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Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus Working on an AI-Assisted Musical
Having already found success with holograms, ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus has revealed that he's writing a musical with help from another cutting-edge (and controversial) technology, AI. 'It is such a great tool,' Ulvaeus said at The Future of Entertainment panel Wednesday at SXSW London. 'It's unimaginable that you can bounce back and forth with a machine, or a software, which can give you ideas to go in various different directions.' More from Rolling Stone Republicans Are Trying to Block My State From Regulating AI People Are Finding Spiritual Fulfillment in AI. Religious Scholars Have Thoughts AOC to Reintroduce Bill Combating Deepfake AI Porn While Ulvaeus didn't go too in detail about the musical, he said that his work on the project was three-quarters finished, and clarified that he was employing AI as 'another songwriter in the room' as opposed to letting the tech just formulate entire songs. 'A misconception is that AI can write a whole song. It's lousy at that — very bad. And thank God! It's very bad at lyrics as well. But it can give you ideas,' Ulvaeus said (via The Hollywood Reporter). 'You have written a lyric about something, and you're stuck maybe, and you want this song to be in a certain style. So you can prompt the lyric and the style you want, asking, 'Where would you go from here?' And it usually comes up with garbage, but sometimes there is something in it that gives you another idea. That's how it works.' Ulvaeus embrace of AI comes at a time when many of his musical peers are voicing their concern about the technology: In May, over 400 artists — including Elton John, Dua Lipa, Kate Bush, and Paul McCartney — signed a letter calling on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to update U.K. copyright laws in the face of AI. This past December, artists, publishers, media companies and more banded together to form the Creative Rights in AI Coalition, which aims to keep the current copyright protections in place despite the U.K.'s continued courtship of AI technology. While ABBA released their album Voyage in 2021, the Swedish quartet's first LP in 40 years, Ulvaeus quipped that AI is incapable of writing an ABBA song — 'It says, 'No, we can't do that'' — but joked that, opposed to his longtime ABBA co-writer Benny Andersson, AI 'is quicker and does exactly what you tell it.' Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The Verge
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Blumhouse is going back to the drawing board.
Blumhouse is going back to the drawing board. You could see that Blumhouse really believed it could recreate the success of the original M3gan with its recently-released sequel. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, M3gan 2.0's bombing at the box office this month has spooked the studio into reassessing its plans to put out a spin-off next year.
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Heidi Klum returns to 'Project Runway' for Season 21
The much-awaited return of 'Project Runway' is here, and this time, it comes with a familiar face. is officially back on the fashion competition show as seen in the newly released trailer for Season 21, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Klum, who left the show in 2018, reenters the famous workroom with former contestant and now mentor Christian Siriano. This season marks the first time the two will work together on the series, adding to the excitement for longtime fans. "Now that's an entrance," Siriano says in the trailer as the contestants cheer and welcome Klum. Also returning to the panel is judge , along with new judge Law Roach. The trailer hints at plenty of behind-the-scenes drama between contestants and with the judges. The designers competing this season include familiar faces and new names: RuPaul's Drag Race alum Ethan Mundt, Jesus Estrada from season 7, Caycee Black from season 19, and others like Alex Foxworth, Angelo Rosa, Antonio Estrada (Jesus' twin), Belania Daley, Joan Madison, Joseph McRae, Madeline Malenfant, Veejay Floresca, and Yuchen Han. The trailer also features big-name guest judges, including Christian Cowan, Harris Reed, Jenna Lyons, Joan Smalls, Michael Kors, Mickey Guyton, Nikki Glaser, Sara Foster, Sofia Vergara, Tyra Banks, and Zac Posen. This season marks a significant change for the series, as it will air on Freeform for the first time. It will also be available to stream on Hulu and Disney+. Project Runway Season 21 is set to premieres on July 31.
