HBO’s buzzy new original series “The Idol” has been steadily building momentum on the road to its June 4 debut — including a lavish world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, followed by one of the most talked-about afterparties on the Croisette. The show follows an embattled young pop star named Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), recovering
Released to theaters in the theatrical dog days of mid-2020, Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion’s “Becky” became a home-formats hit, its gleefully tasteless home-invasion thrills a guilty-pleasure tonic for COVID captives going a bit stir-crazy. Now Lulu Wilson is back as that title character, more or less the sole survivor of her prior screen outing.
Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall,” one of the best reviewed films of the Cannes competition, which was bought by Neon, examines the collapse of a marriage and a mother-and-son relationship in a documentary-style courtroom drama. The chamber piece is driven by Sandra Hüller’s (“Toni Erdmann”) nuanced performance as a successful German novelist on trial
Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy, whose absurdist social satire “Feathers” won the Cannes Critics’ Week prize in 2021 and went on to make a major splash, is set to helm “Mammals,” an English-language drama that will be a reflection on Western capitalism and family ties. El Zohairy’s sophomore film, which will feature still unspecified actors
Tired of being pinged for using music in his gaming videos, Texas teenager David Burke — professionally known as D4vd — decided to make his own. Armed with only BandLab and an iPhone, he started scoring gameplay montages. Early virality encouraged him to think bigger, and by the end of 2022, D4vd had landed global
Whoopi Goldberg has some strong feelings about “American Idol.” Speaking earlier this week on “The View,” Goldberg said, “We as a society love to watch stuff to judge folks. I’ve always thought that the beginning of the downfall of society was with — what’s the name of that show?” she continued, summoning the help of
Common Sense Networks, and Integral Ad Science have struck a pact to provide safe, data-driven solutions in the kids’ advertising market. Common Sense Networks, a for-profit affiliate of Common Sense Media, creates and curates safe content experiences for kids, and was behind the launch of Sensical, a streaming-video hub for children between two and ten.
Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” is beginning its box office swim with $10.3 million in previews. Starring singer and actor Halle Bailey as Ariel, the new movie is projected to open with $100 million this holiday weekend. With Memorial Day on Monday, its four-day total could land between $120 million and $125 million.
In “La Chimera,” the ancient past nestles mere inches below the surface of the present, eventually breaking above ground and disrupting, if not the space-time continuum, the more mundane order of things. The borders between life and death feel similarly frictious and permeable, as if we could merely visit one from the other, as easily
Prime Video has announced that “Citadel: Diana” will be the title of the next chapter of the “Citadel” Spyverse franchise and released a first look image of rising Italian star Matilda De Angelis who is its central character. De Angelis made her international breakthrough in Susanne Bier’s “The Undoing,” alongside Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.
The 37 national film institutes that are members of European Film Promotion have elected a new EFP board of directors at the general assembly on May 23 during the Cannes Film Festival. The board consists of seven members, with their term of office lasting for two years. Five of the current members remain on the
Female Film Club (FCC), an online members club for female filmmakers and creatives, has partnered with French production company Sisterland Connect to advocate for women in film on an international scale. Sisterland Studio and Sisterland Connect bowed at Cannes earlier this week with the launch of an investment fund and production company for women in
Celine Dion has canceled all 2023 and 2024 dates on her “Courage” world tour due to her ongoing struggle with a rare neurological disorder called Stiff-Person Syndrome. The dates had been rescheduled from 2022. “It is with tremendous disappointment that we have to announce today the cancellation of the Courage World Tour,” she wrote in
The road from boy band fame to solo stardom is notoriously bumpy, but Niall Horan made the transition look easy with 2017 debut album “Flicker.” Eschewing the pop of One Direction for earthier, singer-songwriter fare, the Irishman carved out his own artistic identity — one hit at a time. Horan, 29, then broadened his sonic
At the close of its fourth and final season, “Succession” occupies a place eerily analogous to that of fearsome patriarch Logan Roy. After Logan’s sudden, shocking death in the third episode, his colleagues and children (who were also his colleagues) had to scramble for an answer to the question that’s haunted the entire series: What
