Netflix unveiled a new trailer for “The Great British Baking Show: Holidays” Season 4, which will premiere Dec. 3. The trailer features the returning bakers tackling the various holiday baking challenges presented before them. “The showstopper challenge, they’ve got to make a festive feast illusion cake,” says judge Paul Hollywood. The trailer showcases clips of
Filming the France Télévisions show “Germinal” – which plays in the TV Series Competition of this week’s EnergaCamerimage Film Festival – felt a lot like leading a band of rebels in an uprising against the old guard, says cinematographer Xavier Dolléans. “It was a challenge,” he says of the six-part adaptation of the classic Émile
After Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges for his involvement in the Kenosha, Wis. shootings last year, members of Hollywood spoke out, calling the verdict “hollowing” and saying that “the system defeated true justice, once again.” During the summer 2020 protests in Kenosha over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Rittenhouse shot
After a two-week trial and 26 hours of deliberations over four days, a jury found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of all charges in the Kenosha shootings. The 12-person jury began deliberating on Tuesday before reaching a verdict on Friday. The 18-year-old Rittenhouse was found not guilty on felony charges of first-degree reckless homicide and use
Director Reinaldo “Rei” Marcus Green’s “King Richard” follows Richard Williams, played by Will Smith, as he takes daughters Venus [Saniyya Sidney] and Serena [Demi Singleton] from Compton, Calif. to the global tennis stage, setting them on their path to tennis stardom. While the film, which opens Nov. 19, follows Venus’ rise, its core theme is
Before Thursday night’s American Cinematheque gala, it had been 22 months since Scarlett Johansson had set foot on a red carpet. “This is more than dipping my toe in. I feel like I’m getting completely drenched. But it’s exciting,” Johansson told Variety of attending the event held in honor of her near 30-year career. Johansson
Getty Images; Courtesy of Hulu Style Points is a weekly column about how fashion intersects with the wider world. Paris Hilton, one of the most prominent Von Dutch wearers in the label’s heyday, is asked at one point in the Hulu miniseries The Curse of Von Dutch if she would ever re-wear their pieces. “Probably
Television Academy chairman/CEO Frank Scherma, whose first two-year term turned into three due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been re-elected to lead the organization for two more years. Scherma is part of the roster of newly elected officers and members on the Academy’s Board of Governors who were tapped on Thursday to serve starting Jan.
HBO has released a new trailer for the forthcoming documentary, “DMX: Don’t Try to Understand,” focusing on a year in the life of the late rapper. The doc, which was directed by Christopher Frierson and executive produced by The Ringer’s Bill Simmons (HBO’s “Andre The Giant,” “Showbiz Kids”), follows Earl “DMX” Simmons as he is
Disney will give Hulu + Live TV customers access to its two other premium streaming packages — Disney Plus and ESPN Plus — whether they want them or not. On Friday, Hulu began informing Hulu + Live TV subscribers that beginning Dec. 21, their subscriptions will now include access to Disney Plus and ESPN Plus.
“Black-ish” and “Little” star Marsai Martin and her Genius Entertainment production company have signed with UTA for representation in all areas. In 2019, Martin starred in “Little,” a feature that she conceptualized, pitched, sold and then executive produced with Will Packer for Universal. The move made Martin, who was just 14, the youngest person to
It’s hard to over-exaggerate just how big of a phenomenon “Joe Millionaire” was in 2003. Part of the early “Outlandish Age” of reality TV — particularly under the watch of then-Fox alternative boss Mike Darnell — “Joe Millionaire” set ratings records for an unscripted series, some of which still stand to this day. “Joe Millionaire”
Lux Vide, the Italian company behind high-end series “Medici” and “Leonardo,” has scored international sales on high-concept smaller cop show “Blanca” featuring a blind policewoman specialized in an analytical listening and decoding technique that helps her solve tough cases. The six-part “Blanca” has been sold by Lux to M6, which is France’s number two terrestrial
Variety is pleased to announce the honorees for its fifth annual Hitmakers celebration. The Dec. 2 issue recognizes the writers, producers, publishers, managers and executives who helped make — and break — the 25 most consumed songs of the year. Hitmakers culminates in an invitation-only brunch held on Saturday, Dec. 4, presented by Peacock and
Halloween may be over, but the ghosts are here to stay. “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” picked up $4.5 million in Thursday previews. The spooky Sony sequel is expected to generate a three-day total of around $27-30 million, taking a first-place finish at the domestic box office over fellow releases “King Richard” from Warner Bros. and A24’s “C’mon
