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Exclusive: Amazon MGM Studios’ David Leitch directed crime action thriller How to Rob a Bank is walking away with a September 4, 2026 Labor Day weekend release.

The pic which stars Nicholas Hoult, Pete Davidson, and Anna Sawai has a plot that’s largely under wraps, but involves smart bank robbers who share their heists on social media while evading police.

Leitch and Kelly McCormick’s 87 North is producing with Imagine Entertainment. The duo will produce alongside Imagine’s Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody, and Allan Mandelbaum. Mark Bianculli wrote the script and will also executive produce.

There aren’t any other wide entries dated on Labor Day weekend 2026. How to Rob a Bank opens in the frame prior to Warner Bros/DC’s Clayface on Sept. 11.

Amazon MGM Studios’ has committed to theatrical in a big way, having made a big splash at CinemaCon this year with their...

Exclusive: Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) and Won Ji-an (Squid Game) have been tapped for key roles in Pyongyang Home Video, a new drama inspired by true events, which centers on two North Korean sisters reenacting Hollywood movies to escape the perils of their young lives.

Hailing from Imagine Entertainment and South Korea’s Desert Bloom Pictures, the film will be directed by award-winning Korean filmmaker Yoon Sung-hyun (Bleak Night).

The story follows sisters Nari (Ji-an) and Hana, who have grown up watching illegal Hollywood films. Following their forced escape from North Korea, when their neighbor tips off the police about their father’s black market VHS business, the sisters use their imagination to escape into fantastical reenactments of their favorite films, in order to survive the journey. Five years later, older sister Nari finds an unlikely ally in American talk show host, Serena (Jamil), who promises to reunite the siblings on live television.

This spring, the art gallery Gagosian LA will exhibit 36 of Paul McCartney’s recently rediscovered photos, including some that featured in the former Beatle’s Eyes of the Storm book and many that have never been shown before.

The photos were taken between December 1963 and February 1964. And the exhibition, titled “Rearview Mirror: Photographs, December 1963–February 1964,” opens April 25 and runs through June 21.

One never-before-circulated shot (above) is an artistic view of Ringo Starr in a loose-fitting white shirt, drumming at Miami Beach’s Hotel Deauville ahead of the the Beatles’ second Ed Sullivan Show appearance.

Self-Portrait.“Maybe I should have a fall at the end of every film now!”I’m calling to check in with Jerry Schatzberg, who is fresh out of the hospital. Two days earlier, at the opening night of a Museum of Modern Art retrospective of his film career, he had shown his feature debut, Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970), released when he was 43 years old. As he climbed the short flight of stairs to the stage for a Q&a, Schatzberg, now 97, lost his balance and tumbled backward. The whole room screamed. Ushers, museum staff, and his assistants came instantly to his side. He did not move. After five silent minutes, everyone was asked to leave. When he was carted out of the MoMA on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance, the crowd that had lingered outside the theater cheered. He waved softly back. Over the phone, Jerry assures me he’s doing fine,...

Exclusive: David Leitch’s next high-profile action thriller is gaining some serious star power as sources tell Deadline Nicholas Hoult is set to star in the Amazon MGM Studios, Imagine Entertainment and 87North’s untitled bank heist pic that Leitch is directing. The film will be released in theaters from a script by Mark Bianculli.

Plot details are being kept under wraps but given Leitch’s track record of delivering on big thrills and fun set pieces in films like Bullet Train, Deadpool 2 and most recently The Fall Guy, expect something similar in scope. 87North’s Kelly McCormick and Leitch will produce alongside Imagine’s Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody, and Allan Mandelbaum.

The project has gained a ton of momentum in recent weeks after Leitch and McCormick boarded the project at the top of the year. Once the package hit the market, it wasn’t long before Amazon moved...

The Met Gala has long been the playground for the avant-garde and, more so, for the terribly theatrical. Fashion’s biggest night out, originally a fundraiser for the Met’s Costume Institute held on the first Monday in May, has evolved into a spectacle where celebrities push the boundaries of fashion.

Excess is the expectation. Hand-stitched gowns taking two years to make, ten-foot trains requiring a small army, and headpieces that defy physics – if your outfit doesn’t require a team of handlers, did you even try?

The main goal also seems to be grabbing attention rather than following the theme. The 2024 theme, The Garden of Time, inspired by J.G. Ballard’s story, was largely ignored by many celebrity attendees. The Met Gala has, it seems, become less about raising funds and more about who can wear the most talked-about outfit. Whether through elegance or a touch of absurdity, stars...

David Leitch may be in talks to direct Ocean’s 14 for Warner Bros, as we confirmed just last month. But we’re told that will not be his next project, as he’s currently moving quickly toward production on a new bank heist action flick at Amazon.

