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Jennifer Lopez's hunt for an Oscar might finally be coming to a close. After earning rave reviews at its Sundance Film Festival premiere, the movie-musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, executive produced and starring J.Lo as the titular character, has just slotted a Fall 2025 release.

Per Deadline, Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment have snagged the Kiss of the Spider Woman's North American release rights following its warm reception. Bill Condon directs and pens the Lopez vehicle, adapted from the Fred Kander and Fred Ebb musical of the same name. Set in the 1980s, the film follows Argentine prisoners swapping fantasies and stories—many performed by the eponymous Spider Woman (aka Ingrid/Aurora)— barely surviving under the nation's dictatorship.

The story has taken on many forms over the years. The original 1976 Kiss of the Spider Woman novel by Manuel Puig predates the musical concept. The songless version...

Gold Derby's top news stories for March 25, 2025. No Other Land director Hamdan Ballal released after attack by Israeli settlers, Yuval Abraham says

Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, has been freed after being attacked and detained by Israeli settlers, his co-director Yuval Abraham said on X on Tuesday. "Hamdan Ballal is free and is about to go home to his family," he wrote. In a post on Monday, Abraham said Ballal was attacked by Israeli settlers near his home in the West Bank and was taken by soldiers from an ambulance. Jihad Nawajaa, head of the Susiya local council, told Reuters that a group of settlers attacked the Susiya village during a gathering for Iftar, the end of the daily Ramadan fast, on Monday. Ballal, who was injured, was one of three men who were arrested. Ballal's wife Lamia Balall said Monday, "The settlers...

Jennifer Lopez is starring in the upcoming movie musical Kiss of the Spider Woman and the film just received a release window!

Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment have acquired the film following its Sundance premiere earlier this year and the movie will be released exclusively in movie theaters in Fall 2025.

The film is an adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical of the same name and Jennifer received rave reviews for her performance following the Sundance premiere.

Set in Argentina in 1983, with the country’s military dictatorship waging a brutal war against its political opponents, prisoners Valentín (Diego Luna) and Molina (Tonatiuh) find themselves thrown together in a cramped cell. Initially at odds, they begin to bond as Molina narrates the story of his favorite movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman. A colorful fantasia of song and dance starring screen siren Ingrid Luna (Lopez), the film follows a woman attempting...

Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and Ld Entertainment announced today the acquisition of Kiss of the Spider Woman, from Bill Condon, the Academy Award-winning writer-director known for such films as Gods and Monsters, Chicago, Dreamgirls, and Beauty and the Beast.

This visionary new adaptation is based on the acclaimed 1976 novel Kiss of the Spider Woman by Argentinian writer Manuel Puig and the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name by the multiple Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally and composer/lyricist team John Kander and Fred Ebb.

Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Written for the screen and directed by Bill Condon, this visually stunning and emotionally charged adaptation stars Emmy Award nominee Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, and Emmy and Grammy Award-nominated superstar Jennifer Lopez, who also serves as an executive producer alongside Diego Luna.

Produced by Barry Josephson, p.g.a., Tom Kirdahy, p.g.a., and Greg Yolen, p.g.a., the...

Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment have confirmed their acquisition of North American rights to Bill Condon’sKiss Of The Spider Womanremake that premiered in Sundance and stars Tonatiuh, Jennifer Lopez, and Diego Luna.

‘Kiss Of The Spider-Woman’: Sundance Review

WME Independent and CAA Media Finance negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers and the distributors plan a theatrical release this autumn.

AGC International acquired rights outside the United States and took the film to the EFM in Berlin last month.

Bill Condon’s remake of the Argentina-set drama is produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Artists Equity...

Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment have confirmed their acquisition of North American rights to Bill Condon’sKiss Of The Spider Womanremake that premiered in Sundance and stars Tonatiuh, Jennifer Lopez, and Diego Luna.

‘Kiss Of The Spider-Woman’: Sundance Review

WME Independent and CAA Media Finance negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers and the distributors plan a theatrical release this autumn.

AGC International acquired rights outside the United States and took the film to the EFM in Berlin last month.

Bill Condon’s remake of the Argentina-set drama is produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Artists Equity...

What we first told you on Sunday is now official: Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment have officially picked up North American on the Bill Condon directed, Jennifer Lopez starring feature musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, which was one of the most buzzed about titles at this year’s Sundance. A fall wide theatrical release has been set just in time for awards season.

Look for Jennifer Lopez to be out there on the awards season trail, along with the new discovery in this pic, Tonatiuh, who wows as gay prisoner Molina during a 1980s Argentian dictatorship, an inmate who keeps his cellmate Valentín (Diego Luna) alive with stories about his favorite movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and its actress Ingrid Luna (Lopez). Molina’s stories are portrayed in colorful song and dance. An eight-figure P&a spend is in store to get the word out. Condon is...

