Brooklyn-based distributor KimStim has acquired North American rights to Brazilian director Maya Da-Rin’s feature debut “The Fever” (“A Febre”), which world premiered in competition at Locarno and played at Toronto in 2019. The film is represented in international markets by Pierre Menahem’s French sales banner Still Moving, who negotiated the deal on behalf of the
Okada Yusuke, Toei chairman and son of former Toei president and chairman Okada Shigeru, died on Friday in Tokyo of aortic dissection. He was 71. Born in Kyoto, Okada was scouted while still a student at elite Keio University and made his acting debut in a 1969 drama on the Nippon Television Network. In 1970
First Look Media’s niche streaming service Topic has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to the second season of the Nordic thriller “Arctic Circle,” which just started shooting in the icy wilderness of Lapland. Lagardère Studios Distribution, which was recently acquired by Mediawan Group, is handling international sales on the series and participated in its financing.
SK Global and Indonesia-based production entity Screenplay Bumilangit are partnering to co-finance and co-produce multiple feature films based on Indonesia’s Bumilangit cinematic universe. Screenplay Bumilangit is a joint venture between Screenplay Films and Bumilangit Entertainment. The joint company develops, finances, and produces superhero action films from the Bumilangit cinematic universe, a set of intertwining storylines
Wrexham AFC, the Welsh soccer club recently taken over by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is to be the subject of “A League Apart,” a British romantic comedy from Mad As Birds, producers of “The Vanishing,” starring Gerard Butler. To be directed by S.J. Evans (“Hiraeth”), the film will follow Phil, a lovable yet down-on-his-luck
Few stars have worked harder to give audiences pleasure over a long haul than Jackie Chan. But lately, his screen appearances have been those of the elder statesman still trotted out to nominally preside over expensive but flavorless official diplomatic functions you doubt even he relishes. The newest case in point reunites him with director
President Barack Obama has dismissed President Donald Trump’s notion that in 2011, during the Obama administration, a Navy Seal team killed a body double and not Osama Bin Laden. In October, Trump retweeted a claim from a Twitter account that has since been suspended that alleged Bin Laden might still be alive, and “Biden and
Producer-director Kristina Konrad’s Berlin-based Weltfilm has boarded “Amateur,” the feature debut of Spaniard Martin Gutiérrez which won the top Malaga Festival Prize for best Spanish film at this Spring’s Malaga WIP pix in post competition. Konrad, one of the jury members for Spanish titles at Malaga WIP, along with Berlin Panorama director Paz Lázaro and
The details around the July incident in which rapper Tory Lanez allegedly shot Megan Thee Stallion in the feet have dribbled out slowly, first in TMZ, then over social media and videos, then surveillance video of Lanez’s arrest that night, and last month in the lyrics to Lanez’s extremely long and self-absorbed album “Daystar.” It’s
He needs to know … if he’ll get his asking price! Drinking in Latin superstar Marc Anthony’s opulent waterfront mansion in Coral Gables, Fla., is enough to make anyone intoxicated with awe and maybe even envy. The Italianate estate, known as Villa Costanera, is currently listed for $27 million, as was first reported by the
Comedian and actor Ramy Youssef challenged the misconception that actors with disabilities are more difficult to work with on set than other talent. Referring to the treatment of Steve Way, his friend and co-star on “Ramy” who was born with muscular dystrophy, Youssef said producers questioned how long Way could work per day and how
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Carry On,” the series finale of “Supernatural.” For 15 seasons the Winchester brothers of the CW’s “Supernatural” put the rest of humanity’s needs ahead of their own, so it is only fitting that in their final episode they were still doing that same thing
Exclusive The setting for Gucci Mane and Jeezy‘s highly-anticipated Verzuz battle is fit for a king … and strippers, ’cause it’s going down at a famous ATL strip club. TMZ’s obtained behind-the-scene video and pics inside Thursday’s face-off going down at the world-famous club, Magic City. It’s unclear if a red carpet will be rolled
Director Randall Miller has asked a Georgia judge to once again delay his probation hearing, noting that he recently tested positive for COVID-19. Miller is on probation for involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2014 death of Sarah Jones, a camera assistant who was killed in a train crash on the set of the film
Sarah Paulson is either the world’s best mother or the worst in “Run,” a deranged (in a good way) two-hander from “Searching” director Aneesh Chaganty that piles one tragedy upon another and serves it up in the form of a thriller. The first of these injustices is revealed in the opening scene: Paulson plays expectant
DJ Cassidy’s popular “Pass the Mic” webcast series is going to TV on Thanksgiving weekend… and going totally ’80s. BET’s Nov. 29 broadcast of “The Soul Train Awards” will be immediately followed by a second prime-time special that will bring Cassidy’s all-star medleys, usually seen via Twitch and YouTube, to a network for the first
K-pop superstars BTS will launch a new album “BE” later on Friday. The announcement was made at an online press conference that was live-streamed via YouTube and the Big Hit Labels channel. The live stream kicked off with a video of the band members filing past and checking themselves in a mirror. That led in
Newly-launched Taiwan production company Screenworks Asia is to be involved in a wide range of screen content. But it is to be particularly involved in development of international projects. The company was given its official launch in July and is jointly backed by quasi-government organization Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) and locally-based streaming platform Catchplay.
