Movies

The Zac Efron survival thriller “Gold” has sold to Screen Media following a competitive bidding situation that saw several studios and distributors circling the project. The film co-stars Anthony Hayes who co-wrote the script in addition to directing the picture. Susie Porter rounds out the cast. “Gold” centers on two men who stumble across the

Paramount Plus is busting out the popcorn: The ViacomCBS streamer is stuffing more than 1,000 movie titles into the service this week as it fights for ground in the streaming wars. The new batch of flicks includes “Infinite,” Paramount’s sci-fi thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor and directed by Antoine Fuqua, which will exclusively

Producer and financier Anton, whose credits include “Greenland,” “His Dark Materials” and “The Night House,” has announced that its latest production, the feature film “CURS>R,” has wrapped principal photography in the U.K. A dark twist on the ‘80s gaming obsession, the horror thriller stars Asa Butterfield (“Sex Education,” “Greed,” “Hugo”), Iola Evans (“The 100,” “Carnival

Moroccan director Aziz Tazi’s thriller “Night Walk,” featuring a turn by Mickey Rourke, has scored a slew of international sales prior to its U.S. launch this month via Lionsgate/Grindstone Entertainment Group. The English-language pic, for which Rourke won a supporting actor nod at the 2019 Moscow Film Festival, turns on an American named Frank, played

Berlin-based sales agent Films Boutique will represent worldwide rights for Cannes Un Certain regard selection “Rehana.” The film, originally titled “Rehana Maryam Noor,” is written and directed by Bangladesh’s Abdullah Mohammad Saad and produced by Singapore’s Jeremy Chua. Saad’s debut feature “Live from Dhaka” won best director and best actor at the Singapore International Film

“Pearl Diver” by Norway’s Margrethe Danielsen has swept Spain’s 16th Animayo Gran Canaria Festival awards, making off with the International Grand Jury Prize as well as plaudits for best student short film, stop motion and comedy for adults. “Pearl Diver” follows three odd couples: a hedgehog that falls in love with a balloon, two oysters anxious

South Korea enjoyed its biggest weekend box office of 2021 propelled, unusually, by a trio of Hollywood titles. “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” topped the chart with a $2.68 million haul, ahead of “Cruella” and “F9.” Aggregate national box office for the three days from Friday to Sunday was $7.12 million, according

Clarence Williams III, an actor known for portraying Linc Hayes on “The Mod Squad” and Prince’s father in “Purple Rain,” died on June 4. He was 81. Williams’ management confirmed his death to Variety, citing the cause as colon cancer. Williams broke through in 1968 as one of the stars of the counterculture cop show “The

A few weeks ago, there was every reason to be skeptical about “Cruella.” The creative track record for live-action remakes of Disney animated films was middling to dismal (the only one of the recent wave I thought worked was “The Lion King,” and most critics would say I’m dead wrong on that one). And this

Christina Ricci has joined the cast of “The Matrix 4.” An updated press kit from Warner Bros. on the untitled film includes Ricci’s name in the all-star cast, which features Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jonathan Groff and Neil Patrick Harris, to name a few. No details

Julian Radlmaier, who made a splash this year with his Marxist vampire satire “Blutsauger” (“Bloodsuckers”), is developing a romantic river barge road movie as his next project. “Binnenschifffahrerin Birte” is an East-West love story that centers on an old housekeeper working in a western German hotel who fondly recalls her youth in 1980s East Germany,

Actor Lisa Banes, known for her work in “Cocktail” and “Gone Girl,” is in critical condition after being involved in a hit-and-run scooter accident in New York City, Variety has confirmed. According to the NYPD, police responded to a 911 call around 6:30 p.m. on Friday reporting a motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian at the

In her impressive narrative feature debut, Mexican actor-filmmaker Ángeles Cruz examines the impact of migration and the difficulties women face in a small village in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Set in the fictional village of San Mateo (in reality Cruz’s hometown of Villa Guadalupe Victoria), “Nudo Mixteco” (or “Mixtecan Knot”) weaves together the stories

Producer Suzanne Desrocher-Romero is in the process of completing her late husband George A. Romero’s first attempt at filmmaking, which tells the story of an African American father and his son. Although the horror pioneer is often dubbed “Godfather of Zombies,” the unnamed 21-minute silent short – thought to have been shot in 1961 –

