When Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan first introduced their version of “Westworld” on HBO in 2016, they brought to life a world that was inherently more technologically advanced than the real world. At first, that was depicted through the theme parks in the show, populated by actors playing robotic hosts perfectly designed to reflect a
TV’s late-night comics are finding they don’t need all the usual trappings to get on with their shows. Even though all the nation’s wee-hours programs are taking a production hiatus due to America’s coronavirus crisis, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, David Spade and Trevor Noah are putting out monologues, jokes and sketches
In just a few days, “Animal Crossing” fans will be able to travel to an island paradise and build a community when “New Horizons” finally releases. For gamers with fairly different tastes, on that same day, “Doom: Eternal” will allow those at home to battle through the demonic forces of hell. Either way, it’s an
With most musicians self-isolating, the prolific Charli XCX has turned her considerable energies toward a new daily show called “Self-Isolation IG Livestream,” a series of “daily online events, aimed at providing support to those currently self-isolating due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking place on Instagram live each day, starting from today (Wednesday, March 18), the
Dre London made his name in the music business alongside Post Malone’s, co-managing the artist (with Electric Feel’s Austin Rosen) as he ascended in five years from newcomer playing 250-capacity rooms to the arena-filler he is today. That success helped London land the honor of manager of the year at Variety‘s 2018 Hitmakers event and
To put it simply — and, yes, gratefully — “Phoenix, Oregon” is the sort of movie a lot of us need right now. It’s an undemandingly enjoyable and reassuringly predictable dramedy in which nothing, not even the sourball attitudes of its comically unpleasant malcontents, ever is allowed to get out of hand or unduly strain
Australian filmmaker P.J. Hogan has come full circle with his award-winning international hit comedy “Muriel’s Wedding.” Not only is Hogan observing the 25th anniversary of the release in the U.S. this March, he was in New York in prepping pre-production on “Muriel’s Wedding: The Musical” before the coronavirus restrictions hit. The stage version scored a
“Vida” is coming to an end with its upcoming third season, Starz announced Wednesday. The cabler renewed the show for the third season in May 2019 and its April 26 premiere date was announced just last month, in February 2020. But now “final season” has been added as a descriptor. Creator, showrunner and director Tanya
March 18, 2020 9:02AM PT Following the cancellation of international TV showcase MipTV due to coronavirus concerns earlier this month, organizers Reed Midem have launched MipTV Online Plus, a premium online service. The service will be available from March 30 and is free to all registered for MipTV, MipDoc, and MipFormats clients. Users can access
Tyra Banks has put smizing on hold. The “America’s Next Top Model” host is postponing the opening of ModelLand, a theme park opening in Santa Monica, Calif. A new launch date has not been announced. “In light of the recommendations of the CDC, WHO, and California Governor Gavin Newsom, we have decided to postpone the
The coronavirus has hit the industry like a wrecking ball. Starting late last week, news emerged — sometimes in bursts — of productions shutting down across the globe. In every case it wasn’t a decision that was made lightly, after all the lives and livelihoods of the cast and crew will be temporarily derailed by
Kevin Ryder, a staple of morning radio on L.A. station KROQ for the past 30 years, says he has been fired from the station and escorted from the building by security guards. Jimmy Kimmel, an alumnus of the “Kevin & Bean Show,” was among those weighing in on Twitter with dismay. “Shame on you KROQ
In response to school closings sparked by Covid-19 outbreak concerns in the region, DirecTV Latin America and its partners have opened up their joint educational channel, Escuela Plus, to all DirecTV subscribers for 30 days, starting March 17. Disney, National Geographic, Discovery and Torneo are among the key content partners in Escuela Plus, which is
U.K. broadcaster ITV has postponed the live semi-finals and finals of reality music show “The Voice U.K.” due to concerns over the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The shows that were due to air March 28 and April 4 will now be replaced by “bespoke ‘Voice’ specials,” ITV director of television Kevin Lygo said. Regarding the immensely
Breaking News TMZ.com 7:52 AM PT — A rep for Netflix tells us, “Linda Fairstein’s frivolous lawsuit is without merit. We intend to vigorously defend When They See Us and Ava DuVernay and Attica Locke, the incredible team behind the series.” Linda Fairstein, the woman who helped prosecute the now-vindicated Central Park 5, is suing
