movies
NBCUniversal Upfront: Here’s What Happened At Radio City Music Hall
NBCUniversal’s Upfront was, surprisingly, all about television this year.
After a year focused on movies, and last year’s fixation on sports, this year’s Radio City Music Hall presentation was all about the small screen.
Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, hosts of the Las Culturistas podcast and live event, opened the show with a song and dance and were told to “charm” the advertisers.
“We have an incredible show/business presentation for you this morning and remember anything can happen at the Upfront. Heather Gay and Jenna Bush Hager could come out and rap about contextual realignment. Stay tuned for their new rap duo: Gay Bush,” Yang said.
Unfortunately, the pair did not rap, but NBCUniversal did bring out the stars of many of its shows.
There was Law & Order: SVU’s Mariska Hargitay (with some technical difficulties), Amy Poehler and Hugh Laurie, stars of Peacock comedy Dig, Linda Cardellini, who plays Pamela Vorhees in Peacock’s Friday the 13th horror prequel series Crystal Lake, The Good Daughter’s Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy, Jennifer Garner, Chloe Sevigny, Gemma Chan and D’Arcy Carden from The Five-Star Weekend, David Boreanaz from NBC’s reboot of The Rockford Files, Line of Fire’s Peter Krause, Jake Johnson and Jane Levy from comedy Sunset P.I. and Téa Leoni, Tim Daly and Jamie Lee Curtis from Newlyweds.
Tina Fey came out to celebrate NBC turning 100. “Am I faithful to a network I deeply love or a ghost who cannot leave NBC property,” she joked before her 30 Rock colleague Jane Krakowski did a dance number.
There was a lot of focus on unscripted over the two-hour presentation, particularly involving Bravo and Peacock.
Love Island USA host Ariana Madix was on stage talking about returning to Fiji for season eight of the dating show and Watch What Happens Live host and The Real Housewives exec producer Andy Cohen got in a time machine to return to 2006 when it all began for the table-flipping industrial complex.
“We are gearing up for what will be an unprecedented year in the Bravo universe that will activate and inspire legions of uber passionate fans who make all of this possible,” he said. “I cannot believe that I’m saying there’s been 20 years of The Real Housewives. What started as a peak by the gates of Orange County became a global pop culture phenomenon.”
Talking of Bravo, even ad sales boss Mark Marshall got in on the act, teeing up a trailer for the forthcoming reunion for Summer House, which has exploded into this year’s Vanderpump Rules. While it’s not quite at Scandoval-level controversy, the Amanda/West/Ciara timeline is juicy tea that was referenced a bunch across the morning.
In terms of scripted, the big news was Peacock finally admitting that it is developing series set in the Fast and Furious world. While the streamer was willing to confirm one of these series, Vin Diesel revealed that NBCU was developing four series in the world.
“It became right when Donna Langley started to oversee it all, because that’s when I knew that the integrity of the characters, the international appeal, what makes us all feel like family, will be protected in the TV space,” he said on stage.
Langley was not on stage herself but Pearlena Igbokwe Chairman, Television Studios, NBC Entertainment & Peacock Scripted made her debut on stage at Radio City Music Hall after Diesel.
“Think about it; live events, sports, news, blockbuster Universal films, premier Spanish language programming from Telemundo, premium, original entertainment, next day NBC and Bravo series all coming together on Peacock. It’s a winning competition, and as we celebrate this incredible 100-year milestone and the evolution of NBC Universal, we’re looking forward to launching must be moments of tomorrow. The future is coming, dare I say, fast and furious, and we’re ready,” she added.
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movies
‘Icebreaker’ TV Show Adaptation News & Updates: Everything We Know
Another hockey book adaptation has entered the chat.
Netflix is currently building out its cast for the series adaptation of Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker book that kicks off the Maple Hill series. This in addition to their show The Sticks that is also currently in the works.
For everything we know about Netflix’s Icebreaker book adaptation so far, read on.
When will Netflix’s Icebreaker series adaptation come out?
A release date has not yet been set. The show has begun to assemble its cast.
Who will lead the Icebreaker show at Netflix?
Daisy Jelley (Poser, How To Have Sex) will portray Anastasia “Stassie” Allen, and Connor Simos (Subversion) will portray Nate Hawkins in the college hockey drama series.
Who else is in the cast of Netflix’s Icebreaker adaptation?
Gabriel Tierney (Rivals, Enola Holmes 2), Auliʻi Cravalho (Moana), newcomer and professional athlete Peter Berry, Chaneil Kular (Best of the Best, Sex Education), Devin Craig (Sex Lives of College Girls, Maize) and Aidan Shaw (We Were Liars, Heated Rivalry, Finding Her Edge) have joined the ensemble cast.
Tierney will play Aaron; Cravalho will portray Lola; Berry is Robbie; Kular will play JJ; Craig will portray Henry and Shaw is Russ.
What is Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker book about?
Stassie is a transfer athlete gunning for Olympic gold. Nate is the campus star chasing the NHL. When an accident forces their teams to share one rink, Anastasia Allen and Nate Hawkins collide—and discipline gives way to obsession, because the only thing more dangerous than wanting to win is wanting each other.
Who else is behind Netflix’s Icebreaker series?