The feature adaptation of the Broadway musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring Jennifer Lopez and directed by Bill Condon, earned raves at this year's Sundance Film Festival, but word on the sale of the film has been pretty quiet since the festivities wrapped up...until now. With the film having huge awards season potential, a studio has now entered the chat to give the movie a domestic distribution deal that will allow the film to have the full theatrical experience.

Per Deadline, Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment are in the process of acquiring the domestic rights to Kiss of the Spider Woman. Details of the deal are still being ironed out and need to be finalized, but all reports suggest that it's all coming together nicely for the buzzed-about project. Stuart Ford's AGC is handling foreign sales of the film at EFM while WME and CAA Media Finance co-repped the U.

While Sundance didn’t have a plethora of the late night bidding wars we used to see in the good old days of the festival, the weirdness of the Los Angeles fires and the advent of the online platform have kept sales very slow. Over 60 films came into this year’s Sundance looking for homes. As we previously reported, the hope was that even more distributors could get creative.

Below we’ll update all the acquisitions following the festival as they arrive. Here are the movies we think could sell big.

“Predators”

Section: U.S. Documentary

Buyer: MTV Documentary Films

Director: David Osit

Buzz: Another one of our favorite docs out of Sundance, this chilling investigation into Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator” series from Peabody-winning director Osit looks into the complicated legacy of the hit show by arguing that we as viewers are complicit in America’s “perverted sense of justice,...

Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment are understood to be in advanced talks for US rights to Bill Condon’s Kiss Of The Spider Woman remake that premiered in Sundance and stars Tonatiuh, Jennifer Lopez, and Diego Luna.

‘Kiss Of The Spider-Woman’: Sundance Review

AGC International acquired rights outside the United States and took the film to the EFM in Berlin last month. WME Independent and CAA Media Finance jointly represent US rights.

Bill Condon’s remake of the Argentina-set drama is produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Artists Equity and follows two cellmates of vastly differing...

Jennifer Lopez stars in an adaptation of the famous play, Kiss of the Spider Woman, which premiered at Sundance last month. Our Chris Bumbray got to see it and said in his review, “While the premise certainly sounds heavy, Condon infused the film with a lot of Hollywood flash and sizzle. However, the songs and musical numbers are confined to the film within the film, making this more realistic as far as big-screen musicals go. It’s precisely the right way to film it, as the power of the story, which reflects grim, real-world events, isn’t diluted. It’ll be interesting to see if a major studio picks up the movie, as it feels fairly commercial, even if, at its soul, it is a desperately sad story that doesn’t feel far removed from events that still happen all over the world forty years after the story is set.

Three months after its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” is finally nearing a distribution deal. Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment are in final talks to take domestic rights on director Bill Condon’s adaptation of the stage musical of the same name, ensuring the Jennifer Lopez-starring drama will see the light of day, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap.

Terms of the deal, including release plans and financial figures, were not disclosed.

The Artists Equity-produced film came into Sundance as one of the festival’s buzzier titles due to its cast and pedigree – Condon was behind acclaimed titles like “Chicago” and “Gods and Monsters” — but it drew mixed reviews at its premiere and major buyers like Netflix passed.

The movie, written and directed by Condon, follows the story of the stage musical closely as it chronicles the relationship between queer hairdresser Luis...

The new adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman that stars Jennifer Lopez is close to a sale after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment are in final negotiations to acquire domestic distribution rights for the musical feature. Diego Luna, Tonatiuh and Tony Dovolani round out the cast for director Bill Condon’s film that hails from Artists Equity and Mohari Media.

Kiss of the Spider Woman is based on playwright Terrence McNally’s stage musical that debuted on Broadway in 1993 and adapted Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel of the same name. Condon penned the script, and the film features music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb.

The project centers on a political prisoner (Luna), whose cellmate (Tonatiuh) creates a fantasy Hollywood narrative involving his favorite star, Ingrid Luna (Lopez).

Producers include Barry Josephson, Tom Kirdahy and Greg Yolen. Among...

“Kiss of the Spider Woman,” a musical remake from director Bill Condon and star Jennifer Lopez, is finally close to finding a buyer after its buzzy Sundance Film Festival premiere in January.

Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and independent studio Ld Entertainment are circling domestic rights, though a deal has yet to close. It’s unclear how the trio of companies will work together to roll out the film.

