Ed Sheeran will perform at the 2021 MTV VMAs on Sunday night, where he will take over the Toyota Stage for performance of his brand-new single “Shivers,” which dropped Thursday night and is featured on his forthcoming new album “=,” due on Oct. 29. Sheeran is up for three nominations at this year’s show for
Colcoa, the Los Angeles-based French film festival, will be launching a competitive documentary section at its upcoming 25th edition. The documentary lineup will tackle contemporary and historical topics such as climate change, immigration, transgender inclusion, holocaust revelations and centenary celebration. Seven documentaries will vie for the 2021 COLCOA Best Documentary Award. “Documentary films have grown
The journey from franchise to a competition slot at the Venice Film Festival to HBO series was the subject of Thursday’s Venice Production Bridge conference, “From the Philippines to the World: The ‘On the Job’ Franchise and Exploring New Ways of Global Content Distribution.” In good spirits in a market cocktail that followed on Thursday
Keshet 12 has ordered a second season of baking competition show “The Perfect Dessert” following its successful debut earlier this summer. The premiere season premiered on June 16 and scored the network’s highest ratings for a baking show with an average rating of 17.7% and 28.1% share. “The Perfect Dessert,” which was originally developed and
Mongolia is to launch film production incentives from early next year. The move adds to the attractions of a varied and little-exploited country. The country’s parliament in Ulaanbaatar approved the measures in late August in the hope of expanding its creative industries. “We have been promoting Mongolia as a location since 2017 when we joined
Italian auteur Mario Martone is a Venice aficionado. He was recently in competition on the Lido in 2018 with “Capri Revolution,” and then again in 2019 with “The Mayor of Rione Sanità,” a contemporary adaptation of the play about organized crime by late Neapolitan playwright Eduardo De Filippo. The Naples native is vying for the
Since the advent of streaming services, one of the major problems with DJ mixes has been ensuring that every musical element in those mixes is identified and paid for. Well, Apple Music has unveiled a new process — in cooperation with major and independent labels — whereby it can properly identify and directly pay the
With “Dear Evan Hansen,” a divisive Broadway musical sticks its neck out in movie form, trusting a shelf full of Tonys to sweep it from improbable stage success to mainstream glory — except when does that work? In a year with a well-above-average number of musicals popping up on the big screen (“In the Heights,”
The Toronto International Film Festival marked a poignant in-person return on Thursday evening, with the opening night title “Dear Evan Hansen.” Before a single frame of the cathartic tearjerker starring Ben Platt was screened, festival co-heads Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente primed the room at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. Normally packed to the gills in
After a remarkable 54-year run, Genesis singer and drummer Phil Collins seems finally ready to “put it to bed” after the band’s next tour, he said in a recent interview. After a year-and-a-half-long pandemic postponement, the The Last Domino Tour will now kick off in the U.K. in October and move on to North America
Time’s Up has dissolved an advisory board that included several A-list Hollywood actors, including Jessica Chastain and Reese Witherspoon, as the organization continues to face an existential crisis. The advocacy group — formed with much fanfare just three years ago at the height of the #MeToo movement — has been profoundly harmed by its mishandling
Sony Pictures announced Thursday it has blocked out an awards-friendly spot on Dec. 23, 2022 for the Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” starring Naomi Ackie. Coming up first on Oct. 29 is the novel adaptation “A Mouthful of Air,” starring Amanda Seyfried, Finn Wittrock, Amy Irving and Paul Giamatti. Amy Koppelman wrote
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four
Christopher Nolan has had discussions with several major studios about his next film, revolving around J. Robert Oppenheimer and his involvement developing the atom bomb during World War II. While Nolan’s last few films were all at Warner Bros., the director was not pleased when WarnerMedia made the decision to put its entire 2021 slate
Arlo Parks won the 2021 Hyundai Mercury Prize with her debut album, “Collapsed in Sunbeams,” as the U.K. music industry awards circuit returned with a bang. Parks was the hot favorite to take the prize, awarded to the best British/Irish album of the year, as judged by a panel of respected musicians, broadcasters and journalists.
Digital media company BuzzFeed, poised to go public through its recently announced merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), touted a rebound in sales for the second quarter of 2021. The growth, however, comes off a sudden and steep revenue shortfall in Q2 last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second quarter
The Los Angeles Board of Education voted in favor of a vaccine mandate for individuals aged 12 and older, making Los Angeles Unified School District the nation’s second-largest school district to require vaccinating students against COVID-19. With the unanimous vote, LAUSD students aged 12 and older are now required to receive their first vaccine dose
Russian production and distribution powerhouse Central Partnership has unveiled a slate of upcoming releases at the Toronto International Film Festival, which Variety can reveal exclusively. Among the films they’ll be introducing to foreign buyers are the latest blockbuster from Sergey Mokritskiy, whose 2015 WWII epic “Battle of Sevastopol” sold worldwide after conquering the Russian box
Jennifer Hudson won a Daytime Emmy Thursday for her role as executive producer in Baobab Studios’ “Baba Yaga,” putting her one award short of achieving EGOT status. VR animated film “Baba Yaga,” made for the Oculus Quest, won in the interactive media for a daytime program category. Hudson starred alongside Glenn Close, Kate Winslet and
Morgan Wallen returned to the stage Thursday night in Nashville for his first officially billed headlining gig since his career went into crisis back in February. And his most diehard fans were able to hear the words they’ve hoped to hear out of his lips for seven months now: “This is the new single we
After Beyoncé and Jay-Z starred in the launch of Tiffany & Co.’s “About Love” campaign, the partnership continued with the launch of the new About Love Scholarship program with BeyGOOD and the Shawn Carter Foundation — created for students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) pursuing creative fields. Tiffany & Co. has pledged $2
Jim Cramer, the outspoken stock analyst, has long held down two jobs: one as a columnist for financial-news website TheStreet.com that he founded, and another as a colorful commentator for CNBC. Soon, he will only have one employer. CNBC, in a rare bit of publicity for the business dealings it has with its correspondents, said
More than two decades ago, “CSI” broke the mold for broadcast police procedurals by following scientific evidence instead of biased or unreliable human testimony. During the 15 years the show was on and the six years since it ended, police work has been put under a much more public microscope with many bad behaviors exposed.
STXfilms has closed a deal to premiere its upcoming movie “My Son,” a thriller starring James McAvoy and Claire Foy, on both Peacock and The Roku Channel. As part of the deal, which was negotiated by David Spiegelman for STX, the two online services will share rights to “My Son” throughout the year. The film
“Halloween Kills,” the upcoming entry in Universal’s slasher franchise, will debut on Peacock on the same day as its theatrical release. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis as the avenging teen-babysitter-turned-grandmother Laurie Strode, “Halloween Kills” is scheduled to debut on Oct. 15. The scary sequel will be available to Peacock Premium subscribers at no extra fee. The
Elvis Duran still recalls the phone-in topic on his morning radio show the day of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “We were talking about whether you’re cheating on your significant other if you’re flirting with someone else in an online chat room,” Duran says. “And then playing a song.” Back in 2001, Duran’s top 40
A rumor that Ariana Grande is planning to release a Christmas album paired with a NBC special has been debunked. “There are no plans for a Christmas project,” a rep for the singer tells Variety when asked about an item that appeared on gossip aggregator Deuxmoi. The two-time Grammy Award winner is no stranger to
After its heroic opening weekend in North America, Disney and Marvel’s superhero adventure “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” will have no trouble reclaiming the domestic box office crown. The comic book adaptation, starring Simu Liu and Awkwafina, is eyeing a second weekend haul between $26 million and $34 million. That would mark
CBS is devoting an entire night to a “FBI” crossover event, and in order to really spotlight the power of that franchise, the three episodes are pulling inspiration from recent news headlines. “The crossover embodies what these shows are supposed to be. All the shows are fiction, I start with that, but there are certain