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The Deauville American Film Festival is launching a new industry initiative designed to bridge the gap between the French and U.S. film sectors.

“Deauville has always been the leading European platform for American cinema,” says festival director Aude Hesbert. “But our industries operate in such different ways, and we rarely speak the same production language. With this new program, we want to turn the festival into a space for real dialogue and collaboration.”

Rather than introducing a traditional co-production market, the festival will host a focused one-day program of panels, case studies, and networking sessions on September 8, positioning Deauville as a key transatlantic meeting point.

The day will be split into two thematic sections. The morning – organized in collaboration with public institutions like the Cnc and major players such as Mediawan – will highlight the strengths of the French production ecosystem, with panels on international appeal and case studies of recent U.

‘After the Hunt’ Luca Guadagnino’s follow up to ‘Queer’ and ‘Challengers’ dives into the life of a college professor dealing with “cancel culture”, her secretive past, and a serious accusation against her colleague. With a cast led by Julia Roberts (in just her third film of the decade), Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri, and Michael Stuhlbarg, ‘After the Hunt’ is one of the most anticipated films expected to premiere at Venice. If this exceeds (or even meets) expectations, award season can’t come soon enough, especially when you have Roberts and Garfield at the front and center of the campaign. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited Time Offer – Free Subscription to The Hollywood Insider Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values and mission statement here – Media has the responsibility to better our world – The Hollywood Insider...

Jim Jarmusch just wants to make films for the sake of cinema. Jarmusch’s latest collaborator, actress Vicky Krieps, couldn’t help but applaud the indie filmmaker’s nonconformist vision during the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Krieps will next star in Jarmusch’s ensemble “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother” alongside Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits, and Charlotte Rampling.

“What I really, really love about [Jarmusch] is that he is still just making a movie. He’s not trying to make the next Jim Jarmusch. He’s not trying to go to Cannes,” Krieps said, as reported by THR. “He’s really trying to figure out how to make the movie on set, like a student would make a movie. And that is very, very beautiful.”

Jarmusch certainly has had his fair share of experiences at Cannes, winning the Camera d’Or for his first feature “Stranger Than Paradise...

Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia,” a love story that re-teams the Oscar-winning director with “The Great Beauty” actor Toni Servillo, has been set as opening film of the upcoming Venice Film Festival.

“La Grazia” – the title can be translated in English as “Grace” – will be launching from the Lido in competition.

Servillo stars in “La Grazia” opposite Italian actor Anna Ferzetti, who recently appeared in Ferzan Ozpetek’s smash hit “Diamonds.” Plot details of Sorrentino’s new film are being kept under wraps besides the fact that it is a love story set somewhere in Italy.

“La Grazia” will mark Servillo’s seventh collaboration with Sorrentino who has shot 10 feature films to date. They first teamed up in Sorrentino’s dazzling 2001 debut, “One Man Up” in which Servillo played an ageing cocaine-addicted crooner. Servillo is best known to international audiences for his memorable turn as Roman writer and socialite Jep...

Mubi is reuniting with “Decision to Leave” filmmaker, Park Chan-wook, on his upcoming film, “No Other Choice,” which is currently in post-production and is strongly tipped for a world premiere in competition at Venice.

The global streamer, distributor and producer has bought the film for Latin America, U.K., Ireland, Benelux, Spain, Turkey, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Saarc. Cinéart will release “No Other Choice” theatrically in Benelux. Neon has bought it for North America.

Mubi has a history with Chan-wook. The company entered North America three years ago by theatrically distributing the Korean auteur’s twisty romantic thriller “Decision to Leave” which became his highest-grossing movie in North America, surpassing “Stoker” and “The Handmaiden.” Mubi had also released the movie in multiple international territories.

Park’s 12th feature, “No Other Choice” is based on the 1997 novel “The Ax” by Donald Westlake. It follows a man (Lee) who is abruptly...

The 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 4-12) boasts not one but two competitions, the Crystal Globe and Proxima, curated by artistic director Karel Och under the supervision of 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 fewer financial hardships than such festivals as Berlin, Toronto, and Sundance.

Last year, 130 films were shown and 140,000 tickets sold. There is little room for growth, given the limited venues, from the many screening rooms at the festival hub, the Hotel Thermal, where jurors hang out between screenings, to the colorful arthouse Kino Drahomira, named after a revered Czech woman director.

The Central European festival falls between Cannes and Venice, and programs many films in its Crystal Globe Competition that did not make the cut at Cannes, as well as films that weren’t yet finished.

