Tom Lieber, who has been overseeing genre programming under Laura Lancaster, Head, Co-Pro Television and Ongoing Series at Amazon MGM Studios, has been elevated to Head of Scripted Series, UK. Amazon MGM Studios Head of Television Vernon Sanders just made the announcement internally.

“In this new role, Tom will provide single-threaded leadership of all new development and ongoing series produced in the UK,” Sanders said.

Lieber will absorb the role of Rola Bauer who recently exited As Amazon MGM Studios Head of Pan-English original content, overseeing scripted series originating out of the UK. Her team and slate will now be folded into Lieber’s new group.

Going forward, Tara Erer and her team will continue working on their existing slate of shows currently in post-production and development, including Malice, The Devils Hour, and The Rig S2, with all new scripted development going through Lieber and his team. Erer will also continue overseeing UK unscripted content,...

“The Last Kingdom” and “My Policeman” star David Dawson leads an international cast in the dystopian thriller “The Flaw,” the feature directorial debut of Theophilos Papastylianos, which is currently filming in Athens.

Dawson is joined by U.K. actors Arthur McBain, Ralf Little (“The Royle Family,” “Death in Paradise”) and Danny John-Jules. Veteran Greek theater director Angela Brouskou also joins the cast in a lead role.

Set in a dystopian world dominated by the Regime, “The Flaw” follows a ruthless Interrogator (Dawson) who is ordered by the Special Service to follow a perfect Plan to prove a Suspect (McBain) is guilty. But once the interrogation gets underway, he comes to realize that there is a flaw not only in the Plan, but also in the Regime itself.

Published in 1965, “The Flaw” is the best-known work of Antonis Samarakis, one of the leading figures in modern Greek literature. It has been...

Prime Video’s ad-supported reach in the UK is 19 million viewers, Amazon has revealed for the first time.

At a UK Upfront event in London this evening attended by the likes of Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Idris Elba, the company talked up its streaming biz, saying its customer base is equivalent to more than a third of British adults.

In a bid to persuade advertisers their pounds and dollars are being well spent, Amazon said 52% of UK Prime Video viewers did not watch any paid-for TV, and that among these 36% spent more in the Amazon.co.uk store than the average spend of Amazon customers.

“Last year, we celebrated the news that we were bringing ads to Prime Video’s premium entertainment content in the UK,” said Phil Christer, Managing Director, Amazon Ads UK. “Now we are here to show you what that means in practice.

“By combining award-winning TV series and films,...

Quick ViewWhat is the Starfield Crimson Fleet?How to Join the Crimson Fleet?

If you want to learn how to join the Crimson Fleet in Starfield, we’ve got you covered. There are various factions you can join in the game, and you can engage in crime and embrace the chaos as you please.

Joining the Crimson Fleet is a bit more challenging than joining other factions because there is no direct way to enlist. Thankfully, it’s not impossible, and you can become a member of this group by following a few indirect steps.

What is the Starfield Crimson Fleet? The Crimson Fleet is an illegal organization, and the United Colonies wants to end it.

Crimson Fleet is an illegal organization made up of individual pirate captains united under the same flag in Starfield. Although this gang was considered a local crime problem for the Freestar Collective for many years,...

Exclusive: There’ s going to be some glory, curves and rage over at Ava DuVernay’s Array this summer, in all the best ways.

Back for its fifth year, the Array 360 conversation and screening series will feature films and more from directors Patricia Cardoso, Bill Duke Ed Zwick over the next two months.

Starting on August 3, Cardoso will be kicking off the 2024 program at Array’s Creative Campus in LA’s Historic Filipinotown with a screening of her Sundance award winning 2002 film Real Women Have Curves. The director, who helmed a May 30, 2018 episode of the DuVernay created OWN TV series Queen Sugar, will provide live commentary on the acclaimed picture for the Scene on Screen event.

Check out the full Array 360 2024 schedule below

Two week later, DuVernay and Array will be hosting a daylong Filmmaker Tribute for Bill Duke. With a spotlight on the Palme d’Or nominated director/actor...

Orlando Bloom is all smiles while stepping out for a television appearance on Tuesday (April 16) in New York City.

The 47-year-old actor brought his puppy along with him as he arrives at the Ed Sullivan Theater for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Orlando is out promoting his upcoming Peacock series Orlando Bloom: The The Edge, which debuts on Peacock this Thursday (April 18). Check out the trailer below!

Also seen arriving at the venue and will be on the show that night was George Takei, along with his husband Brad.

Just a few nights before, Orlando joined his fiancée Katy Perry at the 10th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony in Los Angeles, where she teased a new album!

