Miss festivals? Gucci does too. So as much of Europe heads into lockdown 2.0, the Italian label today announced GucciFest, a virtual fashion film festival that will be streamed on YouTube, Weibo, and the dedicated site GucciFest.com from November 16 to 22. The main attraction will be the debut of the miniseries, Ouverture of Something
Johnny Depp‘s suffering a huge blow to his career on the heels of losing his wife-beating case … he’s no longer starring in ‘Fantastic Beasts.’ The actor says Warner Bros. asked him to step down from his recurring role as Grindelwald in the Harry Potter spinoff franchise, and he’s agreeing to walk away. Warner Bros.
Charles Barkley is out to conquer a new arena. The NBA Hall of Famer is exec producing his first scripted series, “The Line,” based on a bestselling exposé of the gambling scandal that nearly destroyed college basketball. RTG Features, the new sister studio to basketball media outfit SLAM, is producing the multi-episode one-hour historical drama, partnering with
Raúl De Molina has been on U.S. television for nearly three decades. In that time, he’s seen a lot. He has worked for both Telemundo and Univision. He has watched as the Spanish-language U.S. broadcast audience grew in size and in importance to advertisers. And as the host of daytime“El Gordo y la Flaca,” which
Oscar-winning composer, Grammy-winning arranger, jazz pianist and bandleader, pioneer in the digital recording world: Dave Grusin could retire on his laurels. But at 86, he’s itching to get back on the road and perform again. “Oh, if they ever let us,” he tells Variety from his Montana ranch. “Not to have anything to do, it’s
Podcast studio QCode has announced several key hires and promotions as the company becomes a growing player in the digital and adaptive filmed content space. Sandra Yee Ling has been named vice president of production and Michele Zárate as director of development. Tess Ryan has been promoted to producer and Deron Johnson to head of
Gaming and lifestyle organization 100 Thieves has joined the Call of Duty League as the Los Angeles Thieves, it was announced on Friday morning. The team will operate out of the 100 Thieves Cash App Compound in Los Angeles, which the organization unveiled earlier this year. The LA Thieves will mark the 13th franchised team
With so many festivals canceled or downsized due to the coronavirus, Variety shifted its annual celebration of 10 Producers to Watch to coincide with this year’s virtual AFM. The producers on this year’s list hail from Europe and the U.S., and tackle a wide range of topics and genres. Their numbers include a former pro
When you watch a biographical movie about an artist, the drama of creativity — the writing of “In Cold Blood,” the invention of funk — tends to be front and center. But in “Mank,” David Fincher’s raptly intricate and enticing movie about Herman J. Mankiewicz, the fabled screenwriter of ’30s and ’40s Hollywood, and how
We may be past the Oct. 31 witching hour, but “The Craft: Legacy” is still casting a spell on streaming viewers across the country. The sequel-of-sorts to the groundbreaking 1996 teen thriller “The Craft” bowed last weekend from writer-director Zoe Lister-Jones, and brought a modern (or “woke,” to use the completely oversaturated moniker from nearly
“Fantastic Beasts 3” will no longer hit theaters next year. Warner Bros., the studio behind the “Harry Potter” spinoff series, initially intended to release the upcoming installment on Nov. 12, 2021. It’s now expected to open during summer of 2022. The exact date has not been confirmed yet. Warner Bros. made the announcement as part
(SPOILER ALERT: Do not read on if you have not watched the second episode of season 2 of Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian.”) Between sand dragons and ice spiders, Mando just can’t catch a break. The second episode of “The Mandalorian” season 2 began with Mando fighting off yet another batch of bounty hunters trying to
Amid some skepticism from Wall Street, ViacomCBS executives spent most of the company’s third-quarter earnings call hawking its streaming capabilities and selling the investment community on Pluto TV, the rebranded Paramount Plus and its broader direct-to-consumer strategy. The company, which is coming up on its first-year anniversary of the merger between Viacom and CBS, also
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a season high number of viewers tuned in to “The Bachelorette” last night to see Clare Crawley exit the show having found love, and Tayshia Adams take her place. A total of 5.3 million total viewers watched last night’s episode, which represents a 15% jump from last week and a 300,000 increase on
Former TikTok executive Gisselle Ruiz has joined WME as head of inclusion. Ruiz will work with senior leaders to assist in recruitment and retention efforts and engagement with strategic partnerships meant to support diversity, equity and inclusion goals. WME said Ruiz’s skill set will be “instrumental to the agency’s commitment to be an anti-racist and
In “Let Him Go,” Kevin Costner and Diane Lane play a longtime married midwestern couple in the 1950s who attempt to save their grandson and dead son’s widow from the violent family she married into. Costner insists viewers will be in for the same kind of ride they enjoyed with a couple of his classics.
