Variety — page 18

Coverage, page 18

page 18 of 27

‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ Star Adia On Film Debut Opposite Mahershala Ali, Getting Certified as a Doula: ‘Birth Work Fills My Soul’

Twenty-five-year-old newcomer Adia never really imagined becoming a movie star. Growing up, she was focused on becoming a professional dancer before a hip injury derailed that dream. That’s when the high school senior discovered acting. “I decided to take an acting class, just to try it out and see if that would be comparable or […]

Variety•Angelique Jackson13 Sept

Netflix’s ‘Scooby-Doo: Origins’ Wraps Production Ahead of 2027 Release

Netflix’s “Scooby-Doo: Origins” has wrapped production, the company announced Sunday. The live-action series is set for a global release on the streamer in 2027. Per the series’ official logline, “Scooby-Doo: Origins” is a “modern reimagining of the iconic mystery-solving group of teens and their very special dog.” “During their final summer at camp, old friends […]

Variety•Payton Turkeltaub13 Sept

Melissa Rivers on Her Glorious Return to the Emmys Carpet, Remembering Her Mom Joan and Why ‘It’s Been Really Hard’ to Watch ‘Hacks’

Melissa Rivers is returning to the red carpet. Fashion expert and author Rivers — who rose to fame reporting outside awards-shows with her late mother, the comedian Joan Rivers — will be joining Variety co-president and co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh and CNN correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister at the two brands’ Emmys pre-show broadcast. On “CNN & Variety […]

Variety•Daniel D’Addario13 Sept

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ Gets Modern War-Zone Update From Lakeem Rose (EXCLUSIVE)

British writer-director Lakeem Rose, is developing his feature debut, a contemporary adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” with Canadian producers Plato Fountidakis and Paul Rapovski and Hong Kong-based producer and casting director Mike Leeder. In Rose’s version, the story shifts to a world just after a modern-day war, centering on four returning soldiers […]

Variety•Naman Ramachandran13 Sept

Ayo Edebiri, Lily-Rose Depp, Fala Chen, Patricia Arquette, Michelle Yeoh, Courteney Cox and More Salute Women in Film With Variety and Chanel at TIFF

Variety and Chanel’s annual Women in Film dinner was the place to see and be chic at the Toronto Film Festival on Friday night. When Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh entered the bar for the evening cocktail hour, Emmy winners Sarah Paulson and Colman Domingo greeted her with hugs. Soon, Patricia Arquette breezed in too, pulling […]

Variety•Angelique Jackson13 Sept

‘The Stunt Driver’ Review: Jay Baruchel Takes a Leap into Tepid Biopic Territory

In “The Stunt Driver,” Jay Baruchel reteams with his “Goon” director Michael Dowse and takes on a showy lead part as stunt driver Ken Carter, who’s best remembered for a jump he didn’t make: a proposed mile-long leap over the St. Lawrence River in a rocket-powered car. The five years spent on that ill-fated project […]

Variety•Guy Lodge13 Sept

‘Girl Group’ Review: Rebel Wilson’s Bawdy Pop Comedy Is All Fizz and Little Substance

Toward the end of Rebel Wilson’s “Girl Group,” a fizzy, gaudy clone of “Pitch Perfect” sculpted from the mentor formula of “Bad News Bears,” the movie spirals into an interminable sequence of pop music performances. The song-and-dance numbers are so awkwardly endless that they call to mind the denouement of a very different pop spectacle: […]

Variety•Guy Lodge13 Sept

Tom Nicoll Looks Beyond Male Influencer Culture in TIFF Title ‘Salvation’: ‘I Don’t Think Anyone’s Ever Been Insulted Into Changing Their Mind’

Scottish writer-director Tom Nicoll is unveling at Toronto his buzzy debut “Salvation.” It tracks an aspiring online life coach whose attempt to reinvent himself and then sell that transformation to others pulls him in increasingly desperate directions. The psychological and blackly comic thriller world premieres in TIFF’s Discovery section, having already been selected for the […]

Variety•Callum McLennan13 Sept

Yoon Dan-bi’s Toronto and San Sebastian Film ‘The World Before’ Gives Its Camera a Soul and Its Island a Voice

Seven years after “Moving On,” Korean filmmaker Yoon Dan-bi returns with “The World Before,” a coming-of-age film about desire and first love. Speaking with Variety ahead of the film’s Toronto Film Festival Platform world premiere, Yoon discusses how capturing the authenticity of change worked its way at every stage of the production. “I want to […]

Variety•Naman Ramachandran13 Sept

‘Masc’ Review: A Sensitive Character Study Where Identity is Found in Imitation and Observation

In “Masc,” director Bertil Nilsson pulls off a nifty trick: He observes an observer. Usually a film’s protagonist has the dominant POV, but here, Robin (Joshua Griffin) is trying to find his personality by observing other men in his orbit. He almost never initiates the action and is mostly reticent about his reactions, but he […]

