‘I Want You Back’ Filmmakers Jason Orley and Isaac Aptaker Reteam With Amazon Studios for Untitled Comedy (EXCLUSIVE)

Before “Yellowstone” became a huge phenomenon on the small screen, Academy Award-nominated writer Taylor Sheridan (“Sicario,” “Hell or High Water”) made waves with his feature film screenwriting and directorial effort on “Wind River.” A murder mystery revenge thriller set in a rural community in Wyoming, the drama starred Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Graham Greene, Jon Bernthal, and Martin Senmeier (“Magnificent Seven”).

Jason Clarke, Scott Eastwood and Chaske Spencer will star together in “Wind River: The Next Chapter,” the sequel to Taylor Sheridan’s “Wind River,” for Castle Rock Entertainment.Kari Skogland (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Americans”) will direct from a screenplay by writing partners Patrick Massett and John Zinman (“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Friday Night Lights”).Starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, the 2017 Taylor Sheridan crime drama followed a seasoned hunter who helped an FBI agent investigate the killing of a young woman living on a Wyoming Native American reservation. The sequel also takes place on the Wind River resevation, where a series of ritualistic murders remain unsolved.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Jason Clarke, Scott Eastwood and Chaske Spencer will star in the sequel to “Wind River.” Entitled “Wind River: The Next Chapter,” the film will bedirected by Emmy nominee and BAFTA award winner Kari Skogland.  Patrick Massett and John Zinman have penned the screenplay. As previously announced, Martin Sensmeier will star and reprise his role as Chip Hanson. The original film also starred Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, neither of whom has been attached. According to the official description, the sequel involves the investigation into a series of ritualistic murders on the Wind River reservation. To solve the case, the FBI enlists Chip Hanson, a newly minted tracker for the U.S. Fish & Game, who becomes embroiled in a desperate and dangerous fight between the authorities, a vigilante, and the reservation. Production is currently underway in Calgary.

Jason Clarke (Winning Time), Scott Eastwood (The Outpost) and Chaske Spencer (The English) have signed on to star alongside Martin Sensmeier in Wind River: The Next Chapter — Castle Rock Entertainment’s sequel to the acclaimed 2017 crime drama Wind River, which is currently in production in Calgary.

Michael Jackson biopic from Lionsgate and filmmaker Antoine Fuqua, will star the late pop icon’s own nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in its title role.“Michael” “is on track to generate more in-state spending than any other film in the tax credit program’s 14-year history. In a Monday release, the commission stated that “The Thomas Crown Affair,” “Michael” and an untitled live-action project from Disney are three big-budget projects that will generate an estimated $265 million in qualified spending and $433 million in total spending in California. (Here, “qualified” spending is defined as wages paid to below-the-line workers and payments to in-state vendors; all other spending is not incentivized under the program.)“Our tax credit program continues to welcome a diverse range of projects, from big-budget films to small independent projects, and everything in between,” California Film Commission Executive Director Colleen Bell said in a statement.

David Lindley, whose talents on string instruments made him a sought-after collaborator for Jackson Browne, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan and more, has died at 78. No cause was given, but Lindley was reportedly suffering from a long-term illness.

Amazon Studios has ordered “Twin Love,” a new reality dating competition show from ITV Entertainment, to series. Premiering this summer on Prime Video and the free, ad-supported Freevee, the show will be hosted by WWE Hall of Famers and TV personalities Brie and Nikki Bella.Billed as a “social dating experiment,” “Twin Love” explores the love lives of identical twins.

K.J. Yossman The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) has announced a host of new appointments, including seven trustees. The new trustees include Miranda Wayland, head of U.K. and Europe creative EDI for Prime Video and Amazon Studios, Labour politician and member of the House of Lords Judith Blake, Oxford University Shakespeare professor Judith Buchanan, Coutts media finance exec Judith Chan, PZ Cussons finance exec Helen Selwood, former CFO Shona Spence and business consultant Caroline Spicer. They join current RADA Council members Lolita Chakrabarti, Chipo Chung, Tim Clark, Paul Clay, Martin Donnelly, Buster Dover, Tanya Moodie, Maxine Peake, John Romeo, Tanya Rose, Tamar Thomas and chair Marcus Ryder.

Coronation Street have recast Jackson Hodge after six years as the character is set for a return, leaving Faye Windass in turmoil. Viewers will recall that Jackson is the father of Faye's daughter, Miley, who she gave birth to in 2015 when they were both teenagers. However, soon after Miley's Christening service, Faye struggled with being a young mum as the Hodge family offered to look after the youngster.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer One of Austin’s hometown filmmakers is bringing his next movie to SXSW. Director Robert Rodriguez will screen a work-in-progress cut of his crime thriller “Hypnotic,” starring Ben Affleck, for fans at the SXSW Film Festival in the Texas capital on March 12. In the film, written by Rodriguez and Max Borenstein (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”), Affleck plays a detective who is investigating a series of inexplicable crimes while searching for his missing daughter, whose disappearance is somehow involved with a secret government program.

