November 29, 2018 7:45PM PT Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is under fire following a New York Times report alleging she asked Facebook staff to conduct opposition research into philanthropist George Soros. The Times cites three sources who say Sandberg asked Facebook’s communications staff, in an email in January, to look into Soros’ financial interests after Soros
Month: November 2018
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Beat the Press,” the 10th episode of “Murphy Brown.” Diane English, creator and showrunner of “Murphy Brown,” set out to tell the revival season of the classic 1980s and 1990s sitcom through the “prism of the press.” So it was really only a matter of
November 29, 2018 6:34PM PT A South Korean live-action TV series is to be made based on legendary comic book creator Stan Lee’s story idea, “The B-TEAM.” The original content involves B-rated superheroes fighting against a mad scientist who created them. Renowned Korean TV screenwriter Kang Eun-kyung, who is best known for writing 2010 hit
November 29, 2018 5:51PM PT Netflix is ready to say goodbye to Matt Murdoch. The streaming service has canceled “Daredevil” after three seasons, Variety has learned. The superhero action-drama debuted its third season in October. It’s the latest casualty in Netflix’s Defenders universe. The move to cancel the drama, produced by Marvel Television and ABC
November 29, 2018 5:32PM PT Jillian Apfelbaum has been named executive vice president of content at Village Roadshow Entertainment Group. As part of an internal mandate to up production volume, Apfelbaum has been tasked with finding and developing feature films, and keeping an eye on potential television and digital opportunities. She will report to Bruce Berman,
November 29, 2018 5:17PM PT A horror film set in a morgue, featuring a graphic-looking demon cadaver, may disappoint those who thought they were getting an exorcist flick. In theory, putting “possession” in the title of a horror movie should add to its box-office allure. But it probably won’t take long for word to trickle
In today’s film news roundup, Eric Bana will star in Australian drama “The Dry,” Magnolia buys “Hail Satan?,” and South Africa’s Oscar entry “Sew the Winter to My Skin” gets U.S. distribution. CASTING Eric Bana will star in the Australian police drama “The Dry,” a feature adaptation of Jane Harper’s bestselling novel, with shooting starting
November 29, 2018 4:30PM PT Imax continues its departure from virtual reality (VR) with the closure of its sole European VR center in Manchester, U.K. With the shut-down of the Imax VR at Odeon, as the location was officially called, the company has now closed more than half of its VR centers. The Imax VR
November 29, 2018 4:00PM PT Composer Nicholas Britell reunited with two past collaborators for high-profile December releases: Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) on “If Beale Street Could Talk” and Adam McKay (“The Big Short”) on “Vice.” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” based on the James Baldwin novel of young lovers in 1970s Harlem, is “a really powerful
November 29, 2018 4:00PM PT The CW is developing a one-hour drama series based on the book “City of Ghosts” by Victoria Schwab, Variety has learned exclusively. In the series, after a near-death experience, college grad Cassidy moves to Scotland to study paranormal psychology at the University of Edinburgh in hopes of learning more about her
November 29, 2018 4:00PM PT Chris Robinson, best known for his work on the Fox TV series “Star,” has been tapped to direct Universal’s untitled LeBron James movie. Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier wrote the script for the film, which is based on James and Buzz Bissinger’s book, “Shooting Stars,” and the events of James’
John Oliver, David Simon, Eric Overmyer, Tom Fontana, and Warren Leight are among the 78 writers of HBO shows who have signed a petition urging Vice Media to pen a contract with the Writers Guild of America East. “As Writers Guild members, we have protections under a collective bargaining agreement,” the petition reads. “Our fellow union
In today’s TV News Roundup, “Desus & Mero” gets a premiere date on Showtime and Jameela Jamil heads to TBS. DATES Showtime will debut “Desus & Mero,” the weekly half-hour late-night series starring Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, on Feb. 21 at 11 p.m. ET/PT. The first ever weekly late-night talk show on Showtime
November 29, 2018 3:40PM PT Two-time Oscar nominee Carter Burwell has penned music for the films of Joel and Ethan Coen for more than 30 years, including such classics as “Fargo” and “The Big Lebowski.” But “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” was unique: a six-part Western with stories ranging from comic to bleak. As Joel
Los Angeles-based Danny Bensi and New York-based Saunder Jurriaans collaborated long-distance on the score for “Boy Erased,” Joel Edgerton’s powerful examination of “gay conversion therapy” starring Lucas Hedges as the conflicted son of a Baptist minister. “It was quite a struggle,” says Bensi, “the dramatic, emotional, societal aspects: how do we navigate through all this
“Baby Driver” star Eiza Gonzalez has joined the ensemble of Universal’s “Fast and Furious” spinoff “Hobbs and Shaw” starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. The role was a last-minute addition, and sources say execs favored Gonzalez, but scheduling had to be worked out with Legendary’s “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which features Gonzalez and is also about
“Preacher” has been renewed for a fourth season at AMC. The series, based on the graphic novels by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, follows West Texas preacher Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper), his badass ex-girlfriend Tulip (Ruth Negga), and an Irish vampire named Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) as they embark on a road trip to find God and
It may be “the most wonderful time of the year,” as the song goes, but let’s face it, not all things Christmas are created equal. There are the tree ornaments you cherish, and others that can fill space in the back. There are movies that become classics, like “Miracle on 34th Street” or “Elf,” and
November 29, 2018 3:20PM PT Rolfe Kent has a reputation for scoring offbeat comedies (“Sideways,” “Legally Blonde”), so “Stan & Ollie,” the Laurel & Hardy late-career study with Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly, was right up his alley. “One of the fine lines,” he says, “was to navigate between the emotion and the lightheartedness,
November 29, 2018 3:00PM PT Seeing an early cut of Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” convinced composer Terence Blanchard that electric guitar should be the primary voice of the score. “When I saw those Afros and leather jackets and bellbottom pants, man, that brought me back to a period of my adolescence,” he says. Set in the
November 29, 2018 2:59PM PT Robbie Fairchild has joined the cast of Universal Pictures and Working Title’s film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats,” in which he will play the character Munkustrap. Based on “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” by T.S. Eliot, the musical was one of the longest-running shows in West
Jermain Taylor Arrested Again Missed Child Support 11/29/2018 2:55 PM PST Exclusive Details More legal trouble for Jermain Taylor … the ex-boxing champ was arrested for the second time this month after missing a child support payment … TMZ Sports has confirmed. 40-year-old Taylor — once the undisputed middleweight champ — was booked in Pulaski
November 29, 2018 2:40PM PT Two of eight-time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard’s three 2018 scores involved ballet and led to collaborations with high-profile artists from the concert world. Former L.A. Philharmonic music director Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted Howard’s ballet music for “Red Sparrow,” while current Phil director Gustavo Dudamel conducted his score for “The Nutcracker
November 29, 2018 2:20PM PT Oscar winner Hans Zimmer has a long history with “Widows,” the heist thriller starring Viola Davis. Director Steve McQueen’s film is actually a remake of a 1983 British TV series scored by Zimmer’s London mentor, composer Stanley Myers. “I was making tea for Stanley,” he recalls. “I remember at the
It should be no surprise that elegant British crooner-composer Bryan Ferry has been influenced by Weimar Republic cabaret, Scott Joplin rags and Duke Ellington’s snazzy jazz throughout his 48-year-old career, both as Roxy Music’s frontman and as a solo artist. There have forever been hints of Brecht/Weill, Ellington and such in Ferry’s music and lyrics.
November 29, 2018 2:00PM PT Everyone’s favorite housewife turned comic is returning once again to the small screen in Amazon Prime’s latest streaming update. Fresh on the heels of her Emmy win, Rachel Brosnahan is helping kick off the streaming platform’s holiday season with the reprisal of her titular, pink-coated role in Season 2 of
November 29, 2018 2:00PM PT For the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic “On the Basis of Sex,” Oscar winner Mychael Danna (“Life of Pi”) collaborated with director Mimi Leder on a musical concept “that would turn the music-scoring cliche on its head.” The usual approach to music for government is “horns and snare drums,” Danna points
Bustle Digital Group has acquired Mic, the struggling digital-media company that laid off most of its employees Thursday. A rep for Bustle said in an emailed statement, “I can confirm that Bustle Digital Group has acquired Mic. We have no further comment.” A spokeswoman for Mic declined to comment. Bustle was offering less than $10
November 29, 2018 1:40PM PT The year’s most complex music assignment may have been Kris Bowers’ work on “Green Book.” He not only composed the score, he transcribed and played all of pianist Don Shirley’s original 1960s recordings, and he had to teach Mahershala Ali how to be a convincing pianist. “Green Book” is the
Of the 30 most-consumed songs featured on the 2018 Hitmakers list, several credit more than 10 songwriters and a few, like Travis Scott’s epic “Sicko Mode,” utilized as many as six producers. Some might scoff that it takes more than a dozen people to come up with a few minutes of music, but the truth
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