William Friedkin, the Oscar winner behind The French Connection and The Exorcist who was one of the most admired directors to emerge from a wave of brilliant filmmakers who made their mark in the 1970s, died Monday. He was 87.

Friedkin died of heart failure and pneumonia at his home in Bel Air, his wife, former producer and studio head Sherry Lansing, announced.

His pictures, which also included Sorcerer (1977), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) and Bug (2006), were marked by an exceptional visual eye, a willingness to take what might have been a genre subject and treat it with high seriousness and a sense of how sound could add a subterranean layer of dread, mystery and dissonance to his stories — a haunted and haunting quality that lifted his visceral works into another realm, conveying a preternatural sense of “fear and paranoia, both old friends of mine,” as he said in his 2013 memoir,...

“Barbie” is saying “hiya” to the billion-dollar club.

Greta Gerwig’s pink-coated fantasy comedy has surpassed $1 billion at the global box office, including $459 million in North America and $572 million internationally. This makes Gerwig the first-ever solo female filmmaker with a billion-dollar film.

Three other billion-dollar blockbusters were co-directed by women, including “Frozen” ($1.3 billion) and “Frozen 2” ($1.45 billion) both co-directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, as well as “Captain Marvel” ($1.1 billion), co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.

“Barbie” is hitting the coveted milestone after just 17 days of release, becoming the fastest Warner Bros. release (and eighth in the studio’s 100-year history) to join the $1 billion club. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” previously held that record at 19 days.

It’s only the second blockbuster this year and the sixth of the pandemic-era to cross $1 billion, following “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Jurassic World Dominion...

“Barbie” towered over the box office for the third consecutive weekend, taking down newcomers “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and “Meg 2: The Trench.”

Greta Gerwig’s fantasy comedy added a remarkable $53 million in its third weekend of release, a decline of just 43% from its prior frame. “Barbie” has generated $459 million in North America and surpassed the $1 billion mark globally after just 17 days in theaters. It’s the first film directed solely by a woman to cross the coveted milestone.

Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” too, stayed strong in its third outing with $28.7 million, dropping only 39% from last weekend and bringing domestic ticket sales to $228 million. The R-rated historical drama has grossed $552 million at the worldwide box office, becoming the director’s sixth film to cross the $500 million mark. “Oppenheimer,” which has remained a force in Imax, landed in third place on domestic box office charts behind the sequel to...

William Friedkin was, simply put, a legend.

His technical prowess, mastery of tone and commitment to storytelling were unparalleled. And so was his willingness to push the boundaries of what was acceptable. It wasn’t that he was merely challenging good taste; it was that he wanted to go beyond what had come before. And sometimes that made people very uncomfortable. Friedkin’s career is largely defined by this kind of artful provocation, and it makes his passing — especially in the current age of pre-packaged, vacuum-sealed mass entertainment — all the more devastating. We didn’t just lose one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation; we lost an outspoken advocate for the kind of movies they just don’t make anymore.

Thankfully, Friedkin left behind a bounty of modern classics – movies that become richer, more rewarding, and, yes, more provocative, the more times you watch them. Here are seven of his most essential,...

Sandra Bullock’s longtime partner, Bryan Randall, has died at age 57 following a private battle with Als.

News of Randall’s death, first reported by People and confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, came as a shock as the model-turned-photographer did not publicly disclose his diagnosis. Through a statement attributed to his “loving family,” Randall passed away “peacefully” on Saturday.

“Bryan chose early to keep his journey with Als private and those of us who cared for him did our best to honor his request. We are immensely grateful to the tireless doctors who navigated the landscape of this illness with us and to the astounding nurses who became our roommates, often sacrificing their own families to be with ours,” the statement read. “At this time we ask for privacy to grieve and to come to terms with the impossibility of saying goodbye to Bryan.”

Though she’s lived her life...

I recently discovered my pioneer producer great-grandfather Sol M. Wurtzel’s obituary in the April 16, 1958 edition of Variety. In 1917, mogul William Fox sent Sol to oversee production at his Hollywood studio. During his lengthy career as a Fox Studio head, Sol produced over 700 films.

One short paragraph blew my mind. “In 1933, when his [Fox Studio] Western Avenue lot was threatened with a three-month shuttering, Wurtzel went to bat for his staff, refusing to take anyone off salary. The studio remained open, and costs were charged to his later productions.” Wow, exactly 90 years ago, a studio executive cared enough about his employees to keep them on payroll.

