The Milli Vanilli of comedians, Sarah Cooper, has just signed a deal with Netflix for a special titled Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine. It will feature short interviews, sketches, and “more shenanigans”.
Source: CNN
For further reading, might I recommend this MelMagazine piece: Why your boomer parents are obsessed with Sarah Cooper.
RIP Sumner Redstone
There won’t be many tears shed today for the passing of media mogul Sumner Redstone. The majority owner and chair of National Amusements (which has the recently re-formed ViacomCBS as its key holding) died on Tuesday age 97.
Redstone started out owning a chain of drive-ins (inherited from his father who started the chain in the 1930s with mob money), but through savvy media purchases, he built his media empire. He was in his 60s when he purchased Viacom for $3.4 billion. From that point, he became one of the most powerful players in Hollywood.
Read more: NYT
Na’vi-less Avatar hits roadblock
Netflix is known for giving its creatives a lot of space. It’s not often you hear of dissatisfaction from showrunners in regards to what they’re able to bring to the screen. So, it is a little surprising to hear Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have left the live-action adaptation of the beloved animated series.
“Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar has the potential to be good. It might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying,” wrote DiMartino. “But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.”
Read more: Polygon
Diana launches on Netflix
There has been a handful of Broadway productions recently that have been adapted for streaming services. Hamilton on Disney+ and American Son on Netflix being the most prominent. A new musical based on the life of Princess Diana is set to upend this: it’ll debut on Netflix ahead of debuting on Broadway.
The musical, titled Diana, will first stream on Netflix early next year. It’ll then open on Broadway May 2021.
Jeanna de Waal stars in the title role.
Read more: Radio Times
Tenet scores a date in Australia
August 22. That’s when I’ll be seeing the new Christopher Nolan film in cinemas. The film will release in Australia for preview screenings across the weekend on Aug 22-23, with a proper release on August 27. Tickets go on sale Friday.
The international roll-out looks as follows:
Wednesday, Aug. 26:
Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, U.K.
Thursday, Aug. 27:
Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Lebanon, Malaysia, Middle East, New Zealand, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates
Friday, Aug. 28:
East Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Vietnam
Wednesday, Sept. 3:
U.S., Kuwait and Qatar
Thursday, Sept. 10:
Azerbaijan, CIS, Kazakhstan, Russia
Thursday, Sept. 17:
Cyprus
Friday, Sept. 18:
Japan
Dates TBD:
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela
Source: Variety
Netflix goes long
If you go to see a movie made for Netflix in the cinema, it will be accompanied by this new extended vanity card to replace the too-short-for-a-cinema iconic Netflix ‘ta dun’ sound. The music is composed by Hans Zimmer.
It sounds appropriately majestic… but it’s really missing a ‘ta dun’ sound in there…
TeeVee Snacks
- Beanie Feldstein will voice Harriet The Spy for a new Apple TV+ show. Source: Indiewire
- The $300 million lawsuit between original The Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont and AMC heads to court. Source: Deadline
9Go short-form sitcom Metro Sexual has been picked up by US streamer Crackle starting Sept 1.
… if anyone has ever heard of this production before, can you please drop me an email and let me know. Source: Deadline
Trailer Park
Walt Goggins stars in John Bronco, a mockumentary short film that’s coming soon.
Unpregnant is a feature made for HBO Max that debuts September 10.
Mulan debuts on Disney+ Sept for $30 in the US. There’s still no official word on the price of the release in other territories.
