Notizie

This June’s Film On Film Festival will include an original 1977 print of Star Wars, shown on the big screen for the first time in decades.

If the BFI wanted to create a bit of fuss among genre fans with this year’s Film On Film Festival, then mission accomplished. The institute has announced that it’s to stage a rare screening of Star Wars this June – an original dye-transfer print from 1977, stored in its archives and never before shown to the public.

Star Wars was, of course, re-released in a restored and modified form for its 20th anniversary in 1997. After this, George Lucas, who then still owned Lucasfilm, was rather protective over the earlier, unmodified cut of what was later named Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. While it’s been tinkered with further since, it’s the 1997 version of Star Wars publicly available on disc and Disney+.

David Lynch is widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, known for classics like Twin Peaks and The Elephant Man. The latter, in particular, remains one of the most poignant biopics ever made, telling the tragic tale of Joseph Merrick, the deformed Victorian-era artist known as "The Elephant Man." Now, Jack Huston, well-known for his acting roles in Boardwalk Empire and American Hustle, is set to helm the upcoming remake of David Lynch's 1980s biopic, honoring the legacy of the late filmmaker who passed away in January 2025.

Backed by Phoenix Pictures, the film will be titled Joseph Merrick, and Kate Cohen, David Dobkin, and Mike Medavoy will produce it. While many adaptations have explored Merrick's life, David Lynch's 1980 film, starring John Hurt, remains the best version yet, earning eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

The remake will shine a light on...

Day of the Fight director and actor Jack Huston is getting back behind the camera for Joseph Merrick, a new and emotional film about the individual known to many as The Elephant Man. According to reports, Huston’s film highlights Merrick’s heart and humanity by focusing on untold aspects of his story to celebrate the inspiring life of a kind and misunderstood soul.

Production for Joseph Merrick begins later this year. The story will focus on the final months of Merrick’s life, examining his transformative journey and the unexpected way he touched the hearts of those fortunate enough to know him. The project aims to shed positive light on Merrick’s contribution to humanity by sharing his unique experience and profound impact on defying expectations and proving that true beauty comes from within.

“I’ve long been fascinated by the life of Joseph Merrick — marked by unimaginable adversity,...

Jack Huston, known for his acting work in Boardwalk Empire and American Hustle, has come aboard to direct a biopic centered on Joseph Merrick, the deformed Victorian Age artist known as The Elephant Man.

Phoenix Pictures is backing the feature, titled Joseph Merrick, which will be produced by Kate Cohen, Mike Medavoy and David Dobkin. Huston will also produce.

Production is looking to start later this year.

Merrick was an object of fascination during his life, and his story resonated beyond his lifetime. He was a man who was incredibly deformed and was used as a circus freak while a teenager and became an object of curiosity by London society as well as scientific circles, but he was also an artist whose work broke beyond the limits of his sometimes confined life. David Lynch directed an Oscar-nominated biopic that starred John Hurt in 1980, titled The Elephant Man, and the man has appeared in countless books,...

Every year, Hollywood pumps out at least one or two musician biopics. Last year alone saw the release of "Back to Black," a portrait of the late Amy Winehouse, and the Oscar-nominated "A Complete Unknown," the Bob Dylan origin story as told by James Mangold. It's easy to understand why we keep getting these films: they're pretty popular. Sure, some of them flop, but more often than not, there seems to be an insatiable hunger from the public to watch actors slap on a wig and do an impression of a famous singer. And studios are often all-in because not only are there box office dollars at work, but if filmmakers and actors play their cards right, awards season glory comes calling.

"Bohemian Rhapsody," the 2018 film about Queen singer Freddie Mercury, did boffo box office and scored several nominations, winning Rami Malek a Best Actor trophy, and all of this...

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights is set against the backdrop of the sex industry. New Line’s marketing team had to find a way to sell it.

It was back in October 1997 that the American Film Information Council bestowed upon the movie Boogie Nights the prize of the best marketed film of that month.

Appreciating that it’s a fairly closed shortlist it’ll have been competing against, it was still up against Kiss The Girls, I Know What You Did Last Summer and The Devil’s Advocate. Even so, it was still likely to have been something of a split decision. Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie was treading a fine line between the old adage of sex sells, and American censors grappling with material of a fruity nature.

Boogie Nights, if you’re unfamiliar, is a superb film. It’s an ensemble movie set against the backdrop of the American porn industry,...

Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, adapted by Peter Shaffer from his 1979 play, isn’t technically a biopic, nor is it historically accurate. Still, it stands as one of the greatest film portraits of an artist for capturing the essence of their work. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has long been regarded as a genius for his innate skill, profligacy, and still-unmatched gift for instrumental melody. But of all his remarkable works across every style of music of his time, nowhere was Mozart more innovative than in the field of opera, and Amadeus is a suitably operatic treatment of his story: loud, emotive, volatile, and sweeping, blowing all facts out of proportion to reveal deeper truths.

