News

Warren Beatty. Alan Menken. Chloe Zhao. Alfonso Cuarón.

The list of people who’ve received four nominations for the same film is extremely short, basically those names and maybe one or two more.

On Thursday, Anora‘s Sean Baker added his name to it. The filmmaker pulled off that rare hat trick-plus-one — he landed noms for director, picture, original screenplay and editing.

“It’s surreal, a lot of those are my heroes,” Baker said when The Hollywood Reporter caught up with him Thursday about the feat. “Especially since I thought I was making a movie whose subject matter was out of fashion,” he said, chuckling slightly as he described his stripper-themed action dramedy.

Star Mikey Madison called Baker “one of a kind” when asked about him Thursday. Oscar-wise, that statement is not exactly true. But it’s not far off.

Even people who’ve garnered multiple nominations in the same...

Ever since Oscar season became a year-round affair catering both to industry professionals and movie buffs all over the world, there has been a tendency to pencil in certain contenders sight-unseen based on their previous awards success or showbiz prominence. If Steven Spielberg has a new film on the way, it's immediately a prohibitive favorite for at least a nomination. Meryl Streep in a drama about something timely or socially important? That's one Best Actress nod most likely spoken for.

It's always a mistake to think this way. This is something I learned in 2007, when, as a participant in an Oscar prognosticating poll, I predicted Academy Award nominations across the board for "Charlie Wilson's War." How could I not? A drama about the United States' involvement in Afghanistan directed by Mike Nichols (winner for "The Graduate") and starring Tom Hanks (winner for "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump"), Julia Roberts (winner for...

The average moviegoer might be eager to watch another chapter in their favorite franchise, but when it comes to the most esteemed awards ceremony in the land, sequels struggle to get much major attention at the Oscars. Throughout its 96 ceremonies so gar, nine direct sequels have been nominated for Best Picture, only two of which have been fortunate enough to go home with the shiny golden man. The first win was in 1975 when Francis Ford Coppola explored two different generations of the Corleone family in "The Godfather Part II." The second wouldn't come until 2004 when the Academy praised Peter Jackson's first fond farewell to Middle-earth and the best of the "Lord and the Rings" and "The Hobbit" movies, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."

The two films couldn't be further apart, with one being all about kissing the ring, while the other is about doing...

While The Godfather Part II proved itself to be just as critically successful as its predecessor, it surprisingly didn't do as well at the box office. Inspired by the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo, The Godfather trilogy depicted the lives of the Corleone mafia family and their involvement in organized crime across the world. The first installment, The Godfather, looks at the family's patriarch, Vito Corleone, and his complicated life with his family and criminal activities. The two sequels explore Michael Corleone's rise to power and attempts to protect his family from his crimes.

Since the movies' release, The Godfather franchise has been ranked as one of the greatest movie trilogies of all time, with the first two movies being listed as some of the most successful movies ever made. The Godfather's cast includes Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro, who have all received Oscar nominations for their...

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Few filmmakers had a better 1970s than Sidney Lumet. While he was more prolific than most of the decade's top directors, knocking out 11 movies over a 10-year span, and did find time to helm one of the worst musicals in motion picture history (a badly bungled adaptation of "The Wiz"), when Lumet got ahold of the right material, he made classics like "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon," and "Network."

There isn't a more electric movie in Lumet's oeuvre than "Dog Day Afternoon." Based on a true story, the 1975 critical and commercial hit centers on a bank robbery in Brooklyn carried out by Sonny Wortzik, an amateur crook desperate to pay for his lover's gender-affirming surgery. When the heist quickly goes south, Sonny and his associates find themselves stuck holding hostages while cops swarm the building. The defiant Sonny scrambles to negotiate...

Robert De Niro has played some of the most (in)famous gangsters in movie history. Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, Al Capone in The Untouchables, James Conway in Goodfellas, Sam 'Ace' Rothstein in Casino... the list goes on. And after his monumental turn as Frank Sheeran in The Irishman, a movie many felt was a farewell to the mob movie genre from those who'd made its greatest hits, you'd be forgiven for thinking De Niro was done playing wise guys. Enter Barry Levinson. Enter Goodfellas scribe Nicholas Pileggi. Enter Alto Knights. Not only is De Niro back on the organised crime beat in the Rain Man filmmaker's dramatisation of the feud between crime family heads Vito Genovese and Frank Costello in 50s America — he's playing both of the mobsters himself! Yes, the time of Robert Deux Niro is nigh... and you can check out the first trailer for...

Robert De Niro is a two-hit wonder in the trailer for the upcoming gangster film “The Alto Knights” from Barry Levinson. De Niro stars in a double role as both mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, real-life kingpins of New York’s Genovese crime family.

