Producer Dwayne Hickman, who played Dobie Gillis, has died

Zack Sharf Nicolas Cage once played a man who is convinced he is a vampire (1989’s “Vampire’s Kiss”), but he’s about to go full bloodsucker as Dracula in Universal’s upcoming horror movie “Renfield.” Most moviegoers probably don’t need convincing that Cage has what it takes to transform into the most iconic vampire in film history, but rest assured that Cage lives a goth lifestyle off camera. The actor said as much in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, revealing he even owns a black crow as a pet.Cage’s pet crow is named Hoogan and lives in the actor’s Las Vegas home inside a geodesic dome. According to Cage, “He has taken to calling me names…it’s comical, at least, it is to me.

Morgan Stevens, who played numerous roles on television before a tragic confrontation with police derailed his career, was discovered dead at age 70 in his home today as part of a police wellness check. No information on the cause of death was released by police.

Peter Robbins, who voiced Charlie Brown in the classic 1960s Peanuts cartoons, has died. The former actor committed suicide last week, his family told San Diego’s Fox 5. He was 65.

SAG-AFTRA and the producers of the Super Bowl Halftime Show have worked out an agreement in which “no professional dancers will be asked to work for free” as part of the show, the union said in a statement today.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify inked an exclusive podcast deal with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex more than a year ago  — and since then, the couple has produced only a 2020 holiday special for the streamer.Previously, Spotify and the couple’s Archewell Audio had said they expected the first series to premiere in 2021. Now, after no shows materialized last year, there’s new info on a new podcast from Harry and Meghan: Gimlet — the podcast studio Spotify acquired in early 2019 — is hiring a new team to produce weekly podcast show with Archewell featuring “high-profile women.”“We’re currently assembling a show team that will build and launch a new original show with Archewell featuring the voices of high-profile women,” reads one of the job postings.

Dakota Johnson is having a big year. Not only is she part of one of the season’s big awards contenders in “The Lost Daughter,” but she’s also just debuted her company's first two films at the Sundance Film Festival, “AM I OK?” and “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” which she produced and stars in, too.The projects are quite different: In “AM I OK?” she plays a character in her early 30s in Los Angeles who is questioning her sexuality and figuring out who she is and wants to be, and in “Cha Cha Real Smooth” she’s the young mother to a teenage daughter who is autistic, who develops a unique relationship with a 22-year-old played by the film’s writer-director, Cooper Raiff. Both films are seeking a distributor.Johnson spoke to The Associated Press about this new phase in her career and the benefits of being a producer.

Vachik Mangassarian has died at the age of 78, his representatives have confirmed.The Agents of SHIELD actor passed away on Saturday 22 January in Burbank, Los Angeles, in the US from Covid-19 related complications, according to his manager Valerie McCaffrey of McCaffrey Talent Management. Vachik was born in Iran of Armenian descent in 1943 and moved to the US in the mid-1960s at the age of 23. During his early 20s, he worked in a theatre and returned to Iran from time to time, where he bagged roles in Iranian director Samuel Khachikian's films.

Vachik Mangassarian, a character actor with dozens of credits including Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Curb Your Enthusiasm and feature The Stoning of Soraya M., has died. He was 78.

EXCLUSIVE: Days before the world premiere of Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne’s feature directorial debut Am I Ok? at Sundance, Deadline has learned about the duo’s next feature project, Time and Space, which Judd Apatow will produce through his Apatow Productions.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterMany life-defining friendships likely have a moment when the two parties look at one another and say, “This should be a movie.” It so happens that writer Lauren Pomerantz and producer Jessica Elbaum, best friends since 2004, had the skill set to make that happen.The sisterly bond shared by the women is the basis for “Am I OK?,” one of the most anticipated titles premiering at this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival. The indie stars Dakota Johnson and Sonoya Mizuno, surrogates for Pomerantz and Elbaum respectively, and is directed by work and life partners Stephanie Allynne and Tig Notaro.

The novel follows Alex Cassidy, a thief who has just pulled off a wild $22 million jewel heist in Las Vegas, and while hiding in New Jersey, falls in love with a party planning business owner named Diane. Alex is ready to leave his life of crime behind to start a new life with Diane, but when both of their grown children are kidnapped by a cartel, Alex is forced into one last job to win their freedom.

Mary Parent, Vice Chairman of Worldwide Production at Legendary Entertainment and the Oscar-nominated producer of The Revenant whose credits also include Dune, will receive the Producers Guild’s 2022 David O. Selznick Achievement Award in March.

Ahead of its world premiere at Sundance, the producer of “Dual,” Lee Kim, has signed a first look film deal with the indie production studio XYZ Films.The deal is with Kim’s Toronto and Los Angeles’ based Resolute Films and Entertainment and will be an agreement to produce several titles together per year, specifically with a focus on diverse, filmmaker-driven projects. They’ll also develop international co-productions in Kim’s native Canada and elsewhere.

Ahead of the Sundance premiere of Dual, XYZ Films has inked a first-look production deal with the movie’s producer Lee Kim.

Manori Ravindran International EditorXYZ Films has struck a first-look production deal with Toronto- and Los Angeles-based producer Lee Kim, who produced Sundance sci-fi title “Dual” and oversees Resolute Films and Entertainment.Under the deal, XYZ and Resolute will jointly produce a number of titles per year, with a focus on films helmed by diverse directors and international co-productions, particularly with Kim’s native Canada.XYZ and Resolute most recently collaborated on Riley Stearns’ “Dual,” which is playing in Sundance’s U.S. Dramatic Competition.

Los Angeles lounge music icon Marty Roberts, the drummer and upright bassist in the “Marty & Elayne” act that entertained at the Dresden Lounge in Los Feliz for 35 years, has died at age 89. No cause of death was immediately available.

Los Angeles lounge music icon Marty Roberts, the drummer in the “Marty & Elayne” act that entertained at the Dresden Lounge in Los Feliz for 35 years, has died.