Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” was a poster child for the power of inclusion when it broke box office records in 2023, but the $1.45 billion-grossing movie is only the 119th most inclusive film made in the past five years, according to the Inclusion List.

The annual list — presented by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, in collaboration with the Adobe Foundation — is a data-driven ranking that identified the 150 most inclusive films from 2019 to 2023 and ranks a single year’s films across gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability and age representation.

“Our goal with the Inclusion List is to celebrate those who are showcasing and working with exceptional talent from all backgrounds,” stated Dr. Smith in a press release announcing the researchers’ findings. “In the second year of its release, the newest iteration of the Inclusion List spotlights films, filmmakers, and distributors who clearly demonstrate that inclusion...

“Sonic the Hedgehog 4” is sprinting to theaters in the spring of 2027.

The fourth installment in Paramount’s family-friendly franchise will be released on March 19, 2027. It’s currently the only title on that date, though that’s sure to change over the next two years.

Paramount announced the fourquel in the Sega video game-inspired series even before the third “Sonic” adventure hit the big screen. It’s a decision that turned out to be prescient given that “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” which debuted in December, is officially the property’s highest-grossing entry with $218 million domestically and $422 million globally to date. “Sonic 3″ builds on the commercial success of its predecessors; the original 2020 “Sonic the Hedgehog” became a surprise winner, earning $148 million domestically and $319 million globally and setting a then-record for the highest-grossing video game adaptation in North America. And the 2022 sequel “Sonic the Hedgehog 2″ was bigger than the first, powering to $190 million domestically and $405 million globally.

Mufasa: The Lion King continues to find its footing at the box office, where it beat the openings of One of Them Days — the first female-led Black comedy since 2017’s Girls Trip — and Wolf Man over the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday despite being in its fifth weekend.

The bad news overall: it was one of the lowest MLK weekends in years as Hollywood and theaters face another slowdown in event product for the time being.

Mufasa won the official four-day holiday with an estimated $15.5 million as it celebrated becoming only the second film in 15 years to jump the $200 million domestically despite opening to less than $40 million (it opened the weekend before Christmas. Through Monday, the origin pic has earned $209.8 million domestically and $382.2 million overseas dfor a global total of $592 million. While there’s no chance it will ever match 2019’s The Lion King ($1.66 billion), it’s staying power hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez” swept France’s 30th Lumiere Awards, the local equivalent to the Golden Globes, at a ceremony held on Monday in Paris at the Forum des Images auditorium.

“Emilia Pérez” dominated the show, winning a whopping five awards: best film, director, script, actress for Karla Sofía Gascón, and music for Camille and Clement Ducol. The awards were voted on by France-based journalists from 38 countries.

The Spanish-language, Mexico-set crime musical stars Gascón as notorious cartel leader Manitas del Monte, who fakes her own death to live authentically as a trans woman. The supporting cast includes Selena Gomez, who plays Manitas’ tormented wife Jessi, and Zoe Saldaña, who portrays Rita, a talented but overworked lawyer recruited by Emilia to help her start a new life. Since winning Cannes’ jury prize and an award for its female ensemble, “Emilia Pérez” has received a flood of international laurels and is now leading the U.

Contemporary costume design is always a tricky prospect; we all have opinions about clothes we see regularly. But Emma Potter’s work on “Landman” came with an even higher degree of difficulty: She has to recreate the look of a Texan who spends his days in oil fields.

There’s a fine line between accuracy and caricature, but Potter’s clothes err on the right side. Sometimes to the possible chagrin of the actors, because co-creator Taylor Sheridan was adamant that the costumes be true to what the men on the patch wear. Even if that meant no respite from the West Texas sun.

”It was actually a conversation point with Taylor that everybody needs to feel what it would feel like to be there,” Potter told IndieWire. “So we were doing essentially what guys out in the field would be doing. Like, they were wearing a straw hat and a thin,...

Spotted Fawn Productions will produce an animated series based on its film, “Inkwo for When the Starving Return,” which was directed by the company’s owner, Amanda Strong, and plays at Sundance this week.

Strong, who is Métis, will be showrunner for the new six-part limited series. She has directed episodes of the PBS Kids show “Molly of Denali” and previously received the Sundance Native Lab Fellowship.

“I’m thrilled to bring Richard’s stories to life on screen. This is a dream come true, to see our characters and worlds expand and reach new audiences. It’s a humbling opportunity to explore the themes and emotions of ‘Inkwo for When the Starving Return’ in greater depth, and I can’t wait to collaborate with our brilliant team to create something artistic, meaningful, and globally appealing,” Strong said in a statement.