Alongside De Niro stars Debra Messing as Costello’s wife Bobbie, Kathrine Narducci as Genovese’s wife Anna and Cosmo Jarvis. “The Alto Knights” is set to follow the story of the Italian American mafiosi in the mid-twentieth century and Genovese’s attempted hit on Costello in 1957.

De Niro is no stranger to the crime thriller, especially ones with mob ties. One of his first was Martin Scorsese’s 1973 feature “Mean Streets” where he starred alongside Harvey Keitel. De Niro then joined Francis Ford Coppola for the 1974 “The Godfather Part II” and then Scorsese again for his 1990 mob feature “Goodfellas.” De Niro has also starred in “Casino,...

Mark your calendars, Oscars fans, because the 97th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 2, 2025 on ABC. The annual star-studded ceremony will honor movies released in theaters within the 2024 calendar year of eligibility. AMPAS members will vote on the Oscar winners in 23 categories, including Best Adapted Screenplay. But who will win? Here at Gold Derby, thousands of users have been making and updating their 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Adapted Screenplay, so let’s take a look at all of the top contenders in our photo gallery below.

These 25 Best Adapted Screenplay hopefuls are listed in order of their racetrack odds, which are derived from the combined forecasts of four unique groups: experts we’ve polled from major media outlets, editors who cover awards year-round for this website, top 24 users who had the best accuracy scores last year, and the mass of users who make up our biggest predictions bloc.

The...

Al Pacino is one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation. Though he is now 84 years old, Pacino got his start in acting in his late 20s, when he played a role in the 1968 television series N.Y.P.D. Only four years after that debut, Pacino became best known for playing the role of Michael in The Godfather. This earned Pacino an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and later Best Actor for the sequel The Godfather Part II. It would not be until 1993, however, that Pacino first won an Oscar, for Scent of a Woman.

Pacino has also won two Tony awards and two Emmy Awards, giving him three of the coveted Egot letters (he is missing a Grammy). This is a huge achievement that few actors have been able to accomplish. Impressively, Pacino's career continues today, and he even got a Best Supporting Actor nomination in 2020 for The Irishman.

A distinct lack of Tom Hagen remains one of The Godfather Part III's biggest drawbacks, but there was a reason for the actor's absence. An adopted member of the Corleone family, Robert DuVall's Tom Hagen was among the major players in 1972's The Godfather cast. Following the deaths of Sonny and Vito, Hagen enjoyed even more prominence in The Godfather Part II, where he temporarily acted as don of the Corleone family in Michael's stead.

Despite his evident importance to the franchise, DuVall did not return in The Godfather Part III, and was the only major surviving character to be omitted. Dialogue explained that Tom Hagen died sometime between The Godfather Part II and Part III due to illness, not some nefarious mafia activity as one might assume. The real-life reason Robert DuVall declined The Godfather Part III, however, isn't quite as straightforward.

Robert DuVall Didn't Appear In The...

In the 97 years that the Academy Awards have been going, certain genres have always remained the underdogs, regardless of how general audiences may feel about them at any given time in history. When it comes to science-fiction, for example, only two entrants in the genre have actually walked away with the Best Picture Oscar, and both are more recent than you might expect. In point of fact, there hadn't been a single Best Picture-winning sci-fi film at all until Guillermo del Toro's sci-fi horror romance "The Shape of Water" came up for air in 2017. Nevertheless, del Toro's story of a woman (Sally Hawkins) falling for a merman (Doug Jones) managed to check all the required boxes at the time, winning Best Picture over the likes of "Call Me By Your Name," "Get Out," "Dunkirk," "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," "Darkest Hour," "The Post," "Lady Bird," and "Phantom Thread." 

This...

Actor John Cazale is notable not just for his talents and intensity as a performer, but also for having one of the most impressive filmographies for any actor with a career as short as his. Cazale, a prolific theater veteran, famously only appeared in five feature films before his untimely death of lung cancer in 1978 at the age of 42. Those five films, however, are often considered some of the best and most significant films of the 1970s, which is saying something.

Cazale appeared in three Francis Ford Coppola movies, as well as Sidney Lumet's stirring bank robber drama "Dog Day Afternoon" and Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter." Cazale played supporting roles in all of them. Each one of them was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Three of them won.

Cazale's film career, of course, was only a small piece of his acting experience. Notoriously guarded and shy,...

