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That’s a wrap on “The Franchise” at HBO.

The comedy series about the making of a big-budget superhero movie, created by John Brown and executive produced by Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes, has been canceled after one season at HBO. The series followed the production of a film that is part of a larger franchise, centered around first assistant director Daniel (Himesh Patel).

“We’re so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the tremendously talented team behind ‘The Franchise,’ especially Sam Mendes, Jon Brown, Armando Iannucci, and this hilarious ensemble of actors,” an HBO spokesperson said in a satement to TheWrap. “While we won’t be moving forward with another season, we look forward to collaborating with all of them in the future.”

The eight-episode comedy did not resonate with audiences, failing to crack the Nielsen streaming top 10 lists throughout its run. It aired its Season 1 finale on Nov.

Before new Survivor fans had to figure out which seasons to watch first, Nick Brown played the game during the show's 2nd season. Now that there are so many seasons for fans to rank and many players who are considered the best, some fans have forgotten about Nick. However, Nick was there when the first player was medically evacuated, and he was liked at the time.

Considering that Nick was likable during Survivor: The Australian Outback, it is a shame that many fans have lost track of him. On top of that, those fans will likely be shocked to learn that since he played Jeff Probst's show, Nick has since gone on to run for a major office in the political world.

Survivor's Nick Brown Is Running For Attorney General

After the mammoth success of Survivor's first season, CBS hoped to strike gold a second time. Against all the odds,...

It’s been 30 whole years since the release of Clerks, and Kevin Smith’s breakout slacker duo Jay and Silent Bob are still popping up in movies, TV shows and the occasional Degrassi-themed rap video.

At the end of last year, Smith revealed that he’s currently writing yet another Jay and Silent Bob movie, a follow-up to 2019’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, which starred Smith, Jason Mewes and every working actor in Smith’s phone contacts.

While not much is known about the movie at this point, Smith recently took to Instagram to share a photo of one of the upcoming sequel’s props — an evil book, bound in human flesh, that resembles Silent Bob’s tortured face.

Obviously the prop is a facsimile of the Necronomicon from the Evil Dead series, just with a beard and a backwards baseball cap. Smith joked that it is “The...

Kevin Smith has stayed busy in recent years, from releasing the long-awaited "Clerks III" in 2022 to his upcoming '80s-set "The 4:30 Movie." This is to say nothing of the movie theater he co-owns in New Jersey, his several podcasts, live shows, and working on "Masters of the Universe" for Netflix. The man isn't slowing down 30 years into his career, to be certain. Now, he's gearing up for a third "Jay and Silent Bob" movie, one that will pick up in the aftermath of 2019's "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot." While much remains mysterious, it appears as though Smith might be returning to the horror genre for this one.

The director recently took to Instagram to share a sneak peek at the upcoming flick in the form of a prop called The NecroBobicon. This is a riff on The Necronomicon, which has been featured in the "Evil Dead" franchise since...

While we wait to hear a specific release date for Kevin Smith’s latest film The 4:30 Movie, which Saban Films will be sending out into the world sometime this fall, Smith is already gearing up to go into production on his next project, a third Jay and Silent Bob movie (following Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot). While Reboot was very similar to Strike Back, Smith has said he’s working to keep this new sequel unpredictable… and, judging by the image he has posted of a prop that has been made for the film, he is succeeding. I never would have predicted that Jay and Silent Bob 3 (we’ll just call it that for now) would feature a volume of the Necromonicon called the NecroBobicon, but a Silent Bob-inspired variation on the Book of the Dead from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead...

Filmmaker Raghuvir Joshi’s movie ‘Sahela’, an Australian production in English, set to make its South Asian premiere at the Jio Mami Mumbai International Film Festival 2023 is inspired by his own lived experience of having discovered his sexuality post-marriage.

“It was a big milestone In my life and I had to express it through the medium of film. I directed a short film called Yaman a few years ago which then became the proof of concept for the feature film, ‘Sahela’,” he tells Ians.

He however adds that it would be unfair to call the feature film an ‘extension’ of ‘Yaman’ as the story and characters, and the milieu itself is very different. “But yes, the emotional core is the same, of love and loss.”

‘Sahela’, shot in Australia, boasts of a cast including Antonio Aakeel and Anula Navlekar in lead roles along with Sheeba Chaddha, Vipin Sharma, Harish Patel,...

