Month: February 2024

The Sonoma Intl. Film Festival kicks off with the U.S. premiere of Thomas Napper’s “Widow Clicquot,” starring Haley Bennett. The film, which world premiered to strong reviews at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, tells the story of the formidable Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, who flouts conventional and turns the family Champagne business into a global
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South African filmmaker John Barker (“Bunny Chow,” “Umbrella Men”) is developing a six-episode, “Last Dance”-style documentary series about the South African national soccer team’s stirring triumph at the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations, a landmark moment for a young nation still celebrating its transition to democracy after the end of apartheid. “Bafana the Boys,” which
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Best picture nominee “Poor Things” is coming to Hulu ahead of the Academy Awards. The film, a Frankenstein-esque tale directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, will arrive on Hulu on March 7. It’s nominated for 11 Oscars, including best picture, lead actress and director. “From filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos
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AMC Theaters and Fifth Season are teaming up to release Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb’s feature documentary “Butterfly in the Sky,” about the beloved 1980’s PBS children’s series “Reading Rainbow.” The film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023, takes audiences behind the scenes of the children’s series and tells the story of
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A remake of the ’90s classic “Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead” is coming to theaters in spring. Nicole Richie and June Squibb will lead an ensemble including Jermaine Fowler (“Superior Donuts”), comic Ms. Pat, Olympian Gus Kenworthy, and newcomers Simone Joy Jones, Donielle Tremaine Hansley, Miles Fowler, Iantha Richardson and Tyriq Withers. Like the
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“Euphoria” star Hunter Schafer was among 30 protesters taken into police custody for participating in a Pro-Palestine rally outside of President Joe Biden’s “Late Night With Seth Meyers” appearance in New York City on Monday. When contacted about Schafer’s involvement, a NYPD spokesperson told Variety that “a total of 30 individuals were taken into custody”
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The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) announced record financial results for 2023, with $1.737 billion in revenue and $1.592 billion available for royalty distributions to its songwriter, composer, lyricist and music publisher members. The numbers are the highest revenue and royalty distributions reported by any U.S. PRO, according to the announcement. The
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“Dune: Part Two” star Rebecca Ferguson revealed on the “Reign With Josh Smith” podcast that she was once screamed at by a co-star on set to such an unprofessional degree that she ultimately fired back and requested she only act opposite the back of the actor’s head. Ferguson did not name the actor. “I did
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After scoring robust box office results regionally, Egyptian thriller “Flight 404,” starring Mona Zaki as a woman whose tainted past resurfaces as she is about to embark on a pilgrimage to Mecca, is getting a small but significant rollout in the U.S. and Europe. Directed by Hani Khalifa, “Flight 404” sees Zaki – who starred
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On Wednesday, Fremantle revealed that it had secured worldwide distribution rights, outside of German-speaking territories, to the premium fantasy drama “Hagen” — a working title — from Constantin Film. Variety spoke to Jan Ehlert, one of the producers on the show, and Jens Richter, CEO commercial and international at Fremantle, about why they backed the
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Endeavor‘s fourth-quarter results reflected the company’s growth in sports through the acquisition of WWE last September, but its bottom line was hit by nearly $30 million in legal and restructuring costs and $47 million in write-offs from its Events, Experiences and Rights division. Last year Endeavor also paid out $101 million in advisory fees and
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Superstar Japanese auteur Hamaguchi Ryusuke will unveil “Gift,” a companion piece to his recent “Evil Does Not Exist” as a one-off live performance at next month’s Hong Kong International Film Festival. Following the success of his breakout “Drive My Car,” which won the Oscar for best international feature film, Hamaguchi initially made “Gift” as a silent
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Catherine McCormack has joined Colin Firth in Sky and Peacock’s upcoming limited series “Lockerbie,” about the 1988 flight disaster in which 259 passengers and crew members were killed. The “Slow Horses” actor will play Jane Swire, the wife of Dr. Jim Swire (Firth). The Swires lost their daughter, Flora, in the terror attack on Pan
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“Peaky Blinders” breakout Joe Cole enjoyed “little moments of levity” in his upcoming show “Nightsleeper.”  “I play a lot of serious, moody characters. But I read this role and went: ‘This is close to me as a person.’ I could be free and use my life experience, everything I have been through. I try to
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“Professor T,” the crime series produced by Eagle Eye Drama, and starring Ben Miller (“Bridgerton”), has been greenlit for a fourth season by ITV and PBS Distribution. Attracting audiences of over four million viewers on ITV and making a successful debut on France 3, the highly acclaimed drama has been sold to almost 120 territories
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AWARDS JAMBOREE The Asian Film Awards Academy has revealed several events around the annual Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong. Veteran filmmakers, jury president of this year’s awards, Japan’s Kurosawa Kiyoshi and Hong Kong’s Fruit Chan, will share their filmmaking experiences and artistic concepts in a joint masterclass. Thai star Metawin Opas-Iamkajorn (“2gether” series and
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A sign of Spain’s rising profile as a top market for Prime Video, Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, and James Farrell, the L.A.-based VP of international originals at Prime Video, flew to Madrid this week, with the world premiere of “Red Queen” (“Reina Roja”), the series adaption of the first book in Juan
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New Zealand-set detective Series “” is being launched by Banijay Rights at the London Screenings. The 4 x 90’ murder mystery was created by Screentime New Zealand and is co-produced with Real Film Berlin (Berlin, Berlin,” Netflix’s “Unorthodox”) in association with Banijay Rights. Smart and savvy detective Anais Mallory (portrayed by Chelsie Preston-Crayford) returns to her hometown,
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Fremantle revealed Wednesday that it has secured worldwide distribution rights, outside of German-speaking territories, to the premium fantasy drama “Hagen” — a working title — from Constantin Film. The deal includes rights to a six-part series and a feature film for theatrical release. RTL Group holds German streaming and free TV rights. Fremantle will be
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In what marks Sony Pictures Television’s (SPT) first international format deal for its non-fiction unit since its distribution takeover in 2022, SPT has sold the Nordics and Benelux region format rights of “So You Think You Can Dance” to Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP). The deal comes just as the dance competition series returns to Fox
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All3Media International has boarded documentary “The Accidental President” about Belarusian political activist – and 2020 presidential candidate – Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky decided to run against Alexander Lukashenko the same year, only to be arrested. As a result, she entered herself into the race. Although she reportedly won the popular vote, after Lukashenko
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