Movies

Alternative content for cinema screening is getting a K-pop spin, giving it a chance of success in parts of Asia, even as distributors and audiences remain hesitant about movies’ return to theaters. Hong Kong’s Megaton Entertainment will be holding a series of screenings in early May of the tear-jerking tale “Midnight Sun,” which has been

The 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards are underway in a virtual ceremony, celebrating the best in indie filmmaking — and, for the first time, television. Continuing her roll in the best supporting actress category was Yuh-Jung Youn of “Minari.” In the first speech of the evening, the actor credited the very independent spirit of the

Production designers from the Oscar-nominated films “The Father,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Mank,” “News of the World” and “Tenet” are joining American Cinematheque for a virtual Q&A on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT. Sponsored by Variety, the online conversation will bring together production designers and set decorators from this year’s critically-acclaimed films to discuss their craft

Lumiere Cinema has been able to negotiate a longer term on its lease at the Music Hall’s Beverly Hills theater due to COVID tenant protections, and has reopened the three-screen venue with a program of independent films. Distributor Blue Fox Entertainment, headed by James Huntsman, had hoped to begin renovations on the historic Wilshire Boulevard

“Avengers: Endgame,” which had its worldwide premiere two years ago, gave Tony Stark a well-deserved heroic ending. After proclaiming his titular line, “I am Iron Man,” Stark snapped his fingers and had Thanos and his Chitauri army disintegrated into dust. Even though wielding the power of the Infinity Stones killed him in the end, Stark

The U.K’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the British Film Institute (BFI) have formally launched an export booster fund to replace the European tap that ran dry with Brexit. Grants disbursed from Creative Europe’s MEDIA program were worth an average of €18.5 million ($22.2 million) a year to the cultural and

It was the gore as much as the gameplay that made the original “Mortal Kombat” such a success at the arcade, and while the 1995 New Line movie broke the curse on video game adaptations — following such bombs as “Street Fighter” and “Super Mario Bros.” earlier that decade — the film version did so

Scott Rudin has had a public reputation as an abusive boss for decades. But this week, for the first time, he began to experience some consequences for it. A24 let it be known that it was cutting ties with the producer, who had delivered such films as “Lady Bird” and “Uncut Gems.” Rudin was compelled to

A column of random thoughts: Whatever you think about the year’s movies, you have to admit the titles were confusing. For example, we had “Pieces of a Woman,”  “Promising Young Woman,” “I’m Your Woman,” “I Am Woman” and “Wonder Woman 1984.” That last title could also confuse future film historians. In the old days, when

When “Minari’s” Steven Yeun first saw Lee Issac Chung’s script for the film, the words deeply resonated with him. “It spoke very confidently and it didn’t need anything outside of it to justify the story,” he tells Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast. “It was really about this family and their point of view.” With the theme

Justin Simien, the director of “Dear White People” and “Bad Hair,” has been tapped to direct Disney’s “The Haunted Mansion” remake. Though taking inspiration from the spooky theme park ride, plot details have been kept under wraps for the upcoming live-action movie. The Haunted Mansion theme park ride, which first opened in 1969, takes guests

Since 1984, the Film Independent Spirit Awards have provided a counterpoint to the Hollywood establishment’s back-patting: a scrappy celebration staged in a tent on the beach, anointing future visionaries rather than formalizing the status of industry titans. But in a year, and an industry, that has itself been so disrupted from business as usual, the

Joe Taslim’s role as Sub-Zero in the new “Mortal Kombat” movie shocked his family, friends and fans alike. “Everybody got surprised because they said, ‘Oh my God, you’re so evil onscreen. And look at you. In reality, you’re so funny,’” the actor and former martial arts champion tells me, from his home in Indonesia, on

Oscar Nunez has been cast in “The Lost City of D,” a romantic action comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. It’s currently unknown who Nunez will play in the Paramount Pictures film, which centers on a romance novelist (Bullock), who gets stuck on a book tour with her cover model (Tatum). Straight out of

George Gershwin, the noted composer of “Rhapsody in Blue” and “An American in Paris,” will be the inspiration for a new musical drama from Martin Scorsese and John Carney. Scorsese is producing the movie “Fascinating Rhythm,” named after one of Gershwin’s most recognizable songs, with Irwin Winkler. Carney, the filmmaker behind “Once” and “Sing Street,”

