Way back in 1998, before Marvel made metaverses a household concept, Gwyneth Paltrow starred in a lovely parallel-realities drama called “Sliding Doors,” in which a woman’s life split along two paths, depending on whether or not her character caught a specific train. At the time, juggling these competing fates was considered to be so demanding
Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s Oscar-nominated “Drive My Car” took eight prizes at the 45th Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony, held on Friday at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takawana in Tokyo. In addition to the best picture award, the film won best director (Hamaguchi), best screenplay (Hamaguchi and co-writer Oe Takamasa) and best actor (Nishijima Hidetoshi). The
The SXSW Film Festival delivered a doozy of an opening night presentation with Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” on Friday in Austin — offering up a buffet of images for viral memes. Fleshy hot dogs in place of human fingers, a talking raccoon voiced by Oscar winner Randy Newman, butt
Guillermo del Toro and Jane Campion have strong thoughts about filmmaking — both in execution and exhibition — in this modern streaming age. And lucky for us, they’re not afraid to share those opinions. And that’s exactly what they did last fall, for Variety’s “Directors on Directors” issue. Now, in case you missed that conversation
In early 2019, Casey Neistat began filming “Under the Influence,” about 23-year-old YouTube phenomenon David Dobrik, capturing his evolution from prankster to online celebrity with major brand sponsors and tens of millions of followers across social media platforms. But in 2021, the docu took a turn when a Business Insider story documented sexual-assault allegations by
Disney CEO Bob Chapek is facing a major test of his leadership, after the company’s botched response to an anti-gay bill in Florida sparked a staff revolt among LGBTQ employees and their supporters. Chapek apologized to the staff on Friday, saying he should have been “a stronger ally.” But for some employees, who found the
ABC released key art for the 94th Academy Awards on Friday — and it features the first official shot of this year’s three Oscar hosts. The 94th Oscars will be held March 27, with an in-person ceremony at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre that will air live on ABC. Last month, the Academy announced that Regina
Women filmmakers are taking the reins of their destinies in Hollywood, with many stepping behind the camera and creating stories universal to the human condition. But it has been a slow-moving machine to see these talents recognized at the Oscars, especially in the best director category. In the 94-year history of the Academy Awards, there
“The Baby-Sitters Club” has been canceled at Netflix after two seasons, Variety has learned. Based on the best-selling book series by Ann M. Martin, “The Baby-Sitters Club” is a contemporary dramedy that follows the friendship and adventures of seven friends as they start their own babysitting business in Stoneybrook, Conn. As demand for their club
The theme of fathers and sons runs through the films of Venezuela-born writer-director Lorenzo Vigas, whose 2015 debut drama “From Afar,” which focuses on a troubled middle-aged man and young hustler in Caracas, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. In Vigas’ latest film “El Caja” (“The Box”), which screened Thursday at the
When asked on “The View” this week about filmmakers slamming superhero movies (directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and more have criticized Marvel films for disrupting exhibition), Marvel Cinematic Universe stalwart Samuel L. Jackson said “it’s easy” for directors to do so “only because people aren’t going to see their movies.” Jackson has
Everybody in the industry seems to like and admire J.K. Simmons, and why wouldn’t they? He’s talented, versatile, dependable and affable. The fan club includes Aaron Sorkin, writer-director of Amazon’s “Being the Ricardos,” for which Simmons is Oscar-nominated as supporting actor. Sorkin’s last seven screenplays have centered on real people, but he tells Variety he
“Turning Red,” Pixar’s latest animated adventure, posed some pretty big musical challenges: it’s about a 13-year-old girl, obsessed with a boy band, whose Chinese ancestry literally looms large as she turns into a giant panda when her emotions spin out of control. It demanded a trio of world-class talents: Grammy winners Billie Eilish and Finneas
Husband-and-wife team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez are no strangers to writing musical earworms. They’ve won Oscars for “Let It Go” from “Frozen” and “Remember Me” from “Coco” and an Emmy for “Agatha All Along” for “WandaVision.” Now they’re reuniting with friends and family, penning “You Are the Music” for the Apple TV Plus animated
Zoe Saldaña revealed in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly that her former management team “discouraged” her from using her real name once she landed her first major acting role in the 2000 teen drama “Center Stage.” The actor stressed that her team was not trying to be malicious at the time. Saldaña starred in
