News

With the New Year upon us, it’s time for our annual tradition of looking at the cinematic horizon. Having highlighted 30 films we guarantee are worth seeing this year and those we hope get U.S. distribution, we now venture into the unknown. We dug deep to chart the 100 films we’re most looking forward to, from debuts to documentaries to the return of some of our most-beloved auteurs, along with a small batch of studio films worth giving attention.

Though the majority lack a set release––let alone a confirmed festival premiere––most have wrapped production and will likely debut at some point in 2024. Be sure to check back for updates over the next twelve months (and beyond).

100. Play Dirty (Shane Black)

After the critical failure of The Predator, Shane Black returns to what he’s best at: irreverent crime capers. Bringing Donald E. Westlake’s famous criminal Parker to the big screen,...

Kate Winslet faced cold Pacific Waters for Titanic ( Photo Credit – Facebook )

Yes, Kate Winslet faced close encounters with hypothermia and cold Pacific waters for Titanic. Winslet’s commitment to bringing Rose to life was so intense it left her with stories that still send chills down her spine.

Back in 1997, Titanic became not only a cultural phenomenon but also a grueling ordeal for Winslet. In a 2017 interview with Stephen Colbert, she admitted, “Yeah, I was really f*cking cold!” She wasn’t exaggerating. The Pacific water on set was so cold that, despite efforts to warm it up, it simply couldn’t be heated enough. The studio had too much water to manage any significant temperature control. It’s a wonder Winslet survived those scenes at all.

But that wasn’t the only battle she faced. The shoot was a marathon of challenges. Winslet spoke to Los Angeles Times in...

The Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled the first wave of titles for its 75th edition, including features in its Panorama, Berlinale Special and Generation strands.

An initial 12 titles have been revealed for Panorama, of which eight are world premieres. These include Paul, a documentary by Canadian filmmaker Denis Cote, who has played in competition at Berlin four times with titles including Vic + Flo Saw A Bear and That Kind Of Summer. His latest follows a man struggling with social anxiety who finds refuge in serving women who invite him to clean their homes.

Scroll down for full list of...

The Berlin Film Festival forges a new path next year with the first year under new artistic director Tricia Tuttle, who succeeds Carlo Chatrian and brings a background as a journalist and curator to the annual German showcase. This year’s festival runs February 13-23, and also in new positions this year are Jacqueline Lyanga and Michael Stütz, both serving as co-directors of programming.

With bigger announcements to come, the Berlinale unveiled its first wave of titles across the Panorama and Berlinale Special gala lineups on Tuesday. As previously announced, Tom Tykwer’s “The Light” is opening this coming 75th edition. Filmmakers getting a boost from today’s announcement include Denis Côté, Michel Gondry, and Ira Sachs, all bringing new films to the festival.

In the Berlinale Special lineup, German director Jan-Ole Gerster debuts the neo-noir thriller “Islands,” starring Sam Riley and Stacy Martin. Per the festival synopsis, in the film,...

French fantasist Michel Gondry (The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep). will return to Berlin with his latest animated feature, Maya, donne-moi un titre (Maya, Give Me a Title), screening in the Generation Kplus sidebar of the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. Described by Gondry as a “stop-motion love letter to his daughter Maya” the film features the voices of Maya Gondry and French star Pierre Niney. It will have its international premiere in Berlin.

Berlin unveiled the first eight features and seven short films for its Generation Kplus and 14plus sections on Tuesday. They include 10 world premieres and range from minimalist chamber plays to opulent dance films. The festival will announce the full Generations lineups in early January. The 75th Berlin International Film Festival runs Feb. 13-23, 2025.

Here are the 2025 Generation titles unveiled so far:

A natureza das coisas invisíveis (The Nature of Invisible Things | Die...

Michel Gondry and Ira Sachs are among the headline filmmakers set to debut new feature works within the sidebar competitions at next year’s Berlin Film Festival.

The German festival announced the pair this afternoon as part of its first crop of confirmed titles.

Gondry will screen Maya, Give Me a Title in Berlin’s Generation sidebar. The festival’s website describes the film as Gondry’s “stop-motion love letter to his daughter Maya brings to life a poetic and amusing journey that invites you to dream and laugh.”

Also set for the Generation competition is Our Wildest Days (I Agries Meres Mas) by Greek filmmaker Vasilis Kekatos who is best known for his 2019 short film The Distance Between Us and the Sky, which won the Short Film Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. He also created the popular Greek series Milky Way.

Related:...

The Belin Film Festival has unveiled its Panorama lineup, including new works by Denis Côté, Ira Sachs, Michel Gondry and Shatara Michelle Ford, among others.

