Actress Jada Pinkett Smith (The Matrix Resurrections) has signed on to star in Redd Zone, a new Netflix drama from Emmy-nominated screenwriter Kristin Layne Tucker (A Black Lady Sketch Show), Oscar-winning director Matthew A. Cherry (Hair Love) and Westbrook Studios.
Based on a true story, Redd Zone follows Tia Magee (Smith), a single mother who steps forward to help her sons and their high school football teammates, “The Bros,” heal after the murder of their best friend, Dominic Redd. One by one, The Bros start moving into her house, and soon 17 are living under her roof. Eventually, all The Bros go to college, with four making it to the NFL. The film is dedicated to Redd’s memory, and to the powerful impact he had on his community.
Smith, Miguel Melendez and Westbrook Studios’ Co-President and Head of Motion Pictures Jon Mone will produce, with Emmy nominee Howard Burkons and former NFL linebacker and MLB outfielder Brandon Magee serving as exec producers. Ryan Shimazaki is overseeing the project on behalf of Westbrook Studios.
Smith is an actress, writer, director and producer who recently reprised her role as Niobe for Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections, after appearing in the sci-fi franchise’s second and third installments, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. She has also appeared in films including Angel Has Fallen, Girls Trip, Bad Moms, Magic Mike XXL, The Human Contract, Reign Over Me, Collateral, Ali, Bamboozled and The Nutty Professor, finding notable roles on the TV side in Fox’s Gotham, TNT’s Hawthorne and more. She founded both Overbrook Entertainment and Westbrook Studios with her husband, Will Smith, also exec producing and toplining in the latter’s popular Facebook Watch talk show, Red Table Talk, which has her sit down with family and friends for candid conversations on a wide variety of topics.
Cherry is a writer, director, producer and former NFL player who is perhaps best known for his film Hair Love, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 2020. He raised nearly $300,000 for that project via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, which was the highest amount gathered there for any short film. Cherry has directed episodes of series including Kenan, Saved by the Bell, The Wonder Years, The Unicorn, Black-ish, Mixed-ish, The Last O.G. and Whisky Cavalier, also co-producing The Last O.G. and exec producing Spike Lee’s Oscar winner BlacKkKlansman. Other projects he has in the works include the animated musical series Battu, which he is developing alongside Chaz Bottoms for Cartoon Network Studios; Janine Sherman Barrois’ OWN drama The Kings of Napa, which he is directing; the 2D-animated series Young Love, based on characters from Hair Love, that he created for HBO Max; and comedy heist film The Come Up, which he is directing for New Line.
Tucker last year landed her first Emmy nomination for her contributions to the writing of HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show. She was also recently tapped as a writer for the second season of HBO Max’s acclaimed comedic thriller, The Flight Attendant.
Pinkett Smith is represented by WME and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Cherry is repped by ICM Partners, Blue Key Management and attorney R. Vaughn Gill. Tucker is with 3 Arts Entertainment.
Source: Deadline
A classic blue-collar comedy title from the CBS library is plotting a return. The network is developing The Honeymooners, a reimagining of the 1950s sitcom created by and starring Jackie Gleason. The multi-camera project with a feminist twist hails from Damon Wayans Jr. and Kameron Tarlow’s Two Shakes Entertainment and CBS Studios where the company has been based.
Written by Lindsey Shockley (Mixed-ish) and to be directed by Kelly Park (Country Comfort), The Honeymooners is described as a bold, female-driven reboot of the iconic working-class comedy centered around new wife Ruth and her husband Alex who are determined to have a marriage where they are true equals in every way. But what happens when a marriage has two heads of the household? Are they co-heads? Or no head at all?
Shockley and Park executive produce with Two Shakes Entertainment’s Wayans Jr. and Tarlow.
The original Honeymooners was based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason’s variety show. The sitcom aired for one season on CBS from 1955-1956. Mostly set in the Kramdens’ kitchen in a Brooklyn apartment building, The Honeymooners was one of the first U.S. TV shows to feature working-class married couples in a non-idyllic environment.
