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“Smith enjoyed a hefty payday — according to reports, as much as $40 million — and then personally wrote checks to the cast which includes Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, who play Venus and Serena, Tony Goldwyn, Jon Bernthal, and Aunjanue Ellis, among others. A source described the payments as a nice bonus, given by Smith on top of what they already received from the studio as compensation for the pivot to simultaneous HBO Max release strategy,” per THR....

Even more edifying: the range of films on offer. Of course, this preview includes a number of fall festival premieres and “awards” titles, but we’ve got a range of smaller picks, genuine curiosities, and even the odd remake to get excited about. We’ve got Sundance favorites and Cannes debuts, a donkey with a heart of gold, a pair of highly anticipated superhero movies, and Steven Spielberg revisiting his childhood (again! and we’re all better for it!...

HBO’s “Succession” has never shied away from embracing the animal kingdom, be it Logan Roy (Brian Cox) going “full fucking beast” in the premiere of Season 3 or a rousing game of Boar on the Floor. In the most recent episode of the series, “Lion in the Meadow,” Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) calls his father a bear. But if Logan isn’t the lion referenced in the title of the episode, who is?...

The film, a glossy twist on the so-called “slave narrative,” stars Janelle Monáe as a woman “trapped in a horrifying reality that forces her to confront the past, present and future.” (The promotional language is cryptic, but to say more would create spoilers.) The filmmakers (Bush is Black, Renz is white) made “Antebellum” to catalyze a national dialogue around a host of urgent topics, including race. Critics don’t see it that way....

Two years later, however, the 61-year-old actor is busier than ever and brimming with enthusiasm about his future. In the Spanish-language “Official Competition,” which IFC Films opens in the U.S. this week, he plays a pompous movie star drawn into a project directed by an exacting filmmaker (Penelope Cruz) after an aging billionaire (José Luis Gomez) decides to finance a movie on a whim. The satirical comedy premiered on the fall circuit last year, just a few months before Banderas surfaced as the villain in the box office hit “Uncharted....

“I love the Russian people. That is why I have to tell you the truth,” Schwarzenegger captioned a video on Twitter. “Please watch and share.” The video includes Schwarzenegger detailing his admiration of Russian Olympian weightlifter Yuri Petrovich Vlasov and working in Russia, as well as revisiting his father’s history during WWII. “I’m sending this message to various different channels to reach my dear Russian friends and the Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine,” Schwarzenegger said in the nine-minute video....

Monday, May 31 marks the close of the 2020-2021 Emmy Award eligibility period, stemming the fire hose of Peak TV for the briefest of moments, before immediately resuming. (Don’t worry about the resumption just yet. That’s future you’s problem.) And while the closing moments of May saw a few high-profile releases, including the return of both HBO’s “In Treatment” and Netflix’s “Master of None,” the main source of Emmy buzz came in the form of outside awards bodies this week....