News

Chloe Grace Moretz, Anthony Ramos and Manny Jacinto will lead the ensemble of the upcoming romantic comedy “Love Language,” which counts “Saturday Night Live” star Colin Jost among its producers.

Lukas Gage, Isabel May and Billie Lourd are rounding out the cast.

Joey Power, whose credits include “After Everything” and “Banana Split,” is directing the film in addition to writing the screenplay. “Love Language” is billed as a romantic comedy, though plot details are being kept under wraps. Principal photography is slated to begin mid-October in Chicago.

CAA Media Finance is representing the U.S. rights to the film. Caviar, the independent production company that backed “Sound of Metal,” has arranged full financing for the production. “Love Language” is produced by Ari Lubet for 3 Arts Entertainment, Jost and Jeff Grosvenor for No Notes Productions, and Bert Hamelinck and Allison Hironaka for Caviar. Executive producers include Michael Sagol of Caviar and Tyson Bidner.

Loot will be back for another go-round. Apple has renewed the series starring and executive produced by Maya Rudolph for a third season.

According to sources, the cast was informed about the renewal about a month ago.

Season 3 will pick up after the Season 2 finale that saw Molly Wells (Rudolph) and her trusted and unhinged assistant Nicholas (Joel Kim Booster) board Molly’s private jet following her awkward exchange with her will-they, won’t-they colleague Arthur (Nat Faxon). Where will the Pj land? Season 3 will continue to follow the antics of the beloved group of misfits at The Wells Foundation.

In addition to Rudolph, Booster and Faxon, the ensemble cast also includes Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Ron Funches.

“We are thrilled to come back for a third season! We’re extremely fortunate to spend more time with our talented cast and crew,” said Rudolph and executive producer Danielle Renfrew Behrens of Banana Split.

Apple TV+ is ready to hand out some more Loot.

The streamer has ordered a third season of the comedy series starring and executive produced by Maya Rudolph. The renewal comes seven weeks after Loot completed its second season.

“We are thrilled to come back for a third season! We’re extremely fortunate to spend more time with our talented cast and crew,” Rudolph and her Banana Split producing partner Danielle Renfrew Behrens said in a statement. “Making this show with Apple TV+ has been a joy, and we can’t wait to reunite with our Loot family.”

Loot centers on Molly Wells (Rudolph), who as the series begins is finalizing a billion-dollar divorce settlement with her tech-ceo husband (Adam Scott). She turns her attention to a previously neglected charitable foundation and decides to give most of her fortune away. Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Nat Faxon, Ron Funches, Joel Kim Booster,...

Exclusive: Actress Jillian Bell (Brittany Runs a Marathon) is set to make her feature directorial debut with Summer of 69, an American High comedy for Hulu, starring Saturday Night Live‘s Chloe Fineman.

Written by Liz Nico, Jules Byrne, Jillian Bell, the film’s cast also includes Sam Morelos (That ’90s Show), Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Natalie Morales (The Morning Show), Alex Moffat (Saturday Night Live), Paula Pell (Girls5eva), Liza Koshy (A Family Affair), Nicole Byer (Nailed It!), Matt Cornett (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series), Fernando Carsa (Acapulco) and Amalia Yoo (Grand Army). Production is set to kick off in Syracuse, NY this month.

In Summer of 69, which falls under American High’s first-look deal with Hulu, an awkward high school senior hires an exotic dancer to help seduce her longtime crush before graduation, leading to unexpected friendship and lessons in self-confidence, acceptance, and adulthood.

Jeremy Garelick,...

Max said Wednesday that its adaptation of John Green’s bestseller Turtles All the Way Down, from director Hannah Marks (Don’t Make Me Go), has been slated for release on Thursday, May 2.

Check out a trailer above.

Hailing from New Line Cinema and Temple Hill, Turtles All the Way Down tackles anxiety through its 17-year-old protagonist, Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced). It’s not easy being Aza, but she’s trying … trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. When she reconnects with Davis (Felix Mallard), her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship and hope.

Also starring Maliq Johnson, Cree, Poorna Jagannathan, Judy Reyes and J. Smith-Cameron, the film was written by the This Is Us duo of Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker,...

Even if you’ve signed up for every streaming service out there, it can feel monumental when a title moves from one to another. In April, Netflix mainstay “New Girl” moves to Hulu; still streaming, but not where fans are used to finding it — like rearranging the furniture in your apartment and waking up surprised every day that the couch is over there now.

But what’s important is that “New Girl” lives on, now joining Hulu’s own TV and movie library and originals from Freeform, FX, National Geographic, and more. Later in the month, Leila Gerstein’s “Saint X” — based on the novel by Alexis Schaitkin — premieres with three episodes, recounting the story of a young girl found dead during a family vacation and the sister piecing it together years later. Alycia Debnam-Carey, Josh Bonzie, West Duchovny, Jayden Elijah, Bre Francis, Kenlee Anaya Townsend, Betsy Brandt, and Michael Park star.

