Innholdsfortegnelse for 05/22/2024 i Variety

Netflix’s “Ripley” has had an unusual trajectory. Steve Zaillian’s limited series, based on novelist Patricia Highsmith’s notorious con artist, was originally set up at Showtime. But when the stand-alone television network dissolved into Paramount+ earlier this year, Tom Ripley had to reinvent himself once more. And so “Ripley” found a new home at Netflix, where the eight episodes first streamed in April. Unlike some Netflix programming — see the recent “Baby Reindeer,” for example — this show didn’t become an overnight pop culture binge-obsession. Instead, “Ripley” has been a slow burn. And that’s just fine: Zaillian’s elegant black-and-white noir series is built to stand the test of time. As more viewers catch on ahead of the Emmys, where “Ripley” will be a force in limited-series categories, we expect some spirited…

When Chris Hemsworth was told he would be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he was thrilled — and a little bit suspicious. You see, the actor had been through this before. “I’ll tell you a funny story,” Hemsworth says with a laugh. “At least I hope it’s funny — it might make me look like an idiot. But I’ll take the risk.” Back in 2019, Hemsworth and the cast of “Avengers: Endgame” were asked to put their handprints in cement outside the legendary TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood. And Hemsworth conflated the two. “I thought that was the Walk of Fame! So when we did it, I thought, ‘Oh cool, I’m getting a star.’” he reveals. “And someone told me, ‘No, that’s not what this is.’”…

Hit Me Hard and Soft Artist Billie Eilish Producer Finneas Label Darkroom/Interscope Billie Eilish’s third full-length release, “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” closely follows Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” and Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” as one of 2024’s ordained album events, works that these artists declaratively want you to listen to in full, not as a series of random Spotify singles. It fits well into that company: Besides being the three most high-profile mega-diva releases of the year so far, these might also just be the three best. But in another way, “Hit Me Hard and Soft” feels almost like the opposite of the Bey or Swift albums, in its quietness and weird modesty. Eilish isn’t going for grand statements, either culturally or personally. She and her brother and collaborator…

So this is what economizing looks like in Cannes. The rosé still flowed, though not as freely, and it was easier to get a reservation at the Michelin-starred restaurants that are usually booked months in advance of the film festival. There were still rooms to be had at the Hôtel du Cap, the posh resort where studio chiefs and movie stars typically stay. Most troubling, the deals — both for completed films that premiered in Cannes and the packages that hit the Côte d’Azur searching for financing — are taking much longer to close. Even in the shimmering south of France there’s no escaping that the movie business, having endured COVID shutdowns and two devastating labor strikes, has lost much of its luster. Donna Langley, the chairman of NBCUniversal Studio…

Jason Salarnis knows that for some people, the Investigation Discovery network has stood for one thing: murder mysteries, frequently gruesome in nature and usually told in self-contained hourlong episodes. But with the success of docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” that perception is quickly changing. “It has been a fundamental shift for us,” says Salarnis, who is president of TNT, TBS, TruTV and HLN in addition to ID. “It has brought a spotlight back to all the other things that are outside of the lane of what people expect an ID show to be.” Those include recent limited series like “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” and “Jared From Subway: Catching a Monster,” as well as partnerships with producers Octavia Spencer (whose output for the network…

Cannes Film Festival Cannes, France MAY 14-17 The 77th edition of the festival kicked off with an opening-night ceremony where Meryl Streep received this year’s honorary Palme d’Or. George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” was the first of several splashy red-carpet screenings at the Palais. Francis Ford Coppola finally unveiled his self-financed $120 million sci-fi epic “Megalopolis.” Ron Howard was honored by Variety at the magazine’s Welcome to Cannes party with the Profile in Excellence Award, presented by Lily Gladstone. Howard, whose first trip to Cannes was 36 years ago with “Willow,” paid tribute to George Lucas and Roger Corman, who died May 9 at age 98: “I wouldn’t be here in Cannes today without both of these gentlemen, these giants.” ‘Bridgerton’ Premiere Alice Tully Hall, New York MAY…