The June 20 box office weekend looks like another blockbuster double-header with the releases of Disney/Pixar’s animated family film “Elio” and Sony’s R-rated post-apocalyptic sequel “28 Years Later.” Danny Boyle’s follow-up to his groundbreaking 2002 zombie classic “28 Days Later” has some of the best 2025 reviews for a franchise movie. (IndieWire’s review is here.)

Even if, as “Screen Talk” co-hosts Ryan Lattanzio and Anne Thompson discuss on this week’s IndieWire podcast episode, Ryan found it ultimately cloying and sentimental despite the imaginative filmmaking. Boyle (working from original “28 Days Later” scribe Alex Garland’s script) shot the film entirely on the iPhone 15 Pro Max using rig technology, with the film introducing a “poor man’s bullet time” (as Boyle described to IndieWire) for some of the grisliest kills of those infected by the “Rage” virus.

“28 Years Later” introduces new characters played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer,...

Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Emma Stone are among the rich roster of stars featured in hotly anticipated new movies expected to be launching from Venice Film Festival.

With one month to go until the Lido lineup is unveiled, Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera is racing against the clock to assemble the festival’s 82nd edition, slots for which are still in flux. But what’s clear is that there will be no shortage of the type of buzzy titles that make Venice a prime awards season driver.

Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine,” featuring Dwayne Johnson as two-time UFC heavyweight champ Mark Kerr and Emily Blunt as his wife Dawn; Luca Guadagnino’s #MeToo-themed thriller “After the Hunt” starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri; and “Bugonia,” the latest collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone — who were last...

We were disappointed when the Cannes lineup came out and Jim Jarmusch’s next film was not on it. But it seems like we just had to wait a little longer.

Efe Cakarel, the CEO of Mubi, which is distributing Jarmusch’s next movie, told a crowd at SXSW London that Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in the main competition.

“That’s already confirmed,” he said during a keynote speech at the festival on Friday (via Variety). He also added one other movie joining the lineup that Mubi will be releasing, Paolo Sorrentino’s next movie “La Grazia” starring Toni Servillo.

Venice won’t announce its lineup for some time, but it’s an exciting get for the festival and could be the first of several high profile contenders on the Biennale. Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine” from A24 has been rumored,...

Jim Jarmusch’s comedy drama Father Mother Sister Brother is headed to Venice competition, according to Mubi founder Efe Cakarel.

Cakarel revealed the film was to feature in competition during keynote speech today (June 6) at SXSW London, telling audiences it is “already confirmed”.

Jarmusch’s film, on which Mubi is a producer, is an anthology of three stories starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Vicky Krieps, which shot last year across the US, France and Ireland. It follows estranged siblings that reunite after years apart. The Match Factory represents sales.

Production companies are Saint Laurent Prods, Mubi and the Apartment...

Arthouse streamer and distributor Mubi is planning to work on not more than 12 movies annually but is already up to 15 movies this year after a hot streak picking up a slew of Cannes Film Festival buzz titles – and the Venice Film Festival has not even started yet, CEO and founder Efe Cakarel told SXSW London on Friday in an energetic appearance that had the crowd engaged late in a busy week.

Cakarel shared his love of the cinema-going experience early in his appearance, saying, “I really focus on theatrical,” and “I am very committed to these films getting as wide a release in cinemas as possible.”

Last year, Mubi released The Substance globally, he highlighted. “It turns out distribution is not rocket science,” Cakarel concluded, adding that the firm is launching theatrical in Italy next.

Mubi was on a streak at Cannes, picking up rights in select markets to competition...

“We have the new Jim Jarmusch film. We are a co-producer on that, and it’s already confirmed to be in competition at Venice,” Mubi CEO Efe Cakarel said this afternoon during a Q&a session at SXSW London.

The new film from Jarmusch is titled Father Mother Sister Brother and stars Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Indya Moore, and Luka Sabbat. We’d heard from many sources that the film was heading for the Lido, but this is the first time it has been confirmed publicly.

The official synopsis for Father Mother Sister Brother reads: Estranged siblings reunite after years apart, forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parents.

Elsewhere during this afternoon’s session, Cakarel told the SXSW crowd that Mubi has bought La grazia, the new film by Paolo Sorrentino, which he said...

Jim Jarmusch’s long-awaited feature “Father Mother Sister Brother” is set to debut in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, running 27 August–6 September 2025 on the Lido.

The anthology follows three interconnected family stories across the United States, Ireland and France, and marks Jarmusch’s first narrative feature since The Dead Don’t Die in 2019. Its ensemble includes Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Mayim Bialik, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat. Principal photography wrapped quietly in Ireland and France last June.

The road to Venice has been unusually circuitous. Early trade chatter tipped the film for Cannes, yet it was absent from Thierry Frémaux’s April line-up announcement, prompting speculation about a late switch to the autumn circuit. World of Reel later reported that the project “skipped Cannes” and became a leading contender for Venice after the festival’s selection committee passed on it.

The official Venice Film Festival lineup may be some weeks from being announced, but one film looks set to be included.

Jim Jarmusch’s next feature “Father Mother Sister Brother” will screen in competition on the Lido, according to Efe Cakarel, the CEO of the film’s co-producer Mubi.

“That’s already confirmed,” he told a crowd at SXSW London, where he was giving a keynote speech on Friday.

“Father Mother Sister Brother” — which shot last year — stars Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat.

The film is a triptych, following three separate stories set in different countries and revolving around relationships between adult children, their somewhat distant parents and each other. The first part, “Father,” is set in the east coast in Northeastern U.S., “Mother” is in Dublin, Ireland, and “Sister Brother” is in Paris, France.

While Jarmusch...

At the Cannes halfway mark, talk is turning to the Venice Film Festival line-up.

Benny Safdie’s A24 title The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, and films from Chloe Zhao, Edward Berger, Alice Winocour and Yorgos Lanthimos are all being tipped to debut on the Lido.

After a quiet 2024 in Venice, Netflix may be back with Berger’s Macao-set The Ballad Of A Small Player starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton. Focus Features has two major possibilities: Zhao’s Hamnet, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal (although the Nov 27 US release date may suggest a later festival...

Riley Keough has joined the cast of “Out of This World” directed by Albert Serra, the Spanish director whose 2022 film “Pacifiction” competed at Cannes and won a pair of Cesar Awards. Keough will star opposite F. Murray Abraham and Liza Yankovskaia (“Frau”).

Serra’s English-language film debut, “Out of This World” follows an American delegation traveling to Russia in the midst of the Ukrainian war to try to find a solution to an economic dispute. The project explores the decades-long rivalry between Russia and the U.S. While it will mainly shoot in English, it will also include some Russian dialogue. Kristen Stewart was previously attached to star in the movie.

“Out of This World” is being represented internationally by Alice Lesort’s sales team at Losange Films, Charles Gillibert’s auteur-driven sales and production boutique which is a sister label to CG Cinema. The feature, which marks Serra’s eighth film,...

Exclusive: Cineart has taken Benelux rights to Critics’ Week title Reedland, the feature debut of Dutch director Sven Bresser, that is being sold by France’s The Party Film Sales.

Reedland is a dark drama featuring non-professionals and about a farmer who discovers a girl’s body in the reed land where he works. Marleen Slot’s Viking Film has produced the film which was presented as a work in progress in Les Arcs 2024.

Cineart has also pre-bought Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache’s coming-of-age drama, Just An Illusion, starring Camille Cottin and Louis Garrel from Gaumont.

Now part of the Mubi empire,...

“Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder and “The X-Files” legend Gillian Anderson are teaming up to take on a new kind of slasher movie.

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” will mark the third feature from Jane Schoenbrun, whose psychological horror drama “I Saw the TV Glow” became one of the most acclaimed indies of 2024.

Plan B is producing the film, with Mubi financing and to distribute across will distribute in select territories, including North America, Latin America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Turkey, India, Australia, and New Zealand. The Match Factory is handling remaining worldwide sales.

In “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” the infamous “Camp Miasma” slasher franchise is getting rebooted yet again. But when the latest movie’s director becomes obsessed with the mysterious, reclusive actress who played the “final girl” in the original film, a whole new kind of slasher emerges from the bottom of the lake.

Jane Schoenbrun’s latest feature film “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” has been boarded by Mubi, which will finance and distribute the film in select territories.

Newly announced by Mubi on Friday, “Camp Miasma” will star “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder and “X-Files” star Gillian Anderson, and it will go into production this summer in British Columbia.

Schoenbrun wrote and will direct the film about a director hired to yet again reboot a slasher horror franchise called “Camp Miasma.” But when the latest movie’s director becomes obsessed with the mysterious, reclusive actress who played the “final girl” in the original film, a whole new kind of slasher emerges from the bottom of the lake.

Brad Pitt’s Plan B has also boarded the film and is producing. Daniel Bekerman, who is executive producing, will provide local production services via his Scythia Films. Mubi is financing the film and will distribute in select territories,...

Mubi, the global streamer, producer and distributor behind “The Substance,” has struck a major three-year co-production, financing and distribution agreement with Our Films, the new Rome-based company founded by prominent European producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli.

