Well, it’s official: after starting talks with Blumhouse earlier this month, Mike Flanagan will write, direct, and produce the studio’s next “Exorcist” film. But Deadline reports that the project isn’t a sequel to “The Exorcist: Believer” anymore. Instead, Flanagan will helm “a radical new take” on the horror series for Blumhouse and Morgan Creek, effectively starting the franchise over.

That’s a smart move for Blumhouse, considering how poorly “Believer” fared with critics last October.

The upcoming Venice Film Festival is shaping up to be a star-studded affair with Lady Gaga, Joaquin Phoenix, Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig, Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Gal Gadot and Ana de Armas among top Hollywood talents likely to be launching high-profile titles from the Lido.

Though festival chief Alberto Barbera has yet to see several submitted works that are likely to make the cut, a clutch of globally buzzy movies have already secured a coveted Venice berth, though some of the more mainstream entries will probably be bowing out-of-competition.

“Joker 2: Folie à Deux,” Todd Phillips’ edgy musical sequel to his 2019 Golden Lion prizewinning “Joker,” starring Gaga and Phoenix, is a competition shoo-in, along with Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas biopic “Maria,” starring Jolie in the title role.

Larraín’s previous two tragic female biopics — “Spencer” starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana and “Jackie” with Natalie Portman as...

Masters of the Universe has found its He-Man.

Nicholas Galitzine, who recently starred in Amazon MGM rom-com The Idea of You, has been cast in the studio’s live-action Masters movie, which has Travis Knight set to direct.

Knight will direct from a screenplay by Chris Butler. Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner and Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch are producing.

Masters centers on Price Adam of Eternia who, thanks to his Power Sword, turns into He-Man and is embued with superhuman strength and abilities, which he uses to defend his native planet and Castle Grayskull.

Masters has been dated by Amazon for a worldwide theatrical release on June 5, 2026.

Mattel’s Masters of the Universe brand was first introduced in 1982 via a line of action figures and later, in 1983, became the beloved animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. A Masters movie has had a long development history in Hollywood,...

Theo James is set to star alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the heist thriller “Fuze.”

Directed by David Mackenzie from a script penned by Ben Hopkins, “Fuze” “opens on the discovery of an unexploded World War II bomb in a London construction site sparking a mass evacuation the perfect cover for a heist,” according to the film’s synopsis. Filming will begin in early July.

“Fuze” is produced by Gillian Berrie for Sigma Films, as well as Sebastien Raybaud and Callum Grant for Anton. “Hell or High Water” cinematographer Giles Nuttgens has joined the creative team as director of photography.

Anton is financing “Fuze.” UTA Independent Film Group and WME Independent will co-rep the U.S. rights with Anton.

James is known for the “Divergent” film series, Guy Ritchie’s “The Gentlemen” and the HBO series “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” He scored his first Emmy nomination for his performance as Cameron Sullivan...

Exclusive: With the third season of Mayor of Kingstown bowing this Sunday, Jeremy Renner has found his next major movie project as the Oscar-nominated actor is set to join to join Daniel Craig in Netflix’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.

He joins new cast members Kerry Washington, Josh O’Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Glenn Close and Andrew Scott with Craig set to return as world renowned detective Benoit Blanc and Rian Johnson back as director. Johnson penned the script and will produce though his T-Street along with producing partner Ram Bergman.

Plot details are unknown. The most recent pic, Glass Onion, bowed in 2022, with Craig returning as the Blanc. The film premiered on Netflix after the streamer made a record-setting $450 million deal for the two sequels, with this being the third in the series.

Related: Kerry Washington Joins Daniel Craig In ‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery...

Saoirse Ronan is taking on one of her most intense roles yet.

After playing a haunting child with sociopathic tendencies in “Atonement,” the now-grownup A-lister leads Sundance breakout-indie “The Outrun,” based on Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir.

Ronan stars as Rona (a bit confusing), a young woman recovering from alcoholism. Rona returns to her remote home in the Orkney Islands after losing herself in London; there, she reconnects with her past, her parents, and the atmospheric isolation of the islands on which she grew up.

Nora Fingscheidt directs the highly-anticipated feature, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. IndieWire critic David Ehrlich tweeted on Thursday, “So weird that this very good Saoirse Ronan drama still doesn’t have U.S. distribution! Not the easiest sell in the world, but she’s an absolute force in it.”

Ehrlich wrote in the review that Ronan is “the film’s most dizzying and mesmeric effect,...

