Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer (below) for “Power Play,” which world premieres in the main competition section at next month’s series festival Canneseries. The fiction series is a raucous satire inspired by the real-life goings on behind the scenes when politician Gro Harlem Brundtland came to power in Norway in 1981.
Television
FROM BABY ELEPHANTS TO TEENAGE LOVERS Amazon MiniTV, a free-of-charge service within the Amazon shopping app and on Fire TV, will next month begin airing short-form teen romance series “Gutar Gu.” The show is produced by Guneet Monga and Sikhya Productions, whose “The Elephant Whisperers” recently won the Oscar for best documentary short. “We at
The BBC has appointed former CEO and editor-in-chief of ITN and executive VP at Walt Disney, John Hardie, to review how its social media guidance applies to freelancers. The review, which was announced by BBC director general Tim Davie earlier this month, will start immediately and will be completed by the summer and any changes
Richard Roxburgh (“Elvis,” “The Crown”) and Rebecca Gibney (“Halifax: Retribution,” “Back to the Rafters,” “Wanted”) star in Prosper, a Lionsgate-Stan series about a family with huge wealth that builds a powerful mega-church. Production has now started in Sydney, Australia. First announced in September last year, “Prosper” follows the founding family of an Australian church as
The big winners at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards included “A League of Their Own,” “What We Do in the Shadows” and “Bros.” The honors were handed out Thursday night at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills during a ceremony hosted by comedian and “Fire Island” star Margaret Cho. Christina Aguilera received the Advocate for
Psychological illusion specialist Derren Brown is returning to U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 for the first time in three years with “Showman,” his recent, interactive one-man live stage show. Brown, who has a long relationship with the broadcaster, was on Channel 4 in 2020 with the special “Derren Brown, 20 Years of Mind Control: Live.” “Showman”
“Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” music producer and songwriter Justin Tranter says their prolific career actually started with a passion for musicals. “Musicals are why I started making music as a kid. Even though I was in a rock band and now I make pop music, musicals are why I started making music in
When Mike Fleiss announced he was leaving “The Bachelor” franchise earlier this week, he released a chipper statement to the media, congratulating the latest winning couple from the reality dating show that he created more than 20 years ago. “First and foremost, congratulations are in order for Zach and Kaity. I wish them a long and happy
The news of Donald Trump’s indictment has come as a shock to many — including someone in the studio at Fox News. A surprise alert came during the telecast of Fox News Live on Thursday: “We have just gotten word,” said anchor Sandra Smith. “Former president Donald Trump has been indicted by a grand jury
“The Mandalorian” has made its return to Nielsen’s weekly streaming rankings. Through the Feb 27-March 5 viewing window, during which Season 3 premiered and was available for five days, the “Star Wars” series starring Pedro Pascal was watched for 826 million minutes. It followed directly behind “NCIS,” which often makes the streaming chart, though usually
In an episode of “The Power,” Prime Video’s series adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s acclaimed speculative novel, Roxy (Ria Zmitrowicz) tries to walk into a nightclub without flashing the ID that would reveal she’s underage. The swole sentinel manning the door tries to turn her away until Roxy creates a tiny lightning bolt between her thumb
In Donald Glover and Janine Nabers’ “Swarm,” a highly-detailed dedication to all-things Beyoncé and her “Bey Hive” fanbase is key to the show’s menacingly satirical look at obsessive fandom turned murderous. Credit “Swarm” production designer Sara K. White with taking its creators’ ideal of singing sensation Ni’Jah (Nirine S. Brown) to nuanced extremes, while folding
After directing the medieval fantasy film “The Green Knight” and the upcoming Disney remake “Peter Pan and Wendy,” filmmaker David Lowery is going to a galaxy far, far away. He is one of the directors on board for “Skeleton Crew,” the upcoming “Star Wars” series on Disney+ starring Jude Law, Variety has confirmed. Lowery joins
Director X knows a thing or two about music videos. From working under Hype Williams on the set of the 1998 classic movie “Belly,” to directing music videos for hip-hop heavyweights like Kendrick Lamar and Drake, the visual artist — whose real name is Julien Christian Lutz — has been delivering outstanding visuals for three
Joe Quesada, the former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, has signed a first-look film and TV deal with Amazon Studios. Under the deal, Quesada will develop film and TV projects with a particular focus on adapting comic book IP, including both new and existing titles. “I can’t begin to express just how thrilled I am to
