Rakuten TV Launches New FAST Real and Crime Channels in Continental Europe and U.K.

50 Cent has announced a 2023 UK, European and US tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his 2003 debut album, ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ – find all the details below.‘The Final Lap Tour’ with Busta Rhymes will start at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 21, touring throughout North America with stops in New York, Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and many more, before closing out at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Detroit, Michigan on September 17.The rapper will then kick off the European leg at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome on September 28 before making stops in Germany, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, France, Ireland and more.The UK run starts at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on November 9, followed by Manchester’s AO Arena (10) and London’s O2 (11) before the tour wraps up at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena on November 12.A post shared by 50 Cent (@50cent)Additional dates are also set to be announced in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe.Local pre-sales for European dates start on Wednesday, May 10 at 10am local time, with general sale going live on Friday, May 12 at 10am local time. UK dates will be available to purchase from here, with general sale set to start at 10am BST next Friday (May 12).

While it's nothing new, and we're certainly not complaining, Harry Styles' name is inescapable right now.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Laetitia Casta will soon appear on the big screen as the former wife of an abusive southern Italian man whom she is accused of murdering in the thriller “A Dark Story,” directed by Italy’s Leonardo D’Agostini. In “Dark Story” the French star, whose recent credits include “The Crusade” directed by her husband Louis Garrel, plays Carla (first look image above), the ex-wife of Vito Semeraro, a banker who beat her when they were together and is the father of her three children. She is accused of murdering him a few years after they split up.  Italian sales company True Colours is launching sales in Cannes on this psychological noir that marks the sophomore feature by D’Agostini whose 2019 debut drama “The Champion” – a soccer dramedy about a young male soccer star and a shy academic who becomes his tutor – sold widely via the same outfit. Andrea Carpenzano (“The Champion,” “Boys Cry,” “Chiara”) stars in “Dark Story” alongside Casta.

Brittney Griner is attending the most fashionable event of the year. The basketball player, who was imprisoned in Russia for almost a full year, will be attending this year’s Met Gala.Karl Lagerfeld: Celebs who have worn his iconic designs at the Met GalaRihanna’s Met Gala look includes $25 million in Cartier jewels: Secret fittingMet Gala 2023 live updates: Red Carpet arrivalsPage Six was the first to break the news, claiming that the source didn’t know who would be accompanying the athlete.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday revealed its updated rules and regulations for the 96th annual Academy Awards. Among the changes are clarifications regarding campaigns, an issue that took on greater significance last season with the Andrea Riseborough campaign that netted her a Best Actress nomination.

Let the countdown to the 2023 Met Gala begin! Ahead of fashion’s biggest night, the stars are in full-glam mode — and they’re pulling out all the stops to look their best for the annual fundraising gala.

Sofia Richie is giving fans a glimpse of her honeymoon with husband Elliot Grainge.

Newlywed bliss! Sofia Richie has been documenting her romantic honeymoon with husband Elliot Grainge after tying the knot on the French Riviera.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Prominent Paris-based producer Marianne Slot, who has been instrumental to bringing works by auteurs such as Lars Von Trier, Lucrecia Martel, and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso to the big screen, is being honored by the Locarno Film Festival. Slot will receive the Swiss festival’s Raimondo Rezzonico prize for a producer who epitomizes the indie ethos. She will be bestowed with the award on Aug. 5 with a tribute that will include a screening of Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s environmental-themed black comedy “Woman At War,” followed by an on-stage conversation on Aug. 6. Born in Denmark, Slot set up the Paris-based production company Slot Machine in 1993. She has been Von Trier’s French producer since 1995, starting with “Breaking the Waves.” Over the years Slot has shepherded works by a slew of indie auteurs at various stages of their careers. Besides Martel and Erlingsson these include Bent Hamer, Małgorzata Szumowska, Paz Encina, Emma Dante, Marian Crişan, Juliette Garcia, Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Sergei Loznitsa, and Naomi Kawase.

