The 2018 Sundance Film Festival is coming into focu , and major stars will head to Utah in January to roll out this year’s competitive slate and world premieres. Chloe Sevigny and Krsiten Stewart’s will bring ax-murdering intrigue with the Lizzie Borden drama “Lizzie,” Rupert Everett is stepping up as writer-director on an Oscar Wilde biopic with Academy Award winner Colin Firth, Steven Spielberg documentarian Susan Lacy examines Jane Fonda and “Get Out’ and “Atlanta” breakout star Lakeith Stanfield will get a leading man turn in films this year. And those are just four of the 110 feature-length selected titles, with.

It’s rare that entire world gets to see your breakthrough performance all at the same time, but the globe sat up and took notice of Cameron Britton in Netflix‘s “Mindhunter.” The actor crafted one of the most chilling portrayals of a serial killer in his turn as Edmund Kemper, and now, Hollywood wants him for a big time blockbuster.

Britton has signed on for “The Girl In The Spider’s Web.” The followup (of sorts) to “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” will have “The Crown” star Claire Foy taking on the role of Lisbeth Salander, with “The Square” star Claes Bang as the villain.

After a yearlong worldwide search, Mulan has been found.

Chinese actress Liu Yifei, also known as Crystal Liu, is set to star as the title woman warrior in Disney's live-action adaptation of the classic Chinese tale.

A team of casting directors visited five continents and saw nearly 1,000 candidates for the role, which requires credible martial arts skills, the ability to speak English and the most ineffable requirement of all: star quality. In deference to cultural accuracy, the studio focused on locating an ethnically Chinese young woman to play Hua Mulan, who disguised herself as a man to take her...

It was already a daunting task, but Ridley Scott looks to pull it off with time to spare.

On Nov. 20, the director set out to reshoot scenes from “All the Money in the World” with actor Christopher Plummer replacing Kevin Spacey in the wake of Spacey’s disastrous fall from grace amid allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Just two weeks later, on Dec. 4, a rough version of the film will be screened in New York for members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. in order to qualify for Golden Globes consideration, Variety has learned.

Filmmakers don’t typically screen unfinished films for the HFPA, but this is a unique situation. Sony and TriStar Pictures still plan to have a completed film ready to screen for domestic press in mid-December, as previously expected, perhaps even earlier than the original Dec. 15 date. But Monday is the deadline for screening to HFPA members, who received

Carey Mulligan is getting to be something of a regular at Sundance. She was just there last year for Dee Rees‘ acclaimed “Mudbound,” now she’s hitting the slopes again for Paul Dano‘s directorial debut.

“Wildlife” brings together a terrific cast, which also includes Ed Oxenbould, Bill Camp, and Jake Gyllenhaal, for an adaptation of the novel by Richard Ford, which presents a portrait of a family in crisis during the 1960s in Montana.

Continue reading First Look: Carey Mulligan In Paul Dano’s Directorial Debut ‘Wildlife’ at The Playlist.

Next year, there will be two dramas about so-called gay conversion. There’s Joel Edgerton‘s awards season primed “Boy Erased,” but arriving first will be “Appropriate Behavior” director Desiree Akhavan‘s “The Miseducation of Cameron Post.”

Starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, John Gallagher Jr., and Jennifer Ehle (love that cast), the film is based on the novel by Emily Danforth, and while the story unfortunately remains timely, this film will unfold during the 1990s.

Continue reading First Look: Chloë Grace Moretz & Sasha Lane In ‘The Miseducation Of Cameron Post’ at The Playlist.

Documentary about women’s rights lawyer will join British actor’s directorial debut, Yardie, alongside films starring Daisy Ridley and Keira Knightley

A documentary on the leading women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred and Idris Elba’s directorial debut are just two of the major movies that will premiere at 2018’s Sundance film festival.

The announcement of the festival’s full line-up also features a variety of big-name actors, including Keira Knightley and Kristen Stewart, and a string of films that promise to speak to a whirlwind year of political and social upheaval in the Us.

