News

Brazil brought its tropical flair to the Croisette for the opening party of this year’s Marché du Film, held at Plage des Palmes and co-hosted by the market’s Executive Director, Guillaume Esmiol. The evening, which was infused with Brazilian culture and festivities, saw the presence of the country’s Minister of Culture, Margareth Menezes, as well as Audiovisual Secretary Joelma Gonzaga, and officially marked the start of a series of special activities and initiatives centered around the South American country at the market.

Brazil, the Marché du Film’s 2025 Country of Honor, is currently undergoing a strong resurgence and has a prominent presence at the French festival this year, with the country’s industry delegation doubling in number from 2024. It is now the country with the highest number of participants in Latin America and a burgeoning global power, actively focusing on attracting international partners and fostering co-productions. This...

Carlos Saldanha, known for animated hits such as “Rio” and “Ice Age,” has completed principal photography on “100 Days,” his first live-action feature. The film, shot in Brazil, dramatizes the real-life solo transatlantic row of Brazilian explorer Amyr Klink and stars Filipe Bragança, Felipe Camargo and Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu.

Global Constellation will handle international sales for “100 Days.” The project has attracted attention for its ambitious production scope and multinational collaboration, including Brazil’s Ventre Studio (“Godless John”), Boipeba, Madremidia, O2 Filmes (“City of God”), Total Post and Disney Group, as well as Finland’s well-connected Good Hand Production.

“Directing my first live-action feature in Brazil was a crash course in creativity, grit, and human connection,” said Saldanha in a statement. “The Brazilian crew’s passion and resourcefulness, paired with the cast’s talent and generosity, turned impossible tasks into collective victories, like constructing a sprawling indoor water tank in...

Every year, Jesse Shade of the Awfully Good Movies series provides us with his list of the ten worst movies of the year – and 2024 is no different! Now that the Oscars are out of the way and it has been revealed that the members of the Academy felt Anora was the best picture of 2024, Jesse Shade is here with his list of The 10 Worst Movies of 2024. You can find out what his picks are by checking out the video embedded above. Fittingly, this is also the video that has been chosen to launch the new JoBlo Awfully Good Movies YouTube channel!

If you want to know what Jesse Shade’s picks for the 10 Worst Movies of 2024 were before you start watching the video, here’s the list:

10. Joker: Folie à Deux

Directed by Todd Phillips, who also wrote the script with Scott Silver. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga,...

In a move aimed at strengthening its position in the global film and television arena, São Paulo State has unveiled an Audiovisual Industry Development Plan. The initiative, led by Marília Marton, the state’s secretary of culture, economy and creative industries, introduces grants for films produced through international co-productions and launches an on-site market event—the inaugural São Paulo Audiovisual Hub—scheduled for early July.

The plan builds on the momentum generated by the post-covid recovery efforts under the Paulo Gustavo Law, which infused 378.2 million reals into the state’s cultural sectors. Marton emphasized the need for consistent support beyond one-time funding, stating, “The Paulo Gustavo Law was one-off, unique funding. Talking to the sector, I realized it now needs a systematic, multi-year support to avoid having peaks and troughs.”

The Audiovisual Hub will host a Paulo Gustavo Showcase featuring projects financed by the law. Highlighted films include Carlos Saldanha’s “100 Days,...

Brazil’s State of São Paulo, a burgeoning production epicenter home to projects like Netflix’s “Senna,” has announced its ambitious Audiovisual Industry Development Plan. Speaking with Variety ahead of a panel at the Berlin Festival’s European Film Market, Secretary of Culture, Economy, and Creative Industries of Brazil’s State of São Paulo Marília Marton reinforced the government’s commitment to “fostering continuous, sustainable initiatives” to position the state as a hub for “high-quality content production on an international level.”

The development plan — which includes strategic investments in various areas, such as governance, infrastructure, training, funding, and international promotion — comes less than two years after Brazil’s successful Paulo Gustavo Law saw a multi-million boost in São Paulo’s audiovisual production.

A post-pandemic recovery initiative named after lauded comic and actor Paulo Gustavo, who tragically died of complications of Covid-19 in 2021, the Paulo Gustavo Law released R$2.8 billion ($571 million...

Fans are rediscovering the underrated sequel to a critically well-received animated blockbuster on Disney+. 2014's Rio 2 brought back Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway but debuted to less acclaim, grossing slightly more than the 2011 original on a bigger budget.

Per FlixPatrol, Rio 2 broke into Disney+'s Top 10 most-watched movie chart on January 16. The site's description of the film reads, "It's a jungle out there for Blu, Jewel, and their three kids after they're hurtled from Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel and meets the most fearsome adversary of all: his father-in-law." Again produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha, the movie brought back much of the original movie's cast alongside Eisenberg's Blu and Hathaway's Jewel. Jamie Foxx, will.i.am, George Lopez, Tracy Morgan, Jemaine Clement, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro,...

