With “The Deep House,” the French director duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo have revamped the haunted house genre by shooting almost the entire film under water. The buzzy title, which was produced by Radar Films with Logical Pictures and is releasing in French cinemas next week, caught the eye of Jason Blum’s horror film
The hits of Stephen Sondheim are finally back on Broadway — kind of, anyway. A week after moving back to live audiences for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, Stephen Colbert welcomed “The Good Fight” star Christine Baranski as a guest on “The Late Show” on Wednesday, and acknowledged that while they chatted during
Wattpad, a top user-contributed fiction app, is combining its TV, film and books division with the studio operations of digital comics platform Webtoon. The combo comes a month after South Korea-based Naver, Webtoon’s owner, closed the $600 million acquisition of Wattpad. Naver said it will fund the newly merged Wattpad Webtoon Studios with a commitment
The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the jury for the competition, which will be powered by a majority of women, including American actor-filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal, French actor-helmer Mélanie Laurent, French-Senegalese actor-director Mati Diop, Austrian director Jessica Hausner and cult French singer Mylene Farmer. Spike Lee will presider over the jury which will also include French
On Tuesday, David Crosby declared to Howard Stern’s listeners that filmmaker Robert Zemeckis would be directing a documentary on Crosby, Stills & Nash, making possible use of “10,000 hours” of existing footage as well as fresh interviews. On Wednesday, that announcement got walked back a bit, with word that the tantalizing prospect of a full-on
Justin Timberlake is sending a public message of support to his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears, just hours after she made a passionate statement in court, pleading with a judge to end her controversial conservatorship. “After what we saw today, we should all be supporting Britney at this time,” Timberlake tweeted on Wednesday evening. “Regardless of our
Multihphenate Castille Landon added writing and directing to her resume after she couldn’t find “roles that I loved and I was getting cast in a bunch of indie things that never got the financing altogether. It’s hard enough trying to get cast in something, but then when it falls through, it’s heartbreaking,” she says. She wrote and directed family drama
Britney Spears spoke out against the 13-year conservatorship she has been under on Wednesday, telling a judge, “I’ve lied and told the whole world I’m OK and I’m happy. It’s a lie. I’ve been in denial.” Appearing before Judge Brenda Penny, Spears stated why the conservatorship held by her father Jamie Spears needs to end.
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. The world is turning the volume up. From concerts and festivals to clubs and sports events, you’re likely
Emily Heller has signed an overall deal with CBS Studios, Variety has learned exclusively. Under the deal, Heller will focus on developing comedy projects. This will come naturally to Heller, who has racked up an impressive resume in the comedy world in recent years. She has worked as a writer and producer on a number of popular
“Brighton 4th” tells a gentle, naturalistic story of parental devotion and sacrifice, unfolding mostly in the former Soviet émigré enclave of Brighton Beach, N.Y. The tragicomedy nabbed a trifecta of awards at the recent Tribeca Festival, including best international narrative feature, screenplay and actor. It marks the third fiction outing by Georgian helmer Levan Koguashvili
Britney Spears told a judge on Wednesday that she wants to end the conservatorship that has governed her life for the last 13 years, calling it “abusive” and denouncing her father for exerting control over her life. “I told the whole world I’m OK and I’m happy — it’s a lie,” she said. “I’m not
Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus took to social media Wednesday to reveal that he is undergoing chemotherapy saying, “It sucks and I’m scared,” while adding that he feels hopeful and expects to be back on tour when he’s cancer-free. Earlier in the morning, Hoppus had alarmed fans with a photo he posted on Instagram, and then
In a 20-minute statement against the conservatorship she’s lived under for 12 years, Britney Spears sounded off before a Los Angeles probate judge on Wednesday, saying that she wants to sue her family and that she was “abused” by a previous therapist, among multiple other accusations. “I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized,” she said,
Entertainment One is expanding its leadership team, bringing on board Gabriel Marano as an executive vice president of scripted television, where he will oversee the development of all of the company’s Hasbro IP. Concurrently, Jacqueline Sacerio, eOne’s current exec VP of scripted TV, will expand her responsibilities and shepherd the company’s first-look ad pod deals.
