‘Department of Time’ Producer Onza Launches Miami-Based Onza Americas (EXCLUSIVE)

Focus Features is developing Rachel Maddow’s Bag Man as a feature film with Ben Stiller directing. Bag Man is based on Rachel Maddow’s podcast about the true story of one of the most brazen political bribery scandals in American history, which played out before the country while nobody was paying attention.  Is it possible for an American Vice President to carry out a criminal enterprise inside the White House and have nobody remember?

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterCate Blanchett has signed on to produce “Queen Bitch and the High Horse,” a film inspired by the largest municipal fraud in American history.Blanchett, through her company Dirty Films, is producing alongside Coco Francini and Andrew Upton, as well as Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer of New Republic Pictures.Bert and Bertie, the duo behind “Troop Zero,” will direct the film from a screenplay by Eric Matthew.“Queen Bitch and the High Horse” is described as a

The Miami Film Festival is set to go ahead with a hybrid 2021 edition in March with physical theater and online screenings amid the pandemic. The Festival's March 5-14 run this year will open with an in-theater world premiere of Edson Jean’s Ludi — about a hardworking and exhausted nurse chasing the American Dream in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood — and close with the debut of Jayme Gershen’s Birthright.

Twilight actor Booboo Stewart has grabbed the lead role in Radar Pictures' movie adaptation of Geraldine Brooks' historical novel Caleb's Crossing. Stewart will play the title character Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, the first Native American graduate of Harvard University and the inspiration for Brooks' novel.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHBO is developing the third season of the hit podcast “Serial” as a limited series, with LeBron James onboard the project as an executive producer.The potential series will examine the criminal justice system at work in Cleveland, Ohio.

EXCLUSIVE: Tony-winner Rachel Chavkin is behind a new podcast series aimed at tweens based on Greek myths.

EXCLUSIVE: Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty), Michelle Monaghan (Mission: Impossible) and Jai Courtney (The Suicide Squad) are set to star in action-thriller Black Site from the producers of John Wick, Hotel Mumbai and Bait.

EXCLUSIVE: Tony Tackaberry, the long-serving chief executive of Cash Cab and Sexy Beasts producer Lion US, is stepping down to launch a new venture in the coming months.

NEW YORK -- With a trilingual song that calls for the people of the Americas to unite in a more fair and loving world, Brazilian reggae band Natiruts, Jamaican musician Ziggy Marley and Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio hope to make the whole continent vibrate.“América Vibra” was released Wednesday — the day of President Joe Biden's inauguration — as a nod to a new beginning.“We don't want walls.

Pharrell Williams is hopeful that Americans can bridge the gap long dividing them.

The best bond! Kamala Harris may be Vice President of the United States — but she’s also a great-aunt to her niece Meena Harris’ two daughters.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentLaunched by “El Chapo” producer Camila Jiménez and its creator Silvana Aguirre, L.A.-based The Immigrant is developing drama series with Guatemala’s Jayro Bustamante (“Ixacanul,” “La Lorona”) and Spain’s Javier Ruíz Caldera (“Superlópez”).The news comes after The Immigrant made a large splash in October 2019 when Fremantle bought into the production house, acquiring a 25% stake, marking its first major investment in a Latinx company.Jiménez has

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentExile Content Studio, the Los Angeles and Miami-based production house founded by former Univision chief content officer Isaac Lee, has appointed the highly regarded Berlinale programmer Paz Lázaro as content director and head of Spain.At Exile, which Lázaro joined at the beginning of January, Lázaro is overseeing development processes,  relationships with talent and buyers, intellectual property searches, and packaging in Spain.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterYvonne Orji is developing a semi-autobiographical comedy series at Disney Plus that boasts David Oyelowo and Oprah Winfrey among its executive producers, Variety has learned.Titled “First Gen,” the half-hour show is based on Orji’s personal experiences growing up as a Nigerian immigrant in America.

Emmy-nominated Insecure co-star Yvonne Orji is tapping into her experience as a Nigerian-born, first-generation American in First Gen, a half-hour comedy, which is in development at Disney+. She has A-list collaborators on the project in British-born Nigerian-American actor David Oyelowo and Oprah Winfrey. 20th Television is the studio.

Regina King is all about the performance, not where an actor is from.