In today’s Global Bulletin, Sky commissions supernatural thriller “The Rising” and Channel 4 and Peacock wage “The Undeclared War”; The Garden, BBC Studios Productions and Constantin Film Development reveal senior appointments; Rakuten TV expands AVOD offering; and Disney India picks up kids series “Dr Tenali Rama HMKD” from Cosmos-Maya. COMMISSIONS Sky original series, supernatural crime
Apple TV Plus revealed that the first three episodes of the upcoming drama-comedy series “Physical” will premiere on June 18. The final seven episodes of the season will be released weekly every Friday. Created by Annie Weisman, the series is set in the idyllic but fragile beach paradise of sunny 1980s San Diego. It stars
Production on AMC-Movistar Plus high-end original “La Fortuna,” starring “Supernova’s” Stanley Tucci, wrapped Tuesday in Spain, ending principal photography on one of the Spanish-speaking world’s most ambitious upcoming drama series. Scheduled to bow this fall, “La Fortuna” also marks the first TV show from Oscar winner Amenábar, who directed “The Others” and “The Sea Inside.”
Italy’s Leone Film Group has teamed up with Wattpad, the user-generated fiction entertainment company, to develop a feature film based on “The Bad Boy’s Girl,” which is among the most popular stories on the storytelling platform. Leone Film Group, a leading Italian production and distribution company, has also optioned the full series of novels in
The Teaching Co. — founded in 1990, well before Netflix or YouTube were a twinkle in anyone’s eye — has sold audio and video learning classes for decades. Now, as media companies of all sizes rush to embrace streaming, The Teaching Co. is following suit, hoping to capture a bigger audience for its lineup of
Rex Chapman, former NBA star and Twitter power-user, is launching a weekly podcast in which he talks with pro athletes about their run-ins with the law — a subject he’s personally familiar with. The podcast, “Charges With Rex Chapman,” is produced by Steve Nash’s CTRL Media, Portal A and iHeartMedia. In each episode, Chapman sits
Spotify wants to hook podcast creators on its newly launched paid-subscription program — by offering far more attractive economic terms and broader reach than rival Apple. On Tuesday, Spotify announced new monetization options for podcast creators, starting with paid subscriptions. For the first two years, Spotify’s podcast subscriptions will carry no creator fees, so participants
In 2006, the French feature film adaptation of Harlan Coben’s “Tell No One” set a precedent that the author’s work could not only be adapted to the screen, winning a slew of awards including four Cesars, but that it could do so outside of the stories’ native U.S. In 2018, with a host of popular
British actor Emilia Fox (“Silent Witness”) is set to star as a disillusioned U.K. spy who becomes a sleuth in Italy in “Signora Volpe,” a detective drama commissioned by AMC Networks’ Acorn TV that will start shooting in Italy in May. The show comprising three 90-minute installments is being produced by ITV Studios-backed production company Route
Disney is to close 18 TV channels in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong as the conglomerate puts a greater emphasis on direct-to-consumer streaming. The move will take effect from Oct. 1, 2021. Many of the channels set to be shuttered joined the group less than three years ago as part of Disney’s acquisition of 21st
David Parfitt, producer of Oscar and BAFTA-winning “The Father,” is back with series “The War Rooms,” starring Jenna Coleman (“The Serpent,” “Victoria”). Parfitt will produce via his Trademark Films alongside Jamie Carmichael (“Fishtank,” “Black Book”) for Atlantic Nomad. Created by David Chidlow, “The War Rooms” is the untold story of the women who lived, loved
Federation Entertainment is developing “Carlos Ghosn, The Fugitive,” a thriller mini-series starring Francois Cluzet as Ghosn, once one of the most powerful figures in the global car industry who is now an international fugitive. “Carlos Ghosn, The Fugitive” will be directed by Frederic Jardin, whose credits include the hit crime series “Spiral” and “Braquo,” as
Check out the Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway Official Trailer starring James Corden! ► Sign up for a Fandango FanALERT for Peter Rabbit 2: https://www.fandango.com/peter-rabbit-2-the-runaway-220843/movie-overview?cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc Want to be notified of all the latest movie trailers? Subscribe to the channel and click the bell icon to stay up to date. US Release Date: June 18, 2021
“Escape Room 2” has moved up its release to July. The sequel to the 2019 psychological thriller will now debut on July 16, 2021, nearly six months earlier than its planned release date of Jan. 7, 2022. With the box office beginning to revive after the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s possible that “Escape Room 2” moved
First off, let’s confirm yet again that Regina King makes everything better. She was a highlight of the Emmys, and she opened this year’s Oscars with style, class and a wonderful walk and talk — featuring a small trip that made her all the more fun. You’ve seen the criticisms about this year’s show, and I’m not
