Power fans, rejoice! Power Book III: Raising Kanan is coming back for a fifth season.
Starz has given the prequel series an early renewal following its February Season 3 finale. Season 4 is currently in production in New York. The news arrives shortly after the announcement the network’s focus has shifted to creating new spinoffs versus current seasons running too long to save costs and the news that Power Book II: Ghost will be ending after four seasons.
Power Book III: Raising Kanan explores the early life of everyone’s favorite villain Kanan Stark, originally played by 50 Cent in the flagship series, and shows his evolution from naive teenager to cutthroat villain. Season 3 saw an epic showdown between Kanan (Mekai Curtis) and Raq (Patina Miller), resulting in a couple of surprise deaths and the return of a fan-favorite character. The series stars MeKai Curtis in the titular role of “Kanan,” Tony and Grammy Award winner Patina Miller as his mother, Raquel “Raq” Thomas,” and London Brown as “Marvin Thomas.”
“We know that our fans can’t get enough of Raising Kanan. As the inevitable evolution of this young man into a killer plays out, we knew we had much more backstory to share in this ever-escalating family saga,” said Kathryn Busby, President of Original Programming for Starz. “As we continue to expand the storytelling within the Power universe, we’re looking forward to how this story may intersect with other Power characters during this prequel era.”
Although Ghost is ending, there is a new prequel season on the horizon. Starz is in development on Origins, an origin story of OG characters Ghost and Tommy. Origins is the fourth spin-off of the hugely popular “Power” series, preceded by Power Book II: Ghost, which will debut its two-part final season on June 7th, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and Power Book IV: Force which is currently filming its third season in Chicago.
As previously noted, it would be no surprise to see the actors hired to play younger versions of Ghost and Tommy—played in Power by Omari Hardwick and Joseph Sikora, respectively—appear in Raising Kanan. To launch adult Tommy’s continuation series Force, he appeared in the Season 1 finale of Ghost.
Creator Sascha Penn will return as showrunner and executive producer for season five of Power Book: III: Raising Kanan. The “Power” Universe series is executive produced by the creator and showrunner of the original Power, Courtney A. Kemp through her production company End of Episode, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson through G-Unit Film and Television, and Mark Canton through Canton Entertainment. Chris Selak also serves as executive producer. Lionsgate Television produces the series for Starz.
Source: Deadline
Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired domestic rights to the comedy Not Another Church Movie, starring Jamie Foxx, Vivica A. Fox, Kevin Daniels, Mickey Rourke, and more, slating it for a wide release in theaters on May 10th.
Daniels leads the ensemble as Taylor Pherry (his P is silent), an ambitious young man given a holy mission from God Himself: to tell his family’s stories and inspire his community. What he doesn’t know is that the Devil has plans of his own. Foxx plays God, with Rourke as The Devil, in the film directed by Johnny Mack.
A Monty the Dog Production, the film was produced by James Michael Cummings and former Warner Bros executive Jim Cardwell, with Valerie McCaffrey serving as executive producer. Tisha Campbell, Jasmine Guy, Kyla Pratt, and Lamorne Morris co-star.
“A huge credit to Johnny Mack, James Michael Cummings, and the entire cast and crew for sculpting a story that is as uproarious as it is engaging,” said Briarcliff CEO Tom Ortenberg. “There is no doubt that once Not Another Church Movie hits theatres in May that audiences will be doubled over in their seats.”
Stated producer Cummings, “This film was one of the best, funniest experiences in my life. Working with Johnny Mack, Jamie Foxx, Vivica A Fox, Kevin Daniels, Mickey Rourke and the entire cast was a dream come true. All I know is the day I met Johnny Mack was the day I knew we were gonna make Not Another Church Movie.”
Recently releasing the crime thriller Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, and Jessica Lange, as well as Gerard Butler actioner Kandahar and baseball biopic The Hill, Briarcliff opens Luc Besson’s newest thriller DogMan on March 29. Titles coming up for release later in the year include Gerard Butler’s Den of Thieves 2: Pantera and crime thriller Sovereign starring Nick Offerman, Dennis Quaid, and Jacob Tremblay.
Ortenberg and Jessica Rose negotiated the deal on behalf of Briarcliff Entertainment, with Cardwell repping the filmmakers.
Source: Deadline
[Los Angeles – March 27th, 2024] Emmy-award winning media company World of Wonder confirms it will debut its brand new series, House of Laughs, on April 2nd on its owned and operated SVOD service, WOW Presents Plus. In a departure from the typical stand-up comedy setup, House of Laughs welcomes an entirely LGBTQ+ comedy lineup to the brand new World of Wonder TV Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, showcasing some of the freshest, funniest and fiercest up-and-coming comedians and drag queens on the comedy circuit.
