By Owen Gleiberman According To The variety Ron Howard has always taken pride in being an eclectic filmmaker — in the last 40 years, he has made movies about mermaids, cocoons, auto factories, astronauts, firefighters, newspapers, beautiful minds, cave rescuers, the Grinch, the Da Vinci Code, the Beatles, and Pavarotti. But at the Toronto Film Festival premiere of his latest movie, “Eden,” he declared that the film stands farther apart from his other work than anything he has ever done. He’s right, though not for the reason he thinks. “Eden,” which is based on events that unfolded 100 years ago on one of the Galápagós Islands, is a difficult movie to characterize. It’s been labeled as a “thriller,” but I would describe it as a misanthropic survivalist “Robinson Crusoe” meets “Wh...

By Ethan Shanfeld According To The variety A few days after Ian McKellen expressed interest in returning as Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s new live-action “Lord of the Rings” movies, his co-star Orlando Bloom is adding his name to the list. When asked by Variety if he was interested in returning to the Tolkien franchise, the Legolas actor said, “Oh, man, those things are amazing. Yeah. I don’t know how they’d do it. I guess with AI you can do anything these days. But, if Pete [Peter Jackson] says jump, I say, ‘how high?’ I mean, he started my whole career.” The new Middle-earth movies will kick off in 2026 with “Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” directed by Andy Serkis, who will reprise his role of Gollum/Sméagol. Original franchise director Jackson is on bo...

By Rebecca Rubin, Ethan Shanfeld According To The variety “I have one question… who is wearing sequins?” It’s a fair query for Cameron Bailey, Toronto International Film Festival’s CEO, to ask at Friday night’s world premiere of “Elton John: Never Too Late,” a revealing look at the generation-spanning musical (and fashion) icon. Although he’s one of the best-selling artists of all time, a tearful John told the crowd at Roy Thomson Hall that family is more important to him than fame. “On my tombstone, I don’t want it to say he sold a million records. I want it to say he was a great dad and great husband.” “Never Too Late” captures John’s journey to becoming one of the world’s biggest rock stars, bookended by his landmark performances at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 1975 to m...