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Steven Olikara When millions of Americans came together to marvel at the stunning solar eclipse, we saw a rare moment of unity amid the darkness of a country torn apart by polarization. Bookending the same week? The release of action-thriller “Civil War,” now the number one film in America and A24 Films’ most successful release yet. Set against the backdrop of an imagined second American Civil War, the film follows photojournalists led by Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), as they capture the horrors of a failed country.

Jack Dunn Amazon MGM Studios has unveiled the first trailer for Zoë Kravitz’s twisted directorial debut “Blink Twice.” Originally titled “Pussy Island,” the movie follows Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat) as they are charmed by tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) and lured to his private island for a weekend getaway. What starts as a steamy vacation soon devolves into a reality-bending nightmare that the women soon learn they must escape if they want to live. “So do you think the human sacrifice is before or after dinner?” Jess asks Frida in jest, before things get truly scary.

Naman Ramachandran Studiocanal’s Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black” stayed atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the second consecutive weekend with £1.8 million ($2.3 million), according to numbers from Comscore. The film now has a running total of £6.3 million.

EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 has delivered the verdict on which of its biggest 2023 entertainment launches have landed a second season.

EXCLUSIVE: Pocket.watch, and Sunlight Entertainment, the Kaji family owned production studio, are partnering with theatrical distributor, Falling Forward Films, to extend the domestic theatrical release of Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure. Directed by Albie Hecht and produced by Shion Kaji and Loann Kaji, with executive production by Chris M. Williams, the film is slated to premiere on over 2,100 screens on Friday, August 16th, 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: Golden Globe and Emmy-winner Toni Collette(Hereditary), Andy Garcia (Ocean’s 11), Alex Pettyfer (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) and Eva De Dominici (The Cleaning Lady) are leading cast in rom-com Under The Stars, which is now filming in Italy.

A pair of top international executives have joined forces to build a UK-based talent agency and production business.

Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren and Ben Kingsley are set to star in The Thursday Murder Club, with Chris Columbus attached to write and direct.

EXCLUSIVE: The Writer’s Colony is an LA-Based three month screenwriting residency where writers have the chance to develop an original script that showcases their writing voice and vision. Throughout the residency they workshop their scripts and have access to network with a variety of entertainment professionals at all levels to prepare them to launch into the industry. The residency is an opportunity for underrepresented writers, with cohorts made up of those who have not been on staff with a studio or been in a scripted television’s writers room. The goal of the colony is to amplify the voices of those who have not yet had the chance to bring their ideas to the page.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Watcher Entertainment has drawn millions of fans for their unscripted and comedic videos on YouTube — and now the studio’s three creators have drawn the ire of a significant number of them. On Friday, Watcher, formed in 2019 by former BuzzFeed hosts Steven Lim, Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, announced that going forward, full seasons of new shows will be available only on a new streaming service (watchertv.com) — priced at $5.99/month or $59.99/year.

Range Media Partners has secured a minority investment from a group including Liberty Global and TPG founding partner David Bonderman’s family office Wildcat Capital Management.

Aaron LaBerge, who helped oversee Disney‘s expansion into streaming during two stints totaling 20 years, is exiting the company.

ITV Britain's Got Talent viewers have expressed their disappointment with a Golden Buzzer act who has gone straight to the semi-finals after discovering her previous West End career.

There are plenty of musicians who aren’t so sure about their own music.

EXCLUSIVE: Noah Media, producer of Netflix’s 14 Peaks and Sky’s Villeneuve Pironi, has restructured to focus on international docs and laid off a small number of staff.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Mckenna Grace, the in-demand actor who appeared in “I, Tonya” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” and recently starred in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” is set to lead the upcoming film “Everything I Never Did.” The young adult-targeted picture is written by screenwriters D.J. McPherson and Scott Taylor and will be directed by Australia’s Jeremy Sims (“Last Cab to Darwin”).

Katcy Stephan Liberty Global and the family office run by TPG chairman David Bonderman have made a minority investment in Range Media Partners as the management and production firm brings in new capital to drive growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions. The investment will help the four-year-old Range solidify its operations in the U.S. while allowing it to grow in new markets.

Variety‘s annual Power of Law breakfast, presented by City National Bank, featured speakers discussing the radical changes that have rocked the entertainment industry in recent years and how insiders are adapting to the uncertainty surrounding Hollywood. The event honored Cliff Gilbert-Lurie, Ziffren Brittenham LLP co-managing and senior partner, with the Power of Law Award recognizing his long career and his impressive track record of philanthropic work in Los Angeles County and beyond.

Platino Awards have marked for a gorgeous celebration in Mexico. The evening featured all manner of memorable moments, from plenty of stunning looks at the red carpet to the ceremony, which celebrated the best of Ibero-American television and film.

At first, I was shocked by the news that Participant Media was dying. Such an appealing company. Smart. Mindful. Vibrant. Forward-thinking. The producer of intelligent films like Spotlight and Green Book, with a distinctly progressive message.

