Cohen Media Group has acquired producer Jeremy Thomas’ prestigious international sales company HanWay Films in a major deal. Cohen Media Group owns Landmark Theatres in the U.S. and British distributor-exhibitor Curzon. HanWay Films was founded by “The Last Emperor” producer Thomas and is co-owned with his partner Peter Watson. Under the deal, HanWay Films will
Italy’s Minerva Pictures has taken international sales on veteran director Pupi Avati’s Dante Alighieri biopic “Dante” starring Sergio Castellitto as the Florentine bard. Minerva will be introducing “Dante” to buyers at the Venice Film Festival’s informal market and then at Rome’s MIA Market in October. Pic is set for release in Italy on Sept. 29
Now movie theaters are reaching out for new kinds of measurement. National CineMedia, the advertising network that represents more than 20,600 screens in more than 1,650 theaters, has struck a partnership with audience-measurement company iSpot. Under terms of the pact, iSpot technology will be used to deliver analysis of the incremental reach NCM’s in-cinema commercials
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has partnered with Final Cut in Venice, the Venice fest’s program that supports films in post-production from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The Red Sea fund is backing several projects in the support platform that supports films in post from the African and the Middle East
“Kung Fu” and “Never Have I Ever” star Eddie Liu and Leon Dai will head the cast of “Chopin,” an upcoming Taiwan American immigrant story set in suburban U.S. They are joined by Taiwanese veteran actress Chen Shu-Fang. “Chopin” tells the story of Chopin Wu (played by Liu), who returns home to small-town America where
Netflix is in production on a documentary series about British pop singer and former Take That member, Robbie Williams. The multi-part series will launch in 2023 and promises to be an “unfiltered, in-depth examination of a global icon and natural-born-entertainer who had to navigate the highs and lows of being in the limelight for more
It’s been an ugly year for most stocks, but for Audacy the pain has been especially acute. Shares of the radio broadcast and podcasting company on Wednesday dropped to an all-time low of 55 cents per share, falling 5.5% for the day — and down about 84% year-over-year. Audacy now has a market capitalization of
Warner Bros. Discovery is laying off 29 people in Europe over the next 15 months as it shifts its originals model for HBO Max, Variety has confirmed. Variety was first to report in July of HBO Max’s decision to retreat from original programming in a number of European markets, and warn of layoffs within the
The BBC’s chief content officer Charlotte Moore responded to former “Newsnight” host Emily Maitlis’s criticism of the broadcaster. Moore strongly refuted Maitlis’s suggestion that the broadcaster had apologized with “speed” after press officers for the U.K. government complained about a “Newsnight” introduction. “Why had the BBC immediately and publicly sought to confirm the Government spokesman’s
Paramount+’s chief content officer and Paramount TV boss for scripted originals has revealed the streamer is working on a documentary about Louis C.K., the disgraced comedian who stepped back from public life after he was caught up in the #MeToo movement. According to Nevins it will involve the New York Times reporters who broke the
Ewan McGregor is set to star in “A Gentleman in Moscow,” the adaptation of Amor Towles’ novel, for Paramount+ and Showtime. McGregor, who has previously starred in the Star Wars franchise and “Halston,” will play Count Alexander Rostov who finds himself going from riches to rags following the Russian revolution. A Soviet tribunal banishes him
Documentary “Bobi Wine: Ghetto President,” which world premieres Out of Competition at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 1, centers on a man’s pursuit of freedom and justice for his country, but at the film’s heart is a love story. Variety speaks to the filmmakers, and unveils the trailer, the first time any footage has
New Europe Film Sales has added U.K. distributor Signature Entertainment to the slew of global buyers won over by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s “Beautiful Beings,” which has racked up awards from Poland, Bulgaria, Italy and Taiwan, since its first bow at the last Berlinale Panorama. Earlier deals were closed with the U.S. (Altered Innocence), Hungary (Vertigo),
Sally El Hosaini’s drama “The Swimmers,” based on the inspirational true-life story of the Mardini sisters, will open the 18th Zurich Film Festival on Sept. 22. It will be the film’s European premiere. The film is produced by Working Title for Netflix. It is directed and written by El Hosaini and co-written by Jack Thorne,
Emmy voting has closed, but for those who just can’t get enough, many costumes from Emmy-nominated shows have taken over the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) Museum in downtown Los Angeles. The exhibition showcases costumes from over 22 programs, 13 of which are Emmy-nominated in the three different award genres: period, contemporary, and
