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Exclusive: Topher Grace is set to join the ensemble cast of the untitled A24 pic that has Chris Rock directing and starring in. The film also features Rosalind Eleazar, Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya and Anna Kendrick. Rock also penned the script.

Currently in production in Los Angeles, the film follows Misty Green, a gifted actress with a derailed career until someone from her past offers her a chance at a comeback. Character details for Grace are under wraps.

Peter Rice, Rock and David Worthen Brooks are producing, with Nelson George, Shaum Sengupta and Miles Alva exec producing.

Grace is coming off his scene stealing role as the villain in the Netflix drama The Waterfront, which also stars Maria Bello and Holt McCallany. He also recently joined the cast of the horror pic Buddy also starring Cristin Milioti.

Grace is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners, CAA and attorney David Matlof.

YA dystopian movie adaptations were a major trend during the 2010s. It all started with The Hunger Games movies in 2012, which, based on the books by Suzanne Collins, have made $3.3 billion at the box office and lived on even after the trend has died, with The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes becoming a hit in 2023 and a sequel, Sunrise on the Reaping, set for 2026.

Other examples that found success include the three Maze Runner movies, based on the books by James Dashner, which made $949 million at the box office, and the three Divergent movies, based on the books by Veronica Roth, which, despite being panned by critics, made $765 million at the box office.

Other examples include I Am Number Four (2011), Ender's Game, The Host, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (all 2013), The Giver (2014), and The Darkest Minds (2018). Steven Spielberg even got in on the trend with Ready Player One (2018). However,...

Adam Sandler is having a great summer so far, and it’s not just because of his long-anticipated Happy Gilmore sequel, Happy Gilmore 2. Another Sandler sequel movie is climbing up Netflix’s Top 10.

Per FlixPatrol, Grown Ups 2, which was released in 2013 and is a follow-up to 2010’s Grown Ups,is in the No. 9 spot in Netflix’s Top 10 as of Aug. 2. Sandler fans seemingly can’t get enough of the funnyman, as Happy Gilmore 2 is the No. 1 movie on the streamer and the first Grown Ups film is in the No. 7 spot. Even his 2018 animated movie, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, is in the top 10, ranking in a respectable third place.

In Grown Ups 2, Sandler’s Lenny Feder moves back to his hometown to be near his childhood friends and to escape his busy Los Angeles lifestyle. Instead of finding the quiet life he longs for, Lenny...

Another cult classic is getting the sequel treatment, twenty-five years after debuting. Coyote Ugly, directed by David McNally and released on August 4, 2000, is reportedly in talks for a follow-up production, as revealed by one of its original stars. The film was not much of a critical success but went on to smash the box office, grossing over $113 million worldwide, and has since developed a loving fan base. It stars Piper Perabo in her breakthrough role, along with Adam Garcia, Melanie Lynskey, John Goodman, Tyra Banks, Maria Bello, Izabella Miko, and Bridget Moynahan.

During a recent visit to The Hollywood Reporter’s suite at San Diego Comic-Con to promote her upcoming spy-thriller series Butterfly, Perabo revealed that there has been “some discussion” about a Coyote Ugly sequel. This comes five years after Banks claimed that she had been lobbying the original production team for a sequel for years. Not to mention,...

Piper Perabo says there has been “some discussion” about a sequel to Coyote Ugly.

The actress visited The Hollywood Reporter‘s suite at San Diego Comic-Con to promote her upcoming spy-thriller series Butterfly, alongside castmembers including Daniel Dae Kim, who stars in and executive produces the Prime Video series.

The film, which was released 25 years ago next month, stars Perabo as an aspiring songwriter who moves to New York to pursue her dreams and winds up taking a job at a trendy bar, Coyote Ugly. The cast also includes Adam Garcia, John Goodman, Maria Bello, Izabella Miko, Tyra Banks, Bridget Moynahan and Melanie Lynskey.

THR‘s Tiffany Taylor interviewed Perabo at Comic-Con, noting that there has been talk of a sequel over the years and asked what the status is.

Kim interjected, jokingly, with a suggestion for a title: “Coyote Uglier?” Quipped Perabo: “Coyote-er Ugly?”

Choosing her words very carefully,...

Netflix’s The Waterfront arrived on screens June 19, promising a Southern crime saga with all the hallmarks of Yellowstone’s rugged family empire drama. But in the murky swamps of North Carolina rather than Montana’s open plains.

Created by Kevin Williamson, known for Scream and Dawson’s Creek, the show centers on Harlan Buckley (Holt McCallany), a grizzled patriarch struggling through a second heart attack while clutching a glass of whiskey. Alongside his wife, Mae (Maria Bello), and their fractured children, the Buckleys juggle a commercial fishing business with a darker, illicit drug smuggling trade.

Critics and audiences alike have spotted the spitting image of Yellowstone’s Duttons in the Buckleys, as The Waterfront shot straight to the top of Netflix’s charts in a matter of days (per Tudum). But it has also left viewers polarized. As FandomWire observes, the series feels like Dawson’s Creek or The O.C. for...

