Movies

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired “The Son,” Florian Zeller’s follow up to his Oscar-winning feature debut “The Father,” which will star Vanessa Kirby, Laura Dern and Hugh Jackman, Variety has learned. SPC, which previously worked with Zeller on “The Father,” acquired rights for North America and a string of international territories in Asia and Eastern

The late American indie film auteur Monte Hellman was fond of a quote from Jean Cocteau that poetically summed up the fate of any real work of art: “A work of art should also be ‘an object difficult to pick up.’ It must protect itself from vulgar pawing, which tarnishes and disfigures it. It should

Leading arthouse sales company The Match Factory has pre-sold Austrian director and screenwriter Sebastian Meise’s second feature “Great Freedom,” which plays in Un Certain Regard at Cannes on Thursday, to Paname Distribution in France. The Match Factory has debuted the teaser and the poster for the film, which was created by Vasilis Marmatakis, the designer

Sundance title “Captains of Zaatari” has sold into Utopia for the U.S., where it will get a theatrical release this fall. London-based sales agent Dogwoof secured the movie with Robert Schwartzman and Cole Harper’s fledgling distributor Utopia, which is planning a day-and-date release in cinemas on Nov. 19 in New York and Los Angeles, alongside

Michelle Williams will play Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII’s six wives, in Karim Aïnouz’s “Firebrand.” The film marks the English-language debut of Karim Aïnouz, and goes into production in the U.K. in early 2022. The film is produced by Gabrielle Tana (“Philomena,” “The Dig”) of Magnolia Mae Films, and written by Henrietta and

On-screen texts bookending “Dachra” claim this thriller is “inspired by true events,” and that “in North Africa hundreds of children are victims of acts of witchcraft.” Nonetheless, one might be forgiven for assuming this purported first-ever Tunisian foray into horror cinema is drawn less from local crimes or superstitions than from the familiar genre tropes

Dilip Kumar, one of the biggest stars of Indian cinema, died in Mumbai on Wednesday after being hospitalized for breathlessness. He was 98. The star had been ailing for several months and was in and out of hospital prior to his death. Born Mohammed Yusuf Khan in Peshawar, British India, in 1922, Kumar debuted in

Juliette Schrameck, the well-respected former managing director of MK2 Films who joined Paris-based collective banner Agat Films in September 2020 as partner and producer, has already assembled a strong roster of international projects, including the next film by Lukas Dhont, the helmer of Cannes’ Golden Camera winning “Girl,” and Jenny Suen’s “Peaches.” Other projects on

Mounia Meddour, the director of the Cesar-winning film “Papicha” that also played to acclaim at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2019, will next direct “Houria,” an Algeria-set drama headlined by “Papicha” star Lyna Khoudri. Meddour, who is on the jury of this year’s Un Certain Regard, wrote the original screenplay for “Houria.” The film is

Academy Award winner Sebastián Lelio (“A Fantastic Woman”) has signed on to associate produce “El Porvenir de la Mirada,” a doc feature that captures the trauma of young protesters shot in the eyes by Chilean police during massive demonstrations erupting in Chile in October 2019. Lelio’s boarding “El Porvenir de la Mirada” marks his return

Prolific Italian director Francesca Comencini (“Gomorrah,” the series “Django”) is set to make a personal feature film that will pay homage to her father Luigi Comencini, the Italian master who made Oscar-nominated Cinema Italiano classic “Bread, Love and Dreams,” with Gina Lollobrigida and Vittorio De Sica. Francesca’s film, with the working title “First Life, Then

Italian genre outfit Minerva Pictures has teamed with New Zealand’s Black Mandala Films to co-produce and launch international pre-sales at Cannes on horror/slasher “What the Waters Left Behind: Scars,” to be co-directed by Argentine helmers Nicolas Onetti and Matías Salinas (“Omen”).  Shooting is set to start in Argentina in September. Pic is a sequel to

Irish producer Paul Thompstone and Sorin Baluta have launched a new sales agency out of Ireland. The company, Studio Atlantic, launches in Cannes with a World War II feature set to shoot in Belgium this fall. Having specialized in production finance, Thompstone has a large network of funders, including private equity, for high-concept feature films

SUN VALLEY, Idaho — Brian Grazer and Bobby Kotick goofed around a little bit when they ran into each other in the driveway outside the Sun Valley Lodge. Grazer pretended to be announcing Kotick’s name in sports announcer fashion (“Bob-bee Kooo-tick”). But other than a little backslapping and mugging for a selfie by the chairman

