“I’m terrified of cats and my husband just got one,” says Serena Williams. We’re chatting over Zoom about her new jewelry partnership with Zales when slowly, the furry pet approaches the tennis champion. Despite 23 Grand Slam titles and a lifetime of empowering female athletes around the world, she’s visibly startled. While few can relate
Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain grapple with the complexities of love in HBO’s limited series “Scenes From a Marriage,” which released its first trailer. The highly anticipated remake will debut on HBO on September 12. The original 1973 miniseries was written and directed by legendary Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. “Scenes From a Marriage” traced the
Longtime development executive Steven Prinz has signed an overall television deal and a first-look film deal with Amazon, Variety has learned. Prinz most recently served as global series executive for Amazon Studios, overseeing the development of projects from creators with first look and overall deals with the studio. Those included Plan B Entertainment, Michael B.
Former WarnerMedia Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt has launched a new production company, The Green Room, and has set up shop at Lionsgate, where he will develop and produce TV projects under a new first-look deal. As part of the pact, Jon Wu will join Greenblatt to serve as a producer and The Green Room’s head
The AMC sci-fi series “Moonhaven” has enlisted Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy to direct the first two episodes, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is focused on a utopian colony on the Moon that may hold the keys to preserving life on Earth, which has become increasingly perilous. It follows Bella Sway, a lunar cargo
The “Adventure Time” universe is expanding, with HBO Max ordering a new half-hour series about Fionna and Cake. In the 10-episode series, Fionna and Cake – with the help of the former Ice King, Simon Petrikov – embark on a multiverse-hopping adventure and journey of self-discovery. All the while, a powerful new antagonist determined to
“Game recognizes game.” That’s how Uzo Aduba (“In Treatment”) and Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”) said their goodbyes when Variety brought them together to talk about their Emmy-nominated roles work. But we saw it fitting to declare that right at the top so there aere no misconceptions about what a singular talent each is.
This year the single-camera half-hour cinematography race pits action-packed episodes against tense drama and dark comedy. Despite the drastic tonal differences between series and their sometimes out-of-this-world settings, the goals of DPs on their nominated episodes were common: capturing theater-grade quality images to allow audiences stuck at home amid a pandemic a chance to escape.
When Maya Rudolph stepped back into Studio 8H to host NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in March, expectations were extremely high. Not only is she a beloved former cast member, she has been portraying Vice President Kamala Harris (and won her first Emmy for the effort last year). There is a lot about her rich history
In Regency era England, one moment of impropriety was all it took to sink a young lady’s marriage prospects or to ruin a family’s honor. “Underneath the glamour and the lavishness of this escapist world, there is this running modern commentary about how in the last 200 years, everything has changed but nothing has changed,”
IMDb TV, Amazon’s premium free, ad-supported streaming service, is now available on Comcast’s Xfinity Flex and Xfinity X1. The launch on X1 marks IMDb TV’s first pay-TV partner launch; terms of the distribution deal were not disclosed. Comcast’s Flex broadband-only and X1 Xfinity TV customers can access the app by saying “IMDb TV” into the
MMA star Cat Zingano has sued Halle Berry, alleging that she passed up a key UFC fight in order to appear in Berry’s film about mixed martial arts — only to be dropped from both UFC and the film. Berry’s film, “Bruised,” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and is due out
It is an irrefutable fact that 2020 took a toll on everyone, everywhere. Facing a vicious political landscape and an unforgiving global health pandemic, people were desperate for an escape from reality. When reading, working out from home and learning to bake everything from sourdough to banana bread grew stale, Americans reverted to one of
Groundbreaking works by John Carpenter, Mira Nair, Melvin Van Peebles, Nina Menkes and Michael Powell will be featured in the Revivals lineup of the 59th New York Film Festival. These films, which range from historical dramas to pulpy crime thrillers, have been digitally remastered and restored. Films being highlighted this year include a 4K restoration
Tara Nicole Whitaker will make her feature directorial debut with “Pierre the Pigeon-Hawk,” an upcoming musically-driven animated film which she will co-direct alongside John D. Eraklis. The film’s cast includes such heavy-weight talents as Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Coolidge, Kenan Thompson, Howie Mandel, Luis Guzmán, Paul Blackthorne, Jamal Trulove, Domenick Lombardozzi, Evan Ross and Ashlee Simpson.
