The best times to buy cheap flights as booking too early can cost you more

EXCLUSIVE: Howard Swartz, who has overseen hundreds of hours of Shark Week programming, is exiting Warner Bros Discovery to take up a new role at Banijay Americas-owned Stephen David Entertainment.

Ciarán Hinds, Rory Kinnear, and Tanya Moodie have joined the Season 2 cast of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in recurring roles.

Vivienne Chow To the 12 members of Mirror, forming a boy band and becoming Hong Kong’s Canto-pop singing sensation upon winning a reality show in 2018 was a dream come true. Five years on, the boys are dreaming bigger than ever. “Some of us really want to join Marvel,” Mirror member Edan Lui tells Variety in an interview. The statement may come across as a joke. But no, it is not, as fellow member Anson Lo, Lui’s co-star in the 2021 hit ViuTV BL drama “Ossan’s Love Hong Kong,” echoes: “We want to get on some talk shows in the U.S. as well, or any Hollywood movies, TV, live performances. Yes, please invite us.” The band’s Hollywood wishlist did not emerge just out of the blue. It came after the recording of their English debut single “Rumours,” a catchy EDM-influenced tune that has just been released worldwide Friday (March 17), along with a storied music video that follows the 12 members — Frankie Chan, Alton Wong, Lokman Yeung, Stanley Yau, Anson Kong, Jer Lau, Ian Chan, Jeremy Lee, Keung To, Tiger Yau, Lui and Lo — on a secret mission after a mysterious girl, jammed with dance sequences set in the Hong Kong streetscape.

More than 10 of the BBC’s highest-profile sports stars have staged an unprecedented walkout over the British broadcaster’s decision to suspend Gary Lineker. Below is a list of those who have walked out, with links to tweets explaining their reasons for joining the protest.

Fall Out Boy have announced two intimate UK shows and shared the tracklist for their upcoming new album ‘So Much (For) Stardust’.The band will release their eighth studio album – and first in five years – on March 24, via Fueled By Ramen.Ahead of the record’s arrival, Fall Out Boy will return to the UK for two tiny shows in Manchester and London. The US band will play at Manchester’s Band On The Wall on March 15 and London’s Heaven on March 16.Fans who pre-order the new album from Fall Out Boy’s UK web store before 2pm GMT on March 7 will get exclusive ticket access to the special gigs.

The music world is mourning.

Pulp bassist Steve Mackey has died aged 56, the band have announced. 

IDLES, Rina Sawayama, Hot Chip and more have backed a campaign urging the UK government to act on US visa charges.Last month, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it was planning to raise touring visa fees for foreign acts by 260 per cent.Under the DHS proposal, applications for a P visa – which allows acts arriving in the States to perform temporarily – would increase from the current rate of $460 (£375.23) to $1,615 (£1,317).The longer-term O work visa would also jump from $460 (£375.23) to $1,655 (£1,349).In response, the Music Managers Forum (MMF) and Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) boosted their #LetTheMusicMove campaign – originally created in June 2021 – to oppose the potential changes, emphasising that the move could result in “crippling costs for UK artists looking to tour North America”.Now, a number of touring artists have bolstered the campaign with their support.“After what we’ve been through with Brexit and the pandemic, the implications of these new visa proposals are incredibly worrying for all artists wanting to travel and perform in the US,” Sawayama said.“I travel with 15+ crew on a tight margin, and any increase in costs sadly gets passed onto concert goers through higher ticket prices, which is not fair. Live music should be democratic and accessible and this is just another blow to the arts sector and the experience of concert goers.”Adam Devonshire of IDLES added: “Britain is renowned for its hugely profitable musical exports, however with pointless and costly restrictions such as these, British artists will struggle to make a name for themselves in the US, which would be a huge shame.

Ariana DeBose knows how to «do the thing» when it comes to poking fun at herself.The Oscar winner took the stage alongside Diego Luna to present at the 2023 SAG Awards on Sunday. First, the pair shared a laugh about how to quiet down the crowd — in both Spanish and English, before DeBose beckoned to Luna to read the list of nominees.«Diego, do the thing,» she said, poking fun at her viral musical clip from the 2023 BAFTAs.The moment was made even better by a perfectly-timed cutaway to Angela Bassett herself, who proved once again that she's in on the joke, sharing a laugh with DeBose.Ariana DeBose: «Diego, do the thing.» #SAGAwardspic.twitter.com/2Rc0xzFy30The reference is to DeBose's opening for the 2023 BAFTA Awards, in which she performed «Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves» and «We Are Family,» and the infamous original rap where she shouted out the awards show's female nominees, including the line, «Angela Bassett did the thing / Viola Davis, my woman king.» Bassett herself even poked fun at the new meme when she accepted her Entertainer of the Year award at the 2023 NAACP Awards on Saturday.«I guess Angela Bassett did the thing,» she quipped to the audience's laughter.The 2023 SAG Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb.

Taking it all in. Angela Bassett reached out to Ariana DeBose after the West Side Story star’s BAFTAs rap went viral.

