Jesse Eisenberg’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning “A Real Pain” has added a few more cast members.

Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu and Bernadette Peters have joined the untitled musical comedy, which stars Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti and Eisenberg. The film, which started production in April, also features Eldar Isgandarov, Bonnie Milligan, Colton Ryan, Lilli Cooper and Maulik Pancholy.

Moore plays a “shy woman who is unexpectedly cast in a community theater musical production, going to extremes as she loses herself in the role,” according to the logline. A24 has boarded the film, which hails from Topic Studios and Emma Stone’s Fruit Tree.

Eisenberg wrote the original music and lyrics for the film’s musical. Steven Gizicki is the music supervisor, and Bill Sherman (“In the Heights”) is the executive music producer. Choreography is by Andy Blankenbuehler (“Hamilton”), and Drew Daniels (“Anora”) is the cinematographer.

Fruit Tree’s Emma Stone,...

“Rebuilding,” a drama starring Josh O’Connor as a cowboy who loses his ranch to wildfires, has sold U.S. rights to Bleecker Street. The film premiered at Sundance and will debut in theaters later this year.

Max Walker-Silverman directed “Rebuilding,” which follows Dusty, a rancher who is forced into a Fema camp and unexpectedly reconnects with his estranged daughter and ex-wife while reconstructing his life alongside fellow survivors. Lily Latorre (“Run Rabbit Run”), Meghann Fahy (“The White Lotus”), Kali Reis (“True Detective”) and Amy Madigan (“Field of Dreams”) round out the cast.

Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman praised the performance of O’Connor, a 34-year-old British actor best known for “The Crown” and “Challengers.” In his review, Gleiberman wrote, “He’s an authentic presence, scraggly and taciturn in a soulful way, and he communicates the quiet anguish at the heart of Dusty, a character who has lost everything.

Iconic Hong Kong director Tsui Hark will be celebrated with a lifetime achievement award at Italy’s Far East Film Festival in Udine, where his latest film “Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants” will have its international festival premiere.

Tsui will receive Udine’s Golden Mulberry Award from Tony Leung Ka-fai, best known for his roles in Jean-Jacques Annaud’s “The Lover” based on the Marguerite Duras novel and Johnnie To’s “Election” and appears in “Legends of the Condor Heroes.”

Tsui, who is considered the leading figure of Hong Kong’s New Wave of the 1980s and has been dubbed Asia’s Spielberg, is best known for his “Once Upon a Time in China” saga and “Detective Dee” film series, among other titles. His more recent blockbuster action movies — prior to “”Legends of the Condor Heroes” — include “Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back” and “The Battle at Lake Changjin.

For the first time ever in Nielsen’s monthly Gauge reports, the 1o most-watched streaming titles were distributed by seven different platforms: Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Max, Paramount+ Netflix and Apple TV+.

Those titles included “Reacher” with 6.6 billion viewing minutes; “Family Guy” with 4.8 billion viewing minutes; “Bluey” with 4.8 billion viewing minutes; “The White Lotus” with 4.5 billion viewing minutes; “1923” and “Moana 2” with 3.9 billion viewing minutes each; “Running Point” with 3.7 billion viewing minutes; “Love is Blind” with 3.5 billion viewing minutes; and “Adolescence” and “Severance” with 3.3 billion viewing minutes each.

The new releases boosted streaming’s total share of TV viewing to 43.8%, despite a 6% month-over-month decline in overall time spent watching TV due to seasonality.

Source: Nielsen

When taking a closer look by platform, YouTube continued to extend its lead with a record share of 12% for the month, despite lower viewing levels compared to February, followed by Netflix with 7.9%. Disney, which...

“This is a perfect time for Richard Pryor,” says Jennifer Lee Pryor, the late comedian’s widow. “I’m just very excited and happy that we’re getting this out there.”

She’s referring to an ambitious new box set from Rhino, bringing together seven of Pryor’s seminal comedy albums from his years at Warner Records.

Among the reissues on Richard Pryor — I Hope I’m Funny: The Warner Albums (1974-1983) are albums like …Is It Something I Said?, Wanted/Richard Pryor Live in Concert, Live on the Sunset Strip and Here and Now.

Several took Grammy Awards for comedy album of the year.

A fearless and searingly funny supernova of comedy, Pryor changed the face of stand-up by infusing social commentary — on racism, yes, but other societal ills like personal trauma and addiction — into his masterful comedic storytelling.

“There was never one before him and never one after,...

A Palestinian artist and photojournalist who is the protagonist of a documentary due to premiere in Cannes in May has been killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Fatma Hassouna, a Palestinian photojournalist and artist and a protagonist in Sepideh Farsi’s Cannes-bound documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, was killed Wednesday by a direct Israeli military strike on her family home in Gaza City.

