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The Academy Awards are the most prestigious ceremony in Hollywood and are tasked with recognizing the greatest achievements in cinema within a given year. While the ceremony allows the cast and crew of films to be recognized by a community of their peers, it also serves as a great opportunity to showcase the art of filmmaking to a larger audience. While the Oscars don’t always recognize the single greatest film each year, they generally make good decisions by honoring projects that are worthy of accolades.

Unfortunately, the Best Picture lineup each year tends to have at least one film that is clearly not of the same quality level as its fellow competitors. This issue has grown even more prevalent due to a change that occurred at the 2010 Academy Awards ceremony, in which the lineup was extended to ten nominees. It’s disappointing that the Oscars would choose to dedicate...

Was Taylor Swift’s Les Misérables audition a total disaster? (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Taylor Swift opened up on The Graham Norton Show during her Midnights press tour, revealing the behind-the-scenes chaos that led to her missing out on a role in Tom Hooper’s 2012 adaptation of the classic musical.

Swift, who had the “look of Cosette and the range vocally of Éponine,” was up for two roles in the film. She knew she wasn’t likely to get the part but decided to go for the experience of a lifetime. “They asked if I would like to go to London to do a screen test with Eddie, who is one of my favorite actors, and I thought, ‘This isn’t an experience I am going to get again in my life,’ so I said yes.”

Swift flew out to meet Eddie Redmayne, who had already been cast as Marius, but things quickly turned south.

For those with Hollywood dreams, whether it's acting in films or directing them, their biggest aspiration may be to win an Oscar. "Academy Award winner" would be forever attached to their name, and presumably, doors would open in their careers that had never opened before.

While the Oscars certainly recognize performers and filmmakers for their exceptional talents and place them in a class above the rest, they also bring high expectations. After winning, there will always be pressure to live up to that title, which may be impossible to achieve again. This is part of the dreaded "Oscar curse." What happens after you've achieved the biggest honor in Hollywood?

Oscar campaigns and wins can be just as much of a story as the movies themselves. Hollywood's publicity machine spins a specific narrative to help an artist win the coveted award — the higher the stakes or the more cultural impact, the better.

Director's jail isn't like the regular one, since it operates under Hollywood's own convoluted "justice" system. A singular box office flop could result in a life sentence for a filmmaker where they're covertly blacklisted from the industry, never ever working on a big studio movie again. It's harsh -- but no one ever said that Tinseltown is a fair or forgiving place.

What's wild is how Hollywood doesn't take history into consideration here. A director could pump out five financially successful films in a row and have one dud, but that's it -- off to director's jail they go. Heck, at times, movies are doomed to fail before they're even made, but the filmmaker gets the blame in the end. Look at "Catwoman" and "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" as notorious examples. There are shopping lists with more substance than those scripts, and not even Steven Spielberg could have saved them.

The gold-plated meltdown that has followed the revelation of Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón’s past anti-Muslim and racist tweets — with anti-George Floyd and pro-Hitler sentiments thrown in — has now required numerous apologies/explanations from the Best Actress Oscar nominee. Gascón’s previous online remarks have seriously cratered the odds for her and her film, which is nominated for 13 Oscars. The journalist and podcaster who uncovered Gascón’s troubling social media posts insists it was good old-fashioned reporting and she was not a “studio plant” fueling a smear campaign underwritten by a rival nominee.

In any case Gascón’s self-inflicted mess is the latest example of an internet-powered scandal that has threatened to derail an Oscar campaign. Here’s a look at the four most notable examples this century and how they played out.

Green Book (2018)

As this fact-based drama — about a blue-collar bouncer who chauffeured a Black...

Ninety-six films have won the Academy Award for Best Picture since the first Oscars ceremony was held in 1928, and it’s never been easier to watch every Best Picture Oscar winner, should you choose to do so. Thanks to the technological innovations of streaming, all of these winners – some all-time classics, some retroactive headscratchers – are available to watch online.

This year, several Best Picture contenders are already streaming. But before the 97th Best Picture winner is crowned on March 12, you could choose some past winners to catch up with from our list of where to watch every Best Picture Oscar winner – from Wings to Oppenheimer and everything in between.

2024: Oppenheimer

The Barbenheimer phenomenon helped raise Christopher Nolan‘s unlikely blockbuster to Best Picture glory. It’s available to stream on Prime Video and to rent on Amazon, Apple TV, and other platforms

2023: Everything Everywhere All at Once

The...

Musical movies have an extremely variable track record when it comes to box office and critical reviews. 2024 was a good year for the movie musical just based on one film alone: Wicked. An adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical of the same name, Wicked received rave reviews, and has been considered a frontrunner for Oscar nominations. The film has also done tremendously well at the box office, making over $648 million and counting. This positions the musical as the no. 6 movie of the year at the worldwide box office at the time of writing.

