TV Bits: ‘Beerfest,’ Joe Swanberg, ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events,’ & More
In this edition of TV Bits:
Beerfestis one of Broken Lizard’s more memorable comedies. While there had been discussions about a potential sequel,Potfest,Beerfestis currently being revised as a digital series by CW Seed, working with Warner Bros.' digital series production unit, Blue Ribbon Content. The plan is to premiere the series later this year, timed to the film’s 10th anniversary.Deadlinesays a producer on the original film,Billy Gerber, is running the “reboot” as an executive producer.Joe Swanbergkeeps getting better and better as a director.Drinking Buddies,Happy Christmas, andDigging for Fireall showed signs of Swanberg’s growth as a visual storyteller. For his next venture, the writer and director is collaborating with Netflix. Swanberg wrote, directed, and executive produced an 8-episode anthology series, titledEasy.Deadlinesays the Chicago-set show “explores diverse Chicago characters as they fumble through the modern maze of love, sex, technology and culture.“Easyhas already wrapped production. The show starsOrlando Bloom,Malin Akerman,Jake Johnson,Dave Franco,Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and more.
Back in January,Neil Patrick Harriswasin negotiationsto star in Netflix’s adaptation ofLemony Snicket’sA Series of Unfortunate Events. Finally, according toDeadline, Harris has officially signed on to play the villainous Count Olaf. As for the character of Lemony Snicket,The Hollywood ReportersaysPatrick Warburton(The Tick) will investigate Olaf’s evil deeds and the dark adventures of Baudelaire children. So far, this straight-to-series Netflix program is assembling a fine cast well suited for their roles.Barry Sonnenfeld(Men in Black) will direct the pilot.
Malachi Kirby(of theRootsremake) will star in an episode of Netflix’s upcoming season ofBlack Mirror.Deadlinereveals nothing about the episode’s plot, but it’s called “Men Against Fire” andJakob Verbruggen(House of Cards,The Fall) is directing. Netflix recentlyordered13 episodes of the hit series.
Back in January, Fox’s Chairman and CEO,Dana Walden, said it wasunconfirmedwhether thePrison Breakrevival would featureSarah Wayne Callies, butComing Soonreports Callies will indeed play Dr. Sara Tancredi again.
Lastly, Comic-Con International and Lionsgate have set a premiere date for Comic-Con HQ, a subscription video-on-demand platform. The ad-free service will include scripted and unscripted series, daily and weekly entertainment news, live programing, bonus features, and more. The free beta access version will premiere onMay 7th, while the official premiere is scheduled for June, which is a month before San Diego Comic Con. According toVariety, the idea is to basically to recreate the Comic Con experience all throughout the year, which sounds downright exhausting.