The film’s title and plot details are being kept under wraps. Leitch will work from a hot script by Mark Bianculli. Kelly McCormick and Leitch will produce under their 87North banner, alongside Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody and Allan Mandelbaum, with Bianculli serving as executive producer of the project.

Known for his work on films like Bullet Train and Atomic Blonde, Leitch is coming off of The Fall Guy, a stuntman-themed action comedy for Universal, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, which unspooled last March after premiering at SXSW, grossing around $181 million global. Under his 87North banner, he also recently...

Of the infinite adjectives available to describe Ed Lachman’s cinematography on Pablo Larraín’s Maria, it is not a surprise that, in writing about the film, critics have often used the word “sumptuous.” Really, what choice did they have? Lachman knows how to blend the dream world and the real one like no other cinematographer. In Maria, he captures the last days of the legendary opera singer Maria Callas, as played by Angelina Jolie, in a haze of greens and oranges, as she attempts a comeback. You don’t watch the film so much as you swim in it.

For much of the movie, Jolie bounces between present day and moments throughout her life that are filmed in black and white and Super 8 format. In preparing to shoot, Lachman referenced photos of Callas by greats like Irving Penn, Cecil Beaton, and Richard Avedon. He doesn’t re-create those moments,...

Monica Barbaro, who portrays Joan Baez in James Mangold’s powerful awards-season contender A Complete Unknown, about how Bob Dylan — as played by Timothée Chalamet — put his colossal stamp on our rock ‘n’ roll culture, hails costume designer Arianne Phillips as a “detective” for her ability to track down the source of the thousands of costumes featured in the movie.

Phillips agrees with Barbaro’s moniker. “Absolutely, that’s the job. I say costume designers are people detectives,” she tells me as we walk around the display of costumes and sets from the film on the ground floor of Arizona State University’s Los Angeles campus of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.

The exhibition was assembled by the museum’s staff along with Phillips, A Complete Unknown’s production designer François Audouy, producer Fred Berger, the film’s crafts departments, Searchlight Pictures and Shelter PR.

A photo montage of Bob Dylan,...

The iconically seductive silent film star Clara Bow is being further immortalized courtesy of a festival at New York City’s Film Forum.

1920s superstar Bow, who recently inspired a track named after her on Taylor Swift’s “Tortured Poets Department” album, is at the center of a career retrospective screening series at the New York City indie theater. Deemed the very first “It Girl,” Bow starred in films such as “Wings,” “The Saturday Night Kid,” and short “The Pill Pounder” which was recently rediscovered and subsequently restored after 101 years.

Bow’s turn in silent comedy “It” also inspired the very term “It Girl,” which refers to “sex appeal” as coined by British author Elinor Glyn, who also appears in the feature as well as a young Gary Cooper.

The festival will run on most Mondays at Film Forum from October 7 to December 30, with an additional screening on Thursday, October...

Jon Bon Jovi is a snowbird — the nickname given to people of a certain age who flee their northern homes during the winter months to areas with warmer climates.

It’s late April and the famous New Jersey native is in Palm Beach, Fla.

“My license still says the great state of New Jersey,” the Bon Jovi frontman tells me on this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast. “I’m there when it’s not cold. But when it’s cold, these old bones are on the beach.”

The rocker, 62, is talking and thinking a lot about his age lately. While his Hulu docuseries, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,” chronicles the iconic rock band’s rise to the top, the through line of the four episodes is the singer’s struggle to overcome vocal problems in time for the group’s 40th anniversary tour.

As of today, Bon...

What might make a game of bingo more interesting than your standard gymnasium raffle affair? Well, comedians answering humorous prompts to get bingo balls would spice it up. So would a secret set of players hidden in a green room looking to achieve bingo — not by checking off numbers on a board, but by tracking the quirks and behavior of their friends playing the first game. So would an even more secret set of players trying to get bingo based on the green room players’ interactions with each other and the film crew. That’s the idea behind “Bingo,” the fifth episode in Season 6 of the relentlessly inventive show “Game Changer.”

The Dropout series is described by host Sam Reich at the top of each episode as “the only game show where the game changes every show.” Six seasons of new games — and new twists on “game samers” — lock the...

Perhaps no one captured cultural life post-World War II more vividly than Richard Avedon. From pop icons to artists to heads of state, being photographed by Avedon meant you were someone. There must have been something disarming about Avedon, who first came to prominence with his work for Harper’s Bazaar, because even though so many of his subjects were celebrities, he invariably revealed a more vulnerable, less guarded side of the people he photographed.

