Movies

Malika James is a bicoastal makeup artist and a member of both Makeup and Hair stylist guild local 706 and local 798. She’s worked with stars like Gabrielle Union, Danai Gruyere, Keke Palmer, and T.I. Her credits include “Grownish”, “America’s Got Talent,” “LA’s Finest”, “The Voice: Australia”, and “The Walking Dead.” “Hell, no.” That was

To get to the center of the story of documentary “Father Soldier Son,” about a single dad raising two boys while fighting in Afghanistan, editor Amy Foote locked herself in a bubble for two months poring over 10 years of footage. Journalists-turned-filmmakers Catrin Einhorn and Leslye Davis make their feature debut with the doc, now

Robin Williams, who was born on July 21, 1951, broke through in “Mork and Mindy” but the small screen couldn’t contain this comedic giant. Williams, who died in 2014, could do drama just as well as comedy. In real life he was a great interview giving quotable quips in a torrent. He was one of

The number of drive-in cinemas across the U.K. has exploded from three to 40 during the coronavirus pandemic, according to new data from media measurement firm Comscore seen by Variety. Prior to the spread of the virus, the country had just three drive-in cinemas: two Cinestock sites at Haywards Heath, as well as The Star and

High-profile doc “The Rossellinis,” described as a tongue-in-cheek autobiographical look at the descendants of iconic Italian director Roberto Rossellini’s extended family, is among the standout world premieres in the lineup of the upcoming Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week. Directed by Roberto Rossellini’s grandson, Alessandro Rossellini, the doc is unspooling out of competition and will close

Craig Roberts’ “Eternal Beauty,” a romantic drama with Oscar-nominee Sally Hawkins, has sold North American rights to Samuel Goldwyn Films. The indie label will release the film on-demand this fall, an increasingly popular option at a time when many movie theaters are closed due to coronavirus. Roberts, a writer, director, and actor, who has appeared

Academy Award–winning actor Natalie Portman and a group of predominantly female founders were awarded the rights to bring a National Women’s Soccer League team to Los Angeles in 2022, Variety’s sister site Sportico reports. Portman and tech venture capitalist Kara Nortman, media and gaming entrepreneur Julie Uhrman and venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian, who led the investment

The SAG-AFTRA national board has reprimanded Los Angeles president Patricia Richardson over her refusal to remove actor Corey Feldman, who has been accused of sexual assault, from guild’s Los Angeles local sexual harassment committee. Feldman has issued a strong denial of the allegations. Richardson responded by blasting the national board and accused it of employing

Global talent agency, Creative Artists Agency has signed a non-exclusive strategic partnership agreement with United Media Asia, a Singapore and Indonesia-based content finance, production and distribution company. The deal will see CAA help represent and arrange financing for local-language film and television content in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, as well as advise on the company’s

Documentary film editor Jonathan Oppenheim died July 16 in New York City, Sundance Institute confirmed to Variety. He was 67 and had been battling brain cancer . “Jonathan began his life in the arts as a painter which informed his sensibility in film,” his wife, Josie Oppenheim, wrote in a statement. “He was a talented

MONDAY, JULY 20 Sony Classics Dates ‘The Climb’ for October Sony Pictures Classics will release Michael Covino’s comedy “The Climb” in New York and Los Angeles theaters on Oct. 9 — six months after its original date. Written by Covino and Kyle Marvin, “The Climb” premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Sony Classics bought

Veteran film producer Michael Shamberg sued the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on Monday, as he steps up his campaign to prod the organization to boost its social media presence. Shamberg, 75, has been publicly decrying the Academy’s slide into irrelevance with younger viewers for several months. An Academy member since 1981, Shamberg

Paramount Pictures will release Skydance Animation titles “Luck” and “Spellbound” in 2022. Paramount made the announcement Monday. It came three years after David Ellison’s Skydance Media launched Skydance Animation by forming a partnership with Madrid-based Ilion Animation Studios. “Luck,” directed by Peggy Holmes, will open on Feb. 18, 2022, as the first feature from Skydance

In a swank house, a man and a woman engage in amorous acrobatics before a large, glowing fireplace. The blaze seems a little ominous. So does the woman’s trip to the kitchen. And, as if to heighten the tension more, should any character coyly say “we’re not done yet” while the movie’s score promises otherwise?

