‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’: How Jamal Sims Pays Homage to ‘Greased Lightning’ Through Dance

It sounds like The Kardashians might be around for a long time.

William Earl Over five low-budget box office hits and a two-season TV series, “The Purge” saga — which portrays a not-too-distant-future America where all crimes, including murder, are legal for one night a year in order to satiate a bloodthirsty public — swelled into a $450 million franchise. But the first chapter was almost never made. While the film became the defining hit of writer and director James DeMonaco’s career, he says the script was passed over “40-50 times” for being seen as “too anti-American.” “I had this little, strange, dark indictment of American gun culture,” he said. “I hate guns. To me, the scariest thing in the world would be a night where everyone was armed and it was legal to use these firearms. To me, there was nothing scarier than that notion.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Nominated for two Tony Awards in best choreography, Jennifer Weber describes “& Juliet” as a show filled with “music that makes you want to dance. It’s got music that everyone has danced to at some point in their lives.” The show uses memorable pop tunes from Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry and more as it flips the Shakespearean tale of “Romeo and Juliet” by reimagining a world where Juliet doesn’t die. In putting together Act II’s “Problem/Can’t Feel My Face” epic song battle, Weber collaborated closely with costume designer Paloma Young. “We had similar visions in terms of storytelling,” she says. “Her costumes fuse this Elizabethan aesthetic with contemporary pop. A corset and Adidas track pants have never looked better together. Each [look] is super individual.”

Jennifer Coolidge has some ideas about her future on The White Lotus.

Robin Williams died by suicide aged 63 in 2014, fans were heartbroken. The world mourned the loss of Robin who was considered a hugely talented and kind-hearted individual, but it was, of course, his family who bore the brunt of his loss. Robin married fine artist and designer, Susan Schneider Williams, in 2011 after meeting at an Apple store a few years earlier.

McKinley Franklin editor Angelina Kekich has taken on the task of designing costumes for projects such as Steven Spielberg’s “Falling Skies” or Stephen King’s “The Stand.” However, when it came to tackling the costumes of “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,” it’s evident that the job was a passion project for the designer. “This was an intense, passionate, emotional experience for me,” Kekich tells Variety. “It was important to follow in the steps of Albert Wolsky,” the costume designer for the 1978 “Grease” film.  “The costumes needed to meet the demands of the choreography,” Kekich says. To accomplish this, she worked together with head choreographer Jamal Sims. She says, “The costumes needed to be durable and had to withstand the vigorous dance sequences.”

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor From Paul Lee’s perspective, the streaming boom that led Hollywood to binge on original content has evolved significantly during his half-dozen years as CEO of production company Wiip. Over the past year, the industry has been through “a moment where the streaming revolution went from a land grab to ‘This land needs to be fertile,’ ” Lee says on the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” Lee spent a dozen years at Disney, rising to become head of ABC Family and later head of ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios. He’s mostly kept a low profile since launching Wiip in partnership with CAA in 2016.

Spoiler alert! Spoilers ahead for the series finale of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, titled “Four Minutes”. Read on at your own risk.

took its final bow on Friday, as the season 5 finale showed us exactly where Rachel Brosnahan's titular comedienne ended up in the later years of her A-list career.The flash-forward-heavy final season of the Emmy-winning comedy took away the suspense of Midge's success early on in the final episodes, sharing with viewers that she did, in fact, become one of the biggest names in comedy. The unique story structure was one that the creative team had been planning for some time, executive producer Dan Palladino told ET.«Once we decided it was the last season, we just dove right into it,» he recalled. «It was fun, because we got to do time travel, but we're not science fiction.

Tina Turner died this past Wednesday, causing ripples in the music community. Alicia Keys took a moment to share some of her most treasured memories of Turner, including some photos alongside her and a tribute to her artistry and strenght. Tina Turner’s husband Erwin Bach: the man who loved her rightTina Turner died at 83 after a ‘long illness’Tina Turner’s biological and step children: learn about their livesA post shared by Alicia Keys (@aliciakeys)The post is made up of a photo and a video.

EXCLUSIVE: Back in 2009, Quentin Tarantino began dropping hints that he’d be outta the movie-making business by the time he reached 60.

