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Exclusive: Harry Delano (Freud’s Last Session), Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen), Amar Chadha-Patel (The Decameron) and Arturo Del Puerto (For All Mankind) have joined the 20th Television pilot for Hulu Downforce (working title) starring Eve Hewson and Murray Bartlett.

Downforce follows Victoria (Hewson), the estranged daughter of a storied racing team’s owner, Sir Trevor (Bartlett), who is thrust back into the family business, leaving the pair to find common ground or risk destroying the team’s legacy.

Delano will play Cayley, Alastair’s son, an engineering genius who’s put to work to help the team; Shearsmith will play Alastair, Regent Racing’s fastidious chief race engineer; Chadha-Patel will play Ihsan, the gentle giant of a chief mechanic for Team Regent; Del Puerto plays Emiliano, the ostentatious Spanish owner of a competing team who’s hellbent on destroying Regent Racing.

Alec Berg will direct the pilot and executive produce alongside Adam Countee,...

You can overhear a lot of weird things walking through the park, but an excited, sudden exclamation of “What if it was a horde of rats?!” is definitely up there. Yet the reason, in this particular case, wasn’t an ominous one: It was part of the brainstorming process for the opening title sequence for Netflix’s recent (excellent) adaptation of “The Decameron.”

Mark Bashore and Katrina Crawford were the parkgoers in question and the creative directors of Plains of Yonder. The studio began as a design firm in Seattle and developed an Emmy-nominated knack for crafting opening titles for television series — something they say lots of people assume gets scripted by the writers on a given series, but in actuality, creative studios like theirs get brought in and work with the showrunners to execute. They’ve spent a couple of decades now crafting striking opening titles for shows from...

Outer Banks is considered by so many as one of the most fun teen Netflix originals, and they are correct. Created by Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, and Shannon Burke, the series has something for everyone from romance to teen drama and from adventure to action, and after Season 3 the Netflix series has proven to be a big project for the streamer. So, if you loved the romance, friendships, adventure, and a ton of teen drama in Outer Banks here are some similar shows you should check out while waiting for Season 4.

Surviving Summer (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Surviving Summer is an Australian teen drama series created by Joanna Werner and Josh Mapleston. The Netflix series follows Summer Torres, a rebellious teenage girl as she is expelled from her school in Brooklyn, New York, and moves to Australia where she quickly gets into surfing and becomes a part of a surfing group.

The Decameron showrunner Kathleen Jordan said "anything is possible" for a potential Season 2 of the Netflix series.

The Decameron follows the journey of a band of nobles and their servants as they seek safe passage to Villa Santa in the face of the looming threat of the Black Death. 

The series features an ensemble led by Tanya Reynolds, Zosia Mamet, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Leila Farzad, and many more. It was released on Netflix on July 25. 

Read full article on The Direct.

Netflix’s latest dark comedy The Decameron answers the question: How would a group of wealthy people, isolated from the rest of the world due to a pandemic, act? If that premise is sounding eerily relevant to the last few years, it’s no coincidence.

Showrunner Kathleen Jordan was inspired by what the world had experienced during the early days of Covid-19, and by “the concept of examining the slice of life moment of a pandemic.” Loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s short story collection set during the Black Death, Jordan found a way to tell this story to a modern audience.

A jam-packed ensemble cast — including Tony Hale, Zosia Mamet, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Jessica Plummer and Tanya Reynolds — comes together in an Italian villa in an attempt to wait out the plague. While the concept itself doesn’t immediately read comedy, through Jordan’s unique tone and the acting, the...

“I was inspired by the concept of examining the slice of life moment of a pandemic,” The Decameron showrunner Kathleen Jordan says to The Hollywood Reporter about the inspiration behind the new Netflix show.

The dark comedy, which released on the streaming platform last week, is loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s short story collection set during the Black Death. The Decameron finds a group of characters, both nobles and servants, making their way to a villa in the Italian countryside in an attempt to wait out the plague.

While a plague-set show isn’t typically a touted as a “wine-soaked sex romp,” as The Decameron is, the Zosia Mamet and Tony Hale-led show manages to land laughs during a bleak time period.

“I wish that I could say there was a lot of intentionality behind it, but I think if you were to ask me to write a space drama,...

