Sydney Sweeney will star in and produce an upcoming psychological horror film titled “Immaculate,” from Black Bear Pictures. The film reunites Sweeney with director Michael Mohan, who will direct from a script by Andrew Lobel. Sweeney and Mohan previously worked on “The Voyeurs” in 2021. Principal photography will commence in January 2023. Sweeney stars in
Archstone Entertainment announced that they have acquired the worldwide rights to late actor James Caan’s final film, the creature thriller “Dark Harvest.” The film also stars and was written by Rich Manley, and is directed by Andrew Dymond and André Gordon. Caan’s scenes for the film were shot well before his death this past July,
From Tortoise to Tarantino, from Khruangbin to Royal Arctic Institute, the spaghetti-western twang guitar has unexpectedly become a staple of the soundscape of the past 25 years, particularly for indie-leaning instrumental acts. And it’s basically the entire template for Zurich-based duo Hermanos Gutiérrez (consisting of guitarists and actual brothers Estevan and Alejandro), whose albums consist almost entirely of
Chappell Roan is a Missouri-born 24-year-old singer-songwriter who began uploading songs online as a teenager, was discovered and released an album on Atlantic when she was just 18. Now an independent artist, she’s been releasing a string of strong singles in collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo’s chief collaborator, Daniel Nigro, and the latest one is the
Since that time in his teens when he self-published the early ’90s graffiti art zine “Graphic Scenes & X-Plicit Language,” Sacha Jenkins has been about documenting hip-hop and funk culture — Black culture. Moving between print (he’s creative director at Mass Appeal), television (“Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men”) and film (“Bitchin’: The Sound and
Jeff Goldblum is following the yellow brick road. The actor is in final talks to play the Wizard in Jon M. Chu’s upcoming “Wicked” movies, Variety has learned exclusively. The latest casting news comes just over a month since Variety first reported that Fiyero will be played by “Bridgerton” star Jonathan Bailey. Chu’s two-part feature
Chlöe Bailey is spilling the deets on her short-lived romance with Gunna … hinting she was just another cog in his wheel of women during their time together. The R&B star previously revealed her new song “For The Night” was specifically written about the incarcerated YSL rapper and delivered the final product on Friday. Waiting
George R.R. Martin reflected on his literary and Hollywood career, and shared stories about book tour mishaps and Hollywood “morons,” in a conversation with “The Sandman” author Neil Gaiman at New York City’s Symphony Space Thursday night. Martin was promoting his book “The Rise of the Dragon: An Illustrated History of the Targaryen Dynasty, Volume
Will Elon Musk let Donald Trump back on Twitter now that the conservative-leaning tech titan owns the place — and would the ex-president want to come back? Trump was permanently banned from Twitter and other mainstream internet platforms in early 2021 for supporting the Jan. 6 rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol. On Friday, he
Veteran acquisitions executive Josh Thomashow has joined the team of international sales outfit Kaleidoscope ahead of the American Film Market (AFM). Thomashow, who previously had stints as VP of acquisitions at Cinedigm Entertainment and as executive director of acquisitions at Starz Entertainment/Anchor Bay, serve as head of acquisitions, on an exclusive basis at Kaleidoscope. He
It’s widely known that Taylor Swift auditioned to star in “Les Misérables,” Tom Hooper’s 2012 adaptation of the iconic stage musical. But it wasn’t until an Oct. 28 interview on “The Graham Norton Show” (via People) that Swift opened up in detail about her “nightmare” audition process for the movie. Swift is on an international
After finding an apartment in Los Angeles, Danielle Deadwyler utilized her teenage son and taped her audition scene for “Till.” The scene shows Mamie and Emmett’s final interaction in their home before being sent off to suffer an unspeakable fate and one that every parent of a Black child fears. During her interview for Variety’s
CASTING Musician Zayn Malik, “Bridgerton” star Simone Ashley, three-time BAFTA winner Mo Gilligan (“The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan”), Sophie Okonedo (“Slow Horses”) and Dylan Llewellyn (“Derry Girls”) will lead the voice cast of CG animated family comedy “10 Lives.” “10 Lives” is the story of a pampered and selfish cat who takes for granted the
Danny Elfman is playing the Hollywood Bowl for two nights this Halloween weekend. He has frequently, in years past, presided over “Nightmare Before Christmas” screenings with musical accompaniment at the Bowl. Ergo, attendees can expect a heavily “Nightmare”-themed show? He’d like to dissuade people from that idea, if only to protect some of the younger
Fred Again — a.k.a. Fred Gibson — brings a unique pedigree to this, his third solo album in 18 months. A 29-year-old songwriter-producer mentored by Brian Eno (who insists that Gibson mentored him just as much), he was thriving as a hit songwriter, with a U.K. No. 1 single for George Ezra and hits for
