“Stranger Things” could have been a whole different show if creators Matt and Ross Duffer had gotten their original casting choice for Chief Jim Hopper — and it’s not Josh Brolin. During an interview with “Happy Sad Confused” host Josh Horowitz posted Monday, the Duffers are
After an eight-year court battle, a Spanish court has ordered the country’s treasury to refund nearly $65 million to singer Shakira after ruling that the money was improperly collected. The country’s high court has acquitted the Colombian singer of tax fraud and ordered the
“Just In Time,” a biographical jukebox musical about the performer Bobby Darin, has recouped its entire production cost after just over a year on Broadway. The show, which earned a Tony nomination and plenty of raves for its star Jonathan Groff, was capitalized at $12.5
A “Transformers” attraction will open in Brazil later this year, marking the latest live experience from toy giant Hasbro and a huge push into the LATAM market. Made by partnership with Dream Cars Automóveis e Eventos, the “Transformers” experience (which will mark Brazil’s
Oscar-winning actor, producer and UNHCR Global Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett announced Mo Amer, Annemarie Jacir, Akuol de Mabior, Bao Nguyen and Rithy Panh as the second cohort of filmmakers for the Displacement Film Fund short film grant. The Displacement Film Fund was
Brazil’s Nicho54 Institute is launching Cinemateca Negra (Black Brazilian Cinematheque in literal translation), an original publication that consolidates data about Black films in Brazil. Launching globally from the Marché du Film in Cannes, the publication maps over a thousand
The Oscar-nominated director, sentenced in absentia, returned to Iran on March 30.
Rome’s MIA Market is launching a new strand dedicated to animated series called the Animation Series Gap Financing Market, and also an innovative hub to facilitate access for European productions to international financing, plus a new initiative focussed on experiential
Music icon Elton John already had an award named after him. Now it has become a bigger awards program: The Elton John Impact Awards, which are being presented to influential members of the LGBTQ+ community and prominent allies. The Elton John Impact Awards, created by
Lady Gaga’s “The Dead Dance” from Netflix’s “Wednesday” will be submitted for Emmys consideration in the outstanding music and lyrics category. The song is written and produced by Gaga and her frequent collaborators Andrew Watt and Cirkut (Henry Russell Walter). “The Dead
Matt Mathews has announced the massive Not What I Ordered World Tour, with 74 live dates spanning September 2026 to May 2027. The comedian will hit Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. in his first-ever international run. A ticket presale begins May 19 at 10 a.m. local
It’s divine! Bette Midler will voice the part of the fairy godmother in Netflix’s upcoming animated feature, “Steps.“ Midler joins Amanda Seyfried, who was cast as Cinderella. Ali Wong (Lilith) and Stephanie Hsu (Margot) will play Cinderella’s evil stepsisters. Midler said,
Rithy Panh and Akuol de Mabior will also make short films under the second round of the grant scheme backed by the star and the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund.
“The Red Hangar” (“Hangar rojo”), Chilean Juan Pablo Sallato’s black & white fiction feature debut, which swept the Guadalajara Film Festival in April, has sold to U.S.-based company Pragda, marking its first all-rights acquisition for the U.S. and Canada. International sales
Julianne Moore has received plenty of accolades throughout her 40-year career — an Oscar, an Emmy, plus awards from Berlin, Venice and Cannes, to name a few — but the Kering Women in Motion award is unique. This prize, launched in 2015 by Kering in association with the Cannes
Celebrated Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke will next direct “Mamma Dunhuang,” reteaming with French production and sales banner MK2 Films. The latter, spearheaded by Nathanael and Elisha Karmitz, co-produces “Mamma Dunhuang,” in partnership with the director’s Chinese production
A sequel to “Hope,” Na Hong-jin’s alien action epic that rocked Cannes Film Festival on Sunday night, is already in the works. The Korean auteur revealed the news during a press conference on Monday, saying: “I think you can readily imagine this sequel. And there’s a script
Brazil’s Tourism Board, Embratur, is spearheading an eight-pronged strategy to boost audiovisual-inspired tourism in the country. After all, studies reveal that some 90 million people worldwide choose their holiday destinations based on what they’ve seen on films, TV series and
Paris-based Films du Losange has boarded international sales on “El Dorado,” a psychological thriller from rising French filmmaker Lola Quivoron, starring Matthias Schoenaerts, Mallory Wanecque, Antonia Buresi and Samuel Kircher. “El Dorado” marks the sophomore outing of
Bolstering the Brazilian presence in Cannes this year, São Paulo public audiovisual company Spcine is developing strategic partnerships and promoting the city as a competitive film and TV hub on the global stage while backing six domestic films in various sections and programs
Brazilian Tourism Board Embratur and leading philanthropic initiative Projeto Paradiso have announced the three films selected for their inaugural Screen Brasil initiative, aimed at promoting Brazilian cinema internationally. The selected films include Silver Bear-winning “The
The BBC’s new director general Matt Brittin has warned that “tough choices are unavoidable” in his first memo to staff. Describing himself as a “lifelong fan of the BBC,” the former Google executive opened the missive by saying that over the last few weeks he has been meeting
The French auteur's new film, whose cast includes Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Kircher and Malou Khebizi and which is set in Nantes in 1978, world premieres in the Cannes Premiere program on the Croisette.
