David Alan Grier Lands In New Netflix Comedy Film Titled ‘Coffee & Kareem’!
Veteran actor and comedian David Alan Grier is set to play opposite Taraji P. Henson and Ed Helms in the Michael Dowse-directed Netflix comedy, Coffee & Kareem. Based on Shane McCarthy’s 2014 Black List script, the film follows a Detroit cop who reluctantly teams with his girlfriend’s 11-year-old son to clear his name and take down the city’s most ruthless criminal.
Also part of the cast is Betty Gilpin, Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor, RonReaco Lee, and rising star Terrence Little Gardenhigh.
Helms and Mike Falbo are producing via their Pacific Electric Pictures Co banner. Sanford Nelson, Jordon Foss, Linden Nelson, Don Foss, and Dan Clarke will serve as executive producers.
Grier starred on Fox’s short-lived comedy series, The Cool Kids, and was recently seen in the HBO film, Native Son. Up next, the In Living Color alum has a guest-starring arc on OWN’s Queen Sugar this summer.
He’s repped by Activist Management and Innovative Artists.
Source: Deadline
Chris Rock To Relaunch ‘Saw’ Horror Franchise With Lionsgate
Chris Rock, the comedian known for his standup and his work on Saturday Night Live, and producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules, have teamed up to re-launch the Saw horror franchise for Lionsgate.The movie company, which releases John Wick 3 on Friday, is moving quickly on the project, which is described as a re-imagining and a spinning-off of the franchise, and has set an Oct. 23, 2020 release date for the new iteration.
The movies, released between 2004 and 2017, grossed over $1 billion for Lionsgate, and centered on a serial killer named Jigsaw and his followers who concocted elaborate death traps with a moral hook for the victims. The initial movie launched the career of filmmaker James Wan and are among the most profitable movies produced.
“When Chris Rock came to us and described in chilling detail his fantastic vision that reimagines and spins-off the world of the notorious Jigsaw Killer, we were all-in,” said Lionsgate motion picture group chairman Joe Drake in a statement. “Saw is one of the highest grossing horror franchises of all-time and it’s one of Lionsgate’s most successful film series. This upcoming film will still be as mind-bending and intense as all the previous Saw films. Chris conceived this idea and it will be completely reverential to the legacy of the material while reinvigorating the brand with his wit, creative vision, and passion for this classic horror franchise.”
The screenplay is based on a story conceived by Rock and written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg. Darren Lynn Bousman, who helmed three of the eight movies in the Saw series, is back as helmer. with Burg and Koules producing.
“I’ve been a fan of Saw since the first film in 2004,” said Rock in Lionsgate’s announcement. “I am excited by the opportunity to take this to a really intense and twisted new place.”
Rock is also exec producing, with Wan and Leigh Whannell, who created the original 2004 movie, as well as Daniel Heffner joining him in that capacity.
Stated Burg and Koules: “Chris wants to put his own spin on the Saw franchise in the way Eddie Murphy put a completely fresh perspective on buddy-cop films with 48 Hours. This new Saw is going to be an event film in the making for horror fans. It will have all of the twists and turns and hardcore layers that our fans expect directed by one of the masters of the craft, Darren Lynn Bousman. We can’t wait to get started,.”
Rock will next be seen in Netflix’s Dolemite is My Name! as well as season four of FX’s Fargo.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Netflix Releases New Trailer & Release Date For ‘Black Mirror’ Season 5 Starring Anthony Mackie, Miley Cyrus
Netflix has set a June 5 premiere date for Black Mirror‘s three-story Season 5, with Anthony Mackie and Miley Cyrus among the cast in the stand-alone episodes. Check out the new trailer above.
Also featured in the Season 5 cast is Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Topher Grace, Damson Idris, Andrew Scott, Nicole Beharie, Pom Klementieff, Angourie Rice, Madison Davenport and Ludi Lin.
All three episodes will launch Wednesday, June 5, on the streaming service. The series was created and is written by Charlie Brooker, and executive produced by Brooker and Annabel Jones.
Netflix describes the anthology series as tapping into “our collective unease with the modern world, with each stand-alone episode a sharp, suspenseful tale exploring themes of contemporary techno-paranoia leading to an unforgettable – and sometimes unsettling – conclusion. Without questioning it, technology has transformed all aspects of our lives; in every home; on every desk; in every palm – a plasma screen; a monitor; a Smartphone – a Black Mirror reflecting our 21st Century existence back at us.”
