Ricky Gervais has responded to misconduct allegations against “After Life” producer Charlie Hanson, a long-time collaborator on numerous projects by the British comedian. “I am shocked and appalled to learn of the historical allegations made by a number of women against Charlie Hanson. The decision was made to immediately remove him from production and I
Play video content TMZSports.com Sorry, fight fans … Chuck Liddell says there will be no upcoming boxing match with Jake Paul — the UFC legend tells TMZ Sports he’d HURT the YouTuber if a scrap ever went down. Liddell told us out in L.A. that even though the two have beefed publicly over the past
The 20th century is likely unique in laying claim to three sociopathic dictators whose complete disregard for humanity in either the individual or the collective has justifiably earned them the label “monsters.” Hitler, Mao and Stalin shredded utopian notions of moral progress, their crimes exposing the inadequacy of language to convey the scale of their
Kim Kardashian is getting protection from a man she claims is trying to get inside her home — a man who says he’s in love with her — and he’s getting dangerously frustrated. Kim’s lawyer, Shawn Holley, beelined it to court Friday and got a temporary restraining order … to protect Kim from a 32-year
China’s leading video streamers iQiyi, Tencent and Alibaba’s Youku are all fierce competitors, but they rallied together Friday to present an unusual united front against rival Bilibili for hosting unauthorized videos of “Friends: The Reunion” illegally on its platform. The three streamers held the rights to officially broadcast HBO Max’s “Friends” special, which they released
When director David Leitch and Brad Pitt told Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch that they were keen to cast Aaron Taylor-Johnson for the ensemble thriller “Bullet Train,” Panitch wasn’t super-aware of the British actor. “It was a ‘I had to look him up’ kind of thing,” Panitch tells Variety. “I didn’t have
“Cruella” production designer Fiona Crombie worked on more than 100 sets to create the multi-layered vintage look of 1970s London, giving lots of thought to young Cruella’s den. Crombie looked at old photos of abandoned locks that ran along the Thames River in London for her main inspiration for young Estella’s/Cruella’s (Emma Stone) home and
A damning report has placed the blame for a second ‘lost summer’ of British music festivals directly on the U.K. government and its failure to create an insurance scheme for organizers. After hearing from a range of expert witnesses, including Massive Attack vocalist Robert Del Naja and chief executive of the Notting Hill Carnival Matthew
“The garbage people are going to come by the house,” Liz Phair says suddenly over a Zoom call. While it might seem like she’s declaring an impending hard out, with Shirley Manson and Butch Vig perhaps set to swing through, she’s referencing actual Manhattan Beach trash collectors. But the group Garbage could just as well
While the pandemic sidelined untold numbers of physical businesses, Sony Music Group saw significant gains to its bottom line in 2020. That was the upshot of the company’s 2021 presentation to investors, held on May 27. The New York-based division of Tokyo’s electronics giant, led by chairman Rob Stringer (pictured), covers music in all territories
The EDM-pop duo the Chainsmokers is among the backers of a scripted feature film, “Every Nite Is Emo Nite,” that is in development with the goal of placing fictional characters amid the real-life setting of the Emo Nite events that have gained in popularity after beginning on L.A.’s club circuit. Participating in the development of
Endeavor Group Holdings is closing out its first month as a publicly traded company with a stock that is up 24% from its IPO price of $24. The company that is home to UFC, WME, IMG and other media and event brands has a good momentum story to tell as UFC in particular looks to
“Schitt’s Creek” Emmy Award-winning producer David West Read will adapt M.O. Walsh’s novel “The Big Door Prize” for the silver screen. Apple announced the series order, a 10-episode half-hour comedy that hails from Skydance Television, on Friday. “The Big Door Prize” tells the story about the residents of a small town called Deerfield, who one
In world cinema, austerity isn’t just a quality — it’s an aesthetic ideal that gets passed around from country to country. The epicenter of high cinematic austerity was once the Sweden of Ingmar Bergman. Then it was the Czechoslovakia of the pre-Communist new wave, then the Germany of Fassbinder, then the Iran of Kiarostami, then
Disney’s new “Cruella” tells the origin story of the iconic villain Cruella de Vil. Emma Stone stars as the titular character with Emma Thompson playing her nemesis, fashion designer Baroness von Hellman. Variety’s senior culture and events editor Marc Malkin asked the cast of the film which other Disney villains they think should get a big-screen
Movie theater chains, including AMC, Regal and Cinemark, will no longer require fully vaccinated guests to wear face masks. In line with CDC guidelines, masks will be optional for inoculated patrons and will be “strongly encouraged” for all others. For non-vaccinated customers, masks can be removed when eating and drinking inside the auditorium. All employees
Intuitive Entertainment, the television and film production company behind Lifetime’s “The Rap Game” and Bravo’s “The Millionaire Matchmaker,” has appointed Christmas Rini as executive vice president of development. She joins Intuitive from Endemol Shine North America as the former executive vice president of development and original unscripted series. As EVP, Rini will report to Intuitive’s
A stuntwoman ascended to the top of a 50-foot tall wooden tower at the Calamigos Ranch in Malibu as a crowd of 85 attendees watched from below. The audience erupted in gasps and cheers as the stuntwoman reached the platform at the summit and lifted a torch in triumph. The stunt kicked off proceedings for
Jerome Hellman, the producer behind “Midnight Cowboy” and “Coming Home,” died on Wednesday, his wife Elizabeth Empleton Hellman confirmed. He was 92. His work on landmark films helped define the new Hollywood of the 1970s. From 1964 to 1986, Hellman collaborated with notable directors including John Schlesinger on “The Day of the Locust” and “Midnight
The only thing editor Tatiana S. Riegel will spill on Hulu’s limited series “Pam and Tommy” is the tease, “It’s going to be good. It’s outrageous. There’s Disney,” she says referring to her latest project “Cruella” (in theaters and streaming on Disney Plus Premier Access). “Then there’s ‘Pam and Tommy,’ It’s a big difference,” she
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Panic,” streaming now on Amazon Prime Video. Many fans of Lauren Oliver’s young adult novel “Panic,” following high school seniors who take part in the dangerous eponymous game every year with hopes of winning thousands of dollars to help set up their adult lives,
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the 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 phases, running all year
Miles Teller will play producer Al Ruddy in the upcoming Paramount Plus series “The Offer,” which details the behind the scenes story of the making of “The Godfather.” Teller takes over the role from Armie Hammer, whose exit from the series was exclusively reported by Variety in January amid sexual misconduct allegations. Teller will executive produce
Time to fire up the private jets and saturate Burbank’s airport with chauffeured Suburbans — all the major studios are headed back to CinemaCon. The annual convention of movie theater owners has committed all the major players and notable mid-sized film operations to present at the annual Las Vegas gathering — a delightful mix of
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the second half of “Lucifer” Season 5, streaming now on Netflix. “Oh my Me.” After initially struggling with the concept of taking on God’s (Dennis Haysbert) powers, the final episode of “Lucifer’s” fifth season found the titular character (played by Tom Ellis) unwittingly becoming the
Those sweatpants you’ve been wearing the past 14 months are comfy, no doubt about it. But it may be time to dust off that formal wear — or at least see if it still fits. In-person events are coming back, starting with next month’s BET Awards, which will be the first major ceremony since the
Miles Teller was assaulted during his vacation in Hawaii … TMZ has learned. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … the incident occurred Wednesday at the Monkeypod Kitchen on the island of Maui, where Miles and his wife, Keleigh Sperry, were eating dinner. Sources who were at the restaurant tell TMZ, Miles was in the bathroom
Philadelphia-based Breaking Glass Pictures (BGP) and Brazil’s O2 Play, the distribution arm of O2 Filmes, which is co-owned by Oscar-nominated director Fernando Meirelles (“City of God,” “The Constant Gardener,” “The Two Popes”), have inked a two-way distribution partnership. The new pact kicks off with BGP’s North American release of a Brazilian drama by Eliane Coster,
Millicent Simmonds is at the forefront of a cultural movement to hire more actors with disabilities. The young performer knew she wanted to pursue an acting career after working with director Todd Haynes in “Wonderstruck” in 2017, and thanks to director John Krasinski, the deaf actor scored her breakout role as Regan Abbott in “A
Ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend, Paramount’s “A Quiet Place Part II” and Disney’s “Cruella” are each off to a solid start at the domestic box office. The former, a nearly silent sequel to the 2018 film “A Quiet Place,” nabbed a notable $4.8 million from 3,000 U.S. venues on Thursday. Meanwhile, Disney’s “Cruella”