The first season of Apple TV Plus’ “Ted Lasso” started with a major change for the titular American coach, played by Jason Sudeikis, who moved across the pond to lead a British Premier League team. But that season ended with another tremendous shift, this time for the once-star player of that team, Roy Kent (Brett
Twitter easily topped Wall Street financial expectations for the second quarter of 2021 — with its strongest quarterly revenue growth since 2014 — and grew its global users base despite a sequential drop in the U.S. The social network reported average monetizable daily active users of 206 million, up from 199 million in the first
Snap turned in its highest-ever quarterly revenue in Q2 — more than doubling to $982 million — and netted 13 million daily users, the best growth rate in four years. Snapchat’s daily active users average 293 million in the second quarter, an increase of 55 million, or 23%, year-over-year. The continued growth shows that Snap
In a bid to help bring fans back to concerts, Live Nation announced its “Return to Live” summer concert campaign, offering fans $20 all-in tickets to nearly 1,000 shows this year. While the company has used the tactic for slower-selling tours in the past, obviously in 2021, as its 40-plus outdoor venues across the U.S.
Whitney Houston’s estate has announced that “An Evening With Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Concert,” a new residency at Harrah’s Las Vegas, will begin on Oct. 26. The concert will feature the virtual image and voice of the late singer backed by a live four-piece band and background singers and dancers performing “all the hits,”
Yasiin Bey was announced as the star of a Thelonious Monk biopic on Wednesday, but as of Thursday, he appeared to be backing out the project in the wake of complaints coming from the late jazz great’s estate about the planned film. “If the Monk Estate is not happy with it, if Mr. Monk III
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
United Talent Agency (UTA) has signed Alexis Ohanian, the founder of the software-enabled venture firm Seven Seven Six and former executive chair of Reddit, for representation in all areas. Ohanian is best known for co-founding Reddit in 2005. It’s one of the largest websites in the U.S. and is now worth over $6 billion. Reddit
Larry Wilmore and Rainn Wilson are joining Annette Bening and Bryan Cranston in an upcoming Paramount Plus lotto hack project. “Jerry and Marge Go Large,” announced recently as one of the first original films at the ViacomCBS streaming platform, is from director David Frankel. The film tells the remarkable true story of how retiree Jerry
Topic, the streaming service formed by First Look Media, has acquired North American rights to the documentary “Eli: A Dog in Prison.” The film, about a dog who transforms the lives of three convicted felons, will debut on Topic on Aug. 26. It will be available on Vimeo On-Demand starting on Aug. 12. Directed and
Singer-songwriter-guitarist Neal Casal, who died of a suicide in August 2019, was the kind of artist who did not become a household name but was widely admired by other artists. While he released some 14 solo albums, he also performed in bands with the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson and (pre-cancelation) Ryan Adams as well as
In a new promotion, WarnerMedia has a deal with Google to bundle three months of HBO Max with the internet giant’s Chromecast adapter for only an additional $15 — effectively providing two free months of the streamer. Chromecast with Google TV is normally priced at $49.99. For a bundled price of $64.99, users can get
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
Now that the dust has settled on the Cannes Film Festival, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is setting the record straight with festival artistic director Thierry Fremaux, who commented early on in the event that streaming platforms don’t discover talent in the same way. At a pre-festival press conference, Fremaux had praised Netflix productions like “Mank”
“That Damn Michael Che” has been renewed for Season 2 at HBO Max. The first season of the comedy series premiered on the streaming service back in May. The series, in which Che also stars, features a mix of comedy sketches and vignettes to tackle issues such as racial profiling, unemployment, falling in love and
Comedy Central released a trailer for Season 2 of “Awkwafina is Nora From Queens,” premiering on Aug. 18. Starring Awkwafina, Bowen Yang, BD Wong and Lori Tan Chinn, the new season follows Nora (Awkwafina) as she navigates young adulthood in outer-borough New York City. Joining them this season are guest stars Margaret Cho, Alan Kim,
