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The 2024–25 TV season isn’t even over yet, but the carcasses of beloved characters already lie scattered across the landscape.

A device as old as television itself, character deaths happen when actors want to move on (or are forced to), or when a stale story needs a jolt of life.

Sometimes, we go seasons without a significant death on any of our favorite shows. Other times, we can barely catch our breath before we’re saying goodbye to someone else.

Peter Krause as Nate Fisher in Six Feet Under, moments after one of the most quietly devastating deaths in TV history. (HBO/Screenshot)

So far this season, Kevin Costner’s forced exit from Yellowstone led to John Dutton’s ignoble death, one that left many believing he took his own life.

Bobby Nash took one for the team as Peter Krause exited 9-1-1, and The Last of Us saw...

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The Amateur is a vigilante action spy thriller film directed by James Hawes from a screenplay co-written by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli. Based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Robert Littell, the 2025 film follows Charlie Heller, a brilliant CIA cryptographer whose wife was killed during a terrorist attack in London. After discovering that, he blackmails his superiors into giving him training to kill the people who killed his wife and use his expertise in doing so. The Amateur stars Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitriona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Laurence Fishburne. So, if you loved the thrilling drama, intense revenge story, and compelling characters in The Amateur, here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Law Abiding Citizen (Starz & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – Overture Films

Law Abiding Citizen is a vigilante action thriller film...

Alan Ritchson may be the current actor who portrays Jack Reacher in Amazon's hit TV series, but Tom Cruise previously brought the character to life in a pair of feature films. Eight years after its release, the second film starring Cruise has found new life on streaming amid the continued wait for Season 3 of Reacher.

Per FlixPatrol, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back cracked the Paramount+ Top 10 list for movies streaming in the United States, landing at No. 9. The film at the top of the list was the brand new holiday comedy Dear Santa, which debuted on the streaming platform on Nov. 25 and continued to draw high viewership during the holiday season. The horror sequel Smile 2 is in the No. 2 spot followings its success in theaters, while Billy Bob Thornton's dark comedy Bad Santa is ranked at No. 3. Above Jack Reacher: Never Go Back are also the movies Gladiator,...

Did Brad Pitt almost leave the leading role in Legends of the Fall? ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Picture this: It’s 1994, and Brad Pitt, the golden boy of Hollywood, almost walked away from his leading role in Legends of the Fall. Can you believe it? Director Ed Zwick revealed that tensions ran high on set, with Pitt needing to be talked “off the ledge” of quitting. Talk about a dramatic behind-the-scenes moment!

Originally, the role of Tristan was meant for Tom Cruise, but he dropped out due to personal qualms about the character’s motivations. Enter Pitt, who took over, but not without his own share of doubts. After a tense table read just days before filming, Pitt’s agent called the studio to say he wanted to quit. Yikes!

Zwick noted that he saw Pitt’s discomfort during the table read, which included heavy hitters like Anthony Hopkins and Julia Ormond.

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We Live in Time is a romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Crowley from a screenplay by Nick Payne. The 2024 film employs a non-linear style of storytelling to tell the story of Tobias and Almut, a young couple as they meet each other, fall in love, and have a child. But when Almut is diagnosed with cancer, Tobias must learn to live with her in each moment. We Live in Time stars Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh in the lead roles with Adam James, Marama Corlett, Aoife Hinds, Nikhil Parmar, Heather Craney, and Douglas Hodge starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the heartwarming love story, great emotional scenes, and compelling characters in We Live in Time here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Irreplaceable You (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Irreplaceable You is a romantic...

Sometimes, as William Shakespeare once stated, “All that glitters is not gold”—even when it comes to icons like Brad Pitt. Did you know that the beloved star nearly hung up his cowboy boots before he fully embraced the role of Tristan Ludlow in Legends of the Fall? It’s as if Ed Zwick, the director, was handed a tough row to hoe when Tom Cruise bailed on the project over “ethical” concerns about the character.

Brad Pitt starred in Legends of the Fall | Credit: TriStar Pictures

Imagine stepping onto a film set with a director torn between his vision and a leading man second-guessing himself; it’s like dancing on a tightrope! And yet, the film turned out to be a cult classic, fascinating audiences worldwide. What led Pitt to stick it out, and how did he steer those tumultuous days on set?

Tom Cruise Almost Joined the Cast...

Directed by Edward Zwick and starring Brad Pitt alongside Anthony Hopkins, Legends of the Fall follows the lives of three brothers in early 20th-century Montana as they navigate through love, war, and family conflict.