Just hours after news broke that Jeremy Renner was cast in Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man,” another actress enters the growing ensemble’s ranks. This time, it’s Mila Kunis. Deadline reports that she’ll join Renner, Kerry Washington, Josh O’Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Glenn Close, and Andrew Scott in the upcoming “Knives Out‘ sequel.

Continue reading ‘Wake Up Dead Man’: Mila Kunis Joins Ensemble Of Rian Johnson’s New ‘Knives Out’ Sequel at The Playlist.

We will update this article throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2024 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting takes place from June 13 to June 24, with the official Emmy nominations announced Wednesday, July 17. Afterwards, final voting commences on August 15 and ends the night of August 26. The 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, September 15, and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. Et/ 5:00 p.m. Pt.

The State of the Race

While there has not exactly been a cutdown on documentary series in the way there has been for scripted series, it does seem like budgets have gone down. There is already talk online of people feeling tricked by the merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ that has led viewers to take projects like “Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV...

NBA star Stephen Curry is often named in the conversation about the greatest basketball players of all time.

While the four-time NBA champion and two-time Mvp’s ranking might be debatable, Curry is making his connection to the term “Goat” official — by producing a sports comedy movie by the same name for Sony Pictures Animation.

Curry and his Unanimous Media co-founder Erick Peyton will produce the film alongside Academy Award nominee Michelle Raimo Kouyate and Modern Magic’s Adam Rosenberg (“Creed 3”) and Academy Award winner Rodney Rothman (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”).

“With ‘Goat,’ we look forward to uplifting audiences with diverse characters and heartwarming storylines that will have you rooting for the underdog,” stated Peyton and Curry about the movie, which is aimed at families and sports fans alike.

Emmy-nominated director Tyree Dillihay (“Bob’s Burgers”) will direct the film, and Adam Rosette (“Orion and the Dark”) will co-direct. “Fairfax...

Sometimes rivals need to set differences aside in the interest of chasing more subscribers. Apple seems to be doing just that, sending a strong hint that it wants to develop an Apple TV+ app for rival Android devices.

Apple last week posted a job listing for an “Android Software Engineer – Apple TV App.” The listing calls for a “senior android engineer to lead the development of fun new features,” and it specifically mentions building an app that can let millions watch and discover television and sports. And if you’re based in San Diego, that could be you.

Reps for Apple did not respond for a request for comment.

Apple TV+ is available on non-Apple devices such as Google Chromecast, Roku, Playstation, XBox, and smart TVs by LG, Samsung, Vizio, and more via the Apple TV app. Some of those even run on the Android operating system (owned by Google...

Mahershala Ali might be paying a visit to Isla Nublar.

The Oscar-winning actor is in talks to join the new “Jurassic World” sequel, which is in development at Universal. Once he signs on the dotted line, he’ll join the already announced cast of Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Rupert Friend.

Gareth Edwards will direct the yet-to-be-titled film, written by original “Jurassic Park” screenwriter David Koepp. Universal plans to release the action-adventure in theaters on July 2, 2025.

Plot details haven’t been unveiled, but this new installment is expected to ignite a new trilogy following the three “Jurassic Park” and three “Jurassic World” films. In 2022, “Jurassic World Dominion” wrapped up the sequel trilogy with $1 billion globally.

Since Steven Spielberg brought to life the original “Jurassic Park” in 1994, the prehistoric franchise has become one of Universal’s biggest properties over the last 30 years. Beyond its box office riches, “Jurassic” has...

After months of on-again-off-again haggling, Skydance Media submitted a newly revised offer for Paramount Global. The revised bid would reduce the amount Skydance and its financial partners would pay Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, and reallocate that more equitably to the company’s nonvoting Class B shareholders, Variety has confirmed. Skydance would also put in more cash upfront to swing the deal, sources said.

The special committee established by Paramount’s board is currently reviewing Skydance’s revised proposal, sources said. Reps for Skydance and Paramount Global declined to comment. Reps for Nai and the Paramount board’s special committee did not respond to requests for comment. Skydance’s sweetened offer for Paramount was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The broad outlines remain the same on the offer from Skydance, headed by producer David Ellison, and financial backers RedBird Capital Partners and Kkr. Redstone would sell her stake in National Amusements Inc.

Black Bear’s management arm has signed Swedish creator, writer and showrunner Oskar Söderlund for international representation.

Söderlund is best known for creating the Swedish crime thriller, “Snabba Cash,” which was a hit series for Netflix. He was recently tapped to write and showrun a television adaptation of the John Le Carré spy novel “A Most Wanted Man” from production companies The Ink Factory, founded by Le Carré’s sons Stephen and Simon Cornwell, and Amusement Park, which produced “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

Söderlund currently serves as the head writer on TV4’s “Cry Wolf,” a thriller based on Hans Rosenfeldt’s novel of the same name, and on Netflix’s series “The Breakthrough” — both of which are set to premiere early next year. His previous work includes award-winning television series “The Fat and the Angry” directed by Johan Renck; thriller series “Greyzone”; and the five-part psychological drama series “The Dark Heart,...