During a globally stressful moment like this one, it is tempting to read prophecy into even the most anodyne relics of the Before Times. But you don’t have to see an image of a giant coronavirus in a billboard behind Captain America, or freak out that a long-haired, quarantined Rapunzel lives in a kingdom called

Amber Heard alleged in court Monday that during her relationship with Johnny Depp she was afraid he was going to kill her, and that he repeatedly threatened to kill her. She was giving evidence on the 10th day of Depp’s libel trial against the publisher of The Sun newspaper, which is taking place at London’s

Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts have signed on to star in the family drama “Leave the World Behind,” based on the upcoming Rumaan Alam novel. Netflix has landed feature film rights to the novel, and the deal is believed to be a blockbuster payday for the two A-list stars. Sam Esmail, whose credits include “Mr.

Movie theaters have been devastated by coronavirus since the pandemic has forced cinemas to close across the country and essentially wiped out summer blockbuster season. Exhibitors had long hoped that the August releases of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” and Disney’s live-action remake of “Mulan” would kick off a moviegoing revival. However, those plans suffered a major

Music magazine Hit Parader, published from 1942 to 2008, has been reimagined as a branded production studio for TV, film, live events and more, under the auspices of music biz and media veterans Ash Avildsen (pictured at left), Josh Bernstein (right) and Matt Pinfield (center). The first offerings under the Hit Parader moniker are slated

Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog” will finally debut on the big screen in China on July 31, becoming the headliner for the second weekend of business for newly reopened cinemas. The film will compete for audience attention with two other animated titles now set to hit screens July 31: a re-release of the 2014 Disney

CAA has signed award-winning filmmaker Ben Sharrock. Sharrock is a budding indie director whose second feature, “Limbo,” was named by critics as the hidden gem of this year’s coronavirus-hit Cannes Film Festival selection. This is U.K.-based Sharrock’s first U.S. agency, though he continues to be represented abroad by Harriet Pennington Leigh of Lark. Sharrock wrote

Luke Skywalker isn’t backing the proposed SAG-AFTRA deal. Mark Hamill is one of dozens of prominent members of the performers union urging a “No” vote on ratification of a successor deal on its master contract for feature films and primetime television work. Other notable names who are part of the Dissenting Opinion campaign include Patricia

Warner Bros. has removed “Tenet” from its release calendar, delivering a big blow on the exhibition industry at a time when movie theaters had hoped to peg their re-opening to the late summer debut of Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller. Though necessary given the mass uncertainty over when cinemas across the globe can safely reopen, the

Break out the peanut butter and Oreos: The cast of “The Parent Trap” reunited on Monday for the first time since filming the 1998 movie, for a special on Katie Couric’s Instagram that raised funds for World Central Kitchen. Director Nancy Meyers, writer Charles Shyer, and actors Dennis Quaid, Lindsay Lohan, Elaine Hendrix, Lisa Ann

Italian A-listers Alba Rohrwacher (“Happy as Lazzaro”), Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”) and Silvio Orlando (“The Young Pope”) are set to star in a high-profile prison drama to be directed by Leonardo di Costanzo, who is best known for social-realist drama “The Intruder.” Di Costanzo crossed over from documentary to feature filmmaking first with “The

When Europe’s theaters slowly began reopening mid-June, exhibitors were hopeful that after a few weeks spent warming up audiences with archive films and rereleases, they’d have big new U.S. movies to lure customers en masse mid-summer. But the successive delays of tentpoles such as Warner Bros.’ “Tenet” and Disney’s “Mulan” and the scrapped theatrical release

Cairo International Film Festival, having recently confirmed that this year’s 42nd edition will be held in person in November, has opened the window for submissions to the Cairo Film Connection sidebar, part of Cairo Industry Days. In its seven years of operation, Cairo Film Connection has helped Arab filmmakers secure funding and partnerships on more

China reopened its cinemas on Monday after nearly five months of closure, but audiences are only trickling in. The re-opening was restricted to theaters in cities and regions where the coronavirus is deemed to have been vanquished. That excluded Beijing, where recent weeks has seen a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. By 6 p.m. local time, cumulative

Moonyeenn Lee, the acclaimed South African agent and casting director who cast films such as the foreign-language Oscar winner “Tsotsi” and Oscar-nominated “Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom,” died in Johannesburg on Saturday due to coronavirus-related complications. She was 76. Lee’s company, Moonyeenn Lee & Associates, announced the news in a statement on its Facebook page

The Rotterdam Film Festival’s facilitation and talent incubator wing IFFR Pro has teamed with the Sundance Institute, European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs and the Realness Institute for Creative Producer Indaba, a year-long professional development initiative aimed at supporting producers from Africa. The inaugural batch of 17 emerging producers was announced Monday. They will participate in online workshops