Not all movie musical, unfortunately, have had the same fervent support as Wicked had this year. Even movies adapted from incredibly popular Broadway musicals can flounder, as evidenced by the critically panned box office flop Dear Evan Hansen in 2021, which grossed a mere $19.1 million worldwide. Wicked director Jon M. Chu's own In the Heights also struggled...

Composer and impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the most well-known names in musical theater and, thanks to some notable movie adaptations, he's also known in film circles as well. The London-born Andrew Lloyd Webber began his career collaborating on the Oliver!-inspired musical The Likes of Us with Tim Rice. That musical ended up failing to gain a backer and, after some more attempts to get something off the ground, he finally was able to produce Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the musical that would launch him into stardom.

Since then, Webber has helped fund and create songs for some of the most recognizable musicals ever, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera (1986), The Wizard of Oz (2011), and School of Rock (2015). He's won one Academy Award and been nominated three times, gone 3 for 15 at the Grammys, won a Golden Globe, and won 6 Tonys out of 23 nominations.

If you're looking for a movie to watch that is guaranteed to make you truly feel something, you can do worse than watching one of the films set to leave Netflix in less than a month. The holiday season is the perfect time of year for movie watching, especially fun, heartwarming films that the whole family can enjoy. Christmas classics like Home Alone, Elf, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Die Hard are sure to entertain even the most frozen of hearts during the winter season.

Not every film watched over the holidays has to be a masterpiece, though, and even the ones that end up falling a bit short are perfect for the time of year with family and friends, particularly when it's one that's guaranteed to unite the family and inspire hours of discussion. After all, what is cinema without the conversations afterward about the best moments, weird mistakes,...

Wicked Box Office (Worldwide): Beats Les Misérables’ Global Haul( Photo Credit – Instagram )

The second installment of Wicked’s title has been recently revealed while the people are still engulfed in the first film’s magic. The movie is still astonishing with its dominating presence and keeps setting new records daily. It has now surpassed the global total of Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway starrer Les Misérables’ worldwide collection. Scroll below for the deets.

Les Misérables is a 2012 epic period musical movie directed by Tom Hooper based on the stage musical of the same name. It features an ensemble cast led by Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen. The supporting cast includes Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveit, and Daniel Huttlestone. The movie is set in France during the early 19th century, and Anne Hathaway won the Oscar for her performance in a supporting role.

Universal has been vindicated, thanks to the witches of Oz and the tenacity of studio chief and top NBCUniversal executive Donna Langley.

Over the Nov. 22-24 weekend, director Jon M. Chu‘s Wicked opened to an estimated $114 million domestically, the biggest box office launch of all time for a Broadway adaptation in a landslide victory, considering that the previous record holder, Into the Woods, opened to $31 million, not adjusted for inflation.

Moreover, it’s the fourth-biggest domestic opening among any musical behind three marquee Disney titles.

It couldn’t be a more welcome result for Universal, which was left badly bruised when Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper’s Cats adaptation turned into a box office debacle in 2019. The movie opened to just $6.6 million before topping out at $25.2 million domestically and $75.6 million globally. Langley and her team, however, remained steadfast in sticking with making two Wicked movies (Chu’s sequel debuts a year from now).

“With Wicked,...

There's no question that as soon as it premiered, Game of Thrones quickly became the blueprint for fantasy television. Like all massively popular and successful TV series, a slew of copycat shows cropped up after Game of Thrones premiered, and fantasy television entered mainstream spheres once again. Television has always been a great place for speculative fiction, and Game of Thrones was a reminder of this for the 21st century. Though the series is often defined by the sex and violence that punctuate so many of the episodes, the political intrigue and well-paced character arcs are just as critical.

One of the biggest criticisms of Game of Thrones was that it was a fantasy TV that wasted its potential. The final season of Game of Thrones was panned by both critics and audiences for failing its characters and narrative momentum. However, this doesn't change how influential the series was and...

Some fantasy TV was amazing from the very first scene, ensnaring viewers with a wild opening and keeping them gripped long after it finished. Shows like Game of Thrones and Supernatural demonstrated the "in medias res" technique well, throwing the audience straight into the action and then dialing it back a notch to allow for some calm before the next storm. Meanwhile, other fantasy TV shows opened more peacefully but very swiftly demonstrated their vivid world-building and danger. Regardless, first scenes often say it all about the production to come.

Some of the best characters in fantasy were introduced in episode 1 of their respective shows, but not at first, with a key mystery suggested in the first scene instead. Presenting an enigma in a fantasy movie or TV show's first scene is a tried-and-true way to tease the viewer and set up one of the show's later plot points. From...

