Sean Penn Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

There will be no late night laughs in Moscow, comrade. Or anywhere else in Russia, for that matter.

Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan hit up the photo call for their new movie, Black Flies, during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on Friday (May 19) in Cannes, France.

Sean Penn has voiced his support for the Writer’s Guild of America strike.

In Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s “Black Flies,” silence is as scarce a commodity as hope. Young first responder Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan) learns very early on that the job comes with two partners: the one sitting next to you and the relentless cacophony of sounds that cut through the vastness of night as shears.

TheWrap called it “visceral and vicious,” and overall it has received largely negative reviews after premiering in the Main Competition in Cannes on Thursday.While Sheridan initially said that he’d had a good time making the film, Penn took a different tack. “It’s a little more gray to me that we had a really good time,” he said. “I think we had a really valuable time.

Sean Penn is standing in solidarity with the writers guild, whose members are currently on strike to fight for better wages and work conditions in the streaming era. “My full support is with the writers guild,” Penn said during Friday’s press conference for his latest movie “Black Flies,” which debuted in competition at Cannes Film Festival. “There are a lot of new concepts that are being tossed around, including the use of AI. And it just strikes me as human obscenity that there’s been a pushback on that.” Penn also slammed the PGA as a “bankers guild,” saying “the first thing we should do in these conversations is change the Producers Guild and title them how they behave, which is the bankers guild. It’s difficult for so many writers and people in the industry who cannot work.”

Refresh for updates…Sean Penn, asked about the current state of big wig studio chiefs and the plight of writers and directors, said today at the Black Flies presser, “The industry has been uspending the writers and directors for a long time. I fully support the situation with writers guild, of course.”

Black Flies,” the Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan film about emergency medical first responders, smacked the Cannes Film Festival in the face with a brutal world premiere on Thursday. Splattered brains, dead dogs, an addict giving birth with a needle dangling from her arm — these and a litany of other horrors confronted Penn and Sheridan, who play veteran and rookie paramedics, respectively, at the New York Fire Department. Interestingly enough, the black-tie screening at the Grand Palais enjoyed the dose of reality, giving the film a five-minute standing ovation. “We carry the misery,” a weary Penn tells Sheridan in the film of their chosen profession. That’s an understatement, as chaos unfolds neighborhood by neighborhood in a portrait of an unforgiving city.

Beware of black flies, they are the first to smell death. That is what rookie FDNY paramedic Ollie Cross is told by a colleague as he ventures into an abandoned apartment where a swarm is buzzing around a decaying dead body in a bathtub. It is clearly a metaphor for the job of first responders like Ollie and his partner Gene Rutkowsky who are also the first to “smell death,” repeatedly, on a job that takes its toll not just on those in need of medical help, but also on those who provide it.

Kaley Cuoco welcomed her daughter Matilda with boyfriend Tom Pelphrey, but she isn't slowing down one bit. The actress, 37, took to Instagram to announce a new venture, a line of dog and pet care products named Oh Norman! in memory of Norman, her dog who passed away in 2021. Sean Penn and Charlize Theron grace the red carpet togetherThe late pet also inspired the name for Kaley's production company Yes, Norman, and her post featuresa series of photos of the pair during their happiest years.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire spent more than a year in the back of ambulances, shuttling from one gruesome trauma to the next, as he shadowed EMTs in New York City to prepare for his new movie “Black Flies.” “This immersive approach is crucial,” Sauvaire tells Variety over Zoom, a week before he travels to the South of France to premiere “Black Flies” in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “If you don’t really know the reality of this job, it’s difficult to recreate it.” Adapted from Shannon Burke’s 2008 novel, the story follows Tye Sheridan as young paramedic Ollie Cross, who dreams of going to medical school. But he struggles to study as he is thrust into the intense and mentally taxing work of responding to emergency calls in Brooklyn. Sean Penn plays a hardened veteran, who teaches Ollie the ropes as they drive through New York City.

Sorry, fellas, Charlize Theron is officially taken!

It looks like Charlize Theron has a new man in her life!

Off the market! Charlize Theron has a new man in her life, model Alex Dimitrijevic, Us Weekly can exclusively confirm.

