AEW to Launch Saturday Night TNT Show ‘Collison’ in June

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor That was the week that was, and last week was an upfronts week like no other. Variety’s team of New York-based television and digital reporters offer a debrief on the 2023 programming presentations in New York on the latest episode of Variety weekly podcast “Strictly Business.” The drama roiling the industry was evident in all the Writers Guild of America picket signs that swarmed around the major events held from May 15 to May 17. That added to the general madness of the week that is a television and advertising industry tradition but is starting to feel anachronistic in the streaming era. But the upfronts are still a hard habit to break. Netflix even crashed the party this year, albeit virtually.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Amazon Prime Video has ordered the spy thriller “Butterfly” to series with Daniel Dae Kim set to star and executive produce. Variety exclusively reported that the series was in the works back in February. Amazon has given the show a six-episode order, but production will not commence until all guild negotiations have been resolved. The show is based on the graphic novel of the same name created by Arash Amel, written by Amel and Marguerite Bennett, and illustrated by Antonio Fuso and Stefano Simeone. It was originally released by BOOM! Studios in 2015. Per the official logline, the series centers on “David Jung (Kim), an enigmatic, highly unpredictable former US intelligence operative living in South Korea, whose life is blown to pieces when the consequences of an impossible decision from his past come back to haunt him, and he finds himself pursued by Rebecca, a deadly, sociopathic young agent assigned to kill him.”

facing pushback from viewers on social media as well as the Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America. “We agree that the talent behind the content on Max deserve their work to be properly recognized,” a Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Discovery has corrected changes it made to director and writer credits in its rollout of Max after receiving harsh blowback from the Directors Guild and the Writers Guild. In a statement today, Max said: “We agree that the talent behind the content on Max deserve their work to be properly recognized. We will correct the credits, which were altered due to an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max and we apologize for this mistake.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Warner Bros. Discovery’s newly launched Max lumped film directors and writers under a single “creators” heading — a change that prompted a backlash from filmmakers and Hollywood’s directors and writers guilds. Now the company is changing the listings back, blaming the issue on a technical “oversight.” “We agree that the talent behind the content on Max deserve their work to be properly recognized,” a Max spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. “We will correct the credits, which were altered due to an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max and we apologize for this mistake.” The move drew ire amid the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, in which the union is seeking to reach a new contract with major studios.

A lot of people can’t wait to see Margot Robbie in “Barbie” this summer, but the actress knows there’s also a lot of people who aren’t fans of the doll and the brand that comes with it.

WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels sees advertising on HBO content as a major untapped revenue stream as the compay relaunched its HBO Max streaming service yesterday as Max.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Michelle Randolph and Jacob Lofland have joined Billy Bob Thornton in the upcoming Taylor Sheridan series “Land Man” at Paramount+, Variety has learned. In addition, Variety has learned exclusively that Ali Larter will star in the series as well. Per the official logline, the series “is set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas and is a modern day tale of fortune seeking in the world of oil rigs. The series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.” It is based on the podcast “Boomtown.” Randolph will star as Ainsley Norris, described as “the wild and strong-willed seventeen-year-old daughter of Tommy Norris (Thornton).” Lofland will play Cooper Norris, “Tommy’s son, who is new to the demanding work in the oil and gas fields of west Texas.” Larter will play Angela, Tommy’s ex-wife.

EXCLUSIVE: Gabriel Basso is in negotiations to join Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette in the Warner Bros. and Clint Eastwood pic Juror #2. Zoey Deutch and Kiefer Sutherland are also on board. Eastwood will direct and produce from a script by Jonathan Abrams. Joining Eastwood as producers are Tim Moore, Jessica Meier, Adam Goodman and Matt Skiena.

