County Todd Showbiz Latest News and Updates

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix‘s feature adaptation of the play The Piano Lesson out of August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle” has added six to its cast: Malik J. Ali (Swagger), Gail Bean (Snowfall), Jerrika Hinton (Hunters), Stephan James (If Beale Street Could Talk), Jay Peterson (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) and Matrell Smith (The Equalizer).

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor For the first time, rival streaming services Netflix and Paramount+ are coming together in a price-discounted bundle, exclusively for Verizon wireless customers in the U.S. The limited-time deal, through Verizon’s +play subscription-aggregation hub, offers the carrier’s mobile customers a price point of $25.99/month for Netflix Premium and Paramount+ With Showtime — a 19% discount ($5.99 off) the regular monthly price of the two services sold separately. (You’ll still need two separate apps to watch each of the streamers.) Netflix Premium, the streamer’s priciest plan that includes up to four simultaneous streams and content in up to 4K Ultra HD, is regularly $19.99/month. Paramount+ With Showtime will cost $11.99/month when it officially becomes Paramount Global’s top-tier, ad-free streaming plan later in June.

TMZ reported. Then, after Paul demanded the items be returned, he maintains that James gave him the cold shoulder and said the iconic props were "gifted" to him. James even sold some items at auction and kept the money, Paul alleged in the lawsuit. The actor is asking the court to force a return of the Pee-wee property.

A post shared by Lizzo (@lizzobeeating)"I WILL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT YALL MAKE IT FOR FAT PEOPLE TO SIMPLY EXIST. MINDING YOUR BUSINESS IS *FREE*," she wrote alongside the video.

EXCLUSIVE: Up-and-comers Kue Lawrence (Beautiful Boy), Kai Cech (Dear Santa) and Max Malas (New Amsterdam) are set to star opposite Corbin Bersen (White House Plumbers) in the sci-fi horror mystery Marshmallow from director Daniel DelPurgatorio, which is heading into production in a couple of weeks.

Four-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Erykah Badu (What Men Want) has been set to make a cameo appearance with musical performances in Netflix‘s film The Piano Lesson, based on the play by August Wilson. 

Mubi has picked The Settlers, the latest pic from Chilean filmmaker Felipe Gálvez for North America, the UK, Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, and India.

Recently, after his new film, “May December,” debuted at Cannes, filmmaker Todd Haynes teased what might be his next project. All that was said is the film will star Joaquin Phoenix and will be about two gay men in the 1930s.

Coming into Cannes 2023, there was a lot of discussion about Todd Haynes’ new dramedy, “May December.” Haynes is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers working today and his latest stars none other than Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, two of the most respected actors in the world. It appears, judging by early reviews, “May December” delivers the goods and is likely going to be in the mix come awards season.

Todd Haynes is having a great Cannes, isn’t he? His new film, “May December,” has earned rave reviews (including our own), with folks already predicting Oscars love. And now, it appears he has nothing but amazing projects to talk about coming in the future, including a new film with Joaquin Phoenix.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Todd Haynes is the latest auteur to use Cannes as a launching pad for a potential Oscar contender, debuting his delicious dramedy “May December” at the festival on Saturday. Premiering less than one hour after Martin Scorsese’s 202-minute “Killers of the Flower Moon” conquered Cannes, the torrential downpour on Saturday night couldn’t keep many patrons away from taking in the Haynes movie. And not just because the movie reunites the director with his muse Julianne Moore, who he worked wonders with on “Safe” (1995) and “Far from Heaven” (2002), the latter which earned an Oscar nomination for Moore’s performance and one for Haynes’ script.

There’s trouble in the paradise of Savannah, Georgia, where the skeins of Spanish moss-draped over corridors of trees wave in the gentle coastal zephyrs with each night’s picture-perfect sunset. Spouses Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton) have opened their palatial home for a backyard BBQ; he’s manning the grill, and she’s darting about trying to make everything just right, each well aware of their role to play.

Todd Haynes has a way with female stars. I would even call him the new-age George Cukor in that regard. Whether in Carol with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, or his HBOlimited series Mildred Pierce with Kate Winslet, or his homage to the director of so many so-called “women’s pictures” of the ’50s Douglas Sirk in Far From Heaven with Julianne Moore, he seems to be in his comfort zone with women. That has never been more apparent than his latest, May December, a deliciously entertaining showcase for Natalie Portman and Moore (her and Haynes’ fourth film together), which just had its world premiere Saturday in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Natalie Portman has reflected on her debut role in Léon: The Professional, referring to the film as “cringey”.In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress spoke about the 1994 Luc Bensson-directed film where she starred as Mathilda Lando, a lonely 12-year-old who befriends Léon, her neighbour and Italian hitman.“It’s a movie that’s still beloved, and people come up to me about it more than almost anything I’ve ever made,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “It gave me my career, but it is definitely when you watch it now, it definitely has some cringey, to say the least, aspects to it. So, yes, it’s complicated for me.”The film was Portman’s acting debut, and she was cast when she was 11 years old.

