Aimee Lou Wood Comedy Rounds Out Cast; Canal+ Ups Stake in Asian Streamer Viu; Asia Deals For ‘Shark’, ‘Alice & Jack’; BBC Studios Kicks Off Showcase With Sales — Global Briefs

Faye Bradley Actor Louis Koo is a household name in Hong Kong but off-screen, he’s an influential entertainment industry investor, producer and entrepreneur. Rising to prominence during the “golden age” of Hong Kong cinema, Koo built a respected career over the decades but less flashy are his businesses and investments. One Cool Group is one such revenue stream.

Ruth Langsford joined the star studded guest list last night at a party hosted by Denise Van Outen and Jemma Bolt in London. The former This Morning star danced the night away alongside EastEnders actor Patsy Palmer, Strictly Come Dancing makeup artist Lisa Armstrong and a slew of other showbiz faces.

Jaden Thompson “Vanderpump Rules” producer Alex Baskin has tapped Joe Kingsley and Jeff Festa to join the creative executive team of his new company, 32 Flavors. He recruited both Kingsley and Festa from Evolution Media, his former company, where they all previously worked on unscripted projects together.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Pleasant Outcast,” a 10-part Korean series that is set to appear at Canneseries next month, is a companion piece to “Concrete Utopia,” the hit film from last year that was selected as South Korea’s Oscar contender. Both the Lotte Cultureworks series and “Concrete Utopia,” a dystopian drama-thriller set in a post-apocalyptic Seoul, are adapted from best-selling webtoon “Cheerful Outcast,” by Kim Soong Nyung. The film was frequently compared to William Golding’s seminal novel from the 1954 “Lord of the Flies” and its 1964 film adaptation. Using the first part of the webtoon, the series follows Dong-hyun, a high school junior, who barely survives his day-to-day bullying at school.

Producer Castle Rock Entertainment announced today that the sequel to the 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap recently began production in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Naman Ramachandran Indian sales outfit Indywood Distribution Network has sold Rupesh Paul’s “Kamasutra – The Revenge” wide ahead of Hong Kong’s film rights market FilMart. Starring Sherlyn Chopra, Milind Gunaji and Gajendra Chauhan, and produced by San2Creations, the film follows two princesses – one who is robbed of her dreams when forced to accept a middle-aged king as her husband, and another thirsty for revenge. Indywood has sold the film to Twin (Japan, all rights); A2 Filmes (Latin America TV/VOD); Filmbridge (Mongolia, all rights); Pioneer Film (Philippines, all rights) and RFT Films (U.K./Ireland, theatrical).

EXCLUSIVE: The Apple TV+ series Murderbot is rounding out its leading cast with Sabrina Wu (Joy Ride), Tattiawna Jones (Orphan Black: Echoes), Akshay Khanna (Polite Society) and Tamara Podemski (Outer Range). The quad will star opposite Alexander Skarsgård, who also executive produces.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran mainland Chinese director Zhang Yimou is to be honored twice over at the Asian Film Awards ceremony on Sunday. He will be presented with a lifetime achievement award and a separate prize for directing the highest-grossing Asian film of 2023.

Dramatic dashcam footage has revealed the moment a police chase ended at Manchester Airport as a driver smashed through a barrier on Tuesday (March 5).

“I’ve been trying to maintain just being truthful on camera.” Comedian Jerrod Carmichael is a comedic force with three previous comedy specials on HBO. But it arguably wasn’t until 2022’s intimate, naked, and very vulnerable comedy special “Rothaniel” (directed by Bo Burnham), where he came out of the closet for the first time, that he truly left an unforgettable mark on the comedy special landscape (the New Yorker called it a “vital” stand-up experience).