During the height of the Great Depression, my great-grandfather bet the house, so his employees had money to cover rent, put food on the table and pay their medical bills. A hardcore gambler, he risked his own career and financial future.

He bluffed his way through,...

Paramount Global hosted its second-quarter earnings call Tuesday amid the ongoing writers and actors strikes in Hollywood. Just like every other major media company that has reported its Q2 results already, the CBS parent company’s execs addressed the work stoppages with hopes for a timely resolution and comments on how it will affect their business operations.

“We anticipate continued delays in production for the duration of the strikes, and as such, we estimate free cash flow in the back half of the year will be significantly higher than previously expected,” Paramount CFO Naveen Chopra said.

Chopra’s projection comes...

The end of “Only Murders in the Building” Season 2 featured a flash forward to a year after the series’ true-crime podcasting trio — Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) — solved the murder of their curmudgeon of a neighbor Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell). Set on opening night of Oliver’s latest Broadway play, with Charles and Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) as the show’s feuding stars, the epilogue served as the series’ way of saying, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” Or, more specifically, as Mabel herself said to close out the episode and season: “You’ve got to be f–g kidding me.” Because, naturally Ben ended up dying right there on the Broadway stage, most definitely not from natural causes.

That cliffhanger ending suggested a shift in the status quo for this next season, both in terms...

Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish laid out the entertainment giant’s strategy to get through the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Wall Street analysts Monday, saying the company would rely on its international production capabilities and fall sports slate.

“We’re saddened that as an industry we couldn’t come to an agreement that would have prevented this,” Bakish said of the historic double strike during Monday’s second-quarter earnings call. “Our partnership with the creative community is critical to the health of our industry, so we remain hopeful for a timely resolution, and we are committed to finding a path forward. At the same time, we have a responsibility to minimize disruptions to our audiences and other constituents.”

CBS’s fall slate, Bakish added, would lean on “parallel network hits” like Paramount Network’s hit drama Taylor Sheridan, “Yellowstone,” which will make its broadcast TV debut on Sundays...

Trans actor Zoe Terakes called the news that censors in Kuwait banned their latest film “Talk to Me” a “heartbreaking” move, lamenting how such censorship harms LGBTQ individuals in the Middle Eastern country.

Terakes, who identifies as nonbinary and transmasculine, plays a teen who regularly attends parties in which partygoers use a cursed ceramic hand to summon dead spirits, with deadly consequences for those who use the hand for more than 90 seconds.

In a statement posted to Instagram on Sunday, Terakes noted that “Talk to Me” does not have any explicit LGBTQ themes like past films that have been banned in Kuwait, nor does their character share their trans identity.

“I am a trans actor who happened to get the role. I’m not a theme. I’m a person. Kuwait has banned this film due to my identity alone,” they wrote. “As much as it is very sad to...

Due to popular demand, “Oppenheimer” has extended its 70mm run at Imax theaters nationwide through the end of August.

The previous end date, which was already an extension of the film’s original run in Imax 70mm format, was Aug. 17. Tickets for Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb drama are already on sale through Aug. 31 at some Imax theaters, as exhibitors will make them available on a rolling basis.

Nolan, a longtime vocal champion of the premium format, touted Imax 70mm as the “best possible experience” to see “Oppenheimer” because “the sharpness and the clarity and the depth of the image is unparalleled.” Only 19 theaters in the U.S. (and 30 worldwide) have the capability to play films in Imax 70mm, including the AMC Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles and the AMC Lincoln Square in New York — making those screens some of the hottest tickets in town.

“It actually looks better in film,...

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Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” will finally arrive on Disney+ on Sept. 6. The Disney+ release will come with some special features, including a song breakdown of “Under the Sea,” and Javier Bardem’s performance of “Impossible Child”.

Disney+ $9.99/Month Buy Now

The streaming release date, announced Monday morning, is later than the typical 90-day window. Rob Marhsall’s remake of the classic 1989 film premiered at the end of May, earning a splashy $117.5 million over its opening four-day weekend.

The film stars Halle Bailey as Ariel, the daughter of King Triton (Javier Bardem), ruler of an ocean kingdom, who becomes enamored with a prince (Jonah Hauer-King) above the surface. Her desire to be with him spurs her to make a pact with Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) to give...

Photographer Bryan Randall, Sandra Bullock’s longtime partner, died over the weekend, his family said on Monday. He was 57.

“It is with great sadness that we share that on Aug. 5, Bryan Randall passed away peacefully after a three-year battle with Als,” his family told TheWrap in a statement. “Bryan chose early to keep his journey with Als private and those of us who cared for him did our best to honor his request.”

