BBC is rebooting its famed quiz show “The Weakest Link” with host Romesh Ranganathan and a line-up of celebrity contestants. The show, a BBC Studios Entertainment production, will return to BBC One with 12 episodes of 45 minutes each, filmed in Glasgow, Scotland. Celebrities will need to answer a variety of general knowledge questions in
Kanye West‘s legal team has a lot more work to do if they want to rid the online market of imitation Yeezys — while Walmart halted sales on its site, hundreds more still exist on others. West’s Yeezy Foam RNNRs have taken the market by storm, so it’s no surprise copycats tried to capitalize. However,
France- and Dubai-based sales agency Cercamon has picked up international rights to Chinese crime drama “Streetwise,” which will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, in the Un Certain Regard section. Before that, Cercamon has released a trailer. The film (aka “Gaey Wa’r”) is the debut feature effort of Na Jiazuo, who is
In the summer of 2016, members of the Turkish armed forces attempted to stage a coup d’état against the government of strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The putsch failed, and in its aftermath came a sweeping purge that led to the suspension or dismissal of tens of thousands of soldiers, judges, teachers, police and civil servants,
Bulgarian helmer Stephan Komandarev, whose critically acclaimed feature “Directions” played in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar, has wrapped production on the documentary feature “Life From Life,” the director announced this week during the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. The film explores the hurdles facing organ transplant recipients in Bulgaria, once among Eastern Europe’s leaders in the medical
Björn Runge, the Swedish director of the Glen Close starrer “The Wife,” is set to direct “Burn All My Letters,” a fiery love drama spanning decades starring Bill Skarsgård (“Deadpool”). The film will also star Asta Kamma August (“The Pact”) and Gustav Lindh (“Queen of Hearts”). “Burn All My Letters” is produced by SF Studios
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read until you have watched “Rick and Morty” Season 5, Episode 2, “Mortiplicity.” It’s hard to believe that it took this long for “Rick and Morty” to go to the 1996 film “Multiplicity” for an episode title reference, but here we are now in Season 5, with “Mortiplicity.” However, the premise
Sydney, the capital of the Australian entertainment industry, has gone into a two-week lockdown after a surge of the highly-transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus. The city’s stay-at-home orders have firmly shuttered all cinemas, theaters, restaurants and amusement parks. But, film and TV production has not had to halt. “Thankfully the track record of our
Production has wrapped on Miike Takashi’s latest film, “Mogura no Uta Final” (translation: Mole Song Final), the third and final part of his “Mole Song” action-comedy trilogy about a bumbling cop who goes undercover — and becomes a full-fledged yakuza. The new film will open on November 19, 2021 with Toho distributing. Like the two previous
In August 2017, Americans clashed in Charlottesville, Va., over the question of whether to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. It was, unofficially speaking, a reenactment of the Civil War that divided this country 150 years earlier, and comedian-cum-filmmaker CJ Hunt was there to witness the standoff. We all know what Trump
“Unforgivable,” a film hailing from El Salvador, won the best of the festival award during the 2021 edition of the Palm Springs International ShortFest. Directed by Marlén Viñayo, “Unforgivable” follows a hitman for the 18th Street gang as he serves his sentence in an evangelical Salvadorian prison, where he is punished not only for his
2021 has seen Lil Nas X push the envelope further and further, between his unambiguously homoerotic video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” to his performance of the song on “Saturday Night Live” (which was as memorable for his accidental pants-split as his interaction with his dancers). And on Sunday night, on the BET
Star-powered propaganda flick “1921” hit number one at the Chinese box office this week, bringing in $11.6 million from pre-screenings ahead of its July 1 debut, according to Maoyan data. The historical drama debuted earlier this month as the opening night title of the Shanghai Intl. Film Festival. Backed by Tencent Pictures and Shanghai Film
In time for the 2021 BET Awards, BET has unveiled a new logo and branding effort that represents perhaps the largest transformation in the network’s 40-year history. BET called it a “pivotal shift for our brand and a commemoration of our 40-year legacy of Black excellence.” Perhaps the most noticeable change: BET’s logo now forms
The 21st annual BET Awards are airing live from Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater on Sunday beginning at 8 p.m. on BET Networks. Hosted by Taraji P. Henson, the ceremony recognizes Black excellence across music, television, film and sports. Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby lead with seven nominations each, while Cardi B and Drake followed with
Notice we haven’t seen much of Cardi B for the past few weeks? The reason became clear on Sunday night when she joined Migos onstage during the BET Awards: She is several months’ pregnant with her second child with the group’s Offset. The announcement was carefully choreographed: At the same time she took the stage,
Busan-set chase thriller “Hard Hit” this weekend became the first local film to head the South Korean box office in more than a month. It earned $2.27 million in its opening weekend. The arrival of a significant, commercial film from Korea may be a sign of growing confidence that the return to business of the
If you watch “The Sparks Brothers,” Edgar Wright’s ultimate cult rock documentary about the Greatest Band That Almost No One Has Heard Of, you may find yourself developing a distinct affection for Sparks, the cult duo in question, and liking almost everything about them except, perhaps, for one small insignificant thing. You’ll like the fact
Vin Diesel had plenty to celebrate on Saturday night. Not only did he place the winning bid of $70,000 for two court side seats at a Clippers game and a Breitling watch at a benefit for Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP), but “F9: The Fast Saga” broke the weekend box office record since the onset
Max Rosenthal, a Holocaust survivor and father of “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator Phil Rosenthal who became a character in many of his son’s TV projects, died June 26 at the age of 95, his son confirmed. Max Rosenthal was known for his appearances on his son’s food-focused unscripted series, “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having” for
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has apologized for misrepresenting actor Marguerite Ray with a photo of living actor Veronica Redd in the In Memoriam segment that aired during the 48th annual Daytime Emmy Awards. A photo of Redd appeared under the caption that identified her as Ray, who died last November, during
John Langley, who created the long-running TV show “Cops” which helped usher in the reality TV era, died Saturday of an apparent heart attack in Baja, Mexico, according to his reps. He was 78. Langley was competing in the Coast to Coast Ensenada-San Felipe 250 off-road race. “Cops” was canceled in 2020 after the George
The only thing stronger than family? The box office debut of “F9,” the latest entry in Universal’s “Fast & Furious” saga. After many delays over the course of a year and a half, “F9” opened to a mighty $70 million from 4,179 North American venues. That’s by far the biggest start for a movie at
The Toronto International Film Festival is ready to welcome audiences back to in-person premieres and screenings after COVID-19 forced the 2020 edition of the annual celebration of movies to unfold largely online. This week, TIFF announced that while it still plans to show films virtually for press and film executives who can’t travel to Canada
It goes without saying that a lot has happened since “Springsteen on Broadway” finished its first run on December 15, 2018. And although most theaters remained closed on this sultry summer Saturday evening two and a half years later, the Boss has seen fit to lead Broadway’s reopening, as if to give a cautiously optimistic
Allison Mack offered a series of apologies in her statement to the federal judge who will decide her fate on June 30 when she is set to be sentenced after pleading guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges in connection with the NXIVM sex cult case. “I have experienced overwhelming shame as I have worked to
Rom-coms and crime stories dominated submissions to the first Chinese-language scriptwriting competition co-presented by Taiwan’s Studio76 and MediaCorp in Singapore. Unveiled at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest last year, “Rising Stories” received 520 submissions, far higher than the 100-150 organizers had anticipated, Studio76’s CEO and managing partner Dennis Yang told Variety. Due to the ongoing
One of downtown Los Angeles’ landmark clock towers, the one atop the 1927 Tower Theatre, is no longer right just twice a day. More significantly, the landmark theater below it at 8th and Broadway is no longer the near-exclusive habitue of pigeons, ghosts and David Lynch (who’d used it for a spooky “Mulholland Drive” location
Olivia Rodrigo‘s latest cover art looks an awful lot like something Courtney Love put out years ago — and the latter isn’t afraid to point that out … not to mention demand credit. The 18-year-old singer — who’s blowing up right now from her “drivers license” hit, plus her debut album “SOUR” from earlier this
BET Awards host Taraji P. Henson, who will front the first major live, in-person awards show since the pandemic with a full audience on Sunday, is ready to be around people again. “This is what we live for. It’s life, and it’s time we go out to play,” said Henson, who will host the show