Of course, in what feels like one more callous, almost cosmic joke at the expense of its subject, the film’s protagonist isn’t, in fact, Mozart. That would be Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), the court composer...

No streaming service does a director retrospective like the Criterion Channel, and March offers two masters at opposite ends of exposure. On one side is Michael Mann, whose work from Thief through Collateral (minus The Keep) is given a spotlight; on the other is Alain Guiraudie, who (in advance of Misericordia opening on March 21) has five films arriving. (2001’s duet of That Old Dream That Moves and Sunshine for the Scoundrels have perhaps never streamed in the U.S. before.) Meanwhile, three noirs from Douglas Sirk are programmed alongside a Lee Chang-dong retrospective that features three new restorations.

Showcases will be staged for Dogme 95, Best Supporting Actor winners, and French Poetic Relaism. Welles’ The Trial gets a Criterion Edition alongside Demon Pond; Horace Ové’s newly restored Pressure makes a streaming premiere alongside spruced-up copies of Amadeus, Love Is the Devil, Port of Shadows, and Burning an Illusion, as...

James Mangold, the guest on this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, is — and for 30 years has been — one of the most dependable filmmakers in Hollywood, always good for an entertaining and solid, if not showy, film, featuring great performances, regardless of genre.

Indeed, Mangold has directed dramas (Heavy and Girl, Interrupted), biopics (Walk the Line), westerns (3:10 to Yuma), crime/thrillers (Cop Land), action movies (Ford v Ferrari), rom-coms (Kate & Leopold), action/comedies (Knight and Day), mystery/horror films (Identity) and franchise films (The Wolverine, Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). But because he does little to call attention to himself as the auteur of a film, he has, for much of his career, been overlooked, in terms of conversations about top filmmakers and awards.

That changed this awards season with his latest film, A Complete Unknown, which chronicles four years in the life of Bob Dylan,...

Way back in 1986, when "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was still in development, the original casting sheets called for actresses to play a 15-year-old character named Leslie Crusher, the daughter of Dr. Beverly Crusher. "Her remarkable mind and photographic memory," the character rundown read, "make it seem not unlikely for her to become, at 15, a Starfleet acting-ensign. Otherwise, she is a normal teenager." As casting and development continued, however, Leslie was transformed into a teenage boy named Wesley, and more closely modeled after Gene Roddenberry's own 15-year-old self (Roddenberry's middle name is Wesley).

Wesley wasn't widely liked by Trekkies, as he seemed too much like a brown-noser. He was too eager to please the adults in his life, too well-behaved, and definitely too smart. Fans point to the instances wherein a teenage boy, working with the best and brightest in Starfleet, managed to be the only one to solve a massively difficult space conundrum.

James Mangold has spent decades making some of Hollywood’s most emotionally rich and visually striking films. From the musical biopic “Walk the Line” to the superhero drama “Logan” to the action-packed “Ford v Ferrari,” his body of work has shown his versatility as a filmmaker. But with “A Complete Unknown,” his Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, Mangold has reached a new career milestone: His first Academy Award nomination for best director.

Sitting down for the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast, Mangold reflects on his creative process, the deep collaboration with Chalamet and co-star Monica Barbaro, his early struggles within his Hollywood career, and why he had no interest in commissioning an original Bob Dylan song for the film. Listen below!

Director James Mangold and Timothée Chalamet on the set of A Complete Unknown.

Mangold is the first to admit he wasn’t an obsessive Bob Dylan fan before taking on the film.

Oscar-nominated actor Sebastian Stan is back to his MCU roots.

The “Apprentice” star reprises his role of reformed villain Bucky Barnes in “Thunderbolts,” alongside fellow misfit Marvel characters played by the likes of Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and more.

The official synopsis reads: “‘Thunderbolts’ is about an irreverent team-up featuring depressed assassin Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) alongside the MCU’s least anticipated band of misfits. The film also returns to the screen Marvel Cinematic Universe characters Bucky Barnes (Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), in addition to some exciting new faces.”

Jake Schreier directs “Thunderbolts” with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek, Jason Tamez, and former MCU staple Scarlett Johansson serve as executive producers.

The film was scripted by Eric Pearson, Lee Sung Jin (“Beef”), and Joanna Calo (“The Bear”). Both...

“Anora” director Sean Baker has won the DGA Award for Theatrical Feature, gaining significant Oscar momentum ahead of final voting.

With its surprising best picture win at the Critics Choice Awards — its only prize of the night — the $6 million dramedy, which claimed the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, has solidified itself as a major contender in an unpredictable awards season.

“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to be able to do thing I knew I wanted to do since I was 5 years old,” Baker told the crowd Saturday at the conclusion of the 77th annual DGA Awards, held at the Beverly Hilton.

