Showtime has handed a second season order to “Back to Life,” only nine days after the limited comedy series debuted in the U.S. “Back to Life” was created and written by Daisy Haggard and Laura Solon, with Haggard starring as Miri Matteson who, after 18 years behind bars, returns home and stumbles back into adult
“Parasite,” a twisty look at a poor family’s attempts to insinuate itself into the lives of its rich employers, is a worldwide box office phenomenon, a critical sensation and a bona fide awards contender. It’s also the rare Korean film to be embraced in the United States, where it has racked up $12.5 million and
Confirming the pre-launch hype, Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian” swooped into the No. 3 spot on a ranking of the most in-demand digital originals among U.S. viewers after its debut, according to new data. For the week of Nov. 10-16, “The Mandalorian” — the first live-action series in the Star Wars universe — notched nearly 40
November 19, 2019 4:05AM PT Kelly Macdonald will be the lead guest star in the next season of Jed Mercurio’s “Line of Duty.” The last season of the serialized cop drama was a ratings smash on the BBC, with the finale in May the most-watched program of the year so far in the U.K., garnering
Tragicomedy “The Favourite” has walked away with four craft prizes – cinematography, editing, costume design, and hair and makeup – of the European Film Awards. The craft awards were decided by a jury drawn from various below-the-line professions. The 32nd European Film Awards will take place on Dec. 7 in Berlin. Robbie Ryan picked up
November 19, 2019 3:03AM PT StarzPlay has snagged rights to Spanish-produced erotic thriller series “Instinto” and psychological thriller “Sanctuary.” The Starz streaming service has scored both series for the U.K., and for unspecified territories in mainland Europe. Movistar Plus and Bambu Producciones-produced “Instinto” follows Marco Mur, an attractive, successful businessman. A trauma from his past
Exclusive TMZ/Getty Composite Taylor Swift‘s battle with her old record label, Big Machine, over her performance at the AMAs should be over, but it’s not, and the big question … why is she still reluctant to sing her old songs? Taylor has been angry at Big Machine and Scooter Braun over ownership of the masters
Membership services startup Patreon has paid out over $1 billion to creators since its launch in 2013, the company announced Tuesday. Now, Patreon is getting ready for an international expansion, with a particular focus on Europe, Patreon’s senior vice president of product Wyatt Jenkins told Variety. In addition to the $1 billion payout milestone, Patreon
November 18, 2019 11:00PM PT Hong Kong’s Edko Films has set a February 2020 release for upcoming romantic drama “Love You Forever.” The film is directed by Yao Tingting, who previously made another nostalgic romance “Yesterday Once More,” which went on to enjoy a $27 million global success in 2016. Edko’s Bill Kong is named
The Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston agency has signed the Writers Guild of America’s Code of Conduct, allowing the agency to return to representing WGA members again. The WGA made the announcement Monday night. RBEL is joining more than 70 agencies allowed to represent WGA members thanks to agreeing to a ban of agency packaging fees
BBC Studios the coproduction and rights sales arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation, has appointed Fiona Lang and Ryan Shiotani as general managers in the Asia-Pacific region. Lang, currently COO for the company in Australia and New Zealand, is promoted to become BBC Studios’ GM in the same geography. Her responsibilities cover marketing, advertising, creative,
In today’s film news roundup, Steven Zaillian’s script for “The Irishman” wins an award, MGM hires a trio of marketing execs, MTV Documentary Films sets three new projects; and “The Caretaker of Lorne Field” is becoming a movie. AWARDS Steven Zaillian’s screenplay for Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” will receive the best original screenplay award at
Amazon has given an early Season 2 renewal to its forthcoming “Lord of the Rings” series. Pre-production on the project’s first season, which is set to film in New Zealand, is currently underway — although sources tell Variety that the full cast has not yet been set. Several actors, including Markella Kavenagh, Will Poulter, and
Country Radio Seminar has nominated nine young artists as the genre’s top freshmen of 2019, with voting now open to radio pros to whittle the list down to five for the New Faces showcases that’s set to cap the annual gathering in Nashville Feb. 21. The nine nominees for New Faces status at Country Radio
A prequel series to the classic film “Chinatown” is in early development at Netflix, Variety has confirmed with sources. David Fincher and Robert Towne, the film’s writer, are attached to pen the script. It will reportedly focus on the exploits of a young Jake “J.J.” Gittes during his early days as a private investigator. Netflix declined
