Movies

Barcelona production-distribution outfit Filmax has picked up international rights to director-producer Ibon Cormenzana’s “Guilt” ahead of its presentation at the Pre-Cannes Screenings, which run June 21-25. The Basque helmer directs his long-time partner Manuela Velles (“Muse,” “Kidnapped”) who co-developed the topical drama with him and was actually pregnant at the time of the shoot. Velles plays a

A Columbia U. doctoral student grapples with cultural expectations, demands and pressures while carving out her own path in “Queen of Glory,” writer-director-star Nana Mensah’s inviting and understated indie about immigrant identity anxieties. With a lived-in feel for the Bronx community in which her story takes place, the filmmaker generates endearing pathos from a story

Mother Nature might be predator, prey or another supernatural being altogether in “Gaia,” infiltrating her targets with unfurling shoots and roots and sudden fungal outcrops, until she’s eventually growing from within them. Or so it seems in first-time feature director Jaco Bouwer’s cool, taciturn ecological horror, which isn’t in any kind of hurry to show

Rita Moreno is defending Lin-Manuel Miranda and “In the Heights” following criticism over the film’s lack of Afro-Latino representation. On tonight’s episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Moreno appeared to promote her documentary, “Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It,” and later brought up the “In the Heights” controversy. “Can we

Substitute “virus” for “tornado,” as the initial external threat and slot in “mandatory self-isolation” for “fallen tree that makes escape impossible” and it would seem Sean King O’Grady’s “We Need to Do Something” has instant allegorical relevance. It hardly takes a PhD in advanced semiotics for the pandemic-battered soul to identify with the plight of

Julia Butters — the young actor who stole scenes outright from Leonardo DiCaprio in “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” — will play a character inspired by Steven Spielberg’s sister in the filmmaker’s untitled semi-autobiographical film about his childhood. She’ll join Michelle Williams, Paul Dano and Seth Rogen, who are playing characters loosely based on Spielberg’s

AMC is close to taking over the Pacific Theatres locations at two popular Los Angeles shopping malls, a source confirmed to Variety on Tuesday. Pacific Theatres, founded in 1946, announced in April that it would not be reopening its 17 locations as pandemic restrictions loosened. That includes a half dozen Pacific locations and 11 ArcLight

Hollywood icon Rita Moreno went for it — and the message is loud and clear. Speaking to an audience at the Tribeca Festival 2021 premiere of her new uninhibited documentary “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It,’ the legendary EGOT winner boldly said about the filming, “I made a promise to

The weathered, storied face of rapper-actor Saul Williams does the heaviest lifting in “Akilla’s Escape,” an exceedingly solemn crime drama from Canadian filmmaker Charles Officer that benefits from every ounce of his natural gravitas. As a Toronto drug trader facing the ugly roots of his underworld life in the wake of a botched deal, Williams

Jonathan Majors had just come from a boxing session with his trainer when he joined me for an interview for Tuesday’s episode of “Just for Variety.” I couldn’t help but wonder if the workout was to prepare him for his upcoming work in the next “Ant-Man” movie or the third “Creed” to be directed by

“Queen of Glory,” a new indie drama about a doctoral student whose plans are upended when her mother dies unexpectedly and leaves her the family’s Christian bookstore, is a remarkable feature film directing debut for Nana Mensah. Not only does its premiere at this year’s Tribeca Festival herald the arrival of a compelling new cinematic

On April 12, Pacific Theatres issued a terse, five-sentence statement announcing that it would not reopen its theaters, which include the much-loved ArcLight Cinemas chain. On one level, it was not a surprise. The pandemic has forced several other regional theater circuits into bankruptcy. But the Pacific announcement was odd. Some of the other chains

When Lauren Hadaway was working on “Justice League” in the sound department, she had time to kill between arduous reshoots on the gritty superhero adventure. With years of experience finessing sound and dialogue on a range of blockbusters and indies, including the jukebox musical “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again,” Damien Chazelle’s “Whiplash,” Quentin Tarantino’s

Youn Yuh-jung, the veteran Korean actor who won an Oscar for her endearing performance in “Minari,” is not finished making a comeback. Her 50-year-old debut film “Woman of Fire” is to be rereleased after being heavily restored. “Woman of Fire” (aka “Hwanyeo”) was directed by one of Korea’s most influential helmers Kim Ki-young, who had

A Buffalo, N.Y., judge on Tuesday approved the extradition of Harvey Weinstein to face sexual assault and rape charges in Los Angeles, rejecting the producer’s last-ditch efforts to stall the transfer. Weinstein is likely to be moved from Upstate New York to Los Angeles sometime in July, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Weinstein’s attorney, Norman Effman,

