Will Writers Strike Put a Damper on Cannes’ Big Business Plans?

Another Marvel blockbuster has hit a roadblock.

Amazon Prime Video’s live action Blade Runner series could be delayed by as long as a year after the production schedule was disrupted amid the writers strike.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s RAI Cinema, which has four titles in this year’s Cannes selection, has closed a deal on Ron Howard’s next movie “Origin of Species,” a hot project at the Cannes market starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Ana de Armas, Jude Law and Alicia Vikander. RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco said the company – which is the film arm of Italian state broadcaster RAI – has teamed up with Rome-based Lucisano Media Group to acquire Italian rights from CAA Media Finance on Howard’s survival thriller penned by Noah Pink (“Tetris”) about a a group of eclectics who turn their backs on civilization and head to the Galapagos. In Cannes, RAI Cinema also picked up Italian rights from Gaumont on family movie “Moon The Panda,” by French humans and animals adventures specialist Gilles de Maistre, known for “Mia and the White Lion”and “The Wolf and the Lion.” De Maistre’s latest, about the friendship between a boy and a panda, is set to shoot later this month in China’s Sichuan mountains.

Ellise Shafer Marvel’s upcoming “Thunderbolts” film has paused production due to the ongoing writers strike, Variety has confirmed. The movie was scheduled to begin shooting in Atlanta next month, and plans to resume production after the strike is resolved. Part of Marvel’s Phase Five, “Thunderbolts” is set to bring together the worlds of “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” “Black Widow” and the upcoming “Captain America” installment “New World Order.” “Paper Towns” director Jake Schreier is helming the film, with “Beef” creator Lee Sung Jin penning the script from a first draft by “Black Widow” writer Eric Pearson. The “Thunderbolts” cast includes Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, David Harbout, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Harrison Ford, all reprising their Marvel characters. Newcomers in undisclosed roles include “The Bear” breakout Ayo Edebiri and “Minari” star Steven Yeun. The film is currently scheduled to be released on July 26, 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Studios is delaying filming on another upcoming production as Deadline has learned that the studios’ Thunderbolts pic has pushed pause on the upcoming production, which was set to start shooting in three weeks in Atlanta. The crew was notified today and insiders say that the plan is to resume production once the strike has ended.

organization said in a statement.Established in 2008, the Television Academy Honors recognize “Television with a conscience,” per the official branding. This year’s recognized productions are “37 Words” (ESPN), “As We See It” (Prime Video), “Mo” (Netflix), “The Rebellious Life of Mrs.

for minutes of applause. So entrenched is this French farce that trade publications routinely time the euphoria and judge the response to the new films based on the length of the cheering at the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Cannes’ longest-ever roar? Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which premiered there in 2006, at 22 minutes. This year’s fest is in full swing, and so is the ceaseless hand-slapping.Here are Cannes’ standing ovations so far, from triumphant to tepid.The most ecstatic response to a film so far at this year’s festival, which runs until May 27, was for Martin Scorsese’s latest drama. The historical movie from Apple and Paramount brings together two popular Scorsese stalwarts, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, plus last year’s Best Actor Oscar winner Brendan Fraser and Jesse Plemons.

The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival brought Hollywood's biggest movie stars to France to showcase the hottest up-and-coming flicks. While cinema was the reason for the season, fashion kept the red carpet buzzing as barely-there ensembles ruled the Palais des Festivals. Irina Shayk stood out from the crowd wearing a unique black leather strap fashioned into a crop top with a matching skirt at the "Firebrand (Le Jeu De La Reine)" premiere.

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.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor In the new Apple TV+ comedy noir series “High Desert,” Patricia Arquette and Matt Dillon play an off-and-on again couple so naturally that it seems like they must have starred together in some iconic 1990s indie movie. Surprisingly, they haven’t, but the off-kilter, sun-baked menace of films like Arquette starrers “True Romance” and “Lost Highway” permeates the new series, which is peopled with what Arquette calls “wild and weird creatures” in an environment that alternates between arid beauty and strip mall desolation. In “High Desert,” Arquette’s methadone-dependent, perennial wild child Peggy Newman could not be more different than her buttoned-up “Severance” character Harmony Cobel, whether she’s piloting a dune buggy around the desert, swinging from a chandelier in a Pioneertown Old West show or getting mixed up with another half-baked scam. Peggy, who recently lost her mother, needs to raise money to stay in their house. She hatches a plan to become a private investigator, getting mixed up in cases involving art forgeries and a missing guru’s wife and more. “High Desert” premiered on May 17, with new episodes rolling out weekly.

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.

writers strike — even if dealmaking can continue apace on the Croisette.  

Sophia Scorziello editor The ATX TV Festival has made changes to their program amid the ongoing writers strike, including the addition of the WGA on Strike! panel of leading television writers. The conversation will address the key issues that writers are fighting for as they share why the strike matters to Hollywood and entertainment unions at large. The panel will host Zoanne Clack (WGA West), Greg Iwinski (WGA East, negotiating committee), Damon Lindelof (WGA West) and Julie Plec (WGA West) and will be moderated by Beau Willimon (WGA East). The festival has cancelled select programs, including “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” the “Andor” conversation with Tony Gilroy, “Tiny Beautiful Things” conversation with Liz Tigelaar and Cheryl Strayed and the “Dawson’s Creek” 25th Anniversary Screening & Conversation.

The yearly ATX Television Festival will adjust its schedule to accommodate conversations about the ongoing writers strike, some of which will replace previously announced panels. The Austin-based event runs from June 1 – 4.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Since the writers strike started on May 2, celebrities have turned out to support WGA members picketing for a better guild contract. Actors like Fred Armisen are also writers who are members of the WGA, while some SAG-AFTRA members are walking the line to support their colleagues. Since most TV shows and movies have suspended production until the strike is resolved, stars, writers and filmmakers like Christopher Nolan are taking to the streets to show their support for members of the Writers Guild of America.

This year’s Peabody Awards ceremony has been canceled “due to the ongoing uncertainty and meaningful challenges that exist industrywide,” according to a statement from the Peabody Awards organization. The June 11 awards would have been the organization’s first in-person ceremony since 2019, as well as the first time ever in its history that the Awards would take place in Los Angeles.

William Earl Variety and the Golden Globes Awards have announced a partnership celebrating breakthrough artists at the Cannes Film Festival. The event will take place on May 19 at the Barriere Beach at The Majestic Cannes. At the event, Variety will present its Breakthrough Awards which highlights actors whose work have them poised to be some of the most promising talents in the business. This year’s recipients include Cannes 2022 Best Actress winner Zar Amir-Ebrahami, Charles Melton who co-stars in Todd Haynes’ “May December”, Tye Sheridan who stars and produced the film “Black Flies”, and Shaunette Renee Wilson who co-stars in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards, Jennifer Coolidge was honored with the Comedic Genius Award, becoming only the sixth person to receive the coveted honor, which recognizes «actors who have made incomparable contributions to the world of comedy, providing a major influence through their work and transforming the genre at-large.»However, this year, Coolidge accepted the award in a pre-recorded video message. The annual MTV award show was originally slated to air live, but due to the ongoing WGA writers' strike, the ceremony was pre-taped. «Thank you, MTV,» the actress began.

During the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards, Jennifer Coolidge was honored with the Comedic Genius Award, becoming only the sixth person to receive the coveted honor, which recognizes “actors who have made incomparable contributions to the world of comedy, providing a major influence through their work and transforming the genre at-large.”