James Gray: Last News

Writer-director James Gray has been to the Cannes Film Festival in competition on four previous occasions with We Own the Night, The Yards, The Immigrant, and Two Lovers but has yet to walk away with a prize. Maybe the fifth time will be the charm? It certainly would be deserving as Gray comes back to his beloved New York City roots with the highly autobiographical and intriguingly titled Armageddon Time. 

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticWhen I watch a movie by the writer-director James Gray, I often have the sensation that I’m seeing two films in one: the story being told and the one hovering offscreen — the one that’s all about his aspiration to be something larger than a mere storyteller. Early Gray films like “The Yards” (2000) and “We Own the Night” (2007) were modest tales suffused with his desire to be making “a ’70s movie.” “Ad Astra” (2019) was a lavishly scaled outer-space thriller suffused with his desire to be making “2001: A Space Odyssey.”“Armageddon Time,” Gray’s eighth feature, marks a break from most of what he has done before.

William Earl Variety will partner with Campari to bring the Variety Studio to the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. The interview studio will run May 18 – 25 and feature conversations with top directors and stars attending the 75th annual fest.Talent participating in the interview studio includes Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Michael Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb and writer/director James Gray from “Armageddon Time” (Focus Features), a coming-of-age story about family and the generational pursuit of the American dream; Julianne Moore and Jesse Eisenberg from his feature directorial debut, “When You Finish Saving the World” (A24), a comedy-drama about a mother (Moore) and her teenage son’s (Finn Wolfhard) complex relationship; Paul Mescal and writer-director Charlotte Wells from “Aftersun” (Pastel), an intimate drama following Sophie (Frankie Corio) as she reflects on a holiday she took with her father (Mescal) 20 years earlier; Alicia Vikander and writer-director Olivier Assayas from “Irma Vep” (HBO), a remake of the French silent film classic “Les Vampires”; and writer-director Park Chan-wook, and actors Tang Wei and Park Hae-il from “Decision to Leave” (Mubi), a thriller following a detective’s investigation of a man’s death in the mountains.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentPresiding over the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, director Thierry Frémaux has assembled some serious Hollywood star power, world cinema auteurs amid indications that despite COVID, the film world is buzzing with anticipation for the films, the deals and most of all the glamour the fest brings.While Frémaux has been credited with expanding the horizons of the Cannes Film Festival since taking over the reins of its Official Selection in 2001, he’s also been praised for building relationships with American studios and filmmakers.This year, he’s lured them back in spite of the ongoing pandemic, with a lineup including James Gray’s “Armageddon Time,” David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future,” Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” and Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis.” “My first red carpet was for ‘Moulin Rouge!’ with Baz Luhrmann and Nicole Kidman in 2001 and it will be engraved in my memory forever,” says Fremaux. “I’m happy to reunite with Baz this year.

Neon, the Best Picture Oscar-winning studio behind Parasite, has acquired U.S. rights to the psychological thriller Mothers’ Instinct starring Academy Award winners Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNeon, the Oscar-winning studio behind “Parasite,” has acquired U.S. rights to “Mothers’ Instinct,” a psychological thriller starring Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway. It’s a pretty acclaimed group.

“We have our own superheroes here at Focus Feature and they are going to bring older filmgoers back to your movie theaters,” Lisa Bunnell, Focus Features distribution chief, promised thousands of cinema execs at the Universal presentation today.

After what was rumored to be a long search, Thierry Fremaux has found his president for the 2022 Cannes Film Festival Jury. Legendary French actor Vincent Lindon, who starred in last year’s Palme d’Or winner, “Titane,” will take the mantle following Spike Lee‘s reign last year.

Wilson Chapman editorThe official poster for the 75th Annual Cannes Film Festival has been released, paying tribute to Peter Weir’s beloved film “The Truman Show.”First released in 1998, “The Truman Show” stars Jim Carrey as a man who has spent his entire life unknowingly raised as the subject of a 24/7 reality show. The Cannes poster captures a moment from the climax of the film where Truman escapes from the set of the show, discovering that the sky is a painted wall with a staircase leading to the exit.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentA few hours after unveiling Cannes Film Festival’s 2022 Official Selection on the Champs Elysees, artistic director Thierry Fremaux sat down with Variety to discuss the festival’s drive to not give in to calls for a cultural boycott of Russian films and filmmakers, efforts to have more female directors in competition, discussions to bring back streamers in a near future and what those rumors about David Lynch in the lineup were about. The all-star competition lineup of this upcoming 75th edition boasts no less than four Palme d’Or winning directors, including Japanese master Kore-eda Hirokazu (Japan) and Swedish helmer Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”), as well new films by David Cronenberg (“Crimes of the Future”), Kelly Reichardt (”Showing Up”), James Gray (“Armageddon Time”) and dissident Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov (“Tchaïkovski’s Wife”).

The 75th Cannes Film Festival, which runs May 17-28, was already due to be a starry affair with the likes of Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis screening out of competition. Today it got even hotter with a strong Official Selection that should make for glamorous red carpets, but one that will likewise treat serious subject matter.

Crimes Of The Future, starring Lea Seydoux, Kristen Stewart and Viggo Mortensen. It takes place in the not-so-distant future where humankind has evolved and is “learning to adapt to its synthetic surroundings”.Other films in the running for the festival’s top prize include new outings from filmmakers Claire Denis, Kelly Reichardt, Arnaud Desplechin, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, James Gray and Hirokazu Kore-eda.Top Gun: Maverick and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic were previously announced for the festival, although they’ll be played out of competition.

EXCLUSIVE: Norman Mailer, the celebrated and controversial author behind books such as The Executioner’s Song, made headlines earlier this year as part of a publishing brouhaha related to a new collection of his work.

EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Oscar winning four-time BAFTA Award-winning actor Anthony Hopkins has signed with CAA.

Anthony Hopkins gets a hug from a young co-star on the set of their new movie in New York City on Wednesday afternoon (October 27).

A Conservative MP has been asked to step back from his role at a top charity after confusing two Asian Cabinet ministers.

Cate Blanchett‘s role in Armageddon Time has finally been revealed.