Let the Brendan Fraserssaince commence
And '1984' is getting a unique TV twist
What to know
Darren Aronofsky is ushering in the Brendan Fraserssaince | Variety
Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Black Swan) has cast Brendan Fraser in his new movie The Whale, based on Samuel D. Hunter’s play about a morbidly obese recluse. After a promising run as an A-lister in the late ‘90s, Fraser has recently turned to mostly supporting TV roles. But his talent has not waned through it all. Could this be his big movie comeback a la the McConnaissance? Aronofsky did it once before with Mickey Rourke.
Everyone watched The Office from their home office | Variety
A lot of people were kicked out of their offices this year, so they turned to a fictional one. The fictional one to be specific. Americans streamed 57 BILLION minutes of the late NBC show on Netflix, according to Nielsen. The next closest show was Grey’s Anatomy, also on Netflix,with 39.4 billion minutes streamed. Ozark topped the list of original series with 30.5 billion minutes consumed on, you guessed it, Netflix. Beginning to see a pattern here? Meanwhile, Disney’s Frozen 2 topped the list of most watched movies at 14.9 billion minutes, likely due to children watching it on repeat. So what do these numbers mean? As many new shows and movies as there are, library content is still king — especially beloved long-running series like Friends, The Office, and Grey’s.
A 1984 TV series is in development | Deadline
George Orwell’s dystopian, anti-fascist novel seems to gain more relevance every day, so it’s only natural a new adaptation would be on the way. What’s interesting though is that former ABC chief Paul Lee is developing a 1984 series based on the acclaimed Broadway stage adaptation from 2017. The screen transfer would turn the 100-minute play into a 5-part miniseries. The Broadway production’s intense depictions of blood and violence famously made audience members faint and vomit —including Jennifer Lawrence, who reportedly had to dash to the bathroom while taking in the play.
Nick Jonas is in talks for a streaming version of Jersey Boys | Deadline
Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys movie is not good. So it’s a pleasant surprise to hear that a staged version of the Frankie Valli and the Four Season bio-musical is being shopped to streamers and that it could star Nick Jonas as Valli. The producers were inspired by Hamilton’s success on Disney+; hopefully this ushers in more filmed theater productions on streaming.
Also...
Chris Pratt’s sci-fi flick The Tomorrow War is being shopped to streamers 📆
Joe Jonas and Thomas Sadoski are joining JD Dillard’s Devotion ✈️
Sam Esmail pilot will bring a ‘unique spin’ on the crime procedural to ABC 🚔
What to watch
Netflix has A TON of original movies up its sleeve for 2021. At least one every week in fact. The streamer’s new mega trailer offers first looks at 27 new titles, including: Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay, Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio), Red Notice (Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson), The Harder They Fall (Regina King, Jonathan Majors), Thunder Force (Octavia Spencer, Melissa McCarthy) Bruised (Halle Berry), tick, tick… BOOM! (Lin-Manuel Miranda), The Kissing Booth 3 (Joey King), To All The Boys: Always And Forever (Lana Condor, Noah Centineo), The Woman in the Window (Amy Adams), Escape from Spiderhead (Chris Hemsworth), YES DAY(Jennifer Garner), Sweet Girl (Jason Momoa), and Army of the Dead (Dave Bautista)
New notables this week:
Herself (Jan 11) - Sundance darling on Amazon | 92% RT
One Night in Miami(Jan 15) - Clay, Cooke, Brown, X on Amazon | 98% RT
WandaVision(Jan 15) - New Marvel series on Disney+ | No RT yet
Promising Young Woman (Jan 15) - Carey Mulligan thriller on VOD | 92%
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About the author: Alex Rabinowitz has led the way on social media and story packaging at media outlets big and small. With his acclaimed Tumblr site PopCultureBrain.com, Alex became a leading figure in emerging social networks and entertainment news. Sourced by many top destinations, including New York Magazine, BuzzFeed, and Videogum, Pop Culture Brain was featured by BuzzFeed and TIME as the best pop culture blog on Tumblr. Alex's writing has appeared on The Huffington Post, GQ.com, Mic, and Time Warner Cable.