With ‘Parallel Mothers,’ Composer Alberto Iglesias Scores Again for Pedro Almodóvar

It looks like HBO Max had a little mix-up on the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special.

A case of mistaken identity. HBO Max accidentally used a photo of actress Emma Roberts instead of Hermione Granger actress Emma Watson in the new special, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.

Pedro Almodóvar’s  opened to an estimated $41,076 this weekend on three screens for a PSA of $13,692 over three days. Distributor Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker calls that cume conservative, anticipating $42-$43K for the Penelope Cruz-starrer that he said has been attracting a diverse new audience to Almodóvar, including younger moviegoers.

Harry Potter reunion on . The week between Christmas and New Year's Eve can be…weird, so try to find some happy with these TV shows and movies.

Tim Gray Senior Vice PresidentPedro Almodóvar has written and directed 23 feature films since 1978; each one carries his unique style, yet he manages to keep surprising audiences.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fans aren't the only ones excited about the upcoming reunion special — the cast is eager too!Ahead of the premiere of HBO Max's special to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the franchise's first film, , ET spoke with star Rupert Grint about what fans can expect. The 33-year-old actor famously played Harry's best friend Ron Weasley and one-third of the Golden Trio in all eight magical flicks.

.“Other “Harry Potter” cast members featured in the special include Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Tom Felton, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Mark Williams, Bonnie Wright, Alfred Enoch, Ian Hart, Toby Jones, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch, producer David Heyman and filmmakers Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell and David Yates.“Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” is executive produced by Casey Patterson of Casey Patterson

Kate Aurthur editorAccio, trailer! At long last, HBO Max has released the much-anticipated preview of “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts,” its upcoming special that will reunite the actors and filmmakers from the eight-movie series, which will stream on Jan.

Clayton Davis In Variety‘s Up Next, we asked four Oscar winners to pick the one person who represents the future of Hollywood.Pedro Almodóvar describes his scripts as making a dish. “They need a lot of cooking time in the oven,” he says.

NEW YORK -- During a tribute to her career at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), Penelope Cruz recalled the Betamax videotape store that opened in her neighborhood, in a suburb of Madrid, when she was a child and that made her discover cinema.It was there where she rented all the films of Spanish movie director Pedro Almodóvar, she said.“I watched, and I laughed, I cried, and I learned," she said at a star-studded benefit Tuesday evening at the museum.

Jamie Lang The Spanish Academy surprised some this year when it selected Fernando León de Aranoa’s Javier Bardem-starrer “The Good Boss” (“El buen patrón”) as the country’s submission for this year’s Best International Feature Oscar race.

Accio tissues because this “Harry Potter” reunion will make fans tear up!