Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” continued its reign at the top of the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third weekend in a row with £6.05 million ($8.2 million). The film now has a total of £69.8 million ($94.5 million), according to numbers from Comscore. Disney prequel “The King’s Man” bowed strongly in second
Month: January 2022
Nicole Byer is, it has become increasingly clear, a star of uncommon charisma. The comic is best-known to many viewers as the host of “Nailed It!” on Netflix, and on that show she has displayed a keen ability to let others in on the joke even while laughing at them. She is a welcome presence
At the top of every year, Shazam uses its data to predict five artists to watch — last year it did pretty well with Masked Wolf and Tai Verdes — and on Tuesday the song-identifying app used a combination of its its “uniquely predictive data and algorithms” as well as some selections from its parent
Legendary comedian Betty White died on Friday at the age of 99, having left a legacy of indelible sitcom hits that includes “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Golden Girls.” White’s career was also notable for its longevity, and she worked well into her tenth decade. Todd Milliner, an executive producer on TV Land’s
Plenty of pop stars get tired of looking perfect all the time and do things to mess up or dirty up their images — but Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. the Weeknd, has taken that to a new level over the course of the past two years. In videos and other appearances for his “After Hours” album
Netflix has launched “The Gay Agenda,” a new podcast that will look at the lives of LGBTQ+ creatives at the top of their fields across different industries. The goal, the streaming service says, is to be celebratory, championing success stories “through a loving and humorous lens.” The podcast is created by lesbian actress, singer/songwriter and
Francis Bourgeois, the U.K.’s trainspotting sensation, has found representation, Variety can reveal. The beloved TikTok talent, whose unbridled joy for the country’s railway system has garnered a global fanbase, has signed with international talent management company YMU’s Books division, which will represent him globally. He was signed by Millie Lean who will manage Bourgeois. Bourgeois —
China has always taken extraordinary measures to protect its massive market from Hollywood content, but 2021 truly put its World Trade Organization obligations to the test. Only 21 revenue-share Hollywood imports were released in China in 2021, far fewer than even the 34 title quota set out by the U.S.-China Film Agreement signed in 2012
Viacom veteran Stefanie Schwartz, who previously led Viacom Digital Studios, is joining Jellysmack as the creator-centric video distributor’s global head of platform partnerships. In the new role, Schwartz will lead Jellysmack’s partnerships with social networks and video platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and Amazon’s Twitch. She also will lead the company’s efforts to
Americans now spend nearly as much time streaming user-generated videos on YouTube, TikTok and other online platforms as they do watching traditional TV. That’s according to a new study from the Consumer Technology Association analyzing U.S. content creator trends. The trade group’s research report, “Exploring the Creator Economy,” found that overall, user-created content accounts for
STUDIO Studio Babelsberg, the historic German studio that recently hosted “The Matrix Resurrections” production, has been acquired by TPG Real Estate Partners. The company, which is part of global alternative asset firm TPG, first revealed plans to acquire a stake in the studio in September via TREP’s acquisition of Babelsberg’s main shareholder, Filmbetriebe Berlin Brandenburg
A judge has dismissed the lawsuit filed against the surviving members of Nirvana over the cover image of their iconic album “Nevermind.” Earlier this year, Spencer Elden — the baby pictured naked on the front of the album — sued a number of individuals and companies associated with the record including Nirvana band members Dave
Some of the U.K. entertainment industry’s best-known names have been awarded the country’s highest honors by the Queen. Outgoing James Bond star Daniel Craig was honored alongside longtime Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson (pictured above with Craig) on the Queen’s New Year Honours list. Craig, who lives in the U.S., was honored
Federation Entertainment, the production entity behind “Around the World in 80 Days” and “The Bureau,” has acquired a majority stake in independent French company Robin & Co. Founded in 1998 by Jean-Yves Robin, the Robin & Co group includes subsidiaries Calt Production (“Kaamelott”), Calt Studio (“Moloch”), Calt Story (“La Dernière Partie”), Hope Production (“Human”), Monkey
Having isolated a film enthusiast on a North Sea lighthouse island in 2021, this year’s Göteborg Film Festival, Scandinavia’s biggest movie-TV event, looks set to stage another bold metaphor for film consumption, subjecting audiences at three different movie screenings to mass hypnosis. Dubbed The Hypnotic Cinema, the strand’s titles chosen for the singular experiment are
