Comedian Ronny Chieng has struck a deal with Netflix for three upcoming projects: two new stand-up specials and a docu-style comedy special.
The still-to-be-titled docu-comedy special is described as a “semi-scripted road trip comedy” in which Chieng and his fellow comedian David Fung journey through a one-of-a-kind tour of America’s Chinatowns to promote local businesses, explore Asian American culture and push “each other to the limits of a brotherly love/hate relationship.” Chieng will not only star in this project, but he also serves as writer and executive producer. It will be produced in partnership with Fair Point. Producers for Fair Point are Jon Cohen, Jon Wolf and Adam Conover.
These projects continue Chieng’s relationship with the streaming giant after the success of his first stand-up special, “Asian Comedian Destroys America,” which launched in December 2019.
The premiere dates for his docu-comedy special and his two new stand-up specials are still to be announced.
In addition to his stand-up, Chieng is best known for his work as senior correspondent on “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah,” acting in “Crazy Rich Asians,” and for the global sitcom he created and starred in, “Ronny Chieng: International Student.” Variety chose him as one of the 10 Comedians to Watch in 2016 and then selected him as one of the most impactful players in comedy just last year. Up next he will also appear in feature films including “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
Chieng is repped by APA, Artists First, Cohen Gardner LLP and Sechel.
Source: Variety
Rome Flynn (How to Get Away with Murder), Aubriana Davis (Genius: Aretha), Tracey Bonner (Sweet Magnolias) and Josh Ventura (P-Valley) have joined the Season 2 cast of Netflix’s superhero drama series Raising Dion. Production on the eight-episode second run is underway in Atlanta. Producing director Darren Grant will direct the first block of the season.
Returning as series regulars are Alisha Wainwright, Ja’Siah Young, Sammi Haney, and Jazmyn Simon. Ali Ahn and Griffin Robert Faulkner have been upped to regulars for Season 2.
Based on the comic book by Dennis Liu, Raising Dion follows the story of Nicole (Wainwright), who raises her son Dion (Young) after the death of her husband, Mark (Michael B. Jordan). The normal dramas of raising a son as a single mom are amplified when Dion starts to manifest several mysterious, superhero-like abilities. Nicole must now keep her son’s gifts secret with the help of Mark’s best friend Pat (Jason Ritter) and protect Dion from antagonists out to exploit him while figuring out the origin of his abilities.
Daytime Emmy winner Flynn will play Tevin Wakefield, a former long-distance runner and Olympic track coach who becomes Dion’s trainer and mentor. He is protective yet playful and develops a close relationship with both Dion and Nicole.
Davis will portray Janelle Carr, a 15-year-old girl who has been labeled destructive and dangerous. Janelle’s mother brings her to Biona in hope of managing her “behavioral issues” once and for all. As she forms a bond with Nicole and Dion, Janelle begins to feel heard and valued for the first time in her life.
Bonner will play Simone Carr, Janelle’s mother, who is frightened for her daughter’s future and just wants her to live a normal life.
Ventura is David Marsh, the new VP Operations for Biona, who hopes to rekindle his personal relationship with Suzanne Wu (Ahn).
Raising Dion Season 1 was one of the 10 most popular series on Netflix in 2019 and the most popular Kids & Family series release of 2019.
Carol Barbee serves as showrunner. Jordan and Kenny Goodman executive produce with Dennis Liu and Grant — who also direct — Michael Green and Macro’s Charles D. King, Poppy Hanks and Marta Fernandez. Raising Dion is produced by Super Spring Productions.
Flynn, who won an Emmy for his work on The Bold and the Beautiful, played the role of Gabriel on ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder. He is repped by Innovative Artists, Margie Weiner Management and Emily Downs at Meyer & Downs.
Davis is repped by Osbrink Talent Agency and People Store. Bonner is repped by Stewart Talent and Jackson Entertainment. Ventura is repped by Atlanta Models and Talent and Authentic Talent & Literary Management.
Source: Deadline
In a pairing of two of the most prolific TV producers of the past decade, Kenya Barris, the creator/executive producer behind the Black-ish franchise, and the Power franchise executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, are developing a series for Netflix. It is based on The 50th Law, the bestselling book by Jackson and Robert Greene.
Barris and Hale Rothstein, who together executive produce Barris’ Netflix comedy series blackAF, will write the pilot script and executive produce the potential series alongside Jackson via G-Unit and Greene. Lionsgate TV will produce via Jackson’s overall deal at Starz.
The 50th Law is a semi-autobiographical account detailing 50 Cent’s rise as both a young urban hustler and as an up-and-coming musician with lessons and anecdotes from historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Sun Tzu, Socrates, Napoleon, Malcolm X and James Baldwin.
Barris executive produces through his company Khalabo Ink Society via his overall deal at Netflix, which he recently exited for a producing pact at ViacomCBS. At Netflix, Barris created, executive produces and stars in comedy series #blackAF, which has been renewed for a second season. Through his Khalabo Ink Society, Barris also executive produces the Astronomy Club sketch comedy series and the upcoming Kid Cudi adult animated music series Entergalactic.