Legends of the Fall | Credit: TriStar Pictures

The film was a hit, earning $160 million worldwide along with an Oscar for Best Cinematography at the 67th Academy Award. However, despite being one of the most successful and best films of his career, Zwick almost lost the project due to its leading star’s resistance.

Brad Pitt’s Tensions with Director Edward Zwick Nearly Derail 1994 Film

In his memoir, Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood, filmmaker Edward Zwick recounted the production of the film. And he also revealed how Brad Pitt almost walked away from the movie due to increasing discomfort.

Brad Pitt | Credit: TriStar Pictures

He recalled how the actor was quite invested...

The quest continues to reboot thirtysomething for the small screen.

Original series star Peter Horton, who played Gary Shepherd in the drama that aired from 1987 to 1991 on ABC, gave his followers an update Wednesday on where the project stands. He first engaged fans about the possibility last August by asking them to “try blasting” Amazon Studios and MGM Studios about doing the reboot.

“The bad news,” he wrote on X Wednesday, “Amazon has decided not to program our reboot. Good news: they gave us permission to take it out wide! Take it anywhere without encumbrance. This is big! So keep it up. Stay tuned for progress reports! Keep up the pressure!!!”

Okay. A #whereisthirtysomething update. The bad new: Amazon has decided not to program our reboot. Good news: they gave us permission to take it out wide! Take it anywhere without encumbrance. This is big! So keep it up. Stay tuned for progress reports!

The film American Assassin with Michael Keaton is becoming a hit on streaming after seven years.

In 2017, American Assassin premiered in theaters, and it wasn't a major success at the box office. It grossed $67 million, which was considered to be a disappointment with the film's $33 million budget (and additional marketing costs) in mind. Critics were also a bit mixed on the film, giving American Assassin a Rotten Tomatoes score of 34%, though its audience score is considerably higher at 60%. Per Screen Rant, the film has also just seen a resurgence on Netflix, finding a new audience for the action-thriller seven years after it underwhelmed with its theatrical run.

Related 'He Looks the Same': Beetlejuice 2 Star Teases 'Crazy' Reunion With Michael Keaton Beetlejuice 2 actor Catherine O'Hara plugs her on-screen reunion with lead star Michael Keaton in the anticipated upcoming sequel.

Currently, American Assassin is sitting at the top of the list for...

About 20 notebooks are socked away in producer-director-writer Edward Zwick’s office in no particular order, full of odd magazine clippings and notes. During the pandemic he rooted through them and rewatched his work, looking for the nuggets and details that would become his memoir “Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood.”

He chronicles a television career with longtime Bedford Falls partner Marshall Herskovitz — together they created “Thirtysomething,” “Once and Again,” and “My So-Called Life” — but much of the book tracks Zwick in the movie business, from Demi Moore and Rob Lowe in “About Last Night” in 1986, “Legends of the Fall” with Brad Pitt in 1994, “The Last Samurai” with Tom Cruise in 2003, “Blood DIamond” with Leonardo DiCaprio in 2006, and his last outing with Cruise, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” in 2016.

Zwick and I have talked many times over the years; we reconvened over Zoom to parse his book,...

The closest comp to Ed Zwick’s new memoir Hits, Flops And Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood is William Goldman’s Adventures in the Screen Trade, where he posited a definitive piece of advice on the elusive formula for hit making: “Nobody knows anything.” Although he didn’t create the “if you want to send a message, try Western Union” line that has many authors, Zwick spent a career trying to defy that adage, in directing, writing and producing a long list of great and meaningful films and TV series topped by the Oscar winning Shakespeare in Love and Traffic, to Glory, Blood Diamond, About Last Night, Defiance, The Last Samurai, The Siege, thirtysomething, My So Called Life and many others.

Comparing his book to Goldman sets a high bar. Like the scripter of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did, Zwick might fawn over great actors like Denzel Washington,...

Brad Pitt Almost Quit Legends Of The Fall! ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Brad Pitt began his acting journey in 1987 and has been a part of over 100 movies. The superstar has been a part of many successful projects, including Fight Club, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Mr & Mrs Smith, and Bullet Train, among others. But do you know? He once lost his calm, got into a fight with a director, and it got physical! Scroll below for all the details.

The movie earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. It also starred Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond, and Henry Thomas. Made in 1994, the epic Western saga was based on a Jim Harrison 1979 novel. Ring any bells? We’re talking about Legends Of The Fall.

Brad Pitt’s differences with Edward Zwick

Legends Of The Fall was directed by Edward Zwick, who is now coming...

Director Edward Zwick has reflected on directing Brad Pitt, 60, in ‘Legends of the Fall’. In his upcoming memoir, ‘Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Forty something Years in Hollywood’, the ‘Blood Diamond’ director wrote that the 1994 film was “in limbo” after Tom Cruise, who was in talks to play Tristan Ludlow, dropped out due to issues with the character’s “ethics”.

