In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced the premiere date for its upcoming drama series “Away” and Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes announced their new podcast “Smartless” will premiere in July. DATES Netflix has announced “Away” will premiere on Sept. 4. The upcoming drama series follows American astronaut Emma Green (Hilary Swank) as she
The new head of NBCUniversal’s news operations pledged to make the workforce that staffs NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC more diverse, calling for the unit’s employee base to be 50% female and 50% people of color over an undefined period of time. “The demographics of America have been changing for decades… and that change is
Matt Bomer already knew Derek Simonds, the creator and showrunner of “The Sinner,” before being approached about starring in the third season of the USA Network series. “I had met with Derek years ago when he was involved in ‘Call Me by Your Name,’ and we’d hit it off creatively and had a great conversation,”
Kanye West’s Yeezy wasn’t the only musician’s business taking a PPP loan, according to documents from the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department: Guns N’ Roses, the Eagles, Pearl Jam, Green Day and many other touring musicians took out loans as well. The news was first reported by Rolling Stone. The financial support, which is
Peter Lenkov’s relationship with CBS has been terminated due to accusations the producer and showrunner created a toxic work environment on his sets, Variety has confirmed. Lenkov developed and was the showrunner on the CBS revivals of “Magnum P.I.” and “MacGyver,” but has now been fired from those shows. In addition, his overall deal with CBS
Viewers were treated to two different takes on an 18th century Russian empress this season: HBO’s four-part “Catherine the Great,” starring Helen Mirren, and Hulu’s 10-part satirical “The Great,” starring Elle Fanning. The aims were very different, and so were the musical approaches by English composer Rupert Gregson-Williams, who undertook HBO’s serious dramatic adaptation, and
While the opulence of building a enchanted forest inside the Grand Palais or constructing a monumental, thirty-foot sculpture of a jacket feels like a distant memory, the world of couture lives on. Digitally, at least. As the fashion industry continues to grapple with physical shows during the time of COVID-19, the big fashion houses move
Here’s more corporate synergy in action: Pluto TV is gearing up to stream reruns of dozens of popular CBS shows and Comedy Central’s “South Park” — all housed under their common parent, ViacomCBS — on the free, ad-supported linear TV-style streaming service. Starting July 14, and continuing throughout the summer, Pluto TV’s new slate of
Entertainment industry veteran, budding sports entrepreneur and civil rights attorney Jeff Kwatinetz, co-founder of the three-on-three basketball league Big3, which he formed in 2017 with actor-musician Ice Cube, has put a $4.8 million price tag on a spacious home along the picturesque canals in L.A.’s once gritty, now fashionable and exceedingly expensive beach community of
Dylan O’Brien is in negotiations to star in Peter Farrelly’s next movie, which is based on the novel “The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A True Story of Friendship Stronger Than War.” O’Brien beat out a number of other actors for the part, which was one of the more sought after roles in Hollywood for a
Hong Kong “Mulan” star Donnie Yen this week reiterated his political loyalty to mainland China as he teased work on the upcoming theatrical adaptation of popular video game “Sleeping Dogs” and announced “Golden Empire,” a new China-backed crime thriller. His hometown is currently roiling under the impact of a controversial new national security law imposed
Justin Timberlake, a native of Tennessee, has called for the removal of Confederate monuments throughout the country. In an Instagram post on Monday, he wrote, “America was built by men who believed in and benefitted from racism. … [and] those men who proudly owned and abused Black people are STILL celebrated all over the country.”
