Movies

Jane Withers, a former child star known for her roles in “Bright Eyes” and “Ginger” and as the commercial character Josephine the Plumber, has died. She was 95. Withers’ death was confirmed by her daughter, Kendall Errair. She died Saturday evening surrounded by her loved ones in Burbank, Calif. The cause of death was not

The list of major Hollywood tentpoles that have released in the U.S. in the past month but not yet fixed a China release date is growing ever longer — an issue of significant concern to industry players on both sides of the Pacific. “Black Widow,” “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” “Jungle Cruise” and now “The

Warner Bros. Pictures is considering legal action against “Line of Duty” showrunner Jed Mercurio over his new graphic novel “Sleeper.” Warner Bros., via their subsidiary DC Comics, own the rights to another graphic novel called “Sleeper,” written by Ed Brubaker and illustrated by Sean Phillips. It was released in 2003 and has been considered for

Valentin Merz’s “De Noche los Gatos Son Pardos” scooped the biggest prize, the Cinegrell First Look Award, at this year’s Locarno Festival First Look pix-in-post competition, one of its industry centerpieces. Now in its tenth edition, First Look’s focus this year was Switzerland with a jury and industry audience given the chance to preview six

“The Suicide Squad,” the very R-rated comic book adaptation directed by James Gunn, underwhelmed in its box office debut, collecting $26.5 million from 4,002 North American theaters. Those ticket sales were easily enough to lead domestic box office charts despite falling short of expectations heading into the weekend. There were several factors contributing to its

Since the “PAW Patrol” series began airing in 2013, we’ve seen the heroic pooches and their fearless 10-year-old leader go on a pirate adventure, rescue dinosaurs and tangle with various other foes in their fictional, idyllic world. In the real world, the show has left its mark on the pop-culture zeitgeist with bountiful merchandise deals

Few phenomena in Spanish film have proved so striking in recent years as the emergence last decade of a new generation of Catalan filmmakers, very often women, making resonant movies grounded in highly specific local realities. Think Clara Simon’s “Summer 1993,” a Berlin First Feature Award winner, or Pilar Palomero’s “Schoolgirls,” which walked off with

Legendary French actor Denis Lavant, best known for his collaborations with “Annette” director Leos Carax, has found the latest role he will disappear into. Lavant is set to star in “Blood Burn,” a French-Georgian gangster thriller which is currently being presented in the Locarno Film Festival’s Alliance 4 Development program. The film hails from first-time

Two on-the-rise directors, Maria Perez Sanz (“Karen”) and Maddi Barber (“Land Underwater”), have signed on to direct episodes in “Present,” a singular exploration by Spain’s Garde of a new generation of women artists, both cineastes and writers, who broke out last decade. Part of a broader literary-film project, “This Is Not a Poem” (“Esto no

“Val,” the new Amazon doc about the life of actor Val Kilmer, premiered on Wednesday night at the DGA in West Hollywood. Co-directors Leo Scott and Ting Poo assembled the film from footage that Kilmer shot over several decades. “This is over 50 years in the making,” Val’s son Jack told Variety. Daughter Mercedes said

“The Suicide Squad” star Joel Kinnaman has been granted a temporary restraining order against model Bella Davis, alleging that she has tried to “extort money” from him and has threatened physical harm to his family. Davis, a Swedish-Jamaican model whose real name is Gabriella Magnusson, has accused Kinnaman of raping her in 2018 in New

HBO Europe and Berlin-based Dreamer Joint Venture Filmproduction have boarded “Trust Me,” Joanna Ratajczak’s probing doc feature on a real life couple’s experimentation with an open relationship. “Trust Me” will be presented at Locarno’s Match Me networking event by Stanislaw Zaborowski, at Warsaw’s Silver Frame, the project’s lead producer. The HBO Europe co-production was put

SPOILER WARNING: Do not read if you have not seen “The Suicide Squad,” currently playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. For anyone familiar with James Gunn’s career, his DC comics adaptation “The Suicide Squad” is arguably the most James Gunn movie he’s ever made. Like his Marvel Studios’ films — 2014’s “Guardians of the

It’s been a challenging year-and-a-half for co-productions between Switzerland the U.K., but there appears to be cause for optimism. Directors of media funds from both countries, as well as a pair of producers, gathered at a Locarno Film Festival panel to discuss co-financing and co-production opportunities between the two countries, and to try and entice

Warner Bros.’ “The Suicide Squad” is poised to come out on top of the subdued domestic box office this weekend, with an estimated three-day gross of $25.65 million. Though the R-rated superhero film is now expected to fall short of previous industry predictions that it would gross over $30 million in its first weekend, “The

