‘Empire’ Moves From E4 To 5Star For Season 4 In The UK
‘Empire‘ has a new home in the UK, and it’s on 5Star, where it’ll sit alongside their new acquisition, the spin-off show ‘Star‘ the channel has announced.
Hip hop drama ‘Empire’ had previously aired on E4 for its first 3 seasons, but will now jump across to 5Star when it returns in the Autumn. ‘Star’ had previously not aired in the UK, but has already been renewed for a 2nd season in the US.
Both shows air distributed by 20th Century Fox Television, whose UK managing director, David Smyth, commented that 5Star has “the perfect audience composition” for the music dramas. “It’s wonderful to have both shows together under the same roof, particularly as the two universes will meet this season in an ‘overlap’ episode,” he added.
‘Empire’ continues the story of the inner working at Empire Enterprises, a fictional hip hop music and entertainment company, whose family are battling for control of the business. When the show returns it sees Lucious (Terrence Howard – ‘Iron Man’, ‘The Butler’) makes his first public appearance after the explosion in Las Vegas, while all members of the Lyon family have their own interests in Lucious regaining his physical and mental faculties. Forest Whitaker (‘The Last King of Scotland’, ‘Arrival’, ‘The Butler’) will guest-star in a multi-episode arc as “Uncle Eddie,” a charismatic music icon and bonafide hitmaker, who gave an unknown Lucious his first radio airplay. Decades later, Eddie steps up for Lucious at a critical moment during his rehabilitation, and a grateful Cookie (Taraji P. Henson – ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, ‘Person of Interest’) invites him to produce a song in celebration of Empire Entertainment’s 20th anniversary.
‘Star’ follows 3 young singers as they attempt to make it in the music business. Star (Jude Demorest), a tough-as-nails young woman who came up in the foster care system, tracks down her sister, Simone (Brittany O’Grady), and her Instagram bestie, Alexandra (Ryan Destiny), and together, the trio journeys to Atlanta with the hope of becoming music superstars. Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award, Grammy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Queen Latifah (‘Bessie’, ‘Bringing Down The House’) stars as Carlotta, a surrogate mother to the young crew. Emmy Award nominee Benjamin Bratt (’24: Live Another Day’, ‘Law & Order’) plays Jahil, a down-on-his-luck talent agent looking to revitalize his career.
Both ‘Empire‘ and ‘Star‘ will air on 5Star in Autumn 2017.
