“Schitt’s Creek” and “Blood Quantum” were the big winners in the television and film categories, respectively, at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards. “Schitt’s Creek” led television honors with eight awards for it’s sixth and final season, including best comedy series; best direction, comedy for Andrew Cividino and Daniel Levy; and the sixth win in a
Movies
Eric Bana gets to do something he rarely has an opportunity to do on screen in his new thriller “The Dry:” Speak in his normal accent. Over the course of his career, the Australian actor has played angry green monsters (“The Incredible Hulk”), monarchs (“The Other Boleyn Girl”), aliens (“Star Trek”) and noble warriors (“Troy”),
The stunt work was sensationally spectacular, and Tom Cruise did much dauntless derring-do. But what I remember most vividly about my first exposure to “Mission: Impossible” at a 1996 L.A. press junket were the heated arguments among a group of my fellow critics. Some of them were positively incensed that the heroic lead character in
Before “Hamilton,” there was “In the Heights,” the revolutionary Tony-winning hip-hop musical that put Lin-Manuel Miranda — and the northern tip of Manhattan — on Broadway’s map. Though just 20 minutes from the Great White Way by train, the predominantly Dominican neighborhood might as well have been the North Pole for most New Yorkers (“I’ve
Dwayne Johnson has been cast in the Warner Bros. movie “DC League of Super-Pets” and will voice the role of Krypto the Super-Dog. The animated DC film centers on Superman’s dog, who teams up with a flying cat to stop crime while the Man of Steel is on vacation. It’s slated to release in theaters
Actor-producer Daniel Dae Kim urged those of Asian and Pacific Islander descent to work hard at “allyship” with other underrepresented communities in order to focus on the roots of systemic racism. Kim spoke on May 20 at a half-day virtual seminar hosted by Amazon Studios to examine API representation in film and media as part
The long awaited movie adaptation of popular BBC series “Luther” is gearing up for a September production start, actor and executive producer Idris Elba has revealed. Speaking to Variety on Friday, Elba said: “We go into production, fingers crossed, in September. I’m so excited about it, it’s been a long time coming. “We’re very, very
Netflix has dropped a teaser-trailer for Italian chiller “A Classic Horror Story,” which appears to reference Italy’s past horror masters like Dario Argento and Mario Bava but also looks like it will break new ground. The creepy pic, set to launch globally on the streamer July 14, is co-directed by young helmers Roberto De Feo
We never learn the name of the main character in Samuel Van Grinsven’s fearless queer debut, “Sequin in a Blue Room.” Anonymous is just the way he likes it. Using a gay cruising app, he goes by the handle “Sequin,” seeking casual, no-strings sex from strangers. Once the hookup’s complete, he blocks the other party,
The Force is strong with Dave Filoni. And so, it seems, is Twitter. Last summer, Lucasfilm quietly promoted the executive producer and frequent writer and director of “The Mandalorian” to executive creative director for the entire studio, a rep confirms with Variety. But the company didn’t update its website with Filoni’s new title until this
“F9,” the latest installment in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, is already revving up for a box office takeover — though a notably less spectacular one than other franchise films in years past. Its release appears not to have been marred by what Universal Pictures called a security “threat” earlier this week that forced the
Last month, producer Andrew Coles spoke out against Scott Rudin, bringing to light disturbing allegations of workplace abuse. Once a development executive for Scott Rudin Productions, Coles, who is now a producer on projects like “Queen & Slim,” went on the record in the bombshell report that led to Rudin’s downfall, following decades of bullying
Salma Hayek and Lady Gaga began working on “House of Gucci” before director Ridley Scott even called, “Action!” In the upcoming film, Gaga plays Patrizia Reggiani, who orchestrated the 1995 killing of her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), an heir to the Gucci fashion empire. Hayek portrays a clairvoyant who was convicted of helping plan
Having long settled in Britain after fleeing Nazi Germany with her family as a young girl, Judith Kerr wrote her semi-autobiographical 1971 children’s novel “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” as a response to her own son’s Hollywood-tilted misconception of her childhood. After watching “The Sound of Music,” he observed that her own escape must have
Experimental musician, DJ and teacher’s assistant Alexis (Jasmin Savoy Brown) is working on a seriously killer track. But the high she is chasing, in writer-director Alex Noyer’s uneven but often inventively grisly feature debut, is not that of pop stardom or peer admiration. Instead Alexis, due a condition whereby she experiences the sounds of human
