AMC is launching a new after-show for “The Vampire Lestat,” the third season of “Interview With the Vampire.” Titled “The Vampire Lestat: After Dark,” the half-hour show will be hosted by Lizzie Bassett and will feature interviews with the show’s cast and creators. Among those set to appear are stars Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, Assad […]
CBS’ long-running competition show “Survivor” will be honored with the Legacy Award at the Newport Beach TV Fest on June 6. The award is in celebration of “Survivor” completing 50 seasons, recognizing the show’s cultural impact and lasting influence. Fan-favorite players and “Survivor 50” cast members Aubry Bracco, Dee Vallardes, Ozzy Lusth, Rick Devens, Rizo […]
Starz has released the trailer and key art for the fifth season of “Power Book III: Raising Kanan.” Season 5 will premiere on June 12, with new episodes streaming weekly on Fridays on the Starz app, and all Starz streaming and on-demand platforms. The trailer confirms Patina Miller will return as Kanan Stark’s (Mekai Curtis) […]
Markets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalMinotaur
“Minotaur,” a pitch-black look at corruption in Putin era Russia, was greeted with a thunderous, eight-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. The film marks the return to the Croisette of Andrey Zvyagintsev, the Oscar-nominated auteur, whose previous films, “The Banishment,” “Leviathan” and “Loveless” also bowed at Cannes. Zvyagintsev, his eyes misting […]
NewsAli TruwitSox EntertainmentStronger Than You Think
Distribution rights to the inspirational sports documentary “Stronger Than You Think,” which tells the story of Paralympic star swimmer Ali Truwit, have been acquired by Sox Entertainment. Truwit made international headlines at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris when she competed (and won two silver medals) as a swimmer barely a year after losing her […]
Editor and director John Ottman is set to direct “Billy & Me”, a feature film chronicling the formative years of Billy Joel. “Billy & Me” tells the origin story of Joel before fame, before the hits — and, significantly, before “Piano Man,” the 1973 song and album that lofted him to stardom. The film is told […]
A film adaptation of mystery-adventure video game franchise “Broken Sword” is being developed by game maker Revolution Software, producer Story Kitchen and Disney’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast” screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos. Created by Charles Cecil, the “Broken Sword” series debuted in 1996 with “The Shadow of the Templars.” The franchise follows intrepid American George Stobbart […]
NewsLaw And OrderNBCUniversalWolf EntertainmentWolf Games
NBCUniversal is officially rolling out its first mobile game with Wolf Games, dubbed “Law and Order: Clue Hunter.” The game is now available on the Peacock mobile app. Per the official description, “Clue Hunter” will give fans of the storied franchise a chance to play detective. “They search crime scenes for hidden objects, identify suspects, […]
Maddie Ziegler has signed with UTA for representation in all areas. Ziegler, who is 23, first rose to prominence at age 8 as a star of the Lifetime reality series “Dance Moms” for seven seasons from 2011 to 2016. By the time she was 11, her work on the show had caught the attention of […]
Apple TV’s “Shrinking” is all about trying to find that sunny day, sweepin’ the clouds away and going on your way to where the air is sweet. So it’s only natural that the series’ stars found their way to “Sesame Street.” Earlier this month, the “Shrinking” stars took time between various Emmy FYC events in […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsCannes Film FestivalLucy LostMarc du PontaviceOlivier ClertXilam
Premiering in Cannes ahead of its competition slot in Annecy, “Lucy Lost” is something of a passion project for Xilam founder Marc du Pontavice. Years ago, the French producer acquired the rights to Michael Morpurgo’s children’s novel “Listen to the Moon,” which follows a young girl who washes ashore on the Isles of Scilly during […]
It would seem that even an archive as thoroughly curated as that of the late, legendary novelist-essayist-screenwriter Joan Didion still bears some surprises. In 1967, the Saturday Evening Post assigned Didion to interview the Grateful Dead in their Bay Area rehearsal space at the height of the Summer of Love (with which the group was […]
ReviewsAndrey ZvyagintsevCannes Film FestivalMinotaur
One of the first things you notice about “Minotaur” is how much space there is in it. Uncrammed domestic interiors give the camera enough room to scrutinize details in stalking, unimpeded pans; modern gray office suites appear half-furnished and half-empty, as if the company is either moving in or dying out; public streets and housing […]
ColumnsNewsJust For Varietylos angeles lgbt centerMarcia Gay Harden
Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden offered impassioned — and at times, hilarious — advice for parents who don’t accept their queer children while being honored at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s A Place We Call Home gala. “We want to change things so that basic human queer rights are protected, so that we’re safe, so […]
ABC has greenlit a “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff. Per the official logline, the currently untitled series is “an edgy drama about a team at a West Texas rural medical center — the last chance for care before miles of nowhere.” More to come…
NewsJon FavreauStar WarsSummer MoviesThe Mandalorian and Grogu
In 2019, Baby Yoda was ubiquitous. The adorable green sidekick to Pedro Pascal’s masked bounty hunter made his debut on the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” becoming a pop culture sensation and fueling enough memes and merchandise to fill the galaxy. Seven years and one pandemic later, is the force strong enough to turn the creature […]
AwardsNewsJoshua HenryMarla MindelleThe Lost BoysTonys
This year’s Tony nominees are answering a hypothetical Broadway call. Every nominee got the same closing question on the day of the Meet the Nominees event in New York City on May 14: With unlimited money, unlimited power, and no obligation to turn a profit — what would they bring to Broadway tomorrow? The answers […]
From page to screen to stage… Lionsgate is turning “The Housemaid,” the best-seller turned box-office hit, into a play. The sexy psychological thriller, based on the novel by Freida McFadden, is being developed for the stage by producers Melting Pot, a British company led by Simon Friend and Hanna Osmolska (Broadway’s “Life of Pi” and “Paranormal Activity”) […]
Hayden Panettiere has been acting since before she could walk — or talk. Now 36, Panettiere is opening about her decades-long career in her memoir, “This Is Me,” out May 19. The book contains details of Panettiere’s life, some of it public knowledge due to her time in the spotlight. The “Heroes” actress comes out […]
Filmmaker and “Taxi Driver” screenwriter Paul Schrader revealed on Facebook that he “procured an online AI girlfriend,” but the chatbot ended the relationship after he attempted to explore the boundaries of its programming. “Out of a desire to understand male/female interaction in our matrix, I procured an online AI girlfriend. What a disappointment,” Schrader wrote. […]
NewsiHeartMediaJoe JonasJonas BrothersKevin JonasNick Jonas
Pop-rock trio Jonas Brothers are sharing the brotherly love on their new podcast series, “Hey Jonas!”, launching under an exclusive deal with iHeartMedia. The weekly podcast, executive produced by Kevin, Joe and Nick, will “pull fans deeper than ever into the brothers’ world with an intimate, wildly fun and refreshingly unfiltered look at their lives […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAkashiCannes Film FestivalCannes Film Market
Canoe Film has boarded multigenerational love story “Akashi” for international sales, excluding Canada and Japan, and is revving up buyer conversations at the Cannes Film Market. “Akashi” is the feature debut of Vancouver-based director, actor, and writer Mayumi Yoshida, who is attending the market as part of Film Network Access’ 2026 cohort. Her film won […]
ColumnsNewsJust For VarietyRaindance Film Festival
A new trailer for the LGBTQ body horror short “Four Itchy Boys” may leave you scratching for your life. The spot opens with four men walking through a dark hallway as a female narrator says, “It’s a story that will get under your skin.” A jump cut shows one man feverishly scratching the back of […]
Jeff Foxworthy is taking up residence in Fox Nation. The popular comedian will launch a new special, “The Joke’s On Me,” that debuts on the Fox Corp.-based streaming service on Monday, June 1. The stand-up session was filmed at at the Gas South Theatre in Duluth, Georgia. “Few performers have shaped American comedy quite like Jeff Foxworthy, says […]
Come on down to “South Park” again this fall. Season 29 of the raunchy animated comedy will premiere on Comedy Central on Sept. 16 at 10 p.m. Episodes will be available to stream the next day on Paramount+ (in the U.S., Canada and Australia). New episodes will drop every other Wednesday: Sept. 30, Oct. 14, […]
NewsWomen in EntertainmentWomen in Entertainment Summit
The ninth annual Women in Entertainment (WIE) summit has been set for June 9 with Shondaland’s co-president Sandie Bailey and creative partner Betsy Beers, filmmaker Paul Feig and “Spider Noir” and “Sinners” actor Li Jun Li among the headlining speakers. Co-founded by Relativity Ventures’ Renee Rossi and Gretchen McCourt, WIE aims to bring together experienced leaders […]
The 2026 BET Awards nominations have landed: Cardi B leads the nominations with six, Kendrick Lamar and Mariah the Scientist tie for second five nominations, and Doechii, Doja Cat, Clipse, Teyana Taylor, Olivia Dean and Latto earning four nominations each. A$AP Rocky, Bruno Mars, Bryson Tiller, Chris Brown, Jill Scott, Kehlani, Metro Boomin, SZA, Tasha […]
“Giant,” a play starring John Lithgow as author Roald Dahl, has recouped its entire production cost after 10 weeks on Broadway. The show, which is running for a limited 16-week engagement, was capitalized at $5.6 million. “Giant” revolves around a 1983 scandal that forces Dahl to choose between risking his reputation or making a public […]
As its title explicitly says, Sarah Kinsley’s latest EP, “Fleeting,” is about impermanence, the idea that nothing ever completely goes away. “Who knew dead things could come back to kill us?,” she says, recounting a poem from Lucille Clifton, one of the inspirations behind the EP. The California-spawned artist-producer says she was struck by how […]
The force is strong as Epic Games Fortnite and its “Star Wars“ collaboration continues with the launch of “The Mandalorian and Grogu” Watch Party Island. Starting Tuesday, players will be able to watch 10 minutes from the upcoming film. On May 26, director Jon Favreau will appear on the island’s amphitheater for a Q&A. Last month, […]
NewsCannes Film FestivalIra SachsRami MalekThe Man I Love
Ahead of the world premiere of “The Man I Love” in competition at Cannes, Rami Malek joined his director and co-writer Ira Sachs for a Kering Women in Motion Talk in which the Oscar winner fought through shock and awe that he’s even showing a movie at the esteemed film festival. “I never get used […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketMy Indian Boyfriend
London-based actor Sushant Shekhar has been cast as the male lead in “My Indian Boyfriend: The Golden Mile,” Vijay Chauhan’s U.K. remake of the Hong Kong romance, with the production unveiling its wider supporting cast at the Cannes Film Market. A graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama’s MA in Acting (Contemporary) […]
Departing from the 3D animation he contributed to at Pixar (“WALL-E,” “Up”) and wielded for his French co-directorial ventures (a pair of “Astérix” films), Louis Clichy’s first solo feature is an alluring, hand-painted memory. Drawing from his upbringing in France’s agricultural Beauce region, and from his experience with a corrective corset, “Iron Boy” (or “Le […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketKling AIMinibots
Kling AI has signed on as AI production partner on “Minibots,” the animated feature previously announced at AFM 2024 with “Mulan” director Tony Bancroft attached. The company disclosed the partnership at the Cannes Film Market, where it also confirmed that Bancroft will handle character design on the project and that “Terminator 3” writer Michael Ferris […]
NewsMalala YousafzaiMariska HargitayTribeca Festival
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai joins the Tribeca-bound documentary “The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony” as an executive producer. The coming-of-age documentary, directed by Habiba Nosheen, focuses on three Pakistani girls navigating the margins of society and carving out space for themselves, one somersault at a time.”Through their intimate journeys, we witness how their passion […]
ReviewsJeremy Allen WhiteJon FavreauPedro PascalStar WarsThe MandalorianThe Mandalorian and Grogu
I found "The Mandalorian and Grogu" to be fun in a slightly flat way. But because the movie has so little pretense, it’s basically an invitation to wallow in the lite "Star Wars" nostalgia that’s there in every frame.
Spotify is aiming to boost the trust of podcast listeners — by extending its verification program to podcasts and affirming that using AI to “impersonate” another podcaster is not allowed. According to the company, Spotify’s policies have always prohibited unauthorized impersonation. Now it is reaffirming the policy in the context of AI to “help ensure […]
No sneakers on the carpet? No Cannes do. The Paris fest’s famously strict dress code — recently updated with a red carpet sneaker ban — didn’t stop Kristen Stewart from boasting a chic high-low ensemble on the Croisette. The actor arrived to a photocall for her new movie “Full Phil” on Friday afternoon in a […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBreaking Through The LensCannes Film FestivalPrimetime
Primetime and Breaking Through The Lens have unveiled a strategic partnership at the Cannes Film Festival designed to create new financing channels for women and non-binary filmmakers working across film and television. The two organizations are combining Primetime’s model of bundling in-kind production support, star talent and private finance with BTTL’s dual-jurisdiction nonprofit infrastructure – […]
NewsAdam DriverCannes Film FestivalJames GrayPaper Tiger
Adam Driver gamely walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of “Paper Tiger” on Saturday, posing for pictures alongside his co-star Miles Teller and the film’s writer and director James Gray. But as soon as the Lumière Theatre darkened and the film began to play, Driver slipped out of his seat. “I […]
Variety picked up six honors at the 47th annual Telly Awards — including a gold award for “Variety’s Behind the Show with Emily Longeretta,” which won in the Social Video: Media & Entertainment category. Overall, Al Jazeera English won the most gold Telly Awards, with 12, followed by a tie between Asharq Network and Hearst […]
“Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent” is bringing in a new star for Season 4 — and saying goodbye to an original cast member. Variety has learned that Luke Kirby is joining the Citytv series, while series star Aden Young is departing the show. Young has been a part of the series since it launched […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCncNe Zha 2
In the three years since the end of the COVID pandemic, cinema exhibition around the world continues to feel the impact, with a slower than expected recovery exacerbated by unpredictability in the market, the industry downturn and shifting audience tastes, according to a new study published by France’s National Center of Cinema (CNC). While Asia […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketUnarmed Soldier
Indian and Canadian producers have signed a letter of intent for a treaty co-production on the life of Amir Hussain Lone, the armless cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir, it was unveiled at the Cannes Film Market. The film is titled “Unarmed Soldier.” The project will be directed by Nishil Sheth and structured as an official […]
AsiaFestivalsGlobalNewsAll the Lovers in the NightAsano TadanobuCannes Film FestivalYukiko Sode
For Yukiko Sode, the challenge wasn’t pressure – it was pleasure. Adapting Mieko Kawakami’s introspective novel “All the Lovers in the Night” for the screen meant externalizing a protagonist’s inner world, a task the director describes not as burden but as sustained creative exploration. “It was certainly a challenge to find a way to externalize […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalHer Private HellNicolas Winding RefnSophie Thatcher
Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn broke down in tears during the Cannes press conference for his new film “Her Private Hell,” recalling how he died for 25 minutes three years ago and then came back to life. When asked about the experience, Refn — who hadn’t made a film since 2016’s “Neon Demon” — said: […]
A collection of AI-generated short films drawn from erotic magazine photo spreads published 50 years ago has made its debut on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, streaming on Cultpix with a physical release on BluRay and VHS from Klubb Super 8 to follow. The project was developed by Thomas Meier of Norwegian company […]
Production on “Moving” Season 2 is now underway at Disney+, with leads Ryu Seungryong, Han Hyojoo, Zo Insung and Go Younjung all confirmed to return and Won Gyubin added to the ensemble. Set in the immediate aftermath of the Jeongwon High School Incident, the new season follows the returning characters as they attempt to resume […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalDonald TrumpfjordSebastian Stan
Two years after “The Apprentice” premiered at Cannes, Sebastian Stan reflected on the film during the press conference for his new movie “Fjord,” saying America is “in a really, really bad place.” The actor was asked his thoughts on “The Apprentice,” which premiered just before the 2024 election, now that Trump has been in office […]
Jour2Fête has taken French distribution rights to period dramedy “La Portraitiste,” directed by Annie St-Pierre and written by Florence Longpré, who also stars in the film. The deal was signed in Cannes with H264, a Montreal-based international sales company. Longpré, an actress as well as a writer, first came to public attention with “Like-Moi!” in […]
Movistar Plus is marking the start of Alfonso Gómez Palacio’s tenure as CEO with a restructuring of its operations, as the leading Spanish pay TV/SVOD platform launches a new content and sports framework. Gómez Palacio succeeded Daniel Domenjó, who left the post in April after just over a year as CEO of Movistar Plus. His […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalPop Up Film Residency
The Pop Up Film Residency has selected eight participants who will be taking part in residencies across Europe this summer. The program’s latest cohort was announced during an event Tuesday at the Cannes Marché du Film’s Village Innovation. Since launching in 2018, the Pop Up Film Residency has offered more than 150 artistic residencies to […]
“Baywatch” is set to make a splash in the U.K. and Ireland after Comcast-owned broadcaster Sky snapped up the rights to the show. The beach-set drama, which is due to launch in 2027, will be available on Sky and its companion streaming platform Now after the broadcaster struck a deal with distributor Fremantle. The show, […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalHomemade FilmsKonstantina KotzamaniMaria DrandakiTitanic Ocean
Konstantina Kotzamani arrives at Cannes Un Certain Regard with her debut feature “Titanic Ocean,” a Japanese-language coming-of-age drama set inside a boarding school where teenage girls train to become professional mermaids. The film premieres May 20 and follows 17-year-old Akame, aka “Deep Sea,” as she learns to perform underwater shows, navigate love, and discover the […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalFFC BulgariaFilm Forge
“The Inspector’s Debt,” directed by Teodora Markova, has been named the winner of the €50,000 ($58,200) FFC Bulgaria and Film Forge competition. The winner was announced at an exclusive villa event in partnership with Variety on May 18 in Cannes, organized by International Film Festival Glasgow, Female Film Club and First Draft, founding members of […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalConspiracaoFernanda TorresInfinity HillWillem Dafoe
Brazil’s Fernanda Torres, Oscar-nominated for her stirring performance in Walter Salles’ 2025 international feature Academy Award winner “I’m Still Here,” is joining four-time Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (“Poor Things,” “Platoon”) in Bárbara Paz’s upcoming feature, “Cuddle.” Set in a near-future metropolis where intimacy is bought and sold, “Cuddle” follows Dante (Dafoe), a professional cuddler paid […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAguda CinemaAlegoasCannes Film FestivalLaís Santos Araújo
Following the international festival run of her acclaimed short “Infantaria” which bowed at the Berlinale, Brazilian director Laís Santos Araújo is developing the project into a feature, with producer Pedro Krull of Aguda Cinema steering the project through the prestigious Cannes Cinéfondation Résidence and a slate of European development initiatives. Set against the landscapes of […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalEivind LandsvikLow Expectations
If our addiction to our phones — thus, our incessant need for distractions and entertainment — is any indication, humankind increasingly refuses to surrender to boredom, even though a great deal of life is made up of ordinary, nothing moments that we ought to embrace rather than avoid. In his gentle and minor-key feature debut […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAlicia SchersonCannesCannes Film FestivalDindi JanePaulina Garcia
In yet another alliance forged between European and Latin American producers at Cannes, France’s Lilith Films has boarded Chilean drama “A Woman Wants to Die” (“Una mujer quiere morir”), a co-production involving Chile (Niña Niño Films), Argentina (Gualicho Cine) and Brazil (Superfilmes). It stars one of Chile’s most bankable stars, Paulina Garcia (“Gloria”), who recently announced […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBruno Santamaría RazoCannes Film FestivalCritics WeekLuxbox
World premiering at Cannes’ Critics’ Week on May 19, Bruno Santamaría Razo’s film “Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building” (“Seis Meses en el Edificio Rosa con Azul”) is set in early ’90s Mexico where 11-year-old Bruno navigates the ups and downs of childhood and begins to question his sexuality. He learns that his […]
AsiaFestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalKurosawa KiyoshiThe Samurai and the Prisoner
Kurosawa Kiyoshi has spent a career trapping his characters in the present tense — in the buzzing infrastructure of contemporary Tokyo, in the ambient dread of the networked age, in the particular horror of ordinary life curdling into something much worse. “The Samurai and the Prisoner” takes him somewhere he has never been before: feudal […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketMandela PicturesWhispers of Fatimah
Mandela Pictures and Oceanus Media Global have launched first stills from “Bisikan Desa Gringsing: Whispers of Fatimah” at the Cannes Film Market, marking the international debut of what is billed as the one of the first Indonesian horror features to be shot using virtual production technology. Directed by Ivander Tedjasukmana, the mystery horror is a […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalLaemmlePavan MoondiQuiver Distribution
Quiver Distribution has picked up North American digital rights for writer-director Pavan Moondi’s Canadian romantic comedy “Middle Life,” which will see a limited U.S. theatrical release this summer before hitting VOD in late fall. The indie film stars Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis, real-life partners and the lead singers of Canadian alternative rock band […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAnuparna RoyCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketLovers in the Blue Night
Anuparna Roy, the Indian filmmaker who won the Horizons award for best director at Venice, has completed her second feature, “Lovers in the Blue Night,” targeting an international festival run in the second half of 2026. Set against the margins of Mumbai, the film follows four migrants – a gay husband, his wife working in […]
Markets & FestivalsNewsAICannes Film FestivalClub Kidjordan firstman
This year’s Cannes Film Festival had fewer stars, fewer breakout movies and a dearth of studio blockbusters, making it one of the most muted editions in recent history. But even though the red carpets suffered from a lack of Hollywood glamour, the festival provided a fascinating snapshot of the challenges facing the entertainment industry. As […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketFran BorgiaYeo Siew Hua
Director Yeo Siew Hua will adapt Jesse Ball’s novel “Silence Once Begun” as his next feature, with Singapore’s Akanga Film Asia securing the rights and announcing the project at the Cannes Film Market. Producer and Akanga founder Fran Borgia is developing the film as a wide-ranging co-production spanning Singapore, Japan, and partners across Asia and […]
Markets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCaviarEyeworksFlandersStijn ConinxWalking the Dog
Just in time for the Belgian annual party at Cannes, Screen Flanders, the Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship economic fund for the audiovisual industry, has announced an investment of €1.92M ($2.23M) in 15 new audiovisual productions, with nine majority Flemish (or Belgian) and six minority Flemish projects. According to Screen Flanders, the 15 supported projects will […]
Gaten Matarazzo will star as Mark Cohen in the West End revival of “Rent.” The rock musical, which is returning to the stage in honor of its 30th anniversary, will begin performances at the Duke of York’s Theatre in September. Casting for the other main characters — Mark’s roommate Roger Davis, Mark’s ex-girlfriend Maureen Johnson, […]
SkyShowtime has acquired its first original animation series, family adventure “Hidden Islands,” which encourages children to explore nature and connect with the outside world. The show will launch exclusively on the service later this year. The series is the second project, and first on-screen production, from Madeleine Bernadotte and Karini Gustafson-Teixeira, who previously co-wrote their […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalMario MartoneRai Cinema International Sales
RAI Cinema International Distribution has scored sales at the Cannes market with new works by veteran Italian auteurs Mario Martone and Gianni Amelio and promising newcomer Irene Dionisio that are tipped to bow in Venice. “Trick,” which stars Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”) (first look image above) is the latest feature by Martone who was […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAndrey ZvyagintsevCannes Film Festival
Nearly a decade after his last film, “Loveless,” won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, two-time Academy Award nominee Andrey Zvyagintsev (“Leviathan”) returns to the Croisette with “Minotaur,” a modern-day parable about the emotional and moral collapse of a Russian businessman whose world unravels amid professional crises, global chaos and an extramarital affair. Zvyagintsev, […]
“Why aren’t you guys in a gulag somewhere, shackled down in a basement?” That’s the question Jimmy Kimmel posed to the co-creators of “South Park,” Trey Parker and Matt Stone, on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Tuesday evening. The late-night host was, of course, alluding to the animated series’ relentless mockery of President Trump, including repeatedly depicting […]
With only a few episodes left behind the desk of “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert dedicated Monday’s show to the segments, sketches and graphics that never made it to air. “We definitely have enough material for a ‘Best of’ clip show, but y’all got YouTube — you do it,” Colbert quipped in a laid-back monologue. […]
Tiffany Haddish has no interest in imposter syndrome. She speaks with the certainty of someone who has already envisioned and earned every room she walks into. At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, those rooms will be scattered across the Croisette, where she arrives with two character-driven thrillers on Highland Film Group’s sales slate — making […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalRudi RosenbergWords of Love
For his sophomore feature “Words of Love,” director Rudi Rosenberg makes a sensitive family drama about the fraught relationship between a mother and a daughter. Abigaëlle has never met her father and trying to make that connection becomes an obsession of hers — and while her mother, Erika, is supportive, she is also wary of […]
On Monday night’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart went after President Donald Trump for getting “nothing” out of his recent meeting with Xi Jinping, the president of the People’s Republic of China. “But first, is everybody feeling good? Feeling safe? I know why. I know why you are feeling good. I know why […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalLaila MarrakchiStrawberries
Stories about exploited migrant workers have become something of a mainstay in international cinema, rightly so given the tenacious hold this form of indenture — or worse — continues to have on the Global North. They also make for good cinema: who doesn’t want to root for people oppressed by the henchmen of rampant capitalism? Laïla […]
Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” hits theaters in less than a month and retailers are rolling out the merch for the latest installment of the hit animated film franchise. Collectibles brand Funko has unveiled its “Toy Story 5” Funko Pop figurines, which feature new versions of the main characters Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie, as well […]
In Netflix’s first major deal out of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, the streamer has picked up global rights outside of France to breakout Critics Week opener “In Waves,” an adaptation of AJ Dungo’s 2019 graphic memoir. The animated romance directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen boasts a voice cast led by Oscar-nominated Stephanie Hsu and […]
"Full Phil," brash and throttling as it is, is an overly italicized screw-loose satire that some will want to see, because in its halfway funny, halfway off-putting extreme way it dares to color so far outside the lines.
ColumnsNewsJust For VarietyStephen ColbertThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert’s time with “The Late Show” won’t end when the final episode tapes at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City on Thursday. Sources tell me that he’s hosting an after-party following the taping at a nearby event space. The invitation is topped with the show’s red, white and blue logo tweaked to […]
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for the Season 8 premiere of Dropout’s “Game Changer,” titled “Don’t Wake Standards & Practices.” The eighth season premiere of Dropout’s ever-evolving game show “Game Changer” wasn’t about whether you won or lost (mostly), but how you played the censorship game. Featuring Dropout regulars Ally Beardsley, Lou Wilson and Jeremy […]
NewsCannes Film FestivalCharles MeltonHer Private HellNicolas Winding Refn
Nicolas Winding Refn returned to Cannes with “Her Private Hell” and continued his festival hot streak of dividing audiences. The provocateur’s latest feature is headlined by “Yellowjackets” and “Companion” star Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton, the “Riverdale” actor who redefined his career at Cannes when Todd Haynes’ “May December” premiered in 2023. The late-night screening […]
Whether for gas or groceries, it’s no secret that prices have been rising in recent months, and now, that has extended to mobile coverage as well. AT&T quietly unveiled a rate hike last month, while Verizon raised prices on select multi-device plans last year. Now, T-Mobile, which has also raised prices (though just once in […]
Red Light Management founder Coran Capshaw will be honoroed by the T.J. Martell Foundation, the music industry foundation that provides funds for cancer research, at its 51st annual New York Honors Gala on September 15 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. The foundation’s board of trustees will present Capshaw — pictured above with […]
AwardsNewsDeath Of A SalesmanLaurie MetcalfNathan LaneTonys
The best onstage production of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” in a generation is also, conveniently, the one that settles two long-running perceptions of its two Tony-nominated thespians. The first is about Nathan Lane — and, as it turns out, the 70-year-old veteran offers the clearest read on where he is in this career […]
The Patrick Wilson and Molly Ringwald-led “Run Amok,” Matthew Giaquinto’s “Red Flag” and Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci’s “Big Night” are among the titles set to screen at the Lighthouse International Film Festival (LIFF). The festival will take place June 10 through 14 on Long Beach Island, New Jersey. LIFF’s 2026 lineup includes a range […]
Greetings from Variety Awards Headquarters! Today is May 18, 2026, which means it’s 24 days until nominations-round voting begins on June 11; 35 days until nominations-round voting ends on June 22 at 10 p.m.; and 53 days until Emmy nominations are announced on July 10. And looking far ahead, it’s 119 days until the 78th Emmy Awards on Sept. 14 on NBC. And we’re back to Los Angeles! The upfronts were quite […]
Zoinks! “Scooby-Doo” is going anime. Tubi has acquired the new animated series “Yokoso Scooby-Doo!” — which means “Welcome Scooby-Doo” — which focuses on Scooby-Doo and Shaggy, and stars “Scooby-Doo!” voice regulars Frank Welker (“Scoob!”) and Matthew Lillard (“Scream”) as the two main roles. “Yokoso Scooby-Doo!” is the first original anime “Scooby-Doo!” series, and is produced […]
NewsA Parade of HorriblesDungeon Crawler CarlMatt Dinniman
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains major spoilers for “A Parade of Horribles,” the eighth book in Matt Dinniman’s “Dungeon Crawler Carl” series. The “Dungeon Crawler Carl” lit RPG novel series ended its eighth installment, “A Parade of Horribles,” with several bombshells that will shake up the journey for Carl, Princess Donut, Mongo, Ren and their now-expanded […]
“Greyhound” and “Jurassic Park III” DP Shelly Johnson has been elected 50th President of the American Society of Cinematographers. The ASC board of governors has announced a new slate of officers. Johnson, who takes the reigns from incumbent President Mandy Walker, previously served as the org’s president from 2023-25. The Board also voted in Vice Presidents […]
FX has given a series order to “Very Young Frankenstein.” The project was first announced with a pilot order in 2025. Exact plot details are still under wraps, aside from the fact it is inspired by the classic Mel Brooks-Gene Wilder comedy “Young Frankenstein.” As previously reported, the show stars Zach Galifianakis, Dolly Wells and […]
NewsCannes Film FestivalfjordRenate ReinsveSebastian Stan
The Cannes Film Festival flipped for “Fjord” on Monday night, as Cristian Mungiu’s heart-wrenching family legal saga starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve brought searing drama to the Grand Palais. A Romanian family with strict religious beliefs emigrates to a sleepy Norwegian village — watching as clashing social norms escalates into a living nightmare when […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalDocumentaries to WatchGolden Globes
Husband-and-wife filmmaking duo Joshua and Rebecca Tickell were jointly awarded the Golden Globes Prize for Documentary in Partnership With Artemis Rising Foundation during the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Their film “Groundswell” follows experts, Indigenous leaders and farmers across five continents, demonstrating how regenerative farming can restore soil health, draw carbon from the […]
Tom Kane, a voice actor known for roles in “Star Wars” and “Powerpuff Girls,” died Monday. He was 64. Kane’s death was confirmed in a statement posted to Facebook by his talent agency Galactic Productions. “Today we say goodbye to Tom Kane — a legendary voice actor whose work shaped the childhoods and imaginations of […]
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for “Obsession,” now playing in theaters. The best movie villains inspire empathy or understanding in an audience: Maybe they profoundly believe what they’re doing is right, or have been so damaged by their past that retribution seems like the only way out. Judging by trailers and posters alone, “Obsession” […]
Advertisers keep counting on Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell to reach out from “Modern Family” to yours. The duo, currently featured in a non-traditional marketing pitch from pharma giant GSK, have reunited to make consumers more aware of meningitis risks for teens and young adults. In a nearly eight-minute-long video that will evoke memories of […]
First, on Saturday night, Spaniard Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved,” starring Javier Bardem and Victoria Luengo, scored some of the best reviews of any competition title to date this year at the Cannes Film Festival. One evening later, on May 17, a long line formed around the corner of Cannes’ Olympia theater for the sold out […]
Highland Film Group has locked distribution deals in key international territories in all media for the upcoming thriller “Just Play Dead.” It is headlined by Academy Award-nominee and “Pulp Fiction” star Samuel L. Jackson, as well as Eva Green of “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” and Maria Pedraza of Netflix’s “Money Heist.” The film […]
At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the biggest controversy isn’t tied to a polarizing film or a political speech at a press conference. It’s about Canal+ and the increasingly fraught question of whether France’s most powerful movie financier can remain insulated from the conservative political stance of its billionaire shareholder, Vincent Bolloré. The debate erupted […]
Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing OpenAI of violating its charter to function as a charitable organization was unanimously rejected by a federal jury. The nine-member jury on Monday decided that Musk’s allegation against OpenAI and execs Sam Altman and Greg Brockman claiming a “breach of charitable trust” was barred by the statute of limitations. Musk also […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalCristian MungiufjordRenate ReinsveSebastian Stan
An actual avalanche happens in the background of an early scene in “Fjord,” as snow gathers and masses and tumbles down a hill behind the school in a small, close-knit Norwegian village, eventually stalling before it becomes any kind of disaster. Later in the film, another happens in the same spot, this time breaking closer […]
The upcoming “Hello Kitty” movie has found its directors. David Derrick Jr. (“Moana 2”) and John Aoshima (“Ultraman: Rising”) will helm the film. Former president of Paramount Animation Ramsey Naito (“The Boss Baby”) will produce the film alongside Beau Flynn.Shelby Thomas is overseeing for FlynnPictureCo. The film, which has spent several years in development, will […]
HBO’s “Harry Potter” series is set to conjure up a new Ginny Weasley after child actor Gracie Cochrane exited the role. “Due to unforeseen circumstances Gracie has made the challenging decision to step away from her role as Ginny Weasley in the HBO ‘Harry Potter’ series after Season 1,” Cochrane and her family said in […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalFilming Italy Sardegna FestivalJames Franco
Harvey Keitel, James Franco, Elsa Zylberstein are among talents booked to attend the upcoming ninth edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna festival which will be held June 25-28 on the island of Sardinia. Zylberstein, who is one of the most famous – and bankable — faces of French cinema, known for her Cesar-winning performance in “I’ve […]
Haterade rained down on Spotify’s 20th birthday party celebratory disco-ball icon — and, after acknowledging the backlash, the streamer says the old 2D logo will return to users’ phones next week. Without warning, Spotify last week debuted the glowing green mirrorball icon for its mobile app. It was meant to be a fun celebration of […]
“Wheel of Fortune” is showing its patriotic side this summer with two weeks of USA-themed episodes in honor of America’s 250th birthday sponsored by Coca-Cola. Titled “Drink In America Presented by Coca-Cola,” the themed episodes of the syndicated “Wheel of Fortune” will air nationwide the week of June 1 and again, “with added elements,” the […]
ReviewsArthur HarariCannes Film FestivalLéa SeydouxThe Unknown
If you’ve ever caught yourself having just too good a time with “Freaky Friday” or “Your Name” or really any entry in the oddly well-populated body-swap genre, here’s a chance to do a little penance. “The Unknown” is Arthur Harari’s third directorial feature, after “Dark Inclusion” and “Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle,” and his […]
Russell Andrews, a veteran actor who’s appeared in “Better Caul Saul,” “Insecure,” and “Straight Outta Compton,” has revealed that he’s been living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The 64-year-old shared the news Saturday evening on CNN’s “The Story Is with Elex Michaelson” alongside his fiancée, actress Erica Tazel (“Justified”). He said he was diagnosed with […]
The podcast sector suddenly may have a big new player: Amazon’s Alexa+ AI-powered voice assistant. Alexa has been answering billions of users’ queries since it was first released in 2014. Now Amazon is positioning Alexa+’s extended answers on any number of different topics as “podcasts,” completely compiled using AI, the company announced Monday. Seemingly to […]
Jeremy Clarkson opens up about his heart scare in the trailer for Season 5 of “Clarkson’s Farm,” which streams on Prime Video. The trailer shows an ambulance racing away from Diddly Squat Farm, followed by cell-phone footage of a nurse attaching probes to Clarkson’s chest in a hospital bed as a machine beeps in the […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalMarché du FilmMontevideoVentana Sur
Ventana Sur will return to Montevideo for its 2026 edition, confirming the Río de la Plata format as the new working structure for Latin America’s leading audiovisual market. The Marché du Film, Uruguay’s ACAU and Argentina’s INCAA unveiled Monday the dates for the market’s second Montevideo edition. Ventana Sur will run Nov. 30-Dec. 4, 2026, […]
“Death Becomes Her,” a campy musical based on the 1992 cult favorite film, is closing after less than two years on Broadway. After 650 performances over a 20-month run, “Death Becomes Her” will conclude on June 28. The effects-heavy production is leaving Broadway without recouping its massive $31.5 million investment. It’s been a challenge for […]
“I’m pregnant. Will that be OK?” Léa Seydoux wasn’t sure if the timing was right at all. She’d been approached years prior by writer-director Arthur Harari to star in “The Unknown,” a science fiction film he was working on; Seydoux had read an intriguing but confusing first draft, then “just forgot about it,” she recalls. Now, Harari was ready to shoot, but she’d be stepping […]
Laura Linney has officially joined the cast of the upcoming DC series “Lanterns” at HBO. Linney will appear alongside previously announced cast members Aaron Pierre, Kyle Chandler, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Jason Ritter, and Ulrich Thomsen. It was also previously confirmed that Nathan Fillion would reprise the role of fellow Green Lantern Guy […]
With a legacy of arresting album cover images that includes Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” Led Zeppelin’s “House of the Holy,” Black Sabbath’s “Technical Ecstasy” and many more, the design firm called Hipgnosis created some of the most iconic artwork of the rock world in for several decades. Primary Wave has acquired the […]
“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 asked to reveal who their “first choice” was for […]
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 treasury to repay the money to her, with interest. In the […]
“Just In Time,” a biographical jukebox musical about the performer Bobby Darin, has recouped its entire production cost. The show, which earned a Tony nomination and plenty of raves for star Jonathan Groff, was capitalized at $12.5 million. “Just In Time” is the first musical of the 2024-2025 season to achieve profitability, an increasingly rare […]
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 first fixed, immersive attraction based on the Hasbro IP) is set to […]
FestivalsCannes Film FestivalDisplacement Film Fund
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 first initiated at UNHCR’s Global Refugee Forum, the world’s largest gathering dedicated to […]
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 films made by Black filmmakers between 1949 and 2022, featuring a wealth of criticism, interviews, and […]
GlobalNewsANICACannes Film FestivalRome Mia Market
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 networking. MIA (the acronym stands for the Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo or International Audiovisual Market) is […]
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, “The beloved Fairy Godmother, the wholesome Fairy Godmother, the one with all the good […]
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 Dance” can be heard in the second season of the Tim Burton-helmed series […]
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 time, with a general on-sale on […]
NewsElton JohnElton John Impact AwardsiHeartMediaWhat to Hear
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 iHeartMedia and consumer packaged goods giant P&G, will launch June […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBerlinaleCannesCannes Film FestivalMPM PremiumThe Red Hangar
“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 agent Premium Films/MPM Premium also sold the drama to Spain (Festival Films), Italy (I […]
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 Film Festival, celebrates how cinema can […]
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 company Xstream Pictures. It will begin shooting this winter. “Mamma Dunhuang” tells the story of a mother who has […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsAlicia VikanderCannes Film FestivalHopeMichael Fassbender
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 that’s already been done that I’d like to […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalEmbraturNetflixPremios PlatinoProjeto ParadisoScreen BrasilSpcine
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 digital games. Case in point: Dubrovnik, Croatia is still overwhelmed by tourists keen to see […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalCharles GillibertLola Quivoron
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 Quivoron, whose breakout feature “Rodeo” world premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section in 2022 where it won […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBrazilCannes Film FestivalMarché du FilmSpcine
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 at the festival. Spcine’s participation in Cannes is part of the internationalization […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBrazilCannes Film FestivalEmbraturProjeto ParadisoScreen Brasil
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 Blue Trail” by Gabriel Mascaro, Rafaela Camelo’s coming-of-age “The Nature of Invisible Things” and Priscilla Kellen’s animated feature “Papaya.” Embratur […]
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 teams in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland […]
NewsReviewsBen NicholasCannes Film FestivalCantonaDavid TryhornEric Cantona
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 figure besides Eric Cantona. At the […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalFemale Film Club
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 production company Mo-Sys. The fund – announced by Variety at Cannes 2025 – […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsconnor storrieHeated RivalryRaindance Film Festival
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 new best horror feature prize has been added […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalKarlovy Vary 80 AnniversaryKarlovy Vary Film Festival
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 festival. On hand to lead the celebrations were the Karlovy Vary chair […]
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 — north of $15 million, per three sources — after a weekend of heated bidding in the South of France. Topic Studios financed and produced the project, and […]
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 Netflix Wednesday, does not try to do so. Instead, […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketGreenwich EntertainmentLight Pillar
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 receive a theatrical release across the country early next year. The 2D animated film incorporates live-action sequences featuring […]
AsiaFestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalElephants in the Fog
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 videos were frequently vile. The Kinnars kept posting. “That really struck me,” Shah tells Variety. “I […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBerlinaleCannes Film FestivalGloriaPaulina GarciaPremios Platino
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 follows Carmen, a journalist, whose life appears – at least on the surface […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalFrida FilmsJuanjo Giménez Peña
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 produced by Frida Films alongside M-Films (Lithuania) and […]
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 the initiative. “Circle Expanded Orbit” will run Nov. 21–26, in Athens, bringing together creators working across […]
NewsAcademy Of Country Music AwardsAcm AwardsElla Langleykacey musgravesShania Twain
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 entertainer of the year. Other winners included Riley […]
AsiaBox OfficeGlobalNewsMichaelThe devil wears Prada 2The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
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 international release earned $3.6 million from 470,375 admissions, securing a dominant 51.03% share […]
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, the film has now reached a cumulative total […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketK2 PicturesMiike Takashi
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 Takashi’s inaugural documentary feature. The fund closed in […]
Toons boom across the Croisette this year, with colorful features opening Critics’ Week, closing Directors’ Fortnight, and appearing across nearly every section — further cementing Cannes’ status as a premier launchpad for animated cinema. Cannes’ position now feels secure, though its rise has been unusually fast. Earlier breakouts like “My Life as a Zucchini” (2016) […]
Anderson Cooper signed off of “60 Minutes” on Sunday with a salute to the newsmagazine’s editorial independence and longevity. He told viewers “I hope ’60 Minutes’ remains ’60 Minutes’ ” in a segment that wrapped up his 20-year run as a correspondent for the venerable program. “There’s very few things that have been around for […]
NewsAcademy Of Country Music AwardsAcm AwardsCody JohnsonElla Langley
The Academy of Country Music Awards were choosing Ella Langley every chance they got, as the “Choosin’ Texas” charttopper won all seven trophies she was nominated for before and during Sunday night’s ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The top prize of the night, however, went to Cody Johnson, who was […]
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Stand Still and See,” Season 3 Episode 6 of “Euphoria,” now streaming on HBO Max. The great cliffhanger of last week’s “Euphoria” was what was to become of Rue (Zendaya) as Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) charged her with a polo mallet. We learn near the start of the latest episode […]
NewsDavid ShoreFreddie HighmoreI'm Not Here to Hurt YouSony Pictures Television
“The Good Doctor” team of Freddie Highmore and David Shore and Sony Pictures Television have reteamed for a new drama series, “I’m Not Here to Hurt You,” that has been ordered by Canada’s Crave streamer, home of the white-hot drama series “Heated Rivalry.” Crave and Sony Pictures have jointly commissioned the series, which Sony will […]
NewsReviewsCannes Film FestivalDenis MenochetGuillaume CanetKarmaMarion Cotillard
What goes around mostly just goes around, goes around, and goes around once more in “Karma,” a sometimes engrossing but indulgently drawn-out affair given the veneer of luxury trash by all-in performances from Marion Cotillard and Dénis Menochet. Directed by Guillaume Canet with the same compulsive genre gloss he brought to the international hit “Tell […]
There is one day every Tony Awards season when the campaigning quiets down. No one has won anything yet, no speeches have been delivered, and for a few hours the nominees simply get to celebrate being in the room together. At the annual Tony Awards nominees luncheon, Broadway’s biggest stars, breakthrough performers and veteran craftspeople […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalHirokazu Kore-edaSheep in the Box
or all the fantasy simplicity of the premise, there’s no structure to it, and though the humanoid Kakeru increases in agency and brains as the movie goes on, it still never figures out who he is.