Our Films, which is part of Mediawan, was launched last year by Gianani and Mieli, and has already become a creative hub for world-class filmmakers from Europe, the U.S. and overseas. Mubi and Our Films share the same passion for artistically ambitious movies that resonate internationally. The agreement also underscores Mediawan’s drive to further strengthen their status as a leading prestige European film studio.

The first film to emerge from this strategic alliance will be the next feature from Paweł Pawlikowski, the Oscar-winning director of “Ida” and “Cold War.”

Mieli previously successfully collaborated with Mubi on three high-profile films: Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” starring Cailee Spaeny; Pablo Larraín’s “Maria,” starring...

Cate Blanchett announced earlier this week that she is considering stepping away from acting. In a recent interview with Radio Times, the two-time Oscar winner revealed, “My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting. [There are] a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

While Blanchett has remained busy with high-profile projects — including Disclaimer for Apple TV+ and Jim Jarmusch’s upcoming film Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, c0starring Adam Driver — she sounded sincere about stepping away from the business. Fame, she admits, has never felt entirely natural.

“When you go on a talk show, or even here now, and then you see sound bites of things you’ve said, pulled out and italicized, they sound really loud. I’m not that person,” she explained. “I make more sense in motion – it’s been a long...

Cate Blanchett, a two-time Oscar winner, has told the British press she is retiring from acting in the near future.

The actor-producer said in an interview with Radio Times this week that she wasn’t sure calling herself an “actress” was quite accurate: “It’s because I’m giving up… My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting. [There are] a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

The Australian star spoke ahead of BBC’s Radio 4 airing an adaptation of Wallace Shawn’s The Fever, Blanchett’s first radio play. It follows a woman from a privileged background who visits an impoverished foreign country and suddenly becomes ill. She becomes emotionally unsettled and contemplates the little impact she’s had on the world.

Only recently, Blanchett’s acting credits include Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple TV...

Cate Blanchett has said she is seriously considering stepping away from acting, citing other personal interests and a long-standing discomfort with public attention. In a recent interview with Radio Times, the two-time Academy Award winner stated that her family often dismisses her comments about retiring, but she remains firm in her intent.

“My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting,” Blanchett said. “There are a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

Blanchett is currently featured in BBC Radio 4’s upcoming drama The Fever. The interview also touched on her ongoing discomfort with public appearances and celebrity culture. Speaking about the experience of being quoted out of context, she said, “When you go on a talk show, or even here now, and then you see soundbites of things you’ve said, pulled out and italicized,...

Cate Blanchett may be looking to diversify her career away from the screen. The acclaimed actress/producer told the Radio Times that she is considering “giving up acting,” however, there is no timeline just yet for a possible exit.

“My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it: I am serious about giving up acting,” Blanchett said. “[There are] a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

IndieWire has reached out for additional comment.

Blanchett won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2005 for “The Aviator” and Best Actress in 2014 for “Blue Jasmine.” She also was nominated for six other Oscars. The prolific star recently led Guy Maddin’s “Rumours,” Alfonso Cuarón’s series “Disclaimer,” Eli Roth’s “Borderlands,” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Black Bag.” Blanchett will next appear in Jim Jarmusch’s “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother.”

Blanchett, through her Dirty Films banner, also launched...

Updated, 8:11 a.m.: Spike Lee has shared on Instagram that his latest film, “Highest 2 Lowest,” will premiere out of competition in Cannes, though the film was not included in the festival’s Thursday lineup announcement. IndieWire understands the festival was waiting to confirm Denzel Washington’s attendance, and indeed the star will be at Cannes.

Earlier: Predicting the Cannes Film Festival lineup is always a tricky feat. Some films you’d expect to see on the Croisette — and we expected many that didn’t make the cut Thursday morning — either aren’t ready or decided to go the way of the fall festivals.

Or worse, Thierry Frémaux and his team just didn’t go for them. The festival programmers looked at a record 2,909 feature submissions this year, spreading out selections across the main competition, Un Certain Regard, and the non-competitive sections. More official selection films will be announced,...

New films from Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater and the Dardenne brothers will premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Cannes organizers announced at a press conference in Paris on Thursday.

Anderson will be back in Cannes with “The Phoenician Scheme,” which premiered a baffling trailer at CinemaCon last week. Linklater is heading to France with a bold movie, “Nouvelle Vague,” which tackles the sacred ground of Jean-Luc Godard and the filming of “Breathless” in the 1960s. The Dardenne brothers have “Young Mothers,” which gives them a chance to become the first filmmakers to win the Palme d’Or three times.

