“Conclave” fans will soon be able to choose their own Pope from the comfort of their couches.

The buzzy Focus Features film will be available to stream on Peacock on Dec. 13.

stream 'conclave' on peacock $7.99/Month

“Conclave” is based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Robert Harris and stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, with Sergio Castellito and Isabella Rossellini. It follows “one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events – selecting the new pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church,” according to the logline.

The movie...

Anime streamer Crunchyroll has snatched up theatrical rights for North America and select international territories for the dark fantasy omnibus movie Attack on Titan: The Last Attack. Crunchyroll revealed the news Thursday at Ccxp (formerly known as Comic Con Experience) in São Paulo, Brazil. The company describes the release as a “cinematic experience that combines the final chapters of the highly acclaimed anime series in one colossal film.”

Crunchyroll is partnering with Sony Pictures Entertainment on the title. The two companies, both units of Sony Group, say they will release the film in early 2025.

The Last Attack is directed by Yûichirô Hayashi and based on the original story by manga artist Hajime Isayama.

The original anime series premiered in 2014 with four seasons, concluding in Fall 2023, and has won over fans and critics alike. Three of the seasons have garnered a 100 percent critic score and over 90 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Adam Scott and Danielle Deadwyler will star in “The Saviors,” a darkly comedic thriller about a suburban couple whose life spirals out of control when they rent their garage to mysterious tenants. The film is currently in production in Los Angeles. Kevin Hamedani is directing from a script he co-wrote with Travis Betz, which was featured on the 2018 Blacklist.

Matt Smith and Dan Gedman of Highway 10 are financing and will produce. “The Saviors” marks the first film produced under their new shingle. In addition, Adam Scott and Naomi Scott will produce on behalf of Great Scott Productions, Nicholas Weinstock and Divya D’Souza will produce for Invention Studios, and Bradley Gallo and Michael Helfant will produce for Amasia Entertainment. Deadwyler, Alyssa Roehrenbeck and Josh Sathre will executive produce.

Scott will next be seen in the second season of Apple TV+’s “Severance,” which he executive produces. That performance earned Scott nominations for an Emmy Award,...

Director Luca Guadagnino and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are teaming up again, this time on the filmmaker’s upcoming Julia Roberts-led drama “After the Hunt.”

While discussing their excellent score for Guadagnino’s “Challengers”, Reznor said, “We have worked on his next film ‘After the Hunt’ and we’re talking about working on what’s past that.”

For the record, “what’s past that” is his new adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ blood-splattered “American Psycho.” Of that possibility, Ross coyly added, “That sounds like that’d be fun.”

Regarding their partnership with Guadagnino, Reznor told TheWrap, “It feels like family. He’s become a friend. Our feelings would be hurt if we didn’t get a call. You know, it’s that kind of thing.”

The pair’s score for “Challengers” has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media and has also...

The American Film Institute has unveiled its list of the 10 best films and television programs of the year, a selection that reflects the rich diversity of storytelling across genres, budgets and platforms. The 2024 AFI Awards honorees highlight a blend of blockbuster hits, indie darlings, and bold artistic visions, cementing their place as a pivotal moment in the awards season calendar.

On the film side, consumer-friendly and box-office juggernauts made the cut. Among them are indie auteurs (Sean Baker’s “Anora” and Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist”), industry veterans (James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two”), established filmmakers hitting their strides (Edward Berger’s “Conclave” and Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked”), stylish visionaries (Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez” and RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys”) and breakout filmmakers (Greg Kwedar’s “Sing Sing” and Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain”).

The AFI Awards are an honor and...

Exclusive: Following the November 25 Paramount+ launch of his holiday comedy Dear Santa, Bobby Farrelly has closed a deal to direct Driver’s Ed, a teen ensemble comedy to be fully financed and co-produced by Stuart Ford’s AGC Studio.

While we’d reported in October that Sporkinfeesten, a “finding your roots” style family vacation comedy loosely inspired by true events, would be Farrelly’s next project after Aaron and Will Eisenberg’s hot spec landed at Amazon MGM Studios, Driver’s Ed has gained traction first and moved to the top of the filmmaker’s docket, with casting underway for an early 2025 shoot in North Carolina.

Driver’s Ed centers on teens who steal their school’s driver’s ed car to go on a road trip to help a high school senior track down his college-freshman girlfriend and win her back. Jonas Pate, co-creator of Netflix’s smash hit YA series Outer Banks,...

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will curate a new Fast channel in partnership with Roku and Lionsgate.

The 50 Cent Action Channel, which is slated to launch on Dec. 10, will draw from Lionsgate’s library of more than 20,000 titles to curate the media mogul’s favorite TV shows and movies, including “The Expendables,” “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” “Rambo” and the original “Power” series. The channel, which marks one of the first talent-branded Fast channels, will also feature over a dozen films featuring 50 Cent himself.

“Roku’s reach and success in the free TV space make them the perfect launch partner for 50 Cent Action,” the rapper said in a Thursday statement. “My channel created in partnership with Lionsgate will deliver exactly what my audience loves to watch all in one place. We’ll be No. 1 in no time.”

The channel will also feature programming in line with his albums — such as heist-themed films like “Empire State,...

Tom Tykwer is returning to the Berlinale.

The acclaimed German director of Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas and Drei will open the 75th Berlin International Film Festival with his new feature, Das Licht (The Light).

Tykwer’s first feature since 2016’s A Hologram for a King is a family drama set in modern-day Germany featuring Lars Eidinger, Nicolette Krebitz and Tala al Deen. It tells the story of the Engels family, parents Tim (Eidinger) and Milena (Krebitz), their twins Frieda (Elke Biesendorfer) and Jon (Julius Gause) and Milena’s son Dio (Elyas Eldridge). The family has been growing apart for years before housekeeper Farrah (Al-Deen), a mysterious woman from Syria, enters their lives, bringing to light feelings that have long been hidden. Farrah is pursuing a plan all of her own that will fundamentally change the family’s life.

“We knew as soon as we saw Das Licht (The Light...

Screen International has named the five actors and filmmakers selected for Arab Stars of Tomorrow 2024, the eighth edition of the new talent programme for emerging Middle East and North Africa talents.

This year’s line-up includes Moroccan actress Oumaima Barid; Saudi actress Maria Bahrawi; Yemeni producer Mohsen Alkhalfi; Egyptian actor Essam Omar; and Jordanian writer-director Zain Duarie.

Arab Stars of Tomorrow celebrates Arab talent from across the Mena region and highlights the hottest up-and-coming actors, writers and directors who are primed to make their mark in the international industry.

Click on the links below to read the profiles of this year’s stars.

“Werewolves” is your basic, everyday lean-and-mean dystopian werewolf-as-zombie action thriller, with elements lifted from the pandemic and the “Purge” films. It’s not a good movie, but it’s a tight little time passer. Frank Grillo, who’s at the center of it (playing a ripped bruiser who is also…a molecular biologist!), has a way of making any pulp movie better. He’s like a brainy Charles Bronson. And the plot is simplicity itself, and efficiency too: On the night of a supermoon (that’s when the full moon comes closest to Earth), people all over the globe are transformed into towering werewolves if they look at the moon for so much as one second. Talk about a good reason to stay home and stream something.

How are the werewolves? Cheesy in a fun way. As in self-consciously old-fashioned, or maybe just lavishly threadbare. A lot of people now...

In reviewing Laufey’s August concert with the LA Philharmonic, Variety wrote, “Laufey feels like she was born to play the Hollywood Bowl, with her rapturously received pop/jazz/classical set.” Something else she might have been born for: the big screen. She’s on Imax screens across America this weekend (and some slightly less massive-scale ones as well) with “Laufey’s A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl.” And director Sam Wrench’s extended use of closeups establishes that she’s as expressive an actress, in her fashion, as she is a singer, guitarist, pianist and cellist.

It’s a good weekend for Wrench, who also directed the Sabrina Carpenter holiday special that is premiering on Netflix the same day as the Laufey concert film is bowing in theaters… and a good past year for him, actually, since he also did Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” film. But Laufey herself is having quite the year,...

Laura Benanti may have led the Broadway revival of “She Loves Me” with Zachary Levi in 2016, but the actress certainly doesn’t share the sentiment of the title. Benanti opened up about the ill feelings she maintains about her former co-star this week on the That’s a Gay Ass Podcast, hosted by Eric Williams.

“I never liked him. Everyone was like, ‘He’s so great!’ And I was like, ‘No, he’s not. He’s sucking up all the fucking energy in this room. He wants to mansplain everybody’s part to them,'” Benanti said. “He really sucked everybody in with his dance party energy, like, ‘We’re doing a dance party at half-hour.’ I was like, ‘Good luck, have fun.’”

Benanti’s criticism of Levi reached an emotional peak when the conversation touched on their “She Loves Me” co-star Gavin Creel, who died in September at the...

Reed Birney and Kieron Moore will star in “Blue Film,” a provocative indie about a fetish camboy who agrees to spend the night with an anonymous client, only to discover a disturbing tie to his past. The film is the feature debut of writer and director Elliot Tuttle. It wrapped production this year and is aiming to hit the early 2025 festival circuit.

