Ben Stiller is reprising his role from “Happy Gilmore” in the follow-up to Adam Sandler’s 1996 classic sports comedy, “Happy Gilmore 2.”

Netflix is backing the long-awaited sequel, which is currently filming in New Jersey. Along with Sandler and Stiller, the cast will include familiar faces such as Christopher McDonald as pro-golfer Shooter McGavin and Julie Bowen as Sandler’s character’s romantic interest Virginia Venit. New additions to the golf world of “Happy Gilmore 2” include comedian Nick Swardson, filmmaker Benny Safdie, musician Bad Bunny, actor Margaret Qualley and NFL star Travis Kelce.

Netflix didn’t respond to Variety’s request for comment about Stiller’s casting.

Kyle Newacheck is directing the sequel from a script by Sandler and his frequent collaborator Tim Herlihy.

Dennis Dugan helmed the original “Happy Gilmore,” which helped — along with “Billy Madison,” “The Wedding Singer” and “The Waterboy” — to cement Sandler as one of...

The title and teaser trailer for Mission: Impossible 8 has been revealed.

Cruise and Paramount revealed the title Monday morning on Instagram as Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.

“Every choice has led to this,” Cruise captioned the Instagram post, also revealing the film’s poster.

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The studio also released a teaser trailer that looks back at the franchise and teases what’s to come in the new movie, which is set to hit theaters on May 23, 2025.

In a subsequent Instagram post with the trailer, Cruise wrote, “Our lives are the sum of our choices.”

Cruise reprises his role as Ethan Hunt in the eighth film, which like many in the series is from writer-director Christopher McQuarrie, and will star Henry Czerny, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Pom Klementieff and Vanessa Kirby.

The film also features Hannah Waddingham,...

“Red One,” a Christmas-themed release in which Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays Santa’s head of security, didn’t have too big a bounty to unwrap in its international box office debut. The film collected just $26.6 million from 25,195 screens across 75 overseas markets over the weekend.

By comparison, “Venom: The Last Dance” added $33 million from 66 overseas markets over the same three-day frame while in its third weekend of release. The third and final entry in Sony’s comic book trilogy has grossed $279.4 million overseas and $394.2 million globally to date. Though “Venom 3” has continued to draw audiences beyond opening weekend, the newest entry in the Tom Hardy-led alien symbiote saga is pacing behind its predecessors, 2018’s “Venom” ($642 million internationally and $856 million globally) and 2021’s “Let There Be Carnage” ($293 million internationally and $506 million worldwide). However, “The Last Dance” cost $120 million, a relatively economical budget compared to other comic book adaptations, so it...

[Editor’s note: The following article contains spoilers for “Yellowstone” Season 5, Episode 9, “Desire Is All You Need.”]

Once a cowboy, always a cowboy.

Though Kevin Costner made a very public exit from the series earlier this year, it appears “Yellowstone” wasn’t quite finished with him, nor his character, ranching family patriarch John Dutton. In last night’s premiere, Dutton was found dead in apparent suicide, but clearly there are many questions still to be answered and truths to be discovered. Commenting on this reveal during a special live, town hall edition of “The Michael Smerconish Program” on SiriusXM, Costner admitted that he didn’t even know the second half of Season 5 was finally premiering.

“Well, I’m going to be perfectly honest. I didn’t know it was actually airing last night,” Costner said. “That’s a swear to God moment. I swear to God. I mean, I’ve been seeing ads with my face all over the place and I’m thinking,...

UK Next Wave Genre Lab has selected the five projects to progress to its second phase, as it adds contributors for the development initiative.

Max Ward’s horror They Came From Below, Sion Thomas’ revenge drama Mauled by a Dog and Elize Du Toit’s thriller Befriender all move forward from the initial selection of 12 projects, that were unveiled in September.

They are joined by Em Gilbertson’s thriller The Pigeon Heart, and Federico Barni’s sci-fi horror Enclave.

The five projects will participate in a development workshop in Cardiff from November 24-28. They will then participate in the third...

Joshua Oppenheimer is tired.

The two-time Academy Award nominee isn’t simply spent at the tail end of an exhausting week for the American body politic. Nor has he tossed and turned his way through countless sleepless nights, doomscrolling through the nightmare scenarios of what a second Trump administration could mean for Americans’ civil rights, the rule of international law, women’s bodies, the fate of the planet — take your pick.

Speaking with Variety at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, where the “Act of Killing” director’s first fiction feature, “The End,” is the closing film, Oppenheimer has just arrived from Japan, where he spent two weeks with his husband, a Japanese novelist, visiting the in-laws while his partner researches his next book.

The filmmaker barely managed to sleep on the plane, though he is poised, thoughtful and gracious to a fault as he powers through his festival press junket. He is also determined and defiant,...

