Pandemic Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Marta Balaga The “Mavka” franchise is just getting started. Ukraine’s FILM.UA Group is now developing a live-action film based on the character already spotlighted in “Mavka. The Forest Song,” Variety has found out.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. High prices? In this economy? As Lucille Bluth famously said in “Arrested Development, “I mean it’s one banana, Michael. What could it cost? Ten dollars?” Even if she was more than a few dollars off, the point still stands.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dwayne Johnson is nearly unrecognizable in the first look at his upcoming A24 drama “The Smashing Machine,” directed by Benny Safdie and co-starring his “Jungle Cruise” screen partner Emily Blunt. The film casts Johnson as legendary MMA fighter Mark Kerr, who struggled with addiction and his marriage while becoming an icon of the sport.

So You Think You Can Dance is back.

A consultation on the future of Kirkcudbright hospital is set to begin.

Fundamental Films chairman Mark Gao and his CEO Ivy Hua are in Cannes to reconnect with the international industry as part of the Shanghai-based company’s return to international acquisitions and production. 

Even if you have religiously watched every episode of The Bold and the Beautiful ever released, there is so much about the soap opera that you probably don’t know.

Ilkay Gundogan might have left Manchester City almost 12 months ago, but he has not forgotten his charity work in the city as he invited three fans to watch him play in Barcelona recently - keeping a promise he made when he departed Manchester.

Plans have been submitted to convert a pub that closed at the beginning of the first Covid pandemic lockdown in 2020 never to reopen into shop units with living accommodation above. Trafford council’s planning portal has published the scheme to transform the former Garvey’s pub on Cross Street, Sale, into offices and retail spaces complete with a new shop frontage.

When a reliable performer like The Rookie, which has always been on the fall schedule if not delayed by a pandemic or strike, is suddenly not in a network’s starting lineup for the season, fans understandably would be worried.

Anna Marie de la Fuente When an estimated 1,000 international TV buyers descend on Los Angeles for the annual TV event known as the LA Screenings, they will see a contracted market still recovering from the twin Hollywood strikes of last year and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the pandemic. It kicks off with the LA Screenings Independents, held May 15-17 for smaller studios and distributors at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel, which are then followed by screenings at the major studios’ respective lots across May 18-22 where they present their latest shows.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Monk” is the epitome of the classic blue-sky show. Its mysteries are gripping, but the show’s characters are inviting — always giving viewers a reason to laugh. That’s still the case with Peacock’s reunion movie “Mr.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It’s hard to think of an album with a more confusing backstory than Childish Gambino-aka-Donald Glover’s “Atavista,” which was first released stealthily — with little notice, promotion, cover artwork or even song titles — into a dark world four years ago, in the early days of the pandemic, and originally named after its grim release date, “3.15.20.” The album basically kept its light under a bushel for the past four years, until last month when Glover announced on his Gilga internet radio show that he’d be re-releasing it in the near future. And at midnight this past Sunday, it suddenly appeared on streaming services, with three songs removed and two new ones added, bearing the title Glover said he’d originally intended.

Bosses at the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) have promised to 'leave no stone unturned' in tackling unemployment after it emerged that 85,000 people had left work since the start of the year. This makes Britain the only major economy with fewer people working than before the pandemic, after more than one million people dropped out of the workforce.

The 2024 MTV Movie & TV Awards have been canceled.

Eric Schlosser knows food. Not in the way Bobby Flay or Giada De Laurentiis does, but in a scholarly manner that knows its affects on the health of anyone who eats.

Swimming lessons for children and young people with additional support needs will be reinstated after cross-party support from councillors.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kim Godwin hoped to build ABC News‘ future by cutting out some of its past. Tasked, ostensibly, with shaking up a culture of the Disney-backed news organization that pit anchors against one another and led to claims of intolerable behavior behind the scenes, Godwin was supposed to revamp a storied journalism hub without losing any of the impetus that spurred employees to make shows such as “World News Tonight” and “Good Morning America” the most-watched in their category.

Countryfile's Adam Henson was back on screens hosting a special lambing season episode on BBC One at the weekend, giving viewers an intimate look at life on his Cotswolds farm.

John Swinney must “make amends” to the Covid bereaved for deleting key WhatsApp messages if he is to become Scotland’s next first minister, the Liberal Democrats have said.

Ava Phillippe is taking a stand against body shaming.

A call centre boss who left the taxpayer to pick up a £350,000 staff bill when one of his companies went bust is back in business.

EXCLUSIVE: The Human Rights Watch Film Festival recently announced it’s closing down, and the future of Hot Docs remains uncertain at best. But there’s some hopeful news for the troubled film festival space: the return of the Margaret Mead Film Festival in New York.

There’s Criminal Minds: Evolution news!

Disability rights advocates and welfare campaigners have reacted with horror to "divisive" government plans that could see Personal Independence Payments (PIP) stopped for more than three million people who need extra help in their day-to-day lives.

Prices for smaller homes are rising at a faster rate than larger properties, says Halifax. The bank says that smaller properties, particularly flats, are in higher demand due to affordability constraints faced by house hunters.

Challengers is No. 1!

Employees at the Office for National Statistics, including those at its offices in Manchester, are refusing to comply with an instruction to spend two days a week in offices, it's been announced by a union.

Rationing your favourite toiletries into 100ml bottles before going on holiday is about to become a thing of the past. Airline passengers will soon be able to carry bottles containing up to two litres in their hand luggage.

Following two sold-out limited seasons at London’s Barbican, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s acclaimed stage version of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli classic My Neighbour Totoro will transfer to the West End early in 2025.