Google Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

“We’re in a crisis situation,” Picturehouse Managing Director Clare Binns concluded this morning when quizzed on the current challenges facing British cinemas during an appearance at the UK’s British Film & High-End TV Inquiry. 

Prominent literary organization PEN America has canceled its annual awards ceremony, which was due to be held next week, after 28 authors chose to withdraw their books from consideration. The group has faced increasing backlash over its response to the Israel-Hamas War. Among those dropping out was debut novel finalist Rachel Eliza Griffiths, wife of former PEN president Salman Rushdie, according to the Associated Press.

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has apologized after suggesting that J.K. Rowling’s remarks about transgender women could put her on the wrong side of a new hate crime law in Scotland.

This year’s edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is set to present a retrospective on Franz Kafka and his influence on cinema, dubbed The Wish To Be A Red Indian: Kafka and Cinema. It will examine how the influential Czech writer has impacted filmmakers from Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese, Ousmane Sembene, Jan Nemec and Steven Soderbergh. 

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.

Foxtel/Binge Topper Amanda Laing Exiting

EXCLUSIVE: BBC Three has greenlit a Eurovision-themed animation, its first in two decades.

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.

Refresh for latest…: For the fourth weekend in a row, Warner Bros/Legendary Entertainment’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was the top studio movie at the global and international box office. While it’s true there have not been a whole lot of wide releases on a worldwide level since the start of the year, it’s heartening to see continued play for the big titles. 

Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish saw his total compensation dip slightly in 2023, to $31.3 million from $32 million in the prior year.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar nominee Vanessa Kirby, BAFTA nominee David Oyelowo and BAFTA winner Sofie Gråbøl lead cast in Audible’s The Strange Case, the first audio drama from the creator of the John Wick franchise, Derek Kolstad.

Jon Stewart led Monday’s episode of The Daily Show with Donald Trump’s hush money trial and dinged news networks for how they cover it.

Dusty Kay, a writer and Emmy-nominated producer whose credits include Entourage, Roseanne and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, died April 10 in Summerlin, Nevada, following a brief illness. He was 69.

Eva Evans, a social media star and Club Rat series creator, has died. She was 29.

EXCLUSIVE: Dulé Hill and Sarayu Blue are set for key recurring roles opposite Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass in Orphan (working title), Hulu‘s eight episode limited series starring and executive produced by Pompeo.

Drew Afualo and her Two Idiot Girls podcast co-host, Deison Afualo, are embarking on a summer comedy tour. The Loud Tour will travel across the U.S. and make stops in 21 cities, supporting her first book, Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve.

Kyle Boulia has joined The Office of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex as Deputy Press Secretary to Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, and Director of Communications for Archewell in the U.S. The move follows his departure from UTA after 6 years in late March where he last served as Corporate Communications Manager.

Abbey Clancy seems to have it all with her happy marriage and family, successful podcast, and lucrative brand and modelling deals. But the star has opened up about her ongoing battle with anxiety, revealing everything she does to try and keep it in check and stop herself from "catastrophising everything". Launching her solo podcast project, Exhibit A, Liverpool-born Abbey, who is married to footballer Peter Crouch, revealed her habit of always thinking the worst "scares her", so she sought help earlier this year to manage the anxiety.

EXCLUSIVE: The Blackhouse Foundation has partnered with Starz #TakeTheLead on a new producers’ fellowship, continuing its legacy of championing accomplished Black female creators. Those selected to participate in its first year are Sue-Ellen Chitunya, Jessica L. Funches, Moira Griffin, Dahéli Hall, and Trevite Willis.

American Idol is set to pay tribute to the late Mandisa, a Season 5 contestant in the singing competition.

Dominic West has spoken out in support of his former co-star’s criticisms of The Affair.

EXCLUSIVE: BBC News’ search for its first royal editor has been blown wide open after the British broadcaster passed over two leading internal candidates.

Meg Bennett, an actress and writer on soap operas General Hospital and The Young and the Restless, died April 11 of cancer at 75, her family said.

After wrapping its inaugural edition, the Ho Chi Minh Film Festival (HIFF) has set its sights on becoming the largest film festival in Southeast Asia.

Netflix will be out in force at France‘s Annecy International Animation Film Festival once again this June, after last year’s high-profile attendance with Nimona as well as teasers for Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and Blue Eye Samurai.

Roman Gabriel, who still holds the Los Angeles Rams team record with 154 touchdown passes, died Saturday at his home in Little River, South Carolina, at 83. His death came from natural causes, according to his son, Roman Gabriel III.

Anne Hathaway is looking back at the start of her career and recalling a particular audition that she thought was “gross” as she had to fake excitement over kissing ten guys.

Huw Edwards has resigned from the BBC, almost a year after reports claimed that the newsreader had paid a young person for sexually explicit images.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy-nominated Succession director Lorene Scafaria is back at HBO to direct and executive produce the network’s half-hour comedy pilot starring, written and executive produced by Rachel Sennott.

Kevin Costner enjoyed John Mulaney’s Field of Dreams bit at the 2024 Oscars.

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.

Celine Dion was diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome in 2022 and is opening up about how she’s learning to live with the rare autoimmune neurological disorder.

Editors note: Filmmaker and producer Davis Guggenheim directed 2006’s An Inconvenient Truth featuring Al Gore. The film won the Oscar and helped put Jeff Skoll‘s social-impact-driven production company then known as Participant Media on the map, and also sounded an alarm about climate change that has become more pronounced since the film was released. In addition to documentaries, Participant was also responsible for Oscar Best Picture winners Spotlight and Green Book, and Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, another timely topic. Guggenheim is a co-founder of Concordia Studio and most recently directed and produced Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, which  won four Emmys including for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.  He is the only person to direct and produce three distinct films ranking in the top 100 highest-grossing documentaries of all time (An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud, and Waiting for Superman). Here he penned a guest column for Deadline after learning Participant was shuttering. 

EXCLUSIVE: Picture Tree International (PTI) has acquired world sales rights for A Quiet Resilience, the debut feature of rising Swedish, fraternal directorial duo Gustav and David Bengtsson.

Jon Bon Jovi is set to be a guest mentor for the Top 3 contestants on American Idol‘s Season 22 finale.

Delta Burke was once addicted to crystal meth as a way to lose weight.