Sony Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Sony will release a new animated short titled “The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story” on Sony Pictures Animation’s YouTube channel at 6 a.m. PT on March 27.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music If there’s a top jack-of-all-trades in the music industry, there’s a good chance it’s Ryan Tedder. He’s a hugely successful recording artist (as leader of OneRepublic), one of the top songwriter-producers of the past 15 years (Beyoncé’s “Halo,” U2, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, Ariana Grande and many more) and is also a more savvy music publisher than many full-time music publishers.

Michael Jackson‘s youngest son Blanket has filed a legal injunction against his grandmother, Katherine.As TMZ reports, the 22-year-old – real name Bigi Jackson – is attempting to prevent the late singer’s mother, 93, from using money from Michael’s estate to fight in an ongoing legal battle.In documents filed this week, Blanket asked the court not to allow Katherine to use Michael’s estate money to fund an appeal of a previous ruling.It is reported that Blanket and his grandmother were recently working together to stop the executors of Michael’s estate from going through with a large business transaction that they were both opposed to.The documents do not disclose the specific details of the transaction. However, it could be related to the landmark deal the estate reportedly made with Sony recently to sell half of Michael’s music catalogue for $600million (£475million).Blanket claimed that he and Katherine presented their arguments against the deal, but ultimately the court ruled against them – which seemingly brought the legal issue to a close.It is said that Katherine has decided to appeal the ruling, though Blanket doesn’t want to be involved any further.

Director Nicholas Hytner and writer Alan Bennett are collaborating again, with The Lady in the Van, The History Boys and The Madness of King George duo set to team on The Choral, which will star Ralph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent and Simon Russell Beale. Production begins in May in Yorkshire, according to Sony Pictures Classics, which said Wednesday that it has acquired all worldwide rights to the pic.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson opened up about his new superhero project Kraven the Hunter.

Friends alum David Schwimmer is set to lead Season 2 of the Disney+ anthology series Goosebumps.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter David Schwimmer is set to star in “Goosebumps” Season 2 at Disney+, Variety has learned. The show, based on the Scholastic book series of the same name by R.L. Stine, aired its first season on the streamer in October 2023.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Amazon is churning out unbeatable deals on their site this week as part of their first-ever “Big Spring Sale.” One of the best deals we’ve scoped out this week? The Beats Studio 3 Wireless Headphones, which are more than half off right now. The deluxe headphones, which normally retail for $350 are down to $169 on Amazon — a massive 52% discount and the lowest price we’ve ever seen for these top-rated cans.

Sydney Sweeney has opened up more about starring in Sony Pictures‘ Madame Web, which she has described as a “strategic business decision”.Speaking to GQ UK recently, Sweeney responded to the film’s negative reception and co-star Dakota Johnson‘s comments about the film’s production and flop at the box office. While Johnson said she “probably will never do anything like it again”, Sweeney’s open to taking another crack at the film: “I think that if the story is right and you have the right team, I would love to.”However, Sweeney also revealed that her decision to act in Madame Web was more of a business move than anything else: “To me that film was a building block, it’s what allowed me to build a relationship with Sony.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part II” continued its sway atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for a third consecutive weekend with £4 million ($5.1 million), according to numbers from Comscore. Denis Villeneuve’s anticipated sequel has an all-star cast including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling and Javier Bardem reprising their roles from the first film, with Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux joining them.

Prime Video has unveiled first-look images of its The Narrow Road to The Deep North adaptation starring Jacob Elordi, which has wrapped production in Australia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Five months of production has been completed on Jacob Elordi-starring drama series “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” which is set in the “Euphoria” and “Saltburn” star’s native Australia. An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is love-story set against the backdrop of World War II. Elordi portrays Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans and co-stars with Odessa Young (“Mothering Sunday,” “Shirley”).

Sony Pictures Classics announced on Tuesday that it will release its indie drama Daddio, starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn, in theaters nationwide on June 28.

The Good Doctor is sadly coming to an end, but there’s a bunch of surprises heading into the final season!

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Sydney Sweeney said in a recent interview with GQ UK that starring in Sony’s “Madame Web” was a “strategic business decision” that more or less paid off despite the film being one of the year’s most infamous box office flops. In Sweeney’s eyes, “Madame Web” got her in the door at Sony Pictures and that’s where she was able to have a massive box office success with the romantic comedy “Anyone but You.” “To me, that film was a building block, it’s what allowed me to build a relationship with Sony,” Sweeney told the publication. “Without doing ‘Madame Web’ I wouldn’t have a relationship with the decision-makers over there.

