Amid routine testing on an unnamed production from Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook, 10 people in Los Angeles tested positive for COVID-19 last week. But after just a few days of quarantine and another battery of tests, all 10 then tested negative, Variety has learned exclusively, underscoring the challenges that production companies and
Month: August 2020
In a sprawling keynote conversation with Ziffren Brittenham partner Ken Ziffren at the UCLA Entertainment Symposium, CAA managing partner and co-chairman Bryan Lourd opened up about his thoughts on the ongoing Writers Guild conflict, the Black Lives Matter movement and the agency’s efforts to diversify, and the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the entertainment industry. Lourd
Former presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten will be honored by Equality California during its virtual Golden State Equality Awards celebration. The event will be hosted by “Pose” star Angelica Ross and take place on Sept. 13. The Buttigiegs will receive the Equality Trailblazer Award. The Netflix documentary “Disclosure” will also be feted
As the magical creatures of Middle Earth prepare to resume venturing through Auckland, New Zealand, for Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings” prequel series, the mythical world of Pandora has been bursting into life for James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels in Wellington, just one hour’s flight south. Meanwhile, on the South Island, stars like Viggo Mortensen are
The Weeknd has been on a philanthropy bender in recent months, with major donations to coronavirus relief, Black Lives Matter and social justice organizations — and on Wednesday he donated $300,000 to Global Aid for Lebanon to assist victims of the horrific explosion in the country’s capital of Beirut on Aug. 4, which killed more
Young death is tricky business. To do it justice, a movie would have to be awash in grief — and where’s the pleasure in that? The supernatural romance “Endless,” releasing on demand, tempers its mourning with lessons about mortality delivered by a couple of guys stuck on the other side. It’s a cheat, to be
California Film Institute’s fundraising forum DocPitch will be held virtually at 7 p.m Aug. 13. The event was originally scheduled in tandem with documentary film festival DocLands, which was postponed from May. DocLands will now take place with Mill Valley Film Festival on Oct. 8. DocPitch is CFI’s annual event designed to financially support filmmakers
Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers, including around 750 Disney live performers, has reached an agreement with the Walt Disney Company for its performers to return to work at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., as the company sets up a COVID-19 testing site outside of the park.
Ever since Thoreau published “Walden” in 1854, the eponymous pond has taken on a life far more metaphysical than geographic, appropriated by writers wanting to give a name to their own special place where life at some point in the past had the potential for time-stopping splendid isolation. In Czech director Bojena Horackova’s “Walden,” a
WarnerMedia is looking to offload Crunchyroll, its anime subscription-streaming service — with an asking price of at least $1 billion — as parent company AT&T seeks to pay down debt — sources tell Variety. One of the potential buyers is Sony Pictures Entertainment, which operates the competing Funimation service. WarnerMedia’s move to sell Crunchyroll was
In today’s TV news roundup, Nickelodeon announced plans to bring YouTube’s Tiny Chef to its preschool platforms, and Court TV revealed that “Judgment With Ashleigh Banfield” will premiere Sept. 13. DATES Court TV has announced that “Judgment With Ashleigh Banfield” is set to premiere Sept. 13, with weekly episodes Sundays at 8 p.m. The show
“The Crown” has found its final Prince Philip. Legendary British actor Jonathan Pryce has been cast to play the Queen’s husband in the fifth and sixth seasons of “The Crown,” Variety has confirmed. Pryce will be taking over from fellow “Game of Thrones” alum Tobias Menzies, who portrayed the often controversial figure during season 3 and in
Tess Sanchez, the executive vice president of casting for Fox Entertainment, has left the company, Variety has learned. “We are reorganizing our casting department and made the difficult decision to eliminate the Executive Vice President position,” a Fox Entertainment spokesperson said in a statement. “We thank Tess for her many contributions and wish her the best
Some moviegoers feel China’s exhibition sector has been unfairly targeted by prolonged closures and excessive COVID-19 prevention measures, Variety found in a WeChat-based survey of cinema patrons. Survey respondents, who participated on the condition of anonymity, felt the protective measures required of cinemas helped to lower the risk of movie-going, but that the exhibition sector
As the cinema of celestial brutes and space-set horrors goes, Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic “Alien” still retains a gold-standard status among its kind, continuing to lend its DNA to various sci-fi quests beyond the atmosphere. The latest film to ingest a piece of its eerie spirit — albeit, with varying degrees of success — is
With the political conventions set to unfold next week, and the presidential race beginning the homestretch to November, coverage of the road to the election will intensify for news outlets of all kinds. Add Snapchat to the mix. Though the app is better known as a social tool for its young-skewing audience, the range of
“American Ninja Warrior” has beaten the obstacle course that is coronavirus production. NBC has announced that the competition series will premiere its twelfth season on Monday, Sept. 7 in the 8 p.m. time slot. That means it will be taking the place of “The Voice,” which sources say will no longer be ready in time
The first official socially distanced venue to open in the U.K. since the pandemic began held its first concert Tuesday night, with 2,500 fans gathering on 500 separate elevated platforms placed on a racing track field. Sam Fender headlined the first of two sold-out shows at what has been dubbed the Virgin Money Unity Arena,
Sen. Kamala Harris wasted no time in attacking President Trump in her introduction on Wednesday afternoon as Joe Biden’s running mate. Harris spoke for the first time since Biden selected her to be the first Black woman and first Asian American on a major-party ticket on Tuesday. She presented what she called an “open and
Queen Latifah and Jamie Foxx have teamed up to executive produce a new film about the life of civil rights activist and gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, starring Jill Scott. Shakim Compere and Holly Carter will also executive produce “Mahalia!.” “This is such an incredibly important story to tell and we’re thrilled to work with Jamie
CBS Television Studios has signed an exclusive agreement with law enforcement and public safety advisory group 21CP Solutions to consult with the writing staffs of CBS crime procedurals and legal dramas, Variety has learned exclusively. The move comes in the wake of national protests against police brutality, and in Hollywood, discussions about entertainment’s role in
Admitting to how much one doesn’t know, in an era bent on proving our incompetence, is humbling enough for most of us. But it seems especially difficult for celebrities. Dispatches from Hollywood have often tended towards the smugness of certitude since COVID’s earliest days in America: recall the infuriating “Imagine” video, in which Gal Gadot
Marc Malkin has been named Variety’s senior culture and events editor. Malkin’s new duties include helping to steer the editorial content of the weekly magazine, with an emphasis on expanding lifestyle and culture coverage as well as a focus on how the entertainment community is responding to the COVID-19 crisis. He reports to Ramin Setoodeh,
NBC has announced the premiere date for “Transplant,” the Canadian medical drama acquired by the broadcast network back in May. The 13-episode series will begin airing on NBC on Sept. 1 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, immediately after the live telecast of “America’s Got Talent.” The scheduling move now makes NBC the third broadcaster to set
It seems like it was a lifetime ago, but it was only last year that the busiest Emmy campaign season ever kept us out virtually every night of the week. That included seeing Bruce Springsteen and David Letterman onstage at the Netflix “FYSee” space, interacting with “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” exhibit during Amazon Prime Video’s
Just a few weeks after André Balazs bought the Chateau Marmont — he reportedly paid a little over $12 million for the 61-year-old, 63-room hotel in 1990 — he ran into legendary photographer Helmut Newton and his wife, June, in the lobby. The couple had been living part-time at the hotel for about three years.
In 2017, mountaineer Chris Bombardier became the first person with hemophilia to scale Mount Everest. “Bombardier Blood,” bowing on demand Aug. 17, captures the remarkable journey in which he attempts to complete his goal of climbing the Seven Summits — the highest mountain on each continent — while raising awareness of the blood disorder. The
Lulu Wang has set her follow up to “The Farewell” with a reimagining of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s acclaimed Japanese family drama, “Like Father, Like Son.” Variety has learned that Wang is attached to direct the project, which is currently in development stages at Focus Features, and will also produce the film with Josh McLaughlin of Wink
Come Aug. 26, virtually all roads in the lucrative U.K. and Ireland cinema market lead to Warner Bros.’ “Tenet.” In most of the countries’ cinemas on that date, you can watch any movie — just as long as it’s “Tenet.” At the Omnimax cinema in Limerick, Ireland, customers can choose from 19 showtimes for Christopher
Apple has ordered an animated series based on the classic children’s book “Harriet the Spy” by Louise Fitzhugh, Variety has learned. Beanie Feldstein will voice the titular Harriet, while Jane Lynch will play her nanny, Ole Golly. In addition, Lacey Chabert will voice Marion Hawthorne, the queen bee at Harriet’s school. Like the book, the series
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