News

Exclusive: Acorn TV is going Under the Vines for a third time.

The lighthearted comedy shot in New Zealand is returning for a third season with leads Rebecca Gibney (Wanted, Packed to the Rafters, Halifax: Retribution) and Charles Edwards (Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Crown, Downton Abbey) again attached. You can see a start-of-production shot above.

Also returning are Charles Edwards, Sarah Peirse, John Bach, Trae Te Wiki and Simon Mead.

Synopsis reads: “It’s been a tumultuous six months since we last saw our Oakley family, and much is afoot. Desperate to regain their former standing as the ‘sole’ mutual heirs of Oakley, Daisy and Louis will need to work together to try and oust William in any way they can.”

Erin White is directing Episodes 1-3, with Laurence Wilson on Episodes 4-6. Kelly Lefever, Erin White, Nick Ward, Kathryn Burnett, Harry McNaughton, and Steph Matuku are the writers

Gibney,...

Just when we thought we wouldn't have any NCIS content on the CBS fall schedule, the network called in an assist from NCIS: Sydney.

And now, we have our first look.

CBS dropped the official trailer for NCIS: Sydney Season 1 on Wednesday, and the series certainly capitalizes on its new setting.

It's hard to believe it's taken this long to get an international iteration of the franchise off the ground, but we'll get it on Mondays this fall when NCIS: Sydney debuts in the 10 p.m. Et timeslot.

Off the bat, the series does have the action and teamwork that made its predecessors massive success stories.

"With rising international tensions in the Indo-Pacific, a brilliant and eclectic team of U.S. NCIS agents and the Australian Federal Police (Afp) are grafted into a multinational taskforce to keep naval crimes in check in the most contested patch of ocean on the planet,...

CBS has added Paramount+ spinoff “NCIS: Sydney” to its fall lineup, the network announced Tuesday.

The Australia-based series, which marks the franchise’s first-ever international edition, premieres Monday, Nov. 13 at 10 p.m. Et/Pt on CBS with new installments of its eight-episode season airing Mondays in the same time slot. Paramount+ Australia members will get a first look at the series as it premieres on the streamer Friday, Nov. 10, with new episodes streaming Mondays on Paramount+.

Originally set to launch solely on Paramount+ and Network 10, “NCIS: Sydney” locks down the Monday 10 p.m. timeslot for CBS as a then-unannounced Paramount+ original was set to take the hour. Reruns of “NCIS” will kick off the franchise Mondays at 9 p.m.

The schedule addition comes as CBS leverages its cross-network hits, including Paramount Network hit “Yellowstone,” which will make its broadcast TV debut on Sundays starting from Season 1.

“’NCIS’ is one...

Olivia Swann and Todd Lasance will lead the main cast for “NCIS: Sydney,” Paramount+ and Network 10 announced Monday.

Swann and Lasance will star opposite each other as NCIS special agent Michelle Mackey and Sgt. Jim “Jd” Dempsey, respectively. The spinoff marks the franchise’s first international series.

The series’ cast is rounded out by Sean Sagar as NCIS special agent, DeShawn Jackson, Tuuli Narkle as Afp liaison officer constable Evie Cooper; Mavournee Hazel (“Shantaram, Halifax: Retribution”) as Afp forensic scientist Bluebird “Blue” Gleeson and William McInnes as Afp forensic pathologist Dr. Roy Penrose.

“We are thrilled to be expanding the ‘NCIS’ franchise, one of our most powerful and iconic television IPs, across borders and into Australia,” CBS Studios’ head of international coproductions and development Lindsey Martin said in a statement. “It is a joy to work with this talented ‘NCIS: Sydney’ creative team, actors, and crew for our inaugural international original,...

Richard Roxburgh and Rebecca Gibney star in Prosper, a Lionsgate-Stan series about a family with huge wealth that builds a powerful mega-church. Production has now started in Sydney, Australia.

First announced in September last year, “Prosper” follows the founding family of an Australian church as it is poised to break into the U.S. and harvest yet more wealth and power. But, while preaching a message of faith, love and acceptance to their followers, behind closed doors the Quinn the family is protecting shameful secrets.

