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Max‘s May film acquisitions include gems that came out both 80 years ago and as recently as just a few months ago. Indeed, the streaming service’s new movies range from 2024’s longest Best Picture contender to a classic Hollywood musical and an Oscar-winning, genre-bending 2004 drama. In case that was not enough, a pair of iconic horror movies and one fantasy masterpiece have also made their way to the platform this month.

Here are seven of the best movies that are now streaming on Max in May.

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (Focus Features) “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004)

When he was promoting “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Jim Carrey equated getting Charlie Kaufman’s script for the film with watching Moses come down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments and winning the lottery. They are apt metaphors for a film that feels, quite simply, miraculous.

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This May, Max is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the highly anticipated premiere of the new J.J. Abrams series Duster to the streaming release of The Brutalist. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Max next month and have an 80% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 5 best films coming to Max in May 2025 with an 80% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

A Private War (May 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87% Credit – Aviron Pictures

A Private War is a biographical war drama film directed by Matthew Heineman from a screenplay by Arash Amel. Based on the 2012 Vanity Fair article titled Marie Colvin’s Private War by Marie Brenner, the 2018 film follows Marie Colvin, a war correspondent suffering from Ptsd after losing an eye. On her next assignment,...

At its heart, Maya, Give Me a Title conjures an intercontinental dialogue spun from scissors, tape and childhood wonder. A six-year exchange unfolds as Maya, seated before the camera, offers off-the-cuff titles that Michel Gondry transforms into hour-long stop-motion vignettes. These paper-cut adventures—bookended by live-action interludes—trace a playful surrealism grounded in tactile craft.

Gondry wears both director’s cap and animator’s gloves, while Maya steers the narrative with innocent audacity. Pierre Niney’s voiceover turns each title into a character, lending buoyant personality to scenarios that range from hammock-thieving squirrels to ecological ketchup catastrophes. Jean-Michel Bernard’s score hums with retro-tinged warmth, and Frédéric Junqua’s carefully chosen tracks evoke ’50s-era suspense and joy.

The film’s hybrid format marries childlike spontaneity with seasoned artistry, animating simple cutouts at twelve frames per second yet preserving every fingerprint and pencil stroke. A palette of rich secondary hues enhances the handcrafted universe,...

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 8-14), the world’s oldest and most prestigious animation festival, announced this year’s lineup, both in and out of competition, American studio presentations, special celebrations (including a tribute to Hungarian animation), and honorary awards.

This year’s highlights include Sylvain Chomet’s highly-anticipated 2D Marcel Pagnol biopic, “A Magnificent Life,” which will be a part of the official competition and released domestically this year through Sony Pictures Classics; sneaks of Andy Serkis’ “Animal Farm” and Genndy Tartakovsky’s R-rated, 2D “Fixed” (streaming on Netflix); and special previews of Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” Pixar’s “Elio,” DreamWorks’ “The Bad Guys 2,” Sony Picture Animation’s “Goat,” Paramount Animation’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants,” and Netflix’s “In Your Dreams.”

Meanwhile, Annecy 2025 introduces a new short film program, Midnight Shorts, and launches the Annecy Dome, a new 32-seat venue for immersive works.

The Annecy International Animation Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 2025 edition, running from June 8 to 14. (scroll down for full list of Official Selection titles)

Having previously announced Michel Gondry as an honorary guest, the festival will also celebrate UK Oscar nominee Joanna Quinn (Affairs of the Art) and The Simpsons creator Matt Groening with honorary Cristal awards.

Twenty-one feature films will be showcased in the festival’s Main Competition and Contrechamp Competition, selected from 130 submissions.

Main competition titles include Sylvain Chomet’s Marcel Pagnol tribute A Magnificent Life as well as Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s Death Does Not Exist, and Dandelion’s Odyssey by Momoko Seto, and Ugo Bienvenu’s Arco.

In a break with tradition, the opening night will world premiere a selection of five shorts rather than a single feature animation.

“After a historic 2024 edition, with a record attendance of 17,400 badge-holders, and all this despite a difficult context for the industry,...

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival is nearly here. The annual film festival and market takes place from June 8 to June 14, in a gorgeous town that served as the inspiration for Belle’s village in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”. This year’s slate is overflowing with must-see screenings and panels.

