“Christy,” a sports drama that features a transformative performance from “Euphoria” star Sydney Sweeney as a female boxer, will be released by Black Bear in theaters in the thick of awards season.

Heading into the Toronto Film Festival where it will premiere, “Christy” was one of the hottest acquisition targets, but Black Bear, which financed the picture, has decided to take it off the board and make it the inaugural release of its fledgling distribution label. The film is a biopic of Christy Martin, a Wbc female super welterweight champ. It’s directed by Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner David Michôd (“Animal Kingdom”) and co-stars Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, and Katy O’Brian. “Christy” will be released in theaters nationwide on Nov. 7 and Black Bear plans to mount an Oscar campaign for the picture and for Sweeney’s performance, which is said to be chameleonic.

“We’re thrilled about the upcoming release of ‘Christy,...

Exclusive: Even with The Lost Bus set to bow at the Toronto Film Festival this weekend, Paul Greengrass is already gearing up his next high-profile project as sources tell Deadline Katherine Waterston is coming on to join the untitled pic from the Oscar-nominated director. Sources also confirm to Deadline that Andrew Garfield has officially come on to star with Focus Features now on board to distribute. Deadline first reported this past spring that the package was coming together with Garfield to Star and Focus the likely landing spot and insiders now say those deals have closed.

Greengrass is directing with Jason Blum producing through Blumhouse, alongside Greg Goodman, Joanna Kaye and Greengrass. Production is set to start this fall.

In the pic, Garfield stars as a legendary leader of a ferocious rebellion against the tyranny of King Richard II. As the war burns across England, he forms an army of...

Lionsgate will develop the 1978 cult horror classic “Magic” into a newly imagined film, produced by Sam Raimi and “Weapons” producer Roy Lee, the studio announced on Wednesday.

Chris Hammond and Tim Sullivan, who have long championed the project and guided its development, will produce alongside Raimi and Lee. Raimi Productions’ Zainab Azizi will also produce, and the executive producers are Paul Fishkin with Andrew Childs for Vertigo.

The project will be written by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, who previously wrote Raimi Productions’ upcoming survival horror thriller “Send Help” for 20th Century Studios.

The original “Magic” starred Anthony Hopkins as Corky, a magician who reaches fame alongside his ventriloquist’s dummy,...

The release date for the upcoming “Bluey” movie from Disney and BBC Studios has been revealed.

The CG-animated feature film based on the hit Australian animated children’s series is set for a global theatrical release on Aug. 6, 2027. After hitting theaters, the “Bluey” film will be available to stream on Disney+ and on ABC iview and ABC Kids in Australia.

The “Bluey” movie is written and directed by series creator Joe Brumm and is a Ludo Studio production. It will feature voice talent from the series, including Melanie Zanetti as Bluey’s mom Chilli and David McCormack as dad Bandit. Richard Jeffrey (“Bluey” Seasons 1-3) will co-direct with Amber Naismith producing. Series composer Joff Bush will provide the score.

According to a press release when the film was announced, it will “continue the adventures of Bluey, a lovable, inexhaustible, blue heeler dog, who lives with her Mum, Dad and her little sister,...

Beyond Fest will celebrate the career of Guillermo del Toro with a 12 feature retrospective series, Está Vivo: The Gods and Monsters of Guillermo del Toro. This year’s festival runs from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8 at The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Calif.

In partnership with the American Cinematheque, Está Vivo will include new restorations, special director’s cut and rare 35mm screenings spanning from Del Toro’s debut with “Cronos” to his most recent film, “Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light.”

del Toro will join the celebration for four specially curated blocks of programming, during which he will share his personal stories, dreams, and nightmares from his life behind the lens. Ahead of his forthcoming film “Frankenstein,” releasing later this year, the series will be divided into themes of monsters, humanity, and imagination.

“Guillermo del Toro’s films have inspired generations of filmmakers and audiences alike in a way unlike...

The “Tomb Raider” live-action series at Amazon Prime Video is getting ready to shoot.

The series adaptation of the video game franchise is officially set to begin production on Jan. 19, 2026. In addition, Amazon MGM Studios has confirmed for the first time that Sophie Turner will star in the series as Lara Croft. The show was originally greenlit at Prime Video in May 2024, with Turner’s involvement first reported in November of that year. The show was first reported as being in development at the streamer in January 2023.

As previously reported, Phoebe Waller-Bridge will serve as creator, writer, and executive producer on the series.

David Corenswet will dust off his red trunks soon, as a sequel to James Gunn’s summer hit “Superman” will fly into theaters in less than two years.

Director and DC Films co-head James Gunn took to social media on Wednesday to announce an official title and release date for the project. “Superman: Man of Tomorrow” will hit theaters on July 9, 2027.

In his announcement, Gunn included a comic book image of Superman standing next to Lex Luthor in his Warsuit, a pretty clear signal that the sequel will continue to focus on Luthor’s antipathy for the Man of Steel. In the DC comics, Luthor (played by Nicholas Hoult in the film) creates the suit in order match Superman’s strength and abilities; it seems that after the failure of his plan to use a clone of Superman to defeat him in Gunn’s first film, Luthor has decided that...

The nonfiction book The Lost Airman: A True Story of Escape From Nazi-Occupied France is flying once again, this time with the help of A-listers Ben Stiller and Jeremy Allen White, as well as A24, who are all in various stages of talks to bring the adaptation to the screen.

If deals make, Stiller will direct and produce the adaptation of the book written by Seth Meyerowitz which would star White. A24 is in negotiations to land the package, which will be titled simply Airman.

Stiller would also produce via his long-standing production banner Red Hour Films. Also producing will be John Lesher via his Le Grisbi Productions and P.J. van Sandwijk of Storyteller Productions. Jake Gyllenhaal, who was to have starred in an adaptation being developed in the late 2010s, remains involved as producer via his Nine Stories banner.

The 2016 book tells the incredible true story of Arthur Meyerowitz,...

The epic story behind Paul McCartney’s stolen bass guitar, which was returned to him in 2024 after 51 years, will be told in a new feature-length documentary directed by Arthur Cary.

Titled “The Beatle and the Bass,” the documentary is produced by Passion Pictures, which won this year’s BAFTA with the Sundance hit “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” for BBC Arts. Fremantle is handling global distribution.

The documentary is announced as part of BBC Arena’s 50th Anniversary alongside “Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks” (also produced by Passion Pictures) and Ls Lowry’s “Lost Tapes.”

The detective story charts the saga of McCartney’s original Höfner bass guitar whose disappearance 51 years ago became one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most enduring mysteries.

McCartney, who will be featured in the film, said, “I think anything that’s nicked, you want back, especially if it has sentimental value. It just went off into...

Quiver Distribution has acquired the North American and U.K. rights to Uwe Boll’s migrant thriller “Run,” starring Amanda Plummer, James Russo (“Tulsa King”) and Ulrich Thomsen (“Lanterns”).

The film is set for a market premiere with cast and crew at this year’s AFM in Los Angeles. Quiver will then release “Run” digitally across North America and the U.K. Nov. 14, with Dubai-based Phars Film distributing it in West Asia and Germany’s Kinostar releasing the pic digitally day and date in the rest of the world, making it one of the rare global releases in the independent space.

“We’re excited to have a true global release for our movie ‘Run,’” said Boll. “To release the movie in 100 plus countries simultaneously is the future in a world in which every movie is only a click away.”

“Run” examines how the ongoing...

Guillermo del Toro is getting the Beyond Fest treatment.

The filmmaker, who is coming off the Venice Film Festival premiere of his latest monster fantasy, Frankenstein, will be getting a 12-movie retrospective from the biggest genre film festival in the country that will showcase his three decades of bringing fantasy, dreams and nightmares to the screen.

In partnership with American Cinematheque, Beyond Fest is putting on Está Vivo: The Gods and Monsters of Guillermo del Toro, featuring new restorations, special director’s cuts and rare 35mm screenings of del Toro’s oeuvre, taking audiences from his debut with Cronos to his most recent, Nightmare Alley. This year’s festival runs Sept. 23 to Oct. 8.

“Guillermo del Toro’s films have inspired generations of filmmakers and audiences alike in a way unlike any other artist we’ve experienced,” said Beyond Fest head of programming Evrim Ersoy in a statement. “To welcome him...

Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Kiberlain (“The Divine Sarah Bernhard) and Diane Kruger (“Amrum”) will lead the cast of French director Marc Fitoussi’s next film, “All About Corinne,” which has been boarded by French banner Indie Sales.

The company, which previously worked with Fitoussi on his 2022 film “Two Tickets to Greece,” is kicking off “Corinne” sales on the fall festival circuit.

Huppert, whose latest film “The Richest Woman in the World” opened at this year’s Cannes, stars as Corinne Maclou, a background actor who dreams of one day being more than an extra. Confident her breakthrough is right around the corner, she befriends famous actor Sandrine Kiberlain, hoping it will help her achieve her goal — but there’s still a long way to go for her to be welcomed into the closed-off French cinema family.

The rest of the cast includes Emmanuelle Bercot, Anne Marivin, Ana Girardot, Vincent Dedienne and Thomas Jolly,...

As France’s role as a hub for international production continues to gain momentum, a new breed of international sales company, The Pool Films, is making its debut in the fall festival circuit with a one-stop-shop model incorporating financing, co-production, post production and filming location as part of its services.

Based in Paris, The Pool Films is being launched by international sales veteran Gilles Sousa and producer Tim Belda, with the backing of Digital District Group – the VFX house behind Netflix’s “Under Paris” and “Lupin,” among others — and the Victorine Studios. The latter is a Hollywood-style centenary venue in the French Riviera, in Nice, which has hosted many iconic films, including François Truffaut’s “Day for Night,” Marcel Carné’s “Children of Paradise” and Jacques Tati’s “My Uncle.”

Sousa, who co-founded Pulsar Content where he headed international sales following a long tenure at Bac Films, knows the festival and market circuit inside out.

What do we owe to the people we love? Even devoted partners can have radically different answers to this seemingly straightforward question — a tragedy explored at some length in Cai Shangjun’s “The Sun Rises on Us All,” which closes out the Venice Competition on a drawn-out yet engrossing note of cautionary regret for the damage devotion can do. But if it’s a morality melodrama it is saved from preachiness by actors Xin Zhilei and Zhang Songwen who are outstanding in summoning the convincing chemistry of ex-partners whose passion has long since soured but whose fates remain intertwined, as can happen, when love binds two people tightly together, then leaves.

As composer Guo Sida’s sparingly applied but tone-setting piano motif plays – softly ascending, optimistic notes that resolve in a minor key — 35-year-old Meiyun (Xin Zhilei) is having an ultrasound at a busy hospital. She is pregnant, though it’s early,...

Freud thought that, at least for some of us, the guilt comes before the crime. Seeking punishment for a pre-existing (probably Oedipal) feeling of shame and inadequacy, some of the incarcerated seek a reality that fits their self-identity. For them, crime is simply a tool for the good stuff: punishment and pariah status. Criminality as kink.

With his latest neo-noir, Cai Shangjun offers a full-throated endorsement of one of Freud’s more contentious theories with a tale of a toxic romance necessitated by an irresistible vicious cycle. Set in gritty, smoke-filled Guangzhou — the world’s sweatshop and home to the “Shein village” of cut-price clothing makers — Shangjun’s China is not a happy or a healthy place. Nor are his characters. But good people rarely make for good movies.

Meiyun (Zhilei Xin) runs her own clothing brand in a slick shopping mall, where she broadcasts live walkthroughs of her latest products to fussy customers,...

Spoiler Alert: The following story includes details about the documentary “aka Charlie Sheen,” premiering on Netflix on Sept. 10.

Charlie Sheen is back.

Sort of.

The actor is not only almost eight years sober, but he’s telling his story in a new two-part Netflix documentary series, “aka Charlie Sheen.”

Directed by Andrew Renzi, “aka” chronicles Sheen’s rise to fame in the 1980s and 90s and his horrific and very public drug-fueled meltdown in 2011. His “tiger blood” and “winning” spiral resulted in him being fired from “Two and a Half Men.”

“It’s kind of hard to watch, but I think it’s important to watch,” Sheen, who turned 60 on Sept. 3, told me Thursday at the doc’s premiere at the Tudum Theater in Hollywood. “Let’s chart a path where or chart a course where we don’t make those kind of decisions and wind up something that looks like that again.

Fresh off helming the most popular movie musical of last year, IndieWire can exclusively share that acclaimed “Wicked” filmmaker Jon M. Chu will receive the Vanguard Director Award at the 2025 Scad Savannah Film Festival. The honor, in recognition of his visionary storytelling, will be bestowed upon Chu on Sunday, Oct. 26, during an award presentation that will include a conversation about his career, featuring select clips from Chu’s filmography, as well as chatter about his upcoming film with Universal Pictures, “Wicked: For Good.”

“Jon M. Chu embodies what it means to be a Vanguard,” said Christina Routhier, senior executive director of the Scad Savannah Film Festival via a statement. “From guiding global icons with a steady, inspired hand, to collaborating with authors, designers, and musicians at the highest level, Chu’s vision turns cultural moments into cinematic milestones. For Scad students, his career is a masterclass in how storytelling shapes culture,...

