Disney is planning a theatrical rerelease of “Avengers: Endgame,” the second-highest-grossing film of all time, on Sept. 25.

The special rerun is sandwiched between the next installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which debuts on July 31, and the latest superhero teamp-up movie, “Avengers: Doomsday,” which follows on Dec. 18.

“Endgame” directors Joe and Anthony Russo are directing “Doomsday,” which will also see Robert Downey Jr.’s return to Marvel movies. Instead of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, Downey Jr. will play the iconic supervillain Doctor Doom. The Russos celebrated the “Endgame” announcement by posting a video of moviegoers’ elated reactions during the climactic moment when the full lineup of superheroes assembles for the first time.

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“You remember this feeling,” reads the text laid over the clip of the roaring crowd. “You love this feeling. So do we.”

The Russos’ production company Agbo Films...

This week’s glut of awards wins and nominations is wrapping up in double-stuffed fashion with today’s announcement of the Critics Choice Awards nominations for both film and television. This year’s pack of nominees is led by “Sinners,” “Adolescence,” “One Battle After Another,” and “Nobody Wants This.”

Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” leads the film contenders with 17 nominations, nearly matching the record of 18 that Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” achieved two years ago. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” followed closely behind “Sinners,” earning 14 nominations.

“Sinners” picked up nods for Best Picture, plus acting nods for Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, and Miles Caton. Coogler was recognized in the categories of Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, and the film also received nods for Best Casting and Ensemble, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Stunt Design,...

It’s time to return to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza because “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is back at the box office.

Universal and Blumhouse’s PG-13 horror sequel “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” has made $7.2 million in Thursday previews at the box office. It’s projected to make between $35 million and $40 million in its opening this weekend.

In comparison, the original 2023 movie, based on the popular horror video game series of the same name, had $10.3 million in previews on its way to a scary good $80 million launch. That far exceeded expectations for the film, especially considering it simultaneously launched on the Peacock streaming service. That being said, expectations for “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” are lower considering the original’s shocking success — it went down as Blumhouse’s highest grossing movie of all time with nearly $300 million globally. The sequel still has a tidy budget of $36 million, compared to the first movie’s $20 million cost,...

Netflix, run by co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, has agreed to buy Warner Bros. in a megadeal valued at $82.7 billion. Under an effort nicknamed “Project Noble,” the streaming giant’s leadership secured $59 billion in financing from a consortium of banks to assemble the deal.

Netflix says the buy would give users more choice and let it “optimize its plans,” it will also expand its studio operations, while creating better value for talent and shareholders, with $2 billion to $3 billion in annual cost savings. The deal proposal has a breakup fee of $5.8 billion, meaning that if the acquisition is scuttled in any way, Netflix still has to pay Warner Bros. Discovery those billions.

The companies revealed the acquisition early Friday, altering the course of the entertainment business. Netflix said that it expects to maintain the current operations of Warner Bros. “including theatrical releases for films,” though specifics aside from topline deal numbers remain scarce.

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Nearly 20 years ago, Adam Green created one of modern horror's true icons when he introduced the world to Victory Crowley in 2006's "Hatchet." A lean, mean, unabashedly gory showcase of bloody practical effects helped the film stand out, leading to three sequels over the course of the next decade and change.

Led by horror legend Kane Hodder as Victor Crowley, Green churned out a series of uncompromising grindhouse-y follow-ups that helped put him on the map in the slasher genre. While these movies were never anywhere near as mainstream as the "Friday the 13th" or "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" films, they...

Speaking in conversation at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong director and producer Stanley Tong (“Rumble in the Bronx”) traced the unlikely, injury-filled route that led him from stunt work to one of the most consequential collaborations in Jackie Chan’s career.

Tong began at the beginning, recalling how he first entered the film industry not behind a camera, but directly inside the action. After meeting Bruce Lee at age 11 through his brother-in-law, an actor, Tong began training in martial arts and gymnastics before becoming a stuntman in 1980. “I broke my shoulders, my ribs, my back, and my kneecap,” he said. “It’s not easy work. I had many stitches. My ankles got twisted many times on both sides.”

After a severe shoulder injury, Tong said his mother pushed him to leave stunt work altogether. “She said, ‘Stanley, get a new job,’” he recalled. Instead, he...

