Movies

Warner Bros. drew attention in early December when it announced plans to simultaneously release all of its films in theaters and on HBO Max throughout 2021. The decision, affecting 17 major films from “The Matrix 4″ to “Dune,” highlights just how important streaming services have become in the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic has shut

“The Lunchbox” producer Guneet Monga has boarded “Jallikattu,” India’s entry in the Academy Awards’ international feature category, as executive producer, in time to shepherd its 2021 Oscars campaign. Monga was an executive producer on “Period. End of Sentence,” which won best documentary short subject at the 2019 Oscars. She also drove the campaign for “Visaaranai”

WarnerMedia said in a statement on Friday evening that it’s concluded its investigation into the set of “Justice League.” “WarnerMedia’s investigation into the ‘Justice League’ movie has concluded and remedial action has been taken,” the statement reads. It’s unclear what the “remedial action” entails, and WarnerMedia declined to give further details when pressed by Variety. In

In “Wander Darkly,” Sienna Miller and Diego Luna star as a Los Angeles couple who get into a horrific car accident. What happens after the crash, isn’t entirely clear. Maybe it was a fatal crash that left one or both of them dead or maybe not. The film is a series of flashbacks and dream-like

At the risk of sounding presumptuous, Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch list has never mattered more than it does in a year where festivals and co-production showcases have been canceled and the film industry is hungry for any sign of where tomorrow’s talents might be hiding. Emerging filmmakers have been pushed to the sidelines by

Normally, this would be the time of year when audiences could choose between big, glossy popcorn movies and the prestigious art films out for Oscar glory. But of course, COVID-19 has upended the release schedule and extended the awards season a few months longer into 2021. But before you despair, just think how fortunate you

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has come on board the Michael Bay thriller “Ambulance” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, with shooting expected early next month. “Ambulance” was first announced a month ago with plot details under tight wraps. The script, written by Chris Fedak, is based on a 2005 Dutch thriller about two brothers on the run from the

Patrick Whitesell, executive chairman of WME parent company Endeavor, has blasted WarnerMedia’s stunning plan to stream all 17 of its 2021 Warner Bros. theatrical releases on HBO Max at the same time as they play in theaters. “Warner Bros. announced a strategy across an entire slate of 2021 movies without consulting with their partners (our

Acclaimed director Christopher Nolan has weighed in yet again on the controversy surrounding Warner Bros. Pictures’ plans to release all of its 2021 films concurrently in theaters and on HBO Max. Appearing on the NPR program “All Things Considered,” the director elaborated on a previous scorched-earth statement criticizing the studio for disrespecting Hollywood talent and

Now in its second year back in the city where it was born, the EnergaCamerimage International Film Festival has partnered with the Torun council in Poland and the national government in funding its most ambitious project, the European Film Center Camerimage, a $155 million facility now entering the architecture bidding stage. Torun mayor Michał Zaleski

“Education.” That’s as good a title as any for the final episode of Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” project — a series of five features, some little more than an hour, designed to educate and inform audiences about the experience of London’s West Indian immigrant population, about the expectations of assimilation raised by a white-majority country

Lionsgate is closing multiple international deals with Amazon for the Jennifer Lopez–Armie Hammer comedy “Shotgun Wedding.” The project stars Lopez as Darcy and Hammer as Tom, a couple who gathers their families together for a destination wedding. Things start to go south, however, after the two get cold feet. But that’s not the worst thing about

Two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks and Oscar-nominated director Paul Greengrass have teamed up again for Universal’s Western “News of the World,” one of the biggest studio films in the awards race. The duo last worked together in 2013’s “Captain Phillips,” which ended up with a best picture nomination. Like an all-American game of baseball,

Jamie Bell and Margaret Qualley will portray the legendary dance pair Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the biopic “Fred & Ginger” for Amazon Studios and Automatik. Bell and Qualley will also produce. Bell showed his skills as a dancer in his breakout performance in 2000’s “Billy Elliot.” Qualley has performed extensively as a dancer,

In the new indie film “Promising Young Woman,” set for a Christmas Day release, production designer Michael Perry plays with color to show the lightness and darkness of the main character’s life. That meant using bold hues to portray an emboldened Cassie, the film’s protagonist, played by Carey Mulligan, who drops out of med school