Screenis running this regularly updated page with the latest film festival and market dates from across the world.

To submit details of or alter your festival dates, pleasecontact us herewith the name, dates, country and website for the event.Screenis also running a calendar for UK-Ireland film release dateshere.

Ongoing

Ojai Film Festival, US - October 31-November 17

Leeds International Film Festival, UK - November 1-17

London Korean Film Festival, UK - November 1-13

Northern Lights Film Festival, Estonia - November 4-17

French Film Festival, UK - November 6-December 12

NY Baltic Film Festival, US - November 6-17

Stockholm International Film Festival,...

Hurley arrives in Pied Piper territory with her daughter to take a teaching job at a creepy private school. Soon enough the town’s infamous rodent problem starts being an issue

The premise for this horror exercise is a potent notion, one that might have yielded a chilling work of Mitteleuropean folk horror: the Pied Piper of Hamelin is a supernatural being still kicking around the German town, luring children to their deaths as punishment for parents’ sins. Unfortunately, the film-makers fluff the brief, with too much showing and telling and not enough simmering mystery. That said, the end result is so comically tawdry and silly you can’t but wonder if its all a bit of a tongue-in-cheek goof, a gag that Elizabeth Hurley at least seems to be in on, judging by her ripe, almost-winking performance. Let’s hope she had fun shooting it and got to keep...

UK arthouse cinema chain, distribution company and streaming platform Curzon has been bought by the US’ Fortress Investment Group.

Curzon has been owned by Charles Cohen’sdistribution and production company Cohen Media Group since December 2019.

In a statement, Fortress said the acquisition would secure the jobs of Curzon’s more than 350 employees.

“Curzon is an iconic film company, with global recognition for its long legacy of releasing and connecting independent and critically acclaimed films to UK audiences,” said Allison Swayze, managing director at Fortress. “We’re pleased to acquire Curzon, and bring our support to the company’s dedicated team.

Studiocanal’s third “Paddington” instalment, “Paddington in Peru,” delivered a commanding £9.6 million ($12.3 million) opening weekend at the U.K. and Ireland box office, per numbers from Comscore.

“Paddington in Peru” scored the biggest opening of the year for a British-produced film, the biggest opening in the territory for the franchise and is Studiocanal’s highest U.K. opener.

The frame’s other major newcomer, Warner Bros.’ “Red One,” secured a solid £2.4 million debut in second place. Entertainment Film Distributors’ supernatural horror “Heretic” demonstrated staying power in its second frame, adding £1 million for a £3.8 million running total. Sony Pictures’ “Venom: The Last Dance” continued to draw audiences in its third week with £965,297, propelling its cume past £10.9 million.

Universal’s “The Wild Robot” showcased enduring family appeal in week four, generating £665,209 and pushing its total to £12.7 million. Awards season contender “Small Things Like These” from Lionsgate U.K. held steady in its...

Fortress Investment Group has bought British arthouse exhibitor and distributor Curzon in a deal that it claims will secure the company’s future across exhibition, distribution and streaming.

The acquisition, announced Tuesday, saw Fortress acquire the company from Charles Cohen’s Cohen Media Group in a foreclosure auction involving multiple Cohen assets, including the Landmark cinema chain. Fortress had lent Cohen $534 million but sued him earlier this year for default. Cohen acquired Curzon in late 2019 amid a buying spree by the U.S. real estate developer.

Financial details of the successful Fortress bid weren’t disclosed, but encompass Curzon’s 16-location theatrical footprint with 46 screens across the U.K., alongside its distribution arm Curzon Film and the Curzon Home Cinema streaming platform. The company said that the move secures positions for Curzon’s 350-plus workforce.

The venerable British outfit, which dates back to 1934, has been expanding its theatrical presence in recent years,...

An irascible priest loses his patience with a newcomer to Hong Kong’s funeral traditions in punchy melodrama of a film

Starting out as a prickly comedy in which wedding planner Dominic (Hong Kong standup icon Dayo Wong) switches to the funeral business, The Last Dance takes a sudden sombre turn. Dominic lands a seemingly unhinged client, turned down by all his competitors, who wants him to embalm her young son. As a string of putrefied matter hangs from the boy’s back while he is dressing him, Dominic realises he has already been dead for six months. It’s not the only mortician scene – and not the only note of unsettling realism with which writer-director Anselm Chan ballasts this well-constructed and punchy melodrama.

Bequeathed the funeral agent gig by his girlfriend’s retiring uncle, Dominic must get to grips with his new business partner: ball-breaking Taoist priest Master Man...

Utopia has closed a raft of territory sales at AFM on Alex Ross Perry’s documentary Pavements and Ethan Berger’s fraternity thriller The Line starring Alex Wolff and Halle Bailey.

