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In the eyes of many, anime is nothing but shonen shows — stories about guys with spiky hair and superpowers that fight with the power of friendship. And yet, the medium is also filled with adaptations of literary classics. Even if the U.S. didn't really care about anime until "Dragon Ball," "Sailor Moon," and then "Pokémon" premiered in the '90s, international fans — especially in Latin America — know anime best thanks to "World Masterpiece Theater."

This was a TV show produced and distributed by Fuji TV that would adapt a different classical book or story each year, airing first from 1969 to 1997 and then getting a revival from 2007 to 2009. It was through "World Masterpiece Theater" that Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata got their start in animation, with shows like "Anne of Green Gables," "Heidi, Girl of the Alps," and "Marco, 3000 Leagues in Search for Mother." These were hugely popular shows and...

Michael Imperioli was one of the slew of stars who made a name for themselves via The Sopranos. Imperioli was seen in the series playing the trigger-happy young mobster, Christopher Moltisanti, who undergoes an incredible arc through the six seasons, before being killed off by James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano.

The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli. (Credit: HBO).

However, long before his arc culminated in a resounding death in the season 6 episode Kennedy and Heidi, Imperioli flirted with the idea of leaving the series. It was all due to tensions with co-star Tony Sirico, who played Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri. Sirico’s real-life connections to organized crime and his intimidating demeanor initially made Imperioli uneasy. However, this rocky start eventually transformed into a deep and lasting friendship.

Michael Imperioli was well aware of Tony Sirico before The Sopranos Michael Imperioli and James Gandolfini in The Sopranos. | Max

Before joining The Sopranos, both actors had crossed paths,...

The Hills was a cultural phenomenon from 2005 to 2010. And one of its most memorable moments came from the fallout between Heidi Montag and Lauren Conrad.

The painful exchange—Lauren telling Heidi, “I wanna forgive you, and I want to forget you”—resonated deeply with fans.

Fast forward to adulthood, and Montag has been vocal about her desire to join The Real Housewives franchise. Despite her reality TV background, Bravo has shown no interest in casting her, a rejection that seems to sting just as much as her past The Hills drama.

Heidi’s Push for The Real Housewives—and Andy Cohen’s Harsh Rejection

Heidi Montag, a self-proclaimed reality TV star, actively pursued a role on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (Rhobh). In 2011, she even tweeted Bravo’s Andy Cohen, pitching herself for the show.

However, Cohen’s response was brutal—he dismissed the idea, calling her “trash” on Watch What Happens Live.

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most renowned storytellers of this generation, establishing Studio Ghibli, which is the hub to some of the greatest titles like Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, The Boy and the Heron, and so many more. Each project would not only showcase his creative genius but also move one into tears while appreciating the beauty of the film.

A still from The Boy and the Heron. Credits: Studio Ghibli

However, each one of his works would feature an important message that would make the audience ponder the complex themes featured in a respective film. While fans appreciate Miyazaki-Sensei’s storytelling skills, the animation studio’s ability to create jaw-dropping scenery will leave the fans awestruck.

One such film is My Neighbor Totoro, which happens to be a beautiful blend of narration and bewitching scenery. Interestingly, the storyteller detests the country for its past, but at the same...

Two of the biggest TV companies in Europe, Germany’s Zdf and France Televisions, both public broadcasters, have boarded CGI animated comedy drama “20 Dance Street,” which has been greenlit for production.

France Televisions has acquired the series as a pre-sale. In another deal, Belgium public broadcaster Rtbf has picked up the series for Belgium.

The latest show from Federation Studios’ Cottonwood Media, “20 Dance Street,” is being handled for international distribution by Federation Kids & Family and Zdf Studios. It will be introduced to buyers at both this week’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre and Cannes Mipcom trade fair next month. At 26 half-hour episodes, it will be one of the weightiest new European premium animated series hitting these markets.

The series marks one of the few shows pitched at last September’s Cartoon Forum to be greenlit for production as producers face a tough commissioning environment for animation, with state-owned...

Guillermo del Toro is a film director renowned in the movie industry for his stellar world-building, as his films grow from the sketchbooks that he fills with ideas for interesting creatures and places.

Del Toro’s status as a versatile and groundbreaking director comes from his work such as Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, Pacific Rim, and The Shape of Water.

The Shape of Water helped him bag 3 Oscars for Best Directing, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Motion Picture in the year 2018. While most of his ideas come from monster flicks and horror movies, some of them actually come from anime as well.

Del Toro’s love for anime stems from Ghibli films and Hayao Miyazaki My Neighbor Totoro | Credits: Studio Ghibli

The Hollywood director is a massive fan of anime and manga. It has significantly shaped his cinematic pursuits, evident through successful live-action films like “Hellboy” and the inspiration drawn from...

