Sian Heder knew the sound department wasn’t going to be thrilled. About two-thirds into her movie, “CODA,” a touching melodrama about a teenage girl who is the only hearing member of her family, the writer-director wanted the audio to cut to complete silence. In the pivotal scene, 17-year-old Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones) belts out a
Mena Suvari became a certified Hollywood star with her breakout work in “American Beauty” and “American Pie.” But as glamorous as her life may have appeared, Suvari was keeping a lot of secrets. Dark secrets. Now, she’s telling them all in her new memoir, “The Great Peace.” Suvari was raped when she was just 12
Rick has rolled into YouTube’s billion-views club. The official video for the popster’s 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” — uploaded almost 12 years ago — surpassed 1 billion lifetime views on YouTube on Wednesday. The video has benefited from one of the earliest YouTube memes: “Rickrolling,” a prank in which someone shares a
No vax, no entry: Google and Facebook, two of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, have both mandated that staffers have received COVID vaccines before they can return to the office. Google is requiring employees be vaccinated before coming back to the internet giant’s offices in the U.S. in the next few weeks, and in other countries
No longer “Untitled Murder Mystery,” a starry upcoming film from Searchlight Pictures has an official title and a complete cast. “See How They Run” — starring the previously-announced Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, David Oyelowo, Adrien Brody and Ruth Wilson — is set for a wide theatrical release in 2022. Joining the five actors is a
Principal photography for “Man & Witch,” an homage to the fantasy films of the 1980s, has wrapped after a six-week shoot on location in Scotland and Los Angeles. The film, directed by Michael Hines (“Still Game”) marks the comeback of child star Tami Stronach, best known for her role as the Childlike Empress in “The
Italian sales company True Colours has secured a seven-title slate of pics premiering in Venice across various sections, including Mario Martone’s competition entry “The King of Laughter” and high-profile doc “Django and Django: Sergio Corbucci Unchained,” in which Quentin Tarantino talks about the influential Spaghetti Westerns director. Martone (“Capri Revolution”), who is a Lido aficionado, will
Range Media Partners, the fast-growing management company launched last year, has entered into a worldwide distribution agreement with Capitol Music Group and Virgin Music & Artist Label Services. According to the announcement, the deal spans all physical and digital distribution channels and will focus on releases under a new label, entitled Range Music. Range Media’s
The NFT craze will sweep into Las Vegas next January alongside rows of the latest shiny gadgets: For the first time, CES — the world’s biggest consumer-electronics trade show and conference — will feature an entire program on non-fungible tokens and digital assets. The new track at CES 2022 will focus on non-fungible tokens (NFTs),
An extinction event has brought an end to Phil Tippett’s dinosaur days. The legendary “Star Wars” and “Jurassic Park” VFX artist who helped bring George Lucas’ galactic menagerie to life, who gave teeth to Steven Spielberg’s T. Rex, is preparing to unveil his greatest work, while leaving “Hollywood filmmaking” in the Mesozoic-view mirror. For the
“The Boss Baby: Family Business” director Tom McGrath will be the keynote speaker at the 22nd VIEW Conference, which will be held from Oct. 17-22 in Turin, Italy. The DreamWorks Animation feature is the sixth film McGrath has made with the studio. He is the co-writer and co-director of the “Madagascar” movies, and he directed
“I’m often asked, did I think it was going to be what it became?,” Perry Farrell says before adding with a laugh, “I mean, that’s ridiculous. Of course not! How could I, you know?” The Jane’s Addiction cofounder is of course speaking about his other main creative offspring, the granddaddy of all U.S. summer music
Music technology company VNUE has announced that it is acquiring livestreaming platform StageIt in a deal that it says will add over $9 million in revenue and access to thousands of performers and creators. The deal brings fans and technology to VNUE’s portfolio, in addition to boosting the company’s Soundstr platform with Music Recognition Technology.
