Joe Penna never thought that seeing his debut feature in Cannes' Official Selection was "a remote possibility", but here he is with a primo spot as a Midnight Screening with a film starring Mads Mikkelsen. Arctic sees Mikkelsen's character stranded after a plane crash. As he is finally about to receive a long-awaited…

Director Ridley Scott will be honored with the 30th American Cinematheque award during the organization’s annual benefit gala October 14 at the Beverly Hilton. The event for the iconic director of films including Alien, Blade Runner and most recently last year’s commercial and awards-garnering sci-fi pic The Martian…

EXCLUSIVE: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 20th Century Fox just acquired an untitled pitch from Andy Weir, the author of The Martian, which was nominated for seven Oscars this year, including Best Picture. Weir will write the screenplay for Martian filmmakers Simon Kinberg (via his Genre Films) and director Ridley…

Jack Ma’s Alibaba Pictures has taken an 8.94% stake, or approximately 8.29% on a fully-diluted basis, in China’s Bona Film as part of the latter’s privatization. The stake is worth approximately $86 million. The move comes as Bona delists itself from the NASDAQ. A statement from Alibaba revealed the two companies plan…

When it comes to evaluating the financial performance of top movies, it isn't about what a film grosses at the box office. The true tale is told when production budgets, P&A, talent participations and other costs collide with box office grosses and ancillary revenues from VOD to DVD and TV. To get close to that mysteri…

3RD UPDATE, TUES AM PT: With some key markets still to come, The Revenant ruled the international weekend on a bigger than estimated $24.6M. That pushed it past $325M worldwide and saw it outmaneuver last weekend’s champ, Kung Fu Panda 3, and its $23M frame. KFP3 had the benefit of a day-and-date U.S.-China release…

Three Production Design Oscar nominees took the top film trophies tonight at the 20th annual Art Directors Guild Awards at the Beverly Hilton. The Martian won for Contemporary Film, The Revenant picked up Period Film, and Mad Max: Fury Road raced away with Fantasy Film. "Coming up here to the stage, I tried to control…

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is going for the iconic and the blockbuster in the roll-up to his first Silicon Valley Comic Con. Star Trek‘s William Shatner and The Martian author Andy Weir are among the panelists announced today for the inaugural geek-fest in the heart of technology land. Not connected to the long…

Baidu’s iQIYI online video platform has sealed a multi-year output agreement with 20th Century Fox giving it new release digital TVOD and exclusive first-run SVOD rights in China to the studio's theatrical releases. The arrangement will make iQIYI the first Middle Kingdom platform where subscribers can see Fox movies…

FX has added another group of blockbuster feature hits to its ever-growing acquisition list. The network has nabbed rights to Oscar-nominated The Martian, which has grossed over $227 million domestically since its October release, and Ride Along 2, coming off last weekend’s strong opening at the box office, along…

One of the biggest movies of 2015 may be one of the best things you will see at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival – sort of. Featured in the wide-ranging, virtual reality-focused 1oth anniversary of the New Frontier sidebar, The Martian VR Experience takes you to the dangerous surface of the Red Planet and puts you way…

Ah, the perennial Oscar nom box office boost. Every year it’s debated how much of an impact Oscars have on a contender’s tickets sales. In the past, there were those years when a deluge of best picture nominees found themselves on DVD by Oscar night, thus refuting the notion that nominations have any impact at all…