That talent is in evidence in “(re)Framing Conversations: Photographs by Richard Avedon, 1946-1965,” an exhibition at the Smithsonian that will be on display until November. The show features portraits of celebrities who defined the second half of the 20th century. But the Smithsonian wants to remind visitors that Avedon also documented the Civil Rights Movement and other social justice causes, while using his work to raise questions about race, sexuality and power. “We want...

As a seasoned Met Gala attendee who has made several trips up the iconic Met stairs, Nicole Kidman lived up to her elegant reputation by reviving a 1950s vintage gown for her return to the gala this year.

I love how she subtly interpreted this year’s theme, opting for a bespoke black-and-white Balenciaga gown instead of the more popular whimsical floral motif. Some, however, weren’t impressed by her ostensibly typical black-and-white look, which they assumed deviated from the evening’s “The Garden of Time” dress code.

As they ascend the Met Gala stairs wearing matching black-and-white ensembles, Nicole Kidman appears like a princess being assisted by her prince charming husband, Keith Urban (Credit: Michael Stewart / INSTARimages)

The Inspiration Behind Kidman’s Met Gala Dress

This year’s exhibit theme, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” inspired by J.G. Ballard’s “The Garden of Time” short story, pays tribute to the...

Did Anna Wintour add more tables to this year’s Met Gala? Because the steps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art felt especially crowded on Monday evening, May 6, teeming with Hollywood A-listers wearing a plethora of artful looks. And while not everyone leaned into the evening’s theme, “The Garden of Time,” for the most part the stars acquitted themselves well in looks that ranged from quiet elegance to over the top and outrageous.

Even with the nature-centric theme, the night surprisingly was highlighted by some stars in neutrals. Nicole Kidman offered a great backstory for her black and white Balenciaga gown, while Cardi B served up the night’s best drama in a Windowsen black gown that almost spanned the width of the museum steps. Flesh-toned gowns likewise were abundant, including Pamela Anderson in Oscar de la Renta and Lizzo in a custom floral-inspired corset gown by Paris-based designer Victor Weinsanto.

A slew of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner collectibles sold at auction over the weekend, including a pink Pucci dress worn by the actress and a smoking jacket and slippers worn by the Playboy founder.

The three-day auction, which ended Saturday, saw the long-sleeved silk jersey Pucci dress go to the winning bidder for $325,000, which set a record for a Pucci dress sold at auction, according to organizer Julien’s Auctions.

Also sold were the one-space mausoleum crypt at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary in Los Angeles, located near the final side-by-side resting places of Hugh Hefner and Marilyn Monroe, for $195,000; a grave marker from Monroe’s crypt, for $88,900 (constant touching from fans led to minor wear, causing it to be replaced); Hefner’s burgundy smoking jacket, slippers, pajamas and tobacco pipe ensemble ($13,000); and a circular mansion bed custom-made for Hefner as a backup to his primary bed...

Step back in time and witness the captivating clash between literary giants in “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” as Season 2 Episode 8, titled “Phantasm Forgiveness,” airs on FX at 9:00 Pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

In this enthralling episode, Truman Capote takes center stage as the past, present, and future converge in a mesmerizing dance. As Capote strives to put the finishing touches on his literary masterpiece, “Answered Prayers,” viewers are taken on a journey through the complexities of his relationships with the high-society women known as “The Swans.”

Expect a riveting exploration of forgiveness, phantoms from the past, and the inexorable link between creation and consequence. “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” continues to deliver a spellbinding narrative, offering a glimpse into the tumultuous world of literary brilliance, personal intricacies, and the haunting echoes of decisions made. Tune in for an evening of drama, nostalgia, and the enigmatic life of Truman Capote.

As the drama unfolds in “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” brace yourselves for an emotional rollercoaster in Season 2, Episode 7, titled “Beautiful Babe.” Airing at 10:00 Pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, on FX, this episode promises a deep dive into the reflective moments of the iconic socialite Babe Paley.

In this installment, viewers can expect a poignant exploration of Babe’s life, accompanied by heartfelt reflections on her most cherished memories and possessions. Meanwhile, Truman Capote and the Swans find themselves grappling with the aftermath of a tragic event, adding a layer of complexity to their already intricate relationships.

“Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” continues to weave a compelling narrative around the lives of these larger-than-life personalities, offering a glimpse into the glamour, struggles, and heartbreaks that defined an era. Don’t miss the captivating storytelling and stellar performances in “Beautiful Babe,” airing on FX at 10:00 Pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

Release...

Get ready for an intriguing episode of “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” as Season 2 continues with Episode 6 titled “Hats, Gloves, and Effete Homosexuals.” Tune in at 10:00 Pm on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, on FX for a night of captivating storytelling and riveting drama.

