Amazon Studios Says Reports of Unsafe Set on ‘Lord of the Rings’ Series Are ‘Completely Inaccurate’

Amazon Studios has greenlit Tampa Baes, an unscripted docuseries from 3 Ball Productions that centers on a group of young lesbian friends in the Florida harbor.

EXCLUSIVE: ScreenHits TV, an aggregation platform designed for the current era of streaming abundance, is adding to its executive roster as it expands in key global territories.

Lorde is reportedly set to make her live comeback next week, appearing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.If confirmed, the booking will be the singer’s first live performance since returning with new single ‘Solar Power’ last month.According to Consequence, Lorde is set to be the musical guest on the July 15 episode of the show, which will also feature Hugh Jackman in the interview chair.Lorde appeared on Colbert last month via FaceTime from her native New Zealand, where she discussed her

Rising New Zealand actor Alex Tarrant (Night Raiders) has been tapped as a lead opposite Vanessa Lachey in NCIS: Hawai’i, the latest installment in CBS’ formidable NCIS franchise. Enver Gjokaj (Agent Carter) will recur on the series, slated to launch this fall and air in the Monday 10 PM hour behind the Mark Harmon-led mothership series.

Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera.The news was shared by Kiwi filmmaker David Farrier in his subscriber-only newsletter. He also elaborated in a Twitter thread, noting that the unidentified woman told him, “It’s not easy raising three of the heaviest bands.”The filmmaker, who helmed Netflix’s 2018 documentary series Dark Tourism, says he has seen the kids’ birth certificates.

Rick Laird, whose bass guitar skills graced a number of jazz rock’s most prominent fusion bands in the 1970s, died Sunday at age 80. No cause of death was given, but he recently entered hospice care.

Manori Ravindran International EditorAmazon Studios is in late-stage discussions for “Foe,” an adaptation of Iain Reid’s science-fiction novel starring Saoirse Ronan, LaKeith Stanfield and Paul Mescal.The streamer is closing in on global rights in a competitive situation, though a deal has yet to be signed.

EXCLUSIVE: On one of the hot Cannes Virtual Market packages, Amazon Studios has moved into exclusive talks on a worldwide rights dea for Foe, source said. Bidding was ferocious all weekend.

The recent crowdfunding campaign for top New Zealand stunt performer and coordinator Dayna Grant to undergo emergency brain surgery, supported by Lucy Lawless and other top actors and producers, put a spotlight on Amazon Studios’ The Lord Of the Rings series. That is because Grant suffered a concussion while working on the New Zealand set of the big-budget fantasy drama in March 2021.

According to a story published by The New Zealand Herald Friday, four sources on the set of the tech giant’s $1 billion “LOTR” show say their concerns about safety regulations are not being taken seriously due to the fact those incidents, which later required surgery, were not disclosed to WorkSafe.

Dayna Grant, a New Zealand-born award-winning veteran stunt double, performer & stunt coordinator who has worked on such productions as Mad Max: Fury Road, Wonder Woman 1984, the syndicated Xena: Warrior Princess and the upcoming Lord of the Rings Amazon series, will undergo an emergency brain surgery after her Hollywood colleagues and fans rallied to raise the necessary funds.

Give a little' crowdfunding page created on Monday, she undertook CT and MRI scans, which diagnosed her with an 8mm aneurysm and neck injuries. Earlier this year, Ms Grant had been working on upcoming multi-million pound Lord Of The Rings television series that is currently in production in New Zealand, and being produced by Amazon Studios.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaDwayne Johnson will star in “Red One” for Amazon Studios, the streaming service announced Monday. The film will reunite Johnson with “Fast and Furious” scribe Chris Morgan — the pair recently collaborated on the hit spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw.”The deal for the film treatment, which comes after a highly competitive bidding situation, is another sign that Amazon is focused on creating more populist fare.

Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions are developing the feature film treatment Red One with Amazon Studios. Amazon won the project after a highly competitive bidding war. Johnson will star in four-quadrant holiday action adventure comedy project conceived by Hiram Garcia, President of Production at Seven Bucks.

Lorde has spoken more about her new nature-inspired album ‘Solar Power’ in a new interview, but has said it isn’t her “big climate change record”.The album, which will be released on August 20, has so far been previewed by the title track, which finds the New Zealand musician at the beach.However, she told the Guardian that, although the record was influenced by the natural world, it isn’t a protest album about the effects of mankind on earth.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios is teaming with Mandeville Films to turn the Antti Tuomainen novel The Rabbit Factor into a star vehicle for Steve Carell. Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman are producing and Alex Young will EP for Mandeville Films.

Xbox head Phil Spencer has revealed that he wants his team to look at reviving the fighting video game series Killer Instinct in the future.During an appearance on episode 280 of the Dropped Frames podcast, Spencer shared how he and his team view the Killer Instinct franchise. He noted that he and Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty often discuss the series and where they could potentially take the series.“There are so many good games in our catalogue that we’d love to visit,” Spencer said.

Naman Ramachandran Altitude Film Sales has taken worldwide sales rights, excluding Australia/New Zealand, for “Wolf Creek 3,” the latest instalment of the Wolf Creek franchise, and will introduce the project to buyers this week at the Virtual Cannes Market. Altitude will also distribute the film in the U.K.

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Spezialy, coming off a run as an executive producer on HBO’s Emmy-winning limited series Watchmen, has signed an overall deal with Amazon Studios. Under the pact, I hear Spezialy has joined Silk, Sony Pictures Television’s upcoming live-action Marvel series, which reportedly is headed to Amazon’s Prime Video as SVOD distributor. Reps for Amazon and Sony declined comment.

Lorde has revealed she was previously in contact with Billie Eilish, with whom she spoke about the “specific experience” and “scrutiny” of teenage fame.The New Zealand singer-songwriter, 24, said in a new interview that she and Eilish, 19, opened up to one another about the pressures of young life in the spotlight.Lorde, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor, told BBC Radio 1‘s Annie Mac on Wednesday (June 16): “We have sent just a few little messages back in the day when she was very young.