Variety 04/30/2024

Welcome back to one of our favorite spring traditions — our Power of Women New York issue. This special franchise, created by our CEO and group publisher Michelle Sobrino-Stearns, honors women in the entertainment industry who use their voices and their clout to elevate worthy causes. Their speeches at our luncheon, to be hosted by Amber Ruffin on May 2, promise to inspire and galvanize all who attend. As Shonda Rhimes prepares for another season of “Bridgerton,” she also wants to spread the word about the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. Amy Schumer, who began to advocate for gun control after the 2015 Lafayette, La., mass shooting in a theater showing “Trainwreck,” is reminding us of the critical importance of Everytown for Gun Safety. Anitta, who’s brought Brazilian funk to the…

On April 25, the day that Harvey Weinstein’s New York sexual assault conviction was overturned, those who had been most vocal in the months following the former mogul’s implosion in 2017 were conspicuously silent. The X account of Time’s Up, the organization that raised $26 million in the wake of the Weinstein accusations, appeared to be a relic frozen in time. Its last post, from January 2022, was a retweet of a Movement for Black Lives missive about Martin Luther King Jr. Likewise, actresses who had embraced Time’s Up’s mission offered no commentary. Jessica Chastain was tweeting about her skin care routine, while Reese Witherspoon was gushing about a Tennessee Titans draft pick. It was as though Hollywood had already moved on from the industrywide reckoning that Weinstein’s downfall sparked.…

Say hello to sequel season. That might as well be the nickname for this summer’s slate of potential blockbusters. Over the next four months, Hollywood is rolling out what it hopes will be a winning mix of follow-ups, reboots and spinoffs from tested franchises as it looks to reinvigorate the shaky movie theater business. Last summer flipped the script: New properties such as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” ruled, while entries in aging series, like “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and “Mission: Impossible 7,” missed the mark. This time out, the tried-and-true may yet prevail. Original offerings like Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s action-comedy “The Fall Guy” and Kevin Costner’s Western “Horizon: An American Saga” will attempt to lure audiences. But analysts anticipate that overly familiar brands — “Despicable Me…

Thirty years after Nicole Brown Simpson’s murder, her sister Denise Brown gathered friends and family to reflect on her legacy for the upcoming “The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson.” The four-part Lifetime docuseries doesn’t sensationalize the crime or the “trial of the century,” in which Brown’s ex-husband, O.J. Simpson, was accused and eventually acquitted of the murder charges. Instead it is a portrait of Brown Simpson by those who knew and loved her. Its June 1-2 release also serves as a riposte to the media attention around Simpson’s death on April 10. In the three decades since her sister’s passing, Denise Brown has advocated for victims of domestic violence and helped pass the Violence Against Women Act. I’ll never forget the time. I’ll never forget the day. It was…

Breakfast is often called the most important meal of the day. It’s also long been a fixture of Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy — from “The Tonight Show” routines about Cookie Crisp to the Honeycomb and Raisin Bran boxes lining the shelves of his cupboards on “Seinfeld.” His directorial debut, “Unfrosted,” brings the obsession full circle, chronicling the 1960s origins of Kellogg’s Pop-Tart. “It’s really just candy disguised as a meal,” he says of the appeal of breakfast food. “And I really just want candy.” Seinfeld juggles a lot of, ahem, bowls on the Netflix film. He not only directed but also co-wrote, produced and stars in “Unfrosted,” which evolved from a joke told about the venerable toaster pastry in his 2020 Netflix special “23 Hours to Kill.” Ahead of the movie’s…

“Whose fault is it that you’re gay?” There comes a point in every episode of “That’s a Gay Ass Podcast” when host Eric Williams lobs that question. He’s being provocative, clowning on the homophobia he and his listeners have faced. He’s also genuinely curious, using it to pinpoint the moment or piece of pop culture that flipped a switch in his guest. The answer is always surprising — Williams “blames” it on the 1993 film “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” — and also invites celebration of a formative experience. “My mission in life now is to make people laugh and shed the shame we were told to have as young queer people,” Williams says, “and rebel against it by being as honest and authentic as possible.” The actor…