Carlos Saldanha, an Oscar-nominated animator who has directed classics such as “Rio” and “Ice Age,” is sponsoring the Colombian animated short film “La Perra.” As an executive producer, Saldanha brings his expertise to this rising Latin American movie that is gaining traction at international film festivals.

Carla Melo Gampert’s film “La Perra” is a highly personal drama about a young lady managing her sexuality and cultural expectations in Bogotá. The film’s title, which translates as “The Bitch” in English, criticizes the labels that are sometimes bestowed on Latina women who challenge established positions.

Saldanha was enthusiastic about the initiative, saying, “There’s something invigorating about witnessing a new wave of talent emerging with such force and vitality.” He commended Melo’s work, describing it as a “visually striking narrative infused with an erotic sensibility that is both visceral and delicate.”

The short has gained critical acclaim, including screenings at festivals such as Cannes,...

Brazilian writer, director and animator Carlos Saldanha has boarded Carla Melo Gampert’s Oscar-qualified Colombian animated short “La Perra” to accompany the film through its upcoming awards season run.

“La Perra” is largely inspired by Melo’s own life and tells the story of a young woman who leaves her family home in Bogota, a domineering mother and her beloved childhood dog to explore her sexuality in a wider world that often pushes Latina women to transition from cute little girls into traditional mothers, or labels them as sluts – “perras” in Spanish, hence the film’s title – if they don’t conform.

Co-produced by esteemed Colombian indie producers Franco Lolli and Capucine Mahé at Bogota-based Evidencia Films and Naomi Denamur and Julie Billy at Paris’s June Films, “La Perra” was a revelation on this year’s festival circuit. It screened in competition at Cannes, Annecy, Toronto, SXSW, Tallinn Black...

Exclusive: Pródigo Films, the Brazilian production company behind Paramount+’s International Emmy Award-nominated Mma series Anderson Spider Silva, has signed with Independent Artist Group for representation.

Boasting an unmatched reputation in their native country, along with unrivaled access to top tier local crew and understanding of the Brazilian landscape, Pródigo produces scripted and unscripted formats for both theatrical and SVOD distribution, their main partners being Netflix, HBO, Disney+, Paramount and Amazon. The company produces original content all around the country, from the most remote locations to hectic urban centers. The Emmy nom for Anderson Spider Silva aside, their work has also been noted this year with a win at the Giornate Degli Autori in Venice for their independent film Manas.

Stated Gabriela Matarazzo, Director of Development at Pródigo, “Signing with Iag marks a key milestone in Pródigo Films’ strategy to expand our international footprint. We are strong advocates of positioning...

Updated: Disney and 20th Century Animation announced Friday at D23 Brazil that Ice Age 6 is happening. The sixthquel will get a theatrical release. The original franchise was created by Blue Sky Studios, which Disney acquired through the 20th Century Fox merger, later shuttering the Oscar-winning animation division.

Original castmembers Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary and Simon Pegg are returning. The pic is currently being made.

Through five movies, the Ice Age pics have grossed $3.2 billion worldwide, but like all franchises, the weight of gravity weighs down at the box office with each sequel. The most recent movie, 2016’s Ice Age: Collision Course, grossed $408.5 million globally.

There were various short pics and series starring a woolly mammoth, sloth, saber-toothed tiger and other pre-historic animals. There was also the 2022 spinoff The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild.

This Ice Age is the first pic in the franchise since Disney bought Blue Sky.

This year has been plagued by some pretty big box office bombs, from "Joker: Folie à Deux" utterly failing to meet the expectations set up by its predecessor to "Borderlands" flopping harder than a middle-aged gamer playing against 12-year-olds on "Fortnite." Now, at least one of the biggest box office flops of the year is getting a second life on Netflix.

"Harold and the Purple Crayon" is currently holding the number 5 spot on Netflix's top 10 streaming charts. Directed by Carlos Saldanha, the film is a live-action sequel to Crockett Johnson's beloved children's book of the same name that centers on Harold (Zachary Levi), a man who can make anything come to life simply by drawing it, who had drawn himself in his favorite book as a kid. In the film, a grown Harold draws himself off the book and goes out to the physical world, where he learns that...

Sony's film adaptation of the popular children's picture book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, brings together an impressive cast of talented performances. Released in theaters on August 2, 2024, Harold and the Purple Crayon broke into Netflixs top 10 after an October 31 streaming release. The Oscar-nominated director Carlos Saldanha utilizes the actors expertly, ensuring that their background experiences fit perfectly with their Harold and the Purple Crayon characters.

