’24 in 24: Last Chef Standing’ Renewed for Season 2 at Food Network Ahead of First Finale (EXCLUSIVE)

Prime Video’s German series Maxton Hall – The World Between Us has been handed a swift recommission after becoming the streamer’s most-watched international show of all time in its first week.

Things are looking promising for Wild Cards!

Selome Hailu “3 Body Problem” has been renewed for at least one more season at Netflix — the streamer says that the number of seasons and episodes will be announced at a later date. It appears that the greenlight will take the series to its finale, as creators David Benioff, D.B.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The actors behind the iconic Weasley Twins will be around to stir up trouble on Food Network‘s new “Harry Potter“-themed competition, “Wizards of Baking.” Variety has learned exclusively that James and Oliver Phelps, who played Fred and George Weasley throughout Warner Bros.’ eight-film “Harry Potter” franchise, will be hosting “Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking.” The project, which will air on Food Network and be available to stream on Max, was announced by Warner Bros Discovery U.S. networks chief Kathleen Finch during the company’s upfront presentation in New York City Wednesday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Food Network has a new magical treat in store for viewers this holiday season: The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned cable channel has ordered a baking competition inspired by the beloved “Harry Potter” franchise.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The theme of Disney‘s 2024 upfront presentation to advertisers Tuesday was “connections” — and not just because of the running bit started by “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Rob McElhenney, which involved their constant replaying of a five-second ad spot that said “Connections!” with a Disneyified logo and voiceover. No, the symbol of unity across Disney’s brands was made up of a slew of announcements from Marvel, and about such other high-wattage projects as “Star Wars,” “The Bear,” “Only Murders in the Building,” the “Wizards of Waverly Place” sequel series, “9-1-1,” Ryan Murphy’s new slate of FX titles and more franchises with intersecting talent. Disney kicked off the event when Oscar-winning “Poor Things” star Emma Stone introduced the Mouse House’s big boss, Bob Iger — a job like that would traditionally go to a top ABC star.

The Boys has received an early season five renewal at Prime Video, ahead of the show’s season four debut next month!

EXCLUSIVE: Fox is tripling down on The Floor.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The quiz series “The Floor” has been renewed for Seasons 2 and 3 at Fox, with host Rob Lowe entering into an unscripted first-look deal with the network. “Fans loved the first season of ‘The Floor’ so much that we’ve ordered two more seasons of this breakthrough game show with plans already underway to make our epic battle of the brains even bigger and bolder,” said Michael Thorn, president of the Fox Television Network. “It’s also been a massive win to have a huge star like Rob Lowe as our host, and both our viewers and competitors can’t wait to see him back in action.” Under Lowe’s new deal, he will develop new unscripted series for Fox that would be produced by the network’s unscripted studio, Fox Alternative Entertainment.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Nebula is aiming to break into the big-league movie biz with the launch of Nebula Motion Pictures, the new studio arm of the creator-community-focused indie streaming service, and tapping director and cinematographer Valentina Vee as the company’s director of motion pictures. Under her new overall deal, which marks the first pact of this kind for Nebula, Vee will move in-house at Nebula and focus on the formation of the new film studio alongside Nebula Production vice president Trenton Waterson, an alum of Marvel Studios, to build and scale Nebula Pictures.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Law & Order: Organized Crime” has been renewed for Season 5, with the show now officially set to move from NBC to Peacock. The news comes after weeks of speculation that the show would make the jump to the streaming service from the broadcast network. The Season 4 finale will air on NBC on May 16 and stream the next day on Peacock.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. will release the first of its new batch of “The Lord of the Rings” films in 2026, which will focus on Andy Serkis’s Gollum. Original “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy filmmaker Peter Jackson and his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are producing the movie and “will be involved every step of the way” on the movie, Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer New transmedia company Iconic Arts launched Tuesday with $3.1 million in financing at a $20 million pre-seed valuation. The entertainment studio boasts support from screenwriter Eric Roth, Grammy winning artist Will.i.am and exec vets of Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment and JP Morgan.

Selome Hailu NBC has renewed “Lopez vs. Lopez” for Season 3, while “Extended Family” has been canceled after one season. In the recently concluded second season of “Lopez vs.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer EA reported its fourth-quarter and full fiscal year 2024 earnings Tuesday, revealing results that matched the video game company’s own guidance and analysts’ estimates, but forecasts for harder quarters ahead. Full game sales between Jan 1 and March 31 of this year were $333 million (down from $372 million in the comparable Q4 fiscal 2023 quarter), while live services and “other” revenue totaled $1.45 billion (down from $1.5 billion a year ago, and from last quarter’s record growth of $1.7 billion). Profit for the quarter was $182 million compared to a loss of $12 million in Q4 2023.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The Cinemart, the production company behind Amazon’s “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” and Netflix’s “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal,” has signed an overall deal with Banijay‘s Truly Original. Under the new pact, The Cinemart will expand its development and production operations in premium documentaries and other genres of unscripted programming through Truly Original, a subsidiary of Banijay backed by co-CEOs Steven Weinstock and Glenda Hersh.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer When Amazon‘s “The Boys” debuts its fourth season next month, things are shaping up to be crazier than the time they blew up a whale and that other time they blew up a giant penis, as it seems Butcher (Karl Urban) and Homelander (Antony Starr) are ready to burn their whole lives down — and take everyone else with them. In “The Boys” Season 4 trailer, Butcher reveals to Hughie (Jack Quaid), Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and the rest of the Boys that time is running out for him, and with the few numbered days he and his weakened heart have left, he’s looking to unleash a deadly virus on the supe community.

It’s official — Night Court will be returning for a third season on NBC.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Amazon Prime Video‘s upcoming series based on James Patterson’s Alex Cross novels is being renewed for Season 2, Variety has learned from sources. The show, which stars Aldis Hodge as Cross, has yet to debut its first season or even set a premiere date. But according to sources, Amazon was impressed enough with what they have seen from the first season to greenlight the second and begin casting.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Funko enters the AAA gaming space this fall with “Funko Fusion,” its co-op action game that mashes up characters from “Jurassic World,” “Back to the Future” and more beloved NBCUniversal IP into Funko Pop! format. Per the game makers: “‘Funko Fusion’ is an action-adventure, single player and online co-op experience that pays tribute to NBCUniversal’s deep roster of beloved worlds and the irreverent Funko Pop! interpretations of the figures who inhabit them.