“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...

Jordan Peele’s fourth film as a director appears to be taking longer than expected.

Universal Pictures has unset the Oscar winner’s next project from its release calendar, which was last dated for October 2026. Peele is currently at work on the film, which has yet to roll cameras, an individual familiar with the project told Variety.

Originally, the follow-up to his 2022 hit movie “Nope” was scheduled to open over Christmas 2024; following the guild strikes, the film was then pushed to next Halloween. Universal had no comment. Reps for Peele did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As per usual with Peele’s directorial efforts, nothing is known about the movie’s plot, though its been categorized as a horror thriller. But speaking on the “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast in Jan. 2024, Peele said, “I do feel like my next project is clear to me, and I...

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,...

With no home ground and one match away from non-league competition, the Seagulls’ climb up to the Premier League is one of the game’s great success stories

The tidal wave of streaming landfill, football club reality series, part of the seemingly bottomless pit of sport industry content, means that cutting through is tougher than ever, especially for single-instalment films that can’t rely on surfing some sort of wave of tournament triumph nostalgia. Access isn’t enough; you really need a good story, and this account of the rise, fall and rise again of Brighton & Hove Albion – while “authorised” up the wazoo – has certainly got that.

Brighton’s...

The European film and TV industry needs to increase its focus on audience needs and to embrace EU-based technology if it is to become more competitive in the face of growing market penetration by global giants.

These are among the conclusions of the European Commission’s second European Media Industry Outlook report, a follow up to its influential first study published in 2023 which has helped to inform EU thinking about support for the sector.

The publication of the report comes as the European Union weighs up its future support for European media and audiovisual sector. In July, it published its...

Read out by San Sebastián Festival Director, José Luis Rebordinos and Head of Communications Ruth Pérez de Anucita as the festival revealed on Friday full details of its 73rd edition’s attending stars and directors, the festival statement against Gaza genocide comes two days after organisers of the Vuelta de España, Spain’s equivalent of the Tour de France, halted the cycling race three kilometres from its finish in neighbouring Bilbao out of safety concerns as massed peaceful Gaza protestors threatened to spill over barricades into the cyclists’ path.

Protesters, many older adults, were calling for the expulsion of the Israel-Premier Tech team which was stopped last week during a time trial by activists holding Palestinian flags.

San Sebastián has a long tradition as a focus of pro-democracy protest under Franco and, after democracy was won in general elections of 1977, of screening political and social issue movies. Friday’s press...

The lost 43 minutes of Orson Welles‘ “The Magnificent Ambersons” is the holy grail of cinema. The legend goes that after a bad test screening, Rko tacked on a happy ending and chopped the film from 131 minutes to 88. The missing minutes were melted for their silver nitrate, but cinephiles have spent years seeking a print that retained the the footage; TCM even sponsored a trip to Brazil in pursuit of a complete print.

Like other efforts, Brazil didn’t pan out. Welles believed that the studio butchered a movie that would be seen as greater than his debut, “Citizen Kane,” but would he have used generative AI if it offered the possibility of recreating what he lost?

Showrunner, which bills itself as the “Netflix of AI,” is either betting Welles would. It is using “The Magnificent Ambersons” to develop its latest model, Film-1, which Showrunner hopes will let people generate lifelike short films.

Revered Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio, who is at the Venice Film Festival with HBO series “Portobello,” is set to make a high-end biopic titled “Falcon” about charismatic auto industry executive Sergio Marchionne who saved Fiat and Chrysler from the brink of bankruptcy.

Shooting on “Falcon” is expected to start in 2026 in Italy, the U.S. and Canada.

The project is written by Bellocchio with Ludovica Rampoldi, Andrea di Stefano, Stefano Rulli and with the collaboration of Oliviero Del Papa. “Falcon” is being produced by Simone Gattoni for Kavac Film, by Mattia Mor for Emotion Network and Rai Cinema.

Marchionne, who was Italian and Canadian, died in 2018 at 66. He was hired by Italy’s Agnelli family to run Fiat in 2004 when, due to previous mismanagement plus the recession, few in the auto industry believed it could be saved. Then, in 2009, when Chrysler was guided into a U.S. government-led bankruptcy, Marchionne...

Minerva Pictures has acquired Lee Hong-chi’s sophomore feature “A Dance in Vain” for theatrical distribution in Italy. The deal continues Minerva’s relationship with the filmmaker following their successful distribution of his Venice Lion of the Future Award-winning debut “Love is a Gun.”

