News

Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Ravi Ahuja discussed the studio’s breakout movie of the summer, “KPop Demon Hunters,” on Thursday at Bank of America’s Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference in New York. Speaking with analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich about Sony’s distribution deal with Netflix, Ahuja said the deal with the streamer “made sense.”

Sony produced “KPop Demon Hunters” and sold the distribution rights to Netflix for a direct-to-streaming release. The animated fantasy musical ended up becoming the platform’s most streamed movie of all time, surpassing “Red Notice” with 236 million views. A sing-along version of the film then debuted in theaters on August 23, where it earned over $19 million at the box office in its opening weekend across 1,700 screens.

Given the film’s unprecedented success, many have speculated that Sony should have kept “KPop Demon Hunters” for exclusive theatrical distribution. Ahuja himself is still scratching his head at the idea,...

Exclusive: Following the success of Happy Gilmore 2 and with The Naked Gun making its return to theaters this weekend, the comedy genre is looking to make a big comeback — and that goes for the marketplace as well as another big comedy package has found a home. Sources tell Deadline that following a big bidding war, Universal Pictures has landed the family comedy Dance Parents, with Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum on board to produce and develop as a starring vehicle for the pair.

Jonathan Levine is attached to direct and produce as well. Meghan Malloy is attached to pen the script.

Insiders say the project is in early development. Insiders close to the auction say the project drew a number of suitors before landing at Universal.

Theron will produce with her partners Beth Kono and Aj Dix through their Secret Menu first-look deal with Universal Pictures alongside Matt Maher...

Netflix releases all kinds of original movies every year, but one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2025 so far has been this Korean-inspired fantasy movie that audiences are loving. Netflix has become a hub for original animated movies as well as Korean projects, with The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Klaus being examples of the former and Squid Game and All of Us Are Dead being examples of the latter. This Korean-inspired Netflix Original movie mixes aspects of both of these categories, making for a project that audiences are loving so far.

Netflix had an impressive slate of animated movies heading into 2025, with the streaming service itself releasing In Your Dreams and The Twits later this year. Movies like Guillermo del Toro's The Buried Giantand other exciting projects are in the works, although release dates haven't been announced yet. Netflix also acquires a lot of animated movies from other studios,...

Telemundo is sticking with proven franchises for its 2025-26 programming slate, which includes the El Señor de los Cielos spinoff, Dinastía Casillas, a new season of La Casa de los Famosos, and the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The network says it has wrapped its first quarter of 2025 as the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast network in prime time among total viewers. Growth for Telemundo is across digital platforms like the Telemundo App, Fast channels, Peacock, YouTube, and social media platforms.

Telemundo has focused on making appointment television with its slogan, “Estás en vivo. Estás en Telemundo,” which translates to, “You’re live. You’re on Telemundo.” The strategy has paid off, as it leads Monday-Sunday prime in total viewers and is the most-watched network in weekday afternoons (1-5pm) among adults 18-49 and total viewers, according to Nielsen.

On the digital front, Telemundo ranked as the #1 Spanish-language broadcast network in total digital audience,...

Germany’s Komplizen has boarded “Technically Sweet,” a drama based on the last screenplay by the late and legendary Michelangelo Antonioni (“Blowup”), which Brazil’s Gullane Filmes (“Senna”) and Italy’s Vivo Film (“Le Quattro Volte”) have been developing.

“We are committed to making a significant German contribution to the project,” said Komplizen’s Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski and Maren Ade, who expressed their delight at joining the project.

The film is to be directed by Brazil’s André Ristum, the son of Antonioni’s A.D. Jirges Ristum, who died before he could take over the project that the maestro had entrusted to him. Antonioni’s widow, Enrica Antonioni, is an associate producer.

“Technically Sweet” follows a man in his forties whose sudden trip to Sardinia compels him to reevaluate his life. He navigates tense real estate dealings, grows entangled with a girl he can’t quite understand and...

Exclusive:Paris-based sales company Lucky Number has taken on international sales for Italian director Francesco Sossai’s debut feature The Last One For The Road, whichwill world premiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes next month.

The Italy-Germany co-production is about two broke, bar-hopping fiftysomethings who meet a shy and aimless architecture student. Together, the three men embark on a chaotic road trip through the Venetian plains where bad advice, hangovers and unexpected friendship shake up the young man’s future plans for life and love.

The Last One For The Road is produced by Marta Donzelli and Gregorio Paonessa for...

The Costume Designers Guild has fashioned its 2025 Spotlight Award recipient. Emilia Pérez co-star and Lioness lead Zoe Saldaña will pick up her prize at the 27th annual CDG Awards hosted by Jackie Tohn on February 6 at The Ebell in Los Angeles.

The Spotlight Award celebrates an actor whose talent and career personify an enduring commitment to excellence, including a special appreciation of the importance of costume design. The guild notes that Saldaña is a fitting honoree in that she can inhabit a costume and make the character come alive no matter how elaborate or otherworldly — from Neytiri in the Avatar films to Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and beyond.

She plays cartel lawyer Rita Mora Castro in Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical crime comedy Emilia Pérez, which is riding huge awards-season buzz. Saldaña is nominated for Golden Globe, Critics Choices and other awards for the role. She...

Warner Bros. has officially passed on Fixed, Genndy Tartakovsky's high-concept adult romp, to the animation department. This marked the second time in recent months that Warner Bros, under CEO David Zaslav, had shelved a finished animated project after announcing no one would be seeing Coyote vs. Acme.

Fixed is an adult-oriented comedy surrounding a dog whose life is focused on a "ballsack bucket list," adding to the very concept-driven appeal one would imagine this project possesses. It was produced by the same studio that made popular titles for this year, like Vivo and The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Sony Pictures Animation. Even though the film has an intriguing premise and comes from the proven mind of Tartakovsky, Warner Bros. has opted not to release the feature. Instead, Sony Pictures Animation reportedly retook the distribution rights, and the movie is again afoot to find another home, with Netflix said to be among the leading suitors.

Warner Bros. pulls plug on releasing adult animated film "Fixed" by Genndy Tartakovsky, opts to sell to Sony Pictures for distribution. Despite Tartakovsky's impressive resume, new Warner Bros. leadership seems to be abandoning the studio's Cartoon Network legacy. Sony Pictures Animation now has the option to sell "Fixed" to other distributors or pursue a streaming release.

Warner Bros. has scrapped plans to distribute Fixed, an adult animated film from the mind of Hotel Transylvania director and Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky. Fixed follows Bull (Adam DeVine), a bloodhound who learns he is about to be fixed and goes on a wild adventure before he loses part of himself. The cast includes Idris Elba, Kathryn Hahn, Beck Bennett, River Gallo, Bobby Moynihan, Michelle Buteau, and Fred Armisen. It would be one of the biggest adult-oriented animated films to get a theatrical release, but that is no longer happening.

According to Variety,...

Lin-Manuel Miranda's career has soared with numerous accolades from his work on Broadway, film scores, and as a musical artist. Miranda's songs are memorable and varied, from empowering tunes like "How Far I'll Go" to ensemble pieces like "We Don't Talk About Bruno." With hits like "In The Heights" and "You're Welcome," Miranda's songs have topped charts and wowed audiences on both stage and screen.

The songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda have ensured that his career continues to go from strength to strength. Miranda got his start working on plays, and he went on to create the Broadway musicals In the Heights (2005) and Hamilton (2015). He also worked on film scores and even got to move behind the camera at one point in his career. He won a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, and he even earned two Oscar nominations. However, he is...

With the arrival of the first trailer for the "live-action" "Lion King" prequel "Mufasa: The Lion King" came news that the film's music is being spearheaded by Lin-Manuel Miranda. In the aftermath of the smash success of his stage musical "Hamilton" (which was eventually released as a movie on Disney+), Miranda seemed to be the guy in Hollywood, working on music for things like "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," "Moana," "Vivo," and "Encanto," just to name a few, while also physically appearing on screen in "Mary Poppins Returns," "In the Heights," "His Dark Materials," and more. The dude was everywhere, and, as often happens when someone becomes overexposed, a backlash began. His past couple of years have been more subdued, and "Mufasa: The Lion King" marks his return to the familiar arms of The Walt Disney Company.

While it may not be surprising that the guy behind the music of...

Actor Louis Koo is a household name in Hong Kong but off-screen, he’s an influential entertainment industry investor, producer and entrepreneur.

Rising to prominence during the “golden age” of Hong Kong cinema, Koo built a respected career over the decades but less flashy are his businesses and investments.

One Cool Group is one such revenue stream. Launched by Koo in 2013, the company has transitioned from a local film production entity to a dominant force in the Asian film industry. With over 300 staff across offices in Hong Kong, mainland China, Thailand and South Korea, the company manages every aspect of filmmaking from financing to distribution.

One Cool Group announced a slate of five films March 11 during FilMart.

“Diversified development has always been our major goal, like last year, when we broadened our business scope to music concerts and theatrical play production,” said Sean Man, One Cool Group’s business development and communications director.

Thanksgiving weekend featured an animation face-off between a titan of the industry, the 100-year-old Walt Disney Animation Studios, and a relative upstart, Netflix, which only started releasing its own animated features in 2019.

