Cannes Explains Why It Postponed Instead of Canceling Festival, Extends Deadlines

HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” wants to be the “Boogie Nights” of basketball, and more often than not achieves the excitement of that pitch. It tells you the history you didn’t know you wanted to know about how the Los Angeles Lakers became such a dominant team, without demanding you know the sport.

Obviously, when you think of stories affecting the entire world right now, the idea that “The Batman” is on the verge of hitting theaters doesn’t feel very important. There’s the ongoing pandemic and the hostilities in Ukraine that are both way more worthy of your attention than wondering what’s going to happen in “Morbius,” right? Well, at The Playlist, we discuss films and TV shows and try to avoid writing stories outside of that realm.

Holly Willoughby is usually private about her personal life, but on Monday, the This Morning host shared a sweet drawing by her son Chester on Instagram.MORE: 'Heartbroken' Holly Willoughby lost for words as her kids ask about Ukraine crisisThe Dancing On Ice star shares two sons and a daughter with her husband Dan Baldwin. The couple's eldest child, Harry, is 12, Belle, is ten, and young Chester is seven.WATCH: Holly Willoughby talks about how much she loves being pregnantThe heartwarming picture showed the mother-and-son duo both smiling as they walked in the sunshine with their new pet dog Bailey.

Pussy Riot co-founder Nadezhda Tolokonnikova — better known as Nadya Tolokno — announced on Twitter Thursday that she has launched a decentralized autonomous organization that will sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to support victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "[O]ur goal is to raise funds to donate to Ukrainian civilian organizations who help those suffering from the war that Putin started in Ukraine," she wrote.

Zack Sharf “Dancing With the Stars” pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy confirmed on his Instagram story that he has made it out of Ukraine and into Poland. The dancer and television personality also described his “traumatizing” train ride to Poland, which included being crammed into an overstuffed train cabin that he described as “sweaty and claustrophobic.”“I made it on the train,” Chmerkovskiy wrote. “We’re heading to Warsaw, hopefully.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMobile marketing software company AppLovin is jumping into the connected-TV streaming video space with a deal to acquire Wurl for $430 million.With the acquisition, Wurl is expected to retain its brand and operate independently with its existing management team, led by Wurl co-founder and CEO Sean Doherty Sr.The deal, announced Monday, is expected to close in the first half of 2022 subject to customary closing conditions. Of the $430 million price tag, 55% will be paid in cash and 45% will be funded through AppLovin stock.Wurl says it interconnects more than 1,200 free, ad-supported streaming channels with distribution services in over 50 countries, reaching over 30 million users on connected TVs worldwide.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCallum Greene and Sara Greene’s Bright Greene production banner has entered into a first-look deal with Amazon, Variety has learned.Callum is an executive producer on Amazon’s highly-anticipated TV series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” Under the deal, Bright Greene will develop and produce new projects for Amazon’s streaming platform. UTA brokered the deal on behalf of Bright Greene.\“After the epic journey of Season One we couldn’t be more excited to continue our work with Amazon,” said Callum Greene.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAcclaimed Japanese animated film “Poupelle of Chimney Town” will release in North American home entertainment markets from May.The rights in the U.S. and Canada are controlled by Eleven Arts which has appointed Shout! Factory to handle distribution.

Naman Ramachandran Sony release “Uncharted” continued its reign atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third weekend in a row collecting £3.08 million ($4.1 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.

A24, the indie studio behind “Moonlight” and “Lady Bird,” has tapped BBC executives Rose Garnett and Piers Wenger to oversee its international film and TV slate.The appointments are a major coup for A24 — and a heavy loss for the BBC — given Garnett and Wenger are the go-to execs in the U.K. for film and scripted television, respectively, anywhere the Beeb is concerned.Garnett most recently served as director of BBC Film, where she has overseen a slate of movies including “The Power of the Dog,” “The Nest” and “Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always.” Prior to that, she worked at Film4 where she helped produce the likes of “The Favourite,” “Room” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri.” Wenger served as director of BBC Drama, where he has overseen such hit television series as “I May Destroy You,” “Bodyguard,” “A Very English Scandal” and “Normal People.” Previously he was head of drama at Channel 4 where he commissioned “Humans,” “National Treasure,” and “The End of The F**cking World.”Both Garnett and Wenger will leave the BBC in May.

