Italy’s storied Titanus studio, producers of myriad golden era works from Cinema Italiano, has inked a global distribution deal with pubcaster RAI’s sales unit RAI Com for its entire library of roughly 400 titles. The landmark agreement, besides distribution, entails a collaboration to restore and preserve the Titanus library, which is a treasure trove comprising
Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld Group is hoping for an agreement on release windows after Warner Bros.’ shock announcement on Thursday that their entire 2021 slate would release simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max day and date. In a statement released Friday, a Cineworld spokesperson said: “Cineworld was aware of WB’s plan to release ‘Wonder
Alibaba Pictures has launched a new in-house film studio modeled on A24 and called “Surprise Works.” The company announced a large line-up of upcoming local projects, which it says herald a strategic shift more firmly towards original content production. In the past, Alibaba Pictures cast itself in more of a complementary than primary role in
If the arrival of vaccines offers some hope of the year-consuming COVID-19 pandemic eventually cooling off, the attendant mini-genre of the coronavirus documentary is only getting warmed up. For years to come, we can doubtless anticipate dozen upon dozen of films probing all angles of what happened and how, what went wrong and how much.
The stakes are suddenly much higher for WarnerMedia and Roku in their months-long standoff over HBO Max. The clock is ticking for both companies, which — 191 days after HBO Max’s debut — still don’t have a deal for Roku to distribute the HBO Max service on its platform. WarnerMedia substantially upped the ante Thursday,
With 3.6 million subscribers, New Music Friday is hardly Spotify’s most popular playlist (that would be Today’s Top Hits, which tops 27 million). And with 100 new songs or remixes each week sprawled across multiple genres, it doesn’t provide the sort of focused punch of powerful genre-specific playlists like Rap Caviar. Yet it’s become one of the
Rooster Teeth, the WarnerMedia-owned entertainment division focused on sci-fi, gaming and fandom, is boosting its studio development team with the hires of two execs from the TV world. Rooster Teeth Studios has recruited unscripted TV development and production veteran Wayne Sampson, most recently at NBCUniversal, as head of unscripted content. Scripted comedy exec Emily Hughes,
In deals forged during Ventana Sur, Chile’s Naira Films has secured the backing of Italy’s Keep Digging Prod. and Chile’s “Perro Bomba” producer Infractor Films to complete the financing of their Chilean independence war film “The Wealth of the World” (“La Riqueza del mundo”). The feature debut of artist-painter Simon Farriol is now being edited
Strand Releasing has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Majid Majidi’s “Sun Children,” which competed at Venice and represents Iran in the international feature film race at the 2021 Academy Awards. Represented in international markets by Hengameh Panahi’s Celluloid Dreams, “Sun Children” has been critically acclaimed in the festival circuit, and its young leading actor Ruhollah
British-Guyanese actor Letitia Wright, star of “Black Panther” and Steve McQueen’s “Mangrove,” has responded to extensive backlash after she posted a controversial anti-vax video to Twitter on Thursday night. On Friday afternoon U.K. time, Wright tweeted, “my intention was not to hurt anyone, my ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns
Netflix Korean-language “Crash Landing on You” was named as the best drama series at the third running of the Asian Academy Creative Awards. Malaysia-Singapore co-production “The Garden of Evening Mists” was named as the best feature film. Singapore actors features prominently among the performance winners. Yeo Yann Yann was named best lead actress for her
Show Me the Fund, a new resource aimed at helping Latin American producers navigate a myriad of little known funding opportunities, was the focus of Wednesday’s Ventana Sur session on international funding. The initiative – a partnership between film export bodies Brazilian Content and Cinema do Brasil and the AV support organization Projeto Paradiso –
Ganesh Rajaram is an old hand at the game of licensing TV shows in the Asia region. Executive VP of sales at FremantleMedia, he breaks down what content is working, and where it is working, and sheds some light from a seller’s perspective on the impact of the coronavirus. Variety: It’s ATF this week. What
A live interview with an AI influencer and a virtual gathering of top internet personalities from around the world kicked off the inaugural edition of VidCon Now Asia on Thursday. Presented as one of the new additions to the Singapore Media Festival, VidCon Asia is the local, online version of the popular event for digital
“Highlands Shadow,” “Cursed Fathers” and “Greta’s Journal” are among five animation projects selected for a new women animation directors’ training initiative launched this year at Ventana Sur’s Animation!, in alliance with France’s Annecy Festival and Argentina’s Institut Français. A 2D eight-episode series “Highlands Shadow” weighs in as a fantasy grounded in traditional folklore mixing action,
Ian McKellen, Annie Lennox, Martin Freeman, John Rhys-Davies and Derek Jacobi are among the stars joining author Julia Golding (the “Companions” series) to launch a $6 million crowdfunding campaign to try and save 20 Northmoor Road, the Oxford house in which J. R. R. Tolkien wrote “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” ahead
When I think of “Euphoria,” I think of neon lights, glitter smeared across bleary eyes, dizzying camera angles betraying the disoriented teenage mania that fuels it. I think of Rue (Zendaya) staring across a crowded room at Jules (Hunter Schaefer) with such palpable longing that it hurts. I think of the stunning last moments of
To celebrate the (slightly more than) one-year anniversary of its release, The Weeknd and superstar Spanish singer Rosalía have teamed up for a remix of “Blinding Lights,” Variety’s Hitmakers Record of the Year and one of the biggest hits in recent memory. Rosalía joined The Weeknd for the “Blinding Lights” remix while also recording the
Though he’s not as wealthy as his billionaire friend Warren, with whom he shares a surname though not DNA, Jimmy Buffett hasn’t done too poorly from epitomizing the lifestyle of an escapist beach bum — as best described by his still-in-rotation 1977 hit “Margaritaville.” With a business empire based largely on his Margaritaville Café restaurant
Check out the official trailer The Dig starring Carey Mulligan! Let us know what you think in the comments below. ► Visit https://www.fandangonow.com?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. For more information on how to go safely
Veteran Indian producer Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP and Ramesh Krishnamoorthy’s Global One Studios will produce a series based on the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. The companies have optioned the audio-visual rights to eminent authors’ Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro’s 2001 book, “Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World’s Deadliest Industrial Disaster.” A
The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is indisputably one of the landmark songs of 2020 —and the only reason it isn’t even more dominant is because it was released on Nov. 29, 2019, and racked up significant numbers that year as well. Written by The Weeknd with Max Martin (the most successful songwriter-producer of the past 25
ABC News is laying off staffers amid a broader reorganization at parent company Walt Disney, one that impacts a low single-digit percentage of the news division’s 1,400 staffers, according to a source familiar with the situation. In a memo to employees sent Thursday evening, ABC News president James Goldston said that the personnel reductions were
The last time most of us saw Paris Jackson, she was 11 years old and crying. Taking the stage at Staples Center in June 2009 at her father’s star-studded memorial service, her famous aunts and uncles told her to speak up as she nervously said: “Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best
When introducing this year’s Make Equality Reality gala from Equality Now, Aasif Mandvi and Sheetal Sheth embraced the virtual event that allowed audiences to make donations toward the organization’s gender equality initiatives from the comfort of their homes. “Let’s kick off our heels. Who am I kidding? I’m not wearing heels. Who are we kidding?”
At the end of a year that was far from ordinary, Variety‘s Hitmakers program brought together some of music’s biggest stars to virtually celebrate their accomplishments. Harry Styles was named Hitmaker of the Year, and was presented the award by comedian Nick Kroll, who co-stars with him in the upcoming film “Don’t Worry Darling.” “I
Since Canadian singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes first rose to fame as a 14-year-old with a series of covers on Twitter’s Vine app — for those who don’t remember, it was the six-second predecessor to TikTok — he and his team have worked doggedly to position him as a career artist, focused on longevity and maturity rather
Check out The Marksman Official Trailer starring Liam Neeson! Let us know what you think in the comments below. ► Visit: http://www.fandango.com/?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 Release Date: January 22, 2021 Starring: Liam Neeson,
In “Sound of Metal,” Riz Ahmed plays Ruben, a heavy metal musician who gradually loses his hearing. The film, bowing Friday on Amazon Prime, follows Ruben as he copes with his hearing loss. Director Darius Marder relies on sound design to immerse the audience into the film, allowing them to understand what Ruben is going
Like many music companies, Interscope Geffen A&M started off 2020 full of optimism. Streaming had fueled several consecutive years of growth, touring was booming and the label had a huge presence at the Grammy Awards, when breakout star Billie Eilish and her brother, producer Finneas, collectively won 10 awards, including a rare sweep of the