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Maestro, the Leonard Bernstein biopic starring and directed by Bradley Cooper, will have the Spotlight Gala slot at this fall’s 61st New York Film Festival.

Naman Ramachandran Magnolia Pictures International has acquired worldwide sales rights – including U.S. sales rights – to suspense-drama “Hesitation Wound” from Turkish writer-director Selman Nacar. The film will world premiere in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The European Film Academy has fired the starting gun in the race for the European Film Awards. It has recommended 19 films to its members who will then select the nominees from this list.

Can a relationship be art? “Maestro” offers a bold look at the complicated and compelling story of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein; the new film delves into the legendary conductor’s life, focusing on his unique connection to Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. Through it all, they found a way to support one another in a world judgemental of anything that didn’t fit the period’s societal norms.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One director Christopher McQuarrie has explained why a major character had to die – warning spoilers below.Ilsa Faust played by Rebecca Ferguson, who has been in the franchise since 2015’s Rogue Nation, was surprisingly killed off by the lead villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) during a fight scene in Venice.In a new interview with Empire, McQuarrie discussed why he and Tom Cruise felt the need to kill off Ferguson’s character.“We knew that that emotional arc was of a certain emotional tone… Ilsa is a wonderful character, and a character of which I am enormously proud, and Rebecca is an actor of such unmitigated power and presence,” the director said.“And yet, where we had gone with the character from Rogue to Fallout…[the] place you took that character would either make less of her, it would suddenly become frivolous… or she would just become a romantic interest, and it was never about creating a character who was defined by her love story with Ethan Hunt.“Their relationship transcends a traditional loving story… They’re doomed to be together and yet doomed never to be together… It felt like that story was looking for its resolution and so we said this has got to happen.”McQuarrie went on to explain the decision to conclude her story dovetailed with their desire to give a sense of genuine stakes in the movie.“What really needs to happen in the story is the stakes have to be real, they can’t be implied,” he added.

K.J. Yossman “Call My Agent” U.K. — launched locally as “Ten Percent” — will not return for a second season, Variety can confirm.

Christopher Vourlias Beta Film has acquired international distribution rights to “I Know Your Soul,” a new series from Oscar nominee Jasmila Žbanić (“Quo Vadis, Aida?”) that premieres Out of Competition next month at the Venice Film Festival. The six-episode limited series is led by European Film Award-winning actress Jasna Đuričić, who plays Nevena Murtezic, a prosecutor in the process of divorce and single mother to a teenage son.

EXCLUSIVE: Gersh on Tuesday announced its signing of Amanda Nell Eu, the rising filmmaker whose debut feature Tiger Stripes recently made history at the Cannes Film Festival.

Marta Balaga FilmSharks has picked up world sales rights to Finnish children’s film “Snot & Splash: The Mystery of Disappearing Holes.” “It was a bidding war. They got offers from everybody,” said FilmSharks CEO Guido Rud. “Snot & Splash” (“Räkä ja Roiskis”) is produced by It’s Alive Films – founded by director Teemu Nikki and Jani Pösö – and set for distribution in its native Finland (Scanbox), Scandinavian sub distribution by Sweden (Folkets Bio) and Norway (Norsk Filmdistribusjon), and Italy in the spring (I Wonder Pictures).

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Celebrated Malaysian-Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang sat down with Variety on the eve of receiving the Locarno Film Festival Career Award. The award is only the latest in a series of prizes from major European festivals the art-house maverick has received – from the 1994 Golden Lion from Venice for “Vive L’Amour” to the Silver Bear that “The River” won in Berlin in 1997. So how does he feel to have received this latest sign of esteem from the film community? “This is very special for me,” Tsai says.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agent Pluto Film has boarded “Forever-Forever” (“Nazavzhdy-Nazavzhdy”), Ukrainian filmmaker Anna Buryachkova’s feature directing debut, ahead of its world premiere in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Extra competition. After transferring from a downtown high school, Tonia (Alina Cheban) befriends a group of badass youngsters, trying to find protection from the people from her past and a place she truly belongs. They spend time together, roaming around Kyiv’s post-socialist suburbs, having fun and getting in trouble.

