What’s in a name? For “Spellbound” director Vicky Jenson, it’s a simple portmanteau. In an early sketch of Flink, Princess Ellian’s adorably mischievous animal sidekick, Jenson wanted him to flash and blink as he energetically flitted about. “I have a tendency to squish words together,” she tells Variety. “So I was like, ‘He just has […]

Cinematographer Michał Dymek’s stark black-and-white lensing of “The Girl With the Needle” won the EnergaCamerimage Golden Frog, with special mention going to director Magnus von Horn, at the cinematography festival’s closing ceremony, Saturday in Torun, Poland. The film, which is Denmark’s entry for this season’s Academy Award for an international feature, is loosely based on […]

Jon M. Chu counted himself a fan of “Wicked” long before he was hired to direct the big-budget movie adaptation of the popular Broadway musical. So it was a question of where, not if, he should pay homage to Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the stage roles of Elphaba and Glinda, in the […]

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Cruel Intentions,” both the 1999 film and the entire first season of the new Prime Video series.”  Twenty-five years later, “Cruel Intentions” will still make you blush. The 1999 film about high-society stepsiblings Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) and Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) curing their privileged boredom by corrupting the […]

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot points, including the ending for “Gladiator II,” currently playing in theaters. All hail Macrinus! In a world of political backstabbing, power and ambition, Denzel Washington’s Macrinus enters the arena in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” with troops and guards under a canopy. He reeks of wealth and oozes power. The […]

Wow, 20 years ago today the team at Blizzard Entertainment launched its massive multiplayer online addition to the “Warcraft” franchise, and changed the gaming industry forever. While many MMOs have followed in “World of Warcraft’s” footsteps and drawn younger audiences into the genre, the power of the game that created a giant customer support team […]

TALLINN, Estonia — Industry @ Tallinn & Baltic Event, one of the leading industry events in Northern Europe, closed Nov. 22 with an awards ceremony where the focus country Germany dominated the list of 15 winning projects at various stages of development or post-production, on top of two accolades to promising producers.  For the first time, […]

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers for plot points, cameos and the ending of “Wicked,” now playing in theaters, as well as minor spoilers for the “Wicked” stage show. It’s time to rejoicify! It’s been 21 years since the smash hit musical “Wicked” premiered on Broadway, and fans can finally watch the tale of […]

“Wicked” is pocketing lots of green, with the Universal release coming in on the upper side of projections to head toward the third-biggest domestic opening of the year. Now forecasting a $117 million sum for the weekend, that’d only be behind “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($211 million) and “Inside Out 2” ($151 million) among 2024 releases. […]

Bobby Bedi, one of India’s most successful film producers, unveiled a powerful multinational production slate ranging from dance documentary to soaring fantasy. Speaking at a private event on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of India, in Goa, Bedi introduced “Mudras,” the journey of a Spanish dancer who travels to India in the 1980s […]

In Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning “Anora,” Mikey Madison’s titular Ani goes through a whirlwind evolution as she’s swept from the club where she makes a living as a sex worker to the palatial mansion of the weed-smoking, video-game playing, inexplicably charming Ivan, the prodigal son to a billionaire Russian oligarch. Throughout the film, she lives […]

Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Lucy Walker began a Saturday panel discussion on stories that travel by describing her own wanderlust backstory. “As a girl growing up in London, I didn’t have enough money to travel. And I didn’t think being on vacation was the most interesting way to see the world. And yet I really wanted […]

Fresh off his Cannes 2024 success with “In Retreat,” producer Thanikachalam S.A. is backing “Kurinji (The Disappearing Flower)” from debut feature director Payal Sethi at India’s Film Bazaar co-production market. Sethi’s previous work includes the award-winning shorts “Leeches” (2016), which won the Grand Prix Internationale at Brussels Short Film Festival, and “Grant St. Shaving Co.” […]

Everything old was new again at this year’s Cairo Film Festival. Filling out a super-sized 45th edition, the Egyptian event introduced a new section dedicated to heritage titles, showcasing 10 gems of world cinema, among them titles like “The Lonely Wife” and “The Color of Pomegranates” to mark the centenaries of film greats Satyajit Ray […]

Raja Krishna Menon’s Bandra West Pictures is producing “Harbir,” the debut feature from Angad Bawa. It is being presented at Film Bazaar in Goa. The film follows Harbir, a 15-year-old Sikh boy who is scouted for an admission trial at Mumbai’s prestigious Bombay International School of Swimming. During the trial, concerns are raised about his […]

A new streaming series centered on Kerala’s ancient martial art Kalaripayattu is being developed by director Abhilash Vijayan (“That Elephant From the Bridge”) and producer Nithin Lukose (“Paka: River of Blood”) and is participating at India’s Film Bazaar. Set in 16th century Kerala, “Chekavar” follows a teenage warrior who secretly takes on a mission from […]

Venice Fedeora award winner Aditya Vikram Sengupta (“Labour of Love”) brings his new Hindi-language project “The Employer” to India’s Film Bazaar co-production market. The film follows Michael, a recently widowed chauffeur in Mumbai working for a veteran actress with political aspirations, whose life becomes entangled in both a missing diamond earring case and his maid’s […]

CAA has taken North American sales rights to psychological horror-thriller “Feral.” The project, set in 1950s India, already has Oscar-nominated producers Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “Nebraska”) attached as executive producers. It heads to Film Bazaar as its creative team pursues further co-production partners and final financing. The film follows two part-tribal […]

The 45th edition of the Cairo Film Festival concluded with the top prize, the Golden Pyramid Award, going to Bogdan Mureșanu’s “The New Year That Never Came.” The black comedy, which previously won the Horizons sidebar at the Venice Film Festival, is set in 1989 during the festive season that immediately precedes the downfall of […]