variety.com - 81 169 Showbiz News and Updates

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Elisabeth Moss recently appeared on Kelly Ripa’s “Let’s Talk Off Camera” podcast while promoting her new FX series “The Veil” and reflected on the “intimidating” but exhilarating set of James Mangold’s 1999 drama “Girl, Interrupted.” Moss was around 15 years old when she shot the movie and starred as Polly “Torch” Clark, a burn victim who suffers from schizophrenia. The cast was headlined by Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie, the latter of whom won an Oscar for her performance. Because of the tension that exists between their two characters, Moss said the film set became naturally divided into two camps.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Microsoft‘s Xbox will shut down four studios run by its Bethesda Softworks publisher, including Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Studios, Tango Gameworks and Roundhouse Games. Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty announced the restructuring in a memo to staff Tuesday, writing that the closures were “grounded in prioritizing high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda’s portfolio of blockbuster games and beloved worlds which you have nurtured over many decades.” “We are making these tough decisions to create capacity to increase investment in other parts of our portfolio and focus on our priority games,” Booty wrote.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Tyler Childers and Sierra Ferrell lead the nominations for the 2024 Americana Honors & Awards, both picking up nods in each of the three categories in which they were eligible — album of the year, song of the year and artist of the year. Longtime favorite Childers is up for “Rustin’ In The Rain” for album and “In Your Love” for song. Ferrell, who has risen quickly through the ranks to become an Americana queen, is nominated for “Trail of Flowers” for best album and “American Dreaming” for top song.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor On-set photographer Kyle Bono Kaplan and art photographer Bryan Schutmaat have collaborated to showcase their work taken during the shooting of Jeff Nichols’ film “The Bikeriders” in a new coffee table book titled “Vandals: The Photography of The Bikeriders.” “The Bikeriders” is a drama directed by Nichols and stars Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy. It is adapted from Danny Lyon’s book, and follows the rise and fall of a fictional 1960s motorcycle club in the Midwest. Michael Shannon, Mike Faist and Norman Reedus round out the ensemble.

Katcy Stephan Celine Song‘s “Materialists” has rounded out its cast with Zoë Winters (“Succession”), Dasha Nekrasova (“Bad Behaviour,” “Wobble Palace”), Louisa Jacobson (“The Gilded Age”) and Marin Ireland (“Eileen”). The A24 feature starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal is described as a New York-set rom-com following a high-end matchmaker who gets involved with a wealthy man.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Cara Delevingne has a simple yet powerful message for anyone struggling to get sober. “You’re not alone,” she told me at the Met Gala on Monday night. “If I can do it, anyone can.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito admitted to Empire magazine that “it’s been a rough time” for the Marvel Cinematic Universe following a rocky 2023 that included box office flops “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels.” The latter title is the lowest-grossing MCU movie of all time with just $206 million worldwide. Marvel didn’t fare better on television, where series such as “Secret Invasion” were widely panned by critics. Despite these setbacks, D’Esposito is committed to seeing the glass half full.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Amazon Prime Video is releasing content to diversify and celebrate the Asian & Pacific Islander communities. The selected material will include AAPI-led Amazon originals & exclusives, and added titles included with Prime. As well as content available to rent or buy, and films and TV series accessible with add-on subscriptions or for free with ads on Amazon Freevee.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer EA reported its fourth-quarter and full fiscal year 2024 earnings Tuesday, revealing results that matched the video game company’s own guidance and analysts’ estimates, but forecasts for harder quarters ahead. Full game sales between Jan 1 and March 31 of this year were $333 million (down from $372 million in the comparable Q4 fiscal 2023 quarter), while live services and “other” revenue totaled $1.45 billion (down from $1.5 billion a year ago, and from last quarter’s record growth of $1.7 billion). Profit for the quarter was $182 million compared to a loss of $12 million in Q4 2023.

Alex Ritman With vibrant green carpets no doubt already having been sourced for its various global premieres, “Wicked” is expected to be one of the biggest movie events this winter. It certainly ticks all the necessary boxes — a major musical adaptation of one of the world’s most successful stage shows and featuring an all-star cast led by the almost-EGOT Cynthia Erivo and, in her first feature-film lead role, pop princess Ariana Grande.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It’s a strange sensation to see an artist who you last saw performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before a global audience of 120 million-plus at the Super Bowl singing ten feet in front of you at the Blue Note jazz club in New York’s Greenwich Village. But that was the consolation prize for 400 lucky fans who may not have been invited to the Met Ball on Monday night but certainly had a more satisfying feast for the ears.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Girls5eva” deserves to be heard. Yes, the laugh-out-loud comedy, from the minds of Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, creator Meredith Scardino and others, is funny. The music industry (in particular, the teen pop machine) is wickedly skewered.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. With the return of “Bridgerton” to Netflix, a lot of attention is focused on the steamy romance series for season three. The first part of the season drops on Thursday, May 16, while the second part comes out on Thursday, June 13.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Although the NHL is in the middle of the playoffs, it’s never too early to start thinking about the next season — especially if you missed the post-season altogether. The NHL Draft Lottery 2024 is where teams can start dreaming of the future.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Nikki Glaser was one of the highlights of Netflix’s Tom Brady roast, eviscerating the NFL superstar with jokes about his divorce from Gisele Bündchen and her reported new romance with Jiu-Jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente. But Glaser didn’t get to deliver every punchline she intended to during the live comedy event. During a post-roast interview on “The Howard Stern Show,” Glaser rattled off some of the Brady jokes she cut from her set.

