The opening of “Your Honor” is a full horror movie in and of itself. Over 15 tense and terrible minutes, director Edward Berger traces the growing unease of one chilly New Orleans morning with ominous patience. A teenager (Hunter Doohan) wakes up in bed with his girlfriend (Sofia Black-D’Elia), kisses her goodbye and heads out
Lily Cornell Silver, elder daughter of late Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, made her debut public performance during a tribute to Alice in Chains on Tuesday night. The 20-year-old singer paid homage to the event’s honorees with a version of their 2009 song “Black Gives Way to Blue,” accompanied by fellow Seattle native Chris DeGarmo of
AMC Entertainment Holdings has filed to raise up to $844 million by selling stock as the exhibitor struggles to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The S-3 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said AMC plans to sell up to 200 shares at an estimated offering price of $4.22 per share, based on trading Nov.
Rotten Tomatoes has launched a new Top Critics program for its Tomatometer rating system, including new criteria aimed at boosting inclusion and recognizing individual achievement in criticism. “At Rotten Tomatoes, we continue our commitment to building a more inclusive critics pool that reflects and serves the global entertainment audience, and today we took another important
In today’s bulletin, Olivia Colman leads the cast of BBC’s pantomime “Cinderella”; season 3 of “Das Boot” commences production; Discovery Plus orders a Dutch adaptation of ITV Studios format “Sex Tape”; and Amazon India reveals Hindi-language anthology “Unpaused.” Olivia Colman (“The Crown”) and Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”) will headline a virtual version of popular
Variety has teamed up with London-based international production event Focus, which runs online Dec. 15-17, to present “Variety Streaming Room: The Big Restart,” the latest in its series of online panel discussions. The collaboration is the first time Variety has worked with Focus on a live digital event. Leading producers from France and Poland will
Todd Rundgren has a virtual road trip on the books for this winter, although the literal part of it will take him and his 10-piece band only as far as Chicago, and leave them there. The legendary singer-songwriter/producer is announcing a 25-city “tour” that will target different cities around the country and, through, geofencing, make
The last less-regulated corner of China’s highly censored internet is about to get a lot less interesting. Chinese authorities have issued new regulations to clamp down on live-streaming, one of the country’s most lucrative and fast-growing entertainment and e-commerce sectors, seeking to use AI and big data to promote only “positive” broadcasts in line with
Content Partners LLC has acquired the FilmDistrict library, including “Olympus Has Fallen,” “Looper” and the first two “Insidious” movies. “We’re thrilled to bring these popular titles from FilmDistrict to new platforms while building our library and continuing to be leading owners of intellectual property in the entertainment industry,” said John Mass, executive vice president of
CineLife Entertainment is handling the U.S. release of a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” with a British voice cast including Carey Mulligan, Daniel Kaluuya, Martin Freeman, Simon Russell Beale and Andy Serkis. The film has been scheduled for more than 200 U.S. locations and will begin opening Dec. 4. through January. This retelling of the
Shamier Anderson (“Wynonna Earp”) and Stephan James (“Homecoming,” “American Son”) want to break down barriers of discrimination and combat systemic racism in the Canadian arts. On Dec. 3, the Scarborough, Ont. brothers announced the formation of The Black Academy, an expansion of their not-for-profit B.L.A.C.K. Canada (Building a Legacy in Acting, Cinema + Knowledge), which
The U.K. Cinema Association, the trade org representing 90% of U.K. cinema operators, has launched a social media campaign aimed at persuading government to provide further funding for its COVID-affected members. Titled ‘Keep the Magic Alive,’ the campaign has been launched via a short film narrated by actor and writer Stephen Fry (“Wilde”) that reminds
South Korean animation, or “K-animation,” has been positioned to be the next chapter of “K-wave” following the global success of Korean film, K-pop and K-dramas, says one of the agencies that pledge to put the content on the world stage. The success of animated feature thriller “Beauty Water,” which has been a film festival circuit
Magdalena Orellana’s “Until The Place Becomes Improbable,” Eduardo Crespo “The Wind’s Cave,” Manuel Muñoz Rivas’ “Manantial,” Marina Palacio “And Thus It Will Go On” and Mina Fitzpatrick’s “Wandervogel” are the five projects selected for this year’s Ikusmira Berriak. A project-based training-residence program, the development initiative has been launched by the San Sebastian Film Festival, the
Argentina’s Magma Cine is powering up a female-dominated slate with some of Latin America’s biggest talent. Chile’s Paulina Garcia, best known for her Berlinale Silver Bear Best Actress-winning performance in Sebastian Lelio’s “Gloria,” plays opposite another giant talent, Argentine thesp Mercedes Moran (“La Cienaga,” “El Angel”) who co-wrote the dramedy “Norma” with Santiago Giralt, who
