Apple Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Taylor Swift‘s famous friends are some of her biggest fans, and they never hesitate to sing her praises.

Katcy Stephan Amblin’s film adaptation of Richard Osman’s novel “The Thursday Murder Club” is finally taking shape, with “Harry Potter” and “Home Alone” filmmaker Chris Columbus set to direct. Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley are being eyed for three of the four lead roles in the project. The book, released in 2020, tells the story of four septuagenarian friends who live in a retirement community and solve cold cases for fun.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple Studios has announced the three participants selected for its inaugural Directors Program, described as an inclusive, new initiative focused on expanding opportunities for mid-career directors across the U.S.

We have more renewal news over at Apple TV+!

In a competitive situation, Apple has acquired the rights to Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s upcoming novel Long Island Compromise to develop as a series.

My guest this week is Rebecca Ferguson. She recently reprised her role of Lady Jessica with Dune: Part Two, and plays the lead role in Silo, Apple TV+‘s dystopian series about a community gone underground following an apocalyptic event. Ferguson stars as Juliette, an engineer-reluctantly-turned-sheriff, who uncovers alarming secrets while investigating a mysterious death.

Spotify’s premium plans combining music and audiobooks will mean a lower mechanical royalty rate for songwriters on those plans, the company has confirmed, although it claims that earnings for creators will continue to rise.“Spotify is on track to pay publishers and societies more in 2024 than in 2023. As our industry partners are aware, changes in our product portfolio mean that we are paying out in different ways based on terms agreed to by both streaming services and publishers,” the statement reads. “Multiple DSPs have long paid a lower rate for bundles versus a stand-alone music subscription, and our approach is consistent.” The final sentence is in reference to plans offered by Amazon — which offers its music streaming as part of its Prime service — Apple and others.

EXCLUSIVE: Lily Rabe, Jodie Turner-Smith, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and newcomer Lucy Thomas have joined the cast of Imperative Entertainment and 30West’s romance A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, which will star Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell and be directed by Kogonada. Sony Pictures will release the film in theaters globally.

Coming off the massive critical success of “Killers of The Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese is reexamining his next potential options. While it briefly seemed like Scorsese’s next movie would be an adaptation of the high seas pic “The Wager” with current muse Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Wolf of Wall Street”) attached to star, a long-developing project from years ago seems to have circled back to his main interest.

Martin Scorsese is reportedly set to work on a Frank Sinatra biopic with longtime collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio, according to sources.Variety reports that the Killers Of The Flower Moon director is looking to film the project back-to-back with an adaptation of Shūsaku Endō’s 1973 book Life Of Jesus. He is said to be seeking DiCaprio to play Sinatra and Jennifer Lawrence to play his second wife, the actress Ava Gardner.The film has already attracted interest from major studios.

For All Mankind, Apple TV+’s smash-hit space drama, has been renewed for a fifth season at the streaming service.

Tatiana Siegel Mark Twain once quipped, “Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind it, it doesn’t matter.” When it comes to Martin Scorsese, age certainly isn’t making a difference. After landing 10 Oscar nominations for last year’s historical crime epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” the 81-year-old director has mapped out his next several projects.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “For All Mankind” has been renewed for Season 5 at Apple TV+. In addition, Variety has learned the streamer has ordered a spinoff series focusing on the Soviet space program. The spinoff is currently titled “Star City” and hails from “For All Mankind” creators Ronald D.

Acapulco dropped its official trailer for Season 3 (above) which reveals younger Máximo (Enrique Arrizon), who in 1985 is working hard to continue his climb up the ladder of success. While in the present day, older Máximo (Eugenio Derbez) finds himself returning to a Las Colinas he no longer recognizes.

Season 15 of The Real Housewives of New York City is reportedly gaining a new castmate!

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The upcoming Apple TV+ series “Government Cheese” has filled out its main cast with four new additions, Variety has learned exclusively. Jahi Winston (“We Have a Ghost, “Charm City Kings”), Evan Alexander Ellison (“She Came to Me,” “Devil in Ohio”), Jeremy Bobb (“The Knick,” “Russian Doll”), and Louis Cancelmi (“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Billions”) have all joined the show. They will appear alongside previously announced series lead David Oyelowo as well as cast members Simone Missick, Bokeem Woodbine, Sunita Mani, and Adam Beach.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Microsoft‘s latest sale is making it a little easier for anyone who’s looking to make the transition from an Apple MacBook to say, a Microsoft Surface Laptop (or anyone in the market for some new tech). Right now, the company has discounted select Surface computers, tablets and Xbox games, sitewide, along with hundreds of other deals.

Rebecca Minkoff is joining The Real Housewives of New York City Season 15, Deadline has learned.

