Legendary Singer, Performer and Artist Prince Has Died
The singer, full name Prince Rogers Nelson, had a medical emergency on April 15th that forced his private jet to make an emergency landing in Illinois. But he appeared at a concert the next day to assure his fans he was okay. Now TMZ has learned of his passing and posted the audio from the emergency dispatch. (TMZ)
Prolific ‘James Bond’ Director Guy Hamilton Has Passed
Guy Hamilton, the director of four James Bond films, has died on the Mediterranean island of Majorca at the age of 93. Hamilton was at the helm of iconic 007 movies Goldfinger in 1964 and Diamonds are Forever in 1971, both starring Sean Connery, as well as 1973’s Live and Let Die and 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun, both with Roger Moore as Bond. (VAR)
Hasbro Assemble! Michael Chabon, Brian K. Vaughan & Akiva Goldsman Teaming Up for Hasbro Cinematic Universe Writers Room
Hasbro’s cinematic universe has assembled its writers room, with a Pulitzer Prize winner, an Eisner-winning comic book author and Marvel Studios scribes among those who will be clacking the keyboard. (THR)
HBO Gives Selina Meyer Another Term, Renewing ‘Veep’, ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Silicon Valley’
HBO has made it official: Game of Thrones has been renewed for a seventh season. The network has picked up the Emmy-winning fantasy hit for another year. In addition, Veep was renewed for a sixth season and Silicon Valley has been renewed for a fourth season. (EW)
Fox 2000 Acquires Supernatural Psychological Thriller ‘Liminal’ in Mid-Six Figures Deal
Fox 2000 has acquired for mid-six figures Liminal, the working title of a supernatural psychological thriller that Christopher Landon will direct. He’ll also write the script based on a story by Adam Robitel. (DL)
‘Humans’ Snags Carrie-Anne Moss & ‘Prison Break’s’ Marshall Allman, Among Others for Season 2
Carrie-Anne Moss and Sam Palladio are joining the cast of Humans for its second series, as filming begins. Prison Break and True Blood star Marshall Allman, The Paradise’s Sonya Cassidy, and Cucumber actress Letitia Wright will also be involved in the Channel 4 and AMC production. (DS)
Disney/Pixar Line Up an Impressive Amount of Brands, 13 to be Exact, to Promote ‘Finding Dory’
Disney has always been a strong leader in mounting promotional campaigns around their films and for its animated sequel Finding Dory from Pixar, they have lined up 13 brands — some with those all-important media buys — to help support the film when it launches on June 17. (DL)
Dish & Viacom Settle on Deal Averting Near Black-Out to Subscribers
Satellite TV provider Dish and Viacom announced that they had struck a multiyear agreement for Dish to continue to carry Viacom’s bundle of television networks, averting a threatened blackout. (NYT)
Underoos! It’s Official, Tony Stark Will Appear in Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
Robert Downey Jr. will appear in Marvel and Sony’s Spider-Man: Homecoming as Tony Stark. Following the great chemistry Downey and Spider-Man star Tom Holland had in Captain America: Civil War, Sony and Marvel knew they had to work hard to get these two back together for the Spider-Man reboot. Sources say the size of the role is unknown at this time. (VAR)
Trailer Buzz: ‘Jason Bourne’
Damon is back in action (and character), and as the first full trailer for this summer’s Jason Bourne proves, he’s out for justice. (WD)