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Hollywood has always been a place where talent shines, but it’s also where controversies bubble up like a pot of water on the stove. This was never more apparent than when several prominent stars, including Kate Winslet and Timothée Chalamet, openly expressed regret over their collaborations with the once-celebrated yet now-controversial director, who faced serious accusations from his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, about s*xual abuse dating back to 1992.

Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson in Vicky Cristina Barcelona | Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Winslet, who starred in Wonder Wheel (2017), and Chalamet, who worked with Allen on A Rainy Day in New York (2019), have publicly acknowledged the discomfort of their past decisions. Meanwhile, Rebecca Hall is doing a little soul-searching.

In 2018, Hall said she was “profoundly sorry” for her involvement with Allen in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and A Rainy Day in New York. But now, she’s reconsidering that apology.

Rebecca...

Over the past few years, a number of actors have expressed their regrets about working with Woody Allen, including Greta Gerwig, Kate Winslet, and Timothée Chalamet. But for those actors who still want to appear in the 88-year-old director’s films? Mia Farrow totally gets it.

“I completely understand if an actor decides to work with him,” Farrow told CBS Sunday Morning. “I’m not one who’d say, ‘Oh, they shouldn’t.’” Farrow, who collaborated with Allen on 13 movies over the course of decades, also says she can separate her experiences on those films from the family turmoil that came afterward. “Oh yeah, yeah.”

Farrow’s latest comments are surprising given the former couple’s history. Farrow and Allen adopted two children together, Dylan and Moses. In the early 1990s, Farrow accused Allen of molesting Dylan. However, the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of Yale-New Haven Hospital and the New...

It’s always a cultural event when a celebrity is arrested, but often enough, people are willing to forgive someone who has starred in great movies, dazzled as a pro athlete, or recorded favorite hit singles. Justin Timberlake, however, can no longer trade on his history with ‘NSync or his peak as a solo artist to stay in the public’s good graces: when he was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated in the Hamptons early on Tuesday morning, the resounding consensus on social media was that he deserved the embarrassment.

Timothée Chalamet worked together with Woody Allen in the 2019 film, A Rainy Day In New York. However, the Dune actor later regretted the decision to work together with the director after allegations of s*xual abuse once again surfaced against Allen. Allen accused that Chalamet denounced him as part of a PR stunt to improve his winning chances at the Oscars in 2018.

Timothée Chalamet in a still from Woody Allen’s A Rainy Day in New York | MPI Media Group

The Annie Hall director was accused of inappropriate behavior towards his and Mia Farrow’s daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992. While he denied the allegations at the time, they once again resurfaced during the Me Too movement.

Woody Allen Claims Timothée Chalamet’s Regret Of Working With Him Was A PR Stunt Woody Allen in an interview | CBS News

Woody Allen worked with an ensemble cast including Timothée Chalamet, Selena Gomez,...

In the early scenes of his new fantasy film geared to families, John Krasinski is seen as a 12-year-old girl’s father who’s in the hospital preparing for what seems to be life-threatening heart surgery. To keep up his daughter’s spirits, he delivers elaborate jokes and comedy routines, leading her to complain that he needn’t bother, that she’s not a child anymore. In other words, she thinks he’s trying too hard, which is something you could also say about If.

There’s no denying the ambition and thoughtfulness on display in this effort written and directed by Krasinski, which marks a notable stylistic turn from his smash hit horror films A Quiet Place and its sequel. If, whose title means “Imaginary Friends,” aims for obvious laughs with its multitude of amusing computer-animated characters featuring all sorts of incarnations from teddy bears to melting marshmallows. But...

Actors Kate Winslet and Idris Elba collaborated for the first time for the 2017 feature Mountain Between Us. But while working together, Winslet and Elba found themselves communicating with each other the way a real couple would.

Idris Elba shared what it was like working with Kate Winslet in ‘The Mountain Between Us’ Idris Elba and Kate Winslet | Samir Hussein/WireImage

The Mountain Between Us was a 2017 romance film starring both Elba and Winslet as a stranded couple trying to survive cold climates. Although the film was fictional, the environmental conditions were very real according to Elba.

“I won’t say it was tough,” Elba once told The Sydney Morning Herald. “But it was hard work. It was very cold and very taxing on your body.”

Elba would also be working with Winslet for the first time. Her experience with romance films would help The Wire alum adjust to a genre...

Last week, The Hollywood Reporter reported that cinephiles were sharing “samizdat” links to Woody Allen’s latest film Coup de Chance from a French-to-Dutch-to-English translation, and New Yorkers were attending clandestine screenings at an East Village bar/event space. Today, THR can exclusively report that those who wish to see the 88-year-old’s latest project, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival in early September to (mostly) positive reviews, can do so without slinking around or needing secret codes.

