Movie News

Following the surprising news Monday that Arclight Cinemas and its sister chain, Pacific Theatres, will not reopen, L.A. residents and Hollywood creatives alike mourned the movie house chain and its iconic Sunset Blvd location with profanity, shared memories, and calls for someone with money to save it.

“What sad news,” director Jon M Chu wrote. “I loved this theater. And I had my first premiere for my first movie #StepUp2TheStreets there. I snuck out of the movie early so I could cut a piece of the red carpet out and keep it. It sits on my desk. ❤️

Lucy Liu has signed on to play the villainous Kalypso in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the highly anticipated sequel to 2019’s Shazam! from New Line and DC Films. Liu is joining star Zachary Levi, back to reprise his title role, as well as new cast members Rachel Zegler and Helen Mirren, who will play the villain Hespera, a daughter of Atlas and sister to Kalypso.

David F. Sandberg is back directing from a screenplay by Henry Gayden, based on the DC character created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck. The sequel will continue the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word “Shazam!” is struck by the Living Lightning of the gods and transformed into his adult superhero alter ego, Shazam.

Peter Safran is producing through The Safran Company. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is slated for release on June 2, 2023.

Liu, who co-starred for seven seasons on CBS’ popular drama Elementary,

Netflix is paying tribute to the star that has become their Oscar front-runner with a moving special that invites Chadwick Boseman‘s co-stars, friends, and colleagues to mourn the irreplaceable actor and remember his craft. Viola Davis, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, George C. Wolfe, Branford Marsalis, Phylicia Rashad and more appear in the star-studded special Chadwick Boseman: […]

The post ‘Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist’ Trailer: Friends and Co-Stars Mourn the Actor in Limited-Time Netflix Special appeared first on /Film.

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If you’re a Christopher Nolan fan, then consider yourself among an elite group of movie lovers. While you can easily stream his films on Hulu and Amazon Prime, there’s something to be said for purchasing the physical copies, which is why we put together a list of Nolan’s best films that are available as Blu-Ray box sets and single Blu-Ray films.

Check below for our picks of Nolan’s best Blu-Ray box sets, along with a couple lose-leaf Blu-Rayd. And if you’re looking to organize your movie collection, check out these media storage cabinets.

“The Dark Knight” Trilogy Blu-Ray Box Set Buy: $69.99 Buy it

Explore “The Dark Knight” from

The 18 Arclight and Pacific Theaters represented about one percent of the North American box-office gross, but the April 13 announcement of their permanent closure by parent company Decurion inspired front-page stories and social-media outpourings of grief. What other industry would generate that response?

In sheer numbers, it’s the equivalent of McDonald’s closing 153 outlets, or Apple closing maybe three of its stores — items that would generate notice and, depending on the day, a lead business story in the New York Times. It certainly wouldn’t inspire director Edgar Wright to say, “My first thought was, what can be done to help?” or, as Barry Jenkins put it more succinctly, “Fuck.”

Of course, these theaters meant much more than their receipts. In Los Angeles, the presumption was Arclight was a theater too good to close. For a company town, this is like a Mormon Temple failing in Utah, or a car dealership closing in Detroit.

The master of wuxia is taking on the spy genre. Zhang Yimou, whose wuxia masterworks House of Flying Daggers and Hero helped catapult the Chinese martial arts film to the global stage, is back with his first film since 2018’s Shadow, and his first-ever espionage movie. Cliff Walkers is a snowy spy thriller set in the puppet state of Manchukuo in […]

The post ‘Cliff Walkers’ Trailer: Zhang Yimou’s Snowy Spy Thriller Hits Chinese and U.S. Theaters on the Same Date appeared first on /Film.

Longtime NBCUniversal executive Cindy Gardner has been elevated to the newly-created role of Executive Vice President, West Coast.

The venerable communications lead previously served as EVP of global comms for Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, working closely with chairman Donna Langley.

