One year after the slap that shook the industry, Will Smith is getting ready to return to acting. While the “Men in Black” star has kept a mostly low profile in the 12 months since slapping presenter Chris Rock at last year’s Oscars ceremony, he is now prepping for his first acting gig since the
Priyanka Chopra Jonas has been acting for two decades, yet she says her new Amazon Prime Video series “Citadel” represents the first time she’s had pay parity with a male co-star. Chopra Jonas stars with Richard Madden in the new series, which launches next month. Chopra Jonas was at Austin’s South by Southwest Festival in
After nearly 10 years on Netflix, comedy “New Girl” will be leaving the streaming service to get a new dual home on Hulu and Peacock. “New Girl” will be available on Hulu and Peacock beginning April 17, 2023. Under a shared agreement between Disney and NBCUniversal, Peacock and Hulu will share streaming rights to all
Sheryl Lee Ralph has delivered one rousing acceptance speech after another, all awards season long. But the newly crowned Emmy, Critics Choice and Golden Globe-winner saved something special for Essence’s 16th annual Black Women in Hollywood luncheon on Thursday afternoon. Presented the award by her “Abbott Elementary” co-star and creator — and 2022 Essence Black
Zaib Shaikh, Canada’s Consul General to Los Angeles, hosted the country’s annual Canada at the Oscars soiree Thursday at his official residence in Hancock Park. The event was the first stop of the night for many Oscar-nominated Canadians including “Women Talking’s” Sarah Polley, Sheila McCarthy and Kate Hallet. Polley was headed to the Macro party.
Lewis Largent, who was known to millions in the 1980s and ‘90s as an influential alternative-music MTV VJ and DJ on KROQ, died on Feb. 20 after a long illness, his family confirms to Variety. He was 58. A native of Southern California, Largent was an enthusiastic golfer as a teen, and he met the
ABC has placed a pilot order for Ellie Kemper’s “Drop Off” (working title). The series serves as the American adaptation of the British comedy “Motherland.” Variety exclusively reported the adaptation news earlier this week. The show was previously set up at Hulu by Lionsgate. “Julia (Ellie Kemper) is a working mom for whom nothing is
They say L.A. has no history, and yet, thankfully there are still enough vestiges of the Laurel Canyon folk-rock scene of the 1970s to fully stock a throwback series like “Daisy Jones & the Six.” Set among the flowy dresses and shaggy mustaches of the city’s rock ‘n’ roll heyday, the series gives aspiring rockers
The worlds of “Mission: Impossible” and “Ted Lasso” have unexpectedly collided. Next summer’s “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two” has cast Hannah Waddingham, who plays Rebecca Welton on Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso.” Christopher McQuarrie, the writer of the two upcoming “Dead Reckoning” films, revealed the casting on his Instagram account on Friday. He captioned
The first image has been unveiled from Miguel Gomes’ upcoming late 1910s drama “Grand Tour,” which is being sold by The Match Factory. The film is currently shooting in Italy, and stars Gonçalo Waddington and Crista Alfaiate. “Grand Tour” comes after the successful international sales and distribution of Gomes’ critically acclaimed features “Tabu,” “Arabian Nights”
Pioneering hip-hop producer Prince Paul was never officially a member of De La Soul — but “The Magic Number” was always four whenever they worked together. As ambitious and creative as group members Posdnuous (Kelvin Mercer), Trugoy (the late Dave Jolicoeur) and Maseo (Vincent Mason Jr.) were, the man born Paul Huston was the glue
Fresh off his Industry Leadership Award at the ABFF Honors and brokering a $90+ million-dollar strategic funding plan with a group of blue-chip investors, it was time to decompress as Charles D. King and wife Macro chief brand officer Stacey Walker King hosted their fifth annual pre-Oscars party. The festivities, again presented by Chase Sapphire,
Filmmaker Penny Lane (“Listening to Kenny G”) is known for her insightful, thought-provoking, humorous documentaries. But her most recent docu, “Confessions of a Good Samaritan,” is her most personal to date. In 2019 the director decided to become a Good Samaritan organ donor – a term given to a person who donates a kidney to
One of the nation’s biggest telecommunications companies is betting that college sports will keep it connected to consumers. AT&T will remain a top-tier sponsor of NCAA athletic events through the 2024-2025 academic year, having signed a deal to extend its pact with the massive college-sports league. AT&T has been an NCAA “corporate champion” since 2001,
British pubs and the famous Harrods food hall served as inspiration for Bravo’s new season of “Top Chef.” Award-winning production designer James Pearse Connelly, who has designed the show’s set for nearly a decade, wanted to capture the essence of British culture for his ninth kitchen. Says Connelly, “It was about how to bring London
