Entertainment Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Tyler Perry has conquered the entertainment world — the creative force between two dozen films, 17 television shows, bestselling books and 20 stage plays. He built a thriving studio complex in Atlanta, and just today Deadline reported he has signed a first-look deal with Netflix to produce faith-based films alongside DeVon Franklin.

Travis Kelce might have to make a habit of keeping friendship bracelets on his person at all times!

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Rudy Valdez (The Sentence) has signed with Inspire Entertainment for management.

EXCLUSIVE: Comedy troupe The Dress Up Gang are in production on their first feature film, The Dress Up Gang Movie with Tideline Entertainment and Mountain Top Pictures producing.

EXCLUSIVE: Faye Dunaway (Bonnie & Clyde), Harvey Keitel (Bugsy) and Andrew McCarthy (The Blacklist) have signed on to star in Fate, a suspenseful, supernatural romance that will launch international sales via Highland Film Group at Cannes.

Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament is back. While studios during Covid wildly embraced the theatrical day-and-date model when cinemas were closed, they soon realized there’s nothing more profitable than a theatrical release and the downstreams that come with it. If anything, theatrical is the advertisement for a movie’s longevity in subsequent home entertainment windows. Entering the conversation in 2023 were the streamers, such as Apple, who have also realized the necessity of theatrical to eventize their movies. The financial data pulled together here for Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament is culled by seasoned and trusted sources.

ChainFest, a chain food celebration that held its inaugural edition in LA last year, is passing the baton to Medium Rare, a fast growing  producer of live events and manager of brands, in a multiyear deal.

EXCLUSIVE: Erik Osterholm, longtime Bourdain producer/director and Down To Earth co-creator Michael Simkin launch Ultra Boom Media. The two producers are joining forces to create Ultra Boom Media alongside Oscar/Emmy nominated filmmaker Omar Mullick and veteran media and creative exec Carrie Kaylor.

EXCLUSIVE: Ed Adams, who has been with Warner Bros. Animation for 15 years, is retiring.

Samuel L. Jackson (Captain Marvel) and Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) are set to lead thriller Head Games, to be directed by Anthony Mandler (Monster) from a script written by Colin Liddle (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels).

The Neighborhood universe is expanding with a second series, Crutch. Paramount+ has picked up the half-hour, multi-camera comedy headlined by Tracy Morgan. It is set in the world of the popular CBS sitcom starring Cedric the Entertainer, which has been renewed for a seventh season.

EXCLUSIVE: Antoine Fuqua (Michael) and his Hill District Media will develop and produce Sky’s End, a feature adaptation of the New York Times bestseller from debut author Marc J Gregson.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “The Young and the Restless” icon Melody Thomas Scott, veteran soap opera producer Edward J. Scott and public TV food host Lidia Bastianich are all set to receive Lifetime Achievement awards at this year’s Daytime Emmys.

Alex Ritman Samuel L. Jackson and Henry Golding are set to lead the cast of psychological sci-fi thriller “Head Games,” to be directed by Anthony Mandler (“Surrounded,” “Monster”) from a script by Colin Liddle (“Penny Dreadful: City of Angels”) Range Media Partners’ Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger will produce with Brillstein Entertainment Partners’ Josh Glick and Everlast Pictures’ Adonis Tountas.

Naman Ramachandran Raven Banner Entertainment will launch international sales at the Cannes Film Market for Steven Kostanski‘s latest feature “Frankie Freako.” Kostanski’s previous feature “Psycho Goreman” premiered at SXSW in 2020 and gathered a cult following worldwide. Reviewing the film for Variety, critic Owen Gleiberman described the film as “‘The Toxic Avenger’ remade by the Robert Rodriguez of ‘Spy Kids.'” “Frankie Freako” is described by Raven Banner as Kostanki’s homage to the practical-FX-driven monster horror-comedies of the 1980s like “Gremlins 2” and “Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College.” It tells the story of workaholic yuppie Conor Sweeney (“The Editor,” “Father’s Day”) whose perfect life is turned upside down when he accidentally unleashes a trio of tiny trouble-makers into his home, led by the maniacal rock-n-roll party monster Frankie Freako.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief New shows featuring top K-pop acts BTS and Seventeen will be uploaded to overseas Korean streaming platform KOCOWA+ following a deal between KOCOCWA’s parent company wA and Hybe Corporation. The deal covers 18 shows featuring Hybe and kicks off in May with the first six travel show “Nana Tour with Seventeen,” stage performance shows like “Seventeen ‘Ode To You’ in Seoul,” and reality show “In the Soop Seventeen,” which follows the band on an R&R trip in the countryside. (The Korean word ‘soop’ translates as ‘forest’ in English).

