“The West Wing” debuted 20 years ago in the fall of 1999 when Bill Clinton was in office, and the Aaron Sorkin-created political drama ran for seven seasons, through the Bush administration. Looking back now, Sorkin says the storylines that seemed like a big deal at the time seem “so quaint” in 2019. “We know
The Philadelphia Film Festival has announced the program for its 28th edition, kicking off on Oct. 17 with Destin Daniel Cretton’s “Just Mercy,” starring Michael B. Jordan. Also screening on opening night are “Parasite,” “Cunningham,” “Come As You Are,” “Bikram: Yogi, Guru” and “The Lodge.” Sponsored by the Philadelphia Film Society, the festival wraps on
Leaders of the Writers Guild of America are maintaining their hardline position with talent agencies and are not interested in a compromise. “We’ve had negotiation conversations over the past two months with a number of unsigned agencies, including major agencies,” the WGA’s negotiating committee said in an email sent to members late Friday afternoon. “It
October 4, 2019 5:18PM PT In an interview with Empire magazine, Martin Scorsese gave the Marvel Cinematic Universe the cold shoulder, comparing the billion-dollar franchise to theme parks. “I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema,” Scorsese told Empire magazine. “Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they
October 4, 2019 5:11PM PT Subscription video streaming services, smart TVs, and 5G internet will be three key driving forces behind propelling U.S. consumer spend on tech products throughout 2020. That’s the takeaway from a Variety Intelligence Platform analysis on the latest edition of the semi-annual U.S. Consumer Sales and Forecasts Report prepared by the
In today’s film news roundup, Stellan Skarsgard’s drama gets U.S. distribution, James DuMont gets cast, “Beautiful in the Morning” opens the LA Femme International Film Festival and Sony sets up multi-lingual comedy “Este Dia.” ACQUISITION Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to the drama “Out Stealing Horses,” starring Stellan Skarsgard and directed by Hans Petter
Politics and music are not such strange bedfellows in the Internet era, and this past week proved no exception. The latest band to get dragged into the nexus was Canada’s Nickelback, who found their 2005 hit “Photograph” used in a meme which was tweeted by Donald Trump on Wednesday. Of all the laws the president
In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix releases “The Kominsky Method” Season 2 trailer and Freeform announces second annual “Kickoff to Christmas” launch date. DATES Quibi‘s new series, “Life-Size Toys,” will premiere Oct. 4. The reality series features Nitro Circus ring leader Travis Pastrana working with his crew to build giant versions of millennials’ favorite toys.
“Watchmen” showrunner Damon Lindelof says he has been asked not to mention Alan Moore’s name — by the graphic novel creator’s own request. But that doesn’t keep Lindelof from wanting to pay homage to the originator of the story on which his new HBO drama is based. “We are just trying to live up to
Ekta Kapoor is the undisputed queen of Indian content. In the 25 years since Balaji Telefilms was set up by her and her parents Jeetendra Kapoor and Shoba Kapoor, it has become the single largest television content producer in South Asia. The company’s two-year old OTT platform ALT Balaji has already notched up 27 million
October 4, 2019 3:37PM PT Disney is in early development on a live-action “Inspector Gadget” movie and has set up the project with “Aladdin” producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich at their Rideback banner. Disney has hired Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell, best known as “Saturday Night Live” writers, to work on the script. “Inspector
October 4, 2019 3:33PM PT In today’s NYCC TV news roundup, “Harley Quinn” gets a Nov. 29 premiere date and Nickelodeon debuts the official trailer for “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” DATES “Harley Quinn” will premiere Nov. 29 on DC Universe, executive producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker announced. The animated original series follows the
After bowing at Venice where it was nominated for the Horizons Award, “Hava, Maryam, Ayesha” has its Asian premiere at the Busan International Film Festival. Directed by debutante Sahraa Karimi, it plays in the ‘A Window On Asian Cinema’ strand. The film is a rarity in that it is an Afghan film made by an
After 2011’s “Nobel Thief,” 2012’s “Uncle Shyamal Turns off the Lights,” 2015’s “Peace Haven” and 2016’s “Mi Amor,” Indian filmmaker Suman Ghosh returns to the Busan International Film Festival with a brace of projects. His “Aadhaar,” a satire on India’s contentious identity card of the same name, has its world premiere at the ‘A Window
October 4, 2019 2:42PM PT The CW’s new “Batwoman” series sent up the signal for someone to play a radio personality with a “penchant for snark,” and Rachel Maddow answered the call. The MSNBC host has been cast in the role of Vesper Fairchild, who is described as a TV and radio figure who once
