Disney, which is in the home stretch of swinging the deal to become the full owner of Hulu, will launch a beta test of an app next month that combines Disney+ and Hulu into a single experience for subscribers of both services, CEO Bob Iger said. Disney still needs to close its deal with Comcast
Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen tied for songwriter of the year of the BMI Country Music Awards, held Tuesday night at BMI’s building in Nashville. To commemorate the tie (which clearly had been communicated to the twin winners in advance), BMI cooked up another surprise: a climactic performance for the evening in which Wallen and
Neil Portnow, the former chairman and president of the Recording Academy, was sued on Wednesday by a woman who claimed he drugged and raped her in a New York hotel room in 2018, according to the New York Times. The allegation had previously surfaced in 2020 as part of a blockbuster legal claim filed by
Disney+ topped 150 million streaming subscriptions by the end of its fiscal fourth quarter of the year, up from 146.7 million in the previous quarter. On Wednesday, Disney reported Core Disney+ subscriptions are at 112.6 million subs, as of the quarter ended Sept. 30, and Disney+ Hotstar is at 37.6 million. Meanwhile, there are 48.5
A few days after AFM wrapped in Santa Monica, the dearth of substantial deals trickling in is pointing to a weakened film sales market which is grappling with structural changes and the reverberations of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Global industry players came into the AFM with reasonable hopes of dealmaking after a quiet Toronto festival, even
How does it feel to have your feature debut open one of the largest documentary festivals in the world? To director Olga Chernykh, whose “A Picture to Remember” opens the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), it feels like a “gift from the universe.” “A Picture to Remember” is an essay-style account of the war
When it came time to write Slow Pulp’s sophomore album, in early 2021, Emily Massey decided to isolate herself in a cabin up in northern Wisconsin. “The first day, I full-body cried for hours,” the singer tells Variety. “I realized when I got there that I’d never been that alone. It was winter, so I
When they’re breaking a story, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij — a creative team who’ve been together since their first short film in 2007 — tend to work in the bedrooms of their Los Angeles homes. “We live in small houses on the Eastside,” Marling says during a visit to New York, “so we don’t have
“The Marvels,” the 33rd installment in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, is barreling toward an unfortunate box office distinction. The big-budget superhero sequel is expected to generate just $60 million to $65 million from 4,000 North American theaters in its opening weekend, which would be one of the lowest debuts in MCU history. That ignominious badge currently
Sharon Stone famously laughed during a 2018 “CBS Sunday Morning” interview when asked if she ever faced sexual harassment or assault in Hollywood. “I been in this business for 40 years,” the Oscar nominee told the reporter at the time. “Can you imagine the business I stepped into 40 years ago, looking like I look?
Tucker Tooley Entertainment has acquired the TV rights to a pair of books about First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis with plans to develop them into a limited series. Variety has learned exclusively that the company has acquired the rights to the books ““Jackie: Public, Private, Secret” and “Jackie, Janet and Lee,” both written by by
Audiences can finally catch a first glimpse at Max‘s “Bookie,” the new laffer starring stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco that also is notable for the reunion between co-creator Chuck Lorre and guest star Charlie Sheen. Max dropped the trailer for “Bookie” (formerly titled “How to Be a Bookie”) on Wednesday, scroll down to watch below. “Bookie”
Two years in, the Academy Film Museum is rolling full steam ahead with a new programming director and a packed slate of upcoming films for the winter season. On Dec. 10, Christopher Nolan will present the classic Western “Shane” on its 70th anniversary and speak about the film for the George Stevens Lecture. Other spotlight
MTV Documentary Films’ “The Eternal Memory,” directed by Maite Alberdi, will exclusively debut on Paramount+ in the U.S. on Nov. 7. “The Eternal Memory” tells the story of Augusto Góngora and Paulina Urrutia, a Chilean couple whose lives are irrevocably impacted by Augusto’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. The film’s description reads, “As one of Chile’s most prominent
Thanks to the ever-changing world of social media, our personal style, interests, and vibes today are in constant flux. One day we’re in love with minimalist elegance and quiet luxury; the next we’re drawn to wildly whimsical patterns and embellishments. And this perpetual evolution, influenced by our curated Explore pages, is transforming our approach to
