Sundance Scraps In-Person Program For Full Virtual Festival Due To Omicron Surge

$25 million Apple paid for “CODA,” the $15 million Netflix paid for “Passing” or documentary-record $15 million Searchlight/Hulu paid for “Summer of Soul.”  There’s still plenty of time for dealmaking, but not much time for new films to grab the spotlight: All of the festival’s movies were programmed to launch in the first five days, with Monday’s lineup – which included “Emily the Criminal,” “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” “Dos Estaciones,” “The Janes” and “Am I OK?” – scheduled as the last of this year’s premieres.

Los Angeles reported 102 Covid-related deaths today, the highest total since last March. That’s still well below the 290 deaths recorded last January, but the trend line is not good.

“Let’s keep moving forward,” said Sundance Film Festival Director Tabitha Jackson in the middle of the opening day’s virtual press conference for the near 40-year old event.

Putting in the work. Chrissy Teigen has been vocal about her ups and downs while dealing with her sobriety, beginning in 2017 when she first cut out alcohol — and again in 2020 when she recommitted to being sober.

here.The Annie Awards have been handed out since 1972, initially to give lifetime-achievement honors and then, beginning in 1992, to honor the best animated films of the year. In the 20 years since the Academy Awards created a category for animated features, more than 93% of the Oscar nominees in the category have first been nominated for Annie Awards in either the Best Feature or Best Indie Feature category.

The Annie Awards will be virtual for a second consecutive year. The board of ASIFA-Hollywood said today that the live ceremony for its 49th annual trophy show has been canceled and replaced by the livestreamed virtual format.

EXCLUSIVE: With the Omicron variant continuing to surge across Los Angeles causing many of the major agencies keep their offices closed, sources tell Deadline WME is planing a transitional return on January 31 with hopes of a full return on February 15. Insiders add that boosters will be required in order for WME employees to return and that things could still change given the fluidity of the situation.

NATPE Miami has become the latest major in-person entertainment industry event to be shelved due to concerns over the current Covid spike driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant.

E3 will once again take on a virtual and online-only format in 2022, becoming the latest event casualty of the Omicron variant.

health services and our more than 1,500 staff and volunteers would be irresponsible in this climate.”The cancellation of an in-person Sundance is a huge blow to an independent film industry that has struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic. Last year's virtual Sundance, where films like “Summer of Soul (or The Revolution Will Not Be Televised)” and “CODA" made a splash, proved that a digital festival can still foster breakout hits.

2022 is already starting to feel like 2021, which felt a lot like 2020. As if we’re stuck in a neverending loop of awful, it appears the COVID pandemic is already making film festivals scramble thanks to the Omicron variant that is spreading like wildfire around the world.

The domestic box office is about to take a single-percentile hit as the province of Ontario, Canada, which includes box office capital Toronto, shutters theaters due to the Omicron post holiday surge.

HBO Max has canceled the January 8 red carpet Los Angeles premiere of James Gunn’s anticipated HBO Max series Peacemaker amid a surge of the Omicron variant. We hear the decision was made before the holidays out of an abundance of caution as Covid cases skyrocketed.

football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Utah Utes remained on track despite an explosion of COVID-19 infections in Los Angeles County, where daily new cases topped 27,000 on Friday.The county Department of Public Health said it was the highest number of new cases.The soaring infections had already prompted Kaiser Permanente to announce that its float, “A Healthier Future,” would not have 20 “front-line medical heroes” riding or walking alongside.“We must prioritize the health and

Better safe than sorry! On Tuesday, December 28, Sarah Jessica Parker and the entire SJP Collection boutique staff announced the closure of the New York City flagship as the Omicron variant continues to spread at a jarringly fast rate.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFor its upcoming 26th edition the Capri Hollywood Intl.