Movies

Just ahead of its 27th festival, the annual Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its 2021 lineup that will showcase nearly 300 films from June 22 to 28. “As we collectively move toward this next stage together, we feel a strong sense of gratitude to share the 2021 edition of ShortFest in person,” artistic director Lili

For Regé-Jean Page’s next act, the rising star is taking on the world of big-budget blockbusters and beloved IP, with the high-profile film adaptations of “The Gray Man” and “Dungeons & Dragons.” During his Variety cover interview, Page and the films’ directors Anthony Russo (who is helming “The Gray Man” for Netflix), and Jonathan Goldstein

Grab a slice of pizza because the heroes in a half shell are coming back out of the sewers in 2023. The CG-animated reboot of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” from producer Seth Rogen and Nickelodeon is heading to theaters on Aug. 11, 2023, Rogen announced on Twitter. Also producing from Rogen’s Point Grey Pictures production

Rejoice, cinema lovers. Alamo Drafthouse, the theater chain that’s popular for its no-nonsense approach to moviegoing, has emerged from Chapter 11. The bankruptcy filing was announced in March as the Texas-based company, like many theater chains, was struggling to recover from closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Alamo Drafthouse has completed its sale to

Blue Fox Entertainment has picked up North American rights to Brazilian lockdown thriller “The Pink Cloud,” a timely and prescient hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema – Dramatic section. The distributor, which recently opened Julie Delpy’s Toronto Platform title “My Zoe,” plans to release the film in theaters across North

There are currently more than 100 anti-trans bills hitting stage legislatures across the country, many of them aimed at trans kids who want to participate on sports teams according to their gender identity. While this issue is getting more attention now, it isn’t new. As the new Hulu documentary “Changing the Game” shows in intimate

Warner Bros.’ chiller “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” topped the box office with £2,708,455 ($3,839,694) in its opening week as the U.K. basked in late May sunshine and a long bank holiday weekend. The good weather that traditionally keeps audiences outdoors did not appear to have a detrimental effect on the box

Years ago, I learned that certain people will grow mortally offended if you call a character in a movie a zombie who is not, in fact (according to the supreme checklist of zombie traits), a zombie. It makes you wonder if there are other supernatural micromanagers out there who keep tabs on whether a given

A kid named Lucky loses her mother, moves to the frontier with her father and befriends a wild mustang in “Spirit Untamed.” While experienced professionals fail to break the strong-willed stallion, Lucky (who has never ridden a horse) feeds it a few apples, and before long, the youngster has tamed the obstinate animal — which

With the Cannes Film Festival just over a month away, France has unveiled more details around how U.K. visitors can expect to enter the country amid rising cases of the so-called Indian variant. Those from the U.K. who can provide a certificate declaring “compelling” reasons for travel before boarding can enter the country. But questions

The closing part of this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) kicks off Wednesday with a vast program of films and events that includes an all-new section and a showcase of works from up-and-coming filmmakers. The first part of IFFR’s 50th edition, which ran Feb. 1-7, focused on the main Tiger, Big Screen and Ammodo

Some of Britain’s most respected drama schools are facing allegations of sexual harassment, with students claiming they experienced or witnessed sexual assault and “inappropriate” behavior from teachers, including pressure to perform naked or in their underwear. An investigative report into sexual impropriety in U.K. drama schools from The Telegraph has implicated the Guildford School of

Iconic Chinese indie film director Jia Zhangke is to make a return to the Pingyao International Film Festival that he founded and which he famously quit at the end of the October 2020 edition. His new role remains somewhat murky. Jia was a speaker at a launch event Tuesday in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, used to

You might find yourself looking at the world in a very different way after watching Mark Cousins’ latest documentary “The Story of Looking,” the closing night film of this year’s Sheffield DocFest. It’s an uplifting meditation on the power of looking, all at a time when we are more assailed by images than ever. The

For the second year running, Sheffield DocFest’s flagship pitching forum MeetMarket is taking place virtually. That’s not holding back the number of projects applying: MeetMarket has had more than 550 applications this year. From these, MeetMarket has selected 55 projects, which will have the chance to present to more than 300 international funders, broadcasters, distributors,

As with so many festivals, it’s easy to feel a little overawed when first glancing at the full program of films on offer at Sheffield DocFest (June 4-13). Despite the challenges of programming during a pandemic, the Sheffield team has pulled together an impressive lineup of 78 features and 88 shorts in its films program.

