Fox Entertainment Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Community alum Joel McHale has been tapped for the lead of Fox’s straight-to-series workplace comedy, Animal Control. McHale also will executive produce the single-camera show, Fox Entertainment’s first wholly owned live-action comedy.

The Mosquito Coast,” a drama series adapted from the novel of the same title, starring Justin Theroux, Melissa George, Logan Polish and Gabriel Bateman. Based on Paul Theroux’s best-selling novel, “The Mosquito Coast” Season 2 picks up on the family after barely escaping Mexico with their lives, venturing deep into the Guatemalan jungle to meet up with an old friend and her community of refugees. This creates trouble when they become entangled in a conflict between a local drug lord and his family. The show is executive produced by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, Stefan Schwartz, Evan Katz, Rupert Wyatt, author Theroux and series star Theroux. Bob Bookman, Alan Gasmer and Peter Jaysen serve as executive producers for Veritas Entertainment Group. The series is created for television and executive produced by Neil Cross. Developed by Cross & Tom Bissell, the series is a Fremantle Production for Apple TV+.

Dan Harmon’s “Krapopolis” has scored a Season 2 order from Fox Entertainment before it’s even debuted its first season. The “Community” and “Ricky & Morty” vet’s latest animated series will premiere in 2023. Set in ancient Greece, “Krapopolis” follows a dysfunctional family of humans, gods and monsters as they try to govern the world’s first cities to varying degrees of success.

EXCLUSIVE: Adeola Role (Blue Bloods), Ryan Broussard (Only Murders in the Building) and Graham Verchere (Stargirl) are set as series regulars opposite Dania Ramirez and Scott Caan in Fox’s Alert, a character-driven police procedural from The Blacklist showrunner John Eisendrath and Jamie Foxx, Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment.

Fox is doubling down on Krapopolis.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Fox has renewed the animated comedy “Krapopolis” for Season 2 before the show’s series premiere. The series, which hails from Dan Harmon, was originally picked up at Fox in February 2021. It is slated to premiere on the broadcaster in 2023, but it does not yet have an official premiere date. Per the official logline, “‘Krapopolis’ is set in mythical ancient Greece and tells the story of a dysfunctional family of humans, gods and monsters that try their hand at running the world’s first cities – without trying to kill each other, that is.” The show show’s voice cast includes stars like Hannah Waddingham, Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, Pam Murphy, and Duncan Trussell.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Rob Wade has been promoted to CEO of Fox Entertainment following the exit of former chief Charlie Collier. “Since the formation of Fox Entertainment, Rob has been an integral part of the leadership team responsible for delivering on its long-term strategy of creating an independent media company built on broadcast, developing an owned content portfolio and maintaining a disciplined in-house infrastructure,” Fox Corp. executive chief and CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement Thursday. “Given Rob’s sharp creative instincts and proven operational acumen, he is well-suited to lead Fox Entertainment in what promises to be an exciting next chapter in its rich history.”

EXCLUSIVE: There is a change at the helm of Fox’s comedy department. Julia Franz is stepping down as SVP and head of comedy for Fox Entertainment after three years. She will be succeeded in the role by former 20th Television head of comedy development Cheryl Dolins who will be based in Los Angeles, reporting to Fox Entertainment President Michael Thorn. The changeover had been in the works for awhile and is not related to Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier’s surprise exit on Thursday to join Roku.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Julia Franz, senior vice president and head of comedy development for Fox Entertainment, is exiting the broadcaster. Cheryl Dolins is joining Fox to take her place.

EXCLUSIVE: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is set to be the latest center of crime fighting.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Charlie Collier, after more than two decades in broadcasting and cable TV, has jumped ship from the traditional television biz — betting that TV’s future is all about streaming. As first reported by Variety, Collier is leaving his post as CEO of Fox Entertainment, departing from the Murdochs’ fiefdom to head up Roku Media, where he’ll oversee content and ad sales for the Roku Channel starting next month. For Roku, recruiting the high-profile TV exec who brought such hits as “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead” to the small screen can be viewed as a shift toward more strategic — rather than tactical — spending on original content. Not incidentally, Collier also is familiar with the content economics of the free-streaming space: Fox Corp. spent $440 million to buy Tubi in 2020, which has served as a monetization outlet for Fox TV programming.

Fox Entertainment is re-entering the international distribution business by launching a sales unit ahead of Mipcom Cannes next month.

