At the end of an awful and exhausting year, let us give thanks for it at least having the good grace to end with “Bridgerton.” Based on Julia Quinn’s romance novel series, this confectionary treat of a show knows exactly what you might want from it and delivers those fantasies on a silver platter with
In the 49 times that Grammys have been awarded for comedy album or performance, the list of winners is all-male but for a few exceptions: Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Kathy Griffin and Elaine May, who shared the award with Mike Nichols. Tiffany Haddish is hoping her name will be added to the list of female
Laverne Cox will be in the interviewer’s chair for her first podcast, a weekly series from Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland Audio and iHeartMedia. “The Laverne Cox Show” (working title), hosted by the “Orange Is the New Black” star, is slated to debut in February 2021. Each week, the show will feature Cox’s conversations with guests who
The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety. In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed
“Living,” an upcoming film starring Bill Nighy, has sold United Kingdom distribution rights to Lionsgate. Set in London in the 1950s, “Living” centers on Williams (portrayed by Nighy), a veteran civil servant who becomes a cog in the bureaucracy of rebuilding post WWII England. As the job starts to consume him, he learns he has
Prominent Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir (“Wajib”) is developing a TV series based on bestelling novel “Mornings in Jenin” by Palestinian-American author Susan Abulhawa. Abulhawa’s debut novel “Jenin” is the multigenerational story of a Palestinian family forced out of their village into the Jenin refugee camp. Published in 2010, it’s been translated into 30 languages. The
Foo Fighters announced today that they will join Dave Matthews, Portugal. The Man, Bob Weir, Ben Folds, Tank & the Bangas, Big Freedia and many more at Georgia Comes Alive, a virtual concert taking place Saturday, Dec. 26, beginning at 3 p.m. ET to promote voter participation in the upcoming Georgia runoff elections by supporting
The line between film and television have been blurred for years. Some of us thought it would be one film that would force the call, but coincidentally, it seems to be five films that encapsulate Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” (or one really long movie, depending on where you stand) that forces the question of what
In today’s Global Bulletin, Netflix, HBO and DAZN all announce new Spanish originals, Disney Plus orders a nature series from Warner Bros. International Television’s Wall to Wall in the U.K., Beta Film sells “Lois van Beethoven” around the world, the BBC opens applications for its Assistant Producer Accelerator Program and Channel 4 reveals record growth
FanDuel spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on commercials that surround big sports broadcasts. Now it wants to make sports-wagering — the activity at the core of its business — a bigger part of the studio discussions that are also such an essential part of the sports-TV experience. Charles Barkley, one of the standouts on
Despite the odd police bust at a mansion party, YouTubers have struggled like many other content creators amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Though Hollywood has gingerly proceeded with production — only to see subsequent shutdowns — prolific YouTubers face their own restrictions when it comes to filming beyond their front-facing cameras. Play.Works, a 10-year old company
Starring “Money Heist” and “Elite” star Jaime Llorente, Amazon’s “El Cid” hit the streaming platform worldwide on Dec. 18, weighing in as Spain’s first scripted Amazon Original and one of its biggest swings to date in continental Europe. While Charlton Heston’s El Cid in the eponymous 1961 film was a product of the Cold War,
The self-titled third album from British singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka won Britain’s prestigious Mercury Prize earlier this year and is up for Best Rock Album at the 2021 Grammys. Kiwanuka toured Europe behind the 2019 album but saw the U.S. and U.K. dates postponed due to the pandemic; they are currently rescheduled for next year. In
Andalusia’s La Claqueta and the Basque Country’s Irusoin, producers of Spanish Oscar entry “The Endless Trench,” have re-teamed to buy big screen adaptation rights to Txani Rodríguez’s novel “Los últimos románticos.” The deal builds on one of the most fruitful regional production alliances in Spain, whose co-productions to date take in not only “The Endless
Saudi director Shahad Ameen‘s feminist fable “Scales” has been selected as Saudi Arabia’s official candidate for the Oscar in the international feature film category. “Scales” draws on Arabic folklore about a young woman named Hayat – played by newcomer Basima Hajjar – who rebels against the tradition in her fishing village of sacrificing female children
“Shape of You” singer Ed Sheeran has given fans an early Christmas present with the release of a surprise track titled “Afterglow” — his first new song in over a year. Alongside Sheeran’s self-created artwork (pictured, right), the musician has also unveiled a one-take performance video for the song, which you can view here: [embedded
The Locarno Film Festival has appointed longtime collaborator Markus Duffner as the head of its Locarno Pro industry program. Duffner, who will take the Locarno Pro helm in January, is replacing Paris-based sales exec Valentina Merli, who after being appointed to the post roughly a year ago quietly stepped down following this year’s virtual edition
“The Lord Of The Rings” filmmaker Peter Jackson has revealed footage of his much anticipated Beatles documentary, “The Beatles: Get Back.” The film was supposed to be released in September, but was postponed to 2021 because of COVID-19. Introducing the film from his editing room, Jackson said: “This film was due to be finished around
Veteran executive Brett Hogg has been promoted and made head of Sony Pictures film and television operations across Asia. He will remain at his current base in Singapore. He has been senior VP of international distribution for Sony Pictures Releasing International in the Asia region, supervising the Sony Pictures Releasing operations across Southeast Asia, China and India for theatrical distribution. These
Music streaming giant Spotify is to launch a localized service in South Korea in the first half of 2021. The move connects K-pop artists, such as BTS and Blackpink who are enjoying global success, with listeners in their home country. “South Korea is key for Spotify in its mission of giving a million creative artists
Veteran Hollywood executive Josh Goldstine has emerged as the frontrunner for the president of worldwide marketing post at Warner Bros. Pictures, multiple insiders told Variety. Goldstine is already a consultant for the studio, where he is working on such titles as “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Goldstine’s hire would fill the
Taylor Swift’s “Evermore” became the singer’s third album in 16 months to sell a million copies globally in its first week, and the eighth straight studio release to sell that many in a week in her career, according to Republic Records. Only her debut album, “Taylor Swift,” failed to sell a million worldwide in at
Doug Crane, an animator who worked on the animated television series “Spider-Man” and the film “Beavis and Butt-Head Do America,” died of cancer on Dec. 17. He was 85. Crane’s daughter, Rose-Ellen, announced his death in a Facebook post. “Doug was a wonderful, kind, considerate person, a warm and comfortable friend and an amazing father
This weekend pit the best of Hollywood’s action tentpole rolodex against China’s — and found that fresh local content has greater sway over local audiences in what is now the world’s largest film market. “Wonder Woman 1984” grossed just $18.8 million in China, almost half the approximately $34 million haul of Chinese actioner “The Rescue.”
UPDATED: It’s not yet time to pop the champagne, but one of the most divided and dysfunctional Congresses in U.S. history announced Sunday that it has finally reached a deal to pass the long-overdue $900 billion stimulus deal to send aid to American citizens and businesses leveled by the pandemic — including the Save Our
Comedian Eddie Izzard has announced that her pronouns are she/her. While sitting as a model for Sky Arts’ “Portrait Artist of the Year” — a yearly special that often brings in celebrities for competitors to draw — Izzard revealed that she wants to “be based in girl mode from now on.” “I try to do
You can take the girl out of the woods, but you can’t take the woods out of the girl — unless, of course, you take the woods away altogether. Such are the tough lessons learned in “Toorbos,” a satisfying marriage of folky period romance and environmental parable from the misty, mossy depths of South Africa’s
Play video content Exclusive Details @NYPDnews / Twitter A man in NYC opened fire into a parked car from close range as he walked by on the sidewalk — and miraculously, the people inside survived his barrage of bullets. Check out this insane shooting that went down in Brooklyn last weekend, which cops are desperately
Diana Prince may be able to best Cheetah, but she’s no match for a global pandemic. “Wonder Woman 1984” opened to a less than heroic $18.8 million in China over the weekend and a disappointing $38.5 million overseas. That’s far less than the $38 million that the first “Wonder Woman” grossed in its opening weekend
In what is hopefully a trend for the coming months, Dua Lipa finally got to perform the songs from her multiple-Grammy-nominated album “Future Nostalgia” on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend — some eight months after her originally scheduled appearance on the show was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Accompanied by four dancers, she delivered