“Weapons,” Zach Cregger’s critically acclaimed horror film about a community rocked by the mysterious disappearance of 17 children, scored at the international box office. The film, which topped domestic charts in its opening weekend, picked up $27.5 million from 73 international markets to bring its global haul to $70 million.

“Weapons” was released by Warner Bros. and New Line and stars Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong and Amy Madigan. It cost a modest $38 million to produce, setting itself up nicely for a very profitable run in theaters. Among the most notable foreign territories, “Weapons” performed well in the U.K., where it earned $3.6 million, Mexico, where it picked up $2.7 million, France, where it nabbed $2 million and Australia, where it grossed $1.8 million. Horror films traditionally perform better in the U.S. than in other parts of the world.

The weekend’s other major new release, Disney’s “Freakier Friday,...

“Weapons,” a twisty horror film about a group of missing children, and “Freakier Friday,” a body swap comedy, delivered a potent one-two punch at the box office this weekend, lifting ticket sales as summer movie season draws to a close.

The films captured the top two spots on the charts, with “Weapons” debuting to $42.5 million and “Freakier Friday” premiering to $29 million. Last weekend’s champ, Disney and Marvel’s “Fantastic Four: The First Steps,” surrendered its box office crown, earning $15.5 million in its third weekend of release for a third place finish. After starting strong with a $117.6 million bow, “Fantastic Four” has plummeted in subsequent weekends, falling more than 67% in its sophomore frame and another 60% over the past weekend. The superhero film has grossed $230 million domestically and will likely earn less money that “Superman,” the latest comic book adaptation from its rival DC Films.

“Weapons” extends a hot streak for Warner Bros.,...

Is God Is has landed an early summer release date from Orion Pictures, a division of Amazon MGM Studios.

Playwright Aleshea Harris is directing the big screen adaptation of her acclaimed, award-winning stage play of the same name will open in cinemas May 15, 2026. That’s just around the time of the Cannes Film Festival, although there’s no word yet as to whether the movie will make an awards play, although Orion is known as a home for prestige fare.

Is God Is marks Harris’ feature directorial debut, and stars Kara Young (Virgo) and Mallori Johnson (Kindred) as twin African-American sisters who were burned badly as babies in a fire that left them with permanent, disfiguring scars. Now 21 years old, they embark on an epic quest for revenge and, and along the way, confront a charged family history that will push them to extraordinary lengths.

Janelle Monáe, Erika Alexander, Mykelti Williamson and Josiah Cross co-star,...

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

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

Ongoing

Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland - August 6-16

HollyShorts Film Festival, US - August 7-17

Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia - August 7-24

Chichester International Film Festival, UK - August 8-24

August

Gramado Film Festival, Brazil - August 13-23

Edinburgh International Film Festival, UK - August 14-20

Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia & Herzegovina - August 15-22

Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund, Norway...

Not long out of high school, Chelli is finding her way through awful grief for her best friend, and for her sister, but this documentary loses sight of its subject

Chicago-based Chelli Look, the subject at the centre of this diffuse documentary, seems like a nice person, with a talent for designing and making minimalist leather handbags. Not long out of high school, the best friend with whom she planned to start a business died in a car accident. Then her elder sister, Megan Henneberg, was murdered in 2007 by her husband Brian, leaving Chelli, her parents, siblings and extended family to deal with the harrowing loss.

And yet, no matter how much sympathy you might feel for Chelli and her family’s trauma, or interest you might have in her bagmaking skills, or engagement with her as a person, somehow those core components don’t coalesce to make this feature-length...

The Czech Republic has selected Klára Tasovská’s documentary feature “I’m Not Everything I Want to Be” as its submission for the International Feature Film category of the Oscars following a controversial contest. The decision was announced Monday by the Czech Film and Television Academy.

The documentary follows the life of photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková, drawing on her diaries and thousands of photographs. It depicts the underground movement in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s as well as her dramatic escape to West Berlin, and fashion shoots in Tokyo. The film had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival last year and was awarded the Czech Lion for the best documentary feature this year.

The Cfta changed its system for selecting its Oscar candidate this year, which ruffled feathers. Voting took place in two rounds. In the first round, a Cfta committee chose three films from those that had been submitted by their producers.

Africa steps firmly over the threshold of Locarno’s 2025 Open Doors to deliver five singular short narratives that pull from social strife, ancestral lore and communal memory in a finely-curated program that centers the engaging, culturally rich narratives of the continent.

Taking such elaborate subject matter and masterfully condensing it into thoroughly refined snapshots, the directors firmly cement their skills at the sidebar — which marks its inaugural celebration of African features, producers and creatives after recently wrapping a three-year long focus on filmmakers from Latin America and the Caribbean. With a goal of boosting regions where financing and filmmaking is more challenged, Locarno’s Open Doors offers a significant platform and development program to attendees.

