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Welcome to the Gold Ticket, your VIP guide to the best of pop culture for the weekend ahead, curated by the Gold Derby team of experts. (May 16-18)

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No one loves anything as much as Apple loves science fiction. But who's complaining?

The streaming service’s latest addition to its sci-fi heavy library is Murderbot, a 10-episode series adapted from All Systems Red, the first book in Martha Wells’ award-winning Murderbot Diaries series of novels. The show — the first two episodes of which are now streaming on Apple TV+ — hails from Oscar nominees Chris and Paul Weitz and stars Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård as a self-aware cyborg. Having dubbed itself Murderbot, its purpose is to protect a group of scientists led by the empathetic Mensah (Olivier Award winner Noma Dumezweni) as they explore the surface of an uninhabited planet. If you’d ask Murderbot, however, its mission...

The epic period drama was nominated for 10 Academy Awards at this year’s ceremony, winning three, including Best Actor for Brody.

Two months after taking home three Academy Awards, including for its star Adrien Brody, A24’s “The Brutalist” makes its streaming debut ahead of the weekend. The 10-time Oscar nominee, directed by Brady Corbet, was consistently named one of 2024’s best films, bolstered by Brody’s performance as László Tóth a Jewish-Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor who immigrates to the United States, where he struggles to achieve the American Dream. “The Brutalist” is available to watch now exclusively on Max and will also make its linear debut on HBO this Saturday, May 17 at 8 p.m. Start the epic now with a subscription to Max.

How to watch ‘The Brutalist’ When: Friday, May 16, 2025 at 3:01 a.m. Et TV: Max, HBO Stream: Watch with a subscription to Max. From...

Between Megalopolis and The Brutalist, obsessive architects were at the center of two of the most ambitious arthouse movies released last year. A more modest addition to the group, but fueled by some of the same ego-tripping, technical hurdles, bureaucratic infighting and money squabbles, Stéphane Demoustier’s The Great Arch follows the tragic true story of Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, an idealistic Danish builder whose design for a massive new monument next to Paris wound up destroying his life.

Filled with more French-bashing than most movies coming out of Gaul, the film offers a play-by-play account of what von Spreckelsen went through after he was chosen to erect a brand-new arch in the futuristic La Défense district west of the city. He had high ambitions that his “cube,” as he constantly referred to it, would stand alongside the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower as an enduring part of the Paris landscape.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Brutalist (Brady Corbet)

Brady Corbet’s long-gestating architecture epic looks and feels as painstakingly crafted as its lead character’s intricate architectonics. For as barren and minimalist as László Tóth’s (a terrific Adrien Brody) designs are, they pack a beautiful, mysterious, occasionally revelatory punch, much like Corbet’s winding three-and-a-half-hour (complete with built-in intermission!) story about a Hungarian architect who immigrated to New York after WWII only to be mentally and emotionally sucked in by the tide of a momentous decades-long project initiated by a ruthless Pennsylvania business tycoon. Its scope is enormous––almost impossible not to get wrapped up in. A sense of impending gravity gives this film the weight of the real, as if we’re witnessing history.

“The Brutalist”, Oscar-winning ‘historical drama’ feature, directed by Brady Corbet stars Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé and Alessandro Nivola, streaming May 16, 2025 on HBO Max:

‘…’László Tóth’, a Hungarian-born architect survives World War II and emigrates to the United States…

“…where he struggles to achieve the ‘American Dream’, until a wealthy client changes his life…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

There’s a little moment less than an hour into “Brand New Landscape” that works as a microcosm of this Japanese film’s particular magic. In the scene, one of the lead characters is at his workplace, a location we’ve seen several times across the film already, as we see this character go about his workdays. This time, though, he’s being fired, which he’s told by a supervisor who sneaks up and screams, disrupting this environment that’s been relatively tranquil during its prior appearances. Calmly exiting the premises, the terminated employee comments on the embarrassing nature of the messenger’s conduct, causing that supervisor to hurl further abuse as they both leave the building.

This entire firing process occurs in an unbroken take, the 2:1 framing giving us a good look at the factory floor as various employees quietly try to do their work as this outburst is taking place.

István Szabó is bringing some “Sunshine” to Cannes Classics.

His 1999 historical epic, starring Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, John Neville and Jennifer Ehle, followed generations of a Hungarian-Jewish family until the mid-20th century. No stranger to Cannes thanks to award-winning “Mephisto” (which also picked up an Academy Award) and “Colonel Redl,” Szabó wrote the script with Israel Horovitz.

