MGM Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix is adding another live sports event to its calendar: the Netflix Slam, featuring Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in a special one-night tennis exhibition match. The event is scheduled for Sunday, March 3, 2024, at noon PT at the Michelob Ultra Arena at MGM Resorts International’s Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. It will stream as a duaI broadcast in English- and Spanish-language markets.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Stan Rogow, a veteran writer, producer and music manager who was a key player in such series as “Lizzie McGuire” and “Fame” and the 1986 feature “Clan of the Cave Bear, died Dec. 7 at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 75.

Selome Hailu Amazon Prime Video has renewed “Harlem” for a third season. From “Girls Trip” and “The Blackening” writer Tracy Oliver, “Harlem” follows four best friends in Harlem — Camille (Meagan Good), Tye (Jerrie Johnson), Quinn (Grace Byers) and Angie (Shonique Shandai) — who navigate new phases of their careers, relationships and big city dreams together.

Leverage: Redemption will be back for a third season on a new platform. Amazon MGM Studios has renewed the popular heist-drama series, whose first two seasons streamed on Freevee, and is moving to Prime Video for Season 3. The third season will premiere on Prime Video next year in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Maroon 5 is returning to Dolby Live at Park MGM in 2024!

Caroline Brew editor Alecia Christina Dixon-Kurschner, a television distribution executive, died on Nov. 23 after a battle with ovarian cancer. She was 60.

Alecia Dixon-Kurschner, a TV distribution executive who held senior positions at MGM, Miramax and Starz before becoming an independent consultant several years ago, died of ovarian cancer at her home in the Minneapolis suburb of Excelsior, Minnesota, Nov. 23. She was 60.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Leverage: Redemption” has been renewed for Season 3, but will be changing platforms. The first two seasons aired on Amazon‘s Freevee, but Season 3 will debut on sister streamer Prime Video in 2024 instead. The move is significant, as “Leverage: Redemption,” a revival of the TNT series “Leverage,” was one of the major scripted titles available on Freevee.

EXCLUSIVE: The Artists Equity movie Unstoppable remains exactly that: After the production was shut down during the WGA strike, the William Goldenberg directed, Jennifer Lopez and Jharrel Jerome starring sports movie will return to shooting on Dec. 12 with Don Cheadle, Michael Peña and Bobby Cannavale joining the cast.

Prime Video has confirmed an eight-episode series order for the drama Cruel Intentions and announced the full cast.

Saltburn, the gothic romance thriller from Oscar winner Emerald Fennell, will be available to stream worldwide on Prime Video on Dec. 22. The news comes after the Jacob Elordi, Barry Keoghan, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, and Carey Mulligan movie had an amazing post-Thanksgiving hold at the box office of -10% in its third weekend with $1.678M at 1,566 theaters.

Reacher will be searching for more truths after being handed an early season 3 renewal.

Ronald Gladden made his acting debut in the Freevee comedy Jury Duty earlier this year, and he’s just getting started!

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Jury Duty” star Ronald Gladden has signed an overall deal with Amazon MGM Studios, Variety has learned. Under the two-year deal, Gladden will work with the studio to produce, develop, and star in content across platforms. “Words cannot express how excited I am to officially be a part of the Amazon family,” said Gladden.

Ronald Gladden‘s star continues to rise in Hollywood, following his achievements on the surprise hit series Jury Duty, a top-secret docu-style comedy created by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. He has signed a two-year overall deal with Amazon MGM Studios to produce, develop, and star in a variety of content.

Tatiana Siegel For the past few years, Joel Silver has kept a relatively low profile, his most recent credit on the little-seen “SuperFly” remake of 2018. Still, the hard-charging producer behind some of the biggest hits of the ’80s and ’90s was attempting to mount a comeback. And his prospects looked promising with a series of feature film and TV projects at Amazon that were based on Donald E.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The world of “The Boys” could soon be expanding to Mexico. According to sources, Amazon is currently developing a Spanish-language spinoff of their popular dark superhero series based on the Garth Ennis/Darick Robertson comic books that would be set in Mexico City. Exact plot details remain under wraps.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series, spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts, continues with Saltburn, the brutally dark satirical thriller written and directed by Emerald Fennell. The pic marks her sophomore feature, on the heels of the Best Original Screenplay Oscar winner Promising Young Woman. 