Move over, “Dune,” there’s a new popcorn bucket in town.

Ryan Reynolds has revealed the new popcorn bucket created for “Deadpool and Wolverine” on social media Thursday — and the video is just as inappropriate as you’d expect from the R-rated superhero.

Inspired by the viral “Dune 2” popcorn bucket, the “Deadpool 3” receptacle is modeled after Wolverine’s head, but it has a comically oversized mouth you can fill with popcorn (or your movie snack of choice). Reynolds unveiled the bucket with a short video set to the epic song “Also Sprach Zarathustra” from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

In the video, Deadpool slowly caresses the Wolverine popcorn bucket as the camera zooms in on its plastic features. Popcorn then falls from above and fills up the Wolverine mouth; and to top it all off, butter drizzles down his nose. It’s the latest viral marketing stunt for “Deadpool and Wolverine,...

A new app wants to become the “Netflix of AI,” allowing users to watch one of its AI-generated animated series on-demand. Not yet moved? The Showrunner app then allows the viewers to use AI to create their own episodes of the show.

AI production company Fable Studios has today launched the app in its Alpha stage to the public. With it, they’re releasing the first two episodes of an animated series created with Showrunner’s AI tools, a tech-industry satire called “Exit Valley” that looks quite similar to the animation style seen on “South Park” or “Rick and Morty.”

The first episode, which you can watch here, imagines Gold Rush-era ancestors of Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, and the Winklevoss twins fighting to the death over the valuable element in a satirical take on the cutthroat battle over Facebook. Even their “South Park” is…not quite “South Park.” And...

Creo and Sony will celebrate rising filmmakers at the second annual Sony Future Filmmakers Awards Thursday night in Los Angeles.

Thirty international shortlisted films will be showcased on the Sony lot in Culver City. Over four days, the selected filmmakers were also invited to participate in an industry immersion workshop led by Sony Pictures execs that covered topics from pitching to legal to working with talent agencies and using cutting-edge technologies.

In addition to attending the workshop program and receiving Sony camera equipment, fiction, nonfiction, environment and animation category winners also receive a $5,000 cash prize. The future format category (film shot on a smartphone) winner receives a $2,500 cash prize. The student category winner and institution each receive Sony camera equipment.

The winners will be feted at a black tie awards ceremony set to take place at the Cary Grant Theater on the Sony lot.

Over 8,400 films by more than 5,000 filmmakers...

Not too long ago, /Film provided a very serious review of the new "Despicable Me 4" popcorn bucket, turning one of Gru's loyal Minions into a receptacle for everyone's favorite buttery snack at the multiplex. It was a far cry from the surprisingly sexual "Dune: Part Two" popcorn bucket that featured the mouth of a sandworm emerging from the desert, complete with an opening that looked like it probably provided immense amounts of pleasure outside of movie theater snacking. But that's nothing compared to the "Deadpool & Wolverine" popcorn bucket.

On social media and YouTube, Ryan Reynolds revealed the "Deadpool & Wolverine" popcorn bucket that will be available for sale this summer when Marvel's first R-rated movie hits the big screen. We knew this was going to riff on the unintentionally inappropriate nature of the "Dune" popcorn bucket, joining the ranks of the many ridiculous movie-themed containers out there,...

After premiering in competition at the Cannes Film Festival last year, Catherine Breillat‘s first film in a decade, “Last Summer,” finally hits US theaters. Granted, it only screens at Angelika Film Center and Film At Lincoln Center in NYC, but after the stir the film caused on the Croisette, New Yorkers should seek it out next month.

Read More: ‘Last Summer’ Review: Catherine Breillat’s Devastating Drama Exposes Bourgeois Amorality [Cannes]

Breillat’s made her career on films focusing on taboo subjects, and “Last Summer” is no different.

Continue reading ‘Last Summer’ Trailer: Catherine Breillat’s Erotic Drama Hits NYC Theaters On June 28 at The Playlist.

Jack Reynor is reuniting with his “Sing Street” director John Carney for the musical comedy “Power Ballad.”

He will star alongside Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas. Described as an “uplifting and music-driven story,” the film follows a wedding singer, a rock star — and the song that comes between them. It’s unclear who any of the three actors will portray.

