BBC Studios Drama Productions has set a development partnership with Nigerian television pioneer Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu, founder and CEO of global entertainment network EbonyLife Media. The partnership will kick off with action-adventure series “Reclaim,” written by BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Rowan Athale (“The Rise”), based on an original idea by Mo Abudu, Heidi Uys and Bode
The tumultuous events surrounding the making of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1973 film “Last Tango in Paris” will be the subject of a limited series to be co-directed by Lisa Brühlmann (“Killing Eve”) and José Padilha (“Narcos”). The series, titled “Tango,” is part of the international first-look agreement between CBS Studios and Stampede Ventures, an independent entertainment
David Tenant’s upcoming series “Around the World in 80 Days” hasn’t yet hit screens but producers are so confident in the show they’ve already greenlit a second season, with Ashley Pharoah (“Life on Mars”) returning as showrunner. Variety also hears Tenant is almost certain to reprise his role as adventurer Phileas Fogg for season 2.
The Cannes Festival’s greatest industry achievement in the last decade, apart from maintaining the global preeminence of its Riviera-set meet, is Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur. Launched in 2009 by the Cannes Festival and Market, in partnership with Argentina’s INCAA film-TV agency, it became from its very get-go the biggest film industry event in Latin America.
Kudos, the Banijay U.K. outfit behind “Grantchester” and “Code 404,” is expanding into the podcast business by taking a 25% equity stake in podcast production company What’s the Story? What’s the Story? has produced several hit podcast series including “Body of Proof,” which reached number 1 in the Audible-U.K. bestseller chart, “The Missing” that tells
Chiledoc has dropped the trailer for “Travesti Odyssey,” which premiered in the Luminous section of documentary festival IDFA. Nicolás Videla’s film is a celebration of the art and the actors of Cabaret Travesía Travesti, which had its last performance as the 2019 Chilean uprising began. The film, an international co-production between Cinespecie and La Madre
Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan is very busy these days with film “Bob Biswas” ready for release, three more films in the pipeline and management of two popular sports franchises. “Bob Biswas” is a spinoff of Sujoy Ghosh’s 2012 cult classic “Kahaani,” starring Vidya Balan. It featured Saswata Chatterjee as the cold-blooded contract killer Bob Biswas.
SF Studios (“Margrete – Queen of the North”) and Swedish broadcaster SVT are partnering up with Beta Film (“Atlantic Crossing”) on “Raoul,” a drama series about the internationally renowned Swedish diplomate Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jewish people during World War II. The six-part series is based on Ingrid Carlberg‘s August Prize-winning biography “Raoul
Paris-based production banner Cinetévé is powering up several international-driven premium series across different genres, including the contemporary Afghanistan-set “Kabul,” procedural “Birdwatcher,” mystery thriller “L’ile prisonnière,” feminist dramedy “Split” and a French adaptation of “On the Spectrum.” “Kabul,” co-developed by Cinétévé’s Thomas Saignes, Fabienne Servan Schreiber, Matthias Weber and Thibault Gast at 2425 Films, is a
However much you think you know about modern Lithuanian history, you’re almost certain to leave wiser after digesting all 248 minutes of “Mr. Landsbergis,” an exhaustively detailed but engrossing documentary study of the Baltic republic’s hard-won battle for independence from 1988 to 1991. That the film is both intricately researched and archivally rich comes as
Crime comedy film “Be Somebody” held up strongly at the top of the mainland Chinese box office, in a weekend where the top four places remained unchanged. “Be Somebody” scored $21.9 million on its third weekend of release, just 8% down on its second weekend figure, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That give
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the seventh episode of “Succession” Season 3, titled “Too Much Birthday.” An easy, comically tall target for jokes at his expense, Greg doesn’t get to celebrate many victories in “Succession,” but at Kendall’s 40th birthday party, he finally notches a win and asks out Comfry,
“Spiritwalker,” a fantasy action film about a man who wakes up in a new body every twelve hours, grabbed the top spot at the South Korean box office over the weekend. It was one of three new films to get significant releases, a possible sign that Korea’s theatrical market is steadying. Directed by Yoon Jae-kyun,
Adele’s “30” enjoyed the biggest opening numbers of any blockbuster album in 2021, as expected, with 839,000 album-equivalent units, according to an announcement by Billboard Sunday night. Adele’s big premiere beats the previous mark set by Drake’s “Certifiable Lover Boy” when it bowed with 613,000 back in September. It also comes in ahead of Taylor
