Columbia Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Snapchat is pinking out loud for Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” Warner Bros. Pictures is launching a “Barbie” AR Lens ad campaign exclusively on the social and messaging app — meaning Snapchat is the only place where you can dress up to look like Margot Robbie’s Barbie or Ryan Gosling’s Ken in fashions based on the film. The studio’s paid campaign on Snapchat launches Friday (June 30), three weeks ahead of the movie’s wide opening on July 21. Snapchat users can access the virtual Barbie wardrobe from the app’s Lens Carousel or by scanning the QR code (left). With the debut of the new Barbie Wardrobe AR Lens, Snapchatters can see themselves wearing different outfits and accessories inspired by costumes in the upcoming film. You can share the resulting pics or videos in a Snap message or a Snapchat Story (or save it to your camera roll to share via text or on other social platforms).

Writers Guild of America members and supporters brought their pickets to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, this time to demonstrate at a location for the next Captain America movie.

EXCLUSIVE: Swept Away, the Broadway-aimed musical with music and lyrics by roots rock band The Avett Brothers, has announced principal cast for its fall-winter 2023 production at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., with John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening), Stark Sands (& Juliet), Adrian Blake Enscoe (TV’s Dickinson), and Wayne Duvall (the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?) will play the four survivors of a whaling ship disaster.

The 2023 Kennedy Center Honors have been announced!

exclusively broke the news and shared this year's five honorees who will be recognized for their lifetime artistic achievements. The Kennedy Center announced that the «First Lady of Hip-Hop» Queen Latifah, comedy legend Billy Crystal, Bee Gees member Barry Gibb, «America's Soprano» Renée Fleming, and pop music trailblazer Dionne Warwick, will all be honored during this year’s ceremony in Washington, D.C. Fellow honoree Gloria Estefan will return to host the ceremony. The honorees all celebrated the news with statements.«I’m humbled to be included in this incredible list of artists honored by the Kennedy Center. When we started on this journey decades ago, we were often told, 'No.' No, you won’t be able to leave New Jersey.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Dionne Warwick, Billy Crystal, Queen Latifah, Barry Gibb and Renée Fleming have been set as the five arts figures due to be celebrated at the 46th annual Kennedy Center Honors, with a ceremony taking place Dec. 3 in Washington, D.C. The ceremony will take place Dec. 3 and be filmed for later broadcast airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. Four of the five honorees hail from the world of music, although Queen Latifah has shifted her focus toward acting in recent years. The ratio is not an uncommon one for the Kennedy Center Honors: Last year’s ceremony honored U2, Amy Grant, Tania León and Gladys Knight, leaving George Clooney the odd acting man out.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Washington, D.C., needs to get set for a Monumental overhaul of its TV-sports traditions. In September, fans who once flocked to NBC Sports Washington will find they’ve landed at a new venue. Monumental Sports Network will soon serve as the area home of the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, the G League’s Capital City Go-Go and the NBA 2K League’s Wizards District Gaming. All the properties are held by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, a company led by former AOL executive Ted Leonsis. The company bought NBCUniversal’s 67% stake in the business last year, and will spend a chunk of 2023 putting its own stamp on operations.

CNN is planning another Independence Day special, The Fourth In America, that will include performances from Post Malone, Demi Lovato, Zac Brown Band and Leon Bridges.

EXCLUSIVE: Following the release of her critically acclaimed documentary Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West, filmmaker Ashley Avis has taken on new management over at Sugar23.

It’s Father’s Day, and what better time than today to spend some quality time with the father figure in your life, watching a favourite film? Whether laughing along to a teen comedy or following along the adventures of a father-daughter or father-son storyline, you won’t go wrong by screening one of these five flicks or series.

Eva Longoria walks out side by side with President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the White House!

Legendary Beatles star Paul McCartney is giving fans a glimpse inside the band’s "innocent" rise to fame in never-before-seen photos.  During the historic 1964 Beatlemania tour, the iconic band "dominated the world" as the members took the world by storm in their early 20s.  McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison went on a global tour that spanned over six cities: Liverpool, England; London; Paris; New York; Washington, D.C.; and Miami.  Amid their rise to fame, the now 80-year-old McCartney snapped a few camera shots of their adventures which are highlighted in his first photo book, "1964: Eyes of the Storm." With more than 200 pictures, McCartney takes fans behind the lens through candid photos of himself and his bandmates enjoying a journey of a lifetime. "It shows when this group… just dominated the world, became a worldwide sensation," "1964: Eyes of the Storm" editor Robert Weil told Fox News Digital.  Pictures capture an overwhelming number of photographers and fans doing everything they can to snap shots of the famous English rock band.

