Movies

Ronald Pickup, the British actor best known for his roles in “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” films and “The Crown,” died on Feb. 24. He was 80. Pickup’s agent said he “passed away peacefully yesterday after a long illness surrounded by his wife and family,” per the BBC. “He will be deeply missed.” Born on June

Australian independent producer Aquarius Films is setting up timely female-led drama film “Most Admired Woman,” about a nurse who took a life-saving treatment to America during the early 20th century polio epidemic, and defied her critics. The film is an adaptation of biography “Sister Kenny: The Woman Who Challenged the Doctors,” written by science writer

Amazon Studios has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film “My Name Is Pauli Murray,” about the trailblazing LGBTQ and civil rights activist, which premiered this year at Sundance. Participant, Drexler Films and Storyville Films produced the doc, directed by Oscar nominees Betsy West and Julie Cohen (“RBG”). The film follows the overlooked history of

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long:

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long:

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long:

“West Side Story” star Rachel Zegler will play a mysterious, but key role in the “Shazam: Fury of the Gods,” the superhero sequel from New Line and DC Comics, starring Zachary Levi. “I am in my key role in shazam 2 era,” the actor tweeted shortly after news of her casting broke, referencing the mystery

The British playwright, director and actor Kwame Kwei-Armah has signed with CAA and Redefine Entertainment. He currently serves as the artistic director for the Young Vic in London and was previously artistic director of Baltimore Center Stage. Kwei-Armah most recently wrote “All Rise,” a musical about how Viagra came to market inside Pfizer, with “The

Shudder has acquired rights to George A. Romero’s “The Amusement Park,” the film from the “Night of the Living Dead” helmer that was considered lost until a print surfaced in 2018. The AMC Networks’ horror-centric streaming service will make the movie available in North America, U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand this summer.  After a

The Academy has released a list of 366 feature films in contention for the upcoming 93rd Oscars. The number of eligible movies is up from the 344 submitted in 2019, although it’s not an AMPAS record. This is the highest total since the 1970 awards, which had 374 eligible entries. All the expected awards contenders

Reverse time till years before “Tenet,” when Christopher Nolan was first being tricksy with time in “Memento,” or think back to when “Small Axe” auteur Steve McQueen’s hunger for filmmaking was just stirring. That’s when Variety first identified these mega-talents as Directors to Watch. Other veterans of the list include “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao and

Believe it or not, the Golden Globes will wield even more influence than usual this year. With Oscar voting for nominees set to take place March 5-10, the Feb. 28 Globes ceremony falls just five days before Academy members receive their ballots. The Globes are going to carry more weight because the normal all-telling industry

Terrified and tired, a 17-year old girl named Autumn fights back tears while sharing details about her relationships and sexual history. The counselor is sympathetic, but as she asks more personal questions — probing to find out if the young woman has ever been physically hurt by her partners or forced to have sex —

Nominees for the 11th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors (GMS) Awards have been revealed. Recognizing the craft of music supervision in film, television, games, advertising and trailers, previous winners have included such top-of-their-field music supervisors as Mary Ramos (“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Robin Urdang (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) and Kier Lehman (“Queen &

Director Paul W.S. Anderson, best known for the “Resident Evil” franchise, will direct his adaptation of “In the Lost Lands,” a sprawling epic based on the story by George R.R. Martin, whose “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels were adapted into “Game of Thrones.” Milla Jovovich, also of the “Resident Evil” movies, and Dave

Eva Green, Mark Strong and Chai Fonacier have boarded “Vivarium” director Lorcan Finnegan’s psychological thriller “Nocebo,” which is now in production in Ireland. The film, which marks the first co-production between Ireland and the Philippines, follows a fashion designer (Green) suffering from a mysterious illness that puzzles her doctors and frustrates her husband (Strong) until

