Early into the pandemic, Thomas Schlamme got a call from Aaron Sorkin. There’d been talk about hosting a Zoom-based reunion of the cast of “The West Wing” doing a reading from an episode as a benefit for the Actors Fund, and since Sorkin and Schlamme were both original executive producers on the show, Sorkin asked
Former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd, Minnesota judge Peter Cahill ruled on Friday. The aggravating factors, such as Chauvin’s abuse of power, added 10 years to the presumptive sentence, Cahill explained. On April 20, a jury found Chauvin guilty of murder
Kevin Hart drama “Fatherhood” hit No.1 on Netflix in 82 countries after releasing June 18, according to the streamer. Netflix also projects that 61 million households will have seen the movie — or some portion of it — within its first four weeks. Timed to Father’s Day weekend, “Fatherhood” drew in viewers with a story
With “Fast 9” opening this weekend, another selection of tunes has been added to the “Fast and Furious” franchise. Ty Dolla $ign and Anitta are just two of the artists who have songs on the new soundtrack. Over the years, the franchise has produced some unforgettable songs. From G-Eazy and Kehlani’s inescapable “Good Life” to
“F9” is racing towards a pandemic era box office record after nabbing a mighty (at least for plague times) $7.1 million in Thursday previews. The homage to living life “a quarter-mile at a time,” in the words of one Dominic Toretto, is providing a welcome dose of adrenaline to a cinema business that’s been stalled
Britney Spears is doing what she loves — relaxing in Hawaii with her BF after that bombshell court testimony in her conservatorship case … and the looks on her face are a good sign. The singer and Sam Asghari hopped on a private jet Thursday … touching down in paradise for a romantic getaway that
The chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Australia and New Zealand, Denis Handlin, has left the company “effective immediately” amid a cloud of controversy surrounding the local firm. Considered the most powerful man in the Australian music industry, having overseen the careers of Australian musical artists including Silverchair, The Veronicas and Delta Goodrem, he
Bob the Drag and Peppermint Queen have announced the lineup for the second annual “Black Queer Town Hall.” Performers and advocates slated to appear are Big Freedia, TS Madison, Mila Jam, Monet X Change, Be Steadwell, Wolf Hudson, Miss Major, Shea Diamond, Tourmaline, Yves Dropper and Queen Jean. Peppermint and Bob the Drag Queen will
Not only does Isaac Hayes III possess a deep voice that is strikingly like that of his father — the legendary R&B musician, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur and voice of Chef on “South Park” — but he takes after him in numerous other ways as well. As Ike Dirty, he’s produced tracks for Lil Scrappy, Redman
The Cannes Film Festival has obtained an exemption of quarantine for tested visitors coming from the U.K. and other countries designated “orange” under the European Union’s system for travel in the COVID-19 era. Industry guests and talents attending Cannes won’t need to quarantine for seven days upon entering France, even if they haven’t been fully
“Star Wars” actor John Boyega was inexplicably stripped of his Twitter verification badge, before it was hastily restored following Variety’s enquiries on Friday. The actor, who was a central cast member in the most recent “Star Wars” trilogy alongside Daisy Ridley, appeared to lose the verification badge some time earlier this week. Since Wednesday, Twitter
For more than half a decade, “trap house jazz” singer/songwriter/producer Masego (a.k.a. Micah Davis) has been trying to plant seeds that could someday gain the attention of Apple, whose track record of breaking songs and artists through its highly visible commercials has been virtually unrivaled for over 20 years. “I was doing it for years,
Paris Hilton made it crystal clear where her allegiance stands in the whole Britney Spears conservatorship case … she’s with Britney, bitch. The socialite made it known Thursday night during her DJ set for the grand opening of the newest casino on the Vegas strip … Resorts World Las Vegas. Paris — who donned an
All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Anthony Bourdain had a way with words, penning 13 best-selling books throughout his life, most of them rollicking
The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts will launch its first ever narrative podcast on June 26 and stars Lisa Kudrow. “Jack & Lou: A Gangster Love Story” comes from the school’s film and television production division. Inspired by the real-life Jack “Machine Gun Jack” McGurn and the Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929,
Great Wolf Resorts’ new division Great Wolf Entertainment is under way on its first animated production, “The Great Wolf Pack.” The hospitality brand has recruited a group of animation veterans to bring its familiar characters to branded entertainment properties. Chris Bailey (“Garfield: The Movie”) will direct “The Great Wolf Pack,” with Julia Pistor (“The SpongeBob
“The Avengers,” “Alien Resurrection” and “The Fifth Element” are just a few of the high-profile films that illustrator Sylvain Despretz has worked on; he’s also collaborated with masters of filmmaking including Ridley Scott, Stanley Kubrick and David Fincher. Now Despretz is sharing his art in the book “Los ángeles,” published in May by Caurette. It
The wait for “Dune” just got a bit longer. Warner Bros. has delayed the sci-fi epic by three weeks, putting it at Oct. 22. It was previously set for Oct. 1. The delay was part of a larger release date shuffle by Warner Bros. on Friday. “The Many Saints of Newark” was pushed back one
Jared Gutstadt already established enough entrepreneurial chops for one lifetime by founding the highly successful Jingle Punks, a company that provides original music for ads, TV, film and videogames, back in 2008, at which time he developed the whimsical persona of “Jingle Jared.” After selling that firm in 2005, he bode his time for five
Britney Spears gave an explosive testimony earlier this week, addressing the court publicly for the first time in the nearly 13 years she has been under a conservatorship. The hearing was a momentous step in Spears’ contentious and perplexing legal battle, with support continuing to build for the pop star as fans around the globe
Participant and French sales agent MK2 Films have teamed up to jointly represent worldwide rights to Rahul Jain’s documentary feature “Invisible Demons.” The feature film will have its world premiere at Cannes in the cinema for the climate special section. In “Invisible Demons,” Jain explores the dramatic consequences of India’s growing economy and what it
Fifty years ago this month, Isaac Hayes changed the course of movie music with his score for “Shaft.” Not only did Hayes, 29 at the time, become the first Black man to win a music Oscar for his title song, but the success of his two-LP soundtrack album assured that every Black action-adventure film for
Laurie Holden is joining “The Boys” Season 3 at Amazon in a recurring role, Variety has learned exclusively. Holden will portray the supe known as Crimson Countess. She joins other recently announced recurring cast members Sean Patrick Flanery as Gunpowder, Miles Gaston Villanueva as Supersonic, and Nick Wechsler as Blue Hawk. Holden is perhaps best known
Perhaps best known for his comedic work on “Veep” and “Arrested Development,” Tony Hale has also been prolific in programs for younger eyeballs over the years, from “Toy Story 4″ and “Forky Asks a Question” to the adaptation of his 2014 book, “Archibald’s Next Big Thing.” Although he continues to work in adult fare (“Eat
“Sex/Life,” Netflix’s new series about marital dissatisfaction and monogamy, sets out to ask several big questions. By the end, it’s only proved one thing to the viewer’s satisfaction: That it takes hard work to pull off satisfying trash. Inspired by the book “44 Chapters About 4 Men” by BB Easton and created by Stacy Rukeyser,
Amazon has snapped up Art19, which provides tools to podcast creators and publishers for hosting, ad serving, audience targeting and measurement, as the ecommerce colossus continues to build out its podcasting footprint. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Amazon’s acquisition of Art19 comes after it bought podcast network Wondery in a deal reportedly valued
Richard Branson just cleared one huge hurdle in his quest to beat Jeff Bezos into sub-orbital space … the FFA just gave Virgin Galactic the green light to fly passengers. The Virgin Galactic honcho got the all-clear Friday after the Federal Aviation Administration reviewed extensive data gathered from his aerospace company’s May 22 test flight.
Even though they’re all alpha musicians in their own right, it’s often hard not to think of Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers — close friends and members of the semi-supergroup side-project Boygenius — as a single, multi-faceted entity. Boygenius has only released an EP and done one tour, but the three join their
These days, family TV loves nothing more than a planet in peril. On Netflix, for instance, kids may have recently watched a group of hybrid children undergo a population-decimating pandemic on “Sweet Tooth,” a team of extraordinary children attempting to save London from the supernatural in “The Irregulars,” and a kid superhero face down cataclysm
More than two decades after first airing, the first two seasons of “The Chris Rock Show” are available to stream on HBO Max. The late-night talk show created and hosted by Rock originally aired on HBO over five seasons, from 1997 to 2000. Starting Friday, June 25, Season 1 (7 episodes) and Season 2 (12