Moviegoers, get ready. This November promises to be one of the most competitive months at the multiplex since the summer, with a handful of big-ticket event films getting ultra-wide releases as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. As for whether these movies will be worth your time, we've already heard some enthusiastic reactions to Ridley Scott's "Gladiator II," and been duly warned that Robert Zemeckis' "Here" is not where it's at. We should also be getting social media reactions to "Red One" and "Moana 2" any day now, but today is "Wicked" day on Twitter.

Before we check the tweets, keep in mind that John M. Chu's adaptation of the beloved, long-running Broadway musical riff on "The Wizard of Oz" has been viewed, sight-unseen, with tremendous skepticism due to its 160-minute runtime. Given that Chu's first "Wicked" film is just half of the story (with "Wicked Part Two" due to...

Hugh Jackman is returning to the New York stage in 2025. He’s performing a 12-concert residency at Radio City Music Hall, where the showman is expected to curate a career retrospective.

Jackman will showcase songs from “The Boy From Oz,” The Greatest Showman” and “The Music Man,” as well as “surprises from his career,” according to the official release. Other musical roles of Jackman’s have included Tom Hooper’s “Les Misérables” movie adaptation and Off Broadway and West End revivals of “Oklahoma!” and “Carousel.” The 55-year-old Australian has mounted one-man shows in the past like “The Man. The Music. The Show” world tour in 2019 and “Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway” in 2011.

This series, titled “From New York With Love,” will kick off at the famed venue on the weekend of Jan. 24, 2025, and will continue through select weekends in April, May, June, and July with the final shows on Aug.

Movie studios analyze the market to figure out which movies they should bet big on, but sometimes the market throws up some surprises, and sure-fire hits turn into box office bombs. Movies with great casts, big franchise recognition and exciting ideas can still end up falling short of expectations. In the most extreme cases, this can have knock-on effects which force studios to scrap other movies or shut down entirely.

Even huge franchises like Star Wars and the MCU aren't immune to the odd box office bomb. These are often among the most costly flops, since they have such big budgets and marketing costs. Some box office bombs can salvage their reputations, but money talks in the movie industry. One big misfire can cause financial chaos for the studios involved, even if it looked as if the odds were in their favor.

Related 20 Biggest Box Office Bombs Of All Time...

Rebel Wilson decided to direct after working on 'Cats'.The 44-year-old actress played Jennyanydots in Tom Hooper's 2019 adaptation of Sir Andew Lloyd Webber's stage musical and she revealed she was encouraged to get behind the camera after disagreeing with the director on some aspects of filming.She told The Hollywood Reporter: "I went up to the director and said, ‘I’m just not sure you’re doing it right,’ and a female producer who’d witnessed the exchange came over to me and said I think you should direct a movie one day."Now Rebel only wants to direct musicals after making her directorial debut with Australian comedy ‘The Deb,' and she has plans to follow it up with another musical movie.She said: "When I was a teenager, it was a pretty dark time, and I got to see a musical at 14 years of age, because my dog auditioned for it.

The Zurich Film Festival will honor Swedish actor Alicia Vikander, who won an Oscar with “The Danish Girl,” during its 20th edition, which runs Oct. 3-13.

Vikander will accept the festival’s Golden Eye Award on Oct. 8 when she presents the Swiss premiere of her new film “The Assessment,” which is directed by Fleur Fortuné.

“The Assessment,” in which she stars opposite Elizabeth Olsen, tells the story of a society striving for perfection, living in a world devastated by climate change, trying to optimize life – including the assessment of parenthood. A couple is examined by an assessor for seven days to determine their suitability to have children.

The award recognizes her “outstanding acting performance and her consistently courageous and clever choice of roles,” as demonstrated in auteur films and blockbusters alike, including “Ex Machina,” “The Danish Girl,” “Anna Karenina,” “Jason Bourne,” “The Green Knight” and “Tomb Raider.”

In 2015, she was...

Alicia Vikander will be feted with the Zurich Film Festival’s Golden Eye Award at its upcoming 20th edition, running from October 3 to 13.

Vikander will be handed the award on October 8 before presenting the Swiss premiere of her new film The Assessment by the director Fleur Fortuné.

Vikander’s credits include Ex Machina, The Danish Girl, Anna Karenina, Jason Bourne, The Green Knight, and Tomb Raider. In 2015, she won an Oscar for her performance as Gerda Wegener in Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl. Her performance also landed her a SAG Award and Critics Choice Award.

“I am incredibly honoured to be receiving the Golden Eye Award at Zurich Film Festival and proud to be amongst such a talented list of past honourees,” Vikander has said. “I was last there in 2017, for the Zff Masters and premiere of Euphoria, and I’m so pleased to be returning to the festival once again this year.

