Month: March 2019

For all the peril that darkens its fringes, there’s an indomitable youthful exuberance that thrums through Catalina Arroyave Restrepo’s debut feature “Days of the Whale.” It makes the slight, and somewhat familiar, small-scale story, following a few days in the lives of a pair of Medellín-based graffiti artists, feel fresh enough as to be wet
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In today’s film news roundup, Freewater Creative Development is unveiled, David Oyelowo gets a directing gig and Lionsgate has a faith-based slate in the works. DEVELOPMENT LAUNCH Production-finance company Buffalo 8 is launching Freewater Creative Development and has hired veteran journalist Kyle Ryan to head the new division, Variety has learned exclusively. Buffalo 8 is
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March 27, 2019 5:25PM PT Two recovering addicts strive to help South Florida junkies get clean in Pat McGee and Adam Linkenhelt’s insightful documentary. As if it weren’t difficult enough to survive their drug habits — as well as lives on the streets — addicts in Delray Beach, Fla. must also contend with a predatory
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Matteo Garrone’s gritty revenge drama “Dogman” was the big winner at Italy’s 63rd David di Donatello Awards, the country’s equivalent of the Oscars, taking home nine trophies Wednesday night from a field-beating 15 nominations. Somewhat surprisingly, however, the sweep did not include a best-actor prize for Marcello Fonte, who had previously won that accolade at
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Bustle Digital Group, the company behind websites like Bustle, Mic and Gawker, has acquired Joshua Topolsky’s The Outline, the company confirmed Wednesday afternoon. As part of the deal, Topolsky and his staff will join the Bustle Digital team. News of the acquisition was first reported by Recode. “The Outline has created industry leading technology and
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Lifetime has ordered two music-themed miniseries, one revolving around female rap stars Salt-N-Pepa, the other focused on the Clark Sisters gospel group. Both projects are produced by Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit banner. “Salt-N-Pepa” and the Clark Sisters project were among several new programs unveiled by Lifetime Wednesday night at the cabler’s upfront presentation at New
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John Legend and “American Idol” producer Simon Lythgoe are among those teaming up to develop “Love at First Song,” a music competition-dating show hybrid, Variety has learned. The show, which is based on a format first seen on Vietnamese TV and hails from South Korean entertainment and mass media company CJ ENM, will likely try and
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WASHINGTON — In the river of revelation and speculation that surrounded Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, no other media bombshell quite matched the disclosure of a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between top members of the Trump campaign, a Russian lawyer with ties to the Putin regime. Now that Attorney General William Barr has
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Amazon Prime will ring in the beginning of Spring by adding fresh content to its streaming slate this coming April. While the subscription service sees new titles added every month, its newest additions seem to be particularly noteworthy, including “A Quiet Place” which earned an Academy Award nomination this year in the sound editing category.
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Following the likes of Willie Nelson Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Whoopi Goldberg and Melissa Etheridge, the latest to enter the burgeoning legal cannabis market are Hollywood heavies Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The two longtime collaborators, both natives of Vancouver, today announced Houseplant, which is described as “an elevated Canadian Cannabis company” with a focus
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March 27, 2019 12:46PM PT Sonequa Martin-Green is in negotiations to join LeBron James in Warner Bros.’ “Space Jam 2,” sources tell Variety. Terence Nance, creator of the HBO show “Random Acts of Flyness,” is directing the untitled sequel, with “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler producing with James and his partner Maverick Carter (through their
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Google’s greatest promise with Stadia is that it frees video games from boxes, unhinging the imagination of creators, of players, of streamers in a way never possible before in the roughly four-decade history of the medium. Stadia aims to take the ubiquitous nature of gaming culture and apply it to the games themselves, making it
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Downtown Music Holdings, the parent company of Downtown Music Publishing and Songtrust, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the AVL Digital Group and its portfolio of music-distribution, rights-management and artist-services businesses, including AdRev, CD Baby, DashGo and Soundrop, the company announced today. The deal was in the vicinity of $200 million, according to Music
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The hallmark of a great pair of shoes is versatility. You know you’ve got your hands on something special when the same style works for brunch with friends, a day at the office, and a night out. Even better? When it’s super comfortable like a sneaker. Thanks to the growing popularity of the category, it’s
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March 27, 2019 11:17AM PT Andy Leyshon is leaving STX Entertainment and Llewellyn Radley and Rhiannon Harries have been handed new roles in a rejig announced Wednesday. Radley and Harries will report to John Friedberg, who has just taken the helm at international following David Kosse’s departure for Netflix. Leyshon will exit as managing director,
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A TV writer filed suit against Creative Artists Agency on Tuesday, alleging that his agents stole his idea for a show and gave it to a higher-profile client. John Musero worked as a writer on the Aaron Sorkin show “The Newsroom” in 2014. The following year, he says he wrote a pilot called “Main Justice,”
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Disney’s upcoming adaptation of “Dumbo” is taking flight this weekend. Directed by Tim Burton, the studio’s live-action re-imagining of the 1941 cartoon is expected to earn roughly $50 million when it launches in 4,200 North American venues. Independent tracking services anticipate the opening weekend could fall anywhere between $40 million and $58 million. Should those
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After fans speculated that Everclear frontman Art Alexakis had “fallen off the wagon,” the singer revealed to fans on the band’s website yesterday that he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis three years ago. The 56-year old singer, who has been outspoken about his past struggles with substance abuse, wrote that after “hearing a lot of people
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