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We begin with music that’s uncharacteristically tense for a Wes Anderson film––chugging cellos leading a full orchestra that’s more Mission: Impossible than Moonrise Kingdom––and opener à la Nolan blockbusters: an assassination attempt. It’s an exhilarating launch into a story that starts petering out soon after. Renowned criminal mastermind Zsa Zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro) sits before a gorgeously designed train car much like the off-white, wooden, burgundy, and plaid train car that will take him and his associates around Phoenicia for the rest of the movie. An unfortunate associate is crammed into the back corner. Without warning, a bomb obliterates any semblance of said corner, and we launch into The Phoenician Scheme, never to take a breath.

Zsa Zsa is a downright horrible man, as blunt about his actions as critics would be, but lacking any awareness to realize what makes them wrong. He’s...

Wes Anderson’s films are painstakingly detailed to capture his signature style. Donald Trump’s plan to impose a supposed 100 percent tariff on American films produced outside of the U.S., on the other hand, is not particularly detailed or well thought out. During a press conference for The Phoenician Scheme at Cannes Film Festival, Anderson poked some holes in the president’s logic — or lack thereof.

“The tariff is interesting because I’ve never heard of a 100 percent tariff before,” Anderson said. “I’m not an expert in that area of economics,...

Wes Anderson is schemin’ up something, as his latest film, The Phoenician Scheme has just had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. So how did it fare at the world’s most famous fest and does it have a shot at the Palme d’Or?

The way it sounds, The Phoenician Scheme is very much a Wes Anderson movie; that might sound vague and non-descriptive but you know exactly what we mean when we say that. With that, we seem to be looking at more of the same, which isn’t a slight at all. Indeed, if there’s one director whose visual style we want to continue to feast on, it’s Anderson.

The Phoenician Scheme is Anderson’s tightest contraption in years. The repertory ensemble vibrates with electricity, Delbonnel invigorates Wes with some shocking camera moves, and Barney Pilling’s razor-sharp editing is the best in the biz.

Wes Anderson skewered Donald Trump’s proposed tariff on movies shot abroad at a Cannes press conference for his new film “The Phoenician Scheme,” questioning how it will work.

“Can you hold up the movie in customs? It doesn’t ship that way,” the director said, evoking a chorus of laughter.

“The Phoenician Scheme,” which features a sprawling cast of Anderson regulars, shot in partly Germany. When asked about the tariffs, Anderson initially replied: “I thought you said he was giving us a plug or something. Did Trump see it?”

But he then went on to mock the idea: “The tariff is interesting because I’ve never heard of a 100% tariff before. I’m not an expert in that area of economics, but I feel that means he’s saying he’s going to take all the money. And then what do we what do we get? So it’s complicated to me.

If you've ever expressed even a cursory interest in the entertainment industry, you have almost certainly come across the term "Hollywood accounting." This is the shady corporate practice of manipulating numbers to make sure the people responsible for crafting blockbusters, top-rated television shows, and hit singles never receive the full financial compensation they are owed. What kind of monster would do this? The kind of monster that lives to make money instead of art that can enrich and delight people all over the world. Not all Hollywood executives are like this, but the ones who got into this business because they love using their business expertise to enable (and protect) talented people are watching their ranks get thinned by the day.

In movies, there's always been a push-pull between talent and the money folks. When silent film stars Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford teamed with filmmaker D.W. Griffith...

Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme received middling scores on Screen’s Cannes jury grid while Kleber Mendonca Filho’s The Secret Agent impressed.

The Phoenician Schemedebuted with an average of 2.3 from the critics, including one four-star (excellent) from Le Monde’s Mathieu Macharet and a one-star (poor) from Time’s Stephanie Zacharek.

Click on the image above for the most up-to-date version of the grid.

The rest of the scores for Anderson’s latest espionage, with another starry ensemble including Benicio del Toro, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Hanks, comprised eight two-stars (average) and two three-stars (good).

It beats out...

With three previous films in the Cannes competition beginning with Moonrise Kingdom (2012), followed by 2011’s The French Dispatch (read ★★ review) and 2023’s Asteroid City (read ★ review), Wes Anderson has a safe home in France. Production on The Phoenician Scheme took place back in March of last year – the espionage black comedy features tons of folks in Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, and Hope Davis. It’s about a wealthy businessman Zsa-zsa Korda appoints his only daughter, a nun, as sole heir to his estate.…...

Mel Gibson explains why it took so long to make a sequel to The Passion of the Christ. Released in 2004, Gibson's epic biblical drama, based on the New Testament, tells the story of Christ's crucifixion, starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Monica Bellucci as Magdalen, and Maia Morgenstern as Mary, among others. Recently, it was announced that the filmmaker has teamed up with Lionsgate on a long-awaited sequel, with filming expected to start in the summer.

