As next month’s Universal Music Group public listing moves closer, parent company Vivendi announced early Tuesday that billionaire Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Holdings is acquiring another 2.9% of the company for just under $1.15 billion, based on a valuation of €35 billion, or around $41.3 billion. This follows Pershing Square’s acquisition of 7.1% of UMG for
A new adventure awaits the Croods as the prehistoric family is getting a new TV series. “The Croods: Family Tree,” inspired by the 2020 DreamWorks Animation film “The Croods: A New Age” (a sequel to the 2013 hit “The Croods”), premieres on Hulu and Peacock on Sept. 23. The animated show follows rivals-turned-friends the Croods
Bleecker Street has released a trailer for “Mass,” which will be in limited release in theaters in Los Angeles and New York City on Oct. 8, with a national rollout to follow. Starring Reed Birney, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton, the film follows two sets of parents who agree to talk privately in
Scott Disick‘s had it with Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker‘s steamy PDA pics, but his search for an ally went awry … and now he just looks like a petty, jealous ex. Younes Bendjima — who dated Kourtney from 2016 to 2018 — leaked a DM Scott appeared to have sent him … ripping Kourtney
WarnerMedia’s streamer HBO Max will launch in the Nordics and Spain this fall, followed by Central and Eastern Europe and Portugal in 2022, it was revealed at a Series Mania Forum keynote conversation on Tuesday. Delivering the keynote were Priya Dogra, president, WarnerMedia Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia (excluding China) and Christina
Manuel Alduy, a well-respected French film and TV industry veteran who joined France Televisions as head of cinema and international development in January, discussed the broadcaster’s strategy to ramp up its scope and attract younger audiences. Alduy, who worked at Canal Plus Group for 22 years before joining Twentieth Century Fox in 2016, is making
Break out the Batman and Wonder Woman cosplay because DC FanDome, a virtual event catered to comic book enthusiasts, is returning this fall. DC FanDome will take place on Oct. 16 at 10 a.m. PT and will be available to watch on its official website or via Twitch, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The free event
Archive PhotosGetty Images Every ’90s kid with even a passing interest in fashion remembers where they were when Cher’s digital closet in Clueless made its onscreen cameo. Like a hoverboard for the Nordstrom Brass Plum set, this technological leap implanted fever dreams in all of us—of an ever-rotating, constantly trackable wardrobe, something a number of
On a hot tennis court one afternoon in Houston, former magazine editor Francine Ballard found herself the center of her friends’ attention, though not for her racket skills. In her hand was a Lucite cube containing a QR code, which itself contained an original work of digital art that corresponded to a gold ring of
Colin Anderson Productions pty ltdGetty Images If you described your car as a smart device, everyone but Elon Musk might look at you askance. But the modern car really is one, points out Ivan Poupyrev: “It has internet, a map, artificial intelligence, and people you can talk to.” Poupyrev, Google’s director of Engineering, Advanced Technology
People are shopping like nobody’s business,” marvels Sherri McMullen. As the owner of McMullen, the buzzy Oakland, California, boutique, she would know. Her clients, she says, “are redoing their entire wardrobes.” Refrains she’s heard lately: “‘I don’t want anything in my closet’; ‘I want to redo everything’; ‘Everything’s too dark.’” (Bright colors and prints, she
Elle Duncan faces a tricky task each time she shows up on ESPN in the early evening. The hosts of the network’s morning editions of “SportsCenter” come armed with highlights from the games that took placed the night before. But when Duncan appears to co-anchor the 6 p.m. “SportsCenter” broadcast with Kevin Negandhi, fans want
Procter & Gamble is throwing what it hopes will be a touchdown pass to the NFL. The consumer-products giant has tapped the football league to push one of its biggest marketing initiatives in years. Sixteen different teams — including the Cincinnati Bengals in P&G’s hometown — will help the company prod the members of 80
CBS News wants to spread some of its venerable newsmagazine “Sunday Morning” to other days of the week. Starting September 7, the entire CBS morning schedule will be treated as a larger franchise, with weekdays and Saturdays featuring some of the in-depth and longform features for which the Sunday show — a TV-news institution —
For the seventh consecutive year, the Filmarket Hub platform and Catalonia’s Sitges Festival are co-organizing the Sitges Pitchbox, an international pitching event focused on genre feature films and series currently in development. New this year, the traditional pitching competition will be complemented by the Showrunners LAB, an introductory and advisory seminar on the role of
PREMIERE Sky will premiere its upcoming Sky Original documentary “Hawking: Can You Hear Me?”, described as the human story behind one of the 20th century’s best known scientific minds, Stephen Hawking, on Sept. 20. The broadcaster has also shared a new first-look image – a family photograph made available to the public for the first
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society is to streamline the industry support measures that it operates under the leadership of Jacob Wong, in time for what it hopes will be in-person events in March 2022. Wong will oversee HKIFF Industry, a new umbrella that coordinate HKIFFS’ industry initiatives, including: Hong Kong Asia Film Financing
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton will headline the Royal Television Society’s annual conference in Cambridge. The two women will appear in conversation with Cambridge professor and television personality Mary Beard. “They will talk about what they see in the world, the stories that fascinate them, and how their production company HiddenLight facilitates their global
Jennifer Yu (“Sisterhood,” “Flying Tiger 2”) leads an all-star cast in “Forensic Psychologist,” a psychological crime series which starts shooting from September in Hong Kong. The 12×30 minute explores the work of a forensic psychologist who must assess the mental state of alleged criminals to determine whether they are mentally fit to stand trial. The
Transatlantic production label El Estudio has acquired the rights to author Fernando Gamboa’s hit novel “The Last Crypt,” and will work with powerhouse Spanish showrunner and “The Ministry of Time” creator Javier Olivares to develop the book into a high-end TV series, executive produced by Eulogio Romero (“Mitos y leyendas”). “The Last Crypt,” the first
Benoît Danard, head of research and statistics at France’s National Film Board (CNC), hosted a brief presentation at the Series Mania festival in Lille on Tuesday, where he outlined international TV commissioning trends according to a recent Ampere Analysis study. For the study, Ampere tracked all commissioned TV shows for both linear broadcasters and VOD
Production of thriller “Poker Face” directed by and starring Russell Crowe has been shut down in Australia by a confirmed coronavirus case among the film’s crew. A second case is under investigation. The film had been shooting in and around Sydney, despite a local lockdown, and was six days away from wrapping. Crowe announced the
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the Aug. 30 episode of “Bachelor in Paradise.” There’s trouble in paradise! As new contestants arrived on the “Bachelor in Paradise” beach, established couples faltered. The first victims were Maurissa Gunn and Connor Brennan, who seemingly broke up after Maurissa’s overnight in the “boom boom
Kanye West and his long-awaited new album “Donda” are already breaking records on Apple Music. The album, which dropped by surprise on Sunday, set a new record by reaching No. 1 on Apple Music’s Top Albums chart in 152 countries in 24 hours. According to Apple, in the album’s first full day of release, “Donda”
Play video content TMZ.com Soulja Boy is still steaming over being left off Kanye West‘s new album … telling us Ye is nothing but a time waster and a coward! We got Soulja at a Shell gas station in Calabasas on Monday and asked him about getting cut from “Donda” … and the rapper didn’t
Diane Kruger and Ray Nicholson are set to star in a new thriller from writer-director Neil LaBute, titled “Out of the Blue.” The filmmaker behind “The Wicker Man” and “In the Company of Men” will bring the stars together this week in Rhode Island for principal photography on the feature, billed as a contemporary tale
Dimitri Thivaios, of chart-topping EDM duo, Dimiti Vegas and Like Mike, has teamed up with Michael Uslan, executive producer of the “Batman” extended universe, and his son, David, an expert in the animation and graphic novel field, to create an NFT art collection of Thivaios’ upcoming comic book characters, Alien Samurai Dino Warriors. The collection,
Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour” is spending yet another week atop the Rolling Stone album chart, heading off Nos. 2-3 debuts by Trippie Redd and Lorde to maintain its No. 1 position, a spot where it’s resided for six of its 14 weeks out. Rodrigo’s debut has 154,700 album equivalent units for the week, with 49,600 of
From “There’s Something About Mary” to “The Sweetest Thing,” the talented Cameron Diaz, who is said to be retired from acting, has delivered a wide range of impeccable performances. In celebration of her birthday, Variety is ranking her 10 best film performances to date. Diaz blazed onto the scene as the stunning Tina Carlyle, the
HollyShorts Film Festival Announces Dates and Lineup Short films starring Taika Waititi, Jessica Chastain, Tiffany Haddish and those produced by Octavia Spencer and Leonardo DiCaprio are among highlights of the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, running Sept. 23-Oct. 1 at the TCL Chinese Theatres and online. Selections include Spencer Susser’s “Save Ralph,” starring Zac Efron, Waititi