Variety Announces Welcome to Cannes Party in Partnership With The Gotham Film & Media Institute

Susan Backlinie, who played the first shark attack victim in Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” has died. She was 77. Backlinie died Saturday morning at her California home due to a heart attack, Convention All Stars owner Sean Clark confirmed to Variety. The former actor and stuntwoman was one of the company’s clients.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Roger Corman, who died Saturday at 98, was famously involved with many of the greats of filmmaking at the start of their careers. In the case of Ron Howard, he helped the young actor transition from being a child star into a versatile director, giving him his first directing job with the action comedy “Grand Theft Auto” in 1977. Howard noted that Corman was also known for giving women more opportunities than they typically had in the film industry at that time, including Penelope Spheeris and Gale Ann Hurd.

Variety yesterday that he passed away on Thursday (May 9) at his home in Santa Monica, California, surrounded by family members.Corman was seen as a trailblazer in the world of independent film, producing and directing hundreds of low-budget movies and giving an early platform to leading figures in the industry, including Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro.“His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that,’” the family said in a statement.Known variously as ‘The Pope of Pop Cinema’ and ‘The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood’, he made his name in the 1960s, creating his own studios New World Pictures and New Concorde, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2009 for his “rich engendering of films and filmmakers”.His own films were often made quickly with low budgets and specialised in genres such as horror, science fiction and action.Several major names received early credits in Corman’s work, including Nicholson in The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Scorsese with Boxcar Bertha (1972), Cameron with Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) and Ron Howard with Grand Theft Auto (1977).Howard himself joked that Corman told him during the tumultuous making of his first film Eat My Dust that “if you do a good job on this film, you won’t ever have to work for me again!”Tributes have come in for Corman, with director John Carpenter writing on X: “Roger Corman, one of the most influential movie directors in my life, has passed away.

Roger Corman, the Oscar-winning “King of the Bs” who helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors early breaks, has died. He was 98.Corman died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California, his daughter Catherine Corman said Saturday in a statement.“He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,” the statement said.

Eurovision bosses have issued a statement clarifying how tonight's final will run after it was announced that the Netherlands will no longer be compete.

Saturday Night Live has announced it will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year with a three-hour primetime special on NBC.The tribute will air live on February 16, 2025 – which is a Sunday – and will be part of a “celebratory weekend” for the show.No further details about the show have been shared, although earlier this year, creator Lorne Michaels did indicate plans for such a special.“We’re doing the 50th anniversary show in February of ’25, so I will definitely be there for that, and definitely be there until that, and sometime before that we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do,” he said.NBC ran a similar tribute for the show’s 40th birthday in 2015, featuring appearances from countless alumni from SNL history, including Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Will Ferrell, Norm MacDonald and Tina Fey.A feature film about the show’s premiere episode on October 11, 1975 is also in the works. Titled SNL 1975, it is set to be directed by Jason Reitman (Juno, Up In The Air, Ghostbusters: Afterlife).The film will be based on real-life accounts based on an extensive series of interviews conducted by Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan with “all the living cast, writers and crew”.Gabriel LaBelle from The Fabelmans will portray Michaels, while The Maze Runner’s Dylan O’Brien will play Dan Aykroyd in the film.

a little vintage?For her 21st birthday, Carys Zeta Douglas, the daughter of Catherine Zeta-Jones, picked her mom’s pink, silk and lace slip first worn on the 1999 MTV Movie Awards red carpet. Meanwhile, Busy Philipps lent her daughter, Birdie Silverstein, the velvet Betsy Johnson frock from the premiere of “The Green Mile,” which the teen wore at an Olivia Rodrigo concert.And last year, Gwyneth Paltrow shared a snap of her daughter, Apple, sporting her black Alexander McQueen gown worn at the 2002 Academy Awards, while Salma Hayek let her daughter, Valentina Paloma Pinault, borrow her fiery red Isaac Mizrahi gown to attend the Oscars.Brooke Shields has also handed down many of her archival pieces from red carpets of yore, as has Angelina Jolie, whose daughters Shiloh and Zahara have borrowed dresses from their famous mother’s closet.As someone who is also the lucky recipient of many ’90s staples from my mom’s walk-in, there is a priceless sentimentality that accompanies each garment that you can’t buy at the department store — and, arguably, it’s better than any designer item.“If you are saving things for your children, save them because they have sentimental meaning to you or because you find the design exceptional,” fashion historian Ruby Redstone told The Telegraph.But clothing storage is much more complex than just hanging the pieces in your closet.

