Noah Galvin and Ari’el Stachel play two rival royal heirs who end up falling in love in “The Two Princes,” a scripted podcast series from Gimlet Media. The seven-episode series is a “modern retelling of a classic fairy tale” about the joys and woes of teenage romance, according to Gimlet. All episodes of “The Two
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May 23, 2019 4:27AM PT Anna Cronin has been upped to director of digital content at BBC Studios, a new role at the production and distribution arm of the U.K. pubcaster. The position is within BBC Studios’ content partnerships division, which oversees the company’s programming and IP partnerships. Cronin will work with U.K. and international
MADRID — HBO Europe is adding to its growing Spanish slate with “Por H o por B,” a comedy series original produced by Globomedia, part of TV giant The Mediapro Studio and new Madrid-based company Lacoproductora. Written and directed by Manuela Burló Moreno, the 10-episode half-hour takes the characters from her Goya-nominated short film “Pipas,”
The zombie apocalypse is coming to the U.K. and will be seen on British and U.S. TV after ITV and Hulu greenlit “Zomboat!” The upcoming comedy will star Leah Brotherhead (“White Gold”), Hamza Jeetooa (“Doctor Who”), Ryan McKen (“White Dragon”), and Cara Theobold (“Downton Abbey”). It will bow on the ITV2 channel this fall and
May 23, 2019 2:00AM PT In the wake of revealing to “Busy Tonight” viewers that she had had an abortion — and creating the #YouKnowMe hashtag on social media — Busy Philipps is teaming up with the ACLU on a “You Know Me” ad campaign meant to rebut recent legislation in several states that restrict
CANNES – Spanish producer-turned director Chelo Loureiro of Galicia’s Ábano Producións has teamed with Spanish multi-hyphenate Emilio Aragón at Caribe Music to produce the upcoming animated feature “Valentina.” Valentina turns on a girl who is tired of having Down syndrome, and believes it to be the reason she’ll never be a trapeze artist. But Valentina’s
Gabriel Abrantes returned to the Croisette this year to attend the screening of his 20-minute fantasy short, Directors’ Fortnight “The Marvelous Misadventures of The Stone Lady.” about a female statue that escapes from the Louvre and ventures into the streets of Paris. The U.S.-born Portuguese director wowed audiences at Cannes last year with his wacky
‘Little Women: LA’ Star Has to Doggy Paddle for Life!!! After Poolside Argument 5/23/2019 12:10 AM PDT EXCLUSIVE “Little Women: LA” star Christy McGinity got a sad double whammy courtesy of her costar, Tonya Banks … who metaphorically threw Christy under a bus, then literally into a swimming pool. Christy and Tonya got into a heated argument after Tonya
Since 2005, the Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week and Mexico’s Morelia Intl. Film Festival (FICM) have enjoyed a reciprocal relationship. Each year, a selection of short competition films from Morelia is shown in a special selection at Critics’ Week, with the features from the Cannes section screening five months later in Morelia. The short film
CANNES–Russian director Fedor Bondarchuk and his Art Pictures Studio have released the English-subbed teaser to “Attraction 2,” the sequel to Bondarchuk’s 2017 sci-fi blockbuster, which Variety has acquired exclusively. The director behind record-breaking Russian films such as World War II epic “Stalingrad” was in Cannes this week, where he presented footage from Art Pictures’ slate of upcoming
CANNES–Gkids, the U.S. distributor of 11 best animated feature Oscar nominees, has acquired North American rights for “Weathering With You,” the new film from director Makoto Shinkai and producer Genki Kawamura. Gkids has set an awards-qualifying run for 2019 with a theatrical release in early 2020, in both the original Japanese and a new English-language
May 22, 2019 11:58PM PT Rolling off the success of “Serial (Bad) Weddings 2,” Romain Rojtman is reteaming with UGC and Orange Studio on the the third opus of France’s comedy B.O. hit franchise. “Serial (Bad) Weddings 2” was released on Jan. 30 and grossed over 45 million euros from 7 million admissions in France,
CANNES–The Transilvania Intl. Film Festival has announced a new SVOD service, TIFF Unlimited, which will launch during the festival’s 18th edition, which bows May 31 in Cluj, Romania. The service will curate titles from current and previous editions of the festival, while also showcasing other hand-picked auteur-driven productions, presented in partnership with local distributors. It
The Locarno Festival’s Open Doors platform dedicated to promoting cinema in areas where filmmaking is especially tough, has unveiled the 8 projects, directors, and producers from 7 countries in South-East Asia and Mongolia who will make the trek to Switzerland for networking and training opportunities. The selected projects include “The Thonglor Kids” by Thai director Aditya
CANNES — In further evidence of a generally more robust high-end international sales market at this year’s Cannes Film Market, outside China at least, Studiocanal, has secured distribution in 70% of major territories worldwide on $25 million “Around the World,” its banner new animated feature. Written by “Ice Age 2’s” Gerry Swallow and directed by