Making its European debut at International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Bright Lights section this week is “The Day Is Over,” the directorial debut of cinematographer Qi Rui (“The Sunflowers”), a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy. The feature charts the futile attempts of a 12 year-old girl and her friends to escape from their

This year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam Freedom Talk speaker Pallavi Paul claims that her mid-length film “The Blind Rabbit,” which examines police violence and systemic abuse of power, is unlikely to be seen by an Indian audience because the level of censorship applied by the government is “so intense.” The New Delhi-based filmmaker’s 43-minute essay,

There’s a certain kind of music-video director who will seize on the prospect of doing a movie as an opportunity to make a splash. It’s not hard to see why. In-demand video directors work with the hottest talent in the business, and their videos tend to be celebrated as four-minute bursts of genius. “Gully” is

After a strong weekend opening for “A Quiet Place 2,” Paramount has dated a third entry in the horror franchise for March 31, 2023. “Mud” director Jeff Nichols will take over from John Krasinki as helmer, with a story based on an idea by Krasinski. Nichols handed in the script for the new installment, which

The world may have been a more wholesome place before Cruella De Vil, but Disney cannot get enough of her. Before “Cruella” — the live-action prequel to the animated feature “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” — has even entered its second weekend of release, Disney is already in early development on a sequel, with director

The new animated feature “Spirit Untamed,” in theaters June 4, celebrates the power and importance of friendships, but at its heart is a theme of fearlessness. Director Elaine Bogan makes her feature in the follow-up to the popular 2002 movie “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.” This time the focus is on a new character, 12-year

Oklahoma Boosts Biz Services Oklahoma got a big boost this year from A24’s Oscar-winning “Minori,” which filmed in the state, creating 180 jobs around Tulsa. Additional filming took place in the communities of Sand Springs, Broken Arrow, Skiatook and Rose. In 2020, Oklahoma declared the film and TV production business — and the recording industry

To paraphrase an old adage, there’s bound to be a silver lining in every cloud. Indeed, for some Caribbean island locations, the COVID-19 pandemic, despite some losses in human life, has been a blessing for their audiovisual industries. The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, two of the most generous locations in terms of film incentives,

Actor, writer, producer, director and executive Issa Rae can now add superhero to her resume. The “Insecure” star and industry multi-hyphenate has joined the cast of the sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning animated feature “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” as Jessica Drew, better known as Spider-Woman. Rae joins returning voice actors Shameik Moore (as main hero Miles

“Super Frenchie” begins with what might be considered in the world of extreme sport docs a money shot, albeit an unexpected one. Skier and BASE jumper Matthias Giraud swooshes down a peak in France before hurtling himself into thin air. Behind him a vast shelf of snow cascades, with Giraud’s and photographer Stefan Laude’s cameras

It’s oddly appropriate that grief-stricken widower Ted (David Sullivan) spends most of Jack C. Newell’s “Monuments” schlepping his wife’s ashes around the geographical midpoint of the continental U.S.A. This dippily surreal existential comedy — imagine Quentin Dupieux engineering a head-on collision between “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia” and “Little Miss Sunshine” — feels

Moviegoers will soon find out what happened when Captain Jack Aubrey met Dr. Stephen Maturin. 20th Century has tapped screenwriter Patrick Ness to cook up another “Master and Commander” film, one that will likely draw on the first book in Patrick O’Brian’s beloved Aubrey–Maturin series. Those novels inspired the 2003 epic “Master and Commander: The

With today’s release of Ludovico Einaudi’s “Cinema,” Universal Music Group confirms its status as one of the world’s most soundtrack-friendly music companies. Music by Einaudi, the Italian composer and pianist, was featured in recent Oscar winners “Nomadland” and”The Father.” “Cinema” collects 28 pieces featured in those films and such earlier projects as “The Water Diviner,”

After going virtual last year with the online initiative LALIFF Connect 2020, the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival returned as an in-person event on Wednesday. The premiere of “7th and Union” served as the opening night film at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The Broken English production is the second feature film from

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Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Dwayne Johnson and Beau Flynn will team for action-thriller “Emergency Contact,” set against the Austin, Texas underground music scene, Variety has confirmed. Abdul-Mateen is attached to star in and executive produce the original project set up at Warner Bros., which is based on a pitch from busy writing team Rory Haines and