After the “Ahsoka” panel at the Star Wars Celebration in London, Variety spoke with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy about some of the franchise’s future installments. Kennedy was keen to talk about bringing back Daisy Ridley’s Rey for a new “Star Wars” film, which was announced during an April 7 panel.…
Rian Johnson
You’ll have to forgive Natasha Lyonne if she’s irritable today. She just quit smoking, which is no small feat for someone who’s so synonymous with the habit that there’s an Instagram account dedicated to the coolness of her taking a drag. “I’ve been putting it off for so long,” she…
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from the “Poker Face” Season 1 finale, “The Hook,” now streaming on Peacock. Benjamin Bratt sucked it in like Rin Tin Tin or Anne Boleyn to shoot one standout scene in the Season 1 finale of “Poker Face.” The bit in question featured a poetic recitation of…
When Rian Johnson comes to television, he does so with a “big swing,” as music supervisor Thomas Golubić puts it. The multiple Emmy and Grammy nominee (“Better Call Saul,” “Six Feet Under”) is on board for Johnson’s “Poker Face” starring Natasha Lyonne, who also executive produces the hour-long dark comedy…
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages are Davis’ assessment of the current…
MGM’s Orion Pictures has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Emmy-winning writer Cord Jefferson’s untitled feature directorial debut, starring Emmy winner Jeffrey Wright. Produced by MRC and Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T-Street Productions, the film is based on the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett. Jefferson (“Watchmen,” “Maser of None”) also…
Ahead of Thanksgiving, cinema owners, increasingly dismayed by the lack of compelling movies to screen and painfully aware that this fall’s only blockbuster, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” wouldn’t match the stratospheric grosses of its predecessor, approached Netflix with a plea. Would it be possible, they asked, for “Glass Onion: A…
After a two-year hiatus, Variety is pleased to announce the in-person return of its annual Screening Series with a special focus on Artisans. This year’s Artisan Screening Series launched last week with an exclusive screening of United Artists Releasing’s “Women Talking,” followed by an interview with writer-director Sarah Polley, cinematographer…
Award winning composers helped turn this year’s Netflix Playlist event into an aural and visual spectacle. The music from some of the streaming platform’s awards contenders and series were brought to life for live audiences alongside immersive, wall-to-wall projections. Alexandre Desplat, Nathan Johnson and Danny Elfman were among those in…
It’s rare for sequels to make a big splash on the awards circuit; only two have ever won best picture – “The Godfather II” and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” But director Rian Johnson’s star-studded feature “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” is also proving to be…
The Napa Valley Film Festival announced its 2022 Film, Food and Wine Showcase programming and honors, to take place at The Culinary Institute of America at Copia on Nov. 10-13 featuring a curated group of films and honoree tributes that celebrate artistic achievement. Leading the honorees is Laura Dern, who…
Viola Davis and Rian Johnson are among those being honored at the 12th annual Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards. The awards will be held on Nov. 5 at Avalon Hollywood on Vine and writer, actor and comedian Fortune Feimster will host the ceremony, which pays tribute to the brilliant behind-the-camera…