The Umbrella Academy wrapped up its final season in a wild way, though fans are a little bit miffed at one character not returning. Why were they Mia?

Caution: This article contains Spoilers for The Umbrella Academy season 4.

We're talking about Sloane (Genesis Rodriguez), the Sparrow that Luther (Tom Hooper) falls in love with and marries in season 3. That season ends with Luther briefly dying only to be resurrected into this new world minus his super-strength and mutated body, but Sloane is not with him.

Given how important she is to Luther, Sloane’s absence this season is notable, so what happened?

Why isn't Sloane in The Umbrella Academy finale?

Speaking to TV Line, showrunner Steve Blackman explained he had a plan to use Sloane in season 4 but was held back by logistics. The season only had six episodes rather than the 10 episodes of the previous seasons, which sadly meant cutting out some plot points.

In this week’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo powers up to discuss “The Umbrella Academy.” The Netflix series follows a group of former child superheroes that must reluctantly reunite again and again to save the world. The final season stars Elliot Page, Robert Sheehan, Tom Hooper, Nick Offerman, David Cross, Megan Mullally, and more.

Read More: ‘Sunny’: Rashida Jones Talks Her Retro-Futuristic Sci-Fi Drama, A Potential’ Parks & Recreation’ Reunion & More [Bingeworthy Podcast]

Joining Bingeworthy to discuss the superhero series is one of the show’s stars, Robert Sheehan, who plays Klaus.

Continue reading ‘The Umbrella Academy’: Robert Sheehan Talks Final Season Of The Superhero Series, ’Red Sonja,’ & More [Bingeworthy Podcast] at The Playlist.

Hugh Jackman's best film, according to Rotten Tomatoes, is 2019's "Bad Education." Hugh Jackman's best film, according to Marvel fans, is 2017's "Logan." And Hugh Jackman's best film, according to me, is 2013's "Prisoners." But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a different opinion, as the prestigious organization has only ever paid attention to Jackman's 2012 turn in "Les Misérables."

Yes, the beloved Aussie scored an Oscar nomination for Best Actor at the 2013 Academy Awards, but lost out to Daniel Day-Lewis for his portrayal of the titular President in "Lincoln." Not that there's any shame in losing to Day-Lewis, but it's got to be a slight sore point for Jackman as it was the one and only time he earned an Academy Award nom, despite being one of the most versatile actors working in the industry.

Now, Jackman has once again reminded us of his talents with "Deadpool & Wolverine,...

“Space Cadet” is a film featuring the talented Emma Roberts and Tom Hooper. With the screenplay and direction provided by Liz W. Garcia, it’s a classic comedy about a simple yet gifted girl trying to bring positivity into a world dominated by “brainiacs”.

The film finds Emma Roberts in her element, masterfully portraying a role tailored almost perfectly to her comedic range. It’s just like every other comedy we come to expect – funny to varying degrees, featuring a popular protagonist in a unique social setting, and a family movie we tend to forget once we are done watching it.

Storyline of “Space Cadet”

Rex Simpson is a waitress who is living her life to the fullest. Despite having no formal education or preparation, and preferring pink shorts as her attire, Rex’s dreams never cease. With an unwavering resolve, she applies to NASA with dreams of becoming an astronaut.

Forget glass slippers; Disney’s live-action Snow White is rocking glass heels with a price tag bigger than Ariel’s coral castle! Whispers of a ballooning budget surpassing even The Little Mermaid have fans wondering—is this fairytale a happily ever after, or a box office disaster?

Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes | Lionsgate Films

Zegler’s modern Snow promises a twist, but with costs skyrocketing, Disney better hope this magic mirror reflects box-office gold, not box-office doom! Get ready, folks; this fairytale might just get Grimm.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Is Disney’s Snow White About to Fall? Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird and Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes | Lionsgate Films

Disney’s live-action Snow White remake is a nightmare. Rumors,...

From The Princess Diaries to The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway has bestowed the film industry with some of the most unforgettable and iconic films throughout her career.

An Oscar-winning actress and one of the most considerate celebrities you’ll ever come across, Hathaway has time and again lived up to The Queen of Genovia sobriquet. And yet, she has met with unwarranted resentment from the public over the years.

Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) | 20th Century Studios

Despite that, however, Hathaway continues to be the paragon of politeness and one of her public interactions stands testament to her perennial kindness.

Anne Hathaway is One of the Sweetest Souls in Hollywood

All the Hathaters are about to be silenced real quick.

Internet personality Hailey Sani posted a clip of Anne Hathaway – while she was on her way to the NYC red-carpet premiere for The Idea of You – on Instagram,...

