The Rolling Stones have released “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder, the second single off of their upcoming album “Hackney Diamonds.” [embedded content] Frontman Mick Jagger penned the languid blues number at his home in London. Gaga appears on the track as a co-vocalist of sorts, complementing Jagger’s throaty yelps, while
Offset, Sexyy Red and Ludacris are just a few of the artists on tap for performances at the upcoming BET Hip Hop Awards 2023. The network has announced a robust slate for its show, with Fat Joe set to host. To honor hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, the event will continue its “Non-stop Hip Hop Party” with
California Gov. Gavin Newsom thinks that Taylor Swift will be a major influence in the forthcoming 2024 presidential election. “Taylor Swift stands tall and unique,” Newsom told TMZ. “What she was able to accomplish in getting young people activated to consider that they have a voice and they should have a voice in the next
Epic Games is slashing its workforce by 16%, laying off about 830 employees, as it looks to cut costs and put the Fortnite maker on viable financial footing. The cutbacks were announced in an internal memo from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. In addition to the layoffs, the company is selling Bandcamp the music store and
Netflix has been sued for breach of contract by a company that was creating a game based on the forthcoming “Rebel Moon” sci-fi films by Zack Snyder. In a lawsuit, Evil Genius Games said it had begun working with Netflix in early 2023 to develop a tabletop role-playing game based on “Rebel Moon” with a
Hope springs eternal, but perhaps not for professional football in the Spring. The USFL and the XFL, two football leagues that were revived in recent years in a bid to bolster the sport during the NFL’s off-season, have decided to merge. The new entity will “establish best-in-class operations based on the most recent seasons of
Fox TV Stations wants to help even the smallest local advertiser make an appearance on TV. The Fox Corp. division, which includes 29 stations, has struck a deal with Waymark, a technology firm that uses AI to help local and regional advertisers that might not have the expertise to make video commercials create some for
Only a year ago, a 22-year-old budding rapper from the Bronx named Isis Naija Gaston attended her first MTV Video Music Awards as a friend’s plus-one. She’d just released what would become her breakthrough single, “Munch (Feelin’ U),” a viral smash, but no one knew who she was yet. Her seat was high up in
The Oscars love it when a movie sticks it to the man. Films focusing on systemic inequality, or the monied elite’s morally murky ways, arrive as many industry voters have spent the better part of the year on the picket lines, holding out for a better contract from studios. These movies could strike an emotional
Prime Video has ordered two seasons of the new adult animated series “Hazbin Hotel” from Vivienne Medrano, A24 and Fox Entertainment’s Bento Box Entertainment. The animated musical comedy series follows Charlie, the princess of Hell, as she attempts to rehabilitate demons to peacefully reduce overpopulation in her kingdom. Per the series logline, “After a yearly
Kim Kardashian’s performance on the current season of “American Horror Story,” two episodes in, could be described as thrillingly competent. As Siobhan (sure!), a power publicist who is determined to get her actor client, played by Emma Roberts, everything she wants, Kardashian leverages her rapacious ambition. She directs it outward, determined to get for someone
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Just one day after its release, Cassidy Hutchinson’s political memoir “Enough” skyrocketed to the number-one spot on Amazon’s bestsellers chart, where it still currently sits, as of this writing. Regularly priced at $30, “Enough”
Martin Scorsese participated in a career-spanning video interview for GQ magazine (watch below) and lamented over how many people today resemble his “Taxi Driver” main character, Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro). The lonely and violent Travis is a Vietnam War veteran who befriends a child prostitute as his mental health deteriorates. Some film writers have
TIFFCOM, the rights market that sits alongside the Tokyo International Film Festival, is celebrating its return to an in-person format for the first time since 2019, with a move to another venue and the launch of the new Tokyo Story Market. The three-day market (Oct. 25-27) will relocate from Ikkebukuro to the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial
Nadine Labaki heads “Back to Alexandria” in Tamer Ruggli’s debut feature that allowed him to celebrate Egyptian women. “I am very close to my mother, who is Egyptian. I don’t know if you know many Egyptian women, but they are exuberant, dominant and endearing.” In a story based on his mother’s experiences, Sue (Labaki) returns
The upcoming holiday season just got a little more merry and bright. “Family Guy” creator, director and long-time crooner Seth MacFarlane is dropping a holiday album with Liz Gillies of “Dynasty” and “Victorious” fame — and you can listen to their title track, “We Wish You The Merriest” right now. The velvety pipes of Gillies
