Innholdsfortegnelse for 11/3/2021 i Variety

There are still so many unanswered questions as to what led to the devastating death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” — the most salient being how live ammunition got into the gun that killed her and wounded director Joel Souza. Last week came the shocking revelation from an Oct. 27 search warrant affidavit that the film’s first assistant director, David Halls, acknowledged to investigators that he had failed to check the weapon for live rounds before handing it to star Alec Baldwin and declaring it a “cold gun,” meaning it was safe to fire. In the aftermath of the shooting, there have been several press reports calling into question Halls’ reputation and conduct on previous sets. We ran a story on Oct. 29 in which a…

Adele may be immune to many of the mortal concerns that trouble musical non-deities, but there’s one thing she has in common with the most modest indie rocker: She had to finish her forthcoming album, “30,” early if she wanted vinyl available on the same day the release hit streaming services. And these days, almost everybody does. While the company declined official comment, Sony Music sources tell Variety that more than 500,000 vinyl copies of “30” have been manufactured in the months leading up to the album’s Nov. 19 release, with the company pushing catalog titles off its overseas pressing plants to ensure there won’t be any shortage of Adele LPs going into the holidays. To do that — for an album that will probably immediately break initial vinyl sales…

Juno Temple (1) didn’t have to travel far to attend Neiman Marcus’ recent holiday campaign launch on the Paramount lot — she’s been there shooting “The Offer,” Paramount Plus’ limited series about the making of “The Godfather.” “I literally had a freakout that was very vocal,” the Emmy-nominated “Ted Lasso” star recalls of her first time driving through the Paramount gates on Melrose Avenue. “This is one of the most glamorous and historic studios. And then I’m walking onto sets that are re-creating ‘The Godfather’ sets. I was like, ‘What is happening?’” While we may know some of the film’s backstory, Temple, who plays producer Al Ruddy’s assistant Bettye McCartt, teases that more will be revealed: “It got dangerous. Scary shit went down.” Taika Waititi and Krysty Wilson-Cairns’ (2) script…

Meritt Elliott and Emily Current (1), best friends, designers, entrepreneurs and co-CEOs of The Great., have opened up a second outpost of their multi-category womenswear brand in Venice (1107 Abbot Kinney Blvd.). A Craftsman-style bungalow serves as the backdrop for the former celebrity stylists’ Americana-inspired pieces — cozy knits, embroidered tees, college sweatshirts and ultrasoft sleepwear — which have garnered them a following that includes Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Alba and Amanda Seyfried. “In college, we were on a perpetual hunt for special pieces we couldn’t find anywhere else,” explains Current, “and we often took the bus together to Venice to go vintage shopping.” Adds Elliott: “We loved the uniqueness of this neighborhood of artists and found treasures that reflected the casual West Coast ease so inherent in our sense of…

This is the year of musicals and that means sound design and sound mixing is sweet music to one’s ears. From “In the Heights,” to “Tick, Tick … Boom!” and “Dear Evan Hansen,” and the yet-unseen “West Side Story,” sound teams worked finessed audio tracks recorded on set, pre-records and studio-recorded vocals. In addition, sound mixers seamlessly took environmental sounds to match what audiences saw on screen. Take Vanessa’s entrance in “In the Heights.” Melissa Barrera struts down Washington Heights in black studded heels, which tap to the beat of the song, and her vocals flawlessly match the emotion as she tries to negotiate her down payment with a landlord. “Dune’s” sound is a master class in itself of crafts, not only visually but also sonically as Hans Zimmer’s score…

Past Oscar nominees and winners dominate this category and it’s a case of the futuristic science-fiction looks of “Dune,” created by Jacqueline West and Bob Morgan, versus Jacqueline Durran in “Spencer” as the two front-runners in the costume design race. Denis Villeneuve’s epic needed an army of artisans to craft the looks of Arrakis and the different worlds — a mighty task in itself. West and Morgan also had to bring to life the stillsuits, described by author Frank Herbert as “the color of the rocks.” “Each one had to be cut on a mold of the actors’ bodies because the movement of the body is what theoretically activates the stillsuit and turns it into a distillery,” West says. Both in the book and film, the suits take human wastewater…

