“Emilia Pérez,” the latest Cannes-premiering film from French auteur Jaques Audiard, is many things at once: a gritty crime film, an ambitious musical and a spotlight on trans issues. At the center of the Spanish-language movie are three women – Rita (Zoe Saldaña), Jessi
Focus Features has bought international rights to “Hamlet,” Aneil Karia’s London-set modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s famed play starring Oscar winner Riz Ahmed. Morfydd Clark (“Saint Maud,” “Rings of Power”) and Joe Alwyn (“Kinds of Kindness”) also star in the film, which
Mubi has swooped on its third 2024 Cannes competition title, Variety has learned. Having acquired worldwide rights to Coralie Fargeat’s buzzy body horror “The Substance” and U.K. rights to Andrea Arnold’s Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski-starring ‘Bird’ before the festival
Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed the first international sales for Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival. The film has been acquired in
Athens-based sales and production outfit Heretic has sold key territories on the Cannes Film Festival’s ACID sidebar opening film, Greece’s “Kyuka: Before Summer’s End.” Heretic has sealed distribution deals for France with The Dark, Benelux with Gusto Entertainment and Greece
The very title of “Everybody Loves Touda” poses a kind of challenge to viewers. If everybody loves Touda, dare you not? Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s forthright musical drama certainly doesn’t permit much room for dissent. From first gilded frame to last, the film is
In the Road House star's third time hosting SNL , he also demands absolute discretion from his son-in-law to-be after eating a cookie
After making waves on the festival circuit with a pair of heralded short films, Somali filmmaker Mo Harawe makes his auspicious feature debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival with “The Village Next to Paradise,” which premieres May 21 in the French fest’s Un Certain Regard
Brazilian production powerhouse Gullane, which is behind Netflix’s “Senna” and Karim Aïnouz’s Cannes competition title “Motel Destino,” has closed international co-production pacts on new projects from Cao Hamburger (”The Year My Parents Went on Vacation”) and Sandra Kogut
Signature Entertainment has acquired the U.K. and Irish rights to creature action thriller “Werewolves” from the Solution Entertainment Group. The feature was produced by Myles Nestel (“Blacklight”) and Craig Chapman (“Honest Thief”), with additional producers including Steven
Across his 25-year career, Jia Zhangke has become the de facto face of independent-minded Chinese cinema — and the Cannes Film Festival has arguably been the most important institution to help him hoist that flag on the world stage. Beginning with his 2002 drama Unknown
Colin Jost and Michael Che also trade jokes to close out SNL 's 49th season
Oliver Stone is talking about “Lula,” his new documentary about Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which is premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, when the conversation turns to American politics. The conspiracy-minded director, who’s never seen a grassy knoll
Copenhagen-based TrustNordisk has just picked up international rights to the Danish drama “Home” by actor-turned director Marijana Jankovic (“The House that Jack Built”). For her debut feature after 2019’s multi-awarded short film “Maja,” a best short winner at Tribeca,
Spain’s Latido Films has clinched world sales rights to serial killer drama-thriller “Sacamantecas,” the third feature by writer-director David Pérez Sañudo, whose Latido-repped debut feature, “Ane,” swept three Spanish Academy Goya Awards in 2021. Latido is already handling
Jeff Daniels is looking back at his time filming the infamous toilet scene in Dumb and Dumber and how he feared it would end his acting career. The actor, known for several of his more dramatic roles, recently told USA Today that even his agents warned him about taking on the
Raoul Peck’s life is as fascinating as his films, filled with unexpected twists and turns. From his early stints as a cab driver and journalist, to a minister of culture post in his native Haiti, to teaching, to founding his Velvet Film production shingle to his breakthrough
First-time feature director Constance Tsang makes a splash in Cannes with “Blue Sun Palace,” the first U.S. film in Critics Week that is in the Mandarin Chinese language. Set in a massage parlor, staffed with Chinese immigrants, in Queens, New York, the melodramatic film tells
THR puts the spotlight on the best films from the festival circuit that have yet to land a U.S. distribution deal. La Cocina Directed by Alonso RuizpalaciosSales WME Independent, Fifth Season From Anthony Bourdain giving American readers an inside look at the rock ’n’ roll
Manila-based production outfit Parallax Studio and entertainment company Saga Film Studios have formed a joint venture that will distribute the two-part Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga” in the Philippines. The deal is the first of a number of acquisitions planned by the
Jake Gyllenhaal decided to showcase his vocal talent during the Season 49 finale of “Saturday Night Live.” The actors began serendaring the audience with a rendition of Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road.” During the ballad, Gyllenhaal switched up the lyrics, claiming he was the
The 49th season finale of “Saturday Night Live” opened with James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump speaking at the barricades of a Manhattan courthouse, in a nod to Trump’s ongoing legal woes amid his presidential campaign. During the sketch, Johnson as Trump spoke about his
The presumptive GOP nominee also auditions Kristi Noem and Tim Scott while outside his New York trial
When Studio Ghibli receives its honorary Palme d’Or May 19 at the Cannes Film Festival, the creative home to Hayao Miyazaki — arguably the most admired and influential living animation director — will make history. This marks the first time an honorary Palme d’Or has been given
