Universal’s Rom-Com ‘Bros’ Will Pre-Emptively Skip Middle East Release Due to Gay Sex Scenes (EXCLUSIVE)

Zack Sharf Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling” press tour was chaotic, to say the least. In a new interview with Elle magazine, Wilde expressed disappointment in how the media took all of the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding the film and “minimized [it] into bite-size TikTok points,” adding, “This film is trying to ask big questions, but [it’s] ‘Let’s just focus on this sideshow over here.’” Rumors circulated for months that Wilde and her “Don’t Worry Darling” lead Florence Pugh feuded on set. Social media users spent much of the film’s press tour hunting for confirmation wherever they could find it, be it Pugh’s lack of social media promotion for the movie or the duo keeping their distance during the film’s Venice Film Festival world premiere. Then drama erupted around Shia LaBeouf’s exit from the film, with LaBeouf leaking a video of Wilde trying to get him back despite clear reservations from Pugh over working with him. And don’t forget about the video of Harry Styles allegedly spitting on Chris Pine (both of their reps denied such an act took place).

A lot has been said about the “Don’t Worry Darling” sex scenes, but director Olivia Wilde insists there’s much more to the film.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Former Warner Bros. Discovery and OSN executives are teaming up to form a new content studio serving the Middle East and North Africa, Variety can reveal. Rise Studios is being set up by industry veterans Emad Morcos, former OSN chief content and commercial officer; Amanda Turnbull, former general manager at Warner Bros. Discovery Middle East, Africa and Turkey; and Amel Farag, former head of content commercial strategy at OSN. Rise will invest in local content and talent in order to launch homegrown film and TV productions on both regional and global broadcasters and streaming platforms.

Adele Silva has been discussing some behind the scenes secrets that previously came with filming in Emmerdale. The actress, known for her role as Kelly Windsor in the ITV soap, first appeared in 1993 and left in 2011. During that time, she gained quite a reputation when it came to relationships, with partners including Jimmy King (Nick Miles), Rodney Blackstock (Patrick Mower) and Ethan Blake (Liam O’Brien).

dated from 2008 to 2010, and their characters on the show were also dating. When the two split, the show writers already had a plan for Penny and Leonard’s on-screen split as well. For many couples, a split doesn’t necessarily stop hook ups or the occasional getting back together — which is what started happening with Cuoco and Galecki’s on-screen characters after the end of their real-life relationship.“All of a sudden, we started noticing there were extra makeout scenes for our characters, and/or sex scenes,” Cuoco told Vanity Fair while doing press for Jessica Radloff’s new book “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story.”“I was like, ‘I think Chuck is f—king with us!’ We were convinced.

Zack Sharf Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki will forever be associated with their respective roles as Penny and Leonard on CBS’ long-running sitcom “The Bing Bang Theory.” The actors, similar to the characters they played on the show, fell in love while working together and dated from 2008 to 2010. “Bing Bang” writers were already planning Penny and Leonard’s breakup when Cuoco and Galecki split in real life. During interviews for Jessica Radloff’s new book “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story” (via Vanity Fair), both Cuoco and Galecki shared their belief that series creator Chuck Lorre added more Penny-Leonard kissing and sex scenes after their real-life split just to mess with them.

The creators of hit HBO/BBC drama Industry have defended its high number of raunchy scenes, pointing to its authenticity. 

Naman Ramachandran Following its launch earlier this month in Malaysia, streamer Aha is set to bow in Singapore and the Middle East. The service, currently available in the Telugu and Tamil languages, will also begin offering Malayalam-language content with an eye on the Middle East expansion, where a migrant population that speaks the language abounds. Operated by Arha Media and Broadcasting, the Telugu-language service began in Jan. 2020 and the Tamil service followed in February this year. Malaysia, where there is a large Tamil-speaking population, was a logical next step, with four originals by local filmmakers in Malaysian Tamil, where the inflexions are slightly different from the Tamil spoken in India. Singapore, which also has a significant Tamil population, will follow.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter After years of declarations about the death of the romantic comedy, Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s recent commercial hit “The Lost City” proved there’s still a place on the big screen for meet-cute stories. Now, comedian and actor Billy Eichner is taking a stab at the feel-good genre with “Bros,” an R-rated romantic comedy that opens in 3,300 North American theaters on Friday. The movie, from Universal Pictures, is aiming to generate $8 million to $10 million in its opening weekend. It’s not a huge number, but the film carries a modest $22 million production budget. “Bros” is debuting in theaters alongside Paramount’s R-rated chiller “Smile,” which is projected to cast a toothy glow over the domestic box office charts with $16 million to $20 million. That’s a stellar result given that it only cost the studio $17 million to make.

