As if coming out of the closet were not daunting enough, Canadian filmmaker Robbie Lemieux amps up the fear factor in his feature debut, “Fester.” A participant in the Frontières Co-Production Market, run by the Fantasia International Film Festival alongside Cannes’ Marché du Film, “Fester” is not your average coming-out story. “Writing ‘Fester’ was essentially
Month: August 2021
The Weeknd teased new music early Monday morning in a snippet posted on social media called “The Dawn Is Coming” and talked generally about it in a new GQ article, calling it “the album I’ve always wanted to make.” The song has a heavy electronic dance groove reminiscent of “Alive 2007”-era Daft Punk, but with
When Discovery Communications purchased the European rights to the 2018-2024 Olympics six years ago, ousting competitors such as the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and agency SportFive in the process, there was little public interest, let alone outcry. Discovery had bought the pan-European network Eurosport in 2014 and were keen to make a mark with their
The upcoming 21st series of “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” will return to the Gwrych Castle, Abergele, in North Wales, for the second year in a row, ITV has revealed. The show used to be filmed in Australia until the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world. Australia has some of the toughest
Timo Pelz, after eight years at Instagram and Facebook, has been recruited to be Reddit’s first VP of business marketing. Pelz, who most recently served as Instagram’s head of business marketing, is tasked with setting go-to-market strategy for Reddit’s advertising products spanning the discussion site’s 100,000-plus communities. He will oversee all aspects of business marketing
Selected last week for San Sebastian’s New Directors strand, the festival’s main sidebar, Turkish director Salman Nacar’s “Between Two Dawns” has confirmed distributors for France and Spain. Sales agent Luxbox has also released a first trailer and poster for the film, both of which Variety obtained exclusively. In France, the film’s release will be handled
Korean-made action film “Escape From Mogadishu” overcame new release “Jungle Cruise” and holdover “Boss Baby 2” to dominate the South Korean box office over the weekend. “Mogadishu,” directed by the consistently successful Ryoo Seung-wan, played on 1,688 screens nationwide and earned $4.93 million between Friday and Sunday. That gave it a 57% share of the
“American Epic” director Bernard MacMahon has revealed the title of his long-awaited and recently completed Led Zeppelin feature documentary: “Becoming Led Zeppelin.” The project, which was first announced in 2019, has unprecedented access to the band, marking the first and only time the group has participated in a documentary in 50 years. Though 1976 doc
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read until you have watched “Rick and Morty” Season 5, Episode 7, “Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion.” There is a lot going on in this week’s episode of “Rick and Morty,” “Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion.” There are, obviously, the “Voltron” and titular “Neon Genesis Rickvangelion” riffs. There is the anime component, in general, leading
Cantonese-language singer Anthony Wong Yiu-ming has been formally charged with corruption by Hong Kong authorities. The move relates to alleged crimes in connection with a 2018 election. Wong and former legislator Au Nok-him were charged on Monday by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Wong had previously been arrested on Thursday and granted bail. Au is
The Jewish Film Institute has selected six projects for its second cycle of Completion Grants Program, Variety has learned. JFI, the Bay Area curatorial voice for Jewish film and media, announced the grants at the virtual awards ceremony for the 41st San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. This year, JFI has awarded $100,000 in film completion grants,
Matt Damon said in a new interview that he stopped using what his daughter calls “the f-slur for a homosexual” after she wrote him a treatise explaining “how that word is dangerous.” In an article posted by the Sunday Times, the “Stillwater” actor was discussing “changes in modern masculinity” when he launched into a story
Kyle Kuzma‘s SUV was stolen … and then taken on a joy ride that led to a high-speed chase, and an eventual crash. Law enforcement sources tell us … Kuzma’s Chevy Tahoe SUV was stolen somewhere in Hollywood and eventually became involved in a police pursuit around 1:30 AM early Sunday morning. The chase, we’re
