Musicals aren’t the most successful genre at the box office (see: “Cats,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Joker: Folie à Deux”). But song-and-dance films may be enjoying — as Glinda sings — a newfound popularity with “Wicked,” Universal’s adaptation of Act One of the beloved Broadway show. The film collected $114 million in North America and […]

Eighty-five years after the release of “The Wizard of Oz,” director Jon M. Chu brings back this magical world to the big screen in “Wicked,” the film adaptation of the Broadway classic starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The musical movie, which grossed $114 million its in debut weekend at the domestic box office, has […]

Sweet Oz! “Wicked” fans now have a chance to visit Munchkinland. Well, sort of. When Jon M. Chu was making the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, practical sets were a must. “Wicked’s” grand production shot in 17 stages and on four backlots, two of which were the size of four American football fields. Among […]

It’s been a big weekend for the Washington family. While patriarch Denzel Washington chewed the scenery on multiplex screens in “Gladiator II,” the next generation of Washingtons stormed onto streaming with the film adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winner “The Piano Lesson.” With the Netflix film, Denzel and Pauletta Washington’s kids — director Malcolm, actor […]

Composer Harry Gregson-Williams understood the assignment when director Ridley Scott asked him to score “Gladiator 2.” “It was to embody the spiritual essence of the first film, but move forward into a fresh new world,” Gregson-Williams explains. In early talks with Scott, Gregson-Williams also knew he would have to compose at least 100 minutes of […]

“Wicked” debuted to $164.2 million at the global box office, a towering figure that includes $50.1 million in overseas ticket sales. Universal’s big-budget adaptation of the hit musical was far bigger in North America with $114 million, ranking as the third-biggest domestic debut of the year and the best ever for a Broadway adaptation. Globally, […]

Midway through his snarling Drake diss, “Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar issued a succinct, but forceful personal mandate: “Sometimes you gotta pop out and show n—as.” It was both a plan of action and a self-fulfilling mandate.  Since then, he’s won that rap beef in the most unequivocal terms imaginable: “Not Like Us” has been […]

SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains major spoilers from “Interior Chinatown,” now streaming on Hulu. Chloe Bennet knows what it is like to straddle two worlds — both in life and on television. For seven seasons, the Chinese American actor starred as Daisy Johnson/Quake in ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” a long-running, procedural-esque show that followed […]

Jurors at the EnergaCamerimage cinematography fest say the Golden Frog main competition films have been remarkably varied and inspiring in the event’s 32nd edition. The 12 competing films “were radically different from each other,” said “Barbie” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, whose directorial debut, “Pedro Paramo,” is also screening at the […]

If you care to find “Wicked,” look to the top of box office charts. Universal’s adaptation of Act One (with some padding) of the popular Broadway musical was No. 1 in North America with $114 million from 3,888 theaters over the weekend. Those dazzling ticket sales rank as the third biggest domestic debut of the […]

Payal Sethi’s “Kurinji” (aka “The Disappearing Flower”) was Sunday named as the first prize winner of the projects at the Film Bazaar in Goa, India. It earned a $10,000 cash prize. The project explores the theme of “Gulf Wife” syndrome and follows a Kerala housewife whose migrant worker husband in the Gulf region suddenly stops […]

The 28th Black Nights Film Festival, known as PÖFF, wrapped Nov. 22 with an awards ceremony in Tallinn where filmmakers took centre stage to ask for the end of war in the Middle East, solidarity with Georgia under Russian influence and the defence of culture. Oscar-nominated British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi – whose debut feature “The Teacher” […]

Dua Lipa is on the Asia leg of her “Radical Optimism” tour, and the singer-songwriter is teasing fresh elements for her devoted fanbase across the continent. The Asia tour kicked off in Singapore and continued across Philippines, Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia, with India and South Korea to come. After incorporating Jane Fonda-inspired workout routines into […]

Celebrated actor Manisha Koirala (“Bombay,” “1942: A Love Story,” “Khamoshi”) and filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane (“Udaan,” “Trapped”) discussed the evolving landscape between theatrical and streaming platforms during a session at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, where Koirala also revealed plans to write a comedy book about 1990s and 2000s actresses adapting to […]

Recognizing the brilliance of British director Lucy Walker, both as a filmmaker and as an advocate for the documentary format, Shekhar Kapur hurriedly arranged an additional masterclass on Saturday at the International Film Festival of India, where he is festival director. And hosted the session himself. Their conversation ranged from technology and technique through to […]

The vast expanse of opportunity that exists if India and Spain manage to increase and improve their film and TV industry co-operation was on display at a panel session on Sunday at Film Bazaar. “If you explained the incentives, people would be flocking [to Spain] to produce,” said leading Indian producer Nikhil Advani. He cited […]

A panel of leading television executives and creators at Film Bazaar discussed the intricacies of adapting international series for Indian audiences. Banijay Asia’s Mrinalini Jain said that successful adaptations require more than simple translation. “There is a very fine line between translating a format and transposing it, and transposing is where the magic happens,” Jain […]

Tamil cinema star Sivakarthikeyan revealed his unlikely path from computer science engineering to entertainment during a conversation with actor-politician Khushbu Sundar at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. The actor, whose recent military drama “Amaran” has performed strongly at the box office, traced his beginnings as a mimicry artist during his engineering […]

Led by former Cannes film market head Jerome Paillard, who is now advising India’s Film Bazaar, leading international producers discussed India-Europe co-productions during a panel at the event in Goa. Producer Guneet Monga Kapoor recounted how her breakthrough film “The Lunchbox” emerged from Film Bazaar itself. “I’ve been coming to Film Bazaar since 2008 and […]