Filmmaker Raghuvir Joshi’s movie ‘Sahela’, an Australian production in English, set to make its South Asian premiere at the Jio Mami Mumbai International Film Festival 2023 is inspired by his own lived experience of having discovered his sexuality post-marriage.

“It was a big milestone In my life and I had to express it through the medium of film. I directed a short film called Yaman a few years ago which then became the proof of concept for the feature film, ‘Sahela’,” he tells Ians.

He however adds that it would be unfair to call the feature film an ‘extension’ of ‘Yaman’ as the story and characters, and the milieu itself is very different. “But yes, the emotional core is the same, of love and loss.”

‘Sahela’, shot in Australia, boasts of a cast including Antonio Aakeel and Anula Navlekar in lead roles along with Sheeba Chaddha, Vipin Sharma, Harish Patel,...

Tim Draxl, Matt Day, Jada Alberts, Nicholas Brown, Anna McGahan and Oscar Leal lead the ABC's upcoming 'In Our Blood', a four-part musical drama series from Hoodlum Entertainment, inspired by Australia's radical response to AIDS in the early 1980s.

The post Tim Draxl, Matt Day, Jada Alberts to star in ABC’s ‘In Our Blood’ appeared first on If Magazine.

Exclusive: UK outfit Make Waves (The Great Green Wall) and science-focused U.S. producer Hhmi Tangled Bank Studios (All That Breathes) are teaming on feature-length documentary Blue Carbon (working title), an environmentally-focused musical piece fronted by Grammy-nominated producer and DJ Jayda G with music from Wu-Tang leader RZA and Brazilian artist Seu Jorge.

Nicolas Brown (The Serengeti Rules) is directing and executive producer is City Of God and The Two Popes filmmaker Fernando Meirelles. A North American pre-sale is being finalized.

Pic is being co-produced with Hhmi Tangled Bank Studios and supported by Conservation International alongside a number of European broadcasters, including Ndr which has pre-bought German rights.

Blue Carbon is the term given to three coastal ecosystems – seagrass meadows, mangroves and tidal marshes – that fringe most continents. Some of these ecosystems can sequester from the atmosphere up to four times more carbon per hectare than tropical forests.

The feature will be fronted by producer,...

Survivor has recently premiered its 43rd season of the show. It is hard to believe that the series has been on the air for over 20 years after first making a splash all the way back in the summer of 2000, when Survivor: Borneo captivated audiences.

After the success of its first season, Survivor was under immense pressure to return with a great second season, which it did when Survivor: The Australian Outback was another huge success, still standing as the series' most-watched season of all time. This cast featured a lot of players who would later return to the game in future seasons, but some haven't been seen since. What have they been up to since competing in the Land Down Under?

Jeff Varner

Jeff Varner came in 10th place this season as he was the sixth person voted out. He just missed being on the jury.

Related: Where Is The Cast Of Survivor: Borneo Now?...

Chicago – The more Bollywood pictures I see, the more I understand the odd appeal of a film like Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge,” which remains near the top of my Greatest Guilty Pleasures list. Why guilty? Because even I can understand why many people hate it. The picture is loud, chaotic, stupendously over the top, and staggeringly drunk on the sheer movieness of movies. That may be why I love it.

“Rouge” might as well have been made in Bollywood, considering how effortlessly it blended genres, fusing operatic melodrama and screwball farce with shamelessly indulgent spectacle. As for its characters, they followed a formula as old as the hills. There’s the scrappy, starry-eyed protagonist trying to make a living for himself. There’s his revered object of desire who falls in love with him at first or second glance. And then there’s the girl’s villainous suitor, whose...

Joey Lawrence, Wesley Snipes and Michael Dudikoff will star in the independent action film "Havana Heat." According to Variety, the cast includes mixed martial arts fighter Heath Herring, Zulay Henao ("Fighting"), Lorena Rincon ("Stuck"), Raul Julia-Levy ("Epoch") and Bollywood star Nicholas Brown ("Kites").The film centers on the investigation of a Homeland Security agent based at Guantanamo Bay who's murdered while undercover in Havana. Dean Hamilton ("Blonde and Blonder") is directing. Tayrona Entertainment Group's James Ordonez and Ken Gord are producing along with Dan Meachum of Maandi Media Entertainment. Jose Antonio Ruiz-Diez and Sheila McCarthy of Tayrona are executive producing.Shooting is scheduled for November with a release date set for next summer.

If you’ve read this post, you’ll realise Havana Heat has the potential to be one of the most awesome B-movies ever made… But now it’s just got a whole lot more Awesome.

