Revenue gains made by streamer Joyn partially offset the continuing decline in linear TV advertising in the German-speaking region at media giant ProSiebenSat.1. Quarterly results published on Tuesday reveal that group revenues are relatively stable with a 3% decline in the third quarter of 2023 to €888 million ($950 million) compared to €911 million ($974 million)
Television
“Wednesday” is moving production from Romania to Ireland for Season 2, and is tentatively scheduled to start shooting in April, Variety has confirmed. The eight-episode first season, which originally debuted last November on Netflix, was shot in Romania from September 2021 to March 2022. After breaking multiple streaming series records, including most hours viewed for
When tackling the final season of Netflix’s popular royal drama, creator Peter Morgan took extra care to handle certain stories — namely, Princess Diana‘s tragic death — with a sensitive touch. After previously revealing to Variety in his Oct. 25 cover story that the show would not be showing the disastrous car crash that ultimately
Jamie Lynn Spears is headed to the jungle. The actor and little sister of Britney has been announced as a castmember on the latest season of U.K. reality survival show “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” alongside British right-wing politician Nigel Farage and morning show host Josie Gibson. Farage is best known as
Seven veterans who have transitioned into various careers and pursuits that inspire others were honored in “Variety Salute to Service” presented by the History Channel. Marine Corp and Navy veteran Montel Williams hosted this year’s special, which premiered Saturday on the History Channel and was produced by A+E Factual Studios. Williams explained that the veterans
Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell will taking a ride in the Burgermobile this Thanksgiving. Variety has learned exclusively that the comedy duo, who star in the upcoming film “Good Burger 2,” will be onboard when the Burgermobile from the film takes part in the 97th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was previously announced that
We are at a place where humanity exists between two spheres. The “real world” is our tangible environment. We can touch things, unpacking textures, tastes and scents. And then, there is another world. Though artificial, and born of the internet and technology, AI is more life-like than ever. Innovation, after all, is infinite. While many
SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 2, Episode 6 of “Loki,” currently streaming on Disney+, and “The Marvels,” currently playing in theaters. For the past few months, I’ve been talking with some of my friends and colleagues about a radical idea that’s been bouncing around in my head that I haven’t
UPDATED: SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher on Monday scolded “naysayers” and “contrarians” who have criticized the union’s new contract. Drescher defended the agreement during a Zoom meeting for SAG-AFTRA members on Monday morning. “Sadly there have been some naysayers who have exploited this momentum of ours,” Drescher said. She said that throughout the negotiation, some people
“Queer Eye” co-host Bobby Berk has announced that he will be exiting the Netflix reality show after the upcoming Season 8. Berk shared the news on social media Monday morning. He has hosted Netflix’s reboot with Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown and Tan France since it launched in 2018. Season 8 will premiere
“BlackBerry” was never supposed to be two things. Yet when the three-part miniseries telling the metaphoric rise and catastrophic fall of the BlackBerry debuts on AMC on Nov. 13 (having premiered on CBC and CBC Gem on Nov. 9), viewers will see an extension of the film that premiered last January at the Berlin International
Gun use is dramatically down on TV this fall — but that may be mostly attributed to the recent Hollywood strikes, which led to the shutdown of virtually all film and TV productions this year, according to a new study. The report, “Gun Smoke: An Analysis of How Labor Strikes May Have Impacted Network TV
“Young Sheldon” isn’t getting any younger, so scripted originals are coming back just in time. CBS will take advantage of this year’s Super Bowl to launch its truncated 2023-2024 primetime lineup the week of February 12. That’s the week that most of its major series will return with new episodes, including the “NCIS” and “FBI”
The organizers behind the prestigious U.K. documentary prize the Grierson Awards have condemned an antisemitic incident that took place at the ceremony last week. “We are appalled to have received several reports of anti-Jewish racism by an individual at the reception after the Grierson Awards last Thursday night,” said The Grierson Trust, the body behind
Variety chief correspondent and rising star Elizabeth Wagmeister is heading to CNN, where she’ll cover the entertainment beat for the news cabler, based in Los Angeles. Wagmeister was a driving force who helped Variety reclaim its role as the most-read, No. 1 entertainment news source in the business (often doubling its competition in Comscore rankings).
