Mark Johnson Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“House of Gucci” and “Boardwalk Empire” star Jack Huston has joined AMC’s “Mayfair Witches” TV adaptation.Based on Rice’s “Lives of the Mayfair Witches” trilogy, AMC’s “Mayfair Witches” focuses on intuitive young neurosurgeon Dr. Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario ) who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches.

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches has found its Lasher. Jack Huston (House of Gucci) has been tapped to play the series regular role in the AMC Networks series. Lasher is one of Rice’s most mysterious and sensual characters — a powerful, shape-shifting entity who has been bound to the Mayfair witches for hundreds of years. Huston joins previously announced series regulars, including Alexandra Daddario (Dr. Rowan Fielding), Harry Hamlin (Cortland Mayfair) and Tongayi Chirisa (Ciprien).

AMC has given a series order to the one-hour comedic drama, “Straight Man,” starring “Breaking Bad” alum and “Better Call Saul” star Bob Odenkirk. Here’s the show’s logline: “Straight Man is a mid-life crisis tale set at Railton College, told in the first person by William Henry Devereaux, Jr.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterWell, that was fast. AMC has formally greenlit the dramedy series “Straight Man” starring Bob Odenkirk a little over two weeks after announcing the show as in development.The show is based on the novel of the same name by Richard Russo. It is described as a mid-life crisis tale set at Railton College in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt.

AMC has handed a series order to its Bob Odenkirk-fronted adaptation of Straight Man.

Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, two iconic series that have been beloved by millions of fans and helped define AMC and its reputation for unforgettable characters and high-quality storytelling for adults,” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks. “We’re also thrilled to be working again with our partners at Sony Pictures Television and Mark Johnson’s Gran Via to explore this compelling material.”This is Odenkirk’s third series at AMC after first appearing in the Emmy-winning “Breaking Bad” as lawyer Saul Goodman.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterBob Odenkirk could already have a new AMC show lined up.Variety has learned that the “Better Call Saul” star is attached to lead a new dramedy series that is currently being fast-tracked in development at AMC. The series is called “Straight Man,” based on the Richard Russo novel of the same name. It is described a mid-life crisis tale set at Railton College, told in the first person by William Henry Devereaux, Jr.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy winner Carrie Preston (The Good Fight) has signed on to star alongside Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph in the Miramax film The Holdovers, from two-time Oscar winner and seven-time nominee Alexander Payne (Nebraska, The Descendants).

Clayton Davis With the Oscars just days away, the awards pundits and Hollywood whisperers are trying to read all the tea leaves and figure out what’s winning in all 23 categories.A longtime friend and former writing colleague, Mark Johnson at Awards Daily, recently broke down the art of predicting, putting them into four simple rationales: data analysis, cultural zeitgeist, conversations with AMPAS members and gut instinct.The data piece is what’s driven by Film Twitter, while the cultural zeitgeist you see through viral videos on TikTok (for example, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from “Encanto,” isn’t nominated for Oscar but helps “Dos Oruguitas.”)This year’s crop of nominees represents interesting record breakers and trends in the Oscar canon. So let’s break it all down and how it could hint to potential winners in the wings.

EXCLUSIVE: Harry Hamlin (Mad Men) has signed on for a series regular role in the AMC series Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, and for a supporting role in the film 80 for Brady for Paramount Pictures and Endeavor Content.

A teenager has admitted racially abusing Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford on social media after the Euro 2020 final, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Somebody get Eric Bogosian a fedora: The Talk Radio alum has been cast in the upcoming series Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire as an investigative journalist.

Assad Zaman (Hotel Portofino, Small Axe) has joined the cast of AMC’s Interview With The Vampire, its series adaptation of Anne Rice’s book. Zaman will play Rashid, joining previously cast Sam Reid as Lestat, Jacob Anderson as Louis and Bailey Bass as Claudia. The seven-episode first season is set to premiere on AMC+ and AMC later this year.

