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When Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev sit down to discuss a potential nuclear arms treaty in the upcoming film “Reykjavik,” the actors portraying them, Jeff Daniels and Jared Harris, will be lowering themselves into the actual chairs in the actual building where the historic 1986 meeting took place.

Writer-director Michael Russell Gunn, who previously shot “Thai Cave Rescue,” says he loves the “authenticity” of shooting at the actual Höfði House in Iceland. Producer John Logan Pierson adds, “there’s an energy and spirit that comes from shooting in the real place.”

This authenticity was only feasible because of Iceland’s rebates and professional crews. “We needed to make this for a competitive number and sometimes you want to film in a place that isn’t production friendly and lacks a robust infrastructure,” Pierson says.

“The people of Iceland have been so welcoming to our production,” says Mark O’Connor, exec VP of...

As “Tetris” celebrates 40 years of falling blocks at the Lucca Comic and Games convention in Italy, Variety sat down with its creator Alexey Pajitnov and the Tetris company’s co-founder Henk Rogers to discuss the beginnings of the most successful computer game in the world.

Despite the difference in their appearance, Pajitnov, pale with a white beard, and Rogers, tan with a colorful trilby, make a formidable team who overcame great odds to bring their puzzle game – in which players pair and eliminate a series of multicolored falling blocks – to the world in 1984.

Such were the adventures, there’s even an Apple+ film “Tetris,” starring Taron Egerton and directed by Jon Baird. Pajitnov smiles at the memory: “Noah Pink [the screenwriter] was very attentive to our notes, but it was still a long and difficult fight with them, because they desperately need all this Hollywoodish bullshit.”

Rogers understands the compromises necessary: “Their...

The 2024 movie, Reagan, tells the life story of Hollywood actor and United States president, Ronald Reagan, but the movie isn't able to capture the man's entire life in just over two hours. Reagan premiered in August of 2024 and received record-breaking reactions. Reagan's Rotten Tomatoes scores are notably divisive, with an 18% critics' score, and the audience score at a whopping 98%. This is the biggest gap between scores in Rotten Tomatoes history. Though it is difficult to unpack why exactly these scores are so starkly different, one reason may be how Reagan portrays its protagonist's very full life.

When it comes to movies about historical figures, it can be hard to find a balance between authenticity and entertainment. The biggest obstacle is time. If a director wants to squeeze someone's entire life into a two-hour movie, some cuts are going to be inevitable. Unfortunately, some of these cuts can have a negative...

Jared Harris is going full circle and returning to the Royal Shakespeare Company for the first time in 34 years to play Claudius, the treacherous uncle in Hamlet. It is a play much-loved by his father Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies and Marcus Aurelius in Ridley Scott’s original 2000 Gladiator.

Harris said that when he and his brothers, thespian Jamie and director Damien, were kids, their stage-struck parents — dad Richard and mum Elizabeth Rees-Williams — would sit around the dinner table and discuss the productions they’d seen and “Dad would actually get up from the table and act them out for us boys.”

His father “adored” Hamlet and many of Shakespeare’s other plays. “I saw his version of [Laurence] Olivier’s death scene in Coriolanus quite a few times,” he chuckles from his hotel room in Iceland, where he’s shooting...

Exclusive: Guy Burnet (Oppenheimer), John Ross Bowie (Speechless), Adrian Rawlins (Mary & George) and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Vikings: Valhalla) will round out the cast of Reykjavik, writer-director Michael Russell Gunn’s historical drama for Anyone But You producer Sk Global. Additionally, 2521 Entertainment has been set to produce and finance the film in partnership with Sk Global.

Others in the cast, as previously announced, include Jeff Daniels, Jared Harris, J.K. Simmons, Hope Davis, Branka Katic and Aya Cash.

Entering production in Iceland in early October, with extensive filming at Höfði House, the actual site of the 1986 Reykjavik summit, Reykjavik explains why the event marked one of the most significant diplomatic achievements of modern times. The film takes place at the most dangerous point of the Cold War, watching as political enemies Ronald Reagan (Daniels) and Mikhail Gorbachev (Harris) meet in Iceland over one long, tense weekend to decide if there will...

The Boys actress Aya Cash is the latest name to join the cast of upcoming political drama Reykjavk. Cash rose to prominence in the role of white supremacist supe Stormfront on Prime Video's hit comic book adaptation, and is set to reprise her role in The Boys prequel series Vought Rising. The movie, which also stars The Newsroom actor Jeff Daniels as Ronald Reagan, will focus on a critical Reykjavk Summit between the US and the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War in 1986, and how its consequences shaped the world.

Per Variety, Cash is set to play the role of a young journalist who is tasked with covering the summit. The film will also feature Hope Davis as Nancy Reagan, Jared Harris as Mikhail Gorbachev, Branka Katic as Raisa Gorbachev, and Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons as Secretary of State George Shultz. Filming is set to begin on location in Reykjavk this week,...

