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Andrew Sachs, ‘Fawlty Towers’ Actor, Dies at 86
18 hours ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Andrew Sachs, a British television star known best for playing Spanish waiter Manuel in “Fawlty Towers,” has died. He was 86.
The actor died in a care home last week after a four-year battle with vascular dementia, and was buried on Thursday, his wife, Melody Lang, told the Daily Mail.
Sachs was born in 1930 in Berlin to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. When he was 8 years old, Sachs and his family moved to England to escape the Nazis.
Before taking on his role in “Fawlty Towers” in the 1970s, Sachs worked on radio productions for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. In 1959, he made his on-screen debut in the film “The Night We Dropped a Clanger.” In the 1960s, he made appearances in several television series, including the British soap opera “Coronation Street.”
In 2008, Sachs was inadvertently entangled in a major controversy when Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross made several vulgar messages on Sachs’ answering machine, where »
- Sarah Ahern
'Moana' To Repeat at #1 Over Post-Thanksgiving Weekend
21 hours ago | Box Office Mojo | See recent BoxOfficeMojo.com news »
Following the hustle and bustle of the extended, Thanksgiving weekend it makes sense this weekend would be a bit quieter. Set to repeat atop the weekend box office is Disney's Moana followed once again by WB's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as the rest of the field settles in below. The weekend features one new wide release in Bh Tilt's Incarnate, offering horror fans a little something as the lone horror film currently in wide release, while Freestyle issues the moderate release of the faith-based feature Believe. At the top, Moana should drop somewhere around 54% from its $56.6 million three-day weekend for a second weekend around $26 million pushing its domestic cume a couple million shy of $120 million by the end of the weekend. For comparison, Frozen dipped 53% following its record-breaking three-day wide release and Tangled dipped 55.7% after its $48.7 million Thanksgiving weekend three-day debut. In the runner-up position, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them »
- Brad Brevet <mail@boxofficemojo.com>
‘Good Girls Revolt’: No Season 2 At Amazon, Will Be Shopped Elsewhere
4 hours ago | Deadline TV | See recent Deadline TV news »
Amazon has opted not to pick up a second season of its period drama Good Girls Revolt. I hear Sony TV, whose TriStar Television division produces the series, is shopping it to other outlets. The cancellation of Good Girls Revolt is somewhat surprising as it launched to solid reviews and ranked as one of Amazon’s biggest series ever among female viewers. For streaming services, which depend on attracting subscribers, over-indexing in key demographics, like women, is… »
Sons of Anarchy Spinoff 'Mayans MC' Gets Pilot Order at FX!!
23 hours ago | TVfanatic | See recent TVfanatic news »
If you've been missing the world Kurt Sutter created for Sons of Anarchy, you're going to love this news!
FX announced today they've given the green light to Sutter to move forward with his drama series pilot, Mayans MC, which he co-wrote with producing partner Elgin James.
While that doesn't mean the series is a go, you're one step closer to seeing your dream come true with a revival, of sorts.
For seven seasons, Sutter’s award-winning Sons of Anarchy was the highest-rated ongoing drama series in FX history.
And this return to that world isn't unprecedented. The Mayans were recurring and pivotal players in Sons of Anarchy throughout the show’s seven-year run.
Sutter told The Hollywood Reporter about his desires during an interview in promotion for the now defunct Bastard Executioner.
"I wanted to find a strong, unique Latino voice. Because I didn't think a white guy from »
- Carissa Pavlica
CW’s DC Crossover Producers Tease the Repercussions of ‘Invasion!’ (Spoilers)
17 hours ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Spoiler Alert: Do not read on unless you’ve seen Season 3, Episode 8 of “The Flash”; Season 5, Episode 8 of “Arrow”; and Season 2, Episode 7 of “Legends of Tomorrow,” titled “Invasion!”
There you have it. With the end of “Legends of Tomorrow’s” episode, the first four-show Arrowverse crossover comes to a close. The Dominators were defeated, Stein (Victor Garber) now has a daughter, Barry (Grant Gustin) and Oliver (Stephen Amell) shared a much-deserved drink, and the CW pulled off what producer Marc Guggenheim calls “an exercise in insanity.”
“Every year we pull it off and it’s a small miracle, and then the next year we try to find a way to increase the degree of difficulty,” he said. “Truth be told, the whole thing is really an exercise in insanity and we just keep making it harder and harder and harder on ourselves.”
