J.J. Abrams’ ‘Justice League Dark’ Project Has Been Scrapped At HBO Max

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer When Jon Favreau stepped onto the red carpet for the Season 3 premiere of “The Mandalorian” on Feb. 28, the Disney+ show’s creator and executive producer was feeling nostalgic. “It’s been a while since we’ve been all together here like this,” Favreau told Variety, evoking the November 2019 premiere for the launch of the show — and of Disney+ itself. “It was before the first episode aired!” At that time, “The Mandalorian” was a scrappy landspeeder in the vast “Star Wars” galaxy, nipping at the heels of “The Rise of Skywalker,” the culminating feature film from director J.J. Abrams that was expected just a month later to obliterate the box office like a cinematic Death Star. Instead, “The Mandalorian” became a global sensation thanks to the incandescent cuteness of Baby Yoda, blasting Disney+ into light-speed with 26.5 million subscribers in its first six weeks.

Wow. HBO has announced yet another TV show is coming to an end this year!

Jeremy Fassler Film editor David Brenner, who died in the middle of work on the Oscar-nominated “Avatar: The Way of Water,” never shied away from a challenge. Ahead of the American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards, directors Zack Snyder and James Cameron remembered Brenner and his celebrated career. Throughout a career spanning more than four decades, Brenner worked alongside some of the most technically demanding directors in Hollywood, from Oliver Stone to Cameron. But whether he was editing an alien invasion in “Independence Day” or a Vietnam veteran leading an antiwar protest in “Born on the Fourth of July” (for which he won an Academy Award), he always found the humanity of his subjects.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max’s “The Batman” spinoff series “The Penguin” has cast Clancy Brown in a recurring role, Variety has learned. Brown joins a cast that includes series lead Colin Farrell, who will reprise the role of Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot from “The Batman, as well as Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Deirdre O’Connell. Brown will appear as Salvatore Maroni, a notorious Gotham City crime boss. The character was referenced repeatedly in “The Batman,” as his arrest by corrupt Gotham officials and the collapse of his criminal empire allowed for Carmine Falcone’s organization to rise. Maroni has previously been portrayed onscreen by actors like David Zayas in “Gotham” at Fox and by Eric Roberts in “The Dark Knight.”

Star Trek film series as being “cursed”, while explaining his frustrations with the next planned instalment.The actor has played Captain Kirk since the 2009 reboot directed by J.J Abrams, which was followed by two sequels Star Trek Into Darkness and 2016’s Star Trek Beyond.In February last year, Paramount announced a fourth instalment in the reboot series was officially in development. At the time, Matt Shakman (WandaVision) was attached to direct, but he’s since departed the project to helm Marvel’s Fantastic Four.Speaking in an interview with Esquire, Abrams, who is a producer on the fourth outing, provided an update on the film’s progress. “I will say it’s the first time [since the original reboot] that we have a story that feels as compelling as the first one,” Abrams said.In the same interview, Pine shared that this was news to him: “I don’t know anything.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director What’s going on with Paramount’s “Star Trek” film franchise? Don’t ask Chris Pine, even though he’s one of its headlining stars. Pine has played Captain Kirk in three “Star Trek” movies, and he is painfully out of the loop when it comes to the long-delayed and long-overhauled fourth movie. Directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Noah Hawley developed “Star Trek 4” scripts that never got off the ground. “WandaVision” director Matt Shakman was the most recent filmmaker attached to “Star Trek 4,” but he left the project to shoot Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” reboot instead. Paramount announced last September it was removing “Star Trek 4” from its release calendar. As part of Chris Pine’s new Esquire cover story, franchise producer J.J. Abrams said the “Star Trek 4″ script is in a good place. “I will say it’s the first time [since the original reboot] that we have a story that feels as compelling as the first one,” he added. But even still, Pine is out of the loop.

Foxtel Group and Warner Bros Discovery have renewed their multi-year content agreement, under which the Australian pay-TV operator and streamer will remain the home of HBO, Max Originals, Warner Bros and Discovery programming in Australia.