William Earl Variety and the Golden Globes Awards have announced a partnership celebrating breakthrough artists at the Cannes Film Festival. The event will take place on May 19 at the Barriere Beach at The Majestic Cannes. At the event, Variety will present its Breakthrough Awards which highlights actors whose work have them poised to be some of the most promising talents in the business. This year’s recipients include Cannes 2022 Best Actress winner Zar Amir-Ebrahami, Charles Melton who co-stars in Todd Haynes’ “May December”, Tye Sheridan who stars and produced the film “Black Flies”, and Shaunette Renee Wilson who co-stars in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor From the royalty of Elizabeth I to the betrayal of superhero villain Hela, Australian sensation Cate Blanchett is one of the most revered performers of her generation, with some of the most riveting turns in modern cinema.  To celebrate her birthday, Variety ranks her 15 best performances of her career (so far). Beloved by critics, audiences,s and awards bodies, Blanchett has displayed a career that aspiring actors dream about.

A first-person account. Chase Chrisley has been struggling with the reality his parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, are currently facing in prison.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Negotiators for the Directors Guild of America on Tuesday gave a video preview of their upcoming talks with the studios, saying they are “fighting to receive our fair share of the new, global future.” The DGA begins its round of bargaining on Wednesday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The guild is focused on rewriting the streaming residual formula to account for the growth in foreign subscribers. “The explosive popularity of streaming around the world has transformed how, and where, our work is viewed, and our contracts must adapt to changing production and distribution,” said Karen Gaviola, negotiations co-chair.

The Directors Guild of America has released a new video outlining its bargaining position on the eve its contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which get under way Wednesday. The video features Jon Avnet, chair of the DGA’s negotiating committee, and co-chairs Karen Gaviola and Todd Holland.

EXCLUSIVE: “This is about setting the course for the industry for the future,” said Directors Guild of America chief Lesli Linka Glatter today on the guild upcoming talks with studios and the WGA strike that stated this week. “We’re in a team sport. We’re only as good as our teams.”

Carrie Fisher's half-sisters, Joely and Tricia Leigh Fisher, are speaking out following Billie Lourd's comments ahead of her mother's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on Thursday.Lourd confirmed that she had intentionally not invited Carrie's brother, Todd, or Joely and Tricia, in a statement made to  on Wednesday after she claimed the trio tried to profit off Carrie's death.Carrie died on Dec. 26, 2016 at 60 years old.

Carrie Fisher’s brother, Todd, is speaking out in response to remarks made by his niece, Billie Lourd, on why he wasn’t invited to Carrie’s Walk of Fame ceremony.

Julie Chrisley is really struggling with her prison sentence!

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Variety has a first look at the anticipated Cannes Film Festival competition premiere “May December,” led by Oscar-winning heavyweights Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman and directed by Todd Haynes. The title, which is also for sale out of this year’s Marché du Film, represents a “Far From Heaven” reunion for Moore and Haynes and a significant breakout opportunity for “Riverdale” heartthrob Charles Melton. Moore and Melton star as married couple whose 20-year relationship inspired a national tabloid obsession at its offset. Now preparing to send their grown children off to college – as Melton reconciles with empty nest syndrome in his mid-30s – an actress (Portman) embeds with the family to study them for an upcoming film where she’ll play Moore. The couple buckles under the pressure as Portman probes as deeply as she can for an honest performance.

Charna Flam Denzel Washington returns as the fan-favorite vigilante Robert McCall in the trailer for the third “Equalizer” film, premiering in theaters on Sept. 1 via Sony Pictures. No longer in the U.S., Robert McCall is fighting crime on an international scale, and this time he’s at odds with the Italian mafia.

Since returning to the iconic soap last year, Coronation Street’s killer Stephen Reed has rocked the cobbles, and put viewers at home on the edge of their seats numerous times, with some of them branding the plots he's involved in as "ridiculous". The 61 year old, who first joined the cast back in 1996 as Audrey Roberts’ illegitimate son, has been an on-again off-again recurring character over the years.

John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) is set to star opposite Honorary Oscar winner Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) in The Piano Lesson — a Netflix film adaptation of August Wilson’s classic play, which will mark the feature directorial and screenwriting debut of his brother, Malcolm Washington. Pic’s starry ensemble will also include Ray Fisher (Rebel Moon), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Michael Potts (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) and Corey Hawkins (The Tragedy of Macbeth).

“Killers of the Flower Moon” will screen out-of-competition on May 20, while James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the final installment in the franchise begun in 1982 by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, will also screen in an out-of-competition slot.French director and actress Maïwenn will have the opening-night film with “Jeanne du Barry,” which stars Johnny Depp in his first film since his court battle with Amber Heard. And Pedro Almodovar’s short film “Strange Way of Life,” which stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, was also confirmed in advance of Thursday’s announcement.Other films screening out of competition include “The Idol,” directed by Sam Levinson and starring The Weeknd, and “Occupied City,” a film about Amsterdam from British director Steve McQueen.The Un Certain Regard section, which is typically devoted to films from less established directors, includes Australian director Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy,” starring Cate Blanchett.Additional films are typically added to the Cannes lineup in the weeks leading up to the festival.