AMC is moving forward with its series adaptation of Invitation to a Bonfire and sci-fi drama Demascus.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAMC has ordered two new original series — “Demascus” and “Invitation to a Bonfire.”Both shows were developed under the network’s script to series model. Both shows hail from AMC Studios and have been given six-episode orders with an eye to debut them on AMC and AMC Plus in 2023.“Demascus” is a half-hour series about life as an ordinary Black man in America today.

EXCLUSIVE: Da’Vine Joy Randolph is set to join Paul Giamatti in Alexander Payne’s next feature film, The Holdovers. Miramax landed worldwide rights to the film last summer with Payne on board to direct. David Hemingson is writing and producing with Mark Johnson and Bill Block also producing. Production is set to start today in New England.

Mark Johnson tragically died. Ennis, otherwise known as The Menace, paid a very touching tribute to former contestant Mark Johnson on Monday following his tragic death.

AMC Studios has opened writers’ rooms on two new projects — Invitation to a Bonfire based on Adrienne Celt’s novel and inspired by the famed Nabokov marriage, from Rachel Caris Love (Physical); and Demascus, a comedic sci-fi series from Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm (Boomerang) and executive produced by Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad producer Mark Johnson’s Gran Via Productions.

EXCLUSIVE: Anonymous Content is partnering with Robert Baer to develop a Cold War series, based on research by the author and former CIA case officer.

EXCLUSIVE: Miramax has acquired worldwide rights to The Holdovers, the Alexander Payne-directed film that reteams him with Sideways star Paul Giamatti. David Hemingson wrote the script, Mark Johnson is producing, and the film is now greenlighted for a January start date in New England.

The immortal vampire rock star known as Lestat de Lioncourt will be the coming to television.

LOS ANGELES -- Anne Rice's “Interview with the Vampire” is rising again on screen, this time for TV.The bestselling novel, which was adapted for the 1994 Brad Pitt-Tom Cruise film, will be the basis for a new AMC and AMC+ series set for 2022, AMC Networks said Thursday.The announcement follows the company's 2020 acquisition of 18 works by Rice, including 1976's “Interview with the Vampire," its sequels and the Mayfair Witches series.Producer Mark Johnson ("Breaking Bad," “Halt and Catch Fire”)

Following several canceled features across 2019 and 2020, Deadline reports that Alexander Payne has set Paul Giamatti to star in “The Holdovers,” a David Hemingson-scripted film produced by Mark Johnson. Production on the film will begin early next year in New England.

EXCLUSIVE: Alexander Payne has set Paul Giamatti to star in The Holdovers, a David Hemingson-scripted film that Mark Johnson is producing. FilmNation will rep international rights and CAA Media Finance will handle domestic as the film is shopped next week in the Cannes Virtual Market. Production will begin early next year in New England.

Mónica Marie Zorrilla “Queen’s Gambit” co-creator, director and showrunner Scott Frank is writing every episode of FX’s adaptation of the visionary modern classic, “The Sparrow.” Emmy Award-winning director Johan Renck (“Chernobyl,” “Breaking Bad”) has been tapped to direct the sci-fi project.Frank and Renck, along with “Better Call Saul” producer Mark Johnson, will executive produce the limited series based on Mary Doria Russell’s acclaimed magnum opus.

Scott Frank, co-creator, writer and director of breakout Netflix hit The Queen’s Gambit, is swapping chess for Jesuit priests and extraterrestrial life in his next project.

By Nellie Andreeva, Denise Petski

AMC has given out a series order to the musical anthology dramedy “National Anthem,” with the cabler giving the series an initial eight-episode order.

Oscar-winning producer Mark Johnson, whose credits range from Rain Man to Breaking Bad, Briarcliff Entertainment CEO Tom Ortenberg and The Pursuit of Happyness writer-director Steve Conrad have been called to the bench as judges for the Script2Screens short screenplay competition for emerging writers.Also joining the A-list judging panel is Rush Hour series producer Arthur M.