The stop-motion short film follows Dove, an Indigenous gender-shifting character who uses “Inkwo,...

What will Bong Joon Ho do after he won all of the awards several years ago for “Parasite?” That’s the question that many people asked. Well, with the release of a new trailer, we got our best look yet at the next film from director Bong, “Mickey 17.”

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

As seen in the trailer, “Mickey 17” is a film about a future where people sign up to be “expendable.” That means they will be sent on very dangerous missions where death is almost a certainty.

Continue reading ‘Mickey 17’ Trailer: Robert Pattinson Stars In Bong Joon Ho’s Sci-Fi Film at The Playlist.

The Rebel Wilson-led action comedy “Bride Hard” has bagged a domestic release from Magenta Light Studios.

Bob Yari’s upstart production and distribution venture will roll out the feature from Simon West, about a secret agent whose toughest assignment is making sure her friend gets to the altar on time.

The cast is stacked with more than one Barden Bella; it includes Anna Camp, Emmy nominee Anna Chlumsky, Academy Award winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”), Gigi Zumbado (“Heart Eyes”), Stephen Dorff and Justin Hartley. The film is eyeing a wide release for 2025, on the back of Magenta Light’s buzzy first release “Strange Darling.”

Wilson plays Sam, a maid of honor for her childhood best friend. Out of her comfort zone, and with fellow bridesmaids judging her every move, she struggles to maintain her cover. But when a team of mercenaries take the uber-wealthy guests hostage, it’s...

Netflix had an incredible final quarter of 2024, and today the company — and its investors — are reaping the spoils.

Shares in Netflix (Nflx on the Nasdaq) skyrocketed $100 apiece on Tuesday afternoon following the release of the company’s fourth-quarter financials. In a letter to shareholders, Netflix revealed record growth of nearly 19 million subscribers, absolutely blowing away media analysts’ forecasts. Netflix revenue topped $10 billion, though its quarterly profit declined. No matter, there’s a fix for that: Netflix also announced price increases across each of its subscription plans. In turn, Netflix forecast better-than-previously-expected revenue growth for the current quarter, Q1 of 2025. Wall Street loves that stuff.

How much? We can quantify that.

When the stock exchanges opened this morning, Nflx shares nearly hit $1,000 apiece (instead settling for an all-time high of $999). Netflix’s market cap is now north of $400 billion; remember when Blockbuster Video passed on buying the company at $50 million?

For...

Scarecrow Video has named Jonathan Marlow as executive director. The Scarecrow archive of more than 150,000 physical film and television items makes it one of the largest publicly-accessible physical media libraries in the world

“Scarecrow Video is not just a place or a collection of movies, it is another portal to home. In our search for a new Executive Director, we needed to find someone who not only has the skills necessary to help us navigate the challenging times facing all nonprofits but also someone who truly understands the special nature of this institution. The Board is thrilled that Jonathan Marlow has returned down the yellow brick road to Scarecrow,” said Lacey Leavitt Gray, Board President of Scarecrow Video.

Scarecrow launched a fundraising effort in 2024 to keep the nonprofit alive and preserve public access to its collection, raising over $1 million to help the archive stay in its Seattle location through at...

Hot off his Dracula feature, Robert Eggers is getting ready to bring the folklore of werewolves to the big screen.

IndieWire has learned that the “Nosferatu” auteur will reunite with Focus Features for his next title, “Werwulf.” The Hollywood Reporter first announced the project, which is described as a werewolf horror movie set in 13th century England. As THR noted, Eggers was originally planning on shooting the feature in black and white, but it now will be in color.

Eggers cowrote the script with his “The Northman” scribe Sjón. Like “Nosferatu,” “Werwulf” will be getting a holiday release; the film is set to premiere Christmas Day 2026.

Focus Features is producing and financing. Both Eggers and Sjón will produce alongside Focus Features, with Maiden Voyage’s Chris and Eleanor Columbus executive producing. Eggers has collaborated with his “Werwulf” executive producers Chris Columbus and his daughter Eleanor’s company, Maiden Voyage, since “The Witch.

1497 Returns to Sundance Film Festival with South Asian Lodge Programming Nonprofit 1497 will continue as an Official Partner of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival with the return of their 1497 South Asian Lodge, a dynamic space designed to celebrate inclusivity, creativity, and community. With programming scheduled for Friday, January 24th, and Sunday, January 26th, 1497 promises a unique blend of events and partnerships, reinforcing their commitment to uplifting South Asian voices in the entertainment industry. ShivHans Pictures, who have Andrew Ahn’s “The Wedding Banquet” at this year’s festival, is lending its support as a sponsor, reaffirming their alignment with 1497’s mission to uplift South Asian talent in the industry.

