Doctor Who
Christopher Eccleston will reprise his role of the Ninth Doctor in a brand new “Doctor Who” audio series next year, returning 15 years later to a character he loved but a series he had major issues with at the time of the show’s production – resulting in him steadfastly refusing to revisit the role on screen in the years since. The twelve-episode audio series with Eccleston and a full cast will start being released in May 2021. [Source: Variety]
Star Trek: Prodigy
Ben Hibon (“Codehunters”) has been tapped to direct and co-executive produce Nickelodeon’s new animated series “Star Trek: Prodigy”. The show follows a group of lawless teens who discover a derelict Starfleet ship and use it to search for adventure, meaning and salvation. It will premiere on Nickelodeon in 2021. [Source: Deadline]
FOX News
Fox News is reportedly launching an international streaming service which will rollout from August 20th in Mexico and aims to reach twenty countries by the end of the year. Priced at $6.99 per month, the channel will feature live streams of Fox News’ linear networks and 20 on-demand shows with apps for iPhone, Android, Apple TV, and Android TV followed later by Amazon Fire TV and Roku.
Standalone SVOD cable news services remain decidedly underwhelming as major players like CNN, MSNBC, BBC News, etc. still haven’t entered the fray – often require existing cable subscriptions to access via media players or phones. [Source: MediaPlayNews]
Girls5Eva
Sara Bareilles has been cast in a lead role in the Tina Fey-Robert Carlock produced Peacock comedy series “Girls5eva” about a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 1990s who gets sampled by a young rapper – leading to its members to reunite to give their pop star dreams one more shot. Bareilles plays Dawn, a former member now running a small Italian restaurant in Queens. [Source: Variety]
The Hater
HBO has closed a deal to develop a drama series based on Jan Komasa’s Polish film “The Hater” which was directed by Jan Komasa and written by Mateusz Pacewicz and premiered a few weeks ago on Netflix. The elevated thriller deals with class, politics, social media, disinformation, identity and the pursuit of happiness at all costs. Dan Farah and Roy Lee will executive produce the series version, Farah having recently setup HBO’s “Hellraiser” series and the “Who’s the Boss” revival. [Source: Deadline]
Good Lord Bird
Showtime has released a new teaser for their limited series adaptation of James McBride’s National Book Award-winning novel “The Good Lord Bird” starring Ethan Hawke as American abolitionist John Brown who advocated a revolution to abolish slavery. Created and executive produced by Hawke, the series is scheduled to debut on Sunday, October 4th.