Among the special screenings this year are Andy Serkis’ long-awaited take on George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” Michel Gondry’s “Maya, Give Me Another Title” (he’ll also be receiving an Honorary Cristal Award this year “in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the vitality of animation”), Genndy Tartakovsky’s R-rated “Fixed” and “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants,” the new feature from Paramount Animation. Additionally, Pixar will screen their new feature “Elio.”

There will be exciting presentations from Disney, who will reveal a first-look at footage from “Zootopia 2,” courtesy of director (and Walt Disney Animation Studios Cco) Jared Bush,...

France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 8-14) will preview upcoming animations including Zootopia 2, Animal Farm and the Stranger Things animated series as part of its 2025 lineup.

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, director Michel Gondry andacclaimed UK animator Joanna Quinn will receive honorary Cristal awards.

Gondry will present his Berlinale 2025 title Maya, Give Me a Title as a special screening.

Scroll down for the full list of competition films, screening events and studio showcases

Also attending are Andy Serkis for what the festival described as a ‘special premiere’ of his animated feature adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm,...

“Now, let us make the fantastic assumption that Rome is not a place where people live, but a psychical entity with a similarly long, rich past, in which nothing that ever took shape has passed away, and in which all previous phases of development exist beside the most recent.”

Originally published in 1930, Freud writes these words in his “Civilization and Its Discontents,” drawing a vivid analogy between the ancient city of Rome and human psychic memory. Freud addresses Rome as an ‘Eternal City’; like memory, it would endure and adjust the juxtaposition of the old and new. Directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004) plays out like a masterful cinematic extension of the theory. Each memory of the past melts into the larger canvas of the present experience. Nothing ever is spotless, for it carries the bearings of memories.

In this list,...

In the ‘90s, there was no bigger comedy star than Jim Carrey. While the In Living Color actor was a relative unknown when he was signed on for films like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the runaway success of the mystery comedy made him a star like no other. In the same year, he delivered two more hits and became the biggest name in Hollywood.

While he lost some of his success with experiments like The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, a good old comedy reportedly brought him back to the top as its box office success netted him a higher payday than a lot of his other films. The actor was reportedly not paid a salary for the 2008 comedy Yes Man, which was consistently in Netflix’s top 10 list in the UK.

Jim Carrey was not paid a salary for Yes Man, but still earned close to $50 million...

Did Jim Carrey take a major chance with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?(Photo Credit –Facebook)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a risk, far from his usual slapstick comedies. Yet, it became one of his most celebrated performances. After his breakout year in 1994 with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber, Carrey jumped to the A-list. A year later, he played the Riddler in Batman Forever and returned as Ace Ventura in When Nature Calls. Both films were huge hits.

By 1996, Jim Carrey made history. He became the first actor to earn a $20 million paycheck for The Cable Guy. The film, a dark comedy, was divisive. It earned only $60 million at the box office, making Carrey’s salary nearly half the production budget. But his price tag was set. He remained one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors.

Carrey kept the blockbuster streak going. In...

A year after her powerful Eternal Sunshine, Ariana Grande still can’t let go of the lingering romantic dreams and bitter nightmares she was exploring in those songs. In her self-described “really vulnerable concept album,” she set out to make her answer to the Beatles’ Rubber Soul, in a hazy psychedelic break-up suite of love and grief. But she keeps the story going in the extended version Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead, with a short film of the same title.

Eternal Sunshine was her sixth Number One album, with...

Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page are set to star in “Italianna” for Universal Pictures.

The film will be directed by Kat Coiro from a screenplay by Ryan Engle, based on an original idea by Ryan Engle and Kristin Engle. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the project has been described as a romantic comedy.

Will Packer and Johanna Byer will produce the film through Will Packer Productions’ first-look deal with Universal Pictures. Senior EVP Erik Baiers and director of development Jacqueline Garell will oversee the project for the studio. Alvie Hurtado will oversee the project for Will Packer Productions.

Five-time Grammy nominee Bailey exploded onto the Hollywood scene starring as Ariel in Disney’s live-action film “The Little Mermaid” and the 2023 musical reimagining of “The Color Purple.” Bailey also shot a co-lead role in “Golden,” Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry’s musical for Universal, which was shuttered in post-production.

