Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band and Noah Kahan are set to headline the Sea.Hear.Now festival on the New Jersey shore on the weekend of Sept. 14-15 — representing a triumphant homecoming show for the Boss, who of course named his 1973 debut album after the festival’s location of Asbury Park. Kahan will headline
The Academy and the Award by Bruce Davis For “The Academy and the Award,” Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy for over twenty years, was given unprecedented access to its archives, and the result is a revealing and compelling story of the men and women, famous and infamous, who shaped one of the best-known
Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that the company is behind Netflix in terms of technical capabilities — and that the Mouse House is in the process of catching up. “We need to be at their level in terms of technology capability,” Iger said about Netflix, speaking Tuesday at the 2024 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media &
Kal Penn admits he didn’t know much about Anna Nicole Smith’s physician, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, before he was approached to star as the doctor in the indie adaptation of his memoir, “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.” “But then I read the doctor’s autobiography and found it interesting and compelling,” Penn told me Monday night at
There’s two things that make a star shine — the light they emit, and the inevitability of being seen. I called my mom and yelled into the phone, “The lady who cast Ralph Macchio in ‘Karate Kid’ wants to meet me!” I met Bonnie Timmermann, the legendary casting agent, at a dinner with my husband
Sony’s “Madame Web” is one of the biggest flops in comic book movie history. The Dakota Johnson-led tentpole has only grossed $40 million so far at the domestic box office, and its worldwide gross remains under the $100 million mark after three weekends of release. Critics also eviscerated the film (it boasts a 12% score
“Fixer Upper” stars Chip and Joanna Gaines will mark the 10-year anniversary of the HGTV show that rocketed them to home-reno fame with the debut of a new season, “Fixer Upper: The Lakehouse,” in June. Per its official description, this new edition of “Fixer Upper” follows Chip and Joanna as they take on a unique
Just before Instagram went down, Taylor Swift took to her Stories to encourage her 282 million followers to get out and exercise their right to vote on Super Tuesday. In a post, the pop star implored eligible voters to head to the polls to support candidates that best align with their interests. “Today, March 5,
Variety has promoted Dayna Wolpa to the newly created role of VP of Talent and Programming. Wolpa is an Emmy-winning producer who previously served as Variety‘s managing director for programming and distribution. With her promotion, Wolpa will manage talent and programming for such successful Variety franchises as Power of Women, Power of Young Hollywood, Hitmakers
Netflix will launch a mobile game version of the indie hit “Hades” in March. Per Netflix’s description, “Hades” is “a rogue-like dungeon crawler in which you defy the god of the dead as you hack and slash your way out of the Underworld of Greek myth.” Pre-registration to play the streamer’s exclusive version of the
Paramount Animation has entered an exclusive, multi-year first-look development deal with writer, director and producer Jeff Rowe. The pact extends the relationship between the studio and the filmmaker following the success of last summer’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” which Rowe directed and co-wrote. The agreement covers Rowe’s development and directing services, as well as his
Comedian Mike Birbiglia has set a documentary special at Peacock. Titled “Good One: A Show About Jokes,” it premieres on March 26. Adapted from the Vulture podcast “Good One: A Podcast About Jokes,” the special follows Birbiglia through his process as he travels from Providence, R.I. to Washington, D.C. while developing new comedy material based
Tel Aviv-based multinational studio Dori Media Group (DMG), has launched international sales, outside of the U.S. and Latin America, of the ViX Original romcom “Lalola,” a remake of the 2007 International Emmy-winning hit from Argentina. Shot in Mexico with a whole new cast led by Bárbara de Regil (“Rosario Tijeras”), Diego Amozurrutia (“Cuna de Lobos”) Alejandro
Richard Hudock, a communications executive known for his rapid response to even the most trifling queries about the operations of TV news, has been named vice president of communications at MSNBC. Hudock will supervise the communications strategy and media outreach for the entire MSNBC portfolio, including “Morning Joe,” the network’s daytime “MSNBC Reports” programs, primetime
Queen Latifah will return to host the 55th annual NAACP Image Awards after emceeing the ceremony for the first time last year. The NAACP also announced that writer, poet and activist Amanda Gorman will be honored with the prestigious Chairman’s Award, while this year’s Vanguard Award will go to costume designer, designer and tastemaker June
