Author: Deadline

Loretta Swit, who played Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan on the hit comedy series M*A*S*H, died today at her home in New York City. She was 87. Her death was announced by her representative Harlan Boll, who said a New York City police report indicates Swit died just after noon today of suspected natural causes. Swit was a mainstay on the classic and beloved comedy series for its entire 11-year run, nominated for Emmy Awards every year from 1974-83, winning in 1980 and 1982. Born Loretta Jane Szwed on November 4, 1937, in Passaic, New Jersey, studied drama in New…

Studios celebrate their box office hits — unless it’s Paramount, where even success becomes opaque. Tom Cruise’s $400 million Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning was produced by Skydance Films for Paramount, but Skydance also wants to acquire Paramount, an ambition mired in layers of Trumpian and dynastic complexity. Indeed, the intrigues are reminiscent of those of Barry Diller, the onetime Paramount chief whose dealmaking forays ended in defeat, but then success.  Diller’s new memoir, titled Who Knew, details double-crosses and plot twists among Hollywood majors that could justify its rebranding as Who Cares.     Despite the success of Mission: Impossible, the Skydance…

As NewFest kicks off its fifth annual Pride film series in New York City, the country’s largest LGBTQ film festival is teaming up with AMC Networks. Part of the network’s ‘Future of Film’ initiative, which showcases emerging talent from festivals across the country, NewFest has curated a collection of six shorts by LGBTQ filmmakers to stream on AMC+ during Pride Month. “We’re thrilled to partner with AMC Networks to bring NewFest’s programming to a national audience through the Future of Film initiative,” said NewFest executive director David Hatkoff and director of programming Nick McCarthy. “These powerful shorts highlight the depth…

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights in North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and India for Cannes Caméra d’Or winner The President’s Cake by Iraqi director Hasan Hadi. The film, which debuted in Directors’ Fortnight, also proved a crowdpleaser in the Cannes parallel section, winning its People’s Choice audience award. Deadline critic Pete Hammond also fell for the film describing it as a “a true gem and a real discovery”. Check out his review here. New York-based Hadi has tapped into his own childhood in southern Iraq in the 1990s, growing up under the regime of President Saddam…

Seeds is planting itself firmly in the hearts of critics around the country. Brittany Shyne’s documentary about Black farmers in the South won the Grand Jury Prize in Competition at the 2025 Seattle International Film Festival, the latest honor for a film that has won awards at Sundance, RiverRun in North Carolina, and the San Francisco International Film Festival. The jury, comprised of David Ansen, Megan Griffiths, and Garineh Nazarian, saluted the film for “its lyric and compassionate evocation of an underrepresented community, filmed with great intimacy over 8 years.” Eight fiction and nonfiction films contended for the Grand Jury…

When it comes to getting indie films made, Richard Linklater lives by the golden rule of “fake it until you make it.” The 5x Oscar nominee recently opened up about the struggles of financing as an indie filmmaker, explaining that they have to “be a cheap hustler” and “have some charm” in order to convince financiers to invest in their work. “If no one wants to support you, that just means you are not ready yet,” said Linklater at IndieWire‘s Future of Filmmaking Summit at Cannes. “Maybe you don’t have the confidence or something’s not exuding from you that needs…

Lilo & Stitch are back in live-action, and their new “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” is complete with several familiar songs as well as Elvis Presley hits. New and familiar faces complete the cast of Disney’s remake of the 2002 animated classic, with several well-known actors voicing the alien characters from Stitch’s world. Even some actresses who voiced characters in the original movie make appearances in the live-action film. Sydney Agudong’s Nani even performs a song or two for her younger sister, whose hula classes also call for music. Related Stories The sisters’ love of music, vinyl and the King of…

Not even presidential security clearance could get Taylor Zakhar Perez to spoil the upcoming Red, White & Royal Blue sequel. After portraying the president’s son Alex Claremont-Diaz in the 2023 Prime Video adaptation of Casey McQuiston‘s LGBTQ romance novel, the actor explained how he guaranteed “plausible deniability” when it comes to details of the second installment. “I purposefully said, ‘Please do not share with me anything until we are ready to prep it, because I want plausible deniability,’” Zakhar Perez told Elle. “I have not read a script, but I hear it’s very good.” Last May, Amazon MGM Studios announced…

TITLE: PEAK EVERYTHING (Amour apocalypse) Section: Directors’ Fortnight Director: Anne Émond Logline: Adam (Patrick Hivon) is a kind-hearted kennel-owner. To help combat his eco-anxiety, Adam orders a therapeutic solar lamp. Through the lamp’s supplier’s technical support line, he meets Tina (Piper Perabo), a woman with a voice that soothes all of his worries. This unexpected encounter changes everything: earth trembles, and hearts explode…  Sales agent: Indie Sales (international) Distributor (Canada): Immina Films Panelists: Anne Émond (writer/director), Piper Perabo, Patrick Hivon, Connor Jessup (actors).Key quotes: “I sat down one night and I read it, and thought it was audacious. I thought it was…

The Cannes Film Festival competition this evening tuned into The History of Sound, director Oliver Hermanus’ first time in the main theater. It was met with a nine-minute ovation that only slowed as they had to load in the next film premiere. The long-in-the-works period movie stars Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor in a story of love and music that spans decades. In his remarks to the crowd following the screening, Hermanus praised “the genius that is Paul Mescal.” Mescal plays Lionel, a talented singer from rural Kentucky raised on the songs his father sang. In 1917, he leaves his…