Jade Halley Bartlett (Road House, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Miller’s Girl) created and executive produced the series. Amanda Lasher (Gossip Girl, The Bold Type, Togetherness) serves as showrunner, writer and excutive producer. Grace also executive produces along with Alex Cooper, Matt Kaplan and Mina Lefevre for Cooper’s Unwell Productions.
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movies
Cindy Holland Leaving Paramount Ahead Of WBD Merger
One of the biggest executive questions about Paramount following its pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — who will lead streaming — may have been answered.
Cindy Holland is leaving Paramount where she was Chairman of Direct-To-Consumer since the Skydance-Paramount merger having served as an advisor to Skydance CEO David Ellison prior to that. She announced her departure in a company memo, which you can read below.
The move leaves HBO’s Casey Bloys as the likely streaming head of the combined Paramount-WBD.
“Cindy is one of the most exceptional executives in our industry — a force of nature whose impact on Paramount over the past year has been significant,” Paramount CEO David Ellison said. “Under her leadership, P+ reached new heights, Pluto TV underwent its most significant transformation in a decade, and we strengthened our content and sports portfolio – all while the business exceeded the ambitious goals we set. Just as importantly, she built an exceptional team and a strong foundation for the future. Cindy has been a trusted partner to me and so many others, and I couldn’t be more grateful for her leadership, her relentless drive and everything she’s done for our company.”
Here is Holland’s memo:
When I joined David’s team in January 2025, we proceeded to set three goals: i) advise on the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, ii) integrate and transform Paramount+ & revive Pluto TV, and iii) build an unparalleled team in this industry. In just over 12 months, I’m proud to say we accomplished all three and it’s been a joy to work closely with all of you.
Together with the Product team, we drove significant strategic and organizational change across DTC — building a new foundation for growth on both services, while investing in greater depth and breadth of programming and delivering strong revenue, profit, and subscriber growth for the division.
As David readies for the next phase of his vision, we’ve discussed my role and the future of the combined businesses. David is optimizing for HBO stability as we move into this next chapter, and I fully support that. I know this team has the leadership and expertise to manage through the transition and the next phase of the company, and to this end today will mark my last day here.
As I reflect on my time here and all that we’ve built together in this short time, what stands out most to me is this team. I have never been more proud of a group of people. What we’ve accomplished together is remarkable — landing quarter after quarter while navigating extraordinary uncertainty and change with resilience, focus and ambition. We grew Paramount+ to an all-time subscriber high, delivered the best retention in the service’s history, and drove double-digit growth in both engagement and revenue. We built an extraordinary content pipeline, greenlighting more than 40 new and returning series and setting all-time records with Landman, the most-watched series in Paramount+ history, and Dutton Ranch, the service’s biggest original series debut ever. We transformed live sports into a powerful streaming growth engine, securing landmark agreements with UFC and Zuffa Boxing and expanding our WNBA and UEFA Champions League rights – with UFC Freedom 250 becoming the largest-ever audience for an exclusive live event on Paramount+ and UFC 329 setting a new platform record for peak concurrent streams for an exclusive live event. And we undertook Pluto TV’s biggest product transformation in a decade, dramatically increasing registered viewing and VOD consumption while delivering strong financial performance across the business. These are extraordinary accomplishments – but what makes me proudest is how we achieved them: together, with an unwavering commitment to our audiences, our creative partners and one another.
I joined Paramount because I believe in these businesses, and because I believe wholeheartedly that the combination of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery serves the best interests of artists and audiences worldwide. I’m looking forward to seeing what you all accomplish together in this next, momentous chapter.
Cindy
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movies
New ‘South Park’ Takes On Data Centers And The Billionaires Who Build Them
While President Trump was holding a press conference at the White House this morning and extolling the AI-related work of Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, a promo for tomorrow night’s South Park episode dropped. It was less salutary.
Here’s the logline for Episode 6 of Season 29: “Butters is unhappy with the data centers that the billionaires are building in our backyards.”
The clip opens with an X-Pest exterminator guy ringing the doorbell at Butters’ home.
“I understand you’ve got some billionaires in your back yard,” he says.
“Yeah, there’s more of these stupid billionaires every day!” replies Butters.
The first image from the episode (see it above) shows Butters in what appears to be his back yard with the X-Pest exterminator guy, who has strapped on his tank of poison and has his sprayer wand at the ready.
The topic of data centers is a hot one across the country and especially in Hollywood, where unions and workers worry about job displacement and writers and directors express concern over what it might do to their art.
Among the biggest players in the data center land rush is, of course, Oracle CEO and Paramount-WBD deal financier Larry Ellison. South Park airs on Comedy Central, which is owned by Paramount. As in the past, the show’s creators are seemingly not afraid to bite the hand that feeds them.
Mark Ruffalo and others have decried the introduction of “really profoundly scary technology” into Hollywood and how AI might impact media outlets soon to be owned by Ellison and his son David.
“Larry is a classic Oligarch,” wrote Ruffalo. “They are crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power and concentrated dominance.”
Paramount, for its part, responded by accusing Ruffalo of using “antisemitic tropes” in his argument, especially when linking the Ellisons’ studio acquisition to Oracle’s work with the Israeli military.
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