This year, 1497 is teaming up with Onyx Collective to highlight their forthcoming show “Deli Boys,” premiering March 6 on Hulu, in a panel featuring creator Abdullah Saeed, showrunner Michelle Nader, stars Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh and Poorna Jagannathan, Vice President of Scripted Series for Onyx Collective Anil Kurian,...

Gone are the days where a Netflix subscription cost as little as a cup of coffee and early originals like "Hemlock Grove" were still available to stream on the platform. Despite raising its prices in 2023, subscriptions fees for all of the service's tiers are set to hike again in the United States and Canada -- all because 19 million new people signed up in the final quarter of 2024, presumably due to Mike Tyson battling Logan Paul, the NFL, and "Squid Game" season 2.

As reported by CNN, the company released a letter to investors which detailed the reasoning behind the price rise. "As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix," the document read. This means that a standard subscription without ads will now cost $17.99, while the...

Another January brings another Sundance Film Festival, where 87 feature films, six episodic projects, and more shorts will enter the fray to hopefully help shape the movie year that will be. A festival of that scope, with many first-time directors, can be tricky to navigate and parse, but IndieWire is here to help with 24 films we’re most anticipating. And a few of these we are lucky to have seen in advance.

Sundance this year is, of course, still in Park City, even as the nearly 50-year-old festival eyes potentially another location beginning in 2027, with Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, and Boulder as the contenders. Back in December when the lineup was unveiled, Sundance’s director Eugene Hernandez and lead programmer Kim Yutani gave us a peek at sales titles and possible breakout features to look out for. It’s ever helpful to have a guide to some of the must-see titles heading into snowy,...

Film fans were definitely excited when it was announced that Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu” was being released on Christmas Day. Sure, it seems like an odd time to release a gothic horror film, but it ended up working swimmingly, as the film because a critical and commercial success. Now, it appears Christmas is Eggers’ preferred release time, as he’s prepping a new film, titled “Werwulf.”

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

According to Deadline, Robert Eggers has found his next project, an upcoming horror film titled “Werwulf.” Focus Features, who financed and released “Nosferatu,” is returning to finance and distribute the new film.

Continue reading Robert Eggers’ Next Film Is ‘Werwulf’ Arriving Christmas 2026 at The Playlist.

Kahlil Joseph’s film “Blknws: Terms and Conditions” was pulled from the Sundance Film Festival just days before it was meant to make its world premiere. The film’s financier and copyright holder, Participant, alleged the cut being screened was different from the final cut Joseph initially delivered.

Participant, the now-defunct social-impact studio behind films like “Spotlight,” sent a legal letter to the filmmaker accusing him of screening a “secret” cut of the project to critics.

Participant in the letter, first obtained by Variety, said it was “shocked” about the alternate cut; the studio pulled the film from the festival ahead of its screening on Friday. Participant also says Joseph presented the new cut to the Berlin International Film Festival, where it was set to screen next month, “all behind Participant’s back.” Deadline reported that officials for Berlin were waiting to consult Joseph before seeing whether screenings of the film could continue.

Robert Eggers is sinking his teeth into his next horror project.

Eggers is reteaming with Focus Features for his next film “Werwulf,” a werewolf horror feature that he will direct from a script he co-wrote with Sjón, Variety has confirmed. The film is slated for a Christmas Day 2026 release in North America.

Focus Features most recently financed and released Eggers’ critically-acclaimed gothic horror film “Nosferatu,” starring Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Willem Dafoe.

Eggers and Sjón, who also co-wrote 2022’s “The Northman” together, are producing “Werwulf” alongside Focus Features, while Maiden Voyage’s Chris and Eleanor Columbus are serving as executive producers.

Eggers and Focus Features have partnered on all his films to date. In addition to “The Northman,” “Nosferatu” and the upcoming “Werwulf,” the studio has also collaborated with the horror filmmaker on “The Witch” (2015) and “The Lighthouse” (2019), for which Focus handled international distribution through Universal International.

IndieWire will host a panel with filmmakers and creators, presented by Adobe, at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday January 26 at the Adobe House.

