Movie News

Chris McKay, who recently directed “The Lego Batman Movie” pic for Warner Bros., is in negotiations to direct “Dungeons & Dragons” for Paramount Pictures.

Michael Gillio will be penning the script. Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis are producing.

The pic will be one of the first projects to go into production for the newly created AllSpark Pictures. Launched last October, production company aims to transform itself into an industry player to rival Marvel Studios.

Hasbro’s lines of toys and games include Mr. Potato Head, Monopoly and My Little Pony. Its products have inspired films with varying degrees of success. Paramount and Hasbro could not be reached for comment.

The film has been in development for some time but the lawsuit between Sweetpea Entertainment and Hasbro about ownership of sequel rights delayed progress. Once the settlement was finalized in 2015, Hasbro moved the project from Warner Bros. to Paramount and eventually to AllSpark after announcing the new

Paramount Pictures has given its “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie a holiday-season release for Nov. 15, 2019.

The project, based on the Sega video game franchise, had been in the works at Sony, but the studio let its film rights lapse and Paramount picked up the project in October. The studio is planning a mix of live-action and CGI.

Neal H. Moritz is producing under his Original Film banner. “Deadpool” director Tim Miller will serve as executive producer, along with Toby Ascher. Dmitri Johnson and Dan Jevons will be the co-producers.

Miller boarded the project in 2016. Sega launched the Sonic game in 1991 and has sold more than 360 million copies to date, including both packaged and digital games on consoles, tablets, and mobile.

The game features a blue hedgehog named Sonic whose peaceful life is often interrupted by Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist who is trying to conquer the world, and by Doctor Robotnik, another scientist

As MGM and Annapurna Pictures move closer to pulling the trigger on James Bond 25, the studios are switching up their plan of attack when it comes to finding a director. Last summer, the studios announced a November 2019 release date for Bond 25, which started a ticking clock of sorts as they secured Daniel Craig to return, then turned their sights to finding a director. Last we heard, ’71 director Yann Demange was the top choice to take the helm, but now Variety reports that Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire filmmaker Danny Boyle is high on MGM’s list to …

Jiminy Cricket! Walt Disney Studios has found a director for its live-action reimagining of Pinocchio.

Paul King, helmer of the whimsical and acclaimed Paddington movies, has been chosen to direct the movie, with the studio hoping to being production in the fall.

Released in 1940, Pinocchio was the second animated film made by Disney, after 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It adapted the Italian story by Carlo Collodi about a wooden boy puppet crafted by an old carver named Geppetto. The puppet is brought to life by a fairy who says he will become a real boy if...

Viola Davis is attached to star in Amazon Studios film “Troupe Zero,” sources tell Variety.

Duo Bert & Bertie are also attached to direct “Troupe Zero” for Amazon from a script by Lucy Alibar, with Todd Black producing. The duo has credits in film, animation, documentaries, video games, and commercials and is repped by Verve and Hirsch Wallerstein.

Plot details are being kept under wraps. Amazon Studios is also financing the pic. It hasn’t yet been decided when the film will shoot, given Davis’ busy schedule.

Davis has scored success in both TV and film in recent years, winning an Emmy and SAG Award for her starring role in ABC’s hit “How to Get Away With Murder,” and nabbing an Oscar in 2016 for “Fences.”

Davis has also become a heavy-hitter behind the scenes with her production company JuVee Productions, which she co-created with her husband, Julius Tennon. The company is currently developing a handful of films

Eight years after the release of her last album, 2010's Soldier Of Love, Sade has stepped out of her latest hiatus to write a song for the soundtrack of Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle In Time adaptation. DuVernay announced the news on Twitter, saying the song is called “Flower Of The Universe” and that working with Sade—who…

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Jessica Chastain is in negotiations to star in New Line’s “It” sequel as the adult version of Beverly, sources tell Variety.

Director Andy Muschietti is expected to return, though his deal to helm has not yet closed. Gary Dauberman will pen the script. Beverly was played by Sophia Lillis in the 2017 horror hit.

Sources stress that negotiations are early and that the script is still being worked on, but both sides have officially begun discussing her coming on to the project. Bill Skarsgard is also expected to return as Pennywise. The sequel will bow on Sept. 6, 2019, with production expected to start this summer.