Sony is reportedly pausing production of its PSVR2 headsets, an accessory for the PS5, due to a backlog of unsold units.As reported by Bloomberg, people familiar with Sony’s plans have claimed that the company has paused production of the PSVR2 until it manages to sell the backlog that has accrued. Sony has apparently produced “well over 2 million units” of the PSVR2, but has sold just 1.3 million since launch.According to Macquarie analyst Yijia Zhai, interviewed by Bloomberg, “The high price of VR hardware acts as the main hurdle for its expansion.” This is compounded by the relatively small amount of VR titles available for players, which is in turn caused by “the development cost for VR games [being] substantially higher than normal titles.”The PSVR2 accessory retails at £529.99, while a new PS5 slim costs £409.99, more than £100 cheaper than the headset.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Only one month following its theatrical release in February, “Madame Web” is now available to rent/purchase digitally online. The Blu-ray/DVD versions will become available on Apr.

EXCLUSIVE: Karolina Wydra (Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.) has landed a lead role opposite Rhea Seehorn in the upcoming Apple TV+ series from Breaking Bad creator and Better Call Saul co-creator Vince Gilligan, Deadline has learned. The untitled project, described as a blended, grounded genre drama, has a two-season straight-to-series order.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The curtains have closed on the Oscars, and as we peer over the horizon following a six-month Hollywood hiatus due to the union strikes, the initial trepidation over a sparse cinematic future will be sure to dissipate once you look at the road ahead. Contrary to fears, the film landscape appears not just replenished but vibrant, with several compelling titles that are already making waves. An annual tradition at Variety is to take a look ahead at what contenders could be brewing for next year’s Oscar season.

Fox’s free streamer Tubi has added more than 200 movies to its service in Canada through a string of deals with the U.S. majors.

To the surprise of no one (at least no one familiar with “Morbius“), “Madame Web” was a box office bomb and the first cinematic laughingstock of 2024. Not a great start of the year for Sony, who has two other spinoffs in its “Spider-verse” hitting theaters this year: “Kraven The Hunter” on August 30 and the newly titled “Venom: The Last Dance” on October 25.

NATPE’s Budapest event is set for June with U.S. studios in town to sell to international buyers and a Realscreen format strand that will mark the first NATPE-Realscreen Summit collaboration.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Sydney Sweeney just premiered her latest movie, “Immaculate,” at SXSW, and it marks her third high profile release in four months. She conquered the box office opposite Glen Powell in the hit romantic comedy “Anyone But You” (which has earned more than $200 million worldwide), and then she experienced her first studio flop with the Sony comic book tentpole “Madame Web.” Not that Sweeney is too concerned. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the actor was unfazed when asked about “Madame Web” being widely mocked.

EXCLUSIVE: Steven Lightfoot (Shantaram, The Punisher) has been tapped to develop a series adaptation of the Scot Harvathbooks from New York Times bestseller Brad Thor, under a relatively fresh overall deal with Sony Pictures Television that has previously gone unreported, Deadline has learned.

Katcy Stephan The third installment of the “Venom” franchise finally has a title, “Venom: The Last Dance.” Sony has also moved up the film’s release date to Oct. 25, 2024, from the previously-announced Nov. 8 date.

We have some exciting news for the upcoming Venom 3 movie!

Sony just titled the third Venom. It will be tited Venom: The Last Dance and it’s now opening on Oct. 25 this year, not Nov. 8.

Naman Ramachandran Punit Goenka, MD and CEO of Indian media giant Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, will now work directly with the revenue department of the company’s broadcast business. Ashish Sehgal, chief growth officer, advertisement revenue, will now directly report into Goenka. Rahul Johri, who led the revenue and monetization vertical, has stepped down after a three-year stint with Zee.

Dakota Johnson is in trouble with Sony and the team behind Madame Web after her recent comments about the film!

EXCLUSIVE: Sony has preemptively closed a deal for film rights to Grady Hendrix‘s short story “Ankle Snatcher,” tapping Hendrix to adapt it for the screen, sources tell Deadline. Hendrix is also set to produce alongside Escape Artists‘ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Tony Shaw, as well as Aperture Entertainment‘s Adam Goldworm.