TAGGED AS: HBO Max, news, streaming, television, TV, Warner Bros.
HBO reportedly is nearing a deal to bring a Harry Potter TV show to life. Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury in Secret Invasion trailer. Robert De Niro will star in crime drama Bobby Meritorious at Paramount+. A Cruel Intentions TV series is in the works at Amazon. Plus, new trailers feature Chris Hemsworth in Extraction 2, Keri Russell in The Diplomat, and more of the biggest news in TV and streaming.
TOP STORY
(Photo by ©Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection)
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is close to solidifying a deal that would make the long-rumored Harry Potter TV series a reality: The bestselling book series’ author J.K. Rowling is close to signing on as producer on the project, Bloomberg reports.
This news comes as HBO’s parent company, Warner Bros., is gearing up to announce a new streaming strategy, which would rename its flagship service HBO Max to simply, Max. A major component to this strategy, which CEO David Zaslav has previously stated, is creating new original content based on IP viewers are already familiar with, and Warner Bros. has a deep library to mine.
A new series of Lord of the Rings movies were previously announced by Warner, with other announced items like the highly-anticipated (and currently in production) The Batman spinoff series The Penguin, starring Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, and James Gunn’s new DC programming slate continuing that model of pushing out stories involving characters audiences already know and love.
The Harry Potter books and subsequent movies (which launched the careers of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint) follow the story a young orphaned wizard who finds himself invited to attend Hogwarts, the world’s leading school for wizards in training. The books are rich with adventure, and a lot of story details did not make it to the big screen.
Unnamed sources revealed that each season of the program would be based on one of Rowling’s seven books, in the same manner that each movie was based on each installment, including the final two-part film. Rowling’s role on the series would be to make sure the program remains loyal to the original material. The author has recently drawn controversy over comments about the trans community.
The popularity of Harry Potter has not waned over the years. The Harry Potter 20th anniversary reunion special on HBO Max was a big hit for the streamer. TBS’s Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses event series and the Hogwarts Legacy video game has kept the fandom happy. A reboot series, in this context, feels like a no-brainer.
We haven’t seen much of Nick Fury in recent years, but all that is about to change. Samuel L. Jackson’s iconic eye-patched creator of the Avengers Initiative will return for Secret Invasion, Disney+’s upcoming alien espionage series.
A new war is looming and, from what we can gather from the new trailer, Fury’s return to Earth will be sparked by insurgent actions by Krull villain Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir). Not all Krulls are bad, though. And the appearance of Ben Mendehlson’s Talos here, teases the return of Fury’s alien ally. Colbie Smulders’ Maria Hill and Olivia Colman’s MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth will also supply support as Fury heads into one last fight.
The big question is: will Nick Fury call on the Avengers for assistance?
Secret Invasion premieres on June 21 on Disney+.
Related: Everything We Know About Secret Invasion
Chris Hemsworth’s black ops mercenary Tyler Rake may have died at the end of the first Extraction movie. But sometimes, death is not the end.
The 2020 film Extraction was the fourth most-watching streaming film of that year on Netflix. So, basically, it was pretty evident this wouldn’t be the last we’d see of Rake. If the above trailer for Extraction 2 tells us anything, it probably won’t be long before he suits up for a third life-saving mission. The second film will see fists flying, kicks a’plenty, and an assortment of weaponized riot shields, among other action-packed sequences, to look forward to.
Also back for the sequel is director Sam Hargrave and Avengers: Endgame directors Anthony and Joe Russo, who are on board as producers. Joe Russo wrote the screenplay.
Joining Hemsworth on screen is Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Daniel Bernhardt, Tinatin Dalakishvili, Sinead Phelps, and Justin Howell.
Extraction 2 will hit Netflix on June 16.
