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It's a day ending in "y," which means David Zaslav has found a new way to trash Warner Bros.' proud 102-year history. This time, according to Deadline, Zaslav and WB has made the unconscionable decision to delete the entire 1930-1969 run of Looney Tunes shorts from the Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service, Max. It's all gone, folks.

Since merging his reality-show-laden garbage heap of a network with the studio that's given movie lovers the world over a century of celluloid joy, Zaslav has exhibited a bizarre hostility towards what should be his corporation's crown jewel. He's permanently shelved finished films like "Batgirl," engaged in a petty slash-and-burn of Turner Classic Movies that hobbled (but thankfully did not kill) the cherished cable curator of cinema history, and unceremoniously wiped out loads of Cartoon Network programming without informing the shows' creators ahead of time.

Two years ago, Zaslav seemed to have...

At the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, the Art Directors Guild held its 29th annual awards ceremony, honoring outstanding production design across film, television, commercials, and music videos. The event celebrated a wide range of projects, from fantasy and period pieces to contemporary dramas, with several winners set to contend for the upcoming Production Design Oscar.

In the film categories, Warner Bros’ Wicked claimed the Fantasy Feature Film prize, while Focus Features’ Nosferatu took home the award for Period Feature Film. The Contemporary Feature Film award went to Conclave, marking a strong showing for films that will soon face stiff competition at next month’s Oscar ceremony. Adding to the night’s successes, Universal’s The Wild Robot earned top honors in the Animated Feature Film category, following recent wins at the Annie Awards.

Television winners spanned a broad spectrum of genres. Prime Video’s Fallout earned the One-Hour Fantasy Series award,...

“Nosferatu” (Craig Lathrop), “Wicked” (Nathan Crowley), and “Conclave” (Suzie Davies) were the period, fantasy, and contemporary production design winners at the 29th annual Art Directors Guild Awards, held February 15 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.

Also winning for animation was “The Wild Robot”, following its Annies sweep and Ves prizes. On the TV side, “Shōgun,” “Squid Game,” “Fallout,” and “The Penguin” were the winners for their production designers in their respective categories.

The Lathrop win for “Nosferatu” was not surprising when you consider that “The Brutalist” production designer Judy Becker is not an Adg member. She has been the presumptive Oscar favorite for channeling Oscar-nominated Adrien Brody’s visionary architect, László Tóth, in applying a Brutalist style to the architectural designs of mid-century Pennsylvania with its bold shapes and function over form aesthetic.

Lathrop, who has worked on all of director Robert Eggers’ other films, received his first Oscar nomination for “Nosferatu.

Wicked, Nosferatu, Conclave and The Wild Robot took top film honors at the 29th annual Art Directors Guild Awards, which were handed out tonight at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown. TV winners included Fallout, Shōgun, The Penguin, Squid Game, Saturday Night Live, Frasier and What We Do in the Shadows.

Check out the full list below.

Warner Bros’ Wicked won for Fantasy Feature Film, and Focus Features pics took the other two top film prizes: vampire horror Nosferatu won for Period Feature Film, and papal drama Conclave took Contemporary Feature Film, the first film award of the night. All three will go up against fellow Adg nominees The Brutalist, Dune: Part Two and Wicked for the Production Design Oscar next month.

Since the trophy show launched in 1996, the winner of one of those has gone on to win the Art Direction/Production Design Oscar in 19 of the 28 years. It had...

Sean Bean, famous for joining huge fantasy series like The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones and then dying early on in the adventure, has a new gig: he'll play the Sheriff of Nottingham in a new show about Robin Hood, the legendary English outlaw who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.

In most versions of the Robin Hood story, the Sheriff of Nottingham is a straight-up jackass; who do you think is keeping the poor so poor in the first place that Robin Hood need to help out? We often see the Sheriff of Nottingham mistreating the people, and sometimes he has a lecherous desire for Robin Hood's lady Maid Marian. He's appeared onscreen well over a dozen times, whether opposite Errol Flynn's heroic Robin Hood 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood, as a literal wolf in Disney's 1973 animated movie, or as played...

The classic English folklore tale of Robin Hood is getting another live-action retelling, and the new TV series has landed some serious talent to play the iconic villain, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The new adaptation from MGM+ was announced last September, with Seal Team's John Glenn acting as showrunner. Robin Hood is one of the most popular classic English folk legends, first being written about as far back as 1377. Adaptations of Robin Hood's mission to steal from the rich and give to the poor have ranged from the dark and dramatic (2010's Robin Hood) to the absurd and whimsical (Robin Hood: Men in Tights). The latest adaptation will take the character back to his Nottingham roots, with one of the most iconic northern English actors now attached to the show... Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones legend, Sean Bean.

Per Deadline, Sean Bean has signed on to MGM...

By the late '80s, "Gilligan's Island" had become a pop culture fixture. Though Sherwood Schwartz's sitcom only lasted for three seasons and 98 episodes from 1964 to 1967, it was heavily syndicated throughout the '70s and '80s, ensuring new generations became familiar with Gilligan and his fellow castaways. Not only that, the show produced two animated spin-offs with "The New Adventures of Gilligan" (1974-75) and "Gilligan's Planet" (1982-83). What's more, the original cast returned for three live-action TV movies: "Rescue From Gilligan's Island" (1978), "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island" (1979), and "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" (1981). So, by the end of the 1980s, the "Gilligan's" universe was most certainly etched into the public's collective consciousness.

But you could also argue that it was waning in popularity. The last live-action TV movie, "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" — which almost featured a different team entirely — was not a big ratings success...

Awards-season regulars A Complete Unknown, The Brutalist, Dune: Part Two, Wicked, Conclave, Emilia Pérez and The Substance are among the nominees revealed Thursday for the Art Directors Guild’s 29th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards.

A Complete Unknown and The Brutalist, the latter coming off a Best Picture – Drama win at the Golden Globes on Sunday, are nominated in the Period Feature Film Category, joined by Gladiator II, Nosferatu and Saturday Night. In the Fantasy category, Dune 2 and Wicked are up against Alien: Romulus, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

This year’s Contemporary nominees are Conclave, Emilia Pérez, The Substance, Civil War and Twisters.

Last year, the Adg bestowed its top movie honors to Poor Things for Fantasy, Oppenheimer for Period and Saltburn for Contemporary, with Poor Things and designers James Price and Shona Heath going on to win the Oscar for Production Design.

In TV,...

Home to some of the best series ever made, Max is no stranger to showcasing quality television shows. While Dune: Prophecy and House of the Dragon might be done for the time being, the streaming service has plenty of worthwhile shows scheduled for release next month. Whether viewers want to laugh or cry, they’re likely to find something on the platform.

With lots of animated shows slated for release, adults and children alike will have various options to choose from. The forthcoming series might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for those looking for something new to explore, they’ll certainly find it on Max. No matter what curious viewers are in the mood for, the streaming platform has them covered.

'Reframed: Next Gen Narratives' (Season 1) Stream on January 1

A unique series, Reframed: Next Gen Narratives adapts six classic movies, each with a different filmmaker, and provides...

Taylor Dearden, Patrick Marron Ball, and Noah Wyle in ‘The Pitt’ (Photograph by Max/Warrick Page)

Max is kicking off the new year with the series premiere of The Pitt, a medical drama that puts ER star Noah Wyle back in scrubs and playing the chief attendant in Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital’s emergency room. Max’s January 2025 lineup also includes the season five premiere of the critically acclaimed, comic book-inspired animated series Harley Quinn, and the series debut of Isadora Moon, based on the bestselling book series.

Season 23 of Real Time with Bill Maher and the premieres of A24’s The Front Room, Look Into My Eyes, and A Different Man stream on Max in January.

Max January 2025 Lineup

January 1

5 Things with Kate Bolduan (CNN)

A Star is Born (1937)

Act of Valor (2012)

All Elite Wrestling: 2019 PPV Events (5 Episodes) (2024)

All Elite Wrestling: Collision 2024 (5 Episodes), Season 2

All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite 2019 (12 Episodes...

The Art Directors Guild has pulled back the curtain on its 2025 career honorees and added a legend from Hollywood’s Golden Age to its Hall of Fame.

Art department veterans Lisa Frazza, Barbara Mesney, Dan Sweetman and J. Dennis Washington are set for the guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award, while the late Oscar winner Carl Jules Weyl — whose credits also include Casablanca and The Adventures of Robin Hood — is its newest Hall of Famer. Read more about them below.

They will be feted at Adg’s 29th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards on February 15 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.

“We’re thrilled to recognize these fantastic artisans, who represent the pinnacle of craftsmanship and artistry in art departments,” Adg Awards producers Michael Allen Glover and Megan Elizabeth Bell said in a joint statement.

Here are bios of the 2025 honorees and the awards they’ll receive, provided by the...

From Grease in a brawler to Kindergarten Cop in a classic survival horror, movies had a habit of unexpectedly popping up in 80s and 90s videogames.

There’s long been a link between movies and videogames. There were the earliest licenced games, such as Atari’s groundbreaking Star Wars cabinet or the same company’s slightly less successful E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial console tie-in.

Then there are games that take inspiration from the themes, production design or plot points of movies; Technos coin-op Renegade, when reworked for its western release, drew on the urban malaise of Walter Hill’s 1979 movie The Warriors, for example. Then there are all the games that have borrowed from the look of the Alien franchise, which are too numerous to mention.

Every so often, though, films used to make unexpected cameos in 1980s and 90s videogames. In some instances, their appearance was so brief,...

As long as there are rapacious billionaires and corrupt politicians hoarding wealth and making life miserable for the less fortunate, there will always be a need for the Robin Hood folk tale. The Sherwood Forest-dwelling outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor has been depicted in films since Douglas Fairbanks slung a bow over his shoulder and strapped on a spiffy pair of tights in the 1922 landmark silent production "Robin Hood." Michael Curtiz delivered what still stands as the platonic ideal of a Robin Hood movie in 1938 with the Errol Flynn-starring "The Adventures of Robin Hood," but there have been other worthy takes on the character over the years, most notably Disney's 1973 animated film "Robin Hood" and Richard Lester's poignant 1976 romance "Robin and Marian" starring Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn.

For most modern audiences, the most well-known rendition of the Robin Hood saga...

Early in director Laurent Bouzereau’s “Music by John Williams” documentary (streaming November 1 on Disney+), Steven Spielberg explains that he was worried about the demise of orchestral film scoring in the early ’70s while embarking on his directing career. He was determined that this emotionally stirring, if anachronistic, format would not die on his watch, so he hired John Williams to score his first theatrical feature, “The Sugarland Express” (1974).

Williams (who caught the director’s attention in 1969 with “The Reivers”) surprised Spielberg with an intimate harmonica solo (played by Toots Thielmans) that helped elevate the movie in a way he didn’t expect. Thus began the greatest director-composer collaboration in the history of movies, with Spielberg making 29 films with Williams and admitting that the composer has been indispensable to each and every one of them.

But it was their second film together, “Jaws” (1975), that propelled their careers. With two unforgettable...

Hollywood stardom is a cycle, with It Boys and Girls emerging every couple of years and going through periods of ubiquity before they either make it to mega-stardom or decide to take a different path. While that initial push by producers and studios of "Hey, world, here's your new leading actor!" can be distasteful or off-putting to audiences who haven't quite embraced an up-and-coming actor yet, it can also leave the projects these ingenues make during this period high and dry, the films themselves treated like a byproduct of a separate agenda. Granted, some of these films starring not-quite stars as the leads can feel awkward in retrospect, yet some look like hidden gems in hindsight. Or, if not quite gems, then at least decent entertainment that shouldn't have been lost in the shuffle.

Taron Egerton is a star who, in the few years between his breakout role in "Kingsman: The Secret Service...

With Francis Ford Coppola’s long-awaited “Megalopolis” now playing in theaters, many cinephiles have been dazzled and baffled in equal measures by the sprawling passion project. But even if the film itself is polarizing, there’s no denying that it reflects Coppola’s unending passion for cinema and a lifetime spent studying history and art.

Those interested in learning more about Coppola’s unique tastes will be thrilled to find that the “Apocalypse Now” director is this month’s guest picker for Turner Classic Movies. IndieWire can exclusively reveal that the auteur has given his stamp of approval to four iconic films airing on the cable channel in October: James Whale’s “The Bride of Frankenstein,” Michael Curtiz and William Keighley’s “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” Orson Welles’ “The Magnificent Ambersons,” and Marcel Camus’ “Black Orpheus.”

Following in the footsteps of Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro, Coppola elaborated...

The legendary tale of Robin Hood has captivated audiences for generations, inspiring a range of film and television adaptations since 1908, when the character first appeared in director Percy Stow's silent film. The themes of justice and rebellion continue to resonate with fans of all ages. Now, MGM+ is reimagining the iconic character in a new series, offering a fresh take on the English folklore hero. Deadline reports that the streamer's 10-part Robin Hood series will hail from showrunner John Glenn (Seal Team), producer-director Jonathan English (Librarians: The Next Chapter), and executive producer Todd Lieberman.

Produced by Lionsgate Television, the project will begin filming in February 2025 at Pfi Studios in Serbia and debut later next year. English and Glenn aim to honor the spirit of the beloved vigilante while adding a twist to the centuries-old tale of the iconic outlaw who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.

Alan Hale Jr. was a showbiz veteran before he could speak. The son of Alan Hale, a popular character actor best known for his portrayal of Little John in Michael Curtiz' classic "The Adventures of Robin Hood," Hale Jr. appeared in silent films as a baby and made a few war movies as a young man before serving in the United States Coast Guard during World War II. Once the war was over, Hale Jr. worked steadily in film and television, turning up on episodes of "Gunsmoke," "Mister Ed," and "Lassie" while landing supporting roles in movies starring John Wayne, Gregory Peck, and Randolph Scott.