Through his G-Unit Film & Television, Jackson executive produced Starz’s flagship drama Power, created by Courtney Kemp, and now executive produces the four greenlit spinoff series. Power Book II: Ghost already has been renewed for a second season; Power Book III: Raising Kanan is slated to debut this year. Additionally, under Jackson’s overall deal at Starz, G-Unit is ramping up for Season 1 production on Black Mafia Family and has Season 2 of ABC drama series For Life. The G-Unit slate also includes Family Affair at ABC, A Moment In Time: Massacre and an untitled Female Sports Agent project at Starz, and the T.I.-lead Twenty Four Seven at Paramount+. Jackson is repped by APA and attorneys Eric Feig and Stephen Savva.
Longtime Barris collaborator Rothstein brought The 50th Law project to him. Rothstein reunited with Barris on blackAF having previously worked on Barris’ ABC comedy series Black-ish and spinoff Grown-ish. On the film side, Rothstein co-adapted the remake of Brewster’s Millions for Universal & Davis Entertainment. He also co-created the comedy Bright Futures, which went to pilot at NBC. Rothshtein is repped by APA and Morris Yorn.
Barris and his Khalabo Ink Society have the Peabody-winning Black-ish, two successful spinoff series in Grown-ish (Freeform) and Mixed-ish (ABC), as well as another spinoff in the works, Old-ish. On the feature side, the company is in production on a reboot of the family comedy Cheaper By the Dozen starring Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff, along with several other high-profile projects in the works including an animated feature based on the songs of Bob Marley, a remake of the classic sports comedy White Men Can’t Jump, and a film about comedic icon Richard Pryor that will mark Barris’ feature directorial debut. Additionally, Khalabo Ink Society, which focuses on socially conscious storytelling that reflects our culture and tackles contemporary issues and themes, has expanded its imprint into other genres of storytelling with several projects in various stages of development including a documentary feature about the life and career of groundbreaking civil rights attorney Ben Crump and a feature-length musical about Juneteenth with Pharrell Williams. Barris is repped by CAA, Artists First and attorney Gregg Gellman.
Greene is the bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, which has sold well over 2 million copies; The Art of Seduction, which has sold over 1 million copies; as well as The 33 Strategies of War, Mastery, The Laws of Human Nature and The 50th Law, which he co-wrote with Jackson. Greene is repped by CAA and Michael Carlisle at Inkwell.
BET Plus has ordered the original series “Birth of Cool” in its first-ever partnership with “Gentefied” producers Macro Television Studios and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and actor Lena Waithe’s production house Hillman Grad Productions.
The 10-episode half-hour dramedy marks Waithe’s third original production with the brand— her other two series with BET are “Twenties” and “Boomerang.”
“Birth of Cool” follows the adventures and misadventures of both students and teachers at Crispus Attucks High, a predominantly black high school in Compton, as they try to make it through the weird, hilarious, stressful, often sobering, and sometimes surreal academic year while hopefully growing a bit in the process on and off-campus.
The show was created by writer-director Juel Taylor and writer Tony Rettenmaier, who both previously worked on the upcoming sci-fi comedy “They Cloned Tyrone” starring John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris. Taylor and Rettenmaier are also attached to executive produce, with Taylor directing the pilot. Taylor and Rettenmaier are repped by WME, Redefine Entertainment and The Gotham Group.
“BET Plus continues to be the home for best-in-class creatives to tell their original stories about the Black experience,” said Devin Griffin, Executive Vice President and General Manager, BET Plus, in a statement. “We appreciate Lena’s creative vision and continued trust and are thrilled to partner with a skilled group of creators from MACRO Television Studios and Hillman Grad to bring this series to life.”
Along with Waithe, Marta Fernandez, president of Macro Television Studios, CEO and founder of Macro Television Studios Charles D. King, Hillman Grad Production co-founder Rishi Rajani, Aaliyah Williams and David Morris will serve as executive producers. Fernandez and Mark R. Wright will oversee for Macro Television Studios, and the company’s partners on the series are Endeavor Content (“Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men,” “Killing Eve”) and Hillman Grad Productions (“Queen of Slim,” “The Chi”). Macro co-financed the critically acclaimed “Mudbound,” “Fences,” “Sorry to Bother You” and “Just Mercy.” It also produced Netflix’s “Tigertail” and co-financed and produced the Golden Globe-nominated Daniel Kaluuya-led film “Judas and the Black Messiah” for Warner Bros. Pictures. “Raising Dion” and “Gentefied,” both executive produced by Macro, have been greenlit for second seasons on Netflix.
