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The 2024 Gotham Awards have begun at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

Neon’s “Anora,” a free-wheeling comedy about a sex worker who becomes entangled with the family of a Russian oligarch, leads the nominations with four, including for best feature.

Each category for nominations is decided by a different jury of critics, journalists and other industry professionals, and screening links must be provided to all its jury members. An entirely different group determines the winners. That’s in contrast with the Oscars or the BAFTAs, which are determined by actors, filmmakers and other artists who are in the entertainment industry.

In addition to the nominees, the Gothams is also bestowing special tributes to some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Oscar winner Angelina Jolie (Performer Tribute) for “Maria,” Emmy winner Zendaya (Spotlight Tribute) for “Challengers,” Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold (Visionary Tribute) for “A Complete Unknown,” and the...

The Gotham Awards, the traditional kickoff to the annual movie awards season, has kicked off Monday at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.

Organized by the Gotham Film & Media Institute, this year’s Gothams see Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anora, which leads the field with four nominations including Best Feature, Best Director, Outstanding Lead Performance for Mikey Madison and Outstanding Supporting Performance for Yura Borisov.

The Neon film is joined in the marquee Best Feature category by A24’s Babygirl and A Different Man, and Amazon MGM Studios’ Nickel Boys and Challengers. Last year, A24’s Past Lives won in the category on its way to an Oscar Best Picture nom.

Other categories to watch include the gender-neutral Outstanding Lead Performance race, which in addition to Madison features buzzy names like Pamela Anderson, Demi Moore, Adrien Brody, Colman Domingo and Saoirse Ronan.

A total of...

When the 34th annual Gotham Awards kick off at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City tonight, the race to the Oscars will officially be underway. The Gothams traditionally occupy a spot on the awards calendar as the first major film-centric ceremony of the season, giving fans their first opportunity to see the year’s biggest stars on the red carpet, as well as awards watchers’ first chance to gauge the state of the race.

This year’s nominees feature some of the buzziest films of 2024, including Sean Baker’s “Anora,” Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” and RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys.” The evening will also feature tributes to Zendaya, Denis Villeneuve, James Mangold, and Timothée Chalamet.

Keep reading for a complete list of nominees at the 34th Gotham Awards. Winners will be updated as they are announced.

Best Feature

“Anora”

Sean Baker, director; Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, producers (Neon)

“Babygirl”

Halina Reijn,...

The Gotham Awards red carpet at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City has opened.

Already spotted are Pamela Anderson, Guy Pearce, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Demi Moore, Colman Domingo, Justice Smith, Sebastian Stan and more.

“Anora” leads the Monday night ceremony — considered the unofficial launch of the months-long awards march to the Oscars — with four nominations, including best feature. “Nickel Boys,” “Babygirl,” “Challengers” and “A Different Man” are also vying for the top prize.

The best director race includes Sean Baker (“Anora”), Jane Schoenbrun (“I Saw the TV Glow”), Payal Kapadia (“All We Imagine as Light”), Guan Hu (“Black Dog”) and RaMell Ross (“Nickel Boys”).

The Gothams went genderless for acting awards starting in 2021, so this year’s best lead performance nominees include Demi Moore (“The Substance”), Pamela Anderson (“The Last Showgirl”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”), Saoirse Ronan (“The Outrun”), Justice Smith (“I Saw The TV Glow”), Keith Kupferer (“Ghostlight”), Mikey Madison...

The Gotham Awards, honoring the best in American independent films, held their 34th annual event on Monday night, Dec. 2, launching the fall and winter awards season. So who were the big winners? Scroll down for the complete list of 2024 Gotham Awards champs in all categories, updating live throughout the night.

Nominees were decided by panels of film critics, journalists, festival programmers, and film curators. The winners were then selected by juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors, and others directly involved in filmmaking. Those small juries change from year to year and from category to category, so these awards can produce surprising results.

Telling the story of a young sex worker from Brooklyn who meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch, “Anora” led the nominations with four bids including Best Feature, as well Sean Baker for Best Director, actress Mikey Madison for Best Lead Performance and actor...

“Anora” star Mikey Madison recently told Collider that she underestimated just how furiously “Scream” fans would react to her character, Amber Freeman, being revealed as Ghostface and thus responsible for the death of David Arquette’s beloved Dewey in 2022’s “Scream.” Madison was not aware of the “Scream” franchise’s passionate following when she accepted the role.

“I have to be honest, when I did the film, it sounds naive, but I wasn’t so aware of the huge fan base that the franchise has, that I’ve now been able to discover,” Madison said. “Scream and horror fans and people who love horror films are the best people ever, but I really naively went into it.”

“I remember being kind of sad because I was like, ‘Oh, such a great character. It’ll be sad to see him go.’ And then I realized afterward the heartbreak that so many people felt,...

