Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story 4″ has launched impressively with $12 million in Thursday night previews in North America. It’s the second best preview number for an animated movie following the $18.5 million from Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” a year ago. 2016’s “Finding Dory” had been second on that list with $9.2 million. “Toy Story 4,” which brings
Welcome to “TV Take,” Variety‘s television podcast. In this week’s installment, Variety’s executive editor of TV, Daniel Holloway, chats with Noah Hawley, the creator and showrunner of FX’s X-Men inspired drama “Legion.” Centered around the Marvel Comics character David Haller (Legion), the series follows the schizophrenic young man, played by Dan Stevens, as he hops around psych wards
Cardi B took home the award for Songwriter of the Year at Thursday evening’s 32nd annual ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, recognizing her as the artist who has written or co-written the greatest number of most-performed songs of the past year via hits like “Bartier Cardi,” “Ring,”
June 21, 2019 7:23AM PT Chinese video streaming giant, iQIYI is making strides into the interactive sector. It is launching China’s first interactive work after issuing a set of guidelines intended to standardize the creation of such content last month, the company said Friday at the Shanghai International Film Festival. “His Smile” is the first
Jamie’s crying, and so is everybody else who imagined the world might be getting an original-lineup Van Halen reunion tour in 2019, as previously hinted. “If things would have worked out as they were starting to go and it was planned, we probably would have been in pre-production rehearsals with Van Halen right now,” bassist
Bill Maher isn’t sure what he’ll do if Donald Trump is re-elected president next year. “I feel exhausted by this man and by working so hard every week to try to find some new angle,” Maher told Variety of his frustration over how much Trump now consumes his show — and his life. “The prospect
Is it just us, or is there something insanely gratifying about tag sales? After hours sifting through dozens (or hundreds!) of pieces, you walk away with something (or things!) you really love at a fair, affordable price. Anthropologie’s summer tag sale offers that same satisfaction—only you don’t have to leave your house. Right now, the
Wyclef Jean, the actor and rapper who performed the 2016 song “If I Was President,” is no stranger to politics, after trying to run for president of his native Haiti in 2010. At Cannes Lions, the annual advertising conference in the South of France, Jean talked about the future of music but his conversation with
The premise of “Originals,” the third posthumous release from Prince’s estate, is to collect the artist’s original versions of his compositions recorded by others, whether performers outside his camp (Sinéad O’Connor with “Nothing Compares 2 U,” the Bangles with “Manic Monday”) or ones he mentored and/or produced (Sheila E’s “Glamorous Life,” The Time’s “Jungle Love”).
Our love for Millennial pink shows no signs of waning. Case in point: this t-shirt created by one of the fashion industry’s favorite young artists, Marco Santini. Not only is the shade universally flattering, but 100 percent of the proceeds benefit UN Women. Known for his graffiti-esque work, Santini’s design (modeled by Alima Fofana) features
June 21, 2019 5:15AM PT Chiwetel Ejiofor will be part of “The Old Guard.” The “12 Years a Slave” star has signed on for the Netflix and Skydance picture, which will also star Charlize Theron who also produces. Harry Melling (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) and Veronica Ngo (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) have also
June 21, 2019 3:55AM PT The Lumière Festival in Lyon, France, is launching a new section devoted to “the most outstanding restored films of the year” as it celebrates its 10th anniversary this fall. Lumière Classics will replace the New Restorations sidebar, a key part of the festival program. The section will consist of two
Dubai-based Middle East producer Fadi Ismail, the former general manager of Saudi-controlled broadcaster MBC’s 03 Productions arm, is launching his own company with a slate largely made up of TV projects based on Saudi intellectual properties. Ismail’s new shingle, DKL Studio, is developing a dozen skeins, some of which push the envelope of what is
Now in its fifth year, European Film Promotion’s Future Frames is a next-generation showcase comprising short works by students and recent graduates of European film schools, curated by the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival in cooperation with the EFP. The program has already established itself as an important platform for discovering European talent; this year’s
Haut et Court TV, the successful Paris-based production company behind “The Young Pope” and the original “The Returned,” is tapping into Israel’s vibrant talent pool to partner on ambitious series, including “Possessions” and “Fertile Crescent” which are both currently shooting. “Fertile Crescent,” which just started lensing in Belgium with Melanie Thierry (“Memoir of War”), Félix
