Movies

Dwayne Johnson will star in “Red One” for Amazon Studios, the streaming service announced Monday. The film will reunite Johnson with “Fast and Furious” scribe Chris Morgan — the pair recently collaborated on the hit spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw.” The deal for the film treatment, which comes after a highly competitive bidding situation, is another

“When They See Us” and “This Is Us” actor Asante Blackk is set to star with Tiffany Haddish in MGM and Plan B’s upcoming adaptation of “Landscape With Invisible Hand.” Based on National Book Award winner M.T. Anderson’s novel of the same name, Blackk will play Haddish’s son in the pic. The movie, described as

“Havoc,” an action thriller starring Tom Hardy and Forest Whitaker, has rounded out its cast. In addition to the previously announced Hardy and Whitaker, the Netflix movie will also feature Timothy Olyphant, “Training Day” and “The Umbrella Academy” actor Justin Cornwell, star of the upcoming Edgar Wright horror film “Last Night in Soho” Jessie Mei

Personal demons, strict diets, incredible sacrifices, and almost unachievable ideals shape the daily life of bodybuilders. Months of intense preparation lead to a few moments on stage where a handful of judges will decide their fate. Some call it a sport, a lifestyle, a vanity; to others, bodybuilding is a religion. All agree, though, that

Project Angel Food’s upcoming telethon, “Lead With Love 2021,” will include appearances by “Batwoman” star Javicia Leslie, Jamie Lee Curtis, Maria Shriver and Matt Bomer. The television event will also include performances by LeAnn Rimes, Andy Grammer, Gloria Estefan, Jewel, Phillip Phillips, Vanessa Williams and “Cruel Summer” star Olivia Holt. Started in 1989 to help

The Hollywood Legion Theater drive-in has announced an important upgrade for its “Summer of Celluloid” drive-in series, adding 35mm projectors for this year’s screenings. With the new addition, the Hollywood Legion is now the only drive-in on the west coast to present movies in 35mm. “Analog 35mm film projection at an outdoor cinema is a

“F9” provided a much-needed jolt to the domestic box office. The latest entry in Universal’s high-octane “Fast & Furious” saga collected $70 million in its opening weekend, the best start at the U.S. box office since 2019’s holiday release of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” The arrival of “F9” is the latest big-screen offering

Ask any studio executive who has ever worked with him: Mel Brooks is nothing if not tenacious in business. The comedy legend, who turns 95 Monday, is known to be relentless in pursuit of the creative freedom and resources required to deliver his unique brand of humor. He’s also proven to be a tireless campaigner

SKILLS REVIEW The British Film Institute (BFI), in collaboration with skills body ScreenSkills and other industry bodies, has launched a strategic review designed to develop long-term solutions to tackle the current and emerging skills needs of the screen industries. The review will address the issues of improving inclusion of people from underrepresented groups, and the

A group of French insurers have set up a clause to protect film productions in case of sexual harassment incidents during filming. Leading French insurance companies MAIF and AREAS have created the new clause for contracts with the support of the National Film Board (CNC), following negotiations spearheaded by Hugo Rubini, a high-profile insurance broker

Vanessa Kirby has joined the cast of “The Son,” Florian Zeller’s follow up to his Oscar-winning feature debut “The Father,” Variety has learned. Kirby, who was Oscar-nominated for “Pieces of a Woman,” will star in the film opposite Laura Dern and Hugh Jackman. As with “The Father,” “The Son” was adapted by Zeller and Christopher

Amid the celebrations and retrospectives when the Thessaloniki Film Festival hosted its 60th edition in 2019, the organizers unveiled a new program, Meet the Future, designed to look ahead to the next generation of emerging film talents set to make waves in the host nation, the region, and beyond. For its first edition, Meet the

The surprisingly complex world of puppy politics becomes the unlikely breeding ground for a new satire produced by Hungary’s Other Films and Romanian production powerhouse microFILM, the companies announced this week during the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. “Whose Dog Am I?” is a docu-comedy essay about politics in a world where citizens are dogs, politicians are

Bulgarian helmer Stephan Komandarev, whose critically acclaimed feature “Directions” played in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar, has wrapped production on the documentary feature “Life From Life,” the director announced this week during the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. The film explores the hurdles facing organ transplant recipients in Bulgaria, once among Eastern Europe’s leaders in the medical

In the summer of 2016, members of the Turkish armed forces attempted to stage a coup d’état against the government of strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The putsch failed, and in its aftermath came a sweeping purge that led to the suspension or dismissal of tens of thousands of soldiers, judges, teachers, police and civil servants,