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

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

Ongoing

French Film Festival, UK - November 6-December 11

Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore - November 26-December 7

African Diaspora International Film Festival, US - November 28-December 14

Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival, Greece - December 3-15

Sun Valley Film Festival, US - December 3-7

Culver City Film Festival, US - December 4-12

Dances With Films: NY, US - December 4-7

Red Sea International Film Festival,...

Exclusive: Jordanian producer Alaa Alasad, at Red Sea in competition with Zain Duraie’s Sink, is preparing to shoot films next summer with Palestine’s Ameen Nayfeh and Lebanese-Canadian director Lara Zeidan.

Jo of Montreal will mark the second feature of Nayfah, who was in Giornate degli Autori at Venice in 2020 with 200 Meters and went on to win a raft of festival and critics’ awards.

His follow-up is a coming-of-age drama set against the backdrop of a village threatened by commercial development. The story follows a spoilt 12-year-old gamer who is sent to a remote village, where he becomes captivated...

Saudi film productions have enjoyed a strong year at the local box office, notching up over 14% share of cinema takings to date, according to new figures from box-office analyst Comscore.

Three Saudi features — heist caper Alzarfa: Escape From Hanhounia Hell, comedy sequel Shabab El Bomb 2 and drama Hobal — sit in the top 10 chart of all releases for the year to November 30.

Alzarfa is third with earnings of $8.2m (SAR30.6m), only behind Hollywood hits F1: The Movie on $10.4m (SAR39.1m) and Lilo & Stitch on $9.8m (SAR36.8m). Shabab El Bomb 2 ranks fourth with $7.4m (SAR27.7m). Hobal, which world...

Saudi filmmaker Shahad Ameen’s road movie “Hijra,” about the bond formed between different generations of Saudi women during a journey across the desert, delves deep into the country’s multi-cultural DNA, intending to show the country’s little known aspect “as a melting pot,” says the director.

“Hijra,” which is Saudi’s Academy Award submission and is in competition at the Red Sea Film Festival this week, is the second feature from Ameen whose feminist fable “Scales” made a splash after launching from Venice in 2019.

Shot in a vast swathe of desert and in several Saudi cities and urban areas including Jeddah, Medina, AlUla and Neom, “Hijra” is set in 2001 and revolves around a Saudi grandmother named Sitti (Khayriya Nazmi) traveling from Taif to Mecca to perform the sacred ritual of Hajj with her two granddaughters Janna (Lamar Faden) and Sarah (Raghad Bokhari).

The ambitious film, which features stunning...

Exclusive: Japanese kabuki epic Kokuho has racked up a wave of fresh sales worldwide through Pyramide International.

The film has been acquired for UK and Ireland (Vue Lumière), Australia and New Zealand (Palace Films), Spain (Filmin), Italy (Tucker Films), Brazil (Imovision), Latin America excluding Brazil (Madness), Turkey (Vagon), Israel (Lev), Greece (One From The Heart), Finland (Cinema Mondo), and ex-Yugoslavia (Fivia and McF). It adds to previous sales to Benelux (September Films) and Switzerland (Trigon).

Japan’s Aniplex, which oversees sales in Asia, has sold the film to Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei (Media Prima), Vietnam (Aeon Entertainment) and Thailand...

Exclusive: Damiano Michieletto’s period drama Primavera has scored more deals through Paradise City Sales.

The debut feature of renowned Italian opera director Michieletto has sold to Aya Pro in Japan, Svoekino in Ukraine, Follow Art in Romania and Skeye for airlines.

Set in 18th century Venice, it follows a young violin virtuoso at an orphanage whose world is turned upside down when she meets Antonio Vivaldi.

The film launched at Unifrance Rendez-Vous in January before receiving its world premiere at Toronto in September. It has its Mena premiere at Red Sea International Film Festival today (December 7).

It previously sold...

Lauded French actor Juliette Binoche, who is currently at the Red Sea Film Festival both as an honoree and to present her directorial debut “In-i in Motion,” praised Arab filmmakers Cherien Dabis (“All That’s Left of You”) and Shahad Ameen (“Hijra”) during a conversation event organized by Kering’s Women in Motion initiative. Binoche, who shared the panel with the directors, told Dabis and Ameen that, “in the Western world, we need to hear stories like yours.”

Speaking directly to Ameen following the Saudi director’s account of breaking into filmmaking during the rise of her country’s burgeoning film industry, the “Chocolat” actor said: “When a young woman from your country watches a film and wants to direct, it’s amazing. You’re so courageous. I think it’s remarkable.”

