Why Netflix U.K. and Sky Teamed Up to Support Underrepresented Screenwriting Talent (EXCLUSIVE)

Never Have I Ever star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan just signed on to another beloved adaptation for the streaming platform: She’ll play Elizabeth Bennett in the –inspired The Netherfield Girls. Never have we ever been so down for a rom-com.Teen movies that are secretly based on classic literature are literally a staple of our media diets.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe creepy fascination for shamanism that continues to exist in modern-day Thailand and Korea will be on full display this summer in “The Medium.” The film is now confirmed for a July commercial release and may be in line for a midnight screening berth in a major festival.Korean distributor Showbox is gearing up for the film’s outing in cinemas with the release of a first trailer.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticA kid named Lucky loses her mother, moves to the frontier with her father and befriends a wild mustang in “Spirit Untamed.” While experienced professionals fail to break the strong-willed stallion, Lucky (who has never ridden a horse) feeds it a few apples, and before long, the youngster has tamed the obstinate animal — which is inconsistent with this cheap and all-around lazy animated movie’s title, but chalk that up to marketing.While Disney churns out

British television producer and director Charlie Hanson has been removed from Netflix’s Ricky Gervais comedy After Life and he has been suspended by BAFTA amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix U.K. has fired a male producer working on one of its U.K.

LOS ANGELES -- Two stolen hand-carved religious artifacts, sandstone lintels dating back to the 9th and 10th centuries, were returned to the Thai government on Tuesday in a ceremony more than 50 years overdue.The 1,500-pound (680-kilogram) antiquities had been stolen and exported from Thailand — a violation of Thai law — roughly a half-century ago, authorities said, and donated to the city of San Francisco.

Luann de Lesseps — who will always be a countess to her fans — is listing her charming waterfront Hamptons home for rent this summer. “I want to travel after the pandemic,” she tells Gimme, adding that she will also be preparing for her cabaret shows, which are slated to begin again this fall.

which closed for $14.5 million last November. The stunning, waterfront modern home in Sag Harbor was listed by Compass’s Matthew Breitenbach.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Disney Plus streaming service is expected to roll out in Thailand at the end of next month. If confirmed, that would be the service’s fourth territory in the highly competitive Southeast Asia region.Multiple sources have told Variety that the service will be branded as Disney Plus Hotstar in Thailand and become operational from June 30.

Netflix and its popular Thai drama “Girl from Nowhere.”Comments online Wednesday complained the series’ Facebook page showed the flags of Taiwan, the island democracy claimed by the ruling Communist Party as part of its territory, and of Hong Kong, where the party is trying to crush pro-democracy activism.Netflix joins a growing list of foreign retailers, airlines, hotels and other companies that have been attacked online in China over Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet, human rights and other politically

Dolly Parton is offering her support to unhoused youth. In ET's exclusive clip from the Night of Covenant House Stars gala on Monday, the «Jolene» singer sends a message of hope to young people. «Whether there's a pandemic or not, everyone needs to feel safe and secure,» Parton says in the clip.

Netflix, Sky Team For Writing Fellowship Netflix and Sky have joined forces with Sex Education writer Bisha K Ali to launch a UK screenwriting fellowship for people from under-represented backgrounds. The scheme offers up to six successful applicants the chance to join a year-long program, during which they will receive £22,568 ($32,000) to write a spec script for an original idea, as well take on a placement in a Sky or Netflix writers’ room.

A “Bridgerton” spinoff limited series based on the origins of Queen Charlotte has been ordered at Netflix. Per Netflix, “While the series will center on the rise and love life of a young Queen Charlotte, it will also tell the stories of young Violet Bridgerton and Lady Danbury.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefParamount Television Studios and Anonymous Content are getting ready to relocate the filming of ambitious Apple TV Plus series “Shantaram” to Thailand in July, Variety can reveal.The 10-part series is based on Gregory David Roberts’ tome about a man on the run from prison in Australia, who flees to India in the hope of disappearing. There he builds a new life in the Mumbai underworld.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Mexican filmmaker Yulene Olaizola’s fifth feature, “Tragic Jungle” (“Selva Tragica”), which snagged two awards at the 77th Venice Festival, debuts June 9 on Netflix.Loosely inspired by the novel “Caribal: El Infierno Verde” by Mexican novelist-diplomat Rafael Bernal, “Tragic Jungle” is set in 1920 on the border between Mexico and Belize.

Naman Ramachandran “Chernobyl” producer Sister is adapting the hit Audible original podcast “West Cork” for TV.Created by Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde, “West Cork” is an investigation into the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. Du Plantier, a French film producer, was found near her holiday home around the West Cork town of Schull, a serene region on Ireland’s idyllic southern coast.

Ms. Marvel, which is one of Marvel’s new Disney+ collaborations, has officially wrapped filming!