Disney’s holiday movie, “Wish,” was a musical extravaganza featuring the watercolor backgrounds of the studio’s past combined with cutting-edge CGI, while Netflix’s “Leo” was a more budget-conscious musical set in modern-day Florida.

It was a showdown of theatrical versus streaming, legacy studio versus blustery upstart, fairy tale versus contemporary storytelling. And the results were startling.

While “Wish” came in third at the box office with a disappointing $31.6 million, the Adam Sandler-starring “Leo” debuted to 34.6 million views (which is hours viewed divided by total runtime), according to Netflix, which in box office terms equaled a haul of around $500 million for its opening weekend, one insider with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap. “Leo” has been...

Leo is an animated musical comedy film directed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, and David Wachtenheim, from a screenplay by Robert Smigel, Paul Sado, and Adam Sandler. The Netflix film revolves around Leo the Lizard who has been stuck in the same Florida school for over seven decades, and when he finds out that he only has a year to live but instead he ends up helping the students. Leo has a very talented star cast giving their voices to the characters including Sandler’s whole family, Bill Burr, Rob Schneider, Jason Alexander, and Cecily Strong. So, if you loved the Netflix film, here are some similar animated movies you could watch next.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Disney+) Credit – Disney+

Synopsis: Greg Heffley is a scrawny but ambitious kid with an active imagination and big plans to be rich and famous – he just has to survive middle school first.

Lin-Manuel Miranda reportedly has set his sights on his next musical for the stage. The multiple Tony and Grammy award winner is adapting a stage musical version of The Warriors, based on Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel that was later turned into the 1979 action thriller film directed by Walter Hill, according to the New York Post‘s Johnny Oleksinski.

The project would be Miranda’s first full stage musical since his global phenom Hamilton, winner of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 2016..

The Warriors is a familiar setting for New York City native Miranda. The film centers on a fictitious New York City street gang who must travel 30 miles, from the north end of the Bronx to their home turf in Coney Island in southern Brooklyn, after they are framed for the murder of a respected gang leader.

Zoe Saldaña's portrayal of Uhura in the Star Trek films gave the character more depth and agency than ever before, making her a star in her own right alongside Captain Kirk and Spock. Saldaña has had a successful career outside of Star Trek, starring in big-budget blockbusters like Avatar and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and showcasing her voice acting skills in animated projects. Saldaña's portrayal of Uhura helped redefine the character and open up new possibilities, paving the way for future iterations of the iconic role in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Since she last played Lt. Nyota Uhura in Star Trek Beyond, Zoe Saldaña has been in high demand, and she continues to appear in some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters. Saldaña first played Lt. Uhura in 2009's Star Trek, and reprised the role for the two sequels, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016). Though a fourth...

The acclaimed actor accepted an honorary award at the New York Asian Film Festival.

Filmmakers will never be surpassed by artificial intelligence (AI), according to acclaimed Hong Kong actor and producer Louis Koo.

Speaking on stage at the New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff), Koo referenced the SAG-AFTRA strikes in the US, which has seen tens of thousands of actors and screenwriters walk out over concerns about pay, working conditions and the industry’s use of AI.

“I know that in America there has been strikes, writers strikes as well as actors strikes,” he told a packed cinema on Wednesday...

DreamWorks Animation’s “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken” (in theater’s now) is a different kind of undersea adventure.

The title character is a seemingly regular teenage girl living in the town of Oceanside (voiced by Lana Condor) who knows that her family is keeping something from her but doesn’t understand that she is actually the latest descendant in an underwater kraken kingdom. Thankfully, she reconnects with her grandmother (Jane Fonda) and together they unlock her kraken powers. Or maybe the right phrase is release the kraken.

And she’ll need it, as she’s got to do battle with a cute, popular girl who is also an evil mermaid. This leads to an unexpectedly epic kaiju battle between mermaid and kraken that is pretty amazing.

TheWrap spoke to director Kirk DeMicco, who helmed “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken” (with co-director Faryn Pearl), shortly before the movie’s splashy (get it?...

Netflix has a wide catalog of well-known and incredibly famous family movies — but some of the best movies for viewers of all ages are underrated, with some absolute gems flying under the radar of many households. Options for families are crucial, with a lot of different movies being available from great animations to fantastic adventures which provides some exciting options for younger audiences at times. Netflix has a specialized "Kids" section and has invested in original content aimed at all ages, but its family movies are sometimes overlooked in favor of big-name titles by the likes of Disney and DreamWorks.

The best underrated family movies on Netflix are a mix of original content, movies from international and independent studios, and forgotten treasures and box-office hits from decades gone by. While there are some amazing movies that have gained awards and major attention, there are still also a lot of hidden...

It’s time to go Big! This summer, experience Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken – In Theaters June 30.

For your chance to receive a family 4-pack of passes, enter below.

http://gofobo.com/WxONs05005

Winners will be chosen June 22 at 5pm. No Purchase Required.

Rated PG

https://www.teenagekrakenmovie.com

Sometimes the hero you are meant to be lies just beneath the surface.

This summer, DreamWorks Animation dives into the turbulent waters of high school with a hilarious, heartfelt action comedy about a shy teenager who discovers that she’s part of a legendary royal lineage of mythical sea krakens and that her destiny, in the depths of the oceans, is bigger than she ever dreamed.

Sweet, awkward 16-year-old Ruby Gillman is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High, but she mostly just feels invisible.

She’s math-tutoring her skater-boy crush, who only seems to admire her for her fractals, and she...

The Sony Pictures Animation movie Vivo features a cast full of familiar voices for its colorful range of animated characters like Vivo, Gabi, and the nefarious Lutador. The 2021 family movie may have flown relatively under the radar, but the surprisingly deep script is brought to life by some instantly recognizable names — all of which feel incredibly well placed (especially during the many musical numbers). The cast includes a number of performers who viewers may be more familiar with from their time in front of the camera, or even on stage. The heavily Latin American voice cast of Vivo is headed up by multi-talented star Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also played a major role in the film's creation.

Vivo is a family-oriented musical about a performing kinkajou who goes on a mission to honor his master's last wish. This goal takes him on an odyssey across Florida alongside an imaginative young girl.

This Summer, DreamWorks Animation will blow the myths about mermaids out of the water and introduce a new hero from the ocean depths! From the studio that brought you Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon comes the Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken trailer, starring Lana Condor as a mythical creature on the verge of discovering her hidden powers and becoming a legend.

Per DreamWorks’ official press release, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken dives into the turbulent waters of high school with a hilarious, heartfelt action comedy about a shy teenager who discovers that she’s part of a legendary royal lineage of mythical sea krakens and that her destiny, in the depths of the oceans, is bigger than she ever dreamed.

Sweet, awkward 16-year-old Ruby Gillman is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High but mostly feels invisible.

She’s math-tutoring her skater-boy crush, who only seems to admire her for her fractals.

Universal Pictures is set to release DreamWorks Animation’s new original movie, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, in theaters on June 30.

Oscar nominee Kirk De Micco directed the film along with Faryn Pearl as co-director. The ensemble voice cast includes Lana Condor in the titular role, Toni Collette as her overprotective mother and Jane Fonda as Ruby’s commanding grandmother, in addition to Colman Domingo, Annie Murphy, Sam Richardson and Blue Chapman.

Dimicco was Oscar-nominated for DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods and most recent helmed Vivo, the animated Lin Manuel-Miranda musical, for Netflix. And Jane Fonda is returning to animation after voicing a lead role in last year’s Luck for Skydance Animation.

The coming-of-age movie was originally called Meet the Gillmans. Condor plays Ruby Gillman, a shy high school student desperate to fit in, only to find she is a direct descendant of the warrior Kraken queens and will...

Lana Condor, Toni Collette and Jane Fonda are playing a family of sea monster queens in DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming film “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.”

Condor voices Ruby, “a shy teenager who discovers that she’s part of a legendary royal lineage of mythical sea krakens and that her destiny, in the depths of the oceans, is bigger than she ever dreamed.” Collette plays her mother, who forbade Ruby from ever stepping foot in the water, and Fonda is her grandmother, from whom Ruby is destined to inherit the throne of the kraken queens.

Here’s the logline: “Sweet, awkward 16-year-old Ruby Gillman is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High, but she mostly just feels invisible. She’s math-tutoring her skater-boy crush (Jaboukie Young-White), who only seems to admire her for her fractals, and she’s prevented from hanging out with the cool kids at the beach because her...

Denver-based distributor Fathom Events and Spain’s Bosco Films are teaming to release this September in 700 U.S. theaters the Spanish documentary “Libres” (“Free”).

Portraying the cloistered life of 12 monasteries in Spain, “Free” will be the fourth feature both partners jointly release stateside.

Their distribution relationship kicked-off last year, with the U.S. release of faith-based doc “Vivo” (“Alive”), which scored $352,000 on its April 24 launch, entering into the domestic box office Top Ten.

Further recent Fathom-Bosco releases include Spanish biopic “Esclavos y reyes” (“Claret”) and French pilgrimage documentary “Lourdes.”

For “Free’s” Latin American and Mexican bows, scheduled for Sept. 21, Madrid-based Bosco Films has inked deals with key exhibition chains such as Cinemex, Cinemark and Cinépolis.

Bosco opens “Free” in Spanish theaters on April 21.

Directed by Santos Blanco and written by Javier Lorenzo, “Free” is a journey into the interior of men through the lives of those people who have...

Exclusive: Released in August, Louis Koo’s sci-fi action thriller Warriors Of Future has become not just the highest-grossing local film in Hong Kong ever, but the highest-grossing Asian film ever released in the territory, with a gross of HK81.7M (US10.5M). The film also raked in 100m in China over the summer and is currently number four in Netflix’s global ranking of non-English language films after launching worldwide on December 2.

It’s an encouraging result for Hong Kong’s film industry, which suffered through some of the most frequent and lengthy cinema shutdowns during the pandemic – the last one only ending this April. It’s also an extraordinary achievement for a Hong Kong sci-fi movie, as the territory has never before attempted to produce a film of this genre and at this scale.

Directed by visual effects specialist Ng Yuen-fai (Bodyguards And Assassins), the 56m film was...

Avatar: The Way of Water star Zoe Saldaña has clarified comments she made about how filming for franchises like Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy made her feel restricted to those types of roles in her acting career. Saldaña is best known for playing Neytiri in Avatar, acting as the female lead in the film and Jake Sully's love interest. She also received worldwide praise for her role as Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, as well as in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Recently, Saldaña has opened up about how she feels "stuck" filming franchise movies despite the popularity of her roles in both film series.

Speaking to Deadline at the premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water, Saldaña clarified her feelings surrounding her roles in big franchises like Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy. She expressed gratefulness for being part of popular film series,...

24 feature projects, including four documentary and three animation films, received funding

Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes and Danish director Charlotte Sieling have both received co-production support for projects from Eurimages’ third round of funding for 2022.

Some €6.7m sum has been awarded to 24 feature projects including four documentary and three animation films.

Gomes has received €500,000 for Grand Tour, about an engaged couple travelling from Burma to China in 1918. The film is a co-production between Portugal’s Uma Pedra No Sapato, Italy’s Vivo Film, France and Germany.

Also receiving €500,000 is Titanic Ocean, the feature debut from Greek director Konstantina Kotzamani whose shorts have been screened at Cannes,...

Elena Trapé, whose character-driven ensemble pieces “Blog” and “The Distances” marked her out as a talent to watch, is attached to direct “Gwendolyne, Diary of a Fan,”, one of two series being brought onto the market at Ventana Sur’s Spanish Screenings by Barcelona-based Coming Soon Films.

Screenplay for “Gewndlyne” is by Marta Buisán and Jordi Casado and Miguel Ibánez Monroy.

Led by Marta Ramírez, post-production coordinator on J.A. Bayona’s “The Orphanage,” Coming Soon, which already produced Trapé’s “The Distances,” is also introducing in Buenos Aires “The Summer of Dead Toys,” (“El verano de los juguetes muertos”), a procedural adapting Catalan Tony Hill’s acclaimed debut crime novel of the same title, produced with Barcelona’s Corte y Confección de Películas.

“Gwendolyne’s” titular protagonist, now 30, had one of the times of her life – one of the only times of her life – when 15, she was chasing the Sexy Gods,...

Exclusive: Lin-Manuel Miranda is set for a key guest-starring role on Disney+’s upcoming series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Based on Rick Riordan’s bestselling book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson (Walter Scobell), who’s just coming to terms with his newfound divine powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. With help from his friends Grover (Aryan Simhadri) and Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries), Percy must embark on an adventure of a lifetime to find it and restore order to Olympus.

Miranda, who is a fan of the Percy Jackson books along with his son, will play Hermes, the messenger god who looks out for travelers and thieves, and is a bit of a trickster himself. He is charismatic & boisterous, the life of the party. Unfortunately, his charm does not do...

The film has screened at Toronto and San Sebastian

Sovereign has secured UK and Ireland rights to Diego Lerman’s Argentinian thriller The Substitute from Urban Sales.

Set in Buenos Aires, the film follows a substitute teacher who becomes caught in a conflict between a drug gang and one of his students.

‘The Substitute’: San Sebastian Review

After a world premiere at Toronto The Substitute screened in competition in San Sebastian, winning the best supporting actor award for Renata Lerman. She stars with Juan Minujín, Alfredo Castro, Barbara Lennie and Lucas Arrua

The producers are El Campo Cine; Italy...

Netflix Animation has laid off 30 employees, Variety has confirmed.

The news comes after recent executive shake-ups, with Netflix earlier this year appointing Karen Toliver as vice president of animated film content and Traci Balthazor as vice president of animated film production.

The layoffs are a result of Netflix consolidating its animation film production team under one central leader, Balthazor, as she continues to work closely with Toliver.

The downsizing does not signal a decrease in output from Netflix Animation, which has earned seven Oscar nominations since 2020, winning for “If Anything Happens, I Love You.”

The streamer’s slate of animated features and shorts includes “Robin,” “Klaus,” “Over the Moon, Back to the Outback,” Richard Linklater’s “Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood” and Chris Williams’ “The Sea Beast.” Coming soon are Henry Selick and Jordan Peele’s “Wendell & Wild,” Nora Twomey’s “My Father’s Dragon,” Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio,...

Features the voices of: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ynairaly Simo, Zoe Saldana, Juan de Marcos González, Brian Tyree Henry | Written by Kirk DeMicco, Quiara Alegria Hudes | Directed by Kirk DeMicco

Vivo follows a one-of-kind kinkajou, who spends his days playing music to the crowds in a lively square with his beloved owner Andrés (Buena Vista Social Club’s Juan de Marcos). Though they may not speak the same language, Vivo and Andrés are the perfect duo through their common love of music.

But when tragedy strikes shortly after Andrés receives a letter from the famous Marta Sandoval (three-time Grammy-winning Latin pop legend Gloria Estefan), inviting her old partner to her farewell concert with the hope of reconnecting, it’s up to Vivo to deliver a message that Andrés never could: A love letter to Marta, written long ago, in the form of a song. Yet in order to get to Marta, who lives a world apart,...

New Release Wall

David Cronenberg plays the hits in “Crimes of the Future” (Neon), but there’s no other filmmaker today with hits like his. Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux are a pair of surgery-based performance artists whose interests intersect with a sect of plastic-eaters, while bureaucrats Kristen Stewart (giving the screen’s most divisive performance since Jared Leto in “House of Gucci”) and Don McKellar look on in fannish amazement. If you enjoy the auteur’s brand of surgical implements that look like insect exoskeletons and furniture that looks like tumors, this is your kind of movie.

Also available:

“Charm City Kings” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment): Denied a proper release during the pandemic lockdown, this saga of a young Baltimorean getting involved in the city’s motorbike culture is a powerful drama not to be missed.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (Marvel Studios): Audiences differed...

Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of the Looney Tunes gang are about to tread the boards: Warner Bros. Animation will create Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical for HBO Max and Cartoon Network.

The original animated family movie event will feature original song and dance numbers and new orchestrations from the Warner Bros. library of movie musicals. Here’s the logline: “After starring in a long-running Looney Tunes Broadway smash production, an exhausted Bugs Bunny decides it’s time to trade in sold-out shows for life as a regular rabbit. Ever the spotlight opportunist, Daffy Duck attempts to step into the lead role, but his star ambitions are quickly sidetracked when he is kidnapped by an obsessive fan who has more sinister plans for her favorite stage duck. With his ticket to Broadway retirement in danger, Bugs sets off on a rescue mission to find Daffy and, with the...

Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of the Looney Tunes gang will be back in a Broadway-set “Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical,” the first-ever Looney Tunes Original animated movie musical, which is produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

Envisaged as a family event, “Bye Bye Bunny” will screen on HBO Max and Cartoon Network.

The announcement brought to a climax a mega studio focus on Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios Hanna -Barbera Studios Europe held at France’s Annecy Festival where the three studios presented an early look at some of their latest and greatest projects coming soon.

With a screenplay and lyrics by Emmy Award winner Ariel Dumas, a head writer on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and huge Looney Tunes fan, “Bye Bye Bunny” shows Warner Bros. Animation pursuing one of its main mandates: Drawing upon the studio’s voluminous library vault in animation and then...

Netflix has been home to some incredible animated feature films as of late, including "Klaus," "Vivo," "Over the Moon," and "The Mitchells vs. The Machines." In their latest, wholly original production, Disney alum Chris Williams takes audiences on a nautical adventure sailing the seas and battling larger-than-life monsters. The co-director of "Bolt," "Big Hero 6," and "Moana" is setting sail on "The Sea Beast," due out on Netflix this summer, on July 8, 2022. The film is about a legendary sea monster hunter named Jacob Holland (Karl Urban) who, during his most dangerous hunting expedition, discovers a...

The post The Sea Beast Director Chris Williams Wants You to Remember Why We Love Gigantic Monster Movies [Interview] appeared first on /Film.

Exclusive: Laura Fitzpatrick has joined Sony Pictures Imageworks as VP New Business. In her new role, she will be responsible for third party VFX business development and strategic planning for long-term growth. She will also oversee worldwide sales, marketing and client engagement, reporting to EVP Michelle Grady. Upcoming projects Fitzpatrick will have a hand in include the animated features The Sea Beast and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Fitzpatrick most recently served as Global Managing Director at visual effects company Mr. X, where she was responsible for strategic growth planning, financial oversight, and management of teams across multiple facilities.

“Laura is a strategic, forward-thinking executive who is admired by peers throughout the industry,” said Grady. “We are extremely excited to welcome Laura into the Imageworks fold.”

“I am thrilled to join the award-winning team at Sony Pictures Imageworks,” added Fitzpatrick. “Their creativity and innovative genius is unparalleled in the industry and...

Lin-Manuel Miranda is a musical theater icon, making waves with his music in Disney movies and his recent directorial debut with Tick Tick Boom. 2021 was a big year for the songwriter and actor with his voice role in Vivo and the film adaptation of his stage musical, In The Heights.

Related: 10 Musicians & Singers Who Could Win An Egot This Decade

Lin-Manuel got his start with small roles on TV. When he made it big on Broadway and expanded his talent to film, he continued guest-starring in TV shows, allowing for a nice surprise for fans when they see him grace their television screens.

Animayo Gran Canaria, Spain’s foremost Canary Islands-based animation festival, is venturing deep into the metaverse with experts in artificial intelligence, virtual reality and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) joining leading voices in animation from major studios, including DreamWorks, Walt Disney, Skydance, Sony Pictures and Platige Image.

Some 23 guests will be participating across 14 master classes, three debate panels, three workshops, 10 recruitment sessions and other events at the in-person 17th edition held over May 4-7 in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.

An online edition is slated to launch in October. “This year the debates are a novelty because it’s a must to create a meeting forum in this increasingly polarized society,” said Damian Perea, founder-director of the festival, which also encompasses VFX and video gaming.

The festival’s impact on local production continues to grow as the Canary Islands now boasts at least 20 animation and VFX companies, Perea told Variety.

Among the other...

Exclusive: The Black List is partnering with Academy Award-winning studio Sony Pictures Animation for its first writers program geared toward emerging, diverse talent in animation.

The Sony Pictures Animation x The Black List Writers Program will select one writer to work in-house at the studio for a six-month period, with that creative being responsible for crafting dialogue for custom animation pieces, diving into scripts on the development slate, pitching their own ideas, and more. They will receive 50,000 for their services, which will be covered under the jurisdiction of the Sony Pictures Animation I.A.T.S.E. Agreement.

Only individual writers interested in developing their skill set in the world of animation, who represent the global, diverse audience the studio seeks to entertain, will be eligible for the program. Scripts submitted can come from any genre, and take the form of a feature film, play or musical, though pilot scripts won’t be accepted.

Fathom Events and Spain’s Bosco Films are partnering to bring faith-based documentary “Vivo” (“Alive”) to about 700 North American locations on April 25.

Produced by Hakuna Films and directed by Jorge Pareja, “Alive” narrates four real-life stories filmed in Spain of people who tell how Christian’s Eucharist transformed their lives.

“Alive,” which previously bowed by Bosco in Spain and 14 Latin American territories, marks the Spanish indie distributor’s leap into the international market, where it’s been closing a bundle of exhibition agreements with local and international operators.

The peak in “Alive’s” international theatrical career comes with the U.S. release after the Fathom Events deal.

“In the event cinema business, we see that people come to the theater in groups, having a true community experience,” said Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events.

“To be able to bring this same experience to the Spanish speaking community is very important to us.

People of color “helped keep Hollywood afloat” with heavy movie consumption during pandemic challenges in 2021, according UCLA’s bi-annual Hollywood Diversity Report.

The report, released Thursday, concluded that people of color made up the majority of opening-weekend, domestic ticket sales for six of the top 10 films released in theaters. The study also tracked progress for women and minorities in acting, directing and writing roles and examined the top 252 English-language films released in theaters or on streaming services in 2021.

In 2021, study found that films with casts that were at least somewhat diverse — 21%to 30% minority — enjoyed the highest median global box office receipts. But as in earlier reports, films featuring casts with the lowest amount of diversity (less than 11% nonwhite actors) performed the most poorly at the box office, the report said.

“Mortal Kombat” (Warner Bros.)

Streaming films with majority-nonwhite casts won high ratings among viewers in the 18- 49-year-old demographic and Black households,...

Skydance Animation has landed another major talent.

Rich Moore, director of “Zootopia,” “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” is joining the team in an exclusive, multi-year overall deal. Under the new pact, Moore will create, develop and produce original animated features for the studio.

After leaving Disney in 2019, Moore did a brief stint at Sony Pictures Animation. The only feature he helped with, last year’s “Vivo,” was released directly to Netflix.