Missing in action. Sofia Richie‘s brother, Miles Richie, wasn’t present when she tied the knot with Elliot Grainge over the weekend, but he had a good reason for missing the ceremony.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Wattpad Webtoon Studios, the entertainment arm of the user-generated fiction and comics entertainment outfit, and Italy’s Leone Film Group have announced two new adaptations based on hit young-adult Wattpad novels. Taiwan-based author Ann Rae’s romantic mystery “The Locker Exchange,” which is set in a U.S. high school and has over 26 million reads globally on the Wattpad platform, is set to become an English and Italian-language feature film. And “Love Me, Love Me” by Italian writer Stefania S, which has scored 12 million reads in Italy, is to be adapted into an Italian-language series by Leone’s Lotus Production unit. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent London-based Sideways Film has taken world sales on British director Carey Born’s “Cyborg: A Documentary” about a man who was born color blind and has an antenna embedded in his head to help contend with this condition. Filmed in the U.K., Spain, Denmark, Australia and across the U.S. in New York, Los Angeles, San Jose and New Jersey, the doc about the world’s first officially recognized cyborg premiered last month at the CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen and was selected by the fest to screen online on its PARA:DOX platform. “Cyborg” centers on “cyborg artist” Neil Harbisson who was born with a rare condition called achromatopsia, which means he sees only in black and white. In 2003 Harbisson had an illegal operation. A so-called “eyeborg” antenna was implanted in the back of his head enabling him to “hear colour” as waves that are translated into sound frequencies and transmitted to his auditory cortex. Since then Harbisson started touring the world talking about being a cyborg.

Sofia Richie and Elliot Grainge have married. The 24-year-old model and the British music executive, 30, tied the knot at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, France, in front of family and friends, who included Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. Sofia’s dad – singer Lionel Richie – walked her down the aisle and the groom looked dapper in a tuxedo with his parents by his side.

Sofia Richie is married!

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Luca Guadagnino will next direct the William S. Burroughs adaptation “Queer” with Daniel Craig playing the renowned counterculture author’s alter ego, an outcast American expat who lives in Mexico, and “Outer Banks” star Drew Starkey starring as a younger man with whom he becomes madly infatuated. “Queer” will also topline Lesley Manville (“The Crown”), frequent Wes Anderson collaborator Jason Schwartzman; and Henry Zaga (“The New Mutants”), according to inside sources. The boldly ambitious indie film is set to start shooting this month at Rome’s refurbished Cinecittà Studios where the Mexico City-set movie will be filmed in its entirety.

While it's nothing new, and we're certainly not complaining, Harry Styles' name is inescapable right now.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Veteran Fremantle executive Amelia Brown has been appointed the new CEO of Fremantle U.K., replacing Simon Andreae who abruptly stepped down from the role earlier this week citing health reasons. Brown, who has been with Fremantle for 20 years, is the former managing director of its U.K. label Thames and has been a key creative on trademark Fremantle hit shows as “Britain’s Got Talent” and “The X Factor.” Fremantle in a statement noted that Brown has also been instrumental in strengthening Thames’ slate of programming and expanding the scripted production outfit into the world of reality television with shows like “Too Hot To Handle” for Netflix and upcoming entertainment show “Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream” for ITV. Her successor as MD of Thames will be announced soon.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Oscar-winning French director Luc Jacquet (“March of the Penguins”) will be honored by the Locarno Film Festival with its Locarno Kids Award celebrating a film personality who has brought the magic of movies to younger audiences. “Luc Jacquet’s gaze has followed the perspective of the plant and animal kingdoms through his many voyages to the Antarctic or into forests both remote and close to home,” the Swiss festival dedicated to indie cinema said in a statement. It pointed out that this year’s prize “goes to a filmmaker who has consistently conveyed a powerful ecological message to younger generations of cinema lovers.” The French biologist and filmmaker has made hugely popular nature documentaries such as “Penguins,” watched by more than 25 million people worldwide since its 2006 release, and “Once Upon a Forest” in 2013 and “Ice and the Sky” (2015). He also helmed a fiction feature “The Fox & the Child” (2007).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Beta at MipTV has unveiled a visually dazzling first trailer for period drama “La Storia” that will be Italian pubcaster RAI’s biggest event show this year. The sweeping eight-episode saga is based on a globally bestselling novel by the late great Elsa Morante – whom “My Brilliant Friend” author Elena Ferrante often cites as her primary literary reference – set during the final years of World War II and its immediate aftermath in Italy. Dierected by Francesca Archibugi (“The Hummingbird”), the high-end show stars Italian A-list actor Jasmine Trinca – who last year was a member of the Cannes jury – as Ida, a single mother of two sons, who hides her Jewish heritage and fights against poverty and persecution. The cast also comprises Asia Argento (“xXx – Triple X”), Elio Germano (“Leopardi”) and Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers”).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour” – which earned Gary Oldman an Oscar for his portrayal as the British prime minister – has now changed historical sides.  Wright is at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios shooting high-end TV drama “M. Son of the Century” which chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. A timely tale because, as he puts it: “Populist leaders are sprouting up all over the world.”  Aesthetically, the show will be “quite outlandish” with deeply saturated colors, punctuated by a “kind of techno score,” the director said during a recent set visit. Though “It’s not told in a vérité style,” Wright pointed out that “All the facts of what happened, they’re all there.”