Mila Kunis is explaining the «logical» approach she took to understand her complicated character in her new film, . ET's Nischelle Turner spoke with Kunis ahead of the Netflix thriller's premiere, where she shared how she «reverse engineered» the role before letting the emotions of the film take over.«I mean, I don't know if I'm gonna sound like a sociopath, but it wasn't that hard,» Kunis said of portraying some of the film's more difficult moments onscreen. «I have a very healthy relationship when it comes to acting.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in the first six episodes of “House of the Dragon,” currently airing on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. If one of the big narrative challenges of “Game of Thrones” was managing the geographical sprawl of its many interweaving storylines, the challenge for the first season of its prequel series, “House of the Dragon,” is stretching the story of the civil war within the Targaryen family over multiple decades. George R.R. Martin’s bestselling book about the conflagration, “Fire & Blood,” spans generations — children are born and grow into adulthood within the two warring factions of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and her former best friend turned stepmother, Queen Alicent Hightower.

Marta Balaga Finnish helmer Tiina Lymi has found the cast for her upcoming period drama “Stormskerry Maja,” set in the 19th century. “Thin Blue Line” star Amanda Jansson will play the headstrong lead, with Linus Troedsson cast as Maja’s husband Janne. Jonna Järnefelt, Tobias Zilliacus, Amanda Kilpeläinen Arvidsson will also star, joined by Tony Doyle and Desmond Eastwood, who appeared in “Normal People.” The film will be shot in Swedish and English. Based on a series of novels written by Anni Blomqvist, “Stormskerry Maja” tells the story of Maja and her family as they move to a barren and remote island. Their everyday life is a relentless battle for survival, but Maja stands her ground. Despite all the setbacks, she stays in Stormskerry, where her roots are.

Billy Eichner and Luke MacFarlane are hitting the red carpet for the premiere of their new movie!

House Of The Dragon intimacy coordinator Miriam Lucia has addressed Sean Bean‘s comments about on-set protocol for sex scenes.Last month, Bean was met with widespread criticism after he suggested that intimacy coordinators “spoil the spontaneity” of sex scenes.Now, in an interview with Deadline, Lucia has opened up about her experience working as a coordinator on the new Game Of Thrones spin-off, highlighting the importance of her role in the wake of Bean’s comments.Addressing a scene in which Alicent Hightower (played by a then 18-year-old Emily Carey) is made to sleep with her much older husband King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), Lucia spoke of the necessity of having an intimacy coordinator on set.“She [Carey] basically said she was very frightened ahead of that scene, and that without an intimacy coordinator she wouldn’t have known how to handle it,” she said.“It was good to hear that following on from Sean Bean’s comments about how intimacy coordinators ruin spontaneity. But I get why he said that, because he doesn’t have the same experience of it, and because this is a new function on sets.”Lucia went on to explain her role in greater detail, saying: “People don’t really know what it is that we do.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Egyptian-American director Dina Amer’s politically sensitive drama “You Resemble Me,” the story of Hasna Aït Boulahcen who in 2015 was wrongly believed to be Europe’s first female suicide bomber, is getting a Middle East release via Front Row Filmed Entertainment. Amer’s feature debut, which world premiered positively at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, is a deeply researched character study of the fragile young Muslim woman who became linked to the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris even though she didn’t participate in them. Aït Boulahcen died during an anti-terrorism raid alongside her cousin Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was one of the ringleaders of the coordinated assaults that killed 130 people in the French capital, including 90 at the Bataclan theater. 

Miriam Lucia is one of the industry’s busiest intimacy coordinators. Recent credits include HBO shows House Of The Dragon, The White Lotus season 2 and The Nevers, and movies Catherine Called Birdy and Gareth Evans’ Havoc. She is currently working on Emerald Fennel’s new feature for Amazon, Saltburn, starring Rosamund Pike, Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan.

admitted to feeling ‘scared’ to shoot sex scenes in the HBO fantasy series due to the 30 year age gap with her co-star Paddy Considine. Carey, 19, plays Alicent Hightower in the House Targaryen prequel – Alicent marries King Viserys, who is played by Paddy Considine, 49.

, based on the novel by Carola Lovering, just premiered on Sept. 7 and already has people talking. The show follows Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) as she heads off to college and develops an obsession with a manipulative upperclassman named Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White).Like the book, the series includes lots of intense sex scenes, and Patten and White both spoke to ET about how they tackled these moments. In addition to working with an intimacy coordinator, the co-stars said they used a ball and other items to make the scenes look as realistic as possible. «You put a little rubber ball between your hips and then it looks like there’s thrusting but there’s actually a rubber ball in between you,» White, 26, explained to ET's Lauren Zima.