Latest news with #TVprojects
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
News UK Expands Original IP Ambitions With 14 Projects In Development Based On Its Archive
EXCLUSIVE: Rupert Murdoch's News UK is co-developing more than a dozen licensed TV projects based on its original journalism. The Times, Sunday Times and The Sun owner launched a partnership last year to mine its vast archive for scripted projects that could work on U.S. stablemate Fox. Richard Halliwell, who runs film and TV IP development for News UK, said in recent months this has expanded well beyond Fox and beyond the scripted genre. More from Deadline 2025 Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Cable & Streaming Josh Segarra Joins Fox's Medical Comedy 'Best Medicine' As Series Regular Abigail Spencer Joins Cast Of Fox Medical Comedy 'Best Medicine' News UK's first big project under Halliwell, Channel 4 documentary Poisoned: Killer in the Post, launches tonight, and the executive revealed that News UK licensing has a further 14 projects in various stages of development on a 'very deep slate,' around half of which are for Fox and half are with UK producers. 'We have a vast treasure trove of content [at News UK],' Halliwell told Deadline. 'There are a bunch of projects with writers and a bunch sat here with UK indies. Poisoned: Killer in the Post will be the first but not the last show with our masthead. We have a scale of ambition that we can service over the next three to five years.' When Halliwell joined News UK last year, he said a 'grown up conversation between us and the execs at Fox' found that the pair 'should formalize what we are doing more between businesses, using the well of IP coming out of this building and the massive studio operation in L.A.' But while Fox has something of a first-look deal in place on licensed News UK articles, the News UK team is now open to talking to all and sundry. 'We quickly realized that we don't need to limit to a single genre and the other obvious realization was that the content coming out this building is vast, so what happens when Fox doesn't want to take something forward?,' explained Halliwell. 'Poisoned: Killer in the Post was never going to find a scripted outlet at Fox but was perfect for Chanel 4. So the role is serving Fox but then recycling IP or finding homes for projects that aren't suitable for a U.S. studio.' Halliwell and the team were initially seeking a development exec to mine its newspaper portfolio for scripted TV projects, but this job has effectively been filled by Halliwell, a former TV distribution exec who ran DRG and Nent Studios out of the UK and is an EP on upcoming James Norton-starrer King and Conqueror. Halliwell pointed out that News UK already has three business units producing original shows ranging from podcasts to YouTube series, including a recent Madeleine McCann doc in partnership with ITN and Channel 4. Yet it is licensing that is 'opening a new door to working with production companies to develop original programming around our peerless archive of award-winning journalism.' 'We were attracting brilliantly talented programme makers [for the development exec role] who wanted to grow flowers but what we really needed was someone to plant seeds,' he explained. 'The breadth of experience I have allows me to see commercial opportunities and understand how producers work. We wanted to follow a licensing model, not a production model.' That being said, Poisoned: Killer in the Post, which launches tonight, is far more than a licensing deal, according to Halliwell. The series produced by David Abraham's Wonderhood Studios is hosted by The Times journalist James Beal, who wrote the original Times investigation and made a podcast on the subject. The doc spotlights the barely believable story of how a Canadian chef was accused of sending more than 1,000 packages of poison to suicidal young people across the globe, leading to hundreds of deaths worldwide. 'Not everything we do will be a massively commercial project but on this one we are not licensing a headline and walking away,' added Halliwell. 'We are not trying to be programme makers but want to earn our seat at the table in other ways. There are 400 journalists sat around me researching and digging into stories, a resource that no production company will have.' The move is reflective of how the TV industry has leaned heavily into IP over the past few years, according to Halliwell, who said this has now gone way beyond just adapting novels. 'It has become a much more important part of the commissioning process and perhaps we have focused too much on the book publishing market and not enough on the newspaper and journalism business,' he added. 'We have been licensing articles to producers who want to go and make a show but have never leaned into that process. I think we are just being more proactive now and one of the reasons I am doing the job rather than a programme maker is that I have this network I can reach out to.' More info about the 14 projects in development is coming in due course, Halliwell of Deadline The Story Behind Homer's 'The Odyssey': Illustrated Artworks Of The Legendary Tales Related To Gods, Monsters & Odysseus' Epic Return 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