“Mank, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Tenet” are among the top films recognized for excellence in production design in the 25th annual Art Directors Guild nominations. On Thursday, the ADG announced nominations for this year’s awards show, which will be held April 10 in a virtual ceremony, breaking with tradition in response to the COVID-19

“Land,” which premiered at Sundance, tells the story of a broken woman who discovers hope, resilience and human kindness, all in the remote Wyoming mountains. So how did the film’s leading lady come to helm this tale shot through with tragedy and compassion? Robin Wright, who has directed episodes of “House of Cards” on which

“Concrete Cowboy” director Ricky Staub is not a faith-based filmmaker per se, but he’s not afraid to admit that faith played a part in steering him toward his debut feature, or in his decision to create Neighborhood Film Co., the production company that made it possible. Staub wrote his first script when he was 10

Pascual Sisto completed his cut of “John and the Hole” for the Cannes deadline in the spring, and after submitting it, he took some time off. “And, of course, that time off became a pandemic,” Sisto says. Though Cannes was canceled, the festival announced its lineup anyway, and “John and the Hole” made the cut.

Born in New Zealand to a family of Chinese doctors, action maven Roseanne Liang describes herself as a “classic immigrant-child overachiever” who’d never questioned that she was destined to become a doctor until she got into medical school. She deferred her acceptance for a year and decided to take classes that aligned more closely with

Philippe Lacôte’s career in film began at the end, rather than the beginning, of the cinematic life cycle: as a projectionist in a small regional theater in Toulouse, France, where the Ivory Coast-born director had moved to study linguistics. Those studies had led to work as a fledgling radio reporter, but it was the audiovisual

It’s not often that a debut director leaps into the awards conversation. But Regina King, who won a supporting actress Oscar for 2019’s “If Beale Street Could Talk,” got voters talking by coordinating a quartet of strong performances in a timely and entertaining period piece. Directing Kemp Powers’ play adaptation “One Night in Miami” brought

The first images have been released for “Blazing Samurai,” an animated comedy based on Mel Brooks’ classic film “Blazing Saddles,” and featuring the voices of Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson and Ricky Gervais. It is produced and creatively led by Rob Minkoff, the director of Disney’s “The Lion King.” The project is in production at

After a delay due to coronavirus, Saudi Arabia’s nascent Red Sea International Film Festival is now on track to hold its first edition in November with a partly renewed team in place. The ambitious event, which is Saudi’s first full-fledged film festival and market with international ambitions, is set to run Nov. 11-20 in the

Ahead of its Hulu release on Feb. 26, the virtual premiere of “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” espoused the film’s mission to authenticate Holiday’s real-life story. “As part of Black History Month, it is important to correct Black history,” ABC News anchor Linsey Davis said during the film’s introduction. “This is a story we

More than 35,300 suspected links to pirated versions of Chinese New Year’s films and major holiday TV programs are available online, despite government directives to crack down on piracy, new data from China shows. Rampant piracy did not stop the seven new year’s blockbusters released on Feb. 12 from sending China’s February box office soaring

Top Thai director Banjong Pisanthanakun and Korean director-turned-producer Na Hong-jin (“The Chaser”) have teamed to create new Thai horror film “The Medium.” Now in post-production, “The Medium” is a horrifying story of a shaman’s inheritance in the Isan region of Thailand. But the goddess that appears to have taken possession of a family member turns

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” star Eddie Redmayne said the film was an “urgent story to tell.” Redmayne, star Sacha Baron Cohen, writer and director Aaron Sorkin, producer Marc Platt and editor Alan Baumgarten joined Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tangay in the Variety Streaming Room to discuss the film’s timeliness and creation process. The

Millennium Media is no longer involved in the selling or production of Brett Ratner’s Milli Vanilli film, Variety has confirmed. However, the project has other bidders and investors who are fully financing production, according to RatPac. Millennium and Ratner’s RatPac Entertainment released a joint statement on Wednesday regarding the decision. “On the heels of the announcement