NBCUniversal’s Peacock streamer will begin its international rollout this year as a free addition on Sky’s satellite TV platform in Europe, giving it an internation base of 20 million households. Peacock has reached 54 million total signups since its debut in April 2020. The streamer’s most popular original series has been the drama “Dr. Death,”
Rome’s growing MIA market, dedicated to international TV series, feature films and documentaries, is on track to take place as a mostly in-person Oct. 13-17 event, for which a robust clutch of top U.S. and European execs are expected to make the trek. “We are getting a great response: lots of confirmations and great willingness
Comcast said second-quarter profit rose 25% due to soaring sales of broadband services and a rebound in business at NBCUniversal, where advertising, movie operations and theme parks all improved as the nation works to move out of the coronavirus pandemic. The Philadelphia cable-and-entertainment giant said second-quarter net income came to $3.74 billion, or 80 cents
Nationalist users on Chinese social media platform Weibo have attacked foreign consulates in the southern capital of Guangzhou for seeking to “bring down China” with an LGBTQ film festival jointly hosted by 17 foreign governments. Such users say they have flooded the platform’s censors with reports that posts about the festival are politically problematic, seeking
The Venice Film Festival has unveiled the lineup of its VR Expanded sidebar dedicated to virtual reality works. As many as 37 projects from 21 countries will be presented, including 23 titles in competition. The sidebar will also highlight 12 VR projects that launched within the last year in an out-of-competition section. The strand’s sixth
Top Chinese social media platform Weibo has banned the official account of the German consulate in Guangzhou for “violating community standards” after it posted information about a LGBTQ film festival jointly hosted with 16 other foreign governments. The ban, which has now been in effect for more than two full days, was instated after nationalist
South Africa’s Local Motion Pictures, whose dystopian sci-fi feature “Glasshouse” will world premiere at the Fantasia Intl. Film Festival this month, has signed a three-picture deal with leading SVOD service Showmax. Under the agreement, which Local Motion signed in association with Crave Pictures, the company will produce a slate of films to be directed by
Former Tele München Group managing director Herbert Kloiber’s Night Train Media has taken a majority stake in London-based non-scripted distributor BossaNova as it looks to align its documentary and drama businesses. Under the deal, BossaNova — founded last year by non-scripted veterans Paul Heaney and Dina Subhani — will have access to an acquisition fund
Simon Cowell’s popular talent show “The X Factor” has been canceled after 17 years, U.K. broadcaster ITV has confirmed. “There are no current plans for the next series of ‘The X Factor’ at this stage,” an ITV spokesperson said in a statement shared with Variety. Created by Cowell, “The X Factor” began airing in 2004
A record impresario turns a swank LP listening party into a diatribe party. When he stomps on the latest record he planned to launch, Cree (Kayne Lee Harrison) also crushes the dreams of singer Erica Wilson (singer-songwriter Christina Milian stars as the thwarted recording artist). A year earlier, Erica’s boyfriend of four years did some
“Death ends a life,” Robert Anderson noted in his 1968 play (and 1970 film adaptation) “I Never Sang for My Father,” “but it does not end a relationship, which struggles on the survivor’s mind, toward some resolution, which it may never find.” A truncated version of that memorable line — jettisoning everything after the word
Marilyn Manson’s attorneys have filed to dismiss the lawsuit of “Game of Thrones” actor Esmé Bianco, in which she accuses Manson of sexual assault and battery. Back in April, Bianco filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Manson — whose legal name is Brian Warner — raped her in May 2011, among other acts of sexual
M. Night Shyamalan may be known for terrifying audiences with his films, but it’s sincerity that can be truly scary to some. With his latest movie “Old” now in theaters and hitting the top spot at the box office over the weekend, Shyamalan spoke to Variety about his films, many of which contain scenes are
Ron Popeil, the infomercial icon behind products like the Pocket Fisherman and Hair in a Can, died on Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press. He was 86. Popeil gained recognition when he created the famous Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ, along with his trademarked catchphrase — “Set it and
In “Nine Days,” out this Friday in theaters, Winston Duke plays Will, a man who spends his lonely days and nights monitoring the lives of humans on a wall of vintage TV sets inside his home. Living in a remote desert, Will watches the lives of souls he has chosen to live on Earth, and
Lauren Salzman, 45, a former NXIVM collaborator of cult leader Keith Raniere, was sentenced on Wednesday to time served and five years of probation. Salzman, the daughter of NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman, had pleaded guilty in April 2019 to racketeering and conspiracy charges. Salzman was featured in the HBO docuseries “The Vow” last year, which
Cross “Blonde” off your Oscar predictions list for this year, as Netflix’s fictionalized telling of Marilyn Monroe’s life starring Ana de Armas will now release in 2022. Directed by Andrew Dominik (“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”), who also adapted the novel by Joyce Carol Oates, “Blonde” was one of the