The Spring 2023 cohorts of Mara Brock Akil’s Writer’s Colony have been announced. The list includes the names of several rising multihyphenates including Rhema Boston, Paris Crayton III, Latasha Mercer, and Tosin Morunfula. The three-month screenwriting residency takes place in West Adams, Los Angeles next door to Brock Akil’s story 27 productions company. During the
Month: June 2023
Padma Lakshmi is exiting “Top Chef.” The reality show host announced on social media that “Top Chef” Season 20 will be her last run with the beloved Bravo cooking competition series. Lakshmi’s news arrives just a week before the Season 20 finale. “After much soul searching, I have made the difficult decision to leave ‘Top
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of “Dave,” titled “Looking for Love,” now streaming on Hulu. The already guest-star-studded Season 3 of FX’s “Dave” ends with not one but three of the biggest guests any show could hope to have in their cast: Rachel McAdams, completing a three-episode arc by
Taylor Swift shared the first round of international tour stops for her Eras Tour on Friday morning. Swift will play three dates in Mexico’s Foro Sol stadium starting Aug. 24 and will also run through Argentina and Brazil, with a closing show on Nov. 26 in São Paulo, Brazil at Allianz Parque. The Latin American
When legendary Western hatter John B. Stetson invented the first commercially manufactured cowboy hat in 1865, he probably didn’t expect it would become a major fashion accessory more than a century and a half later. And yet around the world today, cowboy hats are worn by more people than ever before, and much of the
I’ve been doing this long enough to remember the days when film folks saw doing TV as a bit of a step down, or a one-time novelty — and even TV folks felt like they were in the minors, waiting for that call to join the movie big leagues. That hasn’t been the case for
The impact of “Renaissance,” the main title theme for the second season of “The White Lotus,” is felt far beyond the screen. Since the season’s premiere in Fall 2022, “Renaissance” has ushered in the Killers as they arrived on stage and Dominic Fike has closed his sets with it. But where the song has really
While Hollywood was on pause during the worst of the pandemic, Rob Savage’s quick thinking and creativity inspired him to make two movies on the fly. The British writer-director shot his independent film “Host” at the beginning of COVID-19 restrictions, with cast and crew using Zoom and self-taping to tell the spine-chilling tale of a
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Sanctuary,” in theaters now. At first glance, Zachary Wigon’s new film “Sanctuary” might seem simple — it was shot in 18 days in a 1,200 square foot room with a two-person cast, after all. But within those four walls lies a complex and wildly entertaining tale full of sex,
Don’t tell me “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is merely a “cartoon.” It’s a visionary work that redefines what the animation medium can achieve, sitting alongside the handful of sequels such as “The Dark Knight” and “The Empire Strikes Back” that elevate their franchises by pushing them in surprising new directions. On a personal level, this
In HBO’s controversial new series “The Idol,” Lily-Rose Depp plays a young pop phenom who falls for a self-help guru and modern day cult leader named Tedros (played by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye). Depp recently told Entertainment Weekly that no one in “The Idol” cast went “full Method [actor],” but that doesn’t mean some of
Nelly Furtado gives fans the first taste of her long-anticipated return to music with the release of her new Dom Dolla-produced single — and her first in five years — titled “Eat Your Man.” Furtado pays lyrical homage to some of her most recognizable hits (ahem, “Maneater”) in the hypnotic club anthem that marks her
Twenty-five years have passed since the release of Rufus Wainwright’s self-titled debut album, a rhapsodic collection of 12 songs celebrating his open homosexuality and given suitably cabaret-inspired flair by producer Jon Brion. In addition to commemorating the occasion with an expanded, remastered, digital-only re-release featuring ten extra songs from its three-year, 56-song recording process, Wainwright
“Prey” director Dan Trachtenberg wanted his “Predator” spinoff, which is set in 1719, to be shot in a naturalistic way, so cinematographer Jeff Cutter made use of available light whenever possible — especially from fire and the moon. (L-R): Director of Photography Jeff Cutter on the set of 20th Century Studios’ PREY, exclusively on Hulu.
