Justin K.Thompson: Last News

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse has been sent to cinemas to fix an issue.Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, the animated superhero film is the sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.The film hit cinemas on June 1 and has been heavily praised by fans and critics alike, with many describing it as the best superhero film ever made.However, some viewers reported issues with the sound mixing in the film, and as Variety report, producers Sony have sent an updated version of the film to theatres in order to fix the issue.A synopsis of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse reads: “Miles Morales catapults across the multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor In case you didn’t know, animation directors are also auteurs. According to Yahoo Finance, the global animation market reached more than $400 billion at the end of 2023. That was up from $391 billion one year before.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The “Barbenheimer” craze continues with Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” being named among AFI Awards 2023 top 10 best films of the year. Netflix led studios with two movies making the list — Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro” and Todd Haynes’ black comedy “May December.” With an eclectic mix of critically acclaimed and consumer friendly titles, the list of top movies also includes films by newcomers (Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction” and Celine Song’s “Past Lives”), veterans (Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers”) and stylish visionaries (Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” and Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Sony Pictures will conduct a live orchestra at the Academy Museum featuring the bombastic music from its animated feature (and best picture) contender “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” At a special invitation-only event at the David Geffen Theater, the studio will feature an exhilarating arrangement of electronics, turntables and a live orchestra performing the original score from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s box office smash by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning composer Daniel Pemberton. The concert will feature appearances by Oscar-winning producers and screenwriters Phil Lord and Chris Miller; the film’s directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is swinging to Netflix in time for Halloween. Months after dominating at the box office, the superhero sequel will premiere Oct. 31 on the streaming service only in the U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: After a stellar run in theaters that saw it come in as the highest-grossing film in the history of Sony Pictures Animation, Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has set its Netflix premiere date. One of the top grossers of the year at a take of over $690M worldwide, the film bows in the U.S. on October 31. Details as to rollout in other territories haven’t been disclosed.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Animated feature directors of “Elemental,” “Nimona,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and “Trolls Band Together” will attend the second annual “Sketch to Screen: Top Animated Contenders” panel at SCAD Savannah Film Festival. Hosted by Clayton Davis, senior awards editor for Variety, the panel will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

Terry Flores The Italian premiere of Illumination and Universal Pictures’ upcoming animated feature “Migration” rounds out the lineup for this year’s VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy. The conference, which brings together top industry professionals, thought leaders and enthusiasts to celebrate the latest achievements in animation, VFX and games, runs from Oct. 15 through Oct.

EXCLUSIVE: Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated screenwriter, playwright, producer and director Kemp Powers has signed with WME.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor 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 reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events.

Sophia Scorziello editor It was a special night at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, Calif. celebrating the forces behind some of Hollywood’s beloved animated projects for Variety’s 10 Animators to Watch event. The ceremony and cocktail reception honoring 10 creators in the animation (check out the full list here) field kicked things off with a short welcome from President of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Ramsey Ann Naito. After an exclusive sneak peak from the soon-to-be-released animated film, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” Naito took the stage welcoming the crowd, “I’ve been in animation my entire career and today I can honestly say it’s bigger, it’s brighter and it’s more inclusive than ever.”

Murtada Elfadl “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has resonated with audiences in almost as many ways as there are multiverses. There’s the emotionality of webslinger Miles Morales and his family, both inherited and found, that drives his heroism. The thematic resonance of a young person determined to tell his own story authentically. Action sequences that are as inventive as they are viscerally thrilling. And audacious animation that juxtaposes dynamic poses and painterly images. This multidimensional success of “Across the Spider-Verse” can be directly attributed to its three directors, Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson — indeed, to the fact that there are three. Set to receive Variety’s Creative Impact in Animation Award on July 18, the trio leaned into individual strengths while working together toward a common goal, balancing formal innovation and timeless truths to create a forward-thinking animated classic.