Sachs’ movie, “Peter Hujar’s Day,” stars Ben Wishaw and Rebecca Hall. Set for an international premiere in Berlin, the film portrays a 1974 conversation between photographer Peter Hujar and his friend Linda Rosenkrantz, set against the backdrop of the New York art scene of the time.

Côté’s film, “Paul,” is a documentary about a man struggling with depression and social anxiety who found refuge in serving women who invite him to clean their homes.

Gondry’s “Maya, Give Me a Title” is described by the festival as a “stop-motion love letter to his daughter Maya brings to life a poetic and amusing journey that invites you to dream and laugh.” It features the voice of “The Count of Monte-Cristo” star Pierre Niney.

Ford’s “Dreams in Nightmares,...

In 2003 came out what can only be described as an unidentifiable grooving object from another music galaxy, the fascinating outcome of the collaboration between French electro duo Daft Punk and manga and anime master Leiji Matsumoto. The resulting musical science fiction anime, “Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem”, is now primed for rediscovery by a new generation of electro and anime fans in a new 4K remastering.

Buy This Title

by clicking on the image below

The film, directed mainly by Kazuhisa Takenouchi for Toei Animation but supervised by Matsumoto, is essentially a visual companion piece to Daft Punk’s 2001 album, “Discovery”, with no dialogues and few sound effects. For many years since its release. the movie was mainly available as a series of music video clips set to such world-famous tracks as “One More Time” (the opening act in the film) or “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger...

Exclusive: Brian Tyree Henry is in final negotiations to join Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Olsen, and Eddie Redmayne in Panic Carefully, writer-director Sam Esmail’s new paranoid thriller for Warner Bros.

Character details are under wraps, as is the logline. The film is said to be in the vein of Esmail’s Mr. Robot and The Silence of the Lambs and involves the hunt for a cyber terrorist.

Warner Bros won the project in a bidding war earlier this year, in part due to its commitment to a theatrical run. Pic reunites Esmail with Roberts following Leave the World Behind, their apocalyptic thriller, which stands as Netflix’s fifth most popular English-language film of all time.

Producers include Esmail and Chad Hamilton for Email Corp., along with Scott Stuber, Roberts, Marisa Yeres Gill, and Lisa Gillan. Kevin McCormick and Chrystal Li are overseeing the project for Warner Bros, with production to launch in England in January.

Jacques Audiard’s musical film Emilia Pérez is the frontrunner at the nomination stage for the 30th edition of France’s Lumière awards.

The prizes, which are regarded as the French equivalent of the Golden Globes, will be voted on by members of the international press hailing from 38 countries this year.

They cover 13 categories spanning film, direction, screenplay, actress, actor, female revelation, male revelation, first film, animation, documentary, international co-production, cinematography and music.

Audiard’s Cannes Jury Prize winner Emilia Pérez has clinched six nominations, followed by Boris Lojkine’s Souleymane’s Story, which won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize this year, and Alain Guiraudie’s Misericordia, with five nominations each.

Other frontrunners with four nominations each, include François Ozon’s When Fall Is Coming and Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail.

The winners will be announced in a ceremony at the Forum des images in Paris on January 20, 2025.

The full...

Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez has topped the nominations for France’s Lumière Awards.

The French-made, Spanish-language film earned six nominations for best film, director, screenplay, cinematography, music and actress for Karla Sofía Gascón in her starring role as the titular transitioning Mexican drug lord.

The Lumière nominations cap a strong week for Emilia Perez, which garnered 10 nominations for the 2025 Golden Globes,and was the big winner at the European Film Awards with five prizes.

Scroll down for full list of nominees

Boris Lojkine’s Souleymane’s Story, which tracks the daily life of an undocumented Guinean asylum seeker in Paris,...

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

This December, Peacock is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the highly anticipated comedy series Laid to the streaming release of the hit horror film Speak No Evil. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Peacock this month and have an 85% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the five best films that are coming to Peacock in December 2024 with an 85% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Catch Me If You Can (December 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% Credit – Amblin Entertainment

Catch Me If You Can is a biographical crime comedy-drama film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Jeff Nathanson. Based on the semi-autobiographical book of the same name by Frank Abagnale Jr., the 2002 film follows Frank Abagnale Jr, a young con man who cashes forged cheques while posing as a pilot,...

Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry are two artists who’ve never been afraid to colour outside their medium’s lines. The former is a maverick, multi-hyphenate beatmaker who’s blurred the lines between hip-hop, pop, dance, and rock music over a career spanning three decades and a Lego life story; the latter is a one-of-a-kind visualist, the man behind anti-romance sci-fi classic Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, cult comedy Be Kind Rewind, and a plethora of music videos for artists like Björk, Foo Fighters, and Pharrell faves Daft Punk. Next year, the dynamic duo’s worlds are set to collide on Golden, a coming-of-age movie starring Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Halle Bailey that’s set to take viewers back to Virginia Beach circa 1977, a time — and a place — where creativity and inspiration was in the air.

