NEW YORK, NY — BET Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), and Tyler Perry Studios today announced that, BET+, their joint venture and premier subscription video-on demand service, will launch in the U.S. on Thursday, September 19. For $9.99 per month, BET+ will feature more than 1,000 hours of premium content, including exclusive new original programming and fan-favorite series, movies, and specials from BET Networks, as well as a host of leading African American content creators, including Tyler Perry, Tracy Oliver, Will Packer and more.
“We are thrilled to offer a streaming experience of content curated for the underserved African American audience with BET+. African Americans have a higher SVOD adoption rate than any other consumer base on the market, which is why BET+ is a natural complement of BET’s linear network, which has been and continues to be the leading home of black culture for decades,” said Scott Mills, President of BET Networks.
“In our first year, we will release a BET+ original project almost every month, adding to our lineup of deep and diverse content,” said Devin Griffin, General Manager BET+. “We’re focused on super-serving lovers of Black stories by working with top talent, and supporting fresh new voices, on both sides of the camera.”
BET+ will offer consumers an original and diverse collection of premier African American-focused dramas, sitcoms, film, stand-up comedy, and specials in the streaming universe. It will also be the official home of Tyler Perry’s collected works across film, television, and the stage. BET+ programming will be ad-free, with new titles added on a monthly basis.
BET+ will launch with several FIRSTS including:
Premiering at launch, BET+ will feature new exclusive original series “First Wives Club” – a nine-episode scripted drama from acclaimed “Girls Trip” screenwriter Tracy Oliver – and “Bigger”– a ten-episode series from Will Packer, blockbuster hit-maker of titles such as “Ride Along” and “Think Like a Man.”
In addition to its new original content, BET+ will become the exclusive SVOD home to the beloved comedy series “Martin.” This is the first time “Martin” will be available on a streaming service.
BET+ will house Tyler Perry’s box office-topping theatrical films, including films from the “Madea” series; original series and a selection of Perry’s stage plays: “Meet the Browns,” “Daddy’s Little Girls,” “Temptation: Confessions Of A Marriage Counselor,” and more.
BET+ will offer a premium selection of African American TV, movie and musical content including BET’s beloved library series, films, documentaries, and specials such as “The Bobby Brown Story,” “The New Edition Story,” “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” “The Quad,” “Being Mary Jane,” “Love & Happiness: An Obama Celebration, ” “College Hill,” “Comic View,” “Hell Date,” “Keyshia Cole: All In,” “Nellyville” “Reed Between The Lines,” “Ali: People’s Champ,” “Katrina: 10 Years Later,” “Killer Curves,” “BET Awards,” “Hip Hop Awards,” “Soul Train Awards,” “Black Girls Rock,” “Boomerang,” “Harlem Nights,” “Baby Boy,” “Belly,” “Coach Carter,” “Coming To America,” “Higher Learning,” “Losing Isaiah,” “Poetic Justice,” “Tina Turner Live In Holland,” and more will be available at launch.
In the coming months, BET+ will also feature stand-up comedy specials from D.L. Hughley, Eddie Griffin, Nick Cannon, Sasheer Zamata (Saturday Night Live), Lil Rel (Get Out), Gina Yashere (The Daily Show), Sinbad and more.
Library series from Viacom’s Portfolio of BET sister networks, including VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta,” “Basketball Wives,” “T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle,” Comedy Central’s “Why? With Hannibal Buress”, MTV’s “Todrick,” TV Land’s “Soul Man,” Nick @ Night’s “Instant Mom,” and more will also join the service.
BET+ will be available at launch on mobile and connected TV devices with a dedicated web experience coming later this year.
BET will continue to feature new originals and loved series, including the Tyler Perry original series, “The Oval,” and “Sistas” premiering Wednesday, October 9 on BET. BET fans will have additional access points to BET content on BET.com and the BET Now app for TV Everywhere users. In addition, BET’s recently launched channel on Pluto TV, the leading free streaming television service in the U.S., will continue to feature hundreds of hours of classic films and box office hits from the best of black Hollywood.
For BET+ updates, exclusive social content and more follow the official hashtag #BETplus.
John Wesley, the actor best-known for playing Dr. Hoover on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” has died. He was 72.
Wesley died from complications due to a long battle with multiple myeloma, his family confirmed to Variety.
