THE

ENIGMA
of
KIRSTEN
DUNST
The Oscar nominee
and fashion favorite
returns with the
controversial political
thriller ‘Civil War’
BY TAT I A N A S I EG E L
 contents 3

April 3, 2024
(Cover) Set Design: Peter Gueracague; Styling: Samantha McMillen/The Wall Group; Makeup: Nina Park/Kalpana; Hair: Bryce Scarlett/The Wall Group; Manicure: Emi Kudo/A Frame Agency; Dress: Jil Sander; Earrings: Anita Ko; Ring: Irene Neuwirth;

FEATURES

Feeling Blue
20 The star of Alex Garland’s “Civil
War” thinks everything is broken.
But she hasn’t given up hope.
By Tatiana Siegel

Women on the Verge

28 How “Hacks” overcame a 10-month
break to reinvent itself.
By Daniel D’Addario

T he Future
of Exhibition
32 Imax has quickly become the gold
standard in theatrical experiences.
Plus: Art-house revivals are saving
the souls of local communities.
By Brent Lang and Rebecca Rubin
(This page) Dress: Jil Sander; Rings and Earrings: Sophie Bille Brahe

Kirsten Dunst Cover photograph by Jason Hetherington

4 Variety

Table of Contents April 3, 2024

MARQUEE
11 Sundance Sturm und Drang
Why did the storied film
festival’s CEO, Joana Vicente,
exit after three brief years?
14
EXPOSURE
18 A Night for Equal Rights
The Human Rights Campaign
toasts Jean Smart and
Sterling K. Brown. Plus:
“Godzilla x Kong” premiere
and Muse Awards.

FOCUS
41 Magic City Swings
The Miami Film Festival
unspools, welcoming
honorees Molly Ringwald
and Tom Hiddleston.

51 Piano Man
Celebrated musician
Lang Lang gets a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.

REVIEWS
59 Mirthless Mr. Ripley
In Netflix’s new adaptation,
Andrew Scott’s dour con artist
lacks the power of seduction.

DEPARTM ENTS 17 44
6 Editors’ Letter
On Kirsten Dunst’s
instincts, honed over three
decades, and Variety’s
Webby nominations.

Officer and a Gentleman: Paramount/Everett Collection; Keen: Marc Brenner; Ringwald: Pari Dukovic/FX; Bear: Chuck Hodes/FX
62 Drop-Dead Gorgeous
In Kirsten Dunst’s first movie,
“Interview With a Vampire,”
she died before she lived.

Variety, VOL. 363, NO. 10 (USPS 146-820, ISSN 0011-5509)

is published weekly, except the last week of February,
the third week of March, the second week of April, the last
week of June, the first week of July and the last week of
55
December, with 15 special issues: Jan. (3), Feb. (2), May (4),
June (6) by Variety Media LLC, 11175 Santa Monica Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90025, a division of Penske Business
Media. Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA and at
other mailing offices. Postmaster send address changes
to: Variety, P.O. Box 15759, North Hollywood, CA 91615-
5759. Canada Post International Publications Mail Product
(Canadian Distribution) Publications Mail Agreement No.
40043404. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses
to: RCS International Box 697 STN A, Windsor, Ontario
N9A 6N4. Sales agreement No. 0607525. Variety ©2024 Clockwise from top: Richard Gere and Louis Gossett Jr. in “An Officer and a Gentleman”; Molly Ringwald in “Feud: Capote
by Variety Media, LLC. Variety and the Flying V logo are
trademarks of Penske Business Media. Printed in the U.S.A. vs. the Swans”; Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White in “The Bear”; Will Keen in the Almeida Theatre production of “Patriots”
 Ultimate Relaxation. Serene Escape.
Transformative Experiences. Mexico.

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6 Variety
Editors’ Letter
Jason Hetherington photographs Kirsten Dunst in Los Angeles.
Kirsten Dunst Is
Back in Action
Kirsten Dunst has always been an actress
Æ who moves to her own drumbeat. An au-
teur-loving indie queen, Dunst is every bit at home
in the world of studio blockbusters. (Just ask any-
one at Sony Pictures, where Dunst’s Mary Jane in
the 2000s “Spider-Man” series set the template for
decades of sharp, unexpectedly shrewd Spidey
girlfriends.) In her latest film, she’s brought both
worlds together. Alex Garland’s “Civil War” is the
largest movie yet from boutique distributor A24,
with a budget of $55 million. But it’s still an A24
April 3, 2024
movie, with all the intimate character detail and uary 2023 profile of Pamela Anderson. In all,
Dunst: Photograph by Haley Kluge; Littleton: Photograph by Dan Doperalski; Setoodeh: Photograph by Alexi Lubomirsko
envelope-pushing that implies. Variety received three Webby nominations,
The film, which opens on April 12, is set in a including best website and best video series for
dystopian America, divided and in the process of our annual Actors on Actors franchise. We’re
destroying itself. Dunst plays Lee, a war photogra- usually more accustomed to handicapping
pher intent on chronicling the pain and suffering
around her without becoming part of the story.
races, but in this case, it really is an honor to
be nominated.
That’s easier said than done, given the mass ca-
sualties that nearly swallow her up as she makes
a trek to what’s left of Washington, D.C.
In a wide-ranging interview with Variety’s
Tatiana Siegel, Dunst talks about what drew her
to “Civil War” and the instincts that have defined
her acting work, going back to 1994’s “Interview
With the Vampire.” Her child-star background
informed a conversation she introduced about
the need to protect young actors in light of the
Max documentary “Quiet on Set.”
C O - E D I TO R S - I N - C H I E F
It’s been a big week for Siegel. She was also
recently nominated for a Webby for her Jan- Cynthia Littleton R a m in Setoodeh
 See every detail.
Feel every moment.

Barco HDR Lightsteering Projection for Cinema

www.barco.com/cinema
miamifilmfestival.com
 LOS FRIKIS WORLD PREMIERE SATURDAY, APRIL 6 – 7 PM
KNIGHT CONCERT HALL

Inspired by true events, Los Frikis is a powerful coming-of-age story set in 1990s Cuba.
Directed by Eighteen-year-old Gustavo (Eros de la Puente) idolizes his older brother Paco (Héctor
Tyler Nilson & Medina) and his punk “Frikis” bandmates. When a reprieve from the economic crisis that
Michael Schwartz plunged the country into poverty materializes, they do the unthinkable: inject themselves
with HIV to live at the government-run treatment home.
USA, Dominican Republic
2024 | 105 min Los Frikis is the latest film from filmmaking duo Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz (The
Spanish with English Peanut Butter Falcon produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller), and co-stars rising
subtitles talent Adria Arjona.
This screening is part of the Spotlight on Cuba, sponsored by ArtesMiami.

COME CATCH THE FESTIVAL’S BIGGEST STARS IN PERSON!

MOLLY RINGWALD TOM HIDDLESTON ALISON BRIE SHERYL LEE RALPH

Saturday, April 6 – 8 PM Tuesday, April 9 – 7:30PM Saturday, April 3 – 3 PM Saturday, April 13 – 12 PM
Chapman Center Arsht Center Regal SB Chapman Center

From her days as our 80’s
It-Girl to starring in some of
today’s most successful film &
television, Molly Ringwald has
shown she can do it all! ‘How?’
we ask. Let’s find out during an
in-depth conversation during
the Variety Creative Vanguard
Award presentation!
Tom Hiddleston is many things,
but being “low-key” is not
one of them! The Loki star has
mastered the Marvel cinematic
universe and still finds time to
shine on stage & screen. Join
us for a chat with the wildly
charismatic star during the
Variety Virtuoso Award
presentation
Join us for a conversation & Art
of Light Award presentation
with the star of Apples Never
Fall, Alison Brie! Brie has
wowed us on other hit series
such as Community, and now
stars alongside Sam Neill and
Annette Bening in the new
story from the author
of Big Little Lies.
Emmy® Award-Winning
actress Sheryl Lee Ralph is
joining us to receive the
Precious Gem Award
following a conversation
about her career—which
includes her current
reign as Barbara Howard
on the hit show Abbott
Elementary.
Announcing

Streaming Viewership
Made Transparent
Luminate Data Ranks the Most-Watched
Streaming Original Movies and Tv Shows.

See the Rankings

Variety.com/StreamingOriginals
Variety April 3, 2024 11

Illustration by Alisa Gao

Scandal at a film festival is usually gener-

Æ ated by provocative auteurs or loose-lipped
actors stirring up drama at press conferences.
Last weekend’s laid-back Sonoma International
Film Festival, held in the heart of California wine
country, was a different story.
Numerous indie film players spotted Sundance
Film Festival director Eugene Hernandez at the
event, alongside his two predecessors in the role:

Plot Twist
Inside the abrupt resignation of Sundance CEO Joana Vicente,
and what it means for America’s preeminent film festival
By Matt Donnelly
John Cooper, who left in 2020, and Tabitha Jack-
son, who stepped down in 2022. All three were
in town to screen films and mingle when the
eye-popping news spread that Joana Vicente, CEO
of Sundance Institute, had resigned her post after
less than three years. Surely these observers found
the right pinot noir to pair with whispers about
12 Variety
Marquee April 3, 2024
what Vicente’s exit means for Sundance — the 40-year-old non-
profit founded by Robert Redford, known in global cinema circles
as a destination for artistic discovery. So, what the hell happened?
Vicente arrived at Sundance in 2021 from her post as executive
director of the Toronto International Film Festival, assuming her
new job at an impossible moment. COVID-19 had shuttered the-
aters, restricted travel and forced Sundance to present that year’s
slate of films online. The circumstances plummeted the organiza-
tion into financial chaos. Revenues were down $22 million in 2021
compared with the previous year (sinking to $34 million from
2020’s $56 million haul, according to ProPublica). Remarkably,
2022 saw revenues shoot up to $58.6 million as Vicente carried the
event through an unprecedented digital rollout. That year, Sun-
dance also shrank its liabilities by $2 million on Vicente’s watch,
according to filings.
While Vicente and her employer emphasized that it was her de-
cision to step down, three sources with knowledge of the matter
tell Variety that Vicente was increasingly scrutinized by the Sun-
dance Institute’s board of trustees. Vicente is known as an elegant
leader with a brain for operations who never steps off message,
but some on the board doubted she could raise the kind of money
that Sundance will require in the coming years, sources say. The
CEO of Sundance is ultimately responsible for both securing and
managing corporate dollars and attracting private donors.
Through a spokesperson, Sundance calls Vicente a “tremen-
dous asset” who expanded international versions of the festival,
increased funding and managed the “Herculean task” of bringing
the festival back from the pandemic. The organization also notes
that an opening-night gala reimagined by Vicente — with Christo-
pher Nolan and Kristen Stewart in attendance to receive honorary
awards — raised a record $1.5 million this year.
The role of Sundance CEO is perhaps one of the
most prestigious in the industry and is compen-
sated accordingly. While Vicente’s salary has not
yet been reported in tax filings, her predecessor
Keri Putnam earned in excess of $450,000 in 2021.
The question on the minds of many in the indie
film community — not to mention the larger en-
tertainment ecosystem that relies on Sundance
for prestige product and added marketing value
— is why Vicente departed after such a brief
time, especially given the “tremendous asset”
she proved to be?
Variety spoke with more than a dozen industry
insiders who have long participated in and ob-
served Sundance up close. The board of trustees
is “a handful, to put it politely,” one indie film and
TV executive says. Its chair is the well-heeled Ebs
Burnough, a filmmaker and onetime adviser to
First Lady Michelle Obama. Legacy members in-
clude environmentalists, a software engineering
mogul and activists who are, according to two
sources, connected to Redford (or wish to huddle
round his cool flame). Newer entrants over the
years — Jason Blum, Tessa Thompson, Gigi Pritz-
ker, Charles D. King — lend the board legitimacy
in the wider filmmaking community.
“It feels like they really didn’t give her a shot,” an-
CEO Joana Vicente carried other high-flying film executive says of the board’s
the 2022 edition of Sundance relationship with Vicente. ”But they could make
through an unprecedented
digital rollout. anyone weary.” Another source close to Sundance
disputed this characterization, saying as with
many nonprofits, the leadership is “engaged and
very passionate.” The board once again named
one of its own as interim CEO: former Instagram
executive Amanda Kelso, who filled in as acting
leader between Putnam’s exit and Vicente’s hire.
Kelso is liked within the organization if not well
known in Hollywood circles. She’ll be around for
some time, Variety previously reported, with in-
siders estimating it could be nearly a year before
a CEO search is conducted in earnest.
Vicente is You can’t blame the board for prioritizing a long-
term revenue strategy, if indeed some took issue
known as an with Vicente’s chops in that department. Film
elegant leader festivals are in crisis the world over. The annual
with a brain festival in Berlin has faced serious budget cuts
and shed programs as a result. Last year, Toronto
for operations, lost big-money title sponsor Bell. To its credit,
but some Sundance has maintained all of its top sponsors
on the board over the past few years of turbulence. Unlike its
European and Canadian counterparts, the Park
doubted she City fest does not receive funding from the govern-
could raise the ment. No matter how it got here, the organization
kind of money must pave a new road up the mountain.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
“The role of CEO at a place like Sundance needs
Sundance to evolve,” an indie sales agent notes, “and so do
will require. the festivals, if any of us are going to survive.”
 13

April 3, 2024

Even A-list editors have deep concerns about Technological changes could also fall harder
what AI might mean for the future of their pro- on assistant editors than on editors. Depending
fession. “Pretty much everybody that I know — on how it is deployed, AI could eliminate some of
from editors to assistants, older people, younger those assistant roles or change them significantly.
people — are worried about what’s around the The Editors Guild also represents story analysts,
Taming the Beast corner,” says an Oscar-winning film editor from
Local 700.
whose job involves summarizing scripts and giving
recommendations about whether to pursue them.
In February, AI software leader OpenAI released In theory, that sounds like an assignment AI could
IATSE leaders hope to change the
a preview of Sora, a program that can create short handle. But in practice, Pink says, it’s not so easy.
conversation around AI, but members videos based on simple text prompts. Asher Pink, “It can do plot summary,” he says. “It’s not telling
still see jobs at risk co-chair of the Emerging Technology Committee, you what the story is about. It’s telling you what
says he had to “talk people off the ledge” about it. the plot is about. It’s the story that connects with
By Gene Maddaus “We don’t see this sort of technology, in its current the audience.”
state or in the future, being used to edit broad- Pink says there’s a chance AI tools may create
When the Writers Guild of America went on cast-able stories,” he says, adding there are im- more jobs for assistant editors, not fewer. But it’s too
Æ strike last May, union leaders argued that portant tasks the models cannot do. “All of these soon to tell, which makes for difficult negotiations.
artificial intelligence posed an existential threat products are being marketed as wonder products “AI will eliminate jobs, and it will create jobs,”
to writers, painting a picture of a dystopian future that do everything, but it’s not the case.” says a prominent member of Local 700. “I’m not
in which TV shows might be crafted by one writer Pink and Miller emphasize that models they’ve happy about this, and yet I am comfortable with
and a machine. seen also cannot handle continuity between shots, its inevitability.”
Ten months later, the tone in Hollywood labor scenes and sequences or match cuts — simple
circles has shifted significantly. At a March 3 rally tasks for human editors. Carolyn Giardina contributed to this report.
in Los Angeles, Matthew Loeb, international pres-
ident of IATSE, argued that AI has the potential to
make union members’ jobs easier.
“We want some of the spoils of artificial intelli-
gence,” Loeb said.
AI is high on the agenda as IATSE looks to set a
new three-year contract with Hollywood’s major
studios and streamers before the July 31 expi-
ration of its current deal. Like the other unions
that have struck new contracts over the past year
— the WGA, SAG-AFTRA, the Directors Guild of
America and the American Federation of Musi-
cians — IATSE is seeking “guardrails” on AI use.
The technology, of course, became a flashpoint
in the strikes waged by WGA and SAG-AFTRA.
IATSE negotiations are always a complex mat-
ter because the union bargains on behalf of a
broad range of disciplines — boom operators,
grips, sound mixers, camera operators, costume
designers, makeup artists, set decorators and so
on. Some may not have much to fear from AI. But
others are more vulnerable.
“We are focusing on AI as a tool,” says Jillian
Arnold, who chairs IATSE’s subcommittee on AI
for the negotiations. “It can incite some fears. We
look at it more as a challenge and as a tool within
our workplace.”
IATSE Local 700, the Motion Picture Editors
Guild, could be one of the first locals to be im-
pacted by AI. The guild’s Emerging Technology
Committee has concluded that some jobs could
well become obsolete.
“The impacts will be uneven,” says Harry
B. Miller III, who co-chairs the committee.
“Some things will be great. Some things will
be negative.”

