Movie News
“Challengers” is getting ready to serve at the box office.
Director Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis drama made $1.9 million at the the box office in Thursday previews.
The Amazon MGM film, which stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, is expected to make between $12 million and $15 million in its opening weekend. It’s poised to take the number one spot this weekend and beat A24’s “Civil War,” which has conquered the box office the last two weeks.
The trio of young stars play tennis pros caught in a personal and professional entanglement. Zendaya, who’s coming off the sci-fi blockbuster “Dune: Part Two,” plays Tashi Duncan, a former prodigy who had to retire from tennis after a serious injury. Mike Faist, who played Riff in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” is Art Donaldson, another tennis pro caught in a losing streak who later marries Tashi and is coached by her.
Director Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis drama made $1.9 million at the the box office in Thursday previews.
The Amazon MGM film, which stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, is expected to make between $12 million and $15 million in its opening weekend. It’s poised to take the number one spot this weekend and beat A24’s “Civil War,” which has conquered the box office the last two weeks.
The trio of young stars play tennis pros caught in a personal and professional entanglement. Zendaya, who’s coming off the sci-fi blockbuster “Dune: Part Two,” plays Tashi Duncan, a former prodigy who had to retire from tennis after a serious injury. Mike Faist, who played Riff in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” is Art Donaldson, another tennis pro caught in a losing streak who later marries Tashi and is coached by her.
- 4/26/2024
- by Jordan Moreau
- Variety - Film News
It’s been well over a year since news first broke that Disney was moving forward with “The Princess Diaries 3.” Anne Hathaway can’t reveal any details, but she did assure fans in a recent V magazine interview that development continues on the long-anticipated sequel, and the intention remains to get it off the ground.
“We’re in a good place,” Hathaway said. “That’s all I can say. There’s nothing to announce yet. But we’re in a good place.”
Hathaway would return as down-to-earth royal Mia Thermopolis in “The Princess Diaries 3.” It appears to be the sequel she is most interested in seeing through, as she doesn’t see a feasible way to bring another one of her popular classics, “The Devil Wears Prada,” back to life.
“Probably not,” Hathaway answered when asked about making a “Prada” sequel. “We all love each other and if somebody could...
“We’re in a good place,” Hathaway said. “That’s all I can say. There’s nothing to announce yet. But we’re in a good place.”
Hathaway would return as down-to-earth royal Mia Thermopolis in “The Princess Diaries 3.” It appears to be the sequel she is most interested in seeing through, as she doesn’t see a feasible way to bring another one of her popular classics, “The Devil Wears Prada,” back to life.
“Probably not,” Hathaway answered when asked about making a “Prada” sequel. “We all love each other and if somebody could...
- 4/25/2024
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety - Film News
Bill Kong is cautious, vastly experienced and has an impeccable reputation as a key gateway between Hollywood and China to maintain. He is someone far more likely to deadpan than gush.
So, to hear him getting into high gear with a pitch for his bucket list martial arts movie project “The Furious” immediately invites comparison with previous Kong-produced action pictures including Oscar-winner “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Jet Li’s Fearless” or the Zhang Yimou-directed “Hero.”
“I’m going to do an action movie that rocks the world. And to prove that Hong Kong still has something to give the film industry. I want to show that Asian people can still make an action movie that is better than the rest of the world,” Kong tells Variety.
Significantly, “The Furious” is a project made by Hong Kong, rather than made in Hong Kong. Kong’s Edko Films is financing and producing.
So, to hear him getting into high gear with a pitch for his bucket list martial arts movie project “The Furious” immediately invites comparison with previous Kong-produced action pictures including Oscar-winner “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Jet Li’s Fearless” or the Zhang Yimou-directed “Hero.”
“I’m going to do an action movie that rocks the world. And to prove that Hong Kong still has something to give the film industry. I want to show that Asian people can still make an action movie that is better than the rest of the world,” Kong tells Variety.
Significantly, “The Furious” is a project made by Hong Kong, rather than made in Hong Kong. Kong’s Edko Films is financing and producing.
- 4/25/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
A quartet of fast-rising British names are coming together for a buzzy new project launching at the Cannes market.
Bella Ramsey, Louis Partridge and Ruby Stokes are set to lead “Sunny Dancer,” the sophomore feature from George Jaques. Embankment Films is handling global pre-sales of the film, which it says showcases the “best of new British talent.”
“Sunny Dancer” follows Ivy (Ramsey), a teenager in remission from cancer, whose gloriously outspoken mum and well-intentioned dad insist she attend Children Run Free Camp, a summer retreat for young adults affected by cancer. The camp’s slogan, “Where kids come to kid,” does little to alleviate Ivy’s apprehension, and a quick Google search confirms her fears when she stumbles upon a cringeworthy promotional video filled with tacky messages and clichéd sunsets. As if conquering cancer wasn’t enough of a challenge, Ivy now faces the prospect of spending her summer at what she calls “chemo camp.
Bella Ramsey, Louis Partridge and Ruby Stokes are set to lead “Sunny Dancer,” the sophomore feature from George Jaques. Embankment Films is handling global pre-sales of the film, which it says showcases the “best of new British talent.”
“Sunny Dancer” follows Ivy (Ramsey), a teenager in remission from cancer, whose gloriously outspoken mum and well-intentioned dad insist she attend Children Run Free Camp, a summer retreat for young adults affected by cancer. The camp’s slogan, “Where kids come to kid,” does little to alleviate Ivy’s apprehension, and a quick Google search confirms her fears when she stumbles upon a cringeworthy promotional video filled with tacky messages and clichéd sunsets. As if conquering cancer wasn’t enough of a challenge, Ivy now faces the prospect of spending her summer at what she calls “chemo camp.
- 4/25/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety - Film News
Fred Schepisi is set to direct Israel-based thriller “The Dimona Affair,” Variety has learned exclusively.
The project is based on the story of a whistleblower who claimed Israel was building a nuclear weapons program. (The country has always denied it has nuclear weapons).
After giving The Sunday Times of London a detailed interview about the program in the 1980s, causing an international scandal, “low level” Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu fled the country. He was then reportedly lured to Rome by a female Israeli secret service agent in a honeytrap operation where he was kidnapped and repatriated to Israel. Vanunu eventually stood trial for espionage and treason before being convicted and jailed.
Schepisi, whose last feature project was “Words and Pictures” starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche in 2013, is set to direct from a script penned by screenwriter and investigative journalist Morrie Rosmarin.
The director is best known for 1993 pic “Six Degrees of Separation...
The project is based on the story of a whistleblower who claimed Israel was building a nuclear weapons program. (The country has always denied it has nuclear weapons).
After giving The Sunday Times of London a detailed interview about the program in the 1980s, causing an international scandal, “low level” Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu fled the country. He was then reportedly lured to Rome by a female Israeli secret service agent in a honeytrap operation where he was kidnapped and repatriated to Israel. Vanunu eventually stood trial for espionage and treason before being convicted and jailed.
Schepisi, whose last feature project was “Words and Pictures” starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche in 2013, is set to direct from a script penned by screenwriter and investigative journalist Morrie Rosmarin.
The director is best known for 1993 pic “Six Degrees of Separation...
- 4/25/2024
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety - Film News
Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later” has added Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes to its cast.
The continuation of the “28 Days Later” franchise will be released in theaters globally by Sony Pictures. “28 Days Later” was released in 2002 and starred Cillian Murphy, then largely unknown. Boyle directed the feature, while Alex Garland wrote. A sequel, “28 Weeks Later,” was released in 2007.
Plot details are still being kept under wraps for the new screenplay, written by Garland. It will be part of an upcoming trilogy, for which Nia DaCosta is in talks to direct the second film.