Gleason starred as New York City bus driver Ralph Kramden along with Audrey Meadows as his wife, Alice; Art Carney as his best friend, sewer worker Ed Norton; and Joyce Randolph as Norton’s wife, Trixie. Most of the episodes centered on Kramden and Norton’s schemes to strike it rich, while their wives looked on with weary patience. One of Kramden’s signature lines, along with an upraised fist, was, “To the moon, Alice, to the moon!” as a comeback to Alice’s jibes.
Carney won five Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Ed Norton — two for the original Jackie Gleason Show, one for The Honeymooners, and two for the final version of The Jackie Gleason Show.
Shockley most recently served as executive producer on the Black-ish spinoff Mixed-ish. Before that, she spent five years on Black-ish, rising from producer to executive producer and sharing in three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series. Her previous series credits include Hello Ladies, Benched and Trophy Wife. Shockley is repped by WME and attorney David Matlof.
Park trained at Second City Improv Theatre and The Groundlings and worked as an acting coach in television before segueing to comedy directing. She has directed two pilots to date: ABC’s Black Don’t Crack this past season and the opening episode of Netflix’s Country Comfort. Her episodic directing credits include Fox’s Call Me Kat, Netflix’s Grace and Frankie and Family Reunion and four reboots/revivals in Mad About You for Spectrum, Punky Brewster for Peacock, The Game for Paramount+ and How I Met Your Father for Hulu. Park is repped by CAA and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.
Two Shakes recently sold Angel City to the CW with Green Ribbon Entertainment, Smart Dog Media and CBS Studios, and its TBS pilot Kill the Orange-Faced Bear was recently picked up to series.
Source: Deadline
Today, Prime Video announced the new docuseries Phat Tuesdays,which celebrates Phat Tuesdays at The Comedy Store, the influential comedy showcase that helped launch the careers of some of the most famous Black comedians in the industry today. Prime Video also released the official key art and a sneak peek for Phat Tuesdays, which will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on Friday, February 4, in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Phat Tuesdays’ founder and host—comedian, writer, and actor Guy Torry (American History X, Life)—serves as executive producer, along with and Academy Award-nominated producer Reginald Hudlin (The Black Godfather, Marshall, Django Unchained, House Party), who also directs the three-episode docuseries.
Phat Tuesdays features some of today’s most famous comedians and personalities, including Anthony Anderson, Tichina Arnold, Nick Cannon, Dave Chappelle, Snoop Dogg, Cedric the Entertainer, Tiffany Haddish, Steve Harvey, Lil Rel Howery, Regina King, Jo Koy, Luenell, Flame Monroe, Jay Pharoah, Craig Robinson, JB Smoove, Chris Tucker, Kym Whitley, and more, and tells the unbelievable story of how Guy Torry moved mountains to launch an all-Black comedy night at The Comedy Store. What started as an experiment in ‘90s Los Angeles turned into a must-see, hilarious experience, elevating Black voices to have their turn on the stage. In addition to Torry and Hudlin, Byron Phillips also executive produces, along with Jeff Hasler, Brian Lovett, and Jeff Bumgarner for Original Productions, and Kelsey Grammer and Tom Russo for Grammnet Productions. Joshua Firosz, Darren Toon for Original Productions, and Jordan McMahon for Grammnet Productions serve as co-executive producers.
“I can’t wait for the world to experience the story of Phat Tuesdays,” said Torry. “It was more than a night of laughter—it was a movement. Phat Tuesdays was Black, bold, and brilliant. It was the best damn comedy show, period!”
“Against all odds, Guy Torry created a venue where the next generation of comedy superstars could launch their careers, and turned the lamest night of the week into the hottest, with the sexiest superstars in Hollywood showing up to laugh till they cried,” said Hudlin. “Phat Tuesdays tells that story and much more. It’s the funniest people on Earth explaining comedy from every perspective as an artform, as a business, and as a force for social change.”
“We are proud to celebrate the legacy of Phat Tuesdays and shine the spotlight on Guy Torry for his trailblazing efforts to give Black comedians their turn on stage in ‘90s Hollywood,” said Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon Studios. “The stories and first-person accounts that Reggie Hudlin and Guy help showcase in this docuseries are not only hilarious and entertaining, but powerful as well, and celebrate how the Black community came together to evolve comedy and entertainment.”
