Every Star Who Came Out as LGBTQ+ in 2023

Last month, we saw the news that Robert De Niro was making the leap into the realm of TV with the new series, “Zero Day,” on Netflix. Well, it seems as if the legendary actor is ready to keep that TV trend going with yet another new show.

André Holland (Passing) and Gemma Chan (Don’t Worry Darling) will top Neon‘s The Actor, the second feature (and first in live-action) from Oscar-nominated Anomalisa helmer Duke Johnson, which has wrapped production. Holland takes over the male lead from Ryan Gosling, who was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts but remains aboard the project as an executive producer.

EXCLUSIVE: Robert De Niro is attached to star in a Billy Ray-penned crime drama series that is in the works at Paramount+.

Cohen Media Group (CMG) has acquired US rights to the feature documentary Slava Ukraini, co-directed by French philosopher and activist Bernard-Henri Lévy.

Members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party plan to meet this week with Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger and Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as screenwriters and other studio executives.

EXCLUSIVE: Annette Bening has been tapped to narrate the documentary War Unfolding from Sypher Studios, with Eliza Bennett, Rachel Bloom, Gary Cole, Abigail Cowen, Laura Dern, Monique Edwards, Michael C. Hall, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Paul Walter Hauser, Thurn Hoffman, Richard T. Jones, Jay Lee, Erick Lopez, Sandra Seacat, Wes Studi and DeWanda Wise among those set to appear in the film from director John B. Benitz.

Netflix has greenlit the new 2D animated series Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld from first-time showrunner Echo Wu and executive producers Ali Wong (Beef) and Aron Eli Coleite (Locke & Key).

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In front of a panel of skeptical and often hostile U.S. representatives, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew tried to make the case for why the popular app is not a security threat to the country — and why a government ban of the app would be the wrong course of action. A U.S. ban of the app would hurt the country’s economy, reduce competition and “silence the voices of over 150 million Americans,” Chew said in testimony submitted to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The hearing, titled “TikTok: How Congress Can Safeguard American Data Privacy and Protect Children from Online Harms,” was held Thursday morning in Washington, D.C. The Biden administration recently demanded that ByteDance divest its ownership stake in TikTok or potentially be banned in the U.S. over national-security concerns given TikTok’s Chinese ownership. Under pending congressional legislation, which has bipartisan support, President Biden would have the authority to ban TikTok under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Best Picture Oscar win, A24 has announced a new disaster comedy called “Y2K” from “SNL” alum Kyle Mooney, who co-wrote the screenplay with Evan Winter and will direct.Set on New Year’s Eve 1999, the story follows two high school “nobodies” who decide to crash the last big party before the new millennium. When the clock strikes midnight, the night gets more insane than they ever could have imagined.For those born after 2000, there was widespread anxiety as the year 2000 approached owing to fears that a complete cyber meltdown might take the world back to the dark ages.The ensemble cast for “Y2K” includes Jaeden Martell (“It”), Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”), Julian Dennison (“Deadpool 2”), Lachlan Watson (“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”), Mason Gooding (“Scream”), The Kid Laroi, Tim Heidecker (“Us”), Eduardo Franco (“Stranger Things”), Miles Robbins (“Blockers”), Alicia Silverstone (“Clueless”), Fred Hechinger (“Fear Street”) and Daniel Zolghadri (“Funny Pages”).A24 will produce alongside Matt Dines, Ali Goodwin and Jonah Hill (Mid90s) of Strong Baby and Chris Storer (The Bear) of American Light & Fixture.The film will feature design and practical effects by Wētā Workshop.

EXCLUSIVE: Hot on the heels of their historic Oscars sweep with Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Whale, A24 has set the cast for Y2K, a dial-up disaster comedy to be directed for the studio by SNL alum Kyle Mooney.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max is developing a drama series based on the life of Heidi Fleiss, Variety has learned exclusively. The untitled series hails from writer and executive producer Maggie Cohn, who most recently served as the co-showrunner on HBO Max’s critically acclaimed limited series “The Staircase.” Fleiss will serve as a consultant on the project. Emma Tillinger Koskoff (“Joker,” The Irishman”) of First Love Films will also executive produce, along with Alex Goldstone (“Dickinson”) for Anonymous Content, Bill Gerber (“Muhammed Ali,” “A Star Is Born”) of Gerber Pictures, and David Bernon, Paul Bernon, and Sam Slater of Burn Later Productions (“Support the Girls,” “Mile 22,” “Drinking Buddies”).

Donald Trump claims he is facing arrest over payments towards porn actress Stormy Daniels to hush her over an alleged sexual relationship. Writing on his website, the ex-president declared he will be arrested on Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE: Jharrel Jerome, the Emmy winner, Moonlight actor and EP/star of the upcoming Prime Video series, I’m a Virgo, which just premiered at SXSW, has signed on to star in Artists Equity’s tentatively titled Unstoppable, the Jennifer Lopez starring, Billy Goldenberg directing project we first told you about yesterday.

demanded on Wednesday that the Chinese company that owns TikTok sell the app, amid ongoing domestic security concerns, or face a potential ban in the U.S. But, in the grand scheme of things, Jimmy Fallon doesn’t think a ban will amount to much.Currently, TikTok is owned by ByteDance, and generates an estimated $10 billion per year.

In another sign of the return to China for Marvel after a long drought, Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been set for a day-and-date release on May 5. The James Gunn-directed finale in the series is due to hit North American cinemas that same day while international rollout will begin on May 3. (Check out the new China poster below.)

Do U think TikTok should be forced to sell to an American company???

The Information, the US is prepared to ban the TikTok app if the Chinese fail to comply.U.S. officials have expressed concern about national security issues revolving around China’s government controlling an app that tens of millions of Americans have on their phones and computers.China’s massive internet company, ByteDance, has been negotiating with federal officials since the Trump administration, hoping to retain ownership of TikTok, which generates an estimated $10 billion per year.The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration already had told TikTok and ByteDance to cut ties or lose the U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: Cinema Guild has acquired North American rights for Belgian director Bas Devos’s film Here which won best film in the Berlin Film Festival’s Encounters section last month as well as the Fipresci prize.

South By Southwest during the Empowering the Next Generation to Build a Better Future featured session. “Asali: Power of The Pollinators,” is an animated action-adventure short film that follows honey bee Asali after she meets a group of pollinators and a human environmental scientist. The unlikely group slowly saves Asali, her family and their home from a deadly monstrous force. Penn stars alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Monique Coleman (“High School Musical”), Ronen Rubinstein (“9-1-1 Lone Star”), Joy Ofodu (Mighty Express) and activist Lupita Pineda. Viola Davis and Julius Tennon serve as executive producers. In addition to starring and directing the short, Penn is also animating and producing the film with her production company Upenndo! Productions. 

Ke Huy Quan left the Oscars audience and viewers at home in floods of tears with his winners speech on Sunday night, as he made Hollywood history by becoming the first ever Asian man to take home the Best Supporting Actor Award. The 51 year old star triumphed in a star studded category, for his role as Waymond Wang, the metaverse travelling husband of Joy Wang, played by Michelle Yeoh, in this year’s runaway success Everything Everywhere All At Once.