Sean Penn Supports WGA Strike, Calls The Dispute Over AI a 'Human Obscenity'

As she takes on the role of a criminal’s mom in Apple TV+’s new series “The Crowded Room”, Emmy Rossum is reflecting on another crime story: “Mystic River”.

Today Show may be consistent in that they have been on the air every morning since its inception in 1952, but they are not afraid to switch things up!The beloved NBC morning talk show is always keeping their loyal fans and viewers on their toes, from transforming the set to transforming their very own hosts, plus every now and then, when one or more of the longtime hosts have to be away either on assignment or with family, the network makes sure their roles are covered with a great replacement. Such was the case on the Thursday, June 1 installment of the show, which had not one but two mainstay hosts away from the news desk.

Robin Williams died by suicide aged 63 in 2014, fans were heartbroken. The world mourned the loss of Robin who was considered a hugely talented and kind-hearted individual, but it was, of course, his family who bore the brunt of his loss. Robin married fine artist and designer, Susan Schneider Williams, in 2011 after meeting at an Apple store a few years earlier.

Sean Penn is seemingly ready to put himself out there again.

As the Writers Guild of America strike continues with no end in sight, rumours are swirling that the Directors Guild of America and SAG-ACTRA will be following suit when those unions’ contracts come up within the next few weeks.

Another Marvel blockbuster has hit a roadblock.

Callum McLennan There’s nothing quite like having an Oscar-winning actor in your corner, or perhaps a star of one of the biggest TV Series of all time. In the case of Kick Gurry, creator, producer and actor in the forthcoming Stan Original Series “Caught,” the backing of Sean Penn and Matthew Fox has undoubtedly been a boon. After Gurry shared an early teaser of the show crafted with friends in Australia, Penn’s reaction was music to his ears. As Gurry shared with Variety, “He said everyone’s afraid of stories right now and we have to be pushing forward with courage in storytelling.” Indeed, the courage to tell bold, new stories has resulted in an audacious six-episode satirical comedy series slated to premiere later in 2023. The series boasts a formidable cast that Gurry describes as a “murderer’s row of talent.” Among them, Sean Penn, who also serves as an executive producer, Matthew Fox, Ben O’Toole, Lincoln Younes, Alexander England, Mel Jarnson, Fayssal Bazzi, Dorian Nkono, Rebecca Breeds, Bella Heathcote, Bryan Brown, and Erik Thomson. Gurry himself also stars, and further casting announcements are expected.

Sean Penn will star in the Ukranian war movie “War Through the Eyes of Animals,” TheWrap has confirmed. The picture, due for release in late 2023 or early 2024, is part of a nine-part anthology that will be helmed by nine Ukrainian filmmakers concerning the ongoing conflict against Russia.

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.

Sean Penn strongly backed the current Hollywood screenwriters strike while speaking at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, saying the dispute over artificial intelligence is “a human obscenity.”

There will be no late night laughs in Moscow, comrade. Or anywhere else in Russia, for that matter.

Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan hit up the photo call for their new movie, Black Flies, during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on Friday (May 19) in Cannes, France.

In Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s “Black Flies,” silence is as scarce a commodity as hope. Young first responder Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan) learns very early on that the job comes with two partners: the one sitting next to you and the relentless cacophony of sounds that cut through the vastness of night as shears.

TheWrap called it “visceral and vicious,” and overall it has received largely negative reviews after premiering in the Main Competition in Cannes on Thursday.While Sheridan initially said that he’d had a good time making the film, Penn took a different tack. “It’s a little more gray to me that we had a really good time,” he said. “I think we had a really valuable time.

Sean Penn is standing in solidarity with the writers guild, whose members are currently on strike to fight for better wages and work conditions in the streaming era. “My full support is with the writers guild,” Penn said during Friday’s press conference for his latest movie “Black Flies,” which debuted in competition at Cannes Film Festival. “There are a lot of new concepts that are being tossed around, including the use of AI. And it just strikes me as human obscenity that there’s been a pushback on that.” Penn also slammed the PGA as a “bankers guild,” saying “the first thing we should do in these conversations is change the Producers Guild and title them how they behave, which is the bankers guild. It’s difficult for so many writers and people in the industry who cannot work.”

Refresh for updates…Sean Penn, asked about the current state of big wig studio chiefs and the plight of writers and directors, said today at the Black Flies presser, “The industry has been uspending the writers and directors for a long time. I fully support the situation with writers guild, of course.”

Black Flies,” the Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan film about emergency medical first responders, smacked the Cannes Film Festival in the face with a brutal world premiere on Thursday. Splattered brains, dead dogs, an addict giving birth with a needle dangling from her arm — these and a litany of other horrors confronted Penn and Sheridan, who play veteran and rookie paramedics, respectively, at the New York Fire Department. Interestingly enough, the black-tie screening at the Grand Palais enjoyed the dose of reality, giving the film a five-minute standing ovation. “We carry the misery,” a weary Penn tells Sheridan in the film of their chosen profession. That’s an understatement, as chaos unfolds neighborhood by neighborhood in a portrait of an unforgiving city.

Beware of black flies, they are the first to smell death. That is what rookie FDNY paramedic Ollie Cross is told by a colleague as he ventures into an abandoned apartment where a swarm is buzzing around a decaying dead body in a bathtub. It is clearly a metaphor for the job of first responders like Ollie and his partner Gene Rutkowsky who are also the first to “smell death,” repeatedly, on a job that takes its toll not just on those in need of medical help, but also on those who provide it.

Kaley Cuoco welcomed her daughter Matilda with boyfriend Tom Pelphrey, but she isn't slowing down one bit. The actress, 37, took to Instagram to announce a new venture, a line of dog and pet care products named Oh Norman! in memory of Norman, her dog who passed away in 2021. Sean Penn and Charlize Theron grace the red carpet togetherThe late pet also inspired the name for Kaley's production company Yes, Norman, and her post featuresa series of photos of the pair during their happiest years.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire spent more than a year in the back of ambulances, shuttling from one gruesome trauma to the next, as he shadowed EMTs in New York City to prepare for his new movie “Black Flies.” “This immersive approach is crucial,” Sauvaire tells Variety over Zoom, a week before he travels to the South of France to premiere “Black Flies” in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “If you don’t really know the reality of this job, it’s difficult to recreate it.” Adapted from Shannon Burke’s 2008 novel, the story follows Tye Sheridan as young paramedic Ollie Cross, who dreams of going to medical school. But he struggles to study as he is thrust into the intense and mentally taxing work of responding to emergency calls in Brooklyn. Sean Penn plays a hardened veteran, who teaches Ollie the ropes as they drive through New York City.