Movies

Amazon Prime Video has boarded Melanie Laurent’s anticipated period mystery thriller “Le bal des folles” as its first Original movie in France. “Le bal des folles” is produced by Alain Goldman and Axelle Boucaï at Legende Films (“La Môme,” “The Spy”). Amazon Prime Video will launch the film exclusively in France and around the world

David Fincher, whose latest film “Mank” is set to bow on Netflix on Dec. 4, told a French magazine that he has signed an exclusive four-year-deal with Netflix. In an interview with Premiere (translated from French), Fincher suggested that “Mank,” an immersive Hollywood drama, was part of a long-term partnership with the streaming service. He

Maria Sødahl’s “Hope” has been selected to represent Norway in the Oscar’s international feature film race. The film was selected by the Norwegian Oscar Committee out of three candidates which included “Disco” by Jorunn Myklebust Syversen, and the documentary “Self Portrait” by Espen Wallin, Katja Høgset and Margreth Olin. Represented in international markets by TrustNordisk,

As it begins to ramps up production in the Middle East Netflix has announced a partnership with Saudi Arabian digital media studio Telfaz11 to produce eight new feature films. The deal segues from the two companies’ previous collaboration on the short film collection “Six Windows in the Desert,” which was an “incredible success,” according to a

Creepy horror film “Impetigore” by hotshot director Joko Anwar has been selected by Indonesia as its national representative in the Academy Awards’ best international feature film category. The news was announced by the Indonesian Academy Awards Selection Committee on Tuesday. Anwar quickly retweeted the information, adding: “Hopefully this film can be a good representation and

In the years since Mel Gibson fell from the grace of his celebrity, we’ve been through the Mel Gibson-is-canceled stage (which happened but didn’t take), the Mel Gibson-gets-a-cameo-as-found-object-of-infamy stage, the Mel Gibson-crawls-back-to-nail-a-nutzoid-lead-role stage (remember “The Beaver”?), the Mel Gibson-has-become-the-hero-of-Z-thrillers-that-exploit-his-disreputability stage, the Mel Gibson-has-a-real-deal-comeback-with-“Hacksaw Ridge” stage, the Hollywood-still-won’t-accept-him-as-an-actor stage, and (at last) the Mel Gibson-barely-even-has-to-be-an-actor-because-he’s-now-a-meme stage.

Universal Pictures is selling international distribution rights to the upcoming Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass film “News of the World” to Netflix. Universal still plans to release the western drama in U.S. theaters on Christmas Day. It’s unclear when the film will be available on Netflix in international territories, but it will likely be in

Filmmaker Peter Hyoguchi will be fully embracing virtual production for “God of Mars,” a science-fiction epic that he promises will include the type of action and special effects usually seen in big budget blockbusters, but for a fraction of the cost. How? By embracing virtual production and relying on Unreal Engine technology. “God of Mars”

Like much of the world, I was thrilled to hear on Monday that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was proving to be effective and could end up being available before the end of the year. Sure, it seemed hopeful that there might eventually be an end to the pandemic in sight. But I was even more relieved

The Independent Filmmaker Project will announce nominations for the Gotham Awards on Thursday at 7:00 a.m. PT, live from Cipriani Wall Street. The nominations will be announced ahead of the awards show’s Jan. 11 ceremony — the first show during the unprecedented 2021 awards season. This round of nominees will include a list of eligible

JP Richards, Warner Bros. co-president of worldwide marketing, is leaving the studio as part of ongoing restructuring efforts at WarnerMedia. In a memo Tuesday, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar informed the staff that numerous jobs would be cut in the coming days. Cuts are expected to affect 5-7% of the company’s workforce, which will result in

Lionsgate has acquired the horror spec script “Video Nasty” for Seth Rogen’s Point Grey and Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures to produce, Variety has learned exclusively. “Video Nasty,” written by Chris Thomas Devlin, centers on three teens who rent a cursed VHS and are pulled into an ’80s slasher movie that threatens to trap them forever.