Matthew McConaughey has decided against throwing his hat into the ring to be elected the next governor of Texas. The actor made the announcement on Sunday through a video posted to his official Twitter account. “Over the past two years, I’ve been working on the answer to the question of how I can be most
One stormy night last month, Rami Even-Esh was spitting bars outside a Knicks game — umbrella in one hand and microphone in the other — when Fat Joe walked by and grabbed the mike. A video of the duo rapping a verse from Big L’s “The Enemy” went viral on TikTok, and a few days
A moment of silent, please, for “This Is Spinal Tap,” as that satire formally abdicates its title as the best and truest movie ever made about what it’s like to be in a rock ‘n’ roll band. There was something wonderful, silly and sad about how, up until now, musicians had to look to the
Reviewing a lavish new Hollywood musical in the Sept. 29, 1968, issue of The New Yorker, Pauline Kael wrote, “Barbra Streisand arrives on the screen, in ‘Funny Girl,’ when the movies are in desperate need of her. The timing is perfect.” I’m tempted to say the same thing about Lady Gaga. Suddenly, she’s ruling the
Marcel van Brakel and Mark Meeuwenoord, winners of IDFA’s Special Jury Award for Creative Technology for their project “Symbiosis,” are already working on an augmented reality (AR) spin-off app, “Future Botanica,” which will allow the audience to co-create new lifeforms and talk about ecosystems. “Virtual reality can be so exclusive, especially with a project like
The first edition of ONSeries Lisboa (Nov. 25-26) brought streaming platforms, international broadcasters and co-producers to Lisbon for a two-day event that showcased Portugal’s new TV series aimed at the international market. Nuno Artur Silva, Portugal’s secretary of state for cinema, audiovisual and the media emphasized the economic potential of the country’s audiovisual sector and
Over the course of a celebrated 40-year career, veteran Danish editor Niels Pagh Andersen has worked on critically acclaimed films including Pirjo Honkasalo’s “The 3 Rooms of Melancholia” and Joshua Oppenheimer’s Oscar-nominated “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence.” One of the key takeaways from those collaborations, which he explores in his new
Detailing Lithuania’s attempts to break away from the Soviet Union, from protests in 1989 to Vilnius’ Bloody Sunday in 1991, when Soviet troops attempted to stage a coup, Sergei Loznitsa became interested in the man in the midst of it all: Vytautas Landsbergis, the first Head of Parliament of Lithuania after its independence declaration. “I
Virgil Abloh, founder of the fashion company Off-White and menswear artistic director at Louis Vuitton, died on Sunday following a two-year private battle with cardiac angiosarcoma, a “rare, aggressive form of cancer.” He was 41. Abloh’s death was first confirmed by his labels over social media. “We are all shocked after this terrible news. Virgil
Mailing envelopes full of anthrax spores to individuals is certainly an intimate and personal attack, but because of the ability of anthrax to infect anyone in the area who inhales it once it is in the air, it is also a widespread act of terrorism. The second season of National Geographic’s “Hot Zone” anthology, aptly
On Sunday in New York City, the Broadway community gathered to honor, mourn, and celebrate the late composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who passed away at the age of 91 on Friday. On the red stairs above TKTS in Times Square, as the first flurries of the winter season drifted down on the city, members
The Gotham Awards will be the first awards body on the independent circuit to choose its winners for the year on Monday. On the film side, two Netflix features lead the tally, both from debut women filmmakers — Rebecca Hall’s “Passing” and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter.” There isn’t always an obvious blueprint to predicting
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” has secured the best pandemic-era debut at the independent box office. With speciality offerings like “Licorice Pizza,” the key metric is per-theater-average rather than overall box office tally since its playing in very few locations. From only four theaters in the country — two in New York and two in
The Biden administration made a statement earlier this month when the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the $2.1 billion sale of Simon & Schuster. Merrick Garland’s body block of the deal that ViacomCBS struck with Bertelsmann’s Penguin Random House sends the message that the White House is paying attention to the pace
Amsterdam’s documentary festival IDFA’s 34th edition wrapped on Sunday as an in-person event, having weathered the partial lockdown in the Netherlands. Variety speaks to artistic director Orwa Nyrabia about this year’s edition. He says of documentary filmmakers: “I prefer to spend my life with this bunch. These people are beautiful, they are kind, accessible and
Disney has reclaimed its rightful place at the top of Thanksgiving box office charts. “Encanto,” the studio’s new animated musical fable, collected $40 million since Wednesday, a robust tally at a time when family audiences haven’t been eager to return to cinemas. It’s become holiday tradition for Disney to release a family friendly movie around