Amazon's MGM plans / "Piano Lesson" casting / Mo'Nique sues CBS, Paramount / FX "Class of '09" trailer

Plus the weekend calendar, first "Bupkis" trailer, aggressive "Game of Thrones" ad, "Stephen Curry: Underrated" doc, and more

Inside.com Part of   Network April 14, 2023

According to a new report in Deadline, Amazon is aggressively developing new content based on classic titles from the MGM library. Access to the studio's extensive archive of films and TV shows was apparently a major consideration in Amazon's $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM last year. More: Franchises and properties specifically highlighted in the Deadline report include "Robocop," "Stargate," "Legally Blonde," "Fame," "Barbershop," "The Magnificent Seven," "Pink Panther," "Poltergeist," and "The Thomas Crown Affair." Apparently, some A-list creators have already reached out to Amazon about developing new projects for these IP. Amazon Studios is apparently close to deals for both a new "Legally Blonde" film and spinoff series, and has similar multi-tiered plans for "Stargate" and "Robocop." A potential "Pink Panther" film could be developed as an animated project. A new deal signed this week with Sylvester Stallone and his production company could involve a new attempt to reimagine MGM's "Rocky" franchise; Amazon is already in active development on multiple potential expansions of the "Creed" franchise, for both films and TV shows. While casting continues on the next James Bond film, no other development on that franchise is progressing at this time. DEADLINE

A number of actors joined Netflix's film adaptation of the August Wilson play "The Piano Lesson," including John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. The film marks the screenwriting debut of Washington's brother, Malcolm Washington; their father Denzel Washington is among the film's producers. More: Other actors joining the ensemble include "Justice League" vet Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, and Corey Hawkins. The story centers on the Charles family of 1930s Pittsburgh, and particularly the fate of a valued family heirloom, their piano. Malcolm Washington co-wrote the adaptation with "Mudbound" vet Virgil Williams. Denzel Washington and Todd Black have previously produced two other films based on playwright Wilson's "American Century Cycle": "Fences" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." DEADLINE