The “Shaping the Future – Voices of Next-Gen Filmmakers” panel will feature several filmmakers who have been supported through The Adobe Film and TV Fund, an initiative dedicated to supporting underrepresented creators and filmmakers in finding career opportunities in the film and TV industry. Included in the Adobe Film & TV Fund is the Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

Sign up to attend here.

The conversation, moderating by IndieWire’s own VP, Features Strategy Chris O’Falt, includes:

Isabel Castro, Director, “Selena y Los Dinos”

Aurora Brachman, Co-Director, Cinematographer and Co-Editor, “Hold Me Close”

María Gabriela Torres, Editor, “The Librarians”

Mel Mah, Filmmaker

Mario Fierro, Editor, “Sweet Talkin’ Guy”

Coverage of the conversation will be published on IndieWire.com and IndieWire...

There’s a scene in Questlove and co-director Oz Rodriguez’s “Ladies and Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music” (which airs January 27 on NBC) that has, as far as we know, the only cultural intersection of Eddie Murphy and John Belushi appearing on screen together. Ever. It’s 1981 and former cast member John Belushi pulled some strings to get the punk rock band Fear booked as musical guests on Halloween alongside host Donald Pleasance. Much has been made about Fear’s controversial performance over the years. And, in reality, the massive wave of destruction to hit 30 Rock that night wasn’t much more than a few kids slam dancing on the stage. Two of those “kids” being Belushi — who is in full slam dancing mode and is hard to spot, but we know he’s there – and another being Murphy, who climbs up on the back of the stage mostly...

Marvel Studios is reportedly set to begin production on “Avengers: Doomsday” during the first half of 2025 with the Russo Brothers behind the camera. We don’t know exactly what story will be told nor do we know which characters are going to be involved, but apparently, one thing is for sure — Doctor Strange won’t show up.

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

According to a new interview with Variety, Benedict Cumberbatch talked about his future with Marvel Studios, and he explained why his Doctor Strange won’t be making an appearance in “Avengers: Doomsday.”

When he first mentioned how he won’t appear, the actor knew that perhaps he should have stayed quiet.

Continue reading Benedict Cumberbatch Says Doctor Strange Won’t Appear In ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ at The Playlist.

The original Den of Thieves was all about the thin line separating insular tribes of cops and robbers in Los Angeles. In the breezier Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, Gerard Butler’s detective crosses that line to join forces with former nemesis O’Shea Jackson Jr. to rob the World Diamond Center in Nice. The heist franchise represents a line crossing for cinematographer Terry Stacey as well. The British Dp began his features career lensing early aught indies before working on a slew of studio romances and […]

The post Get In/On the Car: Dp Terry Stacey on Den of Thieves 2: Pantera first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

You have to imagine it’s going to be a pretty great year for Finn Wolfhard. Not only is the final season of “Stranger Things” expected to release this year, but his directorial debut, “Hell of a Summer,” is getting released this spring.

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

As seen in the trailer for the film, “Hell of a Summer” tells the story of a camp counselor, who is struggling with finding his place at work.

Continue reading ‘Hell Of A Summer’ Trailer: Finn Wolfhard & Billy Bryk’s Slasher Arrives In April at The Playlist.

“I’m egregiously picky,” insists Dylan O’Brien, reflecting on a burst of productivity that, in the last 12 months, includes the films “Ponyboi,” “Saturday Night,” “Caddo Lake,” the Max comedy series “Fantasmas” and James Sweeney’s “Twinless,” which screens at Sundance. “I’m going to get skewered for this type of quote being out there … but I would have a much different career, I think, if I was a ‘yes to everything’ person.”

After launching his career more than a decade ago as a heartthrob on MTV’s “Teen Wolf” and in the “Maze Runner” films, each of those recent projects earned the actor praise for his versatility; no two roles are the same. But according to O’Brien, his recent slate reflects not just one year of work but more than five — a period that also encompasses guest spots (as “himself”) on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Other Two,” four...

Premiering out of Sundance’s world dramatic competition on Jan. 25, “Two Women” plays as a sex farce for the post-#MeToo era, following two stay-at-home moms who simply want more out of life — and who find, in games of seduction with local handymen, the most convenient way to scratch that itch.

Director Chloe Robichaud and screenwriter Catherine Léger (“Babysitter”) adapted the latter’s 2022 play — which was an adaption of the 1970 Quebecois erotic comedy “Two Women in Gold” — updating the social context while mining the same playful conceit for laughs and pathos. Lonely housewives gave way to remote workers and pros on medical leave, but the marital malaise remains unchanged.

Below, Variety speaks with Robichaud, who shared a first look, above, at her fourth feature. Pulsar Content is handling world sales.

