Movies

“The Handmaid’s Tale” director Reed Morano and Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman are boarding a feature version of the Yōko Ogawa surrealistic novel “The Memory Police” for Amazon Studios. Morano will direct and produce, and Kaufman will write the script for “The Memory Police,” described as an Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance. The story

The year continues to provide plenty more surprises — and flies on the heads of politicians — and over the last week we saw “Dune” from Warner Bros. exit the calendar year, something that was very much expected around these parts. While many on the internet want to decry “the end of cinema” and that

Benedict Cumberbatch will cast spells — not webs — as Doctor Strange in the next “Spider-Man” movie with Tom Holland, Variety has confirmed. Cumberbatch’s casting marks the third major crossover between the films produced by Disney’s Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man” movies with Holland, after Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark appeared in 2017’s “Spider-Man:

Apple TV Plus has released the full trailer for its first animated feature, “Wolfwalkers.” “Song of the Sea” director Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart are behind the animation. The hand-drawn film “Wolfwalkers” is set in mid-17th-century Ireland during a time of superstition and magic amidst a world of Irish folklore. Robyn Goodfellowe, voiced by Honor

“Welcome to Blumhouse” is an anthology of eight horror thrillers executive produced by Jason Blum; each tells a different story, with different casts and crews. The first two films, “Black Box” and “The Lie,” bowed on Amazon Prime on Oct. 6, with the next two, “Nocturne” and “Evil Eye,” dropping Oct. 13. The final four

Less than two months after Beirut was blasted by one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, director Nadine Labaki has taken to the streets of the Lebanese capital with her camera.  “I don’t know where it’s going to lead, or if it will ever lead anywhere,” says Labaki, whose latest film, the Oscar-nominated “Capernaum,”

Imax Corporation has furloughed 150 employees, Variety has learned exclusively. Amid the domestic box office’s struggle to rebound, the large-screen format producer will put the furloughs into effect on Oct. 26 for at least two months. Employees in the U.S. and Canada have largely been affected, with a number in Europe. The company cited a

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long:

When Oscar-winning actor Geena Davis starred in 1991’s “Thelma & Louise,” she was shocked at how many women came up to her on the street and told her how inspiring the movie was to them. For her, this was a wake up call to the inequities within on-screen gender representation. “It made me realize that

If all goes as planned, the Lumière Film Festival will kick off this month in Lyon, France, to again celebrate classic cinema and fete such guests as Viggo Mortensen and Oliver Stone. This year’s edition, which runs Oct. 10-18, is taking place under strict health and safety measures, including limiting public gatherings to a maximum

After an underwhelming start to the year, France has redeemed its status as Europe’s largest nation of cinemagoers, with the national box office bolstered by a tide of local movies that have sustained admissions despite the near absence of big Hollywood movies. So far, 2020 has been a banner year for French fare, and local

In recent years, Norway has become the backdrop to major studio films like “Black Widow,” “Dune,” “Tenet” and James Bond film “No Time to Die.” The latest tentpole in town was Paramount Pictures’ “Mission: Impossible 7,” one of the first studio films to resume shooting after seven months on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly 20,000 people have contributed over $3.4 million (NT$100 million) to a crowdfunding campaign to back award-winning filmmaker Wei Te-sheng’s (“Cape No. 7,” “Seedig Bale”) ambitious “Taiwan Trilogy” that retells the history of Taiwan from 400 years ago. The amount publicly raised is a record for a film project on the self-ruled island. “Taiwan Trilogy,”

Grasshopper Film has picked up North American distribution rights to Paul Felten and Joe DeNardo’s “Slow Machine,” ahead of the film’s premiere at the 58th annual New York Film Festival this week. Set to release theatrically next year, the film is billed as a “miniature epic” of paranoia, espionage, subterfuge, music and performance on 16mm.