MPI Media Group will release the picture, Allen’s 50th theatrically released feature film as a director, for North American markets on April 5, 2024. A digital/VOD release will follow on April 12.

The movie, shot in France in French, stars Lou de Laâge (Respire, The Mad Woman’s Ball) as a self-aware trophy wife who reconnects with an old chum from the Lycée Français in New York, played by Niels Schneider (Heartbeats,...

At this point in his career, moviegoers know Woody Allen more for his notoriety than his ability to make good films. Let’s face it: Allen’s late-career period has been waning since at least 2017’s “Wonder Wheel,” but arguably earlier than that. And at age 87, that comes as no surprise.

But according to World Of Reel, at least Allen still has his wits about him regarding the sheer glut of the MCU.

Continue reading Woody Allen Is “Fed Up” With Marvel Movies Like So Many Other Filmmakers Of His Generation at The Playlist.

Exclusive: Distributor-producer Lucky Red is one of Italy’s most respected independent film and TV companies. Run by former actor Andrea Occhipinti since 1987, the firm has released more than 500 titles and produced more than 50 films.

The company has worked with filmmakers including Paolo Sorrentino, Lars Von Trier, Wong Kar Wai, Ang Lee, Park Chan Wook, Michael Haneke, Francois Ozon, Hayao Miyazaki, the Dardenne brothers, Wes Anderson, Paolo Genovese, Denis Villeneuve, Paul Thomas Anderson, Pablo Larraín and Asghar Farahdi.

It has also released more obviously commercial titles such as Angel Has Fallen, Hustlers, Den Of Thieves and Hereditary, and had fruitful theatrical partnerships with companies such as Netflix, Universal and Studio Ghibli.

Since shortly before the pandemic, Lucky Red, which hasn’t been afraid to ruffle the occasional feather, has also increased its activity in TV and exhibition.

We sat down company founder Occhipinti and his longtime lieutenants Stefano Massenzi (Head...

If you’re looking for an inviolable law of cinema, the Venice Film Festival just confirmed an ironically delightful one. It is this: Murder agrees with Woody Allen. We already knew that, of course. We knew it from “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” a drama that was shocking when it came out in 1989 — and if you see it today, it’s still shocking, because the theme of the movie isn’t just that ordinary people commit murder (we see that in movies every day). It’s that they seem disturbingly ordinary even as they’re doing it, which is a bit scary. Martin Landau, as a mild bourgeois ophthalmologist who hires someone to kill off his mistress, seemed to be playing the squirmy essence of every amateur criminal, and the fact that he got away with it was the unsettling part. It made you think: How many people like that are out there?...

After highlighting 40 titles confirmed to hit theaters this fall, we now turn our attention to the festival-bound films either without distribution or a confirmed fall release date. Looking over Venice, Toronto, and New York Film Festival selections, we’ve rounded up 20––most of which we’ll be checking out over the next few weeks––we can’t wait to see.

Find our 20 most-anticipated festival premieres below and return for our reviews, as well as news if some of these hit theaters this fall.

Aggro DR1FT

“I have never made anything like it. I was trying not to make a movie. I don’t know if it will be a scandal, but it will be its own statement,” Harmony Korine said of his shot-in-secret infrared action film Aggro DR1FT starring Travis Scott. Never one to repeat himself––regardless of how you may feel about the results––we’re mighty intrigued what...

Kohn’s Corner is a weekly column about the challenges and opportunities of sustaining American film culture.

This week provided a confluence of contentious developments for the film industry, and I’m not talking about the ongoing writers strike. First reviews of “The Flash” dropped ahead of the movie’s release and while they’re definitely mixed, the movie doesn’t seem destined for the dustbin despite its ostracized lead. Ezra Miller’s assault charges haven’t gone away, but that hasn’t deterred Warner Bros. from hurtling toward the theatrical release plan and mitigating Miller’s scandal however it can.

Miller, of course, stayed out of the spotlight while the studio ramped up buzz. Tracking for the June 16 release in the unremarkable $70 million-$75 million range, which means it may not be the summer’s most profitable blockbuster. However, the hype machine ensured that audiences won’t cancel “The Flash” alongside its troubled star.

We’ve covered Venice (currently ongoing) and TIFF (beginning this week), so last but definitely not least in our analysis of the fall film festivals and their overall impact on awards season is the New York Film Festival, Film at Lincoln Center’s annual celebration of cinema that’s going into its 60th edition.

