In today’s TV news roundup, Showtime announced the release date for “Couples Therapy: The COVID Special,” and Starz cast German actor Alicia von Rittberg as young Queen Elizabeth in “Becoming Elizabeth.” CASTING Starz cast Alicia von Rittberg as the lead in the network’s upcoming project, “Becoming Elizabeth.” The eight-episode series tells the story of Queen
When CBS announced the second-ever “All-Stars” season of “Big Brother,” fans had hoped the unscripted series will brighten up their summer in quarantine. But new seasons of the long-running show have never come without controversy, most often centering on the lack of representation across its cast and specific houseguests’ use of derogatory speech. And this
“Borrego,” a survival thriller starring Lucy Hale, Nicholas Gonzalez (“Good Doctor”) and Leynar Gómez (“Narcos”), has just started shooting (pictured) in Almeria in Spain. Nancy Cartwright (“The Simpsons”) also stars in “Borrego” and is producing the film with Monica Gil-Rodriguez through their banner Spotted Cow Entertainment. “Borrego” is based on Jesse Harris’s critically acclaimed short,
Demons of the mind come alive in a cavernous Los Angeles hotel in “The Night,” a scary and stylish psychological horror thriller by Iranian American director Kourosh Ahari. Featuring excellent performances by Shahab Hosseini (“A Separation,” “The Salesman”) and Niousha Jafarian (“Here and Now”) as a married couple with a baby daughter and a frayed
A little more than a month after being named head of global TV at Netflix, Bela Bajaria has set her leadership team. The new management structure puts all television worldwide under one umbrella, and follows a weeks-long period that saw several top programming executives leave the streamer. “Each of the roles has greenlight power, so
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine,” now streaming on Netflix. When faced with an impossible challenge, some assemble a team of superheroes to get it done. But when Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph took on the challenge of producing the Netflix special “Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine,”
Check out newly announced release dates, which movies are coming to home video this week, and recommendations from your host Khail Anonymous and actor and producer Barbara Crampton, in this new episode of ‘Weekly Ticket’! ► Buy Movie Tickets: https://www.fandango.com?cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc ► Buy or Rent Movies on FandangoNOW: https://www.fandangonow.com?cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc Tune-in to Weekly Ticket every Tuesday to
Sarah Cooper may seem like a viral sensation, but that’s hardly the case for those familiar with her comedy career. Since 2014, Cooper focused on hilarious subversions of corporate culture and empty tech speak in books like “100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings” and “How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings,” both based
Demi Lovato will host the 2020 People’s Choice Awards next month. “Demi Lovato is an international icon and we cannot wait for her to host the 2020 E! People’s Choice Awards,” Jen Neal, general manager of live events and lifestyle digital at E! News, said in statement. “Her authentic presence and dynamic talents will make
Joni Mitchell has not talked with the media since suffering an aneurysm in 2015, but she has spoken with a part-time member of the press — Cameron Crowe, the rock journalist turned writer-director turned very occasional rock journalist again — for a Q&A that has been published in England’s Guardian. In the interview, Mitchell talks
Kevin Costner continues to be impressed by Pete Buttigieg after endorsing him in the Democratic primary during an Iowa rally last December. “There was this kind of thought, [you can] like Pete, but it’s not his time,” the Oscar winner tells Variety. “And I think, you know what, really? Really? Not his time? I think
Layoffs hit Sony Pictures’ marketing and distribution teams on Tuesday as the Hollywood studio combined parts of its domestic and international film and television operations. Roughly 35 positions have been eliminated in the consolidation, according to insiders. In addition, veteran executive Andre Caraco has decided to step down as co-president of global marketing, ending a
Hilal Baydarov, the sole juror of Ji.hlava’s main competition, the Opus Bonum section, has a back story with the fest dating to its screening of his 2018 film “Birthday” in the Docu Talents from the East section. He later found a collaborator at the festival who worked with him on two films that traveled to
Diane Weyermann, the content chief for Participant Media, has stepped down as co-chair of the international feature film’s executive committee, Variety has confirmed. Weyermann decided to leave her role as co-chair of the executive committee due to her professional relationship with the documentary “Collective,” which has been selected to represent Romania in this year’s International
