LOST AND FOUND “The House of the Lost on the Cape,” a Japanese animated movie which was an official selection at the recent Annecy festival will have a theatrical release in North America from Sept. 7. The film is to be distributed by Los Angeles-based Eleven Arts in association with Anime Expo and Iconic Events
An important piece of Beatles history is up for grabs — John Lennon‘s nasty response to a Paul McCartney interview, and it provides tons of insight into the writing duo’s complicated relationship. John fired off a letter to Paul days after an interview critical of him and The Beatles appeared in a November 1971 issue
As a newcomer to Neil Gaiman’s seminal comic book series “The Sandman” (cue diehard fans immediately clicking out of this review, and fair enough!), I came to Netflix’s adaptation with an open mind and curious eye. Knowing this 1989 title had spawned onscreen spinoffs of “Sandman” characters — “Lucifer,” “Constantine,” etcetera — but never one
Bertelsmann’s Luxembourg-based media giant RTL Group, which owns Fremantle, has declared revenue of €3.26 billion ($3.35 billion) for the first half of 2022, a growth of 9% from the corresponding period in 2021. The RTL Group has interests in 56 television channels, eight streaming services and 36 radio stations. The group’s content business, Fremantle, is
There’s a new giant in town, or at least at Locarno’s Match Me!, one of the festival’s biggest industry initiatives. For years, by a large head, France has had more titles at the Locarno Festival’s two biggest sections, the Piazza Grande showcase and main International Competition than any other country in the world. 2022 is
For the tenth time in 11 years, the Locarno Film Festival is hosting 10 international film critics from various stages of development during the 10 days of the A-list Swiss festival. Coming from places as far from the Swiss resort town as Bangalore, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro and Jakarta, and from an even more varied matrix of
Matt Dillon might have been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at Locarno on Thursday, but he still has “stuff to do.” And he wants you to know that. “The first thing I thought was: ‘Oh wow, that’s really nice.’ And then: ‘I don’t feel like I am done just yet!’,” Dillon tells Variety ahead of the ceremony.
Anyone wanting signs that film production is alive and kicking in some parts of the world – and not only the most obvious – need go no further than Locarno’s Match Me! A networking event, expanded this year from 24 to 32 producers and fortified by the first-time presence of France, Match Me! focuses on
A Texas jury ordered Alex Jones, founder of fringe media outlet Infowars, to pay $4.1 million to the parents of a 6-year-old who was murdered in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School after he had denied that the shooting was real and accused the child’s parents of participating in a government hoax.
Rising rapper and internet phenomenon Saucy Santana has teamed with Madonna for the remix of his 2020 viral hit “Material Girl,” now retitled “Material Gworrllllllll!” The Queen of Pop first teased the collaboration on her Instagram account on August 4, sharing a snippet of the feisty chorus. “(Material girl) currently working on a Grammy,” Santana
The Book of Genesis contains two competing creation stories: There’s the one where an all-powerful deity conjures everything in six days, and the version where a more anthropomorphic god rolls up his heavenly sleeves and makes man from clay. Guess which one the visionary stop-motion artist Will Vinton would have preferred. Co-inventor of the “Claymation”
Though their popularity peaked long before most of today’s actual teenagers were born, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles never really went away. We’re only six years removed from the most recent live-action film based on the pizza-loving reptiles, and it was just two months ago that a new TMNT video game was released. Ant Ward
Audiences will get a chance to see Disney’s inaugural feature documentary for free in select theaters during a one-week period beginning Aug. 5. “Mija,” which follows two daughters of undocumented immigrants navigating the music industry, will get its Academy Award qualifying run later in the month before debuting on Disney+ on Sept. 16. “We weren’t
Disney+ original series “Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts” will be returning for a second season on the platform. Robin Roberts, a co-anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” hosts and executive produces the series. The first season won the 2022 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Informative Talk Show. In the new season, Robin Roberts gets personal
Amazon Prime Video is activating its Emmy Phase 2 plans, throwing an “FYC Fest” the weekend of Friday, Aug. 12 through Sunday, Aug. 14 to tout its 30 Emmy nominations. The weekend event will take place in three different locations in the Los Angeles area, including Sherman Oaks, Santa Monica and West Hollywood. The outdoor
Subscriber growth at Starz lifted shares of Lionsgate in after-hours trading, giving investors optimism that the media company will be able to demand top dollar when it finalizes plans to sell off its cable and streaming arm. Streaming subscribers jumped to 26.3 million worldwide, a 57% year-over-year increase. On an earnings call, Lionsgate CEO Jon
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider
Count Quentin Tarantino as one of the millions of moviegoers who fell in love with “Top Gun: Maverick” this summer movie season. The director stopped by the ReelBlend podcast this week and had nothing but raves to share about the Tom Cruise sequel. “I fucking love ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’ I thought it was fantastic,” Tarantino said.
