MGM+ Orders ‘Emperor of Ocean Park’ TV Adaptation From ‘Shameless’ Writer Sherman Payne

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor James Patterson’s “Murder in Bermuda” audio original for Audible stars Mary-Louise Parker as a lawyer working for her family’s criminal enterprise who finds herself caught up in a spate of unsolved murders on the Caribbean island. “Murder in Bermuda,” Patterson’s sixth audio project with Audible, stars Parker alongside Ronald Peet and Kimberley Aria Peterson. It’s slated for release on Wednesday, May 24, exclusively on Audible (at this link). The audio thriller from James Patterson Entertainment is co-written by Aaron Tracey (who co-authored Patterson’s Audible original “The Coldest Case”) and Thaddeus McCants (winner of the 2020 BET Project Crea8 writing competition).

Kelsey Parker has shared two divine signs she believes were from her late husband Tom Parker, as the grieving mum-of-two continues to struggle following a "tough couple of months".The 32 year old TV star, who is mum to children Aurelia, three, and Bhodi, two, has faced a difficult fork in her grief journey as she faced the anniversary of The Wanted singer's death in March. A few weeks later, Kelsey also marked the anniversary of her husband's funeral, as she has been opening up on missing him on Instagram. Posting a new video of one important but tiny moment in her day, the star told fans she had found a single white feather lay on her doormat two days in a row, and they were different feathers.

EXCLUSIVE: Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal are in talks to star in an adaptation of Hamnet for Amblin Partners, Hera Pictures, Neal Street Productions and Book of Shadows. Chloé Zhao will direct the film is based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, who will adapt the script with Zhao.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Netflix has ordered a dramedy series inspired by the memoir “The Pink Marine” written by Greg Cope White, Variety has learned. Currently titled “The Corps,” Netflix has given the show a 10 episode order. The official logline states, “Set in 1990, ‘The Corps’ is about Cameron, a bullied, gay high school student who joins the Marine Corps with his straight best friend, Ray — a dangerous move when being gay in the military meant jail time or worse. As these two friends plunge into Marine Corps boot camp, where the landmines are both literal and metaphorical, they join a platoon of young men on a harrowing journey of transformation.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America told members Sunday to be ready to hit the picket lines if no agreement is reached by midnight on Monday. In an email, the guild asked members to fill out a “picketing survey,” providing their preferred time and location to join in, by noon on Monday. “The greatest amount of leverage we collectively bring to a strike action is the withdrawal of our labor,” the guild wrote. “Picketing is a key tactic to demonstrate that we are all in this together, and that until a strike is resolved, it’s not business as usual.” Negotiators for the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers worked on Saturday and Sunday at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks. The email provided no update on the talks, other than to say that the negotiating committee “continues to bargain with the AMPTP with the goal of reaching a fair deal by tomorrow’s May 1st contract deadline.”

Moving on in more ways than one. Halsey’s $11.95 million home is officially for sale amid her split from boyfriend Alev Aydin.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Emperor of Ocean Park,” the best-selling novel by Stephen L. Carter, is being adapted into a TV series at MGM+. MGM+ (formerly Epix) has ordered 10 episodes of the show. The order brings the book’s long road to the screen to near completion. It was originally optioned back in 2001 ahead of the book publishing. Multiple attempts have since been made to adapt the book into a film and later a television series, though none of those projects have moved forward until now. “Emperor of Ocean Park is much more than a murder mystery,” said Michael Wright, head of MGM+. “While it is an engrossing whodunit in its own right, it also explores important themes of middle-and-upper-class Black identity, making it an outstanding addition to MGM+’s slate of engaging and thought-provoking original series.”

MGM+ is moving forward with its series adaptation of suspense thriller Emperor of Ocean Park.

Ant McPartlin has been dubbed a "hero" after he sprung into action and stopped four puppies from running into a busy road when their dog walker collapsed in Richmond Park in southwest London. ‌The Britain’s Got Talent host was reportedly walking his own dogs in the park with wife Anne-Marie Corbett. As the dogs ran in different directions, the 47-year-old presenter managed to chase each of them down, grabbing hold of their leads and keeping them safe from oncoming cars.

eft her for a younger woman in 2019.  The actress, 71, rose to fame in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me alongside Sir Roger Moore, where she and secret agent James Bond memorably made love under a pile of fur coats.  Despite declaring herself a 'fighter' she told Daily Mail's Richard Eden that she had found the breakdown of her marriage ‘really hard’.

The BBC has tasked His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne to pen a TV adaptation of William Golding’s seminal novel Lord of the Flies.

Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band have announced the support acts for their BST Hyde Park shows in London.Announced today (April 20), The Boss shared the three acts that will be joining his band on July 6 and 8.On the first date they will be supported by The Chicks and Frank Turner and his touring band The Sleeping Souls.The Chicks will also return for the second date along with James Bay. The shows are part of Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band’s forthcoming UK tour which also includes shows at BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on May 30 and Villa Park in Birmingham on June 16.

George Clooney has joked Mark Wahlberg and Johnny Depp now "regret" turning down the chance to star in Ocean's Eleven. During an appearance alongside director Steven Soderbergh at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival over the weekend, the Hollywood star confirmed Wahlberg and Depp had both been approached for the part of pickpocket Linus Caldwell in the 2001 heist comedy. Ultimately, the role went to Matt Damon.

Max George broke down in tears as he opened up about the death of his best friend Tom Parker, in scenes on tonight's episode of C4's Scared of the Dark. Manchester-born singer Max, 34, got emotional as he discussed Tom's tragic death from a brain tumour in March 2022, when he was aged just 33. Max and Tom were both singers in the popular boyband, The Wanted, which launched in 2009, alongside Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Two former hockey players who bailed on Frank Ocean’s Coachella performance after it seemingly became enveloped in chaos Sunday have spoken up about the experience in a podcast. Brothers Dan and Chris Powers say that they and more than a hundred other skaters had a positive experience through a good month of rehearsal in L.A., and even a successful dress rehearsal on the Coachella main stage — only to have Ocean render most of the skaters’ services unnecessary as he scrapped the entire epic ice-capades setup as the festival grounds were filling up. In the first segment of their “Empty Netters” podcast, released Tuesday, the Powers brothers said that there were about 120 skaters who’d been hired for the show and had been rehearsing on a makeshift ice rink at Paramount for weeks — including, they said, several Olympians well-known in the figure skating community, as well as hockey veterans like themselves. In the end, they said, the vast majority of these skating extras were left waiting on buses or in hot tents for hours on the perimeter of the festival grounds as Ocean made the last-minute call to dissemble the ice rink and ditch the planned skate choreography.

Two separate incidents of paddleboarders getting into difficulty have prompted an urgent water safety appeal by an Ayrshire lifeboat crew.

Amber Dowling If you’re an aspiring TV writer in Canada, it’s quite possible your script is in Anthony Q. Farrell’s slush pile. The Canadian showrunner is always reading projects and helping new writers get their start, and now that he’s got a few weeks of downtime before his summer projects fire up, he’s finally sitting down to read them. “I feel like I’m in a Zen place right now,” he tells Variety. “But I think the summer’s going to be bananas.” Farrell, who got his start writing for Greg Daniels on “The Office,” has helmed shows like “The Parker Andersons/Amelia Parker” and “Overlord and the Underwoods.” Slowly but surely, he has become one of Canada’s most prominent showrunners and an industry leader in telling authentic and diverse stories on screen. To do that, he’s spent countless hours fostering BIPOC talent behind the scenes in writers rooms and through initiatives like the BIPOC TV & Film Showrunner Bootcamp, which he ran with Jinder Oujla-Chalmers in 2021.

George Clooney is talking about some of the Hollywood stars that turned down starring in Ocean’s Eleven.

Coronation Street star Alexandra Mardell might have been unlucky in love on screen, but she's faring much better in real life, having married fellow actor Joe Parker in a romantic North Yorkshire wedding. The acting legend, who is well-known for her portrayal of Emma Brooker in ITV's Corrie, kept everything ultra-personal and even banned close friends and family from using their phones at the ceremony in a bid to keep things private. The pair, who had been engaged for two years before finally tying the knot, explained their reasons for secrecy in an interview with OK! magazine.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Justin Bieber came to the defense of Frank Ocean in an Instagram post in which the “Peaches” singer praised Ocean’s controversial Coachella performance. Ocean headlined Coachella 2023 along with Bad Bunny and Blackpink, but his April 16 set proved to be a massive disappointment for fans after he started an hour late, skipped over many fan-favorite songs, performed mostly sitting down and with his back to the crowd and lip-synched to several tracks. He also ran past the Coachella curfew and abruptly ended his set after less than 90 minutes. While Ocean has received pans for his performance, Bieber had nothing but raves for his fellow musician. Bieber, who memorably surprised Coachella in 2019 by joining Ariana Granda’s headlining set, praised Ocean’s artistry and voice in a heartfelt note on social media.