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The Australian drama series The Artful Dodger will return for a second season on Hulu, it was announced today. The second season will be filmed in 2025 at the historic Callan Park in Sydney, Australia.

The eight-episode Season 2 stars Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Jack Dawkins, aka The Artful Dodger, David Thewlis as Fagin, and Maia Mitchell as Lady Belle Fox. They team up with a full ensemble of Australian and New Zealand cast members and several new faces in cameo roles.

Series co-creator James McNamara (The Outrageous True Story of Milky Moor) is leading the writing team, with Kate Mulvany, Dan Knight (Irreverent), and Miranda Tapsell also on board.

Ben Young and Gracie Otto serve as directors with Jeffrey Walker consulting.

The Artful Dodger Season 2 will pick up where the heart’s desires of Dodger, Fagin, and Lady Belle left off, promising more cunning thievery, snappy humor, life-and-death surgeries, and romance with a twist.

Actor Adrian Grenier is adding another bundle of joy to his family! The Entourage alum and his wife Jordan Roemmele announced they are expecting their second baby together. “Overjoyed.”

In a joint Instagram announcement, the couple shared an image of themselves kissing, with the actor holding their first baby and Jordan’s exposed baby bump in view. They captioned their post, “Overjoyed for our incoming .” The hashtags of their post shared a few more details, revealing that their little one would arrive in spring 2025 and that they would not be learning their baby’s sex until the day of their birth.

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The Clickbait star and his wife welcomed their first baby together last year. Unlike for their second time around, the couple did not reveal they were pregnancy, and instead shared a surprised birth announcement for their first baby. They...

Get ready to venture into the dark side of the California dream.

Production has started on East of Eden, the Netflix adaptation of the 1952 novel by Nobel Prize–winning author John Steinbeck.The seven-episode limited series, written and executive produced by Zoe Kazan, will film in several locations across New Zealand and will star Florence Pugh, who will also executive produce.

The new take on the classic novel continues the legacy of Zoe’s grandfather, Elia Kazan, who directed the 1955 East of Eden film starring James Dean.

“In the process of bringing this family saga to life, the resonance of my own familial connection to the material has not been lost on me,” Kazan told Netflix. “But it is Steinbeck’s writing — personal, shocking, profound, and...

It's only been a day since its release, and the new thriller limited series The Perfect Couple has already secured a spot on Netflix's top 10 TV show list. In fact, it's sitting at the No. 1 spot as of Sept. 6, meaning it's Netflix's most popular show at the moment. But should we really be surprised? I mean, if you just take a look at who's in the cast, that's enough to make you want to watch it. The show's premise will pull you in as well!

If you're an avid book fan, chances are you've heard about New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand's book The Perfect Couple. Well, that's what this Netflix thriller limited series is based on. It centers around a young woman named Amelia, who is about to marry into one of the wealthiest families on Nantucket, the Winbury family. But things take a tragic turn when,...

Exclusive: TV writers-producers Denise Thé, Melissa Scrivner Love, and Amanda Segel have formally launched Third Rail Productions with a first-look deal at Sony Pictures Television. Under the two-year pact, the trio will develop and produce scripted series for cable and streaming, focusing on dramas with female leads.

Third Rail’s inaugural development slate includes two projects with high-profile auspices.

Understand is based on sci-fi author Ted Chiang’s short story from his award-winning collection Stories of Your Life and Others, with Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting) attached to direct. The story follows a woman who gains extraordinary intelligence after doctors use an experimental drug to save her life. Her intellect grows, her moral center decays, and she becomes embroiled in a high stakes battle with another super-intelligent individual. Another short story from the same collection, Story of Your Life, was adapted into the feature Arrival.

Additionally, Thé, Scrivner Love,...

“Outer Banks” Season 4 has added five new cast members, Variety has learned.

J. Anthony Crane, Pollyanna McIntosh, Brianna Brown, Rigo Sanchez, and Mia Challis have all joined the popular adventure drama series in recurring guest star roles.

Full character descriptions can be found below.

They join series stars like Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Carlacia Grant, Rudy Pankow, Austin North, and Drew Starkey in Season 4.

The official description for the series states, “‘Outer Banks’ is a coming of age story that follows the tight-knit group of Pogues as they navigate a chain of illicit events filled with mystery, adventure, a high-stakes treasure hunt and the escalating conflict with their rivals.”

“Outer Banks” originally debuted in 2020 and proved to be a major hit for Netflix. Per the streamer, Season 3 of the series spent six weeks on the global Top 10 English TV list and reached the Top 10 charts in 77 countries.

Stars: Haven Lee Harris, Augie Duke, Brionne Davis, Morgana Ignis, Maria Olsen, Téa Mckay, Timothy Lee DePriest, Angelica Ulloa, Phillip E. Walker, Emily Meister | Written and Directed by Ryan Stevens Harris

Anyone who grew up in a dysfunctional household knows just how traumatic childhood can be. In Moon Garden, writer/director Ryan Stevens Harris visualizes those traumas as the nightmarish denizens of the dark, industrial wasteland that a young girl finds herself trapped in.