As “Reykjavik,” a look at a critical summit between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that helped determine the fate of the two superpowers, begins shooting in Iceland this week, the drama has brought on Hope Davis, Branka Katic and Aya Cash. They join the Sk Global feature, which has already lined up an impressive ensemble that includes Jeff Daniels as Ronald Reagan, Jared Harris as Mikhail Gorbachev and J.K. Simmons as Secretary of State George Shultz.

Davis, who appeared on Broadway opposite Daniels in “God of Carnage,” will star as Nancy Reagan. Katic is set to play Raisa Gorbachev, wife of the Soviet leader, and Cash has been tapped to portray a young journalist covering the Reykjavik Summit. Production officially commenced Tuesday on location in Reykjavik, where the cast and crew started filming in and around Höfði House, the actual site of a 1986 meeting that happened as the...

Over The Simpsons’ 35 seasons and counting, the show has made numerous political jabs and jokes about the rich and powerful, but not during the Season Seven masterpiece episode “Two Bad Neighbors” — those punches were personal.

In a vacuum, you can understand why a current or former U.S. president belonging to the Republican party probably wouldn’t count The Simpsons among his favorite shows. Though Simpsons writers aren’t all bleeding-heart liberals — all-time great John Swartzwelder was famously much more of a Dale Gribble than a Lisa Simpson — The Simpsons has made no secret of their disdain for the kind of social conservatism that characters like Ned Flanders consistently embody (especially in recent seasons), and the series has a long tradition of mocking the Oval Office and the curmudgeonly conservatives who occasionally inhabit it.

However, the feud between The Simpsons and the late president George H.W. Bush wasn’t actually started by The Simpsons.

The Dennis Quaid-led Ronald Reagan biopic “Reagan” landed in theaters Aug. 30 and has drawn mixed reviews. The historical drama follows Reagan’s life from his childhood to his time as an actor in Hollywood and his second marriage to Nancy Reagan, all the way to his years in the White House. It concludes with his announcement of his Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis at age 83.

The movie is directed by Sean McNamara and written by Howard Klausner and Jonas McCord. It’s largely told through conversations between two former Kgb agents.

Here is how to watch “Reagan” in theaters and on streaming platforms.

When did “Reagan” come out?

“Reagan” was released in theaters on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024.

Is “Reagan” in theaters or streaming?

“Reagan” was released exclusively in theaters, so right now that is the only way to see the movie.

It’s currently unclear if “Reagan” will be available on any streaming platform.

Presumably because movies like Joker and Cruella proved that audiences just love villain origin stories, this week we’re getting Reagan, a brand new biopic about the 40th President of the United States starring Dennis Quaid, Penelope Ann Miller and Jon Voight. Oh, and Creed frontman Scott Stapp as Frank Sinatra, because this movie is clearly some kind of collective fever dream.

But years before Quaid saddled up for the role (literally), we nearly got a movie about Ronald Reagan, also called Reagan, starring Will Ferrell. That may sound kind of odd, but it’s not like he didn’t have years of experience playing terrible presidents.

Back in 2016, it was reported that Ferrell’s production company, Gary Sanchez, had acquired Reagan, a screenplay by Mike Rosolio that appeared on the annual Black List, which collects the year’s best unproduced film scripts. Ferrell was attached to star in the...

There is a great deal more hagiography than history in “Reagan,” a worshipful biopic of the 40th U.S. President that often plays like the cinematic equivalent of CliffsNotes, or one of those compact paperback biographies of notable figures that are designed to be consumed in an hour or less.

Director Sean McNamara (“Soul Surfer”), working from a by-the-numbers screenplay by Howard A. Klausner (based on Paul Kengor’s book “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism”), is nothing if not brisk in his recounting of highpoints in the life of an iconic figure who, for better or worse, loomed large and exerted influence on the world stage throughout the final quarter of the 20th century and beyond.

Indeed, McNamara’s movie is so streamlined that, if you knew nothing about Reagan’s Hollywood heyday before he entered politics, you might wonder why he has a poster for...

During a year of political tension, it’s not uncommon to see films and television take advantage of the mood. In past years, this has often manifested through documentaries, but recent years have seen a rise in narrative recreations. Reagan takes a 90s approach to the biopic, trying to capture the attitudes and tone of Forrest Gump, Gandhi, and Chaplin.

It’s a celebratory affair that is more willing to negatively frame Americans questioning his actions than be critical of its subject. An effort to recapture the grandeur of biopics of old causes Reagan to feel incredibly thin. Its tone feels very out of touch, but apart from star Dennis Quaid, the ensemble leans into cartoonish portrayals of iconic politicians and world figures.

Related“You’re getting warned to keep your mouth shut”: Dennis Quaid Couldn’t Care Less About Getting Canceled By Hollywood Amid Backlash on His Biopic...

Exclusive: Jeff Daniels (A Man in Full), Jared Harris (Chernobyl) and J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos) have signed on to star in Reykjavik, a historical drama from Sk Global (Anyone But You) that chronicles one of the most significant diplomatic achievements of modern times: The Reykjavik Summit.

Reykjavik takes place at the most dangerous point of the Cold War, watching as political enemies Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Iceland over one long, tense weekend to decide if there will be peace or war in the world.