Back in early February, Orlando was spotted dressed as an elf while on the set of his upcoming movie Deep Cover. He was seen cuddling his pup then too.

Browse through the gallery...

Ron Thompson, the unheralded actor who starred on Broadway for Charles Gordone in the Pulitzer Prize-winning No Place to Be Somebody and played father and son musicians for Ralph Bakshi in the animated cult classic American Pop, has died. He was 83.

Filmmaker Joe Black told The Hollywood Reporter that he found Thompson in his Van Nuys apartment on Saturday afternoon. The two had worked together in eight features, including Hate Horses (2017), Chicks, Man (2018) and Suffrage (2023), and Black visited him a couple times a week to help him out.

“For a man of his age, he was so full of life, he had such a presence,” Black said. He called Thompson “the Sam Jackson to my Tarantino.”

In 1969, Thompson originated off-Broadway the role of Shanty Mulligan in the Joseph Papp-produced No Place to Be Somebody, starring Ron O’Neal, then accompanied the drama to Broadway and on a tour around the country.

A judge has ruled that “Top Gun: Maverick” did not infringe on an article about Navy fighter pilots that inspired the original 1986 film.

Paramount bought the rights to the article, “Top Guns,” from author Ehud Yonay in May 1983. But the studio did not re-acquire the rights, which had reverted to Yonay’s widow and son, before releasing the sequel in 2022. “Top Gun: Maverick” grossed $1.5 billion at the box office.

The heirs sued, alleging that the sequel infringed on the copyright in Yonay’s original work. But in a ruling on Friday, Judge Percy Anderson found that any similarities are not protected creative expression under copyright law.

“To the extent Plaintiffs contend that the Works are similar because they depict or describe fighter pilots landing on an aircraft carrier, being shot down while flying, and carousing at a bar, those are unprotected facts, familiar stock scenes, or scènes à faire,” the judge wrote.

Orlando Bloom is hard at work on the set of his new movie Deep Cover, and he’s wearing a very unexpected costume!

The 47-year-old actor is currently filming the Prime Video comedy in London, England.

On Sunday (February 4), he was seen cuddling with an adorable puppy in between takes. Orlando was dressed in a long coat, which he paired with boots and a hat. He had the sweetest expression on his fact while looking down at his dog.

Keep reading to find out more…

Orlando changed into an elf costume on Thursday (February 8). While you might recall the actor playing Legolas in Lord of the Rings, this is a very different type of mythical creature.

This time around, he is embodying the sort of elf you’d see at the North Pole. However, he appears to be working for a local shop and is holding a sign advertising a sale.

Production is about to begin for the Prime Video original movie ‘Deep Cover’. The cast has been announced and it includes Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings), Sean Bean (Game of Thrones), Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso), Ian McShane (John Wick), Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon), and Sonoya Mizuno.

The film sees three improv actors hired by the police to help stage low-level stings. Their instinct to “always say yes” without breaking character leads them deep inside the London criminal underworld.

“We’re delighted to be bringing this new action comedy to our customers”, said Tushar Jindal, Head of Content, UK for Prime Video. “With an incredible cast, a top-class creative team, and a fantastic script we know it’s going to be a hit.”

Also in news – Nia Long cast as Michael Jackson’s mother in biopic

Based on an original script by...

Orlando Bloom, Bryce Dallas Howard and Sean Bean have signed to star in the action comedy Deep Cover for Amazon’s Prime Video.

Production begins on February 5 in London.

Directed by Tom Kingsley, a Bafta TV winner for Channel 4 comedy Stath Lets Flats, the story follows a group of improv actors who are hired by the police to help stage low-level stings. Also among the cast are Nick Mohammed, Ian McShane, Paddy Considine and Sonoya Mizuno.

It is produced by Colin Trevorrow’s Metronome Film Company with US producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, whose credits include Men In Black.

Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom and Sean Bean will star in Prime Video’s new film Deep Cover. More on that below.

Prime Video has today announced their new film, Deep Cover, starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean, Nick Mohammed, Ian McShane, Paddy Considine and Sonoya Mizuno.

The Prime original film (not to be confused with Bill Duke’s 1992 neo-noir of the same name) will begin production in the UK on Monday, 5th February. Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow have worked on the original script, with British improv duo Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen setting the script in London.

The film will follow “three improv actors hired by the police to help stage low-level stings. Their instinct to ‘always say yes’ without breaking character leads them deep inside the London criminal underworld.”

Trevorrow will also be producing the film under Metronome Film Co. and Tom Kingsley will be directing.

