After Warner Bros. executives signed off on the risky decision to bankroll their $90 million look at the life of Elvis Presley with a little-known actor portraying the hip-swinging rocker, producer Gail Berman reached for her phone. She wanted to immortalize the moment for Austin Butler, the man who reportedly beat out the likes of
Utopia has acquired Participant’s feature documentary “Unseen Skies,” which the U.S. distributor will release on Sept. 13. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Yaara Bou Melhem, “Unseen Skies” explores the evolution of state and corporate surveillance. The film follows American artist and geographer Trevor Paglen as he launches an artwork called “Orbital Reflector” into space, visible with
Jordan Peele won over fans, critics and the box office alike with his summer sci-fi thriller “Nope.” And while the movie’s ending doesn’t scream for a sequel, as with any of Peele’s films, there is a lot left to the imagination, including a mysterious character listed on IMDb as “Nobody,” played by Michael Busch. Peele
MK2 Films has unveiled a clip of Rachid Hami’s “For My Country,” a politically minded family drama which will world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in the Horizons section. A personal movie, “For My Country” is based on the life of Hami, whose brother tragically died in a French military school during a hazing
It’s that time of year where we all start to (reluctantly) trade our linen shirts and jorts for something more relaxed—and decidedly more cozy. Enter Savage X Fenty, Rihanna’s wildly successful intimates label that has taken the lingerie market by storm with its vast size and gender inclusivity. The brand’s latest launch expands into the
Bill Kramer, the newly appointed CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, kicked off his charm offensive with the international film community at the Venice Film Festival, telling a small audience of journalists that the Academy’s “future is with international cinema as much as it is with American cinema.” Kramer — who
“Trying” has been renewed for a fourth season at Apple TV+. The British comedy series will return for another new slate of episodes. The news of the renewal for the favorably reviewed series comes three days ahead of its upcoming Season 3 finale, which will debut on the streamer on Friday. When “Trying” premiered its
U.K. crew union Bectu and producers’ body Pact have mutually agreed to extend the current agreement, which was set to end on Sept. 1, while they continue to negotiate. “For both Pact and Bectu and our respective members the priority is a fair and transparent collective agreement that addresses work-life balance and is workable across all
Michael Fishman has released a statement regarding his departure from ABC’s “The Conners” ahead of the show’s fifth season. “It has been my honor to play D.J. Conner,” Fishman said in a statement to People. “It’s every actors dream to be a series regular, especially on a groundbreaking show, where we tackle significant topics.” “While
Check out a Barbarian Official Spot starring Bill Skarsgard & Georgina Campbell! ► Buy tickets for Barbarian: https://www.fandango.com/barbarian-2022-228244/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: September 9, 2022 Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Georgina Campbell, Justin Long Director: Zach Cregger Synopsis: A young
Disney Star has licenced Indian television broadcasting rights for men’s and under-19 tournaments conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd for four years. Last week, Disney Star had retained both digital and television rights from 2024 through 2027. ZEE was a bidder for those rights, Variety understands. Earlier, Disney Star
It seems the feud between former “Newsnight” host Emily Maitlis and her former employer, the BBC, shows no signs of letting up. Less than a week after former Maitlis publicly excoriated the BBC during her MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the corporation has hastily rebooted its “Americast” podcast – which Maitlis first launched
Nearly two months ago, Elon Musk told Twitter he wanted to bail on his deal to buy the social network, based largely on his assertion that Twitter wasn’t disclosing the true scope of its spam and bot problem. Now Musk’s lawyers have cited allegations made by a former Twitter exec, whom the company fired this
Italian director Emanuele Crialese broke out with 2002 Cannes Critics Week winner “Respiro,” followed by “Nuovomondo” and “Terraferma,” which both scooped prizes in Venice. He’s back on the Lido with his ambitious, boldly personal drama “L’immensità.” Set in 1970s Rome, the film features Penélope Cruz as the mother of two children, one of whom is a
Goran Stolevski’s “Of An Age” won Australia’s richest film prize of A$100,000 ($65,000) at CinefestOz at a gala closing night over the weekend in Busselton, Western Australia. The Macedonian born, Melbourne based writer and director Stolevski also presented his much-lauded first feature “We Are Not Alone” at the festival. The CinefestOZ film prize is dedicated