Gayle King spent three hours interviewing the historically private rapper and mogul Jay-Z for a primetime, hour-long special that will air on Nov. 14 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT). The interview, dubbed “Jay-Z And Gayle King: Brooklyn’s Own,” will follow the series premiere of “NCIS: Sydney” on the CBS Television Network and also stream on Paramount+. Jay-Z
“The Boys” Season 4 will pick up where “Gen V” Season 1 left off, just ahead of an in-universe presidential election. And from the looks of the first promo images released by Amazon for the new episodes of “The Boys,” the Vought supes led by Homelander (Antony Starr) are going to have a good Election
In an unexpected Madison Avenue shake-up, NBCUniversal has poached Alison Levin, a senior advertising executive at Roku, who will take on one of the media giant’s most senior sales roles. Levin, who was named a president of NBCU’s ad-sales unit, will report to Mark Marshall, global chairman. Levin, who will join NBC in December, will
SiriusXM rolled out a new logo, a brand-new app — with a cheaper monthly streaming plan — and a slate of new channels and shows, all aimed at helping the company grow beyond its satellite-radio roots. The new SiriusXM streaming app will be available to subscribers across North America starting Dec. 14 in Apple’s App
Binge-watching, America’s new favorite pastime, has become more expensive than ever. In October alone, seven top streaming plans increased their U.S. pricing. Apple TV+ now costs $9.99 a month — marking the second increase in a year — while Netflix raised prices on two plans. Also last month, Disney hiked fees for Disney+ and Hulu
In “The Marvels,” Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a snarky but beaming-eyed Pakistani-American teenage mutant ninja fangirl, is seated in her bedroom in Jersey City, sketching comic-book panels in which she imagines herself part of a team with her idol, Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel (Brie Larson). She will soon get her wish. Suddenly, Kamala is
Sony Pictures will conduct a live orchestra at the Academy Museum featuring the bombastic music from its animated feature (and best picture) contender “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” At a special invitation-only event at the David Geffen Theater, the studio will feature an exhilarating arrangement of electronics, turntables and a live orchestra performing the original score
Coming behind the run of “Yellowstone” Season 1, CBS has announced the first two episodes of “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” will also air on the network. The episodes will air on Nov. 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following an episode of “Yellowstone.” The series first premiered on Nov. 5 on Paramount+. The remaining six episodes will
Move over, “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” There’s a new girl-caught-between-brothers triangle in town. Netflix debuted the trailer for the upcoming romantic coming-of-age series “My Life With the Walter Boys,” set for a Dec. 7 release. Adapted from Ali Novak’s novel of the same name, “My Life The Walter Boys” comes from the producers behind
Peacock has released the official trailer for “Mr. Monk‘s Last Case: A Monk Movie,” with Tony Shalhoub reprising his role as the beloved Defective Detective. Set in a post-COVID world, the “Monk” reunion movie follows Shalhoub’s Adrian Monk, a consulting detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder and a wide range of phobias. Per the official logline, Monk
Cue the theme song, the Ghostbusters are back! Sony has dropped the trailer for “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” the sequel to 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” “Afterlife” took the ghostbusting to rural Oklahoma, but the franchise’s upcoming fifth film returns to its roots in New York City. In the trailer for “Frozen Empire,” an idyllic NYC summer turns
BBC host Carol Vorderman has claimed she has been sacked by the broadcaster over her public criticism of the U.K. government. On Wednesday afternoon local time Vorderman published a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, claiming management at BBC Wales had “decided I must leave” because she had breached the broadcaster’s impartiality guidelines with
WeTV is set to air the CBS remake of “S.W.A.T.” in syndication. The non-exclusive cable rights deal will see the first six seasons of the cop drama air on the AMC-owned network beginning Nov. 12. “’S.W.A.T.’ is one of those high-octane procedurals that continues to captivate audiences and grow its viewership,” said Monica Veiga, senior
WME has signed writer-director Meshal Al Jaser for representation. Meshal recently made his feature film debut with “Naga,” a madcap satirical thriller about a young woman stranded in the Arabian desert as she races to get home before her strict father punishes her for missing curfew. It premiered at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival midnight section, the
The USC Norman Lear Center and the non-profit organization Gold House have collaborated to produce a new study on Asian representation across film and TV streaming platforms in the year 2022, entitled “A Balancing Act for Asian Representation: More Visible But Not Yet Specific.” Citing a significant increase of Asian characters from 3% to 16%