Ellise Shafer HBO Max’s “Dune” prequel spinoff “The Sisterhood” is going through some changes. Both director Johan Renck and star Shirley Henderson have exited the HBO Max series, Variety has confirmed. The news comes as the production takes a “pre-scheduled hiatus,” according to the streamer. “There are some creative changes being made to the production in an effort to create the best series possible and stay true to the source material,” a HBO Max representative said in a statement. “Johan Renck has completed his work on the series and a new director will be brought on; through mutual agreement Johan is moving on to pursue other projects. Additionally, Shirley Henderson will be exiting the series and will no longer be playing Tula Harkonnen.”

EXCLUSIVE: HBO Max‘s Dune prequel TV series’ long journey to the screen is taking another turn.Dune: The Sisterhood (wt), which started production in late November, is undergoing a creative shift, a director change and a recasting.

is expanding, with a prequel series coming to HBO Max. Set in the world of Stephen King's universe, is based on the author's novel as well as filmmaker Andy Muschietti's successful feature film adaptations, and . The series is being developed by Andy Muschietti as well as sister Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, both of whom were involved in the films.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+ added 1.1 million subscribers in Q4 to end 2022 with a total of 96.1 million worldwide. That’s up from the 95 million combined global streaming customers Warner Bros. Discovery hit from July 1-Sept. 30, the quarter during which the highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” debuted. During the Oct. 1-Dec. 31 quarter, “House of the Dragon” concluded its first season the second season of HBO’s hot Mike White drama “White Lotus” premiered. Details about the upcoming combined HBO Max-Discovery+ streamer — which does not yet have a name, launch date or pricing details — will be revealed at an April 12 press day.

HBO Max is expanding the world of Stephen King‘s IT with the drama series Welcome To Derry (wt) from Warner Bros. Television and developed for TV by filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti (IT, IT Chapter Two) and Jason Fuchs (IT Chapter Two, Wonder Woman).

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max is officially moving forward with the “It” prequel series currently titled “Welcome to Derry,” Variety has learned. The show was first reported as being in development in March 2022, while Variety exclusively reported that the project had attached its co-showrunners in November. As previously reported, the series was developed for television by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs. “As teenagers, we took turns reading chapters of Stephen King’s ‘It’ until the thick paperback fell to pieces,” said the Muschiettis. “‘It’ is an epic story that contains multitudes, far beyond what we could explore in our ‘It’ movies. We can’t wait to share the depths of Steve’s novel, in all its heart, humor, humanity and horror.”

Andy Muschietti‘s two “IT” films from 2017 and 2019 brought Stephen King‘s 1986 epic horror novel to the big screen for the first time. Now Muschietti will develop the franchise even further.

HBO Max. The streamer announced on Thursday that “Welcome to Derry” has been ordered to series, with “It” and “It: Chapter Two” director Andy Muschietti onboard to executive produce and direct multiple episodes.

More and more HBO and HBO Max content is being canceled.

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Russell Crowe is back and he’s got some demons to battle.“The Pope’s Exorcist,” out in April, follows Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican (played by Crowe), as he takes on his most mysterious case yet – the possession of a young boy whose experience has ties to an ancient Vatican secret. And, yes, it looks pretty spooky.Amorth was a real person (he passed away in 2016), an exorcist for the Vatican who spoke openly about his work, authoring several books about exorcism and frequently offering his opinion on the subject.

Casey Bloys was about four years into his tenure as a programming executive at HBO when he was driven to champion a project that was disliked by others at the network. At first blush, the brilliantly raunchy Danny McBride comedy “Eastbound & Down” might have seemed out of place among the erudite offerings on HBO. When the series premiered in February 2009, HBO was still known for its New York-centric (“Sex and the City”) and Hollywood-set (“Entourage”) comedies. “Eastbound” revolved around Kenny Powers, a washed-up, foulmouthed, amoral former professional baseball player who heads home to North Carolina. HBO brass weren’t sure “Eastbound” fit their high-end brand. But Bloys, then the network’s young head of comedy, knew McBride had something with the show. “I truly thought and continue to think the show is funny,” Bloys says. “And it was at a point in my career where I was learning how to be an advocate for a show. How to explain to people why something is good, why we should put our name and our money behind something.”

HBO Max declined to pick up a fourth season of South Side, the comedy from Bashir Salahuddin, Diallo Riddle and Sultan Salahuddin.