(Reuters) – Actor and comedian Adam Sandler has reached a deal with Netflix Inc to make four new movies for the global streaming service, the company said on Friday. Sandler, a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member who built a career on movies such as “Grow... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Newly minted Grammy winner Billie Eilish will perform live at the Oscars ceremony next month, organizers said on Wednesday, raising speculation she may debut her recording of the new James Bond movie theme song. Eilish, 18, swept the Gr... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Teen sensation Billie Eilish swept the Grammy Awards on Sunday, winning all four top prizes – album, song, record of the year and best new artist – in a rare feat at the music industry’s highest honors. Eilish, an 18-year-old newcomer w... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was slain in March of last year, won two posthumous Grammy Awards on Sunday and was remembered at the Awards with a tribute medley that had audience members on their feet, dancing and in tears. Hussle, whose re... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Musicians and performers at the Grammy Awards paid tribute to Kobe Bryant on Sunday at his former home arena, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, hours after the NBA great was killed some 40 miles (65 km) away in a helicopter crash. Brya... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – STX’s “The Gentlemen” proved no match for Sony’s “Bad Boys for Life,” which again left box office competitors in the dust after collecting $34 million in its sophomore outing. Those ticket sales, pushing the Will Smith and Martin L... More »
MALAGA, Spain (Reuters) – Pedro Almodovar’s Oscar-nominated “Pain and Glory” was the big winner at the 34th Goya Awards, Spain’s top film honors, held in Malaga on Saturday night, going home with seven awards including best actor for Antonio Banderas, best dir... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese theaters and film studios are protesting a deal by Huanxi Media Group to premiere its new movie “Lost in Russia” on Bytedance’s online platforms, with some saying it was “trampling” and “destroying” China’s cinema industry.... More »
(Reuters) – The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards for film and television were handed out on Sunday at a ceremony in Los Angeles. Following is a list of winners in key categories: BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE “Parasite” BEST FILM ACTOR Joaquin Phoenix... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Universal’s “Dolittle” and “1917” found out what “Bad Boys” will do when they come for you at the box office. Sony’s “Bad Boys for Life,” the third entry in the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence-led series, beat expectations and tower... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – In geography and in culture, the rice paddies of northeastern Thailand are thousands of miles away from the birthplace of hip hop in New York City’s Bronx, but for Thai rapper RachYo, the language of hip hop is universal. A recent video fea... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Spotify has made playlists and a podcast for dogs to listen to in their owners’ absence, after finding that nearly 74% of UK pet-owners play music for their animals. The Swedish audio-streaming business company said it has launched a podcast... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Sam Mendes’ “1917” marched to box office victory, earning a solid $36.5 million from 3,434 theaters in its first weekend of wide release. Universal and DreamWorks’ World War I drama also defeated Disney’s “Star Wars: Rise of Skywal... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Rapper Dave and Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi lead the nominations for this year’s BRIT Awards with four nods each, in a new, slimmed-down list of prizes at Britain’s top pop music honors. Both will contest the same categories at ... More »
(Reuters) – The 1968 Ford Mustang GT that Steve McQueen drove in the classic car chase from the movie “Bullitt, one of the most famed cars from American cinema, sold for $3.4 million at auction in Florida on Friday, Mecum Auctions said. It was the highest pric... More »
BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday overturned an injunction against Netflix Inc that had prevented the video streaming service from showing a domestically-made controversial Christmas special that depicts Jesus as gay. The Suprem... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – When Donna Rotunno agreed to represent former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein as lead defense attorney in his New York rape trial, she believed that her gender could prove to be an asset in the courtroom. Rotunno took the case in June ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The 2020 Oscars ceremony in February will again have no host, the head of ABC Television Entertainment said on Wednesday. “Let me confirm it now. Together with the Academy (of Motion Pictures), we have decided there will be no tradition... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – A top Indian actress who joined students protesting against the government drew calls on social media on Wednesday for a boycott of her upcoming film, as well as praise for being a rare Bollywood A-lister to stand up against a crackdown on d... More »
