Epix To Rebrand As MGM+ & Orders Crime Thriller ‘Hotel Cocaine’ & Julian Fellowes’ ‘Belgravia’ Sequel

HBO Max has dropped the first footage of Peter Billingsley in his return as Ralphie in the upcoming A Christmas Story Christmas, the sequel to the classic holiday pic A Christmas Story.

K.J. Yossman Nigerian Netflix series “Becoming Abi,” created by and starring Bolu Essien, has given fans a sneak peek at what they can expect with a first trailer. Inspired by real events, the six-part series is loosely based on Essien’s own experiences in the world of Nigerian advertising. It follows her character, a young, female millennial, who finds herself overcoming numerous obstacles and challenges as she ascends in a leading advertising agency in Nigeria. As she navigates her way through the cut-throat world of advertising, she must learn to co-exist with her bosses, make friends and maybe even find love. Essien also co-directs and co-produces the series.

A man accused of sending money to women in the Philippines to live stream the sexual abuse of children on Skype has appeared at court. Bernard Grace attended a short hearing at Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court today (October 13) and pleaded not guilty to 17 charges over a five year period, beginning in November 2017.

BreAnna Bell Hulu has placed a 10-episode order for “Interior Chinatown,” a drama based on the award-winning book of the same name created by Charles Yu. Variety first reported the series was in development in Oct. 2020. Jimmy O. Yang will star in the series as Willis Wu, described as “a background character stuck doing work in a police procedural called ‘Black & White’ who has no idea of his leading man status. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web in Chinatown, revealing certain family secrets and what it feels like to be in the spotlight.” Yang’s previous credits include “Love Hard,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Silicon Valley,” the latter of which he appeared in throughout its six-season run at HBO.

Former Eastenders star Shaheen Jafarghol looks completely different now as he sports a short blonde buzzcut.The actor played the role of Shakil Kazemi from 2016 to 2018, who is the younger brother of Davood Ghadami’s Kush Kazemi. After leaving the show a few years back through an explosive knife-crime story, Shaheen has worked as nurse Marty Kirkby on both Casualty and Holby City, which are both set in the same hospital. Last month, the 25 year old actor shared a snap on Instagram showcasing his style for a holiday to sunny Ibiza.

Forming a new connection. After briefly being linked to Candice Swanepoel, Kanye West is currently dating model Juliana Nalú.

The trailer for Netflix‘s Enola Holmes 2 is finally here, and it looks like the stars from the original film are mostly returning for the sequel!

Vice TV has picked up a third season of The Nacelle Company’s anthology docuseries Icons Unearthed, which will spotlight The Fast and the Furious film franchise.

Can a friendship survive anything? Two friends are about to test the limits in “I’m Totally Fine.” The film may start with a central character’s journey through loss, but it quickly establishes itself as a quirky comedy. Actor and producer Kyle Newacheck spoke about the influences surrounding the project — namely, its connections to powerlessness during a raging pandemic.

EXCLUSIVE: FilmSharks has picked up world sales rights, excluding Latin America, to the crime thriller A Singular Crime (Un Crimen Argentino), directed by Lucas Combina.

Netflix has announced the premiere date of its upcoming original K-drama Somebody.On October 4, Netflix unveiled the premiere date for the upcoming eight-episode crime-thriller series along with its first teaser clip. Somebody, which stars Kim Young-kwang (On Your Wedding Day) and rookie actress Kang Hae-lim will premiere exclusively on the streaming platform on November 18.The series will follow a young woman named Sum (played by Kang), a developer of a social connecting app called “Somebody”, as she gets caught up in a series of murders and crimes connected to the app.

Angelique Jackson Taissa Farmiga’s Sister Irene will return in “The Nun 2.” For the latest film in the $2 billion-grossing “Conjuring” universe, Farmiga will star alongside Storm Reid, who was recently announced to join the New Line franchise. The original “Nun” movie — which followed Farmiga’s Sister Irene as she fought alongside Demian Bichir’s Father Burke to fend off the possession of the demon nun Valek in 1952 Romania — debuted in 2018 and earned $366 million worldwide on the way to becoming the top grossing in the franchise to date. The film was a spinoff of 2016’s “The Conjuring 2,” which starred Farmiga’s older sister Vera, who has fronted three “Conjuring” films, turning the horror franchise into a bit of a family affair.

 season 8 comes to a close with an explosive and emotional reunion — and ET has your exclusive first look at the two-part sit-down special.Andy Cohen gathers most of the cast in New York — Venita Aspen, Madison LeCroy, Shep Rose, Olivia Flowers, Craig Conover, Naomie Olindo, Austen Kroll, Taylor Ann Green, Kathryn Dennis and Leva Bonaparte -- to unpack the season that was and, hopefully, set the stage for season 9. As Austen's quick to note in the trailer, the guys are outnumbered «seven to three,» with some of their co-stars not even present for the taping.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Dominique Boutonnat, the president of France’s most powerful entertainment body the National Film Board (CNC), has been order to stand trial for an alleged sexual assault on his 22 year-old godson, Variety has confirmed. Boutonnat was just appointed by the French government to serve a second three-year mandate as president, despite the fact that he has been indicted for the alleged sexual assault since February 2021. The Nanterre public prosecutor’s office requested that Boutonnat’s case should be brought before a criminal court back in April, following a 14-month investigation. A judge then had to determine whether to drop the case or order Boutonnat to face trial, and ultimately ruled the latter. The news agency AFP was first to report the news.

EXCLUSIVE: Neal McDonough (The Flash), D.B. Woodside (Lucifer) and Amanda Schull (Suits) are set for key recurring roles opposite Rob Lowe on the fourth season of Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star.

Cate Blanchett explores the life of Lydia Tár in the trailer for her upcoming movie Tár.

Giving oneself over to art requires sacrifice in Todd Field’s thrilling new drama.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Epix is heading into 2023 with a new — yet very familiar — identity. Starting Jan. 15, 2023, the MGM-owned pay cable network and streaming outlet will take its parent company’s name and be known as MGM+. The rebrand comes following Amazon’s $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM in March. ‘We have felt for some time that this is the best service that many people have never heard of,” says Michael Wright, who has been president of Epix since 2017 and will now serve as head of MGM+. “Other than individual shows, the service has never been marketed. Now you have this incredibly powerful, loud name that means something to people. You could spend five years and $100 million trying to launch a new brand, and you wouldn’t have the brand equity that you get with MGM. It’s really something of a gift.”

Epik High‘s Tablo has shared that he has had to purchase his band’s merchandise at “huge resell markup”.The South Korean hip-hop trio previously announced that they would be producing limited edition vinyl of their 2019 mini-album ‘Sleepless In __________’. The vinyl run was strictly made to order, meaning fans who did not manage to pre-order their copies will not have the chance to purchase them again in the future.

Hong Kong has selected the crime thriller Where the Wind Blows as its official submission to this year’s International Feature Oscar race.