Daniels plays U.S. President Reagan, with Harris as Soviet leader Gorbachev, and Simmons as United States Secretary of State George Shultz.

Michael Russell Gunn will direct from his own script, in his feature debut, following his work with Sk Global as showrunner of its acclaimed limited series Thai Cave Rescue for Netflix. He also produces alongside John Logan Pierson. Production will commence on location in Reykjavik, Iceland in early October, with extensive filming at Höfði House, the actual site of the 1986 summit.

Sources tell Deadline that Gunn’s project is one that he’s spent years working on and researching. His work began when he drove out to Stanford to interview Secretary of State Shultz before his passing, receiving now-declassified transcripts from the summit. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the recent revelation that the U.S. will again deploy long-range missiles in Germany, the hope is to reflect on how we, as citizens and as nations, can come together to work past our differences, in pursuit of a better, safer world.

Daniels is coming off of A Man in Full, Netflix’s limited series from David E. Kelley, which adapts the 1998 novel from Tom Wolfe. Recently, he was also seen starring opposite Maura Tierney in the crime drama American Rust, which ran for two seasons.

Most recently boarding Kathryn Bigelow’s new film for Netflix, as we were first to report, Harris also stars in Apple TV+ and Skydance’s sci-fi series Foundation, based on the works of Isaac Asimov, which previewed its forthcoming third season at Comic-Con. Previously garnering Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Chernobyl, he’s also recently wrapped on the indies Brave the Dark and Reawakening.

Following roles in films like National Champions and Being the Ricardos, Simmons’ upcoming slate includes the Clint Eastwood pic Juror #2, Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, Amazon’s sequel to The Accountant and holiday event film Red One, and the addiction film The Prince written by David Mamet.

Prior to Thai Cave Rescue, Gunn wrote and produced for the critically acclaimed Showtime series Billions, as well as the political thriller Designated Survivor for ABC and Netflix, having begun his career on Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom. On the film side, he sold his script The Virginian about a young George Washington to Warner Bros, and is currently adapting a novel for Charlize Theron at Universal.

Indie studio Sk Global has produced and financed over 100 features, dating back to its origins as Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. Most recently, the company unveiled the acclaimed rom-com Anyone But You, a star-making project for Glen Powell, who led the cast opposite Sydney Sweeney. The Sony pic emerged as a sleeper hit upon its December 2023 release, proving that rom-coms can continue to work theatrically as it grossed over $220 million worldwide. Also recently unveiling the acclaimed limited series Thai Cave Rescue, as well as inspirational docs like Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, which just debuted on Netflix, the company is also responsible for such acclaimed titles as Crazy Rich Asians, Hell or High Water and The Place Beyond the Pines, among many others.

Daniels is repped by CAA, Martino Management, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes; Harris by CAA, Gateway Management, Independent Talent Group in the UK, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern; Simmons by Gersh; and Gunn by WME and Artists First.

One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda’s creative approach has kept the series at the top of the podium for almost 30 years, and most of the credit for this goes to his ability to take inspiration from real-life elements and use it to create the fantastical world of his own. And while some of these inspirations have been confirmed by the mangaka himself, others are just assumptions made by fans.

One Piece | Toei Animation

One such assumption that fans have made is about the Gorosei or the Five Elders, who have recently unleashed hell on Egghead Island in order to capture the Straw Hat Pirates. Many One Piece fans believe that just like other major characters, the enigmatic Five Elders have also been inspired by real-life individuals.

The assumptions also point out that, just like the Five Elders, their real-life inspirations are also world leaders who have contributed to bringing change in the world.

Netflix’s German series Kleo has a funny disclaimer at the very beginning, which informs us that the show is based on a true story, but none of these things took place in real life. In simple words, the show is loosely inspired by real-life world events, such as the division of Germany and the creation of West Germany under the leadership of the Federal Republic (Frg) and East Germany governed by the Democratic Republic (Gdr). Along with these historical events, the show also introduced some real-life characters and organizations, about which I am going to talk further in this article. However, before moving forward, a full disclosure: the character of Kleo Straub is entirely fictional, and therefore, whatever happens with her in the series is created for dramatic purposes only.

In the series, Kleo was trained as a Stasi agent, which was a real-life secret police organization, also known...

Exclusive: Ali Afshar’s Esx Entertainment has signed on to develop and produce the musical biopic Wind of Change, about German rock band Scorpions, which will tell the story of three unlikely friends whose passion for rock n’ roll fueled their rise from the ashes of post-World War II Germany to the global stardom in the 1980s as the multi-platinum rock band Scorpions.

With their home soil still divided, and friends and family on the other side of the Berlin Wall, Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine & Matthias Jabs made the bold decision to defy state bans and take a leap of faith behind Soviet lines to fill arenas in the heart of the Ussr. At the height of their revolutionary tour, the band releases what will become the defining theme for the end of the Cold War – a ballad that circles the globe as the Wall comes down and resonates to...

Shueisha announced that they will be fully revamping its long-selling history manga series “Learning Through Manga: World History,” with all 18 volumes to be released on Oct 4.

The new version, which will be the first major revamp in 22 years since its release in 2002, will change the format from the previous large-format hardcover to a more portable softcover and will also completely renew the content.

