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The American Pavilion has announced the 2025 Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes, sponsored once again by Gold House. AmPav is the epicenter for American hospitality on the Croisette, bringing U.S. filmmakers together at the world’s most influential film festival. Ryan Coogler and Jeff Nichols are alums of the American Pavilion’s Cannes student program.

Will a filmmaker at the 2025 showcase follow in their footsteps? This year’s lineup features 25 official selection films in three showcases: Student Short Films & Documentaries, Emerging Filmmaker Short Films & Documentaries, and the Emerging Filmmaker LGBTQ+ showcase films. Check out the full lineup below.

Films will screen at The American Pavilion on Tuesday, May 20 (LGBTQ+ Showcase) and Wednesday, May 21 (Student and Emerging Showcase).

Emerging showcase category winners will be chosen by a jury that includes agents, managers, producers, industry members, and a team from Gold House, the leading cultural nonprofit that brings together and invests in Asian Pacific creators and companies.

Tom Hardy’s new action movie has been streaming on Netflix for a week, but fans are already starting to lose interest in the film. Things didn’t look all that bad for Havoc the day before its debut — it landed with a solid score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes — but the feedback from general audiences has told a different story. The audience score on the aggregate site currently sits at 39%, making it one of the lowest-rated movies of Tom Hardy’s career. Havoc spent less than a week in the #1 spot on Netflix, and its descent has already begun. The film has dropped to the #2 spot on the streamer’s top 10, now falling behind Exterritorial, the mystery action thriller written and directed by Christian Zübert.

For the Tom Hardy fans who perhaps didn’t enjoy Havoc but are looking for something else to watch, look no further than MobLand.

Is Austin Butler fit to be Patrick Bateman? Well, the casting director for the 2000 film “American Psycho” has a different take on which role Butler should play…

An “American Psycho” reimagining was announced in 2024 with Luca Guadagnino directing from Scott Z. Burns’ adaptation. Austin Butler was rumored to lead the film as Patrick Bateman, the character that Christian Bale first brought to screen. However, author Brett Easton Ellis later said that the remake was “fake news” and that no deals for any of the aforementioned creatives are in place. Guadagnino went on to appear in a video message during Lionsgate’s CinemaCon presentation confirming his involvement in the project and said that the script is “coming out very handsomely.”

Now, casting director Kerry Barden is weighing in on how Butler just might be too handsome to lead the feature. Barden cited how Butler is more similar to supporting star Jared Leto than lead Bale.

Actor Austin Butler has been hotter than a pistol since his Best Actor Oscar nomination for Baz Luhrmann‘s “Elvis” biopic, lining up projects with an impressive group of filmmakers such as Denis Villeneuve, Jeff Nichols, Luca Guadagnino, Sean Durkin, Edward Berger, Ari Aster (the Cannes-bound “Eddington“), and potentially Michael Mann (rumored for a role in “Heat 2“).

Continue reading ‘Caught Stealing’ First Look: Austin Butler Stars In Darren Aronofsky’s New Late ‘90s New York Odyssey at The Playlist.

Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament has returned, and as you’ll see from the most profitable films of 2024 that we’re about to disclose, a movie’s game doesn’t end at the box office. Rather, its downstream revenues and subsequent home windows must be taken into account. Streaming continues to be a wildcard: While traditional motion picture studios such as Disney, Warner Bros, Sony, Paramount and Universal rely on lucrative pay two and pay three streamer deals to catapult their slates into the black, those streamers who’ve embraced theatrical (specifically Amazon MGM Studios and Apple Original Films) have a clandestine metric as to how they evaluate a movie’s post-cinema success. By traditional studio P&l standards, some of those releases would be considered flops. Given that, Apple and Amazon are excluded from this year’s survey. The Most Valuable Blockbuster series runs later rather than sooner as...

Tom Hardy has recently been making headlines for his gritty performance in MobLand, the latest crime thriller series from Guy Ritchie, but he’s got a new movie that just debuted on Netflix. Hardy stars alongside Jessie Mei Li and Justin Cornwell in Havoc, the new conspiracy thriller following a bruised detective who must fight his way out of a drug deal gone wrong. The film began playing on Netflix last night, and now enough reviews for the film have come in that it has finally earned a Rotten Tomatoes score. Havoc currently sits at 67% from critics on the aggregate site, which avoids the infamous “rotten” tag but also isn’t high enough to land inside the top 15 for Hardy’s career. The film has yet to be given a rating by general audiences.

Havoc was written and directed by Gareth Evans, who first made his directorial debut nearly 20 years ago on Footsteps,...

"Death Stranding" is one of the greatest games of the modern era, an undefinable masterpiece that bridges gaming and cinema in a way many other games claims they do but never actually achieve. It's a visually exquisite, narratively riveting game that boasts a cast bigger than most blockbuster movies — not in A-list names, necessarily, but in movie fans' beloved favorite directors, actors, and even Conan O'Brien.

