Movies

The question of how the WGA is applying its rules for talent agencies divesting their interests in production companies is coming under scrutiny as the guild’s negotiations with WME and CAA drag on. The WGA has made it clear in separate talks with WME and CAA that the agencies must present a plan to sell

An 80-foot prehistoric shark is returning to the big screen with “The Meg 2,” and Warner Bros. has hired “Rebecca” filmmaker Ben Wheatley to direct. Development of the sequel comes two years after “The Meg” took in an impressive $530 million worldwide. That film revolved around the monstrous megalodon emerging from the Mariana Trench, the

Get your McLovin ID ready because the “Superbad” cast is reuniting. Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Martha MacIssac, director Greg Mottola, producer Judd Apatow and co-writer Evan Goldberg are reuniting for a virtual script reading and fundraiser benefitting the Wisconsin Democratic Party. The event will feature the actors’ commentary and

Producer Lydia Pilcher, after decades of collaborating with filmmakers like Katheryn Bigelow, Wes Anderson and Gina Prince Bythewood, is stepping behind the camera for the first time as a feature director. Her directorial debut, the historical drama “Radium Girls,” is opening in theaters and on demand on Friday. The movie, set in New Jersey in

“Bad Hair” star Chanté Adams will play the female lead opposite Michael B. Jordan in the Sony drama “A Journal for Jordan,” which Denzel Washington will direct and produce. “A Journal for Jordan” is written by Academy Award nominee Virgil Williams and based on Dana Canedy’s New York Times best-selling memoir, which was published in

Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili, whose film “Beginning” is her country’s Oscar entry, thought COVID-19 was the reason why there were so few people backstage when the San Sebastian Film Festival jury, headed by Luca Guadagnino, was awarding its prizes. “Backstage there were only two other film teams.” For the next hour, the 34-year-old would trundle

Variety has named media titan Tyler Perry as this year’s Showman of the Year, not only for his contributions to the industry through his Tyler Perry Studios, one of the first to return to production amid coronavirus restrictions, but also for his dedication to social justice efforts. “Just to try and use what I’ve been given — this platform

Italian singer Laura Pausini has released “Io Si (Seen),” written by 11-time Oscar nominee Diane Warren. The song is taken from “The Life Ahead” starring Sophia Loren. “lo Si” (Seen) is the Grammy winner’s second entry in the original song race, with hopse to land a nom for the 93rd Academy Awards set for next April. Warren,

Writer-director Justin Simien remembers how he was far too young when he saw his first-ever horror movie, “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge.” It was his aunt who shared her love for movies — not just of horror, but all genres — with a young Simien. He recalls picking up on the movie’s

Polish-born filmmaker Filip Jan Rymsza, the producer of Venice Film Festival entry “Hopper/Welles,” which he is presenting this week at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, will follow his latest directorial outing “Mosquito State” – also a Venice premiere this year – with “Object Permanence,” Rymsza tells Variety. Partially set in Berlin and shot in English,

Netflix, as it ramps up Middle East operations, has announced two initiatives to reach out to Lebanon’s film and TV community: an emergency fund providing grants to below-the-line crew facing economic hardship, and a “Made in Lebanon” package of films playing on the giant streamer. The $500,000 relief fund set up by Netflix in collaboration

Barry Avrich’s art scandal documentary “Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art” is being adapted into a feature film by the director’s Melbar Entertainment Group (“David Foster: Off The Record”). The documentary tells the story of how one of the most respected art galleries in New York City became the center of the

Lina Soualem is emerging from the shadow of her famous parents – French actor Zinedine Soualem and Palestinian actress Hiam Abbas, seen recently in HBO’s “Succession” – by making documentaries about them and their families. Playing in the Feature Documentary Competition at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, “Their Algeria” tells the story of how her

When Lulu Wang read the announcement that Ron Howard would direct legendary Chinese pianist Lang Lang’s Hollywood-produced biopic, she took to Twitter to raise the question, “Have we learned nothing from ‘Mulan?’” In a series of tweets, the writer-director of “The Farewell” questioned the move, challenging the creative team’s limited understanding of both Chinese cultural

Rudy Giuliani has a surprising supporter after a compromising clip of him in “Borat 2” was released — Borat himself. In a video posted to Borat’s official Twitter account on Thursday night, star Sacha Baron Cohen suited up as his alter-ego and defended the former New York City mayor, albeit in his signature comical style.