SEEBrendan Fraser stuns in ‘The Whale’ at Venice Film Festival: There were ‘visible tears as audience members left the screening’

The very first New York Film Festival took place in 1963 with the opening night film being “The Exterminating Angel” by Luis Buñuel, and over the next 59 years, the festival carefully balanced contemporary world cinema with the work of prominent American and Canadian filmmakers.

One of the reasons the New York Film Festival is so important is because there are a ton of motion picture academy voters living in New York City, who will have their first...

“‘Maisel’ does nothing small,” admits production mixer Mathew Price with a laugh as he reflects on his latest Emmy nomination for the Amazon series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” He and re-recording mixer Ron Bochar celebrate the nomination this year — which they share with colleagues George A. Lara and Stewart Lerman — especially because of the challenges they faced while working during the pandemic. Even though there were new limitations, both mixers were amazed that the show continued to go big in terms of story, production, and the number of background performers rather than scale down. Watch our exclusive video interview.

Bochar and Price are nominated for sound mixing for the Season 4 finale, “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?.” Price shares that he thinks of this installment as “the best episode the show’s ever produced, dramatically.” He explains, “The drama and the emotion the show reaches is very real and earned.

Woody Allen’s decade-long downward spiral began after making “Midnight in Paris” in 2011 and following it up with a series of movies ranging from bad to worse to worse than that: “Irrational Man,” “Wonder Wheel,” “Cafe Society,” “A Rainy Day in New York.” At least we have the minor gift of “Blue Jasmine,” a comparatively fine movie according to the pathetic standard set by the rest, to counterpoint the nearly annual stream of Allen’s shrugging dross, but the emphasis is on “minor.” What a difference a change in era made for one of American cinema’s most influential directors.

Continue reading ‘Rifkin’s Festival’ Review: Woody Allen’s Latest, Yet Again, Proves His Best Days Are Behind Him at The Playlist.

Woody Allen has posted the lowest box office opening weekend of his career with his 49th film, “Rifkin’s Festival,” grossing just $24,000 on Friday and Saturday from 26 theaters, according to box office sources.

Most of the theaters screening the film are owned by Landmark Theaters, whose flagship Los Angeles location posted the highest single theater total for the film with $2,300. Other theaters outside of Landmark’s circuit screening the film include the Quad Theatre in New York City, where the film grossed $1,600 over two days.

By comparison, Allen’s previous film “Wonder Wheel” earned approximately $125,000 from five screens on its 3-day opening weekend in 2017, when the rise of the #MeToo movement brought long-standing allegations by actress Dylan Farrow against Allen — her adoptive father — returned to the public eye. Farrow, whose brother Ronan helped expose Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual assaults in The New Yorker, has accused Allen of molesting her...

Entering the “likely a money-laundering scheme for Spanish businessmen” part of his European travelogue era, Woody Allen turns uniquely narrow-minded and bitter with Rifkin’s Festival, which takes aim at the film culture that’s both alienated and abandoned him this past decade. Exciting though it is to see the proverbial gloves come off, the hands, sadly, don’t get very dirty.

Beginning on the therapist couch, film critic, professor, and failed novelist Mort Rifkin recounts the story of how he accompanied his wife Sue (Gina Gershon) to the prestigious San Sebastián International Film Festival, where she was handling publicity for Philippe (Louis Garrel), a socially conscious, classic-American-cinema-loving filmmaker diametrically opposed to Mort’s own cinephilic principles. It’s hard to pinpoint what straw man Allen’s exactly going after here—perhaps Phillippe is just a stand-in for all the millennial A24 directors who’ve pissed him off in recent years—but regardless,...

Streamer will release film from family-run Wonder Wheel Productions in North America, UK & Ireland, Aus/Nz in early 2022.

Genre streaming platform Shudder has picked up multiple English-speaking territories from Yellow Veil Pictures to occult horror Hellbender ahead of its world premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival.

Shudder will release the film from family-run Wonder Wheel Productions in North America, the UK and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in early 2022.

Toby Poser, John Adams and Zelda Adams wrote and directed the story about 16-year-old Izzy (Zelda Adams) who suffers from a rare illness that has kept her isolated her entire life...

Sometimes silence says more than all the words in the world.

If anyone had any doubt that Christopher Meloni is a powerhouse of an actor,  Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 1 Episode 4 proved it.

Stabler's reactions while alone in his home at the beginning and end of the hour were among some of the strongest moments in the series thus far, plus we got some of the best, most accurate depictions of Ptsd on television.

