From the “Summer House” love triangle that lit up thousands of group chats to Vicki Gunvalson’s return to Orange County, 2026 has given Bravo fans plenty to unpack. There was also Carole Radziwill’s “RHONY” comeback, the ever-shifting alliances in Salt Lake City and a “Real
Vodka can be used to make everything from an espresso martini to a Moscow Mule. One Super Bowl advertiser hopes people will use the beverage in a bid to make $500,000. After tapping AI to help craft a 30-second commercial in Super Bowl LX, Svedka Vodka will instead turn to fans
Fox Corporation said profit in its fiscal first quarter was bolstered by advertising revenue tied to its multi-week telecast of the FIFA World Cup as well as increases in political ads and in the number of subscribers to its TV networks — dynamics that many traditional media
The seismic changes at Netflix have rippled across the pond, with up to 3% of the streamer’s London HQ laid off, it has now been confirmed. The aftershocks from last month’s U.S. re-org have also claimed U.K. and EMEA production VP Anna Mallett, who has exited amid the
Spain’s indie film distributors are flexing growing box office muscle — and attracting a broader range of buyers to Valladolid’s Merci market. Presented at Merci, Rentrak figures showed that members of Adicine, Spain’s leading association of independent film distributors, saw
Russell Brand’s lawyer has told the jury there is “no evidence” that the comedian is “some kind of psychopath who rapes people and thinks it’s normal” in his closing argument. “The fact he behaved normally during and after all of those ‘rapes’ tells you what you need to know.
Raye is set to headline BST Hyde Park in London this coming summer with special guest Sienna Spiro. The singer — who just won the U.K.’s prestigious Mercury Prize for her latest album, “This Music May Contain Hope” — will play the festival on Saturday, July 10. Sienna Spiro is
Karim Akalay’s “6TM” won the New Visions Award for the most promising European project at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival. Variety spoke to Akalay at the festival. Set during a scorching summer at Brussels’ largest housing estate, Cité Modèle, the story follows three
German director and screenwriter Isabelle Stever’s “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming” has won the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Ethical Film Award. The award, set up in 2023 with sponsor Sumitomo Corporation, highlights films that shed light on issues such as the environment,
“Harry Potter” agent The Blair Partnership has appointed Will Obbard and Alex Flanagan to senior roles as the company eyes a new phase of growth. “I’m delighted to welcome Alex and Will to The Blair Partnership,” said Neil Blair, founding partner of The Blair Partnership. “Both
The 'Slow Horses' star, who is next set to play Mr. Darcy in Netflix's 'Pride and Prejudice' adaptation, admitted the speculation is "very flattering."
Jesse Eisenberg’s “The Debut,” starring Julianne Moore as a shy housewife who is cast in a community theater musical and transforms into a zealous Method actor, has been set as the opening film of the 23rd Marrakech International Film Festival. Eisenberg is expected to be on
Palestinian-Jordanian filmmaker Darin J. Sallam has no regrets about making “Farha,” her debut feature about a Palestinian girl coming of age during the Nakba, the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians surrounding the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The
Mickey & Friends are getting ready to head to Super Bowl LXI with a new lineup of limited-edition merchandise. Through their collaboration with the NFL, Disney launched three new collections on Thursday: Disney x Champion, Disney x FOCO and Disney Pinnacle by Dapper Labs.
