Movies

Disney’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ruled the domestic box office again while Clint Eastwood’s Western drama “Cry Macho” and Gerard Butler’s R-rated action-thriller “Copshop” crumbled in their debuts, highlighting the disparity between the kind of movies people are willing to venture out to see during the pandemic. “Shang-Chi,” the first Marvel

Ian de la Rosa, a co-writer on HBO Max hit “Veneno,” has boarded “Las Líneas Discontinuas,” the second feature of Spain’s Anxos Fazáns (“A Estación Violenta”) and one of the first titles at Sétima, the Galicia production house she has set up with producer Silvia Fuentes. De la Rosa, director of “Victor xx,” an ESCAC

“Camila Comes Out at Night,” which plays in main competition this weekend at San Sebastián, begins with teen Camila in a museum, gazing at a ancient photo. It’s of an indigenous Paraguayan girl, Niña Ache, who was captured by colonialists, made to work as a servant and finally interned in a psychiatric ward for her

After months with few significant new Hollywood releases, both “Dune” and ‘No Time to Die’ finalized their China opening dates on Sunday, officially confirming their outing in the world’s largest film market at a time when other major studio titles have been given the cold shoulder. The two films will hit in successive October weekends.

Celebrated Andalusian production house La Claqueta, headed by producer Olmo Figueredo, will produce “Bella,” the debut animated feature from Spanish director Manuel H. Martín – with whom the company previously produced the award-winning documentary “30 Years of Darkness” and “El viaje mas largo,” and celebrated VFX supervisor Amparo Martínez Barco (“Marshland,” “The Head”). Martín also

Variety has been given exclusive first access to Agustín Banchero’s debut Uruguayan feature “Hilda’s Short Summer,” sold by FiGa Films and premiering in the New Directors section at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival on Sunday, Sept. 19. “Hilda’s Short Summer” is produced by Tarkiofilm’s Virginia Bogliolo in Uruguay and Clarissa Guarilla from Brazil’s Arissas.

Lesli Linka Glatter, a veteran TV director of shows such as “Homeland” and “Mad Men,” was elected president of the Directors Guild of America on Saturday night. Glatter will succeed Thomas Schlamme, the “West Wing” veteran who stepped down after two terms. She becomes the second woman ever to serve as president, following Martha Coolidge,

Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” won the People’s Choice Award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The Platform Jury prize went to “Yuni,” directed by Kamila Andini, while the People’s Choice Documentary Award winner went to “The Rescue,” directed by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. The People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award went to “Titane,” directed

Oscar-winning French actor Marion Cotillard spoke about the “revolution” led by women to shake up the patriarchy since the start of #MeToo at the San Sebastian Film Festival where she received the Donostia Award for career achievement on Friday’s opening night. “For the past several years, the subordination of women has become increasingly unacceptable in

Production designer Laura Fox, who transformed the Four Seasons Maui into an uneasy pineapple-bedecked paradise for HBO’s “The White Lotus” faced some similar challenges when creating the world of Tammy Faye Bakker for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” Neither director Michael Showalter, nor producer-actress Jessica Chastain, who plays the title character, wanted to make fun

Disney is ruling the domestic box office this weekend. In its third weekend, Marvel and Disney’s “Shang-Chi” is set to remain in the No. 1 spot with an estimated gross of $20 million to $22 million, bringing its total earnings to a staggering $175 million to $177 million. On Friday, the superhero adventure starring Simu

Eva Longoria laughs when asked about the toughest challenge she faced when shooting “Flamin’ Hot,” her feature film directorial debut about  Richard Montañez, the man largely credited with the creation of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. “The New Mexico heat,” Longoria says of shooting for five months in the Southwestern state. “So hot! There were days the

A week after taking the Volpi Cup best actress award at the Venice Film Festival, Penelope Cruz and her “Official Competition” co-stars Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez were in San Sebastian on Friday evening for the film’s Spanish premiere, where the trio hosted a press conference joined on stage by producer Jaume Roures, CEO at

Buenos Aires-based sales and production company FilmSharks International has snatched world sales rights to Patagonik title “Cato,” outside of Latin America, which Disney’s Star Distribution will handle. The Walt Disney Company owns a significant stake in the Patagonik Film Group. FilmSharks subsidiary, The Remake Company, will also handle remake rights. “We are so pleased to

Variety has been given exclusive access to the international trailer for its San Sebastian world premiering workplace comedy “The Good Boss,” starring Javier Bardem and produced by Reposado P.C. and The Mediapro Studio. Offbeat and ironic, Fernando León de Aranoa’s “The Good Boss” is one of this year’s most highly anticipated titles set to premiere