FestivalsGlobalNewsAlicia VikanderCannes Film FestivalHoyeonMichael Fassbender
“Hope” — an extremely ambitious blockbuster hopeful about an alien invasion in a sleepy South Korean mountain town — jolted the Cannes Film Festival awake on Sunday night with a 6-minute ovation. Directed by Na Hong-jin, the big-budget epic combined a gritty survival story and an original sci-fi mythology — no one quite knew what […]
ReviewsAlicia VikanderCannes Film FestivalHopeHoyeonHwang Jung-minMichael FassbenderNa Hong-jinTaylor Russell
For a whole decade since 2016’s extraordinarily uncanny horror-hybrid “The Wailing,” fans of Korean director Na Hong-jin have been peering anxiously at the horizon awaiting his next uncategorizable genre mash-up. More recently, like a bumbling local police chief removing his mirrored aviators to squint at an unidentifiable what-the-hell-is-that wreaking havoc in the distance, we’ve tracked […]
NewsAcademy Of Country Music AwardsAcm AwardsDamon WhitesideElla LangleyPrime VideoRaj KapoorShania Twain
Ella Langley has conquered not just the country world but the music world generally this year with her song “Choosin’ Texas.” But for the producers of the Academy of Country Music Awards, this year’s show is all about choosin’ Vegas. Certainly no fight is being picked with the Lone Star state, where the ACM Awards […]
NewsReviewsA Girl's StoryCannes Film FestivalJudith Godreche
The resemblance between Judith Godrèche and her daughter Tess Barthélemy — also the luminous lead of her mother’s debut feature “A Girl’s Life” — will be particularly powerful for anyone familiar with Godrèche’s teenage breakthrough role in the 1990 Jacques Doillon drama “The Disenchanted.” Watching the doe-eyed Barthélémy in this assured adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s […]
“Dutton Ranch” is a high-profile “Yellowstone” spinoff, but Annette Bening, a new addition to Taylor Sheridan’s universe, has been stealing every scene she’s been in. Bening plays Beulah Jackson, a larger-than-life Texas businesswoman who owns and operates 10 Petal Ranch along with her family. But this matriarch isn’t afraid to make some tough decisions, and […]
ReviewsAdele ExarchopoulosAnother DayCannes Film FestivalJeanne Herry
From Billy Wilder’s “The Lost Weekend” to the Sandra Bullock-starrer “28 Days” and beyond, cinema has a long tradition of substance abuse and recovery stories. There is something inherently cinematic and moving about a struggling person’s by-the-bootstraps journey to healing, with a lifetime’s worth of trials and tribulations. Just two years ago, Nora Fingscheidt’s tough […]
NewsAcademy Of Country Music AwardsAcm AwardsNOADSPrime Video
Shania Twain hosts and Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and Little Big Town are among the performers for tonight’s Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony, taking place live from Las Vegas. As with previous years, the 2026 ACMs air live on Prime Video, Amazon’s subscriber-based streaming service. Viewers can sign into their Amazon Prime […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsBarbra StreisandCannes Film Festival
Barbra Streisand is unable to attend the Cannes Film Festival closing ceremony to accept her honorary Palme d’Or after suffering a knee injury. “On the advice of my doctors, as I continue recovering from a knee injury, I am sadly unable to attend the Festival de Cannes this year,” Streisand said in a statement on […]
NewsCannes Film FestivalPeter JacksonRyan GoslingThe Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson is finally weighing in on Ryan Gosling’s infamous recasting in “The Lonely Bones,” the director’s 2009 adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel. Gosling was originally cast as the father of Saoirse Ronan’s lead character but revealed to THR in 2010 that he was fired from the movie after he gained 60 pounds for the role without […]
Andy Samberg answered this one for us back in 2020. Here’s the short version (because we’ve gone over this). Every best picture winner in the Academy’s 98-year history — from the silent-era film “Wings” in 1929 through the most recent political action epic “One Battle After Another” this past March — clears the Academy’s Representation […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketLaalo
Indian production company Soul Sutra is presenting a 12-film Gujarati-language development and production slate at the Cannes Film Market this week. The banner is led by Indian National Film Award-winning actor-producer Manasi Parekh and singer-producer Parthiv Gohil, who co-produced “Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate” – the Ankit Sakhiya-directed devotional drama that became the highest-grossing Gujarati-language […]
NewsAl JardineBrian WilsonBruce JohnstonMike LoveThe Beach Boys
Once upon a time, “Pet Sounds” seemed like the runt of the Beach Boys’ litter, at least on the record company ledger, if hardly by artistic reputation. But as the album turns 60 years old this weekend, it’s thought of less of a cult record, as it was considered for years or even decades after […]
Adrien Nussenbaum, the French tech entrepreneur who co-founded e-commerce powerhouse Mirakl, is stepping into the movie business with the launch of Palatio Films, a new production company making its Cannes debut with Daniel Auteuil’s WWII drama “When Night Falls.” Bowing at Cannes Premiere, the film marks a major career pivot for Nussenbaum, who recently stepped […]
Can’t stop the King of Pop. “Michael,” a biopic about the musical icon, has cleared a major box office milestone with more than $700 million globally. Over the weekend, the film returned to No. 1 at the international box office with $57.7 million from 83 foreign markets. The crowd-pleaser — distributed by Universal internationally and […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketDaniel HongDead End
International sales and financing outfit EST N8 has secured worldwide rights to “Dead End,” a Taiwanese action crime thriller from director Chan Chun-hao, and has launched the title to global buyers at the Cannes Film Market. The film centers on Lin Sheng-yi, a former baseball star whose career collapsed under a game-fixing scandal. Returning to […]
NewsCannes Film FestivalKen RussellPeter JacksonThe Devil
Typically, the Cannes Classics section is not one of the festival’s major noise-makers. Mostly comprising restorations of classic titles and new documentaries about film history, it is, for most attendees who don’t specifically work in repertory cinema, a place to take a breather, to dip into the pleasures of the old amid the whirling rush […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketDeathgasm
There are some 4,000 films being sold at this year’s Cannes Marché du Film, the world’s leading film bazaar held in the depths of the Palais des Festivals where sellers from 140 countries are hawking their goods with colorful, often outrageous fliers and posters adorning the market’s roughly 300 stands. A stroll through its halls […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsBrady CorbetCannes Film FestivalCate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett and Selena Gomez are set to star in “The Brutalist” director Brady Corbet’s next film alongside Michael Fassbender. During a masterclass at Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, Blanchett let slip that she’s “about to work with Brady Corbet on a film.” Variety has confirmed that she has indeed been cast in the Oscar-nominated […]
GlobalNewsCall My AgentFanny HerreroGeorges ClooneyNetflix
Five years after the fourth and final season of the hit French series “Call My Agent!” won an International Emmy Award, the gang is back for a feature film that sends its beloved agent-turned-filmmaker Andréa Martel (Camille Cottin) into the south of France and straight into the chaos of a movie shoot gone off the […]
Perhaps it takes an outsider to approach a figure of national pride with cinematic honesty. In that vein, Hungarian maestro László Nemes is a perfect fit on paper for “Moulin,” a biographical film about Jean Moulin, a French Resistance fighter of considerable acclaim. However, in practice, the drama of this World War II spy saga […]
“Michael” has moonwalked back to No. 1 at the domestic box office, earning a strong $26 million in its fourth weekend of release. In a sign of its remarkable staying power, “Michael” towered over several more recent releases, such as “The Devil Wears Prada 2” and “Mortal Kombat II” as well as newcomers like the […]
Cate Blanchett joined Cannes moderator Didier Allouch for a talk at the 2026 edition of the film festival and lamented how the #MeToo movement “got killed very quickly.” The two-time Oscar winner notably served as Cannes jury president in 2018 at the height of #MeToo and led a women’s march where she held hands with […]
The Edinburgh International Film Festival this year celebrates both its 79th edition overall and its third edition since it went through a major relaunch in 2023. In just two years since it was resurrected, there’s been solid growth at the Scottish event, with the EIFF25 lineup including 43 new feature films — 18 of them world […]
Mel Brooks has donated his career archive of more than 150,000 documents and 5,000 photographs to the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, N.Y., the same nonprofit institution that holds the papers of Brooks’ longtime collaborator Carl Reiner. The archive includes Brooks’ earliest notes on comedy during his service in World War II through his years […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalLaila MarrakchiStrawberries
Paris-based, Casablanca-born director Laila Marrakchi – whose first feature “Marock” screened in Cannes in 2005 – is back in Un Certain Regard with female-driven migrant drama “Strawberries” about a group of Moroccan seasonal laborers hired to pick strawberries in Spain who decide to stand up to their abusive employers. After portraying Morocco’s upper classes in […]
Sara Ishaq’s highly anticipated fiction debut “The Station” is the multi-layered feature we’ve been hoping would follow her impressive 2013 documentary “The Mulberry House.” Much has changed in Yemen — for the worse — over the past decade, and the country’s absence on screen apart from one-dimensional news reports puts extra pressure on any filmmaker […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsAdam DriverCannes Film FestivalLena DunhamPaper Tiger
Adam Driver may be known for leading critically acclaimed films like “BlacKkKlansman” and blockbusters like “Star Wars,” but his career first gained steam on TV in Lena Dunham’s HBO series “Girls.” The show has been in the news again recently as Dunham’s memoir, “Famesick,” revealed behind-the-scenes drama including claims about Driver’s on-set behavior. In the […]
Donald Trump has shared AI images on social media of himself dressed as the Pope and as a Christ-like figure healing a sick man. Now Trump’s White House has extended his self-mythologizing tendencies to one of moviedom’s most hallowed figures: British super-spy James Bond. On Saturday evening, the White House posted an image on social […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketChristopher LloydFrankie Muniz
Paris, Hong Kong and Los Angeles-based All Rights Entertainment has launched international sales on “Christopher Hope and the Secret of Napoleon” at the Cannes Film Market, with Frankie Muniz and Christopher Lloyd leading the cast of the family adventure feature, the opening chapter in a planned trilogy. The film follows a history student drawn into […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBrillante MendozaCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketStacy Martin
Judy Ann Santos, Jeanne Balibar and Stacy Martin are set to star in “Aid,” Philippines auteur Brillante Ma Mendoza’s new political drama, which is being introduced to international partners at the Cannes Film Market with Fire & Ice Media attached as delegate producer alongside France’s Ghost City Films and the Netherlands’ Human Films. The project […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketObosenRaya Martin
Director Raya Martin is set to make his feature filmmaking comeback with “Obosen,” a folkloric horror thriller being developed at Philippines-based independent studio Rein Entertainment and headed to Cannes Film Festival’s Producer’s Network. “Obosen” follows a policewoman investigating disappearances in a remote Philippine town who enters a forest where local mythology, political dynasties, and a […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalGrace Caroline Currey
“Fall” and “Shazam!” star Grace Caroline Currey is set to lead the cast of upcoming elevated crime thriller “Dead Miles,” being launched in the Cannes market by VMI Worldwide. The film — from Minds Eye Entertainment — is being directed and written by Tom Levesque (“Shut Eye”) and is slated to begin production in British Columbia. Currey […]
Chad Michael Murray will star in the upcoming drama feature “Disconnecting Peter.” The film centers on a fractured family grappling with unresolved trauma stemming from a past tragedy. Peter Ruck (Murray), a troubled husband and father, finds himself trapped by his own destructive habits, threatening to unravel the family unit. His wife, Elizabeth, fights to […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalJavier BardemThe Beloved
Javier Bardem thinks the tide is turning in terms of speaking up for Palestine in Hollywood, telling a Cannes Film Festival press conference on Sunday that “everyone is beginning to realize … this is unacceptable.” The Oscar-winning Spanish actor, who is at Cannes with his latest film “The Beloved,” was asked immediately if he has […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalGilles LelloucheLaszlo NemesMoulin
Eleven years after stunning Cannes with the searing Holocaust drama “Son of Saul,” which won the Grand Prix and went on to earn the Oscar for best international feature, Hungarian filmmaker Laszlo Nemes returns to the Croisette with another harrowing journey into WWII in Europe. But while “Son of Saul” immersed audiences in the machinery […]
Keanu Reeves is getting into samurai mode. The actor is set to voice the lead in “Hidari,” the stop-motion feature from Masashi Kawamura that he’s expanded from his viral proof-of-concept short film. The action-packed feature takes inspiration from accounts of the life of legendary Edo era craftsman Jingoro Hidari, who will be voiced by Reeves. […]
GlobalNewsAna de ArmasEmmanuel BercotPathéSylvie Pialat
Cesar-winning French producer Sylvie Pialat is in Cannes with one of the most eclectic slates on the Croisette, ranging from an alpine revenge thriller from Argentine auteur Pablo Fendrik, a geopolitical drama about Augusto Pinochet starring Sebastian Stan and Ana de Armas, and the first animated feature from Céline Devaux. Led by Pialat and […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalDocumentaries to WatchKino LorberMark Cousins
Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to Mark Cousins’ “The Story of Documentary Film,” a 16-volume history of the medium that examines over a century of global nonfiction cinema. In addition to the North American deal, the film has sold internationally to I Wonder (Italy), Filmin (Spain and Portugal), and Madman (Australia/New Zealand). […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketMiller Insurance ServicesTwickenham Film Studios
Twickenham Film Studios has launched Twickenham Investment Services, a new FCA-regulated introducer business that connects film and television producers with specialist insurance brokers, beginning with a partnership with Miller Insurance Services. The initiative was unveiled at the Variety International Movie lunch during the Cannes Film Festival. TIS operates on a referral-only basis, offering producers streamlined […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketOhneroRome Kanda
Rome Kanda (“Maniac,” “The Informant!”) and Kuroki Hitomi (“Tokyo Tower,” “Dark Water”) star in “Ohenro,” a Japanese-language drama written and directed by Joshua Woodcock (“One Night in Tokyo”). Produced by Sean Patrick Burke of 222 Pictures and Andrew Cantella of Kitsune Pictures – with Tokyo Colours serving as the production service partner in Japan – […]
NewsCharles RandolphMuppets in MoscowThe Big Short
Emotion Pictures, the newly launched English-language commercial film banner from Vendôme Group, Pathé and Merit France, will produce the feature film “Muppets in Moscow” in partnership with Riley Keough and Gina Gammell’s Felix Culpa. Charles Randolph, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “The Big Short,” will write the script. The film is based on Natasha Lance Rogoff’s […]
AsiaFestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalYami International Film Festival
A horror and dark genre film festival, the Yami International Film Festival, will hold its inaugural edition Nov. 20–26 at Human Trust Cinema Shibuya in Tokyo, organizers revealed at Cannes. The festival, organized by Japan-based horror entertainment company Yami Inc., will run two competitive sections – feature film competition and short film competition – with […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBombay Berlin Film ProductionsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film Market
A curated slate of four feature-length documentaries exploring themes ranging from rural Indian healthcare to intergenerational family conflict has been unveiled by Bombay Berlin Film Productions (BBFP), the Indo-German banner simultaneously repositioning itself as a cross-border boutique studio. The Mumbai- and Berlin-based company is coming on board the new films as a creative and strategic […]
Unifrance’s 10 to Watch initiative, launched in 2014, recognizes rising French film talent — and the org works to boost their visibility beyond France. The 10 artists selected were chosen by a committee of international journalists. The class of 2026 will be spotlighted at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20 at a lunch with […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBokshiCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketInternational Film Festival Rotterdam
Spanish genre distributor Wild Duck Productions has acquired rights to Indian filmmaker Bhargav Saikia’s folk horror “Bokshi” for a Halloween theatrical release, following the film’s successful festival run since its Rotterdam world premiere. The deal was negotiated between Luis Rosales on behalf of Wild Duck and Brett Walker with Miguel Angel Govea of Alief, representing […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBionica FilmesBrazilCannes Film FestivalCarolina MarkowiczMaeve JinkingsSony Pictures
Lauded Brazilian director Carolina Markowicz, who won the TIFF Award for Best Directing in 2023 with “Charcoal,” will start shooting “The Funeral” in Brazil from next week. Production starts in São Paulo, moving to the mythical Fordlândia — the city envisioned by American mogul Henry Ford on the banks of the Tapajós River in the […]
NewsArtemis Rising FoundationCannes Film FestivalGolden GlobesThink-Film
The Artemis Rising Foundation and Think-Film Impact Production are back in Cannes with the Golden Globes to present the Golden Globes Prize for Documentary. The juried prize honors a documentary filmmaker with a feature in the 2026 official Cannes Film Festival selection, and whose body of work as a whole tackles urgent social issues while […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalChileDominga SotomayorLa PerraSelton Mello
Five years since directing a segment of the anthology film “The Year of the Everlasting Storm,” renowned Chilean director Dominga Sotomayor is back in Cannes with “La Perra.” Premiering at Directors’ Fortnight, the film is based on Pilar Quintana’s eponymous book and produced by Chile’s Planta in co-production with Brazil’s RT Features. “La Perra” stars […]
Italian director and producer Michela Scolari has acquired global rights to the story of Yassmin Pucci Pahlavi, granddaughter of the last shah of Iran — and cousin to Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, who is trying to position himself as a player in Iran’s future — for a new documentary series. The docuseries, which […]
Claire Denis is moving forward with cannibal crime drama “The Soap Maker,” which the French auteur is now set to write and direct. The project, which was first shopped around in 2025 at Berlin’s EFM, has now gained traction with producers Sacha Ben Harroche (“Butterfly Jam”) and Ivy Freeman-Attwood (“The Dispute”) boarding the film in […]
AsiaFestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalJia Zhang-keTorino Shadow
The idea for “Torino Shadow” came to Jia Zhang-ke not while he was making a film, but while he was avoiding one. Exhausted from wandering the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin, he would sink into a chair in the vast central lobby and simply listen to the voices drifting from the surrounding galleries, absorbing […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketStarvation
Sundance-winning producer Neeraj Churi and U.S. filmmaker Daniel Talbott have joined forces to produce “Starvation,” a Mumbai-set feature written and directed by Film and Television Institute of India graduates Saurav Mahind and Tejas Shende. The project marks the first collaboration between Churi’s Lotus Visual Prods. and Talbott’s Orphan Andy Films. The film centers on a […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketRamayanaToxic - A Fairy Tale for Grown-UpsYash
Four years after “K.G.F: Chapter 2” redefined box office benchmarks across India, Yash is preparing to unveil his next project on a scale that extends far beyond familiar territory. The Indian actor-producer-writer reflects on a creative journey that prioritizes artistic challenge over commercial formula, positioning “Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups” as a deliberate step toward […]
Best known in Hollywood for playing opposite Adam Sandler in “Spanglish,” Spanish actor Paz Vega is set to direct “Ana No,” a feature film starring Angela Molina (“That Obscure Object of Desire”) and sold at this year’s Cannes Festival by Film Factory Entertainment. “Ana No” marks Vega’s second movie as a director after the well-received […]
Colin Jost and Michael Che drew gasps on the season finale of “Saturday Night Live,” treating the audience to their biannual joke swap. Per tradition, the “Weekend Update” anchors wrote jokes for the other to read live on-air — without seeing them ahead of time. For example, Jost kicked things off with a joke written […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketIko UwaisJoe Taslim
K-Movie Entertainment is at the Cannes Film Market with a focused Indonesian action slate, led by “Pendekar: Warrior” starring Iko Uwais and an Indonesian-language remake of the Korean hit “The Man From Nowhere” with Joe Taslim attached to star. The films are being produced by Asia Media Alliance Group, Nation Pictures, Yeti Entertainment and Red […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalThe Dream Is a Snail
East Films and Kontribute are developing a feature adaptation of Nguyễn Thiên Ân’s short “Giấc Mơ Là Ốc Sên” (“The Dream Is a Snail”), with the project selected for Cannes’ Focus Co-Pro – an initiative of the SFC | Rendez-vous Industry that supports debut feature projects in their earliest stages through co-production mentoring and industry […]