This year’s shorts also display a sense of broader cinematic appeal, from weighty social commentary in Absoulaye Sall’s “The Last Journey” and Yasir Faiz’s title “Bougainvillea” to Amina Abdoulaye Mamani’s bold...

The Hollywood icon played a convent girl falling for a prince in this bizarre film directed by Erich von Stroheim. Decades after it was abandoned, Queen Kelly will now be shown at the Venice film festival

In the long history of Hollywood excess, there is no tale as torrid as that of Queen Kelly. This lavish silent melodrama starring Gloria Swanson and directed by Erich von Stroheim will screen as the pre-opening event at this year’s Venice film festival, with a new score by composer Eli Denson. The film is an outlandish saga of illicit love in sordid surroundings – and so is the story of its production.

Queen Kelly is set in Europe before the first world war and tells the story of Patricia Kelly (Swanson), a convent girl who falls in love with a prince (British actor Walter Byron) who is engaged to a deranged queen. Patricia is sent away to Tanzania,...

“My Daughter is a Zombie” maintained its grip on the Korean box office over the Aug. 8–10 weekend, earning $5.9 million from 840,484 admissions.

According to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the film has grossed $22.7 million since its July 30 debut. Directed by Pil Gam-sung, the film is based on the webtoon of the same name. The comedy follows a doting father who embarks on a top-secret training mission to protect his daughter – the last remaining zombie in the world. The film features a star-studded cast including Cho Jung-seok (“Pilot”), Lee Jung-eun (“Parasite”), Cho Yeo-jeong (“Parasite”), Yoon Kyung-ho (“The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call”), and Choi Yu-ri (“Alienoid”). The film set a 2025 opening-day admissions record, surpassing “Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning.”

In second place, Brad Pitt racing drama “F1” added $2.6 million, bringing its cumulative total to $28.1 million. New entry “Ballerina,” a “John Wick” universe film, debuted in third place with...

A unified post-war Korea where the sea and the sky are enveloped in poignant red is the main stage of Syeyoung Park’s “The Fin,” his follow-up to debut “The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra” which world premieres at Switzerland’s Locarno Festival in the section Filmmakers of the Present.

The Coproduction Office handles world sales on a South Korea (Seesaw Pictures) and German (Essential Produktion) co-production, supported by Qatar’s Doha Film Institute.

After three years of post-production, the film envisions an apocalyptic world that hosts the Omegas, a mutated group of outcasts exploited as cheap labor by the government faction, the Omega Labor Force, who are entrusted with hunting them.

In his imagining of a dystopia, Syeyoung Park attempts to avoid representing his country as it currently is. “I do not like how Korea looks right now because there’s a Starbucks, McDonald’s, 7-Eleven, every one minute you walk. So...

Georgian helmer Alexandre Koberidze, in Locarno with his competition entry “Dry Leaf,” is re-teaming with Leipzig and Berlin-based New Matter Films on his next project, “Bilingual,” a romantic mystery drama inspired by the Pet Shop Boys’ 1996 album of the same name.

The German-French co-production will follow two story arcs, one set in France, the other in Georgia, following two women who are being sought in the respective countries.

“If you see the film, I guess you would never think of the Pet Shop Boys, but somehow the mood of the film comes from this music,” Koberidze says.

“It’s a film in two parts. One is set in France and is more of a criminal-detective story. The second part is in Georgia. It also has a kind of detective narrative but is more of a romantic story. And these two stories, in a very little way, melt into each other.

China’s market remained all-local across the top five for Aug. 8–10, with “Dead to Rights” (China Film) leading for a third weekend, adding RMB303.6 million ($42.2 million) and lifting its cume to RMB2.203 billion ($306 million), according to data from Artisan Gateway. That also made it the No. 3 film globally over the weekend, according to Comscore.

Directed by Shen Ao and written by Shen Ao, Zhang Ke, and Xu Luyang, and set against the backdrop of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre and drawing from documented historical events, “Dead to Rights” follows A Chang (Liu Haoran of the “Detective Chinatown” franchise), a postman who assumes the identity of a photo developer to survive the Japanese occupation. Operating from within the walls of a Japanese-controlled studio, he covertly shelters Chinese soldiers and civilians in an act of quiet resistance.

“Nobody” (Shanghai Animation Film) stayed second with $36.3 million. After 10 days it stands at $78.2 million and is fourth on the global chart.

Catarina Ruivo’s sprawling documentary trails her late relation back to the former colony, following the letters she wrote home in the 1940s and 50s

At nearly three hours, Catarina Ruivo’s sprawling documentary seeks to halt the march of death. When her grandmother Júlia died, she left behind a treasure trove of letters, written between 1946 and 1957 when she was living in Mozambique, then under Portuguese colonial rule. Read out by actor Rita Durão, this correspondence captures the hopes and dreams of a young woman, newly married and adapting to a foreign land. The voiceover is paired with Ruivo’s footage of present-day, independent Mozambique, images that breathe a second life into these messages from the past.

