County Tulsa Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Veteran film producer Bob Yari (“Crash”) and music executive turned content maker Marvin Peart have formed WonderHill Studios, a film and production entity that will also offer independent theatrical distribtuion.  Yari and Peat privately raised equity for the new company, for which they will serve as co-founders and co-CEOs. The label will also dabble in film acquisitions and rights sales to foreign territories.  “WonderHill Studios is eager to fill a crucial hole within the theatrical and television space, while also focusing on diversity in cinema and television in front and behind the camera. We are dedicated to building a diverse C-suite, and delivering quality independent films to the theatrical marketplace,” Yari said. 

Bob Yari and Marvin Peart have today announced the launch of WonderHill Studios, a new production and distribution company that will operate in the independent space, focusing on film and television production, domestic film distribution, acquisitions and foreign sales.

Kansas City Chiefs superfan Xavier Babudar — who gained fame for his fun antics during games before his arrest in December for allegedly robbing a bank — has gone missing. Now, a judge has issued a  $1 million bond warrant for his arrest.Babudar, 28, was set to show up to court on Monday for his arraignment, as he faces charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon as well as assault while masked or disguised.

Pussy Riot have been announced as the winners of this year’s Woody Guthrie Prize. Launched in memory of the American activist folk musician a decade ago, the annual prize recognises artists who “best exemplify Guthrie’s spirit and work by speaking for the less fortunate through music, film, literature, dance or other art forms, and serving as a positive force for social change”.In a statement, Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova says: “It feels fitting to be awarded in the spirit of Woody, I think he would love Pussy Riot’s anti-fascist message.

Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy has announced the postponement of his upcoming David Bowie tribute tour with guitarist Adrian Belew.Murphy’s team took to social media to announce that the ‘Celebrating David Bowie’ shows – originally announced for April – are being pushed back to October and November after the singer had to undergo an “unexpected medical procedure”. While details surrounding the procedure remain unknown, his team said that it “prohibits his ability to travel as planned”.Peter Murphy is reportedly “recovering well, will fully recover, and be ready to tour the US with the group this Fall.”A list of rescheduled tour dates and newly announced shows was also revealed.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Before anything else is said about Lana Del Rey’s new album, let it be noted that however well the record came out, it was foreordained to come in second among her artistic works of the past year. Because absolutely nothing could surpass the mic drop of her placing the sole billboard announcing the new project in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the hometown of a fairly recent ex-boyfriend, in what could only be seen as a clever combination of extreme advertising narrowcasting and baller performance art. But if “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.” had to come in as a runner-up to that, it’s a very, very, very close second. It might even count as her masterpiece to date, among her non-billboard-related work. The word “might” is advisable because claims to that kind of superiority can only be made after a lot of time and repeat listens have passed, of course, and “Ocean Blvd.” is such a dense set of songs to take in that your immediate response to its 16 songs might be to rise for a standing ovation… and then think that maybe you’ll need a week to rest before you settle in for a second and third listen, this time with a whole Internet’s worth of Cliff Notes. The album is likely to wear you out — at least it will if you’re consuming it as confessional songwriting, in bulk, and not just aural wallpaper — but it’s a happy exhaustion.

EXCLUSIVE: Good Deed Entertainment has acquired North American and UK rights to the indie drama Midday Black Midnight Blue, starring 2x Emmy winner Merritt Wever (Godless), slating it for a day-and-date release in June.

Thania Garcia Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist protest music and performance art group, will be accepting the 2023 Woody Guthrie Prize on May 6 in Tulsa at Cain’s Ballroom. The evening will conclude with Pussy Riot’s first-ever U.S. performance of “Riot Days,” a multi-media show that showcases the group’s music with documentary footage and political commentary. Members Maria “Masha” Alyokhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova will accept the prize on behalf of Pussy Riot, which also will be represented by founders Olga Borisova and Diana Burkot. Following the presentation by Nora Guthrie, Woody Guthrie’s daughter, the group will be interviewed by Robert Santelli, executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Archive and Center for American Music.

Matthew Chernov Oklahoma is frequently depicted on screen as a peaceful place filled with scenic beauty, waving wheat fields and vast, bucolic plains. But the Paramount+ series “Tulsa King” captures a far grungier side of the Sooner State, and much of the credit for that goes to the show’s production designer, Todd Jeffery. Created by Taylor Sheridan, “Tulsa King” stars Sylvester Stallone as Dwight Manfredi, a Mafia capo who’s banished to Tulsa, Okla., by his New York underworld family after serving a 25-year prison sentence. A fish out of water, the Brooklyn-born gangster wastes no time in organizing a new criminal empire made up of colorful Oklahomans.