So when the news came out that "Death Stranding" was not just becoming a movie, but that it'd have A24 producing it, it was a rare case of Hollywood getting it 100% right. After all, creator Hideo Kojima is an avid cinephile, constantly sharing every single movie he sees on social media — and also doing some absolutely soul-crushingly scathing write-ups of the movies he didn't like. Kojima is not the type of guy to be content with just having his masterpiece become a multi-million dollar...

Hugh Jackmanhas taken to his personal Instagram to announce that his latest project has wrapped filming. Jackman posted photos of himself and the stunning landscapes of Ireland to celebrate the production wrap on The Death of Robin Hood, the upcoming adventure epic in which he’ll star alongside Murray Bartlett. The first video in the collection shared by the Deadpool & Wolverine star even shows him getting into makeup to play the legendary character, which proves to be a bit more complex than anticipated. The Death of Robin Hood will follow the titular hero grappling with his past life of crime and murder as he falls into the care of a woman after being gravely injured. Jodie Comer and Bill Skarsgård will also star in the film, which will be directed by Michael Sarnoski.

Hugh Jackman’s name is hotter than ever thanks to his recent performance in Deadpool & Wolverine,...

Tom Hardy and "crime" are two movie tags that fit together perfectly. Across his increasingly impressive career, Hardy has starred in a multitude of crime dramas, including Peaky Blinders, Legend, Bronson, RocknRolla, and even Inception. One of his most recent crime flicks took Hardy back to the 1960s as the founder of an up-and-coming biker club in Chicago. That film is Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders, and it's currently a massive hit on streaming,

At the time of writing, The Bikeriders is the most popular movie on Max this week. Alongside Hardy, the film also stars Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Boyd Holbrook, and Norman Reedus, and was based on the real The Bikeriders photography book by Danny Lyon (who is played by Faist in the film). The Bikeriders followed the Vandals (based on the real Outlaws Motorcycle Club) from their humble beginnings as a group of petrol heads to a full-on gang.

After working with such directors as Werner Herzog, Sidney Lumet, William Friedkin, Guillermo del Toro, Rian Johnson, Jeff Nichols, and many more, Michael Shannon embarked on his directorial debut a few years ago. Eric Larue, scripted by Brett Neveu based on his play that debuted in 2022, will now finally arrive in theaters on April 4 and digitally on April 11. Ahead of the release, Magnolia Pictures has now released the first trailer for the film starring Judy Greer, Alexander Skarsgård, Alison Pill, Paul Sparks, and Tracy Letts.

Here’s the synopsis: “In Eric Larue, Janice (Greer) is coping with the fallout after her son murders three of his high school classmates. Struggling and moving through life as if in a haze, she is unable to let go of her anger and frustration. While her husband (Skarsgård) has found refuge at a new church, Janice finds it hard to seek solace in her...

Judy Greer and Alexander Skarsgård play the unthinkable: Parents whose teenage son is a school shooter. And leave it to fellow masterful actor Michael Shannon to usher onscreen the adaptation of the acclaimed 2002 play, simply titled “Eric Larue” to reference the unseen killer, as his directorial debut.

“Eric Larue” follows two parents who, in the aftermath of their son murdering his three classmates, seek solace in rival religious congregations.

The official synopsis reads: “Janice (Greer) is coping with the fallout after her son murders three of his high school classmates. Struggling and moving through life as if in a haze, she is unable to let go of her anger and frustration. While her husband (Skarsgård) has found refuge at a new church, Janice finds it hard to seek solace in her faith despite her pastor’s pleas to heal her wounds by meeting with the mothers of her son’s victims.

Before Jeff Nichols took the indie film world (with Take Shelter) by storm—both literally and figuratively—he made his mark with Shotgun Stories (premiered at the Berlinale in 2007), a poignant tragi-drama about a fractured family that descends into quiet, simmering violence. Both portraits showcased Nichols’ ability to weave complex family dynamics with understated tension. In just under two decades, the Little Rock, Arkansas native has steadily built a compelling body of work, delivering six feature films that blend Americana with intimate portraits of home and family. His characters range from outsiders and outlaws to ordinary individuals simply striving to carve out a space for themselves in the world.…...

“Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” The iconic line has been said by countless people, but not once has Michael Shannon delivered it on SNL. That would seem just about right, but as it turns out, Shannon isn’t against the idea of hosting should Lorne Michaels ever actually ask.

Michael Shannon recently sat down for Interview alongside Austin Butler (who hosted SNL in 2022), with the latter saying that Jeff Nichols (a frequent Shannon collaborator who recently directed both men in The Bikeriders) told him he was an excellent improviser, thus making him a good fit for Saturday Night Live. But as Shannon pointed out, “They have never asked me…They’ve never asked me once…I mean, at this point, I’m like, there’s a statute of limitations, man. If I did do it, I’d have to bitch about how long it took for them...

