When Universal first debuted the trailer for “Cats,” social media, to put it mildly, lost its mind. Initial footage for director Tom Hooper’s big-screen adaptation gave a glimpse at the computer wizardry, a phenomenon known in popular culture as “digital fur technology,” used to transform the actors into four-legged felines. The result, an unsettling amalgamation
Sports betting giant DraftKings is set to become a public company after setting a merger agreement with Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp., the public acquisition vehicle headed by industry veterans Harry Sloan and Jeff Sagansky. The deal calls for a three-way combination between DraftKings, Diamond Eagle and SBTech, which provides betting and gaming technologies. Existing investors
Matteo Garrone broke out internationally with “Gomorrah” (2008), considered one of the most realistic mob movies ever made. His English-language debut was dark fantasy/horror film “Tale of Tales” (2015), followed more recently by violent revenge drama “Dogman,” which won the best actor prize at Cannes last year. Garrone’s new live-action adaptation of “Pinocchio” – which
MADRID — Scheduled to bow in 2021, Movistar Plus’ Original Series “Antidisturbios,” from Spain’s Academy Award-nominated Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“May God Save Us,” “The Realm” “Mother”), is shaping up as one of the flagship titles on the slate of Telefonica-owned Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest pay TV player, as well as proving indicative of deeper industry and
Streaming and tech firms are key to the development of the film industry in China, which is home to far more internet users than cinema-goers, Chinese tech giant Tencent and online ticketing platform Maoyan said in a joint year-end report. One statistic puts this in stark perspective: While 66 million movie tickets were sold for
A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced five people to death and three more to prison for the assassination last year of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Dissident journalist Khashoggi was savagely killed by Saudi government agents last year in the country’s consulate in Istanbul. The assassination drew widespread condemnation from around the world, and sparked
December 23, 2019 1:18AM PT Streaming giant, Netflix has ordered new South Korean original series “The Silent Sea” on which Korean star Jung Woo-sung (“The King”) will serve as executive producer. “Silent Sea” is a mystery sci-fi thriller that is set in a precarious future where Earth is running out of water, Netflix said. Based on
Exclusive TMZ/Getty Composite R. Kelly and Michael Cohen are spending their first Christmas behind bars, and they’re about to find out what Suge Knight and Billy McFarland already know — time to pig out unless you’re Bill Cosby. Prisons across the country are feeling the Christmas spirit, and they’re stocking commissaries with special holiday treats,
Two locally-made new releases, “Ashfall” and “Start-up” topped the weekend box office in South Korea, beating “Frozen 2.” (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker releases in Korea on Jan. 8, 2020). Opening on Thursday, CJ Entertainment’s “Ashfall” debuted on top of the box office. The volcano action drama earned $18.2 million from 2.46 million admissions
Flat-footed storytelling meets fleet-footed choreography and sumptuous production values in the untaxingly fun “Ip Man 4: The Finale,” the last installment of director Wilson Yip and producer-star Donnie Yen’s glossy mythmaking tetralogy about the famous Wing Chun master. The insistent subtitle is there for a reason: everyone, Yen included, thought that “Ip Man 3” would
TMZ.com Eddie Murphy made a crack on ‘SNL’ at Bill Cosby‘s expense — and the incarcerated comedian didn’t appreciate it one bit … with his rep calling Ed a “Slave” to Tinseltown. Cosby’s rep, Andrew Wyatt, posted a scathing response Sunday to Eddie’s joke — and it’s pretty brutal. Wyatt, speaking on behalf of Bill,
Ten years have passed since Adam Lambert received the only standing ovation from Simon Cowell during his entire run judging “American Idol.” Saturday night at the El Rey Theatre, Lambert got what amounted to one long SRO ovation, doing an underplay at the 700-capacity venue as one of just four gigs he did this month
No sophomore slump for Harry Styles: his second solo album, “Fine Line,” will debut atop the charts with 478,000 equivalent album units — the third biggest debut week of 2019. Fans wanted the whole thing, too, not just piecemeal tracks: 393,000 of those units came via traditional full-album sales, according to Styles’ label, Columbia. Only
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” wrapped up a nine-film saga this weekend, concluding a venerable story of heroes and villains that relied on special effects wonders and big-screen wizardry to help it usher in a new era of moviemaking. When “Star Wars: A New Hope” hit theaters in 1977, there had never been something
December 22, 2019 11:28AM PT It’s not likely to help the cat-astrophic box office for the $100 million musical adaptation of “Cats,” but Universal is taking the unusual step of sending theaters a new version of the movie. The studio issued a memo to theaters saying the new digital prints would include “some improved visual