Image via Nhk Voice actor Noriko Ohara, best known for voicing Nobita Nobi in the long running Doraemon anime from 1979 to 2004, has passed away at 88. In the announcement on talent agency 81 Produce’s website , Ohara had an ongoing medical condition that wasn’t responding to treatment, and passed away on July 12. A funeral attended by close family members was already held. Ohara, whose real name is Noriko Tobe, was born in Tokyo on October 2, 1935. From a young age, Ohara was exposed to Japanese and Western art by way of both of her parents, as she described in a children's magazine interview in 2011 . Noriko Ohara’s profile photo (via 81 Produce ) As a child, Ohara appeared in Nhk children’s programs and on the stage, taking a break during high school, where she was part of the drama club, and returning to the entertainment industry after finishing school, as described in...

The Sopranos saw a number of brutal and intense moments throughout its run, with some particularly graphic and shocking murders throughout its six-season run. Now, more than 16 years after Tony took his family out for onion rings and left the world wondering what happened when the screen went black, star Michael Imperioli – who played Christopher Moltisanti – is reflecting on The Sopranos scenes that gave him the toughest time.

While Michael Imperioli didn’t cite one specific scene from The Sopranos, he did point to his more intense moments – and there were a lot of them – with Drea de Matteo, who played Christopher’s girlfriend, Adriana. “The most brutal, difficult stuff for me is when Christopher had to be physically abusive with Adriana, for obvious reasons. On a technical level, you’re trying to be really careful so you don’t hurt the person. But having to get to that point of violence towards a woman,...

An American actress and twitch streamer, Grace Van Dien is an American actress and Twitch streamer who followed in her family's footsteps in forging a career in the movie industry. Besides her father, Casper Van Dien, she is the granddaughter of the legendary golden age star Robert Mitchum.

Grace Van Dien's climb in the entertainment industry is impressive, in particular in comparison to her father, who, while foraging a memorable career in the industry, took a while to establish himself as a notable name. Here we will look at the career of Grace Van Dien and how she managed to become more famous than her father in half the time.

Casper Van Dien Under the Spotlight

To draw a comparison, we must first look at Casper Van Dien. Van Dien's earlier roles as an actor were in the realm of TV, with his first role landing as a lifeguard in the 1990 TV movie,...

“Mad Heidi is a grindhouse film in every sense of the word. It’s over the top, bombastic, and absolutely nuts during most of its runtime.” — JoBlo

“Alice Lucy proves herself to be a capable action star in a story filled with memorable characters” — Adventures in Poor Taste

“…a joy for fans of exploitation films.” — Screen Anarchy

“Mad Heidi, like the makers of fine cheese, gets the formula right.” — Nerdly “This is one wild ride that you don’t want to experience alone.” — The Hollywood News “Plenty of gushing blood to satisfy fans” — Eye For Film

Raven Banner Releasing and Swissploitation Films are excited to announce the North American digital and physical release of the modern grindhouse epic Mad Heidi. Following a one night theatrical release across the United States and Canada, Mad Heidi will bow on Blu-ray, digital and cable VOD 21st July. The Blu-ray will be available in...

First published in 1881, Swiss author Johanna Spyri’s novel Heidi is one of the best-selling books ever written. As Wikipedia explains, the story follows “a joyful and free-spirited young girl who is orphaned as a toddler” as she develops a friendship with a girl named Klara, who is unable to walk. More than 140 years later, the Swiss icon Heidi has been reimagined as Mad Heidi for an over-the-top action-adventure horror comedy. The film (read our review Here) received a one-night theatrical release in the United States and Canada last week, but if you missed out on that, you still won’t have to wait much longer to see the movie. Raven Banner Releasing and Swissploitation Films are teaming up to bring Mad Heidi to Blu-ray, digital HD, and cable VOD in North America on July 21st!

Directed by Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein, who also wrote the screenplay with Trent Haaga and Gregory D. Widmer,...

Fathom Events, Raven Banner Releasing and Swissploitation Films just presented the theatrical premiere of the “modern grindhouse epic” Mad Heidi, which came to theaters nationwide for a special one-night-only engagement on Wednesday, June 21. If you missed it, you’ll be happy to know that Mad Heidi is now headed home in less than one month’s time.

Mad Heidi comes to Blu-ray, Digital HD and VOD outlets on July 21, 2023. The Blu-ray will be available in both a standard edition and a Limited Edition Extra Cheese Edition.

Watch the ultra-violent official Red Band trailer for Mad Heidi below, which looks like it was ripped straight out of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse.

This wicked odyssey of blood and cheese puts a new spin on the classic tale of “Heidi,” finding our heroine (Alice Lucy) all grown-up and living an idyllic life in the Swiss Alps with her beloved grandfather...

Six independent production companies from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are pooling their resources to set up a joint development and co-production group to help bankroll high-end drama series and feature films.

Germany’s Claussen + Putz, producers of Netflix series Biohackers and hit children’s film The Little Witch; Hamburg-based Wüste Film (Head-On, Alma & Oskar); Austria’s Die Film Ag (7500 with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Vicky Krieps-starrer Corsage) and Lotus Film (Cold Feet, Cathedrals of Culture); and Hugofilm Features (When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit) and Zodiac Pictures (Heidi, The Divine Order) together have formed Das Dach to jointly develop German-language projects.

