“The Roundup: Punishment,” the fourth film in the Don Lee-starring crime action franchise, earned $20.8 million between Friday and Sunday and punched out all competition at the South Korean box office. “Challengers,” which headed the box office this weekend in North America, with $15 million, opened fourth in Korea a 0.5% market share. “Punishment” accounted
European powerhouse Mediawan has acquired Leonine, a leading production and distribution group active in German-speaking markets. With the acquisition of Leonine, Mediawan will boast a portfolio of 85 labels, a catalogue spanning 30,000 hours of premium content and revenues exceeding €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion). Mediawan‘s worth is now believed to be in the $2-billion range.
Game, set, now what to make of this match? “Challengers,” a sexy, subversive, R-rated drama set in the world of tennis, easily took first place at a sluggish domestic box office this weekend with $15 million from 3,477 locations. On one hand, it’s a respectable result for an artsy movie aimed at discerning, adult audiences,
Colman Domingo never imagined he would be “a 100 of anything.” “The fact that I’m one of the 100 most influential people in the world feels like I have a lot to live up to, and I want to because I don’t take that lightly,” Domingo told Variety on the red carpet at the Time100 Gala
A pair of Warner Bros. releases have achieved some important box office milestones. “Dune: Part Two,” the acclaimed adaptation of Frank Herbert’s monumental sci-fi novel, has passed $700 million worldwide, while “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” the latest installment in the long-running monster franchise, eclipsed $500 million at the global box office. Both films were produced
Play video content President Joe Biden put on his comedy hat at the White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual dinner Saturday – throwing a major barb at Donald Trump for standing trial over a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. As the night’s featured guest, Joe strolled up to the podium for his speech
Season 50 of “Survivor” may be four seasons away, but the planning is officially underway. During a “Survivor” FYC event on Saturday night at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, host and showrunner Jeff Probst announced that the landmark season will feature all returning players. “’Survivor 50′ is coming down the corner. The truth is, we
Hollywood legends gathered Saturday night to celebrate Nicole Kidman as she received the prestigious AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed by the American Film Institute. The annual tribute was held at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, where some of Kidman’s closest friends and colleagues, including Oscar winners Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Reese Witherspoon and
You had to hold on ’til the end. “Saturday Night Live” comedian Colin Jost delivered a mixed bag of Trump zingers, media jokes and Biden age wisecracks in front of a demanding crowd Saturday at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but it took him until the last of his remarks to fully charm the
Harvey Weinstein has been hospitalized in New York City, days after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his 2020 rape conviction. Attorney Arthur Aidala said Saturday that Weinstein was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for a battery of tests, according to the Associated Press. “They examined him and sent him to Bellevue. It
There’s no rule that says that when the son or daughter of a famous filmmaker becomes a director too, he or she has to follow in their parent’s artistic footsteps. But the children of director David Cronenberg have turned out to be chips off the old shock-theater block. In movies like “Possessor” and “Infinity Pool,”
Amid the M&A drama enveloping Paramount Global, Bob Bakish is about to step down as CEO after eight years at the helm of Shari Redstone’s media empire. Bakish is expected to resign under pressure as early as Monday. The executive has been with Paramount and its Viacom predecessor since 1997. He was recruited by Redstone
British actress Amy Tara has been cast in a leading role in the U.S. mystery-thriller “Dream.” The film tells the story of a group of friends who are led by a dream to uncover what they believe might be a trafficking industry in their small working-class town. “Dream” is written and directed by Ben Pauling,
Gayle Nachlis, longtime agent at William Morris Agency and former executive director at Women in Film, has died. She was 72. Nachlis died April 21 in her home surrounded by family after a battle with throat cancer, according to Women in Film. After attending UC Berkeley and graduating from UCLA with a degree in theater
Nicole Kidman has captivated Hollywood for more than three decades, with a career marked by transformative roles, outstanding performances and a profound impact on the cinematic landscape. As she receives the prestigious AFI Life Achievement Award, Variety honors her career by ranking her top 12 film performances. Born in Honolulu and raised in Australia, Kidman
