Author: Hollyood rep

Barack Obama dropped his highly anticipated best of 2024 lists, including his favorite movies, songs and books of the year. “I always look forward to sharing my annual list of favorite books, movies, and music,” the former president wrote on his social media accounts. “Today I’ll start by sharing some of the books that have stuck with me long after I finished reading them.” He also invited his followers to check out the books he shared, preferably at an independent bookstore or library. His favorite books included Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo, Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, Arlie Russell Hochschild’s Stolen Pride,…

French film companies Rectangle Productions and Goodfellas have completed their merger, the two companies unveiled on Friday. Rectangle, the production house behind San Sebastian opener Emmanuelle and 2021 Venice festival winner Happening, and Vincent Maraval’s Goodfellas, who have handled international sales on such features as Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning The Boy and The Heron, and Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, finalized their merger on November 4, 2024. The companies have been collaborating for years, with Goodfellas handling sales on Rectangle productions including Emmanuelle, Valerie Donzelli’s Cannes 2023 film Just the Two of Us, and Charlene Favier’s Oxana, among others. The merger, the…

The year-end holiday marquee isn’t as crowded this year as it usually is, and there’s no Star Wars or Avatar, but Hollywood studios believe there’s still enough merriment to be had at the box office. The action officially gets underway Dec. 20 when Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King debut at the domestic office. Both films are rated PG, a huge advantage in terms of attracting families. Sonic — which has become a marquee franchise for Paramount and videogame maker Sega — is widely expected to top the weekend with a three-day launch of $60…

Three movies in, it’s not surprising that the Sonic the Hedgehog cinematic universe is starting to get more crowded. The second installment, released in 2022, saw the arrival of the title character’s (Ben Schwartz) animal cohorts Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and Knuckles (Idris Elba). They’re now joined for the action-packed third entry by archnemesis Shadow, another, even more powerful hedgehog voiced by none other than Keanu Reeves. And Jim Carrey has not only abandoned his short-lived retirement to return as the mad scientist Dr. Ivo Robotnik, he does dual service as Ivo’s 110-year-old but very sprightly grandfather Gerald. Because when you…

Former James Bond Daniel Craig, The Pianist Oscar winner Adrien Brody, Euphoria Emmy winner Colman Domingo, Marvel superhero turned Emmy nominee Sebastian Stan, consummate character actor Peter Sarsgaard and Oscar-nominated heartthrob Paul Mescal range in age from 28 (Mescal) to 56 (Craig); hail from around the world (America, England, Ireland and Romania); and forged very different paths to stardom. But they all share one thing in common: Each gave a standout performance in a 2024 film — or, in Stan’s case, two — that led to them congregating in mid-November at Soho House West Hollywood for THR‘s annual Actor Roundtable.…

Lee Walters will serve as Wales‘ BAFTA Cymru chair, it has been unveiled on Monday. Walters, who since 2023 has been the CEO of Ffilm Cymru Wales, the development agency for Welsh film, succeeds BAFTA Cymru Award-winning presenter Angharad Mair after nine years in the role. BAFTA Cymru was established over 35 years ago to support, celebrate and nurture creative talent in Wales. As chair, Lee leads the BAFTA Cymru committee, which helps steer their work supporting the film, games and television industries in Wales through its annual BAFTA Cymru Awards and programme of activities. The committee also oversees the…

Lionel Richie, the guest on this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, is a legendary singer/songwriter — first with the Commodores, then as a solo artist — as well as a record producer, an American Idol judge and, most recently, the executive producer and a subject of the Netflix documentary about the making of the landmark charity single “We Are the World,” The Greatest Night in Pop. The doc was the most watched English-language film on the streaming service the week it dropped last January, and went on to receive three Emmy noms, including best documentary or nonfiction special. It…

“The fact that you’d drive up to this hell-hole, Santa Barbara, means the world to me,” Will Ferrell joked on Wednesday night as he thanked family, friends and costars — including Kristen Wiig and Octavia Spencer — for coming to the picturesque “American Riviera,” two hours north of Los Angeles, to participate in the Santa Barbara International Film Festival‘s presentation to him of the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film. SBIFF has since 2006 annually presented the honor, which is named after the late star of Hollywood’s Golden Age who lived part-time in town, at a black-tie gala dinner at the local…

Ridley Scott‘s plans to work with Paul Mescal again might be on hold, thanks to the Beatles. During a conversation with fellow filmmaker Christopher Nolan that followed a screening of Scott’s latest title, Gladiator II, at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Scott said that he plans for his next project to be the thriller feature The Dog Stars. When Nolan asked if Mescal is set to star in the film, given that this had been recently reported, Scott confirmed this as true before correcting himself and explaining that Mescal’s schedule may prevent the Gladiator II…

Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, BlacKkKlansman) took a brief break from his work as the president of the main competition jury at the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, sharing industry and career insights during an “In Conversation With” session and talking about being in post-production on his fifth film with Denzel Washington. He calls his partnership with the actor “the dynamic Duo of D and Lee,” the legendary filmmaker told a crowd in Jeddah Old Town Al-Balad that was hanging on his every word amid growth in Saudi production activity and box…