Movies

Netflix and Aardman Animations, the U.K.’s best-known stop-motion studio, have released a new image and teaser from their upcoming musical holiday special “Robin Robin” during a panel at Annecy Animation Festival. The charming half-hour short, which features the voices of Gillian Anderson and Richard E. Grant, tells the story of a baby robin (called Robin)

Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal has picked up Hungarian drama “Wild Roots,” which will world premiere at an A-grade film festival later this year, and will have a market screening at the Pre-Cannes Screenings next week. “Wild Roots,” a drama about a lonely, ex-con bouncer who is reunited with his wild child daughter, won the Works-in-Progress

Films Boutique (“Charlatan,” “Dear Comrades!”) has boarded international sales rights to “Mi Iubita, Mon Amour,” the feature debut of actor-turned-filmmaker Noémie Merlant. The movie will world premiere in the Special Screenings section at Cannes. Merlant, who gained critical acclaim with her performance in Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” will also be in

In person, Ann Dowd, sweet, solicitous and ready to laugh at herself, is far removed from Gilead, the totalitarian state where Aunt Lydia, her alter ego on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” rules with an iron fist, doling out punishment for the slightest infraction. As she sips a cappuccino and raises her voice ever so slightly to

James Cameron’s movies have banked more than $6 billion at the box office worldwide. Now, the director behind blockbusters including “Avatar,” “Titanic” and “The Terminator” will teach his first-ever internet class on filmmaking — available on e-learning site MasterClass as part of the site’s $180 annual membership starting today. In his class, Cameron promises to

With the horrible specter of COVID still hanging over the world, the folks at the Frontières co-production market were a little concerned that their genre submissions would be heavily virus-centric. However, they needn’t have worried. The lineup for the 2021 market, organized by the Fantasia International Film Festival in collaboration with Marché du Film –

Cannes Film Festival jury president Spike Lee is the star of the event’s 2021 poster. Organizers released the image for the festival’s 74th edition on Thursday, listing the various reasons as to why the acclaimed director — whose 2020 appointment as jury president carried over to 2021 — was chosen as the face of the

It’s official: Denis Villeneuve’s hotly anticipated “Dune” reboot will world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September. As first anticipated by Variety, the fest has announced that the big budget sci-fi epic toplining Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya will world premiere in Venice out-of-competition on September 3. The film is adapted from Frank Herbert’s seminal science

In the past year, there’s been countless stories and documentaries made from inside retirement homes. These usually aim to inform the public on how COVID-19 impacts elder people’s mental wellbeing as much as their physical health, touching upon themes of isolation and loneliness. The context of a global pandemic has indeed pushed many people –

Disney has tapped top toon talents from across the African continent for “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire,” a Disney Plus Original anthology of animated films set to premiere on the Mouse House’s streaming platform in late 2022. Inspired by the continent’s diverse histories and cultures, the 10-part anthology brings together a slate of rising animation talents

It’s hard to imagine a football coach starting off with less than real-life hero Rusty Russell (Luke Wilson) does when he arrives at Fort Worth’s Masonic Home in “12 Mighty Orphans”: No shoes for his team, no field for his team and no team. Nothing but potential, you might say, and that’s just enough for

Rita Moreno has posted a new statement saying that she is “incredibly disappointed” following her comments about the lack of Afro-Latino representation in “In the Heights.” During an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on Tuesday night, Moreno defended “In the Heights” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda over criticism that the film did not cast

Chris Miller and Phil Lord have partnered with nonprofit Film2Future for its 2021 summer program. “As filmmakers we strongly believe in supporting and cultivating future generations of storytellers,” Lord and Miller said in a statement. “The next great idea can come from anywhere or anyone and having creative conversations with people no matter age, background

Doug Liman is a renowned filmmaker behind an array of hit blockbusters from “The Bourne Identity” to “Edge of Tomorrow.” During his director series at the Tribeca Festival 2021, which was moderated by Jason Hirschhorn on Tuesday night, Liman revealed that he created his first film at the age of six. It was a short

No doubt playing a serial killer could really mess with one’s psyche. Just ask Tahar Rahim. The actor portrays real-life 1970s French murderer Charles Sobhraj in Netflix’s eight-episode “The Serpent.” When they first began shooting, he thought he was able to leave the work behind him when he went home at the end of the