Samsung has been the world’s largest manufacturer of television sets for 17 years running. Last year alone, it sold 8.3 million units of its most cutting-edge, internet-connected TVs worldwide. But when the electronics giant first tried to expand its reach into distributing movies and TV shows that viewers could buy directly through their sets, the effort generated little more than static. The launch of the company’s TV Plus platform in 2016 was a flop, executives admit, because the platform was built to offer something that most TV set owners didn’t want to buy from Samsung. All of that changed around 2019, when Samsung made a 180-degree shift in its focus: The TV Plus homepage hub added a handful of streaming channels that were available to users for free with a…

Patricia Highsmith, the author of 1955’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” was an animal lover; she kept multiple cats and was known to bring her pet snails to parties in her purse. And she was no stranger to the beastly instincts within us all. Her bracing, intriguing books have been adapted for film and television many times — most recently with Netflix’s “Ripley,” the latest project to depict the charlatan Tom Ripley’s crimes. Part of what makes Highsmith’s work so adaptable is the methodical tone she uses to depict the steps a criminal takes. This chilly voice overlays pulse-pounding misbehavior. Films based on her work include masterpieces like the 1951 Hitchcock thriller “Strangers on a Train” and bungles like the 2022 erotic thriller “Deep Water.” “The Price of Salt,” from 1952,…

Scarlett Johansson called out OpenAI this week for mimicking her voice for a new chatbot, underscoring the urgency that many artists feel about regulating artificial intelligence. But in Congress, taking on AI is starting to resemble wrestling an octopus. It’s so sprawling, it’s hard to know how to begin. The Senate AI Working Group issued a “roadmap” last week. But that left it vague where Congress is going or when it will get there. Some have warned against stifling innovation. And while regulation is on the horizon, it appears it will be done piecemeal — one tentacle at a time. “From the House perspective, part of the challenge is that we’re under Republican control,” Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California, co-chair of the House task force on AI, tells Variety.…

Even if you didn’t personally know my mentor and dear friend Peter Caranicas, who died May 19 after a brave battle with cancer, I’m certain your career has been touched by his pioneering journalism. And if you were lucky enough to know him as his friends at Variety did, you were gifted with having known a one-of-a-kind person. Peter was a widely respected editor at Variety for the past 16 years, capping four decades as a trusted voice who provided balanced and insightful coverage of topics including, notably, entertainment technology and its impact on the art, science and business of our industry. He wisely identified trends and interpreted what they mean for those who dedicate their careers to this field. But it was the combination of his intellect and wisdom,…

A year after the Hollywood strikes turned Emmy campaigning into a bit of a muted endeavor, For Your Consideration events are back in a big way for 2024. The networks, studios and streamers have already launched a bevy of activations to celebrate their awards contenders, on top of the usual round of panels, with their stars back on stage front and center. What a difference a year makes. In 2023, FYC events were forced to pivot when the Writers Guild strike got underway on May 2 — right as campaigning was kicking into high gear. In most cases, series stars didn’t feel comfortable continuing with events (and in many cases, even turned down interviews with the media, despite still being allowed). Then talent hit the picket lines for their own…

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Director George Miller Screenplay George Miller, Nico Lathouris Cast Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Lachy Hulme The first thing to say about “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is that it’s not like any other “Mad Max” film. The movie, which runs 2 hours and 28 minutes, is teemingly, sprawlingly, phantasmagorically ambitious. Where “Mad Max: Fury Road” was set over three days, “Furiosa” takes place over 15 years and tells the origin story of Imperator Furiosa in five chapters. The film has a cast of thousands of depraved hooligan bikers with rusty weapons and rotten teeth. At times, it feels like they’re getting ready to gather for Wasteland Woodstock. The second thing to say about “Furiosa” is that though it has a handful of awesome action moments,…