Innholdsfortegnelse for 07/10/2024 i Variety

Hollywood needs Deadpool to save the day. That idea might once have seemed absurd. By comparison to Marvel-franchise superstars such as Thor and Captain America, Deadpool was a minor leaguer. But his relative lack of name recognition was no obstacle to Ryan Reynolds’ insouciantly foulmouthed performance. And ever since 2016’s “Deadpool” and its 2018 sequel blew up at the box office, moviegoers have been waiting for the return of this red-spandex-wearing pansexual antihero. Lucky them: For the price of one ticket, they’re getting a double dose of Marvel icons. “Deadpool & Wolverine” has the added attraction of luring Hugh Jackman, an ex-X-Man, out of retirement. Short of Robert Downey Jr. reprising his role as Iron Man, seeing Jackman once again wield Wolverine’s claws sweetens the deal for fanboys and -…

I was late catching up to Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders,” and though the film has gotten some good reviews, like Peter Debruge’s rave in Variety, it’s fair to say that the collective response to it has been mixed to muted. The movie hasn’t exactly set off a chain reaction of retro biker fever. It seems as if more than a few people don’t quite know what to make of it: a drama based on Danny Lyon’s 1968 black-and-white photography book, which captured the rough-riding lives of a Chicago motorcycle gang called the Outlaws (who, in the movie, become the Vandals), their exploits now presented, in Nichols’ film, in all their unvarnished bad-boy grit and glory. Personally, I loved the movie, and came out of it with a sense of surprise…

Cultural phenomena aren’t often yellow and seldom absorbent, and almost never live in a pineapple under the sea. In those and many other ways, Sponge-Bob SquarePants is exceptional. Since the Nickelodeon animated series bearing his name launched 25 years ago, the cheerful icon has developed a reach as porous as he is. SpongeBob memes are everywhere online. His face adorns countless items of apparel and collectibles. Holland even has a signature SpongeBob tulip. Yet his popularity should come as no surprise: As one of the most widely distributed shows in the history of Paramount Intl., the show is seen in more than 180 markets and has been translated into over 30 languages, soaking up an excess of 100 million viewers — each quarter. As a franchise, SpongeBob has expanded to…

In 2019, the Collective bet big on female athletes. An offshoot of marketing, management, representation and sales giant Wasserman, the Collective was launched to concentrate on female athletes, continuing the work Wasserman had begun with women in sports in earnest in 2003. Now, as it celebrates its fifth anniversary, the company’s bets are paying off, as women’s sports have rocketed in popularity with audiences, and the shingle moves into music artist representation. “This milestone for the Collective is an opportunity to reflect on our company’s decades-long history of investment in women — first in sports, and now in music, entertainment and culture at large,” says Casey Wasserman, chairman and CEO of the parent company bearing his name. “While momentum around women’s sports is seemingly at an all-time high, we acknowledge…

As the producer of three of the four highest-grossing movies of all time, Jon Landau was incredibly skilled at the art of managing moviemaking on a grand scale. Friends and colleagues say Landau leaves a remarkable legacy as a supportive, wise and beloved collaborator. The producer and partner to James Cameron on “Titanic” and the “Avatar” series died July 5 at age 63. Landau “produced the films creatively,” says Weta FX’s Joe Letteri, senior VFX supervisor on the “Avatar” movies. “He always fought for what the film needed. Yes, he was responsible for the budgets and the schedule and everything else, but first and foremost was ‘Is this going to make the movie better? Is this going to make the story better?’” Robert Legato, a longtime friend and VFX supervisor…

Following a debut work-in-progress screening of Paramount Animation’s “Transformers One” last month during the Annecy Intl. Animation Festival, a capacity crowd at the 1,000-seat Bonlieu main theater erupted with a lengthy standing ovation for the movie and its Oscar-winning director, Josh Cooley. It was a great moment for the studio and filmmakers, and underscored the direction of Ramsey Naito, president of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, who will receive Variety’s inaugural Executive Impact in Animation award. “I was so proud of Josh and so proud of the filmmakers,” says Naito of the response. “People really felt like it was a great film and a great story that appealed to them even though they weren’t super fans of ‘Transformers,’ which was a dream come true. We went into this wanting to…

