Category: Entertainment

  • Venice Unveils 2026 Lineup (Updating Live)

    Venice Unveils 2026 Lineup (Updating Live)

    The 83rd Venice International Film Festival is unveiling its official lineup today.

    Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera and Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, president of the Biennale di Venezia, will confirm the films running in competition and main sidebar sections.

    You can follow their presentation, starting from 11 am local time at La Biennale Library of the Historical Archive in Venice, on the festival site or on its social media channels on YouTube, X, TikTok, and Facebook.

    Venice, alongside Cannes, is considered the world’s most prestigious film festival and a major awards season prognosticator.

    The festival has already confirmed that Danny Boyle’s Ink, a biographical drama starring Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy, about Rupert Murdoch and his British tabloid empire, will open this year’s event, on Sept. 2. Dio Ride, an Italian period drama from director Giovanni Veronesi starring Pierfrancesco Favino (Maria, Rush) will close the fest on Sept. 12.

    Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter, The Bride!) will head up this year’s Venice competition jury as president, picking the winner of the Golden Lion for best film. George Clooney, a Lido regular, will receive an honorary Golden Lion lifetime achievement award.

    Last year’s Biennale included several high-profile premieres, though many — Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite — were award season flops.

    The only 2025 Venice title to score at the Oscars was Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which picked up 9 Academy Award nominations, winning three, for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling. Bugonia, from Yorgos Lanthimos, another Venice world premiere, picked up three Oscar nominations but won none. Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab, which won Venice’s Silver Lion last year, was nominated for Best International Feature but lost out to Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value.

    Europe’s other big festivals, Cannes and Berlin, struggled this year to attract films from major studios, leading to speculation that the majors are going cold on the festival circuit. Barbera has traditionally proven adept at enticing the studios, and Netflix, to premiere their prestige titles on the Lido. This year’s lineup will see if he still has the touch.

  • Sarajevo Film Festival Unveils Competition Programs With 21 World Premieres, Six International Premieres

    Sarajevo Film Festival Unveils Competition Programs With 21 World Premieres, Six International Premieres

    The Sarajevo Film Festival, the leading festival for South-East European cinema, unveiled the lineups for the four competition sections on Thursday, which include 21 world premieres, six international premieres, one European premiere and 23 regional premieres. The 32nd edition runs from Aug. 14 to 21.

    The narrative feature films section includes nine films from South-East Europe, of which one film will have its world premiere, one its international premiere, one its European premiere, and six their regional premieres.

    Elma Tataragić, the programmer of the section, said, “The selection is dominated by second and third features, alongside one debut and two fifth feature films, reflecting both the emergence of new voices and the continued development of established auteurs. Together, these nine films offer a rich panorama of contemporary regional cinema, spanning intimate family dramas, coming-of-age stories, social realism, and formally adventurous works. With six of the nine films directed by women, this year’s competition reflects not only the artistic diversity of the region but also the growing strength and plurality of voices shaping its cinematic future.”

    Competition Program – Narrative Feature Film:
    EVERYTHING THAT’S WRONG WITH YOU, Urša Menart (Slovenia, Germany, Serbia, 2026, 97 min.) – World Premiere
    After the emotional collapse that follows her mother’s death, Maruša builds an online bond with Alja, a nurse living in a small coastal town in Germany. Bonding through humor over their shared struggles, Maruša and Alja quickly develop a friendship that is put to the test when they finally meet in person.
    SMALL THINGS, Zvonimir Jurić (Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, 2026, 80 min.) – International Premiere
    During a winter weekend, sisters Anica and Irena, accompanied by Irena’s two children, travel to an island to visit their father and their brother Ivan, a quiet loner. The reason for the gathering is their father’s decision to sell the family land. Confined in the worn-down family house, the members of the family are forced to confront long-suppressed tensions and difficult choices, while one of them will have to make the ultimate sacrifice.
    SKATEBOARDING IS NOT FOR GIRLS, Dina Duma (North Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, 2026, 82 min.) – European Premiere
    In Skopje, 11-year-old Adela and her elder sister Zara share a deep bond shaped by their navigation of two contradictory worlds. At school, they are typical, rebellious teens with skateboards, social media, crop tops, and boyfriends. After school, in a quiet and disciplined mode, they help their mother with cleaning jobs to make ends meet. When poverty shakes the family, Adela tries to find a way to save her sister – still a minor – from a fate that is becoming almost inevitable: an arranged marriage.
    17, Kosara Mitić (North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, 2026, 105 min.) – Regional Premiere
    Seventeen-year-old Sara is hiding a secret during a school trip. When the excursion spirals out of control and Sara witnesses her friend Lina being sexually assaulted, the two girls try to break the cycle of casual violence. This seals an everlasting bond between them.
    DUA, Blerta Basholli (Kosovo, Switzerland, France, 2026, 101 min.) – Regional Premiere
    Pristina, Kosovo, late 1990s. As war looms and ethnic tensions escalate, 13-year-old Dua struggles to find her place among her peers and within her changing body. After an incident shakes her community, she becomes a target herself and bonds with a fearless girl who draws her toward an unexpected form of resistance. Between the daily violence and the growing threat of exile, there is little room for quiet awakenings.
    EVERYTIME, Sandra Wollner (Austria, Germany, 2026, 121 min.) – Regional Premiere
    A tragedy brings a mother, a daughter, and a teenage boy together. Struggling with blame and forgiveness, the unlikely trio takes a trip to Tenerife for a family holiday that never happens. Under the glow of the sun, past and present quietly start to overlap.
    SHAME AND MONEY, Visar Morina (Germany, Kosovo, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Belgium, 2026, 129 min.) – Regional Premiere
    A couple in their forties live with their extended family in rural Kosovo, where they make a modest living from their farm. Following a familial dispute, their livelihood is lost. They are forced to move to Pristina, where the pressure to provide for their family weighs heavily on the parents as they do their best to find work and a place to stay. A journey into a hyper-capitalist society begins.
    SUPPORTING ROLE, Ana Urushadze (Georgia, Estonia, Türkiye, 2026, 139 min.) – Regional Premiere
    Niaz Ninua has seen brighter days. Once a leading man, he stepped away from cinema some 15 years ago. When he decides to return, he discovers a landscape that no longer revolves around him. He attends a casting session for a supporting role in a debut feature directed by a young woman. The encounter bruises his pride, and he leaves unconvinced, dismissing the role as pretentious. Yet, as he replays the encounter, Niaz begins to sense a pull toward the role he so quickly dismissed. What seemed beneath him starts to reveal contours he did not anticipate.
    YOU DON’T BELONG HERE, Florin Șerban (Romania, 2026, 154 min.) – Regional Premiere
    Marius, the chief medical officer at a hospital in his small hometown, is raising his teenage son Ioan alone after the death of his wife. Marius is a confident professional who has no idea what his son gets up to at night: cycling through town vandalizing cars with a gang of masked vigilantes. Marius’ world is shaken when he learns the police have come to suspect his son of murder.