Deals on Pavements have locked in Australia (Madman), Scandinavia (NonStop), and Middle East (Gulf Films). The biopic about American indie rockers Pavement is co-written by band frontman Stephen Malkmus.

Last month Utopia announced a multi-territory deal with Mubi in the UK & Ireland, Germany, Austria, France and Canada. Utopia will distribute theatrically in the US in spring 2025.

International sales continue on The Line, with sales closing in the UK (Sky...

This post contains spoilers for "Signs."

For me, "Signs" is the ultimate M. Night Shyamalan cinematic experience, and it has only gotten better with time. Before the film's 2002 release, Shyamalan had already proven his caliber as an up-and-coming filmmaker with "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" — two entries that still live up to their fame — but "Signs" solidified his ability to shock, mesmerize, and entertain. Popular discourse surrounding "Signs" often revolves around its final twist, but this sci-fi thriller flick offers much more than that; it is a dynamic exploration of apprehension and anxieties that culminate in an event that could lead to the end of the world.

Shyamalan invests the alien invasion premise with an empathetic focal point in the form of the Hess family, as we are privy to every doubt, toil, and crisis they undergo while the film inches towards its exhilarating climax. Graham (Mel Gibson), a pastor...

The Captain Pike Trekkies see on "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is a very different Captain Pike they saw in the original 1966 "Star Trek" pilot "The Cage." The latter Pike was played by Jeffrey Hunter as an angry, passionate figure, quick to lose his temper, and only able to solve problems through sheer force of enraged will. The Pike as seen in the 2009 "Star Trek" movie was played by Bruce Greenwood had a scene so "hideously uncomfortable" that we're shocked he agreed to return for the sequel. The newer Pike, as played by Anson Mount, is a lighthearted, gregarious figure, eager to engage in jocular diplomacy and greet any and all members of his staff into his quarters for breakfast. The Hunter Pike seems like he would be an intimidating boss. The Mount Pike is the boss you always wish you'd get whenever you start a new job. 

Indeed, if...

As Hollywood approaches the end of 2024, two major blockbusters remain on the release calendar: Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” and Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II.” The highly anticipated films have the potential to add a final burst of much-needed life to the 2024 box office or shake up an Oscar race that will begin to solidify after the holidays. Both films are releasing on November 22, which has turned into a box office event that many movie lovers have dubbed “Glicked.”

The rollout has echoes of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon from 2023, when both Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” were released on the same date. What began as a series of silly memes about two wildly different films coming out at once soon turned into one of the most positive box office developments in recent memory, with many viewers making a point to see both films. Even if the two...

“Shrek” director Vicky Jenson celebrated the premiere of her new Netflix film “Spellbound,” the second animated feature from John Lasseter-led Skydance Animation, in New York City on Monday November 11. The story stars Rachel Zegler, Javier Bardem, and Nicole Kidman in a fairy tale that takes place in the mythical kingdom of Lumbria as Princess Ellian embarks on “an invigorating quest” to break the spell.

Bardem has had quite a busy last couple of months following the September premiere of Ryan Murphy’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” Following the buzz from the show, the famous true crime case got a viral amount of attention nearly 30 years since the brothers were sentenced. On October 24, the Los Angeles district attorney recommended that Lyle and Erik Menendez be resentenced after being convicted of murdering their parents over three decades ago.

“Well, I think the reaction has been big,” Bardem told IndieWire.

There’s no shortage of movies to stream on Netflix. Any subscriber that logs onto the platform these days will likely see a bunch of new releases, gruesome horror films, and sweet rom-coms. But with so many big, flashy studio films and Netflix originals to choose from, it can be difficult for the indie films that flood the streamer to stand out.

For sure, a place in Netflix’s library can be a great opportunity for independent cinema to find an audience it otherwise wouldn’t reach in theaters or on television. But for all the big starry auteur films that Netflix picks up and turns into major awards contenders (see “Marriage Story” or “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”), there’s an under-the-radar, overlooked pick that doesn’t have the names or prestige attached to it, and feels destined to serve as mere library filler as people look for the films they do know.

Cameron Diaz burst into the scene as Tina Carlyle in 1994's "The Mask," which quickly became one of the highest-grossing films of the year, thanks to pitch-perfect performances by the leads. Diaz's ability to hold her own opposite Jim Carrey emerged as a testimony in favor of her talents, which she channeled into the string of roles that succeeded her promising debut. Comedy and drama are undoubtedly Diaz's strongest suits: the actor knows exactly how to make a joke land while grounding the narrative with her innate charm, as exemplified by her performance in "There's Something About Mary," which earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

This, of course, doesn't mean that Diaz did not excel in roles that demand a more nuanced approach to a character. Cameron Crowe's divisive, yet intriguing "Vanilla Sky" puts the actor in a unique position to play someone deeply hurt and obsessed, who...