When HBO Max launched on May 27, the television world was introduced to a competition series unlike any seen before on screen. Inspired by the culture of ballroom, “Legendary” follows eight houses as they vogue their way through nine balls to win a cash prize of $100,000. And while it may look like a dance
The stars and creators of the HBO Max competition series “Legendary,” including judge Leiomy Maldonado, MC Dashaun Wesley and executive producers Jack Mizrahi, Rob Eric and David Collins, joined the Variety Streaming Room, hosted by Variety’s Caroline Framke, to discuss why it was important to highlight the stories behind the dances. The competition series, inspired
Lucy Liu opened up in a recent interview about the difficulties she faced earlier in her career due to racism in Hollywood. The former “Charlie’s Angels” star’s comments come as actor Thandie Newton spoke out about how she was initially cast in Liu’s role in the 2000 film, but pulled out due to what she
Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard, both masked, arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday for the explosive start of a libel trial. Depp is suing the publisher of The Sun, News Group Newspapers, and the paper’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, for describing him as a “wife-beater,” based on allegations Heard
Lil Baby is the only big name that matters among the season’s top albums, it sometimes seems. His “My Turn” takes a turn at the top of the album chart yet again this week, with 69,600 album units. Although there were no new releases debuting in the Rolling Stone album chart’s top 10, Haim’s “Women
The team behind Apple TV Plus’s original series “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” has been working on the outline for the second season since the show premiered on the streamer back in February. In the midst of charting the next episodes of the sitcom, social distancing regulations took hold to combat the coronavirus pandemic, drastically changing
When social distancing and shelter-in-place regulations took hold earlier this year, the creative team behind Apple TV Plus’s original comedy series “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” took a break from drafting the show’s second season to create a special exploring how the characters would operate under the quarantine. Series star, co-creator and executive producer Rob McElhenney,
When director Gina Prince-Bythewood took the helm of Netflix’s “The Old Guard,” bowing on the streaming service July 10, one of the first people she called was longtime collaborator and editor Terilyn Shropshire — the two have a partnership that dates back 20 years, along the way collaborating on “Love & Basketball,” “The Secret Life of
In a cover interview with Cosmopolitan, Keke Palmer commented on her experience at a Black Lives Matter protest in Los Angeles last month, specifically touching on an interaction that went viral through a clip posted by NBC News in which Palmer is seen urging members of the National Guard to march with protesters and them
The next season of “Escape the Night” — the murder-mystery series hosted by Joey Graceffa — may or may not be happening, after YouTube declined to renew its longest-running original. But separately Graceffa, a popular YouTube creator, author and influencer, has now officially revealed a new project based on the franchise: “Escape the Night Game,”
Country singer Lindsay Ell has released a new single and video, “Make You,” dealing with the trauma of a rape she endured at 13 and realizations and healing that didn’t occur until many years later — topics she also addressed in a People magazine interview published Tuesday. “I wanted to release it on Global Forgiveness
HBO Max has ordered a 12-episode season of “Young Love,” an animated series based on the characters from Matthew A. Cherry and Sony Pictures Animation’s Oscar-winning animated short, “Hair Love.” Creator Cherry will showrun the series with Carl Jones, the animation creative best known for “The Boondocks” and “Black Dynamite”; Blue Key Entertainment’s Monica A.
Matthew Weiner has a new series in the works. Variety has learned exclusively from sources that the “Mad Men” creator is developing a half-hour series at FX. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the series is being described as a mystery dramedy. Weiner is writing the series and will also executive produce and
Disney’s “Descendants” is the franchise phenomenon that just won’t stop — look no further than the climbing YouTube numbers for its songs and performers. Its latest and third installment centers around the teenage children of famous villains who return to the Isle of the Lost looking to recruit new kids to join them at their
WWE announced Tuesday that Kristina Salen has been hired as chief financial officer. In her new role, she will report directly to WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, effective August 3, 2020. She takes over the role from interim CFO Frank A. Riddick III. Riddick stepped in after WWE co-presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson
“Westworld” star Thandie Newton revealed several stories about shocking behavior she’s encountered from Hollywood executives and creatives over the course of her career in a provocative interview with Vulture. The actor cited incidents ranging from press coverage of her alleged sexual assault to what she remembers as a racist encounter with former Sony Pictures head
Universal Content Productions (UCP) is continuing its push into the true crime space with a new limited series starring Elisabeth Moss. Moss has signed on to star in a series titled “Candy” for the studio, based on the true story of Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore. In 1980 Texas, Montgomery (Moss) seemingly had it all
Vince Vaughn and Paul Walter Hauser have been cast alongside Kristen Bell and Leslie Jones in the caper comedy “Queenpins.” Independent financier Align has joined AGC Studios, Aloe Entertainment and Marquee Entertainment to provide financing and co-produce. Pre-production will begin in late summer in Los Angeles. “Queenpins” is written and will be directed by husband-wife