Downton Abbey lives on, with Focus Features and Carnival Films announcing a third feature film is currently in production. The first film inspired by the critically acclaimed, award-winning period drama premiered on September 20, 2019. The second film, Downton Abbey: A New Era, followed in May 2022. Focus Features hasn’t announced a target theatrical release date* for the third film, currently referred to as Downton Abbey 3.
Returning original cast members include Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary, Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley, Jim Carter as Mr. Carson, Phyllis Logan as Mrs. Hughes, and Penelope Wilton as Isobel Merton. Robert James-Collier, Joanne Froggatt, Allen Leech, Lesley Nicol, Michael Fox, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sophie McShera, and Douglas Reith also return for the third film.
Dominic West reprises his role as Guy Dexter from Downton Abbey: A New Era, and Paul Giamatti returns as Cora Grantham’s brother Harold Levinson. New additions include Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, and Arty Froushan.
Oscar winner and Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes wrote the screenplay and A New Era‘s Simon Curtis directs. Fellowes, Gareth Neame, and Liz Trubridge are producing. The film is a Carnival Films production, with Focus Features and Universal Pictures International distributing.
* Update: Focus Features has set a September 12, 2025 release date.
Fox’s primetime schedule for the 2024-2025 broadcast season is going to look dramatically different from its 2023-2024 lineup. The network’s diving back into scripted comedies and dramas with the addition of Rescue: HI-Surf, starring Robbie Magasiva and Arielle Kebbel, and Doc starring Molly Parker. Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk star in the new psychological drama Murder in a Small Town, and Denis Leary headlines the live-action comedy Going Dutch.
Fox is also adding the animated comedy Universal Basic Guys, from Adam and Craig Malamut, about brothers Mark and Hank Hoagies who lose their jobs to automation. The network’s already given their latest animated offering a second season order.
“With Universal Basic Guys, the Hoagies brothers join FOX’s iconic lineup of undaunted, irreverent, and absurdly outrageous characters,” said Michael Thorn, President of Scripted Programming, FOX Entertainment. “It’s what defines the FOX animation brand, and from episode one of this terrific new comedy, Adam and Craig Malamut turn the Hoagies’ everyday life on its head in such an original way that we immediately ordered a second season.”
Fox’s upcoming schedule will also include the new survival competition series Extracted.
Returning series include 9-1-1: Lone Star, Accused, Alert: Missing Persons Unit, The Cleaning Lady, Animal Control, Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy, The Great North, Grimsburg, Krapopolis, and The Simpsons. Crime Scene Kitchen, The Floor, Hell’s Kitchen, LEGO Masters, The Masked Singer, MasterChef, Name That Tune, Next Level Chef, and Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test are also returning with new seasons.
“With outstanding original ideas and world-class talent across both new series and returning favorites, FOX’s 2024-25 schedule is filled with unexpected, unforgettable entertainment in every genre,” said FOX Entertainment CEO Rob Wade. “Great creative is the center of all we do, and that is reflected in next season’s lineup, as is our ability to attract so many of the industry’s finest storytellers.”
RESCUE HI-SURF – From prolific, award-winning executive producer/director John Wells and executive producer/writer Matt Kester, pulse-pounding Hawaii lifeguard drama Rescue: HI-Surf follows the personal and professional lives of the heavy-water lifeguards who patrol and protect the North Shore of O’ahu—the most famous and dangerous stretch of coastline in the world. Each episode will feature these dedicated, heroic, and adrenaline-seeking first-responders saving lives in the difficult and often life-threatening conditions of Hawaii’s Seven Mile Miracle.
The series stars Robbie Magasiva, Arielle Kebbel, Adam Demos, Kekoa Kekumano, Alex Aiono, and Zoe Cipres. In addition, Sea Shimooka, Shawn Hatosy, and Ian Anthony Dale will appear in recurring roles.