The juxtaposition between Júlia’s writings and the Mozambican cityscapes recalls Chantal Akerman’s seminal News from Home (1978), in which Akerman combined her narration of her mother’s letters with languid shots of...

She became world famous with Basic Instinct and Casino. Then she had a near fatal brain bleed. The actor and artist discusses strength, survival, being upskirted on set, her violent run-ins with Harvey Weinstein and the performances she’s most proud of

A couple of days before our interview, in late July, Sharon Stone announced on Instagram that her mother had died. When we meet over video link, I express my sympathies. Stone is known for her straight talking, but now she outdoes herself. “Mom, Dot, actually died a few months ago, but I was only ready to tell the public about it now because I always get my mad feelings first when people die.” What kind of mad, I ask – grief, confusion, loss? She smiles. “A little bit of anger and a little bit of ‘I didn’t fucking need you anyway’, you know!”

Now she’s laughing. “My...

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Young Adult novels (and subsequent film and television adaptations) were all the rage in the 2000s, and they've come back with a vengeance over the last few years. They're like low-rise jeans. So teenage fans had a lot to get excited about when it was announced Peacock would adapt the 2017 YA novel "One of Us Is Lying," from author Karen M. McManus, into a TV series.

The story's basically "The Breakfast Club" if it was written by Agatha Christie. In fact, if you're a fan of the best films inspired by Christie's works, it's worth a watch even if you're not familiar with the source material. Five students are given detention, including Simon (Mark McKenna), who operates a blog that spreads gossip about other kids. Simon unexpectedly dies while serving his punishment, and it's no accident. An investigation ensues when...

Lorin Clarke’s documentary But Also John Clarke examines the forces that created Fred Dagg – and the reinvention that came with his move from New Zealand to Australia

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In a career that spanned close to 40 years, the late satirist and comedian John Clarke played thousands of people. In his native New Zealand he was Fred Dagg, sheep farmer and gumboot philosopher. In Australia he was best known as one half of Clarke and Dawe – the voice of an endless parade of risible politicians, shonky businessmen and overconfident idiots.

His magic trick was to play them all as himself. His eldest daughter, Lorin Clarke, explains it in her father’s own words. “He used to say to me, ‘If you ask some actors to play Hamlet, they will become a Danish prince, and they will research Danish princes. If you ask me to play Hamlet,...

Before his untimely death in 1982, John Belushi was set to appear on the hilarious Leslie Nielsen TV series that spawned the Naked Gun movies. A comedy icon, Belushi made his name on the late-night show "Saturday Night Live," which marked his first televised appearance with comedy partner Dan Aykroyd. Out of their time together on "SNL," the two developed the Blues Brothers characters, as whom they released a chart-topping platinum album and the comedy movie, "The Blues Brothers." Belushi was also known for his roles in movies such as "Animal House," Amblin Entertainment's debut feature "Continental Divide," and "Neighbors."

A credit Belushi never ultimately received was for an appearance on "Police Squad!" This cult classic comedy series, created by the legendary trio of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker, only ran for six episodes before it was canceled by ABC. While network executives apparently didn't appreciate the series' non-stop quickfire humor,...

On August 1, at the age of 77, one of the Hollywood’s most impressive filmmakers died. Reports dropped on several sites, but the news cycle went on, and Jonathan Kaplan’s name faded from the headlines. I believe his work, however, deserves longer reflection.

IndieWire’s own Anne Thompson connected me to Kaplan’s daughter Molly, who in turn directed me to some of Kaplan’s closest friends and colleagues. Thanks to their participation, I was able to stitch together remembrances that better describe Kaplan than a simple obituary or list of credits could accomplish.

We are talking about a resume, though, that includes some buzzy titles — “Unlawful Entry,” “Bad Girls,” and a series you might have heard of called “E.R” among them. He was nominated for five Emmys. He directed Jodie Foster to her first Oscar win in 1988’s “The Accused.” “Love Field,” in 1992, brought Michelle Pfeiffer her third nomination.

This post contains major spoilers for "My Oxford Year"

Sofia Carson is carving out a nice little career for herself as the queen of Netflix romance. The former Disney Channel actress played an aspiring singer-songwriter who fell for a Marine in the 2022 romantic drama "Purple Hearts" before fronting the hit romantic comedy "The Life List," which dominated Netflix's top charts in 2025. She also found time to play Taron Egerton's wife in the "Die Hard"-like thriller "Carry-On" in 2024, and has now returned for more romance with "My Oxford Year."

