Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has come on board the Michael Bay thriller “Ambulance” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, with shooting expected early next month. “Ambulance” was first announced a month ago with plot details under tight wraps. The script, written by Chris Fedak, is based on a 2005 Dutch thriller about two brothers on the run from the
The NBC comedy pilot based on the Kevin Hart film “Night School” is not moving forward at NBC, Variety has learned exclusively. The half-hour multi-cam had originally gotten a pilot order in January, but the pandemic shutdown virtually all pilot production in March. The broadcast network then announced in June that it would resume production
Chris Messina is set for a lead role in the upcoming HBO Max pilot “Verbatim,” Variety has learned. The project is based on Brett Weiner’s New York Times Op Docs Series that screened at Sundance in 2014 and 2016. It is described as an anthology series based on actual events in which all dialogue is taken
Marvel fans are surely still reeling from the onslaught of superhero-sized announcements from Disney’s jam-packed investor day. To kick off the four-hour presentation, Disney’s distribution chief Kareem Daniel announced on Thursday that 10 new Marvel series would be coming to Disney Plus in the next few years, along with previously announced shows like “WandaVision” and
Richard King, a member of the King World Productions family dynasty that build a small syndication firm into an industry powerhouse, died Dec. 7 in Los Angeles after battling heart and lung problems. He was 79. King was one of six children who inherited King World Productions in 1972 after the death of patriarch Charles
Gersh Agency principal David Gersh voiced his support for CAA’s position on the role of talent managers in the agency’s larger fight with the Writers Guild of America. In a declaration filed Friday in federal court in Los Angeles, David Gersh asserts that WGA West executive director David Young told him that the guild would
AMC Networks president-CEO Josh Sapan has a set a new contract to remain at the helm of the company through the end of 2022. Sapan has headed AMC Networks since its inception in 2011, when the company was spun out from Cablevision. AMC is home to a clutch of prominent cable channels — including AMC,
Benicio Del Toro has joined the feature film “Reptile” as star and executive producer, Variety has learned exclusively. The Black Label Media project will also mark the feature directorial debut of Grant Singer, the prolific music video director whose collaborators include The Weeknd and Taylor Swift. Del Toro will play Nichols, a hardened New England
Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of “The Prom” is now streaming on Netflix, bringing the songs of Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin to the screen in all their glittered glory. Producer Adam Anders, whose work with Murphy traces back to “Glee,” was tasked with recording the soundtrack. He spoke to Variety about adding a creative stamp to an
As the nation and the globe wake up each morning asking, “Is 2020 over yet?,” the search for the next great new song is one thing that makes getting out of bed a worthy endeavor. We’ve already covered the Taylor Swift, Avalanches, Kid Cudi and Chris Cornell albums as well as the 20-years-late Britney Spears-Backstreet
Exclusive Details Lil Wayne just pled guilty in federal court to illegally possessing a loaded weapon while traveling to Miami on a private jet. The feds say an anonymous tip led them to Wayne’s PJ at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on December 23, 2019, and when they boarded to speak to the passengers …
“Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” has found more Targaryens. The HBO series has added three more key players to its cast: Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith. Cooke, known from Amazon’s “Sound of Metal,” is set to star as Alicent Hightower, the daughter of Hand of the King Otto Hightower who
Not long after they’ve crash landed on a remote beach with no help in sight, the teen girl castaways of “The Wilds” put their situation into a perspective they can understand. Brainstorming a way to signal for help, pragmatic leader Dot (Shannon Berry) tosses surly athlete Rachel (Reign Edwards) a makeup mirror from one of
Now in its second year back in the city where it was born, the EnergaCamerimage International Film Festival has partnered with the Torun council in Poland and the national government in funding its most ambitious project, the European Film Center Camerimage, a $155 million facility now entering the architecture bidding stage. Torun mayor Michał Zaleski
After acquiring Canadian medical drama “Transplant” in May for its fall lineup amid a stunted year for U.S. television production, NBC is renewing the show for a second season. “Transplant” centers on Syrian doctor Bashir “Bash” Hamed, played by Hamza Haq, who has fled to Canada with his younger sister and is trying to rebuild
Jamie Bell and Margaret Qualley will portray the legendary dance pair Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the biopic “Fred & Ginger” for Amazon Studios and Automatik. Bell and Qualley will also produce. Bell showed his skills as a dancer in his breakout performance in 2000’s “Billy Elliot.” Qualley has performed extensively as a dancer,
Two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks and Oscar-nominated director Paul Greengrass have teamed up again for Universal’s Western “News of the World,” one of the biggest studio films in the awards race. The duo last worked together in 2013’s “Captain Phillips,” which ended up with a best picture nomination. Like an all-American game of baseball,
Lionsgate is closing multiple international deals with Amazon for the Jennifer Lopez–Armie Hammer comedy “Shotgun Wedding.” The project stars Lopez as Darcy and Hammer as Tom, a couple who gathers their families together for a destination wedding. Things start to go south, however, after the two get cold feet. But that’s not the worst thing about
“Education.” That’s as good a title as any for the final episode of Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” project — a series of five features, some little more than an hour, designed to educate and inform audiences about the experience of London’s West Indian immigrant population, about the expectations of assimilation raised by a white-majority country
Artists Royce da 5’9”, Busta Rhymes, Jon Batiste and Funkmaster Flex are among the names of performers who have participated in roving pop-up shows in front of polling centers around the country as part of nonpartisan pop-up concert series Joy to the Polls. Rick Ross, Moneybagg Yo, Kap G, DJ Infamous and a host of
Harry Shearer is spending Christmas with the devil, as he does every year, when the Spinal Tap holiday chestnut comes up as part of the annual “Christmas Without Tears” live shows he and his wife, singer-songwriter Judith Owen, do for charity. This year, the event is going virtual, with an array of new guests such
When newcomer Caoilinn Springall showed up to shoot “The Midnight Sky” on a remote glacier in Iceland, she had only seen one film featuring star George Clooney: “The Fantastic Mr. Fox.” But Clooney’s not offended. Instead, he agrees that’s it’s one of his few films age-appropriate for an 8-year-old. “You can watch ‘Batman and Robin’
Amazon’s “Sound of Metal” is a piece of terrific filmmaking — and its achievements are even more impressive considering Hollywood’s depictions of deafness in the past. “Sound of Metal,” directed by Darius Marder, stars Riz Ahmed as a heavy-metal drummer who begins to lose his hearing. The film has a three-act structure: Attempts by drummer
In the new indie film “Promising Young Woman,” set for a Christmas Day release, production designer Michael Perry plays with color to show the lightness and darkness of the main character’s life. That meant using bold hues to portray an emboldened Cassie, the film’s protagonist, played by Carey Mulligan, who drops out of med school
FKA Twigs has sued her ex-boyfriend, Shia LaBeouf, accusing the actor of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress. The musician, who filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, and the actor had dated for about one year in 2018 and 2019, after working together on the film, “Honey Boy.” “Shia LaBeouf hurts
Cinematographer Matthew Libatíque has become known for his signature use of anamorphic lenses and working with light to add realism to his images. But for Ryan Murphy’s “The Prom,” the screen adaptation of the 2018 Broadway musical that premieres Dec. 11 on Netflix, he changed the approach. This time, he went with spherical lenses because
Filmmakers all use the same tools, more or less, but do so with endlessly varied methods, says cinematographer Roger Deakins. That idea drove the master cinematographer, who won Academy Awards for Denis Villeneuve’s “Bladerunner 2049” and Sam Mendes’ “1917,” to launch with his wife James Deakins the buzzy behind-the-scenes podcast Team Deakins, a streaming chat
Breaking News Shia LaBeouf has just been sued by his ex-girlfriend, FKA Twigs, who claims he physically abused her, tormented her and gave her an STD. FKA Twigs outlines in her new lawsuit horrific allegations of abuse. She claims Shia once slammed her against a car and attempted to strangle her. She also claims while
Costume designer Gersha Phillips has been designing the look of “Star Trek: Discovery” for three seasons. Laser cutting, bonding and 3D printing are the “futuristic” tools she has been using to craft the costumes of the series, hoping the costumes look “modern” for the 32nd Century using 2020 technology,” she explains. The third season has
In the past decade or so, Rita Moreno has received multiple lifetime achievement awards, and would probably receive even more — except that she’s too busy working. The actress, who turns 89 on Dec. 11, is one of the few people to win an EGOT: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. She’s also received the 2004