‘WWE SmackDown’ Sets Premiere Date In Return To USA Network

This afternoon, Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof debuted his latest feature, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, in Competition here at the Cannes Film Festival to a nearly 15-minute standing ovation.

The Megalopolis parties and debates last week generously fed Cannes’ appetite for media buzz. Fest-goers were reminded that Francis Coppola’s journey had been a thrill ride for those who witnessed it, invested in it or were impacted by its turmoil.

EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent has named the six filmmakers selected for its third annual Episodic Directing Intensive: John Gutierrez, Lorena Lourenço, Alfonso Morgan-Terrero, Huriyyah Muhammad, Kelsey Taylor and So Young Shelly Yo.

Jared Padalecki‘s Cordell Walker may be riding off into the proverbial sunset. Upfront week, during which the CW unveiled its fall 2024-25 schedule, came and went without decisions on the network’s legacy drama series, including flagships All American and Walker.

Sebastian Stan is hitting the red carpet at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival!

The American Society of Cinematographers has re-elected Shelly Johnson for a second term as its president and voted in three VPs and other officers.

There can be no doubt if there is one person bound and determined to keep Hollywood’s long history of Westerns alive it has been Kevin Costner. Okay, well Clint Eastwood too. And that has been true right from the beginning of his career when he played the freewheeling scene stealer Jake in Lawrence Kasdan’s Silverado in 1985, and he also made an impression as title star of 1994’s Wyatt Earp. But his real mark on the genre has been not just as an actor but also as director and producer behind the scenes, first with his Oscar-winning 1990 Best Picture Dances With Wolves and 2003’s terrific Open Range with co-star Robert Duvall. For the past few seasons he has prominently been involved in a more contemporary take in his hit TV series, Yellowstone. But without question his most ambitious and sprawling swing yet, Horizon: An American Saga, which kicked off Sunday night at the Cannes Film Festival in an out of competition world premiere, is the pinnacle of this star’s love affair with the West and how it evolved.

Kevin Costner and Sienna Miller make rare red carpet appearances with their respective children at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival premiere of their new film Horizon: An American Saga held at Palais des Festivals on Sunday (May 19) in Cannes, France.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter It’s been less than two years since the close of Nexstar’s acquisition of The CW and the network’s primetime slate could not look more different. In addition to the broadcaster’s shifted focus to sports, unscripted fare and foreign imports/co-productions, The CW will soon be getting into the original TV movie business.

South Park is taking on Ozempic.

Naman Ramachandran After the well-received “Joyland” in 2022 and “In Flames” last year, Pakistan is debuting a central hub at the Cannes Film Festival this year. The Pakistan Crescent Collective, set up by Modoxy Media, will represent the country’s official presence at the festival, with a mission to “discover and nurture the next generation of talent, preserve film, andpromote Pakistani and diaspora films globally, thereby advancing Pakistan’s visual culture.” The collective consists of a global team of film industry professionals based in London, Karachi, New York and Los Angeles.

E!, USA Network and Oxygen True Crime have revealed their programming slates for the 2024-25 season which include a docuseries that follows the daughter of Snoop Dogg and a true crime series about homicides in Philadelphia.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Netflix will debut Joe Berlinger‘s six-part docuseries “Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial,” about the Third Reich, on June 5. Through the framing of the Nuremberg trials and eyewitness testimony of American journalist William L. Shirer, the series explores the rise and fall of Hitler and his enablers who were fueled through propaganda, censorship and a campaign of antisemitism.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical has acquired North American rights to Susanna Fogel‘s Winner, a political dramedy based on the true story of NSA whistleblower Reality Winner (Emilia Jones), which world premiered at Sundance 2024. Also starring Connie Britton (Nashville), Zach Galifianakis (A Wrinkle in Time), Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) and Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick), the film is slated to hit theaters later this year.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor TKO, the parent company of UFC and WWE, is on the upswing, delivering solid Q1 results and enough momentum for both franchises that the company opted to boost its full-year revenue and earnings guidance for Wall Street. TKO disclosed that it has reached a $25 million deal with NBCUniversal to allow WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” wrestling franchise to remain on USA Network through the end of this year. In January, TKO struck a massive 10-year deal with Netflix to bring “Raw” and other WWE content to the streamer’s platform as of next year.

WWE‘s Monday Night Raw franchise will stay on USA Network through the end of 2024 under an extended rights agreement between the wrestling circuit and NBCUniversal.

Jack Dunn Bravo has set the date for the “Vanderpump Rules” three part-reunion, which premieres May 14 at 8 p.m. ET with extended and uncensored versions available to stream the next day on Peacock. The reunion will feature Lisa Vanderpump, Ariana Madix, James Kennedy, Katie Maloney, Lala Kent, Scheana Shay, Tom Sandoval, Tom Schwartz and Brock Davies with Andy Cohen serving as host.

Vin Diesel is set to enter production on Riddick: Furya, the anticipated fourth installment of the Riddick franchise, on August 26.

EXCLUSIVE: A24 has acquired North American rights to Parthenope, the new film from Oscar winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, ahead of its world premiere at the 77th Festival de Cannes.

Emily Longeretta Rosie O’Donnell is making her TV return on Max’s “And Just Like That.” The comedian revealed she’s joining the cast of the “Sex and the City” spinoff on Wednesday, sharing a photo of the Season 3 premiere script via Instagram. The photo reveals she’s playing a character named Mary and that the episode is titled, “Outlook Good.” It will be written and directed by executive producer Michael Patrick King.