Variety

Korean Webtoon Adaptations, ‘The Vanishing Act’ Lead 2027 Vertical Slate Unveiled by COL Group, V47 and Virtue Asia

Adaptations of Korean webtoons and web novels developed with CJ Group and a batch of new originals headline the 2027 vertical slate unveiled in Singapore on Wednesday by FlareFlow parent COL Group, V4...

56 minutes ago

Thai Forest Spirit Horror ‘Cher,’ First Thai Winner at Frontières, Joins Tokyo Gap-Financing Market

A Thai horror film built on the folklore of the Nang Mai, the forest nymphs of Thai myth, is the only Thai entry in the 2026 Tokyo Gap-Financing Market lineup. “Cher” arrives in Tokyo after becoming t...

1 hour ago

Val Chmerkovskiy Says He Wants ‘Nothing But Love’ for Carrie Ann Inaba Following ‘DWTS’ Suspension, Apologizes to Jenna Dewan: ‘I Am So Sorry for All ...

“Dancing With the Stars” pro Val Chmerkovskiy and judge Carrie Ann Inaba have made amends, concluding the hectic saga that has ensued since Chmerkovskiy made an “inappropriate” joke about Inaba earlie...

2 hours ago

Kore-eda Hirokazu Hails Japanese Cinema’s Global Moment as Ninomiya Kazunari, Academy’s Amy Homma and ‘Kokuho’ Producer Murata Chieko Take Stage at Ke...

Kering Women in Motion, an allied program of the Tokyo International Film Festival, held a talk event on Tuesday at Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills for a packed crowd. Director Kore-eda Hirokazu (“Shoplif...

2 hours ago

Jessica Biel Says She Won’t Hand Her Son Acting Roles Just ‘Because You’re Part of This Family’: ‘We’re Not Doing That’

With parents like Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake, it might not be entirely possible to avoid being labeled a nepo baby in totality — but that isn’t stopping Biel from making it explicitly clear to...

2 hours ago

Oscars Will ‘Always’ Reward Human Excellence in AI Era, Academy Chiefs Say as They Leave Door Open to International Feature Rule Tweaks (EXCLUSIVE)

The Oscars will keep honoring human-driven work as AI spreads through filmmaking, Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor tells Variety in Tokyo, while the Academy’s leadership expects to keep refinin...

3 hours ago

Amy Poehler Tells Noah Wyle ‘The Pitt’ Needs More Romance: If You’re ‘Gonna Show the Guts, You Gotta Show Some Butts’

Amy Poehler sat down with Noah Wyle on Tuesday’s episode of her “Good Hang” podcast to discuss both “ER” and “The Pitt” on the heels of his People’s Sexiest Man Alive appointment. She also used her ti...

4 hours ago

Melanie Lynskey to Play Erin Patterson in ‘Mushroom Murders’ Limited Series at Paramount+

Melanie Lynskey is set to star in the limited series “Mushroom Murders,” which has been greenlit at Paramount+. The show is based on the now-infamous case of Erin Patterson, the Australian woman who w...

5 hours ago

Tokyo Opener ‘Sukiyaki’ Director Zeze Takahisa on the Protest Roots of a Global Japanese Pop Hit: ‘The Culture Used to Be Wide Open – Now It’s Become ...

The opening film of the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival, Zeze Takahisa’s “Sukiyaki” tells the story of how the title tune became a worldwide hit in 1963 as well as a beloved standard that has b...

5 hours ago

Hasan Piker Sues Scott Jennings for $72 Million Over Out-of-Context Lynching Quote

Twitch streamer Hasan Piker sued conservative commentator Scott Jennings on Tuesday, alleging that Jennings had defamed him by misconstruing a quote to make it sound like Piker endorsed lynchings. On ...

5 hours ago

Horror Film ‘The Land of Jinn’ Is First Indonesia-Kyrgyzstan Co-Production, Unveiled at Tokyo Gap-Financing Market

Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan have made their first film together. “The Land of Jinn,” a supernatural horror feature directed by Kevin Rahardjo (“Smothered”), was unveiled at the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market...

6 hours ago

Variety Nominated for 62 Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards

Variety has amassed 62 nominations for the Los Angeles Press Club’s 19th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, including nods for Print Journalist of the Year for Chris Willman a...

6 hours ago

‘Reacher,’ ‘Neagley,’ ‘Lioness’ Give Paramount TV Studios Three of September’s Four Most-Streamed Original Series

“Reacher” sure has some reach. The Prime Video series ended September as the month’s No. 1 original streaming series, according to Nielsen. “Reacher” comes from Paramount TV Studios, which had a good ...