The Gotham Awards, honoring the best in American independent films, held their 34th annual event on Monday night, Dec. 2, launching the fall and winter awards season. See the Hollywood stars arrive on the red carpet in our 2024 Gotham Awards photo gallery above.

The winners were selected by juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors, and others directly involved in filmmaking. Those small juries change from year to year and from category to category, so these awards can produce surprising results.

See How to watch the 2024 Gotham Awards live

Telling the story of a young sex worker from Brooklyn who meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch, “Anora” led the nominations with four bids including Best Feature, as well Sean Baker for Best Director, actress Mikey Madison for Best Lead Performance and actor Yura Borisov for Best Supporting Performance.

The other Best Feature nominees included “Babygirl” (which landed...

If the 2025 Oscars nominations were announced today, what would Gold Derby predict as the nominees and winners? Since our predictions center opened on July 1, 2024, more than 6,300 people have made their forecasts in 18 top categories. So who’s out front to claim these golden trophies, according to the Gold Derby Oscar predictions 2025?

Below, see a snapshot in time of our racetrack odds for the 97th Academy Awards, updated on Dec. 2, 2024. See how the odds and rankings have changed over time by examining our previous Oscar snapshots on July 3, July 9, July 16, July 23, July 29, Aug. 6, Aug. 19, Aug. 28, Sept. 11, Sept. 19, Sept. 23, Sept. 30, Oct. 7, Oct. 14, Oct. 22, Oct. 28, Nov. 4, Nov. 11, Nov. 18, and Nov. 25.

Now expected to receive a nomination since the last update: Cynthia Erivo in Best Actress. The “Wicked” star has skyrocketed up our charts over the past several weeks, ever since the Universal Pictures adaptation of the popular Broadway stage musical first started screening for critics.

The Gotham Awards, honoring the best in American independent films, held their 34th annual event on Monday night, Dec. 2, launching the fall and winter awards season. See the Hollywood stars arrive on the red carpet in our 2024 Gotham Awards photo gallery below.

The winners were selected by juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors, and others directly involved in filmmaking. Those small juries change from year to year and from category to category, so these awards can produce surprising results.

Telling the story of a young sex worker from Brooklyn who meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch, “Anora” led the nominations with four bids including Best Feature, as well Sean Baker for Best Director, actress Mikey Madison for Best Lead Performance and actor Yura Borisov for Best Supporting Performance.

Frequent Spirit Award nominee for The Florida Project and Tangerine, writer-director Sean Baker’s latest film returns to the world of sex workers. A stripper-themed Cinderella story, Anora stars Mikey Madison as the titular stripper, Anora/”Ani.” Set in Brooklyn, New York, the story follows her during an eventful two weeks as she tries to find her place in her slice of the Russian-speaking neighborhood of Brighton Beach. Desperate to eke her way out of her stripper days, she can’t believe her luck when a heir to a Russian oligarch, Ivan “Vanya” (Mark Eydelshteyn), falls head over heels for her. Within days, they are married, and she is suddenly thrust into a world of new money opulence. However, when Vanya’s parents find out about the marriage, their enforcers quickly descend on the young couple. Is Vanya her knight in shining armor? Or has the nightmare only begun ….?

We...

Aquí están las predicciones del equipo de mundoCine para los nominados a los Globos de Oro 2025 en las categorías de cine. Las nominaciones se conocerán el lunes 9 de diciembre, pero, mientras tanto, toca predecir los nominados de esta edición. Nuestras predicciones se han calculado combinando las predicciones de los miembros de mundoCine.

Mejor Película (Drama)

POSICIÓN

PELÍCULA

1

The Brutalist

2

Cónclave

3

Dune: Parte Dos

4

La Habitación de al Lado

5

Sing Sing

6

A Complete Unknown

Mejor Película (Comedia / Musical)

POSICIÓN

PELÍCULA

1

Anora

2

Emilia Pérez

3

La Sustancia

4

Wicked

5

A Real Pain

6

Challengers

Mejor Dirección

POSICIÓN

PELÍCULA

1

Sean Baker (Anora)

2

Brady Corbet (The Brutalist)

3

Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Parte Dos)

4

Edward Berger (Cónclave)

5

Caroline Fargeat (La Sustancia)

6

Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)

Mejor Actriz (Drama)

POSICIÓN

PELÍCULA

1

Angelina Jolie (Maria)

2

Nicole Kidman (Babygirl)

3

Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl)

4

Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun)

5

Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths)

6

Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here)

Mejor Actriz (Comedia / Musical...

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Nov 29-Dec 1)Total gross to dateWeek 1. Moana 2(Disney) £12m £12m 1 2. Wicked(Universal) £8.3m £28.5m 2 3. Gladiator II(Paramount) £2.6m £23.4m 3 4. Paddington In Peru(Studiocanal) £1.8m £27.3m 4 5. Conclave(Black Bear) £886,000 £1.1m 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.27

It was another record-breaking weekend at the UK and Ireland box office as Moana 2 sailed to the top with a £12m debut for Disney.