    Competition Program – Documentary Feature:
    BEAR WITH ME, Martin Genovski (Bulgaria, 2026, 84 min.) – World Premiere
    GOOD PEOPLE, Milcho Manchevski (North Macedonia, 2026, 86 min.) – World Premiere
    THE BALKAN COWBOY, Dragana Jurišić (Croatia, Ireland, 2026, 93 min.) – World Premiere
    THE FORBIDDEN AUNT, Bojana Novaković (Serbia, Australia, 2026, 82 min.) – World Premiere
    WE SHALL LIVE TOGETHER, Damir Markovina (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2026, 75 min.) – World Premiere
    DON’T ASK ME IF I KILLED, Helena Maksyom (Romania, Netherlands, Germany, Ukraine, 2026, 103 min.) – International Premiere
    FRAGMENTS OF BELONGING, Tatjana Božić (Croatia, Netherlands, Germany, 2026, 80 min.) – International Premiere
    WHEN I GET OUT, Metod Pevec (Slovenia, 2026, 106 min.) – International Premiere
    32 METERS, Morteza Atabaki (Türkiye, Iran, Qatar, 2025, 83 min.) – Regional Premiere
    BUGBOY, Lucas Paleocrassas (Greece, France, Denmark, 2026, 87 min.) – Regional Premiere
    ELECTING MS SANTA, Raisa Răzmeriță (Moldova, Romania, 2025, 95 min.) – Regional Premiere
    FOR LIFE, Ahmet Seven (Türkiye, 2026, 89 min.) – Regional Premiere
    TO HOLD A MOUNTAIN, Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić (Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, 2026, 105 min.) – Regional Premiere

    Competition Program – Documentary Shorts:
    BRO RAM, Branko Schmidt (Croatia, 2026, 14 min.) – World Premiere
    FAHRUDIN, Alen Drljević (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2026, 20 min.) – World Premiere
    OF LIGHT GHOSTS, Isabella Fellinger (Austria, 2026, 27 min.) – World Premiere
    THE CAPTAIN AND THE CASPIAN SEA, Turkan Huseyin (Azerbaijan, 2026, 30 min.) – World Premiere
    DEAR ORCHID, Hana Selena Sokolović (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Netherlands, 2026, 18 min.) – International Premiere
    ASPARAGUS BEAR, Ivan Grgur (Croatia, 2025, 18 min.) – Regional Premiere
    HOLY DEFIANCE, Karla Jelić (Croatia, 2026, 15 min.) – Regional Premiere
    THE FERRY FLOWS, Zhora Papoian (Ukraine, United Kingdom, 2026, 18 min.) – Regional Premiere

    Out of Competition
    YUGO GOES TO AMERICA, Filip Grujić, Aleksa Borković (Serbia, Croatia, 2026, 87 min.) – National Premiere

