Films

‘Blue Beetle’ unseats ‘Barbie’ atop box office, ending four-week reign

It was a good news/bad news weekend for "Blue Beetle," the latest superhero film to hit North American theaters and the first built around a live-action Latino protagonist.

The DC Studios/Warner Bros. production topped the charts for the Friday-through-Sunday period and even dethroned "Barbie," that reigning queen of pinkness, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said on Aug. 20.

The Iron Giant | Athens | August 18

A sensory-friendly screening - meaning one designed to be accessible to people with autism and sensory processing disorders - of "The Iron Giant," is being shown at the Great Lawn of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (snfcc.org). Part of its Park Your Cinema program, the 1999 animated adventure tells the tale of a young boy's friendship with an alien who looks like a giant robot.

Iran sentences film-maker over Cannes-selected movie

A court in Iran has sentenced prominent movie director Saeed Roustaee to six months' prison for the screening of his film "Leila's Brothers" at the Cannes Film Festival last year, local media reported on Aug. 15.

"Leila's Brothers," a rich and complex tale of a family struggling with economic hardship in Tehran, has been banned in Iran since its release last year.

Zendaya tennis drama ‘Challengers’ to open Venice Film Festival

The Venice Film Festival is serving up one of the year's buzzier films as its opening night selection in Luca Guadagnino's "Challengers." The romantic tennis drama starring Zendaya, "West Side Story's" Mike Faist and "The Crown's" Josh O'Connor will have its world premiere out of competition at the 80th edition of the festival in September, organizers said Thursday.

Pages