Ann Dowd will star in “The Undertaker’s Children.” The thriller is currently in pre-production. The Exchange will introduce the title to buyers at the upcoming 2022 Cannes Film Market. Dowd stars as a secretive undertaker forced to take in two orphans. When her sinister plan for getting rid of the kids in her care is
Welcome back, David Cronenberg. Neon has debuted the official trailer for the filmmaker’s “Crimes of the Future,” which is set to compete for the Palme d’Or at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. The movie marks Cronenberg’s first feature directorial effort since 2014’s “Maps to the Stars,” which won Julianne Moore the best actress prize at
Reed Hastings made the trek to Rome to open Netflix’s new Italian headquarters in an elegant building just off the Via Veneto of “La Dolce Vita” fame — and the Roman rain gods made sure they knew he was there. Menacing dark clouds interspersed with flashes of sunlight had hovered over the hour-long outdoor presentation
Devin Nunes, the former congressman who is now CEO of Donald Trump’s social-media rival to Twitter, claimed that his new boss “encouraged” tech mogul Elon Musk to acquire Twitter, to “take on these tech tyrants.” Musk says that’s false. “I’ve had no communication, directly or indirectly, with Trump, who has publicly stated that he will
This sorcerer still reigns supreme. Disney and Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” earned a formidable $36 million in Thursday previews, setting the stage for what could be a massive $175 million-plus debut this weekend. This ranks as the eighth largest preview performance ever, behind “Avengers: Infinity War’s” $39 million in 2018. Its
CAA has signed rising star Stephanie Hsu for representation. Already a SAG Award winner for her work as Mei on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Hsu has garnered additional acclaim for her breakout performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” In the A24 film by The Daniels’ (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Hsu stars as Joy
In 2014, at age 53, Tom Wilson, a singer-songwriter from Hamilton, Ontario, with a stack of gold records and stories aplenty, found out quite accidentally that he had been adopted. Soon afterward he learned that his biological parents were Mohawk from the Kahnawake community, just outside of Montreal. For legions of fans familiar with Wilson’s
The total U.K. and Ireland box office in April this year was £96.9 million ($119.2 million), according to numbers for the month released by Comscore. At this time in 2021, indoor cinemas remained closed due to the second nationwide lockdown, except for Guernsey and the Isle of Man, re-opening on May 17 in England and
UPDATE: CNN’s royal correspondent Max Foster has said that Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex – and their children Lilibet and Archie – will attend the Queen’s jubilee. “Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are excited and honoured to attend The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations this June with their
In today’s podcast roundup, “Batman Unburied” flies to the top of Spotify’s charts; HBO Max’s “The Staircase” gets a companion podcast; Slate’s “Slow Burn” Season 7 will unpack the history of Roe v. Wade; Audible is set to unleash “Beast Master” investigative narrative podcast about “Ohio’s bear king”; and more. CHARTS DC’s “Batman Unburied” superhero
“1917’s” George MacKay and “Candyman” actor Nathan Stewart-Jarrett are set to star in drag queen thriller “Femme.” The feature, which is set to shoot in London, U.K., next month, is directed by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, based on their short film of the same name. Anton are repping global sales at the
Netflix on Friday officially opened its Italian base in Rome, in a classy neoclassical building near the iconic Via Veneto, and announced a substantial slate of originals that stand as testament to what co-CEO Reed Hastings called the streaming giant’s “growing business in Italy.” “The breadth and variety of our Italian slate perfectly represents our
Being a celebrity certainly has its perks: travel, red carpets, photo shoots, etc. But oftentimes, these glamorous work commitments often mean you’re away from your family longer than you might like. This Mother’s Day, Naked Cashmere is inviting loved ones to be part of the fun with its “Love” campaign supporting the the Breast Cancer
Los Angeles-based Saudi-Arabian/American singer-rapper-producer $kinny has released his new album, “Have a Nice Trip,” which was executive produced by Swizz Beatz, on Universal Arabic Music. The album features his new single “Salam” with Swizz Beatz and French Montana, the video for which also dropped today (pictured above at the video shoot, L-R, are Swizz, UAM
Spotify’s former head of studios for the U.K. and Ireland, James Cator, has joined Amazon-backed podcast outfit Wondery, Variety can reveal. The executive is believed to be taking on the newly created role of head of commercial for Europe. Based in Berlin, Cator will report into Wondery’s head of international, Declan Moore. The move will support
