Universal Music Group has announced an agreement with Frank Zappa’s family to acquire the legendary musician’s recordings, publishing catalog, film archive, name and likeness, and the contents of “The Vault,” the storage facility that houses his complete archives. The agreement is between UMG and the Zappa trust — comprising the musician’s children Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet
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Opening the 26th Fantasia Int’l Film Festival in Montreal on July 14, writer-director KC Carthew’s “Polaris” is her sophomore pic after her multi-award-winning debut feature, “The Sun at Midnight” (2017). A teaser, bowing exclusively in Variety, reveals a dystopian thriller set in a frigid, snow-blanketed wasteland. An expansion of her award-winning short film “Fish out of Water,”
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A wealth of film and TV titles are available at launch on streamer Studiocanal Presents, which is now available as an Amazon Prime Video channel in the U.K. Some 300 films and series from Studiocanal’s catalogue are available at launch, including Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now: Final Cut” in 4K; Brian Helgeland’s “Legend”; Joel and
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The world premiere of “Matilda the Musical” will open the 66th BFI London Film Festival. The Netflix adaptation stars Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough and Sindhu Vee and introduces Alisha Weir as Matilda. Screenwriter Dennis Kelly adapted the Tony and Olivier award-winning Royal Shakespeare Company theater production for the big screen, with
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Beta Film has come on board to co-produce eight-part Italian period drama series “La Storia,” based on Elsa Morante’s bestselling novel, continuing its successful partnership with Picomedia. Shooting for the production has started in Rome under the helm of director Francesca Archibugi (“Romanzo famigliare”), before moving to Naples and Lazio later in the year. Beta
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KOREAN MOVIES UPCOMING CJ ENM Hong Kong has secured the first and exclusive Pay TV, pay-per-view, video-on-demand and over-the-top (OTT) rights in key Southeast Asia markets to a slate of current and upcoming South Korean films. These are to play on the tvN Movies channel in Southeast Asia. Titles include: “The Roundup” (a.k.a. “The Outlaws
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The South by Southwest Conference is expanding beyond its longtime Austin, Texas home to Sydney, Australia. SXSW Sydney will host a seven-day celebration of technology, film and music from Oct. 15 to Oct. 22 in 2023. As in Austin, the satellite conference will convene thought leaders, innovators and creatives from across industries for keynote conversations,
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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization that produces the Golden Globes, will co-sponsor a series of events with the World Bank to promote the growth of educational entertainment programming. Called “Global Forums,” these events will feature panels of HFPA and World Bank spokespeople and entertainment representatives discussing the importance of educational programming including issues
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On Wednesday, producer/DJ/recording artist Calvin Harris shared the news of his new album “Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2,” the follow-up to his critically acclaimed “Vol. 1” from 2017, with nearly 20 mostly marquee artists named as collaborators for the Ag. 5 release, from Justin Timberlake to Pusha T to Halsey to Snoop Dogg. Harris uploaded
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Simon Helberg is the latest addition to the cast of Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson’s Peacock series “Poker Face,” Variety has learned exclusively. Lyonne will star in the series, which sources say will follow a procedural format and see Lyonne’s character working to solve different murders in each episode. Further details around the plot and the
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If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The world jut got the “Barbie–Doctor Who” multiverse they never knew they needed. Photos from the set of “Barbie” have set the internet ablaze over the past week, the most recent showing Ryan Gosling
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TikTok, the massively popular short-form video app, is in the crosshairs of American policymakers again over its ownership by Chinese internet giant ByteDance. Brendan Carr, a Republican commissioner of the FCC, posted a letter to Apple and Google on Twitter, urging the tech giants to remove TikTok from their respective app stores — calling it
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Romy and Michele are getting closer to that long-anticipated reunion. Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow have confirmed in separate interviews that a sequel to their 1997 cult comedy is in the early stages of development, so early that original screenwriter Robin Schiff hasn’t even finalized the idea yet. Sorvino appeared on “Today” (via EW) and
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Niantic, the augmented-reality games company behind “Pokémon Go,” is letting go about 8% of its workforce and has scrapped several game titles it had in development, including “Transformers: Heavy Metal.” The company is laying off 85-90 employees, Niantic CEO John Hanke said in a memo to staff Wednesday, which was first reported by Bloomberg. Niantic
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