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‘Sneaky Pete’: Bryan Cranston Tackles New Challenges With Amazon Drama Series
32 minutes ago
Bryan Cranston was moving around the set like a lion on the prowl.
On a soundstage in Brooklyn on a late September morning, he was in his element, working on a tense, confrontational scene with actors he had handpicked for the drama series “Sneaky Pete,” which drops Jan. 13 on Amazon. With each take, Cranston changed his approach to the showdown among unsavory characters in the backroom of a seedy gambling joint in New York City. He added and subtracted menacing physical gestures, throaty snorts, and nervous laughter. He switched the path of his pacing around a large table. He massaged his monologue, adding pauses and changing the inflection of key words from a guttural whisper to an angry bark.
As he experimented through at least eight lengthy takes that morning, he held the rapt attention of everyone on the set. Actors who weren’t even in the scene gathered around the periphery to catch a master class »
- Cynthia Littleton
Netflix’s ‘Series of Unfortunate Events’ Director Barry Sonnenfeld: We’re Already Writing Scripts for Season 2
39 minutes ago
Although “A Series of Unfortunate Events” won’t be released until Jan. 13, the cast and creators, who attended the Netflix adaptation’s premiere at the AMC Loews in Manhattan on Wednesday, are ready to get back to work.
“We’re planning to do more, but we haven’t been greenlit to do more,” exec producer and director Barry Sonnenfeld told Variety. “But we already have scripts being written for the second season. We have the stages on hold, so we’re optimistic.”
The director said that the 13-book series by Daniel Handler that inspired the TV show would ideally be divided over three seasons: The first season spans the first four books; Season 2 would cover the middle five; and the last four books would be covered in a third season.
Sonnenfeld said he would want to split the series that way “because at the end of the second season there’s a natural break after ‘Carnivorous Carnival »
- Seth Kelley
Reed Midem, City of Cannes Join Forces on International Drama Series Festival (Exclusive)
1 hour ago
Reed Midem, the French organizer of MipTV and Mipcom, two of the world’s biggest TV showcases set in Cannes, is joining forces with the city of Cannes to launch an international drama series festival that will run alongside MipTV.
The first edition will kick off during the 2018 edition of MipTV, which runs in early April, just under a month before the start of Cannes Film Festival. Cannes mayor David Lisnard, a driving force behind the initiative, said the festival will be modeled on Cannes Film Festival with a strong industry/market component which will be handled by Reed Midem through MipTV.
“Reed Midem and Cannes have been close partners since the second edition of MipTV was held in the city in 1965. We share Mayor David Lisnard’s vision of an international drama series festival and the pertinence of holding it in Cannes alongside MipTV in April 2018,” Reed Midem told Variety.
“This »
- Elsa Keslassy
TV Ratings: ABC Wins Wednesday, ‘Lethal Weapon’ Holds Up
1 hour ago
With no major interruptions to the broadcast schedule, Wednesday returned to its usual form in Nielsen’s preliminary ratings. ABC took the crown in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic, and CBS won in total viewers, with an average audience of 6.65 million through the night.
ABC’s comedies held pretty much even from last week. “The Goldbergs” came in at a 1.9 and 6.9 million viewers. “Speechless” drew a 1.7 and 5.9 million. “Modern Family” brought in a 2.3 and 7.57 million. “Black-ish” notched a 1.7 and 5.75 million viewers. “Match Game” pulled in a 1.1 and 4.24 million viewers.
Fox has settled into an “Empire”-less groove. “Lethal Weapon” continues to hold up well, with a 1.4 in the demo and 6.42 million viewers. “Star” brought in a 1.4 and 4.3 million viewers.
NBC’s “Blindspot” dipped a tick to a 1.0 and 5.09 million viewers. “Law & Order: Svu” came in with a 1.4 and 6.1 million viewers. “Chicago P.D.” capped off the night with a 1.5 and 6.55 million viewers.
CBS »
- Oriana Schwindt
‘Percy Jackson’ Musical, By ‘Unfortunate Events’ Writer, Expands for Return Run
2 hours ago
Joe Tracz is having a pretty good week. The first season of “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” the Lemony Snicket TV adaptation on which he served as a story editor, bows Friday on Netflix — and then on Monday, rehearsals start for a new Off Broadway production of his musical adaptation of Percy Jackson tale “The Lightning Thief,” newly expanded from its one-hour origins to a full-length, two-act evening.
That makes two back-to-back adaptations of Ya sensations: “Unfortunate Events,” novelist Snicket’s hit series about the unlucky Baudelaire kiddies, and “Lightning Thief,” the first novel in Rick Riordan’s megaselling “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” about a teen who discovers he’s the son of the Greek god Poseidon. Both are also series that have received previous screen adaptations — “Unfortunate Events” in 2004 and “Lightning Thief” in 2010 — that never caught fire in the way the books did.
“They’re both properties that had movie adaptations that didn’t capture »
- Gordon Cox
‘Atlanta’ Creator Donald Glover Sets Overall Deal With FX Productions; ‘Atlanta’ to Return in 2018
2 hours ago
Donald Glover, the auteur behind FX’s red-hot series “Atlanta,” has set an exclusive overall deal with FX Productions.
The pact calls for Glover to develop new projects for FX Networks’ outlets as well as other networks and streaming services. He will remain the writer, director, star and exec producer of “Atlanta,” which on Sunday won the Golden Globe for best comedy series and the comedy actor nod for Glover. “Atlanta” will return for a second season in 2018 due to Glover’s production schedule.
“Atlanta,” a deeply personal look at African-American life in Georgia’s urban center, has been the talk of the creative community since its Sept. 6 debut. The series was quickly renewed for a second season. On Wednesday, Glover added a Directors Guild Award nomination to the Writers Guild Award mention the show picked up last month.
FX Productions’ expanded relationship with Glover was unveiled Thursday by Nick Grad and Eric Schrier, presidents »
- Cynthia Littleton
FX Sets Premiere Dates for ‘Feud,’ ‘The Americans,’ ‘Archer’
2 hours ago
FX has announced the premiere dates for “Feud: Bette and Joan,” the new limited series from Ryan Murphy,” the penultimate season of Emmy-nominated spy drama “The Americans,” and the eighth season of comedy series “Archer,” which is now moving to FXX.
Ryan Murphy’s latest anthology series, “Feud: Bette and Joan,” will debut on Sunday, March 5. The first installment of the limited series recounts the legendary rivalry between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) during their collaboration on the Oscar-nominated movie “What Ever Happened to Bette Jane?” as well as after the cameras stopped rolling. Each installment of the anthology will focus on a different epic battle.
The cast also includes Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, Judy Davis, Jackie Hoffman, and Alison Wright, as well as guest stars Dominic Burgess, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates and Kiernan Shipka.
Along with Murphy, executive producers are Tim Minear, Alexis Martin Woodall »
- Debra Birnbaum
‘American Horror Story’ Renewed for Two More Seasons at FX
2 hours ago
FX has renewed “American Horror Story” for two more seasons — in addition to the already-picked-up seventh season — taking the anthology series through a ninth season.
The announcement was made Thursday ahead of the cabler’s sessions at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena, Calif. by John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions.
Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, “American Horror Story” began in 2011 with its first installment, “Murder House.” Then came “Asylum,” “Coven,” “Freak Show,” “Hotel” and the most recent season, “Ahs: Roanoke,” wrapped in late 2016.
“’American Horror Story’ launched the modern limited series revolution and — as evidenced by the most recent installment ‘Roanoke’ — it remains as vital today as when ‘Murder House’ stunned audiences six years ago,” said Landgraf. “Each new chapter is a cultural event, beloved for every new twist in imagery, style, cast and plot. We are thrilled that Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
GroupM Will Push Forward with Efforts to Measure Ads Across Screens (Exclusive)
2 hours ago
Who will come up with the definitive yardstick to measure TV audiences watching their favorite programs on new kinds of screens? It might be Madison Avenue.
As the nation’s biggest TV companies scuffle with Nielsen over the viability of a new technology that would allow for the tabulation of audiences watching video favorites on TV and digital screens, a prominent media-buying firm is working to put together an alternative.
GroupM, the large and influential media-buying unit owned by ad-industry giant Wpp, is working on a methodology that would allow advertisers to count the number of impressions their commercials get, no matter if they appear on TV, alongside streaming video or other in new viewing frontiers. The company is working with the Video Advertising Bureau, the industry group that promotes content from big media outlets ranging from ABC to Viacom.
If the technology can’t be brought to market in the next two years, said »
- Brian Steinberg
Trump Continues to Attack CNN Following Press Conference Feud
3 hours ago
Donald Trump continued to attack CNN on Twitter Thursday morning, making an unsubstantiated accusation that the network is “in a total meltdown.”
During his first official press conference since the election on Wednesday, Trump took aim at the media — specifically BuzzFeed and CNN — after the former published a 35-page dossier that made unsubstantiated claims that Russians held compromising information about him. During the conference, the president elect told CNN reporter Jim Acosta, “I am not going to give you a question. You are fake news.”
“CNN is in a total meltdown with their Fake News because their ratings are tanking since election and their credibility will soon be gone!” Trump tweeted Thursday morning.
Variety has reached out to CNN for comment.
