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Rising filmmaker and sketch comedian Curry Barker has signed with UTA.

Barker is known for his viral horror movie Milk & Serial, a found footage project made for $800 that amassed 1.6 million views on YouTube and landed him meetings with practically every horror house and producer in town. He is in post-production on his next feature, Obsession, a horror film he wrote and directed, with financing from Capstone.

The native of Mobile, Alabama is also one half of the sketch comedy channel That’s a Bad Idea, which he runs with creative partner Cooper Tomlinson. Their sketches take inspiration from shows such as I Think You Should Leave and Key & Peele and blend comedy with horror. That’s a Bad Idea has amassed more than 700 million views across platforms, and boast 1.7 million TikTok followers, 827,000 YouTube subscribers and 681,000 Instagram followers.

As a horror filmmaker, Barker is also developing a feature length version of The Chair,...

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back! Well, in the case of Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, curiosity might have gotten the best of him—and poor Kevin Hart definitely wasn’t satisfied with what he uncovered.

Kevin Hart as Cyrus Whittaker in Lift | Credits: Netflix

Picture this: the Mafiathon 2, where Cenat is hosting none other than Hart and Druski. Cenat, who’s living the dream in a luxurious LA mansion, is giving the dynamic duo a tour of his new digs. You know, the usual—lavish rooms, pristine furniture, a glimpse into a TikTok star’s dream life—but then, dun dun dun, a locked door.

And just when you thought things were already wild, Cenat casually mentions that the house next door belongs to none other than Diddy. Yes, the rapper who is currently behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, awaiting his trial in 2025.

Kevin Hart,...

As you finish up binging “Cross,” feel free to explore Aldis Hodge’s massive body of work, as we’ve laid all the films and TV shows starring the actor that you should watch next.

Listen, Aldis Hodge isn’t new to this thing called acting, he’s true to it. He’s literally been on screen since he was 7 years old, when he made his film debut alongside his brother Edwin Hodge in “Die Hard With a Vengeance” in 1995. Since then, he’s gone on to earn several award nominations as well as a Screen Actors Guild award.

The actor and producer has a lengthy career that includes projects that have depicted real-life figures, thrilled audiences and inspired viewers. Here’s nine shows and films to check Hodge out in after you’ve finished “Cross.”

“Leverage” (TNT) “Leverage” (2008)

In TNT’s heist drama “Leverage,” Hodge played hacker Alec Hardison,...

Jennifer Nettles, lead vocalist of the country duo Sugarland and a successful solo artist, got into acting by playing Dolly Parton’s mother in the 2015 TV movie Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors. Since then she has appeared in the sequel to that movie, Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love, performed in Chicago and Waitress on Broadway, had roles in the film Harriet and the TV series Underground, and appeared on multiple episodes of the HBO show The Righteous Gemstones… which happens to be executive produced by David Gordon Green, director of the recent trilogy of Halloween sequels. Now Green is in production on the first of what he intends to be a trilogy of sequels to the 1973 classic The Exorcist (watch it Here) – and Variety has revealed that he brought Nettles into this project with him. Nettles is said to have a “primary role...

If there's a basic, no-frills definition for movies, it's that they're made to be seen. Cinema is a populist medium, attempting to reach as wide an audience as possible for as long as possible.

Perhaps that's why the feeling of "discovering" a movie can be so powerfully enjoyable. It gives you the sense, however false, that you're stumbling upon a secret piece of entertainment made just for you. If you happen to discover such a movie in the wee hours of the morning, so much the better — the surreal setting only serves to make what you're watching seem that much more unreal, richer, and special.

It's that sensation that the programming block on Turner Classic Movies known as "TCM Underground" sought to capture every Friday night-turned-Saturday morning. Begun by Eric Weber in 2006 and continued by programmer Millie De Chirico starting in 2007, TCM Underground made it its business to curate some of the most obscure,...

Updated with TCM statement. Warner Bros Discovery’s TCM is officially discontinuing its Underground sub-brand, two months after laying off programmer Millie De Chirico.

TCM’s official Twitter handle confirmed the news on Wednesday, which riled up cinephiles on the social platform. The final titles carrying the Underground label will air on Friday. “Classic cult favorites and hard-to-find films will always be in our DNA, and we will continue to find ways to showcase them,” the company said in a statement.

No further staff reductions will result from the official end of the banner, a rep confirmed to Deadline. Wbd, which reports its quarterly earnings Thursday afternoon, has been on a quest to deliver $3.5 billion in cost savings following the April 2022 merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery.