By mid-summer, Chinese cinema operators were running out of patience at the enforced shutdown that had kept movie theaters closed since late January. Some were so bold as to ask the government why their sector was being especially penalized, compared with other industries. Fast forward to the end of October, and not only are Middle

War film “Sacrifice” got off to a heroic start at the China box office on Friday, likely setting the tone for another good weekend in Chinese cinemas, and a barrage of films in the same canon. By 7pm local time on its opening day, “Sacrifice” had notched up RMB74.1 million, or $11 million at current

Mexican festivals, as in most of the world, were hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, with many forced to cancel, reschedule or go online. Led by the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG), six of the country’s most important festivals have banded together to create Un Festival Mexicano, an in person event running Nov. 20-27 in

Studiocanal is set to restore “Mandabi,” a classic movie directed by celebrated African filmmaker Ousmane Sembène (“Guelwaar,” “Mooladé”) in 4K, and will release it theatrically in spring 2021. “Mandabi,” which is adapted from Sembène’s classic novel “Le Mandat,” won the Special Jury Prize at Venice in 1968. The author-turned-filmmaker’s second directorial effort, “Mandabi” shot mainly

Zeitgeist Films, in association with Kino Lorber, have swooped for all North American rights to Sundance award winner “Acasa, My Home.” The film, which in January picked up the Special Jury Award for cinematography in the World Cinema Documentary category at Sundance, has been selected for more than 60 festivals around the world, and is

An enigmatic man from the East arrives in a drab, anonymous Eastern European city one foggy morning, bearing little more than a massage bed. As he earns the confidence of the residents of an exclusive gated community, he becomes equal parts confessor and healer, his Russian accent carrying hints of a longed-for past, his therapy

Alibaba Pictures, the film arm of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, says that the coronavirus outbreak has shrunk its business. The company told investors that revenues in the six months from the beginning of April to the end of September 2020 had declined by 35-40% compared with the equivalent period in 2019, when they were RMB1.5

The new version of Mira Nair’s “Monsoon Wedding” stage musical will now open in India, followed by Singapore, in 2021, the director has revealed. The stage adaptation of Nair’s 2001 Venice Golden Lion winning film was due to open this summer in the U.K. at the Leeds Playhouse and London’s Roundhouse immediately after, but the

It’s not every day you see a giant maskini sail past the U.K.’s Houses of Parliament. Amazon Prime Video pulled out all the stops in London on Thursday to promote “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” the sequel to the 2006 hit that bows Friday, with a surprise stunt along the River Thames featuring an inflatable, lounging and

Deluxe, the provider of digital and cloud-based distribution services for studios and production companies, appointed Anna Lee — a 12-year veteran of Netflix — to the newly created role of chief strategy officer. Lee reports directly to Deluxe CEO Cyril Drabinsky. She will be responsible for developing, communicating, executing, and sustaining strategic initiatives for the

Scarlett Johansson will produce and star in the science-fiction drama “Bride” for Apple and A24 from director Sebastián Lelio. “Bride” follows a woman created to be an ideal wife — the singular obsession of a brilliant entrepreneur. When she rejects her creator, she’s forced to flee her confined existence, confronting a world that sees her

If you take the committed genius of Andy Kaufman, the effortless absurdity of Peter Sellers and the leading man chops of George Clooney, you get Sacha Baron Cohen. The British comedian known for his brilliant pranks has also proven himself to be a fine actor, and he shows his range with two wildly different movies

Fresh from shepherding the “X-Men” franchise for over a decade, Simon Kinberg has signed on to write and produce Universal’s feature adaptation of the sci-fi franchise “Battlestar Galactica,” Variety has confirmed. Kinberg is joining producer Dylan Clark (“The Batman,” “War for the Planet of the Apes”), who has long overseen development on a “BSG” movie

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is set to join the ensemble cast of David Leitch’s action movie “Bullet Train,” starring Brad Pitt. The Sony Pictures project is based on Kotaro Isaka’s Japanese book “Maria Beetle” and centers on a group of hitmen and assassins with conflicting motives on a train in Tokyo. Zak Olkewitz wrote the script. Kelly McCormick

Despite being based on the same novel, Netflix’s latest thriller “Rebecca” is not a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Oscar-award winning film from 1940. Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” is the legendary director’s only film to ever win the Oscar for best picture. Based on Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel of the same name, his film starred Laurence Olivier