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Every film inspired by a real unsolved crime leaves behind the same lingering question: Would any of then retain their full power if their respective real-world crimes were eventually solved? Would “Zodiac” still be such a haunting police sketch of pathological obsession in a world where viewers could Google the killer’s identity in less time than it takes Robert Graysmith to crack even the easiest cypher? Probably. Would an uncannily effective studio thriller like “The Mothman Prophecies” still be eerie enough to punch above its weight class if the Mothman turned out to be a bored accountant named Gary whose prank calls got a little out of hand? Probably not. This question only applies to so many films, but none have asked it more...

Disney announced that Searchlight Pictures chairmen Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula are retiring from the specialty label after more than two decades. The company announced that they will be succeeded by their lieutenants, Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum. Utley and Gilula, along with Peter Rice, joined Searchlight in 1999, with Rice as president. The pair were named presidents of the studio in 2009 after Rice left to join Fox’s television division. (He is now chairman of Walt Disney Television.) Utley and Gilula were made chairmen in July 2018, when Greenfield and Greenbaum were appointed to a shared role of presidents of film and television. Greenfield and Greenbaum will now lead Searchlight, which has been under the Disney...

Fans of Bryan Fuller’s “Hannibal” have long shipped the serial killer with criminal profiler Will Graham, mainly because of the expert homoerotic tension created between actors Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy. In a recent interview with Vulture, Mikkelsen admitted he toyed with the idea of kissing Dancy during their final moments of screen time during the “Hannibal” Season 3 finale, which unexpectedly became the series finale after NBC decided not to renew the cult favorite drama. “We actually did a couple of takes of the very last scene where we were looking at each other, and it was a little too obvious — it was almost a kiss,” Mikkelsen said. “Me and Hugh were like, ‘Why not? We have a couple of takes. Let’s do one. It might be...

Score another dual-platform hit for Universal. “Nobody,” the revenge thriller starring Bob Odenkirk in the mode of Keanu Reeves in “John Wick.” With two top spots on PVOD charts, it also took second place at the theatrical box office in its fourth weekend, with a drop of only six percent. The $19.99 rental title added home viewing while still at 2,405 theaters. Even with just three days’ availability, it scored #1 spots Apple (by rentals) and FandangoNow (by revenue). (It is also #7 at GoogleTV, which usually lags a few days behind Apple, but was released too late for inclusion on Spectrum Cable’s site). A strategy originally conceived to buttress Universal from uncertain theatrical response, it’s become a hit for consumers at home...

The Oklahoma Film + Music Office (OF+MO) and Apple Original Films have jointly announced the start of principal photography on Martin Scorsese’s long-in-the-works Western drama “Killers of the Flower Moon.” An Apple representative confirmed the news to IndieWire. Filming kicked off April 19 in Oklahoma. The film, based on David Grann’s bestselling nonfiction book, is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murders of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror. “We are thrilled to finally start production on ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ in Oklahoma,” Scorsese said in a statement. “To be able to tell this story on the land where these events took place is...

“Love, Death & Robots,” the animated anthology series from Tim Miller and David Fincher, is coming back to Netflix May 14 for Season 2. Netflix unveiled the trailer for the show’s sophomore season on Monday. The upcoming season will include eight new animated shorts. Netflix also announced that the show had been renewed for an eight-episode Season 3, which will premiere sometime in 2022. Per Netflix, the show’s logline reads: Otherworlds, naked giants, and robots-gone-wild clash in this anthology of adult animated stories executive produced by Tim Miller, David Fincher, Jennifer Miller, and Joshua Donen. Jennifer Yuh Nelson (who worked with Tim on “Kung Fu Panda 2” and its sequel) joined Season 2 as supervising director. The series...