Actors in the festival making their directorial debuts include Scarlett Johansson, who is in Un Certain Regard with “Eleanor the Great,” starring Joan Squibb; and Harris Dickinson, the star of the Palme d’Or winner “The Triangle of Sadness,” with “Urchin.”

The main competition will include a number of...

It’s table stakes at this point to recognize that a significant portion of the eventual Best Picture field will launch at the Cannes Film Festival. Six of the 20 Best Picture nominees premiered on the French Riviera in the last two years. Last year’s Palme d’Or winner Anora became only the third Cannes champion to take the top award — but the second in five years after Parasite pulled off the gambit in 2020. (The only previous Palme d’Or champion to win Best Picture was 1955’s Marty.) That has made Cannes a significant step in awards season, despite its spring calendar placement — and with the Academy increasing its international membership annually, the importance of Cannes will only continue to grow.

So, which of this year’s potential premieres will carry through to next year’s Oscars ceremony? Ahead are the nine movies we hope make the cut when the...

Adam Driver is returning to television for the first time since his breakout role in “Girls” that ended way back in 2017.

In a competitive situation, Apple has acquired and given a straight-to-series order for “The Dealer,” a drama that will star Driver and Jessica Chastain, who is also executive producing the series for her Freckle Films banner.

Per a synopsis, “The Dealer” is a biting exploration of power, class, seduction, and culture set inside the glittering world of the high-end art market and told through the eyes of an aspiring super gallery owner (Chastain) and the tangled relationship with her most gifted and unnerving artist (Driver).

Sam Gold, a Tony Award winner who most recently directed the “Romeo + Juliet” revival starring Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor, is directing the series for Apple TV+, and another Tony winner, Lucas Hnath, will write the series.

Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer will executive produce for Media Res,...

Exclusive: In a very competitive situation, Apple TV+ has landed The Dealer, a Media Res drama starring Oscar winner Jessica Chastain and Oscar nominee Adam Driver, with a straight-to-series order.

The Dealer is executive produced by the A Doll’s House, Part 2 trio of Sam Gold, Lucas Hnath and Sarah Lunnie. Written by Hnath and to be directed by Gold, The Dealer is described as a biting exploration of power, class, seduction and culture set inside the glittering world of the high-end art market, told through the eyes of an aspiring super gallerist, played by Jessica Chastain, and the tangled relationship with her most gifted and unnerving artist, played by Adam Driver.

Also executive producing The Dealer are Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer for Media Res, Chastain and Kelly Carmichael for Freckle Films, Driver and Alan Poul (Six Feet Under). Arianna Anderson will serve as co-executive producer on the project,...

The beloved “Star Wars” sequel “The Empire Strikes Back” is set to open this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival on April 24, with director George Lucas presenting the film for its 45th anniversary.

“’The Empire Strikes Back’ is like ‘The Godfather Part II.’ Yes, technically, they’re sequels, the second movie in a series. But they are so much more,” TCM’s primetime anchor Ben Mankiewicz said in a statement. “The first ‘Star Wars’ picture in 1977 ignited a new era in Hollywood and turned a generation of young people into passionate movie fans for life. Then, somehow, three years later, along comes ‘Empire,’ which might even be better. It’s a stunning accomplishment and surely stands one of the great achievements in the history of film.”

Additional titles that will screen at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival include “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “The Lady Eve,” “Cinderella,” “Apocalypse Now,...

With just three weeks until the line-up for the Cannes Film Festival 2025 is announced on April 10,Screentakes a look at the films from around the world looking increasingly likely to debut on the Croisette.

North America

English-language auteurs Wes Anderson, Lynne Ramsay, Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch and Kelly Reichardt could all unveil their anticipated next films at the Cannes – and if they do, it will drum up the kind of red-carpet glamour Thierry Fremaux loves.

Two years after The French Dispatch played in Competition, Anderson looks a safe bet to return with The Phoenician Scheme, a spy comedy thriller featuring...

[Editor’s note: this list was originally published in August 2024. It has since been updated with new entries, including “Black Bag.”]

When director Todd Field sat down and wrote his film “Tár,” there was only one option to play the title character. As he described to IndieWire in an interview, the film wouldn’t have been made if Cate Blanchett hadn’t agreed to take the part of lauded conductor Lydia Tár. “I had no backup plan,” he told IndieWire. “I’d met Cate 10 years ago and I knew coming out of that meeting that I had just been in conversation with somebody that had one of the great brains I ever met. And it was someone that I was really, really desperate to be able to collaborate with.”

It might seem silly to hinge your entire film on the participation of a single actor; the Australian Blanchett doesn’t share any notable biographical details with the fictional American conductor that makes her casting meaningful in a meta sense.

