Japan’s production committee system, in which a group of companies jointly finance a film and share its rights, has helped spread risk across the industry. But it can also cap budgets at what the industry itself can raise, make it harder for overseas investors to take part and
A new Japanese anime award planned for 2027 should put the people who make anime in the spotlight, industry leaders said at TIFFCOM, the market of the Tokyo International Film Festival. The session was moderated by Fujitsu Ryota, programming advisor for the festival’s animation
Known for her dark relationship dramas, including the 2017 multiple-award-winner “Dear Etranger,” Mishima Yukiko has taken a different approach with her latest film, “Two Cigarettes, Three Nights,” which is in competition at the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival. Based on
JioStar, the Indian media giant backed by Reliance Industries, grew revenue from operations 10.1% year-on-year to INR68.1 billion ($710 million) in the July–September quarter despite a weak advertising market. Profit after tax fell 13.2% to INR11.5 billion ($120 million).
Keanu Reeves joined Japanese stop-motion feature “Hidari” after watching the project’s pilot film, with his team getting back to the filmmakers about a week after the screening was arranged to set up a Zoom call, director Kawamura Masashi said at the Tokyo International Film
Georgian filmmaker Levan Koguashvili’s “Guria” was named best film at the 19th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, handed out Oct. 30 at The Star Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Koguashvili shared the prize with fellow producers Olena Yershova and Boris Frumin. The film was made
Ranbir Kapoor and Yash, stars of the epic adaptation “Ramayana: Rise of a Legend,” opened Gold House’s largest Gold Diwali to date at The Majestic Downtown in Los Angeles, alongside filmmakers Nitesh Tiwari and Namit Malhotra, a week before the film’s release. Gold House, which
Bill Maher opened his new episode of “Real Time” Friday night by addressing Trump’s 1,300-word social media tirade against him following their White House dinner earlier this month, with the comic comparing the president to Taylor Swift. Following a sit-down interview with
Bill Maher learned that when it comes to Donald Trump, no good deed goes unpunished. On last week’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the political pundit defended his recent White House dinner with the president, exclaiming, “You know what? Fuck you. I like these
The actress Blair pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree assault stemming from the incident and was released on bail
Martin Scorsese’s “Cleopatra” never came to fruition, and he says the Angelina Jolie-starrer was nixed because of Seth Rogen and the Sony hack. For those who need a refresher, Sony emails were hacked in November 2014 by a group that hoped the Seth Rogen comedy “The Interview,”
“The Kelly Clarkson Show” went out with a bang. The daytime talk show won five awards at the 53rd Daytime Emmys on Friday, including the top daytime talk prize, the most of any program. Meanwhile, ABC’s “General Hospital” scored the top daytime drama prize (for the sixth
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of Christina Downer, “Saturday Night Live” writer Jimmy Fowlie’s sister, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Delorean Bijon Brandon, 41, Downer’s boyfriend, and Kaylee Nicole Markowski, 34, were arrested
Selma Blair issued a video apology on Friday for the Oct. 11 incident in which she allegedly injured a flight attendant and kicked a nurse after being removed from a plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Blair, 54, is facing two state charges of 2nd-degree assault for
“6TM,” directed by Karim Akalay and produced by Walid Bekhti, won the New Visions Award for the most promising European project at the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival on Friday. The film is described as “a Belgian family comedy in three chapters, rooted in magic realism and
Marvin R. Shanken, the longtime editor and publisher of Wine Spectator magazine who was instrumental in elevating the profile of American wine business, died Thursday in Manhattan. He was 83. Shanken started his career in 1972 when he bought a small industry newsletter named
The Human Consent Foundation, the Cate Blanchett-backed nonprofit trying to protect the likenesses of individuals from unauthorized scraping by AI models, and a legion of Hollywood companies have filed an amicus brief in the New York Times’ lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft,
“Obsession” director Curry Barker is not only a fan of “You Can See Everything,” but he’s already reached out to Nathan Fielder about working together. “I thought it was freakin’ insane and awesome,” Barker told Variety Thursday night at the Time100 Next Gala at Pier59 Studios
Netflix’s push to release more films on the big screen hasn’t come without a few hiccups. Most recently, theater chains including Regal Cinemas are declining to play the streaming platform’s “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” on their Imax screens. Cinemark also turned
Vietnamese-American filmmaker, writer, feminist and post-colonial theorist Trinh T. Minh-ha is readying her upcoming film “The Undying Desert.” “I’ve just finished editing it,” she told Variety at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, where she’s celebrating a retrospective.
Lobbying groups representing the hotel and travel industries have endorsed a 20% federal tax incentive for film and TV production, arguing that domestic filming attracts tourism from abroad. The American Hotel & Lodging Association and the U.S. Travel Association have joined an
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for the finale episode of the U.K. version of “The Celebrity Traitors” Season 2, now streaming on BBC iPlayer. It was the feel-good ending hardly anyone expected: “The Traitors” season finale resulted in an unexpected win by Faithfuls
Jennifer Lawrence played the “X-Men” character Mystique four times on the big screen between 2011 and 2019, and it appears she has no interest whatsoever in slipping back into the mutant’s iconic blue skin. In fact, the Oscar winner’s days of undergoing any extreme makeup
Léa Seydoux is getting an American Cinematheque retrospective celebrating her extensive filmography. Over the course of two decades, Seydoux has built an acclaimed career in independent filmmaking (the Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Blue is the Warmest Color”) and major productions
SPOILER ALERT: This story reveals major details about Peter Berg’s new real-life World War II film “The Mosquito Bowl.” When British actor Tom Francis signed with his U.S. agents at CAA, he made his aspirations very clear. “One of the first emails I sent to my agents was, ‘This
Carrie Coon, Mariana di Girolamo, Rosalind Eleazar, Jordan Firstman, Anthony Ippolito and Kate O'Flynn will also be feted at a ceremony on Feb. 7, 2027.