Previously:

“Well, it’s been a great 18 1/2 years, but my job was cut in a company restructure recently which means tomorrow is my last day at TCM,...

Exclusive: Ben Cory Jones has signed with APA for representation.

Jones is best known for co-producing and writing on various seasons of Issa Rae’s hit HBO comedy series, Insecure. He has also written on shows like Games People Play for BET, Underground for OWN, and Ben Watkins’ Hand of God for Amazon.

Jones co-created and executive produced the BET comedy series Boomerang, loosely based on the 90s-era film starring Eddie Murphy and Halle Berry. Berry and Lena Waithe also served as executive producers across the show’s two seasons.

In 2013, Jones was selected to participate in the prestigious ABC/Disney Television Writing Program and was a staff writer on the ABC Family drama series, Chasing Life.

For the big screen, he directed his first feature titled Black Spartan in Atlanta this fall. The project is set during the mid-1960s, in the midst of a social upheaval...

Adina Porter and Clark Backo have been cast opposite Lakeith Stanfield in the upcoming Apple drama series “The Changeling,” Variety has learned.

The series is based on the book of the same name by Victor Lavalle. It is descirbed as a horror story, a parenthood fable, and a perilous odyssey through a New York City you didn’t know existed.

Stanfield stars as Apollo. Porter will play Lillian, his mother. Backo will play Emma, Apollo’s wife.

Porter’s TV credits include appearing in multiple seasons of “American Horror Story” as well as shows like Apple’s “The Morning Show” and “True Blood,” “Underground,” “The 100,” “Outer Banks,” and “Ray Donovan.” She will also star in the upcoming “Paper Girls” series at Amazon that is expected to debut later this year. She is repped by Talentworks and Bamboo Management.

Backo is perhaps best known for playing Rosie in the cult hit Canadian series “Letterkenny.

At the conclusion of Dexter‘s Comic-Con @ Home panel on Sunday, Showtime released the first trailer for the series’ forthcoming revival (Aka Season 9), which will premiere Sunday, Nov. 7 at 9 pm.

It comes roughly a month after the premium cabler released the first footage from the 10-episode limited series, which finds Michael C. Hall’s titular vigilante living in the fictional Upstate New York small town of Iron Lake under the assumed name Jimmy Lindsay.

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Hello, everyone! I hope you have your wallets ready because we have a huge day of horror and sci-fi home media releases this week, and there are a ton of different titles fans are definitely going to want to add to their collections. Blue Underground has given the criminally undercelebrated Dead & Buried the 4K treatment for their 3-Disc Limited Edition release of the film, and if you’re a big fan of sci-fi/action movies, you’ll definitely want to pick up the latest Vestron Video release, The Wraith, which Lionsgate is putting out on Blu this Tuesday as well.

As far as recent genre fare goes, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Jakob’s Wife, Initiation and 32 Malasana Street are all headed home on various formats, and if you happen to be a big fan of the Saw series, you can also nab brand new Blu-rays for the first eight Saw films this week,...

Emmy-winning director and producer Anthony Hemingway has signed with M88.

Best known for “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” “Red Tails” and “Underground,” Hemingway most recently directed and executive produced “Genius: Aretha,” starring Cynthia Erivo, who earned an Emmy nomination for lead actress in a limited series for her performance as Aretha Franklin. The director also recently helmed the premiere episode of Starz’s “Power” spinoff, “Power Book II: Ghost,” starring Mary J. Blige.

Up next, Hemingway is set to produce the upcoming animated short, “Skin Deep,” with 6 Point Harness, the animated studio behind Matthew Cherry’s Oscar winner “Hair Love.” Hemingway is also set to pair with “Pose” star Hailie Sahar for a Sir Lady Java biopic, bringing the one-time performer and long-time LGBTQ activist’s story to the big screen.

Hemingway launched his eponymous production banner Anthony Hemingway Productions in 2018, with the mission to “revolutionize and...

Look out, Mayberry — there’s a killer in your midst.

The latest teaser for Showtime’s 10-episode Dexter revival offers up a first look at Michael C. Hall’s titular vigilante in his new small town setting — and, suffice it to say, the townsfolk have not been briefed on their new neighbor’s origin story.

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“Here’s your first glimpse of the little, snowy Northeastern town [Dexter]’s in,” Dexter scribe Warren Hsu Leonard enthused on Twitter.

Back when Steven Canals was working on the first season of “Pose,” he and Misha Green had a conversation at a bar about the importance of using their voices as storytellers to make material for their communities.