Ariana Grandehas had a busy start to 2025. After returning to her acting roots in Wicked, for which she was honored with her first-ever Oscar nomination for "Best Supporting Actress" as Glinda, Grande is now doubling down on her slate of talents, dropping a special deluxe version of her seventh studio album Eternal Sunshine, featuring six brand-new songs.

Titled Eternal Sunshine: Brighter Days Ahead, the extended album will be unveiled on Friday, March 28. Ahead of the record's release, the "thank u, next" songstress took to Instagram for a special unveiling of the new track titles. This includes an extended version of the first track on the main record, "Intro (End of the World)" and new songs: "Twilight Zone," "Warm," "Dandelion," "Past Life," and "Hampstead." The song titles lean into the ongoing themes of both the record and the upcoming short film, very much alluding to someone getting flashbacks of a previous life.

Many of us were first introduced to Seth Rogen close to 25 years ago when he played Ken Miller, one of the “freaks” in Freaks and Geeks, then, as part of Judd Apatow’s usual group of actors and comedians he liked to work with, in comedy hits like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Superbad, and the Rogen-starring Knocked Up. It didn’t take long for him to climb the Hollywood ladder, making his feature directorial debut with This Is the End, alongside co-director Evan Goldberg, almost causing an international incident with their second film, The Interview, becoming a producer on projects as varied as The Disaster Artist, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, The Boys, and Pam & Tommy (just to name a few), and starred in films by directors like Steven Spielberg, Danny Boyle, Michel Gondry, and Sarah Polley. Over the course of the 21st century, we’ve basically watched Rogen...

Well, Ryan Lattanzio beat Anne Thompson predicting last Sunday’s Oscars. That’s because he went with such international favorites as Animated Feature “Flow” and Documentary Feature “No Other Land.” Anne relied too much on the precursors instead of responding to popular surges.

Why did American Palme d’Or winner “Anora” win five Oscars? It had support from every part of the Academy, judging from the rousing cheers from the Dolby Theatre Sunday night.

Ahead on this week’s episode of “Screen Talk,” Ryan and Anne debate why Mikey Madison won Best Actress. She was young and ingenues are in favor, said Ryan. Older women Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres were close and “Anora” had coattails, said Anne.

We also debate the merits of the show, and both agree that newbie Conan O’Brien was an affably effective host, and that the writing was strong, even if some of the musical tributes were weak.

If you have never heard about the Luxembourg City Film Festival before, it may surprise you to know that the biggest annual film event in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which is surrounded by France, Germany and Belgium, is turning 15 this year.

Long considered a hidden gem on the global fest circuit, the event has steadily gained in stature, routinely attracting big industry names to a country with a population of only around 670,000. Just take last year as an example, when the fest set an attendance record with a 10 percent increase to 19,962. For its 2024, LuxFilmFest, it attracted the likes of Viggo Mortensen, Chinese director Wang Bing, Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako, French director Gaspar Noé — who hosted a retrospective and a masterclass — and a jury that included Luxembourg star Vicky Krieps, German actor Sebastian Koch, and U.S. director Ira Sachs.

For this year’s 15th edition, which kicks off on Thursday,...

Bong Joon Ho, Michel Gondry, and Leos Carax are three bona fide oddballs of the international film scene, each iconoclasts with their own uniquely skewed perspective on the world. The idea of the three of these men in one room is crazy enough, let alone teaming up to make the same film, but that's what they did for the forgotten film Tokyo! in 2009. An anthology film centered on a collection of eccentric individuals getting touched by magical realist scenarios, each short story proves an ample playground for this trio to flex their styles.

Of all the directors who made the jump from music videos to feature-directing during MTV’s ’90s peak, Michel Gondry is the sole name whose work hasn’t been able to fully escape from the shadow of early pop promos. His hyper-stylized clips for artists ranging from Daft Punk to the White Stripes revealed a fondness for tactile meticulousness, shorts with an elaborate design where you could often feel the artist’s hand bringing them to life––in some cases quite literally seeing his hands shape the design. Aside from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind––a perfect narrative vehicle for his sensibility due to how its protagonist’s warped memories allowed the director to briskly jump from one visual conceit to the next––Gondry’s films have only ever recaptured this spirit in short bursts, if at all. You’d probably be forgiven for not knowing he directed the...

Music videos can be excellent training grounds for young directors like Fleur Fortune. Whose movie debut, “The Assessment,” a sci-fi thriller starring Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Olsen that premiered at this past year’s Toronto International Film Festival, will be released by Amazon Prime later this year. Such greats as Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, and, most prominently, David Fincher all cut their teeth early on directing what are essentially short films for various music artists like Beastie Boys, Madonna, and Foo Fighters.

Continue reading ‘The Assessment’ Trailer: Sci-Fi Thriller Starring Alicia Vikander & Elizabeth Olsen Arrives March 21 at The Playlist.

The Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival was awarded to Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud for Dreams (Sex Love) tonight (February 22), the first time this honour has gone to the country.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Dreams (Sex Love) sees Haugerud complete his Sex Love Dreams trilogy with the story of a young woman whose writings about a crush on her French teacher shock her mother and grandmother, causing them to re-examine their own fantasies. M-Appeal is handling sales.

Haugerud said on stage that it was “beyond [his] wildest dreams” to win the Golden Bear and, speaking...

The 2025 Berlin International Film Festival has announced the winners of its Generation Kplus section, the festival’s sidebar dedicated to children’s cinema, with top honors going to The Botanist by Jing Yi and Michel Gondry’s animated feature Maya, Give Me a Title.

Jing Yi’s debut feature The Botanist (Zhi Wu Xue Jia) took home the Grand Prix of the international jury for best film. Set in a remote valley in China’s Xinjiang province, the film follows a young boy named Arsin, who lives with his grandmother and spends his days collecting plant specimens while navigating the slow yet inevitable changes within his secluded community. Featuring a dreamlike atmosphere and striking natural imagery, The Botanist stood out for its immersive portrayal of a world untouched by modernity.

The international jury also gave a special mention to Japanese director Satoko Yokohama’s Umibe é Iku Michi (Seaside Serendipity...

It’s time for your Friday film quiz, and this week’s batch of 30 movie-related questions have monkeys in mind…

Fancy another preview of upcoming Friday film quiz themes? We’re planning rounds about the Oscars, Disney movies, and Robert De Niro over the next couple of months, but now, at last, it’s come to this – a quiz about monkeys on film. With Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey (read Maria’s review here) unleashed in cinemas and previous quizzes on Stephen King movies and Planet Of The Apes already behind us, we’ve run out of excuses not to monkey around.

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!

About three-quarters of the way through Michel Gondry’s brief, brimming, inspired and liberating new movie, the narrator pauses a tale involving hammock-stealing squirrels to ask, “Where can this story be going?” By this point in the deliriously straight-faced lunacy of Maya, Give Me a Title, the answer is clear: It can be going anywhere. And that’s a good thing.

Maya is Gondry’s daughter and his creative partner in a long-distance project that they shared for six years, beginning when she was 4, and now distilled into this effervescent hourlong feature. Communicating with Maya by phone and computer across many miles, the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director devised an inventive way to stay close: His little girl would be the concept person, called upon to concoct a title for a movie adventure in which she’d star, and Papa would, over the next two to six weeks,...

Neon and Anomalisa director Duke Johnson are bringing something twisty and mysterious this Wednesday with a trailer for The Actor, a bizarre amnesiac tale filled with mischief, misinformation, and malcontents. It stars André Holland as a man with no memory surrounded by suspicious characters and a beautiful stranger who wants to help him solve the mystery of his past and become a part of his future.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Actor courtesy of Neon:

“Based on the novel Memory by Donald E. Westlake, The Actor finds Paul Cole (Holland) stranded in a mysterious small town with no memory of who he is or how he got here. Without a sense of identity or purpose, he starts from scratch and begins courting a local costume designer (Chan). As bits and pieces of his past slowly emerge, he attempts to find his way home, but time is slippery,...

2004 was a good year for cinema, delivering a diverse array of films that left a lasting cultural impact. Its gems range from deeply introspective dramas to high-energy action thrillers. Directors like Michel Gondry, Quentin Tarantino, and Richard Linklater experimented with narrative structure and emotional depth, while mainstream filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Brad Bird elevated genre filmmaking with heart and intelligence.

France’s Indie Sales has closed first distribution deals on Jean-Pierre Améris’ It Takes Two To Tango, starring Valerie Lemercier and Gerard Darmon.

It is about a famous 70 year-old crooner on a train to Geneva to end his life and the enthusiastic fan who thwarts his plans.

It has sold to Weltkino in Germany, Polyfilm in Austria, Pathé Suisse in Switzerland, Vertigo in Belgium and Luxembourg, Tva in Canada, Nos Lusomundo in Portugal, New Cinema in Israel, and Cirko in Hungary.

Denis Carot and Sophie Revil at Escazal Films produced the film that is now in post and Arp will release in France in April.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.News Shoulder Arms.Recent layoffs of 70 workers at Alamo Drafthouse locations in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn have prompted the union to file an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. United Auto Workers Local 2179 alleges that the theater chain “failed or refused to bargain in good faith” after management abruptly declared an impasse in negotiations over the issue of reduction in force, part of company-wide austerity measures. The locations unionized in fall of 2023 and have yet to settle the terms of their first contract.Actress Soheila Golestani was barred from leaving Iran to attend the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where she was set to be a member of the Tiger Competition jury. The Seed of...

The Berlin Film Festival celebrates its 75th year with new leadership and fresh new cinema from around the world. New artistic director and former BFI London Film Festival leader Tricia Tuttle joins co-directors of programming Jacqueline Lyanga and Michael Stütz to help reposition the Berlinale’s profile among the great global film festivals and lure bigger-name filmmakers in the process.

That’s begun to pay off already this year, with new films from Germany’s own Tom Tykwer (supernatural opening night family drama epic “The Light”), Ira Sachs (“Peter Hujar’s Day”), Michel Gondry, Michel Franco (“Dreams”), Radu Jude (“Kontinental ’25”), Richard Linklater (“Blue Moon”), Hong Sangsoo (“What Does That Nature Say to You”), Lucile Hadžihalilović (“The Ice Tower”), and of course Bong Joon Ho (“Mickey 17”) sprinkled throughout the sections.

Meanwhile, Todd Haynes heads up the jury, which also includes filmmaker Nabil Ayouch, costume designer Bina Daigeler, actor Fan Bingbing,...

Being a pioneer is a long, tough road. That's the theme of Kevin Costner's "Horizon: An American Saga" both on and off the silver screen, as the filmmaker's epic passion project concerning an ensemble of characters in the Old West struggling over a piece of untamed land continues to run into all sorts of obstacles in the real world. Chief among those obstacles is the question of any sort of release: after "Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1" was released in theaters on June 28th of 2024, it struggled to even get close to making its $50 million budget back at the box office, earning just $38.7 million. That figure, combined with the film's tepid critical reception, caused New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. to revamp its original plan to release "Chapter 2" of the saga on August 16th of last year, postponing the release seemingly indefinitely. This fate seems to be a current (and troubling) trend,...

Now scrapped, Golden – a biopic about Pharrell Williams directed by Michel Gondry – was reportedly shown to an appreciative test audience.

When it was first reported that Universal Pictures had decided to permanently shelve Golden, a biopic about musician Pharrell Williams, the official line appeared to be that all involved agreed that it wasn’t fixable in its current state.

A joint statement, attributed to Williams and director Michel Gondry, said that, “When all of us got into the editing room we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned.”

According to World of Reel, however, Golden's scrappage may not have been a quality control issue after all. The outlet reports that, weeks before it was shelved, the musical drama was test screened for an audience in Pasadena, and that far from being a disaster, Golden was warmly received.

Eternal Sunshine director Michel Gondry was in post-production on Golden, a biopic about Pharrell Williams. Universal has reportedly scrapped it.

Universal Pictures has reportedly – and rather drastically – decided to scrap a high-profile musical about Pharrell Williams. The news is an eyebrow-raiser for a number of reasons – first because it’s by a respected director, Michel Gondry, and second because it was fairly near completion.

Called Golden, the musical had an impressive cast which included Kelvin Harrison Jr, Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Brian Tyree Henry to name a few. It would have contrasted tidily with last year’s documentary Piece By Piece, since that film (largely animated using Lego figures and bricks) covered Pharrell Williams’ musical career, while Golden, a narrative feature, would have explored his childhood.

Golden was originally scheduled for a cinema release in May, but Universal has instead decided to shelve the film permanently. According to Variety,...

It used to be rare that a completed film would be shelved. Sure, movies would sit on the shelf for years sometimes, but inevitably, they would receive some kind of release. The Weinstein brothers were infamous for shelving films when they ran Miramax, but even something like Prozac Nation, which sat on the shelf for four years, eventually came out. Up until a few years ago, the Jerry Lewis holocaust film The Day the Clown Cried was one of the only real examples of a finished film that was permanently put on the shelf, and in this case, it was by Lewis himself, who swore it would never see the light of day.

Yet, in recent years, more films have been cancelled after they’ve already been shot. Two of the more infamous examples come from Warner Bros, courtesy of studio head David Zaslav, with Batgirl and Coyote vs Acme...

A Pharrell Williams biopic helmed by director Michel Gondry has been permanently shelved by Universal, just three months before the film’s scheduled May 9 release.

According to Variety, the “coming-of-age musical” — originally titled Atlantis before the name was changed to Golden — had long finished filming and was in post-production when the creative team hit an insurmountable stumbling block while editing.

“When all of us got into the editing room we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned,” Williams...

Sometimes movies don’t make it to the finish line even ones that sound like a complete slamdunk. Our latest example is “Golden” (formerly known as “Atlantis“) a period musical that had a great on-paper collaboration between director Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind”) and musician/artist/producer Pharrell Williams that was going to be released theatrically by Universal Pictures on May 5.

Continue reading ‘Golden’: Michel Gondry & Pharrell Williams’ 1977-Set “Black Joy” Musical Scrapped At Universal Ahead Of May Release at The Playlist.

Pharrell Williams and director Michel Gondry are shelving their upcoming movie musical Golden.

The 51-year-old music producer/fashion designer and the filmmaker worked together to bring the project to life, which featured Halle Bailey as one of the stars.

However, after filming wrapped in June 2024, and they were in post-production, they have decided not to move forward with the movie.

Keep reading to find out more…

The film was a coming-of-age musical set in the summer of 1977 Virginia Beach inspired by Atlantis Apartments, Pharrell‘s childhood neighborhood.

“When all of us got into the editing room we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned,” Pharrell and Michel shared in a joint statement, via Variety. “We appreciate all the hard work of the talented cast and crew. While we’re disappointed we can’t deliver this film, we have...

Variety reports that a movie musical directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) about Pharrell Williams’s childhood has been scrapped in post-production and will not be released.

The film, titled Golden, was slated to be released by Universal Pictures and features a cast which includes Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Janelle Monáe, Missy Elliott, Quinta Brunson, Anderson .Paak, and Jaboukie Young-White. While it’s rare for a studio to scrap a movie at this stage of development, this isn’t like Warner Bros. shelving Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme for tax purposes. Instead, the film, titled Golden, was shut down after “unanimous agreement from producers and Gondry that the film did not live up to its developed conceit.“

“When all of us got into the editing room we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version...

Golden (fka Atlantis), Michel Gondry’s movie musical on the childhood of musician Pharrell Williams, has been scrapped in post-production, Deadline has confirmed.

Previously dated by Universal for a wide theatrical release on May 5, the film will never see the light of day, as it’s not being shopped.

In a statement shared with Deadline, Gondry and Williams attributed the decision to axe the project to their inability to fulfill the vision with which they had set out.

“When all of us got into the editing room we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned,” they said. “We appreciate all the hard work of the talented cast and crew. While we’re disappointed we can’t deliver this film, we have incredible partners at Universal and will collaborate in a different capacity again soon.”

Kelvin Harrison Jr. was set to topline Golden,...

Though Pharrell Williams found success with his unconventional autobiographical Lego documentary, Piece By Piece, lightning won't strike twice for the "Happy" singer. Variety reports that Universal has permanently shelved his star-studded upcoming film, Golden, in post-production. Formerly going under the title Atlantis, the movie would've been a semi-autobiographical musical exploration of his childhood featuring a star-studded cast headlined by Halle Bailey and Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry at the helm. It was initially set to release in theaters on May 5.

“Golden,” a musical inspired by the life of Pharrell Williams and directed by “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” filmmaker Michel Gondry, is being scrapped and will not be released by Universal, despite the film being in post-production and featuring a star-studded cast.

Williams and Gondry in a joint statement to IndieWire said that they mutually agreed they “can’t deliver this film,” and Variety, which first reported the news, added that it will not be released in any form or shopped by Universal to other buyers.

“When all of us got into the editing room we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned. We appreciate all the hard work of the talented cast and crew. While we’re disappointed, we can’t deliver this film, we have incredible partners at Universal and will collaborate in a different capacity again soon,...

Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry have scrapped their movie musical “Golden” during post-production at Universal Pictures, TheWrap has learned.

The film, directed by Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), will not be released in any capacity after producers and the director collectively determined the film did not live up to its intended vision.

“When all of us got into the editing room we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned,” Williams and Gondry said in a joint statement to Variety, which first reported the news. “We appreciate all the hard work of the talented cast and crew. While we’re disappointed we can’t deliver this film, we have incredible partners at Universal and will collaborate in a different capacity again soon.”

“Golden” featured an ensemble cast including Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry,...

Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry have decided to scrap their movie musical that was in the postproduction process for Universal Pictures.

Golden, which previously went by the title Atlantis, will not be shopped to other interested parties, as the creative team is not continuing on with the project. It had previously been scheduled for release on May 9.

The star-studded cast included Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Janelle Monáe, Missy Elliott and Quinta Brunson. The project was set in Virginia Beach during the summer of 1977 and inspired by Atlantis Apartments, the neighborhood where Williams grew up. Gondry helmed the musical from a script by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson, while Williams was a producer alongside Mimi Valdés and Gil Netter.

“When all of us got into the editing room, we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned,...

David Zaslav isn’t the only one in Hollywood completely scrapping already-shot feature films. This week brings news that a pair of high-profile forthcoming films in various stages of post-production will never see the light of day.

First up, last year Michel Gondry shot Golden (formerly titled Atlantis), inspired by the childhood of Pharrell Williams and featuring the epic cast of Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Janelle Monáe, Missy Elliott, Quinta Brunson, Anderson .Paak, and Jaboukie Young-White. Universal Pictures had set a release for May 5, but now Variety reports the $20 million film has been scrapped “after unanimous agreement from producers and Gondry that the film did not live up to its developed conceit.”

“When all of us got into the editing room we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned,” Williams and...

A highly anticipated musical film chronicling the childhood of Pharrell Williams has been permanently shelved and will not be released in any form. The movie, originally titled Atlantis and later renamed Golden, was directed by renowned filmmaker Michel Gondry, best known for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Despite being slated for a wide release by Universal Pictures on May 5…

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A star-studded movie musical about the childhood of Pharrell Williams has been permanently shuttered and will not see release in any capacity, Variety can report exclusively.

The project in question is “Golden,” originally titled “Atlantis,” and was directed by Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”). It was set for wide theatrical release from Universal Pictures on May 5, though sources said that date was pushed internally last year. It boasts a heavyweight cast of chart toppers and an Oscar winner, including: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Janelle Monáe, Missy Elliott, Quinta Brunson, Anderson .Paak and Jaboukie Young-White.

Universal set up and financed the effort as part of their longstanding creative partnership with Williams (who is notably a composer and performer for the blockbuster “Despicable Me” franchise). Multiple sources told Variety that the project was shut down after unanimous agreement from producers and Gondry...

Eye Haïdara (“C’est la vie!”) and Mélanie Laurent (“Inglorious Basterds”) are starring in “Mata,” a high voltage spy thriller directed by Rachel Lang, whose previous film “Our Men” played at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight.

“Mata” has been boarded by Paris-based Indie Sales which will introduce the project to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin. Warner Bros. will distribute the movie in French theaters while Netflix has picked up local streaming rights.

Now filming, “Mata” also stars Joséphine Japy (“Tapie”) and Raphaël Personnaz (“Boléro”). The movie marks Lang’s third feature, following “Our Men” which was the closing film of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2021, and “Baden Baden” which played at the Berlin Film Festival in 2016.