Paramount+ (née CBS All Access) has recently shot up as one of the streaming services with the most robust and up-to-date libraries full of hits, hidden gems and classics. Featuring some of the best Paramount movies, and beloved TV shows from CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET and more, Paramount+ is the home of hit film franchises like “Scream” and “Mission: Impossible,” TV hits including “Star Trek” and Taylor Sheridan shows including “The Tulsa King” and “Yellowstone” spinoffs “1883” and “1923” (though, somewhat confusingly, you won’t find “Yellowstone” itself on there — that’s on Peacock).

Ed Meza @edmezavar Paramount+ is launching its first-ever mobile-only streaming subscription plan in Mexico and Brazil. Paramount+’s Basic Plan, described as “competitively priced,” will be available from April 18. It will allow subscribers to stream content on one mobile device or tablet at a time, uninterrupted and without ads. “This new offering is part of our broader strategy to scale Paramount+,” said Marco Nobili, executive vice president and international general manager for Paramount+. “With multi-tier pricing options, Paramount+ will reach even more subscribers by fitting diverse customer choices and grow our global direct-to-consumer distribution. With mobile entertainment consumption increasing around the world, a mobile-only option will make our slate of programming more accessible to our audiences in mobile-first countries.”

EXCLUSIVE: 101 Studios and SPIN are partnering to develop and produce new television and film projects as well as innovative podcasts based on the iconic magazine’s library and IP.

BreAnna Bell Garrett Hedlund has been cast in a recurring guest role in Taylor Sheridan’s forthcoming “Bass Reeves” series set at Paramount+, Variety has learned exclusively. He’ll portray Garrett Montgomery, a so-called posse man of the era who Bass hires for his riding know-how and expertise of the area. She joins previously announced stars including lead and executive producer David Oyelowo, and series regulars Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Forrest Goodluck and Barry Pepper. Dennis Quaid and Grantham Coleman will also appear in recurring roles. Hedlund can currently be seen in Paramount+’s “Tulsa King” and will next star in the film “The Tutor,” which is scheduled March 24th theater release. He recently completed production on the films “Desperation Road” opposite Mel Gibson and “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” co-starring Ben Mendelson and Daisy Ridley. His other credits include Lee Daniels’ “Mudbound,” “On the Road,” “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” “Mojave,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Pan,” “Unbroken,” “Tron: Legacy,” and “Country Strong.”

Madonna has teased that new dates will be announced soon for her 2023 ‘Celebration’ world tour.The pop icon is due to hit the road this summer for a 35+ date stint to mark her 40 years in music. “I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for,” Madonna said of the upcoming trek in a statement.The tour will begin in North America, with gigs planned for New York, Chicago, Miami, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other cities up until early October.Madonna is set to touch down in the UK for six dates at London’s The O2.

former Showtime leader David Nevins’ offer to buy the network for about $3 billion.“Yeah, we got an unsolicited offer for Showtime. We looked at it,” Bakish said. “And the reality is, it wasn’t that interesting to us.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Though Showtime is being rebranded into Paramount+ With Showtime, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish says the Showtime brand is alive and well and more projects based on the cable channel’s most iconic series, including “Ray Donovan,” are in the pipeline for the integrated platform. “We’re not just doing that streaming, we’re doing that linear as well,” Bakish said during a Morgan Stanley-hosted investor conference. “So come sometime this year, when you turn on Showtime linear, it’s going to be Paramount+ With Showtime. And it’s what I call a win-win-win. It’s a win for consumers, because the product is going to be fundamentally better than Showtime. You’re going to get ‘1923’ on it, you’ll get ‘Tulsa King,’ as part of your Showtime subscription. It’s just going to be a bigger, broader product. We fundamentally believe in a broad thesis. So that will work at the consumer level and as part of that, we’re leaning into the Showtime franchises. So you could think about the slate as smaller, which will be less expensive, but also really giving the people what they want — which is more Showtime, maybe more ‘Dexter,’ maybe more ‘Ray Donovan,’ and really leaning into that. And we have some exciting plans there.”

EXCLUSIVE: Smokehouse TV and 101 Studios have made a multiyear overall deal for original scripted and unscripted content for television.

