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Posts tagged as “Fox”

UPDATE: Hurricane Harvey Telethon on Sept. 12 to Include Beyoncé, Oprah, Kelly Rowland, Michael Strahan and More

Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, and Oprah Winfrey (photo via oprah.com)

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
According to Variety.com, the telethon announced last Thursday on Instagram by Jamie Foxx will now also include appearances by Beyoncé, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Barbra Streisand, Reese Witherspoon, and Oprah Winfrey, among others, that on Sept. 12 will raise money for Hurricane Harvey relief.
“Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Harvey Relief” will air live at 8 p.m. ET across ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and basic cable channel CMT. Country superstar George Strait will appear on the telecast in concert from the Majestic Theater in San Antonio, Texas. The telecast will originate from the Universal Studios lot, Times Square and Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.
Money raised from the event will be distributed to a range of charities aiding recovery efforts in Houston, which was devastated last week by the storm and widespread flooding left in Harvey’s wake. The organizations include the United Way of Greater Houston, Habitat for Humanity, Save the Children, Feeding Texas and the Mayor’s Fund for Hurricane Harvey Relief.
The death toll from Harvey has hit 63, according to CBS News. Tens of thousands of people in the southeast Texas region have been displaced from homes that were damaged or destroyed after days of torrential rain and winds.

Other celebrities set to appear in live or taped segments include Karlie Kloss, Rob Lowe, Matthew McConaughey, Dennis Quaid, Adam Sandler, Ryan Seacrest, and Blake Shelton.

“Hand in Hand” was the brainchild of music manager and producer Scooter Braun’s SB Projects. Braun and Allison Kaye will serve as executive producers along with Den of Thieves’ Jesse Ignjatovic and Evan Prager and Houston-based rapper Bernard ‘Bun B’ Freeman.

Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit Teams Up with Fox for ‘The Scroll’ (Bible Stories Set in Present Day)

Queen Latifah (photo via shadowandact.com)

article via shadowandact.com
Queen Latifah is expanding her relationship with 20th Century Fox TV (via her Flavor Unit production company), teaming up with faith-based content producer Holly Carter via her Relevé Entertainment (“The Gospel” and “A Beautiful Soul”) to develop what is described as a bible-themed drama series titled “The Scroll.” 
Michael Elliot (“Brown Sugar,” “Just Wright”) will write and executive produce the project, which will reimagine some of the Bible’s most popular stories, but modernized and set in the present day.
The project shouldn’t be expected until 2018 or beyond.
To read more, go to: Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit Teams Up with Fox for ‘The Scroll’ (Reimagining of Bible Stories Set in the Present Day) – Shadow and Act

Mara Brock Akil & Salim Akil's DC Comics Drama 'Black Lightning' Gets Pilot Pickup at CW

“Black Lightning” via DC Comics

article via eurweb.com
Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil (photo via eurweb.com)

DC Comics drama “Black Lightning,” from executive producers Mara Brock Akil and husband/producing partner, Salim Akil (“Girlfriends,” “The Game,” “Being Mary Jane”) has moved from Fox to The CW with a formal pilot order, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Greg Berlanti, who produces several other DC properties for the CW (“Supergirl”, “The Flash”, “Arrow”) is also executive producing the project.
“Black Lightning” was one of DC Comics’ first major African-American superheroes when it debuted in 1977 from creators Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden. Should the drama move to series, it would be one of the first broadcast shows to feature an African-American superhero as its lead, joining Netflix drama “Luke Cage,” which hails from Marvel Comics.
The hourlong drama will center on Jefferson Pierce, who hung up his suit and his secret identity years ago. However, with a daughter hell-bent on justice and a star student being recruited by a local gang, he’ll be pulled back into the fight as the wanted vigilante and DC legend Black Lightning.
“Black Lightning” marks the first pilot pickup to come from the Akils’ overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. It was originally set up at Fox in September following a multiple-network bidding war.
Source: Mara Brock Akil & Salim Akil’s DC Comics Drama ‘Black Lightning’ Lands at CW | EURweb

Kenya Barris, Creator of "Black-ish", Signs Overall Movie Deal With Fox

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 14: Writer Kenya Barris poses for a portrait at the American Black Film Festival on June 14, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by J. Countess/Getty Images Portrait)
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 14: Writer Kenya Barris poses for a portrait at the American Black Film Festival on June 14, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by J. Countess/Getty Images Portrait)