Zack Sharf Former Netflix-Marvel comic book series “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist,” “The Punisher” and “The Defenders” will officially call Disney Plus their new streaming home. Disney confirms all six series will begin streaming on the platform in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand starting March 16. The shows left their original home at Netflix on Feb.

Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Network is coming to Corus.

The Batman star Zoë Kravitz has said she “interpreted” her version of Catwoman as bisexual.The actor, who stars opposite Robert Pattinson’s Batman in Matt Reeves’ new film, recently discussed a scene in which her character Catwoman/Selina Kyle calls her friend Anika her “baby”.Pedestrian asked Kravitz whether this scene pointed to Selina’s bisexuality, to which Kravitz replied: “That’s definitely the way I interpreted that, that they had some kind of romantic relationship.”The journalist interviewing Kravitz then expressed happiness that a film was finally portraying Catwoman as bisexual, and Kravitz said she agreed.“[The film is] very true to the character of Selina Kyle,” Reeves told the same publication. “She’s not yet Catwoman, but all the elements of how she’s going to become Catwoman are there.“And in terms of her relationship with Anika, I spoke to Zoë very early on and one of the things she said which I loved was that: ‘She’s drawn to strays because she was a stray and so she really wants to care for these strays because she doesn’t want to be that way anymore, and Anika is like a stray and she loves her.

Eva Longoria is opening up about the emergency appendectomy she had in May 2019.

The show must go on — but not in Cannes, France. At least not this year. As has occurred only a few times in its history, this year's Cannes Film Festival — which would have been its 73rd — was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

LOS ANGELES — More than 20 film festivals around the world have joined together to stream movies free on YouTube after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered movie theatres and forced the cancellation of annual showcases in Cannes and New York.

Cannes Film Festival bosses are committed to staging an event to mark 2020 once the coronavirus restrictions have been relaxed, but they insist any gathering will not look like the typical South of France celebration.

«What are next year's Oscars going to look like?» It's a question the industry, awards forecasters and armchair pundits alike have been wondering as release schedules are scuttled and film festivals are canned amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

«What are next year's Oscars going to look like?» It's a question the industry, awards forecasters and armchair pundits alike have been wondering as release schedules are scuttled and film festivals are canned amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

PARIS — The Cannes Film Festival will not take place this year in “its original form” due to the coronavirus pandemic but organizers said they continued to review options for the event.

The Palais des Festivals, the main complex used for the Cannes Film Festival each year has been repurposed to shelter the homeless during the coronavirus outbreak that has taken hold of most countries around the globe. The huge centre has reportedly opened its doors to around 50-70 homeless people per night in the coastal city in the south of France. It reportedly opened its doors last Friday.

The postponement of the Cannes Film Festival from mid-May to the end of June has elicited a mix of sadness and scepticism among international film executives.

When it comes to film festivals, everyone follows Cannes’ lead, which is why it’s curious that the influential French event, originally scheduled to unspool from May 12-23 this year, waited more than a full week after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic — and two weeks after the French government banned public gatherings through the end of May — to announce that it would not take place as originally planned.

Over the last 73 years, the Cannes Film Festival has often been billed as the world’s biggest and most glamorous celebration of the movies. But this year, it was poised to make history.

The inevitable has finally happened: coronavirus has canned Cannes. The Cannes Film Festival said Thursday it is postponing its 2020 edition, marking one of the biggest business and entertainment event cancellations due to the virus. Organizers said they are now eyeing dates in late June to early July.

The 73rd Cannes Film Festival has been postponed over coronavirus.

The Cannes Film Festival has released a statement following the new measures taken by the French government to restrict gatherings for more than 100 people.

The Cannes Film Festival is rapidly assembling a contingency plan to keep the festival going.

The Cannes Film Festival is rapidly assembling a contingency plan to keep the festival going.

The Cannes Film Festival is among a number of events in France hanging in the balance in the face of the coronavirus outbreak and the government’s recent ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people. In the event of a cancellation, however, the festival won’t be able to rely on an insurance claim.

In an effort to contain France’s coronavirus outbreak, the country’s health minister extended on Thursday the ban for gatherings of more than 5,000 people in confined spaces to May 31, raising concerns about the next edition of the Cannes Film Festival.