Following the success of their years-long partnership that spawned seven original films including Natalie Morales’ “Plan B” and “Crush,” Hulu Originals has renewed its first look deal with comedy production company American High. Jason Zaro (“Brigsby Bear”) will serve as co-producer across the new slate of films for Hulu.

The renewed partnership comes on the heels of the successful release of “It’s a Wonderful Binge” in November 2022, which starred Kaitlin Olson, Danny Trejo, Nick Swardson, Tim Meadows. The movie serves as a sequel to the first Hulu original comedy under the American High banner, “The Binge,” which featured Vince Vaughn, Skyler Gisondo, Eduardo Franco, Dexter Darden.

Coming up, Hulu will release the eighth film on American High’s original slate, “Miguel Wants to Fight,” a coming of age comedy about a 17-year-old who asks his three best friends to help him get in his first fight ever before he moves to a new city.

Hulu Originals renewed a first look output deal with comedy production company American High.

Founded in 2017 by writer, director and producer Jeremy Garelick and producer Mickey Liddell’s Ld Entertainment, American High aims to tell “modern stories of eclectic characters from diverse backgrounds as they navigate the most formative (and often most hilarious) years of their lives.”

Under the renewed partnership announced Wednesday, the companies will release “Miguel Wants to Fight,” a coming of age comedy about a 17-year-old who asks his three best friends to help him get in his first fight ever before he moves to a new city. The cast includes Tyler Dean Flores, Imani Lewis, Christian Vunipola, Suraj Partha and Raul Castillo.

Also Read:

Here’s What’s New on Hulu in March 2023

The agreement with Hulu, first established in 2019, has generated seven original films so far, with an eighth and final film of the original slate on the way.

Exclusive: After We Collided‘s Dylan Sprouse and Scream VI‘s Mason Gooding will star Patrick Lussier’s action thriller Aftermath, which Voltage Pictures will handle global sales on an introduce to buyers at the upcoming European Film Market.

Logline: On what should have been a peaceful afternoon drive, former Army Ranger Eric Daniels (Sprouse) finds himself trapped with hundreds of other commuters and a high-profile prisoner (Dichen Lachman) after a group of heavily armed ex-military contractors shut down Boston’s Tobin Bridge. As their leader (Mason Gooding) starts killing hostages, Sprouse must rely on his military training, killer instincts, and some unexpected help to get his little sister – and everyone else – home safely.

Megan Scott also stars with Kevin Chapman and Will Lyman in the Nathan Graham Davis penned project. Principal photography just wrapped in Boston.

Brian Pitt, Lucas Jarach (Beautiful Disaster), and Tim Sullivan (Boss Level) and produced the film.

“With Patrick’s (Lussier) expert direction, Dylan, Mason, Dichen, and Megan deliver knock out performances in Aftermath. I’m sure our content partners and audiences the world over will respond incredibly well to this high voltage, fresh, This generation Action film,” said Voltage President and COO Jonathan Deckter.

Sprouse starred in the Chinese fantasy romance Turandot, and the romantic comedy Banana Split as well as Box office smash After We Collided. Sprouse also created and wrote Suneater which recently released in comic book format. He can next be seen alongside Virginia Gardner in Roger Kumble’s Beautiful Disaster, which releases April 2023. The highly anticipated sequel, Beautiful Wedding, recently wrapped. He is repped by Authentic Talent and Literary Management and United Talent Agency.

Lussier directed the highly anticipated upcoming horror-thriller Play Dead starring Bailee Madison and Jerry O’Connell, which is set to release in March 2023 on Tubi. Other credits include the cult horror My Bloody Valentine starring Jensen Ackles, Jaime King and Kerr Smith, “Scream: The TV Series,” and USA’s “The Purge.” He is repped by A3 Artists Agency.

Breaking out with a supporting turn in Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart, Gooding has also appeared in Hulu’s Love, Victor, the megahit fifth instalment of the Scream franchise, New Line’s Moonshot and Lionsgate’s Fall. He can next be seen in the highly anticipated sixth instalment of Scream. He is repped by CAA, Sugar23 and Sloane Offer Weber and Dern.

Lachman recently appeared in the hit Apple series Severance and Universal’s Jurassic World: Dominion. She’s known for her roles as Jiaying on ABC/Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Frankie on the TNT series Animal Kingdom and Reileen Kawahara on the Netflix series Altered Carbon. Lachman also stars in the upcoming comedy feature Bad Therapy starring Alicia Silverstone, Haley Joel Osment and Rob Corddry. She is repped by Gersh and Management Production Entertainment. Stott’s credits include Little Fires Everywhere opposite Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon and Yes Day opposite Jennifer Garner and Edgar Ramirez. She is repped by Anonymous Content and Osbrink Talent Agency...

Exclusive: Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix franchise), Isabelle Fuhrman (The Novice) and Liana Liberato (To the Bone) have signed on to star in Justine Bateman’s upcoming feature Face, based on her 2021 bestseller, Face: One Square Foot of Skin.

