Rob Reiner Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

At the end of Meg Ryan‘s beguiling and grown-up new romantic comedy What Happens Later, a simple dedication card shows on screen that says “To Nora.” And for star, director and co-writer Ryan, that says it all. After an eight-year absence from the screen, Ryan has returned, both in front of and behind the camera, to a genre that made her a huge star thanks also in large part to the late great Nora Ephron, whose trio of collaborations with Ryan — When Harry Met Sally (directed by Rob Reiner), Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail — truly defined what a joyful experience a romantic comedy could be when in the right hands.

Courtney Howard Meg Ryan not only dazzles before the camera in “What Happens Later,” but behind it as well, as director and co-writer. Through the prism of one former couple’s relationship woes, this effervescent, enlightened romantic comedy explores our innate need for reconciliation within ourselves and with each other. It’s a delight to welcome Ryan back to the silver screen after an extended hiatus, and in the genre she helped rejuvenate alongside filmmakers like Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron (to whom this film is touchingly dedicated).

EXCLUSIVE: Rob Reiner, who directed LBJ starring Woody Harrelson, and journalist Soledad O’Brien have teamed up to find out the truth about JFK’s murder.

Stand up comic, “SNL” writer, actor, director: Albert Brooks has done it all. And he’s done it over the course of a six-decade-plus career.

UPDATED with lineup additions, 11:01 AM: The American Film Institute today added some films to its 2023 lineup. The five films selected by Guest Artistic Director Greta Gerwig are All That Jazz, An American in Paris, Wings of Desire A Matter of Life and Death and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. She will introduce the latter two.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired U.S. rights to Dan Partland’s “God & Country: The Rise of Christian Nationalism.” The film, which was produced by Rob Reiner, is set for release in early 2024. It features interviews with prominent faith leaders, who share their fears about this movement.

Spinal Tap’s Derek Smalls has hit out at Barbie on his first new song in five years – listen to ‘Must Crush Barbie’ below.The band’s bassist calls the summer blockbuster the “embodiment of lukewarm water” with a press release adding that the song is a “much-needed antidote to the ubiquitous pinkness that has spilled out of movie theatres this summer and onto the high streets with wall-to-wall media coverage.”In the song, Smalls sings about the film having “too much pink” and being a waste of “film and ink”.He said: “Been spending the last year or so as Brand Ambassador for BruegelCoin, the Dutch cryptocurrency.“Since it was cratering this past spring, I was following the news more than usual, which is where I got bombarded by all the Barbie BS. I don’t know which angered me more, but it’s really hard to write a song about crypto.

Michaela Zee Robert Klane, screenwriter of films including “Weekend at Bernie’s” and “Where’s Poppa?,” died from kidney failure on Aug. 29 at his home in Woodland Hills, Calif. He was 81.

Meg Ryan was scheduled to return to her romantic comedy big screen stomping ground on Oct. 13, however, Taylor Swift spoiled it. No prob, the Ryan directed and starring What Happens Later holiday-set feature from Bleecker Street will now go on Nov. 3, the last weekend of AMC’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert movie. Hopefully by that time, the Swifties will be interested in other movies.

Will Tizard Contributor From auditioning for “every John Hughes movie that I never got in” to having Oliver Stone yell at her in a helicopter over her pronunciation of “’Nam,” Robin Wright confesses she’s seen Hollywood from all sides over the years. Speaking to admiring crowds at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where Wright is being honored with the festival president’s award, the actor-director-producer recalled a career that began at age 14 — which, in many ways, is really beginning to take off now. Of “The Princess Bride,” the beloved 1987 Rob Reiner sardonic fairytale, she said, “It was not a hit.” Of course, the film made up for low box office scores with VHS sales and is now considered a classic.

