Movies

This year has brought unprecedented changes to the entertainment business as productions worldwide have been stalled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which makes last week’s announcement of the launch of 1868 Studios, a partnership between Latin superstar Rene “Residente” Perez Joglar and Sony Music Entertainment, all the more welcome. The multi-year agreement will see

Major U.S. talent agencies and a coalition of more than 30 sales agents in the independent film industry have scheduled a five-day market that will meet remotely beginning on Nov. 9 to coincide with the American Film Market. The five-day market will be structured to provide global buyers access to film screenings, early footage, filmmaker

Tony and Emmy award-winning actor Billy Crystal will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 23rd annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival, taking place as a virtual event Oct. 24-31, the Savannah College of Art and Design announced.  Crystal will receive his award on Oct. 26 following the screening of his latest film “Standing Up, Falling

The portmanteau word “friendsgiving” has been in the popular American lexicon for over a decade now, though the institution it describes is far, far older. Surely for as long as families have been gathering to bond, feast and drive each other gradually crazy over Thanksgiving, the option of a less fractious holiday spent with kith

Penske Media Corp., parent company of Variety, and MRC announced a new joint venture bringing together their respective data businesses. The newly formed company combines PMC’s Alpha Data, Variety Business Intelligence and MRC Data (formerly Nielsen Music). MRC and PMC will share equal ownership and control. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. Last

The 2019 “Hellboy” reboot is set to hit Chinese cinemas on Monday, Nov. 9, more than a year and a half after its U.S. debut. The film ranked as one of the biggest box office flops of 2019, grossing just $22 million stateside and $44.7 million worldwide, despite a production budget of $50 million. Although

Spike Lee will receive the American Cinematheque Award and will be honored during a virtual tribute on Jan. 14, 2021. American Cinematheque chair Rick Nicita said the legendary director always keeps his finger on the pulse of society. “As a cultural arts organization that celebrates the importance of film in our society, Spike Lee is the

Paul Yanover has not visited Fandango’s Beverly Hills headquarters since March. While holed up at his home office the past seven months, he’s seen the company’s core business — selling movie tickets— crash to virtually nil. It’s “certainly not the most fun spot to be in, in the back of 2020,” acknowledges Yanover, the longtime

In a year that presents the opportunity for new and diverse voices in the awards race, another one has been added to the mix for best original score. Variety has learned exclusively that neo-classical composer Amelia Warner will helm the music for John Patrick Shanley’s “Wild Mountain Thyme” starring Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan. Best

Sony/ATV Music Publishing announced it has centralized its two production music divisions — Extreme Music and EMI Production Music — as one global operation and named Russell Emanuel as its President & CEO. According to the announcement, the appointment gives Emanuel oversight of Sony/ATV’s global production music business, which will combine the strengths and experiences of both

Marge Champion, a dancer and actor who served as the real-life model for Disney’s 1937 animated classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” died on Wednesday in Los Angeles, according to The New York Times. She was 101. Champion and her husband, Gower Champion, also had great success as dance partners and choreographers for Broadway

BBC One renews “Staged”; Tencent strikes European deals; U.K. Producers’ Guild launches diversity plan; India’s PVR adds former IMAX chief; and Channel 4 orders royal documentary series. U.K. broadcaster BBC has ordered a second season of comedy “Staged,” created by Simon Evans and Phin Glynn, and starring Michael Sheen (“Good Omens”) and David Tennant (“Des”)

“Beautiful Youth’s” Ingrid García-Jonsson and “Instinto’s” Silvia Alonso head the ensemble cast of “Veneciafrenia,” the first feature from The Fear Connection, a horror film anthology backed by Sony Pictures Intl. Prods. (SPIP) and Alex de la Iglesia’s Pokeepsie Films, in association with Amazon Prime Video. Announced in May, The Fear Collection saw De la Iglesia,

AT&T chief John Stankey sees a “choppy” recovery ahead for the movie business, forcing WarnerMedia to juggle numerous scenarios for theatrical releases during the upcoming holiday season. During AT&T’s third quarter earnings call, Stankey acknowledged that the studio’s decision to release Christopher Nolan’s drama “Tenet” in the U.S. on Sept. 3 was underwhelming. But he

Rudy Giuliani’s compromising scene in Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” sequel became the talk of the late night talk show circuit on Wednesday night. “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” opened its show skewering Giuliani’s scene, in which it appears he reaches into his pants in a hotel bed while talking with actor Maria Bakalova, who

