The cruise industry is being dealt another blow, with leading festival at sea promoter Sixthman’s announcement on May 14 that the remainder of its 2020 events — including the KISS Kruise, Slipknot’s Knotfest at Sea and Kesha’s Weird and Wonderful Rainbow Ride — will be postponed. “Going above and beyond to create moments and memories
Spain’s big shoots industry is putting the pedal to the metal, propelled by an encouraging improvement in tax breaks for international productions.The moves aim to make Spain more attractive for big-budget projects, helping the sector look beyond COVID-19 crisis. Approved May 5, the new measures increase tax rebates for international shoots from 25% to 30%
Several film and TV studios are being developed in the U.K. in response to a boom in production there and a shortage of stage space. The total spend on movie and high-end TV production in the U.K. last year was £3.62 billion ($4.49 billion), a 16% annual increase, and the highest figure ever recorded. Underpinning
Breaking News “I will beat Floyd. I promise my life on it.” That’s Conor McGregor telling Mike Tyson he WILL defeat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match … if it’s the last thing he ever does! So, why the renewed interest in a rematch with Floyd? Tyson was sitting down with Francis Ngannou and the
In Luis Buñuel’s “Belle de Jour,” a housewife slips out during the day to an elite brothel, where she’s able to explore kinky fantasies she wouldn’t dare suggest to her husband. It’s one of the most daring films ever made, not so much because of anything it overtly depicts as what this controversial classic reveals
South Korea’s Jeonju International Film Festival, already delayed by a month due to the coronavirus outbreak, is now to go ahead in its new dates, but in reduced format. Some of its titles, however, will screen until September. At the end of April, festival organizers confirmed that JIFF will go ahead May 28 to June
British movie theater chain Showcase Cinemas U.K., owned by the Redstone family’s National Amusements, has confirmed it intends to reopen cinemas on July 4. Showcase has also set out the precautionary measures it will put in place to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19. Mark Barlow, general manager, Showcase Cinemas U.K., said: “It is clearly
Blame it on “The Avengers.” Or better yet, “Justice League.” Those superheroes are so popular with audiences that Hollywood studios got it in their heads that the world wants to see “expanded universe” movies — unwieldy ensemble productions that bring together half a dozen or more stand-alone characters for a single umbrella adventure. Marvel and
Recent moves by several Indian producers to bypass theatrical release and instead secure direct to streaming outings for their movies has caused a spat within India’s production, distribution and exhibition sectors. As Amazon Prime Video signed up half a dozen movies, and Disney Plus Hotstar and Netflix were rumoured to be sourcing other titles, the
Solitude and isolation aren’t just concepts for those paralyzed by COVID-19. The musical art of seclusion is a pop subsection all its own. From 1958’s “Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely” to Tyler, the Creator’s sad-eyed “Boredom,” to be forsaken is tantamount to being adored, and with it, the glad-to-be unhappy aesthetic is a
If an Orwellian fable were to be visualized by a surrealist in the vein of Salvador Dali, the result would look and feel something like “The Wolf House,” a jaw-dropping marriage of various animation techniques, chiefly stop-motion. A dystopian tale with haunting echoes of “The Three Little Pigs” and “Red Riding Hood,” this shape-shifting, trippy
While another contender conceivably could arise, it’s a safe bet that Charli XCX’s “How I’m Feeling Now” is the first album by a major artist to be made entirely in COVID-19 quarantine. This hyper-prolific performer, songwriter and producer — who ironically waited nearly five years to release her third official album, last year’s stellar “Charli,”
Ariana Grande made a surprise appearance during her brother Frankie Grande’s virtual fundraiser for the Los Angeles LGBT Center on Thursday night. “I want to send a hug and so much love to anybody who needs it and feels extra isolated,” the singer said during the two-hour Rainbowthon event. The benefit also included appearances and
David Nichols, a production designer and visual consultant on more than 20 films, such as “Rocky,” “Taxi Driver” and “Groundhog Day,” died on Wednesday in Taos, N.M., Variety has learned. He was 78. Nichols had a 30-year career in the film industry, serving as a production designer, art director, visual consultant, writer and actor at
In today’s film news roundup, Concordia Studios hires Alexa Platt as chief operating officer, horror movie “Hallowed Be Thy Name” gets a release date and indie feature ‘1 Angry Black Man” finds a distributor. EXECUTIVE HIRE Concordia Studio has hired industry veteran Alexa Platt as chief operating officer to oversee all operational, financial and legal
In the history of civilization, no one has ever been consoled by the thought “Other people have had it worse than you.” In 2020, the pandemic has been devastating, with deaths, illness, unemployment and economic turmoil. But as we observe the 75th anniversaries of V-E and V-J Day, it’s worth remembering that people during World
In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced that “Queer Eye” Season 5 will premiere in June, and Audible has added 40 new sleep and relaxation titles to their newly-launched Sleep Collection. DATES Netflix has announced that “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” will return on May 17 with seven new episodes releasing over the span of seven
George Miller is planning to expand the “Mad Max” universe with a prequel movie based on Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa from 2015’s “Fury Road.” In an interview with The New York Times, the director said the film is an origin story and he’s searching for an actress in her 20s to take over the role.