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Shares of Regal Entertainment Group have risen 3% on news of a potential $3.1 billion buyout by British chain Cineworld, which saw its shares plunge 16%.

Regal confirmed Tuesday after the market closed that it was in talks for an all-cash acquisition at a price of $23 per share — a 17% premium over its closing share price of $19.63, which had risen by $1.38 during the session on first word of the merger discussions. The offer would be worth about $3.1 billion. Regal also said it would not comment further until negotiations conclude.

Regal shares closed up another 54 cents at $20.17 on Wednesday after hitting $21 early in the session. The $23 offer price is near Regal’s all-time high closing price of $24.45 in November of 2016.

The deal comes amid declining box office revenues in North America, with forecasts of a drop of at least 2% in 2017 despite what’s expected to a blockbuster opening of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in mid December. London-based Cineworld

Disney has honored its promise to cast a Chinese actress as the star of its live-action adaptation of Mulan. Chinese actress Liu Yifei has been cast as Fa Mulan, the warrior woman who saves all of China in the classic Chinese myth and 1998 animated Disney film. Liu’s casting marks the end of a year-long search for the Mulan star, who […]

The post Disney’s Live-Action ‘Mulan’ Casts Chinese Actress Liu Yifei As Its Star appeared first on /Film.

The Zellner Brothers made their distinct, directorial style known with the endearing and oddball, “Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter.” That put them on the radar of cinephile Robert Pattinson, and now the trio have teamed up for the wacky western, “Damsel.”

Also starring Mia Wasikowska, Robert Forster, Joe Billingiere, and the directors themselves, Pattinson has previously described the movie as “a kind of slapstick comedy.” Oh, he’ll also be playing music in it too.

Continue reading First Look: Robert Pattinson & Mia Wasikowska In ‘Damsel’ at The Playlist.

If you happen to catch “Kong: Skull Island” on HBO or stream it on HBO Go, you may notice something very distracting taking place: The aspect ratio changes to a letterbox format at various times throughout the movie. Sometimes the changes occur within edits in a single scene or set piece, resulting in a very unusual viewing experience. It turns out HBO is airing the airplane edit for “Kong: Skull Island” instead of the theatrical cut.

Read More:CinemaSins Attacked ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ so Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts Fought Back in the Best Way

Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts took to Twitter to ask HBO why they were not airing or streaming the original edit of “Kong: Skull Island.” Filmmakers often have to provide an airplane edit of a movie so that their films can properly be shown on such small screens. Vogt-Roberts says he switched to a letterbox format for some shots on

Rebecca Miller almost didn’t include herself in her latest film, the documentary “Arthur Miller: Writer,” despite the fact that it’s about her own father.

Luckily, as she told the audience in a Q&A after a Sunday matinée at the International Documentary Association’s annual screening series, she realized that the personal film, which is constructed in part using footage of interviews she conducted with the famous playwright in the ’90s, wouldn’t be complete without her presence.

Read More:How ‘I Called Him Morgan’ Helped Trumpeter Lee Morgan’s Friends Find Peace With His Tragic Death

“That was really hard, finding how much of myself [to include],” she said. “At first I tried to have nothing of myself. I wanted to be as much out-of-the-way as possible, but then I realized that wasn’t really honest because, after all, I was there. Pretending the whole thing was more neutral felt fake.

From his earliest beginnings at Ilm to his current role as Senior Visual Effects Supervisor at Peter Jackson’s pioneering Weta Digital, four-time Oscar winner Joe Letteri has had the most accomplished of careers, witnessing the stunning evolution of visual effects over the course of three decades. Working on such seminal visual effects-driven projects as Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, and Avatar, Letteri has been driven on through the years by his…

Superhero cinema has come a long way, baby. And if there's two dudes who would know all about it, it's Hugh Jackman and Willem Dafoe, a pair of performers who jumped on the comic book bandwagon its early days of 21st Century box office dominance -- and who are still engaging with the genre to this day. Jackman, of course, has spent the last seventeen years in the role of Wolverine throughout Fox's X-Men universe, beginning with X-Men in 2000 culminating in this year's stunning send-off, Logan. Dafoe made his superhero debut two years …

Few true stories of murder are as lurid, or have stayed in pop culture consciousness quite like the tale of Lizzie Borden. Now, it’s being brought to life by two terrific actresses.