This marks the fourth collaboration between Reynor and Carney following the musical comedies “Sing Street” and “Flora and Son,” as well as the Amazon Prime series “Modern Love.” Reynor is also known for Ari Aster’s horror film “Midsommar,” “Transformers: Age of Extinction” and Amazon’s TV series “The Peripheral.” He’ll be seen next in Netflix’s “The Perfect Couple” adaptation and Amazon’s series “Citadel,” now in its second season.

“Power Ballad” is currently filming in Dublin. Anthony Bregman and Peter Cron are producing for Likely Story with...

Another day, another couple of castings for Rian Johnson‘s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.” Deadline reports that Jeremy Renner is the latest to join the expanding ensemble cast, as are Glenn Close and Mila Kunis, whose casting broke late yesterday afternoon. But Renner is the major focus of the cast list now. “Wake Up Dead Man” is the actor’s first major film project since his near-fatal January 2023 snowplow accident, and cements that his career comeback is now in full swing.

Continue reading ‘Wake Up Dead Man’: Jeremy Renner The Latest To Join Ensemble Of The New ‘Knives Out’ Mystery at The Playlist.

Breaking news: The greatest threat to this industry isn't the death of movie theaters, the rise of artificial intelligence, or Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav's reign of terror. It is, in fact, writer/director Rian Johnson's ceaseless efforts to cast the entirety of Hollywood in his "Knives Out" movies.

Since today's a day that ends in "Y," that quest continues unabated yet again. After only just hearing word that the third film in this murder-mystery series, titled "Wake Up Dead Man," has added actors Josh O'Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Andrew Scott, Kerry Washington, and Glenn Close to its roster of stars, we've now received word that yet another high-profile name is close to signing on the dotted line. None other than Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran, current "Mayor of Kingston" lead, and former mastermind behind the Renner App (which sadly flew too close to the sun and never took...

"The Rock" contains some of the best action scenes of director Michael Bay's entire action-laden career, and for my money, it's also one of the filmmaker's best overall movies. Ed Harris' villain is an all-timer, Bay hadn't yet fully given in to all of his compulsions as a visualist, and he's working from a terrific, tightly paced script with an excellent premise and a great ticking clock element. Plus, the film helped cement Nicolas Cage as an unlikely action star, and featured a perfectly gruff performance from the legendary Sean Connery.

By 1996, Connery knew how to wield that legendary status extremely effectively. He was fully aware that a generation of Hollywood executives had grown up watching him play James Bond, who was arguably the coolest character in movies. So when Bay needed help on "The Rock" set fending off a studio executive who was supposed to deliver some bad news about the movie's financing,...

“Hacks” will finally give us late-night with Deborah Vance.

The beloved Emmy-winning Max comedy series has been renewed for a fourth season. And following the events of the Season 3 finale, it seems that Jean Smart’s stand-up character Deborah Vance is just getting started…

Season 3 premiered to the show’s usual critical acclaim on May 2 and the season finale is now streaming on Max. The third season began with Deborah (Smart) riding high off the success of her standup special while her former writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) pursued new opportunities back in Los Angeles.

The IndieWire review gave the third installment an A- rating, with critic Ben Travers writing, “After Season 3, it’s clear they’re going to chase their connection as far as it goes, consequences be damned. And we’re right there with them, hoping for the best.”

Sarah Aubrey, head of Max Original Programming, in a press...

Jeremy Renner begins his career comeback this weekend with the premiere of “Mayor Of Kingstown” Season 3 on Paramount+. But what else does the future hold for an actor on the upswing after his near-fatal snowplow accident? Maybe a return to some old franchises, like “Mission: Impossible“?

Read More: ‘Mayor Of Kingstown’ Trailer: Jeremy Renner Returns For A Third Season Of His Prison/Crime Series On June 2

Variety reports (via Collider) that in a new interview, Renner confirmed he won’t rule out a return for his “M:i” character William Brandt.

Continue reading Jeremy Renner Explains His ‘Mission: Impossible’ Departure, Is “Game” To Return As William Brandt In New Installment at The Playlist.

It’s that time of year again!

The old guard in media and finance and the tech innovators disrupting them are gearing up to hit Allen & Co.’s leadership retreat Sun Valley – where private jets sit bumper-to-bumper and power is carved up and handed out among global players. It’s an ultra-secretive event for the one-percent set (think Davos with higher fences).

But Variety can exclusively report that the guest list for the Idaho gathering includes National Amusements president Shari Redstone — in the thick of a deal to sell Paramount Global and with it her family’s media empire to Skydance — as well as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Hollywood super-producer Jason Blum. They join veterans like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Bob Iger, Amazon’s Andy Jassy and Jeff Bezos, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, Apple’s Tim Cook and Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters.

