‘The Island’: Universal International Studios & Matchbox Developing Adrian McKinty Novel Into TV Series

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The blockbuster French cast of Amazon Prime Video’s third season of “LOL: Qui rit, qui sort” speaks volumes about the Japanese variety format’s tremendous popularity in France. The Amazon Original series, adapted from the format “LOL: Last One Laughing,” scored its biggest launch to date on Prime Video in France since bowing on March 10. The show is one of the streamer’s first unscripted originals in France and has been a major coup as a brand exercise that’s succeeded with limited resources — certainly in comparison to scripted comedy. Adaptations of “LOL” have also thrived in Italy and Germany where they have ranked as the most watched local titles on the service, respectively. Local versions are also available in Spain, Canada, Mexico and Australia (hosted by Rebel Wilson).

It's been two long months for some of us as we've battled through the coldest and darkest nights of the year - or so we hope!

The universe’s biggest drag queen singing competition is back.

is finally back with season 2. The world's fiercest competition, which sees each drag queens debuting a new musical number in front of a live audience and a «Pop Dival Panel» of judges, returns to Paramount+ on Friday, June 2. And among this year's contestants are queens from nine countries including the United States, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Israel, the United Kingdom, Italy and Australia. Executive produced by RuPaul and hosted by Graham Norton, follows some of the world's most talented performers as they battle it out for global domination during head-to-head singing battles spotlighting their wide range of talent.

New Duke Of Edinburgh Opens Sky Studios Sound Stage

Refresh for latest…: Paramount/Spyglass Media’s Scream VI has slashed its way to a franchise-record opening at the global box office with $67.1M, topping Scream 3 for the best in the bunch of this long-running Kevin Williamson-created series. At the international box office, it also set a franchise-best start with $22.6M from 53 markets, a whopping 60% above the 2022 Scream. Domestic, too, was a record launch.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Scream VI” is slaying at the international box office, generating $22.6 million from 53 markets. According to Paramount, those ticket sales mark the biggest overseas opening weekend of the “Scream” franchise, ahead of prior installments by 60% for comparable markets. The latest “Scream” also set a new record in North America with its $44.5 million debut, bringing its global tally to $67 million. “Scream VI” established new high-watermarks for the long-running series in 29 international territories, including the United Kingdom ($3.6 million), France ($2.5 million), Australia ($2 million), Mexico ($2 million) and Brazil ($1.8 million).

The Blessed Madonna teamed up with Spotify to co-curate a special EQUAL playlist in celebration of International Women’s Day today (Wednesday March 8). Check it out below.As this month’s Spotify EQUAL UK and Ireland programme ambassador, the DJ’s playlist includes a mixture of rising and established female music-makers – inclyding Eliza Rose, The XX’s Romy Madley Croft, Nia Archives and Shygirl.“Invest in women.

Repubblica.According to Gay Ireland News, Freddi noted that some of the extracurricular activities he proposed were canceled by the university, often without explanation.In one instance, he helped organize a meeting with a student group to talk about HIV, but the meeting was canceled after administrators learned of the proposal.In 2019, after being offered a position to teach a mathematics course, and working for 60 of the 100 estimated hours involved with the course, the university dismissed him, without any explanation, and refused to pay him for the work he’d done. He then filed a lawsuit in the Civil Court of Rome alleging he had been terminated unfairly. On January 24, the judge ruled in his favor, ordering the university to pay out 2,500 euros, or about $2,669 U.S.

MGM’s Creed III  is off to a powerful start at the international box office with the Michael B Jordan-directed movie grossing $6.9M through Thursday in 56 markets.

FIFA came under fire earlier this week for its appointment of supermodel Adriana Lima as its global fan ambassador. The soccer world’s governing body said Lima’s role will be to develop, promote and participate in several initiatives around the world to help grow soccer. "When you get to meet Adriana, you feel right away her warmth, kindness, and how approachable and passionate she is about our game," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a news release.

Variety ahead of the annual London Screening sales market, which runs this week. Participants in the wide-ranging conversation were Prentiss Fraser, president of television distribution for Fifth Season; Louise Pedersen, CEO of All3Media International; Tim Mutimer, CEO of Cineflix Rights; Jonathan Ford, managing director of Abacus Media Rights; and Bea Hegedus, executive managing director of distribution at Vice Media.

EXCLUSIVE: Luke Arnold, Bella Heathcote and Jay Ryan are set to lead Scrublands, a TV adaptation of Chris Hammer’s novel for Australian streamer Stan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Avatar: The Way of Water” was the surprise winner of the best film award at the AACTA International Awards, the overseas awards backed by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts. The pre-event nominations had seen six acknowledgements each for “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once. And while “Banshees” collected three awards, making it the biggest winner at the virtual event, “Everything” collected nothing. The wins for “Banshees” came for Brendan Gleeson as best supporting actor, Kerry Condon as best supporting actress and for Martin McDonagh’s best screenplay.

Global blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water was named Best Film today at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts’ 12th annual AACTA International Awards. See the full list of film and TV winners below.

Queen of the Universe returns for a second season on Paramount+ with Graham Norton as host. The show is set to premiere on the streamer starting March 31 in the U.S. and Canada with the U.K., Latin America, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Australia seeing it on April 1.

is finally back with season 2. The world's fiercest competition, which sees each drag queens debuting a new musical number in front of a live audience and a «Pop Dival Panel» of judges, returns to Paramount+ on Friday, March 31.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International BritBox International has reached three million subscribers across its eight international markets, Variety can reveal. The “best of British” streamer, which is backed internationally by BBC and ITV, has reached its latest milestone across the U.S., Canada, Australia, South Africa, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. (The service launched in the U.K. in November 2019 but split off from the global operation in 2022 and is now integrated into ITV’s streaming offering, ITVX.) “Through what’s been a really challenging time for lots of SVODs, we’ve grown by 15% this year, which certainly exceeds that category growth for the U.S., and lots of our competitors in that set,” Reemah Sakaan, the London-based CEO of BritBox International, tells Variety.

EXCLUSIVE: Black Bear International has closed a raft of international deals on EFM titles Longlegs and Fred & Ginger, we can reveal. The two projects were among the most in-demand with foreign buyers and the deals account for the lion’s share of each film’s budget.

What really makes a family? HBO’s new comedy series “Rain Dogs” explores a dynamic that doesn’t fit into standard conventions. This project — made in conjunction with BBC One — focuses on a family built around a single mother, her young daughter, and a gay friend.