A good chunk of time was dedicated to Stabler's decompensation.

His nightmares are getting worse, and he seems to be consumed with the idea of finding Kathy's killer, to the point that he doesn't care about anything else.

Stabler: There was a couple on the street where the car blew up, taking selfies.

Other cop: Do you know what time it is?

Stabler: No. I wasn't paying attention. But I need that photo.

Other cop: Next time,...

Woody Allen lashed out at all the actors who have publicly condemned him in recent years and expressed regret about having worked on his films — or refuse to act for him again.

“I think they’re well-meaning but they’re foolish,” the filmmaker said in a new CBS News interview released on Paramount+ Sunday. “All they’re doing is they’re persecuting a perfectly innocent person and they’re enabling this lie.”

In the interview, which was recorded last July after the publication of Allen’s memoir “Apropos of Nothing,” Allen repeated his previous denials that he had sexually molested his then-7-year-old daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992. The accusations, which were investigated at the time, resurfaced in mid-2010s and led many to take a public stand against the filmmaker — particularly after the emergence of the #MeToo movement in 2017.

Stars such as Kate Winslet (“Wonder Wheel”), Mira Sorvino (“Mighty Aphrodite...

By any estimation, the Woody Allen business looks like it’s in terrible shape. The 85-year-old filmmaker was further ostracized by the industry when “Allen v. Farrow,” the four-part HBO series from directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, resurrected sexual assault allegations leveled against him by his daughter Dylan Farrow. Now, as the finale of “Allen v. Farrow” reverberates, some may assume that Allen has no path forward to keep making movies.

He does, of course. Pushback won’t faze him — he’s got a decade of it under his belt — nor will box-office ignominy, as his career has more of that than success. What about an entertainment industry that’s actively hostile toward financing the small, specific, not-inexpensive dramas that he makes? That’s irrelevant: While he’s intractable about the movies he makes, Allen appears to be infinitely flexible when it comes to financing and — perhaps more than...

In “Allen v. Farrow,” the four-part docuseries that premiered on HBO Sunday night, documentarians Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering and Amy Herdy have tackled an especially daunting and divisive subject, even for them. The filmmakers behind the documentaries “The Hunting Ground,” “The Invisible War” and “On the Record,” have investigated Dylan Farrow’s 1992 allegations that her father, Woody Allen, sexually abused her when she was 7 years old.

Dylan Farrow’s harrowing accusations played out in court during the lead-up to the vicious custody battle between Allen and his ex-partner Mia Farrow — and every day, they were also splashed on the pages of the New York Post. Simultaneously, Allen’s then-newly revealed sexual relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, Farrow’s older daughter, ensured the tabloid press was fully engaged, something Allen weaponized against Mia Farrow, whom he painted as a manipulative hysteric. In “Allen v. Farrow,” she talks on camera for the first...

For approximately the last three years, Woody Allen has been known as an alleged child abuser first and a filmmaker second. His last feature to land American distribution was 2017’s “Wonder Wheel,” and even that release was hindered by the rise of the #MeToo movement. Since then, Allen has had to seek funding for new movies from foreign producers, he’s seen his two finished features kept out of the most respected film festivals, and though he’s still working and still profiting, the ostracized Oscar winner has been trying to repair his public image through his adopted son, Moses Farrow, with his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, and in his 2020 memoir, “Apropos of Nothing.”

Little, if anything, has made a difference. Allen’s reputation remains exactly where it belongs — in the trash heap — but in case the once-vindicated auteur thought he could spin, wait out, or once again dodge the charges...

The director of Palmer helps us kick off our new season by walking us through some of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Bloodhounds Of Broadway (1989)

Salvador (1986)

True Believer (1989)

Palmer (2021)

Wonder Wheel (2017)

A Face In The Crowd (1957)

On The Waterfront (1954)

No Time For Sergeants (1958)

The Confidence Man (2018)

Lolita (1962)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

The Ghost Of Peter Sellers (2018)

The Marrying Man (1991)

The Ruling Class (1972)

The Krays (1990)

Let Him Have It (1991)

The Changeling (1980)

On The Border (1998)

Murder By Decree (1979)

Bigger Than Life (1956)

The Night of the Iguana (1964)

Fat City (1972)

Angel (1984)

Animal House (1978)

My Science Project (1985)

Lucía (1968)

Paper Moon (1973)

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

The Great McGinty (1940)

I Married A Witch (1942)

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Raging Bull (1980)

Once Upon A Time In America (1984)

The Rider (2017)

The Mustang (2019)

Nomadland (2020)

Murmur of the Heart (1971)

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The Conversation (1974)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather Part III (1990)

The Magnificent Ambersons...