Netflix has released the first official trailer for Ryan Murphy’s musical “The Prom.” Showcasing an all-star cast that includes Academy Award winners Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, along with Emmy winner James Corden, Andrew Rannells, Ariana DeBose and newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman, the film looks to bring lots of energy to the holiday season. “I

In this year of disruptions, cancellations and virtual events, it’s hard to fathom that the prestigious 11-day Adelaide Film Festival, held biennially in October in South Australia, has proceeded as in pre-pandemic times: no masks, actual red carpets, in-person interviews on stage with filmmakers and talent, afterparties (where social distancing is more a suggestion than

Shelley Atkin, ex-VP theatrical finance for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at 20th Century Fox, has produced her first feature film “Lair,” under her new company Ditto Films’ banner. The film is a U.K. based LGBTQ infused horror movie and is written and directed by Adam Ethan Crow. In the film, a fractured LGBTQ

Chosen Jacobs (“It”) and Lexi Underwood (“Little Fires Everywhere”) are starring alongside four-time NBA champion John Salley in the Disney Plus original film “Sneakerella,” which is now in production. The pop/hip-hop musical aims to leave a sneaker culture imprint on the “Cinderella” fairy tale. Set in the avant-garde street-sneaker subculture of New York City, the

Barcelona-based studio Filmax has acquired world sales rights to “Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake,” an uplifting second chance in life drama from Spain’s Benito Zambrano, writer-director of critically admired features that have scored festival and Goya awards and broken out to sales abroad. Also handling local distribution in Spain, Filmax will bring “Lemon and Poppy

South Korea has selected political thriller “The Man Standing Next” as its national contender for the Oscars’ best international film award. The cast is headed by Lee Byung-hun, who is familiar to North American audiences for his previous roles in “R.E.D. 2” and the “G.I. Joe” franchise movies. The film tells a previously little-known story

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 21 Saban Schedules ‘Wander’ for Theaters, On Demand Saban Films has scheduled a Dec. 4 opening in theaters, on demand and on digital for the conspiracy thriller “Wander,” with Aaron Eckhart starring. “Wander” is directed by April Mullen from a script by Tim Doiron. It also stars Katheryn Winnick, Heather Graham and Tommy Lee

In his new memoir, “Greenlights,” “Dallas Buyers Club” star Matthew McConaughey revealed that he was a victim of sexual abuse several times during his teenage years. Released on Tuesday, the memoir tells the story of 50-year-old McConaughey’s life through moments he identifies as green, yellow or red lights — events that caused him to advance,

Applications are open for the Hire Her Back Fund, a grant supporting women filmmakers whose careers have been adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Members of Women in Film local chapters — WIF Los Angeles, New York Women in Film and Television, and Women in Film and Television Atlanta — are eligible to apply. “We

“Normal People” star Daisy Edgar-Jones has boarded the drama “Where the Crawdads Sing” with Reese Witherspoon producing through her Hello Sunshine banner. The project is based on Delia Owens’ debut novel, which has sold nearly 8.5 million copies worldwide. The story is set against the backdrop of the mid-20th century South and centers on a

Sidney Prescott, Woodsboro’s reigning champ, is returning to the “Scream” franchise for a fifth installment. But how did the new directors, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, convince Neve Campbell to return without the heart and soul of the operation, beloved creator Wes Craven? The death of Craven back in 2015 was mourned across the horror

Peter Frampton became such a touchstone of popular culture in the 1970s with the chart-dominating “Frampton Comes Alive!” album that it’s no wonder ripples from that have continued to show up in film and TV well into this century. In this exclusive excerpt from his just-released memoir, “Do You Feel Like I Do?,” Frampton writes

Marc Wooldridge, the former head of 20th Century Fox Film Distribution in Australia, is launching Maslow Entertainment, a new production development and distribution company. The move comes at a time when film distribution remains one of the industry sectors worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic. “The pace of change within the industry has clearly been

Rudy Giuliani – former New York City mayor and current attorney to President Donald Trump – is facing questions on his behavior in Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming “Borat” sequel. (Warning: spoilers ahead.) In a scene from the film (out this Friday on Amazon), Giuliani is tricked into entering the bedroom of a hotel suite by Maria Bakalova, portraying Borat’s

“Parallel,” a sci-fi thriller from director Isaac Ezban, has sold U.S. distribution rights to Vertical Entertainment. The movie will release in theaters and on demand on Dec. 11. “Parallel” follows four friends who find a mirror that serves as a portal to a “multiverse.” But they quickly find out that getting information from the other