Cannes Film Festival isn’t just a hub of red carpet premieres, champagne-drenched parties, and stars, stars, stars. It’s also a vibrant locus of dealmaking, with studio executives, agents and filmmakers descending on the Riviera to secure financing for their upcoming projects or to find a distributor for their latest movies. The 2023 edition is playing host to several compelling packages and potential awards contenders that could spark heated bidding wars. Here are 11 films that could leave buyers reaching for the espresso instead of the rosé as they engage in all-night battles to land the next big thing. Cast: Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan, Katherine Waterston, Michael Pitt, Mike TysonDirector: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire Agency: CAA, WMEWhy Buyers Care: Penn and Sheridan have crackling chemistry as disgruntled mentor and doe-eyed mentee in the edge-of-your-seat thriller, which takes audiences into the often harrowing, always intense reality for paramedics in New York City. A gentle warning, though, that “Black Flies” isn’t for the squeamish. Expect plenty of blood, disturbing and graphic injuries, extreme violence…and a lot of yelling.

EXCLUSIVE: Tye Sheridan is launching his new production company, Dogwood Pictures with its debut film, Black Flies, is set to play in competition at the 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, the pic reunites Sheridan with Sean Penn after over a decade since Malick’s The Tree of Life. Sheridan first became involved with the film in 2018 and continued on throughout the film’s execution and release.

Cannes Film Festival rapidly approaches, workers have been racing to finish the job, with city officials confident that the Croisette will be back in glittering form in time for the red-carpet rollout on May 16. Other problems facing Cannes, though, won’t be as easily paved over. With the Writers Guild of America on strike, film and TV production is expected to taper off. If the Directors Guild or the Screen Actors Guild follow the WGA when their contracts expire in June, that slowdown could become a shutdown. And since Cannes doesn’t just highlight the latest films but is also a thriving marketplace where companies buy scripts, hawk finished movies for distribution and put together big deals, one wonders how that uncertainty will impact sales.

Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle featured an array of celebrities, including Top Gun star Tom Cruise, who paid a special tribute to the King.  The actor’s heartfelt message was delivered from the cockpit of his Top Gun Warbird plane, saying: "Pilot to pilot. Your Majesty, you can be my wingman any time," before saluting and flying off.

Alison Herman TV Critic For seven seasons, “Veep” painted a portrait of the Washington elite as unflattering as it was accurate. Our nation’s capital, the satire argued, is filled with neither dedicated public servants nor savvy political operators, but bumbling sycophants whose self-importance far outstrips their actual abilities. “White House Plumbers,” the new HBO limited series, extends that argument from fictional characters to actual history. Created by “Veep” writers Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory and directed by David Mandel, the “Seinfeld” alum who ran “Veep” after the departure of Armando Iannucci, “White House Plumbers” charts the awkward bromance of two men who tried and failed to break into the Watergate Hotel. The result is a shotgun marriage of “Step Brothers” and “Slow Burn.” 

Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black will stand trial in the UK after being accused of assaulting a BBC TV presenter at a nightclub in London.

Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1958 novel “The Pledge” has proven to be especially durable to adaptations over the years. More well-known of these is Sean Penn’s 2000 film “The Pledge,” a grisly Jack Nicholson starrer that, if anything, is perhaps remembered of the promise that Penn held as director in the early aughts before tumbling down the rabbit hole of political melodrama.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Bungalow 8 is back – for one night only. Gucci is hosting a Bungalow pop-up in New York City on April 29, two nights ahead of the Met Gala. The fashion house isn’t commenting, but I got my hands on the official invite, which reads, “Amy Sacco & Gucci invite you to Bungalow Gucci.” Idris Elba will deejay the late-night soirée. Sacco opened the original Bungalow 8 in Chelsea in 2001. The small venue at 515 W. 27th St. went onto to become the hottest nightclub in the early and mid-aughts, attracting an A-List crowd — including George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Colin Farrell, Naomi Campbell and every other supermodel, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Justin Timberlake, John Mayer, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Heidi Klum — before closing in 2009. Even former President Bill Clinton hosted a fundraiser for his presidential library at the club in 2003.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s “Black Flies” starring Sean Penn, and Catherine Corsini’s “Le retour” have been added to the competition lineup of the upcoming 76th Cannes Film Festival. As many as 13 movies have been peppered across several sections, including the competition, special screening, Un Certain Regard and out of competition. Robert Rodriguez’s “Hypnotic” and Kim Tae-gon’s “Project Silence” are joining the Midnight Screening roster, while Amat Escalante’s Mexican drama “Perdidos en la Noche” and Argentinian helmer Lisandro Alonso’s thriller “Eureka” starring Viggo Mortensen and José María Yazpik, will bow at Cannes Premiere, a non-competitive section launched in 2021. Alonso previously won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard with his 2014 movie “Jauja.” Also slated for Cannes Premiere is Valerie Donzelli’s drama “L’Amour et les forets.”