Producer James Ordonez, president of Tayrona Entertainment Group, has spoken to Entertainment Weekly and revealed more details about the movie – including stating that offers are out to both Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris to take roles in the film!!! Says EW:

• We begin with the plot: “Havana is a mysterious, sensuous city with gorgeous architecture, white Caribbean beaches, hot, pulsating music, vintage American automobiles and some of the most beautiful women in the world. Cid Special Agent Sean Franklin [Lawrence] and his partner, gung-ho rookie, NCIS Special Agent Brianna Evans [Fighting's Zulay Henao] are assigned undercover in Havana after another agent is murdered. At the same time, a heavyweight fight between American Ruben Palace and Cuba’s...

If, like us, you read the Variety headline “Snipes, Lawrence join ‘Havana Heat’” and needed to know more about the indie action film costarring Wesley Snipes and Joey Lawrence shooting this November, prepare to be very happy. Producer James Ordonez, president of Tayrona Entertainment Group, just gave EW some serious details about the movie and its efforts to be the next Expendables (yes, offers are out to Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme!).

• We begin with the plot: “Havana is a mysterious, sensuous city with gorgeous architecture, white Caribbean beaches, hot, pulsating music, vintage American automobiles and some of the...

Variety are reporting that Wesley Snipes (Passenger 57), Joey Lawrence (Blossom) and Michael Dudikoff (American Ninja) are to team up for the film Havana Heat, which centers on a Homeland Security agent based at Guantanamo who’s murdered while undercover in Havana…

…where betrayal and intrigue take place against a backdrop of crumbling colonial architecture and vintage American cars.

Apparently.

Also set to star in the film, which is beind directed by Dean Hamilton (who for those that don’t know, was responsible for the Pamela Anderson / Denise Richards flick Blonde and Blonder), are mixed martial arts fighter Heath Herring, Zulay Henao (Fighting), Lorena Rincon (Stuck) and Raul Julia-Levy (Epoch) plus Bollywood star Nicholas Brown (Kites).

Now I don’t know about you guys, but Havana Heat sounds like B-movie heaven to me! Snipes and Dudikoff in the same film? Genius! Now lets see more action hero pairings – it worked...

The team-up you haven't been waiting for - Joey Lawrence, Wesley Snipes and Michael Dudikoff - is set to happen in the indie action film "Havana Heat" for Tayrona Entertainment Group, Maandi Media Entertainment and Empire Film Group says Variety.

Set against the Cuban capital's crumbling architecture and vintage cars, the story follows the investigation into a Homeland Security agent who is murdered while undercover.

Mixed martial arts fighter Heath Herring, Zulay Henao ("Fighting"), Lorena Rincon ("Stuck"), Raul Julia-Levy ("Epoch") and Nicholas Brown ("Kites") also star.

Dean Hamilton ("Blonde and Blonder") is directing and shooting kicks off in November for release next summer.

Wesley Snipes to star in Havana HeatWesley Snipes, Joseph Lawrence and Michael Dudikoff have all joined the cast of the new action film Havana Heat, according to Variety.

The film will revolve around a Homeland Security agent who is murdered while on an undercover assignment in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, although it was unclear what roles Snipes, Lawrence and Dudikoff will play. The cast will be rounded out by Mma fighter Heath Herring, Zulay Henao, Lorena Rincon, Raul Julia Jr. and Nicholas Brown.

Dean Hamilton (Blonde and Blonder) will direct the film, with production slated to start in November.

Havana Heat comes to theaters in 2011 and stars Wesley Snipes, Joseph Lawrence, Michael Dudikoff, Zulay Henao, Heath Herring, Lorena Rincon, Nicolas Brown. The film is directed by Dean Hamilton.

Wesley Snipes and Joey Lawrence will go before cameras this November for Havana Heat , reports Variety . The film, set in Havana, Cuba, deals with the murder of an undercover Homeland Security agent and his connection to Guantanamo Bay. Blonde and Blonder director Dean Hamiltyon is attached to direct with a cast that also includes Nicholas Brown, Zulay Henao, Heath Herring, Raul Julia Jr. and Lorena Rincon.

Prior to watching Kites: The Remix, I'd never seen a proper Bollywood movie, and in the interest of full disclosure I should acknowledge I've never studied their films or the industry at large in any significant way. But it is nevertheless hard not to judge the taste of audiences who apparently made the film a massive success in its native India. Because even whittled down and refined by Brett Ratner, who edited out the music sequences and beefed up the drama with a new, western score, the tropes used to bring to life this tale of lovers on the run are too worn out - or just poorly executed - to make this more than a straight-to-video tale that somehow mysteriously managed to find its way to the silver screen.