Birney is an acclaimed stage and screen actor. He won a Tony and numerous other awards and nominations for plays including “The Humans,” “Casa Valentina,” and “Man From Nebraska.” On television, he can be seen in the most recent season of “American Horror Story”. He was also recently on Peacock’s “Poker Face”, and “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” Other TV credits include HBO’s “Succession” and Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.” He is also well known for his performance as Vice President Donald Blythe in the Netflix series “House of Cards.

Looking back seems to offer a prescient look ahead in “The Hungarian Dressmaker,” Iveta Grófová’s compelling adaptation of Peter Krištúfek’s novella “Emma and the Death’s Head,” set in Slovakia during World War II. At the time, locals had to navigate the uncharted territory of authoritarianism, when the far-right Hlinka Slovak People’s Party rose to power with the encouragement of the Nazis.

Even if cinematographer Martin Štrba hadn’t taken the camera off the tripod to shoot with the abandon generally reserved for Terrence Malick’s later films, this period piece would still seem unusually modern in its portrait of a society ruled by fear. Here, so much relies on individual choices, honing in on a heroine harried by having to weigh her own sense of security against what she can contribute to the greater good.

Although Krištúfek had always intended a story of survival, Grófová seems well...

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have been holding space for the concept of “holding space.”

While being interviewed alongside their “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu for a forthcoming Variety feature, the actors reflected on their experience of being part of the funniest and most inscrutable meme to come out of awards season so far. Last month, journalist Tracy Gilchrist, interviewing Erivo and Grande for Out magazine at a “Wicked” junket, remarked that “people are taking the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that and feeling power in that,” which prompted Erivo to have an emotional response and Grande, in turn, to clasp one of Erivo’s fingers. Variety’s head of video Nicholas Stango asked them to reflect on the experience.

“I was surprised, because I had no idea. I hadn’t been looking that much,” Erivo reflected, on why she seemed quite so struck by Gilchrist...

There’s no award show quite like the IndieWire Honors. Each year, IndieWire celebrates the groundbreaking artists who refuse to let their creativity be restricted. The minds behind ten of the year’s best films are able to mingle and celebrate each other’s successes, offering a timeless reminder that filmmaking is a team effort that affords everyone room to shine.

This year marked the first IndieWire Honors exclusively devoted to film. At an intimate ceremony hosted by Simon Rex, some of the year’s biggest awards contenders gathered to celebrate the work that emerged from a tumultuous year in the entertainment industry.

“Nickel Boys” director RaMell Ross was honored with the auteur award for his heart wrenching adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s “Nickel Boys,” which was recently named the best film of 2024 by IndieWire.

Denis Villeneuve received the Visionary Award for fulfilling his lifelong dream of adapting Frank Herbert...

“Nightbitch” spends way more time on the wildness of being a parent than the wildness of turning into a dog — however interlinked those two phenomena become for the film’s protagonist (Amy Adams). Writer and director Marielle Heller wanted to take the experiences that resonated with her from the Rachel Yoder novel of the same name and find viscerally cinematic ways to represent them.

But not so unlike motherhood itself, there’s a wealth of work that goes into the success of the simplest onscreen actions — from the punch of a hash brown hitting a frying pan to a toddler (played by twins Emmett Snowden and Arleigh Snowden) waving at a garbage truck right at the moment the camera needs them to. In fact, Heller found that a lot of fun and games were required to get her youngest actors to help the film’s project of centering the ways...

Decades after “When Harry Met Sally” asked audiences if adult men and women can be friends, yet another romantic comedy poses the same question of a contemporary collegiate crowd. However, in director Jordan Weiss’ “Sweethearts,” which revolves around two besties breaking up with their hometown romances over a holiday weekend, the time-honored query waits until the last minutes to develop, while a separate pair of screwball-comedy plotlines haven’t properly concluded. Though the film contains a talented ensemble and compelling sentiments about self-acceptance and platonic friendship, it plays like two half-baked screenplays mashed together, bound by wafer-thin connections.

Ben (Nico Hiraga) and Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) have been best friends since childhood and are determined to stick together through their adulthood, starting with attending the same college in the same dorm at Densen University. Outside of their tightknit bond, however, is a world full of complications, from Ben’s roommate Tyler...

While the eruption of violence at the US Capitol on January 6th left most Americans dazed and confused — and too many journalists and talking heads scrambling to dissect the psyche of the rioters as if they were extraterrestrial beings and not our actual next-door neighbors — multimedia artist Michael Premo had been listening and filming throughout the summer of 2020 with open ears and eyes all along. His Venice-debuting Homegrown follows three diverse Trump-supporting “patriots”: an excited young father-to-be (to a biracial child) in New Jersey, an Air Force vet and rightwing organizer in “liberal” NYC, and […]

The post “Stereotypes Help People Delegitimize Other People and Ideas They Want to Distance Themselves From”: Michael Premo on Homegrown first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Kyle Mooney's new movie "Y2K" delivers a sci-fi horror concept that is so stunningly simple that you won't believe that no one's taken advantage of it on this scale until now. It's New Year's Eve on 1999, and a big high school party is about to be interrupted by the sudden appearance of techno monsters formed by the timely technology of the time, ranging from big tube TVs and computer monitors to Jeep Power Wheels and VCRs. They're all controlled by a computer hive-mind that intends to turn humans into microchip-controlled drones who will do their bidding.

While Jaeden Martell (the recent "It" movies), Julian Dennison ("Deadpool 2" and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople") and Rachel Zegler (Steven Spielberg's vibrant "West Side Story") are the stars of this film who face this darkly hilarious techno apocalypse, don't sleep on the incredible practical effects from Wētā Workshop that bring these creatures to life.

In crafting a quietly affectionate film about a man who thinks he might be an alien, “Sky Peals” director Moin Hussain manages to make an allegory about solitude and isolation with a deft and steady hand. The film’s lead character, a 30-something British man of Pakistani origin, could be a stand-in for millions who feel removed from their roots while living within cultures and among people who think of them as outsiders. Hussain’s skillful filmmaking avoids making obvious points, instead deepening the narrative as a singular character study with sci-fi elements.

Adam (Faraz Ayub) still lives with his English mother (Claire Rushbrook) while working as a night shift short order cook at a gas station diner. His life is small: just home and work, with no apparent close relationships. He has closed himself off from the world, having never been able to make real connections with other people.

“Bauryna Salu” is a rare, naturalistic gem that one can experience in two wildly different modes. The first involves going in completely cold — no pun intended — and observing the understated drama of its frigid, nomadic setting. The second involves experiencing its intricacies through the eyes of 12-year-old protagonist Yersultan (an impeccable Yersultan Yerman), which requires little more than a glance at its synopsis, or a glimpse at the blink-and-you’ll-miss it translation of its Kazakh-language title as the movie opens. The tradition to which “Bauryna Salu” refers, and which enhances one’s understanding of the underlying story, is only explicitly depicted near the end. Along the way, its most visceral and intimate effects trickle out with a stunning commitment to cinematic realism. The result is a remarkable sleight of hand — a film in which every emotional possibility is broached, even when nothing seems to happen.

Raised by his elderly grandmother...

In Pablo Larraín’s biographical drama “Maria,” opera diva Maria Callas tells her doctor, “My life is opera.” The film, and Angelina Jolie’s tour-de-force performance, are too. Only opera could render in such minute, telling detail the final week of Callas’ life, frail and drifting through her apartment and the streets and cafes of Paris, interrogating her past and clinging to the idea that she might finally be able to sing for herself.

As cinematographer Ed Lachman told IndieWire, “The whole conceptual idea was that the film itself becomes an opera. It has the aesthetics, form, and themes of an opera. The themes are about betrayal, unrequited love, and loss — this is what her life was.”

The film is almost transcendent in the ways that everything coalesces, from Jolie’s own star persona informing our reaction to her performance as Callas to the ways that the creative team amplifies,...

Those who grew up watching FX-heavy seriocomic mainstream creature features of the 1980s and ’90s may enjoy the nostalgic fun had at their expense in “The Invisible Raptor.” Viewers resistant to a landslide of scatological humor, however, may find the laughs pretty slim in this overlong, uninspired monster spoof. Director Mike Hermosa’s indie feature is enterprisingly polished, but the weak material provided by Mike Capes and Johnny Wickham’s screenplay might’ve worked better boiled down to the length of a “Funny or Die” short. After a run of genre festival gigs, it’s being launched by Well Go USA on limited screens and digital platforms Dec. 6.

At Tyler Corporation, a high-security lab holds top-secret results of genetic engineering: the titular velociraptor, which cannot be seen … or trusted. Developed for a murky “weaponization program,” it has brains as well as brawn, enough to outsmart the technicians present and...

“The Marvels” and “They Cloned Tyrone” star Teyonah Parris is jumping into the world of Mattel’s matchbox cars for Apple Original Films’ upcoming movie, “Matchbox.”

The live-action film, based on the die-cast toy vehicle line, stars John Cena and Parris joins an expanding cast that also includes Jessica Biel and Sam Richardson.

“Extraction” filmmaker Sam Hargrave is set to direct based on a screenplay by David Coggeshall and Jonathan Tropper. The film will be produced by Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger and Robbie Brenner for Mattel Films.

“Matchbox” will follow a group of childhood friends who must work together to stop an impending worldwide disaster and rediscover their friendship along the way.