The move, unveiled Wednesday, is a reaction to a dramatic shift in the independent production market, brought about by the disruption of the global streaming giants.

“The market is undergoing a fundamental change,” the producers say in a statement. “Previous territorial boundaries and restrictions are being called into question in the...

The wild new film Mad Heidi is a parody of Heidi by Johanna Spyria, which has been adapted numerous times. In this story, Heidi (Alice Lucy) lives in the Alps with her grandfather Alpöhi (David Schofield). Elsewhere in the country, Switzerland is being ruled over by an evil cheese dictator named President Meili (the very busy Casper Van Dien), who has a monopoly on dairy products and has outlawed lactose intolerance.

One day, Meili’s forces, led by Kommandant Knorr (Max Rüdlinger), discover that the man Heidi loves, Goat Peter (Kel Matsena), is selling illegal dairy products. They have him executed, and Heidi imprisoned. In captivity, Heidi is abused by the guards, who are led by Fräulein Rottweiler (Katja Kolm), and her fellow inmates, though she befriends one of them, Klara Sesemann (Almar G. Sato).

Being Good and Being Not Good

Eventually, Heidi is locked up in solitary for not...

First published in 1881, Swiss author Johanna Spyri’s novel Heidi is one of the best-selling books ever written. As Wikipedia explains, the story follows “a joyful and free-spirited young girl who is orphaned as a toddler” as she develops a friendship with a girl named Klara, who is unable to walk. More than 140 years later, the Swiss icon Heidi has been reimagined as Mad Heidi for an over-the-top action-adventure horror comedy. Raven Banner Releasing and Swissploitation Films are teamping up with Fathom Events to give Mad Heidi a one-night theatrical release on June 21st – and in anticipation of that event, a clip that features some “killer combat” has been released online and can be seen at the bottom of this article.

The Fathom Events of Mad Heidi is scheduled to take place at 7pm local time on the 21st. “Exclusive to the Fathom event is an introduction from stars Casper Van Dien...

Netflix is about to remove a alrge selection of movies and TV shows from its service.

Every month, without fanfare, numerous titles are removed from the streamer.

This means that, should something be on your watchlist, it will vanish until it’s added again.

Netflix doesn’t publicise the titles it will remove – and users will only be alerted to something’s imminent removal if they happen to select the title in question.

But, with help from the team at What’s on Netflix, we’ve compiled the full list.

What’s leaving Netflix UK in September 2022?

1 September

Aakhri Adaalat

Alive

All at Sea

Anaconda

Angels & Demons

Armored

Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable

The Bang Bang Club

Blow

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Carbon

Cemetary Junction

Chadi Jawani Budhe Nu

Chicago Fire season one to four

Chicago Med season one to four

The Conjuring

Cujo

Deliver Us from Evil

The Distinguished...

Netflix is about to remove a alrge selection of movies and TV shows from its service.

Every month, without fanfare, numerous titles are removed from the streamer.

This means that, should something be on your watchlist, it will vanish until it’s added again.

Netflix doesn’t publicise the titles it will remove – and users will only be alerted to something’s imminent removal if they happen to select the title in question.

But, with help from the team at What’s on Netflix, we’ve compiled the full list.

What’s leaving Netflix UK in September 2022?

1 September

Aakhri Adaalat

Alive

All at Sea

Anaconda

Angels & Demons

Armored

Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable

The Bang Bang Club

Blow

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Carbon

Cemetary Junction

Chadi Jawani Budhe Nu

Chicago Fire season one to four

Chicago Med season one to four

The Conjuring

Cujo

Deliver Us from Evil

The Distinguished...

Participant, Zodiac Pictures and Tyler Perry’s Peachtree & Vine Productions have teamed up to produce “Frank & Louis,” starring Laurence Fishburne and Clifton Collins Jr.

Directed by Petra Volpe, the film follows a man serving a life sentence who takes an in-prison job caring for aging and infirm prisoners suffering from memory loss diseases. As the project’s official logline explains, “What starts as a self-serving mission for parole turns into a deep emotional and transformative relationship, offering a glimmer of redemption in an otherwise unforgiving place.”

Participant, whose company mission is dedicated to entertainment that stands at the intersection of art and activism, is producing the film with Zodiac Pictures’ Reto Schaerli and Lukas Hobi, and Perry and Tim Palen of Peachtree & Vine Productions. Cora Olson is co-producer on the project, with Participant chairman Jeff Skoll and Anikah McLaren as executive producers. McLaren, Elizabeth Haggard and Connor DeSha will oversee the project for Participant.

Laurence Fishburne (John Wick: Chapter 4) and Clifton Collins Jr. (Nightmare Alley) have signed on to star in the upcoming film Frank & Louis, which Petra Volpe is directing for Participant, Zodiac Pictures and Tyler Perry’s Peachtree & Vine Productions.