The full 4K digital restoration of the film was “prepared especially for Cannes,” reveals Nfi’s Filmlab director Viktória Sovák.

“The frames of the 181-minute-long film were partially corrupted and dotted with large white spots. During color grading, carried out with [the film’s original] cinematographer Lajos Koltai, the opportunity arose to make minor adjustments to the digital material that were not possible at the time it was shot. His greatest pleasure came with being able to bring out even the most minute details, which was impossible in the analogue era.”

Overall, Szabó’s nine feature...

Theo James's stock continues to rise as the Buckinghamshire-born British actor adds another project to his string of upcoming roles, officially taking over from Adrien Brody in The Bookie and the Bruiser, a new period crime thriller from Bone Tomahawk director S. Craig Zahler. The ever-busy James will step in to take over from the departing Brody, who leaves the project just two months on from his second Best Actor Academy Award win for his portrayal of Holocaust survivor László Tóth in Brady Corbet's The Brutalist.

The upcoming movie will see James star alongside Vince Vaughn in Zahler's fourth feature, with his previous two, 2018's Dragged Across Concrete and 2017's Brawl in Cell Block 99, also starring Vaughn. The movie is set in 1959 New York City and features the thoughtful Jewish Rivner (James) and Vaughn's rough and tough Italian American, Boscolo. After serving in the Second World War,...

For any casual follower of the Oscar race, some of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ newly announced rules might come as a shock. For instance, Academy members now have to watch all nominated films to be eligible to vote — a requirement that will be tricky to regulate in definitive terms, and might make many Oscar watchers wonder, “How was this not a mandate before?”

Other new rules — especially those around artificial intelligence — are less surprising, while still signifying a major step for the Academy towards acknowledging the rapid evolution of generative AI, and its impact on artists and cinematic art.

What exactly is the new AI rule?

As recommended by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, the eligibility requirements for motion pictures contending in the Oscar race now include the following language:

With regard to Generative Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film,...

Updated 9am Pt May 8 to reflect changes to AI Summit: Brady Corbet’s Oscar and Globe-winning drama The Brutalist wound up in the eye of a brief awards season storm in January after it emerged that AI had been used to modify the dialogue of its co-stars Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones.

The storm was downgraded to a squall after Corbet explained that his sound team had worked with Ukrainian AI voice company Respeecher to “refine certain vowels and letter for accuracy” in the co-stars’ Hungarian-language dialogue, while English-language dialogue had not been touched.

Four months on, Respeecher CEO and co-founder Alex Serdiuk will be at the Cannes Marché du Film for a panel entitled ‘AI Voices for Hollywood and Beyond’, which will touch on the company’s involvement in The Brutalist as well as Jacques Audiard’s 2024 Cannes Jury Prize and Oscar winner Emilia Pérez.

The event is...

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This May, we are getting a ton of content from the much-anticipated return of Love, Death and Robots and Nine Perfect Strangers on streaming, to the release of some of the most anticipated movies of this year, such as Thunderbolts* and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. This upcoming month will see the release of many great movies, so we thought of compiling a list of all the best movies that are coming straight to streaming.

Another Simple Favor (Prime Video) – May 1, 2025 Credit – Amazon MGM Studios

Another Simple Favor is a dark comedy mystery film directed by Paul Feig from a screenplay by Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis. The 2025 sequel film is set five years after the events of the first film, and it follows Stephanie as she is invited by Emily to her wedding in Italy. Stephanie fears...

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.

Yorgos Lanthimos has had an interesting creative partnership with actor Emma Stone so far. Ever since the 2018 film The Favourite, which also starred Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz, Lanthimos has featured Stone in a significant role in every movie he has made since. One of their more recent collaborations earned Stone an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in 2023's Poor Things, with the movie also receiving critical acclaim and numerous other award nominations. Now, the next intriguing collaboration from Lanthimos and Stone has finally set a release date.

In a press release from Focus Features, the production company announced that Bugonia, the next film from Yorgos Lanthimos, will have a special engagement in theaters on October 24, followed by a wide release on October 31. The announcement also came with the news that Bugonia was filmed in VistaVision, the same format used for Brady Corbet's 2024 film,...

Judd Apatow is the first guest curator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, overseeing a new comedy film exhibition focused on celebrating the genre and its filmmakers. Apatow’s new position was announced during the Academy Museum’s 20th celebration and screening of his feature debut “The 40-Year-Old-Virgin,” which featured a conversation between Apatow, Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Jane Lynch, Gerry Bednob, and Kat Dennings in the museum’s David Geffen Theater.

