‘Naruto’ Film in the Works at Lionsgate With Destin Daniel Cretton Directing

Brent Lang Executive Editor Illumination and Nintendo will join forces to produce a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros. The companies previously partnered on last year’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which grossed more than $1.3 billion and became the second highest-grossing movie of 2023.

that were obtained by Variety.The screenwriter alleges in the missives that “The Holdovers” director Alexander Payne likely read a script for his eerily similar movie “Frisco” when it made the rounds around Hollywood in 2013 on the industry’s “black list” of most like scripts, where it peaked at number three.“The evidence the holdovers screenplay has been plagiarised line-by-line from “Frisco” is genuinely overwhelming – anybody who looks at even the briefest sample pretty much invariably uses the word ‘brazen,’” Stephenson wrote in the email he sent to the WGA’s director of credits Lesley Mackey, after speaking with him about the movies’ similarities.“Frisco” is a drama that follows a cranky children’s hospital worker who gets stuck watching after his 15-year-old student — similar to how Paul Giamatti plays a prep-school classics teacher who spends a Christmas break a troubled teen, played by Dominic Sessa, and the school’s cafeteria manager, played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph.Stephenson meticulously compared the two films scene by scene as well as important sequences and dialogues. He alleges Payne reviewed the Frisco script in 2013 and had it again in late 2019 before he approached first-time film writer David Hemingson about “The Holdovers.” Hemingson also received producing credits on the movie.In a Feb.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief This month’s Hong Kong International Film Festival will showcase over 190 films from 62 countries and regions, including five world premieres, and 64 Asian premieres. Running 12 days (March 28 – April 8), the festival will open with the Asian premiere of local director Ray Yeung’s “All Shall Be Well,” which won the Teddy Award at the recent Berlin festival.

EXCLUSIVE: Brand management company Foundation Media Partners is leading development, packaging, and production on a new slate of projects for cheerleading and dance team company Varsity Spirit.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Ahead of its U.S. premiere at SXSW, “The Queen of My Dreams” has been sold to a flurry of international markets, including in the U.K. and Ireland to Peccadillo Pictures.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Taiwanese-produced crime action film “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” opened on top of the mainland China box office over the weekend, ahead of a quartet of holdover titles from Lunar New Year. Sony’s ‘Madame Web’ and a rereleased “Dune” also opened, but they failed to penetrate the top five. “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” earned $16.2 million (RMB115 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, and inspired by the recent Timothée Chalamet movie, Wonka, went viral last week.What appeared to be an immersive, Wonka-themed attraction, disappointed many members of the Glasgow public as it was revealed to be in an abandoned warehouse, using cheap props and costumes and an AI-generated script.One element of the experience which circulated the internet was a silver-faced character called The Unknown, who appears from behind a mirror, intended to frighten the guests.Now, a movie based on the wigged character is in development. The Unknown was announced yesterday (March 4) by Scotland film production company Kaledonia Pictures.they charged $45 for this pic.twitter.com/0Nlk0IMJkj— Chris Alsikkan (@AlsikkanTV) February 26, 2024According to Bloody Disgusting, the production house said: “We are excited to begin production and look forward to sharing more with you as soon as possible.

Busan Names Asian Contents & Film Market Director

EXCLUSIVE: Beta Film‘s Crown-esque high-end drama series Maxima has sold to networks in Lat Am, Israel and across Europe.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter A remake of the ’90s classic “Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead” is coming to theaters in spring. Nicole Richie and June Squibb will lead an ensemble including Jermaine Fowler (“Superior Donuts”), comic Ms. Pat, Olympian Gus Kenworthy, and newcomers Simone Joy Jones, Donielle Tremaine Hansley, Miles Fowler, Iantha Richardson and Tyriq Withers.

Jennifer Aniston’s love life has been a subject of public interest throughout her career. Despite not currently being romantically linked to anyone, her recent appearance at the SAG Awards has sparked engagement rumors among fans.The “Morning Show” actress was nominated for Outstanding Performance Female Actor in a Drama Series for her role as Alex Levy in The Morning Show, but lost out to The Crown’s Elizabeth Debicki for her performance as Princess Diana.Aniston, who recently showed her walk-in closet, dazzled in a floor-length shimmering silver dress with a thigh-high slit.

If you don’t know the super popular manga property, “Naruto,” you probably at least have seen the running meme about racing as fast as you can to something you love (someone did the run in real life during the Area 51 raid and it made the news, lol). That’s probably exactly how fans of the Japanese manga/graphic novel feel about the latest news.

Coronation Street fans think they have worked out who Bethany Platt is receiving abusive messages from after she planned to write a story about Lauren Bolton's experience in the far-right group. Needing money, Lauren said she'd talk to journalist Bethany for a story with Chit Chat magazine.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Oscar nominee America Ferrera has been cast in her next role outside of Barbie World. Ferrera has signed on to star in Oscar nominee Paul Greengrass’ upcoming drama “The Lost Bus” alongside Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey, Variety has learned exclusively.

“There’s market failure because the streamers came in, high-end TV got higher end, and Hollywood arrived. And they took a lot of our investors away,” Sixteen Films producer Rebecca O’Brien concluded when quizzed on the state of the UK indie film sector during an appearance at the UK’s British Film & High-End TV Inquiry. 

Late last year, trouble seemed to be afoot in the Marvel Universe. “Shang-Chi and the Legend Of The Ten Rings” filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton, scheduled to helm “Avengers: Kang Dynasty,” suddenly dropped out of the picture.

Poor Things” director Yorgos Lanthimos will reteam with Element Pictures on a remake of South Korean fantasy comedy “Save the Green Planet,” Variety has learned. Lanthimos — whose latest film, “Poor Things,” is nominated for 11 Oscars and just won five BAFTAs (including best actress for Emma Stone) — is expected to start shooting the movie in the U.K. and New York this summer.

When real-life couple Justine Triet and Arthur Harari set out to write Anatomy of a Fall, about a woman on trial for the murder of her husband, they built the story on relationships first and foremost.

Filmmaker Sean Wang‘s endearing live-action short Năi Nai & Wài Pó might seem to be perhaps the lightest of all the Oscar nominees in the category, but he had more on his mind in chronicling the lives of his inseparable grandmothers, the 94-year-old Năi Nai (Yi Yan Fuei) and 83-year-old Wài Pó (Zhang Li Hua) as they go about their daily lives, even sleeping in the same bed in their Bay Area home.

“Bobi has inspired our generation and the nation at large,” Bobi Wine: The People’s President co-director Moses Bwayo said of the famed Uganda performer now politician seeking to preserve his country’s waning democracy.