Peacock Orders Satanic Panic Drama With ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Duo Attached to Direct

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Christian Slater has signed on to play a major villain in the upcoming Disney+ series adaptation of “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” Variety has confirmed. The show was first announced as part of Disney+ Day in November 2021. Based on the best-selling children’s books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” follows the Grace family — twin brothers Jared and Simon, sister Mallory and their mother Helen — as they move into their great-great uncle’s home and discover a world of fairies that exists parallel to their own. Slater will star as Mulgarath, whose alter ego is Dr. Dorian Brauer. The character is described as a capital-V Villain who does what all ogres do — he eats people, an insatiable desire to consume. Mulgarath wants the secrets contained in Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Natural World for a nefarious scheme that will satisfy his hunger.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterABC has given a series order to the spy drama “The Company You Keep” starring “This Is Us” alum Milo Ventimiglia, Variety has learned.The series was originally ordered to pilot as part of ABC’s 2022 pilot season slate. It will now debut at midseason on ABC in 2023.The show is based on the Korean series “My Fellow Citizens” from Korean Broadcasting System. In the American version, a night of passion leads to love between con-man Charlie (Ventimiglia) and undercover CIA officer Emma (Catherine Haena Kim), who are unknowingly on a collision course professionally.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSteven Pasquale is set to star opposite Neve Campbell in the upcoming ABC series “Avalon,” Variety has learned.The announcement of Pasquale’s casting comes just one day after Campbell’s, with Campbell set to play the lead role in the show. It hails from co-creators David E. Kelley and Michael Connelly, with the show based on a short story that Connelly wrote.

Lady Macbeth, a Victorian thriller set in rural Northumberland which saw her play a young murderess. And for her first Netflix project, the star is going back to her period drama roots as the lead in the adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s novel . Ahead of the film’s premiere, a quick recap of everything we know so far about the project.Florence Pugh takes the lead alongside the likes of Tom Burke, Toby Jones, and Ciarán Hinds.The film follows a young girl in 19th-century Ireland who claims to have starved herself for months and survived—and a sceptical nurse and journalist who come to visit her, convinced of their own theories about what’s really happening.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA rebooted version of the reality series “The Mole” has been ordered at Netflix, Variety has learned.The new version of the former ABC series is expected to bow on Netflix this fall. Like the original American version, the Netflix version is based on the Belgian format “De Mol” created by Bart De Pauw, Michel Vanhove, Michiel Devlieger, and Tom Lenaerts and distributed by Primitives.The streamer has given the new show a 10-episode order.

Franz Ferdinand and Sam Ryder are among the artist ambassadors who have been announced for National Album Day 2022.The theme of the fifth annual edition of National Album Day will be Debut Albums, following previous focuses Women in Music and The 80s.“The Debut Albums theme will look to showcase a broad range of first album releases across multiple genres and decades – from debut recordings that have gone on to become classics to those that are perhaps only now being fully appreciated or which, years later, merit reappraisal,” according to a press release.National Album Day 2022 will take place on October 15, with Franz Ferdinand and Ryder being joined by KSI, The Mysterines and The Staves as ambassadors.A post shared by National Album Day (@albumdayuk)“What a glorious medium the album is,” Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos said in a statement. “On the most basic level it’s a bunch of songs that sound good together, but what I love is that it is a moment in time for the artist and the listener, a way to define a period of a lifetime.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRon Perlman, Nick Nolte, Charles Melton, and Tim Blake Nelson have all joined the cast of the upcoming Peacock series “Poker Face,” Variety has learned exclusively.Perlman (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Hellboy”), Nolte (“Warrior,” “Graves”), Melton (“Riverdale,” “American Horror Stories”), and Nelson (“Watchmen,” “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) join the show’s already expansive cast. Natasha Lyonne will lead the series, with previously announced cast members including: Adrien Brody, Audrey Corsa, Benjamin Bratt, Chloe Sevigny, Danielle MacDonald, Dascha Polanco, Ellen Barkin, Jameela Jamil, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Light, Lil Rel Howery, Niall Cunningham, Nicholas Cirillo, S. Epatha Merkerson, Simon Helberg and Tim Meadows.

Wonder Woman game in the works from developer Monolith Productions has a new senior writer, Jennifer Allaway. This was announced in a post by Allaway on her Twitter, where she states “I’m the next Senior Writer working at Monolith Studios on their upcoming Wonder Woman game!!” The post concludes with her saying she “could not be more excited for this next stage in my career!”It's official! The paperwork is signed!I'm the next Senior Writer working at Monolith Studios on their upcoming WONDER WOMAN game!!WONDER.WOMAN.Could not be more excited for this next stage in my career!— Jennifer Allaway (@AllawayJ) August 9, 2022What’s perhaps most notable about this is that this will be Allaway’s first time working on an announced AAA project. She was previously working at Hidden Path Entertainment on a new AAA Dungeons & Dragons game, however, there is still no announced title or additional information about the game as of the time of publication.Wonder Woman was announced late last year at The Game Awards 2021 with a short teaser trailer.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHBO has ordered a comedy pilot about the making of a superhero movie, Variety has learned.The half-hour pilot is titled “The Franchise.” It follows a hopeful crew trapped inside the dysfunctional, nonsensical, joyous hellscape of franchise superhero movie-making. If and when they finally make the day, the question they must face — is this Hollywood’s new dawn or cinema’s last stand? Is this a dream factory or a chemical plant?The pilot story was written by Jon Brown, Keith Akushie and Armando Iannucci, with Brown and Akushie writing the pilot.

Peacock has handed a straight-to-series order to Hysteria!, a coming-of-age satanic panic drama thriller from writer Matthew Scott Kane (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia), Dungeons & Dragons filmmakers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, Chris Bender and Jake Weiner’s Good Fear (My Spy, Mulan) and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Peacock has ordered the coming-of-age thriller “Hysteria!” straight-to-series, it announced Friday. The series explores Americans’ dark history of mass hysteria through a shocking story set within the Satanic Panic.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHulu has ordered the comedy series “The Other Black Girl.”The series is based on the Zakiya Dalila Harris novel of the same name. In the show, Nella, an editorial assistant, is tired of being the only black girl at her company, so she’s excited when Hazel is hired. But as Hazel’s star begins to rise, Nella spirals out and discovers something sinister is going on at the company.Danielle Henderson will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the show.

Angelique Jackson “Bullet Train” producer and 87North co-founder Kelly McCormick’s guiding principle in filmmaking has been “finding the truth in fiction,” a response to earlier documentary work, where “it was not uncommon to twist stories to make them more entertaining.” So she pivoted to producing content that packs a different sort of emotional — and physical — punch.McCormick’s latest film, “Bullet Train,” directed by her husband and 87North partner David Leitch, stars Brad Pitt as a hitman who finds himself on a snatch-and-grab job that grows more complicated by the minute. Pitt leads an ensemble cast, including Sandra Bullock, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry and Bad Bunny, in a wild ride that showcases the company’s signature blend of hyper-violence and heart.

trailer over the weekend, especially because he’s aware there is some concern about how the classic game will translate on to the big screen.While visiting “The Tonight Show” on Wednesday night, Page was asked about the trailer premiering in Hall H at Comic-Con to loud cheers from the 5,000-strong crowd (and amassing more than 16 million views online).“It felt great,” Page said. “It was the hugest relief because the unofficial tagline is ‘Dungeons & Dragons: No, No Wait – Hear Me Out.”Page explained that unveiling the trailer in front of that crowd was a make or break moment.“We walked in and it’s like bringing this movie to meet mom and dad because this is the judge and jury of ‘Dungeons & Dragons,’ and they all went, ‘Oh my God, it doesn’t suck.’ We’re like, ‘Yes!’”Since leaving “Bridgerton,” where he played the Duke of Hastings in Season 1, Page has moved on to a big screen career, filming “D&D” and Netflix’s “The Gray Man,” directed by the Russo Brothers.During his “Tonight Show” appearance, host Jimmy Fallon asked the actor about the tale that the Russos –Joe and Anthony — first learned about him because of his breakout “Bridgerton” Season 1 role. “There’s different versions of this story,” Page said.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterPeacock has given a straight-to-series order to a gladiator drama series based on Daniel Mannix’s nonfiction book “Those About to Die.”Robert Rodat, the screenwriter behind films like “Saving Private Ryan” and “The Patriot,” will write and executive produce. Roland Emmerich is onboard to direct and executive produce.

The fantasy genre fans couldn’t be in a better place. There’s an upcoming return to Middle-Earth coming thanks to Amazon’s expensive “Lord of The Rings” series, and HBO’s mature “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of The Dragon” finally arrives this summer.

British humor! Hugh Grant made his first appearance at San Diego Comic Con for his role in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves — and had a lot of fun with some cheeky innuendos.

Filming “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” meant being in optimal shape, everywhere.

From a Regency rake to a paladin! Regé-Jean Page has moved on from his Bridgerton tenure with a starring role in the star-studded Dungeons & Dragons adaptation — and he’s pretty proud of his film physique.