In a panel with ScreenRant's Joe Deckelmeier at Fan Expo Philadelphia, Gibson shared the reason behind the wait for a sequel, The Resurrection of Christ. The filmmaker revealed that the script alone took him "eight years" to write because of the complexity of the subject and it being "almost impossible" to understand. He also teased that the result was two movies instead of one. Read his comment below:

It took me about eight...

The breaking news out of the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday was that Wes Anderson made another Wes Anderson movie.

The Oscar-winning director launched The Phoenician Scheme at the prestigious festival, the fourth time Anderson has premiered one of his projects on the French Riviera following Moonrise Kingdom, The French Dispatch, and Asteroid City.

“More linear than Asteroid City or The Grand Budapest Hotel and yet significantly harder to follow than either of them, The Phoenician Scheme is the busiest of Anderson’s films, and also — at least on first viewing — the least rewarding,” wrote Indiewire critic David Ehlrich in his mixed review. It’s a sentiment shared by several top critics.

“The swashbuckling sire, the deadpan ingénue, the sans serif font, the one-point perspective — Anderson’s held fast to his favorite elements even as his canvases have gotten broader and his style even more fastidious,” wrote Vulture critic Alison Wilmore.

It’s not Cannes without Wes Anderson, and the Houston native’s The Phoenician Scheme has its world premiere Sunday night in Cannes, notching a 7½-minute ovation. First-time Anderson-film star Mia Threapleton was tearing up as the crowd’s applause continued.

“The only thing really I can think to say — I think of 12 words to say that would stand for everything in this movie,” Anderson said to the audience after the screening. He then proceeded to point at and name-check his castmates who were on hand, along with longtime writing and producing partner Roman Coppola. Here’s how it went down:

Director Wes Anderson gives a speech after #ThePhoenicianScheme premiered in #Cannes2025 and thanks his cast pic.twitter.com/HZnbA60Ei5

— Deadline (@Deadline) May 18, 2025

Wes Anderson’s #ThePhoenicianScheme Scores 7.5-Minute Ovation After #Cannes2025 Premiere, Leaving Mia Threapleton In Tears pic.twitter.com/opwWgZV6Jb

— Deadline (@Deadline) May 18, 2025

So how...

Wes Anderson has delighted the Cannes Film Festival once more with his latest directorial effort “The Phoenician Scheme,” which played in competition two years after “Asteroid City” did the same at the 2023 festival. “The Phoenician Scheme” earned Anderson and his sprawling cast a 6.5-minute standing ovation.

Anderson’s leading lady Mia Threapleton — who has acting in her blood thanks to mother Kate Winslet — was overcome with emotion as the applause raged on, smiling as tears poured down her face. Flanked by stars Michael Cera and Benicio del Toro, Anderson kept his comments brief, saying: “I can think of about 12 words to say that stand for everything in this movie: Richard Ayoade, Riz, Alexandre, Michael, Mia, Jeffrey, Rupert, Benedict, God and Benicio del Toro.”

“The Phoenician Scheme” stars del Toro as business magnate Zsa-zsa Korda, who happens to be one of the richest men in Europe. Threapleton stars as his daughter,...

Wes Anderson has yet again entertained Cannes.

This time, the auteur debuted his hotly-anticipated The Phoenician Scheme at the fest’s Lumière Theatre, arriving by bus — yes, bus — with stars Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera and Riz Ahmed on Sunday night.

Anderson was also joined by Jeffrey Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bill Murray, Rupert Friend, co-writer Roman Coppola and composer Alexandre Desplat on the Palais steps ahead of the premiere.

Receptions at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, in particular for the competition titles, have generally been a little tepid. Anderson was the recipient of a polite six-minute ovation. Mia Threapleton was in tears, hugging Michael Cera during the ovation. After the applause calmed down, Anderson took a brief moment to thank his cast.

Before the movie screened, Anderson and his cast were in good spirits as they took to the Palais steps, waving the weekend farewell on the Croisette.

Benicio Del Toro and Michael Cera are essentially wingmen to Kate Winslet’s daughter, making a breakthrough big screen turn in Anderson’s enjoyable yet airless ensemble romp

Wes Anderson has contrived another of his elegant, eccentric, rectilinear comedies; as ever, he is vulnerable to the charge of making films that stylistically resemble all his others, and yet no more, surely, than all those other directors making conventional films that resemble all the rest of their own conventional work.

The Phoenician Scheme is enjoyable and executed with Anderson’s usual tremendous despatch, but it is somehow less visually detailed and inspired than some of his earlier work; there is less screwball sympathy for the characters, and it is disconcerting to see actors of the calibre of Tom Hanks, Willem Dafoe and Scarlett Johansson phoning in tiny, deadpan, almost immobile cameos. But there is a likeable lead turn from Mia Threapleton,...

