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The Tuesday letter, issued by FIAPF (the International Federation of Film Producers Associations), highlighted film festivals’ “significant contributions to the cultural, economic, and social development in the territories where they are established. Prominent organizations attached to the joint letter included the Cannes, Venice, Toronto, and Berlin film festivals, among others. “The global film industry has never been hit so badly in its entire history,” Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera said in the letter....

“I’m just not comfortable having that type of agenda get special treatment in my state,” he said. “I just can’t do it.” He added, “We have everything thought out. Don’t let anyone tell you that Disney is going to get a tax cut out of this. They are going to pay more taxes as a result of this.” Earlier, Published April 21: Following its flip-flopping over the “Don’t Say Gay” law, the Walt Disney Company is set to lose its Florida footing as a special district for Walt Disney World....

“I’d love to do the Muppets again but Disney doesn’t want me, and ‘Sesame Street’ hasn’t asked me for 10 years,” Oz said. “They don’t want me because I won’t follow orders and I won’t do the kind of Muppets they believe in.” On “Sesame Street,” Oz voiced Bert, Grover, and Cookie Monster. But he no longer watches either franchise that he once called home, and he is blunt about the reason why: “The soul’s not there....

If you’re a “Star Trek” fan, the future it presents has always been part of its appeal: that humanity will unite as one while celebrating our differences, put war and hatred and discrimination and poverty behind us, and dedicate our lives to bettering ourselves through discovery among the stars. This has never been just another sci-fi franchise. “Star Trek” came with its own philosophy, and its particular optimism right now may feel less suited for sci-fi than fantasy....

Del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” is adapted by the filmmaker, and film critic Kim Morgan, from the 1946 William Lindsay Gresham novel of the same name. The ensemble cast includes Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Rooney Mara, and David Strathairn. The film originally eyed a release in 2020, but pandemic-related production delays bumped it to 2021. IndieWire reported that del Toro wrapped production on the movie in December....

“Helstrom” centers on Daimon and Ana Helstrom, estranged siblings with vaguely described supernatural powers. Daimon (Tom Austen) is an ethics professor and exorcist, while Ana is a goth, Silicon Valley-type with a fun haircut who murders criminals. The duo reunites to aid their demon-possessed mother, Victoria (Elizabeth Marvel), who has been locked away in a psychiatric facility for two decades. (Marvel, in the show’s standout performance, admirably juggles what is essentially two roles at once....

“The most important thing to do, apart from the script, is cast it well and learn to trust your actors’ intuition. You should be a partner with the actor in that process that allows his intuition or her intuition to kick in and help guide you,” Scott said during a post-screening Q&A last week at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where he was joined by many members of his cast....