The sequel had the third-highest opening of the year, behind last week’s Wicked (£13.7m) and Deadpool & Wolverine (£12.6m) but was ahead of fellow Disney animation Inside Out 2 which scored an £11.3m debut back in June.

Updated: Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana 2 shattered box office records thanks to a confirmed $225.2m five-day North American debut that combined with the ongoing heroics of Wicked and Gladiator 2 to deliver the all-time biggest Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Overall the three films powered a five-day Thanksgiving weekend to more than $420m, eclipsing the $316m achieved in 2018 when the story was all about Ralph Breaks The Internet and Creed II. The BoxOffice Company said Moana2, Wicked and Gladiator II alone accounted for 75% of all showtimes.

Moana 2, which was originally conceived as a straight-to-Disney + release, earned an estimated $57.5m on Wednesday...

The 34th Annual Gotham Awards are set to take place Dec. 2, 2024 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The Gotham Film & Media Institute will hand out nine movie awards along with special tributes to Angelina Jolie (Performer for “Maria”), Denis Villeneuve (Director for “Dune: Part Two”), Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold (Visionary for “A Complete Unknown”), Zendaya (Spotlight for “Challengers”), the cast of the film “The Piano Lesson” (Ensemble), Franklin Leonard and his company The Black List (Anniversary), and the cast of the film “Sing Sing” (Social Justice).

The Gothams won’t be on TV, but you can still watch from home! Stream the independent film awards directly from Variety‘s YouTube page below. The awards ceremony begins at 7 p.m. Et/4 p.m. Pt.

See 2024 Gotham Award nominations revealed: See the full list

Gold Derby will have a live update of the 2024 Gotham Awards winners list,...

​Count down to Christmas with favourites selected by Sean Baker, Gillian Anderson, John Waters, Mike Leigh, Gurinder Chadha, Will Sharpe and more

The Christmas movie has, in recent years, become its own industrial complex, algorithmically churned out by streaming services to hit various subscriber demographic sweet spots. Perhaps the seemingly disposable likes of Hot Frosty and Meet Me Next Christmas will be treasured for many Decembers to come, but they have a tough canon to crack, as represented by our all-star Advent calendar of festive movie favourites, chosen by some of the film industry’s best and brightest, invited by the Observer New Review to help our readers count down to the big day itself.

Some of the films here are as firmly entrenched in the season as mince pies and fir trees – who can argue with director Gurinder Chadha’s selection of It’s a Wonderful Life or actor Joe Alwyn’s of The Snowman?...

It’s one of the biggest weekends of the year, not just because we’ve all stuffed ourselves with turkey and pie, and not just because we’re all madly dashing to get our shopping done for the holidays. It’s also that rare, long weekend where we have time to actually go to the movies, and possibly bring the whole family. This year there are a lot of great movies at the multiplex, from award-winning international features, Academy Awards contenders with ambition to spare, beautiful movies the whole family can enjoy, and genre flicks aplenty to scare and to thrill you. So to help make the decision of what to see if you want to ditch streaming for a day, we’ve curated a helpful list.

These are the best of the very best movies in theaters this weekend.

A still from “All We Imagine as Light.” All We Imagine As Light...

On December 5, the IndieWire Honors Winter 2024 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars responsible for crafting some of the year’s best films. Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the filmmakers, artisans, and performers behind films well worth toasting. We’re showcasing their work with new interviews leading up to the Los Angeles event.

Sean Baker is famous for his modern fairy tales, from “Tangerine” and “The Florida Project” to his recent Palme d’Or winner, “Anora.” In his latest and greatest film, the writer/director conjures up a vibrant romance between a witty New York stripper (Mikey Madison) and a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn). The critical darling has since become an awards frontrunner with significant Oscar buzz.

That atypical Cinderella story could earn Baker some long overdue credit with the Academy, but the industry has recognized the power of his movies in other ways for years.

There are many different ways to measure a terrific film awards season.

Last year, “Barbenheimer” put two billion-dollar blockbusters at the center of the awards chatter. “Barbie” settled for an Oscar and a “box office achievement” Golden Globe, while “Oppenheimer” fulfilled its promise as the first (much-needed) awards season megahit and awards juggernaut in many years. Besides sweeping up multiple Oscars, Christopher Nolan’s opus also garnered both Oscar and Golden Globe best picture wins.

Twenty-five years ago, the Oscar race was a Weinstein-era slugfest for best picture, with the Harvey-handled “Shakespeare in Love” keeping Steven Spielberg’s WWII epic “Saving Private Ryan” out of the top Oscar perch, while both films took home Golden Globe best picture trophies. This year has been knocked by some critics and some awards season pundits as perhaps not one for the history books, with a less than stellar lineup of key contenders.