I’ve said it before — and I’ll say it again unless Wes Anderson suddenly shifts gears and makes an earthy Dogma ’25 film — but I don’t think Wes Anderson makes “movies.” He makes moving dioramas. The worlds he creates for us are intimately crafted, finely mapped and production designed with an uncanny eye for detail. One suspects that Anderson handpicks every tile on every floor in his movies, and could tell you exactly what’s wrong with each of the individual slabs he rejected.

But Anderson’s diorama films are not, despite some hack AI enthusiasts’ insistence to the contrary, easily imitated. You may recognize his signature perpendicular framing and penchant for symmetry, and you can approximate them at home, but Anderson tells meaningful stories within those stylistic obsessions. His movies are about people controlling every aspect of their lives, right down to their uniform-like clothes, their tidy board...

Like Jacques Tati, Woody Allen and Luis Buñuel, there can be no mistaking a movie directed and written by Wes Anderson. An auteur in the truest sense of the word, he is as much a painter with words and visuals that put us unquestionably into part of a brain that sees the world the way he wants to see it. There’s his Oscar-winning masterpiece The Grand Budapest Hotel; animated gems Isle of Dogs and my favorite Wes movie, Fantastic Mr. Fox; and a string of beloved film comedies including The Royal Tannenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom and so many more including his 2024 Oscar-winning short The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. It is good to report that the filmmaker is back in style with his latest, The Phoenician Scheme, after stumbling a bit through the overly narrated and artificial (even for Anderson) Asteroid City, the most recent of his films to debut in Cannes,...

The signature quirks of Wes Anderson’s filmography have grown a little stale in recent years. Since The Grand Budapest Hotel, his films have increasingly seemed like simulations of themselves. His auteurish style of pastels, symmetry, and whimsy has been beaten to death with cheap imitation generative AI and social media pastiche, but it’s clear that only one person can be the master of his own style. The Phoenician Scheme makes a sharp correction. A film that reclaims Anderson’s visual language with a new sense of purpose and emotional resonance, it’s his best work in over a decade.

As anybody familiar with his filmography knows, Anderson’s films are always star-studded ensembles with even the biggest names fighting for a minute of screentime. The Phoenician Scheme places Benicio del Toro front and center as Zsa-zsa Korda, an eccentric and wealthy businessman intent on establishing his own nation...

Cannes Film Festival hosted the world premiere of The Phoenician Scheme, the latest film from director Wes Anderson, which boasts a star-studded cast ensemble and his return to the Croisette after premiering Asteroid City in 2023 and The French Dispatch in 2021.

Anderson was joined by the stars of the film, including Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Benicio del Toro, Rupert Friend, Mia Threapleton, Jeffrey Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antonia Desplat and Bill Murra,y who all walked the red carpet at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, Sunday, May 18.

Related: Deadline Studio at Cannes Film Festival 2025

Other guests who attended the event included Alexander Skarsgård, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Charlotte Le Bon, Julianne Moore, Edward Norton, Shia Labeouf, and Jury Members Alba Rohrwacher, Jeremy Strong, and Halle Berry.

Related: Cannes Film Festival 2025 In Photos: Awards Ceremony, Movie Premieres, Parties & More

The film is described as an espionage black comedy with a notably dark tone, exploring...

It’s easy to get star-struck by a Wes Anderson cast. There are Oscar winners, screen legends and blockbuster stars all occupying the same, impeccably ornamented space. It’s an entirely different experience getting star-struck by the Anderson troupe when you are the one leading his films.

“As a performer, it was amazing to play around within the scenes and try different things out and explore things with the sheer volume of talented people that he amasses,” says Mia Threapleton, “On a personal level, it was the most surreal experience of my life, because I’m suddenly stood next to Tom Hanks, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god, it’s Woody!’”

Hanks is among the ensemble of The Phoenician Scheme that includes Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch and Riz Ahmed, where Benicio Del Toro, Michael Cera and Threapleton, acting as the starring triumvirate.

“I’ve watched all of...

Over coffee in Soho, Antonia Desplat is describing her journey to Wes Anderson’s set for The Phoenician Scheme — the espionage drama that marks his fourth picture to compete for the Palme d’Or.

Desplat was working on French TV drama Made in France when the email arrived: “Wes wants to know if you want to come to Potsdam next week to play one of Benicio del Toro’s dead wives.”

One year before being beckoned to Germany by Anderson, Desplat had played the female lead in Johnny Depp’s Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness, opening in June, which chronicles Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani’s rampage through pre-World War I Paris. Desplat plays Modigliani’s lover, the formidable writer and poet Beatrice Hastings.