With 2024 in the books, the time has come to deliver our annual ten best-of-the-year list. So, how did 2024 stack up in the end? Fairly weakly, I’d say, with the year a bit of a casualty of the dual WGA/SAG strikes, which compromised the supply chain of movies opening in theaters – for evidence of that, one need only look at how modest of a selection of movies are open this holiday season. Yet, there were still plenty of good films, so let’s dig into the best movies of 2024.

First, a few honourable mentions. While it didn’t make the Academy Award shortlist for documentary features, I thought Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story was one of the best big-screen biographies in some time, with it painting an honest, nuanced portrayal of the former Superman’s legacy. I also really enjoyed the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, which replaced...

The end of the year offers ample opportunity to catch up on movies, and we’ve put together a curated list of some of the best new titles added to Amazon Prime Video this month. They include a new release from 2024 starring Austin Butler and Tom Hardy, as well as two Batman movies newly added to the streaming service that are well worth checking out, plus a bona fide classic for good measure.

Check out the best new movies on Amazon Prime Video below.

“The Bikeriders” Austin Butler in “The Bikeriders” (New Regency)

One of last year’s very best movies is now one of this year’s very best movies. After playing the fall festivals and getting a primo, made-for-awards-season slot at the end of the year, New Regency and Disney decided to table the movie, with Focus Features agreeing to distribute, with a juicier summer date. It wound up a sleeper hit.

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2024, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

2024 was my year of big, blustering cinema. The kind of movie that makes you realize what a movie is fundamentally supposed to be: Loud, epic, enveloping. You know, Big. The majority of films I responded to most this year were craft masterworks, from the sound design genius of films like The Brutalist, Dune: Part Two, and Civil War to the immersive photography and editing of others like Furiosa, Wicked, and The Substance. Even the “smaller” and quieter of this year’s crop, such as Memoir of a Snail and Janet Planet, reverberated in their background details.

How lucky it is to say to yourself not once but multiple times a year at the theater, “Now this is Cinema!”

Without further ado, the best movies I watched in 2024.

Honorable Mentions: Femme,...

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2024 has come to an end, and while this year wasn’t the greatest year for films or Hollywood after the disastrous pandemic and the Writers’ and Actors’ strike, it did see the release of some great films. From the much-anticipated sequel of the sci-fi film Dune to the superhero buddy-comedy film no one thought would ever happen, Deadpool & Wolverine. So, lets find out which films that were released in 2024 you should not miss out on.

A Real Pain (In Select Theaters) Credit – Searchlight Pictures

A Real Pain is a buddy comedy-drama film written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg. The 2024 film follows American Jewish cousins David and Benji as they embark on a tour of Poland to honour their grandmother’s memories while exploring their family history. Still, their polar opposite personalities get in the way. A Real Pain stars Jesse Eisenberg,...

As streaming audiences settle in for prolonged holiday movie binge sessions, not all the films hitting streaming charts are of the festive variety. Of course, a predictable Bruce Willis actioner is taking over Prime Video's charts, but Megan Fox's decidedly non-festive sci-fi horror film "Subservience" is also dominating the Netflix top 10 at the same time.

Now, yet another non-holiday film is finding success on Prime Video. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols "The Bikeriders" is a beautiful period piece that stars Austin Butler as Benny Cross, a member of the Vandals Motorcycle Club founded in Chicago by Tom Hardy's Johnny Davis. The film also stars Jodie Comer as Benny's love interest Kathy Bauer, in a role that should have been a bigger breakout success for the British actor. Aside from giving us yet another weird Tom Hardy accent, "The Bikeriders" attempted to capture the essence of the photo book on which it's named,...

Some heavy hitters are leaving Netflix at the end of the month. Jaws, 8 Mile, The Deer Hunter, and Psycho all sign off on December 31. That’s a combined nine Oscars and 18 nominations. If you haven’t seen any of them, I’d suggest you get them on your list Asap.

Jaws is simply one of the greatest American action films ever made. Many critics don’t even bother with the “one of the best” when referring to Psycho. It is often considered the very best American horror. 8 Mile is a standout musical biopic, unsurpassed in the world of hip-hop. And The Deer Hunter, though difficult, controversial, and ever so slightly dated by now, was still a vital Vietnam War movie that took Best Picture for 1978.

But there are also some minor gems saying goodbye. So, if you’ve already seen the above-mentioned titles, or if the prospect of...