The cover illustrations for all 18 volumes is drawn by 16 popular manga artists, including Hirohiko Araki (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), Tatsuya Endo (Spy x Family), and Kohei Horikoshi (My Hero Academia).

Below are the titles of all 18 volumes, the manga artists responsible for the cover & the illustrations:

1. Civilizations of the Orient and Mediterranean – Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece

Cover Illustrator: Yasuhisa Hara Figure depicted: Rameses II

2. The Beginning of Chinese Civilization and Empire – From Yellow River to Tang Dynasty

Cover illustrator: Hiroyuki Asada Figure depicted: Qin Shi Huang

3. The Glory...

Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan, who is awaiting the release of her upcoming streaming movie ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’, has shared that she loves Russian history of the 20th century and Russian literature.

The actress, who has been a student of history, recently spoke with Ians ahead of the release of her period film and shared that she finds it very interesting how landmark moments in Russia from the rise of Vladimir Lenin to the fall of the Soviet Union happened within a span of 100 years.

She told Ians: “I like 20th-century Russian history a lot. I think it’s very interesting how they went from Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Mikhail Gorbachev to the fall of the Soviet Union, ye sab 100 salon mein hua hai. It’s very interesting to observe it that way.”

In fact, Nikita Khrushchev was the one who denounced his predecessor Joseph Stalin...

Warning: Contains Spoilers for For All Mankind season 4, episode 2, "Have a Nice Sol."

Margo is arrested due to a military coup in the Soviet Union, which poses serious risks for her. Aleida quits NASA and teams up with Kelly to continue their Mars research. They seek private funding and may approach Helios or its former CEO. Danielle observes issues in the running of Happy Valley on Mars and aims to make the necessary changes. Miles discovers the harsh reality of life on Mars, discovering discontent among workers. Ed embodies dismissiveness towards workers.

For All Mankind season 4, episode 2, "Have a Nice Sol" reveals some harsh truths about life on Mars as Miles Dale (Toby Kebbell) begins his new career at Happy Valley. Miles and Danielle Poole (Krys Marshall) both arrive on Mars, but have wildly different experiences of the Red Planet. Where Dani is given a hero's welcome, Miles discovers the...

Exclusive: Jon S. Baird, the Scottish filmmaker known for his work on Tetris and Stan & Ollie, has signed with Range Media Partners.

Baird’s most recent feature, the true-life thriller Tetris, earned him a nomination for Best Director – Fiction at the upcoming 2023 BAFTA Scotland Awards, after world premiering at SXSW. The Apple TV+ pic tells the story of Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton), a video game enthusiast turned entrepreneur, who stumbles upon a little-known title called Tetris at a tech expo and becomes embroiled in a high-stakes battle for its rights, facing off against rival companies, the Kgb, and even Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Baird previously directed Stan & Ollie, a feature about comedy legends Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Hardy (John C. Reilly), for eOne and BBC Films, which was nominated for Outstanding British Film of the Year at the BAFTA Film Awards. The filmmaker also with that title secured...

Iranian human rights advocate and freedom fighter Narges Mohammadi has won the Nobel Peace Prize 2023, organizers of the award said Friday.

The Norwegian Nobel committee that awards the prize lauded Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”

It highlighted: “Altogether, the regime has arrested her 13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes.” Mohammadi is still in prison.

The prize also “recognizes the hundreds of thousands of people who have demonstrated against the theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women,” the committee noted.

Iran has also been in focus for various Hollywood stars. For example, early this year, Cate Blanchett, Jason Momoa, Samuel L. Jackson, Jada Pinkett Smith and Bryan Cranston were among members of the entertainment industry publicly supporting calls to end Iran‘s execution of protestors,...

The Americans' intense and emotionally devastating finale leaves Paige behind in America, showing her love for her brother and difficulty in starting a new life in a foreign place. Philip and Elizabeth return to Russia where they must reacclimatize to life in a changing country, but they are without their children and face the possibility of never seeing them again. Stan, despite his anger and hurt, lets the Jennings family go free because he still loves them and couldn't bear to break them apart, showing the depth and complexity of their friendship.

The Americans ended its six-season run with an emotional finale that shakes things up for its main characters in a huge way. Set during the Cold War in the 1980s, The Americans focuses on Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell), Russian Kgb spies posing as an American married couple in the D.C. suburb of Falls Church,...

“The day after Alfred Herrhausen’s murder, I wanted to make a film about it,” says German producer Gabriela Sperl. “Because I knew the official story we were being told just wasn’t the truth.”

This was back in 1989 and Herrhausen, the charismatic chairman of the board of German financial giant Deutsche Bank, had just been blown up, his armored Mercedes-Benz shredded by a 15 lbs bomb hidden in a bag on a bicycle parked next to the route Herrhausen and his security convoy traveled by every day.

It was a shocking and surprising act of assassination, quickly blamed on the Red Army Faction (Raf), a far-left German terror group which, a decade earlier, had killed a number of prominent capitalist figures, including Jürgen Ponto, the head of Dresdner Bank, and Hanns Martin Schleyer, the president of the German employers association. The Raf claimed responsibility, but the actual bombers were never...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Francis and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky are sharing the Cinema for Peace Award, an honor recognizing their “contributions to the freedom of Ukraine and humanitarian efforts to protect civilians and children.”

