News

It is always hard to say goodbye. Of course, to be honest, once a movie or series leaves Netflix unless it is a Netflix original, then the film or show is probably going to end up on some other streamer. Still, you don't want to have to subscribe to yet another service just to see a handful of shows. Netflix has almost all of what you need.

But if you need the movies or programs below, you will only have a short bit of time to catch them. They will leave Netflix this week, only to be replaced by other great stuff. But one of the below might be your favorite ever. Let's hope they return soon to your favorite streaming service.

Part of the items going away this week include a bunch of the Fast and the Furious films. These had no business ever being as good as they...

Netflix has revealed the list of films and TV series that will be removed from the streaming service beginning on February 1, 2025, and continuing throughout the month.

There are two TV shows that are being removed: The Mindy Project and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. There are several fan fave movies that are departing as well, including the Fast and the Furious franchise.

We’ve compiled the full list here for you to see. Be sure to mark your calendars and stream these titles if you haven’t already!

Head inside to see the full list of titles that are leaving Netflix in February 2025…

Scroll down to see every movie and TV show leaving the streamer soon…

Leaving 2/1/25

Cocaine Cowboys 2

Plus One

Run All Night

Leaving 2/11/25

The Fast and the Furious

2 Fast 2 Furious

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Fast Five

Fast & Furious 6

The Pope’s Exorcist

Leaving 2/14/25

The Catcher Was a Spy...

World War II dramas, which often portray dramatized versions of real stories, are some of the most popular movies available on streaming services, Netflix has no shortage of great ones. War dramas are a very popular genre as a whole as they are often both entertaining and educational. Additionally, the genre benefits from the variety available, as it is possible to take an action route or a more emotional, character-driven route, leading to some of the best war movies of all time being vastly different.

While World War II documentaries and television series abound, there is room for great stories to be told even in the most horrifying backdrops. The World War II dramas available on Netflix cover satirical takes on real people and events, heart-wrenching tragedies, and stories of a singular person's heroism, meaning there is something that every audience member can watch.

The Catcher Was A Spy (2018) Paul Rudd...

Connie Nielsen left FBI after the pilot episode for unknown reasons, leading to her character being replaced by Sela Ward's Dana Mosier. Nielsen's departure may have been due to her busy schedule and involvement in other projects during the time of FBI's release. Ward's exit from FBI was scripted into the season 1 finale, with her character resigning after making a risky decision. Ward joined the show under a one-year contract.

FBI replaced Connie Nielsen with Sela Ward after its pilot episode, starting a trend of short character arcs in the franchise. FBI, which currently has 6 seasons, focuses on the day-to-day operations of the New York Field Office criminal division. Nielsen's Ellen Solberg was a figurehead of the division as Special Agent in Charge. Nielsen and her character didn't have a planned conclusion in the show, and she departed suddenly without explanation.

Watch on Paramount+

Not only was Nielsen replaced by Ward,...

The story of Moe Berg, a baseball catcher and WWII spy, was depicted in the 2018 war drama, The Catcher Was A Spy, starring Paul Rudd. Intellectual and skilled, Moe Berg continued his work after the war, working with the CIA until his contract expired in 1954. Moe Berg, a nomadic figure post-cia, passed away at 70, holding a deep love for baseball until the end.

The 2018 drama The Catcher Was A Spy told the story of the most mysterious baseball player who ever lived, and he lived a reclusive and secretive life long after the war. Starring Paul Rudd, The Catcher Was A Spy looks at the life of Moe Berg, who rose to prominence as a catcher for several prominent baseball teams, including the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox in the 1930s. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Berg signed up for the war effort; he accepted a...

The focus of the movie The Catcher Was A Spy, Moe Berg, played baseball for 15 years before joining the war effort after Pearl Harbor. As a spy for the Oss, Berg was crucial in targeting Germany's scientific potential. Berg's spy mission included convincing scientists to defect, and he nearly assassinated Werner Heisenberg.

Released in 2018, The Catcher Was A Spy is based on the true story of how one of baseball's most intellectual players became a spy for the United States during the events of World War II. In a dramatic movie starring Paul Rudd, The Catcher Was A Spy focuses on Moe Berg, who joined the war effort in 1942. Instead of deploying to the battlefield like other notable baseball players including Yogi Berra, Joe Dimaggio, and Jackie Robinson, Berg was assigned to espionage missions focused on halting Axis technological advances.

A notably charming man with a great depth of intelligence,...