In response to that email request, Desplat says, “I literally just jumped on a plane, went to Potsdam, then next to Berlin, and had...

With four (soon to be five) films in Pixar's beloved "Toy Story" franchise, generations of audiences have been introduced to some of the most lovable characters in animated history. In particular, the core group of Andy's toys remains a staple in the entire catalog of not just Pixar Animation Studios but also Disney as a whole. Obviously, there is the inseparable (at least until "Toy Story 4") duo of Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), but how can we forget their friends Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog (Jim Varney/Blake Clark), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), and Bo Peep (Annie Potts)? The original gang of Andy's toys was first introduced to us in 1995, but once "Toy Story 2" hit theaters in 1999, we were introduced to a few new core members of the series, including Mrs. Potato Head (Estelle Harris), Jessie (Joan Cusack), and Bullseye.

A pedestrian was reportedly seriously injured near the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday after strong winds blew down a palm tree.

A section of the walkway along the Croisette, the main boulevard that runs through the seaside resort, was closed as emergency workers cleared debris. The accident occurred near the Mademoiselle Gray Plage Barriere beach, a venue where many parties and events are held during the festival.

A spokesperson for Cannes confirmed that a pedestrian had been injured, but referred other inquiries to City Hall. A spokesperson for City Hall did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was not immediately clear what injuries the person had suffered, but according to Screen International, “A man was…seen lying on the ground with blood coming from his head, being attended to by fellow pedestrians, and emergency services were called.”

Another witness told the Afp: “There was a terrible...

A Minecraft Movie North America Box Office: Around $5 Million Away From Surpassing Toy Story 3( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Jason Momoa and Jack Black’s A Minecraft Movie moves past Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Civil War to enter the Top 45 highest-grossing films of all time at the North American box office. It still has some juice left and is expected to surpass Toy Story 3 soon and achieve a notable feat by climbing the all-time grosser list in the US. Keep scrolling for the deets.

The third installment in the Toy Story franchise was released in theaters in 2010 by Lee Unkrich. The ensemble voice cast featured Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Jeff Pidgeon, Jodi Benson, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, and R. Lee Ermey. It was the first animated feature to earn $1 billion at the worldwide box office and the highest-grossing...

The black market for Cannes parties and screenings is alive and well, according to a list seen by Screendaily.

One of the most expensive offerings is a pair of tickets to Scarlett Johansson’s Eleanor The GreatUn Certain Regard premiere and after-party on May 20, which are being touted for $5,495 per person. A photo with Johansson is on offer for an extra $1,995.

The film’s distributor Sony Pictures Classics was unavailable for comment. However a festival spokesperson responded robustly.

“Tickets issued by the Festival de Cannes are free of charge and strictly prohibited from being sold. Any attempt to sell or...

The black market for Cannes parties and screenings is alive and well, according to a list seen by Screendaily.

One of the most expensive offerings is a pair of tickets to Scarlett Johansson’s Eleanor The GreatUn Certain Regard premiere and after-party on May 20, which are being touted for $5,495 per person. A photo with Johansson is on offer for an extra $1,995.

The film’s distributor Sony Pictures Classics was unavailable for comment. However a festival spokesperson responded robustly.

“Tickets issued by the Festival de Cannes are free of charge and strictly prohibited from being sold. Any attempt to sell or...

Leading sales agency Beta Cinema has revealed a tranche of sales to major territories for “Let It Rain,” “The Physician II” and “The Light.”

The Swedish comedy “Let It Rain,” directed by two-time Oscar-nominee Hannes Holm, was sold to Leonine (German-speaking territories), Benelux and Singapore (September Film), Czech Republic (Film Europe), Former Yugoslavia (Blitz), Bulgaria (Beta Film) and Israel (Lev Cinemas).

Robert Gustafsson (“The 100-Year-Old Man”), Jonas Karlsson (“The Snowman”) and Karin Lithman (“The Bridge”) star in the tale of a grumpy widower who, by miracle or coincidence, finds himself at the center of an event that could transform not only his own life but the fate of his entire village—and possibly the world. Holm earned two Academy Award nominations for “A Man Called Ove” in 2015. The film became an international box office hit in 2016, grossing over $30 million worldwide, and was later remade as “A Man Called Otto,” starring Tom Hanks.

This week’s film quiz, should you choose to accept it, features questions about the Mission: Impossible movie franchise.

Over time, the Mission: Impossible franchise has become one of Hollywood’s most reliable staples. After running (practically galloping) for almost 30 years, Tom Cruise’s adventures as Ethan Hunt will apparently culminate in next Wednesday’s big release, The Final Reckoning, so we’re marking the occasion with a quiz round all about the thrills and spills so far.

