Investigation Discovery Inks Development Deal With Elizabeth Chambers To Host & EP Series About Toxic Relationships

Pressalike Productions, the production company founded by YouTube veteran and SMOSH co-creator Anthony Padilla, announced Monday that it will sign actor and social media creator Caroline Klidonas to a YouTube development deal. The deal will see Pressalike investing a nearly six-figure sum into Klidonas’ content creation and strategy development that will see the popular YouTuber, best known for creating sci-fi parody “The Rune Series,” into a full-time social media creator.

R.L. Stine is revising his popular Goosebumps books series and making edits to the published work with a more inclusive language. The move from Scholastic comes after Penguin hired sensitivity readers to edit Roald Dahl’s books from language deemed inappropriate in today’s world.

Charna Flam ABC has announced Ashley Graham, Vanessa Hudgens, Lilly Singh will host the upcoming “Countdown to the Oscars,” pre-show, airing ahead of the ceremony on March 12 at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT on ABC. Leading into the pre-show will be ABC News’ live coverage during the “On The Red Carpet Live: Countdown to Oscars 95,” hosted by Linsey Davis and Whit Johnson and featuring Variety‘s own Elizabeth Wagmeister and Clayton Davis. Hudgens returns for her second consecutive year co-hosting the pre-show, while Graham and Singh join for the first time. In addition to Hudgens, Graham and Singh, the pre-show will include backstage coverage from content creator Reece Feldman. Alongside Feldman, TV personality Rocsi Diaz will also provide an insider perspective, as the correspondent for the Academy’s member viewing party in NYC.

Vanessa Hudgens, Lilly Singh and Ashley Graham have been tapped to host Countdown to the Oscars, the official lead-in to the 95th Oscars, on ABC. The pre-show will air Sunday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. EDT/3:30 p.m. PDT on ABC.

EXCLUSIVE: MRC has made a deal to develop Pornsak Pichetshote’s Eisner Award-winning graphic novel bestseller The Good Asian into a series. James Wan, Michael Clear and Rob Hackett are producing for Atomic Monster. Will Rowbotham and Luke Maxwell are producing for 3 Arts. 

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent “The Late Late Show With James Corden” might be making its final curtain call on CBS this spring, but CBS Studios is continuing its partnership with Fulwell 73, the production company behind the late-night show and much more. Fulwell 73 has re-upped its first-look development deal with CBS Studios for three more years, Variety has learned. A person familiar with the agreement says the renewal deal began last fall. Under the deal, Fulwell 73 will continue to develop scripted, alternative and digital projects for the studio across broadcast, cable, streaming and digital platforms. Fulwell 73 first inked a deal with CBS Studios in 2016. The company has been in business with CBS since 2015 when Corden began hosting “The Late Late Show,” which became a mega success for the company defined by countless viral moments during its run.

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC is confident that it will stem the flow of its presenter exodus by signing a new deal with its highest-profile news anchor.

Baring her bump in a billowing green gown, Binky Felstead is thriving in her final trimester.The former Made In Chelsea star will soon give birth to her third child on the Lindo Wing at London’s St Mary’s Hospital, famous for its royal births.The star has already picked the date and doctor – Tom Setchell. His father, Sir Marcus Setchell, delivered Binky and her siblings, and he was also Queen Elizabeth II’s gynaecologist, delaying retirement to safely deliver her great-grandson, Prince George. “That’s quite cool, isn’t it?” says Binky, 32.

Jeff Titus, who has spent 21 years in prison for the murder of two deer hunters in 1990, is a free man thanks to evidence discovered by a true-crime series and podcast.

EXCLUSIVE: Investigation Discovery (ID) is bringing back two of its latest true-crime docuseries.

Naman Ramachandran A galaxy of A-list talent will participate in SXSW’s inaugural South Asian House initiative. Panel discussion Creating South Asian Content for a Global Audience, will feature actor Rizwan Manji (“Schitt’s Creek”), Emmy-winning producer/writer for Vice, Falguni Adams (“Dateline NBC”) and Apoorva Bakshi, producer of International Emmy-winning series “Delhi Crime,” moderated by CEO of Jingo Media and producer of South Asian House Jitin Hingorani. Another panel, Investing in the Future of Our South Asian Stories, will feature CEO and co-founder of URL Media S. Mitra Kalita and actor Kausar Mohammed (“The Flash”), moderated by co-founder of Box Office Guru Media Gitesh Pandya.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Mary Elizabeth Winstead has signed on to star opposite Ewan McGregor in the upcoming Showtime & Paramount+ series “A Gentleman in Moscow,” Variety has learned exclusively. McGregor was first reported to be starring in the show back in August 2022. It is an adaptation of the Amor Towles novel of the same name. Production on the limited series is now underway. It will debut on Showtime in the U.S. and on Paramount+ in additional markets around the world. Per the official logline, the series “follows Count Alexander Rostov (McGregor) who, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past places him on the wrong side of history. Spared immediate execution, he is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol, threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside again. As the years pass and some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold outside the hotel’s doors, Rostov’s reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. As he builds a new life within the walls of the hotel, he discovers the true value of friendship, family and love.”

EXCLUSIVE: Universal International Studios (UIS) and Australian indie Matchbox Pictures are developing a TV adaptation of Adrian McKinty novel The Island.

Moving on. Erich Schwer‘s girlfriend Elizabeth Turner offered another glimpse at their blossoming romance after his split from Gabby Windey.

Doughnut chain, Krispy Kreme first opened their Australian doors in 1930 and, today, nearing a century later, they're hosting weddings through their very own Liverpool drive-thru.

The seven-episode HBO Max Original limited series Love & Death has released its official teaser and set an April 27 launch date.

“Love & Death” is the second project in a year to focus on Candy Montgomery, a killer accused of murdering Betty Gore, the wife of Allan Gore, with whom she had an extramarital affair. Montgomery was portrayed by Jessica Biel in the Hulu series titled “Candy,” which saw Melanie Lynskey and Pablo Schreiber play Betty and Allan Gore, respectively.

Less than three months after his engagement to Gabby Windey ended, Erich Schwer appears to be off the market.

BreAnna Bell Sony Pictures Television’s nonfiction group is expanding. Eli Holzman, Sony’s President of Nonfiction Entertainment and co-president Aaron Saidman have revealed Gena McCarthy’s Unconventional Entertainment has signed an overall deal with SPT. As part of the agreement, Unconventional will develop, sell, and produce original formats in core genres including relationships, home, food, survival, Americana, competition, and crime, with SPT providing all associated production services. Known for her extensive resume which includes several long-running franchises like “Married at First Sight” and “Project Runway,” McCarthy has held senior positions at Discovery, TLC, We TV, Lifetime, and FYI.

Ahead of the SXSW world premiere and the March 31 opening of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Paramount Pictures has closed a multi-year, first look deal with the film’s directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein and their newly formed production company GoldDay under which they’ll write, direct and produce features.