The attack occurred just 24 hours after Cannes’ sidebar section Acid announced it had picked Farsi’s film for its 2025 selection. Hassouna died in the attack, along with nine members of her family.

“We, filmmakers and members of the Acid team, met Fatma Hassona when we discovered Sepideh Farsi’s film Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, during the Cannes program,” Acid posted on Instagram Thursday. “Her smile was as magical as her tenacity: Bearing witness, photographing Gaza, distributing food despite bombs, grief and hunger.

After pulling the box office out of its slump with “A Minecraft Movie,” Warner Bros. is now taking a roll of the dice with the ambitious, original horror film “Sinners,” whose box office fortunes hinge in good part on how much the cultural legacy of “Black Panther” has permanently rubbed off on its writer-director, Ryan Coogler.

“Sinners” is Coogler’s first original film since his feature debut “Fruitvale Station,” after which he went on to launch the “Rocky” spinoff series “Creed” and then lead Marvel Studios to its first Best Picture nomination with “Black Panther” in 2018. His 2022 sequel, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” earned a less enthusiastic reception from critics and audiences but was still widely praised for how it paid tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman.

Coogler now brings to theaters a deeply personal tale of a pair of twin brothers, both played by the filmmaker’s longtime collaborator Michael B. Jordan,...

While TV shows have historically been wary of hitting the dreaded sophomore slump — when buzz for a new title wanes in its second season — big shows like “The Last of Us,” “1923” and “Severance” are proving Hollywood may be entering an age of sophomore surges instead.

“The Last of Us” Season 2 debuted to 5.3 million viewers across Max and HBO on Sunday night — up 13% from the series premiere in 2023, which brought in 4.7 million viewers.

Season 1 saw significant growth as it aired, with its second episode growing 21% to reach 5.7 million viewers and the Season 1 finale scoring 8.2 million viewers. It’s likely that “The Last of Us” Season 2 will enjoy similar momentum, especially as a major twist from the video game series is sure to keep viewers engaged — unless some fans are turned off by its aftermath.

Christopher Smith for TheWrap

Likewise, “1923” closed out its sophomore season with the biggest audience the show has ever seen.

“The Sandman” will come to its “thrilling conclusion” this summer on Netflix with a two-part drop for its second and final season, the streamer revealed Thursday.

Netflix has decided to split Season 2 into two volumes, the first consisting of six episodes launching on July 3, and the second being five episodes releasing on July 24.

Along with the premiere date announcement, Netflix unveiled the first teaser trailer for “The Sandman” final season, which teases a big reunion for Dream (Tom Sturridge) and his family of Endless siblings. The teaser can be seen below.

As Variety previously reported, Netflix and “The Sandman” showrunner...

Netflix’s adaptation of the acclaimed comic book series “The Sandman” is coming to an end with the upcoming second season — and now we know precisely when the end is coming.

The concluding installment of the epic fantasy drama will premiere in two parts this July. The first batch of six episodes, designated “Volume 1,” will premiere July 3. The five-episode “Volume 2” premieres later that month on July 24.

Along with the season premiere dates, Netflix also released a chilling new teaser, which you can watch below:

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Based on the acclaimed 1989-1996 comic book series by Neil Gaiman (who served as an executive producer on the series but has since been sidelined by accusations of sexual misconduct), “The Sandman” tells the story of The Endless, anthropomorphic embodiments of certain basic aspects of existence.

For instance, Dream lives in the world living...

Major news in the long-awaited return of Netflix’s The Sandman.

The streamer has released a teaser trailer (below) for the second and final season of the fantasy series, which stars Tom Sturridge as Dream. There’s also a premiere date — well, actually, two launch dates, as Netflix has decided to split the roll out of the second season into two parts.

Volume 1 will comprise six episodes to debut July 3, while Volume 2 will have five episodes premiering July 24. It’s a strategy Netflix usually reserves for its highest-profile titles (such as Stranger Things).

Here’s the official description: “After a fateful reunion with his family, Dream of the Endless (Tom Sturridge) must face one impossible decision after another as he attempts to save himself, his kingdom, and the waking world from the epic fallout of his past misdeeds. To make amends, Dream must confront longtime friends and foes, gods, monsters,...

Three Chinese films are in competition at the 15th Beijing International Film Festival’s flagship Tiantan Awards, each bringing unique perspectives on human connection, justice, and survival to the screen.

“Better Me, Better You”: A Song to Female Resilience

Mahua FunAge’s breakthrough female-focused drama “Better Me, Better You,” directed by Hao Ming and Li Peiran, represents a new direction for the hitherto comedy-focused group. The film stars Ma Li, who also serves as producer, portraying Bai Liping, a caregiver from Northeast China fleeing domestic violence.