“Terrifier 2” is the gory little horror that could. Despite having a budget of less than $250,000, director Damien Leone’s ultra-slasher sequel has made more than $5 million at the box office since releasing in early October — and he already has plans for more. A word-of-mouth phenomenon, the film launched from relative obscurity into
Blue Fox Entertainment is launching worldwide sales at the American Film Market on two new slasher features that complete its “Butchers Trilogy” horror project. The global film sales and U.S. domestic distributor has greenlit production on “Butchers Book Three: Bonesaw,”which is due to go into production this fall in Canada. The second title in the trilogy,
Singer-pianist Jerry Lee Lewis, the hell-raising, larger-than-life rock ‘n’ roll pioneer and latter-day country star, has died, according to a rep, Zach Farnum. He was 87. His death had erroneously been reported by some outlets on Wednesday. “Judith, his seventh wife, was by his side when he passed away at his home in Desoto County,
APX Group, the New York-based U.S./European media and entertainment fund, has inked a deal with Black Deer Entertainment to set up a joint venture and fund worth €400 million ($398 million). Black Deer Entertainment is the London/Dubai-based producton and financing company previously known as AMG.Media Group (“Gravity,” “Edge of Tomorrow”). It is headed by Poya
Food gurus like Anthony Bourdain and Stanley Tucci will no longer figure as prominently in the recipe for programming at CNN. The pair are among the celebrities who helped pioneer a winning new formula at the outlet: Take viewers to places they couldn’t normally get to, add some beautiful shots of food or culture and,
Ryan Murphy’s “Dahmer” is one of Netflix’s most watched series of all time, but it’s also one of the streamer’s most controversial. The show has been lambasted online for glorifying real-life serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, and some family members of his victims have spoken out, claiming the series is “retraumatizing” and capitalizes on others’ tragedy
It’s been 16 years since The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus debuted “Face Down,” a song about a woman experiencing domestic violence. Today, the band is back with an updated version of the music video, and an emphasis on one specific line: “A new life she has found.” The song is a very personal one for the
The Beatles’ “Get Back” film and the accompanying book, boxed set and ballyhoo were a cap on the long and proverbially winding road of 50th anniversary deluxe editions that began five years earlier with the “Sgt. Pepper” box and continue apace (allowing for pandemic delays) with the White Album and “Abbey Road.” It felt like
The Latin Grammys have announced a star-studded panel of hosts for this year’s Latin Grammy Awards on Nov. 17, consisting of Brazillian superstar Anitta, Laura Pausini, Luis Fonsi and recipient of the Latin Recording Academy’s president award, Thalia. With a total of eight career nominations, Anitta is nominated for record of the year and best
R&B singer SZA has shared a new single titled “Shirt” — some two years after she first teased it, but promises that more than six years after her 2016 debut, “It’s album time baby. Y’all gonna get it all. New era starts now.” The song was released alongside a Dave Meyers-directed video depicting SZA and
Paperwork filed Friday morning confirms Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, is the proud new owner of Twitter — and that the social network that is now privately held. An SEC filing Friday by the New York Stock Exchange was a formal notification that Twitter’s stock was delisted. That means Musk’s $44 billion acquisition has
When Camerimage Film Festival founder Marek Zydowicz launched his cinematography-centered event in the fall of 1993, the film world spun on a rather different axis. In Hollywood, star-driven dramas like “The Fugitive” and “The Firm” drove the local box office, while in Europe, auteur Krzysztof Kieślowski was right in the midst of his “Three Colors”
Emmy-winning actor Guy Pearce (“L.A. Confidential,” “Memento”) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“The Walking Dead,” “Rampage”) have boarded “Neponset Circle,” a dark and gritty crime thriller based on a real-life murder that shook the Boston area and remains unsolved to this day. The Exchange, handling the international sales rights, is introducing the title to buyers at
First launched in Korea by Naver Webtoon in 2004, webtoons – comics read on smartphones and other devices – have become a worldwide phenomenon, consumed in more than 100 countries. That includes Japan, where webtoons – published in full-color in an easy-to-read vertical scrolling format – have challenged the supremacy of Japan’s native manga, which are
Berlin-based sales company M-Appeal has boarded Gentian Koçi’s Albanian drama “A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On,” which will world premiere in Tallinn Film Festival’s Main Competition and is Albania’s official submission for the Academy Awards. Set in urban Tirana, the film follows the emotional story and close bond of two identical twin brothers