John Skipper’s Meadowlark Strikes Partnership With Backstage Media

Last Week Tonight, calling Vladimir Putin an “autocrat” and “a huge bitch”.Following the Russian president’s attack on the country last week, Ukraine has severed diplomatic ties with its neighbour and declared martial law, while many Ukrainians are trying to escape the warzone.As of Sunday night (February 27), Ukraine’s interior ministry reported that 352 Ukrainian civilians had been killed in the conflict so far, including 14 children, while a further 1684 people, including 116 children, had been wounded (via The Guardian).Speaking on yesterday evening’s (February 27) Last Week Tonight, Oliver played a clip of Putin in conversation with the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, where the latter becomes increasingly intimidated by the Russian president while calling for more diplomacy.“Putin is a lot of things,” Oliver replied. “He’s an autocrat.

Anthony Boyle and Lovie Simone are set as leads alongside Tobias Menzies in Manhunt, Apple TV+’s upcoming limited series about the Lincoln assassination, from Friday Night Lights and Fargo writer/producer Monica Beletsky, Lionsgate and 3 Arts.

EXCLUSIVE: Police officer turned video game writer and technical director Morley Nelson (MIB: Alien Crisis, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct) is currently in production in Minnesota on Uncontained, a horror-thriller that he is directing from his original screenplay.

HBO‘s new LA Lakers drama.The actor is set to portray former Lakers owner Jerry Buss in the forthcoming basketball drama Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty, which is due out next month.Reilly was the third choice for the role in the Adam McKay drama after Will Ferrell and Michael Shannon dropped out.“I’d been sitting at my kitchen table, thinking, ‘Man, I’m dead in the water, all this work, 80 movies, and I got nothing going on,’ when I got the text from Adam,” Reilly told The Hollywood Reporter.He landed the part after Ferrell fell out with his longstanding collaborator McKay over the role.“It ended not well,” McKay said in a recent interview with Vanity Fair after Ferrell, a die hard fan of the team, had his heart set on playing Buss.McKay thought that Ferrell’s Step Brothers co-star Reilly would be better suited for the role.“Ferrell just doesn’t look like Jerry Buss, and he’s not that vibe of a Jerry Buss,” added McKay. “And there were some people involved who were like, ‘We love Ferrell, he’s a genius, but we can’t see him doing it.’ It was a bit of a hard discussion.” To make things worse, McKay didn’t personally notify Ferrell of the choice.

EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, John Wells Productions has landed the rights to Danya Kukafka’s recently published suspense thriller novel Notes on an Execution for series adaptation.

Sir Elton John endured mid-air drama as his private jet suffered hydraulic failure at 10,000ft on Monday 21 February. Elton, 74, left Farnborough Airport for New York soon after 10am but one hour into the 3,000 mile trip, the singer’s £66 million jet’s hydraulics failed, according to reports. Gradual or sudden loss of pressure or flow resulting in a loss of power is common in hydraulic system failure, which is often caused by air and water contamination.

NBA All-Star Weekend is over and about four weeks away from March Madness starting. So, with this relative lull in between major basketball events, it’s not surprising that HBO has decided to debut its ambitious new basketball series right in between.

America’s Got Talent judges have paid tribute to series star Jane Marczewski, who died on Sunday 19 February after being diagnosed with cancer. She was 31.

Bill Maher zeroed in on China during the latest edition of “Real Time”, targeting the winter Olympics in Beijing during the “New Rules” segment.

Grease is the word! When Grease hit theaters in June 1978, it was an instant hit — and its cast members became instant stars.

The National, Father John Misty, Brandi Carlile, and more have been announced for the first Sound on Sound Music Festival.Organized by Founders Entertainment, the same people behind Governors Ball, the festival will take place September 24 – 25 in Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Seaport Park. Tickets will be available to the public Friday (February 18).

EXCLUSIVE: Abbey Lee (The Neon Demon, Lovecraft Country) and Christopher Abbott (Black Bear, Catch-22) are attached to lead Fear is the Rider, a chase thriller from BAFTA-nominated director John Michael McDonagh (The Guard, Calvary, The Forgiven) that The Exchange is introducing to international buyers at the 2022 virtual EFM.

Fry, Leela and Bender are set for more 31st century adventures. After months of negotiations, Hulu has finalized deals for 20 new episodes of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen’s cult animated sci-fi comedy Futurama for a 2023 premiere on the streamer. In addition to Groening and Cohen, set to come back is the majority of the series’ voice cast, including Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman.

Jonah Goldberg, the conservative columnist and editor in chief of The Dispatch, is joining CNN as a contributor.