Though specific Season 5 episode synopses were not released, the trailer offers some hints: There’s a lonely teen girl who first seems charmed, then haunted, by a Siri-like doll (“It’s not a doll,” she says, “that thing’s poison”), and Miley seems to play a Cyrus-like pop star with 20,000 fans waiting for her onstage arrival. There’s a man with a gun, who seems to have some sort of public freak-out over all the electronic eyes following him, and finally a sort of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fantasy scene. In other words, it’s all very Black Mirror. At one point, words flash on the screen: “love,” “privacy,” “sex,” “work,” “afterlife.” Hmm, afterlife?
The Season Five launch marks the first of Black Mirror since last December’s post-Season 4 stand-alone interactive Netflix movie “Bandersnatch,” in which viewers could make choices for the main character, video-game style.
Source: Deadline
WATCH: New Trailer For ‘black-ish’ Spin-Off Of ‘mixed-ish’ Released!
At their upfronts presentation Tuesday, ABC debuted the trailers for their three new fall entries, including mixed-ish.
The fact that mixed-ish received an early series order ahead of upfronts shows the network’s heavy confidence in the second black-ish series, following Freeform’s grown-ish. Initially set to air this season, the mixed-ish backdoor pilot will air as an episode of black-ish next season.
The updated description for the show: In mixed-ish, Rainbow Johnson recounts her experience growing up in a mixed-race family in the ‘80s and the constant dilemmas they had to face over whether to assimilate or stay true to themselves. Bow’s parents Paul and Alicia decide to move from a hippie commune to the suburbs to better provide for their family. As her parents struggle with the challenges of their new life, Bow and her siblings navigate a mainstream school in which they’re perceived as neither black nor white. This family’s experiences illuminate the challenges of finding one’s own identity when the rest of the world can’t decide where you belong.
The series stars Arica Himmel as Bow Johnson, Tika Sumpter as Alicia Johnson, Christina Anthony as Denise, Mykal-Michelle Harris as Santamonica Johnson and Ethan Childress as Johan Johnson. Anders Holm appears in the trailer as Rainbow’s father and Alica’s husband, but the role will be recast.
Watch the trailer below:
For mixed-ish, Peter Saji and Kenya Barris are writers and executive producers along with Tracee Ellis Ross, Randall Winston, Artists First (Brian Dobbins), Cinema Gypsy (Laurence Fishburne and Helen Sugland) and Anthony Anderson. It is also produced by ABC Studios.
Source: Shadow & Act
TBS Renews ‘The Last O.G.’ Starring Tracy Morgan And Tiffany Haddish For A Third Season!
TBS has picked up a third season of comedy series The Last O.G., starring Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish.
Co-created and executive-produced by Oscar winner Jordan Peele, The Last O.G. launched as cable’s #1 new comedy in 2018 and the highest rated cable comedy debut since 2015. The show continues to be a ratings success in its second season, now ranking as cable’s #1 sitcom and reaching a multiplatform audience of 23 million viewers so far.
“The Last O.G. is very meaningful to me and I am blessed to get to work with my family for another season,” said Morgan. “We are going to go to a whole other level this year. JUST WAIT.”
Season two of The Last O.G. saw Morgan’s character Tray going all in on his dreams of becoming a chef, and Tray’s ex-girlfriend Shay (Haddish) collaborating with an unlikely business partner.
Morgan and Haddish will return for the third season, as well as series regulars Ryan Gaul, Allen Maldonado, Taylor Mosby and Dante Hoagland.
“We are so proud of The Last O.G.’s continued success,” said Brett Weitz, general manager of TBS and TNT. “This hilarious and heartfelt show has connected with fans and we couldn’t be more grateful for the big laughs that Tracy and the O.G. gang deliver each week.”
The second season of The Last O.G. was executive-produced by Morgan and Peele for Monkeypaw Productions; Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannenbaum for The Tannenbaum Company; Saladin Patterson; and Joel Zadak of Artists First.
Source: Deadline
Albert Hughes To Direct And Executive Produce Showtime’s ‘The Good Lord Bird’
LOS ANGELES –May 14, 2019 – Filmmaker Albert Hughes (Alpha, Menace II Society) is joining as executive producer and will make his television directorial debut helming multiple episodes of the new SHOWTIME limited series THEGOOD LORD BIRDfrom Blumhouse Television, based on the National Book Award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird by bestselling author James McBride. Oscar®, Golden Globe® and Tony® nominee Ethan Hawke will star as 19th-century abolitionist John Brown and is co-writing and executive producing with award-winning author and producer Mark Richard (The Ice at the Bottom of the World and Hell on Wheels).
“Albert Hughes is an incredible addition to THE GOOD LORD BIRD,” said Gary Levine, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. “We are so pleased to meld Albert’s intelligence, talent and perspective with the remarkable creative team that is adapting James McBride’s wildly imaginative and profound novel into a singular Showtime limited series.”