Thania Garcia Jennifer Lopez‘s ninth studio album finally has a release date. The full-length “This Is Me…Now” will arrive on Feb.

Jennifer Lopez’s first studio album in a decade, This Is Me…Now, has been set for release on February 16, 2024.

Newgrange Signs Business Affairs & Development Chiefs

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios has ordered a pilot based on the Charlie Bone children’s/YA fantasy novels.

Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson are leading the cast of A Very Royal Scandal, Prime Video‘s upcoming limited series about Prince Andrew’s disastrous interview with Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis, in which he explained his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.  The series is currently in production in the UK.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Amazon is making a limited series about Prince Andrew’s disastrous interview with Newsnight journalist Emily Maitlis, Variety has learned. Production is underway in the U.K. on the three-part series, titled “A Very Royal Scandal.” Michael Sheen will star as Prince Andrew, while Ruth Wilson will play Maitlis.

Michaela Zee A fourth “Creed” film is in development with Michael B. Jordan set to direct the upcoming installment, franchise producer Irwin Winkler has revealed. Jordan made his directorial debut with “Creed 3,” in which he also starred as heavyweight champ Adonis Creed from the “Rocky” spinoff film series.

Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles kicks off Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. PT spotlighting 28 movies, with panel discussions featuring cast and creatives from this awards season’s most talked-about films, including actors scheduled to return to post-strike duty from Margot Robbie, Bradley Cooper, Cillian Murphy, Jeffrey Wright, Colman Domingo, Lily Gladstone, Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Annette Bening to Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Carey Mulligan, Anna Kendrick, Eve Hewson and America Ferrara.

The Bosch universe is expanding further. Prime Video has given a 10-episode series order to the Untitled Renée Ballard project, a Bosch spinoff about the LAPD’s Cold Case Division.

EXCLUSIVE: Gato Grande, an Amazon MGM Studios company, has optioned the rights to Ana Reyes’ bestselling novel The House in the Pines, for television development.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Amazon Prime Video has ordered a “Bosch” spinoff about the LAPD’s cold case division and Det. Renée Ballard. The 10-episode series was first reported as being in the works at Amazon MGM Studios in February.

As Deadline revealed exclusively on Monday, Netflix‘s hit seriesWednesday will be moving locations, with the upcoming second season filming in Ireland.

There is an update about the long-awaited live-action Masters of the Universe project.

Michaela Zee “Wednesday” is moving production from Romania to Ireland for Season 2, and is tentatively scheduled to start shooting in April, Variety has confirmed. The eight-episode first season, which originally debuted last November on Netflix, was shot in Romania from September 2021 to March 2022.

Amazon MGM Studios is eyeing a live-action Masters of the Universe film, based on the popular ’80s toys from Mattel, Deadline can confirm. While in very early talks, the project would come over to the streamer from Netflix, where it fell apart over the summer.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer In “Masters of the Universe,” He-Man’s nemesis is the evil wizard Skeletor. In Hollywood, his greatest threat has been a list of studio partners that have sidelined him from the big screen for nearly two decades. The blond barbarian, based on a popular set of Mattel toys, may finally win the day.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The publisher of best-selling romantasy book “Fourth Wing” is working to “swiftly” resolve the “frustrating” misprint issues with “Iron Flame,” the sequel from author Rebecca Yarros, which sold more than half a million copies on its Tuesday release day alone. Entangled Publishing, the owner of Red Tower Books, the imprint behind “Fourth Wing” and “Iron Flame” issued a statement to Variety on Friday, following numerous social media posts and online customer reviews that cited misprints with physical hardback copies of “Iron Flame,” as well as the new holiday edition of “Fourth Wing,” both released Nov. 7.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Yes, SAG-AFTRA talks with the AMPTP are ongoing, but there’s still an awards season to track. Honoring the best achievements in film and television, the guild’s highest honor has become a critical bellwether during the awards season. The union has made it clear submitting for awards consideration is not considered a “promotion” under the current strike order.