Roxburgh portrays Cal Quinn, founder and global pastor at U Star. Gibney plays as Abi Quinn, his wife and worship leader. In his breakthrough role, Alexander D’Souza plays Moses, the adopted son of Cal and Abi.

Prosper is produced by Lingo Pictures, part of ITV Studios, with major production investment from Screen Australia with the assistance of the New South Wales government via Screen Nsw...

Production has begun in Sydney on the television drama “After the Verdict,” with Michelle Lim Davidson and Tess Haubrich joining the cast.

The six-part series follows four people who have just finished jury duty on a high-profile murder trial. As they return to normal life, they begin to question their verdict and take matters into their own hands, investigating the murder themselves.

The show was created, written and executive produced by Subtext Pictures’ Ellie Beaumont and Drew Proffitt. The completed series will premiere on the 9Network in Australia with Entertainment One (eOne) handling international sales. The production also received major investment from federal body Screen Australia in association with region screen agency Screen Nsw.

Lim Davidson (“The Newsreader”) and Haubrich (“Wolf Creek”) join the previously announced Sullivan Stapleton, Magda Szubanski and Lincoln Younes in the show’s main cast. Other roles go to Virginia Gay (“Judy and Punch”), Emma Diaz...

Nominations for this year’s Australian Directors’ Guild (Adg) Awards are shared amongst the likes of Wayne Blair, Shannon Murphy, Daniel Nettheim, Tennika Smith, and Jonathan Brough, who have all scored two nods each.

Murphy is one of two women included in the category for Best Direction in a Feature Film for Babyteeth, joining Unjoo Moon (I Am Woman) in a field that also includes Seth Larney (2067), Maziar Lahooti (Below), and Robert Connolly (The Dry).

She also gets the nod for Best Direction in a TV or SVOD Drama Series episode for Killing Eve, where she will compete against fellow double nominee Nettheim, who features for Halifax: Retribution (Series 1 Episode 7), and is also up for Best Direction in a TV or SVOD Miniseries Episode for Line of Duty (Series 6 Episode 1).

Blair is up for Best Direction in a Feature Documentary with co-director Nel Minchin for Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra,...

Sean Keenan and Ben O’Toole will play best friends turned bitter rivals in ABC surfing drama Barons, which has wrapped filming in Nsw.

Produced by Fremantle, Micanical Media, and 2Jons, the eight-part ’70s-set series follows a surf-crazed group of hippy friends whose desire for ultimate freedom and the perfect wave takes them from the beach to the boardroom as they build billion-dollar surf empires.

Keenan, fresh from roles in festival darlings Nitram and The Power of the Dog, plays Trotter opposite O’Toole, known for Halifax: Retribution and Amazing Grace, as Snapper. Jillian Nguyen takes on the role of Trotter’s wife and business partner, Tracy.

The supporting cast includes Hunter Page-Lochard, George Pullar, Lincoln Younes, Sophia Forrest, Vivienne Awosoga, Nicholas Burton, Karina Banno, newcomer Megan MacKenzie, Kick Gurry, Catherine Van-Davies, Alexander England, and British-American actress Ione Skye.

Directing the drama are Shawn Seet, Fadia Abboud, and Emmy award-winning surf director Taylor Steele,...

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“Malignant,” James Wan’s latest horror offering, scared its way into theaters on Friday, but for those of you who want to watch from home, the film is streaming exclusively on HBO Max.

Annabelle Wallis stars in the spooky movie about a woman who discovers that her debilitating dreams are terrifying realities. Rounding out the cast are Maddie Hasson (“Novitiate”), George Young (“Containment”), Michole Briana White, Jake Abel, Jacqueline McKenzie, and Ingrid Bisu.

In order to watch “Malignant,” you must be subscribed to the HBO Max ad-free plan ($14.99 a month). The movie is available in 4K Ultra HD, Hdr 10, and Dolby Vision.

Don’t have HBO Max? Join today through Hulu and enjoy a free seven-day trial.

Lucy Barrett has been cast as the new “Charmed One” in The CW’s hit reboot of “Charmed,” starring Melonie Diaz, Sarah Jeffery, Rupert Evans and Jordan Donica.

