Paramount+’s ‘The Envoys’ Season 2, From Oscar Winner Juan Jose Campanella, Rolls in Spain

Naman Ramachandran After 22 weeks in cinemas across Ireland and the U.K., writer-director Colm Bairéad’s “An Cailín Ciúin” (“The Quiet Girl”) has crossed €1 million ($971,000) at the box office. The film is Ireland’s entry in the Oscars’ international feature category. Based on Irish author Claire Keegan’s story “Foster,” the coming-of-age film, set in rural Ireland in 1981, follows Cáit (Catherine Clinch) as she is sent from her overcrowded, dysfunctional household to live with distant relatives for the summer. It has been an unstoppable force on the festival and awards circuit, winning top prizes at the Berlin, Dublin and Taipei film festivals and sweeping the Irish Film and Television Awards. Produced by Cleona Ní Chrualaoi for Inscéal, the film is distributed by Break Out Pictures and Curzon.

Naman Ramachandran “Last Film Show” (“Chhello Show”) India’s contender in the Oscars international feature category, will release across India on Oct. 14. Cashing in on the fact that it is in contention at the 95th Oscars, the distributors – Roy Kapur Films in partnership with PVR – are pricing previews on Oct. 13 across 95 Indian cinemas at INR95 ($1.16). The partly autobiographical drama takes director Pan Nalin back to his roots in Saurashtra, Gujarat, western India, where “Last Film Show” was filmed. The story is set against the backdrop of Indian cinemas witnessing a massive transition from celluloid to digital where hundreds of single-screen cinemas are either in ruins or have disappeared altogether.

Season 4 of “Doom Patrol” is getting wackier than ever.

EXCLUSIVE: Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing has acquired Ivan Herrera’s drama Bantú Mama for distribution in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The company will be presenting the film — which has been named as the Dominican Republic’s 2023 entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar — on select screens and on Netflix beginning November 17.

A difficult era. Jennifer Lawrence revealed that she struggled in the aftermath of her sudden fame following the release of the first Hunger Games movie and her Academy Award win.

Colm Bairéad’s The Quiet Girl, which is Ireland’s entry in the Best International Film Oscar race this year, has punched through the €1m ($971,000) box office ceiling in a record-breaking performance for an Irish-language feature.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter After two years of upheaval and unfamiliarity at the box office, there’s something refreshingly familiar about the theatrical release of “Tár.” The acclaimed movie, directed by Todd Fields and starring Cate Blanchett as a world-famous conductor embroiled in a controversy of her own making, generated a stellar $160,000 from four theaters (two in New York City and two in Los Angeles) over the weekend, averaging a mighty $40,000 per location. Next weekend, it’s expanding its theater count (ever so slightly), to 30 new venues in 10 domestic markets. That kind of steady and deliberately paced rollout, one that relies almost entirely on positive word-of-mouth, is about as traditional as it gets for an arthouse film. Yet for most of the pandemic, it was rendered obsolete.

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based Urban Sales has sold Japanese director Chie Hayakawa’s dystopian drama Plan 75 to KimStim for North America, in addition to several other territories. The film won a Camera d’Or Special Mention when it premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year, and is also Japan’s submission to the Best International Feature category of the Oscars. 

Hilary Swank is opening up about the shocking reason she didn’t have health insurance back when she won her first Oscar.

Clayton Davis 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 standings of the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any film or performance. Like any organization or body that votes, each individual category is fluid and subject to change. Predictions are updated every Thursday. LAST UPDATED: Oct. 7, 2022 CATEGORY COMMENTARY:

They’ve got jokes! John Legend and Chrissy Teigen have a swoon-worthy romance — but they aren’t afraid to poke fun at each other from time to time.

Maite Alberdi, whose The Mole Agent was Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary last year, will be among documentarians pitching projects at the 30th Forum co-production meeting of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam.

Angelique Jackson Academy Award-winning director Ben Proudfoot (“The Queen of Basketball”) and digital business transformation company Publicis Sapient have partnered to launch Impact Films, a short film series designed to showcase technology “as a force for good.” The three-part film series uses short documentary to show technological advancements through the lens of a person whose life was impacted, using the Oscar-winning expertise of Proudfoot and his company Breakwater Studios. Take the social good initiative’s debut project, “Never Done,” as an example. The 16-and-a-half-minute film tells the story of Kersten, a single mom from Charlotte, N.C., who was forced to quit her job amid the COVID-19 pandemic because of a lung disease diagnosis and found herself and her two young daughters just days away from eviction. It was Publicis Sapient’s client DreamKey Partners that ultimately saved the day via a new digital platform that delivered critical government-mandated financial assistance to Kersten and tens of thousands of families like hers in the nick of time.