Michael Corleone shared many traits in common with his father, Vito, but even Marlon Brando's iconic The Godfather character would have refused to carry out Michael's worst crime. While Brando's swollen-jawed mafia boss remains synonymous with the Godfather movie franchise, the overarching story was really about Al Pacino's Michael, who reluctantly took over from his father as the Corleone family's don. Of Vito's three sons - Sonny, Michael, and Fredo - Michael was the closest to his father in personality, displaying intelligence, patience, coolness, cunning, and leadership.

Like Vito, Michael occupied a middle ground between the hot-headed Sonny and the gaffe-prone Fredo, and it was these similarities that made Vito's youngest son the ideal Corleone family successor. Nevertheless, Pacino's protagonist was no mere copy of his old man. Sometimes subtly, sometimes less so, Michael Corleone evolved into someone markedly different to Vito both in terms of...

There are few actors more recognizable and respected in Hollywood than Al Pacino, who has been a staple of the big screen since the 1970s. Pacino first became a star in 1972 with the release of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, a crime epic that is now widely regarded as one of the best movies of all time. Pacino would reprise his role as Michael Corleone for the acclaimed The Godfather Part II (1974) and a 1990 threequel, but he also branched beyond this franchise, playing memorable characters in a range of films.

In 1975, for example, Pacino starred in Dog Day Afternoon, and the following decades would see him star in projects like Dick Tracy (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Heat (1995), and Once Upon A Time... in Hollywood (2019). One of Pacino's most iconic roles, however, came in 1983 in the form of a collaboration with director Brian De Palma, with the pair ultimately making what...

As the world prepares to celebrate New Year’s Eve, fans will probably have a list of their best fun-filled New Year scenes in films. But only a few would remember The Godfather 2, which features an iconic celebration scene. The scene is rather intense rather than a joyous one but it is one that movie lovers would remember decades long after the original was released.

Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in the New Year’s Eve scene in The Godfather 2 | Credits: Paramount Pictures

In this particular scene from the film, Michael Corleone finds the rat in his team who is responsible for the attempted hit against his family.

Michael finds on New Year’s Eve that it was his brother Fredo who betrayed him, throwing the viewers for a curve during the family-oriented holiday. Al Pacino delivers an exceptional performance alongside the legendary John Cazale.

The tragic New Year’s...

Believe it or not, there used to be a time where movie sequels were actually an incredibly rare thing. As it was, audiences felt that movies and even tv shows should have definitive stories and points that they were trying to make and why would anybody bother making a sequel to what should have been a conclusive story? But now, in an era where Hollywood values established IP and fanbases more than any potential original project, sequels have become the norm. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing that sequels have taken over cinemas, provided that the sequels are just as good as the originals and come out with their own original plot-lines. Like all movies, whether or not a person might enjoy a surplus of sequels is preferential and is more so dependent on the subject material, especially if it’s regarding a franchise that the audience has taken a liking too.

One of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro's most iconic movies is getting a new streaming home soon. Pacino rose to fame portraying the youngest son of the Corleone family in The Godfather trilogy. His follow-up performances in Scarface and Dog Day Afternoon further cemented his status as a formidable actor. De Niro’s career formed along similar genre lines with gritty roles in mob films like Goodfellas, while winning Best Actor for his gripping portrayal of Jake Lamotta in Raging Bull. The two have thus defined the crime genre with unparalleled talent and their brooding on-screen presence in action-packed dramas.

Though the two legends have often worked separately, their collaborations have nonetheless brought about some significant films. Their time in The Godfather Part II, where De Niro plays a young Vito and father to Pacino's Michael, solidified both actors' reputations as masters of the crime and gangster genres,...

Beginning in the late 1960s and spreading into the 1970s, American cinema was revolutionized by the New Hollywood movement. At the forefront of this movement was a crew of directors from different entertainment disciplines who spoke to the exploding youth counterculture with classics like "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Graduate," and "M*A*S*H." The world felt like it was going mad, but the movies were somehow helping us make sense of this descent. Before moviegoers could adjust to this newfangled mode of motion picture art, the film brats arrived. Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg rattled the industry's cage in wildly different ways. It was a glorious time. Then studios, with the perhaps unwitting assistance of Lucas and Spielberg, locked in on a formula: They could make hundreds of millions of dollars off a single movie if they hit the right commercial buttons.

Perhaps the definitive image of “The Brutalist,” found near the opening of the film and featured heavily in its marketing, is an undulating, upside-down shot of the Statue of Liberty as a boat full of newly-arrived foreigners celebrate its presence. For them, it marks the end of a long journey, but in a signal to the audience, director Brady Corbet and cinematographer Lol Crawley tell us that very few are aware of what fresh horrors await on these new shores.

