Facing tight budgets and continued uncertainty in the entertainment sector, buyers at this year’s MipJunior are expected to largely stick to tried and true IP, but many still see opportunities for exciting original content. In addition to presenting the hottest new kids’ shows from around the globe, MipJunior, which runs Oct. 13-15, will examine the
Television
Not even five years have passed since Saudi Arabia first opened up for tourism in 2019 and, yet, the country’s entertainment industry seems to have evolved at an astronomical rate. With multimillion-dollar film and TV project development initiatives available to both local and international companies, high rates of content consumption and an overwhelmingly young population
Beta Film has released a moving trailer for the Ukrainian war drama “In Her Car,” a gripping series about the ongoing crisis told through the eyes of those who are living it, the company announced ahead of Mipcom. “In Her Car” (10 x 30’) is produced by Starlight Media and Gaumont in co-production with France
CANNES — Germany’s Story House Pictures, producer of the Beta Film/RTL mega-hit “Sisi,” sold to 120 territories, has optioned what looks like one of the biggest and most ambitious projects coming onto the market at this year’s Mipcom: “The Book of Longing,” a six-part English-language series with an international cast based on the international bestseller
After making it known in September that he’s interested in acquiring ABC from Disney for a price tag of $10 billion, Byron Allen assures Variety he still has his eyes set on ABC and promises he’s ready play ball when Disney is ready to sell. “I think ABC’s a real possibility. They say they’re not
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from Episode 2 of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” which debuted today on Netflix. During an ’80s flashback in Mike Flanagan’s new horror series “The Fall of the House of Usher,” two characters have a decidedly contemporary conversation during which they discuss
The Flanaverse is back! Mike Flanagan, longtime horror creator and showrunner of “The Haunting of Hill House,” “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” “Midnight Mass” and “The Midnight Club,” has returned for spooky season with a new offering, “The Fall of the House of Usher.” This means it’s also time to reunite the members of his
Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus are reuniting, with McBride set to join Season 2 of “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” in a reprisal of the role of Carol Peletier. The announcement was made as part of AMC‘s presentation at New York Comic Con. McBride will officially join the spinoff in a series regular role for
A new series set in the world of “Suits” is in very early development, Variety has confirmed with sources. The new show would hail from Aaron Korsh, the creator of “Suits.” At this time, it would not be a spinoff, prequel, or sequel to the original show, but rather would feature entirely new characters in
“The Walking Dead” spinoff centered on Rick and Michonne revealed a host of new information at New York Comic Con on Thursday The show, officially titled “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live,” will debut in February 2024 according to a new teaser trailer that can be seen below. New first look photos have also
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland expected to be back at SAG-AFTRA headquarters Thursday, continuing to negotiate a new contract with the heads of four major studios. But on Wednesday evening, he got a call from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers informing him that the talks were off. “I was taken completely by surprise,” said Crabtree-Ireland,
With “Moonlighting” now available on streaming for the first time thanks to Hulu, series creator Glenn Gordon Caron spoke to the New York Post and confirmed he was able to tell series star Bruce Willis about the show’s streaming resurgence amid the actor’s ongoing frontotemporal dementia (FTP) diagnosis. “Moonlighting,” the Emmy-nominated ABC dramedy that ran
Sarah Silverman and Leslie Jones will each get another crack at guest-hosting Comedy Central‘s “Daily Show” as the network continues a protracted search for a replacement for Trevor Noah behind the desk of the venerable late-night mainstay. Executives at the network intend to put the program back into production starting Monday, October 16, and will
Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan’s Story Syndicate production company is launching its own scripted film and television division, Variety has learned exclusively. The new division will be headed up by Nellie Reed, who is joining Story Syndicate from Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson’s Color Force. In addition, Story Syndicate has signed a first-look deal with
CANNES — A group of television industry veterans have teamed up to create new sales company Leading Distribution Partners, which will debut at next week’s Mipcom TV confab on the French Riviera. Howard Braunstein, Alexandre Coscas, Michael R. Goldstein and Ben C. Silverman are partnering for the new venture that will license both their own and third
