Movies

With deserving artisans having taken home their Oscars, Variety looks ahead to the below-the-line contributions for films voters might see on the ballot next year. Wes Anderson’s much-anticipated “The French Dispatch,” about a fictional American magazine based in France, includes the work of many of his frequent collaborators: Composer Alexandre Desplat, production designer Adam Stockhausen

Eva Longoria has named Adriana Martínez Barrón as vice president of film at her UnbeliEVAble Entertainment production banner. “We are very excited to welcome Adriana to the UnbeliEVAble team,” says Longoria. “Adriana is someone who champions the values of UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, and with our continued focus on elevating underrepresented voices and stories in the Latinx

Warner Bros. Pictures Group has named Alissa Grayson as executive vice president of global publicity. Grayson will join the studio from STX Films, where she’s served as co-president of marketing since 2017. In her new post, Grayson will reunite with former Universal Pictures colleague Josh Goldstine, who was recently named president of worldwide marketing at

Palm Spring Shortfest will be the first film festival of 2021 in California to hold all of its screenings in-theater when the event takes place at the Camelot Theatres (Palm Springs Cultural Center) from June 22 to 28. The Palm Springs International Film Society plans to work closely with the Camelot Theatres to ensure the

Guy Ritchie’s “Wrath of Man” will debut in China on May 10, three days after its U.S. release. The film’s star, Jason Statham, will also hit screens in “Fast & Furious 9” less than two weeks later on May 21. The unusual Monday release may help the battalion of 19 local blockbusters, opening over the

“Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse” is a lively formulaic action-hero origin story, dunked in combat grunge, that demonstrates how a resourceful lead actor can bend and heighten the meaning of a commercial thriller. In the opening sequence, which looks like an outtake from “Zero Dark Thirty” shot in the rubble of “Full Metal Jacket,” John Kelly

Flying high after two Academy Awards for “The Father,” which it produced and sold, London-based Embankment has unveiled a first look photo of “Sex Education” star Emma Mackey in “Emily,” as well as robust early pre-sales on the feature, an Emily Brontë origin story. Mackey was nominated on Wednesday for a BAFTA TV Award for

Berlin Film Festival organizers have said that staging their planned “Summer Special” in-person event in June is proving to be a “bigger challenge” given a recent update to the country’s Infection Protection Act following the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. A statement from the festival on Wednesday said that Berlin directors are currently speaking with German authorities

The film you expect from Renato Borrayo Serrano’s documentary study of a Nenets woman raising five young children in the Arctic tundra is, in a subtly momentous way, not the one Serrano delivers with the unflinching “Life of Ivanna.” When it has become almost an article of faith that the purpose of such ethnographic portraits

Captivated by the seemingly many personas of late actor Omar Sharif, Egyptian filmmaker Mark Lotfy and Swedish director Axel Petersén delved into the legendary star’s eventful career, tracing how the politics of 1950s Egypt formed the international star’s complex character. Their new documentary, “The Life and Times of Omar Sharif,” shows in particular how the

The two men on the train are sharing a single set of earphones. “Good song, isn’t it?” says the more gregarious of the two. The quieter man smiles faintly and agrees, “It goes with the landscape.” They could be childhood friends reconnecting, or colleagues who get along despite their differences. But they are filmmaker Atsushi

Retrospectives tributes to German director Volker Koepp and Takamine Go from Japan are featured in the upcoming Taiwan International Documentary Festival, which will kick off on Friday and run until May 9, 2021. The Filmmaker in Focus section will include 11 films by Koepp and the festival claims that the program is one of the

Stunt coordinator Kyle Gardiner worked with director Simon McQuoid and fight choreographer Chan Griffin to deliver the extreme fights in the “Mortal Kombat” movie. Combining signature moves with well-structured action, the stunt team had plenty to work with for this action-packed fantasy flick. Free from the PG-13 boundaries applied to 1995’s enjoyably campy Paul W.S.

