“Isaac”, the debut feature by Catalan producer-director duo Ángeles Hernández and David Matamoros, has been acquired by France’s top Queer cinema distributor Outplay Films for France, Austria and Switzerland. The deal was put through by the film’s sale agent Alief Films at this year’s Cannes Film Market. Hernández and Matamoros, the co-producers of Netflix horror
Canadian producers C.S. Roy and Stéphanie Morissette (“Les Affamés,” “Vic + Flo Saw A Bear”) have unveiled a first look at “V F C,” an adaptive feature project blending traditional filmmaking with biofeedback audio technology. The project marks C.S. Roy’s directorial debut and stars Elisapie Isaac, the Inuk singer-songwriter, as a female neuroscientist who develops
Spain’s Movistar Plus, the Spanish TV and streaming label of telco giant Telefonica, has announced “Rapa,” a new Latin Noir thriller original series starring one of the country’s most decorated film and TV actors, Javier Cámara (“Talk to Her,” “Truman”). La Rapa is supposed to be a day of celebration and festival in the Galician
Miramax and Gunpower & Sky’s science fiction label Dust are teaming up to develop the sci-fi thriller, “The Masseuse.” “We’re fired up that Bill Block and the Miramax team have recognized the wealth of emerging IP and underrepresented filmmaking talent lying within DUST’s ecosystem,” Gunpowder & Sky CEO Van Toffler said. “Miramax was our dream
Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired all U.S. rights to Pan Nalin’s (“Samsara”) India-set tale “Last Film Show” which world premiered at Tribeca last month. The film is represented in international markets by Orange Studio. The movie follows Samay, a 9-year-old boy living with his family in a remote village in India. One day, he discovers
Lea Seydoux, one of France’s biggest stars who was expected to be the toast of Cannes with three films in competition, issued a statement on July 14 saying that she won’t be able to attend the festival as she is currently self-isolating after testing positive to Covid-19. “Sadly, I have to self-quarantine in Paris and
Fans of Israeli pop star Noa Kirel won’t be all that surprised to learn that, for her English debut, “Please Don’t Suck,” the 20-year-old interpolates a song written a half-century before her birth — 1954 barbershop ditty “Mr. Sandman.” Kirel is, if not an old soul, then certainly mature beyond her years in the minds
Participant is teaming up with leading French sales agent MK2 Films and Endeavor Content to represent worldwide distribution rights on “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” the anticipated feature debut of Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl. “Costa Brava, Lebanon” will be headlined by Lebanese star and filmmaker Nadine Labaki (“Capernaum”), alongside Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (“The Band’s Visit”). The
French studio Gaumont’s Cannes player “Aline, The Voice of Love,” freely inspired by the life of Canadian pop star Céline Dion, was partially filmed in Andalusian provinces of Málaga and Almería in June 2019. Directed, co-written and starring France’s Valérie Lemercier (“Astérix and Obélix: God Save Britannia,” “Orchestra Seats”), “Aline” screened July 13 out of
South America’s economic crisis, aggravated by the pandemic, has spawned an unorthodox crowd-funded Argentine film project, “La Uruguaya” (“The Woman from Uruguay”), which is set to start shooting in the Fall. Project leader-author Hernan Casciari has modeled the financing strategy on his own publishing house Editorial Orsai, which depends on readers to fund the publishing
Marvel has revealed that there will indeed be a second season of “Loki” via an insert in a post-credits scene in the final episode of season 1. At the 42 minutes and 48 seconds mark of the episode, it says simply: “Loki will return in season 2.” Marvel No further details were provided regarding the
The four Palestinian docs-in-progress showcased as part of the Marché’s Cannes Docs forum bear testimony to the diversity and creativity of a nouvelle vague of Palestinian filmmakers. Covering a broad range of topics – ranging from the plight of refugees crossing the Alps from Italy to France, a family of Bedouins forced to leave their
Jennifer Carpenter is set to return for the “Dexter” limited series revival at Showtime, a source close to the production confirmed to Variety. Carpenter played Deb Morgan in the original “Dexter” series, which ran for eight seasons from 2006 to 2013. Carpenter’s character is the adopted sister of Michael C. Hall’s Dexter Morgan, and was
Cruising through California sunshine in a bright yellow, convertible Chevrolet pick-up truck while rocking bucket hats, turtleneck sweaters and backwards baseball caps, 98 Degrees embraces ’90s nostalgia in the video for the group’s new summer anthem, “Where Do You Wanna Go.” Premiering on Variety below, the video sees the Cincinnati natives kick off the day
You know who does a really great Céline Dion? Kathy Griffin. Typically withering in her impressions, the comedian clearly has a soft spot for the vocal superstar. She gets the singer’s French-Canadian accent, the unconventional appeal of her open-book private life and that fabulously operatic body language — one hand gesturing toward heaven, the other