The immigrant experience, whether it be in depictions of dangerous crossings or the strife of settling in a new place far from what is known, has long been examined by filmmakers. Some have done so as a way of tracing their own family history, like in the case of Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather: Part II,” or as a form of understanding someone else’s plight in the instance of the animated documentary “Flee.

This article contains spoilers for "Mufasa: The Lion King."

Making a prequel to any story can be a challenge. It's a true double-edged sword. On the one hand, if you're being tasked with telling the story before the events of an earlier one, it means that audiences responded well to the latter. It's rare, at least, for an ill-liked or financially unsuccessful film to get a prequel, so audiences must have liked the first film enough. But the downside is that because audiences like the first story, it means that they kind of know where any prequel has to end. Even the best types of prequels struggle against this. 

If you watch "The Godfather Part II," for example, you inherently know that Vito Corleone will rise up through the ranks of the Mob to become the eponymous character of the original 1972 classic from director Francis Ford Coppola. That doesn't mean...

After the recent release of his misbegotten saga Megalopolis, the anniversary of his crime drama sequel serves as a perfect reminder of the director’s abilities

Creatively speaking, 2024 was Francis Ford Coppola’s biggest year in ages. Not only did it see the release of his first movie in 13 years, that film was Megalopolis, a dream project that had been kicking around in his head for upwards of four decades. It made a particularly auspicious year for the emergence of Coppola’s potentially career-capping achievement, because it also marked the 50th anniversary of perhaps his greatest sustained professional triumph: the year he released both The Conversation and The Godfather Part II within months of each other in 1974. With the sprawling (and loopy) ambition of Megalopolis still fresh in mind, the 50th anniversary of The Godfather Part II seems particularly notable in Coppola’s evolution as a film-maker.

The very idea...

There is something foundational about Carol Kane. She was part of the fabric of late 20th Century arts and entertainment, whether it be in films like “Dog Day Afternoon” and “The Princess Bride” or on television in her Emmy-winning performance on “Taxi” as wife to Andy Kaufman’s Latke. In transitioning into the 21st century, not only did her strengths become more amplified — her trademark quirkiness adding dynamism to movies such as “The Pacifier” and shows like “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” — but her range continues to become more pronounced. In the last decade alone she’s taken part in a western from Jacques Audiard (“The Sisters Brothers”), a zombie comedy from Jim Jarmusch (“The Dead Don’t Die”), and will soon be seen in Darren Aronofsky’s ’90s-set crime thriller “Caught Stealing” as a character she recently told IndieWire “only spoke Yiddish.”

The role garnering her the most attention nowadays, however,...

With a 200-minute running time, Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” (A24) isn’t unique among wide-release English-language films. In fact, it’s somewhat shorter than some major releases in recent decades.

There’s no standard for intermissions, which can vary between presentations, technical issues, or even elevating a film’s prestige. “The Brutalist” qualifies on all counts, but its intermission could herald a comeback: Audience habits have changed, and directors would love to use them to defend longer movies.

“The Brutalist” becomes 215 minutes start to finish with its precisely timed 15-minute break. Without it, it would be nine minutes shorter than “The Irishman”; about the same as “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” “The Godfather Part II,” and George Stevens’ 1956 “Giant”; and about five minutes longer than “Schindler’s List” and “Titanic.” All were released without intermissions. Among major titles, “Gone with the Wind” is still the longest...

The IMDb top-250 is a curious portrait of populist taste. The list is, it's worth remembering, culled only from user ratings on the IMDb website, and, judging by the films on the list, the average IMDb user seems to be a college-age white male with a taste for crime, guns, fantasy, and the ultra-masculine. The top movies on the list all seem to be the types of movies that young men would own posters for, proudly displayed on their dorm room walls. There are many unassailable classics, to be sure, and young teens could easily look to the list as a rudimentary introduction to the world of cinema, but the list seems ... skewed. There's not a lot of variety. It's not curated by a single critic, nor even a panel of critics. It's just a general consensus of the taste of the types of people who like to rate movies on IMDb.

Should you ever need to give your watchlist some extra oomph, you can't go wrong by referring to IMDb's Top 250 list, which includes some of the best movies that cinema has ever had to offer. The great thing about such a mammoth pile of films is that icons of Hollywood will be popping in more than one entry on the list. Of course, some stars have a greater presence on this compendium than others, and while it might not shock many as to who has the most entries, it's surprising to see who the runner-ups are.

Coming in at the number one spot with the most films in IMDb's Top 250 is the man many believe to be perhaps the best actor ever -- Robert De Niro. Having appeared in over 100 films, nine of De Niro's projects rank among the website's most beloved 250: "The Godfather Part II," "Goodfellas,...

The Godfather trilogy's most powerful characters might have been the family Dons, but the consiglieri were often overlooked while holding substantial power. The intricate politics of the Corleone mafia family were at the center of the three Godfather movies, which showed the rise and fall of Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino. Many characters in the Godfather trilogy were already veteran actors, like Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando, and the movies launched the careers of others, including Diane Keaton and Al Pacino. Though the "Godfather" title is not used in real life, the movies used other real mafia terms.

The leader of the family's business is known as the "Don," (boss) and, as the title is inherited or given, there have been six Corleone family Dons in the Godfather trilogy. While the Don is generally the most powerful position in the mafia family hierarchy, each Don has a second-in-command, known as the underboss,...

Plenty of movie franchises overstay their welcome, and two movies is often enough to see whether a franchise has a viable future. The first sequel often dictates whether a franchise can be more than just one great movie. For example, John Wick was designed as a standalone movie, but its first sequel set up an intriguing story that necessitated an entire franchise. For every John Wick, there are many more franchises which deliver underwhelming sequels.

Not all movies should set up long-running franchises, and not all franchises should be designed to continue indefinitely. There are plenty of franchises with just two or three movies that are the perfect length. Unfortunately, studios don't always know when to quit. There's an art to knowing the right time to call it quits, and a lot of movie franchises would be held in higher regard if they had stopped at just two movies.

The...

As one of cinema’s most legendary artisans, Francis Ford Coppola has helped shape the world of entertainment for over half a century, even when he wasn’t really trying to.

In a recent interview with The Washington Post ahead of him receiving a Kennedy Center Honor this weekend, Coppola reflected on his career, including the surprise success that came from “The Godfather” and how the studios forced him into the position of making a sequel despite not initially having an interest in doing so.

As a ploy to cause issues for Paramount, Coppola pitched titling the film “The Godfather: Part II” even though most sequels up until that point in Hollywood used unique titles like “The Bride of Frankenstein” or “After the Thin Man.” When “Part II” became another hit in its own right, it spurned a tradition that lasts to this day and one that Coppola himself resents.

Francis Ford Coppola believes his recent sci-fi flop will stand the test of time. Coppola is regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers in cinema history. He rose to prominence in the 1970s with The Godfather and its sequel, The Godfather Part II, with both films considered masterpieces that each won Best Picture at the Academy Awards just one year apart. Furthermore, Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, a war epic about the Vietnam War, earned critical acclaim for its daring narrative and technical achievements, winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes in addition to multiple Academy Awards.

In addition to these iconic films, Coppola’s career is marked by his willingness to take risks. Films like One From the Heart, a visually experimental musical, was a commercial failure but still remembered for its unique storytelling. Similarly, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, a biographical drama about the rise and fall of an American car innovator,...

Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers from Abbott Elementary season 4, episode 8, "Winter Break."

Abbott Elementary has featured numerous impressive guest stars over the course of its four seasons, with one of the most recent being the perfect casting for Melissa's mother in the season 4 fall finale. Lisa Ann Walter stars as Melissa Schemmenti, a role she has played since the beginning of Quinta Brunson's ABC mockumentary sitcom. Over the years, viewers have learned a lot about Melissa, including teases about her family and their history in Philadelphia. With this in mind, it makes sense why Brunson and co. decided to cast one particular actress to play Melissa's mom in Abbott Elementary season 4.

Abbott Elementary season 4 returns with episode 9 on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 8:30 pm Et on ABC. The midseason premiere will serve as the first part of the highly anticipated crossover with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season...

Francis Ford Coppola apologizes for his role in prompting an undesirable Hollywood trend. Considered a master of cinema, Coppola is behind some of the most notable works of the 20th century. Most significantly, he directed the Godfather trilogy, which began with The Godfather in 1972 and continued with The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III in 1974 and 1990, respectively. Other notable works by Coppola have included the war epic Apocalypse Now and the surveillance drama The Conversation. This year he directed Megalopolis, which has become one of 2024's most notorious films.

Speaking with The Washington Post, Coppola apologizes for a movie trend he inadvertently started. According to the director, he decided to tack on the "Part II" label to his Godfather sequel after seeing Russian filmmakers do it with the movie Ivan the Terrible. While the studios resisted at first, worrying that moviegoers would think the same movie had been released,...

After 50 years, Francis Ford Coppola has one regret about making what is largely considered the best sequel of all time.

According to the 5x Oscar winner, Hollywood’s ever-growing obsession with continuations is the result of his petty demands for making The Godfather Part II (1974), for which he fought Paramount Pictures on returning the director’s chair after the original 1972 was a major hit.

“They said, basically, ‘Francis, you’ve made Coca-Cola. You’re gonna stop making colas?'” recalled Coppola to The Washington Post.

In attempt to get out of directing the sequel, Coppola suggested up-and-coming director Martin Scorsese take the reins.

When Paramount rejected the idea, Coppola made some seemingly unreasonable demands, including a then-exorbitant $1 million paycheck and the addition of ‘Part II’ to the title. Although...

From Michael Corleone to his complicated father Vito, The Godfather trilogy is filled with some of the most captivating characters ever to grace the big screen. A lot of these characters were already compelling on the page in Mario Puzo’s source material, but director Francis Ford Coppola picked the perfect actors to bring them to life in the film adaptation. The Godfather cast is rounded out by screen legends like Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, and Diane Keaton, who brought depth and nuance that these characters didn’t have in their original literary form.

There are some iconic characters who grew and developed over the course of all three movies, like Kay, Connie, and of course, the Godfather himself, Michael. But there are just as many characters who made a lasting impression with a major appearance in just one movie, like Sonny (who only reappears for a brief flashback in...

The Godfather Part III might be the worst installment in the trilogy (by far), but it did succeed in finally giving Connie Corleone the larger role she always deserved. Connie is Vito’s only daughter and is often described as his favorite child besides Michael. The character was played by director Francis Ford Coppola’s sister Talia Shire, best known for her role as Adrian Pennino Balboa in the Rocky franchise. Shire earned plenty of critical acclaim for her performance as Connie (and even earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress), but she was often sidelined by The Godfather movies.

There are a few reasons why The Godfather Part III didn’t match the universal acclaim of its predecessors. Sofia Coppola’s performance as Mary was criticized for being wooden (although her acting has since been reappraised), while the narrative wasn’t as vital. But the threequel did do...

Sequel culture rules Hollywood today, but in the 1970s they hadn't even begun tagging numbers on to titles yet. All that changed with the massive success of The Godfather, which made Paramount Pictures eager for a sequel. Francis Ford Coppola wasn't particularly interested in making one, so he made a...

The mixed reception to Gladiator 2 proves that the best sequels to Ridley Scott movies aren’t directed by Ridley Scott himself. Gladiator 2 has proven to be a box office success, and it’s received mostly positive reviews from critics, but it hasn’t matched the universal acclaim of its predecessor. The debate rages on as to whether or not Gladiator even needed a sequel. The first film explored the notion that today’s actions will have implications for tomorrow and echo in eternity, but it was a perfect standalone story; it didn’t need another movie showing those eternal echoes.

But Scott decided to make a sequel to Gladiator anyway. He retconned Lucius to be Maximus’ illegitimate son and set him off on his own path to becoming a champion gladiator while quietly plotting his revenge against Rome’s corrupt rulers. Gladiator 2 has proven to be more...

The Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece “The Godfather” (1972) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Picture winner ever. The results are from a recent Gold Derby ballot cast by 29 of our film experts and editors, who ranked all 96 movie champs.

Ranking in second place is the Michael Curtiz classic “Casablanca” (1943). Following in third place is the powerful Steven Spielberg film “Schindler’s List” (1993). Rounding out the top five are Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II” (1974) in fourth place and Billy Wilder‘s “The Apartment” (196o) in fifth place.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Picture winners is “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) from Cecil B. DeMille. Just above that film in the rankings are “Cimarron” (1931) from Wesley Ruggles, “The Broadway Melody” (1929) from Harry Beaumont, “Crash” (2005) from Paul Haggis, and “Around the World in 80 Days’ (1956) from Michael Anderson.

Our photo gallery above features the full top 10. See the complete rankings of all 96 films below.

The Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece “The Godfather” (1972) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Picture winner ever. The results are from a recent Gold Derby ballot cast by 29 of our film experts and editors, who ranked all 96 movie champs.

Ranking in second place is the Michael Curtiz classic “Casablanca” (1943). Following in third place is the powerful Steven Spielberg film “Schindler’s List” (1993). Rounding out the top five are Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II” (1974) in fourth place and Billy Wilder‘s “The Apartment” (196o) in fifth place.

The worst among 96 Best Picture winners is “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) from Cecil B. DeMille. Just above that film on the bottom of the rankings are “Cimarron” (1931) from Wesley Ruggles, “The Broadway Melody” (1929) from Harry Beaumont, “Crash” (2005) from Paul Haggis, and “Around the World in 80 Days’ (1956) from Michael Anderson.

Our photo gallery below features the full top 10. See the complete rankings of all 96 films below.

Sir Ridley Scott will use ‘The Godfather’ trilogy as a basis for a third ‘Gladiator’ movie.Even though he’s just released ‘Gladiator II’ - the long-awaited sequel to the Russell Crowe-starring 2000 Roman blockbuster - the 86-year-old director is already looking to the future of the series, and has now shared he will take inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic Mafia saga if makes another movie in the franchise.The filmmaker explained he wanted to take Michael Corleone’s character arc from ‘The Godfather Part II’ and craft something similar for Paul Mescal’s Lucius, the son of Crowe's Maximus Decimus Meridius.Scott told The Hollywood Reporter: “There’s already an idea. I always had this idea that ‘The Godfather’ ends with Michael not wanting the job. He sits there, and there’s this push-in on Al [Pacino].He’s already had his hand kissed. He’s betrayed his wife with lies.

No one likes to admit it, but for most fans of "The Godfather," the final chapter of Michael Corleone's reign is more of an obligatory watch. "The Godfather Part III" is much further down the rankings of Francis Ford Coppola's features than the two masterful efforts that preceded it, perhaps because the star of the crime saga and his director had bigger concerns than delivering the same level of quality.

In Al Pacino's memoir, "Sonny Boy," the star that carried the beloved trilogy revealed his thought process about taking his seat at the head of the Corleone family table and that it was, in fact, a much easier option to take than he had in the previous film. As reported by People, Pacino wrote that with "The Godfather Part II," "I struggled with the decision and second-­guessed myself constantly. Not so for 'Part III.'" After 16 years...

[The following story contains spoilers for Gladiator II.]

Ridley Scott already has a plan for Gladiator III, and he has not been shy when it comes to dropping hints about it.

The visionary director has been promoting his new action-epic sequel, which is set to deliver a $60 million opening weekend at the box office. Scott, who turns 87 next week, already wants to return to the arena — and not wait two decades this time.

Gladiator II ends with Paul Mescal’s Lucius having gained the backing of an army and having defeated the villainous Macrinus (Denzel Washington), following his killing of the two Emperors, Geta and Caracalla (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger). The ending gives the weary Lucius an opportunity to seize power for himself.

Scott says the sequel will pick up on that idea and draw inspiration from The Godfather Part II, where Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is now the undisputed leader of organized crime and...

Everything old was new again at this year’s Cairo Film Festival.

Filling out a super-sized 45th edition, the Egyptian event introduced a new section dedicated to heritage titles, showcasing 10 gems of world cinema, among them titles like “The Lonely Wife” and “The Color of Pomegranates” to mark the centenaries of film greats Satyajit Ray and Sergei Parajanov, as well as 4K restorations of “The Godfather Part II,” “The Thief of Baghdad” and “Cleopatra,” among several more.

As part of a bolstered Cairo Classics program, the festival also premiered 14 milestones of Egyptian cinema freshly remastered and reintroduced to an eager public. And as the Cairo Film Festival charts a new course under president Hussein Fahmy and artistic director Essam Zakarea, this restorative vocation will stay a cornerstone of their wider mission.

“Egyptian cinema is one of the oldest in the world, but we have a problem with our archive,” Zakarea tells Variety.

Love him or hate him, Robert De Niro is stepping into uncharted territory: episodic television.

And he’s doing it in a way only De Niro can — by playing a former U.S. president caught in the chaos of a devastating cyberattack in Netflix’s Zero Day.

Premiering February 20, 2025, the six-episode limited series finds De Niro in the role of George Mullen, a highly respected but complicated former president.

(Netflix)

He’s called back into action to lead an investigation after a cyberattack leaves thousands dead.

As head of the Zero Day Commission, Mullen must unravel a crisis steeped in disinformation, conspiracy, and power struggles.

But the stakes aren’t just political; they’re personal. Mullen’s relentless search for answers forces him to confront his own demons, risking his family, reputation, and legacy in the process.

The premise alone feels eerily relevant. Cybersecurity threats, rampant misinformation, and distrust in leadership dominate today’s headlines,...

The Academy Awards are still months away but the best picture landscape is already taking shape. Some question marks remain — for example, both “Nosferatu” and the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” have yet to be widely seen. And the staying power of smaller indies like “A Real Pain” and “Nickel Boys” has yet to be tested. Critical attention could boost films like “I’m Still Here” and “Hard Truths.” And it’s been a great year for animation with films like “Inside Out 2” and “The Wild Robot” — can they break the bias into the lead race?

While we’ll have to wait a bit longer for answers, here’s a look at some of the films that are generating the most discussion to take home the top prize in March.

Anora

Neon

Anchored by Mikey Madison’s force-of-nature performance in the title role, Sean Baker’s tale of a...