Justin Timberlake returns to acting in the first trailer for the Apple TV+ film, Palmer. While he did lend his voice to this year's Trolls World Tour, this marks his first on-screen appearance in a film since the 2017 Woody Allen movie Wonder Wheel. In the film, Timberlake plays a former college football star named Eddie Palmer who is trying to get life together after serving 12…...

On October 9, with little fanfare, Mpi released Woody Allen’s 2019 comedy “A Rainy Day in New York.” Virtually no one noticed: Six playdates yielded $2,744, or $457 per theater, for a total of around 300 ticket buyers.

The romantic comedy, which stars Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Jude Law, Rebecca Hall, Liev Schreiber, Selena Gomez, and Diego Luna, has already played most of the world and grossed $22 million — better than his 2017 “Wonder Wheel.” An Amazon release starring Kate Winslet, that title earned $1.4 million in domestic play in the face of #MeToo backlash and mediocre reviews. Its worldwide total was $16 million.

“Rainy Day” played six specialized theaters. Three were Landmark as well as independent outlets in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Fort Myers, Fla. Only the Century City in Chicago took in more than $1,000. Despite the poor showings, it was the best-grossing film at four of the six cinemas, at least among those that reported grosses. (Warner Bros....

By Abe Friedtanzer

It’s easy to forget just how formidable Woody Allen’s Oscar history is. Not only is he the most-nominated screenwriter, with sixteen bids, he’s also tied for fourth place in the directing category with seven. He won three prizes for Best Original Screenplay, for the three films that earned Best Picture nominations: Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Midnight in Paris. Annie Hall of course won the top prize for 1977.

Allen has made nearly fifty films, and by my count, I’ve seen a third of those. A good portion of them are from the last two decades, which is hardly considered his golden period. Of his contemporary pictures, I was most wowed by Match Point, which was a dramatic departure from his typical tone as well as a geographical departure from his beloved New York City. But his most recent, Wonder Wheel, was...

Kate Winslet is continuing to speak out against her “Wonder Wheel” director Woody Allen. Following a Vanity Fair interview last week in which the Oscar-winning actress admitted she regretted working with Allen, Winslet spoke to Variety this week and doubled down on her belief that she should have never worked with the “Annie Hall” and “Blue Jasmine” filmmaker in the first place.

“We learn, we grow, we change,” Winslet told Variety. “I think we should all be allowed to say, ‘Look, I shouldn’t have done that,’ you know? And I think this is a huge, seismic time for all of us, where we’re aware of how many planes we take, for example, or things we have done in the past — or would go back and wish to do differently. And I just want to lead with a bit of integrity, and to just be up front and say,...

During an interview at Variety’s virtual studio at the Toronto International Film Festival, Kate Winslet — who stars in the festival’s lesbian romance “Ammonite” — elaborated on the regrets she recently expressed about working with directors Woody Allen and Roman Polanski. In an interview with Vanity Fair that published last week, Winslet talked about how the #MeToo movement has influenced her thinking and her choices, and said: “It’s like, what the fuck was I doing working with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski?”

On Monday, Winslet expanded on that sentiment.

“We learn, we grow, we change,” Winslet said. “I think we should all be allowed to say, ‘Look, I shouldn’t have done that,’ you know? And I think this is a huge, seismic time for all of us, where we’re aware of how many planes we take, for example, or things we have done in the past — or...

Kate Winslet made headlines this week for a revealing interview with Vanity Fair where she questioned her choices in ever working with directors Woody Allen (on “Wonder Wheel”) and Roman Polanski (on “Carnage”). But in the candid conversation, the Academy Award-winning actress, whose “Ammonite” just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and is a possible Oscar player, also sounded off on what she thinks is the “colossal” amount of money “wasted” on promoting movies, and the stress of the awards derby.

“The question of how Hollywood will change is probably not something that any of us could fully answer quite this far out,” Winslet said of the new Hollywood faced with how to grapple creatively with the pandemic, and the rollout of films amid the global crisis. “But it is clearly changing significantly.”

Winslet said the experience of promoting her new film virtually has also been more satisfying. “Just...

Kate Winslet in an interview discussing her new romance “Ammonite” said that taking the part made her rethink some of her previous roles, and she now regrets working with two once-venerated directors, Woody Allen and Roman Polanski.

Winslet told Vanity Fair Friday that the #MeToo movement and working with director Francis Lee on “Ammonite” made her more aware of how women are portrayed in films and that she wishes she had spoken up on previous projects throughout her career.

