The Tokyo International Film Festival has set boxing picture “Underdog,” directed by Take Masaharu, as the opening title for its 33rd edition. The festival will run Oct. 31 to Nov. 9, when it will close with Hajime Hashimoto’s “Hokusai.” The festival plans to hold physical screenings in Tokyo theaters, but few overseas guests or filmmakers
Uncertainty is the new reality for productions on location: what was once a no-brainer (shoot in film-friendly locations with incentives) is now a complex puzzle to be solved. Some go-to production states and countries require a 14-day quarantine period for out-of-towners; others including Louisiana and Georgia do not. If COVID-19 cases decline or surge, then
Facing a barrage of criticism over eligibility cuts, the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan has announced it will be offering an 80% reduction in COBRA premiums for many participants who will no longer qualify for coverage starting Oct. 1 More than 17,000 people have asked trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan to overturn recently announced changes that
The producers of the upcoming Ben Affleck film “Hypnotic” filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing their insurance company of refusing to extend their policy to account for the pandemic. The lawsuit is among the first, if not the first, to test whether film insurers will be forced to accommodate delays caused by COVID-19. The suit
Exclusive The City of Chicago wants a judge to force the FBI to hand over records of the Bureau’s probe into the Jussie Smollett case — especially his claim he was the target of a racist and homophobic threat before the infamous alleged attack. According to new docs, obtained by TMZ, the City wants to
The departure of longtime Netflix executive Cindy Holland caught the industry off guard Tuesday evening, particularly since the well-liked executive had been a driving force of the streaming service’s first-wave originals strategy, bringing hits like “Orange Is the New Black” and “Stranger Things” to viewers. Her roots at the company stretched back to 2002 as
Anne Hathaway is in final negotiations to star in Doug Liman’s “Lockdown,” a heist movie and romantic comedy taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Steven Knight wrote the script, and P.J. van Sandwijk is producing with Alison Winter. Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios is fully funding. CAA Media Finance arranged the financing and is co-representing the
A police officer who responded to an April home invasion at Eminem’s house in Michigan testified in court Wednesday that the intruder told the rapper he intended to kill him. The testimony came during a preliminary examination in Macomb County District Court for Matthew David Hughes, the man accused of breaking into the home of
Just over a quarter century ago, Tupac’s “Me Against The World” became the first album to debut atop the charts while the artist was in prison. And while there’s been no shortage of artists proving that the notoriety of jail time is worth its weight in chart numbers, Tekashi 6ix9ine, who was released early from
In today’s TV news roundup, FX announced a premiere date and released a trailer for “A Teacher,” and Disney Plus shared a first look into “Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.” CASTING Robin Thede and Matt Rogers have joined HBO Max‘s upcoming dog grooming competition series “Haute Dog,” which premieres Sept. 24. Rogers will be the show’s
In what is perhaps the most logical occurrence in the history of Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise, a representative for Denise Richards has confirmed that she will not be returning to “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” next season. The drama around Richards during the show’s tenth season has fueled this season’s ratings — “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”
Kool & the Gang co-founder Ronald “Khalis” Bell, who was credited as a writer and producer on the group’s biggest hits — among them: 1980’s “Celebration” and 1985’s “Cherish” — died Wednesday Sept. 9 at his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands, his wife and agent Tia Sinclair Bell said in a statement on Sept.
Jamie Foxx and his producing partner, Datari Turner, have signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to develop and produce feature films. The first project in development that Foxx and Turner are producing for the studio under their new deal is an untitled action thriller written by Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier, which Foxx
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday, director Julia von Heinz’s “And Tomorrow the Entire World” tracks a first-year law student’s growing engagement in a Mannheim-based anti-fascist collective. Scion to a conservative and aristocratic family, the young Louisa (Mala Emde) seizes left-wing agitation with a convert’s zeal, pushing her fellow activists to take a
Ahead of its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, Emma Seligman’s debut feature “Shiva Baby” has sold worldwide rights to Utopia Media. “Shiva Baby” follows a young bisexual Jewish woman at a shiva — a mourning tradition in the Jewish community — in which her older male paramour and female high school sweetheart are present.
