Venice Competition Entry ‘Woman Of’ Paints Decades-Spanning Portrait of a Polish Trans Woman’s Struggle to Be Free

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.“The Nun II” is the ninth installment in the “The Conjuring” franchise, the highest grossing horror franchise of all time. Collider called the latest flick “an effective, gory, and impressively scary addition to the “Conjuringuniverse” that also stands as a solidly on its own.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Kenneth Branagh’s latest Agatha Christie adaptation “A Haunting in Venice” has been rattling North American theaters for a week now, signaling the start to spooky season with a packed ensemble cast featuring the likes of Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh and “Yellowstone” star Kelly Reilly. Branagh’s players (and the director himself) weren’t able speak on behalf of the moody chamber piece due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Variety caught up with veteran producer Judy Hofflund (who made the first two Poirot films with Branagh, “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile”) to discuss Fey’s journey to leading lady status in a film from this era, as well as the future of Branagh’s mustachioed sleuth.

Christopher Vourlias Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland has remained defiant despite a wave of vicious political attacks and online hate speech as she prepares to release her Venice Special Jury Prize-winning refugee drama “Green Border” in Poland on Sept. 22.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ‘Expendables 4’ narrowly took top place at the mainland China box office on a quiet weekend preceding the National Day holiday season at the end of the month. “A Haunting in Venice” opened outside the top five. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway shows “Expendables 4” earning $10.9 million (RMB78.6 million) over its debut weekend.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/New Line’s The Nun II continued to conjure strong business around the globe this weekend, taking the top spot again worldwide and overseas. The sophomore session of $30.1M in 72 offshore markets brings the international box office cume to $102.3M and worldwide to $158.8M so far.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter It’s another close race at the box office. The Warner Bros. thriller “The Nun II” is projected to ever-so-slightly outpace the competition with $14.7 million in its second weekend.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The supernatural mystery, which The Post called a “surefooted film with strong performances and a luxurious-yet-frightful tone,” is based on a 1969 Agatha Christie novel.“The Nun II,” which was in first place last week, moved down a notch to the No. 2 spot, with earnings of $4.4 million.

Jake Gyllenhaal is a proud brother-in-law right now!

It’s interesting how the Venice Film Festival has gone from one of the festivals of the fall festival season to arguably the best film festival in the world now, even overshadowing Cannes in recent years thanks to the fact that Netflix now avoids the Croisette for the most part because of France’s theatrical laws and save their Oscar contenders for the Lido. Venice has had an amazing run, arguably since 2017 when Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape Of Water” won the top prize and then went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, which has happened one more time since with “Nomadland” and several key Oscar contenders since).

The first real clue comes when Andrzej is called up for national service and, standing in front of the army medics in his underwear, refuses to take his socks off. His toenails were painted blue, he tells his mates cheerfully a couple of years later, as if it were a joke. But it isn’t a joke; it is the most serious thing in his life. He is waving a flag at the time; they are in the bloom of the Solidarity movement and the promise of a new world, when it feels like anything goes. 

Guy Lodge Film Critic There will come a time, perhaps not even too far from now, when films like “Woman Of…” may feel, if not old hat, at least familiar, part of a genre unto itself: not a coming-of-age story but a coming-of-self one, tracing the particular life stages of identifying oneself as transgender, accepting oneself as such, and finally living that truth out loud. Spanning decades in its closeup portrait of a Polish trans woman traveling that trajectory in a social climate hostile to her very existence, Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert’s heart-on-sleeve film isn’t aiming to be revolutionary — there’s an old-fashioned melodramatic heft to its episodic construction, setting its heroine’s tale in a pointedly mainstream context.

EXCLUSIVE: It’s not a given that talent will attend premieres if their movie gets an interim agreement but we can confirm that Oscar winner Jessica Chastain and Emmy nominee Peter Sarsgaard will be on hand to spice up the premieres of new movie Memory both tomorrow in Venice and next week in Toronto.

Marta Balaga Controversy over Venice title “Green Border” continues to heat up as director Agnieszka Holland gave an ultimatum to Poland’s Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro following his comments about her film. According to the statement shared with Variety, Holland has hired the lawyers Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram and Michał Wawrynkiewicz.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Adriano Valerio’s documentary “Casablanca,” which will world premiere on Thursday at Venice Days, has been acquired by Salaud Morisset for world sales. Variety has been given an exclusive clip from the film.

Director Sofia Coppola’s biopic “Priscilla” made its debut at the Venice International Film Festival, where Coppola was joined by the film’s subject, Priscilla Presley, and stars Cailee Spaeny (who plays Priscilla Presley) and Jacob Elordi (Elvis Presley).

Naman Ramachandran Mexican auteur Michel Franco’s latest film, “Memory,” starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, world premieres in competition at the Venice Film Festival. The film is his third successive bow on the Lido after “New Order” (2020), which won the grand jury prize, and “Sundown” (2021). “Memory” follows Sylvia (Chastain), a social worker who leads a simple and structured life revolving around her daughter, her job and her AA meetings.

Christopher Vourlias Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland follows the harrowing ordeal of a refugee family trapped on the margins of the E.U. in “Green Border,” a gripping drama from the prolific Polish director that plays in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

You didn’t expect French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello to make a conventional sci-fi, did you? Good, because “The Beast” is far from it. It all starts in 2044 with beautiful actress Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) in desperate need of a job.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent France’s UFO Distribution has acquired French rights to Venice Horizons entry “An Endless Sunday” by first-time Italian director Alain Parroni from Fandango Sales. The film will segue from Venice to Toronto where it screens in the fest’s Discovery section.

George Clooney and his wife Amal arrive at the Venice, Italy airport together on Tuesday (August 29).