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[05/01/14 - 11:28 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, May 1
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC) |
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LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
Looking to keep track of all the various projects in development? Click here to visit our signature "Devwatch" section. There visitors can view our listings by network, genre, studio and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It's updated every day!
BESSIE (HBO, New!) - Queen Latifah is set to play iconic blues singer Bessie Smith in a proposed biopic at the pay channel, which "chronicles how Smith overcame her tempestuous personal life to become one of the most acclaimed performing and recording artists of the 1920s and '30s, earning the nickname Empress of the Blues." Dee Rees (Pariah) wrote and will direct the project, which is based on the biography "Bessie" written by Chris Albertson. Latifah will also executive produce alongside Shakim Compere, Lili Fini Zanuck, Richard Zanuck, Shelby Stone and Randi Michel with Hallie Foote as co-executive producer and Ron Schmidt as producer for Flavor Unit Entertainment and the Zanuck Company. (Deadline.com)
DIG (USA/UCP; W: Gideon Raff & Tim Kring; D: S.J. Clarkson) - Regina Taylor and Omar Metwally have both booked roles on the event series, about an FBI agent stationed in Jerusalem (Jason Isaacs) who, while investigating a murder of a young female archeologist, uncovers a conspiracy 2000 years in the making. She'll play Ruth Ridell, "the U.S. ambassador to Israel who has little time for problems that Peter creates for her with the local authorities"; while he's set as Yussef Khalid, "an American who disappeared after being accused of murder." Alison Loren Sudol, Anne Heche and David Costabile also star. (THR.com)
HOW AND WHY (FX/FXP; W/D: Charlie Kaufman) - Marcella Plunkett (Dark Touch) has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, the story of a man, Goodman Hesselman (John Hawkes), who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works, but is clueless about life. She'll play two roles, "Cynthia, a photographer at Goodman's new TV station in Murfreesboro, and Magda, Mendelson's (Michael Cera) secretary, whose day is spent in a cramped, tiny room, not much bigger than her desk." Sally Hawkins and Catherine Keener also star. (Deadline.com)
UNSTRUNG (ABC Family; W: Emily Whitesell; D: TBA) - Chanel Celaya and Sofia Mattsson are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, which explores the sexy, cutthroat, and emotional stakes of the professional world tour of tennis as brother and sister Luke and Ellie Holt compete to move up the ranks. Celaya will play the aforementioned Ellie, "an athletic, spunky beauty with great talent but not-so-great discipline"; with Mattsson as Ninotchka Andropov, "a diva ranked 3rd in the world but first in looks." (THR.com)
UNTITLED ANDY ST. CLAIR/PAUL O'TOOLE PROJECT (MTV, New!) - Andy St. Clair and Paul O'Toole have scored a cast-contingent pilot order from the network for a new comedy about "22-year-old Andy, who after he catches his girlfriend cheating, accidentally rear-ends a celebrity. Taking pity on Andy, the celebrity takes it upon himself to teach him how to man up." Odenkirk Provissiero's Marc Provissiero will executive produce the project with St. Clair and O'Toole serving as co-executive producers. (THR.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Brian Percival has bowed out of helming the AMC drama pilot "Knifeman" for personal reasons (Deadline.com); "Nashville" executive producer R.J. Cutler has signed a first-look development deal with CBS Television Studios for scripted projects, ending his run at Lionsgate Television (Deadline.com); Kristin Chenoweth has been cast as Maleficent in Disney Channel's "Descendants," "who butts horns with her daughter Mal (Dove Cameron)" (Deadline.com); Nestor Serrano and Brit Morgan will both recur on the new season of "Graceland" (TVLine.com); and Tyler Hilton is bound for the upcoming CBS drama "Extant" as "the chief coder on the Humanichs Project at the center of the story" (THR.com).
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[11/03/25 - 02:01 PM]
Cole Escola Joins Season 3 of Netflix's "One Piece"
A master of performance and precision, Bon Clay is as dangerous as they are dazzling - a theatrical assassin who turns combat into art.
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[11/03/25 - 01:34 PM]
FX Orders "Untitled Snowfall Spinoff" Drama Series
Set in '90s Los Angeles soon after the end of the original series, a recovering addict strives to take West Coast rap mainstream - while gang wars erupt and record labels move to exploit hip hop culture for their own gain.
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[11/03/25 - 11:42 AM]
FOX Sports Unveils 2025-26 College Basketball Schedule Featuring Marquee Matchups Across FOX, FS1 & More
Beginning Saturday, November 8, the "FOX Primetime Hoops" slate begins with an elite non-conference matchup between preseason No. 22 Michigan State and No. 14 Arkansas at 7:00 PM ET on FOX.
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[11/03/25 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Premiere Week Leads Live+7 Multiplatform Viewership with Television's #1 Show "Tracker" and Four of the Top Five Series
The network claimed 10 of the top 20 series, twice as many top 20 shows as the competition.
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[11/03/25 - 10:14 AM]
The Hunt Starts Now - Stream All "Predator" Films on Hulu
Catch up on the franchise collection before the theatrical release of 20th Century Studios' "Predator: Badlands," which is the newest chapter in the "Predator" universe, hitting theaters November 7.
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[11/03/25 - 10:14 AM]
Bravo's "Vanderpump Rules" Returns with an All-New Group of SUR-vers on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 9 P.M. ET/PT on Bravo
Plus: "Raise Your Glass to 11 Seasons" looks back at over a decade of "Vanderpump Rules'" most iconic moments and never-before-seen footage on Tuesday, November 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.
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[11/03/25 - 10:03 AM]
CNN Films Announces Broadcast Premiere of "Prime Minister" on Sunday, November 16 at 9pm ET/PT
From award-winning filmmakers Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, the feature documentary is a rare, intimate portrait of the tenure of New Zealand's former prime minister, Jacinda Ardern.
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[11/03/25 - 10:02 AM]
MGM+ Greenlights True-Crime Docuseries "The Hillside Strangler"
The four-part true-crime docuseries explores the infamous murders that gripped Los Angeles in the late 1970s and the exhaustive investigation that followed.
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[11/03/25 - 09:04 AM]
Video: Peacock Debuts Official Trailer and Key Art for Fourth and Final Season of "Bel-Air"
In season four of Peacock's "Bel-Air," Will tries to balance the fun and excitement of senior year with the expectations that have brought him to this moment.
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[11/03/25 - 09:01 AM]
AMC Networks' "Best Christmas Ever" Returns with Month-Long Celebration of the Holidays Beginning November 29
Highlights include "The Last Drive-In: Joe Bob's Cold Cruel Christmas" and "The Boulet Brothers' Dragula Holiday of Horrors."
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[11/03/25 - 09:00 AM]
Video: Let It Bro! "A Very Jonas Christmas Movie" Official Trailer Is Here
The trailer also features the first single from the movie, "Coming Home This Christmas" featuring Kenny G, which is now available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and YouTube Music.
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[11/03/25 - 08:00 AM]
Video: First Look at Upcoming FOX Series "Best Medicine" Starring Josh Charles, Abigail Spencer, Annie Potts, Josh Segarra & Cree
The series centers on Dr. Martin Best (Josh Charles), a brilliant surgeon who abruptly leaves his illustrious career in Boston to become the general practitioner in a quaint East Coast fishing village where he spent summers as a child with his Aunt Sarah (Annie Potts).
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[11/03/25 - 07:15 AM]
Erika Kirk to Receive Inaugural "Charlie Kirk Legacy Award" at 2025 FOX Nation Patriot Awards on Thursday, November 6th
Beginning at 8 PM/ET, The Patriot Awards will stream live on FOX Nation with an encore presentation to air on FNC at a later date.
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[11/03/25 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Is It Cake? Holiday" - Season 2 Official Trailer - Netflix
Three "Is It Cake" alum and three baking heavy hitters try to fool celebrity judges with their incredible hyper-realistic cakes.
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[11/03/25 - 06:31 AM]
Video: "Sesame Street" Is Coming to Netflix - Official Trailer - Netflix
This freshly reimagined "Sesame Street" series features characters you love, fan-favorite segments - and new ways to play!
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