News

Exclusive: Singer and actress Lisa Velez, who rose to fame in the 80s hit group Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, is getting the biopic treatment at Lifetime.

Velez will executive produce and star in Can You Feel the Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story as her mother, and Jearnest Corchado will play the freestyle legend. In addition to Velez and Corchado, the project also stars Bre Z as Toni Ménage and NYC radio personality, Angie Martinez as Nurse Rodriguez.

Bre Z and Angie Martinez

The film tells the story of Velez as a 15-year-old Puerto Rican girl from Hell’s Kitchen who went on to influence artists like Selena Quintanilla and Jennifer Lopez and inspire girls growing up in the 80s and 90s to reach for the stars. As a teen, Velez endured sexism and racism and hid her breast cancer diagnosis to...

Former America’s Next Top Model and The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member Eva Marcille and Harlem and P-Valley’s Tyler Lepley will star in Lifetime’s Buried Alive and Survived. The project is a part of the network’s fall slate of Ripped from the Headlines Movies inspired by true-life stories.

In the made-for-tv movie based on a story by Nigel Campbell, Marcille, who currently appears in the lead role of Marilyn “Madam” DeVille in BET’s All the Queen’s Men, will portray Alicia, a woman fighting to protect herself and her son Malcolm from her ex-husband Victor (Lepley) after he’s released from prison. When Alicia turns down Victor’s attempts at reconciliation, he buries her alive. Yet Alicia proves resilient when she manages to claw her way out of the grave before suffocating. Thus begins her final struggle, as she begins searching for her son, attempting to...

Exclusive: Lifetime will air a sequel to Single Black Female, a 2022 movie that averaged more than 8 million total viewers across linear and digital platforms and was the No. 1 original non-holiday movie of 2022.

Stars Amber Riley, Raven Goodwin and K. Michelle will reprise their roles for Single Black Female 2: Simone’s Revenge, which is set to premiere March 2 at 8 p.m.

Three years after narrowly escaping the murderous clutches of her half-sister Simone (Riley), Monica (Goodwin) is ready for a fresh start in Seattle as the host of the city’s #1 primetime investigative television program. With her best friend Bebe (Michelle) by her side and a new love interest, things are looking up for Monica. Secretly nursed back to health and suffering from amnesia, Simone is building a new life when she comes across Monica on TV and her memories come rushing back, leading to a fateful reunion between the sisters.

Exclusive: Bravo star Kandi Burruss has joined the cast of the BET+ original holiday film Whatever It Takes. Deadline has your exclusive first look at the trailer above.

From writers TuShonda Whitaker and Amaleka McCall Brathwaite, Whatever It Takes is set on Thanksgiving weekend as snow is falling, Christmas is on the horizon and the promises of the New Year are near. Navigating careers, life and the nuances of friendship, five women bond over the imperfections in their love lives. The holidays bring some of them their greatest wishes and others their most profound losses.

The film, starring and executive produced by Tami Roman, will premiere on December 21. The cast also includes Brely Evans, Kendrick Cross, Rayan Lawrence, Zuri James, Stevie Baggs Jr, Linda Boston, Monica Robinson and Aj Akua Johnson.

“I’m so excited to be working with this incredibly talented...

BET+ has set premiere dates for its fall slate of films and new and returning TV series.

First on the list is “Love & Murder: Atlanta Playboy,” a film series starring Taye Diggs. Part 1 debuts on Sept. 21 while Part 2 will arrive on the streamer a week later, on Sept. 28. The films follow an investigation into the murder of Lance (Diggs), a successful Atlanta businessman known both for revolutionizing the city’s 911 system and for being a womanizer. The cast also includes Keesha Sharp, Ciera Payton, Apryl Jones, Ernestine Johnson, Nicole Lyn, Robert Brown, Tye White, Anton Peeples, Yung Joc, Karlie Redd and Yandy Smith. Jaira Thomas directs scripts from Gregory R. Anderson. Mona Scott-Young and Eric Tomosunas executive produce, with co-executive producers including Lorisa Bates, Marvin Neil, Stephanie R. Gayle, Abbey MacDonald and Nick Roses and producers including Ron Robinson, Jimmy Watson, Ron Stodghill, Keith Neal, Brian Rikuda and Devin Griffin.