Although there are some crucial differences, Harold and the Purple Crayon shares the same basic premise as the book. When Harold and his friends draw a portal into the real world, they must seek help to return to their magic homeworld. While waiting for the portal to open back up, Harold, Moose, and Porcupine set out to draw magic in the life of a family of two. Despite, the movie's middling reviews, Harold and the Purple Crayon's biggest strength is undoubtedly its impressive cast,...

Netflix has become somewhat infamous for picking up, to put it gently, lesser movies from other studios and throwing them into the ever-growing pile that is their streaming library. Well, it turns out that not even Netflix wanted to buy this particular critical and box office failure, as the streaming giant reportedly declined to purchase the fantastical comedy Harold and the Purple Crayon starring Zachary Levi.

News of Netflixs rejection comes courtesy of a report by Bloomberg, who state that, in the months before Sony planned to release the movie, studio executives called their peers at Netflix to see if the streaming service wanted to buy the movie. While the report does say that Sony executives liked the film just fine, which is not exactly a ringing endorsement, they worried it would fail to break through competing against two other blockbuster animated films, Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4,...

Netflix refused to buy Sony's new animated film Harold and the Purple Crayon as part of a new content strategy. Based on the children's book of the same name and directed by Carlos Saldanha, the movie stars Zachary Levi as the titular character, who lives in an animated world where he can create anything by simply drawing it. His adventure begins when he enters the real world and discovers there's a lot he doesn't know. Ahead of its release, Harold and the Purple Crayon prompted baffled reactions online, particularly because Levi's character is typically depicted as a child.

According to Bloomberg, prior to Sony's planned release of Harold and the Purple Crayon on August 2, studio executives inquired about Netflix's interest in acquiring the film for its streaming platform in fear that it'd fall short with the competition from Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4, which both had the same release window.

Zachary Levi's Harold and the Purple Crayon has arrived at home, now available to buy and rent on digital. The digital release follows the film previously opening in theaters on Aug. 2.

Coinciding with the digital release, Cbr has an exclusive clip of an extended scene from the digital release of Harold and the Purple Crayon. The scene reveals Porcupine (Tanya Reynolds) helping herself to some wine and cake while making herself at home, but the problem is that it's not her home, leading to the animal-turned-human getting rushed out of the house. The scene can be watched below.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Related Liam Neeson Joins Zachary Levi in Upcoming Action-Thriller

Batman Begins actor Liam Neeson will star in an upcoming action-thriller alongside Shazam!'s Zachary Levi.

"It was actually one of the things that attracted me to the project, to begin with, because when you boil it down,...

Ferdinand climbs Netflix's global chart eight years post-release, with 7.3 million views in August 2024. Mixed reviews initially affected the film's box office performance, but international success led to $296 million gross. John Cena's rising popularity may contribute to renewed interest in the movie, as well as its availability on Netflix.

Ferdinand makes its way to the Netflix global chart eight years after its original release. Directed by Carlos Saldanha, this 2017 animated comedy, which was loosely based on Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson's The Story of Ferdinand, follows the titular character, a gentlehearted bull who escapes his bull-fighting ranch to find a home with a kind farm family. The bull was voiced by John Cena and the other Ferdinand voice cast members include talented names like David Tennant, Peyton Manning, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Cannavale, and Gina Rodriguez.

Now, several years after the release of Ferdinand, the animated comedy has made...

The family-friendly Harold and the Purple Crayon has crossed another box office milestone, officially surpassing $15 million worldwide. This comes following a second weekend in which the movie made over $3 million domestically, falling somewhat short of its opening weekend in which it made nearly $6 million. Sadly, Harold and the Purple Crayon had one of the lowest weekend openings of 2024, struggling to make even this milestone which is still significantly off its budget. The Carlos Saldanha-helmed film has a reported budget of $40 million, with this poor showing in the movie's opening 10 days offering little to get excited about for executives.

Get ready for an adventurous family adventure film starring the guy from Shazam and Chuck, Zachary Levi. Based on a 1955 children’s picture book of the same name by Crockett Johnson, Harold, and the Purple Crayon is directed by Carlos Saldanha from a screenplay co-written by David Guion and Michael Handelman and it follows the story of a grown-up Harold, who can make anything come true by drawing it with his crayon in his book. When he draws himself into real life he goes on numerous comedic adventures but his power soon falls into the wrong hands. If you loved the comedic hijinks, fantastical adventures, and imagination in Harold and the Purple Crayon here are some similar movies you could watch next.

Christopher Robin (Disney+ & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Walt Disney Studios

Christopher Robin is a live-action and animated hybrid fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Marc Forster from a...

