The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has proposed Saudi Arabia as the host country for its inaugural Olympic Esports Games in 2025. IOC President Thomas Bach said the partnership would tap into Saudi Arabia’s know-how in the Esports tournament domain. Saudi Arabia is currently hosting the first edition of the Esports World Cup, featuring 22 events across […]
Shania Twain has been set to host the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards live from Nashville on September 26 on NBC and Peacock. The second annual celebration will take place at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville for a second year in a row. “Country has some of the most passionate fans in music […]
Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired Middle East and North African rights for documentary Hollywoodgate, capturing Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal in August 21. Egyptian filmmaker and journalist Ibrahim Nash’at’s audaciously takes spectators behind the scenes of the first year of the Taliban’s return to power. The doc takes […]
Good afternoon Insiders, glad you could be with us again because there are news pieces and deep dives to be read. Max Goldbart here. Scroll down for your weekly dose. And sign up here. Paramount & Skydance Getting Hitched Sneezes and colds: When the U.S. sneezes, the world catches a cold, we are told, but […]
Danis Tanović’s ‘My Late Summer’ To Open Sarajevo Bosnian director Danis Tanović’s My Late Summer will open the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival this August. The film is billed as a comedy-drama about a young woman Maja who comes to a remote island to solve an issue of family inheritance. In a whirlwind of new emotions […]
EXCLUSIVE: Many people decided the office was no longer for them after the Covid-19 pandemic, but not so Felicity Ward, or her new alter-ego, Hannah Howard. Comedian and actress Ward is starring in The Office Australia, one of the most hotly anticipated series outside of the U.S., marking the first time a woman has played […]
Fears grow For Belarusian Filmmaker Andrei Gnyot The European Film Academy has joined calls for the immediate release of Belarusian filmmaker and activist Andrei Gnyot, who is currently imprisoned in Serbia and faces imminent extradition to Belarus. Gnyot has fallen foul of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime for his role in 2020 demonstrations opposing rigged […]
Since its July 5 launch, the third season of crime drama Mirzapur has become the most-watched show on Prime Video in India, notching views across 98% of India’s pin codes on the launch weekend, according to the streamer. Unsuprising then that Prime Video has now confirmed that a fourth season of the Hindi-language show is […]
Reality stars from some of the UK’s biggest TV shows have pleaded not guilty to charges related to online investment schemes on social media. According to the BBC, which was reporting from the court yesterday, well-known figures including The Only Way is Essex‘s Lauren Goodger, Love Island‘s Biggs Chris and Geordie Shore‘s Scott Timlin issued […]
Supernatural thriller Molder from Filipino director Kenneth Dagatan has won the top prize at the 17th Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF) project market, which runs alongside Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Bifan). The third title from Dagatan took home a cash prize of KRW15M (US$11,000) for winning the Bucheon Award. The project also scooped up the […]
Armando Nuñez Sr., the longtime international television distribution executive who worked for CBS, 20th Century Fox and ITC Entertainment, died of natural causes July 10 in Miami. He was 96. The Cuba-born Nuñez worked for 20th Century Fox both in Havana and New York before moving to ITC Entertainment in 1964. He remained with ITC through […]
Nigel Farage is returning to the GB News presenting chair just a week after being elected to parliament for the first time, with Ofcom now likely to face scrutiny over how it regulates his show. The Reform UK leader’s return was confirmed last night by a GB News video on X showing Farage with Eminem’s […]
EXCLUSIVE: Bestselling South African scribe Deon Meyer is turning his Last Of Us-esque thriller Fever into a TV series with Federation MEAC. The adaptation, which doesn’t yet have a buyer, is part of a three-project deal struck between Meyer’s Scenne23 and the Federation Studios label, with Meyer set to pen the series himself. Fever follows […]
Some of the biggest stars in sports and entertainment gathered at The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles Thursday night to celebrate the year’s best moments in sports at The 2024 ESPYs. The show, which aired live on ABC-TV, was hosted by tennis legend Serena Williams, and featured appearances by Andy Reid, Candace Parker, Colman Domingo, Draymond Green, Drew Brees, Jennifer Garner, Lil Wayne, Nikki Glaser, Paige […]
Dave Loggins, the Grammy nominated Hall of Fame singer/songwriter best known for his 1974 hit, Please Come To Boston, died on July 10th at Alive Hospice in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 76 years old and no cause was given. The song that made his career spent two weeks at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 […]
Host Serena Williams got the 2024 ESPYS off to a fun start with her monologue that addressed rap beefs with Kendrick Lamar, Shohei Ohtani’s translator, Bronny James getting drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers and — in the biggest reaction on social — Caitlin Clark’s start to her WNBA career. Williams entered the stage surrounded […]
UPDATE: At his nearly hourlong press conference, Joe Biden countered perceptions of cognitive decline by delving into the details of complex national security situations. He insisted that he would “keep moving” in the presidential race, although he slightly opened the door to an exit if he sees that there’s “no way” he can win. And […]
Scarlett Johansson is married to Saturday Night Live Weekend Update cohost Colin Jost. Which means she sometimes has to endure jokes that are either cringe or aimed at her. During her Thursday visit to The Kelly Clarkson Show, Johansson admitted that she “blacked out” during one rendition of the segment, the annual joke swap between […]
UPDATE, 7:45 PM: The writing on the courthouse wall pretty much indicated where things were going in Rachel Leviss’ revenge porn lawsuit against her former Vanderpump Rules co-star Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval, but now it’s official. After a hearing Thursday morning in DTLA on Madix’s motion to have her long term boyfriend’s ex-lover’s legal […]
Prince Harry officially accepted his controversial Pat Tillman Award for Service at the ESPYs Thursday night, and tried to make amends with Tillman’s mother, who had expressed her disapproval of his selection. Mary Tillman said earlier that she was “shocked” the award was going to such a “controversial and divisive individual.” In his acceptance, Harry […]
James Caan wasn’t exactly acting when he seemed annoyed with Will Ferrell while filming Christmas classic Elf. In an interview with Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler’s Messy podcast, Ferrell revealed that his late co-star Caan didn’t “get” his humor at first. Instead, Ferrell drove Caan “crazy,” just like his character. “James Caan, may he rest […]
EXCLUSIVE: Everyone in distribution loves a surprise, and spurring a lot of chatter throughout today is the $2.5M-$3M previews for NEON’s serial killer horror movie Longlegs. This is per box office sources tonight. For the specialty distributor with a penchant Palme d’Or winning movies, that’s the best take ever in Thursday night previews for their […]
Days of Our Lives fans got one more chance on Thursday to see Bill Hayes, the beloved actor who played Doug Williams until his passing in January at the age of 98. The Peacock sudser featured Hayes’ final scene with his real life wife Susan Seaforth Hayes, who plays William’s wife Susan. The two shared a […]
EXCLUSIVE: Sony will not be one of those rival parties trying to shore up a better bid during Paramount Global’s “Go Shop” period following the $8 billion offer by the David Ellison’s Skydance Media. This is according to sources tonight. The news formally puts to rest the only other confirmed offer on the table to […]
A man charged in the death of Dennis Day, an original cast member on Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club television program, has been sentenced to slightly more than four years in prison. Daniel Burda, 41, pleaded no contest Monday to charges of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors said Burda caused Day’s […]