article by Dave McNary via Variety.com
Kenya Barris, creator of ABC’s “Black-ish” and co-writer of “Barbershop:  The Next Cut,” has signed an overall deal at Fox for the development of feature projects.
“We are thrilled to be in business with Kenya,” said Stacey Snider, chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox Film. “He is a creator with an incredibly authentic voice — at a time when original storytellers are more valuable than ever.”
The film pact will be administered through Barris’ new production company, Khalabo Ink Society, aimed at telling compelling stories that pull back the curtain on the parts of our society that typically go unnoticed, and forging conversations that expose our own hypocrisies.  “As we expand our comedic franchise we at Khalabo Ink Society are overjoyed to have found a partner in Fox, that shares our same sentiment in storytelling,” Barris said.
Khalabo also has a number of feature projects in the works, including “Cheaper by the Dozen,” “Stir Crazy,”  “Girls Trip,” “Ruff Ryderz,” and “Shaft.” Erynn Sampson is head of development for Khalabo Ink Society.
Barris currently has an overall deal with ABC Studios where he will continue to executive produce “Black-ish,” in addition to developing new series and projects for network, cable, and streaming, including “Unit Zero,” which he will executive produce along with Toni Collette, who will also star.
To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/blackish-kenya-barris-movie-deal-1201853782/

Writer/Producer/Director Charles Murray Lands Overall Deal 20th Century Fox; to Run New Fox Series ‘Star’

Charles Murray 3 BandW
Writer/Director/Producer Charles Murray (deadline.com)

article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com
Sons of Anarchy writer/producer Charles Murray has signed an overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV, whose cable division Fox 21 TV Studios produced the gritty FX drama series. Under the pact, he will serve as executive producer and showrunner on Star, 20th TV’s upcoming drama created by Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy, which was recently picked up to series by Fox for next season. Additionally, Murray will be developing his own projects for the studio.
Murray is coming off stints as executive producer on the first season of Netflix’s next Marvel series, Luke Cage and as one of the writers on A+E Networks’ upcoming Roots remake. He served as a writer/co-executive producer on the final two seasons of Sons of Anarchy, and also worked on CBS’ Criminal Minds, ABC’s Castle,NBC’s Third Watch as well as the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Taraji P. Henson & Terrence Howard are Getting Their Own "Empire" Dolls

Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson (Chuck Hodes/Fox)

article by Nick Maslow via ew.com
Move over, Barbie and Ken — Cookie and Lucious Lyon need some space on toy store shelves. Fans of Fox’s hit Empire will soon be able to purchase a line of collector dolls inspired by Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard’s beloved characters, doll maker Tonner-One World announced Thursday.
Although images of the actual dolls are not yet available, the announcement was accompanied by sketches capturing Cookie and Lucious’ signature looks. Clad in a leopard mini-dress and oversized fur coat, Cookie is seen putting one heel in front of the other, no doubt ready to fling one of them across the room should she feel the need. Meanwhile, Lucious exudes cool confidence in a vibrant purple suit paired with a light turtleneck.

Gina Prince-Bythewood to Direct and Gugu Mbatha-Raw to Star in Adaptation of Roxane Gay Novel "An Untamed State"

beyond-the-lights-gina-prince-bythewood-gugu-mbatha-raw
Director Gina Prince-Bythewood and actor Gugu Mbatha-Raw (photo via deadline.com)

article by Mike Fleming Jr. via deadline.com
Gina Prince-Bythewood will direct and Gugu Mbatha-Raw will star in An Untamed State, an adaptation of Roxane Gay‘s debut novel that the director will co-write with the author for Fox Searchlight. Michael De Luca will produce through his Michael De Luca Productions banner with Prince-Bythewood.
an untamed stateThe novel tells the powerful, unflinching story of a Haitian-American woman kidnapped for ransom in front of her husband and child. The novel explores the privilege that made her a target and the strength she must draw on to survive and reclaim her life. Prince-Bythewood is best known for directing Love and BasketballBeyond the Lights, and The Secret Life of Bees, and with husband, Reggie Rock Bythewood, she is executive producing the 10-hour event series Shots Fired for Fox, Imagine Television and Undisputed Cinema. Mbatha-Raw most recently starred in Concussion and Belle, and she teamed with Prince-Bythewood on Beyond the Lights.
To read more, go to: http://deadline.com/2016/03/gugu-mbatha-raw-to-star-gina-prince-bythewood-to-helm-an-untamed-state-1201724469/

Rockmond Dunbar Returning to Fox’s Revived ‘Prison Break’

Prison-break-c-note
Rockmond Dunbar as C-Note in “Prison Break”

article via eurweb.com
Fox’s resurrected “Prison Break” will see the return of three more original members.
Rockmond Dunbar, Amaury Nolasco and Robert Knepper are coming back for the new limited run, the network announced. All three will reprise their original roles as Benjamin Miles “C-Note” Franklin (Dunbar), Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell (Knepper) and Fernando Sucre (Nolsco). Additional castmembers are expected to return as well.
They join Wentworth Miller (Michael), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln) and Sarah Wayne Callies (Sara) in the new episodes, which pick up after Michael’s apparent death.
Sara has moved on with her life, raising her and Michael’s child with her new husband (previously announced guest-star Mark Feuerstein). When clues surface suggesting that Michael may be alive, Sara teams with Lincoln to engineer the series’ biggest escape ever, as three of Fox River State Penitentiary’s most notorious escapees — T-Bag, C-Note and Sucre — are pulled back into the action.
To read more, go to: http://www.eurweb.com/2016/03/rockmond-dunbar-returning-to-foxs-revived-prison-break/