A number of storylines converged late Saturday night, as Ronda Rousey (12-2) clashed with Gina Carano (7-1) in the Octagon. The featherweight bout, streamed live on Netflix from LA’s Intuit Dome, marked the first showdown between the two most influential female fighters in MMA history; the first MMA fight for Netflix, courtesy of Jake Paul’s […]
Chad Smith threw Studio 8H for a spin when he took the “Saturday Night Live” stage, impersonating this week’s host Will Ferrell. “I’m thrilled to be back hosting ‘Saturday Night Live,'” said the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer, whose resemblance to Ferrell has been joked about for decades. “I was a cast member here for […]
Jeffrey Epstein made his “Saturday Night Live” debut during this week’s cold open. Will Ferrell played the monstorous sex offender and Trump pal in a sketch that began with the president (James Austin Johnson) chatting with JD Vance (Jeremy Culhane). “I did what every doctor recommends for an 80-year-old: a two day whirlwind trip to […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalFull PhilKristen StewartWoody Harrelson
Kristen Stewart and Woody Harrelson’s star power shone brightly inside the Palais at the premiere of their new film, the absurd father-daughter comedy “Full Phil” from French musician and filmmaker Quentin Depieux. Before the screening began, Depieux and his cast, including Charlotte Le Bon and Emma Mackey (whose last film, “Ella McCay,” was a massive […]
Bulgaria’s Dara has won the 70th Eurovision Song Contest with 516 points for her song “Banagaranga.” Israel’s Noam Bettan came second with 343 points for his track “Michelle” while Alexandra Căpitănescu, who was representing Romania with the song “Choke Me,” took home third place with 296 points. Last place went to the U.K., who were […]
During a recent interview with The Times of London, Bob Odenkirk recalled his 2021 heart attack on the set of the hit drama series “Better Call Saul.” “I went down and Rhea [Seehorn] and Patrick [Fabian] grabbed me and they were screaming, but [the crew members who noticed] thought they were laughing,” Odenkirk said. “So […]
The cold open of the season finale of “Saturday Night Live U.K.” on May 16 saw the residence of Britain’s Prime Minister invaded by rivals from his own party, as well as a former resident. It started with Wes Streeting (played by Jack Shep), the former health secretary, being shown around No. 10 Downing Street […]
Tom Francis, best known for appearing opposite Nicole Scherzinger in Jamie Lloyd’s unconventional revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” may be ordering his martinis shaken, not stirred. The 26-year-old British actor, whose reputation rests primarily on his stage work, has auditioned to play James Bond, a source with knowledge of the 007 search tells […]
Amsterdam, one of the more low-key of Europe’s great cities, is an unlikely place to launch a tour as hotly anticipated as Harry Styles’ long-awaited “Together Together” global trek — especially when he’s only performing shows in one city per continent for this entire year — and walking around the city on this chilly May weekend, […]
British-Australian indie powerhouse See-Saw Films has signed a multi-year strategic slate production financing partnership with Paris-based investment firm Entourage Ventures. Under the deal, Entourage will invest up to $50 million in equity over the next three years across a slate of features for See-Saw, recently acquired by Mediawan. See-Saw is behind hit TV shows such […]
Adele was in the audience for the closing night of Raye’s U.S. tour this week at the Greek Theatre, which naturally led to all kinds of murmurings about torches being passed. One imagines Adele being the type to give up a torch only when it’s pried out of her cold, dead hands, but it’s safe […]
ReviewsAdam DriverCannes Film FestivalMiles TellerPaper TigerScarlett Johansson
You can feel James Gray wanting to will something like a Lumet version of Greek tragedy into the tale of these brothers, and of Irwin’s blind loyalty to Gary’s huckster-psycho moves. But even the scene-to-scene skill of Gray’s direction can’t stop the movie from turning into a mixture of the grandiose and the implausible.
FestivalsGlobalNewsAdam DriverCannes Film FestivalPaper TigerScarlett Johansson
“Paper Tiger” director James Gray tried to call Scarlett Johansson on his cellphone so she could share in the 7-minute standing ovation at the Cannes premiere of “Paper Tiger” on Saturday. But the star didn’t pick up his FaceTime. Johansson couldn’t be on hand at the South of France because she is filming “The Exorcist” […]
“Doctor Who” star Ncuti Gatwa took aim at the sci-fi show during his monologue as the host for the season finale of “Saturday Night Live U.K.” on May 16. In his monologue, Gatwa mocked the perceived lack of enthusiasm for the latest seasons of “Doctor Who,” and the curious climax of the finale of Season […]
Seth Rogen told Brut at the Cannes Film Festival that if you use AI to write your stories or scripts, then you “shouldn’t be a writer.” “I don’t understand what it’s supposed to do,” Rogen said when asked about AI in filmmaking. “Every time I see a video on Instagram that’s like, ‘Hollywood is cooked,’ […]
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for “Obsession,” now playing in theaters. Twenty-six year-old director Curry Barker started his filmmaking career by posting short-form videos on TikTok, YouTube and other social media platforms. That led him to shooting an hour-long, twisty horror movie called “Milk & Serial” that put him on the map after he […]
GlobalNewsAdam DriverAubrey PlazaCannes Film FestivalKenneth Lonergan
Surely one of the hottest projects hitting the Cannes market this year is “Tomorrow Is a Drag,” the anticipated comeback of Oscar-winning filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan with a starry ensemble led by Aubrey Plaza (upcoming “The Thomas Crown Affair,” “Ingrid Goes West,” “The White Lotus”) alongside Academy Award nominees Adam Driver (“Star Wars” franchise, “Paper Tiger,” […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalJavier BardemThe Beloved
Cannes regular Javier Bardem was the toast of the Palais on Saturday as “The Beloved” had its world premiere in competition and received a 7-minute ovation. A beaming Bardem went up and down the line of the film’s cast, hugging each one. He also waved enthusiastically to the crowds up in the balcony. At one […]
Harry Styles launched his “Together Together” tour at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff Arena on Saturday, launching into the set with “Are You Listening Yet.” He previewed the tour with a special one-off concert in Manchester that was streamed on Netflix and focused on his fourth solo album, which bears the intriguingly punctuated title of “Kiss All […]
Serena Williams delivered a bold statement during a Q&A session about her work in venture capital at the Milken Institute conference. “This part of my career is going to be much bigger than anything I’ve ever done before,” the tennis great said confidently from the stage at the Beverly Hilton hotel as she discussed her […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalJavier BardemThe Beloved
"The Beloved," unlike "Sentimental Value," really is one of those movies about the making of a movie, like "Day for Night" or "The Stunt Man." It’s a meaty and enjoyable entry in the genre, one that updates it to the present day, when it’s not as easy as it once was for a director to bully a cast and crew (and Esteban, make no mistake, is something of a bully).
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalFull PhilKristen StewartWoody Harrelson
Kristen Stewart was ready to sign on to Quentin Dupieux’s “Full Phil” before she even read the script. The Oscar-nominated actor and director had long been a fan of the French filmmaker — known for his absurd and surreal style — and was curious about his DIY approach, often shooting projects quickly and on a […]
Mark Ruffalo said during a recent appearance on the “I’ve Had It” podcast that he thinks he’s “already on a list” of Paramount-Skydance’s banned stars because he’s been so vocally opposed to the studio’s acquisition of Warner Bros. “I’m doing this because I know we have to,” Ruffalo said. “And I know no matter what, […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalPegah AhangaraniRehearsals For A Revolution
Rich in political and cultural resonance as well as contemporary relevance, the documentary essay “Rehearsals for a Revolution” marks a promising feature debut for Iranian actress-turned-helmer Pegah Ahangarani. Her compelling personal perspective on 40-plus years of post-Revolutionary Iran provides a chronicle of great hopes and even greater disappointments. In it, she plays with the Iranian […]
The high from Jordan Firstman’s Cannes player “Club Kid” has carried over to the sales market, as the filmmaker’s directorial debut has sparked a bidding war. After glowing reviews from Firstman’s Friday premiere in the festival’s Un Certain Regard section, multiple high-profile distributors are throwing down for the dramedy – one that’s earned praise for […]
James Cameron recently told “The Empire Film Podcast” that he wants to make his next two “Avatar” sequels in a much shorter time span and for a lot less money. “You know, I’ll be doing some writing. I’ve got a number of projects that I’m cooking,” Cameron explained. “And ‘Avatar 4’ and ‘5’ are still […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBarry KeatingCannes Film Festivalmicro-dramaNetflixPatricio Valladares
Chilean filmmaker Patricio Valladares is making his debut in the video game space with an untitled FMV horror title that merges analog filmmaking with interactive storytelling. Currently in development through Vallastudio Films, the English-language game is being developed for platforms such as Steam and an app-based release. “In terms of format, the project is being […]
In 2001, Thierry Frémaux arrived in Cannes with a mandate: Build a bridge to Hollywood. The newly installed festival director made a pilgrimage to Los Angeles to sell the major studios on the virtues of having their movies premiere on the Riviera. And he found two important believers in Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos, who […]
Without any major new releases on Friday, “Michael” moonwalked right to the top of the box office charts. Lionsgate’s “Michael” earned $7 million domestic on Friday and is expected to add an impressive $25 million to $28 million by Sunday. That represents about a 27% drop from last weekend’s earnings. The biopic about the life […]
FeaturesCannes Film FestivalThe Fast and the FuriousVin Diesel
The Lumière brothers pointed a camera at a train in 1895, and the audience ran from their seats. Not because the train was real, but because the story was. Because something in the human animal recognized, in that flickering light, the possibility of shared experience at a scale that had never existed before. In 1995, […]
AsiaFestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalKore-eda HirokazuSheep in the Box
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s near-future drama “Sheep in the Box,” in which a grieving couple welcomes a state-of-the-art humanoid as their son, premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday to a 3.5-minute standing ovation. Kore-eda earned warm but not sustained applause after the credits rolled, with the ovation lasting 3.5 minutes until the director […]
ColumnsNewsally clarkAmazon MGM StudiosJust For VarietyViola Davis
“Lioness” and “The Walking Dead” actor Jay Huguley has joined the cast of “Ally Clark,” Phillip Noyce’s upcoming Amazon MGM Studios thriller. The film, starring and produced by EGOT winner Viola Davis, follows investigator Ally Clark as she uncovers a conspiracy involving an international conglomerate following the suspicious death of a close friend. Huguley’s role […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalDouble FreedomLisandro Alonso
“Double Freedom,” the latest by the Argentine auteur Lisandro Alonso, marks a return to the simplicity of his earliest works following the more complex likes of “Eureka,” his 2023 tripartite epic starring Viggo Mortensen. A direct sequel to his 2001 debut “Freedom,” an intriguingly noneventful observational drama about a man living in seclusion in the […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalJean RenoTom Hollander
K5 Intl. has closed a raft of sales on action-thriller “The Butler,” starring Jean Reno and Tom Hollander, which receives its final market screening in Cannes on Saturday evening. Buyers are Arna (CIS), SPI/Canal+ (Eastern Europe, Benelux), CineSky (Airlines), Eagle Pictures (Italy), Falcon Films (Middle East), Mediaset (Spain), PT Primacinema (Indonesia), Rialto (Australia), Splendid Film […]
GlobalNewsArab Critics' AwardsCannes Film FestivalOnce Upon a Time in Gaza
Gaza-born twin brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser’s “Once Upon a Time in Gaza,” their riff on the Western genre that premiered last year in Un Certain Regard, won best film at the 10th Critics Awards for Arab Films during an event held on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. “Once Upon a Time in […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalJulianne MooreKering Women in Motion Talks
Julianne Moore reflected on her decades-long career in a conversation with Variety‘s Angelique Jackson during a Kering Women in Motion Talk at Cannes on Saturday, discussing everything from female representation in film to how she selects her roles. The Oscar-winning actor, who is receiving Kering’s Women in Motion Award at this year’s festival, kicked off […]
Jaime King and Natasha Lyonne are to star in and produce “Darlene,” a dark-comedy thriller from director Mary Lambert, best known for helming the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary.” King is attached to play the title role of Darlene, a trailer-park influencer whose desperate pursuit of viral fame spirals into murder, abduction and […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalDogmaDogma 25Nora FingscheidtTom Tykwer
The Dogma 25 movement is spreading. Tom Tykwer, Kurdwin Ayub, İlker Çatak, Nora Fingscheidt and Helene Hegemann have joined forces as a group to create five independent films under its umbrella, in order to create “free and unpredictable cinema.” This was announcement comes exactly one year after Dogma 25 bowed at Cannes, with five Danish […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAICannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketChuck Russell
Two original sci-fi features built around generative AI across their entire production pipeline have been unveiled at the Cannes Film Market, as filmmaker Chuck Russell and his company Neumorphic AI set a production partnership with generative video platform Higgsfield. The projects, “Hyperia” and “b,” will deploy AI tools from worldbuilding and creature design through to […]
NewsReviewsCannes Film FestivalClub Kidjordan firstman
Jordan Firstman’s first Cannes premiere began with him gleefully twerking on the red-carpeted steps of the festival’s Debussy theater, before expressing in his onstage intro how thrilled he was to be “in de bussy.” So far, so expected from the most recognizable gay comedian of his generation, who shot to fame during the COVID lockdown […]
Nicolas Bary (“Trouble at Timpetill”) is gearing up for his next feature, “Increase,” an English-language futuristic thriller starring an international cast led by Matilda Lutz (“Revenge”), Suzanne Clément (“Mommy”), Holt McCallany (“Mindhunter”) and Fernanda Urrejola (“Cry Macho”). Set to shoot in Canada in 2027, the film stars Lutz as Genie, a professional runner whose life […]
Fresh off the success of “Mother Mary,” starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Cole, German production company Augenschein is stepping up a level with more Hollywood projects and higher budgets. The company, heading by Jonas Katzenstein and Maximilian Leo, started the year by launching “The Weight,” starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, onto the festival and […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FesivalGerardo HerreroLatido FilmsMarché du Film
“Carte Blanche” is a harrowing thriller that explores Spain’s seemingly forgotten Rif War in Morocco, the innate dehumanization of conflict that spurs rampant killing and its impact on the country’s subsequent Civil War. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Gerardo Herrero and based on the novel by Lorenzo Silva, “Carte Blanche” follows an elite unit of the […]
Michael Jordan is an icon. Not just on the basketball court, but in pop culture too. In fact, even his shoes are iconic. And now in unisex sizes, Nike is rereleasing the Nike Air Jordan 3 sneakers, the iconic sneakers that MJ wore when he won his first MVP, with new “Brazil” and “World’s Best” […]
FestivalsGlobalCannes Film FestivalRussell CroweTaormina Film Festival
Italy’s Taormina Film Festival will host the world premiere of Australian action thriller “Bear Country” that reunites Russell Crowe with “Unhinged” helmer Derrick Borte, with Crowe expected to make the treck to the storied fest in the Sicilian resort known to U.S. audiences as the location of “The White Lotus” Season 2. The fest’s chief Tiziana […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCharadesChristmasHorrorred snowVampires
Christmas will never be the same again after the premiere of “Red Snow,” directed by Finnish filmmaker Ilja Rautsi and boasting the world’s first vampire Santa Claus. Charades has sold the upcoming horror comedy to Selecta Vision (Spain) following the film’s presentation at Cannes during the Next from the Nordics showcase. “I was thinking about […]
Michael Fassbender is in negotiations to join Brady Corbet’s mystery-shrouded next feature, Variety has learned. Rumoured to be called “The Origin of the World,” the film marks Corbet’s follow up to his highly-acclaimed 2024 epic “The Brutalist,” which landed 10 Oscar nominations, including best actor for Adrien Brody, best cinematography and best original score. The […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAnacondaBrazilCannes Film FestivalI’m Still HereLa PerraSelton MelloZero K
From the way he lines up upcoming projects, one would think Selton Mello has 72 hours in the day. But the crunched-up schedule is a joy, not a burden, to the Brazilian actor, who is hungry to capitalize on the continuous momentum of Walter Salles’s Oscar-winning “I’m Still Here.” Currently undergoing a period of many […]
Mina Kimes’ degree in English from Yale served her well in the finale of “Celebrity Jeopardy! All-Stars”: The ESPN football analyst correctly answered the show’s game-deciding trivia question to win the $1 million top prize for her charity. The show’s final episode, which aired Firday evening on ABC, featured Kimes squaring off against actor-comedians Ike […]
The Emirates FA Cup (Football Association Challenge Cup) is England’s primary soccer cup, while its final match concludes the 145th annual season. In the cup match, Chelsea FC takes on Manchester City FC to compete for the top of the association. Want to livestream the FA Cup Final online? The match broadcasts live from Wembley Stadium […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketOlga Kurylenko
All Rights Entertainment has boarded international sales on “The Cop and the Assassin,” an action thriller starring Olga Kurylenko and Nina Bergman set to begin production in Thailand this November. Kurylenko, whose credits include “Black Widow,” “Quantum of Solace,” “Oblivion” and “Hitman,” will play a former SAS operative turned assassin hunting down the crime boss […]
AsiaFestivalsGlobalNewsAmma AriyanCannes ClassicsCannes Film FestivalJohn AbrahamShivendra Singh Dungarpur
When Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Film Heritage Foundation first wanted to restore “Amma Ariyan,” he could not get permission. The 1986 Malayalam film directed by John Abraham was not the property of a studio or a single estate. It had been made collectively – funded village by village, produced by a movement – and so the […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAll Rights EntertainmentCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketDudley and the Invasion of the Space Slugs
Annecy Presents selection “Dudley and the Invasion of the Space Slugs,” the animated family feature from Fabrique d’Images, is at the Cannes Film Market this week with eight territory deals already in place. All Rights Entertainment, based across Paris, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles, is handling international sales ahead of the film’s planned 2027 release. […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalJames FrancoJohn RamboNoah Centineo
James Franco has joined the cast of “John Rambo.” The actor — currently at the Cannes Film Festival — has a small role as a villain in the film, Variety understands, joining Noah Centineo as Rambo and the recently announced David Harbour as Rambo’s commanding officer Major Trautman. Being directed by Jalmari Helander (“Sisu”), “John Rambo” is […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalGéraldine NakacheMonia ChokriThink Good
The contemporary Franco-Belgian cinema certainly does not lack for films about toxic relationships and domestic abuse, with Xavier Legrand’s “Custody” and Valérie Donizelli’s “Just The Two of Us” among the recent best. An impressively shot, tension-filled drama about a woman trying to escape from an abusive, controlling husband, featuring strong performances by French-Canadian thesps Monia […]
Markets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalJosé SaramagoLeonel VieiraMarché du Film
Portuguese director-producer Leonel Vieira, the filmmaker behind Portuguese box office hit “The Courtyard of the Ballads” (“O Pátio das Cantigas”), is moving ahead with “The Night” (“A Noite”), a José Saramago adaptation set on the night the Carnation Revolution reached a Lisbon newsroom. The film stars Nuno Lopes, known internationally for Netflix’s “White Lines,” Adriano […]
Donald Trump’s defense secretary Pete Hegseth was widely mocked in April after he read a fake Bible verse from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 classic “Pulp Fiction” during a Pentagon worship service. It turns out Colin Jost sort of saw it coming. During a recent visit to “The Tonight Show,” Jost revealed that before Hegseth’s viral gaffe […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketFadli ZonIndonesia
Indonesia is officially targeting Country of Honor status at Cannes in 2028. Culture Minister Fadli Zon, speaking to Variety at Cannes, laid out a sweeping strategy to move Indonesia from the margins of the international screen industry toward what he describes as a central and influential role within it. “That is not only about prestige, […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalFabulaJuan De Dios LarrainMk2Pablo Larrainpijama
Pijama, the TVOD platform just launched by Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín, director and producer of “Jackie,” “Spencer” and “Maria,” has cut its first major commercial deals with MK2, Alpha Violet, Visit Films, Les Films du Losange, Electric Shadow and Utopia Films. Pijama’s idea is to offer producers of any film which doesn’t sell […]
France’s Urban Factory and Mexico’s Fidelio Films have boarded Colombian filmmaker Mauricio Leiva-Cock’s psychological thriller “Los Eastman,” selected for the Fantastic Round Robin at Cannes’ Fantastic Pavilion. According to Urban Factory’s Frédéric Corvez, they discovered the project during Bogotá’s BAM Producers Meeting, where partner Florencia Gil served as a mentor. “This project stood out from […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketIman VellaniZarrar Kahn
Iman Vellani, who broke out as the lead of Marvel’s “Ms. Marvel,” is set to headline the climate thriller “Suffering Is Optional,” a Canadian co-production written and directed by Zarrar Kahn for CityLights Media. Vellani will play Noor Rahman, a 20-year-old drama student who is cast in the lead role of an India-set adaptation of […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalQuiver DistributionWestend Films
Quiver Distribution has acquired North American rights to “Virginia Woolf’s Night & Day,” which stars Haley Bennett, Lily Allen, Jack Whitehall, Jennifer Saunders, Timothy Spall and Elyas M’Barek. Quiver is planning a theatrical release in the fall. Based on Woolf’s early novel, romantic comedy “Night & Day” is set against the backdrop of early 20th […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalJavier BardemLe PacteMovistar Plus+Rodrigo SorogoyenThe Beloved
Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved” (“El ser querido”), which world premieres in Cannes competition on May 16, begins in a plush Madrid restaurant. The scene lasts 20 minutes. In it, a world-famous film director, Esteban Martínez (Javier Bardem) reencounters his estranged daughter (Victoria Luengo) to offer her a part in his next film, even though he […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAdrià MonésCannes Film FestivalFasten FilmsMar CollMaría M. BayonaNely Reguera
Adrià Monés’ Fasten Films, producer of Cannes-selected “The End of It,” “Strawberries” and “Rehearsals of a Revolution,” has announced a new slate of films led by Catalan talent Mar Coll, Maria M. Bayona, Adrià Garcia and Nely Reguera. Fasten is also developing debut features from Víctor Alonso-Berbel, Jordi Boquet, Carlos Lechuga and Oriol Pérez, positioning […]
NewsReviewsEiza GonzalezGuy RitchieHenry CavillIn the GreyJake Gyllenhaal
Guy Ritchie is a filmmaker and series creator whose prodigious busyness in terms of both workload and story approach has its compensations. It’s foolish to expect what is so rarely a part of Ritchie’s subset of heist movies, from early ones like “Snatch” a generation ago, through to his latest, “In the Grey.” In these […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAgraCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketKanu Behl
More than 120 Indian filmmakers and producers have united to establish the Independent Filmmakers Assn. of India, a not-for-profit collective designed to improve theatrical access, distribution pathways and streaming visibility for the country’s independent sector. IFAI made its formal public debut at the Cannes Film Festival, with actor-producer Anshuman Jha and filmmaker Devashish Makhija representing […]
NewsBill MaherChinaDonald TrumpReal Time With Bill MaherXi Jinping
Recent weeks of “Real Time with Bill Maher” have seen the acerbic comic grill probable Democratic presidential hopeful Gavin Newsom for suing Fox News, comparing the California governor’s litigiousness to Trump, and joking that the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s purported suicide note sounds an awful lot like his good pal Trump. On Friday night’s […]
Fifth Season and HarbourView Equity Partners have set a multi-picture financing pact that will help the indie film and TV production outfit bring to life a number of projects including Dev Patel’s “The Peasant” and the Mila Kunis thriller “Nightwatching.” The deal adds to the film, TV and music investment bets that HarbourView Equity is […]
AsiaFestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalColonyYeon Sang-ho
Yeon Sang-ho’s “Colony” premiered in the Midnight Screenings section at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, marking the “Train to Busan” director’s return to the zombie genre. This time, he infuses it a distinctly contemporary twist that reflects anxieties about artificial intelligence, collective behavior and the erosion of human individuality. “All along my works, I […]
Director Jeff Fowler has wrapped filming on “Sonic the Hedgehog 4.” Fowler, who directed all three “Sonic” films, shared the news via X. He wrote, “On behalf of this amazing cast/crew, we have filmed the BEST Sonic Movie yet and can’t wait to share.” He also shared a photo of himself in the director’s chair […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalJohn TravoltaPropeller One-Way Night Coach
"Propeller One-Way Night Coach" is sometimes funny in a light way, but it's mostly sincere. Travolta wants to share how much he loved being on this plane: the wide-eyed wonder of it all — and, underneath that, the feeling that he was protected. (That’s the feeling 1962 could give you.)
Tony Seiniger, known as “The Godfather of Movie Advertising” for his work on campaigns for films including “Jaws,” died May 11 in Atlanta. He was 87. Born in New York City, he studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. He got his start at EUE/Screen Gems in New York, working in commercial production and […]
Drake is already making history following the release of his trio of albums — “Iceman,” “Habibti” and “Maid of Honour” — as he’s smashed three Spotify records in under a day. As of Friday afternoon, Drake became the most-streamed artist in a single day on Spotify in 2026, while “Iceman” became the most-streamed album in a […]
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the two-episode series premiere of “Dutton Ranch,” “The Untold Want” and “Earn Another Day,” which are now streaming on Paramount+. “Yellowstone” fans, rejoice! We’ve missed the primetime soap since it wrapped in 2024. Sure, we’ve had “Marshals,” but given that it’s more of a procedural, “Dutton Ranch” is going […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalGentle MonsterLéa SeydouxMarie Kreutzer
It is ironic, in a film of precious little irony, that Marie Kreutzer’s intelligently made but unremittingly bleak “Gentle Monster” — the Austrian director’s Cannes competition-selected follow-up to her Un Certain Regard prizewinner “Corsage” — should not only begin and end with a trampoline, but should to some degree pivot on the uncomplicatedly happy image […]
While streaming the fourth episode of his “Iceman” series on Thursday night, Drake essentially premiered the entire album before its release at midnight ET. But he had two more tricks up his sleeve: the Toronto rapper surprise-dropped a pair of additional albums — “Habibti” and “Maid of Honour” — making for a trio of records amounting […]
“Karma,” Guillaume Canet’s gripping religious cult thriller starring Oscar-winning actor Marion Cotillard, earned a six-minute standing ovation at Cannes on Friday. The edge-of-your-set French movie, which is produced by Iconoclast with Canet’s Caneo banner, world premiered in the Special Screenings section in the official selection. “Karma” is the second film that Canet has brought to […]
Toward the beginning of his new song “Janice STFU,” Drake conducts one of his customary exercises in emo theater: “You say what my work means to me will one day be the death of me / They tried to kill me once, but, darling, you just resurrected me.” It feels melodramatic, but this time, it’s […]
Glen Powell knows he seems to be everywhere right now — but he makes no apologies for it. “I find that being hard working, it’s something I really admire in my colleagues and other people,” Powell tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast. “I mean, work ethic is something, especially when you’re on a film set and […]
NewsA Night in the Writers RoomDeath by LightningImperfect WomenLove StoryMonster: The Ed Gein Story
The writers and creators behind some of TV’s biggest limited series took to the stage at Variety’s Night in the Writers Room on May 7 to give audiences a glimpse into their production processes and adapting material for television. Moderated by Variety’s Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tangcay, this year’s panel featured Annie Weisman of “Imperfect […]
Chris Rock had it all wrong, as it turned out, when he once laid some cynical conventional wisdom about show business on Jack Johnson. In December 2003, a 28-year-old Johnson found his way onto “The Late Show with David Letterman.” A few years prior, the Oahu native had been chasing a future as a professional […]
FeaturesCole HauserDutton RanchKelly ReillyTrending TV
One of TV’s most beloved couples is back. Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser have reunited to play Beth and Rip once more on the “Yellowstone” spinoff “Dutton Ranch.” The first two episodes are now available to watch on Paramount+. The series takes place six months after the couple’s modest Montana ranch burns down, and they […]
After eight seasons, Starz’s “Outlander” wrapped up with Claire (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) timeless love story getting a powerful (yet ambiguous) ending. While the last moments of the finale, which aired on Friday, May 15, show Claire and Jamie, seemingly dead, opening their eyes and taking another breath (read their full interpretation of […]
ReviewsJohn Lennon: The Last InterviewSteven SoderberghYoko Ono
John, in "The Last Interview," comes off as just about the happiest he has ever been. But he’s so high on the life he’s leading that he’s also at his most messianic. And a little of that goes a long way.
Elon Musk is continuing his campaign against Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” asserting that the Academy’s diversity guidelines are responsible for the director selecting a diverse array of cast members for the historical epic. “Who specifically is the asshole who added DEI lies to Academy Awards eligibility instead of it just being about making the best […]
Spotify users who updated their mobile app this week saw something new and unexpected: a new icon on their phones that’s a shimmering green 3D disco ball. Spotify has been coy about what the new icon means, responding from its official main account on X to a post about the new logo: “isn’t she lovely? […]
NewsCaitriona BalfeMatthew B. RobertsOutlanderSam Heughan
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “And the World Was All Around Us,” the series finale of “Outlander,” now streaming on Starz. Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan don’t know what to make of that final shot of the “Outlander.” But they know what they were feeling in the moment as they filmed it nearly […]
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains major spoilers for the novel “Yesteryear.” It’s safe to say that Caro Claire Burke’s delightfully horrifying novel “Yesteryear” — in which the fictional tradwife influencer Natalie Heller Mills winds up transported back to the days of, well, yesteryear — is the book of the moment. Since its April 7 release, […]
Christopher Nolan takes viewers behind the scenes of the intimate process of putting together an Imax film in a ’60 Minutes’ interview about “The Odyssey.” In one of two clips exclusively obtained by Variety, Nolan says to “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley, “In taking on ‘The Odyssey,’ it does become about scale. It needed to […]
NewsMariana van ZellerMuck MediaThe Hidden ThirdTrafficked With Mariana van Zeller
As “Trafficked With Mariana van Zeller” ended its award-winning run on Nat Geo last September, van Zeller has moved on to a new chapter in her career. The Emmy, Peabody and DuPont Award-winning journalist has launched The Hidden Third, a new independent production company. The news was announced by van Zeller and Muck Media, the […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsACIDCannes Film FestivalSwitzerland
Swiss-French feature “Summer Drift,” premiering at ACID Cannes Saturday, May 16, follows Johanna Schopfer, a watch factory worker in Geneva whose summer obsession with restoring her vintage VW Beetle becomes a personal and political act of reclamation. Directed by Céline Carridroit and Aline Suter, the film moves between documentary and autofiction, using reconstructed scenes and […]
Hayley Williams has some mixed feelings about both Los Angeles and Nashville, evidently. Kicking off a three-night stand at the Wiltern Wednesday night to conclude her “Hayley WIlliams at a Bachelorette Party” spring tour, she waxed enthusiastic about L.A. But not so enthusiastic that she wants to take up residence again. “This is one of […]
Both Martha Plimpton and Clifton Collins Jr. have joined “The Lowdown” Season 2, Variety has learned exclusively. The pair are the latest new additions to the second season of the FX series, alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Betty Gilpin, and Austin Amelio. Ethan Hawke stars in the series, with the Season 1 cast also including Keith […]
The jury in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial in New York has deadlocked, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial. After three days of deliberations, the jurors were unable to reach a verdict on a charge of third-degree rape for which Weinstein had been tried twice previously. Judge Curtis Farber gave prosecutors 30 days to decide […]
Every May, the NFL announces its full regular-season programming slate. But what started as a straightforward information dump has evolved into what’s now referred to as the “creative Super Bowl,” where the social media teams behind each team in the league brainstorm the most original ways to announce when they’ll face their predetermined opponents. Below, […]
AwardsColumnsNewsAwards Circuit ColumnEmmysEric KripkeThe Boys
On this final season of Prime Video’s “The Boys,” Homelander — played by Antony Starr and described by showrunner Eric Kripke as “our sociopathic Superman” — decides he’s going to be the new God, and he’s going to make the world believe he’s the new God. “We had endless conversations about, like, is that too […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalJohn TravoltaPropeller One-Way Night Coach
John Travolta got a major Cannes surprise ahead of the world premiere of his directorial debut “Propeller One-Way Night Coach” when the festival surprised him with an honorary Palme d’Or, which is the Cannes equivalent of a lifetime achievement prize. Travolta was shocked and overwhelmed by the surprise honor, saying: “This is beyond the Oscar.” […]
NewsBoys of TommenNancy SurridgePrime VideoSophie McGibbon
Amazon Prime Video has announced the first cast members for “Boys of Tommen,” the upcoming adaptation of the bestselling book series of the same name, written by Irish author Chloe Walsh. Nancy Surridge is set to lead the cast as Shannon Lynch, described as “a shy and mysterious girl new to Tommen College,” and Conor […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCosta RicaCosta Rica Film CommissionCosta Rica Media MarketLove Is the MonsterProcomer
In 2019, Sofía Quirós made history with “Land of Ashes,” the first feature film from Costa Rica to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival, in this case, Critics’ Week. In the relatively short span of seven years, the small but mighty Central American country has considerably ramped up production and now celebrates another landmark […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCosta RicaForever Your Maternal AnimalValentina Maurel
Almost four years after debut feature, “I Have Electric Dreams,” won big at Locarno, French-Costa Rican filmmaker Valentina Maurel makes her Cannes debut with “Forever Your Maternal Animal.” The film, selected for Un Certain Regard, follows Elsa (Daniela Marín Navarro), who returns to her home in Costa Rica after years studying in Europe. There, she […]
NewsAICannes Film FestivalDemi MooreThierry Fremaux
Demi Moore was blunt. “AI is here,” Moore, a jury member at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, said during a press conference on Tuesday. “And so to fight it is to fight something that is a battle that we will lose. So to find ways in which we can work with it, I think, is […]
“A Good Hand Wasted,” an upcoming original film starring Terrence Howard, will be released Nov. 6 on Turnstr+, a new streaming platform. Described as a psychological thriller, the official description of the movie reads, “During a complimentary luxury trip to an exclusive private island, six longtime friends are drawn into a high-stakes poker game inside […]
Stephen Colbert’s last week on air at “The Late Show” will feature some heavy hitters. The CBS late-night program announced its lineup for the week of May 18. Monday is “The Worst of ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,'” which the network clarifies is not a clip show. Tuesday will have Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalMari SandersTribeca Film Festival
Paris-based sales company Loco Films has acquired world sales rights to Mari Sanders’ “Stand Up” ahead of its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and is launching sales at the Cannes Market. The Dutch director’s debut tells the story of Vera, a fun-loving 23-year-old woman whose life is upended when an accident leaves her in […]
While the cast and writers of “Saturday Night Live U.K.” are front and center of the British adaptation, the show’s secret sauce is, of course, the artisans. From hand-sewing individual strands of hair onto a David Attenborough wig to tailoring the perfect Melania Trump suit, costume, make up and hair teams are “SNL U.K.’s” unsung […]
Emmy-winning director and producer Jason Winer has been signed by United Talent Agency for representation in all areas. Winer was the director of the “Modern Family” pilot, which premiered in 2009, as well as the producing director for the first season of the hit, landmark ABC comedy. He was part of the producing team that […]
AwardsColumnsFestivalsNewsHannah EinbenderJane SchoenbrunJust For VarietyProvincetown International Film Festival
This year’s edition of the Provincetown International Film Festival will present the Next Wave Award to Jane Schoenbrun and Hannah Einbinder. The honor recognizes those who have exciting and distinctive voices, take artistic risks and have a passionate commitment to independent film. Schoenbrun and Einbinder will receive the award on June 12 at the Crown […]
AsiaFestivalsGlobalNewsAll of a SuddenCannes Film FestivalHamaguchi Ryusuke
Japanese auteur Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s first French-language film, “All of a Sudden,” premiered in competition at the Cannes on Friday to a seven-minute standing ovation, the longest of the fest so far. The drama — about two women brought together by terminal illness — moved the audience in the Palais greatly, with many viewers weeping openly […]
NBCUniversal Launch, the company’s umbrella brand that houses the comprehensive inclusion efforts across NBCUniversal’s entertainment television portfolio, is unveiling its annual Unscripted Pitch Accelerator program. The program is designed to discover the next generation of unscripted storytellers for NBC, Bravo and Peacock. The initiative offers independent creators and producers the opportunity to pitch original concepts directly to […]
ReviewsAll of a SuddenCannes Film FestivalRyusuke HamaguchiTao OkamotoVirginie Efira
Two women talk for the best part of three-and-a-quarter-hours and Ryusuke Hamaguchi makes of it an unassumingly momentous miracle. “All of a Sudden,” the Japanese director’s gorgeous new feature, is the rarest type of film, not merely good enough to remind you what cinema can be, but great enough to remind you what life can […]
Like any freshman year, one’s first season on “Saturday Night Live” is full of new friends, late nights and nervous poops. At least, that’s according to the five new cast members of Season 51, who together mark “SNL’s” biggest single-season intake since 2013, when six were added to the cast. The venerable sketch comedy series […]
Saudi Arabia has raised its rebate for film and TV productions from 40% to a whopping 60% in a clear signal that the kingdom is keen to keep on driving it nascent industry after the removal of its religion-related 35-year cinema ban in late 2017. The Saudi Film Commission on Friday at the Cannes Film […]
With all the bells and whistles rumored to be a part of Disney’s “super app” plans, there’s one feature that can be ruled out at this time: the AI magic the company had been conjuring via its recently aborted partnership with OpenAI. Which begs a question: Will consumers ever be able to create videos that […]
Henna Virkkunen, EVP of the European Commission responsible for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, made the trek to the Cannes Film Festival on Friday for the first time, just as Europe’s film community is up in arms over plans for major changes to the EU’s Creative Europe funding program. On the eve of the fest’s opening, […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalClub Kidjordan firstman
Jordan Firstman whipped out something unexpected at the Cannes Film Festival — pure sincerity, with his triumphant directorial debut “Club Kid.” The movie premiered to instant acclaim from movie critics and a hugely-enthusiastic six minute standing ovation from the audience inside the Théâtre Claude Debussy. Playing in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival, […]
ReviewsTV ReviewsErinn HayesIt's Not Like ThatJ. R. RamirezPrime VideoScott Foley
Following the success of its faith-based successes “The Chosen” and “House of David,” Amazon Prime is expanding in the genre with “It’s Not Like That,” from creators Ian Deitchman and Kristin Robinson. The intricate family drama uses Christianity as a pillar, but extends outward to explore the sticky nuances and unexpected circumstances that arise amid […]
GlobalNewsAllyBong Joon HoCannes Film FestivalNeon
Seven years after he won the Palme d’Or with “Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho is back in Cannes, this time with his first animated feature. “Ally,” in the works since 2019 and due for completion later this year, is set in the uncharted depths of the South Pacific Ocean, where a curious piglet squid dreams of […]
President Donald Trump disclosed thousands of financial transactions for the first quarter of 2026 with a total value of at least $220 million (and as much as $750 million), including those involving securities from major media and tech companies. The reports, released May 14, reveal that Trump bought at least $571,000 of securities in Netflix […]
Harry Styles’s Pleasing has added a new accessory to its lineup: earplugs. The lifestyle brand, which the Grammy-winning artist launched in 2021, has teamed up with Loop Earplugs on a limited-edition collection of the Experience 2 Earplugs, designed specifically for live music. The release features two new colorways inspired by the Pleasing aesthetic (Loud Enough […]
Guilty pleasures are one thing, but utterly delicious bits of television are something else entirely. Season 2 of Hulu’s “Rivals,” the 1980s-set dark comedy adapted from Jilly Cooper’s “Rutshire Chronicles” novels, is exactly that. The series, which is set in the fictional county of Rutshire, England, follows an intense rivalry. Legendary television executive Lord Tony Baddingham […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAyo EdebiriCANEXCannes Film FestivalDavid OyelowoNeon