Things have been looking up at the box office as of late, with movies like "Inside Out 2," "Deadpool & Wolverine," and even Neon's indie horror hit "Longlegs" lifting us out of a pretty dreadful situation. Unfortunately, the rising tide doesn't always lift all boats. Sony's "Harold and the Purple Crayon" hit theaters this past weekend, instantly becoming one of the biggest misfires of the year thus far. The only saving grace is that we're talking about a mid-budget movie and not one with a full-on blockbuster budget. Even so, things are looking rough with no reason to believe they're going to get much better.

Director Carlos Saldanha's "Harold and the Purple Crayon" opened to just $6 million domestically while playing on more than 3,300 screens. It placed at number six on the charts, placing behind "Inside Out 2" ($6.7 million), which was on its eighth weekend in theaters. This...

The 2011 animated film which received an Oscar nomination at the 2012 Academy Awards is climbing up the charts of one of the world's most popular streaming services. Rio, which was written by Carlos Saldanha, Earl Richey Jones, Todd Jones, Don Rhymer, Joshua Sternin, Jennifer Ventimilia, and Sam Harper, is sitting firmly as the eighth-most popular movie streaming on Max. In addition to serving as a scribe, Saldanha also directed the film, which features an immensely stacked ensemble of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, and Jamie Foxx. Rio follows two animals, Blu (Eisenberg) and Jewel (Hathaway) on a trip to Rio de Janeiro. Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, Leslie Mann, and Will.i.am also star in Rio, which writer/director Saldanha also makes a small cameo.

It would be very easy to tear Harold and the Purple Crayon apart. It’s the latest film in that dumb trend of taking animated characters and bringing them into the real world, something totally absurd film with little merit on a technical level. As I sat through the last act, though, I realized something simple: I was happier while watching this than before I sat down in the theater. At the end of it all, this manages to be a fun theatrical outing and something worthy of more than blanket hatred.

Harold and the Purple Crayon Review

The insanity begins within the first ten minutes of the film. Harold and the Purple Crayon is based on a relatively popular series of 1950s picture books (you might recognize the one with the baby drawing purple lines against a brown background). It’s all about this baby (Harold) and his crayon (purple!

Critics and moviegoers cant seem to agree on Harold and the Purple Crayon, and, as a result, the new release is posting very different and divisive scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Shazam himself, Zachary Levv, and Zooey Deschanel join forces to bring author and artist Crockett Johnsons 1955 picture book to life on the big screen. But if cinephiles go strictly by the critiques, Harold and the Purple Crayon is quite the colorful disaster.

At the time of this writing, director Carlos Saldanha's family-friendly film registers only 29% on the Tomatometer against 35 reviews. Katie Walshs write-up for the Los Angeles Times reads as follows: Theres something deeply strange about [Levi's] performance here, grinning and mugging with childlike wonder in a way that can only be read as disingenuous. Kyle Smith of the Wall Street Journal adds:

The films effects-first, story-last strategy is a dismal failure. The charming, gentle simplicity of the book, with its childlike art,...

Critics are not impressed with Harold and the Purple Crayon, the feature film adaptation of the popular children's book. However, audiences don't agree, as most filmgoers appear to be having a good time with the film.

Featuring Shazam! star Zachary Levi, Harold and the Purple Crayon follows the actor as the titular character, who's now a grown-up version of the young child featured in the original book. As was the case in the classic story, the Harold and the Purple Crayon film sees Harold bringing to life whatever he wants simply by drawing it with his trusty purple crayon. Critics have trashed the film upon release, giving Levi's newest movie a 28% score at Rotten Tomatoes. This marks one of the lowest scores for Levi's career, though it remains above Big Momma's House 2 (5%) and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (21%).

Related Zachary Levi Names Ideal Actor for Live-Action Flynn in...

Harold And The Purple Crayon, from a conceptual level, is about as cynical as Hollywood filmmaking gets. The film is a meta-sequel to a picture book with a target audience of kindergarteners, latched onto a scrap of intellectual property in the desperate hope that the brand recognition will draw in...

Comedy animation Harold And The Purple Crayon heads the new releases at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, opening in 595 cinemas through Sony.

The live-action/animation fantasy comedy is adapted from Crockett Johnson’s 1955 children’s book of the same name, with the film serving as a sequel to the book.

Harold And The Purple Crayon follows a character in a book who can make anything come to life by drawing it; and who draws himself off the book’s pages and into the physical world.

Zachary Levi leads the cast, which also includes Lil Rel Howery, Zooey Deschanel, Jemaine Clement,...

The dog days of summer have arrived, but as we wind down the summer of 2024, movie theaters are already looking to the spookiest month of all: October. This August, studios are doubling down on horror with new movies from M. Night Shyamalan and a biopic about Ronald Reagan starring Dennis Quaid.

