Georgia lawmakers will take a close look at all of the state’s tax incentives — including its TV and film production program — with an eye toward reforming the ones that don’t work. Gov. Brian Kemp joined Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and House Speaker Jon Burns on Thursday to announce that a “thorough review” of
“Star Trek: Discovery” will end with the upcoming Season 5 at Paramount+, Variety has learned. In addition, the fifth and final season will now debut in early 2024 as opposed to this year as originally thought. Filming is mostly complete on Season 5, but according to an individual with knowledge of the situation, there will
Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” opened on Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10 chart to record breaking numbers. During the Jan. 30-Feb. 5 viewing window, the film (which was added to the Disney+ streaming service on Feb. 1 following its theatrical run) quickly landed itself on Nielsen’s most-streamed movies within a measurement week chart with 2.269 billion
Will Smith was the surprise guest that set the room abuzz Wednesday night at the 14th annual African American Film Critics Assn. Awards at the Beverly Wilshire hotel. But Smith had tough competition in the emotional-speech department from fellow honorees that included Danielle Deadwyler, Viola Davis, Angela Bassett and Gina Prince-Bythewood. Deadwyler, who won lead
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains major spoilers for “Tár.” Todd Field’s “Tár” ends with disgraced conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) conducting the score of “Monster Hunter,” a fantasy video game series, for a group of cosplayers in Southeast Asia. It’s a huge fall from grace from her previous post as head of the Berlin Philharmonic.
“32 Sounds,” an immersive and experiential documentary, has sold North American rights to Abramorama following its premiere at Sundance Film Festival. The movie, which explores the phenomenon of sound through 32 specific sonic experiences, will begin its nationwide theatrical rollout at New York City’s Film Forum on April 28. To complete the unique auditory experience,
Emma Stone hasn’t acted in a film since 2021’s “Cruella,” but that will soon change thanks to two new collaborations with her “The Favourite” director Yorgos Lanthimos. The first is “Poor Things,” a Frankenstein-inspired story in which Stone plays a woman whose brain gets replaced by that of her unborn child, and the second is
Michael Keaton is back as Batman in the all-new ‘The Flash’ trailer. Let us know how excited you are! ► Learn more: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_flash_2022?cmp=Trailers_YouTube_Desc Watch the full trailer here: https://youtu.be/44o-RrCBPqE
Legendary New York City drag queen Kevin Aviance has found new management following Beyoncé sampling him her album “Renaissance.” Aviance has signed with Voss Management. “Thank you, Beyoncé! I finally feel validated!,” he told me Thursday. “I never thought at 54 years of age that a Black, bald queen from the New York City underground
It all begins with a song. That’s the time-honored country music mantra, an acknowledgment that all hit tunes start with words and music steeped in the blood, sweat and tears of songwriters. And it was ringing out loud and clear at the Country Music Association’s Triple Play Awards Wednesday night at Saint Elle in Nashville.
Universal Music Group posted booming results for 2022, with revenues soaring 21.6% to nearly $10.95 billion, driven by streaming and a strong performance from its recorded music and publishing divisions. Recorded music’s revenues from streaming and subscriptions were up around 19% to over $5.6 billion, while digital revenues form publishing division were up a whopping
What started as a singing competition special featuring Wiz Khalifa and Bebe Rexha that aired during NBA All-Star Weekend on TNT is now being shopped as a full-format series, Variety has learned. From “The Biggest Loser” and “World of Dance” executive producer Alex Katz, co-founder of Anagram Studios, the special was titled “The Sum” and
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from “Poker Face” Episode 9, “Escape From Shit Mountain,” now streaming on Peacock. A week before the “Poker Face” Season 1 finale, Thursday’s episode featured one of series creator Rian Johnson’s favorite collaborators — Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And with “Poker Face” being the show it is, if you aren’t Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale,
ID PR vice president Alla Plotkin has left the company. Plotkin, whose clients have included Bette Midler, Sarah Paulson, Holland Taylor, Jake Gyllenhaal, Nicholas Braun, Michelle Williams, Titus Burgess and Jessica Williams, has not announced her next move. She had been with ID for almost 16 years. At the same time, ID PR announced that
Sara Waisglass, Jonathan Kite and Thomas Lennon will star in an upcoming holiday feature from DeVan Clan Productions, entitled “Needle Little Christmas.” The Christmas tale centers around kindred spirits Maddie, Elizabeth and Trevor. When Maddie passes away before the holiday season in a sudden accident, she is given a second chance at life to convince