Sophia Scorziello editor Hollywood is paying tribute to Oscar winner Alan Arkin, who died on Thursday at 89. Known for his dry, straight-faced humor and wide range of roles, Arkin was a beloved member of the entertainment world throughout his more than seven decades of acting on screen and on stage. Arkin won his Oscar for his role in the 2006 indie road comedy “Little Miss Sunshine.” Arkin played Edwin Hoover, the nutty grandfather and biggest supporter of his granddaughter Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin), a young girl competing in beauty pageant that sends her whole family on a road trip from New Mexico to California in their Volkswagen van.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S. actor Robin Wright will be awarded the President’s Award at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s closing ceremony. In honor of Wright, it will screen “The Princess Bride.” Wright is best known for her performance in Netflix series “House of Cards.” She earned three Golden Globe nominations and a win in 2014. She earned five Screen Actors Guild award nominations for the show, and received five consecutive Emmy nominations. In 2017, Wright played Lieutenant Joshi in “Blade Runner 2049,” and Amazon warrior General Antiope in “Justice League” and Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman.” The following year, she reprised her role as Antiope in “Wonder Woman 1984.” She will be seen this Fall starring opposite Millie Bobby Brown in the fantasy film “Damsel,” and co-starring with Tom Hanks in “HERE,” directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Tom Hanks turned down “When Harry Met Sally” because he was happily divorced and couldn’t relate.Hanks, 66, and Meg Ryan, 61, almost had a rom-com trio after starring in 1993’s “Sleepless in Seattle” and 1998’s “You’ve Got Mail,” both written and directed by Nora Ephron.But Hank’s wife Rita Wilson, 66, revealed that the “Forrest Gump” star declined the offer to star alongside Ryan in 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally” — also written by Ephron — because he couldn’t relate to the character of Harry Burns being depressed post-divorce.“People, probably don’t know this, but Tom was offered ‘When Harry Met Sally’ and he turned it down because he was going through a divorce and he was very happy to be not married,” Hank’s current wife said on the “Table for Two With Bruce Bozzi” podcast.“And so he could not understand that a person going through a divorce would have anything other than just like, ‘I’m so happy.’ But I loved that script,” Wilson continued.Hanks and his first wife Samantha Lewes got married in 1978 when Hanks was 21 years old and eventually divorced in 1987.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Playing a man who gets entangled in a murder investigation because his wife (Kaley Cuoco) is obsessed with true crime, “Based on a True Story” kind of hits close to home for Chris Messina. When he was a kid, he and a friend actually may have actually discovered a crime scene. “I grew up in Northport, Long Island,” Messina told Variety at the Peacock series’ premiere Thursday at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. “I grew up on Makamah Road, about a block from the Long Island Sound. A buddy and I walked to the Sound and – it was very ‘Stand By Me’ – we found a hand that washed up on the beach.” They immediately called the cops. “We had to report it,” Messina recalled. “I was pretending to be River Phoenix in ‘Stand By Me.’”

John Cleese has said the reboot will be 'hugely different' from the original.  The Monty Python star, 83, told GB News there will be a lot of 'open-air' scenes which the original series 'never got'.  The original show, written by John and Connie Booth, ran on BBC Two for two series in 1975 and 1979.

Dr. Robert Levine, in 1983, where her former “TMTMS” co-star Betty White steals the show.

David Walliams would love to work with John Cleese on 'Fawlty Towers'. The ex ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ judge is keen to get cast in the reboot of the much-loved '70s sitcom about the hilarious trials and tribulations of a hapless hotelier on the Devon coast, and he insisted the ‘Monty Python’ icon “can do no wrong”. The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre TV column quotes the 51-year-old funnyman as saying: “To my mind the man can do no wrong, so if he wants to revive Basil Fawlty, then let him do it, and I would work with him in a heartbeat.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The day has come: “New Girl” has officially left Netflix for a new dual home on Hulu and Peacock. After enjoying a home on Netflix for more than a decade, a shared agreement between Disney and NBCUniversal, announced in April, will allow Peacock and Hulu to share streaming rights to all seven season of the show, comprising 146 episodes in total. The beloved sitcom stars Zoey Deschanel as a kooky elementary school teacher Jess who finds herself in an equally kooky situation when she moves into an LA loft with three men, Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Winston (Lamorne Morris), which whom she ends up forming a charmingly dysfunctional family. Hannah Simone also stars as Jess’s best friend and model Cece.

EXCLUSIVE: Wind River alum Gil Birmingham has closed a deal to return for Castle Rock Entertainment’s sequel Wind River: The Next Chapter, with Alan Ruck (Succession), Kali Reis (Catch the Fair One) and Tatanka Means (Killers of the Flower Moon) also joining the cast.

Billy Crystal is feeling nostalgic on his birthday. The actor turned 75 on March 14th, and to celebrate, he recreated a moment from the beloved rom-com, "When Harry Met Sally…" Crystal donned a white sweater, jeans and sneakers, and took a photo of himself in a low squat, putting it side by side with a near identical looking moment in the movie.

An icon! Billy Crystal recreated a legendary shot from When Harry Met Sally.