Crockett Johnson’s classic children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon has enchanted generations with its lyrical simplicity. Readers of all ages gravitate to the playful wonder of a young boy creating entire worlds with just a colorful writing utensil and his fertile mind. Filled with hand-drawn illustrations that beautifully capture the joy and innocence of early childhood, it’s easy to understand why filmmakers have long dreamed of bringing Harold’s story to the screen.

However, transferring such a minimalist children’s tale to a big-budget live-action/animation hybrid proved creatively challenging. Multiple directors took a stab at an adaptation over the decades, including celebrated talents like Maurice Sendak and Spike Jonze. Their visionary approaches likely would have remained true to the original’s spirit of unfettered imagination. But compromises had to be made for this to reach audiences at the box office.

Enter veteran animator Carlos Saldanha,...

There’s a lot of summer left for Marvel Studios/Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine, and this weekend the third installment will become the highest-grossing chapter in the Deadpool franchise stateside, in addition to becoming the highest-grossing R-rated pic at the domestic box office with around $380 million by Sunday.

Deadpool finaled its domestic box office in 2016 at $363M, while Deadpool 2 ended its run in 2018 at $325.M. The highest grossing R-rated movie at the domestic box office is currently Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ at $370.7M.

Already with Monday’s gross, Deadpool & Wolverine has surpassed the domestic cumes of all previous X-Men movies, slotting ahead of 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand‘s U.S./Canada B.O. of $234.3M.

Related: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Blasting Past $500M Global Box Office Today

In sum, weekend 2 of D&w at $84.5M will be part of what’s expected to be a three-frame winning streak.

After two fantastic months at the summer box office, things are looking to slow down for August, although we have a few more weeks before the official “Dog Days of Summer.” Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

Before we get to the new movies out this weekend, we need to address Marvel’s “Deadpool and Wolverine” and how it might fare in its second weekend after setting all sorts of R-rated records last weekend. With $38.5 million of its $211 opening weekend coming from Thursday previews, we have to expect a decent-sized drop, but barring a 64%+ drop, which is doubtful, it should be able to bring in over $75 million in its second weekend.

Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan is back with his 16th movie, the high-concept thriller “Trap,” starring Josh Hartnett as a father who brings his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert by pop star Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan...

The problem with adapting books written for tiny children is that there’s typically no real plot to work with — and what there is, by definition, is meant to last about five minutes right before goodnight kisses and sleepy time. Adapting this Crockett Johnson classic from 1955 therefore involves taking all sorts of liberties, and only a handful of them pay off for director Carlos Saldanha (the Ice Age movies) and his stars.

In fact, this film races through the original book about a boy who can draw anything and make it come to life in a charming opening scene, and then goes off on its own adventure. Zachary Levi voices a grown Harold, who is still hanging out in a purple world with his friends Moose (Lil Rel Howery) and Porcupine (Tanya Reynolds) when the voice of his narrator (Alfred Molina) goes suddenly silent. Harold resolves to find him, and...

“Harold and the Purple Crayon” is a picture book — now a movie — about the importance of imagination. So let’s try to imagine something together, shall we? Let’s all imagine a film starring Zooey Deschanel as an employee of a great big store who meets a childlike fantasy character who left home and now enters the real world in search of his father, who messes up the store she works at but ultimately teaches her a valuable lesson about believing in magic.

Have you got that film in your head? Does it look exactly like the movie “Elf,” that Christmas classic that came out over 20 years ago? Well, now imagine that it’s very purple, not very funny, and it stars Zachary Levi instead of Will Ferrell. “Harold and the Purple Crayon” claims to be about the power of the creative spirit but it’s cobbled together from so many similar films —“Enchanted,...

It’s very easy to understand why kids might love a picture book about a curious four-year-old whose purple crayon gives him the power to create anything he can think to draw. On the other hand, it’s virtually impossible to understand why kids might enjoy a meta, live-action movie continuation of Crockett Johnson’s classic story, in which the wee hero — now a swole 43-year-old manboy played by Zachary Levi — escapes into the real world as part of a “Barbie”-like quest to meet his creator, and in the process fights to protect a worn-down widow (Zooey Deschanel) from the romantic overtures of a creatively frustrated librarian (Jemaine Clement). Nothing delights young children like an existential journey through the suburbs of Providence!

I’m all for a little postmodern self-reflexivity in a blockbuster cinema that’s otherwise bereft of big ideas, but it’s depressing that even something like...

Harold and the Purple Crayon, directed by Carlos Saldanha, is a charming live-action adaptation of the beloved children’s book by Crockett Johnson. Starring Zachary Levy, Zooey Deschanel and up-and-coming teen actor Benjamin Bottani, the film also features a hilarious turn by Flight of the Conchords star Jemaine Clement as the villain of the piece.

Adventurous Harold (Zachary Levi) possesses a magical ability: within the confines of his book, he can bring anything to life with a simple stroke of his crayon. As he grows older, Harold yearns for the real world, so one day he decides to draw himself out of the pages and into reality.

Harold soon discovers that life outside the book is far more complicated than he’d imagined. His trusty purple crayon, once a source of endless wonder, is now now threatening to unleash chaos onto an unsuspecting world. When the power of imagination falls into the wrong hands,...

The first few minutes of Harold and the Purple Crayon feature charming hand-drawn animation very much in the style of the 1955 classic children’s picture book by Crockett Johnson, making it easy to see why it’s still popular nearly 70 years later. In the original story, Harold was just a young boy, creating a wonderful world for himself thanks to his magic crayon. Unfortunately, in the new big screen, live-action/animated adaptation directed by Carlos Saldanha (Ferdinand, Rio, Ice Age), he’s all grown up. And despite the appeal of star Zachary Levi, it’s unlikely the film will have the same staying power.

There have been numerous attempts at a film version of the book dating back years and involving such major talents as Maurice Sendak, David O. Russell, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg and Spike Jonze (what a movie he would have likely made!). Even this version has been delayed more than once,...

Growing up, I loved the children’s novel “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” So when the Hollywood film version came along, you’d better believe I was primed. Like the book, the movie was about a family with a father who builds a magical flying car. But any similarity ended there. The book’s tone was cool and dry and deadpan irreverent — the author, after all, was Ian Fleming of James Bond fame — but the movie was a wacked piece of ersatz-Disney musical kitsch. Fleming’s debonair absurdist saga of gangsters and hair’s-breadth escapes was replaced by a broad fairy tale featuring a kidnapper called the Child Catcher. Watching the movie, I kept wondering when the real story — the one I’d loved — would start; somehow, it never did. What happened to it? By the time the movie was over, I had suffered the 9-year-old’s once-upon-a-time equivalent of Ptsd.

By itself, the opening 10-minute salvo of Harold and the Purple Crayon — Carlos Saldanha’s live-action feature debut — is a thing of rare beauty, a near-perfect stand-alone preface that effortlessly summarizes Crockett Johnson’s 1955 picture book. Neatly capturing the quirky simplicity of the original illustrations but adding a kinetic energy worthy of the postwar boogie-doodles of animator Norman McLaren, it’s a thoughtful overture to a refreshingly straightforward family film, one that runs with the concept of Johnson’s story but doesn’t try to fluff it up with excess sentiment or any similarly distracting romantic subplots.

When we meet him, Harold is a cartoon boy with a purple crayon who can draw anything he wants, including his two best friends: Moose (a moose) and Porcupine (a porcupine). Together, they live in a 2D world that grows bigger as Harold becomes an adult. Finally, Harold becomes fascinated by the concept of his creation,...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including events for Deadpool & Wolverine, San Diego Comic-Con and Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Harold and the Purple Crayon special screening

Zachary Levi, Zooey Deschanel, Lil Rel Howery and Benjamin Bottani joined director Carlos Saldanha at a special Los Angeles screening for their Columbia Pictures film on Sunday.

Carlos Saldanha, Lil Rel Howery, Zooey Deschanel, Benjamin Bottani and Zachary Levi Zachary Levi, Zooey Deschanel and Tony Vinciquerra, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Deadpool & Wolverine premiere

Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Matthew Macfadyen, Aaron Stanford, Brianna Hildebrand, Lewis Tan and Tyler Mane joined director Shawn Levy and producer Kevin Feige at the Marvel film’s New York premiere on Monday, with support from Blake Lively and Gigi Hadid.

Hugh Jackman, Emma...

Zooey Deschanel says she remembers the late actor and comedian Bob Newhart as “kind and generous” from her time working with him on “Elf.” Newhart died July 18, and the pair worked on the 2003 Christmas movie alongside Will Ferrell and James Caan.

“I always say the best actors are very generous people,” Deschanel told Variety on the purple carpet at Sunday’s premiere of “Harold and the Purple Crayon” at The Culver Theater in Culver City. “He was really such a kind and generous man and so funny, but not wrapped up in himself or anything. He was just kind, and sweet and wonderful to work with.”

Although Ferrell recently said Caan didn’t enjoy his performance as Buddy the Elf on set until he saw the final cut of the film and called him “not funny,” Deschanel said she “probably wasn’t there for that part,” as they usually weren...

