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Dave Bautista is once again showing off his muscle gains ahead of stepping into the role of Kratos for the highly anticipated “God of War” series. The “Guardians of the Galaxy” actor last gave fans a glimpse into his transformation two months ago, saying he’d begun weight training again but still had time “to get […]
A lack of funding, and ignorance in the institutions that control it, keeps women at an inherent disadvantage in the film industry, Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat said at a Tokyo International Film Festival talk on the future of women’s cinema. “The discrimination did not start at the festival, but it started at the development level,” […]
A man conceived through sperm donation, unsure of his place in the world, sets out on a journey to Korea in “The Blue Breaks,” an adaptation of Machiya Ryohei’s 2016 novel by Japanese filmmaker Uchiyama Takuya (“Numb”). The Japan-Italy co-production was among the projects at this year’s Tokyo Gap-Financing Market. The protagonist, Shukichi, is a […]
Japanese animated phenomenon “Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island” held the No. 1 position at the South Korean box office over the weekend of Oct. 30–Nov. 1, securing its third consecutive weekend atop the rankings. According to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the Toho-distributed fantasy […]
Unspoken emotional wounds linger throughout “Between Us,” Japanese director Matsumura Shingo’s new film playing in the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Nippon Cinema Now section, its strand for Japanese films. The film follows Makoto and Kasumi, childhood best friends who drift apart after an incident on a joint family camping trip and reunite six years later […]
Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner “Fjord” opened the fifth edition of Jakarta World Cinema at CGV Grand Indonesia. Dan Adrian Bălănescu, Romania’s ambassador to Indonesia, said he was proud of the film, which is Romania’s submission for the international feature Oscar at the 2027 Academy Awards, and hoped it would speak to local audiences. “Many […]
Contrary to popular belief, contemporary design in film is not just about shopping; it involves deep storytelling and thought behind how characters are dressed. Molly Rogers, who worked on “The Devil Wears Prada” as an assistant costume designer and was the sequel’s costume designer, said, “When someone comes up to me and says, ‘I really […]
Celebrities have been embracing the scariest day of the year by dressing up as sport stars, dismembered limbs and unsold concert tickets.
Italian filmmaker Fabrizio Cattani brought “Forever With You,” his exploration of childhood, grief and the loss of a parent, to the Middle East for the first time this week, with the film receiving a Green Carpet premiere at the 13th Sharjah Intl. Film Festival for Children and Youth in the UAE. With Italy celebrated as […]
Double Oscar nominee James Longley, who won the top award at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival on Saturday with “Mohabat,” will focus next on the Rohingya genocide. Longley – who was Oscar nominated for “Iraq in Fragments” and “Sari’s Mother” – tells Variety at the Czech event, “I’ve already filmed act one of this project, working […]
Following the news that “Criminal Minds: Evolution” has been canceled at Paramount+, stars A.J. Cook, Paget Brewster, Kirsten Vangsness and more are looking back on the crime drama’s 20 Season run. The announcement seems to have come at the perfect time to mourn a TV show, as Cook chose to mark the end of this […]
My Chemical Romance has scored its first-ever No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as “The Black Parade” surges from No. 139 to the top of the chart, 20 years after its initial release. The group reaches the chart summit for the first time following a deluxe reissue of the album with 78,000 equivalent album units. […]
Hilary Duff is reflecting on being so “done” playing Lizzie McGuire after the 2003 movie concluded the two-season Disney Channel show that made her a star. “The Lizzie McGuire Movie” features the now-iconic “What Dreams Are Made Of,” which Duff re-recorded for her 2026 “(Mine)” EP and sang live for the first time on the […]
“Gintama: Yoshiwara in Flames” – the latest iteration of the “Gintama” story – previewed this week at Lucca Comics and Games, Europe’s largest Comic-Con, prior to a theatrical release in Italy. Variety spoke with director Naoya Andô and producer Ryo Nakamuray about their continuation of the saga. “Gintama” started life as a manga, authored and […]
Over the last few days, Lucca Comics and Games, Europe’s largest Comic-Con, has been celebrating its 60th anniversary. The medieval city located in Italy’s Tuscany region hosted creative leaders, artists and players of games, authors of comic books, manga, showrunners and animators of TV series and anime, actors and directors of films. Around 80,000 ticket-paying […]
Judi Dench is reflecting on her relationship with Robin Williams and how he supported her when her husband, Michael Williams, was battling lung cancer in her forthcoming memoir, “Is It Too Late to Make a Run For It?” Nearly 30 years earlier, Dench had been staying at actor Billy Connolly’s Scotland home with her late […]
While Western TV audiences of the 80s surveying the Soviet world were following Mikhail Gorbachev, those inside the bloc were just as likely to be interested in a bizarre mass hypnosis artist by the name of Anatoly Kashpirovskiy, as Ji.hlava doc fest audiences have seen this week. A trained medical doctor who said he first […]
Martha Stewart has issued a statement after drawing hefty backlash for dressing up as a homeless person for Halloween. The media mogul’s choice of costume for Saturday’s holiday, which included her dressed up in tattered clothing, dirt-inspired face makeup and a sign that read, “I am hungry. Help me!!,” was quickly deemed offensive and in […]
Director Zach Cregger’s “Resident Evil” has notched a notable box office milestone, climbing to $400 million in global ticket sales. His reboot of the ’90s zombie video game has earned $157.399 million in North America and $242.6 million overseas for a worldwide haul of exactly $400 million. It’s now the highest-grossing installment in the 24-year-old […]
Why do humans tend to vent abuse at their AI bots – and should they think about apologizing? That question is central to “Searching for SmarterChild,” the project that won the New Visions Award for the most promising U.S. project at the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival this week. Zan Gillies is co-directing the U.S.-Canadian film […]
