As the 77th Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25) arrives at its halfway point, here is THR executive editor of awards Scott Feinberg’s assessment of the awards prospects — at the Cannes closing ceremony and later in the fall — of the films that have screened at the fest so far. The
On Monday night, all eyes in Cannes will be on the launch of “The Apprentice,” the high-profile drama that stars Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump. The filmmakers and stars haven’t done any press on the ground at Cannes ahead of the film’s world premiere, and few have seen
A new Saudi Arabian film studio with deep pockets and Hollywood connections is launching from the Cannes Film Festival with a slate of film and TV projects. The Los Angeled-based 3SIX9 Studios – announced at an event on a yacht in the bay of Cannes – is co-founded by actor and
British filmmakers Sean Cronin and Peter Stylianou’s latest feature, “Drained,” has wrapped post-production and is being sold by Cronin’s Magnificent Films at the Cannes Film Market. Cronin is also an actor who has appeared in “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” and “Fantastic
An epic drama series about Iran’s last monarchy is in the works, Variety has learned. Inspired by “The Crown,” Netflix’s sweeping dramatization of the British royal family, “The Last Shah” is set to span four decades beginning during World War II, when the young monarch,
FREE ASSOCIATION The 27-member European Film Agency Directors Association and the Asian Film Alliance Network, which was established this time last year and currently has seven members, have agreed to work together on topics of common interest and to jointly develop a better
Federation Spain, the Madrid-based arm of top indie European studio Federation Entertainment, has inked to co-produce Xavier Rull’s feature debut “My Stalker,” selected for this year’s Frontières Platform in Cannes. Structured as a Spain-Mexico-U.S. co-production, “My Stalker”
Kevin Costner defended his depiction of the old West in his latest film, particularly the portrayal of Native American, Black and Asian characters, saying he “is absolutely conscious of what’s at stake” when it comes to representation. Speaking at the Cannes film festival after
German Films celebrated its 70th anniversary at Cannes on Sunday, with its guests looking back but also looking forward. “It has gotten much better,” Managing Director Simone Baumann told Variety at the event. “We’ve had Oscar-winning ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’
Over the last century, the small but mighty island Republic of Malta has cemented itself as an appealing global destination for major film productions, with features such as Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator,” Robert Altaman’s “Popeye,” and Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” shooting there.
At first, the violence seems limited to news reports. Every time a gangster is gunned down or a car bomb goes off in the streets of Corsica, the local channel flashes footage of the crime scene. So long as the killings are confined to television, it’s easy for 15-year-old Lesia
Saudi Arabia’s fast-growing entertainment sector added a high-profile new film company this week. 3SIX9 Studios was launched at the Cannes Film Festival this week by Saudi Sheikh Mohammed El Khereiji, who has invested in Hollywood films for years and will serve as chairman;
Kevin Costner got candid about partly self-financing his new movie, “Horizon: An American Saga,” at a Cannes Film Festival press conference on Monday. Costner put much of his own fortune into making the $100 million-plus film, including mortgaging his ranch. He directs and
A new Italian distribution and international sales company called PiperFilm is launching in Cannes, having scored rights for Italy to Paolo Sorrentino’s Cannes competition title “Parthenope.” Former Vision Distribution managing director Massimiliano Orfei is president of
London’s Raindance Film Festival is making a significant calendar shift for its 32nd edition, moving from its traditional fall slot to a new summer schedule. Raindance kicks off with the U.K. premiere of Tilman Singer’s “Cuckoo,” a horror feature starring Hunter Schafer and Dan
Demi Moore said performing in Coralie Fargeat’s body horror shocker The Substance required accepting a “level of vulnerability and rawness” with regard to her own body on screen. Moore put it all out there for the film, a gory, campy satire on beauty standards, toxic
Demi Moore’s new film, the feminist body horror “The Substance,” sees her bare it all, with several scenes featuring full nudity. At the Cannes Film Festival press conference for the film on Monday, the 61-year-old actor discussed the “vulnerable experience.” “Going into it, it
Sandhya Suri’s fiction feature debut “Santosh,” which bows in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard strand, has unveiled its first clip. In the film, a government scheme sees newly widowed Santosh inherit her slain husband’s job as a police constable in the rural
Alan Partridge is officially back as evidenced by a new first look image from his upcoming BBC documentary “And Did Those Feet… with Alan Partridge.” Filming has officially commenced on the show, in which comedian Steve Coogan (who was twice nominated for Oscars his work on
The Mediterrane Film Festival, held in the Maltese capital of Valletta, returns for its second edition between June 22-30 with a revamped programming structure led by new artistic director Teresa Cavina. The inaugural Golden Bee Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cinema will be
The Anne Hathaway- and Jessica Chastain-starring psychological thriller “Mothers’ Instinct” is set for release in Chinese theaters. Directed by cinematographer-turned-helmer Benoît Delhomme, the 1960s film depicts a pair of model homemakers and next-door neighbors whose close
Barcelona-based sales company Film Factory has picked up global rights to Alberto Gastesi’s sci-fi thriller “Singular,” a former Sitges Pitchbox winner that will begin shooting this month. “Singular” is the story of Diana, a university professor who works with artificial
Filming in Hungary offers everything from a massive amount of production space and a 20-year strong tax rebate to eight symphony orchestras and thermal baths. On a panel during the Cannes Film Festival at the Marche du Film, film commissionaire Csaba Kael, and producers Ildikó
For more than two decades, French auteur Christophe Honoré has made provocative features, frequently exploring romantic entanglements or focusing on gay characters that reflect his sexuality. His third Palme d’Or-nominated film premiering May 21, “Marcello Mio,” is a comic