(Reuters) – Here is a timeline recounting the highs and lows over 40 years in the life of Harvey Weinstein. Once one of Hollywood’s most powerful executives, Weinstein faces criminal sexual assault charges at a jury trial beginning this week in New York. Weins... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – “Cats” star Jason Derulo has hit back at critics who have slammed the film adaptation of the hit stage musical, calling the movie “an incredible, brave piece of art”. From “cat-tastrophic” to “the worst thing to happen to cats since dogs”, m... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The highly anticipated movie “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” collected $40 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales on its opening night, the fifth-highest debut of all time, Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) said on Friday. Longtime fans of t... More »
(Reuters) – The estate of a stuntman who died after falling 20 feet onto a concrete floor on a set of the AMC horror series “The Walking Dead” has been awarded $8.6 million by a jury in Atlanta, his family’s lawyer said. John Bernecker’s parents had sued AMC N... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Netflix Inc’s (NFLX.O) animated holiday movie “Klaus” has been watched in nearly 30 million households worldwide during its first month, landing among the streaming service’s most-watched original movies, according to data the company p... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Presenting his World War One battlefield movie “1917” as a single shot had pros and cons for Oscar winning director Sam Mendes. Mistakes meant lengthy retakes but “accidents” also gave an authenticity of life in the trenches. From start to f... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co’s highly anticipated “Star Wars” movie “The Rise of Skywalker” divided film critics on Wednesday, earning more detractors than any film in the nine-episode saga since 1999 movie “The Phantom Menace.” “Rise of Skywalker,” ... More »
(This Dec. 15 story corrects headline to give full name of new Jumanji movie) By Rebecca Rubin LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – It’s shaping up to be a merry holiday season for “Jumanji: The Next Level.” Sony’s adventure sequel debuted in first place to $60.1 mill... More »
(Reuters) – The chief executive officer of Hallmark Cards apologized on Sunday night and said the company would reverse an earlier decision to pull television advertisements featuring same-sex couples from the wedding registry and planning website Zola. In a s... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) will launch its Disney+ streaming service on Vivendi SA’s (VIV.PA) pay-TV business Canal+ platform by the end of March next year, executives of the two groups said in a joint interview released in the daily Les Echos on... More »
(Reuters) – Danny Aiello, a veteran stage and film actor remembered for his roles in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” Woody Allen’s “The Purple Rose of Cairo” and dozens of other movies, died at age 86, his publicist and agent said on Friday. Aiello, who earn... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Bombshell” tells the story of how sexual harassment accusations brought down the powerful creator of Fox News, but rather than taking a broad brush to paint the cable network chief, the film shows him as both menace and mentor to women... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British ballerina Francesca Hayward is getting ready to take a leap from stage to the silver screen, with a star turn in the film version of the musical “Cats”. This holiday season, the Royal Ballet principal dancer will be appearing in a pr... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Bombshell,” a drama about sexual harassment allegations at Fox News, led the movie nominees for the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Wednesday and will compete for the top prize of best cast. The film from Lions Gate Entertainment earned ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Singer Linda Ronstadt, actress Sally Field, and music group Earth, Wind & Fire received the United States’ top awards for the arts on Sunday with a rocking, rousing performance at the annual Kennedy Center Honors show in Washington. Chil... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who brought boyish vulnerability to Big Bird, the towering yellow-plumed character, during 50 years on the groundbreaking children’s television show “Sesame Street” and even made garbage-loving Oscar the Grouc... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – “Frozen 2” dominated box office charts for the third weekend in a row as Disney’s animated sequel scored another $34.7 million in North America. Those ticket sales, a 60% decline from its massive Thanksgiving haul, boost its domest... More »
(Reuters) – Martin Scorsese’s new gangster film “The Irishman” was watched by an estimated 17.1 million Americans in its first five days of release on Netflix, according to Nielsen data released on Friday. The Nielsen estimates were the first indications of au... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – From a superfan’s shrine to a replica of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest stage where they triumphed with “Waterloo”, a new exhibition opening in London on Friday looks back at the huge success of Swedish pop sensation ABBA. Personal items s... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgarian Stoyanka Mutafova, one of the world’s oldest actresses performing regularly on stage, has died aged 97. Dubbed the queen of Bulgarian comedy, Mutafova began performing in 1945, when she played a maidservant in Moliere’s “Scapin the ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Camila Cabello is making up for lost time. The 22 year-old singer has been on a roll since joining girl band Fifth Harmony six years ago, going solo, and scoring hit records like “Havana” and duet “Senorita” with boyfriend Shawn Mendes.... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – From the world’s youngest self-made billionaire to celebrities in court, the world of entertainment produced a wide array of headlines this year. Below are some of the biggest showbiz stories of 2019. * The year began with rap making history... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Disney’s “Frozen 2” stuffed the box office competition during Thanksgiving, generating $85.2 million over the weekend and a record-setting $123.7 million over the five-day holiday frame. The animated adventure soared past the previ... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – The sequel to Walt Disney Co’s 2013 hit animated musical “Frozen” is generating excitement among indigenous Sámi people in northern Europe, whose culture the movie has taken inspiration from. “Frozen 2” debuted in U.S. cinemas on Nov. 22 and i... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean court sentenced a K-pop musician to six years in prison on Friday for raping a woman and distributing a video capturing the act in a case that drew attention to the darker side of the country’s lucrative entertainment industry.... More »
(Reuters) – British actor John Boyega said on Wednesday that he left his copy of the closely-guarded script for the new “Star Wars” movie under his bed, and that it ended up for sale on eBay. Boyega, who plays Stormtrooper turned resistance fighter Finn in “St... More »
(Reuters) – Taylor Swift took the high road as she won six American Music Awards on Sunday to surpass Michael Jackson’s all-time record, avoiding any direct mention of a bitter dispute with her old record company. Swift won the top award, artist of the year, a... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Disney’s “Frozen 2” iced out the box office competition in North America, where family audiences powered the animated adventure to a dazzling $130 million debut. The sequel kicked off above expectations ahead of Thanksgiving, which... More »
(Reuters) – Apple Inc is delaying the planned December movie theater release of movie “The Banker,” one of its first original films, a source close to the company said on Friday, amid ongoing concerns about the period drama. The movie’s debut on Apple’s newly ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Forty years since releasing their debut album, Scottish rock band Simple Minds have no plans to slow down just yet, saying life on the road is “the thing that keeps us going” as they embark on a world tour next year. Formed in Glasgow in the... More »
(Reuters) – Music executive Scooter Braun on Friday said his family had received “numerous death threats” over a feud with singer Taylor Swift, and appealed to her to make peace. Braun, who earlier this year bought the Big Machine Group record label where Swif... More »
(Reuters) – TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co Ltd is in talks with big music labels – Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music – for global licensing deals to include their songs on its new music subscription service, the Financial Times reporte... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – “Ford v Ferrari” left its box office competitors in the dust as Disney’s historical sports drama sped its way to $31 million in North America. Directed by James Mangold and starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, “Ford v Ferrari” d... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese actress Erika Sawajiri, famous for her role in 2005 drama “1 Litre of Tears”, has been arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs, NHK reported on Saturday citing unnamed sources. The 33-year-old actress, who this year starred in a TV... More »
(Reuters) – Taylor Swift and her former record label traded barbed accusations on Friday about her rights to perform her old songs, winning support from singers like Selena Gomez and Sara Bareilles but silence from many of the big hitters in the music business... More »
(Reuters) – Comic book movie “Joker” is poised to surpass $1 billion in global ticket sales on Friday, becoming the first R-rated Hollywood movie ever to overcome the milestone. “Joker,” a dark origin story from Warner Bros. about Batman’s arch nemesis, had so... More »
DAKAR (Reuters) – To capture the harsh reality of life in Senegal, film director Mati Diop chose young people she met at building sites, bars and in Dakar’s poorer suburbs as the stars of ‘Atlantics’, a ghost story about migrants and those they leave behind. T... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – Netflix said on Thursday it would make changes to maps in a documentary that showed German Nazi death camps inside the borders of modern Poland, after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki pressed the streaming and production company to a... More »
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Gonzalo Demaría is fascinated by the “ghosts” of Argentina’s past, in particular the roots of Peronism, the most influential political movement dating back to Juan Peron and his wife Eva Peron that is now set for a return to power. The... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – In a surprise box office win, Roland Emmerich’s World War II epic “Midway” took down the competition in North America to land in first place with $17.5 million. Heading into the weekend, Warner Bros.’ Stephen King adaptation “Docto... More »
