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'Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?' asked Warner Bros.' Harry Warner at the dawn of Hollywood's sound era. The talkie was to be built around music--production numbers, dance [...]

BEHOLD, THERE ARE LAST which shall be first.' A money storm of biblical proportions is brewing over Hollywood this summer. The studios have begotten a slew of 'event' movies that [...]

With the world's eyes on the Middle East, people need something to watch. A new generation of filmmakers from the region, buoyed by the recent international breakout success of Middle [...]

As the rest of the world whips into a futbol frenzy, distribs and exhibs must counterprogram HOLLYWOOD In six months, one of the most highly anticipated events around the globe [...]

A Bavarian Sunday in late summer: warm, wet, and thunderstruck. A small crowd gathered in the Promenadeplatz, at the heart of Munich, around a stone plinth to which cards and [...]

A short time ago, in honor of the impending holiday season and the looming depression, I settled in for a viewing of ''It's a Wonderful Life.'' I watched it on [...]

Style in films, like style in life, is somewhat suspect and vaguely un-American. Most nonperiod movie dressing is blandly sexy -- for women, some variation on what Jennifer Aniston might [...]

Byline: Sean Smith Jesus movies probably won't be resurrected in Hollywood. Despite the phenomenal success of Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ'--the film is now on track to earn [...]

Is Steven Spielberg right to fear technological change in the movie business? 'I AM a Luddite!' declared Steven Spielberg after a recent preview screening of his film, 'Catch Me If [...]

Shamberg Michael cochairman of Jersey Films, the production company behind Erin Brockovich, Out of Sight, Gattaca There may be a writer's strike, there may not be. Either way, there'll be [...]

HOLLYWOOD With Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild strikes looming, studio execs still are frantically finalizing pre-strike 'go' movies. That means they have less time and energy to [...]

Propaganda steps into the driver's seat If president Rick Hess and chief operating officer Trevor Macy have their way, Propaganda Films will finally achieve what it hasn't been able to [...]

Last year's flat toy sales and a measly 2-3% boost at the box office start 2001 on a somewhat somber note for entertainment marketers. But next summer's broad movie slate [...]

Once a year, I am immersed in the film industry. I mean this quite literally. I do not go out of my way to come into contact with film people, [...]

As access to higher bandwidth continues to increase, more mouse potatoes are passing the popcorn and getting their cinematic kicks on the Web. 'We're definitely seeing an upswing in the [...]

HOLLYWOOD Certainly the dominant special effect at Nov. 16's 'End of Days' preem after-party was having star Arnold Schwarzenegger holding court at a table near the band playing in the [...]

Shakeups loom in new age of bookings AUG. 15, 2004 Using his computer keyboard and mouse, the president of top U.S. theater chain Regal/Loews-AMC books the upcoming weekend's films into [...]

Robust Movie dollars are coming in strong. Internet-related spending remains healthy. Automotives are [...]

TALK TO ANY CEO THESE DAYS and you get the same message: A major period of consolidation looms for the entertainment industry. But some voices in the wilderness are starting [...]

AS I WAS SITTING IN MY LOCAL CINEPLEX and waiting, not very hopefully, for the new Star Trek movie to begin, I watched in the space of about 10 minutes [...]

WRITING IN VANITY FAIR'S MARCH ISSUE, Peter Bart, the editor of Variety, pronounces with all the authority of that august eminence that "the movie business is splitting into two distinct [...]

During the action-packed climax of 'Wall-E,' the Axiom's human commander, Capt. McCrea, must take decisive action. Like every other human onboard, McCrea's a tubby blob, one who's been coddled and [...]

Dubai is ramping up its industry initiatives in an attempt to become the main production hub in the Middle East despite increasing competition from fellow emirate Abu Dhabi as well [...]

EVER SINCE SALLY KIRKLAND landed a supporting actress Oscar nom for 1987 micro-indie 'Anna' by throwing a few parties for her actor friends and by taking out some 'for your [...]

