Paris-based private equity firm Alliance Entreprendre (NATIXIS Groupe) has taken a minority stake in About Premium Content (APC) to allow the company to fast-track its growth. APC’s current drama slate includes Movistar Studios’s Spanish-language drama “Gigantes” (pictured), Vox Pictures’s English-language hit series “Keeping Faith,” Dutch crime thriller “Fenix” and the returning Swedish crime thriller “Alex.”
Harriet Walter, who appeared in “The Crown” and “Black Earth Rising,” and Frances O’Connor, who was Golden Globe nominated for “Madame Bovary” and “The Missing,” are set to star in “The End,” a co-production from pay TV companies Sky in the U.K. and Foxtel in Australia. The 10-part show is produced by the TV arm
September 26, 2018 2:17AM PT Eva Green (“Casino Royale”) and Eve Hewson (“The Knick”) will star in “The Luminaries,” the TV adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s award-winning novel. Marton Csokas (“Into the Badlands”) has also been cast in the upcoming six-parter, which will air on BBC Two in the U.K. and TVNZ in New Zealand. The
Global Screen has closed further sales deals for its 3D animated feature film “Marnie’s World,” which is close to selling out worldwide. The movie is written and directed by Oscar winners Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein. In the film, pampered pussycat Marnie is lured into becoming a secret agent. Marnie teams up with a bunch of
September 26, 2018 1:04AM PT The Philippines has selected “Signal Rock” as its contender in the foreign-language section of the upcoming Academy Awards. The film is directed by Chito Rono and stars Christian Bables and Elora Espano. The family drama documents how the population of Biri Island in the 1990s had to climb a high
“Crazy Rich Asians” will open in Japan this week with distributor Warner Japan betting that the film’s muscular box office in the U.S. and elsewhere will carry over to Asia’s second-largest market. But the odds are against a huge win. In mid-September, Warner revealed that it would expand the number of theaters showing the film
Bill Cosby Could Get Himself a Con Job in Prison … And Make $0.45/Hour!!! 9/26/2018 1:00 AM PDT EXCLUSIVE Bill Cosby could still work a room in the clink, but it won’t be in any comedic capacity — mostly just in kitchen duty and stitching s*** up for pennies … TMZ has learned. A Pennsylvania Dept.
September 26, 2018 12:40AM PT Netflix will give a worldwide release to Indian drama “Rajma Chawal. The film is set to have a theatrical premiere at October’s London Film Festival, before releasing online on Nov. 30. Set in the chaotic, vibrant Chandni Chowk area of Delhi, Rajma Chawal captures the relationship between a father attempting to reconnect
Lisa Vanderpump Isolating Herself From ‘RHOBH’ … Cast Members Pissed 9/26/2018 12:30 AM PDT EXCLUSIVE Lisa Vanderpump has totally disconnected herself from the rest of the ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ cast and her costars are ticked off … TMZ has learned. Our sources tell us Lisa is making almost zero effort to interact with the
Garrett Borns, known as indie rock artist BØRNS, is denying allegations of sexual misconduct, manipulation and harassment made by multiple young female fans. In tweets beginning Sept. 21, the women described meeting Borns at concerts — some when they were teenagers — which led to years-long conversations via Instagram and Snapchat messages that, according to the
Nothing spoils a family gathering quite like politics, and no movie has captured the way such debates can turn ugly quite like Ike Barinholtz’s “The Oath,” an impressively out-there feature debut in which no-win arguments over a divisive new government policy escalate into a full-blown hostage crisis, turning what should have been a mild-mannered Thanksgiving
SAN SEBASTIAN — San Sebastian’s Focus On initiative, now in its fourth year, invites industry professionals from a country, or countries, to expand their networking contacts and participate in industry activities. This year’s featured Focus On region is the Baltics, and the event is hosting representatives from Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. The Baltics boast strong
A borderline impossible game of Taboo could be played if one were tasked with describing Olivier Masset-Depasse’s “Mothers’ Instinct” without using the word “Hitchcockian.” The Belgian director’s luxuriant psychological thriller is so redolent of the Master of Suspense’s style, and so gorgeously robed in Thierry Delettre’s ’60s costuming that at times one expects star Veerle
Triawan Munaf, chairman of the Indonesian Agency for Creative Economy (BEKRAF) was on hand on Monday for the opening of the Bali International Film Festival (Balinale). His presence was intended as a sign that Indonesia, Asia’s sleeping giant as a film player, is rousing itself. It was also an endorsement of the indie festival which,
September 25, 2018 7:55PM PT Merzak Allouache’s no-frills drama about a pair of young jihadists who bond before a potentially life-ending mission. Little is known about Nour and Amine, the two young jihadists assigned to sabotage a North African oil refinery in “Divine Wind,” a bare-bones drama from veteran Algerian director Merzak Allouache. The purpose