The star hopes for some more of that Book Club magic although she’s the weakest link in a trio buoyed by Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard

The many gasps that met the $100m-plus box office total for 2018’s Book Club were not quite shared by all. The film, a frothy comedy led by four women over the age of 65, might have been an outlier at the time but it proved that once again, when smartly catered to, underserved audiences will come out en masse, a more inevitable result than many seem to think. When Bridesmaids proved this with younger women back in 2011, the industry was lethargic in its response, a wave of adjacent green lights failing to come as expected but Book Club had an instant impact, a string of grey-hued imitators in its wake.

But luck ran out a little faster than expected. Jane Fonda’s 80 for Brady...

Brian Weinstein has been named co-ceo of 3 Arts Entertainment and senior advisor to the office of the CEO at Lionsgate.

As co-ceo of 3 Arts, Weinstein joins the leadership team in managing the company’s operations and extending its capabilities into synergistic new areas. Lionsgate increased its majority equity investment in 3 Arts in January 2024.

In his role as senior advisor to the office of the CEO at Lionsgate, he will work closely with Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer and the rest of the studio’s management team to help spearhead growth initiatives for its other businesses.

“Brian is an entrepreneurial executive with the background and skills to work with 3 Arts leadership in continuing their company’s dynamic growth,” said Feltheimer. “3 Arts is an integral part of our talent strategy and a driver of content creation. Their unique combination of talent management and production expertise puts them at the forefront of capitalizing...

Jeremy Renner, welcome to the “Knives Out” Cinematic Universe. He’s the latest star to join the cast of Rian Johnson’s whodunit “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.”

Other potential suspects in “Knives Out 3” include “Fleabag” actor Andrew Scott, Kerry Washington, Glenn Close, “Challengers” breakout Josh O’Connor and “Priscilla’s” Cailee Spaeny. And of course, Daniel Craig will reprise his role as the quirky sleuth at the center of it all, Benoit Blanc.

Plot details have yet to be revealed, but Johnson promises the third installment in the murder mystery series will be Blanc’s “most dangerous case yet.” The first installment, released in 2019 by Lionsgate, follows Benoit Blanc as he attempts to figure out who killed the renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey, who died on the night of his 85th birthday.

Blanc takes on an entirely new case in the sequel “Glass Onion,” released in 2022 by Netflix,...

As a very bad summer movie season at the box office drones on, it looks like Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett are going to do their very best to save the day. Sony's "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" hits theaters next weekend and will look to reignite the box office after a particularly quiet, post-Memorial Day weekend. While Will Smith is no longer the surefire bet he once was in the '90s and early 2000s, in the early going, it looks like this one will be a winner for the A-lister and his co-star Martin Lawrence.

Directed once again by "Bad Boys for Life" duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the upcoming fourth entry in the "Bad Boys" franchise is going to easily top the charts on its opening weekend with a debut in the $48 to $58 million range, per Box Office Theory. While the budget has yet to be revealed,...

It happens to many of us above a certain age. You wake up one day, and realize that your life involves neither your childhood besties, nor the carefree bliss you once took for granted. With that in mind, Castille Landon’s wearisome comedy “Summer Camp” ponders, what if there was a way to awaken our inner child and reestablish our priorities later in life through some fun and play? It’s surely a worthy enough premise for a good time, but one “Summer Camp” squanders through dull jokes, an uninspiring story without any real stakes and an overall phony feeling that the film can’t shake.

Indeed, “Summer Camp” often seems only as authentic as a high-end glamping site, when it unsuccessfully tries to convince the audience that it’s the real deal about the virtues of letting your hair down once in a while — a teaching that the film hammers on,...

Shailene Woodley is setting out to capture the power of women.

The “Big Little Lies” alum returns to novel-adaptation ensemble TV with “Three Women,” based on Lisa Taddeo’s bestselling book of the same name. Woodley plays Gia, a writer who is grieving the death of her family and sets out to interview three “ordinary” women to tell her their stories of love, life, and loss.

Those trio of women include Betty Gilpin, who plays a stuffy housewife who begins an affair, DeWanda Wise as a woman in an open marriage that quickly becomes a quadruple (one more than a thruple), and Gabrielle Creevy who stars as a student that gets entangled with her married English teacher.

The synopsis reads: Three women are on a crash course to radically overturn their lives. Lina (Gilpin), a homemaker in suburban Indiana, is a decade into a passionless marriage when she embarks on...

