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A group of activists dedicated to preserving film history has launched a petition asking the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to rehire 16 individuals the Academy laid off from its film archive and library staff last week.

On October 30, AMPAS let go of 16 employees — roughly 2 percent of AMPAS’ overall staff — including 14 from the Academy Film Archive and Margaret Herrick Library, and the other two from the Academy Museum collection staff.

In a petition launched on Tuesday, November 5 on Change.org, a cohort called Missing Movies protested the Academy’s decision and wrote an open letter to AMPAS CEO Bill Kramer and its Board of Governors, saying the layoffs represent a “deep disregard for the vital work of the Academy Film Archive.”

“These senior staff members have deep institutional knowledge of the Archive’s history and goals; they built the organizational structures, collections, and community outreach that allowed it to grow and thrive,...

Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” has hit theaters nationwide, chronicling the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” in 1975, releasing on the 49th anniversary of the long-running sketch comedy on October 11. With this movie expected to be a contender at the upcoming 2025 Academy Awards, let’s take a closer look at the filmmaker’s previous four Oscar nominations in three different categories for just two of his films.

After Reitman’s directorial debut in 2005 for “Thank You For Smoking,” he achieved commercial and critical success for his coming-of-age film “Juno” in 2007, starring Elliot Page as the titular teenage character who deals with her unexpected pregnancy and wants to give it up for adoption. While the comedy was praised for its screenplay by Diablo Cody and lead performance, Reitman’s direction was not recognized at any of the major precursor award ceremonies, which is why it...

“I don’t know the last time I watched so many films! And they’re all amazing, all so daring, so courageous!”

You can hear the excitement in Lee Daniels’ voice. He’s running between screenings in a movie marathon at the Zurich Film Festival, where the Oscar-nominated director of Precious, and co-creator of TV’s Empire, is president of this year’s competition jury.

“I’d forgotten what this is like,” says Daniels, referring to the international art house cinema scene. “It’s a real return to my roots for me.”

Daniels started his film career in the indie world, as a producer on Marc Forster’s Monster’s Ball. The powerful, disturbing look at the American prison system and the poisonous legacy of institutional racism is told through the unlikely romance between a white prison guard (Billy Bob Thornton) and the Black widow of a man he executed (Halle Berry...

Negative reviews almost led Lee Daniels to quit directing after The Paperboy's release in 2012. Daniels felt misunderstood by critics and considered quitting, but cherished the film. Despite the harsh reception of The Paperboy, Daniels continued to create successful projects.

The Paperboy director Lee Daniels explains how the movie nearly caused him to quit Hollywood. Co-written and directed by Daniels, previously known for Precious, the 2012 crime thriller follows the true story of a Miami reporter who returns to his hometown in Florida to investigate a murder case involving a death row inmate during the 1960s. The film's cast includes Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, David Oyelowo, John Cusack, and Macy Gray.

In an interview with IndieWire, Daniels explained how The Paperboy nearly caused him to quit Hollywood. The director reflected on the harsh reception of his 2012 film, which made him contemplate quitting directing due to feeling typecast and misunderstood by critics.

What Oscar records will be broken and which ones will remain intact at the 96th Academy Awards ceremony March 10. With a win, Billie Eilish, 22, and Finneas, 26, would become the youngest artists ever to win two Oscars before the age of 30. The pair won for James Bond theme “No Time to Die” in 2022, and are nominated this year for “What Was I Made For,” from “Barbie.” Only three individuals have clinched two Oscars before turning 30: Luise Rainer earned back to back Oscars by the time she was 28 for “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936) and “The Good Earth” (1937); Jodie Foster in 1989 for “The Accused” (age 26) and in 1992 for “The Silence of the Lambs” (29); and Hilary Swank in 2000 for “Boys Don’t Cry” (26) and in 2005 for “Million Dollar Baby” (29).

Meanwhile, Diane Warren faces a less enviable milestone with her 15th nomination for “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot,” potentially tying with the late Alex North...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2024 Oscars Predictions:

Best Adapted Screenplay Oppenheimer, from left: Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, 2023. © Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Weekly Commentary: Cord Jefferson stands on the brink of potentially making history in the adapted screenplay category with “American Fiction,” potentially becoming only the second...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2023 Oscars Predictions:

Best Original Screenplay Past Lives, from left: Teo Yoo, Greta Lee, John Magro, 2023. © A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection

Weekly Commentary: Following its victories at the Golden Globes for best screenplay and the BAFTA for original screenplay, it appears almost inevitable that “Anatomy of a Fall” will secure the Oscar for its co-writers,...

The Hollywood Reporter thanks the following 322 members of the global film community — listed alphabetically — for taking the time to cast a ballot to help us determine the 100 greatest film books of all time.