The move to Skydance Animation sees Moore reuniting with his old boss, former Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creative officer John Lasseter. Lasseter took a six month sabbatical from Disney and Pixar in 2017 after sexual misconduct allegations emerged; he was ultimately never rehired (he consulted until the end of 2018). In January 2019, Lasseter was hired to head Skydance Animation, which then had an exclusive deal with Paramount and is now in partnership with Apple TV+.

Moore...

“The Power of the Dog” took top honors from this year’s edition of the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (Leja), winning best picture, best director and best editing from the organization.

The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association announced its winners on Sunday afternoon, honoring the top achievements of 2021 films. Other major winners during the afternoon included Ariana DeBose in supporting actress for “West Side Story” and Disney’s Encanto in the categories of best voice or motion capture performance for Stephanie Beatriz, best animated film, best musical score and best song written for a film.

Heading into the awards, “West Side Story” led the field with a total of 13 nominations. Lin-Manuel Miranda received the most individual nominations of any person with seven: best picture for “In the Heights,” best director for “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” voice or motion capture performance for “Vivo” and a trio of song mentions from the animated film “Encanto” including “Dos Oruguitas,...

Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s directorial debut, “tick, tick, Boom!” is now an Oscar nominee for Best Actor and Best Film Editing, while the multi-hyphenate himself is nominated in Best Original Song for penning a tune from “Encanto.” Miranda also saw his first stage musical, “In the Heights,” be adapted to a film last year and penned additional songs for the animated film “Vivo.”

Miranda recently spoke with Gold Derby contributing writer David Buchanan about adapting “tick, tick, Boom!” to the big screen, his personal connection to the late composer Stephen Sondheim and his work writing songs for “Encanto” and “Vivo.” If he wins the Oscar for songwriting, that will complete his Egot after previously winning at the Emmys, Grammys and Tonys. Watch the full interview and read the transcript below.

SEEAndrew Garfield interview: ‘tick, tick… Boom!’

Gold Derby: I want to start by asking you about your personal experience with Jonathan Larson...

The 2022 NAACP Image Awards were presented on BET tonight, with Jennifer Hudson emerging as a top winner, taking home both the coveted Entertainer of the Year and Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture awards. Will Smith also emerged as Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, with “The Harder They Fall” winning Outstanding Motion Picture. Many more winners were announced this week during the non-televised NAACP Image Awards.

Take a look at the full winners list below.

Entertainer of the year

Jennifer Hudson

Lil Nas X

Megan Thee Stallion

Regina King

Tiffany Haddish

Outstanding motion picture

“The Harder They Fall”

“Judas and the Black Messiah”

“King Richard”

“Respect”

“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”

Outstanding actor in a motion picture

Will Smith, “King Richard”

Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

Jonathan Majors, “The Harder They Fall”

Lakeith Stanfield, “Judas and the Black Messiah”

Mahershala Ali, “Swan Song”

Outstanding actress in a motion picture

Jennifer Hudson,...

The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (or Leja) has announced its fourth annual awards nomination. Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story leads with a whopping 13 nominations.  The year's other big Latino musical In the Heights received 4 nominations. Lin-Manuel Miranda alone reaped 7 nominations. The year's other big Latino musical In the Heights received four nominations.  The nominees are after the jump and their winners will be announced on March 6th...

The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association announced its annual nominations where Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” leads the way with 13 nominations, including best picture, director, supporting actor, supporting actress, and adapted screenplay.

Lin-Manuel Miranda received the most individual nominations of any person with seven: best picture for “In the Heights,” best director for “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” voice or motion capture performance for “Vivo” and a trio of song mentions from the animated film “Encanto” including “Dos Oruguitas,” “Surface Pressure” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” The Leja membership also selected Miranda as the recipient of the Latino Activism Award. Past winners of that award include America Ferrera, Eva Longoria, Rosie Perez.

John Leguizamo is being honored with the 2022 Rita Moreno Lifetime Achievement Award for this year’s special honorees. For decades, the Special Tony and Emmy-winning actor, producer, and comedian have been a tireless force in the Latino community.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is ready to talk about Bruno.

The ridiculously talented multihyphenate had an incredible 2021, which saw (amongst other things) an adaptation of his beloved musical “In the Heights” released, a long-gestating animated musical called “Vivo” finally come out, and his debut feature as a writer/director, “Tick, Tick … Boom!” hit Netflix.

And then there’s “Encanto.”

Miranda’s second feature for Walt Disney Animation Studios after “Moana,” “Encanto” tells the story of a family in Colombia at the turn of the 20th century, each of whom is gifted with a magical ability … all except awkward Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz). While it was released into theaters at Thanksgiving, it really made a splash at Christmas, when it debuted on Disney+. Since then, it has been nominated for three Oscars (including one for Best Original Song), the soundtrack has dominated the Billboard charts, and it has been immortalized in countless TikTok videos,...