Paramount+ has acquired non-exclusive rights to several kids franchises from Moonbug Entertainment, including series from the “CoComelon” and “Blippi” universes. Under the new deal, some Moonbug series will begin appearing on Paramount+ starting Nov. 1. Paramount+ will acquire
Aaron Sorkin isn’t known for his Dickensian charactonyms, but in the exceptional revival of “A Few Good Men” at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, the name Joanne Galloway stands out. Although the character often goes by the gender-neutral nickname Jo, she is still a gal
“Criminal Minds: Evolution” will end with its upcoming 20th season on Paramount+, Variety has learned. The long-running procedural was originally revived for Season 16 at the streamer back in 2022. Season 19 aired between May and July earlier this year. Season 20 does not yet
Stepping outside the airport in Mallorca, three-time Oscar-nominee cinematographer Matthew Libatique was taken aback by the light. He briefly delayed greetings so he could take it all in: the way the autumnal sun kissed baby-pink buildings and glistened against the island’s
The voice actor, who died Oct. 25 at 46, revived Bugs, Daffy and Porky for a new era and helped push for the release of ‘Coyote vs. Acme': "Every single voice actor knew him and loved him.”
The leadership teams across divisions at the new Skydance are continuing to be hashed out, three weeks after the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger closed. On Friday, Skydance chief communications officer Melissa Zukerman announced the senior members of her team in a memo
Filming on the long-awaited Season 3 of HBO’s “Big Little Lies” got underway this week — sort of. The series shot for one day at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank’s The Ranch Lot on Thursday; among those in front of the camera was recurring star Merrin Dungey, who has played
While directing the comedy-horror film “Christmas at the Kringles,” Kevin Lewis found himself filled with a holly jolly spirit. “When I was shooting some of these scenes, it was so hard for me not to mess them up because I was busting a gut,” he says. “I remember thinking,
Jessica Lange teased to Rolling Stone that her retirement from acting is likely coming soon. The Oscar winner returned to film and television this year with the releases of “Long Day’s Journey into Night” and “American Horror Story 13,” respectively, but that might be it for
Odysseus spent 10 years getting home. Universal is giving “The Odyssey” about 10 weeks to get its name on a ballot. The studio’s official Oscar campaign for Christopher Nolan’s epic kicks off in earnest the week of Nov. 9, Variety has learned, with a run of screenings and Q &
Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine is majorly shrinking. Earlier this month, Witherspoon bought her production company back from Candle Media, the Blackstone-backed label that had acquired a controlling stake in 2021. With the support of the French conglomerate Mediawan, the
“Haunted Hotel” is now accepting reservations for 2027, as Netflix has renewed the animated series for third season. The adult comedy comes from “Rick & Morty” writer Matt Roller and follows a single mother who runs the world’s most haunted hotel, the Undervale. As she juggles
In recent years, Eric Bauza had become one of the most successful and popular voice-over artists in the business, including his command of the entire library of Bugs Bunny and other “Looney Tunes” characters. But there was one iconic show that had eluded him until recently:
A federal appeals court ordered a new trial in the class-action lawsuit against the NFL to determine how much the league must pay in financial damages to affected subscribers of its Sunday Ticket out-of-market games package, who said they were overcharged by the NFL and its
I will never claim to be a true Shakespeare buff, save for having read plays like “Romeo & Juliet” or “Julius Caesar” in school many years ago. But ever since I learned of the death of Sir Patrick Stewart, a line from “Hamlet” has been at the forefront of my mind. “He was a
Tony Gilroy had the speech ready on his way to meet Pedro Pascal. He was rehearsing it in the car on the way to lunch. Oscar Isaac was out of “Behemoth!,” lost to what Gilroy calls “a traffic jam between ‘Frankenstein’ and awards,” and the writer-director had already pushed the
Elie Saab, the luxury fashion house behind some of Hollywood’s most memorable red carpet looks, is bringing its signature glamour to H&M at a fraction of its usual price. The Lebanese designer, whose creations have been worn by Beyoncé, Zendaya, Angelina Jolie, Taylor Swift and
A film festival selection or rejection is not necessarily a verdict on a film’s quality. For programmers sorting through hundreds or even thousands of submissions, the decision can depend on everything from the balance of a lineup to the audience for which they are programming.
When veteran producer John Morayniss hung out his shingle as Blink49 Studios five years ago, he knew the company’s work would be markedly different from his past experiences at Alliance Atlantis and Entertainment One. But Morayniss had no idea how dramatically the industry
“Long’s Long Lost & Mini Mart” was a short film that won a big amount of prize money for its creator. Director Julian Doan took home a $100,000 first-place prize at the first annual Ripcord Halloween Film Festival, the largest amount ever awarded at a short film festival.
Variety is proud to announce the return of Doc Dreams NYC Live, its marquee event dedicated to honoring the art of documentary filmmaking, on Nov. 9 in New York City. Following a successful debut in 2024, Doc Dreams will once again bring together acclaimed filmmakers,
When HBO released the first-look image of Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape in the upcoming “Harry Potter” series, it became immediately clear that the show was going for something different. Unlike Alan Rickman’s Snape, Essiedu sports shoulder-length dreadlocks and a more gothic
Luca Guadagnino's Simon Rich-penned film, which deals with dark subject matter but also evokes laughs, was one of the last big question marks ahead of Friday's Golden Globes submission deadline.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has announced the recipients of the 2027 Virtuosos Award. The award acknowledges talent whose work in films has placed them at the center of the conversation around the year’s most noteworthy cinematic performances. Carrie Coon,
