“Everything gets better when you come out because you get self-confidence,” McKellen said, reflecting on his own experience as a gay man in Hollywood. “So you get better in terms of relationships, friends of all sorts, family, if you’re lucky. And in my case, I think in every case, your acting is bound to change and improve.” McKellen expressed regret over not realizing Page’s identity struggle when they worked together on the “X-Men” movies....

The online panel, titled “The State of Independent Film in the Streaming Era,” is part of the Variety & IndieWire Streaming Room presented by Vuulr and will take place July 13 at 9:30 a.m. PT. Moderated by IndieWire Executive Editor Eric Kohn, the panel will feature Neon President of Distribution Elissa Federoff, IFC Films President Arianna Bocco, POPS Head of OTT Marissa Hanafi, Vuulr CEO of The Americas Thomas Hughes, and Struum co-founder and CEO Lauren DeVillier....

In her IndieWire review of the film, Leila Latif wrote that: “without Brendan Fraser’s innate charm and ability to project gentle sadness through the slightest flicker of his huge blue eyes, ‘The Whale’ wouldn’t have that much else going for it. Faultless performances from Morton and Chau illuminate complicated relationships with Charlie, a man at once lovable, frustrating, and dishonest.” She continued: “For Fraser, ‘The Whale’ is a confident leap forward into the movie-star status that he rightfully deserves....

“The Morning Show” has come a long way in two seasons. The Apple TV+ series begins by exposing Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) as a sexual predator, ousting the longtime anchor from his position next to co-host Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) and sending the show’s parent company into a tailspin. Investigations are launched. A toxic culture is uncovered. Replacement anchor Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) helps Alex divulge their findings live, on-air, in order to kickstart the rebuild by any means necessary....

In news exclusive to Variety, the show’s executive producer Mike Richards is considered the frontrunner to take over the job permanently. Richards joined the show last year as EP and, per the report, impressed producing studio, Sony Pictures, with his knowledge of the game and on-air manner. Prior to working at “Jeopardy!” Richards hosted the game shows “Divided” and “The Pyramid” for Sony’s GSN channel. He also previously hosted “High School Reunion” and “Beauty and the Geek” and sold the revival of “Let’s Make a Deal” to CBS....

Now, after a string of past allegations for discrimination and sexual harassment were revealed against Richards — as well as a string of sexist and racist comments he made on a podcast he ran — Richards has stepped down from the position. Actress Mayim Bialik, who was initially revealed to be sharing the position in some capacity, will be filling in for at least the next three weeks. As Variety announced, Sony will announce more guest hosts at a later date....

The British director also takes fliers on movies that occasionally miss the mark, such as Los Angeles homeless drama “The Soloist,” Disney fantasy “Pan,” and Hitchcockian thriller “The Woman in the Window,” a Fox orphan that previewed badly and was sold by Disney to Netflix during the pandemic. The director didn’t waste any time jumping into a new project. He’d nurtured the idea of making a movie of “Cyrano” since 2018, when he went to see his partner Haley Bennett play Roxanne in writer-director Erica Schmidt’s Goodspeed Opera House musical re-imagining of the Edmond Rostand classic “Cyrano de Bergerac,” starring Schmidt’s husband Peter Dinklage in the title role — without a prosthetic nose....