Looking for what to see in theaters? Our feature, updated weekly, highlights our top recommendations for films currently in theaters, from new releases to restorations receiving a proper theatrical run.

While we already provide extensive monthly new-release recommendations and weekly streaming recommendations, as distributors’ roll-outs can vary, this is a one-stop list to share the essential films that may be on a screen near you.

All We Imagine as Light (Payal Kapadia)

Following up her enigmatic, beautiful debut A Night of Knowing Nothing, Payal Kapadia shows an entirely different register with her dazzling Cannes Film Festival Grand Prize winner All We Imagine as Light. While India foolishly didn’t select it to compete in the international feature category at this year’s Academy Awards, hopefully it’ll take an Anatomy of a Fall-esque path this season. Luke Hicks said in his review, “Writer-director Payal Kapadia isn’t interested in the...

Neon said today it’s closed a $200 million-plus credit facility led by Comerica Bank.

The funding, which follows the leading indie distributor and producer’s previous facility with Comerica from October of 2022, will be used to bolster core operations, including film acquisition, development, production, and distribution, while also expanding into new markets. The investment will further support strategic initiatives and strengthen its international footprint, driving additional growth.

Earlier this year it debuted a new international sales strand, with Cannes its first official stop, launching international for Keeper, the next genre film by Longlegs helmer Osgood Perkins.

The deal, which was negotiated and managed by Neon’s CFO Ryan Friscia, comes after the company recently released Anora, the highly-anticipated new film from Sean Baker starring Mikey Madison, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and opened Stateside October 18 to the highest per-screen average of 2024; Nicolas Cage-starring horror Longlegs which...

Neon has closed a $200m-plus credit facility led by Comerica Bank which it will use to bolster core functions including film acquisitions, development, production, and distribution.

The arrangement will additionally be used to support expansion into new markets and strengthen the company’s international footprint.

It comes after a mighty year at the box office for Neon after Osgood Perkins’s summer release Longlegs starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage became its highest earner at the box office on more than $126m worldwide, of which $75m came from North America and $52m from international markets.

More recently Sean Baker’s Anora,...

Oscar-winning indie studio Neon has secured a new $200 million credit facility, flushing the company with cash for operations and growth.

The infusion, which could keep “Anora” star Mikey Madison in lucite platform heels until the end of time, is led by Neon’s existing credit provider Comerica Bank. The raise will contribute to film acquisition, development, production, distribution and market expansion, Neon said Monday.

“Comerica believes in the vision of Neon and couldn’t be more thrilled to support their continued growth. Their ability to identify and curate film, while finding innovative ways to connect audiences with cinema, is unmatched,” said Comerica Entertainment Group SVP Derek Riedel, adding that the “independent film landscape is a core pillar of our business and we are excited about the future.”

Riedel oversaw the transaction for the bank, with Neon chief financial officer Ryan Friscia negotiating on the studio side.

It’s been a good year for Neon,...

Neon has closed a $200 million plus credit facility led by Comerica Bank. The funding follows the studio’s previous revolving credit facility with Comerica Bank in October 2022.

The new credit will, according to Monday’s official release, “Be allocated to bolster its core operations, including film acquisition, development, production and distribution, while also expanding into new markets. The investment will further support strategic initiatives and strengthen its international footprint, driving additional growth.”

The deal was negotiated and managed by the studio’s chief financial officer Ryan Friscia at the end of a year that has included “Anora,” directed by Sean Baker and starring Mikey Madison, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May; and Osgood Perkins’ “Longlegs,” which became the highest-grossing independent feature of the year with more than $75 million domestically. Their 2024 slate also included Sydney Sweeney in “Immaculate” and Hunter Schafer in “Cuckoo.”

Last week, it won...

Neon — the indie distributor founded by Tom Quinn that has had box office success with art house titles like Parasite and recently with Sean Baker’s Anora — has secured a $200 million credit facility with a lending consortium led by Comerica Bank.

The revolver will help grow Neon’s operations, including film acquisition, development, production and distribution, while also driving the indie studio into new international markets. In 2022, Neon secured a revolving credit facility with Comerica Bank to expand the studio’s previous credit facility.

The latest funding will also help grow Neon’s production efforts. The studio’s upcoming film development and production slate includes the Boots Riley feature I Love Boosters, starring Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie and Lakeith Stanfield; They Follow, the sequel to the horror classic It Follows from writer-director David Robert Mitchell, starring Maika Monroe; and Michael Covino’s Splitsville, starring Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona.

The...