The panel, the first-ever “Kering | Women in Motion” event to take place at the Red Sea Film Festival, was...

Oscar-winning Korean actor Youn Yuh-jung opened up about her remarkable six-decade career during an In Conversation event at the Singapore International Film Festival, sharing candid insights about her unconventional start in the industry, her formative relationship with director Kim Ki-young, and the challenges she overcame to achieve international recognition.

The 78-year-old actor, recipient of the festival’s Screen Icon Award, participated in a wide-ranging discussion with local actors Rebecca Lim and Janice Koh that touched on everything from her 1971 debut film “Woman of Fire” to her recent Hollywood projects, including the Oscar-winning “Minari.”

Youn revealed that her entry into acting was entirely accidental, stemming from a failed university entrance exam in the 1960s. Needing to earn money while attending a less prestigious college, she took a part-time job at a television station, which led to an unexpected audition.

“I didn’t plan to be actress,” Youn said. “I went to the station for a tour,...

For those destined to be songwriters, the spark of inspiration strikes early in life. That was one common theme from many of the heartfelt thank-yous and reflections shared by the diverse group of musical artists honored Saturday at Variety‘s annual Hitmakers brunch in Hollywood.

Sabrina Carpenter, Variety’s Hitmaker of the Year, spoke wistfully of writing her first song at age 10. Tyler, the Creator credited his the roots of his creativity to the “crazy imagination” of his 7-year-old self. Tate McRae got going on writing songs in her bedroom at 13. Ejae, part of the powerhouse pop trio Huntr/x featured in the smash Netflix film “KPop Demon Hunters,” did the same at 10. And 89-year-old blues legend Buddy Guy recalled growing up in rural Louisiana without a steady source of clean water in his earliest years. His family devised a filtering system for rainwater. “There must’ve been something alright with that water,...

When it comes to the live-action Spider-Men, many people only know of the most recent three: Tobey Maguire in the Sam Raimi trilogy, Andrew Garfield in the Marc Webb movies, and Tom Holland in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But there was once another live-action Spider-Man, played by Nicholas Hammond in the late 1970s. This iteration of the web-slinger was part of the CBS TV series "The Amazing Spider-Man," which ran for two seasons before being canceled in spite of its decent ratings.

Although the TV show's run was largely limited to the United States, the pilot episode was repackaged and released by Columbia Pictures as a movie (simply titled "Spider-Man...

Chinese audiences pushed animation, action and historical war films to the top of 2025’s satisfaction charts, while comedies and romance all but disappeared from favor, according to new research unveiled at the 7th Hainan Island International Film Festival, China.

In a forum presentation at the festival, Sun Xianghui, president of the China Film Art Research Center, revealed that consumer satisfaction scores for those genres outdid others in the center’s 2025 survey, with films like the Nanjing massacre WWII epic “Dead to Rights”, and animation juggernaut “Ne Zha 2” leading in both satisfaction scores and box office returns.

Mirroring trends seen in Western markets, the study showed that Chinese audiences have largely abandoned comedies and romance films in 2025, with not a single romance film figuring in the top satisfaction scores of the survey.

China’s local film box office has netted $6.7 billion in the year to date, a figure significantly higher than 2024’s $5.8 billion total.

Much isn't known about Spartacus, the Thracian gladiator who led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic around 73 BC. Surviving records about his life were recorded more than a century after his death, making it doubly difficult to piece together what actually happened before and after the uprising. Whatever little we do know must be taken with a huge grain of salt, as details about Spartacus' personal life remain uncorroborated or contradictory.

But these gaps in history did not stop Steven S. DeKnight from creating "Spartacus," the salacious Starz historical drama comprising three miniseries installments and one six-episode prequel. In keeping with the show's violent subject matter, "Spartacus" is quite graphic,...

Patrick Wilson knows a thing or two about the paranormal, or at least movies concerning paranormal activity. He's an integral piece of the "Insidious" series, which dabbles in hauntings from the demonic astral plane of existence known as the Further. Wilson even made his feature directorial debut with the latest installment ("Insidious: The Red Door"). Part of what makes his role in the 2010 film so noteworthy is that it kick-started a professional relationship with director James Wan that would continue all the way through the "Aquaman" movies. In between these projects, however, Wilson teamed up with Wan to play a romanticized version of paranormal investigator Ed Warren in 2013's "The Conjuring.