Apatow’s currently untitled exhibition is slated for April 2027, and will mark the Academy Museum’s first exhibition dedicated to the art of comedy in film. “We’re thrilled to announce that our first guest curator at the Academy Museum is none other than the hilarious and brilliant Judd Apatow,” said Academy Museum director and president Amy Homma in a statement. “Judd’s comedies have shaped entertainment and culture, and we know his expertise, appreciation, and love...

Stars: Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Isaach De Bankolé, Alessandro Nivola | Written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold | Directed by Brady Corbet

Dark screens are broken by the reading of a letter, and a scramble of people across the screen, all of them fighting to see their new world of freedom. The land of dreams: America. The crashing brass of an overture fills the room, and you sit up, realising this is something very different. When movies were in their golden age and films felt like an event, an overture would often ring out before any images were seen, or over the opening titles. Think of films such as Lawrence of Arabia, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ben Hur, Gone with the Wind, and many more. Grand films that feel made for the big screen, that seem to invoke the very voice of cinema. If...

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Max is ready with an entertainment-packed May this year. The upcoming month will see the return of some of the brilliant adult animated dark comedy adventure series, Rick & Morty, as well as the release of the Max crime thriller series Duster. Just like every month, Max is ready to overload you with great content. So, we’re here to tell you about the 7 new movies and TV shows coming to Max in May 2025.

Adult Best Friends (May 2) Credit – Gravitas Ventures

Adult Best Friends is a comedy-drama film directed by Delaney Buffet, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Katie Corwin. The 2024 film follows two childhood best friends, Katie and Delaney, who go on a nostalgic trip to their hometown, where Katie is planning to tell Delaney that she is getting married, but a few unexpected events derail Katie’s plans.

Exclusive: Smile producer Temple Hill Entertainment is partnering with Protagonist Pictures on The Rule of Three, which is being set up as the first installment in a new horror trilogy adapted from thriller author Sam Ripley’s novel of the same name.

Protagonist is launching sales at the upcoming Cannes market with Thomasin McKenzie (JoJo Rabbit) and Katie Douglas (Clown in a Cornfield) aboard to star. James Roday Rodriguez (Gravy) directs, adapted from a screenplay by Todd Harthan (Hulu’s High Potential) and Rodriguez.

The synopsis reads: “Beware, Beware, The Rule of Three, It’s coming for you, like it came for me… Are Amy (Douglas) and her family plagued by a deadly curse? Every three years, death strikes under mysterious circumstances, horrifically killing family members. It’s almost three years to the day since Amy’s parents’ death, and Amy realises the curse must strike her next. With the...

Warner Bros. Discovery has announced the movies, TV shows, and live sports that will be available on the Max streaming service in May. The Max May 2025 lineup includes the drama series Duster, the film Mountainhead, and the two-part documentary Pee-wee as Himself.

The schedule also includes new seasons of And Just Like That…, Conan O’Brien Must Go, and 100 Foot Wave. A24’s Academy Award-winning The Brutalist will begin streaming as well.

And Just Like That… Season 3 Featured Programming

Series

Conan O’Brien Must Go Season 2 (Max Original Unscripted Series)

The three-episode season premieres on May 8, and episodes debut weekly

In this riotously funny travel series, Conan O’Brien experiences local cultures and connects with fans he previously met on his podcast.

Conaco produces the series. Conan O’Brien and Jeff Ross are the executive producers.

Conan O’Brien Must Go Season 2

Duster (Max Original Drama Series)

The eight-episode series premieres on May...

VistaVision is back. Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” not only earned Lol Crawley the Best Cinematography Oscar but has sparked a renewed interest in the format — one that is now being further fanned by unconfirmed reports of the 35mm horizontal format also being used in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” Alejandro González Iñárritu’s untitled 2026 film, and Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights.”

The timing is perfect, therefore, for the TCM Classic Film Festival to screen two rare Paramount VistaVision prints of “We’re No Angels” (1955) and “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” (1957) on April 26 at the Tcl Chinese Theater. What’s more, the movies will be projected with special horizontal projectors, which haven’t been used since the 1950s.

Crawley will introduce “Gunfight,” the Western from director John Sturges (“The Magnificent Seven”), which teams Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday, and Charlotte Barker,...

“The Brutalist,” Brady Corbet’s monumental cinematic work, distinguishes itself through its aesthetic, narrative, and thematic ambition. An A24 production that has once again triumphed at the Academy Awards, it reaffirms the studio’s position at the forefront of daring and original filmmaking, evident from its opening credits and powerful thematic and aesthetic presence.

