John Krasinski proudly makes movies for and about the whole family. Maybe his vastly successful “A Quiet Place” franchise, with all its screechy monsters, is too much for youngsters to handle. But there’s still an undeniable, innocent loveliness to those movies, with warm moments that lean closely into the bonds of an adoring family that […]

“Mad Max” mastermind George Miller considered using de-aging technology so that Charlize Theron could star in his “Fury Road” prequel “Furiosa,” but says “it would have been difficult” to pull off. Instead, he opted to cast someone new in the role of Imperator Furiosa: Anya Taylor-Joy. In a Variety cover story on Taylor-Joy and “Furiosa,” […]

The television industry’s annual “upfront” is usually a place where advertisers get to preview new series and specials, not blockbuster movies, so NBC raised eyebrows Monday when one of the first previews it showed to an audience at Radio City Music Hall was of the coming Universal film “Wicked.” NBCUniversal, chief content officer Donna Langley […]

CO-PRODUCTION Indian filmmaker Dr. Bijukumar Damodaran‘s next film “Papa Buka” will commence principal photography in Papua New Guinea in July. The film will follow Indian historians Romila and Anand who go to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, to write a book  about the Indian soldiers who fought with the British and Australian armies against the Japanese […]

Italian-born and Texas-based director Roberto Minervini is known for making hard-hitting documentaries that dissect the backwaters of American society, such as his so-called Texas trilogy comprising “The Passage,” “Low Tide” and “Stop the Pounding Heart.” His most recent doc, “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?,” about a community of Black people in New Orleans during […]

Los Angeles-based Scatena & Rosner Films has acquired worldwide rights to horror film “The Hermit,” starring Lou Ferrigno as a cannibalistic pig farmer in his first role playing a creature since CBS TV series “The Incredible Hulk.” They will be launching sales on the chiller, which is now in post, at the Cannes Marché du […]

New films by Julio Medem, Alejandro Amenábar, Alberto Rodríguez, Isaki Lacuesta, Jonas Trueba and Oliver Laxe join a brace of smart thrillers in a rich Cannes lineup from Spain. “8,” (Julio Medem) Medem (“The Red Squirrel,” “Julia and Sex”) returns towhat he does best: a love story transcending time and space and a poetic critique […]

Spanish sales agents are on some kind of roll. The European Film Market during the Berlinale proved robust, and Malaga Film Festival better still. “Malaga was great for our movies,” Latido Films’ Antonio Saura reported at its conclusion. “We have one of the best lineups in our history covering all genres and all very marketable.” […]

Spanish cinema is expanding, opening up attractive film avenues to reach the worldwide market, driven by upscale commercial projects, blending of genres and a new generation of emerging female directors. The country’s filmmakers landed three Oscar nominations: Juan A. Bayona with “Society of the Snow” (inter- national feature and makeup and hair styling); and Pablo […]

Israel’s foremost documentary market CoPro has unveiled its main slate ahead of the event next month. CoPro Israel, which takes place from Jun 3 to 6 in a hybrid in-person/online format, will welcome over 80 representatives from broadcasting networks, production companies, and sales agents to Tel Aviv for a variety of industry events. Strands include […]

Disney and 20th Century’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” climbed to $72.5 million at the international box office in its first weekend of release. The newest film in the long-running “Apes” series also notched No. 1 in North America with $56.5 million, bringing its initial global tally to a promising $129 million. Like […]

The BAFTA TV Awards, celebrating the best in British television, are kicking off at London’s Royal Festival Hall. The final season of Netflix’s “The Crown” leads the pack this year with eight nominations, including for Dominic West, Elizabeth Debecki, Lesley Manville and Salim Daw in the performance categories. However, it missed out on an overall drama […]

The 2024 BAFTA TV Awards are here. The ceremony will be broadcast on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer on Sunday night in the U.K., starting at 7 p.m. BST. Viewers in the U.S., Canada, Australia and more can watch on BritBox, starting at 2 p.m. ET. Winners will also be announced on BAFTA’s […]

Their Champions League dreams may have been dashed, but Paris Saint-Germain fans will still have plenty to cheer for Sunday, as Les Parisiens take on Toulouse in what’s being billed as Kylian Mbappe’s final PSG match. The French soccer star announced on Instagram this week that he is leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of […]

Primates ruled over the North American box office as “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” collected $56.5 million in its first weekend of release. Those ticket sales were a hair above early projections of $50 million to $55 million and were easily enough to tower over the nonexistent competition. “Kingdom of the Planet of […]

In a sea of rote, listless IP, the first season of AMC’s “Interview With the Vampire” felt like manna from heaven — or blood to a thirsty nightwalker. Yes, the show was part of a reverse-engineered attempt at an Anne Rice cinematic universe. But in the hands of showrunner Rolin Jones, “Interview With the Vampire” […]

When NBCUniversal kicks off TV’s traditional week of upfront presentations on Monday, picket-free sidewalks outside Radio City Music Hall will be a sight for sore eyes following last year’s noisy protests in the first weeks of what proved to be the nation’s “hot labor summer.” Hosting a programming presentation at a megawatt New York City […]

UPDATED: The network upfronts are once again front-and-center for the television industry as major players gather in New York May 13-16 for the springtime ritual of courting advertisers and media buyers and presenting programming plans for the upcoming TV season. The industry is looking forward to a return to form after the disruption of last […]

The seventh edition of the Quirino Awards, an annual event dedicated to promoting animation in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, saw Spain win five of the 10 awards on offer. Housed in the Teatro Leal, in the Canary Island’s Santa Cruz de Tenerife, an eclectic and, at times, musical gala concluded an upbeat Quirino Awards.  Pablo […]