Movies

Announcing its second major rights pick-up in a matter of days, Superights, part of France’s Superprod Group, has secured global distribution rights to Tencent Video’s slapstick series “The Adventure of Little Penguin.” Nathalie Pinguet, Superights’ deputy general manager, will introduce the 52-episode animated show to buyers at Annecy’s four-day MIFA market, which kicked off Tuesday

French-made suspense thriller “The Pilot” will join the slate of Hong Kong-, Paris- and Los Angeles-based sales agent All Rights Entertainment at the upcoming film markets. The story follows a drone pilot in Mali whose wife and daughter are kidnapped by terrorists. They will be executed if he doesn’t derail the capture by his team

All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Every pop-culture dad has their “thing.” Maybe it’s coming up with his own long-winded theories about who the

“In the Heights” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is addressing criticism over the film’s lack of Afro-Latino representation. In a statement posted to Twitter, Miranda apologized for not including more dark-skinned Afro-Latinos in the film’s cast, especially in the leading roles. “I started writing ‘In the Heights’ because I didn’t feel seen. And over the past 20

Conversations about Blackface, when white people darken their skin to perform exaggerated versions of nonwhite characters, often centers on the historical when it comes to the media’s role in perpetuating the racist act. In some cases, historical means the minstrels of 19th century theater, silent films, or the more recent history of satire like Robert

“Witch Hunt,” the genre thriller and 2021 SXSW Film Festival entry, has sold domestic rights to Momentum Pictures. Gideon Adlon, Abigail Cowen and Elizabeth Mitchell star in the bleak tale of the last stop on an underground railroad of refugee witches hiding in a small U.S. border town to Mexico. As time passes, uneasiness turns

Free Stone Productions, one of Japan’s leading indie film sales firms, is poised to bring a big slate to Cannes. It has added three new titles and a catalog. And it expects to add more before the market gets underway. Highest profile is the recently-released animation film “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko” directed by Watanabe Ayumu

Sony Pictures has scheduled two major tentpole films for 2022: David Leitch’s “Bullet Train” will debut on April 8, and Kitao Sakurai’s comedy “Oh Hell No” will release on July 1. Based on the book “Maria Beetle” by Kotaro Isaka, “Bullet Train” follows five assassins who find themselves on a bullet train in Japan and

The Minnesota House and Senate have reached a deal to create a new $5 million-a-year tax credit for film and TV production in the state. The bill language was unveiled on Monday as the Legislature began a special session to pass a budget. The budget package is expected to pass both chambers either later this

Heatseeking indie distributor Decal has landed U.S. distribution rights to “Recovery,” a well-received comedy which played this year’s SXSW Film Festival. From directors Mallory Everton and Stephen Meek, the road trip adventure follows two lost-soul sisters traveling across country to rescue their grandmother, whose nursing home suffers a COVID-19 outbreak. The project is described as

The 2021 Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival officially opens this Monday evening to a sense of palpable excitement. On-site attendance will not reach the 5,000 delegate cap. “But our goal this year was not to break records, simply to welcome people,” says Mickael Marin, CEO of Annecy organizer Citia. “Our duty is to celebrate animation

A recent documentary about caregiving for frail family members was called “It’s Not a Burden,” but that cheerful attitude isn’t shared by the principal figures in “My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To.” They’re adult siblings tethered to a reclusive existence because one of them has a wee abnormality, which demands flesh blood

Locksmith Animation has tapped Simon Otto to direct their adaptation of children’s book series, “That Christmas,” written by acclaimed screenwriter and director Richard Curtis (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”). Otto is a Visual Effects Society (VES) Award-winning Head of Character Animation, story artist, character designer and director. He is best known for the “How to

While U.S. blockbusters deserted screens in 2020, French animated features had 10-year record-breaking performance at the local box office last year, according to a study conducted by the CNC (National Film Board) and unveiled on the opening day of Annecy Film Festival. As French theaters were shut down for most of the year due to

Philippa Campbell, one of the producers on “They Are Us,” a new drama about the aftermath of the Christchurch attacks on New Zealand’s Muslim community, has quit the project after a media backlash. “I have listened to the concerns raised over recent days and I have heard the strength of people’s views. I now agree

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has revealed that it will debut six more of its classic films restored on 4K Ultra HD disc for the first time ever. The “Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 2” will include “The Social Network,” “Taxi Driver,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “Anatomy of a Murder,” “Oliver!” and “Stripes.” In addition