More trailers and teasers released this week:
• The White House Plumbers tells the story of how Nixon’s own political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds, E. Howard Hunt (Woody Harrelson) and G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux), accidentally toppled the presidency they were zealously trying to protect. Premieres May 1. (HBO)
• Clock is the story of a woman who enrolls in a clinical trial to try and fix her seemingly broken biological clock after friends, family, and society pressures her to have children. Premieres April 28 (Hulu)
• In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc, Tanjiro’s journey leads him to the Swordsmith Village, where he reunites with two Hashira, members of the Demon Slayer Corps’ highest-ranking swordsmen: Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji. With the shadows of demons lurking near, a new battle begins for Tanjiro and his comrades. Premieres April 9. (Crunchyroll)
• A Small Light takes place over two years and tells the inspiring true story of Miep Gies (Bel Powley), carefree and opinionated young woman — during a time when opinions got you killed — who helped hide Otto Frank (Liev Schreiber) and his family from the Nazis during WWII. Premieres May 1. (Nat Geo and Disney+)
• Drops of God is based on the popular Manga and follows Camille, the estranged daughter of a recently deceased wine magnate who discovers she has been left his immense wine collection. The only problem: she must compete in a series of tests against her father’s prized student for the inheritance. Premieres April 21. (Apple TV+)
• The Diplomat is a high-stakes contemporary political drama that centers on Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), the new US Ambassador to the United Kingdom. With war brewing on one continent and boiling over on another, she will have to diffuse international crises, forge strategic alliances in London, and adjust to her new place in the spotlight — all while trying to survive her marriage to fellow career diplomat and political star Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell). Premieres April 20. (Netflix)
• Fatal Attraction is an updated take on the 1980s thriller that starred Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. Joshua Jackson and Lizzy Caplan star in the new series, which finds a casual fling turn into a stalking nightmare. Like the original, the program explores the timeless themes of marriage and infidelity through the lens of modern attitudes towards strong women, personality disorders, and coercive control. Premieres April 30. (Paramount+)
• Somebody Somewhere follows Sam (Bridget Everett), a woman grappling with loss and acceptance, who turns to singing as her saving grace which leads her on a journey to self discovery and find a community of outsiders who don’t fit in but don’t give up. Premieres April 23. (HBO)
• Clone High is the cult animated series created by Phil Lord and Chris Miller about a high school for clones of historical figures. Nearly two decades after the show came and went, the clones are being thawed out for a new school year. Things are sure to get weird. Premieres spring 2023. (HBO Max)
• Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni & Tupac Shakur is a deeply personal five-part series from award-winning director Allen Hughes that defies the conventions of traditional documentary storytelling to share an illuminating saga of mother and son, Afeni and Tupac Shakur. Premieres April 21. (FX)
• Shooting Stars tells the coming-of-age story of a young LeBron James and his three best friends – Lil Dru, Willie McGee, and Sian Cotton – as they declare themselves the “Fab Four,” after the famed Michigan Wolverines’ “Fab Five” of that era. Premieres June 2. (Peacock)
For all the latest TV and streaming trailers subscribe to the Rotten Tomatoes TV YouTube channel.
(Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)
Robert De Niro is set to star in the Paramount+ crime thriller Bobby Meritorious, from writer Billy Ray (The Comey Rule, Captain Phillips). This is the second TV project announced for the two-time Oscar winner; the first being Netflix’s conspiracy thriller Zero Day, which was ordered earlier this year. The series will be set in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Deadline reports. Threatening to tear this seemingly sovereign kingdom apart is an informant in the district’s biggest case. De Niro will play Avery “The Sage” Accomando, the informant in question. Will he tear this powerful institution apart, or will Bobby Meritorious, a fabled ex-cop-turned prosecutor, stop him?
Game of Thrones alum Kit Harington has joined the cast of season 3 of HBO’s Industry. He will play Henry Muck, the CEO and founder of a green energy tech company named Lumi. (Deadline)
HBO’s It prequel series Welcome to Derry has tapped Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, and James Remar to star. The details of their roles are currently being kept under wraps. (Variety)
Orlando Bloom will star in and executive produce This Must Be the Place at Amazon. In the TV adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s book, Bloom will play an American linguist who finds his current marriage threatened by his earlier lives. (Deadline)
Empire alum Taraji P. Henson will guest star in the April 12 Abbott Elementary episode, titled “Mom,” as Vanetta, Janine’s mother. (Variety)
Amber Ruffin’s NBC comedy pilot Non-Evil Twin has added Dexter Darden, Chloe Bridges, and Robert Buckley to the cast. Darden will play contemporary nerd Marcus, Bridges is Angie’s (Ruffin) corporate nemesis Robin, and Buckley is Angie’s dim-witted lawyer Samson. (Deadline)
Ken Jeong will star in 10% Happier, a new Fox single-cam sitcom based on Dan Harris’ book and podcast. (Variety)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is bringing in some heavy hitting guest stars for its fifth and final season. Hank Azaria, Sutton Foster, Darren Criss, Danny Strong, and Sean Gunn will all appear in the new episodes, with David Paymer returning as Harry Drake.
Apple TV+ released a first look at The Crowded Room, a new limited series created by Oscar winning writer Akiva Goldsman and starring Tom Holland. The series tells the story of Danny Sullivan (Holland), who is arrested following a shooting in New York City in 1979. Told through a series of interrogations, Danny’s life is revealed, exposing the twists and turns from his mysterious past that lead him to a life-altering revelation. Amanda Seyfried, Emmy Rossum, Sasha Lane, Will Chase, Lior Laz, Jason Isaacs, Christopher Abbott, Thomas Sadoski, and Zachary Golinger also star. The Crowded Room will premiere its first three episodes on Friday, June 9, 2023 on Apple TV+
First look at Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried in #TheCrowdedRoom – premiering June 9 on Apple TV+. pic.twitter.com/DHpQE3S64u
— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) April 3, 2023
Grey’s Anatomy has added Sam Page as injured Air Force pilot Sam Sutton, a recurring role in the current season. His first appearance will be in the May 4 episode. (Variety)
NBA legend Steph Curry and Adam Pally will star in Mr. Throwback, a sports memorabilia-themed mockumentary series in the works at NBC from Happy Endings creator David Caspe and writes Matthew Libman and Daniel Libman. (Deadline)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, and Richard Madden will star in Killer Heat, a new film from Amazon Studios. Directed by Philippe Lacôte and based on Jo Nesbø’s short story “The Jealousy Man,” the movie follows twin brothers who are caught in a violent love triangle on a remote Greek island. A damaged detective, known as “The Jealousy Man,” is called into investigate.
Taylor Sheridan’s Paramount+ CIA-themed series Lioness has added Thad Luckinbill in a heavily recurring role. He’ll play Joe’s (Zoe Saldaña) old friend Kyle, who oversees a trafficking contract. (Deadline)
(Photo by Everett Collection)
Cruel Intentions is finally making its way to television. According to an exclusive report from TVLine, Amazon has ordered an eight-episode first season of the series adaptation of the 1999 movie that starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The movie is an adaptation of the 18th-century novel Dangerous Liaisons.
In development at Freevee, with the possibility of a shift to parent streamer Prime Video, the series will follow two ruthless step-siblings who stop at nothing to maintain their power within the Greek Life hierarchy at their elite Washington, D.C. college. After a particularly heinous hazing ritual threatens everything, they’ll do everything to maintain their status at the university, which includes wooing the U.S. vice president’s daughter.
This isn’t the first time a TV project inspired by the movie was put in development. NBC ordered a sequel series pilot in 2016 that had Gellar reprising her role, but never moved forward. Prior to that, Fox created a prequel series that never aired; the first three episodes of the series were transformed into the direct-to-video sequel Cruel Intentions 2, which hit shelves in 2001. Neither Gellar, nor the rest of the original cast, are currently attached to Amazon’s new adaptation.
(Photo by Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images)
After the success of Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrls, which became the first streaming series to win an Emmy for Outstanding Competition Program, Amazon Studios has extended the global superstar’s first-look deal. The international superstar is also now looking for “women who can also sing as well as dance” and taking applications from “Big Grrrls Performers” through April 9 at biggrrrls.castingcrane.com.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will executive produce original Amazon’s scripted series Vanderbilt. Tapping into his own family history, the program, which will be an adaptation of Cooper and Katherine Howe’s book Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, will chronicle the 400-year ascension and eventual contraction of one of America’s most powerful families. (THR)
Amazon is developing Koreatown, a one-hour drama series from Gene Hong and Alan Yang. The program follows two Korean-American brothers — one a slick nightclub owner, the other a recovering addict — who must reconcile their complicated relationship in order to run a drug operation with the goal of keeping their ailing mother alive. (Deadline)
Philip K. Dick’s subversive sci-fi comedy novel Clans of the Alphane Moon is being developed as a TV series at Amazon with John Leguizamo attached as executive producer. (Variety)
Showtime has announced Ghosts of Beirut, a new four-party spy drama inspired by the manhunt for elusive Lebanese terrorist Imad Mughniyeh. The series, which will be told from American, Israeli, and Lebanese perspectives, Dina Shihabi, Dermot Mulroney, Garret Dillahunt, Iddo Goldberg, Hisham Suleiman, Amir Khoury, and Rafi Gavron.
Sarah Silverman will take the stand-up stage in a new special on HBO this May. It’ll be her second comedy special for the network, will feature all-new material, and will be taped live at The Wilbur Theater in Boston, Massachusetts.
Fox has ordered Doc, an American adaptation of popular Italian medical procedural Doc — Nelle tue mani. The updated take on the series will center on Dr. Amy Elias who suffers from amnesia after a brain injury, leading her to navigate an unfamiliar life. (Deadline)
Netflix has ordered the Samara Weaving-starrer Little Sky, the streamer’s first ever pilot episode. Weaving plays Penelope Paul Porter, a struggling news reporter determined to shine in her field. After the Mayor of a town called Little Sky goes missing, she pursues the big story by heading to the spooky, remote town only to discover something much more sinister at play. (Variety)
Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis is attached to star in and executive produce the animated series adaptation of comic book, Hellacious. The show, which is in development at TBS, centers on the Devil’s precocious 7-year-old granddaughter Cherry, who up and steals the soul of Heaven-bound rock icon Briggy Bundy (Kiedis) and embark on a realm-hopping afterlife adventure together. (Variety)
(Photo by ©Columbia Tristar/Courtesy Everett Collection)
This year’s ATX TV Festival is shaping up to be a must-attend event for television fans of all types. Premiere screenings, exclusive talent panels, Q&A events, and more are coming to the annual Austin, Texas festival, which kicks off on Thursday, June 1 and runs through Sunday, June 4.
Dawson’s Creek is celebrating its 25th anniversary, which will include a screening of the pilot episode and a reunion panel moderated by The Vampire Diaries co-creator Julie Plec that will include writers/producers Liz Tigelaar (Little Fires Everywhere), Rina Mimoun (Mistresses), Gina Fattore (Parenthood), Anna Fricke (Walker), and Maggie Friedman (Firefly Lane).
Read also: RT25 First Reviews Flashback: What Critics Said About Dawson’s Creek Season 1
The highly-anticipated return of Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens will be the focus of opening night as the festival will begin with the premiere of FX’s new eight-episode limited series, Justified: City Primeval. Following the screening is a conversation with the cast and crew of the program.
Other confirmed events happening during the four day festival are:
Badges are on sale now at atxfestival.com. Additional ticketing details and programming will be announced soon.
Previously announced programming includes:
