‘Paprika’: Cathy Yan To Produce & Direct A Live-Action Series Adaptation For Amazon

Today at D23, Disney offered a first look at its live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey and directed by Rob Marshall, which is slated to hit theaters May 26. Watch the teaser above.

Disney+ has found its Ezra Bridger. Eman Esfandi has been tapped to play the animated character in Disney+’s live-action Ahsoka series, sources have confirmed to Deadline. Lucasfilm declined comment.

“Andor” is the next “Star Wars” series to hit Disney+ on September 21, with season three of “The Mandalorian” coming in early 2023. But on the horizon is “Ahsoka,” which sees a character first introduced in the animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” receives her own live-action limited series. Rosario Dawson already made her debut as Ahsoka Tano in “The Mandalorian” last season.

K.J. Yossman Lorton Entertainment, who are currently working on highly anticipated Disney+ documentary “Wagatha Christie,” have set a new unscripted series titled “Horsepower” at Amazon, Variety can exclusively reveal. A four-part documentary series which is set to launch on Prime Video U.K. and Ireland from Sept. 23, “Horsepower” gives viewers a rare glimpse into the world of horce racing via its two protagonists, leading trainer Andrew Balding and his principal jockey Oisin Murphy as they compete over a nine month period culminating in the horse racing world’s most prestigious annual event: Royal Ascot. Audiences will get unprecedented behind the scenes access as they follow Balding (brother of sports host Clare Balding) and Murphy from fall 2020 to summer 2021, watching them train at Balding’s Hampshire stables and competing in events across the country. All seems lost, however, when Murphy tests positive for cocaine: will he be banned from the sport he loves or will he be able to re-build his once promising career?

EXCLUSIVE: Universal Television is heading into the fantasy realm.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Amazon Freevee has given the greenlight to “Clean Slate,” a new comedy from Norman Lear’s Act III Productions, starring Laverne Cox and comedian George Wallace. The original comedy has been in development at Freevee since February 2021, back when the ad-supported streamer was known as IMDb TV. “Clean Slate,” which comes from Cox, Wallace and Dan Ewen, centers on car wash owner Henry (Wallace), whose estranged child comes home to Alabama after 17 years. But he must do some soul searching as he comes to terms with the fact that his adult child is a trans woman, Desiree (Cox). There’s no word yet on an episodic order, when the series might shoot or an estimated premiere date.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour” – which earned Gary Oldman an Oscar for his portrayal as the British prime minister – is set to change historical sides and direct TV drama “M,” which chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. The high-end series, which is based on Antonio Scurati’s Premio Strega-winning and international bestselling novel “M. Son of the Century,” traces the birth of Fascism in Italy and Mussolini’s ascent with an innovative approach that has sparked debate about the Fascist dictator’s legacy in Italy and abroad. “The writer understood and put on paper, with facts and documents and everything, that Mussolini is the guy – him and only him – who created what we now know as populism and Fascism,” said the show’s producer Lorenzo Mieli, speaking in Venice, where he is among producers of Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All.”

The true story of the murder of Vincent Chin is chilling and horrific. Bringing that sort of story to life on TV will definitely take the skills of some talented filmmakers.

EXCLUSIVE: Participant’s Chloé Zhao-exec produced limited scripted series about Vincent Chin had found its writers and director.

Apple TV+ today announced its fall slate for kids and families, featuring original series, new imaginings of properties, as well as returning series.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Netflix has ordered a limited series adaptation of the Elin Hilderbrand novel “The Perfect Couple.” Jenna Lamia (“Good Girls,” “My Best Friend’s Exorcism”) will adapt the book for the screen and serve as executive producer and showrunner. 21 Laps will produce via the company’s overall deal with Netflix, with The Jackal Group also onboard to produce. Netflix has given the series a six-episode order. In the show, which is described as a soapy mystery, it’s Fourth of July weekend and Celeste Otis is about to marry the perfect man, who just so happens to be from the wealthiest family on Nantucket. But when a body is discovered floating in the harbor on the morning of what was to be the wedding of the year, suddenly everyone at the party is a suspect.

EXCLUSIVE: The long-awaited adaptation of the renowned video game franchise, BioShock, looks to be gaining momentum in a big way as sources tell Deadline that Netflix has tapped Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence to helm the pic with Michael Green adapting the script. The directing and writing assignment had been some of the more sough after jobs in the industry after Netflix announced in February that they were partnering with video game holding company Take-Two Interactive and its game publisher subsidiary, 2K, to produce a BioShock film. Since then, the studio and its partners have been aiming high on who would help guide this project given the scope of the property looking at A-list directors and writers for the job.

Danny DeVito has weighed in on the planned, live action movie of Hercules.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter A live-action series about the origin of King Kong is in early development at Disney+, Variety has confirmed. The series would be a serialized drama that would explore Kong’s origins as well as the mysteries of his home, Skull Island. The series would be based on the original “King Kong” written by Merian C. Cooper as well as new novelizations by artist Joe DeVito produced in conjunction with Cooper’s estate. Stephany Folsom, who recently developed the Amazon series “Paper Girls” for television, will write and executive produce the King Kong show. James Wan, Michael Clear and Rob Hackett will also executive produce on behalf of Atomic Monster along with Dannie Festa for World Builder Entertainment. Disney Branded Television will produce.

EXCLUSIVE: Cathy Yan (Birds of Prey, Dead Pigs) will executive produce and direct the live-action series Paprika, based on the Yasutaka Tsutsui novel of the same name, for Amazon Studios and Hivemind, Deadline has learned.

Are you’re a writer or director in the industry in love with an established show you’re not working on? Let the journey Cathy Yan went on be a lesson to you. The “Birds of Prey” filmmaker is an Emmy nominee today because she made sure the powers at be were aware she is a massive fan of HBO’s “Succession.” And it was her first television credit.

EXCLUSIVE: In a very competitive situation, eOne has landed the rights to Natural Beauty, the debut novel by writer and concert violinist Ling Ling Huang, to develop for television. The series will be produced by Constance Wu, via her Tempo Wubato Productions, and Yellowjackets executive producer Drew Comins, via his Creative Engine Entertainment, under their deals at eOne.