Welcome back Studio Coffee Folks! We took Tuesday off given the long (relatively quiet) weekend, but we’re back today with a full and hearty SCR. First off, we’ll talk about yet another media giant trying to make some room for itself in the streaming arena with ViacomCBS making new plans. Then, some Showtime news as the busiest director alive, Taika Waititi pairs up with Jude Law to adapt The Auteur comic and the company announces a new series from the brothers behind Uncut Gems. Umbrella Academy has some character posters for us to check out, and after that it’s time for a quick run through the casting corner. Per usual, we’ll wrap with trailers (four!) and send you on your way.
Let’s get started!
ViacomCBS makes a big streaming swing
If you have CBS All Access, you probably only watch it for a handful of shows; probably Picard and Twilight Zone and maybe some Survivor. Well, ViacomCBS is hoping to change that as it reigns in several of its other properties to beef up its streaming choices. Namely, we’re talking the addition of Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Pluto TV and Paramount; several big umbrellas with a range of audiences.
The news comes in following an earnings call which also vaguely explains a familiar pay structure. Free with ad-support, premium, and broad-pay, which combines cable with streaming capabilities. So, if you dream of being able to watch Mission Impossible, TMNT, Transformers, RuPaul’s Drag Race and stand up all in one place, keep your eyes peeled for more. For the time being, there’s no set price point or launch date.
The Auteur brings Taika Waititi further into the world of comics
Showtime is bringing together Taika Waititi and Jude Law for its upcoming series, The Auteur. Waititi is set to direct and write while Law stars in the comic book adaptation from writer Rick Spears, artist James Callahan and colorist Luigi Anderson. The book was published by Oni Press in 2014.
The Auteur follows producer Nathan T. Rex right as he enters his worst moments. He deals with drugs, depression and redemption in his efforts to reaffirm himself in the entertainment industry – he even brings on a “serial-killer-turned-murder-consultant.” If you can’t guess from that description, The Auteur is a trippy bit of satire with a bit of thriller thrown in to up the ante.
On the production side (the real world, not in the comic) Showtime has ordered several scripts already. Law, Waititi, Spears and Callahan are set to EP along with Peter Wareen, Eric Gitter and Dan Halsted. For now, Waititi is only set to direct the pilot, given his ludicrous schedule of productions he’ll be churning out in the near future.
Showtime nabs Uncut Gems team and Nathan for You creator for The Curse
- Showtime picks up a few more names this week with the Curse greenlight, bringing on. the Uncut Gems directing and writing team Benny and Josh Safide as well as Nathan for You’s Nathan Felder. Based on the short description, it seems the show leans more towards the tone of the latter. Deadline reports that The Curse follows a fictional HGTV show and the current starring couple afflicted with the titular ailment. Benny Safdie and Fielder take writing credits as well as starring roles in the upcoming show.
Umbrella Academy season 2 sneaks closer with trippy new posters
Over on Twitter, Netflix gifted us with a set of character posters for the upcoming second season of Umbrella Academy, along with the caption “This time travel thing? It gets messy.” Based on the comic of the same name by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba, the crew recently announced that filming just wrapped on this much hyped follow up, although a concrete release date is TBD. So! For now, just feast your eyes on a few of the character posters below.
In the casting corner…
Over on the D+ side, The Falcon & the Winter Soldier casts Justice League Unlimited’s Carl Lumbly
Recently making the rounds in Supergirl, Doctor Sleep and season 3 of This is Us, Carl Lumbly steps up to Marvel’s The Falcon & the Winter Soldier with his most recent casting. The Justice League Unlimited voice actor joins, of course, in an unannounced role, but that isn’t stopping fans from speculating. Right now, the most popular one is that he’ll be Isaiah Bradley who, like Captain America, was also a subject of the Super Soldier Program, though notably serves as an intentional, direct reference to the Tuskegee Syphilis as noted by creator Robert Morales.
Jurassic World 3 reigns in Dichen Lachman
Dichen Lachman, having carved out a name for herself on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Altered Carbon, is now set to join Chris Pratt in the upcoming dino dystopia flick. Colin Trevorrow continues to direct with a cast also including Bryce Dallas Howard, Mamoudou Athie, DeWanda Wise, Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum. Jurassis World 3 hits theaters on June 11, 2021.
Grab your headphones. It’s trailer time.
Toni Collette is a Welsh woman in a rut. Her work as a bartender and cashier is going nowhere fast, and her community is in the same place. So, they do what anyone would do: they crowdfund a race horse for the community. Dream Horse, aside from its admittedly bland title, looks absolutely heart-warming. If, like me, you’re a sucker for underdog stories (and Collette) catch her in theaters with Damian Lewis when Dream Horse runs into theaters on May 1.
Apple TV+ is reupping Steven Spielberg’s imaginative anthology series with another bland name, Amazing Stories. The trailer seems to hint at a few ordinary folks discovering they have superpowers in what looks more like a 90’s/early 2000’s Disney Channel Original Movie than anything I’ve seen of late. Spielberg executive produces with Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz on the series, launching March 6 on Apple TV+.
Ellen Page makes her directorial debut with Ian Daniel in a documentary focusing on environmental racism, aptly called There’s Something in the Water. The film focuses in heavily on Nova Scotia, Page’s home province. There, communities of color are especially (and explicitly) subjected to environmental struggles by the Canadian government. It’s a specific instance, although it’s one that’s happening globally and even domestically as Flint, Michigan continues to struggle. There’s Something in the Water hits Netflix Friday, March 27.
And lastly, something you can act on now. If you’ve got D+, you can head over and check out the season premiere and series return of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The trailer here hints at a new crew called “The Bad Batch” AKA Clone Force 99. With Captain Rex leading again, they’ll head into enemy territory to try and do some recon and determine the Separatists’’ key to victory. The series comes from Mandalorian director/EP Dave Filoni.
That’s a wrap for this week! I’ve gotta got pretend I’m caught up with Clone Wars, but we’ll catch you back here next time. See ya then!
“Flacon”? New character?
Ahh . . . I see it’s fixed now.
“Apple TV+ is reupping Steven Spielberg’s imaginative anthology series with another bland name, Amazing Stories.”
Spielberg’s original Amazing Stories ran on NBC from 1985 to 1987. Most of the episodes were not very good. It only lasted that long because NBC had to make a two-year commitment to get Spielberg.
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