In an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, the director wrote, “I never gave up hope on getting Legends made, however, and was always looking for the right actor to play Tristan”, reports ‘People’ magazine.

The excerpt has been published by ‘Vanity Fair’. After meeting with Brad Pitt, Zwick observed that he “had a genuine passion for the script and a strong attraction to the character.”

“Growing up in rural Missouri, he had known men like Tristan, he said. When he left the meeting, I felt I had found the right actor.

As My So-Called Life nears its 30th anniversary, Executive Producer Ed Zwick took a walk down memory lane Saturday to remind folks about working on the before-its-time drama that starred Claire Danes.

In a long X thread, Zwick shared an “origin story” about how he was first drawn to the work of Winnie Holzman before he would end up co-EPing her script with longtime producing partner Marshall Herskovitz. Zwick chronicles his work on My So-Called Life, as well as thirtysomething, The Last Samurai and Glory in his upcoming book “Hits, Flops and Other Illusions,” out in February.

“Kristy McNichol played ‘Buddy,’ an adolescent girl on ABC-tv’s Family,” Zwick began. “I’d write surly teenage dialogue and get network notes on my scripts with the initials N.O.B. meaning “not our Buddy.” I vowed someday I’d get to portray real adolescence.”

“Marshall wrote a provocative pilot for Showtime called “Secret Seventeen” about unruly,...

Exclusive: Actor-writer-director Jake Weber, known for his film roles in Dawn of the Dead and Meet Joe Black, and for his seven-season run on Medium, has signed with Stewart Talent for representation.

With a career that spans more than three decades, Weber has extensive credits in film, television and theatre. He is best known in film for his role as Michael in Dawn of the Dead and for his role as Drew in Meet Joe Black. Additional credits include: U-571, Mike Newell’s Pushing Tin, Tarsem Singh’s The Cell, Marshall Herskovitz’s Dangerous Beauty, Alan J. Pakula’s The Pelican Brief, Sidney Lumet’s A Stranger Among Us, and Larry Fessendon’s Wendigo.

On television, Jake played Joe DuBois, the sleep-deprived husband of psychic Allison DuBois (Patricia Arquette), for 7 seasons and 130 episodes on NBC’s hit drama series Medium. Other credits include series regular roles in HBO’s The Mind of the Married Man,...

Exclusive: Dark Star Pictures has snapped up North American rights to the Stephen King documentary King on Screen, examining cinematic adaptations of the iconic author’s works, out of EFM. The film from actress-turned-director Daphné Baiwir, which bears King’s stamp of approval, will hit theaters in late summer, with a digital release to follow in the fall.

King on Screen offers audiences an intimate sit-down with directors who have adapted King’s work for the screen, looking at the movies and shows that have brought his body of work an entirely new life — both the ones that reached the top-tier echelons of pop culture history and those that fell by the wayside into obscurity. Among those sitting down for interviews in the film, which world premiered at Fantastic Fest last year, are Frank Darabont, Mick Garris (ABC’s The Stand), Mike Flanagan and director and special makeup effects titan Greg Nicotero, to name a few.

King is, of course, a master of literary horror and of the bestselling authors of all time who has seen more than 80 features made based on his work. Next heading from his pages to the screen is the Rob Savage-directed horror-thriller The Boogeyman from 20th Century Studios and 21 Laps, which hits theaters on June 2nd. Among the most recent titles of his to have been picked up for adaptation is 2021’s Billy Summers, about a hitman set to take one last major job before retiring, which has landed at Warner Bros, as we told you first. Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz are penning the script, with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way to produce.

Producers on King on Screen included Sebastien Cruz for Les Films de la Plage, Jean-Yves Roubin for Frakas Productions and Zoe Salmon for Mr Salmon Films, with the participation of Ocs.

“Daphné has done a spectacular job of showcasing the talented filmmakers who brought the work of Stephen King to life in moving images,” said Dark Star Pictures President, Michael Repsch. “As a lifelong King fan, I could not be more excited to bring this film to audiences across North America and have it as a part of the Dark Star family.”

Recent releases from the L.A.-based distributor Dark Star Pictures include the WWII epic Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle, Shinzô Katayama’s crime drama Missing, and the Tribeca-premiering drama Petit Mal. Other upcoming releases from the company include the Tim Roth vehicle Punch, Fantasia Grand Jury winner Megalomaniac, and the serial killer thriller Saturn Bowling from French auteur Patricia Mazuy.