Comcast is rolling out Now TV, a streaming offering aimed at what it calls “the value-conscious consumer who wants an entertainment product.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor With cord-cutting at an all-time high, Comcast is introducing a new streaming subscription option to keep broadband customers in the video fold. On Tuesday, Comcast announced Now TV, a new streaming offering that includes more than 40 live cable entertainment channels from A+E Networks, AMC, Hallmark and Warner Bros. Discovery — but no local broadcast TV or sports channels — plus 20-plus integrated free, ad-supported television (FAST) channels from NBC, Sky and Xumo Play. In addition. Now TV includes a bundled subscription to Peacock Premium with ads. Now TV will be available to Comcast’s Xfinity Internet customers within the next few weeks, priced at $20 per month. Now TV does not require an additional set-top box and lets customers sign up or cancel at any time.

Max.The new combined streaming service launched on Tuesday, and in addition to housing all of HBO Max and Discovery+’s content in one place, Max also plays host to a robust library of movies and TV shows streaming in 4K UHD. At launch, more than 1,000 hours of programming are available in 4K, and Max says more will be added in the coming months.Right now, you can stream all the “Harry Potter” movies, the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” trilogies, the “Dark Knight” trilogy, the “Matrix” films, “Dune,” “Joker” and even “The Wizard of Oz” and “Goodfellas” in 4K.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s the big launch day for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max — and the newly revamped streaming service appears to encountering some technical problems right off the bat. On Wednesday morning, subscribers took to social media to complain that they were having logging in to Max, which is replacing the three-year-old HBO Max service. As reported by users, the issues spanned the Max.com website as well as mobile apps including iOS and connected-TV apps on Roku and Samsung TV. Of course, there are bound to be some problems in migrating millions of customers over to a new streaming platform. A Warner Bros. Discovery rep declined to specify how widespread the issues that users are encountering may be. The May 23 conversion from HBO Max to Max covers only the U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s bulked-up and revamped streaming service that takes the place of HBO Max, makes it U.S. debut on Wednesday (May 23). Max makes several subtle enhancements aimed at making the service easier to use and more engaging — while execs say it should also be more stable than HBO Max. According to the company, a “large portion” of HBO Max subscribers will have their apps automatically updated to Max — while in some cases, users will be prompted to download an updated Max app. If all goes as planned, HBO Max subscribers will have their previous plan (including their username, password and billing information), profiles, avatars, and settings including “Continue Watching” and “My List” items migrated over to the new Max.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Mortal Kombat 2” will follow the example of its 2021 hit predecessor and film in Australia. But production will relocate to Gold Coast, Queensland, from Adelaide in South Australia. The New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures title is based on the iconic video game by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Filming will begin at Village Roadshow Studios from June.  “Mortal Kombat 2” is written by Jeremy Slater and will again be directed by Australian Simon McQuoid. The film will be produced by James Wan’s Atomic Monster and Todd Garner’s Broken Road Productions. 

to ‘Your Honor,’ Showtime is home to big, premium, sophisticated series which will now be complemented with broad, blockbuster originals and movies in the alignment of Paramount+ with Showtime,” Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, added. “Together, Paramount+ with Showtime will provide our consumers a much more rewarding experience with our vast set of unique originals and deep library of iconic shows and hit films.”Paramount dropping this news a day before Max’s launch is undoubtably a strategic move.

May 23 is, according to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, “our rendezvous with destiny.” That’s because the company has finally dropped the HBO from streaming service HBO Max and become just Max.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s the beginning of the end for Showtime as a standalone brand. Paramount Global will launch the newly integrated Paramount+ With Showtime service in the U.S. on June 27, establishing it as the company’s top-tier streaming product without commercials. As previously announced, the Paramount+ With Showtime plan will cost $11.99 per month — up 17% from $9.99/month, but still less than the standard ad-free packages from rivals like Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max (nee HBO Max) and Netflix. At the same time, the price of the Paramount+ Essential Plan (without Showtime) will increase from $4.99 to $5.99 per month.