Production design cover time and space in the year’s awards hopefuls from “Dune” to “The Last Duel.” Some are set in the future and sci-fi worlds while others dig into the past or stay with the present. “Dune” is an epic and its futuristic planets sit high as a front-runner for production design. Patrice Vermette helped bring Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s series to life, building the Atreides fortress and creating the ornithopters: winged flying vehicles. Meanwhile Arthur Max double dips, going to the 14th century for “The Last Duel” with its French forts, as well as three decades for the story of the clan in “House of Gucci,” which lensed across numerous Italian locations. Frequent Wes Anderson collaborate Adam Stockhausen used an old felt factory to visualize “The…

Commemorating its 80th anniversary this year, the United Service Organizations, or USO, provides support for personnel from the American military and its allies that extends far past the familiar images of entertainers including Bob Hope eliciting laughter from soldiers. Launched in response to World War II, the civilian-run organization not only coordinates star-studded entertainment tours, but also provides a wide variety of programs, including care packages, communication access, networking events and a variety of other forms of support. “The USO is there for them from the moment they step up and raise their right hand at a military processing station all the way through boot camp, when they deploy overseas, to when they get out,” says J.D. Crouch, USO CEO. Crouch, who’s been with the organization for seven years, says…

In the past 14 years, Stand Up for Heroes — the annual benefit presented by the Bob Woodruff Foundation and the New York Comedy Festival — has raised $60 million to help veterans, service members and their families overcome whatever hardships they’re facing. “In the beginning, it was a lot of visible wounds, amputation and burns and traumatic brain injury, like I had,” says Bob Woodruff, who’d been covering the war in Iraq for ABC News when his armored vehicle was hit by a bomb in 2006. “Then we moved toward post-traumatic stress and their invisible wounds. … In the last year and a half, it’s been largely concentrating on the impact of COVID. And we have a lot more depression that has now been triggered by the withdrawal out…

Imagine if “Pawn Stars,” “American Pickers” and “Storage Wars” created a mashup spinoff, but with a higher purpose. That’s what viewers will find when they tune into “Operation Hidden Treasures,” Discovery Channel’s new reality series that puts the spotlight on America’s veterans, as so few TV shows do. The half-hour unscripted series follows members of the world’s biggest military veterans’ enterprise, JDog Junk Removal and Hauling, as they turn someone’s trash into someone else’s treasure, all for a good cause. “I understand that trainwreck reality shows will always be popular, but I love making reality TV that showcases amazing people doing interesting things,” say executive producer Jim Milio. Milio, who co-executive produced the film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” and hails from shows such shows National Geographic’s “Dog Whisperer,” History’s…

Missy Elliott is an artist with few peers or precedents — a wildly innovative singer-songwriter-producer and musicvideo pioneer whose work has cast a long shadow over the past quarter century. Almost immediately from their arrival in the mid-1990s, she and longtime collaborator Timbaland reshaped the sound of hip-hop. They made songs out of pings and bips and bloops (both vocal and electronic) that quickly became part of the foundation of virtually all that followed: “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” “Work It,” “Lose Control,” “Get Ur Freak on,” along with hits for Aaliyah, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé (solo and with Destiny’s Child), Mary J. Blige, TLC, Monica, and more than a hundred features, guest appearances and others. Elliott has won four Grammys and sold more than 30 million records worldwide, and her…

An air of claustrophobia inhabits “Spencer,” Pablo Larraín’s psychological drama that follows a distressed Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart) as she spends Christmas 1991 at the royal family’s Sandringham estate. That confinement spawns a sensation equal parts austere and foreboding despite the opulence that surrounds it, one that production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas (“Passengers,” “Inception”) meticulously crafted to mirror the unhappy noble’s state of mind at a time when her troubled marriage to Prince Charles was nearing its end. The royals’ customary secrecy and privacy presented a research challenge for Dyas, a difficulty he overcame thanks to a reliable (and anonymous) royal adviser he worked with. Still, utmost accuracy wasn’t a crucial quality he pursued in his designs. “In Pablo’s words, this is an imaginative interpretation, a fairy tale,” Dyas explains.…

Peacock has a serial TV problem and is counting on a pandemic-delayed pipeline of programming to help overcome it. More than a year after its launch, NBCUniversal’s streaming service lacks the buzzy original TV shows of its rivals or even the fan-friendly “Star Trek” offerings of Paramount Plus, the ViacomCBS service formerly known as CBS All Access. And while top brass praised Peacock as “headed in the right direction” during Comcast’s earnings call with Wall Street analysts last week, the lack of breakthrough hits, considered key to streamer growth, suggests the service has much work to do before it becomes truly competitive with its rivals. “The issue with Peacock right now as it stands is that the demand for its originals is effectively nonexistent.” --Julia Alexander, Parrot Analytics Craig Moffett,…

