The nominations are out for the 44th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards, and CNN leads the way with a commanding 45 noms ahead of Vice (30) and ABC and PBS (26 each). See the list of nominees in all 62 categories below or click here.
12.07.2023 - 15:41 / variety.com
Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer Achievement unlocked: With nods for best drama series, actor (Pedro Pascal) and actress (Bella Ramsey) — HBO’s “The Last of Us” is the first live-action video game adaptation to earn major awards consideration from a top Hollywood awards body, in television or in film. See the full list of nominations. On TV, live-action video game adaptations are practically a brand new phenomenon, starting with “Halo” for Paramount+ and “Resident Evil” for Netflix, both of which debuted in 2022. That landscape is quickly expanding, with shows based on “Twisted Metal” (for Peacock), and “God of War” and “Fallout” (for Amazon Prime Video) all on the immediate horizon.
Feature film adaptations of video games have been far more common, starting with the widely reviled “Super Mario Bros.” in 1993 — and the genre’s box office prospects and critical reception haven’t improved much in the ensuing years. Suffice to say, none of these movies, even the most successful, have come close to what any reasonable observer would call “awards worthy.” (Even the $1.3 billion–grossing “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” may still wind up without a ticket to the Oscars.) “The Last of Us,” then, marks an extraordinary milestone — one might say a massive power-up — for the genre. Based on the popular 2013 game for the Sony Playstation 3, the show tracks the story of Joel (Pascal), a self-serving smuggler, and Ellie (Ramsey), a headstrong teenager, as they navigate the zombie-infested American wilderness together. When it was released, the game was heralded for its deeply felt and nuanced storytelling, and that’s what the show’s creators chose to focus on, rather than recreate the game’s zombie-killing gameplay experience.
The nominations are out for the 44th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards, and CNN leads the way with a commanding 45 noms ahead of Vice (30) and ABC and PBS (26 each). See the list of nominees in all 62 categories below or click here.
At a time of immense, industry-wide interest in video game IP, Range Media Partners looks to make a splash in the arena with the signing of Dan Houser, the creative director and lead writer behind massive franchises Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, as well as his media company, Absurd Ventures.
Alison Herman TV Critic Earlier this year, the creative and commercial success of “The Last of Us” all but guaranteed video games would be television’s next great font of IP. Yet there are reasons video game adaptations have historically been troubled, and why “The Last of Us” was uniquely suited to become not just a show, but a prestige drama on HBO. In protagonists Joel and Ellie, “The Last of Us” game had complex, conflicted characters who could guide the viewer through their world in the wake of a zombie apocalypse.
‘The Traitors’ Host Claudia Winkleman Wins Edinburgh Award
James Gunn is clarifying some rumors about the DC development slate starting with Superman: Legacy and a potential Justice League live-action film under his direction.
What happens after the Dark One is vanquished? Amazon’s “The Wheel of Time” returns with a world still plagued by evil. This time, Rand and his closest companions from Two Rivers find themselves apart; their distance creates the perfect opportunity for something far more sinister to create chaos.
EXCLUSIVE: The Chosen creator Dallas Jenkins has said he is thankful that SAG-AFTRA has granted one of its first interim agreements to season four of his hit faith drama, allowing it to continue filming despite the strike.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Netflix is to release its Japanese live action film “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead,” on Aug. 3. The horror comedy film is based on the hit manga (comic book series) by Aso Haro and Takata Kotaro that debuted in the Shogakukan magazine Monthly Sunday Gene-X in October 2018. It has also spawned an animated series that plays on Hulu in North American and other territories. The underlying comic is a wackily original melding of the salaryman gag manga – a popular genre in Japan seldom exported abroad – with the sort of zombie holocaust story that has become a Hollywood staple.
William Earl The SAG-AFTRA strike has shut down scores of film and TV productions as actors picket. While many sets had already shut down as a result of the WGA writers strike, this will effectively slow Hollywood down to a crawl as negotiations continue. Read Variety‘s list of newly-halted productions below, which will be updated throughout the strike. Beetlejuice 2 The Tim Burton production, with Michael Keaton reprising his role as the crude ghost, is almost done with shooting in London, but was still expected to film one more sequence in Vermont when the strike took place.
Selome Hailu After a spring spent breaking audiences’ hearts and viewership records for HBO, “The Last of Us” co-creator and showrunner Craig Mazin is having a complicated summer. On one hand, Mazin’s show just earned 24 Emmy nominations — more than any other show this year besides HBO peer “Succession.” Highlights include lead acting nods for Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey; a whopping seven guest acting nods including deaf 10-year-old actor Kevionn Montreal Woodard; and another in the outstanding drama series category. But on the other, Mazin is a proud member of the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike for 72 days against the studios, networks and streamers that make up the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Spoiler Alert: This story contains spoilers about the end of HBO’s White Lotus season 2
Jon Stewart may have replaced John Oliver in the Outstanding Talk Series category at the Emmys but HBO’s Last Week Tonight is still up for four awards.