, with Joshua Jackson, Lizzy Caplan and Amanda Peet taking over the roles first originated by Michael Douglas, Glenn Close and Anne Archer, respectively. In the extended teaser for the series, Alex Forrest (Caplan) seduces Dan Gallagher (Jackson) before the two are seen engaging in a passionate affair. The only catch is, Dan is married — and at the end of the clip, we see Alex introducing herself to his wife, Beth (Peet), who is seemingly unaware of what's going on between the two of them. Adapted by creator Alexandra Cunningham, who also serves as the showrunner, the series will reimagine the cultural touchstones of what made the psychosexual thriller an instant classic while exploring timeless themes of marriage and infidelity and issues related to views of strong women, personality disorders and coercive control through a modern lens. «Culturally, we've come a long way since 1987.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer After months of speculation, Amazon Studios has made it official with seasoned movie executive Courtenay Valenti. While many expected her to take the top film job at MGM, acquired by Amazon for $8.5 billion last year, Valenti has hammered out a hulked-up role that will give her considerable influence in feature programming. Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke told staff on Tuesday that Valenti has been named head of film, streaming and theatrical at both Amazon Studios and MGM. She will report directly to Salke, and be responsible for delivering “a well-rounded selection of tentpoles, prestige films and genre fare,” according to a memo.

Amazon Studios Boss Jen Salke has finally named former Warner Bros President of Production Courtenay Valenti as Head of Film, Streaming and Theatrical for Amazon Studios and MGM. She will report directly to Salke.

If you dig down into it, it’s pretty complicated to discuss the rights situation surrounding “The Lord of the Rings” IP. Warner Bros.

Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke feels about Warner Bros. making competing projects based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” Salke, who has held the top content job at Amazon since 2018, walked a Monday red carpet for the premiere of Michael B. Jordan’s “Creed III” where she spoke with Variety about last week’s news that Warner Bros. had secured film rights to some of Tolkien’s books. One of Salke’s defining moves at Amazon was to secure television rights to the same literary works, which she achieved at great expense. The first season of Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” premiered in 2022 with a big global marketing push and critical acclaim — as well as a reported budget north of $450 million for the first batch of episodes. Previously, Warner Bros. pushed out two massively successful film franchises with auteur Peter Jackson beginning in 2001. Those films grossed over $5 billion at the worldwide box office and brought home a best picture Oscar for one of the entries.

Emiliano Granada “The Head of Joaquín Murrieta” bowed Feb. 17, guns blazing worldwide on Prime Video, weighing in as one of the biggest bets ever from Amazon Studios in Latin America and Amazon Prime and Colombian production powerhouse Dynamo. Its success can open the door for other big swings in Latin America.  Created by Colombia’s Mauricio Leiva Cock (“Capital Roar,” “Green Frontier”) at Fidelio, one of the fastest rising writing-directing talents in Colombia, and Diego Ramírez Schrempp (“Narcos,” “Falco”) at Dynamo, which handled physical production of “Narcos” in Colombia, the ambitious Latin Western, fully locally developed, describes how Joaquin Murrieta, played by a mischievous Juan Manuel Bernal, became a legend.  

EXCLUSIVE: In a seven-figure deal finalised over the last week, Sony Pictures’ Stage 6 Films has beaten out competitors for UK rights to Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid, which A24 is releasing in the U.S. on April 21.

Elizabeth Banks and O’Shea Jackson Jr. are stepping out for the premiere of their new movie!

Angelique Jackson Amazon Studios has picked up the rights to “Daring to Live,” produced by DeVon Franklin’s (“Breakthrough”) Franklin Entertainment. Previously set up at Paramount Players, the project is now in development at Amazon Studios. The film is inspired by Sheri Hunter’s 2020 memoir “Daring to Live: How the Power of Sisterhood and Taking Risks Can Jump-Start Your Joy.” It follows Hunter’s journey of “embracing life anew” after the sudden loss of her husband, thanks to the support of her group of friends — Angenette Frink, Mia Lewis and Brenda Jegede, collectively known as the “Dare Divas” — who encourage her to step outside her comfort zone.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor A pair of virtual celebrities — the “lazy and spectacularly incompetent” Janky and Guggimon — could be starring in Amazon’s next Prime Video original series. Amazon announced that it is leading a $20 million investment round in character-design studio and art toy maker Superplastic, and alongside the funding Amazon Studios signed a first-look TV and film pact with Superplastic. Under the first-look deal, Amazon Studios currently is in early development on “The Janky & Guggimon Show,” featuring Superplastic’s two most famous synthetic celebrities. Per the companies, the show follows the adventures of “two lazy and spectacularly incompetent best friends who are hell-bent on getting rich and famous but leave a trail of chaos and destruction in their wake.”