6 hours ago

Politico Plans Live Video Coverage of Midterm Elections

Politico isn’t leaving live video coverage of the midterm elections to the usual suspects. The political-news outlet will steam “Politico Elections Live” on Tuesday, November 3, beginning at 9 p.m., w...

6 hours ago

Ancestral Memory Meets AI in Himalayan Drama ‘Shirjara: Song of Grandmother’ at Tokyo Gap-Financing Market

A Himalayan drama that sets a grandmother’s stories against the rise of artificial intelligence is aiming for a Cannes premiere next year. Director Bikash Subedi’s Nepali feature “Shirjara: Song of Gr...

7 hours ago

Punk Band Guitar Wolf Rocks Back Into Takeuchi Tetsuro’s ‘Wild Zero Overdrive’ at Tokyo Gap-Financing Market

Guitar Wolf, a real-life punk outfit with a long record of touring internationally, headlines “Wild Zero Overdrive,” director Takeuchi Tetsuro’s follow-up to his 1999 film “Wild Zero.” The project is ...

7 hours ago

Acrobatic Pastor’s Secret Obsession Drives Boo Junfeng’s ‘Trinity’ at Tokyo Gap-Financing Market

A celebrity preacher who performs daredevil stunts for his congregation while hiding his fixation on a young follower sits at the center of “Trinity,” the new feature from director Boo Junfeng, which ...

7 hours ago

‘The One About Matthew Perry’ Director on Gaining His Sister’s Trust, Explaining How He Died and More

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains conversation about all three episodes of “The One About Matthew Perry,” now streaming on Netflix. At the end of Netflix’s new docuseries “The One About Matthew Perry,...

7 hours ago

Japanese Producers Drive Tokyo Market Growth as Exhibition Space Sells Out

The Tokyo International Film Festival’s TIFFCOM market exhibition space sold out early this year, according to managing director Ikeda Kaori. More Japanese producers are using the Tokyo market to find...

8 hours ago

Japan Must Follow Hollywood’s Distribution Playbook, Says Tokyo Market Chief Shiina Yasushi, Who Eyes Major Expansion by 2030

Japan’s entertainment business has to adopt the model that made Hollywood studios global players if the country wants to reach its content export targets, according to Shiina Yasushi, CEO of TIFFCOM, ...

8 hours ago

’60 Minutes’ Audience Sinks to Surprising Low Without Football

It’s not surprising to see ratings at “60 Minutes” slump when CBS doesn’t air a strong football game before the start of the show. But the program’s performance on Sunday, which lacked exactly that ki...

8 hours ago

Elmo Is Going as Meryl Streep’s Evil Fashion Editor Miranda Priestly for Halloween This Year

This Halloween, “Sesame Street’s” beloved furry red monster is trading crayons for couture. In a somewhat unexpected cultural crossover, Elmo for Halloween 2026 is dressing as fashion magazine editor-...

9 hours ago

Jafar Panahi Now Faces a Five-Year Prison Term in New Ruling on Top of His Previous One-Year Conviction

Cannes Palme d’Or-winning Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi – who was facing a one-year prison sentence – has now been sentenced by a Tehran Revolutionary Court to five years and one month in jail in a s...

9 hours ago

Connor Storrie in Talks to Play Villain Opposite Ryan Gosling in Marvel’s ‘Ghost Rider’

“Heated Rivalry” star Connor Storrie is in talks to play the villain opposite Ryan Gosling in Marvel’s “Ghost Rider” movie. Shawn Levy is directing the Marvel movie, from a script by “Star Wars: Starf...

9 hours ago

Kevin Bleyer, Emmy-Winning ‘Daily Show’ Writer, Dies at 54 in Car Accident

Kevin Bleyer, a writer who worked on “The Daily Show” and won four Primetime Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award and a Writers Guild Award, died Sunday in a car accident in Millrift, Pennsylvania. He was 54....

10 hours ago

‘Crystal Lake’ Hits 1.3 Billion Minutes Watched in 11 Days, Becoming Peacock’s No. 4 Scripted Debut Ever

According to Peacock, “Crystal Lake” is its fourth-most-watched scripted original series of all time. The “Friday the 13th” prequel series was watched for 1.3 billion minutes in its first 11 days of s...

10 hours ago

Television Academy Foundation Pacts With Best Buy to Launch Production Assistant Training Program for Los Angeles Area High School Students

The Television Academy Foundation is launching a 10-week production assistant training program for Los Angeles-area high school students in a partnership with consumer electronics retailer Best Buy. T...

11 hours ago

As NFL Expands Globally, Marriott Bonvoy Taps Cooper Kupp, Jerry Rice and More for City Travel Guides

Marriott Bonvoy has recruited some of the NFL’s biggest names to plan travel guides in their home cities. Among the participating athletes are Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp (Seattle), Eag...

