Joe Dante Reflects On ‘Matinee’ And Movie Theater Magic [Interview]

Located in the north of Tennessee, Nashville is known as the hometown of country music thanks to its thriving scene. With Taylor Swift moving to the city as a youngster to kick start her career and with Dolly Parton calling the area her home, it’s clear that Music City has the A-list stamp of approval. But despite its roots, Nashville is far more than a music hub for songwriters and fans alike.

After passing $500M globally through Thursday, Illumination/Nintendo/Universal’s The Super Mario Bros Movie is now on its way to an estimated $659M through Sunday worldwide. Of that, the international box office is estimated to rep $318.6M. 

Marcelo Cajueiro Wondery, Amazon’s premium podcast studio, announced April 13 at Rio de Janeiro’s Rio2C, Latin America’s largest creativity and innovation event, a slate of upcoming Portuguese-language titles with Brazilian podcasters for Amazon Music. “Historias da Firma,” a spin-off of storyteller Deia Freitas’ “Nao Inviabilize,” will be exclusive on Amazon Music. Freitas’ new podcast will feature weekly episodes of 10-15 minutes with funny, absurd anonymous stories that happened to employees in Brazilian companies. Chico Felitti, creator of podcasts “A Mulher da Casa Abandonada” and “Ateliê,” is developing a new true crime podcast with Wondery, which will be first available on Amazon Music.

Gremlins” never get them wet, never feed them after midnight and never expose them to bright lights. Oh, and one more: if you want to watch the new animated prequel series, “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai,” be sure to turn on Max (the newly branded HBO Max/Discovery+ streaming service) on May 23.

Max has set the premiere date for Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, the animated prequel series to the iconic film franchise, for Tuesday, May 23. The date was revealed today during Warner Bros. Discovery’s unveiling of the Max streaming servie in Los Angeles. You can watch a teaser below.

Roy Trakin When Varietychose to honor Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) founder Raúl Alarcón with its Legends & Groundbreakers Award at its Miami Entertainment Town event on April 13, it picked the perfect person to fit that definition.  Among SBS’ 22 stations in the leading eight Latin markets are New York’s WSKQ-FM (Mega 97.9), the most-listened-to and streamed outlet in the U.S. in any language, Miami’s No. 1 station WXDJ-FM (El Nuevo Zol 106.7) and WCMQ-FM (Zeta 92.3) as well as L.A.’s top-ranked KXOL-FM (Mega 96.3) and KLAX-FM (97.9 La Raza), the first FM station to program regional Mexican music such as Norteñas and Banda, which once famously beat out an incredulous Howard Stern in morning ratings on KLSX. 

Variety’s Miami Entertainment Impact list will be celebrated April 13 at the Miami Entertainment Town event, presented by City National Bank. CEO The Latin Recording Academy   Abud’s appreciation for Miami is multi-layered.

Mexico's National Association of Performers. The organization said in a statement Sunday translated to English from Spanish, 'The National Association of Performers communicates the death of member Julián Figueroa. 'The statement continued: 'Actor and singer, has launched various albums like Julián Figueroa y su banda.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. If there’s one thing we learned last year, it’s the simple joy of the perfectly curated backyard movie night. Plus, as more big-time blockbusters make their premieres on streamers, such as “Black Widow” on Disney Plus, or “Tomorrow War” on Amazon Prime,  you might be spending more time watching the movies from home rather than the theater.  While the outdoor home movie theater seems like an easy set up, the beauty is in the details.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” towered over box office charts with $377 million in global ticket sales, taking the title for the biggest worldwide debut of the year from “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” ($225.3 million). The animated movie — a collaboration between Illumination, Nintendo and Universal — crushed already-high expectations, igniting to $173 million internationally and $204 million in its first five days at the domestic box office. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” opened in 70 overseas territories, including Mexico ($27.4 million to start), the U.K. and Ireland ($19.6 million to start), Germany ($14 million to start) and China ($12 million to start).

From the Bachelor mansion to the driving range! Michelle Money and Mike Weir have been going strong since 2016.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” launched to the top of box office charts, collecting a mighty $31.7 million on opening day. Ben Affleck’s sports drama “Air,” which also debuted on Wednesday, nabbed $3.2 million from 3,507 venues. After a bigger-than-expected opening day, estimates for Universal and Illumination’s big screen adaptation of the popular “Mario” video game have been revised up to $92 million over the traditional weekend and $141 million in its first five days of release. Those ticket sales continue a strong period at the box office following March releases, “Scream VI,” “Creed III,” “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.”

