Breaking News Ex-MLB star Josh Hamilton is now facing up to 10 YEARS behind bars … this after the former MVP was formally indicted on a felony child abuse charge earlier this week. Hamilton is accused of brutalizing his 14-year-old daughter back on Sept. 30 … after he allegedly turned into a monster over a
When Universal’s “Trolls World Tour” lands on home entertainment platforms on Friday, it’ll mark the first major studio movie to skip its planned traditional theatrical release since the coronavirus outbreak forced cinemas to close. The unprecedented move, going against perennial protocol in exhibition, has many in the entertainment industry wondering: is the bold bet a
The NBA season has been suspended, but ESPN and the league have figured out a different way to present live basketball to fans. The Disney-owned sports-media giant sad it would present a tournament built out of a game of Horse and present it on its flagship cable network as well as its streaming mobile app
E-sports and gaming company FaZe Clan today announced an exclusive partnership with e-commerce and culture platform Ntwrk. Ntwrk, known for its limited-edition product drops from LeBron James, Billie Eilish, 88rising and others, led the latest round of funding for FaZe Clan, and has secured the global direct-to-consumer product rights for the company. The collaboration will
Sony is to pay $400 million for a minority stake in Chinese online entertainment platform Bilibili. The deal values Bilibili at $8 billion. The all cash transaction is to be conducted through Sony Corporation of America and sees SCA buy 17.3 million Bilibili shares, or just under 5% of Bilibili’s capital. Bilibili stock is traded
The British Film Institute has set out a package of support measures designed to assist the U.K. film industry as it struggles with the impact of the coronavirus crisis. Ben Roberts, chief executive of the BFI, said Thursday it has “repurposed” more than £4.6 million ($5.71 million) in funding to target specific areas of the
Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment, Fremantle and Chinese conglomerate Shanghai Media Group have teamed up to produce “The Magnificent Dancer,” a talent show for China. Adapted from Syco’s “The Greatest Dancer” format, the new show will be launched on SMG’s Dragon TV later this spring. The primetime series will involve auditions, challenges and live performances. Dance
Juliette Schrameck, the managing director of French film group MK2 (“Portrait of a Young Lady on Fire”), has stepped down. During Schrameck’s decade-long tenure, MK2 had five movies playing in competition at the Cannes Film Festival two years in a row, in 2018 and 2019. Last year’s competition titles included Mati Diop’s Grand Prize winner
Australia’s pay-TV leader Foxtel has made 200 staff redundant, as it struggles to cope with the impact of coronavirus and the changing media landscape. It has also put 140 additional staff, mostly in its Fox Sports division, on leave until June. The company, 65% owned by News Corp. and 35% owned by phone company Telstra,
Australia-based film distributor and multi-territory cinema-on-demand platform Fanforce, this week launched Fanforce TV. It is a streaming service which it positions as a community-led platform, and ideal for use by populations under coronavirus-enforced lockdowns. Fanforce TV consists of a pay-per-view model combined with live-streamed discussions and live chat to enable global audiences to connect films
The prosecution in the Lori Loughlin case on Wednesday denied defense claims that the FBI had entrapped her and other unwitting parents into participating in the college admissions bribery scheme. Last month, attorneys representing Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, argued that the case should be thrown out due to government misconduct. They cited the
Hollywood studios have told the Writers Guild of America that contract negotiations, which have been delayed due to the coronavirus epidemic, need to begin by April 20. Carol Lombardini, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers made the request Wednesday in a letter to David Young, executive director of the Writers Guild
After six seasons on the air, audiences said goodbye to the cast of “Schitt’s Creek” on Tuesday with the series finale. The Rose family and other beloved residents of the fictional town head off to new beginnings, with motel manager Stevie Budd (Emily Hampshire) sticking around to help run things. After the finale aired, Hampshire
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 3, episode 11 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired April 8 on Fox. Jordyn Woods had never performed in front of an audience before “The Masked Singer.” But now the model, who on Wednesday became the latest celebrity to be revealed on the
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will “take a look” into pardoning Joe Exotic, star of Netflix’s hit series “Tiger King,” at a coronavirus press briefing at the White House. The off-topic question immediately drew an outcry on social media. New York Post reporter Steven Nelson asked Trump if he would consider pardoning Joe Exotic
