U.S. director Matty Brown’s allegorical drama “The Sand Castle,” which sees Lebanese multi-hyphenate Nadine Labaki reunite on screen with young “Capernaum” siblings Zain and Reman Al Rafeea – who are both Syrian refugees – will be released globally on Jan. 24 by Netflix at a critical time in the Middle East. With Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks […]

Universal is absolutely towering over the studios and streamers when it comes to this year’s BAFTA nominations. Thanks to “The Brutalist” (nine nominations), “Anora” and “Wicked” (seven each), plus “Nosferatu” (five), “The Wild Robot” (three) and “Monkey Man” (one), Universal and its offshoot label Focus Features have amassed an astonishing 32 nominations in total, twice […]

The second season of Netflix’s live-action “One Piece” series has added three new cast members, Variety has learned exclusively. Rigo Sanchez (“Outerbanks,” “Goliath”), Yonda Thomas (“Redemption,” “Seriously Single”), and James Hiroyuki Liao (“Barry,” “Presumed Innocent”) are all set to appear in Season 2. Sanchez will play Dragon, Thomas will play Igaram, and Liao will play […]

Japanese entertainment company Remow has greenlit a TV anime adaptation of the popular manga series “With You, Our Love Will Make It Through” (“Kimi To Koete Koi Ni Naru” or “KIMIKOE”), set to premiere in fall this year. The series, adapted from a shojo manga – a category of Japanese comics primarily targeting teenage girls […]

The nominations for the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards are in, and as always, they have their fair share of snubs and surprises. At the top of the list of snubs this year are “Wicked,” which missed out on the best film category, and Denzel Washington (“Gladiator II”) who, despite being one of the most celebrated […]

Australian media giant Nine Entertainment Co. is undergoing a major organizational overhaul, announcing a streamlined operating model and fresh executive appointments as it targets AUD50 million ($31 million) in cost reductions for fiscal year 2025. The company will consolidate its operations into three core divisions: streaming and broadcast, publishing, and marketplaces. In a key move, […]

Iris Knobloch, the respected former boss of Warner Bros. France and Germany who became the first female president of the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, has been re-elected by the festival’s board for another three-year mandate. The German-born, Paris-based executive will continue working alongside Cannes Film Festival’s longtime general delegate and artistic director Thierry Fremaux, […]

As Shakespeare wrote, “Life is but a walking shadow,” and Denzel Washington is the poor player who continues to be heard no more, at least in the eyes of BAFTA. With over 65 film credits, nine Academy Award nominations (including two wins) and more than 270 accolades across a 45-year career, Denzel Washington is widely […]

Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light” has struck a chord with young Indian audiences, exploring themes of urban displacement and chosen family that resonate deeply with a generation navigating life in metropolitan cities. “All We Imagine as Light” explores contemporary working-class Mumbai through the lives of three women. The story centers on two roommates […]

Leading arthouse sales agency the Match Factory, which is part of Mubi, has appointed Agathe Valentin as sales director, a newly created role. The company’s slate includes Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance,” starring Demi Moore, which won best screenplay in Cannes and best actress at the Golden Globes. The appointment comes ahead of the Match Factory’s […]

“Conclave” and “Emilia Pérez” lead this year’s BAFTA Film Awards nominations, heading up a diverse mix of talent and titles in a competition where, for the first time in years, there’s no clear favorite in any of the major categories.  “The Brutalist,” “Anora,” “Dune: Part Two” “Wicked” and “A Complete Unknown” are also very much […]

Spain’s Canary Islands video game industry got a major shot in the arm this week as local developer Quantum Box Games, a studio based in Gran Canaria, secured a significant Japanese investment. The deal, worth 300 million yen (approximately $1.9 million), was forged with Route24, a Japanese game development company led by industry veterans who […]

Netflix is betting big on South Indian cinema, unveiling an ambitious slate of Tamil and Telugu-language films featuring industry titans Kamal Haasan, Ajith Kumar, Suriya, Vijay Deverakonda and Pawan Kalyan. The streaming giant unveiled its lineup during the auspicious Pongal and Sankranti festivals, showcasing a mix of action blockbusters, thrillers, and drama that will hit […]

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has unveiled the complete cast for the London West End transfer of its acclaimed “My Neighbor Totoro” production. The coming-of-age story, a stage adaptation of Miyazaki Hayao‘s beloved 1988 Studio Ghibli film, follows one summer in the lives of sisters Satsuki and Mei. In order to be closer to their mother while she recovers […]

The nominees for the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards are being unveiled on Wednesday. Mia McKenna-Bruce, last year’s BAFTA Rising Star winner, and “The White Lotus” star Will Sharpe, a BAFTA TV award winner in 2020, are on hosting duties, making the announcement at 12 p.m. U.K. time (4 a.m. PT) from the British Academy’s headquarters in […]

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was detained Wednesday morning following a tense standoff at his presidential compound, marking the first time a sitting president has been apprehended in the nation’s history, per the Associated Press. The political drama unfolded like a blockbuster production, with black SUVs, police escorts, and a five-hour siege of the […]

Haut Et Court has taken French distribution rights to the upcoming historical epic “The Captive,” directed by Alejandro Amenábar, best known for “The Others” and Oscar winner “The Sea Inside.” The $15 million film, which shot last year at locations in Valencia, Alicante and Seville in Spain, is now in post-production. Film Constellation handles worldwide […]

POWERHOUSE PERFORMS J-hope of K-pop phenomenon BTS is set to make history as the first South Korean solo artist to headline a U.S. stadium show with his upcoming North American tour. The run, part of his “Hope on the Stage” world tour, will hit six cities starting March 13 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The 12-date […]

Drake has withdrawn his petition against Spotify and Universal Music Group after accusing the entities of launching an illegal “scheme” to boost numbers for Kendrick Lamar’s hit diss track “Not Like Us.” In a New York filing on Tuesday reviewed by Variety, Drake and his Frozen Moments company withdrew its order to show cause seeking […]