Ramin Setoodeh: Last News

Brendan Fraser first took on the role of Rick O'Connell in The Mummy back in 1999, and while he went to star in two other films in the action-adventure franchise, he hasn't reprised the beloved character since 2008’s “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor." Now, nearly 15 years later, the 53-year-old actor is opening up about whether or not he'd revisit the role again.«I don’t know how it would work,” Fraser told in an interview published Wednesday. “But I’d be open to it if someone came up with the right conceit.”When the franchise was rebooted in 2017, it was Tom Cruise who took on the challenge of playing the lead in the new film.

BreAnna Bell Variety received three Eddie & Ozzie Awards for editorial design excellence on the evening of Sept. 13. Presented by Folio, the winners and special mentions were announced at this year’s gala event at the City Winery New York. The publication took home the Eddie award for website in the business-to-business category. Honorable mentions for the category included SevenFifty Daily, Fierce Pharma and strategy+business. Variety also won the Ozzie award for best photography, business-to-business, for its 2021 Power of Women cover featuring “I May Destroy You” creator Michaela Coel. The cover story, written by senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson, followed Coel’s shift in focus to new stories following the success of the HBO limited series. Coel won an Emmy award in the category of writing for a limited series for the show in 2021.

EJ Panaligan editor “Bros” co-writer and star Billy Eichner had sincere words to share about his upcoming romantic comedy at the Variety Cover Party at TIFF sponsored by Skyy. “I could have never imagined in a million years that we would have been able to premiere in such a spectacular way,” Eichner said about the buzz behind the film leading up to its release. “Thank you to everyone at Variety, this feature really was the most beautiful, accurate thing that’s ever been written about me.” In a lengthy interview with Variety, Eichner discussed the film’s entirely LGBTQ cast along with the many distinctive ways in which his personal life has influenced the development of the movie’s characters and plot lines. “I’ve worked so hard on it, I care so much about it, and I want it to do well for the sake of the LGBTQ stories getting greenlit,” he told Variety‘s Brent Lang. “So there’s a burden I feel, much as I want to sit here and just talk about how funny the movie is.”

Manori Ravindran International Editor The stars descended on Soho House in downtown Toronto on Saturday for Variety and Chanel’s Female Filmmakers’ Dinner during the Toronto International Film Festival. Guests in attendance included Tilda Swinton, star of Joanna Hogg’s “The Eternal Daughter”; Gina Prince-Bythewood, director of “The Woman King”; Darren Aronofsky, director of “The Whale”; and Anna Kendrick, who’s in Toronto shopping her new AGC Studios project “The Dating Game” to market buyers. Stars mingled on a packed rooftop before convening in the club’s private dining room, which gathered around 100 of the festival’s bright lights in filmmaking. They dined on a bespoke Soho House menu of beef tartare with black truffle, black cod and bok choy, and wagyu rib cap with porcini purée.

Brendan Fraser is back in the spotlight in a big way. Judging by the actor's reception at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, Fraser's stardom has rocketed back to its '90s and early aughts levels. The star of Darren Aronofsky's  was reportedly moved to tears during the film's standing ovation — said to last a whopping six minutes -- after its premiere on Sunday.In videos shared on social media, the 53-year-old performer was seen seated applauding his castmates before Aronofsky encouraged him to stand and accept the audience's praise.

Protect Brendan Fraser at all costs!

Zack Sharf When it comes to buzz emerging out of the 2022 Venice Film Festival, few actors dominated headlines as positively as Brendan Fraser. The actor is earning Oscar buzz and the best reviews of his career for his leading turn in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale.” The Venice audience at the film’s world premiere gave the movie a huge six-minute standing ovation. Fraser broke down in tears during the reception, a video of which shared by Variety co-editor in chief Ramin Setoodeh on Twitter has earned over 15.5 million views and counting. Dwayne Johnson, who co-starred with Fraser in 2001’s “The Mummy Returns,” celebrated “The Whale” standing ovation on social media and championed Fraser’s acting comeback.

#SpitGate is going viral on Twitter after a video appeared to show Harry Styles spitting on Chris Pine during the Venice premiere of Don’t Worry Darling.

Harry Styles kissed someone at the Don’t Worry Darling premiere… and it wasn’t his girlfriend Olivia Wilde!

Brendan Fraser has received a rapturous response at Venice Film Festival thanks to this role in new movie The Whale, which received a six-minute standing ovation – and made the actor a little teary.Having already scooped the Toronto International Film Festival TIFF Tribute Award for his performance in the film – seen as a pretty influential gong ahead of Oscar nominations – Fraser was overwhelmed by excited fans on the red carpet on Sunday, as well as the reception The Whale received at its first screening.The Darren Aronofsky flick sees the 53-year-old play a reclusive English teacher who is battling with a compulsive eating disorder and trying to rebuild his relationship with estranged teenage daughter, Elle (Stranger Things actress Sadie Sink). The dramedy is based on the play by Samuel D Hunter and has already caused a stir with its transformation of Fraser into a 600 pound man, as well as celebration over the Fraserenaissance, which is showing no sign of slowing down.Variety’s co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh posted footage from after the film’s finish in Venice, which showed director Aronofsky congratulating his team with hugs as the clapping continued, before encouraging Fraser to rise to his feet and soak up the congratulations.‘The standing ovation for #TheWhale was so enthusiastic, Brendan Fraser tried to leave the theater but the crowd’s applause made him stay,’ he added 15 minutes later, with a second clip of Fraser.To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoBrendan Fraser is back â and he sobbed during the #Venezia79 six-minute standing ovation for #TheWhale.