Repsch negotiated the King on Screen deal for Dark Star Pictures, with Hugues Barbier, Justin Timms and Joe Yanick for Yellow Veil Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers.

Stephen King’ Bad Robot production company to bring it to our screens.

Stepping outside of King’s more familiar supernatural wheelhouse, Billy Summers is the noirish tale of a hitman forced to lead a double life in small-town America as he bides his time waiting to carry out the one-last-job that will get him out of the game. It wouldn’t be a spoiler to say that things don’t go entirely to plan, and before you know it you’re plunged headfirst into a world of high-octane action and double-crosses aplenty. Skewering Trump-era America and exposing the monstrosity of man while offering precision engineered genre thrills, it’s not hard to see why the book has been picked for the cinematic treatment.

The Last Samurai scribes Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz are writing the screenplay for this one, originally conceived as a 10-part miniseries but now taking shape as a standalone feature.

Stephen King's bestselling book Billy Summers is being adapted into a feature film with Leonardo DiCaprio and J.J. Abrams attached. Although written by the King of Horror, Billy Summers is a crime novel that follows the titular aging assassin who accepts one last job before his planned retirement. Soon after it was published in 2021 and debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list, Billy Summers was quickly optioned by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot productions to be adapted into a limited series. Now, it appears Billy Summers will be turned into a major motion picture.

Almost one year to the day after Billy Summers was reported to be in development as a limited series, Deadline brings word that Warner Bros. has acquired the bestselling book and has decided it will work better as a feature film with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way producing.

One of Stephen King's newest stories is already set to get the big screen adaptation, as Deadline is reporting that the 2021 crime novel "Billy Summers" has been acquired by Warner Brothers, with J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot producing. This is a slight change of plans from the news that broke almost exactly a year ago, when the same outlet reported that Bad Robot was set to develop the book as a limited series.

Abrams isn't the only big name on board, as Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way is also producing, with Deadline speculating that DiCaprio himself may star while Abrams directs. Still, the project is in the early stages, and we know better than to put all our eggs in one basket when it comes to dream-casting DiCaprio in his producing projects after what happened to "The Devil in the White City."

Still, "Billy Summers" is worth getting excited about.

Almost exactly one year ago, we heard that JJ Abrams’ production company Bad Robot was shopping around a limited series adaptation of the Stephen King novel Billy Summers (you can pick up a copy at This Link), with Edward Zwick attached to direct the series and write the scripts with Marshall Herskovitz. At the time, Bad Robot wasn’t certain how long Billy Summers was going to be, just somewhere in the range of “six to ten episodes”. Well, now we know it’s going to be something closer to two hours long. The decision has been made that Billy Summers will work better as a feature, and the movie is now set up at Warner Bros. with Leonardo DiCaprio’s company Appian Way producing alongside Bad Robot.

Deadline notes that, depending on how well development of the project goes, Abrams could end up directing the film with DiCaprio taking on the lead role.

J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot banner have teamed up with Warner Bros. for the feature adaptation of Billy Summers, a very recent Stephen King novel that was published in 2021.

Appian Way will also produce the project, which is being written by Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.

A year ago the project was in the works as a limited series from Abrams’ Bad Robot banner. At the time, Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz were attached to adapt, with Zwick eying to direct a good portion of the episodes, if not all.

Not one of King’s horror novels, Summers focuses on a 44-year old hitman, the eponymously titled Billy Summers, who is ready to retire when he takes up one last job from a regular client. (“One last job” is always synonymous with “things go awry,” but we’ll get to that in a moment.) Taking up a cover story that he is a novelist,...

Published in 2021, Stephen King‘s novel Billy Summers is the next King tale to get a film adaptation, with Deadline reporting that J.J. Abrams will produce the feature for Warner Bros.

The original plan was for Billy Summers to be adapted as a limited series, you may recall, but Deadline confirms that the project is now taking shape as a feature film.

J.J. Abrams will produce for Bad Robot, while Leonardo DiCaprio will also produce for Appian Way. The adaptation is being written by Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.

Deadline notes, “If this comes out great, it could be a project for Abrams to direct with DiCaprio playing the title character.” Stay tuned for more on the Billy Summers movie as we learn it.

“Billy Summers is a hitman who is looking to retire, and takes one last highly lucrative job to feather his nest. The job requires him...

Exclusive: Warner Bros. has acquired the Stephen King bestseller Billy Summers.

While in development, the feature project will be produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way. If this comes out great, it could be a project for Abrams to direct with DiCaprio playing the title character.

Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz are writing the screenplay.

This was originally packaged as a ten-episode limited series, shopped around to cable networks and streamers, as we first told you last February, but the decision was made that Billy Summers would work better as a feature.