In response to recent and explosive allegations about producer Scott Rudin’s workplace behavior, the Producers Guild of America is forming a task force to combat bullying in Hollywood. “We are deeply disturbed and disheartened by the continuing allegations of workplace harassment and abuse in our industry, and stand with those who speak out against such

Money can buy outside help, opportunity and material possessions, but not happiness in “My Wonderful Wanda,” a punchy satire from Swiss auteur Bettina Oberli (“Late Bloomers”). Taking a wry but empathetic approach to the phenomenon of care migration, Oberli and her co-writer Cooky Ziesche focus on the changing relationship between one privileged Swiss family and

After putting a youthful, female-centric spin on vampiredom in “Bleed With Me,” Canadian director Amelia Moses does the same favor for werewolves in “Bloodthirsty.” This sophomore feature is likewise a slow-burning tale set among three primary characters in a remote setting. But this time the script is by producer Wendy Hill-Tout and her daughter, singer-songwriter

As the 2021 Oscars prepare to go hostless for the third year in a row, Whoopi Goldberg shares what it takes to emcee the biggest night in movies. The 1991 best supporting actress Oscar winner has also hosted the Academy Awards four times, making history as the first (and still only) Black woman to emcee

The 2021 Sheffield Doc/Fest will open with the European premiere of Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul” and close with the world premiere of Mark Cousins’ “The Story of Looking.” “Summer of Soul (…Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” explores the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which celebrated African American music and culture, and

An epic battle between two movie icons has helped provide proof of concept for AT&T’s larger strategy for WarnerMedia. AT&T chief John Stankey, speaking Thursday during the company’s first quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts, pointed to the performance of Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla vs. Kong” on HBO Max and at the box office over

Roberto Rossellini, besides being Italian Neorealism’s most acclaimed film director, was also the father of a nonconformist, cosmopolitan and slightly crazy family that includes Hollywood stars such as Isabella Rossellini, another daughter who converted to Islam, and a son who has chosen to live on a desert island in Sweden.  The Rossellini family also comprises

Warner Bros. released a trailer for the third “Conjuring” film that sees the return of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” follows the real-life case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who defended himself against a manslaughter prosecution by claiming that he was the victim of demonic possession. Supernatural investigators

Haley Bennett, Sam Riley and Marisa Abela are starring in “She Is Love,” a new romance from Jamie Adams. The film is made in an improvisational style, one that Adams deployed on previous pictures such as “Black Mountain Poets” and “Love Spreads.” It wrapped principal photography this week in Cornwall, U.K., but had never been

According to a new study conducted by UCLA, U.S. audiences prefer films comprised of diverse casts. UCLA’s annual Hollywood Diversity Report, this year subtitled “Pandemic in Progress,” reports that in 2020, films with casts that were made up of 41% to 50% minorities took home the highest median gross at the box office, while films

National-holiday-studded Golden Week, which runs from April 29 to May 5, has long been a peak movie-going period, especially for vacationing schoolkids and their families. But this year, with a state of emergency looming for Tokyo and Osaka, as well as two prefectures adjacent to Japan’s second-largest city, box office prospects look less than bright.

The world premiere of Pan Nalin’s “The Last Film Show” (Chhello Show), which opens the Tribeca Film Festival’s Spotlight section, promises to be a welcome return to a big-screen cinema experience after a year blighted by COVID-19. The partly autobiographical drama takes Nalin back to his roots in Saurashtra, Gujarat, western India, where “The Last

What’s the thing that a good movie director does? In a way, that’s a silly question, since good directors do a thousand things, and filmmakers are diverse creatures. But in an age of freeze-dried blockbuster storytelling, it’s important to remind yourself that a good director leads you through a story step by step, moment by

On the release of what was to be the late Monte Hellman’s final feature film in 2011, critic Steve Erickson noted “Monte Hellman is the ultimate outlaw filmmaker.” A decade earlier, filmmaker-critic Kent Jones wrote that “anything written in America about Monte Hellman … cinema’s most under-appreciated great director … must be a defense.” Decades before Jones’ astute

The life of Fallon Fox, the first openly transgender fighter in Mixed Martial Arts, is the subject of a new film in development at Mark Gordon Pictures. Fox’s story will be scripted by wedded writing team T Cooper and Allison Glock-Cooper, whose credits include NBC’s “The Blacklist,” BBC America’s “Copper” and Netflix’s “The Get Down.”