Polen Ly’s “Becoming Human” has claimed the Golden Hanoman, the top prize at the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (Jaff), which closed its milestone 20th anniversary edition in Yogyakarta on Dec. 6.

“Captivating us with lyrical visual poetry and a tender meditation on memory, loss, and the fragile spaces that hold our shared stories, this film becomes a love letter to cinema itself,” the jury said in awarding the Golden Hanoman to “Becoming Human,” which debuted at Venice. The main competition jury comprised Eric Khoo, Suryana Paramita and Tumpal Tampubolon.

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s Cannes winner “A Useful Ghost” won the Silver Hanoman, with the jury praising its “audacious blend of absurd humor, emotional depth, and sharp social insight.” Antoinette Jadaone’s “Sunshine” received a special jury mention for its “poignant and unflinching commitment to standing beside women whose lives are circumscribed by state controls and societal judgment.”

In the Indonesian Screen Awards,...

30 years after its release, "X-Men: The Animated Series" remains not only the best portrayal of its titular super team, but one of the best superhero cartoons ever made and one of the all-time greatest Marvel productions, period. It perfectly captured the source material and the characters, defining them for a whole new generation. It also featured a terrific blend of faithfully adapting comics storylines and putting new spins on them, while creating standalone episodes that build an overarching story at a time when that level of serialization was still somewhat rare.

Getting the show made was no easy task. Before "X-Men: The Animated Series" proved to be a big enough...

In Tim Miller's 2016 hit "Deadpool," the title character (Ryan Reynolds) takes every available opportunity to break the fourth wall and riff on the tiredness of the superhero genre. 2016 was when superhero films were still riding high, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was in full swing. Deadpool, a determined agent of chaos, jumps right into the middle of the fray just to start urinating on everyone. Reynolds had previously played Deadpool in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," a deeply loathed picture, and he mocked his own performance.

Indeed, the bulk of the humor in "Deadpool" — when it isn't being delightfully filthy — is refreshingly self-aware. How daring that a takedown of superhero cinema...

Teen comedies were a hugely successful subgenre for Hollywood studios throughout most of the 1980s. Films like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," "Risky Business," and the myriad works of John Hughes made scads of money on modest budgets. But as with any formula-driven movie craze, people grew tired of seeing lazy variations on the same stock narratives, and, by the end of the decade, had fallen out of mainstream favor.

The target audience for these movies was tired of being pandered to, but the studios didn't know how to place an original spin on the subgenre. It turned out they just lacked the guts to address the angst of Generation X in a frank,...

The title of Luigi Celeste’s memoir, “Non sarà sempre così”— which serves as the source material for Francesco Costabile’s more bluntly-titled Italian melodrama, “Familia” — translates to: “It won’t always be like this.” It’s an elegiac promise that has the whiff of a wistful warning. And considering what we learn about Celeste’s family in book and film alike, it’s a rather apt précis for the seemingly inescapable threat that looms over this young man’s life. Told with wounding simplicity and a candid sense of assurance (much of it due to the strength of the film’s tightly wound performances), “Familia” is a portrait of a family trying to escape the violent trappings of a father intent on reshaping it in his own image.

When we first meet the Celeste family, they look like any other unit: Franco (Francesco Di Leva) and Licia (Barbara Ronchi...

For years, it's been quite clear that Elizabeth Olsen is a lot more than just the younger sister of the unbelievably famous Olsen twins Mary-Kate and Ashley — but if you've only ever seen her in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you should check her out in her 2023 miniseries "Love & Death," which is currently available on Netflix.

Even though "Love & Death" is technically an HBO Max original, HBO inked a deal to allow Netflix to stream some of its titles a while ago. That's why, for example, "Sex and the City" has been a part of Netflix's library for a minute, along with shows like "Love & Death." Okay, with all...

Matthew Lillard had his feelings hurt by Quentin Tarantino.

While speaking at GalaxyCon in Columbus, Ohio (via Entertainment Weekly), Lillard gave his reaction to the “Pulp Fiction” director saying, “I don’t care for Matthew Lillard” during a recent appearance on “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast.”

“Quentin Tarantino this week said he didn’t like me as an actor,” Lillard said to fans, provoking boos from the crowd. “Eh, whatever. Who gives a shit.”