Hale Jr. would be castigated as a nepobaby today, but while being literally born to the business didn't hurt his cause, he was a natural in front of the camera and a welcome presence in just about everything. So, it's no surprise that, after a difficult casting process,...

What are the defining traits of a character actor? Why is a shapeshifting virtuoso like Daniel Day-Lewis considered a full-blown movie star, while a chameleon-like genius like Giancarlo Esposito is routinely relegated to supporting player status? As previously discussed here at /Film, there are multiple factors at play: box office, deeply ingrained cultural notions of physical attractiveness, distinctive utility, and the Borgnine Paradox.

It should come as no surprise that my solo endeavor to arrive at a solid-ish definition of "character actor" is not the first in the history of the written word. There have been many, many attempts by whole groups of esteemed journalists to get at some kind of reasonable understanding of this term/concept, and, having read more than a few of them, I can assure you that there is no hard-fast rule. You could call just about everyone outside of Britney Spears a character actor --...

Michael Curtiz directed Dodge City, a classic Western praised for its daring cinematography & timeless plot. Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland starred in the successful film, with Flynn fully embracing Westerns after its success. Dodge City remains a masterpiece of classic Westerns, with unique use of composition, color, and a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

American-Hungarian director Michael Curtiz was prolific. With a five-decade-long career from the early 1910s to the early 1960s, he dipped his toes into silent films, talkies, and eventually color movies, directing a total of 178 films. With so many movies produced, they cannot all be masterpieces. However, some separate themselves from the pack, notably Casablanca (1942), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), or Mildred Pierce (1945). Another lesser-known but just as acclaimed film by the director is the 1939 Dodge City.

Curtiz was also a frequent collaborator of heartthrob Errol Flynn and classic actress Olivia de Havilland. The three worked together on Dodge City,...

The British Film Institute (BFI) is set to make waves with its upcoming “Art of Action” season, anchored by a re-release of Kathryn Bigelow’s 1991 cult classic “Point Break.”

The U.K.-wide celebration of action choreography in cinema will run from October to December, offering audiences a high-octane journey through the evolution of the genre.

BFI Distribution will bring “Point Break,” starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, back to U.K. cinemas on Nov. 8. The film’s return to the big screen after years of limited theatrical showings is expected to be a major draw for both nostalgic fans and new viewers alike.

The “Art of Action” season, presented by the BFI Film Audience Network using National Lottery funds, aims to showcase the artistry behind action sequences that have kept audiences enthralled for decades. The program will feature a diverse array of films, including silent era classics like Buster Keaton...

Film critic Andrew Sarris changed his profession forever when he introduced, to English-speaking cinephiles at least, the concept of “auteur theory.” The general conceit is that some rarified directors are so gifted, or commanding, in their control over the process of film production that they alone can give a film a “personal or unique stamp.” They are the ones who become the author of the movie you’re watching. If anyone. It’s a seductive theory which encourages the critic to look for points of narrative, visual, or thematic similarity between a filmmaker’s work. The more ideas or images that rhyme, the potentially more impressive the auteur’s command over the medium becomes.

However, while it is hard to dispute the existence of auteurs, the concept at times devalues the contributions of a film’s many other collaborators—especially if they’re, say, editors, production designers, or cinematographers a...

Over the 96 years of Academy Awards history, over 900 men and women have been honored with acting nominations. On July 4, 2024, the oldest surviving acting winner (or nominee) has turned 100 years old. Our research shows that Eva Marie Saint joins a very short list of centenarians who received Oscar acting nominations, with four winning the award.

A star of stage, radio, TV and film, Saint won the Best Supporting Actress statue in 1955 for her debut movie performance in “On the Waterfront;” she is also the earliest surviving acting winner, and one of the last stars of the Golden Era. She later starred alongside Cary Grant in one of Alfred Hitchcock‘s most acclaimed films, “North by Northwest” (1959), and became known to a younger generation as Clark Kent’s adoptive mother in “Superman Returns” (2006). Although she’s never received another Oscar nomination, she’s earned five Emmy nominations, winning Best Miniseries Supporting Actress...

Regardless of its importance to the storytelling process, film music is too often an afterthought. There are a variety of theories that composers have as to why, and they’re mostly related to a lack of education. So I’ve decided to take an active stance in educating filmmakers about the role of music in film and the process of how a film score comes into being.

My hope is that by the end of this piece you’ll be more familiar with: A) the history of film music in general, and B) the key composers who have contributed to the development of film music as an art. So—where did this all start?

The Silent Era (1890s-1929) Silent film star Mary Pickford. Somewhere, a pianist is inspired.

During the silent era, films music is provided by each individual theater, either by phonograph or as performed live by flesh-and-blood musicians.