THEGOOD LORD BIRD is told from the point of view of Onion, an enslaved teenager who becomes a member in Brown’s motley family during the time of Bleeding Kansas, eventually participatingin the famous 1859 raid on the Army depot at Harpers Ferry. Brown’s raid failed to initiate the slave revolt heintended, but was the instigating event that started the Civil War.
Writer-director Hughes and his brother Allen emerged as major talents with their 1993 debut Menace II Society and 1995 follow-up Dead Presidents. They later directed the 1999 documentary American Pimp; 2001’s adaptation of Alan Moore’s Jack the Ripper graphic novel From Hell, starring Johnny Depp; and 2010’s post-apocalyptic Denzel Washington starrer The Book of Eli. Last summer, Hughes directed his first solo feature, Alpha.
THE GOOD LORD BIRD is executive produced by Ethan Hawke, James McBride, Mark Richard, Albert Hughes, Jason Blum, Brian Taylor, Ryan Hawke, David Schiff, Jeremy Gold, Marci Wiseman and Marshall Persinger.
Issa Rae Set To Produce Novel ‘Silver Sparrow’ With Oprah Winfrey
Issa Rae is hella booked and hella busy.
Fresh off of filming her latest film, The Photograph, with Lakeith Stanfield, the intrepid creator is still keeping her creative eye on fresh content.
According to Publishers Marketplace, Rae has optioned Silver Sparrow, the 2011 novel by Tayari Jones, for adaptation to film. Rae is also set to produce. The novel is just the latest by Jones to be optioned. Her latest novel, An American Marriage, is set to be adapted into a film produced by none other than Oprah Winfrey.
Set in the Georgian city of Atlanta during the 1980s, Silver Sparrow revolves around a pair of young girls who form a friendship. However, only one of them is aware that they are sisters and knows that their father, James Witherspoon, is a covert bigamist.
Rae is set to executive produce an adaptation of Jones’ acclaimed novel. The project is just the latest endeavor of Rae’s production bucket.
She has multiple projects in development for a number of different outlets, all in different stages of development. In 2017, it was announced that the Insecure creator and star was executive producing a drama set in Los Angeles during the early ’90s for HBO. The network also picked up two more shows from Rae: the affluent Black teen drama Sweet Life and HimorHer, a single-camera half-hour comedy set to chronicle the dating life of a bisexual Black man.
Source: Shadow & Act
ABC Passes On Kerry Washington-Produced Church Comedy Pilot Set To Star Leslie Odom Jr.
ABC is not moving forward with the project known as Untitled Leslie Odom Jr. Comedy. The church comedy pilot, produced by Kerry Washington, was inspired by the real-life couple pastors Touré Roberts and Sarah Jakes-Roberts. Leslie Odom Jr. and Kelly Jenrette would have led the cast, which also included Alexis Fields.
The network’s 2019-20 lineup was made official Tuesday, and all pilots are no longer in contention besides NYPD Blue, Heart of Life and Nana, which are all being redeveloped.
The story revolved around the characters Omari and Hope, “who are joint pastors at a young, hip, diverse church in Los Angeles. Through their services, online streams and books, they are experts at uniting people across different races, genders, orientations and opinions. But when it comes to uniting the people in their blended family, they are way out of their comfort zone, and as a result, the teachers often find themselves the pupils.”
ABC opted for a light load this pilot season, ordering just six series. Two of them were comedies, the black-ish spinoff mixed-ish and United We Fall, starring Christina Vidal. The Leslie Odom Jr. pilot and another pilot at the network starring Hannah Simone were considered sure bets for series orders. However, it seems that the network has decided to wait a year before making a vast expansion into new programming. ABC is in a transition period after the Disney-Fox deal and a change of network president from Channing Dungey to Karey Burke.
Saladin Patterson, the showrunner of TBS comedy The Last O.G. starring Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish, wrote the script.
Source: Shadow & Act
Tiffany Haddish To Host ABC’s ‘Kids Say the Darndest Things’
NEW YORK (AP) — ABC’s fall schedule will include a reboot of the TV variety series “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” hosted by Tiffany Haddish.
ABC said Tuesday the comedian-actress will produce the series, set to air on Sundays.
Haddish will encourage children to share their advice on topics including dating and sportsmanship, the network said.
ABC also will launch another spinoff of its comedy “black-ish” this fall.
Titled “mixed-ish,” the spinoff will focus on the preteen version of the mom that Tracee Ellis Ross plays on “black-ish.”
The young Rainbow, nicknamed Bow, faces the challenges of growing up in the 1980s as part of a mixed-ethnicity family, ABC said.
