News

Exclusive: Gal Gadot has been set to star in The Runner, a London-set action thriller that will be directed by Kevin Macdonald. Amazon MGM Studios has acquired worldwide rights to the film which was developed and will be produced by David Kosse under the veteran exec’s new venture, Rockwood Pictures.

Prolific award-winning filmmaker Macdonald is directing from a script by Mark Gibson.

Gadot plays a high-powered attorney who must race through London, following the cryptic commands of a mysterious Caller, as she fights against time to save her abducted son.

Wonder Woman star Gadot’s recent credits include Netflix’s Red Notice and Heart of Stone. She will next be seen starring as the Evil Queen in Disney’s live-action Snow White which is due for domestic release...

Exclusive: Marginal Mediaworks CEO and founder Sanjay Sharma is collaborating with Attic Light Films’ Milan Chakraborty (executive producer of the comedy Plus One) to produce the coming-of-age romantic comedy Rearranged from screenwriter Zarna Garg.

Garg’s screenplay for Rearranged was an Academy Nicholl Semi-Finalist and won the Best Comedy Prize at the Austin Film Festival, where she landed a first-look deal with AT&T’s Rooster Teeth. The script was optioned under a competitive process.

Rearranged follows a tenacious teen girl who was raised in the patriarchy of wealthy India in the 90s. She defies an arranged marriage and leaves her family and its fortunes behind, in pursuit of a life and love of her own in America. The script is loosely based on the real life of Garg, an immigrant who moved to America rather than be forced into an arranged marriage by her strict, self-made industrialist father in India.

Lisa Kudrow has been cast in Lee Daniels and Whitney Cummings’ comedy pilot “Good People” from Amazon Studios.

Per Amazon, the half-hour comedy revolves around three generations of women working in the Ombudsman’s office of a college and navigating “the current cultural climate, the concept of feminism across different generations, and the struggle to reconcile socially constructed ideas with current ethical views regarding complex issues such as sex, race, class and gender.”

Kudrow will play Lynn Steele, “The University Ombudsman, a tired, mercurial force of nature who finds herself being seen as out of touch by millennials, even though she has been a champion of women her entire career.”

The “Friends” star will executive-produce along with Cummings and Daniels, who will also write. Cummings will direct the pilot. “Good People” is produced by Amazon Studios and Fox 21 Television Studios.

Cummings is set to star in the pilot.

This...

If the Cannes Market’s Doc Corner, a hub for feature documentary filmmakers and executives, feels more crowded this year, it may have to do with the strong theatrical performance of features docs such as “Free Solo” and “Amazing Grace,” and the slew of U.S. and international titles acquired or admired at Sundance, SXSW (“For Sama”) and Tribeca (“The Apollo”). The combination of the box office and quality product is stoking a competitive marketplace not just in acquisitions but, increasingly, in pre-production involvement.

“With a clear acceleration this decade, feature docs have imposed themselves as a major, indispensable part of the film industry, generating business and revenues, and enabling a strong ecosystem to structure itself, with specialized festivals playing a major role,” says Pierre-Alexis Chevit, project manager of Doc Corner and its conference-style Doc Day on May 21.

Chevit says one of the major talking points in the sector is “inclusion and diversity,...

Exclusive: Taissa Farmiga (The Mule), Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul), Luke Kirby (The Deuce) and Ike Barinholtz (The Oath) are set to star in an upcoming episode of CBS All Access’ reboot, The Twilight Zone, that will also feature Percy Hynes-White. They join previously announced host and narrator Jordan Peele, as well as John Cho, Greg Kinnear, Sanaa Lathan, Kumail Nanjiani, Adam Scott, Alison Tolman, Jacob Tremblay, Jessica Williams, DeWanda Wise and Steven Yeun.

Character details are not being revealed.

The CBS All Access series will be a modern reimagining of the original, which premiered in 1959 and continued through 1964.

CBS announced in 2017 that it would revive The Twilight Zone for streaming service CBS All Access with Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films.

The Twilight Zone is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films. Jordan...

“A Star Is Born,” “Black Panther” and “Mary Poppins Returns” are among the films that have received multiple nominations from the Guild of Music Supervisors, which announces the nominees for its 9th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards on Thursday.

All three of those films were nominated in the Best Music Supervision for a Film Budgeted Over $25 Million category, alongside “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Peter Rabbit.” They were also nominated for individual songs: “A Star Is Born” for Lady Gaga’s “Shallow,” “Black Panther” for Kendrick Lamar’s “All the Stars” and “Mary Poppins Returns” for Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s “Trip a Little Light Fantastic.”

The other nominated songs are Dolly Parton’s “Girl in the Movies,” from “Dumplin’,” and Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower” from “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” the only song nominated by the Gms that is not on the Academy’s short list of...

Last year, the Academy documentary branch had to grapple with a record 170 documentary feature submissions for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. This year, it wasn’t not so bad: only 166 were entered. The short list of 15 was announced December 17, along with eight others for the first time on a single date this year.