There haven’t been a lot of sharp rock ‘n’ roll satires in recent years, with “This Is Spinal Tap” perhaps having set the bar too high for future contenders to trisk following in its platform bootsteps. But “The Nowhere Inn,” a new movie starring and written by St. Vincent and Carrie Brownstein, boldly offers a

“Jagged” is a sharp, lively, and entertaining deep-dive-into-the-archive music documentary. It tells the story of Alanis Morissette’s rise, and of how she took over (and changed) the pop music landscape, in 1995, with the release of “Jagged Little Pill.” The album went on to sell 33 million copies; it remains the second biggest-selling album of

Chris Petrikin has stepped down from his role as executive vice president of global communications and corporate branding at Paramount Pictures. His exit comes on the heels of the announcement this week that ViacomCBS is replacing studio chief Jim Gianopulos with Nickelodeon head Brian Robbins. More executives are expected to follow him out the door

Director Steve McQueen has followed up on “Small Axe,” last year’s narrative anthology series about West Indian immigrants in London, with another series about Black British history: “Uprising,” a three-part documentary series about three related events in 1981 — the New Cross house fire, Black People’s Day of Action and the Brixton riots. The series,

Indie Sales has scored a flurry of deals Bruno Dumont’s “France” with Lea Seydoux which world premiered in competition at Cannes and played in Toronto. Dumont’s 11th feature film, “France” stars Seydoux as France, a glamorous TV star journalist juggling a primetime news show and a chaotic family life. Her frantic high-profile world is suddenly

Vicente Canales’ Film Factory Entertainment has sold Icíar Bollaín’s San Sebastian Festival-bound Basque reconciliation drama “Maixabel” to Germany, striking a deal with Berlin-based distributor Piffl Medien. The film is set to make its theatrical release in Spain on Sept. 24 via Buena Vista Intl. World premiering in San Sebastian’s main competition this weekend, Bollaín’s film – which

Los Angeles-based producer Thomas Augsberger is launching ERM Docs, a new documentary division at his Eden Rock Music label whose first title, “Reinventing Mirazur,” will world premiere at the San Sebastian Festival. A portrait of the extraordinary daring of Argentine-born chef Mauro Colagreco whose three Michelin star restaurant, Mirazur, on France’s Mediterranean coast, was awarded

In one of the more effective scenes in “Copshop,” a hitman, played with psychotic geek gusto by Toby Huss (rocking a Ben Davidson mustache), strolls into a desert police station in Nevada carrying a bouquet of birthday balloons. He kills several cops, and he ends up walking down a hall blasting away — with a

For anyone who — toward the end of a long, loud, fractious familial gathering at Christmas — has ever fleetingly wished death on their nearest and dearest, “Silent Night” is an uncomfortable sort of wish-fulfilment exercise. Near the beginning of Camille Griffin’s ambitious, genre-melding debut feature, Keira Knightley’s stressed hostess announces that this year’s holiday

The first trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s psychological thriller “Nightmare Alley” has arrived. The film, in theaters on Dec. 17, follows Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), an ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words, as he meets Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), a psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than

Over four decades of acting, Richard E. Grant had never done drag until he was cast in the new feature “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” premiering Sept. 17 on Amazon. Grant plays Loco Chanelle, a mentor to young Jamie (Max Harwood), a 16-year-old who dreams of becoming a drag queen. But what exactly is Richard E.

Jane Powell, who starred as an angelically visaged young actress in a number of MGM musicals including “Royal Wedding” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” during the 1940s and ’50s, has died of natural causes. She was 92. The blonde, blue-eyed Powell usually played characters with a gentle mischievous streak in her musical comedies, but

Selma Blair has been in pain her entire life, enduring bladder surgeries during her suburban Michigan childhood, getting unnecessary root canals as an adult and periodically even losing her vision. She had, and still has, ceaseless muscular-skeletal pain, and muscle contractions called dystonia in her neck that affect her speech. Blair just thought it was

Filmmakers and stars Elizabeth Banks and David Wain of “Wet Hot American Summer” are reuniting for a new movie musical at Amazon Studios. Wain is directing the project, titled “Where the Fore Are We?”, and will produce with Banks and partner Max Handelman via their Brownstone Productions. Wain wrote the script with Zach Reino and

As the 2021 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival wraps up, its third annual Tribute Awards are set to take place on Sept. 18. This year’s honorees include Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), director Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog” and “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain”), special