Although Lillard was quick to dismiss the comments, he added that it did actually make him sad that Tarantino wasn’t a fan of his work.

“It hurts your feelings. It fucking sucks,” he said. “And you wouldn’t say that to Tom Cruise. You wouldn’t say that to somebody who’s a top-line actor in Hollywood.”

Lillard explained it reminded him that the love he receives while speaking to fans isn’t necessarily the...

The art of the twist ending has been shaped, cultivated, and fine-tuned into something that can be the most effective gut punch if built and used well. It's a perfect narrative tool when deployed in just the right moment for just the right reveal — and it doesn't always work out for every film that tries to use it.

That said, the "Saw" franchise doesn't really have that problem. The films are, at this point, known for their epic twist endings, and they may even have perfected the art — at least where the horror genre is concerned. All 10 movies so far have some kind of twist ending, but some pack a bigger punch than others.

Taylor Sheridan's hit Paramount Network series "Yellowstone" seems like it was tailor-made for gruff older men and the women who love them, and that's in large part because of the Western authors who inspired it. In an interview with Variety in 2022, the writer and producer revealed that he was heavily inspired by the late, great Western authors Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurty, both known for their gritty demystifications of life on the frontier. McMurty was best known for writing novels like "Terms of Endearment," which was turned into an Academy Award-winning film, and he also co-wrote the screenplay for Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain." McCarthy was a bit bleaker,...

The 41st annual IDA Documentary Awards brunch held on December 6 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club assembled the nonfiction community to celebrate the best television and film documentaries of 2025.

Dozens of global IDA jurors voted on more than 550 entries in all categories from 85 countries.

The winner of Best Feature Documentary, “The Tale of Silyan,” beat out nominees “Apocalypse in the Tropics” (Netflix), which did win two awards, for Best Writing and Best Production, “Life After” (Multitude Films), “Songs of Slow Burning Earth” (Epf Media) and “Seeds,” which also won Best Director for Brittany Shyne. The Sundance U.S. Grand Jury prize winner, among many other IDA contenders, still lacks distribution.

“The Tale of Silyan” also won Best Cinematography. Kevin Macdonald’s “One to One: John & Yoko” won Best Music Documentary.

Winning the top IDA award pushes NatGeo’s moving portrait of a failing farm community, “The Tale of Silyan,...

The “Five Nights at Freddy’s” diehard fanbase has already made the sequel, which was released Friday via Universal Pictures, a box office champ. That seems largely due to a creative team that knows the IP and caters to the fans first.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” was scripted by Scott Cawthon, who created the video game series the films are based on. Emma Tammi returns to direct the second installment, and she revealed to Variety not only how she collaborated with Cawthon to bring his world to the big screen, but also how fan feedback helps to shape the films.

“It was definitely something we took into consideration and listened to a lot,” she said. “Scott, for sure, in terms of incorporating certain things in the script, and me as well, in tonally making sure we were sticking the landing in terms of what it sounded like audiences really wanted out of a sequel.

It's strange to imagine a culture wherein a superhero movie has to justify its existence to the masses. Sure, given Marvel's post-"Avengers: Endgame" woes and the fact superhero movies are struggling internationally, such a state of affairs isn't really all that hard to envisage. Back in 1978, however, Warner Bros. had to deal with the opposite of superhero fatigue. The studio was about to unleash Richard Donner's "Superman" on a populace whose only real exposure to superheroes had been via lighthearted TV series. The generation that grew up reading comics knew there was magic in the pages of their Marvel and DC books, but in terms of pop culture,...

When composer Max Richter came to visit the “Hamnet” set the day director Chloé Zhao and team were shooting the film’s ending, he was suprised to see the emotional scene being staged to the track “This Bitter Earth,” a choral version of his famous 2003 composition “The Nature of Daylight,” which played on repeat as the large ensemble of background actors swayed to the music. Not only had the “Hamnet” composer already written a new track specifically for the end, he felt the need to point out to Zhao that “The Nature of Daylight” had been previously used in other films and TV shows.

While a guest on this week’s episode of the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, Zhao recalled brushing aside Richter’s warning, and the underlying logic behind it.

“People will say, ‘Well, don’t you want to use something original?’” said Zhao. “The word original, the root of that word,...

Erige Sehiri’s “Promised Sky” won top honors at the Marrakech Film Festival on Saturday, capping a lively year for the Moroccan event, marked by swelling audiences and deeper integration into the global awards circuit.