Seth Abramovitch

The Hollywood Reporter journalist/It Happened in Hollywood podcast host

Jo Addy

Soho House group film and entertainment director

Casey Affleck

Oscar-winning actor

Rutanya Alda

Author/actress

Stephanie Allain

Filmmaker

Victoria Alonso

Filmmaker/executive

Tony Angellotti

Publicist

Bonnie Arnold

Filmmaker/executive

Miguel Arteta

Filmmaker

Chris Auer

Filmmaker/film professor

John Badham

Filmmaker/film professor

Amy Baer

Executive

Matt Baer

Filmmaker

Lindsey Bahr

Journalist

Ramin Bahrani

Oscar-nominated filmmaker

Cameron Bailey

Toronto International Film Festival CEO/former film critic

John Bailey

Cinematographer/former Academy president

Bela Bajaria

Executive

Sean Baker

Filmmaker

Alec Baldwin

Oscar-nominated actor/author

Tino Balio

Author/film professor

Jeffrey Barbakow

Executive

Michael Barker

Executive

Mike Barnes

The Hollywood Reporter journalist

Jeanine Basinger

Author/film...

Patrick Harrison, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ longtime top official in New York, has been let go by the organization, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The exit of Harrison was communicated to the Academy’s roughly 1,000 Tri-State area members in an email sent last Friday by Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang. The official began his career in 1991 as an assistant to the Academy’s executive administrator and left in 1995 to work on awards campaigns at Miramax. He then returned to the Academy in February 2001, serving as director of New York programs and membership until July 2022, when he was promoted to VP member relations and global outreach.

“Since we met with you in October, there have been some changes in the Tri-State operation,” Kramer and Yang’s missive acknowledged. “As some of you know, Roger [Mancusi, Harrison’s deputy] left the Academy in the fall, and Patrick has been on leave.

Verve has appointed founding partner Bill Weinstein to the position of CEO, the first in the agency’s 13-year history.

In his newly created position, Weinstein’s responsibilities will “continue to evolve,” though he will remain working in his capacity representing clients, “an indication of Verve’s continued commitment to its core tenet of advocating for creative talent across all levels of the company,” per the agency.

Weinstein’s clients include J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay (“Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”), Sara Hess (“House of the Dragon”), Jac Schaeffer, Michael Arndt (“Little Miss Sunshine”), Mike Jones, Adele Lim (“Crazy Rich Asians”), Meg LeFauve (“Inside Out”), John August (“Aladdin”), Allison Schroeder (“Hidden Figures”), Brian K Vaughan (“Paper Girls”), James Schamus and Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”).

The decision to appoint Weinstein to Verve’s first-ever CEO was announced internally last week by fellow founding Verve partners Adam Levine and Bryan Besser in an all-company meeting.

On the eve of its anniversary, Verve has tapped founding Partner Bill Weinstein as the first CEO in the agency’s thirteen years. The decision was made by the Partnership and announced by his fellow Founding Partners Adam Levine and Bryan Besser in an all-company meeting with a grateful and excited Weinstein thanking each member of the Verve community for their support and belief.

In the heartfelt speech from Besser and Levine, they highlighted the need to provide additional structure as the independent agency adds resources to its core film and television business while continuing to expand into new areas of client representation.

“As we continue to evolve, we recognize the need to formalize the managerial organization of our business to bring greater accountability, efficiency, and excellence to our core mission of advocating on behalf of creative talent,” Said Besser on behalf of the Partnership.

The appointment comes on the...

Exclusive: The attempt by Atlanta Braves slugger Henry Aaron to break Babe Ruth’s hallowed record of 714 career home runs, and the armed guard from the Atlanta police department assigned to keep him safe 24/7 amidst racist hate mail and death threats, will be turned into a feature film.

715! is the working title of a film that will be written by Oscar-winning Precious scribe Geoffrey Fletcher. It will be produced by Mike Tollin and his Mandalay Sports Media, and Richard Saperstein through Bluestone, which will finance.

Tollin’s producing credits include the Chicago Bulls miniseries The Last Dance, as well as the films Coach Carter and Radio, and Saperstein’s credits include Se7en, John Q and Hancock. Tollin also wrote and directed Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream, the Oscar-nominated and Peabody-winning 1995 documentary that created the relationship with Aaron, his wife Billye and his estate, which makes this film possible.

They...

Lee Daniels’ “Precious” (2009) • Daniels’ Harlem-set drama marked the first time that a movie with a black director earned a Best Picture nomination. Mo’Nique won best supporting actress and Geoffrey Fletcher won for adapted screenplay — but “The Hurt Locker” won the top prize.

Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” (2013) • Although McQueen lost the Best Director trophy to Alfonso Cuarón for “Gravity,” he did become the first black producer to win Best Picture for his gritty depiction of the antebellum South.

Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” (2014) • DuVernay’s Martin Luther King Jr. biopic lost to “Birdman” for Best Picture, but did win for John Legend and Common’s song “Glory.”

