Variety 4/20/2022

It’s beyond distressing how women directors continue to get short shrift at Cannes. How could it be that this year only three movies helmed by females will be contenders in the main competition of the world’s most prestigious film festival? It’s horribly disappointing, but far from shocking, given that last year only four out of 21 competition titles were directed by females and considering Cannes’ poor track record when it comes to recognizing women filmmakers competing throughout its 75-year history. After all, just two movies by women directors, Jane Campion’s “The Piano” and Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” have ever won the coveted Palme d’Or. Of course, I’m thrilled for director Kelly Reichardt (“Showing Up”), Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (“Forever Young”) and Claire Denis (“Stars at Noon”), but none-theless their movies represent a…

The latest act in the very public unraveling of Johnny Depp began last week in a courtroom in northern Virginia, pulling back the curtain on the secretive world of celebrity enablers and hangers-on. Depp is suing his ex-wife, Amber Heard, for $50 million for describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse” in a 2018 Washington Post opinion piece. That revived allegations she made when the couple divorced in 2016 — about which they had each promised to remain silent — and in Depp’s view the public characterization could not go unchallenged. “Maybe a part of him feels like, ‘What do I have to lose? I’m going down. I’m bringing her down with me.’”--Judy Poller, attorney But after Depp lost a similar case in London in 2020, his public…

Movie theaters have benefited from a pair of unlikely heroes. Once written off as also-rans in the battle for ticket buyers, Sony and Paramount have been flexing their muscles at the box office lately with a wide range of offerings. The two studios are responsible for seven of the 10 highest-grossing films of 2022 and currently represent more than 46% of all domestic revenues, according to Comscore. This is a marked turnaround from a year ago: At this point in 2021, Paramount and Sony represented roughly 5% of domestic revenues. Analysts say that Paramount and Sony have been adept at scheduling their movies as the business recovers from COVID-19. With rivals such as Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal choosing to hold off many of their major tentpoles until summer or…

From the day Nicole Clemens took the reins of Paramount Television Studios in 2018, she fielded calls about whether “The Godfather” was available for development as a TV series. The answer was always no. “The Godfather” — Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece that begat 1974’s “The Godfather: Part II” and 1990’s “The Godfather: Part III” — is among the most valuable assets in the Paramount Pictures vault. Clemens couldn’t help thinking about all of those inquiries a year later when she took a general meeting with nonagenarian producer Albert S. Ruddy, whose quirky résumé ranges from “The Godfather” to “Hogan’s Heroes” to “Walker, Texas Ranger.” As he regaled her with tales of his transformation in the late 1960s from a computer programmer for Rand Corp. to Hollywood producer, she began…

After two years of delays, setbacks and an unending pandemic, Adam Lucas witnessed a resurrection. The 19-year-old New Jersey resident joined hundreds of screaming fans at the Marquis Theatre on April 8 for the Broadway return of “Beetlejuice: The Musical,” an irreverent adaptation of the hit movie. Together, they hooted, sang along to favorite numbers and gave star Alex Brightman a nearly two-minute standing ovation when he first sauntered onstage. “The energy in the room felt amazing,” says Lucas. “I’ve seen a lot of Broadway shows, but this didn’t seem like those. It felt like I was at a rock concert.” “Beetlejuice: The Musical” opened to ho-hum reviews and modest ticket sales in 2019 before gradually getting a second life thanks to TikTok fan videos. But then misfortune struck. First,…

The third-ever Black List specialty report celebrating LGBTQ inclusive stories, released exclusively to Variety, includes work from 12 notable out creators in film, along with eight television pilots. In only two years, nearly 50% of projects named in the previous two editions of the GLAAD List have been optioned, are in production or have been released, with Billy Porter’s directorial debut, “Anything’s Possible,” among them. For the 2022 edition, GLAAD also called on top-tier production houses, streamers and studios to help vet the list. “The industry has finally realized after a very long time that they’re not telling the stories of various communities, and when they do, they tell certain kinds of stories. Stories of struggle, of victimization, or angels walking on Earth that must be perfect,” says The Black…