Over the past few years television has become an arena that is overflowing with period dramas and historical explorations. However, the difference in recent years is that many viewers are no longer as content to see, and showrunners are no longer as satisfied make, straight period dramas. To set themselves apart, today’s shows that play
Bron Creative and MGM have entered a multi-picture, co-financing deal worth more than $100 million, for titles including the upcoming “The Addams Family” and “Legally Blonde 3.” The deal also includes MGM’s “Candyman,” “Respect,” “The Thomas Crown Affair,” “Robocop Returns” and Orion Pictures’ “Child’s Play,” “Bad Trip” and “Gretel and Hansel.” Bron Creative is the
President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are the latest to jump into the podcast game, under a pact with Spotify to produce a series of podcasts exclusively for the streaming platform. Under the multiyear deal between Spotify and Higher Ground Productions, the former first couple’s production company, Barack and Michelle Obama are set to develop,
It often seems like women have almost as hard a time catching a break at country awards shows as they do on country radio, judging from the fact that neither the CMA Awards nor ACM Awards could come up with a single female to nominate for entertainer of the year for the last two years
The making of one of filmmaker Bob Fosse’s early triumphs, the sizzling “Big Spender” sequence from the 1969 musical “Sweet Charity,” kicks off the opening moments of the first episode of FX’s bio-limited series “Fosse/Verdon” in the same sultry style for which the legendary director-choreographer was known. It juxtaposes the film’s dancers in a sinuous,
Ron Howard is in the music documentary business again. Just two years after directing “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week” about the Fab Four’s early days, he’s back with “Pavarotti,” a film chronicling the life of the late opera great Luciano Pavarotti that hits theaters June 7. Howard admits he wasn’t an avid opera fan
Artist and songwriter Akon (pictured at left) and Motown Records veteran Kedar Massenburg have teamed up to launch Akonik Label Group (ALG). Distributed worldwide by BMG, the company is embracing a regional A&R model as a new approach to what’s traditionally been thought of as world music. ALG is looking to Latin countries, the Caribbean
Madonna Slams NY Times Profile ‘Makes Me Feel Raped’ 6/6/2019 9:00 AM PDT Breaking News Madonna is slamming a journalist who she claims — despite faking it as an “intellectual feminist” — completely botched her Madge profile, and made the icon “feel raped” by the process. Madonna didn’t pull punches as she went off on
To describe veteran music business attorney Dina LaPolt as “outspoken” is an understatement of almost comic proportions, but she was in rare form Wednesday during her keynote Q&A at the Midem conference in France. LaPolt — who works with Britney Spears, 21 Savage, Fifth Harmony and played a leading role in the passage of the
Streaming platform Rakuten Viki has acquired seven titles from Chinese firm Croton Media. They are set to premiere worldwide on the platform this month, some of them as Viki Originals. The titles include 58-episode show “Eternal Love,” a period drama starring Yang Mi and Mark Chao; 30-episode “Love O2O,” a modern drama starring Yang Yang
Sharon White is stepping down as the head of British media regulator Ofcom. White joined the body, formally known as the Office of Communications, in 2015. She will vacate the post of chief executive around the end of the year. During White’s tenure, Ofcom was tasked with investigating 21st Century Fox’s bid to take over
Michelle Williams and Patricia Clarkson sat down for a chat for Variety’s Actors on Actors. For more, click here. Indie-film stalwarts Patricia Clarkson and Michelle Williams brought class and grit to the TV season. On HBO’s “Sharp Objects,” Clarkson stole scenes as Adora Crellin, a cracked Southern belle whose performance of perfection has a whole town fooled.
