“Mr. and Mrs. Smith” Season 2 has a new hand at the helm. Variety has learned that Anna Ouyang Moench has been tapped to serve as showrunner on the second season of the Amazon Prime Video series. Moench takes over running the series from co-creator Francesca Sloane. It was
Claire Danes is well aware that she’s become quite known – and highly praised – for her onscreen crying. “It’s a thing,” she told me during Variety’s Golden Globes Red Carpet Pre-Show, presented by Fire TV. “I have a very elastic face. I inherited it from my dad. It’s
The organization also announced a host of new acquisitions including the screen-used bicycle from 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure,' rare Orson Welles scripts and correspondence, tap shoes worn by James Cagney in 'Yankee Doodle Dandy,' Edith Head's costume drawings for Kim Novak in
Rockstar Games has banned user-created missions in its “Grant Theft Auto Online” game that recreated the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Additionally, “GTA Online” has added “Charlie Kirk” to the list of terms prohibited by what it refers to internally as its “profanity filter.”
The Royal Shakespeare Company and Neal Street Productions have revealed the complete ensemble cast for the American debut of the “Hamnet” stage play with Kemi-Bo Jacobs taking on the role of Agnes and Rory Alexander portraying William Shakespeare. The critically lauded stage
The VES Awards will be held on Feb. 25 at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” dominated the Visual Effects Society awards with 10 nominations, including outstanding visual effects in a photoreal feature. There is a three-way tie for top nominations in animation, with Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation’s “KPop Demon Hunters,”
Slayyyter has announced her third album “Wor$t Girl in America,” releasing March 27 via RECORDS/Columbia Records. The pop singer plans to drop her first record as part of her deal with Columbia, which she revealed to Variety in August. To coincide with the album announcement,
The 32nd Slamdance Film Festival has announced its complete 2026 lineup, consisting of 141 films, 50 of which are world premieres. Held in Los Angeles for the second year consecutively, Slamdance will run in person from Feb. 19-25, and virtually from Feb. 24 to Mar. 6 via the
The fan-favorite is in the running for her second Oscar nomination and first since 'Almost Famous' 25 years ago.
Swiss film festival Visions du Réel will pay tribute to the work of U.S. filmmaker Kelly Reichardt at its 57th edition, which runs April 17-26. Reichardt, who will be a “guest of honor” at the festival, will hold a masterclass and present a retrospective of her work. Her latest
In front of an audience at Chapman University, the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and Oscar-nominated actress returns to the podcast and candidly discusses her rollercoaster life and career.
The Recording Academy and CBS have announced that Emmy Award-winning comedian Trevor Noah will return as host of the Grammy Awards one “final” time on Sunday, Feb. 1. This will be Noah’s sixth time as host of the Grammy Awards and he will also serve as an executive producer of
The ADG Awards will take place on Feb. 28.
Timothée Chalamet may have won big at the 2026 Golden Globes but he stayed loyal to his streetwear roots when it came to his red carpet ensemble. The 30 year-old actor swapped out “Marty Supreme” orange for an all-black fit at the awards ceremony, topping off a three-piece
“We believe he is outside the state of New Mexico,” a spokesperson for the police department tells Rolling Stone
JustWatch, the streaming guide and data-driven entertainment marketing company, has hired MUBI and HBO Max executive Quentin Carbonell for the newly created role of Senior Vice President, Global Content Acquisitions and Strategy. Carbonell will help develop JustWatch’s future
Scott Adams, creator of the “Dilbert” comic strip, who became controversial for his right-wing statements, has died following a battle with metastatic prostate cancer. He was 68. Members of The Scott Adams School (formerly called Coffee With Scott Adams) shared the news of
Don Lemon dug into his past to help boost his future. In a not-too-distant era, Lemon played an interesting part in CNN’s longstanding coverage of New Year’s Eve. When Anderson Cooper and his co-host — Kathy Griffin or Andy Cooper — wrapped their hosting duties for the night,
Academy Award winner Zoe Saldaña is officially the highest-grossing actor of all time, thanks to “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Saldaña has starred in the three highest-grossing films of all time — 2009’s “Avatar” and its 2022 sequel “The Way of Water,” which hold the No. 1 and 3
BTS has mapped out a global trek spanning 2026 and 2027, with the massively popular K-pop act revealing routing for a world tour that will encompass 79 performances across 34 markets. The seven-member group will launch the tour with three hometown concerts in Goyang, South
TV giants Banjiay and All3Media owner RedBirdIMI are in talks to merge their TV production businesses, Variety has confirmed. According to a source, the two have been discussing merging Banijay’s Entertainment & Life unit with All3Media, which produces “The Traitors.” If it
Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson will make their Broadway debuts in “The Fear of 13,” a searing play about a wrongly convinced death row prisoner. “The Fear of 13” tells the true story of Nick Yarris (Brody), a Pennsylvania native who spends more than two decades on death row
The U.K.’s home entertainment sector reached an all-time high of £5.7 billion ($7.6 billion) in 2025, marking a 10% increase year-over-year, according to new data released Tuesday by the British Association for Screen Entertainment in partnership with the Official Charts
In a social media post last week, the author revealed an unspecified diagnosis that she says was not caused by family genes, HPV, or excessive hormones
The Fantastic Four starred in, naturally, the fourth “Avengers: Doomsday” teaser, which has been released online after it played before “Avatar: Fire and Ash” screenings. The new teaser starts off serious and somber, much like the past trailers for Captain America, Thor and the