I hope you’ve stretched and are well hydrated, because you’re going to need it for the marathon of TV that lies ahead. Friday marks the official beginning of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which means we’ve got more than two weeks of impressive physical feats across 32 sports and 45 disciplines that will inspire you while putting your athletic prowess to shame.

It all begins with the opening ceremony, which for the first time in history is taking place outside of a stadium. The parade of athletes that is the centerpiece of the event will occur on the Seine, with each nation’s delegates having their own boat. It is unclear whether the size of the watercraft is determined by the size of the delegation, but it would probably be funnier that way. LeBron James and Coco Gauff are the flag bearers for the United States.

Hosting the Summer Games is a lot of work,...

We all have that friend — or we are that friend — who’s always being treated like a doormat. For Tony Hale, who’s famous for playing lovably codependent characters in comedies like Veep and Arrested Development, his role in The Decameronis an opportunity to take that neediness to new heights (and lows).

“The word for me was desperation,” Hale tells Tudum, summing up the best description for his character Sirisco. When The Decameron opens in 1348, the pestilence has hit Italy hard, and a group of wealthy nobles and their servants run off to a rural getaway for an escape … and to party. Catering to the guests’ every whim, while hiding that his master actually died of the bubonic plague before their arrival, is Hale’s Sirisco.

Says showrunner and creator Kathleen Jordan, “Oh man. I was very, very excited to be able to talk to Tony about the chance...

If you’re as terminally online as I am, you see Tony Hale’s face every day.

The actor best known for “Veep” and “Arrested Development” is a household name for comedy fans, even if he enjoys a degree of anonymity in his day-to-day.

“People are just really nice,” he told IndieWire, along with an anecdote of the previous night when a restaurant hostess shared her appreciation of his work. “But then — my wife is from Alabama — I go to Alabama and no one’s watching or has watched ‘Veep’ or ‘Arrested.’ So it’s not that kind of really high fame.”

It’s the kind of fame that prompts people to shout “Buster!” at him in the street, or character-specific things like “You’ve got two hands” — the kind of fame that comes from being on two heavily-memed shows, at least one of which was all over social media...

The Decameron is a medieval black comedy series created by Kathleen Jordan. Based on the 14th-century Italian short-story collection of the same name by author Giovanni Boccaccio, the Netflix series is set in 1348, when the Black Death was destroying Florence. It follows the story of a few nobles who lock themselves away with servants in a countryside villa. In the beginning, everything goes swimmingly but soon something turns their retreat into a fight for survival. The Decameron stars Zosia Mamet, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Tanya Reynolds, Amar Chadha-Patel, Leila Farzad, Lou Gala, Karan Gill, Tony Hale, Douggie McMeekin, and Jessica Plummer. So, if you love the wild comedy and historic setting in The Decameron, here are some similar shows you could watch next.

The Great (Hulu & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Hulu

The Great is a historical dark comedy-drama series created by Tony McNamara. The Hulu series follows the story of a...

Modern television has provided ample evidence that time does not dictate genre. The Emmys learned this the hard way, when they tried to bypass the comedy or drama debates by using runtimes to decide category placement, only to be swarmed by even more controversy during their confounding, seemingly arbitrary appeals process. Yes, it turns out half-hour shows can be dramas and hourlong shows can skew comedic. Look no further than some of TV’s buzziest, best shows: “The White Lotus”, “Succession”, and “The Bear” (let’s not start that up again).

But while time may not determine what a series is labeled, it does often weigh heavily on a series’ success. More important than shoving a show into one box or another is recognizing that many of these shows are successful because they blur the lines. “The Bear” serves up intense kitchen scenarios that can skew toward sitcom set-ups, yet...

The Decameron is taking viewers back into quarantine … but in a fun way. In this soapy dark comedy, a cast of misfits is facing a pandemic (and enough centuries have passed since that it’s definitely not too soon to joke about it).

Created by Kathleen Jordan and loosely inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s short story collection originally published in the mid-14th century, the period series follows a group of nobles and their servants who flee to a grand villa to escape the Black Death in 1348. As the city of Florence succumbs to the plague, this exclusive handful of invitees indulge in a wine-soaked and debaucherous holiday as they wait out the deadly pandemic. However, their lavish retreat in the Italian countryside quickly descends into madness as they all scramble for survival.