This adaptation of Manuel Puig’s novel was one of higher profile projects to debut at Sundance. Set in an Argentinian prison in 1981, the film centers on queer window dresser Luis Molina (Tonatiuh) who is serving time for having sex with a man. To escape the horrors of his imprisonment, he dreams up vivid stories about the cinematic exploits of his favorite on screen diva, an actress name Ingrid Luna (Lopez), including her role of the spider woman, who kills her pray with a kiss.

Exclusive: We hear that Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment are in final talks to take domestic rights to Sundance’s most buzzed about movie this year, the Bill Condon directed, Jennifer Lopez feature take of Broadway musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman.

We’re hearing it took a lot for this deal to come together on this net low-$30sM Artists Equity production based on the book by Terrence McNally and John Kander and Fred Ebb’s songs. Stuart Ford’s AGC handled foreign sales at EFM. WME and CAA Media Finance co-repped U.S. rights on the movie.

Tonatiuh and Diego Luna in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’

Details are still coming together. The pic follows Diego Luna and Tonatiuh as Valentín and Luis, jail cellmates in a military-run 1983 Argentinian. Gay widow dresser, Luis, keeps Valentín’s spirits alive with tales about his favorite actress, Ingrid Luna (Lopez...

The Elton John AIDS Foundation brought together over 100 celebs to celebrate the Oscars and raise money for an important cause!

Camila Cabello, Megan Thee Stallion, Neil Patrick Harris, Heidi Klum, and Sophia Bush were among the many stars who stepped out for the 2025 Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscars Viewing Party on Sunday (March 2) at West Hollywood Park in Los Angeles.

The annual event supports the foundation’s critical efforts in reaching marginalized communities who are affected by HIV/AIDS.

Elton John and Chappell Roan performed together to entertain the crowd. They dueted on his song “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” and her song “Pink Pony Club.”

Head inside to see all of the celebs who stepped out for the Oscars viewing party…

Keep scrolling to see all of the celebs who attended the annual Oscars viewing party…

Neil Patrick Harris and husband David Burtka

Megan Thee...

Indie movies are getting the spotlight at the 2025 Independent Spirit Awards and we’re recapping all of the celebs who showed up on the red carpet!

The afternoon awards show is being held on Saturday (February 22) at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles.

SNL‘s Aidy Bryant is hosting the show for the second year in a row and you can live stream the event on YouTube. Anora and I Saw the TV Glow lead the film nominations with five nods each while Shogun leads the television nominations with five nods as well.

We’ll be keeping track of every celeb in attendance at the event and showing you all of the fashion on the red carpet.

Head inside to see all of the celebs who walked the red carpet…

Keep scrolling to see all of the celebs who walked the red carpet…

Elizabeth Olsen

Fyi: Elizabeth is wearing Erdem.

The Accountant 2 trailer has arrived.

Gavin O’Connor returned to direct the sequel to his original 2016 film, which starred Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal and Cynthia Addai-Robinson among others like John Lithgow and Jean Smart. Bill Dubuque also returned to pen the followup as he did the script for The Accountant.

Simmons, Addai-Robinson and Bernthal will reprise their roles of Ray King, Marybeth Medina and Brax, respectively alongside Affleck’s return as Christian Wolff.

The film will hit theaters April 25, 2025, following Addai-Robinson’s Agent Medina as she has no choice but to reach out to Affleck’s Wolff to solve the mysterious murder of her former boss by unknown assassins. Bernthal’s estranged and highly lethal brother Brax will also get in on the action.

Daniella Pineda, Allison Robertson, Robert Morgan and Grant Harvey round out the ensemble cast of the pic.

Related: Ben Affleck & Matt Damon...

AGC Studios has promoted sales and distribution executive Sara Ghorra to vice president as the EFM gets underway in Berlin.

The executive assumes an enhanced sales remit that adds airlines, China, Japan, South Korea, former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Cis and Baltics, and South Africa.

This is in addition to her previous territories including Middle East, Greece, Israel, Iceland, Portugal, Turkey, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Mongolia, India, Singapore, Vietnam and West Indies.

Prior to her movie to the United States in 2021 to join AGC, Ghorra was based in Dubai where she handled film acquisitions...

Screen International is keeping track of the key packages launched before and during the 2025 European Film Market, which runs February 13-19.

Refresh the page for latest updates. Listed in alphabetical order.

Arctic Skies

Morfydd Clark and Ariyon Bakare star in this UFO thriller, to be shot at Steven Knight’s Digbeth Loc. Studios in Birmingham. Writer-directors Elliot and Zander Weaver. Their Elliander Pictures are producing with Lowkey Films.

Int’l sales: Independent Entertainment

Bad Boy

From the producers of Longlegs and M3gan comes a serial killer project financed by C2 in which a dog is the hero. Ke Huy Quan...