France- and Dubai-based sales agency Cercamon has picked up international rights to Chinese crime drama “Streetwise,” which will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, in the Un Certain Regard section. Before that, Cercamon has released a trailer. The film (aka “Gaey Wa’r”) is the debut feature effort of Na Jiazuo, who is

Björn Runge, the Swedish director of the Glen Close starrer “The Wife,” is set to direct “Burn All My Letters,” a fiery love drama spanning decades starring Bill Skarsgård (“Deadpool”). The film will also star Asta Kamma August (“The Pact”) and Gustav Lindh (“Queen of Hearts”). “Burn All My Letters” is produced by SF Studios

Sydney, the capital of the Australian entertainment industry, has gone into a two-week lockdown after a surge of the highly-transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus. The city’s stay-at-home orders have firmly shuttered all cinemas, theaters, restaurants and amusement parks. But, film and TV production has not had to halt. “Thankfully the track record of our

In August 2017, Americans clashed in Charlottesville, Va., over the question of whether to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. It was, unofficially speaking, a reenactment of the Civil War that divided this country 150 years earlier, and comedian-cum-filmmaker CJ Hunt was there to witness the standoff. We all know what Trump

Production has wrapped on Miike Takashi’s latest film, “Mogura no Uta Final” (translation: Mole Song Final), the third and final part of his “Mole Song” action-comedy trilogy about a bumbling cop who goes undercover — and becomes a full-fledged yakuza. The new film will open on November 19, 2021 with Toho distributing. Like the two previous

“Unforgivable,” a film hailing from El Salvador, won the best of the festival award during the 2021 edition of the Palm Springs International ShortFest. Directed by Marlén Viñayo, “Unforgivable” follows a hitman for the 18th Street gang as he serves his sentence in an evangelical Salvadorian prison, where he is punished not only for his

Star-powered propaganda flick “1921” hit number one at the Chinese box office this week, bringing in $11.6 million from pre-screenings ahead of its July 1 debut, according to Maoyan data. The historical drama debuted earlier this month as the opening night title of the Shanghai Intl. Film Festival. Backed by Tencent Pictures and Shanghai Film

If you watch “The Sparks Brothers,” Edgar Wright’s ultimate cult rock documentary about the Greatest Band That Almost No One Has Heard Of, you may find yourself developing a distinct affection for Sparks, the cult duo in question, and liking almost everything about them except, perhaps, for one small insignificant thing. You’ll like the fact

Vin Diesel had plenty to celebrate on Saturday night. Not only did he place the winning bid of $70,000 for two court side seats at a Clippers game and a Breitling watch at a benefit for Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP), but “F9: The Fast Saga” broke the weekend box office record since the onset

The only thing stronger than family? The box office debut of “F9,” the latest entry in Universal’s “Fast & Furious” saga. After many delays over the course of a year and a half, “F9” opened to a mighty $70 million from 4,179 North American venues. That’s by far the biggest start for a movie at

The Toronto International Film Festival is ready to welcome audiences back to in-person premieres and screenings after COVID-19 forced the 2020 edition of the annual celebration of movies to unfold largely online. This week, TIFF announced that while it still plans to show films virtually for press and film executives who can’t travel to Canada

Rom-coms and crime stories dominated submissions to the first Chinese-language scriptwriting competition co-presented by Taiwan’s Studio76 and MediaCorp in Singapore. Unveiled at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest last year, “Rising Stories” received 520 submissions, far higher than the 100-150 organizers had anticipated, Studio76’s CEO and managing partner Dennis Yang told Variety. Due to the ongoing

Quentin Tarantino knows that once you’ve reached the top, the only option is to go down. While promoting his “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” novel on “Real Time With Bill Maher” on June 25, Tarantino confirmed he plans to retire after making one more film. “You’re too young to quit and you’re at the

When the first trailer for ‘F9’ debuted in 2019, there was a collective gasp/squeal/scream among the “Fast” family when Sung Kang’s Han Lue made a surprise appearance at the clip’s end, with snack bag in hand. Fans have been in a state of perpetual mourning since the ultra-cool (and always-hungry) character died midway through “The

Jackie Collins created a literary empire and attracted millions of fans with her stories of empowered women who successfully navigate the world of the “rich and famous.” They had fabulous hair, fabulous sex and fabulous lives. Critics hated Collins’ novels, dismissing the author as “the queen of trash.” But that’s deeply unfair. Books like “Hollywood