The story of how a small Dublin bookmaker turned into one of the world’s most recognizable betting companies is being made into a feature film, with a quartet of Irish actors attached to star. Brian Gleeson (“Under Salt Marsh,” “Logan Lucky”), Colm Meaney (“Law Abiding
Jack Lowden is keeping relatively quiet about the possibility of becoming the next James Bond, even as speculation mounts that the “Slow Horses” star is among the frontrunners to replace Daniel Craig as 007. In an interview with British GQ, the Scottish actor addressed the
The 13th Sharjah Intl. Film Festival for Children and Youth wrapped Sunday with Paul Negoescu’s “Atlas of the Universe” taking best feature film and Celia Catunda’s “My Grandfather Is a Nihonjin” winning best animated feature. The jury described “Atlas of the Universe,” a
Japanese director Kadowaki Kōhei’s animated feature “We Are Aliens” has won the Kau Ka Hōkū (Shooting Star) Award at the 46th Hawai’i International Film Festival, which handed out its jury prizes at an awards reception at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikīkī on Nov. 1. Presented by
“Mission: Impossible” star Simon Pegg is set to play a Hollywood agent in upcoming dark comedy “My Phone Died,” with Mark Duplass (“The Morning Show,” “Creep”) and Haley Joel Osment (“Sixth Sense,” “Blink Twice”) also attached to star. Set to shoot in the spring of 2027. the
Sanfic Industria, the industry section of the Santiago International Film Festival (Sanfic), is turbocharged for an even stronger edition this year. Running concurrently with the festival, which runs Nov. 2 – 8, Sanfic Industria unspools Nov. 2-6 with Sanfic co-founder Gabriela
Two directors with films at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival said they once kept impending or new motherhood hidden from the people they worked with, at a festival talk on raising children while making films. Belgium-based Teodora Ana Mihai, whose “Heysel 85” plays
Since the days of “Vanishing Point” and Steven Spielberg’s “The Sugarland Express,” Hollywood has been making films about fugitives in fast cars who become media-sensation folk heroes. Companies like American International Pictures and Roger Corman’s New World Pictures would
Isabelle Huppert vampire film “The Blood Countess” lost as much as 20 minutes against the wishes of its director, Ulrike Ottinger, the veteran German filmmaker said at the Tokyo International Film Festival, which is hosting a retrospective of her work. In “The Blood Countess”
In her first year at the programming helm, Triin Tramberg is making few changes and watching closely to see what works: "I made the decision that this year is really observational for me."
Watching Congresswoman Haley Stevens attempt to explain her 11th-hour endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers over her fellow Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in Tuesday’s election to become the next United States Senator from Michigan, my primary feeling was one of relief. Thank God this
Bollywood filmmaker Vikas Bahl has finished filming in the U.K. on “Bolo Bolo Bolo,” a coming-of-age musical drama set during the boom in Punjabi music across Britain in the early 1990s. Jimmy Shergill, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Mona Singh and Alizeh lead the cast. Katha Studios is
Chinese artist and filmmaker Sun Xun never expected “Magic Atlas” to become the first animated feature selected for the Tokyo International Film Festival’s competition. “I never thought of ‘Magic Atlas’ as an animated film. To me, it brings together many art forms. Animation is
Unlike his HBO network-mate Bill Maher, who’s been embroiled in a bizarre pissing match with his dinner-mate Donald Trump, John Oliver has been laser-focused on the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Just last week, Oliver dedicated the bulk of “Last Week Tonight” to exposing the
Constantin Film and Sony Pictures’ horror reboot “Resident Evil” secured its fourth consecutive weekend at number one across mainland China, grossing RMB28.5 million ($4.3 million) over the Oct. 30–Nov. 1 frame, according to data from Artisan Gateway. Since launching during the
A lack of funding, and ignorance in the institutions that control it, keeps women at an inherent disadvantage in the film industry, Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat said at a Tokyo International Film Festival talk on the future of women’s cinema. “The discrimination did not
Dave Bautista is once again showing off his muscle gains ahead of stepping into the role of Kratos for the highly anticipated “God of War” series. The “Guardians of the Galaxy” actor last gave fans a glimpse into his transformation two months ago, saying he’d begun weight
Jakarta World Cinema aims to bring back its First Feature Competition next year, open to filmmakers from around the world and judged by an international jury. This year’s edition did not accept submissions. The competition was put on hold because of the difficulty of assembling
