R. Kelly left Cook County Jail this afternoon for the second time in two weeks this morning after he paid more than $160,000 in overdue child support, according to the Chicago Sun-Times and multiple other media reports. Kelly said, “I promise we’re gonna straighten all this out. That’s all I can say right now. I
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Ben Affleck takes center stage in Netflix’s upcoming “Triple Frontier,” and the pic is far from Affleck’s first as an established leading man action star. However, it took him a few films to get his bona fides, going from comedic side character to gruff hero with several stages of evolution along the way. In his
No matter how popular they might be, at nine concerts out of ten an artist is going to save their biggest hit for last — not only to build anticipation and give the audience a reason to stick around, but also as a kind of making-it-worth-the-wait master stroke. But Robyn — patron saint of intelligent
DJ Mustard & YG Spirited Debate Over R. Kelly and MJ … YG Says Racism’s Afoot 3/9/2019 12:00 PM PST EXCLUSIVE DJ Mustard says R. Kelly is a “monster” and a “pig” … but he’s reserving judgment on Michael Jackson. YG says he’s done with both of ’em … but also has some condemning words for
Disney-Marvel’s latest MCU installment, “Captain Marvel,” is launching to an estimated $156 million from 4,310 North American locations after totaling $61.4 million on Friday. The Friday number includes $20.7 million from Thursday previews. Should estimates hold, “Captain Marvel” will rank as the seventh best MCU opening domestically, behind the three “Avengers” movies, along with “Black
A new crop of Mexican fiction films and feature-length documentaries premiering in Guadalajara’s (FICG) Premio Mezcal section are vying for the festival’s largest cash prize of 500,000 pesos ($25,800). Winning the prestigious award virtually ensures a good run on the global festival circuit. As tradition has it, a group of 30 film students from Mexico
Kodak Black New Orleans Gig Triggers High Alert!!! Lil Wayne Beef Gettin’ Hot 3/9/2019 12:30 AM PST EXCLUSIVE Kodak Black‘s been talking mad trash about Lil Wayne for about a week, and now that he’s about to do a show in Weezy’s hometown … the venue’s going full-bore to prep for violence. Kodak’s slated to perform at
Shawn Porter A 50-Year-Old Floyd Mayweather … Would Whoop Conor’s Ass!!! 3/9/2019 12:10 AM PST EXCLUSIVE Floyd Mayweather has 8 more years to beat the hell out of Conor McGregor, that’s according to boxing champ Shawn Porter who says Floyd is so much better than Conor, he could beat him at 50!!! McGregor let it
March 8, 2019 11:47PM PT A Civil War relic sparks revisionist-history enthusiasm in Lynn Shelton’s loose, funny improv-based comedy feature. There are few chores more taxing on the film festival circuit than sitting through an improv-based comedy whose performers don’t have the skill set to pull it off — an unfortunate sight that’s been turning
Fatherhood has changed Jordan Peele. The writer-director has made no secret about smoking some weed while he was writing “Get Out.” “I didn’t know if [‘Get Out’] was ever going to get made,” Peele said at the 2018 African American Film Critics Association Awards gala. “I’d go home, smoke a little bit of weed and
For all the genius of Jordan Peele’s 2017 debut, “Get Out” — a movie that oh-so-smartly reinforced its horror-movie skeleton with an adamantium-strong (and twice as sharp) racial-tension allegory — audiences seemed to have one critique in common: The movie wasn’t nearly scary enough. People aren’t likely to have the same complaint about “Us,” the
The degree to which the mockumentary format popularized by “The Office” has reinvented television comedy is hard to overstate. It’s not merely the direct-to-camera “confessional”-style interviews, which have grown so familiar on shows like “Modern Family” that they barely register anymore as stylistic choices but just as what comedy is. It’s also the purposeful awkwardness,
In Austin, everyone can hear you scream. And there seemed to be plenty of shrieks, squeals and even a few sobs at the premiere of Jordan Peele’s latest opus, “Us,” at South By Southwest on Friday night. This film festival in Texas has a strong track record of launching studio blockbusters. Last year, “A Quiet
In today’s film news roundup, the Writers Guild will keep blasting away at major talent agencies, Universal promotes four execs and Jennifer E. Smith sets up a pair of YA projects. WGA BATTLE The Writers Guild of America will release a report Tuesday detailing its assertions of conflicts of interest at CAA, WME, UTA and
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Cryptobanker,” the 10th episode of “The Blacklist” Season 6. Following Coy Stewart’s introduction as the innocent inmate Vontae Jones on the sixth season of NBC’s “The Blacklist,” fans have likened his relationship with Red Reddington (James Spader) to that of Batman and Robin. Had
Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman have unveiled a slate of short-form projects heading to Quibi, their upcoming video streaming service designed for mobile devices. The duo, in an opening day panel at SXSW Film, announced a “Thanks a Million” show from Jennifer Lopez’s company about the power of giving; an origin story to complement Telemundo’s
There’s been no end to public outcry ever since HBO’s “Leaving Neverland” premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January. The painful two-part HBO documentary, which details the alleged sexual abuse that two men endured from Jackson, has resulted in a variety of responses. Many have condemned Jackson’s actions and taken steps to disassociate with the
March 8, 2019 6:09PM PT Andy Serkis and Thomas Brodie-Sangster will star in Fox’s fantasy-action movie “Mouse Guard” with “Maze Runner’s” Wes Ball directing. Fox started development on the movie, based on the “Mouse Guard” graphic novel series, in 2016 with “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” writer Gary Whitta on board to pen the
Charter Files Supreme Court Petition in Byron Allen Racial Discrimination Suit – Variety You will be redirected back to your article in seconds March 8, 2019 6:04PM PT Charter Communications has taken its fight in a racial discrimination suit filed by Byron Allen to the Supreme Court. Charter on Friday filed a petition for the
“SMILF” is coming to an end at Showtime after two seasons. The cancellation comes after it was reported in December that “SMILF” producer ABC Studios opened an investigation into series creator, star, and showrunner Frankie Shaw after actress Samara Weaving raised concerns to fellow cast member Rosie O’Donnell and one of the show’s directors after
March 8, 2019 5:16PM PT We Are Hear, the music company co-founded by producers Linda Perry and Kerry Brown, is releasing a new track called “Freedom” in recognition of International Women’s Day. The song (listen here) is performed by We Are Hear artists Dorothy and Angel Haze and remixed by TROY NöKA. It serves to
Brandi Carlile and Maren Morris, both Grammy-winning singer-songwriters, discussed representation of women in the music industry and their female inspirations on International Women’s Day. The two sat down together at the historic RCA Studios in Nashville, where Elvis Presley once recorded music and Dolly Parton accidentally drove her car into a wall, for a Beats
Welcome to “TV Take,” Variety’s television podcast. In this week’s episode, Variety’s executive editor of TV, Daniel Holloway, talks with Kal Penn, the host of the documentary series “This Giant Beast That is the Global Economy,” which is currently available to stream on Amazon. The series sees Penn travel around the world, meeting key players behind some
March 8, 2019 4:22PM PT Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners has acquired the worldwide film rights for the science-fiction novel “The Mother Code,” Variety has learned exclusively. The story, written by Silicon Valley biochemist Carole Stivers, will be published next year. Amy Louise Johnson, who has credits on the Syfy series “Nightflyers,” has been hired to
“If only we could swap out Freddie Jackson for one of our own songs,” cracked an 18-year-old Donnie Wahlberg as he and his New Kids on the Block bandmate buddies cruised the streets of Boston in the final years of the 1980s on their way to a basketball game. It wasn’t that they didn’t like
March 8, 2019 4:07PM PT The infamous Alhambra, Calif., mansion where pioneering music producer Phil Spector shot and killed B-movie actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 has come up for sale at $5.5 million. Surrounded by unsightly suburban strip malls and perfectly ordinary middle-class homes and evocatively known as Pyrenees Castle, the 2.5-acre knoll-top estate’s turreted
In today’s roundup, BBC America releases a trailer for season two of “Killing Eve” and Zazie Beetz joins “The Twilight Zone” on CBS All Access. DATES “Running with Beto,” the behind-the-scenes look at Beto O’Rourke‘s rise to political fame and narrow defeat by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, will debut on HBO on May 28. The
Kat Candler is set to rewrite and direct Fox Searchlight’s “,” sources tell Variety. The pic is inspired by a 1936 New Yorker article written by journalist and bestselling author Carl Carmer about the first documented haunted house. The story follows a jaded reporter who, after having a disturbing encounter that raises the prospect that
Ex-MLB Star Esteban Loaiza 3 Years In Prison In Cocaine Case 3/8/2019 3:14 PM PST Breaking News Ex-MLB All-Star pitcher Esteban Loaiza just got sentenced to 36 months in prison after officials found him hiding 44 pounds of cocaine … and he’ll surrender next month. As we previously reported, Loaiza — who made more than $40
“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has been indicted on 16 counts of filing a false police report, stemming from his alleged staging of a Jan. 29 hate attack, Variety has confirmed. Smollett had previously been charged with a single count of filing a false police report, which carries the possibility of up to three years in