Billy Joel welcomed surprise guest Olivia Rodrigo Wednesday night during his 82nd consecutive sold-out show at New York’s Madison Square Garden for runs through her hit single “Deja Vu” and his own 1983 smash “Uptown Girl,” released nearly 20 years before Rodrigo was even born. Decked out in a plunging black top, a brown patterned
It wasn’t that long ago that live telecasts like major league sporting events and star-studded awards shows were considered the savior of networks struggling to maintain relevancy in a streaming age. And while streamers have taken their lumps lately — and sports is indeed keeping the lights on in linear — the age of blockbuster
Doing a rare one-off show Tuesday night at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, hip-hop star Vince Staples shared his thoughts on Capitol Records’ controversial AI rapper FN Meka, who was officially declared dropped from the company earlier in the day after the project came under fire due to accusations of racial stereotyping. “You seen
There aren’t many filmmakers like Florian Zeller. He’s the rare playwright given a chance to direct the big-screen adaptations of his work. John Patrick Shanley pulled that off with “Doubt,” Aaron Sorkin eventually made the transition from writing “A Few Good Men” to overseeing “Trial of the Chicago 7” and Martin McDonagh has successfully toggled
Barbie Ferreira say she will not be returning to “Euphoria” for its third season. The actor announced her apparent departure via Instagram, writing in a story post: “After four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character Kat, I’m having to say a very teary-eyed goodbye. I hope many of you could
Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you haven’t watched “Wide Net,” Episode 5 of FX’s “Reservation Dogs” Season 2, now streaming on Hulu. After filming the fifth episode of “Reservation Dogs’” second season, Sarah Podemski went out and got matching Navajo floral tattoos with four of her co-stars. The quartet — who include her sister
Presented in its worst possible light, the FN Meka controversy — in which Capitol signed, and then quickly dropped, a virtual rapper that used the N-word in its songs and was depicted in racially stereotypical scenarios in videos — seems like an inconceivable blunder. But a closer look at the details, along with conversations with
When Angelina Jolie read Alessandro Baricco’s short novel “Without Blood” — the basis for her next directorial effort — the Italian fable about the brutality of war and healing in its aftermath had an immediate therapeutic effect. “I read it right as I was going through the beginning of a very dark time in my
John Boyega has never shied away from speaking out about the racist bullying he received for his work as Finn in the “Star Wars” franchise. Things got so bad, he convened a meeting with Disney and Lucasfilm execs to express his disappointment in their lack of support during the targeted attacks. While Boyega has now
Lyon Daniels and Noah Cottrell have been cast in two of the lead roles in “The Spiderwick Chronicles” series currently in the works at Disney+, Variety has confirmed. The pair join previously announced cast member Christian Slater, who will play the villain Mulgarath. The show was first announced as part of Disney+ Day in November
The power of fandom was on display in Downtown Los Angeles last week as thousands of K-pop devotees gathered for KCON, a three-day celebration of South Korean pop culture. KCON was more like a family reunion for many attendees, as several of them explain on the latest episode of Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast. K-pop is
Gerald Potterton, an animator and filmmaker whose most notable works include “Heavy Metal” and the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” film, died on Aug. 23, the National Film Board of Canada announced on Wednesday. He was 91. He died at the Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital in Cowansville, Quebec, where he lived for most of his life. His most prominent
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you haven’t watched Season 1 of “Mo” on Netflix. As I finish interviewing comedian Mo Amer and ask him if there’s anything else he’d like to talk about, he says, “I don’t have a lean addiction, nor have I ever been addicted to lean. I keep saying that every
Catherine Deneuve has no regrets. Though the French icon has worked with everyone from Buñuel to Bjork, she doesn’t dwell on the decades she’s spent on screen. And, at 78, she’s certainly not thinking of retirement. “I’m not at all ready to draw up a career assessment,” says Deneuve during an interview at the
Sister has enlisted “Pitch Perfect” writer and “Blockers” director Kay Cannon to work with best-selling author Taylor Jenkins Reid on a new original comedy film. Cannon will direct the film with Jenkins Reid co-writing the script. The film centers around four childhood pals who get a drunken voicemail from their former best friend on the