Denzel Washington’s “Fences” (2016) • Washington directed and starred in this acclaimed adaptation of the August Wilson play — but only co-star Viola Davis went home with gold.

Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” (2016) • Jenkins shared the adapted screenplay trophy, lost the directing prize to Damien Chazelle for “La La Land,...

“Diversity sells” is the clarion call of the industry, yet progress with the Academy Awards has been incremental, as seen in today’s nominations for the 94th Oscars. Social media movements like #OscarsSoWhite have compelled the Academy to react. And, to their credit, they have, implementing broad changes designed to increasingly diversify its membership. But no matter how diverse, voters can’t vote for films and performances that aren’t always there. That’s up to the studios.

Diversity contenders like “King Richard,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” and “West Side Story,” don’t need Academy Awards to validate them, but the Academy may need these films to draw viewers. Ratings for the Oscar telecast reached an all-time low in 2021, but it was a strange year. And in a year as wacky as the last one was, surprises shouldn’t surprise.

Let’s take a look at the major categories.

Best Picture

Last year “Nomadland,...

The inaugural class of Netflix, Tribeca Studios and Gold House’s Future Gold Film Fellowship has been revealed. Directors Lloyd Lee Choi, Erin Lau and Derek Nguyen have been named the program’s first fellows.

The Gold Film Fellowship, which was designed to elevated experienced directors from Asian Pacific Islander (Api) communities, will see the selected directors created scripted short films that explore themes of family love, persistence and loss. The trio of directors will receive full funding, creative feedback and mentorship from executives at Tribeca Studios and Netflix and production expertise from he former. They will also have access to the Gold House Network and a seat in Gold House Futures. Their short films will also be considered to premiere at Tribeca Film Festival in June.

The three directors selected for the program where vetted by Tribeca Studios and a panel of industry leaders including Aneesh Chaganty, Jon M. Chu,...

Exclusive: Derek Nguyen, the award-winning writer, director and producer behind horror-romance The Housemaid (Cô Hầu Gái), has signed with Cinetic Media for management.

The Vietnamese American multihyphenate’s first feature follows an orphaned Vietnamese girl who is hired to be a housemaid at a haunted rubber plantation in French Indochina during the 1950s. IFC Films released it in theaters in 2016.

Nguyen also is producing an American adaptation of The Housemaid called Grave Hill from director Deon Taylor, which is slated for production this year, having penned the script with Oscar winner Geoffrey Fletcher. He exec produced the Tribeca-premiering thriller Catch the Fair One with Darren Aronofsky and has served as an associate producer on titles including The Long Dumb Road, The Tale, Buster’s Mal Heart, Lovesong and Addicted to Fresno. He is also a partner at the production company The Population with Mynette Louie.

Nguyen was a fellow at...

Lee Daniels joined his “Precious” breakthrough Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe at the Toronto International Film Festival this week (via Entertainment Weekly) to reflect on their 2009 drama, including the moment Daniels had to fire several “disrespectful” crew members only 20 days into production. The filmmaker said he “didn’t feel good” with the “Precious” dailies after two weeks of shooting.

“I had a white line producer, a white Ad, they also read [reviews that said my last film] ‘Shadowboxer’ was the worst film ever made, and they had zero respect for me, my vision, or what it was,” Daniels said. “They were New Yorkers that looked at this as a job. I kept coming home like, this doesn’t feel right, she doesn’t look right, the set looks weird. I felt like I was giving birth to an alien, literally, so I did something that I now don’t even know whether I’d have the courage to do,...

Aaron Sorkin (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) won Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes, and then Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”) pulled ahead by winning Best Original Screenplay at the Critics Choice, Writers Guild, and BAFTA Awards. So they’re the two to beat for the Oscar, with Fennell enjoying a significant lead in our racetrack odds based on the combined predictions of thousands of Gold Derby users. But what about Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”)? Might we be underestimating him?

We don’t have that much to go on in terms of the strength of Chung’s screenplay as an Oscar contender. His script was snubbed at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs, but neither group liked “Minari” overall as much as the Oscars did. The Globes only nominated it for Best Foreign Language Film (which it won), and while it earned six BAFTA noms (the same number as it...

In today's Horror Highlights, we have the trailer for Kane Hodder's Balsam: A Paranormal Investigation, details on Grave Hill (the remake of The Housemaid), and the trailer for Darkness in Tenement 45!

Balsam: A Paranormal Investigation: "Kane Hodder recently premiered the trailer for his new project, “Balsam: A Paranormal Investigation” at Mad Monster Party Arizona. Kane Hodder has been working with producer and director Tony H. Cadwell (Behind The Sightings) to produce a documentary entitled "Balsam: A Paranormal Investigation."

Synopsis: Kane Hodder leads a team of paranormal investigators as they investigate The Grand Old Lady Hotel in Balsam, North Carolina. The Grand Old Lady Hotel is a 112-year-old, 40,000 square foot hotel with a disturbing past. Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, the hotel is referred to by locals as the South's Stanley Hotel.