After a record-breaking weekend at the global box office, “Wicked” has now become the most nominated movie in the Astra Film Awards and Astra Creative Arts Awards eight-year history. The Universal Pictures film received 20 nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress for Cynthia Erivo, Best Supporting Actress for Ariana Grande, and Best Director for Jon M. Chu.

The Hollywood Creative Alliance will host two ceremonies – a luncheon and dinner – on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024 at the Taglyan Complex in Los Angeles. Both ceremonies will be recorded and streamed on Knekt.tv and YouTube. Actor, comedian, and writer Peter Kim will host the Astra Creative Arts Awards and Emmy-winning comedian and host, Loni Love, will host the Astra Film Awards.

“Dune: Part Two” came in second place with a total of 16 nominations. The Denis Villeneuve sequel from Warner Bros. snagged nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cast Ensemble, amongst many others categories.

“Wicked” led all films in nominations for the 2024 Astra Film Awards, the Hollywood Creative Coalition announced on Monday. The hit musical received a record 19 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Comedy or Musical, three acting noms and a sweep of all the below-the-line categories in which it was eligible.

The big-budget sequel “Dune: Part Two” was second with 15 nominations, while Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical “Emilia Perez” received 11, the body horror film “The Substance” received 10 and Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” received nine.

Films that were not nominated in the top category include “Gladiator II,” “Nickel Boys,” “Blitz,” “September 5” and “A Complete Unknown.”

Overall, the nominations tended toward high-profile and commercial movies, with more challenging performances by Daniel Craig, Sebastian Stan, Nicole Kidman, Tilda Swinton and Marianne Jean-Baptiste overlooked in favor of, for instance, acting nominations for Naomi Scott for “Smile 2” and three separate stars of “Wicked”: Cynthia Erivo,...

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Nov 22-24) Total gross to date Week 1. Wicked (Universal) £13.7m £13.7m 1 2. Gladiator II (Paramount) £4.7m £18.4m 2 3. Paddington In Peru (Studiocanal) £4.2m £24.4m 3 4. Red One (Warner Bros) £822,000 £5.8m 3 5. Heretic(Efd) £205,457 £205,457 4

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.26

Wickedcast its spell on UK-Ireland audiences this weekend, bringing in £13.7m in its debut – the best-performing opening weekend for a stage-to-screen adaptation in the territory, and the biggest opening weekend of 2024.

The musical was released at 701 sites, for a site average of £19,543 for Universal.It beat previous stage-to-screen record holder Les Misérables, with £8.1m in 2013. Wicked also knocked Deadpool & Wolverine...

If the 2025 Oscars nominations were announced today, what would Gold Derby predict as the nominees and winners? Since our predictions center opened on July 1, 2024, more than 6,000 people have made their forecasts in 18 top categories. So who’s out front to claim these golden trophies, according to the Gold Derby Oscar predictions 2025?

Below, see a snapshot in time of our racetrack odds for the 97th Academy Awards, updated on Nov. 25, 2024. See how the odds and rankings have changed over time by examining our previous Oscar snapshots on July 3, July 9, July 16, July 23, July 29, Aug. 6, Aug. 19, Aug. 28, Sept. 11, Sept. 19, Sept. 23, Sept. 30, Oct. 7, Oct. 14, Oct. 22, Oct. 28, Nov. 4, Nov. 11, and Nov. 18.

Now expected to receive a nomination since the last update: Yura Borisov (“Anora”) in Best Supporting Actor. The Neon film centers around the titular character, a sex worker (Mikey Madison) who embarks on a whirlwind romance with a client, the young son of a Russian oligarch.

Universal’s record-breaking Wicked dominated North American box office over the weekend thanks to a confirmed $112.5m launch, while Paramount’s Gladiator II arrived in second place on a strong $55m as total box office combined for a $200m-plus weekend.

Opening in 3,888 theatres, Jon M. Chu’s adaptation starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande is the third biggest opening of the year to date behind Deadpool & Wolverine on $211m and Inside Out 2 on $154.2m. It also established the biggest opening weekend by a Broadway adaptation by some distance, eclipsing $31.1m set by Into The Woods in 2014.

Wicked recorded...

Universal’s record-breaking Wicked dominated North American box office over the weekend thanks to a confirmed $112.5m launch, while Paramount’s Gladiator II arrived in second place on a strong $55.5m as total box office combined for a $200m-plus weekend.

Opening in 3,888 theatres, Jon M. Chu’s adaptation starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande is the third biggest opening of the year to date behind Deadpool & Wolverine on $211m and Inside Out 2 on $154.2m. It also established the biggest opening weekend by a Broadway adaptation by some distance, eclipsing $31.1m set by Into The Woods in 2014.

Wicked recorded...

Universal’s record-breaking Wicked dominated North American box office over the weekend thanks to an estimated $114m launch, while Paramount’s Gladiator II arrived in second place on a strong $55.5m as total box office combined for a $200m-plus weekend.