K.J. Yossman Fox Entertainment has launched Los Angeles-based Fox Entertainment Global, tapping Fernando Szew as its new CEO. Fox Entertainment Global will act as a centralized content sales division, Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier revealed today. It will oversee the international distribution of Fox Entertainment content as well as managing content sales on behalf of MarVista Entertainment and looking after global content partnerships. The company will make its debut at Cannes television market Mipcom next month, where it will unveil its slate of content to buyers. Among the shows on offer will be animated series “Krapopolis” (pictured above), created by Dan Harmon, and Jon Hamm’s “Grimsburg” (both produced by Fox Entertainment’s Bento Box Entertainment) and live-action comedy “Animal Control.”

Emily Longeretta Grab your cowboy boots. Fox is making a major push for the upcoming premiere of “Monarch,” Variety can exclusively share. On Thursday, Sept. 8, the “Monarch” retail pop-up shop will open in New York City on 27 Mercer Street. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Sunday, Sept. 11, the premiere date. The fully customized space will include items from many of the show’s partners including Allen’s Boots, Fret Zealot Music, Nyrelle Jewelry and Union Western Apparel. There will be a photo opportunity for fans to sit in the “Queens of Country” throne and attendees can take home a customized bandana or snapback hat.

The Simpsons veteran Tim Long has been tapped to co-write and showrun Bloom County, an animated series based on Berkeley Breathed’s 1980s comic strip, which has been in development at Fox.

Studio Ramsay Global (SRG), the new culinary and lifestyle production company from Gordon Ramsay and Fox Entertainment, has named Cyrus Farrokh senior vice president of strategy, the company’s first key executive hire, it announced Tuesday.Farrokh will work closely with Ramsay, Fox Entertainment’s president of alternative entertainment and specials Rob Wade and SRG chief creative officer Lisa Edwards from Los Angeles to lead the company’s U.S. operations, business development and global growth strategy across all content categories and distribution platforms worldwide. “I am thrilled to join the fantastic Studio Ramsay Global team as they continue to innovate and represent excellence in food, lifestyle and so much more,” Cyrus said in a statement.

EXCLUSIVE: Hawaii Five-O star Scott Caan has been tapped as the male lead opposite Dania Ramirez in Fox’s Alert, a character-driven police procedural from The Blacklist showrunner John Eisendrath and Jamie Foxx, Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment, sources tell Deadline.

Dania Ramirez (Sweet Tooth) has been tapped as the lead in Fox’s Alert, a character-driven police procedural from The Blacklist showrunner John Eisendrath and Jamie Foxx. Written by Eisendrath, Alert is a co-production between Sony Pictures Television, where Eisendrath is under an overall deal, and Fox Entertainment.

Tubi is set to launch TMZ No BS, a 12-episode docuseries featuring some of the biggest names in pop culture. The first episode, centered on Britney Spears, will debut on August 24.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorFox Corp. operates the only one of the four major U.S.

Emmy winner Jaime Pressly (Mom) has joined the cast of Fox’s comedy series Welcome To Flatch as a series regular for its upcoming second season. She will play a new character named Barb Flatch.

EXCLUSIVE: Buffalo Tens, a single-camera comedy, written, executive produced and potentially starring Another Period creators Riki Lindhome and Natasha Leggero, has been set up at Fox for development. Lindhome and Leggero are executive producing the project with fellow Another Period executive producer Debblie Liebling as well as James Lassiter. Lindhome and Leggero are expected to play the leads in the comedy, produced by Fox Entertainment, if it is picked up to series. (Under its modified development model, Fox often skips the pilot stage and goes script-to-series for both drama and comedy.)

EXCLUSIVE: Marlee Matlin has tapped three Deaf actors, Stephanie Nogueras (Killing It), Joshua Castille and Lauren Ridloff (Children Of A Lesser God), to star in the episode she’s directing in the upcoming Fox anthology drama series Accused. Megan Boone also stars in her first major television role since The Blacklist, along with Aaron Ashmore (Locke & Key), Jean-Michele Le Gal (Take This Waltz) and Daphne Rubin-Vega (Allswell) in the series from Homeland EPs Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, and David Shore (The Good Doctor, House).

