Timbaland, Swizz Beatz sue Triller for $28M over ‘Verzuz’ payment beef

National Geographic Documentary Films has announced the acquisition of worldwide rights to Bobi Wine: The People’s President, following its Venice Festival premiere.

National Geographic Documentary Films has acquired the rights to “Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” a political documentary about the Ugandan opposition leader that premiered at the Venice Film Festival this weekend. Nat Geo acquired the film ahead of Bobi Wine appearing at the Telluride Film Festival when the film will make its North American debut this weekend.

Pete Buttigieg is looking back on his first year as a parent and the sometimes «terrifying» moments he and his husband, Chasten, encountered with their now 1-year-old twins, Penelope Rose and Joseph «Gus» August. In a personal essay published on Medium, the 40-year-old U.S. Transportation Secretary opened up about the health issues his children have faced as premature newborns, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which he says they developed about a month after they were adopted in September 2021.«Penelope developed severe reflux, terrifying us when she would stop breathing and turn purple in a matter of seconds,» Buttigieg writes.

EXCLUSIVE: Gravitas Ventures has acquired North American rights to the horror film The Inhabitant, starring Odessa A’zion (Hulu’s Hellraiser), Leslie Bibb (Mrs. American Pie), Dermot Mulroney (Umma) and Lizze Broadway (The Rookie), slating it for release in over 100 theaters on October 7th. Highland Film Group is handling international rights, with sales being launched at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival.

Angelique Jackson It’s nearly time for “Queen Sugar” fans to “take flight” one last time, as we prepare to goodbye to the Bordelon family. OWN has released the official trailer for the seventh and final season of the critically acclaimed drama, created by Ava DuVernay and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, which begins Tuesday, Sept. 6. “If we do not honor our past, we dishonor our future. Listen,” says Rutina Wesley’s Nova, the eldest Bordelon sibling, as the clip begins, previewing the tense and tender scenes that will play out over the next 13 episodes. The first look, set to Al Green’s “Love and Happiness,” tees up the latest developments in the lives of Bordelons: Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) and Darla (Bianca Lawson) have welcomed their second child, a daughter, and they continue to fight for their family’s future by exorcising their personal demons — namely, his deal with the devil that jeopardized the Bordelon’s sugarcane farm and her continued recovery from addiction and overcoming her history of sexual assault..

Michaela Zee editor Daniel Radcliffe is strapping on his accordion as parody artist “Weird Al” Yankovic in the new trailer for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” “Weird” is set to premiere on Roku’s free streaming channel Nov. 4, but it will screen a bit earlier as the opening film of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness programming series on Sept. 8.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Documentary “Bobi Wine: Ghetto President,” which world premieres Out of Competition at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 1, centers on a man’s pursuit of freedom and justice for his country, but at the film’s heart is a love story. Variety speaks to the filmmakers, and unveils the trailer, the first time any footage has been released. The film, directed by Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo, and produced by Sharp and Oscar-winner John Battsek, follows the attempt by musician Bobi Wine to topple the repressive regime of Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni. Sharp has a personal connection to Uganda: both his father and he were born there, and he spent a large part of his childhood in the country. He met Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, in 2017, just after the musician had become a Member of Parliament.

Diddy has offered his support for Verzuz co-founders Timbaland and Swizz Beatz in the wake of their lawsuit against social media app Triller.VERZUZ is the popular entertainment series that pits producers, songwriters and artists against each other in a rap battle style format. Last year, the rights for the series were sold to Triller, who livestream the events on their app.In a recent lawsuit seen by Billboard, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz claim that Triller owe them $28m (£23m) and that it has defaulted on previously agreed payments.The suit goes on to claim that while the pair received payments as planned in January and April 2021, a payment that was due in January of this year has still not arrived.A new payment plan was then reportedly agreed, but the money from that has still not come through, the pair allege.“Since we ain’t fuckin’ with [Triller] no more, since they’re fuckin’ around with our boys, we don’t need to be going against each other,” Diddy said to So So Def founder Jermaine Dupri (per Rolling Stone).

Naomi Watts‘ new horror movie Goodnight Mommy has released its first official trailer. You can watch it below.A remake of the 2014 Austrian film of the same name, the upcoming movie centres on two twin brother (played by real-life twins Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti), who visit their mother after she undergoes facial reconstructive surgery.

