Month: August 2022

A new docuseries about Armie Hammer arrives on Discovery+ Friday, promising to delve deep into the headline-making accusations leveled against the actor over the past year, in addition to his wealthy family’s dark past. The trailer for “House of Hammer,” which dropped earlier this month, includes clips of conversations with the actor’s ex-girlfriends Courtney Vucekovich
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In a world where politicians use mental health as mere talking points when discussing gun violence and suicide rates, Steve Buscemi’s “The Listener” addresses the crisis head-on. Written by Alessandro Camon, the Oscar-nominated scribe of “The Messenger” (2009), the film follows a helpline volunteer named Beth, played by Tessa Thompson, who is an integral part
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Avril Lavigne, the princess of pop-punk, was crowned with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday. Timed to the 20th anniversary of her debut album “Let Go,” the ceremony was a full-circle moment for Lavigne, who told Variety in an interview that she had visited the famed boulevard on her first trip
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For many “Star Wars” fans, John Boyega included, the axed “Duel of the Fates” movie will forever be the best “Star Wars” film never made. “Duel of the Fates” was the original script written for Episode IX, which was to be directed by “Jurassic World” filmmaker Colin Trevorrow. When he exited the project over creative
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“House of the Dragon” co-showrunner, executive producer, and director Miguel Sapochnik is exiting the HBO series ahead of its second season, Variety has confirmed. The show, a prequel to HBO’s megahit “Game of Thrones,” was renewed for Season 2 shortly after it premiered. Sapochnik will continue to be credited as an executive producer on the
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After a grueling, hard-fought and ultimately victorious legal battle over streaming rates for the years 2018-22, the National Music Publishers’ Association, the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and the Digital Media Association today have announced a settlement with streaming services for certain mechanical streaming rates in the U.S. for the years 2023-2027: 15.35%. The announcement comes
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Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s career thus far has included an Emmy-winning turn on HBO’s “Watchmen,” awards buzz for playing Bobby Seale in “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and movies like “Candyman,” “Aquaman” and “The Matrix Resurrections.” Such an eclectic balance of film and TV projects is the result of Abdul-Mateen’s curation, as he’s made it
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As Unifrance’s Daniela Elstner sees it, the wealth of talent in this year’s Venice slate imparts a good bill of health for the French industry writ large. “Today, festival directors look to France in a slightly different way,” Elstner says. “We can find eminences like Frederick Wiseman alongside [emerging talents] like Alice Diop. That’s the
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The cast of Francis Ford Coppola’s upcoming $100 million epic feature “Megalopolis” is shaping up — and it includes Shia LaBeouf. Reports surfaced earlier this month indicating that the controversial actor was circling a leading role in Coppola’s passion project. Now, with production slated to begin this fall, LaBeouf’s casting has been confirmed. Also set
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Sandbox Films and Gamechanger Films will develop “Under the Dream,” a new documentary feature that will be co-directed and co-produced by Saelyx Finna, Mia Imani and Laurie Polisky. The film is a creative documentary about the uncharted realm of dream technology and the Black-led movement to protect our minds at night. Gamechanger CEO Effie Brown, and Sandbox Film’s Jessica Harrop, head of production and development, and founding director Greg Boustead
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Travis Fimmel (“Vikings,” “Warcraft”), Simon Baker (“The Mentalist,” “Breath”) and Phoebe Tonkin head the adult cast of “Boy Swallows Universe,” an Australia-set fantasy-drama series. Production has now begun in Brisbane, Queensland. The eight-part limited series is an adaptation of Trent Dalton’s international best-selling novel “Boy Swallows Universe” and is being produced by Brouhaha Entertainment, together with
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Tig Notaro is joining “The Morning Show” for Season 3 in a recurring role, Variety has confirmed. The “One Mississippi” creator and star will portray Amanda Robinson, the chief of staff to corporate chief Paul Marks (played by Jon Hamm). Other previously announced cast members include Hamm and Nicole Beharie, as well as returning star
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The Gorillaz have shared the star-studded tracklist for their new album “Cracker Island,” to be released Feb. 24 via Warner Records. On the 10-track bill is Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Beck, Adeleye Omotayo, Thundercat, Tame Impala and Bootie Brown. The set’s announcement arrived on Wednesday morning with its first Tame Impala and Bootie Brown-featuring single
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Jennifer Fox, the Oscar nominated producer of “Michael Clayton” (2007), has been tapped to produce the 13th Governors Awards for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Marking her fourth time producing the event, Fox will assemble the annual ceremony where Euzhan Palcy, Diane Warren and Peter Weir will receive Honorary Oscars and Michael
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As a filmmaker, Noah Baumbach has always been a dyed-in-the-wool dramatic realist, talky coastal neurotic division. He hasn’t always been as good at it as he is today; “The Squid and The Whale” (2005), the divorce drama that established his reputation and is held in supremely high regard by many cinephiles, isn’t half the movie
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Justin H. Min has joined the cast of Searchlight Pictures’ “The Greatest Hits,” Variety has learned exclusively.  Star of Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” and breakout in the Sundance player “After Yang,” Min joins the previously announced Lucy Boynton in the emotional movie musical from writer-director Ned Benson (“The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby”).  While character details are
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As a journalist, I’m always uncomfortable becoming part of the story. But I was met with an abnormally high amount of online dissent several days ago, after contributing to a Variety list detailing “The Worst Series Finales of All Time.” My sole contribution was the 1991-1994 sitcom “Dinosaurs,” a show I watched religiously as a
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“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is only days away, and the Amazon Prime Video series has earned mostly rave reviews with a few mixed reactions (and one flat-out pan) as critics returned to Middle-earth. As Variety chief TV critic Caroline Framke wrote in her review: “It’s safe to say that Amazon
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To celebrate the release of his self-titled new album, British singer Yungblud has announced “Occupy the Strip,” which will see him performing at three legendary venues  on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip on September 8, with the concerts being livestreamed globally via the Amazon Music channel on Twitch. Yungblud says, “Some of the most iconic artists
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