‘South Park’ Joins the ‘Streaming Wars’ for Third Special on Paramount+

EXCLUSIVE: The Juneteeth comedy Block Party is set for a wide theatrical release via Iconic Events Releasing on June 8th, having also been picked up for linear and streaming by BET and BET+ starting June 16th.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHarrison Ford and Helen Mirren are set to star in Taylor Sheridan’s new “Yellowstone” prequel “1932” at Paramount+, Variety has learned.The show follows the Dutton family in the titular year, a time of Prohibition, the Great Depression, and westward expansion. “1932” is a followup to “1883,” the latter of which told the story of the Dutton family as they made their way to Montana to found what would become the Yellowstone Ranch in the mothership series. “1932” was ordered to series at Paramount+ back in February.

EXCLUSIVE: Fresh off their Oscar nominations for drama The Lost Daughter, Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite) and Chernobyl star Jessie Buckley are set to reunite on comedy Wicked Little Letters, which will be a hot project at the Cannes market.

EXCLUSIVE: Tia Napolitano (Cruel Summer) has joined CBS’ newly picked up drama series Fire Country as executive producer and showrunner. Her hire was already in the works when the network yesterday gave an official series order to the buzzy pilot, executive produced by and starring Max Thieriot.

Katie Price could be snubbed from the upcoming all-star version of I’m A Celeb, according to one source.The all-star series will reunite old memorable cast members for a spin-off series in South Africa, which will be pre recorded this summer and broadcast in 2023. Although no contestants have been confirmed for the series yet, rumours of who could be set to take part in the special have been circulating, with Gillian McKeith, Caitlyn Jenner, Helen Flanagan and Stacey Solomon among the previous contestants who could appear in the spin-off.

South Park TV film will officially be dropping next month.South Park: The Streaming Wars has been confirmed for a June 1 release date on Paramount+, as part of a 14-film deal between creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone with ViacomCBS.Streaming Wars is the third film in the deal, with a fourth one due for release later this summer.A description obtained by The Hollywood Reporter reads: “Cartman locks horns with his mom in a battle of wills, while an epic conflict unfolds and threatens South Park’s very existence.”Take a look at the 15-second teaser:The first made-for-TV film was called Post Covid and premiered last November. It was followed by The Return of Covid, which aired in December.South Park recently announced a 25th anniversary live concert featuring performances from Primus and Ween.The special “one night only” event will take place at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado on August 10.The show is set to “celebrate 25 years of the music of South Park” with Parker and Stone also due to be in attendance on the night.

Paramount+ will welcome back yet another South Park special event when June rolls around.

In a further expansion of their kids and family programming slate, HBO Max and Cartoon Network are teaming on new live-action coming-of-age comedy series, Home Sweet Rome, from Emmy-nominated Hannah Montana and That’s So Raven creator Michael Poryes, for premiere in 2023.

