Spotify is best known as a music-streaming service — but it’s placing a big new bet on building a podcasting empire. On Wednesday, Spotify announced deals to acquire Gimlet Media, the podcast producer whose shows include “Homecoming,” “StartUp” and “Reply All,” and Anchor, which offers tools for podcast creation, publishing, and monetization. Terms of the
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As Germany gears up for Thursday’s opening of the Berlinale, one of the world’s biggest and most important film festivals, the country’s exhibition sector is dealing with its worst downturn in a decade. Local box office fell 14.8% to €899.3 million ($1.03 billion) last year, according to figures released Wednesday by the German Federal Film
Giant screen company, IMAX looks set be one of the biggest winners of the peak box office season in China that comes with the Lunar New Year holidays. For the second year in a row, the company has programmed its 600-plus Middle Kingdom venues with three local films. In its earlier years in China, the
Netflix has unveiled five new Spanish original series, including titles by well-known film director Nacho Vigalondo (“Time Crimes”) and Pau Freixas, executive producer of Spanish breakout “The Red Band Society.” The new titles see the streaming giant almost double the number – from six to 11 – of new and returning scripted series it has
Jake Paul I’ll Fight Soulja Boy For $20 Million … Seriously 2/6/2019 12:20 AM PST EXCLUSIVE Jake Paul wants to fight Soulja Boy for $20 MILLION … and he’s telling TMZ Sports that he’ll cough up his own 20 milli to make it happen!!! ICYMI — the social media superstar and rapper traded jabs in an Instagram
Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer and Evangeline Lilly are set to star in Nicholas Jarecki‘s opioids thriller “Dreamland.” Principal photography is underway in Montreal and Detroit. German actress Veronica Ferres also stars. Lisa Wilson handles foreign sales through her Solution Entertainment Group and will offer the film to buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market. William Morris
It was a great night for Marvel at the 17th annual Visual Effects Society Awards on Tuesday night. The comic book publisher’s wares led the film fields, with “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” nabbing four wins apiece. “Spider-Verse,” a dominant animated feature on the awards circuit this year, swept each of its
February 5, 2019 9:56PM PT Little monsters have something to look forward at the 2019 Grammys. Lady Gaga will perform for the 61st edition of the annual awards ceremony. A source close to the situation confirmed the news to Variety. Gaga tied for the third-highest number of nominations this year with five, for record of
In today’s film news roundup, a film about a white lion named Charlie is getting a U.S. release, 3 Arts makes a key hire and Gravitas buys the documentary “Mosul.” RELEASE DATE Ledafilms Entertainment Group has set an April 12 release for the family adventure film, “Mia and the White Lion,” Variety has learned exclusively.
February 5, 2019 9:18PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the TV advertising attention analytics company iSpot.tv, Universal Pictures claims the top spot in spending with its “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” movie ad that ran during Super Bowl LIII. Ads placed for the “Fast and
WASHINGTON — President Trump tried for the patriotic and feel-good rhetoric of Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union address by focusing on nostalgia for America’s high points of history and a sunny vision for the future. “I am asking you to choose greatness. No matter the trials we have, no matter the challenges
President Donald Trump declared, early in his stemwinding and contradictory address to Congress and the American people Tuesday night, that the state of the union was strong. The speech he went on to give seemed to paint the exact opposite picture — calling to mind a nation hobbled by hostile gang members and overrun with
Due to a disagreement with Grammy producers over which songs she would perform, Ariana Grande, who has been featured on billboards promoting the show all over Los Angeles, not only won’t be performing at the Feb. 10 show, she will not even be attending it, according to sources close to the situation. An insider tells Variety
In Ryan White’s breezy documentary “Ask Dr. Ruth,” the 90-year-old Ruth Westheimer asks a fair share of the questions. “Are you hungry?” “Are you sure you’re not hungry?” And with her grandmotherly credentials thus verified, she’s free to turn to her Alexa and ask it to find her a boyfriend. Alas, the app demurs. “If
February 5, 2019 6:13PM PT Veteran docmaker Kim Longinotto turns her lens on veteran Italian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia, leaving us with more admiration than insight. “I wasn’t a real person,” Letizia Battaglia says of the days before she took to photography. As an unhappily married housewife stifled and abused by Italy’s dominant patriarchy, picking up
