Sony Pictures Classics, UAR Upbeat On ‘Parallel Mothers’ Open, ‘Licorice Pizza’ Expansion Amid Omicron – Specialty Box Office

EXCLUSIVE: Continuing its drive towards local-language titles, Sony Pictures International Productions is co-producing, in association with Cinética Filmes, an adaptation of Zíbia Gasparetto’s best-selling 2002 Brazilian novel Nobody Belongs To Anybody (Ninguém E De Ninguém). SPIP has also acquired worldwide distribution rights.

The adulation for Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” continues. After winning Best Film from both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle, Japan’s submission for the International Film Oscar dominated the winner’s list from the National Society of Critics.

Best Picture: “Drive My Car” (48 points)Runners-up: “Petit Maman” (25), “The Power of the Dog” (23)Best Actor: Hidetoshi Nishijima, “Drive My Car” (63)Runners-up: Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog” (44); Simon Rex, “Red Rocket” (30)Best Actress: Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers” (55)Runners-up: Renate Reinsve, “The Worst Person in the World” (42); Alana Haim, “Licorice Pizza” (32)Best Supporting Actor: Anders Danielsen Lie, “The Worst Person in the World” (54)Runners-up: Vincent Lindon, “Titane” (33); Mike Faist, “West Side Story” (26) and Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog” (26)Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Negga, “Passing” (46)Runners-up: Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story” (22); Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter” (21)Best Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car” and “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” (46)Runners-up: Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog” (36), Celine Sciamma, “Petite Maman” (28)Best Screenplay: Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe, “Drive My Car” (46)Runners-up: Pedro Almodovar, “Parallel Mothers” (22); Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza” (20)Best Nonfiction Film:Runners-up:Best Cinematography: Andrew Droz Palermo, “The Green Knight” (52)Runners-up: Ari Wegner, “The Power of the Dog” (40); Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, “Memoria” (35)Special citation for film awaiting U.S. distribution: “Returning to Reims,” Jean-Gabriel PeriotFilm Heritage Award: Bertrand Tavernier and Peter BogdanovichFilm Heritage Award: Maya Cade for the Black Film Archive

United Artists Releasing likely won’t expand Licorice Pizza until next month and Sony Pictures Entertainment is going to take things slow with Jockey as the Omicron variant delays the return of the elusive older demo to cinemas.

Adult demos slow to embrace cinemas may be even slower this holiday weekend amid a barrage of breathless Omicron headlines — that aren’t all bad. It spreads fast but seems less virulent than previous strains, and may burn out faster.

Sara Bareilles shared an emotional message on Instagram after revealing her Broadway musical “Waitress” would be closing ahead of schedule.

Christmas will look a little different for the royal family this year.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorPenélope Cruz first met Pedro Almodóvar when she was cast in his 1997 film, “Live Flesh.” Almodóvar had originally wanted her to star in “Kika,” but Cruz was too young for the role. The director promised her he would write a character for another movie, and he did.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterThe National Board of Review has postponed its annual gala, which was scheduled to be held on Jan.

th Annual Critics Choice Awards, originally slated for January 9, 2022.   We are in regular communication with LA County Public Health officials, and we are currently working diligently to find a new date during the upcoming awards season in which to host our annual gala in-person with everyone’s safety and health remaining our top priority.  We will be sharing additional   details with our friends and colleagues throughout the entertainment industry as soon as we can,” the Critics Choice

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to postpone the Governors Awards, which bestow honorary Oscars, due to concerns over the omicron variant.New plans will come at a later date, an academy spokesperson said Wednesday. The untelevised but always star-studded event was set to be held Jan.

Two women meet in a maternity ward and their lives become inextricably linked in Pedro Almodóvar’s gentle but penetrating “ Parallel Mothers.”It’s a film that on one level plays like a melodrama, with wild twists and turns fitting of soap opera cliffhangers. But there is something deeper going on too, underneath the beautiful surface and base pleasures of plot and simply watching Penélope Cruz through Almodóvar’s loving lens.

Lorene Scafaria Guest ColumnistFor Variety‘s Writers on Writers, Lorene Scafaria pens a tribute to “Parallel Mothers” (screenplay by Pedro Almodóvar). Pedro Almodóvar is in control.From the opening image of “Parallel Mothers,” Almodóvar calls attention to the artifice of filmmaking. On the set of a photo shoot, the props and lights and craft service and crew are all in view as Penélope Cruz’s Janis gives her subject precise direction.

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and Zee Entertainment have completed their merger, creating a combined entity led by Zee CEO Punit Goenka fit to take on the U.S. streaming giants in the nation.

Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. on Wednesday announced that they have signed definitive agreements to merge ZEEL with and into SPNI and combine their linear TV networks, digital assets, production operations and program libraries.The merged company will retain Zee’s stock market listing in India.

NEW YORK -- Pedro Almodóvar has a theory that his films with male protagonists, like his autobiographical 2019 film “Pain and Glory,” are darker and more somber.“I look inside myself when I talk about male characters,” says Almodóvar.“Parallel Mothers,” which Sony Pictures Classics begins releasing in theaters Friday, returns Almodóvar to more melodramatic territory.

Guided By Voices have cancelled two upcoming New Year’s Eve shows as a result of the recent surge of COVID-19 cases.The band were due to play Atlantic City on December 30 and New York City’s Brooklyn Made on December 31 but those dates will no longer go ahead, as confirmed by a statement on Twitter.They wrote: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, and out of an abundance of caution with the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, we unfortunately need to cancel the upcoming shows in Atlantic City on

rising cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant during a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter.The news comes as several shows including Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” and Disney’s “Aladdin” have shuttered performances through Christmas and Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” announced its closing notice yesterday.According to St.