“What initially attracted me was the touching relationship between the two female characters in the story,” Ma tells Variety. “Bai Liping, the nanny, and Tang Shuyin, the retired teacher, have completely different identities and backgrounds and would normally have no intersection.”

The story follows Bai’s journey to Beijing where she encounters Tang Shuyin (played by Zhao Shuzhen), a lonely elderly woman. Their...

The 15th Beijing International Film Festival is set to spotlight the growing global reach of Chinese cinema with its “Overseas Distribution and Promotion of Chinese Films” initiative, featuring awards and a high-profile industry forum.

The event will recognize key players who have championed Chinese films in international markets, with industry veteran Arun Kapoor scheduled for a separate award presentation acknowledging his pioneering contributions spanning over five decades.

Kapoor, whose passion for film was inherited from his father O.P. Kapoor – one of India’s first film exhibitors in the 1960s – began distributing films in Latin America at age 20, using Peru as his operational base. Over his career, he has produced more than 30 films and expanded over 150 movie screens. His distribution portfolio includes more than 50 Chinese titles such as “High Forces,” “The Rescue,” “Come Back Home,” “Ride On,” and “The Climbers.”

The Kapoor family legacy continues through his son, Aman Kapoor,...

As the 15th Beijing International Film Festival (Bjiff) commences on April 18, the annual event is presenting an array of riches for cinephiles and industry professionals alike, marking a trifecta of milestones: the 130th anniversary of world cinema, the 120th anniversary of Chinese cinema, and the festival’s own 15th year.

Headlining this year’s Workshop & Masterclass series is a triumvirate of cinematic heavyweights. French acting legend Isabelle Huppert, who has appeared in over 100 films and earned multiple accolades including best actress at Cannes for “The Piano Teacher” and a Golden Globe for “Elle,” will explore “The Undercurrent Beneath the Ice” – an examination of her distinctive artistic approach that has made her a force in European cinema. The masterclass promises insights into her celebrated collaborations with directors like Claude Chabrol and Michael Haneke.

Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke, whose works like “Still Life” and “Ash Is Purest White” have earned him acclaim at Cannes and Venice,...

Malaysia has scored a historic first at the Cannes Film Festival with Ananth Subramaniam’s “Bleat!” selected to compete at the Critics’ Week, marking the first time a Malaysian short has been invited to the festival.

“Bleat!,” a co-production between Malaysia, the Philippines and France, tells the story of an elderly Malaysian-Tamil couple who discover their male goat, destined for ceremonial slaughter, is pregnant. The couple faces a spiritual and cultural dilemma: proceed with the ritual or risk divine consequences.

Set within Malaysia’s Tamil minority community, the 15-minute comedy-drama-fantastic hybrid features Tharmasegaran Maniam, Pannerselvam Evarani, and Dhanesh Alagarsu, with “Big Boy” playing the goat at the center of the moral quandary.

The selection represents a milestone for Malaysian cinema, which has seen four features premiere at Cannes previously: “Tiger Stripes” (2023), “The Tiger Factory” (2010), “Karaoke” (2009) and “Kaki Bakar” (The Arsonist) (1995).

“I’ve always had an inescapable feeling about my Malaysian-Tamil culture,...

Sebastián González and Amílcar Infante’s debut feature documentary, “Si vas para Chile” (Unwelcomed), has been acquired for worldwide distribution by boutique documentary label Jambika Docs, ahead of its world premiere in the International Competition section at Hot Docs.

Set against the backdrop of northern Chile’s most violent anti-immigration protest, “Unwelcomed” journeys through the majestic Andean Highlands, Atacama Desert, and coastal settlements to reveal the human face of Latin America’s largest migration crisis.

With nearly 8 million Venezuelans displaced—the second-largest migration globally and the largest ever within South America—the film captures rising tensions, cultural clashes, and radicalization in Chile’s border communities.

“We’re incredibly proud to be wrapping our first feature with the beautiful news of our selection at Hot Docs,” Infante said. “This gives us so much motivation for the upcoming phase of circulation, with the hope that the film continues to grow and reach new territories and audiences,...

The Match Factory has boarded international sales for “Twelve Moons,” the feature debut of Mexican filmmaker Victoria Franco, set to premiere in the International Narrative Competition at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

The film stars acclaimed Mexican actress Ana de la Reguera, whose career bridges Hollywood and Latin American cinema, alongside Ariel Award winner Enrique Arreola (“Duck Season”).

Set in Mexico City, “Twelve Moons” follows a woman’s emotional reckoning in the wake of profound personal loss.