It would be hard to imagine a more actually polarizing set — as in, splitting real fans into roughly even, truly diametrically opposed camps — than the headlining show Eric Church delivered to round out the first night of Stagecoach in California. The 70,000 festival attendees will definitely not lack for anything to talk, or
Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi has been sentenced to death by an Iranian revolutionary court over songs that criticized the Iranian government, according to his lawyer and state media. “An order for the execution of Toomaj Salehi has been issued,” Salehi’s lawyer Amir Raesian tweeted Wednesday. Salehi, 33, has been arrested multiple times by Iranian forces
When Justin Kuritzkes began writing what later became the hottest love triangle of the year, there was no star power involved. Though he was already an accomplished playwright and novelist (and the husband of Celine Song, the writer-director who provided last year’s buzziest love triangle with “Past Lives”), “Challengers” was Kuritzkes’ first screenplay and began
Nicole Kidman has been an international treasure going on four decades. Whether you’re tracking her many wigs (“The Undoing” is our favorite), admiring her textured and committed performances, or just standing up and saluting before every AMC Theatres showing, you’re probably honoring her in some way. While five best actress Oscar nominations and one win
“Challengers” netted a $6.2 million opening day from 3,477 North American theaters, a figure that includes $1.9 million from preview screenings. Amazon MGM Studios‘ love-triangle drama is set to match industry projections for a $15 million debut. The tennis film also gets extra revenue from tickets for premium large-format auditoriums, including some Imax screens. The
Recently launched media institute Agog is the latest organization to recognize XR (extended reality technology including VR) as a tool for empathy and an accelerator for social change. Co-founded by climate journalist Chip Giller and Wendy Schmidt, philanthropist, investor and Schmidt Family Foundation president, the new initiative will act as a hub, plugging producers into
Eminent Indian documentarian Nishtha Jain’s latest effort is an account of the epic, year-long farmers’ protest that took place in India in 2020-21. “Farming the Revolution,” which world premieres at Hot Docs, follows the millions of Indian farmers who gathered during the height of COVID-19 lockdown at the borders of the country’s capital, Delhi, to
In less than a decade, the NewImages Festival’s XR market has become a key international rendezvous, emerging as both the immersive industry’s largest single-purpose event and a foundation of NewImages’ identity. Programing and positioning went hand in hand at this year’s festival, which brought immersive works designed for cultural spaces to the wider public, while
French 2D animation specialist Disnosc will bring Miles Davis, Chet Baker and Fats Waller to a headset near you. A family venture founded by Fabrice and Nathan Otaño – a father-son duo with respective experience in corporate analytics and high-end animation, with credits on films like “The Summit of the Gods” and “Ernest & Celestine:
Given the NewImages Festival’s remit to welcome diverse artistic voices into the immersive space, programing “Noire” was an obvious choice. An augmented reality adaptation of a lesser-known case from the Civil Rights era, “Noire” brought much pedigree to this year’s Paris XR showcase. The project tracks the true story of Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl
Prosecutor-turned-immersive storyteller Victoria Bousis has seen the often-separate strands of her professional lives converge in unexpected ways as she’s toured her recent project, “Stay Alive, My Son.” Using Cineplay – a mix of cinema with gameplay mechanics – the immersive experience adapts the memoires of human rights activist Pin Yathay, allowing users to embody Yathay’s
The tide of Black women in country is a phenomenon that much of the world has suddenly become aware of, thanks to Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” and the lesser-known artists being championed through guest slots on the album. Does this mark the true signal change that advocates for diversity in country have long dreamed of? Or
“Fallout” was the most-streamed title of the week of April 19-25, per Luminate‘s weekly ranking of streaming originals. The video game adaptation was watched for 1.2 billion minutes watched during this window, indicating an 2.5 million views when divided by the series’ 473-minute runtime. Though “Baby Reindeer” landed at No. 2 with just over half
Sony’s “Kraven the Hunter” is being pushed back from its August release, moving to Dec. 13, 2024. It will screen in IMAX and premium large formats. The film takes over “Karate Kid‘s” original release date, which has been changed to May 30, 2025. It will now bow in theaters after the sixth and final season
David Cross and Bob Odenkirk made headlines in 2022 when they announced plans to reunite for the docu-style Paramount+ comedy “Guru Nation,” in which the “Mr. Show” masterminds were cast as rival cult gurus manipulating the minds of their deluded followers. On a recent podcast appearance, Cross said he believed that their Paramount+ series, which