Boyle and Garland are producing, as is original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice. Bernie Bellew is also producing. Murphy is also returning as an executive producer, and is not currently attached to star.
Comer earned an Emmy for her work as Villanelle on “Killing Eve.” She will next be seen...
The continuation of the “28 Days Later” franchise will be released in theaters globally by Sony Pictures. “28 Days Later” was released in 2002 and starred Cillian Murphy, then largely unknown. Boyle directed the feature, while Alex Garland wrote. A sequel, “28 Weeks Later,” was released in 2007.
Plot details are still being kept under wraps for the new screenplay, written by Garland. It will be part of an upcoming trilogy, for which Nia DaCosta is in talks to direct the second film.
Boyle and Garland are producing, as is original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice. Bernie Bellew is also producing. Murphy is also returning as an executive producer, and is not currently attached to star.
Comer earned an Emmy for her work as Villanelle on “Killing Eve.” She will next be seen...
- 4/24/2024
- by Katcy Stephan
- Variety Film + TV
The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) has set its lineup of narrative and documentary features for its 28th edition, including Jussie Smollett’s return to acting in “The Lost Holliday,” filmmaker Christine Swanson’s latest drama “Albany Road” and the acclaimed Luther Vandross doc “Never Too Much.”
This year’s festival takes place June 12-16 in Miami Beach, Fla., followed by a virtual segment June 17-24 on ABFF Play. Winners of film festival competition will be announced on June 15, during the “Best of ABFF Awards” hosted by Emmy-nominee Dondré Whitfield.
The 2024 narrative lineup includes “Albany Road,” directed and written by Swanson, starring Renée Elise Goldsberry, Lynn Whitfield and J. Alphonse Nicholson; “The Lost Holliday” directed by, co-written and starring Smollett alongside Vivica A. Fox, produced by Mona Scott-Young; “The Waterboyz,” directed by Coke Daniels and produced by Ben Crump, starring Akil McDowell, Alani “La La” Anthony and Quavo; and “Black Heat,...
This year’s festival takes place June 12-16 in Miami Beach, Fla., followed by a virtual segment June 17-24 on ABFF Play. Winners of film festival competition will be announced on June 15, during the “Best of ABFF Awards” hosted by Emmy-nominee Dondré Whitfield.
The 2024 narrative lineup includes “Albany Road,” directed and written by Swanson, starring Renée Elise Goldsberry, Lynn Whitfield and J. Alphonse Nicholson; “The Lost Holliday” directed by, co-written and starring Smollett alongside Vivica A. Fox, produced by Mona Scott-Young; “The Waterboyz,” directed by Coke Daniels and produced by Ben Crump, starring Akil McDowell, Alani “La La” Anthony and Quavo; and “Black Heat,...
- 4/24/2024
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety - Film News
Kenneth Branagh has spent much of his career bringing to life the works of British writers William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. Now he will not get a chance to play a different famed scribe. Branagh will voice star as Charles Dickens in The King of Kings, a faith-based feature inspired by the lives of both Dickens and Jesus Christ.
Uma Thurman will voice star as Catherine Dickens, the wife of the author, while Jojo Rabbit‘s Roman Griffin Davis will voice the couple’s youngest son, Walter.
The King of Kings is inspired by “The Life of Our Lord,” a Dickens short story published in 1934, decades after his death. It follows Dickens and Walter as they — and their cat Willa — become immersed in the story of Jesus.
“It is through the Dickens family that our audience experiences the life of Jesus Christ, and Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman and Roman Griffin Davis bring all the emotion,...
Uma Thurman will voice star as Catherine Dickens, the wife of the author, while Jojo Rabbit‘s Roman Griffin Davis will voice the couple’s youngest son, Walter.
The King of Kings is inspired by “The Life of Our Lord,” a Dickens short story published in 1934, decades after his death. It follows Dickens and Walter as they — and their cat Willa — become immersed in the story of Jesus.
“It is through the Dickens family that our audience experiences the life of Jesus Christ, and Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman and Roman Griffin Davis bring all the emotion,...
- 4/25/2024
- by Aaron Couch
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Netflix has come on board “The Thursday Murder Club,” Amblin’s upcoming adaptation of the bestselling novel starring Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley. Chris Columbus is writing and directing the story of a group of friends who solve murders.
The 2020 book by Richard Osman tells the story of four friends who live in a retirement community and take on cold cases for fun. When a shady property developer is found dead, the four find themselves in the middle of their first live crime. Mirren will play ex-spy Elizabeth, Kingsley will play ex-psychiatrist Ibrahim and Brosnan will play former union activist Ron.
Netflix and Amblin’s film partnership also includes the upcoming Jason Bateman-Taron Egerton film “Carry-On.”
Osman, a popular British quiz show presenter, said in a statement, “I’m so proud of this book, so it is a dream to see ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ in such incredible hands.
The 2020 book by Richard Osman tells the story of four friends who live in a retirement community and take on cold cases for fun. When a shady property developer is found dead, the four find themselves in the middle of their first live crime. Mirren will play ex-spy Elizabeth, Kingsley will play ex-psychiatrist Ibrahim and Brosnan will play former union activist Ron.
Netflix and Amblin’s film partnership also includes the upcoming Jason Bateman-Taron Egerton film “Carry-On.”
Osman, a popular British quiz show presenter, said in a statement, “I’m so proud of this book, so it is a dream to see ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ in such incredible hands.
- 4/25/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety - Film News
Gabby and her cats are coming to the big screen next year.
DreamWorks Animation and Universal revealed Thursday that Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie will open nationwide on Sept. 26, 2025.
The live-action/CGI series has been a smash hit for Netflix since its debut in 2021. Created by Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey, Gabby’s Dollhouse is a mixed-media preschool adventure that centers on a 12-year-old who, after unboxing an item, uses the power of her magical cat ears to shrink down to dollhouse size and go on adventures with the help of her animated cat friends. The show operates with a narrative ethos of flexible thinking and learning from your mistakes, and does so through a mix of things like music, dance, cooking and crafting.
Laila Lockhart Kraner will reprise her role from the series in the feature film, which follows Gabby as she goes on a road trip with her...
DreamWorks Animation and Universal revealed Thursday that Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie will open nationwide on Sept. 26, 2025.
The live-action/CGI series has been a smash hit for Netflix since its debut in 2021. Created by Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey, Gabby’s Dollhouse is a mixed-media preschool adventure that centers on a 12-year-old who, after unboxing an item, uses the power of her magical cat ears to shrink down to dollhouse size and go on adventures with the help of her animated cat friends. The show operates with a narrative ethos of flexible thinking and learning from your mistakes, and does so through a mix of things like music, dance, cooking and crafting.
Laila Lockhart Kraner will reprise her role from the series in the feature film, which follows Gabby as she goes on a road trip with her...
- 4/25/2024
- by Pamela McClintock
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lily Gladstone and Bowen Yang will star in Bleecker Street and Shivhans Pictures’ remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 romantic comedy “The Wedding Banquet” from director Andrew Ahn.
Kelly Marie Tran, Oscar-winner Yuh-jung Youn and Joan Chen are also attached to star.
The reimagination of Lee’s Oscar-nominated film is based on a screenplay by Ahn and James Schamus. Schamus also co-wrote the original film with Lee and Neil Peng.
The film, which begins filming in May in Vancouver, follows what happens when Min’s boyfriend Chris rejects his marriage proposal. Min convinces his best friend Angela to marry him instead, paying for her partner Liz’s IVF treatments in exchange for his green card. However, things begin to unravel when Min’s grandmother makes a surprise trip from Seoul to throw the couple a Korean wedding banquet.
“It warms my heart to see how my film from so many years...