    Competition Program – Narrative Short Film
    DITCH, Marianna Vas (Hungary, 2026, 24 min.) – World Premiere
    HIDDEN IN FRAME, Anna Sarukhanova (Georgia, United Kingdom, 2026, 16 min.) – World Premiere
    MAMAMA, Danica Dakić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2026, 8 min.) – World Premiere
    PATCH, Luka Galešić (Croatia, 2026, 13 min.) – World Premiere
    PORKATAL, Sis Gürdal (Türkiye, France, United Kingdom, 2026, 16 min.) – World Premiere
    ADGWA-ATA, Zsuzsanna Krief (Hungary, France, 2026, 15 min.) – Regional Premiere
    COSMONAUTS, Leo Černic (Slovenia, Italy, 2026, 14 min.) – Regional Premiere
    GO OUTSIDE AND HUG A TREE, Irina Alexiu (Romania, 2026, 14 min.) – Regional Premiere
    MOTHERHOOD, Anca Damian (Romania, Belgium, France, 2026, 18 min.) – Regional Premiere
    NOBODY SAID ANYTHING, Tamara Todorović (Serbia, France, Slovenia, Croatia, 2026, 15 min.) – Regional Premiere

    Competition Program – Student Short Film
    HYENA, Fanny Rösch (Austria, 2026, 23 min.) – World Premiere
    NEIGHBOR, Dan Grabnar (Serbia, 2026, 17 min.) – World Premiere
    SISTERS, Sara Ećimović (Serbia, 2026, 21 min.) – World Premiere
    THE GO-BETWEEN, Emir Solaković (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2026, 7 min.) – World Premiere
    UNWELLNESS, Réka Pinczés (Hungary, 2026, 21 min.) – World Premiere
    WATER WALLS, Bianka Szelestey (Hungary, 2026, 34 min.) – World Premiere
    THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS, BUT WHY NOT LEND IT TO THE SPECIALISTS?, Alexandra Schinteie (Romania, 2026, 18 min.) – International Premiere
    A. WANTS OUT (ON NEUTRALITY), Zorah Berghammer (Austria, 2026, 18 min.) – Regional Premiere
    BONEFUZZ, Márk László (Hungary, 2026, 10 min.) – Regional Premiere
    OVER THE THRESHOLD, Tara Gajović (Serbia, 2026, 15 min.) – Regional Premiere
    RABBIT DON’T RUN, Maximilian Conway, Elisabeth Jakob (Austria, 2026, 30 min.) – Regional Premiere

  • Daniel Wu on ‘Cold War 1994,’ ‘Twilight of the Warriors’ and Coming Home to Hong Kong: ‘The Craft Still Challenges Me’

    Daniel Wu on ‘Cold War 1994,’ ‘Twilight of the Warriors’ and Coming Home to Hong Kong: ‘The Craft Still Challenges Me’

    Daniel Wu received the Best from the East Award at the New York Asian Film Festival, capping a stretch that has put him back at the center of Hong Kong’s two biggest franchises: “Cold War 1994” and the “Twilight of the Warriors” series.

    “Cold War 1994” is the third installment in the “Cold War” series, a prequel written and directed by Longman Leung and produced by Bill Kong and Ivy Ho, set in the run-up to Hong Kong’s 1997 handover. The first two films, released in 2012 and 2016, were the highest-grossing Hong Kong productions of their respective years. In the new film, Wu plays Peter Choi opposite Terrance Lau’s M.B. Lee, a character previously portrayed as a full-blown villain by Chang Kuo-chu in “Cold War 2.”

    Wu tells Variety he never consciously stepped away from Hong Kong film. The pandemic simply thinned out a schedule that had settled into a rhythm of one American project and one Asian project a year. When “Cold War” came along, the pull was the production itself.

    “It’s going to be a quality production, the scale of it, the script,” Wu says of what drew him back, pointing also to the chance to work alongside three generations of Hong Kong actors, including Lau, whom he singles out as representative of the industry’s new generation.

    The film folds a police procedural into a much larger political canvas, tracking the British colonial government, the Hong Kong police, a powerful business dynasty and the criminal underworld as the territory changes hands. Wu, who was 22 at the time of the actual handover, says the setting let the production dig into a period of corruption and upheaval he lived through but never fully understood until now.

    Playing a younger version of a character already established as an antagonist gave Wu a different kind of challenge than he’s used to. He calls the role the most morally ambiguous he’s taken on, since it required tracing how a man who becomes an “evil mastermind” gets there gradually, through a series of compromised choices, rather than starting out that way.

    Returning to a Hong Kong set after several years away felt less like a job and more like a reunion, Wu says. He recalls arriving for his costume fitting and recognizing nearly everyone in the room, a small-industry familiarity he doesn’t get on American productions, where he’s lucky to know one or two people on a given crew. Sitting down on set with his rice box for lunch, eating char siu fan alongside people he’d worked with for decades, brought back what he calls a genuinely warm feeling. He credits Hong Kong crews with a particular work ethic: “efficient, fast, and no bullshit,” a directness he links to a broader Hong Kong attitude of simply getting things done.

    Wu spent much of his “Cold War 1994” press tour in Hong Kong wearing a hat that, it turns out, was hiding a new haircut for his role in “Twilight of the Warriors: The Final Chapter,” the sequel to director Soi Cheang’s “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In.” That 2024 film, adapted from Yu Yi’s novel “City of Darkness” and the manhua of the same name by Andy Seto, became Hong Kong’s second-biggest commercial hit ever and swept the Hong Kong Film Awards. Where “Walled In” was set in the 1980s, the new installment moves the story to 1993, the year Kowloon’s Walled City was demolished.