“A Dance in Vain” is selected for the Settimana Internazionale della Critica (Sic), the independent section of the Venice Film Festival. Parallax Films is handling world sales on the title.

The drama stars Cici Wang as Monkey, a theater company worker struggling to make ends meet in an unnamed big city. The story follows her repetitive daily existence, haunted by the suicide of her boyfriend Leo. Caught in cycles of routine and isolation, Monkey attempts to communicate her exhaustion to others, only to be met with dismissive responses.

“We are extremely thrilled to bring Lee Hong Chi’s new film to Italian audiences,” said Andrea Curti,...

In Superman: Man of Tomorrow, will the Man of Steel team up with Lex Luthor? Duke it out with him in the galaxy’s most unexpected custody battle? Or tackle climate change and LGBTQ+ rights?

Is tomorrow just another day, as the adage goes? Or is it suddenly a franchise-within-a-franchise, a special wing of the nascent DC Universe focused in hard on what all those nutty Kryptonian super-cousins have been up to? What we do know, thanks to studio boss James Gunn in a series of social media splurts, is that Tomorrow is most definitely the future. Gunn has revealed that his follow-up to Superman will be titled Superman: Man of Tomorrow,...

Four screenwriters from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt will participate in the fourth edition of AuthenticA Series Lab, the development programme from South Africa-based Realness Institute that and supports writers to advance their series ideas into pilot scripts.

The filmmakers are Gamel Apalayine from Ghana, who works across film, TV, theatre and music; Nigerian-British poet, filmmaker and photographer Jolade Olusanya; Kenyan scriptwriter and author Mona Ombogo; and Egyptian-Canadian filmmaker Reem Morsi, who wrote and directed 2024 comedy Banned.

The AuthenticA programme begins with a residency in the Western Cape, South Africa in September, followed by online sessions until mid-December.

A second...

FilmRise has inked deals for two true crime series that will explore the psychological elements driving fatal crimes.

The streaming distributor will co-produce “Murder in Mind” with CBS AMC Networks U.K. and Blue Ant Studios, while “Pushed to Death” represents a partnership between FilmRise, CBS AMC Networks and All3Media International.

Both 10-episode series will receive different treatment across markets. “Pushed to Death” will air under that title in North America via FilmRise, while U.K. audiences will see the same content as “Fatal Fall: Murder or Accident” through CBS AMC Networks U.K. All3Media International will shop the show globally using the British title.

The deals give FilmRise North American exclusivity across all platforms for both projects, continuing the company’s strategy of building its true crime brand.

“FilmRise has a strong track record of delivering true crime that resonates with North American audiences,” said Jonitha Keymoore, senior VP...

A flourishing lineup of immersive storytelling experiments are taking visitors into novels, nightclubs and outer space

In the largest cinema at the Venice film festival, guests gather for the premiere of Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro’s lavish account of a man who dared to play God and created a monster. When the young scientist reanimates a dead body for his colleagues, some see it as a trick while others are outraged. “It’s an abomination, an obscenity,” shouts one hide-bound old timer, and his alarm is partly justified. Every technological breakthrough opens Pandora’s box. You don’t know what’s going to crawl out or where it will then choose to go.

Screen’s latest special edition previews the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which runs September 4-14.

The issues looks back on 50 years of TIFF with key figures from the event’s history, and features interviews with James McAvoy, Stephen Graham, Agnieszka Holland and Alice Winocour about their festival projects. Lucas and Michiel Dhont’s also discuss what’s next for their production outfit The Reunion.

Click here to read the digital edition

Read Screen’s other digital editions...

Screenis running this regularly updated page with the latest film festival and market dates from across the world.

To submit details of or alter your festival dates, pleasecontact us herewith the name, dates, country and website for the event.

Ongoing

Venice International Film Festival, Italy - August 27-September 6

Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival, US - September 2-7

Armenian Film Festival, US - September 3-7

Jakarta World Cinema, Indonesia - September 4-October 4

100% Manusia Film Festival, Indonesia - September 4-14

Toronto International Film Festival, Canada - September 4-14

Jakarta International Documentary Experimental Film Festival,Indonesia - Setptember 5-13

London Rolling Film Festival,...

It’s been an uncharacteristically strong year for Balkan cinema, with filmmakers from the southeastern corner of Europe fighting — often against all odds — to bring their stories to the screen, despite challenges ranging from civil unrest to moribund support from state-backed funding bodies.

