Ridley Scott Enjoyed Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’ Performance But “Didn’t Like The Way It Celebrated Violence”

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor A late-release awards contender can move through Oscar season like a cat. It crouches low, waiting patiently for the right moment to pounce. With the deployment of a skillful campaign, yet-unscreened films waiting in the wings — notably “The Color Purple,” “The Iron Claw” and “Napoleon” — might execute the perfect strike, catching established front-runners like “Oppenheimer” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” by surprise.

The angriest filmmaking fights that I’ve witnessed over the years have not been about cost or cast; they were about length. The movies were too long but so were the fights.

Dua Lipa, Michael Stipe and Cate Blanchett have signed an open letter, urging President Joe Biden to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.The letter calls for “an end to the bombing of Gaza and the safe release of hostages,” as well as a safe route to be established into Palestine to deliver humanitarian aid. So far, it has been signed by dozens of high-profile names from across the entertainment world.Many of those supporting the ceasefire are musicians, such as pop star Lipa, R.E.M’s Michael Stipe, Killer Mike and Caroline Polachek.

After “Hereditary” and “Midsommar,” Ari Aster quickly became a young American filmmaker to watch for the horror and A24 crowds. But those fans, and pretty much everything else, didn’t care for Aster’s third feature, “Beau Is Afraid,” which tanked hard at the box office this spring.

Killers of the Flower Moon” earned $9.4 million from 3,628 theaters on its opening day, a figure that includes $2.6 million in Thursday previews. The epic-length historical drama is now projecting a finish of $23.5 million over the three-day opening frame, tracking behind the second weekend of Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert film.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar and BAFTA-winning VFX firm Framestore has hired industry veteran and former MPC exec Gary Brozenich. He will take up the new position of international production supervisor. 

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” an epic look at the French emperor and military leader’s rise to power, is one of the final potential awards hopefuls awaiting its first reactions from critics and pundits. As awards season approaches, Variety has learned exclusively which Oscar categories the film will be submitted for. Most notably, Vanessa Kirby will vie for best supporting actress.

Ridley Scott may have sung the praises of Fede Alvarez‘s upcoming sequel “Alien: Romulus,” but he doesn’t feel the same about “Top Gun: Maverick.” JoBlo reports that at the recent DGA Latino Summit, Alvarez said Scott was unimpressed with the sequel to his brother Tony Scott‘s 1986 original. In Scott’s words: “My brother’s was original and this is like eh.”   READ MORE: Ridley Scott Says He Has A “Fantastic” 270-Minute Director’s Cut Of ‘Napoleon’ That Focuses More On Vanessa Kirby’s Josephine Alvarez brought up the anecdote when speaking about how tough Scott is on follow-ups to his films, which is something the director was afraid of regarding his “Alien” sequel.

EXCLUSIVE: Ridley Scott’s Scott Free has appointed Elyse Seder as EVP and Head of Nonfiction and named EVP Marjorie Chodorov Head of Physical Production.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter It’s Scorsese vs. Swift at the box office. Martin Scorsese’s star-studded crime epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” this weekend’s only new nationwide release, is targeting $20 million to $30 million from its debut in 3,621 North American theaters.

LOL, at Ridley Scott and “Napoleon” to borrow the boastful phrase, “I’m built different”—did Andrew Tate come up with that one?—and tweak it to, “I’m not built like other men,” in his new trailer for this war epic. It’s slightly comical to hear modern verbiage in period movies and period movie trailers, but hey, it’s not the first time.

Fede Álvarez is directing a new sequel to Alien and Ridley Scott has seemingly given his notes on the movie and thinks it’s “f***ing great.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Don’t Breathe” and “Evil Dead” director Fede Álvarez is reviving the “Alien” franchise next year with the release of a new sequel (reportedly titled “Alien: Romulus“), which he co-wrote with Rodo Sayagues. The film will tell a new story within the “Alien” universe after the film franchise came to a halt following Ridley Scott‘s prequel films “Prometheus” (2012) and “Alien: Covenant” (2017). The latter’s middling box office ended Scott’s run.

Even though he didn’t direct “Alien 3” or “Alien: Resurrection,” the “Alien” franchise is arguably Ridley Scott‘s.

The Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Max streamer will launch in 22 European countries in spring 2024 and France and Belgium later next year, the media outfit revealed today.

“He came from nothing. He conquered everything.” So goes the tagline for Ridley Scott‘s upcoming historical epic “Napoleon,” in theaters this Thanksgiving.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Forty-one years after “The Thing” first opened in theaters and terrified audiences, director John Carpenter is still being asked about its widely debated ending. Like Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” (Is Cobb aware or dreaming?) or Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” (Is Rick Deckard human or replicant?) Carpenter’s body horror favorite ends on a massive existential cliffhanger. In this case, it’s whether or not R.J.

Ridley Scott has confirmed a four-hour director’s cut of his upcoming film Napoleon will be released on Apple TV+.The director, who previously said he had a “fantastic” cut of the historical epic which spanned four hours and 30 minutes, explained to TotalFilm that the director’s cut, which has since been reduced by 20 minutes, will be officially released.Asked about the director’s cut, Scott said: “I’m working on it. It was four [hours] 10 [minutes] this morning.

Ridley Scott is no stranger to having multiple cuts of films. Hell, just take a second and try to wrap your head around all the various versions of “Blade Runner,” when you can.

Deadline kicked off movie-awards season Saturday with Contenders London, which featured creatives and key craftspeople from 13 buzzy films that will be at the forefront of kudos conversations leading up to the Oscars in March.