Once you’ve completed this week’s quiz, you’ll find a link to a separate post with the correct answers at the bottom of this post. As always, this is just for fun, but please let us know how you did in the comments (scores out of 30 this week!) and give us any other lovely feedback. And after that, this film quiz will self-destruct in five seconds…

Round One – This Week...

Gary Sinise is one of those Hollywood legends who is equally popular in television and cinema. Lieutenant Dan of Forrest Gump or Detective Mac Taylor of CSI: NY has had a career that spans over four decades now. But behind this popular face, there is a man whose life might surprise even his biggest fans.

Sinise was born in Blue Island, Illinois, and has built an impressive career as an actor, director, producer, and musician. He has won Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. But beyond the show business, he is a humanitarian, a veteran supporter, and a man of many talents. Let’s explore 10 such lesser-known facts about Gary Sinise.

1. Acting was not his first choice Gary Sinise in 13 Reasons Why | Credit: Netflix

Would you believe that one of Hollywood’s most respected actors had no interest in the craft initially? When Gary Sinise was in high school,...

Mark Ruffalo stars as an FBI agent tasked with solving a series of violent robberies in the new HBO drama series “Task.”

From “Mare of Easttown” creator Brad Ingelsby, “Task” dives into the working class suburbs of Philadelphia as Ruffalo’s character puts together a crucial Task Force. The cast is rounded out by Tom Pelphrey, Emilia Jones, Jamie McShane, Sam Keeley, Thuso Mbedu, Fabien Frankel and Alison Oliver.

Ingelsby directed both Kate Winslet and Julianne Nicholson to Emmy wins in “Mare of Easttown.” “Task” is directed and executive produced by Jeremiah Zagar and Salli Richardson-Whitfield. Additional executive producers include Ruffalo, Mark Roybal, Paul Lee, David Crockett and Ron Schmidt, while Mark Roybal and Paul Lee executive produce for wiip. Nicole Jordan-Webber and Jeremy Yaches co-executive produce for Public Record.

“Task” will debut this September on HBO with the seven episodes debuting weekly. Watch the first official teaser below.

First...

Benicio del Toro explains the unusual way in which Wes Anderson cast him in The Phoenician Scheme. Set for release early next month, the Anderson-directed movie features del Toro as Zsa-zsa Korda, who meets up with his daughter, Liesl, who he names his sole heir. The pair travel the world together as Zsa-zsa attempts to close business deals and bond with Liesl along the way. In addition to del Toro, the movie features Mia Threaplton, Michael Cera, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Scarlett Johansson, Riz Ahmed, and Tom Hanks.

Per The LA Times, del Toro and Anderson detail how the actor got cast in The Phoenician Scheme. According to the actor, Anderson approached him at a dinner at the Cannes Film Festival after he premiered The French Dispatch to tell him about a new project, with 20 pages already written. He specifically had del Toro in mind. Gradually, the director...

It has been 50 years of SNL entertaining viewers, filled with live sketches, celebrity jokes, and famous cold opens. Now that Saturday Night Live is heading into its 51st season, it might be that time again when they go through some massive shake-ups. The 50th anniversary was a big deal, and it was filled with jokes, laughs, and celebrations. And now, with the spotlight fading from the celebrations, the big question looms: who is sticking around and who is set to leave?

Rumors are swirling around 30 Rock that a few big names could be stepping away. Honestly, it won’t be the first time SNL has hit the reset button on its crew. We have gone from the golden days of Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner to today’s stars like Bowen Yang and Michael Che. The cast has always been rotating and scouting new talent. But the idea of losing...

After experimenting with the world of Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson is back for another original tale in the form of The Phoenician Scheme, which ScreenRant is inviting its viewers to come to for a special early screening. The movie, written by Anderson on a story developed by him and Roman Coppola, the black comedy centers on wealthy business owner, Benicio del Toro's Zsa-zsa Korda, well-renowned for his successful ventures and frequent aeronautical crashes. When he elects to appoint his daughter, a nun, as the sole heir to his estate, they find themselves the targets of a wide array of enemies.

Just over a week before it gets its wide release, ScreenRant will be hosting two special early screenings of The Phoenician Scheme. The screenings will be held concurrently in Los Angeles at AMC The Grove and New York City at AMC Lincoln Square at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21. Tickets are limited,...

On the heels of her breakout performance in The White Lotus, Aimee Lou Wood has now joined director Marc Forster's adaptation of Anxious People. Based on the Fredrik Backman novel, the film casts Wood as a robber who (unwittingly) takes strangers hostage after a bank heist gone wrong.