Jada Pinkett Smith plans to reveal all in her new memoir. The actress and wife of Will Smith announced she will publish her book in 2023, according to People.  Although the memoir is still untitled, the "Red Table Talk" host will cover her "rise to stardom" alongside friend Tupac Shakur, her "unconventional upbringing" and "falling in love" with her husband.  Smith opens up about "chronicles lessons learned in the course of a difficult but riveting journey – a rollercoaster ride from the depths of suicidal depression to the heights of personal discovery…" according to a press release via the media outlet.

Ben Leitch was doing what he loved and doing it rather well.

Activist and Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai has joined Pakistani film “Joyland’s” team as Executive Producer, a Variety report stated. “Joyland,” directed by Saim Sadiq, is Pakistan’s official submission in the foreign language film category at the Oscars. Yousafzai is backing the film through her own production company, Extracurricular Productions. 

Naman Ramachandran Malala Yousafzai, who heads her own film and TV production company, Extracurricular Productions, is joining “Joyland,” Pakistan’s Oscar submission in the international feature category, as an executive producer. The film had its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year where it won the Queer Palm and the jury prize at the festival’s Un Certain Regard strand. It subsequently had its North American premiere at Toronto. It is currently playing at both the BFI London Film Festival, where it is competing for the Sutherland Award, which recognizes the most original and imaginative directorial debut, and the Busan International Film Festival, where it is in the A Window on Asian Cinema strand.

Clayton Davis Can Will Smith overcome the controversy surrounding the slap heard around the world to win his second Oscar? That’s the question facing Apple after it announced that it will release “Emancipation,” a drama about an escaped slave that it paid Smith $35 million to star in and produce. The streamer is betting that the furor over Smith’s assault of Chris Rock at the Oscars has died down, particularly after Smith recorded an awkward apology video. But even if Smith becomes the first performer since Tom Hanks to score back-to-back Oscars for best actor, he won’t be able to pick up his prize in person. Nor will he even be able to accept it via satellite. That’s because in April, facing almost certain expulsion, Smith decided to resign from membership of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. That was followed almost immediately by the Academy Board of Governors’ decision to ban him from the Oscars telecast and Academy-sponsored events for 10 years.

Emancipation – and people are already calling it an Oscar-worthy performance. Smith, 54, resigned from the Academy on April 1, five days after he slapped comedian Chris Rock, 57, on stage on March 27. The Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson banned the actor from attending Academy events for 10 years.

Flanders Image, the promotional arm of the VAF film fund of Belgium’s Flemish-speaking community, has unveiled the 80 projects selected for its annual CONNEXT showcase, running as a hybrid event from October 10-24.

Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather, whose historic and headline-making surprise appearance at the 1973 Academy Awards was heard around the world, has died at 75 years old.

Academy Awards – has died at the age of 75.Her passing was confirmed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter, a caretaker of Littlefeather’s said she died at noon on Sunday (October 2), surrounded by loved ones at her home in the Northern California city of Novato. An exact cause of death was not confirmed, however Littlefeather had long been open about her various struggles with ill health.Sacheen Littlefeather, Native American civil rights activist who famously declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 Best Actor Academy Award, dies at 75.

Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather, whose historic and headline-making surprise appearance at the 1973 Academy Awards was heard around the world, has died at 75 years old. Littlefeather passed away Sunday in the Northern California city of Novato after a years-long battle with breast cancer that had metastasized in recent years, according to . It's been nearly 50 years since Littlefeather — then 26 — took the stage in place of Marlon Brando, who won the Best Actor Oscar for , and delivered a message on Brando's behalf about the mistreatment and oppression of Native Americans.On Sunday, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced her passing, tweeting, «Sacheen Littlefeather, Native American civil rights activist who famously declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 Best Actor Academy Award, dies at 75.»In August, The Academy shared an apology for the subsequent fallout from her act of protest. Academy president David Rubin issued a letter to Littlefeather on the Academy's behalf, praising her speech and the impact it had.«As you stood on the Oscars stage in 1973 to not accept the Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando, in recognition of the misrepresentation and mistreatment of Native American people by the film industry, you made a powerful statement that continues to remind us of the necessity of respect and the importance of human dignity,» Rubin said of Littlefeather's remarks at the ceremony in the letter.«The abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified.

Sacheen Littlefeather, the Native American actress who took the Oscars stage in 1973 to decline Marlon Brando’s award, died Sunday, the Academy of Motion Pictures said. She was 75.

