Grindstone Entertainment Group Acquires Rights To Musical Comedy ‘Summertime Dropouts’

Jon Hamm is getting animated at Fox.Michael Thorn, president of entertainment at Fox Entertainment, announced on Thursday that Fox has ordered “Grimsburg,” an all-new animated comedy starring and executive produced by Hamm.  Fully owned by Fox Entertainment and produced by its Emmy winning animation studio Bento Box Entertainment, “Grimsburg” will premiere in 2023. The show will follow Marvin Flute (Hamm), who “may be the greatest detective ever to catch a cannibal clown or correctly identify a

EXCLUSIVE: Carolina Groppa has joined Issa Rae’s ColorCreative Management and Hoorae Media in the new position of Executive in Charge of Production. She will report to ColorCreative president Talitha Watkins.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJapanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate, Sony Group saw revenues rise in its music, games and pictures units in the second quarter of its current financial year. But group profits were halved from JPY459 billion to JPY283 billion ($2.50 billion at current exchange rates).The company reported its figures for the three months from July to September on Thursday afternoon local time.

EXCLUSIVE: Juno Films has claimed North America rights to The Pact, a film from Oscar and Palme d’Or-winning director Bille August (Pelle the Conqueror, House of Spirits), which is based on the true story of Out of Africa author Karen Blixen, planning to release it in U.S. and Canadian theaters in early 2022, followed by a digital release later in the year.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to indie horror film La Patasola from Glass House Distribution, with plans to release it in theaters in at least 10 major markets, and across streaming media and other platforms, on January 14, 2022.

EXCLUSIVE: NBC has given a put pilot commitment to Blank Slate, an hourlong drama from The Brave creator Dean Georgaris and The Blacklist producer Davis Entertainment.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterGeorge Lopez and his daughter Mayan Lopez are set to star in a multi-cam comedy that has been picked up to pilot at NBC.The series, titled “Lopez vs. Lopez,” originally received a put pilot order at the broadcaster in June.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeFresh off her recent Emmy win for the comedy series “Hacks,” Jean Smart is ramping up development at her production company, SmartAngel Entertainment.

EXCLUSIVE: Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to For the Love of Money, a crime drama directed by Leslie Small that stars Keri Hilson and Katt Williams. The distributor plans to release the pic via its Freestyle Releasing, in association with Global View Entertainment, in 750 theaters nationwide on November 24, marking the company’s first theatrical release in more than a year owing to the pandemic.

EXCLUSIVE: Cohen Media Group and Curzon have jointly acquired all U.S., U.K. and Irish distribution rights to Mark Cousins’ Cannes Film Festival documentary The Storms Of Jeremy Thomas about the Oscar-winning producer of The Last Emperor.

Business giants the Issa brothers, who made their fortune after buying a petrol station in Bury , have dropped out of a proposed £750m acquisition of Asda petrol stations.

EXCLUSIVE:  Following the Gravitas Ventures day and date theatrical release, HBO Max has picked up exclusive streaming rights to the award-winning, critically-acclaimed film The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain. The movie will stream on Nov. 19, the ten-year anniversary of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr.’s Death.

EXCLUSIVE: New York-based manager and producer Tara Beppel has joined Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment. Beppel, who has experience booking clients on such series as Showtime’s Ziwe, brings with her a roster of multi-hyphenate talent.

Christopher Vourlias Grindstone Entertainment Group, which has a distribution partnership with Lionsgate, has acquired North American rights to the Russian animated adventure “My Sweet Monster,” which is scheduled to be released theatrically in Russia by Sony Pictures on Dec.

Ann-Marie Corvin London-based doc specialist Taskovski Films has acquired the world sales rights to Irish director Pat Collins’ feature doc “The Dance,” which is running in the Documentary Competition at this week’s London Film Festival.Produced through Irish prod cos Harvest Films and South Wind Blows with support from Screen Ireland and RTE, the observation documentary claims to give an insight into the creative mind of choreographer Michael Keegan Dolan as he stages a new international dance

Starting October 21, all 26 episodes of space western action-adventure series Cowboy Bebop will be available on Netflix as the streamer has acquired the rights to the original anime. This announcement comes weeks before the live-action Cowboy Bebop series premiere. 

Paramount said Monday that it has acquired worldwide distribution rights to The Infernal Machine, a psychological drama/ thriller written and directed by Andrew Hunt and starring Guy Pearce. The pic just wrapped filming at Moviebox Studios’ facilities in the Algarve region of Portugal, which doubled for the U.S. Southwest border, and is now in postproduction.

We are exactly three weeks away from the debut of Edgar Wright’s new psychological thriller, “Last Night in Soho.” And since this is Wright we’re talking about—someone who loves to share lists—it’s no surprise the filmmaker has put together a playlist of songs that should get you in the right mindset for viewing his new film.

Finding Jack Charlton producer Noah Media Group has raised $2.7m from private investors including former XIX Entertainment president James Clayton, Hollywood entertainment lawyer Kevin Yorn and former Wired editor David Rowan.

EXCLUSIVE:  New Republic Pictures has optioned New York Times best-selling author, historian and journalist Garrett M. Graff’s Politico article about the hunt for Osama bin Laden to adapt as a feature film.