YouTube Shorts has pulled out a new weapon in its battle against short-form video juggernaut TikTok: watermarks. Going forward, the video giant will add a watermark icon to YouTube Shorts videos that creators download to share elsewhere, like on TikTok and Instagram Reels. That way, if a video that originated on YouTube Shorts goes viral
The television adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s series “Warlord Chronicles” will debut in the U.K. on ITV’s new streaming platform ITVX. It will then air later on linear. U.S. and international sales haven’t yet been announced. U.S. cabler Epix was at one point adapting “Warlord Chronicles” but is believed to be no longer involved. As Variety
Vertigo Releasing has acquired Phyllis Nagy’s “Call Jane,” starring Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver, for U.K. and Ireland distribution. The film explores the true story of the Janes, an underground collective of women, who in Chicago during the 1960s, came together to secretly provide nearly 12,000 women and girls with safe and secure abortions. It
Salma Hayek Pinault and Annie Murphy are in talks to star in the new season of “Black Mirror,” Variety can reveal. The dystopian Netflix series is slowly assembling a star-studded roster of talent for its long-awaited Season 6, with Hayek Pinault and Murphy the latest actors set to join the cast. Variety previously revealed that
The sophomore album from anonymous artist Ray Incident has been announced and it drops on Saturday, Aug. 20. A NASA-inspired record titled “The Voyager Symphony,” it’s described as “an absorbing study of space, time, and a human’s place within it.” The album was influenced by NASA’s Voyager program and consists of 10 algorithm-moulded movements, each
Actor Adrian Dunbar, who played Superintendent Hastings in six seasons of Jed Mercurio’s smash hit BBC series “Line of Duty,” has speculated about a seventh season. Dunbar told The Times of London: “There’s a big appetite for more ‘Line of Duty.’ It could be three or four episodes, I don’t think there’s going to be
Shot during the pandemic and set on May 30, 2020 — just a few days after the death of George Floyd during an arrest by the Minneapolis Police Department — “Traveling Light” is an experimental attempt at social commentary that fails to provide any insight, emotion or even entertainment of the most basic kind. Nearly
CAMPAIGN BAFTA and Digital Cinema Media (DCM) have partnered on a cinema campaign, which premieres Aug. 19 across the U.K., to inspire the next generation of creative talent by showcasing the diverse range of skills and knowledge that goes into making award-winning films, games and television. The campaign, titled ‘Behind every BAFTA,’ revolves around a
“Game of Thrones” made its reputation by conjuring the politics of an entire world. And for all the grandeur of its spinoff, “House of the Dragon,” its creators’ most surprising decision may be to start small. I mean that in a very particular sense. The visuals, here, are certainly grander than those of “Game of
While Netflix has yet to renew Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” for Season 2, it’s just given fans of the new hit TV series the next best thing by dropping a surprise “bonus” episode featuring guest stars Sandra Oh, James McAvoy, David Tennant and Michael Sheen. Dropping Friday at 12 a.m. PT, exactly two weeks after
About halfway through “Safe Place,” a film already not given to taking it easy on viewers’ emotions, the meek, honest delivery of a single word — “Sorry” — shatters the heart irreparably into a million small shards. It comes from Damir (Goran Marković), a quiet, bearish but child-eyed man who has just attempted to take
Still only 50, Choi Dong-hoon has been a front-runner among Korean directors for at least the past 15 years, with hits under his belt including “The Thieves,” “Assassination” and “Tazza: The High Rollers.” Now he is driving the Korean industry’s exploration of sci-fi. Choi’s “Alienoid” recently played to U.S. audiences at the New York Asian
Panic! at the Disco’s “Viva Las Vengeance” will never get filed in the comedy section, but shuffling through its 12 tracks, your instinct may be to chuckle and laugh, and then laugh some more. It’s a natural, admiring reaction to how Brendon Urie has brazenly fashioned the album as almost a parlor game of Spot
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is celebrating 73 years of Black film artistry with the new exhibit titled Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971. Curated by the Academy Museum’s Doris Berger and Rhea Combs of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the first-of-its-kind exhibition features seven galleries exploring Black representation in film, from portraits of icons like
An attorney for “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed faulted Sheriff’s investigators on Thursday for not doing a DNA test on the rounds found on set. Jason Bowles, Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer, urged the lead investigator in an email on Thursday to reconsider, saying that the lack of testing could become “a very significant issue at trial,
In “Glorious,” J.K. Simmons plays the voice of an ominous Lovecraftian god lurking behind the glory hole of a random roadside restroom. That’s practically all the pitch Shudder audiences need to sample this not-nearly-as-sick-as-it-sounds oddity from genre-movie superbrain Rebekah McKendry, whose expertise in all things horror outstrips her knowledge of the basics of men’s bathrooms
“Spin Me Round” stars Ayden Mayeri and Debby Ryan got along so well while filming the new indie comedy “Spin Me Round” in Tuscany that they ended up getting matching tattoos after production wrapped. “We all became great friends in Italy,” Mayeri told Variety at the movie’s premiere on Wednesday in Los Angeles. “So while we
“Vampire Academy” has added eight recurring guest stars, Variety has learned exclusively. Angela Wynter (“This England,” “Responsible Child”), Lorna Brown (“The Devils,” “Soulmates”), Louisa Connolly-Burnham (“Wolfblood,” “Call The Midwife”), Cornelius Macarthy (“Torchwood,” “Father Brown”), Jason Diaz (“The 100,” “Charmed”), Jennifer Kirby (“Call The Midwife”), Joseph Ollman (“Domina,” “Knightfall”) and Pik-Sen Lim (“Johnny English Reborn,” “Maleficient”)
A year ago, as Emmy voters were considering potential contenders for outstanding music supervision, would any of them have guessed that Kate Bush would enter the top 10 of U.S. song consumption? Or that Metallica would see a resurgence based on a key synch? But such is the power of the soundtrack to Netflix’s “Stranger
On the afternoon that Variety interviewed Tainy in honor of his being named Variety‘s Hitmaker of the Month, the Puerto Rican-born producer and songwriter got word that Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” had returned to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart for its eighth non-consecutive week. The record is headed toward the
Stephen P. Neary, the creator of HBO Max animated series “The Fungies!,” tweeted a string of statements Thursday voicing his heartbreak over the show being pulled from the streaming service. “Last night during a figure drawing class I found out that ‘The Fungies!’ was getting pulled from HBO Max this week. I’m heartbroken but I
The reign of “Stranger Things” is no more. During the July 18-July 24 viewing window, “Virgin River” took the No. 1 position on Nielsen’s weekly Top 10 Streaming chart, thanks to the debut of its fourth season on July 22. The romantic drama was viewed for 2.6 billion minutes in Season 4’s first three days
After weeks of anticipation, Anitta has finally dropped the Missy Elliot-featuring “Lobby” along with its visual counterpart, which sees the two superstars serving serious looks as they pass time at a posh hotel. The glossy and flirtatious “Lobby” begins with Elliot’s introduction of “that new Anitta, suckas!” as the Brazilian superstar’s melodious vocals take control
Trevor Noah admits that he didn’t think his exchange with Kanye West on social media earlier this year would blow up the way it did. After Noah discussed, on “The Daily Show,” West’s behavior toward ex-wife Kim Kardashian, West responded by directing a racial slur at him on Instagram, which led to West being banned
Amy Ryan is the latest cast member to be announced for the upcoming Apple series “Sugar,” Variety has learned. Ryan joins previously announced series lead Colin Farrell and cast member Kirby Howell-Baptiste in the show, which was first ordered to series in June. Exact plot and character details for the show remain under wraps, aside from the
Tatiana Maslany knows from playing multiple roles on the same TV series. From 2013 to 2017, she embodied over a dozen clones on the sci-fi series “Orphan Black,” and won an Emmy for it in the process. On the new Marvel Studios series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Large,” however, Maslany tackled a new challenge: Transforming from
CNN has enlisted a new executive to help it generate programming ideas. Ryan Kadro, a veteran of “CBS This Morning” and several digital ventures, is set to join CNN as a senior vice president of content strategy, overseeing the development of new programming such as a revamped morning show and other new concepts, according to
As Emmy voters mark their ballots in final-round voting this weekend, Variety breaks down the widely varied competitors in this complete guide to all seven categories including original scores, songs, music direction and music supervision. Music Composition for a Series “The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max)Blake NeelyOne win, three other nominationsEpisode: “The Reykjavik Ice Sculpture Festival
NBC’s “Password” reboot from executive producer Jimmy Fallon and host Keke Palmer has picked up its key demo ratings by 43% and its viewership by 27% with delayed and digital viewing following the show’s Aug. 9 premiere, Variety has learned exclusively. Over its first two episodes (the second airing Aug. 16), “Password” is averaging an
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras’s new documentary about artist and activist Nan Goldin, has sold to Neon. The indie studio acquired the film before it was scheduled to make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. It has also landed prominent spots at the Toronto Film Festival and the New York