Were you familiar with the 1970 film beforehand?

I first saw it in school when I started studying cinema. The film...

We haven't seen the last of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; just don't expect to see him in "Avengers: Doomsday." This isn't a rumor or hearsay, mind you, as the Oscar-nominated actor behind the Master of the Mystic Arts has personally confirmed that he will be sitting out the big team-up film next year. However, he is going to be back for "Avengers: Secret Wars," which opens up a great many questions about what's in store.

In a recent interview with Variety, the actor was discussing his upcoming film "The Thing With Feathers." Naturally, the subject of his future as Doctor Strange came up. Cumberbatch then confirmed that his character won't appear in "Doomsday," which will be directed by the Russo Brothers (who previously helmed "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Endgame," among other MCU films). Cumberbatch even acknowledged that he might have slipped up, saying, "Is that a spoiler?...

How do you even begin to talk about "Companion" without giving the game away? Before we go any further, let me get something off my chest: many people have become too spoiler-phobic. At some point, certain folks decided that any and every element of a movie counts a spoiler. Perhaps it has something to do with how the now-fading Marvel Cinematic Universe took over the movie landscape and turned spoilers into such a big deal, perhaps not. All I know is that people can be really testy about what they perceive to be spoilers. Even talking about the most minor of details about a movie can earn the ire of someone loudly proclaiming, "Thanks for spoiling things, jerk!" To be clear: I do not think that marketing-approved details — stuff that shows up in an official synopsis or a trailer — counts as a spoiler. If the studio is making these details known in advance,...

Finn Wolfhard already has his post-“Stranger Things” project: directing.

The “Stranger Things” breakout star makes his directorial debut with ’80s-inspired horror-comedy film “Hell of a Summer,” which he cowrote with co-director Billy Bryk. The duo also appear in the film, which is led by “Nickel Boys” and “Gladiator II” actor Fred Hechinger.

The official synopsis reads: “‘Hell of a Summer’ centers on 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg (Hechinger), who arrives at Camp Pineway thinking his biggest problem is that he feels out of touch with his teenage co-workers. What he doesn’t know is that a masked killer is lurking on the campgrounds, brutally picking counselors off one by one.”

D’Pharaoh Woon-a-Tai, Abby Quinn, Pardis Saremi, Rosebud Baker, and Adam Pally also star. Hechinger, Wolfhard, and Bryk all produce the feature, along with Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan, and Jay Van Hoy. The film completed post-production in 2023 before landing at Neon for distribution.

Iris (Sophie Thatcher) is quick to regale anyone who will listen with the story of the two best moments of her life: the day she first laid eyes on her boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid) in a meet-cute in the produce aisle, and the day she decided to kill him.

That juxtaposition between the saccharine and the brutal should be expected from a film like “Companion,” whose marketing has saturated viewers with reminders that it hails from the studio behind “The Notebook” and the creative team behind “Barbarian.” But anyone who enjoyed Zach Cregger’s endlessly twisty 2022 horror masterpiece is likely to walk into “Barbarian” producer Drew Hancock’s “Companion” knowing that everything won’t be as it seems.

As they flirt and gently bicker en route to a weekend getaway at a remote cabin with two other couples, Iris and Josh appear to be the epitome of young love. But...

Maternal Mystery

Disney+ has dropped first-look images for its upcoming U.K. original series “The Stolen Girl,” a psychological thriller toplining Denise Gough, Holliday Grainger, Ambika Mod and Jim Sturgess.

The five-part limited series, previously developed under the working title “Playdate,” comes from scribe Catherine Moulton (“Baptiste”) and helmer Eva Husson (“Mothering Sunday”). The project adapts Alex Dahl’s bestselling page-turner “Playdate.”

The story follows Elisa, a mother whose world implodes after her nine-year-old daughter Lucia vanishes during what was meant to be an innocent sleepover. The seemingly perfect host mother Rebecca, along with her daughter Josie, disappear without a trace – leaving behind only a vacant holiday rental where their supposed family home once stood.

As authorities launch a Europe-wide search, scrutiny falls heavily on Elisa and her husband Fred while family secrets bubble to the surface. Narrative promises to explore whether Rebecca’s shocking actions could have deeper justification than initially apparent.

The night before Donald Trump returned to the White House, one of the splashiest inauguration week bashes was kicking off at D.C. hot spot Sax Restaurant & Lounge. Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka Flame performed, while conservative VIPs Ben Shapiro, comedian Terrence K. Williams and “Am I Racist?” star Matt Walsh were honored while a crowd of 600 partied until the wee hours.