Kendrick Lamar‘s music video for ‘The Heart Part 5’ has launched a partnership with South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.Although Lamar directed and executive produced the video himself, it features a deepfake blending his face into those of OJ Simpson, Jussie Smollett, Nipsey Hussle, Kobe Bryant and Kanye West.The deep fake was brought to life by Deep Voodoo, Parker and Stone’s studio specialising in the technology, according to Variety.Take a look at the video for ‘The Heart Part 5’ here:It marks the first collaboration between Lamar and Deep Voodoo, which made its first major steps with Sassy Justice in 2020, with the publication suggesting more projects to follow.In a five-star review of ‘The Heart Part 5’, NME wrote: “Lamar’s comeback takes a political stance, which is similar to his second album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ — hence the reference Obama, who was in the White House when it was released.“Like the 44th president, Kendrick is an emotive speaker and ‘The Heart Part 5’ finds him trying to get his crime-riddled neighbourhood to change.” Meanwhile in South Park news, the show announced a 25th anniversary live concert featuring performances from Primus and Ween.The special “one night only” event will take place at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado on August 10.The show is set to “celebrate 25 years of the music of South Park” with Parker and Stone also due to be in attendance on the night.“We’re so excited to go home and play at Red Rocks, a place that’s been known for hosting the most legendary artists and musicians.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt took a village to create Kendrick Lamar’s mind-melting new video for his song “The Heart Part 5,” which on the surface is just him performing in front of a red backdrop until you realize that his face deepfakes into those of OJ Simpson, Jussie Smollett, Nipsey Hussle, Kobe Bryant and Kanye West (who, ironically, himself dropped a video the same day using deepfake technology).While the video was directed and executive produced by Lamar and longtime collaborator Dave Free and features a host of creative collaborators (listed below), the deep fake is credited to Deep Voodoo, a studio launched by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to specialize in the technology — and the “The Heart Part 5” video appears to be the first fruit of a partnership between Lamar’s PGLang company and the “South Park” founders’ Park County banner to produce a new feature film for Paramount Pictures. (While Lamar, Parker, Stone and reps for PG Lang and Deep Voodoo all declined Variety’s requests for an interview about.) The Deep Voodoo studio — the name of which almost certainly was chosen in part for its phonic similarity to the term “deep doodoo” — made its first major splash late in 2020 with “Sassy Justice,” a spoof of a television investigative report on deep fakes done in collaboration with actor Peter Serafinowicz.

notes that the face shifts are timed to specific lyrics, such as West’s at “ain’t no photoshoppin’/friends bipolar” and Hussle’s during the line “I’m in Argentina wiping tears full of confusion,” referencing where Lamar was performing when the late rapper died in 2019.You can watch the remarkable video at the top of this post.The video credits its deepfake technology to Deep Voodoo, the studio founded by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. In late 2020, the company produced the viral video series “Sassy Justice” featuring a character named Fred Sassy, a doppelgänger for Donald Trump created using deepfake technology.

from the American Film Institute reveals that “Star Wars” director George Lucas paid actor James Earl Jones only $7,000 to voice Darth Vader in the first-ever “Star Wars” film.Actor David Prowse — who died in 2020 at age 85 — famously wore the Darth Vader suit in “Star Wars: A New Hope” in 1977, but Lucas did not envision his natural voice for the now-iconic character. “George wanted, pardon the expression, a dark voice,” Jones said.

A gay man was bashed, on April 24 in South Africa, by a group of men in an apparent hate crime. Mfundo Ngobese, 24, was walking with friends after a night out when they were approached by the three men. Ngobese’s friends took off, but one of the men tripped him before he could get away.“My mouth and chin were hurt and half my teeth are broken. The femur on my right leg is also broken.

Studio City, the little-engine-that-could creation of The Bold and Beautiful actor Sean Kanan, is back for a second season on Amazon Prime.

EXCLUSIVE: Katrina Law (NCIS) has signed on to star opposite Frank Grillo in the horror-thriller Year 2, from director Steven C. Miller (Line of Duty), which is heading into production this month.

Princess Charlene is back in the public eye for the first time in six months.

Christine Lampared wowed in an elegant green suit at Tanya Beardsley’s Mental Mummies Charity Lunch in Cheshire – not far from her second home with footballer husband Frank Lampard in Liverpool. Tanya put on the event ahead of her 41st birthday, in conjunction with the domestic mental health organisation. Arriving at The Bridge restaurant in Prestbury, Christine, 43, posed for photographs wearing the power two-piece, which she coupled with a black top and black handbag with quilting detailing and a black and gold chain.The mum-of-two completed the look with simple but elegant gold and silver jewellery as she wore her brunette locks in loose curls.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentLast December, during the inaugural Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Vox Cinemas announced plans to produce 25 Arabic movies with budgets under $10 million over the next five years.Variety spoke to Ignace Lahoud, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Leisure, Entertainment and Cinemas, which owns Vox, about how this aligns with the company’s wider commitment to boost the region’s burgeoning film industry while also making Vox less dependent on Hollywood. The following has been edited for length.What is a big takeaway from the Saudi market so far?Interestingly, what we are seeing is that some of the big Hollywood blockbusters in recent months maybe did not perform up to expectation for a country like Saudi.