Loaded with exclusive interviews with comedians and celebrities who were there—either performing on stage or in the audience—and never-before-seen footage of legendary comedy sets from back in the day, Phat Tuesdays is the inspiring story of how a little experiment to help Black comedians following the tragedy of the 1992 LA riots turned into a triumphant must-see experience. The showcase regularly brought together people from all walks of life—icons and ex-cons, stars and starlets, pros and regular joes—for one purpose, laughter, and became the most popular comedy show in Hollywood during the ‘90s.
Phat Tuesdays is produced by Amazon Studios, Original Productions, Phat Tuesday Productions and Grammnet Productions.
Comedian Katt Williams is notoriously blunt and he did not deviate from his normal mode of behavior by saying Eddie Murphy should not be called called “anyone’s favorite comedian.”
Williams, of course, believes he is the best comedian alive.
Though Murphy is one of his idols, Williams connects the purest form of comedy to stand-up and Murphy hasn’t done stand-up in decades. Instead, after the classic “RAW” special in the mid-1980s, Murphy concentrated solely on creating blockbuster films.
“Don’t tell me Eddie Murphy is your favorite comedian because Eddie Murphy hasn’t done comedy since the 80s. It just doesn’t make sense,” he said, according to Audacy. “It’s about how much [of] the body of work you can put out. So, nobody knows [who] was beefing with Mozart, because the guy beefing with Mozart didn’t put up any material. You know what I mean? That’s why history takes care of all of that.”
Williams said “I’m only the greatest comedian living because I have more female fans than any comics on the globe.” He also said that most people didn’t acknowledge him because they were trying to downplay him.
He said, “Because the guy that you’re saying is crazy and maybe a crackhead has outworked you every second that he has been a peer of yours. You probably have one comedy special; he probably has 10. The greats you talk about probably have two, and he has 10. This is 16, 100-city tours.”
There are two comedians Williams believes are better than him. During an interview with VLAD TV several years ago, Williams named Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock as two stand-ups who had more skills than he does.
Check out the video to see why Williams believes that.
Source; Vlad TV, Rolling out
Kevin Hart-actor, investor and entrepreneur-brings his unique perspective and desire to inspire the country’s sharpest entrepreneurs in an all-new episode. First into the Tank are entrepreneurs from Los Angeles, California, who pitch their fun tool that takes snacking to the next level.
Hart joins Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O’Leary, and Lori Greiner.
Entrepreneurs from Los Angeles, California, introduce their out-of-this-world product made from space-age materials that they hope will replace a good patented before the lightbulb; while entrepreneurs from Flossmoor, Illinois, present their online social network that allows fans to have a real connection with their favorite celebrities and influencers.
Entrepreneurs from Middletown, Delaware, and Vancouver, British Columbia, hope their independent Black content book publishing company will help change the way people learn about African history on an all-new episode of “Shark Tank,” Friday, January 7 (8:00-9:01 p.m. EST), on ABC. (TV-PG) Watch episodes on demand and on Hulu the day following their premieres.
“Shark Tank,” the critically acclaimed and multi-Emmy®Award-winning entrepreneurial-themed reality show that has reinvigorated entrepreneurship in America, returns to ABC this fall for its eleventh season.The business-themed show thathas become a culturally defining series and inspires a nation to dream bigger, recently amassed an amazing $100 million in deals offered in the Tank.
LOS ANGELES, CA – With the help of his A-list celebrity buddies Nelly, Nick Cannon, Robin Thicke and more, Kevin Hart is prepared to revive his long-running toxic bromance sitcom Real Husbands Of Hollywood (RHOH) ahead of Super Bowl LVI weekend.
The new limited series, Real Husbands Of Hollywood: — More Kevin More Problems will be available for streaming exclusively on the Tyler Pery Studios-backed BET+ platform starting on Thursday (February 10). In addition to original cast members such as Jackie Long, JB Smoove, Boris Kodjoe and Duane Martin, newcomers Michelle Weaver and Angela Rye will also join the show.
Picking up where the original RHOH left off after the final season aired in 2016, Kevin and the gang find themselves dealing with each other and even more money, and problems with the addition of six strenuous years invested into their tumultuous friendships.
Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Productions and Jesse Collins Entertainment produced the six-part limited series directed by Chris Robinson, Ali Leroi and Leslie Small.