For proud Virginian Pharrell Williams, having told his own life story on screen...

Producer Michael Jackman has done it all.

He has 35 years of experience in all aspects of motion pictures. Most recently he’s produced “Conclave,” a papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes that looks to be a big awards contender this season. But before that, he was EVP of physical production and post at FilmNation Entertainment. While there, he worked on movies like “Arrival,” “Greyhound” and “The Good Nurse.”

He started as a Pa and over the years oversaw the construction and operations of a state-of-the-art, 45,000-square-foot post-production facility for Ronald O. Perelman’s Deluxe Entertainment in the heart of New York City; served as senior vice president of post-production at the Weinstein Company and Dimension Films, working on post-production for over 40 films; and supervised several Oscar-nominated films including “Gangs of New York” and “The Aviator,” and was associate producer on Michel Gondry’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

TheWrap spoke...

James Gunn is a curious figure in popular culture. As a young man, just rising in the film business, Gunn co-wrote the witty and disgusting Troma epic "Tromeo & Juliet" with Lloyd Kaufman, and it featured kinky sex, a bisexual Juliet, cow monsters, mutant penis creatures, and an opening narration by Lemmy from Motörhead. After that, Gunn took the piss out of the superhero genre with "The Specials," a low-low budget film about what superheroes — petty jerks, mostly — do on their day off. He stayed aloft in Hollywood writing the screenplays for two surreal "Scooby-Doo" movies, and Zack Snyder's remake of "Dawn of the Dead" before making his directorial debut in 2006 with "Slither," another gross movie about body-invading worm monsters and wacko mutants.

Gunn then deconstructed superheroes even further with "Super" in 2010, a film that hypothesizes that superheroes are mentally ill and addicted to extreme violence. "Super" is bleak,...

"We're in my daddy's film." Indie Sales has revealed a first look trailer for a new Michel Gondry project called Maya, Give Me a Title, which is the exact translation of the original French title Maya, donne-moi un titre. This 61-minute, stop-motion animation papercraft movie from Gondry was finished between The Book of Solutions and his upcoming Pharrell Williams film Atlantis (due out May 2025). Much like The Book of Solutions, it's another autobiographical film about his own artistic experiences. A father & daughter maintain their bond despite living in different countries through an imaginative evening ritual where she suggests a title and he then creates short animated films starring her as the hero. "Gondry once again takes us into his unique world with this poetic and enchanting declaration of love from a father to his daughter." Featuring the voice of Pierre Niney as the narrator his own daughter Maya Gondry (in...

The strange, rollercoaster of a career for Michel Gondry continues in 2025. His recent feature The Book of Solutions will finally get a U.S. release, while his Pharrell Williams-inspired Atlantis, starring the epic cast of Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Quinta Brunson, Janelle Monáe, Jaboukie Young-White, Tim Meadows, Anderson .Paak, and Missy Elliott, will get a prime May release. Now, we have a trailer for the film he made in between, which finds him returning to the world of animation.

Maya, Give Me a Title is a new stop-motion film directed the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind helmer and narrated by his recent collaborator Pierre Niney. Here’s the synopsis: “The film revolves around Gondry’s long-distance relationship with his daughter. As they live in two different countries, Gondry asks his daughter every evening, “Maya, give me a title.” Based on her answer,...

Paris-based sales agent Indie Sales has boarded “Maya, Give Me a Title,” a stop-motion project directed by Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) and narrated by Pierre Niney (“The Count of Monte Cristo”).

The film revolves around Gondry’s long-distance relationship with his daughter. As they live in two different countries, Gondry asks his daughter every evening, “Maya, give me a title.” Based on her answer, he creates a short animated reply in which Maya is the hero. Gondry’s long-time partner, Georges Bermann at Partizan Films, is producing, while The Jokers Films will release it in France.

Besides “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Gondry’s well known films also include “The Science of Sleep,” “Be Kind Rewind” and more recently “The Book of Solutions.”

Stop-motion has been a personal trademark of the director since his early music videos such as Björk’s “Human Behaviour” and The...