Jack Dunn Susan Buckner, an American actor best known for her role as Patty Simcox in the 1978 musical “Grease,” died May 2. She was 72.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The Academy of Country Music Awards show set for May 16 is getting some additional octane in its performance lineup with the addition of two of the biggest artists of the moment from outside the country genre, Post Malone and Noah Kahan. Malone looks set for a solo moment on the ACM Awards show, while Kahan will join female artist of the year nominee Kelsea Ballerini for a duet. Even without a new album out, Malone has been ubiquitous lately, in pop and even country.

Marta Balaga The Blood Window Showcase will scare Cannes once again. This time, with six new features, currently in progress. During an exclusive screening on May 19, in Palais K, industry guests will get to see “The Tree House,” “1978,” “Fifteen,” “Eyes of the Abyss,” “Parvulos” and “Remanence: A Voltage Cosmic Tale.” “One of the highlights this year is the quality of projects and their diversity,” said the head of the program Javier.

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.

Janet Maslin Ron Howard has been part of our collective consciousness for as long as I can remember. Or at least he looms large in mine. Born in 1954, he was on many of the TV series I grew up watching and had his own starring role on “The Andy Griffith Show” by 1960.

K.J. Yossman International Wrestling Syndicate, which celebrates its 25th anniversary, is set to be the subject of a new feature documentary from the Generation Iron Network. Vlad Yudin (“Jeremy Scott: The People’s Designer”) will direct the documentary film about the Canadian wrestling promotion company as its founders prepare for their anniversary “super event.” IWS was founded by Edward Dorozowsky (also known as SeXXXy Eddy) and Manny Eleftheriou (Crazy Manny) along with their friends.

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.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Robert Downey Jr. will make his Broadway debut this fall in the new play, “McNeal.” Written by Ayad Akhtar and directed by Bartlett Sher (“To Kill a Mockingbird”), “McNeal” will star Downey as a talented writer who struggles with family issues as he works on his next novel. According to the official synopsis, “Good writers borrow, great writers steal.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Jonathan Bailey was so blown away by “Heartstopper” that he just knew he had to be on the show. “Like so many people, I watched the first [season] and thought it was one of the biggest, most beautiful gifts to so many people, and I wish I had that growing up,” the “Fellow Travelers” and “Bridgerton” star told me at the Met Gala Monday night.

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.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Primates will rule (the box office) again! Disney’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is aiming for $50 million to $55 million from 3,700 theaters in its domestic debut, which will easily be enough to tower over the box office chart. Those ticket sales are roughly even with two of the three prior installments in 20th Century’s rebooted “Planet of the Apes” franchise: 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” opened to $56.2 million and 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” opened to $54.8 million, while 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” notched a series-best $72 million.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. It’s officially May, which means it’s time to begin booking spring and summer travel — and successfully get your family vacation out of the group chat. Finding the right family vacation, which should offer enough stimulation and activities for the kids, but rejuvinating relaxation for adults, can feel like an ominous task.

Addie Morfoot Contributor In “Take Me Out Feet First,” a new docuseries now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, director Serene Meshel-Dillman chronicles people’s right to choose medical aid in dying.The six-part docuseries, made in partnership with the nonprofit advocacy organization Compassion & Choices, profiles 25 terminally ill people, their families, and friends, as well as experts in the medical field who advocate for MAID. The series chronicles people who have taken control of how their final days will play out.

Universal Pictures presentation and Donna Langley — chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and the newly minted chief content officer of NBCUniversal Studio Group — had yet to step on stage. Her team showed off glimpses of the sexy, action-packed tornado sequel “Twisters,” the Gen Z-leaning creepfest “Nosferatu” from Robert Eggers and an extended sequence from the latest installment of Illumination’s “Despicable Me” series.

Thania Garcia Kobalt has signed singer-songwriter Imani “Mocha” Lewis, co-writer of Tyla’s Grammy winning “Water,” and eight other tracks on the South African singer’s self-titled debut album. “Mocha is a phenomenally gifted and versatile songwriter whose power to create lyrics and melody are only just now being recognized in the creative community,” said Genevieve Jackson Huguely, creative manager at Kobalt.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor Ron Howard first attended the Cannes Film Festival with his 1988 fantasy-adventure “Willow,” and he’ll never forget his first walk up the stairs at the Palais des Festivals, where the film premiered out of competition. “I remember that first time so vividly,” he says, more than 25 years later. “And what I really remember is how fun it was.” Howard would return over the years as an Oscar-winning director and super-producer (with Brian Grazer) behind Imagine Entertainment.

Lexi Carson NewFilmmakers Los Angeles has released the nominees and jury for its 12th annual awards that recognize the top rising talent in independent film across the globe. This year’s awards will honor 130 nominees over 16 categories.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor As expected, TikTok filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the U.S.’s new law that would force parent company ByteDance to sell the app — or face a nationwide ban. TikTok filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Food Network has renewed “24 in 24: Last Chef Standing” for Season 2 ahead of the new primetime competition’s first season finale. Hosted by Esther Choi and Michael Symon, “24 in 24: Last Chef Standing” follows 24 talented and fearless chefs who take on 24 food challenges in 24 consecutive, non-stop hours, per Food Network’s description for the series.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Dale Earnhardt Jr. is changing vehicles. The legendary racer will leave NBC Sports’ NASCAR team, where he has held forth as a color commentator since 2018, in favor of lending his expertise to both Warner Bros.

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.