This week’s new theatrical release, the dog-friendly adventure movie “Arthur the King” starring Mark Wahlberg and a four-legged best friend, has made $825,000 at the box office in Thursday previews. The Lionsgate movie is expected to make between $8 million and $10 million in its opening weekend. It will have to settle for third place,
That President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, who was a theater actor, is obviously widely known. However, in Apple TV+‘s latest historical drama, “Manhunt,” based on James L. Swanson’s book, “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer,” creator Monica Beletsky offers highly detailed and intricate perspectives from Booth (Anthony Boyle), who saw
Will Keenan has returned to the entertainment industry, joining COY Creator, a startup touting a full-service “business-in-a-box” platform for digital creators, as chief revenue officer. Keenan had joined Endemol Shine North America in 2013, where he launched the company’s Endemol Beyond division. While there, Keenan cultivated a talent and creator roster that included global music
The nature documentary is inherently preservationist, but Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan’s “Nocturnes” offers environmental persuasions not through verbal arguments, or even an aesthetic appreciation. Rather, its meditative, hyper-fixated approach to process — as seen through the eyes of seasoned lepidopterists — proves so hypnotic that any appeals or augments the movie makes are deeply
Documentaries can reach places justice cannot: this is the credo of Argentinian writer-director-producer María Silvia Esteve, whose latest project “Mailin” won the 2|35 Post-Production Company Award at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. For seven years, Esteve has been working with Mailin Gobbo in Buenos Aires to document her story of overcoming systematic sexual abuse. Gobbo led a
Speaking to Variety ahead of her film’s world premiere at leading European doc fest CPH:DOX, Lisa Jackson was keen to emphasize that “Wilfred Buck” is what she calls a “feel-good story” despite addressing dark issues related to Canada’s colonial past. Written and directed by Jackson (“Biidaaban: First Light”), the film is a hybrid doc that
“The Zone of Interest” executive producer Danny Cohen has become the first member of the film’s production team to publicly address director Jonathan Glazer’s Oscars speech, saying “I just fundamentally disagree with Jonathan.” While accepting the Academy Award on Sunday evening for best international film, Glazer delivered a set of pre-written remarks in which he
Linmon Pictures, one of the most outward-looking mainland Chinese entertainment firms, is preparing premium series “Hate Coin.” The show is being produced in association with Jonathan Wong and Justina Shih’s production company Octagon Metatainment, a Hong Kong-based multimedia studio. “Hate Coin” is based on international best-selling novel “Second Sister,” by successful Hong Kong novelist Chan
Swiss documentary film festival Visions du Réel has unveiled its program for film professionals, VdR-Industry, which includes 29 projects in various stages of production. These will be pitched during the four-day event that runs April 14 through April 17, alongside the fest. VdR-Industry, which sees hundreds of professionals descend on the small Swiss town of Nyon on
When two stars have “chemistry,” we tend to think of it as basic animal magnetism. And maybe that’s the essence of it. Yet when a romantic movie works, even a synthetic magical rom-com trifle like “Irish Wish,” what draws us into the chemistry isn’t simply the actors’ sexy connection. It’s that the two characters have
Onir, one of a handful of out and proud Indian filmmakers, is speaking out about the current scenario for LGBTQ filmmakers in the country. “There are a lot of non-Indian queer films and series available on streaming and also a lot of queer short films and reel videos being made across the country. Having said
In Alex Garland‘s “Civil War,” the Western forces of Texas and California hardly remember what they’re fighting for. At least, Garland doesn’t say outright what they’re fighting for. The film, which had its world premiere at SXSW on Thursday, depicts a near-future U.S. at the climax of a civil war where the two most populous
“Bottoms,” “Ru Paul’s Drag Race,” “Ted Lasso,” and Reneé Rapp took home top prizes at the GLAAD Media Awards, which this year celebrates the 35th anniversary of the annual award show. Awards were handed out Thursday night at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The show was hosted by actor and comedian Wayne Brady. Oprah
The press are the good guys, but also kind of the bad guys, in Alex Garland’s virtuosic “Civil War,” a jarring ground-level account of what a near-future disunification of the United States might look like. Intended as a wake-up call, the long-fuse thriller — which starts slow and snowballs to a jaw-dropping raid on Washington,
Justin Timberlake‘s sixth album, “Everything I Thought It Was,” arrives in a cultural landscape far different than his previous ones. For the better part of his solo career, he has consistently defied gravity as both an album and singles artist. At his best, he managed to craft complete artistic visions so powerfully focused that the