Netflix, New Girl will be leaving the streaming service next month.All seven seasons of the comedy series will be removed from Netflix on April 17, when it will be transferred to Hulu and Peacock.As reported by Variety, the move is part of an agreement between Disney and NBCUniversal to allow both platforms to share the streaming rights to the series.All 146 episodes will be available on Peacock and Hulu from April 17, 2023.New Girl began streaming on Netflix in summer 2013. The show, starring Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris and Hannah Simone, originally aired on Fox from 2011 to 2018.The series follows quirky teacher Jessica Day (Deschanel) after she moves into an apartment in Los Angeles with three men, Nick Miller (Johnson), Winston Schmidt (Greenfield) and Winston Bishop (Morris).During its run, the show was nominated five Primetime Emmy Awards and featured guest appearances from Prince, Taylor Swift, Jamie Lee Curtis, Megan Fox, Justin Long, Rob Reiner, Adam Brody and Linda Cardellini.Last year, Deschanel released her eighth studio album ‘Melt Away: A Tribute To Brian Wilson’ as part of musical duo She & Him, formed with M.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After nearly 10 years on Netflix, comedy “New Girl” will be leaving the streaming service to get a new dual home on Hulu and Peacock. “New Girl” will be available on Hulu and Peacock beginning April 17, 2023. Under a shared agreement between Disney and NBCUniversal, Peacock and Hulu will share streaming rights to all seven season of the show, comprising 146 episodes in total. “New Girl,” starring Zooey Deschanel, first began streaming on Netflix in the U.S. in the summer of 2013. The show’s ensemble cast includes Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris and Hannah Simone. “New Girl” originally aired on Fox from 2011-2018.

BBC Comedy Director Jon Petrie has said his team would be “happy to talk” with John Cleese about the upcoming revival, as he unveiled the next generation of “very British” shows.

Jason Clarke (Winning Time), Scott Eastwood (The Outpost) and Chaske Spencer (The English) have signed on to star alongside Martin Sensmeier in Wind River: The Next Chapter — Castle Rock Entertainment’s sequel to the acclaimed 2017 crime drama Wind River, which is currently in production in Calgary.

One of the greatest mockumentaries of all time is “This Is Spinal Tap,” and while filmmaker Christopher Guest didn’t direct it (that was Rob Reiner), he did co-write it with his co-stars Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Reiner. Soon after, Guest took that formula and ran with it, creating several other classic mockumentary comedies, including “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind,” “For Your Consideration,” and the last one, “Mascots” in 2016 for Netflix.

Just For Variety podcast. "Can you believe that? How off the wall is that? How crazy is that? Jeffrey Katzenberg called me every day, 'Please, please.' I stood my ground because I really was afraid of the costume. Isn't that amazing? I can wear anything but a nun's habit?"In the end, the iconic role went to Whoopi Goldberg, and "Sister Act" became a massive hit that also spawned sequels. "Whoopi wore [the outfit] all the way to the bank, so God bless her.

Fawlty Towers.Cleese, who played hotel owner Basil Fawlty in the original sitcom, is set to write and star in the revival alongside his daughter Camilla Cleese. It’s set to be executive produced by Rob Reiner (This Is Spinal Tap).The new series, which will focus on the relationship between Basil and his daughter as they manage a hotel together, will “explore how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world”.Cleese responded to the divisive reaction on Twitter on Monday (February 20), writing: “I must apologise.

John Cleese has said his surprise revival of Fawlty Towers won’t be returning to its original home on the BBC because the UK broadcaster would not give him sufficient editorial freedom.

Basil Fawlty is back. A reboot of John Cleese’s British comedy sensation Fawlty Towers is in the works and Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment is developing.

EXCLUSIVE: John Cusack has signed with APA for representation after less than half a year with Gersh. 

Freddie Roman, a Borscht Belt staple whose comedy was long a part of the Friars Club roasts and was a fixture in big nightclubs, has died at 85. He had a heart attack this morning in Boynton Beach, Florida, his daughter said.

The television business has a lot to be thankful for, if the number of Thanksgiving episodes it has churned out over the years is any indication.

Castle Rock Entertainment will be producing a feature-film sequel to Taylor Sheridan’s 2017 hit “Wind River.” The follow-up, titled “Wind River: The Next Chapter,” is to be directed by Kari Skogland (episodes of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” “The Loudest Voice” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” along with Paramount’s upcoming Gal Gadot-starring “Cleopatra” biopic) from a screenplay by Patrick Massett and John Zinman. Martin Sensmeier, also from episodes of “1883” and “Westworld” along with the 2016 remake of “The Magnificent Seven,” will reprise his role as Chip Hanson.

Castle Rock Entertainment has announced that it will produce a sequel to the award-winning crime drama Wind River, titled Wind River: The Next Chapter, with production to kick off in January. Martin Sensmeier (1883) will star, reprising his role as Wind River local Chip Hanson, with Kari Skogland (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) set as director.