this year’s CinemaCon that director Blitz Bazawule’s musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel is “not your Mama’s ‘Color Purple’,” and based on the first trailer, she’s right. Warner Bros.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor On Tuesday, May 23, HBO Max is going away — when it will be reskinned as Max, stocked with more than twice the total amount of programming. Max’s expanded streaming menu includes the addition of hundreds of episodes of Discovery+ shows, and it’s set to get dozens of new TV shows and movies over the next month. The new Max will feature 35,000 hours of programming, more than double what has been available on HBO Max. According to Warner Bros. Discovery, the service will be continuously updated with fresh content, averaging more than 40 new movie titles and TV seasons per month. SEE ALSO: What Max Launch Means for Existing HBO Max Customers

It wasn’t the kind of splash that Chip and Joanna Gaines were looking to make. During an anniversary trip to Mexico in 2021, Chip Gaines thought it would be fun to post a video of his bikini-clad wife doing a backward plunge into the pool. “I had to kind of beg her,” he recalls, before posting the video and several other images from their sunny vacation on Instagram. “It was so funny. I thought nobody would care.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Warner Bros. Discovery is on the eve of launching Max, its new streaming service that combines the already-existing platforms of HBO Max and Discovery+. But don’t expect Aubrey Plaza to be among Max’s subscriber base. “The White Lotus” star revealed to Vanity Fair that she refuses to use streamers because she often gets enraged while using them. So no, Plaza never streamed her own season of “The White Lotus” and stays off HBO Max. “I get really angry,” Plaza said about using streamers. “I was trying to watch ‘Top Chef’ Season 20. Couldn’t figure out how to fucking get Hulu + Live. I give up! I can’t. I just can’t. And so what I like to do is go on iTunes and buy movies that are old. Or I’ll go on iTunes and just, like, buy the whole ‘Sopranos’ series, and then my husband will be like, ‘You literally can watch that for free on HBO Max.’”

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is reviewing its TV commissioning and editorial strategy in the UK due to the tricky economic headwinds, Deadline understands.

Selome Hailu It’s clear by this point in the run of “Barry” that the show is no longer about whether or not its title character (series co-creator Bill Hader) is a redeemable human being; as Hader puts it, despite all of his lying and killing, “he doesn’t understand what he did wrong.” Instead, as the fourth and final season comes to a close, the more morally gray supporting characters are beginning to see the consequences of their own failings — ones they can’t blame Barry for. Played by Henry Winkler, Gene Cousineau emerges from Episode 5’s time jump with a mission to do the right thing. He comes out of hiding (which was, for him, a kibbutz in Israel) after hearing that Warner Bros. is working on a movie about Barry’s murder of Cousineau’s girlfriend, detective Janice Moss (Paula Newsome). Enraged by the exploitation of Janice’s death, Cousineau begins to protest the film, but the attention it could bring him is tantalizing, and he slips up. When a Hollywood agent comes calling to let Cousineau know that Daniel Day-Lewis is interested in playing him, he agrees to a meeting. And when the agent says that Mark Wahlberg could star as Barry but needs to be convinced of why he should play a cop killer, Cousineau prepares to make Barry’s case, calling him “a sympathetic soul.”

William Earl Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav felt the effect of the WGA strike while delivering a commencement speech at Boston University, getting jeered and facing chants of “pay your writers” while he was trying to speak. “Late Night with Seth Meyers” writer Mike Scollins posted a video of one moment during the address in which the chant was loud enough to make Zaslav pause in the middle of his speech. Scollins captioned the video “Zaslav getting hit with a Pay Your Writers chant in Boston. This is so good.”Zaslav getting hit with a Pay Your Writers chant in Boston. This is so good. pic.twitter.com/00pL4ahAqZ In a statement after the speech, Zaslav expressed gratitude to the university where he earned his law degree in 1985. He didn’t reference the Writers Guild of America strike at the commencement, but he did afterward.

pic.twitter.com/x65XwmIxgDThe boos continued as Zaslav went on to give his prepared remarks to graduating students, which ranged from advice on “focus[ing] on people’s good qualities” to acknowledging one’s shortcomings, though chanting and booing remained audible through the speech.Even before the WBD head began his speech, guild members and supporters loudly booed as it was announced that he would receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the ceremony.Zaslav loudly booed at BU commencement. Although I’m incapable of being happy, this comes close.

Jeers and chants of “pay your writers” from picketers and a number of audience members greeted Warner Bros Discovery chief David Zaslav on Sunday as he delivered Boston University’s commencement address.

The CW that audiences see when they tune in this fall won’t look like the CW of years past – but it also won’t look like the CW that new owner Nexstar actually intends to offer consumers moving forward.In a move similar to its broadcast competition, the CW released a fall schedule meant to be practically immune to the effects of the ongoing writers strike. It’s an acquisition-heavy lineup that’s a mix of comedies (Canadian sitcoms including “Children Ruin Everything” and “Run the Burbs”), dramas (former AMC series “61st Street”) and unscripted fare (the salvaged HBO Max hit “FBoy Island”). The only potential hiccup would be a strike-related production delay for “All American,” one of two CW shows that new network president Dennis Miller and entertainment president Brad Schwartz have decided to keep moving forward.As much as Schwartz doesn’t like the perception that there is anything wrong with an acquisition, he and Miller told Variety that isn’t the center of their scheduling strategy, but rather a path they had to take this first year because of production uncertainties.Here, Variety speaks with Schwartz and Miller about the network’s plans for adult dramas, programming to Black audiences following the success of “All American,” going hard on unscripted with “FBoy Island,” and the path to making the former Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery-owned channel profitable for Nexstar.

“This is not exactly the show we expected to do today,” said Warner Bros Discovery ad boss Jon Steinlauf in opening his company’s second Upfronts presentation as a merged company.

EXCLUSIVE: New indie film financier Mizzel Media is launching in Cannes with what we understand to be a healthy six-figure investment in feature The Girl From Köln, the next film from Holy Spider and The Tale outfit One Two Films.

Warner Bros. Discovery is reaching back to its past to celebrate a century of entertainment in a new, four-part documentary series.

Flavor Flav is showing his support for members of the Writers Guild of America!

Picketers gathered outside Warner Bros. in Burbank today found themselves buoyed by a unique presence: Flavor Flav. The hip-hop icon-turned-reality star showed up to cheers from the assembled WGA supporters.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Andrew Ross Sorkin is the co-creator of the Showtime series “Billions,” but he isn’t really known for drama in his professional life, just financial reporting. So it came as something of a surprise on Monday, when the CNBC and New York Times journalist got up on stage at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall to tout some of the dramatic fare that NBCUniversal was able to cobble together for the advertisers and media buyers assembled in the audience. It was all part of the industry’s annual “upfront,” when U.S. media companies try to sell the bulk of their advertising inventory before the release of their next cycle of programming.

Warner Bros. studio, founded in 1923, all the way to present-day. Talking heads include a cavalcade of stars from George Clooney and Keanu Reeves, to directors Baz Luhrmann and Martin Scorsese.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The “Futurama” revival at Hulu has set its premiere date. The new episodes of the beloved sci-fi animated series, officially the show’s eighth season, will debut on Hulu on July 24. New episodes will drop weekly on Mondays thereafter, with Season 8 (or Season 11 depending on how you break it down) consisting of 10 episodes. Hulu commissioned 20 episodes in total back in February 2022. Hulu has also released the first teaser for the new season, which can be seen below. This marks the second time the show has been brought back since it originally launched in 1999. After its initial four-season run on Fox, reruns of the show found new life as part of the Adult Swim lineup on Cartoon Network and on DVD. Four direct-to-video films were then produced, which were later re-edited into a fifth season that aired on Comedy Central starting in 2008. Comedy Central would go on to air two more seasons consisting of 26 episodes each between 2010 and 2013.