Movies

In today’s film news roundup, the MPTF raises $750,000; IATSE hires a trio of epidemiologists; “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” and “The Flip Side” find homes; and the CAA Moebius screening series goes virtual. FUNDRAISER GOAL The Motion Picture & Television Fund has met its goal of $750,000 from its May 15 fundraiser event, thanks to

Gregory Tyree Boyce, best known for playing Tyler Crowley in the first “Twilight” film, died on May 13, the Clark County Coroner’s Office confirmed to Variety. He was 30. Boyce and his girlfriend, 27-year-old Natalie Adepoju, were both found dead in their Las Vegas condo, E! reported. The cause of death for either individual has

Chinese moviegoers can expect to see Dante Lam’s “The Rescue,” Jackie Chan film “Vanguard” and two titles involving helmer Zhang Yimou this year, says a top Chinese distribution executive. He also confirmed National Day releases for two propaganda films — the first concrete information on upcoming theatrical debuts for new titles in months. China’s cinemas

John Patrick Mahon, a director, writer and actor known for his roles in “L.A. Confidential” and “Zodiac,” died of natural causes in his home in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 3. He was 82. Mahon played the police chief in 1997’s “L.A. Confidential” starring Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe, and had a small part as

During the first decade of Lynn Shelton’s career, it was nearly impossible to find her on a set without cinematographer Benjamin Kasulke by her side. Shelton, the writer-director known for prolific work in the indie film world with “Your Sister’s Sister,” “Laggies,” “Humpday,” among others, and her recent successes directing top-tier television shows like “Little

The 2020 summer movie season is one like never before. With social distancing and shelter-in-place regulations shutting down theaters across the world, the film industry is in uncharted waters. What was set up to be a season for studios to unleash expensive and highly anticipated tentpoles has been truncated and diminished by frequent calendar adjustments

Netflix and Adam Sandler have found their next film. Sources tell Variety that Sandler will star in “Hustle” from “We the Animals” director Jeremiah Zagar. Taylor Materne and Will Fetters penned the script. Sandler’s Happy Madison, Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, and LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment are producing the pic. Sandler plays an American basketball

Spain’s Secuoya Group has tapped David Martínez, one of country’s most reputed TV executives, as head of fiction of the Secuoya Studios, its film and TV content production arm. Considered as one of the architects behind the quality leap in Spanish TV drama production sector, Martínez’s appointment marks a new strengthening of Secuoya Studios’ content

David Arquette will reprise his role as Sheriff Dewey Riley in the upcoming “Scream” reboot. “I am thrilled to be playing Dewey again and to reunite with my ‘Scream’ family, old and new,” Arquette said. “‘Scream’ has been such a big part of my life, and for both the fans and myself, I look forward

Hollywood studios and leaders of the Writers Guild of America are starting master contract negotiations Monday on a remote basis due to the coronavirus pandemic. Representatives for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said Monday that the current global health crisis underlines the need for a deal to be reached. The two sides

It’s hard to disregard the “easy living” motif that covers the 10-year-old Furkan Demiri’s bed sheets in Dea Gjinovci’s “Wake Up on Mars.” The heartbreaking irony of the phrase stings, as there is nothing easy about this imaginative child’s life, brought to a halt amid endless immigration machinations in a frosty Swedish town. But citizenship

In the opening scene of “The Trip to Greece,” Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, seated (of course!) at an idyllic outdoor table at a to-die-for Mediterranean restaurant, take note of the fact that they’ve been going on their culinary road trips together for close to 10 years. Even for those who have followed them through

Marc Maron paid an emotional tribute to Lynn Shelton, his late girlfriend and creative collaborator who died Saturday from an unidentified blood disorder at the age of 54. On Maron’s popular podcast, “WTF With Marc Maron,” the comedian detailed his relationship with the beloved filmmaker. “She was my partner. She was my girlfriend. She was

Many of the most scarring breakups we suffer in life are not with lovers, but with friends: people we once trusted with our most closely guarded truths, reduced over the years to strangers, or more wrenchingly still, to polite occasional acquaintances. Yet we rarely refer to these breakups as such. We talk about “drifting apart”

“Matrix” co-creator Lilly Wachowski wasn’t happy that Elon Musk and Ivanka Trump were quoting her movie. On Sunday morning, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO posted a cryptic tweet, saying “Take the red pill” with an emoji of a red rose. Take the red pill 🌹 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2020 As most movie