Haïdara stars as Mata, a French secret agent who gets wounded while on a clandestine operation in Niger and loses track of her colleague Antoine, captured on the spot. “Upon her return, she volunteers for...

In a very uncharacteristic move by Warner Bros., the studio has uploaded 31 movies to stream on YouTube for free. There is a perception that those who are watching a movie via a streaming service over going to the theater, is that it's free to do, despite paying a monthly subscription. Those streaming platforms are more costly than ever, and people are starting to make cuts to what could be a must-have service. Yet, a movie on YouTube that can be watched for free with no rental fee or any commercials, is something Warner Bros. is looking to offer movie fans with titles like the first Dungeons & Dragons, Mutiny on the Bounty, and the Jackie Chan-led Mr. Nice Guy.

Warner Bros. Entertainment's YouTube page made a playlist of movies that can be watched for free, some of which are critically acclaimed hits. These include Palme d'Or winner The Mission starring Robert DeNiro,...

Exclusive: Indie Sales is reuniting with Belgian directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah to handle international sales on their upcoming feature Gangstas, sequel to their 2018 breakout hit Gangsta, which the Paris-based company also sold.

Since then, Adil & Bilall have gained international recognition as directors of the third and fourth instalments of the Bad Boys franchise: Bad Boys for Life (2020) and Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024) which together grossed over $830M at world box office.

Gangstas returns to the streets of Antwerp and revives the four childhood friend protagonists at the heart of the first film, who are also played by the original cast: Adamo (Matteo Simoni), Badia (Nora Gharib), Junes (Junes Lazaar), and Volt (Saïd Boumazoughe).

Adamo, the Moroccan-Italian drug-dealing protagonist of the original, who uses his uncle’s pizzeria as cover, has worked his way up to become one of the most influential figures in the Antwerp...

Exclusive: Michel Gondry’s latest film Maya, Give Me A Title, is set to have its North American premiere at the upcoming New York International Children’s Film Festival (Feb 28 – March 16).

The French-language film will have its international premiere at the upcoming Berlin Film Festival. Indie Sales is selling. Gondry’s regular producer Georges Bermann of Partizan Films is producing. A U.S. buyer has yet to be set but The Jokers released in France.

The Lumiere-nominated film is a stop-motion animation charting the long-distance relationship between Gondry and his daughter Maya. The two live in different countries, and on each of their nightly calls Gondry asks his daughter “Maya, give me a title.” Whatever her answer is, he creates a short animated story in which Maya is always the hero. The trailer is below.

Venues for the film will include Dctv’s Firehouse, Sva, Scandinavia House, and IFC Center.

Disney’s “A Complete Unknown” continued its reign atop the U.K. and Ireland box office, bringing in £1.2 million ($1.5 million) in its third weekend and pushing its total to £8.3 million ($10.3 million), according to numbers from Comscore. The Bob Dylan biopic, starring Timothée Chalamet, has demonstrated strong staying power, maintaining its grip on the top spot despite competition from new releases.

Holding steady at No. 2, Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” roared to another $1.3 million in its seventh frame, bringing its cumulative gross to $36.4 million. Warner Bros.’ “Companion” debuted at No. 3 with a solid $915,609.

Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 4” secured fourth place with $877,857 and is now touching $30 million in the territory. Universal’s awards season favorite “The Brutalist” stayed at No. 5 in its second weekend, adding $753,520 to its total, which now stands at $2.1 million.

The event cinema release of Universal’s “Les Miserables: The Staged Concert” was at No. 6 with $680,938. Lionsgate U.

New films from Richard Linklater, Michel Franco and Hong Sang-soo are among the competition highlights for the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, the world’s largest public film festival, which unveiled it full lineup today.

Linklater’s Blue Moon, a period drama about the final days of Lorenz Hart, half of the Rodgers & Hart songwriting team, will have its world premiere at the Berlinale, marking Linklater’s fourth time in Berlin competition. At his last go-around, with Boyhood in 2014, he walked away with the Silver Bear for best director. The feature, starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott, will be released worldwide by Sony Pictures Classics.

Berlinale regular, and four-time Silver Bear winner Hong Sang-soo returns with his latest intimate drama, What Does That Nature Say to You?; and Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud, whose feature Sex was an audience favorite at Berlin last year, is back with Dreams,...