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The announcement last week that the 2023 Billboard Music Awards will be held on Sunday, November 19, raised a few eyebrows because that had been the date earmarked for the 2023 American Music Awards . Both music award shows are produced by dick clark productions. A date for the 2023 AMAs has not been announced and it turns out, so hasn’t been a network. The AMAs have been an ABC staple; the show was created by Dick Clark in 1973 for the network when ABC’s contract to air the Grammy Awards expired. I hear ABC’s most recent deal for the AMAs ended with the November telecast, and no decision has been made about a contract renewal. “We have offers from both networks and streamers,” a spokesperson for DCP said in a statement. Aside from the marque Grammy Awards, the AMAs has been a reliable top ratings performer though networks have been rethinking their commitment to awards show amid declining linear viewing. NBC opted not to continue with the Billboard Music Awards … [Read more...] about American Music Awards’ Future At ABC Uncertain As Deal Comes To An End

Britain’s culture secretary Oliver Dowden has denied a report that the government has asked right-wing commentator Charles Moore and former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre to fill two powerful UK media jobs. The Sunday Times reported that Moore has been tapped to be the next chair of the BBC , while Dacre is set to be installed as the new chair of UK media regulator Ofcom . The government is responsible for recruiting for both roles and the Sunday Times said prime minister Boris Johnson wants the pair, both ferocious critics of the BBC, to usher in a “revolution” in UK broadcasting. Senior government insiders told the newspaper that hiring Moore as a replacement for outgoing BBC chair David Clementi is a “done deal,” while Johnson “wooed” Dacre for the Ofcom job over drinks at Downing Street in February. But speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Dowden denied that any decisions have been made prior to the government launching a formal recruitment … [Read more...] about UK Government Denies Offering Powerful Media Jobs To Ferocious BBC Critics Paul Dacre & Charles Moore

Getty Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are out on their latest would-be new home -- the couple has pulled the plug on yet another real estate deal ... and they're once again on the hunt. MLS Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ that Bennifer has fallen out of escrow on the $64 million Pacific Palisades mansion they seemed to have their sights set on earlier this month -- which was an absolute beauty that would've certainly accommodated their needs. It's unclear why they're bailing ... but we're hearing they're done with it, and are moving on. Getty/Backgrid Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's $55 Million Bel-Air Mansion Deal Falls Through Now, if you're keeping count -- this actually marks the third home they've fallen out of escrow on in the past year. There was a $55 million Bel-Air estate they were set to buy way back in April, but that sale fell through. They were also set to buy another PP palace last month -- … [Read more...] about Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez Drop Out of Escrow Again in $64 Million Home Sale

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the season finale of Apple TV+ ’s Dear Edward . Grief isn’t linear, and it doesn’t have a time limit either. While Season 1 of the Apple TV+ series Dear Edward — which tells the story of a grief group that brings together the loved ones of the passengers of a fatal plane crash — has come to an end, creator Jason Katims tells Deadline that he’s only scratched the surface of the stories that he wants to tell with these characters. The series has not officially been renewed for a second season, though Katims is waiting patiently for the call. “There’s 15 or 16 main characters in the show, but there are 180 people on that flight. And aside from those 180, there are all the people whose lives have been touched by that,” he said, adding: “There’s lots of stories left to tell here.” Katims is also the creator of Friday Night Lights and Parenthood , both of which are known for their large ensemble casts. So, it should … [Read more...] about ‘Dear Edward’ Creator Jason Katims Talks Finale Episode & Plans For Potential Season 2

Neon has taken the North American rights to the Anne Hathaway -starring Sundance Film Festival premiere Eileen , from director William Oldroyd ( Lady Macbeth ). The distributor is eyeing a fall theatrical release. Oldroyd’s connection to Sundance began in 2013 when his short film Best won the Short Film Competition. Eilee has already notched 87% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with critics since its Park City debut in January. The pic, based on the 2015 debut novel by Otessa Moshfegh, is set during a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter, when young secretary Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) becomes enchanted by the glamorous new counselor Rebecca (Hathaway) at the prison where she works. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto a sinister path. Shea Whigham, Marin Ireland and Owen Teague also star in the pic, which was adapted for the screen by Moshfegh with Luke Goebel. The pic was produced by Fifth Season, … [Read more...] about Neon Acquires Domestic Rights To Anne Hathaway Sundance Movie ‘Eileen’

A dramatization of the life of Carlos Ghosn , the former Nissan/Renault CEO who escaped from arrest hidden in a music case, is in the works from Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón and This England’s Michael Winterbottom . The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Monk star Tony Shalhoub is set to play Ghosn in the six-part TV series Fall of the God of Cars , which comes from Fremantle , Anonymous Content , Richard Brown’s Passenger and Winterbottom’s Revolution Films . Ghosn was the wealthy Brazilian-Lebanese CEO of Nissan and Renault whose world came tumbling down when he was arrested in Japan in 2018 on allegations of under-reporting his salary and gross misuse of company assets. One year later, he orchestrated an escape to Beirut, hidden in a music case on a private jet, and, with multiple warrants out for his arrest, he has remained there ever since. The big-budget series was originally developed by Winterbottom, four-time Oscar winner Cuarón and Anonymous Content. … [Read more...] about Tony Shalhoub To Lead Carlos Ghosn Series In The Works From Michael Winterbottom, Fremantle & Anonymous Content

EXCLUSIVE : Good Deed Entertainment has acquired North American and UK rights to the indie drama Midday Black Midnight Blue , starring 2x Emmy winner Merritt Wever ( Godless ), slating it for a day-and-date release in June. The first feature from writer-directors Samantha Soule and Daniel Talbott, also starring Chris Stack (AMC’s Interview with the Vampire ) and Soule ( Godless ), follows Ian (Stack) as he grapples with his shifting memories of Liv (Soule), a woman he once loved. For Ian, it’s a chance run-in with Liv’s sister (Wever) that sparks a journey in which he has a chance to reconnect to the light and fight his way back to life. The film, which world premiered at last year’s Seattle Film Festival, is produced by Soule, Talbott and Stack, as well as Lovell Holder and Addie Johnson Talbott. Exec producers are Timothy Farrell, Conner Marx and Will Pullen. GDE’s EVP of Acquisitions Erik Donley negotiated Midday Black ‘s deal for the company, with … [Read more...] about Merritt Wever-Led ‘Midday Black Midnight Blue’ Acquired By Good Deed; Coral Peña, Nicole Byer Board ‘Thelma’; More – Film Briefs

Lea Michele will be back as Fanny Brice in Broadway ’s Funny Girl tomorrow after missing shows this week due to an unspecified health issue that required the hospitalization of her two-year-old son. In an Instagram Story post today, Michele wrote, “Thank you for all your well wishes this past week. We are taking our boy home from the hospital soon. Thank you to all the amazing doctors and hospital staff. I will be back to the @FunnyGirlBwy stage this weekend.” On Wednesday, Michele posted on Instagram that she would miss performances this week due to her son’s “scary health issue.” “I’m so sorry but unfortunately I will be out of @FunnyGirlBwy today,” she wrote. “We are at the hospital with our son dealing with a scary health issue that I need to be here for.” Julie Benko filled in during Michele’s absence. Michele and husband Zandy Reich are the parents of two-year-old Ever Leo Reich. … [Read more...] about Lea Michele Returns To Broadway’s ‘Funny Girl’ This Weekend As Son Leaves Hospital

EXCLUSIVE : Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American VOD rights to the documentary Grandpa Was An Emperor from director Constance Marks , whose last feature, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey , won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance. The new film, which premiered to rave reviews at the DOC NYC Festival in 2021, is set for theatrical engagement in Los Angeles from April 7-13 at Laemmles Town Center in Encino, with evening showings on the 7th and 8th to be followed by Q&As with Marks, as well as her fellow producers and talent. It’s set for release on digital on May 30. Exec produced by 2x Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo , Grandpa Was An Emperor follows Yeshi Kassa, great-granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, as she embarks on a personal quest to discover what happened to her closest relatives during the coup of 1974. While Yeshi and her older sister were thousands of miles away in a British boarding school, her … [Read more...] about ‘Grandpa Was An Emperor’ Documentary Exec Produced By Cynthia Erivo Sets Freestyle Release

Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown will have her first novel published by William Morrow , an imprint of HarperCollins , this fall, the publishing house announced today. Titled Nineteen Steps , the novel is described by the publisher as an “epic story of love, loss, and secrets” that tells the story of 18-year-old Nellie Morris, who lives with her family in Bethnal Green during the Second World War. After Nellie’s chance encounter with an American airman stationed nearby, a terrible incident occurs during an air raid with catastrophic consequences. Nineteen Steps will be published on September 12. “Inspired by my Nanny Ruth, this book is very personal and close to my heart,” Brown said in a statement. “I grew up listening to stories about her time living through the war. I’m honored to keep her story alive.” Brown’s grandmother survived the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster, an incident responsible for the largest single loss of civilian life in the UK … [Read more...] about Millie Bobby Brown Novel ‘Nineteen Steps’ Coming From William Morrow This Fall