All articles tagged with #filmmaking
Deadline’s Cannes review of Bitter Christmas portrays Pedro Almodóvar’s autofiction experiment: a present-day filmmaker blocked by creative drought and a 2004 Madrid storyline that intertwine to question whether turning real lives into fiction is fair, with strong performances and sharp dialogue; while not seen as his Palme d’Or peak, the film offers a revealing glimpse into its director’s psyche.
Travis Knight, Laika veteran turned live-action director, says his Masters of the Universe film honors the long-running property by blending playful camp with serious emotion, centering Adam’s journey to become He-Man and the duality of empathy versus strength, while weaving in fan-favorite characters like Ram Man and Fisto in background ways and noting that not every favorite could fit; the film aims to appeal across generations and leaves open the possibility of more stories if audiences respond, with a June 5 release date.
Christopher Nolan says he treats each movie as if it could be his last, pushing his craft to the limit on the ambitious The Odyssey, the first theatrical release shot entirely with IMAX cameras. Shot over 91 days across Greece, Iceland, Morocco, Italy and Scotland with about 2 million feet of footage, the project embodies Nolan's aim to give audiences the fullest possible experience. He writes his own scripts to immerse viewers in place and sensation, with Damon and Emma Thomas praising the demanding but rewarding process. Nolan’s career has yielded 18 Academy Awards and more than $6 billion at the box office as he continues to push cinema’s language forward.
Javier Bardem delivers a magnetic, controlled performance as a world-famous director reuniting with his estranged daughter to shoot a desert-set film, while Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beloved uses on-set chaos and clever filmmaking devices to examine male ego and family pain.
Christopher Nolan says The Odyssey will be his biggest film, shot entirely in 70mm IMAX and edited frame-by-frame by hand, a process showcased in a 60 Minutes clip where he explains the scale and challenges; Matt Damon calls it the hardest movie he’s done, and Nolan demonstrates cutting and gluing at the world’s last film lab, highlighting the artsy, costly “hard way” of high‑resolution storytelling for CBS/Paramount+.
Stephen Colbert will write a new Lord of the Rings film, reportedly titled Shadow of the Past, with Peter Jackson producing. The story, set 14 years after Frodo’s death, follows Sam, Merry, and Pippin as they retrace the first steps of their journey, while Sam’s daughter Elanor uncovers a long-buried secret connected to the War of the Ring. Colbert wrote the outline with his son Peter Colbert, and the screenplay will be a collaboration with Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee; Jackson, Boyens, and Fran Walsh will produce. Warner Bros. backs the project, which is billed as faithful to both the books and the films.
In a Variety interview, Drew Goddard discusses adapting Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary for a bigger, more emotionally driven sci‑fi epic with Ryan Gosling under directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, detailing how to dramatize a largely solitary story and the influence of James Cameron on structure. He also confirms he’s writing and directing The Matrix 5, aiming to honor the Wachowskis’ legacy while shaping his own take, and reflects on past projects derailed by the Sony hack (including a Sinister Six Spider‑Man movie). Goddard also shares his chaotic, handwriting‑based writing process and notes MGM’s sale to Amazon, which ultimately kept Hail Mary moving forward.
Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, 17, says Nicole Kidman is her biggest inspiration after visiting her mom’s film sets as a child; the Elle Australia cover shoot that sparked her interest in modeling and filmmaking happened just hours before her school’s winter formal. She’s explored fashion on the runway (Miu Miu, 2025) and hopes to study filmmaking in college, with mom’s advice about being on time and prepared as key industry guidance.
A Sundance-winning documentary follows André Ricciardi, a San Francisco ad guru diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer, as he invites friends to document his life and death with irreverent humor rather than a sob story. Directors Tony Benna and producer Lee Einhorn chronicle the couple years of filming—from chemotherapy and desert escapades to a puppet-augmented portrait that captures his friendships and daredevil curiosity—creating an intimate, frank portrait of a man who wanted life to be celebrated, not mourned, and who urged viewers to get a colonoscopy.
Netflix is acquiring Ben Affleck’s filmmaking tech company InterPositive, bringing its 16-person team to Netflix with Affleck as senior adviser; the tools are designed for filmmakers to train AI models on their own footage for post-production tasks (e.g., removing wires, creating missing shots, adjusting color/lighting) rather than text generation, and Netflix plans to offer these tools to its creative partners, signaling broader AI use in its productions.
A BuzzFeed-style list uncovers 27 behind‑the‑scenes details about The Princess Bride: Rob Reiner cast Cary Elwes after seeing him in Lady Jane and chose Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, and Andre the Giant for key roles; William Goldman’s blessing and budget cuts shaped the project, filming took place in England (Haddon Hall, Penshurst Palace) with cast staying together, makeup and stunts were labor‑intensive (Crystal and Kane’s heavy prosthetics; Andre’s weight carried by cables and ramps), several iconic fight sequences were rehearsed to perfection, Elwes even broke a toe during filming, and the film’s legacy endures with memories of improvisation, intimate on‑set camaraderie, and the anecdote of the movie allegedly saving a fan’s life.
The Hollywood Reporter assembles six top filmmakers—James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, Ryan Coogler, Yorgos Lanthimos, Chloé Zhao and Joachim Trier—for a Directors Roundtable. They discuss their diverse approaches to storytelling, the influences that shaped them, how personal experiences feed their work, and tease upcoming projects, revealing that their work remains a form of therapy and a way to connect with audiences across genres and generations.
Martin Scorsese paid a heartfelt tribute to his late friend and fellow filmmaker Rob Reiner, expressing profound sadness over his death and reminiscing about their friendship and collaborations, highlighting Reiner's talent and character.
Yorgos Lanthimos shot his film 'Bugonia' in VistaVision to create a microcosm within a basement setting, using the large-format film to amplify the film's intense environment and big themes, despite the challenges posed by the format's size and noise.
Chloé Zhao discussed the challenges of Hollywood, the importance of ambiguity in storytelling, and how her neurodivergence is a 'superpower' that influences her creative process, highlighting her recent film 'Hamnet' and her views on storytelling and finance in the film industry.