Twitter on Sunday. Nearly 50 years ago, Littlefeather attended the Oscars in Brando’s place after the actor decided to boycott the ceremony out of protest for the portrayal of Native Americans in the entertainment industry.

Sacheen Littlefeather, the activist who appeared on stage at the 1973 Academy Awards to decline Marlon Brando‘s Oscar for The Godfather, has sadly passed away.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Sacheen Littlefeather, who declined Marlon Brando’s Oscar for “The Godfather” on his behalf at the 1973 Academy Awards, died Sunday, the Academy of Motion Pictures said. more to come…Sacheen Littlefeather, Native American civil rights activist who famously declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 Best Actor Academy Award, dies at 75.

Clayton Davis We have Denzel Washington’s single teardrop. We have Viola Davis’ runny nose. And now, we have Danielle Deadwyler’s lip quiver, expertly executed in Chinonye Chukwu’s deeply moving drama “Till.” Another best actress contender emerges although I wish the film could rise to the level of Deadwyler’s performance.   The sturdy drama follows Mamie Till (Deadwyler), the mother of Emmett Till, whose abduction and lynching in 1955 sparked global outrage and served as an important catalyst in the civil rights movement. “Till” charts Mamie’s grief, as well as her pursuit of justice. But getting people to see a movie about such a horrific event will be a tough sell, even if the film avoids depicting much of the brutality of Emmett Till’s killing.  

Christian Bale has made fresh fans with his recent appearance as Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder, but there’s one role in another franchise that he would entertain – to satisfy the kid in him. 

Clayton Davis Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir is already in the history books after she won the best original score Oscar for “Joker” (2019). Now, she could break a new record with two bonafide awards contenders. Todd Field’s “Tár,” a fictional psychological drama about one of the greatest living composers and conductors, has received critical acclaim after debuting at many of the fall film festivals. One of the highly praised elements was the incredible music featured in the film. However, in a movie about a composer, many casual cinema-goers were left wondering what was original or pre-purposed (unless you are an expert on musical compositions). Focus Features has confirmed to Variety exclusively that the film’s music by Guðnadóttir meets the requirement for Academy Awards and will be submitted for consideration.

Clayton Davis Grammy-winner Jazmine Sullivan has teamed up with Grammy and Oscar-winning songwriter Dernst “D’Mile’ Emile II for a possible Oscar contender for best original song. Variety has exclusively learned the song “Stand Up,” which will be featured in Orion and United Artists Releasing’s upcoming drama “Till,” will be submitted for Academy Awards consideration. The song will be released on Oct. 7. Written by Sullivan and D’Mile, the end-credits song captures the moving spirit of the harrowing true story of Mamie Till Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler) and her relentless pursuit of justice after her 14-year-old son Emmett Till (Jalyn Hill) is lynched in 1955.

Mexico has selected five-time Academy Award winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truth as its official entry to the best international film category of the Oscars.

EXCLUSIVE: Production is underway in the UK on feature Wicked Little Letters, which reunites Oscar winner Olivia Colman with her Oscar-nominated Lost Daughter co-star Jessie Buckley (Chernobyl).

AMC Networks already likes the looks of where those bloodsuckers are headed: It has renewed Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire for a second season, ahead of the new series’ debut on AMC and AMC+ on October 2.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Spain’s Marc Clotet (“The Sleeping Voice,” “15 Hours”) and Argentina’s Juan Gil Navarro (“100 Days To Fall in Love”), Santiago Achaga (“Like, La Leyenda”) and Esteban Pérez (“Limbo”) are attached to star in “Fragile,” a slice of Patagonia noir thriller from Argentina’s StoryLab.  Created and produced by StoryLab partners Nacho Viale and Diego Palacio, “Fragile” is backed by Flow, Telecom’s dominate Argentine SVOD service, and Televisión Publica Argentina, the country’s public broadcast network.  Palacio will direct “Fragile” (“Fragiles”) from screenplays penned by Lucas Molteni, whose has written on five StoryLab series dating back to 201’s “Estocolmo,” up-and-coming scribes Juan E. Cordoni and Luciano Cocciardi and Viale and Palacio. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Russia will not be sending an official Oscar candidate for the upcoming international feature film race, Variety has confirmed. The news, which was reported by the news outlet AFP, was announced by the Russian film academy on Monday evening (Sept. 27). The decision appears to be an act of boycott against the Academy Awards, reflecting the rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia which has been at war with Ukraine since Feb. 24. Russia recently accused the U.S. administration of having a direct role in the war in Ukraine and has threatened to cut ties with the country.