Jennifer Lopez is humanity’s last hope. Well, at least that’s the premise of “Atlas,” a sci-fi thriller set to star the “Jenny From the Block” singer and “Hustlers” actress. Brad Peyton, who orchestrated on-screen carnage in “Rampage” and “San Andreas,” will direct the film. “Atlas” unfolds in a bleak-sounding future where an AI soldier has

California Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated the full reopening of the state during a news conference on Tuesday at Universal Studios Hollywood, with Shrek and the Minions appearing to help herald his arrival. “I want to thank everybody who worked so hard to work through the misinformation and politics,” Newsom said, emphasizing the state’s high 70% vaccination

At the “Blindspotting” premiere at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Sunday, cast member Candace Nicholas-Lippman highlighted the significance of television programming about communities of color. “I want young girls, Black and brown, biracial girls, I want them to be able to see themselves when they look at us on screen, to know that someone that looks

Zoë Kravitz is making her directorial debut with “Pussy Island,” a thriller starring Channing Tatum as a tech billionaire and owner of a private island. The film follows a young Los Angeles cocktail waitress named Frida, who has her sights set on tech mogul Slater King, played by Tatum. Frida makes her way into King’s

CANNES Ava Cahen will become the artistic director of Critics’ Week at Cannes from Aug. 1, taking over from Charles Tesson. Cahen founded the magazine CLAP in 2014 and FrenchMania in 2017 along with the Woody Club she created in 2016. She has been a commentator for the TV program “Le Cercle” on Canal Plus

Kamiya Naoki has been named as new director of programming at Tokyo Filmex, a Tokyo-based festival with a strong focus on Japanese and Asian independent cinema. This year’s Filmex will run Oct. 31-Nov. 7, 2021. Founded in 2000, the festival was long under the leadership of co-directors Hayashi Kanako and Ichiyama Shozo and supported by

A new musical will serve as both a sequel to one of the greatest children’s stories of all time, as well as a prequel to another iconic fantasy adventure. “Alice in Neverland” brings together two beloved characters, the title character from Lewis Carrol’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and the boy who never grew up at

International sales agent and distribution company 101 Films Intl. has entered into a multi-picture deal with Mike Hatton’s production company Ton of Hats, which calls for the delivery of four films over the next 18 months. The slate will be backed by Head Gear Films and BondIt Media Capital. The deal builds on the co-production

“The Lobster” co-stars Rachel Weisz (“The Favourite”) and Colin Farrell (“The Gentlemen”) are reuniting for Todd Solondz’s “Love Child.” Solondz (“Welcome to the Dollhouse”) will direct from his own script. In a darkly comic twist on the classical Oedipal story, “Love Child” will follow a precocious child who schemes to rid himself of his brutish

In 2016, Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro first announced his plans with DreamWorks to produce the animated series “Trollhunters” in a presentation at the Annecy Animation Festival. Now, five years later, he returns – although virtually – to discuss the franchise’s feature film finale “Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans,” and share a trailer ahead of

Paris-based outfit Silex Films is teaming up with Charades (“Mirai,” “I Lost My Body”) for “In Waves,” a California-set tale of unconditional love and surfing, adapted from American illustrator AJ Dungo’s critically acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. “In Waves” will mark the feature debut of Phuong Mai Nguyen, a graduate of the Gobelins

“Julia’s Eyes” helmer Guillem Morales is readying 1980s-set psychological thriller “Brother,” with WestEnd Films set to launch sales at the Cannes virtual market later this month. Morales, one of Spain’s top genre auteurs, is best known for 2010 Spanish horror “Julia’s Eyes” (pictured), which was produced by Guillermo del Toro. The director recently won a

Belgian director Felix van Groeningen (“Beautiful Boy”) and Charlotte Vandermeersch have started shooting in the Alps on “The Eight Mountains,” an Italian drama based on a bestseller about male bonding set against a mountainous backdrop. Vision Distribution will launch international sales of the film at the upcoming Cannes virtual market. The film will be released

Top French animation studio TeamTO is presenting at Annecy a trio of cosy winter story animation projects, collectively known as Winter is Here, after nabbing TV, film and licensing rights to three popular children’s books. TeamTO aims to produce three individual specials for the 2022-2023 winter season suitable for both at-home TV or platform viewing,

Didier Brunner – producer of “The Triplets of Belleville,” “The Secret of Kells” and “Ernest and Celestine” – is readying his next production, ’Prends Garde à toi!,’ an adaptation of the ‘Carmen’ story led by one of France’s freest creative spirits: Sébastien Laudenbach. Laudenbach’s feature debut, “The Girl Without Hands,” an adaptation of a Brothers