Latest news with #JezButterworth
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AFTER SOARING TO 26 MILLION VIEWERS TO DATE, PARAMOUNT+ RENEWS MOBLAND FOR SEASON TWO
#2 Original Series Ever on Paramount+ Only Behind LANDMAN MOBLAND Season one is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+ Watch/Download Asset HERESeason One Images HERE TORONTO, June 23, 2025 /CNW/ -- After soaring to 26 million viewers to date, the Paramount+ original series MOBLAND, the #2 most-watched original series on the service, has been renewed for season two. MOBLAND Season one is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+. The series, which spent five consecutive weeks in Nielsen's most recent ranking of Top 10 SVOD Original Series, is executive produced by Guy Ritchie and marks his first TV series for Paramount+. MOBLAND was created and written by Ronan Bennett (Top Boy, The Day of the Jackal), executive produced by David C. Glasser (101 Studios) and written by Jez Butterworth (Ford v Ferrari, Spectre). The series also marks Butterworth's second hit TV series following THE AGENCY: CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, which is also on Paramount+. The shows' impact continues a successful track record under his exclusive TV overall deal that Chris McCarthy, Paramount Co-CEO and President and CEO, SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios, signed him to for Paramount+ and SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios. "With over 26 million viewers and climbing, MOBLAND has become a resounding triumph driven by the creative brilliance of Guy, Jez, Ronan and David C. Glasser, and brought to life by the powerhouse performances by Tom, Pierce, and Helen," said Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO of Paramount and President of SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment. "We are elated to greenlight a second season of this global phenomenon, which has dominated both domestic and international charts and soared to #1 in the United Kingdom." "MOBLAND was one of those incredible moments where Chris McCarthy came to us with the vision of creating the next great mob series, and after traversing the UK countryside in a quest to land Guy Ritchie, we both came to the realization that we knew the exact formula. With the extraordinary talent of Guy, Ronan, Jez and our incredible cast, we brought that vision to life," said 101 Studios CEO, David C. Glasser. "TV was a brand-new world for me and I was reluctant to commit to a TV overall, but Chris, David, and the teams at Paramount and 101 Studios, completely changed my perspective with their bold creative vision and razor-sharp strategic insight," said writer and executive producer Jez Butterworth. "Collaborating with Chris, David, Guy and our stellar cast has been nothing short of inspiring and I'm excited to dive into the second season of MOBLAND." The global crime series premiered Sunday, March 30, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia, and on May 30 in international markets including Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and Latin America. MOBLAND stars Tom Hardy (Venom: The Last Dance), Pierce Brosnan (Die Another Day) and Helen Mirren (The Queen), in a story about two mob families who clash in a war that threatens to topple empires and lives. The star-studded cast is rounded out by Paddy Considine (House Of The Dragon), Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey), Lara Pulver (Da Vinci's Demons), Anson Boon (Pistol), Mandeep Dhillon (CSI: Vegas), Jasmine Jobson (Top Boy), Geoff Bell (Top Boy), Daniel Betts (Fate: The Winx Saga), Lisa Dwan (Blackshore) and Emily Barber (Industry). The series is commissioned by Paramount+, produced in association with MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios and distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. MOBLAND is executive produced by Keith Cox, Nina L. Diaz, Guy Ritchie, David C. Glasser, Jez Butterworth, Ronan Bennett, Kris Thykier, Ivan Atkinson, Tom Hardy, Dean Baker, Anthony Byrne, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin and Bob Yari. Source: Internal streaming data, Total viewers defined by Total Global Watch Time / Run Time on first 70 days, Ep 101; Int'l Markets: English Speaking- 70 days, Non-English Speaking- 9 Days; Paramount+ rank based on internal global household data, days 1-90; Nielsen, mins based on P2+ SVOD Originals- wk 4/14/25, 4/21/25, 4/28/25, 5/5/25, 5/12/25. ABOUT PARAMOUNT +Paramount+ is a global digital subscription video streaming service from Paramount that features a mountain of premium entertainment for audiences of all ages. Internationally, the streaming service features an expansive library of original series, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from world-renowned brands and production studios, including SHOWTIME®, BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel™, in addition to a robust offering of premier local content. The service is currently live in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Caribbean, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latin America, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. For more information about Paramount+, please visit and follow @ParamountPlusCA on social media. About SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media NetworksSHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Networks is a global network of media assets that reaches over one billion people in more than 180 countries featuring some of the most iconic brands in entertainment including SHOWTIME®, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Network among others – and, its Studios arm which produces 120+ series annually, including some of today's biggest hits such as Yellowstone, YELLOWJACKETS, Emily in Paris, 1883, 1923, GEORGE & TAMMY, South Park, TULSA KING, Rupaul's Drag Race, The Challenge and Jersey Shore, to name a few. @ParamountPlusCA#ParamountPlusCA SOURCE Paramount+ (Canada) View original content to download multimedia: Sign in to access your portfolio
