‘Fire Island’ World Premiere to Open New York’s NewFest Pride (EXCLUSIVE)

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorWelcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”Is “Bridgerton” star Nicola Coughlan going to be in the Margot Robbie-led “Barbie” movie? Sure sounds like it.It all begins with the speculation that Coughlan would be on the next season of “Doctor Who” after she was photographed at the BAFTA TV Awards with Ncuti Gatwa. Just minutes before, it was announced that the “Sex Education” actor would be the new Doctor.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorRobin Roberts will be honored by Covenant House with this year’s Beacon of Hope Award.The “Good Morning America” host will be recognized by the organization, which fights youth homelessness and trafficking, at the Night of Covenant House Stars Gala on May 23 at Chelsea Industrial in New York City.The evening, which will also celebrate Covenant House’s 50th anniversary, will include a performance from Darren Criss and appearances by Audra McDonald, The Kid Mero, Jason Ralph, Krysta Rodriguez and John Dickerson.“Over the past two years, Covenant House has remained open 24/7 in 33 cities across six countries,” Covenant House president Kevin Ryan said in a statement on Monday morning. “While the pandemic introduced new challenges, we stayed committed to helping homeless youth in any way that we could.

Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens for a third season.The series, which sees Awkwafina play a fictionalised version of herself growing up in Queens, New York, will be back for a third season following the premiere of season two in August last year (via Deadline).The show is created by Awkwafina, known for starring in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and Crazy Rich Asians, and also stars BD Wong as her father, Wally, and Lori Tan Chinn as her grandmother.The series also stars Chrissie Fit as Melanie, Nora’s best friend, Bowen Yang as Nora’s cousin Edmund and Jennifer Esposito as Brenda, Wally’s girlfriend.Shang-Chi co-star Simu Liu made a guest appearance in the first season, alongside others like Natasha Lyonne, Laverne Cox, Bella Heathcote, Margaret Cho and Harry Shum Jr.Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens airs on Comedy Central in the US. In the UK, both seasons are available on BBC iPlayer.The comedian and actor is set to voice Scuttle in the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, starring alongside Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarthy.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorI’m happy to report that all is well between me and Machine Gun Kelly.In September, a video of the musician slapping my microphone at the MTV VMAs in New York City after I asked him about a scuffle he got into with MMA fighter Conor McGregor earlier on the carpet went viral.However, MGK and I laughed off the controversy when I interviewed him on Thursday at the premiere of “Good Mourning” at the London West Hollywood.“I won’t hit the microphone this time,” he said, laughing.With that out of the way, we talked about “Good Mourning.” MGK not only co-wrote and co-directed the stoner comedy with Mod Sun, but he also stars in the film. The movie follows a famous actor (Kelly) who emotionally spirals when he thinks his girlfriend (Becky G) has broken up with him over text. The story was inspired by a text his fiancé Megan Fox sent him before they were even dating.

CBS has ordered three new series for the 2022-23 broadcast season: “East New York,” “So Help Me Todd” and “Fire Country.”In “East New York,” Amanda Warren stars as Regina Haywood, “the newly promoted deputy inspector of East New York, a working-class neighborhood at the edge of Brooklyn. She leads a diverse group of officers and detectives, some of whom are reluctant to deploy her creative methods of serving and protecting in the midst of social upheaval and the early seeds of gentrification,” per a logline from the network.It costars Kevin Rankin, Jimmy Smits, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Richard Kind, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Lavel Schley and Olivia Luccardi.It’s from writers and executive producers William Finkelstein and Mike Flynn and director and EP Michael M.

NewFest, the New York film and media organizations has announced the full lineup for its second annual NewFest Pride event – a summer film series returning this year from June 2-6 in a hybrid format featuring a mix of exclusive in-person premieres/panels and virtual screenings. The announcement was made today by NewFest’s Executive Director David Hatkoff and Director of Programming Nick McCarthy.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorCheck out Variety’s Must Attend calendar of events.May 11, WednesdayEugenio Derbez, Samara Weaving, Max Greenfield and Betsy Brandt premiere their comedy “The Valet.”The Montalbán, HollywoodKathy Hilton and Rebecca Hessel Cohen host an afternoon tea party to celebrate the launch of LoveShackFancy’s home collection.Private residence, Los AngelesMay 12, Thursday“Dear White People” star Logan Browning hosts the inaugural LA Girls Rise, a fundraiser for Girls Inc. of Los Angeles.Paramount Studios, HollywoodLouis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière hosts a fashion show and an after-party for the house’s 2023 Cruise Collection.The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, Calif.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorLaverne Cox will be honored as advocate of the year at the upcoming 2022 Webby Awards.The actor and producer will be recognized by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS) for her LGBTQ advocacy work.“Laverne Cox understands the true power of showing up by example,” Webby Awards president Claire Graves told Variety exclusively on Tuesday morning. “She is a clear, consistent and powerful voice advocating in defense of Black trans lives, and we are so proud to recognize her as the 2022 Webby Advocate of the Year, selected by a committee chaired by the NAACP and IADAS.”Hosted by comedian Roy Wood Jr., the Webby Awards will take place May 16 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