SAG-AFTRA has asked the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to rescind its recognition of SBS Broadcasting CEO Raul Alarcon, citing multiple instances in which the performers union has clashed with the network. “We find it troubling that a person and business with this type of track record would be recognized by the USHCC, an organization that
The only thing more exhilarating and exhausting than HBO’s stunning summer drama “Euphoria” was its soundtrack. Wound through the sparkly noir soap opera of teens in a love-hate relationship with drugs, sex and themselves was this equally torrid and twilight-y musical tone — an undulating, wall-to-wall set of songs and score crowding around Sam Levinson’s vision
“The Cave,” Tom Waller’s reconstruction of the dramatic rescue of a schoolboy soccer team from waterlogged caverns in northern Thailand begins its festival career this week at the Busan International Film Festival. Interest in the story has been running strongly since the dramatic events of June and July 2018, with at least half a dozen
Showbox, one of South Korea’s leading studios, is launching sales of disaster comedy “Sinkhole” at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Film Market. Helmed by “The Tower” director Kim Ji-hoon, the film is the story of the events that follow the appearance of an urban sinkhole that swallows an entire apartment building. It stars fashion
“We plan to consolidate our position as the world’s leading cinema technology company by operating 750 screens by end of 2019, capable of hosting 150 million moviegoers a year,” said JongRyul Kim, CEO of CJ 4DPLEX at a press event held in Seoul in September. The company has been in business for a decade now. 4DX is
With Diahann Carroll’s death having been announced Friday, and with Judy Garland mania in as full a swing as it’s likely to ever be in the 21st century, due to the biopic “Judy” having just landed in theaters, there could be no better moment in history — at least since 1964 — to take a
October 4, 2019 1:44PM PT “Somewhere Winter,” a Chinese-language romantic drama, has joined the sales slate of Distribution Workshop in time for the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Film Market. The film is directed by David Wang Weiming (“Sex Appeal”) and stars Ma Sichun (“Soul Mate,” “The Left Ear”) and Wallace Huo (“Our Time Will
Millions of Americans are junking cable and satellite TV services — and moving to internet-delivered pay-TV streaming services. In 2019, the number of traditional pay-TV households in the U.S. will decline by 4.2%, to 86.5 million, per the latest forecast from research firm eMarketer. The number of cord-cutter households (those that have canceled cable or
Get ready to be gored by cinema’s horns, trampled under a stampede of deliciously grotesque, fleshy imagery and tossed aloft on a buffalo-snort of bravado because Lijo Jose Pellissery’s utterly bonkers “Jallikattu” is here to pummel a Midnight Madness slot near you into submission. A fever-pitch, adrenaline-soaked vortex of social issues drama, deconstruction of the
Joaquin Phoenix’s “Joker” is dominating North American moviegoing and heading for a record $90 million opening weekend, early estimates showed Friday. Warner Bros.’ R-rated thriller about a psychopathic criminal appears to be on track to top the October record for a launch weekend, set a year ago when Sony’s “Venom” debuted with $80.3 million. Warner
October 4, 2019 1:05PM PT MusiCares announced today that four-time Grammy winners band Aerosmith will be honored as the 2020 MusiCares Person of the Year. The tribute will take place during the 30th Anniversary MusiCares benefit gala, two nights prior to the 62nd annual Grammy Awards telecast. As the group celebrates its 50 th anniversary as a band, Aerosmith will be
Universal Television has promoted Erik Rechsteiner to senior vice president of current series and brought on Kristen Del Pero as senior vice president of current series and international development. Del Pero and Rechsteiner will both report to JoAnn Alfano, Universal TV’s executive VP of current series and international development. “I’m extremely proud of the unprecedented
Breaking News Bam Margera won’t be sentenced to a single day in jail for his hotel trespassing case … if he successfully completes drug treatment, but he’s not getting off scot-free. The troubled “Jackass” star cut a deal with L.A. prosecutors … allowing him to dodge time behind bars. Bam pled no contest to 1-count
ESPN, as expected, said Friday it will devote less attention to so-called “overnight” ratings for many of the live sports broadcasts it televises every week, part of a broader industry move away from using an early tabulation of local markets as a proxy for daily consumer TV viewing. Simply put, changes in the way Nielsen
Disney came close to buying Twitter in 2016. Michael Eisner made an impassioned pitch to the Disney board to block Bob Iger’s acquisition of Pixar. In the mid-1980s, Iger almost joined ICM as a sports agent. Those are some of the intriguing revelations in Iger’s new book “The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned From