Movies

Variety has teamed up with London-based international production event Focus, which runs online Dec. 15-17, to present “Variety Streaming Room: The Big Restart,” the latest in its series of online panel discussions. The collaboration is the first time Variety has worked with Focus on a live digital event. Leading producers from France and Poland will

In today’s bulletin, Olivia Colman leads the cast of BBC’s pantomime “Cinderella”; season 3 of “Das Boot” commences production; Discovery Plus orders a Dutch adaptation of ITV Studios format “Sex Tape”; and Amazon India reveals Hindi-language anthology “Unpaused.” Olivia Colman (“The Crown”) and Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”) will headline a virtual version of popular

Rotten Tomatoes has launched a new Top Critics program for its Tomatometer rating system, including new criteria aimed at boosting inclusion and recognizing individual achievement in criticism. “At Rotten Tomatoes, we continue our commitment to building a more inclusive critics pool that reflects and serves the global entertainment audience, and today we took another important

Shamier Anderson (“Wynonna Earp”) and Stephan James (“Homecoming,” “American Son”) want to break down barriers of discrimination and combat systemic racism in the Canadian arts. On Dec. 3, the Scarborough, Ont. brothers announced the formation of The Black Academy, an expansion of their not-for-profit B.L.A.C.K. Canada (Building a Legacy in Acting, Cinema + Knowledge), which

CineLife Entertainment is handling the U.S. release of a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” with a British voice cast including Carey Mulligan, Daniel Kaluuya, Martin Freeman, Simon Russell Beale and Andy Serkis. The film has been scheduled for more than 200 U.S. locations and will begin opening Dec. 4. through January. This retelling of the

Content Partners LLC has acquired the FilmDistrict​ library, including “Olympus Has Fallen,” “Looper” and the first two “Insidious” movies. “We’re thrilled to bring these popular titles from FilmDistrict to new platforms while building our library and continuing to be leading owners of intellectual property in the entertainment industry,” said John Mass, executive vice president of

Magdalena Orellana’s “Until The Place Becomes Improbable,”  Eduardo Crespo “The Wind’s Cave,” Manuel Muñoz Rivas’ “Manantial,” Marina Palacio “And Thus It Will Go On” and Mina Fitzpatrick’s “Wandervogel” are the five projects selected for this year’s Ikusmira Berriak. A project-based training-residence program, the development initiative has been launched by the San Sebastian Film Festival, the

South Korean animation, or “K-animation,” has been positioned to be the next chapter of “K-wave” following the global success of Korean film, K-pop and K-dramas, says one of the agencies that pledge to put the content on the world stage. The success of animated feature thriller “Beauty Water,” which has been a film festival circuit

The U.K. Cinema Association, the trade org representing 90% of U.K. cinema operators, has launched a social media campaign aimed at persuading government to provide further funding for its COVID-affected members. Titled ‘Keep the Magic Alive,’ the campaign has been launched via a short film narrated by actor and writer Stephen Fry (“Wilde”) that reminds

Argentina’s Magma Cine is powering up a female-dominated slate with some of Latin America’s biggest talent. Chile’s Paulina Garcia, best known for her Berlinale Silver Bear Best Actress-winning performance in Sebastian Lelio’s “Gloria,” plays opposite another giant talent, Argentine thesp Mercedes Moran (“La Cienaga,” “El Angel”) who co-wrote the dramedy “Norma” with Santiago Giralt, who

In “The Time of Indifference,” Italian filmmaker Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli adapts the 1929 novel by renowned author Alberto Moravia about a once wealthy family in decline but unable to give up the pretenses of appearance. Transposed to modern-day Rome, the film retains the novel’s timeless story of a hapless widow whose devious and manipulative lover

“Versailles” star Alexander Vlahos has partnered with German executive producer Nicole Oebel (“Lola”) to form independent film production company CowHouse Films. The Welsh-German company will kick off in early 2021 with principal photography on “Watchtower,” a film that explores the inner conflict of isolating oneself and allowing the presence of a loved one to be

Berlin-based Picture Tree International, which is participating in this week’s Ventana Sur, has announced a swathe of deals on its sales slate, including a pact with HBO for U.S. rights on Mexican comedy “Go Youth,” which premiered locally at Morelia Film Festival recently. Carlos Armella’s movie tells the intertwined stories of four teenagers struggling with

The centerpiece of “Love, Weddings & Other Disasters” is a sweetly engaging story about the improbable autumnal romance between an impossibly demanding celebrity caterer, played by a perfectly cast Jeremy Irons, and the age-appropriate, sight-impaired free spirit (a very winning Diane Keaton) who manages to locate a warm heart beneath his frosty demeanor. Unfortunately —

