Nicole Kidman has signed on for yet another series role. The “Big Little Lies” star is set to play one of the two leads in an Amazon adaptation of Janelle Brown’s forthcoming novel “Pretty Things.” The streaming giant won the rights to the novel in what sources describe as a highly competitive situation with multiple
Television
Australia’s Beyond International is to acquire U.K. distributor TCB Media Rights, previously owned by Kew Media Group, which became insolvent last month. Beyond is buying TCB from FTI Consulting Canada Inc., the official receiver for Kew Media Group. The acquisition will be completed through Beyond’s Ireland-based subsidiary, Beyond Entertainment Limited (BEL). In a statement to
“The Masked Singer” romped to victory in the Wednesday night TV ratings race, scoring its biggest numbers since the post-Super Bowl season 3 premiere in the process. The Fox show averaged a 2.4 rating among adults 18-49 across its back-to-back episodes and 8.8 million total viewers, compared with a 2.2 and 8 million last time
British comedian Eddie Large, best known for being part of double act Little and Large, has died at the age of 78 after contracting coronavirus in hospital. The star (pictured, above left), who had been in hospital with heart failure, found fame alongside Syd Little in the 1970s and 80s. They won TV talent show
T-Mobile is launching a free one-year giveaway of Quibi to some wireless customers — a promo that could plant the seeds for Jeffrey Katzenberg’s ambitious mobile TV startup to build a sustainable viewer base. But while Quibi’s exclusive distribution pact with T-Mobile gives it a valuable opportunity to win loyal fans, it’s no guarantee of
Entertainment One has signed a multi-year distribution deal with fledgling U.K. scripted indie Three Tables Productions. Under the pact, Three Tables will develop and produce original scripted programming for eOne to distribute worldwide. Three Tables was founded by former Leopard Pictures head of development David Chikwe, ex-U.K. Film Council executive Himesh Kar, and entrepreneur and investor
Acorn TV, AMC Network’s British programming focused streamer, is to launch in the U.K. at the end of the month. Launching on April 29 with dramas such as ITV’s “Foyle’s War” and the BBC’s “Keeping Faith” as well as the British-produced Acorn TV original “Queens of Mystery,” the service will charge £4.99 ($6.20) per month
Egyptologists, archaeologists and forensic investigators will try to decipher the stories of Ancient Egyptian mummies in an upcoming series for Travel Channel and the U.K.’s Channel 5 from producer Blink Films. Six-parter “Mummy Mysteries” for Travel Channel, which will be titled “Mummies Unwrapped” for Channel 5, follows a team of experts using cutting-edge science, historical
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Adult Swim has announced that the second half of Season 4 of “Rick and Morty” will premiere on May 3 at 11:30 p.m. The announcement was made today alongside a new trailer for the season’s remaining five episodes. Set to the upbeat chant of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town,” the footage offers
By tapping Jason Kilar — the co-founder of Hulu and an Amazon veteran — to be its new CEO, AT&T-owned WarnerMedia is sending a signal that its future will be streamed. In a conversation with Variety just hours after the announcement, Kilar himself says as much. Kilar has known AT&T COO and current WarnerMedia CEO
In today’s TV news roundup, Quibi unveiled the first trailer for “Punk’d” hosted by Chance the Rapper, and Showtime announced a documentary about an elite basketball community that is co-executive produced by NBA star Kevin Durant. DATES Gildart Jackson, the award-winning audiobook narrator and actor best known for his roles in “Charmed” and “Whodunnit?,” will
“Empire” has had its fair share of bumps in the road over the last year, but now, the series is having to cut short its final season due to the coronavirus pandemic. The sixth and final season of “Empire” was scheduled to run for 20 episodes, however, the production shutdown caused by the pandemic meant
ViacomCBS has come to a crossroads, again. The company that has endured more drama in the C-suite in recent years than any of its larger rivals was already under pressure this year to prove it could muster a comeback in a big way. Now, with the black swan named coronavirus roiling the waters, leaders of
Comcast chief Brian Roberts, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell and other division leaders at Comcast will donate their salaries to coronavirus-related relief efforts as the world grapples with the devastating pandemic. In a memo sent to Comcast’s 190,000 employees worldwide on Wednesday. Roberts said the salary donations would also be made by Comcast CFO Mike Cavanagh,