In Frank & Louis, a man serving a life sentence (Collins) takes an in-prison job caring for aging and infirm prisoners suffering from memory loss diseases—including one played by Fishburne. What starts as a self-serving mission for parole turns into a deep emotional and transformative relationship, offering a glimmer of redemption in an otherwise unforgiving place.

Volpe and Esther Bernstorff wrote the script. Participant will produce alongside Reto Schaerli and Lukas Hobi of Zodiac Pictures, and Perry and Tim Palen of Peachtree & Vine. Cora Olson is co-producing, with Jeff Skoll and Anikah McLaren of Participant serving as exec producers. McLaren, Elizabeth Haggard and Connor DeSha will oversee the project for Participant.

A silent child is sent away to live with foster parents on a farm in this gem of a film from first-time feature director Colm Bairéad

This beautiful and compassionate film from first-time feature director Colm Bairéad, based on the novella Foster by Claire Keegan, is a child’s-eye look at our fallen world; already it feels to me like a classic. There’s a lovely scene in which the “quiet girl” of the title, 10-year-old Cáit (played by newcomer Catherine Clinch), is reading Heidi before bedtime, and this movie, for all its darkness and suppressed pain, has the solidity, clarity and storytelling gusto of that old-fashioned Alpine children’s tale – about the little girl sent away to live in a beautiful place with her grandfather.

The setting is the early 80s, in a part of County Waterford where Irish is mostly spoken (subtitled in English). Cáit is a withdrawn little kid,...

Ahead of the fall release of “The Sopranos” prequel movie “The Many Saints of Newark,” director Alan Taylor spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how returning to HBO’s mafia franchise relit his filmmaking spark after it was demolished by back-to-back critical duds “Thor: The Dark World” and “Terminator: Genisys.” While Taylor earned acclaim and an Emmy Award for his work on television, his career nosedived after he failed to make a successful jump to feature filmmaking. Taylor’s “Thor: The Dark World” is widely considered among fans to be the worst movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“I had lost the will to make movies,” Taylor said about enduring Marvel and “Terminator” fan backlash over the years. “I lost the will to live as a director. I’m not blaming any person for that. The process was not good for me. So I came out of it having to rediscover the joy of filmmaking.

The numbers told an exciting story: For the first time ever, five major tentpole feature films directed by women were set to be released in a single calendar year: Cate Shortland’s “Black Widow,” Chloé Zhao’s “Eternals,” “Cathy Yan’s “Birds of Prey,” Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman 1984,” and Niki Caro’s “Mulan.” The year 2020 was going to show real progress and provide a sign of different things to come, aided by a push for visibility that had so far alluded even the industry’s most well-known female filmmakers. The five films on the schedule — four of which were tied to the biggest active franchises of the moment — were only part of a bigger picture.

You know what happened next: a pandemic.

Its impact shut down whole countries and has claimed over a million lives to date. For the movies, the changes were swift and brutal: postponed and canceled projects,...

There are only two months left to go in this truly hellish year and relatively new streaming service HBO Max is trying to make the best of them. While most other streamers recover from Halloween and get prepared for Christmas, HBO Max is using November 2020 to fill out its servers.

Things are pretty light not the new original series front this month with only Industry (Nov. 9) and His Dark Materials season 2 (Nov. 16) making a splash. But the streamer has a couple of notable original films to complement them. Between the World and Me, based on the book by Ta-Nehisi Coates, arrives on Nov. 21 and Melissa McCarthy comedy Superintelligence arrives on Nov. 26. That’s not even to mention two intriguing projects that don’t have dates yet: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion Special and The Mystery of Db Cooper.

Thankfully, the real appeal in November 2020 is all the fresh library...

As we have just about a week left to go of October, let’s take a look at everything that’s due to arrive on HBO Max in November. It’s a big month for the WarnerMedia streaming service, with countless new movies from their legendary library being added and plenty of fresh originals dropping throughout the following weeks. A few upcoming releases have yet to be dated, but otherwise, here’s the full list of what’s coming to HBO Max next month.

Released November Tba

12 Dates Of Christmas, HBO Max Original Series Premiere

Colin Quinn & Friends: A Parking Lot Comedy Show, HBO Max Original Special Premiere

Crazy, Not Insane, Documentary Premiere (HBO)

The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air Reunion Special, HBO Max Original Special Premiere

Full Bloom, HBO Max Original Series Premiere

I Hate Suzie, HBO Max Original Series Premiere

The Mystery Of Db Cooper, Documentary Premiere (HBO)

Sesame Street,...

Diana Rigg, the Tony and Emmy winner who splashed into the world of television with her commanding turn as intelligence agent Emma Peel on “The Avengers” in the 1960s and played Lady Olenna Tyrell on “Game of Thrones” decades later, died Thursday at her home in England. She was 82.

