‘Hope Café’ Comedy Executive Produced By Mayim Bialik & Damon Wayans Jr. In the Works At NBC

Written and directed by Emerald Fennell (Killing Eve), the Focus Features dramatic thriller Promising Young Woman has been a buzzy awards season title before its Christmas Day theatrical release. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association named Carey Mulligan Best Actress for her turn as the methodical Cassie who is out for revenge while Fennell received honors for Best Screenplay. The writer-director was also awarded the Milos Stehlik Breakthrough Filmmaker Award from the Chicago Film Critics.

Chicago police have arrested a second teen who they said was part of a carjacking crew that killed a retired fire lieutenant. Dwain Williams, 65, was fatally shot Dec.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorThe very core of George C. Wolfe’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is the film’s music.Based on the August Wilson play, the film, debuting Dec.

Leading the charge this week in streaming and specialty titles is Netflix with two films that have been garnering awards season buzz with their star wattage and prestige storytelling.

A 15-year-old boy has been charged in connection with the murder of a retired Chicago firefighter during a brazenly attempted carjacking in broad daylight, authorities said Thursday.  The unidentified teen was arrested Wednesday in Chicago Heights, Ill., and faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery with a firearm in the death of Dwain Williams, the Chicago Police Department said.  The boy was a participant in the slaying but was unarmed at the time of the shooting, Cook

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterJennifer Lopez is teaming with Netflix to mount a film adaptation of the bestselling book “The Cipher.”Lopez will executive produce and star in the feature vehicle, written by Isabella Maldonado. Lopez will play FBI agent Nina Guerrera, who finds herself drawn into a serial killer’s case after he strategically posts complex codes and riddles online.

NME hailed as “a fitting swansong for Chadwick Boseman, who gives a beautifully nuanced performance in a story that deftly explores racial inequality in the music industry.” It’s one hot, sweaty, music-filled journey into 1920s Chicago, where the blues is booming but the players are struggling against problems and attitudes that feel all-too relevant today.

April Ryan is joining Byron Allen’s TheGrio.TV as its first White House correspondent and Washington, D.C. bureau chief.

Ann Reinking, the Tony-winning choreographer and star of stage and screen who appeared inChicago,Annie and All That Jazz, has died. She was 71.

Murders in Chicago have surged by more than 50% year-over-year with 739 homicides reported through Sunday, as one police official opined on what he called an “extremely challenging year” for detectives in the Windy City.

Tiny Pretty Things, the answer would be: “Deferred dreams are not an option.”The foundation of this wildly seductive melodrama, out now, rests on uncovering the mystery behind who pushed star ballerina Cassie Shore (Anna Maiche) from the rooftop of the fictitious Archer Shool of Ballet.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA series set in the “Alien” universe from Noah Hawley is officially set up at FX, Variety has learned.The announcement was made Thursday by FX chief John Landgraf as part of the Disney Investor Day presentation. Hawley will write and executive produce the series under his 26 Keys banner, with “Alien” mastermind Ridley Scott in advanced talks to executive produce via Scott Free.

Emma Stone is returning to TV!  Showtime announced on Thursday that it's ordered, a half-hour comedy from A24 starring Stone and Nathan Fielder, both of whom are also signed on to executive produce.The network describes as «a genre-bending scripted comedy that explores how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple as they try to conceive a child while co-starring on their problematic new HGTV show.»In addition to Stone and Fielder, will be executive produced by the

Hundreds of firefighters battled a fire at an auto parts warehouse on Chicago’s West Side. The fire started burning at around 8:45 a.m.Thursday morning in the Lawndale neighborhood.

is a founder, writer, and investor who lives in Chicago. In her spare time, she is working on a novel-in-progress Project Motherland, reimagining what America and west Africa would look like if slavery never occurred.

CHICAGO — Hayley Orlinsky has made so many bracelets, looping colorful rubber bands over her thumb and index finger again and again, that she no longer must watch her hands. The spunky 7-year-old from Chicago has spent most of the coronavirus pandemic crafting the creations as a fundraiser to buy personal protective equipment for a children's hospital.

Law enforcement in Chicago has released a surveillance video showing a retired Chicago Fire Department lieutenant fighting back against three suspects who were attempting to steal his car before he was fatally shot last week. The Chicago Police  Department has identified the firefighter as 65-year-old Dwain Williams.The fatal shooting took place around 2 p.m.

Dave McNary Film ReporterCleveland Berto has booked roles in the upcoming Sony drama “A Journal for Jordan” opposite Michael B. Jordan and as a series regular in the NBC drama “Chicago P.D.,” Variety has learned exclusively.Denzel Washington will direct and produce “A Journal for Jordan,” which is written by Academy Award nominee Virgil Williams and based on Dana Canedy’s New York Times best-selling memoir, which was published in 2008.