Emma lives with her parents Sara and Alex. They love Emma, but they don’t love each other anymore. After getting a scare one night she runs to their room, only to encounter something even scarier, the two of them in the midst of a loud, intense argument. Running from it she trips and takes a fall down the stairs which leaves her in a coma. Her struggle to awake from it becomes a nightmarish trip...

The Women Tell All reunites fan-favorite contestants from The Bachelor Season 27 as they hash out the season’s drama in front of a live audience. The women will reunite with each other and the man who dumped them, Zach Shallcross. Jess Girod assures viewers that the episode will be a wild experience.

‘The Bachelor’ Season 27 contestants in Tallinn, Estonia | ABC/Craig Sjodin How many women show up for ‘The Bachelor’ Season 27 Women Tell All?

Not all the women who appeared in The Bachelor Season 27 will show up for the Women Tell All. Zach notably sent home ten women on the very first night, so viewers probably won’t see most of those contestants.

Additionally, the Women Tell All will air after the hometown episode, so Zach’s three final women won’t be present either. According to spoiler guru Reality Steve, 16 women arrive for the Women Tell All to hash...

Though Zach Shallcross was determined to ward off drama, he couldn’t keep tensions between Brooklyn Willie and Kat Izzo at bay during The Bachelor Season 27. Kat rubbed Brooklyn the wrong way when she pulled Zach aside and kissed him right before his 1-on-1 date with Charity. However, Zach didn’t know about the drama between them until after filming for the show ended.

Aly Jacobs, Kaity Biggar, Kat Izzo, Gabi Elnicki, Zach Shallcross, Jess Girod and Brooklyn Willie | Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Images Brooklyn and Kat argued in Tallinn, Estonia

During The Bachelor Season 27 Week 6, tensions rose between Kat and Brooklyn. Kat pulled Zach aside before his 1-on-1 date with Charity and even kissed him during their talk. This rubbed some of the women the wrong way, and Brooklyn called Kat out on it.

“I’m sorry, but I feel like that was kinda… not the time for that,...

Miramax TV is bolstering its executive ranks with the addition of David R. Shraga as SVP and Head of Business & Legal Affairs for the studio’s Global Television operations. Shraga will report to Head of Global TV Marc Helwig, and is responsible for all domestic and international co-production relationships, above the line deal making, licensing, and distribution agreements.

Shraga is overseeing production in London of Guy Ritchie’s scripted series The Gentlemen for Netflix UK, and has overseen production in Istanbul of The Turkish Detective, the first Hollywood international drama series produced in Istanbul for Paramount+.

Prior to his move to Miramax, Shraga rose through the ranks at Universal Studio Group and NBC Entertainment. In his latest role as Vice President of Business Affairs, he oversaw policy and strategy, along with the negotiation of talent, development, production, licensing, and distribution deals for all U.S. and global facing scripted television...

The Bachelor 2023 Night One didn’t go as planned for Madison Johnson. The 26-year-old business owner pulled Zach Shallcross aside multiple times in an attempt to get time with him. However, her plan ended up backfiring, and Madison went home without a rose. Despite this, the Bachelor contestant doesn’t regret putting all her cards on the table.

Madison Johnson and Zach Shallcross | Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Images Zach sent Madison home during ‘The Bachelor’ 2023 night one

Madison Johnson is a 26-year-old contestant on The Bachelor 2023. During her limo entrance, Madison shared her North Dakota roots with Zach, teaching him some slang from her home state. Afterward, the pressure was on for time with the Bachelor.

Only 20 of the 30 women would receive roses during night one, so Madison wasted no time shooting her shot. She talked to Zach about wanting him to meet her family and later interrupted Olivia M....

Universal International Studios has appointed former Netflix executive Tesha Crawford as senior VP of global scripted series.

Based in London, Crawford will report into Uis president Beatrice Springborn and focus on expanding the studio’s scripted slate in the U.K. and Europe. Crawford will be responsible for scouting and packaging new projects for Uis and supporting its portfolio of deals, talent and projects. She will also head up the studio’s U.K.-based creative team.

Crawford joins from Netflix, where she spent the last six years working across international original series and was one of the first content executives hired on the Netflix International Originals team.

The exec started in Latin America, building the platform’s slate of originals including “La Casa De Las Flores” (“The House of Flowers”), “Ingobernable,” “3,” “Coisa Mais Linda” (“Girls from Ipanema”) and “Sintonia.”

She later relocated to Amsterdam to lead the company’s first Nordics series team,...

Universal International Studios has struck a first-look deal with Dominic Buchanan and Bennett McGhee’s production company Home Team.

The exclusive deal will see Home Team develop and produce premium TV projects with Uis for the U.K. and global market, with a focus on championing underrepresented creatives, new voices and ground-breaking on-screen talent.