The mayhem is streaming now on Netflix, so meet the charming and riotous ensemble of characters in...

The Decameron, created by Kathleen Jordan, transports us back to 14th-century Italy, where a few nobles are forced to stay together in a mansion due to a pandemic. The mansion was one of the last quarantine zones left that was safe and not infected by pestilence, so the nobles had no option but to stay there and bear with each other, though, in an ideal world, they would have torn one another apart. The narrative is chaotic; it’s cluttered with characters; it’s full of drama, though I am not very sure if it is as humorous as the makers would have wanted it to be. I personally haven’t read Giovanni Boccaccio’s short story collection of the same name, so I came to watch this series without any sort of expectations. I believe it would have been disappointing for those few who expected it to be an...

Have you ever wondered what “Love Island” would be like if it were set in the 1300s? Netflix’s new dark-comedy series “The Decameron” will answer all of your questions.

The series, created by Kathleen Jordan and executive produced by “Orange Is the New Black” and “Weeds” alum Jenji Kohan, is loosely based on Italian Author Giovanni Boccacio’s short story collection from the mid-14th century. The plot begins after “The Black Death strikes hard in the Italian countryside in 1348, and a handful of nobles retreat to a grand villa with their servants. But what starts as a wine-soaked sex romp descends into a race for survival in this soapy dark comedy,” according to the official description.

Keep reading to find out what stars are traveling back in time to the 1340s in our complete “The Decameron” cast and character guide. The show is now streaming on Netflix.

Zosia Mamet...

You are cordially invited to a wine-soaked sex romp in the Italian countryside.

From creator and showrunner Kathleen Jordan — and loosely inspired by the iconic short story collection of the same name — comes the soapy dark comedy The Decameron, streaming on Netflix now.

The series examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic, as a cast of misfits tries to outlast the bubonic plague pandemic in 1348 Florence. The Decameron stars Tony Hale, Zosia Mamet, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Tanya Reynolds, and more.

Read on for everything you need to know about the eight-episode series.

First published in Italy in the mid-14th century, Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron tells the story of a group of nobles and their servants sheltering in the grand Villa Santa outside Florence as the Black Death rages in 1348. To pass the time, they take turns...

The Decameron, created by Kathleen Jordan, is inspired by the tales of Giovanni Boccaccio, in which 10 Florentines stuck in a mansion during the 1300s, tell each other stories when Europe was going through one of the most difficult phases in its history. So it can be said that the series is inspired by his short stories, though the makers have altered a lot of things and taken creative liberties wherever they could.

In the series, the Bubonic plague caused the deaths of millions of people. Nobody knew how to cure it, and so the recourse available was to go to a palace located in the countryside and socially distance yourself from everybody. So, a bunch of people who belonged to the royal bloodline decided to go to Signor Leonardo’s palace and save their lives. Now, everybody who was going there had their own motives and agendas, and I must...

As Netflix’s The Decameron begins, nearly all of our characters are retreating. They might not put it in quite those terms, but it’s exactly what these characters are doing: flocking to the “beautiful, not-infected countryside,” as one character puts it, in hopes of waiting out the Black Plague currently tearing through the continent.

But it doesn’t matter how hard they try to get into “the holiday state of mind,” or how desperately some of them might hope to reorient their fortunes while away. It almost doesn’t even matter how insistently real life intrudes on their getaway. The Decameron is a fitfully funny, occasionally poignant testament to the truism that no matter the circumstances, people will always find a way to be people, in all our petty or horny or heroic glory.

From the moment The Decameron‘s nobles and attendants arrive at the Villa Santa, at...

Netflix is dropping a new show this summer that takes a classic old story and spins it into something fresh. “The Decameron” premieres on July 25th, and it’s blending history with modern storytelling in a really cool way.

The show is based on a famous book from the 1400s by an Italian dude named Giovanni Boccaccio. His book, also called “The Decameron,” follows a group of fancy nobles escaping from a nasty plague by telling each other stories for 10 days. This plague, called the Black Death, was sweeping through Italy and everybody was super scared. So these nobles hole up in a nice country house to avoid getting sick.