In this installment, viewers are transported to the end of an era in New York City, where significant changes are afoot. Meanwhile, in California, Truman Capote is determined to usher in a new era with the presence of a handsome new beau by his side.

As the narrative unfolds, audiences will be immersed in the glamorous and tumultuous world of Truman Capote and his complicated relationships with the high society “Swans” of New York. With its blend of historical accuracy and captivating storytelling, “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” continues to enthrall viewers with its depiction of fame, friendship, and betrayal.

Don’t miss the latest episode of “Feud: Capote vs.

Get ready for another captivating episode of “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” as Season 2 Episode 5, titled “The Secret Inner Lives of Swans,” airs on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at 10:00 Pm on FX. In this highly anticipated installment, viewers will delve deeper into the complex dynamics between Truman Capote and the high society women known as “The Swans.”

As tensions escalate following the publication of a revealing Esquire article, Truman finds himself grappling with the fallout and seeking solace in the company of a fellow writer. The episode promises to offer insight into the inner lives of both Capote and the Swans, shedding light on their motivations, desires, and secrets.

With its blend of drama, intrigue, and historical fiction, “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” continues to captivate audiences with its compelling storytelling and stellar performances. Don’t miss out on all the drama when “The Secret Inner Lives of Swans” airs on...

Get ready for another intense and emotional episode of “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” on FX, airing at 10:00 Pm on Wednesday, February 14th. In Season 2 Episode 4, titled “It’s Impossible,” viewers will witness Babe confronting a harsh reality while Truman takes steps toward sobriety.

As tensions rise and conflicts escalate between Babe and the Swans, Babe finds herself grappling with difficult truths that force her to confront her own actions and choices. Meanwhile, Truman struggles with his battle against addiction, realizing the importance of getting sober for his own well-being and relationships.

In this gripping installment, the stakes are higher than ever as the rivalry between Babe and Truman reaches a boiling point. With secrets exposed and alliances tested, “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” promises to keep viewers on the edge of their seats until the very end.

Don’t miss the drama, heartache, and triumphs in Season 2 Episode 4 of “Feud: Capote vs.

“Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” is back with a captivating trip down memory lane in Season 2, Episode 3, titled “Masquerade 1966.” Set your calendars for Wednesday, February 7, 2024, at 10:00 Pm on FX, because this episode is sure to transport viewers to a glamorous and turbulent era.

In 1966, the legendary Maysles brothers, renowned documentary filmmakers, take center stage as they capture the remarkable events leading up to and following Truman Capote’s iconic Black and White Ball. This dazzling masquerade ball became a symbol of the high society’s opulence and extravagance during the swinging ’60s.

As the cameras roll, viewers are treated to an immersive experience, witnessing the intricate planning, extravagant preparations, and the star-studded guest list that made this soirée an unforgettable moment in history. But behind the glitz and glamour, tensions and rivalries simmer beneath the surface.

“Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” has been praised for its meticulous attention to...

This February, Christie’s will present the iconic property from music legend Elton John’s former Atlanta home in a series of landmark sales at Christie’s Rockefeller Center. Beginning with an evening sale on Wednesday, February 21, the series will be comprised of 8 sales in total, both live and online. The auctions of this extraordinary collection represent a turning point in the celebrated singer’s personal journey and offers collectors a rare opportunity to own a piece of its rich history.

The city of Atlanta played a crucial role in John’s life, becoming the hub he would return to throughout his numerous tours within the United States. He solidified this connection to Atlanta in 1992 when he acquired the condominium in Park Place, on Peachtree Road. His unexpected choice of Atlanta as a residence was driven by personal reasons. After becoming sober in 1990, he found solace and support in the warm...

Step back into the dazzling world of “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” as Season 2 unfolds with Episode 2, “Ice Water in Their Veins,” airing on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at 11:20 Pm on FX. Following the seismic shockwaves of the Esquire article, Truman Capote finds himself on a tumultuous downward spiral, navigating the treacherous terrain of scandal and its aftermath.

As the repercussions of the exposé reverberate through Capote’s life, viewers can expect a riveting portrayal of the author’s struggles and the impact on his relationships within the high-society Swans. “Ice Water in Their Veins” promises to deliver a captivating narrative as the Swans unite in the face of adversity, forming a formidable front against the challenges posed by the fallout.

Don’t miss this poignant episode that peels back the layers of fame, friendship, and the consequences of betrayal in the glittering landscape of mid-20th century New York high society.

Dive into the glitzy world of high society drama with the premiere of “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” Season 2, Episode 1, titled “Pilot,” airing Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at 10:00 Pm on FX. This season promises to be a captivating exploration of the life and times of Truman Capote, who, at the peak of his fame, finds himself both adored and under threat.