The film stars Hrithik Roshan as J, a Vegas dance instructor and hustler who creates a cottage industry for...

Everything about the American-set Bollywood movie Kites is over the top: The extreme and often garish settings, the outsized emotions, the broad acting, the massive action setpieces. Only the wafer-thin plot is simple, but given the movie’s emphatic tone, even that comes buried in exclamation points. It’s such a basic setup that it wavers between timeless and trite: A beautiful woman (Bárbara Mori) is caught between a rich creep ready to marry her (Nicholas Brown) and a poor would-be lover (Indian mega-star Hrithik Roshan) with little to offer but sincere devotion. It worked in Titanic, and it ...

'Kites' (2010)

Starring Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori

Kites was specifically made to appeal to Western sensibilities—it's not the first Bollywood film to try to crossover, but it is the first to succeed at it, and it does so while remaining true to the essence of Hindi cinema. 'Kites' looks like an American film, but it feels like an Indian one.

It's not the best Bollywood movie—not by a long shot—but by stripping itself of the typical trappings of Hindi films (and making itself stylistically familiar to Westerners), it reveals the heart of Bollywood—a beating, bleeding operatic heart. Hindi cinema is ultimately not about language or culture or musical numbers; it's about exalted melodrama that draws you in despite yourself and affects you with life's corniness and agony.

The story is set in Las Vegas; the actors speak a combination of Hindi, English, and...

If you have watched the Hrithik Roshan- Barbara Mori starrer Kites, there's no chance that you could have missed watching Nicholas Brown. After all, he plays Tony, the main negative lead in the film. Originally from Sydney, Nicholas Brown is a musician and an actor who has been doing a lot of theatre, and T.V. shows back home. With Kites he has made his big Bollywood debut and is now looking to make his mark in the days to come. Bollywood Hungama gives you a chance to chat with the good looking bad guy from Kites - Nicholas Brown who will be live on an exclusive Video Chat on Thursday, May 27, at 1600 hrs Ist. Don't miss it!

Film: ‘Kites’; Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Kangana Ranaut, Kabir Bedi, Nick Brown; Director: Anurag Basu; Music: Rajesh Roshan; Producer : Rakesh Roshan

Too many strings attached to this ‘Kites’ that never soars to the heights it should and becomes a predictable tale of star-crossed lovers set in the glittering lights of Las Vegas and the brooding deserts of Mexico. It’s ‘Matchpoint’, ‘Bonny and Clyde’ and much else rolled into one, failing to take off on its own.

The problem with ‘Kites’.

Chicago – One of the most provocative and unusual films this year, or any year, is an amazing production from India entitled “Kites.” American director Brett Ratner (”Rush Hour”) was so taken by this film, that he agreed to edit the original (or remix) for the U.S. presentation. Both versions will be will be in the marketplace for a limited release.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

And what a release it is. Combining elements of the traditional Bollywood soap operas– including the songs and dance associated with genre – with astounding and inventive action sequences, Kites is an awesome movie experience that true love can conquer all, including Las Vegas.

The film opens with a train. Several Mexican workers surround it, to begin the day labor of unloading the hay from its cars. When they open the door, an unconscious and injured man rolls out. His name is Jay (Hrithik Roshan), and he is about to tell his story.

May 21, 2010:Kites- Film disappoints, Hrithik doesn’t

Rating: 2 out of 5*

Starring: Hrithik Roshan, introducing Barbara Mori, Kangana Ranaut, Nicholas Brown, Anand Tiwari and Kabir Bedi

Director: Anurag Basu

Hrithik Roshan’s Kites may make his fans very happy by the way he has been presented (and he enacted) in the film but those looking out for a never seen been before experience that was promised through its mega marketing blitzkrieg will be in for a major disappointment.

J. (Hrithik Roshan) is a dance teacher in Las Vegas, who is also in the business of marrying illegal.

The bigger the budget... the bigger the names... the bigger the hype, hoopla and razzmatazz... the bigger the expectations from the film. Kites has some of the biggest names in the business - Rakesh Roshan, Anurag Basu and Hrithik Roshan, to name a few - and the film, therefore, carries this gargantuan responsibility on its shoulders. It has to soar higher than the hits delivered by this trio. Anything less will just not do!

The million dollar question is, does Kites fly high? Let me hit the nail on the head: The film has some terrific moments and of course, Hrithik Roshan's star power to cast a spell, but it has plenty of low moments. In fact, Kites could've been a cult film, but its writing relies too heavily on clichés and formulaic stuff and that, frankly, throws a spanner.

Kites is visually stunning and makes a sweeping impact,...

There’s a lot that Hrithik Roshan and Nicholas Brown have in common apart from their fondness for the female lead of Kites, Barbara Mori on whom, Brown admits, he has a “crush”. Brown’s mother grew up in Kolkata and his dad in Ooty before moving to Australia. They met and married in Sydney and he grew up in kangaroo country before coming to Mumbai in 2007.He signed up for Rehaan Engineer’s play, How To Survive Under Seige, was recommended to the casting director of Miss Bollywood and now, is playing the second lead in Kites.“I started singing ...

The entire Roshan family . Rakesh, Rajesh, and Hrithik . along with director Anurag Basu and actress Bárbara Mori were all present for the New York Press Day for the upcoming feature Kites.Nothing was more evident than the enthusiasm, optimism, and faith they all shared in this film about a cross-cultural love story between a Mexican woman and Indian man that will present viewers with a fresh and unique approach to depicting romance beyond boundaries.Rakesh Roshan himself approached Anurag Basu (Life in a Metro, Gangster) for the project. When asked why he was fielding the film to his relatively less experienced colleague, Roshan responded with the fact that he has already made sixteen films and wanted to .give a break to new talent.. Besides loving Basu.s previous films, the veteran director holds the idea that young talent should be given opportunities to shine in the Indian film industry and...

Hollywood actor Nicholas Brown, who has represented India in Rehaan Engineer's play How To Survive Under Siege, has been roped in to act in Kites alongside Hrithik Roshan. He has also just been cast in the Hollywood/Indian co-production Mumbai Calling produced by Sooni Taraporewala. Looks like we have an Indophile on our hands. Go get him, Yash Chopra, if you want to jazz up your next film with some swish American accent.

Kites gets a remix In what will be the widest ever release for any Indian 'Bollywood' production, Kites, the eagerly anticipated romantic adventure starring Hrithik Roshan and B&#225rbara Mori, will open globally, including the U.S. and Canada, on May 21st, day and date with its Indian release. The Rakesh Roshan production, directed by Anurag Basu, will be released by Reliance Big Pictures on more than 2000 screens simultaneously, including over 200 in the States.

Shot completely on location in Las Vegas, Sante Fe and Los Angeles, Kites is a unique 'Bollywood' film in a number of ways, not the least of which is the fact that a reworked English language version, designed to extend the reach of the original, will be launched in select engagements one week later. Entitled Kites: The Remix, it is being presented by Brett Ratner, who oversaw its creation. In the States, Kites: The...

Hrithik Fans - It is almost here! Hrithik Roshan returns to the big screen with the romantic action film Kites releasing in theaters worldwide on Friday, May 21, from Reliance Big Pictures. Set in the United States, the Rakesh Roshan production was shot in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Santa Fe and features Hrithik starring opposite award-winning Mexican actress Barbara Mori. Also in the cast are Kangana Ranaut, Kabir Bedi and Nick Brown.

Directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Rakesh Roshan, the film has an interesting tale: In the harsh terrain of the Mexican desert, a mortally wounded man is left for dead in the heat of the desert sun. This is J. Once a street smart, carefree young guy. Now, a wanted man. As death looms, the only thing that keeps him alive is the quest to find the love of his life, Natasha. A woman betrothed to another man,...

Finally, we know why Kites is called Kites! Producer Rakesh Roshan & director Anurag Basu, makers of Kites (www.kites-thefilm.com), one of the most eagerly awaited romantic films of this summer disclose the inspiration behind their film.s title.The title and story of Kites is the brainchild of Rakesh Roshan, the man behind some of Bollywood.s most creative blockbusters..The idea for Kites came to me when I was gazing at the sky and saw two kites flying,. notes Rakesh Roshan. .It looked very romantic. It was very intriguing--the way they came close, played, almost embraced each other and then drew apart. Unaware that someone else was pulling the strings and could cut them loose.  I sat down and penned a story around this idea...Kites is the metaphor of the film. Kites fly against the wind and not with it, stronger the wind blows, higher the kites fly,...