“The Last of Us” series adaptation has officially been greenlit at HBO. The project was first announced as being in development at the premium cabler back in March. Based on the video game of the same name, the series takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired
Prince Carmen Jones Jr., an African American man who was racially profiled and killed by police officer in Virginia in 2000, features heavily in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ 2015 book “Between the World and Me,” about being Black in America. The two were friends in college, and Jones’ story is one on which the media doesn’t often
Apple’s “Shantaram” series starring Charlie Hunnam has found its showrunner. has signed on to run the forthcoming show, Variety has confirmed. The “Hannibal” and “Punisher” alum has at the same time inked a multi-year overall deal with Apple. “Shantaram” is based on Gregory David Roberts’ 2003 novel of the same name and tells the story of
Art Wolff, known for his directorial work on projects like “Seinfeld,” died of congestive heart failure on Monday at the age of 82. His daughter Juliet Wolff confirmed his death at Mount Sinai West in New York City to Variety. The theater and television director got his start on “Search for Tomorrow,” the soap opera
The sight of President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, throwing off conspiracy theories and hair dye yesterday in TV’s once-humdrum daytime hours, would not too long ago have proven to be catnip that no TV-news outlet could resist. Yesterday, many of them did. Few if any of the nation’s TV-news outlets aired live Thursday’s press
While work continues on the War on Drugs’ follow-up to 2017’s “A Deeper Understanding,” which won the best rock album Grammy, the band is releasing its first live album, appropriately titled “Live Drugs.” The 10-track project is being issued today by bandleader Adam Granduciel’s Super High Quality Records imprint and will be accompanied by a
After debuting at Busan and winning the Audience Award at Malaga’s Zonazine sidebar this August, Haroldo Borges and Ernesto Molinero’s “Son of Ox” has played at Malaga’s Spanish Screenings and will screen in competition at Mexico’s Guadalajara Festival, which kicked off Nov. 20. The film follows a 13-year-old boy, João (João Pedro Dias), who lives
London-basted genre outfit Shogun Films has commenced a creative partnership with prolific U.S. director/producer Daniel Zirilli (“Acceleration,” “Invincible”). The first film to secure funding under the partnership is “Renegades.” Financing has been secured from Insight Media Fund, negotiated by Samahoma Media Advisors, with Bob Clarke and Gareth Jones executive producing, as well as from private
International buyers were shown another preview of director Marta Lallana’s sophomore feature, “Muyeres,” at the Malaga Spanish Screenings this week. Set to go into production next year, the black and white documentary that explores song preservation in the northern Asturian region of Spain, the work-in-progress received its first festival outing this spring, taking part in
Emmy-winning writers Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin and Wendy Molyneux have been tapped to write “Deadpool 3”, with Ryan Reynolds set to return as the foul-mouthed mercenary. The Molyneux sisters are longtime writing partners, known for their Emmy Award-winning work on Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers.” The pair have also been nominated for three WGA Awards and won an Annie
Actor Kirby Morrow, known for his voice credits on the English version of “Dragon Ball Z” and LEGO’s “Ninjago,” has died at 47, his representative confirmed to Variety. Morrow’s voice acting credits also included roles in the English dub of “Inuyasha” as the character Miroku, as well as voicing Cyclops in the series “X-Men: Evolution.”
