‘Percy Jackson’ Strikes Back: How Rick Riordan Defied Fox’s Failed Movies, Fought Racist Trolls and Finally Returned to Hollywood for Disney+ Series

Naman Ramachandran Universal’s “Trolls Band Together” has reclaimed the top spot at the U.K. and Ireland box office from stablemate “Five Nights At Freddy’s.” In its third weekend, “Trolls Band Together” collected £1.8 million ($2.2 million) for a total of £12.7 million ($15.7 million). In the process it won back the pole position it had ceded to Universal’s “Five Nights At Freddy’s,” which in its second weekend took in £1.2 million in second place for a total of £8.7 million.

Karamo Brown is spilling some tea after hanging out with the cast of Vanderpump Rules behind the scenes at BravoCon 2023.

Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.com What’s fact and what’s fiction in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla?” We fact-checked the film against the source material, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley’s memoir “Elvis and Me.” The new film, starring Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) and Jacob Elordi (Elvis Presley), was inspired by the 1985 book, which became a New York Times bestseller at its release. Everyone knew Elvis the legend, but his former wife Priscilla wanted to reveal Elvis the man.

“The Sopranos” was the biggest TV show in the world. It didn’t have the largest audience — its ratings were still dwarfed by network hits like “ER” and “Friends” —but it had cultural cachet.

Zara McDermott looked like she's bounced back from her recent Strictly Come Dancing exit as she posed up a storm for a sexy photoshoot in London.The star, who became the latest Strictly contestant to get booted off the popular BBC dance competition, appeared all smiles as she strutted her stuff her the camera. After landing in the bottom two alongside Adam Thomas, Zara was eliminated during Halloween week by the judges, having received the lowest score during the live show, being awarded just 25 points. But the star, who first rose to fame after appearing on Love Island in 2018, later added that she "knew this day would come" as she opened up about how grateful she was for the Strictly experience.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Nicolas Cage is one of the internet’s most beloved actors. Social media platforms like X/Twitter and Reddit are constantly flooded with clips of and tributes to his larger-than-life performances. Google “Nicolas Cage memes” and you get list upon list devoted to the Oscar-winning actor.

The first installment of Ryan Murphy’s American Sports Story anthology series for FX will star Josh Andrés Rivera as Aaron Hernandez and Patrick Schwarzenegger as fellow former NFL star Tim Tebow. The season is based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc from the Boston Globe and Wondery.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo saddles up to discuss Paramount+’s latest Taylor Sheridan-produced series, “Lawmen: Bass Reeves.” The show follows Bass Reeves (David Oyelowo) on his journey from a Civil War-era enslaved person and forced Confederate soldier to the first Black U.S. Marshal in history and one of the greatest frontier heroes ever.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo saddles up to discuss Paramount+’s latest Taylor Sheridan-produced series, “Lawmen: Bass Reeves.” The show follows Bass Reeves (David Oyelowo) on his journey from a Civil War-era enslaved person and forced Confederate soldier to the first Black U.S. Marshal in history and one of the greatest frontier heroes ever.

Gordon Cox Theater Editor Scar in “The Lion King.” The Green Goblin in “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” The titular green guy in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The actor Patrick Page (“Hadestown“) has played every one of those Broadway villains—and he brings all that experience to bear in the Off-Broadway solo show he both wrote and stars in, “All the Devils Are Here.” Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below: Subtitled “How Shakespeare Invented the Villain,” the show delves into all the ways the Bard depicted bad guys and evil-doers with depth, nuance and humanity that were, at the time, revolutionary. In the latest episode of “Stagecraft,” Variety’s theater podcast, Page theorized that his famously deep voice has probably contributed to his frequent casting in villain roles. “There’s a strong tradition in the theater of those roles being more bass roles.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Progress has been made toward ending the SAG-AFTRA strike in recent days, but “a lot” of issues are still on the table, the union’s chief negotiator said Monday morning. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the chief negotiator and executive director of the guild, made an appearance at the Disney picket lines. In an interview outside the studio gates, he would not hazard a guess as to when the strike will be over.

Strictly Come Dancing star Adam Thomas has shared his hopes to make a return to the dancefloor tonight after being struck by a second bout of sickness.

John Stamos is opening up about being labeled a playboy when he was younger.

The stars are checking out the latest F1 event!

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic When DreamWorks’ original “Trolls” movie was released, it wasn’t immediately apparent that the studio was launching a musical franchise. The rainbow-bright computer-animated feature boasted a sparkly soundtrack and the voice of Justin Timberlake as grumpy, gray-skinned Branch, but it wasn’t until the sequel — “Trolls World Tour,” released straight to streaming during the pandemic — that the series explicitly embraced its top-40 ’tude.

Concerned that a prolonged actors strike would bring long-term, irreparable harm to the industry, Hollywood’s biggest stars on a Zoom call this week with SAG-AFTRA leaders pledged to commit $150 million over three years to remove a cap on union dues to bring more coin to guild coffers, and they suggested a streamer residual structure that would put actors on the bottom of the call sheet before them, in hopes that getting money faster would help more struggling actors qualify for benefits.

EXCLUSIVE: The Nun and Gangs Of London director Corin Hardy is set to direct high school horror movie Whistle, which Black Bear will be selling at AFM after soft-launching the project at TIFF.

Emily Longeretta The holiday seasons are officially underway, according to the TV movie calendar. While Great American Family kicked off their holiday slate on Oct. 13, Hallmark follows close behind with their “Countdown to Christmas” beginning on Oct.

Angelique Jackson The American Cinematheque awards, scheduled for November 4, has been postponed due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. Helen Mirren was previously announced to be the recipient of the 37th American Cinematheque Award, with Kevin Goetz and Screen Engine set to be honored with the Power of Cinema Award, presented by Hill Valley. The new date for the annual awards ceremony, held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Talks broke down last week between the major studios and SAG-AFTRA, with the studios saying that the gap between the two sides is “too great” to continue productive negotiations. Until they can bridge the gap, SAG-AFTRA will remain on strike and the entertainment industry will remain shut down. So how big is that gap? About $480 million a year.