Kelly Marie Tran, Oscar-winner Yuh-jung Youn and Joan Chen are also attached to star.
The reimagination of Lee’s Oscar-nominated film is based on a screenplay by Ahn and James Schamus. Schamus also co-wrote the original film with Lee and Neil Peng.
The film, which begins filming in May in Vancouver, follows what happens when Min’s boyfriend Chris rejects his marriage proposal. Min convinces his best friend Angela to marry him instead, paying for her partner Liz’s IVF treatments in exchange for his green card. However, things begin to unravel when Min’s grandmother makes a surprise trip from Seoul to throw the couple a Korean wedding banquet.
“It warms my heart to see how my film from so many years...
- 4/25/2024
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Jennifer Aniston is ready to pour herself a cup of ambition.
Aniston and her Echo Films partner Kristin Hahn are producing a “9 to 5” reimagining for 20th Century Studios, Variety has confirmed.
The film is currently in development, with Diablo Cody working on the latest draft of the “9 to 5” reimagining. Plot details are being kept under wraps.
The original “9 to 5” follows three female office colleagues who decide to exact revenge on their sexist, egotistical boss. Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Dabney Coleman starred in the 1980 office satire, directed by Colin Higgins and written by Patricia Resnick. The hit comedy film spawned a sitcom of the same name, which aired on ABC from 1982 to 1983, and in first-run syndication from 1986 to 1988. Parton, Tomlin and Fonda participated in the 2022 documentary “Still Working 9 to 5,” which focuses on the impact of the classic film 40 years later.
Aniston and her Echo Films partner Kristin Hahn are producing a “9 to 5” reimagining for 20th Century Studios, Variety has confirmed.
The film is currently in development, with Diablo Cody working on the latest draft of the “9 to 5” reimagining. Plot details are being kept under wraps.
The original “9 to 5” follows three female office colleagues who decide to exact revenge on their sexist, egotistical boss. Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Dabney Coleman starred in the 1980 office satire, directed by Colin Higgins and written by Patricia Resnick. The hit comedy film spawned a sitcom of the same name, which aired on ABC from 1982 to 1983, and in first-run syndication from 1986 to 1988. Parton, Tomlin and Fonda participated in the 2022 documentary “Still Working 9 to 5,” which focuses on the impact of the classic film 40 years later.
- 4/25/2024
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
Multi award-winning Filipina actress Ruby Ruiz has landed her first major screen role following her appearance in Amazon’s “Expats.” She will lead “First Light,” the feature directorial debut of James. J. Robinson.
Principal photography is now underway on the Australian-Filipino co-production, which comes with funding from Screen Australia. Veteran actress Maricel Soriano (“Mother Nanny”), Rez Cortez (“Bukal”), Soliman Cruz (“Blue Room”) and Kidlat Tahimik round out the cast.
Set in the remote mountains of the Philippines, “First Light” sees the death of a young construction worker force an elderly nun to confront the muddied ethics of an institution she has dedicated her life to. The script, also by Robinson, is a deeply personal story exploring the intersection of duty, faith and institutional power.
“Developing ‘First Light’ over the past two years has been an incredibly profound journey into the heart of pre-colonial Filipino philosophy,” Robinson said. “To be able...
Principal photography is now underway on the Australian-Filipino co-production, which comes with funding from Screen Australia. Veteran actress Maricel Soriano (“Mother Nanny”), Rez Cortez (“Bukal”), Soliman Cruz (“Blue Room”) and Kidlat Tahimik round out the cast.
Set in the remote mountains of the Philippines, “First Light” sees the death of a young construction worker force an elderly nun to confront the muddied ethics of an institution she has dedicated her life to. The script, also by Robinson, is a deeply personal story exploring the intersection of duty, faith and institutional power.
“Developing ‘First Light’ over the past two years has been an incredibly profound journey into the heart of pre-colonial Filipino philosophy,” Robinson said. “To be able...
- 4/25/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety - Film News
Sudanese first-timer Mohamed Kordofani’s “Goodbye Julia,” a timely morality tale that takes place just before the 2011 secession of South Sudan, and Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters” lead the way in nominations for the eighth edition of the Critics Awards for Arab films, winners of which will be announced during the Cannes Film Festival.
The first Sudanese film ever to screen in Cannes’ official selection, “Goodbye Julia” (pictured) is the story of two women — one from the North, the other from the South — who are brought together by fate in a complex relationship that attempts to reconcile differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities in the currently war-ravaged country.
The drama, which marked Kordofani’s debut, has scored nominations in seven categories of the Arab film awards, including best feature, director, screenplay, actress, actor and editing.
Ben Hania’s hybrid doc/drama “Four Daughters,” about an Arab...
The first Sudanese film ever to screen in Cannes’ official selection, “Goodbye Julia” (pictured) is the story of two women — one from the North, the other from the South — who are brought together by fate in a complex relationship that attempts to reconcile differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities in the currently war-ravaged country.
The drama, which marked Kordofani’s debut, has scored nominations in seven categories of the Arab film awards, including best feature, director, screenplay, actress, actor and editing.
Ben Hania’s hybrid doc/drama “Four Daughters,” about an Arab...
- 4/25/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety - Film News
Magnify, the rebranded international sales arm of Magnolia Pictures, has acquired global and U.S. sales rights to “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” in the run up to its world premiere at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.
Directed and co-writer by Tyler Taormina (“Ham on Rye”), the film stars Michael Cera (“Barbie”), Francesca Scorsese, Maria Dizzia (“Martha Marcy May Marlene”), Ben Shenkman (“Billions”), Elsie Fisher (“Eighth Grade”), Gregg Turkington (“Entertainment”), Sawyer Spielberg (“Masters of the Air”) breakout actor Matilda Fleming, among others.
Written by Taormina and Eric Berger, the film revolves around a rambunctious extended family descending upon their small Long Island hometown for the holidays where hijinks, generational squabbles, and family traditions ensue.
“Taormina takes a singular approach to the classic holiday family movie, bringing his absurdist humor and dynamic filmmaking to life with a charming and perfectly cast ensemble,” said Lorna Lee Torres, Magnify SVP of Global Sales. “We...
Directed and co-writer by Tyler Taormina (“Ham on Rye”), the film stars Michael Cera (“Barbie”), Francesca Scorsese, Maria Dizzia (“Martha Marcy May Marlene”), Ben Shenkman (“Billions”), Elsie Fisher (“Eighth Grade”), Gregg Turkington (“Entertainment”), Sawyer Spielberg (“Masters of the Air”) breakout actor Matilda Fleming, among others.
Written by Taormina and Eric Berger, the film revolves around a rambunctious extended family descending upon their small Long Island hometown for the holidays where hijinks, generational squabbles, and family traditions ensue.
“Taormina takes a singular approach to the classic holiday family movie, bringing his absurdist humor and dynamic filmmaking to life with a charming and perfectly cast ensemble,” said Lorna Lee Torres, Magnify SVP of Global Sales. “We...
- 4/25/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety - Film News
If The Marvel Cinematic Universe wobbled in 2023 because of the poorly received ‘Ant-Man 3’ “The Marvels,” and “Secret Invasion” series, many might argue part of that is the loss of its big stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johannsson in the post “Avengers: Endgame” universe.
All three of their characters, Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow, respectively, either died or were essentially taken off the battlefield (Captain America came back from his time travel exploits as an old man).
Continue reading ‘Avengers’ Directors Say Robert Downey Jr. ‘Open To Returning’ Comments Are Confusing: “We Closed That Book” at The Playlist.
All three of their characters, Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow, respectively, either died or were essentially taken off the battlefield (Captain America came back from his time travel exploits as an old man).