Heralded by Variety’s Tomris Laffly as “a unique drama about marginalized African immigrant women fighting for their dignity and place not in Europe… but on their own continent,” the film follows four generations of Ivorian immigrant women who navigate moments of support, tension and displacement. Their already complex bonds grow ever more strained in a country of entrenched social and economic divides.

“As a Tunisian woman myself, I’m deeply frustrated to see that we can’t welcome migrants with dignity, even though we’re from a country with such a wide diaspora,” Sehiri said. “We act as if we weren’t all living on the same continent, as if we weren’t all Africans.

In the first "Scream," Sidney (Neve Campbell) is asked who she thinks should play her in the inevitable movie based on her life. Sidney responds with Tori Spelling, an actress who was at the time starring in the popular show "Beverly Hills 90210." In one of the franchise's funniest gags, in "Scream 2," we find out that Hollywood not only made the movie, but they indeed cast Tori Spelling in the lead role. 

"Scream 2" even shows an interview Spelling gives to promote the movie. Not only does Spelling casually spoil the first movie's big twist, but we see a clip of her acting out a scene from it. The...

Buenos Aires — Memorable for its mass attendance of around 3,200 delegates, Ventana Sur, Latin America’s biggest film-tv market, closed its doors at the extraordinary Palacio de Libertad in central Buenos Aires on Dec. 5 underscoring both the region’s large high-energy talent and the considerable headwinds racking the international film-tv business.

10 takeaways from this year’s mart-meet.

First, the Big News: Netflix Buys Warner Bros for $82.7 billion

Though hardly a Ventana Sur deal, naturally enough, it dominated Friday’s breakfast tittle-tattle in Buenos Aires. The major take is that it will close more doors than it opens for the international independent industry. “That’s difficult to judge,” Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson told Variety. “For the independent production sector, I’d come down on the side of it not being great news. Through control of Hollywood royalty combined with the dominant global streaming service, Netflix becomes in one fell swoop a Disney on steroids…...

The title of “Fackham Hall,” an “Airplane!”-style spoof of what used to be called the Merchant Ivory or

“Masterpiece Theatre” genre (now it’s the “Downton Abbey” genre), sounds vaguely naughty, even if you can’t quite put your finger on why. That’s because the joke only comes alive when it’s pronounced with a Cockney accent, by one of the film’s lowly characters from the servant class. Then it comes out as “Fuck ’em all!” I would say that qualifies as half-funny, in addition to being pointedly juvenile and…well, half-funny is better than no funny at all. “Fackham Hall” is that kind of movie. I was primed to like it, because I’ve sat through this genre for decades, with its grand manners and well-worn “prestige” tropes, to the point that it’s become an ideal target for parody. The historical romantic costume drama is,...

In one of the multiple deals closed at Ventana Sur, Argentina’s Del Toro Films boarded Colombian horror thriller “I’ll Keep My Mouth Shut” (“No diré nada”) by Óscar Adán.

Presented at the Vs Fantastic! Lab by Colombia’s Cinematografiando, pic is the directorial feature debut of Adán who co-wrote it with María Adelaida Palacio Duque.

It follows two women who strike an unlikely alliance after a roadside kidnapping. Paula Castaño (“Dear Gentlemen”) and Ángela Rodríguez (“The Black Snake”) lead a stellar Colombian cast that includes Juan Pablo Barragán (“The Squad”), Nelson Camayo (“One Hundred Years of Solitude”) and Gerardo Calero (“1989”).

Pic is produced by Diana Contento, Andrés Tous and Mario Cubillos Peña of Cinematografiando, known for producing cultural events, documentaries and short films,

Led by Arelis Ruiz and Néstor Sánchez Sotelo, Del Toro Films’ deep experience in producing horror films is a boon for the project. It is...

Wes Craven's 1995 movie "Vampire in Brooklyn" is an odd duck indeed. The film stars Eddie Murphy as the titular vampire, a very ancient creature who may be the last of his kind. To perpetuate the vampire species, he has to locate a half-vampire-half-human woman and transform her before the next full moon. In this mythology, vampires can create ghoulish servants, but they can't transform just anyone with a bite. Luckily for Maximilian, there is a half-vampire-half-human detective in town in the form of Detective Rita Veder (Angela Bassett). 