Getting your hands on the latest tech from Apple or Samsung is no easy feat, that's if paying a cheap price is your priority. This is why money-saving conscious shoppers are rushing to snap up the latest tech deal, that'll get you a 16GB iPad Air for less than £100.

We’ve been waiting a lot time for new episodes of Severance, and earlier this year, there was a little bit of hope that season 2 might be close!

Katcy Stephan Tim Meadows (“Mean Girls,” “Bob’s Burgers”) and Stephanie Beatriz (“Encanto,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) have been cast in key voice roles for the upcoming animated comedy/sci-fi feature film “Harry and the Mutant Mid-Century Furniture,” directed by Michael Skolnick (“The Gliksmans”). Mack Williams (“Archer,” “The Get Down”) of Pig Apple and Michael Bitton (“Gran Turismo,” “The Wheel of Time”) of 14th Street Music have also signed on as Animation Director and Composer, respectively.

EXCLUSIVE: Revenge star Emily VanCamp has found her next role, and it’s a juicy one.

Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) and Ruth Wilson (Luther) have been tapped to star in Down Cemetery Road, a thriller series for Apple TV+, based on the book from Gold Daggar Award-winning author Mick Herron.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Apple TV+ has ordered a series adaptation of Mick Herron’s “Down Cemetery Road” with Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson attached to star, Variety has learned. This is now the second adaptation of Herron’s books to get the series treatment at Apple, with the other being the popular spy series “Slow Horses” starring Gary Oldman.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic For decades, the attitude toward the documentary “Let It Be” in the Beatles‘ camp seemed to be: Let it it rest in peace. But the film is finally going to be seen again.

There are a ton of TV show renewals we can now reveal!

Taylor Swift has sent fans on a mystery trail to uncover a secret message on Apple Music during the release week of her new album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.Apple has confirmed that one word a day will be hidden within Swift’s lyrics on the music streaming service. Each daily word will be found somewhere in Swift’s five playlists exclusively released on Apple Music last week, which relate to the five stages of heartbreak: denial (‘I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life’), anger (‘You Don’t Get to Tell Me About Sad‘), bargaining (‘Am I Allowed to Cry?’), depression (‘Old Habits Die Screaming’) and acceptance (‘I Can Do It With a Broken Heart’).The full message will be unveiled on April 18, the day before Swift releases ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.The first word was unveiled on Saturday (April 13), with Swift’s team Taylor Nation via an Instagram Story that seemed to glitch.

Apple is turning the story of the Hollywood con queen into a documentary series.

Carla Renata Fans lined up in the rain recently at the Linwood Dunn Theatre in Hollywood eager to screen “Franklin,” the new Apple TV+ limited series about Benjamin Franklin’s trip to France in 1776 to try and convince the king to fund America’s fight for independence. Based on Stacy Schiff’s book, “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America,” the show also spotlights the relationship between Franklin (Michael Douglas) and his grandson Temple (Noah Jupe) Temple, who accompanies his grandfather to France.

Carla Renata Fans lined up in the rain recently at the Linwood Dunn Theatre in Hollywood eager to screen “Franklin,” the new Apple TV+ limited series about Benjamin Franklin’s trip to France in 1776 to try and convince the king to fund America’s fight for independence. Based on Stacy Schiff’s book, “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America,” the show also spotlights the relationship between Franklin (Michael Douglas) and his grandson Temple (Noah Jupe) Temple, who accompanies his grandfather to France.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Writers Guild of America is honoring the best of 2023’s television and film via its annual WGA Awards, held this year at the Hollywood Palladium for the West Coast edition and at New York’s Edison Ballroom for the East Coast ceremony. In Los Angeles, Niecy Nash-Betts, who recently won an Emmy for her role on Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” hosted this year’s event. L.A.

“This is not just a film that I’ve created a character and done and left. It’s a show that I am so involved in that I love it beyond anything and everyone,” says Rebecca Ferguson at Deadline’s Contenders TV panel for Silo. “It’s really thought-provoking, philosophical, psychological.”

Lessons in Chemistry star and executive producer Brie Larson, showrunner and executive producer Lee Eisenberg, and show’s co-stars Lewis Pullman and Aja Naomi King were at Deadline’s Contenders TV event Sunday to discuss the Apple TV+ limited drama series and the potential for a second season.

Sky has urged its millions of customers to act before 11.59pm tonight before its free trial of Apple TV+ expires for certain users.

Showrunner Todd A. Kessler and executive producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura joined Deadline’s Contenders TV: Los Angeles event to discuss inspiration, casting and balancing facts with fiction for Apple TV+‘s latest historical series The New Look.

Deadline’s Contenders Television: Los Angeles, a veritable smörgåsbord of awards-worthy TV for your Emmy voting perusal, kicks off its two-day run Saturday morning at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles. The livestream begins at 9:35 a.m. PT for both today and Sunday’s showcases.