MGM Television has struck an exclusive first-look deal with Escape Artists, the company behind Epix’s original series Perpetual Grace LTD and box office hits such as The Equalizer 2 and The Upside. Under the agreement, the company founded by Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch and David Bloomfield, will work with Escape Artists Head of Television, Taylor Latham and her team to develop […]

Sharon Maguire, the director of ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary,’ is in negotiations to helm the project for Sony. Hailee Steinfeld will star in Voicemails for Isabelle, a romantic comedy preemptively picked up by Sony. Sharon Maguire, the director of Bridget Jones’ Diary and Bridget Jones’ Baby, is in negotiations to helm the project, which will be produced by Escape Artists’ Todd […]

EXCLUSIVE: Sharon Maguire is in talks to direct Voicemails For Isabelle, a romantic comedy that will star Hailee Steinfeld for Sony Pictures. Sony preempted the spec by Leah McKendrick. The film is about a young woman trying to navigate her dating life in Los Angeles. Though it is 21st Century, there is a bit of You’ve Got Mail in that technology is […]

Noah Centineo’s take on Mattel warrior He-Man is coming to theaters in spring of 2021. Sony Pictures has set a March 5, 2021 release date for its fantasy adventure “Masters of the Universe,” which Centineo will lead as the Most Powerful Man in the Universe. “Masters of the Universe” is based on the highly successful He-Man […]

EXCLUSIVE: TriStar Pictures has picked up Daniel Kunka’s pitch about a female-driven sci-fi thriller, based on the CAGN short story by Christian Cantrell. Originally self-published under the title Anansi Island, the “Michael Crichton-esque” story centers on a mysterious island where a secret government project has unleashed a terrifying new reality. A female entomologist and a group of Special Forces soldiers then must […]

Noah Centineo, who gained wide recognition for his roles in Netflix film To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Freeform’s The Fosters, is in talks to take on the lead role of He-Man in Masters of the Universe, the film adaptation Mattel Films is developing with Sony Pictures. It’s based on the bestselling toy line from the 1980s that spawned an […]

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s the first official trailer for Perpetual Grace, LTD, the upcoming 10-episode Epix original series from Patriot mastermind Steve Conrad and Bruce Terris. The premium network showed this off in the room during last month’s winter TCA press tour panel that featured stars Ben Kingsley, Westworld‘s Jimmi Simpson and Jacki Weaver. The series premieres June 2. After turning the spy genre on its ear for two seasons with […]

Michael B. Jordan is in talks to star in Sony’s “Journal for Jordan,” a drama that will be directed by Denzel Washington. The movie, penned by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Virgil Williams, is based on the true story of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Dana Canedy’s love affair with First Sergeant Charles Monroe King. King kept a journal full of […]

EXCLUSIVE: Mr. Turner star Timothy Spall is set for a recurring role opposite Ben Kingsley, Jimmi Simpson and Jacki Weaver in Epix’s Our Lady, LTD, a 10-episode modern noir drama series, from Patriot creator Steve Conrad and Epix’s sister studio MGM Television. Shooting is currently underway in New Mexico. Written by Conrad and Patriot co-producer Bruce Terris, Our Lady, LTD (fka Our Lady of Perpetual Grace), follows […]

Writers Art Marcum & Matt Holloway are in final talks to write the new draft of Masters of the Universe, which Adam Aaron Nee will direct. Pic is based on the bestselling He-Man toyline from the 1980s that  spawned an animated TV show and a 1987 feature from Cannon Films starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man; back in the day it made […]

Toby Kebbell has been cast in a main role in the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan thriller series at Apple, Variety has learned. The exact details of the plot are being kept under wraps, but sources say the show follows a married couple that hires a young woman to serve as the nanny to their child. […]

EXCLUSIVE: Harry Potter star Rupert Grint has signed on for a supporting role in Apple’s upcoming psychological thriller series from M. Night Shyamalan (Unbreakable, Split) and British TV writer Tony Basgallop (24, To The Ends of the Earth). He joins previously announced Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) and Nell Tiger (Game of Thrones). The plot […]

Damon Herriman (100 Bloody Acres), Chris Conrad (Patriot) have been cast as series regulars, Terry O’Quinn (Castle Rock) will recur and Hana Mae Lee (Pitch Perfect) will guest in Our Lady, LTD, the upcoming 10-episode modern noir drama on Epix. Ben Kingsley, Jimmi Simpson and Jacki Weaver star in the series from Patriot creator Steve […]

Jacki Weaver is set to co-star opposite Ben Kingsley and Jimmi Simpson in Our Lady, LTD, a 10-episode modern noir drama series, from Patriot creator Steve Conrad and Epix’s sister studio MGM Television. Written by Conrad and Patriot co-producer Bruce Terris, Our Lady, LTD (fka Our Lady of Perpetual Grace), follows James (Simpson), a young […]