Alex Ritman Oscar nominees Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog, “Maria”) and Djimon Hounsou (“Blood Diamond,” “A Quiet Place Part II”) are set to star in claustrophobic thriller “The Zealot.” The two-hander, being introduced to buyers in Cannes by WestEnd Films, comes from director Vadim Perelman (“House of Sand and Fog,” “Persian Lessons”) working from a screenplay by Bennett Fisher, and touches on themes involving privilege, paranoia, and the assumptions we make about one another. “The Zealot” follows Hassan, a Somali-American airport shuttle driver in Minneapolis, who is struggling to make ends meet. When Lloyd, a stranded twentysomething at the airport, offers to pay Hassan to take him overland to Chicago, it seems worth the risk.

EXCLUSIVE: Entertainment Squad (Paper Spiders, and Tribeca’s audience award winning dramedy, Cherry), has acquired SXSW’s premiere film, Peak Season, and set a theatrical release for August 2.Helmed by Henry Loevner and Steven Kanter, who previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed The End of Us, Peak Season is an exploration of personal discovery and the road less traveled set against the stunning backdrop of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The film stars Claudia Restrepo, Derrick DeBlasis, and Ben Coleman, Fred Melamed (A Serious Man, Hail, Caesar!) and Stephanie Courtney who is famously known as “Flo” in Progressive commercials.Both a bittersweet romantic comedy and a clever social commentary, Peak Season follows a burnt-out New Yorker who travels to Wyoming with her fiancé, but then falls for a handsome, yet troubled ski-bum, and questions whether to leave her city life behind.

The strike is on. 

EXCLUSIVE: Production has started in South Africa on Oscar-winning director Gore Verbinski’s new action adventure film Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, starring Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz and Juno Temple. 

Naman Ramachandran Actor Abhishek Bachchan (“Ghoomer”) is returning to producer Sajid Nadiadwala’s “Housefull” film franchise, one of the biggest hit Bollywood comedy film series of all time. The franchise began in 2010 with “Housefull” (2010) with sequels following in 2012, 2016 and 2019. Bachchan was one of the stars of “Housefull 3,” where he played wannabe rapper Bunty who circumstances force to pretend to be differently abled.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor It was a long night for Tom Brady at his live Netflix comedy roast, as it was for the rest of us watching from home. Starting with a bloody OJ Simpson jersey and ending with Tom Brady smashing an iPhone on stage, the Netflix live event, “The Greatest Roast of All-Time: Tom Brady,” honored the seven-time Super Bowl champion and modern-day legend as he faced his biggest challenge yet: being roasted by comedians and his former NFL teammates.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Paramount Global goes back to playing the field this week with two suitors still pursuing the company that has been surrounded by a highly public M&A drama for months. And it’s unlikely to end any time soon. The company reached the end of its 30-day exclusive negotiating window with Skydance Media on May 3 without coming to an agreement.

Tom Brady‘s about to get roasted.

Rance Collins For director, co-writer and star Jerry Seinfeld, “Unfrosted” was an opportunity to bring something a little less serious to the entertainment zeitgeist. A humorless life without the ability to make fun of ourselves, he postured, doesn’t make for “good living.” “Don’t give up laughing and humor and comedy in your life. It’s the best way to get through life,” Seinfeld said.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor In February, global luxury leader LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) launched 22 Montaigne Entertainment, signaling its intent to explore film, TV and audio for the brands. At its helm is Anish Melwani, chairman and CEO for North America, who sees a powerful connection between culture and entertainment, more so with the rise of streaming services. Since his appointment in 2016, Melwani has integrated Tiffany & Co.

Warren Buffett says he has sold all of his shares in Paramount Global at a significant loss.

Jennifer Lopez is stepping out to promote her new Netflix movie!

Britney Spears settled one dispute with her dad Jamie. However, another one is still developing.

A permanent exhibition space from renowned immersive events organizer Meow Wolf will open in Los Angeles in 2026.