Movies

A well-meaning yet generic environmental activism documentary with sporadic insights, “Common Ground” opens with a series of stars including Laura Dern, Jason Momoa, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson and Rosario Dawson as they write apologetic letters to future generations. Their words claim to reveal harsh truths that boil down to, “We have failed you” and “We

Rob Schneider is refuting a recent Politico report (via Vanity Fair) that claimed a stand-up comedy set he performed last year at a networking event for Republican lawmakers was cut shorts after his jokes bombed. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith reportedly walked out of the room and the set was allegedly cut short after just 10 minutes. “I’m not

Rooftop Films is getting a new executive director. Adnaan Wasey, a veteran of prominent media and non-profit organizations, will assume the leadership role of the indie film showcase. He succeeds Rooftop Films president and founding team member Dan Nuxoll, who will transition into a consulting role. In his new role, Wasey’s responsibilities will span management, creative

Participant, the 20-year-old film and television production company whose mission was to inspire social justice and humanitarian action, is shutting down. Founder Jeff Skoll broke the news to a staff of roughly 100 on Tuesday. Established in 2004, Participant co-produced or co-financed a number of notable movies including best picture Oscar winners “Spotlight” and “Green

“Civil War” writer-director Alex Garland gave a lengthy interview to Vulture in which he was asked to weigh in on accusations against his film that claim it’s irresponsible to open it in theaters amid such a turbulent election year. Garland’s film is set in an America at war with itself (Texas and California have seceded

Award-winning Colombian director-producer Simon Brand and Miami-based media executive producer Daniel Eilemberg have joined forces with the founders of Emmy-winning Imaginer Films, Julio César and Laura Franco, to launch Clover Studios, a new production services company in Colombia.  The new enterprise is in response to Colombia’s phenomenal growth as a major production center, driven by

In “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” British Prime Minister Winston Churchill authorizes an illicit mission to undermine Hitler’s fleet of German U-boats during World War II. The plan calls for renegades with little respect for the rules, led by a cocky ex-criminal named Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill), who’s released from prison and called into a

“Shazam” star Zachary Levi is set to headline rock-climbing action thriller “Free Fall” for XYZ Films, with acclaimed New Zealand stuntwoman and stunt coordinator Zöe Bell tapped to direct. The film — written by Sean Finegan and Gregg Maxwell Parker — tells the story of a father’s attempt to reconcile with his estranged daughter on a rock-climbing trip

“Beating Hearts” (“L’amour ouf”), an epic crime romance directed by Gilles Lellouche and slated to compete at the Cannes Film Festival, has lured major distributors in key markets ahead of its world premiere. The sprawling movie, which is budgeted in the $30 million range, is financed, co-produced represented in international markets by Studiocanal. One of

J.K. Rowling’s bestselling children’s book “The Christmas Pig” is set to get a film adaptation. Variety understands the project is in a very early stage of development in-house and a production company has not yet been attached. Rowling’s production company Bronte already produces the BBC/HBO adaptation of her adult detective series “Cormoran Strike.” “The Christmas

For decades, the attitude toward the documentary “Let It Be” in the Beatles‘ camp seemed to be: Let it it rest in peace. But the film is finally going to be seen again. A restored version of the 1970 movie is coming soon to Disney+, the same service that brought fans “The Beatles: Get Back,”

NBCUniversal Studio Group chair and chief content officer Donna Langley will be celebrated at the Cannes Film Festival, where she will receive the Women in Motion Award from Kering‘s chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault, Cannes president Iris Knobloch and director Thierry Fremaux. The awards ceremony will take place at a glamorous gala dinner hosted by

Studiocanal’s Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black” debuted atop the U.K and Ireland box office with £2.77 million ($3.4 million), according to numbers from Comscore. It was neck-and-neck for the second spot. Entertainment Film Distributors’ “Civil War,” directed by Alex Garland and starring Kirsten Dunst, debuted with £1.82 million, including previews. In its third weekend,

Paris-based sales company Alpha Violet has come on board as representative of “Mongrel,” the debut feature of Taiwan-based Singaporean filmmaker Chiang Wei Liang. The film will have its world premiere next month at Cannes in the Directors Fortnight section. Set in the mountains of Taiwan, “Mongrel” stars Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad (“Eternity,” “Manta Ray”) as

Paris-based Luxbox, a sales company on a multiple standout Spanish-language debuts bowed at big festivals – from “1976” to “20,000 Species of Bees,” “Clara Sola,” “Song Without a Name” and “The Heiresses” – has swooped on international sales rights to “Simon of the Mountain” (“Simon de la Montaña”), in the run-up to the Cannes Film

The 77th edition of Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight will kick off with “This Life of Mine,” a dramedy directed by Sophie Fillières, a renowned French filmmaker who died last year. Presented posthumously, the film is headlined by French stars including Agnès Jaoui, Philippe Katerine and Valérie Donzelli. The independent selection, which has recently gone through a

Athens-based boutique film outfit Heretic has two titles in the Cannes ACID (Association for the International Distribution of Independent Cinemas) sidebar. Heretic’s own Greek production, co-produced with North Macedonia’s List Production, “Kyuka Before Summer’s End,” by debut director Kostas Charamountanis, is the opening film of the ACID program. The film follows a family of three,

Anil Thadani’s AA Films has acquired the Hindi-language distribution rights for four highly anticipated 2024 southern Indian titles. The films are: Sukumar’s “Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2,” starring Allu Arjun; Shankar’s “Game Changer,” headlined by Ram Charan; Nag Ashwin’s “Kalki 2898 AD” led by Prabhas; and Koratala Siva’s “Devara,” starring NTR Jr. All these

The first footage from India–Taiwan co-production “Demon Hunters” will be unveiled at the upcoming Cannes Film Market. The action-horror-comedy film is directed by Chen Mei-Juin (“The Gangster’s Daughter”) and produced by Light House Productions (Taiwan) and Kleos Entertainment Group (India), with the backing of the Taiwan government. The cast is headlined by India’s Arjan Bajwa

Remember Quibi? The short-lived streaming service-turned-punchline, which vastly overestimated how many people felt compelled to watch bite-sized shows and movies on their phones, seems to have done one thing right before being folded into the Roku Channel: allowing creators to retain ownership of their work after a two-year exclusivity window. Not content to let her

Marvel laid off 15 staffers on Monday, including lower-level production and development employees in Marvel Studios in Burbank as well as employees in the Marvel Entertainment division in New York. The layoffs were predicated by the overall reduction in Marvel’s slate of film and TV titles after the challenges of the 2023 releases led the

Chris Hemsworth recently revealed to Entertainment Tonight that he tried hard to land a role in a Kevin Costner-directed project only to learn that Costner had cast himself as the character instead. The “Thor” star did not reveal what the movie was, although he described it as something “abstract and interesting…a small story about a

From hit man to hedgehog. “John Wick” leading man Keanu Reeves will voice Shadow in “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” a source confirmed to Variety. He joins a cast that includes Ben Schwartz as Sonic, as well as Jim Carrey as the villainous Dr. Robotnik. A spokesperson for Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the film, declined

The international distribution company Glass House Distribution has acquired the worldwide rights to “The Private Eye,” a mystery, comedy and romance. The film was written and directed by Jack Cook and stars comedian Matt Rife. Glass House Distribution will represent the movie at the Cannes Film Festival in May with all territories available. The official

Johnny Depp said he felt “strangely, oddly, perversely lucky” to have been offered the role of French King Louis XV at the U.K. premiere of his new film “Jeanne du Barry.” Depp was accompanied by the film’s co-star and director Maïwenn on stage at the Curzon theater in Mayfair, where the duo briefly introduced the

HarbourView Equity Partners has made an investment in Mucho Mas Media, the Los Angeles-based content company behind the new golf-themed movie “The Long Game.” The deal calls for HarbourView Equity to executive produce films with Mucho Mas co-CEOs Javier Chapa and Vincent Cordero. With HarbourView’s investment, Mucho Mas intends to expand the scope of its

The film armorer who loaded a live bullet into Alec Baldwin‘s gun on the set of “Rust,” leading to the death of a cinematographer, was sentenced Monday to the maximum term, 18 months in prison. Hannah Gutierrez Reed, 26, was convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter, after a jury found that her negligence caused the

Editor, composer, director and producer John Ottman is teaming with film and music industry executive David Franco to develop a dramatic biopic based on the life of world-renowned Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. The project, written by Kevin Lund and TJ Scott, has had been long-gestating, beginning 20 years ago when Ron Howard was set to

SPOILER ALERT: This contains major spoilers for the ending of “Civil War,” now playing in theaters. “Civil War” production designer Caty Maxey was tasked with building a dystopian America that showed bombed-out buildings and abandoned cars that stretched for miles on the freeway. It was all part of her creative brief for Alex Garland’s latest film.

Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat’s documentary “Sugarcane” garnered the top nonfiction honor at the 26th annual Sarasota Film Festival. About the abuse and death of Indigenous children at a Canadian-based Indian Residential School, the docu premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival (SFF), where it picked up the U.S. documentary directing kudo. In February,