DOC – Based on the globally acclaimed Italian series, Doc — Nelle tue mani, which was created and is produced by Lux Vide, a Fremantle Company, and featured Simona Tabasco and Beatrice Grannò of The White Lotus, FOX’s Doc is a new medical drama starring Molly Parker as the hard-charging, brilliant Dr. Amy Elias, Chief of Internal and Family Medicine at Westside Hospital in Minneapolis. After a brain injury erases the last eight years of her life, Amy must navigate an unfamiliar world where she has no recollection of patients she’s treated, colleagues she’s crossed, the soulmate she divorced, the man she now loves and the tragedy that caused her to push everyone away. She can rely only on her estranged 17-year-old daughter, whom she remembers as a 9-year-old, and a handful of devoted friends, as she struggles to continue practicing medicine, despite having lost nearly a decade of knowledge and experience.
The series also stars Omar Metwally, Amirah Vann, Jon Ecker, and Anya Banerjee. Scott Wolf and Patrick Walker will recur in featured roles.
MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN – Based on the Edgar Award-winning, nine-book Karl Alberg series by acclaimed novelist L.R. Wright, and starring Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk, Murder in a Small Town follows Karl Alberg (Sutherland), who moves to a quiet coastal town to soothe a psyche that has been battered by big-city police work. But this gentle paradise has more than its share of secrets, and Karl will need to call upon all the skills that made him a world-class detective in solving the murders that, even in this seemingly idyllic setting, continue to wash up on his shore. Kreuk stars as Cassandra, a local librarian who becomes Alberg’s muse, foil and romantic interest.
Mya Lowe, Savonna Spracklin, Aaron Douglas, and Fritzy-Klevans Destine recur in the series, which also features special guest stars James Cromwell, Stana Katic, and Paula Patton.
GOING DUTCH – From executive producers Denis LearY, Jack Leary, and Joel Church-Cooper, and starring Denis Leary, single-camera comedy Going Dutch centers on an arrogant, loudmouth U.S. Army Colonel, who, after an epically unfiltered rant, is reassigned to the Netherlands, where he is punished with a command position at the least important army base in the world. After serving with distinction in every warzone of the last three decades, he now finds himself in charge of a base with no guns, no weapons, and no tactical purpose. Instead, it has a Michelin-star-level commissary, top-notch bowling alley and the best (and only) fromagerie in the U.S. Army.
Surrounded by a diverse group of underdogs, the colonel tries to reinstall military discipline and professionalism with the help of the base’s previous interim leader, who just happens to be his estranged daughter.
UNIVERSAL BASIC GUYS – From creators Adam and Craig Malamut, animated comedy Universal Basic Guys centers on two brothers, Mark and Hank Hoagies, who lose their jobs to automation and are given $3,000 a month in a new basic income program. Now, they’re using their free time and free money to find purpose in a world where they’re no longer needed.
EXTRACTED – Extracted is a groundbreaking new survival competition series, in which, for the first time ever, the contestants are not in charge of their destiny.
THE REAL FULL MONTY SPECIAL – Inspired by the beloved, award-winning 1997 film, FOX’s The Real Full Monty is an all-new two-hour special in which a daring group of male celebrities volunteer to bare all to raise awareness for prostate and testicular cancer testing and research. The event features Anthony Anderson, Taye Diggs, the NFL’s Chris Jones, Tyler Posey, Bruno Tonioli and James Van Der Beek. FOX’s all-new special is based on the international unscripted format with hit versions in the U.K., France and The Netherlands. The Real Full Monty will be co-produced by Spun Gold TV and FOX Alternative Entertainment.
During the two-hour special, The Real Full Monty’s male celebrity talent will train and rehearse for the most revealing performance of their careers, culminating with a big strip-tease dance, choreographed by Emmy Award-winner Mandy Moore, in front of a live audience. Leading up the final disrobing, the men will push their limits of comfortability, modesty, and brotherhood with a series of rehearsals and experiences, both private and public, designed to build confidence and remove them far from their comfort zone and strengthen their bond as a group. Along the way, each of the celebrities will share their personal stories of how cancer has impacted their lives.
Marisa Abela stars as Amy Winehouse in director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s ‘BACK TO BLACK’ (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dean Rogers/Focus Features)
In the history of music, there has quite possibly never been another star quite as enigmatic as Amy Winehouse. Since her untimely passing in 2011, there have been countless documentaries and biographies made about her. Back to Black is one more.
Back to Black takes the viewer through the life of Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela, who has been in British television shows such as Industry and Cobra, but also played Teen Talk Barbie in last summer’s Barbie) from the start of her career until the sudden end of her life. Most of the movie revolves around her tumultuous on-again off-again relationship with her husband Blake Fielder-Civil (Unbroken’s Jack O’Connell) and how it affected both her music and her life.
That synopsis may be more interesting than the plot of the movie. Of course, everyone knows about the demons that Winehouse had to stare down in her life. So, it’s surprising that director Sam Taylor-Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey) and writer Matt Greenhalgh (Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool) play it so safely with Winehouse’s life story. In what seems to be an effort to not exploit the tragic parts of the tale, the most pivotal events, including the domestic abuse and rampant drug use, are skipped over, with the audience only seeing the aftermath. This whitewashes the story, effectively sterilizing what should be a fascinating look inside the life of a tortured artist.
For example, in one scene, Amy and Blake are arguing loudly and passionately, and then the film cuts to Amy running with a wound on her head, and the next scene shows Blake with scratches all over his face. It’s clear to the audience that a physical confrontation occurred, but the impact is lessened by not showing it, or at least creatively depicting it in another way rather than just skipping it altogether. It’s cowardly filmmaking.
The substance abuse in the film is handled similarly. While a line of cocaine or a swig from a bottle is shown here and there, most of the overuse is implied. Blake’s gift of a crack pipe to Amy raises some eyebrows, but there’s no gut punch that would come with seeing the actual act of using it. All of a sudden, Amy asks her father (played wonderfully by character actor Eddie Marsan from the Sherlock Holmes movies) to take her to rehab without actually showing her hit rock bottom. Again, cowardly filmmaking.
The most emotional that the movie gets is Amy dealing with the illness and death of her grandmother, Cynthia (Lesley Manville from Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris). As a singer herself, Cynthia was Amy’s role model, and thanks to some great acting by (and chemistry between) Abela and Manville, the audience really gets a feel for the love that these two characters feel for each other. And with that love comes the connection that the movie so desperately needs.
As one might expect, music is the heartbeat of the film. As a musical artist, Amy Winehouse has some real bangers, and they all get played in some way or another in the movie, whether as a selection on a jukebox in a bar or being performed at the Grammys. The soundtrack also includes songs from artists like The Shangri-Las, Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday, and The Specials that all in one way or another influenced Winehouse’s career. Even the score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (the team who also scored Hell or High Water and Lawless) is remarkable. Thankfully, in a movie about music, the music in Back to Black shines through.
Back to Black feels like a wasted opportunity. It’s an incredible true story that just feels neutered. It’s never boring, it’s just not as impactful, and therefore not as memorable, as it should be. It will wind up being just another movie about the adventures and misadventures of Amy Winehouse.
GRADE: C-
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout, drug use, nudity, and sexual content
Release Date: May 17, 2024
Running Time: 2 hours 2 minutes
Studio: Focus Features
Investigation Discovery’s new true crime series Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders dives into the world of online influencers and the targets popular social media personalities put on their backs while building followers online. The six-episode docuseries premieres on June 3, 2024, with new episodes airing on Mondays at 9pm ET/PT.
The promo for the new series explores the dark side of online communities and how influencers never know exactly who they’re dealing with on the internet.
“Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders tackles a wide range of cases from all corners of the digital landscape. From individuals seeking community who end up being targeted by toxic forums patrolled by angry, misogynistic rhetoric to popular social media personalities who have heartbreaking, hidden lives, Deadly Influence will pull back the curtain on the dark intricacies of social media and the dangers that lurk within,” reads ID’s synopsis. “While social media may appear as the key to opportunity and validation – the ability to build a career as an influencer and access wealth, celebrity, power and find communities that offer connectivity – involvement in these digital environments can breed a dangerous type of reality.”
Poster for ‘Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders’ (Photo Credit: Investigation Discovery)
SEASON 1 EPISODES
Sin City Clickbait – Premiering Monday, June 3 at 9pm ET/PT
Ash, a self-styled Instagram “sex and fitness guru,” began his career as a male escort and built a life in the glitz, glamour, and excess of the Las Vegas party scene. But the envious lifestyle he presented to his countless followers took a deadly turn when his break-up with another high-profile influencer catapulted him into a twisted, drug-infused downward spiral that culminated in a violent, senseless act.
TikTok Terror – Premiering Monday, June 10th
As 28-year-old Sania battles through divorce, her passionate and searingly honest TikToks attract tens of thousands of followers. But she soon discovers that members of her community want to silence her – and will stop at nothing to do it.
RIP Bianca – Premiering Monday, June 17th
Anime-obsessed teenager Bianca becomes an inspiring mental health advocate online and changes lives. But on forums and social media accounts, she discovers a horrifying and violent side: young men primed to threaten, harm, and attack.
Killer Content – Premiering Monday, June 24th
Successful teenage film reviewer Trey is building an online empire on YouTube, attracting hundreds of thousands of views. But it can’t last, and soon, he finds himself dragged into a shocking world of guns and revenge.
Hashtag Halloween Horror – Premiering Monday, July 1st
Stephanie, a feisty, lovable younger woman from New Jersey, is building a brand as a bespoke makeup and Special Effects artist. But offline, her life becomes complicated and spirals into mystery when she vanishes into thin air on the eve of Halloween.
Control, Alt, Delete – Premiering Monday, July 8th
A vibrant and inspiring group from Denver’s creative community spreads messages of love and inclusion, attracting many online followers. Soon they become the target of a hateful and violent member of the online manosphere with shocking consequences.
Wedding day arrives on CBS’s Fire Country as season two comes to a close with episode 10, “I Do.” Directed by Bill Purple from a script by Tia Napolitano and William Harper, episode 10 will air on Friday, May 17, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT.
Max Thieriot leads the cast as Bode Leone, Billy Burke plays Vince, Kevin Alejandro is Manny, and Diane Farr is Sharon. Stephanie Arcila stars as Gabriela, Jordan Calloway is Jake, and Jules Latimer plays Eve.
“I Do” Plot: Gabriela prepares to walk down the aisle on her wedding day as Bode receives some surprising news, on the second season finale of Fire Country.
Fire Country stars Max Thieriot as Bode Leone, a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program in Northern California, where he and other inmates are partnered with elite firefighters to extinguish massive, unpredictable wildfires across the region. It’s a high-risk, high-reward assignment, and the heat is turned up when Bode is assigned to the program in his rural hometown, where he was once a golden all-American son until his troubles began.
Five years ago, Bode burned down everything in his life, leaving town with a big secret. Now he’s back, with the rap sheet of a criminal and the audacity to believe in a chance for redemption with Cal Fire.
CBS’s So Help Me Todd concludes its short run with season two episode 10. The season – and series – finale finds Margaret taking on a cosmetics company. Directed by Stuart Gillard from a script by Scott Prendergast and Elizabeth J.B. Klaviter, episode 10 airs on Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT.
Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden leads the cast as Margaret Wright and Skylar Astin stars as the titular Todd. Season two also features Madeline Wise as Allison, Tristen J. Winger as Lyle, Inga Schlingmann as Susan, and Rosa Arredondo as Francey.
“The Tooth Is Out There” Plot: While Margaret tries to save her struggling law firm by taking on a case involving a large cosmetics company with deep pockets, Todd is determined to crack an important FBI investigation that will seal the fate of Crest, Folding & Wright, one way or another.