The award presented by the Cinema for Peace Foundation is dedicated to children who have lost their lives in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022. Thousands of people, including children, have been killed in Russian bombing and artillery attacks on civilians.

Cinema for Peace has previously honored Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jane Goodall, and Hollywood icons Sean Penn for his work in Haiti, Angelina Jolie for opposing genocide, and George Clooney “for creating critical consciousness” with his 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck.

“But this is the first time that two global leaders and one filmmaker were honored with a joint award,” a release noted, “and that the awards...

In 1989, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier disappointed the box office. Reeling from bad reviews, the film only grossed $49 million domestically from a $33 million budget. That’s a worrying figure for a franchise considering that the previous movie, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, had made a huge $133 million. It likely eventually eked out a profit, but it did badly enough that the studio was looking to reboot the series without any of the original stars by making a Starlet Academy movie. Harve Bennett, the producer of all the films since Star Trek II, thought this would be the way to continue the crew’s big-screen adventures, but Paramount thought differently. With Star Trek: The Next Generation picking up momentum on TV, it became clear that Captain Picard and company would eventually move to the big screen, but, given that the franchise’s 25th anniversary was right around the corner,...

Updated: Networks scrambled to cover the rebellion in Russia by initially drawing heavily on social media images, foreign policy analysts and correspondents in other countries, while media presence in Moscow has been limited.

Russian President Vladimir Putin faced an uprising from mercenary chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin, with reports that he has taken control of the city of Rostov-on-Don and that the insurrection was on its way to Moscow. Hours later, Prigozhin said that his forces were stopping and turning back from the city and headed to field camps. Kremlin’s spokesman later told reporters that Prigozhin would go to Belarus and a criminal case against him would be dropped.

The apparent end of the revolt followed a tumultuous and often confusing 24 hours.

Viewers on Saturday woke up to images of Putin declaring that he would crush the rebellion and that Prigozhin was guilty of treason. He said that those who prepared...

With its coloured blocks tumbling through the air as players frantically jigsaw them together, Tetris remains one of the world’s most elegantly simple video games. Even now, 39 years on from its creation. But not many know the story behind the game. When filmmaker Jon S Baird (of Stan & Ollie and the Irvine Welsh adaptation Filth) first heard it, after reading the script for what became his Apple TV+ film Tetris, he did a double take. “I was like, ‘Is that really true? Wow, that is crazy!’”

Crazy doesn’t even begin to cover a story that ties together the Soviet Politburo, the late media mogul Robert Maxwell, and the launch of Nintendo’s iconic GameBoy – as various interested parties all scrambled to get the rights to Tetris. Invented in 1984 by Russian coder Alexey Pajitnov, the game’s title came from “tetra” and “tennis” (one of Pajitnov’s favourite sports). Gradually,...

The Game Boy was slightly before my time, but I remember the Game Boy Color vividly. It was an introduction to handheld consoles, and a chance to finally have Mario and Pokémon in my pocket. Yet to my surprise, the best companion for long road trips was neither Pikachu nor those bouncy Italian plumbers; it was a game comprised of falling blocks and the Russian folk song “Korobeiniki.” It was Tetris.

I’d been aware of Tetris before then. It existed on my mother’s computer, but it was barely considered a video game there. Mario or Sonic were games that kids played. But Tetris was for everyone; she’d even play it on occasion. This was the power which made it the second highest selling game franchise of all-time: Everyone gets addicted to visions of falling blocks. Getting those visions in front of everyone, however, turns out to be...

Full disclosure: Sue me but not only have I never played the iconic ’80s video game Tetris, I had never heard of it before encountering this new film Tetris, which world premiered tonight at SXSW and comes from Apple Original Films. I realize that probably makes me a bit of an oddity to the gamer generation, but I can only say my lack of knowledge on this product did not hurt one bit in being wildly entertained by a movie that tells its origin story. In fact it seems to be part of an encouraging but unlikely new genre this young year: movies all about the backstory of well-known products. BlackBerry from IFC and Paramount, Flamin’ Hot from Searchlight, and now Tetris from Apple have been on display this week at SXSW (BlackBerry actually premiered at Berlin), and if you think watching the emergence of a smartphone, a Cheetos brand...

The idea of a "Tetris" movie might sound pretty ridiculous. After all, it's just a puzzle game where you drop down shapes and try to achieve combinations. There's not really a plot and there's barely an objective, so when numerous announcements were made that such a movie was in the works, you may have understandably scoffed. While Larry Kasanoff's science-fiction trilogy may have stalled in the negotiation stages, there is one "Tetris" movie that did end up making it out of production, and it ... actually looks really cool?

"Tetris," directed by Jon S. Baird, is being distributed by Apple TV+, but isn't the type of movie you might think it is. While certainly about the famous puzzle game, there is no attempt to make the game itself out to be a grand lore-heavy adventure. That's because the real story behind the game's popularity is stranger than fiction. As depicted in its trailer,...