A wide-open year has unfolded with plenty of twists and turns, including campaign controversies and surprising Oscar snubs like DGA nominee Edward Berger and recent Critics Choice shocking victor Jon M. Chu for “Wicked.”

Legendary filmmaker Ang Lee, a two-time Oscar-winning director...

Long before she was a two-time Academy Award-winning actor able to tackle some of the toughest, weirdest roles in cinema and television, Emma Stone was just a young actor trying to make it in a cutthroat industry. After a number of TV guest spots in small roles, including a hilarious bit on "Malcolm in the Middle" where she played a bully beefing with the Wilkerson family matriarch, Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), Stone would eventually garner attention with the 2006 hit comedy "Superbad," which was responsible for both her trademark red hair and her career taking off. Before that, however, she played an integral but tiny role on the Disney Channel hit kids show "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," although it's absolutely impossible to spot her.

"The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" followed twins Zack and Cody Martin (Dylan and Cole Sprouse), who live in the suite of the Tipton Hotel in Boston.

Ahead of the Oscar nominations being announced Jan. 23, where “Waves” is hoping for recognition after being shortlisted for Best International Film, it led the pack this past week at the Czech Lion Awards — Czech Republic’s equivalent of the Academy Awards — with 14 nominations.

“Waves” was mentioned in numerous categories, including best director and screenplay for Jiří Mádl. Actors Vojtěch Vodochodský, Tatiana Pauhofová, Martin Hofmann and Stanislav Majer were nominated in their respective categories.

The film was also nominated in below-the-line crafts, including for cinematography, editing, sound design, music, stage design, costume design and makeup and hairstyling.

The success of “Waves” at the Czech Lion Awards and its shortlist mention for Best International Film at the upcoming Academy Awards comes after much success back home. After its debut at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it won the top audience award, the film was released in Czech theaters in August,...

The new 4K and Blu-ray release of the remastered version of the Oscar-winning period drama “Amadeus”, directed by Milos Forman, is available to purchase digitally, February 25, 2025 in 4K Ultra HD and 4K Uhd Blu-ray Disc:

"...a disciplined Italian composer becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment…

“…towards the genius musical talent of hedonistic Viennese composer ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’…”

Cast includes F. Murray Abraham as ‘Antonio Salieri’, Tom Hulce as ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’…

…Elizabeth Berridge as ‘Constanze Mozart’, Simon Callow as ‘Emanuel Schikaneder’, Roy Dotrice as ‘Leopold Mozart’…

…Christine Ebersole as ‘Katerina Cavalieri’ and Charles Kay as ‘Count Orsini-Rosenberg’.

Click the images to enlarge…...

Amadeus, the Oscar-winning biopic about Salieri’s professional jealousy over Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s divine musical prowess, is finally getting the 4K restoration we’ve been dreaming of. Announced last week by Warner Bros., the theatrical cut of Amadeus is now available on digital in 4K and is coming to...

Milos Forman’s Amadeus is arriving on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray next month for the first time, and more details are here.

Just over 40 years since it first debuted, the terrific Amadeus is now enjoying a 4K restoration, as it heads to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray for the first time. And it’s landing next month as well.

The winner of eight Oscars, including the big one, the movie stars Tom Hulce and F Murray Abraham, and it’s directed by the late Milos Forman. It’s the film that follows the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, played by Hulce, and his rivalry with Abraham’s Antonio Salieri.

Adapted from the play by Peter Schaffer – and he penned the screenplay himself – the resultant film comfortable stands the test of time. Mind you, you can check that out for yourself when the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray lands on 24th February.

It...

Playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise has been a blessing and a curse for Mark Hamill: a blessing because he has made millions of dollars and become more famous than he ever imagined, and a curse because the character has stuck with him throughout his adult life. Hamill has been a part of over 50 live-action and animated productions, yet for some reason, fans (and his peers) see him as nothing more than the Jedi Master who fought in the Galactic Civil War during the reign of the Galactic Empire. It’s a good problem to have.

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Amadeus RBiographyDocumentaryDramaHistory

Release Date September 19, 1984Director Milos FormanRuntime 160 minutesCast F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice, Christine Ebersole

Some people pictured Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker before he got the role. According to the actor,...

Ever since he made his feature directorial debut with “Heavy” in 1995, James Mangold has been known for his range, deftly jumping back and forth between crowd-pleasing genre fare like “Identity” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” powerhouse character studies like “Copland” and “Girl Interrupted,” light romantic comedies (“Kate & Leopold”) and, perhaps most famously, musical biopics like “Walk the Line” and his latest film, the Bob Dylan movie “A Complete Unknown.”

What all of these films have in common is a sensitivity to performance that often yields the best work from actors as varied in styles and approaches as Joaquin Phoenix, Meg Ryan, Sylvester Stallone, Christian Bale, and Timothée Chalamet. “A Complete Unknown” is possibly Mangold’s best film yet in this regard, as it boasts superb work by not only Chalamet as Dylan but Ed Norton as Pete Seeger, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Elle Fanning as...

With a prolific and colorful career spanning over 50 years, legendary film and TV icon Danny DeVito is undeniably one of Hollywood's most cherished and entertaining presences, attracting the adoration of fans both old and young. Though he is now known for his scene-stealing performances in small screen hits like Taxi and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as well as cinema knockouts including Romancing the Stone, Twins, Batman Returns, and Matilda, there was a time when DeVito was struggling to land his big break.

In 1975, DeVito starred opposite fellow acting legend Jack Nicholson in the Academy Award-winning psychological dramedy One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a critically-acclaimed adaptation of the Ken Kesey novel that has been lauded as one of the greatest movies of all time. Some of the pint-sized actor's devoted fans may have forgotten that the decorated DeVito appeared in the poignant picture, as he was just 30-years-old when he filmed the influential hit.

Photos (l-r) Bianca Jagger, Liza Minnelli, Halston, Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger by Dustin Pittman in New York After Dark (Rizzoli) at Eerdmans Photo: Anne Katrin Titze, featuring work by Dustin Pittman

In the second instalment of our conversation with renowned photographer Dustin Pittman and music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman, we start out with the New York music scene at Cbgb and Hurrah, then go on to Andy Warhol superstars Candy Darling, Taylor Mead, Jackie Curtis, Sylvia Miles (in John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy), Lana Jokel, and Bob Colacello. Dustin also had a distinguished career working with directors such as Alan J Pakula on The Sterile Cuckoo (starring Liza Minnelli), Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, Miloš Forman’s Ragtime, and is seen at a party with Bernadette Peters in James Ivory’s adaptation of Tama Janowitz’s The Slaves Of New York.

Dustin Pittman (in Edie Sedgwick...

“A Complete Unknown” is a departure for Edward Norton, even though he’s quick to point out he’s played kind-hearted souls before — including, surprisingly, referencing Smoochy the Rhino from “Death to Smoochy,” an early, unexpected, comedic zag in this interview from Norton while discussing his buzzed-about performance as folk legend Pete Seeger.

And he’s right. He has played, as he puts it, “decent people” — he’s most definitely not always in that wiseacre vibe of Worm in “Rounders” or flirting with the emotional rage and misery of Monty in Spike Lee’s “25th Hour.” But his interpretation of Pete Seeger is unique in that he plays him with this true north earnestness … but with an undercut of passive aggressiveness that comes biting through when Timotheé Chalamet’s Bob Dylan does something Pete doesn’t see eye to eye with. This happens quite often during the events of “A Complete Unknown.

January 2025 could mark a bleak month for very specific reasons, but in that month one can watch a nicely curated collection of David Bowie’s best performances. Nearly a decade since he passed, the iconic actor (who had some other trades) is celebrated with The Man Who Fell to Earth, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Linguini Incident, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and Basquiat. (Note: watch The Missing Pieces under Fire Walk with Me‘s Criterion edition for about three times as much Phillip Jeffries.) It’s a retrospective-heavy month: Nicole Kidman, Cameron Crowe, Ethan Hawke, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Paolo Sorrentino, and Sean Baker are given spotlights; the first and last bring with them To Die For and Take Out‘s Criterion Editions, joining Still Walking, Hunger, and A Face in the Crowd.

“Surveillance Cinema” brings Thx 1138, Body Double, Minority Report, and others, while “Love in Disguise” offers films by Lubitsch,...

Exclusive: The DGA will be honoring unit production managers Mary Rae Thewlis and Thomas J. Whelan with prestigious awards at the 77th annual DGA Awards.

Thewlis will receive the Robert B. Aldrich Award, which recognizes extraordinary service to the DGA and its membership. Whelan will be awarded the the Frank Capra Achievement Award, which is given to an assistant director or Upm in recognition of notable career achievements in the industry and for outstanding service to the DGA.

The awards will be presented at the ceremony in February at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

“We are so proud to honor Mary Rae and Tom for their unwavering dedication and selfless service to their Guild and fellow members,” DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter said in a statement Thursday. “Together, they embody the spirit of collaboration, dedication, and excellence that makes our Guild thrive. We congratulate them for being selected as...

