News

HBO has inked a two-year first-look deal with BAFTA winner and Emmy-nominated actress/writer Sharon Horgan and her production company Merman.

As part of the deal, the cabler gave a straight-to-series order to a new comedy series from Horgan and Merman, with Horgan serving as writer, star and executive producer.

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This yet-to-be-titled comedy will star Horgan...

Sharon Horgan will play Nicolas Cage’s ex-wife in Lionsgate’s action comedy “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.”

Cage stars as a fictionalized version of himself who’s feeling creatively unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, leading him to accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a super fan, played by Pedro Pascal. When things take a wildly dangerous turn, Cage is forced to live up to his own legend, channelling his most iconic on-screen characters in order to save himself and his loved ones. Horgan’s character will be drawn into the events as they get out of hand.

The film will be directed by Tom Gormican from a screenplay he co-wrote with Kevin Etten. The producers are Kevin Turen, Kristin Burr and Mike Nilon. “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” is expected to go into production this fall.

Horgan won a BAFTA TV award for best...

Getting trapped on a secluded island paradise may not have sounded so bad a few weeks ago, but in a post epidemic-world, that mysterious premise may tap into some very relevant anxieties. At least, that’s as much as can be gleaned from the intriguing first trailer for “The Third Day,” a new HBO limited series starring Jude Law and Naomie Harris. The trailer features eerily upbeat music, some stunning aerial shots of a winding road submerged in water, and plenty of smoldering Law looks.

Here’s the official synopsis, according to HBO: “The show is divided into two parts: ‘Summer’ and ‘Winter.’ In ‘Summer,’ one man (Jude Law) visits a mysterious island off the British coast and discovers a group of inhabitants intent on preserving their home at any cost. In the second half, aka ‘Winter,’ a strong-willed outsider (Naomie Harris) comes to the island seeking answers — but instead...

Sharon Horgan’s eviscerating self-awareness underlies some of the biggest cult comedy hits of recent years. But now she’s going after mainstream movies and a directorial debut

Sharon Horgan doesn’t especially enjoy watching herself on screen any more. She feels an awkwardness that, she thinks, comes from years of sitting in edit suites scrutinising take after take of television programmes she has created, co-written and starred in. Shows such as Pulling, a black comedy about three female flatmates that first aired in 2006 and was her breakthrough. And Catastrophe, the Channel 4 series (rejected by the BBC) that she made with Rob Delaney about a one-night stand with long-term effects that ran for four seasons and has been broadcast in 133 countries and now means she has to have clocks in her London offices showing the time in New York and Los Angeles. But Horgan, who is 49 and has eviscerating self-awareness,...

Christopher Robin and Mary Poppins Returns star John Dagleish is the latest actor to sign up for HBO and Sky drama The Third Day.

Dagleish joins Naomie Harris, Jude Law, Emily Watson, Katherine Waterston and Paddy Considine in the series, which is produced by Sky Studios and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment.

Dagleish is next up in Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s Farming as the gang leader ‘Levi’ opposite Damon Idris, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Kate Beckinsale and will also star alongside Renée Zellweger in Rupert Goold’s Judy and in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen with Matthew McConaughey and Colin Farrell. He has previously starred in Justice League and The Monuments Men and won a Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Best Actor in a Musical’ for his role in Sunny Afternoon.

Created by Felix Barrett and Dennis Kelly, The Third Day is a story told over six episodes and in two distinct halves.

Congratulations are in order for HBO's Divorce creator Sharon Horgan, who Focus Features recently announced will helm the upcoming film adaptation of Chris Adrian & Eli Horowitz’s novel The New World as her feature directorial debut. As the talented co-creator of Pulling and Motherland for BBC, Horgan has been sharpening her film skills for a number of years, and now the... Read More...

Here’s a list of some of the new DVD and Blu-ray releases this week we’re particularly interested in. Plus, some old favorites (and not so favorites) coming out this week for the first time on Blu-ray.

Movies

About Last Night… ~ Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, James Belushi (Blu-ray)

Alien Trespass ~ Eric McCormack, Dan Lauria, Robert Patrick, and Jenni Baird (DVD and Blu-ray)

Blue Thunder ~ Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Candy Clark, and Daniel Stern (Blu-ray)

Chaos ~ Jason Statham (Blu-ray)

The Class (Entre Les Murs) ~ François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, and Angélica Sancio (DVD)

Cutthroat Island ~ Geena Davis, Frank Langella, Matthew Modine (Blu-ray)

Eagles Over London ~ Van Johnson, Frederick Stafford, Francisco Rabal, and Luigi Pistilli (Blu-ray)

Gigantic ~ Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano, John Goodman, and Ed Asner (DVD)

I Love You, Man ~ Paul Rudd, Jason Segal (DVD and Blu-ray)

Katyn ~ Artur Amijewski, Maja Ostaszewska, and Andrzej Chyra (DVD)

Michael Jackson: Moonwalking – The...