This latest Carson-led romantic drama is directed by Iain Morris, who British viewers will know best as the creator of "The Inbetweeners." There's no bus wankers in sight in "My Oxford Year," though. Just a lot of brooding, cheesy dialogue, and even a bit of charm. The film was written by Allison Burnett and Melissa Osborne, but the actual...

When Shonda Rhimes' medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" premiered as a humble mid-season replacement in 2005, it centered around five brand-new surgical interns: Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Dr. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Dr. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), and the titular Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo). As of 2025, all of those original interns have left the series, including the woman who gives the show its cheeky title. Cristina canonically "lives in Switzerland" now at a new hospital, George gets hit by a bus and dies a pretty agonizing death (sorry for the spoiler?), and Izzie vanishes into the ether after Heigl had some on-set drama with Rhimes; Pompeo still appears on the series from time to time and serves as an executive producer but isn't part of the regular cast anymore.

So what of Chambers and Alex Karev? Chambers was famously a late addition to the pilot,...

It's a fantastic time to be Joseph Quinn. Over a decade after he unsuccessfully threw his hat in the ring to play Peter Parker in "Spider-Man: Homecoming," the English actor is enjoying the fruits of a multi-year hot streak that began with a breakout performance as Eddie Munson in "Stranger Things 4" back in 2022. Both he and the character became something of a viral hit, making him one of the most in-demand young actors almost overnight.

Having previously played smaller, supporting roles in British television dramas that seldom made much noise in the states, Quinn was now being courted to star in major film franchises, including a highly-anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott's "Gladiator," a prequel to John Krasinski's blockbuster horror series "A Quiet Place," and, of course, "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," arguably the most coveted Marvel Studios project produced in years. Amidst these excellent, buzz-worthy performances, Quinn has...

One would be hard-pressed to find a busier man in Hollywood than Pedro Pascal these days. The star of "The Mandalorian" and "Gladiator II" has been an ever-present force in both movies and TV over the last several years. That's a big reason why Warner Bros. and director Zach Cregger tapped him to topline the cast for the filmmaker's latest movie "Weapons," a follow-up to his 2022 breakout feature debut "Barbarian." Unfortunately, Pascal had to drop out of the movie before production began. But why?

In a recent interview with Variety, Cregger addressed Pascal's departure from "Weapons," revealing that the months-long 2023 Screen Actors Guild strike was to blame. "I had a whole different cast for this movie. And then we had the strike, and then Pedro Pascal's schedule threw us into turmoil. I had to recast the entire movie," the director said. Indeed, it wasn't just losing one cast member. Apparently,...

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Tite Kubo's manga "Bleach" is often described as one of the "Big Three" of its magazine publisher Weekly Shonen Jump, alongside Eiichiro Oda's "One Piece" and Masashi Kishimoto's "Naruto." The three have that name for a simple reason: During the 2000s, they were the three most popular "battle shonen" manga/anime series out there. For many anime fans (like actor Michael B. Jordan), they remain huge touchstones.

"One Piece" has its title because its pirate hero, Monkey D. Luffy, and his crew are searching for a treasure called the one piece. "Naruto" is named after its protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, a young orphan and aspiring ninja bonded to a fox demon. But "Bleach"? That title is much less intuitive.

Unlike the other two series, which are set in fictional worlds, "Bleach" takes place in a supernatural twist on the real world.

There is a moment in Matt Shakman's new film "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" that very strongly resembles a scene from Robert Wise's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."

"First Steps" has its head tilted toward the heavens. The titular heroes received their powers from "cosmic rays," absorbed while they were on a space mission. Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) are expecting their first child, and Reed is deathly afraid that the baby will be born with some kind of unusual genetic problem. After all, what happens when two cosmically enhanced people reproduce? The film will later reveal that their child possesses an uncanny power called the Power Cosmic. Even babies are infused with star stuff. 

In the universe of "First Steps," everything on Earth has been transformed into a utopia. Reed Richards, using his knowledge of space travel and extrapolating from his own superpowers,...

The television spin-off is a tricky venture to pull off. Planned or not, the writers must create an interesting character that audiences want to invest in, and the actors have to have enough charisma to bring the roles to life. The pressure is even higher if that job rests on one actor. Once the spin-off hits the air, actors and crew have to work to make the series at least as good as the parent show. This is where many spin-offs fail. However, there are a select few who rose to not only the same level as their original shows, but a step above.

On this list, we won't be including shows that are arguably as good as their predecessors, such as "Better Call Saul," "Batman Beyond," or "House of the Dragon." Instead, this list celebrates the TV shows that truly transcended their pilot projects, either in quality or popularity.