CANEX Creations CEO Osahon Akpata has outlined his strategic vision for how the pan-African institution can boost the profile of the continent’s filmmakers, while Neon has released a first-look image for the CANEX-backed “Clarissa,” the buzzy, Lagos-set adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” that premieres May 16 in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar. Directed by Arie […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAlisa KovalenkoDocumentaries to WatchIgor BezinovićMillennium Docs Against Gravity
“To Hold a Mountain,” a documentary from directing duo Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić about sisterhood and solitude in the Montenegrin highlands, won the Grand Prix at Millennium Docs Against Gravity during an award ceremony in Warsaw on Thursday. The film, which won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year, was praised by […]
Matthew McConaughey revealed on the “No Magic Pill” podcast (via People) that he once exiled himself from Hollywood and lived without electricity for 22 days in Peru when the pressures of early fame became too much for him to handle. He exclusively went by Matteo during this period as to further disassociate himself from his celebrity status. […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalEpsilon FilmMartin Freeman
Epsilon Film has closed a raft of international deals on “Momo,” the live-action family adventure film based on the novel by Michael Ende, best known for “The NeverEnding Story,” and starring Martin Freeman and Claes Bang. U.K. and Ireland rights have been acquired by Signature Entertainment, which plans a summer 2026 theatrical release. Additional sales […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalLéa SeydouxMarie Kreutzer
At the start of 2023, as the awards campaign for Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage” was in full swing, a bombshell landed: Florian Teichtmeister, one of its lead actors, was charged with possession of child pornography. On Friday, Kreutzer debuts her latest film, “Gentle Monster,” in competition at Cannes. Its subject: a man is charged with possession […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketNapa BoysThe Mise En Scène Company
London-based sales outfit The Mise-En-Scène Company is launching international rights to “The Napa Boys,” an ensemble comedy, at the Cannes Film Market, with the acquisition struck through Sunset Rose Pictures, the production banner of producer Mike Rosenstein. Co-written by and starring Armen Weitzman (“Veep”) and Nick Corirossi (“What We Do in the Shadows”) – Corirossi […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBYDCannes Film FestivalPierre-Antoine CaptonZhanna Ozirna
Ukrainian filmmaker Zhanna Ozirna’s claustrophobic marital drama “Honeymoon” won the inaugural Build Your Dream award at a chic Cannes ceremony atop the JW Marriott on May 14. Set at the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, the intimate thriller follows Kyiv newlyweds trapped in their apartment and cut off from the outside world, a situation endangering […]
Jordana Brewster helped electrify Cannes during the 25th anniversary screening of “The Fast and the Furious,” which she attended alongside original cast members Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez plus Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow. Speaking to Variety’s Angelique Jackson a few days later during a Kering Women in Motion talk, the actor behind Mia Toretto called […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCosta Rica Media MarketFantastic Lab Costa RicaFantastic PavilionPablo Guisa
The winners are in. Fantastic Lab Central America & Caribbean has unveiled six finalists and one grand prize at the Cannes Fantastic Pavilion. Presented by Baby Atómica, one of Fantastic Lab’s partners, the grand prize goes to “We Won’t Let the Goat Die” (“No dejaremos que muera la cabra “) a co-production involving Costa Rica, […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketNaseeruddin ShahRehmat
A new Paris-based production company dedicated to independent and auteur Indian cinema has entered the market. Pavo Films, co-founded in by Cosmin Illes and Némésis Srour, announced its formation at the Cannes Film Market, with Gurvinder Singh’s “Rehmat” – starring Naseeruddin Shah – as its debut co-production. The two co-founders bring complementary backgrounds in streaming […]
Relaxed, witty and fresh off another globe-spanning theater tour, Isabelle Huppert was already slipping back into Cannes mode when we met at Paris’ iconic Lutetia Hotel ahead of the world premiere of Asghar Farhadi’s “Parallel Tales” in competition. In the Paris-set movie, Huppert stars alongside a powerful cast including Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney, […]
The busiest actor in Cannes this year is a man considerably more famous for his artistry on the football field than on screen. Eric Cantona has an impressive three films in the festival, with the French soccer legend and Manchester United hero acting in two and the subject of another. In Avril Besson’s debut feature […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsAsghar FarhadiCannes Film FestivalIsabelle HuppertParallel Tales
Asghar Farhadi spoke about the conflict in his native Iran during the Cannes Film Festival press conference for his new film “Parallel Tales,” saying: “Any murder is a crime.” It didn’t take long for the Iranian auteur to be asked his thoughts on the war between Iran, the U.S. and Israel. The Oscar winner has […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketFauzan ZidniIndonesian Film Agency
Fauzan Zidni is at Cannes this year as the newly elected chair of the Indonesian Film Agency (BPI) with a program already in Critics’ Week and the agency making its first institutional appearance at the festival. “Next Step Studio Indonesia” — four short films by Indonesian directors made alongside peers from Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAbba MakamaCANEXCannes Film FestivalSteven Markovitz
The African Producers Accelerator, an initiative designed to tackle persistent industry barriers faced by mid-career African film and television producers, has selected the six participants who will take part in its 2026 edition. The producers, who were chosen from 267 applications submitted across 31 countries, are South Africa’s Babalwa Baartman (“Good Madam”) and David Franciscus (“Street Trash”); […]
Markets & FestivalsBalandrauCannes Film FestivalCannes MarketFilmax InternationalWild Bunch
Wild Bunch has acquired German rights to “Balandrau: Where the Fierce Wind Blew” (“Balandrau, Vent Salvatge,” original Catalan title), the Spanish survival thriller sold internationally by Filmax. The deal is one of several closed by Filmax ahead of and around the Cannes Marché du Film. The film has also been sold to Latin America with […]
ColumnsNewsJon FavreauJust For VarietyStar WarsThe Mandalorian and Grogu
It’s been almost 50 years since the first “Star Wars” was released. And it’s taken that long for a movie in the beloved franchise – “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” — to be shot in Los Angeles “I’d like to thank the California Film Commission and allowing us to have a tax incentive here […]
NewsJon FavreauPedro PascalStar WarsThe Mandalorian and Grogu
“Star Wars” has officially returned to the big screen courtesy of “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” and members of the film press are calling the franchise’s comeback “a thrilling adventure,” “a perfect summer movie” and “a lot of fun,” although overall reactions are divided. “It’s less about the lore and more a fun, freaky romp across […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalDanielEsben SmedNiels Arden OplevNordisk Film ProductionThe Girl With The Dragon TattooTrustnordisk
Copenhagen-based sales outfit TrustNordisk has acquired international rights to “Shadow & Light” from acclaimed Danish writer-director Niels Arden Oplev (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “We Shall Overcome,”“Flatliners”). The drama, which just started filming in Denmark, reunites Oplev with Esben Smed, the lead in his Isis kidnapping thriller “Daniel”, aka “Held for Ransom” when released […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalLaszlo Nemes
For his historical drama “Moulin,” which premieres in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Oscar-winning Hungarian filmmaker László Nemes (“Son of Saul”) traveled back in time to WWII-era France to tell the story of Jean Moulin, a resistance fighter whose bravery helped liberate his country from Nazi occupation. When it came to the exacting work of putting […]
NewsAlberto VazquezAnnecy Animation Film FestivalDecoradoGkids
Several characters in “Decorado” are on the brink of a mental breakdown. Poverty, unemployment and a constant state of paranoia have driven them to feel like they are trapped inside an artificial set, where every element in their lives feels fake and orchestrated by an ominpresent Big Brother-like business known as ALMA (Almighty Limitless Megacorporative […]
Oscar-Nominated “Sentimental Value” star Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas will join “The Secret Agent” lead Wagner Moura on Brazilian film “The Outsider,” where Ibsdotter Lilleaas will have the central role. Bringing together stars of the two biggest non-English language movies at this year’s Academy Awards, “The Outsider” (“A Estrangeira”) is produced by São Paulo’s Maria Farinha […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketOhno AtsukoPan Nalin
Producer Ohno Atsuko of Hassaku Labs, whose Fukada Koji film “Nagi Notes” is competing at the Cannes Film Festival this year, is reteaming with writer-director Pan Nalin on “The Man Who Walks,” an English-language love story currently in casting and seeking co-production partners at the Cannes Film Market. The film’s central figure is the world’s […]
GlobalNewsBill PullmanCannes Film FestivalCohen Media GroupEverybody Digs Bill Evans
“Everybody Digs Bill Evans,” the jazz biopic that received a rapturous reception in the Berlinale and would go on to win the Silver Bear for director Grant Gee, has been picked up for the U.S. Cohen Media Group has bought the feature, described by “evocative portrait of one of the most influential musicians of the […]
FestivalsGlobalCannes Film FestivalEmma LairdIsabella Rossellini
Isabella Rossellini, Emma Laird and Millicent Simmonds are set to star in “Vermillion,” a period piece set during the last days of the French Revolution to be directed by British director Jon Amiel. Based on the play by Joel Gross, “Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh,” which first played in New York in 2007, and […]
After a surprise, landslide electoral defeat brought down longtime strongman Viktor Orbán last month, there’s a breath of new life in the Hungarian film industry. Here’s a rundown of the some of the buzziest titles local producers are bringing to the Cannes market, featuring a mix of top Hollywood stars and emerging local talents.: MoulinDirector: László NemesProducer: […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalLaszlo Nemes
Now that the dust has settled on longtime strongman Viktor Orbán’s landslide electoral defeat last month, Hungarian industry figures are charting a course for what one leading producer describes as a “new day” after 16 years of Orbán’s authoritarian rule. The election-day shocker set off waves of jubilation across the Hungarian film community, with Oscar-winning “Son of Saul” filmmaker László Nemes, competing for […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAntti-Jussi AnnilaCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketSands of Sarasvati
Antti-Jussi Annila, the Finnish director behind “Codename: Annika” and the political drama series “Peacemaker,” is set to helm “Sands of Sarasvati,” a Finland-U.K. co-production eco-thriller adapted from Risto Isomäki’s best-selling novel. The screenplay is co-written by Annila and Rachelle Atalla, a Scottish-Egyptian novelist and screenwriter. Isomäki’s source novel won the Tähtivaeltaja Award and received a […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAdrianoBoutique FilmesCannes Film FestivalMarché du FilmParamount PicturesSoccer
Brazilian soccer star Adriano, who dazzled at Inter Milan and Flamengo with his goals and flamboyant personality, looks set to get a big screen movie bio, “The Emperor Adriano,” from Brazil’s Boutique Films and Paramount Pictures Brazil. Behind “3%,” a Netflix non-English-language global breakout, São Paulo-based Boutique Filmes has acquired the rights to nonfiction biography […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalMargherita Spampinato
Italy’s Fandango has scored multiple sales on “Sweetheart” (“Gioia Mia”) the delicate generation gap drama by Margherita Spampinato who is being honored with Kering’s Emerging Talent Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The fresh film about a cheeky young boy named Nico who is raised in a tech-savvy family and forced to spend the […]
In 1946, 15 years before Alain Resnais made “Last Year at Marienbad,” one of the world’s earliest film festivals unspooled in the Czech spa towns of Marianske Lazne — aka “Marienbad” — and Karlovy Vary — aka “Carlsbad.” Tucked in beautiful Bohemia, Karlovy Vary had already made cinema history 50 years before that, in 1896, […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalJane SchoenbrunJulia DucournauPark Chan-wookZachary Wigon
Are genre films set to overtake the Cannes Film Festival like a zombie horde? As with the ominous music before a jump scare, things certainly seem to be trending in that direction. Two years after Coralie Fargeat’s grotesque, feminist fantasia “The Substance” shocked the Croisette and one year after Julia Ducournau’s body horror “Alpha” (following […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAll That We Never WereCannes Film FestivalFilmsharks
Warner Bros.’ Spanish romantic dramas “All That We Never Were” and “Ask Me What You Want” have struck major sales deals. International sales agent FilmSharks reports that all North American rights to romantic drama “All That We Never Were” (“Todo lo que Nunca Fuimos”) sold to Berlin-based Capelight Pictures, which plans a limited theatrical release. […]
The city that works is now into overtime. During the first quarter of 2026, Chicago saw seven series lensing in town. Production expenditures in Illinois hit a record $703 million in 2025, per stats released by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office. Those numbers were bolstered by the state’s film production tax credit, now extended until […]
NewsCannes Film FestivalDirectors’ FortnightReed Van Dyk
“It is truly a dream come true,” says Reed Van Dyk, whose directorial feature debut, “Atonement,” unspools in Directors’ Fortnight. “If I had any dream in film, it was to present a movie at Cannes, and I have a long-standing relationship with this section of the festival. There’s been a lot of movies from Fortnight […]
NewsCBSDavid LettermanLate Show With Stephen ColbertStephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert’s 11-year run as host of “The Late Show” will end on May 21. That its untimely end was announced mere weeks before the Trump-loyalist Ellison family finalized their CBS-Paramount takeover led many to believe it was a move to appease Trump, while the network claimed Colbert’s late-night program was losing around $40 million […]
A new INR40 lakh (approximately $42,000) co-production fund for feature films aimed at India’s emerging independent filmmakers has been launched by Humans of Cinema and Safarnaama Pictures, with eminent filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj and Oscar-nominated director Shaunak Sen attached as mentors. Sen will also serve as executive producer on whichever project is ultimately selected for backing. […]
Drake dropped not just one, but three new albums on Friday, releasing “Iceman” as expected at midnight ET, along with “Maid of Honour” and “Habibti.” Rumors started circulating earlier on Thursday that Drake would release “Iceman” followed by “Maid of Honour” about an hour later, according to DJ Hed on X. But Drake announced that […]
At the end of her “Mayhem Ball” tour, Lady Gaga performs “Bad Romance” as the opera house behind her ignites, the set piece roaring with flames. It’s a commentary, or at least it appeared to be, on the ephemeral nature of pop music: Gaga spends the entire performance celebrating the genre’s artifice by leaning into […]
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from the two episode-premiere of Season 5 of “Welcome to Wrexham.” Wrexham AFC’s path towards the Premier League has been lined with victories, and one of the biggest among them is last month’s news that FX has ordered an additional three seasons of the hit docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham.” […]
Warner Bros. Discovery kicked off its annual upfront event at the Madison Square Garden Theater by paying tribute to the late Ted Turner, who had just died the previous week. Turner, of course, was part of why WBD was even holding an upfront in the first place: Not only was the media giant a cable […]
Bound by a common language and torrid history, 21-year-old Mexican nanny Lucila (Anna Diaz) bristles against her surroundings in Madrid, where she and her younger brother followed their mother from their Mexican hometown. “Ashes” shares these broad strokes with the novel on which it’s based — Brenda Navarro’s evocatively titled “Ceniza en la boca,” or […]
ColumnsNewsJust For VarietyOur Lady JTransparentYona Speidel
Yona Speidel, the Emmy nominated writer and producer formerly known as Our Lady J, recently experienced grief as a Jew for the first time. Just six weeks after converting to Judaism in March and officially changing her name, Speidel marked her late brother’s Yahrzeit (the anniversary of one’s death) by lighting a candle and reciting […]
NewsBrian Tyree HenryScarlett JohanssonSebastian StanThe Batman 2
‘The Batman: Part 2″ director Matt Reeves has been rolling out posts on X introducing a number of additions confirmed to be joining Robert Pattinson in the cast of the upcoming sequel. Among the now-confirmed new faces, Reeves announced that Scarlett Johansson has joined the film, posting a photo of her in the 2013 film “Under […]
With two recent deals, Byron Allen has elevated his profile in both late-night TV and the digital media space. He’s about to take control of struggling media company BuzzFeed, and next week he is getting the the CBS time slot that is being vacated this month by “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” after the […]
Amazon Studios has been sued by a post-production vendor who alleges he was blackballed after refusing to pay kickbacks to an Amazon employee. Joe Eckardt, owner of Unbreakable Post, alleges he has been denied at least $1 million worth of work since refusing to participate in the scheme in 2023. Eckardt has worked on “Temptation […]
Ted Turner made his mark across media and entertainment as a trailblazing entrepreneur. Nowhere was his impact more profound than in journalism with the launch of CNN. Ted Turner was also nothing short of a gift to the journalists who covered his long run in the public eye. Turner, the media mogul who died May […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsAsghar FarhadiCannes Film FestivalIsabelle HuppertParallel Tales
Asghar Farhadi made a grand return to Cannes Film Festival on Thursday night with “Parallel Tales,” his French-language drama starring Isabelle Huppert. As the clapping continued, Farhadi hugged his actors Catherine Deneuve and Virginie Efira. Huppert, who leads the film, stood beside him but remained politely smiling during the ovation. The Iranian auteur and two-time […]
After publicly supporting Donald Trump and the Republican Party in recent months, Nicki Minaj is opening up about why she became vocal in her support for the President. During an interview with Time, Minaj says a major reason that she was turned off to Democrats was that after her home was “swatted” several times after […]
Maddie Brewer has signed with Verve for representation, Variety has learned exclusively. She continues to be repped by Fourth Wall Management. Brewer is the creator, writer, and animator behind the Adult Swim series “CHIPS.” The show premiered in October 2025 and will be in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June. The […]
Emmy award-winning TV producer Sarah Caplan, who worked on series including “Felicity,” “Lost” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, died April 30 at Dignitas in Zurich, three years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She was 73. Her daughter, Stella Stahl, said in a statement, “In December, when it became clear the treatment she was undergoing wasn’t making an […]
NewsCannes Film FestivalSeth RogenTanglesThe Studio
“Tangles,” a new black-and-white animated film about a 20-something illustrator named Sarah who is dealing with her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease, was all too real for its producers, Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen. The couple started dating more than two decades ago, as Miller Rogen’s mother, Adele, was showing the first signs of the illness […]
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual […]
After 20 years with Paramount brands, MTV Entertainment Studios president Keith Cox is stepping down from his position. Paramount Television Studios president Matt Thunell and Cox announced the news in notes to Paramount employees Thursday, which were obtained by Variety. Per Thunell, Cox’s direct reports, Paramount Television Studios vice presidents Antonia Covault and Todd Baynes will […]
R&B-pop artist Dawn Richard, singer-songwriter Valerie June, Nigerian guitar innovator Mdou Moctar and electronic artist Porches will perform at the 2026 Libera Awards, the Foundation for Independent Music and the American Association of Independent Music have announced. The awards are presented by Merlin. The awards take place in New York on Monday, June 8 at […]
Florida is once again having a main character moment. Three major series recently utilized the region’s distinct environs: ABC’s “R.J. Decker,” Peacock’s “M.I.A.” and Apple TV’s Season 1 of “Bad Monkey.” HBO’s comedy series “It’s Florida, Man” is currently prepping for a third season. All these projects were produced without state-sponsored incentives, along with Spanish-language […]
The hunt for the next James Bond has officially kicked off. Amazon MGM Studios started auditioning actors for the part of 007 in the past few weeks, Variety has learned, with the studio enlisting the help of Nina Gold to find the man with the suaveness and danger necessary to replace Daniel Craig as Ian […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalFatherlandPawel PawlikowskiSandra Hüller
The matter-of-fact seduction of Pawlikowski’s filmmaking lies in how he stages everything with a coolly objective authenticity. In "Fatherland," he lends this historical moment a time-machine quality, so that we feel we’re right there, in Germany in 1949, seeing the sands of history shift. Pawlikowski is ruminating on moral choice, and he’s also ruminating on God.
