December 17, 2019 4:08PM PT The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that 344 feature films are eligible for the 2019 Academy Awards. To be eligible for the consideration, the films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by Dec. 31, and begin a minimum run of
Exclusive Getty Composite Quality Control CEO “Pee” Thomas is completely incapable of handling his kids — which is why he doesn’t — according to Lira Galore … who’s calling his recent fatherhood claims into question. The custody battle between Pee and his baby mama is getting nastier, and according to new docs … Galore says
Emmy winner Uzo Aduba is set to star opposite Lupita Nyong’o in HBO Max’s “Americanah,” the limited series based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best-selling novel of the same name. Zackary Momoh also recently joined the cast. “Americanah” is a 10-episode limited series that tells the story of Ifemelu (Nyong’o), a self-assured young woman raised in
Nobody in the vast media universe is more excited to see the new year dawn than Bob Bakish. The president-CEO of ViacomCBS is eager to get moving on growth initiatives that have been on the drawing board for months. The biggest change to come from the reunion of Viacom and CBS Corp. – two halves
Variety has selected its annual list of 10 Brits to Watch, an honor the publication has bestowed since 2013. For the fourth year, Variety is partnering with the Newport Beach Film Festival and Visit Newport Beach to honor those selected at the sixth annual Newport Beach U.K. Honours evening, to be held at the Langham
December 17, 2019 3:31PM PT House Democrats have enough votes to impeach President Donald Trump on Wednesday, according to two media tallies. The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that 216 members have publicly said they will support the article charging Trump with abuse of power. The same tally showed Democrats needing just one more vote
Leslye Headland is getting back in business with Fox 21 Television Studios. The “Russian Doll” co-creator, who worked with the studio on the 2010 FX series “Terriers,” has signed a multi-year overall deal with the Disney-owned studio. As part of the deal, Headland will be looking to create, develop and direct series for network, cable
Taylor Swift fans have been waiting for the superstar to do “Carpool Karaoke” on “The Late Late Show With James Corden.” Ever since a tweet sent out by the CBS show’s Twitter account earlier this year sent Swift loyalists into a tizzy, there has been speculation on if — or when — the carpool collaboration
“If Only,” the song Andrea Bocelli recorded with Dua Lipa for his 2018 album “Si,” sat untouched in Filippo Sugar’s drawer for eight years. Sugar, whose family-owned Sugar Records has a deal with Universal Music Group via Decca U.K. to handle Bocelli’s recordings, was sure the song would work for the Italian tenor. They just
December 17, 2019 2:57PM PT Ebenezer Scrooge is a character whose iconic status is earned through his simplicity. Through endless retellings of Dickens’s novella “A Christmas Carol,” his nature and his story have the starchy plainness not to warp: Scrooge loves money over people, and has entirely lost his way as regards human relationships. Give
British visual effects and animation firm Cinesite, which won an Emmy for its work on “Game of Thrones,” has nabbed an investment from Gryphion Capital Investments and new banking facilities from Barclays and NatWest that total $112 million. The news comes as the British film and TV production sector eyes a potential upside to Brexit:
Cue the falling pianos: Warner Bros.’ Wile E. Coyote movie, “Coyote vs. Acme,” is one step closer to the big screen, having secured director Dave Green. Green will help develop the live action-animation hybrid, which is currently seeking a writer. The animated feature follows the infamous Looney Tunes prairie woof whose objective is obliterating his
Netflix averaged just over one new original TV program or movie for every day of 2019. The streaming giant released 371 new TV shows and movies on the service in the U.S. this year, according to data from Variety Insight. This is an increase of 54.6% over the 240 shows and movies Netflix released in
Apple is adding a new docuseries to the originals slate at its direct-to-consumer streaming platform. “Visible: Out on Television,” created by filmmakers Ryan White and Jessica Hargrave and executive produced by Wanda Sykes and Wilson Cruz, will premiere on Feb. 14 on Apple TV Plus. Narrated by Janet Mock, Margaret Cho, Asia Kate Dillon, Neil
The country duo Sugarland has signed a new contract with Big Machine Records, marking the first time the act has been signed exclusively to the label. In 2018, after years spent apart on solo projects, the reunited twosome released a comeback album, “Bigger,” in a joint venture between Big Machine and Sugarland’s previous label, Universal
PBS has teamed up with its member station WGBH Boston to launch an interactive kids series called “Scribbles and Ink” on PBS Kids digital platform. Based on the book series by the same name from author and illustrator Ethan Long, the show lets children participate in the action with their own drawings. “Scribbles and Ink”
The most excellent first look at “Bill and Ted Face the Music” is here. Fans finally get a look at the two time-traveling best friends played by Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. Set 29 years after “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” the Wyld Stallyns duo have returned a little older, but hopefully not much wiser.