CANNES — August Diehl, star of Terrence Malick’s Cannes competition player “Hidden Life,” acquired by Fox Searchlight during the festival, will head the cast of Tom Schreiber’s upcoming “Beautiful Souls” (“Schöne Seelen”). Lead produced by Ingmar Trost at Sutor Kolonko in Germany, and structured as a domestic co-production with Maze Pictures, “Beautiful Souls” has just
Claude Barras, director of the breakout Academy Award nominated hit “My Life as a Zucchini,” is returning to stop motion animation for his next feature “Sauvages,” a socially conscious tale set in the jungles of Borneo. Producer Rhea Plangg attended this year’s Cannes Film Market to foster negotiations with potential production partners. “Sauvages,” a working
CANNES–The Pop Up Film Residency, a mentorship program launched this year by former TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras and Slovak producer Juraj Krasnohorsky, has announced three new residents, four new hosts, and two new creative partners for 2019. Based in Bratislava, the program offers a three-week residency in Slovakia each month, along with a series
In retrospect, it was only a matter of time before reboot and revival fever manifested as verbatim repeats — but if TV’s gonna go there, bringing back eerily timely shows like “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons” is the way to do it. That Norman Lear’s comedies are timely, or at least prescient, is
In today’s film news roundup, “Super Pets” has moved back to 2022, “Into the Ashes” gets bought and veteran executive David Gale has a new gig. RELEASE DATE Warner Bros. has pushed back the release of “DC Super Pets” back a year, avoiding opening against “John Wick 4.” The studio announced Wednesday that “Super Pets”
May 22, 2019 5:53PM PT Rock and roll royal Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac and interior decorator Kristen Buckingham have hung a $29.5 million price tag on their timelessly sophisticated estate in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. The real estate and design savvy couple acquired the 1.2-acre spread in 2004 for $6.6 million and
FYI Brand Group, the music and fashion brand marketing and public relations firm founded by Tammy Brook, is launching a social impact division dedicated to campaigns centered around creating a call to action for social good. Organizations that have signed on to work with FYI include the American Cancer Society and Black Lives Matter; the
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elaine W. Mandel has replaced Craig D. Karlan to handle the Writers Guild of America’s lawsuit against Hollywood’s four major talent agencies. Mandel was appointed Wednesday. She is the third judge assigned to the case, which was filed April 17 by the WGA against CAA, WME, UTA and ICM Partners
In today’s roundup, Bravo announces its first ever BravoCon and the trailer for the fourth season of “Queen Sugar” dropped. DATES The buddy comedy “Partners in Wine,” starring Lauren White and Jasmine Curry, will be available for streaming on Amazon Tuesday, May 28. It follows best friends Mia and Anne, who support, challenge, and judge
Hollywood’s largest talent agencies have offered to restart negotiations with the WGA to end the standoff over the guild’s effort to impose new rules on talent agents. In a letter to WGA West president David Goodman sent Wednesday, UTA co-president Jay Sures extended an olive branch and suggested resuming talks next week. UTA later sent
Wood Entertainment has completed sales for France, Germany, Turkey, Italy and Russia for “QT8: The First Eight,” a documentary that chronicles Quentin Tarantino’s first eight films. The first buyers’ screening took place on Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival. Tarantino’s ninth film, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” premiered at Cannes on Tuesday night. Producer
A civic Phoenix story is promised and effectively delivered in “Asbury Park: Riot, Redemption, Rock ‘N Roll,” even if there’s little doubt that what much of the audience will be hoping for from this documentary is Bruce, the whole Bruce and nothing but the Bruce. The film satisfies a good portion of that craving with
May 22, 2019 3:00PM PT FX is in early development on a series based on Akwaeke Emezi’s debut novel “Freshwater,” Variety has learned exclusively. The series focuses on Ada, a Nigerian student in her final year of college who finds out that she has three spirits living in her subconscious. They eventually take control of
May 22, 2019 2:56PM PT The 2007 film adaptation of the “Hitman” video game franchise is … not good. It received a score of 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, with many critics panning its incoherent plot and terrible dialogue. So, why did actor Timothy Olyphant take on the lead role as Agent 47? He had a
Facebook’s new Oculus Quest headset is a great gaming device that simplifies virtual reality (VR), doing away with the need for an expensive PC and external tracking hardware. But with its integrated tracking, the Quest can also teach us a thing or two about the future of virtual and augmented reality. Those two areas of