“American Idol” is resuming auditions, but amid the coronavirus pandemic, they will be held remotely, ABC announced Friday. This allows the usual “Idol Across America” tour to expand out and include all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. — for the first time since the show’s inception. Auditions for the upcoming fourth season on the Alphabet
The U.K. government has taken swift action as the country recorded the highest number of fresh coronavirus cases since June on Thursday, with a spike of 846 new cases. Face coverings will now be compulsory in museums, galleries, cinemas and places of worship from Aug. 8, it was confirmed Friday. The new safeguards will be
Venice Golden Lion contender “Miss Marx,” starring Romola Garai as the spirited daughter of philosopher Karl Marx, has secured its first tranche of international deals ahead of the September fest. (Watch the film’s exclusive trailer above.) Written and directed by Susanna Nicchiarelli (“Nico, 1988,” “Cosmonaut”), with Celluloid Dreams serving as international sales agent, the film
Back when Chinese developers were building cinemas at the rate of 10,000 screens per year, a favorite guessing game of distribution executives was trying to determine when China’s theatrical box office would overtake that of North America. That scenario hasn’t happened yet. Last year, China’s box office growth slowed to a pedestrian 5% and reached
Action star Jean-Claude Van Damme is currently shooting action-comedy “The Last Mercenary” in France for Netflix, being directed by David Charhon (“On the Other Side of the Tracks”). In the French-language film, written by Charhon and Ismael Sy Savane (“Lascars”), Van Damme plays a mysterious former secret service agent who must urgently return to France
The Riga International Film Festival in Latvia is set to host Magnetic Series, a Nordic industry platform dedicated to drama series and streamers for the Nordic region, Russia, Germany and Greenland. Magnetic Series, which will be running Oct 16 only, will have a hybrid format allowing Baltic and Nordic producers to pitch their episodic content
Laurent Danielou’s Paris-based sales agent Loco Films has swooped on “Last Days of Spring” (“La Ultima Primavera”), a Spain-set first feature from Isabel Lamberti that will world premiere this September at San Sebastian Festival’s New Directors competition, the Festival confirmed Thursday. The Spanish festival’s main sidebar, New Directors highlights first and second features from helmers
Venice main competition contender “Dear Comrades,” the latest feature from legendary Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky, has been snapped up for world sales by Berlin-based Films Boutique, in what looks like one of the biggest sales agents deals on a title vying for the Golden Lion at 2020’s 77th Venice Intl. Film Festival. Packing a brief
Australia is getting closer to moving ahead with controversial legislation that will make the U.S. tech giants pay local companies for news. Other measures to contain their influence are also on the cards. The “Draft Mandatory Code of Conduct Governing Digital Platforms and Media Businesses” was announced on Friday by Treasury Minister Josh Frydenberg. The
Glenda Jackson’s return to British TV after 27 years, with much of the interim spent as a Labour MP, was widely acclaimed as a tour de force upon its broadcast on BBC One last winter. In “Elizabeth is Missing,” the 83-year-old actor took viewers inside the mind of a dementia sufferer determined to crack the
In the opening scene of “,” a highly enjoyable documentary about the folk-pop troubadour of Canada, Lightfoot, now 81, sits at home with his wife, Kim, and watches clips of himself on Canadian television singing the 1965 song “For Lovin’ Me,” an ode to the arrogant adulterer he once was. Back when he wrote the
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) managed to stage its glitzy Film Awards in February at the Royal Albert Hall with legions of celebrities just before the coronavirus lockdown, but its Television Awards on Friday will be a very different affair. Gone is the traditional red carpet. This year’s event is a
Rare is the movie about writer’s block that doesn’t end with the frustrated author scrapping his dead-end drafts in order to “write what you know” — i.e., the film we’ve just sat through. More uncommon still is the dog movie that doesn’t rely on its canine lead to warm hearts, jerk tears or teach its
Just a few hours before her “Black Is King” visual album debuts on Disney Plus, Beyoncé has given fans a brand new music video. Late Thursday night, the 24-time Grammy winner dropped a new music video for “Already” from “The Lion King: The Gift” that will be featured on “Black Is King.” The song features
It’s no surprise that politics took center stage at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards. While Rachel Maddow accepted her award for outstanding TV journalism segment for her interview with Pete Buttigeig on “The Rachel Maddow Show,“ she said, “We are at a point where an openly gay TV host can accept an award for an
