Brent Lang Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Brent Lang Executive Editor The actors strike and a series of holiday blockbusters that didn’t shine as brightly took a bite out of Imax‘s fourth-quarter earnings. Revenues at the exhibition and technology company fell to $86 million, a 12% drop from the $98 million that the company reported in the prior-year quarter. Profits, however, were essentially flat, with Imax reporting net income of $2.5 million, a 3% decline from the $2.6 million in the prior-year quarter.

Brent Lang Executive Editor When Michael Angarano was trying to get “Sacramento,” his indie buddy comedy about two friends who go on a road trip to a certain state capital off the ground, the question he’d get was always the same. Does it really need to be set in Sacramento? “At one point we were ready to shoot the movie in Atlanta — we had the financing and everything,” remembers Angarano, who directed the film, as well as co-wrote it. “And this was for a movie called ‘Sacramento.’ But it’s like why try to cheat it? Maybe, we should we just call it ‘Athens’ or ‘Savannah’?” And even though Angarano and his co-writer Chris Smith weren’t that familiar with the city that inspired their film, its appearance on a highway sign, informing them of the California city’s distance from Los Angeles, was foundational.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Ezra,” the story of a stand-up comic embarking on a road trip with his autistic son, is the kind of movie that Hollywood doesn’t make much anymore. It’s not based on a toy or a comic book; instead it’s a warm-hearted, deeply human story without much in the way of special effects. But the movie, which opened last weekend in the height of summer popcorn season, is exactly what Closer Media, the new film and television company that backed the production, was founded to champion.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Midas Man,” an upcoming drama about Brian Epstein, the visionary manager who helped turn the Beatles into the biggest thing in pop culture, has sold North American distribution rights to Briarcliff Entertainment. The company will distribute the movie in collaboration with Studio POW and American Entertainment Investors. It stars Jacob Fortune-Lloyd of “The Queen’s Gambit” as Epstein.

Brent Lang Executive Editor By the end of every performance, “The Outsiders” cast is caked in grime and dust. That’s a consequence of the Broadway musical’s sandy stage, which finds the actors who bring the the gritty coming-of-age story to life each night, fighting, dancing and falling in love in the gravel.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Katherine Mallen Kupferer, one of the breakout stars of “Ghostlight,” has signed with Fusion Entertainment for management. “Ghostlight” premiered at Sundance and will be released across the country this summer by IFC Films and Sapan Studios.

Brent Lang Executive Editor IFC Films and Shudder have acquired the North American rights to Spooky Pictures’ and Image Nation Abu Dhabi’s “Menace” out of the Cannes market. The indie labels also nabbed distribution rights to the sci-fi horror film in the U.K. and Ireland, as well as Australia and New Zealand, in its first Cannes pick-up.

Brent Lang Executive Editor When Cate Blanchett starts shooting a new movie or show, it’s always the same story. “It’s like Groundhog Day,” Blanchett said at the Kering Women in Motion Talks at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday. “I do the head count, and I’m back in the same place, working with men who I love working with and respect, [but] I’m walking on set and there’s 50 people on set and there’s three women.

Brent Lang Executive Editor David Cronenberg is returning to Cannes with “The Shrouds,” the story of an industrialist named Karsh, who invents a controversial technology that allows grieving families to see inside the graves of their loved ones with high-resolution cameras. It’s a film that defies easy categorization. This being a Cronenberg production, there are elements of body horror, but there’s also a conspiracist undercurrent, as Karsh (Vincent Cassel) begins to suspect that shadowy forces are undercutting his expansion plans after his cemetery is ransacked.

Brent Lang Executive Editor BuzzFeed Studios and actor and comedian Lil Rel Howeryare partnering on “Saving the Neighborhood,” a new series examining the “existential threats” facing neighborhoods across America. Howery will serve as both the director and the series’s host. The first season of “Saving the Neighborhood” examines the impact of environmental racism on Black and Brown communities across the U.S.

Brent Lang Executive Editor When Andrew Karpen wants to convince a filmmaker to let him release their movie, he doesn’t blow them away by offering more and more money. For one thing, Bleecker Street, the indie studio he founded in 2014, doesn’t have the financial firepower of an Apple or a Netflix.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Liam Neeson is checking into “Hotel Tehran.” The Oscar-winner turned on-screen avenging angel is joining the previously announced Zachary Levi in the new action-thriller from Guy Moshe. Cameras will start rolling in late summer. The rest of the ensemble will be cast in the coming weeks.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Archstone Entertainment has acquired international rights to multiple pictures produced by the Todd Slater-run Convoke Media and Brick Lane Entertainment. They include “Succubus,” which was written and directed by R.J. Daniel Hanna (“Hard Miles”) and stars Ron Perlman and Rosanna Arquette.

