Motown is launching a UK outpost, label president Ethiopia Habtemariam and EMI Records president Rebecca Allen announced today (Sept. 14). Rob Pascoe (pictured at left) will hold the new position of managing director and Afryea Henry-Fontaine has been named marketing director of the label which will showcase a “new generation of British Black music,” according
AMC Networks-owned RLJE Films has swooped for U.S. rights to “Shoplifters of the World.” Inspired by true events, “Shoplifters of the World” is set over the course of one night in the life of four friends who are reeling from the sudden dissolution of British band The Smiths. The same evening, a local radio station
U.K. super-producer Nicola Shindler is to step down from her production company Red, and launch a scripted label under ITV Studios. Based in Manchester, the new firm will develop and produce premium drama for the U.K. and international market. Shindler, who most recently served as chief creative officer of London-based Studiocanal U.K., will join ITV
Stephen Graham (“The Irishman”) and Sean Bean (“Game of Thrones”) will star in three-part prison drama series “Time,” created by Jimmy McGovern (“Accused”) for U.K. broadcaster BBC One. Set within the British penal system, the drama is seen through the eyes of two different men, a teacher, husband and father who killed an innocent man
Shani Gonzales has been promoted to managing director of Warner Chappell Music UK. She will hold the position in addition to her current role as head of international A&R, beginning October 1. She’ll report to Guy Moot, co-chair and CEO of Warner Chappell, the publishing arm of Warner Music Group. Currently and plans to relocate
The 25th edition of the Busan International Film Festival will shrink by a third and be presented in a hybrid in-person and offline format, due to the challenges posed by the coronavirus. Running with newly announced dates of Oct. 21-30, the festival will present foreign titles as both opening and closing films. It will open
Doves flutter, girls chatter, life sputters on — and sometimes gutters out — in Emma Dante’s tempestuous and touching sophomore feature “The Macaluso Sisters.” To imagine the decades-long catch-and-release sweep of a single lifespan and condense it into one sub-90-minute film is a feat; to do so about multiple interconnected lives without losing definition is
For “The Masked Singer,” this is the way. The smash hidden celebrity music competition has just revealed another first: “Baby Alien,” a puppet character sitting in a rocket — which is all, of course, a costume for one of this season’s contestants. Not only will the celebrity behind “Baby Alien” have to sing as usual,
Netflix has released the first trailer for Aaron Sorkin’s awards contender ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7.’ Based on the true story, the film follows the trials of seven people following peaceful protests that turned violent at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Sacha Baron Cohen stars as Abbie Hoffman, alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt as
Kicked out of school for fighting, again, 15-year-old Cole (Caleb McLaughlin of “Stranger Things”) doesn’t know what to expect when his exasperated mom drives him to Philadelphia and drops the hotheaded teen on his estranged father’s doorstep for the summer, but the last thing he expects to find in the living room is a horse.
Rick Riordan, author of the popular “Percy Jackson” novels, is developing his Egyptian mythology series “The Kane Chronicles” into feature films at Netflix, Variety has confirmed. The author made the announcement on his social media accounts and website on Saturday. “Hey everybody, want some more exciting news? We’re developing ‘The Kane Chronicles’ as feature films for
UPDATE: The software company Oracle has won the bid for TikTok’s U.S. assets, according to the Wall Street Journal. On Sunday night, Microsoft’s bid to buy the U.S. operations of the Chinese-owned video app was rejected, leaving Oracle as the frontrunner. Oracle’s acquisition should resolve President Donald Trump’s executive order threatening to ban TikTok unless the
The “Parks and Recreation” cast are reuniting for the second time this year. Several of the show’s stars, including Amy Poehler, Adam Scott and Nick Offerman, will hold a virtual event raising money for the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Aubrey Plaza, Retta, Jim O’Heir and series co-creator Michael Schur will also join in on the fundraiser,
The NFL’s two big TV services are back with satellite-distributor Dish just in time for the football league’s next season to kick off. NFL Network and NFL RedZone went dark on Dish in mid-June after the two sides failed to come to terms on a new contract. The NFL said at the time that it
You know something terrible is going to happen when the early moments of a film greets you with an obvious reference to “The Shining” — in the case of the time-and-memory-twisting psychological horror “Violation,” the bird’s-eye view of a lone car, creeping ahead on a narrow road through dense trees, accompanied by a screechy score.