Dustin Hoffman, who shot to fame after starring as Ben Braddock in Mike Nichols’ classic film “The Graduate,” has opened up about his experience shooting the 1967 comedy-drama in a recent essay for The New Yorker, which he described as having been a “terrible experience”
Marty Erlichman, the entertainment manager who discovered Barbra Streisand and managed her for more than six decades, died on Saturday of age-related causes. He was 97. “To the world, he was a giant of Hollywood; to us, he was a deeply devoted and loving father, husband,
Contrary to popular belief, contemporary design in film is not just about shopping; it involves deep storytelling and thought behind how characters are dressed. Molly Rogers, who worked on “The Devil Wears Prada” as an assistant costume designer and was the sequel’s costume
Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner “Fjord” opened the fifth edition of Jakarta World Cinema at CGV Grand Indonesia. Dan Adrian Bălănescu, Romania’s ambassador to Indonesia, said he was proud of the film, which is Romania’s submission for the international feature Oscar at the
Unspoken emotional wounds linger throughout “Between Us,” Japanese director Matsumura Shingo’s new film playing in the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Nippon Cinema Now section, its strand for Japanese films. The film follows Makoto and Kasumi, childhood best friends who
Japanese animated phenomenon “Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island” held the No. 1 position at the South Korean box office over the weekend of Oct. 30–Nov. 1, securing its third consecutive weekend atop the rankings. According to data from KOBIS, the tracking
A man conceived through sperm donation, unsure of his place in the world, sets out on a journey to Korea in “The Blue Breaks,” an adaptation of Machiya Ryohei’s 2016 novel by Japanese filmmaker Uchiyama Takuya (“Numb”). The Japan-Italy co-production was among the projects at
Over the last few days, Lucca Comics and Games, Europe’s largest Comic-Con, has been celebrating its 60th anniversary. The medieval city located in Italy’s Tuscany region hosted creative leaders, artists and players of games, authors of comic books, manga, showrunners and
“Gintama: Yoshiwara in Flames” – the latest iteration of the “Gintama” story – previewed this week at Lucca Comics and Games, Europe’s largest Comic-Con, prior to a theatrical release in Italy. Variety spoke with director Naoya Andô and producer Ryo Nakamuray about their
Hilary Duff is reflecting on being so “done” playing Lizzie McGuire after the 2003 movie concluded the two-season Disney Channel show that made her a star. “The Lizzie McGuire Movie” features the now-iconic “What Dreams Are Made Of,” which Duff re-recorded for her 2026 “(Mine)”
My Chemical Romance has scored its first-ever No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as “The Black Parade” surges from No. 139 to the top of the chart, 20 years after its initial release. The group reaches the chart summit for the first time following a deluxe reissue of the album with
Following the news that “Criminal Minds: Evolution” has been canceled at Paramount+, stars A.J. Cook, Paget Brewster, Kirsten Vangsness and more are looking back on the crime drama’s 20 Season run. The announcement seems to have come at the perfect time to mourn a TV show, as
Double Oscar nominee James Longley, who won the top award at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival on Saturday with “Mohabat,” will focus next on the Rohingya genocide. Longley – who was Oscar nominated for “Iraq in Fragments” and “Sari’s Mother” – tells Variety at the Czech
Italian filmmaker Fabrizio Cattani brought “Forever With You,” his exploration of childhood, grief and the loss of a parent, to the Middle East for the first time this week, with the film receiving a Green Carpet premiere at the 13th Sharjah Intl. Film Festival for Children and
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay is warning that the midterm elections aren’t looking great for the U.S. — no matter what the outcome. “I think either way we’re in trouble,” DuVernay told me at the Airbnb.org Gala last week. “If the Democrats pull it out, I think you’re
“Nobody Wants This” actress Tovah Feldshuh is speaking out again amid disagreements between the show’s cast on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Feldshuh, who plays Rabbi Noah Roklov’s (Adam Brody) mother Bina on the Netflix Jewish rom-com, denied that tensions are rising between
Why do humans tend to vent abuse at their AI bots – and should they think about apologizing? That question is central to “Searching for SmarterChild,” the project that won the New Visions Award for the most promising U.S. project at the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival this
