Ariana Grande was nearly able to make her song “34+35” add up to No. 1, by releasing a hit remix that includes Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat. The song moves up to second place on the new Rolling Stone songs chart, thanks to the trio version that was issued on Jan. 14, giving the
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Vimeo said it raised $300 million in new equity funding — giving it a valuation north of $5 billion, doubling from three months ago — ahead of parent company IAC’s planned spinoff of the video hosting and services unit. The new investment in Vimeo came from T. Rowe Price Group and Oberndorf Enterprises. Last month,
“Ready or Not” star Samara Weaving has been cast in “Liz,” a biopic about one of America’s forgotten founding mothers Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte. Described as a U.S.-set “Bridgerton” or “The Great,” “Liz” tells the story of the country’s first modern celebrity. Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte gained prominence as the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte’s youngest brother,
Rupert Murdoch has been silent on Twitter for nearly five years, but the media baron has come out swinging against social media and what he described as the prevalence of a “woke orthodoxy” in the online realm. Murdoch, 89, created a stir with a two-minute video message that was released in connection with his receiving
Sub Pop Records has opened a new retail store in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. The flagship location at 2130 7th Ave. sells shirts, hats, hoodies, various knick-knacks, trinkets and “objets d’art,” according to an announcement, “as well as actual vinyl LP copies (aka ‘records’) of every Hardly Art and Sub Pop release currently in
As coronavirus vaccines trickle out across the country and new infections and deaths rise at alarming rates in cities like Los Angeles, some power players in entertainment and media are leveraging their clout and connections to be amongst the first to get inoculated. Numerous high-flying executives and dealmakers have been cycling through private physicians and
The award-winning environmental documentary: “Kiss the Ground” will be made free to educators, as well as a follow-up curriculum by the National Science Teaching Association, starting Jan. 28. Narrated by Woody Harrelson, the Grade 6-12 version of the critically acclaimed eco-doc will include new sequences and a supplementary curriculum. Directors Josh Tickell and Rebecca Harrell
Krysten Ritter has signed with CAA for representation in all areas, Variety has learned exclusively. Ritter joins the agency from WME. She continues to be managed by Kyle Luker at Industry Entertainment and Steve Caserta at Principal Entertainment LA. Her attorney is Dave Feldman at Brecheen, Feldman, Breimer, Silver & Thompson; and her publicists are Lindsay
NBC’s revival of “The Weakest Link” has been renewed for Season 2 at NBC. NBC has ordered 13 more episodes, with production set to begin later this year. Jane Lynch will return to host the series, which sees contestants answer general knowledge questions to bank prize money across multiple rounds. At the end of each
The Big Loud/Republic Records team, which currently has what is far and away the biggest album in the country with Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album,” is celebrating that success by joining with Back Blocks in signing Lily Rose, the partnership’s first shot at breaking a female artist in country music. But in a very
The American Film Institute has announced the recipients of the AFI Awards for 2020, the top ten films and TV shows “deemed culturally and artistically representative of this year’s most significant achievements in the art of the moving image.” The best films from this pandemic year were recognized with no big surprises among the 10
Pioneer Italian documentary director Cecilia Mangini, whose political works exploring hot-button topics such as youth contending with Italy’s postwar poverty, the condition of women, and the roots of fascism made her a legendary figure on the international film festival circuit, died on Jan. 21. She was 93. Mangini made her mark from her very first
ABC is developing a series adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s “Paradise” novel trilogy, with “Grey’s Anatomy” star Ellen Pompeo set to executive produce. The project is titled “Winter in Paradise,” named after the first book in the trilogy. The series focuses on Irene Steele, who shares her idyllic life in a beautiful Iowa City Victorian house
Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment has promoted Justin Wilkes to chief creative officer. Currently the head of the prolific Imagine Documentaries division, Wilkes’ expanded role was announced internally on Monday by Howard and Grazer. He will now work closely with film, TV, docs, branded entertainment, kids and family, and international programming. Wilkes will
Catching up on news from and beyond NATPE Miami, ITV Studios and HOT begin shooting on “Jerusalem,” while Disney Plus starts production on its first originals in Spain and Argentina, Newen ropes its French production companies together as Newen France, Beyond Rights sells 250 hours of content in Spain and Portugal and Onza Distribution gets