Sony Music Entertainment filed a lawsuit against Triller, seeking millions of dollars in damages after the video-sharing app allegedly stopped paying licensing fees in March 2022. According to the suit, filed Monday in New York federal court, Triller continued to allow Sony Music songs to be shared on the app even after the music company
“Hotel Portofino,” starring Natascha McElhone, has returned to Croatia after a summer break to finish filming its second season. It is so far the biggest project filmed in Croatia this year, Film New Europe reports. The producers of the period drama, created by Matt Baker and directed by Adam Wimpenny, are making use of Croatia’s
European cinema chain Vue International has received approval from its lenders to receive a further £75 million ($88 million) to fund recapitalization of the company. Its lender syndicate unanimously approved the move, which is expected to be completed later this year. According to the cinema chain: “This will enable Vue to implement the new money
The stars are certainly aligning in Italy. As the Venice Film Festival prepares to kick off its 79th edition on Wednesday (Aug. 31), once again catapulting a strong selection of buzzy movies into the awards season race, its pandemic-driven “wall” on the Lido’s red carpet has come down after two years — just in time
“Coo-Coo 043,” a family drama set in the world of racing pigeons, has been set as the opening film of the 2022 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. The closing film is comedy “Marry My Dead Body.” “Coo-Coo 043” is the second film directed by Chan Ching-lin (“The Island That All Flow By”) and stars Golden Bell
Hilary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton’s HiddenLight Productions is co-producing a new feature documentary with the team behind Sundance 2019 title “Gaza.” “In the Shadow of Beirut” is a cinematic portrait of modern-day Lebanon as seen through the eyes of four families living in the impoverished Sabra and Shatila neighbourhoods of the city, the scene of
Spontaneous flames, dysfunctional warning alerts and a sense of impending catastrophe feature in Hungarian-Romanian director Cristina Grosan’s sophomore feature “Ordinary Failures,” premiering in Venice Days, a sidebar to the Venice Film Festival. Variety is launching the trailer for the film (below), which is being sold by Totem Films. The Czech-Hungarian-Italian-Slovak co-production, filmed entirely in the
Song Kang-ho, known for his roles in “Memories of Murder” and “Parasite,” has signed up to make his TV series debut. He will star in indie-produced drama “Uncle Sam Shik.” “Uncle Sam Shik” is a 1960s-set tale of two men, their pride, greed and bromance, local Korean media reports. Song’s co-lead actor has not been
Laura Poitras’ “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Steve James’ “A Compassionate Spy” and Evgeny Afineevsky’s “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” are among 11 documentaries making their world premieres at the Venice Film Festival this year, with Poitras’ competition title vying for a Golden Lion — a rare feat for a doc at
More than 600 buyers from companies in 30 countries are expected to be in Seoul, South Korea from Wednesday for the in-person return of the Broadcast WorldWide convention, better known as BCWW. Although BCWW bills itself as Asia’s largest broadcasting content market, given the strength of the Korean wave, much of the focus will be
Jesse Lee Soffer is turning in his badge on “Chicago P.D.” The upcoming 10th season will be the last for Soffer, Variety can exclusively announce. The actor has portrayed Det. Jay Halstead since the NBC series’ debut in 2014, appearing in all 187 episodes. He will be departing sometime in the fall. “I want to
Jimmy Fallon, Willie Nelson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jimmie Allen, Zach Williams and Miley Cyrus have been cast as guest stars in NBC’s “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas.” The film sees Parton in the lead role and also stars Tom Everett Scott, Ana Gasteyer and Angel Parker. “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas” is a movie musical
Check out the Jaws Official Re-Release Trailer starring Robert Shaw! ► Buy tickets for Jaws: https://www.fandango.com/jaws-2333/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: September 2, 2022 Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider Director: Steven Spielberg Synopsis: When a young woman
AWARDS CIRCUIT COLUMN: Will ‘Better Call Saul’ Be the Last Basic Cable Drama to Receive Big Emmy Love? ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” has been rightly praised as broadcast TV’s great new Emmy hope, a critically acclaimed comedy that helped the traditional networks avoid completely getting shut out in the key scripted categories this year. But while
Netflix’s restructuring continues with the impending departure of one of the streamer’s top film executives, Tendo Nagenda. The veteran executive, who joined Netflix from Disney in 2018, shepherded such movies as “The Harder They Fall,” “Da 5 Bloods” and the upcoming “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” for the streamer. Variety can confirm that Nagenda’s