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 Bikeriders (Jeff Nichols)

Using photographer Danny Lyon’s iconic The Bikeriders’ imagery as a jumping-off point, Jeff Nichols’ latest feature imagines a fictionalized Chicago motorcycle club, the Vandals. Motorcycle club culture might be a distinctly American phenomenon, but Nichols casts two Brits in the lead, with varying returns: Jodie Comer as Kathy narrates the story in a clear Goodfellas conceit, adopting a Midwest accent flashy (and divisive) enough to ensure sustained awards-season chatter; Tom Hardy is Johnny, a truck driver who gets the idea to start a motorcycle club while watching Marlon Brando’s The Wild One. This low-stakes “why not?” starting point for founding the club works early in the film, until, following the Goodfellas trajectory, it all comes crashing down.

Elvis star Austin Butler will play 1980s yuppie psychopath Patrick Bateman in director Luca Guadagnino’s new American Psycho.

Luca Guadagnino has released two films in cinemas this year: Challengers and Queer. The filmmaker has also wrapped filming on After The Hunt starring Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield, which is coming next year courtesy of Amazon. Hopefully it will see the inside of a cinema, too.

The filmmaker has a few other irons in the fire too, including a take on the DC Comics character, Sgt Rock which is set to feature Daniel Craig in the title role. However, it’s looking increasingly like the filmmaker’s next project to go before cameras will be his version of American Psycho, the Brett Easton Ellis novel about Patrick Bateman, a narcissistic Wall Street yuppie who’s also a serial killer.

According to Variety, Guadagnino has cast the lead role, and despite...

Austin Butler is looking to get a little crazy in Luca Guadagnino’s “American Psycho” remake.

Butler, who has made his career working with auteurs such as Baz Luhrmann, Denis Villeneuve, Ari Aster, Darren Aronofsky, and Jeff Nichols, might have his Guadagnino debut with the upcoming feature. Variety reported that Butler is in talks to star as the iconic Patrick Bateman in Guadagnino’s reimagining of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel.

IndieWire has learned that there are no casting deals are in place, however.

The Lionsgate film was announced earlier this year, with Scott Z. Burns adapting the novel for the screen.

Christian Bale led the original 2000 film alongside Guadagnino’s frequent collaborator Chloë Sevigny; Mary Harron co-wrote and directed the classic feature. Guadagnino’s version will not be a remake of Harron’s but rather a new adaptation of Ellis’ book.

Butler has a busy slate, with upcoming features also...

Today is a great day for Tom Hardy fans, as one of the Warrior and Venom star’s highest rated (yet most disappointing when it comes to box office) crime dramas lands on Prime Video. Released in December last year, The Bikeriders finds Hardy starring alongside Austin Butler and Jodie Comer in this tale of a Midwestern motorcycle club who finds themselves evolving from a welcoming place for outsiders to something far more sinister.

Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, who is known for crafting powerful dramas such as Take Shelter, Mud, Midnight Special, and Loving, The Bikeriders stars a stellar ensemble cast that includes Jodie Comer (28 Years Later), Austin Butler, Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road), Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water), Mike Faist (West Side Story), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead). The Bikeriders is available to stream on Prime Video from December 10, and it’s well worth a ride.

Scandar Copti’s Palestinian drama Happy Holidays took the Étoile d’Or main award at the 21st Marrakech International Film Festival.

The film, a Haifa-set drama in which a minor car accident sets off a chain of events that sow division in a patriarchal society, also received the best performance by an actress prize, shared between Wafaa Aoun and Manar Shehab.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

Happy Holidays is a co-production between Palestine’s Fresco Films, Germany’s Red Balloon Film, France’s Tessalit Productions and Italy’s Intramovies. It debuted in Venice’s Biennale Cinema section in September,...

Palestinian director Scandar Copti’s drama Happy Holidays has clinched the Étoile d’Or for Best Film at the Marrakech Film Festival.

The Jury Prize was awarded ex aequo to Argentinian director Silvina Schnicer’s The Cottage and Somali and Austrian filmmaker Mo Harawe’s The Village Next to Paradise. Damian Kocur won the Best Directing Prize for his drama Under the Volcano, which is Poland’s Oscar entry this year.

The prize for Best Performance by an Actress was shared by Wafaa Aoun and Manar Shehab for their performances in Happy Holidays, while Roman Lutskyi won the award for Best Performance by an Actor for his work in Under the Volcano.

Happy Holidays is a contemporary Haifa-set drama in which a minor car accident sets off a chain of events, unraveling lies and unspoken truths that sow division within a multifaceted patriarchal society.

The film world premiered in the...

“Aisha Can’t Fly Away,” “Chronicles From the Siege,” and “It’s a Sad and Beautiful World” claimed a trio of post-production prizes at this year’s Atlas Workshops, which ran from Dec. 1 – 5 as part of the Marrakech Film Festival.

Winner of the top award, “Aisha Can’t Fly Away” walked away with a €25,000 post-production grant. Directed by Morad Mostafa, the film follows a 26-year-old Sudanese woman working as a caregiver in Ain Shams, a Cairo neighborhood known for its sizable African migrant community. Governmental indifference mixes with racial tensions and gang violence, setting the stage for a dark turn when one gang offers Aisha protection – if she’ll offer a favor in return.