John McAfee, the creator of the antivirus software company bearing his name, was found dead in his prison cell near Barcelona, Spain, according to multiple outlets. He was 75. According to the Associated Press, authorities are investigating the cause of death. His lawyer, however, told Reuters that McAfee died by suicide. A statement from the regional Catalan government
Monoduo Films, the leading distributor of feature-length music documentaries, has acquired world sales rights to “Faith and Branko,” an intimate story that chronicles the relationship between two musicians over the course of seven years. The deal was announced on the eve of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, where the film screens in the Agora Doc Market.
In a nearly three-hour presentation Wednesday morning, Pershing Square Capital founder Bill Ackman made his love for the music business — and the reasons for setting his sights on Universal Music Group — clear, saying, “I can’t think of an asset I’m more confident in being consumed over time. … You need food and water
On this week’s Strictly Business podcast, an episode dedicated to Variety‘s Music Mogul of the Year, Scooter Braun, who appears on the magazine’s June 23 cover. Scooter Braun is the rare music business insider with a high profile outside of his industry. Since 2009, he’s been making headlines alongside the artists he represents, pop stars
ViacomCBS has shuffled seven top content executives in a new leadership structure designed to bolster its streaming service Paramount Plus. Teased recently by ViacomCBS Streaming president and CEO Tom Ryan, the new structure is intended to bolster original programming and help Paramount Plus achieve scale in a crowded market. Executives George Cheeks, Jim Gianopulos, Bruce
SPOILER WARNING: Do not read if you haven’t seen Season 1, Episode 3 of “Loki,” streaming now on Disney Plus. Marvel Studios has its first official LGBTQIA+ superhero — or, depending on your point of view, supervillain. On the latest episode of the Disney Plus series “Loki,” Tom Hiddleston’s titular god of mischief confirms what had
Supporting the U.K. animation industry is one of the key priorities for the recently launched £7 million ($9.77 million) U.K. Global Screen Fund (UKGSF), which is being administered by the British Film Institute. Each of the three key funding strands of the UKGSF – international business development, co-production investment, and international distribution (see separate story
“Table for Six,” an ensemble comedy directed by and starring Sunny Chan, has joined the Cannes Market and pre-Cannes sales slate of Hong Kong’s Edko Films. The setup is a familiar one: family gatherings gone wrong. In “Table For Six” big brother Dai (Dayo Wong) nothing is more satisfying than dining with his two younger
Apple has given out a straight-to-series order for an animated adaptation of “Strange Planet.” The show hails from creators Dan Harmon and Nathan Pyle, with Pyle having created the webcomic and graphic novels of the same name. Amalia Levari will serve as showrunner. The “Strange Planet” series is said to tell profound and heartfelt stories
It’s proving to be a pivotal few weeks for the £7 million ($9.77 million) U.K. Global Screen Fund (UKGSF). Launched earlier this year by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the British Film Institute (BFI), the fund is widely seen as the U.K. government’s replacement for the money disbursed by Creative
Almost a year after NBCUniversal launched Peacock nationwide, the streaming service is finally coming to Amazon’s Fire TV set-tops and Fire tablets. Under an agreement between NBCU and Amazon, Peacock will launch on the Amazon devices in the U.S. starting Thursday, June 24. In addition, the two companies reached a distribution agreement for NBCU’s 15
To get revved up for “F9,” Variety asked Jordana Brewster, who stars as Mia in the high-speed franchise, looks back on some of her fondest memories behind the wheel. In addition to Dom’s (Vin Diesel) iconic Dodge Charger and Brian’s (Paul Walker) Nissan Skyline, Brewster names her favorite cars from the “Fast & Furious” movies.
Dave Navarro, a vocal survivor of depression for more than 40 years, is highlighting the conversation about mental illness and mental health through a new art collaboration with L.A. artist PADHiA. Together, they are creating fine art, street art and prints, under the name Duel Diagnosis. “When it comes to the mental health, we’re not only
Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg are teaming up with Peacock to tackle a new endeavor: recapping the Olympics. Pairing Hart and Snoop as the comedy guides through the Tokyo Olympics 2021, the commentary series “Olympic Highlights With Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg” will be exclusively available on NBC’s streaming service. The pair will set out
Jordan Young has been named executive producer and showrunner on the Dan Harmon animated Fox comedy “Krapopolis.” The show was ordered at Fox back in January and is slated to debut in 2022. Young will work under Harmon’s supervision in handling the day-to-day aspects of the production. Young started out as an animator on “The