Meet The Magical Black Women Bringing Madam CJ Walker's Story To Netflix

BTS member V has tested positive for COVID-19, according to his agency Big Hit Music.Today (February 15), Big Hit Music confirmed that the South Korean musician was diagnosed with COVID-19 after taking a PCR test, following a sore throat. The label noted that the singer has been vaccinated against the coronavirus and is only experiencing minor symptoms.“V completed two rounds of COVID-19 vaccinations and is not presenting any extraordinary symptoms other than a mild fever and sore throat,” Big Hit Music said in its statement, per Soompi.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fresh,” a twisted thriller featuring Sebastian Stan and “Normal People” star Daisy Edgar-Jones, puts a spin on your average meet-cute.After a bleak go at attempting to find eligible bachelors on dating apps, Noa (Edgar-Jones) can’t believe her luck when she runs into a cute guy, Steve (Stan), at the grocery store. They successfully banter about cotton candy grapes, exchange numbers and agree to go on a date.It goes well. So well, that Noa accepts Steve’s invitation to go on a romantic weekend getaway despite barely knowing anything about him.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAmber Heard (“Aquaman”) and Spain’s Eduardo Noriega (“Vantage Point”) will star in 19th century-set supernatural thriller “In the Fire.”The film, which will shoot in Italy, is directed by Conor Allyn (“No Man’s Land”).Principal photography is set to start Feb. 21 in Italy’s Apulia region.

Selome Hailu Catherine Cohen’s debut comedy special “The Twist …? She’s Gorgeous” will premiere on Netflix on March 15, Variety has learned exclusively.In the special, which was taped at Joe’s Pub in New York, Cohen uses her musical expertise to divulge details about relationships, modern feminism and being the main character of her own life. Henry Koperski is featured on the keys.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMeta, the parent company of Facebook, agreed to pay $90 million to settle a long-running data privacy lawsuit over its use of cookies in 2010-11 to track users’ internet use even after they had logged off.The settlement was submitted for approval late Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The fake Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon feud continues.

Chris Willman Music WriterElvis Costello and the Imposters will embark on a U.S. tour this August, joined on most of the dates by Nick Lowe, Costello’s original late ’70s/early ’80s producer and, of course, the man who knows the answer to the question “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.”Costello and Lowe last shared a touring bill in 1989.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.Your new obsession is here, thanks to Shashibo’s latest Grateful Dead collaboration.The company’s popular fidget toy is a magnetic puzzle cube that can be transformed into 70 unique shapes. But aside from serving as a relaxing way to keep your hands busy throughout the day, it also doubles as a charming decor piece to add to your office or living room.

Zoë Kravitz has given an update on the “vulnerable” new solo music she’s making with Jack Antonoff.The actress and musician previously told AnOther magazine back in October that she’d been recording with Antonoff “for a couple of years, on and off”.Speaking in a new interview with Elle, Kravitz has now spoken further about working with the Bleachers musician at Electric Lady Studios in New York.“It feels vulnerable, and it’s a little scary, but making music makes me happy,” Kravitz said about the project. Elle notes that the forthcoming music “explores love and loss, among other themes she’s still discovering”.Kravitz told AnOther last year that Antonoff is “a fantastic producer – he’s so good at really tapping into who he’s working with and not making it about him”.“Some producers want to make it about … like, ‘I’m going to put my sound on you’.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“What is it we actually do here?” That’s a question posed by Adam Scott’s Macro Data Refinement department head Mark Scout in the new Apple TV Plus series “Severance,” a show about Lumon Industries, a mysterious company whose employees, like Mark, have undergone a surgical severance procedure that gives them a very literal “work-life balance.” It’s also a question that series creator Dan Erickson, director Ben Stiller and stars Scott, Patricia Arquette and Tramell Tillman found themselves asking a lot during the making of “Severance.”“The jumping off point is so fascinating, and there are so many interesting questions set up by it,” said Stiller, whose Red Hour Productions picked up the script from Erickson and brought it to Apple. “It was a question of, where should we go tonally with the show? Because we didn’t want it to go to a familiar place, necessarily.” Stiller went on to say that “because the tone was so unique,” and had a “strange humor about it,” the creative team really wanted to establish the “rules” of “Severance’s” world and “that’s what a lot of the time was spent doing.”“Severance” showrunner Erickson first got the idea to create this world while he was working a stereotypical 9-to-5 job that had him wishing he could block out that part of his day entirely.“I worked a string of office jobs when I first got to L.A., and one in particular was in this weird little windowless office,” Erickson told Variety.

Foals have shared the video for their latest single ‘2am’, which opens with frontman Yannis Philippakis out drinking before he’s then dragged into wild – and elaborately choreographed – hedonism.The clip was directed by Tanu Muiño, best known for her work on pop megahits like Lil Nas X‘s ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ and Cardi B‘s ‘Up‘. It was filmed in Muiño’s home city of Kiev, and features an entirely Ukrainian crew.“We love Tanu’s work.

Zack Sharf India Arie used her Feb. 14 interview with Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show” to explain why she thinks Joe Rogan is “consciously racist.” The Grammy-winning singer requested her music be taken off Spotify at the beginning of February, citing Rogan’s problematic “language about race.” Arie first brought attention to Rogan’s history of racist language by posting a video compilation of Rogan using the N-word along with a clip of him comparing a movie theater in a Black neighborhood to “The Planet of the Apes.”Arie told Noah this week that she felt  “disrespected” by Rogan’s language, although she did not expect anyone to pay attention to her posts because she’s “used to this certain type of treatment from the industry where they don’t listen.” The singer is “still in a fight” with Universal Music Group over getting her music off Spotify, but she said that’s still her intent because Rogan “is being consciously racist.” “I think he was saying it because it got a rise out of people,” Arie said.

PC system requirements for Elden Ring have been released ahead of the game’s upcoming release.Elden Ring PC players can now determine what to expect with the PC results having been released through the official Twitter account. The tweet shows off both the minimum specifications and the recommended, and it seems like you might need a bit of a powerful computer in order to meet the minimum requirements.To meet the minimum requirements you will need:And if you want to play at the recommended specifications, they are:The recommended specs also need DirectX 12, and both need 60GB of storage, and work with any Windows-compatible audio device.PC specifications for #ELDENRING.

Perfect Valentine’s Day plans! Scott Disick celebrated the holiday with his and Kourtney Kardashian’s 9-year-old daughter.

Not playing his part? Two months after giving birth to her and Tristan Thompson’s baby boy, Maralee Nichols is alleging that the athlete hasn’t been in the infant’s life.

A’lelia Bundles has denounced Self Made, the Netflix series inspired by her great-grandmother Madam C.J. Walker. 

After writing and directing the Oscar-nominated biopic Harriet, Kasi Lemmons has set her next project — an adaptation ofMaaza Mengiste’sThe Shadow King. Set during Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, the best-selling historical fiction novel tells the story of the Ethiopian women soldiers who were left out of the historical record of World War II.

By Anthony D'Alessandro

Bong Joon-ho’s well-regarded Snowpiercer is finally making its way to Blu-ray in May 2020. The 2013 movie has never been available before on the HD format, or DVD for that matter, but the Snowpiercer UK Blu-ray will finally make its debut on the 25th May. This is great news.

New to Netflix or an existing subscriber but not really sure what to watch amid this 21-day lockdown? No need to worry as we’ve got you covered. We’ve compiled a list of five exciting series’ to watch on the streaming platform. From the award-winning true tale Unbelievable to the brand new season of fan-favourite Ozark, here are five shows worth checking out on Netflix right now.

Netflix’s “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker,” the story of America’s first self-made female millionaire, takes place between 1908 and 1918. But the music, instead of focusing on the early jazz that might be expected, runs the gamut from ragtime to hip-hop.

Up until recently, most of the people deemed worthy of drawn-out biographical explorations have been white, but it's a new day in Hollywood. In theaters, films like Hidden Figures (2016) and Harriet (2019) brought stories about lesser-known African American heroes from out of the shadows, and with Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, Netflix does the holy work of making the self-made millionaire the TV star she should have been long before now.

Over the weekend, a new miniseries arrived on Netflix and instantly became the talk of the town. The online streaming platform dropped a new show called Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker. Based on the biography On Her Own Ground by A'Lelia Bundles, the miniseries tells the story of Madam C. J. Walker, an African American washerwoman rises from poverty to build a beauty empire. She went on to become the first female self-made millionaire. Octavia Spencer plays the lead role. 

Octavia Spencer is no stranger to playing inspiring women, and in her new miniseries, she's portraying a real-life icon.

Finding the look for Netflix’s new four-part series “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker” was something costume designer Karyn Wagner describes as “being in heaven, and a smorgasbord of design.”

Octavia Spencer initially appears as Madam C.J. Walker — the legendary turn-of-the-century hair entrepreneur and America's first self-made millionairess of any race — as a boxer in the ring.

Up until recently, most of the people deemed worthy of drawn-out biographical explorations have been white, but it's a new day in Hollywood. In theaters, films like Hidden Figures (2016) and Harriet (2019) brought stories about lesser-known African American heroes from out of the shadows, and with Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, Netflix does the holy work of making the self-made millionaire the TV star she should have been long before now.

Last year, the director Kasi Lemmons did something interesting, if not consistently successful, with the character of Harriet Tubman: She turned her into a modern action hero. Lemmons’s film “Harriet” had the beats and the posture towards its audience of a thrill-ride multiplex feature, but set in the 19th-century South instead of the present day and starring Cynthia Erivo instead of, say, Liam Neeson.

Octavia Spencer is sending her best to Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and all those affected by coronavirus.

Octavia Spencer is sending her best to Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and all those affected by coronavirus.

Get ready for some more of the Byrde family's criminal misadventures, because Ozark Season 3 is arriving to Netflix on Friday, March 27, and it looks like Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) are going to be cashing in all of their chips with that new casino business. The streaming service will also debut its new limited series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, starring Octavia Spencer as the title trailblazing haircare entrepreneur, on Friday, March 20; the third season of teen dramedy On My Block on Wednesday, March 11; and the second season of thrilling Korean zombie drama Kingdom, which we're really high on, on Friday, March 13.