Mexico’s Fotosintesis Media, producer of the Quirino Awards best feature winner “A Costume for Nicolas,” is readying Alejandra Pérez’s first movie “My Friend the Sun,” an animated family tale deeply rooted in lesser-known Mexican myths and legends. A social cause-driven entertainment label jointly launched by Jaime Romandia and Carlos Reygadas’ Mantarraya Group and writer-director Mike

Just in time for its 20th anniversary season, Cinespia makes its return to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for a summer of cinema under the stars, with a lineup of screenings including, “The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Addams Family,” “Pulp Fiction” and “The Wizard of Oz.” “Dazed and Confused” and “Dirty Dancing” will kickoff the

Paul Giamatti has been cast in director Alexander Payne’s upcoming movie “The Holdovers.” The project reunites Giamatti and Payne, who teamed on the Oscar-winning 2004 comedic drama “Sideways,” which follows two men in their 40s who take a week-long road trip to Santa Barbara wine country. “The Holdovers” is also being billed as a comedic

French filmmaker Arthur Harari’s “Onoda – 10 000 Nights In The Jungle” will open the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes’ Official Selection. The film tells the story of soldier Hiroo Onoda who was sent to an island in the Philippines in 1944 to fight against the American forces. As Japan surrenders, Onoda ignores it,

Altitude Film Sales has boarded “JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass,” Oliver Stone’s forthcoming examination of the assassination of President John F Kennedy. The London-based sales agent will debut footage and launch worldwide sales at the Cannes Virtual Market later this month. Meanwhile, Altitude Film Distribution will also release the film in the U.K. and

In the 1990s, Jim Carrey was an unstoppable force. After a stint on “In Living Color,” where he created a rococo list of characters like Fire Marshall Bill and Vera De Milo, the rubber-faced comic seamlessly made the transition to the big screen. Despite a critical drubbing, “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” became a sleeper hit

“The First Step” follows Van Jones — social entrepreneur, justice and environmental activist, and one of CNN’s legion of political commentators — as he presses those in Washington, D.C. to pass a watershed justice reform bill in 2018 called the First Step Act. Premiering at the Tribeca Festival, the Brandon Kramer’s documentary has something of

Netflix has revealed more artwork and clips from four of its kids and family animation titles, which are set drop this summer and fall. During the streamer’s online Annecy session, introduced by Netflix director of character animation James Baxter, it was revealed that three of the titles – “Karma’s World”, “Vivo” and “Centaurworld” – are animated

“The Two Popes” actor Jonathan Pryce, “The Great British Bake Off” judge Prue Leith and “Strictly Come Dancing” judge Arlene Phillips are among those in the arts named to Britain’s Queen’s Birthday honors list. Pryce, an Oscar and BAFTA nominee for “The Two Popes” (2019) and Cannes best actor winner for “Carrington” (1995), has been

Leonine Studios and Mediawan have boarded upcoming English-language horror “The Twin” for German-speaking and French-speaking territories respectively. The deal, inked by Film Constellation, marks the first time Leonine and Mediawan have jointly acquired a film. Don Films has unveiled a first image of the film by Finnish director Taneli Mustonen (“Lake Bodom”), which recently wrapped

In one of the biggest deals on titles at this year’s Visions du Réel, Switzerland’s premier documentary festival, Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), the public broadcasting organization for the French-speaking part of the country, has acquired eleven titles from Visions du Réel’s 2021 selection. The deal is part of a longstanding partnership between the Swiss doc

Brazilian film “Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: This Land Is Our Land!” has won best film in the Sheffield Doc/Fest international competition. Directed by Isael and Sueli Maxakali, who are Brazilian Indigenous directors, the film explores the loss of their land to local farmers. Elsewhere, the Special Jury Award in the international competition went to

There’s a limit to how long a movie can mess with viewers’ minds, and “Ultrasound” eventually crosses that threshold. A thriller whose discomforting early going provides few clues to the head-spinning madness lying in wait, director Rob Schroeder’s feature debut channels a host of acclaimed masters (David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Christopher Nolan) while attempting to

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has swooped on world rights, outside Nordic, for Jalmari Helander’s World War II action film “Immortal.” Jorma Tommila and “Peaky Blinders” star Paul Anderson go head-to-head in the film, which is set to shoot in Lapland, Finland, in September. Nordisk Film has taken Nordic rights to the film. Set in 1945,