The slasher genre is full of freaks and weirdos, but none of them quite hits a festive note like the Leprechaun ushering in every St. Patrick’s Day. The mythical Irish monster, played with pizzazz for the bulk of the series by the iconic Warwick Davis, is equal parts Freddy and Chucky, chock full of the
In the latest toy-related movie news, Play-Doh is being molded into an animated feature film from eOne and Hasbro. The prospective picture will be written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Emily V. Gordon, with Jon M. Chu producing, with the potential to direct. “The team looks forward to bringing the audience a moldable, pliable, iconically-scented story about
Keith Olbermann must be The Worst Person in the World this week to anyone who works for MSNBC or NBC News. The longtime sports and news personality spent Thursday afternoon producing an epic 21-post Twitter rant telling of a convoluted effort to return to MSNBC, where he once served as the linchpin of its primetime
This year’s Academy Award nominations are dominated by films from deep-pocketed studios, specialty divisions and streamers. Yet as most 2021 indies were sidelined to the Spirit Awards, a few such as “Drive My Car,” “Flee,” “The Worst Person in the World” and “Writing With Fire” managed to score noms in David vs. Goliath campaign battles.
Film composers are always looking for novel ways to express ideas and convey character in music. Two of this year’s original-score nominees were especially innovative in finding musical solutions for storytelling challenges. “Dune” demanded a sonic landscape unlike anything composer Hans Zimmer had ever tackled (including such sci-fi projects as “Inception” and “Interstellar,” which brought
Opposition to the Academy’s plan to award eight Oscars prior to the live telecast continues to grow, with more than 350 new names — including more than a dozen Oscar-winning editors, cinematographers and production designers — added to the petition sent last week to Academy president David Rubin urging a reversal of the plan. Among
As a gatekeeper of song submissions for Justin Bieber, producer and engineer Josh Gudwin is managing a dizzying number of text and email chains simultaneously and on-the-go. One particularly long thread is with Stefan Johnson of the songwriting-production team Monsters and Strangerz. The topic? “Ghost,” Bieber’s latest hit from his album “Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe),”
The Danish film “Flee,” with Oscar nominations in animated, documentary and international film categories, tells the tale of Amin, a gay refugee from Afghanistan who is separated from his family. Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen says that when his school friend opened up about his childhood, the helmer had intended to make a short, which grew
Andrew Garfield opened up on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” this week about what it was like recreating the iconic “Spider-Man” pointing meme with his “Spider-Man: No Way Home” co-stars Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield. Sony Pictures nearly broke the internet in February when it announced the “No Way Home” digital release date accompanied by a photo
“Squid Game” star Hoyeon has been cast in Alfonso Cuarón’s upcoming Apple series “Disclaimer.” Hoyeon will star in the series alongside previously announced cast members Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Based on the novel of the same name by Renee Knight, “Disclaimer” will star Blanchett as Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel saw a huge paper windfall in 2021 as he was awarded stock grants valued at more than $293 million in the year that saw Endeavor complete its initial public offering on its second try. Emanuel’s payday for last year was closer to $67.5 million in terms of “recognized compensation” that is
Alice Eve is set to headline the “Early Edition” reboot pilot at CBS, Variety has confirmed. In the rebooted version, ambitious but uncompromising journalist Beth (Eve) starts receiving tomorrow’s newspaper today. She then finds herself in the complicated business of changing the news instead of reporting it. Beth is further described as the executive producer of
Denis Villenuve’s “Dune” is a visceral epic, propelled by practical and visual effects that shape the destiny of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) following a vengeful plot that kills his father, Leto (Oscar Isaac), on the spice-producing planet Arrakis. The approach for visual-effects supervisor Paul Lambert was to avoid “fixing something in post” but to find
The Critics Choice Association has announced the winners of the 2nd annual Critics Choice Super Awards, which honors the greatest achievements in genre storytelling across television and film. “It’s an honor to showcase these incredible accomplishments in Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Comic Book films and television. The Super Awards will proudly continue to shine a
Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw have donated $1 million to support humanitarian relief in Ukraine following Russia’s unprovoked invasion. Through their philanthropy Hearthland Foundation, Spielberg and Capshaw have allocated the money to several organizations in and near Ukraine, including the Polish Red Cross, Polish Humanitarian Action, World Central Kitchen, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and Urgent
ACQUISITION U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has picked up South African detective drama “The Cane Field Killings” starring Kim Engelbrecht (“Bullet Proof”) and Iain Glen (“Game of Thrones”). The eight-episode series, which launched last year in South Africa, will launch on Channel 4 on Apr. 10. The drama tells the story of a brilliant criminal profiler,
CAA has signed Peter Alexander, the co-chief White House correspondent for NBC News, and will represent him in his dealings with media and other potential employers. Alexander is also co-anchor of the weekend broadcast of “Today,” which he joined in October of 2018. He and Kristen Welker, who is also NBC News’ co-chief White House
After her controversial exit from CBS’s “The Talk” last year, Sharon Osbourne is joining the U.K.’s Talk TV, alongside her longtime friend and TV host Piers Morgan. The two hosts made the announcement on Thursday. “What I’m really looking for in my co-workers at Talk TV is somebody who is, well, a bit like me.