Ang Lee will receive the Directors Guild of America’s highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award, it announced Tuesday. He will receive the award, which recognizes extraordinary achievements in the art of cinema and motion picture direction, at the 77th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

The visionary director has more than 20 credits to his name and is known for making films with emotional depth across a variety of genres. Lee’s most well-known works include 2005’s “Brokeback Mountain” and 2013’s “Life of Pi,” both of which earned him directing Oscars, as well as 1995’s “Sense and Sensibility”; 2000’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” which won the Oscar for best foreign language film; 2003’s “Hulk”; 2007’s “Lust, Caution”; and 2016’s “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.” Lee, 70, made his feature directorial debut with the 1991 indie, “Pushing Hands,” and his most recent film was 2019’s sci-fi thriller, “Gemini Man.”

“Ang Lee is truly a master filmmaker.

Michael Douglas is discussing changes in Hollywood over an Oscar-winning acting career that has culminated with the rise of digital technology and streaming platforms.

“The biggest change in my lifetime and career has been digital,” especially in sound production, Douglas said during an informal conversation at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday. He recalled in the 1970s filmmakers having more control over the production process, while the studios focused on the distribution business.

“It’s gone the other way in terms of both studios or in this case streaming services and now this latest chapter is the advent of Silicon Valley dumbing down and just taking over what we thought was this big industry,” Douglas argued.

“Between Apple, Amazon and Netflix, the designs of their companies, they’re so huge, they can afford so much,” he added.

During the wide-ranging conversation that focused in large part on his early achievements,...

For over 30 years, Randy Quaid was one of Hollywood's most colorful and dependable character actors. His career got off to a propitious start with his appearance in Peter Bogdanovich's 1971 classic "The Last Picture Show," and quickly took flight when he earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of the sensitive, soon-to-be-imprisoned screw-up Meadows in "The Last Detail." 10 years later, Quaid achieved film doofus immortality as the loan-seeking rube Cousin Eddie Johnson in Harold Ramis' "National Lampoon's Vacation." Quaid had been funny in movies before, but now he was a proper drama-comedy double threat, and his brand of performance wasn't the type to curdle. He had a long, profitable journey ahead of him provided he didn't do something crazy like accuse the industry's most powerful people of trying to kill him.

Randy Quaid's downfall was so surreal it felt like performance art like he was playing Cousin Eddie on peyote.

A smattering of well-known classic titles are now on their way to the crisp realm of ultra-high-definition physical media. Bill Hunt of The Digital Bits has just unveiled a number of movies that have been announced to release in 4K Blu-ray early next year. We’ve reported earlier that the Pierce Brosnan/Linda Hamilton volcano film Dante’s Peak is set for a February 11 release, the same day will also see the 4K Uhd release of Howard Deutch’s teen comedy Pretty in Pink (1986). It is said to feature Dolby Vision Hdr and a new “Filmmaker Focus” featurette.

It has also been confirmed that Disney, who is the parent company of the Buena Vista label, has completed a 4K restoration of the Michael Bay 1997 disaster blockbuster Armageddon. On December 6, the Bruce Willis asteroid movie is set to screen in this remaster at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles as part of An Evening with Diane Warren.

Emma Stone might be in a whole bunch of your favorite movies — but what are her favorites?

In January 2024, Stone spoke to Letterboxd — the social media site centered around movies — about her "four favorites," a regular interview the outlet does with major Hollywood celebrities. After appearing visibly stressed by the prospect of only picking four movies, Stone responds that Charlie Chaplin's 1931 comedy "City Lights" is her all-time favorite movie. "I love 'Network,'" Stone continued, name-checking the 1976 dark comedy that won Best Picture at the 49th Academy Awards in 1977. "'Mikey and Nicky,' I just saw it for the first time a couple of weeks ago," Stone raved, citing Elaine May's movie (also from 1976) about a mobster and his best friend (played by John Cassavetes and Peter Falk). "I love almost every Cassavetes movie — that one wasn't Cassavetes, he's just in it. It's obviously Elaine May, who's a genius,...

[Editor’s note: For this article, The Hollywood Reporter only looked at the shortest and longest screen times in the lead acting categories. Best supporting actor and actress were not included.]

Longest Screen Times Vivien Leigh, Gone With the Wind (1939)

Movie Length 3 hrs 58 mins

Time Onscreen 2 hrs 23 mins

Percent of Run Time 60 Percent

Vivien Leigh holds the record for the longest performance to win an Oscar, though the work took a deep physical and mental toll on her. The film itself is also the longest to win best picture. At the 12th Academy Awards, Victor Fleming’s Gone With the Wind also won best supporting actress for Hattie McDaniel, who became the first African American to win an Oscar. Leigh was nominated alongside Bette Davis (Dark Victory), Irene Dunne (Love Affair), Greta Garbo (Ninotchka) and Greer Garson (Goodbye, Mr. Chips).

Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur (1959)

Movie Length 3 hrs 32 mins

Time Onscreen 2 hrs 1 min

Percent of Run Time 57.1 Percent...

