News

It’s official: Tom Rothman has signed a multi-year extension of his contract as Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group. The deal will currently make Rothman the longest serving film chief in Hollywood, and that includes his run at 20th Century Fox.

Some have wondered whether Rothman would ever retire, and the fact of the matter is that he loves the movie business a tremendous amount. This is seen in him being a steadfast proponent of theatrical, and a believer in its future longevity, not just in franchises, but original movies as well. For Rothman, cinema is about the big swings. If theatrical is going to survive, originality must prevail, and sometimes that means co-financing some projects ensuring that they hit the screen.

The news comes as Sony is expected to have a big summer with Karate Kid: Legends on May 30 and Oscar winner Danny Boyle’s...

Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow) has set Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) and Gillian Anderson (Sex Education) to lead Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, their next film for Mubi, which will go into production in British Columbia this summer.

In Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, the infamous Camp Miasma slasher franchise is getting rebooted yet again. But when the latest movie’s director becomes obsessed with the mysterious, reclusive actress who played the “final girl” in the original film, a whole new kind of slasher emerges from the bottom of the lake.

Plan B is producing. Daniel Bekerman from Scythia Films is exec producing and will provide local production services. Mubi is financing the film and will distribute in select territories, including North America, Latin America, UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Turkey, India, Australia, and New Zealand, with The Match Factory handling remaining worldwide sales.

Mubi will finance and distribute in select territories Jane Schoenbrun’s next feature film Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma.Plan B will produce the film starring Hannah Einbinder from Hacks and Gillian Anderson from The X-Files and The Crown.

Schoenbrun also wrote the screenplay for their follow-up to 2024 Sundance selection I Saw The TV Glow and 2021 Sundance entry We’re All Going To The World’s Fair.

Production is scheduled to commence this summer in British Columbia.Daniel Bekerman of Scythia Films is executive producer and will provide local production services.

Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma takes place...

“Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder and “The X-Files” legend Gillian Anderson are teaming up to take on a new kind of slasher movie.

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” will mark the third feature from Jane Schoenbrun, whose psychological horror drama “I Saw the TV Glow” became one of the most acclaimed indies of 2024.

Plan B is producing the film, with Mubi financing and to distribute across will distribute in select territories, including North America, Latin America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Turkey, India, Australia, and New Zealand. The Match Factory is handling remaining worldwide sales.

In “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” the infamous “Camp Miasma” slasher franchise is getting rebooted yet again. But when the latest movie’s director becomes obsessed with the mysterious, reclusive actress who played the “final girl” in the original film, a whole new kind of slasher emerges from the bottom of the lake.

Jane Schoenbrun’s latest feature film “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” has been boarded by Mubi, which will finance and distribute the film in select territories.

Newly announced by Mubi on Friday, “Camp Miasma” will star “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder and “X-Files” star Gillian Anderson, and it will go into production this summer in British Columbia.

Schoenbrun wrote and will direct the film about a director hired to yet again reboot a slasher horror franchise called “Camp Miasma.” But when the latest movie’s director becomes obsessed with the mysterious, reclusive actress who played the “final girl” in the original film, a whole new kind of slasher emerges from the bottom of the lake.

Brad Pitt’s Plan B has also boarded the film and is producing. Daniel Bekerman, who is executive producing, will provide local production services via his Scythia Films. Mubi is financing the film and will distribute in select territories,...

Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow) has set their next feature film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, starring Hacks star Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.

Plan B Entertainment will produce, with arthouse distributor and streamer Mubi financing and distributing the film in North America, Latin America, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Turkey, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

The Match Factory is handling worldwide sales on the project.

“I make movies I wish existed when I was a kid,” said Schoenbrun. “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is my best attempt at the ‘sleepover classic’: an insane yet cozy midnight odyssey that beckons to unsuspecting viewers from the horror section at the local video store. I couldn’t be more excited to be heading to sleepaway camp this summer with the mad comic genius Hannah Einbinder, the legendary Gillian Anderson, and the daring folks at Mubi and Plan B,...

As summertime approaches, anticipation starts to grow for the annual Fantasia International Film Festival, held every year in Montreal. This year makes the festival’s 29th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 17 through August 3, 2025, presented by Mels in collaboration with Concordia University. Fantasia returns to their usual venues of Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screenings and events at Montreal’s Cinéma du Musée.

Fantasia will announce the full lineup in July, but for now, they’ve provided a delicious list for its first wave of titles, which include Julia Pacino’s feature film debut, the latest from the Adams’ Family, Kurtis David Harder’s sequel film Influencers, and so much more.

Check out the first wave of 2025 Fantasia titles below: Terrestrial (dir. Steve Pink)

World Premiere

As director of the Hot Tub Time Machine films, Accepted, and About Last Night,...

The 29th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is set to run from from July 17th through August 3rd at the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas in Montreal, with additional screenings and events at Cinéma du Musée – and today the festival announced the first wave of titles that will be screening there this year! The full line-up will be announced in early July, but for here’s a sample of what attendees can expect to see there, with the information coming directly from the Fantasia press release:

Terrestrial Reveals A Different Shade Of (Steve) Pink: As director of the Hot Tub Time Machine films, Accepted, and About Last Night, and the co-writer of High Fidelity and Grosse Point Blank, Steve Pink has made a distinctive name for himself with individualistic comedy works that ooze personality. Now, he’s exploring darker edges of his sensibilities with Terrestrial,...

The Fantasia International Film Festival is one of the very best events to experience the latest and greatest genre films from around the world. There's nothing quite like it, and if you haven't had a chance to attend, I highly recommend planning a visit to Montreal this summer, especially now that the first wave of titles has been officially announced:

From the Press Release: "The Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its upcoming 29th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 17 through August 3, 2025, returning to the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screenings and events at Montreal’s Cinéma du Musée.

The festival’s full lineup will be announced in early July but in the meantime, Fantasia is excited to reveal a select first wave of premiere titles.

Terrestrial Reveals A Different Shade Of (Steve) Pink

As director of...

The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 29th edition with another densely packed slate of events and programming running from July 17 through August 3, 2025, returning to the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas and presented by Mels, with additional screenings and events at Montreal’s Cinéma du Musée.

The festival’s full lineup will be announced in early July, but in the meantime, Fantasia 2025 has revealed a select first wave of premiere titles. Highlights include Influencers, writer-director Kurtis David Harder‘s follow up to his 2022 thriller. Actor Al Pacino‘s daughter, film producer Julie Pacino, makes her feature directorial debut with the Lynchian I Live Here Now. From the director behind Hot Tub Time Machine and multiple episodes of “Santa Clarita Diet,” Steve Pink, comes an unconventional sci-fi comedy Terrestrial. The Adams family (Hellbender) is back with Mother of Flies, desrcribed as a personal dark fairy tale.

Mubi, the global streamer, producer and distributor behind “The Substance,” has struck a major three-year co-production, financing and distribution agreement with Our Films, the new Rome-based company founded by prominent European producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli.

Our Films, which is part of Mediawan, was launched last year by Gianani and Mieli, and has already become a creative hub for world-class filmmakers from Europe, the U.S. and overseas. Mubi and Our Films share the same passion for artistically ambitious movies that resonate internationally. The agreement also underscores Mediawan’s drive to further strengthen their status as a leading prestige European film studio.

The first film to emerge from this strategic alliance will be the next feature from Paweł Pawlikowski, the Oscar-winning director of “Ida” and “Cold War.”

Mieli previously successfully collaborated with Mubi on three high-profile films: Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” starring Cailee Spaeny; Pablo Larraín’s “Maria,” starring...

Spike Lee is reflecting on the impact that Jim Jarmusch’s “Stranger Than Paradise” had on his own film career. Lee said during the Criterion Channel’s “Adventures in Moviegoing” that he admired fellow auteur Jarmusch while the duo were both at the Tisch grad school for film.

When asked by host Sheril Antonio, the New York University Tisch School of the Arts’ Senior Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives, which directors most influenced his filmmaking while he was in school there, Lee said, “The first has got to be Jim Jarmusch. He was two years ahead of me [in grad school]. I worked in the equipment room, so I checked out the equipment. I mean, Jim’s hair was white even back then! So when ‘Stranger Than Paradise’ hit [in 1984], that was like a revelation to everybody. He still is our hero.”

It was only two years later when Lee had his own directorial...

It's well known throughout Hollywood that Bill Murray doesn't have an agent. Back in 2019, Murray spoke with IndieWire about how his home phone used to ring and ring, pestering him with job offers and potential movie roles. He hated hearing from his agent, preferring to answer the phone if it was a friend just calling to chat. He preferred his privacy. Murray was in-demand enough that he could afford to set up a 1-800 number that he would only distribute to a few key filmmakers or casting directors. He understood that there were various studios around Hollywood where some beleaguered interns were commanded to "Get Bill Murray on the phone!" Luckily, those interns had his 1-800 number, which would direct callers to a computerized voice message system. Murray could then check the machine whenever he wanted, picking through demands at random.

This may be why Murray tends to work with the same directors repeatedly.

David Cronenberg has shared his current view on the movie theater experience, describing it as less appealing than it once was. At the same time, he’s expanding his creative participation in genre film—this time not behind the camera, but on screen—by joining the cast of Ready or Not: Here I Come, the upcoming sequel to the 2019 horror-thriller Ready or Not.

