‘True Detective’ Creator Nic Pizzolatto to Develop Western Drama Series at Amazon

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Newly-minted Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis is set to guest star in the upcoming Amazon comedy series “The Sticky.” It was previously announced that Curtis would executive produce the series, which was ordered at Amazon in April 2022. In addition, Guillaume Cyr (“Louis Cyr,” “The New Life of Paul Sneijder”) has joined the show in one of its lead roles alongside Margo Martindale and Chris Diamantopoulos. Production is now underway on the series in and around Montreal. As previously announced, the series is inspired by the true story of the “Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist,” in which 70% of the world’s global maple syrup supply was stolen.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max is developing a drama series based on the life of Heidi Fleiss, Variety has learned exclusively. The untitled series hails from writer and executive producer Maggie Cohn, who most recently served as the co-showrunner on HBO Max’s critically acclaimed limited series “The Staircase.” Fleiss will serve as a consultant on the project. Emma Tillinger Koskoff (“Joker,” The Irishman”) of First Love Films will also executive produce, along with Alex Goldstone (“Dickinson”) for Anonymous Content, Bill Gerber (“Muhammed Ali,” “A Star Is Born”) of Gerber Pictures, and David Bernon, Paul Bernon, and Sam Slater of Burn Later Productions (“Support the Girls,” “Mile 22,” “Drinking Buddies”).

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LILLE, France — Paramount+ will be bowing “Drag Race Italia” Season 3 on the streaming service in Italy, followed by the U.S. and Latin America later this year.  The Italian Season 3 follows on the recent announcement of three new “Drag Race” editions in Brazil, Germany and Mexico and a “Global Drag Race All Stars,” which will air on Paramount+ in their respective territories this year, Paramount+ announced Wednesday. “As we expand Paramount+’s global footprint, it was important to recapture ‘Drag Race’ in key international markets and also build an interconnected competition series with a new ‘Global Drag Race All Stars’ – it’s like a global Super Bowl for Drag,” said Chris McCarthy, president-CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Networks.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Amazon has ordered a series version of the E. Lockhart novel “We Were Liars” from Julie Plec and Carina Adly MacKenzie. “We’ve been obsessed with this beloved story for years and for a while it seemed like it might be the one that got away from us,” Plec and MacKenzie said. “But finally, we are elated to be bringing it to life with everyone at Prime Video and UTV, who are just as passionate about this twisty tale as we are. We‘re also incredibly grateful that the author has joined our creative team behind the scenes. As die-hard book fans ourselves, we have one message to the many loyal readers out there: if anyone asks you how it ends… just lie.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Sarah Shahi has been cast in the lead role of the ABC drama pilot “Judgement,” Variety has learned. The project was originally ordered to pilot at the broadcaster in December. Shahi will star in the role of Mia Bahari in the show, which is described as a high-stakes legal soap. Per the official character description, “We’ll meet Mia Bahari in two distinct periods of her life. In one, she’s a brilliant, successful Appeals Court judge being vetted for the U.S. Supreme Court…so long as her dark and painful secrets don’t derail the nomination. In another, she’s a young spitfire of an attorney, painfully awkward at times but ingenious when it comes to navigating the many nuances of the law. She’s also caught romantically between two feuding brothers who are at the root of the very things she’s trying to hide from her Supreme Court investigators.”

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson will reunite in a new comedy at Apple TV+ with Emmy award winning David West Read attached to create and executive produce.The 10-episode half-hour series, which is currently untitled, centers on a “heartfelt odd couple love story revolving around the strange and beautiful bond” between McConaughey and Harrelson’s characters. Their friendship is tested, however, when the pair takes their bond to the next level by inviting their combined families to live together on McConaughey’s ranch in Texas.After most recently gracing screens a dynamic detective duo Martin Hart and Rustin Cohle in “True Detective” Season 1, which premiered in 2014, McConaughey and Harrelson will executive produce alongside Read in addition to starring in the comedy series.After first working together on satire flick “Edtv” in 1999, the pair also teamed up in 2008 comedy “Surfer, Dude” before eventually reuniting again for the anthology crime drama created by Nic Pizzolatto.Produced for Apple TV+ by Skydance Television, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Matt Thunell will serve as executive producers for Skydance Television with Bill Bost and Jeremy Plager.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Taylor Sheridan’s upcoming Paramount+ series “Lioness” has cast Bassem Youssef in a guest starring role, Variety has learned exclusively. Youssef will now appear in a cast that includes Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Dave Annable, Jill Wagner, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan, Austin Hébert, Jonah Wharton, Stephanie Nur, Hannah Love Lanier, Michael Kelly, Morgan Freeman, and Nicole Kidman. The official logline states that the show “is based on a real-life CIA program and follows Cruz Manuelos (De Oliveira), a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine recruited to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter David Chase and Hannah Fidell are teaming on a new show at FX that the network has given a pilot commitment, Variety has learned. According to FX, the untitled series is based on one of Chase’s previously unproduced scripts of which Fidell has written a contemporary take. Further plot details are being kept under wraps. Chase and Fidell are both credited as co-writers and co-creators on the show as well as executive producers. Fidell will direct the pilot. Nicole Lambert of Chase Films will also executive produce, with FX Productions producing. Fidell is currently under a first-look deal at FX.

While the past two seasons of HBO‘s “True Detective” didn’t measure up to the first, the show still cements Nic Pizzolatto as one of the better TV writers out there. But Pizzolatto isn’t part of the upcoming “True Detective: Night Country,” so what’s his next project? Well, THR reports that he’s at work with Amazon on a new series that may be Prime Video‘s answer to Taylor Sheridan‘s “Yellowstone” behemoth.

A final trip to Montana? Rumors about the future of Yellowstone have been swirling since the first half of season 5 wrapped up in early 2023 — and the cast has had plenty to say about it.

reported in January 2021 that his series under the deal, “Redeemer,” which had “True Detective” Season 1 star Matthew McConaughey attached to star, was no longer moving forward.After creating HBO’s “True Detective,” Pizzolatto remains credited as an executive producer for the fourth season, which has been titled “True Detective: Night Country” and will premiere this year with stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis acting as the leading detective duo.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Demi Singleton is the latest addition to the cast of the “Bass Reeves” series at Paramount+, Variety has learned exclusively. Singleton will appear in the period drama as a series regular opposite series lead David Oyelowo, who will star as the titular legendary lawman. Additional cast members include Barry Pepper, Dennis Quaid, Forrest Goodluck, Lauren E. Banks, and Grantham Coleman. Per the official logline, the show “will bring the legendary lawman of the wild west to life. Reeves, known as the greatest frontier hero in American history, worked in the post-Reconstruction era as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory, capturing over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded.”

There is no shortage of "Yellowstone" drama on and off the screen, especially with rumors circulating that the show could be ending after season five. Piper Perabo and Lainey Wilson, both actresses on the hit show, spoke out about the rampant rumors while at the Billboard Women in Music awards gala. "I mean there's always a lot of drama when it comes to ‘Yellowstone,’ don't believe everything you hear," Perabo, who plays environmental activist Summer Higgins, told Entertainment Tonight.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Zachary Quinto has been cast in the lead role of the NBC drama pilot “Wolf,” Variety has learned. The project was first ordered to pilot at the broadcaster back in January. It is inspired by the books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “An Anthropologist on Mars” by Oliver Sacks. Per the official logline, “Wolf” will follow “a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist (Quinto) and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.” Quinto’s character is named Dr. Oliver Wolf. He is further described as “head of neurology at Bronx General and an obsessive genius. He’s drawn to people that society has deemed “other” and helps them find hope and purpose. He embraces differences rather than suppressing them.”

Easing fans’ concerns. Yellowstone star Wes Bentley reacted to rumors that Kevin Costner plans to leave the series — and he doesn’t think viewers need to worry about the show’s future.

True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto is set to make his feature film directorial debut with “Easy’s Waltz,” an indie drama set in Las Vegas that is starring Vince Vaughn. Vaughn will play a struggling crooner and comedian trying to find his way through the minefield of modern Las Vegas with other entertainers who have crawled the Strip for decades.

Ever since it was announced that HBO would be moving on with “True Detective” without the help of series creator Nic Pizzolatto, people have been wondering what the filmmaker would be doing next. Well, it appears Pizzolatto has found his next project, “Easy’s Waltz,” and it’s about as anti-“True Detective” as possible.  READ MORE: Kali Reis To Star Alongside Jodie Foster In ‘True Detective: Night Country’ From Writer-Director Issa López According to Deadline, Nic Pizzolatto is set to write and direct the indie drama, “Easy’s Waltz.” Not only that, he’s also found his main cast, as Vince Vaughn, Michelle Monaghan, Al Pacino, and Simon Rex have all been signed.

EXCLUSIVE: Nic Pizzolatto has found his first feature film directing gig as the True Detective creator is set to direct the indie drama Easy’s Waltz. Vince Vaughn, Michelle Monaghan, Al Pacino and Simon Rex are set to star with Pizzolatto also penning the script. Margot Hand is producing.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Apple has given a series order to the drama “The Last Frontier” with Jason Clarke set to play the lead role, Variety has learned. The series hails from creators Jon Bokenkamp, who previously created the hit NBC series “The Blacklist,” and Richard D’Ovidio, who previously worked with Bokenkamp on the 2013 film “The Call” as well as on “The Blacklist” and “The Blacklist: Redemption.” In the 10-episode series, Clarke will star as US Marshal Frank Remnick, the lone Marshal in the barrens of Alaska. Per the official logline, “Frank’ s jurisdiction is turned upside-down when a prison transport plane crashes in the remote wilderness, setting free dozens of violent inmates. Tasked with protecting the town he’s vowed to keep safe, he begins to suspect the crash wasn’t an accident, but the first step of a well-crafted plan with international political implications.”

“Yellowstone” is reportedly in limbo amid behind-the-scenes tension between Kevin Costner and creator Taylor Sheridan. As the show’s diehard fans wait to see how the alleged drama will shake out, ET is taking a look at the supposed rift and what lead to up to it.