Eddie Murphy does his usual comedic shtick in "Vampire in Brooklyn," playing several different roles throughout the film, often by shape-shifting into them.

Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the directors behind Netflix animated phenomenon “KPop Demon Hunters,” as well as the film’s main songwriter Ejae, accepted the Spark Award at IndieWire Honors 2025 ceremony on Thursday December 4, at Nya West in Hollywood. In their speeches, the three discussed their journeys to make the film, and thanked the many people responsible for bringing Huntr/x to life.

Kang spoke first, discussing how the film served as a personal journey for her and her attempts to represent her Korean identity on the big screen. She thanked the fans for supporting the movie and helping to turn it into a major phenomenon.

“Thank you IndieWire for this incredible honor,” Kang said in her speech. “This movie has been such a personal journey for me. So this means more than you know. This movie exists because I simply just wanted to see my culture, my Korean culture,...

There seem to be two types of "Alien" fans in the world. In one camp, there are people who like the slow, ineffable dread of Ridley Scott's 1979 film "Alien," and who appreciate the series as a particularly well-done, atmospheric monster movie. This camp likes to see unstoppable monsters stalking and killing human meat, merely because it is an aggressive, chaos-driven predator. In the other camp, there are people who like the blustering, high-octane action of James Cameron's 1986 sequel "Aliens." That film features overconfident marines armed with machine guns who can blast through monsters.

The "Alien" series has been torn between these two concepts ever since, with half of...

True story: Thursday night was IndieWire Honors. As Kristen Stewart was delivering her blistering acceptance speech for her IndieWire Maverick Award, my phone vibrated with the news of the Netflix-Warner Bros. merger.

Here’s the kicker: I was sitting on the Netflix couch reserved for Jacob Elordi and his makeup artist Mike Hill, who received the Wavelength Award earlier that evening for their work on “Frankenstein.”

All ironies aside, here’s the easy predictions of what this merger will mean: Fewer jobs. (The floor on anticipated initial savings is $2 billion-$3 billion.) Fewer films in theaters. And, fewer good films and shows unless you believe that HBO and Warners’ auteur-nurturing sensibilities can survive the buzzsaw of an algorithmic culture unscathed.

That was the question circulating in IndieWire’s Slacks: If Netflix and Warner Bros. merge, what happens to the art? While it will be months before we can know if this deal sticks,...

Jane Fonda is speaking out against Netflix’s earthshaking move to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, calling the $82.7 billion deal a “catastrophic” development that threatens to “destroy our creative industry.”

Fonda released her statement against the acquisition on Instagram through her Committee for the 1st Amendment organization. She wrote on Friday, “Today’s News that Warner Bros. Discovery has accepted a purchase bid is an alarming escalation of the consolidation that threatens the entire entertainment industry, the democratic public it serves and the First Amendment.”

She continued, “Make no mistake, this is not just a catastrophic business deal that could destroy our creative industry. It is a constitutional crisis exacerbated by the administration’s demonstrated disregard for the law.”

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Directing her message to the powers that be, Fonda demanded the Justice Department and state regulators abstain from using their legal standing to “extract political concessions that...

It’s been a moment since the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” closed, yet the stars of the Broadway hit have not forgotten one thing: Jonathan Groff is a menace.

“He’s the worst,” Lindsey Mendez emphasizes. To which Daniel Radcliffe agrees, “If he wasn’t so fantastic, he’d be a nightmare.”

The two are referring to Groff’s frequent habit of trying to make his co-stars break while on stage. Radcliffe specifically recalls moments during “really rough, emotional scenes” when Groff would turn upstage and crack a joke at him. “It was crazy,” Radcliffe continues. “Tickling me off stage before we’re supposed to come out. I’m listening for a cue that I have to try and make!”

Talking with his castmates, Groff can’t help but laugh. It’s been more than a year, but the trio from the Broadway hit have remained,...

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"The Outlaw Josey Wales" is one of Clint Eastwood's best movies, which is saying something considering the man is a screen legend. The 1976 revisionist Western is an adaptation of Asa Earl Carter's 1972 novel, "The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales," and stars Eastwood in the title role. Like many of the veteran star's projects, production on the movie wasn't without controversy, with the actor assuming directing duties from original director Philip Kaufman mid-way through shooting. That wasn't the last clash during production of "The Outlaw Josey Wales," either, as Eastwood would argue with his editor over the open-ended climax of the movie,...