Opening in 3,888 theatres, Jon M. Chu’s adaptation starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande is the third biggest opening of the year to date behind Deadpool & Wolverine on $211m and Inside Out 2 on $154.2m. It also established the biggest opening weekend by a Broadway adaptation by some distance, eclipsing $31.1m set by Into The Woods in 2014.

Wicked recorded...

With the Governors Awards just behind us, the Thanksgiving break right in front of us, every major awards hopeful having finally screened for pundits (the last one was unveiled on Wednesday evening) and the 97th Oscars exactly 100 days away, now seems as good a time as any to do a thorough temperature-check of the Oscar race.

Best picture

The main headline, at this point, is that there is no clear frontrunner, unlike a year ago when Oppenheimer was clearly ahead of the pack. Rather, there are, in my estimation, six films that look all but assured of landing one of the category’s 10 slots. Alphabetically, they are: Neon’s Anora, A24’s The Brutalist, Focus’ Conclave, Netflix’s Emilia Pérez, Paramount’s September 5 and Universal’s Wicked. Let’s discuss them one by one.

Anora, which won Cannes’ Palme d’Or, is Sean Baker’s portrait of a stripper-turned-sex worker...

There’s a new frontrunner in Gold Derby’s Oscar odds for Best Director: Brady Corbet for “The Brutalist.”

The American filmmaker has broken his tie with Sean Baker (“Anora”) to claim the No. 1 position on our chart for the upcoming 2025 Oscars. Note that it’s still quite early in this awards season, and things could keep changing as our experts, editors, and users continue to update their predictions.

The A24 fictional drama centers around Adrien Brody‘s character László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor who emigrates to the United States in the 1940s in the hopes of achieving the American Dream. While László is waiting for his wife (Felicity Jones) to join him, he starts working with his cousin (Alessandro Nivola) at a furniture store, and he eventually comes into contact with a wealthy industrialist (Guy Pearce).

This would be Corbet’s first career Oscar nomination, after...

This week on the Film Stories Podcast Network, our array of film and TV chats cover Monty Python, Sean Baker’s Anora and more. Here’s what we’ve been up to…

As always, we have a wealth of fascinating topics and opinionated minds to offer on the Film Stories Podcast Network. Below you’ll find chatter about up-to-the-minute movies – including Oscar contender Anora – and classic TV, including Babylon 5.

Here’s what we have on offer this week:

Reel Talk

Sam Stokes is back for another discussion, with guest Bo Nicholson, discussing the film of the moment – Sean Baker’s Anora…

Britcom Goes to the Movies

Join the anarcho-syndicalist commune ran by Rob Heath and Guy Walker once again, with special guest in The League of Gentlemen co-creator Jeremy Dyson, chatting 1975’s legendary Monty Python and the Holy Grail…

The CineHistorians Podcast

Our newest podcast kid on the block...

Cameron Diaz made a rare public appearance Tuesday in Los Angeles to help honor “Emilia Pérez” stars Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón at Elle magazine’s Women in Hollywood event.

“It’s really quite incredible to be in this room right now because it reminds me so much of what I love about making movies – the intimacy and the connection,” Diaz said. She praised “Emilia Pérez” as “a powerful exploration of identity, resilience and the courage it takes to break free from the constraints of societal norms, of patriarchal constraints.

“It is also a deeply human story about love and a journey to find one’s authentic self,” Diaz continued. “What these three actresses have accomplished with this film…it is truly remarkable. Together, they have created something unforgettable.”

On the carpet, Gomez told me that the attention she and the film have been getting “has been beautiful and overwhelming,...

Mark Eydelshteyn didn’t have an alternative audition tape for “Anora.” When the young Russian actor put himself on video for director Sean Baker to play Ivan in the explosive comedy, he did so in the nude. There were no second takes.

“The final version was the first version,” Eydelshteyn tells Gold Derby. “It was very risky and very scary, I was very nervous when I did it. But I just prayed to God that Sean would like it.”

Written, directed, and edited by Baker, “Anora” is one of the year’s true sensations – thanks in no small part to the contributions of Eydelshteyn. In his English-language debut, he plays the impetuous son of a Russian oligarch who sweeps a sex worker named Anora (Mikey Madison) off her feet as part of a whirlwind romance and then casts her aside when his family finds out. “Anora” won the Palme d...

How do the 2025 Oscars Best Picture contenders stack up on Rotten Tomatoes? And does the film with the highest freshness rating have a better shot at winning the big prize?

While critics’ scores don’t determine the Best Picture lineup (there are thousands of highly-rated movies each year), once the lineup is selected by AMPAS, there are at least a few tea leaves worth noting. For instance, the only film to win Best Picture in the last 10 years with a freshness rating lower than 90% is “Green Book,” which has a Tomatometer score of just 77%.

