So, it’s round two for Ultimate Fighting Championship owner Endeavor Group Holdings, which last week signaled plans for yet another initial public offering following its scotched attempt in fall 2019. On March 18, Variety’s sister publication Sportico broke the news that the parent company of talent agencies WME and IMG had filed confidential paperwork for
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Nick Pepper is joining Amazon Studios as head of studio creative content, where he will be tasked with packaging and maximizing the studio’s intellectual property and talent deals. The hiring follows a restructuring of Amazon Studio’s executive leadership team last month, which included Marc Resteghini’s elevation to head of development and the addition of Laura Lancaster
Bob Odenkirk exudes everyman energy. At a glance, the actor — best known as the morally malleable criminal lawyer Jimmy McGill (who later becomes Saul Goodman) on “Breaking Bad” and later “Better Call Saul” — is more suburban dad than Rambo. Odenkirk gets it. In fact, he was pretty sure he would get laughed out
Joel Steiger, who served as a writer, producer and consultant on some of the most successful television mystery series of the ’80s and ’90s including “Matlock,” “Jake and the Fatman” and “Diagnosis: Murder,” died Sunday in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 79. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of
Check out the official Stowaway Trailer starring Anna Kendrick! Let us know what you think in the comments below. Want to be notified of all the latest movie trailers? Subscribe to the channel and click the bell icon to stay up to date. US Release Date: April 22, 2021 Starring: Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim,
Play video content Exclusive TMZ.com There’s a new “Verzuz” matchup on the horizon … and it’s pitting Xscape against SWV for a battle of female R&B groups. We got Xscape’s LaTocha Scott in New York City Wednesday and she told us the rumors and speculation are true … she’s heading into battle May 8 alongside
Facebook Watch has announced that “Red Table Talk” — the buzzy, issues-oriented talk show with hosts Jada Pinkett Smith; her daughter, Willow Smith; and her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris — will return at 9 a.m. PT/ 12 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 31, with new episodes streaming weekly. “Red Table Talk” made headlines last year with
Veteran producer Will Packer is cranking up the volume on his company’s push into podcasting. Will Packer Media signed a deal with iHeartMedia to produce a slate of original scripted and unscripted podcasts for the iHeartPodcast Network. The first project under the partnership is an urban scripted drama series set in present-day Oakland, Calif., slated
Meredith said its syndicated “People (The TV Show!) has been renewed for three additional seasons through 2024. The show, which airs on Meredith-owned TV stations in 12 different markets, has seen ratings increase in both households and viewers between 25 and 54, the company said. The most-watched episode of the program so far too place
Another film critics association is going where the cool kids are: TV. The Hollywood Critics Association, which launched in 2016 (originally as the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society) announced a plan to add a TV awards ceremony in summer 2021. That puts the Hollywood Critics Association directly opposite the well-established Television Critics Association, which
Late night host and comedian Jay Leno has issued an apology for a series of jokes told over his career targeting Asian communities. The apology comes after nearly 15-year campaign from the activist group Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), for remarks as recent as Variety‘s 2020 report that Leno cracked about Koreans eating
On Tuesday, the “news” came out that Morgan Wallen would be playing his first live show since the controversy over his being caught saying the N-word on camera caused him to go into apologetic seclusion. There was just one problem: the so-called comeback show, at a country music festival in Kansas in late June, was
Veteran Joe Hogan will leave his senior role at WarnerMedia’s ad sales after working at the company for 30 years, and will be succeeded by Katina Cukaj, who takes lead for advertising sales and partnerships under JP Colaco. Cukaj, who led ad sales for a time at CNN and moved on to tackle broader responsibilities
Brad Peyton, who directed Dwayne Johnson movies “San Andreas” and “Rampage,” is attached to helm character-driven action thriller “Sniper Elite,” inspired by the stealth-shooter game franchise, which has sold more than 30 million units. The movie will see an elite Allied sniper, Karl Fairburne, engage in a cat-and-mouse chase through the streets of London at
Producers Guild leaders won’t be hosting their annual awards show in person as hoped mid-pandemic. Instead, they promise a virtual event on March 24 that will give members a chance to celebrate their accomplishments following a year marked by production stoppages and a shattered theatrical marketplace. “We’re hoping it will be an efficient awards show
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Wednesday the launch of a Spain Audiovisual Hub plan to offer a total €1.6 billion ($1.9 billion) over 2021-25 to power up Spanish film and TV production, and encourage big foreign players to shoot and set up production centers in Spain. One early beneficiary of the scheme, according to
The 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards is bringing together the cast of “Glee” for the tenth anniversary of character Santana Lopez (portrayed by the late Naya Rivera) coming out as lesbian. Demi Lovato, who played Santana’s girlfriend on the show, will introduce the special tribute, which will feature “Glee” cast members Jacob Artist, Chris Colfer,
Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety“… With the West End set to reopen in May, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cinderella” musical, with a book by freshly minted Oscar nominee Emerald Fennell, is back in rehearsals. “We just had our first run-through for Emerald,” Lloyd Webber tells me. “She hadn’t actually heard her script for the
“The Six,” a documentary film shining a searchlight on the little-known Chinese aspects of the familiar Titanic story is headed for theatrical release next month in the Middle Kingdom. With James Cameron on board as executive producer and contributor, it could make waves in other markets as well. The 97-minute feature will debut in Chinese
The veteran rapper Nas is having a very good March. He finally won his first Grammy less than two weeks ago, for best rap album for his latest release. But he’s the relative new kid on the block when it comes to the Library of Congress, which has selected his 27-year-old debut album, “Illmatic,” as one
Jemele Hill and Mike Schur have thrown in with Meadowlark Media, the content studio startup focused on sports creators headed by former ESPN boss John Skipper and ex-ESPN host Dan Le Batard. Earlier this month Skipper exited his post as executive chairman of sports-streaming company DAZN to focus on Meadowlark Media, which he launched in
Issa Rae is sticking with HBO. Rae has reupped her commitment, inking an new five-year overall deal that brings her Hoorae media label in partnership with WarnerMedia. The pact gives HBO, HBO Max and Warner Bros. television exclusive rights to Rae’s work in TV, plus a first-look film deal that spans WarnerMedia brands, including Warner
In celebration of Saturday’s premiere of the Tina Turner documentary “Tina,” HBO has teamed up with NTS radio for five hours of programming around the legendary singer’s career, featuring Arlo Parks, Dawn Richard and others. “Tina” is directed by Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin and produced by Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn and Diane Becker. “Tina”
Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of her debut album “Fearless” comes with bonus tracks taken “From the Vault,” and the singer announced Wednesday morning that “You All Over Me,” the first such song, will arrive Thursday night at 12 a.m. ET. Swift also revealed that the song features country star Maren Morris on vocals, and was
Clara Amfo, Edith Bowman and Dermot O’Leary will host the EE BAFTA Film Awards, which for the first time, will take place over a weekend on April 10 and 11. Amfo, a popular BBC Radio 1 presenter, will host the awards’ opening night on April 10, and will be joined by a yet-to-be-announced panel of
The already-crowded music-catalog-acquisition business just got a formidable new player: Germany-based music company BMG and global investment firm KKR have announced they will join forces to pursue recorded music, music publishing and other music-rights acquisitions. “Working together, the companies will deliver a compelling solution for artists, songwriters and other music rights owners seeking to realize
The U.K.’s Edinburgh TV Festival has appointed fashion designer Tan France as international editor of its advisory board, while Screen Scotland will be a joint headline sponsor for the event alongside YouTube. France is known as one of the Fab Five in Netflix’s Emmy-winning makeover hit, “Queer Eye.” The NY Times best-selling author and influential
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self isolating at home, his spokesperson revealed on Wednesday. “Mr Aamir Khan has tested positive for COVID-19. He is at home in self quarantine, following all the protocols and he’s doing fine,” the spokesperson said. “All those who came in contact with him in
“Chernobyl” producer Sister — the content studio set up by Jane Featherstone, Stacey Snider and Elisabeth Murdoch — has hired former “Black Mirror” producer Lucy Dyke to lead a new production hub out of Manchester, in northern England. The outfit is called Northern Sister, and will focus on developing and producing high-end scripted projects in
Exclusive Alex Trebek‘s name will grace a new complex that’s dedicated to putting a dent in an issue that was near and dear to him … L.A.’s homeless crisis. The folks over at Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission will honor the late “Jeopardy!” host by naming a brand new homeless shelter The Trebek Center.