Let’s face it, streaming services have lost a lot of their appeal. Between their ever shifting libraries, their kneecapping of theaters, and their tendency to overwhelm viewers with substandard garbage, it’s hard to be excited about our streaming present. Heck, most services now play the same couple of ads over and over, even for paying customers!

With every annoying insurance ad and every movie suddenly shoved from a service you bought to a different service you don’t have, Tubi looks better and better. Tubi is one of many free streaming services available online. Like most other services, free or otherwise, Tubi interrupts the programming with occasional ads.

But Tubi also has an outstanding library, one that rivals Max, with its oft-threatened TCM and Ghibli channels. Still, Tubi can be overwhelming to some users, who can’t always see the gems alongside stinkers such as Big Stan (starring Rob Schneider!

She received five Academy Award nominations in ten years, winning for Best Actress twice. She was the spunky heroine to Errol Flynn’s dashing adventurer. She was Melanie, the sweet, compassionate counterpart to the spoiled, passionate Scarlett. And she became one of the oldest-living survivors of the Golden Age of Hollywood until her death at age 104 in 2020.

Olivia de Havilland was born July 1, 1916, in Tokyo, Japan, to British parents. Her sister, actress Joan Fontaine, was born 15 months later. Her parents divorced when the girls were young, and her mother eventually settled in California with her two daughters. Growing up, de Havilland enjoyed performing in amateur stage productions. Although she originally planned to become a teacher, a role in one of those amateur productions, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, changed her fate. She was discovered, eventually cast in the Hollywood Bowl production of that play, and then in the 1935 film adaptation.

Although...

When TCM channel host Dave Karger used to be a writer for Entertainment Weekly in his early days as a print journalist, he would focus a great deal on interviewing the big pop stars of the day, along with his duties on the film beat. But little did very many people suspect then that what he really wanted to be writing about was “Laura”… not Branigan, but David Raksin’s music for the classic 1945 noir. That was the film that really prompted Karger’s lifelong love of movie scoring.

“His score for ‘Laura’ really turned me on to classic film music, and film scores in general,” says Karger. “And then you go back and you learn that in 1945, there were 20 Oscar nominees that year in the category of best score for a non-musical film — and David Raksin wasn’t even one of the 20 nominees. That’s a score that has...

He was one of the biggest screen icons and one of the most colorful real-life characters in Hollywood history. Still considered the king of swashbucklers more than 60 years after his death, Errol Flynn’s success was a combination of happenstance, luck and his ability to charm.

Errol Leslie Flynn was born on June 20, 1909, in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia to an affluent family. A natural born rascal, he was thrown out of several private schools, and eventually wandered, working odd jobs. He fell into acting quite by chance when he won the role of Fletcher Christian in the Australian film “In the Wake of the Bounty” (1933). There are conflicting stories of how he landed this part, but it is the film that piqued his interest in acting, and eventually caught the attention of Warner Bros. executives.

In Hollywood, a combination of luck and Flynn’s athleticism and charm landed him the lead...

Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer are set to star in a dark Robin Hood retelling titled The Death of Robin Hood, set for production in February 2025. The film will see Robin Hood grappling with a life of crime and murder, offering a darker take on the legendary hero. Director Michael Sarnoski should bring a fresh and innovative approach to the story, similar to his past work on Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One.

Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer are set to star in a dark retelling of Robin Hood. The legendary figure from English folklore, who famously stole from the rich to give to the poor, has been adapted to the screen countless times over the years, going back to 1922's Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood, 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood, and Disney's The Story of Robin Hood from 1952. More recent adaptations include Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves...

Kevin Costner starred in the title role in the 1991 blockbuster film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Costner was brutally trolled for his performance due to his accent, but the film still made huge bucks for the producers. Interestingly, Costner was in talks with 20th Century Fox to star in another Robin Hood movie directed by Die Hard fame John McTiernan. Morgan Creek Entertainment, who produced the 1991 movie, used a trick to poach Costner from the other Robin Hood movie.

Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Morgan Creek brought in Kevin Reynolds as the director of the film. Reynolds’ directorial debut was the 1985 film Fandango, which gave Costner his first starring role. Reynolds and Costner began a life-long friendship after working on the Steven Spielberg-produced film.

Kevin Costner Was Poached Away From John McTiernan’s Unmade Robin Hood Movie Kevin Costner was supposed to play Robin Hood in...

It would be a stretch to call Seven Samurai the first action movie. After all, one has to take into account the existence of silent classics like 1926's The General and (arguably) 1927's Best Picture-winning Wings, as well as swashbuckling action/adventure movies from Hollywood's Golden Age like 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood. What's less of a stretch, however, is to call Seven Samurai the first modern action movie, in a sense; the first to mold numerous tropes and conventions that had already proven successful within the action genre into one remarkable epic. It is also far from the only great film Akira Kurosawa ever directed during his long and varied career - indeed, it might not even be his "most" epic - but it's the one for which he's best known. Yojimbo may have directly inspired one pivotal and early Spaghetti Western, and The Hidden Fortress is often tied to influencing Star Wars.

Exclusive: Comedian and writer Julian Clary (Julian Clary: Live – Lord of the Mince) will play the title role in this festive season’s London Palladium pantomime Robin Hood, with singer and travel show presenter Jane McDonald (Cruising with Jane McDonald) topping the bill as Maid Marion.

The annual Palladium show, now in its ninth consecutive season, has become an eagerly awaited staple in the West End’s calendar. It runs from December 7 through January 12, 2025. Priority booking opens 10 Am (GMT) April 25.

Last year’s production, Peter Pan, with comedy legend Jennifer Saunders making her pantomime debut as Captain Hook, and with Clary playing Seaman Smee, was a sold-out success, playing 56 performances -often two a day – to an audience of more than 123,000 at the 2,200 capacity variety house.

When tickets went on sale, there was a moment when 90,000 people were in the queue, waiting their turn to book seats.

Spoilers for "X-Men '97" to follow.

The latest episode of "X-Men '97," "Remember It," took us to mutant haven Genosha (before it all went to Hell anyway). The island turned out to be a treasure trove of cameos; the Genoshan ruling council included Hellfire Club leaders Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw, Morlock leader Callisto, the Irish mutant Banshee, Professor X's old flame Moira MacTaggert, and former Goblin Queen Madelyne Pryor. The streets of Genosha were filled with other mutants whom "X-Men" comics fans may recognize, from Pixie to Dazzler to Marrow to Exodus.

The best mutant cameo of all, though, is the blue-skinned Bavarian Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler. His voice actor, Adrian Hough, joins the ranks of those who've reprised their roles from the 1992 "X-Men" cartoon.

Kurt shows up in the episode's title sequence doing some sword fighting with Gambit. In the episode itself, he escorts Rogue and Gambit...

Paula Weinstein, the respected producer of films including “The Perfect Storm,” “Analyze This,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys” and “Blood Diamond,” and former chief content officer at Tribeca Enterprises, died Monday in New York. She was 78.

Her daughter, Hannah Rosenberg, said in a statement, “The world is a lesser place without my mother. She was a masterful producer and a force of nature for the things she believed in, including the many projects that spanned her illustrious career, the stories she fought to tell and the social justice causes she championed.

“She shattered barriers in Hollywood and always lifted other women along with her. And I know my mother would want me to add this: if you’d like to honor her, please stop what you are doing and turn your attention toward reelecting President Biden and making sure Democrats win down the ballot so we can be sure Democracy survives...

Jack Warner had been shouldering in on credit from one of his studio’s top producers. At least that’s what Hal Wallis may have told you after the 1944 Academy Awards when Jack Warner accepted the Casablanca Oscar that some felt should have been palmed by Wallis, the Warner Bros. film’s producer. But who should accept the best picture award? Today it’s the producers, but during Hollywood’s Golden Age it was sometimes the producer, sometimes the studio chief.

Wallis had been with the company for many years, first joining the studio in 1923, their first year of incorporation. Soon, Wallis was managing essential Warner films such as Little Caesar (1931), The Petrified Forest (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1937), Dark Victory (1939), Sergeant York (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and, of course, Casablanca (1942). Despite being released in late 1942, Casablanca didn’t go into wide release until early 1943 and wasn’t...

Harrison Ford can’t escape the two-and-a-half-minute fanfare that John Williams composed for his most famous cinematic hero, Indiana Jones. “As I often remind John, his music follows me everywhere I go — literally,” Ford says. “When I had my last colonoscopy, they were playing it on the operating room speakers.”

Creating those big, bold, brassy musical moments has become Williams’ trademark over his seven-decade career. Without his symphonic genius, some of the most indelible images in movie history — from E.T.’s flight across the moon to the ravenous shark zeroing in on an unsuspecting swimmer — would have lacked their singular power.

This year, Williams is resetting the record books again with his Academy Award nomination for best original score for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” It’s his 54th nomination, which is the most ever for someone not named Walt Disney, and thus the biggest tally for...

Richard Lewis Screenshot: 20th Century Fox Richard Lewis was always around in the early ’90s. Between guest spots on Letterman and the slew of stand-up specials and clips that ran on HBO and Comedy Central, one could find Richard Lewis pulling his hair out on stage at any time of the day.

Richard Lewis

Screenshot: 20th Century Fox

Richard Lewis was always around in the early ’90s. Between guest spots on Letterman and the slew of stand-up specials and clips that ran on HBO and Comedy Central, one could find Richard Lewis pulling his hair out on stage at any time of the day.

Flaming Star showcases Elvis Presley's unfulfilled acting potential under the direction of Don Siegel in a dark and violent Western film. Presley shines in this intense film, revealing Pacer's conflicted emotions and identity through expression and movement, not just words. Despite initial promise, Presley's serious acting ambitions were derailed by his manager's focus on profit over artistic quality in subsequent films.

Elvis Presley starred in 31 feature films of increasingly deteriorating quality between 1956 and 1969. Presley’s acting career concluded so disappointingly that it’s easy to forget how much promise Presley showed as an actor in the beginning phase of his acting career. The 1958 musical drama film King Creole, for which Presley received excellent reviews for his performance as a juvenile delinquent and nightclub singer who becomes embroiled in the criminal underworld of New Orleans, was directed by the estimable Michael Curtiz, whose impressive list of feature directorial credits includes The Adventures of Robin Hood,...

Hollywood's Golden Age was filled with talented actors, some of whom are now overshadowed by more iconic movie stars of the era. Discrimination and prejudice were prevalent during this era, leading to typecasting and limited opportunities for actors. Many of these forgotten actors, like Claude Rains and Kay Francis, delivered exceptional performances and deserve to be remembered today.

The Golden Age of Hollywood was bursting with contract studio actors, some of whom are still famous many decades later and others who are deserving of more recognition today. Most people know the names Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, and Bette Davis, but there are many less-familiar talents from that era who delivered equally compelling performances. Some of these lesser-known performers may have been overshadowed by their more iconic co-stars in the history books, while a number of them were much more famous in their day but have, for whatever reason, been forgotten so many years later.

Netflix has revitalized Grauman’s historic Egyptian Theatre with a $70 million renovation that speaks to the belief that everything old is new again.

The movie house on Hollywood Boulevard dates back to 1922, when it premiered Douglas Fairbanks’ “The Adventures of Robin Hood.” It also launched Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” in 1923 and Charlie Chaplin’s “The Gold Rush” in 1925.

The theater, which now seats 516 people, had been closed for several years before Netflix acquired it in 2020. It debuted in renovated form last Thursday with the premiere of David Fincher’s “The Killer.”

Here’s a sample of looks from the renovated movie house. All photos courtesy of Netflix.

The post Egyptian Theatre: Netflix Pulls Back Curtain on Restored Hollywood Gem | Photos appeared first on TheWrap.

During the silent era, Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre was a majestic movie palace where Hollywood’s biggest stars premiered their films. The year it opened in 1922, the Egyptian opened Douglas Fairbanks’ iconic “The Adventures of Robin Hood.” It launched Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” in 1923 and Charlie Chaplin’s “The Gold Rush” in 1925. Situated in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard, only a few blocks from Grauman’s other movie palace, the Chinese Theatre, the Egyptian showcased all the opulence and splendor that was filmmaking.

In the ensuing decades, the Egyptian changed alongside its location, adding and subtracting pieces of the theater — columns were torn down and a glass facade added and taken away — but the majesty of showing one’s film there never diminished. The Egyptian premiered “Ben-Hur” in 1959 and James Cameron’s “Aliens” in 1986.

Now, Netflix has revitalized the Egyptian with a $70 million renovation that brings the...

Ivan Dunleavy, who ran legendary U.K. studio Pinewood for 17 years before departing in 2017 following a buyout, has a new studio venture, this time in Ireland.

Tara Studios, based at the 154-acre Borleagh Manor estate in County Wexford less than an hour’s drive from Dublin (and, crucially, connected via a motorway to the capital), has now opened its door for shoots, with the location and production spaces of around 27,000 square-feet immediately available.

But there are also grand expansion plans, with construction work on seven stages that would provide a total of 150,000 square feet of studio space (the biggest stage coming in at 30,000 square-feet), plus a further 90,000 square-feet of workshop and office space, set to start in the spring 2024. Full completion is anticipated by July 2025.

The development — which Dunleavy says will cost “tens of millions of dollars” — would make Tara Studios Ireland’s largest facility for film and TV productions...

Tyrannical and brilliant, director Michael Curtiz created film legends out of mere stars, and turned movies into myth. Here are some of his greatest films.

When movie enthusiasts think of legendary director Michael Curtiz, the first thing that pops into their mind is Casablanca (1942), consistently named to, and occasionally topping, lists of the greatest films of all time. Although if we’re being honest, most people think of it as a Humphrey Bogart movie. The same could be said of Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). These are known for their stars, James Cagney, and Errol Flynn, the latter of whom Curtiz put on the map with Captain Blood (1935). In the director’s hands, actors and characters merged into a mythology which exceeded mere signature roles, becoming universal symbols.

Curtiz worked in the motion picture business from its infancy, but began in the theater, graduating Budapest’s...

Action movies aren't often major awards contenders, but there are some that have been nominated for Best Picture. Between thrilling chase sequences, explosive set-pieces, and incredible fight choreography, action movies have been a cornerstone of Hollywood cinema and perfect escapism for decades. However, when it comes to the Academy Awards, these releases go unfairly overlooked and find themselves on the outside looking in. As difficult as many action movie scenes are to pull off, the Academy gives preferential treatment to dramas and character-driven narratives, whether it's fair or not.

Though there are tons of action-filled movies that have been nominated for Best Picture, those are predominantly fantasy films and war epics, not straight action movies. The Academy has had a historical bias toward certain genres since its inception, as there have been only six horror movies nominated for Best Picture, too. However, a select few action movies have been nominated for Best Picture,...

For Oscar-winning film composer Michael Giacchino (“Up”), Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is the defining movie of his life. It’s what sparked his love of movies and film scores, and what started him on his path to becoming a successful composer, all thanks to John Williams’ rousing, orchestral masterpiece.

Giacchino, who most recently scored Taika Waititi’s “Next Goal Wins” and Juan Antonio Bayona’s “Society of the Snow,” and is prepping a remake of the giant ant movie “Them!” as his directorial feature debut, first saw “Raiders” as a 13-year-old in New Jersey when it opened the summer of 1981. He went back about a dozen times and even sneaked a tape recorder into the theater so he could replay it every night. He also had the soundtrack on vinyl and later bought a second LP containing score, dialogue, and sound effects.

“I think that record,...

Swashbuckler movies have experienced periods of success throughout cinematic history, from classic Hollywood epics to the resurgence in the late '90s and the prominence of blockbusters in the 2000s. These movies have evolved and adapted to different genres, such as family animation, period dramas, and fantasy, while still incorporating thrilling action and compelling storytelling. Iconic swashbuckler movies like The Adventures of Robin Hood and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl have had a lasting impact on the genre, with memorable characters and thrilling adventures.

Swashbuckler movies might not be hugely popular in today’s cinematic climate, but the genre has gone through several periods of success throughout the history of cinema. They started out as classic Hollywood epics, with some of the most successful directors of the ‘40s and ‘50s using the genre as a way to make their stories more exciting and adventurous for general audiences.

Since the late 1300s, stories about a charismatic and witty thief by the name of Robin Hood have been deeply enjoyed by audiences, and even within the last century, there have been a wide range of films portraying the character. Each movie is different in its depiction of the outlaw, yet all of them strive to capture the essence of Robin Hood. At the most basic level, Robin Hood is a man who can get out of any scrape with his archery and sword skills, cares deeply for the poor and unprotected, and is surrounded by a familiar cast of characters such as Lady Marian and Little John.

Robin Hood has appeared in 19 different English-language, theatrical feature length films from 1913 to 2018. While some of the movies are better known, remembered, or liked than others, they all offer a unique take on Robin Hood, focusing on certain details while doing away with others.

Here’s looking at Warner Bros. which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Earlier this year, Turner Classic Movies, which is a member of the Warner Bros. Discovery family, celebrated the centennial with a monthlong tribute to the studio that gave the world such landmark films as 1927’s “The Jazz Singer,” the first feature with synchronized recorded singing and some dialogue; the ultimate gangster flick 1931’s “Public Enemy,: the glorious 1938 swashbuckler “The Adventures of Robin Hood”; and the beloved 1942 “Casablanca.

And during its Golden Age, its roster of stars included such legends as Rin-Tin-Tin, John Barrymore, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Paul Muni, John Garfield and Sydney Greenstreet.

Max is currently streaming the four-part documentary series “100 Years of Warner Bros.” (the first two episodes premiered at Cannes). And also arriving this week is the lavish coffee table book “Warner Bros.

The Western genre is full of great movies, even without the works of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. When considering which films deserve to be counted as the greatest Westerns of all time, it becomes clear that a rather significant portion of them featured either Eastwood or Wayne. The biggest Western actors of their respective eras, Eastwood and Wayne contributed much to the popularity of the genre and enjoyed top billing in a multitude of highly-respected Western films.

While both Eastwood and Wayne have starred in their fair share of Western classics, they alone didn’t drive the success of the genre. When Westerns were at their peak, Hollywood had plenty of bankable stars capable of delivering critical and commercial hits. Randolph Scott, Burt Lancaster, James Stewart, Joel McCrea, and Glenn Ford were among the many names behind the most popular Western films, many of which being on par with...