The long-gestating adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir “The Chronology of Water” is co-written by Stewart and Andy Mingo, who has been attached to direct the film since 2018. Imogen Poots will lead the film. Representatives for Poots confirmed the casting to IndieWire. “Lidia’s memoir honors corporeal experience, radically,” Stewart said in a press statement, as first shared by Deadline. “To make that experience physical feels vital to me and what this impulse means…is that it absolutely must be a film....

“The process of how I even got involved with ‘Mank’ was crazy,” Collins told Variety in a recent interview. “I put myself on tape the week before I left for Paris, sent the tape in, got to Paris and was in the middle of filming and did a zoom session with David Fincher. Then I found out that I got it. During [‘Emily in Paris’], I am in every scene so there are no days off, but I flew back to Los Angeles for only 24 hour periods twice while filming ‘Emily....

Kolstad is writing the script to the previously announced “Streets of Rage” film based on the Sega video game franchise, which are vintage side-scrolling “beat ’em up” games that became hugely popular in the ’90s. And boy, was the game a product of the ’90s — playable character Eddie “Skate” Hunter whooped the endless baddies while wearing a pair of rollerblades. Kolstad is producing the film alongside Sega’s Toru Nakahara, dj2 Entertainment’s Dmitri M....

Alas, the true source of Sam’s existence is owed to a darkness of a different sort: By no fault of her own, she has the profound misfortune of being the lead character in the first movie that John Lasseter has produced since the disgraced Pixar godhead accepted his new job at Skydance Animation, and every charmless minute of “Luck” seems to betray the mutual desperation of that arrangement. No matter how much Sam’s fortunes may seem to improve by the end of this story — no matter how sincerely she comes to the inevitable conclusion that having someone like Hazel in her life is the ultimate stroke of serendipity — our hapless heroine will still be trapped in a charmless, half-baked, and fully un-engaging “Monsters Inc....

The Grammy winner is set to direct her own life story for the big screen, from a script co-written with Erin Cressida Wilson. The project was first announced in 2020 with Diablo Cody as co-screenwriter; the “Juno” writer later exited. Amy Pascal is currently on board to produce. Now, they just need to find their Madonna among today’s A-listers. Casting director Carmen Cuba reportedly has selected five actresses to undergo a Madonna boot camp of sorts, per The Hollywood Reporter....

The casting of Michael Gandolfini in the iconic role made famous by his late father has given “The Many Saints of Newark” a surge of buzz over the last year. In an interview with Vanity Fair last year, Gandolfini described “Saints” as “an origin story [of Tony Soprano] through the eyes of Dickie Moltisanti, Christopher’s father.” The actor added, “The Tony Soprano we know has this beautiful vulnerability underneath and this rough exterior, but what if we flip that on its side and you watch a creative, hopeful, kind, curious kid get whittled down and formed into what he has to be?...

The last thing Michael Mando filmed on “Better Call Saul” was Nacho’s hideout in the oil tanker. As his character is hiding from people on his tail who wish him dead, Mando had to submerge himself in a giant pool of goo. In a way, it was a fitting reverse-baptism for one of the most memorable characters on one of TV’s best dramas. Knowing that his character doesn’t appear in “Breaking Bad,” fans have been anticipating an unfortunate end for Nacho for a while....

The service, which famously folded in 2018 after its business model that allowed customers to see unlimited movies for $9.99 a month proved unsustainable, is back with a tiered pricing system. Moviegoers who sign up for the newly relaunched service can pay either $10, $20, or $30 a month for MoviePass, though none of the plans allow for unlimited viewings. While the news of MoviePass’ return excited many fans, doubters wondered if that lack of an unlimited option would dampen enthusiasm....

“I’ve always been attracted to the underworld,” van Zeller told IndieWire, ever since her first story as a journalist saw her moving to Syria at the start of the Iraq war. “I wanted to be close to the action,” she said. Close is an understatement; van Zeller is in the thick of the action throughout every episode and she thinks part of that might have to do with the fact that the worlds she’s walking through are often exclusionary to women....

Most new details came from two lawyers who have overseen negotiations with legislators to get aid to theaters into the package. It seems that for those who qualify (about half of the cinemas in the country, which represent around 40 percent of the annual box office) there is significant funding that could make the difference in allowing them to survive. (Here’s NATO’s data link on the COVID relief package.) Some key takeaways from the session:...