After the massively successful debut of “Godzilla vs. Kong,” the film’s director, Adam Wingard, is in talks for a new movie in Legendary’s MonsterVerse franchise. Since its launch in theaters on March 31, “Godzilla vs. Kong” has topped $400 million at the box office, marking the highest grossing release of the pandemic era. The film

William Jackson Harper won fans’ hearts (and earned a supporting actor Emmy nomination) as Chidi in “The Good Place.” But now that the NBC comedy has reached the afterlife, the actor is stepping into rom-com leading man status with “We Broke Up.” Harper, who will next star in HBO Max’s romantic anthology series “Love Life”

Ted Hope, producer and former co-head of movies at Amazon Studios, offered a glimpse of hope for the documentary film industry while discussing streaming opportunities at Danish doc fest CPH:DOX on Tuesday. The discussion was part of the festival’s CHP:Conference program and its series of talks entitled “Redistribution:Economy,” which seeks to explore new economic models

Hollywood is under pressure to improve representation of people with disabilities both onscreen and behind the camera. Time’s Up, an organization founded in the wake of the #MeToo movement that seeks to raise awareness of sexual mistreatment in the workplace, has added its voice to the conversation. The foundation has joined 1 in 4, in

Donald Trump has returned to criticizing Hollywood and Sunday’s record-low Oscars telecast. Via his Save America political action committee, Trump issued a scathing statement, obtained by The Hill, where he called the Oscars “politically correct and boring” and called for the return of a host to the awards show. “What used to be called The

In a time of quarantine, the documentary “Truffle Hunters” is a heavenly delicacy meant to be savored, a true meditation on nature and food. But how did directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw convince the elusive inhabitants of the forest of Piedmont to agree to be filmed? Their very livelihood is tied to the secrecy

A world of vampires, werewolves and wizards is on its way to screens big and small. Married writer-producers Eric Heisserer (“Shadow and Bone”) and Christine Boylan (“The Punisher”) and production company Hivemind (“The Witcher,” “The Expanse”) have partnered with game publisher Paradox Interactive to develop the World of Darkness story universe for film and television.

Palestinian director Amer Shomali is set to explore the allegedly illegal excavation of Palestinian antiquities by Israeli military leader and politician Moshe Dayan — who remains a divisive figure around the world — in a hybrid film project that examines the loss of cultural history by way of an action-packed, partly animated heist thriller. “Theft

Reese Witherspoon’s Reese’s Book Club has launched LitUp, a fellowship for unpublished women writers from marginalized communities, Hello Sunshine announced Tuesday. LitUp will help elevate, mentor and champion new authors with the mission of spotlighting more diverse stories. “As our community and reach continues to grow, we have all collectively sought out innovative ways to

Nicolas Bedos, the French writer-director behind the Cannes-premiering “La Belle Epoque,” is set to direct “Mascarade,” a French Riviera-set drama-comedy with Isabelle Adjani, Pierre Niney and Francois Cluzet. The ambitious film boasts a significant budget of €14 million ($17 million) and is bring produced by Francois Kraus and Denis Pineau-Valencienne at Les Films du Kiosque,

There are two ways to view this year’s Academy Awards telecast. One of them isn’t pretty. The other is strangely … hopeful. But both speak to the powerful transitional moment in which the movie industry is now caught. Version #1: This year’s Oscar night, by bending over backwards to “reinvent” itself, wound up as a

Heavy Metal magazine, the influential sci-fi and fantasy publisher, has set a significant intellectual property deal with Range Media Partners. In partnering with the upstart management company, Heavy Metal hopes to leverage its library for film and TV projects. The publisher is credited as an inspiration behind “Blade Runner” and “The Fifth Element,” and also

“Escape Room 2” has moved up its release to July. The sequel to the 2019 psychological thriller will now debut on July 16, 2021, nearly six months earlier than its planned release date of Jan. 7, 2022. With the box office beginning to revive after the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s possible that “Escape Room 2” moved

While the world celebrated China-born director Chloé Zhao’s historic three Oscar wins for best picture, best director and best editing, China’s censors were busy trying to wipe any trace of the Academy Awards from the web. An initial burst of celebration and congratulatory messages appeared on Chinese social media just after the ceremony, which aired

“Vivo,” an animated movie that boasts new music from “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, is coming to Netflix. The family friendly film was initially scheduled to release in theaters on June 4. But Sony Pictures, the studio that originally backed “Vivo,” has instead offloaded the project to Netflix. It’s unclear when it will debut on the

A bankruptcy auction for the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain has been canceled, after no rival bids were received for the company. The cancelation clears the way for Fortress Investment Group and Altamont Capital to take control of the company, in a deal that also includes Alamo Drafthouse co-founder Tim League. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema filed for

Movie theaters are ready to welcome back audiences. That’s the message of The Big Screen Is Back, a new initiative launched by cinema operators, studio executives, talent agents, and filmmakers that kicked off as part of Sunday’s Academy Awards pre-show. During the lead up to the telecast, a clip with an introduction by Matthew McConaughey