‘Strays’ Producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Director Josh Greenbaum on How Their Potty-Mouthed Film Portrays the Secret Life of Pets

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Pine’s directorial debut Poolman is set to make its world premiere Monday night at the Toronto Film Festival. Pine won’t be in attendance, choosing to stand in solidarity with his fellow actors amid the SAG-AFTRA strike. The film’s producer, Stacey Sher, says that not only is Pine proud to do so, she thinks the character at the center of his story would be on the same page.

Todd Gilchrist editor “I’ve never really had a marketing plan ever in my career,” says Gerald Maxwell Rivera, better known as Maxwell. Though he acknowledges “I’m sure someone was doing one in the building somewhere,” the reason why a more concerted effort wasn’t made may be because the R&B singer, songwriter and producer seemed to arrive fully-formed upon the release of “Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite,” his lush, libidinous 1996 debut album.

Awkwafina and Sandra Oh are an unlikely duo of sisters in the upcoming comedy, “Quiz Lady”.

Selome Hailu SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of “The Afterparty,” now streaming on Apple TV+. Instead of deciding on who would make the perfect killer, the writers of Season 2 of “The Afterparty” began their journey by selecting a murder weapon. “It started with thinking that it should be poison, and then thinking that the glass of the poison goes on a journey and doesn’t reach its intended target,” says series creator Chris Miller.

Todd Gilchrist editor A scrappy urban tale of misspent young adulthood, Olmo Schnabel’s “Pet Shop Days” evokes the blown-out, stolen-shot 16mm character studies of 1990s independent cinema, as well as the bohemian oeuvre of painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, his father. This isn’t attributable merely to the fact that the younger Schnabel includes a scene in which his characters watch Julian’s 1996 “Basquiat,” whose themes and aloof tone — not to mention the events of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s actual life — would seem an obvious inspiration for his first feature.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Mexico’s foremost animation forum, Pixelatl, kicks off Sept. 5 in Guadalajara with an array of activities that includes screenings, conferences, panels, works-in-progress sessions, master classes and pitches amid a myriad of sections.

The CW Network and NFL Films have set a cast of former football stars for the upcoming season of the Emmy-winning weekly studio series Inside the NFL.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” created over 240 unique characters who feature across the six different universes in the film, but Daniel Kaluuya‘s Hobart “Hobie” Brown (aka Spider-Punk) was one of the last characters production designer Patrick O’Keefe and head of character Alan Hawkins dove into. Speaking with Variety, Hawkins says the character went through a lot of design tests. “Those tests were educational in that they didn’t work, and we learned about how not to do them.” After that, the character was put on the shelf while the animators refined his design.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief HYBE Corp., the K-Pop powerhouse behind BTS, and the U.S.’s Geffen Records are to bring their global girl group audition efforts to Netflix as a docuseries that will launch next year. The two music companies announced the 2024 series and a companion-piece online show that kicks off on Thursday as their “The Debut: Dream Academy” moves up a gear. Having begun the selection process in November 2021 and screened some 120,000 submissions from young women hopefuls from around the world, they have now narrowed the field to just 20 candidates.

Daniel Kaluuya almost didn’t make the cut for Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse before being saved by actor Daniel Kaluuya.According to the film’s writer-producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Spider-Punk (also known as Hobart “Hobie” Brown) was nearly cut out of the film because there were too many characters in the film.Miller said to Entertainment Weekly: “Some people were like, ‘Is there a way to simplify this? There’s so many characters. Do we really need Spider-Punk?'”Lord explained further: “He was in and out of the picture for a little while because we weren’t sure which elements we were going to stick in this part and which were going to migrate to the next movie.”“When we met Daniel Kaluuya, we realized that he had to be Hobie Brown, no matter the cost.

Michaela Zee Miles Morales encounters an array of new Spider-People in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” including Daniel Kaluuya’s Hobart “Hobie” Brown (aka Spider-Punk). While Spider-Punk plays an integral part in the sequel, as well as became a fan-favorite due to his carefree attitude and spiky mohawk, writer-producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller revealed in an interview with EW that the anarchic superhero was nearly cut from the film. “He was in and out of the picture for a little while because we weren’t sure which elements we were going to stick in this part and which were going to migrate to the next movie,” Lord said.

A controversial US preacher who said gay marriage was "a sin" will appear at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow next year after suing the owners for cancelling a previous event.

Todd Gilchrist editor Before it became a movie — but after first launching as a series of racing simulation games — “Gran Turismo” was the platform that in 2011 allowed Jann Mardenborough to become a professional driver. At 20, and even from behind a virtual console, the Cardiff, Wales native was so skilled at navigating the complexities of the sport — not just the races themselves but the assembly of his vehicles’ literal nuts and bolts — that he earned a chance to attend Nissan and PlayStation’s GT Academy, and later to compete against real professionals on the same world-class tracks recreated in the game.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events.

Sandra Bullock is going back to her “special” place with Bryan Randall one last time.

Todd Gilchrist editor The new film “Strays” may enlist Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher and Randall Park to “fill in” the personality of its four canine lead characters, but it’s real-life dogs — and an army of trainers — who work hard to deliver a convincing performance on screen that matches their voice work. Director Josh Greenbaum not only cast the pups with as much thought and detail as when he recruited their human counterparts, but worked closely with head animal trainer Mark Forbes to make sure that they learned the various activities, and behaviors to believably tell the story written by Dan Perrault about a discarded pet who travels cross country with three pals to exact revenge on his owner.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Producer Erik Feig could have been describing “SuperBad” or “Good Boys” when he outlined his new movie to Universal, pitching them on backing his mid-budget film with a detailed slideshow that included everything from ideas for TikTok promotions to potential merchandising. “This is a raunchy, cinematic comedy with heart, about finding your people and your purpose,” a slideshow for the Picturestart founder’s new project, “Strays,” read.

Todd Gilchrist editor Pet owners spend an inordinate amount of time imagining, ascribing, even acting out the behaviors of their animals. “Strays” feels like the natural — if comically exaggerated — extension of that impulse, chronicling the personality of a border terrier named Reggie as he and three canine pals make an arduous trek back to Reggie’s owner, along with all of the attendant misunderstandings and misinterpretations about the human world around them.

It’s only natural for fans to immediately finish “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and ask when the next film is being released. The most recent ‘Spider-Man’ animated film ends with a massive cliffhanger and fans are desperate to know what happens to Miles and his crew in the next film.