Narcos alum Luis Guzmán is set as a series regular and Kurtwood Smith (Patriot) will recur opposite Ben Kingsley, Jimmi Simpson and Jacki Weaver in Epix’s Our Lady, LTD, a 10-episode modern noir drama series, from Patriot creator Steve Conrad and Epix’s sister studio MGM Television. Written by Conrad and Patriot co-producer Bruce Terris, Our […]

Universal Cable productions is looking to take another popular podcast to the small screen. The studio has put in development Dr. Death, a TV series based on true crime podcast from Wondery. Happy! showrunner Patrick Macmanus will pen the adaptation and executive produce as part of his overall deal with UCP. The potential series will […]

Epix has given a formal 10-episode series order to Our Lady, LTD, a modern noir drama starring Oscar winner Ben Kingsley, from Patriot creator Steve Conrad and Epix’s sister studio MGM Television. Production is slated to begin this fall in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with an eye toward a 2019 premiere. Written by Conrad and […]

EXCLUSIVE: Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) and Nell Tiger Free (Game of Thrones) have been cast as two of the three leads in Apple’s upcoming psychological thriller series from M. Night Shyamalan and British TV writer Tony Basgallop. While the plot of the series has not been revealed, I hear it follows parents Dorothy and […]

EXCLUSIVE: The most prominent of the Weinstein Co. leftover titles The Upside is landing with STX Entertainment, who is partnering with Lantern Entertainment to handle worldwide distribution on Neil Burger’s remake of the French hit The Intouchables. We heard that others were circling to distribute this title, including Aviron, with some majors expressing interest, but […]

Arthur Miller failed a profound moral test. What should we now think of his plays? By Steve Tisch, Opinion contributor His plays prodded many to examine their moral fiber, yet Arthur Miller abandoned a Down syndrome son. Much like today’s #MeToo revelations, that failure colors his art. After winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1949, Arthur […]

“How do you erase a child?” Bernard Weinraub, a former reporter for The New York Times, is sitting in the green room at the Huntington Theatre Company, asking this question again and again and again. A father of three who once chronicled Hollywood for the Times, Weinraub is pondering this dilemma because it is at […]

Angelina Jolie and Escape Artist Productions’ Todd Black and Steve Tisch will produce “Bright Path: The Jim Thorpe Story,” the upcoming feature about legendary Native American athlete Jim Thorpe. Martin Sensmeier will executive produce and star as the world-renowned athlete. Abraham Taylor is also on board to produce. Taylor, Alex Nibley and Sterlin Harjo penned […]

EXCLUSIVE: Sony has acquired the Gideon Sterer children’s book The Night Knights, with Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton writing the script. The scribes pitched the project, and Sony won it in a competitive situation. Ian Bryce is producing through his Ian Bryce Productions banner alongside Escape Artists partners Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch. […]

While Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington team often, Equalizer 2 marks the first sequel for each. “He’s a mysterious character,” Fuqua said of Washington’s problem solver Robert McCall. “You don’t really get to see these types of films where you have an amazing actor like Denzel Washington playing a role like this; where he is […]

Josh Stamberg (The Affair, Parenthood) will take on the role of playwright Arthur Miller in Fall, a new play written by Bernard Weinraub, the former film reporter for The New York Times, and produced by Todd Black and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists, the film production company behind such movies as Southpaw and The Pursuit […]

He-Man has found new masters. Sony Pictures and Mattel have tapped the directing duo of Aaron and Adam Nee to helm the He-Man movie “Masters of the Universe,” sources tell Variety. Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch will produce with DeVon Franklin. The movie will be based on the beloved Mattel toyline, […]

Filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Alex Gibney have teamed to produce a docu-series for Discovery Channel examining the origins and dangers of hate. The two Oscar winners will executive produce the six-part series tentatively titled “Why We Hate.” Spielberg’s Amblin Television partnered with Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions on the project, which began production earlier this year and […]

S.B. Divya’s sci-fi thriller “Runtime” is being developed as a movie with Escape Artists and John Sacchi attached to produce. “Runtime,” published in 2016, is the story of the Minerva Challenge, a cybernetic race across the Sierra Nevadas, and how one underprivileged young woman cobbles together enough technology to compete against rivals with corporate sponsors. […]

EXCLUSIVE: Sony-based Escape Artists has hired Becky Sanderman as veep of Production, a role in which she will oversee development of feature film and TV projects at the company. Sanderman will work alongside production VP Tony Shaw. Sanderman had been director of development at Dimension Films since May 2016, having helped oversee MTV’s Scream . […]