There’s no putting Clint Eastwood out to pasture. Clint turns 91 today, and it’s worth celebrating the fact that this Hollywood legend is still turning out work at a faster clip and higher quality than practically anyone in the business. Granted, prolific doesn’t always mean better, and it can be frustrating to see his fans

Romy Walthall, an actor known for her roles in “Face/Off” and “The House of Usher,” died on May 19 in Los Angeles after experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. She was 57. Walthall’s son, actor and director Morgan Krantz, confirmed her death to Variety. Born on Sept. 16, 1963 in Pasadena, Texas, Walthall got her start in the

Last weekend, the season finale of “Saturday Night Live” featured a satirical promotional spot for AMC Theatres that became a delectable skewering of what’s left of the megaplex experience. It featured Vin Diesel, played by Beck Bennett with a SoCal-by-way-of-Brooklyn stupido Toretto growl (“It’s been a while. For the past year, the roads have been

Tatino Films, a French production and consultancy company involved in industry events in Asia and Europe, is launching the Full Circle Lab, a new workshop program which will take place in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in France. Spearheaded by industry veteran Matthieu Darras, the Full Circle Lab will support six film projects during each session. Selected

“Pari,” the story of an Iranian mother’s search for her missing son in Athens, directed by Siamak Etemadi, an Iranian who lives in Greece, won the top feature film prize at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, an annual showcase for Greek cinema that wrapped its fifteenth edition on May 30. “Parontes,” under its English

Wayne “Buddy” Van Horn, veteran stuntman who worked with Clint Eastwood on over 30 films and directed “Any Which Way You Can” and “The Dead Pool,” died May 11, according to an obituary notice in the Los Angeles Times. He was 92. Sometimes credited as Wayne Van Horn, he started working with Eastwood as a

Emma Stone wasn’t shocked by how dark Cruella de Vil’s backstory is in Disney’s new live-action “Cruella.” “Surprise is hard when you’ve been attached to the movie for four years and you’ve seen many different incarnations of the script,” Stone told Variety‘s senior culture and events editor Marc Malkin while she promoted the film with

And exhale. The movie business is breathing a little easier after Paramount’s “A Quiet Place Part II” roared to $57 million over the Memorial Day Weekend. It’s a sign that cinemas are back after more than a year of pandemic era closures, capacity restrictions, and skittish customers. But the public health situation is changing dramatically,

Berlin-based Palestinian filmmaker Kamal Aljafari revisits familiar themes in “An Unusual Summer,” a personal work that captures the invisible lives of people in a Palestinian neighborhood in the Israeli city of Ramla. Composed of recordings from a surveillance camera installed by Aljafari’s late father at their family home in 2006 in the hope of catching

Vivendi, the parent company of Canal Plus and Universal Music Group, has finalized its acquisition of Prisma Media, a leading publishing group in France. Under the deal, Vivendi has acquired 100% of Prisma Media from Gruner+Jahr/Bertelsmann. The two companies signed a put option agreement on Dec. 23 which was approved by anti-trust authorities. “The Prisma

Global Screen has picked up global distribution rights to “The Path,” which is based on Rüdiger Bertram’s novel and inspired by true events. The Munich-based sales agency will be taking part in the virtual Pre-Cannes Screenings, where it will present a teaser trailer for the film as it kicks off presales. “The Path” will be

The Tokyo city government has announced the relaxation of shutdown measures at cinemas and museums.  This is despite the Japanese national government’s recent extension of the current state of emergency to June 20 for nine prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka. The new policy goes into effect on Tuesday (June 1, 2021) with restrictions on numbers

Pluto TV has signed a long-term strategic content partnership with Mediawan to bring more than 1,000 hours of French content from Mediawan’s library to Pluto TV in France and across 18 countries in Latin America. The pact with Mediawan will allow Pluto TV, ViacomCBS Networks International’s ad-supported streaming service, to grow its portfolio in France,

You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from studio executives across Hollywood. After a brutal year and change for the movie theater business, the North American box office is finally showing signs of life again. That’s mostly thanks to John Krasinski’s post-apocalyptic thriller “A Quiet Place Part II.” The sequel collected a roaring