April 11, 2019 1:51PM PT The resonant LGBTQ film “Love, Simon” is being explored for series adaptation at Disney+, Variety has learned. TV kingpin Greg Berlanti directed the 2018 film, as part of an overall feature directing pact with Fox. He is not involved in the TV adaptation, an individual familiar with the plans said,
Television
Jake Gyllenhaal will star in and executive produce a limited series based on the Gary Shteyngart novel “Lake Success” that is currently in development at HBO, Variety has learned. Should the project go to series, it would mark Gyllenhaal’s first leading role in a television series. He will executive produce along with Riva Marker through their
April 11, 2019 12:12PM PT “Hanna” has been renewed for a second season at Amazon. The series, which debuted on March 29, is based on the 2011 film of the same name. It follows the titular 15-year-old Hanna (Esmé Creed-Miles), who was raised in total seclusion in the remote woods of Eastern Europe. She has
CBS has renewed the long-running action drama “NCIS” for a 17th season. NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) leads a troupe of special agents who investigate all crimes with Navy or Marine Corps ties, from murder and espionage, to terrorism and stolen submarines. His colorful team includes an MIT grad who’s brilliant with
Tanya Simon, a veteran at CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes,” has been named the new executive editor of the program, putting a female producer into the top echelon of the CBS News show after an unexpected transition of leadership. Simon has worked for the broadcast for nearly 20 years and was one of the show’s senior
“Transparent” creator Jill Soloway confirmed that Jeffrey Tambor’s character will be killed off in the two-hour series finale, after the actor was fired from the show in 2018. The upcoming musical finale will feature the death of Tambor’s main character, a transgender woman named Maura, and depict the Pfefferman family coping with the loss, Soloway
Cary Joji Fukunaga and “Watchmen” director Nicole Kassell are teaming up to bring “The Last of the Mohicans” to TV, Variety has learned. The prospective series, based on the 1826 novel by James Fenimore Cooper, hails from Paramount TV, Anonymous Content and Fukanaga’s Parliament of Owls. Fukanaga is currently under an overall deal at Paramount TV. “The
Who will sit on the Iron Throne? Is Daenerys pregnant? Will Arya cross names off her kill list? “Game of Thrones” will answer these questions and tie up loose ends as the series’ final episodes wrap up the nearly eight-year story. Find out everything you need to know ahead of the final premiere below. When
There used to be an adage in show business about never working with animals or children, but for Violetta Hessing, there’s nothing more fulfilling than finding a dog that wants to be on set and training it to deliver just as much emotion as its human scene partners. Hessing owns and is the head trainer
Will Packer made his reputation with such movies as “Girls Trip” but he’s moved into TV. “We are content creators and I don’t want to be limited to one particular medium,” says Packer of his recent efforts in television. LeVar Burton, an executive producer on History’s 2016 “Roots,” says he was impressed when he first
Procter & Gamble backs billion-dollar products like Crest, Tide and Pampers. Now it wants another one: safer media. Marc Pritchard, the consumer-products giant’s chief brand officer and one of Madison Avenue’s most prominent figures, on Thursday urged advertisers to demand better quality of content and audience measurement from media outlets. His remarks represent,the latest call
CANNES — The 2nd Canneseries festival ended Wednesday. Variety asks what this year’s second edition says about the current state of high-end drama series production. 1.COMEDY RULED, AND WON The 2nd Canneseries had no competition title with the profile of “Killing Eve,” its standout last year. A world premiere screened out of competition as the
It may have been a quieter MipTV this year, with attendee numbers down 5% from 2018 and key players BBC Studios, Fox Networks Group and Endemol Shine all absent from the market, but there has still been a buzz of activity over the past week. Variety looks back at some of the key television deals
Channing Powell, a writer on “The Walking Dead” for five seasons, has now turned her thoughts to showrunning “The Feed,” a near-future dystopian thriller that world premiered this week at Canneseries TV drama festival. The show centers on a young psychiatrist, Tom Hatfield (Guy Burnet), who is concerned about the effects of a technology called
April 10, 2019 11:30PM PT ZDF Enterprises will bring “Queens of Mystery” to a host of markets after striking a rights deal for the offbeat drama that streaming service Acorn TV ordered as one of it latest originals. The deal with Acorn hands ZDFE the rights to the show in non-English-language territories. It is the