First-time Emmy award nominee Phil Dunster is celebrating the milestone in London, the city where he brought to life the character of Jamie Tartt across three seasons of the hit Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso. A role that changed the British actor’s life forever — and that of TV history.
‘s Bob Odenkirk found himself “giddy” and “very proud” on Wednesday morning, as his lauded Breaking Bad prequellanded its final set of seven Emmy nominations, including one for his lead turn, speaking with Deadline about what his character Slippin’ Jimmy McGill might be up to post-finale, his memorable recent guest appearance on FX’s The Bear, his new AMC show Lucky Hank and more.
Around one million households are now facing increased mortgage costs over the next three years, the Bank of England has warned. The Bank's boss has said today (July 12) that almost a million mortgage holders could see their monthly repayments hike by another £500 by the end of 2026.
Naomi Osaka has a bundle of joy to call her own. After announcing her pregnancy on January 11, 2022, she welcomed a baby girl into the world with her boyfriend Cordae, per People.The outlet did not note what day the four-time Grand Slam singles champion gave birth, but it happened in Los Angeles.
The Dead are almost done playing live.Legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Dead and Company have just three more concerts on their ‘Final Tour.’On July 14-16, John Mayer, Bobby Weir, Mickey Hart, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane will play their last three shows at San Francisco’s Oracle Park.Then, the group is calling it quits for good.Considering the historic nature of these hometown gigs for the Dead, tickets are relatively affordable.At the time of publication, we found tickets going for just $154 before fees on Vivid Seats.Plus, who knows what special guests they have planned for these final ‘Final Tour’ gigs?Dave Matthews recently played with the band in Boulder, CO — and anything is possible for the Dead’s swan song.Want to grab last-minute tickets before it’s too late to see Dead and Company live?Here’s everything you need to know about their three-day Oracle Park sendoff.All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation.A complete breakdown of all the best upper-deck, lower-deck and floor seats prices for the Dead and Company concerts on July 14-16 at San Francisco, CA’s Oracle Park can be found below.(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time.
Electronic Arts has announced a new single-player Black Panther game from a team composed of developers who have worked on Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Halo Infinite, God of War and more.The game is in the hands of Cliffhanger Games, a new triple-A development studio based in Seattle, Washington, and the studio is collaborating with Marvel Games.The aim of the currently untitled game is “to build an expansive and reactive world that empowers players to experience what it is like to take on the mantle of Wakanda’s protector, the Black Panther.” Additionally, the announcement coincides with the 57th anniversary of the character’s comic debut this month.Marvel Games and EA’s latest studio Cliffhanger Games are proud to announce a new, original, third-person, single-player Black Panther title in development! Read more now: https://t.co/kBS0MTsFbH pic.twitter.com/7aQEdYo7Qg— Marvel Games (@MarvelGames) July 10, 2023Studio lead Kevin Stephens – who came from Middle-earth developer Monolith Productions – expressed his excitement for the reveal in a press release and shed a little light on what comic book fans will look forward to in the final game. “We’re dedicated to delivering fans a definitive and authentic Black Panther experience, giving them more agency and control over their narrative than they have ever experienced in a story-driven video game,” he said.“Wakanda is a rich Super Hero sandbox, and our mission is to develop an epic world for players who love Black Panther and want to explore the world of Wakanda as much as we do,” continued Stephens.“It’s an incredibly rare opportunity to build a new team around the values of diversity, collaboration, and empowerment.
Thania Garcia Lil Uzi Vert will be performing in venues across the U.S. later this fall for the newly-announced “Pink Tape” tour in support of their latest, 26-track album album “Pink Tape.” The 17-date trip will be Uzi’s first headlining jaunt since 2018’s “Endless Summer Tour,” and is slated to begin on Oct. 21 in Minneapolis, before making numerous stops across major cities like Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, New York City, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Denver, among other cities. They will close the tour with a special hometown performance in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 22. “Pink Tape,” the follow-up to the rapper’s 2020 record, “Pluto x Baby Pluto,” is expected to be one of the top rap releases of the year when it arrives on U.S. charts next week. It features guest verses from Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Bring Me The Horizon and more.
A sci-fi comedy by Mel Eslyn and a literary noir by Alice Traughton – who are, respectively, the longtime producer for the Duplass brothers, and an award-winning U.K. television director (Dr. Who, Cucumber, The Living And The Dead) — debut in limited release this weekend, alongside Adele Lim’s Joy Ride, a Lionsgate wide-release – marking first-time feature film debuts by three women.