June 26, 2019 9:35AM PT STX Entertainment is best known for movies like “The Upside” and “Ugly Dolls,” but it also has a division dedicated to creating virtual-reality movies like the recent action short “The Limit.” STXsurreal is working on over a dozen films in a variety of genres, according to its founders, Rick Rey
“Myst,” the influential video game that helped usher in the CD-ROM era, may inspire an ambitious multi-platform film and television universe. Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, the co-producer and co-financier of the “Matrix” and “Sherlock Holmes” franchises, has acquired the rights to the first-person graphic adventure. For those born post-90s, “Myst” was wildly popular and hailed
June 26, 2019 9:30AM PT Fox is moving forward with its long-gestating American adaptation of the Australian comedy miniseries “A Moody Christmas” as a holiday event series, Variety has learned. The single-cam comedy follows Dan Moody as he returns home to spend Christmas with his dysfunctional family. When he arrives, he’s met with the inevitable
June 26, 2019 9:19AM PT Joyn has acquired a trio of international drama series from Beta Film. The German streaming service, run by local media giant ProSiebenSat.1 and Discovery, has acquired Alex Pina’s acclaimed Spanish drama “The Pier,” Nordic noir thriller “Hassel,” and Russian drama “Trigger.” A U.S. deal is understood to be in the
Beth Chapman, who was a staple of the TV show “Dog the Bounty Hunter” along with her husband, died Wednesday at a Honolulu hospital after being in a medically induced coma. She was 51. Her husband Duane Chapman confirmed the news on Twitter. “It’s 5:32 in Hawaii, this is the time she would wake up
Republic Records advances Wendy Goldstein to President of West Coast Creative, label co-founders and chief executives Monte and Avery Lipman announced today. Goldstein has overseen the company’s Santa Monica office since 2017 as EVP of Republic Records. Over the past year, she headed up the label’s efforts for Ariana Grande’s back-to-back No. 1 debuts for the singer’s “Sweetener” and “Thank U, Next” albums, and
Major Lazer & Anitta’s new track “Make It Hot” has all the makings of a summer hit — including a version that plays well on the go: Alongside the official video, artist manager services company Mtheory released a version on Wednesday that was cut for vertical viewing on Instagram and TikTok. “With the way fans
June 26, 2019 8:34AM PT Arriving with uncanny timing, a day after Cardi B pleaded not guilty to assault in an ongoing case around an incident at a New York nightclub last August, the rapper has dropped an eye-popping new video for her latest single “Press” that features violence, nudity, multiple murders and, wow, lots
June 26, 2019 8:27AM PT Condé Nast Entertainment hired Kathryn Friedrich, a YouTube and Google alum who most recently headed Verizon’s RYOT Studio, to the newly created role of EVP, operations and general manager. Friedrich started in the new gig this week, reporting to Condé Nast Entertainment president Oren Katzeff, who joined the company last
Two estranged half-siblings from a small coastal town in Slovenia spend the better part of their young lives ignoring each other’s existence. But when circumstances force them to move into the same cramped apartment, they have no choice but to come to terms with the past that binds them, while trying to decide how to
Germany’s MMC Studios, which has hosted such recent international productions as Joseph Gordon-Levitt thriller “7500” and Marco Bellocchio’s Cannes competition film “The Traitor,” is changing hands. Frankfurt-based investment company Novum Capital has acquired the facility in Cologne, one of Germany’s biggest film and TV studios, from Luxembourg private equity fund Lenbach Equity Opportunities I. The
June 26, 2019 7:48AM PT Warner Bros. and New Line’s “Annabelle Comes Home” collected a strong $3.5 million in Tuesday night previews. The supernatural thriller is expected to earn $30 million over its first five days in theaters. “Annabelle Comes Home” is the third “Annabelle” movie and seventh entry in the Conjuring franchise. Preview ticket
June 26, 2019 7:22AM PT The NRA will shut down production of new content for its streaming-video NRATV outlet, The New York Times reports. The report said the gun-rights lobbying organization may continue to run older content on the broadband outlet, but it will no longer feature Dana Loesch and other regular hosts in live
“The Wolf Hour,” a psychological thriller starring Naomi Watts and Jennifer Ehle, has been picked up for North America by Brainstorm Media. HanWay Films has also closed sales for a host of European and Asian territories. Directed by Alistair Banks Griffin, “The Wolf Hour” features Oscar-nominated Watts as June, a former countercultural celebrity who lives
Jordyn Woods New Clothing Line Sans Kardashians … No ‘BooHoo’ Act Here 6/26/2019 7:08 AM PDT Jordyn Woods ain’t playing the crying game after being excommunicated by the Kardashians — it’s the opposite actually … despite what her new fashion brand might suggest. Kylie‘s former BFF launched a new clothing line Tuesday in partnership with
