Fran Drescher On Fighting To Protect Jobs As Technology Changes, Misogyny During SAG-AFTRA Strike

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, will be the subject of a biopic series produced by French mini-major Gaumont. The six-part show is being penned by Bénédicte Charles and Olivier Pouponneau, who previously teamed on the thriller series “J’ai menti.” Titled “Brigitte, une femme libre” (“Brigitte, a free woman”), the series will chart the life of French President Emmanuel Macron‘s wife. Gaumont is keeping the plot of the show under wraps and will be announcing the cast in the next few weeks.

Carla Renata Fans lined up in the rain recently at the Linwood Dunn Theatre in Hollywood eager to screen “Franklin,” the new Apple TV+ limited series about Benjamin Franklin’s trip to France in 1776 to try and convince the king to fund America’s fight for independence. Based on Stacy Schiff’s book, “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America,” the show also spotlights the relationship between Franklin (Michael Douglas) and his grandson Temple (Noah Jupe) Temple, who accompanies his grandfather to France.

Carla Renata Fans lined up in the rain recently at the Linwood Dunn Theatre in Hollywood eager to screen “Franklin,” the new Apple TV+ limited series about Benjamin Franklin’s trip to France in 1776 to try and convince the king to fund America’s fight for independence. Based on Stacy Schiff’s book, “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America,” the show also spotlights the relationship between Franklin (Michael Douglas) and his grandson Temple (Noah Jupe) Temple, who accompanies his grandfather to France.

Daniel Mays remembers Michael Douglas and Timothy Van Patten, the respectively star and director of new Apple TV drama Franklin, bursting into song whenever he appeared on set.

“Franklin,” an eight-part series premiering April 12 on Apple TV+.“Franklin” tells the story of 70-year-old Ben Franklin’s secret diplomatic mission to France in 1776 to gain French support (money, arms) for America’s fight against the British in the Revolutionary War. There are a lot of moving parts here, so viewers would be apprised to pay attention as Franklin navigates French high society — and politics — in an effort to achieve his goal.The series is based on the book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America” by Pulitzer Prize-winner Stacy Schiff.As the series opens, Franklin — commissioned by Congress to undertake his clandestine journey across the Atlantic — has no diplomatic experience.

Aramide Tinubu When pondering the Revolutionary War, specific inflection points come to mind. The Boston Massacre of 1770, Paul Revere’s midnight warning in 1775 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 are often the main topics of conversation. However, much more went on during the nearly two-decade-long battle that led to the 13 colonies’ independence from England.

Michaela Zee SAG-AFTRA has responded to the allegations that “Tulsa King” star Sylvester Stallone created a “toxic environment” for background actors on the Atlanta set of the Paramount+ series. “There is no room on any set for disparaging comments to background actors or any performers,” a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson said in a statement.

SAG-AFTRA is responding to calls for more safety protocols for working child actors following Investigation Discovery’s documentary Quiet on Set.

Noah Jupe, who is starring opposite Michael Douglas in the Apple TV+ Benjamin Franklin biopic, is leading a TV drama adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ cult classic Engleby.

Michael Douglas and the cast of Franklin touched down in Cannes today with a message. Speaking to press ahead of the world premiere screening of the series at Canneseries on Wednesday evening, the actor said the Apple TV+ period drama is a great reminder of “how fragile democracy is and how generous France was.”

SAG-AFTRA, IATSE the WGA, and even the DGA have united behind a legislative move to put up some new and slightly punitive guardrails around Artificial Intelligence.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of America have approved the first-ever credit of “stunt designer.” The title will be used on the upcoming release “The Fall Guy” with veteran stunt coordinator, second unit director and president of Stunts Unlimited Chris O’Hara set to receive the inaugural film credit. O’Hara’s position as a production head on set is traditionally titled “stunt coordinator.” It is an official Screen Actors Guild credit also recognized by the Directors Guild of America.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Would you buy a car from an AI chatbot? What if it looked and talked like Tom Hanks? These are the sorts of questions kicking around Sacramento, where lawmakers are considering a slew of proposals to regulate artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood actors, is pushing for legislation that would require detailed consent for the use of “digital replicas.” In a separate bill, the union also wants to prevent studios from putting dead performers in movies without the consent of their heirs.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Apple TV+’s “Franklin,” which stars Michael Douglas, has its world premiere at series festival Canneseries on April 10 in Cannes, France. The show is produced by ITV Studios America and Apple Studios.

EXCLUSIVE: MGM+ has cast Jessica Frances Dukes (Ozark) as the female lead opposite Alexander Ludwig in Earth Abides, a limited series that promises to offer an imaginative new take on George R. Stewart’s classic sci-fi novel of the same name.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “Franklin” director Tim Van Patten, who won Emmys for “Boardwalk Empire” and “The Pacific,” says that although he loves history and is a history buff “this was a slice of history I was not aware of.” Van Patten, who was also Emmy nominated for “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City” and “Game of Thrones,” adds: “For me, at this point in my career, I like to take myself to a world I don’t know, and also to do the same with the audience.” “Franklin,” which stars Michael Douglas, has its world premiere at series festival Canneseries on April 10 in Cannes, France, in the presence of cast and crew. The show, which is a co-production between ITV Studios America and Apple Studios, makes its global streaming debut April 12 on Apple TV+.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events When Michael Douglas was invited to play Benjamin Franklin in Apple TV+’s “Franklin,” he immediately took out a $100 bill. “I looked at Ben and thought, ‘I’ve got a long ways to go,’” the two-time Oscar winner tells Variety. Douglas didn’t just worry that he’d have to spend hours in the makeup chair — the series took more than 160 days to shoot.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent With one week to go before the press conference unveiling the 77th Cannes Film Festival Official Selection, director Thierry Fremaux is pledging to remain zen — despite wrestling with submission delays, reverberations of Hollywood’s double strikes and high expectations after last year’s edition unveiled Oscar winners “The Zone of Interest” and “Anatomy of a Fall.” This year’s edition is already heating up, with George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” confirmed to premiere at the festival and Quentin Dupieux’s “A Second Act,” starring Léa Seydoux, set as the opening night film. In his first and only interview ahead of the lineup reveal, Fremaux tells Variety all about this year’s edition, including his hopes to welcome back Francis Ford Coppola with “Megalopolis” and Yorgos Lanthimos with “Kinds of Kindness,” his appeal to Ted Sarandos to lure Netflix back on the Croisette, his stance on France’s new #MeToo reckoning, the presence of female directors at the festival and how geopolitical turmoil may shape the Official Selection. Last year was a milestone year for the Cannes Film Festival. How did you approach this year’s lineup, and how many films have been selected so far? The unanimous feedback we got is that 2023 was a really great year.

Elizabeth Taylor New York Women in Film & Television hosted its 44th annual Muse Awards on Wednesday afternoon in New York City. More than 700 guests gathered at Cipriani 42nd Street to celebrate the achievements of honorees Fran Drescher, Alex Borstein, Kyra Sedgwick, Tantoo Cardinal, Latasha Gillespie, Millicent Simmonds, Michèle Stephenson and Oscar-winner Raney Aronson-Rath. SAG-AFTRA executive vice president, Linda Powell, accepted an award on behalf of Drescher, who wasn’t able to make it to the gala due to her father’s recent death.

EXCLUSIVE: After leading SAG-AFTRA through its latest round of negotiations with the AMPTP, guild President Fran Drescher (The Nanny) has been set to join the sequel to 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap, reprising her role as publicist Bobbi Flekman.