Bruce Campbell Joins Satanic Panic Drama ‘Hysteria!’ at Peacock (EXCLUSIVE)

Joe Otterson TV Reporter A “Babylon 5” animated movie is in the works from original series creator J. Michael Straczynski. “BABYLON 5 ANIMATED MOVIE [sic] coming from Warner Bros. Animation & WB Home Entertainment!” Straczynski announced via Twitter. “Classic B5: raucous, heartfelt, nonstop, a ton of fun through time and space & a love letter to the fans. Movie title, release date and other details coming one week from today.” The original “Babylon 5” was produced by Warner Bros. Television. The series ran in syndication and on TNT for five seasons, 110 episodes, and seven TV movies, including the 1993 pilot film. The show is considered one of the best sci-fi series ever made by many critics and won numerous awards throughout its run, including two Hugo Awards and a Saturn Award.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Freida Pinto has signed on to “Surface” Season 2 at Apple, Variety has learned exclusively. Pinto joins series star Gugu Mbatha-Raw as well as fellow new cast member Phil Dunster of “Ted Lasso” fame. As previously announced, “Surface” Season 2 will see Mbatha-Raw’s character Sophie return to her hometown of London and “rediscovering the unfinished relationships that have haunted her memories – as she finds out where she really came from, and what made her the flawed person she was.” Pinto will play Grace, Quinn’s (Dunster) fiancé. Quinn is the troubled scion of the infamous Huntley family. As the soon-to-be newest member of the Huntley family, Grace is said to be “conflicted about what she’s really signing up for, and forms a special bond with Sophie.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Pro wrestling legend Chris Jericho is set to star in the upcoming UPtv original movie “Country Hearts,” Variety has learned exclusively. The film, which will premiere this fall, follows “the daughters of country music and rock & roll royalty who find themselves at a crossroads, torn between following their dreams of performing or helping their father run their up-and-coming horse breeding business,” per the official description. “Between old flames, new love, best friends and family – they’ll all need the strength of each other to face the next steps.” Along with Jericho, the cast for the film also includes Lanie McAuley, Katerina Maria, Brendan Morgan, Jeff Irving, Craig Strickland, David Pinard, Michelle Nolden, Genevieve Fisher, Roy Lewis, Lara Amersey, Greg Ellwand, Bebsabe Duque, Celine Bauwmans, and Neil Whitely. A sequel, “Country Hearts Christmas,” has been greenlit already.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Bosch: Legacy” has been renewed for Season 3 at Amazon Freevee ahead of the show’s Season 2 premiere. The announcement was made ahead of Amazon’s NewFront presentation in New York on May 1. The first season of “Bosch: Legacy” debuted on Freevee in May 2022, with Season 2 set to air this fall. Like its predecessor, the Prime Video series “Bosch,” the Freevee series is based on the Bosch novels written by Michael Connelly. “The story of Harry Bosch has evolved over the years, and his journey is far from over,” said LaurenAnderson, head of AVOD Originals, unscripted, and targeted programming at Amazon Studios. “Thisrenewal of ‘Bosch: Legacy’ is a testament to the enduring power of the world Michael Connelly built. Welook forward to giving Bosch fandom the next chapter for these beloved characters.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Aidy Bryant is set to star in “Lonely Hearts Club,” a dramedy series based on an episode of the Crime Junkies podcast, currently in the works at Peacock. “Beau Is Afraid” filmmaker Ari Aster is executive producing the project. Set in the late 1940s, “Lonely Hearts Club” is described as a darkly comedic true crime thriller about a lonely woman who falls in love with a dim but handsome con man. Together they form an unlikely “Loser-Bonnie-and-Clyde”-style partnership that ends in lies, murder and the electric chair. The show is based on an episode of Ashley Flowers’ Crime Junkie podcast entitled “Infamous: The ‘Lonely Hearts’ Killers.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Adam Brody will star opposite Kristen Bell in an upcoming comedy series for Netflix, Variety has learned. The untitled series was ordered at the streamer back in March. It centers “on the unlikely relationship between the outspoken, agnostic Joanne (Bell) and unconventional rabbi Noah (Brody).” The character Noah is further described as “a charming rabbi who is stuck in his ways and used to playing things safe. He starts to stumble when he meets a brutally honest and provocative Joanne, totally upending his safe life plan.” Brody is best known for his role in the hit Fox drama series “The O.C.,” while his other TV credits include “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” “Mrs. America,” “StartUp,” and “Single Parents.” He has also appeared in films such as “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “Jennifer’s Body,” “Sleeping with Other People,” and “Promising Young Woman.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Sarah Goldberg is staying put at HBO, with the “Barry” star set for a recurring guest star role in Season 3 of “Industry.” Production is set to begin in the U.K. soon on the new season of the series, which is a co-production with the BBC. The Season 3 logline states “As Pierpoint looks to the future and takes a big bet on ethical investing, the desk find themselves front and center in the splashy IPO of Lumi, a green tech energy company — in a story that runs all the way to the very top of finance, media and government.” Goldberg will appear in the role of Petra Koenig, described as “a portfolio manager at ethical investment fund FutureDawn.” Goldberg is the latest recurring guest star announced for Season 3, alongside Kit Harington, who will play the CEO of Lumi.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter WME has hired Carly Frankel as an agent in the digital department and Samantha Korn as an agent in the talent department focused on comedy, Variety has learned exclusively. Frankel will focus on the agency’s podcasting business, including the comedy, personal development, and narrative nonfiction verticals. Prior to joining WME, she was senior development executive at Wondery, having originally joined the company in 2019. In that role, she worked across creative and business development to identify original podcast concepts and to bring them to production. She was previously at Wondery where she most recently served as a senior development executive, working across creative and business development to both identify hit original podcast concepts and bring them to production. Following Wondery’s acquisition by Amazon Music in 2021, Frankel was instrumental in designing the company’s consolidated greenlight and deal protocols for original programming. She is based in WME’S Beverly Hills office.Korn comes from “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” where she most recently served as a creative executive for Colbert’s production company, Spartina. Prior to that, she started her professional career at CAA and went to “The Late Show” to work for then-executive producer and showrunner Chris Licht. In addition to “The Late Show” and its associated specials, her credits include “Pickled” for CBS and “Tooning Out the News” for Paramount+. She is also based in the Beverly Hills office.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Jensen Ackles, Danneel Ackles, and their production company Chaos Machine are entering a first-look TV deal at Amazon, Variety has learned exclusively. The Ackles and Chaos Machine were previously under a first-look deal at Warner Bros. Television. It was reported in October 2022 that they had extended the WBTV deal for another two years, but they have now exited that deal for Amazon. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, the Ackles and WBTV parted ways on good terms and any projects Chaos Machine had in development with their now former studio home remain in the works. The WBTV deal was solely a producing deal, while the Amazon deal covers both acting and producing.

