The Sanderson sisters are officially returning to Salem. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy will reprise their roles in “Hocus Pocus 2,” a sequel to the 1993 Disney classic. Disney initially revealed plans for a follow-up film in 2019 with the hopes that the trio of actors would return, but Midler, Parker and
Billie Eilish, George Strait, Stevie Nicks, Miley Cyrus, Rüfüs Du Sol, DaBaby, Erykah Badu, Megan Thee Stallion, and Doja Cat are the top-billed performers for the 20 th anniversary Austin City Limits Music Festival, which returns at full capacity this fall. ACL Fest 2021 will take place across eight stages at Zilker Park, October 1-3 and October
Columbia Records has promoted A&R executives Luis Mota and Maria Arangio to senior vice president and vice president, respectively. The Sony Music label is home to such up-and-coming acts as 24KGoldn, Polo G, and Lil Tjay, as well as perennial superstars like Beyonce, Harry Styles and Tyler, the Creator. Headed by chairman Ron Perry, Variety‘s
After a months-long standoff, Triller and Universal Music Group announced worldwide licensing agreements that span recorded music and publishing. In February, UMG pulled its catalog from Triller, citing the short-form video app platform’s failure to pay licensing fees for songs used on its service. With the new agreements, Triller’s users gain access to UMG’s full
Three new animated feature films and series from Asian American creators are coming to Netflix in 2023, including Stephen Chow’s “The Monkey King,” starring the voice talents of Jimmy O. Yang, Bowen Yang, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Jo Koy, Ron Yuan, Hoon Lee, Stephanie Hsu, Andrew Pang, Andrew Kishino, Jodi Long, James Sie and BD Wong. “The
“The Wheel of Time” series at Amazon has been renewed for Season 2 just as production is ending on Season 1, Variety has learned. Based on the Robert Jordan novel series, “The Wheel of Time” was first ordered at Amazon back in 2018. Set in a world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed
Kathleen Turner, Golden Globe winner and two-time Tony nominee, has been tapped to play a foul-mouthed lobbyist in HBO’s limited series “The White House Plumbers,” from the team behind “Veep.” Turner will play Dita Beard, who works for an ITT corporation involved in some dirty deals with the Nixon Administration. She’s joining an impressively stacked cast
When the Television Academy announced in December that it would remerge the variety talk and variety sketch categories, I understood why the org did it from a logistical standpoint. There had been just 14 sketch series submissions for the Emmy competition last year, and only 24 talk shows — so putting the two categories back
After an attack at a Los Angeles restaurant that is under investigation by the LAPD as a hate crime, Hollywood is speaking out against antisemitism. Debra Messing, Mayim Bialik, Meghan McCain and Kim Kardashian are among the celebrities who have taken to social media, urging for peace and calm amid the alarming escalation of deadly
Matt Siegel, a radio host at Boston’s KISS-108 who stormed off of his show on Wednesday after being told not to make jokes about Demi Lovato’s non-binary announcement earlier that morning, returned to his post on Thursday morning. “I’m here. Good morning,” the veteran host said before addressing the issue on the air, according to
Vice TV has announced investigative doc “Vice Versa: College $ports, Inc.,” exposing the allegedly exploitative relationship between the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and student athletes. The 90-minute “Vice Versa,” for which Vice is launching a trailer (above), is directed by Patrick Dimon and hosted by former Olympian and NCAA athlete Jeremy Bloom and will
In the past eight “Fast and Furious” installments, Vin Diesel has defied gravity and the rules of the road as street racer Dom Toretto. But his next lap may prove to be his most arduous: Can he help restore a sense of normalcy to the movie theater business? This summer will prove to be a
On this week’s Just for Variety, I invited Variety senior entertainment writer Adam B. Vary as my first guest co-host for my interview with Sebastian Stan. Vary’s MCU knowledge is massive, so it was only fitting for him to join me for my chat with “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” star. There was a
The “Dangerous Liaisons” series at Starz has cast Alice Englert and Nicholas Denton in the two lead roles, Variety has learned. A reimagining on the Pierre Choderlos de Laclos book of the same name, the series tells the origin story of how the Marquise de Merteuil (Englert) and the Vicomte de Valmont (Denton) meet as passionate
A group of 108 film producers announced Thursday that they are seeking to form a union, as they aim to address low pay and skimpy health care benefits. Calling itself the Producers Union, the group wants to negotiate a minimum basic agreement that will provide health benefits and set a floor for producer fees. “We’re
Marvel film “Doctor Strange” courted some controversy when it cast actor Tilda Swinton, a white woman, in the role of The Ancient One, who is typically portrayed in the comics as an Asian man. Marvel Studios defended the casting leading up to the release, but now president Kevin Feige has addressed the controversy and admitted
Gold House, the creator of #GoldOpen, has partnered with The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) to present #LatinxGoldOpen, a social movement dedicated to ensuring the opening weekend success of Latino driven films across the country. The opening weekend is the most critical time window for film projects to guarantee their vitality. #LatinxGoldOpen will
Two weeks before Cannes unveils its Official Selection lineup, Thierry Fremaux, the artistic director and general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, caught up with Variety about his selection process in pandemic times; the changes the festival will be introducing this year, beginning with an expanded out of competition section to host anticipated films; his
Kentaro Miura, creator of the popular dark fantasy manga series “Berserk,” died on May 6 as a result of acute aortic heart dissection, Dark Horse Comics, which publishes the English version of “Berserk,” announced early Thursday morning. He was 54. “Miura-sensei was a master artist and storyteller and we had the great privilege of publishing
“A-ha The Movie,” a documentary feature on the iconic Norwegian pop band, is set to have its world premiere at Tribeca on June 12. The band’s hit “Take On Me,” accompanied by a pioneering sketch-animation video by Steve Barron, is still one of the most played songs of the last millennium. The documentary follows the
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” the film adaptation of the popular West End musical, will debut on Amazon’s Prime Video. The film was originally set to be distributed on October 23, 2020, by the Disney-owned 20th Century Studios, but COVID scrambled those plans and forced the studio to delay the release. Amazon bought distribution rights for
Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming crime thriller “No Sudden Move” will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film is set to screen on June 18 — at The Battery in New York City — as the festival’s centerpiece gala selection. The cast of “No Sudden Move” is expected to make an appearance at
B Good Picture Company has wrapped filming on documentary “The Good Drug,” which delves into our historical, societal and scientific relationship with psychedelic substances. The film is being directed by Joe Stephenson, who produced and directed “McKellen: Playing the Part,” a feature documentary on the life and work of Ian McKellen. “The Good Drug” explores
Vance Joy’s first solo single in over three years, “Missing Piece,” is setting the tone for Dr. Jackson Avery’s farewell to “Grey’s Anatomy” during tonight’s episode. As was revealed on May 6, the third-to-last episode of the hit ABC show’s 17th season will see the exit of Dr. Avery, played by Jesse Williams, who has
Mary Rahmani, Triller’s global head of partnerships and TikTok’s first U.S. music executive, has launched Moon Projects, a new agency specializing in creator curation; content strategy for short-form, vertical platforms; and a label imprint in partnership with Republic Records. With a current staff of three, Moon Projects’ goal is “identifying and sourcing talent from established
Style Points is a weekly column about how fashion intersects with the wider world. You don’t exactly need to be a scholar of fashion to know that its pendulum always swings between extremes—dress silhouettes go from bandages to sacks and back, and the instant a trend hits its saturation point, you can bet that its
Demi Lovato, Lil Nas X, Ricky Martin and Pink are among the artists who will perform or appear at “Can’t Cancel Pride,” a virtual relief benefit for the LGBTQ+ community from P&G and iHeartMedia. Also performing are Brothers Osborne, Busy Phillips, Gus Kenworthy, Hayley Kiyoko, Jennifer Hudson, JoJo Siwa, Marshmello, MJ Rodriguez, Nina West, Tate
Doha-based beIN Media Group and Sony Pictures Television have partnered on a multi-year content deal covering the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey that will give beIN’s TV outlets a boost. BeIN Media Group has more than 180 pay-TV channels worldwide, aired mostly across the Middle East and North Africa. BeIN also controls top Turkish paybox
Writer Neil Gaiman, actor Hugh Grant and historian and presenter David Olusoga are among 120 well-known British figures who have signed an open letter decrying the threat to public service broadcasters from streamers and government. The letter, from campaign group the British Broadcasting Challenge, chaired by former BBC creative officer Pat Younge, states that PSBs
“Possessor” director Brandon Cronenberg will adapt “Crash” author J.G. Ballard’s 2000 thriller novel “Super-Cannes” as a limited TV series. “Super-Cannes” is set in an ultra-modern high tech business park in the hills above the French Riviera city, famed for its film festival, where a global elite has gathered to form a closed, uber-capitalist and high-tech