Lionsgate and Fox Corp.’s free, ad-supported streaming service Tubi have set a multi-year slate deal to give 30 new feature films and 200 library titles a presence on the platform. The agreement covers films that are not part of Lionsgate’s pay-1 theatrical output deal with Starz. Among the new releases with exclusive windows on Tubi […]
EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has locked down worldwide rights to the comedy The Donor Party, toplined by Malin Åkerman (Chick Fight), Rob Corddry (The Unicorn), Erinn Hayes (Gaslit) and Jerry O’Connell (Billions). The company’s plans for the recently-wrapped pic’s release have not yet been disclosed. The first feature from writer-director Thom Harp is a farce centered on […]
EXCLUSIVE: Maria Zuckerman is stepping down from her role as President of Topic Studios, where she has led the company’s film, streaming, television and podcast slate for over three years. Where the well-respected executive will land is not yet clear. In her time at Topic Studios, Zuckerman overhauled the studio—greenlighting, producing and selling brand-defining, profitable […]
Participant Media CEO David Linde has said he is “energized” by the number of production and distribution companies who are now committed to social change. Spotlight, Judas and the Black Messiah and American Factory producer Participant was founded by Jeff Skoll in 2004 with a commitment to producing entertainment with socially relevant themes and Linde praised […]
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog, winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize, will return to Broadway this fall in a 20th anniversary production directed by Kenny Leon and starring In The Heights‘ Corey Hawkins and Watchmen‘s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The strictly limited 16-week engagement will begin previews on Tuesday, September 27 at Broadway’s John Golden Theatre. The production will officially […]
Though it’s too soon to say how Sunday’s Tony Awards will impact box office for the night’s winners and losers, figures for the week leading up to the ceremony show big gains for the multi-nominated (and eventual Best Musical winner) A Strange Loop. The Michael R. Jackson musical filled 98% of its available seats during […]
Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1 pulled in an additional 159.24M hours viewed in its second full week of release, bringing its total to 781.04M hours viewed in 17 days. As expected, the period sci-fi series shot up to the top of the Most Popular English-language TV series on Netflix all-time list, which measures viewership during a […]
“I’m just curious how you even know when Rudy Giuliani is drunk,” said Trevor Noah on The Daily Show last night of the president’s former personal lawyer, whom he likened to a “drunk vampire.” “When a normal person is drunk they yell, the say crazy things, they sweat a lot. So how does that work […]
Loosely based on the Murdoch family, Jesse Armstrong’s Succession tells a story of the power struggle within a wealthy, media-company-owning family. The HBO series has won nine Emmys including two wins for Armstrong in the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series category. After missing a year due to the Covid pandemic, Succession returned with its most […]
Three leading media execs said upfront sales will wrap up shortly with Paramount and NBCUniversal seeing increases in the high single digits, according to CEOs Bob Bakish and Jeff Shell. Fox Corp. CFO Steve Tomsic was on board with a 9%-to-12% range presented by analyst Doug Mitchelson at a CSFB investor conference Tuesday, noting the […]
From the perspective of filmmaker Cooper Raiff, Cha Cha Real Smooth embodies a specific kind of “feel-good” spirit of which he’s always in pursuit. The Sundance Audience Award winner is the up-and-coming multi-hyphenate’s second feature, on the heels of his 2020 crowd-pleaser Shithouse, which proved a success in spite of a release hobbled by the […]
EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton is boarding Studiocanal and Picture Company’s high-concept thriller Role Play starring Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo. Production starts in Berlin next month at Studio Babelsberg. The Thomas Vincent directed pic revolves around a married couple whose life turns upside down when secrets come out about each other’s pasts. Cuoco and Oyelowo […]
The e-auction’s over, and became clear yesterday, Viacom18 is the big winner of Indian Premier League cricket rights. The company bagged digital rights in India for 410 games over the next five years for $2.6B and today followed up with the international rights for three of the other big cricketing nations — Australia, South Africa […]
It’s official. The Wendy Williams Show will air its final episode this Friday, Deadline has confirmed. The Wendy Williams Show had been slated to continue through the end of the season with rotating guest hosts, as Williams has been sidelined with health issues for the entire season. Williams will not be present for the final […]
EXCLUSIVE: Screen Media has acquired North American rights to the road-trip comedy The Nan Movie, written by Catherine Tate (The Office) and Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso), with plans for a day-and-date theatrical and on-demand release this July. The film will serve as the origin story of Joannie Taylor aka Nan—the foul-mouthed grandmother character first introduced […]
More riches are coming exhibitors’ way, particularly during the late summer dry period, as Crunchyroll and Toei Animation are releasing the next Dragon Ball movie, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, on Aug. 19 in the U.S. and Canada at 2,300 theaters and select Imax venues. The only other new wide release in theaters at that time […]
EXCLUSIVE: Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight), ABM Sumon (Dhoka) and Matt Passmore (Jigsaw) are among cast joining Frank Grillo (Captain America) in Asif Akbar’s spy thriller MR-9, which is now underway. Grillo’s son Remy Grillo will make his acting feature debut on the project which is shooting in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Dhaka, Bangladesh. Also starring will […]
Disney+ will generate $1.8 billion in U.S. ad revenue by 2025 from its forthcoming ad-supported streaming tier, with Netflix coming in at $1.2 billion, Wall Street analyst Michael Nathanson estimates in a new report. While Disney will pile up more cash, Netflix’s bottom line will benefit more from the influx of ads given the impact […]
Netflix has released images from the final hours of Stranger Things, which drop July 1. Two episodes totaling nearly 4 hours make up Volume 2 of the drama’s fourth and final season on the streamer. Episode 408 will clock in at 1 hour, 25 minutes, while 409 – the series finale – will run 2 […]
The Good Wife alum Josh Charles and The Worst Person In The World’s Anders Danielsen Lie have joined Mothers’ Instinct, the psychological thriller that stars Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway. The film started principal photography this month in the States, and was recently acquired by Neon for the U.S. The story is set in the […]
EXCLUSIVE: The Washington Post and Imagine Entertainment have entered into a strategic partnership to create scripted and non-scripted film and television properties culled from The Post’s vast archives, current reporting, and ongoing investigations. The multi-year deal gives Imagine an exclusive first-look to develop and produce all projects through the venture. Creative Artists Agency, which represents […]
LGBTQ+ film and media organization, NewFest, announced the inaugural recipients of the New Voices Filmmaker Grant, a new initiative in partnership with Netflix to support emerging LGBTQ+ filmmakers that will distribute a total of $100,000 in funds. A cohort of four filmmakers who each receive a $25,000 grant to support professional development and create new […]
Roku has commissioned a second season of animated comedy Doomlands and ordered a duo of non-scripted projects. Josh O’Keefe’s Doomlands was picked up by Roku from failed short-form streamer Quibi two years ago. Comprised of 10 15-minute episodes, season two of Blue Ant-backed Look Mom! Productions show will pick up from where season one left off, […]
Amber Heard defended her side during her ex-husband Johnny Depp’s six-week defamation trial, telling NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie that “to my dying day” she would “stand by every word in my testimony.” In her first interview since a jury largely sided with Depp, Heard also delved into potentially damaging evidence that could have swayed the […]
Obi-Wan Kenobi streamer Disney+ will soon be available in 60 territories across EMEA after a series of launches in the region this week. The streaming service is debuting in 42 new countries and 11 other territories, including launches today in Greece, Turkey and countries in Central Eastern Europe, including Poland, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic and Croatia. Disney+ […]