Addie Morfoot Contributor When the American Film Institute announced last year that it was merging AFI Docs, the organization’s annual Washington, D.C., documentary film festival, into the Los Angeles-based AFI Fest, Jamie Shor called Sky Sitney.Shor, president of PR Collaborative, and Sitney, director of the film and media studies program at Georgetown, had both previously worked for AFI Docs. Shor’s publicity firm had done work for the former festival, previously known as Silverdocs, while Sitney served as AFI Docs festival director from 2005-2014.“Sky and I were both thinking to ourselves that Washington, D.C., was not going to have a doc presence,” says Shor.

Angelique Jackson As the American Black Film Festival kicks off its 27th edition in Miami Beach, Fla. on Wednesday night, the company behind the fest, ABFF Ventures, is announcing a rebrand. The events entertainment company, led by founder and CEO Jeff Friday and president Nicole Friday, will now be called Nice Crowd, evoking the brand’s dedication to spotlighting BIPOC culture and achievements while emphasizing the power of gathering. In addition to the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) and the annual ABFF Honors ceremony, Nice Crowd will expand its annual offerings to include comedy, health & wellness, food and fine art-focused events. The first new event under the Nice Crowd banner will be “Because They’re Funny” (BTF), a comedy festival showcasing comedic talent within BIPOC communities that will launch this October in Washington, D.C.

ABFF Ventures, the company behind the American Film Festival (ABFF), is rebranding as Nice Crowd.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor I’m on the phone with J. Harrison Ghee when they walk into their dressing room at the Shubert Theatre before Tuesday night’s performance of “Some Like It Hot.” It’s their first show since winning the Tony about 48 hours earlier, taking home the prize for leading actor in a musical for their work as Jerry/Daphne.  “Oh, my God,” Ghee says. “There are a lot of flowers here.” Then they sigh and choke up. “I can’t believe this,” says Ghee, who identifies as nonbinary. “Flowers from Billy Porter!” The card reads, “Welcome to the club, bitch.”

NBC News announced the class of nine journalists who will be deployed to cover 2024 presidential candidates and battleground states, tracking every movement of campaigns as the race unfolds.

Alfonso Ribeiro will host PBS’s A Capitol Fourth, the annual Independence Day celebration on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

reported the news, that she is hopeful the adaptation’s team will find a “wonderful actress to play this role.”Recently appearing in “Life & Beth,” Benanti stars in the upcoming Jennifer Lawrence film “No Hard Feelings,” and the Tony-winner is currently starring in an off-Broadway production of A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters” alongside Matthew Broderick.The news comes days after reports that the adaptation of the 1999 cult film, which had been in development at Amazon Freevee since 2021, had set its main cast, which was to include Sarah Catherine Hook as Caroline Merteuil, Claudia’s daughter.Zac Burgess and Myra Molloy will lead the series alongside Hook while additional cast for the series includes Khobe Clarke, Brooke Lena Johnson, Sara Silva, Sean Patrick Thomas and John Harlan Kim.A representative for Amazon declined to comment.Based on the 1999 film, the series is set at an elite university in Washington, D.C., and follows two ruthless step siblings who are willing to go to great lengths to stay on top of the social pyramid.

during the U. S. Capitol riot, court records show.

Concerts, baseball games, and flights in the East and Midwest are among the cancellations being wrought by the excessive smoke from more than 400 Canadian wildfires.

ABC News unveiled its lineup of embed reporters and producers covering the 2024 presidential campaign, while the news division also announced leadership promotions in three bureaus.

Thania Garcia These days, Raye is spending time in hotel rooms, tour busses and on stages more than anywhere else. “Nothing makes sense until I’m on the stage,” the British Ghanaian singer-songwriter tells Variety. “I really feel at home up there, I’m just very grateful for every little moment.” Today, Raye announces the addition of North American dates and Australian dates to her headlining “My 21st Century Blues World Tour,” which also spans stops in Europe and the UK in support of her recent album, “My 21st Century Blues.” Released in February, the LP marked Raye’s long-awaited and hard-earned debut after years of co-writing hits for various stars including Beyoncé, Ellie Goulding, Charli XCX, John Legend and Rita Ora. In her own album, Raye rejoices in artistic freedom as a standalone, independent artist — having left the confines of her former label and signed a new deal with the Orchard’s Human Re Sources.