Director Tony H. Cadwell stated, "We wanted to put together a project for horror...

Parasite producer Cj Entertainment has tapped Black And Blue and Traffik filmmaker Deon Taylor to direct gothic horror-thriller Grave Hill, the company’s English-language remake of the hit Vietnamese horror film The Housemaid.

As we previously revealed, Oscar-winner Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious) wrote the adapted screenplay with Derek Nguyen, writer-director of 2016 pic The Housemaid, which explores racial and social themes through a genre lens. The remake will take place in the American South during the Reconstruction Era.

In the original, an orphaned Vietnamese girl is hired to be a housemaid at a haunted rubber plantation in 1953 French Indochina. However, she unexpectedly falls in love with the French landowner and awakens the vengeful ghost of his dead wife.

Cj Entertainment is financing, developing and producing the new English-language remake. Executive producers are Cj Group Vice Chairwoman Miky Lee, Cj Entertainment’s Jinnie Choi and Jerry Ko along with Hidden Empire’s Roxanne...

“Traffik” filmmaker Deon Taylor will direct an English-language remake of the Vietnamese horror film “The Housemaid” that will be produced by “Parasite” studio Cj Entertainment, the studio announced Thursday.

The remake is now titled “Grave Hill,” and Derek Nguyen, who wrote and directed the 2016 Gothic horror film, also adapted the screenplay alongside Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”).

“The Housemaid” is set in French Indochina in 1953 and follows a Vietnamese orphan girl hired to work as a housemaid at a haunted rubber plantation. When she falls in love with the estate’s landowner, she attracts the fury of the ghost of the landowner’s dead wife. Taylor’s film will take place in the American South during the Reconstruction Era and aim to remain true to the original’s racial and social themes.

Principal photography on “Grave Hill” hopes to begin in early 2021.

Cj Entertainment, which financed and produced “The Housemaid,” is also financing,...

Principal photography anticipated for first quarter 2021.

South Korean powerhouse Cj Entertainment has hired Deon Taylor to direct Grave Hill, the English-language remake of Vietnamese horror The Housemaid.

Taylor will direct from an adapted screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious) and Derek Nguyen, who wrote and directed the original film.

Cj Entertainment is financing, developing and producing the remake, which is expected to begin principal photography in the first quarter of 2021.

Grave Hill will be set in the American South during the Reconstruction Era in post-Civil War late 19th Century.

It will explore the same social and racial themes touched on in 2016 period horror romance The Housemaid,...

Exclusive: Deadline has learned that Parasite studio Cj Entertainment and Anonymous Content are teaming for a feature adaptation of Choe Sang-Hun’s inspiring April 2019 New York Times inspiring story “Running Out of Children, a South Korea School Enrolls Illiterate Grandmothers,” about grandmothers who returned to school in South Korea to fill classrooms.

Korea-born writer and producer Jason Kim, whose credits include HBO’s Barry and Girls and the Netflix series Love, will adapt. Kim received a WGA Award and was nominated for an Emmy, PGA, and the NAACP Image Award for his work on Barry. He is repped by Wme and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.

Choe’s story details how, amidst plummeting birth rates in South Korea and the emptying of rural schools, one school, in an effort to fill its classrooms, opened its doors to women who have for decades dreamed of learning to read.

Cj Entertainment optioned...

Netflix's glam alt-history Hollywood centers on the making of a movie, first called Peg, and later, Meg. While some parts of the series are based on real Hollywood stories, this one isn't: there was no movie called Peg or Meg in real life. That being said, there are a few parts of the story that do have roots in screen history.

The part of Peg's production that's most obviously based on reality is that there was, in fact, a woman called Peg Entwistle who infamously died by suicide at the Hollywoodland sign. She was a stage actress who attempted to make the transition to the big screen in the early 1930s, but only managed to land a small part in a flop movie, Thirteen Women. In September 1932, her body was found in a ravine beneath the Hollywood sign, along with a brief suicide note, and police were able to...

Cj Entertainment, the studio behind multi-Oscar-winner “Parasite,” is poised to remake Korean classic “Save The Green Planet” in English. It will produce with Square Peg, the Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen label behind recent breakout “Midsommar.”

The story is an eccentric and particularly black comedy involving a disillusioned young man who captures and tortures a businessman who he believes to be part of an alien invasion. A battle of wits ensues between the captor, his devoted girlfriend, the businessman and a private detective.

The 2003 original was a cult hit that collected prizes at fantasy festivals including those in Bucheon, Buenos Aires and Brussels, and mainstream events including Rotterdam, Tokyo Filmex, and Moscow. “Green Planet” earned Jang Joon-hwan the Golden Bell award for best new director in Korea the same year.

Jang is now set to direct the remake, from an English-language adapted script by Will Tracy (HBO’s “Succession” and...