Continue reading ‘Avengers’ Directors Say Robert Downey Jr. ‘Open To Returning’ Comments Are Confusing: “We Closed That Book” at The Playlist.
- 4/26/2024
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Itchy and Scratchy are responsible for some of the most memorable episodes of "The Simpsons." Every fan will fondly remember "The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show" or Marge's crusade against the ultra-violent kids' cartoon in "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge." Indeed, "The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show" landed at number five on /Film's ranking of the best episodes of "The Simpsons," with "Itchy and Scratchy Land" coming in at number 15.
Clearly, then, "Itchy and Scratchy" was more than a parody of "Tom & Jerry"-style cartoons. Though the central joke was as simple as "What if Tom & Jerry was super violent," the show-within-a-show was often used as a way to extend the cultural satire that was so integral to "The Simpsons." Plus, as legendary writer John Schwartzwelder once told The New Yorker, it allowed the writers a break from the rules of the show overall:
"We could show...
Clearly, then, "Itchy and Scratchy" was more than a parody of "Tom & Jerry"-style cartoons. Though the central joke was as simple as "What if Tom & Jerry was super violent," the show-within-a-show was often used as a way to extend the cultural satire that was so integral to "The Simpsons." Plus, as legendary writer John Schwartzwelder once told The New Yorker, it allowed the writers a break from the rules of the show overall:
"We could show...
- 4/26/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Feature documentary “Yintah” was more than a decade in the making as documentarians captured the Wet’suwet’en nation’s right to stewardship and sovereignty over their territories.
Directed by Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, and Michael Toledano, “Yintah” debuted at the True/False Film Fest and screened at North America’s biggest documentary film festival Hot Docs as part of the Land|Sky|Sea program. The feature was made with the participation of over three dozen Wet’suwet’en community members, with the title translating to “land” in the Wet’suwet’en language.
The documentary centers on the aftermath of the 1997 landmark Delgamuukw-Gidsaywa Supreme Court of Canada case where the court recognized that the Wet’suwet’en people have never given up title to an area of land larger than New Jersey in northern British Columbia. The case included Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs as plaintiffs.
Directed by Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, and Michael Toledano, “Yintah” debuted at the True/False Film Fest and screened at North America’s biggest documentary film festival Hot Docs as part of the Land|Sky|Sea program. The feature was made with the participation of over three dozen Wet’suwet’en community members, with the title translating to “land” in the Wet’suwet’en language.
The documentary centers on the aftermath of the 1997 landmark Delgamuukw-Gidsaywa Supreme Court of Canada case where the court recognized that the Wet’suwet’en people have never given up title to an area of land larger than New Jersey in northern British Columbia. The case included Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs as plaintiffs.
- 4/26/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Robert Downey Jr. elated Marvel fans earlier this month when he told Esquire magazine that he would “happily” return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Tony Stark/Iron Man following his Oscar win for best supporting actor in March. There’s only one hiccup: Iron Man died in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” But the MCU’s ever-expanding multiverse certainly leaves the door open for Downey’s return
In a recent interview with GamesRadar+, “Avengers: Endgame” directors Joe and Anthony Russo expressed some confusion over Downey’s Iron Man popping back up in the MCU after they killed the character off so heroically in their record-breaking film.
“I don’t know how they would do it,” Anthony said. “I don’t know what the road to that would be [laughs].”
Joe added, “I mean we closed that book so it would be up to them to figure out how to reopen it.”
For what it’s worth,...
In a recent interview with GamesRadar+, “Avengers: Endgame” directors Joe and Anthony Russo expressed some confusion over Downey’s Iron Man popping back up in the MCU after they killed the character off so heroically in their record-breaking film.
“I don’t know how they would do it,” Anthony said. “I don’t know what the road to that would be [laughs].”
Joe added, “I mean we closed that book so it would be up to them to figure out how to reopen it.”
For what it’s worth,...
- 4/26/2024
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety - Film News
Cannes is going to the dogs.
Messi, the breakout dog star of “Anatomy of a Fall,” is getting his own short program that will during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, producer D18 Paris announced. It will be set at the festival, but not part of the festival lineup. But hey, we say give him the the Palme d’Or too — though he’d probably settle for a Milk-Bone.
The program will allow viewers to experience the Cannes Film Festival from dawn until late night “through the eyes and the voice of Messi,” D18, which referred to the pooch as “the canine George Clooney,” said in a press release. In our book, that’s high praise for George Clooney.
“This will be an opportunity for Messi to ask his guest any questions with the innocence of a dog,” it continued. “When you’re the current international star, you can do anything… and...
Messi, the breakout dog star of “Anatomy of a Fall,” is getting his own short program that will during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, producer D18 Paris announced. It will be set at the festival, but not part of the festival lineup. But hey, we say give him the the Palme d’Or too — though he’d probably settle for a Milk-Bone.
The program will allow viewers to experience the Cannes Film Festival from dawn until late night “through the eyes and the voice of Messi,” D18, which referred to the pooch as “the canine George Clooney,” said in a press release. In our book, that’s high praise for George Clooney.
“This will be an opportunity for Messi to ask his guest any questions with the innocence of a dog,” it continued. “When you’re the current international star, you can do anything… and...
- 4/26/2024
- by Tony Maglio
- Indiewire
Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25) has added a rendez-vouz with Italian actor and filmmaker Valeria Golino to its programme as well as two animated features and the first Cinema de la Plage titles.
Golino, whose credits include Rain Man and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, will premiere the first episode of her new series The Art Of Joy followed by an in conversation event. The series, which will screen in Italian cinemas in July, stars Jasmine Trinca, Tecla Insolia and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and follows a Sicilian woman in the early 1900s who dreams of a better life.
The actor...
Golino, whose credits include Rain Man and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, will premiere the first episode of her new series The Art Of Joy followed by an in conversation event. The series, which will screen in Italian cinemas in July, stars Jasmine Trinca, Tecla Insolia and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and follows a Sicilian woman in the early 1900s who dreams of a better life.
The actor...
- 4/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Another day, another buzzy project to hit the Cannes Market. Deadline reports that Adam Scott will have a package for his feature directorial debut for sale on the Croisette next month: “Double Booked,” a revenge thriller set to star Sterling K. Brown, Zazie Beetz, and Alexandria Daddario. That’s a solid trio to frontline someone’s first film.
Read More: Cannes 2024: New Films From Yorgos Lanthimos, Francis Ford Coppola, Sean Baker & Andrea Arnold
Scott also stars in the project, about two couples forced to spend the night together as a blizzard traps them in a secluded cabin.
Continue reading ‘Double Booked’: Adam Scott’s Directorial Debut Hits The Cannes Market Next Month, Sterling K. Brown, Zazie Beetz & Alexandra Daddario To Star at The Playlist.
Read More: Cannes 2024: New Films From Yorgos Lanthimos, Francis Ford Coppola, Sean Baker & Andrea Arnold
Scott also stars in the project, about two couples forced to spend the night together as a blizzard traps them in a secluded cabin.
Continue reading ‘Double Booked’: Adam Scott’s Directorial Debut Hits The Cannes Market Next Month, Sterling K. Brown, Zazie Beetz & Alexandra Daddario To Star at The Playlist.
- 4/26/2024
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
Drew Barrymore went in a different direction in the ’90s, as the long-time star has now confirmed that she once opted to play Cinderella instead of a porn star. The actress recently shared on an episode of her eponymous talk show “The Drew Barrymore Show” (via The Hollywood Reporter) that she did in fact turn down a role in “Boogie Nights.” Barrymore has long been rumored to have been considered for the Rollergirl part, which later went to Heather Graham.