A big-budget live-action adaptation of a cult Nickelodeon animated fantasy series, the return of a sports docuseries that transformed the global appeal of Formula 1, a new animated feature written by the incomparable Charlie Kaufman, and another season of a reality dating show that inspires equal parts love and hate on social media are among the standout projects hitting Netflix in February.

Netflix’s big feature release this month is the animated film Orion and the Dark, which debuts Feb. 2. Written by Charlie Kaufman, the celebrated scribe behind Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation, the film is an adaptation of Emma Yarlett’s children’s book about an anxious kid who is scared of the dark. The Hollywood Reporter‘s review described Orion and the Dark as a film that “hilariously and movingly [taps] into typical childhood anxieties” and is “infused with ample wit of both the...

Netflix has released the full list of movies and television shows coming to the streaming service in February 2024.

If you don’t know, each and every month, the streamer has movies and shows that it adds and also takes away, mainly due to various licensing deals.

This month is no exception, but it looks like fans will be getting a great crop of new titles to choose from.

Keep reading to see the full list of new titles coming to Netflix next month…

Everything Coming to Netflix in February 2024

February 1, 2024

American Assassin

Anaconda

Enough

Fury

The Great Gatsby (2013)

How to Train Your Dragon 2

It (2017)

Magic Mike’s Last Dance

Moneyball

The Other Boleyn Girl

Pacific Rim

Resident Evil

Resident Evil: Retribution

S.W.A.T.: Under Siege

Shot Caller

Something’s Gotta Give

Tom and Jerry (2021)

X

Young Sheldon: Season 6

February 2, 2024

Orion and the Dark — Netflix Family

Plus One

February 3, 2024

Ready Player...

Sundance turns 40 this year and AMC Networks is celebrating the film festival’s big 4-0 with the release of a curated lineup of dozens of movies that previously debuted at the event, including “Birth/Rebirth,” “Sleeping with Other People,” “Savage Grace” and “Heathers,” for streamer AMC+.

A long-time sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival with roots in indie films through IFC Films and now horror-focused streamer Shudder, whcih is debuting Chris Nash’s “In A Violent Nature” at the fest this year, AMC Networks will be offering the compilation of Sundance movies all through January, in connection with the 2024 edition of the film festival running Jan. 18-28.

“This collection is such a great way to honor the history of the legacy of Sundance bring AMC+ subscribers, who are not going to be in Park City, virtually to the event through this portfolio of such unforgettable films,” chief commercial officer for AMC Networks Kim Kelleher told Variety.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is expanding its membership.

According to a press release, the organization that hands out Oscars each year at the Academy Awards has extended invitations to join the Academy to 398 artists and executives who have made notable contributions to the motion picture industry.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang in a joint statement.

Read More: The Academy Announces 2024 Oscars Date As Well As Submission Deadline

There are some big names and familiar faces among the invitees, including musicians Taylor Swift and David Byrne, and numerous actors, ranging from Selma Blair to Keke Palmer to “Elvis” Oscar nominee Austin Butler.

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan, Daniel Kwan, and Daniel Scheinert, recent acting nominees Austin Butler, Paul Mescal, and Stephanie Hsu, and bold-face names for the extremely online like Taylor Swift, Abel Tesfaye (a.k.a. The Weeknd), and Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav were among the 398 people announced as new members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.

“The academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said academy CEO Bill Kramer and academy president Janet Yang in a joint statement.

This year’s class of new members is heavy on 2022 breakouts, like the aforementioned Kwan and Scheinert – invitees in both the directors’ brand and the producers’ branch. In keeping with academy practice,...

It’s that time of year again — the break between Cannes and the fall festivals, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences makes its membership invitations. The Oscars group said today that it has extended offers to 398 artists and execs — one more than last year — who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to motion pictures.

The list includes actors, directors, writers, producers, musicians, executives, artist reps, publicists and below-the-liners such as casting directors, cinematographers, costume designers, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, production designers and sound pros.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement. “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide.”

As usual, the invitees include newly minted Oscar winners,...

Paul Rudd. Despite being in the entertainment industry for over three decades, he has managed to remain relevant and consistently deliver remarkable performances. In this article, we’ll explore the various roles that defined his acting journey, and the reasons behind his enduring appeal. So, buckle up as we take you through the fascinating world of Paul Rudd!

Paul Rudd. Depostiphotos Introduction to Paul Rudd

Born on April 6, 1969, in Passaic, New Jersey, Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer. He grew up in a Jewish household and attended the University of Kansas, where he studied theatre. Later on, he furthered his acting education by attending the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts, followed by the British American Drama Academy in London.