The cinematography field is packed with immeasurable talent but not equal opportunities, particularly for women. When a tragedy occurs such as the loss of Halyna Hutchins, who died at 42 after being shot by a prop firearm on the set of the indie film “Rust,” the absence is felt throughout the industry. In the 93 years of the Academy Awards, Rachel Morrison is the only woman ever to be nominated for cinematography, for her work on Dee Rees’ “Mudbound.” And the cinematographers branch has a poor track record for honoring diverse and inclusive artists. Case in point: A Black cinematographer has never won the category, and only two have been nominated (Remi Adefarasin for 1998’s “Elizabeth” and Bradford Young for 2016’s “Arrival”). This year, multiple women are bringing their A-game…

Oct. 21-28 Newport Beach Film Festival Newport Beach, Calif. Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch honorees were feted at a brunch at the Balboa Bay Resort before participating in a Q&A. Attending were Moses Ingram, Justin H. Min, Filippo Scotti and Saniyya Sidney. In addition, actor Jeffrey Wright received Variety’s Legend and Groundbreaker Award, which was presented by filmmaker Wes Anderson via video. The “French Dispatch” director revealed that for years he’s kept “a list of what I call powerhouse actors who I want to work with. At the top of that list has been Jeffrey Wright.” Also honored by the festival and in attendance were Harvey Keitel, Rosanna Arquette, Regina Hall, Ray Liotta, Thomasin McKenzie and Simon Rex. Oct. 25 ‘Last Night in Soho’ Premiere Academy Museum of Motion Pictures,…

The crafts people who help realize the screenwriter and director’s vision overperformed this year whether it was with the sound and music or camerawork, editing, costumes or production design. It’s impossible to guess, some three months away from the nominations, what might be up for an Oscar in the music categories. But we can’t resist trying. The only sure thing seems to be that English composer Jonny Greenwood will be nominated for at least one Oscar and maybe two. The Radiohead singer-songwriter has been nominated just once (for 2017’s “Phantom Thread”) but has lately stepped up his film-score output and has no fewer than three talked-about films in contention: “Spencer,” the Princess Diana movie for director Pablo Larrain; “The Power of the Dog,” the Benedict Cumberbatch western for director Jane…

Wins at Toronto and Middleburg film festivals pushed Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” into front-runner status. The visually stunning, heartwarming film shot by Haris Zambarloukos is so deliciously rich that this film could walk home with a few statues come 2022. Multiple contenders, also shot in black-and-white, could find themselves in the running. There is Robbie Ryan, whose lush camerawork in Mike Mill’s “C’mon C’mon” has been receiving praise for the dreamy images in the Joaquin Phoenix-starrer. Eduard Grau added warm textures to Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut “Passing.” Close-ups were key to this tale of colorism. Bruno Delbonnel gave a noir-esque feel to each frame of “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” the dark cinematography lending itself to the tale. While B&W might dominate, the ASC needs to hear the plea that women cinematographers…

Action-filled sequences and mystical battles were required for “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” Similarly, director Cary Joji Fukunaga kept a lot of Bond's action in-camera, but when it came to the film’s finale, VFX teams stepped in to ensure Daniel Craig's 007 went out with a mighty bang in “No Time to Die.” Also roaring up a storm were “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The “Venom” sequel ramped up on Carnage’s havoc, assessing how this new villain should move, inspired by scorpions. Taking a cue from animals was the menacing White Spikes in “The Tomorrow War” that threaten mankind's existence. The VFX team thought the viperfish would be good creatures to copy for their action shots. Even though Marvel’s “Black Widow” had its…

Bleecker Street’s “Mass” takes place almost entirely in one room, with four characters. When writer-director Fran Kranz was hunting for funding, he resisted suggestions to “open up” the film. “I always believed it had to be this,” he tells Variety, because he didn’t want to “undermine” the characters. The film concerns an emotional meeting between two sets of parents whose sons have died in a school shooting. It features four of the best performances of the year, a first-time filmmaker taking risks that pay off big time, and a thought-provoking script about the state of the world in 2021. The topics are weighty, but “for me, it’s a hopeful movie,” Kranz says. Some people worry it might be hard to watch. In truth, film history is filled with “difficult” movies,…