Pauley Perrette may have retired from acting when she left NCIS in 2018, but she seems to still be struggling with some of the downsides of fame. The former actress' last acting gig was a 13-episode run on comedy series Broke in 2020, before which was her most known and beloved role as quirky forensic scientist Abby Sciuto on NCIS, which she starred in from 2003 – its very first year – until 2018.

Dove Cameron has teamed up with Diplo for a new song!

George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth have been busy promoting their new documentary, Pretty Baby, which was produced by their production company, Bedby8.  The couple have had their entire family involved in the project too, with their daughters Elliott, 19, and Harper, 17, both attending the premiere in New York City last week.

The Masked Singer is back for season nine!

The Masked Singer is back for season nine!

The Whale in something of a mixed bag for representation and storytelling.Here’s a look at the six straight men who have won Best Actor for playing gay men.William HurtHollywood heartthrob William Hurt made history when he won the Best Actor Oscar in 1986 for portraying “effeminate” gay man Luis Molina, who forges a relationship with his cellmate in a Brazilian prison.The film focuses on much more than just Molina’s sexuality, but it is certainly a big part of his character, and Hurt’s performance was groundbreaking at the time.Hurt would claim the prize on his first attempt, and though he was nominated three more times throughout his career, he didn’t snag a second trophy.​​Tom HanksJust a few years later, Tom Hanks became the second person to win the Best Actor Oscar for playing a gay male character.In 1994, the star – who was still just beginning what would go on to become one of the most celebrated careers in Hollywood – took home his first Academy Award for his role in Philadelphia, which tells the story of a lawyer dying of AIDS who sues his employer for wrongful termination and wins.In his speech, Hanks thanked people from his past who clearly helped make him the actor–and the person–he was when he won.“I would not be standing here if it weren’t for two very important men in my life, so… two that I haven’t spoken with in awhile, but I had the pleasure of just the other evening,” the star began. “Mr.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be missing out on the Academy Awards for the second year in a row.

Tatiana Siegel For the past year, Volodymyr Zelensky has been greeted with open arms by awards shows, film festivals and even the New York Stock Exchange. But when it comes to landing airtime on the most coveted telecast of all — the Oscars — the Ukrainian leader is being met with a cold shoulder. For the second year in a row, the Academy has snubbed Zelensky, who was hoping to follow up his Berlin Film Festival (remote) appearance last month with a virtual spot on Sunday’s Oscar telecast on ABC. Sources say WME power agent Mike Simpson made a plea to the Academy to include the comedic actor-turned-politician but was shut down. The Academy declined comment. 

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor ID PR vice president Alla Plotkin has left the company. Plotkin, whose clients have included Bette Midler, Sarah Paulson, Holland Taylor, Jake Gyllenhaal, Nicholas Braun, Michelle Williams, Titus Burgess and Jessica Williams, has not announced her next move. She had been with ID for almost 16 years. At the same time, ID PR announced that 20-year company veteran Rebecca Sides Capellan has been promoted to senior vice president. Her client list includes Lupita Nyong’o, Rachel Weisz, Natasha Lyonne, Lena Dunham, Cynthia Nixon and Broadway producer and theater owner Jordan Roth.

Christopher Vourlias The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival kicks off its 25th edition Thursday at a time when the nonfiction genre has arguably reached unprecedented heights. This year’s festival, which takes place March 2 – 12 in the seaside Mediterranean city, unfolds just days after veteran French docmaker Nicolas Philibert won the Golden Bear in Berlin for his documentary about a Paris mental health care facility, “On the Adamant.” The award capped a fortnight in which Sean Penn’s gonzo doc about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “Superpower,” also generated plenty of buzz (albeit lukewarm reviews). Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Cyrielle Raingou took home Rotterdam’s Tiger Award just a few weeks earlier for “Le Spectre de Boko Haram,” a riveting view of terrorism seen through children’s eyes. And one summer ago, Laura Poitras triumphed on the Lido with “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” her docu-portrait of the photographer and activist Nan Goldin, which won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion award.

Hopper Penn is an actor with famous parents but says he’s not a “nepo baby” and he doesn’t care what people think of him.

The competition winners of the 73rd Berlinale are about to start rolling in as the festival draws to a close Saturday evening.

to film a documentary about the Russian invasion of the country, which began a year ago yesterday (February 24, 2022). In a statement released by the Office of the President of the Ukraine at the time, it read: “The director specifically came to Kyiv to record all the events that are currently happening in Ukraine and to tell the world the truth about Russia’s invasion of our country.”In a new interview, Penn recalled how he and Nicholson met the dictator at the 2001 Moscow Film Festival, where Penn’s film The Pledge was premiering.Revealing that the pair travelled with Putin to Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov’s estate, Penn told The Independent: “We were put in a convoy.