Rudd’s professional acting career began in the early 1990s, with initial appearances in television shows such as “Sisters” and “The Moment of Truth.” However, it...

Paul Rudd is one of the go-to faces in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he never expected to land any sort of superhero movie–especially one in the biggest franchise ever. For all he knew, he’d be slappin’ da bass and boasting about his Octagon for the rest of his career.

Prior to becoming a big screen superhero, Paul Rudd had a consistent and respectable career bouncing back and forth between comedies and indies, working with the likes of both Judd Apatow and David Gordon Green. There, too, was some stage work. In other words, Paul Rudd didn’t exactly expect to be in front of too many green screens. “I would tend to go between doing indie movies and plays,” he told Interview. “I was about 30 years old then, and I think all through my twenties, that was the goal. All actors wanted to be in really cool...

With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania representing the best opening of the franchise, we wanted to know what your favorite Paul Rudd movie is. Are you more a fan of his comedic roles or has his turn as Ant-Man been more your speed? Instead of listing all of the Marvel films separately, we used Ant-Man to represent all his ventures in the miniature making suit. if you don’t see your favorite, please let us know in the comments.

Favorite Paul Rudd MovieMac and Me (1988)Clueless (1995)Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)Romeo + Juliet (1996)The Locusts (1997)Overnight Delivery (1998)The Object of My Affection (1998)200 Cigarettes (1999)The Cider House Rules (1999)Wet Hot American Summer (2001)The Shape of Things (2003)2 Days (2003)Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)P.S (2004)The Baxter (2005)The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)The Oh in Ohio (2006)Diggers (2006)Night at the Museum (2006)Reno 911!: Miami (2007)I Could Never Be Your Woman...

Click here to read the full article.

Focus Features has picked up Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, a dramedy that reunites the director with Sideways lead Paul Giamatti.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed Focus nabbed the worldwide rights to the Miramax pic, excluding the Middle East. The Holdovers project is being shopped at the Toronto Film Festival as part of an informal market and outside the main festival lineup.

The film, written by David Hemingson and set in 1970, sees Giamatti play the role of Paul Hunham, an unlikeable professor who remains at an academy over the Christmas holidays, only to find himself with a trouble-making 15-year-old student.

Sideways, released in 2004, was nominated for five Oscars, which included a win for adapted screenplay for Payne, and brought in 72 million domestically at the box office. The comedy also provided a bump for the wine and tourism trade in Santa Barbara.

Payne also...

Exclusive: Oscar-nominated Saving Private Ryan screenwriter Robert Rodat is set to write Semper Fi, the true story of Marine Maj. Thomas Schueman and his extraordinary Afghan interpreter Zainulla Zaki.

During fierce fighting in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, the two men formed an unbreakable brotherhood that transcended the differences in their cultures and ethnicities. After Schueman’s return to the U.S. he tried, with no success, to help Zaki and his family get out of Afghanistan. This summer, as the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan, Zaki and his family were targeted for execution by the Taliban due to his involvement with U.S. Forces. Schueman’s devotion to his comrade and his struggle to save him, his wife and four children led to a harrowing escape and a daring rescue at Kabul’s airport.

The project is being developed by producers Flashlight Films managing partner Allyn Stewart and veteran movie producer Hawk Koch,...

According to her dour, navy-suited employers in an old-school London financial institute, young American Millie Cantwell is the most prodigiously gifted fund manager in many a moon: a veritable supernova in her field, destined for great and profitable things. This is doubtless a wonderful thing to hear if you truly want to be a fund manager. If, like Millie, your most cherished ambition is to be an opera singer, it feels more like your head ruthlessly selling out your heart, leaving your voice stranded somewhere in the exchange. As for which ultimately wins out, expect no surprises in “Falling for Figaro,” a corny, cute-enough carpe diem comedy, in which it’s a lovable ensemble — led by Danielle Macdonald, and spiked by a deliciously imperious Joanna Lumley — that brings the grace notes to a pretty standard-issue script.

An Industry Selects offering at Toronto last year, now getting a quiet multiplatform release...

Exclusive: The story of disability pioneer Sylvia Flexer is set for the big screen.

Ben Lewin, director of The Sessions and The Catcher was a Spy, is to write and direct a feature film for Keshet Studios and White Lodge Productions.

Sylvia and the President is the true story of a marginalized group of people and their fight for equality. At the age of 21, outspoken Flexer – who walked with the aid of crutches – was elected president of the League of the Physically Handicapped. It was the height of the Great Depression and, like Sylvia, the majority of the members had been affected by polio.