11 hours ago

‘Nobody Wants This’ Season 3 Opens With 6.2 Million Views in Four Days

Season 3 of “Nobody Wants This” reached 6.2 million views in its first four days of streaming on Netflix. Compared to previous seasons of the Adam Brody and Kristen Bell-led comedy series, that’s a de...

11 hours ago

Trump Says ‘Artificial Intelligence’ Is ‘a Very Bad and Inaccurate Name,’ and That He Wants to Officially Ban the Term ‘AI’

President Donald Trump doesn’t like the term “artificial intelligence” — which was coined more than 70 years ago and is widely used by computer scientists and the tech industry — and says he wants to ...

12 hours ago

Fox and Endemol Shine Team to Adapt ‘Fear Factor’ as a Scripted Microdrama Series for My Drama App

The market for vertical media content is expanding at a fast clip and it’s attracting more and more high-profile properties, including the enduring gross-out reality show “Fear Factor.” Fox and “Fear ...

12 hours ago

HBO Max Psycho Thriller ‘Infamy,’ With ‘She Walks in Darkness’ Star Susana Abaitua, Set for South Festival Premiere

HBO Max is launching its new series “Infamy” (“Infamia”) at the South International Series Festival in Cádiz. Based on the book by Ledicia Costas, the six-episode psychological thriller is a first TV ...

12 hours ago

‘You Can See Everything’ Ruled Ineligible for DGA Feature Prize, Will Compete Only in Documentary Category

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers for “You Can See Everything,” now playing in theaters. Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s “You Can See Everything” will not be in the running for ...

12 hours ago

Carrie Ann Inaba Speaks Out After Val Chmerkovskiy’s ‘DWTS’ Suspension, Requests Show to Add ‘New Lift Rule’ Next Season

Carrie Ann Inaba is speaking out about the recent drama surrounding “Dancing With the Stars,” including her controversial comments about lifts. “I have not spoken about what happened because of profes...

13 hours ago

Jennifer Lawrence Did Not Start Her Beauty Brand Because of Hollywood Instability: ‘A Smarter Exit Plan Would Be Signing Up for a Big Franchise’

Jennifer Lawrence has officially entered the celebrity beauty game with the launch of her haircare brand Mes, but the Oscar winner’s career pivot is not a reaction to Hollywood instability. Speaking t...

13 hours ago

Lionsgate Promotes Scott Herbst to President of Television Group

Scott Herbst has been promoted to president of Lionsgate Television Group, overseeing all creative operations for the studio. Herbst has been with the company since 2018, most recently serving as exec...

13 hours ago

How Kazu Hiro Transformed Tom Cruise Into ‘Digger’ With Prosthetics for His Belly, Nose and Chin

Oscar-winning prosthetic makeup artist Kazu Hiro has been in the industry for over 30 years. He’s transformed Bradley Cooper, Gary Oldman, Charlize Theron and, most recently, Dwayne Johnson in “The Sm...

13 hours ago

Anime Licensing Platform AniBiz Gets $6 Million Investment From Japan’s TBS Group, Toei Animation and TV Tokyo Holdings

Nakama, the start-up behind anime licensing platform AniBiz.com, has raised an initial $6 million in funding from three of Japan’s top anime licensors: TBS Group, Toei Animation and TV Tokyo Holdings....

13 hours ago

This Company Is Paying One Lucky ‘GTA 6’ Fan Nearly $900 to Play the Game for 8 Hours

Is it a gamer’s dream job of the year? Ahead of the release “Grand Theft Auto 6” in November, TV and broadband provider Virgin Media has launched a new sweepstakes: It’s going to pay one winning candi...

13 hours ago

Russell Brand Trial: Judge Drops Indecent Assault Charge, Replaces It With Attempted Assault Count

A judge overseeing Russell Brand’s criminal trial has dismissed an indecent assault charge against the British comedian and actor, replacing it with a count of attempted indecent assault. Mr Justice B...

14 hours ago

Danielle Harris Documentary Set About Her Career as a Child Star, ‘Halloween’ Scream Queen (EXCLUSIVE)

Deranged Minds Entertainment has announced a feature-length doc on an iconic scream queen. Danielle Harris, the actress who was in four “Halloween” films and many more projects, is the subject of a ne...

14 hours ago

Joy Behar Returns to ‘The View’ After Nearly a Month Away: ‘I Dislocated My Shoulder’ and the Pain Was ‘Worse Than Childbirth’

Joy Behar returned to “The View” on Tuesday after nearly a month away from the ABC talk show, revealing that a backstage fall left her with a dislocated shoulder and pain she described as “worse than ...

15 hours ago