When author, playwright and screenwriter Paul Rudnick first began writing “Coastal Elites,” the world was a very different place than the one in which it is premiering. “I started working on ‘Coastal Elites’ over a year ago because everyone I knew on every side of the political divide had spent the last almost four years
The Prague shoot for Netflix’s German-English film “Transatlantic 473” has been temporarily shut down after an extra tested positive for COVID-19, Variety can reveal. With the Czech Republic newly red-listed for travel by other European nations following a spike in infection rates — and quarantines now required for those arriving in the country — the
A Tanya Tucker live album just announced for release next month will be culled from a pair of shows she did last October at the world-famous Troubadour … and, in deference to the troubles that it and other music nightspots are having staying alive during an extended industry-wide shutdown, she’s designating a portion of proceeds
Gary Fleder has signed on to direct the espionage thriller “Line of Control” with Brickell & Broadbridge Intl. on board to finance and sell the project at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival. Fleder, whose credits include “Runaway Jury,” “Homefront” and “Kiss the Girls,” will direct from a Ben Dubash script. “Line of Control” will explore
What are the benefits of an online festival premiere? It’s been the question on the lips of filmmakers, sales agents, distributors and exhibitors since festivals had to stop operating as physical entities. Venice marked a return to a more traditional way of doing things, while Toronto’s hybrid dance of digital industry and physical public screenings
“Dunkirk” star Harry Styles has boarded the psychological thriller “Don’t Worry, Darling,” opposite Florence Pugh, Chris Pine and Olivia Wilde. Styles replaces Shia LaBeouf, who has departed the project due to a scheduling conflict. Wilde is directing “Don’t Worry, Darling,” which is set in an isolated community in the California desert in the 1950s, from
Antifa is a way of life, a belief, and to criminalize it is itself criminal, according to Julia von Heinz. The German director’s latest film, “And Tomorrow the Entire World,” just premiered in competition in Venice, where it wowed critics with a very personal story about young left-wing activists fighting what they see as a
Fox Sports host Skip Bayless tried Friday to tamp down pushback to comments he made the day before criticizing Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott for remarks he made about grappling with depression – just hours after his employer appeared to reprimand him for the comments. “I have great compassion for anyone suffering clinical depression, which
When Drew Barrymore started on the path to becoming a daytime talk-show host, her industry pals were quick to warn her that the daily grind of hosting a syndicated talker is one of the most demanding jobs in showbiz. That was more than a year ago. The work has only gotten more complicated since then.
Throughout the ‘00s, Doves were responsible for some of indie-rock’s most exquisite music. The trio from Manchester, England released four records between 2000-2009, each a perfectly-balanced ecosystem of euphoric anthems, haunting balladry and dreamy atmospherics. While never rising above the level of cult concern in America, in their home country, Doves ticked all the boxes
There is a world in which the wistfully expressive Naomi Watts would be among the boldest actors working today, like her contemporaries Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman. But for every daring “Luce” or “While We’re Young,” Watts seems to have a tame “Penguin Bloom” on her résumé: middling projects with predictable beats. Still, it’s thanks
Warner Bros. has postponed the release of “Wonder Woman 1984,” the latest development in Hollywood’s rocky plans to return to the movies. The superhero sequel starring Gal Gadot, which was expected to debut on Oct. 2, will now touch down in theaters on Dec. 25, 2020. “Patty is an exceptional filmmaker and with ‘Wonder Woman
Italian sales company True Colours has acquired world sales in most territories on Moroccan director Ismaël El Iraki’s gritty Casablanca-set “Zanka Contact,” a romancer pairing a faded rock star with a drug problem and a “streetwise amazon (…) with a liquid gold voice,” according to catalog notes from the Venice Film Festival, where the film
Netflix is about to knock out competitors for the worldwide distribution rights to Halle Berry’s directorial debut. Berry’s “Bruised,” an MMA drama that is screening as a work-in-progress at the Toronto Film Festival, is stitching up a sale close to $20 million, insiders familiar with negotiations said. Endeavor Content is repping filmmakers in the deal,
“Valorant,” Riot Games’ 5v5 competitive shooter, is still mapping out its nascent esports scene following its debut in early June. But players, talent and even major corporations are already making a push for women to get involved in the esport on the ground floor. This past Sunday, Nerd Street Gamers and Comcast’s Spectacor Gaming held