Starring a brilliant Adrien Brody, the film chronicles the complex odyssey of László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust only to confront the promises and perils of the American Dream in the post-war era. Spanning over three and a half hours and unfolding across decades, this epic production captivated critics from its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where Corbet won the Silver Lion for Best Director. Its triumphant journey culminated in prestigious accolades, including multiple Golden Globes, BAFTA Awards, and three Oscars, including Best Actor for Brody. Its unique visual style, marked by...

David Cronenberg is back with his latest Cannes Film Festival premiere The Shrouds, a blend of body horror, grief, comedy, sex, high-tech graveyards and international intrigue starring Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger (in three roles), Guy Pearce and Sandrine Holt. Sideshow/Janus Films is opening the film – the first English-language foray by the distributor of Drive My Car and Flow — at three theaters: NYC’s Angelika Film Center and Film at Lincoln Center, and Los Angeles’ AMC Grove.

Cronenberg will be in-person with screenings hosted by Brady Corbet and Richard Kelly, with the iconic director traveling to San Francisco and Chicago later in the week ahead of a move to 250-plus screens, Sideshow’s widest expansion this early in a film’s run.

The director of The Fly, Dead Ringers and Videodrome has “long been one of my favorite filmmakers. It’s his most personal film. I loved it when I...

The Current Debate connects the dots around a topic of the critical conversation.Anora.Remember Cord Jefferson’s plea at last year’s Oscars? Picking up his Best Adapted Screenplay award for American Fiction (2023), the director chided the industry for being “risk-averse,” and suggested that, “instead of making one $200 million movie,” producers should spread those resources to make room for more diverse and bolder voices. “Try making twenty $10 million movies,” he said, “or fifty $4 million movies.” Jefferson was of course alluding to Oppenheimer (2023), Christopher Nolan’s thunderous portrait of “father of the atomic bomb” J. Robert Oppenheimer, a $100-million Best Picture winner that racked up seven statuettes and nearly a billion dollars at the box office. A year later, a cursory glance at the list of 2025 Oscar winners might make you think the industry did, in fact, heed the call. It’s not that there were no big-budget films among...

It's been a long wait, but The Brutalist has finally received an official streaming release date. Following A24's streaming deal with HBO and Max, Brady Corbet's Academy Award-winning film will be headed exclusively to Max starting Friday, May 16. A24 had previously had an agreement with Showtime, which expired in 2023. A variety of films from the production company have made their way to Max's streaming library, with recent releases like Sing Sing, A Different Man, Heretic, and Queer all hitting the service in the past few months. Now, one of the most talked-about awards season movies will be available to stream soon.

The Brutalist first premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2024. It would subsequently receive plenty of praise and critical acclaim, garnering hype for a wide theatrical release after being acquired by A24. A significant part of the discussion surrounding Corbet's epic about the American dream was the film's lengthy runtime,...

Brody In Concrete Drama (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Prepare to step into The Brutalist’s sleek, concrete world, where architecture is cold, emotions run hot, and Adrien Brody wears existential angst like a tailored suit. Directed by Brady Corbet, cinema’s reigning king of beautifully strange period pieces, this A24 epic follows László Tóth, a Hungarian Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor chasing the elusive American Dream through steel beams and moral compromises.

It’s not just about buildings, it’s about rebuilding after everything’s been torn down. Brody leads a loaded cast through a gorgeously moody spiral of ambition, trauma, and minimalist walls. It’s the kind of film that whispers, “What if trauma could be designed?”

Equal parts art installation and emotional gut punch, The Brutalist is giving us brooding drama with sharp edges, and we’re here for it. Bonus: it’s finally streaming soon, so you can...

“The Brutalist” is the Oscar-winning live-action ‘historical drama’ feature, directed by Brady Corbet starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé and Alessandro Nivola, streaming May 16, 2025 on Max:

‘…’László Tóth’, a Hungarian-born architect survives World War II and emigrates to the United States…

“…where he struggles to achieve the ‘American Dream’, until a wealthy client changes his life…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Adrien Brody's Oscar-winning drama The Brutalist makes its streaming debut in May. Brody won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a Holocaust survivor at the March ceremony.

Max announced on Monday (April 14) that co-writer and director Brady Corbet's period drama will begin streaming on Friday, May 16. The film's streaming debut will be followed with an airing on HBO on Saturday, May 17, at 8:00p.m. Et.

Adrien Brody's The Brutalist Premieres on Max in May

The Brutalist brought Brody his second Best Actor Oscar, this time for his portrayal of Hungarian Holocaust survivor László Tóth. After enduring the horrors of the Nazi regime, László immigrates to the U.S. in search of a better life. The architect arrives in the States with nothing to his name, but soon finds himself drawn into the sphere of demanding client Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce).