Back in 2003, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem saw electronic duo Daft Punk teaming up with late manga and anime legend Leiji Matsumoto for an anime visual album like no other. Now the feature—which had Kazuhisa Takenouchi directing and Toei Animation producing—is coming back to cinemas around the world in a 4K remaster. A curated selection of Daft Punk music videos—from the likes of directors Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Seb Janiak, Roman Coppola and Warren Fu—will play after the film. Check out the poster and screening details: Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem Screening Date: December 12, 2024 Tickets for the global showing from Trafalgar Releasing will be available starting November 13 at the official website . Description: Interstella 5555 tells the story of the abduction of an alien music band by an evil human character who has dark plans. The hour-long...

Within the context of film discourse, the quote ‘every frame a painting’ is a figurative saying that refers to the fact that a movie is stunningly photographed to the point that each still image in isolation could stand as an artwork in and of itself. However, in the breathtaking work of Polish directors, Dk and Hugh Welchman, this takes a more literal meaning, as every frame of their films is indeed an oil painting handcrafted by a crew of around a hundred artists.

The Welchmans first used this arduous but incredibly rewarding animation technique in their previous film, the Oscar-nominated “Loving Vincent” (2017), which paid tribute to van Gogh by emulating his own brushwork, with the added difference of movement. Moreover, the color palette used for the film also resembled that found in the work of the late artist—different tonalities of blues, yellows, and greens. This time around, the filmmakers...

If you haven’t heard the name Isaiah Saxon, you likely will soon. An American film and music video director, Saxon co-founded the animation studio Encyclopedia Pictura and the online community DIY.org. He’s co-directed incredibly imaginative, surreal music videos for Grizzly Bear, Björk, and Panda Bear that all feel like a whimsical, creative mix of Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze, and it should be no surprise his inventive work has inspired a forward-looking company like A24 to back his first feature-length film.

Continue reading ‘The Legend Of Ochi’ Trailer: Helena Zengel & Willem Dafoe Star In A24’s Fantasy Adventure About Magical Forest Creatures at The Playlist.

Few horror movies are as fantastic or as retroactively controversial as "Rosemary's Baby." Decades after its release, what are we to make of a movie about a woman's bodily agency that was made by a man –- Roman Polanski –- who was later convicted of statutory rape? It's just one of several tricky questions that's elicited by any thorough look back at the film; in addition to Polanski's life story, both of the movie's surviving cast members (see below) have been embroiled in their own complex and traumatic situations in the years since the film debuted in 1968.

It's a tricky legacy for a phenomenal movie that works on the strengths of all involved, including a powerful young Mia Farrow, who turns Polanski's already-sharp take on Ira Levin's great book into something unforgettable. Most of the other actors who made the film a classic are gone now, including John Cassavettes...

“Severance” co-executive producer and writer Mohamad El Masri is channeling the Innie/Outie duality for his critically acclaimed directorial debut “Other Other.”

The 25-minute YouTube short film stars Sosie Bacon and Scoot McNairy as a couple who live parallel lives…literally. Myka (Bacon) and Spyro (McNairy) have been dating online for a year before they decide to meet in person for the first time — only to realize that they live in alternate worlds and can’t actually be together. More sci-fi than “The Lake House,” “Other Other” was recently named the Short of the Week, and writer/director El Masri credited his “indie film hustle” for getting the short off the ground.

“I’d worked with Sosie Bacon on a TV series, ‘Here and Now’ on HBO, that lasted for one season. I met Sosie working there as a writer. I sort of kept track of her career as it grew,...

Who the hell saw this coming? In what’s expected to be a David-vs.-Goliath situation at the weekend box office between indies and a major Hollywood studio, Cineverse’s unrated gory slasher horror movie Terrifier 3 is looking to gross $11 million+ this weekend if not more, completely pushing Warner Bros’ bomb Joker: Folie à Deux out of the top spot.

Here’s the penciling of it all. Disney/Marvel’s fanboy rejection The Marvels free-fell 78% in its second weekend last November, the biggest drop for an MCU title, after a lackluster $46.1M opening. And as you know Joker: Folie à Deux and its D CinemaScore has been pacing behind Marvels (which received a B CinemaScore) in its opening of $37.6M, and mid-week grosses of $1.8M Monday, and $2.6M Tuesday.

On the low end, if Joker 2 takes a 70% tumble,...

Choreographer, dancer and creative director Charm La’Donna has signed with WME to help build her profile as a filmmaker.

La’Donna choreographed Dua Lipa’s videos for “Dance the Night” and “Houdini.” Earlier this year, La’Donna took home the MTV Video Music Award for her work on the latter. She previously won in 2019 for choreography on Rosalía and J Balvin’s “Con Altura.”

La’Donna also worked with Lipa on her most recent tour and appearances at the Glastonbury Music Festival. On collaborating with Lipa, La’Donna said, “Your dedication and brilliance is truly inspirational.”