    Wu, who studied the Walled City’s architecture in school, calls the setting a rare chance to build a mainstream action franchise around a genuinely singular piece of Hong Kong urban history. He sees both projects as part of a broader shift in how Hong Kong cinema treats its own past, using the 1990s, a decade he says filmmakers “glossed over” while living through it, as material for reflection rather than backdrop.

    That shift, Wu says, is happening at a moment when Hong Kong productions can draw on newer digital tools while still leaning on the practical, in-camera stunt work the industry built its reputation on, recalling a time when performers “threw themselves off the top of a building and just did it for real in camera.” He pushes back on the long-running narrative that Hong Kong film is dying, arguing instead that it’s in something closer to a renaissance, even with a fraction of the annual output it had in the 1980s and ’90s. “There’s a lot of interesting films being made, whether big scale or small scale, a lot of great performances, a lot of great scripts being written,” he says.

    The kinds of roles Wu is offered in Hong Kong have shifted too, from the younger leading-man parts that defined much of his career to more mature, fatherly characters, a change he credits partly to age and partly to the character work he’s done in the U.S., where his credits have included the AMC martial-arts series “Into the Badlands,” HBO’s “Westworld,” the film “Tomb Raider” and the animated series “American Born Chinese.” He says that kind of opportunity has thinned out generally, arguing Hollywood has moved past a period of genuinely interesting roles for Asian American actors and back toward “crumbs” or stereotypical parts. He’s more pointed about the ceiling he still sees in the industry, where he says opportunities for Asian American actors, and especially Asian American males, remain narrow.

    Moving between the two industries has left Wu with what he describes as an unusual sense of identity, neither fully of one world nor the other, but both at once. He notes that his experience differs from most Asian American peers, many of whom have never topped a call sheet, while his own career has run the opposite path: character roles in the U.S., leading roles in Asia. He also points to a structural difference between the two systems: Asian productions tend to run through a single director’s vision, while larger American productions are often shaped by committee, with multiple producers weighing in, leaving him unsure at times whose direction to follow.

    Looking back over 25 years, Wu points to his collaboration with director Derek Yee, spanning six films including “One Nite in Mongkok,” “Drink-Drank-Drunk,” “Protégé” and “Triple Tap,” as the turning point that pulled him away from the romantic leads he was initially cast in and toward the darker, more complex characters he prefers. He likens the partnership to Robert De Niro’s with Martin Scorsese, a shorthand so complete that he’d commit to a Yee project without reading the script. “That put my career in a direction that I wanted it to go,” he says.

    Wu is now developing two scripts for the American market and one for the mainland Chinese market, a deliberate move toward more proactive control over his own projects, with an eye toward eventually returning to directing, nearly two decades after his 2007 feature debut, “Heavenly Kings.” Whatever comes next, he says the appeal hasn’t changed. Whether it’s a script’s demands or the actors around him, every project still teaches him something new. “I would say the craft, the craft still challenges me,” Wu says.

  • Venice Film Festival Reveals 2026 Lineup (Updating Live)

    Venice Film Festival Reveals 2026 Lineup (Updating Live)

    The Venice Film Festival is about to reveal its 2026 lineup, promising a plethora of buzzy titles from international directors.

    Like Cannes this year, Venice is expected to have a lighter Hollywood presence than in previous editions. But that does not mean there won’t be a robust roster of awards contenders.

    As previously announced, the festival will open with the world premiere of Danny Boyles “Ink,” which will also compete for the festival’s prestigious Golden Lion. The 1960s-set biographical drama stars Guy Pearce as divisive business magnate Rupert Murdoch and Jack O’Connell as Larry Lamb, the editor of Murdoch-owned U.K. tabloid The Sun. Netflix recently acquired the U.S. rights to the film.

    Closing Venice this year is “Dio Ride,” the latest work from Italian filmmaker Giovanni Veronesi, in the out of competition section. The film, whose title translates to “God Laughs,” stars Pierfrancesco Favino (“Maria,” “World War Z”) as a friar in 17th-century Tuscany who manages to speak about God in a more joyful way. However, his light-hearted approach provokes the hostility of the church.

    “The Bride” and “The Lost Daughter” director Maggie Gyllenhaal is set to preside over the competition jury, the third woman to do so in the past five years following Isabelle Huppert, Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett. She will be joined by Hong Kong filmmaking giant Johnnie To, Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat, French director and screenwriter Xavier Giannoli, “The Brutalist” composer Daniel Blumberg and U.S.-based Italian film academic Francesco Casetti.

    George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn will be honored with lifetime achievement awards.

    The 83rd Venice Film Festival runs from Sept. 2 to 12.

    See the full lineup below, updating live.

    COMPETITION

    “Ink,” Danny Boyle (opening film)

    VENICE OPEN (OUT OF COMPETITION — FICTION)

    “Dio Ride,” Giovanni Veronesi (closing film)

    OUT OF COMPETITION — NON-FICTION

    FILMS ON FILMS

    OUT OF COMPETITION — SHORTS

    OUT OF COMPETITION — SERIES

    HORIZONS

    Elsa Keslassy contributed to this report.