All year, branch members have been getting lists of secure online screeners available to watch on the Academy website, increasing in volume. It’s a burden to watch them all, so the ones with the most attention move to the top of the much-watch list. The early advantage went to early box office hits that were made available in the summer such as “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (Focus Features), “Rbg” (CNN/Magnolia), and “Three Identical Strangers” (CNN/Neon), as well as August/September openers including critically hailed “Dark Money” (PBS), “Crime + Punishment” and “Minding the Gap...

Last year, the Academy documentary branch had to grapple with a record 170 documentary feature submissions for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. This year, it wasn’t not so bad: only 166 were entered. The short list of 15 was announced December 17, along with eight others for the first time on a single date this year.

All year, branch members have been getting lists of secure online screeners available to watch on the Academy website, increasing in volume. It’s a burden to watch them all, so the ones with the most attention move to the top of the much-watch list. The early advantage went to early box office hits that were made available in the summer such as “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (Focus Features), “Rbg” (CNN/Magnolia), and “Three Identical Strangers” (CNN/Neon), as well as September openers including critically hailed “Dark Money” (PBS), “Crime + Punishment (“Hulu”), and another...

Nothing takes you back to time and a place like the music of a particular era. That’s one big reason why music documentaries are flourishing at a time of enormous demand for high-end docu productions.

This year’s five Grammy Award nominees for best music film reflect the appetite for stories about renowned and beloved musical figures, from Whitney Houston to Itzhak Perlman to Elvis Presley to Quincy Jones. Music docus have a natural commercial appeal and a built-in core target audience, which provides a foundation for marketing efforts to spur word-of-mouth about a title.

“What’s beautiful about doing a music documentary is that it immediately transcends the borders of the docu-loving audience and the community of an artist’s fans,” said Vinnie Malhotra, Showtime’s head of documentary programming. “They’re emotional. There’s a nostalgia factor to them. At their best they give you new perspective...

“Dark Money,” “Free Solo,” “Minding the Gap,” “The Silence of Others” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” have been nominated for the top film award at the International Documentary Association’s 2018 Ida Documentary Awards, the Ida announced on Wednesday.

Those five films will be joined in the feature category by another five: “Crime + Punishment,” “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” “Of Fathers and Sons,” “Sky and Ground” and “United Skates.”

The 10 Ida Documentary Awards feature nominees is the largest number ever nominated in the category, which has typically consisted of five films. Half of the films were directed by women.

Also Read: 'Free Solo' Leads Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations

Missing from the list are a few of the most successful docs of the year, including “Rbg,” “Three Identical Strangers” and “Fahrenheit 11/9.”

In the television categories, nominees include “American Masters,” “Pov” and “Independent Lens” in Curated Series,...

Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has revealed its seventh annual 15-film Short List of likely awards contenders along with its opening-night selection, Telluride and Toronto favorite “The Biggest Little Farm”, cinematographer John Chester’s poignant environmental portrait of life on a new California farm. The festival runs November 8 – 15.

Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film festival, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including three from Netflix, three from his own Tiff selection and two from HBO.

Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past five years, the Short List has had nine to 10 titles overlap, and four to five titles that were Oscar nominated.

Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has revealed its seventh annual 15-film Short List of likely awards contenders along with its opening-night selection, Telluride and Toronto favorite “The Biggest Little Farm”, cinematographer John Chester’s poignant environmental portrait of life on a new California farm. The festival runs November 8 – 15.

Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film festival, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including three from Netflix, three from his own Tiff selection and two from HBO.

Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past five years, the Short List has had nine to 10 titles overlap, and four to five titles that were Oscar nominated.

Discovery has greenlit “Cajun Navy,” a feature-length documentary that will focus on civilians who risk their lives to help people survive devastating storms, Variety has learned exclusively.

Formed in 2005 in response to Hurricane Katrina, the Cajun Navy is a group of men and women who, when everyone else flees deadly storms and floodwaters, run towards it to try and save people left behind. Members include fishermen, lawyers, pastors, and housewives.

“These are stories of neighbors helping neighbors, of people relying on each other, of communities overcoming devastating obstacles together,” says Nancy Daniels, chief brand officer for Discovery. “We are really excited to shine a light on the Cajun Navy’s inspiring work for our audience.”

Lightbox is producing the docu, which is currently in production and will air on Discovery in 2019. The multi-platform media company was founded in 2014 by two-time Academy Award-winning producer Simon Chinn and his cousin, Emmy-winning producer...

Revamped and reopened venue has a bistro and two screens with 4k projection as well as 35mm facilities.

Two distributors have banded together to rescue and reinvent a classic cinema in Stockholm: Bio Capitol at Sankt Eriksgatan 82, in the Vasastan neighborhood.

NonStop Entertainment and Njutafilms have formed Kinematografen St Erik Ab, an independent company that runs the cinema and bistro. NonStop is the majority shareholder in the company and its CEO Jakob Abrahamsson is also the CEO of Kinematografen St Erik.

The Capitol opened 1926 during the silent film era, was remodeled to 70mm in the 1950s, was turned into Sweden...

So far this summer, the indie box office has been defined by documentaries. But now scripted films are finally making their mark as A24’s “Eighth Grade” sets a new record for the best per screen average of 2018, while Annapurna’s “Sorry to Bother You” begins its wide run.

Selling out screenings at its four locations in Los Angeles and New York, “Eighth Grade” has gotten off to a huge start with $252,284, earning a per screen average (PSA) of just over $63,000. That beats out Fox Searchlight’s “Isle of Dogs” for the top PSA of the year, as the Wes Anderson stop-motion film earned a $60,000 average back in March.

Also Read: 'Hotel Transylvania 3' Spooks Up $44 Million Opening at Box Office

Directed by YouTuber Bo Burnham in his feature film debut, “Eighth Grade” follows an awkward 13-year-old named Kayla (Elsie Fisher) as she navigates the final days of what has...

“Black-ish” with an upper-case B is an African-American sitcom loved by both black and white viewers. But “black-ish” with a lower-case b doesn’t always fly with African-Americans when it comes to their tunes.

In both forms, the word refers to a lack of black cred, whether it’s for talking too white, acting too white, or being too white, accusations Drake haters have hurled at the rapper since he hit the hip hop scene. Some in the African-American community criticize him for making music that’s as much pop as hip hop and promoting a soft image. In other words, he’s not “black” enough.

Still, Drake is arguably the most successful rap star of the past five years. On June 29, his fifth studio album “Scorpion” set a Spotify record for the highest number of global streams in a single day. Over the course of the sprawling 25-track double album,...

High school may suck, but with his feature writing/directing debut “Eighth Grade,” comedian Bo Burnham wants to remind us that middle school is no piece of cake either — especially in the social media era. His movie is a sincere, painful, occasionally funny and beautifully nonjudgmental status report told from the vantage point of a shy, awkward teenager, exquisitely worried into being by a brilliant Elsie Fisher. Neither dependent on laughs nor addicted to humiliation, this ripped-from-a-diary gem finds a sweet spot where both authenticity and exaggeration wrestle for the chance to break your heart.

Also Read: 'Whitney' Film Review: Whitney Houston's Rise and Fall Captured in Somber, Exhaustive Portrait

The main reason Kayla Day (Fisher) stands out as a teen heroine is because, unlike the put-upon adolescents of John Hughes’ oeuvre and the post-“Mean Girls” century, she isn’t armed with barbed one-liners and Hollywoodized nerd-cutes.

The last time a Gus Van Sant movie premiered at a major film festival, the film was “The Sea of Trees” and the festival was Cannes, where the movie was booed unmercifully at its first screening.

So it’s with a degree of relief that we can report that Van Sant’s new film, “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,” was met with nothing but applause when it premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.

And to be sure, “Don’t Worry” is a far better movie than the inert “Sea of Trees.” Originally in the works not long after Van Sant made “Good Will Hunting” in 1997, the film stars Joaquin Phoenix as John Callahan, the Portland cartoonist who began his career after an auto accident rendered him a quadriplegic at the age of 21.

Also Read: 'Skyscraper' Film Review: Dwayne Johnson Checks...

More than a decade ago, documentaries about 9/11, migrating penguins and global warming captivated summer moviegoers. Then, a long drought set in and the genre faced box-office extinction.

That is, until now.

Docs have become the unexpected heroes of the 2018 summer season, beginning with the May release of Rbg — an ode to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — and continuing with separate films about the late Fred Rogers, Pope Francis and, in the latest offering, Whitney Houston.

Over the July 6-8 weekend, filmmaker Kevin Macdonald's Whitney, which looks at the turbulent life and tragic death of the ...

“Sorry to Bother You” gives Annapurna its first box office victory since the launch of its distribution wing, opening this weekend on 16 screens in seven markets and making an estimated $717,302 for a per screen average of 44,831.

Written and directed by Boots Riley, songwriter for left-wing hip-hop group The Coup, “Sorry to Bother You” premiered at Sundance and blew away festival attendees with its fiercely original and darkly satirical tale of a black telemarketer who uses his “white voice” to climb the corporate ladder.

Also Read: Can 'Whitney' Continue White-Hot Summer Documentary Trend at Box Office?

Starring Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson and Armie Hammer, “Sorry to Bother You” has earned critical acclaim with a 96 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. It opens wide next weekend.

Elsewhere, the summer documentary boom continues as Focus Features’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” stays in the top 10 for yet another week after expanding to 893 screens. Making $2.59 million this weekend,...