The hybrid festival model, combining in-theater screenings and online playout, that emerged during coronavirus lockdown periods may help festivals reach a wider audience, said panelists at a Singapore International Film Festival talk on Wednesday. The transition from programming traditional festivals to putting together online ones initially posed tech problems, said Anderson Le, festival consultant and

China on Thursday announced selection of Hong Kong director Peter Chan’s sports drama “Leap” as its contender for the Academy Awards’ best international feature film competition this year. The film tells the fact-based story of the Chinese women’s national volleyball team and their travails over the course of decades, from their world championship win in

The Red Nation Film Festival has announced the winners of the 2020 Red Nation Film Festival Awards, and Loretta Todd’s “Monkey Beach” swept with Best Picture, Lead Actress, Lead Actor and Best Director. The festival, which pivoted to virtual this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, also handed out prizes to “Gather” in the Best

Jason Statham is in negotiations to star in Focus Features’ crime drama “Small Dark Look,” with filmmaker Martin Zandvliet on board to direct. The project, formerly known as “Body Cross,” centers on the Russian mob in London, with further plot details kept under wraps. Steven Knight, who received an Academy Award nomination for “Dirty Pretty

Producers have agreed to notify the entertainment industry’s unions when a member of casts and crews test positive for COVID-19 in a revision of the industry’s two-month-old safety protocols. The agreement, which took effect on Nov. 30, is contained in a Nov. 19 side letter issued by Carol Lombardini, president of the Alliance of Motion

Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played two iconic villains in the “Mad Max” franchise, has died, his representative confirmed to Variety on Wednesday. He was 73. Keays-Byrne played the antagonist Toecutter in the 1979 original “Mad Max” film by director George Miller, and he was brought back for the 2015 movie “Mad Max: Fury Road” to play

A.V. Rockwell’s feature directorial debut, “A Thousand and One,” has been greenlit by Focus Features, Sight Unseen, Makeready and Hillman Grad Productions Rockwell also penned the script for the pic, which begins production next year. It will be produced by Hillman Grad’s Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani, Makeready’s Brad Weston, and Sight Unseen’s Eddie Vaisman

Artisans behind Netflix’s animated hit “Over the Moon” will talk about their work on longtime animator Glen Keane’s feature directing debut in a free online conversation presented by VIEW Conference on Friday, Dec. 4, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. PT. “Over the Moon” follows the adventures of Fei Fei, a young girl mourning the

The next edition of Sundance Film Festival will take place in Park City, Utah — and New York, and Ohio, and Tennessee, and Kansas, and California, and Florida. The 2021 festival, which runs from Jan. 28 through Feb. 3, is rolling out in numerous cities across the country as the annual gathering goes virtual because

Arianna Bocco has been named president of IFC Films. Her promotion comes after more than a decade at the indie studio, where Bocco oversaw acquisitions and productions for IFC Films as well as for its genre label IFC Midnight. Bocco is stepping into the role after Lisa Schwartz announced in November that she was stepping

Looking for something to do while you are stuck inside? Check out Variety’s Must Attend calendar of (mostly virtual) events. Dec. 2 92Y Talks presents “Marvel’s 616,” with Alison Brie, Andrew Rossi, Sarah Amos and Jason Sterman. 92y.org Amjad Abu Alala’s “You Will Die at 20” kicks off the New York African Film Festival. Runs

“Happiest Season” standout Aubrey Plaza will star opposite Jason Statham in Guy Ritchie’s untitled thriller, formerly titled “Five Eyes.” Statham will portray an agent recruited by the global intelligence alliance Five Eyes to track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapon that threatens to disrupt the world order. Reluctantly paired with a

Margot Robbie is in early talks to replace Emma Stone in Damien Chazelle’s period drama “Babylon” for Paramount, Variety has confirmed. Stone exited the film, which would have reunited her with Chazelle after working together on “La La Land,” due to scheduling issues. She and Brad Pitt were attached to “Babylon” a year ago when

In “Alex Wheatle,” the fourth of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe films, we meet a young man who seems, quite literally, to have come from nothing. Alex (Sheyi Cole), born to Jamaican parents in 1963, was abandoned by his mother, and his father gave him over to the British social-services bureaucracy — which means that he

Where do people get their personalities? Do parents play a part, or are such things somehow determined before birth? For centuries, doctors of psychology, doctors of philosophy and doctors of theology have contributed their thoughts on the subject, but the latest breakthrough comes from another kind of doctor entirely: Pete Docter, the big-idea Pixar brain

Welcome to the return of “Just for Variety,” the legendary Daily Variety column that began in 1945 and, with Army Archerd at the helm, was a must-read until it ended in 2005. The new “Just for Variety,” written by yours truly, will run in print and online. My mission? To provide inside dish from in