[Editor’s note: This guide was published in fall 2021 and has been updated multiple times since.]

As Netflix’s library of films ebbs and flows, finding the right movie to watch can feel like bailing out an ocean with a spoon. And if you’re looking for a quality horror movie in particular, the search only gets harder. With the reality that Horror is one of the cheapest genres to produce, streamers like Netflix are cluttered with a veritable tsunami of bloody titles that sometimes seem indistinguishable from one another. Curating the 25 scariest movies on Netflix is then quite a process of selection and reduction.

If you’re looking for a good horror movie to watch on Netflix that will truly scare you, picking a final selection can prove a more daunting task than sitting through yet another “Haunting of Hill House” rewatch; with or without its beloved “Bly Manor” chaser. But while the streamer’s priorities seem to shift as quickly as its content selection grows,...

Camerimage is a yearly film festival set in Toruń, Poland, that is dedicated to the art of cinematography. The week-long event is akin to homecoming week for those in the profession, as the greatest cinematographers from around the world gather to celebrate each other’s work, discuss the craft, and party late into the evening. This year’s edition, the festival’s 32nd, is getting off to a far less harmonious start. Ahead of Opening Night on November 16, the festival has found itself embroiled in a controversy stemming from a column written by its founder, director, and CEO Marek Żydowicz in Cinematography World magazine that many are calling sexist and reflecting a blindspot in the festival’s overall programming.

In response to Women in Cinematography’s August change.org petition calling on the festival to better represent the contribution of women cinematographers, Żydowicz’s Cinematography World column went well beyond...

In November 2015, a staggeringly violent crime took place in the impoverished area of Mghila Mountain in Tunisia. A jihadist group attacked two young shepherds, killing one and forcing the survivor to carry a bloody message back to his family. The real-life case inspired Lotfi Achour’s harrowing drama “Red Path,” which played as part of the Meet the Neighbors competition at the Thessaloniki Film Festival.

“At first, I dismissed the idea of making a film based on this story, telling myself that I needed to let some time pass and my emotions calm down,” Achour told Variety. “When a year and a half later the second brother was murdered in similar circumstances, it brought back the need for me to talk about it because it was no longer an isolated crime but premeditated acts on the part of jihadists. From then on, I was obsessed with making this film.”

“Red Path...

McG's 2009 sci-fi war picture "Terminator: Salvation" is an outlier in the "Terminator" film series, in that it's the only one that's not a time-travel story. James Cameron's 1984 film "The Terminator" was about a mild-mannered waitress named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) who found herself being stalked by a killer robot from the future (Arnold Schwarzenegger). A human time traveler named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) finds Sarah and explains that, in his time, humans and intelligent robots are fighting a vicious, apocalyptic war. He also explains that Sarah is destined to give birth to a son named John, who will grow up and lead a successful resistance against the Machines. The Machines, in desperation, sent an assassin back in time to kill John Connor before his birth. Kyle Reese will protect her. 

The premise of time-traveling robot assassins was repeated in 1991's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," and in 2003's "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Every year of late seems to be a great year for horror, so it's hardly a surprise that 2024 is holding its own in the scares department. As has been the case with the genre, the fun of this year's terror pictures have been how they attack our fears from unexpected angles while placing fresh spins on seemingly hoary forms. Think you're totally checked out on slasher flicks? Here's Chris Nash's "In a Violent Nature" to pull you back in. Feel like the serial killer procedural has aped "The Silence of the Lambs" into hideous self-parody? Oz Perkins has a little number called "Longlegs" that injects that formula with an unsettlingly atmospheric and just plain bizarre energy (that last element coming courtesy of Nicolas Cage who wanders through the film shrieking like a banshee). Done with vampires? The "Ready or Not" duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have a...

Working opposite a huge ensemble of British acting legends can have its challenges according to Emily Watson, especially when you’re under the direction of someone like Robert Altman, who likes to keep things loose.

During a recent interview with Vulture, Watson shared that while shooting the 2001 murder-mystery “Gosford Park,” she was concerned over Altman’s laissez-faire style, especially in regards to her big scene in the film, in which her servant character butts into the conversation being had by the guests she’s serving.

“It was a giant half-an-hour reset [between takes] because of all these quails that people were eating,” Watson said of shooting the scene. “And I hadn’t nailed it! He said, ‘I think we got it.’ And I was thinking, I haven’t gotten it. It was mortifying because Maggie Smith was sitting right there, and Kristin Scott Thomas was over there, and they were all being lovely,...

Universal is revealing “Wicked” to Academy voters and media as the film adaptation of the global musical juggernaut finally heads for screens November 22. On Sunday afternoon, the Academy screening at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre on Wilshire drew some 900 attendees, the best showing since last year’s “Oppenheimer,” and drew a rousing standing ovation as the credits rolled.