“The Blacklist” cast and crew were four days into shooting Episode 19 of Season 7 when coronavirus brought their New York set to a grinding halt. Executive producers Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath’s first thoughts were, “That’s that, season over,” says Bokenkamp. But soon enough, KA-POW, they settled on turning the episode into a hybrid
SAG-AFTRA is requiring members to seek union approval before accepting any new work, citing health and safety concerns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. The union, which represents about 160,000 performers, posted the urgent notice on its website on Thursday. “In light of the COVID-19 global pandemic and the attendant high risk to the health and
Sometimes, a setting has to do a bit too much work. “Hightown,” a new drama series on Starz, takes place in Provincetown — the gay mecca and artists’ enclave on the tip of Cape Cod. And while the series puts great effort into exposing other sides of the community, it doesn’t, elsewhere, transcend fairly simple
Starting Thursday night, the Prince Estate, in partnership with YouTube, will host a three-day streaming event of “Prince and the Revolution: Live,” the legendary concert filmed toward the end of the “Purple Rain” tour in Syracuse, NY on March 30, 1985. The show will be available on Prince’s official YouTube Channel for three days only, beginning on Thursday, May
The official film rules for this year’s SAG Awards won’t be announced until next month, but an email sent to studios on Thursday morning says the organization will be following the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ temporary eligibility change for the Oscars. “We are still revising our film release criteria but will be
Neon, which handled the U.S. release of “Parasite,” is commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Best Picture winner’s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The five-minute video, released on Thursday as “Parasite: a Year in Cinema,” begins with the dark comedy becoming the first Korean film to win the Palme d’Or, followed by the
A crush of fans trying to get a free copy of Rockstar Games’ classic open-world game “Grand Theft Auto V” has brought the Epic Games Store to its knees. Epic Games announced Wednesday that through May 21, players can download “GTA V” for free, via the company’s games-launcher app for PC or Mac. That was
Lilly Singh, host of NBC’s “A Little Late With Lilly Singh,” joined the NAB Show Executive Leadership Summit, produced in partnership with the Variety Streaming Room, to discuss the first season of her show and representation in late-night television. Singh, who was a successful YouTuber before transitioning to late-night, wrapped the first season of “A Little Late” in
The CW has announced that it plans on airing its next DC Comics crossover in the first or second quarter of 2021. The announcement was made by CW chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz on Thursday. “It will not happen in December but it will happen sometime hopefully first or second quarter of 2021,” Pedowitz said.
Apple has acquired virtual-reality streaming company NextVR, which would provide a content engine for the tech giant’s long-expected move into AV and VR hardware. Apple confirmed the deal to buy NextVR for undisclosed terms, but declined to provide additional info. “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss
“Never Have I Ever” star Darren Barnet has landed a guest star role on the Season 7 premiere of ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Variety has learned exclusively. In the show’s final season opener, titled “The New Deal,” Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the agents are thrust back in time to 1931 New York City, where they
A Percy Jackson series is currently in the early stages of development at Disney Plus. Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson book series, made the announcement Thursday in a video on Twitter alongside his wife Becky. Rick then followed up with a statement, which reads in part, “We can’t say much more at this