The Costume Designers Guild has announced its nominees in film and television categories for 2018. In the contemporary film races, “Crazy Rich Asians” was nominated alongside “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” “Ocean’s 8,” “A Star Is Born” (extending its streak of nominations from every single industry group so far) and “Widows.” For period film,
Viacom International Studios is teaming with Endemol Shine Group to create a Portuguese version of hit format “Lip Sync Battle” for commercial broadcaster SIC. “Lip Sync Portugal Playback Total” represents VIS’ first-ever format production in the country. Produced by Endemol Shine Iberia, the show will air in a primetime slot on SIC’s eponymous flagship channel,
January 10, 2019 4:07AM PT TBS has snagged German comedy-drama “Arthur’s Law” from its Turner stablemate TNT in Germany. The U.S. channel has taken the finished show subtitled in English, as well as the option to remake it locally. TNT has been moving into originals in Germany with the acclaimed drug-trafficking drama “4 Blocks” on
January 10, 2019 2:24AM PT Miia Tervo’s Finnish romantic comedy “Aurora” has been acquired by international sales company LevelK ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Goteborg Film Festival. Set to open the fest, “Aurora” marks Tervo’s feature debut. The film, a comedy-drama set in the snowy Finnish region of Lapland, tells the
January 10, 2019 1:07AM PT Action drama “24” is headed to Japan – not on an international mission for Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer, but in a local remake for free-TV player TV Asahi. The Japanese broadcaster announced the deal with Fox’s TV distribution arm, 20th Century Fox TV Distribution, and has struck an agreement to
MADRID — Ran Tellem (“Homeland,” “The Paradise”), Daniel Burman (“Lost Embrace,” “Edha”) and Javier Olivares (“The Department of Time,” “Isabel”) will tutor or lecture at this year’s first Master’s Degree in Creative Writing and Screenplays, launched by Spain’s Mediapro Group and Madrid’s Complutense University. Steered by one of Europe’s biggest international fiction creation forces with
Lady Gaga has addressed her 2013 collaboration with R. Kelly in a tweet on Wednesday night, revealing that she is pulling the song “Do What U Want” from iTunes and streaming services. “I stand behind these women 1000%, believe them, know they are suffering and in pain and feel strongly that their voices should be
Jan. 9’s 20th anniversary reunion of the cast and producers of HBO’s “The Sopranos” was a raucous family gathering from its first moments. “I saw a picture of myself in the newspaper,” series creator David Chase said at the start of the event. “And I thought, 20 years. Jesus Christ.” “People come up to me,”
“Green Book” screenwriter Nick Vallelonga has deleted his Twitter account after a tweet espousing a debunked conservative narrative that American Muslims could be seen cheering after 9/11 was recirculated Wednesday. “@realDonaldTrump 100% correct,” the Nov. 2015 tweet read. “Muslims in Jersey City cheering when towers went down. I saw it, as you did, possibly on
Gregg Rudloff, who won Academy Awards for sound mixing “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Matrix,” and “Glory” and was nominated four other times, died in Los Angeles on Jan. 6. He was 63. A representative for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office told Variety that the office is treating his death as a possible suicide
Is the whole genre of “Music Inspired by the Film” albums getting its redemption? They became a joke by the 1990s, when it seemed like any blockbuster was an excuse to put together an album of supposedly movie-inspired tracks that were really just as likely to be leftovers from artists’ previous releases. But this year,
The future of media, tech and advertising were the hot-button topics at the Variety Entertainment Summit at CES, which featured a speaker lineup of more than 40 business leaders, entertainers and entrepreneurs. Here are 10 key takeaways from the full-day event, held Wednesday at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas: Steve Harvey has broken
Hollywood was jolted Wednesday by former Pixar honcho John Lasseter’s hire for the top job at Skydance Animation, blindsiding the studio’s filmmaking partners, employees and the industry at large. One current Skydance staffer expressed “disappointment” to Variety over CEO David Ellison’s decision to bring on Lasseter, who was put on leave from his post atop Pixar
Viewers of Wendy Williams’ daytime talker will have to wait another week for the host’s return. Williams, who is recovering from an injury she said she suffered last month, will resume taping of “The Wendy Williams Show” Jan. 21, distributor and producer Debmar-Mercury confirmed Wednesday. That’s a week later than the Jan. 14 return date
Alessandro Nivola, star of the upcoming “Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints of Newark,” revealed that Tony Soprano, the protagonist in the iconic HBO series, will be a central character in the film. Nivola spoke to Variety at the 20th anniversary of “The Sopranos” in New York on Wednesday, where the cast and creator David Chase held a
