Movies

Werner Herzog has always thirsted for the uncanny. It’s there in the primal awe he imparted to a grizzly bear in “Grizzly Man,” the cracked rapture of Klaus Kinski’s glowering megalomaniacal conquistador in “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” and the mysteriously intoxicating natural ice-sculpture formations of “Encounters at the End of the World.” In his

We’re only days away from the second coming of Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev, and Variety has an exclusive clip of one of his many misadventures. From producer and star Sacha Baron Cohen and distributor Amazon Prime Video, the sequel to Cohen’s hit 2006 mockumentary returns again to the United States to probe cultural divides —

James “Jamie” Redford, a documentary filmmaker, activist and the son of actor Robert Redford, died of cancer on Oct. 16. He was 58. His wife of 32 years, Kyle Redford, announced his death on Twitter, writing: “He lived a beautiful, impactful life and was loved by many. He will be deeply missed. As his wife

Actor Jeff Bridges announced on Twitter Monday afternoon that he has been diagnosed with lymphoma. He started his post off with a reference to “The Big Lebowski,” writing: “As the Dude would say… New sh– has come to light.” “I have been diagnosed with lymphoma. Although it is a serious disease, I feel fortunate that

MONDAY Oct. 19 Longoria Starring in Story of Sci-Fi Surveillance Eva Longoria has joined Ice Cube in an untitled science fiction movie for Universal Pictures with Patrick Aiello and Timur Bekmambetov producing. Rich Lee will direct from a Kenneth Golde script that contains themes of privacy and surveillance. Universal plans to go into production this

More than 900 pieces of iconic film and TV memorabilia worth $5.6 million will be available at the next Prop Store auction on Dec. 1 and 2. The pieces on auction include Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber, used by Ewan McGregor from “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith,” (2005) that is estimated to sell for between $103,000-$155,000;

After months of nearly constant bad news — theater closures, movie postponements, “Tenet!” — the film industry last week finally received a glimmer of good news: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that cinemas outside of NYC can start reopening on Friday. Hollywood studios have made it clear that blockbusters won’t return until cinemas in

Industrial Light & Magic’s Dennis Muren will receive the VIEW Conference’s 2020 Visionary Award during this year’s event, which is taking place both in-person in Turin, Italy, and virtually. The longtime VFX maven is best known for his work on the original “Star Wars,” as well as “The Abyss,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Jurassic

It’s not easy outrunning an outsized character like Sheldon Cooper, the awkward theoretical physicist played by Jim Parsons for 12 seasons on the ratings hit “The Big Bang Theory.” But only a year after the May 2019 finale of the sitcom, Parsons delivered two breakout dramatic performances that no primetime CBS viewer would recognize —

Emmy winner and “Succession” star Jeremy Strong is in talks to portray the writer John Gruenn in Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” the Leonard Bernstein biopic for Netflix. Strong won the Emmy last month for outstanding actor in a drama series for his portrayal of Kendall Roy in HBO’s “Succession.” He also plays Jerry Rubin in Netflix’s

Fox Entertainment streaming service Tubi announced a partnership with China’s Wanda Pictures on Monday, saying it will now stream at least two of the latter’s films in both Chinese-language and English-dubbed versions. The headlining film in the deal is Wanda’s “Detective Chinatown 2,” which currently reigns as China’s sixth-highest grossing movie of all time thanks

Chadwick Boseman’s final film, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” has released its first trailer, in which the late actor is suited up in a tuxedo, performing blues music with co-star Viola Davis. The film, based on August Wilson’s award-winning play of the same name, shares the story of trailblazing blues artist Ma Rainey, portrayed by Davis.

Range Media Partners has made two new hires in motion picture literature and a promotion in business affairs and TV lit. The motion picture hires come from the London office of WME. Payne Cowley, who served at the latter as a coordinator in motion pictures, joins Range as a manager under co-founder Rich Cook. Cowley

Rachel Brosnahan fans can rejoice because “I’m Your Woman” is getting a repeat screening as part of the 2020 AFI Fest. The ’70s crime drama, from writer-director Julia Hart, will screen again on Oct. 22 after much demand. “I’m Your Woman” served as the film festival’s opening night selection on Oct. 15. The 2020 edition

The common ground between American film consumers and critics is when the two get to converge at a film festival. Equally measured in their “first look” at a film that has yet to open in a theater near you, the two get to take in the spectacle of a movie, sharing in those experiences and