Brent Lang Executive Editor They’re going to need an even bigger dining room table. Paul Giamatti, Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan are joining the third “Downton Abbey” feature film.

Selena Kuznikov Variety received 74 nominations for the SoCal Journalism Awards sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club during the 2023 calendar year, with nods across magazine and entertainment journalism, video, audio, online content, and social media. Among the nominations announced Thursday were Brent Lang and Chris Willman for entertainment journalist of the year. Additionally, Variety.com was nominated for best traditional news organization website in the online category.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Pam & Tommy” stars Sebastian Stan and Lily James will reunite to star in psychological horror thriller “Let the Evil Go West.” The film sounds very different from Stan and James’ previous collaboration, which saw them playing Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson in a Hulu mini-series. In “Let the Evil Go West,” a railroad worker stumbles upon a fortune under deeply disturbing circumstances. As horrifying visions and manifestations drive him toward madness, his wife becomes convinced that an evil presence has attached itself to their family.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Sandbox Films has promoted Jessica Harrop to executive director of the company. In her new role, she will lead in strategic planning, editorial decision-making and the building of new partnerships and initiatives at the nonfiction studio.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Green Book” director Peter Farrelly will take audiences behind-the-scenes on the unlikely and tumultuous production of “Rocky,” the boxing drama that catapulted Sylvester Stallone into stardom. “I Play Rocky,” the upcoming film, will follow Stallone long before his action hero days. Here, he’s a struggling actor whose partially paralyzed face and a speech impediment hasn’t left him in demand by Hollywood.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Green Book” director Peter Farrelly will take audiences behind-the-scenes on the unlikely and tumultuous production of “Rocky,” the boxing drama that catapulted Sylvester Stallone into stardom. “I Play Rocky,” the upcoming film, will follow Stallone long before his action hero days. Here, he’s a struggling actor whose partially paralyzed face and a speech impediment hasn’t left him in demand by Hollywood.

Brent Lang Executive Editor When Peter Kujawski, the chairman of Focus Features, saw “The Holdovers” at a screening held for potential distributors at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, he knew the movie had all the makings of an arthouse hit. There was an Oscar-winning filmmaker, Alexander Payne, behind the camera, as well as a beloved character actor, Paul Giamatti, playing a meaty role that complemented his sardonic gifts. Add in a heart-warming coming-of-age story, and the film had the potential to be an awards season player.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Steven Quale, best known for his work on “Into the Storm” and “Final Destination 5,” has been tapped to direct Capstone Studios and Hammerstone Studios’ “Black Box (Flight 298).” The upcoming supernatural thrilleris based on an original screenplay from Stephen Susco, a horror writer whose many genre credits include “The Grudge,” “The Grudge 2,” “Texas Chainsaw 3D” and “Hell Fest.” According to the logline, the film follows the supernatural events surrounding Vero Airlines Flight 298 from New Orleans to Seattle. Hammerstone Studios’ Alex Lebovici (“Barbarian”) and Jon Oakes (“The Guilty”) will produce alongside Capstone’s Christian Mercuri and David Haring (“Bill & Ted Face the Music”), Warren Zide (“The Final Destination” and Susco.

Brent Lang Executive Editor FilmNation and Charades are teaming up to present “Alpha,” the new film from Julia Ducournau, to buyers at Cannes. It’s the same place where Ducournau caused a sensation with 2021’s “Titane,” her subversive and divisive body horror film, which won the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top award.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Lempicka,” a musical about Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka, will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, May 19. The show has struggled to draw crowds since opening on April 14. Last week, for instance, “Lempicka” had its weakest showing yet, earning $288,102 and playing at 71% capacity.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, two essential ingredients in the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, will leave Barbieland and Los Alamos behind them as they team up for “The Fall Guy.” But will audiences turn up in force to see the “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” stars when their new action comedy debuts this weekend? Well, “The Fall Guy” isn’t going to hit those films’ box office heights, but it should have no trouble topping charts as it kicks off the summer movie season. The film is expected to earn north of $30 million, with some rival studio executives pegging the opening at between $35 million to $40 million. The catch is that movie wasn’t cheap to produce, boasting a healthy budget of $130 million, so “The Fall Guy” will need strong word-of-mouth if it’s going to leg it out on the long path to profitability.