In today’s Global Bulletin, West One International will distribute climate doc “Earth Emergency,” Cheng Cheng Films gets “A First Farewell” for North America, Discovery U.K. commissions a docuseries on the Children of God cult, Drama Team’s “Jerusalem” goes into production, the British Independent Film Awards announce nine craft category winners and the Red Sea International
MIMO Studios, the production company backed by former Nickelodeon president Cyma Zarghami, has a concept it hopes will go swimmingly with the need for new children’s content. MIMO is in talks with various streaming-video hubs and kid-focused media outlets regarding a trio of 45-minute 3-D animated musical specials based on author Deborah Diesen’s “Pout-Pout Fish”
Rolling off the success of “Family Feud,” Fremantle Latin America is targeting more format adaptations in Argentina with Boxfish, headed by famed former Cuatro Cabezas’ founder Diego Guebel, producer of the multi-formated “CQC.” The conversations to develop more light entertainment formats are part of a growing alliance between Fremantle and Boxfish, who struck a format
Newly formed cinema collective Indian Women Rising has boarded Student Academy Award-winning short film “Bittu” as presenter. IWR will shepherd the film through its Oscar campaign. Based on a real life incident from 2013, “Bittu” is based on the story of a close friendship between two girls (played by Rani Kumari and Renu Kumari) in
AMC Theaters delivered a sobering message last December, warning that the world’s largest cinema chain could run out of cash by early 2021 due to mounting challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, the company announced a reversal of fortune. It raised nearly $917 million in funding since then, allowing AMC to avert bankruptcy
California lifted the statewide stay-at-home orders on Monday, allowing counties to retake control of COVID-19 restrictions, and potentially allowing for the return of outdoor dining in parts of the state. The California Department of Public Health cited “positive signs” that the virus is spreading more slowly across the state. But it also warned that the
Craig Mazin has extended his overall deal with HBO and HBO Max for an additional three years. The news comes as little surprise, given the success Mazin has had at HBO. He previously created the critically-acclaimed HBO limited series “Chernobyl,” which detailed the aftermath of the titular Soviet nuclear disaster in 1986. The show, which
Streamers ruled NATPE even if super indies made most of the big announcements. That said, global platforms won’t have it all their own way in 2021, Omdia, a London consultancy, predicted in a NATPE Miami presentation. In 2020, across the 328 online video subscription services that Omdia tracks, more subscribers — over 226 million —
NBC and Dick Clark Productions have announced that the 2021 Billboard Music Awards will take place on Sunday, May 23. The show will air live on NBC at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT, and will serve to celebrate the hottest names in music today. The honorees are determined by their performance on the Billboard
From Donald Trump’s lifetime ban to Elon Musk’s comments about the coronavirus, the rules and policies that govern Twitter have been a subject of extensive discussion and analysis in recent months. The topic flared up again last week, when K-pop fans essentially hijacked the right-wing-leaning “#ImpeachBidenNow” hashtag, filling it with photos and videos of K-pop
In 1999, opera legend Andrea Bocelli sang at the Academy Awards with Celine Dion when their duet of “The Prayer” was up for a best song Oscar. Twenty-two years later, Bocelli has another shot at boosting a theme song to a nomination as “Gratia Plena,” which he recorded for the movie “Fatima,” enters the race. Composer Paolo
“Pieces of a Woman” marks the English-language debut for director Kornél Mundruczó, who gained a passionate following with his breakout film “White God” in 2014. The Hungarian filmmaker has brought his latest project to the streaming giant Netflix, earning acclaim for his singular vision and an outstanding performance by Vanessa Kirby. “Pieces of a Woman”
Even with her seven Oscar nominations and five decades of screen and stage credits, Glenn Close felt butterflies — as, perhaps, many people would — at the prospect of talking to Pete Davidson. “I was nervous when I woke up because you just seem so cool,” she told him. But surprisingly, the 73-year-old screen legend
NBCUniversal has opened applications for its 2021 writers program. The initiative, which is operated by the company’s global talent development and inclusion team, will accept submissions via its website through Feb. 21. Universal Writers Program aims to find rising screenwriters who have unique points of view. Those selected for the one-year, paid program will be
Pete Davidson (“The King of Staten Island”) and Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”) sat down for a virtual chat for Variety‘s Actors on Actors, presented by Amazon Studios. For more, click here. Even with her seven Oscar nominations and five decades of screen and stage credits, Glenn Close felt butterflies — as, perhaps, many people would —