ViacomCBS International Studios is developing a TV series depicting the life of groundbreaking Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga with British director James Kent (“Testament of Youth”) on board to direct and Spain’s Frida Torresblanco (“Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Assassination of Richard Nixon”) to serve as executive producer. Balenciaga was born in 1895 in Getaria, a fishing
Production and distribution powerhouse All3Media has acquired leading natural history producer Silverback Films. Founded in 2012 by Alastair Fothergill (pictured, left) and Keith Scholey (right), Silverback Films is the U.K.’s top natural history producer outside of the BBC Natural History Unit, and creates wildlife content for film and TV. Recent credits include the documentary “David
“Fangio,” a series about the triumph and tragedy of Juan Manuel Fangio, whose five Formula One World Championship wins stood as a record for 46 years, is now in the works in Argentina. Presented at Ventana Sur, the portrait of a legend who put racing and winning above all else, at large emotional cost, is
Francisco Ramos, VP of Spanish-language Originals for Netflix in Latin America, headlined a Ventana Sur chat on Wednesday, joined virtually by Latin American industry journalist Nicolás Smirnoff, managing partner of Editorial Prensario and director of Prensario International and Prensario TI Latin America. Titled Netflix, between the Pandemic and the New OTT Ecosystem, the talk focused
“Versailles” star Alexander Vlahos has partnered with German executive producer Nicole Oebel (“Lola”) to form independent film production company CowHouse Films. The Welsh-German company will kick off in early 2021 with principal photography on “Watchtower,” a film that explores the inner conflict of isolating oneself and allowing the presence of a loved one to be
In “The Time of Indifference,” Italian filmmaker Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli adapts the 1929 novel by renowned author Alberto Moravia about a once wealthy family in decline but unable to give up the pretenses of appearance. Transposed to modern-day Rome, the film retains the novel’s timeless story of a hapless widow whose devious and manipulative lover
Berlin-based Picture Tree International, which is participating in this week’s Ventana Sur, has announced a swathe of deals on its sales slate, including a pact with HBO for U.S. rights on Mexican comedy “Go Youth,” which premiered locally at Morelia Film Festival recently. Carlos Armella’s movie tells the intertwined stories of four teenagers struggling with
The centerpiece of “Love, Weddings & Other Disasters” is a sweetly engaging story about the improbable autumnal romance between an impossibly demanding celebrity caterer, played by a perfectly cast Jeremy Irons, and the age-appropriate, sight-impaired free spirit (a very winning Diane Keaton) who manages to locate a warm heart beneath his frosty demeanor. Unfortunately —
Industry veteran Cathy Payne, former CEO of Endemol Shine, and currently CEO of Banijay Rights, is optimistic about production returning to normal in 2021. But she says the restart should have a pragmatic, COVID-safe approach. Speaking at the Asian Television Forum, part of the Singapore Media Festival, on Tuesday, Payne said that the Indian version
China on Thursday announced selection of Hong Kong director Peter Chan’s sports drama “Leap” as its contender for the Academy Awards’ best international feature film competition this year. The film tells the fact-based story of the Chinese women’s national volleyball team and their travails over the course of decades, from their world championship win in
The hybrid festival model, combining in-theater screenings and online playout, that emerged during coronavirus lockdown periods may help festivals reach a wider audience, said panelists at a Singapore International Film Festival talk on Wednesday. The transition from programming traditional festivals to putting together online ones initially posed tech problems, said Anderson Le, festival consultant and
Roddy Ricch — who is Variety’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year in our just-released 2020 Hitmakers issue — topped Apple Music’s 2020 year-end album and songs charts, according to statistics released by the company. For the first time, Apple Music will share the Top 100 2020: Most-Read Lyrics chart, and the first Shazamed locations of
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the two-hour Season 4, Episode 10 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired Dec. 2 on Fox. It was a mega unmasking on Wednesday as Fox’s “The Masked Singer” revealed three celebrities in a special 2-hour semi-final edition: Singer/songwriter Tori Kelly (as the Seahorse), music
Stacey Abrams shocked social media when she sounded off on Twitter last month about, not politics, but “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” The political powerhouse tweeted, “To be fair, Angel was the right boyfriend for Buffy coming into her power. Spike was the right man to be with as she became the power.” Now, David Boreanaz, who
UPDATE: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued an emergency targeted safer-at-home order late Wednesday evening, effective immediately. The order requires all residents to remain in their homes, ceases the operation of non-essential businesses that require in-person attendance by workers and prohibits gatherings with those outside of one’s household. However, there is a long list of