Illustration by Shira Inbar

14 Variety

Marquee April 3, 2024

R emembered 1 936-2024

‘There Would
Be No Me If There
Was No Him’
Richard Gere and Colman Domingo
salute Louis Gossett Jr., who brought
grace to every character

Across his seven-decade career, Louis Gossett Jr.,

who died March 29 at 87, delivered one indelible
performance after another — notably his Emmy-
winning portrayal of Fiddler in 1977’s “Roots” and
his defining turn as hard-nosed drill sergeant Emil
Foley in 1982’s “An Officer and a Gentleman.” With
that performance, opposite Richard Gere’s cocky
Navy cadet Zack Mayo, Gossett became the first Black
actor to win a supporting actor Oscar. Here, Gere
and Colman Domingo — who shared the screen with
Gossett in 2023’s “The Color Purple” — pay tribute.

Colman Domingo
There is a moment in “The Color Purple” that our
wunderkind director, Blitz Bazawule, set up for
the great Louis Gossett Jr. and me that is one of
the most memorable of my entire career.
It is a silent moment. Blitz saw something in one
of our rehearsals and leaned into it. He allowed us
to tap into something that only we as Black men
can understand but may never be able to give
words to. The camera lingered on us for longer
than usual. So much being said, so much left un-
said. Just the depth of Lou and I staring straight
into each other’s souls and bringing generations
of Black men with us in that room. Our families.
The history of slavery and its effects on the Black
family. The women have left the Easter dinner
table and left no crumbs as liberation takes hold
in that hot Georgia home. In our eyes I felt horror,
fear, trauma, pain, hurt, rage and regret.
The first day that I met Mr. Gossett, I said, “Thank
you.” Because I knew that there would be no me
time since he was Ole Mista and I was his son.
When he wrapped, I kissed his hands twice. I
asked Fantasia to sing a song of thank-you. He told
us, “Knock ’em dead, now.” He had tears in his eyes.
I couldn’t thank him enough for all that he had
given. He ran his race for us. It is up to us to knock
’em dead, now.
Richard Gere
Lou was a sweetheart. He was a very gentle, sen-
sitive and intelligent guy. He really cared about his
craft, about creating a character. For our scenes,
we had to have a real trust with each other, and that
evolved very quickly. We could trust each other not
just as fellow actors, but as fellow human beings.
who was working with us. Lou was on him like
white on rice, picking up everything he could.
Lou was very smart and single-minded in not
socializing with us. I didn’t see another side of him,
but I didn’t need to. Some actors are just know-
able. Their basic humanity, no matter what they’re
doing, comes through. Lou had that. He was a good
guy, but he had to be tough on us — and he was
super tough. I can’t imagine anyone better than
him playing that part.
This wasn’t a movie that people had high expec-
tations of. It was a small budget, an under-the-
radar production, but we all worked hard to
bring out the best. We were all proud of the film,
and Lou was proud of his work in it — and he
American Broadcasting Companies/Getty Images

if there was no him. I always looked to him and
men who came from the theater, like me, who gave
such dignity to heroes and villains. Every character
had grace.
He brought years of experience, intelligence,
good humor, light and love to our set. I felt a kin-
ship with him. I called him “Daddy” the entire
As tough as Foley was, you always felt this warm
heart beating in him. That’s why Lou was so effec-
tive in that role: He wasn’t just a tough guy; he was
someone who really cared about all those kids that
he was mentoring.
He worked hard to be Foley. He did research and
spent time with a drill sergeant from Pensacola
should be! He was a humble guy. When he won his
Oscar, we were pleased for him as an artist, and
as a man.
Every once in a while, I hear people calling me
from across the street — “Hey Mayo, Mayo-nnaise”
— and that’s Lou.
— As told to Angelique Jackson
 15

April 3, 2024

Talking ’Bout
a Revolution
Michael Douglas let his hair down
to get in character for ‘Franklin’
By Marc Malkin

When Michael Douglas was invited to play

Æ Benjamin Franklin in Apple TV+’s “Franklin,”
he immediately took out a $100 bill. “I looked at
Ben and thought, ‘I’ve got a long ways to go,’” the
two-time Oscar winner says.
Douglas didn’t just worry that he’d have to
spend hours in the makeup chair — the series
took more than 160 days to shoot. He was also
nervous that heavy prosthetics would hurt his
performance. “Your persona has gotta come
through,” he says.
But Douglas’ fears were groundless. Director
Tim Van Patten and producer Richard Plepler
had no intention of hiding his face under a rub-
bery nose and jowls. “They looked at me like,
‘You schmuck. We’re not going to do that to you,’”
Douglas recalls.
Based on Stacy Schiff’s “A Great Improvisation: diplomacy. He had a great sense of humor but was support their campaign and somebody’s who
Franklin, France, and the Birth of America,” the also a bit promiscuous. I would never have wanted got a notoriety and a celebrity.” I was like, “Is this
show follows Franklin’s 1776 trip to Paris, where to have been his wife. a kamikaze mission?” I said, “No, I don’t think so.”
he hopes to persuade the king to fund America’s In one scene, Franklin curses someone, saying, “You After all these years, is there a genre you still want
fight for independence. Noah Jupe co-stars as his bucket-headed lopcock!” What is a bucket-headed to tackle? I always wanted to do a period piece,
grandson and traveling companion Temple. “If lopcock? You think I know! That was my first ques- but I always thought my legs were too skinny.
we didn’t get France’s support, who knows what tion when we were doing that scene. [Laughs] [Laughs] So I think I’ve done them all now. This
would have happened,” Douglas says. The series explores how Ben Franklin influenced the was an eight-month shoot. I had a lovely, lovely
formative years of our nation. What would he think time. And all these French actors? I could just
You didn’t use face prosthetics, but your hair is very about the state of U.S. politics today? He’d probably hug them all. They were great. Some actors get
long. Was it a wig? I was a hippie in another life. have a heart attack. Democracy is hard. It’s always nervous, but I just embrace it.
When I was in college I had very long hair, so I changing shape. It’s a very endangered species that Did you ever get so nervous that you were unsure of
grew it out. And once I got over the angst about always has to be protected. yourself?I had terrible stage fright. I used to puke
the prosthetics and then got dressed like Benjamin Have you ever thought about running for office? when I was in theater. I had a wastebasket offstage.
Franklin, it was all much easier than I thought. I I was asked to run for governor of California You’re turning 80 in September. Big plans to mark
realized I’m a celebrity, and Ben Franklin was a many years ago during Pete Wilson’s reign. I that milestone? Catherine [Zeta-Jones] and I have
celebrity. Ben Franklin was playing a role, and he asked them, “Why me?” And they said, “We need the same birthday. We’ll be in Ireland, where she’ll
did a spectacular job. It was his first time out in somebody who has the financial resources to be shooting “Wednesday.” So we’ll probably have
a small birthday but then probably rip it up when
she gets finished.
Will we ever see you pop up in “Wednesday”? Not
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney

this year. We do talk about doing different things.

We finished “Franklin” in November of 2022. I took
’23 off, which I really liked. I liked it so much that
“I realized I’m a celebrity, and Ben Franklin was a celebrity. we’re well into ’24 and I’m not looking at anything
He was playing a role, and he did a spectacular job.” right now. I’m enjoying my time off.
16
Marquee
Daddy’s Little
Vampire
‘Scream’ team Radio Silence return to
their original horror roots with ‘Abigail’
By Adam B. Vary
The Universal horror movie “Abigail” began
Æ as a modern-day twist on “Dracula’s Daugh-
ter,” but making a film about the legendary vam-
pire’s blood-sucking scion wasn’t the main
reason the filmmaking trio Radio Silence — pro-
ducer Chad Villella and directors Matt Bettinelli-
“At one end, you have this little girl in a tutu. At the other
end, you have exploding bodies. What the fuck could this
journey possibly be that ends that way?” Tyler Gillett, Radio Silence
Radio Silence’s “Abigail,” starring Alisha Weir, deftly moves through multiple genres.
Variety
April 3, 2024
Olpin and Tyler Gillett — wanted the project to
be their follow-up to 2022’s “Scream” and
2023’s “Scream VI.”
“As freeing as it is to challenge the format of what
a ‘Scream’ movie is, you’re playing in a pretty spe-
cific sandbox,” Gillett says. With “Abigail,” Radio
Silence returned to their roots in original horror,
from 2012’s “V/H/S” to 2019’s “Ready or Not.” In the
finished film, Dracula’s name isn’t even spoken.
Instead, “Abigail” follows a team of mercenary
thieves who hold a wealthy bigwig’s daughter
(Alisha Weir) for ransom inside a decrepit man-
sion, only to discover the titular girl is really a vam-
pire and they’ve been trapped as her latest victims.
“We get to do a heist thriller movie, and
then we get to do a monster movie, and some-
how make those two things live in one world,”
Bettinelli-Olpin says.
Adds Gillett: “At one end, you have this little girl
in a tutu, and at the other end, you have exploding
bodies. What the fuck could this journey possibly
be that ends up that way?”
Radio Silence’s ability to deftly steer their proj-
ects through multiple genres has turned them
into some of the most in-demand horror filmmak-
ers in the industry. They started production on
“Abigail” in Ireland just a month after the release
of “Scream VI,” which landed the best opening
weekend in the franchise’s history. Ironically,
Gillett and Villella both say they were very much
not horror fans when they were younger, but
they’ve come to love how much enjoyment the
genre affords them.
“When you’re making horror, every time we say
‘Cut,’ there’s giggles and laughter,” Bettinelli-Olpin
says. “And it’s infectious.”
That spirit was especially needed after “Eupho-
ria” star Angus Cloud, who plays one of the merce-
naries, died weeks after wrapping his role.
“It was just so evident how much fun he was hav-
ing,” Gillett says. “He kind of gave everyone permis-
sion to be a little weird and take some swings that
maybe they wouldn’t have otherwise, just because
of how natural and charismatic he is in a scene.”
Cloud died while production was suspended
due to the labor strikes. When the cast and crew
returned to set, “everybody involved really wanted
to make sure that we finished the movie strong
and did Angus justice,” Bettinelli-Olpin says.
Then, during the final stretch of production, the
film’s lead, Melissa Barrera — who also starred in
Radio Silence’s “Scream” films — was fired from
the seventh movie in that franchise over her
pro-Palestinian social media posts about the war
in Gaza. “[It’s] a testament to Melissa that the stress
of that never showed up anywhere in the process,”
Gillett says. “After losing Angus and the turmoil
that the world was in, I think it felt really good to
show up on set with friends.”
While the filmmakers don’t know what their
next project will be, they are excited about their
new horror film production pact with Project X
Entertainment and MRC. Their goal is to back two
to three horror films a year that “don’t leave you
depressed for days,” says Villella. “Even though our
characters are going through hell and dealing with
the most absurd situations, we want to have that
triumphant feeling at the end.”
“As the guys who made ‘Scream 5’ and ‘Scream
6,’” adds Bettinelli-Olpin, “we would love to see
more original movies with original voices.”
To that end, the Radio Silence team are open to
making movies outside of the genre. “But I also can’t
imagine us doing a pass on any script,” Bettinelli-
Bernard Walsh/Universal Pictures
Olpin says, “and not being like, ‘Ooh, what if …’”
“‘What if this person explodes?’” Gillett jumps in.
As they all start to laugh, Bettinelli-Olpin gives a
playful shrug. “It’s just what happens!”

Will Keen takes Vladimir Putin on a journey from pliant protégé to master manipulator.
Our Man
in Moscow
In Peter Morgan’s ‘Patriots,’
Will Keen plays Vladimir Putin
as an aspiring plutocrat
By Jenelle Riley
How do you play someone as notorious
Æ as Vladimir Putin?
It would be easy to telegraph his cruelty, to
turn him into a mustache-twirling villain. Or to
give over entirely to caricature, without captur-
ing what’s beneath the surface. Will Keen, who
embodies the president of Russia in Peter Mor-
gan’s latest play, “Patriots,” avoids these pitfalls.
Downplaying the complexity and ambiguity of
Marc Brenner
his performance, he says, “Luckily, he doesn’t
have a mustache, so that wasn’t a problem.”
The British actor has had some time to live in
the president’s skin: He played him in the first
readings in 2021, and then in the 2020 Off-West
End production and the 2023 West End transfer.
That performance yielded him an Olivier Award
for best actor in a supporting role. Now Keen is
making his Broadway debut in the play, currently
in previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
“Patriots” centers on Boris Berezovsky, the
oligarch who helped Putin rise to power, only
to find his creation not to be the puppet he
expected. Keen takes Putin on a journey from
seemingly naive protégé to master manipulator
— leaving audiences to wonder how much he
changed or if he had been hiding his true nature
all along. The Broadway production comes with
original director Rupert Goold and stars Michael
Stulhbarg as Berezovsky — taking over the role
from Tom Hollander.
Keen is perhaps best known to U.S. audiences as
Father MacPhail in HBO’s “His Dark Materials” (his
daughter, Dafne Keen, was the series lead). But he’s
a veteran of the stage, having taken roles ranging
17
April 3, 2024
from Leontes in “The Winter’s Tale” to dual roles in
the world premiere of Tom Stoppard’s “The Coast
of Utopia.” Goold first spotted him in a show at the
Edinburgh Fringe and championed him for a part
in a 1996 production of “The Merchant of Venice”
he was assistant directing. It was also Goold who
suggested him to Morgan for “Patriots.”
“I thought that superficially in build and look he
resembled a younger Putin. But he also has a kind
of coiled intensity onstage as well as breathtaking
wit,” the director notes. “He is able to act as though
his performance is being sucked out of him like a
tight straw, which felt useful for the hidden quality
of the ex-KGB operative.”
Indeed, at a glance the likeness between the af-
fable actor and the autocrat isn’t readily apparent
— but onstage Keen utterly transforms in mind
and body. He mirrors the tight body language and
the clipped speech, along with the steely stare
that hints at much more behind the mask.
“I spent a lot of time thinking about his physi-
cality,” Keen says, “not just of his body but of his
face. His smile, what his mouth is doing and what
those eyes are doing.”
In fact, maybe most intriguing to the actor is
the extent to which Putin himself is putting on a
performance. “Without giving anything away, I
will say that the sign of a great liar is the ability to
lie to oneself,” Keen says. “So it doesn’t mean the
experience of being that person isn’t real to them.
So what the truth is becomes a slightly semantic
point. The truth — as lived from within that body
and mind — is what it is.”
As for the best insight into Putin’s flexible re-
lationship with fact and fiction? That would be
“First Person: An Astonishingly Frank Self-Portrait
by Russia’s President,” a 2000 book that was pub-
lished when Putin was first elected. “Putin himself
gave his blessing to it, so it might be considered the
one that takes the most largesse with the truth,”
Keen says dryly. “But it shows me how he sees him-
self. It was a different perspective from someone
on the outside looking in.”
“He is able to act as
though his performance
is being sucked out
of him like a tight straw,
which felt useful for
the hidden quality of
the ex-KGB operative.”
“Patriots” director Rupert Goold
Edited by Marc Malkin
Human Rights
Campaign’s
Kelley Robinson
with Jean Smart

H uman Rights
Campaign Dinner
Fairmont Century Plaza,
Century City MARCH 23

First Lady Jill Biden delivered the keynote

address (she was briefly interrupted by
protesters calling for a Gaza cease-fire) at
the LGBTQ advocacy group’s annual gala,
while Jean Smart and Sterling K. Brown were
honored with the National Equality Award and
the Ally for Equality Award, respectively. “In a

Newton, Chen/Hottle/Hall, Stevens/Henry: Michael Buckner for Variety (3); Beauvais/Nilon: Gilbert Flores for Variety; Robinson/Smart, Alvin/Brown: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Human Rights Campaign (2); Underwood/Brown, Biden: Tommaso Boddi for Variety (2)
world where children are starving and dying
because of war, it seems insane and beyond
understanding that any of us should be
concerned with someone else’s sexuality,”
the “Hacks” star said. Brown talked about his
lesbian aunt, Vera Harris: “I yearn for a world
where Aunt Vera, and countless others like
her, are embraced and celebrated for the
entirety of their being without exception.”

Tarell Alvin McCraney and

Sterling K. Brown

Kathryn Newton Fala Chen, Kaylee Hottle and Rebecca Hall

‘Godzilla x Kong: The

New Empire’ Premiere
TCL Chinese Theatre, Hollywood
MARCH 25

Brian Tyree Henry said acting opposite Godzilla

and Kong took a lot of imagination, since the
massive creatures weren’t added until post-
production. “Scream as long and hard as
possible,” he said. “Make sure that [audiences]
really feel like your life is threatened, and make
sure that they feel the fear that’s going through
you — and you know, stretch your neck as much
as possible.” Although Henry chalked up his
shrieks to theatrics, his co-star Dan Stevens
cracked that they may have been more authen-
tic than he let on — especially when they were
shooting in remote Australia: “I think the screams
of Brian Tyree Henry when we were led into the
jungle, and he was exposed to snakes and bugs,
Garcelle Beauvais Jill Biden Colton Underwood and Jordan C. Brown
will stay with me for a long, long time.”
and son Jaid Thomas Nilon

Dan Stevens
and Brian
Tyree Henry
 19

April 3, 2024

Christine Blasey Ford Christine

Book Party Blasey
Ford and
Amanda de
Cadenet
Ardor, West Hollywood
MARCH 24

Five years after alleging that then-U.S. Supreme

Troian Bellisario, USC president Carol Folt,
LeVar Burton and Storm Reid
Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh sex-
ually assaulted her when they were in high
school,Christine Blasey Ford was toasted for
the release of her memoir, “One Way Back.” “We
stand with you because you have stood with us
so courageously, and we honor you and we cel-
ebrate you. We lift our glasses to you tonight,”
said co-host Kerry Washington. “To your
courage, to your beauty, to your generosity as
you continue to do more than you have to. You
owe us nothing,and we owe you everything.”

USC School of Dramatic Arts Invisible Hand’s

Drama Center Opening Genevieve Roth,
The Meteor’s
Cindi Leive, Kerry
Washington and
USC, Los Angeles MARCH 28
Marisa Tomei

LeVar Burton was a sophomore at the school when

he was cast in “Roots,” the 1977 ABC miniseries
about slavery in America. “We are part of a very, very
special tribe — artists,” the “Star Trek” star said. “It
is part of our responsibility to not just reflect the
societies in which we do our work but to encourage
them to move the needle. To move the culture for-
ward. I’ve been so blessed in my career to have been
able to, from ‘Roots’ to ‘Star Trek,’ represent the en-
tire journey of African Americans in America from
our enslavement to the stars.” “The Last of Us” Emmy
winner Storm Reid is a junior at USC. “I didn’t come
to this school with a theater background. I was like,
‘I’m not a theater kid. I don’t know if they’re going to
like me,’’’ she told Variety. “But it’s been beautiful.
USC School of Dramatic
I’ve learned so much through all the trials and Arts dean Emily Roxworthy
tribulations. It’s been a really great experience.”

Alex Borstein Kyra Sedgwick

and Lou
Diamond
Phillips
USC: Gilbert Flores for Variety (2); Christine Blasey Ford Book Party: Maya Joan (2); Muse: Nina Westervelt for Variety (4)

Millicent
Simmonds

M use Awards
Cipriani 42nd Street, New York MARCH 27

“A Quiet Place” star Millicent Simmonds, who was among

the honorees at the annual New York Women in Film &
Television gala, told Variety she was happy to see diversity
and representation gaining more traction in Hollywood.
“I’ve already seen such a major shift in the industry,” said
the actor, who is deaf. “In the past few years, you see more
things that are accessible. You see more captions. You see
more inclusion in the industry. People seem to be more
open-minded. I’m seeing that there is more compassion. Nancy Giles
I’m so grateful for that shift.”
 B ri n g
20 Variety 04.03.24

It O n
K irsten Dun s t ,
the s t ar

o f Al ex
Garl an d ’s
dystop i a n

film ‘ Civ i l

War,’ i s n’ t
af raid to

ta k e a s t a n d

— on
Hol l y woo d
or politic s

By Ta tian a Si egel
P h o tographs by Ja s o n
He t herin g ton
Gutter credit
 Befo r e I
watc he d ‘ C ivil War,’
two public i s ts w o rking
on the dystopian thriller
as s u r e d m e t h a t i t
isn’t a p o liti c al f i lm.

In the m o v ie ,
K irs t en Du n st pl a ys a
dog g ed photo jo u r n alist
mu s c l i n g h e r w a y
t h r o u g h a s m ol d e r i n g
23 Variety 04.03.24 Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . ,

trying to document the bitter confl fliict between two

heavily armed factions tearing America apart. I didn’t
buy that it didn’t have something to say about this
moment. And neithe r does Dunst. ¶ “So, do you
believe that it’s not political? I mean … it’s an anti
war fi
fillm,” Dunst tells me with a shrug. “This movie,
aft
fteer you see it, you want to talk about it for a while
with people. And I think any movie that does that
is incredible.” ¶ We’re having lunch in Toluca Lake,
where Dunst is sipping a bottle of apple juice she’s
been carrying in her purse (“Moms always need to
keep it on hand,” she whispers conspiratorially) and
gearing up for what may be her most controversial
movie since, at 11, she upstaged Tom Cruise and kissed
Brad Pitt in “Interview With the Vampire.” “Civil War”
is going to be debated, all right — on cable news, in
op-eds and across social media. When the fi fillm pre
miered at SXSW in March, audience members were
groaning and cheering at its bloody, shocking fi fin
nale.
 “E verything is broke n.
E ver ything ne e ds t o b e fixed .”
24 Variety 04.03.24
The buzzy film represents a high-stakes gam-
ble for A24. The company will unleash “Civil War”
in 3,000 theaters on April 12, marking A24’s widest
release ever, and with a $55 million budget, it’s
the most expensive feature yet for the indie stu-
dio behind “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
and “Hereditary.” It’s a risk, too, for Dunst, who
hasn’t been in a movie since her Oscar-nomi-
nated turn in Jane Campion’s 2021 drama “The
Power of the Dog.” Now 41, Dunst is that rare child
star of the ’90s with career longevity and not too
much heavy baggage. (Her peers in this include
Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman.)
Dunst emerged from “The Power of the Dog”
on a career high — little wonder that, in speaking
about the culture-war elements of her new film,
a usually blunt star speaks gingerly. “The whole
movie is open to interpretation,” Dunst says. “For
me, there were things I just accepted that were
unexplained. It allows the audience to fill in their
own feelings about what they’re watching.”
But it’s impossible to watch “Civil War” with-
out being reminded of this year’s presidential
election — you know, the one where democracy
and maybe the fate of the free world hangs in
the balance? As we sit in a crowded café about a
mile from the home Dunst shares with husband
Jesse Plemons and their children, she sometimes
struggles to accept that she and Garland are lob-
bing a cinematic stick of dynamite. For instance,
Dunst won’t admit that the film’s president,
played by Nick Offerman as a narcissist with an
authoritarian streak, resembles the 45th, and
perhaps 47th, Oval Office occupant.
“It feels fictitious to me,” she says of any connec-
tion between Offerman’s character and Donald
Trump. “I don’t want to compare because that’s
the antithesis of the film. It’s just a fascist pres-
ident. But I didn’t think about Nick’s character
being any certain political figure. I just thought
this is this president, in this world, who will not
abide by the Constitution and democracy.”
Still, “Civil War” contains plenty of parallels
to the characters that dominate our national
drama. Take the defiant president who disbands
the FBI and refuses to leave the White House,
or the gun-toting soldiers of fortune who wear
crosses (shades of the Proud Boys, perhaps?).
Garland didn’t fill in the blanks for the cast. “I
have my own answers to these questions. And if
someone asked me, I’d answer it,” says the direc-
tor, who conceived the film as Trump left office.
“But if Kirsten didn’t ask me, I wouldn’t answer.”
For her part, Dunst isn’t shy about answer-
ing questions about real-world politics. On
the looming election: “I’m gonna vote for
Biden. That’s my only option. Right?” (Though
she laments that Democratic candidate Beto
O’Rourke, a home-state politician for her Dal-
las-born husband, didn’t go the distance in the
2020 presidential primary.) Or take her stance
on Jonathan Glazer’s polarizing Oscar speech,
which Dunst watched from the Dolby Theatre
audience. In an open letter, more than 1,000 Jew-
ish creatives slammed “The Zone of Interest”
director’s remarks, which faulted Israel’s gov-
ernment for its conduct in Gaza. But Dunst was
more receptive. “My interpretation was he was
saying that genocide is bad,” she says. On religion,
a subject many in Hollywood try to avoid, she
doesn’t hide that she’s a practicing Christian: “I
did have both my children baptized because I
love the tradition. I believe in God.”
While Dunst insists “Civil War” is entirely fic-
tional, the great divide in America that it drama-
tizes is all too real. “Media really stokes it big time,”
she says. “The media is forcing us to choose a side.
Everything’s a lot more complicated than that.”
Dunst, a onetime Bernie Sanders supporter,
may be voting for the Democrat in the upcom-
ing presidential race, but she’s not thrilled with
her choices. “It’s just shocking that we’re in this
position again,” she says of the rematch between
Trump and Joe Biden. “It’s just money, money,
money, money, money.” Then, Dunst’s voice
cracks with emotion: “Everything is broken.
Everything needs to be fixed.”
As for “Civil War,” it’s possible — even likely —
that the movie will be seen as another example of
liberal Hollywood banging on about how fringe
conservatives are torching America. The world
premiere was met with a rapturous standing
ovation. But that was in Austin, a blue dot in the
sea of red that is Texas. Regardless of the recep-
tion, the film offered Dunst another chance to act
opposite Plemons, who has a small role in “Civil
War,” after they worked together in “The Power
of the Dog” and the second season of FX’s “Fargo,”
where they met in 2015.
(Opening Spread) Set Design: Peter Gueracague; Styling: Samantha McMillen/The Wall Group; Makeup: Nina Park/Kalpana; Hair: Bryce Scarlett/The Wall Group; Manicure: Emi Kudo/A Frame Agency; Dress: Jil Sander; Earrings: Sophie Bille Brahe;
“I’m very picky,” Dunst says as she stabs a
poached egg with her fork. “But that also means
I have long breaks where I don’t work. Like, I can’t
do a project for the money. It’s just very hard for
me to be like, ‘Yes!’ If it’s not in my heart, I can’t
do it because I’ve been doing this for so long.”
hirty-six years, to be exact. In 1988, at the
T age of 6, Dunst shot her first movie, Woody
Allen’s “Oedipus Wrecks,” one-third of the
anthology “New York Stories.” The middle seg-
ment, “Life Without Zoë,” was directed by Fran-
cis Ford Coppola and written with his daughter,
Sofia Coppola, who became Dunst’s frequent
collaborator years later.
(Previous spread) Dress and shoes: Bottega Veneta; Earrings: Grace Lee; Ring: Starling; (Opposite page) Dress and shoes: Prada; Earrings and Ring: Irene Neuwirth
“I remember they wanted to send a car down to
New Jersey to pick me up to play with Dylan [Far-
row],” Dunst recalls, referencing Allen’s daughter,
who later accused him of sexual abuse. “My mom
was like, ‘I’m not sending my daughter in a town
car to go on some play date without me.’”
Although some of Dunst’s early roles placed
her in adult-sounding situations, her mother and
“an acting teacher who was like my father” made
sure she was insulated. She played a child pros-
titute in 1996 on “ER,” but to this day, she doesn’t
realize that her character was presented to audi-
ences as such. “I thought I was like a street kid. I
didn’t know I was a prostitute. Really?” When
asked about being 11 and getting to kiss Pitt in
“Interview With the Vampire,” Dunst spins the
question. “How about Brad Pitt got to kiss me?”
she says with a laugh.
But Dunst’s mom couldn’t safeguard her
entirely from Hollywood’s darker side. She
shares an unsettling encounter that took place
when she was 16. “I did one meeting once with
a director, and he asked me an inappropriate
question. And that was the only time. I was like,
‘That’s not cool.’ But I didn’t say that [to him]. I
was freaked out. I didn’t know if I should answer
or not.” (She declines to name the director.)
That close call reminds Dunst of the thin line
separating her from the child stars depicted in
the recent Max docuseries “Quiet on Set,” which
 “ I c a n ’ t do a p roject f or t he
m oney. I t’ s ju st ve r y har d for me to be
like , ‘ Yes!’ if i t ’s n ot in m y heart.”
26 Variety 04.03.24
examines the abuse suffered by young Nickel-
odeon actors in the ’90s and early aughts. Dunst
brings up the show. “It sounds real bad,” she says.
“A lot of grooming and weird stuff going on.”
Dunst may have spent a substantial portion
of her childhood on film sets with Robert De
Niro (“Wag the Dog”), Susan Sarandon (“Little
Women”) or Robin Williams (“Jumanji”). But the
picture she paints in conversation is that of a
relatable upbringing. She and her pal Molly —
her best friend to this day — explored the Valley
on foot, tracked carefully by her mother.
“We didn’t know my mom would follow us
in the car,” she says. “We were into the Psychic
Eye, a store on Ventura Boulevard, and doing
angel cards and lighting candles. We’d write like,
‘An angel is watching over you’ on little pieces
of paper and then put a penny in it, throw it off
the balcony of the apartment building we were
staying at and watch for people to pick them up.”
It was the mild rebellion of kids acting out just
a little (Dunst attended a traditional Catholic
high school in Sherman Oaks). But there were
reminders that she wasn’t an average teenager.
“I was walking to like the convenience store
and talking to some kids, and they’re like, ‘Well,
my agent says I’m the next Kirsten Dunst.’ I just
thought, ‘Y’all crazy. I have a Jersey mother. Very
East Coast.’ I never thought, ‘I’m famous.’ Like, I
went to normal schools.”
But most of her classmates didn’t enjoy the
perks that came with Dunst’s extracurricular
activities. “There’d be a gorgeous Christmas tree
fully decorated in my dressing room from Tom.
He treated me like a princess,” she says of Cruise.
As a wrap gift for “Jumanji,” Williams bought
a 13-year-old Dunst her first computer. “It was
an Apple, the ones that came in all those differ-
ent colors. He was like the most generous, kind,
funny person.” While shooting “Little Women”
in the dead of summer, Dunst and Sarandon’s
daughter, Eva Amurri, ran a lemonade stand that
attracted co-stars Winona Ryder and Christian
Bale as customers.
The alternate history of Dunst’s career is nearly
as intriguing as the string of films that elevated
her to the A-list. She was approached for a role in
“American Beauty” where her naked body would
be covered in red roses (a part eventually played
by Mena Suvari). Dunst wasn’t interested in play-
ing the teenager lusted after by her middle-aged
neighbor (Kevin Spacey). “I don’t know if I nec-
essarily turned it down,” she says. “I think I just
turned down the meeting or something. But yeah,
I just didn’t feel comfortable with the sexuality.”
Dunst instead took on a lead role in Coppo-
la’s “The Virgin Suicides,” an offbeat, sexually
charged coming-of-age story. “I was very ner-
vous,” Dunst says. “Because there’s a sequence
where I’m making out with all these boys on a
roof of the house. [Sofia] was like, ‘Don’t worry.
You don’t have to make out with any of them. Just
cover your hair and nestle into their neck. We’ll
make it all work.’”
For Dunst, the most stressful part of the scene
was having to jump on Josh Hartnett. “His wig fell
off one take,” she remembers. “I was just like, ‘I’ve
never done anything like that — you know what
I mean? — in real life. Josh was very sweet, but it
still was … you know?” She trails off, growing shy
as she thinks about shooting a love scene from
more than 25 years ago.
Coppola offers her own take on those awkward
scenes. “I always felt protective towards her and
sensitive to what it might be like for her and that
she was young,” the director says.
“The Virgin Suicides,” released in 2000, estab-
lished Dunst as an art-house leading lady and
critical favorite. Later that year, she proved that
she could carry a studio film with the cheer-
leader comedy “Bring It On,” a hit that spawned
six sequels — none of them involving Dunst. “I
didn’t even think about it then, but these days,
I would have been a producer on ‘Bring It On,’”
she says ruefully. “But I wasn’t.” She has no desire
to revisit the franchise. “People keep saying we
should do another ‘Bring It On.’ I’m like, ‘No. What
would we do?’”
No amount of success, though, could have pre-
pared Dunst for “Spider-Man” and her role as Mary
Jane in the first (and arguably best) of the many
iterations of the web-spinning franchise. Dunst
was filming the teen romance “Crazy/Beautiful”
when she had her first meeting with director Sam
Raimi. “It was so innocent, the reasons I wanted
to be in that film,” she says, sounding nostalgic.
“The story lived within Sam in such a deep way
that I needed to be a part of that feeling, I guess.”
Dunst did her screen test with her eventual
co-star Tobey Maguire in a hotel banquet hall in
Berlin. (She was shooting Peter Bogdanovich’s
“The Cat’s Meow” in the city.) “Tobey and I imme-
diately had a connection,” she recalls.
When the film became a massive blockbuster,
grossing $825 million globally and kicking off the
modern era of superhero films, a sequel became
a fait accompli. That’s where things get messy.
Maguire pulled down a reported $17 million to
reprise his role. “It might have been more, actu-
ally,” Dunst speculates. As for her salary, “It was
different. A lot different. And I was in ‘Bring It On’
and had a track record.” It was another exam-
ple of how, in Hollywood, young women didn’t
receive pay parity.
Despite Dunst’s frustration over the salary gap,
money wasn’t — and isn’t — a big motivator for
her. When she’s prioritized big paydays, it’s been
a mistake. “When I was younger, in my 20s, I didn’t
have the best guidance, I would say, and I did a
couple of duds for money reasons, but nothing
that I would have actually done otherwise,” she
says. “I get offered the most money on things I
don’t want to do. As soon as I took the reins and
started to develop my tastes and who I wanted
to work with, everything shifted.”
That meant collaborating with unconven-
tional auteurs, from Michel Gondry (“Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) to Lars von
Trier (“Melancholia”), along with a pair of Cop-
pola reunions (“Marie Antoinette” and “The
Beguiled”). As she moved from one challeng-
ing project to the next, she kept growing as an
actress. Coppola remembers being struck by the
depth Dunst displayed as the sexually repressed
schoolteacher in “The Beguiled.”
“She had an intense scene with Colin Farrell,
and she was able to convey so much desperation,
something I’ve never seen in her,” Coppola says.
“She’s just matured as a person and a woman. She
has more life experience that comes through in
her roles, and she’s more assured of herself so a
strength comes through.”
When Garland was looking for his “Civil
War” heroine in 2021, Dunst raised her hand,
 Director Alex Garland and Kirsten Dunst
months ahead of her first Oscar nomination
for “The Power of the Dog.” As she tore through
the script, she wasn’t just reading it to see how
meaty her part would be. She wanted to know
how the story unfolded. “I was fully immersed. I
just remember feeling like I had never read any-
thing like this before,” she says. “I haven’t done
anything like this. And I know it was between me
and another actress.” As for the other actress,
Dunst won’t divulge her name — but says they
are very different.
Then again, is there anyone else quite like
Dunst? Garland had been watching her movies
for years and was familiar with what she could
do — to the extent that he never asked her to
audition to play Lee, a stoic war photographer
carrying the grief of capturing mass death and
suffering in the streets. “I know people are skepti-
cal about actors. Like ‘That’s an easy job. You roll
out of your trailer, and you kind of make-believe
in front of a lens for a bit and then go back,’” Gar-
land says. “It’s harder than that. And one of the
things Kirsten had to be was tough and vulner-
able on camera, and I think also in herself, and I
think that she just did it very brilliantly.”
Plemons came along for the ride, appearing
opposite Dunst in one pivotal scene in which he
plays a frightening xenophobe in fatigues (it’s
never clear which team he’s on). “Civil War” was
shot in Atlanta, with the final act unfolding in
Murray Close/A24
and around the replica White House at Tyler Per-
ry’s studio — the same place Madea once held a
satirical press conference to announce she was
Trump’s new communications director. “We
fell in love working together, and we will always
have that check and balance with each other,”
she says of Plemons. “And honestly, he did us a
favor, because Alex had another actor for Jesse’s
role and that actor couldn’t do it. So I feel like we
lucked out.”
Co-star Wagner Moura was struck by the ease
with which the couple navigated their tense
scene together. “They gave each other lots
of space, and they didn’t invade each other’s
moment as actors,” Moura recalls. “Kirsten is just
very cool, and I don’t say that about many people.”
hen they’re not working, Dunst and Ple-
W mons are focused on raising their two
sons, ages 5 and 2. Theirs is an analog
lifestyle. “We’ve got record players,” Dunst says.
“We’re just not a ‘Siri, play whatever’ household.
Our kids don’t have iPads either. If they want to
use an iPad on the plane, it’s Dad’s iPad. And we’re
not phone-at-restaurant kind of people.” She
glances down at her own device for the first time
in two hours. “I’m not raising a kid that can’t have
conversations at the table.” As for the two subse-
quent “Spider-Man” trilogies, she never bothered
to check them out — or any Marvel movies for
that matter. “It’s just not my thing. But I did see
‘Paw Patrol,’” she says with a classic, deflating,
Coppola-heroine eye roll.
The Dunst-Plemons clan doesn’t hang out with
a lot of Hollywood types outside of Plemons’
fellow Texas pal Glen Powell. Her closest friend
in the business is Gloria Sanchez Productions
co-founder Jessica Elbaum, whom she met while
filming 2012’s “Bachelorette.” The pair are devel-
oping a dark comedy together; Dunst plans to
meet with writers after our lunch. She’s juggling
some other potential projects. Margot Robbie is
developing a movie for Dunst via her LuckyChap
production company. It’s easy to see in Robbie a
sort of heir to Dunst — ebullient but wickedly
clever, slyly in on the joke. Robbie, who has pro-
duced “Barbie” and “I, Tonya,” has had opportu-
nities that Dunst, eight years her senior, is only
now seizing. Dunst credits Robbie as a trailblazer,
who has “done so much for all of us” by becom-
ing a power broker as well as a star. “I’m wildly
impressed,” she says.
As the hours tick by and we delve deeper into
her home life and artistic ambitions, Dunst
grows uncomfortable, scratching her wrist when
the conversation lingers on her. “I really don’t like
talking about myself,” she says. But she’s not being
modest. Dunst knows that anything she says can
be misunderstood or misinterpreted, fodder for
a culture that thrives on outrage. That’s espe-
cially true of an explosive movie like “Civil War.”
“It feels like I have to be on guard,” Dunst says.
“The fact that people are losing their agents
because they have a political standpoint — it
feels scary.” She pauses for what feels like a full
minute, exploiting the tension, turning it into a
crafty dodge. “Now I’m, like, so tired of talking,”
she says before looking back at me and hitting
the table. “Your turn!”
 Life
Hacks

