CBS Sets Global ‘FBI’ Crossover With ‘Most Wanted’ And ‘International’ Spinoffs

EXCLUSIVE: CBS is taking an alternative approach to comedy development with A Lot, an improvisational-style multi-camera series starring June Diane Raphael and Paul Scheer. The project hails from Grace and Frankie creator Marta Kauffman through her Okay Goodnight banner and Lionsgate Television. The project reunites Raphael with Kauffman after her run as a series regular on Grace and Frankie, which ran on Netflix for seven seasons.

BreAnna Bell “Blood & Treasure” won’t be returning for a third season at CBS or Paramount+, Variety has confirmed. The action-adventure drama followed an antiquities expert Danny McNamara and a cunning art thief Lexi Vaziriwho teamed up to catch a cold-blooded terrorist who funds his attacks through stolen treasure. “When terrorist Karim Farouk absconds with a priceless artifact and kidnaps Danny’s mentor Dr. Anna Castillo, Danny recruits Lexi to help him bring Farouk to justice and rescue Anna. As they chase down Farouk, they encounter unscrupulous individuals who may either be useful allies or dangerous enemies, including Aiden Shaw, an arms dealer who acts solely in his self-interest, and Simon Hardwick, an expert at procuring pilfered artifacts,” reads the official series description.

EXCLUSIVE: Social Distance creator Hilary Weisman Graham has been brought in as executive producer and co-showrunner of new CBS drama series The Never Game, starring and executive produced by Justin Hartley. Graham will share showrunning duties with executive producer Ben H. Winters, who wrote the pilot based on the bestselling novel by Jeffery Deaver.

A.D. Amorosi In his lifetime, Tracy Marrow has been everything from a dancer and a DJ, to a thief and a weed dealer. Yet, from the minute Marrow became Ice-T, his renown developed and grew. Initially, being Ice-T meant becoming hip-hop’s most incendiary voice, a sinister avatar of the reality-rap style tagged by the press as “gangster” (along with his thrash metal band, Body Count). Equally famous was Ice-T’s gig as an actor-with-attitude in films such as “New Jack City” and — since 2000 — for television producer Dick Wolf’s police drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” as NYPD Detective Odafin Tutuola. Ice-T brings street cred to everything he does — including commercials. He beams with pride discussing his hood past and how its raw-knuckle spirit remains. Even seeing Ice-T riding a spin cycle, promoting Cheerios and heart health, is hardcore.  And it all starts with hip-hop. Despite its current state of musicality being — in his words, “goofy” — Ice-T is the soul of rap’s rough potency. To wit: his appearance on the Feb. 5 Grammy Awards in a star-studded tribute to hip-hop in honor of the genre’s 50th anniversary.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent   When the Iran-Iraq war broke out in 1980, director Sepideh Farsi was a high school student in Iran. At age 16, she was incarcerated for being an anti-Islamic Republic activist. Farsi stayed in her country until 1984 and then moved to France, where she experienced the second half of the conflict.  In her first animated feature, “The Siren” — which opens Berlin’s Panorama section — the Paris-based director revisits this war through the story of a 14-year-old boy named Omid, who decides to brave the Iraqi siege of Abadan, the capital of the Iranian oil industry. After opting to stay in the city with his grandfather and a bunch of other diehards, Omid and the others take over an abandoned boat he finds in Abadan’s port, which becomes their ark.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Leonis Productions, the Newen Studios-owned French banner created by Jean-Benoit Gillig, is developing a raft of international shows on the heels of “Liaison,” Apple TV+’s first French original. The company reached a milestone with “Liaison,” a thriller series created and entirely penned by Virginie Brac (“Spiral”) and directed by Stephen Hopkins. Vincent Cassel and Eva Green lead a cast that includes Peter Mullan, Gérard Lanvin, Daniel Francis, Stanislas Merhar, Irène Jacob, Laëtitia Eïdo, Eriq Ebouaney, Tchéky Karyo, Bukky Bakray and Thierry Fremont. “It’s a sprawling French-British thriller set against the backdrop of Brexit, and there’s a metaphor between the love tragedy playing as the primary plot and the political tragedy embodied by Brexit unfolding in the background,” said Gillig.

Janet Jackson was reportedly up to win the Global Impact Award at the 2023 Grammys. However, she wanted an apology from CBS for her treatment after her infamous Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction before she’d accept it.

Naman Ramachandran Chris O’Dowd (“Puffin Rock”), Amy Huberman (“Derry Girls”), Beth McCafferty and Eva Whittaker (“Wolfwalkers”) lead the voice cast of “Puffin Rock and the New Friends,” the film based on the TV series “Puffin Rock.” Following their collaboration on Oscar nominees “Song of the Sea” and “The Breadwinner,” WestEnd Films is teaming again with Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon and Northern Ireland’s Dog Ears on the film and is launching sales at Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM), where first footage will be shown to buyers. “Puffin Rock and the New Friends” sees Oona, Baba, May and Mossy joined by a new characters Isabelle, Phoenix and Marvin. When the last Little Egg of the season disappears under mysterious circumstances, Oona and her new friends race against time to bring the Little Egg home before a big storm hits Puffin Rock and puts the entire island in danger.

Since season five’s conclusion, fans have been thinking about the “Last Kingdom” sequel, and now a release date has been made official.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “The Last Kingdom” followup film “Seven Kings Must Die” has set its premiere date at Netflix, Variety has learned exclusively. The film will debut on the streamer on April 14. In addition, Netflix has released first-look images from the film, which can be seen above and below. “It has been such an honor to be part of telling this story for all these years,” said series star and executive producer Alexander Dreymon. “As an actor, I have been so challenged and gratified by the privilege of playing Uhtred. Hanging up Uhtred’s sword after filming ‘Seven Kings’ felt, ironically, heavy – even though I know that our tale has reached its conclusion. As an EP on the show, I could not be more proud of the hundreds of people who spent thousands of hours to make the best product possible. As for our loyal fans…what can I say? You are the reason we’ve reached this point and got to bring our saga to the end. This, as it always has been, is for you.”

Environmental Activism Pic ‘Finite: The Climate of Change’ Lands UK Release & Global Sales EXCLUSIVE: Feature documentary Finite: The Climate of Change has secured a UK theatrical release from indie distributor Espresso Media from February 15. Espresso is also handling global distribution, with sales to Japan (NHK) and Estonia (ERR) confirmed. The pic is currently in release in Germany. Directed by climate activist turned filmmaker Rich Felgate, the film follows concerned citizens in Germany who step forward to save an ancient forest from one of Europe’s biggest coal mines. However, the local citizens also form an unlikely alliance with a frustrated community in rural northeast England who are forced into action to protect their homes from a new opencast coal mine.

EXCLUSIVE: CBS is shaking up the late-night landscape by bringing back an old Comedy Central format to replace The Late Late Show with James Corden, ending The Late Late Show franchise after almost three decades, we have learned.

The World Trailer Awards on Tuesday unveiled regional winners for its 2023 edition, with more than 70 projects selected from seven regions representing excellence in entertainment marketing across cinema, television (broadcast and cable), streaming and games.

Dr. Jill Biden was in the house tonight at the 65th annual Grammy Awards, but the real first lady on the live CBS telecast was clearly Beyoncé.

A convicted murderer who spent four years on the run from the law is facing a life sentence after a much-loved dad was gunned down in the streets.

The Kansas City Chiefs close victory over the Cincinnati Bengals during Sunday’s AFC Championship Game scored them a ticket to the Super Bowl LVII — and it scored CBS the most-watched NFL Conference Championship in four years.

King Charles III is supposedly willing to do anything and everything to get Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to attend his coronation – despite Prince William’s objections!

Bob ♥ Abishola will be back for a fifth season. CBS announced today that it has renewed the popular comedy for the 2023-24 broadcast season.

Chief Productions Sets Kashmiri Beekeeping Doc ‘Pot of Gold’Chief Productions, the UK-based indie, today announced the production of a new documentary titled Pot of Gold in partnership with global humanitarian relief and development charity Human Appeal. The film marks the first fully foreign film to be shot in the mountainous region of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. The film follows beekeeper Shakeel Khan who has committed his life to learn about the nature of bees and their delicate work. However, his story takes a turn following the impact of the most destructive earthquake the region has ever seen. The film is produced by Billy Offland and directed by Olivier Richomme. Colin Offland is Exec Producer, and Alan Hamilton is the writer. Colin Offland, CEO and executive producer at Chief Productions described the story as “poignant and distinctive.” He said: “It has been an eye-opening and fulfilling experience to be welcomed as the first fully foreign production team in Kashmir, and we’re grateful for the team at Human Appeal for allowing us to bring this story to the screen.”

The Neighborhood will be back for a sixth season. CBS announced today that the hit comedy will be back for the 2023-2024 broadcast season.