Lionsgate Inks New Multi-Year Deal With Casting Executive Marcello Bellisario

Brent Lang Executive Editor Searchlight Pictures has signed a first-look deal with Olivia Colman and Ed Sinclair’s South of the River Pictures. Under the new pact, the specialty studio, which has worked with Colman on “The Favourite” and “Empire of Light,” will develop and produce feature-length motion pictures with the production company. South of the River Pictures was founded by Colman, Sinclair and their long-time partner in crime, Tom Carver, to develop and produce original scripted comedies and dramas with “an authored sensibility.” Colman and Sinclair have been married since 2001.

Bravo has announced the cast for season 15 of the Real Housewives of New York City.

EXCLUSIVE: After a decade at Paramount Global and its predecessors ViacomCBS and Viacom, Darren Star is making a move. In a competitive situation, the prolific TV creator of such shows as Beverly Hills, 90210, Sex and the City and Emily In Paris, has signed a big multi-year overall deal at Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group. No one is commenting on the size of the pact, but I hear it is in the eight figures and in the top tier of premium overall deals; certainly the biggest we have seen since the end of the strikes.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver’s Point Grey Pictures has entered into a first-look deal with Lionsgate Television. News of the deal comes just after it was announced production has begun on the Apple TV+ series “The Studio.” The show, which is set at a legacy Hollywood movie studio, is produced by Point Grey and Lionsgate TV with Rogen set to star as well as write, direct, and executive produce alongside Goldberg. Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O’Hara, and Bryan Cranston are also among the show’s cast.

In what is no surprise, Warner Bros Motion Picture Group is getting into business with its Dune and Wonka star Timothée Chalamet, and has hammered a multi-year first look feature film deal with the Oscar nominee as actor and producer.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hybe, the Korean firm behind K-pop’s BTS, has struck an expanded 10-year deal with Universal Music Group (UMG), providing Hybe’s roster of artists and labels access to UMG’s leading global network. UMG will further collaborate with Hybe’s global superfan platform Weverse, bringing more of a direct connection between UMG artists and their fandom. Hybe and UMG will additionally collaborate on artist promotions and marketing activities in North America under the oversight of Scooter Braun – who, in his time as CEO of Hybe America, acquired QC Media Holdings and incorporated SB Projects as well as Big Machine Label Group into the existing roster. Hybe and UMG first teamed up in 2017 on BTS, through a distribution agreement in Japan. In 2021, the companies expanded their relationship with a global strategic agreement which saw collaborations across multiple projects and use of Weverse for fan communication.

The Studio is coming!

Selome Hailu “The Studio,” Apple TV+’s upcoming half-hour comedy starring and produced by Seth Rogen, has added seven new cast members. Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz and Chase Sui Wonders have been cast as series regulars, while Bryan Cranston, Keyla Monterroso Mejia and Dewayne Perkins will play recurring roles. Per the official logline, “The Studio” follows “a legacy Hollywood movie studio trying to survive in a world where it is increasingly difficult for art and commerce to live together.” The project, which is now in production, was ordered to series in November of 2022.

Selome Hailu The Golden Globes will air on CBS and livestream on Paramount+ for another five years, per a new deal with Dick Clark Productions that also puts the American Music Awards on the Eye Network. The agreement kicks off with the January 2025 telecast of the Golden Globes.

EXCLUSIVE: After 5+ years without a special, comedian Demetri Martin is poised to return with two new ones for Netflix, Deadline has learned. The first, Demetri Deconstructed, premieres globally on the platform on April 2nd. Check out a trailer above.

Chrissy Metz (This Is Us), Jaime Ray Newman (Dopesick), Katie Lowes (Scandal), and George Ferrier (One of Us Is Lying) have been cast as series regulars in Starz‘s upcoming drama series The Hunting Wives, alongside previously announced Malin Åkerman, Brittany Snow, Dermot Mulroney, and Evan Jonigkeit. Production is underway in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Jaden Thompson The upcoming Starz series “The Hunting Wives” has added four new series regulars to its cast. Chrissy Metz, Jaime Ray Newman, Katie Lowes and George Ferrier have all joined the series, alongside previously announced cast members Malin Åkerman, Brittany Snow, Dermot Mulroney and Evan Jonigkeit. The official description for “The Hunting Wives” reveals that the drama series “tells the story of Sophie (Snow) and her family’s move from the East Coast to deep East Texas, where she succumbs to socialite Margo Bank’s (Akerman) irresistible charms – and finds her life consumed by obsession, seduction, and murder.” The series is based on the novel by May Cobb, who serves as an executive producer.

EXCLUSIVE: DeVon Franklin is staying in business with CBS Studios and has sold his latest show.

EXCLUSIVE: Drops of God creator Quoc Dang Tran is getting into business with HBO. The writer-producer has signed a two-year overall deal with the premium cable network to create and executive produce content exclusive to HBO. 

Peabody Award-winning producer, showrunner and writer Gary Lennon has signed a new deal with Lionsgate extending their partnership.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Gary Lennon has extended his deal with Lionsgate Television. Lennon is currently the showrunner on the hit Starz/Lionsgate TV spinoff series “Power Book IV: Force,” which was renewed for a third season back in December. Under his deal, he will work with Lionsgate Television and Starz to develop expansions of the “Power” franchise.

EXCLUSIVE: New York-based distributor Metrograph Pictures has acquired North American rights to French director Jérémy Clapin’s sci-fi drama Meanwhile on Earth following its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama section last month.

Wondery and Campside Media, the company behind the successful Chameleon franchise, are expanding their relationship with an exclusive audio first-look deal for a multi-project slate. Under the pact, Wondery and Campside will produce Limited Series podcasts, including non-English language titles, to be distributed by Wondery globally, with the first being a German-language series currently in production.

A+E Networks has signed a development deal with Reese Witherspoon‘s Hello Sunshine for lifestyle series which will air as part of A+E’s Home.Made.Nation multi-platform content hub. The first series from the partnership will be Country House Hunters, a co-production between Hello Sunshine and Abode Entertainment, which will premiere in the summer of 2024 on A&E.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Paramount Animation has entered an exclusive, multi-year first-look development deal with writer, director and producer Jeff Rowe.  The pact extends the relationship between the studio and the filmmaker following the success of last summer’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” which Rowe directed and co-wrote. The agreement covers Rowe’s development and directing services, as well as his producing and executive producing work, on both animated and live-action projects.