“It’s so hard when you, like, are thinking of doing a film and then you don’t end up doing it,” Barrymore said. “I have so many of those experiences. I’ve never said this out loud, ‘Boogie Nights.’ There was a moment where we were talking about ‘Boogie Nights’ and I think it’s when I went and did ‘Ever After’ [‘A Cinderella Story’] and I went in a very different direction.
“It’s so hard when you, like, are thinking of doing a film and then you don’t end up doing it,” Barrymore said. “I have so many of those experiences. I’ve never said this out loud, ‘Boogie Nights.’ There was a moment where we were talking about ‘Boogie Nights’ and I think it’s when I went and did ‘Ever After’ [‘A Cinderella Story’] and I went in a very different direction.
- 4/26/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Big news for the "They don't make 'em like they used to" crowd: They just did and, as those who were paying attention know, it's been playing in theaters nationwide for weeks now. "Love Lies Bleeding" lies at the crossroads between a throwback '80s noir and a queer romance that's unabashedly of its time, with both aspects coming together to create an intoxicating mix that's mighty difficult to resist. Starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brian as a pair of star-crossed lovers who wind up right in the crosshairs of a local crime lord, director Rose Glass' iron-pumping, steroid-injecting, and thoroughly sweat-dripping thriller is one of those movies that practically leaps off the screen and swallows audiences up in the grime and muck of its world.
After indie-supporting studio A24 gave the film a wide release in early March, everyone who missed the boat the first time around -- or...
After indie-supporting studio A24 gave the film a wide release in early March, everyone who missed the boat the first time around -- or...
- 4/26/2024
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
Emily Blunt isn’t a fan of algorithm-driven cinema. Variety reports (via Vanity Fair Italy) that the actress and her “The Fall Guy” co-star Ryan Gosling are against studios letting data-crunching drive their creative choices. And Blunt thinks “Oppenheimer” is a good example of something an algorithm wouldn’t want to make, despite it being a box-office success and a huge Oscar winner.
Continue reading Emily Blunt Says Algorithms “Frustrate Me”: “I Hate That F*cking Word, Excuse The Expletive!” at The Playlist.
Continue reading Emily Blunt Says Algorithms “Frustrate Me”: “I Hate That F*cking Word, Excuse The Expletive!” at The Playlist.
- 4/26/2024
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
Fourth generation Californian Paul McCloskey — aka “Pete” and “Bear” — is a former US Congressman who represented San Mateo County from 1967 (when he trounced Shirley Temple in the Republican primary) to 1983; a decorated Korean War vet, who torpedoed Pat Robertson’s ’88 campaign by revealing his lies about having served in combat; and an ultimately unsuccessful challenger to President Nixon in ’72, when the maverick Stanford Law grad went on Firing Line to make the case for his anti-Vietnam War platform to an electorate likely more receptive than the program’s highly condescending, pro-Cambodia-bombing host. That particular clip from the […]
The post “All Documentary Filmmakers Should Receive or Seek Out Some Kind of Training in Vicarious Trauma”: Alix Blair on Her Hot Docs-Debuting Helen and the Bear first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “All Documentary Filmmakers Should Receive or Seek Out Some Kind of Training in Vicarious Trauma”: Alix Blair on Her Hot Docs-Debuting Helen and the Bear first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 4/26/2024
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Before I ever saw William Friedkin's classic horror film "The Exorcist," my mother gleefully shared with me all of the horrific urban legends and unexplained mysteries that surrounded the film's production. She believed, as do countless others, that "The Exorcist" was one of many cursed films. The face of a possessed Regan MacNeil was terrifying, to be sure, but movie magic meant to scare me couldn't hold a candle to the inexplicable dread that had me convinced filmmakers daring to tell this story made them a target for actual evil. While I'm old enough now to know better than to believe in cursed films, it's still a fascinating rabbit hole to fall into. Hell, the horror movie streaming app Shudder even has a two-season documentary series called, you guessed it, "Cursed Films" discussing cinema's most controversial and conspiracy-surrounded film sets. Now, a new narrative horror film is dabbling in the world of cursed films,...
- 4/26/2024
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
French film industry veteran Cécile Gaget has been named CEO of Carrousel Studios, the joint venture production company launched in March by Lupin star Omar Sy, Fast X filmmaker Louis Letterier and Pulse Films CEO Thomas Benksi.
Gaget will be based in Paris and will officially take on her new role on May 1 “to create and produce high end and bold content for a global audience,” she said in a statement. Her duties include helping to bolster the company’s local and global production slate, foster partnerships and oversee development, production, financing and distribution strategies.
Carrousel Studios aims to be...
Gaget will be based in Paris and will officially take on her new role on May 1 “to create and produce high end and bold content for a global audience,” she said in a statement. Her duties include helping to bolster the company’s local and global production slate, foster partnerships and oversee development, production, financing and distribution strategies.
Carrousel Studios aims to be...
- 4/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Luca Guadagnino’s love triangle drama Challengers starts its UK-Ireland box office campaign this weekend through Warner Bros.
Opening in 702 sites with additional venues still being added, the film stars Zendaya, 2016 Screen Star of Tomorrow Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist in the story of three aspiring tennis professionals fighting both for championships and romantically.
Initially programmed as the opening film of last year’s Venice Film Festival, Challengers was withdrawn following the actors’ strike, which would have prevented its starry cast from promoting the release.
It is Italian filmmaker Guadagnino’s eighth feature film. He broke out internationally with his fifth,...
Opening in 702 sites with additional venues still being added, the film stars Zendaya, 2016 Screen Star of Tomorrow Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist in the story of three aspiring tennis professionals fighting both for championships and romantically.
Initially programmed as the opening film of last year’s Venice Film Festival, Challengers was withdrawn following the actors’ strike, which would have prevented its starry cast from promoting the release.
It is Italian filmmaker Guadagnino’s eighth feature film. He broke out internationally with his fifth,...
- 4/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
The movie industry is arguably waiting around for “Deadpool & Wolverine” to hit theaters, Marvel Studios’ only film of 2024, though hopefully someone enlivens the box office before then. Originally scheduled to be a May 3 release at the top of the summer, the film was delayed because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike of 2023, moving the film into July.
Continue reading Shawn Levy Says ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Will Require No MCU “Homework” For Audiences at The Playlist.
Continue reading Shawn Levy Says ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Will Require No MCU “Homework” For Audiences at The Playlist.
- 4/26/2024
- by The Playlist
- The Playlist
[Editor’s note: The following article contains some spoilers for “Challengers.”]
“Then the lights go out and it’s just the three of us / You me and all that stuff we’re so scared of”
By the time Luca Guadagnino’s sexy, thrilling “Challengers” sticks two of its leads in — of all places — a suburban Applebee’s, we have a sense of where this is all going.
Built around a love triangle, Guadagnino’s latest stars Zendaya as once-in-a-generation tennis prodigy Tashi, who gets entangled (both personally and professionally) with the sparky Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and his more focused Bff Art (Mike Faist). Told in a nonlinear fashion, the film volleys back and forth between time and place, always coming to rest on a key 2019 match between Patrick and Art.
While screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes’ original script contains plenty of twists, turns, and revelations, the film starts in a place where we soon learn Tashi is retired, she’s married to...
“Then the lights go out and it’s just the three of us / You me and all that stuff we’re so scared of”
By the time Luca Guadagnino’s sexy, thrilling “Challengers” sticks two of its leads in — of all places — a suburban Applebee’s, we have a sense of where this is all going.
Built around a love triangle, Guadagnino’s latest stars Zendaya as once-in-a-generation tennis prodigy Tashi, who gets entangled (both personally and professionally) with the sparky Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and his more focused Bff Art (Mike Faist). Told in a nonlinear fashion, the film volleys back and forth between time and place, always coming to rest on a key 2019 match between Patrick and Art.
While screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes’ original script contains plenty of twists, turns, and revelations, the film starts in a place where we soon learn Tashi is retired, she’s married to...
- 4/26/2024
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
It’s often unfair to compare a director’s child with their parent’s work. Outsized expectations and a tendency to reduce every narrative and aesthetic choice to a type of juxtaposition often flattens the discourse surrounding a particular voice. Sofia Coppola’s work is so radically different from her father’s, for example, that comparison would be meaningless. But it’s also hard to review a film that so obviously bears the hallmarks of a parent’s work in a bubble.
Continue reading ‘Humane’ Review: Caitlin Cronenberg Smashes Two Genres Together In Underbaked Eco-Horror at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Humane’ Review: Caitlin Cronenberg Smashes Two Genres Together In Underbaked Eco-Horror at The Playlist.
- 4/26/2024
- by Christian Gallichio
- The Playlist
Nicole Kidman is the rare actress in the 21st century who, like the stars of Hollywood’s golden years, doesn’t disappear into roles so much as elevate films by her mere presence.
She’s certainly swung big at mainstream blockbusters (think: the “Aquaman” films) that might feel out of her step with her character-driven work elsewhere (like most of the films on the list that follows). But that’s because the Australian icon is unafraid of any role, whether stripping down her post-Oscar, A-lister veneer to film Lars von Trier’s Brechtian “Dogville” in Sweden, slipping into a bathtub with the 10-year-old possible reincarnation of her dead husband in Jonathan Glazer’s “Birth,” or, yes, donning a fake nose to play a suicidal Virginia Woolf for her Oscar-winning turn in “The Hours.”
On April 27 in Los Angeles, Nicole Kidman will receive the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award, joining the ranks of Jane Fonda,...
She’s certainly swung big at mainstream blockbusters (think: the “Aquaman” films) that might feel out of her step with her character-driven work elsewhere (like most of the films on the list that follows). But that’s because the Australian icon is unafraid of any role, whether stripping down her post-Oscar, A-lister veneer to film Lars von Trier’s Brechtian “Dogville” in Sweden, slipping into a bathtub with the 10-year-old possible reincarnation of her dead husband in Jonathan Glazer’s “Birth,” or, yes, donning a fake nose to play a suicidal Virginia Woolf for her Oscar-winning turn in “The Hours.”
On April 27 in Los Angeles, Nicole Kidman will receive the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award, joining the ranks of Jane Fonda,...
- 4/26/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
It's no secret that the first third of 2024 has been at best uneven as far as the box office goes. Ticket sales are lagging way behind this same point in 2023, in no small part thanks to movies like "Abigail" and "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" underperforming on the same weekend. Thankfully, the summer movie season is on the horizon and Hollywood, as well as theater owners, will hinge their hopes on a varied slate being able to sell an outsized number of tickets. That all begins next weekend with the release of Universal's "The Fall Guy." The question is, can Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt strike gold in the summer season once again after last year's Barbenheimer phenomenon?
"The Fall Guy" will be the first blockbuster to hit theaters in May, which typically ushers in the summer for Hollywood. Currently, the big-budget action/comedy is looking at an opening weekend in the $40 million range,...
"The Fall Guy" will be the first blockbuster to hit theaters in May, which typically ushers in the summer for Hollywood. Currently, the big-budget action/comedy is looking at an opening weekend in the $40 million range,...
- 4/26/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
The box office has been firmly in recovery mode for several years now. The pandemic, it's no secret, completely upended the business, and movie theaters have been trying to figure out what the future looks like ever since. Hollywood, for its part, has been doing the same, attempting to balance its streaming-focused operations with the need to release movies in theaters. 2024 has brought forth yet another challenge as the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes last year resulted in a disappointingly bare release calendar. Dire though it has seemed at times, there have been many bright spots in the darkness.
Yes, we've had more than a few box office flops this year, ranging from superhero films like "Madame Web" to total whiffs like "The Book of Clarence." Those flops have helped create a rough situation. However, we've also had quite a few hits. Not just movies that...
Yes, we've had more than a few box office flops this year, ranging from superhero films like "Madame Web" to total whiffs like "The Book of Clarence." Those flops have helped create a rough situation. However, we've also had quite a few hits. Not just movies that...
- 4/26/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
[Editor’s Note: this list was originally published in March 2018. It has since been updated with new entries.]
It’s easy to think of the kind of stories that get told in the comic book world as just one genre or tone, but as seen below, graphic novels, comic strips, and other sequential art have offered up an incredible range of storytelling. And these stories have been inspiring great TV shows for years, even before superhero stories dominated the box office.
There were plenty of options that nearly made the list, like the WB’s “Smallville,” which squandered its early potential after running just a few seasons too long. Because one of the most exciting things about these stories is that there’s a rich variety to choose from.
With editorial contributions from Liz Shannon Miller, Ben Travers, and Hanh Nguyen.
25. “Jeremiah”
Based on the Belgian comics by Hermann Huppen and created by J. Michael Straczynski, this intriguing post-apocalyptic drama ran for two seasons on Showtime. The excellent...
It’s easy to think of the kind of stories that get told in the comic book world as just one genre or tone, but as seen below, graphic novels, comic strips, and other sequential art have offered up an incredible range of storytelling. And these stories have been inspiring great TV shows for years, even before superhero stories dominated the box office.
There were plenty of options that nearly made the list, like the WB’s “Smallville,” which squandered its early potential after running just a few seasons too long. Because one of the most exciting things about these stories is that there’s a rich variety to choose from.
With editorial contributions from Liz Shannon Miller, Ben Travers, and Hanh Nguyen.
25. “Jeremiah”
Based on the Belgian comics by Hermann Huppen and created by J. Michael Straczynski, this intriguing post-apocalyptic drama ran for two seasons on Showtime. The excellent...
- 4/26/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
In an odd quirk of distribution timing, this month has seen the arrival of no less than two imported, semi-comedic thrillers featuring decrepit apartment building invaded by giant spiders. Already playing U.S. theaters is the Australian “Sting,” which is fun, if formulaic. In a whole other class, however, is French “Infested,” a first feature by director Sebastien Vanicek following several impressive shorts. An instant minor genre classic, it is fun and then some — a conceptually unremarkable but resourceful, energetic, stylish and good-humored creature feature with above-average human character interest.
That achievement has been duly noted: Intended as a streaming premiere, “Vermines” (the original title) pleased its producer such that he apparently insisted on a home-turf theatrical release, despite the long delay that imposes on its launch in other formats under French law. It’s seen big-screen release in numerous nations since late last year, though in the U.S.
That achievement has been duly noted: Intended as a streaming premiere, “Vermines” (the original title) pleased its producer such that he apparently insisted on a home-turf theatrical release, despite the long delay that imposes on its launch in other formats under French law. It’s seen big-screen release in numerous nations since late last year, though in the U.S.
- 4/26/2024
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety - Film News
The 27-year-old American actor has gone from the Disney channel to new classy arthouse threesome drama Challengers, via a massive blockbuster and a hot-button TV series. So can she convince as an Oscar contender?
Actor-model-producer Zendaya Coleman – universally known mononymously, without her last name – has never been short of attention, but it feels as if the 27-year-old has arrived at a breakthrough moment. With the tennis romance Challengers arriving in cinemas, in which she is the central focus, the sci-fi blockbuster Dune: Part Two still reeling in audiences, and acting as the simultaneous cover star of two separate editions of Vogue magazine – the British and the American – Zendaya appears to have achieved a new level.
Her career has so far specialised in an impressively high number of attention-grabbing moments, including appearing in a spectacularly bizarre metallic silver “robot suit” at the premiere of Dune: Part Two earlier this year, and...