EastEnders' Ronnie Mitchell is to get a blast from the past when her first love Joel Reynolds turns up in Albert Square. Star of BBC Three's Pulling, Cavan Clerkin will take on the role of Ronnie's (Samantha Womack) old flame and father to her now-dead daughter Danielle Jones (Lauren Crace). As the only remaining link to Danielle, Ronnie's previously toyed with the idea of meeting up with him and even attended a school reunion with Christian (John Partridge) in the hope that he would be there. When he failed to show, she subsequently turned up on his doorstep wishing to talk through their past. However, as one of his daughters answered the door, Ronnie bolted from the scene. With Janine (Charlie Brooks) and Archie (Larry Lamb) scheming behind Ronnie's back in a bid to manipulate her back into the family fold, she's dumbfounded (more)...

ABC has closed all the deals for "Pulling," a single-camera pilot based on the 2006 British series.

"Pulling," from ABC Studios, revolves around three single thirtysomething women who live together after one breaks off her engagement the day before her wedding.

Rob Hanning ("Courting Alex") penned the ABC pilot, which will be directed by Elliot Hegarty.

Stacy Traub has come on board as showrunner. She is exec producing with Francie Calfo and the creators of the original BBC Three series Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly.

Sharon Horgan and Stephen Mangan have apparently justified the use of swearing in their new show Free Agents. Horgan told Pa that the bad language was essential to ensure character realism in the Channel 4 comedy, which follows two talent agents and their boss (Anthony Head). The Pulling creator said: "I've always done slightly fruity stuff. I'm quite free with the f-word. (more)...

BBC Two's new female-driven comedy Home Time has started production in Coventry, the broadcaster has announced. The six-part, 30-minute series revolves around 29-year-old Gaynor Jacks, who returns to live with her parents 12 years after leaving home. Gaynor soon comes into contact with old friends, enemies and boyfriends. Ideal's Emma Fryer, co-writer of the show with Neil Edmond (Where Are The Joneses?), will lead the ensemble cast. Joining her are Hayley Jayne Standing (My Dad's The Prime Minister), Kerry Godliman (Extras), Rebekah Staton (Pulling), (more)...

Sharon Horgan's sitcom Pulling has been axed by BBC Three. The series, which focuses on the lives of three thirtysomething women, will return for a Christmas special but not a third series. Star and co-creator Horgan, who scooped the Best TV Comedy Actress gong at the British Comedy Awards, said: "I haven't got a f***ing clue why they did it. I can only think it's because the channel is changing. "It's become much more youth orientated and we are all old birds in our late (more)...

Controversial star Russell Brand won the Best Live Stand-up prize at the British Comedy Awards last night. The comedian's victory followed the scandal which engulfed himself and Jonathan Ross after they made prank phone calls to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs on BBC radio. As he was presented with his award in Los Angeles, Brand paid tribute to Ross, who pulled out of hosting the ITV1 ceremony as the row rumbled on. He was replaced in the role by Angus Deayton. Brand said: "I would like to dedicate this award to Jonathan Ross... There are no comedy awards without Jonathan Ross, he is the king-maker." Meanwhile, Ricky Gervais won the Best Television Comedy Actor award for 2007's Extras Christmas Special, and Pulling star Sharon Horgan was named as the Best Comedy Entertainment Actress. Alan Carr secured the Best Comedy (more)...

Daisy Fuentes and Jai Rodriguez will host a new weekly series for Style Network covering the latest style news.

Ultimate Style is described as a fast-paced half-hour that features the most up-to-date news from the worlds of fashion, beauty, home, travel and celebrity style. The show, which premieres at 11 p.m. Nov. 3, also will offer practical advice on applying current style trends to viewers' everyday life.

" 'Ultimate Style' is a fashion magazine come to life and offers Style viewers a new and exciting way to keep abreast of the latest tips, trends and news," Style executive vp Salaam Coleman Smith said.

Fuentes, a former MTV VJ, has hosted MTV's House of Style and ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos. She also is the creative director for her own lifestyle brand for Kohl's.

Rodriguez is known for his role as the "culture vulture" on Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which is in its fifth and final season.

In other cable announcements Tuesday, TLC has ordered a second season of L.A. Ink, MTV has picked up a second season of Ryan's Life, and Sundance Channel has acquired three series: the eight-part Australian sketch series Big Girl's Blouse, featuring the early work of Jane Turner, Gina Riley and Magda Szubanski of "Kath & Kim"; the first two seasons of the British comedy series Pulling and the 12-part unscripted series On the Road in America, which follows the experiences of four Arab students as they travel across the U.S.