WEEKEND CALENDAR FRIDAY, APRIL 14 COCAINE BEAR: 2023 comic thriller from director Elizabeth Banks ("Charlie's Angels"), very loosely inspired by a true story, about an American black bear who ingests a lost shipment of cocaine and goes on a killing spree. Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Ray Liotta, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. co-star. [Peacock] THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL: The period comedy-drama series from "Gilmore Girls" vet Amy Sherman-Palladino returns this week for a fifth and final season. Rachel Brosnahan stars as '60s housewife who embarks on a stand-up comedy career; Alex Borstein, Tony Shalhoub, Michael Zegen, Luke Kirby, Marin Hinkle, and Kevin Pollak co-star. [Amazon] GREEK SALAD (SALADE GRECQUE): Comedy-drama series about a French couple (Aliocha Schneider and Megan Northam) who move to Greece after inheriting an apartment in Athens. Filmmaker Cédric Klapisch -- whose 2002 film "L'auberge Espagnole" dealt with similar themes -- directed several episodes. [Amazon] THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME: Limited thriller series based on the novel by Laura Dave, who wrote the adaptation herself. Jennifer Garner and Angourie Rice star as a stepmother and stepdaughter who bond while searching for their husband and father (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who has mysteriously vanished. "Spotlight" and "The Post" screenwriter Josh Singer co-created the series with Dave. [Apple TV+] JANE: Debut series for kids and families, inspired by the legacy of Dr. Jane Goodall. Ava Louise Murchison stars as a 9-year-old aspiring environmentalist who uses the power of her imagination to travel the world and rescue wild animals. Mason Blomberg, Tamara Almeida, and Dan Abramovici co-star. [Apple TV+] A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW: The comedy series from creator and co-star Robin Thede returns this weekend for a fourth season. Gabrielle Dennis and Skye Townsend return as regulars, alongside newcomers DaMya Gurley, Tamara Jade, and Angel Laketa Moore. Season 4 guests include Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, Colman Domingo, Bobby Brown, Kyla Pratt, Omarion, and Sam Richardson. [HBO Max] CLONE HIGH: New reboot of the classic animated sci-fi comedy series, set at a high school for teenage clones of noted historical figures, which ran for just one season in the early '00s. Original creative team Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence are all back for the new episodes, along with voice actors Will Forte, Nicole Sullivan, Christa Miller, Judah Miller, and Donald Faison. Newcomers include Ayo Edebiri, Jana Schmieding, Sam Richardson, Mo Gaffney, Michael Bolton, Mandy Moore, and Ian Ziering. [HBO Max] #BRINGBACKALICE: Mystery-thriller film from Poland starring Helena Englert as a popular influencer who vanishes, only to be found one year later, claiming to have no memory of what happened to her. [HBO Max] BLINDSPOTTING: The comedy series -- a spinoff of the 2018 film -- returns this weekend for a second season. Jasmine Cephas Jones stars as Ashley, who's raising her son Sean (Atticus Woodward) alone while her husband Miles (Rafael Casal) serves time in San Quentin. Helen Hunt co-stars; Casal executive produces and writes alongside Daveed Diggs. [Starz] THE LAST KINGDOM: SEVEN KINGS MUST DIE: British historical drama feature, serving as a sequel to the TV series "The Last Kingdom," in which Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Alexander Dreymon) attempts to form a united England following the death of King Edward in the year 924. The series and film are based on Bernard Cornwell's "The Saxon Stories" novels. [Netflix] WEATHERING: Scripted short film from writer/director Megalyn Echikunwoke, starring Alexis Louder as a journalist who starts suffering from terrifying visions after her newborn dies during labor. Jermaine Fowler and Alfre Woodard co-star. [Netflix] QUEENMAKER: Debut political drama series from Korea, starring Kim Hee-ae as a corporate fixer who suffers a crisis of conscience, then goes to work on the mayoral campaign of a progressive reformer (Moon So-ri). [Netflix] QUEENS ON THE RUN (FUGA DE REINAS): Mexican action-comedy feature from Netflix about four adult women who take a wild, unpredictable road trip that they first planned out in high school. Martha Higareda wrote the script and co-stars alongside Paola Núñez, Claudia Pineda, and Valeria Vera. [Netflix] PHENOMENA (FENÓMENAS): Horror-comedy film from Spain about three middle-aged women who investigate paranormal events, but have their nerves truly tested after their mentor -- Father Girón (Emilio Gutiérrez Caba) -- mysteriously disappears. Belén Rueda, Toni Acosta, and Gracia Olayo co-star. [Netflix] PERSONALITY CRISIS: ONE NIGHT ONLY: Documentary profile of singer, songwriter, and actor David Johansen, who fronted The New York Dolls before reinventing himself as "Buster Poindexter." The film features a cabaret performance by Johansen (as Poindexter), recorded at the Café Carlyle in New York. Frequent collaborators Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi ("Pretend It's a City," "Rolling Thunder Revue") co-directed. [Showtime] RUGRATS: Paramount+'s new animated "Rugrats" revival series returns this week for a second season. The show follows the adventures of a group of adventurous babies, led by the inquisitive Tommy Pickles (E.G. Daily). [Paramount+] KIDS VS. ALIENS: 2022 sci-fi horror film from co-writer/director Jason Eisener, inspired by his segment of the 2013 anthology film "V/H/S/2." Two warring siblings must put their differences aside when a group of homicidal aliens attacks their slumber party. Dominic Mariche, Phoebe Rex, Calem MacDonald, and Asher Grayson co-star. [Shudder] THE OFFERING: 2023 horror film, inspired by Jewish folklore, about a Hasidic family under attack by an ancient demon. Nick Blood, Emily Wiseman, Allan Corduner, and Paul Kaye co-star; Oliver Park ("Vicious") wrote and directed. [Hulu] SECTION 8: 2022 action-thriller starring Ryan Kwanten as an ex-soldier, imprisoned for seeking revenge against the men who murdered his family, who earns early release by joining a covert and mysterious government agency. Mickey Rourke, Dermot Mulroney, Scott Adkins, and Dolph Lundgren co-star. [Hulu] SATURDAY, APRIL 15 DOCTOR CHA: Debut medical comedy-drama series from Korea, starring Kim Mi-kyung as a former housewife who returns to medicine after several years away, by accepting a job at the same hospital as her unfaithful spouse (Kim Byeong-cheol). [Netflix] KONOSUBA: AN EXPLOSION ON THIS WONDERFUL WORLD! Anime series spun off from the original "Konosuba," and based on the light novels by Natsume Akatsuki. The new series follows young wizard Megumin, who's dedicated herself to the pursuit of "explosion magic." Subtitled and dubbed versions of the show's first season hit Hulu in the US today. [Hulu] SUNDAY, APRIL 16 BARRY: The dark comedy series from co-creators Bill Hader and Alec Berg returns on Sunday for a fourth and final season. Hader co-stars as a troubled Afghanistan vet and hitman who decides to explore acting while visiting Los Angeles on "business." Henry Winkler, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg, and Anthony Carrigan co-star. [HBO Max] 100 FOOT WAVE: The docuseries follows surfer Garrett McNamara and other old-school legends and young enthusiasts as they scan the globe for the largest waves on Earth. Season 2 debuts this Sunday. [HBO Max] LOVE IS BLIND: THE LIVE REUNION: Singles and couples from Season 4 of the Netflix reality dating series will reunite on this live special, the streamer's second experiment with livestreaming after Chris Rock's "Selective Outrage." The special begins Sunday night at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. [Netflix] WACO: THE AFTERMATH: Five-part limited series, following up on the 2018 "Waco" series, portraying the aftermath of the FBI raid on the Branch Davidian compound, and the trial of the group's surviving members. Michael Shannon, John Leguizamo, David Costabile, J. Smith-Cameron, and Giovanni Ribisi co-star. [Showtime] THE WEDDING COTTAGE: Romantic comedy-drama from Hallmark starring Erin Krakow and Brendan Penny as a wedding guide creator and property owner who work together to renovate a wedding cottage in time to host a contest-winning couple. [Peacock]

Mo'Nique filed a lawsuit against CBS Studios, Paramount Pictures, and Los Angeles production company Big Ticket Productions this week in Los Angeles Superior Court. The actor and comedian claims she's owed unpaid royalties from her early '00s sitcom, "The Parkers." More: "The Parkers" -- a spinoff of "Moesha" -- aired for five seasons on UPN, from 1999 to 2004; Mo'Nique co-starred with Countess Vaughn as a mom attending community college alongside her daughter. 110 total episodes were produced, above the 100-episode threshold that allows for syndication. Mo'Nique claims that her deal was unfairly structured, allowing producers to retain millions of dollars that should have been paid out to Hicks Media, the company that she co-owned with husband Sidney Hicks. The lawsuit refers to a forensic audit performed at the request of the show's writers and creators, which demonstrates that the show's profitability was "artificially depressed" in order to deny payouts to Hicks Media. In 2022, Mo'Nique settled a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Netflix; terms of that deal were not disclosed. EW

Hulu dropped a trailer for the new FX sci-fi thriller series "Class of '09." The show centers around unconventional FBI agents in different eras, working on a covert initiative involving artificial intelligence. More: Brian Tyree Henry and Kate Mara co-star; Sepideh Moafi, Brian J. Smith, Jon Jon Briones, Brooke Smith, and Jake McDornan co-star. The series was created by author Tom Rob Smith, who previously co-created and wrote "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" for FX. "Class of '09" debuts exclusively on Hulu on May 10. AV CLUB

Peacock dropped a trailer for "Bupkis," the new scripted autobiographical comedy series from "Saturday Night Live" veteran Pete Davdison. The actor and comedian portrays a fictionalized version of himself in the show, which co-stars Edie Falco and Joe Pesci as his mother and grandfather. More: The eight-episode first season features a number of guest stars, including John Mulaney, Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romao, Jon Stewart, Sebastian Stan, Kenan Thompson, and Machine Gun Kelly. Davidson co-created the series with his "King of Staten Island" collaborator Judah Miller, and also wrote episodes. "Bupkis" comes to Peacock on May 4. VARIETY

A new ad for the combined HBO Max-Discovery+ streamer refers to it as "the one to watch when you want to rule them all." Though the ad features an image from the HBO series "Game of Thrones," the slogan recalls a famous line of dialogue from J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" books. More: The juxtaposition was widely read as a jab at Amazon's "Lord of the Rings" Prime Video series, subtlely implying that the HBO franchise is now the world's top fantasy franchise. The first seasons of Amazon's "Lord of the Rings" series and HBO's "Thrones" spinoff "House of the Dragon" debuted around the same time last fall. "Game of Thrones" owners Warner Bros. Discovery also intend to produce a new "Lord of the Rings" film franchise. Both "House of the Dragon" and "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" are currently in production on second seasons in the UK; both shows will return in 2024. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

QUICK HITS These robots are knee deep in a $19.4B joint surgery market potential. Invest in Monogram ahead of their planned Nasdaq listing.* The documentary profile "Stephen Curry: Underrated" will be simultaneously released in select movie theaters and on Apple TV+ on July 21; "Black Panther" filmmaker Ryan Coogler is among the executive producers. Apple posted a trailer for "City on Fire," an eight-episode mystery series from "The OC" vets Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, about the 2003 murder of an NYU student; the series, based on a novel by Garth Risk Hallberg, arrives on May 12. YouTube terminated the channel of rapper Izo 5 Segonn, who apparently leads a notorious criminal gang in the Haitian city of Port-au-Prince; a video posted by Segonn in which he proudly displays a YouTube Creator Award sparked an international outcry. Hank Azaria, who formerly voiced Apu on "The Simpsons," appears in the trailer for "The Problem with Apu" filmmaker Hari Kondabolu's new comedy special; Kondabolu's "Vacation Baby" hits YouTube on April 18. Netflix ordered a slate of new shows from KondZilla and LB Entertainment, the producers of the Brazilian crime drama "Sintonia"; KondZilla, real name Konrad Dantas, is already a massive YouTube star in Brazil, with more than 66.5 million subscribers. Eliminate application bottlenecks by bringing the performance and data portability of open source, lightweight SQL close to your users with low overhead.* *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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