James Franco has been cast as Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro in the independent film “Alina of Cuba,” Variety has confirmed. Franco joins the previously announced Ana Villafañe, who portrays the title character Alina Fernandez, Castro’s daughter. In addition, Mía Maestro has also joined the cast as Alina’s mother Natalia Revuelta, the Cuban socialite who gave
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav addressed the company’s controversial decision this week to cancel releases for “Batgirl” and “Scoob!: Holiday Haunt,” during the company’s Q2 earnings call on Thursday. “We’re not going to launch a movie until it’s ready,” Zaslav said during the Q&A portion of the call, when asked directly about “Batgirl” getting
The Writers Guild of America informed its members on Thursday that it has prevailed in a crucial arbitration with Netflix over their underpayment of writers’ residuals for the 2018 film “Bird Box,” notching another $42 million in unpaid residuals for 216 writers on 139 other Netflix films. Netflix’s initial argument regarding “Bird Box” was that
Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hanks will star in “Loving” and “Take Shelter” director Jeff Nichols’ next feature, Variety has confirmed. Titled “The Bikeriders” after the 1967 Danny Lyon photography book, the film tells an original story about a ’60s midwestern motorcycle club as it evolves over the course of a decade from a
“The Flash” movie starring Ezra Miller is still a go, despite the actor’s numerous scandals this year. “We have seen ‘The Flash,’ ‘Black Adam’ and ‘Shazam 2,’” said Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav during the company’s Q2 earnings call on Thursday. “We are very excited about them. We’ve seen them. We think they are
James Morosini really does love his dad, and he proves it when his father calls in the midst of our conversation. Morosini takes the call and explains he’s on an interview. “I’ll call you back,” the younger Morosini says before adding: “Love you.” The complicated father-son relationship inspired Morosini’s acclaimed new film, “I Love My
Emmy winner Jaime Pressly (“My Name is Earl”) is moving into another small TV town. Pressly has been added to the cast of Fox’s “Welcome to Flatch” as it returns for a second season. She will play Barb Flatch, a Realtor who returns to her hometown after a bad divorce. “She believes in second chances
Per Nielsen, Amazon Prime Video’s Chris Pratt-led thriller series “The Terminal List” was watched for 1.6 million minutes during the July 4-10 viewing window, its first full week of availability after premiering on July 1. The series took the No. 2 position on Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming chart this week, second only to “Stranger Things.”
A judge has ordered Kevin Spacey to pay “House of Cards” production company MRC nearly $31 million for alleged sexual misconduct behind the scenes of the Netflix White House drama. Spacey, who played Frank Underwood, was kicked off the series during its sixth season after facing allegations that he had sexually assaulted and preyed upon
Emmy-winning music supervisor Robin Urdang doesn’t like saying no to “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino. With the show’s music steeped in American standards, 1950s and ’60s tunes to reflect the era, Urdang found herself going down rabbit holes to find masters and license songs. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” starring Rachel
CAA is keeping an eye on NFTs — and other new digital acronyms that represent some of the new methodologies Hollywood is using to distribute entertainment. Joanna Popper has been named Chief Metaverse Officer at the large agency, tasked with setting strategy and business priorities for CAA and its clients as entertainment and media companies
Kid Cudi and Kanye West’s cold war is creating all sorts of collateral damage, and longtime GOOD Music producer Mike Dean appears to be the latest one feeling the burn. Dean launched into a Twitter rant after learning Wednesday night he’d been dropped from Cudi’s upcoming “Moon Man’s Landing Festival” without warning. He clarified on