Chastain has been linked to the sequel for some time following its monster opening weekend, as the Muschiettis mentioned her in an interview with Variety as a top choice to play adult Beverly in the sequel. Rumors even surfaced of a post-credits scene in which Chastain could have made a cameo, though that never

STX has dated its upcoming Jennifer Lopez-starring rom-com Second Act for a Nov. 21 release.

Second Act follows a big-box store employee (Lopez) who, after reinventing herself, gets the chance to prove to Madison Avenue that street smarts are as valuable as a college degree.

Milo Ventimiglia, Leah Remini and Vanessa Hudgens also star in the feature from 50 First Dates director Peter Segal.

On its Thanksgiving holiday release, Second Act will go up against the Creed sequel and animated feature, Wreck-It Ralph 2.

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“Black Panther” now officially has the second biggest four-day opening in box office history, making $40.1 million on President’s Day Monday to bring its domestic launch to $242 million. That’s just a step higher than the $241.5 million made by “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” this past December, and second only to the $288 million made by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015.

With this hot start, “Black Panther” has also already eclipsed the entire domestic run of “Justice League,” which grossed $228 million. Ryan Coogler’s Marvel movie is drawing in audiences at a pace only a few films ever...

Star Wars: The Last Jedi comes out on Blu-ray next month and it is going to be packed fuller than the Mos Eisley Cantina with extra features. 

To start, the disk will feature 14 deleted scenes.

No clues were given about what the scenes may be, but director Rian Johnson said in previous interviews he cut a lot out of the film for time and pace. 

In addition to the deleted portions, the Blu-ray will have two behind-the-scenes featurettes: "The Director and the Jedi" and "Balance of the Force." 

The first feature will focus on Johnson's journey making the film and...

As Black Panther continues to slay the box office and garner praise and acclaim, Ryan Coogler wrote a touching letter to thank the masses for supporting the film. The director, who co-wrote the Marvel Studios movie with Joe Robert Cole, penned a humbling letter which was posted on Marvel Entertainment’s official Twitter account saying “Never in a million years did we imagine that you all would come out this strong.” Since opening last week, the movie has made over $240…

The saga of the sale of The Weinstein Company took another possible swipe at a solution as the leading bidders for the organization are seeking to cut a Gordian knot with the New York State Attorney General's office. While nothing seems set yet, discussions over a Wednesday meeting between Eric T. Schneiderman and investor group leader Maria Contreras-Sweet and Yucaipa's Ron Burkle are deep in progress, sources confirm to Deadline. This comes 10-days after the NY Ag's…

“I’m not saying I’m against women’s rights, I’m just saying there’s no market for their films,” insists vainglorious action star Peter (Chris D’Elia) to his miserable development assistant and girlfriend Honey (Heather Graham). He’s a ridiculous man and it’s a ridiculous line, but one suspects that Graham, here making her writing and directing debut after decades as eye candy, has heard similar riffs during her career. Her Wiccan romantic comedy “Half Magic” is one part wish fulfillment, two parts justified fury. When Peter sneers, “Your directing career hasn’t gotten off the ground yet because you look like a big-booby dummy,” it’s too easy to picture Graham going home from yet another lousy meeting to furiously type out frustrations which play out here in all-caps Comic Sans.

The question is: Can Graham prove powerful people like Peter wrong? She’s made a proudly feminine film about three friends

In today’s film news roundup, Jennifer Lopez comedy “Second Act” gets a release date, Judith Ivey replaces Cathy Moriarty in “Through the Glass Darkly” and Rachel Brosnahan’s “Change in the Air” gets sold.

Release Date

STXfilms has given a holiday season release of Nov. 21 to the Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy “Second Act.”

“Second Act” is directed by Peter Segal and also stars Milo Ventimiglia, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens and Treat Williams. Lopez plays a big-box store employee who reinvents her life and her lifestyle to prove to Madison Avenue that street smarts are as valuable as a college degree.

“Second Act” was developed by Stx with Lopez from an idea conceived by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Justin Zackham. The film is written and produced by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Justin Zackham, with Jennifer Lopez and Benny Medina also serving as producers.

