Philippines Online Hit ‘Kiss Master’ Set for Series Adaptation by Wattpad and Kumu (EXCLUSIVE)

previously announced cast members Bella Ramsey, Pedro Pascal, Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandridge, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Jeffrey Pierce, Storm Reid and Anna Torv.“The Last of Us” — also co-created, executive produced, written and directed by Craig Mazin — centers on Joel (Pascal), a hardened apocalypse survivor who attempts to smuggle a 14-year-old Ellie (Ramsey) out of an oppressive quarantine area two decades after modern civilization has collapsed. What begins as a simple mission transforms into a larger struggle for survival.

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of the recent historic UFO Congressional hearing, Legendary Television has acquired the rights to A.J. Hartley and Tom DeLonge’s Sekret Machines sci-fi thriller novels for television series development. Dan Farah (Ready Player One, The Shannara Chronicles), who brought the project to Legendary, and former Blink 182 member-turned-UFO researcher DeLonge, will executive produce the adaptation of the the popular books, which include Sekret Machines: Chasing Shadows and its sequel Sekret Machines: A Fire Within.

Angelique Jackson In its 26th year, the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) is more star-studded than ever, with a robust lineup of Black film and television stars and creators.After two years of COVID-related pivots, the festival returns to South Beach in Miami for a five-day engagement full of special screenings, panel discussions and events celebrating the Black film and television community. Among the talent joining ABFF festival ambassador Issa Rae, who will debut her new HBO Max series “Rap Sh!t” at the festival are Chanté Adams, Yahya Abdul- Mateen II, Kenya Barris, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Ben Crump, Michael Ealy, DeVon Franklin, Kasi Lemmons, Judge Greg Mathis, LisaRaye McCoy, Kyla Pratt, Trevante Rhodes, Kendrick Sampson, Robin Thede, Judge Lynn Toler, Susan Kelechi Watson and Salli Richardson Whitfield, among many others.

Emiliano De Pablos Top Spanish indie producer-distributor Vértice 360 is joining forces with U.K.-based Born Wild to co-produce YA drama series project “Motorway.”European sales company Eccho Rights is handling international distribution rights.“Motorway” has been created by Spanish writer-cartoonist Víctor Santos, the creator of graphic novel “Polar” whose film adaptation, starring “Hannibal” Mads Mikkelsen, was produced by comicbook-based media company Dark Horse Entertainment and Germany’s Constantin Film and released by Netflix.The new project is set up at Vértice 360, the ambitiously relaunched content division of Madrid-based conglom Squirrel Media, headed by Spanish entrepreneur Pablo Pereiro Lage. “Motorway” will be pitched during the upcoming 6th Conecta Fiction & Entertainment forum, as part of the High-End Series sidebar, a new section focused on higher-budget series and miniseries projects in search for co-production partners.Written by Santos and Born Wild founder Anthony Alleyne, the six-seg, one-hour TV drama tells a dark fairy tale set beside an apocalyptic highway in a world of endless pursuit.“Motorway” takes place in a near future, where young teenager Alice has spent her short life sketching and drawing the motorway and the towns at its side.

J. Kim Murphy Although Showtime is pulling from his groundbreaking 1980 drama for its upcoming series, Paul Schrader has no interest in tuning into the network’s upcoming “American Gigolo” adaptation.The writer-director clarified his lack of involvement in the production through one of his famed Facebook posts on Saturday morning.“Some years ago I received a call from Paramount asking about remaking ‘American Gigolo’ as a series,” Schrader wrote.

Dimitar Berbatov feels Manchester United won't be able to attract Harry Kane to Old Trafford this summer, despite the transfer rumours.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“Plan 75,” Hayakawa Chie’s Japanese dystopian drama which world premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, has been sold in a raft of territories by Urban Sales. The movie is set in Japan, in a near future where a government program called Plan 75 encourages senior citizens to be voluntarily euthanized in order to remedy the aging society. The film weaves the stories of an elderly woman who isn’t able to live independently, a pragmatic Plan 75 salesman and a young Filipino caregiver.

Film Development Council of the Philippines launched the FDCP Channel streaming platform at the Cannes Film Market on Tuesday.Available at launch will be 140 films, including 100 Filipino titles from the country’s masters including Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Kidlat Tahimik, Chito Rono, Brillante Mendoza and Dodo Dayao.In addition, there will be 41,000 film heritage elements available on the platform including news reels and documentaries.The platform has several tiers. The basic access service is free and has short films, panel discussions and special events.

Jesse Spencer is back on NBC‘s alongside Taylor Kinney for the highly anticipated Season 10 finale titled “The Magnificent City of Chicago,” airing May 25. Spencer exited the series in October after a decade on the firefighter drama.

Philippines on Sunday launched UniPhilippines, an incentive program that will reward overseas distributors of Philippines films.The FDCP also added to its stock of international cooperation agreements by promising to work with the new Mongolian National Film Council.UniPhilippines will provide up to $8,000 to distributors to underwrite their promotion and marketing costs when releasing Philippines film titles. It is hoped that the incentive will cause more Philippines films to be acquired and that the conditions of their release can be improved.The scheme is open all year round, is selective in its disbursement, and does not require recoupment.