Chinese authorities in a number of counties nationwide plan to bar residents who have not been vaccinated from entering indoor entertainment venues, like cinemas, as part of its attempt to significantly ramp up its vaccination campaign. Policies restricting the movement and entry of unvaccinated people will been rolled out in various places around the country
The field for the 73rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards nominees was narrower than it had been in recent years, but there were still plenty of pleasant surprises to be found (and admittedly a couple of head-scratchers). Here, Variety chief TV critics Daniel D’Addario and Caroline Framke run through the most interesting and exciting honors. D’Addario:
SpringHill Co., led by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, is in early discussions with a range of potential investors to sell a piece of the media and entertainment firm that would value it at upwards of $750 million, Variety confirmed. The inbound interest in SpringHill has ranged across industries. Parties that have engaged with SpringHill
From the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the final frontier: “WandaVision” director Matt Shakman has been tapped by Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot to direct the next “Star Trek” feature film, from a screenplay by Lindsey Beer (“Sierra Burgess Is a Loser”) and Geneva Robertson (“Captain Marvel”). J.J. Abrams is set to produce. The cast, however,
ESPN plans to drill deeper into issues of diversity and inclusion, going as far as to examine the exit interviews of recently departed employees, in the wake of a dispute that has engulfed two of the network’s basketball reporters, the chairman of the Disney-backed outlet told staffers in a memo. “Change takes time, and I
Nicolas Cage has played a wide range of eccentrics over the course of his career, but Joe Exotic will not join the actor’s list of meme-worthy roles. The Oscar-winning actor, who is currently earning rave reviews for his performance in “Pig,” revealed that he is no longer scheduled to play the “Tiger King” in a
A Palestinian citizen of Israel, Sayed Kashua is an award-winning writer, newspaper columnist and creator/showrunner of the hit Israeli TV series “Arab Labor” and “The Writer.” His work is known for testing the limits of a Palestinian-Israeli’s freedom of expression and displays a deep understanding of divided lives along with dark, ironic humor. His novel
Gospel-pop crossover superstar Amy Grant and country music stalwart Toby Keith are among the class of 2021 newly named for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, with a ceremony to be held this fall. Also set to be inducted in the Nov. 1 festivities at Music City Center are hit country songwriters Rhett Akins, John
With “Top Chef” as a perennial nominee in the reality-competition categories, and a two-time winner, Bravo reality shows are no stranger to the Emmys. But on Tuesday, the network’s most-watched show, “Below Deck,” scored its first-ever nominations from the Television Academy. The show’s eighth season, which aired from November through February, was nominated for unstructured
A24 recently explored a possible sale, with the indie film studio floating an asking price of between $2.5 billion to $3 billion. Sources familiar with the situation tell Variety that the Oscar-winning shop behind “Moonlight” and “Uncut Gems” has engaged with numerous potential suitors for more than 18 months. It’s unclear if those discussions continue
Wscripted has unveiled its inaugural Cannes Screenplay List of scripts in the English language to option at Cannes. Wscripted is the first online marketplace for sourcing and curating excellent work written by women and women-identifying writers in film TV, and publishing. Among the screenplays on the list are works by Lucy Powers (“The Road to
Deadpool has finally crossed over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sort of. On Tuesday, Ryan Reynolds posted a YouTube video titled “Deadpool and Korg React,” in which Reynolds’ foul-mouthed mercenary and Taika Waititi’s rock warrior Korg from “Thor: Ragnarok” react to a trailer for “Free Guy” (which stars both Reynolds and Watiti). The promo video
In kinky Cannes Film Festival sensation “Titane,” an accident survivor winds up with a metal plate in her head, wounds ooze blood as black as motor oil and a car-show model dramatically expands the definition of autoerotic climax, getting pregnant after making it in the back seat of a pimped-out Caddy … by herself. Proving
Shakira is trending worldwide after announcing a new single called “Don’t Wait Up,” which is due on July 16. The Colombian superstar hinted at an imminent release earlier in the week by refreshing her social media channels with multi-hued pink branding and sharing a mysterious pre-save link. She confirmed the single Tuesday afternoon by posting
Bowen Yang became the first featured player on “Saturday Night Live” to get an Emmy nomination Tuesday, securing a berth in the outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series category. It almost didn’t happen. Yang originally considered nominating an episode in which he appeared in many sketches across the course of an evening. Instead, after