February 26, 2020 5:15PM PT The CW’s revamped (get it?) “Lost Boys” pilot has cast one of its lead roles. Lincoln Younes has been cast in the series as Benjamin, the charismatic leader of the gang of vampires in a seemingly idyllic North Carolina seaside town. Younes’ role is most similar to the role of
Television
Josh Brolin has found his next role. The “Avengers” and “No Country for Old Men” star has signed on to play the lead role in “Outer Range,” a thriller which received a series order at Amazon. The show was announced as part of the TV overall deal that Amazon signed with Brad Pitt’s Plan B
Lee Phillip Bell, co-creator of popular soap operas “The Young and the Restless’ and “The Bold and The Beautiful,” died on Tuesday. She was 91. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Bell created two of daytime television’s hit soap operas,”Y&R” and “B&B,” along with her late husband William J. Bell. In 1975, Bell won a Daytime Emmy
Disney Plus does not seem to be figuring it out on the way when it comes to the “Lizzie McGuire” revival. Production on the show halted in January after the firing of original series creator and revival showrunner Terri Minsky after just two episodes were completed. Her unceremonious exit has led many industry insiders to
They put their homes up as collateral to finance the business in its infancy more than 15 years ago. Today, Debmar-Mercury co-presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein are getting ready to launch not one, but two new first-run series in the fall, adding to a roster that includes “The Wendy Williams Show” and “Family Feud.”
Lee Phillip Bell, co-creator of popular soap operas “The Young and the Restless’ and “The Bold and The Beautiful,” died on Tuesday. She was 91. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Bell created two of daytime television’s hit soap operas,”Y&R” and “B&B,” along with her late husband William J. Bell. In 1975, Bell won a Daytime Emmy
February 26, 2020 1:14PM PT The Writers Guild of America East has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against NBCUniversal over last month’s closure of Peacock Productions, the unit that produces nonfiction television shows. The complaint, filed with the National Labor Relations Board, alleges that after the WGA East learned that Peacock Productions would cease
In a time of digital transparency, keeping seismic events a secret until they actually come to pass has proven to be an almost insurmountable task. For media companies, the challenge is tripled: Many of them employ staffers whose job it is to ferret out news before it happens and make it known to the general
As the star of CBS’ courtroom drama “All Rise,” Simone Missick takes playing Judge Lola Carmichael seriously, even if the character isn’t always that herself. “I’ve got the fortune of coming up after Viola Davis, after Kerry Washington, that showed networks and buyers and audiences that they did want to see [these] stories told,” Missick
The Alliance, the pact formed by Europe’s top state broadcasters to counter the growing power of Netflix and other streaming giants, has joined forces on a high-end adaptation of bestselling environmental sci-fi thriller “The Swarm.” As previously announced, multi Emmy award-winning producer Frank Doelger (“Game of Thrones”) is executive producing the English language series via
Macaulay Culkin is one of the stars set to join the “American Horror Story” franchise for its upcoming tenth season. Series creator Ryan Murphy announced the new and returning cast members via a suitably gloomy video posted to his Instagram, set to the tune of the song “Dead of Night” by Orville Peck. Two mainstays
Nahnatchka Khan could have another series coming to ABC. The “Fresh Off the Boat” creator is an executive producer on a pilot called “Valley Trash,” which has been picked up at the Disney-owned network. A single-cam comedy, “Valley Trash” hails from “Speechless” writer Niki Schwartz-Wright (who will serve as writer, EP and showrunner) and is
Cyma Zarghami spent the better part of her career overseeing the kids-media empire known as Nickelodeon. At last, she’s ready to come out and play. Zargahmi, who left in 2018 as president of the Nickelodeon operations at the company once known as Viacom, has returned to the business of creating content for kids. She has
AMC Networks delivered lackluster earnings for the fourth quarter that were dragged down by write-downs in the international unit and declining advertising revenue for its U.S. networks. The results underscore the crossroads that pure-play programmers such as AMC Networks have reached in terms of growth potential for the traditional linear channels that are its core
Fremantle has taken a 100% stake in Naked Television, and has named Naked founder Simon Andreae CEO of Fremantle U.K. A founding partner of Optomen Television and a former Fox executive, Andreae will take over from outgoing CEO Liam Humphreys. As head of U.K.’s operations, Andreae will report to group CEO Jennifer Mullin, and take