Former TOWIE star Chloe Sims just got super emotional in a teaser clip from her family’s new reality show, House of Sims.The 41 year old, along with her brother and sisters, Charlie, 31, Frankie, 28, and Demi, 26, made the big move over to Los Angeles to film the series last year, which premiered on the OnlyFans free video platform, OFTV on the 3rd May. While the first two episodes - which follow a Kardashian-esque format - have already dropped, the siblings and OFTV have shared a glimpse of what’s to come during the next instalment.

The Princess of Wales made a surprise appearance at the Chelsea Flower Show today (Monday, May 22).The annual event has been running for 110 years and has a long associated history with the Royal Family. Later on today, The King, The Queen, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent will be in attendance to celebrate the opening day.

Cannes Film Festival stars a 76-year old action star and is a reboot of a movie that first dazzled moviegoers in 1993. That’s a time, in case you forgot, before TikTok or smartphones, Facebook or Amazon, or any number of technological changes that have reshaped our world and the movie business along with them. And yet, “Cliffhanger,” with Sylvester Stallone bravely summiting the mountain again, is seen as one of the most commercial scripts out there for buyers hoping to make an adventure film that can traverse borders and bring crowds. With a nod to the younger audiences who will be needed to turn up if the movie is going to replicate the original’s blockbuster status, the producers teased that casting is currently underway for a (presumably younger?) actor to share the screen with Sly. But who will that be?

 included a plethora of surprises, including new sketches, major guest stars and three new featured players — DaMya Gurley, Tamara Jade, and Angel Laketa Moore. The season also ends with a surprise ending that creator and star Robin Thede says won't be surprising for keen eyes.Each episode of season 4 has featured a special segment titled «Actors Behind the Lens Speaking Seriously,» a parody of the well-known talk show, .

A Black Lady Sketch Show” creator and star Robin Thede is working with the show’s editors to put the finishing touches on Season 4 of the half-hour HBO comedy. “First season,” she tells Variety, “I was like, I want every third line to be a joke. Second season, every other line. Now, literally every line is a joke, even the setups to the punchlines. It’s crazy.” With sketches that riff on relatable themes — like hair woes, ashy skin and the politics of the Black church — “A Black Lady Sketch Show” frames the world from a Black woman’s point of view. Even when the subject matter has nothing to do with Blackness, the show’s existence is impactful, a sentiment Whoopi Goldberg underlined during a recent episode of “The View.”

McKinley Franklin editor “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” hair department head Jaala Leis Wanless had the tall order of preluding the Pink Lady look that was to come in the “Grease” world. While the original Pink Ladies were defined by permed, pink, 1980s-inspired hair, Wanless tells Variety that her muses for the prequel were real-life people from the 1950s.  “When I’m entering into a creative process, I do tons of research,” Wanless told Variety. “Especially when dealing with ‘Grease,’ going back into the 1950s.”  Like showrunner Annabel Oakes, Wanless did extensive research surrounding the demographic of real people living in the time period set by the prequel series. “I tried to [fully] immerse myself into what I was seeing,” Wanless shared. “I went through a lot of print, advertising [and] movies from that era…I was trying to [make] our version swing right into [the 1950s].”

Tony Ortega wrote Monday the actress was celebrated for donating this “cumulative” amount to the International Association of Scientologists (IAS), the church’s membership organization.Back in 2019, Cartwright achieved “Diamond Laureate With Honors” status, reflecting that she’d given Scientology about $17.5 million, Ortega said.This new issue of Impact reported that on New Year’s Eve, she received a trophy for reaching “Patron Excalibur With Honors,” suggesting she’s now donated about $21 million in donations to the IAS.Cartwright is also believed to have given a fortune towards the construction of the San Fernando Valley Ideal Org, which opened in 2017.She has been public about being a Scientologist, lobbying state legislators in Illinois in 2011 to allow a children’s version of “The Way to Happiness,” a key text by its founder L. Ron Hubbard, to be used in schools.

John Travolta had a sweet message for his late wife, Kelly Preston, on Mother’s Day. On Sunday, the 69-year-old actor shared a cute throwback video of the Jerry Maguire actress. «Happy Mother’s Day Kelly.

John Travolta paid tribute to his late wife Kelly Preston on Mother's Day. The 69-year-old actor posted a throwback video of the actress opening a gift on a previous Mother's Day.