Featuristic Films has unveiled an exclusive first look at the feature documentary 'Afghanistan.' It follows filmmaker James Glancy, a former British Royal Marine Commando who was decorated in 2012 for his actions in combat, as he returns to Afghanistan with a small, handpicked team to help him answer the question that has haunted him over the past decade: Was it worth it? Dramatically, mid-way through the shoot, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would be pulling troops out by 9/11, starting a Taliban offensive that has led to the dramatic fall this week of the Afghan government, amidst chaotic evacuation scenes in Kabul as American forces withdraw.

https://variety.com/2021/film/global/afghanistan-james-glancy-featuristic-films-1235042807/

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While the theater industry is currently reeling from being on lockdown for the past 14 months, the curtains are about to rise again. After Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that Broadway theaters will reopen at full capacity on Sept. 14, theater productions have started to declare their intended return ...

https://variety.com/2021/theater/news/broadway-show-tickets-where-to-buy-1234970196/

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BTS has set the television performance debut of the groups forthcoming single, Butter, for the Billboard Music Awards May 23. The vocal group will perform remotely from Korea on the show, to be broadcast on NBC live across time zones in the U.S. at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Butter, ...

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/bts-butter-billboard-music-awards-performance-premiere-1234970665/

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Giorgio Dirittis biopic Hidden Away, about crazed primitivist painter Antonio Ligabue, was the big winner at Italys 66th David di Donatello Awards, the countrys top film prizes. The Davids were held with an in-person ceremony aired from two venues amid a strong spirit of restart as Italian movie ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/giorgio-dirittis-hidden-away-italys-david-awards-sophia-loren-1234970972/

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Cherry Jones has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple drama series Five Days at Memorial,Variety has learned. The series is based on the Sheri Fink novel of the same name. It chronicles the first five days in a New Orleans, LA, hospital after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. When the ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/cherry-jones-apple-hurricane-katrina-series-five-days-at-memorial-1234972543/

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Before NBC Universals upfront presentation on Monday to advertisers, the company announced dozens of new shows for Bravo, E!, USA Network, Oxygen, and SYFY. In the press release, 33 new unscripted shows were announced along with 30 shows returning to the suite of channels. Among the ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/below-deck-kandi-burruss-southern-charm-summer-house-nbcu-upfront-1234972584/

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Marvel Studios Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and 20th Centurys Free Guy will open in movie theaters exclusively, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced during a Q2 earnings call on Thursday. But both films will only play in theaters for 45 days before ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/disney-shang-chi-free-guy-45-day-window-1234972782/

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Michael Jai White, whose work as an an actor, director and writer includes Arrow, The Dark Knight, Spawn and Mortal Kombat: Legacy, announced the launch of Jaigantic Studios, which will be Connecticuts first mini-major studio. White has ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/michael-jai-white-launch-jaigantic-studios-connecticut-1234972986/

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The Venice Film Festival is gearing up to take place as a full-fledged physical event in September with a back-to-normal atmosphere and what could be a high-profile selection of films. While the Toronto Film Festival, which runs Sept. 9-18, is sticking with a combination of digital and in-person ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/venice-film-festival-2021-dune-films-red-carpet-1234972195/

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Paramount Television Studios and Anonymous Content are getting ready to relocate the filming of ambitious Apple TV Plus series Shantaram to Thailand in July, Variety can reveal. The 10-part series is based on Gregory David Roberts tome about a man on the run from prison in Australia, who flees to ...

https://variety.com/2021/streaming/asia/shantaram-apple-thailand-charlie-hunnam-1234973197/

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Fox News Channel has defied its many critics for a quarter century, surviving shocking internal scandals and weathering myriad controversies with its primetime hosts to become a profit-generating juggernaut for Rupert Murdoch. But there is no question that its traditional linear revenue base is ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/fox-news-cord-cutting-murdoch-subscribers-1234972698/

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Gary Foster has worked in Hollywood for more than three decades producing hit films like Sleepless in Seattle and watercooler shows like Community. Its a life on setthats allowed him to observe the best and often the worst ofhumanbehavior, from star tantrums todirector meltdowns. For too long, ...

https://variety.com/2021/biz/news/humanity-on-set-hollywood-toxic-workplaces-1234971948/

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Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that the California will add $30 million to the states film and TV tax incentive program this year, as the state doles out a $75 billion surplus. The $30 million is on top of the $330 million that the state provides annually to subsidize TV and film ...

https://variety.com/2021/politics/news/gavin-newsom-30-million-state-film-credit-program-1234973701/

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Director Robert Eggers The Northman will release in theaters on April 8, 2022, Focus Features announced on Friday. Universal Pictures International will premiere the film internationally on the same day. Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/the-northman-release-date-robert-eggers-1234973788/

