Michael Wright is hoping to breathe new life into the lion with the launch of MGM+.
He is leading the charge to rebrand Epix, once a premium network with multiple media parents, on Sunday. With significant backing from new owner Amazon, the streaming service has a mandate to order more original series so that it can have a slate of new shows on air every week of the year.
Wright struck a new deal in November to become Head of MGM+, eschewing his previous double role as he was also President of MGM Scripted Television, with the studio side of the job going to Lindsay Sloane.
He told Deadline that the rebranding effort started three years ago, long before MGM was a twinkle in Amazon’s servers. >>>"A Viable Service" |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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Long Weekend, Big B.O.? - James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water will reign supreme in its fifth weekend over the four-day MLK holiday frame with an estimated take around $35M. Meanwhile, M3GAN, even though it's on a 17-day theatrical window to PVOD, won’t stop scaring up money. The bigger question marks are Lionsgate’s Gerard Butler movie, Plane, at 3,000 plus theaters and Sony's well-received Tom Hanks drama A Man Called Otto, which is making the jump from 637 to 3,800 locations. >>> Full Breakdown
Breaking Baz - The inaugural column from Deadline International Editor-at-Large Baz Bamigboye examines the the pressure to dig up dirt and the toxic, symbiotic relationship between Fleet Street and Buckingham Palace that played a part in the death of Princess Diana and created the rupture between Prince Harry and his family that led to his exit to California. >>> " The Call Came From London... "
Making A 'Fortune' - ABC's owned and operated stations have agreed to a big increase to keep Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! on their schedules. The long-running gameshows have been extended in a five-year deal. >>>Details
'The Fabelmans': Read It - Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner's script telling the semi-autobiographical story of Spielberg’s upbringing and love affair with the movies was decades in the making, but worth the wait. >>>Read the Script
Queens - Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired global rights to the award-winning comedy Americanish, which marks the feature directorial debut of Iman Zawahry. The film follows sisters Sam (Aizzah Fatima) and Maryam Khan (Salena Qureshi), and their cousin Ameera (Shenaz Treasury), as they navigate love, careers and familial pressures in Jackson Heights, Queens. >>>Sundance Push
In Brief - Gordita Chronicles creator Claudia Forestieri has signed with CAA…Range Media Partners has signed Shantaram’s Antonia Desplat. |
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In their first major joint interview since 2006, the three directors who, between 2013 and 2018, split no fewer than five of the six Best Director Oscars and took home two Best Picture trophies gather as each of them continues to tread new ground. The conversation among old friends Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro G. Iñárritu flows easily and requires little moderation. So obsessive is their interest in their chosen field that ideas become bold, and arguments become (comfortably) heated. But we begin where we should -- with a trip down memory lane, and their first encounters with one another… >>> The Interview |
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Casting About
Exclusive
Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell are set to star in an untitled R-rated romantic comedy to be directed by Will Gluck. Sony landed the coveted package at the end of last year and after figuring out Sweeney’s schedule with her Euphoria dates. Shooting is expected to start at the end of next month.
Exclusive
William H. Macy is joining 20th Century’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes starring Owen Teague, Freya Allan and Peter Macon. Wes Ball is on board to direct. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes starts an all-new chapter in the Apes saga, picking up many years after the conclusion of 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes.
Kerry Washington will exec produce and star in Six Triple Eight — the WWII drama that Tyler Perry is writing, directing and producing for Netflix, which has now entered production. She’s joined in the ensemble by such screen icons as Sam Waterston, Susan Sarandon and Oprah Winfrey.
Nancy Drew star Kennedy McMann is set as the lead and Emmy-winning Desperate Housewives alumna Felicity Huffman as a co-lead in The Good Lawyer, the proposed legal spinoff from ABC’s popular medical drama The Good Doctor, from Sony Pictures Television and ABC Signature. ABC has formally ordered an embedded pilot episode of The Good Doctor titled The Good Lawyer , which will guest star McMann and Huffman and will introduce their characters. It airs March 6.
Exclusive
Diego Boneta (Luis Miguel: La Serie), Luis Gerardo Méndez (Narcos: México), and Belinda (Bienvenidos a Edén ) are set to lead a new Mexican Amazon Original miniseries inspired by true events surrounding the last day of charismatic television host Paco Stanley’s life. Production will begin in early 2023 and will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. |
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More News
🚨 After pleading not guilty to felony burglary charges back in October, The Flash star Ezra Miller has entered a guilty plea for a lesser charge of trespassing after being accused of stealing three bottles of liquor – gin, vodka and rum — from the pantry of a Stamford, VT, neighbor. Under the trespassing charge, Miller would be forced to pay a penalty of $692.
🤝 Disney has named a new chairman of the board, and indicated it’s also in for a proxy fight as Nelson Peltz’ Trian Group seeks a director’s seat for the activist investor in opposition to the company’s slate. Peltz thinks the company has underdelivered given its array of top-shelf IP. Disney said its board has elected board member Mark Parker, former executive chairman at Nike, as the entertainment giant's new chairman. He will succeed Susan E. Arnold.
👀 Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel has come in for criticism from the California Legislative Women’s Caucus for continued silence after a leaked video showed UFC boss Dana White slapping his wife at a New Year’s Eve party in Mexico. Endeavor is the UFC’s parent company. “Every day that Mr. White’s actions go unaccounted for, your silence becomes more piercing and troubling,” the influential political group said in a letter to Emanuel.
✂️ DirecTV is laying off hundreds of workers, most of them managers, in a staff reduction spurred by cord-cutting. Most of the layoffs will affect managers at the company. About 10% of all managers will be affected, out of a total workforce in the range of 10,000. Employees were notified last week about the cuts, which take effect on January 20.
🎓 Netflix Co-CEO Reed Hastings has given a $20 million gift to Minerva University, a San Francisco-based, venture-funded school established in 2012 with a distinctly global approach to higher education.
📺 Warner Bros. Discovery and Prime Video have struck a major content deal in France that will see HBO content plus 12 channels available on the Amazon platform in the nation.
🕺 David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's "immersive disco musical" about Imelda Marcos, Here Lies Love, is heading to Broadway this summer.
💰 Abbott Elementary is getting another go at ABC. The comedy series has been renewed for a third season. The news comes just days after Season 1 scored three Golden Globe wins at Tuesday night’s ceremony, including acting honors for Quinta Brunson and Tyler James Williams.
👁️ CBS Studios' EVP and head of casting Meg Liberman, one of the top TV casting executives in the business, has announced her retirement after 47 years in the business. Deborah Aquila, who heads casting for Paramount TV Studios, will become the head of casting for both CBS Studios and PTVS.
👍 In the first scripted deal under its new owners, the CW has renewed All American for a sixth season. Despite significant programming cutbacks by Nexstar Media Group, the network wanted to keep All American, which is the network's No. 1 linear series among adults 18-49, its most-watched series on digital and its largest show in total audience across all platforms.
👑 The Red Sea International Film Festival's foundation has boarded French director Maiwenn's period drama Jeanne du Barry, in which she plays the titular 18th century courtesan opposite Johnny Depp as King Louis XV. A first image of Maiwenn in character has also been released internationally.
In Brief - Sundance's jury will include Marlee Matlin, W. Kamau Bell, Destin Daniel Cretton & Jim Gaffigan...ABC renewed Claim To Fame, Celebrity Family Feud & Press Your Luck...SXSW revealed its film lineup and opening night movie, Dungeons & Dragons… Will Gonzalez was promoted to oversee newly-integrated data & research team across NBCUniversal…Grownish was renewed for s sixth season at Freeform…The BBC picked up NBC's Traitors after the UK version's stellar run...Middle Eastern streamer Shahid launched landmark drama series Period Market. |
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Obituaries
🕯Rock god and eight-time Grammy winner Jeff Beck, died Tuesday of bacterial meningitis aged 78. The Yardbirds guitarist and solo artist's influence on rock and technical mastery can't be understated, with a style that encompassed everything from blues, jazz fusion and straight hard rock. Tributes from the likes of Mick Jagger and collaborator Rod Stewart flooded in. 🕯 Lucille Ball protege and Sixteen Candles actress Carole Cook died just three days short of her 99th birthday. Born Mildred Frances Cook in Texas, she became a favorite of Ball's after moving to LA, appearing in her TV programs such as The Lucy Show. 🕯 Hollywood animal trainer Hubert G. Wells, whose credits include the original Doctor Dolittle and Out of Africa, died of natural causes on December 25 aged 88. 🕯 Ben Masters, best known as Julian Crane on NBC's soap Passions , died in Palm Springs on January 11. He played the rich and powerful Crane between 1999 and 2008 before battling dementia in his later years. He died at age 75 from Covid. |
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Trending  In the space of 24 hours, theme park fans got lower prices, relaxed reservation requirements and other perks at Disney World and Disneyland, as well as the announcement of two new regional parks from Universal.
🔻 The Golden Globes telecast on Tuesday hit an all-time ratings low. The show on NBC pulled in 6.3 million people. That's barely a third of the size of 2020’s 18.3 million viewers. |
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On the Radar
Thu - PGA nominations
Sun - Critics Choice Awards; MGM+ debuts
Mon - Martin Luther King Day |
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All Smiles - Cate Blanchett, who was a no-show on Tuesday for the Golden Globes, where she won for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama, was all smiles with director Todd Field on Wednesday night at the U.K. premiere of Tár. (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images) |
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