NBC‘s lineup resembles one giant bubble this year with only two of 15 current scripted series — representing an hour of primetime — renewed and most of the others in serious limbo as the network’s scripted and unscripted rosters are facing a major trim to make room for about 180 hours of primetime NBA programming.
In addition to the already-picked-up freshman comedies St. Denis Medical and Happy’s Place, the list of scripted locks for 2025-2026 is short, and each title on it has the same name next to it: Dick Wolf. Like every year, there are budget conversations between the network and sister studio Universal Television, but the three Chicago dramas and the two Law & Order series on NBC are all expected to return next season. >>>Deep Uncertainty |
|
| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
|
More 'Breakfast' Bullying Charges - BBC Breakfast boss Richard Frediani is facing further allegations of workplace bullying and misconduct, with senior presenter Naga Munchetty among those thought to have misgivings about his behavior. Deadline revealed last month how Frediani was the subject of at least two misconduct complaints, including one from a woman who had her grievance upheld after claiming that the Breakfast editor physically shook her during a newsroom exchange last year. >>> 11 More Colleagues Come Forward ‘The Testaments’ Creator Bruce Miller Interview - The end of Hulu's The Handmaid’s Tale is nigh, but the story of Gilead will continue in the upcoming sequel series The Testaments, which creator Bruce Miller tells Deadline is in the casting phase and will give a very different perspective on the oppressive nation. >>>Growing Up Gilead
Stone Fruit - Following competitive bidding, A24 has landed rights to an untitled raunchy teen comedy spec from writer Morgan Lehmann, with Emma Stone's Fruit Tree on board to produce. Ley Line Entertainment will produce alongside Fruit Tree. Deadline hears the script is about Delaney Pitts, a nerdy teenage virgin who has a secret online life as an erotic fan fiction author. >>> Throwback To Stone’s 'Superbad' & 'Easy A'
For Funk’s Sake - Funk music has been around since the 1960s, developing out of gospel, R&B and soul, with a distinct emphasis on “syncopated bass lines and steady, infectious drum grooves,” according to one description. But that’s an awfully academic way of putting it. The most important thing: Funk makes you want to dance. We Want the Funk! directors Stanley Nelson and Nicole London join the latest episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to explore the music and its key innovators including James Brown, George Clinton and Sly Stone. >>> Listen
In Brief - VFX firm FOLKS opens London studio... James Frey signs with Range Media Partners
|
|
Ryan Coogler is 4-for-4. He’s written and directed four films, all heart and all winners: Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. He puts that streak on the line with Sinners, an original elevated horror film that takes his usual onscreen companion, Michael B. Jordan, on a decidedly different trip. Jordan plays twin WWI vet enforcer brothers, Smoke and Stack, who come home to start a blues club in 1930s Mississippi. The effort leads them into the supernatural.
Here, Coogler explains why the period genre tale temporarily drew him away from his Black Panther series. And why, in a moment of barbed stories assailing theatrical movie budgets and picture pickers, theatrical moviegoing’s future falls to its best artists, and the studio execs who bet on their big creative swings. >>>Read The Interview |
|
Exclusive
Even as Denis Villeneuve puts the finishing touches on the script for the next installment in the Dune franchise, the director already has his sights set on a new addition to the all-star ensemble: Deadline is hearing there is strong interest in Robert Pattinson joining the cast.
Prime Video may have found the lead of another female-led series adaptation of a classic MGM movie title. Summer H. Howell (Hunter Hunter) is in negotiations to play the title role in Carrie, the streamer’s upcoming supernatural horror drama series from horror master Mike Flanagan based on Stephen King’s novel.
Exclusive
Apple TV+’s Sugar, starring and executive produced by Colin Farrell, has cast three more new series regulars for next season: Shea Whigham (Fargo), Raymond Lee (Quantum Leap) and Sasha Calle (The Flash).
Exclusive
Harry Melling (Wolf Hall) is set to star opposite Barry Keoghan and Riley Keough in Butterfly Jam, the new drama marking the English-language debut of Cannes prize-winner Kantemir Balagov (Beanpole), sources tell Deadline. |
|
BY THE NUMBERS
114M - Number of views 'Adolescence' has amassed since its March 13 release |
|
More News 🏛️ The Library of Congress announced its 2025 selections for the National Recording Registry, an eclectic list that ranges from Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album, the cast recording of Hamilton, the Microsoft Windows reboot chime and “Minecraft: Volume Alpha."
🗞️ A federal judge has sided with the Associated Press in its lawsuit against the Trump administration, ruling Tuesday that the president and his team could not restrict the news organization from White House events as punishment for refusing the rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
🎭 Broadway's Just In Time starring Jonathan Groff as Bobby Darin is selling out Circle in the Square and hitting a sweet high note of $901,973 for its first seven previews.
⚖️ A lawsuit by Blade Runner 2049 production company Alcon Entertainment against Tesla and Warner Bros over the use of images from the film at a promotional event can proceed, a federal judge has ruled. But the defendants succeeded in narrowing the scope of the suit. |
|
Obituaries
🕯️ Marvin Levy, Steven Spielberg’s longtime publicist, has died. He was 96. Levy, a renowned marketing and communications executive, who received an honorary Oscar in 2018, died on April 7. 🕯️ William “Bill” Finn, the acclaimed writer and composer of the 1992 musical Falsettos and 2005’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, died Monday, April 7, following a lengthy illness. He was 73. 🕯️ 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries |
|
On the Radar
Thu - Cannes lineup announced; The Masters tees off
Fri - Coachella starts
Sat - Passover begins |
|
'Drop'-In - Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar attend the premiere of Universal Pictures' Drop at TCL Chinese Theatre |
|
|