Smith Collection/GadoGetty Images After announcing a record-breaking deal last November, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton announced today that it would be scrapping its $16.2 billion acquisition of U.S. jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. LVMH cited possible U.S. tariffs on French products as the reason for pulling out of the deal. Meanwhile, Tiffany & Co. has
Now that Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) are teaming up for their own “Walking Dead” spinoff series it’s time to reflect on the years of friendship between the two. Daryl and Carol, best friends forever who sometimes have to betray their friendship and do horrific things in fields of flowers. Spoilers
There’s a distracting practice in American cinema of casting actors who are already well into their twenties to play teens, although “Holler” contains one of the few examples in recent memory where an age difference of nearly a decade, while noticeable, works to the film’s advantage. Ruth, the resourceful Ohio high school student at the
First-time director Jing Wang sees the pain that his mentor Jia Zhangke has experienced on the movie set as motivation for his filmmaking journey. The perfection, precision and attention to details that he aspires to in his directorial debut “The Best Is Yet to Come” are the fruits born from being on the set with
The Motion Picture Association has hired public relations veteran John Mercurio as senior vice president of corporate communications. Mercurio will report to and serve as a deputy to Emily Lenzner, executive VP of global communications and public affairs. He will have joint oversight of the trade group’s global communications, media relations, digital media and events
Isabel Sandoval’s “Lingua Franca” is a visually gorgeous drama from the auteur filmmaker who also stars in the film, now streaming on Netflix. Sandoval plays Olivia, an undocumented Filipina trans woman who spends her days working as a caretaker for Olga (the late Lynn Cohen). Set in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach, the film delights in the
When many directors make movies in rural settings, one invariably senses they’re depictions by an outsider, someone who imagines a way of life that ultimately remains beyond their grasp. Instead, throughout Salvatore Mereu’s career directing stories from the Sardinian countryside, the feeling is always that he’s a part of that world. His films, from “Three-Step
“New Order,” Mexican Michel Franco’s near-future dystopia thriller that world premieres at the Venice Film Festival Thursday, begins with protestors, daubed in green paint, bursting into a swanky wedding peopled by Mexico’s indecently rich. They rob the guests, then shoot them dead. Franco’s heart however is obviously on the side of the protestors. “A Mexican
The Coalition of South Asian Film Festivals will kick off Oct. 3 with Baba Azmi’s “Mee Raqsam” (I Dance) and close with Prateek Vats’ “Eeb Allay Ooo!” on Oct. 17. The centerpiece film will be Shirish Gurung’s “Lato Kosero” from Nepal. Azmi’s sister the veteran Hindi actress Shabana will present his film. In-between more than
ViacomCBS will have an extra-large helping of podcasts coming to iHeartMedia under a three-year deal between the companies. Under the deal, ViacomCBS’ Entertainment & Youth Group — which comprises MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel, Pop TV, CMT, VH1, TV Land and Logo — will work with iHeartMedia’s podcast group to create dozens of
HBO Max is developing a series adaptation of the classic children’s mystery “The Westing Game.” The project has been given a script-to-series order at the streaming service, with MGM/UA Television attached to produce. MGM’s recent slate includes “Fargo,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Vikings,” “Get Shorty,” and the upcoming CBS drama “Clarice.” No writer is currently attached
Correcting reports online that the studio was exiting the sitcom business, Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra clarified at BofA’s remote conference that the company was “significantly in the comedy business, to be very clear” — just not so much on the broadcast side. “The broadcast model for comedies doesn’t work anymore,” he
On May 11, Uruguay became the first country in Latin America to resume shooting following shutdowns. Several international productions relocated to the country where revenues from commercial shoots have already surpassed 2019’s, says Roberto Blatt, director of Uruguay’s Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual. Hernán Musaluppi, producer at Cimarrón, confirms its first production service begins Sept.
In the Middle East, the push to get back into production is best encapsulated by Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates city that’s been steadily growing as a global hub for Hollywood and Bollywood shoots, and where even during the coronavirus crisis production never stopped. “We maintained full production throughout the pandemic,” says Michael Garin,
Filming in North America can be a tricky proposition — with no federal COVID guidelines, states, counties and local municipalities are charged with setting their own rules for navigating the pandemic. And while film commissions report that crews are ready to get back to work, other factors including coronavirus-testing capacity, health and safety guidelines and