Along with the new season of RHOH, fans of the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air are also getting the full dramatic reboot of the 90s sitcom during Super Bowl LVI weekend.
Last week, Peacock confirmed their contemporary dramatic rework BEL-AIR, which based on the viral short film director Morgan Cooper released in 2019, is scheduled to premiere in 2022 following the Super Bowl on Sunday (February 13).
With the announcement of the upcoming season of RHOH in 2022, Kevin Hart has effectively extended his 2021 dominance into the New Year.
Following the popularity of his Netflix drama True Story, Kevin Hart took the lead in the live in-studio remake of Facts Of Life and Different Strokes, which also included appearances from Snoop Dogg, Boyz II Men and more.
At long last (and boy, do we mean long), FX has a premiere date for the third season of “Atlanta.”
The third season of the Donald Glover-created series will premiere the first two episodes on Thursday, March 24, at 10 p.m. Episodes will be available for next-day streaming on Hulu like all other FX series.
FX will run a new teaser trailer in ESPN and ABC’s slate of NBA games on Christmas Day.
Taking place almost entirely in Europe, Season 3 finds “Earn” (Glover), “Alfred / ‘Paper Boi’” (Brian Tyree Henry), “Darius” (LaKeith Stanfield) and “Van” (Zazie Beetz) in the midst of a successful European tour, as the group navigates their new surroundings as outsiders, and struggle to adjust to the newfound success they had aspired to.
It’s been a long wait for the third season of Glover’s claimed series. The second season, which was subtitled “Atlanta Robbin’ Season” aired back in 2018. Over the course of the show’s first two seasons, “Atlanta” was nominated for 22 Emmy Awards and won 5, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Glover.
“Atlanta” is executive produced by Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Hiro Murai, Stefani Robinson, Paul Simms and Dianne McGunigle. “Atlanta” is produced by FX Productions.
The pandemic and Glover’s busy work schedule made production on the comedy particularly difficult to map out, as Seasons 3 and 4 had been intended to shoot back-to-back after the fourth-season pickup was announced in August 2019.
Source: The Wrap
CBS is developing The Monroes & Tony, a multi-camera family comedy from The Neighborhood team of writer and actor Malik S., star/executive producer Cedric The Entertainer, production companies Kapital Entertainment and TrillTV, and studio, CBS Studios.
Written by Malik, The Monroes & Tony revolves around an ambitious but everyday guy who creates a blended family between his 9-year-old stepson, new wife, and her superstar ex-husband who, despite his fame and wealth, misses the connection of family.
Malik executive produces with Kaplan via Kapital Entertainment, Trilling via her TrillTV, Cedric and Eric Rhone for Bird and a Bear Entertainment, and Peter Principato and Kevin Parker for Artists First. It is too early to tell whether Malik will act in the show.
Malik currently is producer on CBS’ hit comedy The Neighborhood, on which he also recurs in the role of Trey. His previous writing credits include #BlackAF and Cedric’s The Soul Man, in which he also had a recurring role.
The Monroes & Tony stems from the producing partnership former longtime head of CBS comedy Trilling and her TrillTV have with Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment. This marks the latest broadcast sale for TrillTV and Kapital this season, joining Full Bloom at ABC, written by an Kopelman & Susanna Wolf; as well as Black In Therapy, from Howard Jordan, Jr., and Tiny Putin, written by Mat Harawitz and Dana Klein, both at CBS.
In addition to The Neighborhood, which is currently airing its fourth season, Cedric also stars in and executive produces The Greatest #At Home Videos, also at CBS. He also co-stars in TBS’ popular comedy series The Last O.G. Recently, he was seen in a dramatic role portraying civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy in the feature Son of the South, and appeared in The Opening Act. He stars in and produces the upcoming sequel to his hit film Johnson Family Vacation. Cedric also hosted the 73rd Emmy Awards in September.
Source: Deadline
Spider-Man: No Way Home’s popularity is sparking talks of spinoff movies and Jamie Foxx’s Electro could be starring in his own film.
Now that Spider-Man: No Way Home is officially one of the most popular movies in MCU history, it appears that Sony wants to try some spinoff films. It turns out that at least one of the villains from that flick, Electro, could be among the first of the Spider-Man spinoff projects.