“We are immensely grateful to the tireless doctors who navigated the landscape of this illness with us and to the astounding nurses who became our roommates, often sacrificing their own families to be with ours,” the family’s statement continued.

Randall and Bullock largely kept their relationship private and he did not attend Hollywood events with the actress and producer.

They first met when he photographed her son Louis for his birthday in January 2015 and their first...

Tom Cruise helped Paramount Global’s operations do good business last year, but he wasn’t able to lend a similar boost in the second quarter of 2023.

The New York owner of CBS, Nickelodeon and the Paramount movie studio posted a second-quarter loss after ad revenue at its various TV networks sunk 10% and the company proved unable to devise a movie hit on the order of last year’s “Top Gun: Maverick.” Revenue was off 39% at the company’s film operations. Paramount saw a loss of $299 million, or 48 cents per share, in its second quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, earnings came to 10 cents per share.

Paramount Global reached 61 million Paramount+ streaming subscribers worldwide in the three months ended June 30, a slight gain from the 60 million announced last quarter, but importantly the company pared down its streaming losses.

On the streaming side, the company reported a quarterly adjusted operating loss before depreciation and amortization of $424 million compared to $511 million last quarter and $445 million a year ago. Subscription revenue increased 21 percent year-over-year, to reach $1.2 billion, thanks to growth in the number of subscribers compared to Q2 2022, as well as growth in digital advertising.

Addressing the softness in net subscriber addition, CFO Naveen Chopra said the numbers reflect “seasonal softness” as well as “a strategic shift of content releases to better align with the launch of Paramount+ with Showtime.” Subscriber growth is expected to be higher in the back half of the year, but he noted that Q3 will see the loss of just over 1 million subscribers due...

Paramount Global reported mixed results for its second quarter of 2023 on Monday after reporting a net loss from continuing operations of $299 million, or an adjusted loss of 59 cents per share, on revenue of $7.6 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were expecting a loss of 1 cent per share on revenue of $7.43 billion.

Paramount’s direct-to-consumer division, which includes Paramount+ and Pluto, a free, ad-supported streaming service, saw revenue of $1.7 billion, up 40% year over year. Paramount+ subscribers increased by 700,000 in the quarter to 61 million. The division’s loss narrowed to $424 million.

In June, the company officially rolled out its integration of Paramount+ and Showtime, which is expected to generate $700 million of expense savings for the company. The move was accompanied by price increases on some streaming tiers. Paramount recorded $697 million in programming charges in connection with the combination.

Revenue from the company’s TV Media segment was nearly flat at $5.2 billion,...

After its $2 billion-plus agreement to sell Simon & Schuster fell apart last October, Paramount Global has found a new buyer for the book publishing giant at a slightly discounted all-cash price point of $1.62 billion.

Private equity firm Kkr has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Simon & Schuster, the companies said August 7. In opting to sell to a buyer not affiliated with the “Big Five” group of publishers — which includes prior suitor Penguin Random House along with HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan — Paramount appears to think this is the deal that can finally clear regulatory approval.

“We see a compelling opportunity to help Simon & Schuster become an even stronger partner to literary talent by investing in the expansion of the company’s capabilities and distribution networks,” stated Richard Sarnoff, chairman of media at Kkr.

Paramount CEO Bob Bakish added, “The proceeds will give Paramount additional financial flexibility...

Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, and the ghost kitchen company behind his virtual burger restaurant chain are trading barbs in a legal battle that will decide the fate of whether MrBeast Burger operates under the YouTube megastar’s brand.

In a suit filed on Monday in New York state court, Virtual Dining Concepts claims Donaldson breached his contract by publicly criticizing the chain and failing to follow through on a series of alleged commitments to grow the business. It says the YouTuber is looking to “torpedo the brand” after his attempts to seize total control of the venture were rebuffed. “Donaldson’s baseless and unlawful disparagement had the intended effect: MrBeast Burger’s reputation was materially damaged if not destroyed, customers abandoned the Brand, and Plaintiffs’ hard-won relationships with vendors, partners, and suppliers were shattered, causing damages to Plaintiffs that, according to the evidence and Donaldson’s own statements...

A number of collaborators and admirers are paying tribute to The Exorcist filmmaker William Friedkin, who died Monday at age 87.

Friedkin remains in the public consciousness, with The Exorcist about to launch a long-gestating sequel in October, and his film The French Connection remembered for perhaps the greatest car chase in film history.

Ellen Burstyn, who starred in The Exorcist and returns for The Exorcist: Believer (due out Oct. 13), recalled the filmmaker fondly in a statement: “My friend Bill Friedkin was an original; smart, cultured, fearless and wildly talented. On the set, he knew what he wanted, would go to any length to get it and was able to let it go if he saw something better happening. He was undoubtedly a genius.”

Jason Blum, whose Blumhouse is behind the trilogy of upcoming Exorcist sequels, wrote in a statement, “I am personally indebted to William Friedkin and saddened by his loss.

A Vulture report published in June claimed that animators on Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” were extremely overworked during production. The report followed similar claims made by several visual effects workers about the brutal working conditions at Marvel Studios. For Paramount’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” it appears director Jeff Rowe wanted to buck this problematic trend. He recently told Insider that producer Seth Rogen helped him ensure that animators on the film were not overworked and suffering.

“That was the thing that was really important to us on this film, and I learned it from Seth and Evan because in getting to know Seth, I’m like, ‘He has a really good work-life balance and everyone at Point Gray does,'” Rowe said, referring to Rogen’s production company. “And I asked him about that and he is like, ‘Well, when you’re doing live action,...

What started out as yet another Taylor Swift-related trend on social media has now become an integral part of the Eras Tour experience. Inspired by the lyric “Make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it …” from one of Swift’s Midnights songs, “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” Swifties across the country are making themed bracelets to trade and hand out to other fans during all stops on the Eras Tour.

Before they attend the Eras Tour, many fans have spent hours using beads to make unique Swift-inspired bracelets. One attendee in Chicago brought a gallon-sized ziploc bag full of the accessories to hand out to those around her. Various lines and lyrics from across Swift’s entire career are being used to craft the clever wristbands. Some say simple phrases such as “Red,” “Eras Tour” or “evermore,” while others have gotten more creative including references such as “Starbucks Lovers,...

Production veterans John Attard and David “Doc” Abbott have launched Showdog Studios, a content company based in Franklin, Tenn.

The partners are self-financing the business and have established a development fund to create their own content. The pair are at work on an anthology series, “Revive: Portraits of Redemption,” with producer Tom Evans that they intend to shop to buyers down the road. Another industry veteran, Robert Harris, has joined Showdog as executive producer to help shepherd “Revive” and other projects. Franklin is about 20 miles south of Nashville.

“Doc and I are extremely excited to have Robert join the Showdog Studio team.

Production veterans John Attard and David “Doc” Abbott have launched Showdog Studios, a content company based in Franklin, Tenn.

The partners are self-financing the business and have established a development fund to create their own content. The pair are at work on an anthology series, “Revive: Portraits of Redemption,” with producer Tom Evans that they intend to shop to buyers down the road. Another industry veteran, Robert Harris, has joined Showdog as executive producer to help shepherd “Revive” and other projects. Franklin is about 20 miles south of Nashville.

“Doc and I are extremely excited to have Robert join the Showdog Studio team. We want to create stories of hope along the lines of the stories I’ve enjoyed watching over the years – many of which were deftly shepherded by Robert’s steady hand,” Attard said.

John Attard

The partners vow to produce TV shows, films and other content that revolve...

Martha Stewart is getting candid about her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover, telling fans at an appearance Monday that she wants to continue to push herself to try and do new things.

The lifestyle icon and entrepreneur was the keynote speaker at Project and Magic Las Vegas, the biannual fashion event for buyers and press, hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Speaking at an early morning panel Monday, Stewart says she’s been touched by the reaction to the cover, which made the 82-year-old the oldest person to pose for the magazine.

“The response to it was really encouraging because it made women of all ages feel like, ‘If she can do it, then I can do it too,'” Stewart said, adding that she felt like people resonated with the cover because it was “authentic.”

Shot by Ruven Afanador, Stewart says she posed for the photos at a friend...

Acclaimed filmmaker William Friedkin, best known for directing classics such as “The French Connection” and “The Exorcist,” is being mourned by Hollywood as “one of the most impactful directors of all time” after he died on Monday at the age of 87.

“The Exorcist” star Ellen Burstyn said in a statement, “My friend Bill Friedkin was an original; smart, cultured, fearless and wildly talented. On the set, he knew what he wanted, would go to any length to get it and was able to let it go if he saw something better happening. He was undoubtedly a genius.”

Francis Ford Coppola took to Instagram to pay tribute to Friedkin, who he called “a giant of a man.”

