Movies

Denzel Washington never saw a production of “Macbeth” in high school or college. So when he was offered the titular role in Shakespeare’s great tragedy, which he’d only read in the past two years, he wanted to make sure that he could wrap his head around how director Joel Coen would shoot the film with

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” continues to sling its way to box-office records. But more than half of U.S. consumers say they are still uncomfortable going to movie theaters amid an uptick in COVID cases. Americans’ moviegoing comfort levels have hovered around 50% since October 2021, after peaking last year at 55% on July 4, according

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Disney’s “Encanto” is a global sensation. Besides trending on social media, topping the music charts, and being played on repeat in every household with kids (and unapologetic Disney adults), the music and the movie seem to be capturing the zeitgeist. So how does a sensation like “Bruno” not get

Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up,” which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as a pair of scientists trying to convince the world to take an extinction-level astroid seriously, has broken records at Netflix. In its second week on the streaming platform, the disaster movie has recorded 152,290,000 hours streamed between Dec. 27 and Jan 2,

Theatrical box office in four of the biggest territories in Asia-Pacific grew by nearly 64% in the first months of 2021, to hit $8.22 billion, said S&P Global Market Intelligence. The gain was achieved despite the ongoing negative impact of coronavirus on cinema operations and on film release schedules. S&P Global Market Intelligence, which is

A talky and lethargic home-invasion thriller, “The Commando” amounts to an inept crime drama stuffed with banal dialogue and irrelevant supporting characters to pad its feature-length running time. Even Mickey Rourke devotees will find the movie exhausting, since the actor disappears from the film after the first 20 minutes and doesn’t return until the anti-climactic

Groundbreaking director Christopher Nolan is returning to the backdrop of WWII with his 12th film, “Oppenheimer,” a star-studded biographical drama depicting the life of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the creation of the atomic bomb. Though exact plot details are being kept under wraps, the movie is based on Kai Bird and

Paolo Sorrentino had the idea for “The Hand of God” in mind for many years, but he wasn’t ready to write the screenplay, “until a couple of years ago,” he admits. The film is his most personal yet as it tells the story of Fabietto Schisa, an awkward Italian teen whose life and vibrant, eccentric

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” will keep trouncing its competition at the domestic box office well into the new year. Though Universal’s star-studded thriller “The 355,” the first major release of 2022, is opening nationwide, Spidey will have no trouble staying atop the charts in its fourth weekend of release. Over the weekend, “Spider-Man: No Way

The Sundance Film Festival has scrapped its plans for an in-person gathering for 2022, and will press on as an exclusively virtual event. After a protracted nail-biter, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has proven too overwhelming for a planned physical return to Sundance’s luxurious setting in Park City, Utah. It was scheduled to take place

Jon Stewart took to social media to correct a viral news story about his feelings toward the depiction of goblins in J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” franchise. A clip from Stewart’s “The Problem with Jon Stewart” podcast published in December 2021 went viral this week for drawing a comparison between the “Harry Potter” goblins depicted and

“Cyrano” star Kelvin Harrison Jr. will next embody American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in a new project from director Julius Onah. Harrison and Onah previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed drama “Luce,” which nabbed best male lead and best director nominations at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Developed and financed by Endeavor Content, the biographical

Bradley Cooper has skyrocketed to stardom in the last 20 years since making his film debut in David Wain’s cult classic, “Wet Hot American Summer” (2001). Cooper got his Hollywood bearings in comedies like “Wedding Crashers” (2005), as the jerk boyfriend Sack in the Golden Globe winner for best comedy, and “The Hangover” (2009), as

Whether they’re low-budget handheld flicks, blockbuster thrillers or long-awaited sequels, one thing we can always count on is the shriek-inducing joy of horror movies. From franchise expansions (“Scream,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) to new terrors (“Fresh,” “Don’t Worry Darling”), there’s plenty to look forward to in next year’s horror slate. Genre veteran Stephen King’s 1975 novel

BAFTA is expanding its North American operations with the launch of a single North America board, which unites the organization’s New York and Los Angeles entities. Kathryn Busby, president of original programming at Starz, has been appointed the inaugural chair of the board. She will be joined by actor Elliot Knight and Karl Stewart, CEO

