California resident Tyler Tompkins booked a plane ride to see “Tenet” weeks before movie tickets to Christopher Nolan’s latest sci-fi epic even went on sale. The round-trip flight from Los Angeles to Austin, a three-hour Spirit Airlines journey in time for the Sept. 1 screening, set him back $220. And that’s without accounting for the
These are boom times for hit songwriters, with catalogs being snapped up by Hipgnosis, Shamrock and others — and the latest big acquisition comes from Spirit Music Group, which announced that it has acquired the publishing catalog of Grammy-nominated songwriter and former “American Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed beyond stating that “The
As Emmy voting draws to a close, the 2020 music nominations span rookies to regulars. Martin Phipps landed his sixth nomination overall for the dramatic score to Netflix’s “The Crown.” Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and his scoring partner Atticus Ross nabbed a nomination for their first series, HBO’s “Watchmen.” Emmy fave “The Marvelous Mrs.
Billie Eilish and her brother/musical collaborator Finneas were supposed to be six months into their “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” world tour — but just two dates into the tour, it was postponed due to coronavirus. The pair have been keeping busy over the past few months, playing livestream benefits, Billie
UPDATE: Bette Midler has tweeted again about her remarks, writing, “Well, all hell has broken loose because I said Melania “still can’t speak English” last night. I was wrong to make fun of her accent. America is made up people who speak with all kinds of accents, and they are all welcomed always.” Well, all
At the beginning of March, Lady Gaga announced the initial dates of her “Chromatica Ball” tour promoting her new album, which would have seen her playing a half dozen dates in Europe and the U.S., concluding at MetLife Stadium on August 19. Well, we all know what happened next, and while a canceled tour is
The creators and actors behind hit BBC and Hulu show “Normal People,” based on Sally Rooney’s bestselling novel and produced by Element Pictures, have revealed the process that went into the much lauded intimate scenes between leads Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal. “The intimacy between the characters and the attraction and physical dimensions of the
Diversity and inclusion have become a mandate for businesses trying to build representative workplaces and improve the experience for marginalized individuals. But when COVID-19 hit the U.K. in March, schemes focused on this area were often the first casualties of cost-cutting. “I know a [major] global tech firm, and that’s one of the first things
There was no one better equipped to serve as a musical director for a special Prince tribute concert than Sheila E., who has a place in his legacy for everything from her Prince-helmed 1984 smash “The Glamorous Life” to, later in their careers, simply serving as his drummer. “Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to
Akon may be best known for his catalog of hits like “Lonely” and “I Wanna Love You,” but he’s run a parallel career as a record executive, signing Lady Gaga to his KonLive label via Interscope (the two have since parted ways) and his Konvict Muzik imprint, which was founded in 2004 and over the
Does the world need another streaming entertainment recommendations app? Bingie co-founder and CEO Joey Lane believes there’s a big opportunity for his company to stake out territory as a new virtual watercooler for finding out about — and discussing — new TV shows and movies. Bingie, which carries the tagline “Never wonder what to watch
The third “Bill & Ted” movie is here at last. Released 31 years after “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and directed by Dean Parisot, “Bill & Ted Face the Music” sees the return of Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves as Bill and Ted, now middle-aged former rock stars who are warned by a visitor from
In today’s Global Bulletin, Constantin extends its deal with German hitmaker Bora Dagtekin, San Sebastian finalizes its Perlak section, upstart training program Creative Producer Indaba share details, Endemol Shine sells “Deadwater Fell” in France, and Channel 5 commissions eight new historical programs. CONTENT DEAL Constantin Film has extended its exclusive deal with Bora Dagtekin, one
The Tokyo International Film Festival will shine a spotlight on the work of internationally-acclaimed Japanese director Koji Fukada during its 33rd edition. The festival will be held in front of live audiences Oct. 31 – Nov. 9, 2020. Fukada, who graduated from The Film School of Tokyo, has worked in both animation and live action
Abel Ferrara will be awarded the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival. Ferrara, who is based in Rome these days, will be handed the award honoring an artist’s original mark on contemporary cinema during a ceremony on Sept. 5 prior to the screening of his latest doc titled “Sportin’ Life.”
U.K. free-to-air channel BBC Two has ordered “Idris Elba’s Fight School,” a four-part series that will see the “Luther” star set up an experimental fight school in London. Elba will enlist seven recruits whose circumstances around their upbringing have not given them the opportunities to make the right choices from across the U.K. and teach
A newly remixed version of John Lennon’s “Instant Karma” has long been on the schedule to come out as a single this Saturday as part of a Record Store Day drop — and, of course, fans figured the odds of one song being commissioned for that treatment as a one-off seemed slim. But what did
Song Kang-ho, star of Oscar-winner “Parasite,” will head the cast of “Baby, Box, Broker,” the Korean-language debut of “Shoplifters” director Hirokazu Kore-eda. Rounding out a stellar acting lineup are Bae Doona (“Cloud Atlas,” “The Host”) and Gang Dong-won (“Peninsula,” “The Priests”). The film takes as its starting point boxes that are left out for people
Atlanta-based Gray Television has expanded its investment in indie Swirl Films with a deal designed to provide Swirl with more resources to produce series and made-for-TV movies. Swirl Films, headed by producer Eric Tomosunas, is a prolific supplier of movies to outlets such as BET, Netflix, TV One, Lifetime, Hallmark Channel and Up. The company
Bella Thorne set a new record on subscription-based social platform OnlyFans: The actor, model and influencer officially earned over $1 million through revenue on the platform in the first 24 hours after debuting her account, according to the company. Thorne announced her plans to launch on OnlyFans in a video montage posted to Instagram on
AMC Networks’ streaming service Acorn TV has acquired exclusive U.S. and Canadian rights to BBC One crime thriller series “Bloodlands” from Hat Trick International and executive producer Jed Mercurio (“Line of Duty,” “Bodyguard”). The four-part series, written by Chris Brandon (“Red Rock”), stars James Nesbitt (“Cold Feet,” “The Hobbit” trilogy) as a veteran detective in
Stem, the distribution and payments platform for independent musicians and labels, has secured $10 million in new financing and brought in several new investors, senior advisors and Board Members that include prominent music executives. Those execs include Kevin “Coach K” Lee, co-founder and COO of Quality Control Music (Lil Baby, Migos, Lil Yachty), Calvin Harris manager
Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, who scored an Oscar nomination for Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory,” no longer has coronavirus. “After 21 days of disciplinary confinement I can say now that today I overcame the Covid 19 infection,” Banderas tweeted. “I am cured. My thoughts go to those who weren’t as fortunate as me, and to
Italy’s Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival – which has long seen thousands of heritage film lovers and distributors flock to the city of Bologna in summer – officially kicked off Tuesday with a freshly restored version of Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Cronaca di un amore” (pictured). It’s an emblematic opener in various ways. The now freshly restored pic
Facebook is preparing to mount a legal challenge to the Thai government order that this week forced it to block content posted by an anti-monarchist group. Facebook began blocking access within Thailand to a group called Royalist Marketplace, which was formed in April and had over a million followers. The site “provides a platform for
MTV International has launched “MTV Generation Change: Black Lives Matter,” a 10-part short-form series designed to support the global Black Lives Matter movement. The series features international artists, reality stars and change makers including Leigh-Anne Pinnock from British girl group Little Mix, model and activist Munroe Bergdorf, singer/songwriter Ray BLK, reality TV star Nathan Henry,
Kate Winslet, Jennifer Hudson and Glenn Close have joined previously announced lead Daisy Ridley in the cast of VR animated film “Baba Yaga,” which will make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Hudson is also an executive producer on the pic from Baobab Studios, which will make a push for the Oscar for
The U.K. premiere of “Ammonite,” starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, and directed by Francis Lee (“God’s Own Country”), will close the British Film Institute London Film Festival on Oct. 17. Set in the 1840s, the film follows self-taught paleontologist (Winslet) who is entrusted with the care of a young, married woman (Ronan), who recovering
A weirdly tame, let’s-all-get-wasted riff on “The Purge” from the team behind such solid youth-focused comedies as “Banana Split” and “Big Time Adolescence,” Hulu original “The Binge” imagines an alternate America where all drugs and alcohol are illegal, except during a 12-hour window each year, at which time anything goes. If the premise sounds more
Chinese romance film “Love You Forever” earned a stunning $38.3 million on Tuesday, its opening day in mainland China cinemas. That figure is the highest single day score achieved by any film worldwide in 2020. The film tells the story of a man who is able to go back in time to save the tragically-shortened