Category Archives: Film

Another Hollywood writers’ strike is going ahead. Here’s what you need to know

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The Writers Guild of America have announced a strike will begin tomorrow, after talks broke down with major studios and streamers

Hollywood’s writers are going out on strike for the first time in more than 15 years.

The Writers Guild of America announced on Monday night that its 11,500 members will stop working on Tuesday afternoon, after negotiations between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a group representing most major studios and streaming services, broke down.

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Hollywood film and TV writers begin rare strike: ‘The dream should pay a living wage’

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Writers Guild of America calls first work stoppage in 15 years as industry grapples with streaming boom

Hollywood productions have ground to a halt after thousands of film and television writers went on strike following the breakdown of last-minute pay talks with major studios.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) called its first stoppage in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement on higher pay, pitting its 11,500 screenwriters against old-guard companies, such as Universal, Paramount and Walt Disney, as well as tech newcomers, such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple.

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Academy Awards changes rules around social media after this year’s Oscars controversies

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has overhauled rules around campaigning for Oscars after incidents involving Andrea Riseborough, Jerry Bruckheimer and Michelle Yeoh

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced its “most significant overhaul” of rules around campaigning for Oscars, fresh after Andrea Riseborough’s controversial nomination for best actress.

The changes and clarifications come after several incidents were flagged as possibly breaking the rules around campaigning for nominations at this year’s Academy Awards. These included Riseborough’s nomination for her performance in To Leslie, after an aggressive guerrilla campaign that saw actors including Kate Winslet, Amy Adams and Gwyneth Paltrow endorse the low-budget indie film. The British actor had not been considered a contender for a nomination, with some suggesting her inclusion had come at the expense of Black actors.

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Hollywood writers and studios hold talks as strike deadline looms

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Writers Guild of America could call stoppage as early as Tuesday if pay agreement is not reached

Negotiators for Hollywood writers and film and television studios are engaged in 11th-hour talks in an effort to avert a strike that would disrupt TV production across an industry grappling with seismic changes.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) could call a work stoppage as early as Tuesday if it cannot reach a deal with companies such as Walt Disney and Netflix. A strike would be the first by the WGA in 15 years.

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‘I won’t be 80’: Michael J Fox describes struggles with Parkinson’s

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The actor, who was diagnosed aged 29, said advancing disease had caused him a string of injuries but he was still able to remain optimistic

Back to the Future star Michael J Fox described Parkinson’s as a “gift that keeps on taking” in an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, in which he described his struggles with the illness.

The 61-year-old activist and former Hollywood actor was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease a year after Back to the Future Part III was released in 1990.

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Edinburgh University cancels film screening after trans rights protest

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Adult Human Female, which asserts that women are defined solely by biological sex, stopped after activists block entrances

The screening of a controversial film asserting that women are defined solely by their biological sex has been cancelled by Edinburgh University after trans rights activists occupied entrances to the venue.

The screening of the documentary Adult Human Female was organised with the university’s support after a previous event in December was prevented from taking place when protesters confronted audience members and occupied a screening room minutes before it was due to be shown.

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Disney sues Ron DeSantis in battle over control of Florida resort

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Entertainment giant wants court to overturn governor’s efforts to exert control over Walt Disney World theme parks in Orlando

Disney sued Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida and presumed challenger for the Republican presidential nomination, on Wednesday, saying he had subjected it to “a targeted campaign of government retaliation”.

The entertainment giant wants a court to overturn state efforts to exert control over Walt Disney World in Orlando. The lawsuit was filed within minutes of a DeSantis-appointed oversight board voting to override agreements made in February that allowed the company to expand the theme park and maintain control over neighboring land.

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Film-maker Jafar Panahi leaves Iran for first time in 14 years as travel ban lifted

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The award-winning director who was released from prison in February is rumoured to be a juror at the Cannes film festival

Jafar Panahi, the acclaimed Iranian director whose life has been dominated by clashes with his country’s government, has left Iran for the first time in 14 years.

Panahi’s wife, Tahereh Saeedi, posted a picture on Instagram on Tuesday night showing her arriving with her husband at an undisclosed airport.

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Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and tireless activist, dies aged 96

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Chart-topping calypso singer who supported US civil rights movement and African initiatives dies of congestive heart failure

Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and civil rights activist who broke down racial barriers, has died aged 96.

As well as performing global hits such as Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), winning a Tony award for acting and appearing in numerous feature films, Belafonte spent his life fighting for a variety of causes. He bankrolled numerous 1960s initiatives to bring civil rights to Black Americans; campaigned against poverty, apartheid and Aids in Africa; and supported leftwing political figures such as Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

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French electricity workers may pull plug on Cannes film festival over pension law

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Monaco Grand Prix and French Open may also be interrupted after new legislation to raise retirement age

France’s electricity workers are threatening to pull the plug at the Cannes film festival as part of ongoing protests over pension changes.

Members of the National Federation of Mines and Energy – a branch of the powerful CGT union – have announced “100 days of action and anger” that is expected to hit the movie industry’s annual event as well as other sports and cultural meetings.