Director and producer Miloslav Šmídmajer, whose documentary “Milan Kundera – From Joy to Insignificance” features in the Work in Progress section of the Ji.hlava Film Festival this week, has lined-up multiple new projects, he tells Variety. Šmídmajer’s upcoming films include Czech-Ukrainian-Slovakian co-production “The Man Who Stood in the Way,” about one man who challenged Leonid
Check out the official Love, Weddings & Other Disasters Trailer starring Diane Keaton! 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: December 4,
A live studio audience will once again fill the seats on set of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” Starting with the Oct. 28 show, 40 fans will be seated in the talk show’s audience section alongside 70 virtual attendees. The return to live audiences may be happening just in time for the show’s Halloween week, but
Amazon’s Audible audiobook unit wants to become a full-fledged podcast network: It announced that it has added about 100,000 podcast shows — comprising some 3 million episodes — to the service, available free to members and non-members alike. The free podcasts now available on Audible include “Pod Save America,” “You’re Wrong About,” “This American Life,”
Jon Stewart is returning to the world of news with a current affairs series at Apple, Variety has confirmed. The show is part of a multi-year first-look deal the former “Daily Show” host has signed with the streamer via his production company, Busboy Productions. Apple has ordered multiple seasons of the new show right out
Legendary Entertainment has closed a deal to develop Tencent Comics’ popular webcomic “I’m a Killer Maid” into a TV series for the international market, marking a rare example of Chinese IP being developed for an audience outside China. The comic is one of the Chinese platform’s more popular titles, with a total of 1.66 billion
BET has announced a new original documentary, “SMOKE: Marijuana + Black America,” executive-produced and narrated by Nas. The two-hour film will provide a closeup look at marijuana culture and its impact on both American society and especially the Black community. It’s set to air on Nov. 18. “The world has finally begun opening up to
Trent Reznor is the happiest surprise on a list of performers lined up for a David Bowie tribute webcast set for January, helmed by former Bowie pianist Mike Garson, who has toured “Bowie Celebration” shows since the star’s death almost five years ago. Reznor is among the next-generation rockers with the closest association with Bowie,
Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux has detailed a three-prong contingency plan should next year’s festival, due to run May 11–22, be forced to delay due to ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19. Speaking with Variety ahead of the ‘Special Cannes’ opening event on Tuesday, which showcases four Cannes 2020 titles over the course of three days
In “Living Water,” the feature doc debut of Czech anthropologist Pavel Borecky, the forces of tradition and progress, conservation and recklessness are at war in the otherwise remarkably peaceful state of Jordan. The film makes its world premiere in the Testimonies section of the Ji.hlava Film Festival, which runs Oct. 27-Nov. 8. With a long
Erik Feig’s Picturestart and Mike Jackson and John Legend’s production company Get Lifted Film Co. are teaming to bring the critically acclaimed S.A. Cosby novel “Blacktop Wasteland” to the big screen. The former Lionsgate film honcho and the EGOT-chasing Legend have tapped “Mudbound” co-screenwriter Virgil Williams. who was nominated for an Academy Award for the
“Crazy Rich Asians” screenwriter Adele Lim and Japanese director Hikari have come abroad the romantic dramedy “Lost for Words” for Working Title. “Lost for Words” is based on an original idea from Oscar-winning screenwriter Richard Curtis, who wrote the previous draft and will be staying on the project as a producer. The project centers on
T-Mobile took the wraps off its new suite of TVision pay-TV streaming services aimed at cord-cutters — which promise more flexible options for buying over-the-top television. The wireless carrier is providing three separate TVision programming tiers: TVision Live (up to three streams per account), which centers on live sports, news and local TV; TVision Vibe
As a director, Marielle Heller has been on a tear, with her first three theatrical releases — “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (2019), “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (2018) and “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” (2015) — garnering praise from critics, appreciation from audiences and Oscar nominations for Tom Hanks, Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant.
Allison Tolman and Nick Frost have been cast in Season 2 of “Why Women Kill” at CBS All Access. The second season of the dark comedy anthology series is set in 1949. It will explore what it means to be beautiful, the hidden truth behind the facades people present to the world, the effects of
COVID-19 has forced CBS to take an axe to virtually all its scripted shows. The network has cut down series orders for more than half a dozen shows from the usual 22 episodes to between 16 and 18, Variety has confirmed. Sources say that showrunners were told the number of episodes in their new season was in