Former Electus CEO and Shine International prexy Chris Grant has launched a new distribution company, Osmosis Global, which he will unwrap in time for next week’s Mipcom conference. Investor and entrepreneur Marc Pierce is backing the new venture. Osmosis Global’s initial sales slate includes projects from Warm Spring Productions (Fox Nation’s “Yellowstone One-Fifty with Kevin
Questions (and concerns) about AI will come to the foreground at this year’s Mipcom international co-production and content market, which runs Oct. 16–19 in Cannes. Alongside the thousands of buyers and preeminent audiovisual execs expected to hit the mart, immersive producers, media regulators and legal experts will take the stage for an Oct. 17 “Unlocking
The CW has ordered two scripted series set to premiere in the fall of 2024: crime-solving dramas “Wild Cards” and “Sight Unseen.” “Wild Cards” is a procedural starring two alumni of the CW: Vanessa Morgan (“Riverdale”) and Giacomo Gianniotti (“Reign”). Ellis (Giannioti) is a gruff, sardonic cop demoted from his role as a detective fown
Nathan Fielder, Emma Stone and Benny Safdie star in the new trailer for Showtime’s bizarre, home-flipping comedy series “The Curse.” Fielder and Stone play a newly married couple, Asher and Whitney, who are the hosts of a house-flipping TV show and also trying to conceive their first child. Their lives and careers are turned upside
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Although it’s been nearly 20 years since the series finale of “Frasier” in 2004, the witty and verbose psychiatrist Frasier Crane is back with a new comedy series that’s simply titled “Frasier” in 2023.
Like many U.S. journalists trying to get to Israel to cover reaction to attacks in the country by terrorists, Chris Cuomo faced a difficult journey. But that’s his problem, he says, not one for his viewers. “It doesn’t matter to the audience” where he had to land and how many flights he had to take,
A slowdown in U.K. film and TV commissions and productions is threatening to put indie companies in the red and leave many independent workers within the industry jobless. As much as 75% of independent contractors in the U.K. who are working in the industry are unemployed, according to a survey conducted by union BECTU on
Broadcasters in France, Germany and Italy have joined forces on “The Emperor’s Stone: The Search of La Buse’s Treasure,” a family adventure series which will be produced under the Alliance, a partnership formed in 2018 by leading European pubcasters to finance ambitious, internationally-driven series. Commissioned by France Télévisions, ZDF and RAI, “The Emperor’s Stone: The Search of La
Beta Film has acquired international sales rights to the Greek drama series “The Beach,” a primetime sensation for Greek public broadcaster ERT, the Munich-based production and distribution powerhouse announced on the eve of Mipcom. The 24-part one hour series begins on an idyllic commune on the shores of Crete in 1969, where love and freedom
African streamer Showmax has dated and unveiled a first trailer for “Twende,” its first original 2D animated series. “Twende” follows a pangolin of the same name, the slowest moving animal in the savannah. The pilot screened in competition at Annecy in 2021. MultiChoice Studios is handling international sales and will present “Twende” at Mipcom. “Twende’s
During an impassioned segment on MSNBC, Donny Deutsch slammed Hollywood and corporate America for their silence amid Hamas’ deadly attacks on Israel. “I don’t understand the silence from Hollywood. I don’t understand the silence from corporate America. I don’t understand the silence from the academics. And I don’t understand the silence from so many politicians,”
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 10, Episode 4 of “The Masked Singer,” “2000s Night,” which aired Oct. 11 on Fox. Michael Rapaport had never sung in public until “The Masked Singer.” Now, he can’t stop. Rapaport was unmasked on Wednesday as the Pickle, the latest costumed celebrity to
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for “The Stanford Student,” the sixth episode of “The Morning Show” Season 3. Oh, Alex. After being embroiled in constant scandal throughout the first two seasons, Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) has spent Season 3 of “The Morning Show” on a moral high ground, from blowing off a glitzy broadcast
Vincent D’Onofrio says the reports about Marvel’s “Daredevil: Born Again” undergoing a creative overhaul are not actually a big deal, as such changes are common in the film and television industry. D’Onofrio is reprising his role of Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk in the Marvel series opposite Charlie Cox as Daredevil. “Unless you really know what’s going
WWE‘s NXT won out in the so-called Tuesday Night War against AEW‘s “Dynamite.” According to the Nielsen overnight ratings, NXT pulled in 921,000 viewers on Tuesday night with 396,000 in the key adults 18-49 demographic. “Dynamite” averaged 609,000 viewers with 346,000 in the demo. While that is a far cry from the numbers seen during