Paul Engelen, the British makeup designer who earned two Emmys and two Oscar nominations in a fabulous career that included work on Reds, Batman, The Phantom Menace, Gladiator and Game of Thrones, has died. He was 75.

Engelen died Nov. 3 of cancer at his home in West Sussex, England, his son-in-law (and fellow makeup designer) Daniel Lawson Johnston told The Hollywood Reporter.

Engelen also did makeup for three James Bonds — Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig — on the 007 films The Man With the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), Die Another Day (2002), Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008).

He teamed with Blake Edwards on Victor/Victoria (1982), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), with Steven Spielberg on Empire of the Sun (1987) and Munich (2005) and with Ridley Scott on Gladiator (2000), Kingdom of Heaven (2005) and Robin Hood (2010).

Engelen shared his first Academy Award nom with Rick Baker...

“Mozart: Rise of a Genius,” a three-part docu-drama commissioned by BBC and produced by 72 Films, has sold to the Middle East (BBC), Denmark (Dr), Sweden (Svt), Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania (Discovery) and Hong Kong & Macao (Now TV).

Fremantle is handling global distribution and will meet with interested buyers at Mipcom starting Monday, Oct. 21.

The show, which first premiered on Sept. 16 on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, is taking a closer look at the iconic composer. But producer Joe Fell assured that any comparisons to Miloš Forman’s “Amadeus” are unwarranted.

“[‘Amadeus’] was a very good starting platform because classical music is not something people know that much about these days,” Fell tells Variety. “They don’t know the story behind these people’s lives. One exception to this rule is Mozart – precisely because ‘Amadeus’ was so famous.”

Despite the accolades that film received, much...

The movie version of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is closely associated with Jack Nicholson -- but it wasn't planned that way. Kirk Douglas had bought the rights to Ken Keseys counterculture call to arms and performed a stage version on Broadway in 1963; he felt the natural next step was to make a movie. But time -- and several delays -- were against him, enabling Nicholson to win his first Oscar for his performance as R.P. McMurphy after the film's release in 1975.

The film would win four more statuettes from nine nominations and become an influential piece of 1970s cinema. Director Milos Forman ensured that everything on screen felt authentic. The ensemble cast -- which included Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd -- completely immersed themselves in the environment of a real mental institution and gave fearless performances. Nicholson may be the one audiences remember, but nearly 50 years later, the...

Sebastian Stan is sick of critics slamming Marvel movies, so much so that the actor is even comparing the upcoming MCU installment “Thunderbolts” to a classic film.

According to Stan, “Thunderbolts” is Marvel’s version of Miloš Forman’s Oscar-winning 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” which centered on a mutinous uprising in a psych ward.

Stan told Variety that his role in “Thunderblots” as Bucky Barnes “was kind of like ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ — a guy coming into this group that was chaotic and degenerate, and somehow finding a way to unite them.”

Stan has played Bucky Barnes for more than a decade, starting with 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger.” For “Thunderbolts,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, and David Harbour join Stan’s Bucky. The upcoming feature will help kick off Marvel’s Phase 5.

As for the debates over the merit of Marvel movies,...

Greek-American cinematographer Anastas Michos, ASC, Gsc, has established himself as a master of visual storytelling, seamlessly adapting his craft across genres. Recently, he collaborated with Shane Black on the highly anticipated Mark Wahlberg action-thriller Dirty Player, set for release next year. Michos’ versatility is evident in a portfolio that spans the romantic comedy The Kissing Booth, the horror classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D, and the Emmy-nominated Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.

Over the years, Michos has worked with top-tier directors like Ron Howard, Neil Jordan, and Milos Forman, delivering breathtaking cinematography for films such as Mona Lisa Smile, Freedomland, and Man on the Moon. His expertise has brought visual beauty to the performances of Hollywood icons like Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, and Jennifer Hudson.

Before becoming a renowned Director of Photography, Michos was a pioneering Steadicam operator, working closely with inventor Garrett Brown and co-inventing the SkyCam. Michos’ technical prowess,...

Before landing the lead role in “Matlock,” Kathy Bates was “contemplating semi-retirement.” Now, she might never stop.

“My friends say I’ll probably be like Molière and die in my chair on the stage,” says Bates, “because it really is a life force for me.”

Ever since her first role in Miloš Forman’s 1971 film “Taking Off,” she has worked consistently. But it wasn’t until Bates was 42, when she won a best actress Oscar for playing the malevolent Annie Wilkes in “Misery,” that everything changed.

“I always knew going into this business that it was going to take me a while because I wasn’t a beauty queen,” the actor, 76, tells Variety. “I have to say I give an inner wink when I see friends who have been beauty queens who are no longer working because of ageism, and in my case, I’ve been able to continue working...