Following their efforts to highlight government discrimination against disabled workers in New York, Flexer and 34 other members of the League rode all night on a flatbed truck to Washington to lobby President Roosevelt – who was still hiding the extent of his own disability from the public...

Princ Films has taken international rights to Slávek Horák’s “Havel,” a biopic about the Czech playwright, dissident and his country’s president Vaclav Havel, and will launch sales at the European Film Market.

The film recently received 14 nominations for the Czech Lion Awards, the leading Czech film awards, across all major categories including film, director, screenplay, and all acting categories. It also received two nominations for the Czech Film Critics’ Awards, best actor and actress.

“Havel” premiered at the Visegrad Cinema Days, run by the Kyiv Film Festival in the Ukraine, and went onto play a slew of festivals including Heartland (Indiana), where it was a finalist for best narrative feature, Montreal Independent, where Horák won best director, Rome Independent, where it won best feature, Warsaw, Tallinn Black Nights, São Paulo, Cottbus and Zagreb.

“Havel” stars Viktor Dvorák (“Three Brothers”) as Havel and follows the accomplished playwright and Czechoslovakia’s last President,...

WestEnd Film handles worldwide sales.

IFC Films has acquired US rights from WestEnd Films to the rom-com Falling For Figaro starring Joanna Lumley and Danielle Macdonald.

Ben Lewin directed the Australia/UK co-production from a screenplay he co-wrote with Allen Palmer.

Falling For Figaro follows a disillusioned fund manager (Macdonald) who pursues her dream of becoming an opera singer and engages the services of a fearsome diva in the Scottish Highlands, where she also finds love.

Rounding out the cast are Hugh Skinner, Gary Lewis, Shazad Latif, and Rebecca Benson.

WestEnd Film handles worldwide sales and previously announced deals in...

IFC Films has acquired the U.S. rights to “Falling For Figaro,” a romantic comedy about competitive opera singing that stars Joanna Lumley and Danielle Macdonald. The film will be released in 2021.

Ben Lewin directs “Falling For Figaro,” which stars “The Wolf of Wall Street” star Lumley and “Dumplin'” star Macdonald alongside Hugh Skinner, Gary Lewis, Shazad Latif and Rebecca Benson.

The film is about a young woman who leaves her job and breaks up with her boyfriend to fulfill a dream of becoming an opera singer in the Scottish Highlands. She begins intense vocal training lessons with a renowned but fearsome singing teacher and former opera diva, and she meets and starts to fall for another student as they both train and compete for an upcoming opera contest.

Lewin wrote “Falling For Figaro” with Allen Palmer. It’s an official Australian and UK co-production and is produced by Philip Wade,...

IFC Films has nabbed U.S. rights to “Falling for Figaro,” a romantic comedy set in the world of opera singing competitions.

The film is directed by Ben Lewin, the filmmaker behind “The Catcher Was A Spy” and “The Sessions,” and stars Joanna Lumley of “Absolutely Fabulous” and Danielle Macdonald, who earned raves for her work in “Dumplin'” and “Patti Cake$.” IFC Films will release “Falling for Figaro” in 2021.

The film follows a brilliant young fund manager named Millie (Macdonald), who quits her job and ends things with her longterm boyfriend in order to fulfill her dream of becoming an opera singer — in the Scottish Highlands. She begins intense vocal training lessons with renowned but fearsome singing teacher and former opera diva Meghan Geoffrey-Bishop (Lumley). It is there she meets Max, another of Meghan’s students who is also training for the upcoming “Singer of Renown” contest. The competition between...

Best film nominees separated into 2019 and 2020 categories.

Tom Sullivan’s Great Famine drama Arracht and Paddy Breathnach’s homelessness story Rosie lead the film nominations at the 2020 Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) awards.

Arracht picked up 11 nominations from 15 feature film categories; with Rosie scoring nine.

Full IFTA 2020 nominations below

IFTA is finalising plans for a virtual 2020 awards ceremony in September; there will be no physical IFTA awards ceremony until April 2021. This year’s best film nominees have been split into two categories: five titles are nominated for best film 2019 and a further five have been nominated for best film...

Exclusive: Signature Entertainment has acquired UK & Irish rights to action-thriller Honest Thief, starring Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Jai Courtney, Jeffrey Donovan, Anthony Ramos and Robert Patrick.

Directed by Mark Williams, co-creator and producer of Netflix series Ozark and producer of Warner Bros’ The Accountant, Neeson stars as a bank robber who tries to turn himself in after falling for a woman (Walsh) who works at the storage facility where he’s stashed his money. Complications ensue when his case is turned over to a corrupt FBI agent (Courtney) and he must go underground to save both himself and the woman he loves.