There’s a lot to like with the 73rd Emmy nominations. For starters, Emmy voters have done what their Oscar voting counterparts have struggled to achieve in recent years: recognize a body of entertainment that is critically acclaimed and rife with examples of the art form at its highest, as well as a broad swath of
Shailene Woodley, star of “Big Little Lies,” The Secret Life of the American Teenager” and “The Spectacular Now,” has joined Showtime’s upcoming hourlong series “Three Women” as a lead. The drama is a book-to-television adaptation of the nonfiction bestseller of the same name by Lisa Taddeo, who also executive produces the series. The Pushcart Prize
The sound production facilities at Sony Pictures have received an update to incorporate state-of-the-art technology. Television mix stages 6 and 7 now support Dolby Home Theater Atmos (9.1.6) and Dolby (7.1, 5.1) mixes with Imax support integrated. “You have to have the right technology. You have to be able to give the talent the tools
Michelle Monaghan has been cast to play identical twins in Netflix’s upcoming limited series “Echoes,” a psychological thriller from executive producers and co-showrunners Brian Yorkey (“13 Reasons Why”) and Quinton Peeples (“Runaways”). Per the logline, “Echoes” is a mystery thriller about two identical twins, Leni and Gina, who share a dangerous secret: Since they were
“The Last of Us” series at HBO has cast Anna Torv in a recurring guest star role. Torv joins previously announced series leads Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as well as cast members Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandrige, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlet, Con O’Neill, and Jeffery Pierce. “The Last of Us” series was first announced as
PROGRAMMING Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am, “Britain’s Got Talent” judge Ashley Banjo, presenter Charlene White and actor Jimmy Akingbola (“In the Long Run”) will lead U.K. broadcaster ITV’s programming for Black History Month this October. The programming includes “Will.i.am: The Blackprint,” a one-hour documentary that follows Will.i.am’s personal exploration of what it means to be
The Thane of Cawdor is hitting the Upper West Side. Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” will make its world premiere as the opening night film of the 59th New York Film Festival. The update on the William Shakespeare’s classic tale of sound and fury stars Denzel Washington as the title character and Frances McDormand
David Lowery’s “The Green Knight,” starring Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander and Joel Edgerton, has been pulled from its scheduled Aug. 6 theatrical release in the U.K. at the last minute. The A24 and Bron Studios film by writer-director David Lowery (“A Ghost Story”) was due to be released by Entertainment Film Distributors. The decision was
The Indie Spirit Awards announced Thursday that the ceremony will move to March 6 next year, three weeks ahead of the March 27 Oscar date. For many years, the awards have been held on the Saturday before the Oscars when a large number of stars and filmmakers are in town and ready to celebrate. The
American High, Animal Pictures and Depth of Field have teamed up to produce the new Hulu feature “Love in Color.” Animal Pictures and Depth of Field began development on the film before joining forces with American High, which has built a successful partnership with Hulu with buzzy releases like “Big Time Adolescence,” “The Binge,” “The
Grammy-winning singer and electronic musician James Blake has announced his fifth studio full-length, “Friends That Break Your Heart” — which he describes as “a concept album” — will be out on September 10. He’s leading with the single “Say What You Will,” a highlight of his solo tour late in 2019. The album features guest spots from SZA,
The lingering opening shot of “Eyimofe (This Is My Desire)” is a tangle of cords. Mofe (Jude Akuwudike), a factory technician working in Lagos, Nigeria, is all too familiar with their jumbled, haphazardly arranged mess. Constantly called to tinker with them to keep printers and cutting machines running, he’s learned to snip and tape and
Kiwi Chow, the Hong Kong-based director of the controversial “Revolution of Our Times” documentary that screened on the penultimate day of the Cannes Film Festival, says he has disposed of his interests in the film. “Revolution,” which takes its title from a pro-democracy protest slogan, chronicles the popular uprising in Hong Kong that started in
Jenna Andrews, the hit songwriter and producer whose credits include BTS’ chart-topping “Butter” as well as “Dynamite” and “Permission to Dance,” has signed with Milk & Honey for management. She will be represented by founder and CEO Lucas Keller along with general manager Nic Warner and manager Chad Wes. A native of Calgary, Andrews also