“Vivo,” an animated movie that boasts new music from “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, is coming to Netflix. The family friendly film was initially scheduled to release in theaters on June 4. But Sony Pictures, the studio that originally backed “Vivo,” has instead offloaded the project to Netflix. It’s unclear when it will debut on the
While the world celebrated China-born director Chloé Zhao’s historic three Oscar wins for best picture, best director and best editing, China’s censors were busy trying to wipe any trace of the Academy Awards from the web. An initial burst of celebration and congratulatory messages appeared on Chinese social media just after the ceremony, which aired
Apple expects to dramatically boost its workforce in L.A., where its original video production teams are based, over the next five years. The company announced that it plans to grow its teams in Culver City, Calif., to more than 3,000 employees by 2026, along with “expanding its state-of-the-art campus with additional space for these employees”
Patrick Dempsey has left the “Grey’s Anatomy” building…again! While the actor appeared on last week’s episode when Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) dreams of her and Derek finally having their wedding on a beach, it sounds like that was the last of McDreamy popping up on the ABC drama series. “I thought it was a beautiful way
Writer and producer Bernie Kahn died Wednesday, April 21 at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, Calif. He was 90. Kahn was best known for his work on sitcoms, writing over 100 episodes for shows including “Get Smart,” “Maude,” “The Addams Family,” “The Love Boat,” “Tabitha,” “Three’s Company,” “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” “The
Carrie Ann Inaba announced that she will take a leave of absence from “The Talk.” “I have decided to take a leave of absence from @TheTalkCBS to focus on my health and well-being,” Inaba wrote on her Twitter account. “I appreciate the support from you and my family at The Talk and hope to be
Kyle Marvin has been cast in a lead role opposite Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto in the upcoming Apple limited series “WeCrashed,” which details the fall of WeWork, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is based on the Wondery podcast of the same name. It is described as following the greed-filled rise and inevitable fall of WeWork,
A compilation from rapper Young Thug’s Young Stoner Life label, “Slime Language 2,” slimed its way into the top spot of the album chart, accruing 108,200 album-equivalent units in its first week out. In at No. 2 was the first of three albums country star Eric Church is releasing in very fast succession — “Heart,”
A judge on Monday ruled that Michael Jackson’s companies had no legal obligation to protect boys from sexual abuse, and dismissed a long-running lawsuit against them. Wade Robson, one of the subjects of the 2019 HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland,” first filed the lawsuit in 2013. Robson alleges that Jackson began sexually abusing him when he
Hasbro announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Entertainment One Music (widely known as eOne Music) for an aggregate price of $385 million in cash. The transaction has been approved by Hasbro and Entertainment One Canada’s board of directors, and is subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals.
Julie Townsend, head of communications for ABC News since the fall of 2014, will leave the Disney unit as it prepares to welcome a new president. Townsend, a VP who has supervised outreach on behalf of flagship news programs ranging from “Good Morning America” to “World News Tonight,” will leave May 14 “to lead global
An NFT of Chadwick Boseman commissioned by the Oscars is being redesigned in the wake of his best actor loss. After Boseman took home the best actor prize at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards, many people assumed the Academy Awards would follow suit. In a surprising upset, Anthony Hopkins
A bankruptcy auction for the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain has been canceled, after no rival bids were received for the company. The cancelation clears the way for Fortress Investment Group and Altamont Capital to take control of the company, in a deal that also includes Alamo Drafthouse co-founder Tim League. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema filed for
FX’s ballroom culture period drama “Pose” is signing off with its third and final season this spring — a season they pushed through the COVID-19 pandemic to finish, but truly has been many years in the making. Although the final season will be short — only seven episodes — it tells stories that co-creators Steven
Fresh off its Oscar win for best international feature film, “Another Round” is getting the Hollywood treatment. The Danish dramedy about four friends who engage in an epic drinking binge will be remade in English. Leonardo DiCaprio is being eyed to star in the film in the role originated by Mads Mikkelsen, but there’s no