Scandinavian sales outfit LevelK has acquired world sales rights to New Zealand comedy-drama “Bellbird,” the feature debut of Hamish Bennett. Produced by Orlando Stewart for Stella Maris Productions and Catherine Fitzgerald for Blueskin Films, Bellbird tells the story of a dairy farmer struggling to cope with the sudden death of his beloved wife, and the
June 21, 2019 2:36AM PT Leading Japanese pay broadcaster Wowow unveiled senior management changes on Thursday. Five new members have been appointed to the broadcaster’s board, including three from outside companies. Hideki Tashiro from the TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) network has been tasked with supervising Wowow’s programming and production. Masahiko Mizuguchi from Fuji TV network
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has extended its growing Breakthrough talent initiative to China. It has teamed with financier Yu Holdings to launch BAFTA Breakthrough China, making the announcement at the Shanghai International Film Festival. British actor Tom Hiddleston will be an ambassador for the scheme. The China initiative with Yu follows
Studiocanal has come on board “Bac Nord” from Cedric Jimenez (“The Man With the Iron Heart”), a French crime thriller with Gilles Lellouche set in the dangerous northern neighborhoods of Marseille. The movie reteams Studiocanal with Hugo Sélignac and Vincent Mazel at Chi-Fou-Mi Productions, the Paris-based company behind the Cesar-nominated “Sink or Swim,” one of
June 20, 2019 11:46PM PT Vera Farmiga and Martin Csokas play a couple coping with the loss of their baby — and with a son, played by Jacob Tremblay, who’s decided to be a Mongolian nomad. Laughs and tears ensue, few of them convincing. “Burn Your Maps” is one of those movies that’s glib and facile
Writer, producer, director and horror mega-fan Mick Garris assembles a cadre of like minds to create “Nightmare Cinema.” This anthology feature is basically a two-hour, big-screen version of the several macabre TV anthology series he’s been involved with since the mid-’80s “Amazing Stories.” Comprising five directors’ tales linked by the inimitable Mickey Rourke as a
He’s won seven Grammys and an Oscar, he’s tall and handsome, and “Uptown Funk” was his song — yet Mark Ronson remains one of the most low-key stars in the business. Picture him playing guitar or standing at a podium, flashy award in hand, next to Amy Winehouse or Gaga or Miley and you might
Two weeks out from the premiere, Netflix has released a darker trailer for “Stranger Things” season 3. The three-minute long clip almost feels like it’s promoting an action movie, with things clearly set to take a more harrowing turn in the town of Hawkins. All the gang are back once more: Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown),
June 20, 2019 6:28PM PT Randall Christensen, the Emmy-winning costume designer best known for his work on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” died Sunday after a long fight with carcinoid cancer. He was 60. Christensen’s work on the beloved reality show, which spanned 11 seasons since his start in 2006, earned him the moniker “the
Time spent in a modern war zone can be traumatic for participant and observer alike, yet across continents and cultures, the shared experiences of living and loving in the wake of such experiences can be startlingly similar. This is multi-faceted and overarching theme woven throughout Ben Lawrence’s sensitive and affecting new Australian drama “Hearts and
In today’s film news roundup, Elizabeth Banks will receive the Pioneer of the Year Award, “The Great Hack” launches a festival, Women In Media launch the CAMERAderie Initiative and UCLA, University of Michigan and USC are receiving $50 million. BANKS HONORED The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation has selected Elizabeth Banks as the recipient
The economics of China’s film industry is no longer an unbroken story of double digit growth. Nor was 2018 quite as bad many companies have portrayed. A major report on the business, published in Shanghai this week by the China Film Association, in partnership with the Motion Picture Association, showed the number of cinemas grew
Batman, Julia Roberts and Spike Lee are among the names selected to be inducted into the 2020 Walk of Fame. The full list of honorees was announced by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce’s Walk of Fame Selection Committee via an exclusive livestream by Variety. Chosen from hundreds of nominees during a selection meeting in June,
Rajkumar Hirani, the Indian film director who is part of the Shanghai International Film Festival’s competition jury, says he is pleased by the reception that Indian films are getting in China. But in conversation in Shanghai he sidestepped the accusations of sexual assault that were recently levelled against him. “I don’t think we should talk
If you’re looking for a crowded hangout, try Jack White’s Wikipedia page. From fully realized bands (like the Alison Mosshart-fronted Dead Weather) to one-off collaborations (like his duet with Alicia Keys for the James Bond track “Another Way to Die,” or partnering with Danger Mouse and Norah Jones on the Spaghetti Western album “Rome”), White has always