Unspooling in Spain, one of the European countries that’s been the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the San Sebastian Film Festival was allowed to maintain its 2020 edition under strict sanitary guidelines, albeit with a different approach from the Venice fest. The San Sebastian Festival, which kicked off on Sept. 18, just over a
Filming of Comcast-owned Sky’s comedy show “Brassic” has been temporarily halted after a crew member exhibited coronavirus symptoms, a Sky spokesperson has confirmed to Variety. “Throughout this time, the safety of our colleagues and customers remains our number one priority,” said the Sky spokesperson. “The ‘Brassic’ production has paused with cast and crew now self-isolating.
Exclusive The Jacob Blake investigation is nearing its end, but before it crosses the finish line, a neutral third party has been looped in — a former cop — something a Blake family member is none too pleased about. Jacob’s uncle, Justin Blake, tells TMZ … he feels the news about DOJ investigators bringing in
Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” has remained in pole position at the U.K. and Ireland box-office, collecting £796,309 ($1,011,097) from 616 locations in its fourth weekend, according to final numbers from Comscore. The Warner Bros. release now has a running total of £13,879,635 ($17,617,559) in the territory. Shear Entertainment’s young adult romance “After We Collided” continues to
World premiering this week at NewImages Festival in Paris before playing at the London Film Festival in early October, the Franco-British-Taiwanese co-production “Missing Pictures Ep. 1 – Birds of Prey” gives the stage to firebrand filmmaker Abel Ferrara as he plunges into a passion project that never could lift off the ground. Directed by Clément
French outfit Atlas V, the production company behind the critically acclaimed “Gloomy Eyes” and one of the industry leaders in narrative VR, has just launched production on its newest animated project, a 20-minute standalone film called “The Little Mouse.” Sharing details of the project with Variety, Atlas V co-founder Antoine Cayrol called the film “a
The uplifting story of 100-year-old British hero Captain Tom Moore, who kept a nation in lockdown inspired, is being turned into a feature film, fast-tracked for production in 2021. The U.K.’s Fred Films and Powder Keg Pictures won a bidding war for the life rights to the former British Army captain and World War II
The San Sebastian Festival’s new Works in Progress Latam program will unveil from Sept. 22 six film productions from Latin America to potential production partners and sales agents. Examining such topics as militant activism, the relationship between leaders and followers, employers and employees, identity, devoutness and belief systems, this year’s projects reflect universal subject matter
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” from writer and director Aaron Sorkin, a project that has circled Hollywood for more than a decade, has landed in the awards race. The film screened virtually on Tuesday evening before a group of critics, journalists and bloggers. Featuring a hardy ensemble with some of the industry’s most gifted
If you go back and watch Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” (2003), you’ll see that it’s lost none of its shimmer — that airily crafted blend of mood and moment, location and dislocation, all wrapped around the delicate tale of two souls who didn’t know they were lost until they found each other in the
Liv Tyler will not appear in the upcoming second season of “9-1-1: Lone Star” on Fox, Variety has confirmed. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, Tyler approached producers over the summer about exiting the show, despite having a multi-year contract. Her decision was due at least in part to concerns about traveling
Teddi Mellencamp, the daughter of John Mellencamp, announced on Tuesday that she will not be returning to “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” next season. In a short video on Instagram, Mellencamp shared that her contract with Bravo has ended after three years. “I don’t want to bore you, but I figured I could give
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the festival that would have been drawing tens of thousands to San Francisco on the first weekend of October under other circumstances, has announced the final lineup for a virtual festival that will be taking its place Oct. 3. The festival also revealed that it is partnering with Artist Relief for the
WME has suspended agent Brent Smith, citing “behavioral issues,” Variety has learned. The agency has initiated an investigation, according to Deadline, which first reported the news. Smith has represented a handful of high-profile musicians, including Drake, Calvin Harris, Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, Pharrell Williams, Childish Gambino and Frank Ocean. While it’s unclear what provoked the
North Carolina officials have approved a quintet of film and television projects to being filmed in the state as a part of its 25% rebate on production expenses, with shooting starting by the end of October. The news was announced Tuesday, six months after almost the entire entertainment industry halted production due to the COVID-19