Fox News
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Pixar staff reportedly 'deeply saddened' LGBTQ elements were cut from studio's latest film, 'Elio'
Multiple Pixar employees are reportedly very unhappy with the theatrical cut of Pixar's latest film, "Elio." According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), staff at the beloved animated film studio, which is owned by Disney, are upset that LGBTQ elements of the film were removed before its final theatrical release. "It was pretty clear through the production of the first version of the film that [studio leaders] were constantly sanding down these moments in the film that alluded to Elio's sexuality of being queer," an anonymous artist who worked on the film told the outlet. Several Pixar staff members revealed to the outlet that "Elio" – the latest Pixar offering about a boy who is mistakenly beamed up from earth to interact with an intergalactic body of alien races – was heavily edited to be less overtly LGBTQ. "According to multiple insiders who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, Elio was initially portrayed as a queer-coded character, reflecting original director Adrian Molina's identity as an openly gay filmmaker," the piece stated. After Molina screened his cut of the film for Pixar leadership, the director exited the project. Rumors circulated that his post-screening conversation with Pixar COO Peter Docter "hurt" him. Molina was replaced by co-directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi. Elements cut from the film were said to include Elio performing in his own makeshift fashion show, his love for environmentalism, as well as scenes suggesting he had a crush on another boy. As the outlet noted, "this characterization gradually faded away throughout the production process as Elio became more masculine following feedback from leadership." Despite these changes, the movie became the worst box office bomb in Pixar's history, earning only $20.8 million domestically during its opening weekend. The movie cost over $200 million to make and had been delayed for about a year, after it was initially slated for release in March 2024. Sarah Ligatich, a member of Pixar's internal LGTBQ group PixPRIDE, told The Hollywood Reporter that she was "deeply saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made." She added that there was an "exodus of talent" after staff saw Sharafian and Domee's cut of the film, noting that the exit was "really indicative of how unhappy a lot of people were that they had changed and destroyed this beautiful work." The anonymous artist characterized the changes to the film, telling THR, "Suddenly, you remove this big, key piece, which is all about identity, and Elio just becomes about totally nothing. The Elio that is in theaters right now is far worse than Adrian's best version of the original." Reports of "Elio" having its LGBTQ themes sanded down follow Pixar courting controversy for LGBTQ themes in its other films. Pixar's 2022 film "Lightyear" featured a same-sex kiss that was reportedly removed and then reinstated for the film's theatrical version. Pixar's 2020 film "Onward" features a female cyclops character who mentions her girlfriend at one point in the film. The anonymous Pixar artist called out company executives for the cuts to "Elio," saying, "I'd love to ask Pete and the other Disney executives whether they thought the rewrite was worth it. Would they have lost this much money if they simply let Adrian [Molina] tell his story?" Docter, Pixar and Disney did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Pink Villa
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Abhishek Bachchan recalls time when no one came to take his autograph: ‘You swallow that and keep going'
Abhishek Bachchan has been in the industry for almost 25 years now. In all these years, he has given some of the most remarkable characters, showcasing his range. But when he was launched in the industry with Refugee, the film flopped at the box office. Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Jr Bachchan recalled the time when he walked into a room and people failed to notice him. He said he had to 'swallow that and keep going'. Abhishek Bachchan says 'actors are fragile people' In the interview, Abhishek Bachchan confessed that actors are 'very fragile people'. They pretend to be strong on the exterior, but actually, on the inside, they are like scared children who always seek validation. The Sarkar further added that every actor is scared of going unrecognised when they step out somewhere. He hopes that every actor should get to experience both, and that is when one will learn to value each of them. 'I've walked into rooms where nobody even turns and looks at you. I've walked into a hotel lobby, and it didn't make a difference. I expected it to make a difference because I'm a film star…' added Bachchan. He further continued that when an actor walks into a hotel lobby, they expect someone will come for an autograph, and then, when nobody comes, you have to swallow that and continue. Talking about the time after Dhoom came out, Abhishek recalled the Marriott lobby coming to a standstill. 'You only value that because you've been on the other end. And because you've been on the other end, you never want to go back there, so you work even harder… I say this often: The foundation stone of success is laid on the ground of failure.' What did Hrithik Roshan tell Abhishek Bachchan? Hrithik Roshan told Abhishek Bachchan something the same night when the Marriott lobby came to a standstill. It has stayed with Abhishek till now. Hrithik hugged him and said, 'Till now it was nothing, your problems start now. Now you have something to lose.'