The film is inspired by Mattel’s popular toy vehicle line, which were invented in 1953 by automotive enthusiast Jack Odell. Odell’s daughter was allowed to take a toy to school only if...

Keira Knightley admitted in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times that she told “Love Actually” director Richard Curtis while filming the infamous cue card scene with Andrew Lincoln that it was all “quite creepy.” Knightley was 17 years old when she was filming the Christmas romance. Both “Love Actually” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” opened in theaters in 2003, turning Knightley into a global star.

The “Love Actually” scene features Lincoln’s character unexpectedly showing up at Knightley’s door with cue cards that express his love for her. The cards read: “Let me say, without any hope or agenda, just because it’s Christmas (and at Christmas you tell the truth) to me you are perfect.” The moment is complicated by the fact that Knightley’s character’s husband (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) is inside. Many viewers now consider the moment stalker-ish.

“The...

At this stage, the guild and Oscar voters haven’t seen much. They’ll be catching up over the holidays. What matters to all those well-paid awards campaigners is what they watch. Gone are the screener piles of yesteryear. Now, it’s the various guild and BAFTA and Academy portals, which still don’t have everything, as many distributors prefer to get their voters out to screenings.

The New York-centric Gotham Awards (touting mainly indies) and the National Board of Review (mainstream), and the New York Film Critics Circle‘s highbrow winners mostly offer titles to sample. These idiosyncratic groups are far from predictive. The Indie Spirit nominations show strength for “Anora” (Neon) and “Nickel Boys” (Orion/Amazon/MGM). The Spirit winners are quite predictive.

Pay heed to the more mainstream AFI top 10. This national jury is a mix of critics, academics, and industry insiders. They don’t always get all 10 Best Picture nominees right,...

There are not normally a lot of barricades outside our humble event honoring some of our favorite filmmakers, stars, and artisans on the trail this awards season, but the winter edition of IndieWire Honors, our first to focus solely on film, was our starriest event yet.

At a cocktail hour, guests sipped on Gia Coppola Wine, Francis Ford Coppola Winery’s Diamond Collection Sauvignon Blanc and Prosecco, and Rabbit Hole Whiskey. In attendance were the casts and filmmakers of “The Last Showgirl” and “Nickel Boys,” who met backstage, including director Coppola, screenwriter Kate Gertsen, actors Brenda Song, Ethan Herisse, plus recent Gotham Award winner Brandon Wilson — there to support Performance Award recipient Pamela Anderson and Auteur Award recipient RaMell Ross. Then the awards kicked off. IndieWire publisher James Israel and editor-in-chief Dana Harris-Bridson provided an overview of the night honoring everyone from “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve to stars Jennifer Lopez...

The second season of the “Star Wars” series “Ahsoka” is moving its film production from Los Angeles to the United Kingdom, and at present, its studio Lucasfilm does not have any film or series projects currently slated to film in LA, IndieWire has confirmed.

A studio insider disputed the idea that all film and TV production for Lucasfilm would relocate to the UK, adding that no hard and fast decision has been made.

Lucasfilm has a long UK history dating back to George Lucas’ original “Star Wars” trilogy as well as films like “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” “The Mandalorian & Grogu,” which recently wrapped and is slated for release in 2026, became the first “Star Wars” project to shoot entirely in California. The film earned one of the largest tax credits ever issued by the state, with over $21 million in conditional tax credits.

However, many streaming series on...

Spoiler Alert: This story contains spoilers for “Get Away,” now in theaters.

Nick Frost is the rare star ubiquitous in two genres, having made memorable turns in films both comedic and horror. It makes sense that his feature debut as sole screenwriter —”Get Away,” in theaters Dec. 6 via IFC Films and Shudder — includes large dollops of both genres. The laughs hit hard and the blood spurts wildly in this tale of the Smith family, led by patriarch Frost, who goes on holiday on a remote island with some dark and deadly secrets. Frost spoke to Variety about wearing different hats when writing, producing and starring in a movie, the key to balancing horror with comedy and reuniting for a project with his longtime best friends, actor Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright.

How did the idea of “Get Away” come to you originally?

My first wife is Swedish and her family has a tiny,...

This weekend brings Kyle Mooney's feature directorial debut "Y2K" to theaters, after the horror comedy made its debut at the South by Southwest film festival earlier in 2024 (read our review). Taking cues from high school party movies like "Can't Hardly Wait" and mixing them with late '90s horror movies like "The Faculty" and dated technological thrillers like "Lawnmower Man," the film finds a group of teens facing an apocalyptic scenario in which technological devices like clunky computers, VCRs, Discmans, and Tamagotchis suddenly form into deadly creatures hellbent on taking over society. Basically, it's the worst case scenario that imagines what the world might have been like if Y2K turned out to be a legitimate threat.