Projects include “Flick,” written by Emilie Robson, an exploration of female friendships set against the coastal backdrop of North East England. Also on the slate is a period fantasy series about the legendary Warrior Queen Mother of the Ashanti Empire, Yaa Asantewaa. Co-created by Kara Smith (“Anansi Boys”), Rienkje Attoh (“You Don’t Know Me”) and McGhee, the series weaves action, magic and drama. Smith also serves as writer on the project, and it will be produced with Attoh’s company So & So Productions.

Dominic Buchanan and Bennett McGhee formed Home Team in September 2020 with backing from Calculus Capital,...

Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt’s courthouse wedding was not a shotgun wedding. In a video posted to their YouTube channel on Thursday, the “Bachelor in Paradise” alums denied speculation that they tied the knot last month because they have a baby on the way.

“I’m not,” Amabile joked after reading a fan’s pregnancy question. “I’m not either,” Pitt confirmed.

“A lot of people did ask if I was pregnant, which I guess makes sense,” Pitt added. “People are wondering if we had a shotgun wedding because I’m pregnant. I’m not pregnant.”

The couple discussed the reason they did decide to tie the knot on the latest episode of Amabile’s “Click Bait” podcast.

“We started the wedding planning process and we were like, ‘This is gonna take a while. Why don’t we knock out the marriage thing?'” Amabile said. “We thought it would be fun.

Someone must have unwisely read from the Necronomicon because the deadites are back to cause bloody mayhem with the upcoming "Evil Dead Rise" next year. It will have been just about a decade since the last time a new "Evil Dead" movie was shown on the big screen, with Fede Alvarez's 2013 ultra-gory ode to Sam Raimi's indie horror sensation. As the video game continues to be going strong, and another movie is on the way, it's a pretty great time to be an "Evil Dead" fan.

The sheer influence that Raimi's 1981 horror film had on the genre is far and wide. "The Evil Dead" will always be the signature template of the "teenagers stay in a creepy cabin in the middle of the woods" flick, with "Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn" being one of the greatest horror comedies ever made. Although "Army of Darkness" leaned more into its fantasy sensibilities,...

From Ten Rings to Seven Wonders.

Marvel star Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) is attached to headline a series adaptation of Ben Mezrich’s novel Seven Wonders, which is development at Prime Video, our sister site Deadline reports.

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The project centers around a “brilliant botanist-adventurer, Dr. Nate Grady (Liu), who teams up with the slippery international fixer,...

A high-stakes special ops mission — complete with covert raids, fiery explosions and what seems to be an intense game of international political chess — is the subject of Apple TV+’s “Echo 3,” the upcoming action-thriller series from Academy Award-winning creator Mark Boal and which premiered its first trailer on Tuesday.

The 10-episode show stars Luke Evans, Michiel Huisman (“The Flight Attendant”) and Jessica Ann Collins (Netflix’s “Clickbait”).

Also Read:

Ruth Negga, Luke Evans, Himesh Patel to Star in Dan Levy’s Directorial Debut ‘Good Grief’ for Netflix

Set in South America with English and Spanish dialogue, “Echo 3” follows Amber Chesborough (Collins), a brilliant young scientist who is the emotional heart of a small U.S. family. When Amber goes missing along the Colombia-Venezuela border, her brother, Bambi (Evans), and her husband, Prince (Huisman) —two men with deep military experience and complicated pasts — struggle to find her in a layered personal drama,...

Exclusive: Jennifer Hillier’s novel Little Secrets is being adapted for the small screen.

The thriller is in the works for Peacock from Tish Cyrus’ HopeTown Entertainment, writer Melissa Scrivner Love and Universal Television.

Little Secrets is a female-driven mystery thriller that pays homage to the erotic thriller genre of the late 80s-early 90s. The series follows a desperate mother’s mission for revenge against her husband’s mistress after her child goes missing. Told in alternating perspectives between the mother and the mistress, the story dissects themes of lust, obsession, grief and loss.

The book was published in 2020.

It forms part of the first-look deal that NBCUniversal Television and Streaming struck with Cyrus, mother of Miley Cyrus, in December. Other projects include Lovey, an animation comedy loosely based on the misadventures of the Cyrus family from Sivert Glarum, Michael Jamin and Kentucky Blaze, helmed by Courtney Hoffman.

Scrivner Love...

Apple TV+ is giving action fans a look at Echo 3, a new 10-episode thriller from Mark Boal. Luke Evans, Michiel Huisman, and Jessica Ann Collins star in the anticipated thrill ride produced by Keshet Studios, making its global debut with the first three episodes on Wednesday, November 23, 2022. One new episode follows weekly, every Friday through January 13, 2023.

Echo 3 is an action-packed thriller set in South America that follows Amber Chesborough (Collins), a brilliant young scientist who is the emotional heart of a small American family. When Amber goes missing along the Colombia-Venezuela border, her brother, Bambi (Evans), and her husband, Prince (Huisman) – two men with deep military experience and complicated pasts – struggle to find her in a layered personal drama set against the explosive backdrop of a secret war,” says the official description. Echo 3 also stars Martina Gusman as “Violetta,” a prominent political columnist. The series features James Udom, Maria Del Rosario,...

Aven Jones doesn’t know who got him on the show. Pic credit: ABC

Aven Jones and Rachel Recchia seemed to have a strong connection both physically and emotionally in this season of The Bachelorette.

As Aven is still in contention for Rachel’s final rose and her whole heart, fans have been weighing in on whether it will be Aven or one of Rachel’s other finalists who will win and end her journey.

Now that Aven is watching the show back with everyone else as it airs, though, there is one thing he still isn’t sure of.

Aven has no idea how he got onto The Bachelorette in the first place, meaning he doesn’t know who nominated him for the show.

Contestants can be cast in one of three ways: they can go to a casting call, they can nominate themselves, and they can be nominated by someone else.

Netflix limited series “Echoes” landed 36.58 million hours viewed from August 29-September 4, according to the streamer. That’s good enough to rank number one for the final week of summer among Netflix’s English-language TV shows — but it’s just plain not good enough.

For any individual title, being number one on Netflix is an impressive feat. The Netflix library has 17,000 pieces of content, more than half of which are originals or exclusives. However, quality and quantity — for both subs and for programming — are getting harder to come by.

The streamer began sharing its weekly Top 10 in late June/early July 2021. Of the 62 weeks Netflix has measured thus far, by our count 42 had a number-one show with more than twice the viewership of “Echoes” last week. As recent as a month ago (and several other times this summer), this “Echoes” performance wouldn’t have even made the Top 5.

Meanwhile, a pair...

Gabby Windey talks about Nate Mitchell breakup and possible regrets. Pic credit: @gabby.windey/Instagram

Gabby Windey shocked everyone, including Nate Mitchell, when she told him early on during their one-on-one date that she had to send him home.

Although she had strong feelings and a great connection with Nate, Gabby just couldn’t see herself yet as a mom to Nate’s daughter.

She saw Nate then for the very first time since their breakup at the Men Tell All filming, and it was extremely difficult for her.

Going into the show, Gabby had to relive the emotions she tried so hard to move on from after sending Nate home.

In fact, she revealed that it took her a few days to work through those emotions and feelings after Nate left.

It was hard for her to move forward knowing how she felt about him when she was with him,...

Serena Pitt wows fans. Pic credit: @serena_pitt/Instagram

Serena Pitt has become a social media influencer since her stints on The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise.

While she quit during Week 8 of Matt James’ season of The Bachelor, she found her person on Season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise afterward.

As she and Joe Amabile left Mexico as winners and an engaged couple, they have only thrived together since.

Since they left the beach, Joe and Serena have moved to New York City together and renovated their apartment.

Serena spends her time modeling and visiting her family up in Toronto, Canada, while Joe still goes back and forth to Chicago for work and is a co-host with Tia Booth and Natasha Parker for the Click Bait with Bachelor Nation podcast.

Now, while on vacation together and posting about it, Serena showed off in a brown bikini while sipping on a coconut drink.

Erich Schwer dishes on Gabby’s Grandpa John. Pic credit: ABC

On this season of The Bachelorette, Gabby Windey has had some tough times, but she’s also thrived lately.

Fans watched as she broke down after feeling unloved and unwanted when three men told her on their group date they were there for Rachel and not her.

After viewers saw Hayden call her rough around the edges and Jacob say some other insensitive things to her, Gabby got emotional.

However, since that night, it has seemed that Gabby has turned it around and has numerous men there who truly want to be with her and have no problems showing that.

One of these men that Gabby has started to fall for is Erich Schwer, as he got the very first one-on-one date with Gabby.

When Gabby came to the house to get him, though, there was an added surprise…...

What’s summer without shark horror? The official sequel to Andrew Traucki’s The Reef, The Reef: Stalked is now available on Digital/VOD and streaming on Shudder. Written and directed by Andrew Traucki (Black Water) as a follow-up to his 2010 film, The Reef: Stalked stars Teressa Liane (“The Vampire Diaries”), Ann Truong (“Cowboy Bebop”), Saskia Archer (Boshack), Kate Lister (“Clickbait”) and Tim Ross (“Wonderland”). In the sequel: “Nic, in an effort to […]

The post The Six Scariest Shark Moments in Horror appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

‘Clickbait’ Star Phoenix Raei & Hugo Weaving Set For Australian Mystery ‘The Rooster’

Phoenix Raei (Clickbait) and Hugo Weaving (The Matrix) have been set to star in The Rooster, a mystery-drama written and directed by actor Mark Leonard Winter. The Rooster follows small-town cop Dan (Raei). When the body of his oldest friend is found buried in a shallow grave, Dan seeks answers from a volatile hermit (Weaving), who was the last person to see his friend alive. Principal photography has just been completed on Dja Dja Wurrung country in the region of the Hepburn Shire in Victoria, Australia. Producers are Geraldine Hakewill and MahVeen Shahraki for her company Thousand Mile Productions. Executive producers include Susie Montague-Delaney, Patrick James and Michael Kantor. The film will be distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Jonathan Page for Bonsai Films.

BBC Will Never Show Princess Diana Martin Bashir Interview Again, Says Dg

The...

Rising star Phoenix Raei joins Hugo Weaving as the lead of “The Rooster,” an Australian mystery drama film in which a small-town cop discovers the dead body of his best friend.

The film, which has just completed principal photography in Victoria state, is directed by actor Mark Leonard Winter (“Escape From Pretoria”), making his debut as a feature director.

As performers, Weaving and Winter have previously appeared together in “Measure for Measure” and “The Dressmaker.”

Raei, who has recent credits in “Clickbait,” “Stateless” and “The Night Agent,” stars in “The Rooster” as the cop who confronts Weaving’s volatile character, a forest-dwelling hermit who was the last person known to have seen his pal.

Other cast include: Helen Thomson, Rhys Mitchell, Bert La Bonte, John Waters, Camilla Ah Kin, Robert Menzies and Deirdre Rubenstein.

“ ‘The Rooster’ is a gripping story about friendship and how hope can come from unlikely places.

During the 2021-2022 season 94 scripted series earned the ReFrame Stamp for gender-balanced hiring. Among them were “Bridgerton,” “Euphoria,” “Abbott Elementary,” “Yellowjackets” and more. As 200 series were considered, 47 were found to earn the stamp — a 7 decrease since the previous year.

Each “Stamped” series was found to hire women or individuals of other underrepresented gender identities (including those who are non-binary or gender non-conforming) in at least four out of eight key roles including writer, director, producer, lead, co-leads and department heads. Additional points were awarded to productions that hire women of color in key positions, and to those with overall gender parity in their crews.

Stamp designation is determined by ReFrame, an initiative of the Sundance Institute and Women in Film Los Angeles (Wif) in partnership with IMDBPro. ReFrame examined IMDbPro data on the 200 most popular narrative series with a minimum of three episodes released between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022 (the 2021-...

Universal Studio Group chairman Pearlena Igbokwe, Alex Kurtzman and Warner Bros. Television have been announced as the special achievement honorees for the 4th annual Aafca TV Honors.

Hosted by the African American Film Critics Association, the Aafca TV honors recognize achievement in television, with an emphasis on entertainment representing the Black diaspora. At the invitation-only ceremony on Aug. 20 at Los Angeles’ Sls Hotel, Igbokwe will receive the Ashley Boone Award, Alex Kurtzman will receive the Ally Award, and Wbtv chairman Channing Dungey will accept the Inclusion Award on behalf of the studio.

The Ashley Boone Award, named after the executive, is presented to executives for their achievement within the industry. The first Black woman to lead a major U.S. television studio, Igbowke leads four studios as chairman for the Universal Studio Group, including Universal Television, Universal Content Productions, Universal Television Alternative Studio and Universal International Studios. Notable projects under her “Hacks,...

The African American Film Critics Association (Aafca) announced its special achievement honorees for the 4th Annual Aafca TV Honors who will be celebrated at an invitation-only, in-person luncheon on August 20th at the Sls Hotel in Los Angeles.

Launched in 2019 with tremendous success, the Aafca TV Honors recognize outstanding achievement in television and streaming with a special emphasis on entertainment representing the Black diaspora. The organization will bestow special achievement honors to several industry leaders including Universal Studio Group Chairman Pearlena Igbokwe who will receive the Ashley Boone Award, Alex Kurtzman who will receive Aafca’s Ally Award, and Aafca’s Inclusion Award will go to the Warner Bros. Television Group. Wbtvg Chairman Channing Dungey will accept the award on behalf of the studio.

On July 18th, Aafca will announce winners in 14 categories, including best actor, best actress, best comedy series, best drama series and more. Those winners will be...

Click here to read the full article.

Fresh off his recent gig as president of NBCUniversal-backed Heyday Television, veteran producer Tom Winchester has launched his own small-screen shingle, Pure Fiction Television, with support from Power of the Dog producers See-Saw Films and talent agency Hamilton Hodell.

Pure Fiction Television aims to produce “prestige commercial content” for the British and global markets and is pitching itself to talent as a partner that can offer more creative freedom and back-end compensation than is typical within the constraints of overall deals with major streamers.

“At Pure Fiction, we want to reflect the changes afoot within our industry by redefining how partnerships work with talent,” Winchester said in a statement. “We believe in celebrating collaboration so that everyone benefits, and we make the best work possible.”

See-Saw, whose credits also include the critically acclaimed series Top of the Lake and Slow Horses, will...

President of Heyday Television Tom Winchester has departed the company to set up his own production outfit, Pure Fiction Television.