Billy Summers is a hitman who is looking to retire and takes one last highly lucrative job to feather his nest. The job requires him to embed himself in a quiet town, where he pretends to be an aspiring writer (he actually pours himself into the prose). He sets up in an...

How do you follow up starring in one of the most critically acclaimed series of the last decade ("Better Call Saul"), which was spun off from one of the most critically acclaimed series of the decade before that ("Breaking Bad")? If you're Bob Odenkirk, the first thing you do is flee that universe, and say "Hell no" to every lawyer role you're offered. From there, you look for something literate and something funny — but not "Mr. Show" funny. In doing so, you might find yourself drawn to the writing of Richard Russo, whose book "Nobody's Fool" was turned into an agreeably spiky slice-of-life comedy starring Paul Newman. Something with an edge, but not something outright mean. Something like Russo's 1997 novel "Straight Man," about an English professor at a fictional Pennsylvania university who finds himself in the throes of a mid-life crisis.

They have a portmanteau for projects like this, which...

Click here to read the full article.

In the 2018 midterm election, novelist Gregg Hurwitz and screenwriter Billy Ray (The Hunger Games, Richard Jewell), along with director Marshall Herskovitz, worked behind the scenes helping a slew of Democratic candidates in what would be a successful effort to retake the U.S. House of Representatives. Beyond fundraising, they advised candidates on speeches and overall messaging. In the end, 21 of the 30 candidates that the group supported in 2018 won their elections.

Two years ago, the trio was back in action in the 2020 election. Together with Altered Carbon creator Laeta Kalogridis and S.W.A.T. executive producer Shawn Ryan, they created what amounted to a political content studio, making more than 150 commercials, such as a high-profile ad which featured clips from Ronald Reagan’s “Shining City on a Hill” speech. Run by the group Republican Voters Against Trump, it asked “Has Your Party Left You?”

Unpaid and flying largely under the radar,...

“The Slap” discourse continues, as late-night hosts weighed on the shocking Oscars moment between Will Smith and Chris Rock. The responses to the incident at Sunday night’s Academy Awards varied in tone, with some, like The Late Late Show, offering a lighthearted take on the Best Actor winner’s gaffe.

Host James Corden parodied Encanto‘s chart-topper, “We Don’t Talk about Bruno,” with a song called, “We Don’t Talk About Jada.” In the clip, Corden and his writers brainstorm what to cover from the Oscars ceremony. Timothée Chalamet...

Many Academy members were furious after Will Smith stormed the stage at the Oscars to slap Chris Rock. That’s according to six sources who spoke with Rolling Stone on conditions of anonymity.

Marshall Herskovitz, who is president emeritus of the Producers Guild of America, was one of the few to speak out on Twitter: “I call upon the Academy, of which I am a member, to take disciplinary action against Will Smith,” Herskovitz wrote. “He disgraced our entire community tonight.”

Hollywood’s powerbrokers, too, were by and large...

“The Academy does not condone violence of any form,” reads a statement posted to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ Twitter account about two hours after Will Smith walked onstage and slapped presenter Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith.

Hollywood Reacts To The Oscar Slap: Physical Assault, Say Many; “How We Do It”, Says Jaden Smith

The Academy tweet then sought to refocus attention on the more dignified elements of the evening:

“Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”

The Academy does not condone violence of any form.

Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022

But it was a tough sell,...

One of the biggest names in horror racks up another adaptation of his original material. Bad Robot Productions, J.J. Abrams' production company, will be developing a limited series adaptation of Stephen King's best-selling 2021 novel "Billy Summers." Ed Zwick ("Courage Under Fire") & Marshall Herskovitz ("Love and Other Drugs") will handle the adaptation, which Deadline reports will aim for six to ten episodes with Zwick in the captain's chair. Bad Robot has nothing to say about it yet, but the series will be shopped around to the major cable networks and streaming services. This marks Bad Robot's fourth series adaptation with King,...

The post J.J. Abrams and Stephen King Team for Billy Summers Limited Series Adaptation appeared first on /Film.

JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot is in early negotiations to develop a limited series based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel “Billy Summers,” Variety has confirmed. Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz are set to adapt, with Zwick directing. The series will soon be shopped to streamers and high end cable networks.

“Billy Summers” will be Bad Robot’s latest series adaptation with King, following “Lisey’s Story,” “Castle Rock” and “11.22.63.” The novel follows Billy Summers, a former Marine sniper and soon-retiring hitman who takes one last high-paying job. For his last hurrah, he must pretend to be an aspiring writer to embed himself in a quiet town and hunt his target, Joel Allen, who is also a hitman. But soon Billy, who only takes jobs killing “bad” men, grows increasingly skeptical of the mobsters who hired him.