At the center of the movie are best friends Eli (Jaeden Martell of "It") and Danny (Julian Dennison of "Deadpool 2"). While both are a bit socially awkward and into their own geeky tendencies,...

Every Tuesday Tyler Coates publishes his new Filmmaker newsletter, Considerations, devoted to the awards race. To receive it early and in your in-box, subscribe here. It’s now primetime for FYC campaigning. I was inundated with digital codes and old-school DVDs early last week; studios know that voters—at least American ones—might have had lots of downtime and perhaps visiting family members to entertain. What better way to treat your guests than showing them A24’s entire 2024 slate? There were also a slew of FYC events in Los Angeles ahead of […]

The post Considerations: The Golden Globes Silly Season first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes, two of the greatest global actors of their generation or any, stage an “English Patient” reunion with Uberto Pasolini’s stately and somber “The Return.” The epic film, shot in Greece and Italy last year, retells Homer’s classic and oft-recycled epic “Odyssey” through a stripped-down lens that frames the story of Odysseus (Fiennes), Penelope (Binoche), and their son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer) as a tale without gods and monsters and instead more of a dysfunctional family narrative. What’s lost is the heat and swashbuckling adventure of the original tale, a humanist turn that finds Odysseus at the end of his mortal coil, Fiennes at first haggard, awash naked on the shores of Ithaca after a shipwreck has left him unmoored and divorced from his former kingdom. The actors are prime, but the movie is a solemn affair that could use more grandeur.

When Odysseus...

One of the best and most heartbreaking films of the year, “Nickel Boys” marks the narrative feature debut of director RaMell Ross, previously best known for his 2018 film “Hale County This Morning, This Evening.” But the film already shows a deeply singular vision, as Ross uses a unique subjective camera technique throughout to bring the adaptation of the 2019 Colson Whitehead novel to stunning life. It’s a film with great emotional impact, especially when you know how its story — about two young Black boys struggling to survive an abusive reform school — is based heavily on the real-world tragedies of the Dozier School, a Florida reform school notorious for its abuse and murder of several students.

Ross received the Auteur Award at the 2024 IndieWire Honors event, which was held at Citizen News in Los Angeles on Thursday, December 5. Accepting the award, the director gave a lively speech in which he shouted...

Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (Aanphi) audiences are finding much to rejoice about in Disney’s latest animated feature “Moana 2.”

Little details such as Moana’s conch shell, the pottery ceramics she finds, the tattoos and even the wayfarer’s canoe are touchpoints that the creatives went to great lengths to include.

But it took a village of artisans to make that happen. Directors Jason Hand and David Derrick Jr. lead the way and were joined by screenwriter and director Dana Ledoux Miller, who is currently working on the live-action version of “Moana.”

In addition to the above-the-line talent, behind-the-scenes, there were experts in language, navigation, dance and even botany, as well as story artists and the Oceanic Cultural Trust, which also worked on the first film to ensure the rich heritage of Polynesian wayfinding could be honored.

Derrick says when he made the first film, he...

“Deep Dive” is an in-depth podcast and video essay series featuring interviews with the stars and creative team behind an exceptional piece of filmmaking. For this edition, the IndieWire Crafts and Special Projects team partnered with Prime Video to take a closer look at “The Boys” with creator Eric Kripke, actor Antony Starr, production designer Mark Steel, costume designer Laura Jean Shannon, visual effects supervisor Stephan Szpak-Fleet, supervising stunt coordinator John Koyama, composers Christopher Lennertz and Matt Bowen, as well as editors David Kaldor and Scott Stolzar to examine the emotionally charged and shocking fourth season of the hit series.

When it comes to “The Boys,” you can expect the unexpected. Since its inception, creator Eric Kripke has adapted Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic book series into a standout among superhero offerings. The Prime Video series is beloved for its dark humor and imaginative violence, but it keeps...

PETA plans to protest this Sunday’s Academy screening of director Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu.”

The animal rights organization plans to send a “giant rat” to the Samuel Goldwyn Theater to “set the record straight” about the 5,000 live rats Eggers uses during one sequence in the film where rats descend on London, bringing the bubonic plague with them.

In a statement, PETA’s director of animals in film and television Lauren Thomasson said, “A human is no more likely to be harmed or killed by a rat in real life than by a vampire, and false portrayals of these animals as harbingers of death deny viewers the chance to see them as the intelligent, social and affectionate individuals they are. The only ‘pests’ moviegoers need to be concerned with are directors who subject animals to the chaos and confusion of a film set, and PETA encourages everyone to see through these...

Jude Law has been killing a wide range of roles since he broke out in Anthony Minghella’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” in 1999. Twenty-five years later, Law’s latest performance as grizzled FBI agent Terry Husk in hardboiled ’80s actioner “The Order” is a departure: The actor not only masters an American accent, but he’s embodying a gun-wielding Western masculine archetype: rugged, angry, laconic, righteous. Think Clint Eastwood, although Law told me that he channeled Gene Hackman and Paul Newman in our video interview (above).

Law’s latest incarnation since he founded Riff Raff Entertainment in 2017: producer. “I love finding material,” he said. “I love reading. I love thinking about who would be good in what role and taking the reins and being able to nurture ideas. I still sit and hope that I get phone calls from certain filmmakers who are making their own things, but when...

Steven C. Miller has directed a movie with a concept that is, simply put, fuckin’ cool.

“Werewolves,” written by Matthew Kennedy and now in theaters via Briarcliff Entertainment, is about a world where the annual supermoon turns everyone outside into huge, hungry werewolves that rip apart anyone in their path. Luckily, Frank Grillo plays a ripped scientist who is close to a cure, but also has to worry about keeping his family safe during yet another supermoon. There’s tons of in-your-face werewolf action, big guns and lots of blood and guts in this throwback flick that would feel right at home in a drive-in double feature.

Miller has plenty of experience with both action and horror films, directing movies like “Mauraders,” “First Kill” and “Silent Night” and working with big names like Sylvester Stallone and Nicolas Cage. He spoke with Variety about the joy of practical effects, how microbudget...

Ryan Reynolds has time to defend the skills of comedy actors.

The “Deadpool” star responded to a tweet criticizing his inclusion in Variety’s “Actors on Actors” awards season roundtables. Reynolds is paired with Andrew Garfield, who will be speaking about his turn in drama “We Live in Time.” Meanwhile, Reynolds starred in “Deadpool & Wolverine” alongside Hugh Jackman.

“Andrew Garfield talking about playing a husband and father who’s wife decides to forgo cancer treatment and Ryan Reynolds talking about playing Deadpool,” one X user wrote about the slated December 9 “Actors on Actors” piece.

Yet that tweet garnered a response from Reynolds, who not only praised Garfield’s performance in “We Live in Time” but also spoke out on slighting comedy as a genre during awards season.

“Andrew’s a genius. He and Florence are magic together in, ‘We Live In Time.’ They’re heartbreaking and charming and spend...

So there is good news, and there is bad news. For everyone who is rooting for Amy Adams to finally win that Oscar statue after seven nominations, chances are that won’t happen anytime soon. The better news is that her new Marielle Heller dramedy “Nightbitch” marks a return to the challenging and intriguing roles Adams hasn’t been offered in years. And perhaps that’s because she’s also a producer on the project.

Continue reading Amy Adams Knows The Secret Of ‘Nightbitch’ & Isn’t Telling at The Playlist.

For Ray Fisher, “The Piano Lesson” was more than just a role — it was a personal and professional milestone, an opportunity to explore the layers of humanity, trauma, and family that have made Wilson’s artful pieces timeless.

“August Wilson has this ability to tap into humanity itself,” Fisher says during this week’s episode of the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast. “Even though he wrote this play in the 1980s about the 1930s, it feels like it’s speaking directly to us today. The family dynamics, the trauma, the way people are trying to figure out the path forward — it’s universal.” Listen below!

Directed by Malcolm Washington and featuring a powerhouse cast including John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler and Samuel L. Jackson, “The Piano Lesson” reimagines Wilson’s words with a sense of urgency that resonates deeply in today’s climate.

“The Piano Lesson” brings cinematic life to Wilson’s stage-bound text,...

When Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear took on the role of songwriters for “Moana 2,” they didn’t just level up in terms of the visibility of their careers. They made history. The 26 and 23-year old songwriters, best known for their work on the Grammy-winning “Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” album, are the youngest songwriters to work on a Disney animated film, succeeding Lin-Manuel Miranda in their work on the sequel to the 2016 fantasy adventure hit. They’re also the first female songwriting duo, following in the footsteps of Disney legends like Howard Ashman and Alan Menken to put their own stamp on the adventures of the believed Polynesian princess.

Barlow and Bear received the Breakthrough Award at the 2024 IndieWire Honors event, which was held at Citizen News in Los Angeles on Thursday, December 5. Accepting the award, Barlow and Bear gave a speech saluting music’s power to tell stories that matter...

While most actors pray for a hit show, Ted McGinley has had the luxury of being on several. From his first TV job on “Happy Days,” to now enjoying a gig on Apple TV+’s “Shrinking,” McGinley spent multiple seasons on such popular 1980s programs as “The Love Boat,” “Dynasty” and “Married… With Children.” But that success came with a dark side when he was unfairly labeled “The Patron Saint of Jumping the Shark,” and associated with the death of popular TV shows.