“Sorry to Bother You” posted strong initial numbers in its seven-city debut, making it another Sundance 2018 premiere to find success this year. Like “Whitney,” it’s a mid-summer specialized release that doesn’t aim for the older audience.

Second weekends for “Three Identical Strangers” and “Leave No Trace” proved their strong limited openings were no fluke. “Three Identical Strangers” is showing initial signs of crossover success, joining documentaries “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” and “Rbg.” As for “Leave No Trace,” it could beat the market’s resistance to serious dramas.

Opening

Sorry to Bother You (Annapurna) – Metacritic: 79; Festivals include: Sundance, South by Southwest 2018

$717,302 in 16 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $44,831

Comparisons for Boots Riley’s breakout debut range from “Get Out” to “Brazil”with its genre-bending story of an Oakland telemarketer who finds himself in an alternative world. Reviews continue to be high-end (though not quite at the level...

“Ant-Man and the Wasp” squashed the competition at the domestic box office.

The Marvel sequel — starring Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly — opened with $76 million from 4,206 North American locations. That start is significantly ahead of the original “Ant-Man,” which debuted with $57 million in 2015.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp” easily topped the weekend, as fellow box office newcomer “The First Purge” scared up $17 million from 3,031 theaters. Meanwhile, “Incredibles 2” narrowly stole the No. 2 spot from “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” The blockbusters earned $29 million and $28.6 million respectively this weekend.

Overseas, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” collected $85 million, taking the worldwide opening to $161 million. Across 20 movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought in $17 billion globally. All 20 films have opened No. 1 at the box office.

Praise seems to be strong for Peyton Reed’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” which holds a promising 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. The acclaimed first film came in slightly lower with an 82% Rotten Tomatoes average.

Disney-Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is on its way to an estimated $83.7 million opening weekend from 4,206 North American locations.

The 20th Marvel film, starring Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, totaled an estimated $33.8 million Friday, including $11.5 million in Thursday previews. It’s tracking in line with Disney’s earlier projections in the $70 million to $85 million range.

The fourth weekend of Disney-Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” will battle it out for the second place slot with the sophomore frame of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” which are each pegged for around $30 million.

The original “Ant-Man” opened to $57 million two years ago, and went on to earn $519 million worldwide. If estimates hold, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” will be the seventh-highest domestic debut of the year, behind “Solo: A Star Wars Story’s” $84.4 million.

Rudd and Lilly reprise their roles as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Hope van Dyne/The Wasp, respectively — superheroes...

There was something uniquely American about Whitney Houston’s career. Through her non-threatening music and pristine persona, she occupied a place in the country’s consciousness few other black figures had reached before her.

The white mainstream was eager to embrace her, while African Americans concurrently doubted her understanding of their struggles. Yet she often acted as a bridge between the two, as was beautifully exemplified in her emblematic rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 1991 Super Bowl.

Such is one of many conflicting notions that plagued her unparalleled rise to stardom, her troubled private life, and ultimately her untimely death on Feb. 11, 2012. Serving as both a tribute to her privileged voice — for which she’s been dubbed the “best American singer in the last 50 years” — and a thorough examination of the many intimate battles she fought as a result of overwhelming fame and substance abuse, Kevin Macdonald’s documentary...

There have been a lot of assessments of 2018’s movie quality over the past several weeks, including several at this site, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop now. With so many first-rate movies already released this year, it’s almost too easy to forget about many of the highlights from the first half of the year once the fall season takes charge. That’s especially true this year, when so many major titles are just around the corner. This holiday week episode of Screen Talk is an attempt to set things right, as Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson share their top movies of the year so far (and of course don’t quite see eye to eye on everything). They also debate new releases “Sorry to Bother You” and “Whitney,” survey the landscape of movies in theaters now, and offer a few recommendations from streaming platforms. As a bonus,...

Not many documentaries get released on 450 screens right out of the gate, but Roadside Attractions/Miramax’s “Whitney” will do so in hopes of capitalizing on the passionate fanbase of its subject, music legend Whitney Houston.

There are no projections for the Kevin Macdonald doc, but a reasonable comparison would be “Amy,” another documentary about a recently-deceased musician, which made $1.8 million in its first wide release on 341 screens.

While the second quarter of 2018 set an industry record thanks to franchise staples like “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Incredibles 2,” the box office riches have also trickled down to arthouses thanks to a trio of acclaimed documentaries. First was Magnolia’s “Rbg,” a look into the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that opened a week after “Avengers” and has made $11.5 million.

Also Read: 'Rbg' Film Review: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Life Makes for a Snappy But Surface-Level Documentary...

In the midst of what is currently on pace to be a record-breaking year at the box office, Disney, the studio leading the charge, offers up Ant-Man and the Wasp, the 20th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and expectations are climbing. At the same time, Universal debuted The First Purge, the fourth installment in the popular Purge franchise on Wednesday, looking to continue a string of successful releases in that franchise. The same weekend last year saw the top twelve deliver just over $200 million and, based on our expectations, we're looking at a weekend at or just below that number as 2018 continues its strong performance. Currently at the top of the box office world is Disney, accounting for over 36% of the overall domestic box office in 2018 on the back of just five films. Two of those five films are the latest entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe * Black Panther...