Welcome back, Insider. It’s been another breakneck week in entertainment. Jesse Whittock here guiding you through the most important TV and film stories.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Matteo Garrone, who is a two-time Cannes jury prizewinner with “Gomorrah” in 2008 and “Reality” in 2012, is set to be in competition in Venice for the first time with his immigration-themed drama “Io Capitano.” Shot over 13 weeks in Senegal, Italy and Morocco with a cast of non-professional actors, the Italian auteur’s new film – the title for which translates to “I Captain” – narrates the Homeric journey of two young African men, Seydou and Moussa, who decide to leave Dakar to reach Europe. It depicts their plight through the pitfalls of the desert, the horrors of detention centers in Libya and the dangers of the sea.

Earlier today, the full lineup of films selected for this year’s Venice Film Festival was announced. Some of the highlights include new films from David Fincher, Ava DuVernay, Wes Anderson, and Bradley Cooper.

20th Century Studios has unveiled a premiere date and first look photo for its sci-fi psychological thriller No One Will Save You starring Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Kaitlyn Dever (Dopesick), announcing that it will premiere exclusively on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ in all other territories on September 22nd.

Despite an ongoing SAG strike, which could mean that the event features no major stars, the Venice Film Festival announced an incredibly star-studded slate of films for 2023. Seriously, even by Venice standards, the festival features an absolutely ridiculous number of major films that will have an impact on the rest of the year, especially during awards season.

The red carpet may not have as many stars as in previous years, but the 2023 edition of the Venice Film Festival will feature a slew of highly anticipated films. And, likely, their directors taking center stage.

Deadline can reveal a first clip for Italian director Saverio Costanzo’s new film Finally Dawn (Finalemente L’Alba) following the announcement on Tuesday of its world premiere in Competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Vienna-based sales agent Square Eyes has boarded Tana Gilbert’s feature debut “Malqueridas” ahead of its world premiere as part of Venice’s International Critics’ Week. The documentary was shot entirely on clandestine cell phones by the inmates of a women’s prison in Chile. ” ‘Malqueridas’ forms a collective memory of this often abandoned community, and shows how these mothers – and their love – withstand the trials of life in jail, far from family and loved ones,” according to a press statement. “In prison, they find affection in other partners who share their situation as mutual support among these women becomes a form of resistance and empowerment.”

Bad news out of the Venice Film Festival: Variety reports that Luca Guadagnino‘s “Challengers” will no longer be the opening film on the Lido this year. What’s more, MGM/Amazon Studios have pushed back the tennis love triangle drama’s US theatrical release to next spring, too.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Recently restored versions of William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “One From the Heart” feature in the Venice Classics section of the 80th Venice Film Festival. The lineup of recently restored films in Venice Classics, which is curated by the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera in collaboration with Federico Gironi, was unveiled on Friday. “The Exorcist” is screened, 50 years after it was produced by Warner Bros., alongside Disney’s “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” starring Shirley Temple and directed by “the prolific and sometimes brilliant” Allan Dwan, to mark the Hollywood studios’ 100th anniversaries.

Reese Witherspoon helped her son Deacon mark a major milestone – his first concert!

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The 80th Venice Film Festival has revealed its selection of projects for Venice Immersive, the XR-Extended Reality section of the festival, which runs Aug. 30 – Sept. 9. The program will include VR experience “Wallace & Gromit in the Grand Getaway” and a Fatboy Slim project. Venice Immersive is devoted to immersive media and includes all XR means of creative expression: 360° videos and XR works of any length, including installations and virtual worlds. The program, which will take place on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, will present 44 projects from 25 countries, and 24 works in the Worlds Gallery section. It will comprise:

“A Haunting in Venice” trailer puts the mystery-solver in the middle of a ghost story.Based on Christie’s “Hallowe’en Party,” the post-World War II story finds Poirot tasked with determining the validity of a psychic played by Michelle Yeoh, who claims she can talk to the dead. But when someone living turns up dead at the séance, Poirot is now faced with an even bigger challenge: find out if the murderer was a ghost.Branagh stars in and directs the film just as he pulled double duty on 2017’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and 2022’s “Death on the Nile,” with another A-list ensemble cast that includes Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan Kelly Reilly, Kyle Allen, Camile Cottin, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird and Riccardo Scamarcio.Michael Green returns to write the screenplay, and the 20th Century Studios release was produced by Branagh, Judy Hofflund, Ridley Scott, and Simon Kinberg, with Louise Killin, James Prichard, and Mark Gordon serving as executive producers.Branagh reunites with cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos on the film, but works for the first time with Oscar-winning “Joker” composer Hildur Gudnadóttir.Watch the new “Haunting in Venice” trailer above.

