"Umbrella Academy" to close / McGregor joins "Moscow" / Ferreira exits "Euphoria" / "White Noise" teaser

Plus today's calendar, Daily Beast on HBO Max firings, "Handmaid's Tale" S5, Sakurai joins YouTube, and more

Inside.com Part of   Network August 25, 2022

Netflix renewed the fantasy drama series "Umbrella Academy" for a fourth and final season. Showrunner Steve Blackman extended his deal with the streamer, and will follow up "Umbrella Academy" with an adaptation of the PlayStation game "Horizon Zero Dawn" and the sci-fi limited series "Orbital." More: "Umbrella Academy" regulars Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Justin H. Min, Ritu Arya, and Colm Feore are all expected to return for the final episodes. The sci-fi adventure series "Horizon Zero Dawn" is set thousands of years in the future, in a world where primitive tribes live in the ruins of a high-tech civilization, and hunt predatory, wild animal-like machines. "Orbital" is a thriller set on board the International Space Station; Blackman co-created the series with writers David and Keith Lynch. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Ewan McGregor signed on to star in the period drama series "A Gentleman in Moscow," based on the novel by Amor Towles. The series will stream on Paramount+ internationally and Showtime within the US. More: McGregor will star as Count Alexander Rostov, an aristocrat who finds himself imprisoned in a formerly opulent hotel, the Metropol, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. "The Last Kingdom" vet Ben Vanstone wrote the adaptation and will serve as showrunner; McGregor will executive produce the series. The novel's many high-profile fans include Barack Obama, Tom Hanks, and Ann Patchett. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

DAILY CALENDAR THURSDAY, AUGUST 25 MIKE: Unauthorized eight-episode drama series based on the life and career of boxer Mike Tyson (Trevante Rhodes) from creator Steven Rogers ("I, Tonya") and showrunner Karen Gist ("Mixed-ish"). Harvey Keitel, Russell Hornsby, Laura Harrier, and Li Eubanks co-star. [Hulu] WELCOME TO WREXHAM: Docuseries following American and Canadian-American actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds as they purchase and take over the "struggling" Welsh professional soccer club Wrexham A.F.C. New episodes air Wednesday nights on FX and hit Hulu on Thursdays. [Hulu] STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS: Adult animated comedy series from "Rick and Morty" vet Mike McMahan, set on the starship Cerritos in the years immediately after the events of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The voice cast includes Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero. Season 3 premieres today, and features guest appearances by Jonathan Frakes, Gabrielle Ruiz, Lauren Lapkus, J.G. Hertzler, and others. [Paramount+] THE END IS NYE: Educational series in which the engineer and TV personality examines various kinds of devastating global disasters -- both natural and man-made -- and investigates how they could potentially be survived, managed, or even prevented in the future. Nye executive produces the series alongside "Cosmos" vets Seth MacFarlane and Brannon Braga. [Peacock] THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF DUBAI: The latest entry in Bravo's "Real Housewives" reality franchise centers on the personal and professional lives of a group of wealthy women living in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The cast includes Nina Ali, Chanel Ayan, Caroline Brooks, Sara Al Madani, Lesa Milan, and Caroline Stanbury. Season 1 debuted in June on cable and comes to Peacock today. [Peacock] EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE: British comedy-drama series from creator Dolly Alderton, based on her memoir of the same name. It centers on two childhood friends (Emma Appleton and Bel Powley) in their early 20s living in a London house with several other women and supporting one another through a string of bad dates and breakups. [Peacock] MADE IN CHELSEA: Semi-scripted "reality series" from the UK about a group of affluent young people living in West London. Seasons 18-22 come to Peacock in the US today. [Peacock] ANGRY BIRDS: SUMMER MADNESS: The animated kids' comedy series, based on the mobile video game franchise and its movie spin-offs, is back for a third season. The series follows Red, Stella, Bomb, and Chuck as pre-teens while they attend Camp Splinterwood under the watchful eye of the Mighty Eagle. [Netflix] HISTORY 101: The informational series features quick lessons about various historical, political, and social topics composed of archival footage, infographics, and animation. It's back for a second season. [Netflix] THAT'S AMOR: Romantic comedy feature, produced in a mix of English and Spanish, from director Shaun Piccinino ("A California Christmas"). Riley Dandy stars as a woman whose entire life implodes just before she meets a dashing chef (Isaac Gonzalez Rossi) from Spain who could hold the answer to her problems. [Netflix] RILAKKUMA'S THEME PARK ADVENTURE: The latest Japanese stop-motion animated special starring San-X's "relaxed bear" character finds Rilakkuma and friends spending the day at an amusement park that's on the verge of shutting down. [Netflix] HOUSE OF HO: The reality series centering on lives of a wealthy Vietnamese-American family from Houston, Texas returns to HBO Max today for a second season. [HBO Max]

