Wendi McLendon-Covey Inks First-Look Deal With Sony Pictures Television

The first trailer for “Bros”, a rom-com about two gay men stumbling towards love, has been released by Universal Pictures.

Wendi McLendon-Covey received her big break at 42 in smash comedy Bridesmaids, and then her lead role in a network comedy at 43 - so the idea that there are no roles in Hollywood for women over the age of 40 is a topic the comedian is keen to dismantle.Exclusive: Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush talk growing up in the White House, motherhood and the power of sisterhood"There are lots more roles for women over 40, so much so we need to stop saying there are no roles," she tells HELLO! "I know a lot of people in that age bracket working, and working more than they ever had."WATCH: Wendi McLendon-Covey in The GoldbergsWendi recently signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television that will see her develop for the studio across all platforms. The deal also comes as ABC also renewed her long-running family sitcom The Goldbergs for a 10th season and Wendi continues her successful podcast Generation Ripe, with fashion art director and producer Dfernando Zaremba, that interviews 'teenagers over 40'.At 52, life is in full swing for Wendi - and things are only looking up.Exclusive: Christie Brinkley has a new lease on life as she shares rare details of love lifeExclusive: 9-1-1 Lone Star's Tim Minear teases season four and a Tarlos wedding after explosive finale "I am not saying my 30s sucked, but it just didn't feel as good as my 40s.

Universal Pictures has entered into a first-look production deal with “The Notebook” author Nicholas Sparks to bring three of his more recent novels to the big screen, starting with last year’s runaway hit “The Wish.” Sparks and Anonymous Content will partner to produce three feature films for Universal, each one based on one of his most recent books, though only a film based on “The Wish” was announced on Tuesday. Zack Hayden will produce “The Wish” on behalf of Anonymous Content with oversight by Anonymous Content CEO Dawn Olmstead and CCO David Levine, alongside Theresa Park, Sparks’ longtime literary agent and collaborator, and Universal Pictures’ Vice President of Production Development, Lexi Barta.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook) has entered into a first-look production agreement with Universal Pictures, which will see him produce three features for the studio alongside Anonymous Content.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a first look image from supernatural horror-mystery The Queen Mary, starring Alice Eve and Joel Fry. The title, which is from The Woman In Black outfit White Horse Pictures, is directed by Dracula Untold helmer Gary Shore.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Snowpiercer” producer Tomorrow Studios has struck a first-look deal with Frank Spotnitz’s London-based production company Big Light Prods.Under the deal, Tomorrow Studios will tap into Big Light’s network of established and emerging writers and its pursuit of IP for projects to produce together under one development slate.Big Light Prods. specializes in returning and limited dramas for the global market.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaWestEnd Films has closed a series of new deals on “Out of the Blue,” an upcoming thriller that brings together Neil LaBute and Diane Kruger.Rights for the film, which LaBute writes and directs, have gone to Australia and New Zealand (Kismet Movies), France (Metropolitan Filmexport), Germany (Koch Films), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Italy (Eagle Pictures), Middle East (Phoenicia Pictures) Israel (Forum Film), Poland (Galapagos Films), Greece (Spentzos Film), former Yugoslavia (Investacommerce) and Portugal (Nos Lusomundo). WestEnd is also sharing a moody first-look image.Kruger, best known for her performances in “Inglourious Basterds” and “Troy,” leads an ensemble that also includes Ray Nicholson (“Promising Young Woman”), Hank Azaria (“Love & Other Drugs”) and Chase Sui Wonders (“Genera+ion”).

Manori Ravindran International EditorIn one of the first major deals of the Cannes market, Sony Pictures Classics has swooped on Un Certain Regard title “All The People I’ll Never Be.” The distributor has picked up rights in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.The film, which is written and directed by Davy Chou (“Diamond Island”), will be re-titled as “Return to Seoul.” It premieres in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday.The pic centers on 25-year-old Freddie, who impulsively returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.

EXCLUSIVE: Here is the hot project for international buyers for next week’s Cannes Market. Sony Pictures has preemptively acquired US rights to Miramax’s Here, a film adaptation of the celebrated Richard McGuire graphic novel that will reunite the Forrest Gump team: Academy Award-winners director Robert Zemeckis, screenwriter Eric Roth and star Tom Hanks, with Robin Wright also starring. It’s the quartet’s first time back together since the 1994 film classic, which won six Oscars including Best Picture.

“Virgin River” gets its season 4 release date.

Newly minted Oscar winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) joins the cast of HBO’s Westworld as a recurring guest star for the upcoming eight-episode fourth season, which premieres June 26 and will be available to stream on HBO Max.

Refresh for latest…: For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, Sony Pictures Entertainment saw a 172% increase in operating income to 217.4 billion yen ($1.67 billion). Revenues hit 1,239 billion yen ($9.5 billion), up 55% versus the previous year.

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has extended Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Ben Karlin and his Superego Industries’ first-look deal.

First pictures of the brand new Love Island villa have been unveiled, revealing tradesmen are already hard at work to get it up to top shape ahead of the ITV show's return on 6 June.The new Mallorcan mansion boasts six bedrooms and sits at the foot of a big hill in a rural area of the island. Rustic in appearance, the rock-walled abode has two floors with a large outdoor area complete with what appears to be a pool. Currently under construction, the house has a tractor on the premises in the photos while scaffolding can be seen in various areas.

Wendi McLendon-Covey became an instantly iconic television mom the moment she donned Beverly Goldberg's feathered locks on. But even after nine seasons of her hit ABC comedy, the hilarious actress has a hard time counting herself among the greats.«That anyone would consider me an iconic TV mom is such a compliment, because I grew up with Marion Cunningham and June Cleaver and all the greats,» McLendon-Covey told ET's Kevin Frazier as she was honored as one of ET's Iconic TV Moms this Mother's Day. «I loved watching those moms, and now that I’m playing a mom, oh my god, I have such a new respect for moms everywhere, because it is not up for the faint of heart.»As for what other TV character she'd compare Beverly to, the star named Cloris Leachman's memorable nosy neighbor, Phyllis Lindstrom, from «She was actively helicopter parenting,» she noted with a laugh.

Jennie Punter “The Queendom,” one of 20 projects presented at Hot Docs’ marquee market event, the Forum, has won the First Look first prize of Can. $25,000 cash, one of three pitch prizes announced Thursday at the festival.The documentary and science-fiction hybrid—about three Indigenous scientists, all women, who decide to partner with mushrooms to fight for their territories—is directed by Otilia Portillo and produced by Paula Arroio Sandoval for Mexico’s Oscura Producciones S.A.

EXCLUSIVE: XYZ Films has boarded worldwide sales rights to Hounds Of War starring Frank Grillo, Robert Patrick, and Rhona Mitra, and directed by Isaac Florentine.

Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone’s indie studio Sister has entered a first-look deal with the new production company Wychwood Media, from Harry Potter filmmaker David Yates and his producing partner, Lewis Taylor. Under the pact, the pair will develop and produce both scripted and unscripted film, television and documentary content for Sister’s offices in both the U.S. and UK. Yates will also have the option to direct projects coming together through the deal.

Sister, the independent studio founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone, has entered into a first look deal with Wychwood Media, a new production company from Lewis Taylor and “Harry Potter” and “Fantastic Beasts” director David Yates.Under the pact, Yates and Taylor will develop and produce both scripted and unscripted film, television, and documentary content for Sister for both its U.S. and UK offices.

EXCLUSIVE: Molly Shannon has closed a one-year first-look development deal with HBO Max. Under the pact, the streamer will get first crack at projects from the Saturday Night Live alumna.