  • ‘Brave New Love’ Dives Into Lust, Infidelity, Motherhood, Shame and Societal Norms (Exclusive Clip)

    ‘Brave New Love’ Dives Into Lust, Infidelity, Motherhood, Shame and Societal Norms (Exclusive Clip)

    Can you be happily married while leading a double life? Especially if that double life involves another person? One way to explore that question is to watch Kate, the protagonist of Brave New Love, the new feature film from writer-director Maria Bäck (I Remember When I Die, Psychosis in Stockholm) that will world premiere on Aug. 9 in the international competition of the 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.

    But be warned: things may get awkward at times.

    After all, Kate, a hypnotherapist, lives happily with her husband, Orla, and their daughter, Athena. But she also shares a secret romantic relationship with another man, Andreas. “After years of secrecy, the fragile balance of her double life begins to unravel,” reads a synopsis. “As a role model to her daughter, she struggles to navigate her existential quest – a journey filled with body fluids, intimacy, Greek mythology, laughter, madness, and clumsiness.” In the process, Kate struggles to redefine love.

    Kathrine Thorborg Johansen (Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes) stars as Kate, Simon Sears (Shadow and Bone) is husband Orla, and Anders Danielsen Lie (Sentimental Value, Everybody Digs Bill Evans, The Worst Person in the World) portrays Andreas. Young Noemi Carbone Mannov plays Athena, and Angeliki Papoulia (Dogtooth, The Lobster) also features in the cast.

    Produced by Anna-Maria Kantarius, Brave New Love features cinematography by Maria Von Hausswolff, with editing handled by Julius Krebs Damsbo. Reinvent Yellow is in charge of International sales.

    “There are so many rules and inherited expectations attached to love,” Bäck says about the film. “I wanted to explore these often absurd ideas through wit and sensuality, and create a mirror for the loneliness and power of a heart set on fire.”

    THR can now exclusively premiere a clip from Brave New Love that introduces you to Kate in a scene that is likely to take your breath away – and not necessarily in the way you may expect.

    You might remember that Madonna, in her 1998 hit “Frozen,” sang: “Love is a bird; she needs to fly.” Well, the scene here fits in with that line – but again, not necessarily in the way you may expect. Watch the exclusive clip from Brave New Love right here.

  • ‘The Wild Robot’ VFX Studio STIM Sets Canary Islands Operation, Planning to Create More Than 100 Jobs

    ‘The Wild Robot’ VFX Studio STIM Sets Canary Islands Operation, Planning to Create More Than 100 Jobs

    French animation and visual effects company STIM – whose credits include “The Wild Robot,” “The Garfield Movie” and “Coyote vs. Acme” – is opening a production center in Spain’s Canary Islands, with plans to create more than 100 jobs as it expands its European operations.

    STIM Tenerife is set to begin operating in August and expects to employ 60 people by the end of 2026. Recruitment is already underway for character modelers, set and prop modelers, look-development artists and supervisors, among other high-skilled positions.

    The company has chosen to establish the operation within the Canary Islands Special Zone, or ZEC, a low-tax regime for qualifying companies operating in the Spanish archipelago.

    “The opening of STIM Tenerife in the Canary Islands marks a strategic stage in STIM’s evolution,” said STIM Tenerife CEO Amélie Houpline. “We have found an environment here that brings together talent, strong development potential and a dynamic creative community.”

    The new base, she added, will allow STIM to increase its production capacity “without compromising the artistic and technical excellence that defines our identity.”

    Founded by Félix Ferrand, Jordan Soler and Benoit Gielly, STIM specializes in 3D animation, VFX and digital production for film, TV and advertising. With operations in France and Belgium, it has evolved from a character-focused studio into a company capable of handling projects from design and pre-production through to final delivery.

    STIM collaborated with DreamWorks Animation on the facial and body rigging of several characters for “The Wild Robot.” Its other credits include the Sony release “The Garfield Movie,” Warner Bros.’ “Coyote vs. Acme,” FX’s Emmy-winning “Shōgun” and the Annecy-selected Franco-Belgian toon feature “Girl in the Clouds.”

    ‘Coyote vs. Acme’

    “Coyote vs. Acme”

    The Tenerife operation will expand the company’s production capacity while supporting financing structures spanning France, Belgium and the Canary Islands. STIM said that footprint could give producers additional options for assembling European animation and VFX financing.

    “Our ambition is not limited to producing international projects from the islands,” Houpline said. “We want to build a studio with a long-term future, generate highly qualified employment and contribute to the development of the Canary Islands ecosystem.”

    STIM’s arrival comes as the archipelago continues to build its animation, VFX and digital-arts sector. According to figures provided by the ZEC, the Canary Islands now host more than 30 specialist companies and close to 2,000 professionals, up from a comparatively small industry less than a decade ago.