Blumhouse has acquired the screen rights to the viral paranormal story of Deborah and Jessica Moffitt and forthcoming book manuscript, “Mr. Entity: The Moffitt Family Haunting,” Variety can exclusively reveal. The story of the Moffitt family took audiences by storm after Jessica published a 2022 article detailing their hauntings of a supernatural presence know as
NBCUniversal’s Peacock has announced a hot new reality dating show — but, you know, not really. In an early April Fool’s Day stunt, Peacock announced a new show with language-learning app Duolingo: “Love Language,” purportedly following 10 “confident and flirty singles” from across the globe coming together “to share a house in paradise in hopes
A “Star Trek” series set at Starfleet Academy has officially been ordered at Paramount+, Variety has learned. The series has been in the works for some time, as Variety first reported on the development of a Starfleet Academy show in 2018, though that project had a different creative team. The premiere episode hails from writer
When John Owen Lowe began writing on “9-1-1: Lone Star,” which stars his dad, Rob Lowe, he couldn’t resist venting to members of his team. His complaints about going “stir crazy” were so funny that they told him to pitch it as a show. With that, Netflix’s “Unstable” was born: The sitcom, which premieres March
The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation has announced the winners of its 48th Annual Gracie Awards, an event that recognizes women-centered achievements and programming in media and entertainment. A gala honoring Gracie winners will be held on May 23 at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles. Local and student winners will be
STREAMING Blue Ant Media and World of Wonder have launch free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel Drag Race Universe on Amazon Freevee in the U.S. Programming launch highlights on the Drag Race Universe channel include: “Canada’s Drag Race” seasons 2 and 3 (19 x 60’), “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K. vs The World” (6 x 60’), “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.”
Sagafilm Nordic, the Icelandic banner behind Cineflix’s hit show “The Minister,” is set to produce another politics-themed series, “President Salka.” The six-episode comedy series is penned by Jóhann Ævar Grímsson, the talent behind the critically acclaimed series “Stella Blómkvist.” It has been commissioned by leading Icelandic streamer Siminn, and is expected to go into production
The conversation about “nepo babies” has grown tiresome — and not just because “nepo baby” itself is such an unattractive turn of phrase. (Was “nepotism case” too hard to pronounce, somehow?) The general outrage over the idea that children of famous actors find themselves drawn to acting, ginned up by an artfully provocative recent cover
Canadian drama series “Streams Flow From a River” will debut in Canada on Super Channel, available on Apple TV and Prime Video Channels, on April 1. The series is in the Canneseries short format competition and will have its international premiere at the festival on April 18. Produced by Canadian scripted production company Fae Pictures,
The BBC has published its 2023/24 annual plan that projects a financial deficit, the need to find increased savings and cuts of 1,000 hours annually in content commissions across its portfolio. The corporation projects a total income of £5.53 billion ($6.8 billion) for the period, which includes its main source of income, the annual license
British Asian actor and writer Ambreen Razia has secured a development deal with Expectation Entertainment (BAFTA-winning series “Alma’s Not Normal”) to write an original comedy drama series about addiction and postpartum depression between a South Asian mother and daughter. The series, which has the working title “Wasted,” will follow the story of a junior doctor
Leading Indian studio Yash Raj Films’ streaming production arm YRF Entertainment has revealed its second show. Titled “Mandala Murders,” the multi-season series is billed as a gritty crime thriller. It is created and will be directed by Gopi Puthran (“Mardaani 2”). Manan Rawat, who has worked on several films as an associate director for the
Warning: This story contains major spoilers for Season 6, Episode 7 of “Snowfall.” Angela Lewis opens the latest episode of FX’s “Snowfall” as a grieving widow. Her character, Louie, has lost her husband Jerome Saint (Amin Joseph). Now, the actor says that all bets are off as the series enters its final episodes. In its
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 9, episode 7 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired March 29 on Fox. Everyone knows George Wendt’s name — well, at least Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg does. “Cheers” star Wendt was one of the two more celebrities who were revealed on Wednesday’s edition
Nneka Garland, an Emmy-winning producer on “General Hospital,” died Monday in Burbank. She was 49. She had suffered a heart attack at her home in Sherman Oaks, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Garland joined the ABC soap opera in 2001 as an executive assistant and spent the last 22 years working on the show. In