In today’s film news roundup, “Whitney” filmmaker Kevin Macdonald is partnering with Docsville, “Marfa Girl 2” is getting distribution, and a Dave Gurney mystery series is heading into development.

Partnerships

Documentary streaming service Docsville has signed a partnership with “Whitney” filmmaker Kevin Macdonald, Variety has learned exclusively.

Macdonald’s credits include “Touching the Void,” “One Day in September,” “The Last King of Scotland,” the thriller “State of Play,” “How I Live Now,” and the upcoming Whitney Houston documentary “Whitney,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

He won an Academy Award for best documentary in 2000 for “One Day in September,” working with Docsville co-founder Nick Fraser on the film.

“It’s been a joy to work with Kevin over many years, from our collaboration on ‘One Day in September’ up until our most recent efforts with Docsville,” Fraser said. “Having such a talented director on board will surely...

After looking at the first half of 2018 and highlighting the best films of the year so far, it’s time to enter the back half of the year. July brings our most-anticipated blockbuster of the entire year, more festival favorites, a few essential documentaries, and a handful of curiosities.

Matinees: Fireworks (7/4), The First Purge (7/4), White Fang (7/6), The Night Eats the World (7/13), Whitney (7/6), McQueen (7/20), Generation Wealth (7/20), Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (7/27), Hot Summer Nights (7/27)

15. Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot (Gus Van Sant; July 13)

Synopsis: On the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.

Trailer

Why You Should See It: If you’ve read my review from Sundance, you’ll know I was mixed on Gus Van Sant’s rather shapeless biopic,...

Netflix may have been shut out of Cannes, but one of its original films, Matt Palmer’s “Calibre,” has won the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film at the 72nd edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Palmer’s debut feature follows a pair of friends on a hunting trip in the Scottish Highlands and the consequences of a tragic accident. It had its world premiere at the Eiff. The Edinburgh jury said the film “unanimously made the biggest impact on us,” adding: “Beautifully shot, technically accomplished, with a fantastic ensemble performance, director and screenwriter Matt Palmer pitches the tension and emotional journey flawlessly.”

Palmer said: “We’ve been completely thrilled by the amazing response from Edinburgh International Film Festival audiences and had a fantastic experience at the festival, which has been the perfect lead-up to ‘Calibre’s’ global release on Netflix today.”

The movie is produced by...

Joe Patrick is exiting Miramax, Variety has learned. The head of global television and digital sales had been at the indie label for eight years. He is pursuing other opportunities.

Bob Osher, Miramax’s chief operating officer and general counsel, will oversee domestic operations while London-based executives Alexandra Aldred and James Durie will continue leading the European distribution team. Bernardo Ribeiro is heading up the Latin America office and Ronda Elbanna is anchoring the Australian office.

“Joe has been a loyal member of Miramax’s team over the last 8 years and we wish him well in his next venture,” says Miramax CEO, Bill Block.

At Miramax, Patrick was involved in the sales and licensing of the Miramax library. Before joining the studio, Patrick was executive vice president at MGM Worldwide Television Group. He also was vice president at MGM Domestic Television and vice president of MGM Television Europe.

Miramax’s...

As part of its celebration of the best of independent moviemaking from around the world, including from the U.S., this year’s Munich Film Festival will include works highlighting some of today’s defining issues: the MeToo debate, racism, the increasingly troubling nature of social media and the impact of ever-growing surveillance.

The festival, which runs June 28 to July 7, opens with Joachim A. Lang’s “Mackie Messer — Brechts Dreigroschenfilm,” a fictional tale inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s 1928 play “The Threepenny Opera,” and Kurt Weill’s song “The Ballad of Mack the Knife,” in which the famed playwright seeks to adapt his work to film without blunting its political edge.

For festival director Diana Iljine, the film is particularly timely: “Just like the famous first words of ‘Mack the Knife’ — ‘And the shark, he has teeth’ — one might say: This film, it has teeth. At a pivotal moment in recent history,...

When you think of police procedurals on TV, you don’t always think “Emmy.” But that could all change this year thanks to Angela Bassett‘s performance as police officer Athena Grant on Fox’s “9-1-1.” The veteran actress received her fourth career Emmy nomination last year for her guest turn on “Master of None” after previously competing for “The Rosa Parks Story” (2002), “American Horror Story: Coven” (2014) and “American Horror Story: Freak Show” (2015). Will this Emmy favorite now earn a Best Drama Actress bid for playing Athena on Ryan Murphy‘s new series?

See‘Versace,’ ‘Ahs: Cult’ and ‘9-1-1’ composer Mac Quayle explains how he scores so many shows at once [Exclusive Video Interview]

Unlike most procedurals that stick close to their case-of-the-week formulas, “9-1-1” also delves into the home lives of its police officers, firefighters and phone operators. Thus, Emmy voters get to see two sides of Athena:...

Three of last year’s biggest global hits — “Wonder Woman,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and “Beauty and the Beast” — demonstrated the biz potential of tentpole movies with strong female leads. CineEurope, the upcoming gathering of the European movie theater sector, will debate ways to keep engaging the female audience at the box office this summer and beyond.

Women want female characters in films who are more than just “eye candy,” says Laura Houlgatte, CEO of Unic, a body that represents exhibition companies in Europe. The success of films like “Wonder Woman” sent a signal to the biz that films with strong female protagonists “can increase your returns,” she says, and that such movies are not just for women, but men, too.

Eric Meyniel concurs. “When you hook the female audience, you also hook the male audience, too, because they come with their [male] friends, husbands or boyfriends,” says Meyniel, international content director at exhibitor Kinepolis,...

Our morbid fascination with rise and fall narratives is entrenched in the culture and all-too-common tragic stories about stardom and pop figures practically beg for cross-examined relitigation. The sad tale of pop R&B icon Whitney Houston is no different and the cultural mourning is still being processed through film and TV. Houston’s story has already yielded 2015’s TV movie “Whitney” and one documentary, “Whitney: Can I Be Me,” made all of just one year ago.

Welcome to Trailer Binge, a recurring feature where we get a chance to catch up on some of the recent trailer releases in the past week. Whether it be indie releases, or recent movie and TV trailers that may have otherwise slipped through the cracks, Trailer Binge allows us to catch up on the seemingly constant onslaught of new new content being released each week.

In this edition of Trailer Binge, we take a look at trailers for the new John Cho sundance hit ‘Searching‘, a teaser trailer for Gaspar Noé‘s latest film ‘Climax’, and a trailer for the latest Rob Reiner film ‘Shock and Awe‘. Plus, we have trailers for the new Kevin MacDonald documentary ‘Whitney‘ and a trailer for the crazy-looking ‘Axl‘. Let the binge begin!

‘Searching’ Trailer

‘Searching‘ was written and directed by Aneesh Chaganty. The film Stars John Cho and hits theaters on August 3, 2018.

After...

We now know what Cate Blanchett’s jury thought of the films that screened at this year’s Cannes Film Festival: “a very strong year,” she said at the jury’s festival-ending press conference. And we know what buyers thought of the festival lineup: not bad, judging by the deals.

But what will Oscar voters think?

That’s always a tricky question, because the connection between the world’s most prestigious film festival and the world’s most celebrated film award can fluctuate wildly. In 2011, for example, three of the films that screened at the festival — “The Artist,” “The Tree of Life” and “Midnight in Paris” — landed Best Picture nominations, with “The Artist” winning.

But the success rate hasn’t approached that since then, although 2016 had an impressive across-the-board showing: One Best Picture nominee (“Hell of High Water”), the Best Foreign Language Film winner (“The Salesman”), six other nominees in the Best Actress,...

Indie distributor The Orchard said on Friday that it’s nabbed U.S. distribution rights for award-winning documentary “The Dawn Wall.”

The film, which took home the audience award at South By Southwest, presents an inside look at the historic 3,000 foot climb in Yosemite National Park attempted by American rock climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson in January 2015.

“The Dawn Wall” was directed by Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer, and produced by Red Bull Media House in association with Sender Films.

The Orchard is planning a theatrical release for this fall.

Also Read: Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Common's 'All About Nina' Plucked by The Orchard

“After seven years of filming and another three years of post-production, we are proud that ‘The Dawn Wall’ finally releases in theaters,” Lowell said in a statement. “Tommy took us on this wild climbing adventure with his partner Kevin, and their motivation...

Whitney Cummings will not be returning as co-showrunner of “Roseanne,” Variety has confirmed.

Cummings’ co-showrunner Bruce Helford broke the news during a conference call with reporters on Friday morning, saying Cummings would not be back for the show’s second revival season and its eleventh overall.

The show scored an early renewal back in March. Cummings was an executive producer on the first revival season along with series stars Roseanne Barr and Sarah Gilbert as well as Tom Werner, Helford, and Tony Hernandez.

“Roseanne” is poised to finish the 2017-18 broadcast season as television’s highest rated program in the 18-49 demo, where it is averaging a 3.6 rating, acording to Nielsen live-plus-same numbers. The series was heavily touted at ABC’s upfront presentation to advertisers Tuesday at Lincoln Center in New York, where Barr introduced Disney ABC Television Group chairman Ben Sherwood.

Cummings is a veteran standup comic who co-created...

Nadine Labaki’s “Capharnaüm” had been generating whispers and speculation since before this year’s Cannes Film Festival even began, but in recent days that buzz built towards fever pitch. There was talk of bidding wars and rapturous market screenings, of all kinds of gold-plated awards in the film’s near and distant future.

Sufficient to say, journalists and festivalgoers entered the Thursday night premiere with one weighty set of expectations.

And now that the dust has cleared, now that the gala audience has finally stopped whooping and applauding after their 15-minute standing ovation, we can say it for certain: Everything hinted was true and everything Sony Pictures Classics paid was worth it.

The time for whispers is over — now, you’re going to be hearing about this film an awful lot.

Also Read: 'Whitney' Cannes Review: Beyond the Bombshells Is a Straightforward Music Documentary

“Capharnaüm” – which takes...

The life of singer Whitney Houston is one that is made for the movies. Drama, tragedy, and triumph all collide in the life of the troubled and accomplished singer. Six years after her untimely death, Whitney Houston’s story is coming to the screen in the documentary feature “Whitney.”

As seen in the new trailer for the doc, “Whitney” gives an unprecedented look behind the curtain at one of music’s most celebrated divas.

The documentary “Whitney,” which premiered Wednesday at the Cannes film festival, includes an accusation that Whitney Houston was molested as a child by her cousin, gospel singer Dee Dee Warwick.

Warwick, sister of Dionne Warwick, died in 2008 and was never publicly accused of sexual abuse. But in the film, Houston’s former assistant, Mary Jones, says on-camera that Houston told her Dee Dee Warwick abused her.

“She used to say, ‘I wonder if I did something to make her think I wanted her,'” said Jones. “I said, ‘Stop. A predator is a predator.'”

Also Read: Whitney Houston Doc Serves Up Bombshells, Paula Abdul Shade in First Trailer (Video)

Dee Dee Warwick was 18 years older than Houston.

Vulture said Jones believed the molestation deeply affected Houston, causing her to “question her sexual preference.”

Director Kevin Macdonald said in an interview with Vanity Fair that the accusation first came to...

“Whitney” is the second documentary about the life and death of Whitney Houston to come along in a year, and it’s also the second one that’s entrancingly well-done. Here’s the thing about Whitney Houston: She was so incandescent that if you sat through nine documentaries about her, you’d probably experience, each time, what I did during the early scenes of “Whitney” — the hope that somehow, this time, the beautiful enraptured young singer in front of you will find a way to defeat her demons, that they won’t drag her down, that the story will turn out different.

Because surely, it’s one of the most tragic — and, its way, inexplicable — downfalls in the history of American show business. Cocaine addiction, of course, is an insidious monster, but Houston, even after rehab, kept returning to it, as if she wanted to destroy herself. To see her life story is always,...

Whitney Houston broke more music industry records than any other female singer in history. With over 200 million album sales worldwide, she was the only artist to chart seven consecutive U.S. No. 1 singles. She also starred in several blockbuster movies before her brilliant career gave way to erratic behavior, scandals and death at age 48.

Roadside Attractions has released the latest video clip from Whitney.

The documentary feature Whitney is an intimate, unflinching portrait of Houston and her family that probes beyond familiar tabloid headlines and sheds new light on the spellbinding trajectory of Houston’s life.

Using never-before-seen archival footage, exclusive demo recordings, rare performances, audio archives and original interviews with the people who knew her best, Oscar®-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald unravels the mystery behind “The Voice,” who thrilled millions even as she struggled to make peace with her own troubled past.

Miramax and Roadside Attractions will release Whitney...

Oscar-winning Simon Chinn producing project; Altitude takes sales.

Dan Lindsay and Tj Martin, the Oscar-winning directing duo behind Undefeated, will direct Tina Turner, a feature documentary portrait of the Us singer.

Simon Chinn, the double Oscar winning producer of Man On Wire and Searching For Sugarman is producing with Jonathan Chinn through their banner Lightbox. Altitude is handling international sales and has also taken UK and Ireland distribution rights, The company also has Lightbox’s documentary Whitney, which is set to premiere in Cannes.

Erwin Bach, record producer and Tina Turner’s husband, will executive produce alongside Tali Pelman of Stage Entertainment,...

Tina Turner’s tumultuous rock ‘n’ roll life will be told in feature-documentary form for the first time, with buyers being introduced to the project at the Cannes market.

“Tina Turner” (working title) hails from Dan Lindsay and Tj Martin, the filmmakers behind the Emmy Award-winning “La 92” and Academy Award-winning “Undefeated.” They are reuniting with Simon Chinn (“Man on Wire”) and Jonathan Chinn (“La 92”) at Lightbox.

Erwin Bach, record producer and Tina Turner’s husband, will executive produce alongside Tali Pelman of Stage Entertainment, which launched “Tina Turner the Musical” in London’s West End last month. The film will feature Turner herself as well as friends and collaborators. It promises previously unseen footage of the star. Production starts later this year.

Altitude has international sales and will also distribute it in the U.K. and Ireland. Will Clarke, Andy Mayson and Mike Runagall will serve as executive producers for Altitude.

Miramax has secured a $300 million multi-bank revolving credit facility that will fund film and TV productions for the next five years, the company announced Thursday.

The loan, led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Mufg Union Bank, should provide the studio with enough financing to produce four-to-six films a year and deficit finance two-to-three TV series.

The goal of the funding is to help provide Miramax with a strategy for growth while ramping up its film and TV slate.

Also Read: Anne Heche Suggests Harvey Weinstein Fired Her From Miramax Film After She Refused Sexual Contact

Last year, Miramax tapped veteran film exec Bill Block as its new CEO after Stephen Schoch stepped down from the role.

“Bank of America Merrill Lynch is proud to support Miramax, a valued client and one of the most successful content companies in the entertainment business,” said Randy Hua, head of Bank of America’s L.A.-based tech, media and entertainment group, said in a statement. “This credit facility will allow Miramax the flexibility to continue to strategically grow their film and television capabilities with innovative and exciting content.”

The deal was secured ahead of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, which Miramax is attending.

“Union Bank is excited to support Bill’s leadership of Miramax as it endeavors to bolster its premier library assets with an ambition for a robust film and television content creation slate” Bryan Lacour, head of Union Bank’s entertainment finance team, said in a statement.

Also Read: 'We Were All Complicit': 3 Bombshells From the Harvey Weinstein 'Frontline' Special (Video)

Miramax underwent a restructuring last year where the studio laid off roughly 45 people last year across film, TV, sales and finance support staff.

At the time, Block said the cuts and reorganization were necessary to streamline the company and set it up for growth.

“We are thrilled to commence a valued partnership with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Mufg Union Bank,” Block said in a statement. “The credit facility allows Miramax to efficiently finance its current and future production slate as we shift to increase our growth.”

Also Read: Harvey Weinstein, Miramax and TWC Board Slapped With New Class-Action Harassment Suit From 6 Women

Miramax’s upcoming projects include the Johnny Depp-Forest Whitaker police drama “LAbyrinth,” which Miramax will co-finance with Open Road Films. It also has the documentary “Whitney” about late singer Whitney Houston for U.S. distribution.

Disney, which had acquired Miramax from co-founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 1993, sold the indie unit to a group of investors for $660 million in 2010. BeIN Media Group, which is owned by Qatar’s Al Jazeera, then acquired the company in 2016.

Block and Miramax EVPs of Finance Dennis Hands, Jeremy Gross and David Cragnotti negotiated the deal on behalf of the studio. Hua handled the deal on behalf of Bank of America.

Read original story Miramax Secures $300 Million Loan From Multiple Banks to Fund Film, TV Productions At TheWrap...

Harvey Weinstein will make an appearance in Cannes this month but in film form, with the first feature documentary about the disgraced mogul now aiming for a full international theatrical release and being presented at the Cannes market, Variety has learned.

“Citizen Harvey” (working title) is being made by “Man on Wire” producer Lightbox as a co-production with the BBC. The British pubcaster will air it on TV in the U.K., after it has been in cinemas. Embankment is handling sales and heading to Cannes with the film.

Weinstein is the subject of multiple police investigations in the U.K. and U.S. “Citizen Harvey” will be a deep dive into the Weinstein scandal, which has fueled the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements and had a global impact. It is in production and is a strong candidate for a festival launch.

David Gilbery (“McQueen”) and Charles Dorfman (“Shame...

"You don't know her story until you hear the truth." Roadside Attractions has debuted the very first teaser trailer for the documentary titled Whitney, an official documentary about the life and music of the late Whitney Houston. This film is premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, which is a major debut, and is the only documentary officially approved by Houston's estate. It's directed by the talented doc filmmaker Kevin Macdonald, who explains: "I approached Whitney’s life like a mystery story; why did someone with so much raw talent and beauty self-destruct so publicly and painfully? [Her estate] entrusted me with the 'keys to the vault' while giving me complete freedom to follow the story wherever it went. At [its] heart, Whitney is an intimate family story that reveals a new side to a woman that even her most die-hard fans never knew." This is only the first teaser so it doesn't have a ton of footage,...

Six years after the untimely death of Whitney Houston at age 48, her family is ready to commemorate her life with a new documentary. They granted Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald access to a treasure trove including “previously unreleased recordings, rare never-before-seen footage and live performances recorded by Houston at various stages her life, as well as original studio recordings and a capellas of some of the late singer’s greatest hits.”

Macdonald has crafted all of this raw material into a new film, “Whitney,” which will hit theaters on July 6. In anticipation of that release, a teaser trailer has just hit the airwaves. (Watch the video above) Among those featured in the film are Houston’s husband Bobby Brown, her mentor and record label boss Clive Davis and her co-star in “The Bodyguard” Kevin Costner.

Macdonald won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2000 for “One Day in September,” a...