Jordan Moreau Nothing can keep the dead down. “Evil Dead Rise,” the latest movie in the horror franchise created by Sam Raimi, has made $2.5 million in Thursday previews at the domestic box office. It’s a strong start for a horror movie in April, but it won’t be enough to stop the mushroom-powered, meteoric rise of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which is projected to earn another massive haul with $45 million to $50 million in its third weekend. Universal and Illumination’s hit Nintendo adaptation already has $724 million globally and will soon pass “Minions: The Rise of Gru” as the highest-grossing animated movie in the post-pandemic era. “Evil Dead Rise” is expected to scare up between $15 million and $20 million in its opening weekend, with some predictions as high as $25 million. It’s the fifth movie in Warner Bros. and New Line’s “Evil Dead” franchise, which began way back in 1981 with Raimi’s original, low-budget horror hit starring Bruce Campbell as zombie killer Ash Williams. The previous entry, simply titled “Evil Dead,” made $97.5 million from a $17 million budget in 2013.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Netflix has ordered a supernatural drama series titled “The Boroughs” that boasts “Stranger Things” creators the Duffer brothers as executive producers, Variety has learned. “The Boroughs” hails from co-creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews. Netflix has given the show an eight-episode order. Per the official logline, “In a seemingly picturesque retirement community in the New Mexico desert, a group of unlikely heroes must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don’t have… time.” “We’ve been fans of Jeff and Will’s writing for a long time, and when they pitched us their idea for ‘The Boroughs,’ we immediately knew they had something very special on their hands,” the Duffers said. “While the heroes in ‘The Boroughs’ have a few more years on them than the kids from ‘Stranger Things,’ they are a similarly lovable bunch of misfits, and we can’t wait for you to join them on an adventure that is at turns scary, funny, and deeply touching.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The upcoming Peacock drama series “Hysteria!” is rounding out its main cast. Anna Camp (“Pitch Perfect” franchise, “True Blood) Emjay Anthony (“Physical,” “Chef”), Chiara Aurelia (“Cruel Summer,” “Luckiest Girl Alive”), Kezii Curtis (“Charm City Kings,” “Secret Headquarters”) and Nikki Hahn (“Magnum P.I.,” “American Housewife”) have all been cast in the series. They join previously announced cast member Julie Bowen. The show was originally ordered at Peacock in August 2022. Per the official series description, “When a beloved varsity quarterback disappears during the ‘Satanic Panic’ of the late 1980s, a struggling high school heavy metal band of outcasts realize they can capitalize on the town’s sudden interest in the occult by building a reputation as a Satanic metal band, until a bizarre series of murders, kidnappings, and reported ‘supernatural activity’ triggers a leather-studded witch hunt that leads directly back to them.”

