EXCLUSIVE: Rapper Quavo, co-founder and frontman of hip hop group Migos, is to star in a new feature film set in Atlanta’s street takeover car culture.
07.04.2022 - 22:43 / deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: We hear that Officer Exchange, a big action comedy project, just sold to Amazon Studios. Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad star John Cena is starring in a script by Ben Zazove and Evan Turner. The project is currently in development.
Cena will play Shepard “Shep,” a wrecking ball of a cop who teams up with an Indian police officer to take down a diamond smuggling ring in India.
Peacemaker producers EP Peter Safran and producer John Rickard of The Safran Company are producing the project for Amazon. Cena is executive producing.
Zazove and Turner wrote the Netflix Happy Madison comedy movie The Out-Law which is in post production, that pic starring Pierce Brosnan, Michael Rooker, Adam Devine and Lil Rel Howery. Zazove wrote Paramount’s Sherlock Gnomes.
The Safran Company and Cena’s Peacemaker in its season one finale back in February scored the biggest single day viewership performance for an HBO Max series, 44% over its premiere. Cena is also a Co-EP on the James Gunn created DC show. The WWE professional wrestler and West Newbury, MA native’s blockbuster credits include F9, Bumblebee, Blockers, the Daddy’s Home franchise, Sisters and Trainwreck. Season 2 for Peacemaker is in the works.
Safran is behind many Warner Bros. upcoming tentpoles including Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Shazam! Fury of the Gods and milestone hits such as the $2 billion-grossing The Conjuring universe as well as the first Aquaman, the only DC movie to gross more than $1 billion worldwide, and Shazam! which made $366M WW.
Cena is repped by ICM and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Zazove is repped by Verve, Kaplan/Perrone, and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.
New and returning series on broadcast, cable and streaming
Series that made it or didn’t make
EXCLUSIVE: Rapper Quavo, co-founder and frontman of hip hop group Migos, is to star in a new feature film set in Atlanta’s street takeover car culture.
EXCLUSIVE: Camila Mendes (Riverdale) has signed on to star opposite Rudy Mancuso in the film Música, which he is directing for Amazon Studios and Wonderland Sound and Vision.
Jenny Han’s relationship with Amazon Studios is expanding. The author has signed an overall deal to produce both television and film content for the studio.The deal comes ahead of Han’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty” adaptation’s debut on Prime Video.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Summer I Turned Pretty author Jenny Han is expanding her relationship with Amazon Studios, with an overall television and film deal. The pact comes ahead of the series premiere of her Prime Video Original series, The Summer I Turned Pretty, based on her book, which she created, co-showruns, and executive produces. Beyond Summer, she will exclusively create, develop and produce additional projects to premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide, via her newly formed production banner, Jenny Kissed Me.
The Summer I Turned Pretty author Jenny Han is expanding her relationship with Amazon Studios, with an overall television and film deal. The pact comes ahead of the series premiere of her Prime Video Original series, The Summer I Turned Pretty, based on her book, which she created, co-showruns, and executive produces. Beyond Summer, she will exclusively create, develop and produce additional projects to premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide, via her newly formed production banner, Jenny Kissed Me.
John De Mol’s ‘Million Dollar Island’ Set For Australian Remake On Seven
one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time with more muscles than probably even God, Cena conquered the arena and the world’s hearts! As his career led him to major franchises like the “Fast and the Furious” and DC Comic’s “The Suicide Squad,” he has even begun headlining his own series “Peacemaker” to rave reviews. Yet with a fantastic career sure to continue to rise, the superstar has even found ways to settle down with wife Shay Shariatzadeh kid free! So did the universe naturally endow Cena with the, uh, full package or did he instead face life lessons that pushed him to fight his way to be the dom?Let’s just say Cena has a big, thick swole birth chart, too, in case you were wondering.
EXCLUSIVE: Utkarsh Ambudkar is on a hot streak.
“Becoming Elizabeth,” Starz’s Tudor drama about a young royal, has a premiere date.The new series will debut on Sunday, June 12, the network announced Thursday. It will drop on the Starzapp and on streaming and on-demand at midnight, and air on linear at 9 p.m.
J. Kim Murphy Mercedes Angelica LeAnza, a film and television producer who had been serving as a lead creative producer at Amazon Studios and Prime Video, died on April 10 of bile duct cancer.
EXCLUSIVE: Bidding is heating up on Voltron, a live-action version that went out to the town recently, with Red Notice and Dodgeball’s Rawson Marshall Thurber attached to direct. Deal’s not done yet, but Deadline hears that Amazon Studios is in talks to be home to the giant robot.
EXCLUSIVE: Michael Urie (Ugly Betty), Luke Tennie (CSI: Vegas) and Lukita Maxwell (Generation) round out the main cast of Apple TV+’s comedy series Shrinking, joining previously announced stars Jason Segel, who also serves as writer and executive producer, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams and Christa Miller.
Working mom woes. Jana Kramer explained why she had to film her upcoming movie while her 6-year-old daughter, Jolie, is sick with the flu.
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Sony Pictures’ action-comedy The Man from Toronto, starring Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, Deadline can confirm. The film previously scheduled for release in theaters on August 12 will now bow on the streamer in all territories apart from China later this year.
EXCLUSIVE: Jeff Dye (Better Late Than Never), Carlos “HaHa” Davis (The Come Up), Dustin Ybarra (Home Economics) and Ryu Go Eun (WeCrashed) have signed on to star in Stealing Jokes, an action-comedy from writer-director Mike Young (A Stand Up Guy), which is heading into production this week in Detroit.
EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has picked up an action comedy pitch from writers Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Mamrie Hart for Zoë Bell to direct, inspired by the stuntwoman’s viral short film Boss Bitch Fight Challenge.
Netflix has dropped the first full trailer for its upcoming buddy cop action comedy, The Takedown. Lupin’s Omar Sy reteams with Laurent Lafitte in the follow-up to their 2012 On The Other Side Of The Tracks. In another reunion, Lupin director Louis Leterrier has the reins. The French film is part of Netflix’s drive to ramp up local feature productions and launches globally on the streamer on May 6. Check out the dubbed trailer above.
Manori Ravindran International EditorIn a bid to expand Prime Video in key African markets, Amazon Studios is recruiting a London-based head of Nigerian originals, Variety has learned.In a recent job posting, the streaming platform has said it’s looking for an experienced senior creative executive to work with its Nigeria originals team, and oversee both scripted and non-scripted content. The role will report directly into Ned Mitchell, the Los Angeles-based head of originals for Africa and the Middle East for Amazon Studios.“You will create a welcoming ‘Home for Talent’ to include creators and artists who represent the best of Nigeria,” reads an ad for the role.
“Peacemaker” and “The Suicide Squad” headliner John Cena is set to star in action comedy “Officer Exchange” at Amazon Studios, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.The script is written by Ben Zazove and Evan Turner and is currently in development at the streamer.“Officer Exchange” centers on Shepard “Shep,” a wrecking ball of a cop who teams up with an Indian police officer to take down a diamond smuggling ring in India.Producing the project for Amazon are producers Peter Safran (“Shazam”) and John Rickard (“Blue Beetle”) of The Safran Company. Cena is the executive producer.Speaking of “Peacemaker,” the show will return for a second season.