Month: January 2021

Jamie Dornan (A Private War) has been tapped as the lead of The Tourist, the six-episode limited series from Fleabag production company Two Brothers Pictures.

HBO Max has come on board to co-produce and be the US streaming home for the mystery thriller, which also has cast Danielle Macdonald (Dumplin’), Shalom Brune-Franklin (Line of Duty) and Hugo Weaving (The Lord of The Rings).

Along with the WarnerMedia streamer, Germany’s ZDF also has joined The Tourist’s commissioning partners BBC One and Stan. The series, written by Two Brothers Pictures founders Harry and Jack Williams, will be filmed in Australia this year.

“The Tourist are some of the most exciting scripts I’ve ever read. I can’t wait to go to Australia with such a talented group of people,” said Dornan.

Macdonald will play Helen Chambers, a fledgling Probationary Constable, and Brune-Franklin is set to play Luci, a waitress who’s swept into The Man’s journey for answers. Weaving plays Agent Lachlan Rogers, one of the most highly regarded detective inspectors in Australia, leading Major Crime for the state police.

“We’re hugely excited about this show. It’s tonally breaking new ground for us and having Jamie Dornan on board is the icing on the Australian cake,” said Harry and Jack Williams.

The Tourist is a Two Brothers Pictures (an All3Media company) production for the BBC, in association with Highview Productions, All3Media International, the South Australian Film Corporation, HBO Max, Stan and ZDF. The six-episode drama has been written by producers and screenwriters Harry and Jack Williams, who alongside Christopher Aird and Andrew Benson will serve as executive producers for Two Brothers Pictures and Tommy Bulfin for the BBC. Lisa Scott will produce and Chris Sweeney will executive produce and direct. International sales will be handled by global partner All3Media International.

“Harry and Jack’s talents are as vast as the Australian outback, and this thriller will leave viewers on the edge of their seat piecing together the puzzle,” said Jeniffer Kim, SVP, International Originals, HBO Max. “We are delighted to have Jamie, Danielle, Hugo and Shalom join the cast for this compelling addition to our slate of international original series.”

When it came to mounting the NBC half hour series Young Rock, getting it real, and getting it right, warts and all, was key for Dwayne Johnson and the actors portraying the younger version of the wrestler-action star and his family.

Young Rock focuses on different chapters of Johnson’s life. From growing up in a strong and resilient family, to being surrounded by the zany characters of his professional wrestling family, to playing football at the University of Miami, the show explores the crazy rollercoaster that has shaped Johnson into the guy he is today and the larger-than-life characters he’s met along the way.

Said Johnson today at NBC’s winter press tour, “When I first sat down with  (EPs) Nahnatchka (Khan) as well as Jeff (Chiang), it was to really under understand why — what’s the real reason of why we’re going to do this? How can we create something for audiences that will hopefully entertain them but also allow them with a bit of takeaway afterwards? Once, we identified that, and I felt good and comfortable with that, then we moved forward. Let’s not take the easy route. We use these terms ‘wild’ and ‘crazy’ — those are great sizzle words we use as we promote this thing. But it was incredibly complicated and incredibly tough growing up, specifically with these timelines in my life of 10 years old, 15 and 18. Universe willing, if we’re lucking enough to come back for another round of this thing, there’s a lot of other things that took place in between.”

“The relationship I had with my dad was incredibly complicated and fueled by tough love. My dad was kicked out of his house when he was 13 and was homeless, so that then shaped the man who then raised me. And in that complication came an extraordinary life that was full of travel. I lived in 13 different states by the time I was 13 years old. I also lived in New Zealand. There was so much breadth to this life I had,” said Johnson.

It was key for Johnson in working with the EPs of Young Rock to “rip some things open, and vulnerability was one of those factors.  The series has allowed me to appreciate those hard times so much more.”

“Let’s reveal things, but let’s also talk about the good stuff, because there was so much good stuff when I look back on it, in this wild world with these characters who were larger than life,” said Johnson referring to his grandmother, Lia Maivia, (the first female pro wrestling promoter), and other wrestling personalities  portrayed on the show, i.e. Andre the Giant, The Iron Sheik, etc.

“All of these men, so successful in what they did, but they played that role 24 hours a day,” Johnson reflected.

When asked by a reporter what the roughest times in his life were, Johnson took a deep breath, and answered, “There’s a few layers to that answer…At 13, I veered off the tracks to do things I shouldn’t be doing. I got arrested at 13 in Hawaii,” said the actor. Johnson fought with his parents at the time. He didn’t want to move from Hawaii. In hindsight, they family was forced to movie, and it was meant to be, for ultimately, down the road, Johnson prospered.

Another bad patch Johnson remembered was when he was passed over for the NFL.

“That was a pretty big loss; when you’re done with your college career, you’re done. There was no NFL for me,” said the Hobbs and Shaw and Fast & Furious actor. In time, Johnson soon made it to the “seven bucks” phase of his life; this sublime turning point when he was broke following his release from the Canadian Football League in 1995 and before he signed with the World Wrestling Federation where he exploded into the phenomenon that we know.

Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson, Stacey Leilua, Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu, Ana Tuisila, Fasitua Amosa and John Tui star in Young Rock. Khan, Johnson, Chiang, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Brian Gewirtz and Jennifer Carreras are EPs on the series. Young Rock is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, Seven Bucks Productions and Fierce Baby Productions.

Young Rock will premiere at 8PM on Tuesday Feb. 16.

It’s A Sin, the searing new AIDS crisis series from A Very English Scandal writer Russell T Davies, has premiered in stellar fashion for UK broadcaster Channel 4 ahead of the show’s launch on HBO Max next month.

Set in 1980s London, the five-part drama follows a group of young friends as they embrace the capital’s gay scene and tragically confront the terror of AIDS. The cast is led by Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander and features cameos from Neil Patrick Harris and Stephen Fry.

Channel 4 premiered It’s A Sin to an audience of 1.9 million viewers last Friday, making it the broadcaster’s top-rated drama launch since David Tennant-starrer Deadwater Fell last January. It was also Channel 4’s best-performing drama among young people (those aged 16-34) in three years.

Catch-up viewing has already lifted It’s A Sin’s total audience to 2.5M in the past three days, while the series is also going down a storm on Channel 4’s streaming service All 4, where every episode is available to binge. Although the company is keeping actual figures close to its chest, Deadline understands that it is on track to become All 4’s biggest ever drama launch and contributed to a record weekend for the streamer.

Couple this performance with several five-star reviews (in The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, and gay magazine Attitude to name a few), and you have a bonafide hit on your hands. This all bodes well for HBO Max, which co-produced with Channel 4 and will premiere the entire series on February 18.

It’s A Sin was produced by Studiocanal-owned Red Production Company and is distributed by All3Media International. Omari Douglas, Nathaniel Curtis, Callum Scott Howells, and Lydia West feature alongside Alexander as occupants of the ‘Pink Palace,’ the London flat around which much of the drama centers.