In a statement to Variety, La’Donna said, “I’m excited to join WME, an agency that resonates with my commitment to building my brand and achieving my creative aspirations. Their expertise will be instrumental as I embark on this new chapter in my filmmaking career.”

As La’Donna makes the move into filmmaking,...

Kate Winslet in Lee

In Lee, cinematographer and director Ellen Kuras explores a short yet significant chapter in the life of American model, photographer and war correspondent Lee Miller. Beginning in the 1930s sunlit France, Kuras and screenwriters Liz Hannah, Marion Hume and John Collee, focus on Miller's (Kate Winslet) experiences as a correspondent in Europe during World War II. She would capture some of the strongest images of the conflict, including the horrors of the concentration camps, and she would even pose for a photo in Hitler's private bathtub.

As a cinematographer, Kuras has shot Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind, Alan Rickman's directorial feature A Little Chaos and Sam Mendes' Away We Go, as well as the Fran Lebowitz documentary Public Speaking for Martin Scorsese, and the miniseries Pretend It's A City, featuring Lebowitz and Scorsese. Her work as a director includes the.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph has already brought her vocal chops to “Rustin,” “High Fidelity,” and the upcoming Pharrell Williams biopic, but the Academy Award winner is ready to fully showcase her opera background onscreen.

Randolph told IndieWire while attending the “Through Her Lens” cocktail reception, hosted by Tribeca and Chanel, that Pablo Larraín’s buzzy Maria Callas film “Maria” has opened the door for opera biopics — and Randolph is more than ready to bring history-making Leontyne Price’s story to the screen.

“It’s ironic because Angelina Jolie has the Maria Callas biopic [‘Maria’] coming up,” Randolph said. “I’m a classically trained opera singer. I want to do a biopic of an opera singer.”

Leontyne Price is celebrated as one of the great modern vocalists — she played title roles in both “Porgy and Bess” and “Aida.” If a success, “Maria” — and Randolph — could be what ultimately ushers Price’s legacy into movie theaters.

Mean Girls and Saturday Night Live alum Tim Meadows is set to star in CBS’ comedy pilot Dmv, from the 9Jkl team of co-creator/showrunner Dana Klein, Kapital Entertainment and TrillTV and CBS Studios.

Written by Klein based on author Katherine Heiny’s short story, Dmv is a workplace comedy set at the place everyone dreads going most: the Dmv. Our quirky and lovable characters are making minimum wage, doing a thankless job where customers are annoyed before they even walk in the door. Good thing they have each other.

As Deadline exclusively reported last month, CBS had given a pilot order to Dmv and has commissioned a development room for Eternally Yours, both produced by CBS Studios.

Meadows will play former high school English teacher Gregg, the examiner who likes to get through the driving tests, and the day, as quickly as possible. An uncanny ability to make dead-on observations of those around him,...

If you dreamed up a movie defined by empty creative choice after empty creative choice that completely collapses in on itself, it would probably look a lot like “Daniela Forever.”

Some of this is by design as it’s a film that sets out to challenge the foundations of its own premise, which involves a man enrolling in a treatment that allows him to have lucid dreams. When he then uses this to create a fake version of his girlfriend who has recently passed away, it initially plays as a derivative ripoff of the enduring “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” only in reverse. This is only the beginning as it gets much worse from there, becoming like the woeful recent misfire “The Greatest Hits” crossed with a far less imaginative, more insufferable version of “Inception.”

In addition to “Daniela Forever” ringing agonizingly hollow in the directions it takes us,...

Pharrell Williams has released an upbeat new song, “Piece by Piece.” The track features the Princess Anne High School Fabulous Marching Cavaliers and will appear in Morgan Neville’s animated biopic Piece by Piece, in theaters Oct. 11.

The film, which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, tells the story of Williams’ life and musical career using Lego bricks. It features the voice of Williams alongside those of Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Jay Z, and Snoop Dogg.

“What we made is not like any other movie,...

At the height of her fame in the nineties and noughties, veteran actress Winona Ryder said she missed out on “a lot of parts,” including a starring role in the Charlie Kaufman cerebral romantic drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which went to Kate Winslet), due to excessive tabloid and paparazzi attention.

“It was such a brilliant script and [director Michel Gondry and I] were at this little restaurant and people kept coming up to me and there was a random paparazzi guy outside, which was kind of unusual for me, but I just remember [Gondry’s] face, and trying to convince him that this isn’t normal, and I know it’s not normal,” she said in a recent cover story with Esquire.

The casting meeting was just one of many opportunities the two-time Oscar nominee said she lost out on because of a media circus surrounding her personal life, including her romantic relationships,...

Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry’s coming-of-age musical film now has name and a theatrical release date: Atlantis, and it’s out on May 9, 2025.

Variety revealed the release date for the film on Thursday, several months after breaking the news that Missy Elliott is also tied to the project. The Universal Pictures film is set to feature a massive, star-studded cast that also includes Halle Bailey and Da’Vine Joy Randolph in lead roles. Anderson .Paak, Janelle Monáe, Tim Meadows, Jayson Brian Tyree Henry, Jaboukie Young-White, and Kelvin Harrison Jr will also appear in the film.

Michel Gondry and Pharrell Williams are headed for Atlantis.

That’s the official title of their upcoming high-profile musical for Universal that will theaters on May 9, 2025, the studio revealed Thursday.

Universal also announced that the film will feature songs by Williams and by the Tony-, Oscar- and Grammy-winning team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman, La La Land).

The coming-of-age story is set in Virginia Beach during the summer of 1977 and is inspired by the Atlantis Apartments, the neighborhood where Williams grew up. Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep) is directing from a script by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson.

The previously revealed star-studded cast includes Janelle Monáe, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Missy Elliott, Tim Meadows, Jayson Lee, Anderson .Paak, HeJayson Lee, Jamilah Rosemond and Jaboukie Young-White.

Atlantis is produced by Williams, Emmy winner Mimi Valdés (Hidden Figures,...

Universal has dated the Pharrell Williams-Michel Gondry musical feature Atlantis for May 9, 2025.

The pic is based on Williams’ childhood at the Virginia Beach Atlantis Apartments during the summer of 1977.

Piece by Piece, the Focus Features biopic about Williams told through Lego animation and directed by Morgan Neville, is making its world premiere at Telluride this week.

Atlantis is directed by Gondry from a screenplay by Martin Hynes (Toy Story 4) and the Tony award winning writer of Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen and the film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick … Boom!, Steven Levenson. Williams penned the songs along with near Egot-winning Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Williams produces with Emmy winner Mimi Valdés (EP of Hidden Figures and the series Harlem) and two-time Best Picture Oscar nominee Gil Netter.

EPs are Matthew Hirsch, Raffi Adlan, Jennie Lee, Shani Saxon, Michael Mayer,...

Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry’s star-studded musical film now has its title and release date. Universal Pictures will release “Atlantis” wide on May 9, 2025.

While plot details remain under wraps, the film is described as an expedition into the summer of 1977 in the Virginia Beach neighborhood inspired by the Atlantis Apartments of Williams’ childhood.

The all-star cast includes Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Quinta Brunson, Anderson .Paak, Janelle Monáe, Tim Meadows, Jayson Lee, Jamilah Rosemond, Jaboukie Young-White and Missy Elliott.

Academy Award-winning “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “The Science of Sleep” filmmaker Gondry directs a screenplay by Martin Hynes (“Toy Story 4″) and Steven Levenson.

The coming-of-age film features songs by Williams and the decorated musical duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. “Atlantis” is produced by Williams, Mimi Valdés and Gil Netter.

The film is executive produced by Matthew Hirsch, Raffi Adlan, Jennie Lee,...

Movie critic Roger Ebert was a legend. Until his death in 2013, Ebert was a tireless champion for film, urging his audience to expand their horizons beyond blockbusters. On his website's “Great Movies” page, you’ll find films that Ebert singled out for special honors. If you’re tired of the same old movies, scroll through this list and choose any of them. You’re sure to find something amazing.

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

1950s

1940s

1930s

1920s

1910s

2000s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind March 19, 2004

Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realizes that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.

This is one of Jim Carrey’s best films. He pulls back his manic energy to reveal a fragile soul,...

I had somehow never seen Frank Oz's hilarious Hollywood satire "Bowfinger" until last night, and it was only just now, as I write this, that I realized the movie celebrated its 25th anniversary yesterday. Weird timing! Anyway, "Bowfinger" is fantastic, with comedic masters Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy both operating at an incredibly high level throughout. Murphy, in particular, is amazing in dual roles; he plays a paranoid superstar actor named Kit Ramsey, as well as a goofy, lovable loser named Jiff, and the two performances could not be more different.

The film is about a schlocky B-movie filmmaker named Bobby Bowfinger (Martin), who tries to surreptitiously direct a movie starring a cast of nobodies alongside one of the world's biggest actors (Murphy) without the star ever finding out he's in their movie. It's a terrific premise, and it got me thinking about other films that focus on making movies,...

Richard Hunter’s feature “Foul Evil Deeds” is one of the more European of British first features, taking its inspiration from continental art house names rather than the more usual luminaries of U.K. social realism such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh.