It’s become an Oscars tradition for Kelly Ripa: The “Live With Kelly & Mark” host is positioned back stage to grab the very first interview with a newly minted winner. Every year, those winners are so wrapped up in the moment that they excitedly invite Ripa to appear in their next project or join in
On April 30, Disney Home Entertainment will release on physical media four more of its streaming series, two from Lucasfilm and two from Marvel Studios. “Star Wars: Andor — The Complete First Season,” “Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi — The Complete Series,” “Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight: The Complete First Season” and “Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and
Veteran singer and Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry has entered into a partnership with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group “to develop and expand the renowned artist’s musical legacy to new generations of fans,” according to the announcement. The deal sees the company acquiring 50% of Ferry’s sound recording, publishing, and name, image and likeness rights
Meta’s family of apps including Facebook and Instagram were experiencing widespread technical problems Tuesday, with thousands of users logging errors in accessing the social media services. Users reported problems including being logged out of Facebook — and when they attempted to log back in, saw an error message such as, “Something went wrong. Please try
As fashion month comes to a close, it’s out with the old styles and in with the new fashion trends for fall. I took careful notes on what you can expect for major fall 2024 bag trends, and I’m sharing them all here. With regard to accessories, it was a fun season of showings. At
The “face with tears of joy” emoji represents “a crying with laughter facial expression,” according to Wikipedia. “The emoji is used in communication to portray joking and teasing on messaging platforms.” Elon Musk, the multibillionaire tech baron who owns X (formerly Twitter), on Monday was sued by four former Twitter executives, whom Musk fired immediately
Kevin Spacey will appear as a character named “The Devil” in Italian director Massimo Paolucci’s psychological thriller “The Contract,” which just wrapped principal photography in Rome. The English-language film, described in a statement as having a similar storyline as Alan Parker’s “Angel Heart” and Taylor Hackford’s “The Devil’s Advocate,” also stars Eric Roberts and Vincent
Kate Winslet championed intimacy coordinators in a recent interview with The New York Times. The Oscar winner said having an intimacy coordinator on set would’ve benefitted her every time she was required to perform a sexual situation on camera, be it more graphic scenes featuring full frontal nudity or far tamer scenes with just kissing.
I won’t pretend to have influenced Greta Gerwig. If Greta Gerwig is aware of my existence, it’s likely because I’ve written about her record-breaking blockbuster Barbie, or about the Hollywood ecosystem that made Barbie such an outlier. I never expected us to have the same penchants for clothing as we do cinema. And yet it’s
Clémence Poésy and Emily Beecham have joined the cast of eleventh century period drama “King & Conqueror.” Based on Middle Ages figures Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy, the upcoming BBC/CBS Studios series stars “Happy Valley’s” James Norton as Harold and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (“Game of Thrones”) as William. Beecham (“1899”) joins as Harold’s wife
CASTING Cold War thriller “Whispers of Freedom” has set its principal cast, Variety has learned. “Masters of the Air” alum Cameron Ashplant will play the film’s lead, young East German Chris Gueffroy, while Darragh Cowley (who also appeared in “Masters of the Air”) co-stars as his close friend Christian Gaudian. Set in 1980s East Germany,
A defamation trial against controversial director Roman Polanski is underway in Paris. The 90-year-old Franco-Polish filmmaker is being sued by British actor Charlotte Lewis, who is claiming he defamed her by calling her sexual assault allegations against him a “heinous lie” in a 2019 interview with Paris Match magazine. Lewis first came forward with her
The omission of “My Father’s Dragon” from the 2023 Oscar nominations list for best animated feature sparked murmurings of disapproval from within the industry. The Netflix film — directed by Nora Twomey and a gorgeously hand-drawn adaptation of Ruth Stiles Gannett’s beloved children’s fantasy novel — had been lapped up by critics, many of whom assumed it
The Indian media and entertainment industry grew 8% in 2023 to reach a value of $27.9 billion, according to the annual EY report released during the ongoing Frames conference in Mumbai, organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The growth was 21% above its pre-pandemic levels in 2019. The report
Ever since the first night of Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour — when the pop star announced she’d be performing two surprise acoustic songs at every show — fans have been waiting with bated breath to find out which gems from her discography will be unearthed next. Swift kicked off the tour in Glendale, Ariz. in