This week, Barcelona-based filmmaker Kike Maíllo’s “A Perfect Enemy” will world premiere at Catalonia’s Sitges Film Festival, playing in the event’s Official Fantastic Competition. Ahead of its Oct. 16 premiere, sales agent Pulsar Content has given Variety access to the film’s international trailer. An adaptation of Amélie Nothomb’s bestselling novel “Cosmétique de l’Ennemi,” the film

“Wonder Woman 1984” director Patty Jenkins has warned that shutting cinemas down and keeping audiences away from movie theaters “will not be a reversible process.” “We could lose movie theater-going forever,” said Jenkins in an interview with news agency Reuters. The Gal Gadot-starring “Wonder Woman 1984” has been delayed three times due to the global

Italian sales company True Colours has taken international sales on two spanking new Cinema Italiano titles with strong cast elements in the leadup to Rome’s MIA market: “The Girl and the Giants,” a dark fable starring Valeria Golino, and Rome-set psychological thriller “The Guest Room,” toplining International Emmy-nominated Guido Caprino. True Colours chief Gaetano Maiorino

Arthouse streaming service Mubi has snapped up rights to Toronto International Film Festival title “Shiva Baby” for the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, India, Turkey and Latin America. Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Emma Seligman, “Shiva Baby” follows a young bisexual Jewish woman at a shiva — a mourning tradition in the Jewish community —

Mooky Greidinger, CEO of the Cineworld multiplex group, has written to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, asking him to reinstate the government furlough scheme, he revealed in a letter to employees on Wednesday. The furlough scheme helped the company pay employees when cinemas were forced to close due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the 2020 participants of its Newcomers Program. The program expanded to New York for the first time in its history and accepted a record number of first-year female participants. The initiative to support emerging industry professionals boasts international talent from 20 countries – the U.K., Australia,

For the past 27 years the Hamptons Intl. Film Festival meant fancy cocktail hours, plenty of celebrity sightings and the unspooling of award season’s buzziest films. The 28th annual edition, like everything in 2020, will feel different. The Long Island-based fest, which runs Oct. 8-14, will be virtual and offer a select number of drive-in

The sixth annual Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program has added masterclass conversations to this year’s lineup. “Grown-ish” star Yara Shahidi, and her business partner and mother Keri Shahidi will discuss the film business, while cinematographers Rachel Morrison and Ellen Kuras will talk about visual storytelling. Held virtually due to the coronavirus,

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced another update to the eligibility requirements for this year’s Oscars, allowing films shown at drive-in theaters to qualify for best picture and general entry categories. In addition to April’s amendment giving eligibility to films without traditional theatrical releases as long as they are uploaded to

Ryan O’Nan and Kaiwi Lyman have signed on to star opposite Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo and Alexis Louder in Joe Carnahan’s action/thriller “Copshop.” The film is shooting in Georgia and New Mexico. Open Road Films is releasing the movie theatrically in the U.S. with STXinternational handling foreign distribution and releasing directly in the U.K. and

Dan Loeb believes that The Walt Disney Company could conquer the world of streaming. But it hasn’t yet, and it might need some help. The activist investor argued in a letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek on Wednesday that Disney must double the amount of money it spends producing and acquiring content for Disney Plus,

“Schitt’s Creek” actor Sarah Levy is social-distancing to her next gig. Levy has been cast in “Distancing Socially,” a COVID-inspired indie film about relationships and the challenges of virtual communication during lockdown. Director Chris Blake, who also wrote the screenplay, is shooting in New York, Los Angeles and Vancouver using remote technology. Levy is best

Hollywood has struck again, further perpetuating the idea that all Spanish accents are created equal, and every Hispanic is a Latino. Universal Pictures released the first trailer for “The 355” starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Penélope Cruz and Fan Bingbing. As the trailer unfolds, with action that’s a mix of “Ocean’s Eleven” and

“Jurassic World: Dominion” had to temporarily suspend filming after people on set tested positive for coronavirus, director Colin Trevorrow announced. “Woke up to the news we had a few positive Coronavirus tests on ‘Jurassic World: Dominion.’ All tested negative shortly after, but due to our safety protocols we’re going to pause for two weeks. Back

Daniel Loeb is calling on the Walt Disney Company to suspend its dividend and reinvest the money in acquiring and producing new content for its streaming services. Doing so, he argues, would double the company’s spending on tentpole films and series to highlight on its Netflix challengers. At the same time, the Third Point hedge

The North American rights to Allison Janney’s drama-comedy “Breaking News in Yuba County” have been bought by MGM, which will release the film on Jan. 29, 2021 through its relaunched American International Pictures label. Janney stars as an overlooked pencil pusher who catches her husband in bed with another woman, which causes him to die