While the guest list was apropos for a Trump 2.0 celebration, some might be shocked by who sponsored and shelled out $75,000 for the event: none other than TikTok, which signed on to host in November. This marked a stark shift from 2017, when Trump was persona non grata among mainstream media companies.

“It was kind of happenstance that the party ended up being on the same day that they were scheduled to go dark,” says Cj Pearson, co-chair of the GOP Youth Advisory Council and a co-host of the party.

Benedict Cumberbatch revealed during an interview for Variety’s Sundance cover that his immediate reaction to the news that Robert Downey Jr. was returning to Marvel as the villainous Doctor Doom was complete and utter shock. After all, Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange shared many scenes with Downey’s Iron Man in films like “Avengers: Endgame.”

Downey’s surprise Doctor Doom role was announced to the world at Comic-Con last year, and Cumberbatch immediately grabbed his phone to message Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige.

“I texted, ‘What the fuck?’ and then quickly added, ‘Good what-the-fuck. I mean, good what-the-fuck,’” Cumberbatch said.

Downey will debut as the Marvel villain in 2026’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” which will also mark the returns of longtime MCU directors Joe and Anthony Russo. But Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will not be facing off against Doom in that superhero tentpole. “Is that a spoiler?” he asks. “Fuck it!”

According to Cumberbatch,...

Christopher Landon seems to have mastered the genre of horror-comedy. With films like “Happy Death Day,” “Freaky” and, most recently, “We Have a Ghost” under his belt, he seems to have figured out exactly what it takes to do it right, leaving us with a pretty good idea of what to expect from a Landon film. It then comes as quite a surprise to see him make his return with “Drop,” a fast-paced thriller that promises to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Continue reading ‘Drop’ Trailer: Meghann Fahy & Brandon Sklenar Star In Christopher Landon’s New Thriller at The Playlist.

Recently, it was confirmed that Netflix is using a new release strategy for its upcoming “Chronicles of Narnia” film from director Greta Gerwig. The film is actually going to get a wide IMAX release for a couple of weeks before it arrives on the streaming service. But according to the co-ceo of Netflix, you shouldn’t get used to this new strategy, as it’s not going to be something that is used often.

Continue reading Netflix CEO Says ‘Narnia’ IMAX Release Doesn’t Change Company’s “Core Strategy” at The Playlist.

Sky’s Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Bad Wolf’s Jane Tranter and writer and actor Charlie Covell are among the mentors for the UK’sWomen in Film and TV (Wftv) 2025 Four Nations Mentoring Scheme.

It is designed for mid-career women working in film, television, and creative media.

The six-month programme brings together mentees from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to receive one-to-one mentoring with senior industry professionals, peer-to-peer training and tailored career and personal development workshops.

It is designed to accelerate mentees’ careers in an industry where women remain underrepresented in leadership roles.

Further mentors include llocation manager Emma Pill, Quay Street Productions’ Nicola Shindler,...

The publicists behind “Wicked,” “Emilia Perez” and “Deadpool & Wolverine” are among the nominees for the Maxwell Weinberg Award at the 62nd Annual Icg’s Publicists Awards, which honors outstanding achievement in publicity.

The guild previously announced awards for field, unit still photography, and press awards, for which Variety’s senior entertainment reporter Angelique Jackson received a nomination.

“We’re delighted to celebrate the Local 600 publicists who worked on these outstanding films,” said Tim Menke and Sheryl Main, joint chairs of the Icg Publicists Awards committee. “Their tireless creativity shines a light on the year’s best films, ensuring these important stories find their audience.”

All winners will be recognized on Feb. 28 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.

A complete list of the nominees are listed below:

Maxwell Weinberg Award for Motion Picture Publicity Campaign

“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” – Sony Pictures Entertainment

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” – Warner Bros. Pictures...

When it returned for its second season in September 1965, "Gilligan's Island" was broadcast in color for the first time. The show just happened to straddle the line between CBS's transition from black and white to color broadcasting, and thus its first season forever remains immortalized in monochrome, though attempts were made to colorize it in syndication. But color wasn't the only new addition to the show in its second season. The iconic "Gilligan's Island" theme, originally sung by the band The Wellingtons, had been switched out for a brand new title song.

"The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle," was written by executive producer and show creator Sherwood Schwartz and songwriter George Wyle, and recorded by The Wellingtons (who actually played the band The Mosquitoes in a later episode of "Gilligan's Island") in a mad rush at director Mel Shavelson's home studio. But for season 2, the song needed to include...

