Author: Live Feed

November 21, 2016 9:39am PT by Lesley Goldberg

The drama from Josh Friedman was first put in development a year ago at Tomorrow Studios.

More than a year after it was first announced, the TV adaptation of Snowpiercer has found a home.

Turner-owned TNT has handed out a pilot for the futuristic thriller based on the award-winning feature film of the same name.

Based on the 2013 Korean film, the TV series hails from Josh Friedman (Sarah Connor Chronicles, War of the Worlds), who will pen the script for Tomorrow Studios, which in November 2015 optioned the rights to the film. Turner’s Studio T has boarded the drama as a co-producer.

The potential series will be based on the 2013 film that was written and directed by Bong Joon Ho in his first English-language production. The movie, which starred Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton is set seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, and the remnants of humanity inhabit a gigantic, perpetually moving train that circles the globe. Class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival are questioned.

The film was set in a post-apocalyptic Ice Age where the only remaining life on the planet survives aboard a train that travels around the globe. 

Bong and feature co-producer Dooho Choi are attached to executive produce alongside Tomorrow Studios’ Marty Adelstein and producing partner Becky Clements. Chan-wook Park, who produced the feature, is also attached as an EP as is Friedman.

The drama hails from Korea’s largest movie studio CJ Entertainment & Media, which produced the feature. The sci-fi film is based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige.

The feature was released in June 2014 and grossed $4.5 million domestically en route to a $86.8 million worldwide cume after being released on video on demand after only two weeks in release. The film was also was an awards season favorite, picking up nominations from various festivals as well as the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. before landing on multiple top 10 films of the year lists across the country, including THR‘s Heat Vision.

“Snowpiercer has one of the most original concepts to hit the screen in the last decade, and it’s one that offers numerous opportunities for deeper exploration in a series format,” said Sarah Aubrey, executive vp original programming at TNT. “We look forward to expanding TNT’s relationship with Tomorrow Studios and their take on a world where humanity is pushed to the extreme.”

“TNT has become a great producing partner to Tomorrow Studios and we are excited to continue our relationship with them on Snowpiercer, for which we not only have a pilot but are writing multiple scripts,” Tomorrow Studios CEO Adelstein said. “This is an incredibly powerful story and one for which finding the perfect home was imperative to its success.”

Snowpiercer marks the third collaboration for TNT with Tomorrow Studios. The latter company also exec produces Chad Hodge’s Good Behavior as well as TNT’s Jeff Davis take on Let the Right One In.

Pilot Season TNT

November 21, 2016 9:18am PT by Kate Stanhope

Erin Schaff/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

The news comes fresh off his ‘SNL’ hosting debut.

Dave Chappelle is headed to Netflix.

The stand-up comic has set three new stand-up comedy specials at the streaming giant, it was announced Monday.

Chappelle and director Stan Lathan will produce an original stand-up comedy special exclusively for Netflix, with its premiere date to be announced. The two other never-before-seen specials hail directly from Chappelle’s personal comedy vault. Directed by Lathan and filmed at Austin City Limits Live in April 2015 and the Hollywood Palladium in March 2016, the specials mark the comedian’s first concert specials in 12 years and are slated to be released simultaneously in 2017.

“Dave Chappelle is a legendary voice in comedy — searing, vital, and now more than ever, essential,” Lisa Nishimura, Netflix VP, original documentary and comedy, said. “Dave’s three new specials promise to be some of the most anticipated events in comedy, and we are honored he will mark his global return on Netflix.”

The news comes fresh off Chappelle’s SNL hosting debut, which nabbed the show its best rating in three years. The specials will also mark Chappelle’s first major TV project since he surprisingly and suddenly stepped away from his Comedy Central sketch series Chappelle’s Show in 2005, arguably at the height of the show’s popularity. The comedian subsequently spent several years out of the public eye, but has slowly returned to the mainstream. He performed 10 sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall in 2014, and also appeared in a small role in Spike Lee’s film Chi-Raq last year. He has continued to perform stand-up across the country, performing over 500 shows in the past three years.

For Netflix, the deal comes not long after the streaming giant landed two new stand-up specials from Chris Rock as part of a stunning $40 million deal. As it ramps up originals, the streamer has become a major player in the stand-up space, competing against Comedy Central and HBO, among other platforms. Earlier this year, the streamer was able to land Dana Carvey’s first stand-up special in 20 years. In September, Patton Oswalt won an Emmy for his Netflix stand-up special, Talking for Clapping.

“For us, it’s about having enough of a global audience and anticipated engagement that we can get behind all of these projects,” Nishimura told THR earlier this month when discussing Rock’s highly anticipated specials.

Netflix

November 21, 2016 9:15am PT by Kate Stanhope

Saeed Adyani/Netflix

The cast discusses creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s “beautiful” ending days ahead of the revival’s release.

When Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life arrives Friday on Netflix, one of the show’s biggest mysteries will finally be solved.

Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino long ago revealed that she had thought up the final four words she wanted the series to end on. However, when she and her husband, executive producer Dan Palladino, abruptly exited the series at the end of season six, Sherman-Palladino walked away from the chance to end the series on her own terms, as the series would be canceled the following year after production had already wrapped on the final episode.

In the years since, Sherman-Palladino never publicly divulged her dream ending on the off chance she would get to put those four words to good use. Nine years later, that long-awaited dialogue will be heard in the fourth and final chapter of the revival, titled “Fall.”

“They’re so epic and beautiful,” Liza Weil told The Hollywood Reporter at Friday’s premiere. “I think it’s worth the wait.”

With just days to go before the revival’s release, THR asked the cast to offer their best (and craziest) guesses for the final words:

Vanessa Marano (April Nardini): “Mom, I’m pregnant – psych.”

Mike Gandolfi (Andrew): “Rosebud was a sled.”

Rini Bell (Lulu): “Bring me more coffee.”

David Sutcliffe (Christopher Hayden): “The aliens are here.”

Keiko Agena (Lane Kim): “‘It is tomato pie’ – that’s what I’m sure its not.”

Rose Abdoo (Gypsy): “Bring back more Gypsy.”

Sean Gunn (Kirk Gleason): “Luke, you’re my father.”

John Cabrera (Brian Fuller): “I have no idea and I won’t even speculate. I don’t even want to speculate. I don’t think that the fans should even speculate. They should just enjoy when it happens.”

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life premieres Nov. 25 on Netflix.

Gilmore Girls