Rigg was a venerable figure in Britain’s entertainment industry who worked incessantly on stage, TV and film. She famously thumbed her nose at convention in her private life and in later years seemed to enjoy her status as a grande dame.

“She was a beautiful kind and generous human being that enhanced the lives of all that knew her as well as a great actress. She leaves a great void in my heart,” said Lionel Larner, Rigg’s longtime friend and talent agent.

Having a key role in the biggest TV series of the past decade was a fitting career capper for Rigg.

Paris-based Hue Dada!, a startup CGI animation studio, has put into development “Blackboard Monsters” (“MonstrOtableau”), an edutainment comedy that looks set to roll off the technological innovation at the heart of the new company.

Forging a fun universe for 3-5s, “Blackboard Monsters” is written by Hue Dada! editorial director Sophie Decroisette whose lengthy screenplay credits take in multi-prized productions such as “The Babaloos,” “Code Lyoko,” “Cédric,” “Lou!,” “Sherlock Yack,” “Maya the Bee” Season 2 and “Heidi.”

The director of “Code Lyoko,” “Lou!,” “Sherlock Yack,” “Heidi,” “Maya the Bee” Season 2, Jérôme Mouscadet, Hue Dada! art director and director, will supervise various other directors on “Blackboard Monsters.”

The series turns on Crapieuvre and Souribou, two funny heroes who “take the blackboard by storm” – according to Hue Dada! – bringing learning, songs, nursery rhymes and participatory games to a pre-school audience.

“Blackboard Monsters” joins a burgeoning slate of originals and work for hire at the production and services outfit.

HBO Max has a major job on its hands to justify its approximately $15 a month subscription fee, especially given the strong competition out there from established names like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Disney Plus faced a similar challenge last year in arriving onto an already-saturated streaming marketplace, but at least had the advantage of major series like The Mandalorian to promote. While HBO Max will eventually be home to the Snyder cut of Justice League, and has some originals for its first week of availability, the big draw right now is its enormous back-catalogue of movies.

Given the various corporate elements that are going into HBO Max, including the Warner Bros. library, owners AT&T will be hoping that the combination of brand recognition for HBO programming, and a deep bench of movies, will convince people to add a new subscription to their list. To this end, HBO Max have added 122 films today,...

Do you like lists? Well, here’s a doozy. Below is everything coming to Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu and Amazon Prime in June 2020.

Though the summer sun is starting to beat down, most of us are still being encouraged to stay indoors for Covid-19 related reasons. It’s not much fun, but at the very least, there’s an absolute ton of stuff landing in June that should distract you from the call of the beach.

Of particular note is the newly launched HBO Max, which is trying to catch the eye of potential subscribers with a red-hot first month. There’s an excellent selection of movies coming on June 1st, with horror titles like An American Werewolf in London (still the best werewolf movie ever made), Final Destinations 1-4, From Dusk til Dawn and Lifeforce.

Later in the month, there are some more recent films showing up, including...

To help you anticipate and navigate all that HBO Max has to offer, TVLine presents this comprehensive list of all the TV series, movies, documentaries and specials making their debut on the new streaming service this month — all as a 100-percent free supplement to our daily and handy What to Watch and weekly TVLine-Up columns, and our monthly New on Netflix roundup.

Among Max Originals coming in June are a new Adventure Time special, Doom Patrol Season 2 and Search Party Season 3. You’ll also be able to stream the most recent episodes of HBO original series, including Insecure, I Know This Much Is True...

Welcome to the HBO Max era! WarnerMedia’s streaming giant arrived on May 27 and is absolutely bursting with Warner movies, TV shows, and other titles. But time waits for no man or streaming service and each new month HBO Max will be expected to bring new content to the table. Things get started in June 2020 with the first batch of HBO Max new releases.

To be clear, the majority of the original series coming to HBO Max actually belongs to HBO. Shows like I May Destroy You (June 7), Perry Mason (June 21), and I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (June 28) all belong to HBO…which now just happens to be a part of HBO Max. Confusing stuff, we know, but rest assured that if you have HBO Max you’ll get these shows…and if you only have HBO, you can go ahead and just get HBO Max for the same price anyway.

HBO Max launches May 27 with a whole lot of content ready to stream immediately. But throughout the nascent streamer’s first month, even more titles will be added, from HBO Max originals like “Adventure Time: Distant Lands Bmo,” to old favorites like “Amelie,” “Black Beauty” and “The Bucket List.”

Other brand-new HBO Max originals include the third season of comedy “Search Party,” and the second seasons of “Doom Patrol,” and “Esme & Roy,” all coming June 25, and on June 18, the second season of “Summer Camp Island” and the series premiere kids competition series “Karma.”

For a list of everything that will be available on launch day, look here.

Below is the full list of everything new coming to HBO Max in June.

