Movies

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s hopes of entertainment venues benefiting from rapid testing when the country begins to reopen after coronavirus lockdown is not practical, at least for cinemas, says U.K. Cinema Association chief executive Phil Clapp. On Monday, during a coronavirus briefing, Johnson had suggested the rapid lateral flow tests, in combination with the

The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) has selected Mariah Carey, George C. Wolfe, Stacey Abrams’s “All In” and Netflix as its special achievement award honorees for the 12th annual AAFCA Awards. Carey will receive the Innovator Award, while Wolfe earns the Salute to Excellence. Netflix is the Cinema Vanguard recipient, while the Stanley Kramer

Indie Sales has acquired Jimmy Keyrouz’s feature debut “Broken Keys,” which was part of Cannes 2020’s official selection and represented Lebanon in the Oscar race. “Broken Keys” is a follow-up of Keyrouz’s short “Nocturne in Black,” winner of a flurry of international awards, including the BAFTA Los Angeles Student Film Award. The movie was scored

“Mother Tongue,” a suspense thriller directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Mike Figgis (“Leaving Las Vegas,” “Internal Affairs”) starts shooting in Hong Kong this week. It stars and is produced by actor-singer-producer Josie Ho (“Contagion,” “Lucky Day”). Figgis and Ho will hold a start-of production ceremony Wednesday at Hong Kong’s Shaw Studios. Production is expected

Ryan Murphy will be honored for his body of work at the 25th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards in April. The writer, director and producer of TV shows and movies include “Hollywood,” “Pose,” “The Politician,” “The Prom,” “Glee,” “American Horror Story,” “The Boys in the Band” and most recently “9-1-1,” will receive the Cinematic Imagery

“Calamity Jane,” Rémi Chayé’s critically acclaimed animated feature vying for an Oscar nomination, is set to roll out on The Animation Showcase, a streaming service dedicated to the industry. The hand-drawn “Calamity Jane,” which marks Chayé’s follow up to “Long Way North,” will be the first animated feature film to be available worldwide on the

Cinemas in Hong Kong are set to reopen on Thursday after a hiatus caused by the city’s fourth wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. As the number of infections has dropped to only single figure daily increases, the government announced on Tuesday permission to reopen previously shuttered public places including cinemas and theme parks. Theme parks

Reel Suspects has acquired world rights to Renata Pinheiro’s sci-fi thriller “King Car,” which recently world premiered at Rotterdam in the big screen competition. The elevated genre movie revolves around Ninho, the son of a taxi company owner who has an extraordinary connection with cars and can talk to them. Ninho became friends with the

Movie industry shares soared in Hong Kong on Tuesday in response to the bumper revenues being earned at the mainland China box office over the Chinese New Year holidays. Leading the gains were Imax China and Alibaba Pictures, both of which have direct stakes in the box office boom. Imax China stock climbed by 31%

The Locarno Film Festival is adding a new competitive section dedicated to shorts by established filmmakers, in one of the first moves made by new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro. Nazzaro, a former Venice Critics’ Week chief who was appointed at Locarno’s helm in November, is starting to put his stamp on the prominent Swiss

Director Robert Connolly (“Balibo”) and star Eric Bana (“Hanna,” “Hulk), both currently riding high at the Australian box office with “The Dry,” will reunite on “Blueback,” a film billed as a family-friendly, ecologically activist celebration of the natural world. Connolly has been developing the project for more than two decades. At one stage it was

All awards and nominations lead to the coveted Academy Awards ceremony. As the industry’s leader in awards analysis, predictions and the entertainment business, you can find the key upcoming dates for this year’s awards season. All critical dates are in bold. Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15, 2021, with voting set to take

In a “Crip Camp” bonus scene, disability rights activist and author Ann Cupolo Freeman, featured in the award-winning documentary, recalls her love story with husband Sam Freeman. Following the completion of the doc, which centers on a summer camp for teenagers with disabilities called Camp Jened and its impact on people with disabilities and the

Ari Gold, the trailblazing LGBTQ artist who sang backing vocals for Diana Ross and Cyndi Lauper, has died of leukemia, World of Wonder Productions confirmed to Variety. He was 47. World of Wonder, the production company behind “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” worked closely with Gold on his collaborations with RuPaul. “Ari was a queer trailblazer whose

Howard Deutch wasn’t sure he was the right man to oversee “Pretty in Pink.”  The aspiring filmmaker had met producer and writer John Hughes while directing a music video for his previous examination of high school social castes, “Sixteen Candles.” However, he’d never overseen a feature film and the prospect terrified him. “I was honest