“William Friedkin was my first friend among the filmmakers of my generation and I grieve for the loss of a much-loved companion,” Coppola said. “His accomplishments in Cinema are extraordinary and unique. He is...

As Hollywood’s writers strike approaches its 100th day, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees said Monday it is donating $2 million to charities that provide financial support for entertainment workers who are facing financial difficulties due to the industry’s work stoppage.

This donation is in addition to the $2 million that IATSE donated this past June for worker support. The donation will be split between the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the Entertainment Community Fund and the Actors Fund of Canada.

“The painful effects of these work stoppages on our membership cannot be overstated. As difficult as these times are, we have heard time and again that our members understand that this fight had to happen, and their collective support for the Actors and Writers help ensure they will receive that same support when we return to the bargaining table ourselves,” IATSE International president Matthew D. Loeb said.

As Loeb noted,...

HBO’s “Succession” was a critical darling, so it’s probably befitting that the show would end its run with two final lauds from the Television Critics Assn. The 39th Annual TCA Awards — which canceled its in-person event this year due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes — released its list of winners on Monday, with “Succession” grabbing the prizes for program of the year, as well as outstanding achievement in drama (an award it also won in 2022 and 2020).

Other major winners included FX’s “The Bear,” which airs on Hulu. The series’ first season was honored as outstanding new program,...

“Succession” has been named Program of the Year by the Television Critics Association, the organization’s most prestigious award. The HBO darling also took home Outstanding Achievement in Drama, a TCA Awards category it won in both 2020 and 2022.

Kendall Roy and his family weren’t the only ones to walk away with two of the organization’s coveted 14 awards. FX’s dramedy “The Bear” won both Outstanding New Program and Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.

Overall, there were four networks and streamers that tied with two TCA Awards winners each. HBO won twice thanks to “Succession;” FX had two awards with “The Bear;” Netflix won twice for “Beef” and “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson;” and Disney+ won twice thanks to “Bluey” and “Ms. Marvel.”

Additionally, Amazon Freevee’s “Jury Duty” won Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming, Netflix’s “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson” won Outstanding Achievement in Variety,...

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Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short are ready to solve their biggest crime yet. “Only Murders in the Building” returns to Hulu on Tuesday, Aug. 8.

Hulu $7.99/Month Buy Now

Season 3 will follow Charles (Martin), Oliver (Short) and Mabel (Gomez) as they dig deeper into a murder that takes place behind the scenes of a Broadway show. Ben Glenroy’s (Paul Rudd) Broadway debut is shortened after his sudden death, in which Charles, Oliver and Mabel band together to investigate.

As Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” flies past $1 billion at the worldwide box office, the film has nabbed an official theatrical release in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Those are the two biggest regions in the Middle East in terms of overall theatrical box office. This follows a delay in several Middle Eastern countries from July 19 to Aug. 31.

That news spurred chatter that the Margot Robbie-Ryan Gosling blockbuster might get outright banned in the region. TheWrap has confirmed that it’s now set to open Thursday in Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The reason for the delay was reportedly related to LGBTQ-related narration and dialogue. While “Barbie” features several openly LGBTQ performers, such as Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp, Scott Evans and Hari Nef, the PG-13 feature contains little-to-no explicit LGBTQ content.

A Warner Bros. rep didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment...

On Monday’s episode of the “Jeopardy!” podcast “Inside Jeopardy!,” showrunner Michael Davies clarified how the trivia series would proceed with its fall season amid the ongoing WGA strike and announced a sweetening of the pot for second and third-place winners.

“I believe, principally, that it would not be fair to have new contestants making their first appearance on the Alex Trebek Stage with non-original material,” Davies said. “We’re going to open the season with a second chance tournament for players from Season 37 who lost their initial game. Winners from that will advance to a Season 37 and Season 38 Champions Wildcard.

Arthur Schmidt, 2-time Academy Award-winning editor and longtime collaborator of Robert Zemeckis, died this past Saturday at the age of 86, his brother Ron announced.

Schmidt’s four-decade career includes some of the biggest films of the late 20th Century, including Zemeckis’ “Back to the Future” trilogy, “Contact” and “Cast Away.” He also received his two Oscars for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” and “Forrest Gump,” the latter of which won Best Picture.

Born in Los Angeles, Schmidt’s career followed in the footsteps of his father, Arthur P. Schmidt, who also had a decorated editing career with films like “Ace in the Hole,” “Sabrina,” “Some Like It Hot,” and Billy Wilder’s legendary noir “Sunset Boulevard.”