Also Read: Chelsea Handler Sets First Standup Comedy Special in 6 Years at HBO Max

June 1

4th & Forever: Muck City, Season One

Adventures In Babysitting, 1987 (HBO)

Amelie, 2001 (HBO)

An American Werewolf in London,...

Before HBO Max even launches — it goes live May 27 — WarnerMedia is trying to lure new subscribers by revealing what’s coming next month to the streamer.

The June lineup highlights on HBO Max include all 23 seasons of “South Park,” snapped up in a multiyear, $500 million-plus deal; James Cameron’s Oscar-winning “Titanic”; and the “Adventure Time: Distant Lands” special featuring lovable robot Bmo.

HBO Max, regularly priced at $14.99 per month (the same as HBO Now), will be available on multiple platforms and distributors through deals including with Apple, Google, Charter, Xbox, PlayStation, and AT&T/DirecTV. As of this writing, however, WarnerMedia has not locked in HBO Max deals with Comcast, Roku or Amazon.

New Max Originals this June include kids’ adventure competition series “Karma,” Season 3 of comedy “Search Party” and the second seasons of “Doom Patrol,” “Esme & Roy” and “Summer Camp Island.”

Movie highlights include “Titanic,” “Veronica Mars,” “Magic Mike” starring Channing Tatum,...

John Cooper, the outgoing director of the Sundance Film Festival, has been on Robert Redford’s payroll for 30 years.

Many in the small world of Hollywood, and the even smaller ecosystem of global film festivals, braced at the announcement last June that Cooper would step down, taking with him decades of institutional memory. Cooper spoke with Variety about his long Park City experience and the past 11 years spent in the director role.

Hotel hangouts with Tammy Faye Bakker, mad dashes to accommodate Anna Wintour, mounting Quentin Tarantino’s feature-length film debut and donating the festival’s chic Kenneth Cole staff jackets to a good cause all came up as Cooper revisited his long and fruitful Sundance run. Read his full exit interview below.

Have you become sentimental or reflective in these past months?

Over a year ago I started thinking about how my time was coming to an end, but...

A leading figure of the Romanian New Wave, Cătălin Mitulescu has had a heralded career since winning the Palme d’Or for his 2004 short film “Traffic.” His first two features, “The Way I Spent the End of the World” (2006) and “Loverboy” (2011), both premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar. He also co-produced and co-wrote the 2010 Berlin Silver Bear winner “If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle,” directed by Florin Șerban.

Mitulescu’s fourth feature, “Heidi,” had its world premiere this week at the Sarajevo Film Festival. The film centers on an aging policeman on the verge of retirement tasked with finding two prostitutes who are willing to testify in an organizing crime trial. But finding them proves to be easier than convincing them to take the witness stand. Produced by Mitulescu for Bucharest-based Strada Film, “Heidi” stars veteran actor Gheorghe Visu alongside newcomer Cătălina Mihai.

Mitulescu spoke to Variety in...

The latest films from Bulgarian director Stephan Komandarev and Romania’s Catalin Mitulescu are among 23 world premieres competing for the Heart of Sarajevo awards at the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival.

Komandarev’s 2017 film “Directions” played in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and his 2008 opus, “The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner,” was shortlisted for the Oscars. Whereas “Directions” centered on taxi drivers, the new film, “Rounds,” focuses on police officers.

Also world premiering in Sarajevo is “Heidi,” directed by Mitulescu, whose 2006 pic “The Way I Spent the End of the World” and 2011’s “Loverboy” both played in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. “Heidi” centers on an elderly policeman who has to persuade a teenage girl to testify in an organized-crime case involving human trafficking.

Joining “Rounds” and “Heidi” in the main competition lineup are two other world premieres. “Open Door,” the debut feature from Albanian director Florenc Papas, is...

Nine films will participate in the feature film competition including ‘Heidi’.

Sarajevo Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 25th edition, with nine feature world premieres playing in the two main competitive sections.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

These include Romanian filmmaker Cătălin Mitulescu’s fourth film Heidi in the feature competition, about an ageing police officer tasked with finding two prostitutes who he needs to testify in an organised crime case.

Mitulescu debuted with The Way I Spent The End Of The World which won Dorotheea Petre the best actress prize in Un Certain Regard...

Amid the glut of bad films about possessed toys, kids can learn a lot from Annabelle – the devil doll with an impressive can-do attitude

The film industry is notorious for overworking genres so remorselessly that the public forgets what made them special in the first place. This happened long ago with westerns, films about the mafia or insect-like extraterrestrials, and in recent years Hollywood has milked dry the zombie/vampire idiom as well. Now the same thing has happened with films about evil dolls.

Movies with demonically possessed dolls have been around for generations, but in the last couple of years they have become so ubiquitous that when you see any movie with a doll in it, you’re surprised if it doesn’t turn out to be the spawn of Satan. The new Child’s Play reboot – with Chucky as a dysfunctional Alexa – is the eighth in a largely...

As President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “It is a splendid thing that for just fifteen cents, an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles.”