In the U.K., where the government reduced pandemic masking and social distancing requirements last month, there has been a spike in production shutdowns due to COVID-19 and growing calls for mandatory vaccinations on set. Throughout July and early August, dozens of productions — including “Bridgerton,” “House of the Dragon” and Steven Spielberg’s “The Masters of

Vietnamese filmmaker Le Binh Giang once punched Joel Edgerton, and he’s very proud of it. Giang played a gangster who brawled with Edgerton’s main character in 2012’s “Wish You Were Here.” It’s a claim to fame he drops into the conversation while discussing his versatility as an artist. Sat in a caffe at the Locarno

The Locarno Film Festival’s annual StepIN think tank dedicated to pressing issues faced by the independent film community saw a select group of mostly European industry executives thrash out some of the root causes that can make the film industry a toxic environment to work in and discuss ideas for positive practices that can hopefully

Charlotte Colbert has often explored physical and psychological trauma in her artwork. It’s perhaps little surprise, then, that her feature debut “She Will” centers Veronica (Alice Krige), a former child star who has just had a double mastectomy and who is repressing mental wounds under a caustic British exterior. Described as a psychological horror title,

The eponymous mythical entity in David Lowery’s Arthurian reinterpretation “The Green Knight” was as tactile on set as it appears on screen. Imposing and oaken, this embodiment of the unknown (death and nature) is played by actor Ralph Ineson (“The Witch”) with masterful prosthetics from seasoned makeup effects artist Barrie Gower (“Game of Thrones”) and

In his new film “Stillwater,” co-writer/director Tom McCarthy wanted to present the image of an American hero – and then turn it on its head. The film, now in theaters, stars Matt Damon as Bill Baker, a roughneck from the titular town in Oklahoma who travels to Marseille, France to visit his imprisoned daughter Allison

The temperature in the legal battle between Disney and Scarlett Johansson over her compensation for “Black Widow” has not cooled in the week since Johansson’s lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. Longtime Disney attorney Daniel Petrocelli told Variety that the demands in Johansson’s litigation are far out of the bounds of the actor’s

Ashley Benson, Shiloh Fernandez, Logan Miller, Frank Whaley and Jay Pharaoh are starring in “Private Property,” a remake of the 1960 noir film of the same title. The movie recently wrapped production in Los Angeles and was written, produced, and directed by Chadd Harbold. The original film, written and directed by “Outer Limits” creator Leslie

After performing in internationals film for five decades, the German-born character actor Udo Kier is getting rave reviews for a rare Hollywood leading role in “Swan Song.” And at age 76, Kier says he’s hoping the role is no swan song for him: it’s just the beginning of a new phase of his career. “I

Lionsgate is set to release “The Fight Before Christmas,” a holiday comedy featuring “My Best Friend’s Wedding” star Dermot Mulroney and “The Goldbergs” actor Hayley Orrantia. Lionsgate is partnering with MarVista Entertainment and Particular Crowd on the film, which will come out in the fourth quarter of this year. “The Fight Before Christmas” recently wrapped

“Mothering Sunday,” Eva Husson’s historical drama which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and is headed to Toronto in September, has been set for a Nov. 19 theatrical release from Sony Pictures Classics. The film, which debuted to strong reviews, stars Odessa Young, Josh O’Connor, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Patsy Ferran, Emma D’Arcy, Glenda Jackson, Olivia Colman

Fantastic Fest has announced the lineup for its Sept. 23-30 edition in Austin, Texas and specified that proof of vaccination will be required for all badge-holders. With the COVID-19 infection rate currently at a high level in the state, the festival is working hard to try to keep the event safe for attendees, mandating that

Anyone who has studied theater and dance will know the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and its founder. Not only did Ailey form a dance movement, but his company also became a pioneering force for Black artists as they traveled the world, introducing political themes and helping integrate the world of dance. Street dancer-turned-choreographer Rennie

Lorenz Merz doesn’t want viewers to dissect his new film “Soul of a Beast.” “It’s really not an intellectual film,” he says. “I don’t think it’s a film that you can experience intellectually, it’s really a physical movie that goes into your stomach, or doesn’t.” World premiering Friday at the Locarno Film Festival, “Soul of

Tiffany Haddish has joined the National Comedy Center’s advisory board of the directors. She fills the seat formerly held by the late Carl Reiner. The announcement coincides with Lucille Ball’s 110th birthday. The center is located in Ball’s hometown of Jamestown, New York. “Comedy is a true art form — its artists deserve to be