Liane Moriarty’s ‘Apples Never Fall’ Limited Series Adaptation Ordered By Peacock

EXCLUSIVE: Jason Winer (The Big Leap) has been tapped to direct Disney+’s upcoming The Santa Clause limited series starring Tim Allen. The Modern Family alum will also executive produce through his Small Dog Production Co. the series, which comes from Last Man Standing creator Jack Burditt.

Ellise Shafer The Writers Guild of America, East will host their annual “And the Nominees Are…” limited series contenders’ panel on March 1, with Variety hosting the livestream.The limited series panel will take place at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT and will run for 90 minutes.

Michael Douglas recently wrapped his Netflix series The Kominsky Method and he’s getting ready to head back to television right away!

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMichael Douglas will star as U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin in a new limited series for Apple, Variety has learned.The untitled series is based on the book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America” by Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff. Kirk Ellis, the writer behind HBO’s “John Adams” series, will write the show for Apple and serve as an executive producer.Emmy-winning director Tim Van Patten will direct and executive produce.

Apple TV+ has officially confirmed a limited event series starring Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin. The Oscar winner executive produces the project about the American polymath, from John Adams writer-executive producer Kirk Ellis, TV director, writer and producer Tim Van Patten (Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos), Tony Krantz and his Flame Ventures and Richard Plepler’s Eden Productions under the company’s deal with Apple Studios. Based on Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff’s book A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, the series, which has been casting for the past couple of months, is a co-production between ITV Studios America and Apple Studios.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming Apple limited series “Manhunt” has added Anthony Boyle and Lovie Simone to its cast, Variety has learned.The pair join previously announced series lead Tobias Menzies. The show is based on the book “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer” by James Swanson.

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.

Stephan James is attached to star and produce a scripted limited series about artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

EXCLUSIVE: Dan Stevens (Legion, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga) has been tapped for a key role in the Hulu limited series Immigrant (working title), starring and executive produced by Kumail Nanjiani, from Pam & Tommy creator Robert Siegel.

Peacock has given a straight-to-series order to A Friend of the Family, a true-crime limited drama about the Jan Broberg kidnapping case, from Nick Antosca (The Act, Channel Zero) and UCP, with Oscar winner Anna Paquin, Jake Lacy, Colin Hanks and Lio Tipton attached to star. Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) is set to direct and executive produce multiple episodes, including the pilot.

EXCLUSIVE: Fresh off her recent rom com Marry Me‘s weekend release, director Kat Coiro looks to have found her next project as sources tell Deadline, Coiro has been set to direct Sony Pictures’ The Husband’s Secret. The film based on Liane Moriarty multi-million copy #1 New York Times best-seller and named one of the Best Books of the Year by Entertainment Weekly and People. The project is currently in development with plot details being kept under wraps.

FX has set its cast for Retreat, a limited series from The OA creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij. Oscar nominee Clive Owen (Closer, The Knick) Harris Dickinson (Beach Rats, The King’s Man), Alice Braga (Queen of the South, The Suicide Squad), Jermaine Fowler (Coming 2 America, Judas & the Black Messiah), Joan Chen (The Last Emperor, Twin Peaks), Raul Esparza (Law & Order: SVU, Candy), Edoardo Ballerini (The Sopranos, Dinner Rush) Pegah Ferydoni (Turkish for Beginners, Drama Women Without Men), Ryan J. Haddad (The Politician, Hi, Are You Single?) and Javed Khan (The Bay, Gangs of London) join Corrin in the series, along with previously announced Marling.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLiane Moriarty’s novel “Apples Never Fall” is being adapted into a limited series at Peacock, Variety has learned exclusively.In a competitive situation, Peacock has won the rights to the book, which was published in September 2021, and given it a straight-to-series order. Since its debut, the book has sold over one million copies.The series centers on the Delaneys, who from the outside appear to be an enviably contented family.

Kristen Wiig is easily one of the more prominent comedic voices in the genre, thanks, in part, to her tenure at “Saturday Night Live,” showcasing her fantastic sense of humor and proving that an all-female cast can lead a gross-out raunchy comedy by leading Paul Feig’s “Bridesmaids.” Now, as streamers continue paying top-dollar to get A-list talent onto their platforms, Wiig is heading back to the small screen with a little help from an unexpected person, veteran actress Laura Dern (“Marriage Story“) for Apple TV+. Continue reading Kristen Wiig & Laura Dern Team For Apple’s 1970s-Set Comedy Series ‘Mrs.

HBO has closed a deal for Doomsday Machine, a limited series about Facebook starring Emmy winner Claire Foy as embattled tech giant COO Sheryl Sandberg and executive producing as well. Anonymous Content (Spotlight, Mr. Robot) and wiip (Mare of Easttown, Dickinson), which took the project to the marketplace in October, will co-produce with HBO.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple TV+ has handed a formal 10-episode series order to Sunny (fka Dark Manual), a half-hour darkly comedic drama starring and executive produced by Rashida Jones, from Katie Robbins (The Affair, The Last Tycoon) and A24. Lucy Tcherniak (Station Eleven, The End of the F***ing World) is attached to direct.

Johnny Marr says that The Smiths “never fell out over politics,” but that they “probably would now.”Marr and songwriting partner Morrissey have had a number of high-profile beefs in the press since the band split up in the late 1980s, with Morrissey most recently asking Marr to stop mentioning him when giving interviews.In a new interview with The Guardian, Marr was posed questions by fans and celebrities about The Smiths, his solo work and beyond.In the interview, Marr was asked by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham: “Did the Smiths ever fall out over football or politics?”Marr replied: “We never discussed football so that’s that. And we never fell out over politics, but we probably would now.”A subsequent question from a fan then said: “Morrissey’s recent political views have cast a shadow over the Smiths for me – reaching back into the past and tainting something that was very important to me. I’m so disappointed in him.

EXCLUSIVE: The remarkable story of a Dutch woman who risked her life to shelter Anne Frank’s family from the Nazis for more than two years and then preserved Anne’s diary, is the subject of A Small Light, a National Geographic limited series ordered by Disney+. The project comes from Grey’s Anatomy alums Joan Rater and Tony Phelan, Susanna Fogel (The Flight Attendant), ABC Signature and Keshet Studios.

Nicole Kidman is among the stars getting ready to “Roar” in the upcoming anthology series from Apple TV+.

Apple TV Plus has revealed the first look for it’s upcoming spy thriller series “Slow Horses,” premiering on the platform April 1.Based on the popular CWA Gold-Dagger award-winning novels by Mick Herron, “Slow Horses” stars Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, a British intelligence officer who leads “Slough House,” an MI5 team composed of agents who made career-ending mistakes. The ensemble cast is rounded out by Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jack Lowden and Olivia Cooke.“Slow Horses” is adapted for television by “Veep” writer Will Smith, who executive produces alongside Graham Yost, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gail Mutrux, Douglas Urbanski and James Hawes.