Few Hollywood stars were ever as big –or little — as Shirley Temple. This dimpled darling with her bouncy corkscrew curls and delightful tap-dance routines brought cheer and spread sunshine to moviegoers during the darkest days of the Great Depression. She was the No. 1 box-office draw from 1935 to 1938 and was the first child star to be presented with a special Juvenile Academy Award for her big-screen contributions during 1934. She even had her own line of licensed merchandise including look-alike dolls, dishes and clothing. Before 1935 ended, her income from licensed goods would be more than $100,000 – doubling what she made from her movies.

SEEHonorary Oscars: Full list of 132 winners from Charlie Chaplin to Cicely Tyson

A born charmer,...

Stars: Cristina Marsillach, Ian Charleson, Urbano Barberini, Daria Nicolodi, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Antonella Vitale, William McNamara, Barbara Cupisti | Written by Dario Argento, Franco Ferrini | Directed by Dario Argento

Good god… Dario Argento is wildy over-rated isn’t he? Four Flies on Grey Velvet, Suspiria and now Opera, three so-called “classics” of Argento oeuvre released on to Blu-ray with great fan fare but all three of which have left me cold. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy a couple of Argento movies – Deep Red and Phenomena (though I prefer the Creepers cut), however I can live without the rest. I much prefer the work of his proteges Lamberto Bava… and Michele Soavi in particular.

The plot of Opera goes something like this: When young understudy Betty takes the lead role in a new operatic production of Verdi’s Macbeth, she soon attracts the attention of a knife-wielding psycho who forces...

Today marks the 50th anniversary of a moment that forever changed television coverage of the National Football League – it is the anniversary of the infamous “Heidi Game.”

The contest pitted the New York Jets against the Oakland Raiders, two bitter rivals in the American Football League, the upstart league in the pre-nfl merger era. The Jets, led by quarterback Joe Namath, took a 32-29 lead in the hard-fought game with less than a minute to play.

That’s when trouble ensued. NBC-tv, which was televising the game, had scheduled a presentation of Heidi, the tale of a young girl’s adventures in the Swiss Alps, for 7 Pm Et. That was usually considered a safe time slot for regular programming, given that most pro football games ran about an hour per half in that era.

But this Jets/Raiders game ran slower than expected, and exceeded its scheduled three-hour time slot.

Isao Takahata, the Oscar-nominated anime visionary who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki and wrote, directed and/or produced many acclaimed films, died today in Japan. He was 82. Local media reports cite sources saying he died in a Tokyo hospital after a long illness.

Takahata began his animation career in 1959 at the Toei Animation Company, where he met eventual Oscar-winner Miyazaki. Described by many as both friends and rivals, they founded production company Studio Ghibli in 1985. Among its early classics was Grave of the Fireflies (1988, right), which Takahata also wrote and directed. He would go on to produce such acclaimed anime films as Only Yesterday (1991) and Pom Poko (1994), and his final film as writer-director — 2013’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya — earned him an Oscar nom for Best Animated Feature. It also screened in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Takahata also produced the popular anime TV series Heidi,...

Watching The Divine Order made me laugh and yet I know it was such a serious subject. To think that women not only could not vote in Switzerland until 1971, but “they were not allowed to open a bank account until 1988. They couldn’t sign contracts for an apartment. That’s one of the first things that women took on after the right to vote, they really said, we need to change marital law, ” Petra Volpe told me as we spoke over coffee at Alfred on Melrose Place today.

“You laugh because it’s so horrible,” says Volpe, “and you can also see at the moment how important comedy is in America because you derive some kind of solace from it…I love movies that make me cry and laugh at the same time and I think humor is a very powerful tool to seduce people to come to the cinema and to open their hearts.

It’s hard to believe that up until 1971, “The Divine Order” was being invoked as the reason women did not have the right to vote in Switzerland. This sweetly moving demonstration of what can be accomplished with people band together (in this case, the women of a small village in Switzerland) is a joy to watch.Marie Leuenberger as Nora

“The more we push, the more the men do what they want,” Nora, played by Marie Leuenberger tells a pamphleteer encouraging approval of the referendum about to be voted upon granting women the right to vote in a very conservative Swiss village.

Nora is a young housewife and mother who lives with her husband, their two sons and her father-in-law in a little village. Here, in the Swiss countryside, little or nothing is felt of the huge social upheavals that the movement of May 1968 has caused. Nora’s life, too,...

As the fall festivals loom, countries around the world are lining up their potential foreign-language entries. Switzerland has already submitted women’s suffrage dramedy “The Divine Order” by Petra Volpe (“Heidi”) to vie for an Oscar at the 90th Academy Awards. Last years 85 countries submitted Oscar-qualifying films.

Set in the ’70s, the film about a Swiss young wife and mother who fights the patriarchy and starts campaigning for women’s suffrage and sexual liberation won the 2017 Swiss Film Award for Best Script, Best Actress (Marie Leuenberger), and Best Supporting Actress (Rachel Braunschweig). The feature went on to win three awards at Tribeca, including the International Narrative Film Audience, Nora Ephron Prize for writer-director Volpe, and Best Actress awards. This week, the film also garnered two more two prizes at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival.