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‘The dragon’s head started to glow’: Disneyland fire sends crowds running

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Spectacular conflagration prompts evacuation of Tom Sawyer Island at California resort but no injuries reported

A 45ft-tall Disneyland dragon caught fire late on Saturday during a show in Anaheim, California, causing those in attendance to flee, local media and officials said. No injuries or deaths were reported.

“The dragon’s head started to glow, and I see fire and kind of smoke coming out,” Elaine Gilmer, who was at the event, told ABC News.

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John Travolta’s Saturday Night Fever suit up for sale – with ‘authentic’ sweat marks

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One of two identical white three-pieces worn by star in 1977 role expected to fetch $250,000

It’s one of film’s iconic images: a smouldering John Travolta, in a white three-piece suit, lapels licking the shoulders, raising his right arm on a glowing dancefloor.

And now, the white polyester outfit from Saturday Night Fever – the 1977 chronicle of the dying days of disco – could be yours for a quarter of a million dollars.

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Criminal charges against Alec Baldwin dropped in Rust film set shooting

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Baldwin was pointing a pistol at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal in 2021 when the gun went off

Prosecutors in New Mexico have dropped criminal charges against the actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western movie Rust, officials confirmed on Thursday.

Baldwin, 65, was pointing a Colt .45 pistol at Hutchins during a rehearsal on 21 October 2021 when the gun went off, killing Hutchins and wounding the director Joel Souza.

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Star quality: Russia premieres first feature film shot in space

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Vladimir Putin hails achievement that beat Hollywood project announced by Tom Cruise, Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceX

The first feature film shot in space premiered in Russian cinemas on Thursday, as Moscow exulted in beating a rival Hollywood project amid a confrontation with the west.

The Challenge is about a surgeon dispatched to the International Space Station (ISS) to save an injured cosmonaut. Russia sent an actor and a film director for a 12-day stint on the ISS in October 2021 to film scenes aboard the orbiting laboratory.

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Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ movie to resume filming 18 months after shooting

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A representative said filming likely to restart in Montana on Thursday while a number of legal issues remain unresolved

Filming on the western movie Rust could resume this week in Montana, the production company said, 18 months after the fatal shooting of a cinematographer during a rehearsal with actor Alec Baldwin on the original production in New Mexico.

Baldwin is set to continue his involvement with the project as both actor and co-producer. Rust Move Productions attorney Melina Spadone said via a representative that filming will restart on Thursday at the Yellowstone Film Ranch.

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Cannes defends decision to pick Johnny Depp film as festival opener

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Prestige slot for Jeanne de Barry, featuring Depp as Louis XV, has drawn criticism but general delegate Thierry Frémaux says it is not ‘a controversial choice’

Cannes film festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux has defended the decision to hand the prestigious opening slot to Jeanne du Barry, in which Depp stars as Louis XV.

Directed by and starring Maïwenn, Jeanne du Barry is a biopic of the famous 18th-century maîtresse-en-titre, who was executed in 1793 during the French revolution. Speaking to Variety, Frémaux said it was not “a controversial choice”, adding: “If Johnny Depp had been banned from working it would have been different, but that’s not the case. We only know one thing, it’s the justice system and I think he won the legal case.”

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African film-makers reimagine folktales as dark fantasy dramas for Netflix

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The six films include the tale of an ogre who preys on women, a sci-fi Nigeria taken over by AI, and a girl on a mission to end drought

Traditional African tales of monsters, genies and malevolent spirits have been reworked for a contemporary audience in a new Netflix series.

Film-makers from Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritania and Uganda have turned six traditional stories into dark fantasy dramas that cover topics including domestic violence, suicide and child marriage.

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‘An attack on culture’: Athens film fans fight threat to historic cinemas

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Directors such as Yorgos Lanthimos have joined campaign to save the Astor and Ideal from hotel and office developments

The spectre of two historic Athens cinemas being closed by commercial interests bent on turning them into a hotel and office block has spurred film-makers to get in front of the camera with pleas to stop the process.

Directors of international acclaim have appealed to save the buildings amid mounting public disquiet over the pace of development in one of Europe’s oldest capitals. Leading the charge, Costa-Gavras, the Paris-based film director who shot to fame with the political drama Z, released when Greece was under military rule, called the existence of the Ideal and Astor cinemas indispensable for the enjoyment of film in an era when the “barbarism” of movies being watched on TV and mobile phones was widespread.

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Jeremy Renner says snowplough accident was ‘my mistake’

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Avengers actor apologises to family for snowplough accident that left him close to death

The Oscar-nominated actor Jeremy Renner has said he was at fault in a New Year’s Day snowplough accident that left him close to death and apologised to his family for putting them through the ordeal.

Renner, in an interview on Walt Disney Co’s ABC network on Thursday, said he was driving the snowplough after using it to pull one of the family’s trucks out of the snow.

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UK’s status as cinematic powerhouse at risk, warns Oscar winner David Puttnam

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In speech to Bafta, Chariots of Fire producer says industry must invest ‘far more’ to close yawning skills gap

The Oscar-winning producer David Puttnam has issued a rallying cry to the film industry to address its yawning skills gap and grow audiences before the UK is eclipsed as a cinematic powerhouse.

In a speech to Bafta on Tuesday, Puttnam – the president of the Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) and a former peer – urged the industry to “invest far more” in its workforce to retain international competitiveness.

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