“The Last Frenzy,” a comedy film about a dying man’s last hurrah, returned to the top spot in mainland Chinese cinemas in its third weekend of release. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which a week earlier had been the biggest title, slipped to fourth place. In another
American helmer Carson Lund uses the baseball diamond as a deeply cinematic space in his feature debut, “Eephus.” The esoteric title is the name of one of the game’s rarest pitches. “Eephus” marks the second film from the L.A. collective Omnes Films to screen in the Directors’
SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read on if you haven’t watched “Tunnel Vision,” the final episode of “CSI: Vegas” that aired on Sunday, May 19. “Things are about to go kaboom.” That’s what Beau (Lex Medlin) says on Friday night’s series finale of “CSI: Vegas” as he prepares to detonate a
Local blockbuster, “The Roundup: Punishment” extended its dominance of the South Korea theatrical box office for a fourth weekend. That lifted its cumulative total to a powerful $75 million. “Punishment,” the fourth part of a brutal action comedy film franchise produced by and
The lasagna-obsessed feline with a near-pathological aversion to Mondays, who first came into popular consciousness in the late ‘70s as a comic strip, is a diluted version of himself in “The Garfield Movie.” Not only is his suave apathy mostly replaced by an excessive
Lost, completed studio albums by revered trumpet player and jazz vocalist Chet Baker don’t pop up every year. But “In Perfect Harmony: The Lost Album,” which was just released after sitting unheard for 52 years, has some even more novel wrinkles to it. For one, the previously
It feels like the seedbed for a miniseries. Much of what happens is wispy and not very forceful; the film doesn’t build in power, and it seldom seems to be aiming in a clear direction. Costner, as an actor, doesn’t show up until an hour in, and when he does, playing a gruff
Three days after the It Ends With Us trailer took the internet by storm, director and star Justin Baldoni is opening up about the reaction and some of the most buzzed-about changes from the book to the movie. The film, starring Baldoni, Blake Lively and Brandon Sklenar, is
Jaw-dropping, nauseating, defiant, hilarious “The Substance” — a body horror thriller from French director Coralie Forgeat starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley — rocked Cannes Film Festival on Sunday night with an 11-minute standing ovation. It’s the tale of a once-great
The Substance, a gruesome body-horror flick, had its world premiere on Sunday night in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and was greeted with a nine-minute standing ovation from the crowd at the Grand Lumiere Theatre. The sophomore directorial effort and English-language
Shocking and resonant, disarmingly grotesque and also weirdly fun, "The Substance" is a feminist body-horror film that should be seen in movie theaters all over the world.
A24 acquired the U.S. rights to Ruben Östlund’s The Entertainment System Is Down this weekend. The eight-figure deal gives A24 U.S. distribution rights to what will be the Swedish film director’s second English-language movie, after 2022’s Triangle of Sadness. The latter won
The latest winner of “American Idol” will be crowned tonight as the long-running singing competition show bids farewell to judge Katy Perry. Want to watch the “American Idol” finale live? The episode airs tonight, Sunday, May 19, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC. You can watch the
Atoms & Void, the Netherlands-based production and sales company run by Sergei Loznitsa and Maria Choustova, has closed a French sale on Loznitsa’s most recent feature documentary “The Invasion,” which premiered on Thursday as a Special Screening in Cannes. Potemkine Films has
Disney and 20th Century’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” conquered the international box office again with $40.6 million in its second weekend of release. So far, the fourth chapter in the “Apes” reboot franchise has generated $136 million overseas and $237 million
A24 is closing an eight-figure deal to acquire the U.S. rights to Ruben Östlund’s “The Entertainment System Is Down,” Variety has confirmed. The deal was struck between A24 and Paris-based Co-Production Office, which launched international sales for the project at the Cannes
The 50th Annual Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) wrapped up on Sunday and announced the winners of the 2024 Golden Space Needle Audience and Juried Competition Awards. The festival began on May 9 and screened 261 films representing 84 countries with “62% of the
Travel season is in full swing and there are a few essentials you’ll need if you’re heading onto an airplane. Aside from things like a good travel pillow and a portable charger, one of the new must-haves for air travel is a wireless audio transmitter, like this one from Twelve
Kevin Costner rode into Cannes with cowboy swagger, making finger pistols on the red carpet to cheers from the crowd ahead of the premiere for Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, a partially self-financed western that is one of the biggest swings of his long career. Inside
“Horizon: An American Saga,” Kevin Costner’s risk-it-all Western epic, rode into Cannes on Sunday, earning a seven-minute standing ovation. Costner was visibly emotional as the film received huge applause and chants of “Kevin! Kevin! Kevin!” During his speech, Costner thanked
It’s never been easier to keep an eye on your home thanks to the seemingly endless number of security camera brands available right now. If you’re looking for a great indoor security camera, you’ll want to take advantage of this new Amazon deal, which gets you the best-selling
Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning director of “The Artist,” makes a first foray into animation with “The Most Precious of Cargoes” which world premieres at the Cannes Film Festival on May 24. Adapted from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling novel, “The Most Precious of
Urban Sales has closed a raft of deals on the upcoming animated feature “Into the Wonderwoods” ahead of its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Special Screenings section. The film, which bows with a special screening May 22 at the prestigious French fest, has
Some films prioritize a strident political cause, others set out to terrify or thrill. This touching and simple story from Japanese filmmaker Hiroshi Okuyama, premiering in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, is a gentler affair, with modest ambitions that it realizes effectively. Set
The first significant deal at last year’s Marché du Film was Neon’s acquisition of Pablo Berger’s eventual Oscar nominee, “Robot Dreams.” Whether or not another Spanish animated film can have that kind of impact in 2024 remains to be seen, but there is a long list of contenders
