At this month’s Cannes Film Festival, Francis Ford Coppola and Kevin Costner each unveiled passion projects they opted to finance themselves after institutional backers initially passed. This week, three auteurs make a trend — except instead of putting his own funds toward a deeply personal, sweeping epic, comedian Shane Gillis has made a lewd, bro-y […]
Kristen Wiig presented Carol Burnett with the Lifetime Achievement Award Tuesday night at the Gracie Awards in Beverly Hills, hosted by the Alliance of Women in Media Foundation. “As the little me watched ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ in awe, the first creative seeds were planted,” Wiig said while presenting the award to Burnett. “So Carol, […]
Amazon MGM has released the emotional first trailer for Celine Dion’s documentary “I Am: Celine Dion.” The doc reveals more details about Dion’s diagnosis with Stiff Person Syndrome. After postponing several of her European tour dates in December 2022, Dion announced that she was diagnosed with the life-altering neurological disorder, that creates spasms that affect […]
The “Dexter” prequel series at Paramount+ with Showtime has found its three leads. Variety has learned that Patrick Gibson, Christian Slater, and Molly Brown are all set to star in the show, which is now titled “Dexter: Original Sin.” Gibson will play Dexter Morgan, while Slater will play Harry Morgan, Dexter’s adoptive father. Brown will […]
Adria Arjona and Glen Powell may have some very steamy scenes in “Hit Man,” but filming them was anything but sexy. It all went wrong when they were shooting in a bathtub and someone added Dawn dish washing soap to the water. “That strips you of all your oils of your skin,” Arjona says on […]
R&B singer Cassie published an emotional statement on social media Thursday in which she thanked her family and fans for the overwhelming support following the release of a video that showed Sean “Diddy” Combs physically assaulting her in 2016. Combs posted an apology video after the attack footage resurfaced and admitted to the assault. “Thank […]
Catherine Deneuve, Hugh Skinner, Melvil Poupaud and Fabrice Luchini were among the prestigious guests who turned up at the Cannes after-party for Christophe Honoré’s “Marcello Mio” which was supported by Chanel. Honoré’s third film in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, following “Love Songs” and “Sorry Angel,” “Marcello Mio” has been described in Variety as […]
Jennifer Lopez and her “Atlas” co-star Simu Liu shut down a reporter during a press junket in Mexico City for their new Netflix action movie after he asked Lopez if rumors are true she’s getting divorced from Ben Affleck. Rumors circulating online that Lopez and Affleck are ending their marriage have coincided with Lopez’s “Atlas” […]
Canadian distributor and global sales agent Filmoption International has acquired international sales rights, excluding Canada, for film “We Forgot to Break Up” and has launched sales at the Cannes Film Festival’s market. Based on Kayt Burgess’s award-winning book “Heidegger Stairwell,” and written by Noel S. Baker, Pat Mills and Zoe Whittall, the film follows a […]
Actor Lee Jung-jae will attend the Monte-Carlo Television Festival next month for the French press launch of Lucasfilm’s latest live-action series “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” which streams on Disney+. In the show, Lee plays a Jedi Master. It was his role in the globally successful Netflix series “Squid Game” that first catapulted Lee’s career to […]
“Lord of the Rings” owner Embracer Group delivered a mixed bag during its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings Thursday, revealing that while its adjusted operating profit had risen by 56% to 1.4 billion Swedish krona ($132 million), sales in its entertainment and services division – which currently houses its Tolkien and “Tomb Raider” IP – had dropped […]
Former Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA boss Priya Dogra has joined Comcast-owned Sky in the newly-created role of chief advertising and new revenue officer. At Sky, Dogra will report to Sky’s chief business officer Nick Herm and will sit on Sky’s executive management committee. She will work closely with rett Aumuller, managing director of Sky Media […]
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel called for a two-state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict and declared that Benjamin Netanyahu’s rule must end in order to achieve lasting peace for Israel. Emanuel’s remarks came Wednesday night as he was honored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center with its humanitarian Award at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The divisiveness […]
Fresh from its Cannes premiere George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” dashed into the lead at the South Korea cinema box office. In doing so, it deposed “The Roundup: Punishment,” the local crime actioner that has dominated Korean cinemagoing for the past month. “Furiosa” earned $575,000 from 75,400 ticket sales on Wednesday, giving it […]
Widely respected TV publicity vet Rebecca Marks was honored on Wednesday with the Ben Halpern Lifetime Achievement Award, recognized for her ongoing career as one of the most trusted communications execs in the biz. Marks, who’s now the exec VP of publicity, communications and social media at Warner Bros. Television Group, previously held a lengthy […]
SPOILER ALERT: This story includes storylines from “More,” the May 22 Season 11 finale of “Chicago P.D.” Hailey Upton is no longer a Chicago resident. The Season 11 “Chicago P.D.” finale served as the final episode for Tracy Spiridakos, who joined the show midway through Season 4 and has been a series regular since Season […]
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains storylines from “Never Say Goodbye,” the May 22 Season 12 finale of “Chicago Fire.” It was a night for goodbyes on “Chicago Fire.” The Season 12 finale was the final episode for Eamonn Walker as Battalion Chief Wallace Boden. The actor, who has served as the chief of Firehouse 51 […]
Feeling angry about Apple’s ranking of the 100 best albums of all time, are you? Good. (From their point of view.) That’s exactly how you’re supposed to feel, given a list that aspires less toward any semblance of an informed or authoritative voice than a seeming sense of randomness that can only be explained away […]
SPOILER ALERT: Details follow for Season 11, Episode 13 of “The Masked Singer,” “Finale: One Mask Takes It All,” which aired May 22 on Fox. “The Masked Singer” winner Vanessa Hudgens admits she didn’t necessarily play the hiding game: At least among her friends and fans, they figured out it was her under the Goldfish […]
Something About Her — the West Hollywood sandwich shop started by “Vanderpump Rules” stars Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney — is officially open for business, after a long period in red-tape limbo. On Wednesday, more than 100 people lined up outside the bright awning before it had opened, waiting several hours to buy the highly anticipated […]
Anya Taylor-Joy said an interview with British GQ that she has often fought for her characters to express rage on screen. It turns out there have been several films where in the script her character is supposed to cry, but Taylor-Joy just didn’t think that was the right emotional beat. She decided to speak up […]
Variety and Sportico will host the second annual co-branded Sports & Entertainment Summit presented by City National Bank on July 12 in Los Angeles. The day-long summit will feature keynote conversations and panel discussions highlighting trends across programming and storytelling, multiplatform game coverage, athlete branding and representation, NIL dealmaking and more. Programming will include a […]
Welcome to the Motel Destino, which may be some distance from the Hotel California, but is very much programmed to receive — or give, if that’s your preference. With mirrors on the ceiling but definitely no pink champagne on ice, the run-down roadside sex den that houses most of Karim Aïnouz’s Olympically horny new film […]
Daniel Radcliffe says it would be wise for the upcoming “Harry Potter” television series on Max to distance itself from the iconic film series, which means the potential for him to cameo in the show is quite low. Radcliffe famously headlined eight “Harry Potter” movies in the title role from 2001 to 2011. “I don’t […]
Raimi Productions, the genre-focused company run by Sam Raimi and Zainab Azizi, has signed a first-look film and television deal with Ara Keshishian and Petr Jákl’s development and financing company ZQ Entertainment. The deal extends the long-standing relationship between the two companies, which most recently collaborated on the upcoming thriller “Locked,” directed by David Yaroveksy […]
