film festival Archives

May312026 by cineverseNo Comments

The Shocking Success of ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ Should Be a Memo to Hollywood: You Need What’s Outside the Box

News

By Owen Gleiberman According To The variety “Thinking outside the box” is a phrase that tends to be used by those who are stuck inside the box. It means something real, but it’s also corporate-speak for having an actual imagination — the audacity to make something that wasn’t commanded or formatted. Given that, this is sure to go down as the weekend when thinking outside the box started to look sexy in Hollywood again. The makers of comic-book movies, “Star Wars” movies and most rom-coms and horror films live inside the box. But not the creators of “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” two horror movies that take you places you’ve never been. Evidently, a lot of people want to go there. “Backrooms,” an experimental head-game creep-out (at moments it’s a bit like “The Blair Witch Project,” tho...

May302026 by cineverseNo Comments

Lucasfilm Pays Tribute to ‘Star Wars’ Editor Marcia Lucas: ‘Deeply Saddened’

News

By Payton Turkeltaub According To The variety Lucasfilm has posted a statement mourning the death of Marcia Lucas, George Lucas‘ former wife who was one of three to share an Oscar for editing “Star Wars.” The editor of iconic ’70s films including “Taxi Driver” died Wednesday in Rancho Mirage, Calif following a battle with metastatic cancer. She was 80. “Lucasfilm was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Marcia Lucas. The 80-year-old was one of the three editors to take home an Oscar for 1977’s ‘Star Wars: A New Hope,'” the statement said. It continued, “After Lucasfilm’s establishment in 1971, production began on George Lucas’ newest feature film, ‘American Graffiti’ (1973). Marcia Lucas joined her mentor Verna Fields as editor of the f...

Feb242026 by cineverseNo Comments

Golden Swan,’ About the Kidnapping of the Director’s Brother, Debuts Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)

News

By Leo Barraclough According To The variety “Golden Swan,” which has its world premiere in the International Competition section of the 28th Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival, has debuted its trailer. The film, directed by Anette Ostrø, looks back to 1995, when her brother, Hans Christian Ostrø, travelled to India in search of meaning and artistic growth. Months later, he is kidnapped in Kashmir and held hostage by the militant group al-Faran. During five weeks in captivity, he secretly writes poems and letters to his sister. Found on his body after his execution, these texts become the foundation of an intimate reconstruction of his final months. Anette Ostrø said in a statement, “I was 25 when my only brother was brutally killed. The trauma changed my life completely. I ...

Feb232026 by cineverseNo Comments

One Battle After Another,’ ‘Hamnet’ and ‘Frankenstein’ Among Set Decorators Society of America Winners

News

By Jazz Tangcay According To The variety “One Battle After Another” led the winners at the Set Decorators Society of America awards. The set decorator, Anthony Carlino, with production design by Florencia Martin, behind the film took home two awards for Best Achievement In Décor/Design Of A Contemporary Feature Film and Best Picture for Paul Thomas Anderson. Elsewhere, Best Achievement in Décor/Design of a Fantasy or Science Fiction Film an International Organization went to the “Frankenstein” team (set decoration by Shane Vieau with production design by Tamara Deverell), and Best Achievement in Décor/Design of a Period Feature Film went to the team behind “Hamnet.” (Set Decoration by Alice Felton with Production Design by Fiona Crombie). Best Achievement in Décor / Design of a...

Feb232026 by cineverseNo Comments

Box Office: ‘GOAT’ Unseats ‘Wuthering Heights’ After Close Race for No. 1 in Quiet Winter Weekend

News

By Rebecca Rubin According To The variety “GOAT,” an original animated film about an animal who dreams of athletic greatness, trounced the box office competition in yet another glacial winter weekend. Heading into the late-February frame, “GOAT” and “Wuthering Heights” were closely contending for the No. 1 spot in North America. However, “GOAT” pulled ahead with $17 million from 3,863 theaters, declining just 36% from its debut. “Wuthering Heights” wasn’t far behind with $14.2 million from 3,682 venues, dropping 57% from its opening weekend. A first-place finish for “GOAT” (especially over a starry gothic romantic drama, featuring A-listers Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi) underscores the importance of family films for cinema operators at a time when the box office hasn’t yet regained...

Feb212026 by cineverseNo Comments

Making an Indie Multiverse: With ‘Redux Redux,’ Three Siblings Spent 10 Years on a Violent, Emotional Revenge Movie Without a Marvel Budget

News

By William Earl According To The variety Sometimes you just need to light a guy on fire. The first scene in “Redux Redux,” in theaters today via Saban Films, features Irene (Michaela McManus), a multiverse traveller, lighting a man tied to a chair on fire and watching him burn. We quickly learn that the man is a killer who murdered Irene’s daughter, and she has devoted her life to traveling to alternate worlds in order to repeatedly get revenge. The indelible flaming image ended up on the film’s original poster, yet it was borne out of a scrappy indie sensibility from writing and directing duo Kevin and Matthew McManus. “We knew we needed to grab the audience,” Matthew McManus says. “Sometimes it feels like it’s a competition between the big screen and the small screen in your ...

Feb212026 by cineverseNo Comments

Neon, Oscar-Winning Studio Behind ‘Parasite’ and ‘Anora,’ in Talks to Sell Stake to Department M (EXCLUSIVE)

News

By Matt Donnelly, Brent Lang According To The variety Department M, a production company founded two years ago by Mike Larocca and Michael Schaefer, is in talks to acquire a significant stake in Neon, the Oscar-winning studio behind “Parasite” and “Anora.” A consortium of private investors is backing Department M in the effort, according to two sources with knowledge of the negotiations. Department M was financed by private investors when it launched in 2024. Neon previously explored a sale in 2022, but a deal with investor Steven Rales, the businessman behind the production company Indian Paintbrush, failed to materialize. Neon’s recent credits include Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value”; Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner, “It Was Just An Accident”; Kleber Mendon...