McG Joins ‘Turner & Hooch’ Disney+ Reboot As Director & Executive Producer

CBS’ new drama The Equalizer dedicated its premiere to the series’ executive producer Richard Lindheim, who died Jan. 18 of heart failure at the age of 85. The post-Super Bowl debut, which likely attracted tens of millions of viewers, ended with a card that read, “Dedicated to the memory of Richard Lindheim.” (You can see it below.)

This morning, 12-year-old German actress Helena Zengel earned her first Golden Globe nomination for her turn opposite Tom Hanks in Western, News of the World.

Buck Rogers.In addition to being an executive producer, the project could also be a “starring vehicle” for Clooney, according to The Hollywood Reporter.First appearing in in the 1920s before becoming a comic book mainstay in the 1930s, Buck Rogers is a NASA astronaut who falls into a coma and wakes up in the 25th century.

Naman Ramachandran Steve McQueen, currently riding a wave of global acclaim for his BBC/Amazon anthology “Small Axe,” will executive produce two Black-themed documentaries for the BBC.“Black Power,” which originated from an idea McQueen had while filming “Small Axe,” will examine how the Black Power movement came into being in the late 1960s and fought back against police brutality and racism.The films features rare archive of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael’s activities in

Steve McQueen is to executive produce two documentaries for the BBC that were conceived while shooting Small Axe. One will examine Black power in Britain, while the second film investigates how Black children in the 1960s and 1970s were disproportionately sent to schools for the so-called “educationally subnormal.”

Naman Ramachandran Industry executive Julien Leroux has launched London-based outfit Paper Entertainment, a London-based company focused on development, finance and production.Paper Entertainment is on board as a co-producer on the recently announced second season of Apple TV Plus hit series “Tehran.” Leroux served as an executive producer on season 1, and struck the co-production deal with Apple, which was announced in June.Paper Entertainment has several other projects in development, which

Ava DuVernay has boarded Oscar contender A Concerto Is A Conversation as executive producer. Co-directed by  Emmy-winning composer Kris Bowers and Emmy-winning filmmaker Ben Proudfoot, the 13-minute short subject documentary follows Bowers as he tracks his family’s lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather Horace Bowers from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Keke Palmer has been tapped as host of Disney+’s upcoming unscripted build competition series Foodtastic. Palmer also will executive produce the series in which contestants are challenged to create Disney-inspired works of art made out of food. NYC’s City Cakes founder Chef Benny Rivera and Flour Shop founder Amirah Kassem will serve as judges for Foodtastic. The 11-episode series started production this week and is slated to premiere on Disney+ later this year.

Mónica Marie Zorrilla Keke Palmer is inviting you to be her guest… and she’s putting your service to the test!Disney Plus has tapped superstar Palmer to host “Foodtastic,” an unscripted build competition series where teams are challenged to cook and bake Disney-inspired works of culinary art.The quadruple threat — acting, singing, daytime talk show hosting and activism— can also now add a fifth accomplishment to her résumé: executive producing.

Angelique Jackson Ava DuVernay is reuniting with “When They See Us” composer Kris Bowers for the documentary short “A Concerto Is a Conversation.”DuVernay will executive produce the film, which was co-directed and produced by Bowers and Ben Proudfoot. “A Concerto Is a Conversation” was selected to premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which has shifted to a virtual model amid the ongoing pandemic.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has acquired Indian director Chaitanya Tamhane’s Venice and Toronto winner “The Disciple,” executive produced by Alfonso Cuaron, and will release it exclusively on the platform.The Marathi-language film follows a singer who devotes his life to becoming an Indian classical music vocalist, diligently following the traditions and discipline of the old masters, his guru and his father.

EXCLUSIVE:  Deadline can tell you first that Beauty and the Beast Gaston star Luke Evans will play The Coachman in Disney+’s live-action retelling of Pinocchio, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks as Geppetto.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHBO is developing the third season of the hit podcast “Serial” as a limited series, with LeBron James onboard the project as an executive producer.The potential series will examine the criminal justice system at work in Cleveland, Ohio.

Though it's been more than 28 years since it was released, the 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan continues to be a household name in the world of romantic comedies. The film, which went on to gross$17 million its opening weekend, was originated fromJeff Arch and marked his first produced screenplay after spending years as astruggling writer until deriving the idea for the rom-com.

EXCLUSIVE: Matt Hamilton (The Actress Diaries), Paul Campbell (Battlestar Galactica) and Cristina Rosato (Little Italy) are set for recurring roles in Turner & Hooch, Disney+’s reboot of the classic 1989 buddy-cop comedy feature. The TV series, which has a 12-episode order, comes from Matt Nix and 20th TV.

Director Paul Greengrass has said he expects people to be back in cinemas in six months.

Disney has obviously never met a franchise (or even just a single film) that the studio isn’t interested in rebooting or remaking. Anything that the Mouse House owns the rights to is fair game in the neverending cycle of making “content.” Now that Disney has Disney+ to worry about, you better believe they’ll find a film like the ‘80s comedy classic, “Turner & Hooch,” and decide it’s ripe for the remake.

Janice Johnston has been promoted to executive producer of ABC’s newsmagazine 20/20.