As Brazil rebuilds as Latin America’s major production force, German film-tv giant Beta Film has made its first move outside Europe, backing Janeiro Studios, based in Rio and led by former Beta Film top exec Koby Gal Raday and Rio Fest head Ilda Santiago.

A fourth partner will be Brazilian producer Mayra Faour Auad’s MyMama Entertainment.

Gal Raday will serve as CEO, Santiago as MD.

The Studios’ launch catches Brazil’s film and TV in the first full flush of growth, sluiced by public funding with more quite possibly on the way.

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva unveiled plans at Rio’s Quanta Studios last week to invest R$1.6 billion ($295 million) in Brazilian films and series in 2025. The sector is already receiving $516 million in Paul Gustavo Law funding, in a measure greenlit before Lula came into power.

Janeiro Studios tackles head-on Brazil’s biggest challenge as a film-tv power.

“100 Days,” a buzzy Brazilian project Variety first unveiled in 2021, will begin shooting next month, led by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Carlos Saldanha.

Up-and-comer Filipe Bragança will topline the film’s cast, joined by Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, who will also produce.

“100 Days” is billed as an adventure drama for family audiences. It will tell the extraordinary but true story of Brazilian Amyr Klink, who, in 1984, at the age of 29, became the first person to cross the South Atlantic in a rowing boat after many had died in the attempt.

Amyr Klink, Filipe Bragança,

Said Saldanha, “I’m so excited to be able to tell this incredible story about this Brazilian hero to the world. I’m so happy to have this amazing cast, both Brazilian and international. Filipe Bragança as Amyr and Philippine, as the mother of Amyr, will bring the perfect depth and heart to this incredible true story.”

Echoing a similar sentiment,...

Celina Murga’s “The Freshly Cut Grass,” executive produced by Martin Scorsese, is debuting at the Tribeca Festival and Variety has been given exclusive access to its first trailer and poster ahead of its world premiere on June 8.

Penned by Murga, director Juan Villegas (“Las Vegas”) and Lucía Osorio with the collaboration of Gabriela Larralde, the plot centers around two couples who engage in extramarital affairs and how, despite having the same professional position, they are treated differently because of their gender.

An exploration of the sexism and misogyny that permeates relationships both at home and in the workplace, pic offers a timely look at feminism, sexism, and the subtle ways these issues affect both men and women, all through the microcosm of two marriages.

“I like it when films make us question ourselves instead of giving us simple answers. ‘The Freshly Cut Grass’ seeks to reflect about the complex...

Rio De Janeiro — Latin America’s largest creativity event, Rio2C, will gather over June 4-9 at the Cidade das Artes complex, in Rio de Janeiro, about 50,000 participants, up from 44,000 last year, including some 1,600 speakers and representatives of about 1,100 companies.

Modelled after SXSW, the fifth in-person edition of Rio2C will feature over 500 panels designed to promote the convergence of film/TV, music, innovation, tech, games, publishing, science, fashion, sustainability and sports.

Rio2C 2024, which has “The Age of Awareness” as the central theme, opens Tuesday, June 4 with five summits, followed by three days of conferences and the market. The event wraps on the June 8-9 weekend with Festivalia, majorly attended by music and tech fans.

Virtually all big international film and TV groups established in Brazil will be at Rio2C. Some of them will present sessions highlighting aspects of their operations and new projects, such as Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery/Max,...

Sony Pictures has revealed a new trailer for the live-action hybrid family adventure/comedy ‘Harold and the Purple Crayon.’

Inside his book, adventurous Harold (Zachary Levi) can make anything come to life simply by drawing it. After he grows up and draws himself off the book’s pages and into the physical world, Harold finds he has a lot to learn about real life—and that his trusty purple crayon may set off more hilarious hijinks than he thought possible. When the power of unlimited imagination falls into the wrong hands, it will take all of Harold and his friends’ creativity to save both the real world and his own. Harold And The Purple Crayon is the first film adaptation of the beloved children’s classic that has captivated young readers for decades.

Directed by Carlos Saldanha, the movie stars Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Benjamin Bottani, Jemaine Clement, and...

"With this crayon nothing can stop me!" Except for Zachary Levi? Sony has revealed the second trailer for the Harold and the Purple Crayon movie, arriving in theaters in August this summer. Harold and the Purple Crayon is the first film adaptation of the beloved children’s classic book series by Crockett Johnson that has captivated young readers for decades. "This summer, enter a world where anything you draw comes to life." Inside of his book, adventurous Harold can make anything come to life simply by drawing it. After he grows up and draws himself off the book's pages and into the physical world, Harold discovers that he has a lot to learn about real life. Directed by Carlos Saldanha and produced by John Davis, the live-action hybrid family adventure-comedy stars Zachary Levi as Harold, Lil Rel Howery, Benjamin Bottani, Jemaine Clement, Tanya Reynolds, with Alfred Molina and Zooey Deschanel.

