Sony: Celebs Rumors

Hackman Capital Partners, the real estate firm behind some of entertainment’s most iconic studio properties, has raised $1.6 billion to invest in projects globally.

Caroline Framke Chief TV Critic Emily Ratajkowski, the model and bestselling author of essay collection “My Body,” is ready to add “podcast host” to her resumé. “High Low with EmRata,” which Ratajkowski describes as “‘Call Her Daddy’ meets ‘Fresh Air,'” will launch Tuesday, November 1. “I decided I wanted to write the book before I ever would even think about a podcast, but it’s sort of a natural progression for me,” the 31 year-old tells Variety exclusively. “I’m very excited about producing the show and doing it in my own way.” Launching in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, “High Low with EmRata” will release two episodes a week plus a bonus episode for subscribers only. The two main episodes will consist of one guest interview and one “themed” episode that Ratajkowski describes as “a monologue” more in the vein of her essays. “I grew up listening to NPR and radio because we didn’t have television…Ira Glass was my hero,” she continues. “To be able to dive into topics that I’m interested in, in this format is so exciting.” The range of topics Ratajkowski hopes to tackle include feminism, pop culture, self-image, relationships, and “cultural moments” that encompass all the above. “I don’t want the show to at all feel pretentious, but I want to be talking about things that I find interesting and important,” she says, citing interviewer influences ranging from Terry Gross to Howard Stern.

Clayton Davis Thirty years ago, former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom created the independent arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment with full autonomy to produce, acquire and distribute films from cinema’s notable auteurs. In the decades since, Sony Pictures Classics has picked up 158 Oscar nominations and 37 statuettes (41 in total for films helmed by Barker and Bernard). It has also made history: Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000) earned 10 Oscar nominations, the most ever for a non-English-language movie, and went on to win four trophies, including foreign language film.

reported in September, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan and Pete Davidson lead the cast in undisclosed roles. Shailene Woodley joined them last week.

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures has beaten out other suitors to take one of the hottest movie packages off the table, striking a domestic deal and more for Craig Gillespie’s Dumb Money from Black Bear Pictures.

Sydney Sweeney is taking on an iconic role.

J. Kim Murphy Sydney Sweeney has found another film project to add to her slate, setting plans to star in a new “Barbarella” movie for Sony Pictures, a source close to the project confirmed. The film remains in early development, with no director, producer or writer currently attached. Sweeney seemed to confirm her involvement with the project through an Instagram post late Tuesday afternoon. The actress shared an image of original artwork from the original 1968 space opera, with a caption: “time to save the universe.”A post shared by Sydney Sweeney (@sydney_sweeney) Sweeney has become somewhat of a marquee talent at Sony Pictures, with the actress co-starring alongside Dakota Johnson in the Marvel Comics adaptation “Madame Web.” The studio also landed the rights to “The Registration,” an adaptation of Madison Lawson’s thriller of the same name. Brad Fuller is producing, while Sweeney is attached to star.

Deadline first reported the news. More to come…

EXCLUSIVE: Sydney Sweeney isn’t done staying busy with Sony Pictures, as sources tell Deadline the Emmy-nominated Euphoria and The White Lotus actress is attached to star in a new Barbarella movie for the studio. The film is based on Jean-Claude Forest’s French comic book series that was turned into a 1968 movie starring Jane Fonda.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Music makes everything better — whether you’re at the beach, on a hike, on the street or just choosing to have an impromptu dance party. That’s why having the perfect portable speaker, that doesn’t sacrifice audio quality, is so important. For Prime Day, the online retailer has slashed prices on dozens of quality, portable speakers that are sure to sell out fast. With waterproof exteriors and convenient straps, these durable speakers are small, but powerful.Of course, you have to be a Prime member to access the deals. If you aren’t already a member, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial today so you don’t miss any of their deals this month. Aside from speakers, though, there’s countless other Prime Day sales going on this month that you’ll want to tune into: check out our round-ups for their best overall deals, in addition to tech adnd home entertainment. From Sony to JBL, here are the best Prime Day speaker sales to snag right now so you can bring the music with you wherever you go. Considering its ultra-compact size, the JBL Go packs in an impressively punchy bass and big audio. The micro speaker is as portable as they come, with a handy latch that can hang onto backpacks or shorts for people that are always on the go. Waterproof, dustproof and bluetooth-enabled, you’ll never be without music.

“Smile” has become the latest original horror film, joining Universal/Blumhouse’s “The Black Phone” and 20th Century’s “Barbarian” to find low budget success thanks to strong word-of-mouth among horror fans. Against a production budget of $17 million, “Smile” now has a 10-day domestic total of $50 million, creating an intriguing match-up next weekend as the theatrically exclusive film goes up against a franchise horror film, Universal/Blumhouse’s “Halloween Ends,” which has a much higher profile but will also be released day-and-date on Peacock this Friday.

Justin Long has been cast as a series regular in Goosebumps, Disney+’s live-action series based on R.L. Stine’s bestselling books, Deadline has confirmed. The new version hails from Scholastic Entertainment, the media division of Scholastic, Neal H. Moritz, producer of the Goosebumps and Goosebumps 2 films, and Sony Pictures TV. 

EXCLUSIVE: Adeola Role (Blue Bloods), Ryan Broussard (Only Murders in the Building) and Graham Verchere (Stargirl) are set as series regulars opposite Dania Ramirez and Scott Caan in Fox’s Alert, a character-driven police procedural from The Blacklist showrunner John Eisendrath and Jamie Foxx, Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment.

Not exactly the flashiest of Thursday nights for previews as Sony’s feature take of the classic children’s book Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile saw $575K off showtimes that began at 3PM in 3,453 locations while New Regency/20th Century Studios/Disney’s Amsterdam baked $550K off previews that began at 6PM in 3,005 locations.

Christian Bale has confirmed he acted as a "mediator" between his American Hustle co-star Amy Adams and their director David O. Russell. During the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, a leaked email to then-Sony chief executive Michael Lynton revealed that Adams was "so abused" by Russell on the set of the 2013 movie that Bale intervened.

Sony Pictures’ Where the Crawdads Sing has crossed the $90 million mark at the domestic box office, showing proof that it’s not just tentpoles that rule the roost on the big screen. The pic hit the mark on its 82nd day of release, Tuesday, after opening on July 15.

Nine years after the Oscar-winning film "American Hustle" premiered, Christian Bale is speaking out about his role on and off-screen.  During a recent interview, the "Batman Begins" actor revealed he played "mediator" behind the scenes between Amy Adams and director David O. Russell, as the two would often get into heated interactions.

Brent Lang Executive Editor In one corner, a star-studded murder mystery from one of the most acclaimed directors in Hollywood. In the other, a family fable that features a CGI crocodile who sounds a lot like Shawn Mendes. As Hollywood heads into another quiet fall weekend at the box office, David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam” is squaring off against “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,” and both new releases are facing strong competition from reigning champ “Smile.” Of the two new entrants, “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” seems to be in the stronger position. There haven’t been many movies geared toward kids — the last one was “DC League of Super-Pets” way back in July. The $50 million production will open in more than 4,300 locations, where it should make $15 million or more. Sony Pictures, the studio behind the film, is being more conservative and projecting an opening in the $11 million to $12 million range. That could be enough for a first-place finish, depending on how steeply “Smile,” which opened to $22.6 million, drops in its second weekend of release.

As the song theft legal battle in relation to Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ rumbles on, at a court hearing yesterday attention turned to the argument that the songwriters suing Swift don’t even have the legal right to pursue the litigation.In this particular song-theft case, songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler accuse Swift of ripping off their 2001 song ‘Playas Gon Play’ when she wrote her 2014 hit. The claim is mainly based on the similarities between the two songs’ respective key lines, with the 2001 track having the line “the playas gon play/them haters gonna hate”, while ‘Shake It Off’ famously includes the lyric “the players gonna play, play, play, play, play/and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate”.Swift’s legal team have been trying very hard to get the case dismissed, mainly on the basis that the notion of players playing and haters hating is far too generic for lyrics based on said notion to be protected by copyright in isolation.

Sony Pictures has set Jonás Cuarón as the director for El Muerto, which will star Bad Bunny, also known as Benito A Martínez Ocasio, Deadline has learned.

Simon Thompson A short film created as part of a project to showcase Sony technology’s capabilities is already changing how the company makes content. Noir-inspired “Killian’s Game” was the first project to come out of the Sony Content Technology Strategy Committee, a group of around 100 people “and growing,’ according to Daniel De La Rosa, VP of Post Production at Sony Picture Entertainment. Behind-the-scenes up-and-coming Hollywood creators worked on the projects and the nine-minutes packs in new filmmaking techniques developed by combining creators’ ideas with Sony Group’s multifaceted technologies.

Don’t underestimate the second weekend of Paramount’s horror movie Smile. The Parker Finn directed and written title, which has provided many in town that horror remains a bankable genre for the big screen after a $22.6M opening, has a shot of possibly upsetting Sony’s family movie Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and 20th Century Studios/New Regency/Disney’s upscale David O. Russell comedy Amsterdam for No. 1 with around an $11M+ take.

Bad Bunny’s expansion into acting continues.

Spider-Man comic in which the luchador wrestler attended a charity event organized by J. Jonah Jameson in which he hoped that El Muerto would defeat Spider-Man and unmask him in the ring.“El Muerto” is part of a series of films based on Marvel characters that Sony is developing with varying degrees of connection to the main “Spider-Man” universe. Coming up next for Sony Pictures universe of Marvel characters is JC Chandor’s “Kraven the Hunter,” starring Aaron Taylor Johnson, to be released in theaters on October 6, 2023 and SJ Clarkson’s “Madame Web,” starring Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, will be released on February 16, 2024.

Production is underway on an official documentary about Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the biggest selling album of all time.

‘Power Of The Dog’ Producer Tanya Seghatchian To Lead London Film Festival Jury

Naman Ramachandran Banijay‘s planned acquisition of Sony Productions Film und Fernseh Produktions GmbH Germany (Sony Pictures Television Germany) from Sony Pictures is now complete. Following customary closing conditions, Banijay Germany has secured 100% stake in the company. The label, founded in 1995, will now operate as Noisy Pictures GmbH, with Astrid Quentell and Mirek Nitsch remaining in leadership positions. Sony Pictures Television Germany’s successful shows include “Die Höhle der Löwen,” which has been on Vox since 2014; drama-comedy “Der Lehrer,” which has played nine seasons on RTL and won numerous awards; and ZDF crime series “Heldt.”

There’s a brand new Tarzan movie on its way!

Sony Pictures has acquired film rights to Tarzan in a deal with the estate of original book author Edgar Rice Burroughs, Deadline has confirmed.Plans are in the earliest of stages we hear, with no writer, director or producer attached to what would be a full reinvention of the popular character first created by Burroughs in 1912; the author continued to write Tarzan books into the 1940s.Tarzan was the son of English nobility who was raised by apes in the African jungle after his parents were marooned there and died. He had no contact with Western culture until he was grown and “King of the Apes.”

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.

EXCLUSIVE: Sony has acquired the original comedy pitch Locked Out from writers Matt and Jackson Kellard. Will Gluck and Olive Bridge Entertainment brought the pitch to Sony through their first look deal and are set to produce. The plot is being kept under wraps. 

EXCLUSIVE: Oakes Fegley (The Fabelmans, The Goldfinch) and Dayo Okeniyi (See, Rise) are set as leads opposite Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly in Dark Matter, an adaptation of Blake Crouch’s acclaimed sci-fi novel, at Apple TV+. In addition to Edgerton and Connelly, they join previously announced series regulars Alice Braga and Jimmi Simpson in the series from Sony Television and also executive produced by Edgerton.

Six seasons and a movie is finally a reality as Peacock announces that the long-awaited “Community” film is officially in the works.

Six seasons and a movie is finally real after NBCUniversal’s Peacock ordered a feature film closure for Community.

“Community” movie, with most of the original cast of the beloved NBC comedy series returning for a feature film continuation that began as an in-joke in the show and became a rallying cry for fans after the series ended.Returning for the “Community” movie are cast members Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong. McHale will also serve as an executive producer on the film.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Pop, pop the champagne: Maybe it’s not the darkest timeline after all, as “six seasons and a movie” is finally becoming reality. Peacock has ordered a movie based on the Dan Harmon comedy “Community,” bringing back original stars Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong to check in on what the gang from Greendale has been up to since the show ended in 2015. Without sharing specifics, Peacock and Sony Pictures TV, which jointly announced the greenlight on Friday, described the negotiations for Peacock to secure the movie as “heavily competitive.” As part of the deal, Peacock has also acquired non-exclusive rights to the full six-season “Community” library, which can also be found on Netflix and Hulu.