“Pose,” now wrapping up its third and final season, is an example of that, as Canals centered Lgbtqia+ characters of color in a narrative about the complexities of living amid the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 1990s New York City. And Green proved she takes her own advice with the genre-blending first season “Lovecraft Country,” which followed Black characters fighting against supernatural entities and American racism.

Variety brought Canals and Green together to discuss their approach to these shows, including writing what they know and love, telling tales of love and family amid trauma, and why directing is additive to their industry experiences.

Family is a central theme in both of your shows, but through blended and chosen families,...

Every year, cinephiles wake up early for the announcement from France of the films playing at the Cannes Film Festival. For the 74th Cannes Film Festival taking place this July, they've confirmed an intriguing and compelling set of films made by the finest filmmakers hailing from all over the world. Cannes is ready to return after cancelling last year, despite announcing their 2020 selection anyway, with a focus on safety this year as thousands of movie lovers return to the South of France to watch new films. We'll be there! Wouldn't miss it for anything, except of course a global pandemic. This year's 2021 line-up includes new films by Wes Anderson (The French Dispatch), Sean Baker (Red Rocket), Asghar Farhadi (A Hero), Mia Hansen-Love (Bergman Island), Todd Haynes (Velvet Underground), Justin Kurzel (Nitram), Jacques Audiard (Paris 13th District), and many others. There will likely be a few additions last minute - Thierry Frémaux...

For the first time in Oscar history, four women are running for governor of the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Variety has learned.

Lesley Barber, Sharon Farber, Heather McIntosh and Taura Stinson are vying for the seat that will shortly be vacated by composer Michael Giacchino, who has been an Academy governor since 2015.

Laura Karpman became the first woman to serve as a music-branch governor in 2016, and she continues in that role. Charles Bernstein, who has served several terms as a music-branch governor, also continues to serve.

Canadian composer Barber is best known for her music for “Manchester by the Sea,” “Mansfield Park,” “You Can Count on Me” and “Late Night.” She recently collaborated with Mindy Kaling on the TV adaptation of “Four Weddings and a Funeral.”

Israeli-born Farber divides her time between concert music and film. A four-time Emmy nominee, she has scored both...

Zack Snyder’s zombie epic “Army of the Dead” is off to a strong start on Netflix, as the streamer reports (via Deadline) that the movie is expected to be viewed by 72 million households over its first four weeks of release. That number puts “Army of the Dead” in the number 10 spot on the list of biggest Netflix original openings. “Army of the Dead” opened to the same household views as George Clooney’s “The Midnight Sky,” which launched over the Christmas holiday last year. It’s important to note that Netflix recognizes a “view” as any subscriber who watched two minutes of the movie’s runtime.

The strong opening for “Army of the Dead” is good news for Snyder, who intends to launch a new franchise for the streamer with his Dave Bautista-starring action movie. Two “Army”-connected films are already in development at Netflix, one is an...

Exclusive: Netflix has another feature hit on its hands in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead which is on its way to becoming one of the streamer’s top 10 most watched movies, bound to notch 72M viewing households in its first four weeks.

Army of the Dead, which repped the streamer’s widest theatrical release in 600 theaters prior to its drop on the service last Friday, May 21, ties with George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky as the 9th most watched feature on Netflix. The zombie ensemble movie was No. 1 overall in 70+ countries and the top film in 90+ countries.

One has to give credit to Netflix: At a time when streamers including Disney+, Hulu, Amazon, and HBO Max are shielding their viewership figures, the Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos led entertainment company, and Scott Stuber led film studio, is actually disclosing results on the success of its movies and TV series.

Barry Jenkins spent four years of his life bringing Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Underground Railroad” to the screen. In point of fact, he began working on the adaption before his Best Picture-winning, landmark drama “Moonlight” had even premiered at the 2016 Telluride Film Festival. He made another impressive film in the interim, “If Beale Street Could Talk,” but was always shepherding “Underground” on the side, a project that morphed into a 10-episode Amazon Studios mini-series that became his sole focus in 2019 and 2020.

Continue reading Barry Jenkins Hasn’t Let Go Of ‘Underground Railroad’ Yet [Interview] at The Playlist.

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival has unveiled much of its feature lineup including early highlights from several sidebars for this year’s online 25th edition, with the full program to be announced in July.