Parasite producer Cj is lining up another genre-bending treat. The Korean powerhouse is teaming up with Midsommar and Hereditary duo Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen on an English-language remake of cult Korean movie Save The Green Planet!

The off-beat, black comedy-sci-fi mashup from 2003 follows a man who believes the world is on the verge of an alien invasion and sets out to save the planet by first kidnapping his boss. Check out the wild trailer for the original below.

Cj, which also produced the 2003 film, will finance and produce alongside Aster and Knudsen’s Square Peg production banner.

The original film’s writer-director Joon-hwan Jang will return to direct the movie. Cj and Jang most recently teamed up on 2017 political thriller 1987: When The Day Comes. Will Tracy, writer on HBO’s Succession and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, has been tapped to write the adapted screenplay.

Executive producers...

What a difference 18 hours makes. Greta Gerwig‘s “Little Women” script was the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar frontrunner, but then suffered a pair of transatlantic defeats over the weekend. She lost the Writers Guild of America Award and the BAFTA to Taika Waititi‘s “Jojo Rabbit,” which has now displaced “Little Women” for the top spot in our odds. Can “Little Women” pull off a big upset at the Oscars? Sure, but it’ll have to be the first film in 10 years to take down the WGA and BAFTA champ.

The last movie to do so was “Precious” (2009), which stunned “Up in the Air” to take the Oscar for Geoffrey Fletcher. This was a bigger shocker than “Little Women” over “Jojo Rabbit” would be since “Up in the Air” had dominated the season, collecting the Golden Globe (which has one screenplay category), Critics’ Choice, BAFTA, the USC Scripter Award and WGA.

Producers Mollye Asher (“The Rider”), Mynette Louie (“The Tale”) and Derek Nguyen (director of “The Housemaid”) announced the launch of a new production company on Tuesday called The Population.

The group will focus on producing film and TV projects by or about women, people of color, the Lgbtqia+ community and other underrepresented groups. Producer Mary Jane Skalski will serve as senior advisor to The Population.

The Population will also premiere the film “I Carry You With Me (Te Llevo Conmigo)” by director Heidi Ewing at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and is in post-production on Josef Kubota Wladyka’s “Catch the Fair One.” The Population also has several other projects in development including a feminist horror film based on a true survival story in Mexico and a true-crime series set among the Asian American and working-class communities in Detroit.

Also Read: 'First Cow' Director Kelly Reichardt Wins...

Verve has signed Academy Award winner Geoffrey Fletcher for representation, sources tell Variety.

Fletcher is best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplay for “Precious” based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire. The drama — directed by Lee Daniels and starring Mo’Nique and Gabourey Sidibe — was nominated for five other Oscars, including best picture. Fletcher made history as the first African American to win an Academy Award for adapted screenplay.

The movie won a handful of other awards, including the audience award and grand jury prize for best drama at Sundance in 2009. It also screened at Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section.

Most recently, Fletcher wrote the Ed Zwick-directed drama “Trial by Fire,” starring Laura Dern and Jack O’Connell. His forthcoming projects include the “Untitled Althea Gibson Project,” which is being produced by Whoopi Goldberg and Sam Feuer of Big Boy Films and “I Am A Man,...

Variety has announced its 10 Screenwriters to Watch for 2019, an honor the publication has bestowed for over a decade.

This year’s honorees will be feted in the October 8th issue of Variety as well as at a reception at the Mill Valley Film Festival on October 13th.

“For decades, the Mill Valley Film Festival has been an essential stop on both the festival circuit and during awards season for key taste-maker screenings” said Steven Gaydos, executive vice president of content at Variety. “We are excited to begin this new partnership with the festival to showcase this year’s group of groundbreaking screenwriters to the discerning audience in Northern California.”

“We are honored to host Variety’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch as part of the Mill Valley Film Festival. Screenwriters provide an essential part of the filmmaking process,” said Mill Valley Film Festival founder and director, Mark Fishkin. “Their contributions cannot be overemphasized,...

Experience the unbelievable, touching, and controversial story of hope despite a broken system when Trial by Fire arrives on Digital July 30 and on DVD August 13 from Lionsgate. Based on the true story of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was wrongfully sentenced to death in Texas for a gruesome triple homicide, this powerful film was directed by Edward Zwick, written by Academy Award® winner Geoffrey Fletcher, and stars Jack O’Connell, Academy Award® nominee Laura Dern, Emily Meade, and Jeff Perry. The Trial by Fire DVD will include a photo gallery and will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98.

In 1992, Cameron Todd Willingham (Jack O’ Connell), a poor, uneducated heavy metal devotee with a violent streak, was convicted of arson-related triple homicide and put on death row. Trial by Fire is the true-life Texas story of the unlikely bond that formed between Willingham and Elizabeth Gilbert (Laura Dern), a Houston mother of two,...