The film penned by Bateman consists of 14 vignettes, both comedic and dramatic, which look at women’s faces getting older, and why that makes people angry. While much of society appears to assume that women’s faces are somehow broken and need to be fixed, Face reveals some of the many ways in which women, and those around them, allow this idea to take root at all.

Parker will play Tanya, an actress balancing her need to use her face for her job and the pressure to not move it at all, with Moss as Mrs. Foster, a kindergarten teacher whose young students remind her of the magical functionality of the face.

Everyone with a license remembers how they learned to drive. But for teen Wally (Mia Isaac), that lesson comes with a heartbreaking truth: Her father Max (John Cho) is dying, and she will need to be in the driver’s seat as he battles a terminal illness.

Hannah Marks directs the road trip dramedy “Don’t Make Me Go,” set for a world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. The film will debut on Prime Video from Amazon Studios on July 15. Check out the trailer below.

Director Marks returns to Tribeca after last year’s “Mark, Mary, and Some Other People,” while “This Is Us” screenwriter Vera Herbert pens the script, which is centered on Max dragging Wally on a cross-country road trip for his 20th college reunion.

The official “Don’t Make Me Go” synopsis reads: “When single father Max discovers he has a terminal disease, he decides to try and...

This article contains some spoilers for Spider-man: No Way Home

Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon have just made one of the highest-grossing movies of all time! What are they going to do next? Well, the answer probably isn’t “Go to Disneyland,” because Disney has likely already brought their biggest money-makers to the happiest place on earth. But the talents behind 2021’s most popular movie Spider-Man: No Way Home certainly have a lot of good work ahead of them!

Tom Holland

Before swinging into Captain America: Civil War as Spider-Man, Tom Holland impressed viewers by playing Billy Elliot on stage and a teenager surviving a tsunami in J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible. Holland’s natural charm and youthful wit made him a pleasing screen presence. But as Peter Parker graduates high school and moves onto the real world, it’s clear that Holland is ready for more complex and adult roles.

Exclusive: Graham McTavish has signed on to star in Somewhere in Montana, an upcoming indie from writer-director Brandon Smith that will go before cameras later this year.

In the film, the Scottish actor will play John Thomas, a ranch owner who allows a Hollywood production company to come and use his ranch as a location for their movie when he runs into financial difficulties. Eden Matson is exec producing for Nova Vento Entertainment.

“I’m excited to be working on this film with Brandon,” said McTavish. “Not only because this is a script that only comes along rarely in an actor’s career, but also because it fulfills a dream of visiting the beautiful state of Montana. It’s going to be something special that I can’t wait to share.”

“We are lucky to have the opportunity to film...

All throughout this season, the battle at the judges’ table for “The Masked Singer” Golden Ear has been hard-fought, but with just one episode to go, we still don’t have ourselves a front-runner. Nicole Scherzinger and Ken Jeong are currently tied at two first impressions apiece after they both correctly named David Foster & Katharine McPhee as Banana Split in the Group B Finals. Nicole previously guessed Natasha Bedingfield as Pepper, while Ken got on the board for picking Dwight Howard as Octopus. Below, see the Golden Ear updated point totals for Season 6.

See ‘The Masked Singer’ reveals for all seasons: Celebrities and costumes through the years

Jenny McCarthy also got the Banana Split correct during Wednesday’s penultimate episode, but that was shockingly her first correct first impression of the sixth season. Of course, Jenny already has two Golden Ears on her mantel for her stellar work in Seasons...

Spoiler Alert: Do not read ahead if you have not watched “The Masked Singer” Season 6, Episode 12, “Group B Finale,” which aired December 9 on Fox.

Singer Katharine McPhee and producer David Foster say “The Masked Singer” producers actually “undersold” how much fun they’d have as contestants on the hit Fox reality series. “We had the best time,” Foster said. “No regrets.” The couple were unmasked as the Banana Split on the twelfth episode of Season 6, “Group B Finale.”

“We didn’t have any summer plans,” McPhee said. “I was five months postpartum, and Covid was raging. We just thought, what are we going to do, sit at home all summer long and just look at each other? So we did that, we looked at each other for two or three weeks straight on the show. And just had so much fun. And I was very upset that I lost that...

We love “The Masked Singer” and are thrilled that another set of famous faces is paired up in season 6, disguised this time as Banana Split. In season 4, we had the Snow Owls (who turned out to be husband and wife Clint Black and Lisa Hartman) and in season 5 the Russian Dolls were revealed to be the Hanson brothers.

The duo that is hidden inside the Banana Split costume first performed on the September 29 episode of “The Masked Singer,” made their second appearance on the October 13 episode and returned to compete again on November 3. That last performance earned them a place in the Group B semifinal on November 17 where they edged out Caterpillar and Mallard for a spot in the final. On December 8, they face the Queen of Hearts for a place in the final against the Group A champion, Bull.

We’ve been reviewing all the clues since their debut...

After months of competition, it was finally time for Group A to name a champion on “The Masked Singer.” Whoever prevailed at the end of Wednesday’s Group A Finale, either Bull or Skunk, would go on to compete for the Season 6 Golden Mask on December 15, where they’d face off against their Group B counterpart. So did Bull or Skunk fall victim to this week’s unmasking just one round before the season finale?