Apple has landed a series package from M. Night Shyamalan and British TV writer Tony Basgallop, which recently hit the premium/digital marketplace. The untitled half-hour psychological thriller has received a 10-episode straight-to-series order from the tech giant. The project was created by Basgallop (24, To The Ends of the Earth), who will write and executive […]

David S. Goyer, the prolific writer behind the “Dark Knight” trilogy, is in talks to direct “Masters of the Universe” for Sony, TheWrap has exclusively learned. Goyer wrote the most recent draft of the script. Sony has set “Masters of the Universe” to be released on December 18, 2019. Set on the planet Eternia, the […]

EXCLUSIVE: The hot project du jour is Let Her Speak, a Mario Correa script that just got Sandra Bullock attached, subject to landing a director she likes. Bullock will play Democratic Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis, who on June 25, 2013, hit the national spotlight when, against extraordinary odds, she singlehandedly staged a 13-hour filibuster. […]

Pedro Pascal is in negotiations to play the antagonist in Sony and Escape Artists’ “The Equalizer 2” starring Denzel Washington. Antoine Fuqua is returning to direct. Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Washington, Steve Tisch, Alex Siskin, Michael Sloan, Tony Eldridge and Mace Neufeld are producing. Plot details are currently scarce, other than that Washington will reprise […]

Oh, Luuucy! Your biopic is home. “Lucy and Desi,” Aaron Sorkin’s feature project about iconic small-screen stars Lucille Ball and her former husband Desi Arnaz, has been acquired by Amazon Studios, according to Deadline. Oscar winner Cate Blanchett has been attached to play the beloved, Emmy-winning comedian in the authorized telling of the sitcom stars’ […]

Amazon Studios has acquired the Lucille Ball biopic “Lucy and Desi,” with Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett attached to star. Aaron Sorkin has written the script. Escape Artists is the production company with Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch producing. The producers are seeking a star to play Ball’s husband Desi Arnaz as well as Vivian […]

The authorized biopic is being produced by Ball and Desi Arnaz’s children. Amazon has scooped up the rights to the Lucille Ball biopic that has a script by Aaron Sorkin. Cate Blanchett is in talks to star. The film will center on the life of the iconic actress, who starred on the TV sitcoms I […]

EXCLUSIVE: Sony is fast tracking a remake of the 2015 French film Disorder, with Logan helmer James Mangold now attached as director after reading the script by Taylor Sheridan. Escape Artists partners Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch are producing with Tony Shaw, and David Beaubaire is overseeing it for the studio. The Alice […]

Amazon Studios has acquired Linda And Monica, the Black List script by Flint Wainess that details the budding friendship between D.C. pals Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky that imploded when it led to the revelation of the scandalous relationship between the White House intern and President Bill Clinton. The film will be produced by Todd […]

Miramax has landed the black list script “The Secret Ingredients of Rocket Cola,” with “My Week with Marilyn” helmer Simon Curtis in talks to direct. Mike Vukadinovich penned the script with Todd Black, Steve Tisch and Jason Blumenthal on board to produce through their Escape Artists banner. Jenna Block, who used to work for Escape […]

Afraid of dying? Don’t be. Over a period of three years, I stood by my friend’s side while he became homeless and obese, got disfiguring plastic surgery, had a stroke, became an alcoholic, and got busted for insider trading. Then I watched him die — seven different ways. And, truthfully, it may have been the […]

EXCLUSIVE: Taylor Sheridan, the writer who followed Sicario with Hell Or High Water, has just been set by Sony Pictures and Escape Artists to script Disorder. Pic is a remake of the 2015 French film, which starred Matthias Schoenaerts as an ex-soldier with PTSD hired to protect the wife and child of a wealthy Lebanese […]

The director, whose classic Western remake opens the Toronto film fest Thursday, also discusses how he’s pushing for more diversity in Hollywood and working with composer James Horner on his final film. Antoine Fuqua has loved Westerns since he was a young boy, watching them at home with his family. But it was the possibility […]

I can’t think of a better place, or a better crowd for the film’s world premiere,” Fuqua told a Toronto press conference on Tuesday via video. The filmmaker earlier brought Training Day (2001) and The Equalizer (2014) to Toronto for launches. Fuqua’s classic Western drama from MGM and Columbia Pictures features outlaws, bounty hunters and […]

EXCLUSIVE: Escape Artists is adding another executive to its roster. Tony Shaw, who had been director of development at Captivate Entertainment for the past seven years, has left to join the production company behind such films as Southpaw, The Equalizer and The Magnificent Seven, which will be released in September. He joins Escape Artists as […]

Smash alum Jack Davenport is set to topline Prototype, Syfy’s sci-fi thriller drama pilot written by Tony Basgallop (24: Live Another Day). It centers on three unlikely cohorts who inadvertently stumble upon an invention that challenges the very nature of quantum physics – a discovery which in turn puts their lives in grave danger. Davenport will play […]

