‘CNN This Morning’ Taps Lauren Mensch and Chris Russell As New Executive Producers

EXCLUSIVE: Jamie Campbell Bower – you know him best for his work as the Stranger Things’ villain Vecna – will star for director Chuck Russell in a new version of the ‘80s fright franchise Witchboard. Russell and Greg McKay wrote the script and are producing with Kade Vu and Bernie Gewissler, in an A-Nation Media production. The film shoots in May in Montreal and New Orleans.

Brandi Glanville is speaking out about the incident with Caroline Manzo… As you have probably heard, Manzo’s ap

Mark Russell, the political satirist who delivered his wisecracks to the tunes of his piano on PBS specials for nearly 30 years, died today of prostate cancer at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 90.

Mourning his canine companion. Russell Crowe‘s dog has died after an unexpected accident.

Sky and AMC’s upcoming Mary & George adaptation has found its King James I.

EXCLUSIVE: Actor Laurence Fishburne will present a workshop of his new solo stage show Like They Do In The Movies this July as part of the New York Stage and Film Summer Season at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent Kelly Ripa first appeared on morning TV when she was a soap star on “All My Children.” At that time, she was being booked as a guest on “Live With Regis & Kathie Lee” by a young executive producer, Michael Gelman, who eventually helped cast her in a lead role, replacing Kathie Lee Gifford in 2001 to co-host with Regis Philbin. More than 22 years later, Ripa and Gelman are still working together every day on “Live!” which has continued on as one of the greatest successes in television history, currently reigning as the top daytime talk show in syndication. “She had that ‘wow factor’ as a guest,” Gelman tells Variety, reminiscing on when he first met a 20-something Ripa in the ’90s.

Angelique Jackson Christina Milian continues her streak of rom-coms at Netflix with the upcoming holiday movie “Meet Me Next Christmas.” The project marks the actor and musician’s third collaboration with Netflix following her popular destination romances, 2021’s “Resort to Love” — which spent four weeks on the streamer’s global top 10 film list — and 2019’s “Falling Inn Love.” Milian will executive produce and star in “Meet Me Next Christmas,” playing Layla, who, in pursuit of a fairytale romance with the man of her dreams, must race through New York City to get her hands on the hottest ticket in town: the sold out Pentatonix Christmas Eve Concert.

BreAnna Bell “Each survivor must determine if the darkness is coming for them or from them,” reads Showtime’s official description for Season 2 of “Yellowjackets” and the writers this season reveal they were not holding back as they embarked on this follow up to their explosive debut. Executive producers Jonathan Lisco and Drew Comins teased the themes of trauma and ptsd explored in Season 2 of Showtime’s thrilling drama “Yellowjackets,” and how it will affect the present-day players at the second season premiere held at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theater on Wednesday night. With new cast members including Simone Kessell and Lauren Ambrose, who portray adult Lottie and Van, the teenage and adult yellowjackets crew along with creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson walked the red carpet to the theater for a special screening which was followed by a brief Q&A segment.

The reunion episode of Love Island is always an explosive one, but it’s also a chance for the ex-Islanders to show off their new makeovers since leaving the villa, and they did not disappoint when it came to serving some serious glamour this year.Tanya Manhenga in particular had undergone a dramatic hair makeover since leaving the villa and arrived at the reunion showing off her new highlighted blonde locks.The 23 year old shared a snap on her Instagram before the reunion episode kicked off debuting the new look as she posed for photos in a stunning yellow floor length gown with cut out details, captioning the photos: “She’s readyyyyy”. In the snaps Tanya’s hair has been lightened to a soft, warm brown shade, with large sections lightened even further to a ‘bronde’ shade – a combination of blonde and brunette that complemented the lighter hair perfectly.

Naman Ramachandran Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe nominee Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld”) has joined the cast of D.W. Waterson’s feature directorial debut “Backspot.” Executive produced by Elliot Page and starring Devery Jacobs and Kudakwashe Rutendo in lead roles as queer young athletes, the film has wrapped principal production after weeks of filming in the Toronto area. Wood stars as professional cheer coach Eileen McNamara, head coach of the high-performance Thunderhawks squad who pulls Riley (Jacobs) and Amanda (Rutendo) from their mid-level cheer team to be a part of her group of intensely competitive athletes. Matthew Jordan Smith, J.C.Davidson and Katisha Shaw serve as executive producers alongside page. The film is produced by Alona Metzer, Waterson, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs and Martin Katz.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Halcyon Studios has brought on Phil Abraham to direct and executive produce the series “Beverly Hills Noir,” Variety has learned exclusively. Halcyon, a division of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, is producing the show, which is based on “Gemstone” by James Ellroy. Per the official logline, the show “follows two female detectives as they are sucked into the vortex of power, greed, and cold-blooded conspiracy in one of the most aspirational cities in the world, Beverly Hills.” Ed Decter is writing the series and will also serve as executive producer and showrunner. Along with Decter and Abraham, Ellroy, Stewart Till, and Richard Potter also executive produce. No network or streaming service is currently attached to the project.