Nevertheless, this year has seen the return of old masters, like Romanian provocateur Radu Jude (“Dracula”), and the emergence of fresh voices, such as Slovenia’s Urška Djukić (“Little Trouble Girls”), alongside triumphs including North Macedonian director Georgi M. Unkovski’s dual Sundance prizewinner “DJ Ahmet” and Croatian director Igor Bezinović’s Rotterdam-winning docu-drama “Fiume O Morte!”

That momentum has carried into the fall festivals, where North Macedonian directors Teona Strugar Mitevska (“The Happiest Man in the World”) and two-time Academy Award nominee Tamara Kotevska (“Honeyland”) both launched their latest works at the Venice Film Festival. They were joined on the Lido by veteran Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komandarev...

Long considered the preeminent film festival to launch a title into awards season, Venice experienced a modest wobble last year – at least in comparison to Cannes.

Venice titles earned two of the 10 best picture Oscar nominations versus three from Cannes.In addition to The Brutalist and I’m Still Here, several other films ended last year’s Venice Film Festival as seeming contenders – notably Queer, Babygirl and Golden Lion winner The Room Next Door – but then failed to score any actual nominations at either Oscar or the Bafta Film Awards.

Venice competitor Joker: Folie A Deux was positioned as an awards contender going into the festival,...

“Knife + Heart” director Yann Gonzalez has reunited with frequent collaborators Vanessa Paradis and M83 frontman Anthony Gonzalez — the filmmaker’s brother — on “I’ll Forget Your Name,” a gothic drama selected for this year’s Venice Gap-Financing Market.

Written and directed by Gonzalez, produced by Paris-based Pan Cinema, with music by the other Gonzalez, the film follows a 50-year-old instructor in a small village whose nightly cruising encounters take a darker turn when she falls for a young man who soon vanishes, sending her down a mysterious and nightmarish path.

Building on their experience with “Knife + Heart,” which premiered in competition at Cannes in 2018, Gonzalez crafted this new project specifically for Paradis. Kinology is handling global sales, with Chanel supplying key costumes.

“This comes from a more personal place and is less referential than my previous films,” Gonzalez explains. “It centers on a woman my own age,...

Top Bollywood star Ajay Devgn has unveiled his latest business venture, Lens Vault Studios (Lvs), partnering with Danish Devgn to establish a media company focused on technology-driven entertainment production.

The new studio will produce content across multiple platforms including theatrical releases, streaming services, commercial projects, gaming experiences and international collaborations. The announcement follows Devgn’s track record of investing in production companies, visual effects firms and his recent AI company Prismix, which he launched alongside Danish Devgn.

Under the new structure, Ajay Devgn will hold the chair position while Danish Devgn will serve as founder and chief executive officer.

“We are building a creative ecosystem within Lvs where original ideas are nurtured and new forms of storytelling are realised using world-class technology,” Ajay Devgn said. “Our goal is to set a new benchmark for Indian media on the global stage, an environment that empowers creators and leverages next-generation tools to...

Cambodia has submitted the psychological horror thriller “Tenement,” co-directed by Inrasothythep Neth and Sokyou Chea, as its contender for best international feature at the 98th Academy Awards.

The film is set within a decaying Khmer Rouge–era tenement in Phnom Penh. It follows Soriya (Thorn Thanet), a Cambodian-Japanese manga artist who returns home after her mother’s death and becomes trapped in a series of terrifying visions that blur the boundaries between the past and present.

“Tenement” world premiered in the Big Screen Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2024 and has since screened at Osaka Asian Film Festival, Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Kaohsiung Film Festival, Luxembourg City Film Festival, Motel X and Horrorant’s Fright Nights, among others.

Shot across Tokyo and Phnom Penh, production began in 2020 but was delayed for two years by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The secret of “Maddie’s Secret” — or maybe it’s the central joke — is that the movie’s creator and star, comedian John Early, takes the whole thing seriously.

A tongue-in-cheek critique of influencer culture crossed with a sincere homage to the heyday of disease-of-the-week TV movies, the tricky, one-of-a-kind stunt stars Early (who is male) as Maddie “the Fattie” Ralph (who is not). But gender doesn’t factor into the queer comedian’s play-it-straight directorial debut, at least not insofar as his food-passionate protagonist’s fragile reality is concerned.

Just as John Waters’ muse, Divine, assumed dowdy-housewife drag in movies such as “Hairspray” and “Polyester,” Early dons a blond wig and falsies to embody his film’s titular ingenue: a guileless vegetarian chef whose overnight viral-video success triggers her long-suppressed eating disorder. And also like Waters, who channeled the so-lush-they’re-lurid style of Douglas Sirk’s 1950s melodramas, Early adopts the gauzy,...