Taylor Swift will perform “Betty” on the Academy of Country Music Awards telecast Wednesday, her first time performing on any country awards show in seven years. Swift will sing from the stage of the Grand Ole Opry House, one of three iconic Nashville venues (the other two being the Ryman and Bluebird Cafe) being used
Disney’s “Mulan” opened in China this weekend with disappointing figures of just $23 million, far from the slam dunk it had hoped for in a critical territory. While it still was the highest grosser of the weekend, it came in just a hair above the local historical epic “The Eight Hundred,” which grossed $21.7 million,
Netflix has acquired the worldwide rights to Sam Levinson’s “Malcolm & Marie,” starring Zendaya and John David Washington, in a massive $30 million pact. The sale comes out of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival — a largely virtual affair that Netflix has dominated with splashy deals. The streamer shelled out $20 million for global
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it a dream come true because Daniel Dae Kim is Superman! After DC FanDome’s wild ride of announcements and special panel presentations, Variety is debuting the exclusive video from the celebrity-filled charity re-recording of the 1940s Superman radio specials. Television and film stars Jason Alexander, Henry Winkler, Giancarlo Esposito,
It’s time to go to prom later this year. Ryan Murphy’s upcoming Netflix adaptation of “The Prom” will release on Dec. 11, the acclaimed creator announced on Instagram on Sunday. “On December 11, let Netflix take you to the Prom you didn’t get this year,” Murphy wrote on Instagram with a flashy sign highlighting its
Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” crossed the $200 million mark globally, propped up by overseas grosses while U.S. cinemas struggle to draw audiences during the coronavirus pandemic. The time-bending sci-fi thriller generated $6.7 million in the U.S. and Canada during its second weekend of release, representing a 29% drop compared to opening weekend. Initially, Warner Bros., the
Every year, TIFF Filmmaker Lab, a Toronto Festival development program, selects 20 directors who will be tutored over four days by industry specialists and veterans. Rubbing shoulders this year with Brazilian, Pakistani and Rwandan cineasts is Colombian-born and Swiss-trained Jorge Cadena, whose “The Jarariju Sisters” caught attention at the Karlovy Vary European Film Promotion Future
It’s hard to believe that Muhammad Ali (formerly Cassius Clay) was just 22 years old when he won the heavyweight championship on Feb. 25, 1964. It’s an even further stretch to imagine that on that same night, he celebrated his win alongside Sam Cooke, Jim Brown and Malcolm X on a night that would undoubtedly
“Selma” star David Oyelowo did not originally plan to make his feature film directing debut in 2020. But when the first director for “The Water Man” left for another project during the financing stage, Oyelowo stepped up. His film is now set to debut at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival on Sept. 19. “The Water
A decade ago, Tomm Moore startled the world by landing an Oscar nomination for “The Secret of Kells,” an independent animated feature that wowed those who saw it with its distinctive look (extrapolated from illuminated manuscripts) and near-phosphorescent palette (leaves so green they practically glow in the dark). At the time, outsider animation hardly stood
Chris Hemsworth isn’t hanging up Thor’s hammer any time soon. In a new interview with the Polish magazine Elle Man, the Marvel superstar says he doesn’t plan to leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe after “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth entry in the “Thor” series. When asked if Thor would retire after the upcoming movie,
Rapper Kanye West missed the deadline to appear on the Wisconsin presidential ballot by 14 seconds, and a judge has upheld the decision to keep him off the ballot. Judge John Zakowski ruled in favor of the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Friday night, effectively keeping West off the ballot in the state. He had filed
Frances McDormand says she’s always dreamt of hitting the road. She told her husband when she was 45 that she had plans to change her name to Fern when she turns 65 and “start smoking Lucky Strikes, drinking Wild Turkey and I’d hit the road in my RV.” Her dreams sort of came true with
Kanye West just got schooled on what a 5:00 PM deadline means in Wisconsin — in one judge’s view … which, for now, is keeping Ye off the ballot there, and it’s all over 14 seconds. A circuit court magistrate ruled this week that Kanye was, in fact, too late by submitting his nomination docs
More teases for the Snyder Cut of “Justice League” were doled out at the DC FanDome virtual event. This time, a sneak peek at the upcoming score was teased by composer Tom Holkenborg, known as Junkie XL. During the second weekend of DC Fandome on Saturday, Holkenborg appeared during a panel to tease a portion