Daily Mail
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Coleen Rooney's earnings soar amid huge TV projects as she looks set to become 'main breadwinner' in family with husband Wayne
Coleen Rooney 's earnings soared amid her huge TV projects as she looks set to become her family's 'main breadwinner '. The WAG, 38, reportedly boasts a net worth of £15million, with her hubby thought to be worth an enormous £170million thanks to his Premier League footballing days. But in the new phase of their lives, Coleen could be set to take over as the main breadwinner as her popularity soars. Amid her skyrocketing fame following her hugely successful I'm A Celeb stint, Disney announced on Monday a new premium access series titled The Rooneys focusing on her and Wayne's life. Thanks to her ventures, new figures for her firm, CWR 2021, up to September 2024 show the booming business already had £580,000 banked - and that was before I'm A Celeb and her Disney deal. Meanwhile former manager of Plymouth Arsenal Wayne was reportedly making £500,000, before leaving the club in December. A financial expert told The Sun: 'These earnings show that, even before Coleen signed up for I'm A Celeb, she was already bringing in more money than Wayne. 'On the back of her jungle stint, where she was incredibly popular with the viewing public, she's now likely to see her earnings soar even further - and the increased interest in Coleen after she did so well on the show is also likely to have sealed the deal on the Disney contract. 'Getting big bucks from a global streamer, plus her pay cheque from ITV, will no doubt swell the Rooneys coffers even further.' MailOnline has contacted Coleen's representatives for comment. In March, Coleen revealed that she has eclipsed Wayne in popularity after starring on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Coleen took part on last year's series of the ITV show where she finished as runner up to McFlyn's Danny Jones after winning over a huge number of fans. And the mother-of-four has explained that she now gets even more attention in public than her famous footballer husband. Speaking to The Mirror at an event in Manchester, Coleen admitted she was humbled by the 'positivity' of people coming up to chat to her about her time in the jungle. She said: 'I didn't realise how big the audience was. I get parents come up to me saying "aw, we got our family back together on the couch to watch it" and that's lovely to hear.' Not being able to resist making a brutal dig at her husband, she then joked: 'Even on school runs, Wayne has passed his sell by date so no one has got a clue [about him] But then all of a sudden we get kids going "oh Coleen Rooney!"' Speaking of her popularity, Disney announced on Monday that a new premium access series titled The Rooneys is set to air, and filming is already underway. The ten part doc-series will delve into the footballer and WAG's lives 'like we've never seen them before'. It is set to see Coleen tackle 'new entrepreneurial endeavours' and Wayne stepping away from the football pitch to do school runs. The new show has 'unprecedented access' into their world and dives into their everyday life, including highs like holidays and celebrations as well as the lows. The 'at-home-with' format is expected to see former England footballer Wayne Rooney appear alongside his wife – runner-up on last year's I'm A Celebrity – and their four sons: Kai, 14, Kit, 11, Klay, eight, and Cass, six. Sources close to the project said earlier this year that Mrs Rooney, 39, will be paid £5 million with the remainder going to production company Lorton Entertainment, which made her previous show, Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story. One insider said: 'It has taken months of bidding against one another. The money has gone up and up and has got to £10 million, which is way higher than was first imagined, but Coleen is very much in demand. 'Both streamers were aware of the viewing public's appetite for the inside track on footballers' home lives. 'The Beckhams documentary was the most-watched show on Netflix in the UK last year, and has racked up more than 200 million hours of viewing time globally. 'Coleen is loved by the British public, especially since she played a blinder on I'm A Celeb. It wasn't surprising that Disney and Amazon wanted it and went head to head. 'It will make for compulsive viewing. It won't just feature Coleen but Wayne and their children, too.