Here's the official...

Gold Derby's top news stories for April 14, 2025.

The Last of Us posts premiere ratings

HBO shared Sunday night premiere ratings for dystopian drama The Last of Us. The Season 2 premiere garnered 5.3 million viewers on HBO and Max, a number that uses a combination of Nielsen’s measurement of linear TV viewers and Wbd's own streaming data. That's up 13 percent from the Season 1 premiere in 2023, which got 4.7 million viewers.

Leslie Odom Jr. is going back to Hamilton

You've been waiting for it, and now it's happening: Leslie Odom Jr. will be returning to Hamilton on Broadway this fall as Aaron Burr, the role he originated and won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical in 2016 and shared a Grammy for the original cast recording. His run will last from Sept. 9 to Nov. 23 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's era-defining historical hip-hop musical, will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Broadway on Aug.

Soon you’ll be able to watch A24’s Oscar-winning epic “The Brutalist” from the comfort of your own home, personal library or other architectural wonder.

Directed by Brady Corbet and starring best actor winner Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist” will begin streaming on Max on May 16. It will debut on HBO linear on Saturday, May 17, at 8:00 p.m. Et.

In addition to Brody, who picked up his second Oscar for best actor, “The Brutalist” stars supporting actress nominee Felicity Jones, supporting actor nominee Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé and Alessandro Nivola.

“The Brutalist” was up for 10 Academy Awards earlier this year and won for Brody’s incredible best actor performance, the original score by Daniel Blumberg and the cinematography by Lol Crawley. It was also up for best director, supporting actor, supporting actress, original screenplay, editing and production design.

Here’s...

A24’s post-Word War II epic The Brutalist is set to make its streaming debut on Max on May 16, debuting on HBO linear at 8 p.m. Et May 17.

The film hits streaming following a successful awards season culminating at the Oscars, where it won multiple awards including Best Actor for lead Adrien Brody, Best Original Score for Daniel Blumberg and Best Cinematography for Lol Crawley.

Co-written and directed by Brady Corbet (Vox Lux), The Brutalist centers on László Toth (Brody), a visionary architect escaping post-war Europe, who arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet (Academy Award nominee Felicity Jones) after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes. On his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren recognizes his talent for building.

"The Brutalist" is an overwhelming achievement that genuinely deserves its modern masterpiece label. Director Brady Corbet's ambitious epic is a breezy three-and-a-half-hour cinematic tome about unwavering ambition and chasing the American Dream (along with the obstacles that entails), complete with a story that spans multiple decades. While use of AI on "The Brutalist" caused some controversy, the film has been praised for its authenticity, attention to detail, and complex rags-to-riches story -- which is why it could be mistaken for a dramatization of real historical events.

Indeed, watching "The Brutalist," one would be forgiven for assuming that the A24 drama was inspired by the life of a real-life figure from post-war America. The film stars two-time Oscar-winner Adrien Brody as László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor who moves to the Land of the Free after World War II to pursue his dream of becoming an architect. His journey throughout...

IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” podcast had a very special guest this week, live in New York City, with Christine Vachon. The producer at Killer Films, which she runs with Pamela Koffler, has Celine Song’s “Materialists” coming up after the success of Song’s “Past Lives,” which also earned Vachon her first Oscar nomination, for Best Picture. Vachon has helped steer the careers of Todd Haynes, Todd Solondz, and more filmmakers we love throughout a career dating back to Todd Haynes’ Sundance-bracing queer triptych “Poison” in 1991.

Joining IndieWire “Screen Talk” co-hosts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio in-person at Film at Lincoln Center and MoMA’s New Directors/New Films, Vachon previewed Song’s new film and mused about the state of moviegoing: “It’s not so much people aren’t going; there’s nothing for people to see,” Vachon said.

“One of the things I love about ‘Past Lives,’ and...

Filipino director Lav Diaz says he is preparing an adaptation of an obscure Alexandre Dumas work, to shoot later this year.

Without naming the work, Diaz told Screen the film was scheduled to shoot at the start of this year before the director became unwell. Now recovered, he is looking to shoot it towards the end of 2025.

Diaz’s previous films include 2022’s When The Waves Are Gone, a loose adaptation of Dumas’s most famous work The Count of Monte Cristo.

The director also hopes a 165-minute version of Magellan, his feature film starring Gael Garcia Bernal as Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan,...

