Former ‘Late Late Show’ Head Writer Ian Karmel Talks Losing 200 Pounds in New Memoir and Writing Jokes for Ellen’s Farewell Tour

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday hosted a group of LGBTQ activists and politicians from around the world at the State Department.

Ally McCoist thinks Cristiano Ronaldo should be dropped by Portugal manager Roberto Martinez.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Peruvian director Paolo Tizón‘s documentary “Night Has Come,” which has its world premiere Sunday in the Proxima competition section at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, has debuted its trailer (below). The film centers on a group of young men, many of them teenagers, who sign up for one of the most challenging military training courses in Latin America. The objective is to turn them into fearsome fighters operating in the dangerous VRAEM region, an area plagued by various armed groups, guarding their coca plants and engaged in narcotics trafficking.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Bridgerton” star Florence Hunt, Jim Sturgess and Australia’s Teresa Palmer (“The Clearing,” “The Fall Guy”) have joined the cast of “Mix Tape,” a music-themed drama series. The Australian-Irish co-production shot in Sydney in May and is now underway in Dublin. The series is adapted by Irish writer Jo Spain (“Taken Down,” “Sanditon”) from the popular and critically-acclaimed novel of the same title by Jane Sanderson.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Locarno Film Festival will honor multiple Oscar winner Ben Burtt — the sound designer, editor and voice actor behind the ‘Star Wars‘ and ‘Indiana Jones’ franchises — with its lifetime achievement award dedicated to creative pioneers. The prominent Swiss fest celebrating international indie cinema will be feting Burtt, best known for voicing Wall-E and creating Darth Vader’s mechanical breathing, with its Vision Award Ticinomoda. 1977’s “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” was one of the first films he worked on.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is now available to stream internationally.The first part of the stage production ran in Japan from January to February 2020, with the second part returning in August 2021, and is now available to watch in international territories around the world.As of June 21, viewers in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa can watch on Crunchyroll.An official synopsis for the adaptation reads: “One day in Japan during the Taisho era, Tanjiro, a kind young man who sells coal, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. Worse yet, the only survivor, his younger sister Nezuko, is turned into a demon.“Despite his hopeless situation, Tanjiro makes up his mind to become a Demon Slayer in order to turn his sister back into a human and slay the demon who killed his family.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The Palm Springs International ShortFest has announced the juried and audience award winners for its 2024 edition, which took place June 18-24. Over $25,000 in cash prizes and five Academy Award-qualifying honors were presented to the winning films, which included Esteban Pedraza’s “Bogotá Story” and Jadwiga Kowalska’s animated film “The Car That Came Back from the Sea.” See a full list of winners below.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor The Mediterrane Film Festival kickstarted its second edition with the international premiere of Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte’s “The Count of Monte Cristo.” The film, shown at the heart of Malta’s capital of Valletta on Saturday night, was followed by a reception at the historic Mdina Ditch Gardens, in which Malta Film Commissioner Johann Grech highlighted the importance of the festival as an event to “unite the nations of the Mediterranean through film.” The sentiment echoes this year’s festival theme of Unity Through Film, with Grech adding that he hopes the festival will bring nations together to “share stories that celebrate not only our diversity but also our shared outlook.” The film commissioner emphasised the success of the festival’s first edition, claiming the return to the local economy “far exceeded our investment, showing once again what a force for good film is in our country.” Several members of the local film industry were present at the gathering as well as international attendees in this year’s jury president Jon S. Baird (“Tetris,” “Stan and Ollie”) and “Triangle of Sadness” actor Zlatko Burić, who was part of last year’s jury.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Coralie Fargeat’s Demi Moore-starring feminist body horror film “The Substance” has been set as the closing night title for the New Zealand International Film Festival. The picture is one of 16 which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month selected for the NZIFF which is now under the artistic leadership of Paolo Bertolin.

EXCLUSIVE: Israeli romcom drama series The Baker and the Beauty is being remade for France’s TF1, with French singer-songwriter Amir Haddad playing the lead in his debut TV role.

Naman Ramachandran Far from the bright lights of Bollywood, the indomitable Indian documentary filmmaking industry has been making waves globally. The recent past has several examples of India‘s international success.

Jenny S. Li Six first or second-time directors from China take up the majority of the 11 slots in the Shanghai International Film Festival’s Asian New Talents section. While family drama is the dominant genre, Variety takes a look what they are serving up: Adapted from the book of the same name, Wang Xinrui’s “Dreaming of Mother and Home” depicts the drama of an adult daughter and her mother who is struggling through the last stages of life.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief All Rights Entertainment, the Paris, Hong Kong and Los Angeles-based international film agency has picked up international sales duties on animated children and family feature “Out of the Nest.” The film had its world premiere this week at the Annecy International Animation Festival. In the Kingdom of Castilia, days from the coronation of the new Emperor and Empress, their seven royal fledglings are taken and it’s up to one hero to return them safely; a teenage delivery boy, Arthur the Goat. His dreams of becoming a world-class barber are put on hold when he becomes the unwitting guardian of the royal heirs.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Warner Bros. Pictures has acquired Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language film debut “The Room Next Door” for key international territories, including the U.K., Spain, Italy, Germany and Latin America. Starring Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton and John Turturro, “The Room Next Door” will also be released by Warner Bros.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Talpa Studios, the company founded by “The Voice” and “Big Brother” creator John de Mol, has recommissioned its hit reality show “Million Dollar Island” for new seasons in the Middle East and the Netherlands, produced at Saudi Arabia’s innovative Neom production hub. The upcoming seasons, respectively titled “Million Dollar Land” for Middle East broadcaster MBC and “Million Dollar Desert” for NET5 in the Netherlands, will be executive produced at Neom by Dubai-based Blue Engine Studios.

The waiting is almost over. Hundreds of thousands of Tartan Army have descended on Germany and millions more will watch around the globe as Scotland kick off Euro 2024 against the hosts in Munich's Allianz Arena.

Prime Video Italy is taking a leap “not only at national level but at international level” with its originals strategy, its scripted boss has said.

John Oliver poked fun at himself on the latest episode of Last Week Tonight on HBO.

Refresh for latest…: Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die pummeled pre-weekend opening projections, coming in with a $104.6M global bow, including $48.6M from the international box office. While the overseas debut is slightly off 2020’s Bad Boys for Life which did $50.3M in like-for-like offshore markets at today’s exchange rates, that film had strong legs. Either way, Ride or Die‘s start gave some much needed oomph to summer turnstiles. Its launch is 58% bigger than Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Tim Chan If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Cricket fans in the U.S. are in for a treat this weekend as two of the biggest cricket nations in the world face-off at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.