The project previously won top honors at Final Cut in Venice earlier this year. Set for delivery in 2025, the lauded title has had festival scouts buzzing for months.

Speaking with Variety from Marrakech, one prominent festival...

Jeff Nichols revved back into filmmaking with the star-studded motorcycle-centric drama “The Bikeriders.”

The critically acclaimed 1960s-set film stars Austin Butler as Benny, a rising leader in biker gang the Vandals who works alongside his mentor Johnny (Tom Hardy). Yet when Benny begins courting Kathy (Jodie Comer), his allegiance to the Vandals wavers. Kathy recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders and later turning into a dangerous crime-driven national effort. Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, and Norman Reedus also star.

The core trio that star in Nichols‘ “The Bikeriders” bring to life the photography in Danny Lyon’s iconic book. Nichols‘ original screenplay is now available to view online, as exclusive to IndieWire.

Read the “The Bikeriders” screenplay here.

“The Bikeriders” marks Nichols’ first film in eight years since 2016’s “Loving.” The feature kicked off the Telluride Film Festival when it...

French-Palestinian-Algerian filmmaker Lina Soualem, whose documentary “Bye Bye Tiberias,” featuring her mother Hiam Abbas (“Succession”), launched positively from Venice and Toronto, is set to make her feature film debut with “Alicante,” a drama starring her sister Mouna Soualem (“Oussekine”) as a young woman on an existential journey that takes her to Spain.

After exploring her Algerian grandparents’ break-up in the doc “Their Algeria” and delving into how Hiam Abbas and her family were displaced from the city of Tiberias by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war in “Bye Bye Tiberias,” Soualem will now be putting a somewhat lighter tale on screen, albeit one that continues her exploration of “questions of belonging and transmission and exiles between generations” and “finding your place in the world,” as she puts it.

In “Alicante” Mouna Soualem will play Assia, a 32-year-old Franco-Algerian photographer, who has just broken up with her long-time American partner, with whom she had...

Jeff Nichols is working on a Cormac McCarthy adaptation or two – but then has a new original film he’s also lining up.

When you have two wholly original films on your resume like Mud and Take Shelter, it’s a wonder that you’d ever consider adapting the work of others, yet that’s what Jeff Nichols has been doing for the last few years.

It’s understandable of course: Nichols has been inspired by some incredible works, having produced 2016’s Loving along with The Bikeriders earlier this year. Both films were adaptations of a sort, with the former being based on Nancy Buirski’s 2011 documentary and the latter adapting Danny Lyon’s book of photographs.

Nichols has had other projects on the go in the last few years that have also been adaptation, even if they haven’t come to fruition. There was a fresh take on Alien Nation...

Few actresses capture the essence of the “girl next door” ingenue quite like Kirsten Dunst. However, Dunst’s talent extends far beyond this classic film trope, as she has consistently demonstrated her remarkable acting abilities throughout her career.

Kirsten Dunst has had an active acting career since 1989, and moviegoers may know her from many different roles — depending on their generation — such as Mary Jane Watson in the early 2000s Spider-Man franchise or as the forever young Claudia in the 1994 film Interview with the Vampire.

Director Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst on the set of the 1999 American psychological drama film The Virgin Suicides (Credit: Paramount Pictures)

Dunst was born in 1982 and grew up in Brick Township, New Jersey, a far cry from the glitz of Hollywood, with most of its residents from middle and lower-middle-class backgrounds.

Dunst’s family was no different, though they likely fared better than some of Brick Township’s inhabitants.

Jeff Nichols has big plans for his future, as he has announced that in addition to his planned Cormac McCarthy adaptations, he will be penning his first original feature since 2016’s Midnight Special.

Jeff Nichols got his start as one of the most distinct auteurs to emerge in the mid-2000s, writing and directing Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, Mud, and the aforementioned Midnight Special. His two most recent features, Loving and this year’s The Bikeriders, both had their roots in true stories, with the latter being adapted from a photo book. On the mixture of projects, Nichols told Deadline, “I’ve been making period pieces and films inspired by other people’s work and this next film for better or worse is going to be cut from Jeff Nichols cloth.”

In addition to these, Jeff Nichols will also go back to adapting, as he will take on Cormac McCarthy’s two Passenger books,...

Jeff Nichols has revealed he is writing his first original work since 2016 sci-fi Midnight Special that will take him back to his native territory of Arkansas, backdrop to early features Shotgun Stories and Mud.

The project is in addition to his adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novels ‘The Passenger’ and its companion ‘Stella Maris’ about siblings living with the knowledge that their father helped develop the atom bomb.

“I am adapting the last two Cormac McCarthy novels but then I am also writing my first original script since Midnight Special, my fourth film,” said Nichols.

Fifth film Loving, about interracial couple Mildred and Richard Loving’s 1960s battle to have their marriage recognized in Virginia, was inspired by Nancy Buirski’s 2011 documentary The Loving Story, while Chicago-based crime drama The Bikeriders was based on Danny Lyon’s book of the same name.

“I’ve been making period pieces and films...

Sean Penn has had it with people being politically correct.

The Oscar-winning actor made an impassioned plea for people “to be as politically incorrect as their heart desires,” while being honored with an award on Saturday during a glitzy gala night at Morocco’s Marrakech Film Festival, where guests included Luca Guadagnino, Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton, Justin Kurzel, Jeff Nichols, Alfonso Cuarón and Walter Salles.

“For those of you with any familiarity with me and what has been my life, you’ll understand that I don’t often miss the opportunity to say an opinion,” Penn said.

“And I have one [opportunity to do so] tonight in celebration of this incredible group of people that this festival brings together,” he added.

Penn went on to reference the so-called Munk Debate about political correctness held in 2018 between British multi-hyphenate Stephen Fry and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson in Toronto.

“Stephen Fry was giving a kind of...

Outspoken actor and director Sean Penn made a call for people to ditch political correctness and truly embrace diversity in thought and action as he received a career honor at the Marrakech Film Festival on Saturday evening.

Italian actor Valeria Golino, who has been close to Penn ever since appearing in his 1991 directorial feature debut The Indian Runner, presented the Oscar winner with the award.

The ceremony was attended by a raft of cinema heavyweights including this year’s festival jury president Luca Guadagnino, Alfonso Cuarón, Walter Salles, Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton, Justin Kurzel, Jeff Nichols, and Cannes Film Festival President Iris Knobloch among others.

“For those of you with any familiarity with me, and what has been my life, you will understand that I don’t often miss the opportunity to say an opinion, and I have one tonight in celebration of this incredible group of people that this festival brings together,...

It’s a measure of how long Jeff Nichols has been thinking about making a movie about the 1960s heyday of Midwest motorcycle gangs that at one point his close friend and frequent star Michael Shannon said to him, “Stop talking about this movie. You’re never gonna make it.”

Shannon was wrong: Almost 20 years after he became intrigued by a book about one such gang, Nichols finally made “The Bikeriders” with Austin Butler, Tom Hardy and Jodie Comer. It was made in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and premiered to rave reviews at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival.

But what should have been the triumphant culmination of his two-decade quest was bittersweet at best. In the wake of the writers and actors strikes, 20th Century Studios pulled the film off its release schedule and eventually sold it to Focus Features, which finally released it to modest box-office returns in...

The Marrakech Film Festival, which opened Friday with Justin Kurzel’s timely thriller “The Order,” has more than 70 films in its lineup, which, as is customary, mixes known titles and fresh fare.

“The Order” is part of the event’s gala screenings that also comprise French-Moroccan auteur Nabil Ayouch’s feminist musical drama “Everybody Loves Touda,” Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here” and Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” all of which will be accompanied by their directors.

The 14-title competition dedicated to first and second works includes Moroccan director Saïd Hamich Benlarbi’s melodrama “Across the Sea,” about North African exiles in Marseilles, and Hind Meddeb’s doc “Sudan, Remember Us,” which pays homage to Sudanese people and culture by chronicling their 2019 revolution. “Sudan, Remember Us” is among films supported by the fest’s Atlas Workshops industry initiative, aimed at fostering and supporting the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan,...

Exclusive: In a highly competitive situation, 20th looks to have found something to be thankful for as it has landed rights to The Barrier, the hot time-travel package teaming All Quiet on the Western Front helmer Edward Berger and Elvis Oscar nominee Austin Butler. Based on the short story by MacMillan Hedges, Deadline first reported that package was hitting the market before Thanksgiving holiday last Wednesday and had every major bidder in town chasing.

Insiders say the package had 11 studios chasing it with 20th landing winning bid and while exact details are unknown sources say the sale came in around the seven figure range for the rights as well as for Hedges to adapt.

Disney Live-Action And 20th Century Studio President David Greenbaum was very hands on in the process and insiders say one of the big selling points was a blind script deal for another project for Hedges down the road.

Hiam Abbass (“Succession”), Abderrahmane Sissako (“Black Tea”), Zar Amir Ebrahimi (“Holy Spider”), Adam Bessa (“Ghost Trail”), Yumna Marwan (“The Veil”) and “Anatomy of a Fall” producer Marie-Ange Luciani will join “The Bikeriders” director Jeff Nichols as mentors at this year’s Atlas Workshops.

Running from Dec. 1 – 5 as part of the Marrakech Film Festival, this seventh edition will more than double in duration, welcoming the filmmakers and producers behind 27 projects for an extra day of in-person workshops after four days of online session earlier this month. By the time the filmmakers hit the ground for pitches in Marrakech, they have benefited from co-production panels, acquisition and distribution trend analysis, green production coaching and presentations from international film funds and A-list festivals.

“We’re creating a new dynamic,” says Atlas Workshops director Hédi Zardi. “In order to assist and make known a young generation – to get them into festivals and onto the...

Austin Butler and Tom Hardy sharing screen space in a midwestern drama directed by Jeff Nichols is hardly something to miss. Fans of the actors and director, brace yourselves as The Bikeriders will soon drop on Prime Video. The feature brings back Nichols to the director's chair after a substantial hiatus. He directs from his own script based on the photo book of the same name by Danny Lyon. The movie depicts the lives of the Vandals Motorcycle Club, a fictional version of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

Instead of binging Sons of Anarchy for the nth time, fans of the FX series can head over to Prime Video next month to watch a different close-knit motorcycle club. The Bikeriders, starring Austin Butler and Tom Hardy, will debut on the streamer in December.

Inspired by Danny Lyon’s iconic book of photography, The Bikeriders will begin streaming on Prime Video on Dec. 11. This comes roughly four months after the Jeff Nichols-directed movie, which focuses on the rise of the fictional 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club, Vandals, was released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Besides Butler and Hardy, The Bikeriders stars Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Michael Shannon (Man of Steel), Mike Faist (Challengers), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon), and Boyd Holbrook (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), among others.

Related Jax Teller's Shocking Sons of Anarchy Ending Actually Gives...

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Prime Video is ready with an entertainment-packed December this year. The upcoming month will see the beginning of some of Prime Video’s best original shows including Secret Level and also the return of hit movies like Your Fault. Just like every month, Prime Video is ready to overload you with great content. So, we’re here to tell you about the best 7 new movies and TV shows coming to Prime Video in December 2024.

The Red Virgin (December 5) Credit – Amazon MGM Studios

The Red Virgin is a Spanish drama film directed by Paula Ortiz from a screenplay co-written by Eduard Sola and Clara Roquet. The 2024 film is set in the 1930s during the Second Spanish Republic in Spain and it follows a precocious and prolific writer who is raised by her mother to become the model of future women.

Lina Soualem’s Spain-set family tale “Alicante,” Walid Messnaoui’s gangster Western “The Last Beast of Atlas” and Linda Lô’s search-for-identity drama “Lucky Girl” rank as buzz titles at the 7th Atlas Workshops, running Dec. 1-5 at the Marrakech Festival.

“Mud” director Jeff Nichols has already been announced as this year’s Workshops tutor.

They will also unveil first images from three of the most awaited movies from the Arab world – from “Amreeka” director Cherien Dabis and “The Yacoubian Building” helmer Marwan Hamed and Tarzan and Arab Nasser, behind Palestine Oscar entry “Gaza Mon Amour.”

Adding to this, however, are a slew of first or second features by young filmmakers hailing from Morocco, Africa and the Arab world who have already gained Academy Awards or big fest recognition, giving the 2024 Atlas Workshops one of the highest-caliber and exciting lineups of any development program this year.

“Arab and African cinema...

Exclusive: All Quiet on the Western Front helmer Edward Berger and Elvis Oscar nominee Austin Butler are out to the town with The Barrier, a hot time-travel package that is expected to spur competitive bidding, sources tell Deadline.

Plot details for the film, based on a short story by MacMillan Hedges, are under wraps, though we hear it’s been discussed as Interstellar meets Top Gun. Berger will direct from a script by Hedges and produce alongside the scribe, with Butler to star and executive produce. The package hit the market Wednesday, as a big buzz title heading into Thanksgiving, with top executives around town asking to meet and hear the take.

After seeing his Netflix WWI epic All Quiet on the Western Front snap up four Oscars, including Best International Feature Film, the German-born Berger has emerged as one of the most sought-after directors around town. He’s in...

There's nothing better than curling up in front of the boob tube on a Friday night with a bucket full of popcorn to watch a classic piece of cinema. Luckily, in this day and age, movies are readily accessible on various streaming platforms. Peacock, in particular, carries a surprising amount of top-notch films to ensure that popcorn doesn't go to waste.

While perusing their streaming library, there were roughly 60 movies on Peacock that I'd happily watch any day, ranging from blockbuster franchises like "Harry Potter" to quirky comedies like "Billy Madison" -- not to mention the endless supply of Hallmark and original movies. Of course, we couldn't include all our favorites, but we've narrowed it down to a Top 30, ranked from great to, well, greater. I wholeheartedly recommend every single movie on this list.

While some are ranked higher than others, we'd gladly kick back and watch any of these...