“It’s like, what the f— was I doing working with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski? It’s unbelievable to me now how those men were held in such high regard, so widely in the film industry and for as long as they were. It’s f–ing disgraceful,” she told Vanity Fair. “And I have to take responsibility for the fact that I worked with them both. I can’t turn back the clock.

Kate Winslet has worked with both Woody Allen and Roman Polanski. Looking back, she questions why the film industry — herself included — ever even supported the men.

In an interview with Vanity Fair ahead of the “Ammonite” premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the star opened up about her regrets and how she’s learned to speak up for herself on set. She also talked about being a woman in film, and the harassment that comes with it.

“It’s like, what the f— was I doing working with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski? It’s unbelievable to me now how those men were held in such high regard, so widely in the film industry and for as long as they were. It’s f–king disgraceful,” she told Vanity Fair.

Winslet starred in Allen’s “Wonder Wheel” and in Polanski’s “Carnage.”

“I have to take responsibility for the...

Kate Winslet is sounding off on her regrets over working with Woody Allen on “Wonder Wheel” and Roman Polanski on “Carnage.” Allen has been accused of molesting his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow when she was a child, while Polanski was arrested in 1977 for raping a 13-year-old girl. Ahead of the world premiere of her new romance “Ammonite,” Winslet tells Vanity Fair it’s disgraceful that Hollywood held the two controversial filmmakers in high regard for so long.

“It’s like, what the fuck was I doing working with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski?” Winslet said. “It’s unbelievable to me now how those men were held in such high regard, so widely in the film industry and for as long as they were. It’s fucking disgraceful. And I have to take responsibility for the fact that I worked with them both. I can’t turn back the clock. I...

While the coronavirus has upended the Oscar season by reducing the importance of fall film festivals that will likely do more virtual screening rather than physical and causing studios to push some major titles into next year, the delayed 93rd Academy Awards will take place on April 23, 2021.

Matters might be up in the air about what films will be eligible and how many will actually be seen on a big screen. More and more, the options are more likely to be drive-ins, streaming sites, protected links for voters and VOD titles.

But on the side of optimism, we asked our readers to pick which likely Best Actress Oscar winner from the past might be able to join the two-fer club of leading ladies who possess two lead honors in the 2021 race. The 13 are Meryl Streep, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Taylor, Olivia de Havilland, Glenda Jackson, Jodie Foster,...

Woody Allen is speaking out in a new interview with The Guardian against the actors who have publicly denounced him over the last several years. After Dylan Farrow’s child molestation allegation against Allen resurfaced in January 2018 amid the #MeToo movement, actors such as Rebecca Hall and Timothée Chalamet expressed regrets over working with the filmmaker and donated salaries from their Allen films to anti-sexual harassment organizations. Allen tells The Guardian it was “silly” for his actors to denounce him.

“The actors have no idea of the facts and they latch on to some self-serving, public, safe position,” Allen said. “Who in the world is not against child molestation? That’s how actors and actresses are, and [denouncing me] became the fashionable thing to do, like everybody suddenly eating kale.”

Allen said he isn’t angered by the allegation defining him in the media and added, “I assume that for the rest...

Ted Hope had quite a ride at Amazon Studios. Early on, when the independent producer (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) saw the digital culture shifts coming to Hollywood, he landed as head of Amazon Original Movies in 2015, where he became the consigliere to successive studio heads who relied on his counsel and support. Today came the news that he would be leaving the job to return to his old routine.

“I came to realize Ted is a producer through and through,” said Amazon studio chief Jennifer Salke in an email to Amazon Studios staffers today. “And that now is the right time for both him and the studio to make a change.”

The news has been a long time coming. Many in Hollywood questioned how long Hope would last inside the Silicon Valley shopping behemoth, but it took five and a half years for Hope to finally make the...

Ted Hope had quite a ride at Amazon Studios. Early on, when the independent producer (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) saw the digital culture shifts coming to Hollywood, he landed as head of Amazon Original Movies in 2015, where he became the consigliere to successive studio heads who relied on his counsel and support. Today came the news that he would be leaving the job to return to his old routine.

“I came to realize Ted is a producer through and through,” said Amazon studio chief Jennifer Salke in an email to Amazon Studios staffers today. “And that now is the right time for both him and the studio to make a change.”

The news has been a long time coming. Many in Hollywood questioned how long Hope would last inside the Silicon Valley shopping behemoth, but it took five and a half years for Hope to finally make the...

Producer deal to start on June 2.

Ted Hope is stepping down as Amazon Studios movies co-head and has signed a multi-year, first-look producing deal with the streaming giant.