Jesse Plemons has become an undisputed auteur’s favorite. The 36-year-old star’s beguiling unshowiness onscreen has landed him memorable parts in films from Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master), Steven Spielberg (Bridge of Spies, The Post), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman, Killers
May 19 is Animation Day at Cannes, with a full day of programming that includes an animation showcase, a panel discussion and other networking opportunities. The event is held in partnership with the Marché du Film. The highlight of the program is the Annecy Animation Showcase,
The setup reads like a thriller: 60,000 photo negatives were discovered in a safe in a Swedish bank, no one knows how they got there, and no one knows who paid to keep them there. But Raoul Peck’s Cannes-bound documentary Ernest Cole: Lost and Found aims to uncover the
Eva Longoria is putting a lot of thought into who she surrounds herself with in movies and TV shows. The actress-filmmaker recently admitted to People magazine that she only wants “to work with people I love,” naming friends and fellow actresses Kerry Washington and Gabrielle
About 18,000 more faces were stolen Friday night at Sphere in Las Vegas, as Dead & Company played the second of 24 shows scheduled for the technologically ground-breaking venue. As is customary with any outfit associated with the Grateful Dead, it’s assumed that no two shows
A self-portrait and cinematic essay, Leos Carax’s “It’s Not Me” is perhaps the most accurate impression of a late-era Jean-Luc Godard experiment anyone has ever attempted. From Carax’s raspy voiceover to his jaggedly assembled combination of archival footage and absurd original
Jeremy Renner spoke to the L.A. Times about returning to the “Mayor of Kingstown” set after his near-fatal snow plow accident. In January 2023, Renner was run over by his own snowcat, which weighs at least 14,330 pounds, and suffered from significant chest trauma — including a
Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator and veteran political adviser who worked on several Republican presidential campaigns, has died. She was 58. Stewart’s body was found outdoors in a northern Virginia neighborhood early Saturday morning, CNN reported. Law enforcement
Premiering out of Critics’ Week in Cannes, Alexis Langlois’ debut feature “Queens of Drama” is a musical blast of queer culture euphoria, telling a decades-spanning, impossible love story between a pair of pop idols who begin as fans and then become lovers, who climb the charts
Cate Blanchett blew kisses to the Cannes Film Festival audience as her new film, “Rumours,” earned a four-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night. The crowd welcomed the film’s dark humor, laughing throughout the entirety of the late-night screening.
“What you are about experience may or may not be real,” reads a caption on a TV that Justin Timberlake gazes upon during an introductory vignette for his Forget Tomorrow world tour. At Los Angeles’ Kia Forum on Friday night, the pop star existed in the throes of fantasy and
Barbra Fuller, who starred as the daughter Claudia on the long-running radio soap opera One Man’s Family, all while appearing in films for Republic Pictures and such TV shows as Adventures of Superman, has died. She was 102. Fuller, who lived in the Los Angeles area, died
Noemie Merlant’s sophomore feature “The Balconettes” plays as a raunchy horror-comedy with a greater social conscience. The film follows three roommates – an actress, played by Merlant, a camgirl played by “Dune: Part Two” breakout Souheila Yacoub and a frustrated writer played
“Emilia Pérez,” a Spanish-language musical drama starring Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón, has earned the biggest standing ovation of this year’s Cannes Film Festival so far. Gomez wiped away tears as the Palais clapped for a full nine minutes, accompanied by
Jacques Audiard returned to Cannes on Saturday night to introduce the world to Emilia Perez, which received a rapturous response from the audience, who gave it a nine-minute standing ovation. After Audiard took the mic to speak in French, the standing ovation resumed for
Neon has acquired the North American rights to “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” directed by Mohammad Rasoulof. The thriller is set to premiere In Competition in Cannes on May 24, and marks Rasoulof’s first return to the Cannes Film Festival, after being barred from traveling. Neon
Alongside the hundreds of original movies being shopped up and down the Croisette during Cannes’ Marché du Film, the market for remakes — local-language adaptations of established hits — is quietly booming. We’re not only talking about the international-to-English remakes such
The “Mavka” franchise is just getting started. Ukraine’s FILM.UA Group is now developing a live-action film based on the character already spotlighted in “Mavka. The Forest Song,” Variety has found out. Shown in 148 countries, it has grossed over $21 million globally.
Casey Wilson and Adam Pally, who starred in the ABC sitcom “Happy Endings,” are launching an eponymous recap podcast. The joint endeavor is set to release May 21. Per the podcast’s logline: “Casey Wilson and Adam Pally sit down with the creators, cast and writers from ABC’s
Back in Cannes a year after presiding over the main Cannes jury, the two-time Palme d’or winner Ruben Öslund unveiled more details about his next mega-project, English-language “The Entertainment is Down,” which he said should be ready for Cannes 2026. The press conference,
Spanish director Jonás Trueba wants you to celebrate the endings, not just the beginnings. That includes the demise of a serious relationship, because Ale and Alex (Itsaso Arana and Vito Sanz) have been together for 15 years. Now, they want only two things: to go their
Brazil’s Spcine, the city of São Paulo’s film-TV body, is launching the third edition of its cash rebate program, which prioritizes international projects looking to shoot in the vibrant city and state. Municipal support for the program has already been renewed, now totalling