The 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival has announced its closing night selection, Michael Mann’s “Heat,” which marks its 30th anniversary this year. The 1995 crime drama stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and late actor Val Kilmer; a sequel is in the works, with Adam Driver and Austin Butler rumored to be playing the younger versions of De Niro and Pacino’s respective characters.

The 16th annual festival from Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has a theme of “Grand Illusions: Fantastic Worlds on Film.” The festival will take place April 24 to 27, with the “Heat” screening including a conversation with writer/director Mann. As previously announced, the festival will open with George Lucas’ “The Empire Strikes Back.” TCM Primetime host Ben Mankiewicz will serve as official host of the TCM Classic Film Festival, alongside Jacqueline Stewart, Dave Karger, Alicia Malone, and Eddie Muller.

Additional festival highlights include Rob Reiner in conversation with screenwriter...

IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” podcast is coming back live to New York City this Tuesday, April 8, and you can attend for free.

“Screen Talk” co-hosts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio (that’s me) will be joined by Academy Award-nominated producer Christine Vachon for a live conversation on April 8 at 3 p.m. at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center. The event will take place as part of the Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center’s ongoing New Directors/New Films celebration of emerging first- and second-time directors.

Vachon, with Pamela Koffler, heads up Killer Films, the company behind such recent Oscar-nominated films as “A Different Man,” “May December,” “Past Lives” (which earned Vachon a Best Picture nomination as a producer), and more, with filmmakers like Todd Haynes, Todd Solondz, and Celine Song (with her upcoming “Materialists”) part of Killer’s regular stable. Vachon got her...

The 2025 awards season was a triumph for indie filmmakers. Indie stalwarts Sean Baker’s “Anora” and Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” dominated the Oscars, combining for 16 nominations and 8 wins, sweeping the night’s biggest categories. And it’s to Baker and Corbet’s credit that while under the months-long spotlight of awards, they each chose to highlight how it’s difficult to make a living — even at the pinnacle of indie film.

“I’ve spoken to many filmmakers with films nominated this year who can’t pay their rent,” Corbet said on Marc Maron’s Wtf podcast while discussing how filmmakers are not paid to promote their films, including during awards. “Both my partner [Mona Fastvold] and I made zero dollars on the last two films we made. Yes, actually zero. So we had to just live off of a paycheck from three years ago.”

For his part, Baker spent...

Last week, we got the first teaser for Paul Thomas Anderson’s long-awaited return with One Battle After Another. It was just a brief glimpse that offered a tantalising first hint at what the ever-versatile filmmaker has cooked up for his first outing since Licorice Pizza. Of course, it looks absolutely nothing like Licorice Pizza. Which was absolutely nothing like Phantom Thread, and so on and so forth. Now, we’ve got the full trailer – bringing more chaotic vibes, a desperate Leonardo DiCaprio, and some revolutionary energy. Check it out:

Frankly, there’s still not a lot of plot to go on here – and since it’s loosely based on a Thomas Pynchon novel, we’d imagine it won’t have a conventional narrative in the typical sense. But this looks arresting and darkly comic, with DiCaprio a somewhat hapless member of a revolutionary cause. Also getting explosive are the likes of Teyana Taylor,...

Viva la revolución.

One Battle After Another will officially slug it out with the fall’s top awards contenders. On Thursday, Warner Bros. released the first trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, which arrives in theaters on Sept. 26 — a release date that all but assures Anderson’s latest of launching at one of the significant fall festivals in Venice, Telluride, or Toronto.

Still, regardless of its eventual landing spot, One Battle After Another was always considered one of the year’s top potential Oscar films, sight unseen. Anderson’s movies have racked up several nominations over the last two decades, as have DiCaprio’s many acclaimed features. It’s always possible that One Battle After Another is the exception, not the rule — especially because Anderson’s last dalliance with the work of Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice (more on that below), didn’t connect with the Academy significantly.

Even though it also concerns an architect fighting entrenched elites to achieve his singular vision, Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist doesn’t bow before the altar of The Fountainhead. Yet he takes a gauntlet thrown down early in King Vidor’s 1949 film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s novel—no place originally exists in architecture, and the past cannot be improved upon—more seriously than either Vidor or Rand. Corbet’s epic, like Adrien Brody’s László Toth, remains unconcerned with choosing between honoring the past and catering to the present. László instead seeks to transcend time altogether, thus equipping his artistry to endure well into the future.

Corbet’s multi-decade survey of post-war America captures the sweeping scope of the novelistic period epics of the studio era, which embodied the cultural might of the United States as it asserted dominance across the globe. But The Brutalist rises above simple pastiche or homage.