Fast Company
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
How to watch the 2025 Tony Awards live online, on a phone, or on TV, including free options
Start spreading the news: Theater's biggest night is happening this evening (Sunday, June 8, 2025) in the Big Apple. The 78th Tony Awards will showcase this season's best theatrical moments, from revivals to new works, from 8 to 11 p.m. ET. Let's catch up on all the drama and how to stream the event live as the curtain rises at Radio City Music Hall. Who is nominated? Three musicals are tied for most Tony nominations this year. Buena Vista Social Club is inspired by real life events and tells the story of the four musicians in Havana, Cuba, who continue to play music despite a turbulent political climate. The Korean musical Maybe Happy Ending tells the futuristic story of two lonely abandoned helper bots who manage to find connection despite isolation. TikTok sound-bite sensation Death Becomes Her is based on the 1992 Robert Zemeckis movie of the same name. Meanwhile, two plays boast seven nominations each. Kimberly Belflower's play John Proctor Is the Villain takes a fresh look at Arthur Miller's classic play The Crucible and the historic Salem witch trials. Jez Butterworth's The Hills of California centers on the estranged Webb sisters who reunite to care for their aging mother and are forced to face past family secrets and traumas. Cole Escola's comedy Oh, Mary!, a farcical portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln, boasts five nominations. On the musical revival sides of things, it is a tight race between Sunset Blvd and Gypsy. Many critics believe the winner of Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical category is between Nicole Scherzinger and Audra McDonald. You can see the full list of nominees here. Who is hosting? Movie Elphaba herself Cynthia Erivo will host the festivities this year. She has her very own Tony for her work as Celie in the 2016 revival of The Color Purple. Fans are eager to see the conclusion of Wicked later this year, so maybe this will tide them over. Brian Stokes Mitchell's smooth voice will help keep things moving as he is serving as the offstage announcer. Who is presenting? Many theater greats will help present awards. These include Aaron Tveit, Adam Lambert, Allison Janney, Ariana DeBose, Danielle Brooks, Kelli O'Hara, Kristin Chenoweth, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Lea Michele, Lea Salonga, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sara Bareilles, and Sarah Paulson to name a few. Who is performing? It's tradition (cue Fiddler on the Roof ) for nominated musicals and revivals to perform at the ceremony. This means that beyond the ones already mentioned, you can expect performances from Dead Outlaw, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, Floyd Collins, Gypsy, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Sunset Blvd, Just In Time, and Real Women Have Curves. Beyond the present, Broadway loves to celebrate its past successes. It's almost as if history has its eyes on the industry. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Christopher Jackson, Jonathan Groff, Ariana DeBose, Daveed Diggs, Phillipa Soo, and many other original cast members will reunite to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hamilton's Broadway debut at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. This special performance is not to be missed. What special Tony Award moments can audiences expect? Two new special awards have already been announced. The musicians in the band of Buena Vista Social Club will receive special awards as will the technical effects of Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Harvey Fierstein will be presented the 2025 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. His impressive resume includes work as an actor and writer on projects ranging from La Cage aux Folles to Newsies. The 2025 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award will be presented to Celia Keenan-Bolger for her offstage advocacy work. She has championed many important causes, such as hunger, same-sex-marriage rights, and arts education. She also works as an end-of-life doula, helping the late Broadway star Gavin Creel transition peacefully at the end of his life. If you just can't get enough Broadway action, tune into Pluto TV early for the pre-show 'The Tony Awards: Act One,' hosted by Darren Criss and Renée Elise Goldsberry, which begins at 6:40-8:00 p.m. ET.