Pablo Larrain’s biographical drama “Spencer,” starring Kristen Stewart, is coming to theaters in November. The movie, from Neon and Topic Studios, will premiere in competition at the Toronto and Venice film festivals. Originally expected to debut in 2022 to mark the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death, “Spencer” will hit in theaters on Nov. 5, primed
“The Handmaid’s Tale” showrunner Bruce Miller notes that writers have always had to work on their own and potentially from anywhere — as opposed to actors and directors — who rely on each other to be able to complete a scene. Even in traditional writers’ rooms where ideas bounce back and forth, eventually individual writers
Costume designer Jeriana San Juan is certainly no stranger to recreating iconic looks from decades gone by. Previous period television titles for her include “The Get Down” and “The Plot Against America.” Now, she is Emmy-nominated for Netflix’s limited series “Halston,” which spans the life and creations of the titular real-life fashion designer, from his
Warner Bros. Pictures Group has reorganized its worldwide marketing team, Variety has learned exclusively. The Josh Goldstine-led unit will also take the marketing lead on all films the studio will make for streamer HBO Max. Under the new structure, three integrated global teams will be created across an assigned slate of films, both those made
There weren’t many other figures of old Hollywood like Mae West, a bold comic performer who was at least 50 years head of her time in terms of her material and command of her career. She was born August 17, probably in 1893, though accounts differ. Variety covered her vaudeville appearances starting in 1911, describing
Coinllectibles, a blockchain company involved in the art world, has announced plans to acquire Hong Kong-U.K. film and TV production company Phoenix Waters Productions. Headed by banker-turned-filmmaker Bizhan Tong, Phoenix Waters was among the producers of “Lockdown,” an English-language thriller that was recently completed and is set for release later this year. Hong Kong firm
Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Young Thug, 24kGoldn, Iann Dior and Chris Brown are the latest artists to receive iHeartRadio’s “Titanium Award” for reaching one billion total audience spins in 2021. Grande reached the milestone with her song “Positions,” with Brown and Young Thug following with “Go Crazy,” Lipa with “Levitating” and 24kGoldn and Dior with
Finding talent early is a key component of being a good agent and being a good A&R person, so it’s surprising that more people don’t do both. Matt Galle is one of the few who does. With his longtime friend and business partner Mike Marquis, he founded and runs Photo Finish Records — which is
DC Universe superheroes will be featured in several upcoming webcomics series, through a new deal between WarnerMedia’s DC Entertainment and Webtoon. Under the agreement, DC and Webtoon, owned by South Korean internet company Naver, will collaborate on standalone webcomics that “will appeal to all fans, without the need to know or read any previous stories,”
Geoff Kim, Courtesy of the Brands Geoff Kim South Korea has quietly become Hollywood’s biggest competitor, churning out wildly popular music, TV dramas, and beauty and fashion trends with global appeal. This week, ELLE celebrates the K-World we’re all living in. You could say South Korea has had an influence on global pop culture, but
Featuristic Films has unveiled an exclusive first look at the feature documentary “Afghanistan.” It follows filmmaker James Glancy, a former British Royal Marine Commando who was decorated in 2012 for his actions in combat, as he returns to Afghanistan with a small, handpicked team to help him answer the question that has haunted him over
Adam Crozier, the former chief executive of ITV, has been appointed chairman of British telco BT. Crozier, whose appointment was first mooted by British media earlier this month, will join the board as an independent non-executive director and chairman designate from November and will become chairman from Dec. 1. He takes over from Jan du
“Nemesis,” a series based on “McMafia” writer Misha Glenny’s book “Nemesis: One Man and the Battle for Rio,” is being co-produced by BlackBox Multimedia and Boutique Filmes. The story is based on the true-life story of Antonio Francisco Lopes, who went from a poorly paid man in Rio de Janeiro to “Nem,” the leader of
Ringside Media, the investment arm of Newen-backed indie Ringside Studios, has bought out Lionsgate’s stake in veteran TV executive Steve November’s Further South Productions. The London and Brighton-based Further South was founded by former Lionsgate executive November, who was previously creative director of the studio’s U.K. TV division. The production company was backed by Lionsgate
New Zealand is to return to a full, nationwide lockdown from midnight local time following the discovery of a case of COVID-19 that was locally transmitted. Film and TV productions will have to halt, but the pain may be brief. The move to a “Level 4” lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on