Bryce Dallas Howard and Orlando Bloom will lead the all-star cast of Prime Video’s U.K. Original movie “Deep Cover.”

The British action-comedy will also feature Sean Bean (“Game of Thrones”), Nick Mohammed (“Ted Lasso”), Ian McShane (“John Wick”), Paddy Considine (“Game of Thrones”) and Sonoya Mizuno.

According to its official description, “Deep Cover” sees “three improv actors hired by the police to help stage low-level stings. Their instinct to ‘always say yes’ without breaking character leads them deep inside the London criminal underworld.” Production is set to begin on Feb. 5 in London.

“Deep Cover” is based on an original script by “Jurassic World” collaborators Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow, with British improv duo Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen setting the script in London. “Stath Lets Flats” helmer Tom Kingsley is on board to direct. Trevorrow is producing via his Metronome Film Co. alongside Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald.

Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean and Paddy Considine are aboard an Amazon movie about improv actors hired by the police to help stage low-level stings.

The quartet are joined by the likes of Ian McShane, Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso) and House of the Dragon’s Sonoya Mizuno in Deep Cover, which will launch globally on Prime Video.

Directed by Stath Lets Flats’ Tom Kingsley, the movie is based on an original script from Jurassic World’s Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow with British improv duo Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen. Set in London, Deep Cover sees three improv actors hired by the police. Their instinct to “always say yes” without breaking character leads them deep inside the capital’s criminal underworld.

“We’re delighted to be bringing this new action comedy to our customers”, said Tushar Jindal, Head of Content, UK for Prime Video. “With an incredible cast,...

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2023, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

I love going to the movies every year, but I really loved going to the movies this year. I saw Knock at the Cabin in Providence, I saw May December in Tallinn. I saw Enys Men in a small theater at Village East where it felt like everyone in the audience turned against the film but me. Somehow I liked Equalizer 3 despite loathing the other two. The worst movie I saw in theaters was Fast X, which I watched on an edible that put me to sleep during a set piece. I missed out on seeing Magic Mike’s Last Dance with some friends who wound up running into Christopher Nolan going to see Skinamarink. I loved breaking Yom Kippur fast during The Beast (out next year—I...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

A Compassionate Spy (Steve James)

See an exclusive clip above.

The latest film from acclaimed documentarian Steve James, A Compassionate Spy, comes with a fascinating subject: the spy who leaked nuclear information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union, therefore ensuring that America could not establish a nuclear monopoly on the world. It’s easy to see why James would be drawn to the spy, Theodore “Ted” Hall, and his wife Joan as he has often been interested in using individuals as the framework to explore larger societal issues. Utilizing a hybrid of recreations, archival footage, and modern-day interviews, James crafts a portrait of a man, a relationship, and the sheer weight of the decision to betray your country to save the world.

It was more than a little heartening to see Roger Corman paid tribute by Quentin Tarantino at Cannes’ closing night. By now the director-producer-mogul’s imprint on cinema is understood to eclipse, rough estimate, 99.5% of anybody who’s touched the medium, but on a night for celebrating what’s new, trend-following, and manicured it could’ve hardly been more necessary. Thus I’m further heartened seeing the Criterion Channel will host a retrospective of Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations running eight films and aptly titled “Grindhouse Gothic,” though I might save the selections for October.

Centerpiece, though, is a hip hop series including Bill Duke’s superb Deep Cover, Ghost Dog, and numerous documentaries––among them Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, making Michael Rapaport a Criterion-approved auteur. Ten films starring Kay Francis and 21 Eurothrillers round out series; streaming premieres include the Dardenne brothers’ Tori and Lokita,...

The Action Scene is a column that explores the construction of action set pieces in order to deepen appreciation for and spark discussion about action cinema.“It was clear that Pm weren’t attempting art.” This remark prefaces interviews conducted by the sadly defunct publication Hopes & Fears with various directors and stars who worked with Pm Entertainment, an independent film company that churned out a steady stream of largely direct-to-video movies and television episodes—most famously within the action genre—between the late 1980s and early 2000s. Watching the operatic tour-de-force opening of the Pm film Intent to Kill (1992), however, one might doubt the statement’s accuracy. The extraordinary set piece features squealing tires, spraying glass, and slow-motion gunplay, all against a jet-black sky dotted by the vaporous glow of street lamps. Blue-hued, low-key lighting cuts through night air thick with fog and gun smoke, sustaining a noirish, dreamlike mood...

After joining forces on “Don’t Text, Don’t Call” earlier this month, Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa will reunite for their upcoming High School Reunion Tour.

The tour is scheduled to start on July 7 and will feature Warren G, Too $hort and Berner with guest DJ Drama.

>Get Tickets For Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Now!

Snoop and Wiz have collaborated before, most notably for the 2011 hit “Young, Wild and Free,” which also featured an up-and-coming Bruno Mars. It rose to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Snoop first rose to prominence in 1992, when he was featured on Dr. Dre‘s solo debut, “Deep Cover” and his first solo album, The Chronic. Snoop’s debut solo album, Doggystyle (1993), reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was later certified quadruple-platinum.

Wiz achieved mainstream success when he released the single “Black and Yellow,” which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2011, the Pittsburgh...

If you're looking to pinpoint the greatest year in hip-hop, it's going to start with a one, followed by a nine, another nine, and end with a number no higher than five. The genre that grew out of Bronx house parties thrown by sonic pioneers like DJ Kool Herc, and survived the faddish exploitation of the early and mid-1980s had finally come of age. Obviously, there were groundbreaking LPs released prior to the '90s, but it wasn't until we entered the final decade of the millennium that explorers like Hank Shocklee, Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, and Prince Paul refined their sounds to bring hard-hitting East Coast beats and blunted West Coast G-funk grooves to the ears of audiophiles across the country.

Hollywood was listening. They weren't necessarily getting it, but they were listening. Mid-'80s films like "Breakin'," "Beat Street" and "Krush Groove" captured the excitement of the...

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Halpern returns with season three of his hit investigative podcast series Deep Cover – the show about people with secret identities, double lives, and how far people are willing to go in the pursuit of a greater cause. This season starts with the story of Brooke Henson, who disappeared from her home in South Carolina and is never seen again. Seven years later, detectives receive a tip that Brooke Henson is a Columbia University student living in New York City. However when the police come knocking, “Brooke Henson” disappears again. In Deep Cover: Never Seen Again, Halpern unravels a case of identity fraud that led local police, federal investigators, and even the U.S. army on a nationwide manhunt for one woman – Esther Reed.

Told through first-hand interviewers with South Carolina detectives, federal investigators, family members, and Esther herself, Deep Cover: Never Seen Again unravels the lives of two missing young women,...

Pushkin Industries, the audio company co-founded by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg, announced today a partnership with the Los Angeles-based production house Little Everywhere. Little Everywhere’s hit show The Dream has joined the Pushkin network. Pushkin Industries and Little Everywhere will co-produce the highly anticipated third season of the investigative series next year. Additionally, the two companies will jointly launch a finance show called Other People’s Pockets, which is expected to premiere in February 2023 and are developing further collaborative projects.

“We’ve long admired the small but mighty team at Little Everywhere from their work on The Dream and beyond,” said Leital Molad, Pushkin’s VP of Content Development, “Their production chops and creative spirit are a great match for Pushkin, and we look forward to collaborating with them for years to come.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Pushkin. From our first meeting, we have felt...

Josh Olson shares his top 10 movies from his favorite movie year, 1992, with Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Star Wars (1977)

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

After Dark, My Sweet (1990)

The Last Of The Mohicans (1992)

Thief (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Manhunter (1986) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Last Of The Mohicans (1936)

The Player (1992) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Popeye (1980)

Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Quintet (1979)

​HealtH (1980)

Come Back To the Five And Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)

Secret Honor (1984)

The Graduate (1967) – Neil Labute’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Touch Of Evil (1958) – Howard Rodman’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Dead Alive a.k.a. Braindead (1992) – Mike Mendez’s trailer commentary

Meet The Feebles (1989) – Mike Mendez’s...

“Great actors fall into darkness backwards,” Bill Duke likes to say, quoting an early teacher of his who suggested that the leap of faith required for someone to become the person they imagine in their mind requires a sense of self-belief powerful enough to overcome their fear of the unknown. Not only has Duke consistently done that over the course of the actor-director’s 40-plus-year career, he’s done it with an unparalleled degree of excellence and grace.

While cinephiles and casual fans alike may be familiar with Duke’s performances in films like “Predator” and “Menace II Society,” few recognize the full impact of his contributions behind the camera during the ’90s, when he hit his stride with a series of major and enduring work that range from “A Rage in Harlem” and the masterful neo-noir “Deep Cover” to the beloved crowdpleaser “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.

Following Snoop Dogg’s acquisition of Death Row Records, and “false reports” regarding ownership of The Chronic, Dr. Dre still owns “100%” of the G-funk classic, his lawyer told Rolling Stone.

While it was initially reported that the masters of Death Row classics like Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Tupac Shakur’s All Eyez on Me were not included when Snoop Dogg purchased the legendary West Coast label, comments that the rapper made in a recent Tidal interview suggested that he was in possession of The Chronic as part of the deal.

Exclusive: The Sopranos’ Michael Imperioli is joining season two of true-crime podcast Deep Cover.

The series, which comes from Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast company Pushkin Industries, returns with a second season, this time focusing on the Chicago mob.

Deep Cover: Mob Land, which is narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Halpern, centers around Chicago’s corruption in the 1970s and 1980s. At the center is Bob Cooley, a lawyer and fixer who helped the mob rule the city, then betrays them by going undercover with the FBI.

Season two follows Halpern’s investigation into the criminal underworld of the mob, from gamblers and bookies, to political bosses and judges.

The first season, which featured Walton Goggins, followed a Detroit FBI agent as he goes undercover in an outlaw motorcycle gang and his bizarre series of discoveries that inadvertently lead to the U.S. invasion of a foreign country.

The...

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2021, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

By many metrics, 2021 was a terrible year. Whether it was the persistence of a global pandemic and the ineffectiveness of those in charge to properly manage it or the increasing inanity of Film Twitter discourse clogging one’s timeline every day, it often felt like there was nowhere to seek relief from this year’s woes. But there was salvation somewhere: inside the films themselves. Despite what some may lead you to believe, and despite the perhaps rather milquetoast quality of many of this year’s award candidates, 2021 was the best year for cinema we’ve seen in quite some time.

Whether you were able to head back to theaters at some point during the year or remained watching from the safety of your own home, there...

Time is running out to stream films like “Lincoln,” “The Fisher King” and “He Got Game” on HBO Max. Below is the complete list of everything leaving HBO and HBO Max in January 2022, which includes some classic “Planet of the Apes” films, Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning “Argo” and 1988’s “Married to the Mob,” among others. Most of these titles leave the streaming service on Jan. 31, but departing HBO and HBO Max on Jan. 20 is a behind-the-scenes look at Guillermo del Toro’s new film “Nightmare Alley,” which is exclusively in theaters now.

If you’re looking for noteworthy titles to add to your watchlist before they depart, “Lincoln” is one of Steven Spielberg’s best, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” is a handsome and nail-biting spy thriller and “The Fisher King” is a great two-hander with Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams.

Check out the full list of what’s leaving HBO Max in January 2022 below.

Back when WarnerMedia (which technically no longer exists in the same form) announced that it would be premiering its entire slate of 2021 films on HBO Max, this is the kind of month they likely had in mind. For HBO Max’s list of new releases in August 2021 is highlighted by an honest-to-goodness blockbuster.

The Suicide Squad is set to premiere Aug. 5 on HBO Max. This film featuring some of DC Comics’ most curious villains borrows its name, format, and many of its characters from the David Ayers-directed 2016 film Suicide Squad. This time around, the rogues gallery is directing by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and his colorful disposition. In addition to The Suicide Squad, August sees the arrival of the Hugh Jackman-starring Reminiscence on Aug. 20.

Read more Movies The Suicide Squad First Reactions Are In By John Saavedra Movies How The Suicide Squad is Different from Guardians of the Galaxy...

HBO Max will arguably debut its biggest Warner Bros. release yet on August 5, when James Gunn’s take on “The Suicide Squad” makes its day-and-date premiere on the streaming platform (the comic book blockbuster is also coming out in theaters nationwide).

But beyond “The Suicide Squad,” film fans will find a copious amount of features on HBO Max in August 2021, including a new Hugh Jackman movie, plus classic ‘90s favorites like “Basic Instinct,” “The Birdcage,” “The Fugitive,” “Deep Cover,” “Malcolm X,” and “The Shawshank Redemption.”

Ahead, every new movie and series coming to HBO Max in August 2021, plus the top titles leaving the service before September 1.

New on HBO Max in August 2021

August 1

2 Days in the Valley, 1996 (HBO)

9/11: Fifteen Years Later, 2016

A Mighty Wind, 2003 (HBO)

A Walk Among the Tombstones, 2014 (HBO)

The Accidental Spy, 2002 (HBO)

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, 2005 (HBO)

Americano, 2017 (HBO)

Anna to the Infinite Power,...

Clarence Williams III, the actor who portrayed Linc Hayes on TV’s The Mod Squad as well as played Prince’s father in Purple Rain, has died at the age of 81.

Williams management confirmed the actor’s death to Variety, adding that Williams died following a battle with colon cancer.

The New York City-born Williams, the grandson of jazz great Clarence Williams, made his acting debut on Broadway and other theatrical productions in the mid-Sixties before he was cast in The Mod Squad, the influential counterculture police series that ran for five seasons on ABC.

Clarence Williams III, an actor known for portraying Linc Hayes on “The Mod Squad” and Prince’s father in “Purple Rain,” died on June 4. He was 81.

Williams’ management confirmed his death to Variety, citing the cause as colon cancer.

Williams broke through in 1968 as one of the stars of the counterculture cop show “The Mod Squad,” also starring then-unknown actors Peggy Lipton and Michael Cole. He was a mainstay of the series until its end in 1973, and went on to have a career in film, television and theater spanning four decades.

Williams portrayed Prince’s father in 1984’s “Purple Rain” and had a recurring role as FBI Agent Roger Hardy on beloved TV show “Twin Peaks.” He also had a long-running collaboration with director John Frankenheimer, playing Bobby Shy in 1986’s “52 Pick-Up,” Chaka in 1994’s “Against the Wall,” Archie in the 1997 TV movie “George Wallace” and Merlin in 2000’s “Reindeer Games.

The confused, frightened, complying face of a young black boy as two Metropolitan police stop, search, and humiliate him on the street: This is one of the first things we see in Red, White, and Blue, the third in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe pentalogy, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. It’s an image that grows even more charged in hindsight, a few scenes (spanning years) later, when the boy’s father — who’d swooped in to save him in that earlier encounter — is badly beaten by the police...

Legendary casting director Chemin Bernard has been honored by the Casting Society of America, which has awarded her with Emeritus Member Status in recognition of her “remarkable contributions to the organization, the profession, and the art of casting.” Bernard, who served as Csa president from 2006-08, was chosen for the honor by the Csa’s board of directors and by the Csa Black, Indigenous and People of Color Alliance.

“Chemin Bernard is an exemplary casting director who has built an esteemed career by championing actors and helping tell stories that make an impact on culture,” said Csa president Russell Boast. “She has been a cornerstone to our craft who continues to inspire the next generation of artists.”

“I am humbled by this honor and share it with the African American casting directors on whose shoulders I stand,” said Bernard, who is now retired. “My mission as a casting director was...

Exclusive: Walton Goggins is to star in a true crime podcast about an outlaw motorcycle gang from Malcolm Gladwell’s Pushkin Industries.

The Unicorn star will voice part of Deep Cover: The Drug Wars, which has been described as Sons of Anarchy meets Narcos.

The nine-part series, which launches on July 13, follows a Detroit FBI agent as he goes undercover in an outlaw motorcycle gang and his bizarre series of discoveries that inadvertently lead to the U.S. invasion of a foreign country.

It is narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Halpern, who will exec produce alongside Jeff Singer at Stowaway Entertainment

Deep Cover starts at a Detroit biker bar in 1982 where FBI Agent Ned Timmons arrests a violent fugitive and a member of a notorious motorcycle gang — who decides he’d rather flip than go to jail — and who has secrets to tell that go far beyond the city of Detroit.

From a Detroit biker bar in 1982 to Panama, Deep Cover: The Drug Wars follows FBI Agent Ned Timmons as he finds himself in the middle of a massive drug cartel bust. The nine-part podcast drops July 13th via Jacob Weisberg and Malcolm Gladwell’s Pushkin Industries.

Narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Halpern, Deep Cover tells the tale of rookie FBI agent Timmons, who goes undercover with a biker gang after an arrest at that 1982 bar. “You don’t make progress unless you’re dealing with sociopathic, homicidal crazy people,...

City of Hope, a world-renowned independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases, announced today that entertainment icon Snoop Dogg will receive the Sony Atv Music Publishing “Social Leadership” Award at its Music, Film and Entertainment Industry Group’s 15th Annual Songs of Hope.

The award will be presented by Sony Atv chairman and CEO, and 2018 Spirit of Life honoree, Jon Platt. As previously announced, producer Boi-1da and songwriter Diane Warren will receive the Clive Davis “Legend in Songwriting” Award presented by Clive Davis, composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman will receive the EA Music “Composer of the Year” Award, and songwriter and recording artist Tierra Whack will receive the Universal Music Publishing Group “She Is The Music” Award presented by Universal Music Publishing’s chairman and CEO Jody Gerson. Facebook will present the “Facebook Songwriter Impact” Award to Hayley Kiyoko, The Dream will receive the Warner Chappell Music...

Filmmaker Bill Duke is set to direct The Power of One: The Diane Latiker Story, a film based on Chicago activist Diane Latiker.

Duke has appeared in a number of films including X-Men: The Last Stand, Menace II Society, Mandy, and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, which he also directed.

Global Genesis Group is producing The Power of One alongside Jbm Productions.

It follows Latiker’s journey as she fought her way amidst the violence of a Chicago community to found Kids Off the Block, a safe place for children to do school work and be mentored away from the street gangs. Latiker opened her heart and home to at-risk youth in the turbulent Roseland neighborhood, in spite of opposition from local government officials, members of her own family and the vicious gangs. The movie follows Diane’s harrowing and dramatic rise over thirty years ago from working...

As high-ranking executives at the most famous record company in the world, it was essential for us to project the utmost professionalism at all times. We talked in hushed tones nodding politely at staff whom, when we approached lowered their heads once pass the whispered comments began.

Denys Cowan and I were walking the halls of Motown Records. Denys had just joined me at Motown Animation and Filmworks as Senior Vice President. I was giving him the ten-cent tour of Motown’s brand spanking new offices as we discussed plans to take over the world.

“My god, they nodded at us.”

“We’re so blessed.”

“Long live the saviors of Motown.”

“Nay, saviors of the entertainment industry!”

“Nay Nay The World!!”

“Why Y’All Keep Saying My Name?” Said, Nay Nay.

Nay Nay commented that we “Looked like GQ cover models.” Denys was in Armani, I wore Boss— we both...

Above: character posters for Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Hotel Artemis (2018).Jeff Goldblum is having a moment. After being in movies for 45 years, the 6'4" 66-year-old actor is suddenly the coolest man on the planet. He was all over Sundance last week with his new film, The Mountain, and starting today the Quad Cinema in New York is playing “The Goldblum Variations,” a retrospective of sixteen of the tall guy’s best films.Ever since his debut as Freak #1 in Michael Winner’s Death Wish (1974), Goldblum has been a compelling, quirky presence in movies. He was a supporting player for some ten years before his break-out role in Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill (1983) which led to starring roles in John Landis’ Into the Night (1985) and David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986). His major leading man period lasted about a decade before he comfortably became an ensemble player once again (naturally fitting right...

Since Bill Duke the Sundance Special Jury-prize winning film “The Killing Floor” (1984), the multi-hyphenate talent has rarely been out of sight on screens big and small.

In the ’90s, Duke directed acclaimed crime films focused on black themes and characters, including the Cannes Fest competitor “A Rage in Harlem”; “Hoodlum,” with an enviable cast that included Laurence Fishburne, Queen Latifah and Cicely Tyson; and the Spirit Award-nommed “Deep Cover.”

Duke, one of TV’s most-in-demand character actors, has racked up dozens of credits in shows ranging from “Battlestar Galactica” to “Lost.” His big-screen directors include Steven Soderbergh, Paul Schrader, Jim Sheridan and the legendary Sam Fuller, who once assessed Duke as “the best film director in America today.”

Duke’s autobiography, “Bill Duke: My 40-Year Career on Screen and Behind the Camera,” was published last month, but Duke was first noted in Variety for his role in the 1972 ABC Afterschool Special,...

In 1998, the late, great, heavyweight rapper Big Pun blew minds with a memorable verse on “Twinz (Deep Cover ’98),” which included the following tongue-twisting couplet: “Dead in the middle of Little Italy, little did we know / That we riddled two middlemen who didn’t do diddly,” Pun rapped. Nineteen years later, fans of ’90s hip-hop will recognize an homage to those Pun bars in writer-director Geremy Jasper’s coming-of-age hip-hop comedy “Patti Cake$,” starring Danielle Macdonald as an aspiring rapper name Killa P/Patti. The Australian actress plays a suburban New Jersey rapper in the Fox Searchlight indie, which was one of the.

Will we ever get the closure we deserve?

The Deadwood movie is pretty much HBO’s version of Chinese Democracy. Fans of David Milch’s swear-laced western drama have been clamoring for a resolution to the series ever since it ended abruptly after its third season way back in 2006, and for years now producers and cast have kept this dream alive by teasing the idea of a feature film to wrap things up. But that’s all it’s really been, a tease. Seems like once a year there’s an obligatory update about how everyone’s still interested — cast, crew, creator and network — and a vague promise that any day now the ball will get rolling. Late last year we received the most promising news yet from series lead Ian MacShane, who reported that Milch was ready to write and the cast was prepping for returns to their roles. Great news...

Looking back at Jeff Goldblum and Laurence Fishburne wearily fighting the war on drugs 25 years ago.