While there, they pass the time by picking a king or queen each night who gets to pick a theme for the stories. Over the next few hours, each noble has to spin a yarn that fits the theme. Boccaccio...

Inspired by the 14th century Italian short-story collection The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, the new Netflix series from Kathleen Jordan tells the story of a group of nobles and their servants as they retreat to the countryside Villa Santa in 1348 as the Black Death ravages Florence. Tony Hale stars as Sirisco, the humble steward

The post “The Decameron” Netflix Interviews appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.

Created by Kathleen Jordan, and executive produced by Jenji Kohan, this absurdist Netflix comedy series is very loosely inspired by the 14-century story collection titled The Decameron. 

The Decameron examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic. In the year 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence, and a handful of nobles retreat with their servants to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life by a cast of characters both cunning and outrageous.

HeyUGuys spoke to creator Kathleen Jordan and cast members Tony Hale, Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education),  Zosia Mamet (Girls), Jessica Plummer, and Saoirse-Monica Jackson about their experience working on such an innovative comedy.

The 8-episode series hits the streamer on July 25th.

The post HeyUGuys meets the creator & cast member of...

Cobra Kai Season 6 is finally here and it’s even better than the last one, which no one thought was possible. The Netflix series follows the story of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), who has kind of left bullying and turned into a karate instructor. The series continues the story of the 1984 film The Karate Kid, in which Johnny lost the “All Valley Karate Tournament” to his enemy Daniel (Ralph Macchio). In the series, Johnny inspires weak kids to learn karate so that they can stand up to their bullies and fight to protect themselves. Still, everything goes wrong in a very entertaining way and many iconic characters from the Karate Kid movies appear in the series. So, if you love the teen drama, action comedy, and martial arts in Cobra Kai here are some similar shows you could watch while waiting for Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2.

Kung Fu (Max & Rent...

Kathleen Jordan, one of the finalists to lead the creative vision of HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series, is set to develop other projects with the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned network after it emerged she struck an overall deal.

Jordan closed the two-year deal with HBO and its sister streaming service in January, meaning that while she won’t be involved in the Potter reboot, she will still work closely with the company.

She previously created the Netflix series Teenage Bounty Hunters, the teen comedy drama that was exec produced by Jenji Kohan.

Jordan also created Netflix’s upcoming medieval black comedy The Decameron, which launches later this month. She serves as showrunner on the series, which is set in 1348 when the Black Death, the deadliest pandemic in human history which killed as many as 200 million people, strikes hard in the city of Florence. She also exec produces alongside the...

Inspirada libremente en la colección de cuentos del siglo Xiv. © Netflix

Netflix ha publicado el primer tráiler y póster de su nueva serie de comedia negra “El Decamerón”, de la creadora y showrunner Kathleen Jordan (“Dos Balas Muy Perdidas”) y libremente inspirada en la colección de cuentos del siglo Xiv del mismo nombre.

“El Decamerón” se sitúa en 1348 cuando la peste negra azota con fuerza la ciudad de Florencia y un grupo de nobles se retira junto a sus sirvientes a una majestuosa villa para disfrutar de unas espléndidas vacaciones mientras esperan a que acabe la epidemia. Pero a medida que las normas sociales se van abandonando, se impone una lucha por la supervivencia representada por un elenco de personajes astutos y extravagantes.

La serie de ocho episodios está protagonizada por Amar Chadha-Patel (“The Creator”), Leila Farzad (“The Marvels”), Lou Gala (“Julia”), Karan Gill (“Mala Conducta”), Tony Hale (“Del Revés...

"The Decameron" is a new 8-episode sex-comedy TV series, set in the 14th century, created by Kathleen Jordan and directed by Michael Uppendahl, starring Tony Hale and Zosia Mamet, streaming July 25, 2024 on Netflix:

“…in the year 1348, the ‘Black Death’ strikes hard in the city of Florence…

“…as a handful of nobles retreat with their servants…

“…to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday of debauchery.

“But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life…

“…by a cast of over-sexed characters both cunning and outrageous…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Netflix has revealed the official full trailer for the soapy dark comedy series ‘The Decameron.’

You are cordially invited to a wine-soaked sex romp set in the Italian countryside. The Decameron is a soapy dark comedy that examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic. In the year 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence, and a handful of nobles retreat with their servants to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life by a cast of characters both cunning and outrageous.