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2024 is nearly over and while we saw the release of many brilliant films that were also hit at the box office, many movies flew under the radar of people’s view. While some movies like Dune: Part Two and Inside Out 2 were extremely popular at the box office and amongst critics, other great movies like The Fall Guy and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga were not as lucky. So, we thought of compiling a list consisting of the best movies that were released in 2024 that you might not have seen yet.

Late Night with the Devil Credit – Shudder

Late Night with the Devil is a supernatural horror thriller drama film written and directed by Colin and Cameron Cairnes. The 2024 film is set in the year 1977 and it follows a late-night talk show host who decides...

For its upcoming edition, the Marrakech Film Festival is pulling out all the stops.

After a more subdued edition last year due to the Israel-Hamas conflict and the effects of a disastrous earthquake, the event — which has close ties with the crème de la crème of global auteurs — can boast a talent roster on the scale of top international festivals such as Cannes or Venice for its 21st iteration, set to run Nov. 29 to Dec. 7 in the ancient Moroccan city.

Big names set to make the trek to Morocco include Sean Penn, Tim Burton and Monica Bellucci, Alfonso Cuarón, Justine Triet, Ava DuVernay and David Cronenberg. Luca Guadagnino is presiding over the competition jury, which includes hotshot actors Jacob Elordi and Andrew Garfield.

Below, Variety speaks with the fest’s artistic director Rémi Bonhomme – a former driving force behind Cannes’ Critics Week – about how he pulled it off and...

Several years before the video game movie boom of recent years, Tom Hardy could have helped lead the way with one adaptation that didn't end up seeing the light of day. More than a decade ago, Hardy was set to lead a Splinter Cell feature film based on the game, but it's been confirmed that this will never end up happening.

In a new interview with The Direct, producer Basil Iwanyk verified the fate of the Splinter Cell feature film. According to Iwanyk, whose other work includes the Sicario and John Wick franchises, the project fizzled out in development hell after years of failed attempts at getting the right screenplay and budget needed to make the film as "awesome" as it could have been. In the end, that makes the producer "really sad," as he felt there was so much potential in the ill-fated film.

Related Venom 3 Director Put Tom...

Quick Links Matthew McConaugheys Career Was Uncertain Throughout the 2000s Jeff Nichols Knew Where to Take Mud as a Director Mud Characterizes Everything On Screen The Cast Gives Life to Mud's Story Mud Delivered on Its Premise Thanks to Nichols and McConaughey's Teamwork

As one of Hollywoods most charming leading men, Matthew McConaughey has appeared in numerous genres of film and garnered both commercial success with crowd-pleasing movies and critical praise with his committed acting performances. Being the rare kind of actor who can appeal to all audiences, Matthew McConaugheys oeuvre has given him immense stardom and has also propped him up as a permanent fixture in pop culture. However, despite Matthew McConaugheys impressive body of work in recent years, the actor faced an identity crisis while in the spotlight during a string of panned movies and a lack of unique roles coming along.

Anxious for a solid film to shake things up,...

ScreenCraft is launching a virtual event for writers with help from the likes of Denis Villeneuve, Jodie Comer and Jason Reitman.

It is launching its first-ever Winter Virtual Summit, which will run December 6-9. The event is a partnership between ScreenCraft, Backstage and Final Draft.

Other speakers include Noah Hawley, Steve McQueen, David E. Kelley, RaMell Ross, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Allison Tolman (full details below).

Thomas Dever, VP of Business Development for Industry Arts, ScreenCraft’s parent company said, “This collaboration allows us to serve not just writers, but the entire creative community.”

Winter Virtual Summit Schedule:

Friday, December 6th

Jeff Nichols & Jodie Comer

David E. Kelley

Steven de Souza

Saturday, December 7th

Denis Villeneuve & Jon Spaihts

Abe Sylvia

Virgil Williams

Marco Ramirez

Sunday December 8th

RaMell Ross & Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor

Noah Hawley

Justin Kuritzkes

Eric Ledgin & Allison Tolman

Christy Hall

Monday December 9th

Steve McQueen

Dave Talbert

John Hoffman...

English actor Jodie Comer has been working on-screen since 2008, accruing a growing number of major television and film projects over the years. By 2018, Comer had expanded beyond working in British productions, appearing in everything from prestige American television to blockbuster action movies. Throughout her career, Comer has worked with some of the biggest filmmakers in Hollywood, including Ridley Scott, Shawn Levy, and J.J. Abrams. This impressive filmography has earned Comer plenty of accolades for her work, including winning multiple BAFTAs, an Emmy, and being nominated for scores of other major acting awards.

Simply put, Jodie Comer's profile is one of the fastest growing and steadily acclaimed in the entertainment industry and showing no signs of slowing down. With that in mind, there are several movies and television shows Comer has appeared in that are standouts across her entire body of work. Here are Jodie Comer's ten best movies and TV shows ranked.