On Friday night, when the DGA hosted a screening and Q&a for SAG and Academy members as well as press, attendees were also ebullient. (Sandwiched between the two was the film’s Hollywood premiere.)

With a hit show whetting appetites for the screen version, many fans turned up at these screenings. However, it will not be boosted by critics groups at year’s end. They will want to support other, less commercial prospects. When reviews come in and box office numbers climb, we’ll see where “Wicked” winds up in the Oscar race.

The 2024 LA Skins Fest has announced its 13-section program, which includes a lineup of narrative, documentary, and animated films.

Among the films screening are “Kenji,” a short film by Billy Luther. The film follows the life and work of Japanese photographer, Kenji Kawano, explored through his extraordinary five decade long journey documenting the WWII Navajo Code Talkers through his lens.

Wes Studi will star in “The Great Cherokee Grandmother.” Anthony Sneed’s film tells the story of a pleasant date between a man of Cherokee heritage and a Caucasian woman goes downhill when the woman flagrantly fixates on the very bane of Cherokee peoples’ existence: the Cherokee Grandmother syndrome.

“Mary Margaret Road-Grader” is produced by George R.R Martin and is based on Howard Waldrop’s 1976 sci-fi short story. The film is adapted by write rand director Steven Paul Judd.

The festival will include screenings, a night of showcasing traditional performances,...

The Denver Film Festival has announced the winners of its annual Audience Awards and Festival Juried Awards, with films like “Bob Trevino Likes It” and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” taking top prizes.

Following the conclusion of the 47th edition of the festival, which ran from November 1 to November 10, Denver Film Festival artistic director Matthew Campbell said via statement, “This year’s Denver Film Festival brought us fantastic films, phenomenal guests, and unforgettable experiences. The films recognized this year tell strong stories through powerful perspectives, providing viewers with the chance to see themselves on the screen while also seeing something completely new. We are honored to recognize so many voices, both new and familiar, and to bring those stories to audiences right here in Denver.”

It is worth noting that, outside of the audience favorite short film “Jellyfish and Lobster,” the audience award winners were not eligible for juried prizes.

British filmmaker Asif Kapadia has found success in both the documentary and scripted spaces, working on projects as varied as “Mindhunter” and the documentaries “Amy” and “Senna.” For his latest work, the speculative sci-fi documentary “2073,” he combines the two disciplines to offer a pessimistic view of America’s potential future.

The unique project, which places interviews with current political figures alongside a scripted sci-fi story about a dystopian version of San Francisco in the year 2073, has now secured theatrical distribution. Neon has announced that it will release “2073” in select theaters on Friday, December 27 — just under the wire to qualify for Academy Awards consideration. The announcement came with a new trailer, which stresses the film’s relevance in the aftermath of the 2024 election.

Current political figures interviewed for the film include Rappler CEO and former CNN reporter Maria Ressa, The Observer writer Carole Cadwalladr, Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub,...

It's a common lament that there aren't enough original movies anymore, and that every film not belonging to a franchise is born of a pre-existing intellectual property that's likely been mined before. How many trips are we going to take back to Middle-earth? Are we really doing Harry Potter again? And another "Wuthering Heights" with a white Heathcliffe (when he's written as Black in Emily Brontë's novel)?

Yet some yarns are more durable than others. There's always room for another "Hamlet," because part of the thrill is in watching great actors and directors tackle one of the greatest plays ever written -- one that can be shifted from Denmark to locales like New York City, the Elsinore brewery, or Pride Rock. And no one's mad when one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries gets dusted off, even though we all know how the plot shakes out.

Love it or hate it — and responses run the gamut — “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” was one of the biggest, buzziest TV shows of 2024.

Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s second installment of the “Monster” anthology (following the first season about Jeffrey Dahmer) dives deep into the story of brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez (played by Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch), who shot and killed their parents in 1989 and told the jury that they were protecting themselves after years of abuse.

Following a November 10 screening of Episode 1 “Blame it on the Rain,” in New York City, cast members Chavez, Koch, Javier Bardem, Chloë Sevigny, Nathan Lane, and Ari Graynor sat down for a discussion about their roles and about bringing this complex story to life.

“I went into it with the what I believe was the truth of the situation, and that is that they killed their parents out of fear,...

For the second time in two weeks, a previous #1 VOD release, still at premium price, returned to #1 after a week in a lower position.

“The Wild Robot” (Universal), still #4 in theaters this weekend parallel to home availability, repeats the move “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (Warner Bros. Discovery) managed last week.

The rise comes for two reasons. First, a lack of competitive new releases, including disinterest in “Joker: Folie à Deux” (Wbd). Second is likely its rental price reduction from an initial premium at $24.99 to the more standard $19.99 PVOD cost.

