Variety

Save the date for Friday, Jan. 24, as the Weeknd will release his upcoming album “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” The next day, he will debut his work with a one-night-only concert at the Rose Bowl, where the stage will cover the entire stadium floor. Get the details here: https://lnkd.in/gHCyduu6

Hollywood’s tech-fueled transition still hasn’t provided the needed security infrastructure a decade after the infamous Sony hack.

EXCLUSIVE: “Abbott Elementary's” Season 4 premiere scored just under 9 million total viewers in its first 35 days of viewing across ABC, Hulu and Disney+, according to a combination of data from both Nielsen and Disney. That’s up 321% from the 2.1 million average viewers it reached on the night it aired.⁠ ⁠ Along with quadrupling in total viewers, the Oct. 9 episode reached a 3.5 rating with adults aged 18-49 after 35 days, compared to a 0.4 in Live + Same Day.⁠ Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/gn8E_D-n

Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, has sold $20.4 million worth of shares in the media and cable giant, a small portion of his holdings. https://bit.ly/3B1OakE

Here are 26 things you missed while watching #Wicked:

“Wicked,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2” mark a hard stop to musicals, the MCU and animated fare underperforming at the box office.

FX head John Landgraf on developing "Shōgun" in the wake of HBO's "Game of Thrones" success: "I thought that the sort of intense realism of medieval Japan would be a more interesting way of going at it than another constructed version of a fantasy world." https://lnkd.in/gEAQs99f

FX head John Landgraf: "I still think our theatrical distribution business is really challenged...I think there is something extraordinary created in the relationship between audiences and stars and audiences and storytellers with that big screen." https://lnkd.in/gEAQs99f

At a time when traditional cable channels are trying to avoid extinction, FX head John Landgraf and the organization he has steered for 20 years is enjoying a resurgence that has been five years in the making. Led by the critical and commercial success of “Shōgun,” FX packed a wallop this year with a busy slate of originals including “The Bear,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Reservation Dogs” and the latest iterations of “American Horror Story,” “Fargo” and “Feud.” “Year after year, they’ve demonstrated that they not only have a keen eye for great creativity, but they have guts,” Bob Iger says of Landgraf and his team. “You have to be fearless and willing to take big risks.” In their Variety cover story, John Landgraf and FX Entertainment presidents Gina Balian and Nick Grad talks about their slew of successes and the evolution of the entertainment landscape. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/gEAQs99f 

The internet has practically gone into bicep spasm from “holding space” for a viral moment born in an interview between journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist and “Wicked” stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.⁠ ⁠ “This week, people are taking the lyrics to ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that,” the journalist from EqualPride said in the widespread clip.⁠ ⁠ So, what is holding space? What was the context of the question? Will there be merch? Variety reached Gilchrist to discuss.⁠ ⁠ Read the interview here: https://lnkd.in/gX8QzjEJ