Shawn Levy has entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The director of “Free Guy” and “The Adam Project” will once again team up with Ryan Reynolds for “Deadpool 3,” the much-anticipated third installment of the comedic action franchise, Variety confirms. Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who penned the first two “Deadpool” films, will write the third movie
Nirvana is not quite to Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” as Prince was to Tim Burton’s 1989 version of “Batman.” But even with only one oldie being used instead of an entire new song score, the new film is being identified with primarily one musician, thanks to Kurt Cobain’s “Something in the Way” appearing at prominent
UPDATE 2:09 PM PT — Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, just addressed the decision … saying, “We are delighted that the grand jury has looked at the matter thoroughly and reached the same conclusion we did. Deshaun Watson did not commit any crimes and is not guilty of any offenses.” UPDATE “Now that the criminal investigations
On Friday, Burberry staged an in-person runway show—the house’s first in two years—at the grandiose Central Hall Westminster in the heart of London, a stone’s throw away from the Houses of Parliament. It doesn’t get more British than Westminster and Burberry together again, as creative director Riccardo Tisci noted when discussing the collection, saying it
Symone D. Sanders will take over the 4 p.m. weekend slot on MSNBC as the NBCUniversal-owned network continues to bolster opinion programming over hours devoted to straight news reportage. The former media strategist, who has helped two prominent Democrats in presidential campaigns, will kick off her first show on Saturday, May 7, at 4 p.m.
An unseasonable cold and rainy spell drifted through Austin on Friday, as attendees poured into the SXSW conference in person for the first time in two years. But that’s not the only storm brewing as marquee names and business leaders from Hollywood, tech, music, and media step foot in Texas. Fallout from two incendiary state
Meta is allowing users of Facebook and Instagram in Ukraine post “forms of political expression” that would ordinarily violate its hate-speech policies — including urging people to kill the Russian soldiers who are attacking the country. In response, the Russian government, which already previously blocked Facebook, said it will also ban Instagram effective March 14.
“The Simpsons” will make history on Sunday, and coincidentally it’s happening during Women’s History Month. For the first time ever, after 33 seasons and 719 episodes (this Sunday is episode 720), the top four key creative roles that guide animation in a “Simpsons” episode are all women. That includes director Jennifer Moeller, as well as
As bombs continue to pummel Ukraine, musicians gathered in New York Thursday night to protest Russia’s war against the nation and raise funds for its defense. The Benefit for Ukraine at New York’s City Winery assembled a lineup of mostly local rock legends who “stand with Ukraine in the battle for its democracy and freedom.”
“Harold and the Purple Crayon” is coming to the Broadway stage, but this time the young artist will be all grown up. Tiwary Entertainment Group’s TEG Plus has acquired the stage rights to the beloved children’s book by Crockett Johnson — with plans to adapt it into a Broadway production. The “Harold and the Purple
Two weeks after pausing the theatrical release of “Morbius” in Russia, Sony Pictures has announced that it is also halting all other business in the country following its invasion of Ukraine. This includes home entertainment releases, such as that of box office hit “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” and any television distribution deals. Crunchyroll has also
Kanye West has added a high-profile media figure to his executive ranks, naming Jason Lee, the founder-CEO of Hollywood Unlocked, to his team under the title of head of media and partnerships. Lee shared his take on joining forces with West with Variety prior to the official announcement going out Friday. He says that his
Hulu is finally getting competitive with YouTube TV on the DVR front: The Disney-controlled streamer next month will unlock a new Unlimited DVR feature for all Hulu + Live TV subscribers for no additional fee. On April 13, Hulu will introduce Unlimited DVR for live TV customers available across the entire lineup of 80-plus channels,
While streamers continue to upend all and any traditional entertainment industry business models, they are now facing the power of the user over which services to choose and then potentially lose. Indeed, the challenge for all competing streamers is not just attracting new subscribers, but keeping existing ones — a phenomenon known in business speak
Color wasn’t the only consideration for production designer Rona Liu and director Domee Shi when they were developing the look of Disney Pixar’s “Turning Red,” available on Disney Plus March 11. They also wanted “chunky cute.” That meant building everything to look bigger and rounder for the coming-of-age story of a middle school girl, Mei,