Its raining biopics of revered 17th century Indian ruler Shivaji Bhonsle in Mumbai. Days after Sandeep Singh’s “The Pride of Bharat – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj” was announced, billionaire Mukesh Ambani‘s Jio Studios and actors Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh’s Mumbai Film Company have unveiled their collaboration on “Raja Shivaji.” Both films were revealed on the occasion
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has confirmed that Matthew Perry will be honored at its TV awards later this year following backlash over his omission from the film awards’ In Memoriam segment on Sunday evening. Although Perry, who died last October, was best known for his 10-year stint as Chandler Bing on
Composer Ben Lanzarone, whose work was featured in television shows such as “Happy Days,” “The Love Boat” and “Dynasty,” died of lung cancer in Los Angeles on Feb. 16. He was 85. Lanzarone received ASCAP’s “Most Performed Composer Award” for his work composing television scores. He wrote for episodes of “The Tracy Ullman Show,” “The
An unsung master of movie magic, Solon Luigi Colani has worked on some of the biggest Hollywood movies ever shot in Germany and beyond, among them works by Quentin Tarantino, Ron Howard, George Clooney, Denis Villeneuve, Paul W.S. Anderson, Gore Verbinski and the Wachowskis. His enormous range of practical visual effects have also become regular
Kate Snow, the NBC News veteran who has anchored the network’s Sunday broadcast of “NBC Nightly News” since 2015, plans to exit the post next week, she disclosed to viewers of the program Sunday evening, citing growing responsibilities tied to streaming content. The move may be a sign that her presence is needed elsewhere. Snow,
Acclaimed British actor, writer and director Samantha Morton who was awarded a Fellowship at the EE BAFTA Awards on Sunday has called for more investment in British cinema. The award is the highest recognition given by BAFTA to an individual for their exceptional contribution to the film, games or television industry. Addressing a press conference
It is increasingly weird to recall that for a while, French director Bruno Dumont was the kind of filmmaker who reminded you, often forcibly and somewhat against your will, that the word “auteur” contains most of the letters of “austere.” “The Empire,” another of the director’s proudly off-kilter comedies that pitches the bumbling denizens of
With just four days remaining until final Oscar voting officially opens, the race has taken a few unexpected turns at the BAFTA Awards. Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” a biographical drama about the father of the atomic bomb, has continued to surge ahead after seven wins, including best film and director. Its trajectory towards a triumphant night
Maisie Williams, who rose to fame at the age of 12, reflected on her experience portraying Arya Stark in “Game of Thrones.” Having played the role for the entirety of her teen years from 2011 to 2019, she said she had trouble feeling “comfortable in my own skin.” “I was so lost for so long
Hugh Grant channeled his inner Oompa Loompa at the BAFTA Awards on Sunday night, where the “Wonka” actor was on hand to present the award for best director. After taking the stage, Grant dryly recited a spoken-word version of his character’s song: “Oompa Loompa doompety dee/ now the best director category. Oompa Loompa doompety dong/
Cillian Murphy shouted out his “Oppenhomies” while accepting his leading actor BAFTA award. After thanking the film’s director Christopher Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and Universal Pictures chief Donna Langley, Murphy said: “I want to thank my fellow nominees and my Oppenhomies and, in fact, all of you in the room. I know it’s a cliché
Emma Stone thanked her mother for giving her life and her “Poor Things” screenwriter Tony McNamara for the line “I must go punch that baby” when she accepted her leading actress BAFTA award on Sunday evening. “Tony, thank you for the line ‘I must go punch that baby.’ It was life-changing for me,” Stone said
U2 has been performing Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” in concert at the band’s Sphere residency recently, and before Saturday night’s show, the introduction to that song extended far longer than usual, as Bono paid tribute to the dream of Alexei Navalny, the Russian dissident who died in prison days earlier. The singer spoke
Chilean film and TV shows scored 309 awards around the world in 2023, CinemaChile announced in January. One month later, CinemaChile, the national promotion board, is turning 15 at Berlin. The consequence of longterm uninterrupted promotion of an industry must not be underestimated. Over the last 15 years, film and TV have seen two seismic
Christopher Nolan has won the BAFTA Award for best director for “Oppenheimer.” In his acceptance speech, he said that while his film ended on a “dramatically necessary note of despair,” he wanted to spotlight the “individuals and organizations who have fought long and hard to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world.” “In
Casting directors take note: Lou Goossens in this first feature film role is an actor to watch out for, naturalistic and able to convey subtle shades of inner turmoil, despite his young age. Goossens plays Elias, a 14-year-old living in rural Belgium with his loving and mostly normal family — the slight exception being his
Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s suspense drama “Hysteria” offers a timely look at Germany’s diverse West Asian community and the subtle racism and hypocrisy that often permeates liberal discourse about immigrants and foreign cultures. “Hysteria” centers on a provocative film being shot by a Turkish-German director about racist arson attacks on German migrant residences in the 1990s.