Fantasia’s preliminary lineup is highlighted by a glut of world and premieres including Edoardo Vitaletti’s “The Last Thing Mary Saw”; fest regular Richard Bates Jr.’s “King Knight”; Mikhael Bassilli and Luc Walpoth’s “Baby Money”; Canadian actor-turned-director Mark O’Brien’s debut “The Righteous”; “Hellbender” from John Adams, Toby Poser, and Zelda Adams; and the highly anticipated directorial debut of former Fantasia winning writer Travis Taute’s (“Number 37”) “Indemnity.”

Available to audiences across Canada, Fantasia will run Aug. 5-25 and present screenings, panels and workshops on its digital platform, hosted for the second year running by Festival Scope and Shift72. Event organizers are also closely monitoring the health and safety guidelines laid out by public officials in Montreal,...

Filmmaking is incredibly hard work, said everybody who's ever made one for our enjoyment. It’s especially a trial by fire for inexperienced movie magicians, hoping that the wand will strike at least once or twice and that they just survive. With his reputation as a BTS guru with Blue Underground and Dark Sky Films in full swing, Severin Films’ David Gregory set out to make his feature debut, Plague Town (2008)—a tense homage to classic British and foreign horror infused with a fresh feel for the present. And now, a Blu from Severin that houses not only a surprisingly effective chiller, but also behind-the-scenes features that painstakingly showcase a vision dragged kicking and screaming all the way to the screening room.

It is odd for me to be discussing a film this recent. However, it makes perfect sense in context to the creators; Gregory and his co-writer John Cregan...

Exclusive: Melvin Gregg (The United States vs. Billie Holiday), Bradley Whitford (The Handmaid’s Tale), Alice Braga (The Suicide Squad) and Danielle Campbell (Tell Me a Story) have signed on to star in Share, an innovative sci-fi pic from The Traveling Picture Show Company, Wavemaker Creative and award-winning commercial director Ira Rosensweig.

Scripted by Benjamin Sutor, Rosensweig’s debut feature follows a man who awakens to find himself stripped of all his possessions, and trapped in a bare room. Aided by a primitive computer, he must learn to survive in his new isolated existence where entertainment is the only currency.

While the actors’ roles have not been disclosed, we hear the indie will be brought to life using “unique and immersive” filmmaking techniques. Given that each character in the story is physically isolated, the shoot (which is currently underway) called for the construction of multiple identical sets with integrated camera systems,...

Exclusive: Michelle Veintimilla (The Baker and the Beauty) and Sebastian Roché (The Man in the High Castle) are set for recurring roles on David E. Kelley’s hit freshman ABC drama series Big Sky. Both will be introduced in the back half of Season 1.

The crime thriller series, created by Big Littles Lies‘ Kelley based on C.J Box’s book, follows private detective Cassie Dewell, played by Kylie Bunbury, and ex-cop Jenny Hoyt, played by Katheryn Winnick, who join forces to search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. But when they discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another woman is taken.

Veintimilla will play Rosie Amaya, the tough as nails daughter of Gil Amaya, the Kleinsasser family’s ranch manager.

The Right Stuff‘s astronauts have been grounded by mission control: Disney+ has cancelled the space drama after just one season, according to our sister site Deadline. Producers Warner Bros. Television are reportedly shopping the series to other networks, though, with TNT and HBO Max said to be in the mix.

An adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book, the Nat Geo-produced series chronicles the early days of the United States’ NASA program and the lives of America’s first astronauts, who became known as the Mercury Seven. The first season starred Patrick J. Adams (Suits) as John Glenn, Jake McDorman...

Exclusive: Emmy Award-winning animation writer/producers Kevin and Dan Hageman, creators, executive producers and showrunners of the upcoming Star Trek: Prodigy, have signed an exclusive overall deal with CBS Studios, the studio behind the Paramount+/Nickelodeon animated series. Under the significant, multi-year pact, the Hagemans will continue on Star Trek: Prodigy and exclusively create and develop new television content for the studio.

Currently, the brothers are writing the feature film sequel to their 2019 Guillermo del Toro horror film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and a live-action feature adaptation of the classic arcade game Dragon’s Lair for Netflix with Ryan Reynolds attached to star.

Most recently, the Hagemans co-wrote the Golden Globe-nominated film The Croods: A New Age for DreamWorks Animation. They also were co-executive producers and showrunners of the Emmy-winning animated series Trollhunters for Del Toro and Dwa. The brothers won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an...

Exclusive: In competitive bidding, Amazon Studios is in negotiations for Fuel, a pitch for an action vehicle movie for Lovecraft Country star Jurnee Smollett. She is attached to produce with Lovecraft Country EP Misha Green.

