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George Clooney to get the lifetime achievement prize from Venice Film Festival
George Clooney is returning to the Venice Film Festival this year, where he’ll be honored with a lifetime achievement award. The festival’s organizers said Monday that Clooney has been selected to receive the Golden Lion at the 83rd edition of the festival in September. “I’ve had so many extraordinary moments in Venice. This festival is […]
Director Carl Rinsch is sentenced to prison in $11M fraud case over unfinished Netflix show
NEW YORK | Hollywood writer-director Carl Rinsch was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison after being convicted of defrauding Netflix out of $11 million for a never-finished sci-fi series. Supporters including Keanu Reeves had asked the court to show him leniency. Rinsch, best known for the 2013 samurai fantasy film “47 Ronin,” was […]
What, like it’s hard? Newcomer Lexi Minetree put in the work to play a teen Elle Woods in ‘Elle’
When Lexi Minetree auditioned for the part of a teenage Elle Woods in a “Legally Blonde” prequel series for Prime Video, she went for it with the determination and creativity that the character herself used to apply to Harvard Law School in the original film. Minetree, said “Elle” executive producer Lauren Neustadter, “actually recreated her […]
Bello again: Pierre Coffin, voice of the Minions, finally understands his yellow henchman
NEW YORK | Filmmaker Pierre Coffin is the creator and chief practitioner of Minionese, but it’s a dialect — like most things Minions — that’s taken time to hone. “I have this file on my phone of Indian dishes or weird words.” Coffin says. “People come up to me and say, ‘You should say that!’ […]
OpenAI film ‘Artificial,’ dropped by Amazon, finds a new home with Neon
NEW YORK | “Artificial,” Luca Guadagnino’s starry film about Sam Altman and OpenAI, has been acquired by the indie distributor Neon after it was dropped by Amazon MGM Studios. Neon said Tuesday that it bought the film following a bidding process. Amazon dropped the nearly complete $40 million film, starring Andrew Garfield as Altman, earlier […]
Film academy invites 529 new members, including Jenna Ortega, the Safdie brothers and Jacob Elordi
NEW YORK | The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday invited 529 members to the Oscar voting body, a new class that brings the group’s membership to nearly double what it was a decade ago. Among those who received invites are “One Battle After Another” nominee Teyana Taylor, Josh O’Connor, Jenna Ortega, […]
Comcast plans to split into two public companies by spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky
Comcast is planning to split itself into two publicly traded companies, one focused on media that would include NBCUniversal and Sky and the other focused on broadband and wireless services. The company said Monday that its board and management team think each company will be better positioned to pursue its own strategic priorities, invest for […]
Hollywood gets into the microdrama race as mobile-first storytelling draws stars and major studios
LOS ANGELES | While much of Hollywood was consumed by the streaming wars, Issa Rae was studying a different mode of entertainment thousands of miles away: microdramas. No stranger to creating a successful online series, the Emmy-nominated actor and producer became intrigued by China’s booming market for the short, mobile-first soap operas, seeing its potential […]
Charlie Brown’s longtime pen pal is finally revealed in new Apple TV ‘Peanuts’ movie
NEW YORK | Charlie Brown began writing to a pen pal not long after the comic strip “Peanuts” debuted in newspapers back in 1950. No one has gotten a look at whoever was on the other end of his letters — until now. Her name is Mia, and she’s a young girl from London of […]
What to Stream: ‘Enola Holmes 3,’ Madonna and the ‘Legally Blonde’ prequel series ‘Elle’
“Enola Holmes 3” and a new album from Madonna are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you. Also, among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: the “Legally Blonde” prequel series, a look at Ralph Lauren’s stamp collection […]