The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood will join Angelina Jolie in Anxious People, a feature adaptation of author Fredrik Backman's namesake novel.Deadline confirmed Wood has been cast as the story's catalyst and reluctant villain. David Magee developed the screenplay with Marc Forster set to direct; both have previously collaborated in the 2022 adaptation of Backman's A Man Called Otto. The film is currently looking for domestic and international distributors at Cannes, via WME Independent and Black Bear Pictures.

Per synopsis, Anxious People starts on "the day before Christmas Eve, [when] investment banker Zara (Jolie) begrudgingly finds herself mingling with a...

CNN Originals will reteam with executive producers Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog for a new installment in their Emmy-nominated Decades Series with Decades In Sports. The CNN Original Series will premiere in 2026.

Decades in Sports continues the CNN Original Series’ partnership with Playtone. That which includes over eight seasons and over 70 hours of television, including The Sixties, 1968: The Year That Changed America, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The 2000s, The 2010s, The Movies and Tis the Season: Holidays on Film.

“Tom, Mark and I are delighted to be working with Amy Entelis again,” said Goetzman. “We’ve always felt great support and creative freedom from her and her team at CNN Originals.”

The six-part series will unravel the thrill of the victory and the agony of defeat across six decades of larger-than-life athletes, intense rivalries and stunning upsets that encapsulate the command sports have on our cultural attention.

Television shows thrive on high drama, and there's pretty much nothing more high drama than an actual war. From medieval clashes to modern infantry showdowns, these conflicts have been a popular topic of on-screen narratives for decades. Sometimes, these shows reflect the sacrifice of previous generations. But often, they -- like many of the greatest war films of all time -- serve to highlight the horrors and futility of war. 

Either way, these war series don't scrimp on the emotional side of things, not just focusing on actual battle sequences (although we often get plenty of that), but the more intimate ramifications of individuals whose countries are at war. And although the majority of these popular series are, naturally, dramas with a heavy action leaning, there are also a surprising number of sitcoms about war, which frequently use gallows humor or surreal comedy to showcase the inherent absurdity of these conflicts.

CNN unveiled a slate of new originals that includes series featuring Eva Longoria and Tony Shalhoub and the renewal of Have I Got News For You.

The lineup was unveiled today as part of the Warner Bros. Discovery upfront presentation.

Eva Longoria: Searching for France, debuting in 2026, will be the latest in the network’s Searching For franchise. This fall, the network will debut the international food and travel series Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread.

Announced earlier were two new documentary features, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not and In the Prime of Life, as the network puts new focus on its CNN Films unit. Other highlights: Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog are executive producers of the original series Decades in Sports, while the network will mark the 250th anniversary of the United States with the project tentatively titled This Land Is Your Land, with October Films as producer.

It’s no secret that Tom Cruise loves his annual Christmas traditions, with the most legendary one being his iconic holiday cake list. Only an elite group of Hollywood stars and A-listers are blessed with the famous Doan’s Bakery white chocolate coconut bundt cake from the Top Gun actor every December. Landing a spot on the list has essentially become a rite of passage in the industry.

But what does it take to earn a sweet spot on Cruise’s cake radar? Simon Pegg recently jokingly broke down the core elements of a friendship with Tom Cruise. And behind the humor lie a strict set of “rules”. From physical trials to building real connections, here’s a look into three things actors need to keep in mind if they wanna be on the recipients’ list of this delicious holiday tradition.

1. Bond with Tom Cruise (beyond the set)

Simon Pegg...

Simon Pegg will soon be seen reuniting with Tom Cruise for their upcoming movie, and we honestly cannot wait to see the Mission: Impossible duo back in action. While Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is making its way to the theaters, there is one person who will not be able to attend the movie’s premiere – Matilda Pegg.

Due to commitments to her education, Simon Pegg’s teenage daughter will not be seen at the movie’s premiere. However, if it were up to Tom Cruise, Matilda would be by his father’s side on the red carpet, putting her school on the back burner. Luckily, Simon Pegg was right there to steer his daughter in the right direction.

Tom Cruise’s horrible advice for Simon Pegg’s daughter Simon Pegg on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show | Credits: Virgin Radio UK

Matilda attended the premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead...

The Cannes Film Festival kicked off its 78th edition with the Opening Ceremony and the world premiere of Amélie Bonnin’s debut feature, Partir Un Jour (Leave One Day), led by Juliette Armanet, Bastien Bouillon, and François Rollin.

The premiere was attended by the cast of the film, including Quentin Tarantino, Rossy De Palma, Julia Garner, Nava Mau, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, and Leonardo DiCaprio, who presented the honorary Palme d’Or to Robert De Niro.

Leave One Day follows Cécile, a budding restaurateur whose ambition to open a gourmet haven in Paris takes an unexpected detour. A family crisis compels her return to her rural roots, where, amidst the echoes of her youth, she reconnects with a long-lost love.