“Life is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get,” said Forrest Gump. This sentiment rings true when it comes to movies, too.

We mean, we’re talking about those days where you hop from one adventure to the next, with no map nor plan, just following the flow like a leaf in the wind. Now, imagine that kind of unpredictable thrill happening right from the comfort of your couch. If movies were a ride, this list would be the kind that keeps you buckled in tight, taking you from soul-stirring drama to mind-bending sci-fi, all in a single night. There is no need for a parachute or seatbelt, though—just a bucket of popcorn and a TV remote.

A still from Deadpool & Wolverine | Credits: Marvel Studios

Okay, so maybe that’s not exactly how MCU’s Doctor Strange would explain it, but you get the gist.

David Cronenberg, the Canadian body-horror master behind works like Crimes of the Future, Videodrome and Scanners, has shared his opinion about something he doesn't usually address: The Oscars. The director talked about the controversy that Brady Corbet's historical drama The Brutalistfaced before the Academy Awards this year when the film's editor admitted to using AI to make Adrien Brody's Hungarian accent more authentic. Cronenberg attributes the backlash to other Oscar nominees who campaigned against the film: "It's very much a Harvey Weinstein kind of thing."

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Cronenberg was at the London Soundtrack Festival, where he participated in a talk with his frequent collaborator Howard Shore. The composer has worked with Cronenberg on films like Crash, Naked Lunch and Eastern Promises, and he also composed the music for The Shrouds, the director's latest film, which is set to be released in 2025. Shore has also composed the scores for major Hollywood films,...

David Cronenberg is not one to suffer fools and he definitely knows a scam when he sees one. Amongst this year’s many Oscar-related scandals, perhaps one of the more futile narratives was around the use of AI in Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist.” Considering the project prided itself on being a throwback to classic movie-making, even shooting on film and utilizing the old format of VistaVision for certain scenes, many fans were disappointed Corbet would use such a divisive technology in his work. Speaking at London’s Royal Festival Hall during an appearance with composer Howard Shore at Soundtrack Festival, Cronenberg shared how he believed the uproar to be unnecessary and perhaps even orchestrated.

“I must confess, there was a scandal [with] ‘The Brutalist,'” he said (as per The Hollywood Reporter). “There was a discussion about Adrien Brody… but apparently they used artificial intelligence to improve his accent. I...

Following controversy around The Brutalist‘s usage of AI, David Cronenberg is coming to the Best Picture Oscar nominee’s defense.

During a conversation with longtime collaborator Howard Shore at the London Soundtrack Festival, the director theorized there was a “campaign against” the Brady Corbet-helmed film, noting that AI is used “all the time” in filmmaking.

“I must confess, there was a scandal [with] The Brutalist,” said Cronenberg, according to multiple outlets. “There was a discussion about Adrien Brody… but apparently they used artificial intelligence to improve his accent. I think it was a campaign against The Brutalist by some other Oscar nominees. It’s very much a Harvey Weinstein kind of thing, though he wasn’t around.”

Cronenberg explained that directors “mess with actors’ voices all the time,” citing John Lone’s performance in his 1993 film M. Butterfly.

“When he was being this character, this singer, I raised the...

Acclaimed movie director David Cronenberg shoots down criticisms surrounding the use of generative AI in The Brutalist.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Cronenberg touched on the subject during an appearance at London's Royal Festival Hall for the London Soundtrack Festival. "I must confess, there was a scandal [with] The Brutalist. There was a discussion about Adrien Brody… but apparently they used artificial intelligence to improve his accent. I think it was a campaign against The Brutalist by some other Oscar nominees. It's very much a Harvey Weinstein kind of thing, though he wasn't around."

Directed by Brady Corbet from a script he co-wrote alongside Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist stars Adrien Brody as László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish architect who immigrates to America after being separated from his wife during the Holocaust. The film follows László's journey over the course of more than three decades, as he finds his footing in the United States,...

David Cronenberg, the legendary Canadian filmmaker, has stepped into the fray over the use of AI in ‘The Brutalist.’ This awards-season contender, directed by Brady Corbet, has been turning heads with its epic storytelling and Adrien Brody’s powerful lead performance. But lately, it’s been getting attention for a different reason—some folks aren’t happy about how technology was used to tweak Brody’s Hungarian accent.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cronenberg didn’t mince words when he spoke at a recent London Soundtrack Festival event alongside his longtime collaborator, composer Howard Shore. He suggested the backlash wasn’t just about ethics or art—it might’ve been a calculated move. ‘I think it was a campaign against The Brutalist by some other Oscar nominees,’ he said. ‘It’s very much a Harvey Weinstein kind of thing, though he wasn’t around.’ His take? This could’ve been...