Apple has released the first trailer for the upcoming movie Tetris…yes, there is a movie about Tetris coming out.

The very idea of a Tetris movie may sound goofy–suggesting it might be an animated movie about a group of ragtag tetromino teaming up to take on the Soviets–but there is actually a lot of backstory behind the classic game. And while our version sounds like a surefire Oscar winner, let’s let Apple give the actual plot synopsis:

“Tetris” tells the unbelievable story of how one of the world’s most popular video games found its way to avid players around the globe. Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) discovers Tetris in 1988, and then risks everything by travelling to the Soviet Union, where he joins forces with inventor Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) to bring the game to the masses. Based on a true story, “Tetris” is a Cold War–era thriller on steroids,...

Tetris, the newest movie from Apple TV+, gets a glorious retro trailer. The puzzle game Tetris, which asks the player to arrange differently shaped blocks in straight lines as they fall from the top of the screen, was originally created in 1984. The film, starring Taron Egerton and Toby Jones, follows the vicious real-life legal battle for the rights to the game.

Today, Apple TV shared the official trailer for Tetris, which spans everything from Egerton's new mustache to the Kgb.

"It's poetry, art and math all working in magical synchronicity," says Egerton's character Henk Rogers to open up the trailer. His passion, which borders on obsession, explains why he goes on to defy the odds to bring Tetris to America, given the surprisingly difficult and action-packed road ahead of him, all scored with Europe's synth hit "The Final Countdown."

Related: Why Apple’s Dear Edward Has Split Audiences So Hard...

Mediaset CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi has given his verdict on an upcoming video appearance by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Italy’s iconic Sanremo song festival, adding fuel to an ongoing political debate around the operation.

Speaking at a press conference for Mediaset results on Thursday, Berlusconi said he did not feel the festival, celebrating Italian song, was the right place for such an address.

The TV exec and entrepreneur is the son of Italian media tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi, who has described himself as one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest friends.

Zelensky has made video addresses at a raft of cultural and entertainment events since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, including the Cannes and Venice films festivals, the Golden Globes and U.K.’s Glastonbury music festival.

Plans to carry out a similar operation on the final night of Sanremo on...

It was another difficult year in 2022, and the sadness extended to many beloved and groundbreaking people in the show business and media worlds who died during the past 12 months.

Scroll through a photo gallery above, which also includes the obituaries.

The acting world lost giants including Sidney Poitier and Angela Lansbury, along with such big names as James Caan, Anne Heche, Bob Saget, Kirstie Alley, Ray Liotta, Nichelle Nichols, William Hurt, Louise Fletcher, Robert Clary, Emilio Delgado, Sally Kellerman, Robbie Coltrane, Monica Vitti, Leslie Jordan, John Aniston, Tony Sirico, Charlbi Dean, Tony Dow, Irene Papas, Howard Hesseman and Seinfeld moms Estelle Harris and Liz Sheridan.

We also pay tribute to directors including Ivan Reitman, Peter Bogdanovich and Marvin J. Chomsky.

Musicians who left us this past year include Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn, Olivia Newton-John, Meat Loaf, Ronnie Spector, Naomi Judd, Ramsey Lewis, Stephen “tWitch” Boss and Coolio. Many key...

In “Licorice Pizza,” a teenage boy perpetually chasing after new business schemes falls for a 20-something woman who’s not quite sure where she’s heading, but is up for the ride.

Together, Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) and Alana Kane (Valley native Alana Haim) travel around Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley by car, truck and on foot. Their ventures into showbiz and local politics have them cross paths with a cast of vibrant characters, including a belligerent hairdresser and motorcycle-riding movie star.

Gary and Alana’s indelible bond and the series of events that transpire make “Licorice Pizza” an enjoyable watch. But the film promises an extra element of nostalgic joy for those who grew up in the Valley or during the 1970s (or both). Several of the events, people and places represented in the story are modeled on reality.

We hunted for some of the Easter eggs in “Licorice Pizza,...

It’s been eight years since Italy’s key film and TV market Mia kicked off in Rome and each year its popular co-production market and pitching forum seems to go from strength to strength.

This year the strand, which is already established in drama, documentary and feature film sections, has spread its tentacles to include animation and will see local producers looking for high-profile financial partners and co-production deals get the opportunity to showcase their projects before an audience of industry professionals and top international players from global studios, Ott platforms, broadcasters, production and distribution companies as well as agents and financiers.

This year, Deadline can reveal that there are already some standout pitches across all segments that are sure to drum up interest starting with Crimson Crown, the first series exec produced by Italian master of horror Dario Argento. Being pitched in the Mia drama section, Argento will...

It may well be an unconscious impulse but the writers are directly or indirectly influenced by their socio-political millieu, even when opposing it, and you don’t need to be a Marxist to acknowledge that.

As Edward Said showed in his examination of ‘Orientalism’, or recent works showcasing the overt or covert politics of such literary figures as William Wordsworth (Jonathan Bate’s "Radical Wordsworth: The Poet Who Changed the World") and Jane Austen, politics can intrude into the poetic realm or comedies of manners — or other forms of fiction, too. And this can span the entire gamut from literary classics to pulp fiction.