Variety•Murtada Elfadl13 Sept

Shuhua’s Acting Debut and Breaking Free From the ‘American Girl’ Label: Director Feng-i Fiona Roan on Toronto Title ‘Happily Ever After’

“Happily Ever After,” the follow-up feature from Taiwanese director Feng-i Fiona Roan, is bowing in the Toronto Film Festival’s Special Presentations lineup, arriving amid heightened attention following the success of her acclaimed debut, “American Girl.” “American Girl” premiered in the Asian Future section of the Tokyo International Film Festival before earning seven Golden Horse Award […]

Variety•Naman Ramachandran13 Sept

Cannes Prize-Winning Nepal Oscar Entry ‘Elephants in the Fog’ Sells Wide for Best Friend Forever (EXCLUSIVE)

Abinash Bikram Shah’s “Elephants in the Fog” has been sold to distributors across 10 territories, Best Friend Forever has revealed, as the Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner plays at the Toronto Film Festival with Nepal’s Oscars international feature submission also confirmed. New deals put the film with MetFilm Distribution in the U.K., Filmin […]

Variety•Naman Ramachandran13 Sept

TIFF Platform Competition Film ‘Idda’ Portrays Female Friendship, Grief and Memory Set on Sicily’s Mount Etna

Reaping upbeat initial reviews, Italian film “Idda” had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the TIFF Platform competition, whose non-English language winner, starting this year, will be directly eligible for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Directed by Irene Dionisio (“Pawn Street,” “Shores”) and starring Tecla Insolia […]

Variety•Roberto Prieto13 Sept

‘Up Against It’ Review: Antonio Banderas Stars in a British Family Dramedy That Ignores Its Own Conundrums

A crisscrossing family dramedy, Trudie Styler’s “Up Against It” features wonderful performances and intriguingly modern ideas, but it seldom coheres as comedy or drama. A tale of divorced parents, their respective partners and their ailing, precocious teen, this occasionally effervescent film has much to enjoy, but just as much that lands with an awkward thud. […]

Variety•Siddhant Adlakha13 Sept

Trans Pregnancy Drama ‘Aman’ Boards Parallax Films for Global Sales Ahead of Toronto and London Premieres (EXCLUSIVE)

International sales company Parallax Films has boarded “Aman,” writer-director Rahul Roye’s short film about a trans man who discovers he is pregnant on the eve of his gender-affirming surgery, for worldwide sales. The announcement comes ahead of the film’s world premiere in the Short Cuts competition at the Toronto Film Festival, after which it travels […]

Variety•Naman Ramachandran13 Sept

Oscars: Philippines Selects Rafael Manuel’s ‘Filipiñana’ for International Feature Race

Rafael Manuel’s “Filipiñana” has been chosen as the official entry from the Philippines in the international feature category at the 99th Academy Awards. It was selected from a shortlist of 8 films. The film is written and directed by Manuel and is distributed by Kino Lorber. Richard Lorber, Chairman and CEO of Kino Lorber, said, “From the moment […]

Variety•Jazztangcay13 Sept

FCC Chairman Slams James Talarico as Running a ‘Hoax’ With Jimmy Kimmel Interview, Which ABC Punted to YouTube, to Get ‘Clicks and Donations’

Brendan Carr, the Trump-aligned Republican chairman of the FCC, accused James Talarico, a Texas Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, of running a “hoax” to garner attention and campaign donations by sitting for an interview with Jimmy Kimmel — which ABC put on YouTube instead airing it on broadcast TV to avoid a potential clash […]

Variety•Todd Spangler13 Sept

Chris Rock’s Hollywood Send-Up ‘Misty Green’ Hits TIFF With Rosalind Eleazar’s Knockout Lead Performance

Roughly two-thirds through “Misty Green,” Rosalind Eleazar takes a breath and lets a rendition of “One Night Only,” from the musical “Dreamgirls,” rip. The characters around her go quiet, and the crowd at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Chris Rock’s film made its world premiere, were enraptured. But when Rock and his cast took […]

Variety•Clayton Davis13 Sept

Mahershala Ali Finally Made His ‘Blade’ Film With ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’

Bassam Tariq and Mahershala Ali finally made their “Blade” movie. On Saturday night, “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival before its theatrical release on Sept. 25. Tariq’s film centers on Latif (Ali), a devout Muslim hitman who, following the sudden death of his wife, goes […]

Variety•Marlow Stern13 Sept

‘Animal Hospital’ Leads Roblox Innovation Awards 2026 Winners as Roblox Unveils 20th Anniversary Event

The Roblox Innovation Awards (RIAs) unveiled its 2026 winners during a ceremony in San Jose Saturday with new title “Animal Hospital” taking home several top honors. Part of the 12th annual Roblox Developer Conference, this year’s RIAs were hosted by Roblox’s head of the developer community, Justin Sousa (widely known as “JParty” to Roblox users). […]

Variety•Jennifer Maas13 Sept