Deadline’s Doc Talk Podcast: Sundance Programmers Preview Festival’s Documentary Lineup – Will Ferrell, Christopher Reeve Films & More

Illumination’s “Despicable Me” franchise has grossed a total of more than $4.4 billion worldwide, and given the brand is the biggest global animated franchise in history, you can bet everyone wants more. So, today, Illumination and Universal revealed the first trailer for “Despicable Me 4,” the first film in the franchise in seven years (not counting “Minions” spin-offs and whatnot).

Valerie Wu Intern Gru and the Minions are back, as Universal and Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4” has released its first trailer. The film, which hits theaters on July 3, 2024, continues the popular animated franchise, which follows the reformed supervillain Gru (Steve Carrell) trying to do good and finding family while he’s at it. Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan, Chris Renaud, Dana Gaier, Pierre Coffin also return for the fourth installment.

Sundance Film Festival premiere. It’s an interesting home for the documentary, because Reeve experienced his greatest commercial success playing the Man of Steel in the first four Superman movies, which Warner Bros. produced.

EXCLUSIVE: In a deal that when closed will be worth $15 million, Warner Bros Discovery has emerged as frontrunner to land the Sundance buzz title documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, sources said. The inspirational film is about the late actor best known for playing the Man of Steel. Docu’s focus is on how he found strength and purpose through activism after he was paralyzed in an equestrian accident. I believe that puts the film in precedent setting territory for a docu launched at Sundance. Numerous bidders have been in the mix, but I hear it’s likely to land at the home of the Superman film franchise.

Ability Magazine, Reeve increased his weight by 30 pounds and added four inches to his chest and three inches to his biceps during his training for “Superman.” He also increased his bench press from 100 pounds to 350. Reeve’s first trainer was David Prowse, who played the role of Darth Vader for the entirety of the original “Star Wars” trilogy.A 1978 “behind the scenes” video feature said that at first, “Superman producers” considered him “too young, and maybe even too skinny” for the role. Before landing on the then-unknown Reeve, producers reportedly considered bigger stars for the lead, including Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Sylvester Stallone and Caitlyn Jenner (who was then Bruce).

The Church of Satan would like to make it clear that members don’t worship the Devil, nor do they believe Satan is real. What they do believe in, and the rituals they practice, emerge in the documentary Realm of Satan, which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. 

The premise of the documentary “Will & Harper” is so simple that it almost seems presentational, self-serving, or stunt-y. The idea is, after 30 years of friendship, comedian Will Ferrell learns, through a personal email, that an old friend and former “Saturday Night Live” writer, then Adam Steele (yes, the dead name is used at first), is coming out as a trans woman.

Christopher Revee’s story is being explored in a new documentary. The film, called “Super/Man: The Christpher Revee Story” recounts Revee’s acting career and the paralysis that affected the rest of his life after a horseback accident on 1995.

Christopher Reeve’s children are telling his story and remembering his legacy. The actor, who played the beloved character Superman in 1978 with three sequels, left a mark on the entertainment industry and is known for his resilience and advocacy for spinal cord injury research and treatment after a horse-riding accident in 1995 left him paralyzed from the neck down.Christopher made his first appearance after the accident at the Academy Awards on March 25, 1996.

Will Ferrell has received praise for his support of the transgender community ahead of the premiere of the new documentary Will & Harper.The film explores the friendship between Ferrell and Harper Steele, a former Saturday Night Live writer, who came out as transgender in 2022. The film received its first official screening at the Sundance Film Festival this week.In a video clip with Variety that has gone viral, Ferrell says: “It was three summers ago in which Harper emailed a lot of her close friends with the headline: ‘Here’s a Weird One’.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Will Ferrell has some pretty cool friends. That shouldn’t come as any kind of surprise to his fans.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Unlike Cannes and Venice, Sundance isn’t a film festival that inspires too many standing ovations. But moviegoers at the Eccles Theatre were moved (more than once!) to stand up and applaud after the premiere of “Will & Harper,” a funny, heartbreaking and poignant documentary about Will Ferrell taking a road trip with his longtime friend, Harper Steele, who transitioned at 61.

Will Ferrell revealed Sunday that he had “zero knowledge” of the trans experience until his close friend of 30 years Harper Steele came out to him in 2022.“I know I’ve met trans people before,” Ferrell, 56, told Variety in a clip posted to the outlet’s social media. “I didn’t have anyone personally in my life.

told People magazine at Sunday night’s Sundance Film Festival premiere of the new documentary, “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.““And what sticks with me most,” he said, “was after that incredible warm welcome and that very long standing ovation that he received, his introduction — he followed it up with a wonderful speech about how cinema and movies are at their best when they not only entertain, but they inform and educate and address issues.”Among those in the audience applauding the “Rear Window” actor that night were Tom Hanks, Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt, John Travolta, Meryl Streep, Jim Carrey and Nicolas Cage.Reeve also remembered how clips from movies including “Coming Home” and “Terms of Endearment” addressed important human issues.“So that’s always stuck with me,” he told People.

The Flash, and were not involved in his controversial cameo in the film.In a new interview with Variety at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Reeve’s children – Will, Matthew and Alexandra – told the outlet that they were not involved in the inclusion of his likeness in the Ezra Miller-starring 2023 film. In The Flash, Reeve appears as his iteration of Superman in a sequence where The Flash travels in time using the Speed Force, alongside older incarnations of Supergirl and Batman. Reeve’s children also added that they have not even seen the film.Will, Matthew and Alexandra Reeve were at the Sundance Film Festival to promote a new documentary about their father, entitled Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. Elsewhere in their interview with Variety, they spoke about their involvement in the film, with Alexandra calling it a “beautiful gift”.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Will Ferrell touched down at the Sundance Film Festival to world premiere the new documentary “Will & Harper,” which centers on the relationship between the beloved comedian and his best friend Harper Steele as they take a road trip. The two met during their days on “Saturday Night Live,” which Harper wrote for from 1995 to 2008.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director One of the most anticipated documentary premieres at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival is “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” which tracks the eponymous star’s rise to Hollywood icon and the near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Reeve’s children — Will, Matthew and Alexandra — appear as subjects in the movie and joined the Variety Studio presented by Audible to discuss their father’s legacy. Alexandra called the documentary a “beautiful gift” because it’s rare to “see your parent’s life told in its totality…to see a life well lived on screen and in its full complexity.

Swiss film producers and financiers Karl Spoerri and Viviana Vezzani have been Sundance regulars for more than 15 years, but this edition is special.

William Earl Variety is returning to the Sundance Film Festival this year with its annual Interview Studio, presented by Audible, the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling. Throughout the festival, videos from the interview studio will be distributed across Variety.com as well as Variety and Audible’s social media channels (Instagram: @audible, @Variety; Twitter: @audible_com, @Variety; TikTok: @audible, @VarietyMagazine).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent European production powerhouse Mediawan has bought a majority stake in Misfits, the prestige U.K. company whose anticipated documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will play at the Sundance Film Festival.