It’s not uncommon for actors to not consume the art they’re a part of, and similar was the case for Paul Bettany, especially during his initial years with Marvel. The actor, who gained recognition in the 2000s following the success of films, including A Knight’s Tale and A Beautiful Mind, has become notable for playing Vision in the MCU.

However, prior to playing Vision in Avengers: The Age of Ultron, Bettany was completely unaware of the larger MCU, despite voicing Tony Stark’s J.A.R.V.I.S.

MCU Wasn’t His Thing Said Paul Bettany

Paul Bettany | Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

The early 2010s saw Paul Bettany struggling to land major gigs in Hollywood, as the actor revealed that he even missed out on Tom Hooper’s drama The King’s Speech. When asked by The Guardian that he still had Iron Man 3 to fall back on,...

Celebration of cinema has always been extended by the Oscars honoring the prowess of cinematic excellence with one of the most recognized accolades. Throughout the rich history of cinema, there have been several movies based on true events, that left a mark among moviegoers or in the pages of history.

A still from Lawrence of Arabia

Also, movies that are based on true events are another way of documenting the particular incident, albeit a portion of fictionalization may alter the accuracy, but for cinema’s sake, filmmakers enjoy the basic freedom to have their own touch to the narrative. Throughout history, movies like The Great Ziegfeld by Robert Z. Leonard, or it would be criminal not to mention David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, and several other movies have claimed the Best Picture Oscars. Here is a list of six movies that won an Oscar in the Best Picture category.

In 2017, a number of sources confirmed that Malia Obama, the eldest daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama, had secured an internship with Harvey Weinstein, the former Hollywood producer being accused of s*xual harassment.

The 72-year-old was given a 23-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2020 of first-degree criminal s*xual act and third-degree r*pe. However, in the case that served as a catalyst for the MeToo movement, New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned the Oscar-winning producer’s 2020 s*x crime conviction.

Harvey Weinstein (Image via Flickr)

In light of this, social media took to X, bringing up a unique connection between the 44th President of the United States and Weinstein. Having said that, the news of Malia Obama interning for The Weinstein Company’s co-founder has caused quite an uproar among the public.

The Public Outcry: Malia Obama’s Involvement with Harvey Weinstein

The eldest...

Among the new productions on Broadway this spring is a revival of the classic musical “Cabaret,” starring Eddie Redmayne. In 2014 he starred as Stephen Hawking in director James Marsh‘s biopic “The Theory of Everything.” His performance won him an Oscar for Best Actor (making him the eighth youngest winner in that category at age 33), overcoming stiff competition from Michael Keaton, the star of the Best Picture winner of that year, “Birdman.” How did Redmayne pull through? Here are five reasons.

1. The industry felt he came into his own

Prior to “The Theory of Everything,” Redmayne was a rising star. In 2010 he won a Tony for his Broadway debut starring opposite Alfred Molina in John Logan‘s play “Red.” He went on to get more prominent film roles where critics, audiences and the industry started to take notice of him. Among them were Simon Curtis‘s 2011 Oscar-nominated biopic “My Week with Marilyn...

The musical fantasy film Cats, released in 2019, turned out to be a box-office bomb despite the big names attached to it. To start with, the movie was based on American composer and impresario of musical theatre, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s eponymous Broadway musical.

A still from Cats

Webber’s Broadway musical Cats has impressed millions of fans over the years. However, the movie adaptation failed to bring the same magic to the screens and became a huge disappointment for the composer. So much so, that it led to the impresario buying a dog just to live with the trauma of having his musical butchered for the screens.

Andrew Lloyd Webber Had to Get a Dog After Watching the 2019 Cats Movie A still from Cats

While Tom Hooper’s Cats was based on Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s musical, the musical itself was based on T. S. Eliot’s 1939 poetry collection Old...

Hollywood stars are known for their grace and composure, but even under the bright lights, celebrities are human after all. In one such experience, Anne Hathaway shed some light on a surprising moment with her co-star Hugh Jackman.

Anne Hathaway || Les Miserables

Suggested“The biggest robberies I’ve seen in a long time”: Fans Still Have Not Forgiven Oscars For Ignoring Hugh Jackman’s Performance in Denis Villeneuve’s Movie

The two stars worked together in 2012’s “Les Miserables”, a musical drama based on the classic novel by Victor Hugo. Known for his friendliness and professionalism, even Jackman once lost his cool while shooting the movie.

Hugh Jackman Gave a “Thousand-Mile” Stare To Anne Hathaway While Shooting Les Miserables

Hugh Jackman || Les Miserables

During the 2018 Hollywood Film Award ceremony, Hugh Jackman won the award for Best Actor for The Front Runner. He was presented the award by Anne Hathaway,...