Related: ‘Leave One Day’ Review: Amélie Bonnin’s Nostalgic Musical Debut Is A Stealth Charmer – Cannes Film Festival

The festival formally kicked off on Monday with the poster installation, then moved to the Hotel Martinez,...

Neon has tapped industry veteran Alison Cohen as General Counsel, President of Business & Legal Affairs. She joins from FilmNation Entertainment, where she managed the business and legal affairs of the all the company’s divisions, including television, film, podcasting and live theater and was responsible for all of the company’s joint ventures and credit facility.

In her new role at Neon, Cohen will oversee the business affairs for the company’s activities in development, production, finance, acquisitions, and distribution, and act as point counsel for the company’s burgeoning merchandising, digital distribution, and music endeavors. She will also work closely with CEO Tom Quinn and CFO Ryan Friscia on all of the company’s strategic initiatives and corporate matters.

During her near 16-year tenure at FilmNation, Cohen executive produced several of the company’s films including Oscar winning titles Anora, Conclave, and Promising Young Woman, as well as Greyhound starring Tom Hanks,...

The experience of interviewing Wes Anderson is not unlike the experience of watching a Wes Anderson film. It’s brisk. There are entertaining asides. The material is thoughtful and laced with detail that you will often only recognize in retrospect — sometimes after exiting the theater or, in this case, hanging up the phone.

The occasion of this particular conversation is the Cannes Film Festival. To date, Anderson has premiered three films at the Palais — Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The French Dispatch (2021) and Asteroid City (2023) — and will be back this year with his latest feature, The Phoenician Scheme. Like the other directors The Hollywood Reporter has called a Legend of the Croisette — from Ken Loach to Nanni Moretti — Anderson, a lover of film in addition to a maker, feels inextricably linked to the festival where cinema is at its most venerated.

The Phoenician Scheme, out May 30 via Focus Features, stars Benicio del Toro as European tycoon Zsa-Zsa Korda,...

Michael Cera is getting behind the camera for his directorial feature debut and has quietly amassed a impressive cast, Variety understands

The actor — best known for roles in “Barbie,” “Superbad,” “Scott Pilgrim vs the World,” and “Arrested Development” — is set to direct “Love Is Not the Answer,” with Pamela Anderson (“The Last Showgirl”), Steve Coogan (“Philomena”), Fred Hechinger (“Gladiator 2”) and Jamie Dornan (“Belfast”) lined up to star. mk2 Films will launching the project in Cannes.

The plot of the film is being kept under wraps, but it’s described as a “precise yet unpredictable, absurdist comedy that moves between hilarity and heartbreak as it explores modern loneliness and the search for connection.”

“Love Is Not the Answer” also teams Cera — who penned the script — with fast-rising hitmakers 2am, led by Christine D’Souza Gelb, David Hinojosa and Kevin Rowe and producers of “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies,” “Past Lives,” “Babygirl,” Celine Song...

Jamie Lee Curtis has succeeded in having Meta remove an AI-generated ad featuring her likeness.

The Oscar winner took to Instagram on Monday to publicly “shame” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg into taking down a “totally AI fake commercial” on his social media platform.

“It’s come to this @zuck,” she started in the caption. “Hi. We have never met. My name is Jamie Lee Curtis and I have gone through every proper channel to ask you and your team to take down this totally AI fake commercial for some bull— that I didn’t authorize, agree to or endorse. I tried to Dm you and slide on in, but you don’t follow me so I’ve had to take to the public Instaverse to try to reach you.”

Curtis continued, “If I have a brand, besides being an actor and author and advocate, it is that I am known...

Oscar season is ready to start.

The 2025 Cannes Film Festival kicks off on Tuesday with a lineup that includes new movies from Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, Richard Linklater, Spike Lee, Lynne Ramsay, and more of the world’s top auteurs.

In many ways, the Cannes Film Festival is more important than ever for the awards race. Over the last five years, multiple movies that premiered on the French Riviera have gone on to receive Best Picture nominations at the Academy Awards, including Oscar winners Parasite and Anora, and nominees Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Substance, and Emilia Pérez. With the 2025 lineup loaded with some highly anticipated titles, it would be considered an upset if at least one or two of the following movies failed to secure eventual Oscar bids in the top categories.

Ahead of the Cannes Film Festival, here are the 11 projects...

With the 78th Cannes Film Festival set to Tuesday, more than 100 international film journalists have signed an open statement urging festival organizers, studios, and talent representatives to improve access to talent interviews — a concern that has sparked growing frustration across major film events worldwide.

The protest, which follows a similar action launched at the Venice Film Festival last year, calls on Cannes director Thierry Frémaux and his counterparts at other major festivals to publicly support “good film journalism” and to push for more equitable access to talent during festivals. The signees argue that without meaningful interviews, serious coverage of cinema is being sidelined in favor of brief promotional appearances and soundbite-driven content. For many freelancers, access is a matter of survival, as selling exclusive interviews is how they finance their travel and accommodations to Cannes and other events.

“In Berlin, it was a little bit better, with most films junketing there,...

When it comes to animation, no studio has captured the hearts of moviegoers quite like Pixar in the last three decades. The Disney-owned company’s first feature-length film, Toy Story, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. However, Pixar has been around a lot longer than 1995. Prior to fans meeting Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and Woody (Tom Hanks), Pixar was making some of the best animated shorts around. Now one of their first shorts is being immortalized in Lego.

Lego’s latest “Ideas” set is based on 1986’s Luxo Jr. and has 613 pieces. This was the first CGI film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award, but is best known for becoming the groundwork for the iconic Pixar logo. In the short, Luxo Jr., a mischievous lamp, is trying to pop a bouncy ball. The same ball that would later end up in Toy Story. In this set you...

You’d think being the daughter of Oscar-winner Kate Winslet might prepare you for working off a fellow screen legend like Tom Hanks. Think again. During a recent interview with Vanity Fair ahead of the Cannes premiere of what could be her breakout role, Winslet scion Mia Threapleton recounted her experience working with some of cinema’s top talent on Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme.”

“I remember this moment where I had Tom Hanks on my left, Bryan Cranston on my right, Riz Ahmed diagonally, Benicio in front of me, Wes at one end, and Michael [Cera] to the other side,” said Threapleton. “Tom was telling a story about an experience that he’d had filming ‘Saving Private Ryan.’ I just sat there and I put my hands under my legs. I’m thinking, ‘It’s bloody Woody.’ Get out! What am I doing here? This is ridiculous.”

A...

Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis developed an interest in film and television at an early age and first worked in his native Chicago as an editor for TV commercials and news programs. This work led him to apply as a transfer student to the University of Southern California film school where his application material included a music video, set to a song by The Beatles. (Not surprisingly his first film would be “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” about a bunch of high school students obsessed with Beatlemania.)

He was initially rejected by USC but he begged an official to reconsider and promised to bring his low grade point average up by attending summer school. This brashness would also play a big part in his initial success as a director when he barged into Steven Spielberg’s office with a copy of his student film and asked Spielberg to employ him. The...

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Jules is a sci-fi comedy-drama film directed by Marc Turtletaub from a screenplay by Gavin Steckler. The 2023 film follows Milton Robinson, an elderly man whose peaceful life is interrupted when a UFO crashes in his backyard. He soon befriends the alien, but things go awry when his neighbors and the government learn about the alien. Jules stars Ben Kingsley, Harriet Sansom Harris, Zoë Winters, Jade Quon, and Jane Curtin. So, if you loved the entertaining story and likable characters in Jules, here are some similar movies you should check out next.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Universal Pictures

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a sci-fi adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Melissa Mathison. The 1982 film follows Elliott, a young boy who comes across an alien and names him E.T.

Exclusive: Jayden Bartels, star of hit streaming series Goosebumps: The Vanishing, has signed for the lead role in Mj Bassett-directed suspense thriller Lullaby, which is poised to shoot in this fall.

Bartels plays Jessica, a pregnant teen who tries to take her life but is rescued by a lonely woman who nurses her back to health, with the ulterior motive of stealing the infant and then finishing off what she originally stopped.

UK writer, producer and director Bassett directs from a script co-written by Tim Sullivan with Edward A. Romero and Chris Roe. Ken F. Levin at NightSky Productions is producing. Bassett’s sword and sorcery movie Red Sonja will be released by Samuel Goldwyn Films later this year.

“Once I read the script, I immediately understood and felt a connection to Jessica,” said Bartels. “I was both excited and terrified for this role because just like Jessica,...

Netflix has quite a queue of stellar comedies available right now.

The streaming giant has a constant carousel of rotating titles coming in and out, but for fans of the comedy genre, there are several strong picks available. Whether it’s a handful of romcoms starring Glen Powell, a fun-for-the-whole-family animated road trip movie, or one of the most hilarious releases of 2025, there is something for everyone who’s looking for some funny movies to watch.

These are the best new comedies on Netflix right now.

Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney in “Anyone but You” (Credit: Sony Pictures) Anyone But You

“Anyone But You” did great at the box office but has lit up Netflix ever since it landed and continues to be a worthwhile watch. Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney play a pair who hooked up and went their separate ways, only to find themselves both invited to a wedding in Australia,...