The Princess of Pop may have some new music on the way?? Be still, our heart!

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Neon’s “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” is perhaps best described as part heist thriller, part climate change documentary. Helmed by Daniel Goldhaber, the film, in theaters April 6, follows a fictional crew of young environmental activists who execute a daring mission to sabotage an oil pipeline. Cast members include Ariela Barer, who also produced and co-wrote the film; “Euphoria’s” Lukas Gage, Kristine Froseth, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner and Jake Weary. As soon as composer Gavin Brivik began working on the film, he flew out to the set and recorded music samples that included banging on oil drums in the desert.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary on 4 April, and the powerhouse couple are nothing if not honest when it comes to talking about the highs and lows of their relationship. Given that they met in 2000 when Beyoncé was 18, and 12 years Jay-Z’s junior, the odds of their relationship lasting so long were stacked against them.They might be two of the most successful recording artists of all time, but they’ve faced multiple challenges, from Jay-Z’s infidelity to family fallouts and their struggle to have children.

Angelique Jackson Earlier this month, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez was honored by the Human Rights Campaign with the Equality Award for her work advocating for the LGBTQ community. Accepting the award at the JW Marriott in Downtown Los Angeles, Rodriguez delivered a rousing speech addressing the onslaught of more than 400 anti-queer bills that have been introduced across the country, “I remember growing up in Jackson, New Jersey, and feeling free,” Rodriguez told the crowd at the HRC Los Angeles dinner on March 25. “When I was four years old, I had no knowledge of the restrictions that society wanted to place on my body or on my existence. My light. The boxes they wanted to fit me and the standards they wanted me to uphold. I had full autonomy to be just me.”

K-pop boyband TREASURE was recently caught in the middle of a stage equipment malfunction, leaving him with minor burns.Yesterday (April 2), the 10-member boyband performed at the IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand as part of the ongoing Asia leg of their ‘Hello’ tour.As seen in photos and videos taken by fans at the concert, member Yoon Jae-hyuk had been walking over stage equipment with a fire-emitting mechanism when it malfunctioned and unexpectedly released a burst of flames.The idol quickly moved away from the equipment and made sure that his clothes were not on fire, before heading backstage to receive medical attention.Is Jaehyuk ok? He step on fire OMG@treasuremembers pic.twitter.com/KXWbZnUhKm— bLub (@chubbyhubbybaby) April 2, 2023According to news outlets and fans at the show, Yoon returned onstage after a brief break with a bandage on his hand, where he sustained minor burns. After the concert, the singer held a livestream where he told fans not to “worry too much”.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Santa Fe D.A. Mary Carmack-Altwies will step aside in the prosecution of Alec Baldwin for the fatal shooting of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, and has named two lawyers to take over the case. Carmack-Altwies appointed Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis as special prosecutors on the case. Both are private attorneys based in Albuquerque. The move comes after Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled on Monday that Carmack-Altwies could not continue to prosecute the case if she appointed a special prosecutor. Baldwin and “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed were charged in January with involuntary manslaughter for the death of Hutchins. Gutierrez Reed mistakenly loaded a live round into Baldwin’s gun. Baldwin was holding it when it fired — he has denied pulling the trigger — killing Hutchins and wounding the film’s director.

The Downtown Albuquerque Railyards will serve as the headquarters for the New Mexico Media Academy, a collaborative workforce development program equipping NM residents with the skills they need to build successful film and TV careers, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on Wednesday.

Thania Garcia Myke Towers, Anuel AA, Edén Muñoz, and Prince Royce are among the first round of confirmed performers for the 2023 Latin American Music Awards taking place on April 20 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Towers will be performing “Mi Droga,” the second track from his newly released “La Vida Es Una,” while Anuel will perform “Más Rica Que Ayer”; newlyweds Guaynaa and Lele Pons will treat audiences to a medley including “Abajito” from their upcoming album “Capitulations”; and Royce will be singing an unreleased song. Elsewhere, rising acts Bad Gyal and Muñoz will make their Latin AMAs on-stage debut. Bad Gyal will be singing her female-empowerment anthem “Chulo,” while the Mexican producer and singer-songwriter will perform his catchy hit single, “Chale.” Muñoz is also nominated in the new artist of the year category alongside Bizarrap, Blessd, Grupo Frontera, Los Lara, Luis Figueroa, Luis R Conriquez, Quevedo, Santa Fe Klan and Yahritza y Su Esencia.