The film follows Sofia, a 40-year-old architect, who has suffered a devastating loss, and must navigate through her complex emotions while trying to stay true to herself. As she struggles with her fertility and identity as a woman, both her personal and professional life begin to deteriorate forcing her to look inward to find the light that will lead her forward.

Franco said, “I want to portray someone who doesn’t fit...

Oscar-nominated actors Sandra Hüller and Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) are set to star in Goran Stolevski’s “True-ish,” a satirical drama which marks his follow-up to “Housekeeping for Beginners.”

Charades and New Europe Film Sales have acquired international rights to “True-ish,” while UTA Independent Film Group will represent North American rights. The hot project will be presented to buyers at the Cannes Film Market.

Currently in production, “True-ish” follows Janet Paine, a well-intentioned but deeply insecure Manhattan PR executive with a specialty for smear campaigns. “A toxic build-up of stress, alcohol and miscommunication leads to her relocation to the Balkans for a job that sounds noble — director of outreach at a ‘peace lab’ — but in reality involves generating fake news to target political regimes on the fringes of the EU,” the film’s synopsis reads. “Desperate to make amends for past mistakes and show initiative, she ends up staging footage...

Cannes’ Annecy Animation Showcase has become an annual appetizer to June’s Annecy Festival, the year’s main course for all things animation. Today, the event, co-organized by the Marché du Film and Annecy Festival, has unveiled the five titles to be highlighted at its 2025 edition, held on May 18 as part of Cannes’ Animation Day.

The Showcase is more than just a preview; it’s a vital bridge between animation’s artistic ambitions and the industry that facilitates their execution and brings the finished productions to audiences around the world. By spotlighting films in development and production, the showcase supports creators at a pivotal moment in their journey and gives sales agents and distributors an early look at titles that could elevate their future portfolios.

This year’s five titles represent a wide spectrum of voices, from emerging talents to seasoned auteurs, from independent studios to international collaborations. Whether through deeply personal stories,...

“Bridgerton” breakout Simon Ashley, Apple TV+’s “Surface” lead star Gugu Mbatha-Raw and the USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative founder Dr. Stacy L. Smith are set to lead the lineup at the upcoming Women in Film Conference, to be held at Oxford University.

The day-long event at the university’s Sheldonian Theater will, according to organizers, celebrate change and urge further progress.

Ashley, recently seen in Amazon Prime’s “Picture This,” will be interviewed on stage by Smith, whose Annenberg Inclusion Initiative is co-sponsoring the event alongside Oxford University’s Cultural Programme and the Ghetto Film School.

“Simone is a multi-hyphenate who is clearly the future of the entertainment industry,” said Smith. “As we celebrate women’s work across entertainment, Simone’s voice represents the newest and next generation of leaders. Giving her the stage to talk about her career, her ambitions, and her vision of success will undoubtedly inspire...

The Beijing International Film Festival has developed a reputation for putting a spotlight on female voices in cinema.

Its 15th edition, running April 18-26, is continuing that trend with its sixth annual “Women’s Voice” section, featuring the likes of Walter Salles’ Oscar winner I’m Still Here, the political autobiographical drama starring Fernanda Torres as a Brazilian woman whose dissident husband disappears, and Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, his depression comedy-drama with Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

“In recent years, female creators and their stories have continued to emerge, and the voices of women on screen have become more diverse and powerful,” the Beijing festival highlights. “These works continue to break boundaries in form and theme, bringing us richer and more multidimensional female expressions.”

This year’s lineup “brings together masters and emerging creators from all over the world” who “show the complex faces of women” in various situations. “This is not only a cinematic feast,...

It was around perhaps the third episode of Ransom Canyon that I finally realized what Netflix’s new Western-themed romantic drama reminded me of: Varsity Valley. Which, to be clear, is not some cheesy primetime soap but a parody of one — specifically, the one that plays in the foreground of Saturday Night Live’s “Waffle House” sketch, while absolute mayhem reigns in the background. In other words, it’s a “show” made specifically to be ignored, generic enough to slide right off your brain but familiar enough that you get the basic idea anyway.

Ransom Canyon, though it is a real series, feels much the same. It is featureless and formulaic, happy to borrow just a fraction of your attention while you mostly focus on other things. This is not entirely a net negative, or at least not for everyone; background shows can have their place in an omnivorous TV diet.

A second trailer for Danny Boyle’s long-awaited zombie-horror thriller 28 Years Later has been released.

Below is Columbia Pictures’ official second trailer for the film, which returns fans to a post-apocalyptic U.K. plagued by the infected undead. Writer Alex Garland (Civil War) has teamed with the Oscar-winning Boyle for the first of two sequels.

The official description: “It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders and horrors that have mutated not only the infected, but other survivors as well.”