The crossover may be over, but the events in “Invasion!” will »
- Jacob Bryant
Warren Beatty Honored by Kirk Douglas, Don Cheadle at Santa Barbara Fete
11 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Goleta, Calif. — Kirk Douglas, “Rules Don't Apply” star Lily Collins and Don Cheadle turned out to salute Warren Beatty at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Kirk Douglas Award celebration of the Hollywood legend Thursday night.
The honor, annually presented at a fundraising dinner for the festival, has previously gone to stars like Jane Fonda, Jessica Lange, Forest Whitaker, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Quentin Tarantino, Ed Harris and John Travolta.
“I learned more and more each day that Warren pushes you beyond what you knew you were capable of,” Collins said after reading a series of observations she jotted in her diary while shooting Beatty’s latest film. “He challenges and inspires you beyond your wildest dreams.”
The 27-year-old rising star thanked Beatty for encouraging her “to let go, to be present, and enjoy all the details along the way. If you taught me one »
- Kristopher Tapley
Disney Animation Veterans Ride the CG Tide With ‘Moana’
26 minutes ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Ron Clements and John Musker have just about seen it all in their 30-some years at Disney. They are largely credited — as the creative powers behind 1989’s “The Little Mermaid” — with launching Disney’s animation renaissance following a period of less-than-successful films for the studio. Today, their seventh animated collaboration, “Moana,” is the writer-directors’ first CG-animated project; Jared Bush wrote the screenplay.
“Moana” tells the tale of a head-strong teen who defies her village’s ban on sailing the ocean in order to save them from destruction. The movie has been a learning experience for the seasoned veterans.
“We had to learn a whole new pipeline,” Musker says. “The way to get from script to storyboard is the same, but once you get into the production process, it is a different thing. It’s less linear.”
In hand-drawn animation, artists go from storyboards to drawing the sets and figuring out »
- Terry Flores
Ice Cube’s Cube Vision Inks First-Look Deal With 20th Century Fox TV, Fox 21 TV Studios
31 minutes ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Ice Cube’s Cube Vision has signed a comprehensive first-look deal with 20th Century Fox TV and Fox 21 Television Studios, Variety has learned.
The two-year deal will cover projects developed for broadcast, cable, and digital outlets. Cube has teamed up with manager Jeff Kwatinez to run Cube Vision’s TV production, and the two will serve as executive producers on the projects, which will run the gamut from traditional comedy and drama to animation and reality.
Under the deal, Fox also gets to tap into Cube Vision’s music library to use in its shows.
“It’s hard to think of a more multidimensional artist than Ice Cube, whose influence on the culture and enormous talent is virtually unrivaled,” Fox Television Group chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman said. “We’ve been dying to be in business with him for years, and we think the combination of Cube and his incredibly talented producing partner Jeff Kwatinetz »
- Oriana Schwindt
New Crypt TV Travel Series ‘Ghosted’ to Explore Haunted Destinations (Exclusive)
32 minutes ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
“Ghosted,” a new travel series from Crypt TV and Complex Networks’ newly launched digital video network Rated Red, will take fans of the paranormal on unorthodox vacation tips. The show will explore spooky locations across America, as host LeeAnna Vamp journeys to the sites of notorious murders, hauntings, and catastrophes.
In addition, the producers will also distribute one-minute companion content through Crypt TV’s Facebook and Snapchat channels.
Crypt TV is a digital studio geared at lovers of the horror genre and represents a collaboration between Jack Davis, “Hostel” director Eli Roth, and “The Purge” producer Blumhouse Productions. They’ve been involved in a number of innovative productions, including a 60-minute Facebook Live play and a Snapchat murder mystery. The platform averages 30 million monthly video views.
“Ghosted” is an eight-part series that will include locations in five different states, including Hotel Villa Convento in New Orleans, where visitors come to learn about voodoo; Camp Creek train wreck »
- Brent Lang
Bryan Fuller on ‘Star Trek: Discovery': ‘I Am Not Involved’
42 minutes ago | The Wrap | See recent The Wrap news »
We already knew Bryan Fuller had exited his role as showrunner on “Star Trek: Discovery,” but there was hope he would still have input as a writer and executive producer–until now. “I’m not involved in production, or postproduction, so I can only give them the material I’ve given them and hope that it is helpful for them,” Fuller told Newsweek. “I’m curious to see what they do with it.” Fuller left his post as showrunner back in October, with executive producers Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts taking his place. Also Read: 'Star Trek: Discovery' Casts Anthony Rapp, »
- Joe Otterson
‘Captain Fantastic’ Star Viggo Mortensen Recalls Early Acting Role in CBS Miniseries
46 minutes ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Viggo Mortensen’s choice of roles demonstrates his broad range, eclectic point of view, and love of complex characters. In David Cronenberg films alone, he has played a hardened Russian gangster in London (2007’s “Eastern Promises”), Sigmund Freud (2011’s “A Dangerous Method”), and a quiet family man thrust into an unusual situation (2005’s “A History of Violence”). But perhaps Mortensen’s most famous role is that of the reluctant king, Aragorn, in “The Lord of the Rings.”
Now, he’s getting the best reviews of his career in “Captain Fantastic,” as a father raising six children off the grid who realizes that holding on too tightly to principles doesn’t always work.
Mortensen got his first mention — his name is misspelled in the credits! — in Variety on April 6, 1984, in a review of the CBS miniseries “George Washington.”
You arrived at acting later than most, as an adult.
I was 22, 23, 24, living in New York, taking »
- Carole Horst
‘Captain Fantastic’ Star Viggo Mortensen Recalls Early Acting Role in CBS Miniseries
46 minutes ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Viggo Mortensen’s choice of roles demonstrates his broad range, eclectic point of view, and love of complex characters. In David Cronenberg films alone, he has played a hardened Russian gangster in London (2007’s “Eastern Promises”), Sigmund Freud (2011’s “A Dangerous Method”), and a quiet family man thrust into an unusual situation (2005’s “A History of Violence”). But perhaps Mortensen’s most famous role is that of the reluctant king, Aragorn, in “The Lord of the Rings.”
Now, he’s getting the best reviews of his career in “Captain Fantastic,” as a father raising six children off the grid who realizes that holding on too tightly to principles doesn’t always work.
Mortensen got his first mention — his name is misspelled in the credits! — in Variety on April 6, 1984, in a review of the CBS miniseries “George Washington.”
You arrived at acting later than most, as an adult.
I was 22, 23, 24, living in New York, »
- Carole Horst
Dev Patel and Octavia Spencer on the Power of ‘Positive Energy and Hope’ in Movies
47 minutes ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Dev Patel and Octavia Spencer sat down for a chat for Variety’s “Actors on Actors.” For more, tune in when “Actors on Actors” debuts its fifth season on PBS SoCal on Jan. 3.
Dev Patel: Every time I do an interview, everyone’s talking about, “How do you avoid being typecast?” And it makes me cringe. You’ve done such an amazing job of navigating and breathing life into so many roles. How do you do it?
Octavia Spencer: I’ve got to tell you, it isn’t easy. Because, as you know, there aren’t that many great roles that are going to come your way.
Patel: And it’s a feeding frenzy when there are, right? There’s blood in the water!
Spencer: Honey, you can’t even get to the trough! I’m a specific type. And the archetypes that they really want to see »
- Variety Staff
Pandora Stock Surges After Report of Possible SiriusXM Takeover
51 minutes ago | The Wrap | See recent The Wrap news »
A CNBC report that Pandora is willing to sell itself has caused the stock to surge on Friday. Citing sources, CNBC said the company was “open to engaging in talks with longtime suitor SiriusXM.” The Internet-radio pioneer was up over 12 percent at one point on Friday following CNBC’s report. Liberty Media, which controls Sirius Xm, made an informal offer to buy Pandora earlier this year for the company valued at over $3.4 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Also Read: Struggling Pandora Restores Founder Tim Westergren as CEO Pandora traded above $14 per share after the WSJ report, but recently fell to. »
- Brian Flood
Joe McKnight Shooting: White Suspect’s Release Sparks Outrage on Social Media
55 minutes ago | The Wrap | See recent The Wrap news »
People are outraged over the release of the admitted suspect in the shooting of former NFL running back Joe McKnight, who was killed in Louisiana on Thursday night in an apparent road rage incident that some speculate was racially motivated. White people are sickening like y'all shooting over road rage now and getting away with it ???? #JoeMcKnight — baelani ???? (@qualanilee) December 2, 2016 Wait a second. How did they let the shooter of Joe McKnight walk out of prison?? What The Fuck Is This World Coming To — Pauly Pic (@ValleYbOii11) December 2, 2016 Authorities have identified Ronald Gasser, 54, as the suspect in »
- Beatrice Verhoeven
Don Calfa, Character Actor Known for ‘Return of the Living Dead,’ Dies at 76
57 minutes ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Don Calfa, who played the role of the Ernie Kaltenbrunner the mortician in “The Return of the Living Dead,” has died. He was 76.