Speaking to Variety last May about his Apple TV Plus adaptation of “Lisey’s Story,” King said,...

Exclusive: JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot is putting together a limited-series package based on the Stephen King bestselling novel Billy Summers. Ed Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz will adapt, Deadline hears, with Zwick directing what will likely be six to 10 episodes. The package will be shopped shortly to high-end cable networks and streamers.

This will be Bad Robot’s latest series adaptation with King, after Lisey’s Story, Castle Rock and 11.22.63. Billy Summers is a hitman who is looking to retire and takes one last highly lucrative job to feather his nest. The job requires him to embed himself in a quiet town, where he pretends to be an aspiring writer (he actually pours himself into the prose). He sets up in an office with a direct view of where hitman Joel Allen will be delivered to face trial for shooting two men during a poker game. Allen also has committed enough murders...

“Once and Again,” created by Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz — those experts in the emotional lives of sensitive, upper-middle-class white people, as evidenced by their other shows, “thirtysomething” and “My So-Called Life” — was a family drama that ran on ABC from 1999 to 2002. It revolved around the lives of two divorced people, Lily and Rick (Billy Campbell), who first meet at their kids’ school, and then fall in love and get married at the end of Season 2, blending their families. It was a show about feelings, and its characters would sometimes address the audience in black-and-white interstitials as if being interviewed for a documentary.

To look back on the ratings that led ABC to bounce “Once and Again” around its schedule for three seasons, before canceling it in 2002, is to remember how much the standards for success have changed. During its first season’s Nielsen ratings, the show drew nearly 11 million viewers each week,...

There are a whole host of films bubbling around the virtual Cannes Market at the moment, one, in particular, will see the likes of Richard Gere, Diane Keaton, Blake Lively and Lin-Manuel Miranda team up to star in the romantic comedy ‘The Making Of’.

Written and produced by Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, the story focuses on two couples: long-married filmmakers (Gere and Keaton) have cast overemotional actors (Blake Lively and Lin-Manuel Miranda) to portray their younger selves in the story of their great love. Unfortunately, by the time shooting begins, their fabled marriage is unravelling. The filmmakers want to make a hit; the actors want to tell the true story. Whose version really is the truth? And how do they distinguish between real love and movie love when their lives and their work become hopelessly intertwined?

Gere and Keaton have previously worked together before, back in 1977 they starred in...

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Blake Lively, Richard Gere and Diane Keaton are attached to star in the romantic comedy “The Making Of,” with Endeavor Content handling sales at the upcoming Toronto Intl. Film Festival.

Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz are producing through their Bedford Falls Company banner with production planned for the spring. The duo is also writing the script, which revolves around a pair of married filmmakers (played by Gere and Keaton) casting actors (portrayed by Lively and Miranda) to play the younger versions of themselves — while their own marriage is falling apart.

The Toronto festival will open its 45th edition on Sept. 10 with a mixture of physical events and virtual screenings, and will showcase many movies in drive-ins as a way to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zwick and Herskovitz have collaborated on the features “Traffic,” “Legends of the Fall,” “About Last Night” and “The Last Samurai” and the television...

Exclusive: The Virtual Cannes Market was a bustling affair with several major films set up. Will we see a similar result at the Toronto Film Festival? Here’s a hot package to get things going.

Endeavor Content will be handling worldwide sales on The Making Of, a romantic comedy written and produced by Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. The film will star Richard Gere, Diane Keaton, Blake Lively and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Deadline hears the romantic comedy revolves around two couples: long-married filmmakers (Gere and Keaton) have cast overemotional actors (Blake Lively and Lin-Manuel Miranda) to portray their younger selves in the story of their great love. Unfortunately, by the time shooting begins, their fabled marriage is unraveling. The filmmakers want to make a hit; the actors want to tell the true story. Whose version really is the truth? And how do they distinguish between real love and movie love when...

ABC today made decisions on its 2020 pilots, impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The decisions included passes on three projects, including two high-profile dramas, the thirtysomething sequel thirtysomething(else), featuring several original cast members; Berlanti Prods.’ The Brides Dracula reimagining headlined by Gina Torres, from Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The third is comedy Valley Trash starring Jason Lee and exec produced by Nahnatchka Khan. All three come from outside studios, MGM, Warner Bros. TV and Universal TV, respectively. Thirtysomething(else) and The Brides are expected to be shopped.

Broadcast networks trimming their pilot slates in the current environment is not surprising as the coronavirus-related Hollywood production upended 2020 pilot season, leading to nets having to make difficult decisions. CBS also passed on two high-profile projects with A-list asupices involved,, drama The Lincoln Lawyer and comedy Fun.

