The-Dream Accused of Physical Abuse and Rape in New Lawsuit

EXCLUSIVE: Synchronicity Films is adapting Hanif Kureishi’s The Body as a series with the novelist and screenwriter on board as an exec producer and Emmy-nominated director Paul McGuigan attached. There are scripts from crime writer Robert Murphy and the producers will relocate the action from the UK to the U.S. for the series.

Life By You, its The Sims competitor, had been cancelled, and following that news, the internal devlopment team, Paradox Tectonic, has been shuttered.The news of the game’s cancellation came as a shock to many. It had been delayed several times, including an indefinite delay anounced back in May, but outright cancelling a project that seemed to be so close to the finish line is drastic.In a statement delivered via the company’s Paradox Forum, deputy CEO Mattias Lilja wrote that the decision to cancel the game was made due to “a clear failure on Paradox’s part to meet both our own and the community’s expectations.” The game was ambitious and promised a fully simulated town with no loading screens.The game was due to launch in early access, sopmething that gives developers time to iron out kinks, take more time to create feaatures, and get lots of free community testing and feedback.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Former Berlanti Prods. exec Ryan Lindenberg, who played a hand in the creation of hits such as The CW’s “All American,” Netflix’s “You” and NBC’s “Blindspot,” has joined 5X Media as a scripted partner/producer.

The Munich International Film Festival will screen 152 films from 53 countries during its 41st edition, which runs from June 28 to July 6. 

EXCLUSIVE: Israeli romcom drama series The Baker and the Beauty is being remade for France’s TF1, with French singer-songwriter Amir Haddad playing the lead in his debut TV role.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed further deals for Ray Yeung’s “All Shall Be Well,”following the North American deal with Strand Releasing and the first international sales previously announced by Variety.The film has been acquired by Nour Films in France, One From the Heart in Greece, Mezipatra in Czech Republic and Slovakia, HBO Europe in Eastern Europe, Beta Film in Bulgaria and Falcon in Indonesia, in addition to the already announced deals with Vedette in the Benelux, Karma in Spain, Trigon in Switzerland and Lev in Israel.Films Boutique is in negotiations with potential buyers in the U.K., Latin America, Germany and Japan.Additionally, New Voice Film Productions Ltd. secured distribution deals with Golden Scene for Hong Kong and Macau and Flash Forward Entertainment in Taiwan.“All Shall Be Well” is written and directed by Yeung and was produced by Yeung’s frequent collaborator Michael J.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Talpa Studios, the company founded by “The Voice” and “Big Brother” creator John de Mol, has recommissioned its hit reality show “Million Dollar Island” for new seasons in the Middle East and the Netherlands, produced at Saudi Arabia’s innovative Neom production hub. The upcoming seasons, respectively titled “Million Dollar Land” for Middle East broadcaster MBC and “Million Dollar Desert” for NET5 in the Netherlands, will be executive produced at Neom by Dubai-based Blue Engine Studios.

Tim Chan If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The 2024 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup is underway and one of the most anticipated matchups takes place this weekend as India faces off against Pakistan in a group stage match airing live on Willow TV. Pakistan is coming off a stunning loss to the U.S.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Turkish director Tolga Karaçelic, who made a splash in the U.S. with absurdist comedy “Butterflies,” is getting ready to premiere his first English-language film, “The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer,” in which the offbeat serial killer in question is played by Steve Buscemi. The New York-set film, which takes Karaçelic’s comic streak in a new direction, will launch on Saturday from the Tribeca Film Festival.

Addie Morfoot Contributor “La Cocina,” the Rooney Mara-starring drama that premiered at the 2024 Berlinale, is among four feature films that will screen at the inaugural Croatian International Film Festival beginning Aug. 8. The four-day event, set in the coastal city of Sibenik, will also feature 18 documentary and narrative shorts, giving the struggling independent film market an additional international venue to screen movies and launch careers.

EXCLUSIVE: During their inaugural Gotham TV Awards ceremony in New York City, The Gotham Film & Media Institute, the group behind the annual film-centric Gotham Awards, named 10 Series Creators to Watch, as a means of recognizing rising series writers and creators with innovative vision and bold, risk-taking new series in development.

Cornerstone has closed worldwide distribution deals for Andrea Arnold’s latest feature film Bird, which debuted at last month’s Cannes Film Festival. 

William Earl administrator Period vampire thriller “The Vourdalak” is set to stalk American audiences. Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired the U.S.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Midas Man,” an upcoming drama about Brian Epstein, the visionary manager who helped turn the Beatles into the biggest thing in pop culture, has sold North American distribution rights to Briarcliff Entertainment. The company will distribute the movie in collaboration with Studio POW and American Entertainment Investors. It stars Jacob Fortune-Lloyd of “The Queen’s Gambit” as Epstein.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off the Cannes Film Festival where it won several awards, Mohammad Rasoulof‘s “The Seed of The Sacred Fig” has been acquired by a flurry of high profile distributors in major international territories. Films Boutique, which represents the critically acclaimed political drama globally, has sold it to Lionsgate for the U.K.

Bruce Springsteen delivered a moving speech while at the Ivor Novello Awards last night (May 23), and recalled how music from the UK inspired him since he was a teenager.The Boss became the first international songwriter to receive the Fellow of the Ivors Academy at Grosvenor House in London last night, following in the footsteps of Elton John, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Paul McCartney.Becoming an Academy Fellow is the highest honour the organisation bestows, and with it, the iconic singer, songwriter and guitarist becomes the first American songwriter that the Academy has inducted into Fellowship in its 80-year history.He was presented the award by Beatles legend Paul McCartney, who took the opportunity to jokingly roast him before introducing him to the stage. As he arrived, Springsteen delivered a moving speech to the crowd, recalling both what the honour means to him and his long-lasting love of the UK music scene.He also recalled his nerves when first coming to London back in 1975, and what it is like to be performing in the country again, nearly 50 years down the road.Read the full speech from The Boss below.“Back in 1975, I went on the long flight from New Jersey to the UK, with two different guys who had never been on an aeroplane.

Netflix has been branded by some critics as the “most hateable show ever”.Buying London is inspired by the US hit series Selling Sunset, and it follows a group of estate agents who sell expensive properties in the capital, led by property mogul Daniel Daggers.The show was released on the streaming platform this week (May 22), but the early reviews have been less than flattering.The Guardian posted a zero-star review, describing the show as “probably the most hateable TV show ever made”.“I hate that it bases all of its dramatic tension on pitting women against each other,” the review continued. “I hate that it makes Richard Curtis’s film Notting Hill look like a gritty documentary about the mean streets of London.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have responded to allegations that they accepted complimentary flights within Nigeria from an airline company led by a man reportedly under indictment in the United States.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Shot between his directing Alicia Vikander in “Firebrand” and Kristen Stewart in “Rosebushpruning,” “Motel Destino,” which bows in Cannes Competition on May 22, can be seen as a return by Brazil’s now most international director to his Brazilian roots. This axis between international and local, plays out in “Motel Destino” and Aïnouz insists, in now his whole career. An erotic thriller, “Motel Destino” turns on Dayana, the young wife of a roadside sex hotel owner who seduces on-the-run minor mobster Heraldo for great sex.

Fremantle has appointed Matt Katrosar as its new senior vice president of global ad sales and strategy.