Fran Drescher is preparing to run for president of SAG-AFTRA now that Gabrielle Carteris has decided not to seek reelection for a third term. The actor, known for starring in “The Nanny” and her work in many other TV series and movies, is running on a similar platform as Carteris through Unite for Strength, the
Month: July 2021
A California police officer played Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” in an attempt to prevent a Black Lives Matter activist from uploading a video to YouTube — in the belief that the platform’s copyright-detection system would block it. It didn’t work. In fact, the video in question was not only shared successfully on YouTube, it has
MK2, the venerable family-owned film group which operates a leading arthouse multiplex chain in France and Spain, is emerging from the pandemic stronger, cooler and more ambitious than ever. Nathanaël and Elisha Karmitz, who succeeded their father Marin at the helm of the company in 2005, have galvanized the MK2 brand with activities ranging from
Fans will have to wait a little longer to return to Downton. Focus Features is pushing the North American release of “Downton Abbey 2” from Dec. 22, 2021, to March 18, 2022. The film will now compete against “Unbreakable Boy,” a drama with Zachary Levi, Meghann Fahy and Patricia Heaton. The following weekend will bring
Apple TV Plus’ “Lisey’s Story” has been adapted for TV by Stephen King and is based on his bestselling 2006 novel of the same name. The story flits between past and present, fantasy and reality. Directed by “Jackie’s” Pablo Larrain, the audience never fully knows which is which, and in this perfect union of Larrain
For art director Alan Bodner, working on animated special “Mickey the Brave!” (premiering July 16 on Disney Junior) was a chance to pay homage to “The Mickey Mouse Club,” which he grew up watching as a child. “You felt as if you were in a storybook,” Bodner reflects as he remembers the beautiful sets. The
Nickelodeon has announced that cast for the upcoming live-action comedy series “That Girl Lay Lay,” which is set to premiere later this year. The series will star teen sensation and hip-hop artist Alaya “That Girl Lay Lay” High as the titular Lay Lay; Gabrielle Nevaeh Green as Sadie; Peyton Perrine III as Sadie’s brother, Marky;
Filmmaker Dee Rees made history on June 29 when her debut feature “Pariah” joined the Criterion Collection, making the Oscar and Emmy nominee the first Black American woman to have her work included. Before Rees, Euzhan Palcy, who is from Martinique, was the lone Black woman to have a film (1989’s “A Dry White Season”)
When “Fear Street” writer-director Leigh Janiak recruited Christopher Allen Nelson as special makeup FX designer and department head for Netflix’s trilogy based on the R.L. Stine books, she knew she had the right person to pay homage to ’90s slasher flicks such as “Scream.” Janiak’s goal was that the “skull mask” killer in the first
DreamWorks Animation’s “The Boss Baby: Family Business” and Blumhouse and Universal’s “The Forever Purge” both netted $1.3 million each in Thursday previews. The two sequels, which appeal to vastly different segments of the moviegoing audience, will likely be overshadowed by the second weekend grosses of “F9,” which is expected to earn roughly $28 million over
BROADCASTING Channel 4 and Sky in the U.K. have extended their pre-existing, long-term commercial partnership in a new multi-year agreement which, according to the companies, will facilitate greater opportunity for collaboration, commercial growth and innovation as broadcasting evolves going forward. Under the terms of the new deal, Sky customers will have access to even more
The HBO Max reboot of “Pretty Little Liars” has found its first two cast members. Chandler Kinney and Maia Reficco have both been cast in the series, which is titled “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.” In addition, Lisa Soper has come onboard to direct the first two episodes of the series. Twenty years ago, a
Superstar releases, or at least great superstar releases, were in short supply in the first six months of 2021, maybe because a lot of our most reliable earners were waiting for the pandemic to crawl to some kind of close before putting out the new albums that act as precipitating events for their real bread-and-butter,
After recordings of the remote audio from Britney Spears’ blistering 24-minute statement during her June 23 conservatorship hearing began circulating widely over the web, Los Angeles County courts have decided to end their remote audio attendance program completely. Despite warnings on the web page of the audio broadcast, which was open only to involved parties
Paris-based international sales and production company Totem Films has added Gábor Fabricius’ “Erasing Frank” to its Cannes market lineup. Set in 1983, behind the Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe in Budapest, the film follows Frank, the charismatic singer of a banned punk band that carries the voice of their generation against a totalitarian regime. Taken