In the summer of 2020, several unrelenting months into the Covid pandemic, comedian Dave Chappelle decided he had to do something to bring his community back to life. Like the rest of the world, Chappelle was sequestered at home with his family, so he decided to use his resources to make a change. After renting out a cornfield down the street from his home in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Chappelle began hosting socially distanced concerts with his friends, musicians and fellow comedians. He filmed the entire process for the independent documentary, “Dave Chappelle: Live In Real Life.”

The film, directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021, under its original title, “Dave Chappelle: This Time, This Place.” However, it failed to gain distribution after the backlash to his 2021 stand-up special, “The Closer,” in which he told a series of transphobic jokes. Now, four years later, the...

On the "Seinfeld" episode "The Puffy Shirt", Kramer (Michael Richards) begins dating an ambitious fashion designer named Leslie (Wendel Meldrum) who, by his own description, is a "low-talker." That is, she typically speaks at a very low volume. Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) has a conversation with Kramer Leslie over lunch, where he tells them about an upcoming high-profile TV appearance he is to make. It's "The Today Show." Leslie responds, but Jerry can't make out what she's saying in the crowded restaurant, so he merely nods politely. The next day, Kramer reveals that, in nodding, Jerry has agreed to wear a shirt that Leslie designed, specifically for his "Today Show" appearance.

The shirt is described as "puffy," as it has billowy sleeves and cravat-like appendages down its chest. It looks like something Lord Byron might wear. It's aristocratic, old-fashioned, and out-of-place. Jerry tries it on and is instantly embarrassed. He did...

The bloodline was not the “Final Destination” after all. On August 8, New Line and Warner Bros. announced (via Variety) that “Final Destination 7” is officially in the works, complete with “Final Destination: Bloodlines” co-writer Lori Evans Taylor on board. Also returning are producers Craig Perry, Sheila Hanahan Taylor, Jon Watts, Dianne McGunigle, and Toby Emmerich. Warren Zide will serve as executive producer.

The news comes as the studio has yet another horror hit on their hands with “Weapons,” the latest from “Barbarian” director Zach Cregger. In its opening weekend, “Weapons” amassed an estimated $42.5 million at the domestic box office, an impressive debut for a movie that cost $38 million. Similarly, “Bloodlines” opened to $51.7 million in May off a $50 million budget. As of August 10, that movie has gone on to tally over $138 million in North America and $285 million worldwide, bringing in a gigantic franchise haul for the New Line devision of Warner Bros.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama took the stage with her brother and co-host Craig Robinson for a live-taping of their hit podcast “Imo With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson” at the 23rd annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (Mvaaff). The hosts sat down to chat with Emmy-nominated “The White Lotus” actress Natasha Rothwell in a wide-ranging interview that revolved around her expansive career, why people always confuse her for Michelle Buteau and when we’ll finally see “Who Tf Did I Marry?” on the small screen.

“I had no aspirations for Hollywood,” Rothwell told Obama after she was asked about her unique career path. “I thought I was going to be a Broadway theater actor. I thought that Audra McDonald and I would be best friends. I went to college for acting, but I would write my auditions. So writing was a huge part of my process as well.

Although Martin Scorsese is perhaps most notable for his crime films, another theme he likes to explore is religion. Raised in a predominantly Catholic environment, religion influenced his sense of craft, with "Mean Streets," "Raging Bull," "Goodfellas, "Casino," and "The Departed," among others, featuring characters grappling with their religious convictions. However, some of Scorsese's movies have explored spirituality on a deeper level, among them "The Last Temptation of Christ," "Kundun," and his underrated 2016 drama "Silence."

Based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Japanese author Shūsaku Endō, "Silence" is set in the 17th century and follows two Jesuit priests, Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver), as they travel from Portugal to Japan to find their mentor, Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson), while spreading Christianity throughout the region. A longtime passion project for Scorsese, this film was his follow-up to perhaps his most profane and explicit movie,...

For the Redstone clan, the end with Paramount Pictures came much as it began 31 years ago – victory achieved after a long, bitter and highly public fight over a Hollywood institution.

This time around, the win for Shari Redstone was securing the ability to sell Paramount Pictures, CBS, Paramount+, MTV, Nickelodeon and other legacy cablers to David Ellison’s Skydance Media. The battle came at great cost, especially for CBS.

Skydance paid about $8 billion in total for Paramount Global. In 1994 — after a 10-month slog of outmaneuvering rival suitors that include Barry Diller, QVC, John Malone and then-powerful telco BellSouth – Sumner Redstone closed the deal for Paramount Pictures alone at $9.5 billion – that’s $19.5 billion in today’s dollars, adjusted for inflation.

A generation ago, Sumner Redstone was manifestly energized and emboldened by the obstacles that he overcame to secure his prize of owning one of Hollywood’s foundational studios. For his daughter Shari Redstone,...

