Information Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Sony Pictures Entertainment has hired Jill Ratner as their EVP and General Counsel, overseeing all of the studio’s legal functions, compliance and labor relations, SPE music affairs, government/external matters, and corporate social responsibility teams. 

EXCLUSIVE: Jackson White (Tell Me Lies) has been tapped to star opposite Lily James in the upcoming film inspired by the story of Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, from 20th Century Studios and Ethea Entertainment.

After collaborating with Oprah Winfrey‘s Harpo Films and Scott Sanders Productions on Warner Bros’ The Color Purple, in which she portrayed the character of Squeak, actress and musician H.E.R. is getting back into the business with the companies on a Majorettes-inspired project for 20th Century Studios that she’ll develop, produce and topline.

EXCLUSIVE: After finding its new host in the returning Jon Stewart, The Daily Show is staffing up.

“It may sound like an exaggeration, but it’s not, today’s legal ruling is a great day for America because it instills in us the faith that there is a justice system,” proclaimed Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala today after New York’s Appeals Court threw out his client’s 2020 conviction and ordered a new trial.

EXCLUSIVE: Blackfin, the Lionsgate-backed production company behind series including Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez, has a new Head of Documentaries.

EXCLUSIVE: The Talk may be wrapping up after 15 seasons in December, but Executive Producer Rob Crabbe and his team are not going down without a fight.

Netflix has expanded the Season 2 cast for To All The Boys spinoff series XO, Kitty, as production gets underway in Seoul. (You can watch a start of production clip below). Audrey Huynh (ANZBBGRL, Wyrm) has joined as a new series regular, and Sasha Bhasin (Brave the Dark) and Joshua Lee (Gangnam Project) are set to recur in the half-hour dramedy inspired by the popular movie trilogy and Jenny Han’s bestselling book series.

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 2024 edition, running from June 9 to 15. (scroll down for full list of titles and events)

EXCLUSIVE: Now that we know the competition slates, it’s time to bring out the star packages that will line the Cannes Market. Here’s one inspirational movie package that ought to register strongly with the buying crowd. Way of The Warrior Kid is slated to begin production this summer, with Chris Pratt starring and McG directing a Will Staples-scripted adaptation of the the novel by Jock Willink. He is the retired Navy SEAL who found a thriving second career as podcast host, bestselling author and motivational speaker.

Leanne Morgan‘s current tour is called Just Getting Started, and the 58-year-old comedian is living up to that with a comedy series and two more specials at Netflix. The streamer has given a 16-episode order to an untitled multi-cam series, headlined by Morgan in her TV acting debut and executive produced by top comedy showrunner Chuck Lorre (The Kominsky Method, Bookie). Additionally, Netflix has picked up two more stand-up specials from Morgan following the success of her 2023 debut, Leanne Morgan: I’m Every Woman.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple and Skydance have welcomed four to the cast of their action adventure pic Mayday from writer-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley: Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), Marcin Dorocinski (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One), Lovell Adams-Gray (Power Book II: Ghost), and Clark Johnson (The Wire).

It was thanks in part to Arnold Schwarzenegger that the former publisher of the National Enquirer knew he could get in trouble for the tabloid’s catch-and-kill policy and buying off salacious stories about Donald Trump

A wide ranging list of honorees were announced today for the Critics Choice Association‘s inaugural Celebration Of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television which will take place during Pride Month on Friday June 7, 2024 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Following the event it will stream on HereTV, the first and largest LGBTQ+ TV and streaming service in the USA. Actress, writer, and comedian Sherry Cola (Joy Ride, Shortcomings, Good Trouble) will host.

Jeremy Renner faces a new foe in the official trailer for season 3 of Mayor of Kingstown, which will premiere Sunday, June 2 in the U.S. and Canada and begin rolling out on June 3 in all other Paramount+ international markets.

The last NBC drama series whose fate had not been determined, Law & Order: Organized Crime, is finalizing a deal for a 10-episode Season 5 renewal, sources said. As Deadline reported exclusively this month, the Wolf Entertainment series will be relocating from NBC to sibling Peacock, with the new season streaming exclusively on the platform.

Hallmark Channel is bringing back the Brenner brothers for the holidays.

Paramount’s Ryan Reynolds starring, John Krasinski directed all audience movie, If, is heading for a $40M-plus opening on May 17, which for a non-holiday in May and for an original movie, is very good.

Mary Jane, the Amy Herzog play starring Rachel McAdams in her Broadway debut, has been given a two-week extension by producer Manhattan Theatre Club.

With his new highly-anticipated film Challengers bowing this weekend, Mike Faist looks to have found a new agent and manager as he as signed with WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners for representation. He will continue to work with former agent Samantha Stoller, who transitioned to management in February.

EXCLUSIVE: Walden Media has promoted Julia Friley to Vice President of Scripted Development.

EXCLUSIVE: Sydney Lemmon (Tár) and Romy Reiner (You People) have been tapped to star in The Philosophy of Dress, a dark satire from Cyrus Duff, who directs from his script written with Jacob Potash.

Baby Reindeer has burnished its status as a surprise Netflix hit by piling on viewers in its second week on the streaming service.

“We’ll launch FAST channels pretty darn soon” Sean Cohan told Deadline back in March and the Bell Media President has delivered on that pledge with the rollout of ten new channels.

Pierce Brosnan has signed to star in the romantic thriller A Spy’s Guide To Survival, from Uri Singer’s Passage Pictures.

Major internet providers once again will have to abide by a set of robust rules of the road, prohibiting them from blocking or throttling traffic, as the FCC today reinstated net neutrality regulations.

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Peaky Blinders’ and ‘Gangs of London’ star Joe Cole and ‘True Spirit’ and ‘Titans’ actor Teagan Croft have both just wrapped contemporary neo-noir thriller Override, the fourth feature from directing duo Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov. It marks the English-language debut for the Russian helmers, whose Captain Volkonogov Escaped played in Venice’s Competition strand in 2021.

Jennifer Aniston is looking to produce a reimagining of the glass-breaking, female driven 1980 comedy 9 to 5. Juno Oscar winner Diablo Cody is writing and Aniston will produce under her Echo Films label with Kristin Hahn.

French director Laurent Cantet, who won the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2008 for The Class, has died at the age of 63.

CBS has picked up a fifth season of drama The Equalizer, starring and executive produced by Queen Latifah, for 2024-25.