Mathew Knowles, father and former manager of Beyonce and Solange, revealed that he was recently diagnosed with breast cancer in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” that aired Wednesday. He underwent treatment over the summer. Knowles, 67, told host Michael Strahan, “I’m doing really good, Michael. I had my surgery the last week of
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri unsurprisingly seconded his boss’ internal comments to Facebook staff that a government breakup of the tech colossus wouldn’t help fix issues plaguing social platforms like election interference and the proliferation of hate speech. Mosseri, in an appearance Wednesday on NBC News’ “Today,” addressed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent remarks to employees
Skydance Interactive is gearing up for the launch of its long-awaited “Walking Dead” virtual reality (VR) game, which it has built in partnership with Skybound Entertainment: The company shared a first trailer for “The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners” Wednesday, and also began to show off parts of the game to media and industry insiders
This year’s edition of the BFI London Film Festival, which starts today, marks Tricia Tuttle’s first in an official capacity as artistic director after she stood in last year while her predecessor was on sabbatical. So what does she have planned? Tuttle looks back at last year’s performance with satisfaction when, with a total audience
Kew Media Distribution has signed a multi-year distribution agreement with Participant, the L.A.-based company behind “Spotlight,” “Green Book” and “Roma,” to start handling global television and digital rights on some new projects from Participant. As part of the deal, Kew Media will distribute Participant’s socially and politically engaged documentaries and narrative feature films, as well
October 2, 2019 1:27AM PT UPDATED: Twitter and Tweetdeck have suffered outages affecting users in various parts of the world. Twitter’s official support account tweeted that it had been experiencing problems at about 6 a.m. Wednesday, U.K. time (10 p.m. Tuesday in Los Angeles). “You might have had trouble Tweeting, getting notifications, or viewing DMs,”
A parade of patriotic films is set to march into Chinese cineplexes this month, crowding out Hollywood fare in a display of how firmly the entertainment industry remains under the control of the government. China may be the world’s second-biggest movie market after the U.S., but as far as its Communist rulers are concerned, politics
Pippi Longstocking is coming to the big screen. Studiocanal and Heyday Films, who partnered on the successful “Paddington” features, have joined forces with the Astrid Lindgren Company to work up the project. Longstocking, with her iconic red hair, freckles, strength and free spirit, is the main character in an eponymous series of children’s books by
The title of the new documentary “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life” bounces off the title of the essay that Sacks published in The New York Times on Feb. 19, 2015 (“My Own Life”), days after he’d received a diagnosis of terminal cancer. (He died on Aug. 30, 2015.) It‘s a deceptively plain title. For Sacks,
Joaquin Phoenix joined host Jimmy Kimmel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Tuesday night to discuss the actor’s upcoming turn in “Joker,” but Phoenix appeared to get a bit more than he bargained for after Kimmel aired some apparent behind-the-scenes footage from the set of the film. In the clip, Phoenix can be heard complaining about a
October 1, 2019 9:43PM PT The Busan International Film Festival, South Korea’s largest film festival, has canceled its opening eve event due to typhoon Mitag. “We inform that the opening eve event that was set to take place Wednesday (Oct. 2), 6 p.m., has been canceled, as an advanced special typhoon statement has been issued
In an idyllic snowy forest, somewhere in the U.S. maybe, there is a place of refuge for travelers. But the hotel is far from what it seems to be. Rather, it turns out to be a place of terror for immigrants. In the hands of Malaysian director, Bradley Liew (”Singing in Graveyards”) the topical tale
In today’s film news roundup, William Moseley and Johanna Braddy get starring roles, Gravitas buys Malcolm Gladwell’s driverless car documentary, “The Fiddling Horse” gets a prize and “No Safe Spaces” gets a release. CASTINGS William Moseley (“The Royals”) and Johanna Braddy (“Unreal”) are starring in the inspirational drama “Pencil Town,” which has just wrapped shooting
October 1, 2019 6:33PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, DreamWorks Animation claims the top spot in spending for the second week in a row with “Abominable.” Ads placed for the kids’ fantasy film had an estimated media value
Timothée Chalamet looks like he was born to wear a bowl cut, but “The King” star wasn’t always on board for the choppy hairdo. “At first it was anxiety-inducing, but then it was like nah this has to be done,” Chalamet told Variety‘s Marc Malkin at Tuesday’s red carpet premiere of “The King.” “Or else