Actor Uma Thurman has played some pretty tough women over the years, becoming immortalized as revenge-seeking, blade-wielding badass Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films and starring in action flicks like the John Woo-directed "Paycheck" and the non-Marvel "The Avengers." In recent years, however, she's tended to stick more to dramas and comedies, eschewing sword fights and wire work for less action-heavy roles in movies as wide-ranging as Lars von Trier's nightmarish "Nymphomaniac" to the Robert De Niro-starring kids flick "The War With Grandpa." So, when it was revealed that she would be joining the cast of the action-fantasy sequel "The Old Guard 2," fans were a bit surprised (and extremely excited). But what made Thurman agree to such a high-profile action role again after all of these years?

In an interview with The New York Times, Thurman and her "The Old Guard 2" co-star Charlize Theron...

Paul Walter Hauser had trouble keeping his role in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” a secret.

In a recent interview with GQ, the Golden Globe winner, who plays Mole Man in the MCU blockbuster, said he wasn’t as “zip-lipped” as he could’ve been about his part.

“For the most part I was zip-lipped, and everybody understands at this point,” Hauser said. “They all know if you do ‘Star Wars,’ or Marvel, you can’t talk about it. But if I’m being honest—and I pride myself on my honesty nowadays—I probably told 70 or 80 random people, be it family members or fans. I’m not gonna lie and say I told literally no one. I told several dozen people.”

He continued, “But at the same time, they weren’t blabbering it out, or giving it to news outlets. They were respectful, and excited, and what-have-you. But if...

This article contains spoilers for "Weapons" and "Skinamarink."

The concept of a festering rot infecting a community due to its concealed existence is by no means revolutionary, but a good filmmaker can make it feel fresh and new. Enter "The Whitest Kids U'Know" co-founder Zach Cregger, who emerged as a promising new face in the world of horror with 2022's subterranean nightmare "Barbarian." Blending his comedic sensibilities with a demented horror movie about people discovering a labyrinthine sexual torture basement could have gone sideways in a whole number of ways, but Cregger pulled off a minor miracle. He provides moments of catharsis, albeit never at the expense of the horrors assaulting his most vulnerable characters. The bold twists and turns that "Barbarian" takes ensured my interest in whatever film Cregger would make next, and "Weapons" was well worth the wait.

/Film's Chris Evangelista gave a glowing review of "Weapons," accurately calling it "a twisted,...

The Battle of Iwo Jima, fought from February 19 to March 26, 1945, was a key battle of World War II. The Japanese Army had two fortified bunkers there, which the American Army aimed to capture. The casualties were heavy on both sides, with the Americans ultimately suffering more losses than the Japanese. The island of Iwo Jima was eventually taken, and many Americans are familiar with the photograph (taken by a journalist named Joe Rosenthal) of American soldiers raising a flag at the top of Mount Suribachi. The photo was used as a model by sculptor Felix de Weldon to fashion a statue used at the Marine Corps War Memorial at the Arlington National Cemetery. 

The battle is well-remembered by war historians, and taught extensively in history classes. The Battle of Iwo Jima has also been a popular subject for filmmakers, and many features have been devoted to the war effort. Perhaps most famously,...

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It's no secret that Batman has the best villains. Other superheroes have a few recognizable foes, but the Dark Knight is surrounded by a legendary assortment of memorable freaks that push him to the absolute brink.

Need proof? Just glance at the following list of his 15 greatest comic book villains of all time, then realize how hard it was to put this thing together. Or better yet, look at who didn't make the cut: Clayface, Hush, Killer Croc, Black Mask, the Mad Hatter, and Professor Pyg. Eesh. Even now, we're not entirely sure this is the proper order -- aside from No. 1, that is.

So, before you turn into a dastardly bad guy over our choices, keep in mind: we'd happily swap those at the back of the list with some at the front. And really, that speaks volumes about...

Frank Baum's 1900 children's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" has had an incredible life well beyond its original intent. First, there was a Broadway musical adaptation in 1902, and then in 1939, it was adapted into the film "The Wizard of Oz" starring Judy Garland. Since then, there have been numerous excellent and unique reinterpretations of Baum's story, ranging from 1978's "The Wiz" (a movie musical featuring an all-Black cast) to the wildly successful "Wicked" franchise based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, which has since given rise to a major musical film version starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jeff Goldblum. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is wildly adaptable because of its rather simple plot structure and hugely recognizable elements, and since it's been in the public domain since 1956, people have had a lot of time to create their own visions of this classic fantasy adventure.

Indeed, there have...

Eddie Murphy is an Academy Award-nominated actor — but, to him, that doesn’t mean that you only have to make prestige pictures. Firmly established as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, Murphy — who just premiered “The Pickup” on Amazon Prime — has always made exactly the kind of movie he wants to make in the moment. Hence why he followed up 2006’s “Dreamgirls” — which netted not just an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor, but five other nominations and two wins — with the widely panned “Norbit” in 2007.

