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TV : Blumhouse’s McMahon biopic, Courtney joins Terminal List, Pokemon live-action, The Premise

The first scripted portrayal of McMahon as well as many of the legendary Superstars of that era

“Suicide Squad” star Jai Courtney has been cast in the Amazon series “The Terminal List” opposite Chris Pratt.

“The series follows James Reece (Pratt) after his entire platoon of Navy SEALs is ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission. Reece returns home to his family with conflicting memories of the event and questions about his culpability. However, as new evidence comes to light, Reece discovers dark forces working against him, endangering not only his life but the lives of those he loves.

Courtney will appear in the recurring guest star role of Steve Horn, the billionaire kingpin behind Capstone Industries.” [More…]

 

A new live-action “Pokemon” series is in the works at Netflix.

Joe Henderson is attached to write and executive produce the venture, said to be similar in look and feel to the “Detective Pikachu” film from 2019. [More….]

 

B.J. Novak’s new, previously untitled comedy anthology series will be called ”The Premise”, it was announced today. Along with first look images and details on the first installment’s five episodes, ”The Premise” announced its first season’s star-studded cast. The series will premiere its first two episodes on Thursday, September 16 exclusively on FX on Hulu.

”The Premise” is a fearlessly ambitious new series that uses comedy to engage with the biggest issues of our unprecedented modern era.

Created and hosted by B.J. Novak, joined by an extraordinary group of actors and collaborators, The Premise adds Ben Platt, Tracee Ellis Ross, Daniel Dae Kim, Lola Kirke, Soko, Jermaine Fowler, Ayo Edebiri, Eric Lange and more to the previously announced cast, which included Lucas Hedges, Kaitlyn Dever, Jon Bernthal, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ed Asner, George Wallace, Boyd Holbrook and Beau Bridges, among others. The Premise combines daring comedic premises with equally daring dramatic performances, creating a new tone for a new time.

 

WWE(R) (NYSE: WWE) and Blumhouse Television are partnering to develop a limited scripted series called, The United States of America Vs. Vince McMahon. Jason Blum’s company, Blumhouse, will develop the series for television, led by Blumhouse TV President Chris McCumber. The series, The United States of America Vs. Vince McMahon, will be the first-ever scripted dramatic portrayal of a chapter in WWE’s history. Additionally, it is also the first scripted portrayal of McMahon as well as many of the legendary Superstars of that era.

The show will delve into WWE during the 1990s, at the time Rupert Murdoch had purchased the New York Post to further his massive infiltration into the U.S. media landscape. For years, infamous Post writer Phil Mushnick regularly hammered WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon in his column. Headlines like “Legislators Give WWE A Free Pass On ‘Roids” and “McMahon Skips Through the Cemetery” eventually captured the attention of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York – the nation’s most prestigious federal prosecutor’s office with a conviction rate of over 96 percent.

In 1994, the U.S. government indicted McMahon for allegedly supplying anabolic steroids to WWE talent. McMahon, with his liberty at stake, two school-aged children at home and with WWE on the brink of bankruptcy, refused to take a plea deal. Ultimately, McMahon stood trial and was acquitted unanimously by a jury of his peers and went on to build a multi-billion-dollar global sports entertainment empire.

“Jason, Chris and their team at Blumhouse create amazing work and we look forward to delivering an inside look into one of the most pivotal moments in our company’s history,” said Kevin Dunn, WWE Executive Producer & Chief of Global Television Distribution.

“We have a dramatic, riveting saga – one that’s crazier than fiction – that will appeal to the cross-section of Blumhouse and WWE fans,” said Chris McCumber, Blumhouse Television President. “To say I’m thrilled about collaborating again with WWE is an understatement.”

McMahon, Dunn, Blum, McCumber and Jeremy Gold will serve as executive producers on the project.

The Blumhouse Television team, led by McCumber, have made several significant development announcements in the last few weeks, including: the straight-to-series pick-up of The Thing About Pam, starring Renee Zellweger in her broadcast TV debut for NBC; Blumhouse Ghost Story, the scripted series based on The Battersea Poltergeist BBC podcast, and the companion unscripted series; the continuing series based on Patricia Cornwell’s world’s best-selling “Kay Scarpetta” novels for a major; and the exclusive multi-year partnership with ITV America for provocative, disruptive and terrifying content to every corner of the non-fiction space, including Escape the Maze (wt) the first project derived from the partnership; among several other announcement

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