Red Bull Studios and London-based Featuristic Films have partnered on “Art of the Jump,” a feature documentary about the life and career of Sébastien Foucan, a well-known French athlete. Directed by James Kermack (“Knuckledust,” “Hi-Lo Joe”), the documentary follows Foucan’s humble upbringing in the French suburb of Lisses to sports stardom. Foucan is known for
Comedian Tom Segura has announced the first leg of his new global stand-up comedy tour “Tom Segura: Come Together.” “This tour is bigger and blacker than anything I’ve ever done,” Segura said. “But that name has already been used, but ‘Come Together’ gets the point across. Let’s all come together for a night. One way
Matan Meir, a crewmember on hit Netflix series “Fauda,” has been killed in action during the Israel-Hamas war, the show’s production team have confirmed. The Times of Israel reported that Meir, along with four other Israeli soldiers, was killed after encountering a booby-trapped tunnel next to a mosque in Northern Gaza on Nov. 11. Meir
U.K. production studio Content Kings is expanding to the Middle East with a new office in Dubai, Variety can confirm. Darren Arturi has been tapped to lead the office, joining the company as director of Middle East and Asia operations. “We are eager to embrace the rich cultural tapestry and untapped potential of this region,”
SPOILER ALERT: This piece contains spoilers from “Unmortricken,” the fifth episode of “Rick and Morty” Season 7. Dan Harmon is, by his own admission, “allergic to serialized, canonical stuff.” But the “Rick and Morty” co-creator told Variety that he resisted that impulse for “Unmortricken,” the episode that brought Season 7 of the Adult Swim animated
Timothée Chalamet embraced his inner-twink while hosting the Nov. 11 episode of “Saturday Night Live,” in a sketch in which the Oscar-nominated actor played openly gay Australian pop star Troye Sivan. The sketch involved a woman (played by cast member Sarah Sherman) complaining to her doctor (played by cast member Bowen Yang) that she’s been
“Saturday Night Live” host Timothée Chalamet took full advantage of his ability to promote his latest movie, the upcoming movie musical, “Wonka,” following the conclusion of the 118-day SAG-AFTRA strike, which had prohibited actors from promoting any work for the studios. In his opening monologue, after first joking that during the strike, all he could
The news that multiple Oscar nominee Michelle Williams was the reader for the audiobook of Britney Spears‘ memoir “The Woman in Me” was too delightful for “Saturday Night Live” to pass up. In a pre-taped sketch for the Nov. 11 episode hosted by Timothée Chalamet, Chloe Fineman as Spears introduced a cavalcade of celebrities (or,
Robert Butler, the co-creator of “Remington Steele” and a veteran television director who worked on such series as “Hill Street Blues,” “Star Trek” and “Batman,” died Nov. 3 in Los Angeles. He was 95. Butler’s career spanned nearly five decades, during which he directed many notable series, including “Hennesey,” “Star Trek,” “Batman,” “The Dick Van
The “Dead Boy Detectives” series is officially set to air on Netflix after originally being set up at Max. The show, based on characters created for DC by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, was originally ordered to series at Max back in April 2022. However, it was reported earlier this year that it would be
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the premiere of Showtime’s, “The Curse,” now streaming on Paramount+. In the opening scene of Showtime’s “The Curse,” Asher and Whitney Siegel do a good deed. Well, sort of. The cameras are rolling on the married couple’s new HGTV series, and they’ve offered a down-on-his-luck man a job at
Spoiler Alert: This interview contains spoilers for the season finale of “Power Book IV: Force,” titled “Power, Powder, Respect,” now streaming on Starz. Sometimes kingpins can’t have it all. The “Power Book IV: Force” Season 2 finale aired on Friday night, leaving viewers with more questions than answers as fans await the fates of several
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from “Poirot,” Episode 6 of “Lessons in Chemistry,” now streaming on Apple TV+. For 30 minutes last year, Millicent Shelton was given control of a freeway off-ramp not far from LAX –– and she didn’t even need the whole half hour. Shelton was behind the camera directing the sixth episode of
The three members of Boygenius are not having to stretch to figure out a time and a place to celebrate the six Grammy nominations that came in for the band Friday morning. They’re booked for “Saturday Night Live” this weekend — and, live from New York, they shared their thoughts via Zoom about the big
The publisher of best-selling romantasy book “Fourth Wing” is working to “swiftly” resolve the “frustrating” misprint issues with “Iron Flame,” the sequel from author Rebecca Yarros, which sold more than half a million copies on its Tuesday release day alone. Entangled Publishing, the owner of Red Tower Books, the imprint behind “Fourth Wing” and “Iron