Read More2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Foreign Language Film

TrustNordisk from Denmark has world rights to the “The Divine Order,...

As the fall festivals loom, countries around the world are lining up their potential foreign-language entries. Switzerland has already submitted women’s suffrage dramedy “The Divine Order” by Petra Volpe (“Heidi”) to vie for an Oscar at the 90th Academy Awards. Last years 85 countries submitted Oscar-qualifying films.

Set in the ’70s, the film about a Swiss young wife and mother who fights the patriarchy and starts campaigning for women’s suffrage and sexual liberation won the 2017 Swiss Film Award for Best Script, Best Actress (Marie Leuenberger), and Best Supporting Actress (Rachel Braunschweig). The feature went on to win three awards at Tribeca, including the International Narrative Film Audience, Nora Ephron Prize for writer-director Volpe, and Best Actress awards. This week, the film also garnered two more two prizes at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival.

Read More2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Foreign Language Film

TrustNordisk from Denmark has world rights to the “The Divine Order,...

In the 136 years since it was first published, Swiss author Johanna Spyri’s children’s book Heidi — the much-adored story of a plucky orphan girl raised in the Alps by her grandfather — has been adapted for screen numerous times.

Shirley Temple played the curly-haired titular character in a 1937 film version, while NBC’s made-for-tv movie famously interrupted a 1968 Oakland Raiders versus New York Jets football game (the subsequent angry calls crashed the network’s phone system). Thanks to a hugely popular 1974 Japanese anime series, the tale was brought to a whole new legion of ...

In the 136 years since it was first published, Swiss author Johanna Spyri’s children’s book Heidi — the much-adored story of a plucky orphan girl raised in the Alps by her grandfather — has been adapted for screen numerous times.

Shirley Temple played the curly-haired titular character in a 1937 film version, while NBC’s made-for-tv movie famously interrupted a 1968 Oakland Raiders versus New York Jets football game (the subsequent angry calls crashed the network’s phone system). Thanks to a hugely popular 1974 Japanese anime series, the tale was brought to a whole new legion of ...

Petra Volpe’s dramedy is the sales company’s first-ever Swiss film.

TrustNordisk has picked up Petra Volpe’s The Divine Order, centred on the fight for equal rights for women in Switzerland in 1971.

Produced by Reto Schaerli and Lukas Hobi for Zodiac Picture, the dramedy marks the sales company’s first-ever Swiss film acquisition.

It follows young housewife and mother Nora (Marie Leuenberger) who lives in a quaint little village, unaffected by the social upheavals the movement of 1968 brought about. However, with the men due to vote in a ballot, Nora transforms from a quiet person into someone who starts to publicly fight for woman’s suffrage.

“The Divine Order takes you on an emotional tour from tears to anger, laughs to frustration. We are convinced the film will have a great international life both within distribution and festivals, and look forward to present it to international buyers,” commented Susan Wendt, TrustNordisk head of...

Nazi hunter thriller wins best film at the annual ‘Lolas’.

Lars Kraume’s Nazi hunter thriller, The People Vs. Fritz Bauer, won six Lola statuettes at this year’s German Film Awards after being tipped as the evening’s hot ticket with nine nominations.

The co-production between Berlin’s zero one film and Cologne-based Terz Film picked up the evening’s top award - the Lola in Gold for Best Film - as well as the statuettes for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Ronald Zehrfeld), Best Production Design (Cora Pratz), and Best Costume Design (Esther Walz).

Accepting the Gold statuette from the hands of Germany’s State Minister for Culture and Media Monika Grütters, producer Thomas Kufus dedicated the award to the memory of Fritz Bauer.

Kurth knocks out Klaußner

While many thought that it was foregone conclusion that Burghart Klaußner would take the Lola home for his portrayal of the state prosecutor Fritz Bauer, nobody...

Lars Kraume’s drama has nine nominations, including Best Film and Best Director; Colonia, A Heavy Heart and Me & Kaminski score five nominations.

Lars Kraume’s Nazi hunter thriller The People vs. Fritz Bauer (Der Staat Gegen Fritz Bauer) is the hot ticket for this year’s German Film Awards (aka Lolas) after garnering nine nominations.

The co-production between Berlin’s zero one film and Cologne-based Terz Film attracted nods in the categories for Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay, Best Direction, Best Lead Actor (Burghart Klaußner), and Best Supporting Actor (Ronald Zehrfeld) as well for production design, costume design, make-up, and the film score.

Kraume’s film – which is being handled internationally by Beta Cinema - had its world premiere on Locarno’s Piazza Grande last August where it won the Audience Award, and was named by the Best German Film of 2015 by the German Film Critics Association at their annual awards ceremony during February’s Berlinale...