The USC Libraries have unveiled the finalists for the 37th-annual Scripter Awards, spotlighting the writers behind 2024’s most celebrated film and television adaptations and the authors of the original works that inspired them.

Among the film finalists, noteworthy Oscar hopefuls are among the nominees, each based on acclaimed literary works:

James Mangold and Jay Cocks for “A Complete Unknown,” adapted from Elijah Wald’s nonfiction book “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties” Peter Straughan for “Conclave,” based on the novel by Robert Harris RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes for “Nickel Boys,” an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Nickel Boys” Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar (screenplay and story) and Clarence Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield (story) for “Sing Sing,” drawn from John H. Richardson’s Esquire article “The Sing Sing Follies” Chris Sanders and Peter Brown for “The Wild Robot,...

The 2025 finalists for the USC Libraries Scripter Awards have been announced by the USC Libraries. The annual event is held in honor of the writers of the year’s most accomplished film and episodic series adaptations, as well as the authors of the works on which they are based.

For example, on the film side, recent Golden Globes Best Screenplay winner Peter Straughan is nominated alongside Robert Harris, the author of “Conclave.” The finalist can also be the same person on both ends, with “Baby Reindeer” creator/star Richard Gadd being nominated for adapting his play of the same name into the Emmy-winning hit Netflix series.

The award has become a trusty predictor for what film will win the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, with “American Fiction” filmmaker Cord Jefferson being the most recent example. Other past winners include “Women Talking,” “Call Me by Your Name,” “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,...

Movistar Plus+, the Spanish pay-tv and SVoD service, is expanding its film production slate and has boarded Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s The Black Ball (La Bola Negra), set to shoot in the second half of 2025.

The Black Ball, inspired by an unfinished play by Federico García Lorca, will be a “queer vindication about three meen in three different moments of Spanish history: 1932, 1937 and 2017,” said Calvo and Ambrossi, best known as filmmaking duo Los Javis.

Los Javis’ outfit Suma Content is producing with Movistar Plus+.

Lorca was murdered at the start of the Spanish Civil War by rightwing military...

Berlin-based sales agent M-Appeal will handle international sales for “Living the Land,” the second feature by Chinese director Huo Meng, which will world premiere in Berlinale Competition next month. The film is an epic family tale that traces the lives of four generations over the course of a single year.

Set in 1991, as China undergoes sweeping socio-economic changes that drive many to leave their rural villages in pursuit of work in the cities, 10-year-old Chuang, the third child of his family, must remain in the village due to family plans. Against the backdrop of modernization, as the advent of technology reshapes their traditional way of life, cycles of births, marriages and funerals reveal the weight of tradition and the pressures of balancing familial responsibilities with a rapidly changing world.

Huo Meng’s 2018 debut feature “Crossing the Border — Zhaoguan” won the Pingyao International Film Festival Fei Mu Award for best director.

Every now and then, a series truly surprises folks and becomes a runaway hit. That happened a few years ago with the first season of Showtime’s “Yellowjackets.” Now, as we enter Season 3, can the series keep its momentum going?

Read More: The 75 Most Anticipated TV Shows Of 2025

As seen in the trailer for Season 3, “Yellowjackets” follows the dual stories of the soccer team who survived a plane crash in the wilderness as well as the survivors 25 years later.

Continue reading ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Trailer: Showtime’s Hit Series Returns In February at The Playlist.

During a Movistar+ presentation at the historic Telefónica Building on Madrid’s Gran Via this afternoon, renowned writer-director-producer duo Los Javis – Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – shared early details about their next project, “La bola negra,” a multi-timelined feature about what it is and has meant to be a gay man in Spain throughout the last century.

A day after their series “La Mesías” won the Rose d’Or Award for best mini or limited series at Content Americas, Ambrossi and Calvo – known locally as Los Javis – revealed that they’re in the final stages of putting the project together and will begin shooting later this year. Abrossi and Calvo are writing, directing, and co-producing the feature through their label Suma Content, which is teaming with Movistar+, its production and distribution partner, on “La Mesías.”

“La bola negra” is a “queer revisitation of a part of the history of our country,...

Once upon a time, a bunch of teen girls crashed in the wilderness, and — well, we know what happened. But do we??

Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” returns for its third season in February, and in the full trailer for Season 3, there are clearly plenty of secrets still buried among the survivors of Flight 2525. Back in 1997, they’ve made it through a ruthless winter that claimed multiple lives — but they’ve also developed an appetite for new meals and rules after listening to the wilderness all those months, which may not survive the summer. Tensions rise among the former teammates as they question their leadership and customs, as they consider what they’ll tell people in the outside world if they ever make it back there alive. They’ve already alienated Coach Scott (Steven Kreuger), but what happens when they find him?

Well, you can guess. But that doesn’t make it any less frightening.

Ever since Dev Patel made his on-screen debut at the age of 17 on the E4 British teen drama "Skins," he's been a consistent presence in film and television. Born in the United Kingdom to Gujarati parents, Patel has consistently redefined what it means to be an Indian actor working in Hollywood, whether it involves championing the types of stories that rarely get told in American and British cinema, or expanding the breadth of roles that casting directors often put them in consideration for. Over the course of his career, he's earned an Academy Award nomination and took home a BAFTA, the highest film honor in his native England. 

To be perfectly honest, Patel doesn't really have a lot of stinkers to his name (the dire live-action production of "The Last Airbender" from M. Night Shyamalan notwithstanding). So, when we look at his career highlights, we're looking at good-to-great films, unlike...

The Shorenstein Center announced today the Spring 2025 cohort of Documentary Film Fellows. From the press release: The group joins the Center under the auspices of the Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative and will spend the semester conducting research and engaging with the Hks community about the challenges facing the field and its impact on civic life. The Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative is designed to support new research, analysis, innovation, and provocation around core issues facing the documentary film sector. Through the Fellows’ projects, the Shorenstein Center will engage in examinations of public impact and […]

The post Shorenstein Center Announces Spring 2025 Cohort of Documentary Film Fellows first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Few directors know how to tap into the magic of childhood wonder as much as Steven Spielberg. In 1982, he once again solidified his reign as the king of blockbusters with his alien adventure "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," drawing in countless audience members — young and old — to gross nearly $800 million worldwide. They were swept away by John Williams' rousing score and touched by the power of E.T.'s glowing love, as well as the emotional performances from little Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore. "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" is now ranked as Spielberg's best movie on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's hard to argue too much with that.

But despite becoming a critical hit and cultural phenomenon, there was some overseas controversy surrounding its release. "E.T." was originally going to be a horror movie before Spielberg transformed the alien-meets-world story into more family-friendly fare. Be that as it may, Scandinavia felt the movie...

Steven Soderbergh is a filmmaker who works fast. In just the next two months, he’ll be releasing two major films: this week, his Pov-ghost film “Presence” will hit theaters, and then in mid-March, the Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender-led spy thriller “Black Bag” will be released. But one project that the director has been tinkering away at for years, in between films, is his dream of writing a book about his profession.

“I’ve been working on a book about directing for 15 years,” said Soderbergh while he was a guest on an upcoming episode of the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “It was always going to use as its spine, a shot by shot, scene by scene analysis of ‘Jaws,’ just as a way of orienting people, so that I could still go off into digressions, but that I always returned to a narrative that pulls you through the book.

We live in a society that is completely run by computers. Every aspect of our existence has a computer tied to it. So, if someone were to actually mount a massive cyber attack, it would not be good. That’s the world that exists in the new Netflix series, “Zero Day.”

Read More: The 75 Most Anticipated TV Shows Of 2025

As seen in the trailer, “Zero Day” tells the story of the aftermath of a massive cyber attack that led to the death of thousands of Americans.

Continue reading ‘Zero Day’ Trailer: Robert De Niro Investigates A Cyber Attack In Netflix’s New Political Thriller at The Playlist.

Urban Sales has plunged for international sales rights to Valentine Cadic’s That Summer In Paris (Les Rendez-Vous De L’Été), which will world premiere at Berlin Film Festival in the new Perspectives competition for fiction feature debuts.

Set against the backdrop of the swimming competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the film isabout a 30-year-old woman from Normandy who heads to the French capital to watch the games and reunite with her half-sister, but nothing goes her way as she gets swept up in the city’s intense rhythm. Newcomer Blandine Madec and India Hair star.

It is produced by...

Urban Sales has plunged for international sales rights to Valentine Cadic’s That Summer In Paris (Les Rendez-Vous De L’Été), which will world premiere at Berlin Film Festival in the new Perspectives competition for fiction feature debuts.

Set against the backdrop of the swimming competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the film isabout a 30-year-old woman from Normandy who heads to the French capital to watch the games and reunite with her half-sister, but nothing goes her way as she gets swept up in the city’s intense rhythm. Newcomer Blandine Madec and India Hair star.

It is produced by...