28
 P

29

How Max’s most

hilarious
comedy series
fought through
a terrifying
health crisis
on its way
to Season 3
By Daniel D’Addario
Illustration by
Dan Doperalski
 If this new mission feels like a left turn for

Two
a show whose sort-of-antiheroine has finally
achieved the comforts of real fame, it shouldn’t:
It’s been the plan all along. “It was baked into
the pitch that this is her white whale, this is her

years
primary trauma — I’m revealing that I go to too
much therapy,” Statsky says with a laugh. “We
knew she would be trying to get her white whale

ago,
once again.”
Landing that whale will require teamwork: The
show must first reunite its central duo, and Debo-
rah and Ava then must work together to convince
the world to give Deborah Vance her greatest star
turn yet. “As Ava says, Deborah is shameless,”
Aniello says. “So if she is shameless, and she’s will-
ing to sell herself — let’s watch her do that!”

in the Season 2 finale of “Hacks,” it appeared that Deborah Vance and her
protégé Ava Daniels had reached the end of the road. Deborah (Jean Smart),
a jaded Las Vegas comic, and Ava (Hannah Einbinder), the young and eager
joke writer she’d hired, had together crafted a TV special that showcased
Deborah’s wit and her willingness to change with the times. It was a perfect
merging of what Deborah brought to the table and what she’d learned, at times
unwillingly, from her young partner — and, having decided they’d done all
they could together, Deborah fired Ava.
What a surprising place to arrive, after the rollicking two-year journey these
characters had undergone! But there was a problem with a finale this satisfy-
ing. “People are like, ‘It felt like it could have been the end,’” recalls co-creator
Jen Statsky. “And you’re like, ‘No! No!’”
“Hacks” has had no shortage of fan love and industry attention — among
32 total Emmy nominations, it’s been a winner for its writing and directing,
as well as garnering two trophies for Smart, a beloved character actress who
in Deborah has finally been given the opportunity to play the lead. But its
third season, premiering on Max on May 2, is the show’s biggest swing yet.
Creators Statsky, Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs always had a plan for
where Deborah, a shark who must keep moving, would go next. To get there,
though, “Hacks” would have to navigate challenging real-world events, losing
nearly a year as a result: first as Smart, now 72, underwent heart surgery, and
then as both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA went on strike.
The final product, at long last, depicts a Deborah who’s as dissatisfied with
wild success as she was with mid-tier striving; the time has come for her to
pursue a new goal. She decides to campaign, both in public and in Hollywood
back rooms, for a newly open late-night hosting chair. A late-night franchise,
which Deborah had the chance to host earlier in her career but missed out
on, “had always been something that stoked her bitterness,” Smart says. “But
when the opportunity comes again, it’s instantaneous — she’s back! And
what really fuels her fire is that she knows this is the last shot ever, ever, ever.”
There’s a scene midway through the season
that has new resonance now, though it was writ-
ten before Smart’s surgery. During a hike Ava has
forced the pair to take, Deborah falls and gets
injured, and then insists on pressing forward,
hobbling if she has to. Deborah Vance is a hard-
ened road warrior, after all. And Smart doesn’t
lack for gumption either. “It’s very true to the char-
acter to just keep going and push ahead,” Downs
says. “And it’s true to Jean as well.” The production
had paused for nine weeks for her to recover. “She
wanted to be back in two.”
“That was real shit. That was real life,” Einbinder
says, sounding stricken at the memory. “This was
terrifying at first, because she is so precious. But
she’s the most physically durable person I’ve ever
met. She’s titanium — it’s insane.”
Smart may project an indefatigable image. But
the break, and the return to work, were fraught.
“I just was overwhelmed with guilt for a lot of
reasons,” Smart says. “Thinking about putting
everybody out of work — I just couldn’t stand that.
I wanted to come back as soon as I could. It turned
into three months, and then we came back for five
days, and then the strike started.” Smart says the
writers strike was aptly timed, since she needed
more time to recuperate than she’d realized, but
was painful for the production: “Except for five
days, we were down for 10 months.”
“Hacks,” the production, has been particularly
subject to its creative team’s
well-being. The first season
was shot in the early COVID
era, with Smart, “a woman in
her late 60s who’s also dia-
betic, as the lead, with no
vaccines,” as Downs puts it.
(Previous spread) Smart: Max; Einbinder: Karen Ballard/HBO Max; (This page) Max

And Aniello directed much

of the second season while
expecting her and Downs’
first child, and was finishing
up an episode having gone
into labor.
When it came to the shut-
downs, “we were so pre-
pared for it, in that this is so
“Hacks” cast
par for the course for this
members Dylan show,” Downs says. “We’ve
Gelula, Jordan
Gavaris, Mark
done this a few times — had
Indelicato, Jean a crazy derailment and then
Smart, Carl
Clemons Hopkins
got back on track to finish
and Paul W. Downs the show.”

And the creators have a handle on every moving
part. “The joke with Paul and Jen and Lucia is that
they live for tiny,” says Sarah Aubrey, Max’s head of
originals. “No detail is too small for them to have
their eye on.”
The story of “Hacks” plays, crucially, as a duet.
Deborah’s coming into her own as a comedian,
and the show’s finding its voice, originated in the
tricky, self-serious, righteously indignant Ava. As
season 3 begins, Ava is licking her wounds over
having been fired; for there to be a show at all, she
needs to return to the fold with a woman who’s
hurt her deeply.
Why go back at all, or even consider it? “For
funny people, and two people in the moder-
ate-to-unhealthy area, which Ava and Deborah
are, you justify any behavior if somebody makes
you laugh,” Einbinder says. “You can slap me in the
face, you can fire me, you can do whatever the fuck
you want. But if we’re sitting there, reaching into
each other’s souls and making light of the horrors
alongside each other, that is a deep, unbreakable
bond you will justify any behavior to maintain.”
If Deborah is the show’s say-everything id, Ava,
trying to push her boss toward a new kind of
humor, is its skewed conscience. But she needs
Deborah’s teachings as much as Deborah needs
hers. Ava’s shortcomings — and her spiky pres-
ence on a show initially perceived as Smart’s solo
vehicle — led some viewers to outright dislike the
character. “She comes in pretty hot,” Einbinder
says of Ava. “I remember reading things, people
saying, ‘I hate this girl!’ I believe that you have to
Jake Giles Netter/Max
love and understand who you’re playing, unless
you’re playing Eva Braun. But you’ve got to have
compassion and understanding. And Deborah
and Ava have softened each other.”
P
31
Smart (right) on the The rule of “Hacks,” perhaps, is that just like its central
set of “Hacks”
characters, it can’t help reinventing. The show already
did that for Smart: An ensemble player on “Designing
Women” and a favorite in shows as disparate as “Frasier”
(as Dr. Crane’s bawdiest girlfriend) and “24” (as a mentally
ill first lady), Smart then enjoyed a renaissance in dramas
as TV peaked, earning supporting actress Emmy nomi-
nations for “Fargo,” “Watchmen” and “Mare of Easttown.”
But it was “Hacks” that paired her ravenous hunt for the
punchline and her ability to hairpin-turn from ingratiation to rage with this
juicily complex leading-lady material. We’ve seen Smart achieve stardom at
this stage of her career. No wonder we want the same for Deborah.
And it’s Deborah’s quest, with Ava along for the ride, alternately acting as
mastermind, cheerleader and occasional best frenemy, that gives this season
its crackle and verve, and brings new life into a show that’s been off the air for
two years. (And its best days may yet lie ahead: While Max generally doesn’t
renew shows before they begin airing their latest season, Aubrey, the stream-
er’s boss, says, “I would be surprised if we didn’t do more of it.”)
Deborah and Ava’s quest for fulfillment isn’t happening in a linear way,
of course — these are stunted and often difficult characters we’re talking
about. (Worse, perhaps: They’re comedians.) “We always talked about their
relationship being one step forward and two steps back,” Downs says. “They’re
going to backslide. People can evolve and make incremental change, but don’t
completely change who they are.” Deborah will always be persnickety; Ava
will always think she knows best, even if she’s right only about half the time.
And Deborah, too, will always be tempted by the comfort of staying in the
same place. “It’s always been Ava pushing her to do the scarier thing,” Statsky
says, “and failure is the risk.” The same is true for a show that could have ended
on a high — or constructed a story that kept its two friends in safe harbor,
rather than blowing up its premise and going on a whole new adventure.
Now, Deborah’s living like she understands, in a whole new way, the value of
her time. It’s one more reason that Smart’s real-life health journey lends the
show a sweet and painful new note to play.
But even taken on its own terms, “Hacks” has a point to make: Taking a chance
is more fun. Just ask Deborah Vance, who torches her steady professional life
in order to campaign for a job no one in Hollywood thinks she should get.
“She suddenly finds herself without a Plan B of any kind,” Smart says. “She’s
all in. She’s at the poker table. And she’s pushed all of her chips in.”
 CinemaCon
2024

Variety
04.03.2024

p.32

LET’S
GO
TO
THE

FILM FANS KEEP

SPLURGING ON BLOCKBUSTERS IN IMAX,

SO WHY HASN’T WALL STREET GOTTEN

ON BOARD?

BY
BRENT LANG AND REBECCA RUBIN
ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL BLOW

trip to Baden-Baden didn’t go as
planned.
Last summer, Imax CEO Rich
Gelfond touched down in the
German city for a conference of
theater owners, looking to hype
the blockbusters that were about
to unspool on the company’s
football-field-sized screens. But
instead of excitement, Gelfond was
greeted with outrage. “I was almost
attacked,” he remembers, lifting
his palm as if to ward off assailants.
All the sound and fury directed
at Gelfond that day stemmed from
a battle that had recently erupted
in Hollywood between two top
talents. At stake had been access
to Imax’s screens: Tom Cruise
and Christopher Nolan had both
On the set of Denis
Villeneuve's "Dune:
Part Two."
wanted them in July, among the
busiest times for moviegoing.
But even Cruise, who had per-
sonally lobbied Gelfond to give
his next “Mission: Impossible”
tentpole a longer run, couldn’t
outmaneuver Nolan. Nolan’s epic
“Oppenheimer” was shot with
Imax film cameras, which contrac-
tually meant his movie could be
the only offering in Imax for three
full weeks.
For theater owners, the deal
with Nolan meant losing out on
playing Cruise’s “Mission: Impos-
sible — Dead Reckoning Part One,”
expected to be one of the year’s
biggest hits, at its most profitable
venues. Exhibitors in Germany
were blunt, Gelfond says, assuming
the personas of his critics. “What?
Are you an idiot? Why wouldn’t you
play ‘Mission: Impossible’? I thought
you guys knew what you were doing!”
You don’t need to be a movie
fanatic to know how this saga
ended. “Oppenheimer” was an
unstoppable box office force. It
grossed $188 million in Imax, just
behind behemoths like the two
“Avatar” movies, “Star Wars: The
Force Awakens” and “Avengers:
Endgame.” And “Mission: Impos-
sible” sputtered, ranking as one
of the year’s biggest commercial
disappointments.
As Gelfond sits in his New York
office, near a poster of J. Robert
Oppenheimer huddling with
Albert Einstein, he isn’t boastful
about his bold wager. “It was easy,”
he says. “I try to make life simple:
Whichever movie is the first to
commit wins. We committed to
Chris, and Chris has been commit-
ted to Imax over the years.”
But that’s a risky mindset. Gel-
fond read “American Prometheus,”
the book that became “Oppen-
heimer,” at Nolan’s insistence and
struggled to picture its commer-
cial appeal. (At nearly 800 pages,
it’s also a struggle to finish.) “When
CinemaCon
2024
Variety
04.03.2024
p.34
someone commits to Imax, we
don’t know if it’s a great or bad
movie,” Gelfond admits.
Months removed from the Sturm
und Drang, Gelfond’s detractors
have come around. “Many people
have called and said, ‘You know,
there’s not much loyalty in Hol-
lywood. In retrospect, we respect
you for doing that.’”
And the gratitude extended out
from there. At the Oscars in March,
where “Oppenheimer” triumphed,
producer Emma Thomas gave a
shoutout to Gelfond in her best
picture acceptance speech. It was
a nod to the critical role the com-
pany’s technology played in the
movie’s success: Filming “Oppen-
heimer” with Imax cameras gave
a cerebral drama about nuclear
armament an epic feel that helped
it become a summer blockbuster.
Gelfond is still stunned by
Thomas’ public acknowledgment.
“They thanked me privately, and
I thought that was more than
enough,” he says. It was Gelfond’s
wife, Peggy, who exploded with
excitement as she sat in the audi-
ence at the awards show and heard
her husband name-checked. “My
wife goes, ‘That’s my husband!’ to
the people sitting next to us, who
could probably care less,” he recalls.
The success of “Oppenheimer”
and last month’s “Dune: Part
Two,” which earned roughly 20%
of their ticket sales from Imax,
demonstrates the force of the
Imax brand. When audiences go to
the movies, they overwhelmingly
choose to see films in Imax. In the
process, Imax, with its sprawling
screens and carefully calibrated
sound systems, has become the
gold standard for ticket buyers.
(People crossed state and coun-
try lines to see “Oppenheimer” in
70 mm Imax, selling out audito-
Warner Bros.
riums for weeks. More recently,
theaters added 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
 Imax showings of “Dune 2,” which
was shot with Imax lenses, to
meet demand.)
“I strongly believe that the future
of cinema is linked with Imax,” says
Denis Villeneuve, the director of
“Dune 2.” “It just conveys a level
of quality.”
Yet even as Imax has become
invaluable to filmmakers like Vil-
leneuve and Nolan, the company
struggles to get respect from Wall
Street. That frustrates Gelfond, an
unflappable lawyer turned enter-
tainment executive who helped
transform Imax from a purveyor
of nature documentaries into a
Hollywood powerhouse. It was
Gelfond who orchestrated a 1994
leveraged buyout of the company,
took it public and, over several
decades, enlisted studios to show-
case their biggest films on Imax’s
patented screens (allowing them
Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures
to charge more for tickets in the
process). His pitch worked — stu-
dios now vie for the company’s
cameras and limited number of
venues. (Imax has 1,772 auditori-
ums — a fraction of the 250,000
screens worldwide.) Yet Imax’s
share price has languished at
roughly $16, down from the more
than $19 it was trading at a year ago.
“Investors like to invest based on
comparables,” Gelfond says, ”and
there is no other Imax.”
Gelfond thinks Imax is being val-
ued like AMC Theatres, Cineworld
and other major cinema chains,
which are mired in debt as they
grapple with the overhead required
to maintain hundreds of locations
at a time when attendance is still
lower than it was pre-pandemic. “I
like to say we have as much in com-
mon with North American exhibi-
tors as we do with steel companies,”
Gelfond says, adding, “It’s a totally
stupid line.”
Gelfond has a point. To make
money, Imax licenses its technol-
ogy — its screens, sound systems
and projectors — to various the-
ater companies. It also allows film-
makers to choose between its two
kinds of photography equipment:
a film camera (there are only eight
in existence), like the ones Nolan
used on “Oppenheimer,” and an
array of Imax-certified lenses
that modify digital cameras, such
Cinematographer Hoyte van
Hoytema shot Christopher
Nolan's "Oppenheimer" with
an Imax film camera.
as those deployed on “Dune: Part
Two.” The company overindexes
on ticket sales for the films that are
shot with its technology.
“It’s an asset-light model,” Gel-
fond says. “We don’t own theaters.
We don’t sell concessions.”
But Imax relies on special
effects-driven blockbusters to
draw crowds, and that’s a prob-
lem: Thanks to COVID delays and
the two labor strikes, studios aren’t
expected to release as many major
movies in 2024.
Gelfond acknowledges that the
year got off to a rocky start. “The
first two months, there wasn’t
much out there.”
Though the box office was down
20% through February, it sprung
back to life with “Dune 2,” giving
Gelfond confidence that overall
revenues will be roughly in line
with the previous year’s. He sees
“Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Joker:
Folie à Deux,” both of which used
Imax digital lenses, as potential
bright spots. “The year is better
than it looks to the outside world,”
Gelfond says.
Moreover, 2025 will offer up
sequels to “Jurassic World” and
“Captain America” along with a
Fantastic Four movie, making it,
in Gelfond’s words, “stupid good.”
Many of those movies will be filmed
with the company’s cameras and
lenses, as well.
There’s a reason that Imax prizes
its relationships with auteurs like
Nolan, Todd Phillips, Jordan Peele
and Paul Thomas Anderson, to
name a few filmmakers who have
worked, or will work, with Imax.
These top directors can harness
the power of TikTok influencers as
they promote their movies, usually
stressing that Imax is not just an
optimal viewing experience, but
the way their films were meant to
be seen.
CinemaCon
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Variety
04.03.2024
p.36
Villeneuve used a digital
camera with Imax lenses for
"Dune: Part Two."
“Directors need to know that
Imax is one of the greatest part-
ners you can have,” says Phillips,
who used Imax cameras on both
“Joker” movies. “If you show them a
little love by embracing the format,
they give it back to you 10 times.”
Imax rewards loyalty. Its employ-
ees are made available early in
the filmmaking process to trou-
bleshoot issues with movies that
use the company’s film cameras.
That’s important because Imax
film cameras are massive and hard
to maneuver. Though Villeneuve
would have liked to use them for
“Dune 2,” logistics won out, and he
eventually opted to shoot on digi-
tal. “The film cameras look better,
but we were shooting in the heat of
the desert and needed more flexi-
bility,” he says.
For movies from a director like
Nolan, who only shoots on film,
Imax finds experts who can still
operate the few dedicated projec-
tors that use old-school film stock,
a rarity in a mostly digital busi-
ness. In some cases, projection-
ists have been moved across the
country so they can work in cer-
tain Imax venues. Because Imax
goes to such lengths, Gelfond says,
many employees approach their
jobs with unusual intensity.
“A long time ago,” Gelfond says,
“someone said to me, ‘People at
Imax think they’re curing cancer.’
And I said to them, ‘Don’t tell them
they’re not.’”
SEQUELS TO HITS like “Dune” and
“Joker” used to be as close to a
sure thing as you could get in the
movie business. But it’s harder to
know what audiences want these
days. Last year, comic book mov-
ies like “The Flash” and “Ant-Man
and the Wasp: Quantumania”
flopped, raising questions about
a type of moviemaking that could
do no wrong at the box office.
At the same time, more offbeat
offerings like “Oppenheimer”
or “Barbie,” which aren’t part of
long-running franchises, topped
the box office. It seems like one
of those moments when popular
tastes are shifting.
Gelfond isn’t having it, declaring
it “premature to hold the funeral
for superhero movies.” He predicts
that upcoming comic book movies
like “Deadpool 3” and “Joker: Folie
à Deux” will recapture the excite-
ment for costumed heroes and
villains. But he also stresses that
Imax is about more than one genre.
“We try to be the creative outlet for
great filmmakers. And if they’re
going in different directions, we’re
going in a different direction.”
Since it can’t rely on just Holly-
wood blockbusters, Gelfond says,
Imax has “widened its aperture”
when it comes to what it screens,
pointing to music documentaries
and concert films featuring the
likes of André 3000 and Queen.
The company also plans to broad-
cast the Paris Olympics opening
ceremony in 160 of its domestic
locations. And it’s partnering with
A24 to create a monthly screening
series for older favorites.
At the same time, the company,
which has a significant presence
in Asia, has moved heavily into
local-language content in places
like China and Japan, making Imax
less reliant on Hollywood fare. More
than 20% of its global box office in
2023 was from foreign films.
Imax’s revenues have climbed
despite an industry downturn, a
sign the strategy is paying off. The
company took in $1.06 billion at
the global box office in 2023, the
second-best year in its history.
That’s impressive considering
major theater chains that house
its screens saw their sales fall 24%
from pre-pandemic times.
“Investors don’t give Imax credit
for how much flexibility they’ve
demonstrated,” says Eric Wold,
an analyst with B. Riley Securities.
“Imax has figured out a way to have
more control over its destiny.”
Still, Imax must contend with
an armada of rivals. There’s no
shortage of other high-end pre-
sentations, known as premium
large formats, on the market, like
4DX, Cinemark XD and Event Cin-
emas-branded V-Max. But in the
fight for audiences, Gelfond says
all screens aren’t created equal.
“I think exhibitors do their best
to confuse the consumer. They put
an ‘X’ in all their titles,” he says of
rival companies whose names look
a lot like “Imax.” “Either that or it’s
a funny coincidence.”
The difference, he says, is some
of the other brands aren’t doing
much to improve the quality of the
image before slapping a surcharge
on admission. Instead, they’re using
an ordinary projection on a larger
screen. Imax, however, works with
directors to alter the film, increas-
ing the resolution and sharpness of
the larger-than-life footage.
“I remember when I was a kid
and I copied my hand on a Xerox
machine. The more you blew it
up, the worse it looked,” Gelfond
says. “That’s the dirty little secret
of other PLFs — the image is bigger
and people pay more for it, but it’s
actually not a better image.”
Gelfond doesn’t blame the copy-
cats — “America is built on cap-
italism,” he says — but he dares
the consumer to accept any sub-
stitutes. “Where it crosses the line
is when they try and say, ‘As good
as Imax’ or ‘Better than Imax.’ I
understand their business rea-
Warner Bros.
sons, but it’s just an entirely dif-
ferent thing.” ●

KEVIN SMITH
FIGHTS FOR HIS
CHILDHOOD
MOVIE THEATER
By Pat Saperstein
Kevin Smith could have bought
the Quick Stop market he made
famous in his first film, “Clerks.”
But when the opportunity arose,
the indie director instead put his
hard-earned cash into his child-
hood movie theater in Atlantic
Highlands, N.J., reopening it in 2022
as SModcastle Cinemas.
Now he’s fighting to keep the
103-year-old theater going, even
if “exhibition is in the toilet,” as he
likes to say. What he means is that
local audiences sometimes prefer
to watch big hits like “Avatar” in
modern multiplexes.
No matter: The “Chasing Amy”
director is leveraging his brand to
focus on classic cult movies, mer-
chandise sales and fresh popcorn.
Kevin Smith reopened SModcastle
Cinemas in Atlantic Highlands, N.J.,
in 2022.
Smodcastle, Smith: Courtesy of John Vitollo (2)
He’s also shopping a reality show,
for which he’s already shot a sizzle
reel. “It tells a pretty human story
about people struggling to keep the
lights on,” he says. The show could
feature some of SModcastle’s celeb-
rity guests, Smith says, such as the
Russo brothers, George R.R. Martin,
Jason Lee, Joey Lauren Adams and
Justin Long.
Located in a kid-friendly neigh-
borhood, SModcastle brings
crowds for first-run family films
like “ The Super Mario Bros.
Movie” and “Barbie.” But Smith
says he’s trying to focus more on
nostalgia and repertory films:
“What draws them in here the
most is when we do our own pro-
gramming” — including classics
like “Jaws,” “The Big Lebowski”
and “King Kong” and cast-mem-
ber appearances.
The theater charges premium
prices for fan events, from an all-
night “Clerks” marathon to the
Vulgarthon — eight Smith mov-
ies for $69.
Keeping an indie theater alive is
not easy, but Smith feels it’s worth
it. “There’s not a moment I leave this
building where someone in town
doesn’t stop me and thank me for
saving the theater,” he says. ●
2024’s CinemaCon
Honorees
● Dan Stevens
Recipient of the Award of
Excellence in Acting, Stevens
will next reunite with “The Guest”
helmer Adam Wingard for
“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”
● Geena Davis
The “Thelma & Louise” star is
receiving the Viola Davis Trailblazer
Award. Not only honored for more
than 40 years of memorable
screen performances, Davis will be
recognized for her advocacy work
through the Geena Davis Institute
on Gender in Media.
● Dennis Quaid
Quaid will receive the Cinema Icon
Award, which recognizes perform-
ers with diverse careers. His work,
which spans almost five decades,
includes “The Right Stuff” (1983),
“Any Given Sunday” (1999) and
“Midway” (2019).
● Joseph Quinn
The English actor will receive
CinemaCon’s Breakthrough
Performer of the Year Award in
conjunction with two big releases
in 2023: Michael Sarnoski’s “A
Quiet Place: Day One” and Ridley
Scott’s “Gladiator 2.”
● Lupita Nyong’o
For her role in “A Quiet Place: Day
One,” Nyong’o will receive the
Star of the Year Award. She has
appeared in both “Black Panther”
films and Jordan Peele’s “Us,” and
has done voice-over work reprising
her role as Maz Kanata from
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
● Amy Poehler
CinemaCon will honor Poehler
with the Vanguard Award, which
recognizes her versatility across
television and film. She appeared
in the original “Mean Girls” (2004)
and will reprise her voice role as
Joy in “Inside Out 2” this summer.
● Shawn Levy
For his more than 25 years in
filmmaking, Levy will receive the
Director of the Year Award. His
latest film, “Deadpool & Wolverine,”
starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh
Jackman, is set for release July 26.
● Ariana Greenblatt
CinemaCon will honor Greenblatt
as its Rising Star of 2024. She
had two big roles in 2023 — in
“65” and “Barbie” — and will next
appear in Eli Roth's sci-fi comedy
“Borderlands.”
CinemaCon
2024
Variety
04.03.2024
p.38
BARCO’S NEW HDR LASER
PROJECTION SYSTEM
WILL BE ROLLED OUT AT
CINEMACON
By Carolyn Giardina
It’s been one of Hollywood’s most
sought-after invitations.
For the past few years, a who’s
who of directors, cinematogra-
phers, studio execs and exhibitors
have been quietly ushered into
an unmarked room at the famed
Glen Glenn Sound facility in Los
Angeles. They’ve made the trek
to get a peek at new projection
technology that has been in the
works for years at Barco, the Bel-
gian tech firm known for its high-
end cinema exhibition systems.
Industry insiders are abuzz
at the promise that Barco’s lat-
est innovation could radically
upgrade the picture quality of
films shown at the average multi-
plex. After years of development,
Barco is ready to make a big splash
at CinemaCon by showing off its
new HDR by Barco laser projec-
tion system using remastered
footage from Hollywood movies.
HDR stands for “high dynamic
range,” which expands the color
contrast of visual imagery. With
a few exceptions, the vast major-
ity of the world’s movie theaters
project films in standard dynamic
range. Barco thinks it’s time for an
upgrade, and built a new HDR line
on its proprietary “light steering”
technology.
“With your phone, your laptop,
your iPad, your TV, there’s HDR
everywhere,” says Anders Balles-
tad, who co-developed the Barco
system with fellow engineer Ger-
win Damberg. The pair started
their work at Vancouver-based
MT T Innovation, which was
acquired by Barco in 2016. “We had
this idea — we felt that this could
improve cinema — and we went
for it,” Ballestad says.
Simply put, the technology
allows a projector to redistribute
light in such a way as to give movies
more range between the brightest
highlights in sunny scenes and the
deepest black tones in scenes shot
in dimmer light. They believe such
pictures deliver an “experience
leap” for moviegoers.
So does cinematographer
Markus Förderer, whose recent
credits include the Netflix movie
The HDR by Barco
laser projector
“Red Notice” and the Apple TV+
series “Constellation.” “How the
audience sees our work is so
important,” Förderer says. “For
filmmakers, we want to know that
as many people as possible can see
our work in the best possible way.”
Förderer is pretty sure Barco’s
technology will be embraced by
cinematographers and directors.
“This is the best right now,” he
says. “We live in 2024; we deserve
a technology like this.”
Barco has yet to reveal the price
tag for the projection system. As
ever, the cost of acquiring new
equipment may be prohibitive
for some theater chains. Damberg
says that Barco will take steps to
help early adopters pay for an HDR
upgrade. “We’re going to structure
it in such a way that we share the
risk and the reward on this tech-
nology becoming a thing,” he says.
Initially, the pair expects the pro-
jectors to be installed in high-end
cinemas and auditoriums while
Barco works toward a wider rollout.
Bringing the HDR system into
theaters means that studios will
have to provide movies in a new
HDR-friendly format. Barco lead-
ers have been working to install
HDR projectors in key postproduc-
tion facilities; the hope is to whet
the appetites of directors and cin-
ematographers for the upgraded
visuals. Barco has been working
with Marvel to test grading content
using the HDR by Barco system at
Disney, with the goal of supporting
the industry-recognized HDR spec.
Damberg admits that the initial
reaction from filmmakers and dis-
tributors might be “Now we have
to remaster for HDR? We already
have so many deliverables!” But he
suggests that over the long haul,
implementing HDR technology
during postproduction could
streamline the process of creat-
ing HDR home deliverables while
achieving the ultimate goal: better
picture quality.
Courtesy of Barco
“In the big picture, it actually
simplifies the overall way that con-
tent is created,” Damberg says. ●

THE REVIVAL OF HISTORIC
CINEMAS IS KEEPING COMMUNITIES
ENGAGED AND VIBRANT
The Plaza
Theatre in
Palm Springs,
Calif.
The Downer
in Milwaukee,
Wis., and the
South Coast
Theatre in
Laguna Beach,
Calif.
Downer: Courtesy of Landmark's Downer Theatre; The Rivian: Courtesy of The Rivian South Coast Theater
Plaza Theater: Courtesy of Palm Springs Historical Society; Rialto: Courtesy of Rialto Theater;
When Jason Reitman announced
that he’d bought the Fox Village
Theatre in Westwood, film fans
were stunned that some of the
world’s most prominent direc-
tors, from Steven Spielberg to
Chloé Zhao to Christopher Nolan,
wanted a stake in the classic
movie palace.
But it’s a strange time for the
theatrical exhibition business.
Moviegoing always sees an uptick
when blockbusters come to town,
but for independent theaters, the
past four years have been dread-
The Rialto in
Raleigh, N.C.
ful. Many smaller cities have no
theaters left at all: Just this year,
Ridgewood, N.J.’s Warner and
Denver’s Esquire turned off their
projectors for good.
But across the country, some
operators refuse to give up, looking
to a mix of successful filmmakers
and local supporters to reopen
beloved movie houses. Other cities
are turning art-house operations
over to nonprofits. In Palm Springs,
the Plaza Theatre was the home of
the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies
before falling into disrepair. Now,
the Palm Springs Plaza Theatre
Foundation is restoring the Span-
ish-style building that sits at the
center of the resort community.
The revitalization of the theater
was a leap of faith for former city
official J.R. Roberts, head of the
foundation. “I remember think-
ing this project would probably
never happen because studios
were streaming into our living
rooms,” Roberts says. “I thought,
‘Oh, fuck, this is the last nail in the
coffin — studios finally got rid of
the middleman.’”
But with the help of a major
donation from “Frasier” co-cre-
ator David Lee and the city, the
foundation has raised more than
$20 million. “When you walk in, it
will once again be 1936,” Roberts
says. “But it will be state-of-the-art
lighting, sound, seats, acoustics
— everything.”
When the Plaza reopens next
year, it will be operated and man-
aged by the Oak View Group,
which owns Acrisure Arena in
Palm Desert. In addition to pro-
gramming movies and live music,
the 720-seat auditorium could
once again host the Palm Springs
International Film Festival.
These days, it’s becoming less
unusual for a non-exhibition
company to take on a restoration.
Netflix, for example, took over the
Egyptian, Paris and Bay theaters.
Electric vehicle company Rivian
reconceived the quaint 100-year-
old South Coast Theatre in Laguna
Beach as a flexible space that can
show films when it’s not hosting
the latest electric vehicle launch.
“We wanted a place where we
could be a part of the community,”
says Denise Cherry, VP of experi-
ence design at Rivian. “This the-
ater had languished for a number
of years. We knew when we first
got this site that it had to stay true
to its roots. But it really offered an
interesting opportunity for peo-
ple to experience our products
and our brands.”
Elsewhere, film festivals play
a major part in keeping venues
active year-round. The Seattle
International Film Festival, which
runs the Egyptian and the Uptown,
added the Cinerama to its sub-
stantial cinema footprint in 2023,
renaming it the Downtown.
CinemaCon
2024
Variety
04.03.2024
p.39
In Milwaukee, the city’s old-
est movie house, the Downer, is
reopening just in time for the Mil-
waukee Film Festival next week,
joining the festival’s other cinema,
the Oriental. Milwaukee Film artis-
tic director Cara Ogburn says, “A
priority for us was to make sure
it didn’t get converted from a the-
ater into, like, a gym, to save it from
being unoccupied.
“It’s less about saving the historic
cinema and more about preserv-
ing cinemagoing for the city,” she
says, describing local filmgoers as
“quite curious and adventurous.”
Meanwhile, Raleigh, N.C.’s 88-
year-old Rialto was brought back
from life support in late 2023
thanks to one dedicated local
entrepreneur who rallied sup-
porters to buy the neighborhood
favorite. “There’s a fear of losing
the identity and the cultural touch-
stones of the city, and the Rialto
is one of them,” says new owner
Hayes Permar, who worked in TV
production before diving into the
exhibition business.
Permar is bringing in comedy, live
music, elementary school gradua-
tions, fake snow, a film club, maybe
a burlesque show — anything that
will help lure Raleigh residents.
“At Christmas, we showed ‘Home
Alone’ and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
and ‘Elf.’ I think it will become a
bucket-list item where people will
say, ‘Oh, we have to see Christmas
movies at the Rialto,’” Permar says.
He adds, “Give me some time to
learn, and we’ll figure out how to
keep this thing alive.”
As important as it is for cities to
preserve architecturally signif-
icant buildings, more crucial is
reminding people of the value of a
thriving community space.
“ There’s something about
the communal viewing experi-
ence that feels even more vital
post-pandemic,” says Ogburn.
“People are realizing, ‘I wasn’t
just going to the movies for the
movie — I was also going for this
communal experience.” ●
— Pat Saperstein
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 Variety 41

Miami Film Festival April 3, 2024

Every year, the Miami Film Festival

Æ transforms the Florida city into a
hub of cultural exchange and discovery,
welcoming filmmakers, industry profes-

Magic City Lights Up Florida’s sionals and enthusiastic audiences for a

celebration of independent films that
entertainment hot spot sizzles entertain as well as inspire conversation.
As Miami-Dade College gears up for
as the Miami Film Festival returns its 41st edition of the festival, cinema
aficionados can expect an array of films,
By Cata Balzano
discussions, Q&A sessions, special
credit
GutterVideo
Prime

Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway’s romantic comedy “The Idea of You” will screen at the fest.
42 Variety

Focus Miami Film Festival April 3, 2024

events, and awards ceremonies from

April 5-14.
With more than 165 films — including fea-
ture narratives, documentaries and shorts “It’s really exciting that they think I’ve been
from more than 31 countries — the care-
fully curated fest sports one of its biggest putting out some unique works that are moving
lineups ever, says Lauren Cohen, director the needle forward in the film space.” Alison Brie
of programming.
The festival kicks off with “Thelma,” a com-
edy about a grandmother’s quest to reclaim
her lost money, directed by Josh Margolin
and featuring a cast including June Squibb,
“White Lotus” alum Fred Hechinger and
Parker Posey. Tony Goldwyn’s “Ezra,”
starring Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne,
Vera Farmiga and Robert De Niro, will
close the fest. “Ezra” centers on a stand-up
comedian navigating co-parenting of his
autistic son.
“It’s a very powerful, dramatic and comic
story, but at the same time, it’s a very
important mirror that shows the way we
look at ourselves and the way we look at
those around us,” says Goldwyn, who will
be present on April 13 for the screening and
will receive the Art of Light Award.
Alison Brie, known for her work on TV
series such as “Mad Men” and “Glow” in
addition to starring and producing indie
films, will also receive the Art of Light
Award at the festival.
“It’s really exciting to think that they think
that I’ve been putting out some unique
works that are moving the needle forward
in the film space,” says Brie of the recogni- Hiddleston will receive Variety’s Virtuoso The festival’s programming will highlight
tion. The actor will also participate in an Award on April 9. Additionally, director cultural diasporas, women in film, stories
in-person discussion following a screen- Greg Kwedar will be presented with the surrounding members of the LGBTQ+ com-
ing of her new Peacock miniseries, “Apples Impact Award for his film “Sing Sing,” munity and people with special needs. It
Never Fall.” which illuminates the transformative will also explore the rich cultural heritage
Variety will bestow honors upon Molly power of art within the criminal justice of Cuban films with its Spotlight on Cuba,
Ringwald and Tom Hiddleston for their system. There will also be a centerpiece featuring films such as “Los Frikis.”
career achievements at the festival. screening of “The Idea of You,” directed “It’s something that’s very important to
Ringwald will receive Variety’s Creative by Michael Showalter and starring Anne Miami,” Cohen says about the Cuban sto-
Vanguard Award on April 6, and Tom Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine. ry-based films.
Two “Drag Race” contestants will be on
hand for the festival: Lady Camden, run-
ner-up on Season 14, with their feature doc
“Lady Like,” and Season 7 runner-up Ginger
Minj with their short film “Stan Behavior.”
Also noteworthy: nearly 50% of the films
in the feature lineup are directed by women.
Above: “Apples “It just really speaks to how strong those
Never Fall” star films are, and our programming team hon-
Alison Brie will
Apples Never Fall: Peacock; Ezra: CAA Finance

estly really gravitated towards so many

receive the fest’s
Art of Light Award. of them, and that’s something we’re very
proud of,” says Cohen.
Left: “Ezra,” which
packs an impressive
cast including Tipsheet
Robert De Niro, Rose WHAT Miami Film Festival
Byrne and Bobby WHEN April 5-14
Cannavale, will
wrap over a week of WHERE Miami, Fla.
festivities. WEB miamifilmfestival.com

Team Player ‘Loki’ star Tom Hiddleston
will receive a Virtuoso honor at the fest
By Jenelle Riley
Tom Hiddleston knows “Miami.” That
Æ is, all the words to the Will Smith song
titled after the famous city — a video of
him reciting the lyrics once broke the Inter-
net (not an unusual occurrence for the
actor.) That was in 2012 when he was doing
press for “The Avengers,” the movie that
would change his life and career. It was also
the same tour that last brought him to the
city — but that was a whirlwind two days of
press. “I do recall promoting ‘Avengers’ in
Spanish and the city had a great, unique
energy,” he says. “I’m really excited to be
back as an explorer.”
The British actor will be returning
on April 9 to the Miami Film Festival to
accept Variety’s Virtuoso Award for his
career achievements and will participate
in a Q&A at the Adrienne Arsht Center’s
Knight Concert Hall.
Hiddleston admits it’s somewhat ironic
to be receiving the Virtuoso Award there,
because “when somebody says ‘virtuoso,’
I think of a dazzling soloist in an orchestra,
Marvel Studios
and I feel about as far from that image as
it’s possible to imagine.”
He continues: “I am the opposite of a
soloist, actually. I always feel like I’m at
my strongest in a team. What we do is a
collective creative act and the joy of it is
in the shared imagination.”
This might explain why his resume is
filled with standout ensemble pieces
in every genre. Hiddleston’s worked on
stage — he earned a Tony nomination for
his 2019 Broadway debut in “Betrayal” —
the SAG Award-nominated ensemble of
“Midnight in Paris,” up through his most
current turn as the God of Mischief in Sea-
son 2 of the Disney+ series “Loki.”
The second season’s finale, “Glorious
Purpose,” remains the highest-rated epi-
sode ever in the Marvel Cinematic Uni-
verse and brought a conclusion to an epic
character arc that has spanned 14 years
of Hiddleston’s life. The actor, who also
served as producer on both seasons, says
it would have been impossible without
43
April 3, 2024
his “deep bench” of castmates, which
includes Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Mar-
tino and Season 2 addition Ke Huy Quan,
Oscar-winner for “Everything Every-
where All at Once.”
“I don’t know who said it, but there’s the
phrase: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together,’” he
notes. “And it’s never been truer than for
this show.”
Community and collaboration are per-
haps his favorite aspects of the work. “I
truly find the most interesting work I have
discovered happens between people. You
show up and ready and prepared, but you
take that preparation onto the dance
floor and see what there is between you.
If I’ve done anything of value, it’s because
of that chemistry and inspiration I receive
from another actor.”
Hiddleston says that team spirit extends
to his next project, “The Life of Chuck,”
a big-screen adaptation of the Stephen
King novella.
As for continuing Loki’s story in a third
season, it’s a question Hiddleston is asked
pretty much every day — several times.
“I truthfully don’t know,” he says. “I am so
proud of where we landed in Season 2. To
Tom Hiddleston’s go from this lost, broken soul in Asgaard,
Loki achieved his and be given a second chance and learn
glorious purpose so much about life that he actually gives
in the second
season finale of
himself to protect other people, has been
Disney+’s “Loki.” such an honor.”
44
Focus
All Grown Up Honoree Molly Ringwald
moved beyond early career highs
By Todd Gilchrist
As the star of “Sixteen Candles,”
Æ “Pretty in Pink” and “The Breakfast
Club,” Molly Ringwald understands why
she’s still considered “the patron saint of
teenagers.” Commercially successful and
critically acclaimed, those films — and her
performances — depicted adolescents with
an emotional sophistication like few films
before them. But Ringwald was bringing
that complexity to the screen from her first
role in Paul Mazursky’s “Tempest,” and the
fact that she’s continued to do so through-
out her career is why she’s set to receive the
Variety Creative Vanguard Award at the
Miami Film Festival on April 6.
Ringwald tells Variety that after more
than four decades as an actor, she hasn’t
been waiting for this kind of honor, but she
welcomes it, noting she hasn’t been deluged
with trophies over the course of her career.
“It’s really nice to be recognized in that way,”
says the actor, who has most recently por-
trayed Joanne Carson in Ryan Murphy’s
“Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.”
Even before her back-to-back movie-star
turns in John Hughes’ films, working oppo-
site the likes of John Cassavetes and Susan
Sarandon in Mazursky’s 1982 adaptation
of the Shakespeare play cemented her
Variety
Miami Film Festival
passion for performing. Yet even with her
early explosive success, Hollywood proved
incapable of keeping up with her ambition.
“Not everyone was able to write for
teenagers as successfully as [Hughes] did,”
she observes. “And even though I wanted
to take on adult material, I was limited
because I was still a teenager.”
She consequently looked outside Hol-
lywood for opportunities, and just a year
after starring in “Pretty in Pink,” appeared
in another unconventional Shakespeare
adaptation, Jean-Luc Godard’s “King Lear.”
“It was an extreme to go to making some-
thing that was an art film that most people
don’t completely understand — I mean, I
made the movie, and I can’t really say that I
totally understand it,” she says with a laugh.
“But I’m really glad that I made it because it
was exciting to do something that was just
so different and so unexpected.”
Transitioning into adult roles proved
difficult, not the least of which because of
the “Brat Pack” label the media gave Ring-
Molly Ringwald as wald and her young collaborators. “I feel
Joanne Carson and
Tom Hollander as
like that was kind of a way to dismiss us,”
she remembers. “But I got really close on
Truman Capote in
FX’s “Feud: Capote a couple movies. I met with Mike Nichols
for ‘Working Girl’ and Jonathan Demme
vs. the Swans”
April 3, 2024
for ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ but ultimately I
was too young.”
While working to shed the reputation
of early commercial highs, smaller roles
in projects like Billy Bob Thornton’s 1994
short film, “Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade,”
and more recently, Christopher Storer’s
acclaimed FX series “The Bear,” have
reminded Ringwald why she started per-
forming in the first place.
“There were a lot of people that didn’t
even recognize me, which to me is the big-
gest compliment,” she says of her turn in
“The Bear” as an Al-Anon moderator.
As she has returned to the spotlight with
that buzzy show and Ryan Murphy’s “Mon-
ster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” in addition
to “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans,” Ringwald
is more inspired than ever in her career.
“Working with really strong actors com-
pletely raises your game,” she says.
In fact, she believes her best work is in
front of her: “I am still waiting for a role that
uses me to the best of my abilities.”
Exactly what that is has yet to be deter-
mined. “But I’ve definitely had enough of
anything having to do with teenagers,”
Ringwald says.
“There were a lot of
people that didn’t even
recognize me, which
to me is the biggest
compliment.” Molly Ringwald
FX

Bittersweet Celebration ‘Station 19’
reaches a milestone before it wraps up
By Lauren Piester
“Station 19” is about to hit a huge
Æ milestone, but it’s bittersweet.
Just three days into production on Season
7 of the “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff, as plans
for a celebratory 100th episode were begin-
ning to develop, new showrunners Peter
Paige and Zoanne Clack learned that the
show had been canceled. Season 7 would
be its last, tasking them with not only ush-
ering the show into a new era, but also to a
satisfying ending. They were not prepared.
“I was sitting on the floor in my under-
wear, writing,” Paige tells Variety. Clack
adds, “I was on a panel in front of 100 peo-
ple getting constant phone calls, trying
to play it off. I didn’t hear what the actual
ABC
news was until after the panel.”
“Station 19” premiered in March 2018,
midway through Season 14 of “Grey’s
Anatomy.” A backdoor pilot introduced
Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) to her fire-
fighting equivalent Andy Herrera (Jaina
Lee Ortiz), but the thread between the two
shows was Ben Warren (Jason George), the
career-hopping husband of Miranda Bai-
ley (Chandra Wilson). Being a surgeon was
no longer satisfying to him, so he decided
to try firefighting. In Seattle, firefighters
are also certified paramedics, meaning
his medical training wouldn’t go to waste,
but he would be starting from the bottom
of the ladder, so to speak.
Andy, meanwhile, had a legacy to live
up to. Her father Pruitt (Miguel Sandoval)
45
April 3, 2024
was the captain of “Station 19,” and while
he loved his daughter, he was tough on
her. His death in Season 3 propelled her
ambitions: she would eventually become
captain, earning that job the right way,
with no special favors. Finally, in the Sea-
son 6 finale, she received the new title,
just in time to help her own team deal
with a dance floor collapsing underneath
them, crushing friends and enemies alike.
Her promotion was such an important
moment for the series that Clack and Paige
almost saved it for the upcoming 100th epi-
sode, along with a few other wild ideas.
“We have two characters who are half-
Korean, and we talked about taking the
show to Korea,” Paige says. “Frankly, be-
cause of the strikes and the timelines, we
didn’t have the idea in enough time to
make it happen … but then we cooked up
something that I think is even better.”
With the milestone episode, “we wanted
to really honor the show and the ambi-
ence of the show, and everything around
it,” Clack adds. “We had to really pump
The cast, crew up our thinking and think outside the
and creative team box a bit more.”
behind “Station
19” commemorated The episode airing April 11 is full of both
100 episodes. celebrations and challenges and brings
46 Variety

Focus ‘Station 19’ 100th Episode April 3, 2024

things full circle, says Ortiz. She’s so grate-

ful to have made it to 100, but it’s a num-
ber that also makes her feel “a little old.”
Her knees and her back aren’t the same
as they once were, because, while the “People think they’re watching a fire show. But they’re
fires might not be real, the gear is still really watching a show about women and Black, brown and
heavy — a constant reminder that being
a firefighter is a physically demanding queer people navigating systems that aren’t necessarily
job, and not all can handle or survive it. set up for them to succeed.” Peter Paige
This is especially true on the show, where
everybody risks their life practically every In Season 5, then-executive producer For the first time, Ortiz felt like she could
time they go to work. Krista Vernoff introduced both real-world really represent her Latin culture in a way
While Andy hasn’t quite reached Mere- developments “into our storyline, and it she hadn’t been able to before, connecting
dith Grey levels of trauma, she’s certainly allowed all the actors a chance to speak her and her fellow castmates to their char-
been through it. Her best friend died, then up about their identity,” Ortiz says. “This acters in a whole new way.
her father died, and her marriage fell apart was an opportunity that we never really “I think because we lived it, that made
due to addiction. Plus, she discovered her had in the past, and so because our show us that much more grateful for what we
“dead” mother was actually not dead. Much is one of the most diverse shows out there, had,” she says.
of what she’s dealt with is classic melo- we had a bunch of different experiences Clack points out that identity is the key
drama, but some of it has hit Ortiz hard — and opinions, and it opened up so many to not only “Station 19,” but the ongoing epi-
especially since she lost her mother in 2019. more conversations.” sodes of “Grey’s Anatomy,” the show that
“It was somewhat of a cathartic experi-
ence, having to grieve my mother and not
only be given the time to process it, but
also be allowed to work through my char-
acter as her mom comes back into her life
and [she deals] with the loss of her dad,”
Ortiz says. “It definitely has helped make it
easier. I am forever grateful to our writers
and our showrunners past and present
who have made the effort to dig deep into
our personal lives so that the characters
can come more to life.”
Ortiz, Paige and Clack agree that “Station
19” is at its best when it’s as authentic as
possible. None of the stars have ever done
any real firefighting, but they all know
what it’s like to live in the world the show
is trying to portray.
“People think they’re watching a fire
show,” Paige says. “But they’re really
watching a show about women and Black,
brown and queer people navigating sys-
tems that aren’t necessarily set up for Jaina Lee Ortiz as Andrea “Andy” Herrera, the captian of “Station 19”
them to succeed.”
Clack, who has worked on and around quietly birthed it and recently returned
“Grey’s Anatomy” as a producer and medi- for its 20th season.
cal consultant since 2006, has always made “In the first few seasons, it was enough
it her mission to seamlessly fold social jus- for viewers to see a Black chief of sur-
tice issues and public health messages into gery or a Black cardiothoracic surgeon,
the show’s fabric, so they are “very much a Latina orthopedic surgeon, and they
entrenched into the entertainment of the just lived their lives being what they
show, and not finger-wagging or telling were,” she says. “But as society has pro-
people what they need to think.” gressed and as ‘Grey’s’ has progressed, it’s
“Station 19” has weathered many ups become more of what their experience
and downs over the years as showrunners is as a person of color and how does that
and actors have come and gone, but Ortiz reflect in how they treat people or man-
considers the seismic events of 2020 — age their lives.”
the global health pandemic and death of The centennial episode of “Station 19”
George Floyd — to be a turning point. The will air soon, but the show’s legacy will
whole world’s view of frontline workers Josh Randall, Spencer James Hammerstad, Barrett Doss and Jay live beyond that as the little fire engine
ABC

changed, and so did the show. Hayden of “Station 19.” that could.
48
Focus
Against the Odds ABC’s spinoff hit
nearly ended before it began
By Jim Halterman
For any television series reaching its
Æ 100th episode, looking back is a
given, but there aren’t many shows with a
35-year history like ABC’s “The Conners,”
the sitcom following the blue-collar fam-
ily with an affinity for getting knocked
down by life’s struggles while making us
laugh along the way. “It’s just lucky, I
guess,” says John Goodman, who plays
patriarch Dan Conner. “Now all of a sud-
den, it’s 100 episodes. I can’t believe how
fast the time went by, but I guess that’s just
because I’m getting old.”
We first met the Lanford, Ill., clan on
Oct. 18, 1988, when “Roseanne,” named for
brash standup comedian Roseanne Barr,
premiered on ABC. The cast included
Roseanne’s big-hearted husband Dan
(Goodman), their three salty young chil-
dren Becky (Lecy Goranson), Darlene (Sara
Gilbert) and D.J. (Michael Fishman) as well
Variety
‘The Conners’ 100th Episode
as Roseanne’s erratic sister Jackie (Laurie
Metcalf). “Roseanne” was a huge hit from
the start, ranking second for the 1988-89
season and then usurping then-ratings
giant “The Cosby Show” to be No. 1 the fol-
lowing season and having a strong nine-
season run that ended in 1997.
Two decades plus later, the “Roseanne”
revival (technically a 10th season) debuted
on ABC on March 27, 2018, with the original
“I can’t believe how
fast the time went by,
but I guess that’s
just because I’m
getting old.” John Goodman
April 3, 2024
cast, garnering a huge premiere viewer-
ship (live+ 7 numbers were 27.3 million
viewers) and an 11th season renewal just
three days after that debut. What could
possibly go wrong? That would be Barr’s
racist tweet in May 2018 that abruptly can-
celed the revival and was almost the end
of the Conners.
“I think it was maybe a day or so,” after
“Roseanne” was canceled, “and I was talk-
ing to Channing Dungey, who was the head
of ABC,” recalls executive producer Bruce
Helford. “I said, not unintentionally, ‘Gee,
it would’ve been so much better if we had
called it “The Darlene Show.”’ There was
a long pause. I really wasn’t saying it was
going to be ‘The Darlene Show’ but there
could be a version beyond that.”
“The Conners” spinoff was soon order-
ed to series with the cast intact minus
the Conners’ matriarch. “There was a lot
of internal discussion about how can we
go on without the lead? Because histor-
ically, that doesn’t work,” says executive
producer Dave Caplan.
Nevertheless, when the Roseanne-less
show premiered on Oct. 18, 2018 — 30 years
to the day of the original debut — Barr’s
character had died three weeks earlier
from an opioid overdose and the family was
grieving. Crafting the show from this point
was daunting, to say the least. “We had Dar-
lene [Gilbert, also an executive producer]
step into the matriarch role and got a lot of
episodes out of how difficult that was for
her and for everybody else to accept her in
that role,” Caplan recalls.
Thankfully, viewers accepted the big cre-
ative risk and “The Conners” would go on
to rank as the season’s No. 1 new comedy in
total viewers and 18-49 with an average of
John Goodman and 9.5 million total viewers. Barr’s character
Sara Gilbert have is still mentioned to this day. “We made
starred in both
“Roseanne” and a commitment to be emotionally honest
“The Conners.” about what it would mean for that char-
acter to not be with the family anymore,”
says Caplan.
Nods to yesteryear and the family’s
ever-evolving relationships are a part of
“Smash and Grab and Happy Death Day,”
the show’s 100th episode. In one storyline,
a robbery attempt at Olinsky’s Hardware
has partial owner Dan and Jackie detain-
ing a teenager until the police arrive.
“Holding that kid brings something up in
Jackie and Dan’s relationship that has to
get resolved, because they’re still work-
ing through some of those old wounds,”
previews Caplan.
The other story involves an old family
photo. Nobody remembers the people
ABC
in the image, causing Becky’s 6-year-old
50 Variety

Focus ‘The Conners’ 100th Episode April 3, 2024

daughter Beverly Rose (Charlotte Sanchez)

to obsess about death. “Becky doesn’t want
to talk about this stuff with her kid and Dar-
lene starts talking about how the worms “We made a commitment to be emotionally honest
eat you when you’re gone,” Helford says.
“It’s ultimately about Becky and Darlene, about what it would mean for [Roseanne] to not be with
about their relationship with the nature of the family anymore.” Dave Caplan
how they see the world.”
Becky’s deceased first husband Mark,
played by Glenn Quinn in the original
series, gets a mention in the episode.
Over its run, the spinoff has dissected
gender identity, alcoholism, abortion
and healthcare, doing so as organically
as possible.
“We never sit down and say, ‘Let’s do
something about this thing that’s in the
news,’” says Caplan. But sometimes an
issue comes to them courtesy of one of the
show’s actors, as it did for Season 4’s “Trig-
gered,” which focused on gun control, and
was written by Goranson. “Lecy brought
that to us, and we had to figure out how
that impacted the family,” recalls executive
producer Bruce Rasmussen.
Politics and voting were at the center
of Season 2’s live episode “Live From Lan-
ford,” which was set on the night of the
New Hampshire Democratic primary. “We
actually announced one of the candidates
dropping out before the news did because
we were listening to the live feed and we
were feeding it to the actors,” says Helford.
Can we expect another live episode given
the current presidential election year if
“The Conners” gets a seventh season? “I struggling emotionally following Rose- Above: Lecy High-profile guest stars have been
will fight for it next fall,” promises Helford. anne’s death, for instance, Dan found love Goranson, Charlotte plentiful: They include Matthew Broder-
Sanchez and Sara
The producers make sure the family gets again with Katey Sagal’s Louise, whom he Gilbert ick, William H. Macy, Eagles’ Joe Walsh,
its share of wins in addition to trials and married during the fourth season. “I really Whoopi Goldberg, Paul Reubens, Candice
tribulations. “When they’ve been through a didn’t think he’d get married again so it sur- Left: John Goodman, Bergen and, in the Season 6 premiere, Nick
Laurie Metcalf and
lot, we try to take our foot off the gas a little prised me,” Goodman recalls. “It gave him a Sofia Capanna Offerman. For Goodman, a highlight has
bit and give them a moment to breathe and pair of second legs. I think it probably gave been working with 96-year-old Estelle Par-
have some happiness,” says Caplan. After him 20 more years.” sons, who has appeared in 10 “Conners”
episodes as Jackie’s dementia-suffering
mother, Bev.
“Whenever she shows up, she’s just
jaw-dropping,” he says. “It doesn’t look
like she’s lifting a finger, but there’s a lot
of work behind that.”
While the show’s fate beyond Season 6
is still up in the air, there are still stories to
tell for this family.
“We’re breaking the season with the idea
of there being more because there’s so
much more to do,” says Rasmussen.
Concurs Caplan: “The Conners are a re-
flection of a giant chunk of America. And
is America still having issues with paying
their bills and making ends meet and how
it complicates their lives? Yeah, we think
so. So as long as those stories matter, I’d
ABC

love to keep telling them.”


In the Key of Life Lang Lang’s love of music
began with a ‘Tom & Jerry’ cartoon
By Jon Burlingame
Hailed by no less than the New York
Æ Times as “the hottest artist on the
classical music planet,” Chinese pianist
Lang Lang has expanded traditional per-
formance boundaries beyond the usual
Bach, Mozart and Chopin to include Disney
songs and contemporary film music.
On April 10, he will become one of a
handful of classical pianists to receive
a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
(Among them: Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur
Images
Rubinstein, Rudolf Serkin and Ignace Pad-
Saget/AFP/Getty
erewski.) This recognition acknowledges
Lang Lang’s connection to movies and his
credit
commitment to bringing classical music
Gutter
Joel
to younger audiences everywhere. “This
is truly a great honor, a great encourage-
ment,” Lang Lang tells Variety from Europe,
where he is currently on tour. Now 41, he
has spent half his life on stages around the
world, stunning listeners with his technical
proficiency and annoying critics with his
theatricality and showmanship.
The fact is, Lang Lang is immensely pop-
ular, and three of the current top 20 best-
selling classical albums are his, including
his newest on Deutsche Grammophon, a
collection of French masterpieces leading
off with Camille Saint-Saëns favorite “Car-
nival of the Animals.”
He characterizes the album as “the very
impressionist French music and more
51
April 3, 2024
vibrant French music. We have everything
from Fauré to Ravel to the most beauti-
ful Debussy piece.” Also included: rarely
heard music from five lesser-known
French female composers from the
late 19th and early 20th centuries: Lili
Boulanger, Germaine Tailleferre, Méla-
nie-Hélène Bonis, Louise Farrenc and
Charlotte Sohy.
Lang Lang insists that he remains
“mostly focused on classical music,” but
his departures are notable, and often
involve music for movies or TV. French
composer Alexandre Desplat recalls
hearing Lang Lang play a classical recital
as he was beginning work on “The Painted
Veil,” John Curran’s 2006 film set in
1920s China.
“I thought he would be the perfect match,”
Desplat says. “A virtuoso, a hyper-sensitive
Pianist Lang piano touch, good spirit to work with ...
Lang crosses the
boundary between and he’s Chinese! We teamed again on ‘My
classical and Week With Marilyn,’ where he played the
more mainstream main theme with soulful beauty.” Desplat
audiences with
musical talent won the Golden Globe for his “Painted
and showmanship. Veil” score with Lang Lang’s piano.
52 Variety

Focus Hall of Fame April 3, 2024

Since then, the musician has been the Lang Lang has worked with classes and digital keyboards. We are “After 20 years on stage, people are start-
with top film
featured keyboard soloist on the third reaching people who don’t necessarily ing to realize that I’m actually a more emo-
composers including
and fourth installments of the Hans Zim- Hans Zimmer and understand classical music and can’t link tional player than a technical player,” he
mer-scored “Kung Fu Panda” series, and Alexandre Desplat. it to their everyday life.” adds. “Technique has to serve the music.
on James Newton Howard’s score for Lang Lang believes that the future of The more struggling, the more life expe-
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.” classical music depends on education. “We rience you have, that helps a lot to feel the
His prominence in the classical world need to do more young people’s concerts. pain in the music. It’s the pain, the sadness,
brought extra attention to Anne Dudley’s We need to do better on social media. We that makes people cry.
theme for TV’s “Poldark” when he per- need to do shorter concerts, invite them “Sometimes it’s a good thing that you
formed her prelude as a solo piano piece. to rehearsals, explain our joy of being on face challenging moments, even failure.
The artist’s 2022 “Disney Book” album stage. We have to get into the local com- This helps you tremendously to get into
remains among his biggest sellers. A munities and share our love. This is great the music and find real emotion. Then you
grand-scale reconceptualizing of the art, but it’s very far away from the everyday have to transfer that into the music-mak-
familiar themes from Disney hits over life of people. It’s all about communica- ing. Some people have great knowledge,
the years, with Lang Lang’s piano taking tion, about inspiring, about encouraging great ideas, great emotions, but when they
center stage, it has proven a hit with kids kids to do musical studies. Music educa- play you don’t feel it because they don’t
(and their parents) worldwide. tion will heal their hearts and give them know how to adapt them into the key-
The Lang Lang Intl. Music Foundation tremendous energy in whatever they do board. I have felt much deeper as a pianist
is at the forefront of promoting music in the future.” in the last five years.”
education in schools. Says the pianist: The pianist believes he’s become a bet- To producer Fair, there is an important
“Every time I go to any of our facilitated ter performer since becoming a father cross-cultural aspect of Lang Lang getting
schools, the kids always ask me, ‘Can you three years ago. He says he’s “more sen- that star on the Walk of Fame at a time when
play something from Disney?’ sitive, a more loving person, and that tensions are high between the United States
“It’s OK here and there to play, let’s say, absolutely reflects on my music-making. and China. He sees the musician as “one of
‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ or the ‘Turkish If you hear me playing now, there is a lot of the few ambassadors who, through music,
March,’ but after a while, it doesn’t work new storytelling — a very different range can join these two forces that have so much
anymore with the kids. They all ask me of colors and a lot of thoughts behind on the table — to put all that aside and bring
to play ‘Frozen’ or ‘Can You Feel the Love the note. it together with music.”
Tonight.’ I’m trying to make classical music
and piano connect to the Disney films.”
“Disney Book” producer Ron Fair calls
him “a complete gentleman. He’s demand-
ing and his mind is super-precise, quick to “Sometimes it’s a good thing that you face challenging
find tempo variations and musical details. moments, even failure. This helps you tremendously to get
He’s got a very young spirit — there’s a very
exuberant, youthful excitement about him
into the music and find real emotion.” Lang Lang
and it’s catchy.
“He loves children,” Fair adds. “This
whole animation thing is part of him
touching the child within. He really gets
into the emotionality of the piano and it’s
incredible to watch. He disappears into the
piece — it’s the instrument, him and the
composer, in a crazy jam session.”
Lang Lang often says that his love of
music began when, at the age of 2 1/2, he
first saw the Tom & Jerry cartoon “The
Cat Concerto.” The MGM classic has tux-
edo-wearing cat Tom trying to play Liszt’s
“Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2” in concert
while mouse Jerry torments him. At 13,
Lang Lang visited Tokyo Disneyland and
first heard “It’s a Small World,” and in 2016
he performed “Let It Go” from “Frozen” at
the opening of Shanghai Disney Resort.
Reaching young people is an ongoing
theme with Lang Lang, especially through
Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

his foundation.
“We aim to inspire more kids to learn
music, and bring back music to be part
of a school’s curriculum,” he notes. “We
have almost 200 schools around the world,
 DEUTSCHE
GRAMMOPHON

