Honors were even atop the U.K. and Ireland box office as Universal’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” and Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” battled for top spot during the Easter holiday weekend. While “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” won the three-day weekend, “Kung Fu Panda 4” had the higher gross including previews.
Month: April 2024
Endeavor, three years after the sports, entertainment and talent management company went public, announced that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by private-equity firm Silver Lake. The deal gives Endeavor an equity value of $13 billion, the companies said. According to the parties, the premium to be paid by Silver Lake —
Steve-O said on a recent episode of his “Wild Ride!” podcast that he had to turn down a request to appear on Bill Maher‘s podcast because Maher allegedly refused not to smoke pot during the interview. “Jackass” alum Steve-O is 16 years sober. Maher is often seen smoking marijuana during his “Club Random” podcast interviews.
Jon Stewart made headlines in February when he appeared on “CBS Mornings” ahead of his return to hosting Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and said that Apple canceled his previous talk show, “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” because “they didn’t want me to say things that might get me in trouble.” On the April 1
Lou Reed was indisputably one of the most provocative musicians the rock world has known, releasing songs about heroin abuse and sadomasochism on his very first album (“The Velvet Underground and Nico”), utilizing piercing guitar feedback on many of his songs, and scoring a global hit single in 1973 that referenced oral sex (“Walk on
A series of billboards apparently teasing Billie Eilish’s new album have popped up in major cities across the world, as noted in multiple social media posts on Tuesday. The billboards do not feature the Grammy- and Oscar-winning artist’s name but do include her familiar “blohsh” symbol and what appear to be lyric snippets saying things
Visual effects house DNEG has acquired the exclusive license to Ziva from Unity. The company will also onboard a significant proportion of the Ziva team. The Ziva toolset powers the creation of digital characters and creatures for film, TV and gaming cinematics. It also brings cinema-quality characters into real-time gaming environments and introduces interactive digital humans and
Ang Lee is moving on from 3D filmmaking after a trio of hit or miss releases: “Life of Pi” (2012), “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” (2016) and “Gemini Man” (2019). The former title was an acclaimed blockbuster that won Lee the Oscar for best director, while the latter two releases, also distributing in high-frame rate
Sherri Shepherd is staying put. Her first-run syndicated talker strip “Sherri” has been officially renewed for a third season via Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury. The pickup comes as station groups including Nexstar, Sinclair, Hearst, Gray and Scripps renew the show (clearing it in more than 95% of the country), which had previously been ordered through the 2024-2025
Game Show Network is bulking up its stable of original series, adding three new strip series to its lineup. As announced on Tuesday morning as part of its 2024 upfronts pitch to advertisers, Game Show Network revealed it has ordered a new version of classic gamer “Tic Tac Dough,” this time hosted by Brooke Burns
SiriusXM has announced that Taylor Swift will have her own limited-engagement SiriusXM channel, “Channel 13 (Taylor’s Version),” starting Sunday, April 7, 13 days ahead of her forthcoming album “The Tortured Poets Department.” The channel will air 24/7 across North America and will be a destination for Swift’s music from across her 17-year career, including favorites, all
Luxury home entertainment tech company Kaleidescape — which develops and sells high-tech movie players and servers that deliver studio content to homes — is expanding into the cinema business with a sort of “on demand” service for library titles. In doing so it aims to make older titles more accessible in theaters and open up
Ken Loach says he has “great respect” for Jonathan Glazer in raising the subject of Gaza in his Oscars acceptance speech for “The Zone of Interest,” asserting that the director was “very brave” to say what he did. “And I’m sure he understood the possible consequences, which makes him braver still, so I’ve got great
Focus Features has acquired worldwide rights to Carey Mulligan comedy “The Ballad of Wallis Island,” Variety can confirm exclusively. They will release the film in the U.S. while Universal Pictures International is handling global distribution. The film, which was previously titled “One For The Money,” is directed by James Griffiths (“Cuban Fury”) and produced by
Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Stevie Wonder, Pearl Jam, Kacey Musgraves, Camila Cabello and more than 200 other artists have joined with the Artist Rights Alliance non-profit – an artist-led education and advocacy organization – to issue an open letter supported by more than 200 artists calling on “AI developers, technology companies, platforms, and digital music services
The Webby Awards have announced nominations for the 2024 ceremony, recognizing excellence in internet content. Variety landed three Webby nominations, for: best website (in the general websites and mobile sites – entertainment category); 2023 Actors on Actors (in the video series and channels – entertainment category); and “I’m Not a Victim: Pamela Anderson Opens Up
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has backed J.K. Rowling after the “Harry Potter” author spoke out against Scotland’s new hate crime act, daring the police to arrest her for misgendering trans women. The act, which went into effect on Monday, includes an offense for “stirring up hatred” regarding age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity
Dolby is heading to CinemaCon with a new offing for theater owners, with an eye toward growing the number of premium theaters that offer its Dolby Vision laser projection systems. Dolby Cinema-branded auditoriums offer Dolby Vision coupled with Dolby Atmos sound in a customized upscale environment with comfortable seating and ambient light. Now, Dolby is
Amazon has struck a deal that will see premium Lionsgate and Starz programming made available to to MGM+ customers in the U.K. Lionsgate+ subscribers who joined via Prime Video Channels in the U.K. will now get access to the MGM service beginning in April. In May, the MGM service will be rebranded to MGM+ in
BBC KOREA LAUNCH BBC Studios is launching ‘BBC Kids’ in Korea as a monthly subscription service on Genie TV Kids Land, a dedicated IPTV service for young children, in collaboration with telecoms and internet service provider KT. Through the partnership, BBC Studios Asia will bring a wide range of children’s content to Korean audiences, in
“The Killing” star Sofie Gråbøl will serve as the president of this year’s Canneseries competition jury, it was announced on Tuesday. The Danish actor kickstarted her career with the 1986 film “Barndommens gade” (“The Streets of My Childhood”) and is known for her TV roles including “The Killing,” “Nikolaj og Julie” and “Taxa.” Joining Gråbøl
Steffi Niederzoll’s Berlin, CPH: DOX and El Gouna-winning documentary “Seven Winters in Tehran” added another award to its collection with the best international film honor at India’s inaugural Cinevesture International Festival (CIFF). Anmol Sidhu’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards nominee “Jaggi” won best Indian film and Elham Ehsas’ BAFTA and Clermont-Ferrand nominee “Yellow” was named as
Legendary Entertainment’s “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” had the best opening in China of any Hollywood film this year. It scored $44.6 million (RMB317 million) in mainland Chinese cinemas between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. That was a nearly 70% share of the country’s weekend box office. Nationwide,
Spooky Korean drama film “Exhuma” held on at the top of the local box off ice chart for the sixth consecutive weekend. It saw off challenges from significant newcomers “Troll Factory” and “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.” The Choi Min-sik-starring “Exhuma” dropped 32% week-on-week to record $3.08 million between Friday and Sunday, according to
Production and songwriter credits for Beyoncé’s new album “Cowboy Carter” hit streaming services this past weekend, but she’s got a few more surprises in store when it comes to the musicians who played on the record. While accepting the Innovator Award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on Tuesday (April 1), Beyoncé revealed that Stevie Wonder
Rome Flynn is opening up about his surprise exit from “Chicago Fire.” In an exclusive statement to Variety, Flynn reveals it was not his decision to walk away from the NBC drama. “Just like all the fans, I was sad to see Gibson leave. He was a character I very much enjoyed playing,” Flynn said.
Not very many years come along where we’d be talking about a presumptive winner for the album of the year Grammy 10 months from the date that award is given out. Neither do times come along very often where we would necessarily be considering someone a likely shoo-in for a major award when that person
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Hulu‘s new reality show about the drama-ridden Vanderpumps is finally here. “Vanderpump Villa,” which follows matriarch Lisa Vanderpump’s hand-selected staff as they work (and play) at her restaurant at an exclusive French estate, premieres
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has upped Michele Ballantyne to President. She will also continue to serve as chief operating officer, running daily operations and managing the 56-employee team. Ballantyne serves on the executive leadership team alongside Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier. During her time with the company, Ballantyne has mobilized the RIAA
Scandal at a film festival is usually generated by provocative auteurs or loose-lipped actors stirring up drama at press conferences. Last weekend’s laid-back Sonoma International Film Festival, held in the heart of California wine country, was a different story. Numerous indie film players spotted Sundance Film Festival director Eugene Hernandez at the event, alongside his