Sister has invested in AWA (Artists, Writers & Artisans) Studios, a new comic book and digital media publisher, Variety has learned. The company is unique in that it is owned and operated by the creators. It was founded by Marvel alumni Bill Jemas and Axel Alonso, along with Jon Miller, the former CEO of News
An initiative led by Hollywood talent agency CAA to set up a virtual film market that would replace the Cannes Marché du Film in the event of its cancellation due to coronavirus is being welcomed by some European sales agents, and has prompted Cannes to announce its own virtual market. Sources have confirmed that a
As the concert industry surreally moves online in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Rolling Stone is the latest to launch a series of live-from-home online music series with “In My Room” — and fittingly, the series will launch today at 3 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. PT with the author of that ode to solitude,
The Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles has been the setting for more than 900 intimate Q&As and performances, sometimes bringing in as many as 100 artists in a single year, as it did in 2019, to sit for an interview followed by a (usually) acoustic set. These haven’t been strictly “you had to be
March 18, 2020 6:33AM PT The Eurovision Song Contest, set to take place in Rotterdam in May, has been canceled as Europe battles a far-reaching coronavirus outbreak that has brought the continent to its knees. The European Broadcasting Union, which runs the event, confirmed Wednesday afternoon that this year’s contest has been called off despite
Now that the gravity of a growing coronavirus pandemic has settled in and people are looking to safeguard their health and their livelihoods, the entertainment industry is grappling with three essential questions: How painful will the toll of shutdowns be on the industry’s lowest-paid workers? How high will the financial losses climb? And how will
In the wake of a spate of short film festival cancellations due to the coronavirus pandemic, several programmers have joined hands to launch a fundraising festival. “My Darling Quarantine,” an online short film festival set up by programmers from the Tallin Black Nights festival, Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Locarno, went live on the Talking Shorts
Amazon, dealing with a crush of online orders spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, said it will temporarily halt product shipment from suppliers that fall outside certain categories of high-demand and essential goods. Amazon has told suppliers that it will not be accepting shipments to its warehouses in the U.S., Europe and other territories until at
Two of Pixar Animation Studios’ earliest employees, Ed Catmull and Pat Hanrahan, have won the computer industry’s prestigious Turing Prize for their contributions to 3D graphics and CGI filmmaking. The duo will split the $1 million cash prize for the Association for Computing Machinery’s A.M. Turing Award, which is sometimes referred to as the “Nobel
The U.K.’s Glastonbury music festival has been canceled in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Festival organizers confirmed Wednesday morning that the 50th edition of the iconic fest, which was set to take place from June 24-28, would have to be called off. It will return in 2021. This year’s headline acts included Taylor Swift,
Facebook has vowed to crack down on misinformation, particularly related to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but its filtering systems may have overcorrected — and blocked legitimate posts. On Tuesday, Facebook users began noticing the issue and posted examples on Twitter of the social service flagging their posts as spam when they tried to share
Research by Chinese ticketing agency Maoyan appears to show that Chinese people have not lost their taste for feature films during the recent coronavirus-enforced closure of cinemas. Nearly all (97%) of the people surveyed have been watching movies at home. After being cooped up for weeks, more than half (54%) are more keen than they
Though she remains locked in a long-running legal war with powerhouse music producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Kesha is no proverbial shrinking violet. The veteran singer-songwriter just released a new album, 2020’s joyous “High Road,” which Variety described as “the sound of reclamation and abandon, of finding her form and shedding old skin.” And so,
French Canadian producer-distributor Datsit Sphere has made its second acquisition of a Kew Media Group business, swooping in to buy “Cardinal” producer Sienna Films from the embattled production group. The Montreal and Toronto-based Datsit Sphere, which previously acquired BGM, picked up Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny’s Sienna Films in a bid to expand its global-facing
March 17, 2020 9:35PM PT The Sydney Film Festival, set to have taken place in June in Australia’s most populous city, has been canceled. Festival organizers called the move a “responsible decision – albeit a devastating one.” The festival had been planned to take place June 3-14, 2020. But upheaval became inevitable after the state of