K.J. Yossman “Game of Thrones” star Michelle Fairley is set to appear in Bouli Lanners feature film “Nobody Has To Know.” Lanners will write, direct and co-star in the project.Fairley, who has also appeared in “Suits” and “Gangs of London,” plays Millie MacPherson in the film. She takes care of Philippe Haubin, a middle-aged man suffering from memory loss following a stroke.

Christopher Vourlias Two-time Academy Award-nominated producer Alexander Rodnyansky (“Leviathan,” “Loveless”) is developing a new series that charts the rise of Vladimir Putin in what the producer describes as “the actual, horrifying story of how the man who changed the world got the power to do so.”Produced by Rodnyansky’s L.A.-based production shingle AR Content, “All the Kremlin’s Men” is based on the bestseller by acclaimed reporter Mikhail Zygar, the former editor-in-chief of Russian independent station TV Rain, which was banned and disbanded in the first week of the war in Ukraine. The book is based on an extraordinary series of interviews with Putin’s inner circle.The series will tell the story of how an unassuming ex-KGB officer became one of the most feared politicians in the world, drawing back the curtain on what goes on behind the Kremlin’s walls and revealing how Putin and his inner circle operate.

Gayle King and her colleagues will be following Johnny Depp's $50 million defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard until its conclusion. However, the veteran newswoman says there's no positive light to the entire spectacle.King and her CBS Mornings co-stars Nate Burleson and Tony Dokoupil walked the carpet at The Hollywood Reporter's Annual Most Powerful People in New York Media event on Tuesday, and they spoke with ET about the court case that has been dominating the spotlight in recent months.«It's all very sad to me,» King said of the ongoing case, which has been broadcast on TV since the trial began in April. I don't know how anybody wins in that case.

Ava DuVernay’s Wings of Fire, an animated series adaptation of the family fantasy books which had been in development at Netflix since 2021, is the latest victim of animation cuts at the streamer, sources close to the project confirm to Deadline. We hear several other projects are not moving forward as well.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterABC has passed on placing series orders for the “LA Law” sequel and Jo Koy comedy “Josep” after both pilots were reviewed by the network, Variety has learned.The Disney-owned broadcaster is interested in potentially redeveloping the Koy project in the future, but “LA Law” will not be moving forward. On Friday, ABC picked up dramas “Alaska” and “The Rookie” spinoff “The Rookie: Feds” to series, as well as comedy “Not Dead Yet.” Four other drama pilots, “Will Trent,” “The Company You Keep,” the Untitled Kay Oyegun drama and an untitled National Park Service project, are all still in contention and will be up for consideration going into July.Starring returning cast members Blair Underwood and Corbin Bernsen reprising their original roles as Jonathan Rollins and Arnie Becker, the pilot for the new iteration of the Emmy-winning series “LA Law” features familiar characters working alongside new ones on the most hot button issues of the day.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “True Lies” series adaptation has been ordered at CBS for the 2022-2023 broadcast season.The series order comes after the show was originally ordered to pilot at CBS in February 2021 before it was pushed off-cycle for consideration during this year’s pilot season.In the series, an unfulfilled suburban housewife (Ginger Gonzaga) is shocked to discover that her bland and unremarkable computer consultant husband (Steve Howey) is a skilled international spy. She is propelled into a life of danger and adventure when she’s recruited to work alongside him to save the world as they try to revitalize their passionless marriage.Along with Howey and Gonzaga, the cast includes Erica Hernandez, Omar Miller, Mike O’Gorman, Annabella Didion, and Lucas Jaye.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentMiguel Bernardeau, Guzmán in Netflix smash hit “Elite,” and Mexico’s Renata Notni will head the cast of “Zorro,” a reboot series from Los Angeles-based Secuoya Studios and John Gertz that will stream in exclusivity on Amazon’s Prime Video in the U.S., Latin America and Spain. The flagship series at Secuoya Studios, “Zorro,” a modern take on the hero, is directed by Javier Quintas, whose credits include episodes of “Money Heist” and “Sky Rojo,” and Miguel Angel Vivas, a director on “Locked Up” and “Unauthorized Living.” Written by Carlos Portela (“Hierro,” “Velvet Collection”), the 10 episode series is executive produced for Secuoya Studios by David Martínez, David Cotarelo and Angela Agudo.  John Gertz, founder of Zorro Productions and a producer on “The Mask of Zorro” and “The Legend of Zorro” movies titles, also executive produces along with former Sony exec Andy Kaplan at KC Global Media, Sergio Pizzolante for C&T Mobs, and Jesús Torres and Glenda Pacanins at NoStatusQuo Studios.Bernardeau will play a new version of Diego de la Vega, a landowner and, in disguise, masked hero of the people.