Paramount+ adjusts strategy / Apple's "Friday Night Baseball" / "Bridgerton" S2 trailer / "Obi-Wan" trailer

Plus today's calendar, Esposito in "The Driver," Hudson joins "Quantum Leap," Brolin in "Outer Range," and more

Inside.com Part of   Network March 09, 2022

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Bakish During a keynote Q&A at a media conference on Tuesday, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish backed off his Investor Day promise to release a new film each week on Paramount+. Instead, the service will release a new film every other week.  More: Paramount's Investor Day presentation -- which committed to major investments on new streaming content -- was met with some skepticism from Wall Street, prompting a more conservative approach. Bakish conceded that "we didn't necessarily get the market reaction we would have hoped for," but insisted that Paramount executives "feel good about the trajectory." At one point, Bakish discussed acquiring companies, and asking the important question: "If you buy the company, can you use the content?"; this was read in some circles as an indication that Paramount itself may soon be up for sale. DEADLINE

Apple TV+ announced a new agreement with Major League Baseball (MLB) that will bring two games per week to the streaming service in eight countries. A Friday double-header, titled "Friday Night Baseball," will debut on Apple TV+ once the next regular MLB season begins. More: The games will stream exclusively on Apple TV+ and will not air on any regional sports networks. The Apple TV+ streams will include pre-game and post-game shows, produced by the MLB Network. "Friday Night Baseball" will stream in the US, Canada, and Mexico, along with Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, and the UK. Currently, the MLB is in the midst of the second-longest work stoppage in the organization's history as the players union and league officials negotiate a new labor agreement. Apple has also reportedly been pursuing agreements with other leagues, including the NFL. ESPN

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DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 SURVIVOR: The reality competition series returns for a 42nd season tonight on both CBS and Paramount+. The new season was shortened by the COVID pandemic, shooting in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji over the course of 26 days instead of the usual 39. Jeff Probst returns as host. [Paramount+] CORPORATE: The third and final season of the Comedy Central series -- a satirical look at cubicle life set within the fictional multinational Hampton DeVille -- aired in mid-2020 and hits Paramount+ today. Matt Ingrebretson and Jake Weisman co-created the series with Pat Bishop and co-star; the cast also includes Anne Dudek, Adam Lustick, Aparna Nancherla, and Lance Reddick. [Paramount+] THE THING ABOUT PAM: Limited crime drama series from NBC News and Blumhouse Television, based on the 2011 murder of suburban Missouri mom Betsy Faria by her friend and co-worker Pam Hupp. Renée Zellweger stars in the series as Hupp; Josh Duhamel, Judy Greer, Katy Mixon, and Gideon Adlon co-star. "Dateline" correspondent Keith Morrison provides narration. [Hulu and Peacock] THE LAST KINGDOM: The historical fiction series -- based on Bernard Cornwell's "The Saxon Stories" novels, and set in Britain in the late 9th and early 10th Centuries -- returns to Netflix for a fifth and final season. (The story will conclude in late 2022 or early 2023 with a follow-up film, titled "Seven Kings Must Die.") The new episodes pick up after a time jump of several years, and find King Edward (Timothy Innes) still attempting to unite the Saxon Kingdoms and fulfill his late father's dream. [Netflix] THE ANDY WARHOL DIARIES: Six-part docuseries profiling the famed artist from filmmaker Andrew Rossi ("The First Monday in May") and producer Ryan Murphy. The film takes inspiration from Warhol's own writings, including his posthumously-published memoir, and features narration from actor Bill Irwin that has been digitally modified to resemble Warhol's own speaking voice. [Netflix] BYRON BAES: Debut Australian reality series centering around a group of young social media influencers and reality TV vets as they work and play around Byron Bay, a beachside creative hub along the country's Gold Coast. [Netflix] QUEER EYE GERMANY: Netflix co-produced the first European "Queer Eye" spinoff along with ITV Germany. The new Fab Five include life coach Leni Bolt, fashion expert Jan-Henrik Scheper-Stuke, beauty influencer David Jakobs, nutrition expert Aljosha Muttardi, and interior designer Ayan Yuruk. [Netflix] THE BOMBARDMENT (SKYGGEN I MIT ØJE): World War II film from Denmark recounting a real 1945 incident, in which a British Royal Air Force mission to bomb the Gestapo's Copenhagen headquarters goes horribly awry, resulting in the targeting of a nearby school and the deaths of 120 civilians, many of them children. [Netflix] WEEKEND FAMILY: Family comedy series starring Éric Judor as a loving dad in Paris who spends every weekend with his three daughters (Liona Bordonaro, Midie Dreyfus, and Roxane Barrazoul). The situation gets a bit more complicated when he moves in with his girlfriend (Daphnée Côté Hallé), a psychology student from Canada. The series was produced in French but has been dubbed into English for US audiences. [Disney+]

