Variety 05/07/2024

The preferred way to experience the glamour of Cannes is by witnessing it firsthand. But for those spectating from afar, we’ve done our best to capture the glitz and glory of the Croisette. As you dig into our annual preview of the highlights of the fest, remember that there are advantages: We enforce no black-tie dress code for our readers, and selfies with our magazine aren’t banned — they’re encouraged! As Cannes turns 77, director Thierry Frémaux has delivered a thrilling and adventurous lineup once again, with films from seasoned veterans like David Cronenberg (“The Shrouds”) and Francis Ford Coppola (the much-awaited “Megalopolis”) taking their place alongside relative upstarts of world cinema like Sean Baker (“Anora”), Payal Kapadia (“All We Imagine as Light”) and Ali Abbasi (telling Donald Trump’s origin…

For Hollywood, 2023 was an annus horribilis. But you wouldn’t have guessed that by looking at the pay stubs of many bigwigs in the biz. Last year, first writers and then actors went on strike, demanding better contracts after seeing their earnings threatened by the streaming economy. As picket lines swelled, film and television production ground to a standstill, leaving studios with fewer movies and shows to release. As for streaming, once seen as the salvation for a business struggling to attract a fractured (and distracted) audience — well, that has its own set of problems. Nearly every media company has launched an in-house Netflix challenger, but things went south after Wall Street grew concerned that these streaming services cost too much and made too little. That sent share prices…

The new Apple TV+ series “Dark Matter” centers on a man who discovers alternate universes populated by other versions of himself. In other words, it’s a twisty sci-fi mind-bender. But not if you’re its star, Jennifer Connelly, who saw the show as a love story. “It was kind of an ode to a marriage,” she says. “It’s told through this device of alternate realities, which is a fun idea, but it’s really an exploration of a couple. And I enjoyed that.” In the nine-part series, debuting May 8, Connelly portrays Daniela Dessen, a once-promising artist who chose instead to start a family with her husband, Jason (Joel Edgerton). What Daniela doesn’t know is that her Jason has been replaced by a Jason from another reality who regrets putting work before…

For a writer, signing on to “Planet of the Apes” is less an assignment than a calling. After all, it’s the longest-running science-fiction series in film history. So when Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the husband-and-wife screenwriting and producing team, conceived “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” in 2011, they envisioned more than a single-serving reboot. “We did see that if we played it right, there’d be at least three movies,” Jaffa tells Variety. He wasn’t wrong: Their four-film stint culminates with “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” the franchise’s 10th installment (and the first in a reported new trilogy). Their tenure follows that of Paul Dehn, who took over screenwriting duties from Rod Serling and Pierre Boulle for the 1970s “Planet of the Apes” sequels. “Kingdom” also…

The name of Busy Philipps’ new late-night show, “Busy This Week,” couldn’t be more apt. After all, aside from launching the QVC+ series, the effervescent actress is also starring on Netflix’s “Girls5eva,” hosting her podcast “Busy Philipps Is Doing Her Best” and, following her own recent diagnosis, advocating for ADHD awareness. With QVC+, Philipps and her co-host and producing partner, Caissie St. Onge, have found an unlikely yet somehow perfect platform for their bubbly banter. The series, which debuts on May 8, sees the best friends conducting celebrity-guest interviews, sharing personal stories and giving viewers a dose of retail therapy via Philipps’ curated shopping picks. “Busy This Week” isn’t Philipps’ first foray into the talk-show space. In 2018, she hosted E!’s “Busy Tonight,” which was canceled after six months due…

Back in 2019, on a visit to Los Angeles, celebrated Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali stopped in at the offices of Netflix. In his informal five-minute meeting with CEO Ted Sarandos, Bhansali pitched an idea — it would be an opulent tale of warring courtesans set amid India’s struggle for independence. Sarandos greenlit the project on the spot. Now Bhansali’s Hindi-language series, “Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar,” is making its U.S. debut (episodes dropped on May 1). Spanning 1920 through 1947, the lavish story is set in the Heeramandi district of Lahore, British India, the milieu of the tawaifs. As with the geisha of Japan, tawaifs were trained in music and dance and courted by nobility. At the show’s center are Mallikajaan (Manisha Koirala), the scheming queen of Heeramandi, and her…