Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson have renewed their commitment to Turner Classic Movies, and George Stevens Jr. and Michael Schultz will be honored at the TCM Classic Film Festival in April, it was announced Saturday.
TCM also noted that new episodes of Two for One will return to the channel in April, with filmmakers and Ben Mankiewicz co-hosting a double feature on Saturday nights. Joe Dante, Kathy Bates and Jamie Lee Curtis will be among the guests.
TCM will continue to celebrate a different star every month, like Elvis Presley on what would have been his 90th birthday; Peter Sellers, Angela Lansbury, Rock Hudson, Paul Newman, Tony Curtis and Donald O’Connor on what would have been their 100th birthdays; and Dick Van Dyke on his 100th birthday in December.
George Raft, Barbara Stanwyck, Red Skelton, Mae West, Gary Cooper and Merle Oberon will also be featured throughout 2025.
During its 31st year, TCM will explore such themes as Ladies of the 80s, Summer Romances, Faith in Film, Kid Fans, Black Women Filmmakers, Movie Confessions, Westerns, Horror and Imperialism and celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Month, Pride Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and more.
Viewers also can look forward to another round of “31 Days of Oscar,” which kicks off Feb. 1 with Dave Karger as host; new film restorations; and a new original documentary, Becoming Hitchcock. And The Plot Thickens podcast returns for its sixth season this summer.
At the 16th annual TCM Classic Film Festival, set for April 24-27 in Hollywood, Stevens will receive the Robert Osborne Award, which recognizes an individual who has helped keep the cultural heritage of classic film alive for future generations.
A writer, director, producer, playwright, author, two-time Peabody Award recipient and founding director of the American Film Institute, Stevens will be the sixth honoree to receive the award.
He’ll also be on hand to present a 4K restoration of George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey (1984), the documentary he wrote and directed about his Oscar-winning father, director of Giant, Gunga Din and many other classics.
The festival also pays tribute to individuals whose work in Hollywood has left a lasting impact on film, and Schultz will be saluted with presentations of Car Wash (1976) and The Last Dragon (1986). A final tribute recipient will be announced later.
The event will host world premiere restorations of Beau Geste (1926), The Enchanted Cottage (1945), The Big Combo (1955), Splendor in the Grass (1961) and The Wiz (1978).
Other films announced (so far): The Divorcee (1930), Suspicion (1941), The Talk of the Town (1942), Brigadoon (1954), Blackboard Jungle (1955), Gunman’s Walk (1958), The Time Machine (1960), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Jaws (1975) and Superman (1978).
A TCM festival “Pop-Up” event is taking place Saturday in Manhattan at the 92nd Street Y, where the schedule features a conversation between Karger and Scorsese; Drew Barrymore and Jacqueline Stewart introducing a screening of Twentieth Century (1934), starring Drew’s grandfather, John Barrymore; and Drew and Spielberg reuniting for a presentation of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
“As we look ahead to the array of incredible programming offerings in the coming year, we remain excited that the preeminent destination for movie lovers continues to bring the very best in classic cinema to audiences across multiple mediums, including live events, podcasts and of course the flagship TCM channel,” Mike De Luca and Pamela Abdy, co-Chairs & CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, said in a statement.
“We are also grateful for the continued partnership of the extraordinary filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson, who remain three of TCM’s biggest champions.”
A news release noted they will “remain as stewards to TCM through 2025.”
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