See-Saw Films (“Power of the Dog”) and talent agency Hamilton Hodell have minority stakes in the new company. The plan is for Pure Fiction to be “distributor agnostic and free to find the best homes for each show.”

Winchester will focus the company on prestige commercial television for both domestic and international audiences as well as working closely with writers, actors and directors to develop and produce their work.

See-Saw will also provide business affairs and production support while its COO, Simon Gillis, will sit on Pure Fiction’s board. Gillis brokered the deal alongside Jeremy Gawade of Lee & Thompson for Hamilton Hodell and Michael Brader of Wiggin for Winchester.

Winchester was with Heyday, which is owned by NBCUniversal, for almost three and a half years where he...

Exclusive: Brad Anderson, the multi-hyphenate behind the iconic Christian Bale thriller The Machinist, has signed with Paradigm for representation.

Anderson is a writer, director and producer whose 2004 breakout feature told the story of industrial worker Trevor Reznik (Bale), who began to doubt his own sanity after going without sleep for a year. He recently directed an episode of HBO Max’s acclaimed DC series Peacemaker, and two installments (including the pilot) of Netflix’s chart-topping thriller Clickbait, most recently wrapping production on the horror-thriller Blood, starring Michelle Monaghan and Skeet Ulrich. That upcoming film follows Jess (Monaghan), whose son Owen (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) is hit with a mysterious infection after being bitten by a dog at the old farmhouse the family has just moved back into.

Anderson has also directed features including the thriller Fractured, starring Sam Worthington, Lily Rabe and Stephen Tobolowsky, for Netflix; the historical C.I.A. thriller Beirut,...

Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, and Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, have acquired the North American rights to the horror film, The Reef: Stalked. The film will be released In Theaters, on Digital/VOD and streaming on Shudder on July 29, 2022.

Written and directed by Andrew Traucki (Black Water) as a follow up to his 2010 film, The Reef, The Reef: Stalked stars Teressa Liane (“The Vampire Diaries”), Ann Truong (“Cowboy Bebop”), Saskia Archer (Boshack), Kate Lister (“Clickbait”) and Tim Ross (“Wonderland”).

“Audiences have an insatiable appetite for shark films, which we know first-hand from our incredible experience releasing The Reef years ago,” said Mark Ward, Chief Acquisitions Officer of Rlje Films. “We are thrilled to be working with the team again to bring this new terrifying adventure to audiences.”

In The Reef: Stalked, Nic, in an effort to heal after witnessing her sister’s horrific murder,...

Zombies On A Plane: "Flight 543. A regular check-in.

Unbeknownst to them, a passenger is pre-selected and pre-infected with a truly horrific pathogen. Boarding the plane, the virus lies dormant within their body, awaiting to be awakened. Once activated it transforms its unwilling host into a highly intelligent, flesh craving, barely controllable weaponised monster.

Flesh rots, senses heighten but not all goes according to plan...

A plane over the Atlantic..

A monster within..

A new nightmare begins.."

Directed by Craig Rees Written by Carl Rees Full cast to be announced To support the movie's Indiegogo campaign, visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zombies-on-a-plane--3/x/28730030

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Shudder & Rlje Films Move In Together On 'Destroy All Neighbors': "Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, and Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, today announced their partnership on the newest Shudder Original Film, Destroy All Neighbors. From music-video and...

Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, and Shudder, the company’s streaming service for horror, thriller and supernatural content, have acquired the North American rights to “The Reef: Stalked.”

The shark survival tale will be released in theaters, as well as on digital and on-demand platforms on July 29, 2022. It will be available to Shudder subscribers on the same day.

Written and directed by Andrew Traucki as a follow up to his 2010 film, “The Reef,” the sequel stars Teressa Liane (“The Vampire Diaries”), Ann Truong (“Cowboy Bebop”), Saskia Archer (Boshack), Kate Lister (“Clickbait”) and Tim Ross (“Wonderland”).

“Audiences have an insatiable appetite for shark films, which we know first-hand from our incredible experience releasing ‘The Reef’ years ago,” said Mark Ward, chief acquisitions officer of Rlje Films. “We are thrilled to be working with the team again to bring this new terrifying adventure to audiences.”

In “The Reef: Stalked...

Netflix is doubling down on video games.

For the first time, the streaming service will launch a mobile game and TV series from the same franchise, building on the popular Exploding Kittens card game.

Exploding Kittens - The Game, an exclusive version of the beloved mobile game, will launch on Netflix in May, followed by an adult animated comedy series coming in 2023.

The series will star Tom Ellis, Abraham Lim, Lucy Liu, Ally Maki, Mark Proksch and Sasheer Zamata.

"The eternal conflict between Heaven and Hell reaches epic proportions when both God and the Devil are sent to Earth - in the bodies of chunky house cats," reads the logline for the the series.

The series comes from showrunners Shane Kosakowski and Matthew Inman, executive producers Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and Dustin Davis of Bandera Entertainment.

Exploding Kittens - The Game retains the same classic gameplay where players draw cards...

Netflix has ordered an adult animated series based on the card game “Exploding Kittens,” starring “Lucifer” star Tom Ellis and Lucy Liu. A new mobile game adaptation, “Exploding Kittens – The Game,” is being co-developed and will launch via the streamer in May, well ahead of the TV show’s planned 2023 debut.

The show, which is executive produced by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, follows the eternal conflict between Heaven and Hell as it reaches epic proportions when both God and the Devil are sent to Earth – in the bodies of chunky house cats.

Along with Ellis and Liu, “Exploding Kittens” stars Abraham Lim, Ally Maki, Mark Proksch and Sasheer Zamata.

The series comes from showrunners Shane Kosakowski and Matthew Inman, who executive produce alongside Judge, Daniels and Dustin Davis of Bandera Entertainment, Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping for the Chernin Entertainment Group, and creators of the “Exploding Kittens” franchise, Elan Lee...

AppleTV+’s big budget TV reworking of Fritz Lang’s classic 1927 sci-fi film Metropolis from Mr Robot creator Sam Esmail is to shoot to Australia.

The production is expected to create nearly 4,000 jobs in the state of Victoria, where filming will take place, and make use of one of the world’s largest ‘virtual production’ infrastructures.

NBCUniversal’s Universal Studio Group is producing the show with Esmail, who was behind USA Network’s Mr Robot and Amazon’s Homecoming and is writing, directing and show running the eight-part drama. NBCU’s Aussie producer Matchbox Pictures will handle on the ground production.

Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master.

“Metropolis,” Apple TV+’s epic-scale series inspired by Fritz Lang’s classic silent era sci-fi film, is set to be produced in Australia. It is expected to make extensive use of a new ‘virtual production’ structure that is among the largest in the world.

“Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail is writer, director and showrunner of the eight-part project. It is being produced by NBCUniversal’s Universal Studio Group.

The story takes place in the futuristic city of Metropolis. While the city’s wealthy elite enjoy a lavish life of comfort and ease in penthouses and pleasure gardens, scores of workers labor at dangerous machinery in the bowels of the city to keep everything running. Freder Fredersen, the son of the most powerful man in Metropolis, has an awakening after meeting a young worker named Maria and witnessing a number of workers die in an industrial accident.

The project has been...

Netflix’s global hit drama series “Clickbait” was conceived and shot in Melbourne but the settings were California. If it were commissioned today, it would more likely have kept an Australian accent too.

“Clickbait was commissioned out of the global team, but now that the Anz team is operating, we are here to make Australian stories,” said Que Minh Luu, Netflix director of content, Australia and New Zealand recently.

There is a need for local stories to please individual market, but as successes like Korea’s “Squid Game” and Spain’s “La Casa de Papel” have demonstrated, local stories are also increasingly able to cross borders.

Luu was speaking at last month’s Screen Forever conference, taking place in person for the first time in two years, on the Gold Coast. Amazon, Stan, Binge and Paramount Plus (newly launched Down Under) were also present and were, similarly, promising to bolster their Australian content commitments.

Shallow soap opera dialogue and an absolutely ludicrous plot twist about 2/3rds of the way through a six-episode season hold the admittedly talented ensemble of Netflix’s “Anatomy of a Scandal” back from creating anything that resembles realistic characters or genuine drama. And yet, this adaptation of the book by Sarah Vaughan can’t even commit to the kind of broad, goofy escapism that resulted in recent hits for the streamer like “Clickbait” or “Pieces of Her.” It’s caught in some numbingly dull valley between thinking it’s a high-brow commentary on privileged toxic masculinity and just leaning into the fact that it doesn’t give a damn about any of its characters and doesn’t really have anything to say that’s deeper than a puddle.

Continue reading ‘Anatomy Of A Scandal’ Review: A Shallow, Ludicrous, Soap Opera From David E. Kelley & Netflix at The Playlist.

Aquarius Films has optioned the film development and production rights to Abdul Karim Hekmat’s acclaimed article “True Love in Nauru,” and aims to produce it as feature film “Paradise.”

“Paradise” is the powerful true story of two men who meet and fall in love in an Australian offshore detention center. Their relationship becomes a life-affirming source of strength as they take on institutional indifference and overcome hopelessness, finally making their way to freedom.

Hekmat’s original article was published in The Monthly, an Australian political and society magazine. Hekmat, who resides in Australia, arrived as a refugee from Afghanistan and spent five months in detention will co-write the screenplay with Roger Monk.

“Paradise” will be co-directed by Rhys Graham and Phoenix Raei, an Australian actor-director of Persian descent. Rae, who will be making his feature directorial debut, has recent performance credits including Netflix series “The Night Agent,” Netflix mini-series “Clickbait,...

Margaret Cho (Good on Paper), Blake Draper (Clickbait), Monique Green (Big Shot), Arica Himmel (Mixed-ish), Jason Sakaki (Devil in Ohio) and David S. Jung have signed on to star alongside Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim in the Disney+ Original Movie Prom Pact from director Anya Adams (Ginny & Georgia).