The deal was negotiated by Lisa Wilson, partner and co-founder of The Solution Entertainment Group and Signature’s CEO Marc Goldberg. Briarcliff has U.S. rights to the well-sold film.

Signature’s director of acquisitions and development Elizabeth Williams said, “We are delighted to have acquired Honest Thief with Liam Neeson,...

Early on in Ironbark, directed by Dominic Cooke, British salesman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) realizes he’s sitting at a table with both a MI6 officer (Angus Wright) and a CIA officer (Rachel Brosnahan). Excited, he admits: “I can’t believe I’m having lunch with spies!” It’s a moment of brevity that speaks to the interesting tonal dance the filmmakers are trying at.

In 1960, Russian colonel Oleg Penkovsky (codename “Ironbark”) sent a message to the West: he wanted to avert catastrophe under the impulsive rule of Nikita Khrushchev. To help recruit their source, Western intelligence enlisted Wynne to begin a business relationship with Penkovsky in order to smuggle confidential documents out of the Soviet Union. The two men become fast friends, complicating a dangerous situation that will ultimately converge at the Cuban Missile Crisis.

From the start, Cooke directs this film at a fast clip. Montages abound with...

There aren’t a lot of sports stars who could claim to be as interesting as Moe Berg, a Major League baseball player who spoke nearly a dozen languages, blew audiences away on quiz shows, and worked as a spy for the United States government during World War II. Berg nearly assassinated German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg. Take that, Dwayne Johnson.

Berg, who got his own biopic last year is now the subject of a major documentary. “The Spy Behind Home Plate.” Written and directed by Aviva Kempner (“The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg”), the film assembles pundits, contemporaries and family members, combining new and archived interview footage to reveal the many incredible facets of Berg’s life.

Nimble and efficient, “The Spy Behind Home Plate” races through that life at a steady clip, unloading one fascinating biographical tidbit after another. The action may be staid — it’s a talking-heads documentary,...

News coming out of Cannes 2019 was upbeat for multiple acclaimed specialized titles. They are still months away from domestic view, per usual. What is different this year is the lack of summer releases to supply the theaters needed to sustain these later films. A year ago, within a week or so of this early June weekend, three notable narrative titles with strong reviews, “American Animals,” “First Reformed,” and “Hearts Beat Loud,” all played to decent business at core theaters. And then “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” burst into the mix, continuing the current wave of powerful documentary performers.

Whatever the varying quality, no limited opener this weekend is likely to amass a total gross of $250,000. That’s partly because they face serious competition from both “Booksmart” (United Artists) and “Rocketman” (Paramount), which debuted on thousands of screens after launching with splashy major festival attention. Both competed for the same pool of viewers.

Once again, with a huge opening in Los Angeles for music documentary “Echo in the Canyon” (Greenwich), the genre is playing a vital role in keeping arthouses healthy. With “The Biggest Little Farm” (Neon) leading the way among holdovers as it adds theaters, documentaries’ central role in the specialty market stands out in stark contrast to what should have been a strong narrative opener, smart-girl comedy “Booksmart” (United Artists).

Until recently, that well-reviewed SXSW breakout would have been likely to build buzz in limited and play at specialized theaters, but instead opened wide this weekend. Though many core theaters are able to play it, competing theaters lessen their grosses, and in many cases they find themselves replaced by major chain competitors.

Opening

Echo in the Canyon (Greenwich) – Metacritic: 78; Festivals include: Los Angeles 2018

$103,716 in 2 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $51,858

Boomer appeal, top theater placement in Los Angeles, and special appearances...

Almost an hour into Marco Bellocchio’s “The Traitor” — a lively but scattershot and exasperating biopic about Tommaso Buscetta, the first Sicilian mob boss to become an informant for the authorities — the film’s charismatic protagonist (Pierfrancesco Favino) tells an interrogator a story about one of the first men he was ever assigned to kill. Bellocchio then cuts to a brief flashback that offers us more about his subject than the rest of this two-and-a-half hour film combined. The young Buscetta sees his target across a courtyard, and his target sees him. Knowing that Buscetta is there to kill him, the man takes his baby son into his arms for protection, hoping that his assassin wouldn’t risk endangering the life of an innocent child. Buscetta, a dignified man who sincerely believes his beloved Cosa Nostra was once a society of honor, can’t bring himself to take the shot.