Exclusive TMZ/Getty Taylor Swift‘s loyal fans have been on the attack ever since their idol pointed the finger at Scooter Braun and co. … but now, they’ve ramped things up by sending death threats. Sources tell TMZ that Swifties of all ages have been threatening to kill Scooter and other Big Machine staffers — including
In today’s TV news roundup, Pop TV releases a teaser for the final season of “Schitt’s Creek,” and Nickelodeon kicks off the holiday season with “Top Elf.” DATES Nickelodeon’s “Top Elf” series will premiere Nov. 29. “Top Elf” is a new competition series featuring guest judges Frankie Grande, Amirah Kassem, Peyton List, Alex Wassabi and
Appearing at Recode’s Code Media conference in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, CBS chief creative officer David Nevins didn’t hold back criticizing one of his biggest competitors: “If you are going to put out one main product, you have to be as mainstream as you can,” Nevins said about WarnerMedia’s plans for HBO Max. Minutes
Just a day before its scheduled China debut, director Lou Ye’s latest film, “Saturday Fiction,” has been pulled from its slot as the opener of the mainland’s Golden Rooster Film Festival because of unspecified “internal production problems,” according to Chinese film website Mtime. Speculation has been spreading online that it will also be yanked from
DeVon Franklin has signed a first-look producing deal at Paramount Pictures. Under his Franklin Entertainment banner, Franklin previously produced inspirational and faith-based films, including this year’s “Breakthrough,” starring Chrissy Metz, as well as “Miracles From Heaven,” with Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah, and the animated film “The Star,” toplined by Zachary Levi, Gina Rodriguez, Oprah
Karen Cogan’s “Fled” has come top of The Brit List, a league table of unproduced scripts from British writing talent, this year devoted to television projects. The list, similar to The Black List in the U.S., was compiled from recommendations by British production companies, talent agencies, financiers and broadcasters. Cogan, represented by Independent Talent Group,
The free version of Amazon’s music-streaming service is now available across more platforms, bolstering competition with Spotify’s free tier. Starting Monday, Amazon said, customers can now listen to Amazon Music’s ad-supported selection of top playlists and thousands of stations for free. It’s available to anyone in the U.S., U.K. and Germany who doesn’t have a
For many, Harriet Tubman’s journey is one we’re taught about in school. We know she’s a heroine, an abolitionist who led slaves to their freedom via the underground railroad. Unless you’ve read the books by Kate Clifford Larson or Beverly Lowry, “We didn’t receive the whole story,” says costume designer Paul Tazewell. Until now. Kasi
November 18, 2019 2:14PM PT ViacomCBS has named corporate heads of HR and inclusion as the companies prepare for the merger that is set to close early next month. The soon-to-combine Viacom and CBS have tapped Nielsen alum Nancy Phillips to serve as exec VP and chief people officer. Viacom alum Marva Smalls will serve
Fred Rogers may be America’s favorite next-door neighbor, but the actor who portrays him, Tom Hanks, received praise of his own during a special screening of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” on Sunday at the Henry R. Luce Auditorium in New York City. “It was a special experience, and I think we knew we
“The Neighborhood” star Cedric the Entertainer is set to executive produce an untitled multi-camera project in the works at CBS, Variety has learned. The series follows two young women who, after repeatedly being turned down by investors, hatch an outrageous plan to raise capital for their new sports app. According to sources, the project had been
November 18, 2019 2:00PM PT There are plenty of tough places to be an intern, but the CIA must be near the top of the list. HBO Max is developing a comedy series which tackles just how hard that might be, Variety has learned exclusively. The forthcoming WarnerMedia streamer, which is set to launch May 2020,
November 18, 2019 1:48PM PT Sony Pictures Entertainment has bought out AT&T’s minority interest in Game Show Network for about $500 million. The deal makes Sony the sole owner of GSN. AT&T had owned 42% of the company, which the telco giant inherited with its purchase of DirecTV in 2015. AT&T has been on a
WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey told the audience of Recode’s Code Media conference in Los Angeles Monday that Disney “did a good job” with Disney Plus, which announced that it reached 10 million sign-ups the day after the service’s launch. “Good for them,” Stankey said. “They are off to a good start.” However, he also cautioned
A pair of Atlanta concerts featuring Keith Urban, Blake Shelton and Eric Church over the weekend brought more than 90,000 fans to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and raised more than $200,00 for military support organizations. Friday’s show featured Urban, Shelton, Sam Hunt, Sugarland, Judah & the Lion and Cale Dodds rounded; Sunday’s lineup was Church, Luke