Spotify has appointed new managing directors for its Gimlet and Parcast podcast studios — Nicole Beemsterboer and Liliana Kim, respectively — coming amid the company’s cancellation of 11 original podcasts from the two divisions. Spotify elevated Beemsterboer (above left), a former longtime NPR exec who joined Spotify this year, to the role of Gimlet’s managing
“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is slowly getting ready to take a bite out of the weekend box office. It earned $575,000 from 3,453 theaters in Thursday previews, while David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam” picked up $550,000 million from 3,005 theaters. Sony’s live-action/CGI hybrid, co-financed by TSG, is a family-friendly movie about a singing crocodile, starring Grammy-nominated artist
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Quentin Tarantino is prepping to embark on a book tour for his first nonfiction book “Cinema Speculation,” which releases on Nov. 1. The tour will see the filmmaker, cinephile and now podcaster make stops
Dwayne Johnson is no longer considering a run for president. The actor confirmed to CBS Sunday Morning that he will not be running for office because he wants to prioritize his role as a father instead. “It’s off the table. Yes. It is off the table,” Johnson said when asked about running for president. “I will
Bethenny Frankel says she’s had enough of scammers on TikTok using her voice, image or content to sell counterfeit products. The entrepreneur and star of “The Real Housewives of New York” filed a federal lawsuit against ByteDance’s TikTok, the hugely popular short-form video app, alleging that TikTok has ignored her requests to remove unauthorized content
Ben Kingsley is set to star in a feature film adaptation of “Violent Cases,” the first ever graphic novel from Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. The feature will be led by writer Mike Carey, director Colm McCarthy and producer Camille Gatin (collectively the creative team behind “The Girl With All the Gifts”) and produced by
“Bogota: City of the Lost,” one of the most expensive Korean films ever made, heads the sales slate presented at Busan by Megabox Plus M, part of Korea’s J Contentree listed company. Crime noir, “Bogota” took 21 months to produce and saw its principal photography start in January 2020 but soon become a victim of
An uplifting documentary about an Irish teacher who uses Plato’s teachings to defuse violence among his young pupils is set to be adapted into a feature film by The Bureau, the producers of “Supernova.” Directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin (“School Life”) and Declan McGrath and produced by David Rane for Soilsiú Films, “Young Plato” was
Cinematographer Pushan Kripalani returns to the director’s chair with “Goldfish,” seven years after his acclaimed directorial debut “The Threshold.” In the film, Anamika, a half-Indian half-English woman, returns home to the U.K. to deal with her mother’s dementia and the scars of her childhood. The cast includes Kalki Koechlin (“Sacred Games”), veteran Deepti Naval (“The
CJ ENM, which includes Korea’s largest film producer and distributor, is using the Asian Contents & Film Market this week to launch a handful of new titles while basking in its recent box office and festival successes. “The Boys” gets its premiere as a special screening withing the Busan International Film Festival’s expanded Korean Cinema
Mike Flanagan has, of late, distinguished himself as one of Netflix’s signature creators and as a generational figure in the horror genre; though his past series for the streamer, including “Midnight Mass” and “The Haunting of Hill House,” have been of various quality overall and from episode to episode, they’re consistently interesting. His willingness to
Class divisions that assume macrocosmic significance in Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness” remain microcosmically scaled in “Pretty Problems,” another cleverly discomfiting, festival-blessed comedy hitting theaters on Oct. 13. Kestrin Pantera’s third directorial feature, which won the Audience Award at SXSW, also places a less-advantaged young couple in an enclave of the very rich. Here, however,
“The Rings of Power” has been visually arresting since its first moments, but never has that beauty been as haunting as it is in “The Eye.” Beginning just moments after last week’s cliffhanger, the first season’s penultimate episode opens on the immediate aftermath of Mount Doom’s inaugural eruption: Everything that isn’t on fire is covered
Japanese director Miike Takashi, who is known for slasher film “Ichi The Killer” and stomach-churning “Audition,” Friday claimed that he does not like bloody horror scenes. “I’m not a fan of bloody scenes. But that’s what I’m known for. And it is what I get offered. It’s what I was offered by [Korean TV studio]
A heavyweight producers panel discussed the modalities of producing independent films in Southeast Asia at a mylab panel on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival on Thursday. Panelists included: Liza Diño, former chair of Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) who had greenlit several films during her tenure; Indonesia’s Yulia Evina Bhara,
