On today’s episode Variety executive editor Brent Lang explains why the strong opening for “Weapons” and “Freakier Friday” are a good sign that mid-budget movies can still be superhero counter-programming at the box office. And Variety international veteran John Hopewell weighs in from Locarno on why mid-sized European film festivals are more important to the industry and movie marketing than ever before.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Monday, August eleventh, twenty
twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am co
editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in
la He's in New York, and Variety has reporters around
the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,
(00:30):
we'll talk with Variety Executive editor Brent Lang about the
weekend box office numbers and the strong start for Warner
Brothers drama Weapons. We'll talk to our intrepid editor John Hopewell,
who is always covering a film festival or a market
somewhere in the world. This time he's in Locarno, Switzerland,
where Emma Thompson and others have made headlines. But before
(00:52):
we get to that, here are a few headlines just
in this morning that you need to know. The new
regime at Paramount wasted no time. I've been spending some
money on the new house. Paramount has committed seven points
seven billion dollars for a seven year deal for UFC rights.
The MMA League events will move from ESPN to Paramount
(01:12):
Plus next year. The Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere,
starring Jeremy Allen White, will premiere September twenty eighth at
the New York Film Festival. The movie, from director Scott Cooper,
hails from Twentieth Century Studios. HBO. Period drama The Gilded
Age had quite a season three finale on Sunday. Catch
(01:33):
up on all the drama with Variety's recap, written by
the biggest Gilded Age fan I know our own, Brent Lang.
You can read all those stories and more on Variety
dot com. Right now. Now we turn to conversations with
Variety journalists about news and trends in show business. If
it's Monday, we're talking box office. Brent Lang joins us
(01:55):
this week to break down the solid opening weekends for
Warner Brothers Weapons and Disney's Freakier Friday. Brent Lang, thanks
for joining me, Thanks for having me. It's appropriate that
you are stepping in for Rebecca Rubin, who is off
this day. You taught her so much about how to
cover the box office and then let her soar as
(02:15):
a good protege. Should Let's talk numbers. This weekend had
two wide releases and from what I read on Variety
dot com, both Weapons and Freakier Friday had good starts.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
They both started very, very strong. What was exciting is
that they were really effective examples of counter programming. One
was going for younger female audiences and the other was
going for slightly older male audiences. That would be Weapons
and freak youre Friday trying to tract more female audiences.
One is an R rated movie, one is a PG
(02:47):
rated movie. So it really shows that this is a
business that can expand to welcome a lot of different
types of genres. That there isn't just one new release
each weekend. And that's something that theaters been really pushing
studios to think about because for movie theaters, they're are
really a foot traffic business. They want people coming through
(03:07):
the door, they want them buying concessions. That's how they
make a lot of money, and they want people in
the habit of going to the movies.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So Weapons ruled the roost for the weekend with forty
two point five million from domestic and from what I
gathered from your story, Brent, that was a pleasant surprise
for Warner Brothers in that it was better than expected.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Nobody really expected it to do anywhere close to forty
million dollars. I think they were thinking more in like
the thirty million range. So this was a very strong
start for this movie, particularly because it's not part of
a pre existing franchise. It has very talented actors like
Josh Brolin and really great performers, but not like people
that you would call bankable bankable stars. It was an
(03:48):
interesting concept that they needed to sell, and I think
that their marketing did a really effective job of this
kind of creepy leaning into this idea about these children
going away and what was behind them, and putting an
air of mystery around this. It was a very effective
campaign around the film, really well put together, too.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Weapons is a wholly original property, which is a fairly
rare site at the box office or on TV screens
these days, there is so much emphasis on building off
existing ip When I first saw the marketing for this,
I thought weapons being basically a noun, That thought that
was a generic title. But clearly they got people's attention.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Zach Craiger, who wrote and directed the film, he had
a movie called Barbarians that was critically acclaimed, did pretty well.