Hope will consult on several films planned for release in 2020 and produce select projects on the upcoming development slate. His producing deal starts on June 2.

Matt Newman and Julie Rapaport expand their roles as co-heads of the Original Movies team, reporting to head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke, who said the group would be “in good hands as they continue their collaborative leadership.”

The division’s recent films include Late Night, Brittany Runs A Marathon,...

Producer deal to start on June 2.

Ted Hope is stepping down as Amazon Studios movies co-head and has signed a multi-year, first-look producing deal with the streaming giant.

Hope will consult on several films planned for release in 2020 and produce select projects on the upcoming development slate. His producing deal starts on June 2.

Matt Newman and Julie Rapaport expand their roles as co-heads of the Original Movies team, reporting to head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke, who said the group would be “in good hands as they continue their collaborative leadership.”

The division’s recent films include Late Night, Brittany Runs A Marathon,...

Amazon Studios motion picture executive Ted Hope is stepping down from his role under chief Jennifer Salke, Variety has learned.

The official word from within Amazon is that Hope left by choice, and will transition out with a multi-year first look producing deal at the streamer. He brought deep indie street cred to the fledgling division when it formed. However, many of the films he championed, oversaw, and helped acquire suffered poor results at the box office and received a mixed critical reception.

A replacement for Hope is unlikely as his colleagues Julie Rapaport and Matt Newman will absorb his duties, according to a memo from Salke sent to staff on Thursday congratulating the pair on their “expanded roles.”

In the early days of Amazon’s original movies program, Hope was involved in mounting successful acquisitions like the Academy Award nominated “The Big Sick” and Oscar winner “Manchester By the Sea.

When HBO Max launches May 27, it will end a years-long streaming ban on Studio Ghibli films. The legendary Japanese animation studio announced last October that HBO Max would become the exclusive U.S. streaming home for its acclaimed library of titles, which notably includes the films of Hayao Miyazaki. Twenty-one Studio Ghibli films will be available to stream on HBO Max starting launch day, from “Spirited Away” to “The Tale of The Princess Kaguya,” while other titles like “The Wind Rises” will debut later in 2020. Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki talks about lifting the Ghibli streaming ban in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.

“I’ve been working in films for a long time,” Suzuki said. “I always believed that films should be seen in movie theaters. We were very hesitant about expanding that even further [beyond] physical packages. What changed my mind was seeing Woody Allen make a film specifically for a streaming platform.

As some countries reopen theaters, Woody Allen’s “A Rainy Day in New York” is leading the box office in Norway and South Korea. However, what does #1 really mean during a global pandemic? In this case, it means that the film has no studio competition; that it can triumph even with an anemic per-theater average ($603 in South Korea); and, that no one should underestimate the pull of its star, Timothée Chalamet.

Allen’s films do well in foreign markets; stateside, not so much. His most recent domestic distributor, Amazon Studios, dropped “Rainy Day” in 2018 in the face of Dylan Farrow’s accusations that he molested her as a child. While no theatrical distributor would want that association, the cynical view is that the temptation to pick it up might not have been great: For years, his overseas grosses have beaten domestic by more than 3:1.

So far, “Rainy Day” has...

U.K. sales agency Mr Smith Entertainment will bring “Palmer” onto the market at this year’s Berlinale. Starring Justin Timberlake and directed by Academy Award winning director Fisher Stevens (Best Documentary Feature – “The Cove” with Louis Psihoyos; “Before the Flood”), the dramatic feature has been buzzing since shooting was announced last fall.

Written by Cheryl Guerriero, the feature follows Eddie Palmer, a former college football player just out from a stint in prison. Back in his hometown and hoping to stay on the straight and narrow, he must face residual conflicts from his past while raising a young boy abandoned by his mother.

Academy Award-winning producer Charles B. Wessler (“Green Book”) will produce alongside Sk Global’s John Penotti (“Crazy Rich Asians”) and Charlie Corwin (“The Squid and the Whale”), with Sidney Kimmel (“Crazy Rich Asians”) and Daniel Nadler (“Motherless Brooklyn”). Sk Global and Nadler are co-financing the film.

Rifkin’s Festival

Now that Woody Allen has been officially exiled, he’s been adopted in the realm of world cinema with his latest feature, Rifkin’s Festival, a provisional title for the Spanish/Us co-pro, produced by Letty Aronson of Gravitas Productions (Vicky Cristina Barcelona; Midnight in Paris) and Jaume Roures of Mediapro. The international cast includes Gina Gershon, Christoph Waltz, Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel, Sergi Lopez, and previous Allen collaborators Wallace Shawn and Douglas McGrath. Notably, cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (The Last Emperor; Apocalypse Now), who also lensed Allen’s last three features (Café Society; Wonder Wheel; A Rainy Day in New York) is also on hand.…...

