‘Variety Confidential’ True Crime Podcast Shows How Sex and Drugs Ended Hollywood’s Once-Promising Producing Duo

Annika Pham Belgian group Lumiere has signed as co-producer – via its production arm Lunanime – and distributor for Benelux of the Icelandic crime drama “Haze” from Iceland’s seasoned showrunner Sigurjón Kjartansson (“Trapped” Season 1 & 2, “Katla”). The eight-part series, produced by Kjartansson’s S800 for Icelandic pubcaster RÚV, will be showcased at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision among a handful of standout Nordic series in development.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter After starring in the 1935 film “Captain Blood,” actor Errol Flynn became the big screen’s foremost swashbuckler. Seven years later, two underage girls accused the golden age movie star of statutory rape. In “When You’re A Star,” the sixth episode of Variety and iHeart Podcasts’ true crime podcast “Variety Confidential,” host Tracy Pattin and co-host Matt Donnelly, Variety’s senior entertainment and media writer, look back at Flynn’s 1943 rape trial.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Carrie Bradshaw and the rest of the “Sex and the City” coterie are heading to a binge-watching date on Netflix. Netflix has inked a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to license all six seasons of the popular HBO dramedy, comprising all 94 episodes, Variety confirmed.

And just like that, Netflix is close to tying up another major content licensing deal.

Jody Foster and schmoozing with Michael Caine. Celebrity paintings by Townley – besidesFoster and Caine, he’s captured the likes of Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Lady Gaga, Matt Damon and others – sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There’s so many great films and shows dropping on TV and streaming platforms these days that it can be tricky to find which providers offer the top content with the best deals. That’s why we’ve scoured the January sales and spotted some awesome deals from Virgin Media that come with loads of blockbuster films and shows.

Ana Garcia, the host of the True Crime Daily podcast, is fronting a new syndicated crime series.

Bad Bunny has recently made headlines for his latest real estate purchase in Los Angeles, California. The artist has reportedly acquired Ariana Grande’s former Hollywood Hills mansion for a whopping $8.3 million.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Premieres of new and returning TV shows fell sharply last year while the number of movies getting a theatrical wide release went way up. The volume of TV programs in the true crime genre went through the roof and non-English language films are becoming a bedrock of streaming platforms. Those are among the notable content trends documented in the 2023 Year-End Film and TV Report released today by Luminate, the entertainment data and insights firm.

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate is closing a deal to purchase a package that will have Chandler Baker adapt her short story Big Bad for Chris Landon to direct. Todd Lieberman and Hidden Pictures will produce with Landon.

Diego Ramos Bechara editor Radio Silence Productions and Project X Entertainment, both behind the relaunch of the “Scream” franchise, are forming a joint financing pact with studio MRC to fund and produce horror and thriller features. The partnership, announced Wednesday morning, aims to produce two to three features annually.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Known for “Chinatown,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Pianist,” Roman Polanski is one of the most acclaimed directors in cinematic history. He is also a convicted child rapist who has faced several sexual assault allegations over the course of his career. In “Disgraced Genius,” the fifth episode of Variety and iHeart Podcasts’ true crime podcast “Variety Confidential,” host Tracy Pattin and co-host Matt Donnelly, Variety’s senior entertainment and media writer, examine Polanski’s downfall after decades of Hollywood reverence.

Netflix has just added a new true crime documentary that is being referred to as the “real life Gone Girl“.A synopsis for the new three-part series, which became available to stream today (January 17) on Netflix, reads: After a home invasion and abduction, a young couple’s recounting of the events is too far fetched for the police to believe. Why did the victims seem so calm? Was it all a hoax?“From the filmmakers behind The Tinder Swindler, this three-part docuseries unravels the consequences of our cultural rush to judgment, and the damage done when law enforcement decides the truth can’t possibly be true.”The story centres arounds an event in 2015 when an intruder broke into the home of Denise Huskins and her partner Aaron Quinn.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “True Detective: Night Country” showrunner Issa López took to X (formerly Twitter) the day after her season debuted on HBO and Max to urge fans to fight back against toxic trolls on Rotten Tomatoes. While the fourth season of the HBO crime series has earned glowing reviews (it boasts a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score from 73 reviews), there’s apparently a section of the fandom unhappy with the new direction of the show (the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is at 69%).

SPOILER ALERT: The following story contains details from the season premiere of True Detective: Night Country.

Zara and Mike Tindall have proven to be popular during their current trip to Australia, and it seems the couple's likeability is only increasing. Zara, 42, and ex-rugby ace Mike, 45, have been married since 2011 and have established themselves as one of the Royal Family's best couples, as they are "honest, funny and candid", claims Royal commentator Robert Jobson.

Undeniable, a new documentary label from Fremantle, has partnered with Big Pond Films and Concordia Studio on true crime doc Whatever It Takes, which tells the true story of Ina and David Steiner, two journalists targeted in one of the most extraordinary and bizarre scandals in Silicon Valley. Helmed by Jenny Carchman, the Emmy nominee behind Showtime’s The Fourth Estate, the film is slated to premiere in the Documentary Spotlight section of SXSW later this year.

EXCLUSIVE: Prime Video‘s UK arm has pre-bought a suite of true crime docs about some of Britain’s most notorious crimes. The deals with London-based distributor Abacus Media Rights also include acquisitions of two completed series.

Holly Jones Inspired by the tragic case of Spanish toddler Jonathan Vega, abducted in broad daylight from a Madrid shopping center, writer-director Marc Romero (“75 Days”) is set to begin production on “Hour and Twenty” (“Hora y Veinte”), alongside producers El Orgullo Producciones, La Cochera, Sorenfilms, La Raíz, Shift Dif and Corax Films. The directors’ second high-octane feature shoots later this month, filming in Torrevieja (Alicante), Martos (Jaén), and Madrid over a five week stretch, further sponsored by Ayuntamiento de Torrevieja (Alicante) in collaboration with Ayuntamiento de Martos (Jaén).

Get ready to watch True Detective season 4 with a 'lowest price' Sky deal that saves you £180! Almost a decade since it first hit our screens, the next chapter of True Detective is just around the corner for its fourth season, featuring a brand new cast and showrunner.The upcoming series, called True Detective: Night Country, stars Oscar-winner Jodie Foster and boxer-actress Kali Reis as detectives in chilly, dark Alaska. The story revolves around eight men who mysteriously disappear while working at an Arctic research station.The synopsis reads: "When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace.To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves, and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice." This is the first season of True Detective without creator Nic Pizzolatto as the showrunner or writer as he's now an executive producer.