‘Santa Clause’ Series at Disney Plus Adds Kal Penn

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThey’ll come for the high-wattage HBO and Warner Bros. content. They’ll stick around for Discovery’s lifestyle comfort food.That’s the formula that Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNew York City-based esports giant Andbox has rebranded as NYXL and will be making a hefty investment into the city’s gaming community over the next year, including building its new Manhattan headquarters, practice facility and live-event space in pursuit of developing New York into a gaming epicenter.“Dedicated to creating experiences and developing content that connects the worlds of esports, gaming culture, and lifestyle for the discerning modern gamer, NYXL solidifies its commitment to New York in more than just name — making an investment in the high-seven figures into NYC’s gaming community over the next 12 months, including building its headquarters, XLHQ, in Manhattan. The organization will also launch YXL, their Young Creator Project, an annual initiative that discovers, supports and promotes the next generation of New York digital content creators, pledging $500,000 to the program,” the company said.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDocuseries “Bad Vegan” debuted on Netflix’s Top 10 list of English-language TV series at No. 5, with 27 million hours of the show viewed in the first five days after its March 16 launch. On the film side, “The Adam Project” maintained its hold as the No.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterChristina Ricci, the actress who played Wednesday in the iconic ’90s franchise “The Addams Family,” is returning to the universe by joining Netflix’s “Wednesday” series in a mystery role, Variety has learned.The live-action series from Tim Burton stars “You” and “Jane the Virgin” alum Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams. “Yellowjackets” star Ricci will not be playing an older version of the character for “Wednesday,” but further details about her character are being kept under wraps.The eight-episode series is described as a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy.

Apple TV+ has rounded out the ensemble cast for Dear Edward, a drama series written and executive produced by Jason Katims, based on the novel by Ann Napolitano. Amy Forsyth (CODA, The Gilded Age), Carter Hudson (Snowfall, The Wilds), Idris DeBrand (MotherFatherSon, The Informer), Ivan Shaw (Nocturne, The Cleaning Lady), Jenna Qureshi (Just Add Magic: Mystery City, Mozart in the Jungle), Anna Uzele (Broadway’s Six, City on a Hill), Dario Ladani Sanchez (Paper Trail), Eva Ariel Binder (Grey’s Anatomy, Stillwater), Brittany S. Hall (Ballers, David Makes Man), Maxwell Jenkins (Lost in Space, Joe Bell) and Audrey Corsa (All Rise, Tell Me a Story) join previously announced leads Connie Britton, Taylor Schilling and Colin O’Brien.

Ethan Shanfeld Simultaneously celebrating St. Patricks Day and addressing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nancy Pelosi read a new poem written by Bono on Thursday at the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon.“Bono has been a very Irish part of our lives,” the Speaker of the House said before launching into the poem, which contains the line, “Ireland’s sorrow and pain / Is now the Ukraine / And Saint Patrick’s name now Zelenskyy.”The U2 frontman’s poem compared the legend of St.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“The Adam Project” and “Pieces of Her” topped Netflix’s lists of English-language film and TV series for the week of March 7, when the fifth and final season of “The Last Kingdom” was viewed for 63.5 million hours in its first five days after launch.Debuting March 11, the Ryan Reynolds-led flick drew 92.43 million hours viewed in just its first two days on the platform. Meanwhile, “Pieces of Her,” which premiered Season 1 March 4, was the No.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery — which is about to become Warner Bros. Discovery within the next month, when its merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia closes — has confirmed its plans to combine its current streaming service Discovery Plus and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max into one service, rather than offer the two platforms as a bundle.Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, who will also serve as CFO of the newly combined Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Reacher” is the first Amazon TV series to top Nielsen’s streaming rankings.For the week of Feb. 7-Feb.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Global CEO Bob Bakish says Disney Plus’ decision to launch a cheaper, ad-supported version later this year is “validation of the strategy,” which Paramount (recently rebranded from ViacomCBS) itself uses for a tier of its streaming service Paramount Plus.“They’re 100% right,” Bakish said during Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference Tuesday, when asked about Disney’s announcement last week to roll out an ad-supported subscription plan for Disney Plus, to launch first in the U.S. in late 2022.

Michael B. Jordan to thank for the movie's upcoming sequel. Last week,ET confirmed that Will Smith, who played scientist Robert Neville in the original film, will star opposite the actor in a follow-up flick.“The idea came up,” Smith told ET’s Denny Directo at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Monday about his discussion with Jordan.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAmazon Prime Video is in talks to pickup a “God of War” live-action TV series adaptation from Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions, Variety has learned.No deal has closed yet for the project based on the popular Santa Monica Studio-produced PlayStation game. The potential series hails from “The Expanse” creators Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby and “The Wheel of Time” showrunner Rafe Judkins.Per PlayStation’s officially description for “God of War,” “Staring with the release of ‘God of War’ in 2005 on PlayStation 2, Santa Monica Studio has created seven games across multiple platforms.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterJennifer Lopez’s “Marry Me” is the most-streamed day-and-date movie on Peacock and Will Smith’s gritty “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” reboot “Bel-Air,” which debuted after the Super Bowl last month, is the platform’s top series, Comcast CEO and chairman Brian Roberts said during a Morgan Stanley conference Monday.More to come…

Will Smith’s “Welcome to Earth” will likely premiere its second season at the end of the year. An Instagram reel published in Will’s Instagram shows him having fun in Guatemala, suggesting the country will make an appearance on the Disney+ series.Will Smith is the screen parent of Venus and Serena Williams in their upcoming biopic ‘King Richard’King Richard star says she ‘freaked out’ when she met Serena WillamsA post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)The video shows Will having a blast in Guatemala, dancing with people, signing autographs and making the most of his time there. “Thank you Guatemala for all of your love!” he captioned the reel.

EXCLUSIVE: Kal Penn has been tapped as a lead opposite Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell in The Santa Clause, Disney+’s upcoming limited series, from Last Man Standing creator Jack Burditt.

EXCLUSIVE: Jason Winer (The Big Leap) has been tapped to direct Disney+’s upcoming The Santa Clause limited series starring Tim Allen. The Modern Family alum will also executive produce through his Small Dog Production Co. the series, which comes from Last Man Standing creator Jack Burditt.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Fairytale Wedding,” the Feb. 28 episode of NBC’s “The Endgame.”NBC’s new high-octane crime drama “The Endgame” aired its second episode Monday, revealing many more compelling details about its leading ladies — Morena Baccarin’s international arms dealer/crime boss Elena Federova and Ryan Michelle Bathé’s FBI agent Val Turner — than it did in its week-ago series premiere.In the episode, “Fairytale Wedding,” we saw the titular nuptials go up in flames when the church where Elena and her now-husband Sergey Vodianov (Costa Ronin) were to be wed was blown up with everyone they loved inside.

Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith just arrived to the 2022 SAG Awards and the husband-and-wife duo never looked better! Jada rocked a stunning midnight navy blue vintage Gareth Pugh gown with cutoff sleeves and black sleeves underneath. The gown, which featured a dramatic lower half and tighter fitted bodice, also had a turtleneck where Jada overlaid a beautiful sparkling necklace.