Boston Globe
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Who should win Tony Awards, and who will win?
Will/Should win: 'Maybe Happy Ending' Also nominated: 'Buena Vista Social Club,' 'Dead Outlaw,' 'Death Becomes Her,' 'Operation Mincemeat' 'Operation Mincemeat,' a scrappy British comedy about an improbable scheme to trick the Nazis using a corpse with a fake identity, is an amusingly ribald farce until it turns tiresome and wan. 'Buena Vista Social Club,' inspired by the celebrated 1996 album by veteran Cuban musicians, comes most alive in the invigorating music and propulsive dancing. With sardonic songs and a sharp-witted book, 'Death Becomes Her' is a delicious and demented story about two frenemies who launch an absurdly escalating battle after they discover a potion that grants eternal life. Yet the big showdown here pits 'Dead Outlaw,' another idiosyncratic musical about a corpse, against 'Maybe Happy Ending,' an inventive, electrifying show about two robots falling in love. The former boasts mordant humor and a rollicking garage-rock score to tell the strange story of a lawbreaker who finds infamy in the afterlife as a sideshow cadaver. The latter is a heartbreaking budding romance between two androids that's really about our own humanity — the connections we share, the nature of consciousness, and the ephemerality of life itself. Either would be a worthy choice. Advertisement Best play Will win: 'Oh, Mary!' Should win: 'John Proctor Is the Villain' Also nominated: 'Purpose,' 'The Hills of California,' 'English' Sanaz Toossi's Pulitzer Prize winner, 'English,' paints a compelling portrait of Iranian adults preparing for an English proficiency exam, but the drama never really lifts off. Jez Butterworth's 'The Hills of California' moves with propulsive energy to its shattering climax in a story that shifts between an ambitious mother in 1950s England and her adult daughters, in various states of wreckage, returning to their childhood home years later. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' 'Purpose,' which recently won the Pulitzer Prize, centers on a political clan led by a towering civil rights pioneer. As the secrets, lies, recriminations, and resentments come tumbling out during a fraught gathering, the play rides a roller coaster of juicy drama. Kimberly Belflower's riveting and timely 'John Proctor Is the Villain,' Advertisement Best revival of a musical Will win: 'Sunset Boulevard' Should win: 'Gypsy' Also nominated: 'Floyd Collins,' 'Pirates! The Penzance Musical' Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's fact-based 'Floyd Collins,' about a scrappy spelunker trapped inside a Kentucky cave whose plight captures the attention of the nation, has a soaring score but can feel more diffuse than gripping at times. 'Pirates!' is frolicsome fun, with writer Rupert Holmes riotously revamping the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, and David Hyde Pierce delivering a deadpan rendition of the tongue-twisting 'Modern Major-General Song.' But this is a two-horse race between Jamie Lloyd's radical reinvention of Andrew Lloyd Webber's lugubrious 'Sunset Boulevard' and the fifth Broadway revival of the landmark musical 'Gypsy.' The George C. Wolfe-directed production examines the racial implications of Rose and her children being played by Black women, with Audra McDonald delivering a revelatory 'Rose's Turn.' Yet voters may choose 'Sunset' due to Lloyd's post-modern revitalization, which features live video and camera crews following actors around onstage (and out of the theater!), beamed onto a 23-foot-tall screen. The pictures may have gotten bigger here, but does that make a winning musical? Francis Jue, left, and Daniel Dae Kim in "Yellow Face." Joan Marcus Best revival of a play Will/Should win: 'Yellow Face' Also nominated: 'Eureka Day,' 'Our Town,' 'Romeo + Juliet' The rave-inspired adaptation of 'Romeo + Juliet,' starring Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler as the star-crossed lovers, was wildly engaging, if unfocused and over-stylized. Jonathan Spector's 'Eureka Day' made a case for extreme relevancy with its explosive satire of woke parents dealing with a mumps outbreak at an elite private school and a heated vaccination debate that erupts. The play's pièce-de-résistance is a virtual meeting that goes off the rails, with the characters looking on in horror at the increasingly vitriolic live-streamed commentary. Still, 'Eureka Day' may be overtaken by David Henry Hwang's hall-of-mirrors farce 'Yellow Face,' Advertisement Joy Woods, left, and Audra McDonald. Julieta Cervantes/Photo: Julieta