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In todays Global Bulletin, the deceasing average of ages in BAFTA TV actress nominees raises ageism concerns; Gary Barlow sets music show at the BBC; RED Productions hires Chloe Dunbar as head of development; the European Audiovisual Observatory and the U.K.s Department for Digital, ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/global/bafta-women-ageism-study-1234967715/

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Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's...

https://variety.com/feature/2021-emmys-predictions-primetime-emmy-nominations-1234968276/

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In the new movie Here Today, Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish play an unlikely duo who form a May-December friendship. Off-screen, the comedy stars have grown just as close. In fact, when Haddish celebrated her bat mitzvah in late 2019 with a star-studded shindig, Crystal was in attendance ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/billy-crystal-tiffany-haddish-here-today-bat-mitzvah-1234966805/

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What is dead may never die, and thus, the world of Game of Thrones will live on at HBO with prequel series House of the Dragon. While its only been two years since we waved goodbye to Game of Thrones, it feels like an eternity since we last traveled ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/game-of-thrones-house-of-the-dragon-cast-plot-release-date-1234968178/

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The Paramount Plus streaming service will be launched in Australia and New Zealand in August. It joins an increasingly crowded marketplace, but claims local traction through ViacomCBSs ownership of Australian linear channel Channel Ten and a handful of local content commissions. The launch ...

https://variety.com/2021/streaming/asia/paramount-plus-australia-new-zealand-launch-1234968569/

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Lotus Entertainment and ROAR have boarded French Touch, a music-filled coming-of-age movie set in New York, starring French singer-songwriter David Hallyday and his real-life daughter Emma Smet. The film will be directed by Shirley Monsarrat, who most recently helmed season 7 of the ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/global/french-touch-david-halliday-lotus-entertainment-1234968713/

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YouTube, locked in a fight with Roku, is doing an end-around to let customers access the YouTube TV from its main app on connected TV platforms. YouTube is launching a new feature that lets users access to YouTube TV from within the YouTube app, starting with Roku. The move comes after Roku last ...

https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/roku-youtube-tv-access-youtube-app-1234968887/

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Lucinda Williams is recovering from a stroke she suffered last November, she revealed in a new interview with Rolling Stone. The 68-year-old singer-songwriter spent five weeks in the hospital after doctors found a blood clot on the right side of her brain, which affected the left side of her body. ...

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/lucinda-williams-stroke-1234965289/

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The Television Academy has unveiled recipients of its 14th Television Academy Honors, including HBOs I May Destroy You and Comedy Centrals The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. The seven honorees also include For Life, I Am Greta, ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/awards/television-academy-honors-2021-i-may-destroy-you-daily-show-1234965369/

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Paramount Pictures has become the latest studio to adopt the Ruderman Family Foundations guidelines for auditioning actors with disabilitiesfor studio productions. Inclusion of individuals with disabilities is central to an authentic commitment to diversity in our industry and in our ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/paramount-pictures-audition-disabilities-ruderman-family-foundation-1234965517/

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Greetings from Variety Awards Headquarters!Today isMay 3, 2021, which means its28daysuntil Emmy eligibility ends onMay 31;45daysuntil nomination-round voting starts onJune 17;53 daysuntil the Daytime Emmys telecast onJune 25;56daysuntil nomination-round voting ends onJune 28;71daysuntil ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/awards/awards-hq-may-3-newsletter-emmys-1234965573/

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Court is back in session at NBC. The network has formally given a pilot order to a spinoff of Night Court led by original series star John Larroquette and The Big Bang Theorys Melissa Rauch. The pilot, produced by Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/night-court-nbc-pilot-order-john-larroquette-melissa-rauch-1234965650/

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Its getting to be a habit: Country superstar Eric Church. puts out a new album, and it debuts at No. 2, but is beat out for the top spot by a new hip-hop release. Well, its a pattern thats lasted exactly two weeks in a row, anyway. The new Rolling Stone album chart finds Memphis...

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/moneybagg-yo-album-chart-eric-church-weeknd-ariana-1234965600/

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Discovery Plus is venturing into scripted development, with the streamer acquiring the TV rights to the book Girls with Bright Futures by Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman,Variety has learned exclusively. The move to develop the series, which is in the very early stages, is significant ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/discovery-plus-scripted-series-1234965787/

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Conan OBrien has an official moving-out date at TBS: His long-running late-night show Conan will officially end on June 24. Conan will mark the end of its 11-year run with final weeks of shows that will include special guests, leading up to an hour-long finale. As ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/conan-finale-date-tbs-june-talk-show-obrien-1234965648/

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Walt Disney Company is set to launch its Disney Plus Hotstar streaming service in Malaysia from June 1. The platform will boast a significant local content component in addition to the mainstay Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic brands. The launch is being held in association ...

https://variety.com/2021/streaming/asia/disney-plus-hotstar-malaysia-launch-1234965831/

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