What’s going to be this year’s “Anora”? As the Cannes Film Festival rapidly approaches, that’s the question for artistic director Thierry Fremaux and movie buffs around the world.

A month before Cannes Film Festival’s press conference, the official selection is still very much a work in progress, with little reliable information filtering through about which movies have already been invited. In fact, as of Friday — despite the volume of splashy prediction stories — it appears that only three films have so far been given a golden ticket to compete in Cannes. Variety can reveal that one of them is Jim Jarmusch’s anticipated “Father Mother Sister Brother“ starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits.

The last edition of the festival, which Fremaux had warned would be slightly weaker due to the impact of the double Hollywood strikes, proved to be anything but. Headlined by Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning “Anora,...

“The Substance” distributor Mubi is pursuing its buying spree with another anticipated film from an internationally celebrated auteur, Paolo Sorrentino.

The global distributor, streaming service and production company has bought Sorrrentino’s next movie “La Grazia” for worldwide rights excluding Italy and will retain all rights in North America, Latin America, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Spain, Turkey, India, Australia and New Zealand, with theatrical release plans to be announced in the coming months. The Match Factory will sell the remaining territories.

A love story, the exact plot of which remains under wraps, “La Grazia” marks Sorrentino’s follow up to “Parthenope” which launched from Cannes and scored record-breaking grosses at the Italian box office. “La Grazia,” which translates into English as “Grace,” reteams the Oscar-winning director with “The Great Beauty” actor Toni Servillo.

“La Grazia” was being courted by at least two other major distributors at the European Film Market,...

While the official lineup of films at the Cannes Film Festival taking place in May won’t be made public until mid-April, there are already some early rumblings of what projects we should expect to see on that list and there are plenty of reasons to get excited.

That group of potential entries as compiled by Deadline includes directorial debuts with Kristen Stewart‘s “The Chronology Of Water” (still a chance it might not be completed in time), and Scarlett Johansson‘s “Eleanor The Great.”

Read More: Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Potentially Eyeing Cannes Film Festival Screening

Notable and high-profile films that are expected to screen at Cannes, pending official confirmation: Jim Jarmusch‘s latest effort “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother,” Spike Lee‘s “Highest 2 Lowest” (a remake of the Akira Kurosawa kidnap drama that stars Lee’s longtime muse Denzel Washington), Wes Anderson‘s...

Ethan Hunt could be hitting the Croisette.

Though no decision has been made, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” is weighing a Cannes Film Festival bow, which could see Tom Cruise injecting some serious star power into the event. Paramount, which declined to comment for this article, will be releasing the movie in theaters on May 21, which falls during the second week of the festival. The film is intended to be Cruise’s last outing as the Imf spy.

Paramount has a rich history with the festival, and so does Cruise, whose last trip to Cannes — for “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022 — was a triumph. The movie went on to gross $1.45 billion at the worldwide box office and even garnered six Oscar nominations, winning a statuette for best sound.

Some other American filmmakers also strongly tipped to bring their latest pics to the glamorous festival include Spike Lee’s highly anticipated...

“The Substance” and “Queer” distributor Mubi is continuing its acquisition streak, picking up “The History of Sound,” the anticipated gay romance drama starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, for North America. Focus Features and Universal Pictures International, meanwhile, have acquired international rights for the film.

Directed by Oliver Hermanus, the feature finished production earlier this year. Mubi says it’s planning a theatrical release for 2025, following a world premiere to be announced in the coming months.

Announced back in 2021, “The History of Sound” became the first project Mescal shot after his starring role in “Gladiator II” and follows two young men, Lionel (Mescal) and David (O’Connor), in the shadows of WWI who are determined to record the lives, voices and music of Americans. As they begin to log the events, the two fall in love.

The film was penned by Ben Shattuck, adapted from his own award-winning short story.

Ruben Östlund’s highly anticipated “The Entertainment System Is Down” has added New York and Tokyo-based Cinema Inutile as executive producer, continuing the company’s strategic expansion into larger-scale international projects. The film, starring Kirsten Dunst, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Brühl, Nicholas Braun and Samantha Morton, follows passengers on a long-haul flight forced to confront the horror of boredom when the entertainment system fails.

“I’m very, very excited for the film. It’s going to be a very special one,” Cinema Inutile founder Alex C. Lo tells Variety. Lo, a self-described “long-time admirer” of Östlund’s work, is a frequent collaborator of “The Entertainment System Is Down” producer Philippe Bober, including on Lou Ye’s Cannes-debuting “An Unfinished Film” and Jessica Hausner’s Sitges winner “Club Zero.” “The Entertainment System Is Down” is currently shooting and aims for a 2026 release.