The younger Schmidt’s career didn’t start until after his father’s death in 1965, working as an apprentice and assistant editor throughout the 1970s including on films like “Jaws 2.” His big breakthrough came...

With ruminating obscurity, the ambitious Negu Film Collective – which includes filmmakers Ekain Albite, Mikel Ibarguren, Nicolau Mallofré and Adrià Roca – works to explore the contradictions of a Basque conflict that weighs heavy on all that lived through it. Stakes, set in slow succession, portray reverberations of the era’s traumas.

With international sales and distribution in Spain handled by Madrid-based Begin Again Films (“21 Paraíso”), “Negu Hurbilak” marks the debut feature from the collective, whose prior Basque-shot short films “Erroitz” and “Laiotz” laid a solid foundation for its ever-expanding network of cineasts with an urge to unravel its incongruities.

A Catalan-Basque production between Barcelona’s Cornelius Films (“Frontera”) and San Sebastian-based Maluta Films (“Ainarak”), the project participated in the Atlantida Mallorca Talent Lab Wip Section in 2022 and is slated for its world premiere in Locarno’s Cineasti del Presente strand, that serves to discover talent.

Set in the moody border village of Zubieta,...

Yellow Veil Pictures and Vinegar Syndrome announced have co-acquired North American rights for “Riddle of Fire,” the feature debut of writer and director Weston Razooli. The movie follows three mischievous children as they embark on an odyssey when their mother asks them to run an errand.

The film was also an official selection at this year’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and will screen on the closing night of the Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness section. It stars Lio Tipton, Charles Halford, Charlie Stover, Skyler Peters, Phoebe Ferro, and Lorelei Olivia Mote. The film is produced by David Atrakchi, Sohrab Mirmont, Razooli and Tipton. Executive producers are Marlow Griffin Lyddon, Brendon Griffin Lyddon, David Wiener, Kate Wiener, Jay Van Hoy, Sophie Meister, and Donna Gruneich. Mister Smith Entertainment is handling worldwide sales.

This is the first time that the two distributors have partnered. Yellow Veil and Vinegar Syndrome are planning...

The Season 2 premiere of “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” has officially dropped, and some of the events that took place might have viewers wondering if they actually happened or not.

In the second season of “Winning Time,” greater risks are taken, big games are played and Paul Westhead (Jason Segel) rocks a new hairstyle. But did the show change up some of the real-life events they depicted in the show? These types of shows always take some creative liberties. But don’t worry, we made sure to lay out all the facts so you don’t have to. Don’t even think about opening up a Google search, it’s all here.

Here are all the facts and the fiction from Episode 1 of “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” Season 2.

Boston Celtics fans actually rocked the Lakers bus?

Yes, but it wasn’t after Game one.

Arthur Schmidt, the two-time Oscar-winning film editor who collaborated with director Robert Zemeckis on 10 films, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump and the Back to the Future trilogy, has died. He was 86.

Schmidt died Saturday of an unknown cause at his home in Santa Barbara, his brother Ron Schmidt told The Hollywood Reporter.

The second-generation film editor also cut three Mike Nichols features — The Fortune (1975), The Birdcage (1996) and Primary Colors (1998) — and two helmed by Michael Apted — Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), for which he received his first Oscar nom, and Firstborn (1984).

His résumé over four decades included work on Marathon Man (1976), Jaws 2 (1978), Ruthless People (1986), Beaches (1988), The Rocketeer (1991), The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Congo (1995), and he was brought in for three months to help tidy up the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie in 2003.

Schmidt received his Academy Awards in 1989 for Who Framed Roger Rabbit and in 1995 for Forrest Gump,...

The Venice Film Festival announced on Monday that it will honor Wes Anderson with the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award, a special honor given to “a personality who has made a particularly original contribution to the contemporary film industry.”

Anderson will receive the honor on Sept. 1 ahead of the premiere of his upcoming Netflix film, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.”

“Wes Anderson is one of the few directors whose unique and unmistakable style can be recognized with just one frame,” said Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera. “His formal universe harks back to a childlike and visionary aesthetic, dominated by pastel colors and obsessive care in preparing strictly symmetrical sequences populated by misfit dreamers who are incurably romantic and cheerful.”

Based on the Roald Dahl story of the same name, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” runs 37 minutes and follows a man who learns how to see without...