The film 28 Years Later stars Jodie Comer,...

Drake has filed an amended complaint in his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group, alleging that Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime show in February “assassinated” his character, and that the performance and the Grammy wins for “Not Like Us” “introduced new listeners to the Recording, causing even more people to be duped into believing that Drake was a pedophile.”

In the amended complaint, filed Wednesday night and reviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, Drake alleged that the Super Bowl performance — and Lamar omitting the word “pedophile” during “Not Like Us” — affirmed his claim that the song’s lyrics were defamatory. (While Lamar didn’t say the word pedophile, he did still perform similarly suggestive lyrics, like the line stating that “I hear you like ‘em young.”)

“No other modifications were made,” Drake’s suit said. “On information and belief, Kendrick Lamar would not have been permitted to perform during the...

Spoiler Alert: This article contains major spoilers from the Season 4 finale of “Abbott Elementary,” which aired Wednesday on ABC and streams Thursday on Hulu.

While “Abbott Elementary’s” Janine (show creator and star Quinta Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) are going strong in their relationship, that doesn’t mean that impersonating each other in one humorous sequence during the Season 4 finale came easily for the actors who play them.

The episode, titled “Please Touch Museum,” follows Abbott’s teachers and students on a field trip to the hands-on Philadelphia museum, which is “for babies,” according to the school’s sullen eighth graders.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr took aim at CNN and MSNBC, deeming their coverage of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation “news distortion.”

On Wednesday, Carr took to X to share his thoughts about how the Comcast outlets were covering the Garcia situation, responding to a post by White House director of communications assistant Steven Cheung.

“Comcast outlets spent days misleading the American public—implying that Abrego Garcia was merely a law abiding U.S. citizen, just a regular ‘Maryland man,'” Carr wrote. “When the truth comes out, they ignore it. Comcast knows that federal law requires its licensed operations to serve the public interest.

Ben Affleck is happy to bring back Jon Bernthal for his upcoming action sequel, “The Accountant 2,” but he wants nothing to do with Bernthal’s “Daredevil” villain Frank Castle, aka The Punisher.

In a recent sitdown with CinemaBlend, Affleck, who played the titular vigilantly in 2003’s “Daredevil,” discussed how Marvel has evolved into the box office titan we know today. He also shared his thoughts about the studio’s most recent series, “Daredevil: Born Again,” which sees Bernthal return as The Punisher.

“Well, his Punisher is good,” Affleck said. “’Daredevil’ was an interesting story. It was before Kevin Feige...

Spoiler Alert: This interview contains spoilers for the Season 4 finale of “Abbott Elementary.”

Four years in, the “Abbott Elementary” field trip episode is a time-honored tradition. Except for Season 3, when the field trip was the penultimate episode, each of the ABC sitcom’s season finales has taken place off-campus, where the teachers and students run into problems and feelings that don’t normally come up in the classroom.

This year, the group ventured to Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum, a collection of interactive exhibits that allow kids to get their hands dirty, safe from most museum’s “please don’t touch” ethos.

Note: This story contains spoilers from “Abbott Elementary” Season 4, Episode 22.

After “Abbott Elementary” shook up dynamics with Ava’s firing earlier this season, the Season 4 finale restored Ava back to her rightful place: Behind the principal’s desk.

As soon as Ava (Janelle James) returns as principal, she begins her “second term” by instituting a number of questionable executive orders, which showrunners Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker said Ava likely heard in the zeitgeist in the midst of Trump’s recent slew of executive orders and begin using the term herself. Despite getting right back to her shenanigans, it’s undeniable that some character growth happened during her time away from Abbott.

“She certainly made strides in her job and what she cares about — she made this decision to come back to the school, even though she obviously could have made more money elsewhere, so that’s certainly character growth,...

Spoilers ahead for “The Masked Singer” and Paparazzo’s identity

Matthew Lawrence has never really been known to sing or dance in his work, but if you were a fan of “Boy Meets World,” you might remember an episode where he definitely did a major choreographed performance. And according to the actor, it might’ve helped him on “The Masked Singer.”

Indeed, Lawrence was eliminated from the Fox singing competition on Wednesday night, and revealed to be the voice under the Paparazzo mask. It makes him the second Lawrence brother to compete on the show, after his brother Joey Lawrence was revealed as Walrus back in season 8.

Looking back on his career, Matthew Lawrence concedes that there have never been many songs or dances for him — intentionally so. But, when asked if performing a dance to Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” with the men of “Boy Meets World” back in...

“Government Cheese” has officially landed on Apple TV+, and it features a star-studded cast alongside its lead, David Oyelowo.