Tilda Swinton and daughter Honor Swinton Byrne play mother and daughter in writer-director Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, which took the World Cinema – Dramatic prize at the Sundance Film Festival, where it debuted in January. In fact, the filmmaking team already is readying their follow-up even as the first installment heads to several theaters this weekend via A24. Roadside Attractions took rights to Telluride premiere Trial by Fire last fall. Starring Laura Dern and Jack O’Connell, the title takes on the death penalty, based on a true story. Amazon Studios is heading out with Sundance debut Photograph by Ritesh Batra in over a half-dozen markets, while Magnolia Pictures is going day-and-date with sci-fi title Aniara, which it acquired out of last year’s Toronto. Samuel Goldwyn Films is “counterprogramming” the early-summer blockbuster season with All Creatures Here Below starring Karen Gillan and David Dastmalchian.

Other limited releases this weekend...

The death penalty is among the most controversial and debated about laws in American politics, and even worldwide. There are passionate cases made on both sides, arguing for or against capital punishment and the right for the state to take a life. To be sure though, there’s hypocrisy as well, especially when you look at how conservative lawmakers view capital punishment/the death penalty in relation to their feelings on abortion/a woman’s right to choose. Moreover, the rush to judgment in some cases is as infuriating as anything else in the matter. The righteous indignation over that fuels the new film Trial by Fire, opening this week. This film is a true life drama/biopic, centering on the controversial and ultimately tragic case of Cameron Todd Willingham (Jack O’Connell). When the home he lives in with his wife Stacy Willingham (Emily Meade) burns down, killing their three young daughters,...

Cameron Todd Willingham burned his three daughters alive, at least according to the state of Texas, which sentenced him to death in 1992. In the decades since, Willingham’s trial has been relitigated in the court of public opinion by the New Yorker, whose evisceration of testimony by arson experts gives “Trial by Fire” its title. The case has also become a cause célèbre for justice advocates sifting through convictions to find a case where the American government executed an innocent man — Willingham was put to death in 2004 — a travesty they would take all the way to the Supreme Court.

Edward Zwick’s take on the tragedy is a linear biopic, a film more comfortable with time stamps than in burning down the judicial system. “Trial by Fire” opens two days before Christmas in Corsicana, Texas, as 23-year-old Willingham (Jack O’Connell) flees his flaming house, barefoot, shirtless and screaming for...

A perpetually alarming issue that merits interminable outrage, wrongful convictions are not news in this country. Innocent people accused of a crime, or at least individuals not dutifully proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, face a voracious system where circumstantial variables sway the law more than facts do.

This failure of justice resulting in lives lost to unearned sentences is so pervasive that countless movies (both scripted and non-fiction) populate their own subgenre chock-full of these dispiriting cases. In “Trial by Fire,” the latest fiction adapted from real-life tragedy, despair is amplified by the state of Texas’ fondness of fatal reprisal and right-leaning attitudes.

Translated into screenplay form by Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”) from David Grann’s identically titled article for The New Yorker, director Edward Zwick’s tremendously cast but inadequately realized drama details how Cameron Todd Willingham went from being a lousy husband (yet loving father) to getting branded...

Jack O’Connell and Laura Dern impress in a sturdy, no-frills retelling of an enraging true story about a man who might have been wrongfully convicted of killing his children

Quietly premiering at last year’s Telluride film festival alongside bigger, splashier titles, the worthy fact-based drama Trial by Fire quickly became one of the season’s most inevitable casualties, a crushing lack of buzz immediately putting an end to any potential awards run. A decade or so ago, this might not have been the case. Based on the true story of a man claiming wrongful imprisonment, directed by Oscar-winning film-maker and producer Edward Zwick, scripted by Geoffrey Fletcher, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Precious and starring two-time Oscar nominee Laura Dern, it’s the sort of sturdy prestige-y project that would have been a contender in a different, simpler time.

Related: The Intruder review – Dennis Quaid goes gonzo in fun,...

Years ago, I interned for the inimitable Spike Lee at 40 Acres & a Mule Filmworks over the course of one spring break. I think I was 20 and I felt like I was in Mecca or on Olympus. One day a framed photo on a staffer's desk stopped me where I stood and filled me with awe and envy. The picture was of Spike and John Singleton — a titan and a prince of the New Cinema, respectively, together in cool jackets, as I recall.

A few years later, while in my second year at NYU pursuing my ...

“Prisoners talk about doing time,” the condemned man says. “On the Row, there is no time. Clock stopped moving the minute we was sentenced.”

Here is the first trailer for Trial by Fire, director Ed Zwick’s controversial film that premiered at Telluride last year. It’s the true-life Texas story of the unlikely bond between a death row inmate and a mother of two from Houston who, though facing staggering odds, fights mightily for his freedom.

Cameron Todd Willingham (Jack O’Connell), a poor, uneducated heavy metal devotee with a violent streak and a criminal record, is convicted of arson-related triple homicide in 1992. During his 12 years on death row, Elizabeth Gilbert (Laura Dern), an improbable ally, uncovers questionable methods and illogical conclusions in his case, and battles with the state to expose suppressed evidence that could save him.

