Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + MediaBiz news to know on WEDNESDAY March 17, 2021.

Where I’m missing my mom’s Irish Soda Bread for breakfast today… So let’s see how substituting Guinness works out.

🎧 MUSIC TO READ BY

DROPKICK MURPHYS - “Shipping up to Boston”. Add to your Spotify / YouTube

If you need new tunes:

THE WAKEUP Spotify playlist

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

BLUMHOUSE TV producing 8 Horror movies for EPIX

First one will premiere in December. Similar to their “Welcome to the Blumhouse” content deal at AMAZON, but movies will have bigger budgets. /THR

ALSO IN MOVIES

• Get to know Diego Calva - Damien Chazelle just cast him in a big role for his PARAMOUNT movie“Babylon”, with Brad Pitt & Margot Robbie. Shoots this Summer and WME just signed him. /THR

• “Lupin” director and series star Omar Sy doing a cop action-comedy movie together for French NETFLIX. Currently shooting. /Variety

• ”Bridgerton” lead Phoebe Dynevor joins Matthew Goode for SKY movie “The Colour Room” about 1920’s UK female ceramics pioneer. /Deadline

📺 THE TV SET

APPLE TV+ sets Tom Hiddleston to co-star with Claire Danes in “The Essex Serpent”

Set in the Victorian era, Tom’s gonna play a leader in the small English countryside town that Claire’s character returns to after the death of her abusive husband. /Variety

PEACOCK orders Natasha Lyonne series “Poker Face”, directed by Rian Johnson

No real details other than its a character driven, case-of-the-week mystery show.

10 episode order, Rian also Writer + Creator. /Deadline

SHOWTIME orders “Shaka: King of the Zulu Nation” series, Antoine Fuqua directing

Set across Africa in the early 1800’s. No word on timeline or episode order. /Variety

ALSO IN TV

• Steven Yeun + Ali Wong for new drama series from A24. Currently awaiting bids from networks & streamers. 10 half-hour episodes, no plot details avail. /Deadline

• “Killing Eve” Season 4 will be its last. Shooting this Summer, 8 episodes run by Laura Neal (“Sex Education”) this time, will hit BBC AMERICA in 2022. Spinoff discussions are happening though. /THR

• HBO casts Adrien Brody as Pat Riley for 1980’s Lakers series from Adam McKay. /Variety

• ABC sets James Burrows (“Cheers”, “Friends”) to direct Alec Baldwin / Kelsey Grammar sitcom pilot. Show already has a series order. /Deadline

• Anthony Boyle (HBO’s “The Plot Against America”) joins APPLE TV+ Hanks/Spielberg WWII UK Flyboys miniseries “Masters of the Air”. /Variety

• CBS puts “The Talk” on hiatus thru middle of next week while they investigate & discuss Sharon Osbourne comments about Piers Morgan, & claims made against her. /Deadline

• TBS sets “Bachelorette” couple JoJo Fletcher & Jordan Rogers to host 10 Episode dating show “The Big D”. Recently divorced people look for romance in paradise… but their ex comes along 🤦‍♂️. JoJo & Jordan still engaged 5 years after doing “The Bachelorette” together. /Variety

• HBOMAX sets “Queer Eye” producers for 8 episode streetwear competition show “The Hype”. Offset from Migos will be a judge and producer. /Deadline

• Next SNL Hosts set:

  • April 3: Daniel Kaluuya with St. Vincent

  • April 10: Carey Mulligan with Kid Cudi

  • Maya Rudolph & Jack Harlow already set for March 26

💻 THE MEDIA BIZ

NY TIMES joins the “after July 4th” voluntary return to the office policy

But looking more like “after Labor Day weekend” as to when people will be expected to commute again. /CNN

FOX CORP also taking the Labor Day Weekend demarcation approach. /Deadline

ALSO IN MEDIA

• Stringer Bell reads to your kids - Idris Elba sets multi-book deal with HARPER COLLINS for children’s books. Writing with Robyn Charteris. /THR

• SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK returns to Central Park on July 5th, with adaptation of “Merry Wives of Windsor”. /NYT

• CLUBHOUSE adds another top exec: Fadia Kader as Head of Media Partnerships & Creators. Comes over from INSTAGRAM Music Partnershps. /Variety

• VERVE promotes TV Lit agent Chris Noriega to Partner. /THR

🎥 TRAILER HOUSE

NETFLIX “Concrete Cowboy” - Pretty great trailer for their TIFF acquisition. Father/son story based on apparently real-life culture of cowboys who live in a city setting. Premieres Fri April 2.

NETFLIX “The Irregulars” - There’s some sort of a time-continuum rip in Victorian England… that somehow involves Sherlock Holmes & John Watson, a group of teenagers and… that’s all I got on this one. Drops on March 26th.

PEACOCK “Rutherford Falls”. Small town comedy starring Ed Helms. Michael Schur (“Parks & Rec”, “The Good Place”) and Sierra Teller Ornelas (“Superstore”) among creative team. Begins streaming April 22.

HBO Docu “The Day Sports Stood Still”. Tracks sports culture from the Covid shutdown through the NBA Bubble and civil rights movement last summer. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Premieres next Wed Mar 24th.

PARAMOUNT+ “The Challenge: All Stars”. Features 22 All-stars from previous editions. Drops Thu April 1.

👩‍💻 NEW TO WATCH:

First - what better way to help out an Irishman on the most Irish day of the year… than sharing this newsletter with your work team? 🇮🇪🍀 Well it was worth a shot.

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NETFLIX“Operation Varsity Blues” Docu… re-creation? It’s their thing on the USC College Admissions scandal, with Matthew Modine as the mastermind. From Chris Smith (NETFLIX’s “Fyre” docu). Watch or add to your List here.

DROPKICK MURPHYS concert tonight from Boston at 7pm EST . Livestream for free here (but also donate if ya can, the fellas are raising $$ for their charity organization).

Slainté! 🍻

-Sean McNulty