Movies

“I’d direct an Agent Smith origin story,” Jane Schoenbrun tossed out on X, formerly known as Twitter, on the morning of April 3. The shout-out to the AI antagonist of “The Matrix” was posted in the hours after Warner Bros. announced a fifth film in the science-fiction franchise, with writer-director Drew Goddard taking the reins

Adam Driver is on the edge in the first official teaser for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis.” “Megalopolis,” which will premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, has been a project years in the making for the director, who first began work on the screenplay in the 1980s. The legendary filmmaker behind “The Godfather” and

Action romance is a tricky genre to master — it requires the right balance of heart and spectacle. But when done well, à la “True Lies” or “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” it will live on forever in the rewatch rotation. Stunt coordinator-turned-director David Leitch has launched cars straight into the air and staged fight scenes

A half-century ago when George Lucas decided to make “Star Wars,” a core visual effects team was handed a sizable challenge: Figure out a believable way to transport audiences to a galaxy far, far away. Essential to that goal was the development of a new type of motion control camera system: built in a Van

The summer box office isn’t exactly starting with a bang. Universal’s action-romance “The Fall Guy,” starring Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stuntman courting a rising director played by Emily Blunt, earned $10.4 million from 4,002 locations on its opening day, a figure that includes $3 million and change from preview screenings. The feature is now

The morning of the “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” premiere, stars of the film Peter Macon and Ras-Samuel discovered they were staying at the same hotel while getting breakfast. And when they met eyes from either end of the buffet line, they did not greet each other with a wave or a simple

Bollywood A-list actor Kareena Kapoor Khan has been appointed national ambassador for India by humanitarian organization UNICEF. UNICEF has been operating in India for 75 years and Kapoor Khan has been serving as the org’s celebrity advocate since 2014. In her new role the actor will support UNICEF India in furthering every child’s right to

Elaine Epstein says that winning Hot Docs Forum’s top First Look prize of Can $20,000 cash for her film “Arrest the Midwife” is a “game changer.” The project, which has been on a close to year-long hiatus, will now finally be able to resume due to the award. “The last money we raised was 10

During a Distribution Advocates podcast recording at Hot Docs, producer/director Amy Hobby announced a new documentary $200,000 grant called The Marketing Innovations Fund, which will go to independent distributors. Hobby co-founded Distribution Advocates in 2020 alongside Abby Sun, Avril Speaks, Carlos Gutierrez and Karin Chien. The organization “works to collectively reclaim power for independent storytellers

Pauly Shore once again addressed his in-development Richard Simmons biopic that has become a hot topic. “I’m also gonna be starring in the Richard Simmons biopic…whether he likes it or not, Richard,” Shore said at his Netflix Is a Joke show at the Comedy Store Friday night in Los Angeles. “Just another fucking bump in

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees ended its first week of “general” negotiations on a new contract on Friday, and will resume next week. The union spent most of the week focused on its benefit plans, which are facing a $670 million shortfall over the next three years. The Motion Picture Industry Pension and

Hollywood’s next bidding war is about to erupt. “Eruption,” the much-discussed upcoming volcano disaster novel from the late Michael Crichton and James Patterson, is about to be brought to auction, attracting a large group of suitors keen on landing the sought-after film rights. The auction, being conducted by Shane Salerno at the Story Factory and

Nishta Jain’s “Farming the Revolution” has won Hot Docs’ Best International Feature Documentary Award, it was announced Friday at the festival’s awards ceremony, held in Toronto at the Centre for Social Innovation–Annex. Produced by Jain (Raintree Films) and Valérie Montmartin (Little Big Story) and co-directed by cinematographer Akash Basumatari, the film follows the massive year-long

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses plot elements from “The Fall Guy,” now playing in theaters. Long before Taylor Swift embarked on the Eras Tour, director David Leitch and producer Kelly McCormick had the idea to use “All Too Well” as a key moment in “The Fall Guy.” McCormick, a self-professed Swiftie, and Leitch were trying

Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated drama “Io Capitano,” about the odyssey of two young African men who decide to leave Dakar to reach Europe, and Paola Cortellesi’s feminist dramedy “There’s Still Tomorrow” were both the big winners at Italy’s 69th David di Donatello Awards. “Io Capitano” won Davids for best picture, director, producers, editor, and cinematographer, among

