Film Adaptation of J.K. Rowling Children’s Book ‘The Christmas Pig’ in Early Development (EXCLUSIVE)

Some light during these dark times! Perez is showing up for you all and putting on a show!

Katcy Stephan A film adaptation of author Colleen Hoover‘s bestselling romantic thriller “Verity” is in development at Amazon MGM Studios. Hillary Seitz (“The Unforgivable,” “Insomnia”) is currently writing the script. Eat the Cat’s Nick Antosca and Alex Hedlund will produce.

EXCLUSIVE: Cameras have started rolling in Sofia, Bulgaria, on the survival-thriller Savage Hunt from Dutch filmmaker Roel Reiné (Halo). 

Michael Appler Jeff Bridges isn’t like other leading men. So goes the tale for over 50 years and 70 films. Where other actors of his generation—Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson—brought volume and bravado, Bridges excelled in the shadows.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Picture Tree Intl. has acquired the supernatural crime thriller “The Osha Rule,” and will start seeking distribution partner at the Cannes Film Market. The film will start principal photography in August 2024.

Naman Ramachandran Sunrise Films has acquired Luna Carmoon’s “Hoard” for the U.S. and Canada. The film debuted at Venice in 2023, where it won three prizes.

The Rolling Stones kicked off their 2024 ‘Hackney Diamonds’ tour in Houston last night (April 28) – check out the full setlist, footage and pictures below.The legendary rockers – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood – opened the first night of their 2024 North American tour at NRG Stadium with hits like ‘Start Me Up’, ‘Paint It Black’ and ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’.There was a live debut for ‘Hackney Diamonds’ song ‘Mess It Up’, along with a performance of ‘Little T&A’ for the first time since 2016.Early in the set, the band also performed fan-favourite deep cut ‘Out of Time’ live for the first time in the US.A post shared by The Rolling Stones (@therollingstones)“Thank you Houston! You were an amazing audience for opening night!” shared the band on Instagram this morning (April 29).The concert kicked off a 16-date North American tour in support of their latest album, which will continue on to cities like Las Vegas, Orlando, Chicago Los Angeles and more throughout May, June and July.‘Start Me Up’‘Get Off of My Cloud’‘Rocks Off’‘Out of Time’‘Angry’‘Beast of Burden’‘Mess It Up’‘Tumbling Dice’‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’‘Little T&A’‘Sympathy for the Devil’‘Gimme Shelter’‘Honky Tonk Women’‘Miss You’‘Paint It Black’‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’‘Sweet Sounds of Heaven’‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’Check out fan-shot footage and photos from the set below.Mick Jagger says he thinks they’ve never played this song in the US #rollingstones #hackneydiamondstour pic.twitter.com/29ppIPvf4r— Joey Guerra

Katcy Stephan Acclaimed writer John Logan will adapt Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” novel into a feature film for director John Hillcoat. Hillcoat is also producing along with Keith Redmon for New Regency. Cormac McCarthy’s son, John Francis McCarthy, will serve as executive producer, while Cormac, who died in June 2023, will receive a posthumous executive producer credit.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line,” a documentary feature about the veteran Australian rock band Midnight Oil, has been set as the opening gala title at the Sydney Film Festival. It will have its world premiere at the State Theatre on June 5, kicking off the festival that runs until June 16. The film is written and directed by Paul Clarke and produced by Carolina Sorensen. It was executive produced by Mikael Borglund, Paul Clarke and Martin Fabinyi. It is a Blink TV and Beyond Entertainment feature documentary with principal production funding from Screen Australia and Australian Broadcasting Corporation in association with Screen NSW.

