Only television could contain “Catch-22.” Joseph Heller’s capacious World War II novel, stuffed with philosophical monologues, paradoxes, and a wide-ranging cast of expendable flyboys centered on the inertly gloomy Yossarian, provides little foothold for any potential reworking. A 1970 feature adaptation (Mike Nichols’ little-remembered third film, made after “The Graduate” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia
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May 8, 2019 6:45AM PT Lindsay Rothschild arrives from Google where she led songwriter and publisher relations for YouTube. Apple Music is continuing to build out its publishing division, recently hiring Lindsay Rothschild as Head of Creative Services, Music Publishing, for North America, Variety has learned. Rothschild arrives from Google where she led songwriter and publisher
May 8, 2019 6:34AM PT Bankside will launch international sales at Cannes “Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke will play poet Elizabeth Barrett in “Let Me Count the Ways,” with Bjorn Runge directing the love story from a Paula Milne script. Based on a true story, the film will follow the love affair between poet
Favorite films from Sundance, Berlin and Cannes feature prominently to give a rich competition section at next month’s Sydney Film Festival. The festival run June 5-16, and will open with Rachel Ward’s comedy “Palm Beach.” The competition lineup, announced Wednesday, includes “Synonyms,” winner of the Golden Bear at Berlin for Israel’s Nadav Lapid. From Cannes,
May 8, 2019 6:19AM PT Billy Bush will return to entertainment reporting as the anchor of a the syndicated Warner Brothers magazine show “Extra Extra,”marking his return to the format after leaving NBC under a cloud. Bush was discovered on an old 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape laughing at vulgar remarks Donald Trump made about sexually
Kim Kardashian Wanted by Inmates … Please, Hear Us Out & Get Us Out!!! EXCLUSIVE Kim Kardashian is more popular in prisons than ever — and that’s saying a lot — because scores of inmates are reaching out now that word is out she can offer non-violent offenders a path to freedom. Sources familiar with the
For its centerpiece commercial in the build-up to the 2019 Women’s World Cup, which kicks off June 7, Fox Sports knew it had to shoot to score. The spot, titled “All Eyes On Us,” poses the question which soccer fans around the world will be asking: can anybody challenge the U.S. team, the undisputed queens
May 8, 2019 5:59AM PT UPDATED: The new royal baby has a name, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The world got its first glimpse Wednesday of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s newborn son. The couple later announced the baby boy’s name. The proud parents, the duke and duchess of Sussex, showed off their first child to the
ARRI Media International has boarded WunderWerk’s animated family film “The Ogglies,” based on the hit German children’s book series about a group of creatures with unusual eating habits looking for a new home. Helmed by Jens Møller, whose credits include the “Lego Star Wars” TV series, and Toby Genkel, director of animated hit “Ooops! Noah
Chilean animation producers Lunes Animation Studio has released its highly-acclaimed animated short “Waldo’s Dream” on YouTube, where it can be accessed for free around the world. The short was written and directed by the company’s trio of José Ignacio Navarro Cox, Jorge Campusano and Santiago O’Ryan, who have worked together since meeting in a master
May 8, 2019 4:06AM PT Prodigy singer Keith Flint had drunk alcohol and taken drugs sometime before he was found dead at his home outside London on March 4, a coroner’s court has heard. An autopsy revealed that Flint, 49, had cocaine, alcohol and codeine in his system at the time of his death, according
May 8, 2019 4:01AM PT Ryan Reynolds appeared to have found a pirated pre-release copy of “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” — and then made the ill-advised move to share it with his 13 million-plus fans on Twitter. Of course, not really. The “Deadpool” star, who voices the adorable yellow rodent-like creature in the upcoming Warner Bros./Legendary
May 8, 2019 4:00AM PT Apple has greenlit “Prehistoric Planet,” a natural-history series that will recreate the last days of the dinosaurs. Jon Favreau and “Planet Earth II” producer Mike Gunton are teaming on the series for Apple’s soon-to-launch streaming service. It will be produced by BBC Studios’ highly-regarded Natural History Unit, which is based
China Modern Film and Television Development (HK) is to handle international sales of “The Rescue.” The film is a big-budget Chinese action thriller, by smash hit director Dante Lam (“Operation Red Sea,” “Stool Pigeon”) with the bankable Eddie Peng in the lead role. The Hong Kong-based company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Modern Film