Last year’s winner, “Oppenheimer,” holds a formidable 93%, but it didn’t rank first among it’s competitors. That distinction went to “The Holdovers,” which has a rating of 97%. So, a movie doesn’t have to have the highest score, but it certainly helps its chances. And falling below 90% would put any movie at an extreme disadvantage,...

The 15th annual Academy Governors Awards on Sunday night brought tears and laughs to the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood, as usual packed with Oscar hopefuls and AMPAS voters as the awards season gets into full swing.

With preparations for the March 2 Oscars (ABC) underway with two of last year’s executive producers (Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan) and edgy new host Conan O’Brien, the Governors Awards gave out five honorary Oscars to their second casting director, New York veteran Juliet Taylor (Lynn Stalmaster was the first), presented by Nicole Kidman (“Babygirl”) who took her shoes off to meet the mic.

Other honorees included “James Bond” producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, presented by bearded former Bond Daniel Craig (“Queer”); writer/director and humanitarian Richard Curtis, presented by an hilarious Hugh Grant (“Heretic”); and the late, great Quincy Jones, presented by a sincere Jamie Foxx.

Jones’ family spokesperson Rashida Jones,...

When you settle in to watch a movie, you're likely expecting to see a studio distributor's logo — Universal, Disney, etc. — and maybe a couple of production company logos pop up before the opening credits begin. But sometimes, the number of those logos can balloon to comical levels, almost as if the movie is pranking you. Julia Ducournau's 2021 movie "Titane" has seven logos in front of it, while "Late Night with the Devil," released earlier this year, has nine. "Family Guy" parodied this phenomenon back in 2011, in the season 9 episode "Friends of Peter G":

Earlier this year, a listener of our /Film Daily podcast wrote in to ask us about "Longlegs," writer/director Osgood "Oz" Perkins' buzzy horror flick that came out this past summer and shocked Hollywood by becoming the biggest indie horror hit in a decade. When we reference "Longlegs," this listener said, we typically refer to it as a Neon film.

If the 2025 Oscars nominations were announced today, what would Gold Derby predict as the nominees and winners? Since our predictions center opened on July 1, 2024, more than 5,700 people have made their forecasts in 18 top categories. So who’s out front to claim these golden trophies, according to the Gold Derby Oscar predictions 2025?

Below, see a snapshot in time of our racetrack odds for the 97th Academy Awards, updated on Nov. 18, 2024. See how the odds and rankings have changed over time by examining our previous Oscar snapshots on July 3, July 9, July 16, July 23, July 29, Aug. 6, Aug. 19, Aug. 28, Sept. 11, Sept. 19, Sept. 23, Sept. 30, Oct. 7, Oct. 14, Oct. 22, Oct. 28, Nov. 4, and Nov. 11.

Now expected to receive a nomination since the last update: Universal Pictures’ “Wicked” in Best Visual Effects. The movie adaptation of the popular Broadway musical is also predicted to receive nominations in Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Ariana Grande), Best Costume Design, Best Makeup & Hairstyling,...

Updated: Amazon MGM Studio’s big tentpole of the year Red One staggered into action over the weekend with a confirmed $32.1m number one North American debut.

While not a poor number in and of itself for an original film, the reported $250m price tag will raise eyebrows. Despite generally poor reviews, filmgoers gave it an A- Cinemascore, offering hope that if the family holiday season film plays into the holiday season, it might reach a decent number in North America to complement the $51.1m and counting international tally.

Dwayne Johnson stars as the head of security for Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons), who goes missing,...

Amazon MGM Studio’s big tentpole of the year Red One staggered into action over the weekend with an estimated $34.1m number one North American debut.

While not a poor number in and of itself for an original film, the reported $250m price tag will raise eyebrows. Despite generally poor reviews, filmgoers gave it an A- Cinemascore, offering hope that if the family holiday season film plays into the holiday season, it might reach a decent number in North America to complement the $50m and counting international tally.

Dwayne Johnson stars as the head of security for Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons), who goes missing,...

As if theaters don’t already have enough gripes about Netflix, a live event that attracted 60 million households worldwide on a Friday night wasn’t going to make them feel better. Friday night’s Logan Paul-Mike Tyson match-up took a real toll on the evening’s box office.

“Red One” (Amazon MGM) led the weekend with $34.1 million, a disappointment for the $220 million production. Also weak is the weekend’s $74 million total, although a slight improvement over 2023. Year to date remains off 11 percent, but that should change with the upcoming “Wicked” (Universal), “Gladiator 2” (Paramount), and “Moana 2” (Disney).

For now, lower-budget, specialized, and niche films again occupied most of the top 10 slots. They include four leading awards contenders, as well as a real surprise with the first Filipino film ever to make the list. “Happy, Love, Again” (Abramorama) grossed $2.4 million in only 250 theaters, with a sky-high per-theater average...