Lionsgate has dropped out of distributing the Gerard Butler action movie “The Plane” because producers were unable to obtain production insurance that would cover a COVID-19 outbreak, Variety has confirmed. Lionsgate boarded “The Plane” a year ago at the American Film Market, announcing that it had bought the rights to the film for North America,

The story of the first Black congresswoman is heading to the big screen. Danai Gurira will star in “The Fighting Shirley Chisholm,” portraying the titular political trailblazer in a story that follows Chisholm’s historic 1972 presidential run. Cherien Dabis will direct the film, from a script written by Adam Countee. Stephanie Allain will produce through

Considered to be one of the greatest actors of his generation, Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio celebrates his 46th birthday on Wednesday. With a career that has spanned nearly three decades, he’s delivered some of the most memorable characters and performances, many of which were noticed by the Academy. With six acting nominations, most recently

Michael Bay will direct the action thriller “Ambulance” with Jake Gyllenhaal in talks to star. Bay plans to shoot “Ambulance” in early 2021. No distributor has come on board. Endeavor Content has been assembling the package. Plot details are being under tight wraps. The script has been written by Chris Fedak. James Vanderbilt, Bradley Fischer

“Brothers by Blood,” a crime drama starring Matthias Schoenaerts and Joel Kinnaman, has sold North American distribution rights to Vertical Entertainment. The movie, originally called “The Sound of Philadelphia,” will be released in select theaters and on video-on-demand on Jan. 22, 2021. Jérémie Guez wrote, directed and produced “Brothers By Blood,” based on Pete Dexter’s

Selena Gomez will portray pioneering Peruvian mountaineer and social entrepreneur Silvia Vásquez-Lavado in a new film, based on Vásquez-Lavado’s upcoming memoir “In the Shadow of the Mountain.” Vásquez-Lavado is the first gay woman to complete the Seven Summits, the highest mountains (including Mount Everest) on each of the seven continents. She is also the founder

Cinematographer Ashley O’Shay makes her feature directorial debut with “Unapologetic,” screening as part of the DOC NYC series. The documentary is shortlisted in the Best Feature category by the International Documentary Association and follows two young Black women organizing for Black political, economic, and social liberation through a calendar year of triumphs and necessary forfeits.

Clea DuVall grew up loving Christmas movies. And having lived in Los Angeles her whole life, the 43-year-old actor-turned-writer/director would look forward to how Christmastime made the city seem different for once. “It feels like the closest thing L.A. has to a season, and that’s something that I always looked forward to as a kid,”

In the infamous words of Stu Macher, “You’re gonna love this one. It’s a scream baby”: The cast and screenwriter of the original “Scream” are reuniting for a virtual, charity-benefitting Q&A, Variety has learned exclusively. Macher’s portrayer Matthew Lillard is among the participants, as are David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Jamie Kennedy, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich

ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” Apple TV Plus’ “Little Voice” and Netflix’s “Locke & Key” and “Away” are the four television series that have just earned the Ruderman Family Foundation’s Seal of Authentic Representation, Variety has learned exclusively. Additionally, the foundation is awarding the seal, which is given to those projects that demonstrate a commitment toward authentic representation

South Korea’s CJ Entertainment, the studio behind multiple Oscar-winner “Parasite,” confirmed that it is leading its AFM sales slate with “Decision to Leave,” the newly announced title by another master director, “Oldboy” helmer Park Chan-wook. The studio is pitching the film as a crime-romancer with dialogue in Korean and Chinese. The story involves a detective,

Allu Arjun, one of the most popular stars of South Indian cinema, has started principal photography on action drama “Pushpa.” The project was delayed by several months due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and finally started shooting in the thick forest of Maredumilli in Andhra Pradesh on Nov. 10. The film revolves around

Zhang Yimou’s censored film “One Second” apparently now finds itself in the Chinese government’s good books: it has been given pride of place as the opener at the government-run Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival. The film was initially set to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2019. But its treatment of

It’s soon to be February again at the Chinese box office, where older pre-pandemic Hollywood titles are preparing to hit local theaters amidst a relative dearth in new foreign content. The psychological horror film “The Invisible Man,” which debuted more than eight months ago Stateside on Feb. 28, is now set to screen in the

Oprah Winfrey and Brad Pitt are teaming up to produce a film adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ best-selling novel “The Water Dancer” for MGM, Variety has confirmed. Winfrey’s Harpo Films and Pitt’s Plan B will produce alongside Kamilah Forbes, who is the executive producer of the Apollo Theater. Forbes recently directed the theatrical adaptation of Coates’ “Between

Universal Pictures is teaming up with Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions to relaunch “The Scorpion King,” Variety has confirmed. “’The Scorpion King’ was my very first role ever on the silver screen and I’m honored and excited to reimagine and deliver this cool mythology to a whole new generation,” Johnson said in a

“Hannibal” and “Doctor Strange” actor Mads Mikkelsen is in early talks to take on the role of the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in “Fantastic Beasts 3,” replacing Johnny Depp in the role, Variety has confirmed. After playing Grindelwald in the first two “Fantastic Beasts” movies, Depp announced on Friday that Warner Bros. had asked him to

Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” has been one of the best reviewed films of the year, starting its journey at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won the audience and grand jury prize. One of the big questions has surrounded its theatrical release plan, and Variety has learned exclusively that the film will have