Hartbeat, Kevin Hart’s multiplatform media and entertainment company, has hired four senior execs to build out its leadership team across divisions. Joining the company are former ATTN: executive Sara Abdulahi as senior VP of people and culture; NBCUniversal alum Annie Balagot as senior VP of global media; Neil Wright, who hails from BuzzFeed’s Complex Networks,
Month: January 2023
“Love Island” contestants heading to the infamous Mallorca villa this winter will be banned from having active social media accounts in their absence. ITV and Lifted Entertainment confirmed on Dec. 30 that duty of care protocols have been updated for Season 9 of the reality behemoth. As part of the new rules, to protect both
I first learned about fashion rental services through the classic yet divisive 2008 film, Sex and the City: The Movie. Jennifer Hudson’s Louise (from St. Louis) dropped the deets on her designer bag with the oft-quoted line, “It’s rented; Bag Borrow or Steal—it’s like Netflix for purses.” Nearly 15 years have passed since the movie
Roku has spent eight years of working with partners to produce HDTVs powered by its streaming tech. Now the company is rolling into the category itself with the first line of exclusively Roku-branded smart TVs. Scheduled to be available in the spring of 2023, the Roku Select and Roku Plus Series TVs will be available
Jeremy Renner’s Marvel family expressed their love and support for the Hawkeye actor after he published a selfie on Instagram from the hospital in the aftermath of his critical snow plow accident. Renner suffered blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries after a snow plow ran over him while he was trying to help a stranded
Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti (“The Salesman”) is being released on bail from Evin Prison. Nadereh Hakim Elahi, Alidoosti’s mother, revealed her release via an Instagram post. The actor’s attorney, Zahra Minooei, tweeted about her release, saying: “Today, my client Ms. Taraneh Alidoosti will be released from Evin Prison after posting bail.” The actor, who starred
U.K. broadcaster Sky History has acquired “Liberté,” a short film about a female Muslim spy who served as a British secret agent during World War 2. “Liberté” tells the true story of Noor Inayat Khan, the daughter of a Sufi preacher and an American, who became a France-based spy and radio operator for the British
The proposed privatization of U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has been scrapped, according to a letter from the country’s Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The letter, dated Jan. 3 and leaked by The News Agents podcast on Jan. 4, instead proposes a package of reforms to support Channel 4’s long-term sustainability. “Last
Joseph Koo, a leading music composer during Hong Kong cinema’s golden era, has died in Vancouver, Canada. He was 91. Local media report his death as happening on Tuesday Jan. 3, 2023, but do not state a cause of death. Born in Guangzhou, China on Feb. 23, 1931, Koo Ka-fai moved with his scholarly and
LEE’S LEGACY LAUDED Lee Jung-jae, star of hit series “Squid Game,” and the show’s director Hwang Dong-hyuk were awarded the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit, South Korea’s highest cultural medal at a ceremony last week held at the office of Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol. Hwang was honored for his career efforts that included “Miss Granny”
Disney’s James Cameron magnum opus “Avatar: The Way of Water” stayed atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third weekend in a row with £7.6 million ($9.1 million) and now has a running total of £44.9 million, per numbers released by Comscore. Sony’s “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody” made a strong
Ruben Östlund, the thought-provoking two-time Palme d’Or winning filmmaker, will direct audiences during an interactive screening of his latest film, “Triangle of Sadness,” at the Göteborg Film Festival. Titled “This is Cinema,” the on-site event will see Östlund break the fourth wall and step into the movie theater to challenge as well as engage audiences
Chris Ledesma, a longtime music editor on “The Simpsons,” has died. He was 64. News of Ledesma’s death was announced on Sunday night after “The Simpsons” aired. A post-credits tribute card was dedicated to the man behind the music. The Simpsons family was shown sitting down as Bart, Maggie and Lisa played instruments and a
A succession of locally-made hit films released in the second half of the year helped the cinema box office in Hong Kong to stage a remarkable comeback in 2022. Aggregate box office for the year was HK$1.14 billion ($147 million), some 40% lower than pre-pandemic 2019, according to new data from Hong Kong Box Office
R. Kelly silenced Aaliyah and her family through a non-disclosure agreement, following his marriage and subsequent annulment to the then 15-year-old singer. The new allegations were made in the final installment of Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly,” which aired on Jan. 2 and Jan. 3. The docuseries centered around R. Kelly’s 2022 federal trial where the