In today’s film news roundup, “The Trip to Greece” will be released on May 22, Easter weekend will see a TV release of Fathom Events’ “Jesus,” and a Mary Pickford project is in the works. ‘THE TRIP’ RETURNS IFC Films has set a May 22 digital and on demand release for the Steve Coogan–Rob Brydon
Thanks to the advent of original content on streaming services, recent years have seen a steady influx of newcomers entering the field of film scoring. So for the first time, Variety has chosen 10 talents (really, 11, as one of our choices is a two-person team) to watch. Some are young and fresh — recognition
Keke Palmer has already proven to be a master of modern communication, but with Quibi’s “Singled Out” reboot, the actor/singer/TV host and meme queen is speaking to a whole new generation. “The first thing that shot out to me was that I’d get the opportunity to usher in something a little bit more for the
Keke Palmer is giving “work from home” a whole new meaning. After keeping fans entertained and uplifted during the coronavirus pandemic with new content on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram Live, and releasing two new songs, Palmer celebrated the launch of her latest series, Quibi’s “Singled Out” reboot, on Monday. “I think I’m one of those
To probably no one’s surprise, the blockbuster release from the Weeknd tops the albums chart for a second week, even with big names like 5 Seconds of Summer, Dua Lipa and Pearl Jam crashing into the top 10. The Rolling Stone chart shows the star’s “After Hours” accumulating 146,500 album units in week 2, down
Exclusive It’s a Passover miracle for Julian Edelman — the NFL superstar will NOT be prosecuted for drunkenly jumping on a car in Bev Hills back in January, TMZ Sports has learned. Remember, the former Super Bowl MVP was arrested on January 11 after cops saw the Patriots WR jumping on the hood of a
When co-creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan decided to set the 11th and final season of “Modern Family” at 18 episodes, they didn’t realize how fortuitous the timing would turn out to be. The series finale of the long-running family sitcom finished filming in late February, mere weeks before the outbreak of the coronavirus would
Fox has announced that it plans to air a one-hour special on Monday from TMZ that promises new interviews and “never-before-seen footage” on the subjects of Netflix’s breakout hit “Tiger King.” “TMZ Investigates: Tiger King – What Really Went Down?” will explore the “outstanding questions about whether or not Joe Exotic is guilty, an inside
In today’s TV news roundup, Variety has learned that Lisa Vanderpump will guest star in “American Housewife,” and Amazon Prime Video announced that the second season of “Homecoming” will premiere May 22. CASTING Lisa Vanderpump will guest star on the May 6 episode of “American Housewife,“ Variety has learned exclusively. Vanderpump will appear as herself
The coronavirus has made everyone a bit sensitive, with good reason, inspiring memes around such now-sensitive movie titles as delayed 007 entry “No Time to Die” and Emily Ting’s culture-shock indie “Go Back to China.” To this list of inappropriately named movies we might add “Why Don’t You Just Die!” — except that Russian director
To compensate for the lack of live music during the coronavirus pandemic, Radiohead has announced that the band will start streaming concert films on its YouTube channel on a weekly basis, starting this Thursday at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET, courtesy of the “Radiohead Public Library” launched earlier this year as a go-to for archival
The Recording Academy and MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund has passed $10 million in donations, the organizations announced today. The fund was initiated last month with a $1 million donation from each organization — MusiCares is the Recording Academy’s charitable wing — and has since seen “generous” but unspecified donations from Amazon Music, Facebook, SiriusXM-Pandora, Spotify, Tidal,
Jimmy Kimmel will return to his usual late-night roost – but will continue to share his hour with ABC News’ “Nightline.” ABC, which has been more aggressive than some of its rivals in ceding entertainment slots to news during the coronavirus pandemic, said it would restore “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to its regular 11:35 p.m. start
Within five months of initial launch, Disney Plus has signed up 50 million paid subscribers worldwide, the media company said. In the past two weeks, Disney Plus launched in eight Western European counties including the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland. In addition, the streaming service became available last week in India,
Elvis Costello, so often eloquent as a eulogist for the legends with whom he’s worked, has posted an eloquent and detailed appreciation of his friend Hal Willner, the music producer who died this week of health complications believed to be associated with the coronavirus. Costello writes on Facebook that the eclecticism of Willner’s way of