As Truman Capote enjoys the glamorous lifestyle of New York’s social elite, an excerpt published in Esquire magazine becomes a looming shadow, jeopardizing his standing among the glittering swans of high society. The episode sets the stage for a riveting tale of power, betrayal, and the fragility of societal acceptance.

Tune in for an exquisite blend of historical accuracy and dramatic storytelling, as “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” kicks off its second season with a promising pilot that delves into the intricate web of relationships and ambitions in the...

In the Season 2 premiere of “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” titled “Pilot: Director’s Cut,” airing at 10:00 Pm on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, on Fxx, viewers will be transported into the glamorous and tumultuous world of Truman Capote and his complex relationships with the high-society swans of New York. As Capote becomes the darling of the city’s elite, a provocative excerpt published in Esquire magazine threatens to unravel his carefully constructed world and jeopardize his standing in the upper echelons of society.

This episode promises to be a riveting exploration of fame, power, and the fragile nature of social standing, with the legendary Truman Capote at the center of it all. As viewers delve into this Director’s Cut, they can expect a nuanced portrayal of Capote’s life and the challenges he faced, providing a fresh perspective on the celebrated author’s journey through the glamorous yet treacherous landscape...

Exclusive: Imagine Entertainment co-chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard have entered into a multi-year co-financing and production partnership with Fifth Season and their co-CEOs Graham Taylor and Chris Rice.

Both companies have been busy in the docu space, and the move will give more autonomy. Imagine Documentaries president Sara Bernstein runs the division, and Justin Wilkes, who is Imagine president. Imagine will handle creative and production, while Fifth Season will handle sales and distribution. Fifth Season’s Non-Scripted division is run by EVP Mary Lisio.

The arrangement will start with feature docus on two iconic figures: Howard will direct a docu on the life of celebrated photographer Richard Avedon, and Big Chill helmer will make a docu on the life and comedy of Only Murders in the Building star Martin Short. Imagine and Fifth Season will co-finance the projects together, and they have put together a slate to follow these films.

Donyale Luna, the first Black supermodel, shattered industry norms and paved the way for diversity and inclusivity in fashion. Luna's connections with iconic figures like John Lennon and Brian Jones highlight her magnetic presence and influence in the cultural scene. Her ethereal beauty made Luna a muse to artists like Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí, solidifying her impact on their legacies and the art world.

Max's intriguing documentary Donyale Luna: Supermodel provides surprising revelations on the life and career of a woman not many people know about. In a time when there was no Black and brown representation in the fashion industry, Luna entered the scene with audacity and innovation. She serves as an inspiration to aspiring models and artists, going beyond the boundaries of time and style. With an enigmatic persona and an enduring legacy, Luna's impact on the fashion world remains as relevant and awe-inspiring today as it was during her iconic era.

Donyale Luna: Supermodel director Nailah Jefferson with Anne-Katrin Titze on Beyoncé’s 2018 Vogue cover, shot by Tyler Mitchell: “It was the first Vogue cover that had ever been shot by a Black photographer.”

“My name is Luna, I come from the moon” is how Donyale Luna used to introduce herself. It looks as though the memory of the supermodel’s brief, brimful life had gone back up to the heavens with her for decades. Nailah Jefferson’s insightful and revealing documentary ameliorates this and celebrates an extraordinary woman’s journey. William Klein’s 1966 fashion film Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo?, Federico Fellini’s Satyricon, a Vogue cover and one for Harper’s Bazaar, collaborations with Richard Avedon and David Bailey (interviewed here), images that show her with Salvador Dali and Groucho Marx, relationships with The Rolling Stone’s Brian Jones and Klaus Kinski, Andy Warhol bondings, and and and...

Donyale Luna is one of the most prolific and influential models in the history of fashion. Marginalized for decades because she is a Black woman, Luna’s story is finally being told in “Donyale Luna: Supermodel,” the new documentary debuting on Max on Wednesday, Sept. 13. The film will follow Luna through her early life, as well as her career appearing in magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, showing the struggles she dealt with along the way. You can watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Max.

How to Watch 'Donyale Luna: Supermodel' When: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 Where: Max Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Max. 7-Day Free Trial$9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com

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About 'Donyale Luna: Supermodel'

Born Peggy Ann Freeman in 1945, Donyale Luna became one of the most important models working in the 1960s and 1970s.

Film at Lincoln Center has revealed the poster and poster artist for the 61st New York Film Festival, tapping Jim Jarmusch for the honor. The acclaimed filmmaker’s films have been selected by NYFF seven times in the past, with Down by Law opening the 24th edition of the festival in 1986.

