Movies

It’s been a gargantuan week for Amazon Studios’ Sacha Baron Cohen sequel “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” From both a critical perspective and the cultural zeitgeist, it’s truly having a moment. This is all unfolding just before the most important election of our time — and of course there are more important issues to focus on, but

Lionsgate has named former Facebook executive Kamala Avila-Salmon as the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group’s first head of inclusive content. The role is aimed at developing and implementing diversity, equity and inclusion programs and strategies to increase and reflect global diversity in Lionsgate’s films and home entertainment. The announcement was made Friday by Jen Hollingsworth, chief

The central question of this awards season: Will the Oscar ceremony take place April 25 as announced? This decision will affect hundreds of people and millions of dollars. Oscar is the alpha dog and that one evening has a ripple effect on every other year-end kudos, similar to the scrambling when Oscar shifted dates in 2003 and again this

Film Republic, a London-based specialist sales agent, has acquired the international rights to feature debutant Rezwan Shahriar Sumit’s “The Salt in Our Waters.” The film had its world premiere at the British Film Institute London Film Festival earlier this month, followed by its Asian premiere at the Busan Film Festival. “The Salt in Our Waters”

MGM has bought the Johnny Depp drama “Minamata” and has set an awards-season release of Feb. 5, 2021, through its revived American International Pictures label. MGM also acquired all rights to “Minamata” in Canada, Germany and Switzerland. The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February. Set in 1971, Depp portrays photojournalist Eugene Smith,

National Research Group (NRG) has tapped Chris Rethore as its chief strategy officer. A veteran executive, he previously served as chief operating officer at MarketCast, where he created a custom research practice and expanded into new entertainment verticals. He also integrated several businesses in social analytics (Fizziology), brand strategy (Insight Strategy Group) and sports (Turnkey

For “Spell” director Mark Tonderai, the movie serves as more than a hoodoo spirit-filled thriller — it’s his comeback story. After helming “House at the End of the Street,” the 2012 film of the same genre starring Jennifer Lawrence that raked in $44 million worldwide — opportunities to create another film of that magnitude were

Wunmi Mosaku and Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù wouldn’t have considered themselves hardcore fans of the horror genre before shooting “His House,” but were drawn to the terrifying film for other reasons. The pair spoke on Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast about the making of their new thriller, which has just hit Netflix in time for Halloween. (Listen below!)

Saudi Arabian-Palestinian actor Dina Shihabi, who appeared in Amazon series “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” and Netflix’s “Altered Carbon,” has been attached to play the lead role of Asya in Saudi-U.S. production “Hajj to Disney.” The project was one of the buzz titles at the CineGouna Platform event at the El Gouna Film Festival, where the

Miriam Haley, the former “Project Runway” production assistant who testified at Harvey Weinstein’s trial earlier this year, filed a civil lawsuit against the producer on Friday. Weinstein was convicted in February of sexually assaulting Haley at his Soho apartment in July 2006. He was also convicted of third-degree rape of another woman, Jessica Mann. He

Estonia is the latest country to select its entry for the International Feature Film category of the Oscars with the Nordic Western “The Last Ones,” directed by Veiko Õunpuu, flying the flag for the Baltic country. The film will world premiere as part of the Baltic Competition program of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, which

The Cannes Film Festival closed out its three-day mini-festival in elegiac fashion on Thursday, as France grieved the terror attack in Nice and readied itself for a one-month lockdown due to go into effect early Friday morning. Outside the Palais des Festival, a mournful black tarp draped the red carpet, while inside, Cannes director Thierry

How much do you know about donuts? According to guilty-pleasure doc “The Donut King,” on average, Americans eat 31 of the deep-fried confections per year. Taken as a whole, the donut industry generates somewhere on the order of $8 billion annually. An effortlessly educational first feature from Chinese American cinematographer Alice Gu, “The Donut King”

Retired British soccer player David Beckham, designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and their young family are set to be the subject of a £16 million ($20.6 million) fly-on-the-wall Netflix documentary. David Beckham’s rise to fame will be documented through personal photographs and video footage of family celebrations and recollections from friends, family and

In the stratosphere of cinephiles, the anticipation for a new David Fincher film is palpable. Unveiled by Netflix before a crowd of film critics and journalists on Thursday night, his 11th feature film “Mank” is both personal and technically proficient. It’s been a decade since Fincher received a nomination for best director for “The Social

The Busan International Film Festival concluded its 25th edition on Friday with the announcement of prizes across its multiple sections. The competitive New Currents section saw the top prize shared between “A Balance” from Japanese director Harumoto Yujiro and “Three,” a Kazakhstan-Korea- Uzbekistan co-venture directed by Pak Ruslan. The festival operated a hybrid format, with

“True Mothers” by Kawase Naomi has been selected as Japan’s nominee for a best international feature film Academy Award. The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, which supervises the selection process, made the announcement on Thursday. Based on a novel by Tsujimura Miyuki, film focuses on a couple (Nagasaku Hiromi and Iura Arata) who adopt a

YouTube superstar FaZe Rug stars with members of FaZe (the professional esports and entertainment organization) in the new horror film “Crimson,” directed by “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” director Gregory Plotkin. The film, which is streaming starting Thursday at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET only on Inviz.tv, follows FaZe Rug who plays himself

Sacha Baron Cohen has donated $100,000 to “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” babysitter Jeanise Jones’ community in Oklahoma. As first reported by People, the money will be distributed by the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Oklahoma City at Jones’ request, to provide shelter and food to community members. Jones, the 62-year-old favorite in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” signed onto

Disney’s Searchlight arm has bought rights to Claire Foy’s horror-thriller “Dust,” four months after the project was unveiled at the Cannes Virtual Market. Foy will portray a woman who becomes increasingly traumatized in 1930s Oklahoma amid the region’s horrific dust storms and convinces herself that a mysterious presence is threatening her family. She then takes

“Songbird,” a feature-length thriller produced under quarantine, has sold key international territories for theatrical distribution. Produced by Michael Bay and Invisible Narratives, the film features “Riverdale” star KJ Apa among a large ensemble and tells of a fight for love amidst the end of the world. Adam Mason (“Into the Dark”) directs from a script

Laurie Strode, the teen-babysitter-turned-avenging-grandmother portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis, is back with a vengeance in “Halloween Kills,” the latest sequel in the slasher franchise. In a new clip released Thursday, Strode is seen battling Michael Myers as her family is forced to confront the psychotic and murderous masked serial killer yet again. John Carpenter’s original

Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy” will represent Canada in the race for best international feature film at the 2021 Oscars. Based on the best-selling novel by Shyam Selvadurai, the film follows a young boy’s sexual awakening in Sri Lanka during the turbulent Tamil-Sinhalese conflict leading up to the civil war. Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing picked up

When Jessica Chastain received the MVP Award at the 2015 Critics Choice Awards for her performance in “Interstellar,” she spoke up about the lack of roles and stories for women across the industry. During a press conference following her speech, the actor-producer was asked, “What are your plans now on creating inclusivity?” That sparked the

Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Rachel Bloom is adding boy band aficionado to her resume. The co-creator of hit series “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” has signed on to write the script for a movie about two *NSYNC superfans at Sony Pictures label TriStar. Based on an idea by band member and producer Lance Bass, Bloom is

John Ridley, who won an Oscar for writing “12 Years a Slave,” will write and direct a still-untitled paranormal thriller movie for Blumhouse. The film is based on the recently published article Project Poltergeist, written by Saleah Blancaflor. The story, based on true events, is set in the 1960s and follows unexplained events surrounding the

Neon is making “Totally Under Control,” its documentary about the White House’s response to COVID-19, available to stream on its website for free through Election Day on Nov. 3. The company made the announcement Thursday and said it is also setting up Twitter watch parties throughout the week along with Q&As with directors Alex Gibney, Ophelia

Actors Awkwafina and Sandra Oh are joining forces for an untitled new comedy at Netflix. The award-nominated pair will play sisters in the feature film, to be produced by Gloria Sanchez’s Jessica Elbaum. Jen D’Angelo, the writer on Disney Plus’ upcoming sequel to “Hocus Pocus,” will pen the script and produce as well. Oh will

Lionsgate has signed Marc Forster to direct the drama “White Bird: A Wonder Story,” a year after buying the feature films rights to the R.J. Palacio graphic novel. The studio adapted Palacio’s popular book “Wonder” into a 2017 feature film starring Jacob Tremblay, Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts. “Wonder” was an impressive performer at the

Eva Longoria will star in the upcoming independent comedy “Unplugging,” portraying the spouse of Matt Walsh’s character. Principal photography has started in Oklahoma following Oklahoma state and SAG/AFTRA COVID-19 protocols. Lea Thompson, Keith David, Nicole Byer and Al Madrigal have joined the film, which marks the directorial debut from Debra Neil-Fisher. Walsh penned the script