Still, Thirtysomething(else) not going forward is a shocker given ABC’s passion for the project, whose pilot...

A trio of ABC pilots received bad news on Monday: thirtysomething(else), Brides and Valley Trash will not be moving forward at the network, TVLine has learned.

thirtysomething(else) would have served as a sequel to the Alphabet Net’s 1987 drama thirtysomething, with original series creators Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick back to write and direct. With a cast that included Supergirl alumni Chris Wood and Odette Annable, Outcast‘s Patrick Fugit and This Is Us‘ Auden Thornton — as well as several stars of the original show — the potential series planned to follow adult versions of the thirtysomething children.

More...

ABC's thirtysomething revival is a no-go. TV Guide has learned that the network will not be moving forward with the follow-up to the hit late '80s and early '90s drama from series creators Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick. 

ABC also passed on Valley Trash, the single-camera comedy starring Jason Lee

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Other Links From TVGuide.com thirtysomethingKen OlinMel HarrisTimothy BusfieldPatricia WettigChris WoodOdette AnnableKendrick SampsonPatrick FugitTopher GraceRyan SeacrestKelly RipaKatey SagalJason Lee...

What’s more exciting than scoring last-minute tickets to the Buffalo Tom show? An impromptu My So-Called Life reunion, shared by one of the cult hit’s cast members via social media.

Members of the ABC drama’s ensemble recently met up via Zoom for a “sweet, heartfelt and overdue reunion,” Wilson Cruz tweeted Wednesday evening.

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Kendrick Sampson has been cast as a lead in the ABC drama pilot thirtysomething(else), a sequel to Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick’s beloved 1987-91 drama series.

Sampson plays a new character in the thirtysomething franchise, joining Odette Annable, Chris Wood, Patrick Fugit and Auden Thornton, who play grown-up versions of the children in the original series.

Written by Herskovitz and Zwick and to be directed by Zwick, thirtysomething(else) will follow an ensemble of new faces, the new generation of thirtysomethings. They are being joined by returning original cast members Ken Olin (Michael Steadman), Mel Harris (Hope Murdoch), Timothy Busfield (Elliot Weston) and Patty Wettig (Nancy Weston), reprising their characters in supporting roles. Fellow thirtysomething alums Melanie Mayron and Polly Draper will recur in the sequel.

Sampson will play Brad. Formidable and handsome, he is the boyfriend of Janey...

The rapidly growing cast of ABC’s thirtysomething sequel has added one more name: How to Get Away With Murder alum Kendrick Sampson.

TVLine has learned that Sampson will appear in the follow-up pilot — titled thirtysomething(else) — as Brad, the boyfriend of Odette Annable’s Janey Steadman. Described as “a man of high ideals,” the formidable and handsome activist singlehandedly formed a renters’ rights group in Philadelphia that has since grown into a large nonprofit that promotes affordable housing and helps the homeless.

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Two more familiar faces have joined ABC’s thirtysomething revival.

Melanie Mayron and Polly Draper have signed on to appear in the Alphabet network’s upcoming pilot, thirtysomething(else), as reported by our sister site Deadline. The series will be a sequel to the critically acclaimed drama created by Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick that ran from 1987 to 1991.

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Mayron and Draper will appear in recurring arcs on the potential series,...

ABC’s “Thirtysomething” sequel series, “Thirtysomething(else),” has added two more original cast members.

Melanie Mayron and Polly Draper will return to star in the pilot, reprising their roles as Melissa Steadman and Ellyn Warren, and will have recurring arcs should the project go to series.

They join other original cast-members Ken Olin, Mel Harris, Timothy Busfield and Patricia Wettig. New cast includes Auden Thornton and Chris Wood.

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“Apparently, raising children (even grown children) never ends, but who could have known how hard it would be for them to raise their parents?” reads the sequel’s description from ABC.

“Thirtysomething” originally ran from 1987-1991 for four seasons and a total of 85 hourlong episodes, earning 13 Emmy Awards out of 41 nominations, including Best Drama. It also won two Golden Globes.

The drama series highlighted a tight-knit group of baby boomers living in Philadelphia,...

Exclusive: Two more core thirtysomething cast members, Melanie Mayron and Polly Draper, have signed on to appear in ABC’s pilot thirtysomething(else), a sequel to Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick’s beloved 1987-91 drama series.

Mayron and Draper will reprise their respective roles as Melissa Steadman and Ellyn Warren in recurring arcs on the potential series. They join fellow original thirtysomething cast members Ken Olin, Mel Harris, Timothy Busfield and Patty Wettig, who are reprising their characters as supporting series regulars.

Written by Herskovitz and Zwick and to be directed by Zwick, thirtysomething(else) will follow an ensemble of new faces playing the grown-up children of the original cast,Janey Steadman (Odette Annable), Leo Steadman (Chris Wood), Ethan Weston (Patrick Fugit) and Brittany Weston (Auden Thornton), the new generation of thirtysomethings. They are being joined by returning original cast members Olin (Michael Steadman), Harris (Hope Murdoch), Busfield (Elliot Weston...

Exclusive: The ABC pilot thirtysomething(else) has assembled the new generation of thirtysomethings. Auden Thornton (This Is Us) has been cast as a lead opposite Odette Annable, Chris Wood and Patrick Fugit in the sequel to Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick’s beloved 1987-91 drama series.

Thornton will play Brittany Weston, the daughter of Elliot Weston (Timothy Busfield) and Nancy Weston (Patty Wettig). Fugit plays her brother, Ethan Weston; Annable and Wood play grown-up versions of the other two children from the original series, Janey and Leo, the offspring of Michael Steadman (Ken Olin) and Hope Murdoch (Mel Harris).

Written by Herskovitz and Zwick and to be directed by Zwick, thirtysomething(else) will follow an ensemble of new faces playing the grown-up children of the original cast. They are being joined by returning original cast members Olin, Harris, Busfield and Wettig, who are reprising their characters in supporting roles.

Thornton...

The Thirtysomething sequel at ABC has filled out its core cast of 30-something actors.

Auden Thornton (This Is Us) has joined Thirtysomething(else) — which centers on the children of the original series' characters — as Brittany Weston, the daughter of Elliot (Timothy Busfield) and Nancy (Patricia Wettig) Weston and sister of Ethan (Patrick Fugit). Odette Annable and Chris Wood are also part of the ensemble.

Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick, who created Thirtysomething, are writing and executive producing the sequel; Zwick will also direct the pilot. The original series ran from 1987 to 1991 and won 13 Emmys, including one for best drama series in ...

Welcome to the thirtysomething family, Patrick Fugit. The Outcast alum has boarded ABC’s follow-up to its 1987 family drama, per our sister site Deadline.

The potential sequel, titled thirtysomething(else), will center on the grown-up children of the series’ original characters. “Apparently, raising children (even grown children) never ends, but who could have known how hard it would be for them to raise their parents?” the logline asks.

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Exclusive: Patrick Fugit (Outcast) is set as a lead opposite Odette Annable and Chris Wood in the ABC pilot thirtysomething(else), a sequel to Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick’s beloved 1987-91 drama series, playing grown-up Ethan Weston.

Written by Herskovitz and Zwick and to be directed by Zwick, thirtysomething(else) will follow an ensemble of new faces playing the grown-up children of the original cast, the new generation of thirtysomethings. They are being joined by returning original cast members Ken Olin (Michael Steadman), Mel Harris (Hope Murdoch), Timothy Busfield (Elliot Weston) and Patty Wettig (Nancy Weston), reprising their characters in supporting roles.

Fugit will play Ethan Weston, the son of Nancy (Wettig) and Elliot (Busfield). He’s a brilliant musician who refuses to compromise his artistic principles in order to succeed. He’s also a recovering drug addict with a lifelong history of depression, and has now had a baby with his current girlfriend,...

Is ABC’s thirtysomething sequel actually taking place in National City?

Supergirl actress Odette Annable has joined the pilot’s cast, just days after fellow alum Chris Wood boarded the project.

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First ordered to pilot in January, the potential follow-up series — titled thirtysomething(else) — will follow the grown-up children of the original thirtysomething characters. Per our sister site Deadline, Annable will play the adult version of Janey Steadman,...

Odette Annable has signed on for a lead role in ABC’s drama pilot “Thirtysomething(else).”

The project is a continuation of the classic drama “Thirtysomething.” It will follow an ensemble of new faces playing the grown-up, 30-something children of the original cast reprised by Ken Olin (Michael Steadman), Mel Harris (Hope Murdoch), Timothy Busfield (Elliot Weston) and Patty Wettig (Nancy Weston). Chris Wood was previously cast as Hope and Michael’s son, Leo.

Annable will play Janey, Hope and Michael’s daughter and Leo’s sister. She is described as passionate, driven person, possessed of what her boyfriend, Brad, calls a very big engine in a very small car.

Along with Wood, Annable is now the second “Supergirl” alum to join the pilot. She has played the character Samantha Arias, a.k.a. Reign, in two dozen episodes of the CW series to date. Her other credits include “Tell Me a Story,...