The series hails from creators Paul Hunter and Aeysha Carr and boasts “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” star David Oyelowo, who also executive produces the series. It follows the series of quirky adventures a newly-released prisoner named Hampton Chambers gets into as he embarks on a mission to reinvent himself and reconnect with his family.

The show is based on an original short film by Hunter, which he and Oyelowo took to MacRo and Apple Studios.

Other key stars in the show include Djilali Rez-Kallah

Claude, Jean-Michel Richaud, London Garcia, Louis Cancelmi, Jeremy Bobb, Sunita Mani and more, but here’s the core cast to look out for when you watch!

Here’s the main cast.

David Oyelowo in “Government Cheese” (Apple TV+) David Oyelowo as Hampton Chambers

David Oyelowo stars as Hampton Chambers,...

On April 17, 2024, under the darkness of early morning, a group of Columbia University students set up camp on Butler Lawn, a grassy area in the middle of campus. They pitched tents, gathered provisions and laid out homemade signs that declared the small patch a “liberated zone.” According to students interviewed in Kei Pritsker and Michael T. Workman’s propulsive new documentary The Encampments, campus organizers had been petitioning the administration to divest from Israel, but their requests were ignored and participation in peaceful protests criminalized. They needed to try something new, to make it harder for the university to dismiss their concerns.

Released by Watermelon Pictures and executive produced by Macklemore, The Encampments chronicles how students at Columbia ignited a far-reaching and influential solidarity movement last spring. Their encampment inspired peers on college campuses across the United States and around the world to stand with Palestinians in Gaza and urge...

Hailee Steinfeld fans aren’t the only ones missing her music.

The actress-singer, known for her hit songs “Starving,” “Love Myself” and “Most Girls,” recently told Collider that while she’s enjoyed focusing on her acting career in recent years, she’s also missing the music world.

“I had taken a bit of a break from music, which was a very difficult decision to make, but I wanted to focus on my acting and was happy to be doing that,” she said. “It goes without saying, but…music is a love of mine and a huge passion and something that has played a very strong role in my life in more ways than one, and having had the opportunity to make music through the years of my own is something I will never take for granted.”

Steinfeld, who has previously starred in Pitch Perfect 3 and True Grit, the latter...

In 2017, when a nurse came into the room and told my wife and I that our son Noah, who was 2 at the time, was autistic the words didn’t destroy us. What they did was wipe away the fog of uncertainty, and provide a game plan that would have him receiving all the support he needs.

Which is why, nearly eight years later, hearing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — now the secretary of Health and Human Services — stand at a podium and describe children like my son as part of an “autism epidemic,” allegedly caused by unnamed “environmental toxins,” feels like whiplash.

“Government Cheese” has officially landed on Apple TV+, and TheWrap is here to give you the deets on how to watch.

The series hails from creators Paul Hunter and Aeysha Carr and boasts “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” star David Oyelowo, who also executive produces the series. The show is based on an original short film by Hunter, which he and Oyelowo took to MacRo and Apple Studios.

Here’s everything you need to know about the series plus where and when to watch.

When does “Government Cheese” premiere?

“Government Cheese” makes it premiere on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, April 16.

When do new episodes air?

The first four episodes of “Government Cheese” drop on Wednesday, April 16, and new episodes are set to air weekly on Wednesdays after the premiere.

“Government Cheese” Season 1 Episode Release Schedule:

There’s a total of 10 episodes in the first season; the Season 1 finale will air on May 28. Here’s a full outline.

George R.R. Martin is exhausted by the constant check-ins on the progress of his long forthcoming “A Song of Fire and Ice” novel “The Winds of Winter.”

While talking to Time in a recent interview, Martin was asked about comments made a week ago where the author posed with the real-life direwolves that made a comeback thanks to developments in biotech. Online jabs like “We got real dire wolves before ‘Winds of Winter'” left him frustrated.

“That’s the curse of my life,” Martin said. “There’s no doubt ‘Winds of Winter’ is 13 years late. I’m still working on it. I have periods where I make progress and then other things divert my attention and suddenly I have a deadline for one of the HBO shows, I have something else to do.”

One of those things is helping the development of the HBO “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon.

Fyre Festival 2 isn’t going as planned (for the second time).

The second coming of the ill-fated music festival has reportedly been postponed by organizers. “The event has been postponed and a new date will be announced. We have issued you a refund. Once the new date is announced, at that time, you can repurchase if it works for your schedule,” read a message sent to ticket holders, ABC News reported.

The festival was initially set to take place May 30 to June 2, 2025, with tickets ranging from $1,400 to $25,000, as well as a $1 million package.

Days after tickets went on sale in February, the festival — allegedly happening on Isla Mujeres, an island off the coast of Mexico — was already met with obstacles. The local tourism board claimed they “have no knowledge of this event,” while festival founder Billy McFarland said he and his partners “have remained in communication with local and state...