The script will be written by Kat Wood. The plan is to develop this as a vehicle for Smollett to play a wheel woman, a fresh take on a familiar character. The film is an action-packed female empowerment story that will subvert the relationship between cars and masculinity. The heroine is a getaway driver who is coerced into working for a criminal and breaking all the rules she set out for herself.

Wood, who’ll be exec producer, has set up numerous high-profile projects including Envoy and Genus to Amy Pascal’s Pascal Pictures, Diplomatic Courier to Skydance Media, Ruby to 87North and Amazon.

Green is set to write and make her directorial debut on Tomb Raider,...

HBO Max has given a series order to “Subject to Change,” a new drama created by J.J. Abrams. Jennifer Yale is set to serve as showrunner on the project from Warner Bros. Television and Abrams’ Bad Robot.

The series follows a desperate college student who signs up for a clinical trial that is the starting point for a reality-bending adventure.

“It’s been incredible fun weaving this rather insane yarn with Jenn, and I am grateful to her and everyone at HBO Max for the opportunity to bring this story to life,” Abrams said.

“Subject to Change” is the second Abrams-created show to land a series order from a WarnerMedia platform since Abrams signed a massive overall deal with the company in 2019. “Demimonde,” another Abrams original, is already in the works at HBO proper.

“We cannot wait to bring this complex, eye-opening thriller to HBO Max. It will take viewers on an unexpected ride,...

J.J. Abrams continues to add to his TV slate.

The prolific writer-producer-director has set an original idea, Subject to Change, as his latest TV series for WarnerMedia-backed streamer HBO Max.

The drama follows a desperate college student who signs up for a clinical trial that begins a wild, harrowing, mind- and reality-bending adventure. Abrams will pen the script and exec produce alongside showrunner Jennifer Yale (Legion, Outlander, Underground).

“It’s been incredible fun weaving this rather insane yarn with Jenn, and I am grateful to her and everyone at HBO Max for the opportunity to bring this story ...

J.J. Abrams continues to add to his TV slate.

The prolific writer-producer-director has set an original idea, Subject to Change, as his latest TV series for WarnerMedia-backed streamer HBO Max.

The drama follows a desperate college student who signs up for a clinical trial that begins a wild, harrowing, mind- and reality-bending adventure. Abrams will pen the script and exec produce alongside showrunner Jennifer Yale (Legion, Outlander, Underground).

“It’s been incredible fun weaving this rather insane yarn with Jenn, and I am grateful to her and everyone at HBO Max for the opportunity to bring this story ...

Hello everyone! We’re back to give you the lowdown on another week of home media releases, and while we don’t have a ton of titles on tap, there are still a few key releases genre fans are going to want to pick up this Tuesday.

If you missed it during its run on HBO, you can finally catch up with the first season of Lovecraft Country, as Warner Bros. is bringing it home on both Blu-ray and DVD. Jay Baruchel’s Random Acts of Violence is also headed to both formats this week, or if you’re in the mood for something a little more old school, both The Unseen and Slithis are getting the Blu-ray treatment on Tuesday as well.

Other home media releases for February 16th include Bad Impulse, Butchers, The Leprechaun’s Game and Mask of Thorn.

Lovecraft Country: The Complete First Season

Based on the 2016 novel by Matt Ruff,...

Jamie Chung is boarding Showtime’s forthcoming Dexter revival in a key recurring role, TVLine has confirmed. The Lovecraft Country actress will play a famous true-crime podcaster from Los Angeles who finds herself caught up in the still-murky central mystery.

As previously reported, the 10-episode limited series (Aka Season 9) picks up nearly a decade after the widely panned 2013 finale, with Michael C. Hall’s Oregonian lumberjack now residing in the fictional Upstate New York small town of Iron Lake.

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Exclusive: Makeready will turn the fantasy tale The Gilded Ones into a film, and the producer/financier has set its author, Namina Forna, to write the script in the first of what will be a trilogy. The novel debuted this week in the U.S. through the Penguin Random House imprint Delacorte Press, this after bowing in the UK last week. The trilogy is called the Deathless book series and it shot to the top of Amazon’s fantasy lists. Makeready’s Brad Weston and Negin Salmasi are producing along with Lovecraft Country‘s Misha Green.

The Gilded Ones is an bold and immersive West African-inspired and empowering feminist fantasy story that follows sixteen-year-old Deka living in Otera, a deeply patriarchal ancient kingdom. There, a woman’s worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. But when Deka bleeds gold – the color of impurity, or...