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo sang live on the set of Wicked and the results will be heard in the finished film, director Jon M Chu has confirmed.

The long-awaited adaptation of the beloved musical Wicked is heading to cinemas later this year. Well, at least the first part of it… A very sparkly, downright magical trailer was released recently and the hype is building for the film.

Jon M Chu is on directing duties and has been chatting about how the film is getting on now that it is well into post-production.

An interesting snippet from a huge interview feature with Vanity Fair (spotted by Deadline) is that the film won’t be recording the singing in a sound booth after filming is done. Stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande sang live on set.

“These are live vocals,” Chu said. “When we were shooting it, those girls were like,...

The King’s Speech screenwriter David Seidler has died aged 86.

London-born Seidler had a stammer, as had King George VI, the subject of his Bafta and Oscar-winning 2010 feature, produced by See-Saw Films and Bedlam Productions and directed by Tom Hooper, with Colin Firth playing the future king. Seidler won the Oscar and Bafta for best original screenplay.

A stage adaptation of the film opened in the West End in 2012, also written by Seidler.

According to reports, Seidler died while on a fly fishing trip in New Zealand.

“David was in the place he loved most in the world – New Zealand...

David Seidler, the London-born playwright and screenwriter best known for “The King’s Speech,” has died while on a fly-fishing vacation in New Zealand, as per a report in The Guardian. His spokesperson said he was in the location he most revered, doing the activity he most loved when he passed: “It is exactly as he would have scripted it.” The winner of the Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay for the Colin Firth-led film was 86 years old.

Seidler’s career began in Australian television in the late 1960s. He came to the United States in the early 1980s, working for the soap opera “Another World,” then writing television movies like “Malice in Wonderland,” something of an early version of the series “Feud” as it concerned Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons starring Jane Alexander and Elizabeth Taylor. He also wrote “Onassis: The Richest Man in the World” starring...

David Seidler, the Academy Award-winning writer of the 2010 film “The King’s Speech,” died on Saturday. No cause of death was given. He was 86 years old.

Seidler’s film took home both Best Original Screenplay and several other Academy Awards at the 2011 ceremony, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. The movie told the story of King George VI (Colin Firth), who battled a stutter, and his relationship with speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush).

Telling the story of George VI was a longtime dream of Seidler’s because he also grew up with a stutter. As relayed by the Stuttering Foundation, Seidler contended with the condition from his third birthday until the age of 16. He explained, “I had huge trouble with the ‘H’ sound, so when the telephone rang, I would break into a cold sweat, because I couldn’t say ‘hello.'”

“I don’t know if school still works this way,...

David Seidler, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “The King’s Speech,” died Saturday while on a fly-fishing expedition in New Zealand. He was 86.

“David was in the place he loved most in the world — New Zealand — doing what gave him the greatest peace which was fly-fishing,” his longtime manager Jeff Aghassi said in a statement. “If given the chance, it is exactly as he would have scripted it.”

Seidler won the Academy Award for best original screenplay for 2010’s “The King’s Speech,” directed by Tom Hooper and starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter. The historical drama also went on to win best picture, best director and best actor.

The stage version of “The King’s Speech” has been translated to more than a half-dozen languages and has been performed on four continents. After being staged at the Wyndham’s Theatre on London’s West End in 2012, the play was supposed to head to Broadway,...

David Seidler, the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind 2010’s The King’s Speech, has died. He was 86.

The London native died Saturday during a fly-fishing trip in New Zealand, his manager, Jeff Aghassi, told The Hollywood Reporter.

“David was in the place he loved most in the world — New Zealand — doing what gave him the greatest peace, which was fly-fishing,” Aghassi said. “If given the chance, it is exactly as he would have scripted it.”

The King’s Speech told the true story of King George VI (Colin Firth) who overcame his severe stutter with the help of Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). When George’s brother abdicated the throne in 1936, Logue helped the king prepare for his first wartime radio message after the start of World War II.

Seidler’s script was motivated by his experience overcoming a stutter as a child. He won an Oscar for original screenplay at the 2011 Academy Awards,...

The Oscar Awards is almost here, and what better way to get ready for it than to reminisce about the most outrageous and shocking winning moments that happened in the past years.

While some names and titles are already taking up space and garnering unanimous votes, there will be controversial results that will go down in history, just like these Academy Award winners.

Will Smith

Will Smith in King Richard

The comedian-actor has always been a crowd favorite, and his Best Actor win for the biographical sports drama King Richard at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022 was supposed to be a glorious moment. But, just before he was announced as the winner, the infamous Oscar slap shocked the entire world.

