Willem Dafoe Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Throughout his career, Willem Dafoe hasn’t shied away from challenging roles. And he wishes streaming audiences would challenge themselves in similar ways instead of watching lowest-common-denominator content.

Nicolas Cage was having fun as his new psychological thriller, “The Surfer,” scored a six-minute standing ovation at a Cannes Film Festival midnight screening on Friday night. Cage appeared to be having a ball, beaming from ear to ear and waving across the room as cheers erupted around the Palais.

Kinds of Kindness,” starring Emma Stone, freaked out Cannes Film Festival on Friday night with an anthology of stories about sex cults, cannibalism and general debauchery. Lanthimos’ follow-up to “Poor Things” earned a 4.5-minute standing ovation, with the director and his cast — including Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau and Joe Alwyn — leaving while the applause was still going. “Kinds of Kindness” tells three distinctive stories with cast members playing different roles in each.

Following four Oscar wins just a few months ago for his Emma Stone-starrer Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos unveiled his latest feature at Cannes‘ Grand Theatre Lumiere this evening. His three-hour absurdist anthology Kinds of Kindness, also starring Stone as well as Willem Dafoe and Jesse Plemons, reaped a six-minute ovation.

The cast of Kinds of Kindness took over the red carpet at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival on Friday afternoon (May 17).

arrived at the premiere of Kinds of Kindness, her third film in collaboration with writer and director Yorgos Lanthimos, dressed in a stunning shimmery Louis Vuitton gown in the deep-V silhouette she's all but made her signature. The intricate beading almost created the illusion of velvet or chenille, adding to the overall uber luxe vibe.The rich burgundy color complemented her auburn hair, which she wore in loose waves that just brushed her collarbone.

In a big deal that closed in the days leading into this week’s Cannes market, Apple Original Films has landed worldwide rights to Tenzing, the new package we told you about last week starring Tom Hiddleston and Willem Dafoe.

K.J. Yossman “Tenzing,” a film about the true story of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s 1953 trek to the summit of Mount Everest alongside Edmund Hillary, has been snapped up by Apple Original Films. Casting is underway for Tenzing while “Loki” star Tom Hiddleston is set to play New Zealand mountaineer Hillary.

Alex Ritman Getting a feature into Cannes’ official selection is among the pinnacles of filmmaking achievements for most production companies. Ireland’s Element Pictures clearly isn’t most production companies — this year, it has three.

Alex Ritman Prestige indie banner See-Saw Films (“The King’s Speech,” “The Power of the Dog”) are lining up a biopic of Tenzing Norgay, the legendary Nepalese-Indian mountaineer who summited Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953, becoming one of the first men to stand on the top of the world. Variety has learned that “Tenzing” will star Tom Hiddleston as Hillary and Willem Dafoe as the English expedition leader, Colonel John Hunt. A search is currently underway to cast the lead role of Norgay.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winning producers See-Saw Films (The King’s Speech) are gearing up on Tenzing, about the inspirational life of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and his summit of Mount Everest in 1953 alongside fellow outsider New Zealander Edmund Hillary.

Emma Stone is speaking out about her Kinds of Kindness co-star Joe Alwyn.

Paul Schrader absentmindedly builds installation art out of seven prescription bottles, two inhalers and an empty martini glass, as we sit in a restaurant for seniors in a Manhattan high-rise. Outside, lights twinkle on the Hudson. In 1975, Schrader went to bed with a pistol under his pillow while writing “Taxi Driver.” “Having the option to end things is the only way I could sleep,” Schrader says.

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award nominated writer Samy Burch has signed with WME. Burch is the writer behind May December, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, in addition to WGA and Critics Choice Awards nominations. Burch won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sandra Hüller, the Oscar-nominated actor of “Anatomy of a Fall,” and four-time Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gate”) are set to co-star in Kent Jones’ “Late Fame,” reteaming “May December” co-screenwriter Samy Burch and producer Killer Films. One of the hottest packages set for a Cannes Launch, “Late Fame” has been boarded by MK2 Films which is hot off an Oscar win for “Anatomy of a Fall” and will represent worldwide sales outside of North America.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. After an impressive box office run at the end of 2023 and winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Film earlier this year, Hayao Miyazaki‘s “The Boy and the Heron” is coming to streaming. The epic animated film — starring Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh and Willem Dafoe (in the English dubbed version) — is available to rent and purchase digitally in 4K Ultra HD on Prime Video and Apple TV starting on Tuesday, June 25.

