Movies

Robert De Niro, who was nominated this year for an Academy Award for producing “The Irishman,” plays against type as a completely incompetent producer in the first trailer for the showbiz comedy “The Comeback Trail.” To get the mob off his back, De Niro’s disheveled producer decides to make a Western starring the washed-up Duke

Rose McGowan has responded to director Alexander Payne’s denial of sexual misconduct allegations leveled against him by the actor. McGowan recently accused Payne of statutory rape and showing her soft-core porn when she was 15. In a guest column for Deadline, Payne said he had “cordial interactions” with McGowan and commended her activism in the

Roger Michell, the British director behind Venice competition title “The Duke” and films such as “Notting Hill” and “Venus,” says he feels “great sympathy” for the BBC and its ongoing tensions with the U.K. government. Speaking at a press conference for “The Duke” in Venice, alongside star Jim Broadbent (co-star Helen Mirren did not make

The U.K.’s Embankment Films has launched worldwide sales ahead of the Toronto Film Festival on “Call Me Kate,” a feature documentary on Katharine ‘Kate’ Hepburn, the actor from Hollywood’s Golden Age. The feature documentary is from director Lorna Tucker (“Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist”) and produced by Salon Pictures, the producers of the BAFTA nominated “McQueen.”

Leading figures in the U.K. film production sector told Variety Friday that they continue to have absolute faith in the measures being taken to keep cast and crew safe from COVID-19 on British sets. Production on “The Batman” has reportedly resumed at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, U.K., albeit without star Robert Pattinson’s presence, according

At the 11th hour, Amazon has come on board as a partner for Disney Plus’ “Mulan” $29.99 early-access movie release. “Mulan” is available for purchase inside the Disney Plus app on Amazon Fire TV and Fire Tablet devices, an Amazon rep confirmed Friday. As previously announced, Disney Plus subs also can buy access to the

The Venice Film Market and Rome’s MIA mart are forging a tie in a spirit of Covid-19 era collaboration. The two entities which, in different incarnations over the years have been known to be at each other’s throats, are joining forces with a small but significant pact. It sees the 28 feature film and doc

“Tenet” got off to a solid start on its debut in Chinese theaters on Friday. It opened on top of the box office and eased aside local champion “The Eight Hundred.”. By 7pm on opening day “Tenet” had earned RMB50 million ($7.31 million), according to the China Box Office service of Ent Group. Including earlier

For nearly two decades, the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival has helped to grow and support Poland’s documentary community through an event that takes place simultaneously across seven cities each May. But Artur Liebhart, founder of the country’s largest documentary film festival, insists that this is a year-round effort. Liebhart, who is also the

The closure of Polish cinemas earlier this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, dealt a temporary blow to the 17th edition of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, which was slated to take place in May. But the organizers were determined to hit the ground running as they geared up for a fall reboot,

Viewed in a certain light, the noirish romantic thriller “Lovers,” which premiered on Sept. 3 at the Venice Film Festival, could be seen as something of a change in pace for co-writer and director Nicole Garcia. A love-triangle potboiler about an unhappy woman, her wealthy older husband, and the bad-news ex-boyfriend she can’t leave behind,

The Venice Film Festival’s market is kicking off preceded by a flurry of activity, with several significant deals already announced during the world’s first physical place to do business after lockdown. Though smaller than in past editions, the event – known as the Venice Production Bridge – has more than 800 mostly European accredited buyers,

Greta Thunberg documentary “I Am Greta” will get the big-screen treatment in cinemas across Europe, North America and Australia this fall. U.K. sales agent Dogwoof has secured a raft of sales and global territory releases for the Nathan Grossman-directed film about the young Swedish activist, which enjoys its world premiere in Venice on Sept. 4.

