Judd Apatow Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Judd Apatow has directed such comedy films as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Trainwreck, among others. Despite his recent The King of Staten Island and The Bubble going straight to streaming, he still believes comedy films have a place in theaters.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Stormy,” a documentary about former porn star Stormy Daniels, has been picked up by Blue Ant Studios for international distribution. The launch was announced on Monday, the same day that former U.S. president Donald Trump begins a criminal trial in New York for allegedly covering up hush money payments to Daniels. “Stormy,” offered as two one-hour episodes or a two-hour feature, is produced by Emmy-nominated producers Erin Lee Carr (“I Love You,” “Now Die: The Commonwealth v.

Stormy Daniels Doc Finds Global Distribution

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Paul McCartney was the obvious headliner of the bill Thursday at the Hollywood Bowl. But it was Buffett-mania that was in full sway, as a cast of dozens of singers and celebrity presenters — from Jane Fonda to Snoop Dogg — saluted or parroted a fallen musical hero for the three-and-a-half-hour “Keep The Party Going: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett.” Most of the night’s entertainers covered Buffett classics or obscurities, although McCartney, the Eagles and Snoop Dogg broke with that to regale the full Bowl house with their own material, while Zac Brown and (sending in a video contribution) Dave Matthews debuted brand new songs saluting Buffett.

Before reaching A-list status in Hollywood, some celebrities were once roommates in the early years of their careers. Many celebrity roommates, such as Dianna Agron and Lea Michele, met and lived together because they starred in the same show. In this case, Agron and Michele were both actors of "Glee," and decided to room together while filming.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Judd Apatow does not believe comedy movies are dead in theaters. While the genre has largely moved to streaming in recent years (Apatow’s last two directorial efforts debuted on streaming, while the Please Don’t Destroy movie he produced last year, “The Treasure of Foggy Mountain,” skipped theaters and debuted on Peacock), Apatow recently told Vulture that all it will take is one comedy blockbuster in theaters to swing the pendulum away from streaming. Actually, that may have already happened in his eyes.

Judd Apatow is commenting on the trend of streamers licensing content from rival studios.

Addie Morfoot Contributor The South by Southwest debut of “Stormy” was not your typical Imagine Documentaries premiere. About adult film star Stormy Daniels’ alleged affair with former President Donald Trump, the film drew an eclectic crowd that included porn stars and “Muppet” director-producer Frank Oz, who sat in the same row as Daniels and her entourage made up mainly of buff bodyguards.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Following its SXSW premiere earlier this month, Sarah Gibson’s documentary about Stormy Daniels, the porn star who made national headlines when it was revealed that Donald Trump‘s lawyer Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the former president — is now available to stream on Peacock.

EXCLUSIVE: The legendary 1972 Toronto production of the musical Godspell – a staging that launched the careers of Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Paul Shaffer, Andrea Martin and Dave Thomas, among others – will be the subject of a feature length documentary exec produced by Judd Apatow.

EXCLUSIVE: 2 Broke Girls and Thor actress Kat Denningshas signed with Gersh for representation.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Stormy Daniels cried and laughed during the SXSW world premiere of “Stormy,” a Peacock documentary about the porn star who made national headlines when it was revealed that Donald Trump‘s lawyer Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the former president. “Fuck Trump,” Daniels said onstage following the March 8 screening.

Stormy Daniels skipped the red carpet Friday but took the stage briefly after a screening of documentary Stormy, which had its SXSW premiere on the festival’s opening night. She was emotional, often wiping away tears, as she embraced director Sarah Gibson and talked about how important the film is to her. But she displayed her trademark defiance too, closing with a parting shot — “And f*ck Trump.”

Adam Sandler fully believes “Saturday Night Live” creator and producer Lorne Michaels isn’t quite ready to leave the NBC variety show despite rumors circulating about his retirement.“I don’t see that happening,” Sandler, 57, told “Entertainment Tonight” at the premiere of his new film, “Spaceman.” “I don’t, maybe somebody said he might, but I talked to Lorne, I don’t think he’s saying enough. He’s rocking. He loves it.” According to the “50 First Dates” actor, Michaels, 79, still enjoys putting every single episode together.