Gu Xiaogang knows firsthand the impact that international film festivals can have.

Gu turned to the Beijing International Film Festival back in 2018 in an effort to get his breakthrough feature, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, made. He took his film to Bjiff’s project market and he walked away with the funds he needed after impressing investors with his story — an intimate look at a family’s life as it evolves across one year — along with his languid style.

The international film world has since felt much the same. Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains went on to become the first Chinese-language film to close Critics’ Week at Cannes in 2019, was selected among the top 10 films of the year by the leading French film magazine Cahier du Cinema in 2020 and led directly to Gu being named a co-winner of the Akira Kurosawa Award at last year’s 36th Tokyo International Film Festival,...

Top 10 animated movies of all time ( Photo Credit – IMDb )

Let’s take a trip down memory lane as we explore a curated selection of the greatest animated films ever crafted. If your favorite isn’t included, don’t worry; there may be a follow-up if this piece strikes a chord with readers. Animated movies, particularly those tailored for young audiences, have traditionally been led by Disney and its offshoot Pixar. Despite their continuous reinvention of beloved tales, both studios have gifted us a wealth of timeless animated treasures. So, without delay, let’s begin our cinematic voyage through the enchanting world of animation.

10. Cars (2006)

Director: John Lasseter, Joe Ranft (co-director) Cast: Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75% IMDb Score: 7./10 Runtime: 1 hour 57 minutes Available on: Disney Plus (US & India)

On his journey to the most important race of his career, Lightning McQueen gets separated from his hauler truck,...

Harold & SpongeBob both use magic tools to bring drawings to life, but the movie changes Harold to an adult. The film risks controversy due to major changes from the original book, like making Harold an adult. Harold's purple crayon can create both fun and terrifying things, mirroring SpongeBob's magic pencil chaos.

Zachary Levi’s new movie, Harold and the Purple Crayon, is weirdly similar to a popular SpongeBob SquarePants episode that aired 22 years ago. Directed by Carlos Saldanha, Harold and the Purple Crayon is based on the 1955 children’s book of the same name by Crockett Johnson, but with a couple of twists to modernize it. Harold and the Purple Crayon mixes animation with live-action performances to tell the story of Harold (Levi) a literary character who, unlike many of his kind, has grown up through the years.

Inside his book, Harold always carries a purple crayon with which he...

Sony Pictures has revealed the official trailer for Harold and the Purple Crayon, which is scheduled to open in theaters on August 2, 2024.

This film is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for mild action and thematic elements.

Inside his book, adventurous Harold (Zachary Levi) can make anything come to life simply by drawing it.

After he grows up and draws himself off the book’s pages and into the physical world, Harold finds he has a lot to learn about real life—and that his trusty purple crayon may set off more hilarious hijinks than he thought possible.

When the power of unlimited imagination falls into the wrong hands, it will take all of Harold and his friends’ creativity to save both the real world and his own.

Harold and the Purple Crayon is the first film adaptation of the beloved children’s classic that has captivated young readers for decades.

Zachary Levi brings a beloved children’s book character to life in the trailer for animated/live-action hybrid movie Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Carlos Saldanha’s adaptation of Crockett Johnson’s classic shows a fresh version of Harold, who is now a grown-up. In the trailer, Harold (Levi) accidentally wreaks havoc when he finds himself stepping out of the page into the human realm. With the ability to create anything with his purple crayon, Harold opens a world of possibilities, from creating terrifying flying tarantulas to producing an airplane on the fly.

Luckily, Harold isn’t navigating real life alone, as he gets help from his new friends, Moose (Lil Rel Howery) and Mel (Benjamin Bottani). Harold also gets guidance from an enigmatic figure named Gary (Jemaine Clement).

“Do you know what brought you to life?,” Gary asks Harold. “It’s what your crayon is made of. The most mysterious,...

The limits of imagination run wild in Sony Pictures’ trailer for Harold and the Purple Crayon, starring Zachary Levi as the keeper of a magical crayon able to bring any drawing to life! Based on the beloved children’s book written and illustrated by Crockett Johnson, the family-friendly adventure finds Levi starring as a grown-up Harold who rediscovers the power to manifest objects like a preschool Green Lantern.

Johnson’s classic novel, Harold and the Purple Crayon, is about a curious four-year-old boy with a magic purple crayon that has the power to make anything he draws become real. Hollywood has been attempting to bring the story to the big screen for decades, and it seems time has finally arrived. The new film, directed by Carlos Saldanha, presents a new spin on the story, with Zachary Levi playing a grown-up Harold who escapes from the book into the real world alongside two of his friends,...