After over three weeks where five different original movies took the top daily spot, Will Smith, whose “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” was his last studio #1, returned with his 2015 mid-level success “Focus.” But for most of the week, “Meet Me Next Christmas” led their list.

Fandango (which ranks by revenue) and iTunes (by transactions) both also list the “Beetlejuice” sequel and “Deadpool & Wolverine...

Hungarian film and television producer Andras Hamori, who produced films like “Crash” and “Sunshine” and shows such as “The Gate,” died Sept. 2. He was 71.

Some of Hamori’s other credits through the late ’90s and early 2000s include films like “The Sweet Hereafter,” “eXistenZ,” “Max,” “Owning Mahowny” and “Formula 51.” From 1991-1993 he served as producer for all 66 episodes of “Tropical Heat” and in 2014 he produced the History Channel miniseries “Houdini” starring Adrien Brody.

Starting as a film critic and short filmmaker in 1970s Budapest, Hamori was first encouraged to move to North America and chase his film-producing dreams by Hungarian-Canadian theater director John Hirsch. In 1981, armed with a print of one of his shorts, Hamori moved to Toronto, temporarily shacking up in Hirsch’s basement.

Hamori got his break working with fellow Hungarian native Robert Lantos before becoming a partner at Alliance Entertainment, a leading Canadian film and television...

Marvel Studios recently took Mahershala Ali’s long-delayed “Blade” movie off its release calendar, but studio president Kevin Feige is telling fans not to worry about whether or not the iconic vampire hunter will find his way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Blade is coming, he promises.

“We are committed to Blade,” Feige told Omelete (via IGN) during the D23 Brazil 2024 event. “We love the character. We love Mahershala’s take on him. And rest assured: whenever we change direction with a project, or are still figuring out how it fits into our schedule, we let the audience know. You’re all up to date on what’s happening. But I can tell you that the character will indeed make it to the MCU.”

Marvel originally announced its “Blade” movie with Ali in July 2019, but development has been rocky as several writers and directors have come and gone over the years.

Dwayne Johnson might be the most physically recognizable movie star in the world. But his turn as Mma fighter Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie’s upcoming A24 film “The Smashing Machine” could see the wrestler-turned-actor do something that has evaded him until now: disappear into a role.

In a new interview with GQ, Johnson reflected on the intense makeup process that allowed him to alter his appearance for the role. He explained that losing the distinctive tattoos and bald head gave him the freedom to be somebody other than himself.

“I look what I look like,” Johnson said. “I am what I am. There is no: ‘Oh, Rock is just gonna disappear.’ You know what I mean? However, to be able to do that in ‘Smashing Machine,‘ with the greatest of makeup artists — in a way, it was really freeing for me.”

Safdie recalled that Johnson’s transformation was so...

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There's a common misconception amongst casual movie fans that reshoots are a sign of a troubled production. What kind of clowns, these people reason, would move forward on such a pricey undertaking without a finished screenplay and an ironclad schedule that will ensure actors finish on time so they can move on to their next project?

The truth is that flexibility is key on a creative endeavor. What works on the page might not work once the scene is up on its feet and before cameras. This is one of several reasons there might be on-set rewrites, which, if extensive enough, could cause plotting issues further down the road. This could even necessitate the eventual scrapping of an entire action set piece and the constructing of a new one -- and sometimes the need for an entirely new sequence isn't...

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This post contains spoilers for the "Yellowstone" season 5 part 2 premiere.

It finally happened. Nearly two years after "Yellowstone" season 5 initially premiered, the hit series has returned to Paramount Network to kick off its (supposedly) final run of episodes. The second half of the show's fifth season has had to contend with the loss of its main star, Kevin Costner, who had led the way as John Dutton since the beginning. No longer, though; as viewers are surely aware, the latest episode of "Yellowstone" killed off Costner's character pretty definitively. So, what does Costner think about that, exactly?

In a bit of serendipitous timing, Costner had an interview scheduled with SiriusXM's "The Michael Smerconish Program" the morning after the "Yellowstone" season 5 part 2 premiere. First and foremost, the legendary actor and director made it clear that he wasn't even aware the show had returned,...

Max’s Ted Turner documentary series likes itself some Ted Turner. The trailer for the new docuseries “Call Me Ted” selects a few phrases to shower the media mogul with praise: “Mogul,” “Adventurer,” “Rebel,” “Risk Taker,” “Showman,” “Philanthropist,” and “Genius.”

But it’s not just the filmmakers who had glowing words about Turner, who is 85. His ex-wife Jane Fonda in trailer called him a “legend” and an “American hero”; U2 frontman Bono said Turner was “way more rock and roll than I am.”

Probably right around here we should point out that Max and the Turner cable channels (like TBS and TNT) share a parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. Turner has been a part of all the Warner Bros. iterations since 1996; HBO was part of Time Warner. Ted Turner himself though left the business about 20 years ago.

