Adam McKay is developing a limited series about Jeffrey Epstein at HBO, Variety has learned. The untitled series is based on Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown’s upcoming book about Epstein. Brown’s reporting was a driving force behind the multimillionaire financier’s arrest this past July on sex trafficking charges. McKay will executive produce along
Television
Development exec and producer Jennifer Gwartz has been tapped to become 20th Century Fox Television’s executive vice president of comedy and drama. At the Disney-owned studio, she will oversee scripted development of live-action comedies and dramas, identifying writing talent, guiding ideas from pitch to pilot, overseeing teams of execs in comedy development and drama development,
Walk the hallways of Fox Entertainment’s headquarters at its Century City lot, and you’ll find posters touting the company’s new mission statements. One hypes Fox’s “brand pillars,” which include “big swings,” “mass appeal” and “visceral reactions.” Another reminds employees, “We don’t play by the rules, we change the game.” Then there’s the slogan that perhaps
Kevin MacLellan is exiting NBCUniversal after nearly two decades. MacLellan, the chairman of NBCU’s global distribution and international operations, will stay on with the company during the transition period before his official departure. Jeff Shell, chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment, made the announcement to staffers in a memo on Wednesday that has been obtained
MGM TV is moving in to production in the Middle Kingdom through a development pact for local-language shows with China Star Omnimedia. The deal calls for MGM to work with China Star Omnimedia (previously known as Star China Media) on developing and producing shows for local audiences. China Star will distribute the programs in China,
From its inception, Epix was destined to be a trailblazer for an industry on the cusp of disruption. The premium TV service was initially conceived in 2007 as a joint venture of Blockbuster Video, Comcast and Lionsgate. At that time, YouTube was only 2 years old but growing fast enough to strike fear in the
An essential part of Epix’s fall slate is the dramatic “Godfather of Harlem,” starring Forest Whitaker (who also executive produces) as the real-life Bumpy Johnson. Taking place in the mid-1960s after Johnson got out of prison, the show mixes the familial challenges Johnson faced when returning home with the political issues of the time. It
Bruce Wayne’s butler is getting ready for some more action. Epix has renewed “Pennyworth” for a 10-episode second season. Season 2 of the DC and Warner Horizon Television drama will begin production in Jan. 2020, with the goal of premiering later that year on the premium cabler. The one-hour drama series follows Bruce Wayne’s legendary
BAFTA and Netflix have raised the curtain on the 2019 class of Breakthrough Brits. The 20-strong cohort, spanning talent from film, TV and games, includes “Sex Education” writer Laurie Nunn, “The Virtues” actress Niamh Algar, “Chernobyl” production designer Luke Hull, and “Saint Maud” director Rose Glass. The Breakthrough scheme has been run by BAFTA since
“Margaret Atwood: A Word After a Word After a Word Is Power,” a documentary about the author of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” has scored a raft of international deals. The doc was produced by Canada-based White Pine Pictures with pubcaster the CBC. Sky has acquired it for its Sky Arts channel in the U.K. and Arte
Sky has secured its pipeline of HBO content and will work on new shows with the U.S. cable network and its upcoming streaming service under the terms of a new deal announced Wednesday. The deal had been widely expected and is believed to run for five years. Besides HBO shows, the new agreement also gives
“The Morning Show” is sometimes about people leaning fully into their most base impulses. Other times it’s about harnessing those impulses for their benefit. For actor and executive producer Reese Witherspoon, anger was one of her best motivators when playing the part of up-and-coming news anchor Bradley Jackson in the Apple TV Plus original drama.
WarnerMedia has spent the last year or so building a library of licensed and original content for its forthcoming streaming platform HBO Max, launching in May 2020 at the price point of $14.99 per month. Plenty of new additions to HBO Max’s shelves were announced at the media conglomerate’s presentation on Tuesday, including a “Game
In the streaming wars to come, WarnerMedia will rely on sheer tonnage of heavy artillery. That much was clear Tuesday as the AT&T media arm unveiled to investors its plans for HBO Max, the direct-to-consumer service that is the fruit of the telecom giant’s acquisition last year of the former TimeWarner. On a soundstage at
October 29, 2019 5:06PM PT In today’s TV news roundup, Ovation announces its “Twelve Days of Christmas” programming lineup and Sony Pictures Television announced “The Good Dish.” DATES Ovation announced its “Twelve Days of Christmas” programming lineup will start Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. with “Eve’s Christmas.” The 13 nights of programming will feature modern classic
October 29, 2019 4:58PM PT The world of “Game of Thrones” will live on at HBO. A prequel series based on the “Game of Thrones” companion book “Fire & Blood” has been ordered straight-to-series at the premium cabler. The series will be titled “House of the Dragon.” Set 300 years before the events of “Game
“Lodge 49” has been canceled after two seasons at AMC, Variety has confirmed. The series aired its second season finale on Oct. 14, which will now serve as the series finale. “We are so proud to have had ‘Lodge 49’ on our air,” AMC said in a statement. “This wonderful show gave audiences fresh and unforgettable
HBO Max is continuing to bolster its impressive animation lineup. It was announced at WarnerMedia Day that “Rick & Morty” is the latest show hopping over to the nascent streamer. All three seasons of the animated show, which currently streams on Hulu, will be available on the streaming service upon launch in May 2020, with
Greg Berlanti is developing a pair of DC Comics projects at streamer HBO Max. Berlanti is set to executive produce both a series adaptation of “Strange Adventures” as well as a series inspired by The Green Lantern. According to an individual with knowledge of the deals, both projects are expected to go to series. The
Issa Rae, Elizabeth Banks, and Mindy Kaling are all teaming up with HBO Max for three new half-hour comedies. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, both Rae and Banks’ projects are in development, while Kaling’s has been ordered to series for 13 episodes. Rae and Banks’ projects are expected to go to
Comedy Central’s “South Park” will have a new home online as of June 2020. HBO Max, the WarnerMedia-backed direct-to-consumer service that debuts in May, has won the battle for exclusive streaming rights in the U.S. to Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s animated satire, which is currently hosted on Disney-owned Hulu. The deal is valued at
The second episode of HBO’s “Watchmen” dipped a little in total viewership from the series premiere, but not enough to cause any alarm from the premium cabler. Episode drew 1.3 million total viewers across all of HBO’s platforms on Sunday night, down 13% from the series premiere which drew 1.5 million. During its 9 p.m. live
October 29, 2019 8:42AM PT NBC’s freshman courtroom drama “Bluff City Law” grew to its highest rating in a month on Monday night. Helped by a solid “Voice” lead-in, the Jimmy Smits starrer grew posted a 0.6 rating among adults 18-49 and gained around 300,000 total viewers from last week to end up with 3.8
Netflix is moving up the property ladder. With international ambitions key to its growth plans, the U.S. streamer is opening a new, bigger Europe, Middle East and Africa headquarters in Amsterdam that can accommodate twice as many staffers as its current base there. The new EMEA headquarters, scheduled to open in the beginning of 2020,
MADRID — The beautiful game has just got dirtier. Produced by The Mediapro Studio and Directv Latin America, Season 1 of soccer crime thriller “Side Games” (“Todo por el juego”) proved a big swing for the Latin American pay TV/SVOD player, the most watched show on its bow on its premium pay TV service OnDirectv
“The Supernatural Academy” book series is being adapted as an animated series. 41 Entertainment, the producer behind the “Pac-Man” and “Skylanders” animated shows, has taken global rights to the hit books by Jaymin Eve. It marks 41 Entertainment’s first move into the red-hot young-adult space. “The Supernatural Academy” series is set in the eponymous institution,
Sky is set to renew its huge output deal with HBO, guaranteeing Sky’s subscribers continued access to the premium U.S. cabler’s much-coveted fare. Comcast-owned pay-TV giant Sky has a longstanding deal with HBO that gives it all of the WarnerMedia company’s big-ticket drama. With WarnerMedia preparing to launch the HBO Max streaming service next spring,
Pinewood is pulling out of its studio in Wales, the company’s latest exit from ventures in various locations around the world as it rejiggers its international strategy. Pinewood said Tuesday that, following discussions with the Welsh government, it had decided to end its agreement to operate, manage and market the studio in Cardiff, the Welsh
Netflix will show “Greatest Events of World War Two in Colour” in the U.S. and internationally after snapping up rights to the documentary series. The series brings a new perspective to the conflict with color footage of key events such as D-Day, the war in the Pacific, and the horrors of Hiroshima. Alan Griffiths’ U.K.
ITV Studios’ Armoza Formats has inked a co-development deal with major Chinese broadcaster Hunan TV. The first show to come out of the partnership is dance competition “Dance Smash,” which began airing in China this month. The show is based on Quebecor Content and Fair-Play’s format “Dance Revolution,” which originally aired on Canada’s TVA. It