Cervantes Best leading actress in a musical Will/Should win: Audra McDonald, 'Gypsy' Also nominated: Nicole Scherzinger, 'Sunset Boulevard'; Megan Hilty, 'Death Becomes Her'; Jennifer Simard, 'Death Becomes Her'; Jasmine Amy Rogers, 'Boop! The Musical' This category is usually chock-a-block with battling Broadway divas, and this year is no exception. Broadway newcomer Rogers, Advertisement Best leading actor in a musical Will/Should win: Darren Criss, 'Maybe Happy Ending' Also nominated: Jonathan Groff, 'Just in Time'; Jeremy Jordan, 'Floyd Collins'; Tom Francis, 'Sunset Boulevard'; Andrew Durand, 'Dead Outlaw'; James Monroe Iglehart, 'A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical' This category is rife with nominees pulling off head-turning theatrical stunts. A smoldering Francis, as disillusioned screenwriter Joe Gillis, Advertisement Sarah Snook in "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Marc Brenner Best leading actress in a play Will/Should win: Sarah Snook, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' Also nominated: Laura Donnelly, 'The Hills of California'; Mia Farrow, 'The Roommate'; LaTanya Richardson Jackson, 'Purpose'; Sadie Sink, 'John Proctor Is the Villain' Farrow, 80, transformed from a mousy naif to a scheming thrill-seeker after befriending a streetwise grifter in 'The Roommate.' Donnelly, too, made a radical transformation playing dual roles — as a stage mother desperate to turn her daughters into singing stars, and the prodigal child who returns decades later, world-weary and broken. Richardson Jackson imbues her matriarch with mama-bear warmth and formidable forcefulness as she bends the other family members to her will. Then there's 'Stranger Things' ingenue Sink, as a fierce, combustible teenager who calls out the BS and blows the whistle on some bad behavior. But can anyone beat 'Succession' powerhouse Snook? Not bloody likely. In a cutting-edge adaptation of Oscar Wilde's transgressive novel, Snook delivers a wry, virtuosic solo performance, bringing to life 26 different characters who are Best leading actor in a play Will/Should win: Cole Escola, 'Oh, Mary!' Also nominated: George Clooney, 'Good Night, and Good Luck'; Jon Michael Hill, 'Purpose'; Harry Lennix, 'Purpose'; Louis McCartney, 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow'; Daniel Dae Kim, 'Yellow Face' Will Clooney win for his Broadway debut as legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow in the adaptation of his 2005 film. Don't bet on it. The play,
The Guardian
05-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
The Almeida theatre has a coup in Dominic Cooke: this gifted director is also a proven talent spotter
Dominic Cooke is an inspired choice to succeed Rupert Goold at the Almeida. He is a proven hand at directing new plays, classics and musicals. He is a very good producer who appears to rejoice in the success of his colleagues. And, at a time when the vogue is for 'reimagined' versions of old plays, he is that rare figure: one who respects an author's intentions while remaining open to new ideas. At 59 he also has an extensive list of credits without being, in words once fatuously applied to the BBC's former head of Radio 3, John Drummond, 'tainted by experience'. As artistic director of London's Royal Court from 2006 to 2013, Cooke showed exceptional judgment. I well remember an opening press conference where he said one of his aims was to stage plays about the aspirational middle classes. He was as good as his word with productions of Bruce Norris's The Pain and the Itch and Clybourne Park which satirised, respectively, phoney white liberalism and bourgeois property fetishism. But Cooke also championed a whole school of then unknown young writers including Bola Agbaje, Anya Reiss, Polly Stenham, Penelope Skinner and Mike Bartlett. And it was during his tenure that the Royal Court staged Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem now widely regarded as the best new play of the current century. While promoting new work Cooke has also shown his skill at directing the classics, ancient and modern. I very much admired his pairing of The Winter's Tale and Pericles for the RSC in 2006 in joint promenade productions. What he brought home with unusual clarity was the idea that Shakespeare's late plays are quasi-religious experiences underpinned by resurrection myths: in a single day we saw Kate Fleetwood miraculously restored to life first as the secluded Hermione and then as the coffined Thaisa. His production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible reminded us of the danger of unyielding