Graphic novel adaptations

Starzplay has announced its first Arabic-language original series, created in collaboration with Emirati content powerhouse Image Nation Abu Dhabi . The international streaming service of Starz has a big following in the Middle East and North Africa where its regional offering Starzplay Arabia is available in 19 territories. The new show, called Kaboos , features five standalone episodes and is billed as a modern-day retelling of Arab folklore. It explores urban legends in Saudi Arabia , Kuwait, Egypt and the UAE, across a variety of genres from classic horror stories to noir psychological thrillers. Some of MENA’s hottest rising young directors are attached to the show, including the UAE’s Majid Al Ansari ( Zinzana , Paranormal ) and Hana Kazim ( Makr ) as well as Iraq-born, Abu Dhabi-based Yasir Al Yasiri ( 122 ), Egypt’s Ahmed Khaled ( 30 March ) and Bahraini, U.S.-based director and producer Hala Matar ( Streetcar ). The horror anthology … [Read more...] about Starzplay & Image Nation Abu Dhabi Unveil Streamer’s First Arabic Original Series ‘Kaboos’

UPDATED with final winners: The Oscar-winning documentary Summer of Soul , Bo Burnham’s Emmy-winning musical comedy special Inside , Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad and Raoul Peck’s Exterminate All the Brutes are among the final list of winners of 2022 Peabody Awards . The Peabodys, in their 82nd year, honor the year’s most powerful content across the fields of entertainment, documentary, news, podcast/radio, arts, children’s and youth, and public service programming. The organization based at the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia wrapped up a a weeklong rollout of all 30 winners Thursday. This year’s awards were presented by the likes of Melissa McCarthy, Morgan Freeman, John Legend, Kevin Bacon, H.E.R., Ethan Hawke, Jon Stewart, Hasan Minhaj, Riz Ahmed, LeVar Burton, Jenny Slate, Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Scott. Newsman Dan Rather and Fresh Air ‘s Terry Gross have already won this year’s Career Achievement Award and … [Read more...] about Peabody Awards: The Complete List Of 2022 Winners

French studio Pathé and film and TV financier and producer Logical Pictures have announced a three-year co-production and co-financing deal. The operation involving Logical Content Ventures, a new fund operated by Logical Pictures, will see Pathé open up the financing of its films to private investors for the first time in its history. Under the deal with Pathé, Logical Content Ventures will contribute to the financing of all films produced and acquired by Pathé between 2022 and 2024. The aim is to co-finance and co-produce more than 20 pictures together with the first projects being released as soon as Spring 2023. The first films included in the agreement are Dany Boon’s Life for Real (Pathé – 26DB Productions), Just Philippot’s environmental thriller Acid (Pathé – Bonne Pioche), starring Canet and Laetitia Dosch, and Kirill Serebrennikov’s English feature debut Limonov: the Ballad of Eddie (Pathé – Chapter 2 – Wildside – Fremantle) starring Ben Whishaw. … [Read more...] about Pathé & Logical Pictures Team On Slate Financing Deal As French Studio Targets Big Budget Local & European Tentpoles

The Berlinale ’s European Film Market was the last major physical market to take place in 2020 as the world began shutting down because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The virus would force the event online in 2021 and 2022. The EFM’s traditional home of the Gropius Bau looked strangely empty last February, playing host to an exhibition by South African artist Zanele Muholi, as the event unfolded online alongside a scaled-down physical festival. Its vast atrium and halls are set to be packed with hundreds of stands and thousands of professionals once again this year for EFM’s 2023 edition, running February 16-22. Both the Gropius Bau and the market’s other key exhibition space of the Marriott Hotel are already fully booked. “The good news for us is that we are completely at the same level in terms of accreditations as we were at this time of the year in 2020. This means that we are forecast to reach the same amount of market participants,” EFM director Dennis Ruh . As … [Read more...] about Berlin’s EFM Boss Reveals Size Of U.S. & Asia Contingents, Talks Growing Importance Of TV

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

EXCLUSIVE: Bill Nighy ( Living ) and Jeremy Swift ( Ted Lasso ) have signed on to join the voice cast of CG animated family comedy 10 Lives . The pair will join already-announced cast members Mo Gilligan ( That’s My Jam ), Simone Ashley ( Bridgerton ), Sophie Okonedo ( Hotel Rwanda ), Dylan Llewellyn ( Derry Girls ), and musician Zayn Malik. Nighy, who picked up an Oscar nom this week for his leading role in the Kazuo Ishiguro-scripted Living , will voice the character of Professor Craven, while Swift will lend his voice to a wise-cracking dog called Happy. The pic tells the story of Beckett, a pampered and selfish cat who has taken the lives he’s been dealt for granted. After carelessly losing his ninth life, he begs to be given a second chance and an opportunity to show he can learn from his mistakes. Eventually, his wish is granted, but with certain stipulations. The film is directed by Chris Jenkins ( Duck Duck Goose ) and produced by Guy … [Read more...] about Bill Nighy & Jeremy Swift Join Voice Cast Of Animated Feature ‘10 Lives’

EXCLUSIVE: Kurt Wimmer’s redo of Stephen King ’s Children of the Corn has been picked up by RLJE Films and AMC network’s horror streaming service Shudder . The movie will hit theaters on March 3 in an 18 day theatrical window before hitting demand and digital on March 21. Based upon the short story by the horror author, and adapted by Wimmer, Children of the Corn follows a 12 year old girl in Nebraska who is possessed by a spirit in a dying cornfield. She recruits the other children in her small town to go on a bloody rampage and kill all the adults and anyone else who opposes her. A bright high schooler who won’t go along with the plan is the town’s only hope of survival. Pic stars Elena Kampouris ( Before I Fall ), Kate Moyer ( Station Eleven ), Callan Mulvey ( The Gray Man ) and Bruce Spence ( The Road Warrior ). “We’re thrilled to work with Kurt Wimmer and bring his vision of this classic Stephen King story to new audiences,” said Mark Ward, Chief … [Read more...] about Stephen King ‘Children Of The Corn’ Remake Acquired By RLJE & Shudder

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

Bella Ramsey stars in HBO ’s The Last of Us and the Game of Thrones alum is teasing that a second season is highly “likely.” “If people keep watching, I think [a second series] is pretty likely. It’s down to the guys at HBO,” Ramsey told BBC in an interview. “There’s nothing confirmed yet so we’ll have to wait and see.” The Last of Us is based on a PlayStation video game and in its debut season on the premium cable network it scored the second-largest premiere after House of the Dragon since Boardwalk Empire’s launch in 2010. Ramsey stars as Ellie and is joined by Pedro Pascal, Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman as well as Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, Elaine Miles, Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker. The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle … [Read more...] about Bella Ramsey Says ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2 Is “Likely”

Ava DuVernay ’s feature adaptation of Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents has just added Niecy Nash -Betts, Jon Bernthal , Vera Farmiga , Nick Offerman , Jasmine Cephas Jones and Connie Nielsen to the movie, which is shooting in Georgia. The group joins King Richard Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis , who has the lead role. DuVernay is writing and directing, and producing alongside veteran collaborator Paul Garnes. A bestseller and shortlisted for several awards, Wilkerson’s Caste examines racism in America through the prism of social, economic and cultural delineation and “pillars” of exclusion. Nash-Betts, fresh off a Critics Choice Award win for her role in Netflix’s Dahmer , is reteaming with DuVernay after receiving an Emmy nomination for her turn in the Netflix limited series When They See Us. She is also the lead of ABC’s The Rookie: Feds . She is repped by WME and Artists First. Bernthal reunites … [Read more...] about Ava DuVernay’s ‘Caste’ Adds Niecy Nash-Betts, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Nick Offerman & More