As a poster artist for NYFF, Jarmusch joins the ranks of Andy Warhol, Richard Avedon, David Hockney, Diane Arbus, Martin Scorsese, Julian Schnabel, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Pedro Almodóvar, and John Waters. Jarmusch said in an official statement that “since arriving in New York City decades ago, attending the NYFF has been my version of going to church.”

The image for the poster, he continued…

“was pulled from the files of several thousand useless photographs I’ve taken since getting my hands on a camera as a teenager. I consider them to be useless not necessarily in a negative way, but...

The word “iconic” gets thrown around a lot these days, but if there’s anyone whose work it applies to without question, it’s Richard Avedon. His photographic portraits of some of the greatest luminaries in 20th-century pop culture — the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Monroe, and many more — made him a widely celebrated artist in his own right. Avedon, who died in 2004, landed his photos in the pages of magazines like Rolling Stone, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar and in the collections of modern-art museums alike. All of which presents...

New music from brothers Jared and Shannon Leto is on the way. On Monday, Thirty Seconds to Mars also announced their first album in 5 years, It’s the End of the World But It’s a Beautiful Day, out this September. The band also released their newest single, “Stuck.”

“I knew I’d stay with you after just one touch/The way you move has got me/Stuck,” sings Leto on the chorus for “Stuck.”

The Jared Leto-directed video for the track features both siblings singing into the camera,...

Chloë Sevigny isn’t a kid in the spotlight anymore, but the scars of growing up onscreen still endure.

The “Kids” breakout icon reflected on being told as a teenager by famed fashion photographer Richard Avedon that she should hide the “left side” of her face and angle it away from the camera. “Can you imagine saying that to a 19-year-old?” Sevigny remembered during an Allure cover story.

The “Bones and All” actress also detailed that British Vogue photographer David Bailey also advised her to only share her right side. The feedback from both artists left lasting effects on Sevigny.

“Even right now, I would have preferred to sit in that seat because then you would have been looking at my left side,” she said. “It informs so many parts of my life, like, when I go to dinner, when I’m rehearsing and blocking a scene, I always favor this side.

Here’s a cocktail for you — let’s call it the “Blonde.” Start with a base of biographical fiction, add three parts mid-century photography, a heavy dash of bitters, a wash of bad taste and top with a Lynchian float. You’ll have something that kicks hard, if leaving you somewhat worse for wear once the intoxicants run their course.

And to push this analogy further than needed, director Andrew Dominik’s long-awaited Marilyn Monroe biopic is somehow less about the actress and more about his own showmanship. Think of Dominik as a flair bartender.

Premiering at the Venice Film Festival, “Blonde” holds stardom to the light and finds nothing but an unending nightmare. If technically an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel of the same name, the film uses that source as a launch pad, a framework on which to pin countless other inspirations, most of them visual.

Also...

Exclusive: HBO Documentary Films is embarking on a documentary about pioneering supermodel Donyale Luna, one of the first Black models to be featured on the covers of major European fashion magazines.

Nailah Jefferson (Vanishing Pearls: The Oystermen of Pointe à la Hache), is directing the film, teaming with Oscar- and Emmy-winning Lightbox, and Jeff Friday Media (HBO’s Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn).

Luna was born Peggy Anne Freeman in Detroit in 1945 and began going by the name Donyale Luna in her late teens as she launched her modeling career. In March 1966 she became the first model of color to grace the cover of the British edition of Vogue (wearing a Chloé dress and photographed by David Bailey). She also appeared on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar and other leading fashion publications. Richard Avedon and William Claxton are among the greats who photographed her.

The legendary theater director, actor, shaman André Gregory has been producing ground-breaking work for over half a century. He’s perhaps best known for the projects he did with Wallace Shawn—My Dinner With André (which is celebrating its 40th anniversary), Vanya on 42nd Street and A Master Builder. His recent book This Is Not My Memoir details, with refreshing honesty, his extraordinary life through incredible stories about, for instance, learning from the great Jerzy Grotowski, getting punched by Gregory Peck, buried alive in Richard Avedon’s backyard, to name just a few. On this episode, Gregory answers some questions about his unique […]

The post Back to One, Episode 200: André Gregory first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The legendary theater director, actor, shaman André Gregory has been producing ground-breaking work for over half a century. He’s perhaps best known for the projects he did with Wallace Shawn—My Dinner With André (which is celebrating its 40th anniversary), Vanya on 42nd Street and A Master Builder. His recent book This Is Not My Memoir details, with refreshing honesty, his extraordinary life through incredible stories about, for instance, learning from the great Jerzy Grotowski, getting punched by Gregory Peck, buried alive in Richard Avedon’s backyard, to name just a few. On this episode, Gregory answers some questions about his unique […]

The post Back to One, Episode 200: André Gregory first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Exclusive: Vito Schnabel (Before Night Falls), Julia Fox (Uncut Gems) and Steven Van Zandt (The Sopranos) have signed on to star in the dark comedy The Trainer, which Tony Kaye (American History X) is directing from a script by Schnabel and Jeff Solomon.