"He loved being a mystery." The Ciesla Foundation has debuted an official trailer for an indie documentary titled The Spy Behind Home Plate, which is opening in limited theaters starting this May and expanding to more theaters nationwide throughout June + July. The biopic doc tells the story of Moe Berg, a Jewish baseball player from New York City turned WWII spy. Berg's life story was also turned into a feature film recently, with Paul Rudd playing him in The Catcher Was a Spy. The Spy Behind Home Plate reveals the life of this unknown Jewish hero through rare historical footage and photographs as well as interviews with an All-Star roster of celebrities and other individuals from the worlds of sports, spycraft, and history. Berg may have had only a .243 batting average during his 15-year major league career, but it was the stats he collected for the Oss that made him...

The trailer has been released for “The Spy Behind Home Plate,” Aviva Kempner’s documentary about ballplayer-turned-spy Moe Berg. Paul Rudd starred as Berg in last year’s “The Catcher Was a Spy,” meaning that World War II and/or baseball obsessives can plan their own fact-and-fiction double header. Watch the trailer below.

Here’s the synopsis: “In this first ever feature-length documentary about the enigmatic Berg, Kempner again focuses her camera on a little-known Jewish hero. From the streets of Newark to five major league teams during baseball’s Golden Age to his secret life spying for the Oss during WWII…Berg’s improbable story is told with rare historical footage and revealing interviews with family and an All-Star roster from the worlds of history, sports and spy craft.”

That the trailer is being unveiled on Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is no coincidence, as Berg was a...

Seth MacFarlane (The Orville), Sienna Miller (Live by Night), Simon McBurney (The Theory of Everything) and Annabelle Wallis(Peaky Blinders) are set to star opposite Russell Crowe and Naomi Watts in Showtime’s upcoming eight-episode limited series about Fox News founder Roger Ailes, played by Crowe.

All four will play key figures in the Ailes real-life saga: MacFarlane will portray Ailes’ former confidant Brian Lewis, McBurney will play Fox head Rupert Murdoch, Miller is Ailes’ ex-wife Beth, while Wallis is former Fox News exec Laurie Luhn.

This is a rare drama acting gig for MacFarlane who stars on his latest series, Fox’s The Orville, and voices characters on some of his animated series, most notably Family Guy. It took weeks of trying to make the deal for the Showtime limited series work around his busy schedule on The Orville, which he also showruns, writes for and directs. In June,...

Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons, Sienna Miller, and Friday Night Lights alum Taylor Kitsch are set to co-star in 17 Bridges, the action thriller that will be led by Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman. The pic hails from STXfilms, which acquired the spec in 2016. Mwm Studios, the company behind the Oscar-nominated film, Hell or High Water, has come on board to produce the pic alongside Boseman as well as Joe and Anthony Russo.

Brian Kirk is directing from a screenplay by Adam Mervis with revisions by Matt Carnahan. The pic will hit theaters July 12.

The plot follows a disgraced NYPD detective (Boseman), who is thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers after uncovering a massive and unexpected conspiracy. As the night unfolds, lines become blurred on who he is pursuing, and who is in pursuit of him. When the search intensifies, extreme measures are taken to prevent the killers...

Brazilian actress and model Maria Fernanda Candido is to play the female lead in veteran Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio’s “The Traitor,” a biopic of Tommaso Buscetta, the first high-ranking member of Cosa Nostra to break the Sicilian Mafia’s oath of silence.

Candido, who most recently starred in Rede Globo’s popular prime-time soap “Edge of Desire,” will play Buscetta’s third wife, Maria Cristina de Almeida Guimaraes, the daughter of an upper-crust Brazilian lawyer. She played an important part in her husband’s decision in 1984 to start cooperating with Italian and, later, American prosecutors.

She is believed to have been crucial in prompting Buscetta to turn against the Corleonesi faction in the first major “betrayal” within Cosa Nostra’s high-ranks. Buscetta’s testimony about heroin smuggling in the ”pizza connection” case in the mid-1980s allowed him to obtain U.S. citizenship and a place in the witness protection program.

The Internet and other trades found great click bait in declaring that Vertical Entertainment’s Kevin Spacey drama Billionaire Boys Club was the lowest-opening ever of the fallen actor’s career with a $618 opening at 11 theaters. But the reality is you’d have to be a psychic to know that the film was playing anywhere.

Furthermore, for a distributor like Vertical in the theatrical VOD business, it’s not about what money is made at the box office but on VOD, and industry sources believe that Billionaire Boys Club easily could churn a seven-digit revenue on pay-per-view at the end of the day. And in the wake of the Spacey scandal, VOD was the best way to go for this movie. The pic at one point ranked in the top 20 on iTunes.