Gaumont has come on board “Fantasies,” a sex-themed French comedy headlined by Monica Bellucci (“Spectre”), Carole Bouquet (“For Your Eyes Only”) and Karine Viard (“Famille Belier”). Directed by David and Stephane Foenkinos, the omnibus film follows six couples and revolves around their intimate lives and fantasies, from role-playing to exhibitionism and abstinence. Besides Bellucci, Bouquet
Johnny Depp will no longer portray the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the “Fantastic Beasts” film franchise, the actor announced Friday. “I wish to let you know that I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and I have respected and agreed to that request,” he
“The Bike Thief,” “Hello Again – a Wedding a Day” and “Karnawal” are among the hottest titles on Beta Cinema’s sales slate for the virtual version of the American Film Market, which starts Monday. The Munich-based sales company will give Matt Chambers’ “The Bike Thief” its market premiere at AFM, following its world premiere this
“Gentleman Jack” will be back on our screens in the not too distant future. The BBC and HBO historical drama has officially begun production on season 2 in the U.K. under local COVID-19 guidelines. Suranne Jones is set to reprise her role as Anne Lister, with Sophie Rundle returning as her new wife Ann Walker.
In this week’s installment of “Live From My Den,” electronic music duo Phantogram, fresh off the release of their fourth album “Ceremony,” perform songs from their Los Angeles home studio Harmonie West. The weekly series from Variety and Artists Den showcases today’s top musicians performing live from the intimate settings of their home studios. Hailing
British actor Geoffrey Palmer, known for the long-running series “As Time Goes By,” “Butterflies” and “The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin,” has died peacefully at home, his agent told the BBC. He was 93. In “As Time Goes By,” Palmer co-starred with Judi Dench. The two reunited in the 1997 James Bond film “Tomorrow
Al Roker, one of morning-TV’s most durable presences, told viewers of NBC’s “Today” Friday morning that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and would be taking time off for surgery and recovery. “It’s a good news-bad news kind of thing,” Roker told viewers during the morning program’s Friday broadcast. “Good news is we caught
The latest episode of “Star Trek: Discovery” includes a storyline that viewers have almost certainly never seen before on a major television series: A romance between a non-binary character, a human named Adira, and trans character, a Trill named Gray. What’s more, Adira and Gray are played respectively by the non-binary actor Blu del Barrio
Paris-based outfit Reel Suspects has acquired “The Three,” directed by up-and-coming Armenian-Russian filmmaker Anna Melikyan. “The Three” will have its international premiere at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and will be distributed in Russia by Disney in December. Penned by Melikyan and Evgenia Khripkova, “The Three” revolves around a husband, a wife and another woman.
Brazilian superstar singer Anitta is the latest performer to join the lineup for the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards, taking place on Nov. 19. She will be performing a medley including her latest hit “Me Gusta” from the Lapa Arches in Rio de Janeiro. “I am so happy to once again join the Latin Grammys,”
ViacomCBS released solid third-quarter earnings on Friday that showed signs of improvement in advertising sales and affiliate revenue as well as strong growth in its streaming operations. Paid subscribers for CBS All Access and Showtime standalone streaming services have climbed to 17.9 million, up from the 13.5 million subs disclosed earlier this year. The company
Steve Bannon’s “War Room Pandemic” account was permanently suspended by Twitter, after the ex-Trump strategist said in a video Thursday that the president should execute Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI director Christopher Wray. According to Twitter, the company suspended Bannon’s @WarRoomPandemic account for violating its policy banning the “glorification of violence.” Facebook and YouTube also
France’s exhibitors and distributors are aiming for a quick restart when theaters are allowed to reopen, whenever that may be. During the first lockdown, which lasted nearly three months, many French distributors took the streaming route, opting to release their films on transactional VOD services and in some cases, sell rights to SVOD platforms such
Netflix has chosen France to test its first channel offering. Named Direct, the linear channel — which is only available to subscribers — will air French, international and U.S. feature films and TV series that are available on the streaming service. However, the channel will only be accessible via the service’s web browser, unlike its