Altitude has boarded as international sales agent an as-yet-untitled Led Zeppelin feature documentary, directed by Bernard MacMahon, best-known for “American Epic.” CAA will represent the U.S. rights. The film will be shopped at Cannes. The release of the doc, now in post-production, will coincide with the band’s 50th anniversary. It traces the journeys of the
Blockchain will make a Cannes comeback this year with Jack Dorsey-backed MTonomy pitching an “operating system for the world of film and TV rights.” At the Cannes Film Festival, the company will be providing the technological backbone for the film sales operations of Los Angeles-based sales agent Indie Rights. It will also hold presentations of
Rome-based Fandango Sales has taken world sales on supernatural drama “The Man Without Gravity” toplining Elio Giordano, who in 2010 for his performance in “Our Life” tied with Javier Bardem for the best actor prize in Cannes and is considered among Italy’s top talents. Fandango, which is owned by Italian producer Domenico Procacci and operated by
May 8, 2019 12:34AM PT Overall revenues were down at ITV in the first quarter as ad sales took a hit amid Brexit uncertainty, but the U.K. broadcaster’s content and distribution division, ITV Studios, posted a small revenue increase. CEO Carolyn McCall flagged the likely Brexit impact earlier this year in a warning about the
May 8, 2019 12:01AM PT Horror film “Meander” starring Berenice Marlohe (“Skyfall”) has set August as start date for production. WTFilms will act as sales agent. Written and directed by France’s Mathieu Turi, whose post-apocalyptic debut “Hostile” was a genre film hit, “Meander” had been expected to shoot last year. Turi says that the English-language
May 7, 2019 9:24PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, Lionsgate claims the top spot in spending with “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.” Ads placed for the action thriller had an estimated media value of $5.09 million through Sunday for
May 7, 2019 7:32PM PT “Men in Black: International” will hit Chinese theaters on June 14, the same day as the U.S., Sony Pictures said Wednesday. A spin-off sequel to the first three films in the “Men in Black” franchise, it is directed by F. Gary Gray and stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson as
When Joe Biden made one of his first treks to Hollywood for his last presidential race, in 2007, his fundraising had been paltry, he was having trouble getting donors’ attention, and much of showbiz was siding either with the presumed front runner, Hillary Clinton, or the historic upstart, Barack Obama. “I haven’t asked for anything
A pre-teen sleepover, but make it a film festival. L.A’s forthcoming experiential film festival, Rom Com Fest, just announced its 2019 lineup, which includes iconic rom-com favorites such as “Never Been Kissed” and “10 Things I Hate About You.” The event, which will take place at the the Downtown Independent Theater from June 20-23, aims
May 7, 2019 6:35PM PT NBC has ordered one-hour drama “Council of Dads” to series. “Council of Dads” tells the story of an extended family when Scott, a “loving father of four, has his entire life’s plan thrown into upheaval by a cancer diagnosis [and] calls on a few of his closest allies to step
May 7, 2019 5:53PM PT “Twin Peaks” actor Balthazar Getty is set to star in the suspense thriller “La Flamme Rouge,” sources tell Variety. The pic was written and is being directed by Brent and Derek Maze. The film will mark their feature debut after mainly working in the music video world. The pic is
The CW has picked up three of its pilots to series. “Batwoman,” “Katy Keene,” and “Nancy Drew” have all been ordered for the 2019-2020 season. In addition, an individual with knowledge of the situation said that “Jane the Novela,” a spinoff of sorts of hit CW series “Jane the Virgin,” will not move forward at
Android TV didn’t get any keynote stage time at Google’s I/O developer conference in Mountain View, Calif. Tuesday, but the company still used the event to share some updates for its smart TV platform. Most notably, Android TV will be making making it easier to sign up for video subscription services. To do this, Google
In today’s roundup, Netflix has released the first official trailer for “Nailed It!” Season 3, and OWN’s new family saga “Ambitions” is set to debut in June. FIRST LOOKS Netflix has released the first official trailer for Season 3 of “Nailed It!”, which returns May 17. Nicole Byer and Jacques Torres are back as hosts
Whatever else it may be, Ariana Grande’s Sweetener World Tour is not a “get to know your superstar” affair. On record, Grande has ably followed Taylor Swift down the trail of openly autobiographical pop… but that’s on record. In concert, she couldn’t be less Swiftian. Audience interaction and between-song commentary are at a minimum. There
Thanks to popular releases by Cardi B, Ed Sheeran, Meek Mill, K-Pop group TWICE and the unstoppable “The Greatest Showman” soundtrack, Warner Music Group is having a strong Q2. For the quarter ending on March 31, the company announced a 13.2% increase in total revenue to $1.09 billion, up from $960 million during the same