The total U.K. and Ireland box office for May 2023 is £78.2 million ($97.7 million) which is 19% lower than May 2022, per numbers released by Comscore. Year-to-date 2023 is currently running 1% behind the same period in 2022. This is in contrast to most other territories where 2023 is significantly higher than last year,
Peter Sohn’s latest film, “Elemental,” from Disney/Pixar, tells the story of characters made of opposite elements who fall in love. The story is a metaphor for the director/writer’s life where he stepped out of the element of his own Korean culture to marry for love and pursue a career in animation. The animated tale closed
Grammy-winning Songwriters Hall of Fame member Cynthia Weil — who co-wrote “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “On Broadway,” “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” “On Broadway,” “Walking in the Rain,” “You’re My Soul and Inspiration,” “Uptown,” “Kicks,” “Here You Come Again,” “Through the Fire,” “Somewhere Out There” and many other hits with her husband and Brill
“Scoring comedy, in general, is really difficult,” says English composer Tom Howe, and he should know: He’s responsible for the music of “Ted Lasso” and “Shrinking,” two of the year’s most talked-about comedies, both airing on Apple TV+. “You can’t take away from the picture and the script,” he says. “From my point of view,”
Could 2023 be the year of genre? Thanks to a pandemic that created a deep desire for escapist TV, there are more shows that fit into that box now than ever, many of which are eligible for Emmys this season. They include Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings
British actor Tobias Menzies, Emmy winner for Netflix’s “The Crown,” has joined the cast of Apple Original Films’ Formula One racing feature, Variety can reveal. Menzies joins a cast led by Brad Pitt, alongside Damson Idris (“Snowfall”) and BAFTA winner Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”). The as yet untitled film stars Pitt as a former driver
Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired all North American rights for Catherine Breillat’s explosive drama “Last Summer” which competed at the Cannes Film Festival. Produced by Said Ben Said at SBS, the film stars Léa Drucker as Anne, a brilliant lawyer who lives in perfect harmony with her husband Pierre and their six and eight‐year‐old daughters in
What’s up, danger? After nearly five years, it’s time to swing back into the Spider-Verse, as Sony’s sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” has webbed up $17.35 million in Thursday previews at the box office. The animated sequel is expected to open at $80 million this weekend, with some projections going as high as $90 million
Harrison Ford is taking some responsibility for the tension that developed with Brad Pitt during the making of their 1997 thriller “The Devil’s Own.” The film, which notably marked the last directorial effort from Alan J. Pakula (“All the President’s Men,” “Klute”), earned mixed reviews but grossed $140 million worldwide. Ford has often said in
The BBC has appointed an acting chair following the ousting of Richard Sharp in April. Elan Closs Stephens has been appointed in the role by the U.K.’s culture secretary Lucy Frazer She will take over from Sharp once he steps down on June 27. Closs Stephens has been a non-executive director of the board since
Ella Irwin, after less than seven months as head of trust and safety at Elon Musk’s Twitter, has resigned from the company. Irwin confirmed to Reuters that she resigned but did not provide a reason for her exit. Earlier, Fortune reported that Irwin’s Slack account at Twitter appeared to have been deactivated. Neither Irwin nor
The U.K.’s Stigma Films has snapped up TV rights for Jeffrey Boakye’s “I Heard What You Said,” an Amazon Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2022. Told via a series of encounters based on the challenging and outrageous things people have said to him or about him, Boakye, a Black, male English teacher who has
Indian cinema superstar Rajinikanth has wrapped principal photography on Sun Pictures’ “Jailer.” The film is directed by Nelson, who previously helmed the hits “Kolamaavu Kokila” (2018), starring Nayanthara, “Doctor” (2021), starring Sivakarthikeyan and “Beast” (2022), starring Vijay. While the plot is under wraps, the film belongs to the action genre. The cast includes Kannada-language cinema
Well, that’s hot. Paris Hilton has called on Kim Petras for the revamp of Hilton’s classic hit single “Star Are Blind.” The new collab, “Stars Are Blind: Paris’ Version,” was released on Thursday, over 15 years after the single’s first release in June 2006. The original debuted at No.18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and
Tom Holland has given an update on the development of his fourth “Spider-Man” movie. At the premiere of his new Apple TV+ show “The Crowded Room” in New York City on Thursday night, Holland told Variety that though he can’t share too much, he has “been having meetings” about the next chapter in the Marvel
WOMEN WOLVES Netflix is to launch a new Japanese reality show “Is She the Wolf?” which was developed with broadcaster Abema and adapted from the original show “Who Is the Wolf” which previously ran for 13 seasons. The show follows five men and five women on a quest for love through dates and a group