Ellise Shafer The full Cannes Film Festival competition jury has been revealed. Joining president Greta Gerwig to award this year’s Palme d’Or will be “Killers of the Flower Moon” Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone; “The Three Musketeers” star Eva Green; “Lupin” lead Omar Sy; Ebru Ceylan, who co-wrote the 2014 Palme d’Or winner “Winter Sleep”; director Nadine Labaki, whose “Capernaum” won the Cannes jury prize in 2018; director Juan Antonio Bayona, whose latest film “Society of the Snow” was Oscar-nominated for best international feature; Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino, who will next appear in Pablo Larraìn’s “Maria” alongside Angelina Jolie; and director Kore-eda Hirokazu, director of the 2018 Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters.” The competition lineup for the upcoming festival includes “All We Imagine as Light” by Payal Kapadia; Sean Baker’s “Anora”; Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice” from Ali Abbasi; Andrea Arnold’s “Bird,” starring Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski; “Caught by the Tides” by Jia Zhang-Ke; Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” with Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez; “The Girl With the Needle” by Magnus von Horn; Miguel Gomes’ “Grand Tour,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” starring “Poor Things” actors Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe; “Beating Hearts” by Gilles Lellouche; “Limonov: The Ballad” by Kirill Serebrennikov; “Marcello Mio” by Christophe Honoré; Francis Ford Coppola’s epic passion project “Megalopolis,” starring Adam Driver; “Motel Destino” by Karim Aïnouz; Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada,” led by Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi; Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope” with Gary Oldman; David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds”; Coralie Fargeat’s body horror “The Substance”; and “Wild Diamond” from Agathe Riedinger.

Most of the Beetlejuice cast from the 1988 film return for the 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Geena Davis is not one of them.

Naomi McPherson, a member of the pop group Muna, is taking their talents to the big screen!

Tim Burton’s upcoming “Beetlejuice” sequel.“No, I’m not. I’m not in the remake,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “Oh, you were expecting that I would be?”“Yeah, no, you know what?” she went on.

Former Venice Film Festival head Marco Müller has been named Artistic Director of Italy’s Taormina Film Fest. 

upcoming “Beetlejuice” sequel.The Canadian acting icon, 70, appeared at CinemaCon in Las Vegas where she and the cast unveiled a new look at “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”The “Home Alone” star headed down to Sin City alongside director Tim Burton and stars Michael Keaton, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe.The forthcoming flick is the follow-up to the 1988 comedy-horror movie that chronicled the mishaps of a deceased couple, whose spirits are being annoyed by the Deetz family that has moved into their home.“It’s truly very personal and emotional and special,” Burton, 65, gushed to the audience about the project, which is set to debut Sept. 6.“It’s like a weird big home movie for me,” he continued, according to Entertainment Weekly.O’Hara then chimed in, adding that the sequel will be both funny and a bit scary for viewers.

Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, and Tim Burton are together again!

Michael Keaton, Beetlejuice himself, showed up at Warner Bros‘ CinemaCon presentation for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Heatseeking filmmaker Olmo Schnabel has signed for representation with WME, and with Black Bear for management. Schnabel’s breakout directorial effort “Pet Shop Days” played both the Venice International Film Festival and SXSW this cycle, scoring distribution from Utopia for a 2024 theatrical release. Starring Darío Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe and Peter Sarsgaard, the film tells of a drug lord scion on the run from his powerful family.

Willem Dafoe has a new role booked!

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-nominated actor Willem Dafoe is set to join the ensemble cast of of Sony Pictures’ SNL 1975 (working title), which will be directed by Jason Reitman and based on the real-life behind-the-scenes accounts of the opening episode of Saturday Night Live. Reitman and Gil Kenan penned the script.

Fresh off of their Oscars success, Poor Things best director nominee Yorgos Lanthimos and Poor Things best actress winner Emma Stone have a trailer for their latest collaboration, Kinds of Kindness.

Here’s the striking first trailer and image for Yorgos Lanthimos‘ new movie Kinds Of Kindness, which has a June 21 release date.

Filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite“) is easily one of the most exciting filmmakers on the planet, and thankfully, we won’t have to wait too long for his follow-up to “Poor Things.” Searchlight Pictures, who previously distributed Lanthimos’ last two movies, has dropped a first-look trailer for “Kind of Kindness,” which will be released on June 21. The impressive cast assembled around Oscar-winner Emma Stone in Lanthimos’ next film “Kind of Kindness” includes Jesse Plemons (“Civil War,” “Killers of The Flower Moon”), Willem Dafoe (“Poor Things,” “The Lighthouse”), Margaret Qualley (“Drive-Away Dolls”), Hong Chau (“The Whale,” “The Menu”), Joe Alwyn (“The Favourite”), Mamoudou Athie (“Elemental,” “Jurassic World: Dominion”), and Hunter Schafer (“Cuckoo,” “Euphoria”).

"The juice is loose" in the newly dropped trailer for "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," coming out in September 2024. Fans got a glimpse of what to expect from the long-awaited sequel in the first trailer released March 21. In the trailer, actors from the original 1988 appear, and new characters are woven into the story.