Distributor plans May 17 release for story of imprisoned death row inmate and woman who fights his cause.

Roadside Attractions has picked up Us rights to Edward Zwick’s true crime drama Trial By Fire starring Laura Dern and Jack O’Connell.

The distributor plans a May 17 release for the story of an imprisoned death row inmate and a mother of two from Houston who battles 12 years for his freedom.

Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious) adapted the screenplay from David Grann’s article originally published in The New Yorker.

Trial By Fire received its world premiere at Telluride 2018. Zwick produced alongside Allyn Stewart,...

Roadside Attractions has obtained the U.S. distribution rights to the Edward Zwick-directed true-crime drama Trial by Fire and has slated a release date for May 17. Based on a 2009 article in The New Yorker by David Grann, the film starring Jack O’Connell, Laura Dern, Emily Meade and Jeff Perry premiered at last year’s Telluride Film Festival, .

Adapted by Precious scribe Geoffrey Fletcher, the Texas story centers on the unlikely bond between an imprisoned death row inmate (O’Connell) and a mother of two from Houston (Dern) who fights mightily for his freedom. Cameron Todd Willingham, a poor, uneducated heavy metal devotee with a violent streak and a criminal record, is convicted of arson-related triple homicide in 1992. During his 12 years on death row, Elizabeth Gilbert uncovers questionable methods and illogical conclusions in his case and battles with the state to expose suppressed evidence that could save him.

Zwick...

In today’s film news roundup, “Trial by Fire” and “The Harvesters” get U.S. distribution deals and the Ford vs. Ferrari movie, starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, gets an awards season release.

Acquisitions

Roadside Attractions has acquired U.S. rights to true-crime drama “Trial By Fire,” starring Jack O’Connell and Laura Dern.

Roadside, which announced the deal Monday, will release the film on May 17. The film is directed by Edward Zwick and adapted by Geoffrey Fletcher, who won an Academy award for “Precious,” from David Grann’s article originally published in The New Yorker in 2009.

“Trial by Fire” had its world premiere at the 2018 Telluride Film Festival, and is produced by Zwick, Allyn Stewart, Kipp Nelson and Alex Soros. Executive producers are Kathryn Dean and Marshall Herskovitz. Soros, the son of billionaire George Soros, financed the project.

“Trial by Fire” centers on the unlikely bond between an...

Indie distributor Roadside Attractions has acquired U.S. rights to Edward Zwick’s true-crime drama “Trial by Fire,” the company announced on Monday.

The film, starring Laura Dern and Jack O’Connell, was adapted by Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”) and is based on David Grann’s article in The New Yorker about the unlikely bond between a death row inmate (O’Connell) and a mother of two from Houston (Dern) who, though facing staggering odds, fights for his freedom.

“Trial by Fire” had its world premiere during the 2018 Telluride Film Festival in August. Roadside plans to release the film on May 17.

Also Read: Leonard Cohen Sundance Documentary 'Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love' Acquired by Roadside Attractions

“I first read David Grann’s article, ‘Trial by Fire’ in The New Yorker nearly ten years ago. I couldn’t stop talking about it to friends and soon realized I had to try to make it as a film,...

“It’s written very much like a police report,” “BlacKkKlansman” co-screenwriter and co-producer Charlie Wachtel says about the film’s source material — the 2014 memoir by Ron Stallworth about his infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan as a black detective in the 1970s. Wachtel continues, “Ron was a cop, so it’s not written in a way that immediately lends itself to being cinematic, so you have to take what is in the book, work with it and build it into this cinematic universe.”

Gold Derby sat down with Wachtel and his creative partner David Rabinowitz (watch the exclusive video above) last month at the 18th Whistler Film Festival, where the pair was honored by Variety as Screenwriters to Watch for 2018. “You look at the people who were on the list in previous years and it’s very impressive,” Rabinowitz says about the recognition, alluding to the likes of Oscar winners...

The Whistler Film Festival (November 28 — December 2) is hosting the industry’s top screenwriters at highly anticipated 7th consecutive event in Whistler.

This year’s honoured screenwriters will share their personal stories and challenges related to succeeding in today’s film industry at an afternoon conversation on December 1 as part of Wff’s Signature Series as well as receive their coveted award at Wff’s Awards Celebration on December 2.

Hosted by Canadian broadcast veteran George Stroumboulopoulos, festival goers will join this prestigious class of film scribes as they discuss tips and tricks for navigating the film landscape in 2018. The group will also share a behind the scenes look at their current and future projects during this intimate conversation.

Variety’s class of 2018 screenwriters and notable credits include:

Joe Robert Cole, Black PantherBryan Woods and Scott Beck, A Quiet PlaceAshleigh Powell, The Nutcracker And The Four RealmsJay Longino, Uncle DrewElizabeth Chomko, What They HadSofia Alvarez,...