intellectual rigidity and his current West End version of Shaw's Mrs Warren's Profession sensibly trims the text to highlight Shaw's vehemently anti-capitalist message: it also reminds us in the play's climactic mother-daughter showdown that, in a good play, everyone is right. Imelda Staunton plays Mrs Warren and she has been a feature of Cooke's two most successful ventures into musicals. In his outstanding 2017 National Theatre production of Follies he not only brought out Stephen Sondheim's fascination with duality: he showed us how every character was haunted by his or her past. When Staunton's Sally sang In Buddy's Eyes you saw a woman filled with a deluded belief in her life-partner's ardour: by the time she sang Losing My Mind the same woman was a lovelorn wreck on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Cooke's recent London Palladium production of Hello Dolly! also breathed new life into a Broadway standard: Staunton sang the title song not in the usual style of a superannuated showbiz legend but in that of a cheery little soul renewing her acquaintance with the beloved haunt, and the waiters, of her youth. Cooke has worked profitably in other media. His TV production of Shakespeare's Henry VI trilogy and Richard III was excellent and his two feature films, On Chesil Beach and The Courier, both had great style. But his domain is the theatre and he will be judged at the Almeida by his ability to combine a sensitivity to the present with a respect for the past. There is every reason to hope he will not only be as good as Goold but will forge his own style.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Adolescence writer to join Sam Mendes's Beatles films
Weeks after the four leading cast members of Sam Mendes's forthcoming Beatles films were announced, it has been reported that the Oscar-winning director has secured three writers to join the production. Award-winning British writers Jez Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow), Peter Straughan (Conclave) and Jack Thorne (Adolescence) will join the four biopics, which are expected to hit the big screen in April 2028. Thorne may be most recognised for his hit Netflix series Adolescence, which he co-created with Stephen Graham. When it debuted on Netflix earlier this year, the series sparked global conversations around the dangers of social media on young people and landed itself top on Netflix's 10 most-watched English series of all time. Thorne has also written the screenplay for films including Enola Holmes and The Swimmers. In the world of TV he's worked alongside director Shane Meadows in the 2010 drama miniseries This Is England and on the adaptation of Philip Pullman's hit children's novels His Dark Materials. The Olivier Award-winning playwright also wrote Harry Potter And The Cursed Child (2016) and, most recently, National Theatre's The Motive and the Cue (2023), which was directed by Mendes. Academy Award winner Straughan will also be joining as a screenwriter, having just won Best Adapted Screenplay for Edward Berger's Vatican thriller Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini. The Oscar-award wining film follows the secret and mysterious ritual behind the election of a new Pope. For TV, Straughan adapted Hilary Mantel's bestselling novel Wolf Hall. The series starred Damian Lewis and was nominated for multiple awards, winning the BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 2016. He also wrote its sequel, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. Butterworth is an award-winning playwright who wrote the 2017 play The Ferryman, for which he took home the Tony for Best Play. He later wrote The Hills of California, which just received seven Tony nominations, including for best play (both were directed by Mendes). For screen, Butterworth has written the scripts for James Mangold's Ford v Ferrari (2019), the James Bond film Spectre (2015), and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). The Beatles series will include four separate films, each focusing on a different member of the group, and stars Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Harris Dickinson as John Lennon. Mendes, the director behind films such as Skyfall, has been developing this unique take on the Fab Four for years, claiming that it 'was too big for one film'. In creating four films, he has stated that he wishes to create the 'first binge-able theatrical experience'. This is the first time Apple, the Beatles's record company and the two living band members, McCartney and Starr, have granted the rights to their stories and music for a scripted film.