Benjamin Elalouf’s Moonshaker, the Paris-based banner behind Netfix’s popular documentary “Lords of Scam,” has joined forces with TF1-owned Newen to expand its scope, and is developing Noé Debré’s “The Last of the Jews,” among other director-driven projects. “The Last of the Jews” will mark the anticipated feature debut of Debré, the critically acclaimed co-screenwriter of
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will be on tour together for the first time in 13 years next summer when they team up for a joint outing in the U.S. and Europe behind a new album that comes out today, “Raise the Roof.” The tour isn’t an extensive one, at least as currently announced. In
Two weeks after the tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival, which left ten people dead as the crowd rampaged, Public Enemy’s Chuck D. has issued an open letter defending Travis Scott and calling on Live Nation and all concert promoters to stop, as he puts it, “shucking their most crucial responsibility. “Travis Scott is a
Jessica Chastain will receive the Desert Palm Achievement award for her performance in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” at the Palm Springs International Film Awards on Jan. 6. “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” details the rise, fall and redemption of Jim (Andrew Garfield) and Tammy Faye Bakker (Chastain) during the 1970s and ‘80s. The Bakkers
Noah Sheer, a 22-year year veteran of Def Jam Recordings, has been promoted to executive vice president and head of promotion. The announcement was made by executive VP and GM Nicki Farag; Sheer, who is based in Santa Monica, will report jointly to incoming chairman & CEO Tunji Balogun, and to Farag. “I have had the pleasure and
When Salma Hayek Pinault began her career, she was told that it would be over by the age of 30. And yet, she points out, “I’ve been an actress 37 years. And I feel like my career is better than ever.” It’s hard to argue with the star of “Eternals,” the No. 1 movie at
France’s leading film group Pathé isn’t done earning critical laurels with Sian Heder’s “Coda,” having just won the Hollywood Critics Association’s Spotlight Award, as well as the Hamilton Behind The Camera award for the film’s craft team. “Coda,” produced by Philippe Rousselet’s Vendôme Group and Pathé as part of their production partnership, also received a
David Chute, a longtime film critic and writer who tirelessly championed Hong Kong films in the U.S., died Nov. 8 in Los Angeles. His daughter, Nora Chute, confirmed that he died of esophageal cancer. Chute wrote for publications including the Boston Phoenix, Film Comment, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Vanity Fair, the Los Angeles Times
AWARDS As Europe faces a fresh wave of COVID-19, the 34th European Film Awards will take place as a distanced live event, with attendance limited to nominees and award recipients. The in-person ceremony, which will also be broadcast and streamed from Berlin on Dec. 11, will not include the usual audience of academy members, partners
One of the BBC’s veteran presenters, Andrew Marr, is leaving the corporation after more than 20 years. The host of the “Andrew Marr Show” on BBC One, a mainstay political program on Sunday mornings, revealed on Friday that he is joining media org Global, where he will continue to present and write for various programs
Just after China’s long National Day holiday on Oct. 10, Chinese social media was plastered in red-and-gold memes and posts celebrating the annual box office to date hitting the $6.26 billion (RMB40 billion) mark. The tone was jubilant, celebrating the market’s triumph over the pandemic on the back of patriotic hit “The Battle at Lake
Chinese real estate giant Evergrande has sold its entire remaining stake in the film and TV streaming company HengTen Networks Group for $273 million, part of efforts to avoid defaulting on its massive debts. The world’s most indebted developer, some $300 billion in the red, is struggling to meet interest payments on its loans, and
U.K. public service broadcaster Channel 4 has revealed several further steps to increase Black representation in the U.K. industry following its “Black to Front” day of programming on Sept. 10. The measures include a dedicated fund for commissions from ethnically diverse-led independent production companies, tripling current spend to £22 million ($29.5 million) by 2023. Starting
German director Oliver Hirschbiegel, whose movie “Downfall” was nominated for an Oscar, shot his latest film “The Painter” in only four days. The docu-fiction, which screens Saturday at IDFA, is a collaboration with German artist Albert Oehlen, who is played by Teutonic thesp Ben Becker (“Comedian Harmonists). Now Hirschbiegel and Oehlen are working together on
Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired North American rights to Stalin-era stylish thriller “Captain Volkonogov Escaped,” which world premiered in competition at Venice and earned stellar reviews. Sold by Memento International (“A Hero,” “Call Me By Your Name”), the film will have its North American premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival. Penned and directed by