EXCLUSIVE: Fox is developing Billionaire Class, a one-hour drama from writer Eric Haywood (Law & Order: Organized Crime, Manifest), Malcolm Spellman and Nichelle Tramble Spellman’s The 51 and Fox Entertainment.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large“Duncanville” will end its run after three seasons. Amy Poehler executive produced “Duncanville” and starred in the show as Duncan, an ordinary 15-year-old with a wild imagination and his sights set on the freedom of adulthood. Fox confirmed on Thursday that the show wouldn’t be back for a fourth season.

Animated family comedy Duncanville is coming to an end.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy nominee Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Resident), Wendell Pierce (The Wire) and Karen LeBlanc (The Kings of Napa) are set to star in an episode of Accused, Fox’s straight-to-series crime anthology drama, Accused, executive-produced by Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa and David Shore.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTubi snared a multiyear deal with Lionsgate to be the exclusive ad-supported VOD streaming service for 30 feature films.The agreement encompasses titles not covered under Lionsgate’s Pay 1 theatrical output agreement with Starz, the cable and streaming provider that Lionsgate is in the midst of spinning off. Under the agreement, Tubi, which is part of Fox Entertainment, also will add more than 200 Lionsgate library titles to the free service.Among the Lionsgate films covered under the deal are: erotic thriller “Shattered,” starring John Malkovich, Frank Grillo, Cameron Monaghan and Lily Krug (currently streaming on Tubi); cop drama “Pursuit,” starring John Cusack and Emile Hirsch (coming to the service on June 27); and “Wolf Hound,” about a Jewish-American pilot shot down behind Nazi lines during World War II, starring Trevor Donavan, James Maslow and Michael Wayne Foster (streaming on Tubi in the fall of 2022).

EXCLUSIVE: Call Me Kat is changing showrunners again.

Fox is developing Felonious Monk, a one-hour drama based on William Kotzwinkle’s novel, from writer Michael Brandon Guercio (Treadstone) and Fox Entertainment.

Sasha Urban editorJoe Earley, the president of Hulu, never misses an opportunity to flex his marketing skills. While discussing the ongoing trend of subscribers leaving streaming platforms (also known as churn), Earley said he’s noticed one exception to the rule in bundles that Hulu offers alongside access to Disney+ and ESPN+.“The churn is so low on the bundle, so we want as many people to subscribe to it as possible, because they’re happy, they stay longer,” Earley said, before adding that “it is still an unbelievable price of $13.99,” to laughs from the audience.Earley discussed Hulu’s strategy (and perhaps solicited some new subscribers) in conversation with Cynthia Littleton, co-editor in chief of Variety, at the Variety Entertainment Marketing Summit presented by Deloitte.

Fox is finalizing a straight-to-series order to a black comedy about a meteorologist whose life unspools after a freak injury at work. Cindy Snow, from The Flight Attendant creator Steve Yockey and Warner Bros TV, was teased by Call Me Kat star and EP Mayim Bialik during Fox’s upfront presentation.

Feeling fine! Rudy Giuliani‘s appearance on The Masked Singer sparked plenty of controversy, but a Fox executive said that he doesn’t feel remorse about having the politician on the show.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeFox execs finally addressed the controversy surrounding Rudy Giuliani being cast on “The Masked Singer,” and according to Rob Wade, the president of aalternative entertainment & specials at Fox Entertainment, the company has “no regrets.”The network brass was asked about Giuliani’s casting on Monday morning during a conference call announcing the network’s new fall lineup. “Yeah, absolutely no regrets,” Wade said.

Fox has rolled out its 2022-2023 programming slate, giving its post- Super Bowl LVII slot to Gordon Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef,” and announcing several news shows for the broadcast network and Tubi. The network doesn’t yet have “9-1-1” and “The Resident” lined up, however, with renewal negotiations still in progress Monday.“We’re in good faith negotiations with 20th [Century Television] and based on our long history with that company we think we’re in pretty good shape,” Charlie Collier, CEO, Fox Entertainment, said on a conference call with reporters Monday.New shows coming to the network are the country music drama “Monarch,” starring Susan Sarandon, Trace Adkins and Anna Friel; crime anthology series “Accused,” from the producers of “Homeland and “House,” and “Alert,” a missing persons drama from Jamie Foxx and John Eisendrath.

Fox has given a straight-to-series order to Alert, a character-driven police procedural from The Blacklist showrunner John Eisendrath and Jamie Foxx. The pickup was part of Fox’s upfront slate announcement for the 2022-23 season.