In this week’s episode of “Screen Talk,” we take a look at the slow Sundance market as well as the new shape of the Oscar race post-Karla Sofía Gascón’s implosion.

There were a few competitive buys at the tail end of this year’s Sundance: Neon bought horror flick “Together,” Netflix acquired period Denis Johnson adaptation “Train Dreams,” Janus and Sideshow bought art film “Peter Hujar’s Day,” and A24 bought breakout Eva Victor’s “Sorry Baby.”

But so far, no one has picked up Bill Condon’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” which awkwardly tries to meld a Kander & Ebb Broadway musical with a prison romance. If a distributor positioned it well, there might be some action for star Jennifer Lopez as a legacy prize, as well as breakout Tonatiuh.

Netflix is making an Oscar play with Clint Bentley’s “Train Dreams,” starring Joel Edgerton. And “Sorry...

In their dark, damp prison quarters, Malina (Tonatiuh) and Valentin (Diego Luna) only have each other for company. Valentin is a radical imprisoned for his revolutionary views; Malina is a window-dresser condemned for homosexual activities. Valetin wants nothing to do with Malina, focusing on his work as his cellmate flutters around their modest room trying to make the best out of a bad situation. To Valentin, Malina is a man who lacks substance and morals, living a life without dignity. Their room is decorated with Malina’s posters and trinkets procured by the guards, with his queerness implied to be the payment. “There are privileges in degradation,” he tells Valetin, who responds with disgust. Valentin remarks that Malina shouldn’t “make himself trivial.” Malina flaunts his queerness and Valentin displays no sexuality, but his straightness is implied––at least at first. As the two men slowly warm up to each other,...

While the Sundance Film Festival mulls a big move for 2027, the 2025 program, its 41st edition, kicked off January 23 in Utah, and you can look below for all of Deadline’s reviews from the fest.

Sundance founder Robert Redford promised that audiences “can expect a 2025 program that showcases varied and vibrant filmmaking globally.” Running through February 2, the lineup includes more than 85 features and six episodic projects set to screen in Park City, Salt Lake City and online.

Below is a compilation of our reviews from the fest. Click on the movie’s title to read our full take.

Atropia ‘Atropia’

Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition

Director-screenwriter: Hailey Gates

Cast: Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Chloë Sevigny, Tim Heidecker, Jane Levy

Deadline’s takeaway: Ripe with aughts nostalgia around the Og iPod, frosted lip gloss and Guy Fieri’s favorite flame-printed shirts, Atropia is ultimately a clever meditation on the atmosphere of war...

Exclusive: While it continues to stalk a U.S. buyer, Jennifer Lopez’ Sundance musical-drama Kiss Of The Spider Woman will be tempting international buyers at next week’s EFM for Stuart Ford’s AGC.

AGC will screen the Bill Condon-produced film privately for buyers in Berlin where it’ll be among the bigger-budget projects available. WME and CAA Media Finance are co-repping U.S. rights.

Diego Luna (Andor) and Tonatiuh (Promised Land) star with global icon Lopez (Hustlers), who, along with Condon and Diego Luna, also executive produce. Pic is based on the acclaimed 1976 novel Kiss of the Spider Woman by Argentinian writer Manuel Puig and the Tony-winning Broadway musical of the same name by the multiple Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally and composer/lyricist team John Kander and Fred Ebb.

The synopsis reads: “Argentina, 1983. With the country’s military dictatorship waging a brutal war against its political opponents,...

"Sooner or later, you're certain to meet, in the bedroom, the parlor or even the street... There's no place on earth, you're likely to miss her kiss." The moment this film ended I knew this performance was one of the best of the festival. But now that I'm finally writing this review after having seen a grand total of 54 films at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival line-up, I feel confident in saying - Tonatiuh gives the best performance in any film at the festival. This 2025 update on Kiss of the Spider Woman is a modern re-imaginging of this iconic story from South America, which was turned into a big Broadway musical in the early 1990s. It is the second film adaption of the 1976 novel Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig, following the 1985 Brazilian film adaptation. Director Bill Condon, who's no stranger to big musicals having made Dreamgirls before, gives...

Sundance is a place for discovery, where new stars are minted because of the fresh, invigorating images they bring to the screen. It was where Steven Soderbergh helped kick off the indie film revolution in 1989 with “sex, lies, and videotape” and Quentin Tarantino launched “Reservoir Dogs” in 1992. They showed that, at Sundance, if you have something to say, you can have a seat at the table.

This year, that daring new voice belongs to Eva Victor, whose comedic character study “Sorry, Baby,” about a young professor reeling from a trauma, sold to A24 for $8 million. “Sorry, Baby” also has the distinction of placing first in many of the categories in IndieWire’s 2025 Sundance Critics Survey, including Best Performance (for Victor herself), Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best First Film, and Best Film itself.

Though “Sorry, Baby” was the undeniable favorite across the board at Sundance 2025, our critics survey shared the love...

[Editor’s note: When “Kiss of the Spider Woman” breakout star Tonatiuh offered to share his own personal snapshots from his very first Sundance ever, we jumped at the chance to share his inside look at his life-changing experience. What follows are the actor’s own notes on Sundance 2025, and a selection of his photos from the festival.]

The right stories find you at the right time. When “Kiss of the Spider Woman” landed in my inbox, it felt like a calling — not just a role, but a form of cinematic resistance.

Sitting in an audience full of cinephiles — some my heroes, others friends I’ve made over the years in TV and film — was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. No matter how much you believe in a project, no matter how much of yourself you pour into it, you never truly know how it will be received. But standing on stage next to Jennifer Lopez and Bill Condon,...

Cinema has long been a mirror for political repression, and in Bill Condon’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, that mirror is adorned with glittering sequins, drenched in melancholy, and distorted by the very power structures it aims to critique. A reimagining of Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel (and its stage musical adaptation and Oscar-winning 1985 film), this 2025 film leans into its meta-musical structure, shifting between the grim realities of an Argentine prison in 1981 and the dazzling escapism of Golden Age Hollywood pastiche. It is both a story about survival and a meditation on the ways cinema itself becomes a survival mechanism — how film can be a salve for oppression, a tool of control, or, sometimes, an act of resistance.

But Kiss of the Spider Woman is also a film struggling to find its own footing. Despite a fascinating premise, a powerhouse cast led by Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, and Tonatiuh, and...

A24 has gotten on the board at the Sundance Film Festival. The indie distributor is closing an acquisition deal for Sorry, Baby. Scripted and directed by Eva Victor, the drama premiered Monday night at Eccles. It become the third film in sight of a deal, with more coming. Film was fought over by several suitors, and sold for around $8 million, Deadline hears.

The logline: Something bad happened to Agnes. But life goes on … for everyone around her, at least. The film stars Eva Victor, Naomi Ackie, Lucas Hedges, John Carroll Lynch, Louis Cancelmi, and Kelly McCormack. Producers are Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, and Barry Jenkins.

UTA Independent Film Group structured the financing and is brokering the deal on behalf of the filmmakers.

That marks the third deal of the festival. Each one has been a struggle, but that was not unexpected given the tenuous state of the indie business, and...

Plot: During the last months of The Dirty War in Argentina, a political prisoner, Valentin (Diego Luna), and a trans prisoner, Molina (Tonatiuh), are forced to share a cell. Despite their differences, the two become friends. However, unbeknownst to Valentin, the warden is forcing Molina to spy on his cellmate, a fact complicated by their growing intimacy.

Review: Kiss of the Spider Woman has a fascinating legacy that spans literature, cinema, and the stage. Originally written as a novel by Manual Puig, it was turned into a taboo-bursting 1985 film, which won star William Hurt an Oscar. Considered boundary-pushing in its frank depiction of homosexuality, it was later turned into a Tony-award-winning musical. Now it’s getting a lavish movie musical directed by Bill Condon. In addition to movies like Gods and Monsters, Condon also directed one of the better stage-to-screen adaptations, Dreamgirls, and does an excellent job with a film...

After rekindling their long-lost romance two decades later, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s love story took a shocking turn in 2024, ending in the most dramatic breakup imaginable. It was the Hollywood fairy tale that turned into a plot twist no one saw coming.

Jennifer Lopez / Credits: Apple Music

But JLo isn’t one to dwell on heartbreak, she’s turning the page with style. Now, the queen of reinvention is gearing up for an epic comeback, proving once again that she shines brightest when she’s in the spotlight. Love may fade, but Jenny from the Block? She’s forever.

Ben Affleck isn’t completely out of Jennifer Lopez’s life just yet!

Jennifer Lopez is proving, yet again, that she’s unstoppable, both on and off the screen. Despite a highly publicized breakup, her Hollywood career is hitting new highs.

This week, at the Sundance Film Festival, she...

At its heart, Sundance is about discovery. Some of our brightest, biggest filmmaking stars — we’re talking Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, Ava DuVernay, Paul Thomas Anderson, Lulu Wang, Ryan Coogler, Aubrey Plaza, Catherine Hardwicke, Todd Haynes, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Eggers, the Duplass brothers, Michael B. Jordan, Amy Adams, Elizabeth Olsen, Brie Larson, Lakeith Stanfield, Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, and many, many more — first rose to acclaim by bringing their work to Sundance.

In 2025, a year that was long-heralded as one all about new discoveries, that tradition only continued. While this year’s lineup included a number of returning names, like Ira Sachs, Amy Berg, Andrew Ahn, Justin Lin, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Cooper Raiff, Kahlil Joseph, Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady, David France, Jesse Short Bull, Ryan White, Sophie Hyde, Jesse Moss & Amanda McBaine, Meera Menon, and Clint Bentley, there were also a hefty number of newbies joining those filmmaking ranks.

Many Oscar contenders have been dive-bombed over the years, but Best Actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón did herself in: first for complaining about rival Fernanda Torres, then for resurfaced tweets on her now-deleted X account (@karsiagascon). In past posts that went viral this week, she dissed Muslims, George Floyd, and Oscars diversity, among other things. We debate: If Gascón is out of the running, does she bring down her movie as well, which leads the field with 13 nominations?

Ryan Lattanzio is back from Sundance, which Friday announced its awards; he and Anne are both bingeing on the Sundance portal. While some films came in with distribution, the market seems slow. One Midnight entry spawned a bidding war won by Neon for over $16 million, Michael Shanks’ horror flick “Together,” starring husband-and-wife team Alison Brie and Dave Franco, which Ryan enjoyed and believes will hit big at the box office. Neon has...

In 1983 Argentina, under the harsh military dictatorship during the Dirty War, Kiss of the Spider Woman unfolds its story within a prison cell. The setting operates as a stark representation of societal control and human endurance. Luis Molina, a gay window dresser imprisoned for public indecency, shares his cell with Valentin Arregui Paz, a Marxist revolutionary tortured for opposing the regime. Their shared confinement becomes a space where different worldviews clash and eventually merge.

Molina’s imaginative narratives emerge as a survival strategy, deeply connected to Latin American interpretations of classic Hollywood cinema. His fixation on Ingrid Luna, a fictional screen actress representing cinematic archetypes, transcends simple distraction. These stories reveal how global cultural elements are transformed through local perspectives to create complex personal identities. Director Bill Condon weaves a narrative that shifts between harsh prison reality and vivid cinematic dreams, showing how storytelling becomes a form of psychological resistance.

For a musical so dedicated to celebrating and critiquing the transformative potential of cinematic fantasy, Bill Condon’s Kiss of the Spider Woman brings relatively little of the kind of overwhelming star power that can truly transport audiences. This isn’t to say that the film is poorly acted or doesn’t understand how to deliver movie magic. In fact, there are few working directors who know better than Condon how to recreate the pizzazz of classic Technicolor musicals without it feeling like pastiche. But despite the material’s highly dramatic potential and handful of show-stopper moments, it too often feels like a well-meaning production that has many of the right elements but misses a cast that could bring it all to life.

Condon adapted Terrence McNally’s book for the Tony-winning 1992 stage musical by John Kander and Fred Ebb, which was itself based on Hector Babenco’s Oscar-winning 1985 film of Manuel Puig’s novel.

This time last year, industry experts and armchair pundits began the drumbeat for Kieran Culkin’s performance in A Real Pain. The intimate drama about a pair of cousins (Culkin and writer-director Jesse Eisenberg) who travel to Poland to see the ancestral home of their grandmother, who left the country during the Holocaust, was one of several buzzy titles to debut at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. It was eventually acquired by Searchlight Pictures, given a platform theatrical release last fall, and feted throughout awards season with honors for Culkin. He’s currently the top pick to win Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars in March, 14 months after his film’s initial debut. Culkin and Eisenberg, a nominee in the Best Original Screenplay category, are just two of several 2024 Sundance standouts that received bids from the Academy this year, including A Different Man (Best Makeup and Hair) and Best Documentary nominees Sugarcane,...

As the films of 2024 alone have demonstrated, there's still a good amount of confusion about how a movie musical should function in our modern age. Even 2016's "La La Land," the film that ended up bringing back the popularity of the movie musical in a big way, wasn't interested in fully leaning into its ode to the movie musicals of classic Hollywood, using it instead as a jumping off point, a wry commentary on the subgenre and cinema itself. Since then, it's felt like each new movie musical has had to find some offbeat justification for its existence: this one is a multi-part blockbuster event ("Wicked"), this one is an anti-musical musical ("Emilia Pérez"), this one has a monkey in it ("Better Man"), and so on. Even "Chicago" director Rob Marshall, who for many years seemed to willfully bear the torch of keeping the more traditional movie musical alive, has...

Theoretical musings on gender, sexuality, and revolution are messily woven together in Kiss Of The Spider Woman, Bill Condon’s reimagining of the musical that swept the 1993 Tony Awards. While that production was based on the wildly successful 1985 Brazilian film of the same name—which itself was based on Argentine...

Even one of the biggest pop stars in the world was once upon a time just a theater kid.

Jennifer Lopez, who stars in the movie musical adaptation of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” that just premiered at Sundance, revealed in the IndieWire Studio presented by Dropbox that, unbeknownst to even some of her biggest fans, musical theater is where she got her start, and it’s where not just her true passion lies, but also where she says her true talent lies.

“I actually started in musical theater. Actually, my voice is more suited to musical theater than it has ever been to pop music,” Lopez told IndieWire in regards to how she prepared for her role in Bill Condon’s film. “I love making music, but that was where my heart started and where I actually learned to sing. People don’t know this about me, but they’ll see,...

The Deadline photo studio hosted talent at the Sundance Film Festival, as cast members of Sundance-premiering films stopped by including Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Stephanie Suganami, Tatanka Means for Opus; Sarah Jessica Parker for The Librarians; Dylan O’Brien, Lauren Graham, Aisling Franciosi and director James Sweeny from Twinless; Himesh Patel, Sarah Goldberg, Dave Franco and Director Evan Twohy from Bubble & Squeak; Olivia Colman and John Lithgow for Jimpa; Bill Condon, Jennifer Lopez, Tonatiuh for Actor for Kiss of the Spider Woman; Alia Shawkat, Hailey Gates for Atropia, & many more.

The Deadline Studio at Sundance Film Festival runs January 24-27, where the cast and creatives behind the best and buzziest titles in this year’s lineup sit down with Deadline’s festival team to discuss their movies and the paths they took to get to Park City.

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival takes place from January 23-February...

Fighting back tears and fresh from receiving the first of two standing ovations, Jennifer Lopez told a Sundance Film Festival audience on Sunday night that starring in Bill Condon’s movie musical Kiss of the Spider Woman made a lifelong dream come true. But it wasn’t for lack of trying.

Talking to The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet ahead of the world premiere at Park City’s Eccles Center Theatre, the superstar entertainer revealed that she had auditioned for some of Hollywood’s best known modern movie musicals, only to get passed over.

“I remember auditioning for Evita, I remember auditioning for Chicago and for Nine — getting very close on Nine,” said Lopez, outfitted for the premiere in a very method ensemble, a glittering spiderweb gown by designer Valdrin Sahiti. “There was a lot of things that I had always hoped that I could do and just wasn’t the right time.

With a star-studded cast and well-known director in Bill Condon (the live-action Beauty and the Beast), the new version of Kiss of the Spider Woman was one of the highest-profile premieres at this year’s Sundance. Despite this promising batch of talent in front of and behind the camera, the film is mostly middling — although its strengths reach such highs that they can carry the film.

Kiss of the Spider Woman Review

Kiss of the Spider Woman is based on the 1992 Broadway musical of the same name, which was itself based on the 1976 novel. It follows a political prisoner who finds unexpected kinship with his cellmate, who begins to tell him the story of their favorite old Hollywood musical starring an iconic movie star.

For a film that is literally Bill Condon’s love letter to classic movie musicals, it’s a shame that Kiss of the Spider Woman is so lethargic.

Last year was a tough one for Jennifer Lopez as she dealt with her messy divorce from her ex-husband Ben Affleck, and her movies heavily flopping at the box office. More than these, the Latina diva faced constant online bullying due to the circumstances in her personal life as well as the cancelation of her summer tour due to poor ticket sales.

Jennifer Lopez / Credits: ABC News

Despite all the challenges that came her way, Lopez continues to focus on her craft, and she has surprisingly a couple of projects already lined up at her door. Now, it seems like she’s getting back on track after early reviews of her new musical drama film showed positive critical reception.

Netizens express delight at Jennifer Lopez’s recent accomplishment

Kiss of the Spider Woman is an adaptation of the 1976 novel of the same title by Manuel Puig which follows an imprisoned...

Dreams do still come true, it seems. On Sunday night in Park City, Utah, the big “hot ticket” screening was the world premiere of Bill Condon’s much-anticipated “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” a dazzling big screen adaptation of Terrence McNally, John Kander, and Fred Ebb’s 1992 Broadway musical of the same name (itself a take on Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel of the same name). While the story, about a pair of Argentinian prisoners who are brought together during the “Dirty War,” was previously made into a feature film in 1985 with stars William Hurt, Raul Julia, and Sônia Braga, Condon’s film marks the first big screen musical spin on the original material.

And, for star Jennifer Lopez, starring in a musical — her very first, if you can believe it — was the culmination of decades of dreaming. The film, which stars breakout star Tonatiuh as Luis Molina and Diego Luna...

