Movies

On-location film permits for the Los Angeles area grew by 24% in October over September as productions staged a moderate recovery amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the FilmLA agency reported Tuesday. The industry, which was mostly shuttered from March to June, has filed for 2,565 film permit applications for 1,967 unique projects over the last

Saban Films has acquired the rights to two titles from Munich-based “Resident Evil” producer Constantin Film. The deals include North American and U.K. rights to the adventure thriller “Tides,” directed by Tim Fehlbaum, and North American rights to director Mike P. Nelson’s anticipated horror reboot, “Wrong Turn.” Mister Smith Entertainment is handling worldwide sales on

When the first coronavirus lockdown went into effect in Estonia this spring, the organizers of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival—the leading cinema event in the Baltics, which unspools Nov. 13-29 with a hybrid edition—knew they had ample time to prepare for when and how the curtain would rise this fall. For festival director Tiina

Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan have a very Irish romance in the brand new trailer for “Wild Mountain Thyme,” released on Tuesday. Set in Ireland, the movie centers on Anthony (Dornan), who works in the fields under the constant belittling of his father (Christopher Walken), who has threatened to leave the family farm to Anthony’s

Jamie Foxx will produce and star in Amazon Studios’ “The Burial,” centered on the legal battle over a funeral home chain during the 1990s. “The Burial” is based on Jonathan Harr’s 1999 article in the New Yorker about the contractual dispute case brought against funeral home executive Ray Loewen by Mississippi businessman Jeremiah O’Keefe, who

Sean Baker is close to wrapping “Red Rocket,” a secret film he has been shooting in Texas. The dark comedy will star Simon Rex of the “Scary Movie” franchise and “Jack & Jill.” Plot details are being kept under wraps, but production should be finished this month. The film was independently financed and will be

MK2 Films has lured key European buyers with “The Good Boss,” starring Javier Bardem. The film started shooting last month in Spain. Described as an offbeat satire with darkly comedic elements, “The Good Boss” is being produced by Fernando León de Aranoa through the label Reposado P.C. and Mediapro Studio. The major distributors that have

Runaway bride? Jennifer Lopez’s “Marry Me,” a romantic comedy about the unlikely relationship between a pop star and a math teacher, is the latest film to shift its release date amid the pandemic. Universal originally planned to open the movie ahead of Valentine’s Day on Feb. 12, 2021, but will now premiere the film three

To independent filmmaker Derek Ting, Hong Kong is the place that made his dream come true. It is the city where he and partner Joyce Yung began a decade-long ride in filmmaking and production with the founding of Random Art Workshop, which has produced three narrative feature films and a range of creative content. A

The Media Access Awards, in partnership with nonprofit disability services organization Easterseals, has announced the honorees of the awards show, which include critically-acclaimed documentary “Crip Camp,” Netflix’s “Away” and Ramy Youssef. The award show, which will be presented virtually Nov. 19 and hosted by model and actor Nyle DiMarco, aims to pay tribute to creatives,

Kenneth Branagh (“Death On The Nile”), Olivia Cooke (“Ready Player One”), Laurie Holden (“The Walking Dead”) and William Shatner (“Star Trek”) are set to star the lead voice actors in the animated family adventure “Fireheart.” Set in New York in the roaring twenties, “Fireheart” tells the story of a young girl aspiring to be the

Sofia Carson (Netflix’s “Feel the Beat,” STX’s “Songbird”) and Charles Melton (“Bad Boys for Life,” “Riverdale”) have boarded director Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum’s YA romance “Purple Hearts,” about two star-crossed lovers. Embankment has launched worldwide sales. Adapted from Tess Wakefield’s novel by Tony Award nominee Kyle Jarrow (“Valor” TV series) and Liz Garcia (“The Lifeguard,” “P-Valley”

AMC Entertainment, which recently reported a $905.8 million quarterly loss, is launching a Private Theatre Rentals program in hopes of reversing its declining revenues. The program was unveiled Tuesday, four weeks after the initial beta launch of the product resulted in 110,000 inquiries around the country. The company said the number of contacts about a private

Lesotho has entered the Academy Awards race for the first time with the selection of Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection” for best international feature film at the 2021 Oscars, Variety has learned. Set in the small Southern African nation, “This Is Not a Burial” is the story of an

Picture Tree International has sold family drama “God You Are Such a P—k,” starring Til Schweiger and Heike Makatsch, to several additional territories. The Berlin-based sales agent revealed the latest deals as the American Film Market entered its second day of trading. Among the latest buyers are Koba Films in France, Notorious Pictures in Italy,

Production has wrapped on Eva Husson’s star-studded “Mothering Sunday,” which was among the first crop of major features to start rolling cameras amid the coronavirus pandemic. The film has now completed principal photography in the U.K., producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley of Number 9 Films confirmed to Variety. Rocket Science is handling international sales

While international co-productions have for years been trending upwards across much of Europe, the coronavirus pandemic has forced many of the continent’s producers to rethink how they finance and shoot in an era of uncertainty. With government support schemes varying from one country to the next, and no clear sense of how cross-border travel will

Hollywood agency ICM Partners has come on board Rohena Gera’s festival favorite “Sir” and will represent it for sales in Anglophone markets U.S., U.K. and Australia, among other territories. The Hollywood agency will also serve as the film’s awards season lobbyist. A delicately observed study of class differences in Indian society, “Sir” stars Tillotama Shome

Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut “Falling” and the already acclaimed Chinese film “The Cloud in her Room” form part of the 11-title competition section announced by the International Film Festival & Awards Macao. The festival will take place entirely online this year, running Dec. 3-8. The competition, which focuses on first and second films, also includes:

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic might have paralyzed global travel but that has not stopped Taiwan from flexing its muscles and putting its film and entertainment content on the world stage. Having made solid presentations at various markets across the world throughout the year, it is bringing the world to the island to meet local creatives

As we observe Native American Heritage Month, there are as many historical contributions to celebrate by our people as there are things happening in the current cultural landscape. Within cinema, there’s been a recent blossoming of films by Indigenous filmmakers internationally on the festival circuit and beyond that have been pushing the form and actively

Anchorage Capital CEO Kevin Ulrich was accused of sexually assaulting a New York woman in 2019, according to legal filings. His accuser, Jennifer Perry, discontinued the suit without prejudice a month later. In addition to running hedge fund Anchorage, Ulrich also serves as chairman of the board at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio behind the James Bond

On Dec. 7, 2017, J.K. Rowling posted a lengthy statement to her website in defense of Johnny Depp, the actor cast to play the infamous dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the “Fantastic Beasts” movie franchise, part of Rowling’s “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” media fiefdom. For over a year, Depp had been dogged by headlines

MONDAY, Nov. 9 Jordan Peele ‘Horror Event’ Film Slated Universal Pictures has scheduled its untitled “Jordan Peele Horror Event” movie for July 22, 2022, without revealing any plot details. The studio has seen Peele’s two horror films — 2017’s “Get Out” and 2019’s “Us” — generate $510 million in worldwide box office as each grossed

News of a potential coronavirus vaccine sent shares of movie theater chains soaring on Monday. For the first time in a long time, it seems, cinema owners and investors see hope for a sector that has been decimated by the public health crisis. “We have not heard good news for awhile, and this is unqualified

Chris Pratt and Wu Jing (“Wolf Warriors”) will star in Universal Pictures’ remake of “Saigon Bodyguards,” based on the Vietnamese action comedy of the same name. The original 2016 film centered on two professional bodyguards who let their most important asset slip away. Pratt will produce through his Indivisible Productions alongside Anthony and Joe Russo,

Giorgos Valsamis could not have predicted where his career path would lead almost a decade ago, when, as a student of fine arts and accounting, he bought a camera to photograph the dramatic landscapes of Iceland, where he was on a study-abroad program. “It never crossed my mind that I could be a cinematographer,” Valsamis

Going through the festival circuit has been part of the awards strategy for Amazon Studios’ “Sound of Metal,” which began its journey at Sundance back in January. As its awards prospects continue to grow for star Riz Ahmed in best actor, Variety has learned exclusively his co-star, Olivia Cooke, has been confirmed to campaign for

A German-speaking juvenile offender community in northern Greece is the unlikely setting of “Daniel ‘16,” the second feature film from Dimitris Koutsiabasakos. Based on real events, it tells the story of a teenage delinquent struggling with rehabilitation in a small town near the Turkish border, who forges an unexpected bond with a young Syrian refugee.

The top distribution executive at Neon, which handled best picture winner “Parasite,” has expressed guarded optimism that audiences will return when the COVID-19 crisis begins abating. “People truly want to get out of the house,” said distribution president Elissa Federoff during Monday’s Future of Film Conference at the start of the virtual American Film Market. She