Last fall, NBA great Jayson Tatum did something he’d never done before: Attend a runway show during New York Fashion Week.

“These are things I never really thought I would be a part of or be introduced to,” the Boston Celtics superstar told The Hollywood Reporter of sitting front row thanks to Coach. “Now it’s about living in this space, so I’m really kind of excited to see where things continue to take me so I can learn and be a part of new experiences.”

Another new experience arrived this week — on the eve of the NBA playoffs, no less — as Tatum teamed with Coach once again, this time to help the fashion brand launch its latest fragrance. Tatum is the face of Coach’s For Men Eau de Parfum, a scent crafted by perfumer Juliette Karagueuzoglou and described as the “house’s boldest scent yet.” The...

All Elite Wrestling (Aew) and its weekly Wednesday night show “Dynamite” are set to pass a major milestone in the pro wrestling world.

The April 16 episode of “Dynamite” on TBS will mark the show’s 289th, meaning it has officially aired longer than the 288 episodes produced by WCW’s “Monday Nitro,” which aired on fellow Turner network TNT from 1995-2001.

“It had a major influence on anyone that was watching wrestling at that time,” Aew president, CEO and general manager Tony Khan said of “Nitro” in an interview with Variety. “Some of the real highlights of ’90s professional wrestling happened on that show.

Spoilers ahead for “The Studio” Episode 5

Heading into “The Studio,” there was one episode that series star Ike Barinholtz was dreading. Funnily enough, “The War” is also one of the few episodes that almost completely revolves around Barinholtz’s Sal Saperstein.

“The thing that we did a couple of times that Ike wasn’t thrilled about was the chili,” series creator and star Seth Rogen told TheWrap.

“The War” focuses on just that — a war between two Continental employees who are both close with newly appointed studio head Matt Remick (Rogen). Matt’s longtime friend Sal and his former assistant Quinn (Chase Sui Wonders) come from two very different schools of thought. While Quinn is aligned with Matt’s vision to make great art, Sal is more interested in money-making blockbuster hits. Throughout the season, the two repeatedly butt heads, but “The War” is entirely devoted to their rivalry as...

Joseph “Joe” Dea, a music video director, reality TV director and four-time Emmy winner, died Sunday of glioblastoma in Alameda, Calif. He was 71.

Always an early adopter of cutting-edge visual technology, Dea’s fascination with the blend of painting and cinematic technique began at the University of Hartford’s Hartford Art School. His first forays into video art in the late 1970s were exhibited at New York’s Whitney Museum, The Kitchen and Global Village; later he joined San Francisco’s video collective, The Optic Nerve.

While in San Francisco, he became a founding member of Videowest, the groundbreaking comedy,...

There hasn’t been any shortage of music documentaries on big screens lately, but most are presented as special events that come in and out for one or two nights on a weekend, without settling in for a regular run. The Sony Classics release “Becoming Led Zeppelin,” though, has defied expectations of what a modern rock doc can do in cinemas, on its way to finding the favor of fans as a home video hit, too. Its success is, well, highly becoming.

Director Bernard MacMahon sat down with Variety to talk about the long process of making and then finding a buyer for the film, admitting there were plenty of companies that turned it down. The objections were plentiful, as he recalls it, when he and producer Allison McGourty were touring executive suites. But maybe most curious of all, to those who didn’t get the film, is that it...

Warner Bros. will collect more eggs than any other studio at the Easter weekend box office, between smash sensation A Minecraft Movie and Ryan Coogler’s critically acclaimed original film Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan.

The big question: Which film will win the race? Warners, trying to manage expectations, is targeting an opening in the $35 million to $40 million range for Sinners. There’s reason to be circumspect, considering the film is an R-rated, period supernatural vampire pic. Tracking services are more bullish in suggesting $40 million to $45 million, while rival studios think Sinners’ launch could end up north of $50 million.

A Minecraft Movie, produced and co-financed by Legendary, should easily earn $40 million to $45 million in its third outing as it jumps the $600 million mark globally, including $300 million domestically. The film is on its way to becoming one of the top video game adaptations of all time, and is already the top-grossing...

With jury selection underway in Harvey Weinstein’s New York retrial, his lawyers pleaded Wednesday with the judge to allow the disgraced movie mogul to spend his nights at Bellvue Hospital instead of Rikers Island, arguing that the stress and rigors of daily court appearances will derail his failing health.

Their urgent appeal came on the second day of jury selection, arguing that conditions in the notorious city jail are worsening Weinstein’s growing list of dire health issues. Weinstein attorney Imran Ansari’s Tuesday night filing added a tongue infection and 20-pound weight gain to the roll of serious failings her client is dealing with, including chronic myeloid leukemia, heart issues, diabetes, sleep apnea, sciatica and walking ability limitations.