Taylor Swift kept the “Midnights” oil burning later than usual late Thursday night and early Friday morning, revealing not just the name of one song at midnight, as has been her custom in the buildup to the Oct. 21 album release, but all five of the remaining mystery track titles, one per hour, until she
Taylor Swift kept the “Midnights” oil going once again with the late-night revelation of yet another new song, with an explanation of its subject matter to match. But this time, indications are that she may keep going into the wee hours and not just call it a night at 12:02 a.m. The new song Swift
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Everything Has Changed,” the premiere of Season 19 of “Grey’s Anatomy,” which first aired on Oct. 6 on ABC and streams on Hulu starting on Oct. 7. “Grey’s Anatomy” is diving back into its past to begin its future. The Season 19 premiere of ABC’s long-running medical drama
Mirrors reflect who we are, or at least how we want to appear to others. Director Mike Barker’s “Luckiest Girl Alive” uses them as a motif throughout this tale centered on a woman whose pristine, calculated image disguises a mess of insecurities and intense psychological pain. Yet the picture portrayed in author Jessica Knoll’s adaptation
Grappling with free-falling theatrical admissions and misplaced blame by exhibitors on so-called “auteur” movies, the leading lights of the French film industry sounded the alarm about the state of the country’s cinema sector during a dramatic and emotional conference. The jam-packed event on Thursday, called Appel aux Etats Generaux (Call for General Assemblies), was organized
Frederick Schneier, an entertainment industry veteran of more than 45 years, died on Sept. 15 in his Los Angeles home. He was 95. Schneier most prominently served as an executive at Viacom, where he helped to develop Showtime Networks in the 1980s and later became president and CEO of Viacom Pictures. Schneier was born on
It’s showtime for David Nevins – for him and for the business he helped transform over the past dozen years. Nevins, who announced his resignation Thursday as chairman and CEO of Paramount Premium Group and chief creative officer of Paramount+ Scripted Series, cited the evolution of Showtime’s financial underpinnings as among the highlights of his tenure.
“The Legend of Vox Machina” has been renewed for Season 3 at Amazon. The announcement was made as part of the show’s New York Comic Con panel. The show was renewed for a second season ahead of the series premiere, with Season 2 set to debut in January. Amazon also released a first look at
The fifth season of “Inside Amy Schumer” has its official trailer, which Paramount+ released today (October 6th). The first two episodes of the season are set to premiere on the service Thursday, Oct. 20, with the remaining three episodes dropping weekly afterward. In addition to Schumer, the new season features Amber Tamblyn, Bridget Everett, Cara
Mike Flanagan has faced his worst fear: The jump scare. The “Midnight Mass” and “Haunting of Hill House” mastermind packed 21 separate instances of the classic horror trope into the premiere of his latest Netflix series, “The Midnight Club,” a tally so high it actually breaks the Guinness World Record for “most scripted jump scares
Feeling like you’re having a hard time keeping up with all the new music that’s coming out? You’re not alone — even if you are, say, a computer and not just a mere mortal. Stats now show that an average of more than 100,000 songs are being uploaded to digital service providers every day. So
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is set to chronicle his life and career as a champion boxer through a new docuseries, titled “The GOAT,” after inking a life-rights deal with Hidden Empire Films’ Deon Taylor and Roxanne Avent Taylor. “Now is the perfect time to share my story with the world and let viewers in on my
AMC has revealed a first look at its upcoming series “Mayfair Witches,” which stars Alexandra Daddario as a young neurosurgeon who learns she comes from a line of witches. The series premieres on Jan. 5, 2023. Based on Anne Rice’s “Lives of the Mayfair Witches” trilogy of novels, the series stars Jack Huston, Harry Hamlin and
Popular stand-up comic Judy Tenuta, known to her fans as “The Love Goddess” and “Aphrodite of the Accordion,” died of ovarian cancer on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles. She was 72. Known for her acerbic humor, expletive-laden jokes, raspy voice and accordion, she was among the performers who fueled the popularity of live comedy in clubs,
Nancy Russell worked in the music industry in Nashville for decades and was the manager to stars including Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood and — at the time of her Grammy-winning early 2000s comeback with “Van Lear Rose” — the late, great Loretta Lynn. Russell now lives in Southern California, consulting on independent music projects while