“Call Me Ted” takes audiences back to 1980 when Turner founded CNN, the first 24-hour cable news channel.

Jeff Goldblum is handing off the dinosaur-sized torch to “Wicked” co-star Jonathan Bailey.

Bailey is taking on the role of paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis in the latest “Jurassic Park” film, “Jurassic World Rebirth” – and nobody’s more excited to see it than Goldblum.

“The hope of the world resides, and I can think of no better baton receiver to carry on the ‘da da da da da,'” Goldblum tells Variety, singing the iconic “Jurassic Park” theme by John Williams. “It’s Jonathan Bailey! It’s like no other!”

Bailey shares that he and Goldblum chatted about the role for the first time while they were en route to CinemaCon earlier this year. “I had the invitation to join the ‘Jurassic’ world, to join the conga line led by Jeff,” Bailey said. “The original film was a seminal cinematic moment, purely because of Jeff, but also, I went with my family,...

Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" saga — which comprises eight novels, a novella, and a children's book — can be considered his magnum opus. The sheer breadth of its story, along with its breathtaking mishmash of genres, helped create an epic that embodies unfiltered storytelling. Magic is an integral aspect of "The Dark Tower," as exemplified by the existence of the Man in Black, along with demons, mutants, and the titular Tower itself. In many ways, "The Dark Tower" resists adaptation. For starters, the depth of this engrossing, fantastical story cannot be encapsulated in a single installment, and the best aspects of the saga demand an interiority that is best experienced in the written format.

Nevertheless, attempts to adapt "The Dark Tower" for the screen have been made, with 2017's "Dark Tower" movie emerging as a failed adaptation that sidesteps the wonderful strangeness of the original books for some reason. It...

Marvel has dropped the trailer for the third and final season of its animated anthology series “What If…?”, spotlighting more humor and spectacle. The alternate multiverse, led by a host of new characters gets pushed to wacky extremes through the exploration of different genres.

One of the standouts is X-Men’s Storm as the self-proclaimed Goddess of Thunder who is voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith, who also played Storm in Disney+ series “X-Men ’97” (and on the original 1990s “X-Men” cartoon series). She’s a bit of a change of pace from Howard the Duck (voiced by Seth Green), who is back for a final flight.

Other characters mutating their way into Season 3 include Captain America/Sam Wilson, The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes, Hulk/Bruce Banner, The Red Guardian, Captain Peggy Carter, Agatha Harkness, and Shang-Chi. Plus, Jeffrey Wright’s omniscient Watcher returns as narrator. There are hints of Red Guardians and mechs,...

Editor’s note: This story was originally published during the 2024 Telluride Film Festival. “Emilia Pérez” is now in theaters and starts streaming on Netflix November 13.

French auteur Jacques Audiard has been flirting with musical moviemaking ever since “Self-Made Hero” in 1996, when he and composer Alexandre Desplat discussed adapting that film into an opera. But it wasn’t until Audiard read a friend’s novel, “Écoute,” that he responded to the idea of a Mexican drug kingpin transitioning to become a woman. In that case the cartel boss was trying to escape from his life, not his gender.

“So the novelist actually introduces this character, but then doesn’t fully develop it,” said Audiard at the Telluride Film Festival, where the Cannes prize-winner “Emilia Pérez” played well at multiple screenings and generated serious Oscar talk going into its September 9 presentation at the Toronto International Festival. “I’m fascinated by the paradox...

Shot and set in Gravesend, a town in Kent, England, Andrea Arnold’s new film Bird, starring newcomer Nykiya Adams alongside Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski, is a portrait of a young girl coming of age under chaotic circumstances. Twelve-year-old Bailey, played brilliantly by Adams, is bound by poverty and a dearth of options to her unstable father, Bug (Keoghan); she seeks solace in whatever independence she can find. When a mysterious stranger (Rogowski) appears on her doorstep, an uncanny bond is formed between them, altering the course of her life. Bird is currently in theaters from Mubi. Filmmaker: Your narrative […]

The post “Don’t Call It ‘Magic Realism'”: Andrea Arnold on Returning to Narrative Cinema with Bird first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Success in the movie business is all about relativity. Comic book movies have been all the rage for more than two decades because they can make a lot of money, but those movies and similar franchise blockbusters are also tremendously expensive to make, often costing $200 million or more in the modern era. Relatively few movies rise to the level of mass appeal to justify such an investment. For everything else, it comes down to making the right movie for the right price given its intended audience.

Every so often, a movie comes around that was made for practically nothing and entered theaters with minimal expectations, only to blow those expectations right out of the water. Sometimes that is apparent on opening weekend. Sometimes it takes years to realize a low-budget flick became a massive success. In any event, when it does happen, it can be pretty special. So, let's have...

