YG Exec Producing ‘Don’t Come To L.A.’ Rapper Drama In Works At Amazon MGM Studios

EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood Trailblazer: The Debra Hill Story, a feature documentary about Debra Hill, the late producer and co-writer of classic movies such as Halloween (1978) and The Fog (1980), has moved into production with Causeway Pictures. 

Lupita Nyong’o has joined Goodbye Julia, Sudan’s entry for this year’s Best International feature race at the Oscars, as an executive producer.

The executive producers of critically acclaimed BBC prison drama Time have launched their own scripted production operation.

EXCLUSIVE: DeWanda Wise is toplining Lionsgate and Blumhouse‘s original horror movie Imaginary which is set for theatrical release on March 8, 2024.

Harry: The Interview EP Nat Lippiett and BBC factual entertainment commissioner Clare Mottershead have joined Orchard Studios, the nascent UK unscripted indie run by former Amazon UK programs chief Dan Grabiner and ex-The Garden boss Nicola Hill.

EXCLUSIVE: Vanessa Kirby and Lauren Dark have come aboard as exec producers for Swiss Oscar entry Thunder from writer-director Carmen Jacquier. Kirby & Dark’s Aluna Entertainment will back the awards push for the film in the race for Best International Feature. 

EXCLUSIVE: Big shift in the film distribution sphere here today as Searchlight’s longtime Head of Distribution Frank Rodriguez is heading to Amazon MGM Studios as their new General Sales Manager.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Archstone Entertainment has acquired worldwide sales rights to “Don Q,” a comedic tribute to mafia movies that stars Armand Assante, no stranger to the genre from his work in HBO’s “Gotti” and “American Gangster.” It was written and directed by Claudio Bellante. Sales for the film kicked off this week at AFM. The film follows Assante’s character, who thinks of himself as a Don Corleone but is really more of a Don Quixote.

David Corvo, considered the driving force behind Dateline, NBC’s top-rated and longest-running primetime series, is stepping down as Senior Executive Producer at the end of the year. He will remain with NBC News as an adviser on various projects, reporting to Rebecca Blumenstein, President of Editorial at NBC News.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios has snapped up rights to Rebecca Yarros‘ fantasy book series The Empyrean, and is moving to develop its first title, Fourth Wing, for TV alongside Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Amazon MGM Studios, the renamed joint venture of Amazon Studios and MGM, has acquired rights to James Ponti’s popular children’s book series “City Spies” and is developing a film based on the first novel. The idea is for the initial installment to launch a global franchise, described by the company as a “four-quadrant action-adventure that will delight audiences of all ages and as a universe-building property for the studio.” The story follows a 12-year-old coding prodigy, who is recruited by an eccentric MI6 agent to join the City Spies, a team of kids from around the world who feel unnoticed in their own lives.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter A series version of the iconic horror film “Poltergeist” is currently in early development at Amazon MGM Studios, Variety has learned exclusively. No writer is currently attached to the project. Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will executive produce on behalf of Amblin Television.

Seth Rogen is swapping the film lot for the pottery studio.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Funny Birds,” an heartwarming comedy-drama starring Andrea Riseborough, Catherine Deneuve and Morgan Saylor, has sold in key territories in the run up to the AFM. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the movie is directed by Marco La Via and Hanna Ladoul.

Once (or even twice) apparently isn’t enough when it comes to Stieg Larsson‘s “Millennium” trilogy. Variety reports that Amazon MGM Studios has a new series adaptation of Larsson’s nordic noir book series in the works; moviegoers may better know them for “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” which David Fincher did his own take of back in 2011 as part of his lean, mean, airport paperback adaptation phase that also included 2014’s “Gone Girl.” READ MORE: David Fincher Is Proud Of ‘Dragon Tattoo’ But Admits The Film Is “A Swing & A Miss” Amazon/MGM first announced their new adaptation was in development in May 2020, but without a showrunner attached.

PBS is delving into the question – how can we become the great ancestors the future needs us to be? The public broadcaster is set to air A Brief History Of The Future, a new six-part non-fiction documentary series that explores how re-thinking tomorrow can bring long-term change.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is being made into a TV series.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” series currently in the works at Amazon MGM Studios has found its showrunner. Variety has learned exclusively that Veena Sud will head up the series, which will be set in the world of the so-called Millennium novels originally written by Stieg Larsson. Variety previously reported that the series was in development in May 2020, though no showrunner was attached at that time.

EXCLUSIVE: After circling rights for weeks to the buzzy Vanity Fair article “True Crime, True Faith: The Serial Killer and the Texas Mom Who Stopped Him,” Amazon MGM Studios has locked them down, Deadline understands.

Amazon MGM Studios is adapting Marisa Meltzer’s New York Times bestselling book Glossy, an expose on the success of beauty brand Glossier and its founder Emily Weiss, for television. The project is in early development; a search for a showrunner is underway, Deadline hears.