Kevin Michael Richardson will be taking over the voice role of Dr. Hibbert on “The Simpsons,” replacing Harry Shearer, who portrayed the Black character since 1990. Shearer voiced Dr. Hibbert on Sunday’s episode of “The Simpsons,” titled “DiaryQueen,” for the final time. Next week’s episode “Wad Goals” will feature Kevin Michael Richardson in the role,
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Norman Lear’s Act III Prods. and Sony Pictures TV have landed a pair of projects in development at Amazon’s IMDb TV, including one starring Laverne Cox and comedian George Wallace. Lear and his production partner Brent Miller are executive producers on “Clean Slate” and “Lotería,” which are set up at the quickly growing IMDb TV,
ABC has given out a pilot order to the drama project “Promised Land.” The show is described as an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley. Matt Lopez is set to write and executive produce the pilot, with Adam Kolbrenner also executive producing. ABC Signature will
With the Golden Globe Awards being less than a week away, Variety editors Michael Schneider and Danielle Turchiano surveyed the drama series contenders on Awards Circuit, presented by HBO, breaking down the nominees and choosing which ones they’d like to see take home the trophy on Feb. 28. Netflix’s “The Crown” is the only returning
“Taylor’s Version” of the 2008 Taylor Swift hit “Love Story” was greeted as a new hit by much of her fan base. The re-recording has entered the Rolling Stone songs chart at No. 4, with 137,100 song units to its credit in its first week out. “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” accumulated 14.3 million streams during
I first met Tom Quinn, the film distributor Neon’s co-founder, at a party at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2019. With his film talent in attendance, including “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho and “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” star Adèle Haenel, a 10-minute side conversation with the CEO has remained prevalent in my
Justine Carreon remembers the first pair of sneakers she latched onto. “I wore the same pair of slip-on Vans every day of my sophomore year in high school,” ELLE’s senior fashion market editor shares. The combo she wore on repeat: a pair of workman jeans, a studded belt, and “not-so-vintage” band tees sourced at the
After nearly a year of closures, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has given movie theaters in New York City permission to reopen at limited capacity starting on March 5. During his daily press briefing, the Empire State leader said cinemas in the city will be permitted to operate at 25% capacity, with no more than
Gillian Anderson has been cast as Eleanor Roosevelt in the upcoming Showtime anthology series “The First Lady,” Variety has learned. The show is described as a reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House. Anderson joins previously announced series leads Viola Davis and Michelle Pfeiffer, who
ICM Partners has reshuffled its concerts division, elevating Mark Siegel (pictured at left) to head of worldwide concerts and Robert Gibbs (pictured at right) to head of music. In addition, Matt Bates has been named head of international/head of Europe. ICM partner Rob Prinz, who had been head of worldwide concerts, is stepping down from
You can now read the screenplay for “The Mauritanian,” based on Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s 2015 memoir “Guantanamo Diary,” here. The script, from M.B. Travern and Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, was directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin MacDonald and stars Tahar Rahim as Slahi and Jodie Foster as Nancy Hollander, the attorney who took on his
“Curtain Call,” starring starring Colin Firth, Gemma Arterton, Paapa Essiedu and Simon Russell Beale, has sold to several major territories. To be directed by “Shopgirl” filmmaker Anand Tucker, the film will commence production later this year in the U.K. Culmination Productions has sold to Squareone Entertainment (German-speaking Europe), Notorious Pictures (Italy), California Filmes (Latin America),
The Directors Guild of America has extended its contract with national executive director Russell Hollander through 2026, the guild announced on Monday. Hollander has helmed the organization since 2017, and he led negotiations on the renewal of its contract last year. He has also been involved in work with other entertainment unions to develop COVID-19
NBC comedy “Superstore” is getting a Spanish-language adaptation, Variety can reveal. NBCUniversal Formats has partnered with Mexican production outfit Dopamine (“Hernán,” “Amarres”) to co-produce the first international version of the hit workplace comedy. The deal marks NBCUniversal Formats’ first co-production partnership in Mexico and the first time one of its scripted titles will be adapted in
“American Idol” on ABC led primetime Sunday night, according to Nielsen Live+Same Day fast affiliate ratings, scoring a 1.0 in the key, 18-49 demographic, and drawing more than 6.51 million viewers at 8 p.m. Other than the long-running singing competition’s telecast triumph, the alphabet network ran new episodes of ”America’s Funniest Home Videos” at 7 p.m. (0.8,
Filmmakers behind Pixar’s SparkShorts “Burrow,” “Out,” “Float,” “Loop” and “Wind” will discuss their work in a free online PreVIEW talk presented by the VIEW Conference, beginning at 10 a.m. PT on Friday, Feb. 26. “Burrow” and “Out” are on the Academy’s shortlist for Oscar nominations. The SparkShorts program was begun by Pixar in 2019 as
If there were any doubt that Hollywood is still enamored with former presidential candidate and current U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, look no further than the heavyweight filmmakers and top distributor who will mount the story of his historic presidential campaign. “Mayor Pete,” directed by Jesse Moss, the co-director of last year’s “Boys State”
Spotify unveiled plans to launch in 85 new markets over the next few days, areas that represent more than 1 billion potential new listeners, according the company. The company made the announcement Monday at its Stream On event for creators and partners. The 85 new markets — which include Pakistan and Bangladesh — span Asia,
Barack Obama sat down with Bruce Springsteen for a series of wide-ranging conversations that will hit Spotify as an exclusive original podcast — the newest entry in the company’s expanding slate of audio programming. “Renegades: Born in the USA” is an eight-episode podcast featuring the former president and The Boss, who have been friends for
Jenny Slate and Charlie Day have been tapped to star in a new romantic comedy from Amazon Studios. In the movie, titled “I Want You Back,” Slate and Day will play 30somethings, dumped by their respective partners and terrified that their shot at a fairytale life — complete with marriage, kids and houses in the
Leading arthouse sales and production house The Match Factory and Italian film director Pietro Marcello have teamed up for the third time following the company’s acquisition of his documentary “Per Lucio,” which world premieres in the Berlinale Special Gala section of the Berlin Film Festival. They previously worked together on fantasy drama “Lost and Beautiful,”
A live-action series adaptation of the “Twisted Metal” PlayStation game franchise is officially moving forward, Variety has learned. Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions are developing a series based on the “Twisted Metal” vehicular combat games, the first of which was released in 1995. It was originally reported in 2019 that Sony was interested in
BET Plus has ordered the original series “Birth of Cool” in its first-ever partnership with “Gentefied” producers Macro Television Studios and Emmy-Award winning screenwriter and actor Lena Waithe’s production house Hillman Grad Productions. The 10-episode half-hour dramedy marks Waithe’s third original production with the brand— her other two series with BET are “Twenties” and “Boomerang.”
Plenty of Hollywood studio executives are sports fanatics — pre-pandemic, the floor seats at any given Lakers game often looked like the executive check-in at the Academy Awards. But Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, has taken his love of the game to a much more philosophical level during a recent and
Laverne Cox and Kerry Washington know all too well what it’s like to be “the first,” as well as the mix of pride, pressure and responsibility that comes with it. That’s why they’re working to ensure that they’re providing opportunities for underrepresented artists both on-screen and behind the scenes. “All day Inauguration Day I was
As part of a long presentation called “Stream On,” Spotify announced that it will be introducing a hi-fi option later this year, among other benefits for fans and creators. CEO and cofounder Daniel Ek also said the company paid out $5 billion in royalties in 2020. Ek also mentioned the company be launching in new
Play video content CBS The lawyer who killed the son of New Jersey federal judge Esther Salas had his sights set on Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor next … according to Judge Salas. Roy Den Hollander is believed to have posed as a FedEx delivery worker in July when he ambushed the home of Salas’
Starz is officially picking up “Gaslit,” an anthology series from creator and showrunner Robbie Pickering (“Mr. Robot,” “Search Party”) based on the award-winning Slate podcast “Slow Burn.” The series focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of Watergate, from Nixon’s opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic
Many kids love to watch TV, but have little desire to learn the intricacies of the business behind it. Nickelodeon aims to change that dynamic. The ViacomCBS kids-media giant will host a showcase on March 18 at 4 p.m., all part of the advertising-sales session known as TV’s “upfront” market. The presentation aims to lure
A recent Twitter spat between presenter Piers Morgan and industry campaigner Adeel Amini has resulted in an open letter to ITV requesting that the broadcaster denounce bullying in all forms and reveal the findings of internal discussions around Morgan’s conduct. The letter, organized by an anonymous group of freelancers, began gaining traction over the weekend,