Sometimes, it takes a pinch of audacity and a dash of serendipity for something to truly steal the spotlight. So, if you’ve been living under a rock (or perhaps in a parallel universe where Emilia Pérez hasn’t dominated every award show conversation), let’s quickly break it down. Directed by Jacques Audiard, it is a musical about a Mexican cartel leader—played by Karla Sofía Gascón—who embarks on a journey of transformation, seeking to become a woman.

The plot’s as complex as it is captivating, with a powerhouse cast including Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Édgar Ramírez. It’s a film that’s garnered international acclaim, a solid 13 Academy Award nominations, and racked up accolades at the Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy.

Emilia Pérez | Credit: Netflix

But while critics and industry bigwigs can’t stop singing Emilia Pérez’s praises, there’s...

Oscar-winning Sundance Film Festival veteran Bill Condon returned to Park City to present the world premiere of his new movie musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman, at Eccles Center Theatre on Sunday night. When it was over and all the credits had rolled, his star Jennifer Lopez was moved to tears, the capacity crowd delivered two standing ovations and a star was born thanks to a revelatory turn from Tonatiuh.

Considering the pedigree of its filmmaker — Condon previously directed musicals Dreamgirls and Beauty and the Beast and wrote the Oscar-winning Chicago — and its global superstar who plays dual roles including the title character, Spider Woman was the most anticipated debut of Sundance this year. In his review, The Hollywood Reporter‘s chief film critic David Rooney calls it one of Lopez’s best roles of her decades-long career.

Lopez, who skipped snow boots and sweaters for her festival debut, hit...

Jennifer Lopez, outfitted in a sparkling, webbed-up gown and sky-high black heels, fought back tears as “Kiss of the Spider Woman” was embraced at Sundance Film Festival with a standing ovation. She told the audience at Park City’s Eccles Theatre that starring in the musical adaptation fulfilled a lifelong dream.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life,” she said. “The reason I even wanted to be in this business is because my mom would sit me in front of the TV and [‘West Side Story’] would come on once a year. I was mesmerized and was like, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ This is the first time I actually got to do it. This man made my dream come true.”

She’s referring to director Bill Condon, who has become a preeminent filmmaker for movie musicals, having worked on “Chicago,” “Dreamgirls,” Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast...

Jennifer Lopez is not one of those actresses who disappears into a role. For one, she’s too famous to allow the audience to separate artist from character entirely. Often, those characters, whether Selena or in last year’s “Unstoppable” as a sports mom, are extensions of her persona, astral projections of her stature as a global pop superstar into a fantasy movie world that depends on her song-and-dance gifts. For another, a Jennifer Lopez joint is always more about her presence — her name on the marquee, her face under the big bright lights — than her skills in vanishing inside a character.

Writer/director Bill Condon’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” a new screen version of the John Kander and Fred Ebb Broadway musical itself inspired by Manuel Puig’s novel and Héctor Babenco’s 1985 Oscar winner, could do no better casting than Lopez as Ingrid Luna, a fictional...

A touching dedication at the end of Kiss of the Spider Woman reads simply: “For Fred, Terrence and Chita.” That would be lyricist Fred Ebb, playwright Terrence McNally and original star Chita Rivera, key figures behind the 1993 Broadway musical, alongside composer John Kander and stage director Harold Prince. The show won seven Tony Awards and ran for just over two years, though critics and audiences were divided, and it’s mostly considered a second-tier musical by the standards of Kander and Ebb, the celebrated team behind Cabaret and Chicago.

Bill Condon sets himself a tough assignment trying to transform the tricky material into a great movie musical, but thanks in part to laudable work from his three leads, he occasionally comes close. The writer-director revisits an idea that worked well in his screenplay for 2002’s Chicago — paralleling squalor and splendor, with central characters stuck in grim reality seeking escape through Golden Age Hollywood musical fantasy.

Boundaries are constantly blurring in “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” the revolutionary mid-’80s film that became a Kander and Ebb musical, and that cunningly (and stunningly) morphs back to the big screen, courtesy of “Dreamgirls” director Bill Condon. Confined mostly to an Argentine detention facility in 1983, at the height of the country’s Dirty War, the show is the flip side of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita,” focusing on the brutal military regime that came decades after first lady Eva Péron’s death. Bleak as that may sound, the musical finds rare shards of light — and an unlikely connection — in the most despairing of places.

In every incarnation of Manuel Puig’s novel, cinema offers much-needed escapism from not only political injustice, but also the kind of biological prisons that oppress us. Sitting in the dark, transfixed the dreams unfolding on screen, filmgoers leave their bodies for a time,...