Jeremy Irons Joins Sam Claflin in Bille August’s ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ Series for Mediawan (EXCLUSIVE)

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Rustin, Netflix‘s biopic of civil rights icon Bayard Rustin. Colman Domingo stars in the film, which is directed by Tony winner George C. Wolfe and hit theaters and the streamer in November after its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.

Amazon Prime Video is delving deeper into the true crime mystery game.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Somewhat mysterious and fearless, Oscar-winning British actor Jeremy Irons has played a host of different characters during his decades-long career, from Adrian Veidt in Damon Lindelof’s TV series “Watchmen,” to Rodolfo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in “Munich: The Edge of War” and Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Extended Universe films, including the latest “Justice League.” Reteaming with Palme d’Or winning Bille August for the third time, Irons will next play Abbé Faria, a noble and wise character, in the prestige limited series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” starring opposite fellow British actor Sam Claflin as Edmond Dantès. The premum limited series is distributed worldwide by Mediawan Rights, in cooperation with CAA (for North America).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In one of the biggest co-production deals unveiled at Content London, Mediawan‘s label Atlantique Productions has joined forces with Participant to make an ambitious limited espionage thriller series based on the Pegasus spyware scandal. Amit Cohen (“False Flag,” “Bad Boy”) and Ron Leshem (“Euphoria,” “No Man’s Land”) are on board as creators and showrunners for the mini-series which will adapted from the bestseller “Pegasus: How a Spy in Our Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy.” The book charts the sprawling international investigation conducted in 2020 and 2021 which revealed how governments used Pegasus spyware technology to spy on politicians, activists and business executives.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Frenchie Shore,” the local adaptation of the popular American reality show “Jersey Shore,” rivaled Ridley Scott’s historical epic “Napoleon” as November’s most polarizing entertainment topic in France. Since launching on Paramount+ and MTV France on Nov. 11, the reality show has inundated social media, especially TikTok where users have been posting sexually explicit, yet blurred, clips from the show illegally.

The Lottery Winners have announced details of their rescheduled UK tour dates.The band were due to play London’s Electric Ballroom on November 23, and were also planning to visit Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow, Newcastle and Manchester.However, the band announced they had postponed the show following “tragic news”: “It is with absolute heartbreak that we will be postponing the upcoming shows of our tour,” they wrote on social media. “During the early hours of this morning, we received some tragic news and we will not be able to continue at this time.”Today (November 26), the band returned to X/Twitter to release their rescheduled dates and put out a statement.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Less than three months after being tapped CEO of Banijay France, Alexia Laroche-Joubert, a well-known industry figure, has enlisted Authentic Media, a leading French premium scripted banner that will join the “Peaky Blinders” production-distribution powerhouse. The acquisition of Authentic Media, who produced hit French adaptations of series such as “Rita” and “This is Us,” will further bolster Banijay France’s portfolio of scripted labels.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After being convincingly portrayed by Marion Cotillard in the 2007 film “La Vie en Rose,” legendary French singer Edith Piaf will come to life in an animated biopic “Edith” that looks to break new ground by using AI to recreate her voice and image. When Warner Music, which is producing the feature-length movie with Paris-based company Seriously Happy, broke news of the project last week, it stirred an avalanche of reactions — many of them skeptical — across social media. To clear up some concerns and shed light on the decisions behind the creative endeavor, Variety spoke to Julie Veille, who came up with the original idea, and Gilles Marliac who are co-producing through their banner Seriously Happy and co-wrote the script.

Greater Manchester will get nearly £300m to fix potholes over 11 years with funds coming from the money saved by cancelling the northern leg of HS2. The city-region is set to receive £296m in total with an additional £8.9m available for this year and next year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran actor Ciaran Hinds and Odessa Young have joined Euphoria star Jacob Elordi in the cast of premium Australian miniseries “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.” Production is now under way. An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is love story set against the backdrop of World War II. Production is by Curio Pictures with Prime Video releasing the title in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

The 2023 Billboard Music Awards is being held today, November 19, and it’s not your typical awards show. This year, Billboard is featuring a revamped format.

K.J. Yossman “The Hunger Games” star Sam Claflin has boarded George C. Siougas’ short film “The One Note Man” as an executive producer.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pathe U.K., the London-based division of the venerable French film and TV company, is folding its theatrical division to focus on premium scripted television content. Cameron McCracken, the celebrated head of film at Pathe UK who exec produced movies such as Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionnaire,” Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” and Stephen Frears’ “The Queen,” will step down and retire at the end of the year. Three key executives working for the division — Lee Bye, Lloyd Vanson and Michael Guerrero — will depart the company.

Peter Hook & The Light have announced a huge 2024 world tour that will see the band play the ‘Substance’ albums from Joy Division and New Order in full – find dates and ticket information below.The New Order and Joy Division co-founder will be touring with his band from May next year, spanning New Zealand, Australia, North America, the UK and Ireland.The tour will open at the Opera House in Wellington, New Zealand on May 16, followed by eight more dates across New Zealand and Australia. From August 31, they’ll continue with a North American run that starts at History in Toronto, Canada.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Red Bull Studios and London-based Featuristic Films have partnered on “Art of the Jump,” a feature documentary about the life and career of Sébastien Foucan, a well-known French athlete. Directed by James Kermack (“Knuckledust,” “Hi-Lo Joe”), the documentary follows Foucan’s humble upbringing in the French suburb of Lisses to sports stardom.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent More than 180,000 people across France, including approximately 105,000 in Paris, took part in a civic march against antisemitism on Sunday, according to figures released by the interior ministry and police prefecture. Major political figures such as former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, as well as prime minister Elisabeth Borne and culture minister Rima Abdul Malak attended the march.

EXCLUSIVE: PBS is leaping into Hope In The Water, a three-part docuseries from David E. Kelley.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jasmina Kuhnke, a German-born writer, actor, author and activist, has signed with CAA for representation, Variety has learned exclusively. Kuhnke’s debut novel, “Black Heart,” is a bestseller. The semi-autobiographical book recounts her experience growing up on the outskirts of the Ruhr region in Germany in the ’90s, and how she grappled with racism.

Gwyneth Paltrow has been on an acting hiatus with her last on-camera work being in 2020’s Season 2 of The Politician.

Two couples who 'will be in the final' of Strictly Come Dancing have been named after their body language was analysed. The 2023 run of the BBC One dance contest reached the halfway mark over the weekend.