Speaking with filmmaker Jim Jarmusch in Interview Magazine, Cronenberg addressed several aspects of watching films today. He noted that he rarely attends public screenings. “I stopped going to the cinema many years ago,” he said. “I only see movies in real theaters every once in a while, mostly at film festivals, and I’ve found that the projection isn’t always so great.”

Cronenberg said he watches everything with subtitles and mentioned practical inconveniences such as parking in Toronto. But his reaction extended beyond logistics. “I don...

David Cronenberg isn’t rushing to be the first one at the theater to see the latest blockbuster.

During a recent chat with Jim Jarmusch for Interview Magazine, the director-writer-actor, known as a leader of the body horror genre, shared that he doesn’t prefer the communal experience of going to the movies.

After noting that part of the reason was because he watches “everything with subtitles” due to his hearing and that “parking is not so great in Toronto,” he expanded on why he “stopped going to the cinema many years ago.”

“I only see movies in real theaters every once in a while, mostly at film festivals, and I’ve found that the projection isn’t always so great,” Cronenberg explained. “I remember being in Venice onstage with Spike Lee and some others. He was talking about the Cathedral of Cinema, the whole religious aspect of it. And I said,...

While many filmmakers are championing the use of film when shooting movies and defending the cinematic experience, Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg (“The Shrouds”) won’t be in either’s corner.

The king of body horror recently spoke with fellow director Jim Jarmusch for Interview Magazine (via IndieWire), where he pointed out that seeing movies in theaters isn’t all that it is cracked up to be, and pointed out his age and not having that “communal” feeling contributing to the lack of importance to him when viewing movies.

Continue reading David Cronenberg Says Cinematic Experience Not “All That Great” & Doesn’t “Feel That Communal Thing” at The Playlist.

Don’t count David Cronenberg among the auteurs carrying the torch for theatrical exhibition. Speaking to Jim Jarmusch for Interview Magazine, the body horror legend explained that he doesn’t see communal movie-going as an inherently superior way to watch his films.

“I only see movies in real theaters every once in a while, mostly at film festivals, and I’ve found that the projection isn’t always so great,” Cronenberg said. “I remember being in Venice onstage with Spike Lee and some others. He was talking about the Cathedral of Cinema, the whole religious aspect of it. And I said, ‘Spike, I’m watching “Lawrence of Arabia” on my watch, and there are a thousand camels there. I can see every one of them.’ I was joking, but what I meant was, I don’t find the cinema experience all that great. Maybe it’s because I’m older.

Gold Derby's top news stories for April 18, 2025. 

Darth Maul animated series in the works at Disney+

At the Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, Lucasfilm announced that a new animated series about iconic, double-ended-lightsaber-wielding Sith lord Darth Maul, titled Maul - Shadow Lord, is coming to Disney+ in 2026. Sam Witwer will return to voice Maul, having voice the character several times previously. The series is set after the events of the final season of animated series The Clone Wars, and follows Maul as he rises again to lead the underworld factions.

Conan O'Brien Must Go Season 2 gets trailer and premiere date

Conan O'Brien Must Go, Max's Emmy-winning travel comedy series, will return for Season 2 on May 8. In the three-episode season, Conan O'Brien visits Spain, Austria, and New Zealand, with guest appearances by Javier Bardem and Taika Waititi. New episodes debut weekly on Thursdays, concluding with the season finale on May...

As a bloodsucking Transylvanian Count once sort of said, "Listen to them, genre filmmakers of the night. What vampire movies they make!" And they sure do make some pretty great vampire movies. Whether it's a grandiose sweeping romance made by the director of The Godfather to honour the most famous vampire book ever made, a hundred-plus-year-old work of pure German Expressionist terror, or a Kiwi comic caper that gives the undead the mockumentary treatment, time and again moviemakers have found new and ever-edifying ways to bring fresh blood to one of genre storytelling's most perennially appealing creatures of the night.

But with such a deep, presumably claret-filled pool of vampire cinema to dive into, we know just how hard it can be to bite the bullet (and/or neck) and whittle down the ever-growing watchlist to the true genre essentials. And so, with that in mind, we here at Empire have drawn our holy water,...

Competirá por la Palma de Oro en el Festival de Cannes 2025. © A24

A24 ha desvelado el primer tráiler y póster de la película Eddington, el cuarto largometraje de Ari Aster tras Hereditary, Midsommar y Beau tiene miedo.

Eddington se sitúa en mayo de 2020, cuando un enfrentamiento entre el sheriff de un pequeño pueblo (Phoenix) y el alcalde (Pascal) provoca un estallido social que divide a los vecinos en bandos opuestos en Eddington, Nuevo México.