It’s always terrible to lose a filmmaker, but it’s especially tragic when the creator in question is just starting to hit her stride. When I say that about director Lynn Shelton, it’s not meant to diminish the work she’d done — nine features, ranging from “Humpday” to “Laggies,” and more than 40 TV episodes, including

Thanks to his foul-mouthed roles in “Superbad” and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Jonah Hill swears the most of any film actor, a new study shows. Buzz Bingo analyzed more than 3,500 film scripts to find which has the most swear words and which actors curse the most. Thanks in part to Hill’s performance as

Lynn Shelton, the beloved indie film director who also helmed mainstream TV programs like “Little Fires Everywhere,” “Mad Men” and “GLOW,” tragically died on Friday. Her publicist cited a blood disorder as the cause of death. She was 54. Shelton made her directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006 with “We Go Way

Following the news of Fred Willard’s death on Saturday, many film and TV stars, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Jimmy Kimmel and more, paid tribute to the comedic legend. Willard was known for his goofball characters and improvisational comedy. He earned four Emmy nominations, including three in a row for his role as Hank MacDougall on

Lynn Shelton, an indie filmmaker who helped popularize the mumblecore genre with works such as “Humpday” and “Your Sister’s Sister,” died Friday of a blood disorder.  She was 54. Shelton was best known for her naturalistic, understated approach to comedy and drama in low-budget films that were hits with the Sundance crowd, but she reached

Fred Willard, the comic actor known for his genial but dunderheaded characters, has died. He was 86. Though most sources reported that he was born in 1939, some asserted that he was actually six years older, with a 1933 birthdate. Willard was an astonishingly ubiquitous presence especially on TV but also in movies for decades, though

In the 1950s, the word “mumbling” got stuck to the name Marlon Brando, and there were several reasons for that. Brando, starting with his first film, “The Men” (1950), brought a new mode of naturalistic acting to Hollywood that was so revolutionary it would change not just movies but the world. (By the time the

LGBTQ-focused streaming platform GagaOOLala officially launched worldwide Friday in all territories except for China and North Korea.  The streamer is backed by Taipei-based Portico Media, one of the co-founders of the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival. Its launch comes a week before the one-year anniversary of the day Taiwan became the first in Asia to

In today’s film news roundup, a Buddy Holly movie is in the works, the James Bond exhibition ​”Driven: 007 x Spyscape” is going online and Enderby Entertainment is starting virtual production on the thriller “92.” PROJECT LAUNCH Oscar-nominated director Bruce Beresford is attached to the Buddy Holly biopic “Clear Lake,” with producers planning for a

MGM has brought Phil Lord and Chris Miller on board to direct and produce the film adaptation of “The Martian” author Andy Weir’s next novel, which has Ryan Gosling lined up to star. Amy Pascal has also signed on as a producer, joining Gosling and Ken Kao as well as Weir. Lord, Miller and Pascal

Producers behind the Terry Crews micro-budget drama “John Henry” are taking a victory lap this week, as their film has found an exhilarating second life and wide viewership on Netflix. In a period that saw dominance from the second season of the Christina Applegate series “Dead to Me,” and stiff feature competition from the Michelle

The corpse of MoviePass — the cinema subscription service that flamed out last year after running out of cash — could be yours for as low as $250,000. The court overseeing the sale of MoviePass’s assets has set June 18 as the deadline for interested bidders. The proceeding comes after MoviePass parent Helios and Matheson

Following the success of Chris Hemsworth’s “Extraction,” Netflix is doubling down on action movies, tapping Jessica Alba to lead the next one. Sources tell Variety that Alba will star in the new Netflix action-thriller “Trigger Warning,” with Mouly Surya directing. Josh Olson and John Brancato penned the script, and Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk and Erica

It’s a relatively slim week in new releases, even by the standards of the ongoing coronavirus shutdown — although there are a few gems to be found, if you hunt hard enough. Families have “Scoob!” which Warner Bros. decided to make available directly via digital, following the recent success of “Trolls World Tour.” And grownups

The “Chrysalis Night In” virtual fundraiser paid tribute to Broadway star Nick Cordero on Thursday night. It was just two days before that the Tony-nominated actor woke up from a medically induced coma after complications from his battle with COVID-19 The Chrysalis benefit was co-hosted by Zach Braff, who got emotional while talking about his