Five members of the United States House of Representatives have signed a letter urging President Joe Biden to launch an investigation into the Live Nation–Ticketmaster merger, which they call a “monopoly.” Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ-09), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ-06), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09) and David Cicilline (D-RI-01) sent the letter on Monday to
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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has issued a statement following an email sent by its former president calling the Black Lives Matter organization “a hate movement.” The L.A. Times published an article on Monday detailing the email, which was reportedly sent on Sunday. According to the Times, former HFPA president and current member Phil Berk
Korean-American star Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok), star of the upcoming Marvel film “The Eternals” will produce and star in “The Club,” an action series derived from South Korean scripted format “The Trap.” The production brings together Gorilla 8 Productions, a company owned by Lee, B&C Content’s Chris S. Lee, and U.S.-based Starlings Television. No
Walter Mondale, the former vice president to Jimmy Carter and staunch democrat who lost the 1984 presidential election to Ronald Reagan, has died. He was 93. Mondale’s family announced his death in a statement on Monday and did not mention a cause of death, according to the Associated Press. Mondale was a United States Senator,
After several previous notable singles, Polo G’s “Rapstar” is looking like his first true phenomenon, becoming his first No. 1 single with the highest streaming numbers for any song by a male artist out of the box so far in 2021. The song debuted atop the Rolling Stone songs chart and bounced Lil Nax X’s
K-Pop superstars BTS have partnered with McDonald’s to offer the band’s favorite order starting May 26. The BTS Meal, announced using french fries to emulate the group’s iconic logo, includes a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, medium fries and medium Coke, complete with Sweet Chili and Cajun dipping sauces inspired by popular McDonald’s South Korea recipes, available
For the first time, there are two Asian Americans in Oscar’s director race: Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”) and Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”). That’s notable, but it’s even more extraordinary considering only four Asians were ever nominated as director before this. The four predecessors were spread over the decades: Hiroshi Teshigahara (“Woman in the Dunes,” 1965); Akira
A new directing team has joined the Spider-Verse. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers (a current Oscar nominee), and Justin K. Thompson have been tapped by Sony Pictures Animation to direct the sequel to the Oscar-winning animated feature “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Although Dos Santos’ directing role had been previously reported, the trio have been working
In the wake of Kevin Graham-Caso’s suicide last October, his friends pored over his old emails, looking for answers. Klodiana Alia found one from 2009, when Graham-Caso was working as an assistant to producer Scott Rudin. At the time, Graham-Caso was looking for another job, and Rudin had gotten wind of it. “He flipped out,”
Universal Music Publishing Group has signed Ariana Grande/ Justin Bieber/ Blackpink collaborator Tommy Brown to an exclusive global publishing deal. Brown worked with Ariana Grande on all six of her studio albums, including executive producing the most recent album “Positions,” as well as co-producing “Holy” by Bieber, “Ice Cream” by Blackpink, “Make Believe” by Juice WLRD
Imane “Pokimane” Anys has been playing games for more than half her life. Today, it’s her full-time career: She’s the most-followed woman streamer on Twitch, as well as one of the 10 biggest live-streamers overall on the platform. As a prominent female personality in the historically male-dominated games sector, Pokimane strives to create a positive
Demi Lovato isn’t backing down in her diet food war with a frozen yogurt shop — she’s now warning the store about messing with her … but also walking back her comments a bit, saying she was having a really bad day. The singer continued going back and forth with The Bigg Chill — the
While the feat is obviously affected by the pandemic, Bad Bunny’s “El Último Tour del Mundo 2022” has become the fastest-selling tour on Ticketmaster since 2018. According to Ticketmaster and Cardenas Marketing Network (CMN), Bad Bunny’s pre-sale date on April 15 now ranks as the top sales date for any tour on Ticketmaster since 2018,
Influence Media announced Monday it has acquired the copyrights for portions of the songwriting catalog of writer Ali Tamposi, including her part of such hits as “Senorita” by Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes and songs by BTS, Justin Bieber and others.