SEVILLE (Reuters) – Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher took home the first ever MTV Rock Icon award at Sunday’s MTV Europe Music Awards, where the big winners of the night were Taylor Swift, newcomer Billie Eilish and South Korean Boyband BTS. Taylor Swift won “Bes... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – “Terminator: Dark Fate” shot past box office competition but still fell short of expectations as Paramount and Skydance Media’s sci-fi sequel debuted to $29 million in North America. Though the sixth installment in the “Terminator”... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Lady Gaga has lined up her next feature film and will play the wife of a murdered heir to the Gucci fashion dynasty, Hollywood media reported on Friday. Gaga, whose first lead movie role in “A Star is Born” last year was critically accl... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Jennifer Aniston returns to television on Friday in “The Morning Show”, an original show for Apple Inc’s new subscription video service, in which the actress reunites with her “Friends” sister Reese Witherspoon. In the 10-episode program, An... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Apple TV+, the iPhone maker’s entry into the crowded streaming TV market, debuts on Friday as the first “all-original” subscription video service, according to Apple Inc (AAPL.O) Chief Executive Tim Cook. All of the programming is origi... More »
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (Reuters) – When Ringo Starr decided to record a cover of one of the last songs written by John Lennon, the Beatles drummer knew he wanted former bandmate Paul McCartney to play bass. Then, his record producer found a way to bring in a b... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – When director Kasi Lemmons started work on the first major movie about Harriet Tubman, the 19th century slave turned hero of the Underground Railway, she decided to focus less on the brutality of slavery and more on human stories. “I reall... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Gojek CEO and co-founder Nadiem Makarim said on Monday he had resigned to join Indonesia’s cabinet, and the ride-hailing and payments company said two senior officials would jointly take over running operations of the $10 billion firm. Pres... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Five years after Angelina Jolie’s “Maleficent” cast a spell over the box office, the villainous enchantress has returned to the top of domestic charts. Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” a sequel to 2014’s fantasy adventure b... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – DreamWorks’ animated movie “Abominable” will not be released in Malaysia after its producers declined to meet a censor board requirement to cut a scene showing China’s “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea, the movie distributor said... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British singer Robbie Williams is getting into the festive cheer, announcing on Friday he would release his first ever Christmas album this holiday season. “The Christmas Present”, made up of two “Christmas Past” and “Christmas Future” discs... More »
(Reuters) – HBO Max, the forthcoming streaming service from AT&T Inc’s WarnerMedia, will screen films from Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation producer behind the Academy Award-winning movie “Spirited Away”. This is the first time a streaming provider has ob... More »
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – India is deliberating potential censorship on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, a senior government source told Reuters. While film and TV certification bodies already moderate public content in India, the... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – New Zealand movie director Taika Waititi says he likes a challenge and his satire of Adolf Hitler and Nazi culture may be his riskiest and most successful yet. “Jojo Rabbit,” which Waititi wrote, directed and in which he plays a ridicul... More »
(Reuters) – Streaming video leader Netflix Inc is planning to release around 62 new original productions, including films, series, documentaries, and comedy specials, from October to December as it braces for the debut of rival services from Apple Inc and Walt... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Martin Scorsese reunites with Robert De Niro in “The Irishman”, a 3-1/2 hour long mob drama the acclaimed director said he chose to do with his frequent collaborator to build on their past work together rather than replicate it. Set over sev... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Joaquin Phoenix is king of the North American box office once again as “Joker” scores an easy victory in its second weekend with $55 million at 4,374 sites. “Joker” dominated a trio of new entries with animated comedy “The Addams F... More »
(This October 10 story clarifies paragraph 14 on ‘The Martian’) By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – China’s removal of animated comedy “South Park” from online sites just as it dropped U.S. basketball broadcasts highlighted a tension familiar to Hollywood... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Portraying a single mother whose teenage daughter suddenly disappears in “American Woman” was a “grueling” role for Sienna Miller that forced the British-American actress to imagine her worst nightmare. Miller plays Debra, a 32-year old supe... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Alicia Vikander plays a murder suspect caught in a love triangle in “Earthquake Bird,” a thriller set in 1989 Tokyo in which the Oscar winner performs in English as well as Japanese. Based on the novel by Susanna Jones, the film follows Vika... More »