With the 2024 Cannes Film Festival now over, it’s time for cinephiles to look ahead to the year’s next premier festival: Venice, which runs from August 28-September 7. Festival chief Alberto Barbera won’t announce the lineup of the Venice’s 81st edition until the last week of July, but Variety reports he already has his eyes on a few buzzy titles. Among them? The much-anticipated sequel to the 2019 Golden Lion winner.

Continue reading Venice 2024: ‘Joker: Folie á Deux,’ Pablo Larraín’s ‘Maria,’ & More Likely To Premiere In Competition At Festival at The Playlist.

The next “Spider-Verse” film may have a new animation style: AI.

Sony Pictures Entertainment (Spe) CEO Tony Vinciquerra does not mince words when it comes to artificial intelligence. He likes the tech — or at the very least, he likes the economics.

“We are very focused on AI. The biggest problem with making films today is the expense,” Vinciquerra said at Sony’s Thursday (Friday in Japan) investor event. “We will be looking at ways to…produce both films for theaters and television in a more efficient way, using AI primarily.”

That’s about the strongest support for AI we’ve heard from a film studio head.

Vinciquerra knows how controversial his comments could be with creatives.

“We had an 8-month strike over AI last year,” Vinciquerra began his response to the first analyst question (from Nomura Securities) during his Q&a portion of the annual event. He also acknowledged that...

Nobody really makes AIDS dramas anymore, which seems as good a reason as any to make one now. The disease that, forty-odd years ago, decimated a generation of queer people and prompted a prejudice-driven global panic hasn’t gone away — least of all in various developing countries, where it isn’t popularly defined by gender or sexuality, and death rates are still high. But its narrative has changed. For many, advances in antiretroviral and preventative drugs have stripped HIV of its aura of terror, making it something to be lived with, not a ticking clock to the end. With little posturing or overtly groundbreaking intent, French writer-director Gaël Morel unusually and sensitively bridges these eras of HIV/AIDS in his gentle romantic melodrama “To Live, To Die, To Live Again” — beginning in a distinctly Nineties register of mainstream queer cinema, before looking ahead to the 21st century.

Premiering in the...

On June 6, the 2024 IndieWire Honors ceremony will celebrate 13 creators and stars responsible for some of the most stellar work of the TV season. Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, the event is a new edition of previous IndieWire Honors ceremonies, this time focused entirely on television. We’re showcasing their work with new interviews leading up to the Los Angeles celebration.

Below, Janice Y.K. Lee — the author of “The Expatriates” and producer of its Prime Video adaptation, “Expats” — shares her admiration for writer, director, and showrunner Lulu Wang, who will receive the Crossover Award at IndieWire Honors.

Do you know Lulu Wang? Have you met her? You’d remember if you had. She’s five feet of pure determination and artistry, barely a hundred pounds of steely-eyed chili crisp, a writer’s writer, a director’s director, and a fierce warrior deceptively encased in the frame of an elegant porcelain-faced gamine.

You can chart Steven Spielberg's evolution as a director by the "Indiana Jones" films. By 1981, the former wunderkind had gotten the wind knocked out of him by the muted reaction to his erratic 1979 burlesque "1941" (which earned him a tsk-tsking from John Wayne) and was hungry for a rebound. Teaming up with his buddy George Lucas, he made "Raiders of the Lost Ark," a rollicking pastiche that has since supplanted the '30s and '40s serials that inspired their action-adventure in our cultural consciousness.

1984's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" saw Spielberg wade further into the horror pool he'd explored two years earlier in "Poltergeist," a suburban nightmare that neither he nor director Tobe Hooper can take full credit for. "Temple of Doom" might just feature some of the most exhilarating pacing and grandest spectacle of the filmmaker's career, but that's difficult to appreciate beneath the film's racial insensitivity and general mean-spiritedness.

Two years after that slap at the Oscars made him persona non grata, the Fresh Prince is making a fresh start with a return to Bad Boys. His rehabilitation seems assured – so long as his films don’t flop

In one of those dumb ironies that can abound in Hollywood, the first Will Smith movie to be greenlit since the slap in March 2022 hinges on an innocent man trying to clear his name. Previous iterations of the odd-couple, cop buddy movie Bad Boys, starring Smith and Martin Lawrence as two foul-mouthed Miami cops quibbling as they tear through traffic, have centred on missing drug busts, money laundering and Klansmen.

In the latest instalment of the franchise, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, released next week, a criminal cabal frames the errant duo, turning them into fugitives from their own police department. Because nothing signals your earnest desire to give public restitution...

