Todd Haynes has spoken for the first time about his Joaquin Phoenix-led gay romance that fell apart just five days before filming. During a conversation at Marrakech Film Festival on Friday, Haynes was asked about the project, which the moderator initially said the director would not speak on. However, Haynes proceeded to make a brief […]

Mubi, which recently planted a flag in the U.S. with the wide release of Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance,” has welcomed Zhang Xin to its board of directors, as part of a new chapter for the rapidly expanding company which will also see Zhang’s New York-based film production and financing group Closer Media become an investor […]

Michelle Yeoh wasn’t initially convinced she should be part of the hit musical “Wicked.” Speaking at the Red Sea Film Festival, she said that, although Jon M. Chu “could throw the phonebook at me and I would say yes,” she wasn’t sure she was the right choice to play Madame Morrible in the film until […]

With a heady dose of ‘80s nostalgia and the gravity that only a script full of fierce intergenerational matriarchs can bring to the table, Mexico’s Mayra Hermosillo revealed a cut of her nuanced and buzzy coming-of-age title “Vainilla,” among the players selected for Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte. The film is produced by Stacy Perskie, Karla […]

One of the most active of sales agents at this week’s Ventana Sur, Madrid-based Latido Films has closed international rights on adventure-comedy “Small Town” (“Pueblo Chico”) a parable of greed and instance of the building scale and ambition of Latin American animation co-production whether regional or reaching out to Spain.  The subject of a Ventana […]

The Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man” has taken center stage in the 2025 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards nominations. “Better Man” earned a record-breaking 16 nominations, the most ever received by a single film in the awards’ 66-year history. Directed by Michael Gracey, the musical film secured nods across key categories, […]

Off the heels of the major global success of Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked,” Cynthia Erivo is already thinking of what comes next, including perhaps stepping behind the camera. Speaking at the Red Sea Film Festival, the Oscar-nominated actor brought up Barbra Streisand as one of her great inspirations both as a singer and actor, adding […]

Cannes Critics’ Week has picked the projects that will be part of the 11th edition of Next Step, a programme aimed at helping filmmakers whose short films played at Critics’ Week develop their feature debut. Since its creation 11 years ago, Next Step has accompanied the development of 96 feature projects, with 39 already completed. […]

Miho Nakayama, a Japanese singer and actor best known for the 1995 romance film “Love Letter,” was found dead at her home in Tokyo on Friday. She was 54. Nakayama’s team confirmed the news in a post on her website, writing: “We are deeply sorry to have to suddenly announce this to all the people […]

Global sales, production, and finance company EST N8 has acquired “Hutang Nyawa,” an Indonesian horror film due to release Dec. 12. The acquisition was made during the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (JAFF). Directed by Billy Christian, a filmmaker with over a decade of horror films under his belt, “Hutang Nyawa” tells the story of Erwina, […]

James Norton looks set to defend the Anglo-Saxon throne from French invader Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the first glimpse from upcoming medieval drama series “King and Conqueror.” Norton plays Harold, Earl of Wessex in the series as he prepares to face Coster-Waldau’s William, Duke of Normandy at the famous Battle of Hastings. Also starring are Emily […]

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address on Thursday evening that he will finish his five-year mandate which ends in 2027 despite pressure for him to resign amid the fall of the government. The government was toppled Wednesday after the parliament gave a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Michel Barnier. It marks the […]

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival kicked off its fourth edition on Thursday with the world premiere of Karim Shenawi’s Egyptian drama “The Tale of Daye’s Family” and a glitzy red carpet featuring Will Smith, Emily Blunt, Cynthia Erivo, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Eva Longoria, Michelle Yeoh, Minnie Driver, Michael Douglas and Vin Diesel, the latter of […]

Warner Bros. Discovery announced that its upcoming “Harry Potter” series will start shooting this summer at Leavesden, where the movies were also filmed. During a presentation at the Warner Bros. Discovery’s headquarters in London on Thursday, showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod revealed that the show had auditioned 32,000 kids for the lead roles, […]

“Aisha Can’t Fly Away,” “Chronicles From the Siege” and “It’s a Sad and Beautiful World” claimed a trio of post-production prizes at this year’s Atlas Workshops, which ran from Dec. 1 – 5 as part of the Marrakech Film Festival. Winner of the top award, “Aisha Can’t Fly Away” walked away with a €25,000 ($26,409) […]

After a trio of controversy-courting biographies, Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov will next tackle a more genteel original drama about photography shot and set in France. Described as a “chamber film” and “almost a love story” cast on a more intimate scale, the project will be Serebrennikov’s first-ever French language feature. Following 2022’s “Tchaikovsky’s Wife” with […]

When Sky Ferreira was first approached to write a song for “Babygirl,” A24’s new erotic thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, she was taken by surprise. “I was like, ‘Is this actually happening? When’s the other shoe going to drop?'” Ferreira tells Variety over Zoom with a nervous chuckle. “Just because for this kind […]

Argentina’s newly created Fondosa Foundation, launched by lawyer-producer Virginia Juárez, is teaming with Brazilian philanthropic org Projeto Paradiso, a mover and shaker on Brazil’s young talent scene, to launch a new program aimed at providing world-class mentorship to women screenwriters.  The program will back the development of one screenplay from Brazil and another from Argentina. […]

Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP) has picked up remake rights to Arnaud Lemort’s French family comedy “Family Therapy” (“Jamais sans mon psy”) from Newen Connect. Under the deal, SPIP will develop localized versions of the French movie around the world, excluding China and France. Produced by Mathieu Verhaeghe and Thomas Verhaeghe at Atelier de Production, […]