Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY April 6, 2021.
Where congrats to Baylor for winning the Men’s MARCH MADNESS tournament last night 🙌. And good news – you still have 2 days to put the money you won betting against Gonzaga to use on the MASTERS Tournament ⛳️.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Edgar Ramirez joins video game adaptation “Borderlands” at LIONSGATE
He’s playing “Atlas”, the most powerful person in the world. Ah – my old job. Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart lead that ensemble. /Deadline
MRC sets another Film division – LANDLINE Pictures focused on movies for people over 50
Ahhh landline, got it. Producer & Former CBS FILMS head Amy Baer is leading it. Initial projects listed in the link for the inclined.
It joins MRC Female Comedy and Romance movie divisions already announced this year. /Variety
ALSO IN MOVIES
HULU/SEARCHLIGHT sets July 2 release date for 60’s Harlem music festival docu “Summer of Soul” directed by Questlove. Will hit both HULU and movie theaters that day. /Variety
Susanna Fogel (“Booksmart”) to direct & co-write SONY movie “The Mentor”. 2 female co-workers of different generations have a fraught workplace relationship in the… international arms dealing business 😳. Fogel is co-writing & producing with David Iserson (writer on “Mr. Robot”, “Mad Men”, “SNL”). /Deadline
📺 THE TV SET
HBOMAX orders comedy series set at a porn magazine for women
Called “Minx”, and obviously a period piece since it’s about a magazine. Stars Ophelia Lovibond (CBS’s “Elementary”) and Jake Johnson – 1970’s LA feminist teams up with a low-rent publisher to create the first erotic magazine for women.
Paul Feig among Exec Producers, 10 half-hour episode order, no production timeline given. /THR
AMAZON PRIME sets Jennifer Jason Leigh in a lead role for “Hunters” season 2
Logan Lerman and Jerrika Hinton are returning, Al Pacino is listed as… TBD. /Deadline
ALSO IN TV
4 more relative newcomers join “Bridgerton” Season 2. /Variety
PARAMOUNT+ renews “Star Trek: Lower Decks” animated show for Season 3. Season 2 premieres this Summer. /Deadline
Showrunner for CBS’s “The Neighborhood”, Jim Reynolds departs:
“In light of everything going on in the world, I had concluded that I am not the right person to continue to tell these stories.” /Deadline
In The HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVE SUITE:
APPLE TV+ adds 2 Unscripted TV Creative Execs – Erika Clark (formerly at SPOTIFY) and Colleen Grogan (former LIFETIME exec + producer).
SHOWTIME sets 2 new VP’s of Scripted shows – Danielle De Jesus and Dave Binegar. Both report into EVP Amy Israel. /Variety
Former SEARCHLIGHT & BET exec Zola Mashariki set as Head of AUDIBLE STUDIOS at AMAZON. /THR
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary setting up a “Shark Tank” for NFT pitches streaming event
Yeah… this thing is moving fast isn’t it? Called ‘NFTs: The Pitch’, Mark Cuban & Snoop Dogg also set as… producers (?), will feature “sharks” of the NFT world as judges. (for the record it has nothing officially to do with “Shark Tank”).
Apply today! Final live streaming event is April 21. /Variety
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
Mini-Streamers VIACOM, AMC Networks, DISCOVERY down another 3 to 4%
AMC Theaters up 13%, CINEMARK Theaters up 7%, IMAX up 4.5%. Thanks Godzilla!
ALSO IN MEDIA
NIKE copyright infringement + Devil Lapdance music video = #1 Song on ROLLING STONE chart for Lil Nas X for “Montero” in its opening week. /Billboard
CLUBHOUSE beta testing “tipping” feature between users. /The Information (subscription only)
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
DISNEY+ “Loki” series trailer. Premieres in about 2 months on Fri June 11.
NETFLIX “The Circle” Season 2 trailer. First 4 episodes drop next Wed April 14.
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
TBS “Chad” – Nasim Pedrad as a high school boy. Rest of the actors are high school aged (a la “Pen15”). At 6’4… don’t know that I could pull that one off. Not to mention the balding head. Series premiere at 1030pm
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
LENII “StraitJacket” – kind of a sleek but snappy new pop song.
Listen on Spotify / Watch on YouTube
If you need new tunes:
If you’re new to THE WAKEUP and know someone who would dig it:
Have a Super Tuesday! Just not the voting kind.
Email me anytime – just reply to this email, or my name below goes to my LinkedIn, connect there if you like!
