Movies

Six years after “Avengers: Infinity War,” another film is vying to become the most ambitious crossover event in history, this time in the lower-budget cinematic realm. The filmmakers behind “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” — the micro-budget slasher that sparked headlines for turning A. A. Milne’s jovial bear into a feral serial killer and made

Indie streamer Mubi has acquired worldwide streaming rights to South African artist William Kentridge’s prestige series “Self-Portrait As a Coffee Pot” which explores how art is made in the digital age. The nine-episode series by Kentridge – who is celebrated around the world for his influential works comprising animation, installations, theater, opera and films –

After creating a U.K. genre label with Jed Benedict, Studiocanal has forged a partnership with French production company WTFilms to focus on genre films. Under the deal, Studiocanal will be involved as a co-producer and distributor on WTFilms projects, ranging from action, thriller, science fiction and horror. The pact, which will run for a minimum

Fantastic Pavilion, the genre hub launched last year in Cannes, saunters back to the Croisette for its second edition, returning with a host of activities that include the Fantastic Galas, cocktails, and a showcase of genre video games as well as the second edition of the Fantastic Latido Award. Welcomed by the Marché du Film

With co-production an ever-popular resource for independents and emerging talent, the Madrid Film School (ECAM), hailed as one of the leading film schools in the world, has launched ECAM Forum, a new co-production initiative to run June 10 – 13 in Madrid. An Open Call ending April 9 has been announced March 18 for submissions

When two-time Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou revealed in 2020 that she had been raped by a senior member of the Greek sailing federation while competing for the national team, she inspired dozens of other women to break their silence, sparking the country’s #MeToo movement. In her feature-length directorial debut, “Tack,” which premiered this week

PARAMOUNT PLUS Beverley McGarvey has been appointed president of Network 10, head of streaming and regional lead for Australia and New Zealand, with immediate effect by Paramount Global. She reports to Pam Kaufman, president & CEO of international markets, global consumer products and experiences at the group. The role gives her oversight of Network 10

The first edition of India’s Cinevesture International Film Festival (CIFF) has revealed 20 projects that will participate in its accompanying market. Comprising 17 features and three series, several of the projects are by creators who have found acclaim both internationally and in South Asia. From Bangladeshi auteur Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (Busan title “Something Like an

Previews for Universal Pictures and Dreamworks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” put the Chinese-themed film in fourth place at the mainland China box office, a week ahead of its official theatrical debut. Over the March 15-17 weekend, however, first and second places remained with holdover titles “The Pig, The Snake and the Pigeon” and “Dune:

The South Korean box office had a familiar look. Dark drama, “Exhuma” dominated the chart with a more than 50% market share for the fourth weekend in a row. And, for the third successive weekend, “Dune 2” placed second. “Exhuma,” about two shaman, a feng shui master and a mortician who attempt to reverse the

Billy Dee Williams, who originated the role of Lando Calrissian in the “Star Wars” franchise, spoke to Radio Times about Donald Glover‘s portrayal of the smooth-talking smuggler turned rebel hero. “I had a nice little lunch with him. He’s a delightful young man. Extremely talented,” Williams said. “But I don’t see him… I mean, when

After 14 years together, editor Nela Märki and cinematographer-producer Martin Rattini locate a kernel of sadness in a shared life they describe as happy: they have not been able to have children. Grief and love inform the couple’s first feature—they share directors’ credits—with the title “Why the F*** Am I So Sad?,” which documents their

Revolutions bring hope for a better life and strength in community. “Immortals,” a documentary about young Iraqi activists, deals with the aftermath of 2019’s October Protest Movement. What happens when the promise of a better life has been hijacked by insidious political forces? An insightful look into the social and political fabric of modern Iraq,

Aaron Pierre is no longer attached to Marvel‘s upcoming “Blade” film, Variety has learned. The actor revealed the update to Variety on the red carpet for the 55th NAACP Image Awards. “Early on, there were conversations,” Pierre said of his involvement. “As the project evolved, I’m no longer part of that — attached.” Pierre was

“Dune: Part Two” is barreling toward another box office milestone. Director Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction sequel has grossed $494.7 million globally, including $208 million in North America and $289.4 million internationally. It should surpass the $500 million mark by Monday, a figure that few films have reached in post-pandemic times. Although it’s early in the year,