Comcast and Fox Corp. have come to terms on a broad carriage agreement covering all of Fox’s cable channels, including Fox News, and its O&O local TV stations. The long-term deal is significant for Fox Corp. given the importance of Comcast’s distribution footprint to core earnings. The pact covers authenticated streaming rights to Fox properties
Russian comedy-drama series “257 Reasons to Live,” which will play in competition at Canneseries, follows cancer patient Zhenya after she unexpectedly goes into remission and receives the all-clear. Unable to believe her luck, Zhenya (played by Polina Maximova) is determined not to waste a minute of her life. She comes across an old notebook she
Before Guy Fieri ever wrapped his mouth around the smoked-wing nachos or Nashville hot fried chicken he regularly nibbles on TV, he had to navigate the twists of the pretzel business. When he was around ten years old, Fieri’s parents took him on a ski trip, and would essentially let him wander as he saw
In the 2015 premiere of “Schitt’s Creek,” a riches-to-rags comedy, the Rose family arrive in the tiny titular town wearing the designer clothes of their past life as protective gear. But over the show’s six seasons on Pop TV, viewers have seen the once wealthy Roses — Johnny (Eugene Levy) and Moira (Catherine O’Hara) and
This of course took place before COVID happened. But there is little reason to think that Constantin Television’s goals will have changed with coronavirus. On Feb. 24, on the first day of the Berlinale Series Market, Oliver Berben, Constantin head of TV, entertainment and digital media, took to the stage to host a Constantin Television
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the U.K.’s largest arts festival and the launchpad for countless comedy and stage acts, will be shelved this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Fringe is among five Edinburgh festivals that have been canceled in light of COVID-19 concerns. This group also includes the Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh International Book
For Berlin-based American writer-producer Anna Winger, creating the Netflix series “Unorthodox” offered a unique opportunity to tell a Jewish story in Germany. The show, which premiered March 26 on Netflix, is inspired by Deborah Feldman’s 2012 memoir, “Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots,” and follows a young woman who leaves her husband and
Nearly two weeks after revealing he tested positive for Covid-19, “The Bachelor” star Colton Underwood is well on the road to recovery. “I feel so much better,” Underwood said Tuesday on “Variety Live” on Instagram. “I was very lucky and fortunate that the medicine worked for me and all of my symptoms were manageable from home.
From the opening scenes of “Tiger King,” it’s clear that Joe Exotic, the star of Netflix’s latest documentary sensation, was ready to do just about anything to become famous. Throughout the series, he attempts to film his own reality show, runs for the governor of Oklahoma and even tries his hand at country music. His
In today’s TV news roundup, Quibi released a trailer for Jennifer Lopez’s “Thanks A Million,” and Variety got an exclusive first look at the trailer for “JJ Villard’s Fairy Tales.” DATES CBS All Access has announced “Tooning Out The News” has resumed production and will now premiere April 7. The show was postponed due to
In the wake of an email sent to CBS Studios term-deal assistants informing them that their wages for the week ending March 28 would be capped at 52 hours, CBS tells Variety that the memo was sent out in error, and that there is no plan to retroactively reduce pay for those support staffers. “It
With the Live+7 numbers in for the week of March 16, the first week in which the coronavirus pandemic really took hold across the country, the ratings increase due to so many people self-isolating appears to be leveling off a little bit. In terms of the key 18-49 demographic, there weren’t that many big gains
When “Utopia Falls” creator R.T. Thorne pitched a sci-fi hip-hop series about a group of teens living in a dystopian future and battling in a performing arts competition called the Exemplar, he knew the concept was an unusual one. “People definitely looked at me weird when I first threw it out there a few years
Iconic daytime medical drama “General Hospital” is being forced to switch up its schedule, joining a growing list of shows which have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. ABC has announced that the show will now air four episodes per week, Monday through Thursday, instead of its usual five. Starting this Friday April 3, the
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