FEATURE: The Smollett Family Business – Acting and Activism

Jussie Smollett, left, and Jurnee Smollett-Bell. (Credit: Taylor Glascock for The New York Times)

article by Melena Ryzik via nytimes.com
CHICAGO — When Jussie Smollett and Jurnee Smollett-Bell were growing up, bouncing with their parents and four siblings between New York and Los Angeles, as the kids pursued careers in modeling, acting and music, their downtime was just another chance for performance and togetherness.

“Creating was something that we just were expected to do,” Mr. Smollett said, in a joint interview with his sister here, where he tapes the Fox series “Empire.” Seated next to him in a downtown restaurant, she was nodding in agreement. “And I don’t remember a time not wanting to do that.”

Aldis Hodge and Jurnee Smollett-Bell in v>“Underground.” (Credit: Sony Pictures Television)

The members of the Smollett clan have made good on their childhood promise. Mr. Smollett, 32, is a singer and a breakout star of the hit drama “Empire,” in which he plays Jamal, the most talented member of the Lyon hip-hop dynasty.
Ms. Smollett-Bell, 29, who made her mark as an actress by the age of 10, with the 1997 film “Eve’s Bayou,” is one of the leads in “Underground,” a new WGN America show about a group of slaves who try to escape from their Georgia plantation; her brother guest-stars.
Though it’s their first project together in 20 years, it’s clear that the more creative freedom they have, the more their tastes will converge.
The Smolletts have also been outspoken politically and, since their school years, devoted to causes like H.I.V./AIDS prevention and ending apartheid. They were raised in the orbit of the Black Panthers and, lately, have lent their voices to the Black Lives Matter movement. Their trajectory, from child stars to successful adults, is born of their family and its history of activism.

“Their sense of justice is very strong, and it permeates everything that they do,” said Alfre Woodard, who has known Jussie and Jurnee since they were children; they worked with her at the nonprofit Artists for a New South Africa. “They’re like a model sibling unit. They look out for each other, all the time. And they all reach across and say, ‘O.K., I got my foot in this door; here, grab my hand, we’re going in together.’”

Raised on a diet of classic films (they’ll gladly quote the 1945 version of “Mildred Pierce”), Jussie and Jurnee still count their mother, Janet Smollett, as their only acting coach. An African-American from New Orleans, Ms. Smollett met their father, Joel Smollett Sr., a Russian-Polish Jew, in the Bay Area, where they campaigned for civil rights. “My mom was in the movement with Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, and one of her first mentors was Julian Bond,” Mr. Smollett said of the Black Panther founders and the civil rights leader. “To this day, Angela Davis is one of her dearest friends. We’ve spent Mother’s Day with Angela.”

Damon Wayans to Star in "Lethal Weapon" TV Pilot at Fox

Damonwayans
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com
After lengthy negotiations, Fox and Warner Bros. TV have closed a pilot-order deal for Lethal Weapon, an hourlong series based on the buddy cop action comedy movies that starred Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs and Danny Glover as Roger Murtaugh. In Living Color alum Damon Wayans is set to play Murtaugh in the remake, with Charlie’s Angels helmer McG set to direct the pilot for Warner Bros. TV. The Riggs role has not been cast yet.
Written by former Chuck executive producer and Forever creator Matt Miller, Lethal Weapon, like WBTV’s Rush Hour series for CBS, is a relatively straight remake featuring the movies’ central characters.
lethal_weaponThe feature franchise kicked off with Homicide Sgt. Murtaugh (Glover), who recently celebrated his 50th birthday, being partnered with the suicidal and highly volatile ex-U.S. Army Special Forces soldier-turned-LAPD Narcotics Sgt. Riggs (Gibson), who had been reassigned to homicide after a psychotic episode on the job as he deals with grief following the death of his wife.

In the series, when Texas cop and former Navy SEAL Riggs suffers the loss of his wife and baby, he moves to Los Angeles to start anew. There, he is partnered with LAPD detective Murtaugh (Wayans), who, having recently suffered a “minor” heart attack, must avoid stress in his life.

The original 1987 Lethal Weapon movie, written by Shane Black and directed by Richard Donner, was a breakout hit, grossing $120 million on a $12 million budget. It spawned a formidable franchise with three sequels and helped established the comedic action buddy cop genre, influencing such hit follow-up entries as Rush Hour and Bad Boys. 

To read more, go to: http://deadline.com/2016/02/lethal-weapon-pilot-damon-wayans-star-mcg-direct-fox-1201701545/