The British Film Institute (BFI) has revealed a one-year fund worth £500,000 ($690,000) to support the U.K. distribution of international titles. The funding comes by way of the National Lottery and will be administered by the BFI Audience Fund. It is aimed at supporting exhibitors and distributors in the wake of the pandemic and aims
Madison Taylor Baez, Kevin Carroll, Jacob Buster and Ian Foreman have joined the cast of the Showtime drama pilot “Let the Right One In.” The project also stars Demián Bichir, who plays Mark, a husband and father whose perfect life is thrown into disarray when his daughter Eleanor (Baez) is bitten by a mysterious creature
Peacock, NBCUniversal’s U.S.-based streaming service, will carry all remaining NHL 2021 Stanley Cup Final games — with the Tampa Bay Lightning facing off against the Montreal Canadiens — as they are broadcast live on NBC. Coverage of the Stanley Cup will be available on Peacock Premium, which costs $4.99/month with ads, and Peacock Premium Plus,
Archewell Audio, the podcast arm of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s production firm, has tapped award-winning podcast producer Rebecca Sananes as head of audio. Most recently, Sananes for the last two years has been lead producer for New York Magazine’s “Pivot” tech, media and business podcast hosted by Recode cofounder Kara Swisher and NYU professor Scott
Brazilian audiovisual promotion group Projeto Paradiso and Argentina’s Cannes-backed market-festival Ventana Sur are launching a new $10,000 award to be handed out at the Buenos Aires event, earmarked for the best Brazilian fiction projects in post-production. The announcement was made by Projeto Paradiso’s Josephine Bourgois – executive director of the Olga Rabinovich Institute – and
A galaxy of Indian entertainment industry heavyweights are reportedly backing Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibasish Sarkar’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) targeting the Indian media industry. Variety understands that Sarkar’s New Jersey registered International Media Acquisition Corp. (IMAC), of which he is set as chairman, CEO and leading shareholder, will have investment from actor/producer Ajay
Reflecting the blurring of boundaries between movies and TV, UniFrance and TV France International have merged their promotion organizations to form a new streamlined association. The orgs’ respective presidents, Serge Toubiana from UniFrance, and Hervé Michel from TVFI, were elected presidents of this new org, known just as UniFrance, on July 2 for a two-year
Award-winning Bangladeshi filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s “Rehana” premieres in the Un Certain Regard strand of the Cannes Film Festival and Variety has access to an exclusive clip from the film. The film follows Rehana (Azmeri Haque Badhon), an assistant professor at a medical college, who struggles to keep the harmony between work and family, as
Filming is underway at Liverpool and Anglesey, U.K., locations on Ian Puleston-Davies’ feature film “Bolan’s Shoes,” starring Timothy Spall (“Mr. Turner”), Leanne Best (“Line of Duty”) and Mark Lewis-Jones (“The Crown”). The film features music by the pioneers of the glam rock movement of the 1970s, Marc Bolan’s T-Rex, and is designed as a celebration
The BBC has pounced on the keenly anticipated HBO Max reboot of iconic drama “Gossip Girl” as a U.K. premiere. The show will be available on BBC One and streamer BBC iPlayer later this year. In addition, all six series of the pop culture classic, which ran from 2007-2012 will be available on iPlayer. The
Fremantle has swooped in for Nordic Entertainment Group’s unscripted assets, Variety can reveal. The RTL Group-owned “Got Talent” producer will use their new assets — 12 companies in all across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark — to form Fremantle Nordics. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close later this year.
Chile presents four powerful documentaries at Cannes Docs’ Docs in Progress: Showcase Chile this year, which will screen online on Wednesday July 7 and on-site on July 10 at the hybrid Cannes Marché du Film. Most of them reflect the deep trauma the country suffered under the brutal military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1970-1990). “Indeed, the Pinochet dictatorship has left a
Swifties, rejoice. After a series of online teasers that sent fans into a frenzy, Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon’s Big Red Machine project has released “Renegade,” the first of two collaborations with Taylor Swift that will be found on the group’s second album, “How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?,” due Aug. 27 via
Actor Jessica Joan had a long-awaited moment of closure when she read her victim’s statement at the June 30 sentencing hearing for Allison Mack, the “Smallville” star who became a leader of the sex cult tied to the now-convicted Keith Raniere and his NXIVM organization. Joan was the NXIVM victim previously identified in court documents
Richard Branson is closing in on winning the billionaire space race with Jeff Bezos — because Virgin Galactic now has a flight planned for next weekend, and the British billionaire will be onboard. Richard’s company announced plans Thursday to launch the rocket-fueled flight July 11 … just 9 days before Bezos plans to travel to