Since the hot new crime drama series The Waterfront premiered on Netflix on June 19, the streaming serviced has a released a number of hit series, like Squid Game season 3, The Sandman season 2 volume 1, and the overnight limited series sensation Untamed. But The Waterfront has remained a staple on the Netflix top 10 ever since its drop, even with all these great new releases.

However, in spite of the show's viewership success, we're still waiting for Netflix to reveal whether The Waterfront season 2 has been renewed one month since the show's premiere. It's not out of the ordinary for the streamer to wait a month or more to announce a renewal (or cancellation) of a new series, as Ransom Canyon season 2's announcement arrived about two months after season 1.

The Waterfront season 2 renewal should happen

Still, The Waterfront isn't your run of the mill new Netflix show. While it's not a dominating smash like Stranger Things,...

Adam Sandler fans are likely gearing up for Happy Gilmore 2, the sequel to 1996’s Happy Gilmore, but another potential sequel starring the comedian may be on the horizon. Sandler’s films Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2, released in 2010 and 2013, respectively, may not have been well-received by critics, but fans have been wondering if a threequel would ever happen.

The movies, headed up by Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph, and Maria Bello, have remained a success more than a decade after being released, with the first one recently trending on streaming. Now, per The Direct,Kevin James says not all hope is lost on a third Grown Ups movie.

Kevin James: ’Keep Hope Alive’ for Grown Ups 3

When asked if there have been any conversations recently about rebooting the Grown Ups franchise, James told the outlet, “I think there have been. And I think,...

Netflix may have said goodbye to Ozark, but its spiritual successor is holding the fort — and then some. The Waterfront, the streamer’s new gritty crime drama, has proven to be a major global hit, dominating Netflix’s Top 10 English-language shows list for three straight weeks before finally dropping to No. 2 in its fourth week. The series, which features a sharp ensemble cast and moody slow-burn storytelling in the tradition of Ozark and Bloodline, has pulled in over 36 million views globally and racked up 229 million hours of watch time. While it finally slipped from the top spot this week — replaced by The Sandman Season 2 — The Waterfront’s initial run has been nothing short of a win for Netflix.

Created by Scream and Dawson’s Creek mastermind Kevin Williamson, The Waterfrontfollows the Buckley family, owners of a North Carolina fishery with a long history of shady side hustles. But despite the pedigree...

The Criterion Collection‘s October line-up is stacked with genre heavy hitters: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Eyes Without a Face, The Shrouds, A History of Violence, Altered States, Deep Crimson, and Nightmare Alley.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on October 7.

Serving a prequel to “Twin Peaks,” the 1992 psychological horror film is directed by David Lynch from a script he co-wrote with Robert Engels.

Director-approved special features:

4K digital restoration, with 7.1 surround DTS-hd Master Audio soundtrack, both supervised by director David Lynch Alternate original 2.0 surround DTS-hd Master Audio soundtrack One 4K Uhd disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features The Missing Pieces, ninety minutes of deleted and alternate takes from the film, assembled by Lynch Interview by Lynch with actors Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, and Grace Zabriskie Interviews with Lee and composer Angelo Badalamenti...

Maria Bello is an actress known for her roles on ER, Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

She is known for her work with the Save Darfur Coalition.

Charities & foundations supported

Maria Bello has supported the following charities:

Artists for Peace and JusticeDeclare YourselfGive LoveJoyful Heart FoundationKivaSave the ChildrenSomaly Mam FoundationUS Doctors for AfricaWe Advance Read more about Maria Bello's charity work and events. Related articles Buy George Clooney's Gift Bag For DarfurHollywood Urges US To VoteCelebrity Endorsement Pulls Young VotersFergie Designs Star For Charity AuctionStars Challenge You To Make A Difference With Small Things

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Copyright © 2025 Look To The Stars. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this via email or in your news reader,...

Brendan Fraser credited The Mummy trilogy's success to its campy comedy, something that was all but scrapped in the 2017 reboot. Reflecting on his films' enduring legacy, the actor also weighed in on Universal's failed attempt at a shared universe of monster IPs.

The Mummy movies had mass appeal because they were swashbuckling comedies, Brendan Fraser told Collider. The actor referred to the first two films in the trilogy in particular: "With the exception of three [The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor], the thing with all of these films is that, at least it was fun, it was a thrill ride, and you wanted to do it again," he explained. Outside of the 2017 reboot, Universal's The Mummy films were all box office hits (including the 1932 original).

The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001) were so successful they spawned a prequel, The Scorpion King (2002), Dwayne Johnson's breakout film. The franchise...

As Adam Sandler prepares to tee off again in Happy Gilmore 2, another one of his most beloved box office hits has quietly shot back up the leader board — this time, on Netflix. Grown Ups, the 2010 reunion comedy featuring Sandler and a murderers' row of stand-up comedy royalty, is currently sitting at #9 on Netflix in the U.S., proving there’s still a big audience for fart jokes, friendship, and lakeside shenanigans.