Prime Video’s November programming will dip its toe into Christmas and other holiday offerings such as The Holiday (2006) starring Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black. The streamer will also add some films with sequels arriving in theaters this month, like Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and Ridley Scott’s 1992 film Gladiator.

For the full list of Prime Video programming in November 2024, see below.

Related: New On Netflix For November 2024: Movies, TV Shows and More

Nov. 1

Movies:

12 Days of Christmas Eve (2004) 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995) 50 To 1 (2014) A Knight’s Tale (2001) Absolute Deception (2013) Across The Universe (2007) Agent Cody Banks (2003) Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004) Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) Airplane! (1980) All Saints (2017) Almost Christmas (2016) Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid (2004) Anger Management (2003) Apache (1954) Bad Company (2002) Battlefield Earth (2000) Battleship (2012) Big Night (1996) Blizzard (2003) Blown Away (1993) Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004) Boomerang (1992) Bucky Larson Born To Be A Star (2011) Carrie...

Paul Mescal wants audiences to pay to be entertained by “Gladiator II” at the box office.

The indie star makes his blockbuster debut with Ridley Scott’s $250 million-plus sequel, which opens November 22 in theaters, the same day as musical adaptation “Wicked.”

Mescal told Variety that there is “pressure” for “Gladiator II” to do well in theaters.

“I do feel the pressure, and I do feel the desire for this to make money,” Mescal said. “The box office needs a shot in the arm, and if films like ‘Gladiator II’ aren’t doing it, it would be concerning. So I do feel a responsibility.”

“Gladiator II” is set 20 years after the events of the first film, which was released in 2000. Mescal plays the son of Russell Crowe’s deceased character Maximus; Mescal’s Lucius is the grandson of Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington...

It's sadly all too common for sequels to fail to live up to the quality of their predecessors, but some have achieved critical success by building on the original movie. Only a few sequels have managed to surpass the movies that came before them on Rotten Tomatoes. In most cases, franchises tend to see a drop-off in quality after the first movie. This has happened with Men in Black, Ghostbusters, The Avengers and countless others. Even great sequels like The Godfather Part II don't necessarily top the movies that came before them on Rotten Tomatoes.

Many highly anticipated sequels flop hard, because the high expectations from the first movies make it difficult to succeed. Making a sequel is always a risk, because fans want to see something new and inventive, but the movie also has to stick to what makes the original so popular. Movies which can achieve this balancing...

Both of Robert De Niros Oscar wins were weirdly predicted by an iconic scene from The Godfather, eight years before he would complete his dual Academy Award victory. Throughout his career, De Niro has been nominated for a grand total of nine Oscars. He was nominated for Best Actor for Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, Awakenings, and Cape Fear; he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather Part II, Silver Linings Playbook, and Killers of the Flower Moon; and he was nominated for Best Picture as a producer of The Irishman.

But De Niro has only ever won two Oscars. His first Academy Award win was Best Supporting Actor for Francis Ford Coppolas The Godfather Part II, in which he played the younger version of Vito Corleone in the prequel timeline filling in his backstory. Then, six years later, he earned Best Actor for his sobering...

After months of rumors that Barry Keoghan would star in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” the director spoke about Keoghan’s planned casting in the New York Times this week. Due to scheduling conflicts, Keoghan departed the swords-and-sandals sequel to film Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” in summer 2022.

“I love Ridley Scott,” Keoghan told IndieWire during a recent interview for the release of his latest film “Bird.” “I think he is just legendary. And again, Ridley is another one that you just jump on that opportunity. It didn’t work for scheduling reasons. But feck, man, you know, it’s like this guy is comparing me to these actors that I admire and, from a filmmaker like him, it was really nice to read that. It really was. I’m a massive fan of … Paul [Mescal]. Paul’s a friend, and I’m really excited. I love ‘Gladiator.’ So I’m really...

Ridley Scott’s ancient Rome would draw some inspiration from a mafia classic for a possible third “Gladiator” film.

Ahead of his highly-anticipated sequel “Gladiator II,” Scott told The Hollywood Reporter that he already has plans for a third franchise installment that would be inspired by Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather: Part II.”

“Gladiator II,” which opens November 22 in theaters, is set 20 years after the events of the first 2000 film. Paul Mescal plays the son of Russell Crowe’s deceased character Maximus; Mescal’s Lucius is the grandson of Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington also star star.

According to Scott, “Gladiator” fans won’t have to wait another 25 years for a follow-up as he is eyeing a third film after the upcoming buzzy sequel.

When asked if Scott would release his original longer cut of “Gladiator II,” he told THR, “Yeah,...