Variety has announced this year’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch.

For the seventh year in a row, the Whistler Film Festival will host the 10 Screenwriters to Watch event in Whistler, B.C. The screenwriters to be honored will share their stories and discuss the challenges of succeeding in today’s film industry during a conversation on Dec. 1 as part of Wff’s Signature Series, followed by the awards ceremony at Wff’s Awards Celebration on Dec. 2.

Canadian media personality George Stroumboulopoulos will host the evening as industry veterans discuss tips and tricks for navigating the film landscape in 2018, as well as sharing a few sneak peaks at current and upcoming projects.

Variety’s class of 2018 screenwriters and notable credits include:

Joe Robert Cole, “Black Panther” Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, “A Quiet Place” Ashleigh Powell, “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” Jay Longino, “Uncle Drew” Elizabeth Chomko, “What They Had” Sofia Alvarez,...

Korean distribution and production powerhouse Cj Entertainment is launching a specialty genre label – 413 Pictures.

The Snowpiercer producer, which is growing its U.S. footprint, plans to develop, produce and finance 2-4 English-language genre films a year, along with 4-5 local-language Asian titles. The label will include original projects and remakes and is focusing on elevated thrillers and supernatural horrors.

All Cj genre films, both English-language and local-language Asian movies, will be released under the banner going forward. The first films released in the U.S. will be Hide And Seek, which is due to go into production this fall, and The Housemaid, which is earmarked for a 2019 start.

Joel David Moore (The Guest) is directing the former, a remake of the hit Korean social horror-thriller written and directed by Huh Jung. The latter is an English-language remake of Vietnam’s highest-grossing horror film. Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious) is writing the adapted...

Exclusive: Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs, an Amazon Top Bestseller, has been optioned by Overbrook Entertainment and Don Handfield & Richard Rayner’s film and television shingle, Motor. A limited series is planned for what promises to be an epic story.

The book follows the tragic tale of conquest and defeat, of colonization and resistance, of empires won and civilizations lost — and of the violent confluence of two empires previously unknown to each other. It’s the epic account of Hernan Cortes, one of the greatest conquerors history has ever known, and Montezuma, the complex leader of the ancient civilization that he would oppose. Their stories culminate in the cataclysmic battle that would be the end of one world and the making of a new one.

“I can’t believe this story has never been told,” said Caleeb Pinkett of Overbrook, a company whose partners include Will Smith,...

South Korea’s leading movie studio, Cj Entertainment, is developing 10 film projects in Hollywood. Two of them, North American versions of “Miss Granny” and “Hide and Seek,” are set to start production this year.

Cj Entertainment, part of the Cj E&M conglomerate that also owns TV channels and TV production companies, confirmed the details in emails with Variety on Monday. Production expansion outside creative, but crowded, Korea also matches the internationalization of its Cj-cgv exhibition chain, which is now one of the world’s top five.

“We’re proceeding with our global productions as planned. There will be more projects added to the lineup, including both remakes and originals,” spokesperson Yoon In-ho told Variety. Cj has previously indicated production budgets of up to $35 million for its U.S. pictures.

3Pas Studio is currently attaching cast for its Spanish-language remake of 2014 romantic comedy “Miss Granny,” Cj’s most successful international franchise to date.

Exclusive: Like Crazy director Drake Doremus is to direct romantic-drama Aurora for Korean production and distribution powerhouse Cj Entertainment, I can reveal.

The Handmaiden and Snowpiercer backer Cj, which is ramping up its multi-territory production slate, is developing, producing and financing the movie, which is being scripted by Salvador Paskowitz, co-writer of The Age of Adaline.

The project, currently in development, is described to me as a “sweeping romantic drama with a supernatural elements.” It follows a widower who, 25 years after his wife’s death, continues to live alone in Iceland. When a young man comes into his life with a mysterious connection to his past the two develop an uneasy relationship, causing them to question their identities and their past lives.

Producing for Cj Entertainment will be Tae-sung Jeong, CEO of Cj Entertainment, Francis Chung, VP of Global Co-Productions and Head of U.S. Production as well as director Doremus.

Lgbt-themed films were seldom honored by the motion picture academy in the 20th century. But the first two decades of the 21st century have seen the Oscars change their tune, with more and more films with Lgbt stories winning awards. At least one Lgbt-themed film has won an Oscar every year since 2013, including last year’s historic Best Picture win by “Moonlight,” the first film with a gay protagonist to win in the top category. Two more acclaimed films joined the list of Oscar-winning Lgbt films in 2018: “Call Me by Your Name” and “A Fantastic Woman.” Click through our gallery to see the complete list.

“Call Me by Your Name” went into Oscars with four nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Timothee Chalamet), and it took home the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. With that victory the film’s writer, James Ivory, made history by becoming the oldest Oscar-winner in any category.