After being held prisoner for a century, the Sandman, who shapes our deepest fears and fantasies while we sleep, returns to the dreaming and waking worlds that have been thrown into chaos. His only recourse is to cross timelines in order to correct the mistakes he’s made and restore what order he can, with the help of old friends and foes alike, both cosmic and human. Patton Oswalt co-stars as Dream’s trusted emissary, Matthew the Raven; Gwendoline Christie plays the ruler of Hell, Lucifer; and Kirby Howell-Baptiste embodies Death — Dream’s wiser, nicer, and much more sensible sister....

Bonus Reason: OK, fine. The seven-episode limited series is Scorsese’s second documentary on Lebowitz, the famed New York author and public speaker, except this one is nearly four times as long — and arriving in the nick of time. Framed as a guide book to the city through the eyes of two true locals, “Pretend It’s a City” is like a long walk through the Big Apple, pre-COVID of course....

“Streaming is working everywhere,” Hastings said. “Everyone is pouring in. It’s definitely the end of linear TV over the next five, 10 years.” Hastings’ projection came following a question about Netflix’s better-than-expected Q2 subscriber numbers. Although originally expected to lose upwards of two million users, the streaming service reported just 970,000 cancellations over the three-month period. “We’re improving everything we do around marketing, improving the service, the merchandising, all of that slowly pays,” Hastings explained....

Presumably, it’s not unrelated that company CEO Reed Hastings announced he’s considering the biggest shakeup to Netflix’s subscription offerings since most of us ditched our DVD queues. Like Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, and Paramount+, Netflix may introduce a lower-cost, ad-supported version. Netflix is an anomaly in its refusal to consider an ad-funded tier to date. On March 4, even Disney+ announced it would roll out a cheaper version with targeted ads....

The “Precious” actress filed the suit against Netflix in November 2019 about a shelved comedy special and the subsequent professional fallout of her pay dispute. “Netflix courted Mo’Nique, saw what she had to offer and made her an offer,” Mo’Nique’s attorneys from the deRubertis Law Firm and Schimmel & Parks stated in a multi-claim complaint filed in L.A. Superior Court, as reported by Deadline. “But the offer Netflix made Mo’Nique wreaked of discrimination; it perpetuated the pay gap suffered by Black women....

In Kathleen Kennedy’s announcement, she said that Jenkins’ film will explore a new, previously unexplored era of “Star Wars” lore set in the future beyond “The Rise of Skywalker.” In a statement on StarWars.com, Lucasfilm said “Rogue Squadron” will “introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy....

Also announced is a spinoff from Pixar’s “Up,” “Dug Days,” featuring Bob Peterson. It’ll premiere in fall 2021. Other series coming up include a “Cars” franchise spinoff show, and Pixar’s first official long-form animated series, “Win or Lose,” about a coed middle school softball team. That debuts in fall 2023. Coming up on the features side is director Enrico Casarosa’s “Luca,” announced for a date of June 18, 2021. The project marks Pixar’s 24th feature....

Speaking to IndieWire on the red carpet of the New York Film Festival, Baumbach made it clear that he’s not done experimenting with different genres. In fact, he’s starting to think about tackling a musical. “I would love to make a musical at some point,” Baumbach said. “Many of my movies tease a musical at some moments.” After seeing the dance sequence set to a new LCD Soundsystem song in “White Noise,” the idea of the “Kicking and Screaming” director taking on a musical might not seem so far fetched....

The closest competitor with five noms was Jane Campion’s Netflix western, “The Power of the Dog” (cinematography, editing, production design, Johnny Greenwood’s score, and sound). Following with four noms was Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remake at Fox/Disney (cinematography, costume design, production design, sound) — which was two shy of the 1961 original. Landing three noms were Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” at Searchlight/Disney (cinematography, costume design, production design) and Daniel Craig’s James Bond finale, “No Time to Die,” at MGM/UA (original song, “No Time to Die,” by Billie Eilish and FINEAS, plus sound and VFX — the first time since “Moonraker”)....

“I think that all of us DC directors tossed that out just as much as the fans did,” Jenkins said about Whedon’s “Justice League” theatrical cut. “But also, I felt that that version contradicted my first movie in many ways, and this current movie, which I was already in production on. So then, what are you going to do? I was like…you would have to play ball in both directions in order for that to work....