Speaking at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation during a lengthy conversation about his career, McGinley said the phrase hurt. “At first I thought it was kind of funny,” he said. “And then I realized that I started losing jobs.”

The nickname came from Joe Hein, the founder of the website JumptheShark.com. The origins of the phrase referred to an episode in Season 5 of “Happy Days” in which Henry Winkler...

After nearly four months of silence, Todd Haynes finally spoke about his scrapped movie with Joaquin Phoenix.

Read More: Todd Haynes On Mapping The Unnatural Landscape Of Identity & Desire: “My Movies Are About The Social World”

The story took Hollywood media by storm in early August: just five days before shooting, Phoenix abruptly left the project he and Haynes had developed for years. The reason?

Continue reading Todd Haynes Speaks Out About Scrapped Film With Joaquin Phoenix, Which He “May Resurrect In A Different Form Someday” at The Playlist.

The end of 2024 is finally upon us, and the embarrassment of riches that the 2025 film calendar holds is just around the corner. But while most of the year’s biggest releases have already made their way to theaters, December offers plenty of opportunities to catch up on things you might have missed from the comfort of your own home.

This December should be a massive month for Netflix, with the highly anticipated “Squid Game” Season 2 dropping later this month and its first two live NFL games airing on Christmas Day. But all of the exciting sports content and TV shows need not mean that movie lovers have to be left behind. Netflix subscribers will finally have the chance to watch “Maria,” one of the streamer’s biggest Oscar hopefuls that has the potential to net Angelina Jolie her second Best Actress win for her performance as opera legend Maria Callas.

This post contains spoilers for "Stargate Sg-1."

The best part of "Stargate Sg-1" — apart from its exciting premise about visiting alien worlds — is its central, titular crew. Among them, Teal'c of Chulak (Christopher Judge) is easily a fan favorite. The Jaffa revolutionary has a masterful way of making his presence felt, even when he's lurking in the background of some scenes. Moreover, Teal'c has undergone hell in his journey to defy Goa'uld and a lifetime of indoctrination, which he was able to leave behind to join the Stargate Command. And if you ask me, Teal'c is simply the coolest.

Judge, who portrayed Teal'c with such grace and understated magnetism, went on to reprise the role in the series sequel "Stargate Atlantis" (where he appeared in two episodes), along with the direct-to-dvd "Stargate" films "The Ark of Truth" and "Continuum." The actor, who is best known for playing Kratos in the...

Romanian director Emanuel Pârvu’s Three Kilometres To The End Of The World has won the European University Film Award (Eufa) 2024.

The award, a joint initiative of the European Film Academy and Filmfest Hamburg, is presented by university students from across Europe.

Three Kilometres To The End Of The World debuted in Competition in Cannes earlier this year. Set in a conservative Danube Delta community, it follows a gay teenager’s journey of self-discovery, which clashes with the traditional values of his parents and neighbours.

It was selected from five shortlisted films, including Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap; Dea Kulumbegashvili...

Mark Eydelshteyn, the Russian actor who broke out in this year’s “Anora,” has been cast in the second season of Amazon MGM Studios series (on Prime Video) “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” an individual with knowledge told IndieWire.

It’s been unclear whether Season 1 stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine would return for the second season, and the first season ends on an ambiguous cliffhanger regarding their fate. But Variety reported in May that it was likely the show would find another new John and Jane pair.

The Season 2 female lead has not been set just yet. Deadline noted that rumors were circulating around Billie Eilish taking the role, but that touring responsibilities have ended that possibility.

The spy-comedy series, created by Glover and showrunner Francesca Sloane, premiered in February on Amazon Prime Video and became a Top 5 new debut for the streamer. Sloane is returning as showrunner and EP for the second season,...

Here’s how we know December is likely to gross over $1 billion: in its first eight days through the upcoming weekend, “Moana 2” (Disney), “Wicked” (Universal), and “Gladiator II” (Paramount) will likely combine to take in around $225 million in U.S./Canada box office.

That’s a full weekend plus Sunday through Thursday after Thanksgiving. The three films through Sunday will have grossed over $700 million — all told through then, most of it for “Moana 2” and “Wicked,” both over $300 million by next Sunday.

Those two are certain to hold most of their theaters through Christmas, where their family appeal should rebound. Ridley Scott’s film will still have some juice left. It’s reasonable that combined all three will gross over $500 million during December.

If they do, it should help push the month over $1 billion. And that would happen even though none of the new Christmas titles is expected to...