Comedian Tim Conway of ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ Dies at 85
NEW YORK (AP) — Tim Conway, the impish second banana to Carol Burnett who won four Emmy Awards on her TV variety show, starred aboard “McHale’s Navy” and later voiced the role of Barnacle Boy for “Spongebob Squarepants,” has died. He was 85.
Conway died Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles care facility, according to Howard Bragman, who heads LaBrea Media. Conway’s wife, Charlene Fusco, and a daughter, Jackie, were at his side. The cause was a disorder in which there is an excess of fluid on the brain, Bragman said.
Burnett said in a statement Tuesday that she was heartbroken. “He was one in a million, not only as a brilliant comedian but as a loving human being. I cherish the times we had together both on the screen and off. He’ll be in my heart forever.”
Tributes also came from across the comedy world, including from Conan O’Brien, who said “no one made me laugh harder than Tim Conway” and Kathy Griffin, who called him “a wildly talented, comedy giant.” Al Roker tweeted out a link to Conway playing a hysterically incompetent dentist.
A native of Ohio, Conway credited his Midwestern roots for putting him on the right path to laughs, with his deadpan expression and innocent, simple-minded demeanor.
“I think the Midwest is the heart of comedy in this country, and a little bit of the South, too,” he told the Wisconsin State Journal in 2005. “For some reason, we’re just more laid-back, more understanding. … And Midwesterners have a kinder sense of humor.”
Those qualities probably contributed to his wide popularity on “The Carol Burnett Show,” which he joined in 1975 after years as a frequent guest. The show aired on CBS from 1967 to 1978 and had a short summer stint on ABC in 1979.
“We really didn’t attack people or politics or religion or whatever. We just made fun of, basically, ourselves,” he said.
The show operated with just five writers, one producer, one director and without network interference. The ensemble cast surrounding the redheaded star included Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner.
“I don’t think the network would allow a show like ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ now because we had such freedom,” Conway said in his interview with the State Journal.
Lawrence on Tuesday mourned the passing of her co-star, saying in a statement that “the angels are laughing out loud.”
“Hysterical, crazy, bold, fearless, humble, kind, adorable… all synonyms for Tim Conway. I am so lucky to ever have shared a stage with him.”
While America was laughing at Conway, so were his co-stars: Burnett and Harvey Korman were often caught by the camera trying not to crack up during his performances.
The short, nondescript Conway and the tall, imposing Korman were a physical mismatch made in comedy heaven. They toured the country for years with a sketch show called “Together Again,” which drew on characters from Burnett’s show.
Besides the four Emmys he won with Burnett (three as a performer, one as a writer), he won Emmys for guest appearances in 1996 for “Coach” and in 2008 for “30 Rock.”
Conway also had a modest but steady movie career, appearing in such films as “The Apple Dumpling Gang” (1975), “The Shaggy D.A.” (1976), “Cannonball Run II” (1984), “Dear God” (1996) and “Air Bud 2” (1998).
“The Apple Dumpling Gang” and “Cannonball Run II” allowed him to work with his comedic hero, Don Knotts, who died in 2006.
“If there’s any reason at all I’m in the business, I think it’s Don,” Conway once said. “He’s an icon in this business. He’s an icon that’s never going to be duplicated.”
He also found success in the 1980s in a series of comedy videos based on an oddly short character named Dorf. (Carefully costumed, Conway performed the bits on his knees.) Among them were “Dorf on Golf” and “Dorf Goes Fishing.”
More recently Conway voiced the role of Barnacle Boy for the hugely popular children’s series “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
He was born Thomas Conway in 1933 in the Cleveland suburb of Willoughby. He attended Bowling Green State University and served in the U.S. Army. He got his career start on local TV in Cleveland in the 1950s, where his duties included comedy spots on a late-night movie show.
He was spotted by Rose Marie of “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” who got him an audition for “The Steve Allen Show.” He became a regular on the show in the early 1960s. It was Allen who had advised him to change his name from Tom to Tim to avoid being confused with a British actor.
Following the Allen show, Conway gained attention as the incompetent Ensign Charles Parker on the Ernest Borgnine sitcom “McHale’s Navy” from 1962-66. That led to series of his own, including “Rango” and “The Tim Conway Show,” but they were short-lived.
“McHale’s Navy” fans loved watching Ensign Parker infuriate the ever-flammable Captain Binghamton (played by Joe Flynn), but it was Conway’s work on Burnett’s show that would bring him lasting fame.
Conway and his wife, Mary Anne Dalton, married in 1961 and had six children. The marriage ended in divorce. He later married Charlene Fusco.
In addition to his wife and daughter Jackie, Conway is survived by children Tim Jr., Patrick, Jamie, Kelly, Corey and Seann, as well as two grandchildren, Courtney and Sophia.