Jasika Nicole is ready for some Punky Power! The actress is set to join Soleil Moon Frye and Cherie Johnson in Peacock’s Punky Brewster revival which will debut on the streamer on February 25.

Frye and Johnson will reprise their roles as Punky and Cherie respectively in the upcoming revival of the ’80s sitcom which followed the titular bright young girl raised by a foster dad. Peacock’s continuation of the series finds Punky as a single mother of three trying to get her life back on track when she meets Izzy (Quinn Copeland), a young girl in the foster system who reminds Punky a lot of her younger self. Nicole will step into the role of Lauren, a fun-loving and self-assured lawyer whose relationship with Cherie develops throughout the season.

Nicole is best known for her role as Astrid Farnsworth, an FBI agent turned scientists’ assistant, on Fringe. Other television credits include Scandal,...

The CW is prepping for a potential profusion of girl power.

The network has greenlit three pilots centered on young women, TVLine has learned, including a live-action project based on The Powerpuff Girls cartoon series.

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The Powerpuff Girls will follow characters introduced in Craig McCracken’s Cartoon Network series, who are now “disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting,...

During a three-hour discussion on a recent episode of “The Empire Film Podcast,” Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino revealed the existence of their makeshift quarantine movie club over the last 9 months. As Wright explained, “It’s nice. We’ve kept in touch in a sort of way that cinephiles do. It’s been one of the very few blessings of this [pandemic], the chance to disappear down a rabbit hole with the hours indoors that we have.” Tarantino added, “Edgar is more social than I am. It’s a big deal that I’ve been talking to him these past 9 months.”

A bulk of the film club was curated by none other than Martin Scorsese, who sent Wright a recommendation list of nearly 50 British films that Scorsese considers personal favorites. In the five months Wright spent in lockdown before resuming production on “Last Night in Soho” — and before he received the...

Jennifer Lopez is set to star in the upcoming Netflix film “The Mother.” Niki Caro, who recently helmed Disney’s “Mulan” remake, is in talks to direct.

“The Mother,” which Lopez will also produce, centers on a deadly assassin who comes out of hiding to protect the daughter she gave up years before. “Lovecraft Country” showrunner Misha Green is writing the screenplay, with current revisions by Andrea Berloff (“Straight Outta Compton”).

Along with Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith Thomas is producing for Nuyorican Productions, as well as Green, Benny Medina and Roy Lee and Miri Yoon for Vertigo Entertainment.

As Variety reported in December, Lopez is teaming with Netflix for another film, an adaptation of the bestselling book “The Cipher.” She will also produce and star in the movie, centering on an FBI agent who finds herself drawn into a serial killer’s strategically designed cat-and-mouse chase.

Lopez has numerous films in the works,...

Jaime Ray Newman (Little Fires Everywhere), Andrea Frankle (Irresistible) and Will Chase (Nashville) are set for recurring roles in Dopesick, Hulu’s eight-episode limited series based on Beth Macy’s bestselling book. The project is from The Handmaid’s Tale executive producer Warren Littlefield and Touchstone Television.

They’ll join series regulars Michael Keaton, Kaitlyn Dever, Peter Sarsgaard, Will Poulter, Rosario Dawson, John Hoogenakker, Philippa Soo, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jake McDorman.

Written by Danny Strong and directed by Barry Levinson, Dopesick is described as an ambitious, harrowing and compelling look into the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction. It takes viewers from a distressed Virginia mining community to the hallways of the DEA and the opulence of “one percenter” Big Pharma Manhattan. The unsparing yet deeply human portraits of the various affected families and their intersecting stories hold up a mirror to where America is right now, while shining...

Misha Green is taking on Lara Croft.

The “Lovecraft Country” and “Underground” creator is set to make her feature directorial debut, writing and directing the next installment of “Tomb Raider” for MGM.

Alicia Vikander will reprise her role as Lara Croft in the sequel to the 2018 action flick, which earned nearly $275M at the global box office.

Green shared her excitement about the project on Twitter, posting a little tease for fans and fellow gamers about the storyline.

“My fav from classic era is Legend & from survival era it’s a tie between Rise & Shadow,” Green wrote. “Who’s as excited as I am for a @TombRaiderMovie!?!?”

Green is on quite the hot streak after last summer’s “Lovecraft Country,“ which was a smash hit for HBO. Green created, directed and served as a writer and executive producer on the show, based on the novel by Matt Ruff, alongside Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams.

Tomb Raider 2 is moving forward at MGM with Lovecraft Country showrunner Misha Green on board to write and direct. This marks Green's first movie as a director, though she previously helmed an episode of Lovecraft Country last year. As a writer, she has written for shows like Sons of Anarchy and Underground and penned the script for the upcoming Netflix action movie The Mother.

Tomb Raider 2 will bring back Alicia Vikander to star as Lara Croft, continuing the explorer's adventures following the events of the original movie. Beyond that, no details have yet been revealed about a potential plot or story direction. Like the video game series, which has also been rebooted with a more realistic tone, the 2018 Tomb Raider movie brought a more grounded take to the movie series compared to the previous adaptations. We can presume the sequel will carry over a similar tone.

Plans for...

Alicia Vikander will be back as Lara Croft for Tomb Raider 2 and Deadline has reported that MGM has tapped Misha Green to write and make her feature directorial debut on the sequel. [Seemore] Misha Green has written for Heroes, Spartacus, Helix, and Underground, but is best known for creating and writing Lovecraft Country, a recent HBO series that followed "Atticus Freeman (Jonathan…...

Misha Green, the showrunner for HBO’s “Lovecraft Country,” will direct the next “Tomb Raider” film at MGM with Alicia Vikander set to reprise her role as Lara Croft.

The “Tomb Raider” sequel will be Green’s feature directorial debut, though she previously directed episodes of “Lovecraft Country,” which she created, executive produced and worked on as a writer.

The next “Tomb Raider” film will be produced by Graham King via his Gk Films banner and Elizabeth Cantillon via The Cantillon Company.

Ben Wheatley, the director of “Free Fire” and “High Rise,” was at one point attached at an early stage of development, but he is no longer attached to the sequel.

2018’s “Tomb Raider” earned nearly $275 million at the global box office. The film is based on the popular video game series starring the adventuring Lara Croft, and the games were initially adapted into a blockbuster pair of films...

Exclusive: MGM has set Misha Green to write and make her feature directorial debut on the next Tomb Raider, which has Alicia Vikander set to reprise her role as Lara Croft. Green steps up here after creating and directing Lovecraft Country, the breakout HBO series that stars Jurnee Smollett, Jonathan Majors, and Michael Kenneth Williams.

Tomb Raider will be produced by Graham King via his Gk Films banner, and Elizabeth Cantillon via The Cantillon Company.

Green is the showrunner and executive producer of Lovecraft Country, alongside Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams and based on the novel by Matt Ruff. She separately wrote and is producing The Mother, which sold in a competitive situation to Netflix and is also producing Warner Brothers’ Cleopatra Jones and Makeready’s The Gilded Ones. Green previously co-created, executive produced and wrote the WGN series Underground, which broke ratings records during its first season and was the first scripted U.

Two new faces are stirring up trouble on Big Sky: Ted Levine (Monk) has joined the ABC drama in the series-regular role of Horst Kleinsasser, a “once-powerful man [who] has suffered a stroke and can only whisper, and knows he has to pass the ranch throne on to one of his children,” our sister site Deadline reports.

Additionally, Kyle Schmid (Six, Being Human) will recur as John Wayne Kleinsasser, who “has used his father’s illness to grab the reins of the ranch and steer it away from his brother Blake, the eldest son who turned his back on the family years ago.

Nexstar-owned cable network Wgn America will rebrand as NewsNation on March 1, debuting an expanded lineup of five hours of nightly news programming.

The shift completes a significant change of direction for the network, which Nexstar took over as part of its acquisition of Tribune Media, a $4.1 billion deal completed in 2019. Tribune had run Wgn America as a general entertainment network, filling its pipeline with pricey original dramas like Underground and Manhattan.

After completing recent distribution deals giving it access to 8.5 million U.S. households, Wgn America’s penetration now stands at 75 million.

Two new hour-long shows are joining the weeknight lineup: NewsNation Early Edition at 6Pm Et, and The Donlon Report, anchored by Joe Donlon, at 7Pm Et. Weeknights will be capped off by Banfield, an hour-long news and talk show at 10Pm Et hosted by TV news vet Ashleigh Banfield. The new lineup will begin airing March 1.

Wgn America’s previous,...

TBS has ordered a pair of comedy pilots from writers Chris Romano and Hilary Winston, Variety has learned exclusively.

Romano’s pilot is titled “Kill the Orange-Faced Bear.” It is described as a comedy about one man’s revenge journey after a bear eats his girlfriend.

Romano will write and executive produce the pilot, with Trevor Engelson and Steven Fisher of Underground producing with Alex Karpovsky. Jake Szymanski will executive produce and direct the pilot.