In a Tuesday memo from NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell and chief administration officer Adam Miller, the pair said Gardner will now collaborate “with West Coast business leaders to drive strategies that help grow our business, be the preferred home for top talent, elevate and protect our reputation, and maintain and enhance our external relationships.”

Shell and Miller underscored Gardner’s deep knowledge of the company’s California assets — including the Universal Pictures lot, theme park, and broadcast operations — as factors in her elevation. She will report directly to Miller with a dotted line to Shell.

As Gardner moves away from the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Evan Langweiler will take her post,

There are a lot of new movies and TV shows inspired by the coronavirus pandemic coming down the pipeline. Thankfully, there are still plenty of ideas being generated as a result of the pandemic without shining more of a light on Covid-19, and Showtime has picked one of them up in the form of a […]

The post Showtime’s ‘Cinema Toast’ Series Will Put a New Narrative Twist on Old Public Domain Film Footage appeared first on /Film.

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You don’t have to wait for Memorial Day or Amazon Prime Day to get great deals on gadgets that will turn your house into a smart home. Thanks to wireless bluetooth speakers, and camera-enabled doorbells, it’s pretty easy to stream music and TV, or find out who’s at the front door, without actually lifting a finger.

To give you a head start, we gathered up six of the best deals on a bunch of different gadgets, including Amazon Echo bluetooth speakers, Apple iPad, Ring camera, and other must-have items. Apart from offering deep price cuts and major markdowns, the items on our list include free two-day shipping for Amazon Prime members.

The mysteries of Agatha Christie have enjoyed a resurgence in media in recent years. Murder on the Orient Express hit the big screen a few years back and the sequel Death on the Nile will open at some point, and TV has seen Christie’s stories return with adaptations of And Then There Were None and […]

The post ‘Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?’ Limited Series Will Be Written, Directed, and Executive Produced by Hugh Laurie appeared first on /Film.

Law enforcement officials might have been caught off guard by the assault on the U.S. Capitol in January, but “American Insurrection” makes it painfully clear that the pieces for the attack had been put in play years before Donald Trump told his supporters to “take back” their country in Washington D.C. Part an examination of the various extremist groups that gained prominence during Trump’s presidency and part a condemnation of the forces that have aided and abetted them, PBS’ “American Insurrection” offers a wholly compelling portrait of how the nation’s most notorious fascist organizations operate and recruit members.

The 90-minute documentary, an investigative collaboration between Frontline, ProPublica, and the Uc Berkeley Investigative Reporting Program, follows journalist A.C. Thompson as he reports on some of the nation’s most violent incidents over the last several years and interviews a variety of right-wing extremists, former government officials, and various counter-terrorism experts.

The “Harry Potter” cast has often discussed how the late Alan Rickman was nothing like his character in the franchise, the intimidating Severus Snape. Following Rickman’s death in 2016, Daniel Radcliffe named his co-star “one of the loyalest and most supportive people I’ve ever met in the film industry.” Now comes word from Neville Longbottom actor Matthew Lewis that Rickman spent his final day on the “Harry Potter” set coaching him on what to do with his post-“Potter” film career. Lewis never had the courage to speak to Rickman during their franchise tenure, but that changed in the final hours of filming “Deathly Hallows Part 2.”

“On [Rickman’s] last day, I went to his trailer,” Lewis said on a recent episode of the “Inside of You” podcast (via NME). “I just said to him, ‘Hey, I know it’s your last day, and I just wanted to say this has been incredible,

The workers at the ArcLight Hollywood have been on furlough for more than a year, and have been waiting eagerly for the venue to reopen. On Monday, they got word that the theater would remain closed permanently.

“It’s just sad,” said one of the employees, who asked not to be identified. “We’re just waiting for more details.”

So is everyone else.

Pacific Theatres announced that it would permanently close all of its ArcLight and Pacific locations, which included a dozen theaters in Southern California as well as a handful in Boston, Chicago and near Washington, D.C. It did not explain the reasons for the decision or lay out what might happen to the theaters.

