Television

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you haven’t yet watched the final episode of “Man vs Bee.” It was three years ago that director David Kerr unexpectedly got a call from an old producer colleague, Chris Clark, with whom he’d worked on 2018’s “Johnny English” sequel “Johnny English Strikes Again.” Clark had been developing an

Joe Donaldson, producer of “Peaky Blinders” and “Cobra,” has launched new production company Magic Hour Television and signed a first look deal with All3Media and New Pictures. Donaldson will develop a slate, funded by All3Media and All3Media International, and partner with New Pictures co-founder and CEO Willow Grylls, to produce new scripted television content. He

Barry Garron, former Chief TV Critic for The Hollywood Reporter, died June 23 at a medical facility in Gilbert, Ariz. He was 72. Garron, who was well-liked in the industry as a “genial Midwesterner,” spent a little more than a decade as a prominent critic for The Hollywood Reporter. He was there for the dawn

Stars Piolo Pascual and Lovi Poe head the cast of the Philippines adaptation of Korean Series “Flower of Evil.” It begins airing across East Asia and parts of the Middle East. The romance-thriller series involves a female detective who suspects that her husband is a serial killer. The original show was produced by CJ ENM’s

Disney+ debuted the trailer and key art for the original movie “Zombies 3,” the third film in the “Zombies” franchise that will premiere July 15 on the streamer. A special “Lost Song” version of the movie will air on Disney Channel on Aug. 12. “Zombies 3” stars Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly as zombie Zed

The Walt Disney Company and Starz have teamed up to offer a streaming subscription bundle, including Star Plus, Disney Plus and Starzplay, in Latin America. The latest development comes as competition continues to heat up in the region and more deep-pocketed players, led by streaming giants Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple Plus, seek to

Moses Ingram has signed on to star opposite Natalie Portman in the Apple limited series “Lady in the Lake.” Ingram takes over the role of Cleo Sherwood in the series from Lupita Nyong’o, whom Variety exclusively reported had exited the show after production had already begun. This is the latest high-profile TV role for Ingram,

J.K. Rowling joined the likes of Elton John, Prince Harry and Billie Eilish in being the latest victim of Russian comedy pranksters Vovan and Lexus. The duo is notorious for prank calling celebrities. In Rowling’s case, Vovan and Lexus tricked the controversial “Harry Potter” author into believing she was talking with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Portugal’s “The Last Wolf,” Lebanon’s “Status Quo” and Uruguay’s “The Invisible Ink” proved big winners at the 6th Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, which will wrap Friday in Toledo, Spain. A potential part of a burgeoning production axis between Spain and Portugal, “The Last Wolf” won the largest prize of the night, a development deal at

As Hollywood basks in the streaming boom and burgeoning the era of premium television, kids, too, get to join in on the fun. Unlike the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon multi-cam sitcoms that have dominated kids’ TV for decades, newer streaming series like Apple TV+’s “Puppy Place” and “Lovely Little Farm” function more like family dramedies.

The world got a surprise June 16 with the news that HBO is in early development on a “Game of Thrones” sequel series centered on Jon Snow (Kit Harington), but that was hardly news for Emilia Clarke. The actor revealed to BBC that her longtime co-star Harington confided in her that he was in talks

Mimi Leder has signed a multi-year overall deal with Apple, Variety has learned. Leder is currently an executive producer on the Apple drama series “The Morning Show.” She has also directed multiple episodes of the series, including the pilot. The show was renewed for a third season earlier this year, which is currently in production. Under

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the annual Eurovision Song Contest, has categorically stated that next year’s competition will not take place in Ukraine. “The EBU fully understands the disappointment that greeted the announcement that the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) cannot be staged in Ukraine, this year’s winning country,” they said in a

Showtime has ordered a comedy pilot starring real-life husband and wife Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody. The show is inspired by the couple’s real life and relationship. It follows the delightfully tumultuous relationship and life of a successful, gregarious, deeply committed, slightly insane married couple played by Patinkin and Grody. “Seasoned” hails from co-creators Ewen

Bruna Papandrea’s production company Made Up Stories has acquired the rights to Marina Palmer’s thriller novel “The Russian Doll,” Variety has learned exclusively. Made Up Stories will produce a limited series based on the novel in partnership with Endeavor Content. “The Russian Doll” is set in the dangerous and deceptive underworld of organized crime. Packed

Scott Sternberg Productions is expanding further into documentary production with the acquisition of Strong Island Films. Sternberg, a veteran producer of unscripted TV, aims to expand the company’s activity in the true-crime arena, which is a speciality of Strong Island principles Rob Dorfmann and Cindy Dorfmann. Sternberg financed the purchase on his own, and he

