Mubi Takes Global Streaming Rights to South African Artist William Kentridge Series ‘Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Emmy watchers should not be surprised if multiple top contenders this year opt to take a shot at the drama series race rather than compete in the limited series category. The list is known to include Apple TV+ ‘s “Masters of the Air,” FX’s “Shōgun” and HBO’s “The Sympathizer,” which means that those platforms are considering future seasons of those shows. Multiple sources tell Variety that the top-tier contenders that seemed naturally bound for the limited series race are the subject of intense strategy discussions among network executives, agents, creators, PR and awards consultants.

Selome Hailu Netflix is at or near the top of both Nielsen and Luminate‘s streaming rankings every week, but achieved that with some titles that differ from its usual fare during the March 29-April 3 viewing window. As expected, “3 Body Problem” remained the most-watched streaming original series of the week per Luminate with 964.1 million minutes watched (an estimated 3.6 million views) — unsurprising, as the title is the follow-up from “Game of Thrones” helmers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who created the show alongside Alexander Woo.

Emiliano De Pablos Spain’s film and TV industries are in their second wave as standout content providers for global streamers. Some of the country’s most intriguing titles will take the international stage this weekend at MipTV in Cannes. Built on a foundation of hits such as “The Red Band Society,” “Grand Hotel,” “Velvet” and “Locked Up,” a new era of internationally renowned content creation in Spain kicked off in 2018 with Alex Pina’s blockbuster series “Money Heist,” picked up by Netflix.

Jaden Thompson Comedian Nicole Byer and singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright are some of the artists featured on the 2024-2025 programming lineup for the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Rufus Wainwright will be at The Wallis for three nights reimagining his project “Rufus-Retro-Wainwright-Spective,” performing a unique program every night. Additionally, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will perform works by Schumann and Schubert while the LA Opera will feature the voices of renowned vocalists Benjamin Bernheim, Ryan Speedo Green and Joshua Guerrero.

EXCLUSIVE: Canadian indie Boat Rocker Studios has struck a deal with Shark Teeth Films for a trio of upcoming unscripted shows.

EXCLUSIVE: USA Today bestselling author Shawn M. Warner‘s Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor has been optioned by Stars Collective, which will explore film and TV adaptations of the bestselling YA novel.

BBC Studios Launches First Kids Streamer In Korea

How much time do you spend on yourself? If your answer is the same as mine, one of the newly launched P&O Wellbeing and Lifestyle cruises could be just what you need. Onboard are a variety of ways to nurture your physical and mental wellbeing, including expert workshops hosted by TV presenter and health advocate Cherry Healey and This Morning's fashion stylist Kat Farmer.They’re joined by special guests including make-up artist to the stars and OK! Beauty Box collaborator Hannah Martin, and Davina McCall’s former personal trainer, Sarah Gorman.The sessions focus on mind and body, wardrobe and skincare essentials, and breathwork and sleep, showing that small changes to a daily routine can make a big difference.That’s on top of the beautiful destinations you’ll get to visit.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Limonero Films has picked up world rights to distribute environmental documentary “Wild Coast Warriors,” which launches at Mipdoc. The film aims to raise awareness of the plight of small coastal communities on South Africa’s Wild Coast, who are standing up to the oil and gas industry.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran Chinese director Zhang Yimou will be presented with a lifetime achievement award at the upcoming edition of the Festival of Far East Film in Italy’s Udine (April 24 – May 2). The lineup will include three films by Zhang: his 2023 political thriller “Under the Light” in its competition section; as well as “To Live” and “Raise the Red Lantern” in its restored classics section. The festival’s total lineup includes 74 films in total – 47 in competition and 28 out of competition) from 11 countries.

Meghan Markle loves taking pictures and cherishing every moment of children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet's childhood. In a touching move and now in the wake of Kate Middleton's sad health news, she has reportedly set up a brand new photoshoot for them at their lavish Californian home.