February 26, 2020 6:23AM PT To be a teenage girl is to be a tight coil of confused rage, a fact that “I Am Not Okay With This” both knows and depends upon. The new Netflix comedy tells the story of Sydney (Sophia Lillis), a seething Pennsylvania teen who first seems to be, as she
When the final act came in the corporate succession drama that has captivated Hollywood for years, it turned out that Bob Chapek was the logical candidate who was hiding in plain sight the whole time. The news that Chapek would succeed Bob Iger as CEO of the Walt Disney Co. hit the entertainment industry like
Dutch public broadcaster EO has commissioned a local adaptation of Keshet Intl.’s “The A Word” from Fiction Valley. The series is based on Keren Margalit’s hit family drama “Yellow Peppers,” produced by July-August Prods. for Keshet Broadcasting. Like the original, Fiction Valley’s six-part adaptation traces a family’s painful and often humorous journey of denial and
Cate Blanchett has spoken out about Harvey Weinstein’s conviction, urging the industry to move forward and ensure a new culture is established, particularly around gender parity in off-screen roles. “I think it’s about moving forward, and moving forward without repetition and with genuine progress,” Blanchett told Variety at the Berlinale Series Market on Wednesday, where she
Netflix is looking to create more transparency and dispel some of the myths around working with the streaming giant as it ramps up its European operations, though the company’s fast-paced shooting schedules are “not for everyone,” director of international originals Rachel Eggebeen said Tuesday morning at the Berlinale Series Market. “It’s a fast pace that
Swedish broadcaster SVT has ordered a six-part TV adaptation of Kerstin Ekman’s crime novel “Blackwater” from Piv Bernth’s Apple Tree Productions. The series will be coproduced with ARD Degeto in Germany, and Filmpool Nord, and distributed internationally by ITV Studios. It has pre-sold to DR in Denmark, NRK in Norway, YLE in Finland, and RUV
“Freud,” Netflix’s upcoming mystery thriller from director by Marvin Kren, places a young Sigmund, before his establishment as a worldwide medical icon, in the middle of a brutal 19th century murder case in Vienna. A Vienna native himself, Kren won numerous awards for his work in TV (“Four Blocks”) and film (“Rammbock,” “Blood Glacier”). In addition
BERLIN — In the run-up to the Berlinale Series Market, the Endemol Shine Group announced the launch of a new and powerful scripted label in Berlin, MadeFor Film, headed by joint CEOs, Nanni Erben and Gunnar Juncken. Here, “The Bridge” executive producer Lars Blomgren, who was appointed Endemol Shine head of scripted, EMEA in June
A new wave of Australian drama series has shined a light on Indigenous cultures, with Aboriginal-led productions reshaping the domestic market while finding a global platform for Indigenous stories. What that might mean for Indigenous Australians was the focus of “Mainstream, Genre and Indigenous Perspectives: New Wave Australian Series,” a panel that took place Tuesday
BERLIN — Underscoring its ambitions for Central and Eastern Europe, “Babylon Berlin” and “Gomorrah’s” Beta Film has just taken a majority stake in Zagreb-based Drugi Plan, producers of Netflix pick-up “The Paper” and “Success,” HBO Europe’s first HBO Adria original. The investment builds on Beta Film owner Jan Mojto’s determination to plow ever more into
Reciprocating an exchange which saw Series Mania 2019 Co-Pro Pitching winner “Capturing Big Mouth” participate at this year’s Berlin CoPro Series, German project “Transitniki” will make the return trip to Lille next month, having been selected by Series Mania representatives in Berlin. From Germany’s Rohfilm Factory, “Transitniki” is set in 1985, behind the Iron Curtain,
Netflix’s “Stateless,” which premieres Wednesday at the Berlin Film Festival, looks at the plight of refugees in a detention center in Australia. Co-creators Cate Blanchett, who also appears in the show, Elise McCredie and Tony Ayres talk to Variety about it, ahead of an on-stage discussion in Berlin moderated by Variety. The story, which is
Some of the blame for CBS News’s chaotic, messy Democratic Party primary debate Tuesday night can be laid at the feet of the party itself — to a degree, CBS was depicting the chaos and mess of a party badly divided in the midst of a bruising campaign. But a share of ignominy also goes
Disney’s parks head Bob Chapek officially — and quite suddenly — took the seat of power Tuesday afternoon, with the announcement that the charismatic, longtime Disney CEO Bob Iger would be handing over the reins and shifting to an executive chairman position, where he will now steer Disney’s creative direction. Despite Chapek’s 27 years at
In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix released the trailer for “Self Made: Inspired By the Life of Madam C.J. Walker” and HBO announced a premiere date for “Betty.” FIRST LOOKS Netflix released the official trailer “Self Made: Inspired By the Life of Madam C.J. Walker.” Executive produced by and starring Octavia Spencer, the four-part limited