple feature films based on the Smurfs, as well as another season of the original television series, have been put into development, Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation announced on Monday. A renewed emphasis on the tiny blue creatures is the result of a new creative partnership with LAFIG

Longtime ICM Partners agent Jeff Barry has joined Range Media Partners, where he will head up the company’s international TV department. He arrives at the management company — founded by a trove of top representatives who defected from the legacy agencies over the past two years — as a partner. He will be tasked with

John Williams turns 90 years old on Feb. 8. And the world’s most famous film composer shows no signs of slowing down. The five-time Oscar winner, creator of many of the most well-known movie themes of all time — everything from “Jaws” and “Star Wars” to “E.T.” and “Harry Potter” — is finishing work on

France’s Anamaria Vartolomei, star of Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner “Happening”; Ireland’s Clare Dunne, whose character in AMC’s Dublin-set series “Kin” has been dubbed “the female Tony Soprano”; and Croatia’s Gracija Filipovic, who made a splash in Alamat Kusijanovic’s “Murina,” winner of the 2021 Cannes Camera d’Or, are among the 10 young actors selected

National Geographic is sending Will Smith to both ends of the Earth. The programmer announced Monday that it has ordered the non-fiction series “Pole to Pole,” which follows Smith on a journey from the South Pole to the North Pole. “Pole to Pole” is part of an extensive slate of new content that Nat Geo

European cinema admissions rose an estimated 38% in 2021, with over 590 million total tickets sold, generating a 42% rise in box office to €3.7 billion ($4.2 billion) compared with the all-time low year of 2020. The preliminary figures were released on Monday by the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), the trade org representing European

The Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School is set to launch a Series Lab with the support of Netflix and VIS Social Impact, ViacomCBS International Studios’ new cause-driven production division. Hagai Levi, the creator of “In Treatment” and “The Affair,” has joined the new program as artistic advisor. For the last decade, the film school has

“The Wife” director Björn Runge was at Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival over the weekend to tease his stars-packed passionate Swedish drama “Burn All My Letters” which SF Studios is producing. Runge was on the ground at the festival’s industry sidebar along with his producer Annika Sucksdorff, and lead actors Asta Kamma August (“The Pact”) and

“Breaking Point,” a feature about breakdancing from the directors of hit film “StreetDance 3D” will get its sales launch at EFM. Directed by Dania Pasquini and Max Guia, who helmed both “StreetDance 3D” and “StreetDance 2,” “Breaking Point” is described as “an adrenaline fuelled, high energy deep dive into the world of breakdancing.” HanWay Films

Darkland Distribution, an imprint of U.K.’s Parkland, has picked up British sci-fi thriller “Deus.” As well as acquiring the U.K. and North American distribution rights, Darkland will represent worldwide international sales rights to the film, described as a “provocative and thought-provoking” sci-fi thriller. “Deus” is written and directed by British Independent Film Award winner Steve

In a new series, Variety catches up with the directors of the films shortlisted for the International Feature Film Oscar to discuss their road to the awards, what they’ve learned so far, and what’s taken them off guard. Laura Wandel is the auteur behind “Playground” (“Un Monde”), her first feature, about the reality of schoolyard

Helen Mirren, who plays Israeli prime minister Golda Meir in an upcoming biopic, has broken her silence on the debate around her casting. “Golda,” which wrapped in December and also stars “Call My Agent’s” Camille Cottin, is directed by Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv (“Skin”). However, there was disquiet over the casting around the time the

China’s giant Tencent Video has begun playing David Fincher’s classic “Fight Club” with its original dystopian ending now intact. The move to restore the final scenes comes barely two weeks after it emerged that the ending of the film as it played on Chinese streaming had been changed so that law and order prevail. There

Patriotic blockbuster “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” earned just short of $400 million over the Chinese New Year holidays at a mainland China box office that weighed in at some $950 million. Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed “Lake Changjin II” earning $152 million over the Friday to Sunday weekend, comfortably ahead of comedy