Days after China launched the world’s largest 5G network, US and Chinese film executives at the Chinese American Film and TV Festival’s co-production summit discussed its impact on the entertainment world. China’s three state-owned carriers China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom made 5G data plans available to consumers last Friday, a key step in
It’s full stream ahead for BritBox in the U.K. The ITV-and-BBC-run SVOD service launched on home turf Thursday after having been available for nearly three years already in the U.S. The platform is also set to feature film and TV content from Britain’s Channel 4 as the result of a new agreement for the broadcaster
November 6, 2019 10:00PM PT “Bring Me Home,” which marks the big-screen return of leading Korean actress Lee Young-ae — rarely seen since her 2005 role in “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” — has become a hot pre-seller for rights sales agent Finecut. Produced by 26 Company, the film is a thriller about a woman who
London-based financier and producer Anton, which already fully finances a slate of its own feature films and short-form content, as well as co-financing big-budget TV shows like HBO/BBC’s “His Dark Materials,” is moving into the development and production of its own scripted series, Anton founder Sebastien Raybaud tells Variety. The 8-year-old company, named after Russian
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Rest in Pieces,” the eighth episode of “American Horror Story: 1984.” It’s almost time for the big finish on “American Horror Story” Season 9. The penultimate episode of the “1984” season, entitled “Rest in Pieces,” started on the day before Halloween, 1989, and saw a
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against two former Twitter employees, who are accused of working on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to access account information of dissidents. Ahmad Abouammo and Ali Alzabarah each worked for the company from 2013 to 2015. The complaint alleges that Alzabarah, a site reliability engineer, improperly accessed the
Warner Bros. Entertainment marketing chief Blair Rich sat for a thoughtful and candid conversation about the ups and downs of an eventful year at her studio on Wednesday, when the executive was honored with Variety‘s first-ever Marketing Visionary Award. At the inaugural Visionaries Breakfast, presented by Spotify at the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood,
November 6, 2019 6:00PM PT BTS is teaming with Casetify to globally launch a new tech accessory collection, which contains accessories compatible with iPhone, Samsung devices, AirPods, Apple Watch, MacBooks, iPads and more. The new collection portrays elements from BTS’ lead single “Boy with Luv,” featuring Halsey, from their recent EP “Map of the Soul:
If you’ve seen “Joker” you’ll know one of the key scenes is when Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is on the subway and in a “defining moment” transforms into Joker. The entire sequence is like a “fever dream moment,” as cinematographer Lawrence Sher describes it. From the camera angles to the lighting and colors, even the
In today’s film news roundup, Dean Devlin raises funds, Jason Cassidy gets a promotion and Music Box buys Werner Herzog’s documentary about Bruce Chatwin. FINANCING Dean Devlin’s Electric Entertainment has closed a $60 million syndicated corporate credit facility. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey is serving as the sole lead arranger and SunTrust Bank is the administrative agent. The
Sunny skies are a given during the American Film Market. Westside Los Angeles and Santa Monica restaurants provide ample ways to enjoy the fair weather from the newly opened rooftop bar and restaurant at the Santa Monica Proper Hotel to Chez Jay’s freshly installed patio to the sociable picnic tables along the Third Street Promenade,
Star power is always a draw at the American Film Market, led this year by Rachel Weisz playing Elizabeth Taylor in See-Saw’s “A Special Relationship.” It’s a roll of the dice for independently financed projects. A pair of Diane Keaton projects — “Book Club” and “Poms” — were major draws at the last two AFMs.
Chinese video streaming giant iQIYI saw a further leap in its subscription base, to 106 million. But the company’s latest corporate filing revealed that losses also expanded to a net $516 million over the three months between July and September. The company, which is an affiliate of Internet search and services group Baidu, said that
November 6, 2019 4:01PM PT With the first-ever U.K. edition of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” just over halfway through its run, the BBC has greenlit a second season and will crown another “Queen of Great Britain.” “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.” plays on the BBC’s youth-skewed online channel, BBC Three, and its on-demand service, iPlayer. It has
November 6, 2019 3:52PM PT In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix dropped the trailer for Iliza Shlesinger’s latest comedy special and ATX Television Festival announced its first wave of programming. FIRST LOOKS Netflix has released the official trailer for Iliza Shlesinger‘s latest comedy special, “Unveiled,“ premiering Nov. 19. In the special, Shlesinger dishes newly-wed lifestyle,
November 6, 2019 3:45PM PT “Happy Together” creator Austen Earl and writer Luke Cunningham have set up a project at Fox. The network has given a script commitment to “G-Men,” a multi-camera comedy from the pair that hails from 20th Century Fox TV and Fox Entertainment. “G-Men” centers around two estranged brothers who both claim
Indie production company Hot Snakes Media, whose credits include TLC’s “Breaking Amish” and Animal Planet’s “Extinct Or Alive,” has tapped veteran media executive Colleen Conway Grogan as their senior vice president of development. Grogan will focus on expanding the company’s scripted and unscripted slates, as well as being involved in its efforts in podcasts and
November 6, 2019 3:26PM PT The folk-style teaser for the song has a more intriguingly aggrieved tone than the other new music they’ve previewed. Coldplay may have chosen the double-album format for their upcoming “Everyday Life” because they really do want to show off more than one side of the band after all — including
Jason Cloth, founder and CEO of Toronto-based Creative Wealth Media, is backing two major studio slates (Warner Bros. and MGM) and has committed more than $750 million to major films and TV series through its Bron Creative partnership. Notable projects include “Fences,” “The Morning Show,” “Bombshell,” “The Addams Family,” “A Simple Favor,” Tom Hanks’ “Greyhound,”
Breaking News TMZ/Getty Composite Kevin O’Leary and his wife are being sued by the family of one of the victims in the deadly boat crash. Rosa and Antonio Ragone are suing on behalf of their deceased daughter, Susanne Brito … with their attorney, Patrick Brown, saying, “For this grieving family, it is about obtaining civil
November 6, 2019 2:59PM PT ABC is in development on a follow up to the drama series “Revenge,” Variety has confirmed. The new project hails from “Revenge” creator Mike Kelley and original series writer Joe Fazzio. It is said to follow a young Latinx immigrant who is guided by an original series character as she
Endemol Shine is closing its China-based production and development operations and turning instead towards a centralized licensing strategy driven by local agents on the ground, ContentAsia said Wednesday. The decision will impact its 12-person Beijing office, and the transition completed in the first half of next year. Despite a number of strong IP licensing deals “the
Netflix chairman and CEO Reed Hastings said he’s not “worried” about the imminent launch of Disney Plus — but he did indicate that he sees the Mouse House as the most robust new rival in the streaming wars. “Disney is a great company – we admire them,” said Hastings, speaking at the New York Times’
Warner Bros.’ “Doctor Sleep,” a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s seminal horror film “The Shining,” is hoping to scare some life into the box office. Outside of Warner Bros.’ “Joker,” fall offerings such as Paramount and Skydance’s “Terminator: Dark Fate” and Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” haven’t been as warmly embraced by moviegoers. As a result,
Variety has been given access to the first-look image for John Patrick Shanley’s “Wild Mountain Thyme,” starring Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan. The film, which has just wrapped production on location in Ireland and New York, is being sold at AFM by HanWay Films. The film, an adaptation of Shanley’s Broadway smash hit “Outside Mullingar,”
Over the years there has been much speculation about the nature of Whitney Houston’s relationship with her close associate Robyn Crawford, who was frequently seen in the artist’s company from the early 1980s on. The pair’s closeness frequently spawned speculation about the nature of their relationship. “We never talked about labels, like lesbian or gay,”
Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions have partnered with 101 Studios, A Really Good Home Pictures, Coonskin Cap Productions and Gary Lewis to produce “Unstoppable,” the true-life story of sports hero Anthony Robles. “Our entire Seven Bucks team is passionate about sharing stories that inspire and resonate on a global scale. We’ve had
Pulling together $100 million to finance an elaborately staged, historical film without major studio support was a herculean feat for “Midway” filmmakers. At Tuesday night’s premiere in Westwood, Calif., director Roland Emmerich told Variety that he took a significantly smaller salary to helm the World War II film. “We did this really frugal,” Emmerich explained.
November 6, 2019 1:22PM PT Fox Corporation said that profit in in the first quarter of its fiscal 2020 fell, even as the fees it collects from cable and satellite operators helped buoy the period. The New York owner of Fox News Channel and the Fox broadcasting network said Wednesday that net income attributable to
November 6, 2019 1:13PM PT Roku users streamed more than 10 billion hours of entertainment in the September quarter, helping the company to once again rake in big bucks with digital advertising. However, investors were apparently taken aback by Roku’s accelerating losses as well as slight decline in hardware revenues, sending the stock down as