In Amazon Studios’ upcoming sci-fi blockbuster “The Tomorrow War,” Chris Pratt stars as Dan Forester — a soldier sent to the year 2051 to fight off against an alien invasion. Beyond the film’s grandiose sci-fi elements, it deals with an array of contemporary family themes and the notion of what one generation owes to the

Director Ryan White’s new short documentary “Coded” will have its world premiere on June 17 at the Tribeca Festival. White (“The Case Against 8”) dives into the history of illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, one of the most prominent advertising artists of the first half of the 20th century, who created hundreds of covers for the Saturday

We are thrilled to bring you the Changemakers Issue, honoring the annual Juneteenth holiday and celebrating diverse voices who have a significant impact on the culture through their art, storytelling and activism. Our cover subject, 23-year-old singer H.E.R., enlists her incredible talents to call out inequality and the need to fight for justice. Her Grammy-winning

“The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” a sequel to the 2017 action comedy “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” is gunning for the top spot on U.S. box office charts. That shouldn’t be a difficult feat, considering the Lionsgate film is this weekend’s only new nationwide release. “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” starring Salma Hayek, Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson,

Gloria Sanchez Productions, the prolific film unit from producers Jessica Elbaum and Will Ferrell, has signed a first-look film deal with 20th Century Studios. The creative team behind “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” “Booksmart,” and “Hustlers” will offer the iconic Walt Disney label first right of refusal on projects meant for both

“The Marsh King’s Daughter” has rounded out its cast with Brooklynn Prince, Gil Birmingham, and Caren Pistorius joining the ensemble of the psychological thriller. They will appear alongside the previously announced Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn in the big-screen adaptation of Karen Dionne’s best-selling novel of the same name. Neil Burger, the director of “Limitless”

Yellow Veil Pictures is launching a new North American distribution arm and has secured its first release in Frida Kempff’s “Knocking.” The announcement comes in advance of the Cannes market this month and marks an important step forward in the evolution of the sales outfit, which has carved out a niche for itself in the

As a member of the Academy and a three-time Oscar nominee for her work in films including “Walk the Line,” “W.E.” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” costume designer Arianne Phillips makes no secret of her excitement — and support — for the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Sept. 30.

It used to be that when you called a movie a glorified sitcom, it was an insult. But when you watch “Fatherhood,” an unabashedly formulaic, undeniably sweet Netflix dramedy in which Kevin Hart offers up a benign variation on his trademark irascibility in the role of a devoted but desperate single dad, it’s easy to

With the exception of the tot-friendly, adult-numbing “The Good Dinosaur” (2015), “Luca” is as much of a trifle as the Pixar Animation Studios have ever come up with. That sounds like a harsh judgment, but in light of Pixar’s recent track record there are worse things you could say. My own feeling, while far from

Attorney Chris Perez has been promoted to name partner at the law firm of Donaldson Callif, a prominent player in documentary and independent film and TV production. The Beverly Hills-based firm has changed its name to Donaldson Callif Perez. “Chris has been a key member of our team and instrumental in the firm’s growth over

Leading Australian actor Russell Crowe has announced concrete plans to fulfil his long-held dream of operating a movie studio in northern New South Wales, close to where he has lived for the past 25 years. Crowe unveiled details of a new facility at Coffs Harbour and told Variety: ”I want the East Coast of Australia

The CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator, a training program for women documentary filmmakers conceived with a focus on Southern and Eastern Europe, has selected the four projects that will take part in its showcase as part of the Cannes Docs program of the Cannes Film Market, Variety can reveal. Hailing from the program’s backyard in the

On Wednesday, the Annecy Animation Festival hosted a live, in-person Work in Progress panel for Spanish filmmaker Alberto Vázquez’s “Unicorn Wars” at the Salle Pierre Lamy, perhaps indicating that the world is healing. Joining Vázquez on stage were his Oscar-winning Autor de Minuit producer Nicolas Schmerkin, Spanish producer Chelo Loureiro from Abano Producións, and “Unicorn

Paris-based sales and co-production company Charades has closed deals for all major Western territories on “Belle,” the anticipated animation feature from Oscar-nominated Japanese filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda (“Mirai”) and Studio Chizu. Following GKids’ pick up of North American rights, Charades has unveiled a raft of sales to high-profile international distributors for “Belle,” including Anime Limited in