In perhaps one of the best feel-good stories in Hollywood this year, a coalition of 35 filmmakers have invested in a coalition to save Los Angeles’ fabled Westwood Village Theater. Organized by Jason Reitman, the group will book first-run features and repertory programming from the theater’s directors/caretakers.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor UPDATED: Jason Reitman has gathered more than two dozen filmmakers to help acquire Westwood’s historic Village Theater, which will program first-run and repertory programming. The group includes JJ Abrams, Judd Apatow, Damien Chazelle, Chris Columbus, Ryan Coogler, Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonathan Dayton, Guillermo del Toro, Valerie Faris, Hannah Fidell, Alejandro González Iñárritu, James Gunn, Sian Heder, Rian Johnson, Gil Kenan, Karyn Kusama, Justin Lin, Phil Lord, David Lowery, Christopher McQuarrie, Chris Miller, Christopher Nolan, Alexander Payne, Todd Phillips, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Jay Roach, Seth Rogen, Emma Seligman, Brad Silberling, Steven Spielberg, Emma Thomas, Denis Villeneuve, Lulu Wang, and Chloé Zhao.

After wrapping up his four-season run on HBO’s acclaimed dark comedy Barry, Henry Winkler has been set to receive USC Comedy’s prestigious Oakie Award for Exceptional Achievements in Film and Television Comedy.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump in a speech at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards.The director and writer, who is behind the likes of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, was hosting the ceremony on Saturday night (February 10) when he took aim at the 2024 presidential race.“This year’s DGAs were voted for by you and your peers,” he began to the audience. “I swear to God if this is the only time you vote this year, you can all go fuck yourselves.“We need this industry to encourage people to vote.

On Saturday night, when Martin Scorsese collected a gold medallion—the honor given by the DGA to all five of its Feature Film nominees—he thanked his cast and crew and Apple for their support in making Killers of the Flower Moon, but he emphasized his thanks to the Osage Nation for their intrinsic role in the making of the film and its success.

Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.com Welcoming nominees and guests to the 76th DGA Awards, director, producer and writer Judd Apatow greeted the audience joking, “I’m your host Bradley Cooper in an even more beguiling Jewish nose.” Apatow opened up with a zinger drafting off the DGA’s history of never striking against the studios. He noted that his agents told him to hold out for more money for his fifth time as host of the ceremony: “But in the spirit of the DGA I accepted their first offer.” Taking aim at the current political landscape, Apatow addressed the crowd stating, “I swear to god if this is the only time you vote this year, you can all go fuck yourselves.” He noted the age of the likely nominees for the presidential election, Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Refresh for more. If there’s a holy grail of awards opening monologues, it’s Judd Apatow‘s at the DGA Awards.

J. Kim Murphy Lights. Camera.

Addie Morfoot Contributor After a tumultuous year marked by Hollywood labor strife and cutbacks at major studios, the Directors Guild of America will celebrate helmers, including Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan, at its 76th annual DGA Awards on Feb.10. Gerwig and Nolan, the filmmakers behind last summer’s blockbusters “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” are nominated for the top trophy alongside Martin Scorsese for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Yorgos Lanthimos for “Poor Things” and Alexander Payne for “The Holdovers.” Directors for popular shows such as “Succession” and “The Bear” were among those nominated for DGA trophies this year.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Sarah Silverman is taking a new swing at David Letterman’s fondly recalled “Stupid Pet Tricks,” and it would be easy to say something about the comic “going to the dogs” or “hoping the new show has legs.” But Silverman has a lot more in store than skateboarding canines and bubble-popping reptiles. That’s right, this isn’t your dad’s “Stupid Pet Tricks.” “The stupid pet tricks happen in front of the camera,” says Silverman during a recent interview, but “we wanted to make it kind of a ‘Muppet Show’ where you see behind the scenes.” Every episode has a storyline that might involve a writers’ room with just one human, or Jack McBrayer as a rival host with his own animal program.

EXCLUSIVE: Jason Segel has signed with UTA.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscilloscope Laboratories has taken North America on Flipside, a new documentary from filmmaker Chris Wilcha, which world premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. Exec produced by Judd Apatow, the film is slated for release in theaters this year.

Barbie is an original screenplay, not an adapted screenplay, claims director/producer Judd Apatow.

Barbie would be classified as an adapted screenplay.Although the movie campaigned for Best Original Screenplay, Variety reported on Wednesday (January 3) that the film would instead be classified as an adapted screenplay. Previous films with pre-existing characters, such as Toy Story 3 and Before Sunset, have been classified as adapted screenplays.However, Apatow was not happy to hear the news, and took to X/Twitter to express his thoughts.

Judd Apatow is Team Barbie after The Academy made a surprising decision about how to handle the blockbuster at the 2024 Oscars.

EXCLUSIVE: Patton Oswalt is forging a second volume of his Minor Threats comic for Dark Horse.