And that’s despite what critics said back in the day. Rotten Tomatoes may have handed it a brutal 10% approval rating, but audiences never cared. The original film brought in over $272 million at the global box office on a $75 million budget — and its 2013 sequel did nearly as well, pulling in $247 million. That’s not just a hit. That’s a franchise with serious legs (even if one of those legs just tripped on a banana peel). Sandler told...

The Waterfront has docked at the top of the Netflix charts. Jake Weary plays Cane Buckley, the admittedly flawed son of Harlan (Holt McCallany) and Belle Buckley (Maria Bello). Cane, along with the rest of his family, goes to deadly lengths to save their empire from drowning. In real life, Weary’s family is the complete opposite. Quite frankly, the only thing the Buckleys and Weary’s family have in common is their notoriety. Weary’s mom is Guiding Light soap icon Kim Zimmer, and his dad is actor A.C. Weary. Turns out, The Waterfront creator Kevin Williamson was a huge fan of Guiding Light, especially Zimmer’s portrayal of Reva Shayne. “I know that he had made the connection before, but it was really sweet because I don’t think he knew that I knew he was a fan of my mom’s until we were on set one day,...

Following his reprisal of Eric Foreman in the long-awaited sequel seriesThat '90s Show, the brilliant Topher Grace set his sights on a new project, made in the shadow of the Western genre's recent renaissance. That series was The Waterfront, created by Scream mastermind Kevin Williamson, which, like many others, has ridden the coattails of Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone and found fair success on streaming.

Starring the likes of Holt McCallany, Maria Bello, Melissa Benoist, and more alongside Grace, that series debuted and shot straight to the top of Netflix’s global viewership rankings, helping plenty of the main ensemble, including Grace, receive even further-reaching notoriety. In doing so, some have dived deeper into Grace's filmography to find similar performances in dramas with just as many thrills and spills, including the forgotten 2011 thriller The Double, which also starred the likes of Richard Gere, Stephen Moyer, and Martin Sheen.

As of...

Netflix's Ozark replacement show, The Waterfront, is a brand-new original series that has now spent the past two weeks as the #1 English show on Netflix's global streaming charts.

After The Waterfront became a global streaming hit during its impressive opening week following its June 19, 2025, premiere, the series has surged even higher up the streaming charts. It improved from 8.3 million views in its debut week to an astounding 11.6 million views in its second week alone, according to data from Netflix.

Holt McCallany leads the cast of The Waterfront alongside Jake Weary, Melissa Benoist, Maria Bello, Rafael L. Silva, Humberly González, and Topher Grace in a fantastic villain role. The series was developed by Kevin Williamson, of Scream and Dawson's Creek acclaim.

What The Waterfront's Viewership Dominance Means For Its Future The Waterfront Has Amassed Just Under 20 Million Views In 2 Weeks

The Waterfront's week-two performance on Netflix was either...

Netflix's latest attempt to replicate the explosive success of Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone has already hit a major speed bump. The Waterfront, created by Scream mastermind Kevin Williamson and starring Holt McCallany, Maria Bello, Melissa Benoist, and Topher Grace, debuted impressively. But now, Netflix’s blockbuster Yellowstone replacement appears to be sinking fast—blamed squarely on the premiere of Squid Game Season 3, which has reclaimed the top spot on the charts.

Upon its June 23 release, The Waterfront skyrocketed to #1 on Netflix’s global viewership rankings. The eight-episode series follows a North Carolina fishing dynasty struggling to survive—a family legacy drama steeped in betrayal, power, and economic pressures—intended to scratch that Yellowstone-style itch.

Critically, it was met with lukewarm reception: 64% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and 71% from audiences. Collider’s Samuel Murrian even dubbed it “one of this year’s best shows,” cautious to note that it could...

Ahead of the hotly anticipated Happy Gilmore sequel, Happy Gilmore 2, another Adam Sandler movie is climbing the streaming charts and has overtaken a zombie horror film. As of June 28, Grown Ups, which was released in 2010, has overtaken 28 Weeks Later to claim the No. 3 spot in Hulu’s Top 10 Movies list. Per FlixPatrol, Grown Ups is now right behind its 2013 sequel, Grown Ups 2, and Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything.

The 28 Days Later sequel film, 28 Weeks Later, released in 2007, now sits in the No. 4 spot in Hulu’s Top 10. It’s not surprising that both Grown Ups and 20 Weeks Later are in the top 10. The third film in the zombie horror franchise, 28 Years Later is currently in theaters, so fans likely want to catch up on the previous title.

Top 10 Movies on Hulu Image via FlixPatrol Two MCU Alums Star in this Horror Flick

28 Weeks Later...

There are two sides to writer-director Kevin Williamson, depending on what your tastes are. If you're a horror enthusiast, you'll certainly know him for co-creating the "Scream" franchise and writing several of its movies, in addition to penning 1997's "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and 2022's underrated Covid-19 slasher flick "Sick." If slashers are a little too scary for you, however, then you may recognize Williamson as the creator of the TV shows "Dawson's Creek" and "The Vampire Diaries," both of which were era-defining melodramas that captured the zeitgeist.

These two halves might sound like they're diametrically opposed to each other, but both genres are categorized by their soap opera-style ingredients. The crucial difference is whether you hope to see the characters fall in love or kill each other. Now, with Williamson's newest show "The Waterfront," you get both, which may be the reason why the series has...

Netflix’s The Waterfront, a gritty family-crime drama led by Kevin Williamson, had viewers hooked with its first season. Set in a struggling coastal town, it explores the moral decay of a powerful fishing family as they drift deeper into the drug underworld. But now that The Waterfront Season 1 is out, the big question is—will there be a Season 2? In this article, we’re diving into the show’s renewal status, what happened last season, what we can expect next, who’s returning (and who’s not), and when we might see new episodes.

Will there be a Season 2 of The Waterfront?

Officially, Netflix hasn’t greenlit Season 2 yet. But Kevin Williamson has made it clear—Season 2 is already outlined, and he’s thinking beyond that too. He’s reportedly mapped out a three-season arc. If the current viewership numbers and critical attention keep up, a renewal feels like only a matter of time.

Kevin Williamson’s return to television feels less like a homecoming and more like an archaeological dig—one where the creator of Dawson’s Creek and the Scream franchise excavates his own family’s buried secrets. The Waterfront, his eight-episode Netflix drama, emerges from the specific crucible of Williamson’s North Carolina childhood, where his fisherman father supplemented dwindling catches with contraband runs during the Reagan-era economic squeeze of the 1980s.

The fictional coastal town of Havenport becomes a pressure cooker of generational trauma, where the Buckley family operates as both regional aristocracy and criminal enterprise. Patriarch Harlan (Holt McCallany), nursing his second heart attack and nth glass of whiskey, presides over a seafood empire that includes the requisite legitimate businesses—fishery, marina, restaurant—and the less advertised drug smuggling operation.

His wife Belle (Maria Bello) manages the visible empire while Harlan courts death through various forms of excess. Their children...

Netflix's new Ozark replacement series, The Waterfront, has surged up the global streaming charts after premiering on Thursday, June 19, 2025. Created by Kevin Williamson of Scream and Dawson's Creek acclaim, The Waterfront has held the #1 spot on Netflix's global TV streaming charts for the past week for English-language shows. In its opening week, it generated 8.3 million views to become the most-watched series on Netflix during the last full week of June 2025. It surpassed another popular Netflix series, Ginny & Georgia season 3, which pulled in 8.1 million views over the same period.

Holt McCallany leads the cast of The Waterfront alongside Jake Weary, Melissa Benoist, Maria Bello, Rafael L. Silva, and Humberly González. Topher Grace guest stars as the zany season 1 antagonist Grady. The Waterfront earned a 70% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and is already generating buzz for a potential season 2, which Williamson already has plans for if and when Netflix gives him the green light.

There's a new breakthrough Netflix original drama series tearing up the charts, and it's Kevin Williamson's crime family drama The Waterfront. The series from the Dawson's Creek, Scream, and The Vampire Diaries mastermind debuted on June 19 and quickly shot straight to the peak of Netflix's top 10 most popular shows ranking in the United States and many other countries.

Because of the show's immediate popularity and based on how the first season came to an end, it's no surprise that fans are already hoping for The Waterfront season 2 to be announced. Currently, Netflix hasn't revealed the fate of the breakout drama series, though as of this writing, it's only been out in the world for less than a week. But that hasn't stopped Williamson from planning more seasons.

Kevin Williamson has a three-season plan for The Waterfront

Along with the release of the show on Netflix, Williamson spoke with Screen Rant...

Netflix's The Waterfront Episode 4 revealed why Bree Buckley hated her younger brother, Cane, all these years, and there is a deeper reason. As the eldest Buckley daughter, Bree has had a tumultuous journey in the eight-episode family drama series. The Waterfront began in the middle of Bree's sobriety journey while she attempts to reconnect with her son, Diller. However, as the season progressed, it was clear that Bree had a longstanding rift with Cane that blew their brother-sister dynamic apart. 

Created by Kevin Williamson (Dawson Creek), The Waterfront follows the story of the Buckley family as they decide to be involved in drug-smuggling due to struggling with their legitimate fishery business. The series boasts an incredible cast led by Holt McCallany as Harlan, Maria Bello as Belle, Supergirl star and Arrowverse alum Melissa Benoist as Bree, Jake Weary as Cane, Danielle Campbell as Peyton, Brady Hepner as Diller, and Topher Grace as Grady.

If you’ve opened your Netflix account since last Friday, you’ll notice that a new title has zoomed to the top of the top 10 TV list. That show is The Waterfront, a family crime drama that comes from the mind of none other than Kevin Williamson. Of course, genre fans will know that name from his work with the Scream series, with him actually now in the midst of directing the seventh film, which reunites him with original star Neve Campbell. Yet, Williamson has arguably been even more successful as a showrunner, with a string of hits that include Dawson’s Creek, The Vampire Diaries, and more.

The Waterfront takes place in a fictional coastal town, Havenport, North Carolina, which is lorded over by generations of the Buckley family. When the patriarch, Harlan, played by The Iron Claw and Mindhunter’s Holt McCallany, falls ill, his children, Jake Weary’s...