For months, Weinstein’s attorneys have been reporting these issues to the judge as new problems have prompted several short- and longer-term visits to Bellevue, including heart surgery.

Ansari wrote...

Natalie Portman told Jenna Ortega during a discussion for Interview magazine that she endured a “long Lolita phase” as a child actor, referring to how the industry sexualized her at a young age. She was just 12 years old when she filmed her breakthrough role in “Leon: The Professional.” The “Black Swan” Oscar winner has long been outspoken about Hollywood’s sexualization of child stars.

“There’s a public understanding of me that’s different from who I am,” Portman told Ortega, with whom she starts with in the upcoming movie “The Gallerist.” “I’ve talked about it a little before — about how, as a kid, I was really sexualized, which I think happens to a lot of young girls who are onscreen. I felt very scared by it. Obviously sexuality is a huge part of being a kid, but I wanted it to be inside of me, not directed towards me.

Mikey Madison has passed on joining Ryan Gosling in an untitled “Star Wars” movie, according to an insider with knowledge of the project. Madison was previously being eyed to star and an offer was made.

Madison recently won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in “Anora.”

“Deadpool & Wolverine” filmmaker Shawn Levy is set to direct. “The Adam Project” writer Jonathan Tropper wrote the script.

Levy has been attached to the project since 2022 and additional details about the film are being kept under wraps. Tropper and Levy have previously collaborated on the 2014 family drama “This Is Where I Leave You,” as well as on the script for the Mark Raso-directed Netflix film “Kodachrome,” which Levy produced.

Previously, “Anora” writer-director Sean Baker’s interest in Madison was piqued by a role in the fifth installment of “Scream,” a 2022 film in which she (spoiler!) ends up killing David Arquette’s sheriff character.

Michelle Trachtenberg’s cause of death has been revealed.

The Gossip Girl actress died from complications of diabetes mellitus, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. Her death was ruled as natural.

The medical examiner’s office told ABC News no autopsy was performed, but toxicology test results provided additional information surrounding her cause of death.

This comes nearly two months after Trachtenberg’s unexpected death at age 39 in February. “It is with great sadness to confirm that Michelle Trachtenberg has passed away,” her rep confirmed to THR at the time. “The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time.”

ABC News previously reported that the Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress was found dead in her New York City apartment by her mother. Her family previously objected to an autopsy for religious reasons, so the...

What are the entertainment offerings that consumers are most excited about? It’s a question that marketers, distributors, advertisers and media publications are always asking.

ScreenShare, a data partnership between Screen Engine/Asi and TheWrap, tracks the Top 10 most-mentioned entertainment options every week and whether each has gained or lost momentum compared to the prior week. The chart lives on the Data & Analysis page of the WrapPRO Members Hub.

“A Minecraft Movie” rises to No. 1, dethroning “Wicked,” as it becomes the highest-grossing film in 2025, earning nearly $281 million domestically. “Wicked” now comes in at No. 2 while HBO’s hit post-apocalyptic drama, “The Last of Us,” returns at No. 3 just ahead of its Season 2 premiere. Disney’s “Snow White” dips one spot to No. 4 as two other highly anticipated Disney films join the list. Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*,” starring Sebastian Stan and Florence Pugh, premiering May 2, and the live-action remake of “Lilo & Stitch,...

A state appeals court has temporarily sided with CBS in its battle with Sony Pictures TV over control of the lucrative distribution rights to “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy.”

A three-judge appellate panel reversed a lower court ruling from April 10 that allowed Sony Pictures to take over control of sales and distribution rights to the powerhouse syndicated game shows. CBS and Sony Pictures have shared rights to both shows ever since CBS acquired King World Productions in 2000.

Sony Pictures owns “Wheel” and “Jeopardy” outright through the company’s acquisition of Merv Griffin Entertainment in 1986. Merv Griffin, who created both shows,...

Mikey Madison won’t journey into a Galaxy Far Far Away for her first project after picking up the best actress Oscar.

Sources tell Variety that Madison was offered a role in the new and untitled “Star Wars” movie directed by “Deadpool & Wolverine” filmmaker Shawn Levy, but conversations have since ended with the “Anora” star passing on the part.

As previously reported, screenwriter Jonathan Tropper has been writing the screenplay for the film, which will star Ryan Gosling. Levy — who will join the rarefied club of directors who’ve worked with both Canadian movie stars named Ryan — has been developing the project since late 2022 and is also producing for his 21 Laps company, along with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.

The movie is said to be a standalone project that isn’t connected with the Skywalker Saga, which concluded with 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” All other plot details...