In development for nearly a decade, The Trainer is based on an original story by Schnabel. The film unfolding over eight days of sleep-deprived chaos follows Jack (Schnabel), a down-on-his-luck fitness expert living with his mother in Los Angeles, who takes a maniacal swing at fame and fortune, trying to realize his version of the American dream.

Schnabel, Kaye and Jeremy Steckler are producing, with George Paaswell on board to exec produce. Production will kick off in Los Angeles in early April.

“The idea of the film came into my head about ten years...

This photo of Angelina Jolie may give you nightmares, but it's meant to inspire the opposite. As is very clear in a stunning newly released portrait of the Oscar winner, the 45-year-old mom of six posed for National Geographic in honor of World Bee Day on Thursday, May 20. Bringing awareness to both bee conservation efforts and the organization Women for Bees—for which she serves as godmother—the actress had notable co-stars for her photo shoot, conducted by Dan Winters. The photographer drew inspiration from Richard Avedon's 1981 portrait of beekeeper Ronald Fischer, who sat shirtless and covered with bees for the famed picture. Four decades later,...

Mark Harris has written two remarkable books, both about important moments in Hollywood history. The first, “Pictures at a Revolution,” dealt with the Oscar race of 1967 and how that year’s Best Picture nominees represented the past, present and future of the industry. Then there was 2014’s “Five Came Back,” about the A-list directors who left their careers behind to take part in WWII — and how their work changed upon their return.

Now, Harris has written almost 600 pages about one man only, and it may be the best biography of an artist in a very long time. That man is performer-turned-director Mike Nichols, the winner of one Oscar, two Emmys and eight Tony Awards. “In the last two books, I had the luxury of going back and forth between main characters,” said Harris, who titled his work “Mike Nichols: A Life.” “In this one, I had no one else to cut to.

Despite her status as one of the most iconic movie stars in history, one can’t help but root for the girl at the center of Audrey, who dreams of nothing more than to find peace and love. The girl is, of course, Audrey Hepburn, a movie star from a time when pictures were made around personas, and a change of hairstyle could easily turn into a global phenomenon. Hepburn’s name conjures visions of diamonds, sophistication, and effortless grace. Perhaps even the girl who had it all if we want to navigate in tropes, but what Helena Coan’s documentary achieves is that it doesn’t need sensationalism or shock to make us recognize ourselves in a figure who was truly larger than life. On the screen perhaps.

With a height of 5’7 and weighing a little over 100 lbs. Hepburn’s waifish look defied what Hollywood considered the ideal female heroine.

Alison Ellwood’s “The Go-Go’s,” a documentary about that pioneering all-female band that premieres on July 31 on Showtime, is one of my favorite nonfiction films of 2020. But as I said when I interviewed Ellwood and the band at the Sundance Film Festival in January, I can’t even pretend to be an objective reporter when it comes to this movie, because I’ve known the Go-Go’s since before their first album came out in 1981, and I wrote about them often and with affection over the years.

As someone who was around the band during their first years of existence and sporadically since then, I found that Ellwood told the story with sympathy but also honesty. The Go-Go’s were always tougher than their frothy, happy image suggested, and there was always infighting and excesses of various kinds — and the film shows all the dimensions of the story,...

"The Furniture" is our series on Production Design by Daniel Walber. Click on the images to see them in magnified detail.

Funny Face (1957) is not really a complicated movie, visually or otherwise. Its production design doesn’t express inner turmoil or repressive social structures, nor does it take the characters on any sort of elaborate journey. And in some scenes it’s downright boring, director Stanley Donen essentially stepping back to allow Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn room to dance.

But production design doesn’t have to be profound to be good, or even Oscar-worthy. And while I wouldn’t have voted for Funny Face for the Academy Awards, I do think it’s worth a look. Besides, its design does sort of have a message: that the opposite of fashion is books, and that any attempt to combine the two will lead to utter chaos. Is it serious? No,...

The 2020 "Pirelli" calendar, aka 'The Cal', includes actresses Kristen Stewart ("Seberg"), Claire Foy ("The Crown"), Emma Watson (Little Women") and Mia Goth ("Suspiria"), photographed by Paolo Roversi:

"I was looking for a pure soul, someone full of innocence that combined strength, beauty, tenderness and courage", said Roversi about his models.