Acosta pledged to not back down to the president-elect in an appearance on CNN Thursday. “We’re going to keep doing the news, and that’s not something that’s going to stop when he goes »
- Seth Kelley
Fox’s Super Bowl Li Broadcast to Include Virtual Player Pov Replays
3 hours ago
Fox Sports promises to bring Super Bowl Li viewers into the action as never before with plans to feature replays reconstructed to appear as if they were coming from any player on the field.
For the NFL championship game Feb. 5 in Houston, Fox will use technology developed by Intel to produce the “Be the Player” enhancement, a feature that displays a Pov perspective from any player on the field without ever having a physical camera attached to the player. (Pictured above is an example of the Qb’s view captured at last month’s Foster Farms Bowl matchup between Indiana and Utah.)
Intel’s 360 Replay technology synthesizes a player’s view to let plays be recreated in 3D space. For Super Bowl Li, Fox Sports and Intel are using an array of 38 cameras positioned around Nrg Stadium to capture the video necessary to generate the Pov replays. Each 15-30 second clip, which »
- Todd Spangler
Apple Plotting ‘Significant’ Push Into Scripted TV Shows, Movies (Report)
4 hours ago
Apple wants to stocks its music-subscription service with original scripted TV shows and potentially movies, seeking to become a bigger Hollywood player, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Variety first reported Apple’s interest in moving into original programming in 2015. Apple is now looking to bring shows with the caliber of HBO’s “Westworld” and Netflix’s “Stranger Things” to Apple Music by the end of 2017, according to the Journal.
The company has already cut deals for some original video content for Apple Music, its $10 monthly service that competes with the likes of Spotify and Google Play Music. Apple’s programming slate includes a deal with CBS for a 16-episode spinoff of James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke,” as well as a scripted show from Beats founder Dr. Dre.
The WSJ report did not include details about what shows or genres Apple is looking at, and said the company’s interest in movies was “more preliminary.” The »
- Todd Spangler
Viacom Enters Israeli TV Market with Stake in Ananey Communications Group
6 hours ago
Tel Aviv — Viacom has entered the Israeli TV market.
The entertainment conglomerate said Thursday it has purchased a minority stake in Ananey Communications Group, an Israeli content producer and pay-tv provider that dominates the content, production and distribution scene in Israel with its 11 channels and four subsidiaries. The deal leaves open the option for Viacom to purchase a controlling stake in the future.
The move, whose financial details were not disclosed, comes after a long history of collaboration between Ananey and Viacom International Media Networks. Ananey serves as the Israeli licensor of several of Viacom’s biggest brands, including Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon, and produces both local and international original content. Ananey has seen great success marketing Viacom content to audiences in Israel: Nickelodeon is the nation’s top children’s channel (ahead of Arutz HaYeladim, the local Hebrew-language kiddie content portal), boosted in big part by Ananey’s locally produced and dedicated content for the »
- Debra Kamin
France’s TF1 and Italy’s Mediaset Join Collective Digital Platform Studio71
9 hours ago
Rome – Studio71, the multichannel network controlled by German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1, has forged partnerships with French TV network TF1 Group and Italy’s Mediaset, which have become minority shareholders in the company, forming a European alliance in the advertising-video-on-demand sector.
TF1 has taken a 6.1% stake in Studio71, while Mediaset has taken an initial 5.5% chunk for a combined investment of 53 million euros ($56 million). ProSiebenSat retains about 70% of Studio71 shares, according to a statement.
The deal values Studio71 at roughly 400 million euros ($425 million).
The entry of these two top European generalist broadcasters will see Studio71 expand by setting up local operations in France and Italy. As part of the agreement Studio71 will acquire a strategic minority interest in premium multichannel network Finder Studios, which is controlled by TF1 Group. Under the Mediaset partnership, Mediaset’s Publitalia80 unit will become the exclusive sales agent for Studio71 advertising in Italy.
Each new Studio71 platform will feature content from TF1 and Mediaset’s »
- Nick Vivarelli
BBC Worldwide, Access, Lookout Point Launch Benchmark
10 hours ago
BBC Worldwide, Access Entertainment, and Lookout Point have come together to set up Benchmark Television, a new venture that will be able to greenlight high-end drama series before a network or platform has been attached.
The initiative is designed to give high-profile talent “a new route to production with an independent funding model,” the partner companies said in a statement. Rather than produce directly, Benchmark will commission from established producers and writers, with full straight-to-series funding provided by BBC Worldwide, the U.K. broadcaster’s commercial arm, and Access Entertainment, headed by Danny Cohen, the former director of BBC Television. The venture will allow producers “to have their scripted television series greenlit without first securing backing from any network or platform.”
The aim is to greenlight a major series in the coming months. Cohen told Variety that meetings with recognized talent in Britain have already begun; he and his colleagues are scheduled to travel to the U »
- Leo Barraclough
Fox TV CEO Dana Walden Talks Drama Prospects, ‘Empire’ and Comedy Challenges
14 hours ago
It’s been a bumpy fall for Fox Broadcasting Co., with rave reviews but weak ratings for its newcomer “Pitch,” a string of unavoidable preemptions for tentpole “Empire” and challenges in bringing younger viewers to linear screens for live-action comedies. On the plus side, frosh drama “Lethal Weapon” has lived up to expectations, the network hosted a once-in-a-generation World Series and is looking forward to the Super Bowl on Feb. 5.
Dana Walden, who is Fox Television Group chairman-ceo alongside Gary Newman, spoke of the hurdles and opportunities faced so far this season in an interview Wednesday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena.
Walden stressed that Fox is gearing up for a super-charged second half that hopefully will restock the network’s drama bench. “24: Legacy” launches behind the Super Bowl and another high-octane drama, “Apb” bowing the following night. The provocative “Shots Fired” bows March 22 in tandem with the midseason return of “Empire.” And »
- Cynthia Littleton
‘Bones’: Will There Ever Be a Reunion After Season 12?
15 hours ago
The final chapter of “Bones” premiered earlier this month, and with Season 12 underway, only 10 episodes of the long-running crime procedural are left to air.
But, is this season really the end — or could the cast return for a reunion down the road?
Given the current nostalgia-filled television landscape, especially on Fox, which is home to revivals for “24,” “Prison Break,” and “The X-Files,” reporters asked the “Bones” cast and producers if they would ever be interested in a reboot or reunion series in the future.
“I think those things are always possible, and very desirable,” creator Hart Hanson responded at the Television Critics Association press tour on Wednesday in Pasadena, Calif.
With no real plans for a reunion underway — the show hasn’t even ended yet, after all — the cast weighed in on whether they would return for any sort of revival.
David Boreanaz said, “It’s very hard for me to answer that question, honestly »
- Elizabeth Wagmeister
TV News Roundup: ‘The Good Wife’ Star Chris Noth and ‘Game of Thrones’ Sand Snake Keisha Castle-Hughes Join ‘Manifesto’
17 hours ago
In today’s TV news roundup, “The Good Wife” star Chris Noth and “Game of Thrones” Sand Snake Keisha Castle-Hughes join Discovery Channel’s scripted series “Manifesto,” and more.
Casting
Golden Globe nominee Chris Noth (“The Good Wife”) and Academy Award nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes (“Whale Rider,” “Game of Thrones”) have both been cast in Discovery Channel’s upcoming scripted series “Manifesto,” set to air later this year. The series will tell the story of how the FBI brought down Ted Kaczynski (Paul Bettany), also known as the “Unabomber,” one of the most infamous criminal masterminds in the world. Noth will play Don Ackerman, the Bay Area Divisional Head of the FBI, who supervised the Unabomber Task Force, while Castle-Hughes will star as Tabby, a street agent who partners with FBI agent Jim Fitzgerald (Sam Worthington), one of the most decorated profilers in the history of the bureau whose radical approach ultimately took Kaczynski down. Production »
- Will Thorne
‘Prison Break’: Wentworth Miller on How ‘The Flash’ Made Fox Revival Happen
17 hours ago
“Prison Break” ended in 2009 with Wentworth Miller’s lead character Michael Scofield apparently dead. Eight years later, the show’s fifth season is set to premiere. The revival may not have happened if not for “The Flash.”
Miller and co-lead Dominic Purcell, who play brothers on “Prison Break,” were reunited in 2014 when they were cast as villainous duo Captain Cold and Heatwave on the first season of the CW superhero drama.
“That is where Dom and I had our reunion,” Miller said Wednesday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour Wednesday. “Suddenly we were back on set, discussing old times. And out of that conversation came the possibility of revisiting ‘Prison Break.'”
Creator and executive producer Paul T. Scheuring said that the idea for reviving the series then advanced after he and Miller met.
“Wentworth and Dominic talked, and then Wentworth and I had a sit down and reconvened after all the years,” Scheuring »
- Daniel Holloway
Buzzfeed Editor on Publishing Trump Dossier: ‘Absolutely the Right Thing to Do’
18 hours ago
Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith met with Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” on Wednesday and defended the online new outlet’s controversial decision to publish a private intelligence report containing unverified claims that Russia attempted to compromise President-elect Donald Trump.
“I think we are now in a media environment where you have to engage in false statements,” Smith said.
Todd pressed Smith on the nature of his decision throughout the interview, telling Smith, “You just published fake news. Why is that an unfair description?”
“This was a real story about a real document that was really being passed around between the very top officials of this country,” Smith countered.
Acknowledging that Buzzfeed was dealing with an “incredibly difficult balance,” Smith pointed out that the dossier was already circulating at the top levels of the intelligence community. “I think when people are, as Harry Reid did, top officials, are not just seeing it, [but] making »
- Alex Stedman
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