President Trump suggested the U.S. government might sue technology giants including Facebook and Google — though he didn’t spell out what the basis for such lawsuits might be — while he once again railed against the supposed anti-conservative bias of Silicon Valley companies. In an interview Wednesday with Fox Business Network, he took issue with
June 26, 2019 6:30AM PT The album was also certified double-platinum in the U.S. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s onscreen chemistry continues to be felt on the official soundtrack to “A Star is Born,” which just surpassed 6 million albums sold globally and has been certified double platinum in the U.S. Released by Interscope Records
Michael Palin will exec-produce series of radio specials containing never-before-released audio from Monty Python as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations for the iconic comedy troupe. They will play on the BBC in the U.K. and then go out in the U.S. Palin and his fellow Pythons – John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry
June 26, 2019 6:25AM PT Singer-songwriter-actor Hayley Kiyoko, seen most recently in a cameo in Taylor Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down” video, has signed an exclusive worldwide publishing agreement with Kobalt, the company announced today. The partnership includes publishing administration, creative services and synch for all of her catalogue and future works. Jamie Kinelski,
Advertisers are tracking you across the web to build profiles and personalize ads. Firefox maker Mozilla now wants to help consumers bury their tracks, and throw off advertisers, with a fun little hack. The non-profit browser maker launched a new website called Track This Wednesday that opens 100 browser tabs to confuse ad trackers. Visitors
Huayi Brothers’ stock fell by more than 8% on Wednesday, the day after the veteran Chinese studio announced that its new war epic, “The Eight Hundred,” will not hit Chinese theaters as scheduled next week. Shares dropped from RMB5.48 to RMB5.02 overnight after Huayi said Tuesday that its summer blockbuster’s theatrical debut would be indefinitely
June 26, 2019 5:54AM PT As Danny Boyle’s Beatles-themed film “Yesterday” gets ready to hit theaters, David Blot, a longtime French proponent of house music, has decided to post his 2011 graphic novel – which has the same title and a similar premise – for free online. Blot’s graphic novel follows John Duval, a French
NBC News is gearing up to cover two sprawling Democratic debates. But the trappings around them may remind viewers of another network staple: “Sunday Night Football.” NBCUniversal will televise debates among the Democratic candidates for U.S. presidency over two nights and across three different TV networks, as well as via host of digital venues, including
Shawn Strickland, a veteran of Verizon and Complex Media, has joined Tony DiSanto’s Allyance Media Group as president. In the role, Strickland is heading up business operations and spearheading partnerships for the multiformat media and production company. DiSanto and financier Matthew Bruderman formed Allyance Media Group last year. The New York-based company encompasses DIGA Studios,
June 26, 2019 3:04AM PT “Game of Thrones” star Maisie Williams will play a misfit on the run from a murderous gangster and the police in “Two Weeks to Live,” a new comedy series for Sky in the U.K. Williams will star as Kim Noakes, who was a young girl when her father died in
A second season of Netflix’s first Benelux original, “Undercover,” is in production, and the story will move from focusing on the illicit drugs trade to the illegal arms business. Non-English-language drama is finding a global audience on streaming platforms, and “Undercover” has ranked as one of Netflix’s most popular series in that category in the
The prestigious Golden Horse Awards announced Wednesday that it will hold its annual ceremony in Taiwan on the same day this year as China’s Communist-backed Golden Rooster Awards – which virtually assures that no major mainland Chinese talent will attend the event known as Asia’s Oscars on November 23. Hong Kong director Johnnie To will
The announcement that German exhibitor CineStar would close its multiplex at Berlin’s famed Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz has thrown the cinema’s participation as a key venue for the Berlin Film Festival into doubt. Whether it actually shutters, however, remains to be seen. British-based Vue International is awaiting approval from German antitrust officials on its
“Always Be My Maybe” was “satisfying” to create because it gave focus to two characters that wouldn’t typically be portrayed as romantic leads, said director Nahnatchka Khan of her Netflix film at the CAA Amplify conference in Ojai, sitting on a panel with comedian Hasan Minhaj and NBA star Chris Paul. “We’re all big fans
June 25, 2019 10:46PM PT Netflix unveiled its lineup of original programming from Japan. It includes major local and international names. Among the most highly anticipated entries is “Ai-naki Mori de Sakebe” (literal translation: Shout in the Loveless Forest), a three-part series inspired by a real multiple murder case set to stream this summer. The