Bob Iger didn’t mince words while being honored on Thursday by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Upon receiving the Humanitarian Award at the organization’s National Tribute Dinner from Jeffrey Katzenberg, the Walt Disney Co. chairman and CEO delivered a scathing critique of social media and the current state of political discourse. “Hate and anger are dragging
April 10, 2019 5:19PM PT “Atypical” creator Robia Rashid has signed a new three-year overall deal with Sony Pictures TV, the studio fronting the Netflix series. Rashid is the showrunner and executive producer of “Atypical,” which focuses on a teenage boy, played by Keir Gilchrist, on the autism spectrum. It also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh,
April 10, 2019 3:19PM PT “Shameless” alumna Emmy Rossum has signed a first-look deal with UCP, Variety has learned. Under the agreement, Rossum will develop premium scripted content, under her Composition 8 production banner. Rossum joins UCP’s roster of first-look deals that includes Kathleen Robertson and Charlize Theron’s Denver & Delilah. Rossum recently left “Shameless” after 9
YouTube is clearing its deck, as the service gets ready to unveil its new original programming plans. As part of the spring cleaning of sorts, YouTube series “Champaign ILL,” “Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television,” “Sideswiped,” and “Do You Want to See a Dead Body” won’t be back. Those shows join previously confirmed cancelled series
In today’s roundup, ABC announces premiere dates for “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise,” and “When Calls the Heart” returns following Lori Loughlin’s departure. DATES “Lucifer” will make its Season 4 debut on Netflix on May 8. In the newest season of the cult-favorite drama, Lucifer (Tom Ellis) has to deal with the return of the original sinner,
Hulu is eyeing a series order for “The Dropout,” a limited series about Elizabeth Holmes, with Kate McKinnon set to play the disgraced tech whiz, Variety has learned. The prospective show, based on the ABC Radio and ABC News podcast about Holmes, would hail from Fox Searchlight TV, with McKinnon also on board as an
Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle know the title of their new Comedy Central show, “The New Negroes,” will cause a few double takes. The hosting duo thought about changing it, but then thought again. “I like that it’s provocative, that it’s not easily explained or that there’s no easy answer to what it means.
April 10, 2019 2:05PM PT “Barry” has been renewed for a third season at HBO. The news comes less than two weeks after the second season debuted on March 31. The dark comedy series, co-created by Bill Hader and Alec Berg, follows the titular Barry (Hader), a hitman who discovers a passion for acting when
CANNES — Leticia Dolera’s Spanish women’s comedy “Perfect Life” swept the 2nd Canneseries TV festival on Wednesday night, scooping both best series and best special performance for its female leads, Dolera herself, Celia Freijeiro and Aixa Villagrán. With Israel’s “Nehama,” a HOT Original dramedy created, co-written and starring Reshef Levi winning best performance for Levi,
Fox is doubling down with this year’s Primetime Emmys telecast, enlisting two producers to handle the kudos: Don Mischer Productions and Done+Dusted. In marrying two different production shingles to collaborate on the show, Fox Entertainment alternative entertainment and specials president Rob Wade said the network was looking for “a fresh direction by bringing together the
As its burgeoning fiction slate continues to shuffle and take shape, Disney+ has announced its slate of nonfiction content, which will include the return of the Kristen Bell musical recreation show “Encore!,” as well as a project from Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ Milojo Productions. The streaming platform has also inked a two-year deal with
April 10, 2019 10:12AM PT Hulu has cast Paul Sparks to replace Garrett Hedlund as John “Ace” Merrill for the second season of “Castle Rock.” Sparks will star alongside Lizzy Caplan, whose casting was previously announced. The character is a legendary bully who is taking over his uncle’s (Tim Robbins) businesses and jeopardizing the unsteady
Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye is the latest member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to line up his own Disney+ series. Variety has learned from sources that Disney’s upcoming streaming service is officially developing a limited series based on the archery ace Marvel character with Renner attached to star. The project is said to be an adventure
MCTV, a cable company serving about 50,000 subscribers in northeastern Ohio, has a motto assuring that it “goes the extra smile” to satisfy customers. But the company, founded in 1965 by Dick and Susan Gessner and now run by their son Bob, can’t do much these days to please the dwindling number of subscribers who
Winona Ryder, John Turturro, Anthony Boyle, Zoe Kazan, Morgan Spector, Caleb Malis, and Azhy Robertson will lead the ensemble cast of HBO’s miniseries “Plot Against America” from David Simon. Simon and Ed Burns will executive produce the show along with Joe Roth, Nina K. Noble, Megan Ellison, Sue Naegle, Susan Goldberg, and Jeff Kirschenbaum. The