It’s always hard to recount and reveal truths about the life of a widely-recognized celebrity in a biopic format. It’s another challenge altogether when that celebrity is Luis Miguel, colloquially known as “The Sun of Mexico.” Carla González Vargas, showrunner of “Luis Miguel: La Serie” on Netflix and president of Gato Grande productions, a joint
With the debut of the teaser trailer for “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” on Monday, Marvel Studios has finally pulled back the curtain on the first major superhero movie backed by an American studio to star a predominantly Asian cast. Starring Simu Liu (“Kim’s Convenience”), directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (“Just Cause”)
Ever since the music industry began its streaming-fueled recovery around five years ago, the songwriting and publishing communities have been protesting not only the uneven payment structure of streaming — which sees recorded-music rights holders being paid three times what publishing is paid — but also the imbalanced power and payment structures of the music industry.
The falling rate of COVID-19 infections and rising rate of vaccination has prompted California state officials to allow concerts and other indoor events to be held at 75% of capacity in some counties so long as all attendees are vaccinated or have tested negative for the virus. The boost to indoor event capacity levels came
In today’s Global Bulletin, BAFTA announces the jury for BAFTA’s Breakthrough India initiative; BFI Southbank outlines several seasons for its reopening; the Iron Throne is heading to Leicester Square in London; and Tony Orsten and Charlie Caminada launch Grand Scheme Productions. JURY BAFTA and Oscar-winning Indian composer A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”) is the jury chair
Netflix has ordered the new series “Florida Man,” starring Edgar Ramírez and created by Donald Todd. The eight-episode series, described in the same vein as “Body Heat” and Elmore Leonard’s “Out of Sight,” revolves around a struggling ex-cop who is “forced to return to his home state of Florida to find a Philly mobster’s runaway
Ntertain will give an inside look at one of the most influential families in Latin music with its new docuseries, “Los Montaner.” The unscripted show will follow Ricardo Montaner and his family and is set to feature his wife, filmmaker Marlene Rodriguez; award-winning recording artists Ricky Montaner and Mau Montaner of Mau y Ricky; entertainer
Television dominated the roster of nominees for the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards, which returns this May after a year-long hiatus due, at least in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic. But with the kind of crowd-pleasing, popcorn-ready films that the MTV awards show normally celebrates mostly delayed due to the pandemic, TV has taken
“Mortal Kombat” star Lewis Tan has landed the leading role in an anticipated adaptation of the David Ignatius novel “Quantum Spy.” Tan will serve as star and co-executive producer on the pilot from Boies/Schiller Entertainment, Anonymous Content, Flame Ventures and “24” alum Tony Krantz. The project was first in development at NBC, though Boies/Schiller has
The Academy is not asking Oscar attendees to wear face masks while cameras are rolling during the live ceremony on April 25. The news was announced on Monday morning during a Zoom meeting with Academy reps and nominees, and studio and personal publicists. Because the ceremony — being held at Union Station in downtown Los
Facebook is jumping on the audio entertainment and messaging bandwagon, outlining a road map of features — including integrating Spotify’s music and podcast player — it’s planning to bring to the Facebook service. The social media giant said it will add the ability to listen to podcasts directly on the podcast app in the next
Cecilia Suárez and Augusto Aguilera have joined the ABC drama pilot “Promised Land,” Variety has learned. The show is described as an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley. The pair joins previously announced cast members John Ortiz, Christina Ochoa and Mariel Molino. Suárez will star as
Apple TV Plus has ordered to series the bilingual drama “Now and Then” from Bambú Producciones and creators Ramón Campos, Teresa Fernández-Valdés and Gema R. Neira. Campos and Fernández-Valdés will serve as showrunners, with Neira and Campos writing the series. The series, which will be shot in both Spanish and English and set in Miami
Mattel, the popular toy company, intends to turn yet another children’s game into a big-screen extravaganza. The company’s film division has announced plans to develop Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em, the tabletop game featuring battling robots, as a live-action movie starring Vin Diesel. “To take the classic Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em game, with Mattel as my
Movie theaters in New York City will soon be able to welcome a slightly larger number of customers into their venues. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has given local cinemas permission to operate at 33% capacity, starting on April 26. At the same time, museums and zoos will be able to increase to 50% capacity.
Scottish synthpop trio Chvrches have dropped their first song since 2019, “He Said She Said.” Of the song, lead singer Lauren Mayberry says, “Like everyone, I’ve had a lot of time to think and reflect over the past year; to examine experiences I had previously glossed over or deeply buried. I feel like I have