It consists of interwoven stories of everyday wickedness, from the careless to the horrific: “The influences are people like Ulrich Seidel and Michael Haneke being a huge one, Roy Andersson being a big one, and peripherally looking at all of those,” Hunter told Variety.

“The early Ruben Östlund as well. The Britishness, inherently, obviously comes out through me.”

Hunter arrived at filmmaking from advertising. “I did documentary at university, and that led into music videos, and from there into commercials. And there I found my wet place in that world. I looked to the people that had done that transition like Michel Gondry, Chris Cunningham and Spike Jonze,...

Exclusive: Veteran actor Bernard White has signed with Artists & Representatives and Craig Dorfman’s Frontline Management for representation.

With extensive work in film, television and the theater, White is known for his memorable performances in The Matrix films, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, American Dreamz and television series including Silicon Valley, Kidding, Big Sky and more.

His latest lead role in Amar Wala’s feature film Shook is set to premiere in the Discovery sidebar at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. White portrays Vijay, Ash’s (Saamer Usmani) father who wants to reconnect with his estranged son, and Nisha, Ash’s mother.

White has collaborated with directors, including Wim Wenders, Michel Gondry, Kimberly Peirce, Minkie Spiro, the Wachowskis, the Russo brothers, Chris and Paul Weitz, Ryan Fleck, and Anna Boden, in film. In theater, he has worked with Tony-winning directors Michael Greif, Bartlett Sher, and Rebecca Taichman. He is...

In a coup for Donna Langley’s team at Universal, the studio has secured rights to pop icon Britney Spears’s bestselling memoir The Woman In Me and attached Jon M. Chu to direct.

Chu directed Universal’s big holiday and awards season contender Wicked, and reunites with that film’s producer Marc Platt.

The studio prevailed in what will have been a highly competitive auction. The Woman In Me was published in 2023 and chronicles the star’s career, battles with depression and abuse, and the 2021 termination of a conservatorship court order that had placed her father in charge of...

Universal is ready to hit filmgoers with the story of pop star Britney Spears’ life.

In a highly competitive situation, the studio has landed the rights to the singer’s 2023 best-selling memoir The Woman in Me. Jon M. Chu, who is helming the studio’s forthcoming two-part Wicked feature adaptation, is attached to direct. Marc Platt (Wicked, La La Land) is set to produce.

Spears took to social media to celebrate the news. “Excited to share with my fans that I’ve been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt,” she posted. “He’s always made my favorite movies … stay tuned.”

The Woman in Me, which was published by Gallery Books on Oct. 24, 2023, has sold 2.5 million copies in the U.S. Read by Michelle Williams, the audiobook was the fastest-selling in Simon & Schuster’s history and was Spotify’s top audiobook of 2023.

The Woman in Me

The book was the subject of numerous headlines,...

In a highly competitive auction, Universal Pictures has landed the rights to Britney Spears’ critically acclaimed #1 New York Times bestseller The Woman in Me. Jon M. Chu is attached to develop to direct.

Marc Platt will produce. Platt’s films, television shows, and stage productions have earned a combined 46 Oscar nominations, 58 Emmy nominations, and 36 Tony nominations.

The Woman in Me reveals for the first time Spears’ incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story on her own terms.

The Woman In Me has sold over 2.5 million copies in the United States alone. The combined sales figure includes hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats. The audiobook, read by Academy Award-nominated actress Michelle Williams with an introduction by Britney Spears,...

Universal Pictures has landed the rights to Britney Spears’ bestselling memoir “The Woman in Me,” with “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu and producer Marc Platt attached to develop the feature.

Spears shared news of the “secret project” on social media, writing that Platt has “always made my favorite movies” and telling her fans to “stay tuned” for more news.

Excited to share with my fans that I've been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt. He’s always made my favorite movies … stay tuned...

Star Trek is one of the most popular sci-fi franchises in the world and has attracted many actors to its shows and films. While many actors such as Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, and Brent Spiner would go on to be global stars, others in far less prominent roles also made it in the industry.

One such actor was Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst, who appeared as Hedril in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The actress was just twelve when she appeared on the show as the alien who shares a mentee/daughter-like relationship with Majel Barrett’s Lwaxana Troi. Dunst also appeared in her breakout role in Interview with the Vampire in the same year.

Kirsten Dunst Appeared In A Guest Role In Star Trek: The Next Generation When She Was 12 Kirsten Dunst in Spider-Man | Credits: Sony Pictures

Kirsten Dunst is perhaps best known for her role as Mary Jane Watson...

Press Play Films has revealed its latest project, “Spaceman,” a genre-bending film that blends sci-fi, fantasy and coming-of-age elements.