Subscribers of Charter Communications’ higher-end Spectrum TV plans now have access to Warner Bros. Discovery’s Discovery+ for no extra charge. Of course, much of the content on Discovery+ (but not all) is already available through WBD’s HBO Max, which also is currently available to the same Spectrum TV customers. For example, Discovery+ includes 63 seasons […]
It’s all about people spying on each other, which can be a good idea for a movie. And no one is saying that Farhadi has to stick to his familiar mode of neorealist drama. But "Parallel Tales," it’s my grim duty to report, is a meandering and rather amorphous mess. It’s a far-out parable of voyeurism and imagination, loosely based on the sixth episode of Krzysztof Kieślowki’s "Dekalog," which was about a young man spying on a woman across the street and falling in love with her. But "Dekalog: Six" had suspense; "Parallel Tales" has longueurs.
On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast, Variety’s Michael Schneider breaks down the last lap of upfronts week as Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix and YouTube grabbed the megaphone. And Variety music chief Jem Aswad goes deep on the music of “Heated Rivalry” in a session with showrunner Jacob Tierney, composer Peter Peter and music supervisor […]
The Try Guys’ bonkers cooking competition “Phoning It In” has rounded out its slate of judges, cast members and contestants for Season 4. The show premiered its fourth installment on the independent streamer 2nd Try TV on May 6 before it rolls onto YouTube starting May 30. Chris Ying, Justin Pichetrungsi, Elizabeth Falkner, Jordan Myrick, […]
Claudine Longet, the French singer and actress who underwent a 1976 trial after she shot and killed her boyfriend, Olympic skier Spider Sabich, has died, according to the Telegram. She was 84. Longet performed pop tracks for A&M Records’ albums before she sang the Henry Mancini-Don Black song “Nothing to Lose” in Blake Edwards’ 1968 […]
NewsReviewsCannes Film FestivalGabinMaxence Voiseux
“Gabin” is far from the first film — nonfiction or otherwise — to make a longterm investment in a child protagonist, training a camera on them over years as adulthood gradually approaches. Maxence Voiseux’s film has obvious precedents in such documentary projects as Michael Apted’s landmark “7 Up” series and Robert David Cochrane’s “Boys of […]
The distinctive visual storytelling of Canadian cartoonist Sarah Leavitt is deftly and stylishly transferred to the big screen in “Tangles,” an honestly felt and highly affecting adaptation of her autobiographical graphic novel of the same name. Chronicling with tenderness and idiosyncratic humor her mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Leavitt’s memoir has become a touchstone work […]
NewsArchewell ProductionsMeghan MarkleNetflixPrince Harry
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are developing a feature film adaptation of the Afghan war memoir “No Way Out: The Searing True Story of Men Under Siege,” for Netflix. The book chronicles British Major Adam Jowett’s command of Easy Company, a unit of Paras and Royal Irish rangers tasked with holding the District Centre of […]
NewsBentonville Film FestivalFamily MovieKevin BaconLittle House On The Prairie
BFFoundation has announced the 2026 Bentonville Film Festival’s lineup of in-person premieres. The festival will be held June 15-21 in Bentonville, Arkansas, and will showcase a range of narrative, documentary, homegrown, short film, and episodic material. BFF 2026 will open on June 16 with “Family Movie,” with directors, producers, and stars Kevin Bacon and Kyra […]
Ending a show is not easy — and the process is different for everyone. That was just one lesson learned during the drama series panel at the Variety A Night in the Writers’ Room event in Los Angeles. First, both Eric Kripke, showrunner and executive producer of Prime Video’s “The Boys,” and Matthew B. Roberts, showrunner, […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalFatherlandPawel PawlikowskiSandra Huller
Pawel Pawlikowski drew a warm response in Cannes for “Fatherland,” his third drama exploring the moral complexities of post-war Europe following his Oscar-winning “Ida” and European Film Award heavyweight “Cold War.” Sandra Hüller takes a fraught and cathartic road trip in Paweł Pawlikowski’s Cannes premiere “Fatherland”– and her GPS is set for next year’s Oscar race. […]
Dua Lipa has announced “Dua Lipa (Live From Mexico),” a live album and concert film that she recorded across three shows at Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros. The film is slated to premiere on May 21 at 10 a.m. PT on Lipa’s YouTube channel, while the live album will hit streaming services on May 22. […]
It’s been three years since Drake has released a solo album, but he’s far from cooled off. Since releasing 2023’s “For All the Dogs,” Toronto’s finest teamed up with PartyNextDoor for “Some Sexy Songs 4 U”; dropped a massive collection of footage and files, including a handful of new songs; and spent the past few […]
Mister Smith Entertainment has unveiled a phot look still of its supernatural horror film “Hide and Don’t Speak.” Pic features the film’s star Momona Tamada (“Avatar: The Last Airbender”). The cast also includes Tanner Buchanan (“Cobra Kai,” “How to Date Billy Walsh”), Garrett Wareing (“The Long Walk”), Quvenzhané Wallis (Oscar nominee for “Beasts of the […]
The team behind the docuseries “Lost Women of Alaska,” which explores the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis, discussed raising awareness around the disproportionate violence against Native women at the Variety FYC TV Fest on May 6. Held in conversation with Variety’s Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tangcay, the panel comprised of the show’s executive producers Christina […]
AsiaFestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalIndonesia
There is a moment, somewhere between exchanging favorite films and confronting each other’s psyche, where two strangers from different countries have to decide whether they can actually make something together. For the eight directors at the center of “Next Step Studio Indonesia 2026,” that moment arrived last year in Jakarta. The result, screening in Cannes’ […]
A feature project with John Legend and Mike Jackson and a kids’ TV project based on Chrissy Teigen and Tracy Stevens’ podcast are among the projects that have been unveiled as part of Kas Kas Productions’ initial development slate. Founded by former Lionsgate executive Kamala Avila-Salmon, the film and television production company’s development includes a […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAlejandra GarcíaCannes Film FestivalCinemachileFernando BascuñanRodrigo Teixeira
Chile boasts a milestone presence in Cannes this year with new or consolidating companies leading the charge. Among them is Fernando Bascuñán’s Planta with three projects — two competing in Directors’ Fortnight: Domingo Sotomayor’s drama about a woman adopting a stray dog, “La Perra,” and Lisandro Alonso’s “Double Freedom” (“La libertad doble”). Picked up by […]
Charades has acquired world sales rights to “La Frappe” (“The Blow”) from writer-director Julien Gaspar-Oliveri. The film will premiere during Cannes’ Critics Week. The film which will have its world premiere on May 15, follows siblings Enzo and his sister Carla who have been on their own for several years. When their father is released […]
Bill Lawrence will receive the 2026 Project Healthy Minds Storyteller of the Year Award. The TV creator will be honored at Project Healthy Minds’ annual World Mental Health Day Gala on October 8 at Spring Studios in New York. Lawrence currently serves as the executive producer of five TV series, including “Shrinking,” “Ted Lasso,” “Scrubs,” […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannesDiego CespedesFrancisca AlegriaMarialy RivasNiña Niño FilmsQuijote Films
As Chile boasts a milestone presence in Cannes this year with new or consolidating companies leading the charge — including Domingo Sotomayor’s drama about a woman adopting a stray dog, “La Perra,” and Lisandro Alonso’s “Double Freedom” (“La libertad doble”) both competing in Directors’ Fortnight — here are 10 Chilean titles to track at this […]
Kathleen Eagan Murray was as surprised as everyone else when her college friend Nithya Raman announced she was running for mayor of Los Angeles in February. She sent off a quick text — and soon found herself organizing a slew of fundraisers and meet-and-greets. Eagan Murray and her husband, TV writer Matt Murray (“Parks and […]
Jodie Comer has been cast in the lead role of the upcoming HBO limited series “The Chain.” The series was originally announced in January under creator Damon Lindelof’s overall deal with HBO. “The Chain” is based on the book of the same name by Adrian McKinty. HBO has given the show an eight-episode order. Comer […]
“CoComelon: The Movie” has unveiled its cast, with SZA, Nicholas Hoult and Sarah Sherman set to voice new characters in the theatrical spinoff of the beloved children’s series. Other newcomers to the movie’s cartoon universe are Ike Barinholtz, Ego Nwodim, Josh Johnson, Matt Friend, Rhys Darby and Cristo Fernández. They’ll be joined by familiar faces […]
Claire Danes will receive the Performer Tribute at this year’s Gotham Television Awards. The third annual event takes place lie on June 1 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The recognition pays tribute to Danes’ storied career across film and television, including her roles in “The Beast in Me,” “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” […]
We generally hear the words “careful what you wish for” enough times in life that you’d think, if you ever were to be granted your heart’s desire by supernatural means, you’d at least be really particular about the wording. But an impetuous request to an invisible genie-like entity has ruinous consequences for multiple people in […]
“Rooster” achieved HBO’s most-watched debut season for a comedy series in more than 15 years, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. The only HBO comedies to outperform “Rooster” in their first seasons were “Hung” in 2009 and “Sex and the City” in 1998. The Steve Carell-led project concluded its first season on May 10. The finale […]
NewsBeyonceLibrary Of Congressnational recording registryTaylor Swift
The National Recording Registry, the list of historic audio treasures compiled and added to annually by the Library of Congress, is now 25 entries richer with the addition of 25 albums, singles or broadcasts that run the gamut from Taylor Swift’s “1989” and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” back to Paul Anka, […]
Famed magazine editor Graydon Carter has launched the full-scale production company Par Avion Pictures, in partnership with writer and former Vanity Fair and Air Mail editor Harrison Vail. Emmy and Peabody winner Carter marked the announcement out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the site of many Gatsby-esque parties he’s hosted for global power players […]
ColumnsFashionGlobalDiorJisooJust For VarietyMiley Cyrus
Jonathan Anderson gathered some of Hollywood’s most famous faces for the front row at his Dior Cruise Collection 2027 fashion show at Los Angeles’ LACMA on Wednesday night. Spotted taking their seats underneath the new David Geffen Galleries were Miley Cyrus, Sabrina Carpenter, Al Pacino, Jisoo of Blackpink, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jeff Goldblum, Tracee Ellis Ross, […]
AMC+ has landed the exclusive U.S. streaming rights to the 13-season run of BBC’s revived “Doctor Who” TV series. Beginning June 11, the platform will now be home to 13 seasons and 176 episodes (including specials) of the award-winning series “Doctor Who.” Not included in this deal are the 26 seasons of the original “Doctor […]
FeaturesNewsCannes Film FestivalJordana BrewsterThe Fast and the Furious
Over the past 25 years, Jordana Brewster has raced around the globe with the “Fast and Furious” movies — from the franchise’s home base in Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro and San Juan, plus London and Rome. But Cannes was never on the road map, until now. “It’s super validating, and it’s a little […]
AsiaGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketJapanToei Animation
With Japan’s animation industry recording its highest-ever market value — JPY3.8 trillion ($23.7 billion), according to the Assn. of Japanese Animations — Toei Animation is in Cannes this week to make the case that the next chapter of anime’s global story is one of co-creation, not just export. The timing is not incidental: Japan’s government […]
BET Studios has announced a partnership with microseries company aTwist, aiming to create storytelling “rooted in Black culture and community.” Through the partnership, the companies will produce multi-platform original microseries, including long-form episodic content for cable distribution and vertically formatted microseries for the aTwist platform. BET will first feature a limited first-run window of the […]
Hit animated series “PAW Patrol” and the spinoff “Rubble & Crew” have been renewed for two more seasons each at Nickelodeon. Both shows have been picked up for 26 more episodes. That will bring “PAW Patrol” to its 14th and 15th seasons, while “Rubble & Crew” will now be back for Seasons 5 and 6. […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketMegumi
“Fujiko,” the Kimura Taichi drama that Japanese actor-producer Megumi spent four years producing and starring in, departed the 28th Far East Film Festival in Udine with two prizes: the Golden Mulberry Audience Award and a shared Black Dragon press jury citation alongside Korean documentary “The Seoul Guardians.” It was a double recognition that validated a […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketJapanSanford Panitch
Sanford Panitch came to the Cannes Film Market with a thesis he wanted the Japanese entertainment industry to hear: theatrical is still the only window that creates lasting global IP, anime’s moment has arrived, and Japan’s rights holders are leaving opportunities on the table by waiting too long to engage. The Sony Pictures Entertainment motion […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketChildren UntoldIntramovies
Italian sales agent Intramovies has acquired worldwide sales rights to Japanese film “Children Untold” (“Watashi no Shiranai Kodomotachi”), a WWII historical drama written and directed by Nishikawa Miwa and produced by Koide Daiju for Japan’s K2 Pictures. Set in Tokyo during the final days and immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the film follows […]
ReviewsCannes Film FesivalManuela MartelliThe MeltdownUn Certain Regard
Four years ago, Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight premiered Chilean actress Manuela Martelli’s superb directorial debut “Chile ’76,” which tracked with sinister precision the stirring of a complacently bourgeois housewife’s political conscience during the repressive Pinochet regime. Her follow-up, “The Meltdown,” now plays in the Un Certain Regard sidebar, but while the filmmaking is just as elegant […]
Popular French-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch has assembled an international cast led by Noomi Rapace (“Mother,” “Prometheus”) and Maryam Touzani (“Razzia”) for his next film, “Run, With No Tears,” a psychological thriller which will shoot in French and English. The project, which starts filming in September, has been boarded by international sales banner Films Boutique ahead […]
Pete Townshend — Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, solo artist and legendary main songwriter for the Who — has partnered with powerhouse publisher Primary Wave Music in a nine-figure deal that sees the company acquiring certain publishing rights, along with name, image and likeness assets and the “exploitation of future creative projects.” Terms of […]
NewsReviewsCannes Film FestivalJuan cabralSantiago FrancoThe Match
Even the most casual soccer fan knows “The Hand of God,” Argentine legend Diego Maradona’s controversial goal against England in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. The volleyball-like palm strike should have been disallowed, but paved the way for some of the most magical sporting moments shortly thereafter. However, “The Match” by Juan Cabral and Santiago […]
GlobalNews193Cannes Film FestivalJohn LennonSteven Soderbergh
Ahead of its world premiere as a special screening in Cannes, Steven Soderbergh’s doc feature “John Lennon: The Last Interview” is now launching in the market. Patrick Wachsberger’s Legendary-backed sales and production company 193 has boarded the film, which features exclusive access to Lennon’s final in-depth conversation. Produced by Nancy Saslow for Mishpookah Entertainment Group […]
Matthew McConaughey sat before a roomful of aspiring young actors and filmmakers this February at his alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin. He was speaking at Variety and CNN’s town hall that featured the “Dallas Buyers Club” Oscar winner alongside his “Interstellar” co-star Timothée Chalamet. McConaughey had just been asked about the future […]
Will Smith is slated to star in “Supermax,” an action thriller directed by “Halloween” filmmaker David Gordon Green. Amazon MGM acquired the worldwide rights to the movie from Miramax for $70 million according to Deadline, which broke the news of the project. The studio won’t be putting “Supermax” in theaters and will instead drop the […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalHannah EinbinderKering Women in Motion Talks
Fresh off the Cannes world premiere of “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” Hannah Einbinder joined Variety’s Angelique Jackson at the Kering Women in Motion Talks to discuss Jane Schoenbrun’s queer slasher, the final season of “Hacks” and the importance of speaking up for Palestine. “Camp Miasma” opened the Cannes Un Certain Regard section […]
Gap Inc. has enlisted former Paramount executive Lourdes Arocho as part of the retailer’s “Fashiontainment” strategy to ink partnerships for its apparel brands in music, TV, film, sports and more. Arocho will join the company May 15 as senior VP and head of licensing, reporting to Pam Kaufman, executive VP and chief entertainment officer — […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalFilm i VastLevan AkinLone ScherfigRuben Ostlund
Film i Väst has presented eight new co-productions at Cannes, including Lone Scherfig’s romantic spy thriller “Honeytrap,” Levan Akin’s next film “Summer in Heat” and “Ruben,” a documentary about Ruben Östlund. For her 12th film, Scherfig (“Italians for Beginners,” “An Education”) is collaborating with Zentropa on espionage drama set in Sweden. It’s about “seduction, deception and […]
Sola Media has acquired global sales rights to animated feature film “Fast Forward,” and will be unveiling first footage at the Cannes Film Market. The project is produced by Jørgen Storm Rosenberg at 74 Entertainment, in co-production with Expanse, where Fredrik Fottland serves as animation producer. Expanse’s films include “A Mouse Hunt for Christmas,” which […]
A couple of new super-faces are coming to Metropolis. Variety can exclusively reveal the first trailer for Season 3 of Adult Swim’s “My Adventures With Superman,” which introduces the evil Cyborg Superman and young hero Superboy to the series. The new season premieres on Saturday, June 13, at midnight ET/PT on Adult Swim and streams […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalPascal PlanteSandrine BonnaireWTFilms
WTFilms has acquired worldwide rights for Pascal Plante’s “King’s Daughters,” a historical survival drama spiced with folk-horror undertones, starring Sandrine Bonnaire, Laurie Babin, Lauréna Thellier, Zoé Adjani and newcomer Marguerite Champoux. Plante previously directed cyber-thriller “Red Rooms,” punk rom-com “Fake Tattoos” and sports drama “Nadia, Butterfly.” Set in 1663, “King’s Daughters” chronicles the cursed transatlantic […]
Freya Allan, who stars in “The Witcher” and was a lead in “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” and María Pedraza, who appeared in “Money Heist” and “Elite,” have joined the cast of “Europa,” from Bjorn Franklin and Johnny Marchetta, the filmmaking duo behind “Salvable,” starring Shia LaBeouf. The film, billed as a contemporary […]
Paul McCartney appeared on the latest episode of “The Rest Is Entertainment” podcast (via The Daily Beast) and touched on Trump’s America when discussing the power of music to bring divided audiences together. “Particularly these days, you do something like ‘Hey Jude’ and you see this whole audience singing together,“ McCartney said of playing the […]
Most comedies rely on a certain amount of established tropes: the obsessive best friend, the stereotyped psychotherapist, the randy 20-year-old. Besides offering comfort, this kind of familiarity can function like a reassuring blanket wrapped around such potentially discomforting issues as female sexuality, the Grim Reaper and what it means to be a 40-year-old woman trying to […]