Longtime Vanity Fair editor Britt Hennemuth is departing his role as the publication’s West coast director to join Universal Pictures. Hennemuth has been named senior vice president of production development and special projects at the studio, where he will work with Universal’s creative team to “develop and oversee production on projects, foster connections with talent,

A muse, a mother, a fashionista, an actor, a rock ‘n’ roll icon — it’s hard to describe exactly why Anita Pallenberg remains such a compelling figure more than a half-century after the captivating blonde sang backing vocals on the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” and starred in movies like “Performance” and “Barbarella.” The

The summer movie season kicks off in theaters this month with “The Fall Guy,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Furiosa” and more big budget studio tentpoles. Streaming platforms are also going big with buzzy originals (from Prime Video’s “The Idea of You,” starring Anne Hathaway, to Netflix’s star-studded comedy “Unfrosted”) as well as

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired worldwide rights to the documentary film “Somm: Cup of Salvation,” an exploration into the world of wine. “Cup of Salvation” is the fourth film in the “Somm” documentary series. It follows a father and daughter on a mission to resurrect the forgotten grapes of their Armenian homeland. Their journey brings

The child actors from “Mrs. Doubtfire“ recently reunited nearly 31 years after the movie’s release for a joint interview on the “Brotherly Love” podcast, where Lisa Jakub revealed that Robin Williams wrote a letter to her school principal when she got expelled for taking time off to star in the blockbuster comedy film (via Entertainment Weekly).

Breakfast is often called the most important meal of the day. It’s also long been a fixture of Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy — from “The Tonight Show” routines about Cookie Crisp to the Honeycomb and Raisin Bran boxes lining the shelves of his cupboards on “Seinfeld.” His directorial debut, “Unfrosted,” brings the obsession full circle, chronicling

After months of M&A talks, Paramount Global and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone might be going it alone after all — for now. Insiders tell Variety that the expectation at the company is that neither of the two offers in play — Skydance Media-RedBird Capital Partners and Sony Pictures Entertainment-Apollo Global Management — will come to

The American Film Institute is accepting applications for this year’s Cinematography Intensive for Women, presented by Panavision. Led by AFI Conservatory Cinematography Discipline Head Stephen Lighthill, the intensive will take place July 27- 30 at the AFI Campus in Los Angeles. The tuition-free, four-day workshop is designed for aspiring cinematographers committed to their journey toward

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses plot elements from “The Idea of You,” which is now streaming on Prime Video. “Don’t you miss those bombastic, blown out pop choruses of the 2010s?” asks Savan Kotecha, the executive producer behind the music of August Moon — the fictional boy band at the center of “The Idea of

This semester, I’m teaching a course on priests, nuns, and monks in film at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television in Los Angeles. The most common question people ask after I tell them this — after “Why,” of course — is “Who are the top priests, nuns, and monks in the movies?” Below

John Leguizamo said during an interview on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM radio show that it was “difficult” working with Patrick Swayze on their 1995 movie “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.” The cult classic starred Leguizamo, Swayze and Wesley Snipes as three drag queens whose road trip across America to attend a competition in

Ryan Gosling is back at the box office, but he’s ditching his “Barbie” fur coat for a stuntman’s jumpsuit. His latest movie, “The Fall Guy,” has arrived in theaters and made $3.15 million in Thursday previews at the box office. The film is expected to open around $30 million this weekend, with some estimates as

Oscar-winning actor Michelle Yeoh is among this year’s 19 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the White House announced Friday. The Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented annually, is the nation’s highest civilian honor, bestowed on individuals “who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace or

The demise of disco was greatly accelerated by the cultural impact of the infamous Disco Demolition Night of 1979 in Chicago’s Comiskey Park. While rockers have used the word in a pejorative sense for years, DJs, artists, impresarios, and aficionados know that disco—both the genre and the subculture—not only has deep roots but has lived

 FilmNation and Charades are teaming up to present “Alpha,” the new film from Julia Ducournau, to buyers at Cannes. It’s the same place where Ducournau caused a sensation with 2021’s “Titane,” her subversive and divisive body horror film, which won the  Palme d’Or, the festival’s top award. Ducournau became the second female director to win