The announcement led to an outpouring of grief on social media, as movie lovers took to Facebook and Twitter to share memories of visiting various ArcLight or Pacific venues over the years, often

Universal Pictures’ Renfield has found a new master. Chris McKay, whose Chris Pratt-led action flick The Tomorrow War releases this summer, has been tapped to direct and produce Renfield, a Universal monster movie about Dracula’s unhinged henchman. Deadline reports that Chris McKay is in talks to direct and produce Renfield, taking over from the previously reported director Dexter Fletcher […]

The post ‘Renfield’: Universal’s ‘Dracula’ Spin-Off Finds Director in ‘Tomorrow War’ Helmer Chris McKay appeared first on /Film.

Celebrated chains Pacific Theaters and ArcLight Cinemas will not reopen as LA allows cinemas to operate at 50% capacity

Actors and directors are lamenting the closing of Los Angeles’s celebrated Cinerama Dome, a staple for red carpet premieres.

Los Angeles county recently announced that indoor movie theaters can operate at 50% capacity. But amid financial struggles, Pacific Theatres and ArcLight Cinemas said on Monday it will not be reopening its 300 theaters, including the Cinerama Dome, throughout California.

Tom Clancy‘s tales of espionage stretch from the pages of his many novels to the light of the silver screen, not to mention a franchise of video games and a TV series. Now the author’s recurring character John Clark is about to have a bigger presence in media, courtesy of Michael B. Jordan in the […]

The post ‘Without Remorse’ Featurette Tries to Appeal to All the Dads Who Love Tom Clancy Books appeared first on /Film.

The Peabody Awards made a disappointing, if not surprising, announcement Tuesday, sharing that due to pandemic concerns, the in-person ceremony celebrating the nominees and winners had been canceled. This is the second consecutive cancellation of the Peabody Awards ceremony due to the pandemic. In 2020, the event was slated to take place in Los Angeles for the first time in the organization’s 80-year history.

As for the nominations themselves, the Peabody Awards will announce this year’s 60 nominees on Tuesday, May 4.

The Peabody Awards recognize 60 stories from over 1,300 entries for distinction. The organization celebrates the finest in broadcasting and digital media, including television, radio/podcasts, and the web, in entertainment, news, documentary, children’s and public service programming. Winners will be announced in June and Peabody is currently working on plans to honor this year’s nominees via a virtual event.

The Peabody Awards are notable for being a juried award chosen from the submissions.

On the April 13, 2021 episode of /Film Daily, /Film senior writer Ben Pearson is joined by editor-in-chief Peter Sciretta, managing editor Jacob Hall, and writer Hoai-Tran Bui to discuss the latest film and TV news, including the closing of the ArcLight Cinemas, the cast of Indiana Jones 5, the future of Disney Parks, a […]

The post Daily Podcast: Farewell to ArcLight, Indy 5, New Star Trek Movie, Gundam, and the Future of Disney Parks appeared first on /Film.

Netflix released the first trailer for Searching for Sheela, a feature documentary that catches up with the breakout individual of its smash hit docuseries Wild Wild Country, Ma Anand Sheela. The righthand woman of the controversial Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Aka Osho), Sheela instantly became the most talked-about character of the series, owing to her alleged part in […]

The post ‘Searching for Sheela’ Trailer: Netflix Documentary Catches Up With ‘Wild Wild Country’ Guru’s Righthand Woman appeared first on /Film.

Riff Raff Entertainment, the company founded by Oscar nominee Jude Law and Ben Jackson, has signed a first-look deal with New Republic Pictures.

The deal is for both feature film and television production. New Republic, which was founded Brian Oliver and counts Bradley Fischer as its president, has signed four first-look deals in the last year. These include pacts with Francis Lawrence’s production company about:blank, Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nine Stories. They are also working on such upcoming films as “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Mission: Impossible 7” and “Coming 2 America,” which was recently released on Amazon.

“We are thrilled to join forces with New Republic Pictures. They have a commitment to creating the highest level of content, and their slate of projects reflects that. We look forward to working with Brian, Brad and their whole team to elevate our current projects in development and