It isn't unheard of for the film and television industries to manufacture success. With the introduction of algorithm-driven programming in recent years, it makes perfect sense for Netflix to try and replicate the sheer virality of Taylor Sheridan's franchise-spawning series Yellowstone. The streamer famously passed on the series when it was first being shopped around, and has spent at least a couple of years trying to create something that might appeal to its massive audience. The latest in this assembly line of shows is The Waterfront. Starring Holt McCallany in the lead role, the series jumped straight to the top of Netflix's viewership charts upon release last week.

According to FlixPatrol, The Waterfront earned 733 points on June 23, ranking first on Netflix. It beat out the holdover hit Sirens, and the more recent Dept. Q. The Waterfront also outperformed the latest seasons of Ginny & Georgia and Fubar. The show...

The legendary Kevin Williamson gives fans an idea of what to expect in The Waterfront's hotly-anticipated (yet unconfirmed) second season.

Speaking to TV Line, series creator and showrunner Kevin Williamson (best known for creating Scream) gave fans an idea of what they can expect from each of the series' main players, assuming The Waterfront returns for a second season, that is. While Williamson confirmed that Topher Grace's Grady won't be making a surprise comeback after being shot twice, the main cast of Holt McCallany's Harlan Buckley, Danielle Campbell's Peyton Buckley, Maria Bello's Belle Buckley, Melissa Benoist's Bree Buckley, and Jake Weary's Cane Buckley all have some particularly long roads ahead of them.

Regarding the relationship between family patriarch Harlan and his son Cane, Williamson said, "I don’t think they’ve gotten to the core answer of who they are to each other as father and son,...

Netflix’s The Waterfront is a gritty coastal crime drama exploring the unraveling of a powerful fishing-family dynasty. Created and showrun by Kevin Williamson—celebrated for Scream, Dawson’s Creek, and The Vampire Diaries—the series centers on the Buckleys, whose commercial fishing and restaurant empire in the fictional town of Havenport, North Carolina, becomes entangled in drug smuggling. The patriarch, Harlan Buckley (played by Holt McCallany), alongside Maria Bello, Melissa Benoist, and Jake Weary, drive this tense, morally complex narrative. In the following article we willl take a look at the locations where The Waterfront was shot.

Plot Overview:

Harlan Buckley suffers his second heart attack, forcing the Buckley family to fight to save their legacy. His wife Belle (Maria Bello) and son Cane (Jake Weary) take desperate measures, while daughter Bree (Melissa Benoist), recently sober and at odds with her past, confronts hidden truths. The arrival of enigmatic smuggler...

Directed by Michael Pearce (Beast), Echo Valley (2025) is a brooding psychological thriller that unfolds in the eerie quiet of rural Pennsylvania. At its heart is Julianne Moore as Kate Garretson — a grieving widow clinging to her crumbling horse farm and haunted by the emotional wreckage of her past. When her estranged daughter Claire (Sydney Sweeney) arrives with a suspicious tale of accidental murder, Kate is drawn into a spiral of deception, violence, and maternal desperation. With standout performances from Domhnall Gleeson and Fiona Shaw, the film explores themes of grief, addiction, motherhood, and moral compromise. It’s a slow-burn thriller where trauma simmers beneath every scene, culminating in a suspenseful finale that raises questions about forgiveness and letting go.

If you’re looking for movies like Echo Valley — stories steeped in maternal turmoil, isolation, and morally grey decision-making — here are 7 powerful films that echo (pun intended) its dark emotional landscape.

Netflix's new drama, The Waterfront, has officially debuted with a respectable score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. A crime drama focusing on a family that leads a fishing empire, the show stars Holt McCallany (Harlan Buckley), Maria Bello (Belle Buckley), Jake Weary (Cane Buckley), Melissa Benoist (Bree Buckley), and even features Topher Grace in a guest role. The Waterfront's expansive cast is not its only draw, as it was also created by Scream, The Vampire Diaries, and Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson.

Williamson's newest show has already proven to entertain critics and audiences, though audiences have been far more favorable. While the Rotten Tomatoes score is subject to change as more reviews come in, The Waterfront has a 67% Tomatometer score and an 81% Popcornmeter score. The average viewer offered a 4 out of 5 rating, which is an impressive showing, though the score and the average are each based on...

Netflix has just released The Waterfront, and the series has been an interesting experience for viewers. Following in the footsteps of the Emmy-winning masterpiece, Ozark, the show seems to have similar themes in a completely different manner. While Jason Bateman’s series (which he almost looked over) follows themes of suburban decay, The Waterfront focuses more on the tensions that come with living in a small town.

Following a family with a crumbling empire in North Carolina, the series brings so much more to the idea of getting one’s hands dirty because of necessity. With such complex themes, it is interesting to know that the series has had an even more complicated release, despite its stacked cast.

The Waterfront Faced Some Dangerous Waves A still from The Waterfront | Credit: Netflix

When The Waterfront was gearing up for its release, it faced some very big challenges. On top of being...

The latest series starring Mindhunter's Holt McCallany has become a certified streaming sensation only one day after release.

Per Flix Patrol, Netflix's The Waterfront, which premiered on June 19, has already risen to the number one spot on the Top 10 Streaming Series in the United States. Throughout the rest of the week starting on June 16, that same spot was held by Ginny & Georgia, which released its hotly anticipated third season on June 5.

Created by Scream creator Kevin Williamson, who also serves as showrunner on the fast fan-favorite crime drama, The Waterfront stars McCallany as Harlan Buckley, the patriarch of the well-known if objectively dysfunctional Buckley family. Although the family's fishing empire made them the most prominent, not to mention wealthiest family in the fictional seaside town of Havenport, North Carolina, dwindling returns and other financial woes have seen them run their coffers nearly dry. As such, the Buckleys decide...

Welcome to the Gold Ticket, your VIP guide to the best of pop culture for the weekend ahead, curated by the Gold Derby team of experts. (June 20-June 22)

The main stream

It has been more than a year and a half since The Gilded Age did the impossible and made us all care about competing opera houses. Now, the Emmy-winning HBO drama from creator Julian Fellowes is back for what might be its best outing yet.

In Season 3 (premiering Sunday at 9 p.m. Et/Pt on HBO and Max), having won the battle for the Met, Bertha (Emmy nominee Carrie Coon) is poised to take over as the head of New York society while George (Morgan Spector) heads out west with the hopes of expanding his railroads to the California coast, a gambit that could revolutionize the industry and change the map forever. But those are not the only new happenings this season.

Another day, another Yellowstone knockoff. Netflix’s new drama The Waterfront arrived this week looking like it had just walked off the set of Ozark, borrowed Yellowstone’s boots, and tried to convince us it had invented both. But while Taylor Sheridan’s Montana-set megahit earned its 83% Rotten Tomatoes score the old-fashioned way — by building a richly textured world over five bloody seasons — The Waterfront debuted with a much murkier 67%, and critics are already calling it out for what it is: Netflix by numbers.

Created by Scream and Dawson’s Creek scribe Kevin Williamson, The Waterfront follows the Buckley family, owners of a North Carolina fishery with a long history of shady side hustles. But despite the pedigree and a stacked cast led by Holt McCallany (The Iron Claw), Maria Bello (Beef), Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), Brady Hepner (The Black Phone), Jake Weary (Trigger Warning), Rafael L. Silva (9-1-1:...

Netflix has a new hit topping the streaming charts, and it features a familiar face. After previously reprising his role as Eric Foreman in the ill-fated sequel seriesThat '90s Show, Topher Grace is back on the platform in a guest-starring capacity for the new crime drama series The Waterfront, hailing from Scream veteran Kevin Williamson. Following its launch on Thursday, the show soared to #1 in the U.S. among the streamer's television series, topping, among other things, the recent third season of Ginny & Georgia and the second season of Shane Gillis's Tires. Critics have been a bit mixed on the story of a fishing empire-turned-drug business with a 67% Rotten Tomatoes score, but that hasn't stopped viewers from immediately flocking to the waters.

The Waterfront stars Holt McCallany as the patriarch of the dysfunctional Buckley family, a spiritual successor of sorts to the Byrdes of Ozark. With their long-standing domination over Havenport,...

[This story contains Major spoilers from the season finale of The Waterfront.]

Kevin Williamson had a crazy childhood — and not all of it was captured on Dawson’s Creek. For starters, the creek was not shark-infested waters.

Netflix’s The Waterfront takes the drug-smuggling aspect of Williamson’s youth up a few notches. It also features a tremendous heel turn by Topher Grace (That ‘70s Show). The rest of the cast, which also includes Holt McCallany, Melissa Benoist, Jake Weary, Maria Bello and Dave Annable, among others, are quite capable as well.

The Waterfront sees the Buckleys, a successful and affluent coastal North Carolina family on the brink of losing it all, turn to drug-running. As can happen with smuggling, violence follows — a lot of violence. The biggest bang comes in the season finale; if you don’t want to be spoiled, stop reading right here.

For the rest of you, our Q&a with Williamson is below.

***

Topher Grace...

Note: This story contains spoilers from “The Waterfront” Episode 8.

“The Waterfront” charted the Buckley family’s chaotic return to criminal activity, setting the stage for a deadly finale in which Cane crossed a moral line and Belle secured more power.

After the shaky alliance between Buckley patriarch Harlan (Holt McCallany) and drug tycoon Grady (Topher Grace) went up in flames in Episode 7, leading to Grady kidnapping Bree (Melissa Benoist), the finale followed the rescue operation to save her — as other members of the family made big moves for power.

Though there were some dire turns, “Lost at Sea” saw Cane (Jake Weary), Shawn (Rafael L. Silva) and Harlan successfully save Bree — and to everyone’s surprise, Diller (Brady Hepner), who’d stowed away in the captor’s boat to help his mother. Though Bree was shot and thrown to the sea before the rest of the family could come to her rescue,...

[The following interview contains some spoilers for “The Waterfront.”]