Actor-model-producer Zendaya Coleman – universally known mononymously, without her last name – has never been short of attention, but it feels as if the 27-year-old has arrived at a breakthrough moment. With the tennis romance Challengers arriving in cinemas, in which she is the central focus, the sci-fi blockbuster Dune: Part Two still reeling in audiences, and acting as the simultaneous cover star of two separate editions of Vogue magazine – the British and the American – Zendaya appears to have achieved a new level.
Her career has so far specialised in an impressively high number of attention-grabbing moments, including appearing in a spectacularly bizarre metallic silver “robot suit” at the premiere of Dune: Part Two earlier this year, and...
- 4/26/2024
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
You may not know Justin Kuritzkes by name, but there's a strong chance you've seen his face before. The playwright turned screenwriter behind director Luca Guadagnino's steamy tennis drama "Challengers" rocketed to internet fame thanks to his viral 2011 YouTube fantasy skit "Potion Seller." That he went from speaking to himself in silly voices while distorting his face on his computer to penning scripts for the filmmaker behind "Call Me By Your Name" is truly the type of career trajectory the rest of us can only dream about.
In another twist that might not pass the smell test if you tried to turn his story into a film, Kuritzkes is married to Celine Song, the writer and director behind only one of the best movies of 2023, "Past Lives." Even setting that aside, it's easy to spot the parallels between Song's hit and "Challengers." Both films follow the same set of...
In another twist that might not pass the smell test if you tried to turn his story into a film, Kuritzkes is married to Celine Song, the writer and director behind only one of the best movies of 2023, "Past Lives." Even setting that aside, it's easy to spot the parallels between Song's hit and "Challengers." Both films follow the same set of...
- 4/26/2024
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
"Anyone But You" became a surprise hit when it arrived in theaters back in December 2023. In an age where everyone is used to superhero movies and the odd horror flick doing well at the box office, surely a rom-com starring two lesser-known stars whose careers are only just starting to get going wasn't going to hit? But hit, it did. "Anyone But You" passed box office milestones, making an impressive $216 million worldwide on just a $25 million budget. Oh, and it was also based on a William Shakespeare play.
It might seem strange to think that a loose adaptation of the Bard's "Much Ado About Nothing," could be so surprisingly popular, but perhaps "Anyone But You" is ushering in a new era of cool Shakespeare adaptations, á la Leonardo DiCaprio with "Romeo + Juliet" back in the mid-'90s. Either way, the film's success certainly went a long way to...
It might seem strange to think that a loose adaptation of the Bard's "Much Ado About Nothing," could be so surprisingly popular, but perhaps "Anyone But You" is ushering in a new era of cool Shakespeare adaptations, á la Leonardo DiCaprio with "Romeo + Juliet" back in the mid-'90s. Either way, the film's success certainly went a long way to...
- 4/26/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
South Korea’s Plus M Entertainment is set to launch sales on upcoming romantic drama Pavane: For A Dead Princess and action thriller Night Fever in Cannes.
Pavane: For A Dead Princess is directed by Lee Jong-pil, known for 2020 comedy drama Samjin Company English Class and 2015 period drama The Sound Of A Flower.
It will reunite Lee with Samjin actress Ko A-sung, who also played the lead in Because I Hate Korea, which opened last year’s Busan International Film Festival. Further cast includes Byun Yo-han of box office hit Hansan: Rising Dragon and Moon Sang-win of drama series Wedding Impossible.
Pavane: For A Dead Princess is directed by Lee Jong-pil, known for 2020 comedy drama Samjin Company English Class and 2015 period drama The Sound Of A Flower.
It will reunite Lee with Samjin actress Ko A-sung, who also played the lead in Because I Hate Korea, which opened last year’s Busan International Film Festival. Further cast includes Byun Yo-han of box office hit Hansan: Rising Dragon and Moon Sang-win of drama series Wedding Impossible.
- 4/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Usman Riaz’s Annecy selection “The Glassworker” has unveiled its first trailer. The film will also screen at the Cannes Film Market and has set a date for theatrical release in Pakistan.
The animated film will debut in Annecy’s Contrechamp strand. Targeting family audiences, the film is set in a location loosely inspired by Pakistan, telling the story of young Vincent and his father Tomas, who run the finest glass workshop in the country and find their lives upended by an approaching war in which they want no part. The arrival in their town of an army colonel and his young talented, violinist daughter, Alliz, shakes their reality and tests the relationship between father and son.
The voice cast includes Art Malik (“Man Like Mobeen”), Sacha Dhawan (“Wolf”), Anjli Mohindra (“The Lazarus Project”) and Tony Jayawardena (“Ackley Bridge”). It is produced by Riaz’s Pakistan-based Mano Animation Studios and...
The animated film will debut in Annecy’s Contrechamp strand. Targeting family audiences, the film is set in a location loosely inspired by Pakistan, telling the story of young Vincent and his father Tomas, who run the finest glass workshop in the country and find their lives upended by an approaching war in which they want no part. The arrival in their town of an army colonel and his young talented, violinist daughter, Alliz, shakes their reality and tests the relationship between father and son.
The voice cast includes Art Malik (“Man Like Mobeen”), Sacha Dhawan (“Wolf”), Anjli Mohindra (“The Lazarus Project”) and Tony Jayawardena (“Ackley Bridge”). It is produced by Riaz’s Pakistan-based Mano Animation Studios and...
- 4/26/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety - Film News
From On Demand To Linear
Asian TV channels operator Celestial Tiger Entertainment and myTV Super, the Ott platform of Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited (Tvb) are to launch PopC, a movie channel dedicated to Chinese online films, with content supplied by mainland China streamer iQiyi. It launches in Hong Kong from May 1.
“The idea of PopC first came about when we saw the amount of great, high quality movies that were being produced for the online space in China. The domestic reception and online hit rates for these movies are just phenomenal, and we want to bring them to an international audience outside of China by curating them all in one great channel.” said Ofanny Choi, CEO of Cte.
Its lineup will take on revolving themes on a daily basis, from fantasy-adventure, to Chinese heroes, suspense, action and comedy.
Taipei-budapest
The Taipei Film Festival has reinstated its “City in...
Asian TV channels operator Celestial Tiger Entertainment and myTV Super, the Ott platform of Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited (Tvb) are to launch PopC, a movie channel dedicated to Chinese online films, with content supplied by mainland China streamer iQiyi. It launches in Hong Kong from May 1.
“The idea of PopC first came about when we saw the amount of great, high quality movies that were being produced for the online space in China. The domestic reception and online hit rates for these movies are just phenomenal, and we want to bring them to an international audience outside of China by curating them all in one great channel.” said Ofanny Choi, CEO of Cte.
Its lineup will take on revolving themes on a daily basis, from fantasy-adventure, to Chinese heroes, suspense, action and comedy.
Taipei-budapest
The Taipei Film Festival has reinstated its “City in...
- 4/26/2024
- by Patrick Frater and Leo Barraclough
- Variety - Film News
Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled the programme for its 2024 edition, including the Competition line-up and a programme of previews from the major studios.
The 12-strong Official Competition includes Adam Elliot’s Australian feature Memoir Of A Snail, in which Succession star Sarah Snook voices a lonely hoarder of ornamental snails; and stop-motion Savages!, director Claude Barras’ first feature since his Bafta- and Oscar-nominated My Life As A Courgette.
Scroll down for the full Competition line-up
The festival will open with Michel Hazanavicius’ Competition title The Most Precious Of Cargoes, heading to Annecy from its debut in Cannes Competition.
The 12-strong Official Competition includes Adam Elliot’s Australian feature Memoir Of A Snail, in which Succession star Sarah Snook voices a lonely hoarder of ornamental snails; and stop-motion Savages!, director Claude Barras’ first feature since his Bafta- and Oscar-nominated My Life As A Courgette.