See ‘The Masked Singer’ reveals for all seasons: Celebrities and costumes through the years

Below, read our minute-by-minute “The Masked Singer” recap of Season 6, Episode 11, to find out what happened Wednesday, December 1 at 8:00 p.m. Et/Pt. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite costumed characters on Fox’s reality TV show and who you think has what it takes to win the entire competition. Nick Cannon hosts the series and Robin Thicke,...

After eight weeks of competition and over three dozen thrilling performances, Season 6 of “The Masked Singer” has reached the Final 4. For the first time ever, each quirky character will go head-to-head against their biggest rival when Bull faces Skunk in the Group A final on December 1 and Banana Split takes on Queen of Hearts in the Group B final on December 8. The winner of each group will then compete against each other for the first time in the season finale on December 15 before host Nick Cannon announces the winner.

Panelists Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger will continue to decipher the clues in hopes of naming each disguised celebrity before they’re forced to unmask in front of America. The contestants this season have a combined 85 Grammy nominations, 27 Grammy wins, 12 Emmy nominations, 12 Razzie Award nominations, three Academy Award nominations, two Super Bowl appearances and two lifetime achievement awards.

The Group B semi-finals took place on Wednesday night’s episode of “The Masked Singer,” with two performers unmasking in front of America. After the Mallard was revealed to be “Duck Dynasty” star Willie Robertson, Caterpillar lost his head and was exposed as Emmy-nominated “Queer Eye” co-host Bobby Berk. Despite impressing the panel with his performance of “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks, Bobby wasn’t able to take down Banana Split or Queen of Hearts, who will now compete in the Group B finals.

See ‘The Masked Singer’ reveals for all seasons: Celebrities and costumes through the years

“I can go on tour with your husband,” Bobby remarked to panelist Jenny McCarthy after she gushed over the TV host’s voice during his unmasked interview with Nick Cannon. Bobby continued to address the panel, stating, “Thank you guys for being out there in the world and entertaining people.

[Warning: The below contains Major spoilers for The Masked Singer Season 6 Episode 10 “Group B Semi-Final.”] And then there were two left in Group B on The Masked Singer. After the group’s semi-finals, Banana Split and Queen of Hearts are moving on. Meanwhile, Mallard and Caterpillar were eliminated. Wearing the Mallard costume in Season 6 was Duck Dynasty‘s Willie Robertson, while Queer Eye‘s interior design expert Bobby Berk was the Caterpillar. TV Insider chatted with Berk about his experience on the show and Blown Away: Christmas (premiering November 19 on Netflix). What made you say yes to doing The Masked Singer? Bobby Berk: I wanted to be on the show for years. I love singing, and I think I’m kind of good at it. And so I’ve been looking for a show format in which I could show the world that I can sing, but something like American Idol or The Voice just doesn’t...

Hannah Marks just wants to work. Acting as early as age 11, and appearing in shows like Weeds and Necessary Roughness while still a teenager, Marks started as an actor, like her mother, Nova Ball. In the last five years, though, she’s gone from relative anonymity into writing and starring in Banana Split, working her way towards her solo directorial feature, Mark, Mary & Some Other People, which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and is now in theaters and on VOD.

When The Film Stage chatted with Marks she was shooting her newest film in New Zealand, an Amazon-backed drama-comedy starring John Cho titled Don’t Make Me Go. Also attached to the adaptation of John Green’s Turtles All The Way Down, she’s making waves, writing scripts, and directing high-profile actors as she hurtles toward her 29th birthday. Her scripts often tend toward the talkative, depicting friendships and...

Exclusive: Cruel Intentions and After We Collided filmmaker Roger Kumble is directing the Voltage Pictures YA feature adaptation of Jamie McGuire’s New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disaster.

In the wake of the indie global success with the feature take of Anna Todd’s After series, it’s another notch for Voltage in the YA space. The three After movies to date have racked up over $150M WW and the fourth film After Ever Happy will hit cinemas next. Voltage also sold-out worldwide rights on other teen-demo properties such as the best-selling YA novel adaptation Words on Bathroom Walls, and sold foreign on Finding You and Time Is Up.

Kumble is reteaming here on Beautiful Disaster with his After We Collided star Dylan Sprouse, who played Trevor in that feature take of the Anna Todd YA romance novel. In addition, Virginia Gardner, Austin North (Outer Banks...

After five weeks of competition, two front-runners have emerged as the likeliest to win Fox’s “The Masked Singer” Season 6: Banana Split and Bull. According to Gold Derby winner predictions, these costumes have what it takes to go the distance and claim the Golden Mask in the December season finale. Banana Split has leading 3/1 odds to win, while Bull comes in second place at 37/10 odds.

This season’s ultimate champion will join past winners Monster (T-Pain), Fox (Wayne Brady), Night Angel (Kandi Burruss), Sun (LeAnn Rimes) and Piglet (Nick Lachey).

