SAG-AFTRA has struck a deal with celebrity video platform Cameo to cover the brand deals that members make through Cameo for Business (C4B) under a guild contract. The new pact, “C4B x SAG-AFTRA Agreement,” will allow SAG-AFTRA members to count C4B earnings toward health and pension benefits, just as those earnings become a growing concern
Barbara Neri’s LGBTQIA+ play about a woman who claims to be Tennessee Williams heroine Blanche DuBois is set to be adapted as a feature film, with sales launching at Cannes. Neri has partnered with Ango-American filmmaker Jaclyn Bethany’s BKE Productions for the adaptation. According to the logline, “Unlocking Desire” tells the story of “an institutionalized
Fogs, dogs and toxic smogs are just the headliner adversities hurled at the motley band of misfits determined to survive Kim Tae Gon’s “Project Silence,” by no means a classic in the Korean action-thriller pantheon, but a good enough stopgap for a rainy Sunday until the next one comes along. Set on a cataclysm-prone Seoul
Last summer, Van Robichaux ran for the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America West. Out of 17 candidates, he was the only one who raised a concern about artificial intelligence in his campaign statement. “As far as I know, this issue is not on the radar of anyone else running for the
Natalie Portman told GQ magazine that she’s open to returning to the “Star Wars” franchise, 18 years after “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” served as her exit from the long-running space saga. Portman starred in all three of George Lucas’ prequel films as Padmé Amidala, who wins the heart of Anakin Skywalker. “I have
UPDATED: It’s the big launch day for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max — and the newly revamped streaming service encountered some technical problems right off the bat. The company said the issues have been “minor” and were swiftly fixed. On Tuesday morning, subscribers took to social media to complain that they were having problems logging in
Meta is offloading Giphy — which maintains the world’s biggest database of animated GIFs — to content marketplace company Shutterstock, taking a steep loss on the forced sale. Shutterstock is paying $53 million for Giphy. Three years ago, Meta (then Facebook) bought Giphy for $400 million. However, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ruled
Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s bulked-up and revamped streaming service that takes the place of HBO Max, makes it U.S. debut on Wednesday (May 23). Max makes several subtle enhancements aimed at making the service easier to use and more engaging — while execs say it should also be more stable than HBO Max. According to
Prince Harry has lost a legal challenge in the U.K. over paying for private police protection according to the Press Association. The prince, who is also known as the Duke of Sussex, had attempted to launch a judicial review over the decision to reject his bid to privately hire members of the U.K. police force
Neon has acquired Justine Triet’s Hitchcockian courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall.” The U.S. distributor has been “aggressively pursuing” the competition title, which premiered in Cannes on Sunday to rapturous reviews and early Palme d’Or buzz. In the 150-minute film, a frustrated writer dies of suspicious causes, leaving behind clues that implicate his wife (Sandra
Revered Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio is returning to Cannes with “Kidnapped,” a drama that reconstructs the true tale of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy who was kidnapped and forcibly raised as a Christian in 19th century Italy. It’s a story that Steven Spielberg had his eye on, having announced in 2016 that he would
Dartmouth Films has set a U.K. and Ireland release date for Alastair Evans’ acclaimed documentary “A Crack in the Mountain” and unveiled a clip from the film. Deep in the jungle of central Vietnam lies an underground kingdom. Hang Son Doong, which translates as ‘mountain river cave’ is the largest cave passage in the world
Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” is a hot property in Cannes, and it’s yet to even premiere. Several buyers are currently circling the Japan-set, music-infused title from master filmmaker Wenders, which bows in competition on Thursday. Sources tell Variety that interested parties so far include Utopia, MUBI, Magnolia, Sideshow and Janus Films and Sony Pictures Classics.