The passing of singer-songwriter Emitt Rhodes, who died July 19 at age 70, produced the kind of small but mighty outpouring of grief that is befitting for one of the great cult figures of rock history. He’s remembered here by television showrunner-producer-writer John Wirth. He was the showrunner and executive producer for the American Western
Layoffs have hit Legendary Digital Networks, a spokesperson for the company’s corporate parent Legendary Entertainment confirmed to Variety. The cuts are to eight full-time positions, representing 30% of the staff, according to sources. The layoffs are across the division’s marketing, production and sales teams. Legendary had been scaling back the digital division since Joshua Grode
British actress Helena Bonham Carter has revealed she was “scared” and faced “anxiety” when she signed on to play Princess Margaret in hit Netflix show “The Crown,” produced by Left Bank Pictures. “I was really scared at first; I wasn’t immediately going to do it,” said Bonham Carter. “Because when you play somebody who everyone
It’s hard to imagine that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agreed to be a part of “Immigration Nation” without expecting the docuseries to shine a more flattering light on the federal agency than it’s otherwise used to. Under a contract with ICE, filmmakers Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz get an unprecedented inside look at how
Chris Meloni has been enjoying his career in the nine years after he left “Law & Order: SVU.” From “True Blood” to “Pose” to “Handmaid’s Tale,” among many other projects,” he has really shown range. Just take a look at his latest series “Maxxx,” streaming on Hulu. In the British comedy, the show’s creator O.T.
An Ol’ Dirty Bastard cover and a kazoo parade featuring Big Freedia were the two most-awarded pieces of music at the 2020 AMP Awards, which were held virtually on Thursday (July 30.) The seventh annual gathering from the Association of Music Producers (AMP) recognized excellence in use of licensed and original music in advertising, led
Over a staggered series of pandemic-delayed release dates, “Unhinged” has been consistently hyped as the film that will bring the dormant theatrical scene back to life — the one that, as other major releases have either postponed themselves into the distant whenever or bit the bullet and premiered online, has stuck to its guns as
On today’s TV news roundup, Netflix released a trailer for “Teenage Bounty Hunters,” and HBO announced the premiere date for NXIVM docuseries “The Vow.” DATES HBO announced that docuseries “The Vow” will be available on HBO and HBO Max starting Aug. 23. “The Vow” documents events within NXIVM, an organization rife with charges against it,
Products featured are independently selected by our editorial team and we may earn a commission from purchases made from our links; the retailer may also receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. If you’re hoping to watch Beyoncé’s “Black Is King” visual album online, there’s only one place to do it. The new film premieres
Cocomelon, the YouTube children’s animated nursery rhymes and songs channel that is one of the platform’s most-viewed channel with over 3.3 billion average monthly views, has been acquired by Moonbug Entertainment. Moonbug also said it acquired Blippi, a live-action educational show on YouTube that generates more than half a billion average monthly views that feature
Following the launch of an investigation into the workplace culture at her daytime talk show, Ellen DeGeneres has personally addressed her staff and apologized for numerous, unspecific transgressions on set. DeGeneres acknowledged a culture that did not reflect the values with which she started the 17-year franchise, and pledged to do better. In addition, insiders
Kerry Washington will be joined by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union for a virtual discussion following the release of “The Fight,” a timely documentary focusing on ACLU lawyers as they battle for abortion, immigrant, LGBTQ and voting rights. “The Fight,” produced by Washington, is being released through virtual cinemas and in select movie
“Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston has revealed via Instagram that he contracted COVID-19. Now recovered and with the antibodies, he has decided to donate plasma to aid scientific research of the virus. Cranston made the announcement with a two-minute video in which he takes his followers through the plasma donation process at the UCLA Blood
Tamar Braxton has called out what she describes as the “systemic bondage” of reality television in her first post since being hospitalized following an attempt to take her own life. Braxton was taken to hospital on July 16, after LAPD responded to an emergency call from her Ritz-Carlton Residences in downtown Los Angeles. In a
SAG-AFTRA’s funds held in trust for others have increased by less than $1 million to $215.6 million since last year, according to the union’s latest filing with the federal government. The miniscule gain, following a 9.4% jump last year, is a probable sign of the impact of the industry’s production halt that took place in