Plot: “Napoleon: The Director’s Cut” stars Joaquin Phoenix as the French emperor and military leader. The film is a fresh and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby. The director’s cut delves deeper into Josephine’s origin story and features more extravagant costumes, new larger-than-life sets, and the previously unreleased Battle of Marengo scene. The audience is also given more details about Napoleon’s demise, from his attempted assassination to his failed invasion of Russia.

Review: When Ridley Scott’s Napoleon debuted in 2023, it received a less than enthusiastic welcome. While our own Chris Bumbray gave the film a positive score, he was the exception to the rule. The majority of critics and audiences found the film to be ambitious.

September marks Marcello Mastroianni’s centennial, and the Criterion Channel pays respect with a retrospective that puts the expected alongside some lesser-knowns: Monicelli’s The Organizer, Jacques Demy’s A Slightly Pregnant Man, and two by Ettore Scola. There’s also the welcome return of “Adventures In Moviegoing” with Rachel Kushner’s formidable selections, among them Fassbinder’s Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven, Pialat’s L’enfance nue, and Jean Eustache’s Le cochon. In the lead-up to His Three Daughters, a four-film Azazel Jacobs program arrives.

Theme-wise, a set of courtroom dramas runs from 12 Angry Men and Anatomy of a Murder to My Cousin Vinny and Philadelphia; a look at ’30s female screenwriters includes Fritz Lang’s You and Me, McCarey’s Make Way for Tomorrow, and Cukor’s What Price Hollywood? There’s also a giallo series if you want to watch an Argento movie and ask yourself,...

Veteran producer Stacey Sher still has love for critically-maligned “Poolman” directed by Chris Pine.

“It’s a gorgeous film. Chris made the movie he set out to make. He believed in it and I believed in Chris. I still do. He’s a really gifted filmmaker.”

Following its Toronto premiere, Pine’s film became one of the worst-reviewed titles last year, with Variety’s Owen Gleiberman calling it “not only the worst film I saw during the fall festival season but would likely be one of the worst films in any year it came out.”

But Sher believes you have to always support your director.

“Yes – if you believe in that person. Quentin Tarantino may have said that to me a long time ago: ‘The reviews of your movies aren’t written the weekend they come out. They are written 10, 20, 30 years after they come out. It’s all about how they endure.

The esteemed filmmaker behind the Johnny Cash bio-musical “Walk the Line” and superhero drama “Logan,” James Mangold has done it all. He’s torn up the race track with “Ford v Ferrari,” been the only director other than Steven Spielberg to take the helm of an “Indiana Jones” film with last year’s “Dial of Destiny,” and later this year, he’ll debut his Bob Dylan drama starring Timotheé Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown.” Before he began his career as a filmmaker, he learned from legends like Alexander Mackendrick (“The Sweet Smell of Success”) and Milos Forman (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”).

In a recent response post on X, Mangold explained his creative process and how it was passed down from these “masters,” as well as gathered from watching the work of others.

“I have learned this way of working from watching masters I admire. Some masters have been my teachers in person.

Welcome back to Oscars Playback, in which Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng revisit Oscar ceremonies and winners of yesteryear. This week, we cover the 57th Academy Awards in 1985, honoring the films of 1984.

“Amadeus” topped the night with eight wins from a co-leading 11 nominations (tied with “A Passage to India”). The period drama nabbed Best Picture (the second of three Best Picture wins for producer Saul Zaentz), Best Director for Milos Forman and Best Actor for F. Murray Abaraham, who defeated co-star Tom Hulce. This marked the 12th and last time multiple performers from the same film were nominated for Best Actor.

See Oscars Playback: When ‘Terms of Endearment’ and Shirley MacLaine deserved this

But the ceremony might most be remembered for spawning the oft misquoted line, “You like me! You really like me!” What Sally Field, who won her second Best Actress statuette with “Places in the Heart,...

Song and dance man or gangster? Few stars of Hollywood’s Golden Era could claim they were equally well known for two such diverse genres. Yet, the legendary James Cagney worked hard to be able to make such a claim.

He was born on July 17, 1899, in New York City. His family was poor, and Cagney was sickly as a child. While growing up in a rough neighborhood, he learned a variety of skills, including tap dancing, street fighting, baseball and boxing. When he was 19, his father died, and he took odd jobs to help support his mother and siblings. On a whim, he auditioned for a role of a chorus girl in a local production. Although he had never had professional training, he landed the role and learned the dances from watching the other performers – and it never bothered him to dress as a girl and perform. Despite his mother...

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 28 to July 6) boasted not one but two competitions, the Crystal Globe and Proxima, presided over by the festival president Jiří Bartoška, artistic director Karel Och, and executive director Kryštof Mucha. The festival is the main summer event in the country, which attracts many sponsors and patrons who want to attend, and faces none of the financial hardships of such festivals as Berlin, Toronto, and Sundance. 130 films are shown, with 140,000 tickets sold. There is no room for growth, given the limited venues, from the many screening rooms at the festival hub, the Hotel Thermal, where juror Christine Vachon mixed Negronis for her fellow jurors between screenings, to the colorful arthouse Kino Drahomira, named after a revered Czech woman director.

