Month: January 2021

Universal Pictures announced a first-look production agreement with producer Dan Lin and his Rideback production banner. In a statement announcing the partnership, Universal Pictures President Peter Cramer said, “Dan and his team at Rideback have an exceptional track record producing major franchises, animation and prestige films.” “Additionally, with Rideback Ranch, he has created a groundbreaking

Focus Features has nabbed worldwide rights to Luke Holland’s “Final Account,” a documentary about the last living generation from Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. The announcement was tied to International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Focus plans to release the film — in collaboration with Participant Media — in the U.S. on May 21, 2021. Universal Pictures International

When Ryder Allen learned he would be auditioning for a starring role in “Palmer” opposite Justin Timberlake, the then 7-year-old actor had one question. “I was like, ‘Who’s Justin Timberlake?’’ Allen recalls with a laugh. “Now he’s like my best friend. So look at me now.” It’s become commonplace to talk about child actors as

When Bryan Fogel set out to make “The Dissident,” his intrepid and arresting exposé on the assassination of Saudi Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, he knew there were myriad security risks involved. There was the matter of Khashoggi’s killing—a brutal one, his body sawed into parts—at the hands of a Saudi murder squad, a

Trevor Noah is staying in the Viacom family for his next creative endeavor, an untitled feature film with Paramount Animation, Variety has learned exclusively. The untitled project is based on an original idea from Noah. The plot is under wraps but is said to be timely, poignant and comedic. Jonathan Groff (“Black-ish”) and Jon Pollack

When the American Film Institute announced that it was giving its 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award to Mike Nichols, the event instantly became the hottest ticket in town. As recounted in Mark Harris’ upcoming biography “Mike Nichols: A Life,” not only did just about all of Nichols’ most celebrated collaborators — Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Tom

Of course, 2020 was a year like no other when it came to screen entertainment. As the coronavirus pandemic shut down productions across the U.S., it allowed Netflix to continue churning out content from its deep arsenal of movies and series. Last year, Netflix put forth no fewer than eight original song contenders, including contributions

Songwriter Diane Warren said she named the original song contender “lo Si (Seen)” after reading the script for “The Life Ahead,” where she noticed many of the characters were not seen. In the Variety Streaming Room moderated by Artisans editor Jazz Tangcay, the filmmakers behind “The Life Ahead”(now streaming on Netflix) revealed how they teamed

Oscar winner and multiple Emmy winner Cloris Leachman, best remembered as the delightfully neurotic Phyllis Lindstrom on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and her own subsequent sitcom, died of natural causes on Tuesday in Encinitas, Calif. She was 94. “It’s been my privilege to work with Cloris Leachman, one of the most fearless actresses of

Nicole Kidman and Donald Sutherland make a good team. In “The Undoing,” Kidman stars as Grace, an Upper East Side therapist whose life unravels when her husband (Hugh Grant) is accused of a grisly murder. Sutherland plays Kidman’s wealthy, stoic father. In one of the hit HBO series’ most powerful scenes, Kidman and Sutherland discuss