Month: August 2019

There are few better ways to tell a complicated true-life story than a well-made documentary. From Hulu and Netflix’s competing Fyre Festival documentaries, which both capture the mega-disaster of the exclusive event that never happened, to groundbreaking docuseries that rocked the music industry, like Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” and HBO’s “Leaving Neverland,” 2019 has been

Jillian Bell is a comedic force who steals scenes with a delivery that slides effortlessly between perky and profane. She’s been an unlikely drug dealer in “22 Jump Street,” a shrewd pimp in “Office Christmas Party,” even an aunt who gets attacked by a vampire poodle in “Goosebumps.” What she’s never played, however, is the lead role. “A lot

August 14, 2019 9:48AM PT [embedded content] The first official trailer for Bong Joon-ho’s Cannes sensation and Palme d’Or winner “Parasite” has arrived. The trailer opens on the black comedy’s central family who live in poverty in a basement apartment, with the father (Kang-ho Song) flicking a bug from his family’s table. He says to

You can tell from a glance that these are no ordinary horses. Tall, immaculately brushed and each costing tens of thousands of dollars, the 33 thoroughbreds and warmbloods gleam like polished coins in their newly built stables, at odds with the construction cranes and empty housing developments of semirural China around them. Until the “Fengshen

August 14, 2019 9:44AM PT Sophie Cookson is in negotiations to star opposite Mark Wahlberg in Antoine Fuqua’s action thriller “Infinite,” sources tell Variety. Wahlberg took over the role from Chris Evans, who left the project due to scheduling conflicts. “Infinite” is based on D. Eric Maikranz’s novel “The Reincarnationist Papers,” which centers on the

Sistine Stallone is ready to take on the family business, making her acting debut in “47 Meters Down: Uncaged” — though she was more than a little reluctant at first. “Absolutely not. Oh my God, no,” she told Variety when asked if she’d secretly dreamed of becoming an actor. “I still think acting is something

“Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding is in early talks to star in Paramount, Skydance and AllSpark’s “G.I. Joe” spinoff, “Snake Eyes,” sources tell Variety. “The Captain” director Robert Schwentke is helming and Brian Goldner is producing. Evan Spiliotopoulos, who wrote “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” penned the script. Snake Eyes

“The Angry Birds Movie 2,” Sony’s animated sequel based on the phone app and video game, collected $2.6 million when it opened on Tuesday. The follow-up to 2016’s “Angry Birds” got a jump on the weekend and is expected to earn $16 million to $18 million during its fist six days of release. Unless “Angry

In a bid to up its game in the increasingly competitive arena of Spanish-language content, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises has acquired leading Argentine production company, Underground Producciones., the shingle behind such hits as “100 Days to Fall in Love,” “El Marginal” and Argentina’s 2019 International Oscar submission, “The Angel.” The financial terms were not disclosed. Telemundo’s

As pro-democracy, anti-police-brutality protests in Hong Kong enter their 10th week, the political unrest has begun to make itself felt in the entertainment world, with actors and other performers caught up in an increasingly vituperative battle between those who support the demonstrators and those who back the local government and mainland China’s tough stance. One

Academy Award-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins, best known for films such as “Shawshank Redemption” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” will be honored with the Variety Artisan Award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Gala. The annual fundraising gala, which will take place on Sept. 9 at the Fairmont Royal York during TIFF, will

Comedy and industry politics mixed Tuesday night at The Hollywood Improv, site of a fundraiser for SAG-AFTRA candidate Matthew Modine and his Membership First slate. “He looks like Hal Holbrook,” Tom Arnold joked. “He’s aged 100 years.” Modine is challenging incumbent SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris and three other candidates for the top elected post at

Facebook is extending Hollywood studios’ ad buys on the social platform with the official launch of two new features – movie reminders and showtimes. The new features are available in the U.S. and the U.K., as a standard part of ad campaigns that studios buy for News Feed. Facebook isn’t charging extra for the reminder

MADRID  —  Venice 2018 Queer Lion winner “José,” a movie which went on to play 50 festivals in 35 countries, has been acquired for North American distribution and international sales by Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures. Strand Releasing will handle digital distribution. “José” was acquired from its production house YQstudio. World premiering in Venice Days, “Jose,”