Colin Davis Joins Sony Pictures TV as Comedy Head, as Brian Tannenbaum Takes Over Scripted at Roku

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Grease” fans hungry for a cool slider (a cool, cool, cool, cool slider) or hopelessly devoted to fries will have a chance to indulge via a pop-up version of the film franchise’s Frosty Palace on Thursday, April 6, and Friday, April 7. Paramount+ has partnered with Popsugar to take over Mel’s Drive-In on Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood for the promotion, timed to the upcoming launch of the new series “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.” It’s unclear whether Danny Zuko’s preferred order (a double Polar Burger with everything and a cherry soda with chocolate ice cream) will be available, but the two-day interactive event will include 1950s-era music and decor, as well as “twists on familiar diner fare” and photo moments. “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” merchandise will also be given away and customized on site.

EXCLUSIVE: Roku has quickly found its new scripted boss.

EXCLUSIVE: Colin Davis, Head of Scripted Originals for the Roku Channel, is leaving Roku’s free ad-supported streaming service to join Sony as EVP of Comedy Development at Sony Pictures Television Studios. Davis, who starts May 1, will oversee development of comedies for all platforms, reporting to Jason Clodfelter, Co-President of Sony Pictures Television Studios.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large On Sunday, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” appeared to be everything, everywhere, all at once. The film, of course, dominated the 95th Oscars with seven wins — including best picture. Virtually all the stars (except Stephanie Hsu — hey Daniels, can you spare one of your SIX Oscars and share one with her??) received wins, on what was truly a historic night. And an emotional one. As the opening clips of this week’s Variety Awards Circuit Podcast illustrates, family was on the minds of this year’s winners. Listen to our Mega Roundtable edition, in which Clayton Davis, Jenelle Riley, Jazz Tangcay and myself (that’s me, Michael Schneider) recount the show and dissect the winners — from Jimmy Kimmel’s excellent monologue to how every single category panned out:

Nope‘s Keke Palmer is set to produce and star in the feature comedy The Backup in development at Universal Pictures, which also has Kevin Hart on board to produce, Deadline can confirm.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 9, episode 5 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired March 15 on Fox. Two more celebrities were unmasked on Wednesday’s edition of “The Masked Singer”: Actor/comedian Malin Akerman and social media star Lele Pons were revealed to be Squirrel and Jackalope, respectively. For Squirrel, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg got it right, naming Malin Akerman. Robin Thicke guessed Heather Graham. Ken Jeong thought it was Katherine Heigl. Nicole Scherzinger picked Kate Hudson. Guest panelist Jennifer Nettles said Anne Hathaway.

Naman Ramachandran Writer, producer and script editor Cassandra Johnson-Bekoe has joined U.K. independent production company DARE Pictures in the newly created position of head of scripted development. Johnson-Bekoe was previously senior development executive at Daniel Kaluuya’s production outfit 59%, overseeing the company’s slate and generating new IP across international and regional markets. Prior to this she worked in scripted development and her credits include “Ted Lasso” season 2 (WarnerBros/Apple+), “Riches” (Greenacre Films for ITV), “Secret Invasion” (Marvel Studios) and “The Chemistry of Death” (Cuba Pictures Ltd, for Paramount+). Reporting into DARE CEO Derren Lawford, Johnson-Bekoe will focus on developing the company’s scripted slate, as well bringing with her an original slate of IP and working on new drama and film projects with a view to taking them from pitch to commission with a particular emphasis on the U.S. and African markets. She will identify and develop relationships with emerging and established storytelling talent.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Well all right, all right, all right! “True Detective” and “EDtv” buddies Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are reuniting on screen once again, this time for a new Apple TV+ comedy from creator David West Read (“The Big Door Prize”). And this time, McConaughey and Harrelson are actually playing versions of themselves. In Read’s untitled 10-episode half-hour comedy, McConaughey and Harrelson — along with their families — attempt to live together on McConaughey’s Texas ranch. And of course, those close confines puts this storied friendship to the test. In the logline, Apple TV+ calls the new show “a heartfelt odd couple love story revolving around the strange and beautiful bond between Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.”

has “Lupin” headliner Omar Sy attached to star.The crime action thriller followed a top-tier mob assassin named Jeffrey, who decides to retire after he accidentally blinds a nightclub singer who gets caught in the crossfire of one of his hit jobs. Before quitting his beloved profession, he takes one last job to pay for her sight-restoring operation, only to be double-crossed.

“Masked Singer” host did not attend the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday night but gave TMZ his feedback on Kimmel’s opening monologue, which included a joke about him and his12 offspring. “Disney spent $2 billion on this movie, and just to break even, all of Nick Cannon’s kids had to see ‘Avatar’ four times,” Kimmel, 55, joked about theOscar-winning“Avatar: The Way of Water.”“It’s hilarious,” Cannon told the outlet while leaving the Avra Beverly Hills restaurant.“I created ‘Wild ‘n Out,'” he added about his longtime improv, comedy TV series.

EXCLUSIVE: Drift director Anthony Chen is gearing up to direct his first US-set project, Heartbeat: A New York Story, about the rarely-told experiences of the Asian gay community during the AIDS epidemic in 1980s New York.

American music star Chris Brown is entertaining thousands of fans in Manchester this week at his three huge AO Arena gigs. And after the opening night show on Thursday, he decided to continue the party at one of the city's swankiest celeb haunts.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large It all comes down to this weekend. Variety’s Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Jenelle Riley and Michael Schneider dissect the Oscar categories one last time and share final predictions on this week’s edition of the award-winning Variety Awards Circuit podcast. It’s a Mega Roundtable of the podcast, as the team goes through every category and offers up their final thoughts. Will “Everything Everywhere All at Once” sweep the night? Or are some surprises in store? Listen along as you fill out your office Oscars pool: Here are some of the potential wins that the team is rooting for:

used his latest Netflix special to verbally clobber Smith for slapping him onstage at last year’s Oscars ceremony.Among the myriad of digs at the Oscar winner in his comedy special, titled “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” Rock left no stone unturned as he recalled the moment the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” actor struck him across the face.“Will is embarrassed and hurt by what Chris said about him and his family in his Netflix special,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “He didn’t watch it, but he had people tell him what Chris said,” the insider went on, adding that “Will and Jada (Pinkett Smith) have seen comments about it.” “Will apologized to Chris and would like for Chris to let it go,” the source added.Smith reportedly feels Netflix made a “disgraceful” move airing Rock’s special.The Post has reached out to Smith’s reps for comment.During last year’s Oscars live broadcast, Smith, 54, walked onto the stage and slapped Rock after the comedian made a joke about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.Rock, 58, compared Pinkett Smith — who has alopecia and shaved her head last summer — to Demi Moore’s bald character “G.I.

Nick Cannon is set to pick from a slate of contestants who want to have his next baby in a new game show hosted by Kevin Hart.The 42-year-old father of 12 took to Instagram on Tuesday to tease the trailer dubbed, set to air this spring on E!.. In the video, Cannon takes his place in the hot seat with a wide smile while Hart tells him, «You're gonna get some contestants that wanna have your baby.»It's unclear if the contestants were selected at random or if Cannon has or currently is dating these women. In any event, several women appear in the teaser clip, in which Cannon also jokes about his selection process when he says, «Eeny, meeny, miny, [moe].»A post shared by NICK CANNON (@nickcannon)Cannon, who teased the show Monday with a baby bottle emoji on Twitter, shares 11-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan with Mariah Carey.

BreAnna Bell Following its March 4 live debut, Chris Rock’s “Selective Outrage” standup special opened to promising figures as Netflix’s first jump into live content. During the Feb. 27-March 5 viewing window, the special managed to land on the Netflix Top 10 US chart on the English-language TV list at No. 7 despite a small window of availability. (Because the show aired late on Saturday night, only the first day and a few hours of viewing was counted during this week’s window.) Live from Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, Rock’s first standup show following the infamous Oscar’s slap was one of several live offerings on Saturday as Netflix accompanied it with pre- and post-show coverage featuring appearances from Ronnie Chieng, Leslie Jones, Deon Cole and Arsenio Hall, among others, as well as appearances and commentary from Amy Schumer, Cedric the Entertainer, Ice-T, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Paul McCartney, Sarah Silverman and Wanda Sykes. The special first debuted in the US, and hasn’t been counted on Netflix’s global charts yet.

filmmaking is a real honor. Thank you to Michael and Tom for embracing our story about flawed, complex human beings, who happen to be Asian American, just trying their best.

Sony Pictures Classics has taken global rights to Randall Park’s feature directorial Shortcomings. The pic starring Justin H. Min (After Yang), Sherry Cola (Joy Ride, Good Trouble), and Ally Maki (Big Door Prize), Tavi Gevinson (Gossip Girl), Debby Ryan (Insatiable), Sonoya Mizuno (House of the Dragon), Timothy Simons (Veep), and Jacob Batalon (Reginald The Vampire) had its world premiere at Sundance back in January in the U.S. Dramatic Competition sector.

USA Today, the LA Times, the Washington Post, and more. And, according to Dilbert himself, he was blindsided.“I think I can speak for myself and the entire all-white staff at Dilbert offices when I say this was a total shock,” Dilbert told Colin Jost during Weekend Update.

Netflix history on Saturday with a new stand-up comedy special that will be streaming live, marking the first time Netflix has ever hosted a live event on its streaming service. Titled “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” the special is expected to be the first time Rock addresses the Will Smith slap at length on stage, for all the world to see.