Category Archives: Variety

‘Moana’ Star Catherine Laga’aia to Lead Australian Thriller ‘Crashout’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Catherine Laga’aia, who is set to make her breakout as the titular character in Disney’s upcoming live-action “Moana,” has been tapped to lead the Australian Gen-Z thriller ...
Naman Ramachandran Feb 14, 2026

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun on Berlin Golden Bear Contender ‘Soumsoum’ and Why It’s His ‘Duty’ to Bring His Native Chad to the Big Screen
Since arriving on the world cinema stage with the deeply personal docudrama "Bye Bye Africa" (1999), Chadian auteur Mahamat-Saleh Haroun has been at the forefront of a generation of filmmakers who hav...
postcardjunky Feb 14, 2026

Paramount Sends ByteDance Cease-and-Desist Letter Over Seedance AI Videos, Alleging Intellectual Property Infringement
Paramount Skydance accused ByteDance of engaging in “blatant infringement” of its intellectual property with its Seedance video and Seedream image generative AI platforms, alleging the Chi...
Todd Spangler Feb 14, 2026

‘Filipinana’ Director Rafael Manuel on ‘White Lotus’ Comparisons, Jia Zhangke’s Influence and Making Violence Relatable
Rafael Manuel spent seven or eight years developing “Filipinana,” his debut feature about a teenage girl working at an elite Manila country club - years before HBO’s “The White...
Naman Ramachandran Feb 14, 2026

French Romantic Comedy ‘The Doll’ About a Life-Sized Doll Coming to Life Sells to Major Markets
Urban Sales has closed a raft of deals on “The Doll” (“La Poupe Vertigo”), a French romantic comedy starring Vincent Macaigne ("Maria"), Ccile de France ("The New Pope") and Zo...
elskes Feb 14, 2026

Poll Surprise: Bad Bunny Comes Out Ahead of Trump When U.S. Adults Are Asked, ‘Who Better Represents America?’
A new Yahoo!/YouGov poll shows more Americans approving of Bad Bunny than of his recent nemesis-in-chief, Donald J. Trump, in the wake of controversy over last weekend’s Super Bowl halftime show...
Chris Willman Feb 14, 2026

Providence Equity ‘Fully Committed’ to Supporting Wasserman Agency Amid Sale Transition
Providence Equity is aiming to calm the waters within the Wasserman agency after Friday night’s surprise news that the firm will be put up for sale and founder Casey Wasserman will leave amid th...
Cynthia Littleton Feb 14, 2026

Mexico’s Cinemex Nabs ‘Abracadaver’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Cinemex, the Mexican film distribution-exhibition giant, has set a second-quarter release date for "Abracadaver," the final movie from writer-actor-director Pancho Rodrguez ("Looking for an Angel"), w...
John Hopewell Feb 14, 2026

Charli xcx Brings ‘Brat’ to Berlin With ‘The Moment’ Premiere and Says She’s Ready for a New Era: ‘But I Don’t Know What That Is’
Charli xcx said she's ready for a new era at the Berlin Film Festival premiere of "The Moment" - but she's still figuring out just what that is. Following the screening at Zoo Palast, which was filled...
Ellise Shafer Feb 14, 2026

Barack Obama Reacts to Donald Trump’s AI Video Depicting Him as an Ape: ‘There Doesn’t Seem to Be Any Shame About This’
During a recent appearance on Brian Tyler Cohen's podcast, Barack Obama gave his reaction after an AI video was posted to Donald Trump’s Truth Social account that depicted the former president a...
Jack Dunn Feb 14, 2026