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The filmmakers of the British drama, Joy, were tasked to find a cast of talented actors to help in recreating the events of one of the biggest medical breakthroughs in history. Directed by Ben Taylor, Joy follows a surgeon, Patrick Steptoe, and a scientist, Robert Edwards, who team together with embryologist nurse Jean Purdy to work on solving the medical puzzle of infertility. The trio pioneers the breakthrough of in vitro fertilization, which ultimately leads to the birth of the world's first IVF baby, born in 1978.

Joy portrays the determination and dedication that the three have in terms of their research, and helping women who are struggling with fertility. But as shown in the Joy movie trailer, it also masterfully displays the media scrutiny, religious outrage and public scorn they were forced to endure in the process. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes have described the movie as a triumphant representation of...

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, the long-awaited sequel to Aardman’s 2000 smash hit Chicken Run — still the most successful stop-motion animated feature of all time almost quarter of a century later — is set to get its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival.

The film, which The Hollywood Reporter first broke news of back in 2018 and was later swooped upon by Netflix, comes from Oscar and BAFTA-nominated director Sam Fell (ParaNorman, Flushed Away), and will bow on Oct. 14 at London’s Royal Festival Hall, with simultaneous preview screenings at sites around the U.K.

With the London Film Festival having last year screened the world premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which went on to claim the Oscar for best animated feature, Academy favorites Aardman should be hoping that the festival proves to be a similarly successful springboard (while the original Chicken Run missed out on the 2001 awards,...

The VOD charts saw an infusion of new blood with Lionsgate’s “Plane” (19.99) surging ahead in its first week. It ranks #1 at iTunes, #2 on Vudu’s weekly chart (disadvantaged by its Friday release), and #4 at Google Play, which always lags a few days behind.

That puts it ahead of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Disney), “Babylon” (Paramount), and “House Party” (Warner Bros. Discovery), all at 19.99. “Wakanda” also streams on Disney+.

“Plane” and “House Party” both came out after their third weekends in theaters. That was expected for “House Party,” the first of several films initially destined for HBO Max but instead debut with less-elevated theatrical play before going to the streaming site.

For “Plane,” it’s an unusual move. The Gerald Butler-produced action film did well in theaters over the three weekends before it added home viewing, but initial response suggests value in moving quickly.

“M3GAN” (Universal/19.99) continues its strong...