New showrunners Jeffery Lieber, Nicki Renna and Joey Falco have revealed that Barrett’s character is “An artist, with a wild, unpredictable love for life and a one-of-a-kind view of the world that serves her well in her art, which is her life’s passion. She’s fun, irreverent, impulsive, strong-willed, and will bring brand-new energy to the Power of Three.” However, the three execs noted in a statement that they will not be unveiling her name, backstory, powers or connection to Diaz and Jeffery’s characters, just yet.

Per the logline, in Season 4 of “Charmed,” Mel and Maggie find their lives transformed by the death of their beloved sister, Macy. But when their grief threatens to undo the Power of Three forever,...

The CW’s Charmed reboot has found its new “Charmed One”. Australian actress Lucy Barrett (Co-Ed) has joined Melonie Diaz, who plays Mel, and Sarah Jeffery (Maggie) as a lead in the upcoming Season 4 of the series, from CBS Studios.

Barrett is succeeding Madeleine Mantock who played co-lead Macy for the first four seasons. The major on-screen change is accompanied by a behind-the-scenes transition heading into Season 4, with Jeffery Lieber, Nicki Renna and Joey Falco replacing Liz Kruger and Craig Shapiro as new showrunners.

.Lieber, Renna and Falco are keeping mum on Barrett’s character.

“Her name, backstory, powers, and connection to Mel and Maggie are being kept under wraps, because…well…it’s just more fun that way,” they said in a statement. “What we will say is…she’s an artist, with a wild, unpredictable love for life and a one-of-a-kind view of the world that serves her well in her art,...

Animation

Legendary U.K. animation studio Aardman is teaming with filmmaker Gurinder Chadha (“Bend It Like Beckham”) on a new feature film project for family audiences. Described by the company as an “exuberant, warm-hearted musical,” the currently untitled Bollywood-inspired feature will follow Bodhi, a young Indian elephant from Kerala who dreams of becoming a famous Bollywood dancer.

Chadha is currently co-writing the screenplay with Paul Mayeda Berges (“What’s Cooking[/link]”) under their production banner Bend It Networks. The two companies will enlist top Indian voice talent, musicians and designers to develop the look and feel of the project.

“Aardman is a great British national treasure. I am honored and excited to bring my unique British Asian vision to their acclaimed animation studio. Their work has so much heart, humor and affection, and we share a love of authentic and joyful underdog stories about memorable characters – so it really is a perfect match,...

James Wan has announced that his new film Malignant has finished via Instagram and Facebook, along with this image.

Malignant comes out September 10th. I finally wrapped it last week. This was supposed to be my “little horror thriller” I do between the big ones, but the pandemic pushed it as long the big ones. I’m super excited for this film. I don’t even know how to describe it. I wanted to do something original and genre-bending, and different to my other work, but still in the spirit of the horror-thrillers I grew up with. More to come. #MalignantMovie

James Wan

Here’s the official site via WB: https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/malignant

It was announced December 17, 2019 that shooting wrapped in Los Angeles on Atomic Monster’s “Malignant,” the latest creation from “Conjuring” universe architect James Wan. The film marks director Wan’s return to his...

In today’s Global Bulletin, WarnerMedia shakes up its Emea leadership teams; Mbc Group launches a new talent development initiative; See-Saw Films promotes Samantha Joly to head of marketing; Twenty Twenty hires James O´Reilly as creative director; a raft of unscripted series sell globally; and the British Academy Scotland Awards announce this year’s winners.

Restructuring

New WarnerMedia France and Benelux, Germany-Austria-Switzerland country manager Iris Knobloch has realigned her leadership teams across Emea.

Olivier Snanoudj, Eric Broet, Caroline Lang, Guillaume Coffin and Gregory Schuber will assume leadership positions for France and Benelux, with Willi Geike, Steffen Schier, Peter Schauerte, Sylvia Rothblum, Matthias Heinze and Tim van Dyk assuming leadership responsibilities for Gas.

Snanoudj and Schier will lead theatrical distribution for the France and Benelux and Gas markets, respectively, while Lang will continue to lead TV distribution for France and French-speaking territories with Rothblum doing the same for Gas and Israel.

PBS Distribution has snapped up US rights to Halifax: Retribution, to premiere on Amazon Prime Video’s PBS Masterpiece Channel.

Originally commissioned by the Nine Network and produced by Beyond Lonehand, the procedural drama stars Rebecca Gibney and Anthony Lapaglia in a reboot of Halifax F.P.