Buoyed by last year's record holiday box office, theater owners and studio execs are optimistic that this December could be as good or even better. And one key factor is [...]

Film festivals have traditionally been an oasis, a heady escape for artists and dealmakers removed from real-world concerns. No longer. The financial crisis is hitting some U.S. film festivals--and hard. [...]

'Frost/Nixon' and 'Doubt' are destined to be serious awards season contenders when they open in December, but even as film adaptations of highly popular plays, they are on a road [...]

A generation of lauded directors is MIA in Hollywood. In an industry driven by buzz, heat, youth and momentum, many talented studio helmers now find themselves on the outside looking [...]

STOCKHOLM In April, Norway got a 'new' film institute when three separate institutions were merged into one. The Norwegian Film Fund, Norwegian Film Development and the Norwegian Film Institute became [...]

ROME With a flesh new four-year mandate, Marco Mueller finally has a chance to burnish his legacy on the Lido and take it to a higher plateau. But don't brand [...]

The meltdown of Deutsche Bank's $450 million slate financing deal at Paramount is clearly a sign of the brutal economic times. But what does Deutsche's scrapping of its entire film [...]

It's clear to many in the film biz that the indie sector is shaking down. And some think it's going to get worse. 'One entertainment industry banker I know believes [...]

Frustratingly slow' is how Paramount Pictures Intl. president Andrew Cripps sums up the progress toward digital exhibition and 3-D in Europe. Like other studio toppers with major 3-D releases on [...]

HONG KONG It is still difficult to speak of an Asian film industry or an Asian box office market, as the region is so divided. But there are some small [...]

HONG KONG The Indian animation boom may have started with cheap labor, as Western companies outsourced projects there, but it was only a matter of time before the explosion of [...]

Does Hollywood still rule the world? For decades, studios released their films worldwide with the confident knowledge that they would be eagerly devoured by movie lovers overseas. But lately, the [...]

Ten years ago, India's animation industry was keen to promote the 'Brand India' label, a pitch that suggested the quality of work might be better than foreigners imagined. Nowadays, nearly [...]

Picture this: A giant arena jam-packed with bumper cars, each with a film's name--maybe 'Charlie Wilson's War,' 'American Gangster' or 'La Vie en rose'--proudly decorating its hood; a starter wearing [...]

As visual effects have become an important piece of global filmmaking, French companies have been behind the curve. 'The truth is ... we don't have a vfx culture,' admits Yann [...]

When a 'surprise screening' of Paramount Vantage's 'There Will Be Blood' closed out Harry Knowles' Fantastic Film Fest in Austin Sept. 27, the review community was caught off-guard. A Paul [...]

Last year, the fall was all about serious-minded, politically motivated pies, from 'Brokeback Mountain' to 'Good Night, and Good Luck.' This season, moviegoers--and crix--seem more interested in superspies, Beantown mobsters [...]

It's easy--and unfair--to reduce all characters in Hollywood movies to good and bad archetypes: the white hat (Gary Cooper in 'High Noon') and the black hat (Walter Brennan in 'My [...]

If you thought it was tricky trying to figure out what people from Orange County, Calif., to South Orange, N.J., will see at the multiplex, try forecasting whether 'The Devil [...]

AT THE RISK OF BEING forced to hand in my pundit card, here is the most sweeping observation I can deliver about the future of TV and media: Anyone who [...]

In the early days of American Film Market, new companies were mostly small fries owned by bootstrap operators. For the foreign rights sales bazaar, now staging its 25th edition, there's [...]

As uncertainty continues to cloud the future of Miramax in its ongoing battle with its Mouse House parent, 2-year-old Focus Features has emerged as one of the brightest stars of [...]

There are many reasons why the Swedes are perceived as a sombre lot, but the work of Ingmar Bergman, Sweden's greatest film director, surely has something to do with it. [...]

HOLLYWOOD As a slew of new movie releases proved box office disappointments, pundits have blamed audiences' war jitters. But new data suggests that the real culprit may be simpler: mediocre [...]