Winston’s pilot is called “Space.” In the project, long term couple Rob and Marin, on the verge of a breakup, are granted the ultimate “space” to figure out their future when they suddenly begin jumping into the bodies of other couples. I

Winston is writing the pilot with Nick Stoller attached to direct and executive produce via Stoller Global Solutions. Sony Pictures Television will produce.

On the development side, TNT is developing a pair of one-hour drama projects.

The theatrical schedule might be on the cusp of another industry-wide reshuffle after Sony’s Morbius, one of the 2021’s first major blockbusters, was pushed back by eight months from March to October, but business is booming for Netflix. The streaming service released a new trailer today hyping a stacked year for original movies, featuring some of the biggest names around.

Having already headlined the company’s most-watched in-house feature ever thanks to Extraction, which is poised to launch an entire cinematic universe never mind a franchise, Chris Hemsworth will be back on our screens later this year in Escape From Spiderhead. Based on the 2010 short story by George Saunders, it certainly sounds like it’ll be a trip.

In the future, convicted felons have the option to volunteer as test subjects for a series of experimental procedures in exchange for having their sentences reduced, with two prisoners forced to...

Oregonian lumberjack Dexter Morgan is packing up his chainsaw and heading back East.

TVLine has confirmed that Showtime’s forthcoming Dexter revival will be set in Upstate New York — specifically, the fictional small town of Iron Lake. The actual production, however, will be based in Massachusetts, with shooting slated to begin next month.

More from TVLineMichael C. Hall Hopes Upcoming Dexter Revival Will Atone for 'Extremely Dissatisfying' Series FinaleDexter Revival Finds Its Big Bad, Taps Clancy Brown as Series RegularYellowjackets: Survival Drama Starring Christina Ricci Greenlit at Showtime

The original Dexter series, of course, took place in Miami. In the polarizing series finale,...

Gravitas Ventures has obtained the rights to The Judge – Character. Cases. Courage., a documentary directed by Robert Griffith and narrated by Justin Theroux. The pic, which hails from the American Documentary Film Fund, will be released on Tvod/digital platforms on January 26. The doc follows Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr. in his distinguished, momentous and tumultuous 31-year tenure on the Federal bench where he fought against the status quo to promote racial and gender equality, protect the environment, uphold the rule of law and the US Constitution. It features interviews from the likes of U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-va), U.S. Senator Mark Warner ((D-va), Anne Holton, Judge Merhige’s former law clerk, among many others.

Named by President Lyndon B. Johnson to Federal District Court in Richmond in 1967, Judge Merhige ordered the desegregation of dozens of Virginia school districts in 1972. In 1970, Judge Merhige ordered the University of Virginia...

In our continuing coverage for the Disney+ series, The Right Stuff, we had a chance to chat with Michael Trotter, who is embodying astronaut Gus Grissom in the new series.

Michael's most recognized television role was in the Wgn America series, Underground, so he's got a tie to historical productions.

Get to know him a little better in our interview, and be sure to watch The Right Stuff on Disney+ on Fridays!

So tell me, how did you first get involved with The Right Stuff?

Well, it came to me through the pretty traditional system of just getting an appointment for it. Funny enough, though, I actually wasn't in town. There's an old adage when it comes to acting, when things are slow, book a trip out of town and you'll probably get an audition.

I mean, I wasn't going by that, per se, but I had had a trip...

The Right Stuff has selected its first three astronauts to take flight, and unfortunately for Mercury Seven hopeful Scott Carpenter, he wasn’t among the chosen trio in this past Friday’s episode of the Disney+ drama.

With Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom and John Glenn picked to head into space, in that order, it “absolutely” changes Scott’s trajectory, his portrayer James Lafferty tells TVLine. “I think all of the astronauts were hoping that they would be first, or at least that they would be in that top three. And so for Scott, specifically, I think once those first three are chosen,...

Ryan Reynolds is finally starting to put a dent in those thirteen films he’s got in development, which can only be good news for the Marvel Cinematic Universe fans patiently waiting for Deadpool 3 to start moving forward. The 44 year-old has The Croods: A New Age and Free Guy set for release over the next few weeks, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is in the can and hitting theaters next summer, while shooting has officially wrapped on Netflix action blockbuster Red Notice.

The mega budget streaming exclusive originally kicked off production at the start of the year, but was forced into a six-month hiatus as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. When shooting resumed, Johnson claimed that Red Notice had implemented the most aggressive health and safety measures in Hollywood, while Reynolds celebrated his return to the set by posting a picture of himself undergoing a Covid-19 test.

With the...