Nexstar Media has spent months assembling a massive roster of TV stations; acquiring TV’s CW network; and building the NewsNation cable-news oulet. Now comes the hard part: Getting Madison Avenue to buy ads across all of it. The nation’s largest owner of local TV outlets is ready to make its pitch to advertisers and has
Among the movie stars slated to make an appearance during ABC’s telecast of the Oscars: a young Mickey Mouse and Princess Jasmine. Hyundai Motor America will run a 60-second commercial during the awards program that links its vehicles to Disney characters in no small fashion. Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, Princess Jasmine and Aladdin and the
Anne Hathaway is back at it again, proving she’s red carpet (in addition to Genovian, of course) royalty. At Versace’s Fall/Winter 2023 show in Los Angeles, the actress delivered a killer all-black ensemble. The outfit: a Versace crocodile-effect minidress, sheer tights, sky-high platform boots and sunglasses, and sparkling Bulgari jewelry. The dominatrix-style set would do
Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, said it is considering launching a new Twitter-like social network. “We’re exploring a standalone, decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement
Most of Miley Cyrus’ albums have been pretty high-concept, in the musical styles they tried on for size. She didn’t come in like a wrecking ball so much as a pendulum. Successive records found her swinging back and forth — or sideways — from the pop-diva dominance she established with “Bangerz” to the one-woman back-to-roots
As a performer, Kerry Washington is particularly adept at conveying uptightness — her crispness of bearing and her rat-a-tat delivery suggest a certain passion for organization, for rigor. This was the ingredient that helped elevate “Scandal,” and the emotionally chaotic but professionally fastidious character of Olivia Pope. (And, incidentally, it’s the aspect that made Washington’s
Thailand’s film censors have upset the release of local horror movie “Hoon Payon,” which should have arrived in cinemas pn Thursday. The film had a successful world premiere screening on Tuesday at a gala in Bangkok. But censors have since intervened to demand five scenes be cut and to impose a 20+ rating on the
Hailey Bieber presumably has access to every piece of designer clothing she could possibly want. Yet when given the opportunity to flex her design skills, she skipped the sequins and ball gowns and instead dreamed up double-breasted overcoats, long-sleeve tees, and pleated trousers. Her capsule collection with Wardrobe.NYC came about because even she felt like
“Versace is always the dream,” says Dua Lipa. She is sitting on the roof of a parking garage in Los Angeles, surrounded by a thrumming crowd of fashion editors bleary from the Paris runways, stylists taking a break from their A-list clients for the upcoming Oscars, and K-Pop princes in popsicle-colored suits. Elton John zips
Brian Eno, the influential British musician, producer and visual artist who has helped define and reinvent the sound of top music artists including David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads, and Coldplay, will be honored by the Venice Biennale Music section with its Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Eno is being honored “for his research into the
The Asian premiere of Soi Cheang’s “Mad Fate” is just one of three locally-produced movies that have been set as the opening and closing titles of the upcoming Hong Kong International Film Festival. “Mad Fate” is joined in the festival opening slot on March 30 by “Elegies,” Ann Hui’s documentary portrayal of the topography of
After a blockbuster debut in 2022, the London Action Festival is set to return this summer for its second edition. The festival is timed to be squarely in the middle of the summer action movie season. This summer will see the release of “Fast X,” “Kandahar,” “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” “Indiana Jones and the
Dogwoof has shared with Variety the trailer of “Theatre of Violence,” nominated in main competition at CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, one of Europe’s biggest documentary events. Shot over the course of six years, it follows the trial of Dominic Ongwen, the first former Ugandan child soldier to be convicted and sentenced by the International Criminal
Italian sales company True Colours has closed a raft of sales following Berlin’s European Film Market. Italy’s box office hit “La Stranezza” (“Strangeness”) got picked up for a dozen territories and queer romantic drama “Norwegian Dream” also sold widely, including to North America. Directed by Roberto Andò, “Strangeness” (pictured) toplines Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”)
Philippines media powerhouse ABS-CBN is launching “The Bagman” action drama series as a remake of its own “Bagman” digital production and will launch it at Hong Kong’s FilMart next week. The original “Bagman,” which ran to two seasons and sold to Netflix in The Philippines, follows a neighborhood barber who lands a job as the