With anticipation building for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Disney-Pixar’s animated comedy “Coco” handily won its third straight crown at a moderate North American box office with $18.3 million at 3,748 sites.

“Coco” joined “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” “Fate of the Furious” and “Split” as 2017 titles to top the domestic box office for three weekends in a row. The major studios have held off on any new openings since the Thanksgiving holiday but that changes on the evening of Dec. 14 when previews start for Disney-Lucasfilm’s “The Last Jedi” amid expectations of an opening weekend in the $200 million range.

“Coco,” a colorful celebration of Mexico’s Day of the Dead, showed impressive holding power with a 33% decline from its second weekend to lift its 19-day total to $135.5 million. It’s performed similarly to Disney’s animated “Moana,” which opened at the same time last year and had totaled $144.7 million after three weekends.

There was a single

“God’s Own Country” was the big winner at the British Indepdendent Film Awards on Sunday, winning best British independent film, best actor for Josh O’Connor, and best debut screenwiter for Francis Lee, who also directed the England-set gay romance.

“Lady Macbeth” was another multiple prize-winner, taking home the awards for best screenplay for Alice Birch, best actress for Florence Pugh, and most promising newcomer for Naomie Ackie. Armando Iannucci’s “Death of Stalin” picked up four awards, which were handed out Sunday evening at a starry awards ceremony in London.

The British independent movie industry turned out in force, although the snow that had blanketed parts of Britain overnight kept double award-winner Rungano Nyoni from attending and had Lee telling the crowd he needed digging out of his home in Yorkshire, northern England, to make the bash.

Host Mark Gatiss opened proceedings by announcing “it’s been another dreadful year for planet Earth,” adding that “January

The Force took over the Shrine Auditorium near downtown Los Angeles, as stars and filmmakers of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” came together Saturday night for the first screening of the eighth installment of the massive Lucasfilm franchise.

Giant At-M6 walkers flanked the entrance to the red carpet, as stars like Daisey Ridley, Mark Hamill, Laura Dern, Lupita Nyong’o and others arrived and posed for pictures with fans. John Boyega had built suspense about whether he would make the premiere, tweeting earlier Saturday that bad weather had kept him from flying out of Atlanta.

“The Last Jedi” picks up where 2015’s “The Force Awakens” left off, with Rey reaching the planet on which Luke Skywalker had been holed up, away from the war waging between the First Order and The Resistance. Ridley, who plays Rey, teased on the red carpet that her character gets “enough” screen time. “I’m not going to lie, I’m proud

Politically, Chris Evans and Sean Hannity probably don’t agree on anything, but Captain America and the Fox News host are both reaching out to show their support for Keaton Jones, a boy whose tearful speech against bullying went viral this weekend. In the video, which was posted by Jones’ mother, Kimberly, the boy tearfully asks why kids pick on him by making fun of his nose and telling him he has no friends. “What’s the point of it?” he wondered aloud. “Why do you find joy in taking innocent people and finding a way to be mean to them?

The San Francisco Film Critics Circle has named The Florida Project as its best picture of 2017.

The Sean Baker-directed film about a mother and daughter living in a motel on the outskirts of Disney World was also recognized in the category of best supporting actor, with Willem Dafoe winning that award.

The Shape of Water won two awards: best director (Guillermo del Toro) and best production design (Paul D. Austerberry).

Other noteworthy winners include War for the Planet of the Apes' Andy Serkis (best actor), I, Tonya's Margot Robbie (best actress), Lady Bird's Laurie Metcalf (best supporting actress), Get...

The Florida Project and Mudbound tied for best picture of 2017 in a vote Sunday by the New York Film Critics Online.

Dee Rees also was voted best director for Mudbound, while Willem Dafoe was named best supporting actor for The Florida Project.

In other awards, Darkest Hour's Gary Oldman and I, Tonya's Margot Robbie won for best actor and actress, respectively. Robbie's co-star Allison Janney was named best supporting actress.

Meanwhile, Jordan Peele won for best screenplay and best debut director for Get Out.

And Timothée Chalamet was named breakthrough performer for Call Me By Your Name.

A...

Pang Ho-cheung, one of the most creative talents in the Hong Kong film industry, is poised to make his biggest project to date. He is just weeks away from shooting a trilogy of martial arts films whose Chinese title translates simply as “Kung Fu Story.”