Legendary horror director David Cronenberg has his own thoughts as to why the backlash against the use of AI in “The Brutalist” was so strong.

Back in January, “The Brutalist” editor Dávid Jancsó said AI tools were used to improve the Hungarian dialogue of stars Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones. The use of the controversial tech soon caused an online outcry against the Oscar front-runner, but Cronenberg believes the backlash was more than just a social media spat.

“I must confess, there was a scandal [with] ‘The Brutalist’,” Cronenberg said at London’s Royal Festival Hall (via The Hollywood Reporter). “There was a discussion about Adrien Brody… but apparently they used artificial intelligence to improve his accent. I think it was a campaign against ‘The Brutalist’ by some other Oscar nominees. It’s very much a Harvey Weinstein kind of thing, though he wasn’t around.”

He continued, “We mess with actors’ voices all the time.

David Cronenberg has offered up his thoughts on the backlash that the Oscar-winning film The Brutalist was on the receiving end of throughout awards season.

The Canadian filmmaker was at a London Soundtrack Festival talk with career-long collaborator Howard Shore to discuss some of the films they’ve partnered on over the years.

The two visionaries discussed M. Butterfly, Cronenberg’s 1993 film about a French diplomat (Jeremy Irons) who becomes infatuated with a Chinese opera performer, Song Liling (John Lone). Their affair lasts for 20 years, and they subsequently marry, but Irons’ character is unaware or willfully ignorant that Liling is a man.

Cronenberg compared his editing of the film to the criticism surrounding Brady Corbet’s post-war epic when it was revealed that artificial intelligence was used on the film’s lead, Brody (who went on to win the best actor Oscar for his performance), to enhance the accuracy of his character’s Hungarian accent.

Aubrey Plaza called on a friend to perform a welfare check on her late husband Jeff Baena in October 2024, according to new reports from the Los Angeles Country Medical Examiner. At the time, around three months before the writer and director died by suicide at 47, Baena reportedly made “concerning remarks” to the actress.

Per Hollywood Reporter, the document notes that Plaza and Baena were “experiencing recent marital difficulties” that led to the couple being separated for four months beginning in September 2024. But their lines of communications remained open. According to the report,...

Update: the first teaser has arrived ahead of a full trailer next week. See it and find the original story below.

A major summer release for Paul Thomas Anderson’s next feature was too good to be true. Warner Bros. has now delayed the film, his Vineland-inspired action/crime/comedy One Battle After Another, from an August 8, 2025 release to a September 26, 2025 bow, a similar timeframe that Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis occupied last year.

According to The Wrap, the film will still receive an IMAX release, including select theaters with 70mm along with a special release on VistaVision, a format recently used by Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist. The shift will reportedly “give the studio more time to prepare VistaVision prints and projectors for the release.”

With a cast featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Wood Harris, Alana Haim, Benicio del Toro, and Chase Infiniti, we recently...

Warner Bros has just made some razor-sharp release-date changes ahead of CinemaCon, ones that could potentially keep the Burbank, CA lot more toward the black this year than in the red.

In a year when there were four $100 million-plus auteur-driven movies — one of which, Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17, recently misfired — Warners Bros distribution has taken the pressure off the studios’ schedule in that regard, and even placed a potential tentpole into the year: Zach Cregger’s anticipated genre movie Weapons on August 8.

Cregger’s next movie after Barbarian was previously scheduled for MLK weekend 2026, on January 16. What kept Warners from moving the pic starring Josh Brolin, Julia Garner and Alden Ehrenreich was that the theatrical release was tied to Imax screens — can’t give up those auditoriums. In fact, what made all of the release-date changes feasible for Warners was that each was tied to Imax bookings. As...

by Cláudio Alves

With The Brutalist, Brady Corbet and cinematographer Lol Crawley revived VistaVision for a 21st century cinema. In the process, they also brought the format back to the Oscar stage, becoming the first film since Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief to win the Best Cinematography Oscar for a VistaVision lensing. If you've read my reviews over the years, you might have noticed I have a passion for film form. This fascination encompasses the innovations that took over the medium in the midcentury, with the introduction of new aspect ratios, processes, and techniques after decades under the 4:3 Academy ratio hegemony.

I really love VistaVision, a happy medium between more extreme widescreen propositions and the classical square-ish proportions that dominated pre-1950s cinema. It's quite beautiful, harmonious and the technique itself lends itself to rich images, full of detail, crisp yet not in the sometimes bloodless way of digital filmmaking.