Kilian Riedhof’s “Stella. A Life.,” which has its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival, tells the tragic, fact-based story of Stella Goldschlag, a young Jewish woman in Berlin who, in order to survive, cooperates with the Gestapo to betray other Jews. The film stars Paula Beer, who won the awards for best actress at
Italy’s Coccinelle Film Sales has acquired world rights to German director Veit Helmer’s poetic love story “Gondola,” which will world premiere at the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival. Helmer is well known on the international festival circuit for funny, fable-like films with little or no dialogue such as “Tuvalu”; the Azerbaijan-set “Absurdistan,” which went to
Revenues, losses and net liabilities all grew at art house streaming firm Mubi UK in the calendar year to end of December 2022, the company has disclosed. The company posted its annual trading statement in the last available week before the U.K.’s nine-month deadline for filing. And it reveals more information about itself than in
“Telefónica has been leading by innovation,” says Omdia’s María Rua Aguete of Movistar Plus’ parent, one of Europe’s biggest telecoms. In June, Telefónica launched the Experience Design Lab, a Madrid-based innovation center that includes a gaming room with the latest AR and VR technology and games. Its LaCabina, a permanent exhibition, allows visitors to experience
Munich-based Beta Film, one of Europe’s leading television companies, and seasoned executive Danny Goldman have joined forces to form London-based Omega Global Media, a distribution business focusing on a selection of high-end English-language TV series. The new entity’s first project is the Canadian crime series “Something Undone,” starring Billy Campbell (“Cardinal”) and Amanda Brugel (“The
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony will be streamed live for the first time in November, as Disney+ has picked up rights to let viewers see the event as it happens, a marked change from the years in which music fans had to wait weeks to see an edited broadcast. The Disney+ livestream
Italy’s Roberto Stabile, head of special projects, Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual-Ministry of Culture at Cinecittà, breezed through the San Sebastian Film Festival on Tuesday to tout Italy’s drive to amp up the distribution of Italian movies around the world. In a brief presentation at the city’s Museo de San Telmo, he held forth about
Agora, the industry section of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, has selected 10 films from seven countries for its works in progress strand. The strand selects projects in post-production stage, which have a link to the Mediterranean region and Southeastern Europe, and presents them to sales agents, distributors, producers, streaming platforms and festival programmers with
Underscoring its historical importance, a further production marking the 50th death anniversary of Chile’s socialist president Salvador Allende could well be in the works. The historical drama, provisionally titled “The Meeting,” details a historical encounter between the doomed president, whose downfall heralded the rise of the infamous military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in 1973. Producers
In 2017, Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest SVOD-pay TV player, rocked the San Sebastian Festival, the highest-profile movie event in Spain and Latin America region, with “The Plague,” the biggest series ever made in Spain. Movistar Plus, owned by Telefónica, looks set to make waves again at this week’s San Sebastian by world premiering another big,
Michael Gambon, the Irish-English actor best known for his role as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in six of the “Harry Potter” movies, has died, Variety has confirmed. He was 82. “We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon,” his family said in a statement. “Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in
Months after controversy erupted around a political tweet by star soccer player turned sports pundit Gary Lineker, the BBC has published revised social media guidelines for its presenters. Post that controversy, the BBC commissioned a review by former TV executive John Hardie, which looked at the corporation’s guidance covering “individual use of social media” in relation
The world of detective Charlie Chopra, based on characters created by Agatha Christie, is set to have a prolonged life in India as a franchise. “Charlie Chopra & The Mystery Of Solang Valley,” based on Christie’s 1931 novel “The Sittaford Mystery,” was adapted as a series for Indian streamer SonyLIV by renowned filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj.
Leading German film and TV group Telepool, which is owned by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook, has restructured the leadership of its world sales and distribution arm Global Screen. Julia Weber, its long-time head of sales and acquisitions, is leaving, with Brianne Bonney becoming head of TV sales. Yoko Higuchi-Zitzmann, CEO at Telepool, commented: