Vol. 27
No. 17
Pick Hits
Binge This
High Fidelity (Hulu)
This TV series adaptation of Nick Hornby’s
novel of the same name has a lot to live up to with the
iconic 2000 romantic comedy drama film of the same name
having been a commercial and critical success. This
version stars Zoe Kravitz as a record
store owner who is obsessed with pop culture and music.
The first season of 10 episodes has received solid
reviews, with the RottenTomatoes critical
consensus stating that while it “skips the occasional
beat,” the “fresh take on a familiar track is as witty
as it is emotionally charged, giving the charming and
curmudgeonly Zoe Kravitz plenty of room to shine.” Fun
fact: Kravitz’s mother, Lisa Bonet,
appeared in the original movie. Second fun fact: Zoe's
father is famous rocker Lenny Kravitz.
On DVD
The Last Full Measure
The true story of William Pitsenbarger (Jeremy Irvine), an Air
Force medic who saved over 60 men in one of the harshest battles of the Vietnam
War. Offered the chance to escape on the last helicopter out of the combat zone,
Pitsenbarger chose to stay behind to save and in order to defend the lives of
his fellow soldiers. Twenty years later, Pitsenbarger’s comrade in arms, Tulley
(William Hurt), and father, Frank Pitsenbarger (Christopher
Plummer), seek the help of investigator Scott Huffman (Sebastian
Stan) and other surviving veterans of the battle to finally procure him
The Congressional Medal of Honor he deserved.
The Buzz...
Amazon Prime Video is ready for some more football, and the
NFL expects to be hitting the field this fall. Amazon is set to stream a
dozen NFL games worldwide for the next three seasons on both Prime and the
Twitch live streaming platform, under a renewal of its pact with the league for
rights to Thursday Night Football games through 2022. Under
the new deal with the NFL, it will have exclusive global rights to one late
season game globally on Prime Video and Twitch each of the next three
seasons.
Clare Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette might not
be airing this spring, but ABC hopes you’ll accept this replacement: The
network has ordered a retrospective event series that will look back at iconic
moments from the reality franchise. Titled The Bachelor: The Most
Unforgettable — Ever!, the 10 episode series will revisit memorable scenes
from the past 18 years. Each three hour episode will cover a full season of one
of the Bachelor shows, reflecting on the shocking rose ceremonies, passionate
proposals, dramatic breakups and more.
AMC Theatres has hit hard at Universal Pictures,
announcing it will no longer play any of the studio’s films in the wake of
NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell’s promise to use premium VOD while
films are still in theaters. Universal used the Pvod format to release Trolls
World Tour on April 10 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and widespread
theater closures rather than wait for theaters to re-open, which is unlikely to
occur until mid-summer. The studio revealed that Trolls World Tour took in $100
million in premium VOD rentals in its first three weeks of play in North
America, a result the will push film on the road to profitability.
Pop TV’s One Day At a Time is getting animated. The reimagening of
Norman Lear’s classic will produce an animated special to air this
spring. Like all other live action Hollywood production, filming on the current
fourth season of One Day At a Time was suspended in mid-March amid a growing
coronavirus pandemic. Shortly after that, One Day At a Time executive producer
Gloria Calderon Kellett, whose husband is a cartoonist,
brought the idea of an animated episode with fellow executive producer Mike
Royce. The two took it to Odaat producing studio Sony Pictures
TV, which helped get the ball rolling.
A live-action Goosebumps series based on R.L. Stine’s bestselling
books is in the works for the small screen. Scholastic Entertainment,
the media division of Scholastic, is teaming with Neal H. Moritz,
producer of the Goosebumps and Goosebumps 2 films, and Sony Pictures
TV, where Moritz’s Original Film is under a deal, to develop the series.
Actor and producer Steven Yeun, who became known for his breakout
role on The Walking Dead, has signed a first-look deal with
Amazon Studios. Under the pact, Yeun will work with the studio to
develop and produce television series targeted for premiere exclusively on
Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories
around the world.
HBO has made a deal to develop a series from the classic horror franchise
Hellraiser, with Halloween helmer David Gordon
Green set to direct the pilot and several more initial episodes that brings
to the small screen for the first time the iconic pincushion-headed villain who
heads a group of pasty-faced villains sent from hell, known as the Cenobites.
NBC’s hit athletic competition series The Titan Games
is returning for its second season on Monday, May 25, according to the network.
Hosted and executive produced by Dwayne Johnson, The Titan Games
will premiere with a two hour episode beginning at 8 Pm ET on May 25. Beginning
June 1, the series will air weekly in its regularly scheduled 8-9 Pm timeslot.
Lionsgate has hired American Hustle scribe Eric
Warren Singer to write Now You See Me 3, the latest
installment in the franchise based on a fresh take by Singer. The first two
movies in the Now You See Me series have taken in $687 million worldwide
cumulatively. The previous films starred Jesse Eisenberg, Woody
Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and
Morgan Freeman, among others. No casting has been set yet for the
third installment.
Judd Apatow in an Instagram conversation with SNL’s
Pete Davidson announced that their summer comedy, originally
slated to hit theaters on June 19, will now go on VOD on June 12. The
comedy based on Davidson’s life, directed by Apatow and co-written by Davidson,
Apatow and former SNL scribe David Sirus was expected to make its
world premiere at SXSW with further play at the Tribeca Film
Festival, but both events were canceled. |