Stars waved as usual from the city’s water taxis, but there was a repeated focus on films that help audiences interpret a chaotic world

For most of its 82 years, Venice has been perceived as the world’s most glamorous film festival. This year was no exception: stars including Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Jude Law and George Clooney dutifully waved from canals and trooped down red carpets (although Law tripped while on a water taxi and Clooney got ill).

But the films themselves struck a different note. Jury president Alexander Payne may have rebutted questions about current affairs during his opening press conference, declaring himself concerned only with discussing cinema,...

Exclusive: Budapest-based sales outfit Luminescence has boarded Randolph Zaini’s Indonesian horror film A Woman Called Mother.

The film is set to world premiere in official selection at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, which runs from September 18 to 25.

The film is being released theatrically in Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand via Multivision Plus. Its Indonesian release date is set for September 25.

A Woman Called Mother is about the teenage girl who moves with her family to a new city for a fresh start after a difficult few years, but the demon following them will force them to confront their most primal fears.

Bleecker Street has hired veteran media executive Christine Manna as the indie studio’s new EVP of home entertainment. She brings more than 20 years of experience in managing the home release of hundreds of films across multiple studios.

“We are so thrilled to have Christine join the team at this critical moment in the company’s evolution,” Bleecker Street CEO Kent Sanderson said in a statement. “Her expertise and decades of experience will be integral to amplifying Bleecker’s ongoing efforts in addressing and succeeding in the ever-changing landscape of sharing great theatrical films with audiences at home.”

“I am honored to be joining Bleecker Street at such an exciting time in its growth, ” Manna said in a statement. “The company has built an incredible reputation for curating films that truly connect with audiences, and I look forward to expanding that mission into the home entertainment space.”

Prior to joining Bleecker Street,...

Film-making studio Fable has announced it will attempt to recreate the 43 minutes cut from the auteur’s 1942 film using AI

An AI company is to reconstruct the missing portions of Orson Welles’ legendary mutilated masterwork The Magnificent Ambersons, it has been announced.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Showrunner platform is planning to use its AI tools to assist in a recreation of the lost 43 minutes of Welles’ 1942 film, removed and subsequently destroyed by Hollywood studio Rko.

The original lighsaber used by Darth Vader in “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” and its sequel “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” has been sold at an auction for $3,654,000.

According to Propstore, the movie memorabilia auction house, the prop is the only hero lightsaber from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) and “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” (1983) with verifiable screen use ever to be offered at public auction. Originally used by actor David Prowse, who played Darth Vader, it now holds the title of the highest-priced “Star Wars” item ever sold at auction.

Propstore

Brandon Alinger, Propstore COO said, “The result marks a landmark moment not just for Propstore, but for the entire world of film collecting. To see a ‘Star Wars’ lightsaber — the symbol of one of cinema’s greatest sagas — become the highest-valued piece of the franchise ever sold at auction is incredibly special. It speaks...

Exclusive: Motion Picture Exchange (Mpx) is at Toronto International Film Festival with a slate of completed titles featuring Gen Z Drama All There Is starring Mena Suvari and Jason Priestley.

Kit Williamson directed the story about atroubled teenager whose world is upended when a tragedy involving her best friend is blamed on her filmmaker father’s controversial sci-fi film.

The new slate includes Sarah T Schwab’s horror thriller Crybaby Bridge starring Sydney Mikayla, Erik King Kevin Breznahan, and Lorencia Lozano. The Cardinal Flix production centres on a pregnant teen’s family who move to the countryside for a fresh...

Finally, Venice Film Festival attendees can rest their hands. That’s after days of clapping and hollering at premieres, resulting in standing ovations that lasted into the double digits.

But lengthy rounds of applause don’t necessarily translate to gold statues. After warm receptions in Italy, which films on the 2025 lineup will find their way into the awards race? Venice has more and more been able to position itself as a major launchpad for the Oscars — and this year’s slate offered such hopefuls as Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone’s latest collaboration “Bugonia” (six-minute ovation), Bennie Safdie’s wrestling drama “The Smashing Machine,” starring Dwayne Johnson (15-minute ovation) and director Mona Fastvold’s musical epic “The Testament of Ann Lee” with Amanda Seyfried as a singing and dancing Shaker (15-minute ovation).

Movies weren’t the only subject of chatter on the Lido. Politics often took center stage, with a...

Amir Azizi’s Inside Amir and UK feature Bearcave were among the winners of the 2025 edition of Giornate degli Autori, the independent sidebar of the Venice Film Festival.

Iranian filmmaker Azizi received the €20,000 cash director’s award.

Inside Amir follows a young man in Tehran on the verge of emigrating to join his girlfriend Tara in Italy; but facing up to his decision in his final days in Iran.