To promote the Aug. 17 return of Peacock’s Killing It, NBCUniversal is turning to other alternatives as star Craig Robinson remains barred from doing so amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

NBCUniversal announced Monday that the first three episodes of season one of the comedy from the duo behind Brooklyn Nine-Nine are now available to watch for free on YouTube and TikTok. The first two episodes of the series will also air Monday on USA Network, following the top-rated WWE Monday Night Raw.

The push to expose Killing It is part of a strategy that NBCUniversal — and likely other conglomerates — will use in order to promote both new and returning scripted shows as their central stars are unable to do so much as tweet in support of their work during the performers strike against Hollywood’s top studios and streamers. Other networks and streamers, meanwhile, have opted to push back premiere...

William Friedkin, the legendary director of iconic films including “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection” and a leading figure in the “New Hollywood” movement of the 1970s, has died at the age of 87.

Friedkin is best known as the director of two of the most successful Hollywood blockbusters of the early 1970s, “The French Connection” in 1971 (the first action movie to win Best Picture Oscar) and “The Exorcist” in 1973. Friedkin rose to prominence alongside the likes of Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola and Hal Ashby as a member of a new class of Hollywood auteurs.

His death was confirmed to TheWrap by family friend Stephen Galloway who spoke to Friedkin’s wife, Sherry Lansing, herself an iconic leader of Paramount Pictures for many years. No cause of death was provided.

Friedkin had recently completed “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” starring Keifer Sutherland and Jason Clarke. His now-final film will premiere in...

Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s “The Miracle Club” is making its way back to theaters across the United States on Aug. 18 via Sony Pictures Classics.

After making its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, “The Miracle Club” opened on July 14 in over 600 theaters across the U.S. and has grossed a total $1.73 million. “The Miracle Club” will return to the big screen in over 200 locations nationwide, playing through the end of the summer season.

The film stars Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Agnes O’Casey, who play three close friends with dreams of winning a pilgrimage to the French town of Lourdes. When their old friend Chrissie (Laura Linney) comes into town for her mother’s funeral, the women all band together to embark on their journey. “Along the way, old wounds are reopened, forcing the women to confront their pasts even as they travel in search of a miracle,” reads the film’s official logline.

“you’re full of hate and frustrations. you should take a break,” director Quentin Dupieux once tweeted at me, immediately following my review of his 2014 film “Reality.” In another world, someone might have advised him against picking a fight with a film critic. You know, never quarrel with a man who buys ink by the barrel, and all that. But I didn’t mind. I’d said some harsh things about his movie. Seems only fair that he could retort.

In Dupieux’s latest, “Yannick,” the title character is a critic. Like Dupieux, Yannick does the unthinkable, expressing his displeasure. In a way. That. Is. Not. Done. He opens his mouth during the show. And it’s hilarious — by challenging this incredibly specific (but seldom questioned) cultural taboo, he’s concocted both a ripe comedic premise and a chance to interrogate what audiences expect from art: Diversion? Entertainment? Uplift? Provocation?...

Director William Friedkin, best known for his Oscar-winning “The French Connection” and blockbuster “The Exorcist,” died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 87.

His death was confirmed by Chapman University dean Stephen Galloway, a friend of Friedkin’s wife Sherry Lansing.

His final film, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” starring Kiefer Sutherland, is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Along with Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola and Hal Ashby, Friedkin rose to A-list status in the 1970s, part of a new generation of vibrant, risk-taking filmmakers. Combining his experience in television, particularly in documentary film, with a cutting-edge style of editing, Friedkin brought a great deal of energy to the horror and police thriller genres in which he specialized.

“The French Connection” was an incredibly fast-paced and morally ambiguous tale, shot in documentary style and containing one of cinema’s most justifiably famous car chase sequences. “Connection” won several Oscars including best picture,...

Director William Friedkin, best known for his Oscar-winning “The French Connection” and blockbuster “The Exorcist,” died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 87.

His death was confirmed by Chapman University dean Stephen Galloway, a friend of Friedkin’s wife Sherry Lansing.

His final film, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” starring Kiefer Sutherland, is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Along with Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola and Hal Ashby, Friedkin rose to A-list status in the 1970s, part of a new generation of vibrant, risk-taking filmmakers. Combining his experience in television, particularly in documentary film, with a cutting-edge style of editing,...

For over 100 years, the Motion Picture & Television Fund has provided financial support and services to entertainment industry members in need of help. That need has never been greater as the actors strike stretches into its third week and the writers strike into its third month — both with no end in sight and thousands unable to work.

To support the fund, Max Greenfield, Darren Criss, Colman Domingo, Yvette Nicole Brown and Harry Shum Jr. joined hundreds of guests on the Neuhouse Hollywood rooftop on Sunday night for the MPTF Next Gen Summer Party.