Sony Pictures Classics has bought “The Teachers’ Lounge,” Ilker Çatak’s drama which world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, for North America, Latin America and Eastern Europe (excluding Hungary). “The Teachers’ Lounge” marks the fourth feature from Çatak, who co-wrote the screenplay with Johannes Duncker. The movie played in the Panorama section and won the
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. “Daisy Jones & the Six,” the TV adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel of the same name, hits Amazon Prime Video on Friday, March 3. The rollicking, drama-filled show about the epic rise
AMC Networks’ Sentai Filmworks unit reached an agreement with Japan’s Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) that provides exclusive rights for AMC’s anime-focused HIDIVE streaming service to distribute part of MBS’s future programming lineup in all global markets outside of Asia. The pact is Sentai’s biggest-ever deal for anime content, according to the company. The output deal
Brendan Fraser’s massive popularity has helped play a role in the revitalization of the 54-year-old actor’s career. That includes Fraser’s first-ever Oscar nomination for best actor, via his towering performance in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale.” For this week’s video episode of the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast, we sat down with Brendan Fraser to discuss “The
CNET, the tech news and reviews site owned by digital media and marketing company Red Ventures, has joined the parade of media-industry layoffs. The site on Thursday axed 10% of its workforce, or about a dozen staff members, according to a report by the Verge (which is a CNET competitor) citing an anonymous employee. A
Michael P. O’Leary, an executive who has straddled the worlds of government, lobbying and media, has been named as president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners. He will take over from John Fithian, whose retirement after decades at the exhibition industry advocacy group was announced last year. O’Leary will begin the transition
In what may be the most difficult-to-predict score competition in years, the original-music Oscar could go to a sentimental favorite, a past nominee or the newcomer to the race. Academy members begin voting today. Legendary composer John Williams broke records again by becoming the most nominated living person (53 nominations, winning five), earning the highest
ABBA’s ‘Voyage’ virtual concert — which opened in a specially built London arena last May and has sold more than 1 million tickets — will go on a global tour, Universal Music Group chairman Lucian Grainge confirmed during the company’s earnings call on Thursday. “Plans are now in development to take ‘ABBA Voyage’ around the world,”
Amazon Studios has ordered “Twin Love,” a new dating competition series from ITV Entertainment, hosted by WWE Hall of Famers Brie Bella and Nikki Bella. “Twin Love” is set to premiere on Prime Video this summer and simultaneously on Amazon Freevee in the U.S. and UK. Simon Thomas, Bernie Schaeffer, Kenny Rosen and Jessica Nahmias
Scott Tenley, chief business officer at entertainment studio MRC, has been promoted to CEO, the company announced Thursday. As part of the new executive structure, MRC founders Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu will become chairmen. Tenley’s elevation comes seven months after he successfully negotiated MRC’s separation from Valence Media, reconstituting the company as a premier
Twenty One Pilots has done it again: The music video for their 2016 hit “Heathens,” from the soundtrack of DC’s first “Suicide Squad,” has officially crossed the 2 billion views mark on YouTube. It’s the duo’s second music video to pass the milestone after 2015’s “Stressed Out,” which currently has more than 2.6 billion views
When writer Charlie Mackesy was searching for someone to score the music for the adaptation of his beloved book 2019 book “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” he thought of Isobel Waller-Bridge. The story about four characters who are lost and need connection is about vulnerability, and for Waller-Bridge and Mackesy, the
Demi Singleton is the latest addition to the cast of the “Bass Reeves” series at Paramount+, Variety has learned exclusively. Singleton will appear in the period drama as a series regular opposite series lead David Oyelowo, who will star as the titular legendary lawman. Additional cast members include Barry Pepper, Dennis Quaid, Forrest Goodluck, Lauren
Nic Pizzolatto has set up a western drama series at Amazon with a series commitment, Variety has confirmed with sources. The untitled series is said to “revolve around a former outlaw who must reckon with a threat from his past in order to keep the life and family he has worked so hard to build,”
Check out the official trailer for Haunted Mansion starring Rosario Dawson, Danny DeVito, and LaKeith Stanfield! ► Sign up for a Fandango FanAlert for Haunted Mansion: hhttps://www.fandango.com/haunted-mansion-2023-228958/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 US Release Date: July 28, 2023 Starring: Rosario Dawson, Danny