Appropriately blessed by sunshine in Spain, though the whole event went online, the Malaga Film Festival’s Spanish Screenings wrapped Friday, though films will continue to screen another week given the demand for screenings. The equivalent of France’s UniFrance Rendez-vous with French cinema in Paris, the Screenings were a bellwether for far larger trends coursing the
Nicki Minaj has made a deal with HBO Max. The streamer has ordered a six-episode docuseries on Minaj, which will explore the rapper’s creative mind and tell the story of her personal and professional journey. Minaj herself will guide the audience through the most challenging and fulfilling times in her life in the as-yet-untitled series,
Jacob Fain has joined Elektra Music Group as senior vice president, A&R and head of research and analytics, it was announced on Thursday (Nov. 19). Fain arrives from Sony/ATV Music Publishing where he spent 13 years, most recently in the position of SVP, A&R and Research/Analytics. In this newly created role, Fain will report to
For better and worse, the career of Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion — who is rapidly becoming the breakout star of this problematic year — can be divided into two roughly concurrent eras: pre-“WAP” and post-“WAP,” pre-Lanez and post-Lanez. The former addresses her NSFW summer smash single with Cardi B; the latter the July incident in
Vox, the flagship news site of Vox Media, is losing its top two editorial execs. Ezra Klein, co-founder and editor-at-large, is leaving to join the New York Times’ opinion department. Editor-in-chief and SVP Lauren Williams will exit to launch Capital B, a local and national nonprofit news organization serving Black audiences. Klein said he will
Composer John Debney has worked on the scores for “Elf” and “The Greatest Showman” and is no stranger to setting a warm holiday mood. When it came to working on Netflix’s “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey,” he sought a timeless and classic approach, hinting at classic holiday melodies. Debney worked with director David E. Talbert
“Euphoria” star Sydney Sweeney has joined Pete Davidson and O’Shea Jackson, Jr., in the STXfilms drama “American Sole.” Camila Mendes, Bad Bunny and Offset are also starring in “American Sole.” The announcement was made Friday by Adam Fogelson, chairman of STXfilms Motion Picture Group. Sweeney reteams with Davidson after previously co-starring in the film “Big
Jorge Coira, the Spanish director of “18 Meals” and the series “Hierro,” is set to direct “Project Emperor” (“Proyecto Emperador”), a timely spy thriller penned by “Cell 211” screenwriter Jorge Guerricaechevarria, also Alex de la Iglesia’s regular co-scribe. Vaca Films (“Extinction”) is producing with Sábado Películas (“A Perfect Enemy”), La Ley del Plomo AIE (“Gun
Kiss have announced its’ “biggest concert ever,” a giant livestreamed New Year’s Eve show taking place in Dubai that will involve a live audience, more than 50 cameras, “numerous world record attempts for largest ever pyro display.” and a 400-person crew, half of whom are being flown in specifically for the event. A rep for
T-Mobile has come up with a short-term solution to address accusations from multiple TV programmers that its new TVision bundles violated distribution contracts — but the carrier’s headaches are far from over on the issue. On Thursday, T-Mobile announced several “holideals” for customers. Among the offers: It’s adding 33 channels from Discovery, ViacomCBS, AMC Networks
Pink Sweat$ shared an intimate live performance of his song “At My Worst” from his recent “Prelude” EP in the sixth and latest episode of “Live From My Den,” the Artists Den series presented with Variety. The segment, also featuring the singer’s brother on the piano, was recorded in his L.A. home. In the 23-minute
When I first see Karlie Kloss on my screen, she’s a pixelated, slightly delayed version of the model/Kode With Klossy founder/Project Runway host the world knows. “I’ve been having some WiFi troubles today…” she tells me, springing into action just as I offer to switch my own connection. It’s one of the all-too-common scenes filling
Alfre Woodard will star as civil rights and voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer in a forthcoming limited series for ABC Studios, Variety has learned exclusively. Woodard is executive producing along with Carl Beverly, Sarah Timbermann, Roderick Spencer and Harry Belafonte, while Gina Belafonte serves as a producer. Hamer rose from sharecropping in the Mississippi
The first few minutes of “The Flight Attendant” are as vivid and glamorous as the life Cassie Bowden (Kaley Cuoco) projects to the world as she travels it. She hops from one blurry night out to the next, trading cities and men with practiced abandon. But when she wakes up in Bangkok after a blurry
Barack Obama‘s new memoir is flying off the shelves — even more than Michelle‘s record-setting book in 2018 — but he says he’s not rubbing it in … and she’s fine with his success for her own reasons. This came after the former President burned the outgoing prez, Donald Trump, during his interview on “Jimmy
The Verzuz battle between rappers Jeezy and Gucci Mane had an unexpected guest on Thursday night: Stacey Abrams, who ran for governor of Georgia in 2018. Abrams virtually joined the rap battle between the two Atlanta artists to encourage viewers to vote in the Georgia runoff election between Republican Senators David Perdue Kelly Loeffler and
Celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian will host a Thanksgiving-themed telethon on Fox-owned stations in major markets on Nov. 25 to raise money for food rescue organizations City Harvest and No Kid Hungry. “The Great American Foodathon Presented by Citi” will feature performances by John Legend, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, JoJo and Dennis Quaid, as well as
Universal Filmed Entertainment Group has unveiled a multi-year agreement with Canada’s Cineplex chain to shorten the theatrical window and bring movies more quickly to the home. The pact, announced Friday, mirrors similar agreements that the studio reached on July 28 with AMC Theatres and on Nov. 17 with the Cinemark chain. Under the terms of
The Latin Grammy Awards took place on Thursday, Nov. 19 awarding the year’s top artists in Latin music. Featuring mostly video acceptances and a limited red carpet, performers did take the stage and wowed. Among the highlights: J Balvin (pictured) performing “Rojo” under a sculpture of two hands coming together (the piece weighed 2.6 tons