What the actual f**k. A Florida truck driver was arrested this week after he allegedly drenched a 1-year-old in “flammable liquid” and attempted to light the baby on fire at an upstate gas station.

Arcade Fire have announced details of a new world tour, set to take place later this year in support of their new album ‘WE’.The band released the record – their sixth so far – earlier today (May 6) and will hit the road in September, following on from one-off dates in New Orleans, New York, Coachella, and London in the run-up to the LP’s release.The tour will kick off in Dublin on August 30, taking the group across the UK and into Europe throughout September. The North American leg of the tour will begin in Washington D.C.

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Morgan, creator of award-winning The Crown, has shifted focus from royals to zoom in on Russian oligarchs as the topic of his new stage play Patriots. It has been fast-tracked to have its world premiere at London’s Almeida Theatre in July with Tom Hollander (The Night Manager) cast to portray Boris Berezovsky, a one-time ally of Vladimir Putin.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFollowing his recent headlining stint at Coachella and his long North American tour last fall, Harry Styles has announced a special “One Night Only in New York” concert at UBS Arena on Long Island on May 20. All tickets will be available for $25 all-in, including taxes and fees.According to the announcement, the show will celebrate his new album “Harry’s House,” which drops that day, “and will see Harry performing songs from the album for the first time ever.”American Express® Card Members have the power to unlock access to Harry Styles tickets for his UBS Arena show by registering for American Express® Early Access powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan*.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorRoyalty took the stand on Saturday night to advocate for LGBTQ+ equality.Golda Rosheuvel, the openly gay actor who plays the illustrious Queen Charlotte on “Bridgerton,” was presented the Equality Award at this year’s Human Rights Campaign gala in New York.“Being authentic and true to who I am has been something that I’ve championed in my own life, so to be able to get up there tonight and speak my journey is really important,” Rosheuvel told Variety before accepting her award. “That one person who’s struggling might hear it and be confident enough to step [up] in their own life.”The “Bridgerton” star later went on to tell the crowd, “nobody should have to choose between being publicly out and being a successful actor.” Rosheuvel recently opened up to Marc Malkin on the “Just for Variety” podcast about how a lesbian director once advised her to stay in the closet.

Netflix announced today that Joel Kim Booster’s stand-up special Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual will debut on the streamer on June 21st.

EXCLUSIVE: Writer, director, and award-winning journalist Julian Rubinstein’s highly anticipated anti-gang war documentary, The Holly  has tapped Academy Award-winning filmmaker and Hyperobject Industries founder, Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up) and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Todd Schulman (Borat) as executive producers ahead of its world premiere at Telluride’s this Memorial Day weekend.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorWhen openly gay “Bridgerton” star Golda Rosheuvel —who plays the wigtastic gossip-loving Queen Charlotte on the Netflix series — was starting her acting career, she was told by a lesbian director that she should stay in the closet.“We were talking about being out and proud and representation and whether I should say I was gay in interviews,” Rosheuvel tells me on this week’s episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “And it was an absolute no: ‘You absolutely shouldn’t do that. It could or it would ruin your career as an actor.’ I would rather lose a job than not be true to who I am.

In February, New York State Health officials identified a small number of new Covid cases related to a new, even more infectious subvariant of Omicron BA.2. Dubbed BA.2.12.1, it made up only 3% of all new cases in the state for that month. Figures released today by the CDC indicate that in the past eight weeks BA.2.12.1 has not only outcompeted BA.2 in terms of growth, but it has now become the dominant variant in the region made up of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The CDC data indicates that BA.12.2 now accounts for 58% of new cases in the region. In New York state, its share is much higher.