See ‘The Masked Singer’ reveals for all seasons: Celebrities and costumes through the years

Banana Split, not to be confused with Season 3’s Banana (Bret Michaels), entered Season 6 as the only group costume. Interestingly enough, Cupcake was supposed to be a sister duo this year, but Anita Pointer had health issues, so Ruth Pointer performed solo. The only other...

Exclusive: Liana Liberato has signed on to star in Todd Bogin’s first feature, Left with Only Rain, with Jordan Rodrigues (Ladybird), Rumer Willis (Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood), and Richard Kind (A Serious Man) also joining the cast.

The thriller centers on Sabina Geshem, a young woman reeling from a breakup, who is struggling to rebuild her once-promising dance career. After a dalliance with her ex threatens her big comeback, Sabina goes to a small town to track him down. There, she discovers his new and pregnant girlfriend, inserting herself into the unsuspecting woman’s life, and seeking something other than closure.

Bogin penned the script for the film, which 2×4 Productions’ Dustin Williams will produce alongside Gabriel Francisco and Rafael Francisco of Francisco Productions.

Liberato recently wrapped production on K. Asher Levin’s Dig, an indie feature in which she stars opposite Emile Hirsch.

Mark, Mary & Some Other People represents a leap for Hannah Marks, the 28-year-old director premiering her first solo directorial narrative feature at the Tribeca Film Festival. After writing the acclaimed, easy-going Banana Split and co-helming After Everything with Joey Power in 2018, Marks returns with an effort aimed at a similar topic: young love. Staked in the evolving and devolving of a relationship between 20-somethings, Mark, Mary & Some Other People finds the director exploring polyamory through the lens of an open relationship.

Like Marks’ previous efforts, her latest work features quippy writing based on realistic, observant portrayals of young people, like those who met at an undie run in college. Mark (Ben Rosenfield) encounters Mary (Hayley Law) at a pharmacy as the latter buys a pregnancy test, attempting to remember his face and his name. He comforts her while she pees on a stick by singing an original, loud, gravelly song—sweet,...

Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American as well as UK/Ireland rights to Hannah Marks’ romantic comedy Mark, Mary & Some Other People, planning a theatrical day-and-date release later this year for the pic, which is having its world premiere this week at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The film, written and directed by actor-director Marks, follows Mark and Mary as they meet and fall in love. As newlyweds, they reluctantly decide to give ethical non-monogamy a try as their lives get increasingly complicated. Gillian Jacobs, Lea Thompson, Kelli Berglund and Joe Lo Truglio also star.

Jonathan Duffy, Jon Lullo, Marks, Brendan Walter, Kelly Williams and Pete Williams are producers, and Stephen Braun is executive producer. Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump created the original music for the film.

“We’re excited to be partnering with phenomenal young filmmaker, Hannah Marks, once...

While Hannah Marks might be best known for her acting roles, appearing in projects such as “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency,” “Daniel Isn’t Real,” and “I Used to Go Here,” the actress has become a strong up-and-coming filmmaking talent, writing the hilarious comedy, “Banana Split” and directing the recent drama, “After Everything.” And it appears she’s continuing her filmmaking evolution with an exciting new dramedy, “Don’t Make Me Go.”

Read More: ‘Banana Split’ Is A Sweet, Hilarious Treat That Remixes The Teen Rom-Com Formula [Review]

According to Deadline, Hannah Marks is set to direct the upcoming father-daughter road trip film, “Don’t Make Me Go.” Adding to the excitement is the fact that Marks has already found her two leads, John Cho and Mia Isaac.

Continue reading ‘Don’t Make Me Go’: John Cho To Star In New Road Trip Dramedy From Director Hannah Marks at The Playlist.

Exclusive: Amazon Studios has signed on to finance and distribute the Hannah Marks-directed father-daughter adventure dramedy Don’t Make Me Go starring John Cho.

The script for Don’t Make Me Go was written by Vera Herbert (This Is Us) and originated as a spec script that landed on the 2012 Black List. Herbert will also executive produce.

Don’t Make Me Go follows a single father who takes his teenage daughter on a road trip to find her estranged mother, as he tries to teach her everything she might need to know for the rest of her life along the way.

Cho recently wrapped production on the first season of the live-action series Cowboy Bebop for Netflix. Based on the popular original Japanese animated series from 1997, Cho will star as the impossibly cool bounty hunter Spike Spiegel. He also lent his voice to the Oscar-nominated...

Hulu is heading to high school. The streamer has greenlit production on “Sex Appeal,” a teen comedy about the not-so-exact science of love.

Directed by Talia Osteen in her feature directorial debut, “Sex Appeal” will star Mika Abdalla (Netflix’s “Project Mc2”) and Jake Short (Hulu’s “All Night”). Tate Hanyok, whose credits include “Transparent” and “Superstore,” will write and executive produce the film. Production company American High is backing the project.

“Sex Appeal” centers on high-schooler Avery Hansen-White (Abdalla), a perfectionist at least by her own standards. When her long-distance boyfriend hints at wanting to take their relationship to the next level at the upcoming Stem conference (otherwise known as “nerd prom”), she sets out to master her sexuality. As she begins to study the mechanics of love, she realizes that relationships require less science and more heart.

“This is the movie I wish I had when I was in high school,...

Dylan Sprouse is heading back to the small screen.

The former Disney star is joining Mindy Kaling's HBO Max original, The Sex Lives of College Girls, according to Variety.

This is his first major TV role since he and his brother, Cole, exited their Disney Channel series The Suite Life back in 2011.

Sprouse is on board the series play Nico, a junior at the prestigious New England university, where we meet the college girls at the wheel of the story.

The cast also includes Pauline Chalamet as Kimberly, Amrit Kaur as Bela, Reneé Rapp as Leighton, and Alyah Chanelle Scott as Whitney.

Sprouse is most well-known these days for his work on the big screen, most recently starring in After We Collided, and before that, Banana Split.

He will also star in the Chinese big-screen adaptation of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot,” playing Prince Calaf.

It appears he is following the Zendaya route.

Dylan Sprouse is the newest kid on campus as he joins the cast of Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble’s The Sex Lives Of College Girls. The After We Collided actor will join the new HBO Max series as a series regular. He joins Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Renée Rapp and Alyah Chanelle Scott, who will lead the New England Essex College-set show as four roommates seeking to live out their new, free lives on campus. Sprouse is set to star as Nico, a junior at Essex college. Most known for starring in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and The Suite Life On Deck, Sprouse recently appeared in the films Banana Split, Turnadot and Dismissed. The Sex Lives of College Girls sees Kaling and Noble co-writing the first episode and executive producing with Howard Klein. The series is produced by Kaling International in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Former child star Dylan Sprouse is returning to the small screen, by way of HBO Max.

The Disney Channel vet has been cast in The Sex Lives of College Girls, an upcoming HBO Max comedy from executive producer Mindy Kaling, Variety reports.

More from TVLineHBO Max to (Finally!) Stream on Roku Devices -- Find Out When It Will LaunchCan the Search Party Find Dory? Get Season 4 Premiere Date and TeaserThe Flight Attendant's Zosia Mamet Sizes Up the Annie/Cassie Friendship, Whether It Can Survive Max-cident

The series centers on four dorm mates — Kimberly (The King of Staten Island‘s Pauline Chalamet...

Dylan Sprouse is returning to TV.

The former Disney Channel star has signed on for Mindy Kaling’s HBO Max series “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” Variety has learned exclusively, marking his first big television role since his Disney days ended in 2011.

He joins previously announced leads Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Reneé Rapp and Alyah Chanelle Scott in the series which revolves around four roommates at Essex College, a prestigious New England university.

Sprouse will play a character named Nico, a junior at Essex who interacts with the four roommates in question, who are Kimberly (Chalamet), the valedictorian of a working-class public high school in a humble Arizona suburb, Bela (Kaur), a comedy-obsessed, super confident cornball from the affluent suburbs of northern New Jersey, Leighton (Rapp), who would describe herself as a normal, classy girl from a great family, and finally Whitney (Scott), the soon-to-be star of the Essex soccer team.

Welcome to September, ladies and gentlemen. With the summer coming to and end, the fall almost upon us, and the Covid-19 pandemic still very much impacting the industry, much is still up in the air. Such is life with the coronavirus holding up much of the film industry. As fitting this weird year, not much has changed since July when I looked at the best of the first half of the year. Mostly, this just means the best is (hopefully) still to come here. We shall see, but just keep in mind that the midpoint of 2020 has been somewhat of a holding pattern, for obvious reasons. Let’s get right down to it. Below you’ll find my top ten of the year so far, along with my awards for the first two thirds of 2020. Here you go folks, and enjoy: 10. Crshd 9. The Outpost 8. Buffaloed 7. Da 5 Bloods 6. The Invisible Man...

A weirdly tame, let’s-all-get-wasted riff on “The Purge” from the team behind such solid youth-focused comedies as “Banana Split” and “Big Time Adolescence,” Hulu original “The Binge” imagines an alternate America where all drugs and alcohol are illegal, except during a 12-hour window each year, at which time anything goes. , treating intoxication as the punchline rather than the setup for what should have been a more subversive satire.

If only the country’s Puritan forefathers, or the teetotalers behind Prohibition, could see where their influence has steered us! Screenwriter Jordan VanDina (who’s also working on the “Animaniacs” reboot) has a few genuinely rowdy ideas up his sleeve — including an epic case of a driving under the influence and a shootout involving the world’s smallest crossbow — all of which is heightened by some reasonably inspired improvisation, especially from Mvp Vince Vaughn as a wildly inappropriate high school principal.

“’You are one of the few designers that can open a movie,’” costumer Mona May recalls Happy Madison co-founder Jack Giarraputo once telling her. Perhaps no appraisal can sum up the fashion-design-trained May’s auteur-like contribution to cinema as succinctly.