Electro first made his big-screen debut in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and made a reappearance with a new look in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The man, who was basically a character with no friends but aspired to be greater in the first film, also seemed to have matured and grown by the time MCU fans got to see him battle Tom Holland’s version of Spider-Man.
According to Murphy’s Multiverse Sony’s strategy of creating standalone films based on Spider-Man villains has already worked twice with Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Those two films also showed that centering on historical Spider-Man villains doesn’t require Spidey to appear in the movies in order for them to succeed. The site claims that sources have told it that Sony is going to be creating another villain spinoff centered on Jamie Foxx’s new version of Electro.
Sony reportedly had a provision built into Foxx’s Spider-Man: No Way Home contract that was based on the popularity of the film. Now that it hit that level, the company is looking to make the new spinoff. It’s important to note that there is no indication that an Electro film has even been green-lit yet. What has been established is apparently that should Sony decide to go ahead with the project, Foxx would be locked into playing the character at least one more time.
Over the years, Sony has contracted several different projects that never came to be, so its intention to make this film does not in any way mean that it’s going to come to fruition. While Foxx has yet to address any kind of talk about starring in the spinoff, he has gone on record as greatly preferring the version of Electro that appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Speaking about the new look in the leadup to the film’s release, Foxx said that while he didn’t have any real problem with the blue glow from the first movie, he thinks the appearance in the newest Spider-Man was something he could better “roll with.” It’s extremely likely that the new look will be his appearance if there does happen to be an Electro spinoff.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now playing in theaters.
Source: Gamerant.com
Nick Cannon has some major projects in the works for 2022, but for now, fans can enjoy his latest project — his new film that he wrote, directed and starred in called Miracles Across 125th Street.
The holiday film follows a Harlem rapper who wants to confront his past on Christmas Eve by returning to his family’s church after battling drug addiction. The movie has an incredibly funny ensemble cast including hip hop icon Lil Kim, ‘85 South’ co-founder DC Young Fly, Rickey Smiley, Luenell, Todrick Hall, Tommy Davidson, Jim Jones, and more.
“This film is more than just a film — it’s a cultural experience,” he shared. “Being someone who grew up loving our culture in every aspect and having strong influences from the church, gospel, hip hop, and comedy — I was able to put all that in one big pot and come out with a remarkable story that resonates with the holidays. My goal was to create something you can watch year after year even when it isn’t Christmastime.”
“In times where we all go through things and experience life and its hardships, you turn that pain into purpose,” he expressed over Zoom. “I always say you have to smile through the pain and dance through the rain. We’re going to continue to celebrate Zen with our ability to put his light out there through foundations, charitable work, and honoring parents who may have experienced a similar situation from here on out.”
The media mogul, who is known as one of the hardest working men in Hollywood, doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon. He recently shared with BET.com that he will be taking Wild N’ Out, his popular MTV comedy improv show, on the road (unless Omicron has other plans) for a summer 2022 tour that is not one to miss.
“It’s already selling out, so if you didn’t get your tickets yet — [just know that] we’re about to take over,” he laughs. “We’re back outside and [Wild ‘n Out, the tour, is going to have that Coachella, Rolling Loud-type vibe. We’re bringing so many artists that you love from previous seasons, your favorite comedians, playing your favorite games from the show — it’s really going to be a festival vibe.”
Available dates start in May, but according to the former Nickelodeon star, that’s not the only way invested fans can be in on the action. “We’ll be casting for the next stars of Wild ‘n Out, the Wild ‘n Out goddesses will be in attendance, there will be activations and, of course, there’ll be so many partners who will be involved.”
He also mentions that we can expect the history and impact of Wild ‘n Out to be “bigger [and] better,” as the tour will be filmed and turned into a big-screen movie.
“I feel like Wild ‘n Out is one of the most culturally important and progressive shows of our time,” he shared. “For two decades, we’ve been putting on for the culture and I don’t think this kind of story has been told. We really want to show the process of how I started a comedy show with rising talents such as Kevin Hart, Katt Williams, Deray Davis, and Affion Crockett, who are all now household names. I really want to show how we turned Wild ‘n Out into a global, billion-dollar brand.”
Source: Courtesy of BET.com