The Cold War is a fitting example. As two contrasting systems of social and political organisation vied for global influence, the conflict for influencing hearts and minds underpinned the diplomatic and military manoeuvres.

Duncan White’s "Cold Warriors: Writers Who Waged the Literary Cold War" (2019) offers...

Ozzy Osbourne has said that he’d be dead without wife Sharon.

Last month, the Black Sabbath frontman and reality TV star celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, having tied the knot in 1982.

In a new interview with The Independent, Ozzy opened up about the secret to a long-lasting marriage.

“Love, I suppose,” the musician answered. “If it wasn’t for Sharon, I’d be dead.”

He continued: “I was doing f***ing huge amounts of drugs and booze. I never stopped. People wouldn’t know if I was gonna go through the door, the roof or the window. Now I don’t drink or smoke or f***ing do any of that s***. I’m f***ing boring!”

The couple first met when Sharon was 18 and her dad was managing Black Sabbath. They married 12 years later and went on to have three children – and their own reality TV show – together.

Arriving at a fateful time in the history of handling top secrets, “Hoop Dreams” filmmaker Steve James’s new documentary “A Compassionate Spy” aims to suggest that not all disloyalty is so clear-cut.

Though James couldn’t have foreseen the country being gripped by speculation about the motives of an unprincipled ex-president in suspicious possession of sensitive documents, this slice of history — making its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival — nevertheless offers up a story of unambiguous espionage with idealistic motive: a Harvard physics undergraduate recruited for the Manhattan Project who, in 1944, passed on its secrets to the Soviet Union to safeguard the world from monopolistic power and atomic annihilation.

His name was Ted Hall, and though he was suspected his whole life by authorities, he lived free from prosecution, raising a family and working at Cambridge University on pioneering biophysics until his death in 1999.

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Global News’ Farah Nasser got choked up on air this week, but not because of the emotional story she was reporting. The Canadian anchor inadvertently swallowed a fly, live on air.

Nasser later appeared on Et Canada to discuss the incident, where she proclaimed it “was gross, so gross.”

She elaborated, “I saw it flying around at the beginning of the news … and I was like, ‘Not today, fly. I’m not gonna let you distract me.'” Nasser said she was more concerned about the fly flying into the lens and the next thing I knew, it was just in my throat. You can’t even see it in the video. It was so sneaky, this fly.”

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Did Mikhail Gorbachev Really Star in a Pizza Hut Commercial in the ’90s? (Video)

Nasser confirmed, “Yeah, I did swallow it,” and that she tossed the segment over the reporter...

Netflix is gearing up for a busy end to 2022.

September seems to be a calm before the storm-of-sorts – the storm being a deluge of films set to be awards contenders when Oscar season rolls around.

The first of the streaming service’s high-profile films, set to arrive in the tail-end of the year, will be Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, starring Ana de Armas.

Elsewhere, there is a bunch of non-Netflix films set to be added over the course of the month, as well as the return of everyone’s favourite Karate Kid spin-off TV series.

This list has been compiled by The Independent, with additional assistance from the team at What’s on Netflix – and you can find the full compilation of everything being removed this month here.

What new releases are coming to Netflix in September 2022?

Original Titles

Movies

1 September

Love in the Villa

Under Her Control...

Netflix is gearing up for a busy end to 2022.

September seems to be a calm before the storm-of-sorts – the storm being a deluge of films set to be awards contenders when Oscar season rolls around.

The first of the streaming service’s high-profile films, set to arrive in the tail-end of the year, will be Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, starring Ana de Armas.

Elsewhere, there is a bunch of non-Netflix films set to be added over the course of the month, as well as the return of everyone’s favourite Karate Kid spin-off TV series.

This list has been compiled by The Independent, with additional assistance from the team at What’s on Netflix – and you can find the full compilation of everything being removed this month here.

What new releases are coming to Netflix in September 2022?

Original Titles

Movies

1 September

Love in the Villa

Under Her Control...

Mikhail Gorbachev, the Russian politician who was the last leader of the Soviet Union before its dissolution, passed away at the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow yesterday.

Doctors said Gorbachev had been under supervision there since 2020 due to a “severe and prolonged illness,” that finally took his life at the age of 91.

In Memoriam 2022: 100 Great Celebrities Who Died This Year!

He was the longest-living Russian leader in history, surpassing past leaders Alexander Kerensky and Vasily Kustenov by two years. He was known in his period of leadership for eventually accepting social democracy and making reforms to Soviet Union before its dissolution, including withdrawing from a long conflict in Afghanistan, working to limit nuclear weapons production and ending the Cold War.

Gorbachev was of the most prominent figures of 20th-century international politics. He was both praised for ending the decades-long Cold War and providing Russians with new economic freedoms, but...

The news of the death of the last Ussr leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Tuesday got little attention outside of the former Soviet Bloc. Thirty-three years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world has moved on. But for a generation of us growing up behind the Iron Curtain, he changed the course of our lives and allowed us to pursue careers we never thought possible.

