Imagine a music-filled kids’ cartoon about saving the ocean, with characters voiced and sung by Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, and Grammy winner Pharrell Williams. Nearly ten years ago, it almost happened. Hoppus recently guested on KROQ’s “Kevin and Bean Show,” where he and “Kevin & Bean” co-host Jensen Karp revealed that
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FX Networks CEO John Landgraf is preparing for a big transition in the coming weeks as Disney completes its purchase of 21st Century Fox. Landgraf told the crowd at the winter Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena, Calif., on Monday that he expects FX’s mandate to produce distinctive high-end programming stay the same even
The producers behind “Fosse/Verdon” are not concerned that the still-living subjects of their upcoming FX limited series will be so upset over their depiction they will respond with a lawsuit, as Oliva de Havilland did after “Feud: Bette and Joan.” “We’re incredibly careful when we talk about living people and it’s not our desire to
In a different era, Budweiser and Bud Light never needed help during the Super Bowl. So powerful was the beer’s owner, Aneheuser-Busch, that in 1992 its executives pressured CBS to run one of its commercials a second time because family scion August Busch III noticed a technical glitch while watching Super Bowl XXVI from Florida,
AR/VR pioneer and Hololens co-inventor Avi Bar-Zeev left Apple last month, Variety has learned. Bar-Zeev had been working on Apple’s augmented reality headset, which the company has been developing in secret for a possible 2020 launch. Bar-Zeev confirmed his departure when contacted by Variety, saying: “I left my full-time position at Apple in January. I had
Electronic comic book publisher Madefire brought its app to the Magic Leap AR headset Monday, enabling Magic Leap owners to explore comic panels in a spatial environment. “I think of it as a new stage for storytelling,” said Madefire CEO Ben Wolstenholme during a recent interview with Variety. The partnership between the two companies was
21 Savage ICE is Trying to Intimidate Me … Into Leaving The Country I Love 2/4/2019 10:48 AM PST EXCLUSIVE 21 Savage never hid the fact that he was in the U.S. illegally, and ICE is now trying to intimidate him into leaving the country he calls home … this according to his lawyer. Attorney
When Berlin Film Festival chief Dieter Kosslick launched the Berlinale Talent Campus in 2003, he probably couldn’t have imagined the impact it would go on to have. Now called Berlinale Talents, the festival’s development program for emerging filmmakers has seen 5,673 “Talents” pass through its doors — many of whom have gone on to forge
A group of well-known Hollywood communications experts have formed a new company that Kevin Hart and James Gunn would have run to a year ago. Paul Pflug, Melissa Zukerman, and Hans-Dieter Kopal of Principal Communications have teamed with leading cyber research and security firm Edgeworth to form Foresight Solutions Group — a “reputation-management” entity that
February 4, 2019 10:27AM PT Chris Evans, Brie Larson, and Awkwafina have been announced as presenters for the Academy Awards, along with Daniel Craig, Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Lopez, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Amandla Stenberg, Charlize Theron, Tessa Thompson, and Constance Wu. Oscar producers Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss will continue to reveal presenters
Despite a tepid halftime performance and a 10-year low in ratings, Sunday night’s Super Bowl telecast was still a healthy one for top music publishers and record labels, many of whom saw overall volume and revenue on par with 2018’s record year of activity. Among publishers, Sony/ATV secured seven synch licenses in national brand commercials, followed
If last year’s Oscar race revolved around genre-bending movies (stick with me on this), this year’s contest has a decidedly international flavor. Alfonso Cuaron used his clout after winning two Oscars for “Gravity” to make “Roma,” a deeply personal story about his childhood maid in Mexico City. He figured the movie, shot in black and
In 2007, when Dieter Kosslick launched the Berlinale’s inventive Culinary Cinema section, it had been simmering in the back of his mind for decades. A foodie since way before it became fashionable, Kosslick, who is a former film critic and journalist, in the early 1980s had a monthly column in German magazine Konkret in which
When “RuPaul’s Drag Race” launched on Logo a decade ago, it was watched by so few people that the inaugural run was later lovingly dubbed “The Lost Season.” But as the years and seasons of that reality competition series went on, its popularity grew exponentially and its influence subsequently spread over other parts of the
One of the major winners at last year’s Berlin Film Festival — and widely distributed worldwide — was a quiet, intimate Paraguayan drama, “The Heiresses,” one of the latest fruits of the World Cinema Fund, a program nurtured by festival chief Dieter Kosslick. Kosslick is being honored at the Berlin Film Festival with Variety‘s Achievement
Beki Probst, former head of the European Film Market, gives Dieter Kosslick great credit for shaping not just the Berlin festival, but also for helping its film market make a quantum leap. “When you ask me what is the image of the Berlinale today, it is of a red scarf and a Borsalino hat,” says
Composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman will be honored with the Icon Award at the 9th annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards, taking place Feb. 13 at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. The “Hairspray” and “Smash” tunesmith will be performing “The Place Where Lost Things Go,” the “Mary Poppins Returns” ballad he co-wrote with
Thanks to Sex and the City‘s Carrie Bradshaw, tulle skirts were considered fashun, nearly every viewer craved a pair of Manolo Blahnik heels (or getting proposed to with blue satin pair), and slip dresses became a staple in every woman’s closet. Still, you can’t talk Carrie Bradshaw fashion without mentioning her Fendi Baguette handbag, the
February 4, 2019 8:01AM PT Lifetime started 2019 with “Surviving R. Kelly” a docuseries aimed to shine light on violence against women, and inspired by new original movie “I Am Somebody’s Child: The Regina Louise Story,” the next group for which the network wants to advocate is those in the foster care system, Variety has
When the folks behind Disney Junior’s reboot of “Muppet Babies” were asked to build the new show, they wanted not only to introduce a new generation to the wonders that are the Muppets, but to tell meaningful stories that beyond what many shows for preschoolers feature. “When Disney talked to me about the show, I
Whether it’s high school or haute couture, the new kids always spark buzz. It’s partly because it’s fun to be first—I knew that band before anyone cared; I wore that label before anyone knew—and partly because we’ve all been there, just starting out, wondering where we belong and whether our dreams are worth it. For
February 4, 2019 7:53AM PT The early ratings for Super Bowl LIII have the NFL championship at a 10-year low. The low-scoring matchup between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams on CBS averaged a 44.9 rating in metered market households. That is the lowest household rating for a Super Bowl since 2009, with
Kristoff St. John, the actor best-known for portraying Neil Winters on CBS’ long-running daytime soap “The Young and the Restless,” has died. He was 52. His attorney Mark Geragos confirmed the news to Variety. Geragos also posted on Twitter, saying, “Few men had the unique strength, courage & sensitivity that @kristoffstjohn1 lived every single minute of
After scoring a coup with the TV adaptation of “My Brilliant Friend,” and with projects such as Paolo Sorrentino’s “The New Pope” and Oscar-nominated director Pawel Pawlikowski’s next film in the pipeline, Italy’s Wildside is in a pretty brilliant spot. Ten years after being co-founded by producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli, the shingle is
Picturehouse Entertainment has picked up U.K. rights to Shola Amoo’s Sundance coming-of-age movie “The Last Tree” from Great Point Media. The deal was negotiated by Picturehouse’s acquisitions manager, Paul Ridd, and Great Point’s head of sales, Nada Cirjanic, at Sundance, where the well-received film opened the World Dramatic Competition. Amoo’s (“Dear Mr. Shakespeare”) movie is semi-autobiographical and follows a
Let the music play, indeed. The Grammys are just days away and dozens of parties are happening every night this week leading up to the big day, Sunday, Feb. 10. And the partying continues with several bashes following the ceremony. Here is Variety’s ultimate party guide for Grammys 2019… Monday, Feb 4Grammy Celebration of Women
Flying into Berlin’s Tegel Airport, visitors spy solar-paneled rooftops and wind turbines. It’s a tipoff to the eco-conscious lifestyle many are committed to in the city below. This includes ethically produced fashion, sustainably produced fabrics, urban gardens, green tech, clean energy, zero waste and more. Vegans play a big role in this wider community. GreenMe
Goop, the lifestyle and wellness juggernaut founded a decade ago by Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow, is expanding its original content efforts with a new docuseries at Netflix, an exclusive podcast partnership with Delta Airlines, and a slew of programming centered around beauty, food, and books. Still untitled, Goop’s streaming series will hit Netflix this fall
Dieter Kosslick will take his final bow this edition as director of the Berlin Film Festival, but the indelible mark he has left on the event will make his presence felt for years to come. While the affable topper, who is receiving Variety’s Achievement in Intl. Film Award at the Berlin Film Festival, will no
Julie Adams, the actress best-known for starring in the 1954 monster horror film “The Creature From the Black Lagoon, has died. She was 92. Adams died Sunday in Los Angeles, according to her official website. “The Shape of Water” director Guillermo del Toro paid tribute to the actress, writing, “I mourn Julie Adams passing. It