Sept. 21, Wednesday Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are honored at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation’s Pioneers of the Year Dinner. Sam Smith performs.The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts honors Shelli and Irving Azoff.The Wallis, Beverly Hills Oprah Winfrey, Reginald Hudlin and Derik Murray premiere
The roles of three key Paramount International Markets executives have been considerably enhanced by the company. Katherine Liu, who in her previously role of executive VP of strategy and operations for international streaming at Paramount, was responsible for developing and executing a strategic and operational vision for the international growth of the company’s streaming footprint
Kevin Hart’s “Die Hart” action-hero spoof is bringing in some fresh faces for Season 2 of the Roku original comedy: John Cena, Ben Schwartz and Paula Pell have joined the cast of “Die Hart 2: Die Harter,” the streaming company announced. In addition to the new cast, Nathalie Emmanuel will reprise her role in Season
Spain’s Madrid region is riding the crest of a wave towards becoming one of the most important animation/VFX hubs in Europe. Taking in the country’s capital, the Madrid region hosts more than 32% of Spain’s active audiovisual companies and around 31% of its animation and VFX firms. Regional animation and VFX players – structured around
Check out the official Strange World Trailer starring Alan Tudyk! ► Sign up for a Fandango FanAlert for Strange World: https://www.fandango.com/strange-world-2022-228137/movie-overview?cmp=Trailers_YouTube_Desc Subscribe to the channel and click the bell icon to be notified of all the hottest trailers: http://bit.ly/2CNniBy US Release Date: November 23, 2022 Starring: Alan Tudyk, Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle
Fueled by a robust educational pipeline and the steady influx of foreign investment, France’s animation ecosystem continues to expand. In 2021, animated programing accounted for 33% of international audiovisual sales, making episodic animation the country’s leading television export. And as the sector grows, so too will its gravitational pull, bringing in new voices, fresh perspectives,
“Alex vs America” has been renewed for a third season at Food Network, Variety has learned exclusively. Production is set to begin this month on Season 3 of the primetime cable series, with new episodes to debut next year. “Alex vs America” Season 2, which aired July 31-Sept. 11, averaged more than 9.1 million total viewers,
After a fast courtship, outgoing YouTube head of business Robert Kyncl has been named CEO of Warner Music Group and will replace Steve Cooper when he steps down next year. According to the announcement, Kyncl and Cooper will serve as co-CEOs for the month of January 2023. As of February 1, 2023, Kyncl will become sole CEO of
Tom Hardy channeled a little bit of Bane from “The Dark Knight Rises” and a whole lot of Tommy Conlon from “Warrior” when he surprise entered a martial arts tournament over the weekend. As reported by The Guardian, Harder was a surprise competitor at the 2022 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championship in Milton Keynes, England. The
Live sports streaming service DAZN has acquired rights to broadcast the English Football Association (FA) Women’s Super League soccer matches and Women’s FA Cup for two seasons across multiple territories including in their key markets of Spain, Japan, and Italy. Under the deal DAZN will be offering live and on-demand access to at least two
Blue Finch Films has boarded international sales on European genre titles, Scandinavian thriller “Good Boy” and found footage film “Stéphane,” ahead of their world premieres at Beyond Fest. “Good Boy,” which delves into the perils of the modern dating world, follows Sigrid who thinks she’s met the perfect match in Christian until she comes to
Landing James Bond may be the biggest acting gig in Hollywood, but 007 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson say they still have to pitch prospective actors on the part. When Variety catches up with Britain’s most famous producers in late August, they’re busy preparing for the 60th anniversary of Bond in October. But
Joachim Back’s “Corner Office,” featuring “Mad Men” star John Hamm, will open the 30th edition of London’s Raindance Film Festival (Oct. 26-Nov. 5). Austin Bragg and Meredith Bragg’s “Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game” will close the festival. To mark its 30th anniversary, Raindance will screen iconic independent films that had their U.K. premieres
Music Box Films has acquired U.S. rights to “Full Time,” Eric Gravel’s visceral social thriller which is one of the five finalists for France’s official submission to the 95th Academy Awards. Represented in international markets by Be For Films, “Full Time” world premiered at last year’s Venice festival in the Horizons sections and won a pair of awards
In “Patrick and the Whale,” director and editor Mark Fletcher explores an area not often examined by wildlife filmmakers: the emotional connections that bind sperm whales and their ability not only to communicate to one another, but also, seemingly, to humans. Produced by Austria’s Terra Mater Studios and screening in the Zurich Film Festival’s Focus