Love Island All Stars' Sophie Piper has described Josh Ritchie as the "cutest" as she excitedly shared on Instagram that they are now officially a couple. Sophie, 25, the younger sister of This Morning's Rochelle Humes, 35, shared a snap to her Instagram stories of a fancy four poster bed that was covered in red rose petals, spelling out the words: "Will you be my GF?" Yet more rose petals could be seen on the floor, surrounding the bed. Writing over the top of the post, Sophie gushed: "He's the cutest," with a red love heart emoji.

A.D. Amorosi After a handful of social media rants on the fairness of royalty payment structuring in the music industry, James Blake has announced his participation in the launch of Vault, a direct artist-to-fan streaming platform focused on unreleased music.“About a week ago I went viral with a post about the effects of streaming and TikTok on artists’ ability to support themselves,” said Blake in a post on X (formerly Twitter), announcing his new participation with Vault to provide artists with better streaming rates.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor “Catch Me a Killer” comprises many firsts: It is a series about South Africa’s first-ever criminal profiler, the first-ever woman to occupy such a position and, now, the first-ever series entirely shot in South Africa to be in International Panorama competition at Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV festival. Abacus Media Rights(AMR), an Amcomri Entertainment company, handles world sales. Based on the eponymous book by psychologist Micki Pistorius, “Catch Me a Killer” sees “Game of Thrones” breakout Charlotte Hope in the lead role as the psychology professor turned serial killer profiler.

Naman Ramachandran Four African screenwriters will pitch stories spanning genres at the 15th edition of Series Mania in Lille, France. Pitching this year are Kelly-Eve Koopman (South Africa) with urban fantasy “Facing the Mountain”; Moreetsi Gabang (Botswana) with crime drama “Outreach”; Tiah Beye (Senegal/Côte d’Ivoire) with comedy-drama “Brouteure” (“The Yahoo Girl”); and Wanjiru Kairu (Kenya) with political satire “Serikali Saidia!” The shows are under the aegis of the AuthenticA Series Lab, a training program for African episodic screenwriters from Realness Institute.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Fremantle has acquired global production rights to the Japanese format “Freeze.” The high-energy comedic game show, which has aired for two seasons in Japan, was developed and produced by FANY Studio and Yoshimoto Kogyo for Amazon Prime Video. It is FANY Studio’s first global deal since it was set up in May 2023.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Pleasant Outcast,” a 10-part Korean series that is set to appear at Canneseries next month, is a companion piece to “Concrete Utopia,” the hit film from last year that was selected as South Korea’s Oscar contender. Both the Lotte Cultureworks series and “Concrete Utopia,” a dystopian drama-thriller set in a post-apocalyptic Seoul, are adapted from best-selling webtoon “Cheerful Outcast,” by Kim Soong Nyung. The film was frequently compared to William Golding’s seminal novel from the 1954 “Lord of the Flies” and its 1964 film adaptation. Using the first part of the webtoon, the series follows Dong-hyun, a high school junior, who barely survives his day-to-day bullying at school.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Prime Video Mexico is firing up a new original series, “Mentiras,” based on the popular Mexican stage musical. Singer-actor Belinda and Luis Gerardo Méndez (“Club de Cuervos,” “Narcos”) lead a stellar cast that includes Mariana Treviño (“A Man Called Otto”), Diana Bovio (“Lecciones para canallas”) and Regina Blandón (“Maquíllame otra vez”).

FX‘s Shōgun came out of the gate strong with its streaming debut.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The upcoming Peacock horror thriller series “Teacup” has added five new series regulars, Variety has learned exclusively. Kathy Baker (“Picket Fences,” “Edward Scissorhands”), Boris McGiver (“For Life,” “House of Cards”), Caleb Dolden (“The Requiem Boogie,” “Single Parents”), Emilie Bierre (“A Colony,” “The Guide to the Perfect Family”), and Luciano Leroux (“Yellowjackets,” “A Million Little Things”) have all joined the cast of the series. They join previously announced cast members Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman, and Chaske Spencer.