Cameron Diaz might be coming out of retirement for good. The actress, who hasn’t appeared in a film in almost a decade, is in talks to star in “The Outcome,” a dark comedy directed by Jonah Hill and starring Keanu Reeves.Cameron Diaz shuts down rumor that she retired again because of Jamie FoxxCameron Diaz says she and Benji Madden are a ‘total tag-team’ when it comes to parentingA post shared by Cameron Diaz (@camerondiaz)Deadline reports that “The Outcome” was written by Hill and Ezra Woods, and stars Reeves as a Hollywood star who must “dive into the dark depths of his past to confront his demons and make amends after he is extorted with a mysterious video clip from his past.” Details about Diaz’s role have been kept under wraps, but her casting marks an exciting moment for her fans. Diaz last appearance on a film was on “Annie,” which was released in 2014.

UPDATED, 10:00 AM: The Academy said today that Emily Blunt, Cynthia Erivo, America Ferrera, Sally Field, Ryan Gosling, Ariana Grande, Ben Kingsley, Melissa McCarthy, Issa Rae, Tim Robbins, Steven Spielberg, Mary Steenburgen, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlize Theron, Christoph Waltz and Forest Whitaker will present at the Oscars on Sunday. See the rest of the envelope openers below.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The upcoming Peacock horror thriller series “Teacup” has added five new series regulars, Variety has learned exclusively. Kathy Baker (“Picket Fences,” “Edward Scissorhands”), Boris McGiver (“For Life,” “House of Cards”), Caleb Dolden (“The Requiem Boogie,” “Single Parents”), Emilie Bierre (“A Colony,” “The Guide to the Perfect Family”), and Luciano Leroux (“Yellowjackets,” “A Million Little Things”) have all joined the cast of the series. They join previously announced cast members Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman, and Chaske Spencer.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Lena Dunham‘s Netflix comedy series “Too Much” has filled out its cast with a star-studded lineup, Variety has learned exclusively. Joining previously announced series leads Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe will be: Richard E. Grant (“Saltburn”), Stephen Fry (“The Dropout”), Janicza Bravo (“Sharp Stick”), Michael Zegen (“The Marvelous Mrs.

EXCLUSIVE: The Black List is opening submissions for six diversity lists in partnership with GLAAD, CAPE, the MPAC Hollywood Bureau, The Salon, the Latin Tracking Board, NALIP, 1IN4 Coalition, and the WGA Disabled Writers Committee, in addition to establishing the Desi List-–a new, curated list that will shine a light on the most promising feature scripts and pilots from South Asian writers.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Denis Villeneuve recently told The Times of London that “movies have been corrupted by television.” His opinion comes from his growing desire to make a movie without any dialogue. “Frankly, I hate dialogue,” the filmmaker told the publication. “Dialogue is for theatre and television.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief France’s Canal+ Group said that it has increased its stake in multi-territory Asian streaming platform Viu to 30%. “This additional investment underlines the confidence that Canal+ has in Viu and its teams. It also highlights the determination of Canal+ to make Asia its next growth vector, through its strategic partnership with PCCW, and through an acceleration of growth at Viu, a premium streaming service present in Asia, the Middle East and South Asfrica,” the French group said in a statement.

Love is in the air for ITV presenter Laura Woods and her beau Adam Collard, whose relationship appears to have gone from strength-to-strength since they were first linked to one another back in September 2023. Despite Adam, 28, entering the Love Island villa in 2018, where he couples up with the likes of Rosie Williams and Zara McDermott, it’s away from the show that the TV personality has found love with 36 year old Laura.

The BBC has unveiled its biggest drama slate in years featuring a TV version of James Graham play Dear England starring Joseph Fiennes from The Crown producer Left Bank, Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood‘s debut writing project and a Rebecca Hall-starrer from Poor Things maker Element.

TNT Sports presenter Laura Woods can breathe a sigh of relief after her stalker Harneet Kaur was jailed for 14 months last week. In a harassment campaign stretching all the way back to June 2021, the autistic 25-year-old Liverpool FC fan has been driving "real fear" into the broadcaster, 36, who is currently in a relationship with Love Island's Adam Collard. Harneet began their two-year exchange with a Just Eat delivery of Krispy Kreme doughnuts to Laura's London home.