Entertainment News Boom

Jessica Chastain is encouraging independent producers to sign interim agreements amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. “If a majority of independent producers, come forward and sign the Interim Agreement deal it will show the AMPTP how wrong they are when they say our contract terms are unrealistic or unreasonable,” Chastain wrote on X, formerly known as

Paris-based leading distribution company ARP Selection has bought a pair of U.S. indie gems from the fall festival circuit, Shane Atkinson’s feature debut “LaRoy” and Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla.” “LaRoy,” a neo-noir Western comedy with Coen brothers influences, just won three major prizes at the Deauville Film Festival, including the Grand Prize, Audience Award and Critics

“Haunted Mansion” is ready to spook Disney+ customers in October. Disney’s kid-friendly horror comedy, which is inspired by the classic Disneyland theme park attraction, will hit the streamer on Oct. 4. Directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People,” “Bad Hair”), “Haunted Mansion” follows single mother Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her 9-year-old son (Chase Dillon), who

Denzel Washington is no match for this sister. “The Nun II” topped the box office charts, earning a scary good $32.6 million this weekend from 3,728 locations. That was more than enough to topple Sony’s “The Equalizer 3,” which features Washington as a mysterious avenging angel, from the first place perch it held last weekend.

Patricia Arquette, Lulu Wang, Finn Wolfhard, Barry Jenkins, Camila Morrone, Willem Dafoe and Colman Domingo mixed and mingled at Variety and Chanel’s annual female filmmaker dinner during the Toronto Film Festival. At the glamorous event, held on Saturday night at Soho House and hosted by Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh, VIP attendees nibbled on tuna tartare,

Anand Patwardhan, the doyen of Indian documentary filmmaking, will premiere his new film, “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (“The World Is Family”) at the Toronto Film Festival. The film focuses on Patwardhan’s parents and close family members and juxtaposes Mahatma Gandhi and the history of India’s independence movement with contemporary times. “As my parents began to age, I

Just when you thought Nicolas Cage’s filmography couldn’t get any weirder, along comes Kristoffer Borgli’s “Dream Scenario” to mess with your head. Cage plays a character you probably wouldn’t notice in real life: Paul Matthews. Schlubby, balding, in rumpled pants and brown leather loafers, he’s a tenured professor at a university you’ve never heard of,

It’s December in Mexico City in “El Sabor de la Navidad,” where fake Santas, queso relleno and karaoke machines are all just smoke and mirrors covering over the true meaning of Christmas. Helmed by Alejandro Lozano, this endearing Spanish-language Christmas film intertwines three separate stories of families and friends grappling between tradition and progression, trying

Salvador Dalí is walking down a hotel corridor. A hotel corridor is being walked down by Salvador Dalí. In a hotel, there is a corridor down which Salvador Dalí walks. So begins — and begins and begins – Quentin Dupieux’s giddy, glitchy altogether delightful “Daaaaaali!” (imagine the title delivered by a practiced yodeler in the

You know you’re watching a true pop star when that person’s identity — their very existence — smashes boundaries. Elvis Presley was a country boy who mixed country and rockabilly and the blues, and with his sneer and black hair and mascara he looked like no human had ever looked before. Prince was a one-man

After conquering the music world, pop superstar Lil Nas X is testing the realm of movie stardom. He’s in Toronto — attending a film festival for the first time — for the world premiere of his documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero.” The screening was delayed because of a bomb threat from a homophobic caller,

The world premiere of Lil Nas X’s documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday night was delayed after a bomb threat was called in targeting the artist. The gala screening was scheduled for a 10 p.m. start at Roy Thomson Hall, one of TIFF’s premier venues. The documentary’s

Michael Chaves, the director behind “The Nun 2,” revealed in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly that he made the film even gorier after a test screening proved that audiences craved a higher level of violence. “People wanted more violence,” Chaves said. “There was already a good degree of violence and gore in the movie, but people

“I’ve been the model. I’ve been the muse. I’ve been the ingenue. But I was done with that. I was good at drinking, having sex, and taking pictures. And I did all three as much as I could.” – Lee Miller When an elder Lee Miller, played by Kate Winslet, sits down with a young

An adult-oriented crowd pleaser of the sort that seldom gets made any longer without superheroes being involved, and better than that, is quite entertaining, “A Haunting in Venice” extends 2023’s streak as the Year That Hollywood Lured Grown-Ups Back To Theaters. Less prestigious than practiced in spotlighting the star wattage of its pedigreed cast, Kenneth

In Cord Jefferson’s idea-dense “American Fiction,” no one wants to publish literary professor Thelonious Ellison’s latest novel. Thelonious — or “Monk” to his friends — has delivered a modern reworking of Aeschylus’ “The Persians” (hardly bestseller material to begin with), but all the industry can see is the color of his skin. The editors compliment

In his latest documentary “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” Alex Gibney explores the singer-songwriter’s six-decade career. The Oscar winning director also captures Simon creating his latest album, “Seven Psalms,” which he made while losing hearing in his left ear. Although Gibney is mostly recognized for his rigorously researched investigative exposes (“Enron: The

Shane Atkinson’s “LaRoy,” a crime thriller laced with dark comedy, swept three major prizes at the 49th edition of the Deauville American Film Festival. The movie, which marks Atkinson’s feature debut and showcases Coen brothers influences, won the Grand Prize, the Audience Award and the Critics Award. It stars John Magaro as Ray, who decides

Frank Marshall’s film “Alive” has never exactly been a classic, but for a certain bracket of moviegoers who saw it in 1993, it remains a vivid memory. A heart-in-mouth recreation of the 1972 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash — from which 16 people eventually survived 72 days stranded in a remote, snowy stretch of

While at the Deauville American Film Festival to present “May December,” Todd Haynes spoke to Variety, during a one-on-one interview at the Royal Hotel, about bringing Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore together in a film for the first time, provoking audiences and pushing against American conservatism. Haynes, who is attending Deauville with his producers Christine

Lyrics that include the words “dick,” “fuck” and “pussy” are not the typical wholesome, family content the Academy’s Music Branch tends to recognize. But occasionally, they have allowed a couple to slip through. A24’s “Dicks: The Musical,” the opening night Midnight Madness at TIFF, has an onslaught of hilarious and catchy tunes that I wish

Four-time Oscar nominee and indie darling Saoirse Ronan revealed in a recent Harper’s Bazaar UK interview that she’s keen to star in a comedy soon, referencing Paul Feig’s “Bridesmaids” and the Larry David-created sitcoms “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” as her favorite comedic projects. “I would love to do something modern and funny,” Ronan said.

On the eve of heading up to Canada this week to attend the Toronto Film Festival, where his documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” has its world debut Saturday night, pop superstar Lil Nas X was playing it nonchalant about stepping outside the music realm a bit to be the center of a splashy

As pundits made their Golden Lion predictions in the last days of the Venice Film Festival, the general consensus was that it all depended on what kind of mood Damien Chazelle’s competition jury was in: playful, in which case Yorgos Lanthimos’s early critical darling “Poor Things” would sweep to victory; or sober, which could tilt