It’s the fourth title to land on the date after MGM’s “Creed 2,” Disney’s “Wreck-It

It’s filled with racial stereotypes, dumb dialogue and inept subplots, and few things about Stephen Amis’s film make sense

We are almost certainly living in the era of peak Shane Jacobson. The actor’s eminently squeezable cheeks, roly-poly figure and radio announcer voice seem to permeate all areas of Australian culture – from TV talent shows and soap operas to books, stage productions and movies exploring subjects as diverse as penguin-protecting dogs and fishing trips with Paul Hogan.

Jacobson radiates utter wholesomeness, even when contemplating smells that outlast religion and comparing one-inch piping to two-inch arseholes. Also, he is likable. Very likable. Who wouldn’t want to buy the man a beer and bend his ear?

Party games like Pictionary, Charades, or Trivial Pursuit aren’t the same thing as real life. But one reason games like these never go out of style is that they’re about a lot of things, like competition and quick strategizing and supreme knowledge of pop culture, that are now survival skills in many a corporate office (and more than a few marriages).

“Game Night,” a trip-wired suspense comedy about six middle-class nerds who get together for a weekly Tostitos-and-beer game night, only to stumble into a simulated reality game that’s staged as if it were a matter of life or death (and here’s the trick: maybe it is), is the sort of cinematic gimcrack that’s all perilous mechanics, whipsaw reversals, and unabashed contrivance. It’s like “Deathtrap” recast as a megaplex thriller that keeps pranking the audience. The gimmicky, mouse-trap fun of it hinges on one’s willingness to see the game board

February is usually dumping ground for studio fare, and while “Game Night” won’t change that, it’s at least more satisfying than the low bar would suggest. With a packed lineup of players and a board that covers far more area than you’d expect from a wide-release early spring lark, the latest studio effort from directing duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein is a dark romp for all the players involved.

A pair of trivia and competition soulmates Max and Annie (Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams) gather their usual roster of friends together for their regular games group. Ryan (Billy Magnussen) goes through dates like changes of clothes, Kevin and Michelle (Lamorne Morris and Kylie Bunbury) have such a worry-free marriage that one offhand comment can puncture their contended bubble, and their nosey police officer neighbor Gary (Jesse Plemons) keeps trying (and failing) to join in on the fun.

A talented cast, including Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams and Sharon Horgan, ensure that this hit-and-miss caper remains snappy, if forgettable, fun

There are few things in life as crushingly reliable as a Jason Bateman comedy.

From the very beginning, expectations are kept firmly in check. There’s not a single person under any misapprehension with what they’re settling in for with one of these plainly titled films – Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief, Couples Retreat, Office Christmas Party – and the ensuing 100 minutes is usually passable if impossible to remember soon after, like eating at a Pizza Hut. Bateman remains an engaging comic presence but his latter forays into dramatic material, such as his awards-worthy douchebaggery in The Gift and his morally conflicted antihero of Ozark, tease at more beneath the overplayed mugging.

Karim Aïnouz achieves the perfect balance between people and locale in “Central Airport Thf,” a rare observational documentary that recognizes the beauty of spatial forms without forgetting the individuals who inhabit those voids. Struck by the irony that Berlin’s former Tempelhof Airport, a place of transit amplified by Nazi dreams of grandeur, is now used as a refugee center, the Berlin-based director combines his superb compositional eye with an empathetic glimpse of the lives of a few people living and working in the center. Using a month-by-month structure, and 18-year-old Syrian Ibrahim Al Hussein as his muse, Aïnouz ensures that the men and women who appear on-screen have a humanity to counter the numbing statistics invariably accompanying discussions of refugees. Arty enough for the festival crowd while also topical enough for sales agents, “Central Airport” should collect plenty of stamps in its passport.

The opening boasts a sensitivity to structural forms that could only come from

Who is going to play Elasti-Girl on DC’s upcoming Titans series? Who is the new vice president of production at DC Films? How is Twitter handling the fake reports of Black Panther theater attacks? When is The Joker origin story starring Joaquin Phoenix supposed to start filming? Which Guardians of the Galaxy character makes a […]

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