Exclusive: Sienna Miller and Diego Luna are set to star and Tara Miele to direct Wander Darkly, the latest film from ShivHans Pictures and 51 Entertainment, reuniting the companies that made Captain Fantastic. Wander Darkly is a magical realism love story about a couple who must navigate the aftermath of a devastating car crash.

Lynette Howell Taylor and Samantha Housman of 51 Entertainment are producing with Shivani Rawat and Monica Levinson of ShivHans Pictures, latter of which is financing.

“We are thrilled with the casting of Sienna and Diego in this love story,” said 51 Entertainment founder Howell Taylor, who is completing A Star Is Born for the fall festivals starting with Venice. “The range in their acting will make for a film with authenticity and magic on screen. Tara has written a truly captivating and personal film. I’m excited for the world to see her extraordinary talent.”

Miele wrote the...

Dan Talbot, an exhibitor who brought arthouse films to the residents of New York’s Upper West Side, died last December at the age of 91, leaving a void in the cultural life of the neighborhood and depriving studios of one of the staunchest champions of independent fare.

Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, the dog-eared but much-loved basement theater he owned and operated since 1981, has been closed and left vacant since January while Milstein Properties weighs what to do with the space. In an unfortunate twist, Talbot’s death coincided with the end of the theater’s lease.

“For many of us, it was like we had lost our best friend,” said Norma Levy, an attorney and Upper West Side resident. “Lincoln Plaza played films you couldn’t see anywhere else.”

The closure has also been a blow to distributors, because Lincoln Plaza Cinemas was such a reliable source of box office for more off-beat films.

In today’s film news roundup, the “Men In Black” spinoff rounds out its cast, “93Queen” gets distribution and a Moe Berg documentary is in the works.

Castings

Les Twins, Kumail Nanjiani, and Rafe Spall have join the ensemble cast alongside Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Liam Neeson of Sony Pictures’ “Men in Black” spinoff.

The movie has started shooting in London. F. Gary Gray is directing the movie from a screenplay by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald are producing; Steven Spielberg is executive producing, David Beaubaire is overseeing for Sony.

The film is slated for release on June 14, 2019. Les Twins are Laurent Nicolas Bourgeois and Larry Nicolas Bourgeois, a self-taught duo who became well known when their street dancing videos where uploaded to YouTube. They went on to become the star dancers on the Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque du Soleil.

A lot can happen in 10 years. That’s how long it’s been since writer-director Andrew Fleming first hatched the concept for “Ideal Home,” the idea coming to him when he was on the set of his arid Sundance hit, “Hamlet 2.” The world has come pretty damn far since then, if not quite far enough.

Back in 2008, a casually disposable comedy about the virtues of queer parenthood might have seemed progressive, even if it starred two straight actors and made their characters into human cartoons whose sexuality is used as the punchline of almost every joke. In 2018, that same comedy feels like a time capsule that someone forgot to bury — you can still get a laugh or two from looking at the stuff inside, but it’s hard to know what we’re supposed to do with it now that the future that “Ideal Home” wants is already behind us.

Incredibles 2 on cusp of $349m, Solo: A Star Wars Story hits $200m.

June 25 Update: Universal’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom scored the studio’s second highest North America debut on a confirmed $148m, as a trio of releases crossed significant milestones.

Fox’s Deadpool 2 hit $300m, Warner Bros’ Ocean’s 8 reached $100m, and Solo: A Star Wars Story reached $200m. Pixar’s Incredibles 2 will cross $350m on Monday.

Focus Features documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, a documentary about the beloved American TV personality Fred Rogers, surged five places to number 10 in its third weekend. The...

With summer tentpoles in full thrust, specialty distributors are maintaining their seasonal role offering up alternative programming for moviegoers not dazzled by the latest studio blitz.

The final full weekend of June included at least a half dozen new limited titles, headlined by Sundance’s The King by Eugene Jarecki, which Oscilloscope opened in two Manhattan locations Friday. The documentary lorded over the pack of newcomers with a $29K gross for a solid $14,525 per theater average, easily the best among the specialties, and the third-best among all titles reporting grosses Sunday.

Magnolia Pictures took the Zellner brothers’ Damsel to three locations in its opening frame, grossing $21K. By far the ‘widest’ opener among among the group was IFC Films’ The Catcher Was a Spy, which bowed in 49 theaters, taking in $122,494 for a $2,520 PTA.

Sony Classics’ Boundaries played five locations in its first weekend, grossing $30,395, while China Lion’s Lobster Cop...

Incredibles 2 crosses $350m, Solo: A Star Wars Story hits $200m.

