Culture, style, and media — the stories, sounds, and scenes shaping the conversation.

Katy Perry has blasted the White House for using her 2010 hit song “Firework” in a TikTok post depicting footage of military strikes. The video, posted to the official White House TikTok account on Thursday, times the song’s lyrics — “boom, boom, boom” — to clips of bomb explosio

Paramount Skydance has reached an agreement with a coalition of state attorneys general to postpone the Warner Bros. Discovery merger until after an antitrust trial. The company entered a joint stipulation in the federal case on Friday afternoon agreeing not to close the $111 bil

The upcoming “Game of Thrones” theater production “The Mad King” is still on track to open next month in the U.K. despite canceling its first week of previews, Variety can confirm. The Royal Shakespeare Company production was set to launch previews Monday, July 20 but all four pe

On today’s episode of Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast, Madison Wells Media chief Gigi Pritzker and newly appointed president and chief content officer Dan Steinman discuss how the well-positioned indie navigates the ups and downs of a transforming marketplace. “We have to b

Great comedies are in short supply these days, but “72 Hours” offers a reminder that a crime subplot can quickly ruin even a potentially average one. Directed by Tim Story (“Barbershop,” “Ride Along”) and written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (the “Harold & Kumar” trilogy

Karina Longworth’s podcast “You Must Remember This” returns for its latest season, “The Bisexuals,” on Sept. 15. Over eight episodes, creator and host Longworth will explore the history of bisexuals in the 1900s Hollywood sphere. Beginning with Libby Holman’s rise to stardom in 1

Amazon is bringing video games to Prime Video beginning Thursday with the launch of its cloud gaming service Luna within the app. Previously a standalone app from Amazon available to Prime members, Luna is now also available on Prime Video on Fire TVs in the US and UK alongside t

Ryan Gosling is finally joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The “Project Hail Mary” star will play Ghost Rider in a new standalone movie, Marvel Studios exec Kevin Feige announced onstage from Hall H at San Diego Comic Con. The film will be directed by Shawn Levy and is slated

Amazon Prime Video has released a new teaser trailer for “Carrie,” the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror novel. All eight episodes of the series will debut on Oct. 7. The series is a “bold and timely reimagining of the story of misfit high-schooler Carrie White, who

The gods themselves get mostly shoved out of the picture in “The Odyssey,” as has been noted by some filmgoers who wished Zeus or Poseidon got in on the action instead of just being talked about. But Hades, at least, has his day in another movie currently in theaters, which offer

Hanna Bergholm’s “Nightborn” has won the top honor at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival juried awards. “Nightborn” was awarded the prestigious Cheval Noir trophy for best film. Seidi Haarla, who stars opposite Rupert Grint in the film, was also awarded best actress

Apple has unveiled the teaser for “Neuromancer,” a sci-fi drama led by Callum Turner, based on the landmark 1984 novel by William Gibson. The Apple TV series is created by Graham Roland (“Dark Winds”) and JD Dillard (“The Twilight Zone”), who is directing the pilot. An official p

In an epic bout, Premier Boxing Champions travels to Australia, where American boxer Errol “The Truth” Spence, Jr. (28-1-0) takes on Australian Tim “The Phoenix” Tszyu (27-3-0) in a high-profile middleweight match. Spence, Jr. vs. Tszyu takes place on Saturday, July 25 at Afterpa

As it turns out, a sequel to “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” was written. But whether fans will ever get to see it produced for the big screen remains to be seen due to “financial” reasons. “We actually wrote a sequel to ‘Dungeons & Dragons.’ We were hired to write it,”

Six men lie face down on the ground, licking a deserted street in L.A. It’s a stomach-churning introduction, but “Sour Minnows” is not a conventional tale. It’s a hangout movie about roommates Ricky (David Brown, “Jury Duty”) and Tepper (Chase Williamson, “The Guest”) who acciden

Mattel’s iconic toy cars are making their big screen debut in Apple Original Films’ “Matchbox,” which released its first action-packed trailer starring John Cena. The Sam Hargrave-directed film was adapted from the famous die-cast toy vehicle line. “Matchbox” will follow “a group

“Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender” is finally streaming on Paramount+ and playing in select theaters, but it’s been a long journey for Team Avatar to hit the big screen. The movie takes place after the events of Nickelodeon’s beloved animated show, “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” bu