Calfa’s death comes just two days before what would have been his 77th birthday on Dec. 3. The actor’s death was confirmed on his Facebook page. “Don passed away today – please keep him and his family in your prayers Rip,” the post said.
Calfa was born in Brooklyn, New York, and began his acting career when he was in high school, dropping out to join the Actors’ Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild. Before acting in films, he started out working in theater, appearing in multiple Broadway productions including “Mating Dance” in 1965.
Calfa was best known for his role in the 1985 cult classic “The Return of the Living Dead,” in which he played the anomalous mortician Ernie. In 1989, Calfa portrayed Paulie the Hitman in the »
- Sarah Ahern
[Watch] Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney (‘Catastrophe’): Season 3 will be ‘zanier’ than ever
1 hour ago | Gold Derby | See recent Gold Derby news »
“We seriously guard our laugh-per-page ratio; we really want people to laugh,” admits Rob Delaney in our recent webcam chat (watch above) about their acclaimed Emmy-nominated hit comedy series “Catastrophe.” Also joining him is co-creator, co-writer and co-star Sharon Horgan, and the duo is currently in the middle of shooting the highly anticipated third season of the UK/Us co-production. […] »
- Rob Licuria
Oscar’s French Animation Connection Draws on Deep Talent Pool
1 hour ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
France appears to have firmed up its reputation as home to the world’s second biggest animation industry behind the U.S. — for proof, look no further than this year’s Oscar animated feature race.
In the mix are Mark Osborne’s “The Little Prince,” Franck Ekinci and Christian Desmares’ “April and the Extraordinary World,” Claude Barras’ “My Life as a Zucchini,” Remi Chaye’s “Long Way North,” Michael Dudok de Wit’s “The Red Turtle,” Alexandre Heboyan and Benoît Philippon’s “Mune, Guardian of the Moon,” and Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli’s “Phantom Boy.” Two more animation entries, “The Secret Life of Pets” and “Sing” from Illumination MacGuff, were entirely created in France.
Although these films have different animation styles, tones, approach, and scopes, they all have a Gallic element in common: a French director and/or producer, or they were made in France with local creatives.
“France »
- Elsa Keslassy
International Market Makes Waves at Dubai Film Festival
1 hour ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
After suffering a bit of a slump, the Dubai festival is making strides on its market side thanks to what appears to be a strong lineup of its Dubai Film Connection co-production platform in which 13 promising Arab film projects will vie for funding and networking opportunities provided by what has become the only bona-fide co-production platform in the Middle East.
“We have a lot of returning directors and producers. So it’s pretty nice to see that it helps them,” says Diff managing director Shivani Pandya, who is launching the Dubai Investors Club, a two-day component of the Dubai mart where high-net-worth individuals from the region will gain insight and connections with people from the international film community to “learn about film financing as an avenue or an investment opportunity.”
As for projects at the Dubai Film Connection, which is run by Jane Williams, they include Palestinian director Najwa Najjar »
- Nick Vivarelli
Employee Diversity Is Key to Success for ‘Kubo’ and All Laika Projects
1 hour ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
From the beginning, stop-motion animation house Laika set itself apart from the rest. The company is based in Oregon. It focuses on a technique that gives its stories a deeply unique look, and uses pioneering technology like rapid prototyping to create its films. And, while many studios lag behind in putting together a diverse workforce, it turns out women hold significant creative roles in the organization.
Costume designer Deborah Cook; head of production Arianne Sutner; creative supervisor of puppet fabrication Georgina Hayns; and Alice Bird, art director on “Kubo and the Two Strings,” are four of the high-profile women creating, managing and collaborating on Laika’s films.
“With our boss, Travis Knight, he’s just looking for talent, for effective people,” says Sutner, who was a producer on “Kubo and the Two Strings” and “ParaNorman.” “The more diverse we can become, the richer the kinds of stories we can tell. »
- Karen Idelson
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