Brendan Fraser got emotional while receiving a lengthy standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival for his latest film The Whale, which is already garnering him Oscars buzz.The actor, 53, got teary-eyed when he heard the enthusiastic response from the audience, and though he tried to leave the theater the continued applause made him linger on in appreciation.Fraser can be seen giving a big bow to the clapping crowd in a Twitter video shared by Variety coeditor-in-chief, Ramin Setoodeh. Emotional: Brendan Fraser got emotional while receiving a lengthy standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival for his latest film The Whale, which is already garnering him Oscars buzzBrendan Fraser is back — and he sobbed during the #Venezia79 six-minute standing ovation for #TheWhale.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent On Sunday night, an hour before the hotly anticipated Sept. 5 world premiere of “Don’t Worry Darling” on the Lido, Variety celebrated director Olivia Wilde with a cocktail party hosted at the posh Danieli Hotel in Venice. Wilde, who is unveiling her second feature as a director out of competition at the festival, graces the cover of Variety’s Venice issue, on newsstands now. It marks the first dedicated Venice magazine issue that Variety has done, as the magazine’s co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh pointed out. “We couldn’t think of a better subject than Olivia,” Setoodeh said. Setoodeh praised Warner Bros., the studio behind “Don’t Worry Darling,” for championing theatrical releases.

Naman Ramachandran The star studded Variety and Hotel Danieli pre-festival cocktail party on Aug. 30 was a taster of the riches in store at the Venice Film Festival that kicks off the following day. Head of the jury Julianne Moore and fellow jurors, “A Separation” actor Leila Hatami and filmmakers Audrey Diwan, Mariano Cohn, Leonardo Di Costanzo and Rodrigo Sorogoyen, were present as was “Thor: Love and Thunder” actor Tessa Thompson, who is serving on the festival’s Horizons strand jury. The evening, titled “Cinema Danieli – An Unforgettable Story,” on the terrace of the plush Hotel Danieli, which will turn 200 next year, has become a festival tradition dating back 13 years. It was introduced by Claudio Staderini, director of the Danieli, who described the hotel as a shooting and residential choice of many of the biggest movie stars in the world.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The Toronto Film Festival will honor composer Hildur Guðnadóttir with the Variety Artisan Award at this year’s Tribute Awards. Along with Guðnadóttir, Welsh Egyptian filmmaker and screenwriter Sally El Hosaini will receive the TIFF Emerging Talent Award presented by MGM at the annual TIFF Tribute Awards. This awards season, Guðnadóttir composed the scores for two films, Todd Field’s “Tár” and Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking.” Guðnadóttir cemented her place in Oscar history when she became only the fourth woman to win an Academy Award for original score for “Joker.”

Terry Flores Variety has been nominated for nine Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards, including best issue for Leaving the Kingdom, which looked at Robert Iger’s long tenure at the helm of Disney, and best website for Variety.com.The Leaving the Kingdom issue was published on Dec. 12, 2021, and featured a lengthy interview with Iger by then-Variety editor-in-chief Claudia Eller. Design of the issue was overseen by design director Ted Keller and art director Elliot Stokes, with photography overseen by visual content director Jennifer Dorn.

Variety Staff Follow Us on TwitterVariety has promoted Manori Ravindran to Executive Editor of International and Senior Writer.Ravindran joined Variety in 2020 as International Editor. In her new role, Ravindran will continue to lead Variety’s award-winning team of correspondents based around the world, while expanding the brand’s presence at key festivals and markets and growing Variety’s events outside the U.S., working closely with executive VP of content, Steven Gaydos.

William Earl Steven Banks has joined Variety as creative director.The publishing veteran will steer the brand’s design and aesthetic across all editorial platforms, reporting to Variety incoming co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh and co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton. Banks is leading a department that is seeing record levels of activity for Variety’s weekly print magazine, as well as dozens of digital and print Extra Editions each year around events such as the Oscars, the Emmys, the Cannes Film Festival and more.“We are thrilled to have Steven join our team to enhance the look of our award-winning magazine and continue to strengthen our digital storytelling for our millions of readers and followers,” said Setoodeh.

William Earl Jennifer Dorn has been promoted to visual content director at Variety.The four-year Variety veteran oversees all photography and photo imagery for the brand. She reports to incoming co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh and Variety co-editor-in-chief Cynthia LittletonBased in Los Angeles, Dorn has significantly expanded Variety‘s investment in original photography.

Ramin Setoodeh Executive EditorTo many fans of “Sex and the City,” Kim Cattrall was the definition of glamorous. So perhaps it’s only fitting that her next TV project will be “Glamorous,” a Netflix series in which Cattrall will be starring as a makeup mogul.“Glamorous,” which had originally been ordered as a pilot at The CW in 2019, tells the story of Marco Mejia (played by actor, singer and YouTuber Miss Benny), a gender non-conforming queer person who goes to work for Cattrall’s cosmetics queen Madolyn Addison.

Ramin Setoodeh Executive EditorIt was after 1 a.m. in Antibes when Christina Aguilera performed at the 28th annual amfAR gala at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday morning. Inside a tent at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Rock, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, a lux crowd of European highrollers crowded the stage as Michelle Rodriguez took the mic to introduce the night’s headliner.

Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.comVariety has been nominated for 72 Southern California Journalism Awards, including two for journalist of the year, three for entertainment journalist of the year and six nominations for criticism of TV, music and books.The awards, given out by the Los Angeles Press Club, honor outstanding journalism in the region across print, digital, radio and broadcast platforms.Executive editor Ramin Setoodeh and deputy music editor Jem Aswad are both up for journalist of the year. TV critic Daniel D’Addario along with chief film critic Owen Gleiberman and features editor Chris Willman are all nominated for entertainment journalist of the year.Aswad leads all Variety staffers with 14 total nominations, followed by Willman with nine nominations.