Universal’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom scored the studio’s second highest North America debut on an estimated $150m, as a quartet of releases crossed significant milestones.

Pixar’s Incredibles 2 crossed $350m, Fox’s Deadpool 2 hit $300m, Warner Bros’ Ocean’s 8 reached $100m, and Solo: A Star Wars Story reached $200m.

Focus Features documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, a documentary about the beloved American TV personality Fred Rogers, surged five places to number 10 in its third weekend. The distributor expanded the theatre count from 96 to...

Now In-theater June 22, 2018 The motion pictures now in-theater are from various Hollywood and independent movie studios. Some of the films are in wide release (600 screens or more in the United States and Canada) and some are in limited release (a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across [...]

Continue reading: Now In-theater: June 22, 2018: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The Catcher Was A Spy, Boundaries, & More...

Two very different road trip movies are among this weekend’s Specialty theatrical debuts. After its world premiere at SXSW and later festival showings in Seattle as well as Nantucket this weekend, Sony Pictures Classics is opening father-daughter journey, Boundaries by Shana Feste in New York and L.A. Oscilloscope, meanwhile, is bowing doc, The King by Eugene Jarecki in Manhattan. Jarecki takes to the road in Elvis Presley’s 1963 Rolls-Royce on a musical road trip across America, painting a portrait of the current state of the ‘American Dream.’ Cohen Media Group spearheaded fellow non-fiction title Spiral, which examines the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and the world, opening in two locations in New York and L.A. And Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska star in the Zellner brothers’ comedic Western, Damsel.

Other limited releases headed to theaters this weekend include IFC Films’ The Catcher Was a Spy with Paul Rudd,...

Sienna Miller as Estella Huni, and Paul Rudd as Moe Berg, in Ben Lewin’s The Catcher Was A Spy. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

The Catcher Was A Spy is a strange slice of history, about a real-life Jewish Major League baseball catcher with a degree from Princeton and a knack for languages who turned spy during World War II. As catcher Moe Berg, Paul Rudd heads an impressive cast in a historical film with polished good looks and a score by Howard Shore. The film assembled all the right elements for a prestige biopic but does not quite score a hit.

The Catcher Was A Spy is available on-demand from IFC starting Friday, June 22, and in theaters in New York and Los Angeles.

Part biopic and part WWII spy thriller, The Catcher Was A Spy focuses on a particular part of Moe Berg’s life.

On paper, this should have been a home run. Adapted from Nicholas Dawidoff’s historical biography of the same name, “The Catcher Was a Spy” is a stiff and serene biopic about a man named Moe Berg, an enigmatic Jew who capped off his middling career with the Boston Red Sox by traveling to Nazi Germany under secret government orders to determine if Hitler was building an atomic bomb, and to assassinate the Nobel Prize-winning scientist in charge of the project if so.

It’s a hell of a war story, combining the foreign intrigue of “The Third Man” with the high-wire suspense of “Where Eagles Dare” (with a touch of homoerotic tension drizzled on top for good measure). Throw in an all-star cast that surrounds Paul Rudd’s lead performance with pinch-hitters like (take a deep breath) Paul Giamatti, Mark Strong, Tom Wilkinson, Hiroyuki Sanada, Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce,...

It’s easy to imagine scrappy filmmakers rummaging through the anecdotes of history, searching for amazing-but-true stories to transform into hit movies (or at least some Oscar bait). But it’s not enough merely to find a fascinating nugget of trivia; you also have to turn it into a good film. And therein lies the tragedy of “The Catcher Was a Spy.”

“Catcher” stars Paul Rudd as real-life pro baseball player Moe Berg, whose sporting career was perhaps overshadowed by his bizarre overqualifications: He graduated Princeton, Magna Cum Laude, and was fluent in multiple languages. He made regular guest appearances on highfalutin trivia shows. And to top it all off, he was a spy for the U.S. government during World War II.

It’s the sort of character description that would be wildly implausible if it wasn’t, you know, totally true. Berg’s life is a natural for the movies,...

In a way, The Catcher Was A Spy is the perfect star vehicle for Paul Rudd, who built his career on playing (and parodying) the kind of smarmy guy who can convince anyone of anything with a flash of his perfect teeth. That’s also one of the key assets pro baseball player-turned-secret agent Moe Berg (Rudd) brought to…

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Based on the biographical book of the same name, The Catcher Was A Spy tells the story of Major League Baseball veteran Moe Berg who joined the Office Of Strategic Services as a spy in the World War II. At the premiere of the film, we spoke with director Ben Lewin about his interest in the project and his love of…

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