A quote by the Native American author and educator Luther Standing Bear flashes onscreen at the beginning of “The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses.” The quote tells of an old Lakota man who “knew that man’s heart away from nature becomes hard,” that “lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans, too. So he kept his children close to nature’s softening influence.” While the quote applies throughout Steven Latham and Conrad Stanley’s documentary, which looks at multiple angles of the modern plight of mustangs on America’s public lands, it fully resonates when the film explores how working with these animals helps veterans and active-duty service members. PMC Vice Chairman Gerry Byrne is a consulting producer on the film. Operation Wild Horse, a nonprofit organization…

When Louis Faranda and his team started putting together the New York Comedy Festival after a year’s absence due to the pandemic, they knew it would be a lot of work — it always is. But this year, bringing together hundreds of comedians to make thousands of New Yorkers and visitors laugh was even more challenging than before. “Early on, many comedians didn’t want to commit because no one knew what November would bring in terms of the pandemic,” Faranda says. “But it was really important to us to bring the festival back strong — people really need to laugh, and we need to show that the world is coming back. “ The festival, taking place Nov. 8-14, will feature 17 major shows and 150 smaller ones, says festival founder…

Disney Animation’s newest feature, “Encanto,” centers on the extended Madrigal family, who possess magical powers and live in an enchanted house. Only teenager Mirabel, voiced by “In the Heights” actor Stephanie Beatriz, lacks the gift of incantation. The movie, which debuts Nov. 24, is rooted in Colombian culture, so filmmakers Byron Howard and Jared Bush traveled to Cartagena and Bogotá to study the details that would capture the country’s essence. Associate production designer Lorelay Bove’s touches were inspired by Colombian homes. “We added some props that would be found in a cocina Colombiana — like a molinillo, which is a hot chocolate stirrer; a corn grinder; and traditional clay pottery called La Chamba.” Bove and the art team wanted to ensure the home oozed energy and vibrancy. “We looked at…

MUSIC REVIEW Artist: ABBA Label: Capitol Anticipating a long-awaited yet unexpected reunion is one of life’s more conflicted experiences. Will your old friend look good or awful? Will they be stuck in the past, or a 2.0 or 3.0 version of the person you remember? Most of all, will they still be themselves? It’s both corny and perfectly fitting to frame ABBA’s first album in nearly 40 years as a reunion with an old friend. One of the most successful and influential groups in the history of the world, their kitschy lyrics and image — two married Swedish couples dressed in matching outfits! — camouflaged the deceptive complexity and sophistication of their music, which smashed chart records globally and turned them into superstars, but also made them a punchline. Yet…

While Hollywood blockbusters such as “Dune” and “No Time to Die” are dominating the U.S. box office, foreign-language specialty titles are proving their theatrical mettle in the early post-pandemic era. Driven by Bong Joon Ho’s historic best picture win for “Parasite” in 2019, U.S. awards season has never been more open to non-English-language fare, with Julia Ducournau’s shocking “Titane,” Valdimar Jóhannsson’s chilling “Lamb” and Asghar Farhadi’s sobering “A Hero” getting Oscar buzz in categories beyond international feature film. Where larger U.S. distributors now buy fewer of these titles, independent outfits like A24, Neon, IFC Films and Samuel Goldwyn Films have stepped forward during the pandemic, scooping up the hottest foreign-language movies on the festival circuit. “One of the things that is most amazing now is that there are so many…

More than two decades ago, “Harry Potter” mania was at an all-time high. The fervor that surrounded J.K. Rowling’s fantasy novel about a bespectacled boy who finds out he’s a famous wizard translated to stratospheric expectations for “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the first movie adaptation of the beloved series. The film, which opened on Nov. 4, 2001, became a box office sensation, paving the way for one of the most successful franchises in movie history and turning then-unknown stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint into household names. On the occasion of the film’s 20th anniversary, director Chris Columbus spoke to Variety about bringing the fantastical world to life. • Given the popularity of the books, did you feel pressure making the first “Harry Potter” movie? I…

Queen Bey’s “Be Alive” for “King Richard” could rule the Oscar song category. Meanwhile if Beyoncé’s husband, Jay Z’s “My Guns Go Bang” is also nommed from “The Harder They Fall,” the battle of the Carters is on. And never count out a Bond song. Even though it came out at the start of the pandemic, Billie Eilish’s titular tune for “No Time to Die” has already won a Grammy. Coming for EGOT status is Lin-Manuel Miranda who has numerous songs to offer from “In the Heights,” Netflix’s animated feature “Vivo” and, possibly, “Tick, Tick …Boom!” If he snatches the win, Miranda joins the elite who have an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. As always, Disney, Pixar and Marvel have a wealth of songs to offer from…