J. Kim Murphy Angela Bassett has simply done the thing once again. After being name-dropped by Ariana DeBose in a rap that opened the BAFTA Film Awards, the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” star tells Variety that she reached out to DeBose in the aftermath to check in on her. “I DM’d her last night. I did. It was beautiful,” Bassett told Variety senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson on the red carpet at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday evening. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay because, you know, it’s a lot of attention. And she is A-Okay.”Angela Bassett DM'd Ariana DeBose. "I just wanted to make sure she was okay, because it's a lot of attention." https://t.co/JAcEviI0Qj pic.twitter.com/anzVhOZ0cc Bassett’s mention was one of the catchier lyrics in DeBose’s opener. DeBose, who won last year’s BAFTA and Academy Award for best supporting actress for her performance in “West Side Story,” kicked off the British Academy Film Awards on Feb. 19 with a rap that name-dropped several of the evening’s nominees, including directors honored in debut feature and women competing in both the lead actress and supporting actress categories. The production also featured renditions of “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” and “We Are Family.”

Manchester City Centre came to a standstill today as there was a huge turnout in solidarity with Ukraine one year and one day after the country was invaded by Russian forces. The positivity and togetherness on show through music and chants were emotionally charged as people still feel the pain of parts of their country being under occupation.

NME about the “crippling” damage that will be done to international touring if a 260 per cent price hike for US visas is allowed to go through – and encouraged music fans to have their say and help stop it.Earlier this month, it was revealed that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was planning to raise touring visa fees for foreign acts by more than 250 per cent – laying out that the cost of acts arriving in the US to perform temporarily, would increase from the current rate of $460 (£375.23) to $1,615 (£1,317), with a longer term work visa jumping from $460 (£375.23) to $1,655 (£1,349).The news was met with widespread uproar from the international music scene – with the new measures proving preventative for both new and established artists – and now more have come forward to call for action. This could also lead to an increase in the cost of gigs and tickets for international acts playing in the US.Music fans and industry workers have until March 6 to oppose the move on the Federal Register website here, with those in the industry also invited to fill in this survey from the Featured Artists Coalition.This month also saw Leicester band Easy Life scrap their upcoming US tour due to “some insane costs“.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Former ABC News president James Goldston is joining Candle Media, founded and led by ex-Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, to head a new division focused on TV shows and movies based on true stories. Goldston will serve as president of the new division, which will produce scripted and nonscripted features and series “inspired by true stories,” according to Candle. Goldston spent 18 years at ABC News, including seven years as president, before exiting in 2021. overseeing all aspects of America’s number one news division, including #1 rated “Good Morning America” and “World News with David Muir.” He also led ABC News into the streaming era with a series of successful podcast and documentary projects for Hulu and Disney+, including “The Dropout,” produced by Rebecca Jarvis and her team, which became a successful podcast, documentary and Emmy-award winning scripted series for Hulu, and John’s Ridley’s “Let it Fall,” a duPont-Columbia Award-winning documentary on the LA riots. His teams have won five Edward R. Murrow Awards for Overall Excellence, and numerous other prestigious honors in journalism, including a Peabody, duPont-Columbia, and Emmy awards.

Former ABC News Chief James Goldston has joined Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ Candle Media to head up a new division focused on scripted and non-scripted features and series inspired by true stories. Goldston will serve as President of the new group. 

Anne-Marie, The Kooks and James all topping the bill.After making its debut at Old Park Farm in Margam, South Wales last year, the 30,000-capacity festival will be returning across the late May Bank Holiday weekend, from 26-28 of the month.Jake Bugg, James Bay, Twin Atlantic, Vengaboys, The Vamps, Melanie C and UB40 also feature as part of the line-up, with Natalie Imbruglia also appearing to entertain festivalgoers who arrive at the site a day early.Check out the line-up poster below:New for this year at In It Together is the Steelworks stage, which is designed to showcase local homegrown talent. The Rewind arena has also been added, featuring throwback DJ sets.The Paddock Stage is also set to return which showcases local talent, including artists who perform in both English and Welsh.Speaking about this year’s festival Mark Hopkins, Head of Festivals said: ‘‘We can’t wait for this year’s festival, we built the excitement with our inaugural festival in 2022 we’re thrilled to be back for 2023 with even more stages, activities and an incredible line up to match.

Israeli director Guy Nattiv has defended his casting of non-Jewish actress Helen Mirren as iconic Israeli Prime minister Golda Meir in his biopic Golda, which world premieres at the Berlin Film Festival on Monday.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor A pair of Oscar bellwether ceremonies took place this weekend, heralding uncertainty and unpredictability to an awards season where no one agrees on what contenders will end up taking home Academy Awards. The DGA Awards, which has historically matched up best with the eventual winner of best director, chose the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. They’re the third directing team to win in the DGA’s 75-year history (after Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for “West Side Story” and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country for Old Men”). Only eight DGA winners have failed to walk away with the Academy Award in the same season, with the last instance being Sam Mendes (“1917”), who won at DGA but lost to Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”) at the 2020 Oscars.

All Quiet on the Western Front became the big winner tonight at BAFTA, taking not just the awards for Best Film and Best Director, but a total of 7 prizes out of its 14 nominations.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The awards choices of industry voters and cinephiles from across the pond will be revealed at the 76th BAFTA Awards, which will take place this Sunday, Feb. 19 at London’s Southbank Centre. A major bellwether to the Oscars, the BAFTAs have proven to be a strong indicator of what the Academy could choose as their favorite films and performances of the year. Netflix’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” leads the tally with 14 nominations, tying “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000) for most nods for a non-English language film, and second overall with “Gandhi” (1982) and “Atonement” (2007), which nabbed 16 noms each. Searchlight’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” and A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” are also well-represented at the British ceremony, each landing 10 noms.