After years of controversies as ratings steadily declined, is 2023 going to go down as the year The Bachelor franchise found redemption?
The prospect feels more likely than ever following the outsized success of The Golden Bachelor, ABC’s ingenious, senior-focused spin-off that, in its first season, saw 72-year-old Gerry Turner seize a second chance at love.
Audiences have clearly responded to this breath of fresh air. Nearly 9M tuning in for The Golden Bachelor finale after three days of multi-platform viewing, which is the franchise's best audience in almost four years. This upswing follows an entire season of success for the show, which has repeatedly set audience records since its debut, with the premiere episode recently becoming ABC's most-watched episode of an unscripted series ever on Hulu.
The network has already announced plans to further cash in on the success of Golden by televising Turner’s wedding, a move ABC hasn't opted for in years. Given the ways in which the franchise has been expanded over its run, a Golden Bachelorette announcement is expected sooner rather than later, if not further spin-offs centered on contestants of a certain age. >>>Possibilities Under Discussion |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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14 Shows, 18 Months - Grey's Anatomy is part of a short-term domestic content agreement between Disney Entertainment and Netflix — now being finalized — in which Disney is licensing 14 popular library TV series to Netflix on a non-exclusive basis for 18 months. >>>Full List
James Wan's 'Obsession' - Prime Video has given a series order to Obsession, a drama based on Catherine Ryan Howard’s international bestselling novel 56 Days. It hails from James Wan’s Atomic Monster as well as Amazon MGM Studios. >>>Crime Story/Erotic, Psychological Thriller
Jonathan Majors' Texts On Trial - Entering the second week of Jonathan Majors' domestic violence trial, the Loki actor’s phone and texts have become central to both the prosecution and defense cases. Both sides admit whatever happened that night erupted out of Grace Jabbari seeing texts on the actor’s phone from another woman that read “I wish I were kissing you.” >>> Fight Allegedly Ensued
'Memory': Read The Screenplay - Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Michel Franco’s Memory, the thoughtful drama that won Peter Sarsgaard the Best Actor Volpi Cup in Venice earlier this year. Franco directs and wrote the movie that also stars Jessica Chastain. >>>See The Script
Stream Deadline's Contenders Film: International - Deadline on Monday launched the streaming site for its Contenders Film: International, featuring the full panel videos from Saturday’s award-season showcase of 12 movies submitted by their countries to this year’s Oscar International Feature race. >>>Watch
In Brief - Sweden’s Studios Extraordinaires is teaming with European games maker Fallen Leaf Studios to develop film and TV versions of sci-fi horror game Fort Solis…Mayans M.C. Emmy nominee JD Pardo has signed a first-look deal with FX Productions to develop new television programming for FX… Edwin Lee Gibson , who portrays the quietly charismatic Ebraheim in Emmy-winning series The Bear, has signed with Artists & Representatives for representation. |
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Little Richard: I Am Everything director Lisa Cortés discusses the deep conflict between Little Richard’s public persona and his private life. He could hit the stage in all his authentic glory, she observes, and then do an about-face when the spotlight got too bright — especially in the deep South. >>>Read The Interview |
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Exclusive
In a rare foray into TV, six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams is attached to headline and executive produce The Holdout. The legal thriller is written by Oscar winner Graham Moore (The Imitation Game) based on his novel of the same name.
Exclusive
Liv Symone will be making her debut on Power Book III: Raising Kanan this weekend in the recurring role of Iesha.
True Detective's Anna Lambe and seven-year-old Inuk actress Keira Cooper will lead an untitled Netflix, CBC and APTN comedy series. Additionally Anya Adams (Yellowjackets) has signed on as producing director of the Canadian show.
Tom Pelphrey (Outer Range) is set to star opposite Mark Ruffalo in the Untitled Brad Ingelsby Task Force Project (w/t), currently in pre-production. |
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More News
🤑 RedBird IMI has emerged as the favorite to acquire All3Media, maker of episodic series including Squid Game: The Challenge and Call the Midwife. All3 is jointly owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Media.
✂️ Hasbro is laying off 1,100 employees, following 800 staff cuts announced earlier this year, as CEO Chris Cocks cited a tough business climate that’s been slow to recover. That’s about 20% of the company’s global workforce.
✍️ Travis Braun’s screenplay Bad Boy, which follows a rescue dog who suspects that his loving new owner is a serial killer, topped the 2023 Black List.
🤝 Artists Equity, founded by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital Partners, has announced a new strategic partnership with Chris Hemsworth and Wild State, the burgeoning production company founded by Hemsworth and longtime producing partner Ben Grayson.
🎟️ The New York theater industry has been slow to recover from Covid-19: Admissions totaling 12.3 million for the 2022-23 were nearly 17% lower than the record-breaking pre-pandemic levels of the 2018-19 season.
📣 Kitao Sakurai (Twisted Metal) is set to direct the pilot and an additional episode of Prime Video's Butterfly, a TV adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Arash Amel. |
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Trending
 The cast of Taxi got back together for an epic reunion on The View 45 years after the series premiered on ABC. The ladies hosted Danny DeVito, Tony Danza, Christopher Lloyd, Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner and Carol Kane for the celebration.
🔻 Ross Levinsohn, the CEO of the parent company of Sports Illustrated, was ousted after a scandal over the publication’s use of AI-generated stories from fake authors. |
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On the Radar
Wed - Critics Choice film nominations; Timothée Chalamet on Fallon
Thu - The Crown Season 6 Part 2 debuts on Netflix
Fri - Daytime Emmys; Wonka opens; Reacher S2 premiere; Barbie arrives on Max |
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“We Made The Rom-Com Big Again” - At the premiere of Anyone But You, co-stars Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney spoke with Deadline about the challenges and joys of making and marketing a rom-com. |
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