Gerry Pass, Wesley’s manager and producer, said in a statement, “John Wesley was a gift to the world, for his kindness and grace are immortalized in his works of theatre, TV and film. I am heartbroken to have lost a dear friend today.”
Born on Aug. 3, 1947 in Lake Charles, La., John Wesley Houston went on to hold degrees from the University of California, San Diego and the University of San Diego. Before he began acting, Wesley served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. Over his expansive career, Wesley worked with talent including Denzel Washington, Albert Finney, Barbra Streisand, Tim Burton and Morgan Freeman.
Wesley holds more than 100 film and television credits, including “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” “Missing in Action,” “Big Fish,” “Stop, Or My Mom Will Shoot,” “Always Outnumbered” with Laurence Fishburne and “Martin.” He also enjoyed cameos on “Frasier,” “The Jefferson’s,” “Benson” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” Most recently, he co-starred in 2016’s “The Midnighters,” a true crime thriller directed by Julian Fort. His last project was “Second Acts,” a short film created by Gerry Pass and directed by Anya Adams.
Wesley also appeared on the stage in Ionesco’s “Macbett” and Lillian Hellman’s “Toys in the Attic” at the Old Globe Theatre, as well as “An American Clock” by Arthur Miller and “Wild Oats” at the Mark Taper Forum.
Wesley is survived by his wife, Jenny Houston; his mother, Hazel Baskin; his daughters, Kimiko Kamiel Houston and Kinshasha Houston; stepson, Kyler Richie; siblings and grandchildren.
Source: Variety
Paramount Pictures has signed Will Smith to produce and star in a movie adaptation of Marcus Sakey’s dystopian trilogy “Brilliance.”
Akiva Goldsman will write the script and produce with James Lassiter and Shane Salerno. “Brilliance” will be a co-production between Goldsman’s Weed Road, Smith’s Westbrook and Overbrook and Salerno’s the Story Factory.
The story is set in a world where 1% of the children are born with powerful intellectual gifts and demonized by society. A director is not yet on board.
Smith starred in “Aladdin” and will next be seen in Ang Lee’s sci-fi thriller “Gemini Man,” which Paramount opens on Oct. 11th.
Kevin Hart was involved in a major car crash on Labor Day, riding as a passenger in an old Plymouth Barracuda with two other people that somehow went off the road and ended up in a ditch. Now, TMZ has collected some new details on the crash, and it sounds like Hart’s injuries might be even more extensive than initial reports suggested. According to unnamed sources, naturally, Hart suffered multiple spinal fractures in the crash, and while an initial surgery to fuse two of them was a success, TMZ’s very dramatic report notes that he’s still “going through hell” and has been “heavily medicated” to deal with the pain. He is still expected to make a full recovery, but it could take “several weeks—if not months,” so it stands to reason that some of his upcoming projects will probably be impacted (though nothing has been officially announced).
Meanwhile, TMZ’s search for any, you know, TMZ-friendly angles to the crash has apparently come up empty: The site’s sources say that Hart had spent the day with his wife at home, and he and the other two people in the car had not been on a “wild night out on the town at a bar or restaurant” before the crash.
The driver, Jared Black, apparently suffered similar injuries to Hart, but his current condition has not been confirmed.
Fresh off last week’s announcement that Eddie Murphy would be returning to Saturday Night Live for the first time in 35 years, the comedian revealed Thursday (Sept. 5) that he plans to hit the road in 2020.
In an interview on Netflix podcast Present Company with Krista Smith, Murphy told Smith, “Next year I am going to tour, do some standup.”
The comedian did not go into further details about the upcoming trek, but earlier this year TMZ reported that Murphy was in talks for a multi-million deal with Netflix for standup specials.
During Murphy’s appearance on Jerry Seinfeld’s Netflix series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, the Coming to America star stated his return to standup was imminent.
“I’m going to do it again,” Murphy said while with Seinfeld. “Everything just has to be right. You have to get up there and start working it out.”
Murphy will also appear on Netflix for his upcoming Rudy Ray Moore biopic Dolemite Is My Name, which hits select theaters and the streaming site this fall.
Next summer, Murphy will also return to the big screen to reprise his role as Prince Akeem in a sequel to Coming to America. Murphy will be joined in the follow-up feature by Wesley Snipes and Arsenio Hall.