EXCLUSIVE: In a pre-emptive deal, Neon has acquired rights to Osgood Perkins’ (Longlegs) next genre movie Keeper, which will star Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and Rossif Sutherland (Possessor).

Former The X Factor sensation Diana Vickers is set to take on the role of Gwyneth Paltrow in a new musical based on the Hollywood star's ski trial, which made headlines last year. The production called, Wish You Well, will dramatise the events of Gwyneth's 2023 legal battle that stemmed from a skiing incident at Utah's Deer Valley Resort in 2016. Gwyneth, 51, found herself in court after retired optometrist Terry Sanderson accused her of crashing into him on the slopes, causing serious injuries including broken ribs and sought $300,000 in compensation.The A-lister, however, filed a symbolic counterclaim for a single dollar, insisting it was Sanderson who crashed into her, ruining a family ski day.The case, which was closely watched by the public on live television, ultimately saw Gwyneth exonerated.

EXCLUSIVE: Twilight star Taylor Lautner, Modern Family‘s Sarah Hyland, Four Weddings and a Funeral actress Andie MacDowell and Brenton Thwaites are boarding the Natalie Simpkins directed romantic comedy The Token Groomsman which is launching global sales in Cannes.

Ariana Grande was the surprise performer at the 2024 Met Gala and she brought along her Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo as her special guest.

Hilary Duff has given birth and welcomed her fourth child!

Kate Hudson is addressing her relationship with her dad, Bill Hudson. In a new interview, Kate opened up about her father, revealing that while the two are estranged, there might be some hope for them in the future. Kate Hudson’s son is dating the daughter of a famous coupleKate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin celebrate their kids’ graduationKate appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, where she discussed her debut record “Glorious,” coming out this May 17.

Sydney Sweeney and Ana de Armas will be starring in “Eden,” a thriller film directed by Oscar winning director Ron Howard. Here’s all we know about the project: Ana De Armas brings boho chic back: Her Spring look includes chic tube top and maxi skirtSydney Sweeney wears Angelina Jolie’s iconic Oscars gown 20 years laterReports from Deadline claim the film is based on an unsolved mystery that occurred in the Galapagos island.

Foals‘ Yannis Philippakis has shared the first music video from his new project, Yannis & The Yaw, featuring the late Tony Allen – watch the visuals for ‘Walk Through Fire’ below.Last night (May 2), Philippakis released the music video for ‘Walk Through Fire’, the first track to be released from Yannis & The Yaw’s upcoming EP, ‘Lagos Paris London (feat. Tony Allen)’ – the record is due out on August 30 via Transgressive Records.

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer Taylor Swift has broken yet another record with her new album “The Tortured Poets Department,” as she becomes the first artist to claim the top 14 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. Swift breaks her previous record for most songs to claim the top spots on the chart, which she achieved with 10 tracks from 2022’s “Midnights” that dominated the tally.

Fontaines D.C. have announced a 2024 European ‘ROMANCE’ tour.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Memento International has boarded “The Ugly Stepsister,” the ambitious feature debut of Norwegian director Emilie Blichfeldt. The company will kick off sales at this year’s Cannes. Combining comedy and horror, the film is a daring and unexpected take on the world-famous tale, seen through the eyes of the Cinderella’s stepsister, Elvira.

Simon Cowell recently reunited with his ex-girlfriend Terri Seymour, whom he previously dated for six years, showing that despite their failed romance, the pair have remained on good terms in the years since their split. The music mogul, 64, invited Terri to a recent Easter celebration, alongside his fiancée Lauren Silverman and their son Eric.Terri attended the event with her partner Clark Mallon and their daughter, Coco.

The Cannes Film Festival’s Classics sidebar celebrates 20 years this year with a lineup of films including a 4K restoration of Wim Wenders’s Palme d’Or winning Paris, Texas, and a debut screening of Ron Howard’s 2024 doc Jim Henson Idea Man.