Scroll down for the full Competition line-up
The festival will open with Michel Hazanavicius’ Competition title The Most Precious Of Cargoes, heading to Annecy from its debut in Cannes Competition.
- 4/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Having won a BAFTA (and landed an Oscar nomination) for her role as Colin Farrell’s kind-hearted but cynical — and distinctly less donkey-friendly — sister in Martin McDonagh’s darkly comic “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Kerry Condon is back in her native Ireland for her next film role.
Set in the height of the Troubles in the mid-1970s, Robert Lorenz’s Irish Western “In the Land of Saints and Sinners,” which launches on Netflix Friday, sees the actress ditch all niceties to play a hard-nosed, mean-as-hell, extremely potty-mouthed and very violent Ira gang leader trying to lie low in rural Donegal following a deadly pub bombing. But it’s not long before she’s up against Liam Neeson, whose demeanor as a quiet widow and secondhand book dealer masks a secret identity as a local hitman for Colm Meaney’s village mobster. Like any good Western, the two eventually face...
Set in the height of the Troubles in the mid-1970s, Robert Lorenz’s Irish Western “In the Land of Saints and Sinners,” which launches on Netflix Friday, sees the actress ditch all niceties to play a hard-nosed, mean-as-hell, extremely potty-mouthed and very violent Ira gang leader trying to lie low in rural Donegal following a deadly pub bombing. But it’s not long before she’s up against Liam Neeson, whose demeanor as a quiet widow and secondhand book dealer masks a secret identity as a local hitman for Colm Meaney’s village mobster. Like any good Western, the two eventually face...
- 4/26/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety - Film News
The collaboration between the merc with a mouth and the clawed crusader has to work hard to mashup the alternate realities, but it could open portals to a lot of multiversal fun
It is somewhat ironic that just when the Marvel Cinematic Universe is entering its most intriguing phase, with the introduction of the multiverse and superheroes jetting in from all sorts of weird and wonderful corners of the Hollywood studio system, it has also begun to deliver its biggest duds. Chloé Zhao’s Eternals and Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels, Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania all seemed dull and listless compared to the endlessly colourful and imaginative episodes that populated the comic book macro-saga’s earlier phases.
Is it any coincidence that these movies only lightly tinkered around the edges of multiversal goings on, while two of Marvel’s more successful episodes of recent times, Doctor...
It is somewhat ironic that just when the Marvel Cinematic Universe is entering its most intriguing phase, with the introduction of the multiverse and superheroes jetting in from all sorts of weird and wonderful corners of the Hollywood studio system, it has also begun to deliver its biggest duds. Chloé Zhao’s Eternals and Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels, Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania all seemed dull and listless compared to the endlessly colourful and imaginative episodes that populated the comic book macro-saga’s earlier phases.
Is it any coincidence that these movies only lightly tinkered around the edges of multiversal goings on, while two of Marvel’s more successful episodes of recent times, Doctor...
- 4/26/2024
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Finnish Film Affair, the industry event of Helsinki International Film Festival, has appointed Alisha Hasan as its new head of industry.
Hasan joins from Finnish animation house Gutsy Animations, where she was head of marketing. She has also previously worked as a producer and marketing manager at online gaming firm Game Lounge Ltd.
“Just as Finnish Film Affair is a great arena for new and interesting cooperations to be born, I am ready to promote new openings: my wish is to create new bold conversations, bringing more international connections to Finland as well as new perspectives,” said Hasan.
“One of...
Hasan joins from Finnish animation house Gutsy Animations, where she was head of marketing. She has also previously worked as a producer and marketing manager at online gaming firm Game Lounge Ltd.
“Just as Finnish Film Affair is a great arena for new and interesting cooperations to be born, I am ready to promote new openings: my wish is to create new bold conversations, bringing more international connections to Finland as well as new perspectives,” said Hasan.
“One of...
- 4/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
The seventh edition of The Changing Face of Europe, a section in Toronto’s Hot Docs Film Festival, explores the cultural, economic and political forces shaping contemporary Europe.
From an investigation of a right-wing group in Fabien Greenberg and Bård Kjøge Rønning’s “Norwegian Democrazy” to the fight for bodily freedom in Elina Psykou’s “Stray Bodies,” this year’s selection broaches a series of urgent — and, at many times, highly-sensitive — sociopolitical topics at the forefront of European society from filmmakers who may not always get the support they need within the international festival landscape.
“The section is very important because it allows us to get films from filmmakers who we wouldn’t normally get films from,” Hot Docs festival programming director Heather Haynes tells Variety. “It helps create an exchange and communication between what’s happening in Europe and what we are doing at Hot Docs.”
The Changing Face of Europe,...
From an investigation of a right-wing group in Fabien Greenberg and Bård Kjøge Rønning’s “Norwegian Democrazy” to the fight for bodily freedom in Elina Psykou’s “Stray Bodies,” this year’s selection broaches a series of urgent — and, at many times, highly-sensitive — sociopolitical topics at the forefront of European society from filmmakers who may not always get the support they need within the international festival landscape.
“The section is very important because it allows us to get films from filmmakers who we wouldn’t normally get films from,” Hot Docs festival programming director Heather Haynes tells Variety. “It helps create an exchange and communication between what’s happening in Europe and what we are doing at Hot Docs.”
The Changing Face of Europe,...
- 4/26/2024
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety - Film News
Screen can exclusively reveal the first trailer for Konstantin Bojanov’s The Shameless ahead of the India-set love story’s world premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Bulgarian director Bojanov’s third feature is about two women trying to escape a life of prostitution who fall in love, but must deal with an oppressive society rooted in centuries-old patriarchal traditions as they embark on a perilous journey to escape the law and find freedom.
The film is produced by Switzerland’s Akka Films, France’s Urban Factory, Bulgaria’s Klas Films, Taiwan’s House on Fire and India’s Teamo Productions HQ Limited.
Bulgarian director Bojanov’s third feature is about two women trying to escape a life of prostitution who fall in love, but must deal with an oppressive society rooted in centuries-old patriarchal traditions as they embark on a perilous journey to escape the law and find freedom.
The film is produced by Switzerland’s Akka Films, France’s Urban Factory, Bulgaria’s Klas Films, Taiwan’s House on Fire and India’s Teamo Productions HQ Limited.
- 4/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
DeBose’s brilliant rookie astronaut navigates this moderately tense thriller about US and Russian crew fighting as Earth blazes below
At first, the crew on board the International Space Station (Iss) mistake the tiny dot of fire on Earth for a volcano. But look: there’s another, and another. In fact, these astronauts have got a bird’s eye view of a nuclear tit-for-tat between the Russian and American governments that by the end of the movie turns the planet into a great glowing ball of fire. But for the six-person crew – three Americans and three Russians – nuclear Armageddon is only the start of their problems.
A lowish-budget, slightly muted survival thriller – moderately tense, with too few ideas to qualify as actively cerebral – what the movie does have is a brilliant performance by West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose as biologist and rookie astronaut Kira. Like all the characters here,...
At first, the crew on board the International Space Station (Iss) mistake the tiny dot of fire on Earth for a volcano. But look: there’s another, and another. In fact, these astronauts have got a bird’s eye view of a nuclear tit-for-tat between the Russian and American governments that by the end of the movie turns the planet into a great glowing ball of fire. But for the six-person crew – three Americans and three Russians – nuclear Armageddon is only the start of their problems.
A lowish-budget, slightly muted survival thriller – moderately tense, with too few ideas to qualify as actively cerebral – what the movie does have is a brilliant performance by West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose as biologist and rookie astronaut Kira. Like all the characters here,...
- 4/26/2024
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
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