Created by Kathleen Jordan, who was very loosely inspired by the 14-century story collection The Decameron, the eight-episode series is through Jenji Kohan’s Tilted Productions. Kohan serves as an executive producer, alongside Jordan, director Michael Uppendahl, and Tilted’s Blake McCormick and Tara Herrmann.

Netflix has revealed the trailer and key art for the dark comedy series The Decameron, starring Tony Hale, Zosia Mamet, and Saoirse-Monica Jackson. The eight-episode series will launch on July 25, 2024.

You are cordially invited to a wine-soaked sex romp set in the Italian countryside. The Decameron is a soapy, dark comedy that examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic.

In the year 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence, and a handful of nobles retreat with their servants to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life by a cast of characters both cunning and outrageous.

Created by Kathleen Jordan, who was very loosely inspired by the 14-century story collection The Decameron, the series is brought to you by Jenji Kohan’s Tilted Productions.

"Til death do we party."...

The deadliest pandemic in history has a saucy bunch of nobles in medieval Italy entangled in a countryside sex romp in the official trailer for Netflix’s The Decameron.

“I’ve been having sinful thoughts,” Lou Gala, who plays Neifile, a God-fearing and highly sexual young guest at a countryside villa during the Black Death pandemic, says at one point in the trailer for the series. (Think Love Island, with people also infiltrating a villa for temptation, but taking place in the hills of Tuscany in 1348.)

Social rules among the nobility and their servants eventually wear thin during this soapy dramedy from creator/showrunner Kathleen Jordan and executive producer Jenji Kohan as a wine-soaked sex romp ensues. People then begin to die but more from an orgy of riches and wine that has everyone scrambling for survival.

Inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th-century literary tale The Decameron, the Netflix eight-parter...

Fans of “Bridgerton,” get ready for a different kind of period piece.

Netflix’s latest soap series “The Decameron” centers on the “wine-soaked sex romp” that was paramount to 14th century Florence, apparently. Per the official synopsis, “The Decameron” is a soapy dark comedy that examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic. In the year 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence, and a handful of nobles retreat with their servants to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life by a cast of characters both cunning and outrageous.

The eight-episode series is created by Kathleen Jordan, who was very loosely inspired by the 14-century story collection “The Decameron.” The show is produced through Jenji Kohan’s Tilted Productions, with Kohan serving as...

Updated with full trailer: After the initial sensual teaser set to New Order’s “Blue Monday,” Netflix has now released a full-length trailer for The Decameron, its dark comedy starring Tony Hale, Zosia Mamet and Saoirse-Monica Jackson.

Set in the year 1348 when the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence, it follows a handful of nobles who retreat with their servants to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life by a cast of characters both cunning and outrageous. The trailer, which you can watch above, provides a glimpse into that.

The Decameron premieres July 25 on Netflix. See additional series details below.

Previous, July 10: Ready for a wine-soaked sex romp in the Italian countryside? Netflix has set July 25 for the premiere of The Decameron, Netflix‘s soapy period dramedy...

Netflix is bringing some of their popular shows’ highly-anticipated new seasons and a legacy sequel that will not disappoint in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F this July. This month, Netflix subscribers will be entertained, and that’s a guarantee as the final season of Vikings: Valhalla and Cobra Kai lands. If you are in the mood for a dark and post-apocalyptic story, don’t miss the third season of Sweet Home. So, here are the very best new movies and TV shows coming to Netflix in July 2024.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Eddie Murphy is back with one of his most iconic characters ever in Netflix’s upcoming film Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. Directed by Mark Molloy from a screenplay by Will Beall, Tom Gormican, and Kevin Etten, the Netflix action-comedy film follows an aging Axel Foley, who still hasn’t slowed with his antics as he goes...

Harry Potter is a timeless franchise that will be savored for decades to come. Whether you’re 5, 15, or 50, the books are enough to impress just about anyone, and that’s the magic of Harry Potter. On top of that, the movies are some of the best live-action adaptations out there. All in all, the Wizarding World has made a special place in the fans’ hearts, and no one would like to have that ruined.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) [Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures]However, thirteen years after the release of the last Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part Two, it was announced that the characters would be coming to the small screen soon. Fans who have grown up with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the gang, were initially concerned about the television reboot, fearing it might not live up to the success of the original films and books.