Finnish actors Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen have been making names for each other for a while now. But playing leads in Aki Kaurismäki’s latest film, “Fallen Leaves,” was a whole different story. “He has always been that household name, even when I was growing up on a farm in the 1980s, kicking a ball
Mainland Chinese star Wang Luodan (“The Dead End,” “Struggle,” “The Continent”) and Hong Kong-born Bosco Wong (“Lives of Omission,” “Triumph In The Skies”) head the cast of “My Dearest Stranger.” The high-end suspense drama series is a production fronted by mainland Chinese distributor-producer Hishow Entertainment, which announced the production at the Cannes Market, adjacent to
CNN has launched CNN Fast, a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel. CNN Fast is set up as a curated channel of short-form videos that will feature international stories across major news events, business, entertainment, sport and the environment. It launched on Tuesday across several European countries on Rakuten TV, and will also be available
CO-PRODUCTION “Lioness,” an official Indo-U.K. co-production being made under the 2008 bilateral treaty, will star Aditi Rao Hydari (“Jubilee”) and Paige Sandhu (“Emmerdale”), it was revealed at the Cannes India pavilion on Tuesday. Written and to be directed by Kajri Babbar (“Khoj”), the film is inspired by the research of Peter Bance, the historian who
On a recent morning in Cannes, Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan sat over coffee at the Hotel Martinez and recalled a phone call he received nearly 60 years ago, not long after he’d made a splash on the British folk scene. On the other end of the line was a rising screenwriter and director called Ken Loach.
Netflix landed North American rights for “May December,” a soapy romantic-drama directed by Todd Haynes and starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, which debuted at Cannes Film Festival. It sold for $11 million, marking the first big sale of this year’s festival. Several bidders, including Neon, were in the mix before Netflix emerged victorious. The
Award-winning US producer and distributor Karin Chien (“Robot Stories,” “Circumstance”), whose latest co-production, “Man in Black,” is one of two films by Chinese director Wang Bing running in Cannes’ official selection, shared her experience with the crowd during a masterclass at Cannes Docs, the Film Market section dedicated to documentary films. “Man in Black” premiered
Current COO Fatima Djoumer has been appointed CEO of the Europa Cinemas network. Djoumer succeeds founder Claude-Eric Poiroux, who is stepping down from his role as general director after 30 years. Poiroux has been awarded the title of honorary president, recognizing his contribution to the creation and development of the network, which now includes more
NBC’s coverage of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games and Fox’s FIFA World Cup telecasts were the big winners Monday night at this year’s 44th annual Sports Emmy Awards, winning three Emmys each. ESPN, meanwhile, was the night’s biggest winner among outlets, pulling 13 Emmys. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded this year’s
What The Weeknd wants, The Weeknd gets in “The Idol,” a skintastic, dark-side-of-showbiz fable that perpetuates the myth that pop stars are corporate puppets with no say in their own image-making, even as it allows hit-maker The Weeknd to call the shots (and reshoots, apparently, since the five-part HBO series was overhauled late in production
“Mortal Kombat 2” will follow the example of its 2021 hit predecessor and film in Australia. But production will relocate to Gold Coast, Queensland, from Adelaide in South Australia. The New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures title is based on the iconic video game by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Filming will begin at Village
LL Cool J surprised “NCIS” fans with his cameo on the Season 2 finale of “NCIS: Hawai’i” on Monday night. The rapper turned actor reprised his role of Sam Hanna and will join the series as a recurring guest star in the upcoming third season. LL first appeared on the franchise’s flagship series “NCIS” in
Indian Oscar winner Guneet Monga Kapoor’s Sikhya Entertainment and multihyphenate Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment have teamed for the first time to produce original series “Gyaarah Gyaarah” for streamer ZEE5. Directed by Umesh Bist (Sikhya-Balaji Motion Pictures-Netflix film “Pagglait”) and co-written by Puja Banerji and Sunjoy Shekhar, the series, described as being in the investigative fantasy
The Los Angeles Dodgers have re-invited The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to the team’s Pride Night following a public outcry after the Dodgers rescinded the activist organization’s initial invitation to the event. “After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of
Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” spends an 11th consecutive week topping the Billboard 200 albums chart — meeting marks set by the “Titanic” soundtrack, which ruled over the chart for 16 weeks in a row back in 1998, and joining record-setters Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder. In the latest tracking week, “One Thing”
The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp shut down the Croisette to show the price of fame — and plenty of raunchy intrigue — at the Cannes premiere of “The Idol” on Monday. Making direct parallels to superstar meltdowns like the one suffered by Britney Spears, the HBO Original series finally revealed itself at a packed gala
Check out the official trailer for The Color Purple starring Phylicia Pearl Mpasi and Taraji P. Henson! ► Sign Up for a FanAlert on Fandango: https://www.fandango.com/the-color-purple-2023-232040/movie-overview?cmp=Trailers_YouTube_Desc Subscribe to the channel and click the bell icon to be notified of all the hottest trailers: http://bit.ly/2CNniBy ► Shop Rotten Tomatoes: http://bit.ly/3KvCU1M US Release Date: December 25, 2023 Starring: