News

An upcoming sci-fi dystopian film starring Dave Bautista has unleashed an action-packed first trailer, and it's as crazy fans expected when the project was first announced. After a solar flare leaves the Earth's atmosphere destroyed, only the strong survive in a world that treasures the greatest creations of a bygone past.

The first trailer for Afterburn features Bautista alongside Olga Kurylenko (Thunderbolts*) and Samuel L. Jackson. Bautista plays a treasure hunter tasked with finding the Mona Lisa in Europe, which has seen the drastic effects of the solar flare. The film was directed by J. J. Perry, who previously helmed the zombie action flick Day Shift for Netflix. There is no release date set for the film just yet, but fans should expect a late 2025 or early 2026 window after completing production last summer. Check out the trailer for Afterburn below:

Exclusive first trailer for ‘AFTERBURN’, a new action thriller starring Dave Bautista,...

Dave Bautista has joined the cast of the upcoming romantic-comedy ‘The Romantic’ for Paramount Pictures.

The film tells the story of bestselling romance author Francine London, who has a secret: she’s a six-foot-four mountain of a man named Ed Schwenke. When Ed’s identity comes under scrutiny, he hires a wildcard of a woman to pose as Francine at a romance fiction convention, while evading a cynical female journalist, who hates romance even more than she hates liars.

Also in news – ‘The Chosen’ Season 5 to stream internationally in select countries from July 13

No director is attached at present. Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont have penned the script. Maximum Effort will produce under its first-look deal with the studio, alongside Bautista’s Dogbone Entertainment.

Bautista has previously made his desire to be in a rom-com known back in 2023, stating, “I know I’m not your typical rom-com lead. I’m...

After years of putting it out into the universe, Dave Bautista's dream of starring in a romantic comedy has finally come true. Almost. The former WWE champion has been very vocal about his desire to be a leading man in Hollywood, and not the type that saves the day by killing a horde of zombies. Instead, he's wished for years to be taken more seriously as an actor and not an action star, and his new project just might make people see him in a different light.

Per Deadline, Paramount has acquired the rights to The Romantic, a rom-com script written by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont that has Bautista attached to star. It's all in the very early stages of development, so no director has been announced, nor have any additional cast members been brought on board. For now, it's just a script, but for the former Guardians of the Galaxy star,...

It’s taken two decades, a galaxy-saving raccoon, a sandworm-ridden desert planet, and a few busted noses — but Dave Bautista is finally getting his rom-com moment.

Paramount Pictures has picked up The Romantic, a new comedy from Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, with Bautistaofficially set to star. And for the Guardians of the Galaxy and Dune actor, it’s not just another gig — it’s the role he’s been manifesting for years.

“I’ve never had an offer to do a rom-com,” Bautista told Page Six in 2023. “I still have high hopes. I’ll just keep searching.” Looks like the search is over. Bautista has never fit the traditional mold of the romantic comedy lead — and he knows it. “I know I’m not your typical rom-com lead,” he admitted. “I’m a little rough around the edges. But I always, you know, I look in the mirror and I say,...

Exclusive: Paramount Pictures has acquired rights to The Romantic, a romantic comedy spec from Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, with Dave Bautista attaching to star. Maximum Effort will produce under its first-look deal with the studio, alongside Bautista’s Dogbone Entertainment.

The film tells the story of bestselling romance author Francine London, who has a secret: she’s actually a six-foot-four mountain of a man named Ed Schwenke. When Ed’s identity comes under scrutiny, he hires a wildcard of a woman to pose as Francine at a romance fiction convention, while evading a cynical female journalist, who hates romance even more than she hates liars. No director is attached at present.

News of the project is notable as Bautista as spoken for years about his desire to star in a rom-com. In a 2023 interview with Page Six, the Dune and Guardians of the Galaxy star said, “I know I...

Verve, the literary and talent agency, is the latest Hollywood company to undergo belt-tightening as the industry weathers what’s shaping up to be a year of economizing.

Verve agents and employees who have earnings that hit a certain threshold will now see salary adjustments on a temporary basis, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Additionally, the agency is cutting overtime expenses for assistants, who are hourly workers that generally work 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. shifts.

The measures arrive amid a new wave of cost-cutting across the entertainment industry in response to studios’ content spending pullback on feature films and television series. Namely, episode counts on series that have gone into production have fallen steeply over the last few years as big broadcast-style orders have given way to streaming era shorter season runs.

The number of television episodes produced fell from 13,300 episodes in 2023 to 11,069 last year, a nearly 17 percent decline,...

Following a highly competitive, multi-studio bidding war, Paramount Pictures has purchased “Guys with No Friends,” a spec script from Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, in a seven-figure deal. Tory Tunnell and Joby Harold are producing, with Matt Schwartz executive producing for Safehouse Pictures, while Kaplan and Elfont are executive producing.

Kaplan and Elfont, the writer-director duo behind films such as “Can’t Hardly Wait” and “Josie and the Pussycats,” have spent the past few years focused on television, creating the series “Mary+Jane” for MTV and the Streamy Award-winning “Liza on Demand” for YouTube Originals. Other writing credits include “Made of Honor” and “Leap Year.”

The R-rated “Guys With No Friends” underscores Paramount’s ongoing effort to revitalize the theatrical comedies, with other upcoming films including the Liam Neeson-led “Naked Gun” reboot, a new “Scary Movie” with the Wayans Brothers, an untitled feature from Kendrick Lamar, Trey Parker and Matt Stone,...

Andy Tennant, the director of the 2005 romantic comedy Hitch, said that Will Smith is developing a sequel to the film but did not include him.

In a new interview, Tennant revealed he had an idea for a sequel to the hit comedy and recently found out Smith is working on a follow-up movie.

“I submitted a proposal for a sequel, which was quite fun, but I guess Will is developing a Hitch sequel without me,” Tennant said in an interview with Business Insider. “I just found out about it three months ago. I had a really good idea for a sequel, and I was talking to an executive at Sony, and he said Will’s production company is developing a sequel. Hey, that’s Hollywood.”

Tennant said he doesn’t “have anything against Will,” adding, “He hired me to make this movie. It was not an easy job for anybody,...

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Lonely Planet is a romantic drama film written and directed by Susannah Grant. The Netflix film follows the story of a reclusive novelist on a prestigious writer’s retreat in Morocco trying to get over her writer’s block but she soon meets a young man and they soon begin to fall for each other. Lonely Planet stars Laura Dern and Liam Hemsworth in the lead roles with Diana Silvers, Younès Boucif, Adriano Giannini, and Rachida Brakni starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the romance, beautiful scenery, and compelling characters in Lonely Planet here are some similar films you should check out next.

Under the Tuscan Sun (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Touchstone Pictures

Under the Tuscan Sun is a romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Audrey Wells. The 2003 film follows the story of Frances Mayes,...

How difficult is it to write a convincing hit record for a film or TV show? Just take one look at the Harry Connick Jr rom-com Find Me Falling, streaming on Netflix…

There are all kinds of elements that, even in the best-written or best-directed films or TV shows, can pull the viewer out of the moment: it might be an off-key performance, an unconvincing prop or a special effect that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. One thing that can be particularly difficult for filmmakers to get right, though, is to write a song that, in the movie or show’s fictional world at least, is a much-loved, multi-platinum hit.

This brings us to Find Me Falling, a romantic comedy by writer-director Stelana Kliris that appeared on Netflix on the 19th July. The premise is quite a good one: Harry Connick Jr plays John Allman, a creatively exhausted, middle-aged...

It’s graduation night, and for the students at Huntington Hills High School, there’s one last hurrah before going off to college. The 1998 comedy Can’t Hardly Wait carried on the tradition of John Hughes 80s classics with ageless themes of longing, alienation, optimism and fear amongst teenage angst as they all come crashing together at a house party. The movie was also a big follow-up for the star Jennifer Love Hewitt, who became the 90s “It Girl” after starring in Party of Five and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Sony has now announced the all-new 4K UltraHD Blu-ray release of Can’t Hardly Wait, which is set to be released on August 20. The studio has released all the details and specs that will be included in this new Blu-ray.

The official synopsis reads,

“It’s graduation day at Huntington Hills High– a time for Pomp and Circumstance, tassels and mortarboards,...

Oh, Canada debuting this week on the Croisette is high time to see lesser-seen Schrader on the Criterion Channel, who’ll debut an 11-title series including the likes of Touch, The Canyons, and Patty Hearst, while Old Boyfriends (written with his brother Leonard) and his own “Adventures in Moviegoing” are also programmed. Five films by Jean Grémillon, a rather underappreciated figure of French cinema, will be showing

Series-wise, there’s an appreciation of the synth soundtrack stretching all the way back to 1956’s Forbidden Planet while, naturally, finding its glut of titles in the ’70s and ’80s––Argento and Carpenter, obviously, but also Tarkovsky and Peter Weir. A Prince and restorations of films by Bob Odenkirk, Obayashi, John Greyson, and Jacques Rivette (whose Duelle is a masterpiece of the highest order) make streaming debuts. I Am Cuba, Girlfight, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Dazed and Confused are June’s Criterion Editions.

The Criterion Channel is closing the year out with a bang––they’ve announced their December lineup. Among the highlights are retrospectives on Yasujiro Ozu (featuring nearly 40 films!), Ousmane Sembène, Alfred Hitchcock (along with Kent Jones’ Hitchcock/Truffaut), and Parker Posey. Well-timed for the season is a holiday noir series that includes They Live By Night, Blast of Silence, Lady in the Lake, and more.

Other highlights are the recent restoration of Abel Gance’s La roue, an MGM Musicals series with introduction by Michael Koresky, Helena Wittmann’s riveting second feature Human Flowers of Flesh, the recent Sundance highlight The Mountains Are a Dream That Call To Me, the new restoration of The Cassandra Cat, Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, and more.

See the lineup below and learn more here.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Terry Gilliam, 1988

An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli,...

Rosario Dawson’s starring role in Disney+’s Ahsoka, premiering Aug. 22 and based on a character from Cartoon Network’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is not her first time bringing an animated figure to life — she played bassist Valerie Brown in Universal-MGM’s Josie and the Pussycats, the directorial debut of Can’t Hardly Wait screenwriters Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan.

Based on the Archie Comics series that spawned the 1970s cartoon, the 2001 film centers on a female pop-rock group plucked from obscurity in Riverdale. Tara Reid, then 24, was cast first as drummer Melody Valentine following her turn in American Pie. Rachael Leigh Cook (She’s All That), 19, nabbed the part of frontwoman Josie McCoy over Zooey Deschanel and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

For Val, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds — who produced the gold-selling soundtrack — encouraged the filmmakers to consider a music star, and Aaliyah, TLC’s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Beyoncé were among those to audition.

As we all mourn the end of the Halloween season and brace ourselves for the seemingly unending parade of holidays based on familial obligations or gross displays of capitalism, November is here to serve as a little respite. Many of the horror movies that disappeared off streaming platforms to try and snag some extra Halloween funds in October are returning to their respective platforms, but the trickling in of cheesy Christmas fare is also coming in fast.

Fortunately, there's a massive amount of old favorites and exciting new titles trying to beat the holiday havoc, and we've got five between Hulu and Disney+ that you would be wise to check out. Action? Teen movies? Horror comedies? Musicals? Weirdly bleak arthouse film with surprising brutality? November has it all, baby.

Can't Hardly Wait (1998)

Before Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont would go on to make "Josie and the Pussycats" (the best movie...

“Wyatt, you messed with the wrong pussy!”

Mill Creek Entertainment announces the 20th Anniversary release of Josie and the Pussycats on Blu-Ray November 16, 2021.

Hot newcomers Josie (Rachael Leigh Cook), Melody (Tara Reid), and Val (Rosario Dawson) are three small-town musicians with big dreams but little future. Then fate gives the Pussycats the chance of a lifetime when band manager

Wyatt (Alan Cumming) of MegaRecords signs them overnight to an awesome recording contract. Suddenly, Josie and the Pussycats are living life in the fast lane with sold-out concerts, a number one single, and global stardom. But it’s not all limousines and private jets. The Pussycats soon discover they’re being played like pawns in an evil plot by the record label’s maniacal CEO Fiona (Parker Posey) to control the youth of America.

For the 20th Anniversary, the story of the all-girl rock band that became a national sensation is...

YouTube has again turned to big-name entertainment personalities to anchor its latest slate of ad-supported originals.

At its Brandcast Delivered event for advertisers Tuesday, YouTube announced an unscripted series with Will Smith following his latest fitness journey and a new docuseries with Alicia Keys premiering this summer.

The video giant also announced the third and final season of comedy “Liza on Demand,” starring popular comedian and YouTube creator Liza Koshy — marking the last of YouTube’s scripted originals, after phasing them out starting in 2019; “Ice Cold,” a docuseries produced by hip-hop trio Migos exploring issues around racial inequity; and a new special celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander culture from executive producers including LeBron James and Michelle Kwan.

The YouTube Originals strategy remains the same: They’re projects built around personalities and top YouTube creators designed to draw a large audience, as well as specials to support specific causes, said YouTube ‎chief business officer Robert Kyncl.

Liza on Demand, the half-hour scripted comedy series created by and starring Liza Koshy, is to end with its upcoming third season.

The move means that YouTube will wave goodbye to its last scripted series after pivoting away from the genre and focusing on unscripted programming instead.

The third season of Liza on Demand, which is produced by Above Average, will premiere later this year. It will follow the chaotic misadventures of Liza (Koshy) and her roommates/best friends, Harlow (Kimiko Glenn) and Oliver (Travis Coles), as they wade through the highs and lows of their 20s.

It is exec produced by Koshy, Courtney Carter, Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont, Marc Lieberman, Ally Engelberg, Caroline Miller and Elliot Glazer.

The third season of the show, which was originally renewed for its third run in January 2020, had been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It marks the last original scripted series still on...

Forget nine lives, these pussycats are livelier than ever 20 years later. Directed and written by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, Josie and the Pussycats became one of the early aughts' biggest box office bombs. Released on April 11, 2001, the movie grossed just $14 million and was panned—sometimes savagely so—in almost every review. The experience scarred the directorial duo so much that they never helmed a movie again. But here's the thing mostly male film critics failed to realize at the time: Josie and the Pussycats—which starred Rachael Leigh Cook (lead singer Josie), Tara Reid (drummer Melody) and Rosario Dawson (bassist Val)—was supposed to be...

Who's ready to check in the Huntington Hillside Class of '98? Well, you're in luck, because Can't Hardly Wait has finally made its way to Netflix! It's been over two decades since the 1998 teen comedy written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont made its way to theaters an charmed audiences with its depiction of one hell of a graduation party, introducing audiences to a who's who cast of stars including Ethan Embry, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green and many more. And while lovesick Preston Meyers (Embry) and his crush on prom queen Amanda Beckett (Hewitt) feels a...

Exclusive: Broadway Video’s Above Average Productions and veteran film and television producer M. Blair Breard are teaming to create a new production services offering focused exclusively on premium scripted content.

Breard and Above Average say the partnership will leverage Breard’s production expertise, approach to creative producing, and deep industry relationships with Above Average’s established production services infrastructure. Breard and Above Average will continue to develop projects independently.

Breard has received six Primetime Emmy nominations, including three for FX’s Louie on which she served as an executive producer for all five seasons. She also was an executive producer on FX’s Baskets and Better Things as well as Amazon’s One Mississippi and the web series Horace and Pete. She recently served as executive producer on ITV’s Strangers, and produced the feature The Half Of It with Anthony Bregman of Likely Story for Netflix, written and directed by Alice Wu.

YouTube has handed Liza on Demand, the half-hour comedy created by and starring Liza Koshy a third season and has ordered a David Blaine live special and a doc series about the world of women’s gymnastics.

Susanne Daniels, Global Head of Original Content at YouTube, announced the projects at the Winter TCA press tour, where YouTube Originals were promoting Paris Hilton documentary This Is Paris and learning series Creators for Change with Michelle Obama: Girls’ Education.

These orders come as the company moved from Svod to Avod earlier this year with logged-in YouTube customers will be able to watch the original series and specials, while YouTube Premium members will have ad-free access and be able to bine the series.

Liza on Demand, which launched its second season in September, follows the chaotic misadventures of Koshy’s eponymous character as she takes on various tasks and odd jobs, as...

YouTube claims its new windowing strategy for originals — making them available to watch free, with ads, for everyone — is delivering big audiences just as execs hoped.

Season 2 of “Liza on Demand,” the sitcom starring and co-created by popular YouTube comedian Liza Koshy, scored more views for debut episode “Naked” in its first week than any of the video platform’s original series to date. In the episode, through a series of mishaps, Koshy’s character accidentally finds herself nude in public — and she later strips bare on a city street in a bid to prove she has nothing to hide.

Across all episode 1 debuts for YouTube Original shows, “Liza on Demand” had the biggest debut ever with 25 million views in the first seven days (Sept. 25-Oct. 1), according to YouTube. “Cobra Kai” season 2, a spinoff of the “Karate Kid” movies, previously held the seven-day record with 21 million views in April 2019, followed...

Escape The Night isn’t the only returning original that YouTube is set to fete at VidCon.

The cast of Liza Koshy’s scripted comedy Liza On Demand will attend the video convention in July to discuss the series’ supercharged second season. In addition to participating in a panel presentation on July 13, Koshy and her co-stars Kimiko Glenn and Travis Coles will preview footage from the show and spill behind-the-scenes gossip.

The pilot episode of Liza On Demand has been seen by 22 million viewers. The half-hour series follows the chaotic misadventures of Koshy's character and her two roommates, as she takes on various tasks and odd jobs in the gig economy. The series is produced by Above Average, Koshy, Deborah Kaplan (Can’t Hardly Wait), and Harry Elfont (Josie & The Pussycats). Koshy’s manager, Courtney Carter, will serve as an Ep on the project.

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

YouTube has renewed “Karate Kid” sequel series “Cobra Kai” for a third season. The web and streaming platform has also handed a Season 3 renewal to Kevin Hart’s “What the Fit.”

Both “Cobra Kai” and “What the Fit” will premiere their new seasons in 2020.

YouTube is now offering two options for its upcoming original series like “Cobra Kai” and “What the Fit”:ad-free Svod viewing and ad-supported free viewing.

Also Read: 'Cobra Kai' Stars Talk About That Insane Season 2 Finale Scene: 'It Was Like an 11-Minute Riot'

From Aug. 29 to Sept. 11, 2019, YouTube plans to make Season 1 of “Cobra Kai” available to all users globally for free — you’ll just have to watch commercials. Season 2 gets the same treatment starting on Sept. 11, though those episodes will post weekly instead of all at once.

YouTube will share additional free ad-supported premiere dates for existing “Impulse” and “Liza on Demand” episodes at a later date.

Liza Koshy’s YouTube Premium vehicle, Liza On Demand, has been greenlit for a second season.

The comedy series, in which Koshy’s character tries her hand at various jobs in the gig economy, will enter production this spring, and eight episodes will debut on YouTube Premium in 2019. In season two, Koshy will “take on a brand new set of challenges,” according to YouTube. When Liza On Demand returns, it could live on a very different iteration of YouTube Premium. In November, the video giant announced that it would make all of its original programming available for free (i.e. ad-supported) by 2020.

Liza On Demand is produced by Lorne Michaels' Above Average and is written by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont (Josie & The Pussycats). Koshy also serves as co-creator and executive producer, while Courtney Carter will serve as Ep and Sam Childs will produce. Travis Coles (By The Book...

YouTube Premium has ordered a second season of Liza on Demand, the half-hour comedy created by and starring Liza Koshy. Production on the eight-episode new season begin in the spring for premiere this year.

Liza on Demand viewers follow the chaotic misadventures that ensue as the eponymous character (Koshy) takes on various tasks and odd jobs, as she tries to get ahead in the gig economy. Featuring a young diverse cast, the freshman season took satirical stabs at topics including gender bias and romantic tropes. Season two will follow Liza’s misadventures as she takes on a new set of challenges. Travis Coles also stars.

“Liza is an incredible talent who is fearless in her comedy,” said Susanne Daniels, Global Head of Original Content at YouTube. “We’re thrilled with the fan reaction and huge success of Season 1 and look forward to working with the creative minds behind the series...

The creative team for Liza On Demand, the forthcoming YouTube Red series in which comedy vlogger Liza Koshy will take on a series of odd jobs in hopes of becoming an “elite tasker,” has been revealed.

Starring alongside 21-year-old Koshy are Kimiko Glenn (Nerve) and Travis Coles (By The Book), Deadline reports, while directors on the eight-episode half-hour sitcom include Todd Biermann (Alone Together), Anna Mastro (Shameless), Heath Cullens (You’re The Worst), and Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont (Josie And The Pussycats). Kaplan and Elfont also wrote the show and will serve as executive producers alongside Koshy and Courtney Carter.

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

One of YouTube's biggest personalities will take on a series of odd jobs. Liza Koshy, whose videos have attracted more than 12 million subscribers to her channel while reeling in more than 1.2 billion views, will star in #LizaOnDemand, which will arrive on YouTube Red in 2018.

In each episode of #LizaOnDemand, Koshy will try her hand at a new gig, in hopes of becoming an "elite tasker." Above Average, the digital network owned by Saturday Night Live studio Broadway Video, will produce the forthcoming series. Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, who co-directed the 2001 film Josie and the Pussycats, will pen its script.

“I can’t wait to bring #LizaOnDemand to my YouTube audience and hopefully a new audience too,” said Koshy. “Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont and Above Average are a dream to work with and this show is going to be so fun for folks of all ages, colors creeds and backgrounds.

[[tmz:video id="0_gqzm8keh"]] Tara Reid's in total disbelief at the score -- Tara 1, Beyonce 0 ... at least when it comes to "Josie and The Pussycats." Tara appeared on "TMZ Live" Friday and was still in shock to just learn -- 16 years after the release --  she beat out Bey for the role. The revelation came just last week when the co-writers and directors -- Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont -- told Billboard Beyonce auditioned for the role Tara ultimately won.

Who doesn't love an epic reunion? Well, that's exactly what went down on Tuesday when the cast of Josie and the Pussycats reunited for the movie's 16th anniversary.  According to Oh No They Didn't, Gabriel Mann, Missi Pyles, Rachel Leigh Cook, Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson did a panel along with the film's co-writers and directors Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. The panel was moderated by BuzzFeed's Jarett Wieselman. Oh No They Didn't also reported that Kay Hanley (who did original vocals in the film) performed. Sadly, the members of the boy band Dujour were not at the reunion.  For those who haven't seen the 2001 film, the movie is about a...

Ensuring that the next time you’re cuddling with that special someone, you can hop over to the turntable and spin them a little “Backdoor Lover,” Pitchfork reports that the Josie And The Pussycats soundtrack is making its way to vinyl. Produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, and featuring work from a number of influential songwriters of the early 2000s (plus Letters To Cleo’s Kay Hanley on lead vocals), the Pussycats soundtrack was significantly more successful than its attendant movie (despite the latter’s hard-won status as a satirical cult-classic).

The album is being reissued by Mondo, which is putting together a big event in L.A. to commemorate the release. The film’s directors, Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, will be in attendance, while Hanley will be on hand to play a Josie And The Pussycats set.

Alamo Drafthouse is heading to the woods to summon an ancient evil and a whole lot of fun this September with their outdoor screening of Evil Dead 2. Part of the theater's Alamo20 anniversary events, the outdoor screening will be attended by the groovy Bruce Campbell, who will be autographing his new book, Hail to the Chin:

Press Release: Austin, TX --- August 18, 2017 --- A truly rockin' cast reunion of one of this century's most fun cult films. An on-location birthday party for Steven Spielberg's monumental science-fiction classic. And perhaps the funniest horror film ever made, screened in the woods... with Bruce Campbell. The third wave of Alamo Drafthouse's year-long cycle of 'Alamo20' anniversary events is here, providing die-hard fans across the country with three can't-miss cinematic spectacles.

On September 26th in Los Angeles, Alamo Drafthouse and Birth.Movies.Death. are celebrating Mondo's new vinyl reissue of...

10. “Angie Tribeca” (TBS)

Can Rashida Jones and her department of hysterical cops get some love this year? Nancy and Steve Carell’s new TBS comedy skewering the police procedural, “Naked Gun”-style, produced two full seasons, 20 total episodes, and a countless total of cumulative laughs. Absurd humor of such high regard is virtually impossible to do well without becoming repetitive, and “Angie Tribeca” proved itself sustainable in one year by pumping out two perfect seasons. 2016 should be looked at as a banner year for the program, even if it continues to top itself in seasons to come.

9. “Search Party” (TBS)

With episode titles inspired by Nancy Drew mysteries, “Search Party” is a noir-ish nod to the classic plucky sleuthstress, but with an irreverent millennial sensibility. The mesmerizing Alia Shawkat plays Dory, an underemployed post-grad who finds her purpose when she begins to investigate the disappearance of college acquaintance Chantal. With...

When MTV asks if you want to visit Snoop Dogg’s compound, you say yes. Especially when the reason is “Mary + Jane,” the network’s charming new scripted comedy about two young women trying to run a “mostly legal prescription delivery service.”

Snoop Dogg is an executive producer on the show, as well as a dedicated lover of television (his current favorite shows include “Power,” “Narcos” and “Stranger Things”). And he’s also a big fan of “Mary + Jane.” “When I fall in love it’s hard for me to get out,” he told IndieWire. “I’m all the way locked in.”

Read More: Fall TV Preview: The 17 Most Anticipated Comedies of 2016

Snoop Dogg’s expansive compound includes production studios, offices, some lovely-smelling bathrooms, a basketball court, skeeball, arcade games and an entire room that can function as a mini-casino, with tables for poker and craps. One of hip-hop star’s dogs,...

“Mary + Jane”

September 5 on MTV

What Is It? From the writer/directors behind the cult favorite “Josie and the Pussycats” adaptation, this series follows two “ganjapeneurs” who run a weed delivery service in Los Angeles.

I’ll Like It If I Like… The “Broad City” influence is pretty clear, as the show is focused on the tight friendship between Jordan (Scout Durwood) and Paige (Jessica Rothe) and their stoner antics.

Why Should I Care? Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont’s unique approach to satirizing La hipster culture really help this show stand out from the pack of other female-led comedies, while also promising a more surreal touch. Durwood and Rothe also make for an enjoyable pairing. For fans of the pot comedy genre, it’s an easy sell.

“Atlanta”

September 6 on FX

What is it? Donald Glover of “Community” fame returns to TV in his most ambitious project yet, which he produces,...

The new comedy “Mary + Jane,” debuting tonight on MTV, has been compared quite a bit to Comedy Central’s “Broad City.” But the real comparison point, if you’re familiar with the previous work of its creators, is “Josie and the Pussycats.”

The 2001 cult film, written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, was a surprisingly tough yet hilarious teardown of superficial teen culture – one that still has a rabid fanbase.

That following even includes Jessica Rothe, who (along with Scout Durwood) plays one of the “ganjapreneurs” on “Mary + Jane,” delivering weed to an eclectic range of Angelenos. “It was not until halfway through shooting that she admitted how much a ‘Josie and the Pussycats’ fan she was,” Elfont said.

“Mary + Jane” is Kaplan and Elfont’s first TV series. Like many filmmakers (this is “the answer that everyone gives,” Elfont admits), the duo eventually realized that TV is...

Two episodes were provided prior to broadcast.

It’s funny how shocking and taboo the simple subject of a show like Weeds was when it aired in 2005. Backed into a corner when her family’s plush livelihood is at stake, Nancy Botwin began selling weed on the Dl, all the while keeping up her soccer mom appearances. Fast-forward to 2016, and seemingly every network either has a cannabis-focused comedy debuting, or one in the works, and none of the new characters popping up in any of the new shows feel the need hide their main source of income from the world.

Such is the “mostly legal prescription delivery service” at the center of MTV’s new comedy Mary + Jane, run by raspy-voiced snark machine Jordan (Scout Durwood) and her sensible, vision board-obsessing best friend Paige (Jessica Rothe), who probably binge-watched the entirety of Weeds as homework. They’re Los Angeles’ prime weed dealers,...

Are you ready for a new buddy comedy? (Sorry.) Below, watch two previews and check out photos from the new Mary + Jane TV show, premiering on MTV Monday, September 5, 2016 at 10:00pm Et/Pt. The pot dealer sitcom comes from writing/directing team and executive producers Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. In a move that shocked no one, Snoop Dogg (who naturally wrote and performs the theme song) and his production company -- Merry Jane -- have joined as executive producers.Mary + Jane follows 20-something best friends, Jordan (Scout Durwood) and Paige (Jessica Rothe), living in L.A. The "ganjapreneurs" run an all-female weed delivery service. MTV says Mary + Jane is, "...filled with funny, raw and bizarre adventures. The show explores the uncharted territory as Los Angeles comes out of the Green Closet and gets into high and higher times."Read More…...

[caption id="attachment_47870" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Loosely Exactly Nicole TV show, image via MTV./caption]

MTV announces it has given the greenlight to three new scripted TV shows: Loosely Exactly Nicole, Mary + Jane, and Sweet/Vicious. A half-hour comedy, Loosely Exactly Nicole stars Nicole Byer (above) in the title role. Showrunner Christine Zander executive produces with Avi Gilbert (3 Arts) and Christian Lander.

Mary + Jane, also a half-hour comedy about enterprising pot dealers Paige and Jordan is executive produced by Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont, and Television 360. A one-hour dramedy, created by Co-ep Jennifer Robinson, Sweet/Vicious is executive produced by showrunner Amanda Lasher and Jennifer Robinson.

Read More…...

MTV has given series orders to the three female-driven comedy pilots it greenlighted in September, an untitled project from Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont (Can't Hardly Wait); Little Darlings, created by 27-year old Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and executive produced by Stacey Sher and Amanda Lasher; and a half-hour toplined by comedienne Nicole Byer of MTV's Girl Code. The pickups mark an aggressive step in MTV’s efforts to grow its original comedy series portfolio…...

The next stop on Hillary Clinton‘s campaign trail: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The Democratic presidential hopeful will stop by NBC’s nightly talker on Wednesday, Sept. 16, the network announced Tuesday.

RelatedThe Tonight Show: Jimmy Fallon’s Contract Renewed Through 2021

Clinton’s Tonight Show gig will be her first late-night talk show appearance since announcing her White House bid in April.

Fallon recently sat down with Republican candidate Chris Christie and will next host Donald Trump on Friday, Sept. 11.

Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…

* Game of Thrones has recruited Richard E. Grant (Downton Abbey,...

Much like Wet Hot American Summer, Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan's Can't Hardly Wait is a film that has weirdly improved with age, as many of the members of its very young cast went on to do much bigger things with their Hollywood careers. Also much like Wet Hot American Summer, this makes it the kind of material that is also just asking to be revisited with the entire original cast... and it turns out that's an idea for which Jennifer Love Hewitt is totally on-board. Following a special screening of the movie at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the actress took to her personal Twitter account this weekend and made a pitch to fans about a reunion for Can't Hardly Wait. She didn't exactly provide a possible plotline for the movie, but you can see her request below: Can't Hardly Wait reunion movie anyone? Let's get them to make it!

Zachary Levi, who is starring in NBC’s Heroes Reborn, has signed a first-look deal with Universal TV, the studio behind the upcoming event series as well as the original Heroes drama. Under the deal, Levi will continue to develop Tuned, a half-hour musical comedy he set up at NBC and Universal TV earlier this development season. The project, a potential starring vehicle for Levi, was written by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, with Levi executive producing alongside Eva…...

Major Us broadcasters are developing more than 20 TV adaptations of feature films as they follow the example of their cable counterparts.

Us pay-tv networks have recently found success with the likes of Fargo and Teen Wolf, and have lined up further adaptations of Scream (MTV), Twelve Monkeys (Syfy), Shutter Island (HBO) and Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead (Starz).

Traditional networks - ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and The CW - are now getting involved and have struck deals for adaptations of well-known films including Big, Minority Report and The Devil’s Advocate, as well as more niche films such as John Ritter’s Problem Child and Val Kilmer’s Real Genius.

The networks have ordered scripts for the 20-plus adaptations and will decide which projects to pilot by January. Those taken to series will likely be ordered in May for an autumn 2015 launch.

UK consultancy firm Tape monitors the Us development process for a number of UK broadcasters...

Will Smith and James Lassiter’s Overbrook Entertainment are teaming up with Fox for a half-hour comedy TV series based on Mr Smith's 2005 box office hit romcom "Hitch." The TV version is being pitched as a "workplace comedy that explores dating and sexual politics." Smith and wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, will executive produce the project along with James Lassiter, Caleeb Pinkett, Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. Kaplan and Elfont will pen the script. As for casting, we'll have to wait to find out. No announcement on that yet. Although I seriously doubt that Will plans to reprise his role for the small screen. Whether one should even expect a similar...

If you’re feeling out of luck and out of love, don’t fret; the date doctor is on his way to television. That’s right, according to Deadline, Fox has sanctioned a half-hour series based on Will Smith’s hit romantic comedy, Hitch.

Admittedly, this isn’t the first time that Smith’s Overbook Entertainment and Sony have tried to get the wheels in motion on a series based on the titular love guru, following failed attempts in 2007 and 2010 with a variety of writers.

Now, however, it seems the project has been swept off its feet so to speak, landing a single-camera series at Fox, who describe the adaptation as “a workplace comedy that explores dating and sexual politics.” Though it’s next to impossible that Will Smith would actually star in the show, it’s understood that the A-lister has signed on board to executive produce in tandem...

Will Smith's Hitch movie is being adapted into a series for the small screen.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the series will consist of half-hour, single-camera episodes in "a workplace comedy that explores dating and sexual politics".

Will and wife Jada Pinkett Smith will both serve as executive producers for the series, alongside Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, who will pen the script, and Overbrook Entertainment's James Lassiter and Caleeb Pinkett.

Hitch was released back in 2005 and told the story of Alex 'Hitch' Hitchens, a professional dating advisor who tries to get the girl of his dreams Sara Melas (Eva Mendes).

The film managed to rack up $370 million at the box office worldwide.

Will will next appear in Focus alongside Margot Robbie and is also being eyed up to play a part in the Suicide Squad movie.

Watch a trailer for Hitch below:...

Fox has put into development a new half-hour TV series based on the 2005 hit comedy film Hitch, which starred Will Smith. The actor is attached to executive produce the new series, which has received a script commitment by Fox.

Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont (Made of Honor) are writing the pilot script, which is described as a workplace comedy that explores dating and "sexual politics." The original movie starred Will Smith as a professional matchmaker/ date doctor, whose life is turned upside down when he meets the girl of his dreams (Eva Mendes). Kevin James and Amber Valetta co-starred in director Andy Tennant's comedy, which earned $370 million worldwide during its theatrical run.

Will Smith will executive produce alongside his wife and their Overbrook Entertainment partners James Lassiter and Caleb Pinkett. The producers previously were working on TV adaptations in 2007 and 2010 at CBS and Fox respectively, with different writers, but neither incarnation moved forward.

Fox has handed out a script commitment for a half-hour, single-camera comedy series based on the 2005 Will Smith feature "Hitch".

Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont ("Made of Honor") are penning the series described as a workplace comedy that explores dating and sexual politics. 

Smith's Overbrook Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television will exec produce the series. The original film grossed nearly $370 million worldwide.

The project marks the latest on the ever growing list of movies being remade as TV series for next season.

Source: The Live Feed...