I think it made about forty five million dollars, which
is basically what Weapons has made in one weekend. So
this is a real huge step forward for him. He's
been brought in to reboot the Resident Evil franchise, and
I think that this is a person whose career has
(04:52):
really moved into a whole different realm now because of
the success of this movie. I'm sure everybody wants to
work with him. I'm sure he's getting all kinds of offers,
and that's exciting too because it means that there's somebody
who's really a cool new talent and a new voice
in cinema too.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
And I would definitely give some good credit to Julia Garner,
who is very compelling. A lot of folks really know
her from Ozark.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
And she's in Fantastic Four as well, so she's having
a really big summer.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
That's right. She's double trouble at the box office this year.
Freaky or Friday wait in for Disney with a twenty
nine million dollar hole. How do you think Disney felt
about that performance.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I think that's been lined with expectations. It's a property
that is really beloved by certain generations, so you probably
had a lot of like intergenerational support there where moms
who grew up and dads too, grew up with the
original film brought their kids to the sequel, and so
that helps too, with the legacy element of it, the
library element, and I'm sure that there's a big boost
(05:51):
in viewership of the original film, So I think that there's
a lot of value to that. The other thing that
was important about that movie is that it didn't cost
that much money. Both Weapons and Freakier Friday cost around
forty million dollars. I think Weapons cost thirty eight and
figure Friday costs about forty two, and that's really important.
They're going to be very profitable because the costs were
(06:15):
kept low. One thing that Hollywood has had a lot
of trouble with recently is figuring out that kind of
cost structure. Movies have gotten a lot more expensive. Inflation
is a very real thing, and with the global box
office constricting because Russia going away and China looking more
towards their own internal local language projects, I think there
(06:40):
needs to be a right sizing of budgets. And this
is an example of why it still makes sense to
figure out more mid budget movies.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I gotta say Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan were everywhere.
They seem to do every promotional stent possible. So with
weapons being wrong for Warner, how would you put that
in the whole year to date for Warners?
Speaker 2 (07:03):
It continues a real hot streak for Warner Brothers, and
a hot streak that came at a very opportune time
for Pam Abdy and Mike de Luca, who run the studio.
They were really seen as being vulnerable or to Brothers.
Start of the year off very weekly. Mickey seventeen was
a big bomb. Alto Knights was a huge bomb, but
(07:25):
then a Minecraft movie and Sinners really turned around that narrative.
They're obviously looking much much stronger than they were before.
There are some question marks on the horizon. The Paul
Thomas Anderson film One Battle after Another, which cost at
least one hundred and thirty five million dollars to make.
It does star Leonardo DiCaprio. It's an adaptation of a
(07:46):
Thomas Pinsion novel. I think that will be a big
test for them and for that regime. But obviously they
are ending the summer on a real high, and I
think they're silencing a lot of their doubters. After the
performance of many of these fls holmes.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
The box office doesn't lie. Let me ask you, what
should we be looking for in terms of larger openings
in the coming weeks.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Well, that's the bad news. There was a lot to
celebrate this weekend, but when you look ahead, it's a
very weak slate until mid October when tron Ares comes out.
You don't have another really big, major studio film that's
coming out, and so I think that this just shows
that consistency is also really important, and studios haven't quite
(08:29):
figured that out. So I think there are some concerns
that the things are going to get a little tough
for exhibitors for a while. But then the year with
a number of franchises that are returning. You have another
Avatar movie, you have a Utopia movie, and you have
a second Wicked film. So there's a lot at the
tail end of the year to look forward to. But
(08:50):
there's a period here that's going to be very choppy waters.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
So much to watch for. Brent, thank you for helping
us do the watching.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Next up, John Hopewell joins us for report on the
Locarno Film Festival that is just wrapping up in Switzerland.
We talk about how long established European film festivals such
as Locarno, San Sebastian and Spain and Carlovy vari and
the Czech Republic are gaining more importance as an industry platform,
and the internet coverage means news out of festivals travels
(09:24):
more widely than ever. Nobody knows this market and these
trends better than my dear colleague John, who is based
in Madrid, but he truly lives on planes and trains.
John Hopewell, thank you for joining me from Locarno, Switzerland.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Hi, greetings from the Compo. Switzerland is sweltering, hot, shattering
and exciting.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
John. You are in your natural habitat in a hotel
room in front of a computer, pounding out stories for
the dozens of E show dailies that we produce every year. John,
thank you for your service and your time wireless labor
on behalf of Variety and readers around the world.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Well, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
I wanted to talk to you about how festivals like
Wacarno that have been established and have a great attendee
base like Wacarno have really come up in stature and profile.
They get more media coverage, headlines travel around the world.
The industry really strategically uses them as platforms. What have
(10:26):
you seen in the last decade or so about what
has been happening at these kind of film festivals in Europe.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
I think that a revolution began in film festivals outside
the US basically in about nineteen eighty eight when Walter
Baendret came in at Rotterdam and created a co production
forum for projects and began to create an industry arm
(10:54):
at a festival. Since then, San Sebastian a Lucan have
copied because if you want to have films, you have
to attract buyers who would then attract producers and sales
agents and bring their film to your festival. Lacano as
San Sebastian are amongst the best festivals in Europe who
(11:19):
have developed the most sophisticated of bouquet of industry sections,
attractions and debates. And that has happened to Lacano, especially
from about twenty fifteen under Nadier Drestie and now under
(11:40):
Marcus Dufner. And the offer this year is super Tell.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Me some of the movies that are busy this year
at Lacana.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
The opening film by Camal Aljafari, which was as simple
but what has been described as hauntingly poignant concept where
he discovered old tapes which he had shot in two
thousand and one of MiniDV footage of a trip he took,
(12:08):
and the film is called with Hassan in Gaza of
a trip he took with Hassan a tourist guide down
the Gaza strip, and he rediscovering the archive footage, he
just puts it together to show what a vibrant Gaza
there was in two thousand and one, asking implicity the
(12:30):
question what has happened to these people? Another is the
first film from Sophie Romvari, Blue Heron, which is being
held as an astonishing debut. It's a piece about her
own personal memory, is also ficualized, and then cuts to
twenty years later when the child in the first part
(12:52):
asks what happened to a terrible family tragedy?
Speaker 1 (12:56):
These are great examples of clear positioning for a film
maker on the cusp of a big moment. I had
to laugh because I had wanted to do this segment.
I reached out to you, and then the point that
I wanted to make was made for me by none
other than Emma Thompson who got up and on a
Locarno stage, and sure enough you can read it on
Variety dot com. She's surprised folks with the news that,
(13:19):
in fact one Donald Trump once did ask her out
for a date. That headline went around the world. That
is the kind of thing that just wouldn't have happened
out a Locarno even ten years ago. But the Internet
has changed a lot of things.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
I was being told by Marta Balada, who is reporting
as well here.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
One of our terrific, terrific contributors, exactly, but she's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
She was actually at the Emma Thompson film Dead of Winter.
I was saying that at the Piazza Grande, which has
the capacity for eight thousand seats, there were scenes of
hysteria to actually get in to see Emma Thompson. That
(14:04):
shows the Internet that the stars, especially in a way
I think in the smaller big festivals like Lacano War
San Subastian, have a far larger impact in many ways
because of Internet than before.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
How has the attendee base of Locarno changed, would you
say it's largely people from Europe or is it film fanatics?
From all over.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
I think it's related a bit to the industry side,
in that before the industry built, it was mainly European
critics watching art films. As soon as you get, for example,
a focus on Africa, which is immensely exciting, with African producers,
(14:51):
directors bringing projects or short films to exhibit people are
coming from Latin America. One thing which Lacano has done,
which is superb, is to embrace the what's called world
cinema revolution.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
John, I know you live out of a suitcase for us.
Where are you heading next after.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Lacarno, Santiago to Chile, to the tip.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Of South America. Awesome?
Speaker 3 (15:18):
And it's a very very well known run festival. It's
at house again, a very developed industry side, which attracts
us because a lot of the industry side is very
young directors.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
If there's business going on at a festival, we want
to be there. John, nobody knows the global market like you.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Safe travels, very very much, Cynthia.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
After all that talk about Emma Thompson, let's hear from
Emma Thompson. We'll wrap with a few seconds of Emma
delivering her acceptance speech. For Locano's Leopard Club Career Achievement Award.