So Help Me Todd Season 2 Description, Courtesy of CBS:
So Help Me Todd stars Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Astin as razor-sharp, meticulous attorney Margaret Wright and Todd, her talented but scruffy, aimless son whom she hires as her law firm’s in-house investigator. As the black sheep of the well-heeled Wright family, Todd is a laidback, quick-thinking, excellent former private detective who fell on hard times after his flexible interpretation of the law got his license revoked.
Margaret’s penchant for excellence and strict adherence to the law is at complete odds with Todd’s scrappy methods of finding his way through sticky situations: by the seat of his wrinkled pants. When Todd inadvertently teams with his mother on a case, she’s surprised to find herself duly impressed by – and proud of – his crafty ability to sleuth out information with his charm and his wide-ranging tech savvy. At last, Margaret sees a way to put her son on a “suitable” path to living an adult, financially solvent life she approves of, and she asks him to join her firm. Todd agrees, since it means getting his license back and once again doing the job he excels at and loves.
Mother and son working together is a big first step toward mending their fragile, dysfunctional relationship, and they may even come away with a better understanding of each other at this pivotal point in their lives. But whether Todd and Margaret will be able to accept each other for who they are is another case entirely.
Chicago Med‘s Colin Donnell guest stars on CBS’s FBI: International season three episode 12. Directed by Milena Govich from a script by Roxanne Paredes, episode 12 – “Gift” – will air on Tuesday, May 14, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT.
Luke Kleintank finishes up his run as Special Agent Scott Forrester with season three. Heida Reed stars as Special Agent Jamie Kellett, Carter Redwood is Special Agent Andre Raines, Vinessa Vidotto plays Special Agent Cameron Vo, Eva-Jane Willis is Europol Agent Megan “Smitty” Garretson, and Christina Wolfe is Special Agent Amanda Tate.
“Gift” Plot: When the owner of a prominent cyber security company is murdered in Copenhagen, mass amounts of data are leaked, sending the NSA to the Fly Team for assistance, including the Bureau’s liaison to the NSA.
FBI: International Season 3 Description, Courtesy of CBS:
From Emmy Award winner Dick Wolf, fast-paced drama FBI: International is the third iteration of the successful FBI brand that follows the elite operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s International Fly Team. Headquartered in Budapest, they travel throughout Europe with the mission of tracking and neutralizing threats against American citizens wherever they may be, putting their lives on the line to protect the U.S. and its people.
The Fly Team’s Special Agent Scott Forrester, their accomplished and dedicated leader, puts his missions ahead of his personal life. Second in command is Special Agent Jamie Kellett, a heroic and fearless investigator – and her extensive network of informants is a powerful resource. Special Agent Andre Raines shines in the field and makes good use of his accounting background in tracking criminal enterprises’ moving money. Special Agent Cameron Vo, a competitive West Point grad, excels at interrogation and strategy, and Megan “Smitty” Garretson, a streetwise Europol agent with an extensive undercover background, uses her expertise to liaise with each host country they inhabit.
Newly embedded with the Fly Team is Special Agent Amanda Tate, a confident and tech savvy intel analyst, who stays quick on her feet and remains calm in the midst of chaos. Always at the scene where American interests are at risk, FBI: International is a globe-trotting depiction of law enforcement overseas.
Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf in ‘Brilliant Minds’ (Photo by: Rafy/NBC)
NBC‘s fall 2024 primetime schedule will include a new drama and two new comedies. Zachary Quinto headlines the new drama Brilliant Minds based on a true story, and the network’s also debuting the mockumentary St. Denis Medical featuring Wendi McLendon-Covey, Allison Tolman, and David Alan Grier this fall. And Reba McEntire stars in the new multi-camera comedy Happy’s Place about a woman who inherits a bar from her dad and discovers he had a few surprising skeletons in his closet.
NBC’s lineup of returning dramas includes The Irrational, Found, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, Law & Order, and Law & Order: SVU. Comedies Lopez vs. Lopez and Night Court return along with The Voice and Dateline NBC.
NBC will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live with a special SNL weekend that concludes with a live three-hour primetime special on Sunday, February 16th at 8pm ET/PT. Other planned specials include Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande and airing on November 25th.
The network’s planning midseason launches for the unscripted competition series Destination X and the thriller The Hunting Party. Plus, Tom Hanks will narrate The Americas event series premiering on February 23, 2025.
TUESDAY
8-8:30 P.M. —St. Denis Medical
8:30-9 P.M. — Night Court
9-10 P.M. — The Voice
10-11 P.M. — The Irrational
WEDNESDAY
8-9 P.M. — Chicago Med
9-10 P.M. — Chicago Fire
10-11 P.M. — Chicago P.D.
THURSDAY
8-9 P.M. — Law & Order
9-10 P.M. — Law & Order: SVU
10-11 P.M. — Found
FRIDAY
8-8:30 P.M. — Happy’s Place
8:30-9 P.M. — Lopez vs. Lopez
9-11 P.M — Dateline NBC
SATURDAY
7-7:30 P.M. ET— Big Ten Pregame / Notre Dame Pregame (also live on Peacock)
7:30-11 P.M. ET— Big Ten Saturday Night / Notre Dame Football (also live on Peacock)
SUNDAY
7-8:20 P.M. ET— Football Night in America (also live on Peacock)
8:20-11 P.M. ET— NBC Sunday Night Football (also live on Peacock)
Reba McEntire and Belissa Escobedo in ‘Happy’s Place’ (Photo by: Casey Durkin/NBC)
NBC’s New Series/Specials Descriptions:
HAPPY’S PLACE – Bobbi (Reba McEntire) inherits her father’s bar and is less than thrilled to discover that she has a new business partner in the half-sister she never knew she had. The series stars Reba McEntire, Belissa Escobedo, Melissa Peterman, Pablo Castelblanco, Tokala Black Elk, and Rex Linn.
ST. DENIS MEDICAL – A mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity. The cast includes Wendi McClendon-Covey, David Alan Grier, Allison Tolman, Josh Lawson, Mekki Leeper, Kahyun Kim, and Kaliko Kauahi.
BRILLIANT MINDS – Inspired by the extraordinary life and work of world-famous author and physician Oliver Sacks, Brilliant Minds follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier – the human mind – while grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
The cast includes Zachary Quinto, Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh LaThrop, Alex MacNicoll, Aury Krebs, Spence Moore II, Teddy Sears, and Donna Murphy.
THE HUNTING PARTY – A high-concept crime procedural about a small team of investigators who are assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers our country has ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from a top-secret prison that’s not supposed to exist. The cast includes Melissa Roxburgh.
THE AMERICAS – From BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the creators of the critically acclaimed and multi-Emmy Award-winning Planet Earth and Blue Planet, in association with Universal Television Alternative Studio, comes the epic 10-part tentpole event series The Americas.
Marking the first time acclaimed actor, producer and writer Tom Hanks will narrate an unscripted entertainment series, The Americas will also feature music by two-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer. This incomparable project will employ revolutionary filmmaking technology that will showcase the wonders, secrets and fragilities of the Americas – Earth’s largest landmass and the only one to stretch between both poles – and reveal extraordinary, untold wildlife stories that deeply connect with millions around the world.
DESTINATION X – Merging fantasy with reality in this larger-than-life adventure competition series, viewers will follow contestants as they embark on the road trip of a lifetime but have no idea of their location. In order to win, they must figure out their mystery locations. Once they’re on the blacked-out Destination X bus, the journey transforms into a real-life game board, with challenges designed to offer clever clues as to their location, along with a few misdirects to keep them guessing.
At the end of each episode, the contestant who places an X on a map furthest from the actual location packs their bags. The first participant to reach Destination X will be crowned the winner. With high stakes and mind-blowing, spectacular gameplay, the series will keep viewers engaged and playing along on all screens.
DEFYING GRAVITY: THE CURTAIN RISES ON WICKED – In celebration of the generation-defining, cinematic event of the year, international superstars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande lead an all-star cast in a journey through a dazzling new vision of Oz, created for Universal Pictures’ Wicked. As they unveil some of the most spectacular sets ever created for film, Wicked stars Erivo and Grande are joined by Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, and more to host this thrilling behind-the-scenes special, sharing their personal memories, intimate video diaries and secrets of the making of Wicked, culminating in the debut of a world-exclusive scene from the film.
Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan on ‘American Idol’ (Disney/Christopher Willard)
ABC announced the renewal of seven of their primetime unscripted series, including The Bachelor and American Idol. Celebrity Jeopardy!, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Dancing With the Stars, Shark Tank, and What Would You Do? have also officially been given new season orders.
American Idol scored its eighth season on ABC and 23rd season overall. The Bachelor, hosted by Jesse Palmer, was renewed for a 29th season of giving an eligible man a chance to find true love. Celebrity Jeopardy!, currently hosted by Ken Jennings, will return for season three. Dancing With the Stars will continue showcasing the unexpected dance talents of celebrities for season 33.
ABC’s Celebrity Wheel of Fortune is returning to earn money for charities for a fifth season. Shark Tank will be back to recognize talented entrepreneurs with season 16. And What Would You Do? hosted by John Quiñones has been renewed for season 17.
ABC recently announced their game show-heavy summer primetime lineup which includes new seasons of Press Your Luck, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Celebrity Family Feud, and Claim to Fame. The network’s adding Lucky 13, hosted by Shaquille O’Neal and Gina Rodriguez, to its primetime summer lineup. And Steve Harvey returns to rule over cases on Judge Steve Harvey season two.
This summer’s The Bachelorette marks the first time an Asian American bachelorette will be featured. Jenn Tran appeared on Joey Graziadei’s The Bachelor season and will star in the season 21 of ABC’s The Bachelorette.
Jason Statham commits to ‘Mutiny’ (Photo Credit: Dan Smith / Provided by Lionsgate)
Jason Statham (The Beekeeper) is attached to star in Mutiny, an action thriller from director Jean-François Richet (Plane, Mesrine: Killer Instinct). Lionsgate has picked up the North American rights, and filming is expected to get underway in the UK this September.
“In Mutiny, after his billionaire industrialist boss is murdered in front of him, Cole Reed is set up to take the fall for the crime — leaving him on the run as he works to uncover an international conspiracy,” reads the official synopsis.
Lindsay Michel and J.P. Davis (Plane, The Contractor) wrote the screenplay. Jason Statham’s new production company Punch Palace Productions and Marc Butan, under his MadRiver Pictures banner, are producing.
“Jason Statham is one of the most kinetic action stars in the world and we look forward to teaming him up with Jean-François and the MadRiver team who we previously worked with on Plane,” stated Lauren Bixby, SVP, Co-Productions and Acquisitions for the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. “We can’t wait to see that creative energy once again as we bring Mutiny to life.”
Statham’s films include Meg 2: The Trench, Expend4bles, and Fast X. He recently finished work on David Ayer’s action thriller Levon’s Trade with David Harbour.
Per the official acquistion announcement: “This film marks the first venture under MadRiver Pictures’ recently announced multi-year equity financing and distribution deal with international distributors including DeAPlaneta (Spain), Eagle Pictures (Italy), IDC Distribution (Latin America), Italia Film (Middle East), LEONINE Studios (Germany and Austria), Shochiku (Japan), SND (France) and Unicorn Media (Eastern Europe), who will each handle distribution in their respective territories. CAA Media Finance handled the domestic sale, while The Veterans will represent the international rights and will be introducing the film to buyers in Cannes.”
