Starzplay Acquires HBO Max’s ‘Tokyo Vice’; DAZN Makes Key European Hire; Vice’s Flight MH370 Doc Sells – Mip TV Briefs

A nearly three-hour Batman film, bordering on R-Rated, certainly not for kids, that’s nihilistic, darker than the Christopher Nolan films, and not really much of a traditional superhero movie released during a pandemic seemed like a risky endeavor for Warner Bros. earlier this year (read our review here).

The BBC has acquired HBO Max’s Ansel Elgort-starring Tokyo Vice from Endeavor Content.

“The Batman” finally has a streaming release date.While director and co-writer Matt Reeves’ moody reboot is currently lighting up the box office, the film will be available to stream exclusively on HBO Max on Monday, April 18, followed by a linear debut on HBO on Saturday, April 23 at 8:00pm ET/PT.The streaming release date for “The Batman” was expected, as it falls on the 45th day after the film first hit theaters. While Warner Bros.

Charlize Theron is getting into the “superhero business,” but we should clarify, an atypical one that doesn’t seem all that connected to the superheroes you know. At least not yet.

Charlize Theron is getting into the superhero producing business.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHBO Max is developing a series version of “You Brought Me the Ocean,” the YA graphic novel about the origins of DC’s Aqualad, Variety has learned from sources.The one-hour dramedy is based on characters from DC and the graphic novel by Alex Sanchez and Jul Maroh. The series will explore the life of Jackson “Jake” Hyde, a gay teenager living in New Mexico. All his life, he has had a strange attraction to the water and yearns to escape his desert surroundings for the ocean.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWarnerMedia and Discovery are on the cusp of officially closing their deal. With the change in leadership at the new Warner Bros. Discovery, will there be pricing changes for the new conglomerate’s flagship HBO Max streaming service?Insiders say there aren’t any immediate plans to alter HBO Max’s pricing scheme — in the U.S., it currently costs $14.99/month without ads, the same as it did when the service debuted in May 2020, and $9.99/month with ads.Similarly, it’s likely that Discovery Plus will remain at $6.99/month without ads and $4.99/month with ads for the time being.

Ansel Elgort traveled to Japan this week for events to celebrate his new HBO Max series Tokyo Vice!

TOKYO -- The HBO Max drama series “Tokyo Vice” takes the perennial story of a novice reporter on the police beat but places it in the bustling exotic landscape of the Japanese capital of the 1990s.Ansel Elgort of “West Side Story” immersed himself in the leading role not only by learning Japanese so he could speak like a native, but also learning the ropes of an investigative reporter, interviewing people, getting quotes and writing up a story.“It was really cool,” he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.The characters had to feel real, not just be archetypes, Elgort said.The series, which premieres Thursday, weaves in allusions to the Japanese film genre depicting organized crime, called “yakuza,” as well as exploring the glitzy night life of hostess bars, where powerful corporate Japanese men rub shoulders with their underworld counterparts.“You see the yakuza characters. You see them as a family, too.

Naman Ramachandran BBC Three has acquired 10 x 45′ hit HBO Max reality dating competition show “FBoy Island” from Warner Bros International Television production. Created by Elan Gale and hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser, “FBoy Island” follows the adventures of Sarah, Nakia and C.J.

Former Academy Awards host Billy Crystal minced no words when talking about the slap heard ’round the world.

Tony Award-winning playwright J.T. Rogers knew why he wanted to be part of a TV series adaptation of Jake Adelstein’s time as a crime beat reporter in Japan.

Manori Ravindran International EditorA Vice Studios documentary series on the 2014 disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370 has been sold to History Channel in the U.S. and a raft of broadcasters in Europe.Vice Distribution, the global distribution and licensing arm of Vice Media Group, pre-sold the three-part series, entitled “MH370: The Lost Flight,” into A+E Networks’ History, TV2 in Denmark and Viaplay across its European territories (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Poland and the pan-Baltics).

HBO Max executive vice president and general manager Andy Forssell is leaving WarnerMedia ahead of the close of the company’s merger with Discovery, which is now set to close as early as Friday, Variety has learned.News that Forssell is out the door comes just as sources confirmed WarnerMedia studios and networks group chairman and CEO Ann Sarnoff was informed on Tuesday by leadership that her position would be eliminated, and follows WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar’s resignation this morning.As Variety reported earlier Tuesday, though insiders previously said the transaction between Discovery and WarnerMedia’s current owner AT&T would be formally completed on April 11, leading to the creation of new company Warner Bros. Discovery, two sources with knowledge of the situation say the merger is now expected to potentially be finalized by the close of business Friday.

After his stint as Marvel‘s “Iron Man,” Robert Downey Jr. has been moving into the role of producer.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Sherlock Holmes” film universe is expanding into TV, with HBO Max currently in early development on two spinoff shows, Variety has learned from sources.The potential shows would be set in the world of 2009’s “Sherlock Holmes” and 2011’s “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” starring Robert Downey Jr. as the master detective and Jude Law as Dr. John Watson, which were inspired by the books of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

HBO Max and Warner Bros. are looking to build a Sherlock Holmes film-TV universe in the mold of the TV series offshoots of Suicide Squad and The Batman on the WarnerMedia streamer.

Michael Mann’s first directorial effort since 2015’s “Blackhat” comes to HBO Max this Thursday, April 7th, with the highly anticipated debut of “Tokyo Vice,” the loose adaptation of the memoir of the same name by Jake Adelstein. At first, the series seems like a perfect fit for the director of “Miami Vice,” “Collateral,” and “Public Enemies.” It’s another stylish venture that centers on morally questionable men and the women who find themselves both drawn to them and betrayed by them.

“TokyoVice“ is an HBO Max companion piece to the Michael Mann-produced TV series “Miami Vice,” which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989. That show somehow hasn’t yet been revived beyond a single Mann-directed 2006 feature film, and now “Tokyo Vice” even boasts Mann as both its executive producer and its pilot-episode director.

HBO Max original series picks up 15 years later, with the beloved original cast spending two months in Rivera Maya in Mexico.  Three generations of Garcias sit in a beautiful room, while the family matriarch makes an announcement.