Lo established Cinema Inutile just before the pandemic in late...

Danny Dyer, a much loved figure on U.K. screens who recently made waves globally thanks to the Disney+ hit “Rivals,” is set to lead a new film.

In “Three Quick Breaths,” which has already begun shooting in Ireland, Dyer will play a soccer agent under pressure. Vertigo Releasing has acquired the feature for the U.K. and Ireland, while Sunrise Films will handle worldwide sales and take the film to the European Film Market in Berlin. A first look image has been unveiled by Vertigo.

“Three Quick Breaths” sees Dyer play Jimmy Banks — an old school agent who desperately needs to get his star player one last big payday before Jimmy’s life, and his client’s reputation, comes tumbling down. As per the description, the film is a “fast-paced, pressure cooker thriller” that “plunges into the seedy and exhilarating world of football agents who live for the big...

Ireland’s national screen agency Screen Ireland has set out its strategic plan for 2025-2029, with €5.5m ring-fenced for regional development and Irish-language production across the coming year, available to creatives across all genres and formats.

It has identified six strategic objectives:support Irish culture and ambitious storytelling on screen; invest in talent development for Irish story makers and artists; champion sustainable industry development; support and empower industry to develop skills and a diverse generation of creatives nationwide; build a cultural infrastructure for audiences to discover and connect with Irish screen stories; and ensure Screen Ireland is appropriately resourced.

Next steps...

Two days after David Lynch’s passing, it’s still hard to believe the most influential filmmaker of our time is gone. It’s also hard to believe that Lynch, whose death at age 78 was shared by his family on January 16, only shot three features with cinematographer Frederick Elmes: “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet,” and “Wild at Heart.” The alchemical match between director and Dp remains one of the defining collaborations of Lynch’s career, with Elmes crystallizing Lynch’s nightmarish and entirely sui generis vision of the American underbelly in all those films. The worms writhing beneath white picket fences, the neo-noir potential of a severed ear that gives way to a saga of psychosexual menace involving Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, and Dennis Hopper.

Elmes — who most recently shot Jim Jarmuch’s “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother” in New Jersey, Dublin, and Paris — got on the phone with IndieWire late on...

A leading light of the independent space is returning to the fray with news on Tuesday that Arianna Bocco, the former president of IFC Films, has joined Mubi as SVP of global distribution.

Bocco announced she was leaving IFC Films in March 2023 and will lead international distribution at Mubi films and grow its footprint.

She reports to Mubi chief content officer Jason Ropell and will attend Sundance Film festival, where the company has Amalia Ulman’s Argentina-us co-production Magic Farm in selection.

Mubi company is celebrating its biggest ever box office hit after The Substance starring Golden Globe winner Demi Moore,...

Mubi is expanding its global theatrical footprint, and it is hiring a seasoned indie film vet to lead the charge. Mubi has hired Arianna Bocco, the former president of IFC Films, to join the company as its SVP of Global Distribution, the company announced Tuesday, January 7.

Bocco spent 16 years at IFC Films, leaving in 2023 (she was elevated to the role of president in 2020) amid major changes to the indie distributor that resulted in a slew of executive departures.

In her new role, Bocco will lead the international distribution of Mubi’s titles, helping to expand its foreign footprint theatrically. Mark Boxer, who currently leads the U.S. distribution team and also worked with Bocco at IFC Films, will continue in that role. Some of the titles she’ll be working on to start include Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind” and Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother.”

Bocco will report directly to Jason Ropell,...

Exclusive: In the wake of scoring a Golden Globe win for Demi Moore in its first big theatrical release The Substance, Mubi has hired former IFC Films president Arianna Bocco as its new SVP of Global Distribution.

Bocco will report directly to Jason Ropell, Mubi’s Chief Content Officer. U.S. Distribution will continue to be led by Mark Boxer; Bocco and Boxer had a long run together at IFC. Bocco will be at Sundance on behalf of Mubi where Amalia Ulman’s Magic Farm will receive its world premiere. Boxer will lead U.S. distribution under Bocco.

On deck for Mubi in the near future are such titles as Kelly Reichart’s The Mastermind and Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother.

The role is a new post, based in New York, that will enable the streaming and theatrical company to take a greater footing handling the foreign distribution of its titles.

The Chinese billionaire real estate mogul Zhang Xin has made an undisclosed investment in arthouse distributor and global streamer Mubi through her New York film company Closer Media, Mubi said Friday. Zhang will also take a seat on Mubi’s board of directors.

