Discovery+ standalone service / Bay and Barton team-up / "Mandalorian" on TV / "@midnight" reboot

Plus today's calendar, "Bosch" spinoffs, Laurie joins "Tehran," "Aftersun" breaks Mubi record, and more

Inside.com Part of   Network February 08, 2023

"One Delicious Christmas" on Discovery+ According to a new report from Variety, Warner Bros. Discovery plans to keep Discovery+ as a standalone streaming service, while also incorporating some its content into HBO Max. Some content will apparently remain exclusive to the Discovery+ platform, and won't migrate over to the shared offering, which will be rebranded as simply "Max." More: The standalone Discovery+ platform will be a lower-cost option than the joint HBO Max and Discovery+ service. Sources told The Wall Street Journal that WBD hoped to avoid losing Discovery+'s current 20 million subscribers, who may not wish to upgrade to the Max platform. Currently, ad-free access to HBO Max costs $15.99/month, while ad-free Discovery+ is just $6.99/month. The combined HBO Max and Discovery+ service is expected to launch in the spring, but no specific date has been announced. VARIETY

Barton and Bay Amazon signed on to develop an action-drama series from director/producer Michael Bay and writer/creator Joe Barton. The project centers on an American bounty hunter whose latest assignment gets him in trouble with a Mexican drug cartel. More: Barton previously created the BBC/Netflix crime drama "Giri/Haji" and the upcoming HBO Max/Sky sci-fi series "The Lazarus Project." He's also developing a limited series based on the Oscar-winning '80s film "Amadeus," and wrote the latest installment of Paramount's "Cloverfield" movie franchise. Bay most recently directed the 2022 Jake Gyllenhaal action-thriller "Ambulance." DEADLINE

DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8 BILL RUSSELL: LEGEND: Documentary feature looking back on the life, career, and political activism of late NBA icon Bill Russell. The film features insights from Wilt Chamberlain, Barack Obama, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Kenny Smith, Chris Paul, Jerry West, Isiah Thomas, and others, along with archival interviews with the man himself. [Netflix] THE EXCHANGE: Arabic-language period drama series starring Rawan Mahdi and Mona Hussain as two women breaking into the male-dominated world of the Kuwait Stock Exchange in 1988, just ahead of Saddam Hussein's invasion of the country. [Netflix] SUPER BOWL GREATEST COMMERCIALS: BATTLE OF THE DECADES: The annual live interactive CBS special invites viewers to vote on their top Super Bowl ads of all time. This year's special is hosted by Boomer Esiason and Daniela Ruah live from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and Arizona's State Farm Stadium, the home of Super Bowl LVII. Paramount+'s stream begins at 8 pm ET/PT. [Paramount+] AQUA TEEN FOREVER: PLANTASM: 2022 direct-to-VOD animated comedy for adults, spun off from the Adult Swim series "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." Inept heroes Master Shake (Dana Snyder), Frylock (Carey Means), and Meatwad (Dave Willis) reunite to face a new enemy: Amazin mega-corp CEO Neil (Peter Serafinowicz). Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Rothwell, Robert Smigel, Tim Robinson, Killer Mike, and Kyle Kinane co-star. [HBO Max] REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW JERSEY: The reality series' 13th season debuted Tuesday night on Bravo; new episodes hit Peacock on Wednesdays. This season stars returning housewives Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs, Dolores Catania, and Jennifer Aydin, along with friends Jackie Goldschneider, Jennifer Fessler, Danielle Cabral, and Rachel Fuda. [Peacock] MARVEL STUDIOS' ASSEMBLED: THE MAKING OF BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER: The MCU behind-the-scenes docuseries returns with a look at the production of the 2022 "Black Panther" sequel, which also serves as a remembrance for late "Black Panther" star Chadwick Boseman. [Disney+] 7 TOUGHEST DAYS: Debut reality series from National Geographic following explorer Dwayne Fields as he attempts to keep himself and his crew alive in some of the world's harshest environments, and make it back to civilization in just seven days. [Disney+] HAMSTER & GRETEL: The animated Disney Channel series centers on a teenage boy who's constantly drawn into conflicts after his younger sister and her pet hamster develop superpowers. Meli Povenmire, Michael Cimino, Beck Bennett, and Joey King co-star. Season 1 comes to Disney+ today. [Disney+] SANTO MALDITO: Debut thriller series from Brazil, starring Felipe Camargo as an atheist professor who becomes involved with a mysterious religious cult after his wife (Ana Flávia Cavalcanti) miraculously awakens from a vegetative state. [Hulu]

"Phenomenon | The Mandalorian" Disney plans to televise the pilot episode of "The Mandalorian" on ABC, Freeform, and FX, ahead of the show's Season 3 premiere. The first "Mandalorian" episode will air at 8 pm ET/PT on February 24th across all three networks. More: Season 3 of "The Mandalorian" debuts on Disney+ on March 1. The company used the same strategy to help grow the audience for another "Star Wars" series, "Andor," last year. Disney+ also shared a new behind-the-scenes featurette, "Phenomenon," looking into the development of the series and initial reactions from fans. ENGADGET

According to Deadline, CBS plans to replace "The Late Late Show with James Corden" with a remake of the Comedy Central game show "@midnight." Original studio Funny or Die will produce the new incarnation of "@midnight," along with new executive producer Stephen Colbert. More: "@midnight" -- which aired on Comedy Central for 600 episodes from 2013-2017 -- features a panel of comedians and celebrities competing in a series of improv games inspired by internet culture. Original "@midnight" host Chris Hardwick is not expected to have any involvement with the new show. Corden announced plans to exit "The Late Late Show" last year; the final episode is expected to air in the spring. DEADLINE

Jamie Hector in "Bosch" Amazon is developing two new "Bosch" spinoff series, based on the characters Jerry Edgar and Renee Ballard. The "Bosch" shows are all based on characters and novels by author Michael Connelly. More: Jamie Hector portrayed Jerry Edgar throughout seven seasons of "Bosch," and is expected to reprise the role for the new series, which finds him accepting an undercover FBI mission in Miami. Renee Ballard, a figure from various Connelly books, has not yet been featured in a "Bosch" series; her spinoff will center on a new LAPD cold case division. The original "Bosch" ran for seven seasons on Amazon and closed out in 2021. A spinoff, "Bosch: Legacy," will return for a second season later this year on Amazon's free ad-supported platform, Freevee. It's unclear whether the new spinoffs -- if picked up to series -- will stream on Freevee or Prime Video. VARIETY

Apple renewed the international thriller series "Tehran" for a third season. Actor Hugh Laurie joins the cast for the new episodes, which are currently in production. More: Niv Sultan stars in the series as an Israeli Mossad agent on a deep undercover mission in the titular Iranian city. Series regulars Shaun Toub and Shila Ommi are also expected to return for Season 3. Laurie will play a South African nuclear inspector in the new episodes. Laurie has been nominated for 10 Emmys throughout his career, most recently for his performance in "Veep" in 2017. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Mubi announced that the 2022 indie drama "Aftersun" is now the platform's most-streamed global release in history. Though the streamer saw a significant uptick in viewership during the pandemic, according to their internal figures, "Aftersun" has far surpassed all of its previous top performers. More: The film is currently streaming on Mubi in the UK, Ireland, Italy, and Latin America; it's being released in Germany, Austria, and Spain next month. The film is also Mubi's highest-grossing theatrical film in the UK, and will likely surpass previous record-holder "Decision to Leave" in the next few weeks; A24 handled theatrical distribution in the US. Paul Mescal is nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at this year's Academy Awards for his work in the film. DEADLINE

Warner Bros. Pictures executive Peter Dodd will join Netflix as a director on the streamer's film team. He'll work under VP Niija Kuykendall on mid-size features. More: Dodd served as a Production VP at Warner Bros., after joining the company in 2018. At WB, Dodd oversaw the development and production of Oscar-winning "Parasite" director Bong Joon-ho's latest film, "Mickey 17," which recently wrapped production in London. Prior to joining WB, Dodd worked as a literary agent for United Talent Agency (UTA). DEADLINE

QUICK HITS Friction is NOT one-size-fits-all. Learn how implementing friction that adapts to your users could boost conversion rates & reduce fraud.* Hulu shared a trailer for the Spotify-produced docuseries "RapCaviar," featuring anecdotes and insights into current events from various hip-hop artists including City Girls, Jack Harlow, Polo G, Roddy Ricch, Coi Leray, Tyler the Creator, and Pharrell Williams. Original "Fawlty Towers" co-creator and star John Cleese is developing a reboot of the classic UK sitcom, along with his daughter Camilla Cleese; Rob Reiner's Castle Rock Entertainment is producing behind the project. Renate Reinsve ("The Worst Person in the World"), Peter Sarsgaard ("Dopesick"), and O-T Fagbenle ("The Handmaid's Tale") all joined the cast of Apple's "Presumed Innocent" series, based on the novel by Scott Turow. Netflix announced a UK version of its popular reality dating series "Love is Blind"; Japanese and Brazilian remakes have already debuted on the platform. Roku renewed the culinary series "Martha Cooks" and "Emeril Cooks" -- featuring celebrity chefs Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse -- for second seasons. Former Netflix executive Matt Levin joined the Laika studio as its new President of Live-Action Film & Series; he'll oversee the company's first live-action projects, including the upcoming action-thriller "Seventeen." Paramount+ released a full trailer for the "Grease" prequel series "Rise of the Pink Ladies," arriving on April 6. HBO is developing a new series based on the non-fiction book "Empty Mansions," a profile of wealthy recluse Huguette Clark; filmmakers Ido Fluk ("The Ticket") and Joe Wright ("Darkest Hour") are attached to write and direct the pilot.  Season 1 of the Netflix historical docuseries "African Queens" will relate the story of Njinga, who ruled over Ndongo and Matamba, in present-day Angola, in the 17th Century; the four-episode series, narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith, arrives on February 15. Paramount Global and Amazon struck a new deal to share international streaming rights for "Star Trek" series; outside of the US and Canada, new episodes of "Star Trek: Picard" and "Star Trek: Lower Decks" will debut simultaneously on both Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video. Check out this demo-on-demand and find out how 4,000+ fast-growing companies got compliant quickly.* *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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