WASHINGTON — White House officials are calling President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address “Choosing Greatness,” and say he will accentuate themes of unity. But the must-see moments are certain to revolve around how Trump interacts with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and vice versa in the President’s first speech to a joint session of
February 5, 2019 5:30PM PT Capitol Music Group (CMG) has named Emmanuelle Cuny senior vice president of video production. She will oversee the making of music videos and other visual content for CMG artists working across multiple labels. Cuny will be based out of the Capitol Tower in Los Angeles. Cuny arrives from Atlantic Records, where her
February 5, 2019 5:30PM PT Fox has ordered pilots for the drama “neXt” and the single-cam comedy “Adam & Eve.” “neXt” is described as a fact-based thriller grounded in the latest A.I. research. It features a brilliant but paranoid former tech CEO who joins a Homeland Cybersecurity Agent and her team to stop the world’s first
Watch Trump’s State of the Union Address Online – Variety You will be redirected back to your article in seconds February 5, 2019 5:11PM PT [embedded content] President Donald Trump will hold second State of the Union speech on Tuesday. The speech, which was delayed following the government shutdown, is getting broad coverage across all
Spike Lee is executive producing the civil rights drama “Son of the South,” with his longtime editor Barry Alexander Brown directing from his own screenplay, Variety has learned exclusively. Brown is up for an Academy Award for editing “BlacKkKlansman.” Lee received Oscar nominations for best picture, director, and adapted screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman.” “Son of the
In today’s roundup, “The Bachelor in Paradise” is renewed and Freeform releases premiere dates for shows like “The Bold Type” and “Cloak & Dagger.” DATES Colton Underwood’s journey to find love culminates with the two-night season finale event on ABC’s “The Bachelor,” which airs March 11 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and March 12 at 8 p.m. Underwood will
Though she’s a fixture at runway shows, models for magazine covers, and stars in ad campaigns around the world, Gigi Hadid maintains she’s an athlete before anything else. In fact, if things could’ve happened differently the former volleyball team captain would have pursued a volleyball career on a collegiate level and could’ve possibly gone pro.
February 5, 2019 3:09PM PT Billy Eichner is teaming up with Judd Apatow and Nick Stoller in a romantic comedy for Universal. Eincher will star in the movie and co-write the screenplay with Stoller, who will direct. Apatow will produce the film about two men with commitment problems attempting a relationship. It’s the second Apatow project
Petrice Jones has been cast in the Netflix adaptation of “Locke & Key” in a series regular role, Variety has learned exclusively. Jones has been cast in the role of Scot. Scot is described as a massive horror movie nerd and the ringleader of the “Savini Squad” — a group of teen misfits named for famed
Is Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rouke running for President? He’s definitely considering it, he told Oprah Winfrey. “I have been thinking about running for President,” said the Democrat, who recently lost a race for a Texas seat in the U.S. Senate to Republican Ted Cruz, indicated. He made his remarks while taping an interview with
CBS has picked up another two seasons of the multi-cam sitcom “Mom.” The show will now run through at least Season 8 on the broadcaster. The two-season pick up comes after series stars Allison Janney and Anna Farris reportedly reached sizable new deals with Warner Bros. Television. “We’re exceptionally proud to have ‘Mom’ on our
February 5, 2019 2:34PM PT There may be a few more F-bombs dropped around the Magic Kingdom. The Walt Disney Company has enjoyed a squeaky clean image as the preeminent provider of family-friendly entertainment. However, things may get a little less wholesome with the upcoming acquisition of much of 21st Century Fox’s film and television
Disney will forgo about $150 million in content licensing revenue in its current fiscal year as the company prepares for the launch of Disney Plus later this year. During Disney’s quarterly earnings conference call on Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger and chief financial officer Christine McCarthy offered a few details about the financial ramifications of
February 5, 2019 2:10PM PT Lionsgate has scrubbed Tuesday night’s red carpet for the New York City premiere of Liam Neeson’s “Cold Pursuit” in the wake of the actor’s racially charged comments. The studio had no comment but sources said that Lionsgate decided to pull the plug on the carpet due to his revelation in
Fox has picked up two more drama pilots for the 2019-2020 season. First up is “Deputy,” which hails from writer and executive producer Will Beall. In the series, Deputy Bill Hollister is a career lawman who’s very comfortable kicking down doors and utterly lost in a staff meeting. But when the LA County Sheriff drops dead,