Paramore brought Florida congressman Maxwell Frost out for ‘Misery Business’ at their show in Washington DC last night (June 2) – check out footage below.The band traditionally bring a number of fans onto the stage to sing the last chorus of their 2007 hit. In Washington DC, it was the turn of Frost, who, at the age of just 25, became the first member of Generation Z to be elected to the US Congress.

Amazon has set the main cast for Cruel Intentions, its series adaptation of the 1999 cult film, sources tell Deadline. Sarah Catherine Hook (First Kill), Zac Burgess (Totally Completely Fine) and Myra Molloy (He’s All That) are set as leads, along with fellow series regulars Khobe Clarke (Yellowjackets), Brooke Lena Johnson (You), Sara Silva (The Boys), Sean Patrick Thomas (Cruel Intentions film) and John Harlan Kim (The Last Thing He Told Me).

Endeavor-owned WME has acquired the Ross Yoon Agency, a Washington, D.C.-based literary firm.

On Thursday, Mayor Muriel Bowser kicked off Pride month in Washington, D.C. by raising an LGBTQ Pride flag above the John A.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The “Cruel Intentions” TV series at Amazon has set its main cast, Variety has learned exclusively from sources. The series regulars in the show are: Sarah Catherine Hook (“First Kill,” “Impeachment: American Crime Story”) as Caroline, Zac Burgess (“Totally Completely Fine”) as Lucien, Khobe Clarke (“Yellowjackets,” “Firefly Lane”) as Scott, Brooke Lena Johnson (“You,” “South of Hell”) as Beatrice, Sara Silva (“The Boys,” “American Horror Stories”) as CeCe, Sean Patrick Thomas (the original “Cruel Intentions” film, “Till”) asProfessor Chadwick, John Harlan Kim (“The Last Thing He Told Me,” “9-1-1”) as Blaise, and Myra Molloy (“He’s All That,” “The Bold Type”) as Annie.

Prepare for an incredible fusion of musical powerhouses as Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, and Pitbull team up for The Trilogy Tour across North America this fall.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Singer-actor Janelle Monáe will be bringing her “Age of Pleasure” principle to North American theaters and amphitheaters this late summer and fall, with a nearly two-month tour that begins Aug. 30 in Seattle and wraps Oct. 18 at the L.A. area’s YouTube Theater. The Live Nation-backed 26-city tour will follow a couple of months on the heels of Monáe’s first album in five years, “The Age of Pleasure,” which comes out June 9. It’s been preceded by a new single and music video, “Lipstick Lover.” A Verizon presale begins Thursday at 10 a.m. local time, with other targeted presales happening throughout the next week before a general ticket sale one week from today, June 7, also at 10 a.m. local time.

As the region’s major theaters rebound from the dark nights of the pandemic, it’s nothing short of miraculous that its fringe scene — under-recognized and under-funded at the best of times — has found a way to keep the curtains rising. Operating on a wing and a prayer, these tiny theater troupes may be labors of semi-volunteer love, but they are, without doubt, the crazy, tinkling bells that keep a city’s culture alive, vibrant and just a whole lot more fun to explore.

A24’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus-starrer You Hurt My Feelings will top an estimated $1.7 million in limited nationwide release for the four-day holiday weekend, at the high end of expectations on 912 screens. That puts it at no. 8 at a domestic box office where Little Mermaid is making all the waves.

If Sebastian Maniscalco really is the most popular comic in the country at the moment, you’d never know why from his film debut in About My Father. So unfunny it’s embarrassing, this is an over-the-top, under-achieving generational comedy that feels like it was written in the mid- to late-1960s and has been moldering in a drawer ever since.

The ladies of Aespa just made their Cannes Film Festival debut!

Asake has announced details of a new album and shared the first single. Work of Art will be released on June 16 and is preceded by "Amapiano," a collaboration with fellow Nigerian artist Olamide.

Christopher Vourlias U.S. writer and political advocate Dane Waters and “Superpower” co-director Aaron Kaufman announced the launch of a new global nonprofit group, Humanity for Freedom, Monday in Cannes. The organization is dedicated to the fight against authoritarian governments through educational and advocacy work. The group’s global kick-off event, 72 Hours for Freedom, will feature screenings around the world of “Superpower,” the documentary about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, co-directed by Kaufman and Sean Penn. The event will take place in over a dozen countries on six continents, starting in London on June 6 and wrapping in Washington, D.C., June 8, including stops in Rome; Tbilisi, Georgia; Sofia, Bulgaria; Abuja, Nigeria; Tokyo; Sydney; and Buenos Aires.