Filmed in front of a live audience, each episode sees RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season two winner Lawrence Chaney – currently hosting RuPaul’s Drag Race Live for its hit Las Vegas residency – take charge of proceedings in the role of emcee, welcoming to the stage raucously funny comedic talents; Abe Farrelly, Akeem Woods, Bruno Alcantara, Cameron Esposito, Carly Kane, Daniel Webb, Daniel Franzese, Darienne Lake, Guy Branum, Irene Tu, Jared Goldstein, Jaymes Mansfield, Jimbo, Joel Kim Booster, Julie Goldman, Justin Martindale, Kelly Mantle, Kylie Sonique Love, Lawrence Chaney, Paris Sashay, Pink Foxx, Scarlett Bobo, Steve Han, Silky Nutmeg Ganache.
The series will also feature a rotating set of iconic (and brilliantly impersonated) guest ‘celebrity’ bartenders, serving up drinks with a side of witty one-liners.
Lawrence Chaney, Rupaul’s Drag Race UK winner and host of House of Laughs said: “Hosting House of Laughs is basically the dream gig – I get to do stand-up comedy, in full drag, to a live audience in LA, alongside some of the funniest, queer comedians on the circuit. House of Laughs isn’t your typical stand-up comedy show. It is funny, naughty and brimming with new comedy talent but it’s also a ridiculous, joyous and queer joyride. Everyone is welcome to House of Laughs and I feel like one very lucky queen!”
Randy Barbato & Fenton Bailey, Co-founders and Executive Producers, World of Wonder: “We are thrilled for House of Laughs to be the debut production filmed at our new World of Wonder TV Studios. Prepare to gag on the funniest queer comedy Hollywood has to offer! WOW Presents Plus delivers tomorrow’s comic geniuses…today!”
The series will premiere exclusively on WOW Presents Plus, joining an extensive catalog of original programming, World of Wonder-produced documentary films, licensed content, and the entire international Drag Race franchise; including the latest series of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Drag Race, España All Stars and the second series of Drag Race Belgique – available to catch-up now.
Lawrence will also feature in upcoming brand new series, Drag Race Live Untucked, which goes behind the scenes of RuPauls Drag Race Live, the hit Las Vegas show, featuring the biggest global stars of RuPauls Drag Race.
Subscribe via: https://www.wowpresentsplus.com/.
Comedian, actress, writer, and content creator Daphnique Springs is self-releasing her stand-up special, DAPHNIQUE SPRINGS: SINGLE FEMALE, on YouTube on April 11, 2024. Filmed at the iconic Comedy Cellar in New York, Springs offers her fresh take on the highs and lows of dating, relationship struggles, societal pressures, and more in her first-ever special.
SINGLE FEMALE is directed by Mike “The Homeless Pimp” Lavin (“Nate Bargatze: Hello World,” “Jared Freid: 37 & Single,” “Chris Distefano: Speshy Weshy”), and produced by 3 Nuts Studios. Springs and Liz Furiati (“Joe List: Enough for Everybody”) serve as producers.
Known for her distinctive mix of sharp wit and pointed sarcasm, Springs continues to solidify her status as a force in the stand-up scene, headlining comedy clubs and theaters across the country. Reaching over 8 million followers across her social media platforms and amassing more than 134 million views on YouTube, Springs began her ascent to popularity creating original comedic sketches. In 2018, Springs was selected as one of the “New Faces of Comedy” at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, where her journey to being chosen for the prestigious showcase was closely documented for the Amazon Prime docuseries “Inside Jokes.” In addition to stand-up, Springs’ television appearances includes “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC), “The Comedy Get Down” (BET), “All Def Comedy” (HBO), “Punchline” (FOX), “Bring The Funny” (NBC), “Laughs” (FOX), “Pause with Sam Jay” (HBO), and “Last Call with Carson Daly” (NBC). Most recently, Springs starred alongside Michelle Mitchenor (“Chi-Raq,” “Lethal Weapon”) and Jess Hilarious (“The Breakfast Club,” “Rel”) in the BET+ biopic “First Lady Of BMF: The Tonesa Welch Story,” directed by Vivica A. Fox.
For more information, visit www.iamdsprings.com and follow on @iamdsprings TikTok, @iamdsprings on Instagram, @dssprings on Facebook, @iamdsprings on Threads and @iamdsprings on X (Twitter).
Please visit https://www.youtube.com/@DaphniqueSprings for more on Daphnique!
Coming off a busy award season, Erika Alexander (American Fiction, Living Single) has landed a series regular role in Apple‘s Invasion for Season 3. Production is currently underway on the Simon Kinberg and David Weil-created series.
Alexander joins the ensemble cast that includes Golshifteh Farahani, Shioli Kutsuna, Shamier Anderson, India Brown, Billy Barratt, Azhy Robertson, Tara Moayedi, Enver Gjokaj, and Shane Zaza.
Invasion follows an alien invasion through different perspectives around the world. Details regarding the Season 3 storyline and who Alexander will play are under wraps. The first and second seasons are now streaming globally on Apple TV+.
Produced for Apple TV+ by Boat Rocker, the series is created by Kinberg and Weil, who also serve as executive producers alongside Audrey Chon, David Witz, Alik Sakharov, Andrew Baldwin, Dan Dietz, and Katie O’Connell Marsh. Nick Nantell serves as executive producer for Boat Rocker; Grace Gilroy serves as producer.
Alexander is a standout at portraying multilayered, badass women who are not afraid to be vulnerable throughout her career. She is best known for bringing to life the character of Maxine Shaw in the ’90s hit series Living Single created by Yvette Lee Bowser and co-starring Queen Latifah, Kim Fields, and Kim Coles. Max is an unapologetically confident and sassy attorney who few can beat in the courtroom and who is also a great friend—most of the time. The show’s popularity has continued rising through syndication and streaming as it’s discovered by new generations.
She’s been booked and busy since the show ended in 1998 with roles in TV and film. A selection includes NBC’s Heist, USA Network’s In Plain Sight, Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and Shining Girls for Apple.
Alexander was thrust back into the spotlight in a huge way in 2023 as part of the ensemble cast of American Fiction, a Cord Jefferson-directed feature, and award-season sweetheart. She worked opposite Jeffrey Wright as his love interest Coraline, a tough single mom who knows what she deserves in life and her relationships and she won’t accept anything less.
Based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett, American Fiction was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards among 5 nominations with one win for Best Adapted Screenplay for Jefferson. Alexander was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards the Independent Spirit Awards and Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture alongside her co-stars by the Screen Actors Guild.
She is repped by Greene Talent, Untitled Entertainment, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer, et al.
Source: Deadline
Mike and Marcus are back in the first trailer for Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
The Sony film arrives June 7 and serves as a comeback vehicle of sorts on multiple fronts. It’s Smith’s first blockbuster movie play since slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. It’s also a return for directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the filmmakers behind Batgirl, which Warner Bros. Discovery shelved in 2022 as a tax writeoff.
The duo, known as Adil & Bilall, scored a hit scored a hit with Bad Boys for Life, which was released just before the coronavirus pandemic shuttered theaters and became the top-grossing film of 2020. In 2022, audiences saw more of their work when Marvel unveiled episodes they directed of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel.
Bad Boys began life as a 1995 Michael Bay film, with the director returning for 2003’s Bad Boys 2. The franchise follows the adventures of two Miami cops, and played a role in Smith becoming a movie star, with the first installment coming a year before breakout roles in Independence Day, followed the next summer by Men in Black.
Bad Boys for Life teamed Smith and Martin with younger actors, who return for the sequel, including Vanessa Hudgens and Alexander Ludwig.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Rockmond Dunbar has joined the recurring cast of Peacock‘s upcoming limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, starring and executive-produced by Kevin Hart. This marks Dunbar’s first acting job since he was terminated from 9-1-1 in 2021 over not complying with the studio’s Covid vaccine mandate after his requests for a medical and religious exemptions were rejected. The actor subsequently filed a $1M lawsuit against Disney over the firing, with the case now headed to trial.
Fight Night tells the infamous story of how an armed robbery during the night of Muhammad Ali’s historic 1970 comeback fight changed not only one man’s life, but an entire city’s destiny.
Dunbar will play Uncle Willie, who owns an autobody shop but his real job is as the top fence in the area. He joins an ensemble cast led by Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, and Terrence Howard.
Fight Night, set in Atlanta, is created and written by Shaye Ogbonna based on the eponymous podcast from iHeartPodcasts, Doghouse Pictures, and Will Packer Media. Ogbonna and Jason Horwitch serve as showrunners; they exec produce alongside Hart, Bryan Smiley, and Mike Stein for Hart’s Hartbeat, Packer and Sabrina Wind for Will Packer Media, Conal Byrne, Will Pearson and Carrie Lieberman for iHeartPodcasts, Jeff Keating and Lars Jacobson. Hartbeat’s Tiffany Brown and Studio 43’s Kenny Burns will co-executive produce. The series comes from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
Dunbar was a series regular on 9-1-1 since the start, playing Michael Grant for more than four years since his abrupt exit from the show sever episodes into Season 5. Since then, he has appeared in the movie Red Winter and an episode of The Game, which he had filmed prior. The actor is repped by Mainstay Entertainment and Greene Talent.
Source: Deadline
(UPI) — Comedian and actor Kevin Hart accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at a gala at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Sunday.
Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Jimmy Fallon, Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Chelsea Handler, and other celebrities turned out to pay tribute to Hart, the 25th comedian to accept the prestigious award.
A highlights special from the event is set to stream on Netflix May 11.
“My mom is a firm believer that what you put into something you get out of it,” Hart, 44, said about his mother, Nancy, who died in 2007.
“So, because of my effort, knowing my effort, she’d go, ‘It’s supposed to happen.'”
Speaking about comedy itself, Hart said he “fell in love with something that I could adapt to, I could grab on to, and I can keep.”
“I got good at it. And getting good at it, I figured out more ways to amplify and get bigger and better,” he added.
Past recipients have included Adam Sandler, Jon Stewart, Chappelle, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Letterman, Bill Murray and Eddie Murphy.
“For over three decades, Kevin Hart has been a source of laughter across America and throughout the world with his iconic characters, inimitable physical comedy, and relatable narratives. An accomplished writer, producer, actor, and comedian, he has made lasting contributions to the comedic landscape and represents our celebration of American humor at the Kennedy Center,” Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter said in a statement when Hart was announced as this year’s honoree.
“We express our gratitude to Kevin for enriching American culture and look forward to celebrating his exceptional career.”
Damon Wayans Jr. and Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor will create and write the graphic novel “Shogun Run.”
Set in 1990s South Central Los Angeles, “Shogun Run” is described as “Big Trouble in Little China” meets “Attack the Block.” Producers David Uslan and Gary Glushon will serve as creative consultants on the project, while the illustrator will be revealed imminently.
The graphic novel will be published by First Second, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, in 2025. A series or film adaptation of the graphic novel is on the cards down the line.
Wayans Jr. was most recently in Netflix’s “The Harder They Fall,” which opened the 2021 BFI London Film Festival and went on to win a BAFTA. Bachelor, an internet personality with more than 27 million followers on TikTok as King Bach, is currently in thriller film “Fear.”
Wayans Jr. said: “Creating a graphic novel has been a goal of mine since childhood, and to be able to do it with such an awesome team is definitely a dream come true.”
Bachelor added: “I am thrilled to be partnering with Damon, David and Gary along with the amazing team at First Second to create an action-packed world and story that will entertain people around the world.”
Allison Verost, senior VP and publishing director at Macmillan, acquired English-language rights from Eric Reid at WME.
Verost said: “‘Shogun Run’ is going to be a game-changer. It’s an immersive, cinematic adventure brought to life by a brilliant creative team. We could not be more delighted to have this book on our list.”
Michelle Buteau represents curvy, Caribbean women in all the best ways, but now she’s about to make history. While catching up with the Survival of The Thickest creator at the 2024 NAACP Image Awards, the comedian revealed she will become the first woman—Black or otherwise—to tape a comedy special at Radio City Music Hall. The untitled program will begin filming this summer.
“I have another special coming out. We’re going to be filling it at Radio City Music Hall [on] June 6,” she shared. “I will be the first woman and woman of color to be taping a special there, so that’s why I’m saying these things [representation] matters. You got to lay the groundwork for other people to come and think they can do it and know that they can do it.”
Last week, Buteau teased what’s next for her on-screen character, Mavis Beaumont—and her hilarious best friends (played by Tone Bell and Tasha Smith)—in season two of Netflix’s Survival Of The Thickest.
“It’s bigger, Blacker, bustier, bi**hier than before. All the B-words. It’s adulting next level,” she said at a pre-NAACP Image Awards event. “So, I feel like whatever you connected to, I just can’t wait for you to see what has happened.” Bell also shared that they’re coming back “with a bang,” and he is gearing up to get back in the gym in preparation for a spicy sex scene.
Bell and Buteau also praised the series’ positive representation of platonic relationships between men and women. “That’s one thing that when the show first started, that’s what everybody’s wondering—will Michelle and Tone be love interests? [We’ve] been friends for 15 years. I don’t know why the TV landscape acts like it’s not possible. There’s so many of us that have a good male friends or female friends and it’s about time we see it and in our hue.”
In addition to her upcoming special and next go-round of a comedy series based on her memoir of the same name, Buteau will star in a new film titled Babes. She’ll star alongside Ilana Glazer, who plays Eden, a woman who gets pregnant from a one-night stand and has to rely on her best friend, Dawn (Buteau)—a married mother of two—for support. The Pamela Adlon-directed film debuts on May 17.
Source: VIBE