Syfy has given a pilot order to Prototype, a sci-fi thriller drama written by Tony Basgallop (24: Live Another Day). It centers on three unlikely cohorts who inadvertently stumble upon an invention that challenges the very nature of quantum physics – a discovery which in turn puts their lives in grave danger. Oscar nominee Juan Carlos […]

EXCLUSIVE: Escape Artists’ just optioned Wallace Stegner’s critically-acclaimed novel Crossing to Safety, a semi-autobiographical tome about two academic couples who meet in Madison, Wisconsin and follows their marriages and friendship over the course of several decades. The book itself, published in 1987 by Random House, debuted critical raves in the New York Times and the […]

Cate Blanchett is attached to star in an authorized biopic of Hollywood legend Lucille Ball that Aaron Sorkin is set to write for Escape Artists, TheWrap has learned. The film will chronicle Ball’s 20-year marriage to Desi Arnaz, with whom she starred on the classic TV sitcom “I Love Lucy.” Ball had two children with […]

‘Thor: Ragnarok’ writer Christopher Yost will also write for ‘He-Man’ movie reboot Rodney Rafols “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” has been an 80s cartoon series hit for Filmation and Mattel. Originally a toy line from Mattel, it has become a hit cartoon series. Now Sony Pictures Entertainment is said set to produce a […]

Jake Gyllenhaal made a startling physical metamorphosis for the upcoming boxing drama Southpaw, about a widowed prizefighter looking for another shot in the ring. But the 34-year-old actor, seen in this exclusive poster above as fighter Billy Hope, didn’t just get righteously ripped: He also had to learn the technique of a pro brawler. Gyllenhaal’s […]

Matthew McConaughey has become attached to star in The Billionaire’s Vinegar, the Sony Pictures film about the scandal that ensued when an auctioned cache of wine bottles purported to have been owned by Thomas Jefferson were called fakes. Script is by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, the team behind Wanted, 3:10 To Yuma and Chicago […]

Sony Pictures has come on to co-finance “The Magnificent Seven” with MGM, sources tell Variety. Sony and MGM are splitting the cost evenly between the two with Sony distributing the pic. MGM will oversee production. The film stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and Haley Bennett. Antoine Fuqua is on board to direct. The […]

It’s been over a decade since Ethan Hawke, Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua patrolled the mean streets of Los Angeles in “Training Day,” and it looks like that team is looking to head to the Wild West for their next collaboration. Sources say the Oscar-nominated Hawke is in final negotiations to join Washington in […]

EXCLUSIVE: Landing a star-making role a lot of actresses chased, Haley Bennett has been set to play the female lead opposite an ensemble headed by Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt in the Antoine Fuqua-directed The Magnificent Seven for MGM. Bennett most recently co-starred with Washington in the Fuqua-directed The Equalizer, and she just wrapped The […]

FX Productions has closed a two-year first-look production deal with Escape Artists, the independent production company of Todd Black, fxpJason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch. This marks the first TV deal for Escape Artists, founded in 2001 by Black, Blumenthal and Tisch, whose feature credits include The Weather Man, The Pursuit Of Happyness, Hope Springs and […]

Denzel Washington found there are certain perks to playing a retired government operative trying to live a humble life as a home-store employee. “They decked out this store (on set) like it was a regular Kmart, including the candy bars at the register,” says Washington of the set of The Equalizer, due out Sept. 26. “There were […]

As The New Republic turns 100 years old, Sony Pictures and Escape Artists have made a pre-emptive acquisition of “The Year Of The Pigskin,” a just-published feature by Christopher Beam about the unlikely success of the Chongqing Dockers, one of the first teams in the very first American football league to form in China. The catalyst was a 26-year-old American, the son […]

Sony Pictures has acquired an untitled pitch from Kate Angelo. Escape Artists‘ Steve Tisch, Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal will produce, with Hannah Minghella overseeing for the studio. Both Sony and Escape Artistscompleted the Angelo-scripted Sex Tape with Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz, which Sony releases July 25. Jake Kasdan directed. They are keeping Angelo’s new pitch under wraps, but it’s […]

Seven months before the film hits theaters, Sony Pictures and Escape Artists are feeling confident in their Denzel Washington thriller “The Equalizer,” as screenwriter Richard Wenk has closed a deal to write the sequel, TheWrap has learned. reserved domain names . web service security website load test tool .

Summer movie-goers will get their erotic fix despite the fact that “Fifty Shades of Grey” has now been moved to Valentine’s Day 2015. Sony Pictures said Wednesday that it will move “Sex Tape” from July 18, 2014 to August 1, 2014 — the date that the big screen adaptation of E.L. James’ kinky novel just […]