Tessa Thompson Helpline Drama ‘The Listener’ Directed By Steve Buscemi Lands At Vertical

Absence does make the heart grow fonder as viewers have welcomed the return of the broadcast scripted series after a long delay due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Ratings have been strong all around, including for all nine Wolf Entertainment procedurals from Universal Television, the Law & Order and Chicago franchises at NBC and the FBI trio at CBS as well CBS/UTV’s The Equalizer. The Chicagosand the Law & Orders all opened their new seasons up by double digits in both total viewers and adults 18-49 from their final four episodes last season. The premieres of FBIs and Equalizer ranked in the Top 13 most watched primetime programs the week of Feb. 12, all up or on par with the most recent episodes last season.

Steve McDonald finally found out about wife Tracy Barlow's affair in sad scenes in Coronation Street.Tracy (Kate Ford) has been having a fling with decorator Tommy Orpington (Matt Milburn) behind Steve's (Simon Gregson) back. To make matters worse, Steve idolises Tommy as he is a former Weatherfield County player. However, in Monday's (26 February) episode, Tracy and Tommy's secret was finally exposed after Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) saw them in bed together and realised what was going on.

Coronation Street's Matt Milburn has joked that working with some of the soap's stars is 'hard work'. The actor recently returned to the ITV soap as retired Weatherfield County footballer Tommy Orpington.

The BBC’s hit legal drama The Split is getting a brand new spin-off show set in Manchester.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic If you told me there was a plan in place to make four Beatles biopics — one each about John, Paul, George, and Ringo — and that they were going to be directed by Richard Linklater, I’d be suffused with curiosity and excitement. If you told me that those same four movies were going to be directed by Martin Scorsese, I’d be suffused with curiosity and excitement.

Jaden Thompson Dermot Mulroney and Evan Jonigkeit have been cast as series regulars in the upcoming drama series “The Hunting Wives” at Starz. They will play the respective husbands of previously announced co-leads Malin Åkerman and Brittany Snow.

EXCLUSIVE: Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding, Anyone But You) has been cast in the upcoming Starz drama The Hunting Wives in a series regular role alongside previously announced co-leads Malin Åkerman and Brittany Snow. Production will begin production this spring in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Annika Pham Fremantle’s Norwegian banner Monster, behind hit TV shows “Exit,” “Furia” and “Pørni, will be bringing to Series Mania Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions ‘The Odesa Wrestlers’, which has received development coin from Norwegian pubcaster NRK. Celebrated Norwegian podcaster Joachim Førsund and star actor Thorbjørn Harr (“Vikings”, “22 July”, “Sex”) are making their debut as co-creators, with Førsund also serving as screenwriter and Harr as episodic director.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor UPDATED: Jason Reitman has gathered more than two dozen filmmakers to help acquire Westwood’s historic Village Theater, which will program first-run and repertory programming. The group includes JJ Abrams, Judd Apatow, Damien Chazelle, Chris Columbus, Ryan Coogler, Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonathan Dayton, Guillermo del Toro, Valerie Faris, Hannah Fidell, Alejandro González Iñárritu, James Gunn, Sian Heder, Rian Johnson, Gil Kenan, Karyn Kusama, Justin Lin, Phil Lord, David Lowery, Christopher McQuarrie, Chris Miller, Christopher Nolan, Alexander Payne, Todd Phillips, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Jay Roach, Seth Rogen, Emma Seligman, Brad Silberling, Steven Spielberg, Emma Thomas, Denis Villeneuve, Lulu Wang, and Chloé Zhao.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Oscar nominee America Ferrera has been cast in her next role outside of Barbie World. Ferrera has signed on to star in Oscar nominee Paul Greengrass’ upcoming drama “The Lost Bus” alongside Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey, Variety has learned exclusively.

The BBC has unveiled its biggest drama slate in years featuring a TV version of James Graham play Dear England starring Joseph Fiennes from The Crown producer Left Bank, Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood‘s debut writing project and a Rebecca Hall-starrer from Poor Things maker Element.

BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt has candidly floated the notion that the industry has moved from “peak TV to peak caution,” as she details an ambition to “help reshape the drama landscape at a critical time.”

British filmmaker Sally Potter has set plans to re-release her 2009 feature Rage, starring Riz Ahmed, Lily Cole, Jude Law, and Judi Dench, as a series of posts on Instagram, to mark the film’s 15th anniversary. 

Mubi has snapped up rights across multiple territories on Made In England: The Films Of Powell And Pressburger, the Martin Scorsese-narrated doc set to debut this week at the Berlin Film Festival. 

Alex Ritman ‘Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger,’ the documentary produced and narrated by Matin Scorsese, has been acquired by Mubi ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The arthouse streamer, distributor and production company has bought all rights for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Latin America, Turkey and India.

Christopher Vourlias Greek filmmaker Yorgos Zois, who’s set to bow his sophomore feature, “Arcadia,” in the competitive Encounters strand of the Berlin Film Festival Feb. 18, is developing his first TV series. “Play” follows a lone cinephile who joins a mysterious group of strangers that reenact scenes from movies in real life.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Dallas Goldtooth has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple TV+ drama series “The Last Frontier,” Variety has learned exclusively. Goldtooth joins previously announced series lead Jason Clarke in the show as well as cast members Haley Bennett, Dominic Cooper, and Simone Kessell. Apple has given the show a 10-episode order.

FGirl Island is no more.

Syfy has announced its spring and summer slate of television series, including “Chucky” and “Reginald the Vampire.” The network revealed the dates during NBCUniversal’s portion of the TV Critics Assn. winter press tour in Pasadena. The second half of Season 3 of “Chucky” will premiere April 10 at 10 p.m.

Alison Herman TV Critic World War II is well-worn territory for prestige TV, but at first blush, “The New Look” has a novel way in. The Apple TV+ drama, created by Todd A.