Exclusive: Keesha Sharp (Power Book II: Ghost) is set as a lead opposite Taye Diggs in BET+ true crime film series Love & Murder: Atlanta Playboy, from Mona Scott-Young of Monami Productions and Eric Tomosunas of Swirl Films. It is set to debut on BET+ later this year.

Courtney Miller will direct, based on Ron Stodghill’s book Redbone: Money, Malice and Murder in Atlanta. Gregory R. Anderson will pen the script.

Atlanta Playboy follows Lance (Diggs), a successful Atlanta businessman, renowned in equal measure for both revolutionizing the city’s 911 system, and his womanizing ways. When he is found murdered in his own home, questions and allegations abound as to who might have wanted him dead. An investigation into the murder is launched which reveals the truths and suspicions behind Lance’s professional and personal life. Was it a business rival, threatened by Lance’s bid for a big contract?...

Exclusive: Taye Diggs is set to star in the true crime film series Love & Murder: Atlanta Playboy from Mona Scott-Young of Monami Productions and Eric Tomosunas of Swirl Films. It is set to debut on BET+ later this year.

Courtney Miller will direct, based on Ron Stodghill’s book Redbone: Money, Malice and Murder in Atlanta. Gregory R. Anderson will pen the script.

Atlanta Playboy follows Lance (Diggs), a successful Atlanta businessman, renowned in equal measure for both revolutionizing the city’s 911 system, and his womanizing ways. When he is found murdered in his own home, questions and allegations abound as to who might have wanted him dead. An investigation into the murder is launched which reveals the truths and suspicions behind Lance’s professional and personal life. Was it a business rival, threatened by Lance’s bid for a big contract? Was it a scorned lover jealous of the...

In today’s film news roundup, Tom Berenger is starring in a new crime thriller, Freestyle Digital buys “Madhouse Mecca,” and “Sleepless in Seattle” is returning for two nights.

Castings

Tom Berenger (“Platoon”) will star in the independent thriller “Allagash” from writer/director John Barr, Variety has learned.

“Allagash” marks the feature-length directorial debut for Barr following his short film, “His Lover,” adapted from the Andre Dubus short story by the same title. Suza Horvat is producing, and Paul Casale Jr., Jeff Stearns, and Dan Murphy are executive producing.

Berenger will play a retired veteran who, while hunting in the northern territory of Maine, stumbles across a dead woman and a large sum of money. Events spiral out of control when a group of criminals searching for the money encounter him, setting up a test of will and survival. Shooting is slated to begin early next year in northern Maine.

Exclusive: NBC is taking a second stab at developing a comedy series based on Life As I Blow It, the book by Chelsea Lately and After Lately writer-panelist Sarah Colonna. Denise Moss (Hackett) has been brought in to write/executive produce the project, originally developed last year with Colonna writing and Danielle Sanchez supervising. Colonna will now co-write the story with Moss, who will write the script. Happy Madison and Sony TV are back producing. Life As I Blow It will focus on the relationship of Colonna and her sister, who are brought together when Colonna loses her job and has to return to Arkansas where her sister’s life is also unraveling. Adding fuel to the fire is the sisters’ differing point of view on life and how Colonna’s nephew should be raised. While Colonna has no deal to star, the project is being developed as a potential starring vehicle for her.

NBC has bought two more single-camera comedy projects: Life As I Blow It, from Chelsea Lately and After Lately writer-panelist Sarah Colonna, and Satellites, a workplace comedy from Weeds writer-producer Stephen Falk. Life As I Blow It is based on Colonna’s upcoming book and follows Colonna and her life in the Midwest surrounded by eccentric friends and family whose opinions and actions know no boundaries. Happy Madison and Sony TV are producing along with Colonna’s management company New Wave Entertainment, Lunch Bag Snail Prods and Universal TV. Colonna will write the script and executive produce with Danielle Sanchez, who will supervise, Doug Robinson, Abbey MacDonald, Michael Pelmont and Brian Volk Weiss. Apa-repped Colonna recently performed on the Comedians of Chelsea Lately tour. Satellites is set in the chaotic world of satellite radio and centers around a former reluctant ’90s boy-band member and a female blogger/podcaster who co-host a relationship call-in show.