Along with a few fast-forgotten dogs, Simon Barrett has written some of the more enjoyable U.S. horror opuses over the last two decades, from 2004’s period ghost story “Dead Birds” through a series of Adam Wingard films that laid career path to that director’s current big-budget assignment “Godzilla vs. Kong.” You might expect Barrett’s own
Henry Golding and his Long House Productions label have signed a two-year first-look film and TV development and production deal with SK Global, the co-financiers and producers of Warner Bros.’ “Crazy Rich Asians.” The deal will cover opportunities for Golding both in front of and behind the camera. The projects developed under the new partnership
After a six-month shutdown, French cinemas reopened May 19 with a bang. In spite of an audience capacity of 35% and a 9pm curfew, as many as 305,000 admissions were sold on Wednesday, scoring the best reopening day for cinemas in Europe, according to Comscore France. “This score is simply exceptional and surpassed our most
Picture Tree International has picked up world sales rights to animated feature “Snotty Boy,” which will world premiere in the main competition section of the Annecy Film Festival. The film is produced by Josef Aichholzer, whose credits include Oscar winner “The Counterfeiters.” Picture Tree has released the first trailer. “Snotty Boy” is based on the
In Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead,” premiering May 21 on Netflix, Dave Bautista stars as a mercenary on a mission to retrieve $200 million from the vault of a Las Vegas casino by crossing into a quarantine zone in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. But the heist turned out to be the easy
The Sanderson sisters are officially returning to Salem. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy will reprise their roles in “Hocus Pocus 2,” a sequel to the 1993 Disney classic. Disney initially revealed plans for a follow-up film in 2019 with the hopes that the trio of actors would return, but Midler, Parker and
On this week’s Just for Variety, I invited Variety senior entertainment writer Adam B. Vary as my first guest co-host for my interview with Sebastian Stan. Vary’s MCU knowledge is massive, so it was only fitting for him to join me for my chat with “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” star. There was a
In the past eight “Fast and Furious” installments, Vin Diesel has defied gravity and the rules of the road as street racer Dom Toretto. But his next lap may prove to be his most arduous: Can he help restore a sense of normalcy to the movie theater business? This summer will prove to be a
Gold House, the creator of #GoldOpen, has partnered with The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) to present #LatinxGoldOpen, a social movement dedicated to ensuring the opening weekend success of Latino driven films across the country. The opening weekend is the most critical time window for film projects to guarantee their vitality. #LatinxGoldOpen will
Marvel film “Doctor Strange” courted some controversy when it cast actor Tilda Swinton, a white woman, in the role of The Ancient One, who is typically portrayed in the comics as an Asian man. Marvel Studios defended the casting leading up to the release, but now president Kevin Feige has addressed the controversy and admitted
A group of 108 film producers announced Thursday that they are seeking to form a union, as they aim to address low pay and skimpy health care benefits. Calling itself the Producers Union, the group wants to negotiate a minimum basic agreement that will provide health benefits and set a floor for producer fees. “We’re
Two weeks before Cannes unveils its Official Selection lineup, Thierry Fremaux, the artistic director and general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, caught up with Variety about his selection process in pandemic times; the changes the festival will be introducing this year, beginning with an expanded out of competition section to host anticipated films; his
B Good Picture Company has wrapped filming on documentary “The Good Drug,” which delves into our historical, societal and scientific relationship with psychedelic substances. The film is being directed by Joe Stephenson, who produced and directed “McKellen: Playing the Part,” a feature documentary on the life and work of Ian McKellen. “The Good Drug” explores
Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming crime thriller “No Sudden Move” will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film is set to screen on June 18 — at The Battery in New York City — as the festival’s centerpiece gala selection. The cast of “No Sudden Move” is expected to make an appearance at
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” the film adaptation of the popular West End musical, will debut on Amazon’s Prime Video. The film was originally set to be distributed on October 23, 2020, by the Disney-owned 20th Century Studios, but COVID scrambled those plans and forced the studio to delay the release. Amazon bought distribution rights for