This Monday marked the 25th anniversary of the release of Deep Cover, itself an endpoint of the preceding quarter-century. It bears a deep weariness, beset by crime, racism, and, increasingly, the American government itself. Every frame of the film is soaked in that weariness, and its script explicitly addresses it, as the entire business of its story turns out to be that of the American government’s profit from the illegal drug trade, with then-president George H.W. Bush and the former president of Panama, the notorious CIA operative Manuel Noriega addressed by name.

That it’s ostensibly a crime thriller, a genre picture, makes Deep Cover all the more effective a messenger. In his last film billed as “Larry” — while we’re talking about culmination — Laurence Fishburne stars as a young police officer who, as...

Jeff Goldblum fans are in for a treat with this new activity book, “Do I Hate Being Right All the Time,” by publisher Belly Kids. Paying homage to the beloved actor, the 32 page book features fun games, puzzles and activities that feature the charming Goldblum in various situations.

“First crush, only love, most charming man on screen. To say Jeff Goldblum is the one great thing in this world would be a mass understatement,” reads the book’s description on the website.

Each Goldblum-inspired activity is illustrated by a different artist. The book includes a “Draw Your Jeff Emoji” page by Dan Woodger, a “Where’s Jeff” activity by Bridie Cheeseman, a “The Fly Cut Out” by Conner Perry and many more.

Belly Kids’ website also includes a “We Can Cherish – David Attenborough Quote Book” and a Bill Murray coloring book, “Thrill Murray.”

Read More: Color In Your Very Own...

After exploring the world of the documentary for the past few years, with films such as the controversial “Dark Girls”, actor/director Bill Duke (“Hoodlums”, “Sister Act 2”, “Deep Cover”, “A Rage in Harlem”) is returning to direct feature films, with… Continue Reading →...

Network: TNT

Episodes: 20 (hour)

Seasons: Two

TV show dates: August 13, 2014 -- December 28, 2015

Series status: Cancelled

Performers include: Sean Bean, Ali Larter, Morris Chestnut, Amber Valletta, Mason Cook, Tina Majorino, Rob Mayes, and Steve Harris.

TV show description:

This suspenseful crime drama is based on the award-winning book Legends: A Novel of Dissimulation by spy novelist Robert Littell.

Martin Odum (Sean Bean) is an undercover agent working for the FBI's Deep Cover Operations (Dco) division. He has the ability to transform himself into a different person for each of his cases but a mysterious stranger causes him to start questioning his sanity.

Read More…...

If there's a building to hang off or something to jump over, Tom Cruise would rather do it himself than call in a stunt double. Once again, in "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation," he goes the extra mile to ensure audiences get a level of reality that CGI can't provide. "These stunts are rehearsed to within an inch of their life, but the one thing that Tom feels very passionately about, and it really comes from a place of wanting to entertain the audience, is in a movie like 'Mission: Impossible,' where it’s possible to do these things using a camera that doesn’t rely on the CG that 'Star Trek' or 'Terminator' relied on, when you actually see Tom Cruise holding onto the side of the airplane and the camera doesn’t cut, you get this pit in your stomach that’s just uncomfortable," producer David Ellison told Collider.

Jobs

Kate Winslet is in negotiations for the female lead in Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs biopic at Universal Pictures. If she signs on, she'll join a cast that includes Michael Fassbender as the late Apple co-founder, along with Seth Rogen, Michael Stuhlbarg and potentially Jeff Daniels. [Source: Variety]

Badlands

Hong Kong film star Daniel Wu has scored the lead role in AMC's upcoming martial arts series "Badlands," a six-episode straight to series adaptation of the classic Chinese tale "Journey to the West".

Wu plays a ruthless warrior who takes a young boy on a dangerous journey together to find enlightenment. Emily Beecham, Sarah Bolger and Oliver Stark also star in the show which is aiming for a late 2015 or early 2016 release. [Source: Variety]

Deep Cover

Jim Carrey is reportedly set to star in a new comedy called "Deep Cover" which Carrey, Michael Aguilar, Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland will produce. Plot details are unknown,...

After teaming up with Red Granite to get the sequel Dumb & Dumber To off the ground, Deadline reports Jim Carrey is getting ready to reteam with the production banner for a new project. Deep Cover is a new comedy that was just picked up by Red Granite from an original pitch by Johnny Rosenthal, an up and coming writer who has a project called The Three Tenors in development at Lionsgate, a comedy called Iron Jack at Sony, and his work on Bad Santa 2 at Dimension. Unfortunately, the plot of this new original pitch is being kept under wraps, but it's likely a comedic approach to an undercover cop situation. More below! It's been awhile since we've had a comedic approach to undercover cop thrillers like Donnie Brasco, and with a chameleon like Carrey in the lead, his cover would likely be an awesome character for him to bring to life.