The Eastern European festival falls between Cannes and Venice, and programs many films in its Crystal Globe Competition that did not make the cut at Cannes,...

Even Hollywood’s biggest stars may sometimes need to get away from Tinseltown and all that talk about box office declines, streaming challenges, and the threats of TikTok and generative AI.

No surprise then that the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has found passionate fans among the A-list with its offering of summer refreshment, like a cocktail of positivity away from all the negativity.

In fact, Kviff has over the years often turned out not to only be a film fest, but also a big love fest for famous faces.

The late Oscar-winning Czech directing legend Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus, The People vs. Larry Flynt) had made it his mission to promote Kviff in Hollywood after its reboot in 1994 following the November 1989 Velvet Revolution that ended Communist rule in what was then Czechoslovakia country and the Czech Republic and Slovakia becoming independent states as...

Kevin Spacey will be honored with the Nations Award for Lifetime Achievement at a special gala evening in the historic southern Italian town of Taormina in July.

The organizers said The Usual Suspects and American Beauty Oscar winner will also give a short on-stage performance at the event, taking place on July 21 in Taormina’s 4,000-seats Greek-roman Theatre.

The event, which is part of a program of cultural events running in the landmark ancient amphitheater across the summer, is not connected to the Taormina Film Festival, which runs from July 12 to 19.

The honor comes as Spacey continues to battle multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him, which he has denied.

He was found not liable in a 2022 battery case brought by actor Anthony Rapp in the U.S., and not guilty in a UK trial in 2023, related to allegations by four men, but faces a fresh civil trial in the...

Benicio del Toro has had enough of schmoozing, small talk and pretending to laugh at people’s jokes in this year’s black-and-white trailer for the 2024 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff), which was unveiled, as has become tradition, on Friday evening as part of the opening night festivities of the 58th edition of the fest in the Czech spa town.

Enough is enough, he thinks, while walking through a Berlin train station. And to cheer himself up, he turns to a traditional Karlovy Vary treat that he takes out of a bag, which also contains his Kviff honor statuette.

The Puerto Rican actor and producer received the Kviff President’s Award in 2022 and has now joined a who’s who of stars from Hollywood and beyond in starring in the usually offbeat trailers that don’t take themselves, the celebrities and the award statuette too seriously. Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson,...

Wil Wheaton is known for starring in the iconic Star Trek franchise in the role of Wesley Crusher in the iconic 1987 series Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, the actor revealed that some of the people were not honest with him, which could have potentially ruined his career!

Wil Wheaton in Big Bang Theory (2007-19) | Warner Bros. Television

Starring in the iconic series, Wheaton found worldwide fame for his portrayal of Crusher. When he joined another movie, one of the producers of the series straight up lied to Wheaton that they needed him on an urgent basis!

Wil Wheaton Found Another Opportunity

After the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation ended, Wil Wheaton got the amazing opportunity to work with notable director Miloš Forman in Valmont.

Wil Wheaton in a still from Star Trek: The Next Generation | Paramount Television

With the production of the next season some months away,...

Beloved French actor Isabelle Huppert will receive the Lumière Award in the city of Lyon in October.

Created by Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux, the Lumière Film Festival celebrates classic and contemporary cinema each fall. The Lumière Award honors a leading figure in the world of cinema and their entire body of work.

Huppert succeeds German director Wim Wenders who was awarded the prize in 2023. Former recipients include Tim Burton, Jane Campion, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, Francis Ford Coppola, Ken Loach, Catherine Deneuve, Jane Fonda, Pedro Almodóvar, Miloš Forman, the Dardenne brothers and Wong Kar-wai, among others.

“It’s a great honor for me to receive the Lumière Award. It’s a magnificent prize, and so is its festival. It’s an award that bears the name of the inventors of cinema! Receiving it fills me with joy and pride,” said Huppert.

A prolific actor who shoots an average...

The 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff), which kicks off in the Czech spa town on Friday, promises a balanced diet of world premieres and other movies to discover, as well as hits and favorites from the recent festival circuit.

Central Europe’s biggest cinema fest and party once again dishes up a mix of regional and international films, including serious and some more fun fare, with a healthy serving of edgy, innovative, genre-bending, maybe somewhat outlandish-sounding movies, which it has often used as a special ingredient.

So without further ado, here is THR‘s look at some of the more unusual and offbeat-sounding films that Kviff will unspool for cineasts, tastemakers and industry insiders from June 28 through July 6.

Tiny Lights

Some filmmakers are proud of providing a new and different perspective on important topics and issues. Czech writer and director Beata Parkanová seems to have...