DirecTV announced a multiyear deal to sell the NFL’s Sunday Ticket out-of-market games package to commercial venues in the U.S., starting with the 2023 season. Under the pact with the NFL’s EverPass Media, DirecTV will continue to offer the Sunday football games to customers including casinos, restaurants, bars, hotel lounges and retail shops. The announcement
The 16th edition of Beldocs Intl. Documentary Film Festival has awarded its top prizes to “ThIIIrd,” from Lebanese helmer Karim Kassim, in the International Competition Program, and Tijana Petrović’s “A Field Guide to Coastal Fortifications” in the Serbian competition program. “ThIIIrd” is set in an auto repair shop in Lebanon, which is a haven for
Anthony Chen’s well-regarded Mainland China-set “The Breaking Ice” has found favor with multiple European and Asian buyers in the few days since its Sunday premiere as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard. The film narrates a love triangle story among China’s lost youth generation and is set in the middle of winter
The U.K.’s London Indian Film Festival and Birmingham Indian Film Festival will work together to present a two-city, two-part panoply of feature and short films, kicking off next month with “The Storyteller.” Directed by Ananth Mahadevan, “The Storyteller” sees Adil Hussain play a Gujarati businessman who believes that once physical wealth is accumulated, happiness will
Italy’s RAI Cinema, which has four titles in this year’s Cannes selection, has closed a deal on Ron Howard’s next movie “Origin of Species,” a hot project at the Cannes market starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Ana de Armas, Jude Law and Alicia Vikander. RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco said the company – which is the
U.S. distribution company Dark Star Pictures, Mexico’s Mantícora Distribution and Spain’s La Dalia Films announced at Cannes a strategic deal to launch genre label Antídoto Horror Factory. The venture, unveiled at the Marché du Film’s new genre-focused Fantastic Pavilion, will develop, produce, distribute and sell a minimum of four genre feature films in the next
ADVERTISING U.K. public service broadcaster Channel 4 and Lloyds Bank have revealed Black in Business, an initiative to help boost up to five Black-owned businesses with TV advertising airtime worth £100,000 ($123,400) each. The business owners will also have a bespoke TV commercial made for them and six months of tailored marketing and business support
The Sundance Film Festival Asia, an offshoot of the Sundance Institute, is to set up camp in Taipei, Taiwan this summer. The three-day mini festival will run Aug. 18-20 and be put together in association with local organizer G2Go Entertainment. The event will showcase a handful of films curated by the Sundance Institute and host
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from the series finale of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. More than half a decade ago, Rachel Brosnahan stepped in front of a vintage microphone to deliver a standup routine as 1950s Upper West Side housewife-turned-comic Miriam “Midge” Maisel. It was early on in production
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from “Storytelling,” the Season 2 finale of “Yellowjackets,” now streaming on Showtime. The second season of “Yellowjackets” has come to a dark and twisted end. In the 1996 timeline, teen Lottie (Courtney Eaton) handed over the role of leader of the wilderness to Natalie (Sophie Thatcher), as all the
Pixar vice president and creative director Peter Sohn will talk about his new animated film “Elemental” at the VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy, which runs from Oct. 15-20. Sohn will attend the conference in person to discuss the creative journey he took to bring the story to the screen. “I’m so excited to welcome
There are few fears more universal than one of a monster under the bed or in our closet, and few filmmaking techniques more viscerally effective than the jump scare. These tropes collide — effectively, if without much originality — in “The Boogeyman,” a loose adaptation of Stephen King’s 1973 short story of the same name.
Taylor Swift has lived up to her self-proclaimed “Mastermind” status with the Thursday night/Friday morning release of fresh versions of two “Midnights” songs. In one, which she spices up “Karma” with an all-new verse from arguably the hottest rapper of the moment, Ice Spice. In the other, bluntly subtitled “(Featuring More Lana Del Rey),” Swift
Marvel’s upcoming “Thunderbolts” film has paused production due to the ongoing writers strike, Variety has confirmed. The movie was scheduled to begin shooting in Atlanta next month, and plans to resume production after the strike is resolved. Part of Marvel’s Phase Five, “Thunderbolts” is set to bring together the worlds of “Ant-Man and the Wasp,”
Ed Ames, a member of the Ames Brothers singing quartet who starred in TV series “Daniel Boone” in the 1960s, died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 95. Ed Ames and his brothers Vic, Joe and Gene had a hit with their version of “Rag Mop” in 1950. As a solo artist,