SUGGESTEDYou May Have Watched Them Over and Over Again But These 6 Movies Never Won a Single Oscar

The award-giving body was criticized for letting Will Smith receive his award and...

The 96th Academy Award Ceremony is approaching, and the buzz around the Oscars has evolved to an astounding height. Looking back at history, the Oscars have created several significant moments elevating actor’s career. However, all stars don’t have the same blessing.

Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

Who wouldn’t want to win an Oscar? The award has been one of the most prestigious accolades for achievement in almost every category related to movies. However, in another turn of events, winning an Oscar may not be as good as you might think. An idea called the Oscars Curse has altered the fate of several celebrities, including Matthew McConaughey and Halle Berry.

Oscars Curse Victims, Matthew McConaughey, and Halle Berry Are Among Prominent

Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball

Several actors have witnessed the downfall of their careers after winning an Oscar. Of course, any filmmaker and actor or anyone...

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is one of the few films in Oscars history to win Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing plus prizes for acting and writing. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won Best Director and Best Original Screenplay while they shared in the Best Picture win with Jonathan Wang. Paul Rogers took home Best Film Editing while the film claimed three acting victories: Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actress for Jamie Lee Curtis, and Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan.

“Forrest Gump” was the last movie to win these top awards. it won Best Picture in 1995 for Wendy Finerman, Steve Starkey, and Steve Tisch while Robert Zemeckis won Best Director, Tom Hanks won Best Actor, Eric Roth won Best Adapted Screenplay, and Arthur Schmidt won Best Editing.

Several other movies have come close to achieving this feat, with “American Beauty” (2000), “A Beautiful Mind” (2002), ” “No Country For Old Men...

It’s been almost 12 years since the release of “Les Misérables,” Tom Hooper’s adaptation of the hit musical and a triumphant follow-up to the director’s 2010 Oscars-dominating smash hit “The King’s Speech.” It was a film that earned more than $442 million globally and saw Anne Hathaway famously declare “it came true” after winning the Academy Award for best supporting actress.

It’s also been almost five years since Hooper’s most recent feature, “Cats,” an expensive adaptation of another hit musical that didn’t quite land with the same splash.

But as a remastered “Les Misérables” heads back to U.K. cinemas in time for Valentine’s Day (in the U.S. it’s scheduled for Feb. 23), Hooper hints to Variety that he’s ready to return to feature filmmaking, with several projects nearing.

“I’m certainly quite close on a couple of things,” he explains. “I’ve been busy.

Universal’s “Migration” stayed atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the second consecutive week with £2.4 million ($3.1 million), according to numbers from Comscore. The global hit animation now has a total of £6.6 million in the territory.

Another Universal title, “Argylle,” stayed in second place for the second weekend in a row with £994,542 for a total of £3.7 million. Lionsgate’s “The Iron Claw” made a strong debut in third position with £754,152.

In its third weekend, in fourth place, Disney’s “All of Us Strangers” collected £510,035 for a total of £3.7 million. Rounding off the top five was Trafalgar Releasing’s “Peppa’s Cinema Party” that debuted with £490,779. The re-release of Warner Bros.’ “Dune,” ahead of the release of “Dune 2” on March 1, earned £335,657 in 10th position.

Coming up, there are several releases midweek on Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day. Picturehouse Entertainment is opening Trần Anh Hùng’s French culinary romance “The Taste of Things,...

Anne Hathaway's decision to cut her hair for her role as Fantine in Les Misérables was a critical aspect of the character's story and helped to sell the loss and humiliation she experienced. The haircut was a emotionally intense experience for Hathaway, reducing her to tears and making her feel like a "mental patient". Despite the traumatic nature of losing her hair, Hathaway had a lot of support and love on the set of Les Misérables, which made the experience more bearable.

Anne Hathaway plays Fantine in Les Misérables, and she really did get a haircut for the role. The 2012 Les Misérables is a dark, epic, historical musical based on the stage musical of the same name, which is, of course, an adaptation of the renowned novel by Victor Hugo. Starring Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as Javert, and Hathaway as Fantine, Les Misérables earned eight Academy...

Super Bowl Sunday always has a little something for everyone, but this year's big game in Las Vegas went above and beyond in the razzle-dazzle department.

We were, of course, prepared for a celebrity-crammed spectacle due to the luxury booth presence of Travis Kelce's substantially famous girlfriend, but this gridiron rematch between last year's combatants, the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, brought out more than just arguably the most famous pop star on the planet. The only pop star in that aforementioned argument, Beyoncé, was there with her hip-hop god husband Jay-Z! The world's greatest basketball player, LeBron James, flew in from Los Angeles for the contest! And Paul freakin' Rudd, sporting a bushy freakin' mustache that would've driven Avery Schreiber into a jealous rage, prowled the sidelines pre-game in support of his hometown Chiefs!

But if we're talking true, earth-shaking, knock-you-on-your-keister fame, let there be...

Studiocanal will co-produce and is handling international sales on Fred Cavayé’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s epic novel Les Misérables.

Set to shoot at the end of 2024, Les Miserables is produced by Olivier Delbosc’s Curiosa Films, whose notable behind The Taste Of Things, and Richard Grandpierre’s Eskwad, f recent films Like A Son and Spring Blossom.

No cast is yet attached. Studiocanal will release the film in France.

Cavayé’s most recent credits include the World War II-set drama Farewell Mister Haffmann and period comedy This is the Goat! starring Dany Boon which is set for release...

Can football (the American version) deliver a new audience to football (the European version)?

Paramount+ and CBS Sports are betting that it can.

With the UEFA Champions League season set to kick off its knockout stage on Feb. 13 (just two days after Super Bowl Lviii), the company plans to leverage the AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 28 — to drive interest in the top European soccer league.

CBS will air a new commercial — directed by The King’s Speech and Les Misérables helmer Tom Hooper — meant to celebrate American fans of the “Beautiful Game.” The spots will run during the AFC Championship on CBS this Sunday, (the game will also stream on Paramount+).

“Research shows there is a high crossover between young and diverse football and soccer fans,” said Rob Stecklow, senior VP of program marketing, sports & news at Paramount+. “We view this campaign as...

As of this writing the frontrunner to win this year’s Oscar for Best Original Screenplay is “The Holdovers” with 69/20 odds based on the combined predictions of Gold Derby users. What was previously behind it in second place was “Barbie,” yet the Academy recently declared that script to be adapted despite Warner Bros. campaigning it as original. With “Barbie” out of the way, “Past Lives” is now in second place in this category with 4/1 odds. But I think it actually has a shot of taking down “The Holdovers” for the win.

When it comes to Alexander Payne movies at the Oscars, they’ve so far gone one of two ways. They’ve either only won one award for screenplay (as was the case for “Sideways” and “The Descendants”), or they’ve gone home empty-handed. Many are currently predicting “The Holdovers” will fall into that first category, though it’s also...

Huge casts can make a movie immersive and believable, but they can also draw focus away from the main characters and harm the plot. Just because a movie has a star-studded cast doesn't mean it will be good. Some movies with large ensembles end up being disappointing and weighed down by too many characters. Even with a talented cast, a movie can still fail to live up to its potential. Examples like "Eternals" and "Cats" show that a stellar cast isn't always enough to save a film.

Handling a massive ensemble cast isn't an easy task for any director, and some movies could have benefited from simplifying things and focusing on fewer characters. When done well, movies with huge casts can be incredibly immersive, portraying a detailed world filled with believable characters. To name just two recent examples, Oppenheimer and Barbie both succeeded with this formula. They each featured huge casts,...

Hugh Jackman underwent surgery and couldn't sing for The Greatest Showman demo due to skin cancer, so Jeremy Jordan stepped in. Jeremy Jordan provided vocals while Jackman mimed the stage directions in the demo, helping the film get greenlit. Despite not being able to sing for most of the demo, Jackman couldn't resist joining in and singing during the ending number.

Hugh Jackman starred in The Greatest Showman - so why did Jeremy Jordan sing his parts for the demo? The Greatest Showman demo was used to sell the idea of Jackman's passion project, but he was unable to sing P.T. Barnum's songs, despite being a talented singer himself. The Greatest Showman chronicles Barnum's (Jackman) formation of his "Greatest Show On Earth" which led to the development of Barnum and Bailey's Circus. A musical journey, Barnum gathers performers who are outsiders or would typically be in carnival sideshows of the time,...

In a previous piece for Gold Derby, I referenced how all but one Best Picture Oscar winner since 2008 came from filmmakers who had never directed a Best Picture nominee before. The only exception is Alejandro González Iñárritu‘s “Birdman” in 2014; his prior Best Picture bid was for “Babel” back in 2006. Let’s dig into the last 15 years of winners, shall we?

SEEOscars alert: Watch out for ‘Barbie’ scene-stealers America Ferrera and Rhea Perlman

In 2008 “Slumdog Millionaire” was the juggernaut of the film awards season, winning eight Oscars, which is still more than any film since then. It was directed by Danny Boyle, who at the time only made one other Oscar nominated film, 1996’s “Trainspotting,” which was recognized with a nom for Best Adapted Screenplay.

In 2009 the race famously came down to two films from directors who were previously married: James Cameron‘s “Avatar” and Kathryn Bigelow‘s “The Hurt Locker.