It took a long time to get onscreen thanks to COVID-19, but Sony‘s “Uncharted” raked in more than $400 million at the global box office after its February release. Not bad for a poorly reviewed, kind of insipid videogame adaptation.
09.05.2022 - 21:53 / variety.com
Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterSony’s literary-driven speciality film unit 3000 Pictures has closed a deal for the rights to bestselling author Soman Chainani’s “Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales,” with an eye to turn it into a limited series.An overnight New York Times bestseller when it published with HarperCollins Children’s Books in September 2021, “Beasts and Beauty” has since sold in 13 territories around the world. The work is a collection of 12 fairy tales reimagined to reflect a new era, and spins the stories you know and love into thrilling adventures of mystery, magic and rebellious hearts.Chainani is writing the pilot and is an executive producer on the project.
Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum of Roth/Kirschenbaum Films are executive producing with Alyssa Altman as co-executive producer. Elizabeth Gabler and Aislinn Dunster are overseeing for 3000 Pictures.
Chainani is known for “The School for Good and Evil,” part of the EverNever world, a fairytale fantasy brand that Chainani has built. The book has sold more than 3 million copies, has been translated into 30 languages and will be released as a feature from Netflix this fall starring Kerry Washington and Charlize Theron.The five other books in the “School for Good and Evil” series include: “A World Without Princes,” “The Last Ever After,” “Quests for Glory,” “A Crystal of Time” and “One True King.”The author will next release an origin story about the titular school, set to roll out on May 31.
It took a long time to get onscreen thanks to COVID-19, but Sony‘s “Uncharted” raked in more than $400 million at the global box office after its February release. Not bad for a poorly reviewed, kind of insipid videogame adaptation.
After Will Smith‘s slap of comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars ceremony, there were multiple reports that studios were pumping the breaks on a bunch of his feature film projects including “Fast & Loose,” “Bright 2,” and “Bad Boys 4.” However, Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman disputed that the latter film is in jeopardy while speaking with Deadline, stating the “Bad Boys” sequel is actually still in active development calling the report “inaccurate.” “No.
untouched for two centuries in South London and it's full of famous landmarks from Big Ben to the London Eye. But it's extremely busy, too. We've all been there, rushing to get on a boiling-hot tube full to the brim with tired commuters.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefPhilippines social media platform and online story company Wattpad have joined forces to adapt Jamille Fumah’s Wattpad hit “Kiss Master” as a 10-episode series for multi-platform distribution.The romantic fantasy currently has 7.7 million reads on Wattpad. It follows five years after Sussie’s heart was broken by bad boy billionaire Arkanghel Wolfgang.
While “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was a juggernaut at the international box office, earning a massive $1.89 billion globally, it wasn’t 100% certain that “Spider-Man 4” would be moving forward with returning cast members or director Jon Watts. Without contracts signed or a public announcement from the studio, it’s hard to completely bank on everyone coming back.
Naman Ramachandran Toronto-headquartered animation outfit Paperboat Animation Studios has revealed a new slate.The slate is led by “Kabuliwala: Man from Kabul,” a 3D animated feature based on the classic short story by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The story, which has already been adapted several times as live-action features, tells the story of the bond between a 6-year-old girl from Kolkata, India, and an immigrant hawker from Kabul, Afghanistan.Paperboat co-founder and chief creative director Soumitra Ranade, whose credits include “Bombay Rose” and “The World of Goopy and Bagha,” adapted the story and will direct.
Ava DuVernay’s Wings of Fire, an animated series adaptation of the family fantasy books which had been in development at Netflix since 2021, is the latest victim of animation cuts at the streamer, sources close to the project confirm to Deadline. We hear several other projects are not moving forward as well.