San Sebastian’s inaugural Creative Investors Conference framed a panel discussion on Storytelling’s New Horizons featuring Phil Hunt of Head Gear Films, Bankside Films and Bohemia Media; Karin Chien of Louverture Films, and dGenerate; and Diana Williams of Kinetic Energy Entertainment. How to navigate new technologies, new ways of thinking and how to broaden storytelling to
After “Midnight in Paris,” Woody Allen will return to the French capital for his 50th movie which he’s described as a “poisonous romantic thriller” with a pair of French stars, Valerie Lemercier (“Aline”) and Niels Schneider (“Love Affair(s))”. The untitled film, the plot of which is being kept under wraps, will start filming next month
Executive producer Mary Burke has launched production company Public Dreams Ltd, which aims to bring together the best of film and TV talent to produce distinctive, ambitious, commercial content for the British and global markets. Burke launches the company after five years as senior executive at the BFI Film Fund and 13 years at Warp
TOTALLY TOHO Japan’s biggest film group Toho announced that it has taken a controlling stake in TIA (previously Toho Interactive Animation), a production company behind the “100 Nichikan Ikita Wani,” film and anime series “iii icecrin,” “iii icecrin2” “Ninja Collection” and “That Is the Bottleneck.” Originally known as I&A, the company was established in 2017
Prashant Nair, Sundance audience award winner for “Umrika,” and veteran producer Ronnie Screwvala (“Uri: The Surgical Strike”) are teaming up on series “The Support Group.” Nair serves as the director-showrunner on the multi-season series, which follows three characters from very different backgrounds who form an uneasy alliance to escape the consequences of an accidental killing.
Iranian action drama “World War III,” which won two awards at the recent Venice festival, will feature among the main competition titles at next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival. The festival will operate as an in-person event with foreign filmmakers, media and other guests in attendance from Oct. 24-Nov. 2, 2022. “World War III” is
LevelK continues to terrify international distributors with Finnish horror “The Knocking,” directed by Max Seeck and Joonas Pajunen. The film has now been sold to over 70 countries, Variety has learned, with the company sealing further deals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Alamode Film), Latin America (Gussi), CIS (Capella Film), France (KMBO), Indonesia (PT. Falcon)
Danish director-writer Malou Reymann’s sophomore feature, “Unruly,” premiered in the Toronto festival, and is an affecting drama set in the 1930s about a rebellious teen forced into an institution, the real-life Sprogø Women’s Home. At a time when women’s control of their bodies is under attack, your film carries a special resonance. Is what took
Dubai-based sales agent Cercamon has acquired world sales rights excluding Switzerland for Laura Kaehr’s first feature documentary “Becoming Giulia,” which has its world premiere Sept. 23 in the Focus competition at the Zurich Film Festival. Produced by Point Prod, the outfit behind Elie Grappe’s Cannes Critics’ Week prize winner “Olga,” in partnership with SRG SSR, the
Overline: Hed: By Alissa Simon “Subtraction,” from idiosyncratic Iranian helmer-writer Mani Haghighi (“Men at Work,” “Modest Reception,” “A Dragon Arrives!”) is a tense Hitchcockian thriller set in Tehran, where a heavy, non-stop rainfall signals a lingering malaise. There, a young couple come across their doppelgängers. The film premiered at the Toronto festival. The idea for
Adjoa Andoh is narrating “Chasing the Rains,” an upcoming four-part docuseries on African wildlife, Variety can exclusively reveal. Andoh is perhaps best know as “Bridgerton’s” Lady Danbury and has also appeared in “The Witcher” and “Silent Witness” as well as numerous theatrical productions. Produced by Love Nature and Sky Nature and created by Maramedia (“Stormborn”),
Shares of Tencent Music Entertainment, China’s largest online music company, made a slow but steady start Wednesday in trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At the lunchtime trading break, the shares had climbed to HK$18.22, up from their opening at HK$18.00. They are traded under the number 1698. The company already has a listing
“I’ve never talked about this publicly before,” said Taylor Swift, teasing the audience as she accepted an award in Nashville Tuesday night, leading at least some of the attendees to be on the edge of their seats. And because it was an audience mostly of songwriters, they stayed there, even when the secret to be
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead, if you have not watched the Season 19 finale of “The Bachelorette,” which aired on Sept. 20... Did Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey find their happy ending? Heading into the second half of the two-part Bachelorette finale, both women maintained one final suitor. Rachel with Tino Franco — her first
It’s official: Zach Shallcross will be the next star of “The Bachelor,” which heads into its 27th season in 2023. Shallcross — who Variety previously reported would be ABC’s next leading man — was a contestant from the current season of “The Bachelorette,” which wraps up its season tonight. “The Bachelor” announcement was made Tuesday