David Seidler, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “The King’s Speech,” died Saturday while on a fly-fishing expedition in New Zealand. He was 86. “David was in the place he loved most in the world — New Zealand — doing what gave him the greatest peace which was fly-fishing,” his longtime manager Jeff Aghassi said in a

Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” remained victorious at the domestic box office, collecting a solid $30 million in its second weekend of release. After 10 days on the big screen, the animated family film has grossed $107.7 million in North America and $176.5 million globally. Those ticket sales easily surpassed the debut

Iranian filmmaker Farahnaz Sharifi‘s “My Stolen Planet,” an intimate family portrait of life during Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, won the Golden Alexander at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival on Sunday, bringing a close to an emotional and politically charged week in Greece’s second city. Using both the director’s personal archives and 8mm recordings of strangers’ lives,

When you’re 10, it sounds like every line your favorite boy band sings is being aimed directly at you. Somewhere along the line, the illusion shatters. Teenagers are smarter than we give them credit for, and they eventually figure out how parasocial relationships operate: Basically, the fans do all the work, saving up for concert

At the first moment of physical contact between Anne Hathway and Nicholas Galitzine in “The Idea of You” — a light touch of the hands — the crowd at the film’s SXSW world premiere completely lost it. By the time the actors were kissing, the gasps, shrieks and applause were deafening. Hathaway was overcome with

At a glance, Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 campaign for president was the definition of quixotic. She was 47 years old; at the time, she had served only one term (starting in 1968) as the first Black woman to be elected to Congress. (Her district centered on the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.) To say that Chisholm wasn’t

As an actress, writer and director, Alice Lowe has never much cared if you like the characters she’s penned for herself. From the tourist who develops a taste for murder on her road trip with her boyfriend in Ben Wheatley’s “Sightseers” to a mother-to-be whose baby inspires far more violence than just kicking around in

In “We Strangers,” Rayelle (Kirby) confesses to her mother (Tina Lifford) that she doesn’t have dreams. Perhaps she doesn’t have time for them, or else she’s simply too exhausted to hang onto anything else in her head after spending her days as a cleaning lady, monitoring her every move so as not to become any

When the idea for her upcoming novel “Expiration Dates” began percolating in her head, author Rebecca Serle worried at first that the concept was “gimmicky.” “There was something missing,” she tells Variety over the phone, two weeks before the book’s March 19 launch. The premise — based on the question, “What if a woman got

A successful photographer celebrated around the world. A writer who resorts to publishing her own novels. Each had a long history of relationships, familial and otherwise, before they met in middle age. Now he’s 84 and she’s 75, and they are facing mortality together. Will love save them? The premise for “Two Strangers Trying Not

“Kung Fu Panda 4” and “Dune: Part Two” are both putting up strong holds in North American theaters, staying ahead of Lionsgate’s new based-on-a-real-dog drama “Arthur the King,” which earned $3 million from 3,003 locations on its opening day. The Mark Wahlberg vehicle is expected to earn south of $8 million heading into the weekend,

Brooke Shields has lived her life in the public eye, and at 58, she has no intention of stopping. The actor, author, podcast host and entrepreneur is preparing for the launch later this year of Beginning is Now, an online ecommerce health, beauty and wellness platform and social network designed to help Gen-Xers navigate their

Being a family member is a role that changes all the time. Hungarian filmmaker Sári Haragonics has been reflecting on these shifts based on her own experience, losing her mother 13 years ago. In her graduation short “Coming Face to Face,” shot three years after her mother’s death, Haragonics intertwined home-movie footage with scenes of

Can you remember how you spent your childhood summers? Were they by the pool eating concession stand junk? Biking everywhere you went? Fist-fighting your best friend? Falling for a girl from out of town? Something along those lines? Or maybe you just saw a movie like that. That kind of easy familiarity is what teen

Music has an almost magical way of transporting us back to the moment in our lives when we heard it: the pop song that underscored your first kiss, the one that played at your graduation and so on. In mopey, dopey YA weepie “The Greatest Hits,” writer-director Ned Benson takes that idea as literally as