‘The Holdovers’ Director Alexander Payne Wants “Theatrical Real Estate Dedicated To More Human Films” – Contenders Film L.A.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Catherine Martin, the four-time Oscar-winning producer, costume designer and production designer of “Moulin Rouge,” “The Great Gatsby” and “Elvis,” says she is waiting to see what project Baz Luhrmann, her husband and longtime creative partner, will embark on next. Martin is at the Red Sea Film Festival with Luhrmann, whom she started working with on his debut feature, 1992’s “Strictly Ballroom.” Since then, there have been a series of projects marked by their striking visual style, netting Martin a number of nominations and awards. She spoke to Variety.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. “Poor Things” is seducing you with a variety of charming, stylish and tasty partnerships this week alongside its theatrical release on Dec.

It only hit US theaters last weekend, but “Godzilla Minus One” is the talk of the industry right now, with some critics considering it a landmark blockbuster and one of the best “Godzilla” movies ever made. That’s high praise for director Takashi Yamazaki, who now has significant crossover appeal after a long tenure in the Japanese film industry.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director As soon as news hit in November that Nintendo and Sony Pictures were joining forces for a live-action movie based on the The Legend of Zelda video games, many fans started to predict the the studios had the next “Lord of the Rings” on their hands. Not so fast. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the film’s director Wes Ball said he’s long envisioned a Zelda movie not as a “Rings”-like epic but as a live-action Hayao Miyazaki movie.

MARRAKECH – Nominated three times for the Best Actor Academy Award, including in “Eastern Promises” by his dear friend and close collaborator David Cronenberg, and best known for playing Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” by Peter Jackson, actor Viggo Mortensen is also a big fan of Marrakech. He has returned for the 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival, which wrapped this weekend, to give an In Conversation session, talking about his career, and to present Lisaandro Alonso’s 146-minute drama “Eureka,” which premiered in Cannes (read our review).

Three very different movies, original, with arthouse cred and in theaters for weeks, are drawing audiences showing welcome depth and breadth in the specialty market as awards season kicks off. Nicolas Cage’s nerdy character sees his life collapse when he randomly starts appearing in people’s dreamsas Dream Scenario has a solid expansion, Saltburn is attracting young crowds on the coasts, The Holdovers drawing elusive older demos to theaters.

Ventana Sur’s coveted Paradiso WIP Award, made up of a $10,000 cash prize, went to Brazil’s “The Cuban Doctor.” Its director, Bernard Lessa, reflected on the significance of the award: “It’s a very important initiative and a partner in the cause of Brazilian cinema,” he said, as he expressed his joy at receiving the accolade. Lessa’s story turns on Akin, a Cuban doctor working in Brazil during former President Jair Bolsonaro’s controversial tenure, who faces political headwinds while he’s simply trying to do his job with the respect and kindness his patients deserve.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Director Eli Roth is returning for seconds of “Thanksgiving.” He’s cooking up a sequel to his holiday-themed slasher film, with the follow-up set to open theatrically in 2025. It’s unclear if which — if any — any cast members will be back.

Amazon/MGM’s Saltburn, the dark-comedy sendoff of British upper class, expanded nicely in a big jump from seven screens to 1,566, nabbing a spot in the top ten. The film by Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) grossed $1.73 million for the three-day weekend and $2.7 million for the five-day Thanksgiving frame thanks to a strong core group of theaters.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Black Fridays of years past might have had avid shoppers waiting in line for hours or getting into department store brawls as they scoped out the best post-Thanksgiving deals. Now, some of the best deals can be found online and are usually available for at longer than 24 hours, which is something we can all feel thankful for as we fill up our virtual shopping carts.

In case you were wondering, there was no beef between Paul Giamatti and Alexander Payne. The actor and filmmaker collaborated on 2004’s “Sideways,” an art-house breakout that earned over $100 million worldwide and five Oscar nominations including Best Picture (Payne and Jim Taylor won for Adapted Screenplay).

In a super weekend for specialty, Saltburn had a lofty open on seven screens and The Holdovers a nice $2.7 million in a major week-three expansion that put it at no. 6 at the domestic box office. Actors are once again out promoting their films and indie/original fare continues to benefit from fewer studio releases in the aftermath of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Colman Domingo plays civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, an organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, in the Netflix film Rustin. Domingo said he felt a responsibility to introduce Rustin to modern audiences.

An imagined conversation between two eminent historical figures who may or may not have ever met — nobody seems to know — forms the heart of Freud’s Last Session, an intellectual fable from Sony Pictures Classics that grew out of a play and, before that, a book and an Ivy League seminar.

If you watch Paul Giamatti in the new movie The Holdovers, you might be left wondering: is that his real eye?

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor It could have been easy for Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s role in “The Holdovers” to be yet another stereotypical trope for Black women that Hollywood has lazily thrown out throughout history. If that had been the case, the actress tells Variety that would have passed. “When I meet with these studio execs and they ask ‘What is it you would like to do next?’ she says.

Festival and specialty fare crowded the top ten this weekend with Priscilla (A24) and The Holdovers (Focus Features) expanding to hit nos. 4 and 6 respectively. Yash Raj Films’ Bollywood thriller Tiger 3 is at no. 8, and world of mouth continued to buoy Radical (Pantelion/Participant) with Eugenio Derbez, rounding out the list at no. 10.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic In the most shockingly funny moment of Alexander Payne’s “Sideways,” Miles Raymond, the desperate English teacher and wine aficionado (that is, alcoholic with good taste) played by Paul Giamatti, has just learned that his book was turned down by the publisher he had his hopes pinned on. It’s more than a rejection; it’s the death of his dream. Miles is in the middle a chi-chi Napa Valley wine tasting, and suddenly he’s in dire need of a drink.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Director Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” roots itself in 1970s nostalgia, right down to the main title design and the studio logos. However, neither company existed at the time. Distributor Focus Features was founded in 2002, while the film’s production company Miramax got started in 1979.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent There’s “an enormous amount of fresh talent coming through, and those new voices, that for the most part don’t come from the U.S.,” CAA Media Finance’s said at San Sebastian’s Creative Investors Conference this September. Getting noticed ia another matter. Global content spend has near doubled in a decade, from $136 billion in 2013 to $250 billion this year, according to Ampere Analysis.