Sky has commissioned a series adaptation of the smash hit Stieg Larsson novel “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” Variety has learned. Steve Lightfoot (“Spider-Noir,” “Behind Her Eyes,” “Hannibal”) and Angela LaManna (“The Haunting Of Bly Manor,” “Behind Her Eyes”) will write
Some people think you can’t have a true Super Bowl without ads for candy, movies and beer. But those in the know have realized it isn’t a Big Game without at least one commercial from a web-hosting service. Squarespace, the website building service, will advertise during the
Kane Brown, Shaboozey, and Riley Green have been tapped to perform at the 2026 iHeartCountry Festival, set to take place on May 2 in Austin, TX. Joining the lineup are artists including Parker McCollum, Dylan Scott, Russell Dickerson, Gretchen Wilson, Chase Matthew and Lauren
Barry Manilow, who announced in December that he was undergoing treatment for stage-one lung cancer, has announced new and rescheduled tour dates for March. According to the announcement, Manilow has undergone surgery and “Thanks to the early detection, the operation went well
South Korean entertainment giant CJ ENM is doubling down on its Latin American strategy by preparing Spanish-language versions of two upcoming K-dramas, aiming to strengthen audience connection through localized content delivery. The company plans to release dubbed versions of
Lorena Muñoz, who leapt to fame directing Argentinian 2016 box office smash “I’m Gilda,” is attached to direct “Pioneers” (“Pioneras”), a historical fiction limited series inspired by the Argentinian soccer team’s participation in the only half-known 1971 Women’s World Cup, a
Lionsgate U.K.’s “The Housemaid” climbed to the No. 1 position at the U.K. and Ireland box office in its third weekend, grossing £3.5 million ($4.7 million) and lifting its cumulative total to £17.8 million ($24.1 million), according to Comscore. In a standout performance in
"While rooted in fiction, Kelly Reichardt's oeuvre nevertheless flirts with 'cinema of the real' in many respects."
Black Mandala has picked up international sales rights to “The Realm of Eldervin,” a British fantasy feature from filmmaker Oliver Hollingdale. The film centers on Jonas, a troubled practitioner of magic who assembles a group of companions – including rogue Dagon, elf Nimue and
As HBO Max goes live today in eight new European countries — including Germany, Italy and Austria — the streamer has announced a new bundling deal with Prime Video in those territories that extends their existing partnership in France, Spain, Sweden, Belgium and the
The host also shared a compilation video of ICE agents slipping on ice in the Midwestern city
HBO Max launches today in Italy with several Italian originals to follow soon, the standout one being Marco Bellocchio’s limited series “Portobello” that reconstructs one of the country’s most clamorous travesties of justice. The HBO Max streaming service is also launching
The BBC will file a motion to dismiss President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit, challenging the case on jurisdictional grounds and disputing claims the broadcaster acted with malice, according to court papers filed Monday and reported by BBC News. The legal
“We are on the Donald Trump Gravitron,” said The Daily Show host in reaction to the Trump administration’s escalating threats of force domestically and internationally
On this week’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart covered the whirlwind of stories from over the weekend, which included Donald Trump’s handling of Venezuela after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, proposed U.S. millitary action in Cuba, Greenland and Iran, as well as
Philippine theater actor Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan has secured the title role in director Sonny Calvento’s “Mother Maybe,” joining previously announced star Anthony Jennings, Southern Lantern Studios revealed. The horror-comedy-drama, a tri-national co-production between Southern
Fans of chef René Redzepi and his groundbreaking Noma restaurant can start getting in line on Monday, Jan. 26 for the Los Angeles residency this spring. Well, not literally in line, since the Noma will pop-up at what is reportedly a historic venue in a Silver Lake residential
You may be a global comedy superstar, but that doesn’t get you out of spousal support duties at the Golden Globe Awards. Kevin Hart exited the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom on Sunday night at the end of a long Golden Globe Awards ceremony holding up the long train of
NBC will no longer air an upcoming episode of “Law & Order: SVU” in which Timothy Busfield appears in a guest star role. Variety has confirmed that the broadcast network has shelved the episode, which was set to air on Jan. 15. Instead, NBC will air the “SVU” episode originally
Elliot Page and Naomi Watts are among the bold-faced names starring in a new American Civil Liberties Union public awareness campaign in support of transgender youth. Launching Monday ahead of oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in West Virginia v. BPJ Little v. Hecox —
Welcome to Variety Awards HQ — your weekly command center for the Oscars race. It’s January 12, 2026, and Oscar nomination voting is officially underway. After a quiet holiday break, the first 12 days of the new year have kicked the race into overdrive. Every strategist and
Will Smith is bravely going where few actors have gone before with the premiere of his new National Geographic original docuseries, “Pole to Pole With Will Smith.” The seven-part series follows the actor as he makes his way across all seven continents in 100 days, highlighting
Although it’s been just about 10 years since the season one finale of “The Night Manager” back in Mar. 2016, the hit British spy thriller series based on the novel of the same name by John le Carré is back for season two. Dropping on Sundays until the season finale on Feb. 1,
The 26th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival Honors, featuring Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch and their presentation of the Legends and Groundbreakers Award to Scarlett Johansson, airs Monday on PBS SoCal at 7:30 pm. It is also available to stream on their website. The Honors