La película está protagonizada por Joaquin Phoenix, y Pedro Pascal junto a Luke Grimes (Yellowstone), Deirdre O’Connell (¡Olvídate de mí!), Micheal Ward (El imperio de la luz), Amélie Hoeferle (La piscina), Clifton Collins Jr. (Star Trek), William Belleau (Los asesinos de la luna), Austin Butler (Dune: Parte dos) y Emma Stone (Pobres criaturas).

Aster habló de este proyecto hace años en una sesión Ama (Ask Me Anything) en Reddit, donde dijo: «Hubo un momento en el...

The clock is ticking—it’s the eleventh hour. The Délégué général Thierry Frémaux is deep in the final throes of curating this year’s Competition lineup and he is currently weighing in on the last few masterstrokes for the Class of ’25. Rushed in at the wire, a handful of freshly picture-locked films are being evaluated and with only two or three slots left for the Palme d’Or comp, there are are maybe a dozen of antsy filmmakers hoping they get the invite. We might hear of the new titles tomorrow or perhaps early next week and we can only assume that Jim Jarmusch and Arnaud Desplechin might still options on the bingo card but were of the opinion that they were kept on ice incase something more noteworthy trickled in.…...

Cate Blanchett announced earlier this week that she is considering stepping away from acting. In a recent interview with Radio Times, the two-time Oscar winner revealed, “My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting. [There are] a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

While Blanchett has remained busy with high-profile projects — including Disclaimer for Apple TV+ and Jim Jarmusch’s upcoming film Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, c0starring Adam Driver — she sounded sincere about stepping away from the business. Fame, she admits, has never felt entirely natural.

“When you go on a talk show, or even here now, and then you see sound bites of things you’ve said, pulled out and italicized, they sound really loud. I’m not that person,” she explained. “I make more sense in motion – it’s been a long...

Cate Blanchett, a two-time Oscar winner, has told the British press she is retiring from acting in the near future.

The actor-producer said in an interview with Radio Times this week that she wasn’t sure calling herself an “actress” was quite accurate: “It’s because I’m giving up… My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting. [There are] a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

The Australian star spoke ahead of BBC’s Radio 4 airing an adaptation of Wallace Shawn’s The Fever, Blanchett’s first radio play. It follows a woman from a privileged background who visits an impoverished foreign country and suddenly becomes ill. She becomes emotionally unsettled and contemplates the little impact she’s had on the world.

Only recently, Blanchett’s acting credits include Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple TV...

Tilda Swinton is developing an exhibition for the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam that will include new film projects she will create in collaboration with a series of filmmakers, including Luca Guadagnino and Joanna Hogg.

The exhibition will be titled Tilda Swinton – Ongoing and will be on view from September 28 2025 to February 8 2026. The full list of filmmakers she has tapped for the exhibition are Pedro Almodóvar, Luca Guadagnino, Joanna Hogg, Jim Jarmusch, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Swinton will also create two installation pieces with fashion historian and curator Olivier Saillard and photographer Tim Walker.

The work of Derek Jarman, the late filmmaker behind seminal works like Jubilee and The Garden, will also be celebrated as part of the exhibition, with Swinton presenting never-before-seen archival material from his 8mm oeuvre. Jarman and Swinton were longtime collaborators, with the actor making her screen debut in Jarman’s Caravaggio.

“With the honour of this extraordinary invitation,...

Eighteen features and 10 short films will be in the lineup of the independent Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, organizers announced at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

The section will open with Robin Campillo’s “Enzo” and will also include German director Christian Petzold’s “Mirrors No. 3,” starring Paula Beer; the Ukrainian documentary “Militantropos,” from directors Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova and Simon Mozgovyi; “Dangerous Animals,” a horror film set at sea from Australian director Sean Byrne (“The Devil’s Candy”); the comedy “Peak Everything” from Canadian director Anne Émond; and the closing-night film, first-time director Eva Victor’s Sundance hit “Sorry, Baby,” which will be released by A24 in June.

The section does not convene a jury to choose the best of its films, but for the second consecutive year it will give out an audience award. Last year’s audience award, the first ever given out by any section at Cannes,...

With two Oscars in tow over the course of her 30-year-plus career — where she has played everyone from Queen Elizabeth I to fantasy heroes to an embattled maestro — Cate Blanchett said she is “serious” about stepping away from her craft one day.

The reveal came during a new interview with the U.K.’s Radio Times magazine, where the venerated actress is promoting her forthcoming and first-ever audioplay, BBC Radio 4’s The Fever, premiering this weekend. The adaptation of Wallace Shawn’s drama features a 90-minute monologue from an unnamed woman who travels to a civil war-torn country and becomes ill, realizing that her material comforts and privileges are bankrolled by oppression spurred by global capitalism.

While introducing herself for the tape, she hesitated to announce her title as actress, which co-director John Tiffany pointed out. She replied, “I did, didn’t I? It’s because I’m giving up.

Cate Blanchett has said she is seriously considering stepping away from acting, citing other personal interests and a long-standing discomfort with public attention. In a recent interview with Radio Times, the two-time Academy Award winner stated that her family often dismisses her comments about retiring, but she remains firm in her intent.

“My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting,” Blanchett said. “There are a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

Blanchett is currently featured in BBC Radio 4’s upcoming drama The Fever. The interview also touched on her ongoing discomfort with public appearances and celebrity culture. Speaking about the experience of being quoted out of context, she said, “When you go on a talk show, or even here now, and then you see soundbites of things you’ve said, pulled out and italicized,...

Cate Blanchett is surprising fans by revealing in an upcoming issue of Radio Times (via The Standard) that she is not going to be an actor forever. That’s not to say retirement is imminent for the two-time Oscar winner (“The Aviator” and “Blue Jasmine”), but there will come a time when Blanchett leaves the profession behind.

“My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting,” Blanchett said. “[There are] a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

Blanchett most recently starred opposite Michael Fassbender in Steven Soderbergh’s acclaimed spy drama “Black Bag,” which has earned $21 million at the domestic box office. She told the publication that she’s “spent a lifetime getting comfortable with the feeling of being uncomfortable” in the public eye as a famous actor.

“When you go on a talk show, or even here now,...

Cate Blanchett may be looking to diversify her career away from the screen. The acclaimed actress/producer told the Radio Times that she is considering “giving up acting,” however, there is no timeline just yet for a possible exit.

“My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it: I am serious about giving up acting,” Blanchett said. “[There are] a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

IndieWire has reached out for additional comment.

Blanchett won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2005 for “The Aviator” and Best Actress in 2014 for “Blue Jasmine.” She also was nominated for six other Oscars. The prolific star recently led Guy Maddin’s “Rumours,” Alfonso Cuarón’s series “Disclaimer,” Eli Roth’s “Borderlands,” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Black Bag.” Blanchett will next appear in Jim Jarmusch’s “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother.”

Blanchett, through her Dirty Films banner, also launched...

As he makes his transition from “Saturday Night Live” into cinema with films like “Wicked” and Andrew Ahn’s upcoming re-imagining of Ang Lee’s “The Wedding Banquet,” Bowen Yang is taking time out to pay homage to the filmmakers who have shaped his tastes. Taking a quick trip to the Criterion Closet, he offered his praise to filmmakers such as Wim Wenders and Whit Stillman, but reserved his highest appreciation for the “pope of trash” himself, John Waters.

Describing Waters as “probably my favorite director ever,” Yang took home his film “Multiple Maniacs” and highlighted the filmmaker’s ability to turn the “abject” into something “beautiful and elevated and filmic.”

“What Divine and Mink Stole do in the church, kind of the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen,” said Yang. “I’m not a pearl-clutcher. It takes a lot to shock me. John Waters is a timeless shocker.

Good morning Insiders, it’s Cannes lineup week, while tariff-shaped hell continues to break loose around the globe. Max Goldbart here penning your weekly mailer. Sign up here.

Cannes Lineup

Fresh vibes (and Tom Cruise): “We’re loyal to our auteurs,” Cannes head Thierry Frémaux said yesterday during the presser for this year’s official selection. The statement came as part of a curious defence of his decision to invite the Dardenne brothers in competition with their latest flick Young Mothers. The longtime fest head is clearly aware of Cannes’ reputation as one of the circuits most pale and stale events. That anxiety has perhaps fueled this year’s punchy and vibrant official selection. Alongside Cannes favorites like the Dardennes and Wes Anderson, there is an exciting crop of filmmakers in competition like Carla Simone with Romeria, Tarik Saleh with The Eagles of the Republic, and Ari Aster with Eddington.

It could have been an email, but the Cannes Film Festival revealed its 2025 lineup on Thursday with an hour-long press conference that unofficially kicked off the 2026 Oscar race. Multiple presumed future awards contenders will premiere at Cannes this year, including new films from Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, Julia Ducournau, Oliver Hermanus, Scarlett Johansson, Spike Lee (probably; more on that below), Richard Linklater, Kelly Reichardt, and Joachim Trier. Ahead are the three burning questions about this year’s lineup that could impact next year’s Oscars.

Will Neon win its sixth straight Palme d’Or?

Since 2019, Neon has won the Palme d’Or five consecutive times: Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall, and Anora. (Cannes was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.) It’s an unprecedented run, and it has a good shot to continue this year, as the studio has two buzzy titles in the competition lineup: Alpha,...

The Cannes Film Festival revealed its Official Selection on Thursday morning in Paris, and it was a typically star-studded and intriguing lineup. You can see the full lineup here. Below are our five key takeaways from the reveal.

1. Changing Of The Guard? Julia Ducournau poses with the Palme d’Or for ‘Titane’ in 2021

This is a fresh lineup. Cannes Film Festival head Thierry Frémaux said there’s more to come, but this wasn’t your typical Cannes Competition lineup studded with older, familiar auteurs. The festival is opening with a female debut filmmaker for the first time in the shape of Amélie Bonnin’s Leave One Day, and seven of the 19 films in Competition are first-time Palme d’Or contenders. The average age in Competition must be significantly lower than most years. Yes, there are three previous Palme d’Or winners in the lineup, but the likes of Mascha Schilinski,...

Updated, 8:11 a.m.: Spike Lee has shared on Instagram that his latest film, “Highest 2 Lowest,” will premiere out of competition in Cannes, though the film was not included in the festival’s Thursday lineup announcement. IndieWire understands the festival was waiting to confirm Denzel Washington’s attendance, and indeed the star will be at Cannes.

Earlier: Predicting the Cannes Film Festival lineup is always a tricky feat. Some films you’d expect to see on the Croisette — and we expected many that didn’t make the cut Thursday morning — either aren’t ready or decided to go the way of the fall festivals.

Or worse, Thierry Frémaux and his team just didn’t go for them. The festival programmers looked at a record 2,909 feature submissions this year, spreading out selections across the main competition, Un Certain Regard, and the non-competitive sections. More official selection films will be announced,...

New films from Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater and the Dardenne brothers will premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Cannes organizers announced at a press conference in Paris on Thursday.

Anderson will be back in Cannes with “The Phoenician Scheme,” which premiered a baffling trailer at CinemaCon last week. Linklater is heading to France with a bold movie, “Nouvelle Vague,” which tackles the sacred ground of Jean-Luc Godard and the filming of “Breathless” in the 1960s. The Dardenne brothers have “Young Mothers,” which gives them a chance to become the first filmmakers to win the Palme d’Or three times.

Actors in the festival making their directorial debuts include Scarlett Johansson, who is in Un Certain Regard with “Eleanor the Great,” starring Joan Squibb; and Harris Dickinson, the star of the Palme d’Or winner “The Triangle of Sadness,” with “Urchin.”

The main competition will include a number of...

The Cannes Film Festival announced its 2025 lineup on Thursday morning. Several expected contenders are set for world premieres on the French Riviera, including new projects from Scarlett Johansson, Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, Kelly Reichardt, Joachim Trier, and more.

Among the titles that will premiere at Cannes this year are Eleanor the Great, Johansson’s directorial debut with a lead role for June Squibb; Nouvelle Vague, Linklater’s tribute to the French New Wave and the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless; The Mastermind, Reichardt’s latest about an art-world heist with roles for Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, and John Magaro; Splitsville (directed by Michael Angelo Covino), a Neon release with Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona; and Sentimental Value, Triet’s follow-up to The Worst Person in the World with Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, and Elle Fanning in the cast.

Other films of note include Alpha (Cannes winner Julia Ducournau...

The Cannes Film Festival will announce the lineup for its 78th edition Thursday morning at 11 a.m. Paris time (2 a.m. Pt/5 a.m. Et). Cannes Delegate General Thierry Frémaux and President Iris Knobloch, who was recently confirmed for a second three-year term in the role until 2027, will preside over the press conference.

The stream can be found on the official Cannes website as well as the festival’s official Facebook page, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel.

You can also watch the stream live here.

Deadline will also be live reporting the list of Official Selection films as the names come in. This year’s festival will run from May 13 to 24. Earlier this week, the fest confirmed Tom Cruise and Paramount‘s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning will debut on the Croisette. The movie will play Out of Competition on May 14 with Cruise, director Christopher McQuarrie, and cast treading the carpet.

It’s table stakes at this point to recognize that a significant portion of the eventual Best Picture field will launch at the Cannes Film Festival. Six of the 20 Best Picture nominees premiered on the French Riviera in the last two years. Last year’s Palme d’Or winner Anora became only the third Cannes champion to take the top award — but the second in five years after Parasite pulled off the gambit in 2020. (The only previous Palme d’Or champion to win Best Picture was 1955’s Marty.) That has made Cannes a significant step in awards season, despite its spring calendar placement — and with the Academy increasing its international membership annually, the importance of Cannes will only continue to grow.

So, which of this year’s potential premieres will carry through to next year’s Oscars ceremony? Ahead are the nine movies we hope make the cut when the...

Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” is officially headed to Cannes Film Festival.

The highly anticipated eighth film in the iconic spy franchise will premiere out of competition on May 14 with Cruise and director-writer Christopher McQuarrie in attendance. It marks Cruise’s third time at Cannes, with the first being for Ron Howard’s “Far and Away” in 1992 and the second just a few years ago for “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022. During his last Cannes appearance, Cruise also received an honorary Palme d’Or and gave a masterclass to attendees.

“In ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,’ Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, who he has portrayed since the beginning of the franchise in 1996, and his Imf team ask you to trust them one last time,” the Cannes press release states. “After almost three decades of thrills, stunts and intrigue, ‘The Final Reckoning’ delivers an unforgettable cinematic experience.

Robert De Niro is to be awarded the Honorary Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The 80-year-old actor will be honoured during the opening ceremony of the 78th edition of the event on 13 May, organisers have confirmed.And the following day, Robert will also appear at a special masterclass at the Debussy Theatre, where he is expected to reflect on a career spanning more than five decades. The Cannes tribute marks a return to the festival he last attended in 2023 for the premiere of Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, in which he starred as a ruthless businessman. He previously served as jury president at the festival 14 years ago.Robert was quoted by Variety saying ahead of the event: “I have such close feelings for Festival de Cannes… especially now when there’s so much in the world pulling us apart, Cannes brings us together — storytellers,...

Robert De Niro will receive the Honorary Palme d’Or at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. The tribute will take place during the opening ceremony on May 13.

On the following day, De Niro will take part in a masterclass on the stage of the Debussy Theater.

“I have such close feelings for Festival de Cannes…,” De Niro said about the upcoming lifetime achievement tribute at the festival. “Especially now when there’s so much in the world pulling us apart, Cannes brings us together — storytellers, filmmakers, fans, and friends. It’s like coming home.”

The iconic actor has had a long relationship with the Cannes Film Festival. He last walked the red carpet there for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” He also presided over the jury 14 years ago.

De Niro follows the footsteps of fellow Palme d’Or honorees Meryl Streep and Jodie Foster,...

The Cannes Film Festival will reveal its 2025 lineup on Thursday morning European time and expectations are high for a typically bountiful lineup of starry fare and arthouse treats. Cannes remains the Super Bowl for indie film lovers.

It’s always a nervous waiting game for those connected to Cannes hopefuls. Multiple festival regulars have told us that selectors are later than ever in giving them notice. The festival has often announced a major movie or two by now, but not this year. The identity of Juliette Binoche‘s fellow jury members are still also under wraps.

In terms of films in the running, much of the reporting we did in February in our Cannes and Venice prediction piece has either come to pass or is shaping up as we forecast. You can read that story here.

Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning remains the most likely big Hollywood studio splash.

What films will bow at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival? Cinephiles find out when Cannes director Thierry Fremaux announces the festival’s line-up next Thursday, April 10. But with a week ago, Fremaux couldn’t help teasing rumors of a certain blockbuster having its world premiere on the Croisette to Variety. So will “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” be at Cannes next month?

Read More: Cannes 2025 Expected To See Films From Spike Lee, Kristen Stewart, Scarlett Johansson, Jim Jarmusch & More

“Mi:8″ is being released between May 21st and 23rd in many countries, so the rumor is natural and logical,” Fremaux told the outlet in a new interview today.

Continue reading Cannes 2025: Festival Director Thierry Fremaux Teases Potential ‘Mi:8’ World Premiere, Wants To Move On From ‘Emilia Pérez’ Controversy at The Playlist.

Days ahead of the anticipated press conference unveiling the lineup, Cannes Film Festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux has managed to keep a certain mystery around this year’s Official Selection, despite the numerous predictions flourishing on social media.

Even “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning” hasn’t been officially confirmed by neither Cannes nor Paramount, but Fremaux tells Variety in an exclusive interview that he’s hoping to get a final go from the studio soon.

Rolling off back-to-back milestone editions that saw Cannes-bowing films go on to win Oscars, such as “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest” in 2023 and “Anora,” “The Substance,” “Emilia Perez” and “Flow” in 2024, Fremaux suggests he’s received a record number of movies, especially from the U.S.

While some have suggested that the 2025 edition feels like the first post-strike Cannes, Fremaux says it “seems that Hollywood is in a period of transition.