It should come as no surprise that “Dune” will most likely land an Oscar nomination for frequent Denis Villeneuve collaborator Joe Walker. The crafts spectacle comes together as Walker stitches score, sound design and all elements of the epic to follow Paul Arrakis (Timothée Chalamet), whisking audiences away into an unmatchable immersive experience. Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” editor Peter Sciberras strikes a perfect balance between sweeping vistas and the tension between Benedict Cumberbatch’s Phil Burbank and Kodi Smit-McPhee’s enigmatic Peter. Joel Coen didn’t just direct and adapt but he also co-edited “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” as he has many of his past projects under the pseudonym Reginald Jaynes, alongside Lucian Johnston. As Roderick Jaynes, with his brother Ethan, Coen has been nominated twice in the past. It…

A year after a historic win in this category, the hair and makeup race are again transforming actors playing real-life characters. Jessica Chastain completely disappears into the televangelist in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” so much so that you forget it’s her, until the end split-screen with Tammy Faye Bakker and Chastain’s Bakker, which only reconfirms her amazing chameleon performance. Royally commanding in her performance, Kristen Stewart takes on the most photographed female in the world: Princess Diana, perfecting not just the voice, while the team helped complete her transformation with hair and makeup. Sarah Tanno, personal makeup artist to Lady Gaga partners with Frederic Aspiras (personal hairstylist), in taking the singer’s iconic looks and turning her into the black widow Patrizia Reggiani. While that may be the performance audiences…

Adam Driver’s place in the 2021 pop culture firmament is assured because of his role in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, his four Primetime Emmy nominations and his two Academy Award noms — and being the actor everyone in Hollywood wants to star in their projects. Twenty years earlier, he was a fresh-faced 18-year-old who joined the U.S. Marine Corps, motivated by political and personal bravado after the events of 9/11. Somewhere in between, Driver and his future wife Joanne Tucker, co-created Arts in the Armed Forces (AITAF), a nonprofit organization that presents theater and film to active-duty service members. Effectively merging the disciplined world that trained Driver with the artistic calling that lay in front of him, AITAF has since become a program not just to entertain military personnel…

For the second year in a row, Variety and the History channel are joining forces, teaming up on a television special that pays tribute to veterans and military families. “Variety Salute to Service,” hosted by Robin Roberts, will premiere on the History channel at 9 p.m. ET on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and showcase those whose lives were changed by their military service. The special also features former President George W. Bush speaking about his Presidential Institute’s Military Service Initiative, which helps post 9/11 vets and their families. The emotional special highlights the incredible true stories of veterans who have sacrificed so much to serve their country. The special also puts a spotlight on how vets make the sometimes difficult but ultimately very important transition from military to civilian life,…

ANTE CHENG “Blue Bayou” Cheng and helmer Justin Chon go way back so when the director asked him to lense “Blue Bayou,” he naturally said yes. However, when the film took some time to get off the ground, Cheng started on another project and ended up sharing DP duties on “Bayou” with Matthew Chuang. The film, shot in 16mm, premiered at Un Certain Regard in Cannes. “Cannes was like a dream come true,” Cheng recalls. “Fortunately I got to go in person this year and it still feels unreal, being there, watching our film on the big screen with the audience.” Cheng and Chon have collaborated on five projects, including Apple/Media Res series “Pachinko,” which they filmed in Hawaii, South Korea and Canada. “We push each other to keep building…

Miami film fans have an express pass to the best of the world’s film festivals at Miami Dade College’s eighth annual Miami Film Festival Gems, an offshoot of the Miami Film Festival. The Gems line-up expands to seven days this year (Nov. 4-10) and offers in-person screenings of lauded features selected from prestige festivals and international awards season contenders. “We’re trying to capture the vibe of the moment,” says Jaie Laplante, Miami Film Festival’s executive director and co-director of programming. The festival programmers selected from the prizewinners and standouts of Cannes, Venice, Toronto, New York and other fests. The result is a Telluride-like experience where audiences, “see everything together in a concentrated period of time.” Some titles will be available virtually as well. “People are so excited about the line-up:…