“Nosferatu” screened for critics and Academy members over the past week to rave first reactions. Mind you that first-reactions fever can lead to overpraise that sours into less enthusiastic reviews. Take “Gladiator II,” which sent first-look viewers (which also included AMPAS and press) dancing into the streets a couple of weeks ago, but reviews that broke today (including IndieWire’s own) were more muted in their praise.

On this week’s edition of IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” podcast, co-hosts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio are unified in their praise of “Nosferatu,” which Focus Features opens as surely R-rated counter-programming on Christmas Day. Anne points out that Academy voters are bound to be seduced by the film’s serious attention to 19th century period detail and vernacular. But it’s not a baldly commercial movie and, as with any Robert Eggers joint, may struggle to sink its teeth into audiences. Lily-Rose Depp...

This post contains major spoilers for "The Penguin."

In many ways, DC is beating Marvel at its own game with "The Penguin." The latter has been trying to extend its shared superhero universe across Disney+ TV series, thereby bolstering the streaming platform and increasing the Marvel Cinematic Universe's reach. But thus far, owing to some downright terrible streaming offerings, that project has failed to fulfill its objective — even as shows like "Loki" prove popular. DC, meanwhile, might finally be able to claim to have outdone its longtime rival, delivering an eight-episode crime thriller that actually stands as a quality streaming series in its own right.

"The Penguin" effortlessly connects Matt Reeves' "The Batman" with the upcoming "The Batman: Part II" while also having a point of view to articulate — which is more than can be said for something like Marvel's "Secret Invasion" and its many flaws. By the end of...

Back in April, The Wrap wrote a report about the upcoming film “Red One.” In the report, it was theorized that the reason the budget for the film went to astronomical heights is because of Dwayne Johnson’s tardiness on set. The report stated that he would delay production all the time by just being extremely late. Well, to that, Johnson is now saying, “Bullshit.”

According to a new interview with GQ, Dwayne Johnson took exception to the report from The Wrap that stated that him being late to set somehow caused all these problems during the production of his new Christmas action film, “Red One.” He called the report “bullshit” and went on to admit that he was sometimes late to set, but it was never an issue.

Continue reading Dwayne Johnson Calls Report Of On-Set Issues During ‘Red One’ Production “Bullsh*t” at The Playlist.

Neon has set a Dec. 27 release date and released the trailer for Asif Kapadia’s (“Amy”) “2073,” a speculative sci-fi documentary that serves as a warning for a potentially dismal reality that lurks 49 years in the future.

Per an official logline, the film takes place in the year “‘2073,’ and the worst fears of modern life have been realized. Surveillance drones fill the burnt orange skies and militarized police roam the wrecked streets, while survivors hide away underground, struggling to remember a free and hopeful existence. In this ingenious mixture of visionary science fiction and speculative nonfiction, Kapadia transports us to a future foreshadowed by the terrifying realities of our present moment. Samantha Morton (“In America��) plays a survivor besieged by nightmare visions of the past—a past that happens to be our present, visualized through contemporary footage interconnecting today’s global crises of authoritarianism, unchecked big tech, inequality and global climate change.

Live, from New York, it's Saturday night! Actually, Jason Reitman's outstanding film "Saturday Night" is about to be anything but live, and audiences will be able to watch it whenever they want to -- whether it's Saturday or not. 

"Saturday Night" takes us back to October 1975, providing an anxiety-inducing glimpse into the fervent 90 minutes leading up to the premiere of the first episode of "Saturday Night Live." Of course, it wasn't called "SNL" just yet, as another program still had that moniker, but the series would quickly become a historical moment for television, creating a late night comedy institution that will soon be celebrating its 50th anniversary. And it's all thanks to Lorne Michaels (played in the film by "The Fabelmans" star Gabriel Labelle) and his counterculture comedy cast of the Not Ready for Primetime Players, brought to life magnificently by an outstanding ensemble cast. 

As I noted in...

What if Francis Ford Coppola made a new movie and no one showed up? It happened once before in 1982 with the backlot musical "One from the Heart," and, lamentably, it happened again this year with the maestro's "Megalopolis," which will become available on digital starting November 12, 2024.

A self-funded, $100 million-plus epic vision of an alternate American reality, "Megalopolis" has grossed just under $14 million globally in theaters at the time of writing. True, its reviews were as dismal as those for "One from the Heart," but knowing that the latter went on to be reassessed as a misunderstood triumph should've at least encouraged critics to stay thy blades for fear of looking like a pack of Bosley Crowthers 20 or so years from now.

As a full-throated admirer of "One from the Heart," I've tried not to come down too hard on "Megalopolis," even though I feel fairly certain the film, short of a narrative-clarifying director's cut,...