The chilling trailer for 20th Century Studios’ “A Haunting in Venice” has arrived.

The full length trailer for A Haunting in Venice is finally here…and this might be the scariest detective Hercule Poirot film yet.

Even though last year’s “Death on the Nile” wasn’t nearly as much of a box office hit as 2017’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” there’s no denying that quite a lot of people enjoy Kenneth Branagh’s adaptations of Agatha Christie mystery novels. And for the third adaptation, “A Haunting in Venice,” it appears Branagh is trying something a bit different—a horror film.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Venice Film Festival will pay tribute to late Italian icon Gina Lollobrigida, who died in January, with a pre-opening event featuring a double bill of freshly restored works in which she stars. The Lido’s annual pre-opening event on Aug. 29 will feature a 27-minute short by Orson Welles titled “Portrait of Gina.” In 1968, Welles interviewed Lollobrigida in her villa on the Appian Way as the pilot for an ABC TV series — a U.S. version of “Around the World With Orson Welles”– that ABC rejected. Welles’ portrait of the diva remained in the vaults until 1986, when it was screened at the Venice Film Festival one year after Orson Welles’ death. This piece has been defined by Welles as a “personal essay” on Lollobrigida. Interestingly, when Lollobrigida saw “Portrait of Gina” in Venice in 1986, she reportedly tried to have it banned. The short’s restoration was done by the Munich Film Museum and Italy’s Cinecittà.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Seven films have been selected for the 11th edition of Final Cut in Venice, the works-in-progress section of the 80th Venice Film Festival. Final Cut in Venice, which runs Sept. 3-5, provides support for the completion of films from Africa and five Middle Eastern countries: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. It is one of the programs run by the festival’s industry section, Venice Production Bridge. Over three days, the working copies of the selected films will be presented to producers, buyers, distributors, post-production companies and film festival programmers. The first two days are devoted to screenings, and then one-to-one meetings between the producers of the projects and the professionals attending the Venice Production Bridge will take place on the third day. The program will conclude with the awarding of prizes in kind or in cash, the purpose of which is to provide support for the films’ post-production.

Heidi Klum and Tom Kaulitz are enjoying a day at the beach.

So what film will win the coveted Golden Lion at the 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival this year? Well, there’s no front-runner right now because festival director Albert Barbera hasn’t even anvnounced the in-competition line-up yet. But now we know who will choose the winners alongside jury head Damien Chazelle.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Jane Campion, Laura Poitras, Mia Hansen-Løve and Martin McDonagh are among high-caliber members of the Venice Film Festival’s main jury. The prominent directors, most of whom are Venice regulars – Poitras last year scored the Golden Lion with documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” – will be joined on the Venice jury panel by Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (“Wajib”); Chinese star Shu Qi (“The Assassin”); Italian director Gabriele Mainetti, who was at Venice last year with “Freaks Out”; and Argentinian auteur Santiago Mitre whose “Argentina, 1985” also launched from the Lido last year. They will join Damien Chazelle who – as previously announced – will serve as president of the Venice competition jury. 

Ken-ergy. With just days left to go until Greta Gerwig’s hotly-anticipated “Barbie” movie hits theaters, co-star Ryan Gosling has emerged as one of the film’s most effective — and lovably ludicrous — marketing tools.

Rylan Clark has delighted fans as he confirmed 'we're back' with a sweet selfie. The BBC Radio 2 host has been busy jet-setting around Italy in recent weeks filming for his new BBC series, after leaving Greece where he worked on another upcoming project.

Todd Hayes’ May December will open the New York Film Festival on September 29, organizers said today.

Legendary fashion designer Calvin Klein is still going strong with longtime boyfriend Kevin Baker after more than seven years together!