Challengers, or rather director Luca Guadagnino's Challengers, which stars Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor and . I've seen it, as well as several colleagues, and while everyone agrees that they were very much looking forward to Zendaya's “tennis love triangle movie,” half of those I polled hated it while others loved it.

Jennifer Lopez was honored by the Hispanic Federation this week and her husband Ben Affleck‘s bestie Matt Damon was in attendance for support!

Bruno Tonioli has been a familiar face on UK TV screens since 2004, when he turned up as a judge on the very first series of Strictly Come Dancing. The former dancer from Italy was on the original panel alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Arlene Phillips and the late Len Goodman.

Pop superstar Harry Styles is one of the named investors on the huge new £365mn Co-op Live Arena in Manchester.

Lord of the Rings” owner Embracer is separating the group into three games and entertainment companies: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. Asmodee is a tabletop games publisher and distributor with a studio network and IP catalogue.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Box office sands continue to flow for “Dune: Part Two,” which is nearing $700 million worldwide. Director Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic has grossed $276 million in North America and $419 million overseas, bringing its global tally to $695.8 million after eight weeks of release. It’s an impressive benchmark in post-COVID times; only five movies in 2023, eight in 2022 and five in 2021 managed to cross the $700 million mark.

Finding love isn’t easy!

What’s Keanu Reeves up to in his post-“John Wick” period?  Well, he’s not quite done with the character yet; he’ll reprise it briefly in the upcoming spin-off “Ballerina,” in theaters next summer.  But Variety reports the actor is in talks to star in a project that’s sure to be an eyebrow-raiser: Ruben Östlund‘s follow-up to his second Palme d’Or winner “Triangle Of Sadness.” READ MORE: ‘Barbie’: Ruben Östlund Says “Mattel Bought Off An American Auteur” & Updates Next ‘Entertainment Down’ Satire Östlund has been teasing “The Entertainment System Is Down” for a while now, but it sounds like he’s finally gearing up to film it. It’s another social satire for the Swedish auteur, about a long-haul flight where the entertainment system stops working, leading passengers to fly into rages.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kit Harington is in full villain mode in his new movie “Blood for Dust,” which is exactly the kind of role he’s been looking for since his tenure as the heroic Jon Snow ended on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” in 2019. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the actor admitted that he grew tired of playing the hero by the end of his run as Jon Snow and is now more interested in tackling “fucked up” guys. “That is seemingly what I’ve been hunting a bit,” Harington said.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams, stars of the seminal horror film “The Blair Witch Project,” released a public letter to Lionsgate on Saturday asking for more robust compensation for their work on the 1999 blockbuster, as well as “meaningful consultation” on any future “Blair Witch” projects that use their names or likenesses.

Simon Cowell began his career sorting mail in the offices of a record company, rising through the entertainment ranks to become known worldwide as TV's Mr Nasty. He's become known for his brutal honesty as a judge on America's Got Talent, The X Factor and American Idol.

(yes, the lack of apostrophe does bother me), looking, by turns, for reported references to (a wholly unconvincing “golden retriever”), (who clearly doesn’t appreciate the real estate value of a “house by the Heath”), and “the Christian chorus line” that is, presumably, .Allow me, then, to home in on the video—specifically the diamond watch choker that Swift wears while visiting what looks like the same (ethically questionable, Severance-esque) clinic featured in Ariana Grande’s This being Swift, of course, said necklace is no mere necklace; it is the fine jewelry equivalent of the White Rabbit, a portal to an alternate Swiftian universe where everyone’s obsessed with Via Carota and has precisely zero redeeming qualities.But I digress. Swift’s most obvious reference here is , whose biography and aesthetic echo throughout The Tortured Poets Department’s and accompanying visuals, with track 16 using her story as a metaphor for the fickleness of fame, the ephemerality of entertainers (“You look like Clara Bow / In this light, remarkable / All your life, did you know / You’d be picked like a rose?”)Bow, a Brooklyn-born ingenue, became a silver-screen darling in the ’20s by way of 46 silent films, 11 talkies and five broken engagements in five years.

The new-look walking route from the city centre to the new Co-op Live Arena has been unveiled - featuring stunning new artworks, a giant M, glow-in-the-dark trail and a "love letter to Manchester".

A new series of Britain's Got Talent burst onto our screens on Saturday night (April 20). Fronted by Ant and Dec - who last week said goodbye to Saturday Night Takeaway - it saw the return of judges Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, Simon Cowell and Bruno Tonioli.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Gov. Phil Murphy has made TV and film a top priority for New Jersey ever since he took the helm of the Garden State in 2018. This week, Murphy made a West Coast swing to talk artificial intelligence with firms in the Bay Area and to talk new business with studios in Hollywood.

EXCLUSIVE: Longtime manager Michael Botti has joined Redefine Entertainment as a Partner, effective immediately. Botti is the first Partner added to the company since its founding in 2021.