Animated short “Les Chaussures de Louis (Louis’ Shoes)” took home the 2021 VIEW Award grand prize following the VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy. The five-minute film was created by Marion Philippe, Kayu Leung, Jean-Geraud Blanc, and Theo Jamin of MoPA in Arles, France, in their last year as students. The film follows a young boy
Theatrical box office in Hong Kong more than doubled in 2021, but the outlook remains unstable, according to local trade body, the Motion Picture Industry Association. Gross revenues reached HK$1.21 billion in 2021, compared with just HK$536 million in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, last year’s total remained some 37% below
Comic book fans will have to wait a little longer to see one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic vampires bite into his big screen debut. Sony Pictures will move the release of “Morbius” by three months, the studio said on Monday. The film, part of Sony’s Spider-Man cinematic universe (not to be confused with Disney’s
Current Grammy-nominated for best alternative album for “Daddy’s Home,” St. Vincent had a hella-holy good year in 2021, not just putting out her first new collection in four years but taking it on the road with her most satisfying tour to date, a combination of soul revue and big blowout rock show that included triumphant
Whoopi Goldberg has tested positive for COVID-19. Goldberg’s diagnosis was revealed by Joy Behar, one of her co-hosts on “The View,” during a broadcast on Monday. “Whoopi unfortunately tested positive before the break, but she’ll probably be back next week,” Behar shared. Behar also affirmed that Goldberg’s health condition isn’t a cause for alarm at
Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has begun work on “Donda 2,” a direct follow-up to his 2021 certified gold album “Donda.” The development was confirmed by Steven Victor to Complex. Victor is currently the chief operating officer of G.O.O.D. Music, the record label founded by West in 2004. Victor is also senior
Richard James Burgess — president/CEO of the American Association of Independent Music and a veteran producer, musician and author — has been awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in her New Year’s Honours List. The honor — which has been awarded to the Beatles, Adele and Ed
Notable tech players and entrepreneurs Sriram Krishnan and Aarthi Ramamurthy have signed with WME. Along with deep resumes listing companies like Facebook and Twitter, Krishnan and Ramamurthy gained popularity over the pandemic as the hosts of the Clubhouse audio series “The Good Time Show” — where moguls like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are known
Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired North American rights to Pawo Choyning Dorji’s lushly lensed Bhutanese drama “Lunana: A Yak in The Classroom,” one of the 15 films shortlisted for the Oscar’s international feature film race. Represented by Berlin-based Films Boutique, “Lunana: A Yak in The Classroom” premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 2019
Beanie Feldstein, who was tasked with bringing Monica Lewinsky to life on “Impeachment: American Crime Story” was only 5 years old when then-president Bill Clinton was impeached. In some ways, her age kept her from formulating any opinions about the players in the impeachment because she was too young to read the news headlines of
After a chaotic year marked by a five-month shutdown and COVID-related restrictions, the French box office bounced back during the last quarter of 2021, bolstered by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and a flurry of big-budgeted U.S. and French releases. After reopening on May 18, French theaters pulled 96 million admissions — not a bad result
Sony Music Publishing has signed Brazilian superstar singer Anitta to a worldwide publishing agreement, the company announced on Monday. While the singer has released four albums and has been a superstar in Latin America and other territories for years, 2021 saw her U.S. breakthrough single “Girl From Rio” reach the top 40 on its way
Among this year’s Critics Choice Awards TV acting nominees are “the lifers,” an assortment of seasoned performers with long, successful Hollywood careers — many spanning from the ’80s and early ’90s, but also a few as far back as the ’60s — who have once again delivered performances on par with their finest work. And
With the COVID-19 pandemic production shutdown being short-lived and studios cutting a deal with IATSE, therefore avoiding a strike, the steady stream of television series just keeps coming. 2022 looks to be a banner year in TV, not only because of the continued expansion of Marvel Studios’ imprint on the medium with “Ms. Marvel” and
Denzel Washington has two Oscars, a SAG award and over 270 other accolades. One honor he doesn’t have yet over his 40-year career is a single nomination from the BAFTA Awards. With somewhat of a home-field advantage for taking on the words of the Brits’ greatest dramatist William Shakespeare, could Washington finally receive his first