Warner Bros. TV Group and HBO Sign First-Look Deal with Stephanie Allain’s Homegrown Pictures

EXCLUSIVE: Spotting new IP whose series adaptation would produce the next big TV hit has become vital for the business as the competition for eyeballs in the expanding TV universe continues to intensify. With that in mind, Sony Pictures Television has signed a first-look deal with Matt DeVoe, co-founder and CCO of CovrPrice, a comic book collectibles platform, for him to identify new trends in IP for series development.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeSupermodel Bella Hadid has joined the cast of Hulu’s “Ramy” as a recurring guest star in Season 3. Details have not yet been revealed on Hadid’s character or her relationship to the show’s other characters just yet.“Ramy” reps the first credited scripted role for Hadid.

EXCLUSIVE: Women Write Now fellow Wilandrea Blair has been awarded a first-look deal with NBCUniversal Television & Streaming to develop projects for Peacock, which will be produced by LOL Studios.

We’re hearing that the Basic Instinct actress will be playing Victoria Kord.

EXCLUSIVE: Carlton Cuse is returning to Amazon Studios. The prolific, Emmy-winning writer-producer, who co-created and was showrunner for the first two seasons of the Prime Video Original Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, has signed a first-look deal with Amazon Studios. Under the multi-year pact, he will develop and produce projects to premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

The true-crime phenomenon—documentaries, movies, documentaries, series, and everything in between—has obviously hit an absolute zenith in recent years. This inexorable truth would explain why HBO Max would bother rehashing the mysterious circumstances of the death of Kathleen Peterson with their new scripted series “The Staircase” from showrunners Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohen (“American Crime Story”)—there’s still so much meat on the bone.

Julia Garner is going into business with Tomorrow Studios. The Ozark star — who formed Alma Margo with producing partner Rowan Riley — has signed a first-look deal with the company founded by CEO Marty Adelstein.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJulia Garner has signed a first-look television deal with Tomorrow Studios, Variety has learned.Under the deal, Garner and her producing partner, Rowan Riley, will develop scripted series via their Alma Margo production company for Tomorrow Studios, an ITV partnership.“Above all else, Alma Margo is looking for bold and original content, so we thought it only natural to partner with a studio that also fits that description,” said Garner and Riley. “We are incredibly proud to be working with Tomorrow Studios who exhibit every quality that we’re looking for in a partner: intelligence, drive, experience and passion.”Garner is perhaps best known for her role in the critically-acclaimed Netflix series “Ozark,” which will release the second half of its fourth and final season in April.

EXCLUSIVE: Call My Agent! and Marianne writer Quoc Dang Tran has struck a first-look deal with Universal International Studios, becoming the first French writer to sign such a deal with a major studio.

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Berman has entered a first-look book-to-screen deal with independent publisher Sourcebooks. Under the three-year pact, Berman’s Sony Pictures Television-based Osprey Productions will have a first look at all new titles that Sourcebooks acquires film and television rights to, as well as an overall look at the company’s extensive backlist of bestselling fiction.

EXCLUSIVE: MGM has signed a first-look feature film production deal with Oscar-winning writer Akiva Goldsman and his production company, Weed Road Pictures.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeCBS and the producers behind the network’s new reality series “Beyond the Edge” were bracing for their celebrity cast to mutiny. They even had contingency plans in place, just in case their stars decided to give up in the face of grueling conditions.“I remember in the middle of production, saying on multiple occasions, ‘I can’t believe they’re still out there,’” says CBS alternative series senior VP Mitch Graham. “You never know in a new format, what you’re going to get.

Manori Ravindran International EditorWarner Bros. Discovery’s plans to merge streaming services HBO Max and Discovery Plus in the U.S.

Emmy-nominated producer Stephanie Allain has signed a new first-look deal with Warner Bros. Television Group and HBO. The new agreement continues Allain’s relationship with the Studio, where she and her Homegrown Pictures production company has been under a first-look pact since February 2020. Allain and her Homegrown Pictures team, including Director of Development Gabrielle Ebron, will develop original scripted programming to be produced by Warner Bros. Television for HBO and HBO Max, external streaming services, cable, and broadcast.

Manori Ravindran International EditorTransatlantic production powerhouse Sister has hired Amazon Studios scripted executive Lydia Hampson as executive producer. The company has also struck a first-look deal with Hampson  and Amazon Studios U.K.Hampson most recently served as the head of U.K.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has ordered two seasons of an animated comedy from Ramy Youssef, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is part of new first-look deal Youssef and his Cairo Cowboy production banner have signed with the streamer.Youssef leads Cairo Cowboy with Andy Campagna, the former senior vice president of television for Sam Esmail’s Esmail Corp.“Ramy has only scratched the surface of his incredible creative gifts,” said Vernon Sanders, head of global television for Amazon.

EXCLUSIVE: Jaime Camil (Jane the Virgin, Coco) has signed a first look deal with VIS, a division of Paramount, to develop an array of TV and film projects for Paramount+.

Warner Bros made a slew of release-date moves for some high-profile movies today. Deadline hears that the changes are due in part to Covid-related delays.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThe Tonys will finally become the last of the major awards shows to air live across the continental United States. This year’s ceremony, which marks the 75th annual Tony Awards, will take place on Sunday, June 12, at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.Like last year, the four-hour ceremony will once again kick off with an exclusive start on Paramount Plus, before CBS joins in. But in 2022, the CBS broadcast has been restored to a full three hours (following last year’s two-hour show on the Eye).

Kate Aurthur editorMarielle Heller has set a new first-look deal with Paramount Television Studios for her company, Defiant by Nature. Along with producing partners Havilah Brewster and Leah Holzer, Heller will develop premium television shows for the studio across its platforms.Heller came to prominence as a writer-director for 2015’s “Diary of a Teenage Girl,” for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for best first feature.