The Harry Potter television series is starting to take shape.

Succession duo Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod have signed up as its writer and director, respectively.

This comes four months after Deadline revealed that Gardiner was one of three finalists to win the prize to reboot the classic kids franchise for the small screen. Gardiner beat Tom Moran and Kathleen Jordan to win the gig.

Gardiner, who was a consulting producer on Season 3 and Season 4 of the Brian Cox-led family drama, will serve as showrunner and exec producer, while Mylod, who directed over a dozen episodes of the show, will direct multiple episodes and also exec produce.

It comes after it emerged that Harry Potter was moving from a Max original to an HBO original as part of a strategy rethink at the Warner Bros Discovery business. The series is slated for a 2026 bow.

The series, which is remains in development,...

The Decameron is finally coming to Netflix. The streaming service announced the premiere date for the black comedy series set in the 14th century with the release of a trailer. The eight-episodes were ordered in August 2022.

Created by Kathleen Jordan, the series stars Amar Chadha-Patel, Leila Farzad, Lou Gala, Karan Gill, Tony Hale, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Zosia Mamet, Douggie McMeekin, Jessica Plummer, and Tanya Reynolds.

Read More…...

Netflix has pulled back the velvet curtain on the teaser trailer for the upcoming series ‘The Decameron.’

The Decameron is a soapy dark comedy that examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic. In the year 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence, and a handful of nobles retreat with their servants to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life by a cast of characters both cunning and outrageous.

The cast includes Amar Chadha-Patel, Leila Farzad, Lou Gala, Karan Gill, Tony Hale, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Zosia Mamet, Douggie McMeekin, Jessica Plummer, Tanya Reynolds

Created by Kathleen Jordan, who was very loosely inspired by the 14-century story collection The Decameron, the eight-episode series is through Jenji Kohan’s Tilted Productions. Kohan serves as an executive producer,...

Wayne Garvie, Sony Pictures Television’s president of international production, has challenged European producers to better exploit Europe’s “treasure house of global IP”.

Speaking at Italy’s Avp Summit, Garvie said Europe has a huge depth of stories from Greek tragedies, Roman emperors, Norse gods, French musketeers, Spanish conquistadors to German fairy tales. “All of them have in various forms entertained the world for thousands of years, and each generation reinvents those stories.”

However, he noted US filmmakers are traditionally better at reinterpreting European stories for international audiences, and then capitalising on their success by building worlds and franchises around their series and characters.

Period comedy The Decameron is coming to Netflix, and here’s the trailer for the brand new eight episode show.

It seems that period comedies are coming back into vogue. A few months ago we got Andy Riley’s fun Dark Ages romp Seize Them!, with Derry Girls star Nicola Coghlan, Aimee Lou Wood and Nick Frost.

Another Derry Girls alumnus, Saoirse Monica-Jackson, stars in The Decameron, which is coming to Netflix next month.

A prescient comedy, the show examines how people of that generation dealt with a worldwide pandemic, and the chasm between the rich and the poor.

The synopsis reads as follows:

You are cordially invited to a wine-soaked sex romp set in the Italian countryside… The Decameron is a soapy dark comedy that examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic. In the year 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence,...

"The Decameron" is a new 8-episode comedy TV series, created by Kathleen Jordan and set in the 14th Century, directed by Michael Uppendahl, starring Tony Hale and Zosia Mamet, streaming July 25, 2024 on Netflix:

“…in the year 1348, the ‘Black Death’ strikes hard in the city of Florence and a handful of nobles…

“…retreat with their servants to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday of debauchery.

“But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life by a cast of over-sexed characters both cunning and outrageous…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Netflix has just released the teaser trailer for the upcoming dark comedy The Decameron. The show is a limited series that is set to run for eight episodes and is slated to hit the streamer on July 25. The cast includes an ensemble of actors, which features names like Amar Chadha-Patel, Leila Farzad, Lou Gala, Karan Gill, Tony Hale, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Zosia Mamet, Douggie McMeekin, Jessica Plummer and Tanya Reynolds. The teaser cheekily calls the subject of the show “The Party of the 14th Century” with New Order’s “Blue Monday” providing background for the madness.

