Deadline

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains details from the first four episodes of Peacock ’s Poker Face . Natasha Lyonne is a casino waitress with an uncanny ability to tell when people are lying in her latest collaboration with Rian Johnson , Peacock’s Poker Face . She’s not reading their faces or their body language. It’s “just a feeling,” her character Charlie explains in the first episode, which debuted Thursday along with three additional episodes. As the premiere unfolds, Charlie agrees to help her boss take down a high-profile gambler, only to realize that he had previously been responsible for murdering her co-worker to keep her silent about the sins of that very same gambler. Rather than stick around and meet her own demise, Charlie goes on the lamb. Along the way, the finds herself embroiled in a series of small-town murder mysteries in each place she stops. “I’ve learned that this is a character who just really can’t stand bullsh*t. She just really … [Read more...] about ‘Poker Face’: Natasha Lyonne Breaks Down Debut Episodes & Discusses Collaborating With Rian Johnson For Peacock Series

SPOILER ALERT! This story contains details from the Season 2 finale of HBO Max’s Gossip Girl . It was never supposed to end this way. HBO Max ‘s Gossip Girl took its final bow on Thursday as the Season 2 finale hit the streamer. Since news of the show’s cancellation broke last week, the episode now also serves as a series finale. Showrunner Josh Safran told Deadline that he’s holding on to a glimmer of hope that the series might land at a new home, but he’s had an inkling for months that this might happen, considering the growing number of streaming cancellations and Gossip Girl ‘s hefty price tag. “I asked HBO Max if I actually could go back in [to the episode]. I had the idea to take some of the cliffhangers out, because there were a lot of cliffhangers,” Safran said. “We got the editorial team back together. I went in and I lifted a bunch of stuff, I changed as much as I could. I couldn’t do as much as I wanted, because I couldn’t re-shoot anything, … [Read more...] about ‘Gossip Girl’ Boss Josh Safran Explains How He Re-Shaped The Season 2 Closer As A Series Finale & What He Had Planned For Season 3

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Smith is leaving MBC Studios after four years as Managing Director. We’ve learned the international industry veteran is stepping down from the premium production arm of Middle Eastern and North African network MBC, though he’ll continue to advise on production and distribution. In a statement to Deadline, MBC CEO Sam Barnett confirmed the exit and said a successor would be named “in due course, in coming days.” Smith is a former NBCUniversal International President and was CEO of Cineflix Studios and Greece-based broadcaster Antenna Group. He joined MBC Studios in 2018 as it launched as the production arm of free-to-air network MBC, which is the largest media company in the MENA region. He was tasked with increasing MBC’s original film and TV output and and he has gone on to overseen the launch of shows such as Rashash , Rise of the Witches and The Devil’s Promise . “Peter Smith is stepping aside as Managing Director of MBC Studios,” said … [Read more...] about MBC Studios Boss Peter Smith Exiting Saudi-Owned Media Group

The WGA has written out the film nominations for its 2023 Writers Guild Awards , spanning original, adapted and documentary screenplays. See the full list below. Up for Original Screenplay are the scripts for Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, The Menu, Nope and Tár . Vying for Adapted Screenplay are Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, She Said, Top Gun: Maverick and Women Talking . Of the 10 nominees in the non-doc feature races, four are different from the Oscar nominations revealed Tuesday : The Menu and Nope in Original, and Wakanda Forever and She Said in Adapted. Deadline’s Awards Columnist Pete Hammond noted this month that the now-Oscar-nominated Original scripts for The Banshees of Inisherin and Triangle of Sadness are ineligible for WGA consideration , as are the Academy’s Adapted nominees All Quiet on the Western Front and Living . Such exclusions happen every year because … [Read more...] about WGA Awards Film Nominations: ‘Everything Everywhere’, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘The Menu’, ‘Nope’ & More

Everything Everywhere All At Once announced itself this morning as a serious Oscar threat with 11 nominations , topping off with Best Picture. That includes performing noms for Michelle Yeoh , Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan . The film also drew noms for Original Screenplay, Costume, Original Score, Original Song, Film Editing and Directing for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. The overachieving journey of the film is almost as absurd as its parallel universe storyline. It goes far beyond being the rare film to premiere at the SXSW festival and find its way to Oscar almost a year later. The film began with AGBO partners Joe and Anthony Russo seeing Kwan & Scheinert’s Swiss Army Man , the film that starred Paul Dano as a man stranded on a desert island who befriends a dead body — played with flatulent gusto by Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe — as they join forces to return to civilization. The AGBO partners gave a blind deal to “The Daniels,” as the … [Read more...] about Eleven Oscar Noms For ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once:’ It All Started With Admiration For A Dead, Flatulating Harry Potter