The bridge fight scene in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” between Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) has already become an iconic set piece in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and creating it was a Herculean task that wouldn’t have been possible to achieve a few years ago. “Shooting in Atlanta, we had didn’t have

AGBO, the entertainment company founded and controlled by “Avengers: Endgame” filmmakers Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, has sold a minority stake for $400 million to Tokyo-based game maker Nexon. The deal values AGBO at $1.1 billion. AGBO was established by the Russo brothers and their producing partner Mike Larocca in 2017 and has created such

Running Jan. 14-Feb. 14, this year’s MyFrenchFilmFestival, an online fest organized by France’s film-TV promotional body UniFrance, will mark its 12th edition with a more diversified slate and a greater international push. Showcasing festival gems, animated crowd-pleasers and outré genre fare – all subtitled in 15 languages – the 13 features and 17 shorts of

Gal Gadot’s “Cleopatra” remake is moving ahead with “The Falcon and the Winter Solider” filmmaker Kari Skogland replacing Patty Jenkins as director. The project generated controversy when it was first announced in December 2020 due to Gadot’s casting as the iconic Egyptian queen. The “Wonder Woman” and “Red Notice” star is an Israeli actor playing

The value of U.K. home entertainment grew 13.3% in 2021 to £3.7 billion ($5.01 billion) in 2021, according to numbers released by the British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE). Based on data from the Official Charts Company, Futuresource Consulting, Omdia and Kantar, the figures show that James Bond film “No Time To Die” was the

South Korean cinema last year squeezed out a gain of 14% compared with 2020, but 2021’s major box office honors went to foreign movies, not the normally dominant local film sector. Aggregate gross revenues hit KRW584 billion ($488 million) in 2021, earned from 60.5 million ticket sales, according to Kobis, the data service operated by

The new media venture run by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs finally has a name. It has been christened Candle Media, the pair announced on Tuesday while confirming their deal to buy a minority stake in Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Inc. The Smiths’ company produced the Oscar-contender “King Richard,”

A December 2021 episode of Jon Stewart’s “The Problem with Jon Stewart” podcast is making headlines for the host’s takedown of J.K. Rowling and the depiction of goblins in the author’s “Harry Potter” franchise. In the “Harry Potter” universe, goblins work at and run the Gringotts Bank. Stewart drew a comparison between the goblins depicted

When Michael Keaton returns to his famous Batman/Bruce Wayne role in the upcoming Warner Bros. tentpole “The Flash,” it will mark 29 years since he last played the Caped Crusader on the big screen. Keaton walked away during the development of “Batman Forever,” which saw Joel Schumacher taking over directing duties from the actor’s “Batman”

Aaron Sorkin slammed U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene during a visit to “The Late Late Show With James Corden” this week. Greene’s personal Twitter account was permanently suspended over the weekend after she violated the streaming platform’s COVID misinformation rules for a fifth time. Twitter has a five-strike system in which it bans users after

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has revealed its plans for how the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards will be announced on Sunday. The very stripped-down version event will still take place January 9, 2022, from the Beverly Hilton, but without the usual pomp and circumstance. Instead, the event, which will take place at 6 p.m.

Chris Evans is in talks to step into the shoes of legendary actor Gene Kelly in a developing film project produced by John Logan, Variety has confirmed. According to a source close to the project, the untitled film is based on Evans’ original idea in which a 12-year-old boy who works on the MGM Lot in

For more than 30 years, Sony Corp. has faced speculation about its long-term commitment to entertainment. But under the leadership of chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida, the company has been in entertainment-acquisition mode, notably with its $1.2 billion purchase of anime streaming platform Crunchyroll in August and the takeover of India’s Zee Entertainment last month. The

Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o is the latest celebrity to test positive for COVID-19, a diagnosis which forced the star to cancel virtual interviews for her new movie “The 355.” Nyong’o shared news of her test results on social media, tweeting, “I too have tested positive for COVID-19. I’m fully vaccinated and taking care in isolation,

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Inc. has closed a deal to sell a minority stake to the media venture run by former Disney executives Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer. The company, which produces the popular “Red Table Talk” on Facebook Watch and backed the inspirational drama “King Richard,” was previously in talks to