Over 40 years since This Is Spinal Tap was mistaken for a comedy, its hard-rocking subjects are back for a legally obligated final gig. Our writer smells the glove

Spinal Tap are remembering the old days. It was 1966, and the young beat group from Squatney in east London – still, at that point, the Thamesmen – were honing their act in the tough clubs of the Benelux circuit. A young band from Britain could learn a lot, facing up to riotous crowds of Dutch, Flemings, Walloons and Luxembourgers. What lessons did Tap take from that year?

“If you speak really loudly, it’s all right if you don’t have any of the local language,...

Oh, Canada!

The Toronto International Film Festival kicked off its 50th edition Thursday evening with the world premiere of “John Candy: I Like Me,” a documentary that celebrates the life and career of the titular funnyman, who died of a heart attack in 1994 at the age of 43.

The opening night gala leaned in heavily on Canadian pride, which is not often the case at TIFF. But “I Like Me,” which Amazon is releasing on Oct. 10, offered plenty of regional flavor for the hometown crowd. Candy was a local hero, having grown up in Toronto before his breakout on Sctv. He eventually became one of the most in-demand comedy stars of his generation, thanks to such films as “Stripes,” “Splash,” “Spaceballs,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Uncle Buck” and “Cool Runnings.” Fellow Canadian Ryan Reynolds, who hails from Vancouver and produced the doc, was in attendance, celebrating another one of the Great...

“John Candy: I Like Me” is the kind of glowing celebrity tribute you expect to get at their funeral, not all these years after their death (it opens with Dan Aykroyd’s eloquent eulogy for his friend and closes with the one Catherine O’Hara gave). But in the three decades since that big, lovable star’s passing, the affection his friends and family held for Candy has only deepened, to the extent that Bill Murray jokes, “I wish I had more bad things to say about him,” in the film’s first interview.

Kicking off the 50th-anniversary edition of the Toronto Film Festival, the made-for-Amazon documentary doesn’t need dirt, but it could’ve used more drama. Director Colin Hanks collects fond remembrances from an impressive roster of A-listers, including Steve Martin, Martin Short, Macaulay Culkin, director Chris Columbus, “Sctv” co-founder Andrew Alexander, Second City Toronto colleagues O’Hara and Eugene Levy,...

Can you blame a critic for wincing when a character pulls out a notepad in the middle of a concert? Cinematic depictions of criticism are usually withering at best, and pointedly personal at worst. Well, critics can exhale while watching “Mile End Kicks,” the sophomore feature from Canadian writer/director Chandler Levack. Levack, herself a former critic, is cynical about a few things, but the act of criticism isn’t one of them.

Like her debut “I Like Movies,” Levack’s new film is based on her own life experiences, namely a summer she spent in Montreal as a young, aspiring writer trying to find herself. Her protagonist, Grace Pine (Barbie Ferreira), goes through a similar arc, convincing herself — as so many young people do — that moving somewhere cooler will fix her life. She’s also telling everyone that she’s writing a book about Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill,...

Lee Raybon, Ethan Hawke’s self-proclaimed “truthstorian” at the center of Sterlin Harjo’s swirling Southern noir, is so often bruised, bloodied, or bandaged that when friends and family express concern over his disheveled state, their dismay is almost as shocking as his beatings. Isn’t he… always like this? Doesn’t he saddle up next to scoundrals and pick a fight? Isn’t that part of his roguish, renegade charm?

Answering in reverse order, it is, he does, and he’s not. The shock shown by those closest to Lee reminds us that while he may be our bullheaded, behatted hero — sifting through seedy criminals and seedier authorities to find the cold, plain truth, no matter the cost — he’s also just a guy. A writer. A citizen. A father. Within “The Lowdown,” Lee regularly has to be reminded of these facts, of his own mortality, or risk losing...

Ciao! The 82nd annual Venice Film Festival is underway and the stars have hit the canals, with this year’s world premieres including Yorgos Lanthimos kidnap thriller “Bugonia,” Noah Baumbach’s showbiz dramedy “Jay Kelly,” Guillermo del Toro’s lavish adaptation “Frankenstein,” Luca Guadagnino’s college campus thriller “After the Hunt” and Benny Safdie’s UFC biopic “The Smashing Machine.”