Barbie Ferreira, who co-stars as Kat Hernandez on the HBO teen drama "Euphoria," plans to exit the series ahead of its third season. Ferreira made the announcement on her Instagram Story on Wednesday. More: Ferreira did not disclose her specific reasons for leaving the show and her representatives did not respond to requests for comment. Online rumors suggested that Ferreira had clashed with "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson about her character's storyline; an unconfirmed report from Radar Online indicated that she walked off the set while shooting Season 2. Ferreria denied any serious on-set tension between her and Levinson in a March interview with Insider, saying "it's just out of passion and out of curiosity and all that good stuff. And I signed up for it." BUZZFEED NEWS

Netflix released a teaser for "White Noise," a feature adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel from "Marriage Story" writer/director Noah Baumbach. The movie opens the Venice Film Festival on August 31 before hitting Netflix later this year. More: "Marriage Story" vet Adam Driver stars as a professor of Hitler Studies at a liberal arts college who wrestles with his own mortality after an "airborne toxic event" takes place near his home. Baumbach's partner Greta Gerwig co-stars; the cast also includes Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam and May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, and André Benjamin (aka Andre 3000). Baumbach and Gerwig also collaborated on the upcoming "Barbie" film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. COLLIDER

A report from The Daily Beast, based on accounts from a number of former Warner Bros. Discovery employees, alleges that the recent HBO Max layoffs have further exacerbated a lack of diversity behind the scenes. HBO Max recently laid off around 70 staffers from its unscripted, kids, family, and international content teams, and today cut an additional 29 staffers in Europe, including key programming executives. More: According to one former employee, as many as 13 development executives of color -- overseeing projects including "The Gordita Chronicles" and "Menudo: Forever Young" -- were let go during the recent layoffs. Other staffers told The Beast that there are only a few non-white employees left at the management level on HBO Max's content team, and that the layoffs "amplified the lack of diversity at HBO." Several sources also noted that they believe the recent moves represent an intentional rejection of diverse or "left-wing" content in favor of "homogenous, Middle America-friendly fare." HBO responded to the report with a statement highlighting HBO shows featuring diverse ensembles, including "Euphoria," "Rap Sh!t," "A Black Lady Sketch Show," and "Los Espookys." DAILY BEAST

Season 5 of Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale" series arrives on September 14. The new trailer focuses on the conflict between Elisabeth Moss' rebel leader June and Gilead figurehead Serena Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski). More: The new season also features O-T Fagbenle, Ann Dowd, Max Minghella, Bradley Whitford, and Samira Wiley. Showrunner Bruce Miller indicated that, after years of build-up, the new episodes find long-time rivals June and Serena finally facing off one-on-one. Because Season 5 was delayed by the pandemic, "The Handmaid's Tale" was not eligible for Emmy Awards this year. VANITY FAIR

Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games Legendary video game developer Masahiro Sakurai launched his own YouTube channel this week, titled "Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games." Sakurai created the "Kirby" game series and is best known as the public face of his "Super Smash Bros." franchise. More: Sakurai finished work on the final DLC from the latest "Smash Bros." installment, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," in 2021, potentially clearing time in his schedule for new projects. He does not plan to stream gameplay, but will instead focus on topics like game development and theory, with specific insights and examples from the history of "Smash Bros." and other popular titles. The videos on the channel will likely be brief, between two and five minutes long, and Sakurai said he plans to offer both English and Japanese-language versions. THE VERGE

QUICK HITS Consumers want an instant and personalized content experience. Read How a Cloud-Native CMS Makes Content Delivery Faster and Easier.* "Shang-Chi" star Simu Liu joined the cast of Netflix's sci-fi action film "Atlas"; the cast also includes Jennifer Lopez, Sterling K. Brown, and Abraham Popoola. HBO released a trailer for Season 2 of the quirky horror-comedy series "Los Espookys," premiering on September 16. Nine returning actors were added to the cast of "Succession" Season 4, including Alexander Skarsgård, Dagmara Domińczyk, and Arian Moayed; production started on the new episodes back in June. All three current "Law & Order" series -- the original flagship and spinoffs "Organized Crime" and "SVU" -- will cross over as part of a three-hour NBC event on September 22. "The Walking Dead" vet Jeffrey Dean Morgan joined the cast of "The Boys" for its upcoming fourth season, in an undisclosed role; Morgan previously worked with "The Boys" showrunner Eric Kripke on the CW series "Supernatural." Mo Amer spoke with Variety about his new Hulu comedy series, "Mo," and the decision to set and produce the show in his native Houston. A number of actors joined the cast of Prime Video's "Road House" remake, including Joaquim de Almeida, Darren Barnet, Kevin Carroll, and JD Pardo; Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this new take on the 1989 MGM bouncer action drama. Give business gifts people actually want, without going over budget. Explore our interactive catalog for this year's trends.* *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 Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade.

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