Hillman Grad Productions is currently developing a Sammy Davis Jr. biopic adapted from the Renaissance man’s daughter Tracey Davis’ book “Sammy Davis Jr.: MY Father,” with Waithe and Rajani producing alongside Sight Unseen Pictures. Waithe also penned the script for Universal Pictures’ forthcoming movie “Talent Show,” based on an idea by Duane Adler from the “Step Up” franchise. Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet,” “Widows”) is set to star in “Talent Show” and Waithe will executive produce alongside State Street Pictures and Rajani will oversee for Hillman Grad Productions. Other Hillman Grad Productions projects currently in production or development include “Them” for Amazon; “Untitled Kid Fury Project’ for HBO; and “Reawakening”.
Source: Variety
Eddie Murphy has revealed Ryan Coogler pitched him a sequel to Coming to America, starring Michael B. Jordan.
The actor, set to reprise his role as Prince Akeem, told the New York Times there was no initial plan to make a sequel before the Black Panther director shared his idea.
“Before he directed Black Panther, I meet with him and he says, ‘I want to do a Coming to America sequel,’” Murphy told the publication.
“He had an idea for Michael B. Jordan to play my son and he would be looking for a wife. I was like, then the movie would be about the son, it’s not our characters, we already did that. It didn’t come together.”
He then explained how Coogler’s idea did still prompt the team to eventually consider another film.
“But all that made me start thinking, maybe we should do a sequel,” Murphy continued. “I saw the Terminator movie where they made Arnold Schwarzenegger young — his face looked like Arnold, but young — and that’s where I got it.
“If we use that to make us young and create a new scene in the club [from the original “Coming to America”] where we’re out looking for the girls, so it’s part of that night. I go home with a girl and I’m high — that was the piece we needed to start the flow.”
Coming 2 America was directed by Craig Brewer (Dolemite is My Name) from a script by Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein, and David Sheffield.
The film will be released on Amazon Prime Video on March 5, 2021.
Norman Lear is getting into business with IMDb TV. He has set two projects in development at the Amazon-owned free streaming service including the Laverne Cox-George Wallace comedy Clean Slate, which previously was in development at Peacock.
The streamer is working with Lear’s Act III Productions and Sony Pictures Television, where Lear is under an overall deal, on Clean Slate and Loteria.
Clean Slate, which initially was announced as part of NBCUniversal’s development slate in January 2020, is set to star Cox and Wallace. The half-hour comedy follows Henry (Wallace), an old-school car wash owner who is thrilled that his estranged child is returning home to Alabama after 17 years. However, Henry has a lot of soul searching to do when the child he thought was a son returns as the determined, proud trans woman Desiree (Cox).
Cox and Wallace wrote the story with Dan Ewen, who wrote feature film Playing with Fire and is rebooting the Ernest franchise. Ewen wrote the pilot script and will act as showrunner and exec producer. Cox will also exec produce alongside Lear and Brent Miller. Wallace will be a producer.
Meanwhile, the hourlong drama Loteria, which is based on the card game, follows two estranged teen siblings who set off on an adventure across Mexico to collect 16 magical Lotería cards, unearthing the power of their history and culture in the hope of reuniting their family.
Felipe Vargas, whose fantasy short film The Guide was picked up by Dust in 2019, wrote the script and will co-exec produce. Lear and Miller will exec produce with creators Alberto Belli and Juan Pablo Reyes.
Source: Deadline
MMA fighter Cole Young (Lewis Tan) is unaware of his heritage – or why Outworld’s Emperor seeks to hunt him down. Cole finds sanctuary under Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) and prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high-stakes battle for the universe.
Will Cole be able to unleash his arcana in time to stop the Outworld once and for all? Mortal Kombat is in theaters April 16th and streaming exclusively on HBO Max at 12:01 am PT/3:01 am ET. Available on HBO Max in the US only at no extra cost to subscribers for 31 days from its theatrical release.
Watch the RESTRICTED trailer below;
In a competitive situation, Showtime has landed for development a single-camera comedy project created by writers/stand-up comedians Moshe Kasher and Jermaine Fowler.
Written by Kasher and Fowler, the untitled comedy is set in 1997. In South Central Los Angeles, the heart of West Coast gangster rap, a group of teenage social outcasts attempts to solve the mystery of the murder of their hero, Biggie Smalls.
Kasher and Fowler, who will not be acting in the show, executive produce with 3 Arts Entertainment’s Michael Rotenberg and Josh Lieberman for CBS Studios. The comedy duo appeared together in the 2020 stand-up-themed film The Opening Act.
Kasher’s recent writing credits include HBO’s Betty and Apple TV+’s Little America. On camera, he is known for Comedy Central’s Another Period, which he also wrote for; Problematic with Moshe Kasher, which he created; as well as The Endless Honeymoon Stand -Up Special on Netflix. Kasher is repped by WME, 3 Arts and attorneys Karl Austen and Michael Auerbach.
Fowler’s acting credits include Coming 2 America and CBS’ comedy series Superior Donuts, for which he also wrote. Fowler is repped by UTA, Priya Satiani at Management 360 and attorney Jared Levine.
Source: Deadline