Melissa McCarthy To Star In Richard Curtis-Scripted Christmas Comedy For Universal, Working Title & Peacock; Sam Boyd To Direct

Barbara Walters was a broadcasting pioneer, interviewing dozens of famous faces from former President Richard Nixon to pop star Taylor Swift.

LadBaby’s latest charity single is this year’s UK Christmas number one, meaning the YouTubers have now occupied the festive top spot for five years running. And they’ve also scored more Christmas number ones than any other artist, breaking a record previously held by The Beatles, who topped the festive chart in 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1967.This year LadBaby – aka Mark and Roxanne Hoyle – joined up with money-saving expert Martin Lewis to release a cover of Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ As with their previous releases, food bank charity The Trussell Trust is a beneficiary of the charity record, though this year the Band Aid Trust will also get some of the money generated by the release.Commenting on their latest chart achievement, Mark Doyle says: “I can’t quite believe it! We’re number one! The charity has made it five years in a row.

Bathgate comedian Fern Brady is in the running for an entertainment award, going up against the likes of Sarah Pascoe and Emily Atack.

EXCLUSIVE: Black Adam breakout Sarah Shahi is set to executive produce and star in the Christmas film The Hollys with 17 Again helmer Burr Steers attached to direct. The film, co-written by Floriana Lima, Yolanda Pecoraro, and Ilaria Urbinati, will be produced by Denise Di Novi and Margaret French Isaac of Di Novi Pictures.  The package is just starting to go out to financiers.

EXCLUSIVE: Usually content to let their logo on the front end of films speak for them, Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner spoke to Deadline in a prolific moment and a series of anniversaries that go beyond the 20th for their holiday classic Love Actually. They reached 30 years together at a company that turns 40 next year. The duo scored a big hit in the George Clooney-Julia Roberts romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise, and have Matilda the Musical playing in UK theaters, and opening on Netflix elsewhere for Christmas, with the Lena Dunham-directed Catherine Called Birdy released by Amazon and The Swimmers by Netflix. After playing the Toronto and Zurich festivals, it has ranked near the top of Netflix’s most watched films globally since its release.

John Cena (Peacemaker) and Jason Momoa (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom) have signed on to star in the action-comedy Killer Vacation from Warner Bros., Deadline can confirm.

Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399 is calling on Hudson Pacific Properties to voluntarily recognize it as the bargaining representative of nearly 120 workers employed at Quixote, Zio Studio Services and Star Waggons.

Paul Silas, who won three NBA championships and was a College Basketball Hall of Famer, died Sunday at age 79, his family confirmed. No cause of death was revealed.

Deadline’s signature Contenders event hits downtown Los Angeles on Saturday for a hybrid in-person/virtual edition, partnering with the inaugural LA3C, the cultural festival developed by Deadline parent company PMC.