Al Pacino Addresses Oscars ‘Controversy’ Over Not Naming Best Picture Nominees: It Was ‘a Choice By Producers’ and ‘I Empathize With Those Slighted By This Oversight’

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire delivered one of the most iconic movie kisses of the 21st century in 2002’s “Spider-Man,” but it was “kind of miserable” to shoot. Dunst is the latest guest on “The Jonathan Ross Show” (via The Independent) ahead of the release of her new movie “Civil War,” and she remembered how not ideal it was to kiss Maguire in the pouring rain while he was upside down as Spider-Man.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director If Kristen Stewart herself was the protagonist of the “Twilight” movies, then she probably wouldn’t have stayed with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) for too long. Appearing on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) while on her “Love Lies Bleeding” press tour, Stewart said she would’ve called it off with Edward almost immediately once he started not letting her make her own choices. “Let’s talk about Bella for a second,” podcast host Amanda Hirsch said to Stewart during the episode.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Happy Gilmore 2″ is apparently being developed by Adam Sandler, and a script even exists. Shooter McGavin actor Christopher McDonald revealed the news during a radio interview on “Audacy’s 92.3 The Fan.” McDonald said he had a recent run-in with Sandler, who unexpectedly pulled out the first draft for a sequel to their 1996 sports comedy classic. “I saw Adam [Sandler] about two weeks ago, and he says to me, ‘McDonald, you’re gonna love this,'” McDonald said.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Gwyneth Paltrow confirmed on “Hot Ones” that a rumor about Bill Clinton sleeping through a screening of “Emma” at the White House is true. The 1996 Jane Austen adaptation was directed by Douglas McGrath and featured Paltrow in the title role. She earned critical acclaim for the performance, which continued her hot streak as one of the most recognizable actors of the 1990s indie film boom.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu confirmed in a new interview with Vanity Fair that his leading ladies Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo sang live on set, similar to how other movie musicals such as “La La Land” and “Les Miserables” were filmed. Studios often rely on pre-recorded tracks when filming musical numbers, which requires performers to lip-synch along on set.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Speaking to Them magazine alongside her “Love Lies Bleeding” co-star Katy O’Brien, Kristen Stewart briefly reflected on making the 2020 holiday romantic comedy “Happiest Season.” Set up at Sony Pictures and released in the U.S. direct to streaming via Hulu, the Clea DuVall-directed film was widely touted as the first lesbian Christmas rom-com produced by a major Hollywood studio. “The identity was beaten out of my goals there,” Stewart told Them about “Happiest Season.” “I was getting so many studio executive notes about my hair and my clothes.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jake Gyllenhaal was a serious contender to play Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy, and it appear losing the role to Christian Bale has never impacted Gyllenhaal’s desire to play the Caped Crusader on the big screen. Making the press rounds in support of his new Amazon Prime Video action movie “Road House,” Gyllenhaal was asked by Screen Rant if he was still interested in playing Batman. “Oh, man.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Within 24 hours of this year’s Academy Awards, total views on Variety social video covering the show hit 138 million, becoming the biggest day of Oscars social traffic in publication history. The previous record was held by coverage of the 2023 Oscars, which generated over 122 million views in just one day.

the 2024 Oscars Sunday, host Jimmy Kimmel, 56, made a joke about Donald Trump. The former president wrote on the social media platform Truth Social, “Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars.

coveted Best Picture award at the 2024 Oscars.The “Scarface” actor, who appeared during Sunday’s star-studded ceremony to present the top honor, went about his presenting duties in an unconventional manner.Instead of building the tension and suspense by naming each of the 10 nominees — as every other presenter before him has — the “Godfather” star just blurted out the winning motion picture, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”But according to the actor, 83, the Academy had not asked him to name the other nominees up for the gong.“There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the best picture award,” Pacino told The Post in a statement.“I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony. I was honored to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented.”“I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful,” he went on.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Just minutes before the Oscars were set to begin, the show’s producers realized they had a problem: Some of the year’s key A-listers and nominees weren’t inside the Dolby Theatre just yet. The perfect storm of traffic delays, pro-Palestine protests, the first day of daylight saving time and an earlier start time had contributed to the last-minute crunch. “We were definitely stressed out, because we had to have certain celebrities in their seats,” Oscars producer Molly McNearney — also an EP on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” — tells Variety on Monday morning.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Spider-Verse” star Shameik Moore found himself in hot water on X (formerly Twitter) during the 2024 Oscars when he seemingly reacted to “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” losing the Academy Award for best animated feature to Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” by posting a one word reaction: “Robbed.” Many fans were quick to criticize Moore, who voices Miles Morales in the animated franchise, and pointed out that Miyazaki is a master of animation who directed an equally acclaimed movie. “Respect to the winner,” Moore posted in a follow-up response. “It’s true, I’m definitely a sore loser, but we didn’t lose, ‘Spider-Verse’ has impacted A LOT of lives.