“I love ‘Norbit,'” Murphy said on Complex’s interview series “360 With Speedy Morman” (via The Wrap). “There were articles like, ‘How can he get an Oscar, he did this?’ They’re two different movies. I wrote ‘Norbit’ with my brother, Charlie [Murphy], and we think ‘Norbit’ is funny. Here’s the thing with ‘Norbit’: It came out, it got voted for Razzies...

The first already-canceled show I fell for, even before "Firefly," was the CW's comedy "Reaper." While "Firefly" received a belated movie wrap-up in 2005 with "Serenity," the story of "Reaper" has remained open since its 2009 cancellation. Perhaps the show invited its own grim fate with a name that suggested death.

What is "Reaper," anyway, though? Well, I don't bring up "Firefly" out of nowhere; if you're a fan of Joss Whedon's writing, then "Reaper" might be up your alley too. The show is best described as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" crossed with Kevin Smith, from "Clerks" to "Dogma." (Smith even directed the "Reaper" pilot.) 

Created by Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters, "Reaper" follows 21-year-old slacker Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison). On his birthday, he gets a very unpleasant gift. Before Sam was born, his father John (Andrew Airlie) was "very sick," so Sam's parents made a deal with the Devil (Ray Wise) for a cure.

A common joke amongst Swifties — the very passionate fans of pop star Taylor Swift — is that we're all so lucky that Swift decided to pursue music instead of becoming a serial killer. Obviously, this is tongue-in-cheek and refers to Swift's love of planting cryptic, clever Easter eggs for her fans to find as she gears up for a new announcement or album release, but it's also a nod to her famously well-documented love of crime-centric television. This is all to say that it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that Swift once guest-starred on an episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" — specifically, in the show's ninth season in an episode titled "Turn, Turn, Turn," which aired in 2009.

The episode ostensibly focuses on crime scene investigator Nick Stokes (original cast member George Eads) as he's called to a seedy motel where a murder occurred on his birthday, but Swift's character, Haley Jones,...

Warner Bros’ muscular box office run continues as Weapons stormed to the top of the charts in North America on an estimated $42.5m, one place ahead of Disney’s new release Freakier Friday, to ensure the studio’s last six films have each opened on more than $40m – a Hollywood record.

ComScore reported that the weekend generated an estimated $131m, with $5.6bn year-to-date tracking 7.6% ahead of 2024 by the same stage.

Weapons, thefollow-up to Zach Cregger’s 2022 debut Barbarian,arrived on an A- CinemaScore and debuted via New Line in 3,202 locations.EntTelligence reported an estimated 2.8m audience and a 54%-46% male-female audience split.

Alan Ritchson is the star of the Prime Video TV series "Reacher," but he's also thought about taking on another role behind the camera. In a 2021 interview with Collider, he spoke about the possibility of directing an episode of the series himself. It's something that's more realistic than it sounds: not only does Ritchson already have some directing credits behind his name — "Dark Web: 3301" in 2021 and the short "Tree House Time Machine" in 2017 — but it's not uncommon for actors to direct an occasional episode of their own show. Ayo Edebiri, for instance, made her directorial debut in season 3 of "The Bear," while Bryan Cranston directed three episodes of "Breaking Bad."

"I would direct anything," Ritchson told Collider. "I feel very, very comfortable behind the lens."

Despite this, Ritchson hasn't directed any "Reacher" episode even three years later. He may get to direct one with the upcoming season 4, but nothing's been announced yet.

Leighton Meester is set to guest on “Nobody Wants This” Season 2 — a fun bit of meta casting for the series, which stars Meester’s husband, Adam Brody, whose character is romancing Kristen Bell’s. In previewing the real-world convergence, Brody called working with his wife “delightful.”

“I was mostly a passenger in my scenes with her — a lucky bystander,” Brody told Deadline. “And it’s always a thrill and a joy to watch her work… When family visits set in general, it’s nice… your two worlds merge and you know all these people from your work life and people’s kids visit and spouses. And it’s nice even without acting, but then to act with all these people that she’s gotten to know very well — some before, but certainly throughout the last couple years making this show, she’s really gotten to know everyone. So, it was a very warm environment.

Bored with what’s on Netflix? Josh Brolin says go see “Weapons.”

In a recent interview with Collider, Brolin, who stars in Zach Cregger’s latest twisty horror, said “Weapons” is the antithesis of “boring” streaming content, bringing the horror genre to “the edge of absurdity” to create something entirely unique.

“You’re looking for great filmmakers, and you’re hoping that there’s another new good filmmaker out there,” Brolin said. “Right now, with so much content, you’re just watching things on whatever streaming service you’re on, and you’re just going, ‘Fuck, why is this so boring, man? Why?’ And just go to the next thing. It’s all the same shit. And then somebody not only takes the horror genre, but then fucks with it and then does something on the edge of absurdity, and it’s sort of humorous, so it’s keeping you...