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has tapped Disney television executive Lauren Kisilevsky to lead the build-out and oversee the development and production of movies and series in its Live Action Family, Kids and Young Adult division. Kisilevsky will serve as executive vice president of live-action family, kids and young adult, reporting to Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden.“Lauren is an expert developer who has consistently identified quality brand building material and IP for young audiences,” Harden said in a statement. “An incredible collaborator and team player, Lauren has a fantastic track record of developing and executing creatively distinctive projects with strong leadership.

with Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell, leading coverage of some of the biggest stories of the last decade including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the aftermath of January 6th insurrection. Additionally, she executive produced the Emmy-nominated CNN/Sesame Street Town Halls aimed at helping kids and families understand complicated news issues like the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccinations, and race protests.

Caroline Manzo took to Instagram on Sunday to share a clip of her husband trying to extinguish a large house fire. The reality TV star, 61, posted a video of Albert Manzo III, 63, on the roof with a fire extinguisher in hand as he battled with the blaze.  Caroline - who recently had an unpleasant interaction with co-star Brandi Glanville - appeared to have a sense of humor about the scary ordeal, as she described finding out about the fire in the caption of the clip.

Charna Flam Kristin Bjorklund, co-executive producer of “Family Feud” for 40 years died on March 5. She was 67. Bjorklund was on the kidney transplant list for years, and following her surgery on March 2, she developed an aggressive infection from the incision. After attending Dartmouth, Bjorklund started her career at Goodson-Todman Productions. By 1982, Bjorklund joined “Family Feud,” making the game show her home for 40 years. In 2019, and after producing well over 2,000 episodes, the producer won an Emmy Award for her work on the series. “Family Feud” co-executive producer, Brian Hawley wrote “Kristin Bjorklund was my coworker, my buddy, my sister from another mister. She could be feisty, strong-willed and oh-so-anal, but she had a fun, raunchy sense of humor and there was nothing better than hearing her laugh” Hawley added, “When my life was a mess or my house was falling apart, I called Kristin. Without Kristin’s friendship, my first few years working in Atlanta wouldn’t have been tolerable.”

Lukas Gage opened up about his sexuality and filming intimate scenes for some of his biggest roles in a new interview.

BreAnna Bell ABC has placed a pilot order for Ellie Kemper’s “Drop Off” (working title). “Julia (Ellie Kemper) is a working mom for whom nothing is working so she goes looking for her village. With the help of new friends Calvin and Liz, Julia discovers she just might succeed at balancing work and parenting from time to time. This is a comedy for anybody who’s dropped their kids at school, breathed a sigh of relief…then realized it’s Sunday,” reads the logline. Kemper executive produces alongside Sharon Horgan, Clelia Mountford, Stacy Greenberg, Kira Carstensen for Merman Television. Paul Feig, Dan Magnante through Feigco Entertainment. Holly Walsh and Helen Serafinowicz also executive produce. Michael Showalter serves as an executive producer and director. Julieanne Smolinski is attached to write and executive produce. Lionsgate and ABC Signature are the studios behind the production.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Native filmmaker Billy Luther heads to SXSW this weekend to premiere his narrative feature debut, “Frybread Face and Me” on March 11. Set in the ‘90s, the coming-of-age story follows Benny (Keir Tallman), a young Native American boy who plays with dolls, sports a Fleetwood Mac t-shirt and watches soap operas. Forced to spend his summer on the reservation with his grandmother, Benny finds himself impressed by his cousin “Frybread” (Charley Hogan) who opens his eyes to life on the rez. Featuring an entirely Native cast and predominantly Native crew, Luther says it was important to cast Navajo kids at the core of his film. He says, “With the help of Midthunder Casting, which also worked on FX ‘Reservation Dogs,’ we were able to find these incredible kids. The amount of Indigenous talent – Martin Sensmeier, MorningStar Angeline, and Jeremiah Bitsui came on. And we also brought on some amazing new faces from Indian country that are making their feature debut.”

EXCLUSIVE: An authorized biopic about the life of Jenni Rivera has been greenlit at ViX with Annie Gonzalez (Flamin’ Hot, Gentefied) set to star and executive produce. Filming of Jenni (wt) is underway in Bogota, Colombia, and will be completed in Los Angeles.