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” left its box office competitors in the dust, debuting overseas to a mighty $198 million. Though the ninth installment in the space opera series is tanking in China, where it launched with $12.1 million, “Rise of Skywalker” was the No. 1 film in nearly every other international market. Directed
“Saturday Night Live” close out 2019 with a bang, with a blockbuster episode that featured Eddie Murphy’s first return to the show in 35 years and a stellar musical performance from Lizzo — who also happens to be the most-nominated artist for the 2020 Grammy Awards, with a whopping eight nods for her album “’Cuz
Martial arts spectacular “Ip Man 4: The Finale” was the no-contest winner at the Chinese box office over the weekend. “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” while doing great business in the rest of the world, limped into third spot in China. The Wilson Yip-directed historical action film “Ip Man 4” sees Donnie Yen as
Reviewing music is a walk in the park compared with reviewing books, which must be the most time-consuming occupation in entertainment apart from being parents of budding baseball players. For a similar reason, this best-music-books-of-the-year list is hardly a definitive one — there was a veritable avalanche of them released this year, utterly hopeless to
Despite mixed reviews and concerns of franchise fatigue, the force is still strong with “Star Wars.” “The Rise of Skywalker” turbocharged the box office this weekend as the ninth installment set in a galaxy far, far away generated a massive $176 million in U.S. theaters and $374 million globally. Those domestic ticket sales didn’t come
These days, when someone sets out to make a documentary, they typically have a pretty clear idea of what they’re expecting to find. Not Brett Story, who approaches “The Hottest August” like some kind of anthropologist from the future, interviewing New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds, as if any one of them might hold
When Eddie Murphy stepped back into Studio 8H for the first time in three-and-a-half decades, he brought with him some classic characters from Mister Robinson to Velvet Jones. Murphy’s first sketch in the Dec. 21 episode of “Saturday Night Live” was “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood.” After so many years away, he was still living in his
After three-and-a-half decades, Eddie Murphy returned to Studio 8H to host “Saturday Night Live” on Dec. 21, and he brought along some famous friends and former cast members: Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan and Dave Chappelle. The audience chanted Eddie’s name as he stood on stage for his monologue, which he kicked off by reminding the
To international audiences more accustomed to the relative restraint of China’s arthouse exports, “Only Cloud Knows,” a slab of toothcrackingly sentimental mooncake from regular national box-office conqueror Feng Xiaogang, might come as a bit of a surprise. This episodic, determinedly winsome love story, told in honeyed flashback, follows a grieving husband as he journeys to
“It’s been a long time, Los Angeles,” gushed a grateful, still baby-faced Gerard Way. “We didn’t know if this was ever gonna happen again, so we really appreciate you showing up.” Not only did fans show up — they’d been camped out at the venue for days. Outside the Shrine Expo Hall, just before doors
Play video content Exclusive Details TMZSports.com Meek Mill and a few friends teamed up to give back to kids who are sadly impacted by a broken prison system — giving them major cash to blow … and a chance to meet a G.O.A.T. It all went down Saturday morning in NYC, where Meek, 76ers co-owner
At a time when leaders spout lies and cries of “fake news” put reputable media outlets in doubt, audiences showed an astonishing appetite for nonfiction filmmaking. This year, more than 15 documentaries crossed the $1 million mark in theaters, ranging from high-profile concert films (such as Bruce Springsteen’s “Western Stars” and “Bring the Soul: The
Ricky Gervais has posted a series of seemingly transphobic tweets prompted by J.K. Rowling’s support of Maya Forstater, a researcher who was fired for tweeting that a person cannot change their biological sex. In later tweets, Gervais implied the tweets were meant as jokes. In the first tweet, Gervais, who has been tapped to host
Meet Victoria Mahoney. Mahoney is a self-professed “big-bad dreamer.” But as second unit director on “The Rise of Skyalker,” Mahoney is also the first woman to direct a “Star Wars” film. And she’s also the first black woman to do so. It’s an important distinction in a time where Hollywood is more scrutinized than ever
What’s the greatest Christmas record of the 21st century so far? The one you’d most swear was recorded midway through the 20th. JD McPherson went back to the spirit and sound of the late ‘50s to record “Socks,” an all-originals album that was released in 2018 and which he’s been taking out on tour again in