The film, written and directed by emerging filmmaker Dan Abramovici, features a cast including Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”), Mena Massoud (“Aladdin”) and Trevor Copp.

The story follows an artist’s journey to reclaim his lost creative passion. Copp stars as the titular Spaceman, who must confront his imposter syndrome (played by Simmons) and team up with his passion (Massoud) to rediscover himself. The narrative explores themes of identity, artistic expression and mental health.

“Spaceman” aims to combine classic Hollywood techniques reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton with cutting-edge practical effects and hopes to draw comparisons to the work of Michel Gondry and Baz Luhrmann with its approach. It employs an array of techniques, including mime, stop motion, classic animation and theatrical elements.

The film builds on Abramovici’s previous work,...

The world premiere of Takeshi Kushida’s Acting For Beginners has been set as the opening film of Japan’s Skip City International D-Cinema Festival (July 13-21), which has also revealed its international and Japanese competition titles.

It marks a return to the festival for Japanese filmmaker Kushida, whose psychological thriller My Mother’s Eyes premiered in competition at Skip City last year, having won the festival’s top award in 2020 with Woman Of The Photographs.

Kushida’s latest centres on a man who moves between dreams and reality against the backdrop of an abandoned factory where time seems to have stopped.

Skip City International D-Cinema Festival which started in 2004 in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, has been held every year as a “gateway for emerging talent” centered on the International Competition and the Japanese Film Competition (features and shorts). The festival launched the careers of Kazuya Shiraishi (Lesson in Murder), Ryota Nakano (The Asadas), Shinichiro Ueda (One Cut of the Dead), Shinzo Katayama (Missing) and many other directors who are leading the Japanese film industry as top runners and whose new movies audiences are looking forward to seeing.

The 21st edition will be held both at theaters and online as a hybrid festival again.

On Friday, June 7th, we held a press conference to announce the full line-up consisting of the titles of the whole line-up. This year's festival will open with Acting for Beginners, directed by Takeshi Kushida, who won the 2020 Skip City Award for Woman of the Photographs, the nomination...

Exclusive: Universal Pictures’ untitled coming-of-age musical from director Michel Gondry and producer Pharrell Williams has two new additions, the studio announced on Wednesday: Quinta Brunson, the creator and star of hit ABC comedy Abbott Elementary, and eight-time Grammy winner Anderson .Paak.

No character details have been disclosed. Set in Virginia Beach in the summer of 1977, the film pays homage to the neighborhood where Williams grew up, and its Atlantis Apartments, in particular.

As previously announced, Kelvin Harrison Jr. leads an ensemble that also includes Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Halle Bailey, Brian Tyree Henry, Missy Elliott, Janelle Monáe, Tim Meadows, Jaboukie Young-White, Jamilah Rosemond and Jayson Lee.

Written by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson, the film’s being produced by Williams and Mimi Valdés for i am Other, as well as Gil Netter for Netter Films. Universal’s Senior Vice President of Production Development Ryan Jones and Director of Production Development Christine Sun...

Actress Kate Winslet is synonymous with the character of Rose from James Cameron’s disaster epic Titanic. The film saw her paired up with Leonardo DiCaprio in the doomed romance set aboard the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic in 1912. The film garnered her a Best Actress nomination at the Oscars and the film was the highest-grossing movie of all time then.

Despite earning billions, Titanic remains one of the many in Winslet’s amazing filmography. Though she is best known for her role in Cameron’s film, she has delivered far superior and mature performances since the big blockbuster. Here are three performances from Kate Winslet’s extensive filmography that are far better than Titanic.

1. Little Children (2006) Kate Winslet in Little Children | Credits: Bona Fide/Standard Film Company/New Line Cinema

Directed by Todd Field of Tár fame, Kate Winslet plays a housewife who has an affair with her neighbor played by Patrick Wilson.

Exclusive: AI firm Flawless, distributor-financier XYZ Films (Mandy), and producer Tea Shop Productions (The Fall) have acquired Michel Gondry’s 2023 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight movie The Book Of Solutions for all English-speaking territories.

Directed and written by Gondry, the French-language comedy is the first film in seven years from the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep filmmaker.

It will be releases simultaneously in the original French language and converted to a director-approved English-language version using Flawless’ TrueSync AI technology, which became known after movies like The Fall. You can read about Flawless’ “visual translation” techniques and acquisitions strategy in our story here.

Pic stars Pierre Niney, Blanche Gardin, Francoise Lebrun and Vincent Elbaz and was produced by George Bermann at Partizan.

In the film, Marc (Niney), a bipolar and paranoid filmmaker, is having trouble with his latest project. With his editor as an accomplice, he manages...