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Police in major U.S. cities were on alert on Thursday as “Joker” opened in movie theaters after weeks of publicity surrounding its disturbing portrait of a bullied loner raised fears it might spark violence. “Joker,” an origin ... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – Warner Bros.’ “Joker” laughed its way to a new record at the domestic box office. Despite mounting controversy and security concerns, the R-rated comic-book movie scored $93.5 million over the weekend and now stands as the biggest ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British rock music drummer Ginger Baker, a co-founder of the 1960’s supergroup Cream with bass player Jack Bruce and guitarist Eric Clapton, died on Sunday aged 80. Baker, who was born in south London in 1939, first came to prominence as a m... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A new documentary seeks to move away from “rumors and tabloid headlines” to paint an intimate portrait of late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, charting his rise to global stardom and personal troubles. “Mystify: Michael Hutchence” features ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album has returned to the top of the British album charts 50 years after its first release. “It’s hard to believe that Abbey Road still holds up after all these years. But then again it’s a bloody cool album,” forme... More »
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) plunged 16% year-on-year to $729 billion in the third quarter, according to Refinitiv data, the lowest quarterly volume since 2016, as growing economic uncertainty curbed the risk appetite of co... More »
DENVER (Reuters) – The Landmark Theaters chain will ban costumes and masks for moviegoers during screenings of the film “Joker”, it said on Thursday, following concerns expressed by families involved in a 2012 mass shooting during a Batman film in Colorado. Th... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – “Abominable” towered over the box office this weekend as Universal and DreamWorks’ animated adventure debuted to $20.85 million in North America and $29.7 million worldwide. The PG movie benefited as one of the few offerings at mul... More »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican singer Jose Jose, whose powerful, romantic ballads captivated Latin America for more than half a century, died on Saturday. Mexico’s Culture Ministry expressed its condolences in a statement, calling Jose Jose, whose real name w... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Spider-Man, the popular web-slinging superhero currently played by actor Tom Holland, will headline a new movie in 2021 and appear in a future Marvel Studios film under a deal announced Friday by Sony Corp (6758.T) and Walt Disney Co (D... More »
(Reuters) – Apple Inc plans to give its feature-length film productions extended theatrical releases before making them available on its streaming TV service, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal said ... More »
RACHEL, Nev. (Reuters) – Scores of UFO enthusiasts converged on rural Nevada on Thursday for a pilgrimage of sorts to the U.S. installation known as Area 51, long rumored to house government secrets about alien life, as law enforcement officials beefed up secu... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – “Hustlers” rolled in the Benjamins this weekend, collecting $33.2 million when it debuted in 3,250 North American theaters. Boosted by rave reviews and stellar word of mouth, “Hustlers” beat expectations and now ranks as the best s... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple TV+ premiered its first show at the Tribeca TV Festival on Saturday, flaunting feminist snark, lavish period costumes and a star-studded cast in “Dickinson,” a series that sheds a modern light on the life of an iconic American poet. ... More »
(Reuters) – British singer Sam Smith on Friday asked to be referred to by the gender neutral pronouns they/them, citing “a lifetime of being at war with my gender.” The Grammy-winning musician, 27, made the announcement in an Instagram post titled “My pronouns... More »
CUPERTINO, Calif. (Reuters) – Apple Inc (AAPL.O) caught up with hardware rivals on Tuesday by revealing a triple-camera iPhone, and it rolled out a streaming TV service priced at $5 a month, undercutting Disney and Netflix. The announcements came at the compan... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Get out the tiaras and the best china. Hit British television series “Downton Abbey” is about to arrive on the big screen and the makers are feeling uncharacteristically nervous. Driven by fan demand, the aristocratic family and their servan... More »
LAGOS (Reuters) – “Oya!” shouts the director in Nigerian Pidgin English. Actors take their marks. Lighting blinks on. The film crew snaps into action after the order to hurry up. It’s another day in Nollywood, the affectionate nickname for Nigeria’s film indus... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Donning face paint and holding glittery signs, fans of Taylor Swift flocked to Paris on Monday for the American pop star’s “City of Lover” concert. Tickets for the concert, which is Swift’s only performance promoting her new album “Lover,” we... More »
TORONTO (Reuters) – ‘The Goldfinch’ felt the pressure to live up to the award-winning book upon which the film is based, members of the cast and crew said at the Toronto Film Festival premiere on Sunday. Donna Tartt won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014 f... More »
VENICE, Italy (Reuters) – Jude Law brought the follow-up to “The Young Pope” to the Venice Film Festival on Sunday, presenting a glimpse of his return in the Paolo Sorrentino-directed papal drama, which at one point sees him wearing just “a napkin”. The second... More »
