Anchor Mark Mester is no longer employed by KTLA, Variety has confirmed. Mester was previously suspended after he criticized on-air how the station went about his co-anchor Lynette Romero’s sudden departure. KTLA announced Romero’s exit last week without a goodbye message to viewers, which drew criticism on social media. According to the Los Angeles Times,
Hindi-language “Maja Ma,” starring Bollywood icon Madhuri Dixit Nene, is the first of many Indian original films from Amazon Prime Video, Aparna Purohit, the head of India originals for the streamer, has revealed. The film is a Prime Video commission, as opposed to an acquisition. “We have been acquiring films, we have been putting films
Fresh off his gig hosting this year’s Primetime Emmys, comedian and “SNL” veteran Kenan Thompson is back on stage Thursday night in Atlanta, as he kicks off the 13th edition of his “Kenan Presents The Ultimate Comedy Showcase” — and this time with a few new technological wrinkles. The stand-up comedy search, which leads off
After a year of pandemic-related delays, the Barcelona-born music festival Primavera Sound finally made it to Hollywood. With three days of programming at the Los Angeles Historic Park last weekend, nestled next to Chinatown, Primavera mounted three formidable stages in Los Angeles for the first time — with a diverse lineup led by Lorde, Nine
Actor and activist Kendrick Sampson has launched BLD PWR Productions, a new production company that extends the impact of his advocacy initiative of the same name. The actor — best known for “Insecure,” “Miss Juneteenth,” “How to Get Away with Murder” and “The Vampire Diaries” — is the co-founder of BLD PWR, which helped to
Though nothing’s official yet, “The Woman King” star Thuso Mbedu isn’t ruling out a potential sequel for the Sony film, which premiered on Sept. 16. Though Mbedu said director Gina Prince-Bythewood has made it known she doesn’t “believe” in sequels, her co-star John Boyega had an idea that may be too good to pass up.
Lukas Gage has joined the cast of the “Dead Boy Detectives” series at HBO Max, Variety has learned. The eight-episode series was ordered at HBO Max back in April. It is based on the DC comics of the same name as well as “The Sandman,” from characters created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner. The
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have settled their lawsuit with Triller, after suing the service last month for $28 million, an amount they contended was owed after their sale of Verzuz to the service in March 2021. Specific terms of the settlement were not revealed in the late Thursday announcement, beyond a promise that “the settlement
Shawn Mendes, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and more are on the soundtrack to the upcoming animated movie “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile!” Mendes, as the voice of the titular character, also revealed that he will be sharing one of the original tracks he wrote for the set titled “Heartbeat,” next Friday (Sept. 30). He is credited on
James Cameron revealed to The Times UK that before “Avatar: The Way of Water” there was a full “Avatar 2” screenplay that was written and then thrown into the trash. It turns out that at least an entire year of the 13-year gap between 2009’s “Avatar” and 2022’s “The Way of Water” was spent on
Christian Serratos has been cast in the lead role of the HBO Max drama pilot “More,” Variety has learned exclusively. The project was originally ordered to pilot at HBO Max in September 2020. Serratos joins previously announced cast members Veronica Falcón, Yvette Monreal, Georgie Flores, and Ceci Fernandez. The show is inspired by the reporting
The group 5 Seconds of Summer gets back to basics on “5SOS5,” writing and producing the bulk of the band’s fifth album in-band. What began as pandemic-related precaution soon turned into an opportunity to recalibrate their sound in an authentic way. After all, they launched as a teenage pop-punk outfit in 2014 and then proceeded
It seems like everyone is launching a podcast these days — and now comes the Central Intelligence Agency. But don’t expect any major revelations from CIA’s “The Langley Files,” which is really a PR-outreach initiative to burnish the agency’s image as well as dispel notions that it’s a glamorous line of work as often portrayed
How committed was Jon Hamm to getting “Confess, Fletch” made? Director Greg Mottola revealed to Uproxx (via IndieWire) that the “Mad Men” Emmy winner gave back 60% of his salary to help finance three extra days of filming on the indie project. Mottola also gave up a portion of his own salary to extend the
As we say goodbye to this year’s Emmy season and move on to the next, prepare for an even more crowded competition ahead. There’s no rest for the small screen set, as the recent frenzy of big-budget fantasy TV series has proven. It’s clear TV Academy voters still tend to fall back on previous winners