Iain Canning and Emile Sherman’s See-Saw Films has teamed up with three-time Australian Writers Guild award-winner Samantha Strauss to set up a joint venture production company. Picking Scabs will be based in Australia and develop projects for Strauss to write and produce with See-Saw Films in both Australia and worldwide. See-Saw and Strauss recently worked together on
In today’s TV news roundup, the cast and creator of “The West Wing” will reunite for a voting special, and Syfy greenlit “The Pole,” an animated adult comedy show featuring Bobby Moynihan and Jillian Bell, with Nicole Byer and Colin Jost. DATES “Somebody Feed Phil,” a show where creator and host Phil Rosenthal travels the
Disney’s top theme parks executive is urging California officials to allow a reopening of Disneyland, which has been closed since March 14 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney parks, experiences and products, made the request in a Tuesday stakeholder webcast, contending that state officials should allow its signature theme park to
Executive Janine Jones-Clark has expanded her role at NBCUniversal. Jones-Clark has been named executive vice president, inclusion – talent and content, NBCUniversal film, television and streaming. In her new position, she will continue to oversee diversity, inclusion and equity strategies for Universal Filmed Entertainment Group under Donna Langley. She will also now reporting to Mark
On Tuesday morning’s episode of her talk show, Tamron Hall refuted a report from Us Weekly that former “Vanderpump Rules” star Stassi Schroeder felt “unprepared” during her interview with the host. The report claims that Schroeder felt the conversation about her behavior toward her former co-star Faith Stowers, which led Schroeder’s firing from the show,
Responding to an online distribution landscape driven primarily by the patterns of the video game industry, organizers of the leading international VR festivals have started on a plan to carve out a niche all for themselves – and for the artistically minded project their festivals champion. “The creative or artistic content in VR do not
“Supergirl” is officially hanging up her cape. In a joint decision, the CW and producers Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions have announced that the upcoming sixth season of “Supergirl” will be its last. Production on the “Supergirl” curtain call is set to begin later this month, and the writers have already started developing storylines
It was the bang heard around the world. On this day 20 years ago, Ricky Martin released “She Bangs,” the first single from his album “Sound Loaded.” Written by Desmond Child, Walter Afanasieff, Robi Draco Rosa and Glenn Monroig, the infectious dance hit peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Martin his
Ellen DeGeneres opened the season 18 premiere of her show with a lengthy statement addressing reports of mistreatment and misconduct behind the scenes at “Ellen.” While her apology fell short in the eyes of some, many were perhaps expected the premiere to draw bigger ratings than usual due to the controversy. In reality, the premiere
Exclusive Dr. Dre‘s estranged wife had the gall to dip into a well-funded cookie jar not just once, but TWICE … at least according to Dre’s biz partner, who’s now accusing her of grand theft. Attorneys for Larry Chatman — who co-founded Record One studio with Dre in 2015 — just fired off another letter
The ongoing effects of recent lockdowns coupled with an anticipated surge in consumer VR headset sales have made industry eyes look to online distribution pathways with more interest than ever before. While on-site exhibition spaces remain hard-hit in this germ-averse age, the consumer headset market is expected to reach new heights, with market analyst firm
Running Sept. 23-27, this year’s NewImages Festival will work on two different fronts, offering locals a physical rendezvous space at Paris’ Forum des Images, while opening its full program to international attendees participating online. Giving NewImages’ third edition a true hybrid flair, the 16 VR projects playing in competition and the 12 out-of-competition works can
Tommy DeVito, a founding member of the Four Seasons, whose story was immortalized with that of the other members in the stage musical and movie “Jersey Boys,” died Monday night in Las Vegas. He was 92 and had been hospitalized with COVID-19 complications. Two of the other original members, Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio, released
Focus Feature and Magnolia Pictures have jointly announced that they will be re-releasing the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic “On the Basis of Sex” and the documentary “RBG” on Friday in theaters. Both film companies will be donating their net proceeds from the films’ theatrical re-release to the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation in support of their Women’s
The game took place in Las Vegas. The sounds were imported from Oakland. No fans yelled from the seats of Allegiant Stadium Monday night as the Las Vegas Raiders triumphed in their home-team debut over the New Orleans Saints. Still, Raiders die-hards were heard. Viewers of a special broadcast of “” seen on ABC and