Executives at NBCUniversal and Comcast took the stage at Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center on Thursday and offered their first financial projections for streaming service Peacock during an investor presentation. Four years after it launches, first to some Comcast subscribers in April and then nationally by July, the service will be bringing in $2.5 billion in revenue and breaking even. There will be 30 million to 35 million “active users” by that point, the company said. “We are creating the equivalent of a 21 st century broadcast business, delivered on the internet,” NBCU chairman Steve Burke said. While cord-cutting is a reality, counting on-demand and digital viewing, he continued, “More people are watching more video today than ever.” Peacock Investors Day: Deadline’s Complete Coverage While subscriptions ranging from $5 a month to $10 a month will be sold to non-Comcast subscribers, the company is counting on advertising revenue being a mainstay … [Read more...] about NBCUniversal Expects $2.5B In Peacock Revenue, Break-Even By 2024

EXCLUSIVE : Larry Wilmore is tapping into his experiences in late-night for a primetime comedy in development at ABC . Wilmore is writing, executive producing and is set to star in Lately , described as a behind-the-scenes look at the upstairs-downstairs dynamics of the people who work at a late-night talk show, sources tell Deadline. Tamara Gregory, Head of Television at Wilmore’s Wilmore Films, also executive produces. The project comes from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, where Wilmore is under an overall deal . Wilmore was host of his own late-night talk show, Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore , which ran for nearly two years . He also appeared as “Senior Black Correspondent” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and more recently hosted and executive produced Wilmore, a limited weekly special talk series for Peacock. This marks Wilmore’s return to ABC, where he helped to launch Black-ish as an executive … [Read more...] about Larry Wilmore To Headline Late Night-Themed Comedy ‘Lately’ In Works At ABC

Noah Cowan , former co-director of the Toronto Film Festival and executive director of SFFILM in San Francisco, died Wednesday of cancer in Los Angeles, Deadline has confirmed. He was 55. Cowan died of glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer he was diagnosed with in December 2021. Born on July 22, 1967, in Hamilton, Ontario, he joined TIFF in 1984 as a box office staffer after volunteering with the fest in summer 1981. He later ran its print traffic department before becoming one of the programmers of TIFF’s Midnight Madness program in 1989. He was promoted to Program Administrator in 1992, and co-ran Midnight Madness with Colin Geddes in 1997. Cowan served as TIFF’s international programmer from 1997-2001, during which time he was promoted to associate director of programming and then associate director. He left the festival in 2001 but returned three years later as co-director, serving in the role until 2008. From 2008-14, he was artistic … [Read more...] about Noah Cowan Dies: Former Toronto Film Festival Co-Director, Indie Distributor & SFFILM Exec Was 55

Comedy Central on Monday morning announced that The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore would be coming to an end. It was a swift cancellation, with the late-night show, created by Jon Stewart, given one last week before going off the air a month and a half before the November Presidential elections. Comedy Central brass pointed to The Nightly Show ‘s modest ratings and viral play as a reason for ending the show. Wilmore spoke with Deadline following the taping of the Tuesday episode, in which the show had revisited segments on the kinds of topics that became its signature – Baltimore gangs who called truce during the riots, and food choices for low-income people. In the interview, Wilmore talks about how the cancellation came about, his plans for the final shows (will Stewart show up?) and what he may do next, including weighing in on the rest of the presidential campaign. Before getting The Nightly Show gig, Wilmore was a Daily Show contributor, the Black-ish showrunner and … [Read more...] about Larry Wilmore Exit Interview: ‘The Nightly Show’ Host Talks Cancellation, His Final Week, Regrets & What’s Next

EXCLUSIVE : Prolific character actor David Dastmalchian has today announced the launch of his genre-focused production company, Good Fiend Films , which will look to produce character-driven projects across horror, sci-fi and fantasy for film, television, audio and publishing. Dastmalchian, who has recently been seen in such blockbusters as Dune and The Suicide Squad , envisions his shingle as a home for stories about complex characters from all walks of life. Good Fiend Films will aim to generate nostalgic, entertaining content that captivates audiences while reminding them they’re not alone in this scary world. First up on the docket for the company is the horror Late Night with the Devil , starring Dastmalchian as the 1970s late-night talk show host Jack Delroy, on which both the actor and his company hold contributing production credits. The film from writer-directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes, Image Nation Abu Dhabi and Spooky Pictures will make its world … [Read more...] about David Dastmalchian Launches Production Company Good Fiend Films