    ZEC President Pablo Hernández

    ZEC President Pablo Hernández

    Companies operating in the islands include Fortiche, the studio behind “Arcane,” as well as Atlantis Animation, 3 Doubles Producciones, Tomavision, Gigglebug, Amuse Studios and Ánima Kitchent.

    Recent expansion has also included Surfing Giant Studios’ Tenerife operation and DNEG’s investment in Ánima Kitchent, backed by the Spanish government’s SETT, as part of a broader effort to scale the sector.

    “A few years ago, there was practically no animation industry in the Canary Islands,” said ZEC President Pablo Hernández. “Today, we have dozens of studios, close to 2,000 professionals and projects for some of the world’s largest entertainment companies.”

    STIM’s arrival, he added, shows that the archipelago “has ceased to be a promise and has become an established reality within the international animation industry.”

    Hernández said the significance of the latest investments goes beyond attracting individual companies or productions.

    “We are seeing the creation of a genuine industrial ecosystem, with local talent, specialist training and companies capable of leading global productions,” he said. “We have moved from attracting specific projects to attracting permanent centers for decision-making, production and creative development.”

    The next phase, according to Hernández, will involve strengthening local intellectual property, developing original content and attracting larger-scale international investment.

    Industry projections suggest the Canary Islands could reach between 3,000 and 4,000 specialized animation and digital-arts jobs over the coming years.

  • Courtney Stodden Is Fighting for Something Bigger Than Jason Alexander’s Apology

    Courtney Stodden Is Fighting for Something Bigger Than Jason Alexander’s Apology

    It took fourteen and a half years, but Jason Alexander finally apologized.

    On Wednesday, the “Seinfeld” actor issued a public apology to Courtney Stodden for a “comedy” sketch the two filmed together wherein Alexander, who was 52 at the time, fondled a 17-year-old Stodden’s breasts with a cell phone and said that when she turned 18, he would take her behind the couch and have his way with her.

    “Looking back at the comedy sketch in which Ms. Stodden and I participated in 2012, I completely agree that it was inappropriate and I truly regret it,” Alexander said in a statement to Variety. “But more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms. Stodden. I offer her my sincerest apologies.”

    The sketch, a parody of “Dr. Phil” dubbed “The Donny Clay Show” with Alexander playing a creepy talk-show host, was released in Jan. 2012 on the Funny or Die website and its YouTube channel (it has since been taken down). Stodden is featured in the video alongside Doug Hutchison, a journeyman actor who notoriously married her in 2011 when he was 51 and she only 16. At the time, the media mainly treated Stodden as a punchline while failing to hold Hutchison accountable for his predation. Alexander gave his apology after Stodden, who is now 31 and divorced from Hutchison, made an Instagram post recounting how “alone” and exploited she felt making that video.

    Stodden tells Variety she was pleasantly surprised that Alexander took responsibility for his role in the disturbing sketch, which he also co-wrote, but could take it a step further. “I’m very taken aback that an adult was actually able to take accountability because I haven’t heard a lot of adults take accountability,” Stodden explains. “When I first got word that he publicly apologized I was grateful because I think that’s the first step in change. At the same time, I think it would be even better if he put that into action, so I would urge Jason Alexander to support AB 1267 and support what’s happening in California or even donate to Unchained at Last.”

    Recently, Stodden has been working with the group Unchained at Last, the only nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to ending child marriage, to convince California to pass AB 1267, a bill that would effectively ban child marriage by making the legal minimum age to wed 18 years old.

    “It’s really frightening that there’s no minimum age for someone to get married in California,” Stodden asserts. “There are only two other states that allow this, Mississippi and New Mexico, and to think that California allows this is shocking.”

    As for the Funny or Die sketch, Stodden says it was only years after appearing in the video that she realized just how foul it was. The realization came as she was watching “Pretty Woman” for the first time and arrived at the scene where Jason Alexander’s villain assaults Julia Roberts’ prostitute in a hotel suite.

    “I was in shock,” she says of watching the “Pretty Woman” scene. “It felt very close to home, and like he pulled from ‘Pretty Woman’ and thought it would be funny to recreate that with a child. I didn’t know he was going to be feeling me up on set.”

    Stodden continues, “I was very manipulated. Even if I didn’t look like a child, or what a ‘victim’ should look like, there was a child buried under there. I really just trusted the adults around me, and this is the effect of that. Looking back on it, it’s really damaging. This isn’t about revisiting my past but changing the experiences for minors going forward so they don’t have to experience what I had to experience.”

    Even though she’s received public apologies from Chrissy Teigen for cyberbullying her, and now Jason Alexander, Stodden never received any sort of mea culpa from Dr. Drew Pinsky who, when she was only 16 years old, performed an ultrasound on Stodden’s breasts on his show “Lifechangers” to prove they were real.

    “Dr. Drew actually doubled down and had his wife sarcastically invite me on his podcast to further exploit me,” Stodden recalls. “Getting an apology from an actor and not a doctor is kind of diabolical.”

    Stodden, along with a group of other survivors affiliated with Unchained at Last, will be visiting the California State Capitol again next month to speak to legislators about ending child marriage in the state she calls home. She’s also focused on finishing her memoir and may be participating in a docuseries chronicling her fight to end child marriage.

    “At the end of the day, I don’t want to be remembered for what happened to me,” Stodden states. “I want to be remembered for helping make sure that this doesn’t happen again to another child.”

  • Travis Scott Says He Was “Nervous as F” About Acting in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

    Travis Scott Says He Was “Nervous as F” About Acting in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

    Travis Scott is opening up about how Christopher Nolan cast him in The Odyssey.

    During a Tuesday night appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Scott recalled receiving an unexpected phone call from the Oscar-winning director, who asked if he’d be interested in acting in the Greek epic.

    “My phone went off and it just said, ‘Chris.’ And I’m thinking, ‘OK, I don’t know what this is about. Maybe he wants to go to a show?’” Scott said. “So I pick up and he’s like, ‘Would you be interested in acting in a movie?’ And I’m like, ‘I mean, I guess, you know? What’s the [role]?’”

    Scott recalled Nolan telling him the film would be “coming out soon” and that he wanted him to be part of it. Surprised by the ask, Scott responded: “I’m like, ‘Whoa, hold on. Wait. You know I make music?’” before Nolan gave him “his whole thesis on why.”

    “I really enjoy his time. I’m really inspired by him. He’s a real mentor of mine outside of this,” Scott said of the Oppenheimer filmmaker. “So I’m like, ‘Yo, whatever you’re down with, I’m down. However it goes, I’m with it.’”

    Scott played Demodocus, the bard who narrates Odysseus’ journey in the opening scene and is the first voice and face audiences see in the film.

    Though he admitted, “I was actually nervous as ‘F,’” Scott said he initially assumed his scenes would be with extras.

    “I didn’t know that it was going to be Anne Hathaway, Tom [Holland] and Robert Pattinson — a bunch of amazing people,” he said. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. But they were such an amazing cast.”

    Scott continued to praise Nolan and the cast for making it a comfortable experience. The pair previously collaborated on the soundtrack for Nolan’s 2020 film Tenet, which starred Pattinson.

    “Chris is an amazing director,” Scott said before adding of the cast, “Everybody made me feel comfortable. I was just glad to be there and just watch him. And being in such a world of them. So I’m just glad to be here.”

    Nolan recently spoke with Time magazine about why he cast Scott, saying, “I wanted to nod towards the idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry, which is analogous to rap.”

    In addition to acting, Scott also recorded the original song “When I’m Home” for The Odyssey‘s closing credits alongside James Blake, with production from the film’s composer Ludwig Göransson. Nolan is credited as a co-writer.

    The Odyssey is now playing in theaters.

  • Spencer Pratt Tears Into Gavin Newsom, Rob Bonta Over Paramount Lawsuit in Lengthy Video Rant

    Spencer Pratt Tears Into Gavin Newsom, Rob Bonta Over Paramount Lawsuit in Lengthy Video Rant

    Los Angeles mayoral hopeful and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt released a lengthy, artificial-intelligence-assisted screed taking down the lawsuit filed by 12 state attorneys general against Paramount over its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. In a TikTok video, he shouts that Hollywood is kaput if the suit succeeds.

    On July 20, a coalition of 12 states led by California filed a suit against Paramount to block its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The coalition includes New York and Colorado, among others. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order pausing the merger earlier this week.

    Pratt, the former MTV star who played the villain of reality TV hit The Hills 20 years ago, began leaning into Los Angeles city politics in 2025 after his Pacific Palisades home burned in one of the fires that engulfed parts of the city. Pratt and other area property owners filed a suit against the city of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power, alleging the fires were DWP’s fault; he also began blaming Mayor Karen Bass, citing a slow response.

    @spencerpratt

    Greasy Gavin and Bonehead Bonta are the real life slick-haired archetypal douchebag villains we’ve seen in every movie. Now they’re coming to destroy the Hollywood for good, over petty politics. The Paramount sabotage is…way worse than you think.

    ♬ original sound – Spencer Pratt

    Mad as hell about L.A. politics in the wake of the fires, he launched a campaign for mayor on the fire’s anniversary, positioning himself as a common-sense populist. In June, he came in third place behind Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman, after an initial count had put him more than eight percentage points ahead of her. He refused to accept the result and drew support from President Donald Trump (who already doomed his chances in L.A. with his vocal support) and House Speaker Mike Johnson; both claimed the race was fraudulent, once again without evidence.

    Pratt had said he’d stay in L.A. to remain laser-focused on local politics. But with this new video, he’s gone national, training his screed on every state suing Paramount. Being a Californian, he naturally singles out Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, claiming the two are destroying Hollywood as they try to “cripple two of the greatest film studios of all time over politics.”

    “[Newsom and Bonta] are everything Paramount isn’t,” Pratt claims. “While Paramount and Tom Cruise have spent the last decades building up Hollywood, [these two] have been destroying it — chasing productions out of town, sending projects to Budapest, neglecting film tax credits and incentives to win back production, doing everything they can to cripple the film industry while Atlanta and Hungary steal our lunch. And now they’re suing Paramount to make sure the industry crumbles further, all because Paramount wants to invest $110 billion into Warner Bros.”

    The 10-minute-plus clip splices in A.I.-generated cutaways from Pratt to clips of popular Hollywood movies. The former candidate channels Alex Jones, sitting behind a desk and yelling into the camera as he argues the state’s leaders want jobs out of California. Citing a clip from a podcast interview with Bonta, he notes that tech giants like Amazon aren’t named in the lawsuit despite making blockbusters with major theatrical releases — Pratt cites Top Gun: Maverick and dubs its star “Saint Tom Cruise.”

    In the clip, Pratt also tries to shoot down Bonta’s claim that a Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger would reduce production, arguing other factors were at play.

    “They claim that after Disney acquired Fox, production decreased. Notice they specifically say after they merged — they don’t say because they merged, because something else happened after that 2019 merger that may have had an impact on production,” he says. “Yeah, they merged right before COVID, but Gavin Newsom shut down the entire state and followed that with the biggest, most prolonged labor dispute in Hollywood history. Everybody’s production decreased.”

    Pratt also points to what he calls political motivation behind the opposition, noting the lack of similar scrutiny over Amazon’s MGM acquisition, and that streamers like YouTube weren’t named in the suit — inconvenient, he argues, for the theory of a Paramount monopoly.

    “This isn’t the ’80s, Rob. Streaming has changed everything. More and more people get their content online, which means fewer and fewer are watching traditional cable. The trend line only goes in one direction,” he says in the clip.

    Pratt closes out the rant with high praise for Paramount, which he credits with saving the industry.

    “There’s a ton of competition for these studios,” Pratt claims. “This whole lawsuit is a scam. He needs to quit playing petty politics and crippling Hollywood.”

  • Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale Is a Goldmine of Jewelry Markdowns — Here Are the 23 Standouts

    Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale Is a Goldmine of Jewelry Markdowns — Here Are the 23 Standouts

    If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, The Hollywood Reporter may receive an affiliate commission.

    From designer jewelry to under-$25 finds, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is home to hundreds of discounted gems. Through Sunday, Aug. 9, the retailer is offering up to 45 percent off dozens of its best-selling jewelry brands: Bony Levy, Monica Vinader, Lizzie Fortunato, Mejuri and John Hardy, to name just a handful.

    To sweeten the deal, Nordstrom is running a Women’s Fine Jewelry Trunk Show alongside its annual savings event. This means that through Aug. 9, 100-plus heavily discounted designer pieces are available online only. Once Aug. 10 hits, the limited-edition assortment will not only lose its discount — it will be gone for good.

    One more Anniversary Sale shopping tip ahead of our jewelry picks: For those considering signing up for Nordstrom’s credit card, now is the most strategic time to do so, because through Aug. 9, new cardmembers will receive $60 off their next purchase. See all benefits and apply for a credit card now at Nordstrom.com.

    Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2026: Shop Best Jewelry Deals

    online trunk show-exclusive

    These sculptural post back earrings are an exceptional price for 14k solid gold, and their delicate swaying chains add a subtle sense of movement.

    Another great value, Bony Levy is a favorite all year round for its excellent quality and fair price point.

    A bead chain is both timeless and on trend, and the CZ barrel pendant adds a little extra sparkle.

    Lizzie Fortunato is a standout for elegant statement styles. This glamorous number pairs faceted emeralds with peachy emerald-cut glass.

    One more Lizzie Fortunato favorite.

    online trunk show-exclusive

    Features a 0.35ct. lab grown diamond paired with 18k gold vermeil.

    It always pays to invest in a timeless pair of everyday diamond studs. Price per wear will be minuscule, especially given the 25 discount. These natural diamond earrings are available (and on sale) in a variety of carat weights.

    Or test the waters by getting the look for less.

    BaubleBar’s casual-cool statement necklace also comes in gold tone metal on a deep green cord.

    No comment. Just sick.

    Edge up any outfit with a black sapphire moment.

    Fully lean in with more sapphire-covered knots.

    Offered in both 14k gold plated and platinum plated versions.

    Lab diamonds paired with 18k gold vermeil.

    Same as above. Stack or wear solo.

    Related: The 75 Most Dazzling Jewelry Gifts From Celebrity-Owned and Hollywood-Loved Labels

    And one for those who’d rather solid gold.

    Round lab-grown diamonds set in either sterling silver or sterling silver with 18k-gold plating.

    A timepiece that doubles as jewelry.

    Make your Apple Watch a bit less Apple Watch-y.

    An easy pop of color.

    Get that layered look sans the tangling.

    Related: These Hollywood-Loved Designer Handbags Are Up to $1,500 Off at Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale

    online trunk show-exclusive

    Inspired by ’50s Italian glamour and crafted from 18k gold vermeil.

    14k yellow, white and rose gold in one.

    Shop the full assortment of savings via Nordstrom’s Jewelry & Watches landing page. And for more curated picks, visit THR‘s main Anniversary Sale shopping guide.

    About the Author

    Erin Lassner is THR’s E-Commerce Writer. She covers shopping content across fashion, beauty and lifestyle, and has nearly ten years of experience testing and reviewing the best of skin-care, makeup, accessories and wellness.