NBA player Nick Young tries stand-up for the first time by having Spade and Jeff Ross feeding him material in his ear. This marks the third “Build A Comic” segment on Lights Out having previously featured Vanderpump Rules star Stassi Schroeder and Spade’s driver Matt Stonerock. Comedy Central’s Lights Out with David Spade is hosted by iconic comedian David Spade and follows The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Monday through Thursday each week. The late night series, which debuted on July 29, 2019, features Spade’s signature take on the pop culture news of the day and includes a rotating group of his comedian and celebrity friends, while also incorporating sketches and field segments.
Watch the clip below;
Wood Harris, Mario, Meta Golding, and Katlynn Simone have all been bumped up from recurring roles to series regulars during the sixth and final season of Empire.
Viewers will recall that both Harris and Mario portrayed the respective roles of Damon and Devon in the Fox drama’s fifth season.
Not far from Mario’s real-life persona, the character of Devon was an emerging R&B singer supporting his ailing sister. Harris will return as Damon, an international money launderer who has his eyes set romantically on Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson).
Golding plays Teri, the love interest to the eldest Lyon son, Andre (Trai Byers), and the mother of Quincy (Skylan Brooks), who was wrongly incarcerated at the same facility as Andre. Golding recurred in 13 episodes last season. Simone portrays recording artist Treasure.
The sixth and final season of Empire will premiere on Fox on September 24.
Hulu has acquired the Pete Davidson film Big Time Adolescence in a deal we hear is worth $4 million.
The coming-of-age pic, based on Jason Orley’s Black List script, reps Orley’s directorial debut and follows a teenage boy (Griffin Gluck) in his dull suburban town under the destructive guidance of his best friend, a charismatic college dropout (Davidson). Sydney Sweeney (The Handmaid’s Tale), Colson Baker aka Machine Gun Kelly (The Dirt), Thomas Barbusca (The Mick), Emily Arlook (Grown-ish), Oona Laurence (A Bad Moms Christmas) and Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) also star.
The pic made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and clocked an immediate 90% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with Davidson earning high praise for his strong performance in his first leading role.
Big Time Adolescence is the fourth feature from American High, a newly formed partnership between Jeremy Garelick and Mickey Liddell’s LD Entertainment. We understand Neon remains in talks for theatrical distribution on the pic.
Producers are Liddell (Ben Is Back, The Zookeeper’s Wife, Jackie), Garelick (The Break-Up, The Wedding Ringer, Best. Worst. Weekend. Ever.), Mason Novick (Juno, 500 Days of Summer, Tully), Will Phelps (Holly Slept Over, Banana Split), Pete Shilaimon (Risen, Anthropoid, Megan Leavey) and Glen Trotiner (Holly Slept Over, Banana Split). Big Time Adolescence was also co-produced by Amy Breuer (Holly Slept Over) with executive producers Ryan Bennett (Holly Slept Over, Banana Split), Michael Glassman (Dog Days, Fast Color), and Michelle Knudsen (Queen & Slim, When We First Met).
UTA Independent Film Group is repping worldwide sales.
Source: Deadline
Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish will star in and produce the independent comedy “Here Today,” with Crystal directing from a screenplay he co-wrote with Alan Zweibel.
“Here Today” is based on Zweibel’s short story “The Prize.” Crystal will portray a veteran comedy writer who is slowly but surely losing his grip on reality and befriends a talented young New York street singer, played by Haddish. Together, they form an unlikely friendship that kicks the generation gap aside and redefines the meaning of love and trust.
Rocket Science is handling international sales at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival, while CAA will handle U.S. rights. Principal photography starts in New York in October.
Astute Films’ president Fred Bernstein made the announcement about the film Wednesday. Besides Crystal and Haddish, producers are Bernstein, Zweibel and Dominique Telson. Rick Jackson, Claudine Marrotte and Samantha Sprecher will serve as executive producers. “Here Today” is a co-production between Astute Films, Crystal’s Face Prods. and Big Head Prods.
“I’m so grateful to get the chance to bring this charming and beautiful story to life,” said Crystal. “To write this with Alan was a joy, and to have Tiffany as my co-star is fantastic. The generational differences in our comedy will be great to play with. She’s explosively funny and genuinely human at the same time. Excited to explore all our possibilities together.”
“Here Today” will mark the second collaboration between Crystal and Zweibel, following the Tony Award-winning “Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays” in 2014.
Crystal is repped by CAA, David Steinberg Entertainment and Sol Rosenthal. Haddish is repped by UTA, Artists First, and Ziffren.