CAA Signs Comic Republic, Africa’s Largest Superhero Franchise

Squid Game might soon become streaming service Netflix’s most popular show ever.During an appearance at the Code 2021 conference, Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos spoke about the popularity and impact Squid Game.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Sunday on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanapoulos that the US should return to normal within the year. Bourla cited the Covid-19 booster shots in his reasoning.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Dear Evan Hansen,” the Universal Pictures adaptation of the smash Broadway musical, didn’t strike a chord with moviegoers.Marred by negative reviews and COVID-19 concerns, the film fell short of expectations and collected a muted $7.5 million from 3,365 North American theaters in its debut.

On Friday, “Shang-Chi” passed the $183.4 million domestic run of “Black Widow” to become the highest grossing film in North America since the pandemic began, and this week it is set to become the first film since “Bad Boys for Life” in February 2020 to reach the $200 million mark.

In third this weekend is 20th Century’s “Free Guy” with $4 million in its seventh weekend, giving it a total of $114 million. Universal/MGM’s “Candyman” is fourth with $2.46 million in its fifth weekend and a $56.8 million total, and Warner Bros.’ “Cry Macho” is No.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHulu has added nine actors in recurring roles to the upcoming series “The Girl From Plainville,” Variety has learned exclusively.Chinasa Ogbuagu (“Mare of Easttown,” “Nurse Jackie”), Kelly AuCoin (“Billions,” “The Americans”), Scott William Winters (“Oz,” “City on a Hill”), Kristin Griffith (“Succession,” “The Devil All the Time”), Ella Rubin (“The Chair,” “Gossip Girl”), Megan Lawless (“The Hate U Give,” “Play by Play”), John Henry Ward (“Yes, God, Yes,” “Murder Chose

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Dear Evan Hansen,” the big-screen adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical, premieres in theaters this weekend. Will it be found at the top of box office charts?The Universal film, which sees Ben Platt reprising his Tony-winning role, is projected to debut to approximately $10 million from 3,300 North American cinemas.

EXCLUSIVE: The Gotham Group has signed Indian director, writer and producer Pan Nalin, whose latest feature Last Film Show was well-received at Tribeca this year.

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Manori Ravindran International EditorSky’s new American CEO Dana Strong has touted the U.K.

EXCLUSIVE: Eugene Pack, creator of the live stage comedy show Celebrity Autobiography and writer-director of The Pack Podcast, has signed with CAA.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed actor, writer, and producer X Mayo in all areas.

Lego website in the UK has labelled three of its Super Mario themed products as “retiring soon,” suggesting they’ll stop selling them in the near future.As spotted by VGC, each product with the mark doesn’t have an indication of when they’ll no longer be on sale, so no definitive date can be given.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDavid and Jessica Oyelowo have signed a TV overall deal with ViacomCBS and MTV Entertainment under their Yoruba Saxon production banner, Variety has learned.Under the deal, David is attached to star in and executive produce a series about legendary Old West lawman Bass Reeves. Reeves was known as the greatest frontier hero in American history and is also believed to be the inspiration for The Lone Ranger.

Kobe Bryant’s eldest daughter, Natalia Bryant, made her foray into modeling in a huge way after signing with IMG Models back in February.

It has been a hell of a week for publisher Tripwire Interactive, that’s for sure. Previous CEO John Gibson, for some reason, took to Twitter to reveal he was happy that the US Supreme Court decided to ban abortions in Texasfrom the six week mark, and the resulting fallout has meant he is no longer the CEO, and has been replaced.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has exceeded expectations on its box-office debut. The latest outing in the MCU scored a $75.

Much like Disney/Marvel’s 2018 mega blockbuster and Oscar-winning feature Black Panther was a breakthrough for diversity on the big screen, the studios continue to shine with that this coming weekend with Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings, in what is the first Hollywood Asian-American superhero movie.