‘Pitch Perfect 3’ in Works With Screenwriter Kay Cannon in Talks to Return

Producer Arthur Cohn was first mentioned in Variety on Feb. 20, 1962, when the documentary he produced, “Sky Above, Mud Beneath,” was nominated for an Oscar. The doc, “Le Ciel et la boue,” directed by Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau, underwent a few title changes over the years, and ended up winning the prize for 1961. Cohn has [...]

William Sadleir, the founder and chairman of indie distributor Aviron Pictures, has been ousted by the fledgling company’s financier, two insiders familiar with his exit told Variety. It’s unclear what circumstances Sadleir left under, both sources said. He was removed under a contractual provision given to the shop’s senior lender, reported to be asset management [...]

What would you do if a heat-and-serve lasagna arrived at your door along with a screener for a short film? The people who sent it hope you’ll pop the lasagna in the oven and watch the screener as it bakes. That memorable mailer was just one facet of Rogers & Cowan’s innovative “for your consideration” [...]

To prepare for a role, Margot Robbie tells Variety for this week’s cover story, she dives deep into research. In the case of her “Bombshell” character, Kayla Pospisil — a fictional composite created by screenwriter Charles Randolph — Robbie worked on Kayla’s Florida accent, studied the Fox News programs she would have watched, and created [...]

From the moment I learned that “Honey Boy” explored a complex father-child relationship — how pain and abuse can transcend generations — I knew that interviewing Shia LaBeouf, one of Variety’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch, would be an emotional experience for me. I just never expected for it to change me. As someone who’s exhaustively dissected [...]

Newly knighted Sir Sam Mendes mixed with onscreen sovereigns (from “The Crown” and “Game of Thrones”) and Hollywood royalty (Ava DuVernay, Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt, Martin Scorsese) at the 20th annual AFI Awards, presented Jan. 4 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Mendes was there representing “1917,” one of the 22 film and [...]