Sam Mendes: Last News

The Banshees of Inisherin, which won writer-director Martin McDonagh Best Screenplay and Colin Farrell the Volpi Cup for Best Actor in Venice last month, hits theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, expanding to 10 more markets/50 locations next weekend, and to 600-800 screens November 4.

Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor EnergaCamerimage, the international cinematography-focused film festival, will honor Oscar winner Sam Mendes with the Special Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Director during its 30th anniversary edition, which will run in Toruń Poland Nov. 12-19. The helmer’s “Empire of Light,” starring Academy Award winner Olivia Colman (‘The Favourite,” “The Lost Daughter”) and BAFTA-winner Michael Ward (“Blue Story,” “Top Boy”), will open the Camerimage fest in addition to being one of the Main Competition nominees. Aside from “Empire of Light,” Mendes’ notable films include “American Beauty” (for which he won his best director Oscar), “Road to Perdition,” “Revolutionary Road,” “Skyfall,” “Spectre” and “1917.”

New Line’s reboot of House Party, which was originally suppose to go to HBO Max, but was given a theatrical release, will now open on Jan. 13, 2023 rather than Dec. 9, 2022.

Olivia Colman is gracing the red carpet at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival!

The Banshees of Inisherin and the bawdy Weird Al Yankovic biopic Weird will open the fest on Saturday, Oct. 22.

Nick Clement Celebrating its 10th year as a major east coast destination for cinema lovers, the Middleburg Film Festival, held in scenic Middleburg, Virginia from October 13th to 16th, continues to highlight an outstanding selection of titles while presenting informative special events and forums. “We’re extremely excited because this year is a true milestone, and it’s a chance to celebrate how far we’ve come as a group, and to celebrate all of the filmmakers who have helped to make the festival a success. We cater to true cinephiles, so it’s not unusual for people to see 10 films over the course of the weekend. And because the festival draws a great mix of Washington DC influencers and people in the film industry, there’s lots of tremendous insight being shared before and after screenings,” says Susan Koch, Executive Director.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Don’t expect any drive-inscreenings, virtual screenings, mask mandates or reduced capacity theaters at the 30th annual Hamptons Intl. Film Festival. This year’s edition will look and feel as it did way back in 2019. The Long Island-based fest, which runs Oct. 7-16, will screen 69 feature films and 51 shorts that are 54% female-directed and represent 34 countries from around the world. Also back at HIFF are a bevy of fancy cocktail hours and the fest’s Rowdy Talks series, which will include a conversation with director, screenwriter and producer Chris Columbus.

Clayton Davis The inaugural Nuart Festival has been set for Oct. 21-30 to celebrate the reopening of the Nuart Theatre following its renovation. The 10-day fest will open with Oscar-winner Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light” including an eclectic mixture of sneak previews and special screenings of films that made midnight movie history at the Nuart. Among the advanced screenings is “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” from Eric Appel, and starring Daniel Radcliffe ahead of its release on The Roku Channel. Co-presented with Film Independent, the film had its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September. With Variety’s Owen Gleiberman calling it “witty and inventive.”

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: Sept. 22, 2022 CATEGORY COMMENTARY: Composer John Williams is a legend in every facet of the music world. Aside from winning 25 Grammys and five Oscars, he is undoubtedly the most important musical artist living today. Tapped for Steven Spielberg’s personal semi-autobiographical film “The Fabelmans,” he adds another great composition to his already impressive resume. If nominated, at 90 years old he would surpass costume designer Ann Roth and documentarian Agnes Varda as the oldest nominee, of any competitive Oscar category, in history.

Clayton Davis Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light,” a love story and ode to cinema houses, is dividing critics after playing at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals earlier this month. However, Searchlight Pictures remains confident in its awards prospects. “Empire” is among this season’s divisive films, including “Bardo” from Alejandro G. Iñárritu and “The Son” from Florian Zeller. However, one of the agreed-upon highlights of the film is the quality of the actors’ performances — notably Oscar winner Olivia Colman, breakout star Micheal Ward and veteran actor Toby Jones. As categories become upended with the news of Michelle Williams campaigning for lead actress, instead of supporting, Ward’s campaign is cementing its strategy early by seeking supporting actor consideration for this awards season, Variety has confirmed. Playing Stephen, a young ticket-taker that begins a love affair with Hilary (Colman), a middle-aged woman coming out of a mental health episode, Ward holds his own against the three-time nominee and Oscar winner for “The Favourite” (2018).

The Son and The Father director Florian Zeller will direct, write and co-produce the upcoming big-budget TV adaptation of Tony Award-winning play The Lehman Trilogy, his debut TV project.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Florian Zeller, the French filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning “The Father” and “The Son,” is set to make his TV debut with the adaptation of Stefano Massini’s play “The Lehman Trilogy.” Zeller will write, direct and co-produce the series under his newly formed Blue Morning. Lorenzo Mieli at The Apartment Pictures, a Fremantle company, and Domenico Procacci at Fandango are executive producing the series. The pair previously teamed on the acclaimed series “My Brilliant Friend” based on the Elena Ferrante novels. Massini’s epic drama charts the history of one of the global financial institutions that helped spark the 2008 recession. The original production inspired Sam Mendes to stage an English-language version of Massini’s five-hour play. Adapted by Ben Power, the production won five Tony Awards earlier this year, including prizes for Sam Mendes’ direction and for the lead performance of Simon Russell Beale.