Singer Ava Max has signed with Scooter Braun’s SB Projects, Variety has confirmed, where she will be represented by Allison Kaye. Max was previously managed by Jeffrey Azoff and Tommy Bruce’s Full Stop Management. Kaye, a veteran of Variety‘s Hitmakers list, has worked closely with Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande at SB Projects, where she
Check out the official Featurette for M3GAN starring Allison Williams and Amie Donald! ► Buy Tickets for M3GAN: https://www.fandango.com/m3gan-2023-229737/movie-overview?cmp=Trailers_YouTube_Desc Subscribe to the channel and click the bell icon to be notified of all the hottest trailers: http://bit.ly/2CNniBy US Release Date: January 6, 2023 Starring: Allison Williams, Amie Donald, Violet McGraw Director: Gerard Johnstone Synopsis: M3GAN
Jeremy Renner was helping a family member whose car was stranded in the snow when he was involved in a snow plowing accident Sunday, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday. “Based on our investigation, Mr. Renner’s personal vehicle, which was being driven by a family member, had become stuck in the snow near his
Style Points is a weekly column about how fashion intersects with the wider world. There’s a memorable photo of Dame Vivienne Westwood, her towering platform heels edging their way out of a gilded frame, a painting come to life. It was a promotional stunt for the designer’s Swatch collaboration in 1992—and it feels like the
In James Cameron’s “Avatar” and “Avatar: The Way of Water,” moviegoers are introduced to two different Na’vi clans, the forest-dwelling Omaticaya and the water-dwelling Metkayina. Both tribes are peaceful and only resort to violence when their land is seized upon by humans. However, audiences might soon find out that not all Na’vi are good Na’vi.
It was a tough year to be a “Westworld” fan in 2022. Not only did HBO prematurely cancel the series in November after four seasons (many fans were expecting a fifth and final season to wrap up the story), but Warner Bros. Discovery announced in December it was pulling the show off of HBO Max
The “Wednesday” craze continues. During the Nov. 28-Dec. 4 viewing window, the popular Netflix series recorded 5.3 billion minutes viewed in its first complete week of availability, breaking another Nielsen streaming record. There have only been seven times that a program has crossed the 5 billion threshold and “Wednesday” is the fourth program to do
SZA’s “SOS” rings in the new year atop the Billboard 200 chart for a third consecutive total week, following its impressive debut week on the chart in late December. Meanwhile, the final week of 2022 pushed a number of cheery Yuletide favorites to dominate the top 10 of the singles chart in what has largely
Warner Bros. Discovery’s content purge of HBO Max continued with a year-end culling of a bucket of classic “Looney Tunes” shorts and “The Flintstones” episodes. As of Dec. 31, HBO Max removed Seasons 16-31 of the original “Looney Tunes” library, Variety has confirmed. Still remaining on the service are “Loony Tunes” Season 1-15, which comprise
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Nearly 15 years since first hitting shelves, Barbara Walters’ hit memoir is once again topping bestseller lists following the beloved journalist’s death last week. In the 2008 book, titled “The Audition: A Memoir,” Walters,
In its second week on the Top 10, Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion” became Netflix’s third most watched film in hours viewed in its first 10 days. During the Dec. 26-Jan. 1 viewing window, the “Knives Out” sequel film raked in 127 million hours watched. After a successful Christmas debut on the streamer which drew in
Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were just teenagers when they electrified audiences in the 1968 version of “Romeo and Juliet,” directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The film was a hit and was nominated for four Academy Awards, but it also stirred controversy over a bedroom scene which included images of Whiting’s buttocks and Hussey’s bare breasts.
Growing up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, costume designer Quita Alfred felt a connection to the nearby Mennonite community. When she spoke with director Sarah Polley about working on her new film, “Women Talking,” Alfred describes the moment as “rather serendipitous.” Adapted from Miriam Toews’ novel, “Women Talking” was inspired by a true story. Alfred recalls telling
James D. Brubaker, who started out as a driver for John Wayne movies and went on to amass producing credits on high-profile titles including “The Right Stuff,” “Cobra” and “Rocky IV,” died Jan. 3 in Beverly Hills, Calif. after a series of strokes. He was 85. Brubaker produced three movies with Eddie Murphy: “The Nutty
RealScreen owner Brunico Communications has finalized a deal to acquire several international content markets and events run by the National Association of Television Programming Executives (NATPE). The list of assets included in the acquisition are NATPE Global, NATPE Budapest, NATPE Streaming+ and the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards. The sale of these events run by NATPE,