Pang, who is a whirl of energy, spinning out novels, screenplays and executive production activities, has a track record of edgy films – revisionist romance “Love in a Puff,” sex comedy “Vulgaria,” and property-themed horror “Dream Home” – so he is unlikely to leave the martial arts genre completely untouched.

Plot and casting details are currently scarce, but Pang teases: “Ever since childhood, I’ve always taken different paths. My most recent film, ‘Love off the Cuff,” was not a single-issue movie. (“Kung Fu Story”) will continue in that vein.”

“We’re going to shoot all three together, so we’ve spent a year a year and a half on preparation, and have now

Rising star Indian actor, Rajkummar Rao has signed an untitled film alongside actress Shraddha Kapoor (“Haseena Parkar”), by director duo Krishna D.K. and Raj Nidimoru (“A Gentleman”).

Principal photography will commence by the end of January 2018. Dinesh Vijan is producing for Maddock Films (“Hindi Medium”). Rao describes the film as an “out-of-the-box, raucous horror-comedy.”

Rao, who will receive one of the Variety Asian Actors to Watch award at Iffam later this week, is enjoying the best year of his career.

He is the star of political satire “Newton,” which was released in India in late September on the day it was announced that it would be India’s entry in Oscar’s foreign language category. It not only racked up the box office numbers, but also won Rao best actor at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Survival drama “Trapped” released in March and alongside enormous critical acclaim, performed well at the box office.

Romantic comedy

As wildfires continue to burn throughout Southern California, Ellen DeGeneres revealed on Twitter Sunday that she has had to evacuate her house as the largest of the fires, the Thomas Fire, has approached her neighborhood. “Our house is under threat of being burned. We just had to evacuate our pets,” the talk show host wrote. “I’m praying for everyone in our community and thankful to all the incredible firefighters.” Our house is under threat of being burned. We just had to evacuate our pets. I’m praying for everyone in our community and thankful to all the incredible firefighters.

Keaton Jones, a bullied Tennessee student, is discovering he has some pretty awesome pals.

A video made by Jones' mother in which the boy questions why is he treated so poorly by bullies in his school has gone viral.

“They make fun of my nose. They call me ugly. They say I have no friends,” Jones told his mother in tears. He added kids at his school throw food at him.

“Just out of curiosity, why do they bully? What’s the point of it?” the youth asked. “Why do you find joy in taking innocent people and finding a way to...

The Boston Society of Film Critics has named Phantom Thread as its best picture of 2017.

The group also recognized the film, which Daniel Day-Lewis has said will be his last project before retiring from acting, in two other categories: best director (Paul Thomas Anderson) and best original score (Jonny Greenwood).

The Boston critics bestowed two awards each on well-reviewed films Lady Bird and Get Out. The Saoirse Ronan coming-of-age movie was recognized in the categories of best supporting actress (Laurie Metcalf) and best screenplay (writer-director Greta Gerwig), while the racially-themed horror movie won best actor (Daniel Kaluuya) and best...

“God’s Own Country” was named the best film of 2017 at the British Independent Film Awards, which took place on Sunday in London. Acting awards went to Florence Pugh for “Lady Macbeth” and Josh O’Connor for “God’s Own Country.” Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” won the award for the best international independent film. Leading nominees going into the show included “Lady Macbeth,” “Three Billboards” and “God’s Own Country.” The 2017 British Independent Film Awards winners: Best British Independent Film: “God’s Own Country” Best International Independent Film: “Get Out” Best Director: Rungano Nyoni, “I Am Not a Witch” Best Screenplay: Alice Birch,

Update 2:00 Pm Pt: Updated to include statement from Josh Homme Photographer Chelsea Lauren has posted a video on Instagram of her being kicked in the face by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme during the band’s set at Kroq’s Almost Acoustic Christmas at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday. In the video, you can see Homme looking at Lauren as she takes photos and kicks then her in the face. Lauren went back to the photographer’s row to take pictures of other bands, but was later treated at Cedars-Sinai for her injuries. “People need

The winner at Saturday night’s European Film Awards of the best European Animated Feature Film Award, Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman’s “Loving Vincent” has smashed past $20 million at the worldwide box office, an impressive and rare achievement for an independent animated art film.

Sold by Edward Noeltner’s Beverly Hills and Paris-based Cinema Management Group, and painted in Vincent van Gogh hallmark impasto style, “Loving Vincent” opened Friday in China to a first-day $1,040,000, ranking No. 5 at the Chinese box-office, via Bright East Films/China Film Group.

In further recent releases, the Poland-u.K. co-production bowed No. 6 in Colombia over Dec. 1-3 via Cine Colombia, clocking up $75,000 off some 30 prints.

With the final box office tally in China hard it call, “Loving Vincent’s” biggest result to date has come at the U.S./Canadian box office where “Loving Vincent” opened at the Lincoln Center on Sept. 22, in its first commercial bow and, following a national

After just over three hours of deliberation, the Toronto Film Critics Association on Sunday named The Florida Project, a story about a mother and daughter living out a precarious existence in a motel on the outskirts of Disney World, as the year's top film.

Sean Baker's follow-up to Tangerine, released by A24, is anchored by performances from child actors Brooklynn Prince and Valeria Cotto, Bria Vinaite as a wild-child mother and Willem Dafoe as a motel manager. Toronto critics last year named Moonlight as the best picture of 2016.

Acting awards for performances this year went to Daniel...

The Golden Globes have already had their category controversy this year, with a fair amount of outrage whipped up over the fact that Jordan Peele’s socially-conscious horror movie “Get Out” was submitted and accepted into the comedy categories. But with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association gearing up to announce its nominations on Monday, it’s time to stop worrying about who’s in what category and start thinking about who’s getting in and who’s getting left out. It no longer pays to predict outrageous or embarrassing choices: In recent years, the 90-odd members of the HFPA have for the most part come.

Steven Spielberg explores a dystopian 2045 and a pop culture-laced virtual reality world called the Oasis in the first full trailer for Ready Player One, the director's big-screen adaptation of Ernest Cline's cult novel.

Following the sneak peek from Comic Con, the new trailer focuses on the contrast between overpopulated Columbus, Ohio in 2045 – where Ty Sheridan's protagonist lives in "the Stacks," a towering city of mobile homes – and "the Oasis," a paradise of endless possibilities where society goes to escape.

Within the world of the Oasis, a nostalgic scavenger hunt is underway,

Misdirection: Keep that in mind when you check out the eighth “Star Wars” installment, “The Last Jedi,” next weekend.

That’s what writer-director Rian Johnson does throughout this dense, careening, seemingly unstructured movie’s 2-hour, 32-minute running time. The movie is worth a second viewing, as it demands that you pay attention. Every little detail pays off.

At the world premiere — the first-ever public screening — Saturday night at downtown L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall, security guards swept under every car, guests wore individual badges with seat assignments, carried their own smartphones in locked security bags to their seats, and kept their collectible “Last Jedi” popcorn buckets with them all night.

Read More:‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Star Gwendoline Christie Has a Charming Theory About Those New Porg Creatures

On crutches, veteran director and puppeteer Frank Oz headed into the auditorium to see the film for the first time.

While “The Disaster Artist” moved into wide release to take a spot in this weekend’s top five at the box office, Neon and 30West sent their darkly comedic biopic “I, Tonya” into theaters for a four-screen release and had the highest per screen average of the weekend with $61,400 for a $245,402 total. “I, Tonya” stars Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding, the figure skater whose career came to an ignoble end when her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), hired a man to break the leg of her rival, Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver), at the National Figure Skating Championships in 1994. Allison...

Margot Robbie’s “I, Tonya” has launched with an impressive $245,602 at four locations in one of the strongest platform openings of the year with $61,400 per site.

“I, Tonya” has been receiving awards recognition for Robbie’s portrayal of disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding and Allison Janney’s performance of her mother Lavona. The film is currently playing at the Landmark and Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles and at the Angelika and AMC Loews Lincoln Square in New York City. Co-distributors Neon and 30West plan to hold off on expansion until January.

The dark comedy centers on Harding’s involvement in the attack on rival figure skater Nancy Kerrigan — aimed at breaking Kerrigan’s leg so she couldn’t compete in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Harding’s participation would eventually lead to her being stripped of her 1994 national title and banned for life from the figure skating world.

“I, Tonya” is directed