EXCLUSIVE: Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect triology) has joined the cast of Peacock’s coming-of-age thriller Hysteria ! as a series regular.

EXCLUSIVE: Emjay Anthony (Physical), Chiara Aurelia (Cruel Summer), Kezii Curtis (Charm City Kings) and Nikki Hahn (Magnum P.I.) have joined the cast of Peacock’s coming-of-age thriller Hysteria! as series regulars.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Ewan McGregor is set to star in a drama series currently in development at Amazon Prime Video, Variety has learned exclusively. Currently titled “Lodi,” the series is inspired by a true story as told in an Alta online article by Andrew Dubbins. The official description of the series states, “In 1977, a car salesman, Lou (McGregor), goes from ordinary small-town citizen to FBI informant infiltrating the mafia when a key member of organized crime offers to buy his Cadillac dealership. Over the next three years, Lou finds his quest for glory tested when he becomes embroiled in the inner workings of the crime family – from fronting a multimillion-dollar operation, to becoming a surrogate son– before procuring the first-ever conviction of an infamous crime boss.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Netflix has canceled the comedy series “Freeridge” after just one season, Variety has learned exclusively. The half-hour show was a spinoff of the Netflix YA comedy series “On My Block.” It was originally ordered to series back in September 2021 ahead of the fourth and final season of “On My Block.” “Freeridge” debuted its one and only eight-episode season at the streamer on Feb. 2. According to the “Freeridge” official logline, it “is a coming of age comedy following sibling rivals Gloria and Ines and their friends Demi and Cameron who have unleashed a curse bringing dark misfortune into their lives.”

Former Vanderpump Rules stars Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright will be sharing their views on the latest drama of the Bravo series in Peacock’s Watch With feature.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Harvey Keitel has signed on to star in the Sky and Peacock TV adaptation of the Heather Morris novel “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.” Keitel joins previously announced cast members Jonah Hauer-King, Gita Furman, Melanie Lynskey and Jonas Nay in the series. Per the official description, the show “is inspired by the heart-breaking true-life story of Lale and Gita Sokolov. Lale (Hauer-King) arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942, and shortly after arrival, he was made one of the tätowierer (tattooists), charged to ink identification numbers onto fellow prisoners’ arms. One day, he meets Gita (Próchniak) when tattooing her prisoner number on her arm. They experience love at first sight, and so begins a life-affirming, courageous, unforgettable, and human story. Under constant guard from a volatile SS officer Baretzki (Jonas Nay), Lale and Gita became determined to keep each other alive.”

BreAnna Bell Julie Bowen has signed on to star in Peacock’s forthcoming series “Hysteria!” According to the streamer, the series is a coming-of-age thriller that explores American’s dark history of mass hysteria through the shocking story of the teenage Satanic Panic, a struggling high school heavy metal band of outcasts in the ’80s. As a group, they realize they can capitalize on the town’s sudden interest in the occult by building a reputation as a Satanic metal band, until a bizarre series of murders, kidnappings, and reported “supernatural activity” triggers a leather-studded witch hunt that leads directly back to them. Bowen will play Linda Campbell, the mother of one of the teenage outcasts. Linda experiences a series of supernatural disturbances that force her to question everything she knows about her son, as well as the growing threat of Satanism in their small Midwestern town.

“Modern Family” star Julie Bowen is set to star in Peacock’s new thriller series “Hysteria,” the streamer announced Tuesday.Bowen will assume the role of Linda Campbell, the mother of a teenage outcast, in the drama series that exposes the underbelly of American’s mass hysteria prompted by teenage Satanic Panic in the 1980s by following a group of misfits who exploit the widespread concern.As Linda witnesses supernatural disturbances that force interrogations onto her son, she questions the growing threat of Satanism that menaces small Midwestern town. The official logline is as follows: “When a beloved varsity quarterback disappears during the “Satanic Panic” of the late 1980s, a struggling high school heavy metal band of outcasts realize they can capitalize on the town’s sudden interest in the occult by building a reputation as a Satanic metal band, until a bizarre series of murders, kidnappings, and reported “supernatural activity” triggers a leather-studded witch hunt that leads directly back to them.”Hailing from UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, Matthew Scott Kane serves as writer and executive producer for the drama series. John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein will executive produce alongside Chris Bender and Jake Weiner, who executive produce for Good Fear Content.