Hi y’all. Welcome (back) to Top of the Line, IndieWire’s newsletter about all things related to film and TV craft! Like the many other fine IndieWire newsletters to which you can choose to subscribe, this year Top of the Line is getting a bit of a refresh. It’s going from a set of recent article links to something that’s a little more substacky — except not on Substack, because Stubstack is gross.

Representing the wider IndieWire team’s interests in music, cinematography, VFX, costumes, and more will be me, Craft Editor Sarah Shachat. I am thrilled to take on the most rewarding challenge in my four years at IndieWire since trying to explain to the Gen Xers on staff that some of the best production design and makeup work right now is happening on Dropout.tv

So in this inaugural edition, it’s worth laying out what the...

Peru’s Ladines! has sold the remake rights to its critical and box office hit “The Last Laugh” (“Muerto de risa”) to Mexico’s Sin Sentido Films during Ventana Sur.

This marks the second time its director-writer-producer Gonzalo Ladines has sold remake rights to one of his films. His family comedy “YouTuber Dad” (“Papá Youtuber”) which Ladines co-produced and co-wrote with its director Fernando Villarán, was the first original Peruvian pic to sell its international remake rights where it was optioned by Mexico, Spain, France and India.

Shortlisted for the Platino Awards in the Ibero-American Comedy category, “The Last Laugh” follows talk show host Javi Fuentes, renowned for poking fun at others. After his father dies, he loses his sense of humor and is usurped by an annoying influencer. To get his show back, he hires Alfonsina, an alcoholic comedian who will teach him how to laugh at himself instead of others.

One common reaction to have upon watching an "Avatar" movie is: "How in the world did they do any of that?" It's a question that goes double for this month's "Avatar: Fire and Ash," which contains some of the most bafflingly gorgeous and astonishing imagery yet seen in a motion picture. To help answer most of this question, filmmaker James Cameron and company have stacked the 4K collectors edition releases of "Avatar" and "Avatar: The Way of Water" with special features detailing the processes and methodology involved in bringing Pandora and the Na'vi to life. There's also the two-part documentary "Fire and Water: Making the Avatar Films," which premiered on Disney+ about a month ago.

High fantasy of the 1970s was far more creative, dark, surreal, and whimsical than the fantasy that preceded it in the previous decade. One might look back to this period as the time when high fantasy imagery — dragons, wizards, and faraway kingdoms — was closely overlapping with both hippie idealism and heavy metal theatricality. This was, after all, the era in which hippies wore "Frodo Lives" buttons on the street and Deep Purple fans painted dragons on the sides of their vans. High fantasy, in terms of its pop cultural impact, was leaking in around the edges. Kids started to play "Dungeons & Dragons" on a more widespread basis, and magical...

At the 2025 IndieWire Honors ceremony, German actress Nina Hoss reminded the room why she’s one of the most quietly radical performers working today. Known for her thunderous turn as Cate Blanchett’s suffering wife in “Tár,” Hoss has re-emerged in director Nia DaCosta’s “Hedda” with a role so striking it cemented her as this year’s Spotlight Award recipient.

“I strangely feel pushed forwards and sheltered by you,” Hoss said. “It feels really beautiful, and you make me feel seen in what I do and what I try to do with my work.”

As Eileen Lövborg — a gender-flipped interpretation of Henrik Ibsen’s Eilert from “Hedda Gabler” — Hoss doesn’t step into a classic role; she shatters its framework, opening entirely new thematic and emotional pathways around power, desire, and the interior lives of women who refuse to shrink. Her presence is magnetic, and it’s easy to...

Freddy Fazbear and his gaggle of pizzeria party animals brought a welcome boost to the typically muted post-Thanksgiving box office.

Universal and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster’s PG-13 sequel “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” based on the second installment in Scott Cawthon’s popular horror game franchise, took first place on Friday, debuting to $29.8 million from 3,412 North American theaters. That puts the film on track to gross $56.5 million domestically by Sunday, well past early projections of a $35 million to $40 million opening weekend.

The first “Five Nights at Freddy’s” launched to a stellar $80 million in 2023, a surprising result considering it simultaneously debuted in theaters and on Peacock. That film eventually reached sleeper hit status with a $300 million global tally. The sequel boasts a price tag of $36 million, so it won’t take much to bring Universal and Blumhouse into the green.

Stars Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail and Piper Rubio are back...