January 9, 2019 5:15PM PT CBS has given out one of its first pilot orders of the season to a drama that hails from Robert and Michelle King. Titled “Evil,” it is described as a series about the battle between science and religion. The show focuses on a skeptical female clinical psychologist who joins a priest-in-training
In today’s film news roundup, Stellan Skarsgard has joined “Dune,” Jamie Lee Curtis and Melissa McCarthy are selected for awards, and Fathom Events has hired Andrew Goldman. CASTING Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard will portray the villain Baron Harkonnen in Legendary’s sci-fier “Dune,” based on the Frank Herbert novel. Denis Villeneuve is directing from a script
“Star Trek” is focusing on family in Season 2 of “Star Trek: Discovery,” according to franchise executive producer Alex Kurtzman. At the CES Summit on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Kurtzman got candid about the future of the series, explaining that the show’s characters have finally come together into a make shift family following the events
January 9, 2019 4:38PM PT Prepare to rock while watching “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The Golden Globe winner is getting sing-along screenings at more than 750 North American locations beginning on Friday. The sing-along version will display song lyrics on screen, allowing viewers to perform the movie’s score. The tracks include Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the
Coverage of President Donald Trump’s primetime address and the response from Congressional Democrats pulled in over 40 million viewers across all networks that carried the speeches. The speech was carried by ABC, CBS, Fox Broadcasting, NBC, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC on Tuesday night. From 9-9:30 p.m. ET across those networks, CBS and Fox News
John Lasseter’s contract with Skydance Media contains provisions that make the former Pixar Animation chief financially responsible for any legal claims involving sexual harassment, according to multiple insiders. The pact to bring Lasseter in as head of the company’s animation division is said to include “ironclad” provisions that require the executive to not only pay
January 9, 2019 3:52PM PT Facebook’s head of content strategy and planning Matthew Henick told the audience of Variety’s CES Summit in Las Vegas Wednesday that the company licensed Joss Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel” and “Firefly” for Facebook Watch as a way to literally get people to talk – preferably while they watch
After M. Night Shyamalan’s 2016 film “Split” was revealed to be set in the same universe as his 2000 superhero thriller “Unbreakable,” the director brings all the characters together in “Glass.” The heroes and villains of the previous two movies return in “Glass.” Bruce Willis plays David Dunn, the security guard with super strength; Samuel
In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix dropped the first trailer for its upcoming comedy series “Russian Doll” starring Natasha Lyonne, and Disney has ordered a second season of its animated series “Star Wars Resistance.” DATES Fox is set to premiere its new competition series “Mental Samurai” on Feb. 26 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. Hosted and produced by
Cinema lives or dies by illusion. To make stories work, movies must take audiences to another place, suspend their disbelief and thrill them. And effects, whether created in-camera or in post-production or a combination of the two, have always been among the tools used by filmmakers to make that happen. But despite their vital role,
Irvine, California-based connected TV startup Xumo is preparing for an international expansion this year: The company plans to launch in France, Germany, Spain, the UK, Brazil and Italy this year, CEO Colin Petrie-Norris told Variety on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Wednesday. For its go-to-market strategy, the company will rely on its
Susan Zirinsky is a veteran hand at CBS News, having worked there since the days of Watergate. But the actions she takes over the next few months will have more to do with the future of one of the nation’s best-known news outlets, not its past. CBS on Jan. 6 said Zirinsky would become president and
The Sundance Film Festival has added the world premiere of the documentary “Leaving Neverland,” which focuses on sexual abuse allegations against the late pop star Michael Jackson. The movie, produced and directed by Dan Reed, describes how Jackson allegedly began long-running relationships with two boys, aged 7 and 10, and their families while at the
January 9, 2019 2:18PM PT WASHINGTON — Tom Steyer, the billionaire philanthropist and environmental activist, said he will not run for president in 2020 and instead will focus on removing President Donald Trump from office. “The impeachment question has reached an inflection point,” Steyer said on Twitter. “That’s why I just announced that I will
Steve Harvey, TV personality and multi-hyphenate entertainer/entrepreneur, admitted that he was surprised when NBC announced that a new show hosted by Kelly Clarkson would take over his timeslot on its owned-and-operated stations. Harvey, a headline speaker at Variety Entertainment Summit at CES, was asked by interviewer Variety co-editor-in-chief Andrew Wallenstein whether he going to stay