Kevin Williamson was ready to put down his pen. In late 2019, following the cancellation of his CBS crime thriller “The Following,” the creator behind genre- and culturally-defining hits such as “The Vampire Diaries,” “Dawson’s Creek” and the “Scream” film franchise was feeling burnt out.

“I was in a deal at Warner Bros. where you have to sing for your supper a little bit, in terms of making a pilot every season. And if you don’t have a pilot, then, what good are you? So I realized I didn’t have a pilot to show,” Williamson told IndieWire during a recent interview. “I was doing TV shows I didn’t want to do. I was making shows I wouldn’t watch. And as soon as you start doing that, you’re in trouble. So I stopped and I quit, and I said, ‘No more TV.’”

But at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic,...

The Waterfront, Netflix's new family drama/crime thriller series with similar themes to the Emmy-winning hit Ozark, has become an instant streaming success. The Waterfront has become the number one TV show on Netflix after releasing all eight episodes on Thursday, June 19, 2025. Holt McCallany leads The Waterfront's cast, which also features performances by Jake Weary, Maria Bello, Melissa Benoist, and Topher Grace. Despite debuting with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 67%, The Waterfront looks to hold Netflix's number one TV spot into the latter half of June 2025.

The Waterfront follows the prominent Buckley family in the fictional coastal town of Havenport, North Carolina. Series creator Kevin Williamson, known for sourcing classic 1990s projects such as Dawson's Creek and Scream, recently revealed in an interview with Screen Rantthat Havenport is very much inspired by where he grew upin and around Wilmington and Southport, Nc. Holt McCallany's Harlan is the patriarch...

Though there's no confirmation on The Waterfront'srenewal just yet, the writer behind the series has a future for it in mind. The Waterfront premiered on Netflix on June 19 and has already become an instant streaming hit, reaching #1 on the platform's charts. Despite the series' 67% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, it's immediately proven to be popular with audiences. Stars Jake Weary (Animal Kingdom), Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), Holt McCallany (Mindhunter), and Maria Bello (Prisoners) lead the cast. Showrunner Kevin Williamson is known for his work on the Scream franchise, Dawson's Creek, The Vampire Diaries, and more.

During an interview with ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan for The Waterfront, creator Kevin Williamson revealed that he already has a whole second and third season planned out. Williamson is evidently passionate about the series, and after his experience writing season 1, has a feel for the actors and their characters, guiding where he can take them going forward.

The Waterfront Season 1 wrapped up with a finale that left jaws on the floor and questions swirling. Belle Buckley, once a quiet observer, suddenly pulled the strings like a seasoned puppet master. As alliances crumbled and power shifted, the final scenes hinted that she might’ve just taken control of everything, without firing a single shot.

But folks, did she really win, or is this just the calm before a bigger storm? The ending was packed with layered motives, subtle betrayals, and a haunting silence that suggests Belle’s rise to power is only just beginning. Let’s break it all down.

Is The Waterfront Now Belle’s Empire? Breaking Down Her Boldest Move Yet Maria Bello as Belle Buckley in The Waterfront | Credits: Netflix

Belle Buckley not only cleaned up the mess, but she may’ve quietly claimed the throne. In The Waterfront’s season finale, while Bree is...

Crime dramas centered around families are now a dime a dozen. The most popular show of this year so far has been MobLand, which focused on the feud between the Harrigans and the Stevensons and how the former’s fixer, Harry Da Souza, mediated the whole affair before deciding to do what was best for the hand that fed him. Then there was Hound’s Hill, which showed the patriarch of the Glowackis cleaning his town up so as to satiate his desire of being a Godfather-esque figure. The Penguin, the most acclaimed miniseries of 2024, took us into the seedy underbelly of Gotham to chart Oz Cobb’s rise as he made the most of the ongoing feud between the Falcones and the Maronis. From Down Under, we got Territory, which was all about the Lawsons defending their farm by hook or by crook as all the enemies they had made...

This post contains spoilers from The Waterfront season 1 episode 6 from this point forward.

After the shocking conclusion to episode 5, which found Marcus dead from an overdose and Cane finding Bree collapsed on the street, Bree wakes up worse for the wear in The Waterfront season 1 episode 6. Cane takes care of his sister as she struggles with the effects of her relapse and resulting withdrawal. She's concerned about what happened with Marcus, but for the time being, he's protecting her feelings.

While the Buckley siblings are basically on airplane mode for the day, Harlan and Belle hold down the fort at work. Grady continues to push Harlan to do things his way, presenting the topic in such a way that kindly implies that he doesn't have a choice. Harlan turns down Grady's invitation to go hunting, but Grady finds a willing hunting partner in Diller, who clearly never had the "don't...

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The Waterfront is a family crime drama series created by Kevin Williamson. The Netflix series is set in North Carolina, and it follows the Buckley family, who own and operate the state’s most storied fishing empire, but when the family business faces trouble, they decide to turn to a life of crime and begin smuggling drugs. The Waterfront stars Holt McCallany, Maria Bello, Melissa Benoist, Jake Weary, Rafael L. Silva, Humberly González, Danielle Campbell, and Brady Hepner. So, if you loved the intense family drama, thrilling crime story, and compelling characters in The Waterfront, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Ozark (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

The chaos and the constant danger from both the drug dealers and cops is extremely thrilling to watch in The Waterfront, and that’s why this series had an...