th Anniversary.   This year’s class of trailblazing storytellers includes Jeron Braxton (“Slime”), Daniel Fernandez Casas (“Migration”), Owen Dennis (“Infinity Train”), Carrie Hobson & Michael Yates (“Win or Lose”), Rachel Larsen (“The Tiny Chef Show”), Marie Lechevallier (“Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”), Abigail Nesbitt (“Pupstruction”), Olufikayo Ziki Adeola (“Iwájú”), Woodrow White (“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”) and Jane Wu (“Blue Eye Samurai”). Additionally, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller will present “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has notched another box office milestone, crossing $500 million globally. So far, Sony’s animated comic book sequel has grossed $290.4 million in North America and $215.9 million internationally, which brings its worldwide tally to a mighty $506.3 million. It currently stands as the third-highest grossing domestic release of the year, behind Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($572 million) and Disney’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” ($345 million). And it’s the fourth-biggest global release following “Mario” ($1.3 billion), “Guardians” ($822 million) and “Fast X” ($679 million). “Across the Spider-Verse” opened on June 2, collecting a huge $120 million during its first weekend in theaters. Despite competition from “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” another comic book adventure “The Flash” and Pixar’s animated “Elemental,” the second “Spider-Verse” remained a huge draw at the movies and even managed to surpass the entire run of its 2018 predecessor, “Into the Spider-Verse” ($384 million), after just 12 days of release.

With Tuesday’s global business factored in, Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has swung past the half-a-century mark worldwide, grossing $506.3M through yesterday.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter After less than two weeks of release, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has surpassed the entire box office run of its predecessor, 2018’s Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Over the weekend, the comic book sequel hit $226 million in North America and $390 million globally. It now stands as Sony’s highest-grossing animated release in history. The original film, also a box office winner, tapped out with $190 in North America and $384 million globally. Despite competition from Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which opened to $60 million and targets a similar audience of younger males, “Spider-Verse” added $55 million in its second weekend of release, a decline of $55% from its huge $120 million debut.

Ethan Shanfeld After fans reported sound mixing issues in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” Sony Pictures has sent an updated version of the film to movie theaters. The complaints were mainly targeted at low audio levels during the introductory scene in the animated Spidey sequel, which centers on Hailee Steinfeld’s Spider-Woman character, Gwen Stacy. While the sound issue was isolated to only a “handful of theaters,” a source close to the movie tells Variety that “all the prints” of the film have been updated, adding that it’s not entirely uncommon for distributors to send re-edited prints to exhibitors, “if the opportunity presents itself.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” webbed up a stellar $120.5 million in its domestic box office debut. In beating expectations, it landed the second-biggest opening weekend of the year, behind only “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” with $146 million, as well as the third-biggest opening weekend for any “Spider-Man” film. Sony’s animated sequel is benefitting from great reviews and positive word-of-mouth, as well as goodwill from its predecessor, 2018’s Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Initial ticket sales were significantly higher than the first film, which introduced audiences to Miles Morales and the idea that “anyone can wear the mask” and opened to just $35.5 million. But it stuck around in theaters for a while, ending its big-screen run with $190 million in North America and $384 million globally.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments and surprises throughout “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” now playing in theaters. For months, the directors of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” had been working exhaustively on a critical sequence that launches the movie’s second act. For the first time in his life, the animated film’s hero — Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a.k.a. the Spider-Man of Earth-1610 — enters a different dimension: Earth-50101, a.k.a. Mumbattan, a dazzling amalgamation of New York City and Mumbai. Within minutes, Miles and his BFF from 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), encounter that world’s Spider-Man, Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), an Indian teenager who received his powers not via spider bite, but through magic. The sequence launches them all through the vertiginously vertical metropolis, as they frantically try to stop the film’s villain, the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), from using Mumbattan’s supercollider to increase his dimension-hopping abilities.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (★★★☆☆).Diehard fans of Spidey comics, games, cartoons, and movies will have a field day trying to spot every iteration of Spider being, gathered from various storylines and product lines, some dating back decades, who pop up here. But there are far too many for our hero, Miles Morales, the bright Brooklyn teen introduced as the new Spider-Man in the 2018 animated Oscar-winner Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, to fully grasp.Miles (Shameik Moore) is still stuck on Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), a fabulous Spider-Woman from another dimension, who teamed with him and a loosely assembled squad of Spider-friends in the first film to defeat Kingpin and Doctor Octopus, and destroy the villains’ black hole-spawning collider.A masterpiece of style and storytelling, Into the Spider-Verse ended with the sound of Gwen’s voice ringing out from her dimension to contact Miles relaxing in his room.

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” opened in U.S. and Canadian theaters with a massive $120.5 million, more than tripling the debut of the 2018 animated original and showing the kind of movie-to-movie box-office growth that would be the envy of even the mightiest of Hollywood franchises.