This season’s editing race features five Best Picture nominees with very visceral stories: Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” (serving as her own editor), Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal,” Florian Zeller’s “The Father,” and Emerald Fennel’s “Promising Young Woman.” However, “The Trial of the Chicago 7″ is now the favorite, bolstered by its ACE Eddie win. Editor Alan Baumgarten had the most ambitious editorial task: balancing three story threads in “Rashomon”-like fashion with multiple perspectives and jumping back and forth in time, from the overheated courtroom drama to the violent, vérité-like riots during the ’68 Democratic Convention to the bitter political rivalry between Tom Hayden (Eddie...

HBO Max has released the first official trailer for “That Damn Michael Che,” a new six-episode original comedy series starring — you guessed it — Michael Che. The “Saturday Night Live” star, co-head writer, and stand-up comedian will use the series to address controversial topics — which he’s been known to do in the past. From this early look at the series, the pointedly-titled “That Damn Michael Che” appears to feature scripted sketches and segments alongside Che’s commentary as a kind of sit-down comedic talking head. Here’s the official description: “This groundbreaking new original comedy series uses sketches and vignettes to illustrate what it feels like to experience various every-day situations including racial profiling...

“The Falcon and the Winter Solider” will be submitted as a Drama Series at this year’s Emmy Awards, marking a shift from its expected placement in the Limited Series categories. In an exclusive interview with IndieWire, Marvel Studios VP of Production & Development and “Falcon and Winter Soldier” executive producer Nate Moore said they started planning to run the series as a Drama fairly early on. “[The decision] came about sort of as the series was launching, but it was something we were thinking about even as we were making it — not because we think, ‘Oh my God, it’s so great,’ but because it does feel a bit more dramatic than some of our typical stuff,” Moore said. “As this is sort of our first foray into television, even if it’s...

With final Oscar ballots in Academy voters’ hands as of April 15, we’re moving forward with our fourth annual series of interviews with Academy voters from different branches for their candid thoughts on what got picked, overlooked, and overvalued in this odd pandemic year. Producer #1: One of the best things to come out of this challenging awards season has been the Academy Screening Room portal. It’s easy access and works perfectly. No need for screener DVDs! We’re missing the theaters for now, but we are saving the planet from DVD waste! Next: the trades online only, please! The nominations were not shocking. A few surprises in the Best Actor/Actress categories, as there were performances of equal or greater merit that were left...

IndieWire parent company Penske Media’s P-MRC Holdings has invested in SXSW, the robust set of conferences and festivals that have rocked Austin for 34 years. The partnership aligns P-MRC as a long-term partner and SXSW shareholder, with the company utilizing SXSW as an opportunity for all of its media brands. The essence of the events, and its management, are expected to remain intact while expanding SXSW’s potential for new events and business models. SXSW and P-MRC are now developing the March 2022 event in Austin. P-MRC is a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and MRC, whose holdings include Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, Variety, and Vibe P-MRC will reportedly take a 50% stake in the business, which...

Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt won the top prize Sunday at the 35th annual American Society of Cinematographers Awards for his camerawork on “Mank.” TV winners include Baz Idoine for “The Mandalorian” and Fabian Wagner for “The Crown.” Messerschmidt beat Phedon Papamichael (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”), Joshua James Richards (“Nomadland”), Newton Thomas Sigel (“Cherry”), and Dariusz Wolski (“News of the World”) in the feature film category. “Thank to to David Fincher for creating an environment where we could do our best work, and expecting it,” Messerschmidt said. The annual awards, conducted virtually this year, honor the year’s top cinematography in categories spanning film and TV. The small ceremony was broadcast from the...

Each week, more theaters open, more restrictions fall, and more people travel, eat in restaurants, and visit amusement parks. Meanwhile, moviegoing remains static. With no new wide releases the top 10 titles earned about $18 million, for perhaps $20 million total. Next weekend will be better since Warner Bros. opens “Mortal Kombat” April 23 (along with its day-and-date HBO Max premiere). “Godzilla vs. Kong” continued as #1, accounting for more than a third of all admissions. It stands at $80 million domestic and it will likely it will pass $100 million all while showing for free for HBO Max subscribers. Worldwide, it is at $390 million in theaters even while missing multiple key markets. Added revenue from streaming is indirect...