Wendy Williams‘ court-appointed guardian tried to block the release of a Lifetime docuseries about the talk show host, telling a court last month that she was “horrified” by the depiction of Williams as a “drunkard” and a “laughingstock.” The guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, obtained a temporary restraining order to keep the two-part series, entitled “Where is
Ken Kwek’s acclaimed Singaporean film “#LookAtMe” has secured North American distribution with Buffalo 8. The deal is exclusive for the North American territory and non-exclusive for the rest of the world. The film is a tragicomedy following the family of a teenage YouTuber who posts an irreverent video lampooning a megachurch pastor in defense of
As Ryan Gosling took the mic for a special screening of his latest film “The Fall Guy,” the Oscar nominee was eager to salute the stunt community — in particular, to show off the record-breaking stunt that his double performed. “There’s a gentleman who buckles me into a car — that’s Logan Holladay — for
Disney+ is officially in its Taylor Swift era. With the launch of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version)” on Disney+ on March 14 at 6 p.m. PT, the megastar is getting a homepage takeover on the streamer. For one day only, the service’s main screen will feature nine curated sets of titles inspired by
Alec Baldwin‘s lawyers asked a judge on Thursday to throw out his manslaughter case, accusing prosecutors of “violating nearly every rule in the book” in the course of obtaining an indictment. The attorneys argued that prosecutors leaked information to the press, failed to present exculpatory evidence to the grand jury, and gave a faulty jury
The first clip for the SXSW Film Festival documentary, “Whatever It Takes,” about two journalists targeted in a Silicon Valley Scandal, has been released in conjunction with its festival screenings. The clip shows journalists Ina and David Steiner — who are the targets of an online harassment campaign, subjected to cyberstalking threats and bizarre deliveries
FX’s acclaimed miniseries “Shōgun,” now nearing its halfway point, sports a score quite unlike Maurice Jarre’s music for the 1980 original adaptation. While utilizing authentic Japanese instruments, the music takes a very modern approach that applies today’s technology and advanced sonic manipulation in ways that were impossible four decades ago. Oscar-winner Atticus Ross (“The Social
The Grammy-winning “Golden Hour” was Kacey Musgraves’ honeymoon album, flush with love and promise in 2018. Its more dramatic followup, 2021’s “Star-Crossed,” turned out to be her divorce album, for most intents and purposes. So what’s a singer-songwriter do for an encore, after having pretty effectively covered the twin poles of serenity and severance? The
Upon his 2013 graduation from the Orange County School of the Arts, Justice Smith assumed he would spend some time “waiting tables and doing small roles in indie films here and there.” Instead, he found himself working the blockbuster space fairly quickly, booking roles in “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and its sequel “Jurassic World Dominion.”
Sam Mercer, producer on several M. Night Shyamalan movies and former head of ILM, died Feb. 12 of younger onset Alzheimer’s in South Pasadena. He was 69. Raised in Weston, Mass., he attended Occidental College and then started working as a location manager on 1980s classics including “Stripes,” “The Escape Artist,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Pee-Wee’s
Richard Roxburgh, star of hit Netflix show “Rake” and “Elvis,” stars in “The Correspondent,” a fact-based thriller. He portrays Peter Greste, the veteran Australian TV news reporter who was kidnapped in Cairo in 2013 while reporting for Al Jazeera. Production of “The Correspondent” wrapped in Sydney, Australia after being directed by Kriv Stenders, who enjoyed
BMI recognized the best Latin songwriters and publishers for its 31st annual BMI Latin Awards in Beverly Hills on March 13. Horacio Palencia — best known for his work with música Mexicana hitmakers Banda MS, Banda El Recodo, Carin León, Christian Nodal and more — took home the BMI President’s Award. The Songwriters Hall of
Exploring the nuances of romance isn’t as easy as laying waste to cities, as proven by “French Girl,” a new rom-com written and directed by “Independence Day: Resurgence” scribes James A. Woods and Nicolas Wright. The duo quickly establish a frisky, fond intimacy between longterm couple Gordon (Zach Braff) and Sophie (Evelyne Brochu) before putting
“What the hell’s a mutant?” Over 30 years ago, Canadian voice actor Cal Dodd auditioned for Project X, an animated show at the now-defunct Fox Kids – a children’s programming block known in the ‘90s for Saturday morning cartoons. He was up for a character called Wolverine, and he read lines for a scene with
A Los Angeles judge has thrown out portions of Leah Remini‘s lawsuit against Scientology, finding that some of the church’s attacks on her are protected under the First Amendment. But in a mixed ruling, the judge also found that the church cannot claim free-speech protection for allegedly stalking, harassing and surveilling Remini, or for harassing