Miley Cyrus’ covers of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, Camila Cabello’s performances of brand new singles “Liar” and “Shameless,” and several surprise collaborations were just a few highlights from the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival, which will air as a two-night television special on the CW tonight (Oct. 1) and tomorrow (Oct. 2) from 8 to
October 1, 2019 5:00PM PT Anthony Chen’s “Wet Season” has been set as the opening title of the 30th edition of the Singapore International Film Festival. The Singapore-set title will play at the Capitol Theater on Nov 21. Having previously competed in Cannes with his 2007 short film “Grandma,” London-based Chen became Singapore’s most talked
WarnerMedia’s Brett Weitz is officially adding another domain to his purview: the general manager of TBS and TNT has now been tasked with overseeing TruTV, and will manage all three networks and steer the creative executive teams and development for TBS, TNT and TruTV in Los Angeles and New York. Additionally, Thom Hinkle, most recently
“Aquaman” actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is in final negotiations to join Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” sources tell Variety. His casting in the historical drama follows the news that the long-awaited film is finally moving forward with Paramount Pictures on board for domestic distribution and Cross Creek signing on to finance and
In weeks leading up to its release, Joaquin Phoenix’s “Joker” has inspired waves of stories and streams of tweets criticizing the R-rated comic-book adaptation for glamorizing a mass killer. Warner Bros., the studio behind the grisly origin story, is clearly in crisis mode, banning press from the red carpets at the film’s premieres, as they
Play video content Breaking News Damian Lillard just dropped a new diss track to respond to Shaq … and it GOES HARD. The song is called “Reign Reign Go Away” and it’s pretty solid. He clowns Shaq’s filmography — from “Blue Chips” to “Kazaam” — makes fun of his physique … and then mocks his
After nearly two years on and off the market at increasingly lower prices, pop star Gwen Stefani has finally sold her boldly decorated Beverly Hills mansion for $21.65 million. The recorded sale price is a huge amount by any standard, but it’s also a notable amount below the final asking price of not quite $25
Angelina Jolie is again up to her wicked ways in “Maleficent Mistress of Evil.” But for the Oscar winner, playing the Disney villain is about a lot more than winged costumes and horns. “It reminds me and I hope others that there’s a part of us that is just unbridled. We just have to be
Morgan Freeman will produce and star in Peter Greenaway’s drama “Lucca Mortis,” Variety has learned exclusively. Morgan will portray a writer whose last big adventure will very likely be death. Based in New York City’s Little Italy, he takes a sabbatical and travels with his family to Lucca, Italy in order to trace his ancestral
Walt Disney Animation Studios has appointed four filmmakers to work on original content for the studio. Directors Carlos Lopez Estrada (“Blindspotting”) and Suzi Yoonessi (“Unlovable,” “Dear Lemon Lima”), along with Disney veterans Josie Trinidad and Marc Smith are each developing new animated films for theatrical release. The announcement comes as Disney and Walt Disney Animation’s
Movie theater owners are taking the lead in setting requirements for new digital cinema technology. The National Association of Theatre Owners said Tuesday that its executive board approved a resolution that spells out how digital cinema technology will be evaluated. NATO promised that its technology committee will initiate and conduct an open process to understand
The 22nd edition of the Hollywood Film Festival, running Oct. 1-6 at Raleigh Studios, promises a bevy of talented filmmakers. Cinematic voices from 58 countries sent in submissions to this year’s event, which serves as a global stage for storytellers to present their work. More than just a competition, HFF strives to create relationships between
A federal judge has granted an injunction blocking Georgia’s “fetal heartbeat” law, which bans abortion at six weeks’ gestation. Judge Steve C. Jones sided with the plaintiffs, including Planned Parenthood and several women’s health clinics, finding that the law violated the Supreme Court’s precedents in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. “This Court,
Back in the early ‘70s, Eric Clapton and Marvin Gaye fulfilled very different functions in the rock and soul pantheon — a twain to be enjoyed, and never exactly to meet. It only took four and a half decades or so for Gary Clark Jr. to come along and be the guy who can be
Amazon has licensed a selection of Disney titles — including all four “Toy Story” movies, “The Lion King” and “Avengers: Endgame” — for the ecommerce giant’s Prime Video streaming service in Latin America. The deal is set to run for just one year, from Oct. 1 until September 2020. That’s because Disney plans to launch