In the teen romantic comedy, it’s the height of prom season, and high school senior Mandy Yang (Lee) and her best friend and fellow outsider Ben (Manheim) are surrounded by over-the-top ’80s-themed Promposals. However, Mandy keeps her eyes focused on a different goal: her lifelong dream of attending Harvard. When she finds out that she has been put on the waitlist, she is determined to do whatever she can do to get herself accepted, even if that means asking for help from the one person she abhors – popular all-star jock Graham Lansing (Draper), whose father is...

Clayton Echard wishes that "people would just wait until the full story is out" before "casting their judgments." ABC's 26th leading man has gotten a lot of criticism for his season of The Bachelor. And on Clickbait with Bachelor Nation—with hosts Joe Amabile, Natasha Parker and guest co-host Deandra Kanu—Clayton discussed the backlash he has received, and how he has dealt with it. He explained that fans of the show are judging his decisions without knowing the full story. "Today's day and age, everybody likes to jump and push their opinion out as quick as they can," he told the Bachelor alums. "With technology and Twitter and all these different...

The Australian Consulate-General of Los Angeles is celebrating International Women’s Day this year with a special event focused on the work of Australian women in film and television — with the goals of both drawing attention to international production success in Australia and building stronger connections in the industry.

On March 10, around 80 guests are expected to attend a panel discussion and networking opportunity in an outdoor garden at the official residence of Consul General Jane Duke in Brentwood. Duke will host four female Australian filmmakers to participate in the panel: director Unjoo Moon (“I Am Woman”) serving as moderator, actor and producer Rose Byrne (“Physical”), actor Charmaine Bingwa (“The Good Fight”) and cinematographer Ari Wegner (“The Power of the Dog”) — who recently became only the second woman in the history of the Academy Awards to be nominated for a cinematography Oscar.

Duke says she is “looking forward to hosting this...

The 2022 NAACP Image Awards were presented on BET tonight, with Jennifer Hudson emerging as a top winner, taking home both the coveted Entertainer of the Year and Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture awards. Will Smith also emerged as Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, with “The Harder They Fall” winning Outstanding Motion Picture. Many more winners were announced this week during the non-televised NAACP Image Awards.

Take a look at the full winners list below.

Entertainer of the year

Jennifer Hudson

Lil Nas X

Megan Thee Stallion

Regina King

Tiffany Haddish

Outstanding motion picture

“The Harder They Fall”

“Judas and the Black Messiah”

“King Richard”

“Respect”

“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”

Outstanding actor in a motion picture

Will Smith, “King Richard”

Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

Jonathan Majors, “The Harder They Fall”

Lakeith Stanfield, “Judas and the Black Messiah”

Mahershala Ali, “Swan Song”

Outstanding actress in a motion picture

Jennifer Hudson,...

Exclusive: Former 20th Television drama exec Albert Page has become President of Clickbait and The Capture producer Heyday Television U.S.

Page is tasked with growing the Universal International Studios-backed indie’s scripted slate of high-end shows. Heyday EVP Jillian Share was previously heading up the U.S. operation before moving to eOne as Co-President of Film Production last summer.

Page has spent the last three years with 20th Television, overseeing a busy slate including Hulu double Washington Black and Love Victor, ABC’s Big Sky and R L Stine’s Just Beyond anthology series for Disney+. He also managed talent deals with the likes of Love Victor’s Elizabeth Berger and Crazy Rich Asians’ Jon Chu. Prior to this role, he helped develop Dave and The Outsider for Temple Hill Entertainment.

Heyday founder David Heyman said the indie is “building a very compelling slate with some of the best storytellers in the industry.

Exclusive: Hong Chau, Db Woodside, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Eve Harlow, Phoenix Raei, Enrique Murciano and Sarah Desjardins, have been cast as series regulars opposite leads Gabriel Basso and Luciane Buchanan in The Night Agent, Netflix’s political conspiracy thriller series created by Shawn Ryan based on author Matthew Quirk’s 2019 New York Times bestseller.

Written by Ryan inspired by Quirk’s novel, The Night Agent is a sophisticated, character-based, action-thriller centering on Peter Sutherland (Basso), a low-level FBI agent who works in the basement of the White House, manning a phone that never rings — until the night that it does, propelling him into a fast moving and dangerous conspiracy that ultimately leads all the way to the Oval Office.

Chau plays Diane Farr, the President’s powerhouse Chief of Staff and loyal defender.

Netflix has amassed a small fortune through its proliferous amount of twisting and turning mystery series. As of this writing, the deliriously plotted “Stay Close,” based on a book by the prodigious mystery writer Harlan Coben, is firmly in the top half of the top ten, and a piece of B-show escapism called “Clickbait” was one of their biggest hits of 2021.

Continue reading ‘The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window’ Review: Netflix’s Bland Satire Is An Exercise In Clichés at The Playlist.