Deadline revealed that Kevin is having issues with his shooting schedule, and he's pushing back. The report alleged that Kevin, who portrays ranch owner John Dutton in the drama, only wants to spend one week filming the second half of the fifth season, whereas showrunners have asked for two weeks. As of now, the continuation of the fifth season is supposed to be filmed this summer and no episodes have been shot. "The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of season 5 of Yellowstone is an absolute lie," said Marty Singer, the lawyer for the Golden Globe winner.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Paramount surpassed 77 million streaming subscribers in Q4, adding 10 million to Paramount+ alone to reach nearly 56 million customers for that platform. In comparison, the paid streamer added 4.6 million subscribers in the third quarter, reaching nearly 67 million global direct-to-consumer customers overall for Paramount by the end of September. During the fourth quarter, Paramount Global’s SVOD launched splashy Taylor Sheridan titles “1923,” yet another a prequel to his hit Paramount Network series “Yellowstone,” and the Sylvester Stallone-led “Tulsa King,” as well as the “Criminal Minds” revival “Criminal Minds: Evolution” and the streaming debut of “Top Gun: Maverick.”

announcement earlier on Monday that Showtime co-presidents of entertainment Gary Levine and Jana Winograde’s roles would be eliminated; the former executive will take on a senior creative advisor role at the cable-streamer, while Winograde was let go as her position was consolidated. The shake-ups are a result of the larger ramifications of Showtime’s upcoming integration with Paramount+ later this year.Diaz has largely served as an unscripted executive under Paramount’s MTV umbrella, most recently having been president of programming and development for MTV, VH1 and Logo Group.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount+’s mob drama Tulsa King, starring Sylvester Stallone, will have a new showrunner for Season 2.

EXCLUSIVE: 2x Academy Award nominee Mary J. Blige (Mudbound) is set to star alongside Tulsa King‘s Jay Will in the upcoming drama Rob Peace. Through her banner Blue Butterfly, she’ll also exec produce the pic, written and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, which is now in production.

As we’ve reiterated more times, we care to count in print and on our Yellowstoners podcast, its writer/director/showrunner/exec Taylor Sheridan’s world, and we’re just living in it. At least when it comes to the world of Paramount+, which is the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter turned TV-dynasty-empire-mogul’s domain.

Sylvester Stallone is expanding his footprint at Paramount+. The streamer has picked up The Family Stallone, a new docuseries featuring the star of Tulsa King, along with his real-life wife Jennifer Flavin Stallone and their daughters Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet.

EXCLUSIVE: Tulsa King‘s Jay Will has landed the title role in Rob Peace — the second feature from Academy Award-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, on the heels of the Netflix-acquired The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, which he’s directing from his own script.

Flavortown fanboy! Guy Fieri has cooked for plenty of famous names over the years, but one celebrity left him more starstruck than usual: Al Pacino.

Madonna has announced details about her upcoming world tour, dubbed The Celebration Tour, confirming the project in a starry video that mirrors a scene from the 1990 documentary Truth Or Dare.

Lana Del Rey is getting “personal” …

Taylor Sheridan’s latest installment in the Yellowstone universe, headlined by Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, has set a new benchmark for the prolific creator — and for Paramount+.

Brenda Flint has publicly shared her grief following the untimely death of her husband, Jake Flint, who passed away at age 37 hours after their wedding on Saturday, November 26.

Taylor Sheridan and Paramount have come together with the next generation of scripted shows geared toward an adult audience thanks to the massive success of the flagship series, “Yellowstone.” The writer/producer is also behind the new mob series “Tulsa King” at Paramount+ from showrunner Terence Winter (“Sopranos”) that stars Sylvester Stallone as a New York gangster who is essentially banished by his crime family after spending 25 years in prison and told to set up his own syndicate in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In the wake of country singer Jake Flint’s death — the “What’s Your Name?” musician died in his sleep at age 37 hours after his wedding to wife Brenda Flint on Saturday, November 26 — Us Weekly is looking back at his career and connection with his family and friends.

 Sylvester Stallone’s mob boss is staying in Tulsa.

Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

After the success of “Yellowstone” and “1883,” Taylor Sheridan’s empire keeps growing (not to mention there are crime shows, “The Mayor Of Kingstown” and “The Tulsa King”). Next up for Sheridan is yet another “Yellowstone” spin-off, another Dutton family origin story with some huge names attached.

Keegan-Michael Key’s substitute teacher Mr. Garvey, one of the signature characters from former Comedy Central sketch series Key & Peele, has returned to the head of the class to promote Paramount+.