This week in TV News, HBO Now comes to Google Play and Android devices. Plus, adaptations of Urban Cowboy and Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley series are in the works, David Duchovny wants more X-Files, and we take a look at Netflix’s most popular shows.
Mark your calendars, Game of Thrones fans! HBO’s standalone streaming service HBO Now will be available in the Google Play store this summer. The service, which doesn’t require a subscription to HBO and costs $15 per month, was previously only available for Apple TV and Cablevision Systems. Bernadette Aulestia, VP of domestic network distribution for HBO, said in a statement, “We’re looking forward to expanding our relationship with Google through HBO Now.” HBO Now and HBO Go will both be available on Android TV, as well as Android devices, Apple iOS, and various web browsers.
TV remakes of movies are in vogue right now and the latest in the pipeline is a new take on the Debra Winger-John Travolta rodeo-set soap Urban Cowboy. The original film, released in 1980, received mostly positive reviews and is currently Fresh at 77 percent. This “reimagining” will be developed by Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, 2011’s Footloose) and will be executive produced by Robert Evans (who also produced the original film) and Sue Naegle. Paramount TV will co-produce with 20th Century Fox, with the show aiming to air on Fox on a date yet to be determined.
With the success of shows featuring sinister leads like NBC’s Hannibal, based on the popular Thomas Harris novels, Patricia Highsmith’s five-book series featuring anti-hero Tom Ripley are set for a television run. The show will start by expanding on Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, most famously brought to the big screen in 1998 by director Anthony Minghella and starring Matt Damon as the murderous Tom, née Dickie Greenleaf. Guymon Casady (Game of Thrones) and Ben Forkner (Good People) will executive produce and are looking to package the material with a writer, filmmaker or actor before shopping it to networks.
Mic.com has compiled user ratings for 13 of Netflix’s most popular original shows, with Marvel’s Daredevil landing on top with a 4.6 out of 5 star rating. Critical favorites House of Cards came in second with 4.5 and dramedy Orange is the New Black tied with reality show Chef’s Table for third at 4.4. The critically maligned animated series BoJack Horseman came in last at 3.8 user rating.
While the revival of the hit 1990s series The X-Files hasn’t even started filming yet, star David Duchovny is already on board for more. Announced in March, the six-episode event series will premiere on January 24, 2016. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Duchovny said, “I would be open to doing another cycle. I don’t know that I could do a 20-episode version of this show at this point in my life, and I don’t know that Gillian could. But I think everybody is open ended on what happens after this. Certainly, we didn’t bring it back with the idea of ending it.”