“Million Dollar Pigeons,” which had its world premiere this week at Hot Docs, follows a colorful cast of pigeon masters from far and wide who compete in the most lucrative pigeon races on the planet. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer, and speaks to the director, Irish filmmaker Gavin Fitzgerald. The third
Miriam Toews’ 2014 novel “All My Puny Sorrows” thrives on the kind of fraught tonal whiplash that comes with the most intimate of relationships to one’s subject. Inspired by the suicide of the author’s sister, the book is a veiled grief memoir that veers wildly between plangent, poetic despair, plainspoken journaling and blunt, cutting humor
Arachnophobes, beware, you’re in for a scare. A new horror about a super-sized spider is hitting the Croisette from Cornerstone Films, which will handle worldwide sales and introduce the pic to buyers in Cannes. From writer and director Kiah Roache-Turner (“Wyrmwood: Apocalypse,” “Nekrotronic”), “Sting” centers on a spider hatched from a mysterious object that falls
CAMPAIGN UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency, and TikTok have teamed for a music campaign promoting solidarity with refugees from Ukraine and beyond. The campaign begins with #TheWorldNeeds, a global hashtag challenge, the centerpiece of which is Dionne Warwick’s iconic track “What The World Needs Now (Is Love),” with the support of Warner Recorded Music, Warner
“Girl Gang,” which screened in competition at CPH:DOX and has its North American premiere this week at Hot Docs, offers a behind-the-scenes look at an industry hardly known for reticence. But in this study of adolescent influencer Leonie, her all too eager parents, and the legions of fans liking, sharing and subscribing to the family’s
Daniel Brühl (“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”), Riccardo Scamarcio (“John Wick 2”) and Volker Bruch (“Babylon Berlin”) are set to star in motorsport thriller “2 Win.” Directed by Stefano Mordini (“The Players”), the film is inspired by true events that occurred during the fierce rivalry between Germany (Audi) and Italy (Lancia) at the 1983
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek revealed that he is putting his money where his mouth is, releasing a Twitter message announcing that he will invest $50 million in the music streaming company. “I’ve always been vocal about my strong belief in Spotify and what we are building. So I am putting that belief into action this
A new documentary about “The Power of the Dog” director Jane Campion has been picked up for sales by WestEnd Films and Cinephil. Directed by César Award-winning “Since Otar Left…” helmer Julie Bertuccelli, “Jane Campion, The Cinema Woman” is screening as part of the Cannes Classics line-up. The New Zealand director was the first woman
Acclaimed Brazilian writer-director Alê Abreu, director of the Oscar-nominated “The Boy and the World,” will world premiere his electric feature-length film “Perlimps” at the upcoming Annecy International Animation Film Festival after excerpts from the project were teased as part of the fest’s Works in Progress program last year. “Perlimps” will screen at Annecy as a
The British Film Commission (BFC) has issued new guidance on COVID production protocols and no doubt the U.K. screen industry will breathe a sigh of relief. The overhauled guidance, which was drafted in consultation with the industry and is based on the U.K. government’s “Living with COVID-19” published strategy, has done away with the stipulations
Dubai-based sales agent Cercamon will handle international sales on Fabian Hernández’s “Un Varón” (A Male), which has its world premiere in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. “Un Varón” tells the story of Carlos, who lives in a youth shelter in the center of Bogotá – a refuge meant to help mitigate the harshness of daily life. He
Bertelsmann’s Luxembourg-based media giant RTL Group, which owns Fremantle, has declared revenues of €1.56 billion ($1.64 billion) for the first quarter of 2022, a growth of 11.3%. The RTL Group has interests in 64 television channels, nine streaming services and 36 radio stations. The group’s content business, Fremantle, is one of the world’s largest creators,
It’s easy to see why Netflix wanted to reteam actor Omar Sy and director Louis Leterrier in something, anything, given the popularity of their previous collaboration, the French thriller series “Lupin.” But U.S. viewers may be a tad puzzled by the streamer’s decision to green-light as their follow-up a popcorn movie as nondescript as “The
Less than nine months after the launch of Season 4, the “Cobra Kai” crew is heading back to Netflix this September. “Cobra Kai,” the popular “Karate Kid” sequel television series starring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, will debut its fifth season Sept. 9. The news was announced out a panel conversation with the stars of
Even on a night to celebrate empowerment, the edge in the room was unmistakable. The shocking revelation this week that the U.S. Supreme Court is moving to overturn Roe v. Wade was evident not only in the words from honorees and presenters at Variety’s Power of Women, presented by Lifetime, but also in the defiant