Skyfall director Sam Mendes has said he thinks a woman should direct the next James Bond film.The filmmaker discussed the future of the 007 franchise after producer Barbara Broccoli had said the next actor to play James Bond would be male.In an interview with Deadline, Mendes said that he thinks the director of the next film “has to evolve” after discussing Daniel Craig’s exit from the franchise.“I don’t envy Barbara having to follow Daniel’s [Craig] five movies,” Mendes began. “He reinvigorated the franchise but the franchise is so huge that it’s very difficult for a younger actor to step into that.”Referring to the director specifically, the filmmaker added: “I think that the actor playing Bond is going to evolve, the director has to evolve.

Sam Mendes was writing the screenplay for what would become Empire of Light and he’d hit a wall.

Olivia Coleman looked positively regal as she stepped onto the red carpet for the premiere of her new film Empire of light at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday. The Crown star’s appearance comes after she made an emotional tribute to Queen Elizabeth II following her death aged 96 on Thursday September 8. Olivia, 48, played the Queen for two seasons of The Crown, which debuted on Netflix in 2016, and described the late monarch as having “such dignity” in an interview over the weekend.

Olivia Colman sandwiches herself in between Michael Ward and Tanya Moodie at the premiere of their new film, Empire of Light, during the 2022 Toronto Film Festival at Princess of Wales on Monday (September 12) in Toronto, Ontario.

The Crown star Olivia Colman has paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II. The British monarch passed away on Thursday at the age of 96, ending a reign of more than 70 years and plunging the nation into mourning. While attending a Variety Studio event as part of the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, Olivia - who portrayed the royal on two seasons of drama series The Crown - offered her own tribute.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter On the stage at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Harry Styles is a bonafide rock star, brimming with swagger and self confidence. But Styles, the actor, was more soft spoken while accepting an acting award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Styles was a man of few words as he, along with the cast of “My Policeman,” received the ensemble award at the festival’s Tribute Awards on Sunday.  “Thank you so much to everyone here on behalf of all of us for this wonderful, wonderful award,” said Styles, who stars in the romance drama as a closeted police officer. “We all loved working on this film so much. And we hope you enjoy it.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Olivia Colman, who portrayed Queen Elizabeth II for two seasons of Netflix’s royal sensation “The Crown,” is still processing the loss and legacy of the British monarch. The queen’s death was announced on Thursday, the same day as the start of the Toronto International Film Festival. “I wouldn’t know where to begin with that,” she told Variety at the Variety Studio presented by King’s Hawaiian at the Toronto International Film Festival. “She made a promise as a young woman and she absolutely kept it with such dignity. We’re all incredibly impressed by what she did.” Colman, who touched down in Canada to promote “Empire of Light,” a romantic drama from director Sam Mendes, also praised King Charles III’s first address to the nation. In his speech, he paid tribute to his mother and vowed to serve with “loyalty, respect and love.”

There is definitely a trend of late for film directors to take a look in thinly disguised cinematic memoirs of their early influences that shaped the artist and person they have become. Kenneth Branagh with Belfast and Paolo Sorrentino with The Hand Of God did it last year. Of course there is Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, others over the years. Sam Mendes, while not drawing a portrait of his younger self revisits the movie palaces of his youth in another 2022 offering, Empire Of Light, which premiered last weekend at Telluride and will also hit the Toronto International Film Festival. TIFF is also where the man I recently described as the GOAT, Steven Spielberg, has chosen to debut his own story where the names have been changed but the story is  clearly his. The Fabelmans basically chronicling his early Jewish family life and infatuation with making movies  had its World Premiere Saturday night, the first of Spielberg’s directed movies ever to premiere at a film festival. This one seems entirely appropriate, and it has been gestating in the director’s head ever since he and his co-writer Tony Kushner started kicking it around during the making of Lincoln over a decade ago. He says he finally made it primarily as a way to bring his late parents Leah and Arnold (to whom the film is dedicated) somehow back to his life. Movies can do that, and no one knows it better than Steven Spielberg.

Clayton Davis You’d think the reunion of Academy Award nominee Timothee Chalamet and his “Call Me by Your Name” director Luca Guadgnino in “Bones and All” would be all anyone could talk about following the film’s premiere last weekend at Telluride and Venice.   Instead, the name on everyone’s lips is going to be Taylor Russell. The up-and-comer, who first gained prominence with her role in “Waves” (2019), takes center stage and devours every morsel of her time on screen. She brings grace and restraint, two qualities that don’t exactly spring to mind when you’re talking about a coming-of-age story about teen cannibals drawn together by mutual blood lust. I only wish I had more faith Oscar voters would give the movie its proper shake, as genre movies always face an uphill climb, no matter how well reviewed or beloved they are by critics and audiences.