“House of the Dragon” ranked at No. 6 on the Nielsen Streaming Top 10 chart during the Aug. 22-28 viewing window. That time period was the first full week of availability for the first episode of the “Game of Thrones” prequel on HBO Max, but also included a small portion of the streaming viewership for
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages are Davis’ assessment of the current standings of the race and
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The Kardashians returns this week for a second season of their revamped reality series “The Kardashians.” When the new iteration of the reality show debuted on Hulu last April, it was the first time
Martin Short and Shania Twain are in final talks to join ABC’s “Beauty and the Beast” special. Sources tell Variety that Short would play Lumière while Twain will take on the role of Mrs. Potts in “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration.” The news comes just days after Variety exclusively reported that David Alan
Coming off a lot of Emmys love, ABC comedy “Abbott Elementary” went back in session Wednesday with a Season 2 premiere that kept pace with its freshman finale last spring. According to timezone-adjusted Nielsen Live + Same Day data, Episode 1 of Season 2 averaged a 0.6 rating among adults ages 18-49 and 2.8 million
In a sign of big moves to come for Roku, veteran TV executive Charlie Collier is exiting his post as CEO of Fox Entertainment to join the digital distribution platform as president of Roku Media. Collier will oversee advertising sales and content for Roku’s owned-and-operated channels featured on the streaming platform that hosts the fast-growing
Houston, we have an ensemble. The plucky new comedy “Space Cadet,” from Stampede Ventures, has added more star power to a fleet led by the previously announced Emma Roberts. While character details are under wraps, Gabrielle Union will join Roberts in the film about a Florida party girl who turns out to be the only
In a groundbreaking move, Constanza Arena, the former executive director of CinemaChile, has established Agencia La Luz, an agency and project incubator that will represent in international markets many of Chile’s foremost writing, directing and acting talents. Many writers are connected to Chile’s fast-growing premium drama/audio scene. Julio Rojas, one Agencia La Luz client, created
“Kim’s Convenience” producer Thunderbird Entertainment Group has appointed Nelson Huynh as director of distribution sales. Huynh will license Thunderbird’s animated and live-action kids series from Atomic Cartoons and primetime scripted series to broadcasters and streamers with a focus on Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America and Asia. Reporting to Richard Goldsmith, president of
Jerome Flynn has been cast in “1923,” Paramount+’s upcoming “Yellowstone” prequel series from Taylor Sheridan. “1923” will introduce a new generation of the Dutton family and explore the early twentieth century when pandemics, historic drought, the end of Prohibition and the Great Depression all plague the mountain west and the Duttons who call it home.
Vince Gilligan’s next series has landed at Apple with a two-season straight-to-series order. In addition, “Better Call Saul” star Rhea Seehorn is attached to star in the series in the lead role. Exact plot details are being kept under wraps. Gilligan created the series and will serve as executive producer and showrunner. Jeff Frost and
The late great songwriter Allee Willis was celebrated Wednesday night with a fashion show and party benefiting the Willis Wonderland Foundation. Willis, whose credits included the Rembrandts’ “I’ll Be There for You,” better known as the “Friends” theme song, Earth Wind and Fire’s “September” (yesterday was the 21st) and a gaggle of disco-era hits, started
Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light,” a love story and ode to cinema houses, is dividing critics after playing at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals earlier this month. However, Searchlight Pictures remains confident in its awards prospects. “Empire” is among this season’s divisive films, including “Bardo” from Alejandro G. Iñárritu and “The Son” from Florian
South Korean R&B singer Crush, who is in the midst of a comeback after a two-year military service hiatus, has recruited BTS’ J-Hope for his new single, “Rush Hour.” The celebratory song arrived on Thursday with an accompanying music video which also stars J-Hope and sees both artists skating through elaborate dance numbers in an
Pierce Brosnan kicked off his “Black Adam” press tour with a new profile in GQ UK, and it appears the actor is already bracing for an onslaught of James Bond questions this press cycle. Daniel Craig finished his 007 tenure with “No Time to Die,” which means all eyes are on franchise producers Barbara Broccoli