“A Suitable Boy,” the six-part series based on Vikram Seth’s 1993 novel, is set against the backdrop of 1950s India, a country finding its identity as a nascent democracy and following its partition into two countries, India and Pakistan. Filmed on location in northern India with a cast of over 100 Indian actors, it has
In celebration of her career-spanning new album, “An Evening of New York Songs and Stories,” Suzanne Vega will play two globally livestreamed concerts from New York City’s iconic Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. The first will go live on October 7 at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time for North American fans and the second will go live on October 8 at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, to accommodate
Ian West – PA ImagesGetty Images Kerby Jean-Raymond and Kering are looking to empower the next generation of innovators. Today, the founder of New York fashion label Pyer Moss and the French luxury conglomerate unveiled the next phase of their Your Friends in New York (YFINY) partnership, a platform that launched quietly earlier this year
Thirty years after the premiere of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” the Banks family’s together again with one very surprising inclusion — Janet Hubert, the OG Aunt Viv is back!!! Will Smith shared a screen grab of himself and Janet smiling and laughing at each other, which might make ya think hell is about to
“You’re not dying. You just can’t think of anything good to do.”-Matthew Broderick in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences can be a forgetful group. While their tastes have undoubtedly expanded and matured over the years, they still need to be reminded about the best films and performances
Disney’s Chinese-themed “Mulan” got off to a soft start on its debut in mainland China theaters on Friday. By 7pm on opening day, the Niki Caro-directed film had clocked up $6.23 million (RMB42.6 million), according to data from film ticketing agency Maoyan. That made it the top grossing title so far on Friday, with a
At the 2018 Oscars, Mary J. Blige made history with “Mudbound” — by becoming the first Black woman to earn multiple Oscar nominations in the same year (for best supporting actress and original song). Now, she’ll be back in the Oscar race for her new song. Variety has learned the Grammy-winning singer’s latest “See What
Once the Venice Film Festival branded this year’s modified version of the event as a trial balloon for future gatherings, industry minds began to wonder: With the festival scene undergoing such shifts, what other conventional wisdom was suddenly less than certain? One idea in particular struck a chord with Venice attendees. Ever since the Berlin
Several years ago, Viggo Mortensen was in a plane high above the Atlantic, flying home from his mother’s funeral and struggling to sleep. He was overcome by a flood of emotions and echoes from the past, memories welling up from childhood that gave him the sudden urge to write. Over the course of a restless
Asia’s biggest annual film festival in Busan, South Korea is to be postponed by two weeks due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. And organizers warned that the festival could still be canceled outright. At a meeting Friday between the festival’s board of directors and the city authorities, it was decided to shift the event backwards.
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, through his multimedia production company Studio Ramsay, has inked a deal with the BBC to produce and host the studio’s first ever primetime game show. While Ramsay has hosted and judged plenty of cooking shows over the years, from “MasterChef” to “Hell’s Kitchen,” this will mark his first outing as a
Veteran Indian producer Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP is set to restart shooting “Sitara” in November. After a brief schedule in Mumbai, the shoot was paused in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The film, starring Sobhita Dhulipala (“Made in Heaven”) and Rajeev Siddhartha (“Four More Shorts Please”), is a love story between a fiercely independent, feisty,
Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose”) is joining Daisy Ridley (“Star Wars”) and Stephen Fry (“Gosford Park”) for the voice cast of “The Inventor,” the forthcoming stop-motion animated family feature about the life of Renaissance master Leonardo Da Vinci. “The Inventor” is written and directed by Jim Capobianco, the Oscar-nominated scribe of “Ratatouille.” Matt Berry,
Variety spoke with Kiyoshi Kurosawa the day after the world premiere of his World War II suspense drama “Wife of a Spy” in competition at the Venice Film Festival. A frequent invitee to Venice, Cannes and other major festivals, Kurosawa did the interview via Zoom from the Tokyo office of his Japanese distributor. “This is
Capping a week that has seen the company acquire Big Deal Music Group and appoint several new top officers, Hipgnosis Songs announced that it has acquired the music catalog of Chrissie Hynde, founding member, lead vocalist and primary songwriter of pioneering rock band The Pretenders. Hipgnosis has acquired 100% of Hynde’s music publishing catalog of