Looks like fourth time is truly a charm for Jimmy Kimmel and the Academy Awards.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “The Fall Guy” stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt brought the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon to the Oscars stage while presenting a special tribute to stunt performers. The two co-stars, who were both nominated for supporting actor Oscars this year — Blunt for “Oppenheimer,” Gosling for “Barbie” — playfully roasted the rivalry between the two blockbusters, which famously opened in the theaters on the same date last summer. “I’m just happy that we can finally put this ‘Barbenheimer’ rivalry aside,” Gosling told Blunt.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” notably features the acting return of Christoper Walken, who hasn’t been seen on the big screen in four years. The Oscar winner had a trio of films released in 2020 (“The War with Grandpa,” “Percy” and “Wild Mountain Thyme”) and then went on a hiatus from moviemaking (he did show up in the 2022 television series “Severance.”) Now, he joins “Dune: Part Two” as Shaddam IV, aka the Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe. Why did Walken decide to make “Dune: Part Two” his comeback? It’s a question Vanity Fair asked the Oscar winner in a new interview, to which Walken responded: “I had, of course, seen the first ‘Dune’ a number of times.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Oscar producers Raj Kapoor, Katy Mullan, Molly McNearney and Rob Paine, as well as music director Rickey Minor are days away from the 96th Academy Awards. But they took time out on Wednesday afternoon to share insight into what to expect from Sunday’s ceremony. In a conversation moderated by Jacqueline Coley, Awards Editor at Rotten Tomatoes, Kapoor said this year’s theme is “human connection, emotion, inspiration and creativity.” A major highlight that has both fans and producers excited is the news of five former winners presenting to the five nominees.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Deadpool” star Karan Soni (Dopinder) told Variety this week that a ton of surprise cameos were filmed for the upcoming third installment, “Deadpool and Wolverine,” adding: “Let’s just say a lot of people traveled to London [for filming].” One actor who apparently did not make it to London was Vinnie Jones, who debuted as Juggernaut in “X-Men: The Last Stand.” Jones recently told Yahoo Movies UK that he turned down a request to reprise the character in “Deadpool and Wolverine” because getting in his Juggernaut suit isn’t the best experience. “Funnily enough I just got asked to do ‘Deadpool,’ the new one now, and I spoke to the director and I just said it’s such a drama putting that suit on mentally and physically,” Jones said. “I mean it had its mental toll as well because you’re in it and you can’t do anything all day, you can only drink through a straw.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kirsten Dunst said in a new interview with Marie Claire that she’s finally at a stage in her career where she no longer feels “nervous” speaking her mind, adding: “I feel at home sharing everything on set now.” It’s a far cry from the version of Dunst who was on the “Spider-Man” set decades ago. As a young actor, Dunst didn’t have the confidence to speak up when things bothered her. Case in point: Being repeatedly called a “girly-girl” on the “Spider-Man” set.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director It sounds like Daniel Day-Lewis is serious about his retirement from acting and won’t be returning, at least according to his longtime director Jim Sheridan. The Irish filmmaker directed three of Day-Lewis’ most prominent films: “My Left Foot” (1989), “In the Name of the Father” (1993) and “The Boxer” (1997). Day-Lewis won the Oscar for best actor with “My Left Foot” and was also nominated for “In the Name of the Father.” “He says he’s done.

Jimmy Kimmel and wife Molly McNearney are talking future plans.