"I found this in the glimmers of an eye, in the gestures and words...in the smiles and tears...in the voice and chants..."

Pirelli is the 5th largest tire manufacturer in the world, behind Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear and Continental, operating commercially in over 160 countries.

It also controls 19 tire manufacturing sites in 13 countries, with a network of 14,600 distributors and retailers.

The company has published its "Pirelli Calendar" since 1964, featuring contributions from photographers Helmut Newton...

...Steve McCurry, Peter Lindbergh, Richard Avedon, Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts and Annie Leibovitz.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek the 2020 "Pirelli Calendar"...

She was photographed by Warhol, and Dalí wanted to paint her; the first films she made were Death in Venice and Cabaret. So why did she walk away?

Most people, says Marisa Berenson, “tend to live in my past. Which is fine.” She smiles, well aware of the fascination. “But I tend to live in the present and in the future.” A 2001 profile of the model/actor in the New York Times described her as a “Zelig of the zeitgeist … popping up in the right place at the right time”. And there is certainly something magical about her life and the people who have passed through it. As a child (she is now 72) she was taught to dance by Gene Kelly. Greta Garbo came to her parents’ parties; Salvador Dalí – a friend of her grandmother, the designer Elsa Schiaparelli – wanted to paint her. The legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland pushed...

It’s been exactly 50 years since Judy Garland’s death from an accidental drug overdose, an event so devastating for the gay community, legend tells it sparked the Stonewall riots. Now, in 2019, the beloved singer and show-woman known for her turbulent past is undergoing a long overdue reputation rehabilitation.

Time is a cruel mistress, even — especially — to legends. But just when pop culture had nearly forgotten about the little girl with the voice like raw honey, or the more mature force of nature with a silver-tongued wit, Hollywood has finally done right by Judy. This year has produced two tender and finely-tuned films worthy of bearing her name, each telling a version of the truth re Judy’s life, something even her own daughter admits she can never fully understand. Both films make her immense talent decadently clear, proudly proclaiming via glittering ruby marquee: They just don’t make ’em like they used to.

Nowadays, one can’t open a film festival line-up without seeing the words “documentary/narrative hybrid.” Though the documentary community is touchy about the nomenclature — (is it docu-ficton? docu-drama? Aren’t all documentaries narrative in some way?) — there’s no disputing that films that challenge the conventions of traditional documentary storytelling are lately in vogue. Robert Greene has built a career on provocative genre agnostic films such as “Bisbee ’17” and “Kate Plays Christine;” Errol Morris’ “Wormwood” pushed the form to new artistic heights; even Martin Scorsese recently toyed with audiences with the tongue-in-cheek Bob Dylan tribute “Rolling Thunder Revue.”

Blending fact and fiction is old hat for Jack Hazan, the filmmaker behind “A Bigger Splash,” a beguiling meditation on love and art forged from the real life of English painter David Hockney. Borrowing its title from one of Hockney’s most famous paintings, the film follows Hockney as he struggles...

Kino Lorber, in association with blockchain-powered Tvod platform Breaker, has acquired North American rights to Beniamino Barrese’s documentary “The Disappearance of My Mother,” which had its world premiere at the Sundance Festival earlier this year, Variety has learned exclusively.

The deal was announced Monday at the Hot Docs Canadian Intl. Documentary Film Festival. It was negotiated by Kino Lorber Svp Wendy Lidell and Autlook Film Sales North American sales and acquisitions representative Ania Trzebiatowska.

“The Disappearance of My Mother” follows iconic ‘60s fashion model turned activist Benedetta Barzini, a muse to artists and image-makers like Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. For four decades Barzini has fought for the rights and emancipation of women, as a professor, journalist and radical feminist. Now facing an existential crisis at the age of 75, she decides that she wants to leave everything and everyone behind, even as her son – director Beniamino Barrese,...

The rock ‘n’ roll excesses of the ’60s and ’70s are etched into legend. We’re now living through a moment when it seems as if we might one day, you know, be pulling Led Zeppelin tracks from streaming sites because of the scandalous nature of the group’s offstage bacchanals. Yet I somehow doubt it. The burst of wild-dog incandescence that defined the original rock-idol era now looms larger than life; that’s true even more as time goes by. And Jim Marshall, the virtuoso photographer who, as much as any rock shutterbug, was in the ecstatic thick of it all, is one of the reasons why.

“Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall” is, before anything else, a celebration of Marshall’s indelible images of the rock gods and goddesses who changed the world. The experience the film offers isn’t all that different, really, from...