When you type Gorbachev’s name into Google, the search engine’s top suggestion is “Gorbachev Pizza Hut,” a reference to the famous 1998 TV commercial featuring the politician who became the first and only President of the Soviet Union.

In it, he and a little girl walk into a restaurant and share a pizza. As older and younger patrons recognize him, they begin to debate in Russian, with an older man arguing that because of Gorbachev, there is economic turmoil and political instability, and...

Hollywood star and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger paid tribute to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on August 30 at age 91. “There’s an old saying, ‘Never meet your heroes’,” the ‘Terminator’ star wrote on Twitter, posting a photo of himself with the last leader of the Soviet Union.

“I think that’s some of the worst advice I’ve ever heard. Mikhail Gorbachev was one of my heroes, and it was an honor and a joy to meet him,” Schwarzenegger added.

“I was unbelievably lucky to call him a friend. All of us can learn from his fantastic life.”

The two knew each other for “a long time”, according to the Gorbachev Foundation, and the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger once visited the former leader in Moscow, reports independent.co.uk.

Gorbachev died on Tuesday from “after a serious and long illness”, the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

William Reynolds, an actor-turned-businessman best known for his six seasons starring on the TV series “The F.B.I.,” has died following a short illness. He was 90.

Reynolds portrayed F.B.I. agent Tom Colby on the hit ABC series from 1967 to 1973, joining the show in its third season. The role proved to be his last, as he pursued a business career beginning in the 1970s thereafter.

Born in 1931 in Los Angeles, Reynolds attended Pasadena City College and began acting in 1951. Signed to Universal, he appeared in the film “Carrie” (1952) among several other small parts in movies. That same year he was drafted into the military, but he resumed his work in Hollywood in 1955 with films like “Gunsmoke,” “Cult of the Cobra” and Douglas Sirk’s “All That Heaven Allows.”

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Mikhail Gorbachev, Former Soviet Leader Who Oversaw Its Demise, Dies at 91

By the late 1950s he transitioned into television roles, starring in...

Ashley Tropez, a woman who as a teenager appeared on the reality series “Beyond Scared Straight,” died Friday in what police say is an apparent homicide. She was 24.

Tropez was discovered dead in an abandoned house in Victorville, California, on Friday morning just after 11:00 a.m. Police say her body showed signs of “traumatic injuries,” according to People.

Another woman, Alexis Call, also 24 years old, has been named as the suspect in Tropez’s death. She has been arrested and is currently detained. San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies told People that the women appear to have known one another.

No other details about Tropez’s death have been released at this time.

“Beyond Scared Straight” aired on A&e from 2011-2015. The reality series followed teenagers who had trouble with the law as they spent up to three days in prison to witness what prison life is life from actual inmates.

Mikhail Gorbachev walks into a Pizza Hut. The year is 1997, six years after the end of the Soviet Union, and the leader who oversaw its dissolution is in Moscow’s Red Square to star in one of the strangest television adverts ever produced. After taking a seat alongside his granddaughter Anastasia Virganskaya, Gorbachev is spotted by two men at a nearby table and a debate over his legacy ensues. “Because of him we have economic confusion!” claims a dour, middle-aged man. “Because of him we have opportunity!” fires back the younger of the pair, perhaps his son. Certainly the two are intended to represent a generational gap. While the elder complains about political instability and chaos, the younger talks of freedom and hope. It’s left to an older woman to settle the debate. “Because of him, we have many things…” she says, “…like Pizza Hut!” On that, they can all agree.

A&e Television Networks is suing Big Fish Entertainment, Half Moon Pictures and ReelzChannel for copyright infringement over their revival of “Live Pd” as “On Patrol: Live.”

In a complaint obtained by TheWrap, A&e states that this case concerns “brazen theft of Aetn’s intellectual property” by Big Fish, Half Moon and Reelz.

“Without any authorization from Aetn, Big Fish (the show’s former producer) created a clone of “Live Pd” featuring the same primary hosts, content, format, segments, and more, and sold that virtually identical show to Reelz, a cable network seeking its first breakout hit, which then aired the show over Aetn’s repeated and vociferous objections,” the complaint continued.

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Mikhail Gorbachev, Former Soviet Leader Who Oversaw Its Demise, Dies at 91

Reelz said in a statement it had not been served with nor had a chance to review the lawsuit in detail and “thus has no...

Click here to read the full article.

Mikhail Gorbachev, who as the last leader of the Soviet Union waged a losing battle to salvage a crumbling empire but produced extraordinary reforms that led to the end of the Cold War, has died at 91, Russian media reported Thursday.

News organizations quoted a statement from the Central Clinical Hospital as saying he died after a long illness. No other details were given.

Though in power less than seven years, Gorbachev unleashed a breathtaking series of changes. But they quickly overtook him and resulted in the collapse of the authoritarian Soviet state, the freeing of Eastern European nations from Russian domination and the end of decades of East-West nuclear confrontation.

His decline was humiliating. His power hopelessly sapped by an attempted coup against him in August 1991, he spent his last months in office watching republic after republic declare independence until he resigned on Dec.