CONGRATULATES
LANG LANG
ON HIS

STAR
ON THE
HOLLYWOOD
WALK OF FAME
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 Variety
WGA Awards
Flipping the Script Change is in the air
as the WGA celebrates its best
By Brent Simon
For the roughly 12,000 scribes the
Æ Writers Guild of America represents,
the last year has been an emotional roller
coaster: The guild engaged in a labor stop-
page for over four and a half months in
2023 that, alongside a partially overlapping
SAG-AFTRA strike, ground production
to a halt.
But with a new contract now in hand, the
upcoming Writers Guild Awards afford
union members the chance for a collec-
tive exhalation. On April 14, Emmy-winning
ABC
actress and producer Niecy Nash-Betts will
host the event in L.A., part of conjoined and
concurrent ceremonies in Hollywood and
New York City, which will give writers the
opportunity to both celebrate some of the
best recent work of their own and simulta-
neously look toward the future.
“We made a lot of gains,” says Meredith
Stiehm, “Cold Case” creator and WGA West
president since 2021, noting what she called
“a collage of victories” in their negotiated
settlement, ranging from AI safeguards to
writers room guarantees. “I think a big chal-
lenge now is making sure they’re enforced
55
April 3, 2024
and we’re protecting [members],” she says,
adding that the organization is closely mon-
itoring the current negotiations between
IATSE, Teamsters and the Hollywood Basic
Crafts coalition with the Alliance of Motion
Picture and Television Producers.
The awards show itself, meanwhile,
is in an unusual position. WGA winners
in 26 categories spanning film, televi-
sion, news media and radio/audio will be
awarded more than one month after the
Academy Awards, instead of before, as
is traditional.
“Air,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “May
December” and “Past Lives” are vying for
the original screenplay WGA trophy, while
“American Fiction,” “Are You There God? It’s
“Abbott Elementary”
is competing Me, Margaret,” “Killers of the Flower Moon”
against “Barry,” and “Oppenheimer” are competing in the
“The Bear,” “Jury adapted category. Cord Jefferson won the
Duty” and “Only
Murders in Oscar for adapted screenplay with “Ameri-
the Building.” can Fiction,” while the Oscar-winning orig-
56
Awards Circuit
Top: In addition to
two episodic comedy
nominations, “The
Bear” hopes to win
its second comedy
series prize.
Bottom: Niecy Nash-
Betts will host
the ceremony April
14 at the Hollywood
Palladium.
inal screenplay, Justine Triet and Arthur
Harari’s “Anatomy of a Fall,” was ineligible
for similar WGA honors.
On the TV side, writers on freshmen
shows such as “The Curse,” “The Diplomat,”
“The Last of Us” and “Jury Duty” are hop-
ing to triumph against shows such as “The
Crown,” “Succession,” “Abbott Elementary,”
“Barry,” “The Bear” and “Only Murders in
the Building.”
The 76th annual awards will take place at
the Hollywood Palladium instead of hotel
ballrooms at the Beverly Hilton or Century
Plaza, giving the evening a different spin.
Presenters scheduled to appear at the L.A.
awards show include Drew Carey, Tony
Hale, Nathan Fielder, Bill Burr, Randall Park
and Tig Notaro.
While not broadcast, the evening’s West
Coast affair, with more than 800 attendees,
is still produced like a television show, “with
a big budget, with a lot of cameras and pro-
duction value,” says producer Hugh Fink. He
will work in cooperation with the WGA’s
smaller East Coast dinner, hosted by writ-
er-performer Josh Gondelman, to make
sure announcements are synchronized to
avoid spoilers.
Fink’s chief goal is to create an irreverent,
hip and loose-limbed tone for the WGA fes-
tivities. “Writers as a group are obviously a
different mentality than directors or actors,
Variety
WGA Awards April 3, 2024
and they’re super-smart but somewhat
cynical and sarcastic,” Fink observes.
To that end, Fink is extremely involved
in the writing, relying on skills honed from
his years of work as a standup comedian, as
well as at “Saturday Night Live.” As with the
producer of almost any live show, though,
his biggest anxiety is time.
Still, the classical violinist has an addi-
tional method to help keep things moving.
“I have the host announce during the mono-
logue, ‘When you see the light [come on],
get off, and if you don’t then you’re going
to be played off by the Writers Guild Sym-
phony Orchestra,’” says Fink.
“I’ve played the theme from ‘Schindler’s
List,’ another year I played Led Zeppelin’s
‘Kashmir’ — whatever song is really funny.”
“Writers as a group are
obviously a different
mentality than direc-
The Bear: FX; Nash: Variety
tors or actors, and
they’re super-smart
but somewhat cynical
and sarcastic.” Hugh Fink
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 Variety April 3, 2024 59

Andrew Scott
plays Tom Ripley
with cool
detachment.

TV REVIEW ARAMIDE TINUBU Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 crime novel, “The

Æ Talented Mr. Ripley,” is regarded as one of the
greatest thrillers of all time. It has spawned several
film adaptations, including Anthony Minghella’s
“The Talented Mr. Ripley,” starring Matt Damon and
Crimes and Dark Demeanors Jude Law. Given the 1999 movie’s commercial and
critical acclaim, a series adaptation for the stream-
ing era was almost inevitable, and after being sold
‘Ripley,’ Netflix’s sinister spin on Patricia Highsmith’s off by Showtime to Netflix, “Ripley” has Andrew
infamous con artist, fails to ignite Scott stepping into the titular character’s loafers.
Academy Award-winning writer-director Steven
Zaillian — behind such works as “Schindler’s List”
Ripley Platform Netflix Creator Steven Zaillian
(for which he won the adapted screenplay Oscar)
and the 2016 HBO limited series “The Night Of” —
Premiere date April 4 Cast Andrew Scott, presents his own spin on the psychological thriller.
Dakota Fanning,
Twisted and deeply disturbing, this “Ripley” feels
Episodes 8 Johnny Flynn
more sinister and stilted than its predecessors,
making the show arduous rather than enticing.
Netflix
60 Variety
Reviews April 3, 2024
Shot in magnificent black and white, “Ripley” opens in Rome in
1961 as a man drags a dead body down a marble staircase. But the
story doesn’t begin here. Dialing back in time six months, we find
ourselves on New York’s Lower East Side. A far cry from the trendy
neighborhood seen in films and TV shows today, the area is home
to some of the Big Apple’s most unsavory citizens.
Here, in a cramped, rat-infested apartment, the audience is
introduced to Ripley, a petty thief who makes his living tricking
patients of chiropractors out of their money. Just as his latest
scheme is drying up, he stumbles on the opportunity that will
reshape his life forever. At a bar one evening, he’s approached by
a private investigator (a criminally underused Bokeem Wood-
bine), who mistakes Tom for a friend of his wealthy client’s son.
Shortly after, Tom is on a ship to Italy tasked with enticing his
“friend” Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) to return home to his
concerned parents. Seeing his all-expense-paid trip to Europe
and the Greenleafs’ wealth as the chance to grasp the lifestyle he
believes he deserves, Tom sets off on a dark path marred by lies,
deceit and murder.
More aesthetically pleasing than narratively engaging, “Ripley”
reveals missteps in the very first episode. Since the characters
are older than in previous adaptations (both Scott and Flynn are
over 40), it’s implausible that the Greenleafs would send a man
they don’t know in search of their adult son. Moreover, with his
detached demeanor, Tom doesn’t even fake the affection or fa-
miliarity needed to carry off this ruse.
While Dickie, a novice and untalented painter, receives Tom
warmly, his girlfriend, Marge (Dakota Fanning), is immediately
suspicious of her beau’s supposed acquaintance. Her instincts are
correct: By the end of Chapter I, “A Hard Man to Find,” Tom begins
formulating his plans to take Dickie’s lavish life for himself. What’s
hard to reconcile is that Tom is utterly charmless. He’s a quick
thinker who can meticulously plot his way out of dark corners,
but Tom’s sociopathic personality and inability
to show even a sliver of humanity make “Ripley”
an uncomfortable, somber watch.
Still, the show is a stunning cinematic display,
boasting lingering shots of Italy’s monuments,
canals and architecture. But the episodes are
painfully overlong and full of dead space. Since
Tom spends a great deal of time alone, plotting
his next moves or cleaning up his various bloody
messes, viewers are forced to bide their time with
him as he completes the laborious tasks (typing
false documents, cleaning up evidence).
Additionally, though Tom is a narcissist with
limited people skills, Dickie and Marge aren’t
much better. Whether or not the viewer roots for
Tom’s lies and schemes, the show’s central couple
has very little depth. Dickie is aloof and naive,
a trust-fund baby who’s had the world handed
to him. While he certainly doesn’t deserve to
be one of Tom’s victims, his lack of astuteness
makes him easy, pitiful prey. Meanwhile, despite
seeing through Tom’s facade, Marge allows her
discernment to be bulldozed by a perceived re-
jection from Dickie; her ensuing character arc is a
total letdown.
Marge (Dakota Fanning) “Ripley” stumbles in part because Tom is void
eyes Tom with suspicion, of seduction and likability. The series has none
while Dickie Greenleaf
(Johnny Flynn) feels of the homoeroticism of Minghella’s film, which
only warmth. is disappointing because Scott’s sensuality has
radiated off the screen in other roles. In addi-
tion to her first “Ripley” novel, Highsmith wrote
four sequels showcasing the con artist schem-
ing his way through France and Germany. As an
older, more seasoned Tom, Scott’s take on the
swindler might have been better aligned in one
of those stories. Also, given Tom’s hate-laced
mentions of the aunt who raised him, flash-
backs from his childhood might have made for
a more robust narrative, lending the character
much-needed dimension.
Ultimately, “Ripley” fails to offer a new or in-
triguing perspective on the infamous scammer.
Previous projects have presented a more inviting
experience in which the audience becomes en-
amored of Tom’s treacherous designs. Here, over
eight tepid episodes, he never undergoes any
fundamental transformation. From the begin-
ning, he is just a grating grifter who lacks finesse.
Twisted and deeply disturbing, this
‘Ripley’ feels more sinister and stilted
than its predecessors, making
Philippe Antonello/Netflix
the show arduous rather than enticing.
 61

April 3, 2024

rangements. The perky bounce of their early ma- “Pravda” and a creepy kids choir on “Mary Boone”
MUSIC REVIEW JEM ASWAD terial is nowhere in sight. And while “Father of the that’s followed immediately by a driving beatbox
Bride” was largely guitar-based, it seems that Koenig accompanied by a string quartet. And on the clos-
spent much of the pandemic honing his piano play- ing “Hope,” the signature hook is played twice on
ing: It’s at the forefront of many of the tracks here, a piano’s high notes, then by a troupe of oboes the
which are filled with wildly cascading arpeggios third time round. These are things that only occur to
and mellifluous melodies; he’s either gotten a lot obsessives who’ve spent hours thinking about, say,
better or some very skillful editing took place. exactly how much reverb should be on the drums
God in the Details Of course, it’s Vampire Weekend, so the album is
academic and heady. Koenig recently told The New
in that eight-second passage on the second chorus.
But it would all be beautiful window dressing
York Times about the “patron saints” of the group’s without Koenig’s assured sense of melody and dis-
Vampire Weekend’s latest album records (not surprisingly, Simon was the first) and tinctive but deceptively versatile voice. He knows
takes the band’s unmistakable sound spoke of how this one’s songs conceptually detail his art and craft — when to let a line just hang, and
to dazzlingly intricate places “a journey from questioning to acceptance, maybe when to embellish with a harmony or a playful
to surrender. From a kind of negative worldview to countermelody. And if it all sometimes seems a
something a little deeper” (OK, dude). But what is bit too clever, he’ll show that he’s in on the joke
Only God Was Above Us actually more engaging is the way that same head- or is at least aware of it — a prominent, repeated
iness manifests itself musically: There’s tons of ear line on “Gen X Cops” is “Each generation makes
Artist Vampire Weekend Label Columbia
Producers Ariel Rechtshaid & Ezra Koenig, candy for music geeks here. “Prep School Gang- its own apology.”
with Chris Thomson and Rostam Batmanglij sters” opens with the riff from the Cars’ “My Best No apology necessary. “Only God Was Above
Friend’s Girl”; there’s a hilarious “Goldfinger”-esque Us” should keep listeners engaged until the
The biggest problem with early success is brass section on “The Surfer,” wild vocal effects on next chapter.
Æ getting past it — case in point: the cheerful
bop of Vampire Weekend’s first two albums and
their image as peppy college boys who’d studied
Paul Simon’s “Graceland” like a James Joyce mas-
ter’s thesis, playing their jaunty global pop to delir-
iously skanking millennials at seemingly every
music festival of the latter aughts. And although
that take was understandable — if unfairly reduc-
tive — at the time, V.W. is now a very different band.
“Only God Was Above Us” — their first album in
nearly five years and just their second in the past
decade — finds them bringing their vast musical
pedigree to create a sound that they’ve touched on
previously but never explored so thoroughly.
That sound is an unusual fusion of baroque gran-
deur — first aired on their 2013 song “Step” — and
punky energy that’s in full display on this album’s
first song, “Ice Cream Piano.” On it, a string quartet
jars against a comically distorted, shrieking gui-
tar — and throughout the album, such disparate
elements often play at the same time. It still sounds
unmistakably like Vampire Weekend — the band
has become increasingly singer-songwriter-gui-
tarist Ezra Koenig’s vehicle (especially since co-
founder Rostam Batmanglij left in 2016), and the
songs all are built around his effortless melodies
and deceptively plaintive voice. But the context for
them is what’s different.
Where 2018’s “Father of the Bride” sprawled
18 tracks across an hour, this one is shorter and
tighter: just 10 songs, all fully realized and in-
tensely arranged. The collaboration of Koenig and
co-producer Ariel Rechtshaid (Haim, Adele, Charli
XCX), which has developed over the band’s past
three albums, is at a new peak, with sophisticated,
Columbia Records

scale-vaulting hooks and constantly shifting ar-

62 Variety
Back Page April 3, 2024
Though she was billed sixth in a cast
Æ
Blood that included Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt,
an 11-year-old Kirsten Dunst stole the show
Relations as precocious bloodsucker Claudia in “Interview
With the Vampire.” Todd McCarthy’s review in
Variety from Nov. 6, 1994, gushed, “Dunst is just
right in the difficult part of the child vampire,”
while Roger Ebert raved that Dunst “is somehow
able to convey the notion of great age inside
apparent youth.” The neophyte pulled down
the film’s sole Golden Globe nomination for best
supporting actress, competing against Sophia
Loren in “Prêt-à-Porter” and Uma Thurman
in “Pulp Fiction.” (Dianne Wiest won for “Bullets
Over Broadway.”) Dunst hadn’t yet been born
when Paramount Pictures began developing
“Interview” after the studio acquired big-screen
rights to Anne Rice’s bestseller in 1976. But the
project languished before eventually landing at
Warner Bros., with David Geffen producing the
Gothic drama. In one scene that still elicits goose
bumps, Cruise’s Lestat explodes at his young
charge: “Claudia. Claudia! What have you done?”
Dunst responds coolly, “What you told me to
do.” An exasperated Cruise asks, “Leave a corpse
Francois Duhamel/Sygma/Getty Images
here to rot?” Like a preteen caught with her
hand in the cookie jar, she explains, “I wanted
her.” It was the first of many scene-stealing
moments for Dunst over her next three decades
on-screen. — Tatiana Siegel
W E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 1 0 AT 1 1 : 3 0 A M PDT

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dear producers & studios,
what you serve matters –
to all of us.

just by switching to
plant-based meals, an
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emissions equivalent to
driving for 117,495 miles
and the water of more
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scan below for plant-based

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