On June 6, the 2024 IndieWire Honors ceremony will celebrate 13 creators and stars responsible for some of the most stellar work of the TV season. Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, the event is a new edition of previous IndieWire Honors ceremonies, this time focused entirely on television. We’re showcasing their work with new interviews leading up to the Los Angeles celebration.

“Expats,” the immense yet intimate six-part series from director and showrunner Lulu Wang, tells the story of three American women living in Hong Kong who become inextricably linked by tragedy. That loss, so harrowing it’s often kept vague in plot synopses, is the disappearance of a young boy. Left unattended in a crowded night market for a split second, Gus (Connor James) is just gone. There’s no indication if he’s been taken or he merely wandered off. His mother, Margaret (Nicole Kidman), is inconsolable.

With parts of post-apocalyptic alien invasion, home invasion, thriller, and horror genre elements, “A Quiet Place” was definitely a surprise franchise. Directed by John Krasinski and released in 2018, the Hitchcockian thriller about aliens who have invaded Earth and fed off sound, forcing the world to remain as silent as possible, was a smash upon its arrival that year and quickly spawned an unexpected franchise. “A Quiet Place Part II” arrived in 2020 with the remaining cast from the first film: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, plus Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou.

Continue reading ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ Featurette Explains How The World First Went Quiet at The Playlist.

It sounds like a dream for a chef: Every few weeks, fly first class to a tropical location to cook haute cuisine for a handful of VIPs, getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for your trouble. But that fantasy’s nightmarish reality hits hard for one talented chef after he assumes his culinary school comrade’s life in “What You Wish For.” Filmmaker Nicholas Tomnay’s sophomore feature percolates with atmospheric dread and austerity, but only superficially explores the twisted amorality of the 1% and those who service their whims. While not always successful in cooking up tantalizing commentary on human behavior, it offers a decent helping of Hitchcockian intrigue.

Ryan (Nick Stahl) is looking to get away. He’s incurred a massive amount of gambling debt and his bookie’s threatening text messages are escalating. He hasn’t blocked the incoming number because of his naiveté and a penchant...

Corey Feldman’s cult classic feature is finally hitting the big screen.

Feldman stars in 2004 film “The Birthday,” directed by Eugenio Mira. The feature made its world premiere at the Sitges International Film Festival in 2004 but was essentially lost and never viewed in theaters after its initial festival circuit tour.

Now, 20 years later, “The Birthday” is getting a 4K ultra high definition theatrical release from Drafthouse Films.

“Way back in 2005, during the first-ever Fantastic Fest, we booked ‘The Birthday’ [for its U.S. premiere],” Alamo Drafthouse Founder and Fantastic Fest Director Tim League told IndieWire. “That movie and that now twenty-year relationship with director Eugenio Mira, in no small measure, crystallized the personality of the festival. Twenty years later, I am beyond thrilled to finally herald, ‘The 4K restoration is coming out this year!'”

The film will open in theaters throughout North America this fall. The North American rights to “The Birthday” were negotiated by Drafthouse Films’ CEO,...

Shooting is underway on horror thriller Dangerous Animals, starring Hassie Harrison, Jai Courtney, Josh Heuston and Ella Newton, in Australia.

Screen Queensland, the government-owned investment agency, announced that the feature is now filming on the country’s Gold Coast.

Directed by Sean Byrne, known for genre features The Loved Ones and The Devil’s Candy, it is produced by London and Sydney-based Brouhaha Entertainment, Ld Entertainment, Oddfellows Entertainment and Range Media Partners. Mister Smith Entertainment introduced the project to the market at Cannes this month.

Written by Nick Lepard, the story follows a surfer (Harrison) who is abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer,...

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo delves into the underworld to wrestle with the emotions of “Eric.” The Abi Morgan-written Netflix series follows Vincent, a neurotic puppeteer whose son goes missing, leading him to attempt to solve the case with his son’s imaginary friend – a monster named Eric. The show stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Gaby Hoffmann, McKinley Belcher III, Dan Fogler, Ivan Morris Howe, and more.

Continue reading ‘Eric’: Benedict Cumberbatch & Gaby Hoffmann On Their Thrilling Netflix Series, ‘Doctor Strange,’ & More [Bingeworthy Podcast] at The Playlist.

May kicked off with Variety celebrating the Power of Women New York, where Glenn Close helped honor – and have some fun on the red carpet with – Mariska Hargitay. In Sydney, Anya Taylor-Joy stunned in a gold ensemble at the “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” premiere and Austin Butler was in Beverly Hills taking part in an Emmy FYC event for “Masters of the Air.”

Daniel Radcliffe celebrated his first Tony nomination for his work in “Merrily, We Roll Along” at the awards’ annual nominees press junket. And that was John Legend in a “Barbie”-pink suit performing at City Year Los Angeles’ 13th annual Spring Break gala.