Brent Lang Executive Editor A pair of Warner Bros. releases have achieved some important box office milestones. “Dune: Part Two,” the acclaimed adaptation of Frank Herbert’s monumental sci-fi novel, has passed $700 million worldwide, while “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” the latest installment in the long-running monster franchise, eclipsed $500 million at the global box office.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Kent Sanderson has been promoted to president of Bleecker Street, the indie studio behind “Logan Lucky” and “Captain Fantastic.” The veteran executive previously served as the company’s head of acquisitions and ancillary distribution. Sanderson has been with Bleecker Street, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, since its inception in 2014. In his previous role, he led both the curation of Bleecker’s film slate and the company’s home entertainment strategy, including co-founding and co-running home entertainment label Decal, which Bleecker operates as a joint-venture with Neon.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Joe Hall has been named president and CEO of Manhattan Neighborhood Network, an award-winning cultural organization. The non-profit is also the largest community media center in the country, overseeing two state-of-the-art facilities in Hudson Yards and East Harlem. In his new role, Hall is tasked with setting the vision of Manhattan Neighborhood Network and building out a development team that can market the organization, raise its profile and increase funding.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “No extraneous commotion,” Jordan Fein, the associate director of “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” beseeches the small army of construction crew members who are drilling, hammering and carrying planks of wood around him, not to mention the half-dozen musicians and dancers waiting to rehearse. It’s roughly two weeks before the revival of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s “Cabaret” opens its doors to the public, and Fein is fine-tuning the prologue, an hour-and-15-minute immersion into club culture that precedes the show. It’s a daring piece of theatrical provocation that has helped to make the Broadway production one of the season’s hottest (and most expensive) tickets.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Maya Boyd will take over the title role in Broadway‘s “& Juliet.” She joins the cast directly from the company of “Merrily We Roll Along,” where she made her Broadway debut earlier this year while simultaneously completing her senior year at the University of Michigan. But there’s something Boyd has to take care of before she assumes the lead in the new show.

Brent Lang Executive Editor From hit man to hedgehog. “John Wick” leading man Keanu Reeves will voice Shadow in “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” a source confirmed to Variety. He joins a cast that includes Ben Schwartz as Sonic, as well as Jim Carrey as the villainous Dr.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “South Park” co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are teaming with Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free on a new live-action comedy that will hit theaters just in time for our nation’s birthday. The film is slated to open on July 4, 2025 and will be distributed by Paramount Pictures. It faces some stiff competition.

Brent Lang Executive Editor There was something fitting about the setting. Paramount Pictures unveiled the first footage from “Gladiator II” on the stage of The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, a hotel that reimagines Ancient Rome in all its decadent splendor, albeit with a few more slot machines. Ridley Scott seems to be offering a bloodier version of that distant age, one that finds Paul Mescal enter the arena as a nobleman who has renounced his privilege.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” will be re-released in theaters in honor of the sci-fi epic’s 10th anniversary. The film, which earned an impressive $731 million globally when it debuted in 2014, stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Matt Damon and is set in a dystopian future in which a group of astronauts must travel to the far reaches of space to find a new planet for humankind to colonize. Paramount Pictures announced the re-release during its presentation to theater owners and executives at CinemaCon, the exhibition industry conference taking place this week in Las Vegas.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Robert Eggers shared his terrifying take on “Nosferatu,” offering up the atmospheric first look at his remake of the famous vampire film to theater owners at CinemaCon this week. In the trailer, Lily-Rose Depp, playing a devout young woman, prays earnestly by candlelight. “Come to me, come to me, hear my call,” she intones before a hand reaches out to grab her neck.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Gru, the recovering supervillain turned huggable and lovable dad, is back in action. Universal premiered a new sequence from “Despicable Me 4,” the latest installment in the studio and its partner Illumination’s long-running animated franchise, at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Wednesday. It featured an aspiring villainess (Joey King) as well as a new addition to the Gru family — Gru Jr., who bears a strong resemblance to his beak-nosed namesake — as they attempted a “Mission: Impossible” style heist of a heavily fortified castle.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Michael Keaton was blunt about what audiences can expect when “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” hits screens, more than 36 years after the first film opened. “It’s really fucking good,” the actor told theater owners at CinemaCon. And based on the zany look at “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” that Keaton and Tim Burton shared, the collaborators have come up with something that could be out of this Netherworld.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Horizon: An American Saga,” Kevin Costner‘s wildly ambitious, sprawling, risky and quite possibly foolhardy two-part Western rode into CinemaCon on Tuesday. The films, which will premiere this summer, were partially financed by Costner, who mortgaged his ranch to help raise the money for the $100 million epic. “Hopefully the people come and they keep coming and they binge your theaters,” Costner told cinema operators at Warner Bros.