For fans of good old-fashioned dysfunctional families, a fresh drama is stirring up some troubled waters on Netflix now.

Written and executive produced by Kevin Williamson, The Waterfront is a drama series about the fictional Buckley family, starring Holt McCallany and Maria Bello. It also features Melissa Benoist and Jake Weary, along with Rafael L. Silva, Humberly González, Danielle Campbell, Brady Hepner, and guest star Topher Grace.

Inspired by true events and set against the backdrop of coastal North Carolina, The Waterfront explores family dynamics and the lengths people will go to when their legacy is on the line. “This is about a working man who’s trying to make a go of it for his family. They’ve pulled themselves up from nothing and they’ve...

“The Waterfront,” a new Netflix series about a family-run fishery off the North Carolina coast, officially stems from “Dawson’s Creek” and “Scream” scribe Kevin Williamson, but given the first season’s shallow interest in its own characters, setting, and premise — combined with its unmistakable similarities to recent TV hits — the creator credit may as well be shared with the streamer’s oft-vaunted algorithm. Even if “The Waterfront” wasn’t pointedly conceived to pop up after “Ozark” (and thus also prevent subscribers from a far worse fate: opening a separate streaming app to watch five seasons of “Yellowstone”), the sloppy drama would still be little more than Netflix sludge: recognizable ideas, actors, and intentions tossed together in a functional story that slowly but steadily sours into overtly redundant dreck.

So first, let’s look at what “The Waterfront” so clearly aspires to be, shall we? “Ozark” begins with an enthralling sense of urgency.

Kevin Williamson’s latest Netflix series, The Waterfront, focuses on the dysfunctional dynamics of members of a generational maritime business family, the Buckleys, as their effort to survive in trying times ends up drawing the wrong crowd instead. The pilot of the eight-episode series does a good job of setting up the premise, capturing the interpersonal connections between characters, and ramping up the stakes by adding on elements of action and crime without skimping on violence. Backed by solid performances by some of the well-known small-screen faces, namely Holt McCallany, Maria Bello, and Melissa Benoist, the series is off to a good start already and has piqued viewers’ interest.

Spoilers Ahead

Buckleys of Havenport

The lion’s share of the maritime industry of the fictional North Carolina town, Havenport, including fisheries, marinas, and restaurants, is owned by the Buckleys through generations. At present, family patriarch Harlan Buckley’s health issues...

“The Waterfront,” the first Netflix original from “Vampire Diaries” and “Scream” producer Kevin Williamson, follows the efforts of the Buckley family to preserve their business legacy in a small beach town of North Carolina, which involves diving head-first into the drug smuggling business. As the family grapples with stepping into criminal activity, the tension also incentivizes complicated dynamics, from father and son to siblings and romantic entanglements.

The show relies on its cast to convey all the nuances at play between the Buckleys and the people around them. Thankfully, Williamson enlisted a collection of TV favorites to embody the show’s complicated subjects.

Here are the characters you need to know in “The Waterfront,” as well as the actors who play them and where you might have seen them before.

The Waterfront. Holt McCallany as Harlan Buckley in episode 102 of The Waterfront. Cr. Dana Hawley/Netflix © 2025 Holt McCallany as Harlan...

[Warning: The below contains Major spoilers for The Waterfront Season 1.] The Buckley family went to hell and back to save each other and their empire in The Waterfront’s first season. As Harlan (Holt McCallany), Mae (Maria Bello), Cane (Jake Weary), and Bree (Melissa Benoist) sought to right the ship, they found themselves in the crosshairs of a maniacal drug lord named Grady (Topher Grace). When the diabolical Grady didn’t get what he wanted, he made sure everyone around him suffered. (We’re still shuddering over that jellyfish torture scene.) Grady wasn’t afraid to hurt the Buckleys—in fact, he thrived on it. From accidentally grazing Bree’s son with a bullet on a hunting trip to shooting Bree and then throwing her overboard, Grady had to be put down. When Cane and Harlan cornered Grady in the Season 1 finale, it was Cane who pulled the trigger. Together, the father and son blasted the drug...

Whoever it was that first decided eight episodes was enough for a suitable TV season really did the medium a disservice. Netflix’s “The Waterfront” is just the latest example.

Created by Kevin Williamson, the drama series is set on the North Carolina coast and centers on the somewhat broken Buckley family, owners of a small fishery empire in a small beach town. Of course, all is not what it seems with the Buckleys. They’re in massive debt, and the only thing to do (aside from sell their waterfront property) is to temporarily go back to their old gig and run drugs in their fishing boat. This is a long Buckley family tradition, but it all immediately goes awry because this time around, they have no idea who they’re really dealing with — more on that later.

Even without the drugs, the Buckleys have a lot going on. Harlan...