Her bold colors, unapologetically soft silhouettes and feathery boas — signature touches that at once highlight comedy, beauty and authenticity — helped define a genre of film. From “Never Been Kissed” to “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,” “Enchanted” (for which she was nominated for a Costume Designers Guild Award) to “The House Bunny” to Amy Heckerling’s seminal Jane Austen spinoff “Clueless” (now celebrating its 25th anniversary), young women in search of their identity are the backbone of a number of May-costumed movies. The designer says those films feature stories of women “learning something very feminine about feeling good in [their] skin,” adding, “This is my life message: being free, in love,...

Running out of things to watch on Netflix? We've found the next movie to add to your queue. Earlier this week, while mindlessly scrolling through the streaming service's many offerings, a title appeared in the Trending Now section that caught our eye. The movie? A comedy titled Banana Split. Banana Split follows April (played by the film's screenwriter Hannah Marks) as she struggles to process her breakup from longtime boyfriend Nick (played by Disney Channel great Dylan Sprouse). To make matters worse, April becomes best friends with new girl Clara (Liana Liberato), who just happens to be Nick's new girlfriend. In a world where Kissing Booth and To All the Boys sequels are king, Banana Split...

As we quickly approach the end of the month, things have been slowing down a bit as far as new content on Netflix is concerned. That’s to be expected, though, as most streaming sites usually drop the bulk of their new arrivals on the first of any given month, with the remaining days seeing smaller batches of new movies and shows being added.

Unfortunately, today is another somewhat slow day for the big N, as the platform has only brought us 4 new titles, consisting of 3 films and 1 TV show. That being said, it’s far from an underwhelming drop and there are at least a few things here that may catch your attention.

See below for the full list of what arrived today:

3 New Movies

Banana Split (2018) Double World (2019) Zookeeper (2011)

1 New TV Series

Shameless (Season 10)

Television-wise, your one and only option is season 10 of Shameless, though that’s far from a bad thing.

It’s the weekend, it’s the summer, but because we’re in the middle of a pandemic, that means you might end up spending a lot of it inside. In which case, the various streaming services on offer have got you covered for fresh content to watch over the next few days. Across Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, Prime and HBO Max, there are many new movies and TV shows coming from Friday to Sunday for you to binge, and you can take a look at the full list below.

July 24

Netflix

¡A cantar! (Sing On! Spain) — Netflix Original

Animal Crackers — Netflix Film

Dragons: Rescue Riders: Secrets of the Songwing — Netflix Family

In the Dark: Season 2

The Kissing Booth 2 — Netflix Film

Ofrenda a la tormenta — Netflix Film

Disney+

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Wild Congo (S1)

Wild Sri Lanka (S1)

Disney Family Sundays – “The Jungle...

After a brief drought in new programming, Netflix are back into adding fresh content and have several new movies and shows lined up for the week of July 20th to July 26th. With the likes of The Old Guard representing another original content success for the streamer, ahead of returning favorites like The Umbrella Academy, the platform continues to go from strength to strength. What new material can we expect, then, this week?

Well, on the series front, we’re getting the tenth and penultimate season of Showtime’s Shameless, which has weathered the departure of Emmy Rossum to continue to bring in audiences. As the only Showtime original now licensed by Netflix for new episodes, fans will be able to catch up on the long-running series before its eleventh and final season.

Other notable shows coming to Netflix this week include season 2 of How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast...

Well, we’re halfway through one of the strangest movie years we’ve ever had. For someone who sees more than 300 films a year, not having been in a theater since early March is insane. Still, as you all know, I’ve still been seeing plenty of things, so my film count is over 180 overall for 2020. That being said, for most, that’s not the case, and that’s a shame. Still, with it being July 1st, it’s time to look back on the first half of the year, honoring the best movies and performances that I’ve seen. This year, I’m being very open-minded (minus two specific titles), so if I’ve seen it, it’s potentially on the list. Basically, there’s a few festival titles or July releases that I normally would have held back on, but I figured…why not? Let’s get right down to it.

Banana Split

Stars: Hannah Marks, Dylan Sprouse, Liana Liberato, Luke Spencer Roberts, Meagan Kimberly Smith, Haley Ramm, Jessica Hecht, Addison Reike, Jacob Batalon | Written by Hannah Marks, Joey Power | Directed by Benjamin Kasulke

April (Hannah Marks) has spent the last two years of high school in a relationship with Nick (Dylan Sprouse), from first frantic make-out session to final tear-stained breakup. In the aimless summer between graduation and college, the newly single April mends her heartbreak by striking up an unexpected friendship with an unlikely candidate: Nick’s new girlfriend, Clara (Liana Liberato).

With an oddball title like Banana Split I was expecting a quirky, just as oddball rom-com. However what you actually get is a touchy tale of two women who should be enemies, after all they’ve both dated and slept with the same guy, but instead find a common bond that leads to a sweet, tender platonic...