Kristen Stewart and Chloe Sevigny join forces for director Craig William Macneill‘s (“The Boy“) new film “Lizzie,” which paints a more layered look the crime that shocked the nation.

Continue reading First Look: Kristen Stewart In ‘Lizzie’ at The Playlist.

“To the chagrin of my agent, usually I hate everything I read," Dee Rees told the audience at Deadline’s The Contenders event, which might explain why the director has maintained a relatively low profile since her 2011 Sundance hit Pariah. All that changed when indie producer Cassian Elwes sent her a script by Virgil Williams. Adapted from Hillary Jordan's 2008 novel of the same name, Mudbound tells the story of two families, one black and one white, struggling to get by…

Rooney Mara and her best friend Jesus are about to hit theaters together in Mary Magdalene, a new film from Lion director Garth Davis. Mara plays the Biblical heroine who committed her life to following Jesus Christ, played here by Mara’s real-life boyfriend Joaquin Phoenix. The first Mary Magdalene trailer has just arrived to give us a taste of […]

The post ‘Mary Magdalene’ Trailer: Rooney Mara and Jesus Are BFFs appeared first on /Film.

We know, it’s not even December, and it seems a bit silly to thinking about next year’s movies. But when the 2018 Sundance Film Festival lineup is this good, we’re gonna get excited.

Already high our list of must-see movies is Gus Van Sant‘s wonderfully titled, “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot.” Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, and Jack Black, the film tells the true story of John Callahan, who was paralyzed at the age of 21, and turned to cartooning, eventually winning acclaim (and some controversy) for his work that appeared in the New Yorker, Playboy, and Penthouse.

Continue reading First Look: Joaquin Phoenix In Gus Van Sant’s ‘Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot’ at The Playlist.

Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds has been having an eventful week. On Tuesday, his band picked up its fourth career Grammy nomination for Platinum-selling third album, “Evolve.” And today, he’s announcing a Sundance-bound documentary of which he is both an executive producer and subject, “Believer.”

Directed by Don Argott and produced via Live Nation Productions, “Believer” is no typical rock doc. Following up on Imagine Dragons’ August LoveLoud Fest benefit concert in Orem, Utah – which benefited gay rights orgs GLAAD and the Trevor Project, among others – the film takes a broader look at the Church of Latter Day Saints’ treatment of Lgbtq members.

“Mormonism is more than just a religion, it’s my culture, it’s my life, it’s my whole family,” Reynolds tells Variety. “So this is something that’s weighed on my heart and mind for a long time, and I’ve seen how destructive and harmful it is to teach our children

Ten months after the Sundance Film Festival debut of Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” — which terrified and delighted festgoers at a secret screening last January, en route to a $250- million worldwide box office and growing award season haul — festival director John Cooper and head programmer Trevor Groth talked to IndieWire about their process for finding films for Sundance’s 39th installment (January 18-28) with similar breakout potential, even if the 2018 Sundance slate is less sprawling than its predecessor (104 films vs. 113, culled from 29 countries).

Read More:Sundance 2018 Competition Lineup Boasts New Films from Paul Dano, Reed Morano, Idris Elba, Ethan Hawke, and More

Here’s our breakdown of this year’s thematic trends and hot buys.

African-American stories

“We saw a real increase in [stories told from] the unique perspective and experience of African-American males in American society right now,” said Cooper, citing four of the 16 films in 2018’s U.S. Dramatic Competition alone: “Monster,