The Peabody Awards are revealing their 2024 nominees in two batches this year and today was an opportunity to shine the spotlight on the non-narrative works. Among the Documentary, News, Public Service, and Radio/Podcast nominees were a slew of Oscar-nominated films including “The Eternal Memory,” “Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” and “All The Beauty and the Bloodshed.” Oh, and this year’s Academy Award winner, “20 Days in Mariupol.” READ MORE: 10 pressing questions for the 2024 Emmy Award Season This year’s narrative nominees will be revealed on Thursday.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The 30th anniversary of the original animated film version of “The Lion King” will be celebrated at the Hollywood Bowl next month with a live-to-film concert/screening that will include cast members from both the movie and theatrical versions — and beyond — including Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Billy Eichner, Ernie Sabella, Jason Weaver and Bradley GIbson. The shows will take place at the Bowl May 24-25 and be produced by Disney Concerts, Fulwell 73 Productions, AMP Worldwide and Live Nation-Hewitt Silva.

Annika Pham Seven years after showcasing “You Make a Better Window Than You Do a Door” at Visions du Réel’s Short Film competition strand, Lebanese-born Farah Kassem is back in Nyon, this time in the main international competition with her doc feature-length debut “We Are Inside.” Variety was granted access to the trailer. The film was produced by the helmer’s regular collaborator Cynthia Choucair of Lebanon’s Road2Films, in co-production with Qatar’s Al Jazeera Documentary Channel and Denmark’s Good Company Pictures (“Photographer of War,” “Beautiful Something Left Behind”).

John Squire has downplayed the chances of a Stone Roses reunion, saying that the members “aren’t sending each other Christmas cards or anything”.The comments arose during a new interview with NME, when the former guitarist for the Britpop giants sat down with Liam Gallagher to discuss the huge response to their collaborative self-titled album and UK and European shows.Towards the end of the discussion, the topic turned to the widespread rumours that Liam Gallagher could see eye-to-eye with brother Noel, and come together to reform Oasis in time for this summer’s ‘Definitely Maybe’ 30th anniversary shows.After the former Oasis frontman reaffirmed that “it’s not happening at this moment in time”, the topic turned to the possibility of another reunion from The Stone Roses. Squire still spends time with bassist Mani, who is “into” the two’s collaborative album and even gifted Squire the amplifier that he used during the recent run of live shows.In the discussion, he recalled seeing Mani and former frontman Ian Brown at the funeral of the former’s wife Imelda, who sadly died last November.

A father and his twin teenage sons fight to survive in a remote farmhouse at the end of the world. In the new RLJE indie “Arcadian,” Nicolas Cage must try and parent and keep his children alive during a perilous post-apocalyptic setting where pollution has destroyed much of the world and created dangerous mutated creatures.

EXCLUSIVE: French sales and production company Totem Films has boarded international sales on Somalia-set drama The Village Next To Paradise by Mo Harawe.

Carolyn Giardina Three-time Oscar-nominated director Chris Sandlers and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o previewed unfinished footage of DreamWorks Animation‘s “The Wild Robot” at CinemaCon — what Sandlers says took inspiration from Disney classics and Hayao Miyazaki’s work, resulting in an original virtual style that he described as “a Monet painting in a Miyazaki forest.” Based on Peter Brown’s book, the story follows Roz, a robot voiced by Nyong’o, who is accidentally marooned on an uninhabited island. There, the city robot meets and learns from the animals in her new environment. In this rich world, a fox meets and advises Roz.

Angelique Jackson In a competitive situation, Warner Bros. has landed “The Color Purple” director Blitz Bazawule’s next project, which takes on the legendary Yasuke, an African warrior who became the first Black samurai.

We have your exclusive first look at two new characters being introduced in the upcoming Descendants: The Rise of Red!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent New York-based group FilmRise has dropped a gripping first trailer for “Missing From Fire Trail Road,” Sabrina Van Tassel (“The State of Texas vs. Melissa“)’s documentary film about the crimes against indigenous women.

After years of waiting, “Star Wars” actor Ewan McGregor was able to finally explore his lone wolf Jedi Masters character in the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” Disney+ series prequel. Initially envisioned as three films, Lucasfilm eventually pivoted towards a series in 2018, and some of the longer, darker ideas were scrapped.