Written and directed by Azizi, the film is produced by Azizi, Elham Azizi and Ali Azizi for Fog Films.

“It reminds us of how daily routines, movements, and conversations with friends provide both security and freedom,...

Source: Courtesy of Al Bravo Films / Premier Entertainment Group

The Hook

Exclusive: Premiere Entertainment Group (Peg) is in Toronto and has begun talks with international buyers on noir thriller The Hook starring Michael Jai White and Malin Akerman.

President and CEO Elias Axume just closed a North American deal here with ITN.

Production took place in Las Vegas last month on the story of a former FBI profiler (White) who left the force after a brutal case shattered his faith in justice. Years later he is pulled back into action and teams with his old partner (Akerman) when a familiar pattern pattern emerges.

Source: Courtesy of Al Bravo Films / Premier Entertainment Group

The Hook

Exclusive: Premiere Entertainment Group (Peg) is in Toronto and has begun talks with international buyers on noir thrillerThe Hook starring Michael Jai White and Malin Akerman.

Production took place in Las Vegas last month on the story of a former FBI profiler (White) who left the force after a brutal case shattered his faith in justice. Years later he is pulled back into action and teams with his old partner (Akerman) when a familiar pattern pattern emerges.

John J. D’Angelo directs from his screenplay, and Al Bravo and Mike Pizzimenti...

It’s time for one last scare.

The hit horror franchise “The Conjuring” is summoning up its fourth and final movie, titled “Last Rites,” at the box office this weekend. The R-rated Warner Bros. movie has made $8.5 million in Thursday previews, the largest for the entire franchise and for a horror movie this year.

Produced by New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster and The Safran Company, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” is expected to open with around $50 million this weekend. However, some estimates are a little higher at $55 million, while Warner Bros. is playing it more safe with a $35 million projection.

The final “Conjuring” movie is hoping to go out with a bang and earn the highest opening of the series. The 2013 original horror, which introduced franchise stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, holds the record with its $41.9 million opening; it made $3.3 million from Thursday previews.

Iranian director Amir Azizi’s “Inside Amir,” a love letter to the city of Tehran, has scored the Venice Days director’s award.

The film, which marks Azizi’s third feature, follows a young man in Tehran who is on the verge of emigrating. “Amid scattered memories, unfinished conversations, and slow-moving days, he faces a decision he hasn’t fully made yet: to leave or to stay. The only thing he refuses to part with is his bicycle – a companion through the city’s streets and a symbol of his past,” says the provided synopsis.

“The film we will honor tonight is a meditation on everyday life,” said the Venice Days jury, headed by

headed by Norwegian writer and director Dag Johan Haugerud (“Sex Love”) in its motivation. “It reminds us of how daily routines, movements, and conversations with friends provide both security and freedom.”

The section’s top award...

Mark Ruffalo will soon be seen on the small screen in “Task,” back on HBO in the original drama series debuting Sunday, September 7. Brad Ingelsby’s follow-up to “Mare of Easttown” centers on the “I Know This Much Is True” Emmy winner as an FBI Task Force agent assigned to a string of armed robberies, led by a family man (Tom Pelphrey), who hardly fits the profile of a career criminal.

IndieWire caught up with Ruffalo at the NYC premiere of the series, fresh off the heels of wrapping Lena Dunham’s next feature, “Good Sex,” a few weeks ago in New York City. “I had the best time working with Lena,” Ruffalo told IndieWire. “I love her.”

“I knew her a little bit when she was younger,” he continued. “But we had the best time, Natalie Portman, Role Model, [and I]. It’s twisted — Lena’s stuff can be very twisted.

Before “Home Alone” turned Macaulay Culkin into a child actor icon, it was “Uncle Buck” (released in theaters one year before) that first put the young star on the map. The John Hughes-directed comedy was headlined by John Candy as a reckless bachelor who is forced to babysit his nieces and nephews. In the new documentary “John Candy: I Like Me,” which opened the Toronto International Film Festival, Culkin remembers Candy’s kindness on set and reveals Candy was one of the first people to notice there was trouble brewing at home.

“I think that’s why that’s one of my favorite performances, because I think he put a lot of himself into it,” Culkin said (via Entertainment Weekly). “[Most actors] don’t know how or don’t like to work with kids… they’re tricky to work with, but John was always really kind and really good. He showed a lot of respect.

Exclusive: UK filmmaker Stroma Cairns’ feature debut, The Son And The Sea, has been picked up for international sales by Paris-based Mmm Film Sales ahead of its world premiere in Toronto’s Discovery strand.

The film will go on to have its European premiere in the New Directors section at San Sebastian Film Festival later this month and a UK premiere at BFI London Film Festival in October.

It follows two young men, Jonah and Lee, as they embark on trip to the Scottish coast, while Jonah endeavours to escape a messy life in London. Upon arrival, they meet a...

Exclusive: Rising German director Joscha Bongard’s narrative feature debut Babystar has been boarded for sales by Finland and UK-based outfit, The Yellow Affair ahead of its premiere as part of the Toronto Discovery strand.

The satirical dramaexplores the rise of family influencing and the children who become both product and commodity. Since birth, 16-year-old Luca has been the star of her parents’ influencer empire, her every milestone curated for millions of followers. When they announce plans for another child, the cracks in their perfect image intensify.

The film stars Maja Bons, Bea Brocks, Liliom Lewald, Joy Ewulu, Maximilian Mundt and Verena Altenberger.

The devil exists. God exists. And so do spoilers. This article discusses major plot details of "The Conjuring: Last Rites."

"The case that ended it all." "Prepare for the end." "The final chapter from the case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren." After plastering these taglines all over the various posters, it's safe to say that the marketing campaign for "The Conjuring: Last Rites" hasn't shied away from a certain sense of finality surrounding the latest -- and perhaps last -- installment in James Wan's wildly successful horror franchise. Loosely based on the "true" story of the Smurl family haunting, the entire premise of this sequel has been sold...

“Young Washington,” the feature biopic of George Washington from Wonder Project and Angel Studios, has started production in Ireland, with a first look of William Franklyn-Miller in the title role revealed

Further cast members have also been announced for the film with Mary-Louise Parker, Mia Rodgers and Jonno Davies joining the project the cast.

Directed by Jon Erwin (“House of David”), the film follows the early life of America’s first president and is set for nationwide release over Independence Day Weekend 2026, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Principal photography will take place in Ireland and Virginia.

Parker will play Mary Washington, George’s strong willed mother, while Rodgers will play Sally Cary, the charming beauty of the Virginia gentry who first sees his potential. Davies — recently seen playing Robbie Williams as a CGI monkey in the acclaimed “Better Man” — portrays condescending British officer James Mackay.

The...

Bing Liu, the writer/director born in China until his family moved him to the United States when he was five, has a Best Documentary Oscar nomination for his 2018 feature “Minding the Gap,” about male skateboarders in Rockford, Illinois.

His narrative feature debut, “Preparation for the Next Life,” is produced by Orion Pictures and Plan B, from Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner, and Dede Gardner — all following a similar path as Oscar-nominated docmaker RaMell Ross’ own narrative feature debut “Nickel Boys,” also produced by Orion and Plan B, and also set up at Amazon/MGM Studios, and also a literary adaptation of an acclaimed novel. So why the hell is the studio burying Liu’s film with a September 5 release date in the middle of fall festival season, and without sending it to any festivals?

The bittersweet immigrant love story at its core — starring cutie-pie it-boy Fred Hechinger as an army...

This episode contains spoilers for "South Park" season 27, episode 4, "Wok is Dead."

"South Park" season 27 is firing on all cylinders. After a few years away, the adult cartoon is back with one of its best seasons yet, and it's so far managed to capture a combination of relatively wholesome childhood fun, raunchy and vulgar humor, and biting satire all at the same time. Indeed, the new episodes of "South Park" continue to deliver some very timely commentary by going relentlessly after the twice-impeached convicted felon Donald Trump and his entire presidential administration. The show's latest episode, "Wok is Dead," even has Trump impregnating the Prince of Darkness himself, Satan, with a hellspawn.

The last time Italian filmmaker and humorist Franco Maresco was in competition at Venice, with his Cosa Nostra-baiting 2019 mockumentary “The Mafia is No Longer What It Used To Be,” he won the Special Jury Prize. If that title is unfamiliar to you, you haven’t been negligent. Even high-level festival awards can only do so much to raise the profile of films that aren’t built to travel, and Maresco’s unabashedly local brand of satire — steeped in cultural and political reference points with little resonance outside Italy — is as good an example as any. Despite another competition berth on the Lido, his new film “Bravo Bene!” is unlikely to buck that trend.

Inviting considerations of what the equivalent Italian term might be for “inside baseball” — “inside soccer” is too universally scrutable, surely — “Bravo Bene!” doubles or even triples down on the insularity by taking as its subject the director himself.

Pack your checkbooks, Hollywood.

As studios and streamers decamp for the Toronto Film Festival, where they will premiere or screen many of the films that they hope will dominate awards season, they’ll also be on the hunt for some compelling movies to round out their slates. On paper, there’s plenty on offer, including new films from leading auteurs like Steven Soderbergh, Mona Fastvold, and Gus Van Sant, as well as star-driven projects featuring the likes of Angelina Jolie, Riz Ahmed, Michaela Coel, and Chris Evans. But plenty of films have arrived at TIFF with impressive pedigree only to be met with a shrug by audiences. Here are 15 films that seem likely to spark the most intense bidding wars.

Hamlet

Cast: Riz Ahmed, Joe Alwyn, Timothy Spall, Art Malik, Sheeba Chadha

Director: Aneil Karia

Sales Agent: WME Independent / CAA Media Finance

Why Buyers Are Circling: A bold new take on the Bard,...

The fall festival firehose has opened. We’re now inundated with new movie premieres, with Telluride wrapped and Venice heading into its final weekend.

On this episode of IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” podcast, IndieWire Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson and Executive Editor Ryan Lattanzio break down the highs and lows of the fall festival circuit so far, from the standouts to the surprising misfires. Anne was in Telluride, which overlapped with Venice in programming a suite of Netflix titles, including Guillermo del Toro’s lushly mounted “Frankenstein” (we’re somewhat split on that one; Anne’s a perennial del Toro head) and Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly.”

Starring George Clooney as an aging Hollywood star staring down a potential PR crisis after a scuffle with a former acting class peer, it’s Baumbach’s most sentimental movie yet, though Clooney and Adam Sandler as his manager are likely to score Oscar nominations.

Spain’s Latido Films has pounced on the worldwide sales rights to family drama “Peréz Rodríguez,” which market debuts at the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF).

Produced by the Dominican Republic’s Lantica Studios, the debut feature of writer-director Humberto Tavárez is an incisive yet heartfelt portrait of a Dominican family caught in the grip of generational conflict.

When tragedy strikes, the return of the patriarch’s illegitimate son fractures their carefully maintained facade, revealing long-suppressed tensions and hypocrisies. Told over the course of three celebratory gatherings, the film casts a wry look at Dominican identity, middle-class idiosyncrasies and the fragile threads that bind a family together.

“‘Peréz Rodríguez’ is an extraordinary film that dissects, like few others, the contradictions inherent among wealthy families in Latin America,” said Latido’s Antonio Saura, who hailed the pic’s acting, directing and surprise ending, in particular.

“The film keeps your attention throughout and...

“Ida” star Agata Trzebuchowska makes her directorial debut with “Ties.”

“I’ve never felt like an actress and never planned to tie my future to it. ‘Ida’ was a complete accident, but a wonderful one, because it probably pushed me towards cinema and directing,” she told Variety. Trzebuchowska stars in Pete Ohs’ “Erupcja” alongside Charli Xcx, premiering at TIFF. But acting “still doesn’t interest her,” she underlined.

Her short “Heat,” co-directed with Mateusz Pacewicz, premiered at Sundance and was followed by “Vacancy.”

“Ties,” which she also wrote, tells the story of “the horror of adolescence” from the perspective of 16-year-old Maks, who, while spending his vacation caring for dying grandmother, unexpectedly falls in love with his sister, Emma.

“The closer they get to each other, crossing erotic boundaries, the more something disturbingly inhuman awakens in the grandmother. It’s a combination of horror and romance, where ordinary summer gradually...

Barcelona-based Filmax has secured international sales rights to “Luger,” the feature debut of Spanish filmmaker Bruno Martín.

A darkly comic, action-fuelled thriller, the film is already attracting strong attention across the international movie genre circuit.

“Luger” will world premiere in the official section of Austin’s Fantastic Fest, the largest genre festival in the U.S., whose upcoming edition takes place Sept. 18-25. It will then screen in competition at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival, opening Sept. 26, before making its Spanish debut at the Sitges Film Festival, one of the world’s premier genre platforms.

Produced by José Luis Rancaño at La Dalia Films, “Luger” draws inspiration from the high-octane thrillers of the 1980s. The screenplay was co-written by Martín and Santiago Taboada (“Equals”).

Set over the course of one frenetic day in a crumbling industrial zone outside a major Spanish city, the film follows Rafa and Toni, small-time hustlers working for Angela,...

This article contains light spoilers for "The Paper" season 1, episode 4.

