“RuPaul’s Drag Race” is sashaying back to the screen. Season 9 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” premieres Friday, May 17 on Paramount+. The new season will consist of eight alumni of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” stretching from its first season to Season 14. It’s the first season of “All Stars” — other than the all-winners […]

BuzzFeed Studios and actor and comedian Lil Rel Howery are partnering on “Saving the Neighborhood,” a new series examining the “existential threats” facing neighborhoods across America. Howery will serve as both the director and the series’s host. The first season of “Saving the Neighborhood” examines the impact of environmental racism on Black and Brown communities across the U.S. […]

A short film fund aimed at championing female and non-binary filmmakers led by “Doctor Who” star Jodie Whittaker has unveiled its first project winner at the Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes 2023, women’s and non-binary visibility platform Primetime and Bournemouth Film School’s Funding Futures unveiled an initiative to spotlight women and non-binary filmmakers. After some 100 global […]

When we last heard from Willow — the mononymous title for Willow Smith, daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith — she was bald, boldly rocking out, and conquering the prog-power-pop game with 2022’s loud “Coping Mechanism” for Roc Nation, her label home since 2010’s pop hit, “Whip My Hair.” Two years can make a […]

Elon Musk is retiring one of the last vestiges of Twitter — the twitter.com web address — as the social network has fully moved over to the x.com domain name. “All core systems are now on X.com,” the multibillionaire tech mogul posted on the platform late Thursday. With the changeover, all twitter.com URLs are now […]

Neon has bought North American rights to “The Unknown” (“L’Inconnue”), the hotly anticipated next movie from “Anatomy of a Fall”’s Oscar-winning co-writer Arthur Harari. As revealed by Variety earlier this week, the movie will star Léa Seydoux (“Dune 2”) and is being represented in international markets. Harari is rolling off of “Anatomy of a Fall” which he […]

Cynthia McFadden, the TV-news veteran whose career has taken her from co-anchoring ABC News’ “Nightline” to a senior perch on NBC News’ investigations team, is stepping away from broadcast journalism.  “It is hard to leave a job you love but this is the right time — I have a list of things I have often […]

Chronicling the eponymous Navy flight squadron across a season of demonstrations, “The Blue Angels” easily ranks near the top of the many Hollywood films to be considered “military propaganda” for their glowing depiction of the activities of U.S. men and women in uniform. Whether or not that’s a good thing may come down to one’s […]

Mallory Wanecque, the breakout actor of “The Worst Ones” who headlines Cannes competition title “Beating Hearts,” is starring alongside Sami Bouajila (“Through the Fire”) in “Vultures,” a thriller directed by Peter Dourountzis (“Rascal”). Produced by Mediawan-owned 24-25 Films (“Black Box”), “Vultures” is represented internationally by Ginger & Fed, the new international film sales arm of […]

Iair Said’s first fiction feature, “Most People Die on Sundays,” will world premiere in this year’s Acid section at Cannes, although until recently, the filmmaker knew little about the platform. “It was something new to me,” he told Variety in a recent interview when asked about being picked for this year’s lineup. “I’m not very informed about these kinds of […]

BuzzFeed is changing the way it compensates founder and CEO Jonah Peretti and other top execs, who will now receive most of their pay packages in stock — a bid to persuade shareholders that the senior leaders will be better incentivized to turn things around at the struggling digital media company. In an SEC filing […]

On the second night of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Judith Godrèche told the mostly female crowd assembled on a beach next to the Palais, “This film is for you!” The French actor-director was presenting her short “Moi Aussi,” a last-minute addition to the festival lineup that covers sexual misconduct in the French film industry. […]

Daniel Baur’s K5 Intl. has sold out most of international on Kevin Costner’s two-part Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga,” with only a few territories left, ahead of its world premiere Sunday in Cannes’ out of competition section. K5 closed sales to Tobis Film (German-speaking territories), Metropolitan Filmexport (France), Stan Entertainment (Australia), Unicorn (Eastern Europe), […]

Renovo Media Group has launched a new studio and facility in Clear Lake, Iowa, set to be led by Lisa Crnic as president, Aaron Wiederspahn as head of scripted, and Ben Parrish as head of unscripted. The group is led by chairman David Kingland. Renovo Media Group will develop, finance and produce feature films, scripted […]

Reflecting the breadth of Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton’s vast network and friendships, an impressive roster of film industry players flocked to celebrate him as he received Variety‘s International Visionary Award at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. Attendees included CAA’s co-chairman and CEO Bryan Lourd, who said a few words about Capton on stage, as […]

(Baby) It’s cold outside. Strings of gaudy rainbow lights twinkle from gables. In cozy living rooms, grandmothers and great aunts doze in their chairs while middle-aged siblings bicker and booze it up around the dining table. Little kids squirm in makeshift beds trying to stay awake for Santa, while truculent teenagers sneak out into the […]

Tennis champion Naomi Osaka’s company Hana Kuma has boarded Leonardo Van Dijl’s debut feature “Julie Keeps Quiet” ahead of its world premiere May 18 in Cannes Critics’ Week. The film is being sold by New Europe Film Sales. Osaka and her longtime agent and business partner Stuart Duguid are behind Hana Kuma, an Emmy Award-nominated […]

Even Dr. Phil is getting in on TV’s frenzied battle for sports rights. The daytime mainstay has long been known for doling out common-sense advice without any bull. Now that’s about to change. Starting in July, a significant chunk of Professional Bull Riders events will be seen on Merit Street Media, the TV outlet launched […]

AGC Intl., the international sales arm of Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios, is launching sales in Cannes on director Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary feature “Nobu,” about world renowned chef and hotelier Nobu Matsuhisa. Nobu’s path to success was strewn with obstacles, adversity and tragedy. His story will be uncovered by Tyrnauer, the former editor-at-large at Vanity Fair, […]