Reelz content on Peacock / Valenti joins Amazon Studios / "Peter & Wendy" trailer / Chopra talks Paramount strategy

Plus today's calendar, "Stranger Things" stage play, "Dune: The Sisterhood" on hold, "Dead Ringers" teaser, Neuwirth joins "Frasier," and more

Inside.com Part of   Network March 01, 2023

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Peacock signed a new carriage deal with the independent crime-and-justice TV network Reelz. The agreement will bring a number of unscripted Reelz shows to the NBCUniversal platform, including the breakout police docuseries "On Patrol: Live" from "Live P.D." vet Dan Abrams. More: New episodes of "On Patrol" will stream live on Peacock on Friday and Saturday nights starting this week, before becoming available to view on-demand for Premium subscribers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Other Reelz shows that will now stream on Peacock include "On Patrol: First Shift," "Jail," "Cops," and "Autopsy: The Last Hours." DEADLINE

Amazon hired veteran movie executive Courtenay Valenti for a newly-created role, as the head of film, streaming, and theatrical for both Amazon Studios and MGM. She'll report directly to Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke and will focus on developing "a well-rounded selection of tentpoles, prestige films, and genre fare." More: Salke and Valenti will also devise a "robust" schedule to bring Amazon films to theaters; in November, Bloomberg reported that Amazon plans to invest $1 billion in theatrical films in 2023. Amazon Studios' former head of film development, Julie Rapaport, will now serve as head of film creative and strategy, and will report to Valenti. Valenti served as president of production and development at Warner Bros. for 33 years, overseeing both live-action and animated films; recent projects include Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" film, the "Mad Max" spinoff "Furiosa," and Steven Spielberg's big-screen version of the "Color Purple" musical. VARIETY

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DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1 THE MANDALORIAN: The "Star Wars" spinoff series follows the adventures of bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young Force-sensitive charge, Grogu. The new episodes center on Djarin's mission to Planet Mandalore, where he hopes to redeem himself for the transgression of removing his helmet. Giancarlo Esposito, Carl Weathers, Katee Sackhoff, Emily Swallow, and Amy Sedaris co-star. [Disney+] GOING FUR GOLD: Debut reality series from Nat Geo Wild following competitors in various animal competitions across America, including dedicated trainers who work with cats, rabbits, chickens, guinea pigs, and alpacas. Season 1 debuted in January on cable and hits Disney+ today. [Disney+] EURKEA! Animated Disney Junior series about a plucky young prehistoric inventor living in the Stone Age town of Rocky Falls. Ruth Righi, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Lil Rel Howery, and Javier Muñoz co-star. 4 new Season 1 episodes debut on Disney+ today. [Disney+] SURVIVOR: The iconic reality competition series is back for its 44th season, the 12th in a row to be recorded on Fiji's Mamanuca Islands. 18 contestants attempt to outlast one another across 26 days of intense, grueling competition. Jeff Probst hosts. [Paramount+] TRUE LIES: Debut CBS action-comedy series, inspired by the 1994 James Cameron film of the same name. Ginger Gonzaga stars as a suburban housewife who discovers that her seemingly mild-mannered husband (Steve Howey) is secretly an international super-spy. "Burn Notice" vet Matt Nix created the series. [Paramount+] WRECK: British comedy-horror series that airs on BBC Three in the UK. Oscar Kennedy stars as a 19-year-old who takes a job on a cruise ship in order to investigate his sister's strange disappearance. Thaddea Graham and Jack Rowan co-star. The series has been renewed for a second season. [Hulu] CHEAT: Debut game show from the UK in which four players face off at trivia for a shot at a potential jackpot of up to £50,000. The catch is that bluffing and lying to your opponents is allowed if you don't know the right answer. Danny Dyer and Ellie Taylor co-host. [Netflix] NEON LIGHTS: 2022 indie horror-thriller starring Dana Abraham (who also wrote the script) as a tech mogul who hosts a family reunion at a state-of-the-art off-the-grid location. Then a mysterious killer starts picking off the guests one by one. Kim and Brenna Coates, Brit MacRae, Erika Swayze, and René Escobar Jr. co-star; Rouzbeh Heydari ("A Hundred Lies") directed. [Netflix] GECKO'S GARAGE - 3D: The animated series for young kids centers on cheerful gecko mechanic and his trusty robot sidekicks. New episodes come to Netflix today. [Netflix] LITTLE ANGEL: Animated YouTube series for preschoolers featuring a variety of nursery rhymes and kids songs. A collection of new episodes hits Netflix today. [Netflix] WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS (ENTREVÍAS): Crime thriller series from Spain starring Jose Coronado as a fed-up war veteran who decides to take back control of his neighborhood from drug dealers. It's back for a second season. [Netflix] TONIGHT YOU'RE SLEEPING WITH ME (DZISIAJ ŚPISZ ZE MNA): Polish romantic drama feature -- based on a novel by Anna Szczypczynska -- starring Roma Gasiorowska as a frustrated journalist in a passionless marriage who's tempted after an encounter with a young, handsome intern at work. [Netflix] LOVE DESTINY: THE MOVIE: 2022 romantic fantasy-comedy feature from Thailand, about two lovers who are separated by death, only to be reborn years later and reunited. But by then, only one of them still believes in destiny. Tanawat Wattanaputi and Ranee Campen co-star. [Netflix]

Disney released a trailer for "Peter Pan & Wendy," a new live-action retelling of the classic story, which was previously adapted by the studio into an iconic 1953 animated film. The new take will skip theaters and debut exclusively on Disney+ on April 28. More: "The Green Knight" vet David Lowery, who previously helmed Disney's 2016 "Pete's Dragon" remake, directed. Newcomers Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson co-star as Peter Pan and Wendy Darling. Jude Law and Yara Shahidi also make appearances as Captain Hook and Tinkerbell. THE VERGE

Showtime's "Yellowjackets" While speaking to the Deutsche Bank Media, Internet and Telecom Conference remotely this week, Paramount Global CFO Naveen Chopra signaled that the company could spend less than the $6 billion it initially forecast for 2024. Chopra touted the company's success in the streaming marketplace, claiming that Parmaount has added more overall subscribers "on an absolute basis" during its first two years than any other major streamer. More: Chopra referred to Paramount's 2023 movie lineup as a "killer slate" that would improve on the company's strong 2022 performance, highlighting new entries in the "Mission: Impossible," "Transformers," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," and "Paw Patrol" franchises. He said Paramount management is now focused on "the path to profitability" in streaming, and noted that 2023 will be the company's peak year for streaming investment. When asked about the upcoming integration of Paramount+ and Showtime, Chopra promised to "reinvigorate the Showtime content slate" by expanding popular franchises like "Dexter," "Billions," and "Yellowjackets." HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

A "Stranger Things" stage play -- "Stranger Things: The First Shadow" -- premieres later this year at the Phoenix Theatre on London's West End. The show is based on an original story by series creators Matt and Ross Duffer, with additional writing by Jack Thorne and Kate Trefry. More: Thorne previously wrote another stage play based on a hit Hollywood franchise, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," while Trefry has collaborated on the "Stranger Things" series and Netflix's "Fear Street" franchise "The First Shadow" is set 25 years before the events of the main "Stranger Things" series. The show will feature younger versions of familiar characters from the series, including Jim Hopper, Joyce Maldonado, Bob Newby, and Henry "Vecna" Creel. Film and theater veteran Stephen Daldry -- who currently collaborates on Netflix's "The Crown" -- will direct the show. TV LINE

Renck and Henderson Production on HBO Max's "Dune: The Sisterhood" is on hold while the show undergoes a creative overhaul. Director and "Chernobyl" vet Johan Renck has exited the project, along with one of the lead actors, Shirley Henderson. More: Henderson's role as Tula Harkonnen will be recast; a search is also underway for a new director to take over the first two episodes. Creator Diane Ademu-John -- who wrote the show's pilot -- also stepped down as co-showrunner; Alison Schapker ("Lost") will now serve as the sole showrunner on the series. Deadline reported that Renck's approach to the material departed significantly from the look of director Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" theatrical films, displeasing HBO Max executives; it's unclear whether or not any footage Renck shot will appear in the finished series. The reasons for Henderson's departure are less clear, though it may be related to delays and scheduling conflicts. DEADLINE

Amazon shared a brief teaser for the upcoming series adaptation of David Cronenberg's 1988 psychological thriller "Dead Ringers." Rachel Weisz stars in a dual role as identical twin gynecologists Elliott and Beverly Mantle, who share every aspect of their daily lives. More: "Normal People" and "Succession" vet Alice Birch wrote the adaptation and serves as showrunner for the new series. Jeremy Irons starred in the dual role as the Mantle siblings in the original film. The new "Dead Ringers" hits Amazon Prime Video on April 21. POLYGON

Bebe Neuwirth, who played Frasier Crane's ex-wife Lilith on both "Cheers" and "Frasier," signed on to reprise the role in Parmaount+'s latest spinoff series. She's the first "Cheers" and "Frasier" vet other than star Kelsey Grammer to join the new project. More: Neuwirth will make guest appearances as Lilith throughout the first season of the new series. Neuwirth won two Emmy Awards for playing Lilith on "Cheers," and reprised the role across a dozen episodes of "Frasier" during its 11-year run. The new series finds Frasier returning to his native Boston; he'll reunite with Lilith at a birthday party for their now-adult son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott). Anders Keith, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Toks Olagundoye, and Jess Salgueiro will co-star on the new series, which comes from "How I Met Your Mother" vet Chris Harris and "Life in Pieces" writer Joe Cristalli. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

QUICK HITS Get Gusto, the #1 payroll software according to PCMag. Set up your free account and get 25% off for the first 6 months when you run payroll by May 31, 2023. Terms apply.* Paramount+ dropped the first teaser for its series adaptation of "Fatal Attraction," starring Joshua Jackson and Lizzy Caplan in the Michael Douglas and Glenn Close roles from the original; the first three episodes arrive on April 30. Laura Poitras' Oscar-nominated documentary "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed" -- chronicling artist and activist Nan Goldin's legal and personal fight against the Sackler pharmaceutical dynasty -- hits HBO Max on March 19. Hulu released a trailer for "Up Here," an original musical comedy-drama series from collaborators behind "Tick, Tick... Boom!," "Hamilton" and "The Book of Mormon"; Mae Whitman and Carlos Valdes co-star as a couple who meet and fall in love in '90s New York. In his first open letter to creators, new YouTube chief Neal Mohan outlined his top priority for 2023 as "providing more opportunities for creators outside of ads by expanding our subscriptions business, investing in shopping and continually improving our paid digital goods offerings." The broadcast TV debut of the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf circuit received disappointing ratings over the weekend on The CW Network, drawing an average of just 286,000 viewers on Saturday and 291,000 viewers on Sunday; the PGA Tour event The Honda Classic drew 1.6 million average viewers on Saturday and 2.4 million on Sunday on NBC. The two-part documentary "Pretty Baby," a profile of actor and former child star Brooke Shields that focuses on her public transition from sexualized young girl to adult woman, comes to Hulu on April 3; "Miss Americana" filmmaker Lana Wilson directed. THR spoke with Warner Bros. Discovery content executive Kathleen Finch about programming for both the HGTV cable network and Discovery+, and what kinds of shows work best on both platforms. Roku dropped a trailer for the action-comedy series "Die Hart 2: Die Harter," which introduces John Cena to the cast as legendary Hollywood stuntman "Mr. 206"; the new season lands on March 31. MSG Networks confirmed plans to launch MSG+, a niche streaming service for New York and New Jersey sports fans, in the spring. A new teaser offers a first glimpse at Netflix's behind-the-scenes cycling docuseries "Tour de France: Unchained." Pluto TV introduced new 24/7 streaming channels dedicated to the "Rocky" film franchise, "WOW - Women of Wrestling," and the anime series "Sailor Moon." Don’t waste weeks or months on the typical hiring process. Hire carefully vetted talent on demand with Toptal. Start your no-risk trial today.* *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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