Disney Plus is barely a year-old streaming service, but it already has cornered a particular sub-genre of unscripted programming that should surprise no one. Shows like “Inside Disney, “One Day at Disney” and “Marvel’s Hero Project” offer in-depth looks at the creative minds behind the Walt Disney Company and its extraordinary impact on the world,
SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity have settled a bitter jurisdictional dispute over which should cover the streaming of live events. The performers unions announced the settlement late Thursday. Actors’ Equity, which represents 51,000 theater actors and stage managers, had accused SAG-AFTRA of raiding its turf and undercutting its contracts by negotiating lower-paying deals with theaters for
At least one comedy classic from years past would not have survived today’s standards for commercial production, according to the widow of one of those comedic movie stars. “I think in terms of the political correctness, I mean, certainly, ‘[National Lampoon’s] Animal House’ would not be made today,” Judy Belushi-Pisano said of her late husband,
No More Heroes: The Stranglers superfan and PR guru Paul McGuire is departing Warner Bros. after a lengthy run at the company, including the past ten years as senior VP, worldwide corporate communications. McGuire plans to open his own communications shingle, Last Resort PR, when not blasting The Cramps (R.I.P. Lux Interior) on “The Funhouse,”
In today’s TV news roundup, ABC unveiled the premiere dates for its early 2021 scripted series, and NBC announced details for its annual “Christmas in the Rockefeller Center” special. CASTING Starz cast Luis Guzmán as a guest star in the second season of crime drama “Hightown.” Guzmán will portray Jorge Cuevas, Frankie’s (Amaury Nolasco) charmingly
What the fund? The rights to the first six albums by Taylor Swift, arguably the most commercially popular artist in the world, recently were sold to a private equity firm for a whopping $300 million. Was it a fair price? Experts have mixed opinions. While the value and probable longevity of Taylor Swift’s music is
Wen Tien-hsiang is one of the few film festival bosses who have been able to go ahead with an in-person event this year. He spoke with Variety to describe the challenges that remain. Variety: What are the conditions that have allowed the GHFF to go ahead as an in-person event this year? Wen Tien-hsiang: Good
Warner Bros. didn’t have a lot of good options. After the studio released Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” in September to lackluster ticket sales, it was hesitant to unveil another hundred-million dollar movie in the middle of a pandemic. And yet, just three months after “Tenet” tried and largely failed to reignite moviegoing, Warner Bros. had to
ABC has given a put pilot order to a musical comedy series that boasts Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Mary J. Blige among its executive producers. Titled “Family Affair,” the single-camera series follows A-ron, a faded R&B star and committed bachelor whose life is thrown into a tailspin when he’s saddled with raising his sister’s
A proposal to provide a federal backstop for pandemic insurance ran into stiff opposition from some House Republicans during a hearing on Thursday. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., authored the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act, which would provide up to $750 billion in federal backing to allow insurers to issue policies that would cover losses from COVID
Glenn Close will star alongside Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris and Awkwafina in the drama “Swan Song,” portraying the head scientist at a facility. “Swan Song” is described as a genre-bending drama set in the near future that explores how far someone will go, and how much they’ll sacrifice, to create a happier life for the
The Writers Guild of America has asked for a two-month delay in the next hearing in the CAA–WME lawsuit against it from Dec. 18 to Feb. 12, 2021. The agencies asked this week for U.S. District Court Judge Andre Birotte for an injunction that would require the WGA to drop its boycott of the agencies.