Paramount’s musical biopic “Bob Marley: One Love” ruled in its box office debut, beating expectations with $27.7 million over the traditional weekend and $51 million during the six-day holiday stretch. It was initially projected to generate $30 million to $35 million between Valentine’s Day on Wednesday and President’s Day on Monday. But it experienced an
The delayed release of “Wonka” continued to pay dividends as the Timothee Chalamet-starring fantasy headed the box office in South Korea for a third weekend. But the theatrical market contracted sharply after the Lunar New Year holiday. “Wonka,” which released in much of the world in December, took $1.95 million between Friday and Sunday in
The BAFTA Film Awards are underway at London’s Royal Festival Hall, where the best films and performances of the year — according to the British Academy — will be revealed. “Oppenheimer” leads the nominations with 13, followed by “Poor Things” with 11. Both are up for best film, while “Oppenheimer” also received nods for adapted
“Wonka” has notched another sweet box office benchmark. The fantasy musical, starring Timothée Chalamet as the eccentric, fictional chocolatier, has crossed $600 million globally. After 10 weeks on the big screen, “Wonka” has generated $210 million in North America and $395.1 million internationally for a towering worldwide tally of $604.9 million. Warner Bros. backed the $125
Sony Pictures has bought international rights to “Materialists,” Celine Song’s follow up to “Past Lives” which is nominated for best picture and original screenplay at the Oscars. The worldwide deal for “Materlialists” excludes certain territories. A24 will handle the U.S. release of “Materialists” which Song will write, direct and produce alongside 2AM and Killer Films.
In November 2021, 61 years after Benin gained independence from the French empire, 26 of the many thousands of plundered national antiquities were returned by France to their African home. Inserting an inquisitive, imaginative intelligence into this key moment in the troubled timeline of post-imperial cultural politics, French-Senegalese director Mati Diop fashions her superb, short
Twin directors Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, who are known to Berlin Film Festival audiences for stylishly gritty dramas “Boys Cry” and “Bad Tales,” are back with eclectic detective series “Dostoevskij,” premiering in the fest’s Berlinale Special section. Set in the stark Roman hinterland, the six-episode show — produced by Sky Studios with Rome’s Paco Cinematografica
The 2024 BAFTA Film Awards will broadcast on BBC One and stream on iPlayer and BritBox on Sunday night, starting at 7 p.m. local time. BritBox recently inked a deal with BAFTA to stream a simulcast of the BAFTA Film Awards through 2025. Hosted by David Tennant, this year’s ceremony will take place at the
Olivier Assayas, the celebrated French director of “Clouds of Sils Maria” and “Irma Vep,” is making his Berlinale competition debut this year with “Suspended Time,” his most personal film to date. Speaking to Variety ahead of the movie’s premiere at the Berlinale, Assayas says the film retells his experience during the lockdown and is based
At the Berlin Film Festival press conference for her new film “Love Lies Bleeding,” Kristen Stewart said she thinks the era of queer films “being so pointedly only that is done,” adding that it’s time for films to focus on “sidelined perspectives” while “not making it all about the reasons that they’re sidelined.” “Love Lies
Greek filmmaker Yorgos Zois, who’s set to bow his sophomore feature, “Arcadia,” in the competitive Encounters strand of the Berlin Film Festival Feb. 18, is developing his first TV series. “Play” follows a lone cinephile who joins a mysterious group of strangers that reenact scenes from movies in real life. The eight-part mystery-drama series tells
“Delhi Crime” creator Richie Mehta‘s India-set Prime Video series “Poacher” could become a global franchise. The Amazon original is produced by QC Entertainment, led by partners Sean McKittrick, Raymond Mansfield and Edward H. Hamm Jr., who backed Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning “Get Out” and “Us” and Spike Lee’s Oscar, BAFTA and Cannes-winning “BlacKkKlansman. It is executive
Launching in competition in Berlin, Mati Diop’s “Dahomey” traces the path of 26 royal treasures purloined by French soldiers in 1892 and restituted to the country of Benin in 2021. Moving from Paris to Cotonou, the inventive documentary allows the artifacts to speak for themselves, reflecting on their journey in Fon-language dialogue often set against