The Oscar-winning actress was honored at the annual glam event in Cannes spotlighting women in cinema.
Lifted from his poem “Flowers of Evil,” the Charles Baudelaire quote that opens “Cantona” — “I am the wound and the knife/I am the blow and the cheek/I am the limbs and the wheel/Victim and executioner” — would seem like overkill in a documentary about pretty much any sporting
Félix de Givry and Milo Machado-Graner discuss the Critics' Week closing film, moving from dark heaviness to more light, and why the French movie is a throwback to another period in cinema history.
The 34th Raindance Film Festival has unveiled its complete program, with 85 narrative and documentary features, 112 short films and 27 immersive projects set for the June 17–26 run in London. Forty-eight of the features – 56% of the total – come from first-time directors, and a
The Female Film Club has unveiled the second edition of its Global Short Film Fund at the Cannes Film Festival, with an expanded prize package worth €33,000 ($38,600) and three new industry partners: AI filmmaking platform IMGN.AI, post-production house Disauthority and virtual
The documentary 'Eddie Cochran: Don't Forget Me' will close out the 34th edition of the London film festival, which will also screen the likes of 'Pinocchio Unstrung' with Robert Eglund.
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival toasted its 80th birthday in style during the Cannes Film Festival with a bustling luncheon — complete with a giant birthday cake — on the beach. Variety participated in the event, held at Plage Des Palmes, in partnership with the
A24 is officially taking “Club Kid” home from the afters. Jordan Firstman’s dramedy, an official selection of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, has notched a major sale — $17 million, per three sources — after a weekend of heated bidding in the South of France. Topic Studios
A24 has picked up global rights to Jordan Firstman’s Un Certain Regard breakout.
A24 has picked up global rights to Jordan Firstman’s Un Certain Regard breakout.
The first feature from Hélène Rosselet-Ruiz, produced by Marie-Ange Luciani of 'Anatomy of a Fall' fame, revolves around two women and a Saudi prince and debuts in the Cannes Special Screenings lineup.
Adapted from Mieko Kawakami's acclaimed novel, this accomplished Un Certain Regard entry co-stars Yukino Kishii as a solitary Tokyo copy editor whose tentative love affair unfolds against philosophical meditations on light and self-determination.
Kylie Minogue cannot be summed up easily. A three-decade career with era-defining tracks. An unmistakable aura that makes it feel like you know her. And a knack for constant reinvention that defies expectations, from “I Should Be So Lucky” to “Padam Padam.” So “Kylie,” out on
Greenwich Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Light Pillar,” the debut feature from Chinese director and screenwriter Xu Zao. The Shanghai-based Fengduan Pictures production world-premiered in the Perspectives section of the Berlin Film Festival and will
During Nepal’s pandemic lockdowns, Abinash Bikram Shah found himself deep in a TikTok rabbit hole, watching videos posted by Kinnars – members of Nepal’s ancient third-gender community – dancing, joking, performing with unselfconscious joy. The comment sections beneath those
Chile’s Paulina García, winner of the Berlinale Silver Bear for her performance in Sebastian Lelio’s “Gloria,” is poised to direct her first feature, “The Passion According to Carmen” (“La Pasión según Carmen”). Described as “the coming-of-age story of an adult woman” it
Spanish filmmaker Juanjo Giménez Peña, whose 2016 “Timecode” won a Palme d’Or at Cannes for best short and later earned an Academy Award nomination, is set to begin shooting his new feature “Pínkala” this July in Vigo, Spain. The supernatural love story stars Pol López and is
Circle, the training platform for women and gender-expansive filmmakers, is moving into XR and immersive media with a new international program developed alongside Onassis ONX. Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentarian Katerina Cizek has been appointed head of studies for
Country stars were choosin’ fashion as they took to the stage and the red carpet Sunday night at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. Ella Langley was the top winner, with seven trophies in five categories, and Cody Johnson scored two key ones, including
From Almodóvar to a new generation of auteurs, Spain has arrived at Cannes 2026 in historic fashion — and the industry behind it has never been in better shape: "Spanish cinema is in a very exceptional situation right now."
"What it revealed is a systemic layer of abuse, not only in this industry, but in all industries, and if you don’t identify a problem, you can’t solve the problem"
The Michael Jackson biographical drama “Michael” comfortably claimed the top position at the South Korean box office during the weekend of May 15–17. According to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the Lionsgate and Universal Pictures
Jinant Film & TV’s family drama “Dear You” retained its position at the top of the China box office during the May 15–17 weekend, pulling in RMB282 million ($41.5 million), according to data from Artisan Gateway. Directed by Lan Hongchun and starring Li Sitong and Wang Yantong,
" 60 Minutes has always been a place, at least for me, that you get to step into somebody else's shoes"
Tokyo-based production company K2 Pictures closed its K2P Film Fund I at $33 million and unveiled a 10-title slate at a press conference at Cannes, with the session anchored by the world premiere of a teaser trailer for “Shumei – The Living Legacy of Kabuki,” auteur Miike
"I think we pushed pretty hard on this one and maybe found some limits," he said of his upcoming film on Sunday's '60 Minutes.'