Japan will next month open the first round of film and TV production funding under its previously-teased location incentive scheme. The scheme offers reimbursement of up to 50% of qualifying expenditure in Japan, with an upper limit of JPY1 billion ($6.66 million) on each disbursement. Targeting larger-scale productions, the scheme is open to: film, TV
One of Banijay’s scripted centrepieces at the London TV Screenings, the Swedish crime drama “Fallen” (“Sanningen”), sees the first reunion of star actor Sofia Helin, writer Camilla Ahlgren, and Stockholm-based Filmlance International since the multi-season hit crime show “The Bridge” (2011-2018). Their collaboration has paid off again as “Fallen” has wooed a first batch of
The BBC has acquired a new K-pop reality series tentatively titled “Made in Korea.” The show follows a British boyband as they head to a K-pop boot camp in Korea, where the bandmembers will learn from experts behind some of the country’s biggest music exports. “Featuring incredible performances, television gold and a band set to
Acclaimed filmmaker John Sayles has revealed exactly what he thinks of former U.S. President Donald Trump‘s wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Sayles wrote and directed the Oscar-nominated 1996 film “Lone Star,” a Western set in a Texas border town where Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) unearths long-buried secrets amid racial strife. Since the film was
European giant Beta Film, known for ambitious titles such as “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” has shared with Variety in exclusivity a first-look picture of 1o-part series “Rise of the Raven,” which it hails as “one of the most epic European TV productions of all time.” “Rise of the Raven” weighs in as a passion project of
U.K.-based distributor DCD Rights has pre-sold the fourth season of New Zealand’s mystery drama “My Life Is Murder” to a raft of territories ahead of its Feb. 27 official launch at the London Screenings. Starring Lucy Lawless (“Top of the Lake,” “Spartacus,” “Xena: Warrior Princess”), the series’ brand new season rights have been secured by
Israeli surrogacy drama “A Body That Works” has been renewed for a second season. “A Body That Works” (titled “Goof Shlishi” in Hebrew) was Israel’s highest rating drama of 2023. The series, which stars Rotem Sela (“The Baker and the Beauty”) and “Fauda’s” Lior Raz, tells the story of a couple struggling with infertility who
Enough with the winter gloom: Feel-good shows are about to take over TV market London Screenings, as distributors echo Russell Crowe’s Maximus iconic words: “Are you not entertained?” “Most platforms are looking for entertaining shows. Escapism is a big thing,” says Fremantle International CEO Jens Richter. “You want to take the audience somewhere else
Is this now an age of TV caution? A brace of big swings at this week’s London TV Screenings belie that trend, and few come bigger than the English-language action thriller “Paris Has Fallen,” which Studiocanal launches at this week’s London TV Screenings. Like other major LTVS plays, it takes a mainstream genre – such as,
When “Dune: Part Two” star Stellan Skarsgård saw Austin Butler as the cruel and sadistic Feyd-Rautha for the first time, he laughed. “I laughed so much because it was so obvious that he really enjoyed being evil,” Skarsgård told Variety at the “Dune: Part Two” premiere Sunday night in New York City. Butler’s Feyd-Rautha is
The Berlin Film Festival said Monday that it has filed criminal charges following the hacking of its Panorama section’s Instagram social media site, which was used to post antisemitic messages. After a politically charged edition, festival organizers also attempted to distance the Berlinale management from the stances taken by some of the awards winners at
Can NBC squeeze ten years’ worth of Jimmy Fallon at its signature “Tonight Show” into just two hours? The network is going to try. NBC plans to celebrate a decade of Fallon at the helm of its venerable late-night program with a two-hour anniversary show slated for 9 p.m. eastern on May 14. The special
Taylor Swift‘s team has responded to claims of her father Scott Swift allegedly assaulting a 51-year-old man. After reports claimed Scott, attacked a photographer who was looking to get close to Swift, a representative for the pop singer told Rolling Stone that at the time of the alleged incident, two people were lunging towards Swift
Ariana Grande appeared on the “Zach Sang Show” on Monday night to discuss her new record, “Eternal Sunshine,” out March 8, and her role as Glinda in the upcoming “Wicked” film. Though the details of the singer and actor’s current ventures were slim, Grande did discuss multiple trending topics for both projects. After being asked what
After a string of lawsuits from former associates and employees, Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing yet another legal battle as a former male employee has filed a fifth sexual assault suit against the mogul. Producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed the suit against Combs in the Southern District of New York on Monday, alleging that
SANTA FE, N.M. — A crew member on “Rust” gave jurors a tearful account Monday of the fatal shooting on set, and laid much of the blame on Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the film’s armorer. Ross Addiego, the dolly grip, became choked up and cried at several points as he recalled the events surrounding the death
Kim Kardashian does great work in criminal justice reform — but in trying to shed light on one important case … she mistakenly highlighted a guy who’s got nothing to do with this. The reality star flubbed Monday when she posted the wrong photo of death row inmate Ivan Cantu — accidentally uploading an image
Randy Spendlove, president of worldwide music and publishing at Paramount Pictures, is no stranger to musical biopics. His roster includes “Dreamgirls” and “Rocketman.” When it came time to bring reggae icon Bob Marley’s story to the big screen, his challenge remained the same as always: “How do you tell the story about a legendary figure?
The Writers Guild of America East has tapped Sam Wheeler as the union’s new executive director. Chosen by the WGA East council as successor to longtime WGA East leader Lowell Peterson, who exited his post last October after the conclusion of the writers strike, Wheeler enters the role after serving as the national executive director
Disney executive Sean Bailey is exiting after 15 years as the motion picture group’s president of production. He’ll be replaced by Searchlight’s chief David Greenbaum, who has been named to the newly created role of president of Live Action and 20th Century Studios. In his new post, effective immediately, Greenbaum will report to Disney Entertainment
Amazon Prime Video has ordered a drama series based on the comic book “El Gato Negro” by Richard Dominguez, Variety has learned. The series, currently titled “El Gato,” will be shot in both English and Spanish. Diego Boneta is attached to star, with Eric Carrasco adapting the comic book for the screen. “Sharing ‘El Gato’
E. Duke Vincent, an Emmy-winning TV producer, died on Feb. 10 in Montecito, Calif. He was 91. With Aaron Spelling, the duo worked on 43 TV series, such as “Dynasty,” “Hotel,” “Vegas,” “Matt Houston,” “The Colbys,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place,” in addition to seven miniseries including Jackie Collins’ “Hollywood Wives” and James Micheners’
J.K. Rowling criticized Sky News on X (formerly Twitter) after the British television news channel posted a story about a 26-year-old being jailed for murder and referred to her as a “woman” and not a transgender woman. Scarlet Blake was found guilty last week of murdering a man four months after she live-streamed a video
Looks like the internet won’t have Che Diaz to kick around anymore. According to multiple sources, Sara Ramírez won’t be returning to “And Just Like That” for its third season, which starts production later this year for a 2025 premiere on Max. Ramírez has played nonbinary standup comedian Che Diaz since Season 1, during which
As expected, Atlantic Music Group announced on Monday that it will be laying off around two dozen people, with the majority coming from the radio and video departments. In an internal memo to the company’s staff obtained by Variety, chairman-CEO Julie Greenwald said Atlantic will be “bringing on new and additional skill sets in social
Milo Ventimiglia was just 19 years old and starting out in Hollywood when he was cast as a gay teen in the 1996 short, “Must Be the Music.” You’d think his team would have advised him not to play queer, but Ventimiglia says he received nothing but support to sign on. “I played a gay
Christopher Nolan seems primed for the sort of coronation the Oscars bestow now and again — his film “Oppenheimer’s” sweep of precursor awards has had a sort of lumbering majesty to it, a sense that the grandest spectacle of the year is about to get a commensurate celebration from the Dolby Theatre stage. There’s a
A joke referencing the term “fire crotch” has been removed from the digital version of 2024’s “Mean Girls” after Lindsay Lohan publicly took issue with it. “Fire crotch” was infamously associated with Lohan after socialite Brandon Davis made crude comments about the actor’s body in a 2006 paparazzi video that also featured Paris Hilton. Lohan,
Jennifer Yale has joined the untitled Peacock espionage thriller series starring Simu Liu as co-showrunner, Variety has learned. The show was announced with a straight-to-series order earlier in February. Thomas Brandon created the series and will also serve as co-showrunner alongside Yale. The official description of the series states, “Five minutes in the future, a
Netflix has acquired the independently produced sitcom “Tires” from stand-up comedian Shane Gillis, who stars and serves as an exec producer. The six-episode scripted comedy, which was self-financed, will premiere on May 23. As part of the deal with Gillis, Netflix will also produce a new stand-up special with the comedian — his second for