Woody Allen is having a year. His proposed memoir was rejected by four publishing houses, his latest film “A Rainy Day in New York” hardly saw the light of day outside of foreign markets, and he’s been embattled in a lawsuit to the tune of $68 million with Amazon Studios, who terminated a four-picture deal with the Academy Award-winning director last year.

The Oscar-winning “Annie Hall” director has reportedly settled his breach-of-contract lawsuit against Amazon, which ended their deal with Allen when allegations that he molested his daughter, Dylan Farrow, arose again amid the rise of the #MeToo movement.

In response to the lawsuit, Amazon attorneys, according to Variety, initially said in a statement, “Scores of actors and actresses expressed profound regret for having worked with Allen in the past, and many declared publicly that they would never work with him in the future…Allen’s actions and their cascading...

Editor’s note: “A Rainy Day in New York” opens this week in Paris. It does not have U.S. distribution.

Here’s the thing. You can certainly watch Woody Allen’s “A Rainy Day in New York” trying to divorce the film itself from the controversy that surrounds Allen himself. When actors Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning show up onscreen swaddled in tweed and smelling of mothballs, you can appreciate how the young performers spit out the filmmaker’s signature dialogue – to greater or lesser success – focusing on the actors’ work, and not the fact that they would later renounce it. Only, once you do focus on the film itself, and not the circumstances of its release, you come face to face with another, nigh insurmountable obstacle: the iPhone.

Indeed, if the presence of smartphones and their accessories and the references to Jeb Bush and the 1% might anchor “A Rainy Day in New York...

Justin Timberlake is to put down the mic and leave the stage yet again to return to the world of films with a role in Fisher Stevens’ ‘Palmer’.

‘Before The Flood’ and ‘The Cove’ filmmaker, Steven’s will direct from a script by Cheryl Guerriero.

The film will follow a former college football phenomenon who returns from prison to his hometown to try and get his life back on track. He faces not only lingering conflicts from his past but also a more surprising challenge as he finds himself suddenly in charge of a unique young boy abandoned by his wayward mother.

Also in news – Will Poulter cast in ‘Lord of the Rings’ series

Described as “timely and ultimately a hopeful, entertaining story about the resilience and power of human kindness”, the film will be produced by Charles B. Wessler, John Penotti, Charlie Corwin, Sidney Kimmel and Daniel Nadler will produce.

Justin Timberlake has signed to star in “Palmer,” Sk Global’s upcoming dramatic feature with shooting starting in the late fall.

Fisher Stevens is directing. “Green Book” producer Charles B. Wessler will produce alongside Sk Global co-CEOs John Penotti and Charlie Corwin. Sidney Kimmel and Daniel Nadler will also produce. Sk Global and Nadler will co-finance the film. Mr. Smith is handling international sales.

“Palmer,” written by Cheryl Guerriero, is about a former college football phenomenon who, after a stint in prison, returns to his hometown to get his life back on track. There, he faces not only lingering conflicts from his past but also a much more surprising challenge as he finds himself suddenly in charge of a unique young boy who has been abandoned by his wayward mother. The script was named to the 2016 Black List.

Penotti and Corwin said in a statement, “Justin and Fisher bring a...

Justin Timberlake is making a dramatic return to the silver screen.

The pop star and actor, who released a new album last year and hasn't starred in a film since Woody Allen's 2017 comedy Wonder Wheel, is set to star in the drama Palmer, which is slated to start production this fall, Sk Global announced Thursday.

Fisher Stevens, best known for documentaries including the Leonardo DiCaprio production Before the Flood and an episode of Netflix's Dirty Money, is directing from a script by Cheryl Guerriero that appeared on the 2016 Black List.

Palmer follows former high-school football star Eddie Palmer (Timberlake) ...

Justin Timberlake is making a dramatic return to the silver screen.

The pop star and actor, who released a new album last year and hasn't starred in a film since Woody Allen's 2017 comedy Wonder Wheel, is set to star in the drama Palmer, which is slated to start production this fall, Sk Global announced Thursday.

Fisher Stevens, best known for documentaries including the Leonardo DiCaprio production Before the Flood and an episode of Netflix's Dirty Money, is directing from a script by Cheryl Guerriero that appeared on the 2016 Black List.

Palmer follows former high-school football star Eddie Palmer (Timberlake) ...