New films from Mona Fastvold, Kathryn Bigelow, Paolo Sorrentino, Jim Jarmusch, Park Chan-wook, Gus Van Sant, Lucrezia Martel, László Nemes and Kaouther Ben Hania are also in the lineup. This year’s jury is headed by Alexander Payne, the director of films like “The Holdovers,” “Election” and “Sideways.”

Venice often serves as the launch of awards season, coming ahead of an onslaught of other fall festivals including Telluride, Toronto and New York that distributors use to lay the foundation for campaigning in the coming months.

See all of Variety’s...

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Security alert! This article contains spoilers for "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 3, episode 9.

One of the biggest challenges facing any science fiction or fantasy series is helping audiences suspend their disbelief and truly invest in the some of the more outrageous ideas presented. Thankfully, a little bit of good character writing and an earnest performance can go a long way toward doing that, creating relatable characters in a totally unrelatable setting. On the Paramount+ series "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," one character who pretty regularly feels relatable is helmsman Lieutenant Erica Ortegas, played by Melissa Navia. The hotshot pilot...

Harold Matzner, the philanthropist and businessman who served as chairman of the Palm Springs International Film Festival for more than two decades, died Sept. 4 in Palm Springs after a brief illness. He was 88.

Over nearly four decades in the desert, Matzner donated more than $85 million to local nonprofits and helped the festival become an important stop on the Hollywood awards circuit.

“It is a difficult day for the city of Palm Springs and for all of us at the Palm Springs International Film Festival,” wrote festival chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi on behalf of the Palm Springs International Film Society. “From its inception, Harold gave so much of himself — day and night — to ensure this festival not only survived but flourished. Having led the festival since 2000, Harold’s vision transformed it into a world-class event and a key stop during awards season. Even after stepping down, he remained deeply involved, guiding...

No one chooses “The Long Walk.” Not really. That’s the key to surviving Stephen King’s cult-hit horror novel from 1979 — about a fascist American government and a group of teen boys who supposedly “volunteer” for its lethal endurance test.

Published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, more than a decade after King cracked the concept, “The Long Walk” is technically the first book from the legendary author. King wrote it when he was just 19 years old and still a student at the University of Maine. But the wisdom he gave his characters back then might explain some of the success he has now.

“None of us really has anything to lose. That makes it easier to give away.”

“If people took it one day at a time, they’d be a lot happier.”

“Pick ’em up. Put ’em down. Just keep walking down the road.”

I’ve been quoting advice...

Reader beware, spoilers for "The Conjuring: Last Rites" follow.

When James Wan made the first "The Conjuring" in 2013, the title seemed to be pretty self-explanatory. For starters, it was a much more evocative and creepy title than "The Warren Files," which was apparently Wan's initial idea, according to an interview from 2017. While that rejected title certainly doesn't have the same pizazz as "The Conjuring," it functions in the way that Wan was hoping, which was to provide "a more encompassing sort of umbrella name" for the cinematic universe that was to follow. Certainly, it puts the real-life demonologist/psychic team of the Warrens — Ed and Lorraine, played in the...

When Ralph Fiennes wasn’t on stage seeing a dagger before him, while starring in a Washington, D.C. production of “MacBeth,” he was furiously trying to unlock his inner Leonard Bernstein. The Oscar-nominated actor was a last-minute addition to the cast of “The Choral,” a drama set in a small town in the United Kingdom during World War I, and his role as an exacting choir master required him to be fluent with the baton. So with less than six weeks to go before cameras rolled, Fiennes enlisted Natalie Murray Beale, a leading conductor who taught Cate Blanchett how to run herd over an orchestra for “Tár,” to get him into shape.

“I don’t read music, so it was very hard to understand, not just the beats, but how the hand moves,” Fiennes says. “But Nat was terrifically patient. They tell me that thanks to some skillful camera angles,...

Dunder Mifflin is no more, but don't let that upset you, as the employees of Enervate -- an Ohio-based company that dabbles in everything from selling toilet paper to newspapers -- are worthy successors. After years of anticipation (and possibly even worry), we are pleased to announce that "The Paper," Peacock's spin-off of "The Office," is an absolute delight, and we can attribute some of the show's quality to the cast members bringing their own ideas to the table.

In an interview with /Film, Melvin Gregg, who plays the Truth Teller's status quo-loving ad salesman/volunteer reporter Detrick Moore in the series, revealed that creators Greg Daniels and Michael Koman...

As Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) settles into its 50th anniversary edition, Screen has learned that the festival has designated protest zones for Friday’s world premiere of Annemarie Jacir’s Palestinian Oscar submission Palestine 36.

According to sources the TIFF security team will oversee zones outside Roy Thomson Hall for the 1pm screening and those areas will also be monitored by Toronto police.

The development comes amid frequent and ongoing demonstrations around the world over the war in Gaza. Last weeka major protest took place atVenice Film Festival.

TIFF security will be present on the carpet and monitor the...

Tom Holland revealed in an interview with LADbible that he took deep dives on the internet to understand what exactly Spider-Man man fans wanted to see in his latest outing as Marvel’s iconic web-slinger, then took he these fan ideas directly to studio executives. Holland is currently in production on “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which marks his seventh appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and his fourth standalone Spider-Man movie.

“What’s been really fun about this most recent movie is designing the suit and being a part of that process and understanding what we wanted to try and achieve,” Holland said about having greater involvement in the movie’s development this time around.

“I have been actively sifting through the internet and trying to best understand what it is that the fans want from a ‘Spider-Man’ movie, and that’s been my driving force in these pitch meetings,...

Toronto film festival: the star fails to make much of an impression in a slight and unpolished project filmed in Warsaw over the Brat summer of 2024

The singer Charli xcx is, by her own admission, a workaholic – no sooner had she released Brat, the most dominant pop album and aesthetic of 2024, than she began work on its sequel, dropped just four months later. Insouciant and party-centric as her image may be, the pop star born Charlotte Aitchison is a sharp student of pop culture; she knows the audience demand for pop stars’ constant reinvention. The next career phase, it seems, is acting, with no less prodigiousness than music; the 33-year-old...

A 71-minute wisp of a film that moves and sounds like a cartoon wind curlicue, Pete Ohs’ “Erupcja” — the Polish word for “eruption” — was (clearly) shot with half an outline and scripted on the fly, to the point that all four of its main actors are credited as co-writers as well. Here, that approach proves a bit more pointed than it did in the director’s previous “Jethica” and “The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick,” as its elevated mumblecore energy suits the unformed and searching nature of a wherever you go, there you are story about the ways that people try to make sense of the world around them in real-time.

People like Bethany, a British girl who’s convinced that a volcano explodes whenever she blows up her life for a biannual fling with flower shop owner Nel (Lena Góra) in Warsaw. Her puppy dog-like boyfriend...

Sometimes, a romance feels so inevitable that no matter what either party does, the universe just keeps pushing them back together. Hollywood romances are often built on a formula of “Guy Gets Girl, Guy Loses Girl, Guy Gets Girl Back,” but the love stories that shape us the most often require running through that cycle quite a few more times, with no guarantees of happy endings.

The five-year romance between Charlie (Nick Robinson) and Harper (Emilia Jones) is nothing if not cyclical. It began as a high school flirtation, with the two artsy misfits burning CDs of their favorite songs and leaving them in each other’s lockers, content to let their favorite artists do the talking at an age when the prospect of socializing with people you like often feels like social suicide. They reconnect at a college party, initially feigning forgetfulness until a well-placed song on the aux...

Warner Bros. sued Midjourney on Thursday, becoming the third studio to accuse the AI image-generating platform of blatant copyright violations.

In the complaint, Warner Bros. alleges that Midjourney willfully creates both still images and video of its characters, including Superman, Batman, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Tom and Jerry. The complaint also alleges that Midjourney recently eliminated guardrails that blocked users from creating videos that infringe on its IP.

“Midjourney thinks it is above the law,” the lawsuit states. “Without any consent or authorization by Warner Bros. Discovery, Midjourney brazenly dispenses Warner Bros. Discovery’s intellectual property as if it were its own.”

Warner Bros. is represented by the same lawyers who sued Midjourney on behalf of Disney and Universal in June, and the new complaint follows the same template.

In both cases, the studios argue that Midjourney users are creating infringing outputs — images and videos that closely resemble copyrighted characters.

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

Sticking to an erratic release schedule is nothing new to "South Park," but it's become a real asset in its 27th season. The hit Comedy Central series has witnessed a revival of interest since its wild season premiere "Sermon on the 'Mount," which aired back in July. Lampooning Donald J. Trump as a Saddam Hussein-style figure who flaunts his teeny tiny manhood, coupled with an official White House response about how much his portrayal disappointed them, proved that "South Park" is still as relevant as it's ever been. Every new episode comes with the anticipation of water cooler event television,...