The official synopsis reads,

“You are cordially invited to a wine-soaked sex romp set in the Italian countryside. The Decameron is a soapy dark comedy that examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic. In the year 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence, and a handful...

Get ready to party! Netflix has revealed a wild teaser trailer for their raunchy upcoming series called The Decameron, created by TV writer Kathleen Jordan. "You're invited to the party of the 14th century." The series is very loosely inspired by the 14-century story collection The Decameron, and is described as a soapy dark comedy. When The Black Death strikes hard in the Italian countryside in 1348, a handful of nobles retreat to a grand villa with their servants. But what starts as a wine-soaked sex romp descends into a race for survival. The series examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic, as a cast of misfits tries to outlast the bubonic plague pandemic in 1348 Florence. "When something like a plague comes along, the ground goes even," Tony Hale explains. "So what am I investing in? What relationships am I investing in? How am I treating people?...

Exclusive: Zosia Mamet, Michael Angarano and Tommy Martinez (Good Trouble) have been cast in Peacock’s upcoming comedy series Laid as series regulars. Mamet will play Aj, Angarano will play Richie and Martinez will play Isaac.

They join previously announced lead Stephanie Hsu in the series written and executive produced by Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna.

Laid is based on the Australian series created by Marieke Hardy and Kirsty Fisher, and produced by Liz Watts. It follows a woman who finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways and must go back through her sex timeline to confront her past to move forward. It’s described as a f*cked-up rom-com where the answer to “Why can’t I find love, is there something wrong with me?” is a resounding: “Yes, there is. The problem is definitely you.”

The series comes from Universal Television,...

A simmering, years-long row between J.K. Rowling and broadcaster India Willoughby has spilled over into a police complaint against the Harry Potter author over alleged transphobia.

Willoughby, who has appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK and co-hosted shows including Loose Women, said she had reported Rowling to Northumbria Police in recent days.

In an interview with Byline TV, Willoughby claimed she had a “cut and dry” complaint against Rowling, arguing that she had been repeatedly misgendered by the writer.

Willoughby underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2015 and was credited with being the first transgender TV news reporter in the UK, working for ITV Tyne Tees regional news.

In recent days, Rowling has repeatedly declined to use Willoughby’s preferred pronouns and has openly mocked the broadcaster in posts on Twitter, now X.

“The mask is off. People historically have given her the benefit of the doubt, hearing that all...

Exclusive: And then there were three. As Deadline reported exclusively earlier this month, the field of writers in the running to adapt Jk Rowling’s Harry Potter books into a live-action series for Max has been narrowed down to three finalists. We can now reveal their names — according to sources, they are Francesca Gardiner, Tom Moran and Kathleen Jordan. The trio will be able to hone in on their pitches for the next couple of months, with a decision on who gets the job expected in June, we hear. As Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced last week, the Harry Potter series is slated to debut on Max in 2026.

Reps for Max and the studio behind the series, Warner Bros. Television, declined to comment.

Gardiner, Moran and Jordan are among the names of writers in contention reported exclusively by Deadline over the past month.

The extensive search started off...

Prepare to board the train to Hogwarts as the Harry Potter live-action series reboot may have zeroed in on its showrunner, as this recent report alludes. Previously, several names were being thrown into the mix, and it was believed Succession writer Francesca Gardiner was shortlisted as one of the finalists who’d be in the running to snag the role of the upcoming show’s creative leader.

This latest scoop, though, affirms that Warner Bros. may have settled on a clear winner to spearhead the adaptation, and it could indeed be Gardiner.

The Harry Potter reboot series may have found its showrunner. Credit: Warner Bros.

This could indicate an exciting fate awaiting the small-screen adaptation, with the studio striving for a more mature, darker approach and taste to the premise. On The Hot Mic Podcast with John Rocha and Jeff Sneider, the former claimed to have heard of this development...

Exclusive: Things are heating up at Hogwarts.

The Harry Potter television series is closer to naming its creative leader as Deadline understands that the shortlist is now down to three names.