Adam Driver, who stars in two of the most-talked-about movies this December – “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and Netflix’s “Marriage Story – recently walked out of an interview with NPR’s talk show “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross. Sources confirm to Variety that Driver, who was recording his side of the radio interview at
Looking back at the past decade, there’s no legacy Hollywood player that has been able to cause quite as big of a stir on Wall Street as Disney. The company and its media sector peers spiraled into a tailspin in the mid-2010s after Disney chief Bob Iger uttered but a few mild words about cable
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star Brian Tarantina’s cause of death was revealed as an accidental drug overdose, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to Variety. Tarantina died Nov. 3 at the age of 60 from the combined effects of fentanyl, heroin, diazepam and cocaine, a spokesperson at the Medical Examiner’s office
December 17, 2019 12:06PM PT A group of prominent TV writers has urged New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign the television diversity bill supported by the Writers Guild of America East and the Directors Guild of America. Cuomo has until Wednesday night to sign or veto the legislation, which has been in the works
If you identify as a summer person, it may be hard to believe that there are people out there who really, truly love the cold. This season, help the snowbirds on your holiday shopping list lean into their affinity for the elements with these winter-ready gifts they’ll use straight through April—whether they’re hiking in the
Vacations have the power to turn us into new people. And not just in the philosophical sense, but when it comes to style, too. In the season two finale of Succession, even staunch minimalist Shiv Roy exchanged her neutral trousers and turtlenecks for a Delft-blue bathing suit and a superyacht-size straw hat. And Rihanna, never
Lulu Wang didn’t know she wanted to be a filmmaker until she was a senior at Boston College and watching “Secretary.” “I don’t know if I talk about this very much, but it’s the film that made me want to make films,” Wang says on the latest episode of “The Big Ticket,” Variety and iHeart’s
Dan Lin’s Rideback production shingle and MRC are partnering once again for a second session of their Rideback TV incubator. The TV writers residency program, which was launched in Feb. 2019, offers a paid, six-month residency to a group of five writers who have each previously been staffed on series and want to create their
December 17, 2019 11:30AM PT Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is expanding his TV credits to animation. The actor-producer-rapper is set to executive produce an animated Black superhero series titled “Trill League” which hails from Lionsgate and is set up at Quibi. Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Anthony Piper, “Trill League”
Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira’s HBO Max series has found another lead. Zackary Momoh, whose recent credits include the 2019 pics “Doctor Sleep” and “Harriet,” will star in a lead role opposite Nyong’o in the WarnerMedia platform’s adaptation of “Americanah.” Based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best-selling novel, “Americanah” tells the story of Ifemelu (Nyong’o), a
December 17, 2019 11:00AM PT Will Ferrell is attached to star in Netflix’s “The Legend of Cocaine Island,” a scripted remake of the streaming service’s popular documentary of the same name, sources tell Variety. Peter Steinfeld will write the script, and Ferrell will produce with Gloria Sanchez Productions’ Jessica Elbaum and David Permut through his
Having premiered half of the 10 films shortlisted for the international feature film Oscar and four of the five movies nominated in the Golden Globes’ foreign-language category, the Cannes Film Festival has once again proven its power to position non-English films in the awards season, ahead of the Venice, Toronto and Berlin fests. Last year,
December 17, 2019 10:51AM PT Sales agent M-Appeal has picked up Leonie Krippendorff’s lesbian love story “Cocoon,” which world premieres in the Generation section of the Berlin Film Festival. Krippendorff’s debut fiction feature, set in Berlin’s multicultural Kreuzberg neighborhood, follows Nora, a shy 14-year-old girl as she makes her way into adulthood: she falls in