HBO Max and A24 are developing “Church Girls,” a comedy pilot from Megan Stalter. “Church Girls” is a half-hour comedy that follows Beth Parker (Stalter), a 20-year-old Christian closeted lesbian as she wrestles with her sexuality and faith in God, while entering adulthood in suburban Ohio. The series is inspired by Stalter’s own experiences. Stalter

“Love Island” is set to return for both a winter and summer edition in 2023, ITV has confirmed. The show, which is made by ITV and Lifted Entertainment (part of ITV Studios) is a cash cow for the broadcaster, with the highly coveted 16-34 year old demographic tuning in nightly on ITV2 for the eighth

It’s been almost two decades since Bill Nighy delighted audiences with his turn as a rock ‘n’ roll legend with a heart of gold in “Love, Actually.” Now the actor steps into a real musical legend’s shoes as he plays Thomas Jerome Newton in the Paramount+ series “The Man Who Fell to Earth” – a

Independent media-buying operation Horizon Media plans to test a local-TV audience measurement technology from Comscore, the latest big advertising or media entity to enlist a Nielsen rival for the purpose of counting TV viewers. Horizon plans to examine Comscore’s local TV solution to see if it could serve as a new benchmark for advertising transactions

Paris-based Cottonwood Media and the Paris National Opera are re-teaming with U.S. streamer Hulu, Germany’s ZDF and  ZDF Studios and France Televisions, all partners on “Find Me in Paris,” for another premium live action tween series, “Spellbound.” Scheduled to commence production this summer in Paris, moving later to Brussels, “Spellbound” is created by Jill Girling and

Underscoring a push into more ambitious productions in Latin America, Star Plus, The Walt Disney Company’s year-old general entertainment and sports streaming service in the region, presented an early banner production, “Santa Evita,” at Conecta Fiction & Entertainment in a gala screening on June 22. Attendees of the Toledo, Spain-based forum got an exclusive preview

As Spain moves ever more onto the big-shoot locations industry radar, the Spain Film Commission is experiencing rapid growth of its nationwide network as well as helping to drive the ambitious Spain AVS Hub plan. Following the March 2021 announcement by the Spanish government of the launch of the Spain AVS Hub plan – with

Discovery+ has revealed that it is the streaming service that has secured the rights to “Unprecedented,” the three-part documentary series from filmmaker Alex Holder that will feature video of Donald Trump, his family and staffers during the final weeks of the 2020 election — including his actions, presumably as he attemped to subvert democracy and

Spin Master Entertainment, the production company behind children’s franchises “Paw Patrol” and “Bakugan,” has a new character coming to the party. Variety has learned exclusively of the launch of “Vida the Vet,” which follows a preteen as she cares for a community of animals. The animated series will premiere in the fall of 2023 on

Ildikó Enyedi, who won the Berlin Golden Bear and was Oscar nominated for “On Body and Soul,” will start shooting the pilot episode of the TV series “Angel’s Trumpets” (Angyaltrombiták) at the end of this month. The bloody and humorous revenge story was written by Katalin Besenyei, who pitched it at the Hypewriter TV Series

Ukraine’s film-TV industry is putting words into action through “Ukrainian Content. Global Cooperation,” a joint initiative kick-started by key local media companies (https://www.facebook.com/ukrainiancontent.globalcooperation) as well as the Ukraine Content Club, a newly established worldwide community and fund that aims to sustain the industry impacted by Russian invasion. The latter, still in an early development stage

Variety shines a light on the teams you may have missed this Emmys season. “Abbott Elementary”CAMERA OPERATORS As fans of “The Office” know, half of the humor of a mockumentary is the camera angles, swiftly cut-ting to a reaction shot or zoom-ing in on a ridiculous moment. The cameras on ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” never miss

Robert J. Ross, who oversaw East Coast operations and engineering at CBS Broadcasting from 1998 until retiring in 2017, died on Sunday. “The CBS family was saddened to learn of the passing of our esteemed colleague and friend Robert Ross,” CBS said in a statement. “Over his illustrious career, his incredible skill and accomplishments kept

After a civil jury found that Bill Cosby sexually abused Judy Huth in 1975 when she was a 16-year-old minor, Cosby’s team is calling the outcome an “astonishing victory,” yet pledging to appeal the $500,000 verdict. “Yesterday actor and comedian Bill Cosby was awarded an astonishing victory by jurors in a civil trial brought by