While the mood was festive, the strikes and their implications for Hollywood were never far from anyone’s mind.

“There are people who have asked, ‘Why are you going to a party?’ But we need this funding to be able to help people,” explained Brown. “I was talking to [MPTF president] Bob Beitcher, who said that the fund was...

The lineup for Docu Talents From the East – a showcase of standout documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe that are in post-production – has been unveiled.

Eight documentary projects will be presented on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Film Festival. The event is part of CineLink Industry Day, the festival’s program for film and TV professionals.

The most promising project will receive the Docu Talent Award in cooperation with Current Time TV. The award is accompanied by a cash prize of $5,000. The DAFilms.com Distribution Award will cover services worth €3,000, including an international VOD release on DAFilms.com for two years. The awards ceremony will take place on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Producers’ Hub.

Marek Hovorka, director of the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, which organizes and curates Docu Talents, said: “The protagonists of the presented films are exploring their family roots and cultural background, striving for a fairer and more open world,...

Amid two Hollywood strikes, “The View” host Whoopi Goldberg has explained to fans a few times a week why and how the show has continued on. So, why are the ladies suddenly off the air? Worry not, it’s just vacation time.

Season 26 of the ABC talk show concluded on Friday, August 4, sending the hosts on their regularly scheduled summer break.

When the WGA first went on strike back in May, Whoopi kicked off the next day’s show by telling viewers that they were “gonna hear how it would be when it’s not, you know, slicked up,” and noted that they continued with the show “because we want to keep everybody employed, and we want to do our best, and we support our writers ’cause we know what they’re going through.”

Then, when SAG joined the strike in July, Whoopi clarified that “The View” operates under the network code,...

Gal Gadot has made her fair share of action films, from her role as the Amazonian princess Diana in “Wonder Woman” and the DC universe to Netflix’s “Red Notice” to the long-running “Fast and Furious” franchise. But after those films, Gadot was eager to do more in the action space — specifically from a female point of view. So she willed “Heart of Stone” into being.

With Gadot’s new Netflix movie, the actress and producer on the project wanted to do more. “I grew up watching ‘Bond,’ and ‘Mission: [Impossible],’ and ‘Bourne Identity’ and ‘Die Hard,'” Gadot told TheWrap in an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike. “I love these movies. I love the action, and the twists and turns and drama, the scope. I want to make movies that the audience can come in and we can take them through a journey for two hours, and make...

Will Smith told Kevin Hart on a new episode of Peacock’s “Hart to Heart” talk show that he “went too far” as an actor while portraying a slave in the Apple drama “Emancipation.” The film, Smith’s first release after the notorious Oscars slap, centered on the true story of a runaway slave named Peter, a photograph of whom became a rallying call for the abolition of slavery as it depicted his mutilated back scars from several whippings.

“I went too far in ‘Emancipation,’” Smith said. “Just bringing it up, I start to get teary. I wanted to feel the degradation of slavery, and I went too far in. That level of human brutality… I had the chains on my neck and we were working. I wanted the real weight of them. I wanted real chains. They put it on my neck and they were fitting it for size...

WWE held the most successful SummerSlam in company history on Saturday, Aug. 5. The event has become the highest-grossing and most-watched iteration of SummerSlam ever.

Variety can exclusively reveal this series of behind-the-scenes photos from the event, highlighting WWE Superstars before and after their matches. The card was anchored by Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns going head-to-head against his cousin Jey Uso in Tribal Combat. Other matches on the card included Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins vs. Finn Bálor for the World Heavyweight Championship, and Logan Paul vs. Ricochet.

With a total attendance of 59,194 at Ford Field in Detroit,...

Get ready, Bachelor Nation, you know what time it is.

After sending Aaron home in a heart-wrenching goodbye after their hometown date, Charity must decide if she has the strongest connection with Joey, Xavier or Dotun as this season of “The Bachelorette” gears up for a potential engagement in just a few weeks.

In an exclusive clip from this week’s fantasy suites, Charity pulls up to her one-on-one date with Joey in style, cruising in an Atv.

“It’s great to see Charity,” Joey says in the clip. “Seeing her, seeing her smile — all the feelings come rushing back. I just want to have a full day of fun.”

After not seeing each other since the rose ceremony after hometowns, the pair embrace and Charity tells Joey she has a “super fun date” planned for them. “I can tell,” Joey responds. “That looks like the right way to get around.