You could be reading Alberto Dagnino the Riot Act, but nothing would distract the Italian camera operator from the soccer game at hand. He may be at the Cannes Film Festival, but the only screen he’s interested in tonight is inside a local pub. “Football, you know, is huge in my country,” the 31-year-old begins

Zack Snyder is going to space. Following the debut of his zombie thriller “Army of the Dead” at Netflix, Snyder has set his next feature film at the streamer, a sci-fi epic called “Rebel Moon.” Shay Hatten (“Army of the Dead,” “John Wick 3”) and Kurt Johnstad (“300,” “Atomic Blonde”) are co-writing the script with

Debuting on opening night of the Cannes Film Festival a full year after it was originally expected to appear, “Annette” arrives on a pedestal from which it’s too easily toppled. This latest dose of weirdness from “Holy Motors” director Leos Carax — a tortured celebrity love story set to the maddening music of Sparks and

Universal will move its pay-one window for films from HBO to Peacock, the studio said Tuesday. The move is another sign of the importance that media conglomerates are placing on bolstering their in-house streaming services as they engage in a fierce battle for subscribers. Both Peacock and Universal are owned by Comcast. Universal’s films have

As very early Oscar prospects start to emerge, a few pundits are placing bets on how many nods Jon M. Chu’s “In the Heights” could garner. Possible contenders include the original song “Home All Summer,” written by Lin Manuel Miranda and performed by Marc Anthony. Cinematographer Alice Brooks has been garnering attention for her work

From racial stereotypes to issues regarding consent in fiction, to the news media’s treatment of pop stars, there has been a recent cultural reckoning forcing a closer look at past problematic depictions and behaviors. While for some the answer is to pull a property from being readily available, burying it in the depths of history,

An ecstatic Adam Driver, a French-speaking Jodie Foster, a pink-suited Spike Lee and surprise guest Pedro Almodovar all marked the return of the Cannes Film Festival at a glamorous, emotional opening ceremony on Tuesday evening. As the first festival gathering to be hosted without socially-distanced screenings since the start of the pandemic a year and

If you’ve seen Amazon Prime Video’s “The Tomorrow War,” then you’re familiar with the menacing alien creature that wreaks havoc on society. Director Chris Mackay’s new futuristic action film stars Chris Pratt as Dan Forester and Yvonne Strahovski as Colonel Muri Forester — time travelers who arrive from the year 2051 to warn humanity that

‘Mulan’ actor Gong Li will serve as the chairman of the international jury doling out the top Tiantan Awards at this year’s Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), the event said Tuesday. The festival’s 11th iteration is set to take place in person in the Chinese capital from August 14-21, 2021. In BJIFF’s official announcement of

The day before its Cannes Film Festival premiere, Amazon Studios released the trailer for “Val,” a documentary about the life and career of actor Val Kilmer. “My name is Val Kilmer; I’m an actor,” a narrator says in the trailer. “I’ve lived a magical life and captured quite a bit of it. I was the

Ryan Coogler, Shaka King, Charles D. King, and Lil Rel Howery are teaming on an original feature film about American political insurrection. Other plot details are being kept under wraps. The project reunites “Judas and the Black Messiah” producers Coogler and Charles D. King with Shaka King, the director of the Oscar-nominated drama about Black

Yvonne Strahovski comes head-to-head with an alien army in her performance as Commander Romeo in “The Tomorrow War,” but the Australian actor says she’s also had a real-life extraterrestrial experience. “This is a legitimate story. Back in 2006 I was sitting on a beach cliff with somebody, somebody witnessed this with me. And I saw

Amazon Studios is in late-stage discussions for “Foe,” an adaptation of Iain Reid’s science-fiction novel starring Saoirse Ronan, LaKeith Stanfield and Paul Mescal. The streamer is closing in on global rights in a competitive situation, though a deal has yet to be signed. FilmNation is handling international rights, while CAA Media Finance and UTA’s Independent

With films from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bill Murray, Todd Haynes, Leos Carax and others, the Cannes Film Festival, movie theaters and streamers are alive with the sound of music. “It might just be the shuffling of release dates as a result of the pandemic, but 2021 is shaping up to be an embarrassment of riches for

If ever there was a year for the Allen & Co. conference to be a fertile ground for dealmaking among the titans of tech and media, it’s this one. The entertainment industry is in an everyone’s-talking-to-everyone moment, as evidenced by the surprise of the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger and Amazon’s move to swallow up a legacy Hollywood

Only four of the 24 films in competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year were directed by women. Statistically speaking, the odds that one will join Jane Campion as the lone woman to win a Palme d’Or are slim — and this in a year when Venice winner Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” went on to