Thea White, an actor best known for voicing the sweet-natured Scotswoman Muriel Bagge on Cartoon Network’s “Courage the Cowardly Dog,” died on July 30. She was 81. White’s brother, John Zitzner, announced the news of White’s death on his Facebook page, writing that White had died two days after undergoing a second surgery related to
Ariana Grande is taking her talents to “Fortnite.” On Sunday, the online video game announced that they have partnered with Grande for a concert series called “Rift Tour,” scheduled for Aug. 6-8. Spanning five showtimes over three days, the in-game event promises to be a “musical experience” with a special playlist and playable character inspired
Anna Gross, a film executive and producer who worked on films such as “The NeverEnding Story” and “Tootsie,” died of cancer on July 23. She was 68. Gross’ cousin, Mikie Heilbrun, confirmed her death to Variety. “Everyone’s life she touched she enriched,” Heilbrun wrote in an email. “She made them better more full beings and forever
The white fiberglass elephant statues at the Hollywood & Highland shopping center are being removed in a rejection of filmmaker D.W. Griffith’s racist legacy. According to the Los Angeles Times, the new owners of the famous center where the Academy Awards are typically held are removing the elephant statues and “all of the faux Mesopotamian
Jay Pickett, an actor and producer known for his roles on “Port Charles” and “General Hospital,” died Friday on the set of his upcoming film, Pickett’s agent confirmed to Variety. He was 60. The official Facebook page of “Treasure Valley” — in which Pickett starred and served as a producer and writer — announced Pickett’s death on
As an actor, Matt Damon has always had two sides: the light and the dark, the noble and the furtive, the boyishly winning and the ominously coldhearted. Early in his career, when he was that cute kid with the shiny hair and the big grin, he played characters who had a troubled layer or two,
As it celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival looked to keep pace with the rapidly evolving – and colliding – worlds of film and television with the launch of a new sidebar and industry strand dedicated to high-end TV series. For the first time TIFF unspooled a sidebar featuring eight
Philipp Yuryev’s “The Whaler Boy,” which took home the Venice Days award at last year’s Venice Film Festival, won the top prize at the Transilvania Film Festival on Saturday. The jury praised the Russian director’s feature debut, an offbeat story of a teenage whale hunter on the Bering Strait who sets out to meet a
DaBaby is no longer performing at Lollapalooza. Following the rapper’s homophobic remarks at Rolling Loud on July 25, the Chicago festival has removed DaBaby from their Sunday lineup. A statement tweeted from Lollapalooza’s official Twitter account reads: “Lollapalooza was founded on diversity inclusivity, respect and love. With that in mind, DaBaby will no longer be
“Jungle Cruise” completed its first voyage with $34.2 million in theatrical ticket sales and another $30 million on Disney Plus, leading the competition in North America. The Disney film, starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson, debuted slightly ahead of expectations despite concerns the Delta variant would keep family crowds at home. At the international box
Alex Kurtzman, the prolific producer who pilots the Star Trek franchise for CBS Studios and Paramount Plus, has extended his exclusive overall TV deal with the ViacomCBS units through 2026. Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout banner will expand under the new agreement to add an executive to help manage its growing slate of series. Longtime Kurtzman partner
Here are the top trailers for movies coming out in August 2021! What will you go see? Watch All the Best New Trailers from July 2021: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLScC8g4bqD47kq2VAMRWIOkpmmr3roAkA?cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc 00:00 The Suicide Squad 02:24 Don’t Breathe 2 05:15 Free Guy 07:39 Respect 10:04 Ema 11:58 Demonic 14:08 The Protege 16:32 Reminiscence 19:19 The Night House 21:40 Paw
MTV turns 40 on Sunday, and it hardly looks its age. Well, that’s because it hardly looks like, well, anything anymore. At least that’s the depressing state of the linear MTV channel, which in recent years has become 95% reruns of “Ridiculousness,” along with a handful of runs of 20-year-old movies (“Joe Dirt”) and limited
Clarence “Mac” McDonald, a keyboard player, producer, songwriter and arranger who worked with artists including James Taylor, Ray Charles, Bill Withers and the Emotions, died in Las Vegas July 21 from complications related to cancer, his friends and family reported. He was 76. During a 50-year-plus career in the music business, McDonald had as among