We hear that Succession writer Francesca Gardiner is now among the finalists to score the job of adapting Jk Rowling’s books for the Max streaming platform. It’s understood that Gardiner is now one of three writers currently being considered to lead Harry and his pals on the small screen.

A decision is expected soon. Max and Warner Bros. Television declined to comment.

Gardiner has emerged after Deadline revealed last month that there were four other writers in contention: Martha Hillier, Kathleen Jordan, Tom Moran and Michael Lesslie. It’s not clear which of these writers are still involved.

Gardiner was a consulting producer on Seasons 3 and 4 of HBO’s Succession. Before working on the Jesse Armstrong creation,...

Warner Bros is meeting with writers as plans for a ten-year Harry Potter television series continue to move forward.

The story so far. The Harry Potter series of eight movies proved so wildly successful that Warner Bros was keen to get some kind of spin-off going.

Author J K Rowling, someone who it’d be fair to say has attracted some opinions in recent times, duly made the jump from book author to screenwriter, and we got the tepid Fantastic Beasts collection of films. There were supposed to be five of them, but the franchise appears to have stopped at three, with dwindling interest and box office returns seemingly stopping the series in its tracks.

Warner Bros thus decided to go back to the drawing board, and rather than try something new, it now wants a fresh adaptation of Rowling’s novels instead. This time they’re heading for TV,...

There’s been some exciting news about the Harry Potter reboot that’s in the works for Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming platform Max.

We first learned about the plans to adapt J.K. Rowling‘s popular novels into a television series back in April 2023. The plan is for each season of the show to focus on one of the books in the franchise.

Nearly a year later, there’s been an update on where the project stands.

Read more about the Harry Potter reboot…

According to a report by Deadline, Warner Bros. is in the midst of fielding pitches for the series from a variety of writers. The first set of meetings allegedly took place recently in Los Angeles, and there are plans for a follow up in the United Kingdom.

The shortlist is said to include Martha Hillier, Kathleen Jordan, Tom Moran and Michael Lesslie. Of the bunch, fans...

Exclusive: The Harry Potter television series is moving closer to fruition.

In April, Warner Bros. Discovery revealed that a series, based on the classic wizarding world, would be coming to its streaming service Max.

Deadline understands that things in Potterworld are now heating up with a marathon of pitches underway from writers vying for the right to adapt J.K. Rowling’s seven books.

Martha Hillier, Kathleen Jordan, Tom Moran and Michael Lesslie are among those who are presenting their visions to the streaming service and Warner Bros Television, sources said. It’s an interesting mix of Brits and Americans. We’ve heard that the group of writers were commissioned by Max to create pitches for a series reflecting their take on the IP.

We hear the first round of pitch meetings happened in Los Angeles this week and sources said that the top choices will go on to the next round in the UK.

Exclusive: Jenji Kohan, creator of Showtime’s Weeds and Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, has signed with Range Media Partners. Kohan, who had been without a manager for a while, is reuniting with Range co-founder/CEO Peter Micelli, who was her agent at CAA before he left in 2018. Kohan remains represented by CAA on the agency side.

In addition to long-running hits Weeds and Orange is the New Black, which Kohan created and executive produced, she also executive produced Glow, Social Distance and Teenage Bounty Hunters at Netflix where she had been under an overall deal.

She is currently executive producing the upcoming Netflix period drama series The Decameron, created/executive produced by Teenage Bounty Hunters creator Kathleen Jordan, who serves as showrunner.

Kohan has earned 11 Emmy nominations to date, winning in 1997 as part of the producing team of Tracey Takes On… She also continues to be repped by Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

Shooting on Netflix’s “The Decameron” has kicked off at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios, where the lavish period soap will be based for the next six months.

The U.S. show, which is being made entirely in Italy, marks one of the biggest international productions lured by the storied studios in recent years.

Hailing from executive producer Jenji Kohan and creator/showrunner Kathleen Jordan (“Teenage Bounty Hunters”), the eight-episode drama takes place in 1348, as the Black Death pandemic strikes hard in the city of Florence. A handful of nobles are invited to retreat with their servants to a grand villa in the Italian countryside and wait out the pestilence with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, what starts as a wine-soaked sex romp in the hills of Tuscany descends into an all out scramble for survival.

Michael Uppendahl (“Mad Men”) is directing four of the eight episodes,...