EJ Panaligan editorNaomi Watts stars as an unsettling mother whose face is wrapped in bandages in the official trailer for Matt Sobel’s “Goodnight Mommy.”A remake of the 2014 Austrian film of the same name, the horror movie follows two twin brothers, played by real-life twins Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti, who visit their mother after her recent reconstructive surgery. However, it quickly becomes clear something isn’t right with her.Additional cast members for “Goodnight Mommy” include Jeremy Bobb, Crystal Lucas-Perry and Peter Hermann.Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala wrote and directed the original 2014 film, which followed the same plot and was the Austrian entry for best foreign language film at the 88th Academy Awards but ultimately wasn’t nominated. The latest iteration of “Goodnight Mommy” is not the first time Watts starred in a remake of a foreign horror film, having previously starred in 2002’s “The Ring,” which was an adaption of Japanese filmmaker Hideo Nakata’s 1998 film of the same title.

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Timbaland and Swizz Beats suing video sharing platform Triller over $28 million they say the company owes them from a deal relating to the popular livestream DJ battle series Verzuz, Snoop Dogg’s new breakfast cereal, and the legal battle over the name of Nicki Minaj’s Barbie-Que Honey Truffle potato chips.SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free automatically each week through any of these services…Acast | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | audioBoom | CastBox | Deezer | Google Podcasts | iHeart | Mixcloud | RSS | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneInSTORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK• Timbaland and Swizz Beats sue Triller• Snoop Dogg launches breakfast cereal, Snoop Loopz• Mattel sues over Nicki Minaj’s Barbie-Que snacksALSO MENTIONED• HitPiece back from the deadMORE FROM CMU• Upcoming CMU webinars• Buy MMF and CMU Insights’ Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin• Listen to the full Setlist theme tune

Timbaland and Swizz Beatz are suing Triller executives for allegedly failing to pay them $28 million (£23 million) after acquiring their music battle series Verzuz. The record producers started Verzuz, in which two music stars are pitted against one another, on Instagram Live during the pandemic in 2020 and it became a runaway success. Officials at social media app Triller, which is similar to TikTok, acquired Verzuz for an undisclosed sum, which was to be paid in instalments, in January 2021.

Featuring candid interviews with Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Halle Berry, Robert Redford, Lenny Kravitz, Barbra Streisand, Spike Lee and many more, the film is also produced by Derik Murray, in close collaboration with the Poitier family.The film follows Poitier’s life and career as he moved from the Bahamas to America, learning about the concept of racial division after living his self-described ‘simple’ life on the islands.“America began to say to me ‘You’re not who you think you are.’” Poitier continues. “There was a habit in Hollywood of utilizing blacks in the most disrespectful ways.

Recording impresarios Swizz Beatz and Timbaland are suing social media platform Triller, claiming they are owed more than $28 million after the TikTok-like outfit acquired the duo’s music enterprise Verzuz last year.

Timbaland and Swizz Beats have sued video sharing platform Triller, which they say still owes them $28 million from a deal relating to the popular livestream DJ battle series Verzuz, which the two producers created in March 2020.Verzuz was launched at the start of the original COVID-19 lockdown and quickly gained a significant following as interest in livestreamed events started to surge. A long line of DJs and artists have now taken part in a Verzuz battle, in which each participant pits a selection of tracks they have produced, written or performed on against those selected by their competitor.Initially streamed via Instagram Live, the battles were subsequently made available on a number of other social and streaming platforms too.

Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have sued Triller for $28million (£23m) over claims of non-payment after the recent sale of their popular VERZUZ series.VERZUZ is the popular entertainment series that pits producers, songwriters and artists against each other in a rap battle style format.Kicking off in March 2020 after Timbaland and Swizz Beatz issued challenges to one another, artists that have taken part so far have included T-Pain, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Brandy, Monica, Rick Ross, DMX, Snoop Dogg, D’Angelo and many more.Last year, the rights for the series were sold to Triller, who livestream the events on their app.In a new lawsuit seen by Billboard, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz claim that Triller owe them £23m and have been defaulting in previously agreed payments.The suit goes on to claim that while the pair received payments as planned in January and April 2021, a payment that was due in January of this year has still not arrived.A new payment plan was then reportedly agreed, but the money from that has still not come through.Speaking about VERZUZ previously to NME, Timbaland said: “Well, it’s not really a battle – it’s a celebration of our heroes in music, the ones who make us feel a certain type of way.