Movies

Joel Kinnaman will executive produce and star as NFL player Jerry Smith in a Fandomodo Films feature about the close friendship between Smith and his longtime Washington Redskins teammate Brig Owens, Variety has learned exclusively. The film is set at the height of the civil rights movement between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s, during a time

The famous red lips haven’t turned blue in the newly adapted “Rocky Horror Picture Show” imagery because they’ve spent too much time on the slab. The color scheme is emblematic of Tenacious D’s goal in doing an all-star remake of “The Time Warp” that has a “Rock-y the Vote” message — specifically, to vote blue

Emma Thompson is set to star in a new comedy from “Animals” and “52 Tuesdays” director Sophie Hyde. Produced by Genesius Pictures, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” marks the first joint project between Cornerstone Films and Genesius co-founder Debbie Gray (“Mrs Lowry And Son,” “Northern Soul”) who are partners in The Reset Collective, the

UPDATED: Sacha Baron Cohen’s controversial comedy “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” drew “tens of millions” of viewers on Amazon Prime Video globally over its opening weekend, the company said, declining to be more specific. An estimate by TV analytics provider Samba TV put the buzzy movie’s estimated U.S. viewership at 1.6 million households over its opening weekend

Film production in Hong Kong has slowed sharply due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But there is no lack of completed Hong Kong films and works in progress at this year’s Asian Contents & Film Market. Mandarin Motion Pictures, with eight new titles, and One Cool Pictures, with ten, are two of the most prolific

British judge Andrew Nicol will hand down his judgment at 10 A.M. U.K. time Monday on Johnny Depp’s libel case against News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, and the tabloid’s executive editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article alleging he was a “wife beater.” The judgment follows a three-week hearing in July at London’s

Prince Azim of Brunei, who also had a minor career as a Hollywood film producer, has died. He was 38. The son of the enormously wealthy Sultan of Brunei, and fourth in line to the throne, died on Saturday in the capital city Bandar Seri Begawan. As is typical of Muslim countries, his funeral was

Alberto Barbera has received a new four-year mandate as artistic director of the Venice Film Festival. Having previously served a continuous eight-year stint at the festival’s helm, he now becomes the longest-standing chief in Venice’s storied history. He was re-upped by the board of the fest’s parent organization, the Venice Biennale, headed by former Cinecittà/Luce

Newly formed U.K. industry body Black Sound Society aims to increase the visibility of Black technicians in the sound department. The not-for-profit organization is set up by technicians working across all grades in production and post-production of film and television sound in the U.K. It will support newcomers and assist experienced sound technicians with strategies

Harry Wootliff’s “True Things,” starring Ruth Wilson and Tom Burke, has wrapped production after a six-week shoot in the U.K. and Spain. The film, for which Variety can provide an exclusive first image (above), began shooting at the beginning of the year, but was forced to shut down due to the global pandemic. It resumed

Johnny Depp will be awarded the Camerimage Award for “an actor with unique visual sensitivity” at the EnergaCamerimage Film Festival. “Minamata,” starring Depp, will be the closing film of the 28th edition of the event, which focuses on cinematography. Due to the pandemic, Depp will be unable to accept the award in person, but will

Warning: Some spoilers below for “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen retaliated against President Donald Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani during an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” on Monday. On Trump’s accusation that he’s a “creep” and a “phoney,” Baron Cohen said: “I’m sure when he was hanging out with

There’s a telling moment in “Belushi,” R.J. Cutler’s meticulous and touching life-and-death-of-a-comedy-legend documentary, in which John Belushi, a rising star at Second City in Chicago, gets asked during a radio interview what he thinks of Lou Costello — who was, in the interviewer’s eyes, another genially wacked, roly-poly comedian. Belushi, clearly annoyed, says: Nope, don’t

Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market has gone wholly online this year, but European producers remain actively involved. At least two European support organizations are participating, helping sales companies and facilitating East-West production meetings. The European Film Promotion organization is operating a virtual umbrella stand (Oct. 26 -28) that is host to 14 European film

A slate of film productions and intellectual properties from Taiwan are on the offer at the Asian Contents & Film Market, a sign that points to increasing ambition on the global entertainment stage from the self-governed island. The market, held as part of the Busan International Film Festival, has shifted online due to the ongoing

MONDAY, OCT. 26 Father Amorth Exorcism Movie Moving Ahead Spanish director Ángel Gómez (“Voices”) has been attached to Screen Gems’ project “The Pope’s Exorcist,” based on Father Gabriele Amorth, the lItalian priest who performed over 100,000 exorcisms for the Vatican. Chester Hastings and R. Dean McCreary wrote the screenplay. Michael Patrick Kaczmarek, Jeff Katz of

After debuting on Netflix, Aaron Sorkin’s critically acclaimed “The Trial of the Chicago 7” has made one of the key decisions in a successful awards campaign. The film’s robust cast includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, Frank Langella, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Strong and Michael Keaton, who will all campaign in the supporting

Library Pictures International, a Los Angeles-based local-language content financier has struck a deal with CJ Entertainment, the South Korean studio behind Oscar-winner “Parasite,” to co-finance its production in Indonesia, Vietnam and Turkey. Library, which is itself backed by Legendary Pictures, will fund up to 50% of the budget of CJ Entertainment-led local-language productions in each

The EnergaCamerimage film fest has long campaigned for a permanent complex with state-of-the-art screening technology, broadcast facilities and a year-round education role utilizing top cinematography tools with space for classes on all aspects of filmmaking for emerging directors of photography and their colleagues. Leading the charge on launching that project is Kazik Suwala, the longtime

Utopia has acquired “Dope Is Death,” a look at the establishment of an unconventional detoxification program in the Bronx in the early 1970s to deal with the heroin epidemic. The sale took place in advance of the film’s screening in November at DOC NYC. Mia Donovan, who previously helmed “Inside Lara Roxx” and “Deprogrammed,” directed

Sight Unseen Pictures’ producers Eddie Vaisman and Julia Lebedev haven’t decided where to put their brand-new Emmy Awards — mostly because they haven’t gotten them in the mail yet. “It’s great; that was such an exciting little treat and not expected and we’re super humbled by it,” Vaisman tells Variety of winning the trophy for

A Georgia judge has rejected a lawsuit filed by the daughter of a Holocaust survivor who alleged that her mother was tricked into appearing in the “Borat” sequel. The daughter of Judith Dim Evans withdrew the lawsuit after a Fulton County, Ga., judge refused to issue an injunction, said Russell Smith, who represented Amazon in

Europe’s leading celebration of cinematography, the EnergaCamerimage Film Festival, based in Torun, Poland, kicks off its 28th edition Nov. 14 in hybrid form, but with as much glitz and glam as ever, fest director Marek Zydowicz tells Variety. Having moved back last year to the historic, Gothic-spired city where it was founded, the festival plans

The Kazakh American Association has slammed Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” sequel for what it deems to be a racist depiction of Kazakhs. The group is also questioning Amazon Prime Video’s support of a film that could, they say, “incite violence against a highly vulnerable and underrepresented minority ethnic group.” “Sacha Baron Cohen and his crew

Adam Sandler will portray an astronaut in Netflix’s untitled adaptation of Jaroslav Kalfar’s novel “The Spaceman of Bohemia.” The story centers on an astronaut sent to the edge of the galaxy to collect mysterious, ancient dust, when he finds his earthly life falling to pieces. He turns to the only voice who can help him

Victoria Mahoney is set to direct “Shadow Force,” an action-drama starring Kerry Washington and Sterling K. Brown, for Lionsgate. Mahoney previously served as a second unit director on “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” making her the first woman ever to hold a directing credit on a “Star Wars” movie. “Shadow Force” follows an estranged

Sundance Institute has added prominent Civil Rights attorney Kimberlé Crenshaw, Crown Media Family Networks executive Wonya Lucas and Adobe executive Ann Lewnes to its board of trustees. The institute also announced Monday that Uzodinma Iweala, Amanda Kelso, William Plapinger and Junaid Sarieddeen have joined the board over the last year. “We are so grateful to

Kenya Barris, the creator of “Black-ish” and its spinoffs “Grown-ish” and “Mixed-ish,” is directing a feature film about famed comedian Richard Pryor. MGM nabbed worldwide rights to the movie following a highly competitive sale. Barris will write, produce and direct the yet-to-be-titled project, marking his feature film directorial debut. The movie is centering on the

HBO Sports has scored distribution rights to “The Day Sports Stood Still,” a feature documentary from Emmy-winning director Antoine Fuqua about the global shutdown of pro sports in wake of the coronavirus. The film will be anchored by a first-person account from Chris Paul — the NBA All-Star and president of the NBA Players Association,

For photographer Gregory Crewdson and cinematographer Matthew Libatique, light is the central force of their work. Whether capturing still life or moving images, light structure is essential to their storytelling. Crewdson who is known for his elaborately-staged, heightened-reality compositions captured his latest work, “An Eclipse of Moths,” which is currently on exhibit at the Gagosian