Arnold Schwarzenegger released a nine-minute video Thursday addressed to the people of Russia, urging the government to end the war in Ukraine and denouncing state propaganda. “I know that your government has told you this is a war to denazify Ukraine,” the actor and former California governor said in the video, which was produced by
Simultaneously celebrating St. Patricks Day and addressing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nancy Pelosi read a new poem written by Bono on Thursday at the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon. “Bono has been a very Irish part of our lives,” the Speaker of the House said before launching into the poem, which contains the line, “Ireland’s
Nearly five years after the release of their last album, “Everything Now,” the sixth studio album by Arcade Fire, has been confirmed for a May 6, 2022 release via Columbia Records. Titled ‘We,’ the album’s arrival is preceded by first single “The Lightning I, II,” and as a video directed by Emily Kai Bock, which can
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell production firm says it’s satisfied that Spotify is adequately addressing the problem of misinformation on its platform — and announced that a podcast featuring Markle will hit the audio-streaming platform this summer. The latest development comes after the couple in January said they were urging Spotify to make changes
Amazon is developing a baking competition series inspired by the works of Dr. Seuss, Variety has learned. In the unscripted series, bakers will be tasked with crafting incredible confectionary creations tied to beloved Seuss characters like The Cat in the Hat, The Grinch, and more. In each episode, the bakers will be given a challenge based
It may only be six months since 2021’s pandemic-delayed edition of Series Mania took place, but the annual Lille, France-based drama festival returns once again but this time in its traditional slot of March 18-25. It’s been “challenging” for the Series Mania team to pull together 2022’s program so soon after last year’s event, says
Amazon on Thursday announced that it had closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM. But the deal may not be out of the regulatory woods yet. The Federal Trade Commission, asked about its review of the Amazon-MGM announcement, noted that the agency has the latitude to file a legal challenge even after the parties have
In the best visual effects Oscar race, the underdog is Shawn Levy’s “Free Guy.” Despite being set in a virtual world, the film was made for $100 million with an even smaller budget for VFX. But that didn’t prevent the film’s visual effects supervisor Swen Gillberg from delivering some of the best VFX sequences this
If one daydreams about what film, music, Hollywood, London and all ports in between felt like in the ’60s and ’70s, writer-director Andrew Birkin’s new memoir, “POV: A Life in Pictures,” is a dreamscape of glorious days and nights and legendary personalities. Starring Birkin’s famous model-actress-singer sister, Jane Birkin, along with her famous husbands, plus
Russia-set documentary “Tolyatti Adrift,” which premieres in competition at the Malaga Festival, has debuted its trailer with Variety. The first feature-length work by Spanish director Laura Sisteró is being sold internationally by Prague-based Filmotor (excluding Spain and France). “Tolyatti Adrift” examines life in the Russian city of Tolyatti, once the symbol of socialist pride and
When it comes to summer style, less really is more. But to get specific, we nailed down the exact runway trends that are inspiring the latest macro and micro looks that will be gracing our presence during everyone’s favorite season. Some are obvious, some are seemingly obscure, and others are ones we simply wish we
There’s no shortage of drama or conflict on “Outlander.” Two characters of the series who know that all too well are Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin). After a tumultuous fifth season that included traumatic assaults, a kidnapping, a near-death experience by hanging, and the low rumblings of the American Revolution, one would hope