Amazon’s “Sound of Metal” is a piece of terrific filmmaking — and its achievements are even more impressive considering Hollywood’s depictions of deafness in the past. “Sound of Metal,” directed by Darius Marder, stars Riz Ahmed as a heavy-metal drummer who begins to lose his hearing. The film has a three-act structure: Attempts by drummer

Filmmakers all use the same tools, more or less, but do so with endlessly varied methods, says cinematographer Roger Deakins. That idea drove the master cinematographer, who won Academy Awards for Denis Villeneuve’s “Bladerunner 2049” and Sam Mendes’ “1917,” to launch with his wife James Deakins the buzzy behind-the-scenes podcast Team Deakins, a streaming chat

Cinematographer Matthew Libatíque has become known for his signature use of anamorphic lenses and working with light to add realism to his images. But for Ryan Murphy’s “The Prom,” the screen adaptation of the 2018 Broadway musical that premieres Dec. 11 on Netflix, he changed the approach. This time, he went with spherical lenses because

FKA Twigs has sued her ex-boyfriend, Shia LaBeouf, accusing the actor of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress. The musician, who filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, and the actor had dated for about one year in 2018 and 2019, after working together on the film, “Honey Boy.” “Shia LaBeouf hurts

Shares of Disney popped 8% Friday morning, as investors cheered the Mouse House’s monster-size content flex outlined at its 2020 investor day for stepped-up push to accelerate its global direct-to-consumer streaming offensive. In early trading, Disney stock was trading at $167.13 per share, pushing the company’s market cap to over $300 billion. Netflix shares were

As the recently approved Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine began rolling out in the U.K. this week, the prevailing mood across the film and TV industry was one of cautious optimism. The breakthrough could be, quite literally, the shot in the arm needed to return to pre-COVID strength — as long as other government and industry support

Award-winning and deeply divisive South Korean film director Kim Ki-duk has died of COVID-19-related complications while on a visit to Latvia. Variety has confirmed Kim’s death with sources in Estonia who were working with him on a new project. The director died of coronavirus in a hospital in the Latvian capital of Riga on Thursday.

Japanese period drama film “Wife of a Spy” will get a release in U.S. cinemas early in 2021 through distributor Kino Lorber. The film earned its creator Kurosawa Kiyoshi the silver lion as best director at the Venice festival in September. The film reteams Kurosawa with actress Aoi Yu, who previously starred in his “Journey

Superhero movies have become so pervasive since the turn of the millennium that they’ve spurred a whole subgenre of films subverting their formulas — primarily low-budget efforts like “Special,” “Super” and “Defendor,” but also major-studio projects “Joker” and “Hancock.” All share an interest in peeling back the mask, exploring the antisocial, delusional-fantasy side of superpowers

Movies are constantly coming up with reasons to keep lovers apart for long enough to convince audiences that they genuinely belong together, but “Wild Mountain Thyme” may be the first film in which those obstacles are never made clear. Rosemary Muldoon (Emily Blunt) is beautiful. Anthony Reilly (Jamie Dornan) is beautiful. These two Irish neighbors

Marvel Studios announced slew of confirmations for their upcoming slate of comic book adaptations — including news that they are in very early development on a “Fantastic Four” movie and that Christian Bale has joined the MCU — but the biggest among them were the decisions made for the Wakanda universe. Addressing the tragic loss

Captain America is going “to infinity and beyond!” Chris Evans is set to voice the animated superhero Buzz Lightyear in an all-new animated film due in theaters on June 17, 2022, Pixar’s Pete Docter announced on Thursday during Disney Investor Day. The animated pic is billed as the “definitive story of the original Buzz Lightyear,”

I learned in the news that Warner Bros. has decided to release “Dune” on HBO Max at the same time as our theatrical release, using prominent images from our movie to promote their streaming service. With this decision AT&T has hijacked one of the most respectable and important studios in film history. There is absolutely

Hallelujah! “Sister Act 3” is officially a go, with Whoopi Goldberg returning for the third installment, in addition to producing the film with Tyler Perry. The third movie in the “Sister Act” series comes nearly 30 years after Goldberg first starred as Deloris, the lounge singer turned singing nun. Goldberg and Perry are currently in

John Mulaney and Andy Samberg will star in a new reboot of “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” for Disney Plus. The feature film will hit the service in spring 2022 and is a combination of live action and computer animation. Seth Rogen will cameo in the film, which Disney teased during its investor day. Akiva