Fox Sports reporter Megan Barnard, who was dramatically outed by a former colleague, has spoken out about the incident and how it impacted her life in a revealing new interview.Speaking with Stellar, Barnard, 37, said,“No one should ever be forced to come out before they’re ready, it can be dangerous.”Barnard was relating her personal experience of being outed by her former colleague, AFL journalist Tom Morris, who made disparaging remarks about Bernard’s sexuality in an audio clip posted to a WhatsApp group chat. The leaked audio was made public in March, and outed Barnard, who prior to the leak was not public with being gay.Barnard, who has been a sports presenter for Fox Sports since 2013, told Stellar, “People have messaged to share their stories, struggles and fears of coming out — and of being outed.”“I have tried to respond to everyone that has contacted me. If this resonates with just one person and makes them realise it’s OK to be gay, that it’s not something to hide or run from then sitting down for this article has been worth it,” Barnard said.“I knew I was gay from the age of 12… It was such a painful time during my teens, feeling what I was feeling and desperately wanting those thoughts to go away and to be like everyone else,” Barnard said.“I tried to fight it for years because we had all been taught that being gay ‘wasn’t normal. It was just so overwhelming, it was the elephant in the room.
Fox is finalizing a straight-to-series order to a black comedy about a meteorologist whose life unspools after a freak injury at work. Cindy Snow, from The Flight Attendant creator Steve Yockey and Warner Bros TV, was teased by Call Me Kat star and EP Mayim Bialik during Fox’s upfront presentation.
Manori Ravindran International EditorIn one of the first major deals of the Cannes market, Sony Pictures Classics has swooped on Un Certain Regard title “All The People I’ll Never Be.” The distributor has picked up rights in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.The film, which is written and directed by Davy Chou (“Diamond Island”), will be re-titled as “Return to Seoul.” It premieres in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday.The pic centers on 25-year-old Freddie, who impulsively returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.
Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo are teaming up for a new show!
Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “True Lies” series adaptation has been ordered at CBS for the 2022-2023 broadcast season.The series order comes after the show was originally ordered to pilot at CBS in February 2021 before it was pushed off-cycle for consideration during this year’s pilot season.In the series, an unfulfilled suburban housewife (Ginger Gonzaga) is shocked to discover that her bland and unremarkable computer consultant husband (Steve Howey) is a skilled international spy. She is propelled into a life of danger and adventure when she’s recruited to work alongside him to save the world as they try to revitalize their passionless marriage.Along with Howey and Gonzaga, the cast includes Erica Hernandez, Omar Miller, Mike O’Gorman, Annabella Didion, and Lucas Jaye.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterKerry Washington and Delroy Lindo are set to star in a new comedy series set up at Onyx Collective on Hulu, Variety has learned.The series is titled “Unprisoned” and has received an eight-episode order. It is inspired by the life of series creator Tracy McMillan. In the show, a messy but perfectionist relationship therapist and single mom (Washington) has her life turned right-side-up when her dad (Lindo) gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson and features a vocal cameo by Rosie O’Donnell. According to Spotify, the series ”is a fresh, modern interpretation of the beloved Jane Austen classic. In the series, Bennet, a 30-something non-committal gay man, struggles to find belonging when his chosen family suddenly begins coupling up and settling down.”“ is a joyful and hilarious story about love and chosen family.
EXCLUSIVE: London’s Blackbox Media and Latin American firm EO Media have paired up to develop a drama series based on a novel about the origins of famed Spanish video game company Dinamic Software.
Refresh for latest…: For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, Sony Pictures Entertainment saw a 172% increase in operating income to 217.4 billion yen ($1.67 billion). Revenues hit 1,239 billion yen ($9.5 billion), up 55% versus the previous year.
Never Let Me Go, the Kazuo Ishiguro novel that was adapted as a film starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield, is being adapted as a TV series.
EXCLUSIVE: A podcast about the disappearance and murder of a number of Grateful Dead fans is the latest audio series to be adapted for television.
EXCLUSIVE: Jeremy Robinson’s The Nemesis Saga novel series is getting the small screen treatment. Project Nemesis, the first book in Robinson’s series, is being developed for television by Sony TV and Neal H. Moritz’s Original Film (The Boys), with John Wick helmer Chad Stahelski set to direct and executive produce.
EXCLUSIVE: Wolfe Releasing has acquired North American rights to the Italian LGBTQIA+ dramedy Blessed Boys (La Santa Piccola) from Minerva Pictures, ahead of its North American premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Festival on June 11th, with plans to release it in theaters and on digital this fall.