‘Moana 2’: Return of Threatening Coconut-Like Kakamora Tribe Teased in Work in Progress Clips at Annecy

Unstable season two is just around the corner!

In the wake of Inside Out 2’s massive $295M worldwide debut last weekend, Disney Head of Global Theatrical Distribution Tony Chambers kicked off the studio’s CineEurope presentation this evening thanking exhibitors in attendance for their part in the historic start — and was met in kind by enthusiastic and clearly appreciative applause. He noted too that midweek numbers have been “nothing short of phenomenal” with the global total now $380M through Tuesday. 

There exists a moment, perhaps several, in director Sandi DuBowki’s documentary “Sabbath Queen” where shaky attempts to solidify focus on one subject as numerous struggles for screentime become blindingly apparent and the project threatens to spiral out of control. That’s not to say there isn’t a compelling narrative throughout, only that there are too many, and in such a chaotic effort, topics become somewhat diluted to varying degrees, and meaningful quotes from any of the frequent talking heads start to lose their impact.

“Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos,” premiered at Tribeca Film Festival on June 13 and revealed how the late Gandolfini battled demons while playing a mob boss on the iconic HBO series. His TV wife, Edie Falco, said in the doc that Gandolfini “was a very good, kindhearted man,” but that the role “may have taken a toll on him,” according to USA Today.

Simone Ashley opened up about the future of Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma on Bridgerton.

Jack Dunn While in development for the Amazon Prime drama “Expats,” creator, writer and director Lulu Wang knew she had to pay tribute to the lives lost during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Having been in China at that time as a child, she remembers how scared she was when her father nearly left to join the protest which ultimately led to the death of hundreds.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor If you want to see the latest fire sale, just turn on your TV. The nation’s big media companies are facing significant headwinds in the industry’s current “upfront” market, when TV networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory for their next cycle of programming.

Angelique Jackson Disney’s live-action “Moana” has found its new leading lady: Catherine Laga‘aia will star opposite Dwayne Johnson, who reprises his role as the demigod Maui, in the highly anticipated film. “I’m really excited to embrace this character because Moana is one of my favorites,” said Laga‘aia, a 17-year-old from Sydney, Australia. “My grandfather comes from Fa‘aala, Palauli, in Savai‘i.

Disney has just revealed the young actress who will be playing Moana in the upcoming live-action movie adaptation!

Disney has cast Catherine Laga‘aia in the title role of its live-action Moana movie, which is set to be released in theaters on July 10, 2026. Moana 2, the animated sequel, is opening in theaters the Wednesday before Thanksgiving this year.

What defines country music in America today? The new doc “Rebel Country” seems, at first, singularly focused on this question, but the film quickly makes clear that it has much more on its mind to consider, such as what led country music to where it is today and the challenges that many singers in its space have faced. It is a film that doesn’t hold your hand to tell the hard truths about country music’s evolution and history.

Inspired in part by 1970s experimental filmmaker Nikos Nikolaidis and jumpstarted in earnest in 2009 by Yorgos Lanthimos with “Dogtooth,” and perhaps to a lesser extent Panos H. Koutras’ “A Woman’s Way,” the so-called Greek Weird Wave movement quickly spread like wildfire in the country.

Naman Ramachandran India‘s Handmade Films has boarded two Indian shorts pitching at Annecy, “Hide & Seek” and “Rising Tides,” as producer. In addition, France’s NoJo Studio Animation will also serve as a producer on “Hide & Seek.” Both films are at the Annecy Animation Festival‘s MIFA Pitch and the Namaste MIFA initiative that focuses on India. “Rising Tides” is directed by Pari Satarkar and produced by India’s Studio Mikudi and Satarkar.

Blake Lively and Jude Law were among the many celebs who made up the star-studded crowd at Chanel’s 17th Annual Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner!

Ethan Shanfeld Dwayne Johnson got a little “smashed up” while filming his A24 mixed martial arts movie “The Smashing Machine,” the actor and professional wrestler announced in a video posted to Instagram Tuesday. “Look at that sucker right there,” Johnson said, showing off his swelled right elbow while standing in his kitchen. “It looks like I have a cantaloupe in the bottom of my elbow.

True cinephilia lives outside the confines of your front door, way past the boundaries of your home and native language. So, for all the talk of Martin Scorsese as a preeminent master of American cinema, it’s always been heartening to know the filmmaker and cineaste has appreciated all aspects of international cinema, from the East to the West and beyond.

“Hey Mom, did you feel emotional the first time you drove in Sacramento?” asked Saoirse Ronan’s titular character in “Lady Bird” during an impassioned final monologue that makes the streets of the Californian capital glow. The city provides a similar site of reconciliation between a pair who’s grown gradually estranged in Michael Angarano’s “Sacramento.” It feels emotional, too, albeit in a more familiar way.

A pilot has conducted research into the most effective methods to prevent babies from crying on planes. While one of his suggestions is somewhat controversial, the other has been proven to significantly soothe infants.

Earlier this year, a documentary by the name of “Sugarcane” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and presented audiences with a harrowing look at the Canadian Indian residential school system and the emotional fallout stemming from years of horrendous abuse behind these doors. For those who may have bore witness to such a film, there’s an unusual sense of recurrence in the topics unveiled throughout “Missing From Fire Trail Road,“ one which starts as what could be initially presumed to be a simple look at a missing persons case from several years prior but eventually flows into strangely familiar territory.

It would seem that were one to gaze into the future of sci-fi filmmaking, society will never see an end to the concept of UFOs as a plot device, with “They’re Here” the latest, but far from greatest, contender for the spot of genre-defining piece presumably meant to spark a conversation about whether or not we remain alone in the vastness of space. While this particular outing may indeed be rich in onscreen conversation regarding the possibility of interstellar visitors between whoever might be occupying the film at any given moment, it’s far from eye-opening and, it would seem, purposely aimless.