Although they had already scored many hits over the years, the rock band Sparks enjoyed a massive visibility increase in 2021 with the release of Edgar Wright's "The Sparks Brothers," a documentary about their decades-long career and prolific output. Brothers Ron and Russell Mael have been performing together under the banner of Sparks since 1972 and have, as of 2025, released 26 original studio albums. Those familiar with the band can tell you about their unabashed quirkiness. Sparks is whimsical, often humorous, and frequently employs puns and jokes in their music. One of their albums is called "Kimono My House." Another is titled "Angst in My Pants." The stern and strange Ron writes the music, while the charming and handsome Russel sings. They're still touring, and both brothers are in their late 70s.

For decades, Sparks possessed filmmaking ambitions and was eager to write a movie musical. They finally got their wish in 2021 with the release of "Annette,...

When you've worked as a film journalist for 25 years, you get used to people asking you to name the greatest movie all time. I always inform the inquirer that my default answer is Philip Kaufman's "The Right Stuff." A masterpiece that pretty much destroyed The Ladd Company, it's a soaring, hilarious, uplifting film that celebrates the best parts of the U.S.' cowboy mentality. It's also a brilliant combination of formats, a masterclass in the use of optical visual effects, and the shortest 192 minutes you'll ever spend watching a movie. Once I get this out of the way, I'll add, "But it depends on the day. Catch me walking out of a screening of Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' Spike Lee's 'Do the Right Thing,' or Ernst Lubitsch's 'To Be or Not to Be,' and that might be my answer."

Sometimes,...

"Warrior" walked a long and lonely road to make it on screen. It all started with the one and only Bruce Lee, who in 1971 developed a TV series that he hoped would showcase his world class martial arts skills. Called "Ah Sahm," it told the story of a Chinese immigrant in the American Old West who gets pulled into the Tong Wars of turn of the century San Francisco. Hollywood took Lee's treatment for the series and turned it into "Kung Fu," a show about a kung fu master who is decidedly not Asian.

It seemed like that was the end of "Ah Sahm" for Lee's daughter Shannon, who looked for projects that would further his legacy and not just capitalize on his image. And that's when Justin Lin, hot off of several of The Fast and the Furious's best installments, approached her about dusting off Lee's original pitch for a series.

From posthumous footage of a cloaked Bela Lugosi stumbling through graveyards in “Plan 9 From Outer Space” to David Niven appearing in blackface at the end of “Vampira,” Dracula has endured far worse over the years than anything director Radu Jude can do to the character. But that doesn’t stop the cinematic prankster from trying to make his epically sloppy, almost-three-hour “Dracula” into the most exploitative interpretation of the character yet — a position Jude adopts on purpose.

After debuting his relatively respectable decline-of-Western-civilization satire “Kontinental ’25” at the Berlinale in February, the prolific Romanian auteur unleashes a second 2025 project at Locarno, where his rowdy “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World” debuted two years earlier. An outrageous celebration of visual storytelling in all its forms, from TikTok to silent film, Jude’s chaotic anti-art statement is the first “Dracula” designed to suck.

So you can...

Locarno Pro, the industry platform of the Locarno Film Festival, has announced this year’s winning projects.

In the work-in-progress section First Look, this year focusing on Canadian cinema, “Nina Roza” by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles has made quite an impression.

Produced by Colonelle Films (Canada), and co-produced by Umi Films (Italy), Echo Bravo (Belgium), Ginger Light (Bulgaria) and Premier Studio (Bulgaria), it won two awards: the Urban Post First Look Award and the Jannuzzi Smith Award.

As reported by Variety, the film was picked up by Best Friend Forever.

It takes on eight-year-old art prodigy from Bulgaria, spotted by an art collector after her video goes viral. But meeting her also means going home – and he’s been avoiding it for 30 years. The director called his trip “an intimate, initiatory quest,” as he’ll have to “face his past through Nina.”

According to jurors, the project stood out for “beautiful integration of music and art,...

For Sharon Stone, the ultimate dream come true was working with Robert De Niro in “Casino.” She told Business Insider that she auditioned for De Niro movies “many times” before she was cast in the 1994 Martin Scorsese classic. Stone had even told an acting teacher years prior that her career goal was to “work with De Niro and hold my own.”

But when Stone finally realized what she called “the apex,” De Niro ended up setting Stone off while shooting one of the movie’s most electric verbal sparring sessions. The “Basic Instinct” actress recalled, “There’s a scene in the movie where we’re sitting across a table arguing, and he says to me, ‘You’re a good actress, you know that?’ And I remember in that scene when he said it, how furious it made me because it was my dream to do it, and then he challenged me at the table.