Edward Albee could write an argument. In “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” George and Martha rip into each other, showing how a couple with some wear on its tires knows just where to drive in the nail to inflict maximum damage. Screenwriter Zac Stanford is no Edward Albee, and his low-key lover’s-spat dramedy “The Argument”

There’s little false advertising to “Love, Guaranteed,” a romantic comedy about true love and the seemingly overblown promises of online dating. The shared fate of Susan Whitaker and Nick Evans — played by Rachel Leigh Cook and Damon Wayans Jr. — is all but assured by director Mark Steven Johnson’s pretty much by-the-numbers take. The

If adultery was as drab and zestless a business as it’s made to look in “Lovers,” nobody would engage in it — in which case Nicole Garcia’s languid, boilerplate-stylish romantic melodrama would gain at least a measure of the novelty it so sorely lacks. Unspooling in competition at the Venice Film Festival, this French three-hander

As Hollywood makes halting progress on its reopening, SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabree-Ireland is expressing guarded optimism about production resuming fully — but without an exact date yet. Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s longtime chief operating officer and general counsel, told Variety, “A substantial resumption of production is gradually occurring right now, and I expect it will take several

Joining in from Lebanon on Thursday for the second helping of “Life Through a Different Lens: Contactless Connections,” virtual talks organized by the Venice Film Festival and Mastercard, Nadine Labaki – director of the Oscar-nominated “Capernaum” – wasn’t afraid to speak up about the situation in her country. “Exactly a month ago, we had the

During these unprecedented times, sometimes laughter is the best medicine. Luckily, Netflix has a library full of comedies to help lift your spirits up and put a smile on your face. Below, Variety has compiled a list of the best comedies now streaming on the platform. While there are plenty of classics on the streaming

Netflix has given a platform to various voices in the Hollywood industry such as Alfonso Cuarón (“Roma”), Dee Rees (“Mudbound”), and most recently Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”), in which filmmakers get to bring their distinct visions to life with the autonomy they wouldn’t be afforded at a traditional studio. As Oscars voters have become more

Every time celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, Julia Roberts and James Hong are publicly endorsed for a star on the Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, Ana Martinez receives a slew of emails asking “why don’t they already have a star?” The Walk of Fame producer repeats her response. “You cannot just buy a star. People don’t

Saida Mouradova, a native of former Soviet Union republic Azerbaijan, had one wish: to design for Beyoncé. Mouradova, who goes by just Saida, creates headpieces designed to “deliver bold, powerful, and artistic experiences.” What she didn’t expect was getting a call from Beyoncé’s team with a request for 22 pieces. Her team not only wanted

Ann Sarnoff, head of WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group, took in a preview screening of “Tenet” at a movie theater on Wednesday night in Connecticut. Normally, that would not be a big deal. But with the Christopher Nolan espionage thriller leading the charge for the reopening of multiplexes in the U.S., Sarnoff was eager to

Paramount Pictures will release a new edit and restoration of Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather Part III” in theaters in December, followed by a digital and DVD debut. The film, which bowed in 1990, has been retitled “Mario Puzo’s The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.” Paramount said Thursday that the new cut achieves

When organizers of the Deauville American Film Festival, which runs Sept. 4-13, forged ahead with this year’s edition, they knew they were running a risk. Though France eased out of lockdown throughout May and June, the national government maintained a summer-long ban on large public gatherings — thus sealing the fate of festivals including Cannes

When he came onboard as artistic director at the Deauville American Film Festival in 1995, Bruno Barde went about retooling the event. He started by introducing the official competition — to showcase new voices in American independent cinema before a predominantly French jury — and thought to make his vision for the festival clear with

BAFTA chair Krishnendu Majumdar has described the “collective grief” experienced by him and members of the academy, during meetings that are part of its wide-ranging diversity review stemming from a not very diverse pool of 2020 film award nominations. “I chaired the majority of the 50 plus meetings, and some were a very emotional experience,”

WarnerMedia has tapped Jay Levine to serve as chief strategy officer and executive VP of business operations for its studios and networks group. An 11-year veteran of the studio, Levine recently served as Warner Bros.’ executive VP of television business strategy and digital services. The studio also announced that Thomas Gewecke, long seen as a

The coronavirus pandemic crippled production around the world across many months, enforcing an unavoidable hiatus in business that has wreaked havoc on film and TV production schedules. The summer saw a number of troubling flare-ups in certain countries as borders began reopening, but overall, the pandemic has stabilized enough in some nations to allow specific

Film permit applications rose 40% in August over July as location production restarts in the Los Angeles area amid COVID-19 restrictions, FilmLA reported Thursday. Since it resumed operations in mid-June after the pandemic forced the film and television business to essentially shut down in March, FilmLA has received 1,127 film permit applications from 829 unique