While most studios are shelving movies to next year, Universal has added a new film — romantic drama “All My Life” — to the release calendar and plans to open it in U.S. theaters on Dec. 4. The movie, starring Harry Shum Jr., will be available on premium digital rental services a few weeks later

Lionsgate is turning its hit “John Wick” film franchise into a 10-story roller coaster ride at the Motiongate theme park in Dubai. The “John Wick” ride, and another coaster based on the “Now You See Me” film series, are expected to open at Motiongate early next year. Variety has the exclusive first look at renderings

ICM Partners senior motion picture agent Andrea Nelson Meigs is packing up her office in a box to the left. The longtime film rep to luminaries like Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Ellen Burstyn is parting ways with the agency, Variety has learned. Her future plans are presently unknown, though she is said by two sources to

When Michael Fabiano was starting out as an opera singer 13 years ago, he was advised to stay in the closet and that coming out as gay could be a career killer. “That was frustrating because my friends and my family know my personal life, but I can’t actually talk about my personal business with

Harrison Ford and Ed Helms are attached to star in the shipwreck comedy “The Miserable Adventures of Burt Squire Aboard the Horn High Yo” for STXfilms. Inspired by a true story, “Burt Squire” revolves around a family man — portrayed by Helms — in the midst of a midlife crisis who embarks on what he

Magnolia has acquired North American rights to “Shorta,” Anders Ølhom and Frederik Louis Hviid’s Danish action thriller, which world premiered during Critics’ Week at the Venice Film Festival to warm reviews. The movie went on to play at Toronto. The action-packed film follows Jens and Mike, two police officers who are on a routine patrol

Wales will go into a two-week lockdown, described by the local government as a “firebreak” circuit breaker, from Oct. 23 to Nov. 9. Members of the public will be told to stay at home and leisure businesses will be shut. Pubs and restaurants will be closed, as will non-essential shops. It’s believed that cinemas will

Chinese director Jia Zhangke has quit the Pingyao International Film Festival that he co-founded four years ago. The festival will be handed over to the Pingyao city government, sparking speculation and concerns over how the reputable young festival will next develop. The internationally-renown auteur dropped the bombshell at Sunday’s press conference that concluded the fourth

China’s year-to-date box office came within a whisker of $2 billion on Sunday, with the latest weekend adding $46.4 million to the running total. That was enough for China to take the 2020 global crown. While the latest theatrical weekend total represented a 32% decline compared with the previous session, and lacked a notable new

Police have taken into custody a sexual assault suspect who barricaded himself in a building on the Paramount Studios lot late on Sunday night. LAPD HQ tweeted that police were first in the area of Plymouth and Melrose, near the Paramount Pictures lot, around 10 p.m. to arrest a sexual assault suspect, but when they

“Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train,” a Japanese action/adventure anime, was the best performing film in the world this weekend. Given an unusual Friday release, on 403 screens, by distributors Aniplex and Toho, the film earned $12 million on its opening day. Over the three-day period it totaled $44 million, from 3.42 million admissions. This

In first-time director Kelly Oxford’s snappy, super-saturated account of her personal battle with anxiety disorder, “Pink Skies Ahead,” the main character is named Winona, but it’s her best friend Stephanie who does all the shoplifting. It’s like a compulsion: Every time they go to the convenience store, Winona distracts the awkward, androgynous-looking clerk behind the

The theatrical cinema market in South Korea is just about strong enough to sustain a trickle of new release titles, but its continuing weakness points to growing problems in store. Ticket prices are set to be raised to help ease operators’ losses. New-release crime drama, “Voice of Silence” topped the Korean box office with a

Twitter began buzzing on Sunday when a teaser of Bruce Willis as “Die Hard” protagonist John McClane surfaced from several accounts, including Willis’ daughter, Rumer Willis, NFL sideline reporter Erin Andrews and comedy group The Lonely Island. They all tweeted out the clip teasing that something big was coming during the NFL game between the

Thomas Vinterberg’s film “Another Round,” starring Mads Mikkelsen, has taken home the top prize at this year’s BFI London Film Festival. “Another Round” won the Audience Award for best film, while “The Painter and the Thief,” directed by Benjamin Ree won best documentary; Tommy Gillard’s “Shuttlecock” was the best short film and “To Miss the