“We are thrilled to welcome Zhang Xin to our board of directors,” said Mubi founder and CEO Efe Cakarel. “She is an exceptional leader who has built an incredible company from the ground up, demonstrating unparalleled vision and resilience. I deeply admire her, and I personally look forward to learning from her expertise, strategic insight, and entrepreneurial spirit as we continue to grow and innovate.”

After making her fortune, and reshaping the Beijing and Shanghai skyline with real estate group Soho China, which she co-founded with her husband, Pan Shiyi, Zhang shifted gears in 2022, stepping down as Soho CEO and launching Manhattan-based film production and financing group Closer Media.

Judging by the shocked faces on the European buyers and sellers attending the recent American Film Market in Las Vegas, the U.S. election didn’t end the way they had hoped. On the morning after, the most common reaction heard around the Palms Casino, where the conference took place, was “Wtf” (or a variation of) along with an eagerness to board a return flight home.

Whatever the opinions of Donald Trump across the Atlantic, the new political order could prove a

boon to Europe’s creative industries, which have flourished thanks to government-backed incentives and an exodus of U.S. talent to the Continent.

If anything, the election outcome crystallizes a shift in the way America is perceived abroad, one that has made Europe a land of opportunity for talent.

“For the longest time, the U.S. has been looked up to as a kind of ideal, a model...

Following her critically acclaimed turn as legendary opera singer Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s “Maria,” Angelina Jolie will return to Paris to star in Alice Winocour‘s first English language directorial effort.

The movie, titled “Stitches” (“Coutures”), is set in the world of high fashion and unfolds in Paris. Jolie stars in the movie as a filmmaker and is one of three women whose lives will collide during Fashion Week.

Filming is expected to begin at the start of next year with Charles Gillibert‘s Paris-based banner CG Cinema producing in partnership with Zhang Xin and William Horberg of Closer Media.

“Stitches” also reteams Winocour with French production-distribution powerhouse Pathé Films following her well-received movie “Paris Memories,” which world premiered at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight and earned its star Virginie Efira a Cesar Award (France’s equivalent to the Oscar) for her performance as a survivor of a brutal terrorist attack.

James Gray, the director of “Ad Astra,” has revealed his next film, an original screenplay and crime drama called “Paper Tiger.”

Gray’s latest film, his ninth feature, will star Adam Driver and will reunite him with his stars from 2022’s “Armageddon Time,” Jeremy Strong and Anne Hathaway.

“Paper Tiger” is described as a tense and gritty story about two brothers pursuing the American Dream, only to become entangled in a scheme that turns out to be too good to be true. As they try to navigate their way through an ever-more dangerous world of corruption and violence, they find themselves and their family brutally terrorized by the Russian “Mafiya.”

The film is being launched to buyers at next week’s AFM, with CAA Media Finance handling U.S. rights and Vincent Maraval and Kim Fox’s The Veterans handling international sales. The worldwide rights to the film are available.

Lady Gaga’s Joker: Folie à Deux and Adam Driver’s Megalopolis are currently locked in a box office competition. Both films were released a week apart, but their theatrical performances couldn’t be more different from one another. It’s no secret that Joker 2, despite its appalling reviews, is riding on the success of a huge IP and its 2019 predecessor, Joker‘s success.

Image from Joker: Folie À Deux | Official Trailer – Warner Bros. Pictures (YouTube)

Tod Phillips’ magnum opus has already earned a whopping $121 million at the worldwide box office, on a $200 million budget, despite releasing a week after Megalopolis. On the other hand, Francis Ford Coppola’s ambitious sci-fi drama is stumbling at merely $8.5 million worldwide earnings on an enormous $120 million budget. This all has got us wondering how differently Gaga and Driver’s careers have gone since their $153 million blockbuster House of Gucci.

Exploring Lady Gaga...

Adam Driver stars in the upcoming film "Father, Mother, Sister, Brother" along with an ensemble cast. The movie will directed by Jim Jarmusch is contemplative and focuses on family dynamics, which is very similar to Driver's 2014 movie, "This is Where I Leave You." Though they share the same premise, "Father, Mother, Sister, Brother" should be different from "This is Where I Leave You" in a few key ways.

One of Adam Driver's upcoming movies sounds very similar to his 2014 movie with Shawn Levy, the director of Deadpool & Wolverine, and it could be much better. Before directing Deadpool & Wolverine, some of Shawn Levy's best movies were dramas. One of those films starred a young Adam Driver before he landed iconic films like Marriage Story and BlacKkKlansman. While it was one of Driver's early breaks as an actor, it wasn't his best showing. Luckily, he now has a chance to correct...