Movies

CNN Films has acquired broadcasting rights to “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President.” The look at the bond between the 39th president and pop and country musicians is slated to be the closing film for AFI DOCS film festival on June 21. The documentary was originally scheduled to open the 19th annual Tribeca Film Festival,

Oscar-, BAFTA- and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”) has joined U.S.-India-Bangladesh film “No Land’s Man” as co-producer and composer. Directed by eminent Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (“Saturday Afternoon”), the film chronicles a South Asian man’s journey that becomes complicated when he meets an Australian woman in the U.S. “Time always gives birth to

Warner Bros. has responded to the ongoing controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling’s statements about transgender identity. “The events in the last several weeks have firmed our resolve as a company to confront difficult societal issues,” the company said in a statement to Variety. “Warner Bros.’ position on inclusiveness is well established, and fostering a diverse and inclusive

In today’s film news roundup, Pierce Brosnan will play an engineer who tries to rewind his biological clock, a film about the 1964 Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake is in the works and a Hire Her Back initiative is underway. CASTING Pierce Brosnan has signed on to star in writer/director Brett Marty’s feature-film adaptation of “Youth,” a

Jessica M. Thompson, who directed the critically acclaimed “The Light of the Moon,” is set to helm the horror-thriller “The Bride” for Screen Gems, sources tell Variety. Blair Butler wrote the original script with revisions by Thompson. Emile Gladstone, behind the horror hit “The Curse of La Llorona,” is producing the movie. The story follows

Following “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans tweets earlier this week – and her further defense of her comments in a 3,600 word essay – alums of the incredibly successful film franchise as well as other celebrities have publicly spoken out against the British writer. Most recently, Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the

Canada’s insurance solution for the film and TV industry could see a CAD$100 million ($75 million) government backstop instated to help productions restart in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Variety can reveal. Producers’ trade body, the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), has confirmed it has asked the federal government to contribute CAD$100 million ($75

Fans of the literature of E.L James may find their inner Goddesses doing the Mazurka for Barbara Bialowas and Tomasz Mandes’ “365 Days,” a thoroughly terrible, politically objectionable, occasionally hilarious Polish humpathon currently gasping and writhing its way up the Netflix charts. Those less enamored of the arid sexcapades of Ana and Christian will find

“Gone With the Wind” zipped to the top of Amazon’s best-sellers sales chart for TV and movies, a day after WarnerMedia’s HBO Max pulled the movie for “racist depictions.” Amazon bases its rankings on sales data. The site currently offers the 70th anniversary two-disc DVD edition of “Gone With the Wind” starting at $29.55, while

Amid the health crisis, Cannes’s virtual Marché du Film has rejigged Cannes Docs as a digital-only event giving feature documentary film professionals access to tailored program of events on a dedicated platform. Congolese filmmaker Dieudo Hamadi will be the special guest of the 5th edition of Doc Day. Hamadi, whose latest feature documentary “Downstream to

Lynn Chen didn’t seek out writing and directing her first feature, “I Will Make You Mine,” so much as she inherited it.  Two years ago, the actor had been hiking with friend Dave Boyle, who had directed Chen in the first two movies of the indie Surrogate Valentine series, “Surrogate Valentine” (2011) and “Daylight Savings”

Huang Wei, the VP of China’s Bona Film Group who managed its cinema division, has died by suicide, jumping from the 18th-floor offices of the company’s Beijing headquarters today, according to multiple Chinese reports. He was 52. In a brief statement posted to social media late Wednesday, Bona wrote that he had died on June

Friends and colleagues of Lynn Shelton, the popular indie filmmaker who died on May 16, have organized “Her Effortless Brilliance” as a music-driven tribute to Shelton’s life and work that will air Wednesday on YouTube at 6 p.m. PT. Shelton’s partner Marc Maron, the comedian, podcaster and actor, is among the musical performers, along with Death

IFC Films is acquiring North American rights to the college comedy “Shithouse,” which won the grand jury prize for narrative feature at the virtual 2020 SXSW Film Festival. The film stars Cooper Raiff, who directed from his own script, along with Dylan Gelula, Amy Landecker, and Logan Miller. IFC Films plans to release “Shithouse” in

