Author: Hollyood rep

Universal has been vindicated, thanks to the witches of Oz and the tenacity of studio chief and top NBCUniversal executive Donna Langley. Over the Nov. 22-24 weekend, director Jon M. Chu’s Wicked opened to an estimated $114 million domestically, the biggest box office launch of all time for a Broadway adaptation in a landslide victory, considering that the previous record-holder, Into the Woods, opened to $31 million, not adjusted for inflation. Moreover, it’s the fourth-biggest domestic opening among any musical behind three marquee Disney titles. It couldn’t be a more welcome result for Universal, which was left badly bruised when…

Wicked movie director Jon M. Chu is encouraging audience members to make an unusual request when they see the film in theaters. Chu, who helmed Universal Pictures‘ feature adaptation of the smash Broadway musical, took to X (formerly Twitter) on the opening evening to post that viewers should ask their theater to increase the volume for the musical’s sound. Wicked tells the story of The Wizard of Oz’s characters before Dorothy’s arrival, with Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. “Tell your movie theater to turn it up to a 7…. I’ve gone to a couple screenings and…

Josh Brolin is looking back on a tense moment he had with Denzel Washington on the set of American Gangster. In an interview on the In Depth with Graham Bensinger, the Dune: Part Two actor recalled a moment when he said he felt he and Washington were going to get into an altercation. “Denzel and I, by the way, get along very well now,” he said before sharing the anecdote from set. “We almost got into a fight.” In the 2007 film, Brolin played Detective Trupo, who is investigating Washington’s character Frank Lucas, a Harlem drug dealer in the ’60s and…

Charges of beastly parents take on a literal meaning in Spellbound, a moving if somewhat familiar animated fantasy musical from Skydance Animation. When protagonist Ellian (Rachel Zegler) describes her parents as monsters, she’s not echoing the clichéd allegation lodged by teens everywhere. She’s being dead serious. Nearly a year ago, while ambling through the forest, her parents were turned into unruly behemoths.  Few people in their kingdom of Lumbria are aware of this transformation, since, with the help of royal advisors Bolinar (John Lithgow) and Nazara (Jenifer Lewis), the princess has managed to keep her parents hidden away for the…

Spike Lee will serve as the president of the main competition jury at the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The fest will see 16 movies compete in the main competition lineup of its latest edition running Dec. 5-14. The titles include Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon, which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon, which debuted at the Locarno Film Festival where it won the special jury prize. “Having been lucky enough to experience first-hand the incredible filmmaking, atmosphere, and creativity at the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2022, it’s a…

Macedonian producer and actress Labina Mitevska has been selected as the recipient of this year’s Eurimages International Co-production Award, honoring producers for their contribution in fostering international film collaboration. Mitevska, who co-founded Sisters and Brother Mitevski Production in Skopje, North Macedonia, will receive the award from European film subsidy group Eurimages and the European Film Academy. Mitevska began her acting career in Milčo Mančevski‘s 1994 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion winner Before the Rain, which was also Oscar-nominated. Together with siblings Teona and Vuk she set up her own production company, Sisters and Brother Mitevski Production, in 2001. Labina produces,…

Three years after the tragic on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Alec Baldwin’s indie Western Rust will finally be revealed to the public on Wednesday. The movie has been selected to make its world premiere at Poland’s Camerimage International Film Festival, a respected specialty event focusing on achievements in cinematography. And the first screening in the town of Toruń would seem to be off to a strong start. Tickets to the premiere became available to festival attendees to claim via the event’s private ticketing system early Tuesday morning — and the website promptly crashed, because of an overwhelming surge in demand.  “The Camerimage portal is…

The Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has revealed the four movies for this year’s Treasures strand, showcasing “timeless classics,” including crime thriller Heat by director Michael Mann, starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, and Val Kilmer. The film will be screened alongside “three meticulously restored works in collaboration with Egyptian Media Production City,” fest organizers said on Monday. Heat “redefined the genre with its intricate narrative and electrifying performances by Robert De Niro and Al Pacino,” organizers said.  “With Hussein Fawzi’s Bread and Salt, Smile the Photo Comes Out Better, starring the RSIFF honoree and Egyptian…

Over the past couple of years, Netflix has been encroaching on the Hallmark Channel’s holiday season chokehold. Writer Russell Hainline is no stranger to the Christmas movie, having penned several titles for Hallmark, including The Santa Summit and In Merry Measure. This week he debuted his first Netflix entry, the delightfully named, Hot Frosty. The movie stars Hallmark company player Lacey Chabert as Kathy, a widow and beloved local who wraps a magical scarf around a sculpted snowman with an eight-pack who becomes a real — and very naked — man named Jack. Hijinks ensue with naive and preternaturally good-natured…

Poland’s Energa Camerimage film festival has long been considered a cineaste’s dream. Established 31 years ago as a specialty event focused on cinematography, the Toruń fest has expanded significantly in recent years but has retained its essence as a pure celebration of the art of filmmaking, prioritizing craftsmanship behind the camera — DPs, directors and production designers — over celebrities and industry functions.  “The reason people keep coming back here to Poland is that they get to talk about art; it’s not another trade show or a festival with red carpets every night,” says Camerimage director Kazimierz Suwała, who estimates…