Over the past few decades, the playing field for music recording has expanded exponentially. Hit pop singles can now be cut in bedrooms, entire orchestral film scores have been recorded one instrument at a time and remote collaboration is often the name of the game. But there’s still no substitute for a thoroughly equipped, expertly staffed recording studio. And Los Angeles remains the mecca of the global recording industry. Perhaps no single studio is as inseparable from L.A.’s musical heritage as Capitol Studios, which is currently poised to reopen for business after a two-year closure for earthquake renovations. Its subterranean echo chambers and flagship Studio A have become just as legendary as the countless records that have been cut there. “Capitol is just the most fantastic room,” says songwriter-producer Glen…

Longlegs Director Osgood Perkins Screenwriter Osgood Perkins Cast Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Nicolas Cage Distributor Neon Now here’s a first: Apart from the pale-faced freak show of the film’s title, the experience of watching “Longlegs” didn’t strike me as all that frightening. At first. In the moment, it’s considerably less scary than the ecstatic early buzz — ginned up by Neon via whisper campaigns and strategic advance screenings — would have you believe. Less than 12 hours after seeing it, however, the demented Nicolas Cage character resurfaced in my nightmares, popping up out of nowhere to screech, “Hail Satan!” in that unnerving, high-pitched voice of his. How many horror movies can claim to hijack your subconscious? With “Longlegs,” writer-director Osgood Perkins (“The Blackcoat’s Daughter”) delivers the kind of payoff we…

“Sundance is absolutely not leaving Park City.” So said a top executive at a prestige movie label only two weeks ago, speaking anonymously with Variety. The executive is part of a large contingent of the independent film community that believes the iconic Sundance Film Festival was bluffing in April, when it announced it would seek proposals for a new host city after 40 years in the mountains of Utah. But this movie may have a twist ending. Insiders are increasingly convinced that the festival will uproot itself for a new home in 2027, when its contract with Park City ends, multiple sources say. At first, many believed the festival was leveraging the competition to get better terms from its current host. There were reasons Sundance was growing dissatisfied. For starters,…

Streaming services are locked in a tightening battle to become go-to destinations for live sports coverage. Women’s sports increasingly rival men’s as a source for fiery debates and runaway ratings. Multi-platform sports commentators are becoming as famous as many of the athletes they cover. And while all eyes turn towards Paris for the start of the Olympics later this month, it’s just four short years until the Games arrive on Hollywood’s doorstep. As much drama as one can find on courts, fields, rings and tracks, there are just as many high-stakes storylines surging throughout the world of sports media and business. Variety and Sportico will dig into all of the above at the Sports and Entertainment Summit on July 12 in Los Angeles, which brings execs, agents, broadcasters, content creators…

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Sunny Platform Apple TV+ Premiere date July 11 Episodes 10 Creator Katie Robbins Cast Rashida Jones, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Judy Ongg, annie the clumsy From “Shōgun” to “Blue Eye Samurai” to “Tokyo Vice,” Japan has been having something of a moment on American TV. Last year, Apple TV+ introduced “Drops of God,” a live-action manga adaptation about a wine empire’s succession crisis, to stateside viewers. With “Sunny,” its new A24-produced half-hour dramedy that stars Rashida Jones as an American housewife abroad, the company now brings this trend in-house. A buddy mystery that pairs Jones’ Suzie Sakamoto with the title character, an intelligent “homebot” left to Suzie by her missing husband, Masa (Hidetoshi Nishijima), “Sunny” conveys an immersive, eye-catching vision of the near future, even when the central storyline can’t quite deliver…