Keep checking back here all month long for more celeb photos from Hollywood, New York and beyond.

More from VarietyMax Unveils LGBTQ Pride Plans: 'House of the Dragon' Drag Event, NewFest Partnership and 'Gaga Chromatica Ball' Screening (Exclusive)Jane Fonda and...

Veteran Australian film executive Joel Pearlman is to step down as CEO of Roadshow Films after 30 years with the Village Roadshow organisation.

During his tenure, the well-known executive oversaw the leading independent distributor in Australia and New Zealand as it built a diverse slate from local and global studios, licensors, and production companies including Warner Bros, Lionsgate, Village Roadshow Pictures, A24, FilmNation, Made Up Stories and Arenamedia. Highlights include launching the Harry Potter, Lord Of The Rings, Hunger Games and Dark Knight franchises in Anz.

Pearlman was also instrumental in securing strategic partnerships for Village Roadshow, such as its investment in independent production,...

Daisy Ridley leads the reductive, if at times stirring, story of the first woman to swim across the English channel

Born to German immigrants in turn-of-the-century New York, Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle crawl-stroked her way through the American dream. In spite of great adversity – a girlhood bout of measles that left her partially deaf, protestations from her butcher father, the ingrained sexism of a country freshly considering that women may deserve the right to vote – she pursued swimming supremacy with a single-minded determination, a drive that brought her all the way across the English Channel. As the first woman to make the treacherous 21-mile journey through choppy, jellyfish-infested waters, she proved that gender has nothing to do with athletic ability, and personified the current of progress rippling out from the suffragette movement into the rest of society.

The new biopic Young Woman and the Sea presents Eberle’s life as a...

Anime is all but defined by the action shonen genre in the eyes of the general public. Much like the box office used to be dominated by superhero movies, the biggest anime tend to be action shonen shows about teenage boys awakening some big power and using the magic of friendship to overcome challenges. This can be a problem when reducing the medium to a single genre for newcomers. Still, after you watch a few shonen, you realize that the ones that stand out and become phenomena are those that take those formulas and tropes and make them their own.

One such anime is "Black Cover," studio Pierrot's adaptation of Yūki Tabata's manga of the same name. The story is set in a world where everyone can use magic, and we follow a boy named Asta who was born without magic — but instead with anti-magic abilities — who nevertheless wants...

5X Media, the film and television production and management company, is bringing Anthony Kimble on board as a producer and manager.

UK-native Kimble, who previously did stints as an executive with Cineflix Media and National Geographic, will continue to work under his Arrested Industries banner and bring more than 20 film, TV and documentary development projects to 5X.

He will also develop and produce new scripted TV and feature projects and scout and manage on- and off-screen talent in Africa and Europe, splitting his time between London, Los Angeles and Cape Town.

Among the development projects are a film based on JoJo: Finally Home,...

5X Media, an international production studio, talent management and TV/film sales company launched in January 2023, has signed a deal with longtime industry executive Anthony Kimble to develop its international production and talent representation business.

Kimble, a former National Geographic and Cineflix executive, moves to 5X as a producer and manager. He will continue to work under his 5-year-old Arrested Industries banner, bringing more than 20 feature films, TV projects and documentaries into the 5X fold.

They include the dark comedy “Becoming Eve,” with “Nurse Jackie” co-creator Evan Dunsky attached as showrunner; “Bitter Eden,” based on the novel; “JoJo: Finally Home,” the Sunday Times’ best-selling memoir of Johannes Radebe; and 10 additional film and TV projects resulting from a joint venture partnership between Arrested and Helena Spring Films.

At 5X, Kimble will split his time between Cape Town, London and Los Angeles, continuing to focus on the international marketplace and spearhead his development slate.

Forty-four years after “9 to 5” became a cinematic sensation and rally cry for women’s rights, stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin reunited to celebrate the Hollywood premiere of the documentary “Still Working 9 to 5.”

The original comedy followed a trio of office workers conspiring to put a check on their “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” of a boss, played by the late Dabney Coleman. In April, it was announced that Jennifer Aniston’s Echo Films was set to produce a “reimagining” of the movie for 20th Century Studios.

“We hope she has great success,” Tomlin told Variety. “It’s a hard nut to crack because the issues are somewhat different.”

“I hope she does it,” Fonda interjected.

“There’s still the undercurrent of the same kind of negativity towards females … [they’re] not easy-to-solve issues. So we’re very eager to see what they do,” Tomlin added.

Comedian Kathy Griffin,...