Versant Media said profit in its first fiscal quarter fell due to erosion at its TV operations and higher corporate costs tied to its recent spin-off from NBCUniversal, even as some of its direct-to-consumer businesses showed strength and buoyed its efforts to diversify revenue beyond traditional media assets, The New York owner of MS NOW, […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAina ClotetCannesCannes Film FestivalCatalan Cinema
When Spanish actor-turned-director Aina Clotet received a call that her directorial feature debut “Viva” was shortlisted for Cannes’ prestigious Critics’ Week sidebar, she thought she was dreaming. When the selection confirmation call came a month later, she felt almost “dizzy” with disbelief. Clotet had already been to Cannes, albeit at a different festival: her first […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAina ClotetCannes Film FestivalCatalan FilmsCataloniaFasten FilmsMaria Martínez Bayona
Following a banner year in 2025 with Carla Simón’s “Romería” and Oliver Laxe’s “Sirāt” in Cannes competition, Catalan cinema makes a strong return to the Croisette this year with seven titles, incñuding six features, across the festival, taking in Maria Martínez Bayona’s “The End of It,” Aina Clotet’s “Viva,” Diego Luna’s “Ashes,” Pegah Ahangarani’s “Rehearsals for […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalPeter JacksonStephen ColbertThe Lord Of The Rings
Peter Jackson is discussing for the first time what it’s like working with Stephen Colbert on his recently-announced “Lord of the Rings,” saying he’s “never met anyone who knows more about Tolkien” than the late night talk show host. “He phoned me up a year ago — before he knew his show was going to finish […]
Some awaited films in the pipeline from Catalonia: The Rift Director: Àlex Lora (Inicia Films, Scope Features) Lora’s follow-up to his 2024 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, “The Masterpiece,” tells the story of a young man with a Catalan mother and a Moroccan father who decides to confront his deepest fears and the prejudices of […]
GlobalNewsAnthony BoyleClio BarnardI See Buildings Fall Like LightningJoe Cole
A birthday party in a British pub erupts into drunken dancing, singing and general rowdiness in the first clip from “I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning,” the latest feature from BAFTA-nominated writer/director Clio Barnard. The film — set to have its world premiere in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight section on May 20 — is led by a buzzy […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketMichelle YeohTinge Krishnan
Disruptive Element Films has secured U.K. Global Screen Fund backing for a four-feature slate to be produced in Thailand, launching with “Nak Muay,” a Muay Thai action drama executive produced by Michelle Yeoh and directed by BAFTA-winning writer-director Tinge Krishnan. The announcement was made at the Cannes Film Market. All four productions will shoot in […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBlerta BasholliCannes Film FestivalCritics WeekSemaine de la Critique
Blerta Basholli’s second feature film “Dua” has just had its world premiere on May 13 during Cannes’ Critics’ Week. It follows Basholli’s film “Hive,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2021, becoming the festival’s only film to ever win the Grand Jury Prize, directing and the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic […]
Markets & FestivalsNewsBalearicBlue HeronCannesCannes Film FestivalCineverseFandorMoreThan Films
MoreThan Films has sold North American digital rights to Ion de Sosa’s “Balearic” to Cineverse, which will release the film on its curated arthouse streaming platform Fandor, marking a key deal for one of the company’s Cannes Marché du Film titles. The Barcelona-Berlin-São Paulo sales agency has also closed all-rights deals on Sophy Romvari’s “Blue […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FesivalKinostarLouis SerkisMads MikkelsenMarché du FilmRoman Griffin Davis
Polish production company Lightcraft is expanding the world of its upcoming animated film “Wonderland” with a new TV series toplining Louis Serkis (“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” “The Kid Who Would Be King”) slated to premiere next year. The feature film, which stars Roman Griffin Davis (“500 Miles,” “King of Kings,” “Jojo Rabbit”) and […]
COL Group has appointed Timothy Oh as chief marketing officer of FlareFlow, adding to his existing role as general manager for international business, as the Shenzhen-listed digital entertainment company announces a wave of senior international hires tied to its next growth phase. Jason Ander joins as head of U.S. partnerships within Oh’s international business division, […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsIsabella RosselliniLocarno Film Festival
The Locarno Film Festival will honor Isabella Rossellini with its Excellence Award that pays tribute to film personalities who are making their mark on contemporary cinema. Rossellini — whose most recent credits include Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera” (2023) and Edward Berger’s “Conclave” (2024), for which she scored an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress — […]
Markets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalFrance TV DistributionMichael JackmanNeary Adeline Hay
France TV Distribution is bringing Romuald Boulanger’s “Mansour” back to Cannes with added production weight, as “Conclave” producer Michael Jackman boards the biopic of Iranian-born tennis player and showman Mansour Bahrami. The package has also been reinforced by casting director Constance Demontoy (“Titane,” “Stillwater”) and Paris-based Alambic Production, which has joined as an associate production […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketCricket
A feature film on the life of Amir Hussain Lone, the armless cricketer who captains the Jammu and Kashmir para cricket team, was unveiled on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. The film will be directed by Nishil Sheth, an Indian writer-director whose debut feature “Bhasmasur” premiered on the international festival circuit and won […]
ReviewsTV ReviewsCourtney A. KempMatthew LawNemesisNetflixY'lan Noel
In Netflix’s latest crime series “Nemesis,” “Power” Universe creator Courtney A. Kemp and co-creator Tani Morale explore the different prisms of morality through the eyes of two vastly different men, trying to carve out a legacy for themselves. One man works within a system that was never supposed to embrace him, and another in an […]
The first contemporary “Yellowstone” spinoff, “Marshals,” kept the Montana setting but switched genres from big-budget soap opera to humble broadcast procedural. The second, “Dutton Ranch,” maintains the tone of the original while transplanting the action to Texas — not coincidentally, the home of “Yellowstone” creator and “Dutton Ranch” executive producer Taylor Sheridan and the backdrop of […]
“Matilda the Musical” star Alisha Weir is set to lead upcoming coming of age feature “Underdogs,” the debut film from writer and director Fabia Martin (“The Rev”). The adventure comedy follows two teenage girls, Nel and Zadie, as they run away from foster care only to find themselves competing at the world-famous pedigree dog show […]
FestivalsGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsBananeira FilmesCannes Film FestivalFernanda TorresGlauber RochaGlobo Filmes
Globo Filmes, one of Brazil’s biggest film production forces, is set to back “Spring of the Dragon,” a fiction feature bio focusing on arguably the greatest of the country’s film directors, Novo Cinema icon Glauber Rocha. The news comes as Globo Filmes and production house Conspiraçao have released new details about “The Brokers,” one of […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalEddie PengEwan Mitchell
Eddie Peng (“The Great Wall,” “Black Dog”) and Ewan Mitchell (“Saltburn,” “Wuthering Heights”) are teaming up to star in actioner “The Healer,” the feature directorial debut of acclaimed action stunt coordinator and second unit director Can Aydin (“Thunderbolts*,” “The Fall Guy,” Disney’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series). Highland Film Group and 66cc are launching international sales on […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalIris ApatowJustin Long
Justin Long and Irish Apatow are in negotiations to star in survival thriller “Stung,” now gearing up for production. The film comes from director Colin Minihan, who recently directed Long and Kate Bosworth in “Coyotes,” and is produced by Andre Relis and Jib Polhemus, with VMI Worldwide set to introduce the film to worldwide buyers […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAfricaCannes Film FestivalRafiki Fariala
African cinema will make history at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, with filmmakers from two of the continent’s nascent screen industries cracking the official selection of the prestigious French fest for the very first time. Both Rwandan debutante Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, with her post-genocide drama “Ben’Imana,” and Central African filmmaker Rafiki Fariala, with his coming-of-age drama “Congo […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketNight Market StudiosThe Conjuring
Third Culture Content has unveiled Night Market Studios, a Singapore-anchored genre label, with “The Conjuring” writers Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes joining as executive producers as the company brings a four-film debut slate to the Cannes Film Market. Wholly owned by Third Culture Content, the production company co-founded by Janice Chua and Sean Dulake, Night […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketPallavi ShardaRohena Gera
Pallavi Sharda is starring in “Stay,” a French-Indian independent feature written and directed by Rohena Gera, currently shooting in France after wrapping its India leg. Sharda plays Sailee, the daughter of a wealthy Indian family who moves to Paris following a divorce to escape the weight of social expectations. In Paris, she crosses paths with […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsArmour of GodCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketJackie Chan
Jackie Chan will shoot “Armour of God IV: Ultimatum” in Kazakhstan, the star’s first production in the Central Asian region, Variety has confirmed. Directed by Robert Kun and produced by Salem Entertainment, the film is scheduled to commence principal photography in July and is targeting a worldwide release in the second quarter of 2027. Producers […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalHend SabryHiam Abbass
Hiam Abbas, who played Marcia Roy in HBO’s “Succession,” and Tunisian-Egyptian star Hend Sabri (“Four Daughters,” “Finding Ola”) are set to star in “Your Turn, 203,” a social comedy set in a battered Beirut. Abbas plays a housewife named Aida who replies to a casting call for extras to make ends meet. “Your Turn, 203,” which […]
FestivalsGlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalI Wonder PicturesRadu Jude
Italy’s I Wonder Pictures — which is one of the country’s top distributors and has close ties to both A24 and Neon — is ramping up its production side with new projects by European heavyweight auteurs Radu Jude, Gábor Reisz and Teemu Nikki. Last year, the company hired former Sky Italy entertainment channels chief Roberto […]
AsiaGlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsCannes Film FestivalCannes Film MarketDragon Ball ZIP Bay
Yasuo Matsuo has launched IP Bay, a new global studio dedicated to adapting Japanese literary properties for Western screens. The company is making its market debut at the Cannes Film Market, where Japan is the 2026 Country of Honor. Matsuo will serve as chair. He is the founder of Cloverway, a U.S.-based licensing agency that […]
GlobalNewsCannes Film FestivalKoji Fukadamk2 filmsNagi Notes
MK2 Films has boarded “Roca,” the new feature from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Koji Fukada, whose latest film, “Nagi Note,” premiered in competition at Cannes Wednesday. Adapted from a manga by Hisaichi Ishii (“My Neighbors the Yamadas”), “Roca” follows teenagers Roca, an aspiring fado singer, and Mino, the daughter of a small-time yakuza, who develop a close connection. But […]
GlobalMarkets & FestivalsNewsAina ClotetCannes Film FestivalCataloniaDiego LunaRebecca Hallsofia carrillo
With six productions selected for the Cannes Festival and 11 titles at the Marché, Catalonia is once more punching above its weight on the Croisette. Companies mentioned below are the Catalan producers of the films. Cannes Premiere The End of It Director: Maria M. Bayona Fasten Films Rebecca Hall plays former provocative artist Claire in […]
Madonna, Shakira and BTS are set to co-headline the first ever FIFA World Cup halftime show, the International Federation of Association Football revealed on Wednesday night. Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Elmo announced the news in a teaser trailer for the World Cup halftime show posted at 9 p.m. Together with Ms. Piggy, Kermit and several […]
“Ashes,” a family drama about a young woman who leaves Mexico with her younger brother to reunite with their mother in Spain, was deeply personal to Diego Luna, who directs the film, in addition to co-writing its screenplay. Growing up in Mexico, Luna, best known for playing a swashbuckling rebel fighter in the “Star Wars” […]
Jussi Vatanen, who led the cast in “Fallen Leaves,” and Seidi Haarla, the star of “Compartment No. 6,” will topline in Finnish satire “Arrogance.” The film is the story of Ossi (Vatanen), who chooses to be unemployed on ideological ground. He meets Kaisa (Haarla), who doesn’t judge him and they share a passion for literature. […]
Bill Condon, director of “Dreamgirls,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and the $1.26 billion-grossing “Beauty and the Beast,” knows how to film a musical number. That made him a natural choice to helm the “The Road Home,” starring Cynthia Erivo, Thabo Rametsi and Guy Pearce. Palisades Park Pictures launched international sales at Cannes. It’s the […]
Jack Antonoff posted a journal entry on Instagram on Wednesday in which he slammed those who use AI to make music and art as “godless whores.” “What we do has become and acient ritual,” wrote the 13-time Grammy winner. “You don’t have to write music, you don’t have to record it and you don’t have […]
Comedian Margaret Cho recently told the “I Never Liked You” podcast that she turned down an opportunity to be in “Heated Rivalry” because the show was shot in Canada, and she didn’t want to travel out of the United States during President Donald Trump’s second term. “There’s things that I haven’t done that I should’ve […]
Adam McKay attacked the Democratic Party during a recent appearance on the “Urgent Futures” podcast and slammed “white liberals” as “the worst” for American politics. “It is incredible to watch people this far down the road still say you gotta stand behind the Democrat Party. The same party that wouldn’t convict Trump of a crime […]
“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” has been renewed for a second season at Apple TV. The news comes ahead of the Season 1 finale on May 20. In addition, Apple announced that Eva Anderson will join series creator David E. Kelley as co-showrunner on Season 2. Based on the 2024 novel of the same name by […]
“Survivor: In the Hands of the Fans” has opened one last fan vote. During the penultimate episode of Season 50 on Wednesday, CBS opened a poll for fans to choose their favorite player. The winner will be announced during the live finale event in Los Angeles on May 20 and will receive a prize of […]
NewsCannes Film FestivalFast and FuriousPaul WalkerVin Diesel
Vin Diesel couldn’t help but shed a few tears as the credits rolled on the special midnight screening of “The Fast and the Furious” at Cannes. It was enough that the festival considered the high-octane racing movie a “classic” after all these years. But, the emotion was heightened by watching his bond with the late […]
When filming “The Pitt,” a number of things must go exactly right; the medical drama’s 360-degree hospital set and painstakingly produced prosthetics leave little room for error. So for Season 2, creator R. Scott Gemmill upped the ante by introducing the most unpredictable element of all: a baby. More than 12 adorably swaddled infants played […]
Tony Dokoupil had to suddenly halt the CBS Evening News broadcast from Taiwan Wednesday after a cameraman suffered a medical emergency. “You will hear a lot about the rise of a powerful new China,” Dokoupil was saying as the camera quickly cut to B roll footage. “Is he ok?” Dokoupil was heard asking. “We’re going […]
The 2026 PGA Championship officially tees off this week at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania, where the game’s biggest names will compete for the Wanamaker Trophy during one of golf’s most anticipated weekends of the year. Defending PGA Champion Scottie Scheffler returns looking to reclaim momentum on one of the game’s biggest stages, while Rory […]
Newsbelmont cameliella brightOff CampusPrime Video
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from Season 1 of “Off Campus” now streaming on Prime Video. “Off Campus” — adapted by showrunner Louise Levy — arrives on Prime Video with one of the most passionate pre-built audiences of any series this year. Based on Elle Kennedy’s beloved hockey romance novels, the show follows Hannah Wells (Ella […]
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Episode 7 of “The Boys” Season 5, now streaming on Prime Video. In a final season full of major deaths, “The Boys” killed off another main character in its penultimate episode. Frenchie (Tomer Capone) put up one last fight against Homelander (Antony Starr) to protect his love Kimiko […]
After a dominant Winter Olympic Games, which saw Team USA take home the gold medal, the world’s best hockey nations are once again facing off on the ice for the 2026 Ice Hockey World Championship. This year’s event takes place from May 15 to 31 in Switzerland, with 16 countries competing, including the U.S. men’s […]
ReviewsCannes Film FestivalGillian AndersonHannah EinbenderJane SchoenbrunTeenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
If Jane Schoenbrun is feeling the pressures of being their generation’s highest-profile trans filmmaker, it shows in only the most enjoyably defiant of ways in Un Certain Regard opener “Teenage Sex and Death in Camp Miasma.” A steamy stew of sex, death, VHS and junk food, as though workshopped by Eros, Thanatos, Colonel Sanders and the […]
From the team that brought you “Why is Snow White Latina?,” “Why are there Black people in ‘The Rings of Power?,’” and “Star Wars has gone woke,” comes the latest online onslaught against an anticipated Hollywood project that committed the unfathomable sin of having a diverse cast. In recent days, Twitter trolls have formed a […]
NewsCannes Film FestivalDiane KrugerJordana BrewsterThierry Frémaux
Variety’s annual Welcome to Cannes Party started with a bang — literally. A wooden structure that had been erected on the roof of the JW Marriott Cannes began to buckle under the weight of the partygoers, forcing guests to move to another part of the terrace where the champagne flowed and the good times kept rolling, […]
“The Lincoln Lawyer” is in production on its fifth season, which will also be the show’s last. Netflix has confirmed that the upcoming new installment of the legal drama will be the last outing for Mickey Haller at the streamer. “All good things must come to an end, but thankfully sometimes how they come to […]
Webtoon Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation announced four new animated titles based on popular Webtoon webcomics that are in development as part of their strategic partnership. The companies first announced their collaboration last fall, with an agreement to co-produce 10 fan-favorite Webtoon webcomics for global distribution spanning genres including romance, fantasy, action and comedy. The […]
YouTube once funded creator-driven original content — but the streaming giant wound that down several years ago and instead embarked on a strategy to promote shows YouTubers are already producing themselves. That makes YouTube an outlier during TV upfronts week: It’s making an ad pitch to Madison Avenue on content it doesn’t directly control or […]
“Do you remember your birth time?” Less than 10 minutes into my conversation with Ally Lewber, the “Vanderpump Rules” alum has wasted no time assuming the role of interviewer. Sitting at a café in Beverly Hills and sipping on our respective caffeinated beverages, the purpose of our morning meeting is decidedly not to go over […]