The actor turned writer-director on her Booksmart-esque ‘womance’ Banana Split, and why her next film will be a robot road-trip

When Hannah Marks was in her late teens, she went through her first breakup, as many do, and grieved it deeply, as many do. Then the actor met her ex’s new girlfriend at a party – and rather liked her. Marks, acting professionally since she was 12, knew a good idea when she saw one. “What happens when you don’t vilify that person, and then you actually like them and you become friends?” she asks down the phone from Los Angeles, a decade later. “That was really interesting to me, that platonic love story.” As she points out: “Usually, in movies, these two women would hate each other.”

The result is Banana Split, a fizzy, oddball romcom that the 27-year-old Marks stars in, co-wrote and co-produced. The relationship between April...

During the first decade of Lynn Shelton’s career, it was nearly impossible to find her on a set without cinematographer Benjamin Kasulke by her side. Shelton, the writer-director known for prolific work in the indie film world with “Your Sister’s Sister,” “Laggies,” “Humpday,” among others, and her recent successes directing top-tier television shows like “Little Fires Everywhere” and “Glow,” died Friday from a previously unidentified blood disorder.

Kasulke, who met her 20 years ago in the scrappy Seattle filmmaking scene, shot all her feature films from 2005 to 2014, beginning with the first, “We Go Way Back,” up to “Laggies.” “Everything [we did on set] was for the comfort of the performance and the actors in the hope of getting at the truth of the scene,” says Kasulke, who texted with Shelton just last Wednesday about what she thought was a case of the flue she was getting over.

“If people watch her movies, they’re...

A third of the way through the year, it’s safe to say that 2020 is unlike any we’ve ever faced. Cinemas are shut, large scale wide releases are on pause, and the only things being put out are independent titles, through Video On Demand services. Still, there are a great deal of quality films have that come out, along with several award worthy performances. Today, much like we did last month, we’re going to focus on these movies and acting turns, as a way of keeping a positive frame of mind. To be fair, a lot of these flicks and acting jobs will be repeats, but we’re just in a sort of holding pattern right now. Still, superior cinema is superior cinema… Let’s get right down to it. Below you’ll find my top ten of the year so far, along with my awards for the...

It’s been about a month since production work all but ground to a halt. No one knows when they’re going back — but those who work on the sets have some clear ideas of what they’d want from their post-coronavirus work environments. In the absence of a vaccine, or targeted antiviral drugs, the hope is for rapid virus and antibody testing for everyone on set, perhaps even on a daily basis.

To better understand the specific challenges that stem from working on set, IndieWire spoke to more than a half-dozen people in jobs that include production designers, dental prosthetics, and prop masters as well as directors and producers. The issues are far ranging, but it’s clear that they all want enhanced and far-reaching safety tactics to become second nature for everyone.

More from IndieWireThe Show Must Go On: Here's What's Still Open for Business in HollywoodCoronavirus Cancellations: Every Film,...

In some ways, it feels very silly to do this annual look at the best of the first quarter of the cinematic year. After all, the world has changed and the film world especially has come to a screeching halt. At the same time , a sense of normalcy however possible is always good. So, I’m pressing on and listing my favorite titles and work from the first three months of 2020. Obviously, a lot of high profile flicks were delayed, so whether I saw them or not, I’m not including them here. Still, including things I saw late in 2019 but hit this year, I had over 90 options to pull from. So, hopefully this is a Farley exhaustive list, even if it’s very much skewed by my personal taste. Let’s get right down to it. Below you’ll find my top ten of the year so far, along...

Mega-talented multi-hyphenate Hannah Marks started writing Banana Split when she was still a teenager. It was loosely based on her real life. She rewrote it with her writing partner Joey Power as her acting credits piled up in stuff like The Runaways, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Then, after she co-directed her first feature (with Power), After Everything, she was able to get Banana Split made with herself in the staring role, directed by Benjamin Kasulke. In this half hour, she talks about the ups and downs of standing her ground and seeing the dream of […]...

Mega-talented multi-hyphenate Hannah Marks started writing Banana Split when she was still a teenager. It was loosely based on her real life. She rewrote it with her writing partner Joey Power as her acting credits piled up in stuff like The Runaways, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Then, after she co-directed her first feature (with Power), After Everything, she was able to get Banana Split made with herself in the staring role, directed by Benjamin Kasulke. In this half hour, she talks about the ups and downs of standing her ground and seeing the dream of […]...

The star and co-writer of the new film Banana Split walks us through some of her favorite comedies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Banana Split (2020)

Big (1988)

West Side Story (2020)

E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982)

The ’Burbs (1989)

Back To The Future (1985)

Tropic Thunder (2008)

Cape Fear (1991)

The Foot Fist Way (2006)

Best In Show (2000)

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

The Hours (2002)

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

Black Mass (2015)

The Irishman (2019)

Romy And Michele’s High School Reunion (1997)

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Zoolander (2001)

Knocked Up (2007)

Armageddon (1998)

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

The Room (2003)

The Disaster Artist (2017)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997)

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)

Gremlins (1984)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Bruce Almighty (2003)

Liar Liar (1997)

The Ten Commandments (1956)

Obvious Child (2014)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Harold And Maude (1971)

Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans...