Entertainment

Original title: Howard Stern Delays SiriusXM Return Until Next Week After Teasing Big Reveal About His Future Howard Stern will reveal all … just not yet. The radio shock jock had been slated to return to his SiriusXM show Tuesday morning, after weeks of promos promised a big reveal following swirling speculation that his show would be canceled. However The Howard Stern Show’s social accounts posted early Tuesday that “Howard Stern will now speak Monday, September 8,” urging listeners to “stay tuned.” Stern’s return followed a news cycle dominated by questions about his future, after The Sun reported a month ago that his show was set to end because there was no chance that SiriusXM and Stern would be able to come to terms on a new contract. Stern subsequently sought to own the news cycle himself, releasing a promo that leaned into the drama. “The tabloids have spoken: Howard Stern fired, canceled, is it really ‘Bye-Bye Booey’? Chaos is swirling at The Howard Stern Show,” said a narrator in the promo that ran on SiriusXM. “Did staffers talk to the press? Are writers withholding their best jokes ...

Original title: Venice: Kaouther Ben Hania on Gaza Drama ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’: “At Least, With This Film, I Wasn’t Silenced” For more than a decade, Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania has blurred the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, crafting work that moves between dramatization and documentary while remaining anchored in lived experience. Her feature debut, The Challat of Tunis (2014), used documentary techniques to probe a local urban legend. Beauty and the Dogs (2017) dramatized the aftermath of a sexual assault in Tunis with unsettling precision. In 2020, she became the first Tunisian director nominated for an Academy Award with The Man Who Sold His Skin, a satirical drama about a Syrian refugee whose body becomes a commodity. Three years later, her hybrid doc Four Daughters — part testimony, part re-enactment — bowed in competition at Cannes, went on to win the prize for best documentary, and was nominated for an Oscar. Her latest feature, The Voice of Hind Rajab, which premieres in competition at Venice before heading to Toronto, pushes that interplay of documentary and dramatization furth ...

Original title: ‘The Ivy’ Tells of an Unexpected Bond, Unresolved Desire, and Trauma (Exclusive Venice Clip) A connection formed between two outsiders from different social backgrounds and of different ages, which transcends trauma in a world that tries to exclude them, is at the heart of The Ivy (Hiedra), the third feature by Ecuadorian director Ana Cristina Barragán (Alba, La Piel Pulpo), which world premieres at Venice on Wednesday, Sept. 3. “Azucena, a woman in her 30s, approaches Julio, a teenage boy living in a group home, for reasons he doesn’t understand,” reads a synopsis. “As they spend time together, an uneasy closeness grows, changing the shape of a bond neither of them expected to find.” The two “are connected by a shared experience of trauma,” according to a description. “Together, they set out on a journey beyond the confines of a society that has never truly included them. With fearlessness and intimacy, the film explores the complexities of disordered, unresolved desire and intimate, often wordless relationships.” Starring Simone Bucio (The Untamed) and first-time actor Franc ...

Original title: Kim Novak’s Longtime Confidante Reveals Surprising Reason ’Vertigo’ Star Fled Hollywood: Sour Pickles Much has been made over the years about why Vertigo icon Kim Novak did what many seemed unthinkable when she fled Hollywood and said goodbye to an enviable and still thriving acting career that saw her collaborate with everyone from Alfred Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart to Billy Wilder and Frank Sinatra. But her longtime manager and confidante, Sue Cameron, revealed a surprising new reason for Novak’s departure while participating in a press conference at the Venice Film Festival, which hosted the world premiere Alexandre O. Philippe’s new documentary Kim Novak’s Vertigo. Cameron claimed it all came down to … sour pickles? By the time she started shooting Richard Quine’s 1965 film The Notorious Landlady opposite Jack Lemmon and Fred Astaire, Novak had made up her mind that she hated Hollywood and was ready to leave, Cameron said. So when she and her sister went for a drive near picturesque Carmel, Calif., not far from where they were shooting the film, the siblings happened upon a gorgeou ...

Original title: Farhana Bhula Named Director of Film4 Farhana Bhula is the new director of Film4, U.K. broadcaster Channel 4‘s feature film division, the company said on Tuesday. Bhula has served as interim director of Film4 since July, following the news of Ollie Madden’s departure. “She will take up the role immediately, following an extensive external recruitment process,” Channel 4 said. The executive joined Film4 in January 2022 as senior commissioning executive, later becoming head of creative & deputy director. She has overseen such film projects as Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature How to Have Sex, Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers, plus such upcoming titles as Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada, Oliver Hermanus’ The History of Sound, and Philippa Lowthorpe’s H Is for Hawk. Bhula launched Future Takes in partnership with the BFI, currently in its second iteration, to support and nurture emerging talent. “Following the success of How to Have Sex, Molly Manning Walker has reunited with the channel on her upcoming TV series Major Playe ...

Original title: John Malone Says He Advised David Zaslav on Warner Bros. Discovery Compensation Package, NBA Rights Media mogul John Malone is opening up about advising David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, on his new contract with the media giant. In an interview with the New York Times about his memoir Born to be Wired, Malone, Zaslav’s longtime mentor, told the publication that he recently advised the WBD boss on a new contract that would maximize his potential for generating long-term wealth but also dampen down public criticism that surrounded previous pay deals by keeping the headline figure of the package “skinny.” In April, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Zaslav received a 2024 compensation package worth $51.9 million, compared with $49.7 million in 2023 and $39.3 million in 2022 when the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger closed. However, in June, WBD shareholders voted to reject the 2024 compensation packages of its top executives, including Zaslav. “It doesn’t look like it’s all that generous, but in reality, it’s your path to meaningful wealth,” Malone opined to the ...

Original title: Dwayne Johnson’s ‘The Smashing Machine’ Delivers TKO at Venice World Premiere, 15-Minute Ovation Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne Johnson as legendary mixed martial arts and UFC fighter Mark Kerr, delivered a knockout punch Monday at the Venice Film Festival. The A24 film had its world premiere Monday night inside Sala Grande and the audience went wild, responding with a 15-minute standing ovation. It proved to be a special night for Johnson as Kerr also made the trek to Venice for the showing where they were joined by co-star Emily Blunt. Amid cheers of “DJ,” “Benny” and “Emily,” the audience went wild as all four — Johnson, Blunt, Safdie and Kerr — were all teary-eyed throughout the emotional scene. Even Seth Rogen, a surprise guest, was cheering and hollering while holding a camera throughout the ovation and snapping photos the entire time. A24’s The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne Johnson as UFC champ Mark Kerr delivers TKO at Venice Film Festival world premiere with 15-minute standing ovation. The Rock in tears by the end as was co-star Emily Blunt, direc ...

Original title: Graham Greene, ‘Dances With Wolves’ Actor, Dies at 73 Graham Greene, the Oscar-nominated actor from Dances With Wolves, died Monday in Stratford, Ontario, after a lengthy illness, his rep told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 73. “He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed,” Greene’s agent Michael Greene said in a statement to THR. “You are finally free. Susan Smith is meeting you at the gates of heaven,” referring to the actor’s longtime agent, who died in 2013. Born on June 22, 1952, in Ohsweken on the Six Nations Reserve and a graduate of the Centre for Indigenous Theatre Program in 1974, the Canadian actor made his small-screen debut on the 1979 Canadian drama series The Great Detective and film debut in Running Brave (1983). However, it was his role as Kicking Bird in the 1990 film Dances With Wolves that earned him a best supporting actor Oscar nomination. Out of its 12 nominations, Dances With Wolves won seven Academy Awards, including one for best picture. The film launched Graham’s career to new ...

Original title: ‘Lost in the Jungle’ Review: ‘Free Solo’ Directors Capably Tackle a Remarkable Tale of Survival in the Amazon for Nat Geo Real-life drama doesn’t get much more harrowing, or much more inspiring, than the story at the heart of Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin and Juan Camilo Cruz’s new documentary Lost in the Jungle, which showed at Telluride ahead of its September premiere on National Geographic. In 2023, Indigenous Colombian Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy (aged 13 at the time) and siblings Soleiny (9 at the time), Tien (5) and Cristin (under a year) were on a plane headed to Bogota. It crashed somewhere in the Amazon, killing their mother and two other passengers, but the kids were OK. Relatively. Lost in the Jungle The Bottom Line The story is more compelling than the way it’s told. Venue: Telluride Film Festival Airdate: 9 p.m. Friday, September 12 (National Geographic) Directors: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin and Juan Camilo Cruz 1 hour 36 minutes The Colombian military sent a unit of commandos into the jungle, while regional tribes sent their own search party, all certain that even if the ch ...

Original title: Walmart Wants to Challenge Amazon as a Streaming Aggregator, Adds Peacock as Video Partner Walmart wants to take on Amazon Prime Video in the video aggregation space, overhauling its subscription offering with a new benefit called “Video Subscription Choice,” and adding Peacock as a partner. The retail giant on Monday announced its new plan, which includes an extension of its deal with Paramount+, originally signed three years ago. The new offering will see subscribers to its Walmart+ bundle be able to choose between a complimentary subscription to Peacock’s premium tier, or the Paramount+ essential plan. Subscribers can also switch between Paramount+ and Peacock every 90 days, if they so choose. The choice-based offering also leaves open the possibility of Walmart adding other streaming services as potential options in the future. “The additional option of Peacock Premium adds even more value and more choice to our membership, without raising the price,” said Deepak Maini, senior VP of Walmart+. “By offering the ability to switch between two top-tier video streaming service ...