"The Paper" might be a spin-off from "The Office," but its also very much its own thing. Now, though, the show has given fans what might be the show's first official callback to Michael Scott. In episode 4, Domhnall Gleeson's Ned Sampson tries to encourage Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez) to create a Sudoku puzzle for the paper and claims that it would be "fun." But the accountant turned Arts and Leisure reporter replies, "Saying that work is fun is a form of pressure. Quite frankly, it's giving me Ptsd from an old boss." A quick look to camera leaves no...

It’s been eight years since audiences got to experience Lynne Ramsay’s singular vision in a feature film, but her new movie “Die My Love” will arrive in theaters just in time for awards season.

The drama is set in rural Montana. Jennifer Lawrence plays a woman having serious trouble adjusting to motherhood. Robert Pattinson is her not-always-helpful husband in this intense psychological drama. Sissy Spacek, Nick Nolte and Lakeith Stanfield also star.

“Die My Love” premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival back in May. Distributor and streaming service Mubi bought distribution for the film in a major deal totaling $24 million, landing rights for North America and various international territories. That acquisition came a year after Mubi bought “The Substance” ahead of its Cannes premiere, before turning the horror movie into a major awards player. Intriguingly, the teaser for “Die, My Love” name-checks “the studio behind ‘The Substance...

Lynne Ramsay has never been one to shy away from disturbing portrayals of challenging subject matter, and her new film “Die My Love” sees the auteur probing the depths of postpartum depression.

Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson star as a married couple who move to the countryside after having their first child, with Lawrence’s Grace losing herself in a psychosexual frenzy as she adapts to her new life with a baby.

The film premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where IndieWire’s Ryan Lattanzio wrote that “I don’t think there has ever before been such a psychologically immersive view of postpartum depression as ‘Die My Love’ onscreen. The film careens between a dreary sludge of despair and eventual heart-palpitating nightmare, Grace caught in a mercurial storm of her own moods without ballast and unable to be understood by those around her.”

Ramsay directs from a screenplay she co-wrote...

Executives from three of the UK’s top studio facilites have joinedScreenInternational’s second annual film summit, ’Building on the UK’s Global Success’, taking place at the BFI Southbank on September 30

Kate Phibbs, head of studo at Film Soho, Debbie Adler, head of commercial and marketing at Garden Studios and Gerwyn Evans, head of studios UK at Great Point Studios, will come together to talk about how UK studios are ensuring their campuses can host productions across a range of different budgets while also delivering on sustainability targets.

Buy tickets here

The summit kicks off with a keynote speech...

Packed with panoramic shots of a 1575 Algiers, “The Captive,” from Oscar-winning director Alejandro Amenábar, weighs in as one of the biggest Spanish movies of 2025 and a broad audience play.

It’s an adventure tale, set over the years from 1575-1580, focusing on “Don Quixote” author Miguel de Cervantes as a young Spanish soldier languishing in an Algiers jail after capture by Ottoman corsairs. There, however, Cervantes (Julio Peña) discovers his power of storytelling. Enthralling both fellow captives and the Bey of Algiers, Cervantes, his spirit unbroken, also imagines a daring escape plan.

“The Captive” feels at time as historical epic, such as in a majestic sweep across the port of Ottoman Empire Algiers, later seen from its highest building, a higgedly-piggedly hotchpotch of favela-like houses, stretching down to the sea.

At others, however, as Amenábar says, it tries to capture Cervantes’ soul. “The Captive” begins with an aged Miguel de Cervantes writing “Don Quixote,...

The Conjuring: Last Rites is the widest opener in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as the Warner Bros horror launches in 620 sites.

It is the biggest opening in the paranormal series, ahead of 2016’s The Conjuring 2 which opened in 504 sites. That title launched with £2.8m and was followed by The Devil Made Me Do It in 2021 (£1.9m debut from 475 sites). The first film opened in 2013 with £2.2m from 371 venues.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return for Last Ritesas the paranormal investigators travel to Pennsylvania to vanquish a demon from a family’s home. It is directed by Michael Chaves...

Hoist that Flag: This article contains spoilers for "Peacemaker" season 2, episode 3, "Another Rick Up My Sleeve."

Peacemaker (John Cena) has a serious Flag problem. Not only does he feel guilty about killing Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman) in 2021's "The Suicide Squad" (2021), but Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) knows all about this, and as the new head of A.R.G.U.S., he's in prime position to do whatever he can to get on Peacemaker's case. If all of that wasn't enough, the opening of "Peacemaker" season 2, episode 3 ("Another Rick Up My Sleeve") adds yet another twist to the show's ever-expanding Flag game by bringing back Rick Jr. 

In a flashback scene,...