The youth party culture, as portrayed in the mass media, tends to be driven by a certain debauched and glamorous energy: the clubbing, the drugs, the “freedom,” the your-life’s-a-soap-opera excitement that turns the rituals of hooking up into a flame that lures everyone. But in “Cusp,” a documentary about three small-town Texas teenagers wiling away

The South Korean box office reached its highest weekend total of 2021 with the help of strong hold over performances by “Soul” and “Demon Slayer The Movie: “Mugen Train” and two new release titles that entered the chart in third and fourth place. “Soul” kept its first place and increased its weekend score by 5%

DreamWorks Animation’s “The Croods: A New Age” topped an anemic domestic box office, grossing just over $2 million in its twelfth week of release. The family film has earned roughly $49 million since it opened last fall. It is eyeing a Presidents’ Day weekend gross of $2.7 million and is playing in 1,890 theaters. That

Laika Studios is celebrating Valentine’s Day with a special short-form video featuring duos from its films. The content will be posted out on Valentine’s Day across its social media channel to bridge the gap between providing content while fans wait for the next big studio release. David Burke, chief marketing officer and SVP of operations

Director Zack Snyder and HBO Max revealed the full trailer for “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” on Sunday, giving audiences the first expanded look at his four-hour version of the DC Films superhero movie. The trailer features a battle of epic proportions between the Justice League and big bad Darkseid (Ray Porter), who was intended to

Tonight Seth MacFarlane and Variety partner to bring you an evening of songs for charity. Starting at 7:00 p.m. Pacific, 10:00 p.m. Eastern MacFarlane, accompanied by his jazz band will perform a special live show. In the midst of the winter leg of the COVID-19 pandemic, the concert offers viewers a way to connect through

Lynn Stalmaster, the legendary casting director who worked on nearly 200 movies ranging from “West Side Story” to “Harold and Maude” to “Tootsie,” has died. He was 93. Stalmaster died Friday morning in Los Angeles, Casting Society of America executive Laura Adler confirmed. Stalmaster was a pioneer as an independent casting director who worked on

If Rob Zombie made a slasher movie that was also an “attack of the killer Muppets” movie, it might look like “Willy’s Wonderland.” Directed by Kevin Lewis, from a script by G.O. Parsons, this defiantly out-of-the-box and in some ways rather cunning grunge horror film, set from dusk till dawn inside a run-down family fun

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) announced its nominees in the film and newly-created television categories for its 10th AACTA International Awards. Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” leads the film nominations, earning six nods, including best film, best direction in a film and nods for stars Frances McDormand, David Strathairn and Swankie. “The Trial

The cast of drama-comedy “Our Friend,” based on a true story about the Teague family, said their aim with the film was to capture the authenticity of the events, not “mine their story.” Stars Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel and Casey Affleck spoke to film awards editor Clayton Davis as part of the Variety Screening Series

With the Super Bowl behind us and the Oscars looming (and a pandemic-dampened Valentine’s Day as a marketing peg), American distributors are releasing their most robust slate of new releases in months this weekend. Awards contenders “Judas and the Black Messiah” (about the FBI-sanctioned murder of Fred Hampton) and “Land” (starring and directed by Robin

Bollywood films have some of the most romantic songs and even if you don’t know the meanings, the videos give the game away. But if you do understand Hindi, songs including “Tere mere sapne” from “Guide” with lines such as “Oh my life partner, Your and my dreams are of the same color and wherever

Will Eubank and Chrisotpher Landon are teaming up to direct a new “Paranormal Activity” film for Paramount Players, set for release on March 4, 2022. Eubank will helm the project, described as a “new, unexpected retooling” of the highly lucrative franchise. Landon returns to write his fifth “Paranormal” movie and will executive produce. Blumhouse Productions

The first death occurs about midway through “I Blame Society,” Gillian Wallace Horvat’s very mean-spirited and very funny feature debut. After the deed, Horvat, who also stars (as a sociopathically dedicated filmmaker called Gillian Wallace Horvat) stares at her tear-streaked reflection in the ugly light of her bathroom mirror, and confesses to the GoPro strapped

Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning actor Jim Broadbent (“The Duke”) will lead the cast of “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry,” an adaptation of Rachel Joyce’s bestselling novel. Broadbent will play the eponymous Harold, who embarks upon a 450-mile walk across the U.K. in the belief that his journey will save the life of his