Sacha Baron Cohen and Don Cheadle sat down for a chat for Variety‘s Actors on Actors. For more, click here. On Showtime’s “Who Is America?,” Sacha Baron Cohen multiplies his familiar gonzo comedy by four, using a quartet of absurd aliases to dupe politicians like Dick Cheney and Roy Moore into embarrassing interviews. Elsewhere on
YouTube, under fire for initially taking no action against a right-wing vlogger who has chronically bullied a gay Hispanic video journalist, said it will take “a hard look at our harassment policies with an aim to update them.” Here’s the backstory: Carlos Maza, a Vox video producer, said in Twitter posts May 30 that since
Jun 6, 2019 photographed by Chris Colls Sustainability is a buzzword these days. But at ELLE, it’s always top of mind. For our July issue we partnered with Conservation International to celebrate and raise awareness of women making a difference in climate change—from marine biologists to supermodels. When deciding whom to feature on our four
Jun 6, 2019 Photographed by Chris Colls; Styled by Ilona Hamer The first place in the United States where Naomi Campbell set foot was New Orleans, courtesy of a shoot for British ELLE. Years later, when Hurricane Katrina struck the city, she, like so many people, sat helplessly watching the disaster unfold on TV. “What
Jun 6, 2019 Dress, Ralph Lauren. Photographed by Chris Colls; Styled by Ilona Hamer Don’t underestimate the life-changing power of a vacation. “It was love at first sight with the elephants, but also with the Douglas-Hamiltons,” the Dutch supermodel Doutzen Kroes says of her trip to Kenya. There she visited the Elephant Watch Camp in
Photographed by Tom Schirmacher; Styled by Sarah Zendejas This spring in Paris, when Nike rounded up an inspiring roster of female athletes—including U.S. Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, Olympic gold medal–winning gymnast Simone Biles, and former U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team member Brandi Chastain—to unveil the brand’s 2019 World Cup uniforms, the message wasn’t just one
Jun 6, 2019 Jeans, Levi’s Authorized Vintage. Photographed by Chris Colls; Styled by Ilona Hamer Anja Rubik recently went for a beachside stroll in Malibu with her friend Anthony Vaccarello, the creative director of Saint Laurent. It was just another day in paradise, until Rubik spotted pieces of plastic waste clogging the shore. “I couldn’t
June 6, 2019 3:30AM PT Fred Kogel’s fast-growing Germany-based independent studio has recruited Christian Meinberger as its digital boss. The KKR-backed operation has acquired German assets including independent studio Tele Munchen Group, Universum Film, and Wiedemann & Berg Film. Meinberger will take charge of the digital business, working up partnerships in Germany, as well as
June 6, 2019 3:17AM PT The British Film Institute has launched SVOD service BFI Player Classics in the U.S. on Roku. Streaming device maker Roku added SVOD to its Roku Channel service earlier this year with the likes of Showtime and Starz among the first to roll out paid-for content. The BFI will now join
Well Go USA has taken North American rights to Takashi Miike’s ‘First Love,’ which had its world premiere in Cannes as part of the Directors’ Fortnight lineup. Well Go said the picture will be released in select theaters later this year, with a digital and home entertainment release scheduled for early 2020. The deal was
Mackenzie Crook will write and direct the BBC’s upcoming “Worzel Gummidge” dramas. He will also star as the lead character – a walking, talking scarecrow – in Worzel’s return to British screens in two hour-long specials. They are expected to bow at the end of the year. Barbara Euphan Todd wrote the Worzel Gummidge books,
June 5, 2019 11:56PM PT BBC Studios has signed a co-production deal with Chinese firms Tencent Penguin Pictures and the state-run China Media Group CCTV9 for its new natural history series “Seven Worlds, One Planet.” The series will look at how animal life and behavior has been shaped by the unique environmental circumstances of each
June 5, 2019 10:30PM PT Wong Jing and Jason Kwan’s retro Hong Kong crime thriller is solid fare for action fans. The current wave of Hong Kong nostalgia continues with “Chasing the Dragon II: Wild Wild Bunch,” an entertaining if superficial and heavily fictionalized glimpse into the final days of notorious 1990s kidnapper Cheung Tze-keung,
CLUJ, Romania–“The road is the burden they have to carry,” director Claudiu Mitcu notes of the countless Romanian emigrants who have left the country in search of better fortunes, unsure if they’ll ever return. A recent U.N. migration report ranks Romania second after only Syria on the list of countries with the greatest number of emigrants
CLUJ, Romania–HBO Europe’s Romanian crime drama “Shadows” (Umbre) is returning for Season 3, with the first episode world premiering June 6 at the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival. A hit adaptation of the Australian drama “Small Time Gangster,” from writer-director Bogdan Mirica, “Shadows” is the story of a rough-edged taxi driver and family man who leads
It’s time for last orders at Corona, Dubrovnik and Kafe Mockba, as the legendary Helsinki complex, co-owned by Finland’s best known directors, will close down for good in June. After undergoing complete renovation, the building on Eerikinkatu will then be turned into a hotel. The decision to serve eviction notices to one of Helsinki’s most
Though no decision has been made, J.J. Abrams looks to be closing in on a destination for a new mega-deal for his production company Bad Robot that could be valued at nearly half a billion dollars. Sources tell Variety that WarnerMedia is emerging as the frontrunner to land the filmmaker and TV mind behind “Alias”
June 5, 2019 6:25PM PT Music industry veteran Mo Ostin gave his thumbs up to the label’s new offices and rebranded name. Since joining Warner Bros. Records, which was recently rebranded Warner Records, label heads Aaron Bay-Schuck and Tom Corson have made it a point to pay homage to the record company’s storied past, even