The fourth edition of the Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) is now set to be held later this month as an online-only event. The festival was originally scheduled to take place as an in-person event in December and got as far as announcing its selection. However, Malaysia’s coronavirus control measures were increased at the beginning
Broadcast journalist Ashleigh Banfield made her mark in cable news during 9/11 and its aftermath. She’s reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria and other far-flung hot spots. But there’s one form of TV she’s never had the chance to try, until now. Banfield has signed on with WGN America to host a 10 p.m. ET
Rowan Atkinson, the British actor known the world over for his “Mr. Bean” character, has delivered a broadside against the so-called online “cancel culture.” During an extensive interview with U.K. outlet Radio Times, Atkinson said: “The problem we have online is that an algorithm decides what we want to see, which ends up creating a
Alibaba Group announced Tuesday that it will close down its streaming platform Xiami Music on Feb. 5, as it struggles to keep up with competitors Tencent Music and NetEase in China’s competitive digital music sector. Xiami Music will cease operations due to “business development-related adjustments,” pivoting to become more of a music industry service provider,
The early 2020 box office success of Sam Mendes’ “1917” was one of the few bright sparks in a U.K. and Ireland box office shattered by the impact of coronavirus, according to Comscore’s annual report. The report notes that after five consecutive years when the cinema box office for the territory exceeded £1.3 billion ($1.76
Canadian government funding body Telefilm has absolved former employee Dan Lyon of any wrongdoing after launching an investigation last summer following allegations by filmmaker Pavan Moondi. In July, independent filmmaker Moondi (“Sundowners”) raised questions about the org’s selection criteria for funding and demanded clarity around its diversity standards. Other allegations of impropriety against Lyon were
“History of Swear Words” opens with Nicolas Cage, solemn as a rock, turning to the camera and unleashing a torrent of famous lines joined by one crucial, undeniably satisfying element: the thrill of forcefully exhaling the word “fuck.” With the canny combination of highbrow and lowbrow that Cage has turned into a profitable persona all
Hipgnosis Songs kept busy over the holiday: Not 24 hours after the fast-growing company announced that it acquired Jimmy Iovine’s production catalog, it announced it has acquired the music publishing rights of Lindsey Buckingham, best known for his work with Fleetwood Mac. Along with the 25% share it acquired in September, Hipgnosis — which has
The COVID-19 numbers in Los Angeles County are dire, and hospital beds remain at worryingly low capacity, pushing Hollywood to delay when most L.A.-based television shows go back into production. At this stage, most major studios — including CBS TV Studios, Warner Bros. TV, Universal TV, and as of Monday, Netflix — are looking to
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Bachelor” Season 25 premiere. “The Bachelor” answered a call to action to diversify the franchise when they cast Matt James as the Season 25 lead. Now, his season has turned into one of firsts. Not only is Matt the first Black bachelor, but also
After coming under continual fire in the four days since she played the New Year’s Eve party at Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, as the other performers that night have, Terri Nunn of the group Berlin has issued an apology for the controversial gig, saying she didn’t know it would be perceived as taking a
Imported films accounted for only about a sixth of China’s total box office in 2020, a nearly 55% decrease year-on-year, industry data tracker Maoyan Entertainment said Monday. The decline highlights the chaos COVID-19 has wrought on Hollywood release schedules as well as the diminishing appeal of foreign content in what has just become the world’s
Late night is returning home. James Corden’s “The Late Late Show” on CBS and Jimmy Kimmel’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC are back to filming their nightly shows remotely amid the surging COVID-19 numbers in Los Angeles County. “With Los Angeles back on lockdown, we’re once again taping the #LateLateShow in @JKCorden’s garage until it’s
Matt James is the first Black lead of “The Bachelor.” After nearly two decades on-air and 25 seasons of the flagship show, ABC’s hit dating series is hitting a milestone — and its star knows it’s a big deal. “I felt that pressure — I’m not going to lie — initially,” James tells Variety about
Eminem already apologized to Rihanna for an old leaked diss by saying sorry on his new track, “Zeus” … but he’s going the extra mile to show just how sorry he is. Shady opened up about the leaked snippet of “Things Get Worse” during a SiriusXM interview Monday, saying he doesn’t have any recollection of
Netflix is developing a sequel to Robert Rodriguez’s newly released superhero pic “We Can Be Heroes.” The movie, which draws from the young heroes in the director’s “Spy Kids” franchise and “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl,” follows the children of Earth’s superheroes, whose parents have been kidnapped by alien invaders. The children are left
In today’s TV news roundup, the cast of “The Waltons” will reunite in an upcoming episode of “Stars in the House,” and HBO acquired the Scandinavian limited series, “The Investigation.” DATES Netflix is set to premiere “Chris Rock: Total Blackout, The Tamborine Extended Cut” on Jan. 12. In this new version of Rock’s Grammy-nominated stand-up
Playboi Carti interrupted Taylor Swift’s run at the top of the album chart as his late December release “Whole Lotta Red” debuted at No. 1 with 94,100 album units. At No. 2, Lil Durk’s “The Voice” nearly counted as a debut, too, although it had slipped into the lower ranks of the chart last week
Following the Oscars race is a science, and while your gut-check can be your most valuable resource, data always support claims and provide an idea of where the season is headed. The Awards Circuit Winners Chart is where Variety keeps track of all the films and performances on the road to the Academy Awards. See
The North Carolina Film Critics Association has announced this year’s winners, with A24’s “Minari” nabbing best picture — its first prize of the awards season. The film took four awards overall, including best supporting actress (Youn Yuh-jung), original screenplay (Lee Isaac Chung) and the Ken Hanke Memorial Tarheel Award for actor Will Patton. “Nomadland” filmmaker
The movie business is ready to shake off 2020 and the world-shattering pandemic that fundamentally altered the way films are made, distributed and enjoyed. But before the box office can roar back to life, there are still major issues that Hollywood is grappling with, involving everything from cinemas’ red-ink-filled balance sheets to the evolution of
Former Bond girl and “Sheena: Queen of the Jungle” star Tanya Roberts was mistakenly announced as dead late Sunday night. Her rep Mike Pingel told Variety that although her partner, Lance O’Brien, originally thought she had died, the hospital called Monday morning to report she was still alive. However, Pingel said that Roberts remains in
“Bridgerton” enjoyed a royal welcome upon its debut on Netflix. According to the streaming giant, the Shondaland series is projected to reach 63 million households within 28 days of its Christmas Day debut. That would make it the fifth largest Netflix original series launch of all time. The show has also reached the number one
New York City-based leaders from across the business spectrum have urged Congress to certify the presidential election results as scheduled on Wednesday, warning that any delays would “run counter to the essential tenets of our democracy.” The letter, issued today, comes as Congress braces for a showdown on Wednesday between 11 incumbent and incoming U.S.
Rejoice, Marvel fans! Disney Plus unveiled a TV spot teasing its long-awaited superhero series “WandaVision.” The clip introduces an original theme song written by Oscar-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (“Frozen”), who wrote unique tunes for a series that spans from the 1950s to the early 2000s. “‘WandaVision’ is such a cool, strange, one-of-a-kind
Although singer-songwriter Jhene Aiko has been around for a minute and was even nominated for three Grammy Awards in 2015, the three nods her critically feted “Chilombo” album received for the upcoming 2021 awards was one of the more pleasant surprises in a year filled with them. Well, anyone looking to get a sense of
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has announced its 2020 AWFJ EDA winners, where the most-nominated film “Nomadland” walked away with six categories including best film, actress (Frances McDormand) and cinematography (Joshua James Richards). Filmmaker Chloé Zhao won three individual prizes for directing, adapted screenplay and editing. The AWFJ recognizes the year’s best regardless of
Exclusive Details Bobby Shmurda‘s 2021 is off to a good start, because the incarcerated rapper could get sprung early — as soon as next month — if he can stay out of trouble. The Department of Corrections just updated the Miami rapper’s conditional release date to February 23, 2021 … which is about 10 months
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has declared a third national lockdown for England as COVID-19 cases continue spiralling out of control. Johnson’s move comes hours after Scotland also issued stay-at-home orders for most of the nation. England will now go into Tier 5, the highest alert level against coronavirus set by the Joint Biosecurity Center,
Check out the official One Night in Miami Trailer starring Kingsley Ben-Adir! Let us know what you think in the comments below. ► Sign up for a Fandango FanALERT: https://www.fandango.com/one-night-in-miami-223673/movie-overview?cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc Want to be notified of all the latest movie trailers? Subscribe to the channel and click the bell icon to stay up to date. US