Freaky Tales” (2024) is a movie that feels entirely unsuited for what cinema looks like in 2025, and it still would have felt antiquated had it not been held from release after its initial debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024. Although this anthology of Oakland crime stories takes place in 1987, its style is unquestionably influenced by the wave of 1990s independent films that used sharp dialogue and twisty storylines to engage in pulp sensibilities; the comparisons to be made with “Reservoir Dogs,” “Boyz n the Hood,” and “Trainspotting” are too innumerable to note.

However, the most glaring factor in “Freaky Tales” is how strange it feels as a theatrical experience. While there have been countless prestige miniseries from buzzy streaming services made in the last few years that could have been edited into much stronger films, “Freaky Tales” is the rare example of a narrative that would have been better suited for the small screen.

Oscar-winning Scottish actress Tilda Swinton shocked fans earlier this year when she told the Berlin International Film Festival that she was taking a break from making movies.

But on Wednesday, the celebrated performer, artist, and fashion icon unveiled that she is developing an exhibition, Tilda Swinton – Ongoing, exclusively for the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam, featuring eight works created in collaboration with such big names and friends as Pedro Almodóvar, Luca Guadagnino, Joanna Hogg, and Jim Jarmusch.

The exhibition will also present works with Olivier Saillard, Tim Walker and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, as well as the late Derek Jarman.

“Eye has given me the opportunity to reflect on the mechanics of my working practice over the past 40 years,” Swinton said. “And to come to rest on the – ever-present – bedrock and battery of the close fellowships I found from the very first and continue to rely upon to this day. In focusing attention...

In his anthology film “Coffee and Cigarettes” (2003), Jim Jarmusch employs awkwardness as his principal storytelling tool. Across eleven episodes, rather vignettes, the characters participate in an uncomfortable dance over the marriage of coffee and cigarettes. The veil of discomfort reveals underlying social tension, class dynamics, and existential truths. Jarmusch meticulously crafts each scene to resonate a state of unease. The film being dissected into various episodes of raw human interaction enhances the prevailing predicament of emotional limbo, as each segment introduces a new set of characters and their distinct peculiarities and encounters that never quite resolve themselves. The mundane mise-en-scene of the contrastive black & white shots composed of the humble pair of coffee cups and ashtray adds to the tension between the characters.

The awkwardness in these interactions is deliberately choreographed. In the vignette, “Somewhere in California”, musicians Tom Waits and Iggy Pop engage in a discomforting conversation, riddled with concealed ego and insecurities.

The French Directors’ Guild (Srf) will fete U.S. director Todd Haynes with its honorary Carrosse d’Or (Golden Carriage) award at the upcoming edition of its Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

Haynes will receive the prize at the opening ceremony of the parallel section, running alongside the main Cannes Film Festival from May 14 to 22.

The honor follows Haynes’ recent stint as president of the jury at the Berlinale in February.

The Srf highlighted Haynes place heart at the American counterculture and his legacy of challenging social, sexual or artistic norms.

“From Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story to Safe, Velvet Goldmine, Carol and May December, your films have been inhabited by a great faith in cinema’s experimental and narrative possibilities,” the Srf board wrote in a letter explaining their motivation for the award.

“Your genius is to move and mesmerize us in a single move, combining Formal virtuoso with infinite empathy and tenderness.

One of the directors of No Other Land is calling out the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science letter, and he isn't alone as he has support from major A-list stars. On Mar. 24, Hamdan Ballal, the co-director of the Oscar-winning Best Documentary Feature film No Other Land, was assaulted by Isreali settlers and detained near his home by the Israeli armed service. After 24 hours, when he was blindfolded and held at an Israeli army base and fearing for his life, Ballal was released.

No Other Land's Yuval Abraham, one of the film's four co-directors alongside Ballal, criticized the Academy's failure to support Hamdan following his arrest. It wasn't until after the director publicly criticized the Academy leadership that they sent out an open letter to Academy voters. Via Deadline, the Academy's letter said they were against “harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints” but also...

Updated: Hamdan Ballal and his fellow “No Other Land” filmmakers are expressing gratitude to top members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for signing a letter urging Academy leadership to take a stronger stance in condemning an attack on Ballal by Israeli settlers.

The Academy released a statement Wednesday condemning “harming artists” but did not name the individuals involved. By Thursday morning, a letter began circulating among AMPAS members criticizing the Academy’s leadership for failing to publicly support Ballal.

As of Monday afternoon, nearly 900 Academy members — including actor Mark Ruffalo, director Ava DuVernay and Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón — had signed the letter denouncing the Academy’s silence following Ballal’s reported detainment by Israeli authorities. Most recent signatories include J.J. Abrams, Guillermo del Toro, Ben Affleck, Jane Fonda and more.

Ballal and his fellow “No Other Land” directors shared the following letter with all the signatories:

Dear friends,...