VFX house Cinesite has made three new senior appointments at the studio’s London headquarters and at its Montreal facility. Melissa Taylor joins as general manager for Cinesite’s London VFX studio. Taylor replaces Caroline Garrett, who has taken up the role of Netflix’s director of VFX, EMEA. Taylor was previously global head of business development at Framestore,

Shout! Studios has take North American rights to World War II epic “The Last Frontier,” while U.K. rights have gone to Signature Entertainment. The deals will be announced Wednesday by the film’s sales agent Central Partnership at Roskino’s digital market, Key Buyers Event. Distribution rights to the film were also sold to Japan (New Select),

“Moses on the Plain,” a film executive produced by art house director Diao Yinan, is among the first notable Chinese titles to have completed shooting since the country’s coronavirus outbreak. It stars A-listers Zhou Dongyu, who has enjoyed a further rise on the back of last year’s breakout teen drama “Better Days,” and Liu Haoran,

The 44th edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival has been confirmed as taking place in physical form in August. It had been postponed from its previous slot in March due to the coronavirus outbreak. Organizers said on Wednesday that the event will run from 18-31 August 2020. The full lineup of selected films will

When “Showgirls” opened in the fall of 1995, it was mocked and damned with more derision than the usual movie debacle (“John Carter,” “Gigli”). That’s because, according to the conventional view, it was not just a bad movie but an unspeakably vulgar bad movie. Directed by the talented Euro sensationalist Paul Verhoeven, from a script

UPDATED: An HBO Max spokesperson says “Gone With the Wind” will eventually return to the platform with a discussion about its historical context and a denouncement of its racist depictions. On Tuesday, HBO Max removed the 1939 film from its library in the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd. “’Gone With The Wind’

In today’s film news roundup, Stephen Lighthill becomes president of the American Society of Cinematographers, Universal is teaming with Timur Bekmambetov and the DGA health plan is offering three months of free coverage to some members. NEW PRESIDENT The American Society of Cinematographers’ board of governors has elected Stephen Lighthill as president, replacing Kees van

Sony’s “The Broken Hearts Gallery” will be one of the first wide releases of the summer. The romantic comedy from executive producer Selena Gomez hits theaters on July 10 — a week before Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” opens. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions’ Stage 6 Films acquired worldwide rights to Natalie Krinsky’s directorial debut from producer and financier

Film and television production may be able to resume in California on June 12, but major studios are still weeks — if not months — away from rolling cameras. Before shooting can start or resume on movies and TV shows, the various labor unions that represent everyone from the grips to the actors to the

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are,” goes author Anaïs Nin’s frequently cited quote on human subjectivity. However overused, few summations could articulate the idea at the heart of Israeli filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz’s provocative non-fiction effort “The Viewing Booth” this precisely. Capturing a viewer’s visceral and verbal responses to

AMC Entertainment reported a whopping $2.2 billion loss in the first quarter on Tuesday, the result of the global theatrical shutdown caused by COVID-19. In a statement, the company said it is focused on its liquidity as it looks to fully reopen worldwide in July. Last week, the company said in filings that there were

Rocky Balboa came from humble beginnings, both figuratively and literally. Sylvester Stallone was a struggling actor when he wrote the screenplay for the film “Rocky” in three and a half days; it was shot on a budget of just over $1 million. The ultimate underdog story went on to be just that in real life;

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has closed a first look production deal with Jennifer Todd, the producer of “Alice In Wonderland” and “Memento,” and her company Jennifer Todd Pictures. There have been murmurs that Todd was going to ally herself with MGM for months. She has a long-standing business relationship with Michael De Luca, who took over as MGM’s

There’s a changing of the guard at the team that leads Universal Pictures’ overseas distribution. Duncan Clark, the convivial and much-beloved president of international distribution, will be stepping down after a 14-year run at the studio. He will transition into a consulting role in August and has been discussing his desire step down from the

Bucking the politics of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, São Paulo will on Wednesday publish for public consultation a set of proposals for cash rebates on international shoots that include affirmative action clauses around race and gender. São Paulo’s film-TV agency Spcine will also notify their plans to prize pro-environment productions. Already a revolution for Brazil

Dudes, the wait is over. ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ has dropped its most excellent trailer. The time-traveling best friends — portrayed by Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter — reunite in the third installment of the franchise, set 29 years after “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.” The film, from Orion Pictures, also plans to