Original creator and writer Roger Simpson returns as writer, alongside Mac Gudgeon , Peter Gawler and Jan Sardi.

The series sees Gibney reprise her role as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax, who returns to work in the field after a two-decade hiatus when a sniper starts terrorising the city and Commander Tom Saracen (Lapaglia) urgently needs her assistance.

Jane comes to realise that the killer’s invisibility to the surveillance cameras and his sophisticated hacking skills hold the clue to what he wants.

Halifax: Retribution was recently nominated in the Best Drama Series category for the prestigious 2020 Aacta Awards, while Rebecca Gibney was nominated for...

The casting directors behind Babyteeth, Measure for Measure, Paper Champions and The True History of the Kelly Gang will square off in the feature film category at the upcoming Casting Guild of Australia (Cga) Awards.

Bert and Amanda LABONTé will host the virtual ceremony on Facebook November 28, recognising casting across all mediums including film, TV, advertising, theatre and online.

In TV drama, the casting directors behind Mystery Road (season 2), The Heights (season 2), Neighbours and Wentworth (Season 8) have each been recognised with nods, while in the running for the TV Miniseries & Telemovie category are those who worked on Deadhouse Dark, Halifax: Retribution, Operation Buffalo and The Secrets She Keeps.

In contention in the TV comedy race are Black Comedy (season 4), How to Stay Married (season 2), The Other Guy (season 2) and Upright.

Leading the nominees overall are Nathan Lloyd and Natalie Jane Harvie with four nods each, while Kirsty McGregor, Stevie Ray,...

Shannon Murphy’s feature debut Babyteeth leads the early Aacta Awards race, scoring nods in 12 out of 13 film categories, while Mystery Road and Stateless are ahead in television.

The Australian Academy revealed the first round of nominees for the annual awards over the weekend, to be presented across two ‘reimagined’ events later this month.

Television and documentary craft nominations, visual effects and animation, casting, hair and make-up and subscription television presenter categories are yet to be announced, expected on November 12.

Despite the disrupted year for film, some 19 narrative features are nominated so far.

However, six dominate alongside the aforementioned Babyteeth: Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang, with 10 nominations, John Sheedy’s H is for Happiness with nine, Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man and Unjoo Moon’s I Am Woman close behind with eight and seven nominations respectively, and Natalie Erika James’ Relic with five. Each will...

‘Informer 3838.’

With the Nine Network’s primary channel on track to deliver its highest ever commercial shares this year, the broadcaster’s upfronts announcement on Wednesday night predictably contained few surprises.

Among the new offerings will be The Parent Jury, which puts diverse parenting styles to the test; retro variety show Step Back in Time; and observational documentary series Taronga: Who’s Who In the Zoo.

The network also unveiled the cast of Screentime’s drama Informer 3838, which stars Ella Scott Lynch as Melbourne criminal lawyer turned police informant Nicola Gobbo.

In a new agreement with BBC Studios, Nine will get Seven Worlds, One Planet, a landmark wildlife series presented by Sir David Attenborough, which will transport viewers to seven continents as it reveals the survival challenges facing numerous animals.

That deal also encompasses first-run rights to five series under the BBC Planet banner including Perfect Planet, Green Planet, Frozen...

Exclusive: Michole Briana White and Jacqueline McKenzie have joined the growing ensemble cast of James Wan’s untitled Atomic Monster film, which marks a return to his indie horror roots.

They join already-cast Annabelle Wallis, Jake Abel, George Young and Maddie Hasson. The pic is in production in Los Angeles, a recipient of the Independent California Film Rebate.

White has appeared in such pics as Lila and Eve, She Hate Me, and Encino Man. She is represented by SMS and Silver J Mgmt.

McKenzie can be seen in the Netflix series Pine Gap, and she recently wrapped filming the reboot of the crime thriller miniseries Halifax: Retribution. She won the 2018 Most Outstanding Supporting Actress Logie (Australian Emmys) for her role as Gabe in Romper Stomper: Next Gen for Stan. She also stars in the miniseries Safe Harbour from NBC/Matchbox, which is currently streaming on Hulu. McKenzie is repped by the Burstein Company and Marquee.