"Bridgerton" Season 2 NEW TRAILERS FORMULA 1: DRIVE TO SURVIVE: Season 4 of the behind-the-scenes sports docuseries -- chronicling the 2021 racing season, including the controversial championship -- hits Netflix on March 11. [Netflix] BRIDGERTON: The period romantic drama series returns for a second season on March 25. The new episodes are based on the second book in Julia Quinn's series, "The Viscount Who Loved Me," and centers on the relationship between Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and recent arrival Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). "Scandal" and "Grey's Anatomy" vet Chris Van Dusen created the series and showruns; Shonda Rhimes executive produces. [Netflix] TRUST NO ONE: THE HUNT FOR THE CRYPTO KING: True-crime documentary examining the mystery surrounding crypto millionaire and QuadringaCX founder Gerald Cotten, whose apparent death coincided with the disappearance of $250 million in bitcoin that only he could access. The film centers on a group of investors who teamed to investigate Cotten, convinced he faked his own death as part of an elaborate Ponzi scheme. The film debuts on March 30. [Netflix] OUTER RANGE: Western thriller series starring Josh Brolin as a Wyoming rancher who's in the midst of a battle of his land, and a search for his missing daughter-in-law, when a mysterious black void suddenly appears on his west pasture. The cast also includes Imogen Poots, Lil Taylor, Tamara Podemski, Lewis Pullman, Tom Pelphrey, and Will Patton. It arrives on April 15. [Amazon] TEHRAN: The espionage thriller series, starring Niv Sultan as a Mossad agent living under an assumed identity in the titular Iranian city, returns for a second season on May 6. Glenn Close joins the cast for the new episodes; the ensemble also includes Shaun Toub, Shervin Alenabi, and Navid Negahban. [Apple TV+] ANGELYNE: Peacock released a brief teaser for the biographical series, a scripted profile of the Los Angeles "viral celebrity" (played here by Emmy Rossum) who rose to local fame after appearing on a number of billboards. "True Blood" vet Nancy Oliver created the series, which arrives on May 19. [Peacock]

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The final print edition of Entertainment Weekly includes first-look images from the upcoming Disney+ Star Wars series "Obi-Wan Kenobi." The series debuts on May 25. More: Disney also released a trailer for the series just moments before we published this newsletter. The show takes place around 10 years after the close of the film "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," and the betrayal of the Jedi Order by Anakin Skywalker. Ewan McGregor reprises his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi from the "Star Wars" prequel films, alongside fellow returning actors Hayden Christensen and Joel Edgerton. Moses Ingram ("The Queen's Gambit") plays a new character, an Inquisitor named Reva who's hunting down rogue Jedi on behalf of Darth Vader and the Empire. Though much of the series is set on Tatooine, according to writer Joby Harold, viewers will also be introduced to some new planets, including the Hong Kong-inspired Daiyu. SLASHFILM

Esposito, BBC's "The Driver" CASTING UPDATES THE DRIVER: Giancarlo Esposito will star in this six-part crime drama series, based on a BBC One miniseries that featured David Morrissey. He'll play a taxi driver who agrees to chauffeur a Zimbabwean gangster around New Orleans. "Billions" vet Theo Travers will write the series and serve as showrunner; Sunu Gonera ("Snowfall") will direct the pilot. [AMC+] QUANTUM LEAP: Ernie Hudson joined the cast of the sci-fi pilot, a reboot of the classic '90s series, in a lead role. Raymond Lee will star as Dr. Ben Seong, a physicist who gets trapped in the 1980s with amnesia after interacting with the Quantum Leap project; Hudson will co-star as Herbert "Magic" Williams, who heads the Quantum Leap program and works to rescue Dr. Seong from the past. [NBC / Peacock] THE RESORT: Nick Offerman signed on to the upcoming comedic thriller series from "Palm Springs" vet Andy Siara and "Mr. Robot" creator Sam Esmail. William Jackson Harper and Cristin Milioti star as a couple on an anniversary trip who become embroiled in a bizarre mystery on the Mayan Riviera. [Peacock] HELLO TOMORROW!: Michael Paul Chan ("Major Crimes") will take on a recurring role in the retro-futuristic comedy series, about a group of salesman promoting timeshares on the moon, as a surly rocket mechanic. Billy Crudup stars; Amit Bhalla and Lucas Jansen ("Bloodline") co-created and wrote the series, and will serve as showrunners. [Apple TV+] ONE PIECE: Netflix's live-action adaptation of the classic Japanese manga and anime added six new cast members, including Morgan Davies, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, Aidan Scott, Jeff Ward, McKinley Belcher III, and Vincent Regan. Iñaki Godoy stars in the series as Monkey D. Luffy, a young adventurer on a quest to become the King of the Pirates by finding the famed "One Piece" treasure. FBI: MOST WANTED: Executive producer David Hudgins chatted with Deadline about star Julian McMahon's exit from the series this season, and the introduction of a new character played by Dylan McDermott. (NOTE: The discussion features spoilers from some recent episodes.) [CBS / Paramount+]

According to Variety, Renée Zellweger joined the in-development WWII series "Avenger Field" at Peacock. The show, from MGM Television, was inspired by a true story, and centers on a covert all-female wartime force dubbed the Women Airforce Service Pilots or WASPs. More: Zellweger will star as a character based on WASP leader Jackie Cohran. "Fringe" and "Empire" vet Felicia D. Henderson will write and showrun the series. Zellweger currently stars in the NBC true-crime limited series "The Thing About Pam." VARIETY

QUICK HITS More than half of US organizations said they currently spend $1M to $50M on AI initiatives every year, while another 15% are spending $51M or more according to LXT's new executive report.* Hulu ordered a 10-episode first season for the mystery-drama series "Career Opportunities in Murder and Mayhem" from "Stumptown" duo Mike Weiss and Heidi Cole McAdams; Mandy Patinkin and Violett Beane co-star. Netflix renewed the "Vikings" sequel series "Vikings: Valhalla" for two additional seasons, which will take it through Season 3. A new report from the Leichtman Research Group found that pay-TV services -- including both cable and satellite providers -- shed around 4.7 million net subscribers in 2021. A class-action lawsuit filed against HBO on Tuesday alleges that the network shares viewing histories for its subscribers with Facebook, in violation of federal privacy law. Netflix renewed the teen comedy series "Never Have I Ever" for a fourth and final season. Apple TV+ announced release dates and dropped some first-look photos for a number of upcoming films; Cooper Raif's Sundance award-winner "Cha Cha Real Smooth" will arrive on June 17, while the animated "Luck" debuts on August 5. During an appearance at a media conference in San Francisco, Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann said the company has no current plans to add a lower-cost ad-supported tier, but added: "never say never." "Gentleman Jack" vet Suranne Jones will create the three-part relationship drama "Maryland" for ITV; no word yet on whether or not Jones will appear on screen in the series. Not getting what you need from your payments processing company? Maybe it’s time for a new one.* *This is sponsored content

Lon Harris is the writer and editor of Inside Streaming and was the very first person to ever write an Inside newsletter. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and also writes about TV and film for Fandom, Screen Junkies, Rotten Tomatoes, Gamma Ray and others. Plus he has a Game of Thrones podcast called "Casterly Talk" and competes on The Movie Trivia Schmoedown as "The Professor." Editor Jonathan Harris is a writer and editor who lives in Los Angeles.

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