September 25, 2018 7:52PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the TV advertising attention analytics company iSpot.tv, Twentieth Century Fox claims the top spot in spending with “Bad Times at the El Royale.” Ads placed for the thriller had an estimated media value of $5.16 million through Sunday
An energized crowd filled the street outside of the Regal Cinemas in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday night, awaiting the arrival of comedy’s newest dynamic duo, Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish. The carpet at L.A. Live was transformed with back to school vibes, including lockers, a trophy case and the essence of a high school
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Nine Bucks,” the third season premiere of “This Is Us.” The third season premiere of “This Is Us” offered another glimpse at the future lives of Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Tess (Iantha Richardson) and revealed what future Toby (Chris Sullivan) looks like — notably
In today’s TV Roundup, Showtime’s “The Circus” interviews Senator Patrick Leahy on the upcoming SCOTUS vote, and “The Daily Show” plans to go live to cover the midterm elections. FIRST LOOKS Showtime’s “The Circus” conducted an interview with Senator Patrick Leahy about the upcoming SCOTUS vote, and his thoughts on Brett Kavanaugh. “The Circus” is
September 25, 2018 5:15PM PT The filing alleges improper withholding of international streaming royalties. The estate of 1950s teen idol Rick Nelson hit Sony Music Entertainment with a class action lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging that it improperly withholds a portion of artists’ royalties from international streaming revenue. Rick Nelson LLC filed the complaint in U.S.
The Music Modernization Act has passed in the House of Representatives unanimously following a vote for passage in the Senate last week. This clears the way for the bill to be sent to President Trump’s desk for signature and with it will come the most sweeping changes to archaic copyright laws. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Richard Parsons, former head of Time Warner, has been named interim chairman of CBS’ board of directors. The newly configured CBS board had its first formal meeting via teleconference on Tuesday after the shakeup that began Sept. 9 with the forced resignation of longtime CEO Leslie Moonves amid sexual misconduct allegations. Parsons was appointed to
September 25, 2018 4:07PM PT Blumhouse and Universal Pictures are throwing another slasher birthday rager following the success of 2017’s “Happy Death Day.” The film’s original lead, Jessica Rothe, will return in the newly titled “Happy Death Day 2U” when it hits on the previously announced date of Valentine’s Day 2019. Christopher Landon is back
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ meeting with more than a dozen state officials focused largely on the privacy, data collection, and antitrust issues of tech companies, despite earlier indications that the gathering would address whether platforms were stifling political voices. The meeting on Tuesday, which lasted about an hour, was the latest example of
September 25, 2018 3:40PM PT The move is confirmed in a memo sent by Sony Corp. CEO Kenichiro Yoshida. In one of those “everybody’s saying it but it’s not quite officially official yet” situations, when news gradually broke last week that Warner/Chappell Music Publishing chief Jon Platt was leaving that company to take over for
September 25, 2018 3:18PM PT Former CAA agent Adam Berkowitz was fired over an incident in which he allegedly groped a top executive at J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions. According to an individual with knowledge of the situtation, Berkowitz is said to have grabbed the crotch of Bad Robot’s head of TV, Ben Stephenson, at
A year ago, Scandinavian pop singer Anna Lotterud, frontwoman of duo Anna of the North, was on her way to quietly becoming Norway’s answer to Bebe Rexha, appearing on buzzy tracks with Frank Ocean, G-Eazy and Tyler, the Creator while carving out her own name with debut album “Lovers,” released last September via Honeymoon/+1 Records.
Fox has handed out a straight-to-series order for an animated comedy titled “Bless the Harts,” Variety has learned. The half-hour series will feature the voices of Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jillian Bell, and Ike Barinholtz. It follows a group of Southerners who are always broke as a joke, and struggling for the American dream of status and
Media center app maker Plex is saying good-bye to the cloud: After announcing the closure of its Plex Cloud service earlier this month, the company is now also getting rid of a feature that allowed consumers to sync their media collections to the cloud. Plex announced the change in a blog post Tuesday that also
Shida Kaviani, Shirin Kaviani, Shideh Kaviani. Those names probably don’t immediately ring any bells, but a mention of the sisters’ popular and super affordable clothing brand, Naked Wardrobe, should do the trick. The label, whose Instagram page boasts over 1.1 million followers, was founded in 2012 on the desire to create basic wardrobe essentials—bodysuits, biker