Gold Derby has been predicting the Oscars (and other Hollywood races) for more than two decades now. But how do our current Academy Awards predictions compare to those made by a new player in the game — artificial intelligence?

On Nov. 16, we asked Gemini, Google’s new AI, to predict the nominations in six categories for the 2025 Oscars: picture, director, lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor, and supporting actress. You can see those results below. For the uninitiated, Gemini is a chatbot “that uses machine learning and natural language processing to provide human-like responses to text, image, and audio prompts.”

Comparatively, Gold Derby’s Oscar predictions are derived from the combined forecasts of four unique groups: experts we’ve polled from major media outlets, editors who cover awards year-round for this website, top 24 users who had the best accuracy scores last year, and the mass of users who make up our biggest predictions bloc.

Is Dwayne Johnson still as big of a star as he seems to think he is? That’s the question that will be at the tip of everyone’s tongue this weekend, with his latest four-quadrant family film, Red One, opening to an underwhelming $34 million domestically. While that’s not a truly terrible number, what makes it sting more than it would otherwise is that the movie carries an astronomical budget of at least $200 million, meaning the movie may – rightly or wrongly – be viewed as something of a flop.

Consider this: Black Adam, which has a reputation for being a flop, still opened with about twice what Red One did. Unless word-of-mouth is terrific, Red One might have difficulty crawling to $100 million domestically.

Yet, it may not be as big of a flop as some think. The fact is, it was designed as a streaming movie for Prime Video, so...

“Anora” is a new R-rated feature, written and directed by Sean Baker, winner of the top award at the recent 77th ‘Cannes Film Festival’, starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eidelstein, Yuri Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Lindsey Normington, Ivy Wolk, and Luna Sofía Miranda, now playing in theaters:

“…’Anora’ working in a Brooklyn strip club, gets her chance at a ‘Cinderella’ story when she meets and marries the son of a rich Russian oligarch.

“But once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Contenders Film: Los Angeles photo studio hosted talent on November 16 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles as cast members of films stopped by including Brian Tyree Henry, Ryan Destiny, and Rachel Morrison from The Fire Inside; Maisy Stella from My Old Ass; Jharrel Jerome, Judy Robles and William Goldenberg from Unstoppable; Josh O’Connor and Luca Guadagnino from Challengers; Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn and Sean Baker from Anora; Kevin Costner from Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1; Saoirse Ronan and Steve McQueen from Blitz and Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton and Pedro Almodóvar from The Room Next Door.

Related: Deadline Contenders Film Los Angeles Arrivals And Panels Gallery: Kevin Costner, Brian Tyree Henry, Mikey Madison, Luca Guadagnino, Maisy Stella And More

Talent that attended the afternoon panels included June Squibb and Josh Margolin from Thelma, Jason Reitman for Saturday Night; Mark Hamill and Lupita Nyong’o from The Wild Robot...

Like its title promises, Day of the Fight climaxes in a boxing match. Star Michael C. Pitt revealed that it was his idea to have a real fight during the production. Writer-director Jack Huston, making his directorial debut, heartily agreed.

“I had said to Jack, ‘Put the fight at the end of the movie. They won’t worry whether or not I get hurt then. We’ll make contact. We’ll fight. We might need to do that.’ ” Pitt said during a discussion of the movie at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles awards showcase. “On a bigger production, they have more time. They have stunts and all these things.”

Huston only had one and a half days to film the climax of the film, a fact that floored even Martin Scorsese when he introduced a screening in New York.

“You put him in the ring,” Huston said, appearing virtually on the panel.

With Anora now playing in theaters, eyes will start to turn toward its eventual streaming release date. 

Starring Scream's Mikey Madison, Anora tells the story of Ani, a stripper who gets wrapped up in an epic love story with the son of a ruthless Russian oligarch. 

The Sean Baker-directed drama, which earned the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 77th Annual Cannes International Film Festival, seems primed for awards glory, becoming one of the most critically celebrated movies of the year.

Read full article on The Direct.

Writer/director Sean Baker does his own casting so he was reviewing many contenders for the role of Ivan, son of a Russian oligarch in Anora. Mark Eydelshteyn impressed Baker by sending him a self-tape where he performed all of his lines in the nude.

“It’s very risky in Hollywood to send nude self-tapes,” Eydelshteyn said. “But, it’s Ivan.”

Eydelshteyn said he was already struggling with the English language dialogue of the audition. Furthermore, Ivan is a wealthy character with fancy clothes. The actor had to think creatively to convey this with his own limited resources.

“I have no expensive clothes at all so I made the decision I will be nude and it will be honest, honest to Sean, honest to this story,” he said.

Baker did not make Mikey Madison audition for the lead role of Ani, a stripper and sex worker who falls in love with Ivan.