Joko Anwar Sets Village Roadshow’s ‘Fritzchen’ As First English-Language Project; Michael Voyer Adapting Charles Beaumont Story

Season 2 of Netflix’s hit period series Bridgerton surpassed its own Season 1 to become the most-watched English-language series debut ever on the streamer.

Netflix has revealed that Bridgerton‘s second season is officially the most popular English language series of all time.

“Bridgerton” Season 2 is another massive hit for Netflix.After four weeks on the charts, it’s now become Netflix’s most-watched English Language series ever, with more than 627.11 million hours watched.“Bridgerton” Season 2, which stars Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton and Simone Ashley as Kate Sharma, has now bested Season 1 of the show. Season 1 is now the second-most-viewed English-language show. And it’s the first time a show has held the No.

EXCLUSIVE: Spiral International, the company behind Amazon Latin America original Falco, has teamed up with Jared Gutstadt’s podcast studio Audio Up.

SEVENTEEN have opened up about the meaning behind their new single ‘Darl+ing’Earlier this month, the 13-member act unveiled their first-ever English language single ‘Dar+ling’, along with its heartwarming music video. The song serves as a pre-release track for their upcoming full-length album, due out in May.While sub-units and solo members of the group had previously released songs in English, the new track had marked their first English song as a full group.

Jessica Biel gets herself into deep trouble as Candy Montgomery — who may or may not be involved in the death of her best friend — in the trailer for Hulu’s new true crime series “Candy.”The show follows Biel’s Candy, a 1980s housewife and mother, who is seeking freedom from conformity in her life, taking up an affair with her friend’s husband.But, when Lynskey’s character ends up dead, suspicion falls on Candy.“Candy” stars Biel, Lynskey, Timothy Simons, Pablo Schreiber and Raúl Esparza.It will launch on Hulu Monday May 9, and air across five nights. The finale airs May 13.Three-time Emmy nominee Robin Veith (“Mad Men,” “The Act”) wrote the pilot script.

After just 17 days on Netflix, Season 2 of Bridgerton cracked the streamer’s Top 10 of most watched English-language TV seasons in their first 28 days of release, jumping straight to #3 with 560.50M hours viewed. Of them, 115.75M hours were consumed this past week (4/4-4/10) for a third consecutive #1 weekly finish on the streamer.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Bridgerton” Season 2 has landed the title of Netflix’s third-most popular English-language TV series — a list that is calculated based on shows’ first 28 days on the streaming service — in just 17 days.Per Netflix’s newly released Top 10 data for April 4-10, “The series had 115.75M hours viewed on the English TV list, appearing in the Top 10 in 91 countries, making it the most viewed title for the third week in a row. The season also entered the Most Popular list at #3 with 560.50M hours viewed.

EXCLUSIVE: Doctor Who star Catherine Tate’s Netflix comedy Hard Cell is a tonal shift from her previous work, according to exec Kristian Smith, who revealed the mockumentary’s producer Leopard Pictures is working on a feature film adaptation of a Michael Morpurgo novel.

Sasha Urban editorAfter Disney shut down Blue Sky Studios in 2021, it seemed all hope was lost for the highly anticipated animated feature “Nimona,” based on indie darling comic series from creator ND Stevenson’s comics of the same name. But fear not, as Netflix announced that it will release the previously scrapped film in 2023, with Chloë Grace Moretz (“Kick-Ass”), Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”) and Eugene Lee Yang (“Spring Bloom”) in the leading roles.“Nimona’s always been a spunky little story that just wouldn’t stop,” Stevenson wrote in a tweet Monday.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeRichie Stephens has turned his real-life path to redemption, from Irish gangster to an actor with guest roles on series like “NCIS” and “Blue Bloods,” into the upcoming book “The Gangster’s Guide to Sobriety: My Life in 12 Steps.” And now, “Silicon Valley” co-creators John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky have signed on to develop a TV series based on the personal account, with Stephens involved as well.“The Gangster’s Guide to Sobriety,” set to be released on May 24 by Post Hill Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster, tells the true story of Stephens’ involvement with drug trafficking, kidnapping, and robbery (along with other misdeeds that he alludes to), followed by his path away from that world via acting. Altschuler and Krinsky will developing Stephens’ story for TV via the book, which they helped write with Stephens.

LONDON -- British author Jack Higgins, who wrote “The Eagle Has Landed” and other bestselling thrillers and espionage novels, has died. He was 92.Publisher HarperCollins said that Higgins died at his home on the English Channel island of Jersey surrounded by his family.Born Henry Patterson in in Newcastle, England, in July 1929, Higgins served in the military before studying sociology at the London School of Economics.

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider (for Emmys) and Davis (for Oscars); Awards Circuit Podcast, a weekly interview series with talent and an expert roundtable discussion; and Awards Circuit Video analyzes various categories and contenders by Variety's leading awards pundits. Variety's unmatched coverage gives its readership unbeatable exposure in print and online, as well as provide inside reports on all the contenders in this year's awards season races.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Bridgerton” Season 2 has broken the record for most-viewed show in a week among Netflix’s English TV series, per the streaming service’s newly released weekly Top 10 list.While “Squid Game” still holds the overall record for most-viewed show on Netflix in general across a 7-day period with 571.76 million hours viewed, the second season of “Bridgerton” racked up 251.74 million hours viewed for the week of March 28-April 3, its first full week on the streaming service.

Bridgerton might not have quite as much sex as the first season but it’s still pulling in the viewers.

Damon Wayans (Fox’s Lethal Weapon) and Pam Grier (Jackie Brown) have signed on to star alongside Hailey Kilgore, David Iacono and Jeremie Harris in the noir thriller Cinnamon, which will debut exclusively on Fox’s free streaming service, Tubi, later this year.

Sasha Urban editorLady Gaga took the stage at the 64th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, performing “Love for Sale” and “Do I Love You” from her album “Love for Sale,” which she recorded with long-time friend and duet partner Tony Bennett.Bennett offered a videotaped introduction for his duet partner, offering a simple and sincere, “Hi everyone, please welcome Lady Gaga!” Gaga then brought the house down with a high-energy rendition of “Love for Sale,” with a big band arrangement of the Cole Porter standard. Gaga, glam in a mint strapless gown adorned with a large bow, then slowed things to belt out a jazzy piano-filled rendition of “Do I Love You.” The video screen in the background showed footage of Gaga and Bennett in the studio recording the record.

SEVENTEEN have announced the release date for their upcoming first English-language release.Earlier today (April 1), Pledis Entertainment announced in a press statement to South Korean news outlet Ten Asia that the group’s first English-language track is slated for release on April 15, 1pm KST. Further details on the song, such as its title and, are expected to be released in the coming days.“It marks the first time that SEVENTEEN releases an English song in the form of a digital single,” Pledis Entertainment said in their announcement, per Yonhap News Agency.