She delivered it in exquisite Italian on Friday night, because
who doesn't want to start the week listening to Emma
Thompson speaking Italian.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Your scrito quacosa pervoy. I'm a little bit overwhelmed. You understand,
and I love you. I love you too.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
So no cozy felice in questo skizito pura creativita. It's
a profondamente enthusiasta di con i giovanni siniastequi presente.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
As we close out today's episode, here are a few
things we're watching for Variety in Rolling Stone will host
our fifth annual truth Seekers Event in New York on Thursday.
It's a day long gathering focused on documentary films, TV
series and podcasts. CNN's Jake Tapper is one of our keynotes.
He'll sit down with my fellow eic ramin Setuda. On Wednesday,
(17:03):
we unveil our ten Storytellers to Watch list. It's the
first one and it's designed to highlight social media creators, podcasters,
and others whose free range work crosses many mediums. I'm
looking forward to attending tonight's Alien Earth premiere in Hollywood,
and folks, please make sure to check out the new
season of our Variety Confidential podcast. This time around, it's
(17:28):
a deeply reported series on the life and legacy of
River Phoenix. It is so worth your time. It's from
my great colleague Tatiana Siegel. And even if you think
you know the story of the star who died tragically
at twenty three, you don't know River Phoenix like this
before we go. Congrats to Aaron Calhoun. She's been named
(17:48):
Senior VP of Entertainment and Sports Communications for Versant, the
NBC Universal cable spinoff. She was previously in corpcom for
Showtime and Paramount. Thanks for listening. This episode was written
and reported by me Cynthia Littleton, with contributions from Brent Lang,
John Hopewell, and Emma Thompson. It was edited by Aaron
(18:09):
Greenwald sticks Nick's hick Picks. Please leave us a review
at the podcast platform of your choice, and please tune
in tomorrow for another episode of Daily Variety.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
I must have been It's winter in Chile. One goes
from a sweltering climate change affected Europe to there that
is superb. I just walk out to my shirt. I
let the cold seep in
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Monday, August eleventh, twenty
twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am co
editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in
la He's in New York, and Variety has reporters around
the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,
(00:30):
we'll talk with Variety Executive editor Brent Lang about the
weekend box office numbers and the strong start for Warner
Brothers drama Weapons. We'll talk to our intrepid editor John Hopewell,
who is always covering a film festival or a market
somewhere in the world. This time he's in Locarno, Switzerland,
where Emma Thompson and others have made headlines. But before
(00:52):
we get to that, here are a few headlines just
in this morning that you need to know. The new
regime at Paramount wasted no time. I've been spending some
money on the new house. Paramount has committed seven points
seven billion dollars for a seven year deal for UFC rights.
The MMA League events will move from ESPN to Paramount
(01:12):
Plus next year. The Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere,
starring Jeremy Allen White, will premiere September twenty eighth at
the New York Film Festival. The movie, from director Scott Cooper,
hails from Twentieth Century Studios. HBO. Period drama The Gilded
Age had quite a season three finale on Sunday. Catch
(01:33):
up on all the drama with Variety's recap, written by
the biggest Gilded Age fan I know our own, Brent Lang.
You can read all those stories and more on Variety
dot com. Right now. Now we turn to conversations with
Variety journalists about news and trends in show business. If
it's Monday, we're talking box office. Brent Lang joins us
(01:55):
this week to break down the solid opening weekends for
Warner Brothers Weapons and Disney's Freakier Friday. Brent Lang, thanks
for joining me, Thanks for having me. It's appropriate that
you are stepping in for Rebecca Rubin, who is off
this day. You taught her so much about how to
cover the box office and then let her soar as
(02:15):
a good protege. Should Let's talk numbers. This weekend had
two wide releases and from what I read on Variety
dot com, both Weapons and Freakier Friday had good starts.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
They both started very, very strong. What was exciting is
that they were really effective examples of counter programming. One
was going for younger female audiences and the other was
going for slightly older male audiences. That would be Weapons
and freak youre Friday trying to tract more female audiences.
One is an R rated movie, one is a PG
(02:47):
rated movie. So it really shows that this is a
business that can expand to welcome a lot of different
types of genres. That there isn't just one new release
each weekend. And that's something that theaters been really pushing
studios to think about because for movie theaters, they're are
really a foot traffic business. They want people coming through
(03:07):
the door, they want them buying concessions. That's how they
make a lot of money, and they want people in
the habit of going to the movies.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So Weapons ruled the roost for the weekend with forty
two point five million from domestic and from what I
gathered from your story, Brent, that was a pleasant surprise
for Warner Brothers in that it was better than expected.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Nobody really expected it to do anywhere close to forty
million dollars. I think they were thinking more in like
the thirty million range. So this was a very strong
start for this movie, particularly because it's not part of
a pre existing franchise. It has very talented actors like
Josh Brolin and really great performers, but not like people
that you would call bankable bankable stars. It was an
(03:48):
interesting concept that they needed to sell, and I think
that their marketing did a really effective job of this
kind of creepy leaning into this idea about these children
going away and what was behind them, and putting an
air of mystery around this. It was a very effective
campaign around the film, really well put together, too.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Weapons is a wholly original property, which is a fairly
rare site at the box office or on TV screens
these days, there is so much emphasis on building off
existing ip When I first saw the marketing for this,
I thought weapons being basically a noun, That thought that
was a generic title. But clearly they got people's attention.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Zach Craiger, who wrote and directed the film, he had
a movie called Barbarians that was critically acclaimed, did pretty well.
I think it made about forty five million dollars, which
is basically what Weapons has made in one weekend. So
this is a real huge step forward for him. He's
been brought in to reboot the Resident Evil franchise, and
I think that this is a person whose career has
(04:52):
really moved into a whole different realm now because of
the success of this movie. I'm sure everybody wants to
work with him. I'm sure he's getting all kinds of offers,
and that's exciting too because it means that there's somebody
who's really a cool new talent and a new voice
in cinema too.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
And I would definitely give some good credit to Julia Garner,
who is very compelling. A lot of folks really know
her from Ozark.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
And she's in Fantastic Four as well, so she's having
a really big summer.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
That's right. She's double trouble at the box office this year.
Freaky or Friday wait in for Disney with a twenty
nine million dollar hole. How do you think Disney felt
about that performance.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I think that's been lined with expectations. It's a property
that is really beloved by certain generations, so you probably
had a lot of like intergenerational support there where moms
who grew up and dads too, grew up with the
original film brought their kids to the sequel, and so
that helps too, with the legacy element of it, the
library element, and I'm sure that there's a big boost
(05:51):
in viewership of the original film, So I think that there's
a lot of value to that. The other thing that
was important about that movie is that it didn't cost
that much money. Both Weapons and Freakier Friday cost around
forty million dollars. I think Weapons cost thirty eight and
figure Friday costs about forty two, and that's really important.
They're going to be very profitable because the costs were
(06:15):
kept low. One thing that Hollywood has had a lot
of trouble with recently is figuring out that kind of
cost structure. Movies have gotten a lot more expensive. Inflation
is a very real thing, and with the global box
office constricting because Russia going away and China looking more
towards their own internal local language projects, I think there
(06:40):
needs to be a right sizing of budgets. And this
is an example of why it still makes sense to
figure out more mid budget movies.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I gotta say Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan were everywhere.
They seem to do every promotional stent possible. So with
weapons being wrong for Warner, how would you put that
in the whole year to date for Warners?
Speaker 2 (07:03):
It continues a real hot streak for Warner Brothers, and
a hot streak that came at a very opportune time
for Pam Abdy and Mike de Luca, who run the studio.
They were really seen as being vulnerable or to Brothers.
Start of the year off very weekly. Mickey seventeen was
a big bomb. Alto Knights was a huge bomb, but
(07:25):
then a Minecraft movie and Sinners really turned around that narrative.
They're obviously looking much much stronger than they were before.
There are some question marks on the horizon. The Paul
Thomas Anderson film One Battle after Another, which cost at
least one hundred and thirty five million dollars to make.
It does star Leonardo DiCaprio. It's an adaptation of a
(07:46):
Thomas Pinsion novel. I think that will be a big
test for them and for that regime. But obviously they
are ending the summer on a real high, and I
think they're silencing a lot of their doubters. After the
performance of many of these fls holmes.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
The box office doesn't lie. Let me ask you, what
should we be looking for in terms of larger openings
in the coming weeks.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Well, that's the bad news. There was a lot to
celebrate this weekend, but when you look ahead, it's a
very weak slate until mid October when tron Ares comes out.
You don't have another really big, major studio film that's
coming out, and so I think that this just shows
that consistency is also really important, and studios haven't quite
(08:29):
figured that out. So I think there are some concerns
that the things are going to get a little tough
for exhibitors for a while. But then the year with
a number of franchises that are returning. You have another
Avatar movie, you have a Utopia movie, and you have
a second Wicked film. So there's a lot at the
tail end of the year to look forward to. But
(08:50):
there's a period here that's going to be very choppy waters.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
So much to watch for. Brent, thank you for helping
us do the watching.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Next up, John Hopewell joins us for report on the
Locarno Film Festival that is just wrapping up in Switzerland.
We talk about how long established European film festivals such
as Locarno, San Sebastian and Spain and Carlovy vari and
the Czech Republic are gaining more importance as an industry platform,
and the internet coverage means news out of festivals travels
(09:24):
more widely than ever. Nobody knows this market and these
trends better than my dear colleague John, who is based
in Madrid, but he truly lives on planes and trains.
John Hopewell, thank you for joining me from Locarno, Switzerland.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Hi, greetings from the Compo. Switzerland is sweltering, hot, shattering
and exciting.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
John. You are in your natural habitat in a hotel
room in front of a computer, pounding out stories for
the dozens of E show dailies that we produce every year. John,
thank you for your service and your time wireless labor
on behalf of Variety and readers around the world.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Well, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
I wanted to talk to you about how festivals like
Wacarno that have been established and have a great attendee
base like Wacarno have really come up in stature and profile.
They get more media coverage, headlines travel around the world.
The industry really strategically uses them as platforms. What have
(10:26):
you seen in the last decade or so about what
has been happening at these kind of film festivals in Europe.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
I think that a revolution began in film festivals outside
the US basically in about nineteen eighty eight when Walter
Baendret came in at Rotterdam and created a co production
forum for projects and began to create an industry arm
(10:54):
at a festival. Since then, San Sebastian a Lucan have
copied because if you want to have films, you have
to attract buyers who would then attract producers and sales
agents and bring their film to your festival. Lacano as
San Sebastian are amongst the best festivals in Europe who
(11:19):
have developed the most sophisticated of bouquet of industry sections,
attractions and debates. And that has happened to Lacano, especially
from about twenty fifteen under Nadier Drestie and now under
(11:40):
Marcus Dufner. And the offer this year is super Tell.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Me some of the movies that are busy this year
at Lacana.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
The opening film by Camal Aljafari, which was as simple
but what has been described as hauntingly poignant concept where
he discovered old tapes which he had shot in two
thousand and one of MiniDV footage of a trip he took,
(12:08):
and the film is called with Hassan in Gaza of
a trip he took with Hassan a tourist guide down
the Gaza strip, and he rediscovering the archive footage, he
just puts it together to show what a vibrant Gaza
there was in two thousand and one, asking implicity the
(12:30):
question what has happened to these people? Another is the
first film from Sophie Romvari, Blue Heron, which is being
held as an astonishing debut. It's a piece about her
own personal memory, is also ficualized, and then cuts to
twenty years later when the child in the first part
(12:52):
asks what happened to a terrible family tragedy?
Speaker 1 (12:56):
These are great examples of clear positioning for a film
maker on the cusp of a big moment. I had
to laugh because I had wanted to do this segment.
I reached out to you, and then the point that
I wanted to make was made for me by none
other than Emma Thompson who got up and on a
Locarno stage, and sure enough you can read it on
Variety dot com. She's surprised folks with the news that,
(13:19):
in fact one Donald Trump once did ask her out
for a date. That headline went around the world. That
is the kind of thing that just wouldn't have happened
out a Locarno even ten years ago. But the Internet
has changed a lot of things.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
I was being told by Marta Balada, who is reporting
as well here.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
One of our terrific, terrific contributors, exactly, but she's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
She was actually at the Emma Thompson film Dead of Winter.
I was saying that at the Piazza Grande, which has
the capacity for eight thousand seats, there were scenes of
hysteria to actually get in to see Emma Thompson. That
(14:04):
shows the Internet that the stars, especially in a way
I think in the smaller big festivals like Lacano War
San Subastian, have a far larger impact in many ways
because of Internet than before.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
How has the attendee base of Locarno changed, would you
say it's largely people from Europe or is it film fanatics?
From all over.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
I think it's related a bit to the industry side,
in that before the industry built, it was mainly European
critics watching art films. As soon as you get, for example,
a focus on Africa, which is immensely exciting, with African producers,
(14:51):
directors bringing projects or short films to exhibit people are
coming from Latin America. One thing which Lacano has done,
which is superb, is to embrace the what's called world
cinema revolution.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
John, I know you live out of a suitcase for us.
Where are you heading next after.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Lacarno, Santiago to Chile, to the tip.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Of South America. Awesome?
Speaker 3 (15:18):
And it's a very very well known run festival. It's
at house again, a very developed industry side, which attracts
us because a lot of the industry side is very
young directors.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
If there's business going on at a festival, we want
to be there. John, nobody knows the global market like you.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Safe travels, very very much, Cynthia.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
After all that talk about Emma Thompson, let's hear from
Emma Thompson. We'll wrap with a few seconds of Emma
delivering her acceptance speech. For Locano's Leopard Club Career Achievement Award.
She delivered it in exquisite Italian on Friday night, because
who doesn't want to start the week listening to Emma
Thompson speaking Italian.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Your scrito quacosa pervoy. I'm a little bit overwhelmed. You understand,
and I love you. I love you too.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
So no cozy felice in questo skizito pura creativita. It's
a profondamente enthusiasta di con i giovanni siniastequi presente.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
As we close out today's episode, here are a few
things we're watching for Variety in Rolling Stone will host
our fifth annual truth Seekers Event in New York on Thursday.
It's a day long gathering focused on documentary films, TV
series and podcasts. CNN's Jake Tapper is one of our keynotes.
He'll sit down with my fellow eic ramin Setuda. On Wednesday,
(17:03):
we unveil our ten Storytellers to Watch list. It's the
first one and it's designed to highlight social media creators, podcasters,
and others whose free range work crosses many mediums. I'm
looking forward to attending tonight's Alien Earth premiere in Hollywood,
and folks, please make sure to check out the new
season of our Variety Confidential podcast. This time around, it's
(17:28):
a deeply reported series on the life and legacy of
River Phoenix. It is so worth your time. It's from
my great colleague Tatiana Siegel. And even if you think
you know the story of the star who died tragically
at twenty three, you don't know River Phoenix like this
before we go. Congrats to Aaron Calhoun. She's been named
(17:48):
Senior VP of Entertainment and Sports Communications for Versant, the
NBC Universal cable spinoff. She was previously in corpcom for
Showtime and Paramount. Thanks for listening. This episode was written
and reported by me Cynthia Littleton, with contributions from Brent Lang,
John Hopewell, and Emma Thompson. It was edited by Aaron
(18:09):
Greenwald sticks Nick's hick Picks. Please leave us a review
at the podcast platform of your choice, and please tune
in tomorrow for another episode of Daily Variety.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
I must have been It's winter in Chile. One goes
from a sweltering climate change affected Europe to there that
is superb. I just walk out to my shirt. I
let the cold seep in
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