WarnerMedia’s Streaming Service Reveals Originals Line Up With ‘Dune’, Kaley Cuoco Drama & More
As you may, or may not, be aware, WarnerMedia., the company behind The CW, DC Comics, HBO, and many other US brands, is launching its streaming service. Whilst we’re unlikely to get that service directly here in the UK, they have commissioned a set of interesting new shows, which could make it over here on various broadcasters, so we thought we’d take a look at what they have announced so far.
Dune: The Sisterhood
First up is a new expansion on Frank Herbert’s classic novel ‘Dune’, which will tie in with the upcoming 2020 big screen adaptation by Denis Villeneuve. The ‘Blade Runner 2049’ director will also helm the pilot for the tv series, which is written by Jon Spaihts (‘Prometheus’, ‘Doctor Strange’). The companion series to the upcoming movie explores this universe through the eyes of a mysterious order of women: the Bene Gesserit. Given extraordinary abilities by their mastery of the body and the mind, the Bene Gesserit expertly weave through the feudal politics and intrigue of The Imperium, pursuing plans of their own that will ultimately lead them to the enigmatic planet Arrakis – known to its inhabitants as Dune.
The Flight Attendant
Switching from one of the biggest sitcoms of all time to a dramatic role, ‘The Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco will star in and produce this new thriller. Based on Chris Bohjalian’s bestselling novel, ‘The Flight Attendant’ tells the story of flight attendant Cassandra Bowden who wakes in her hotel room hungover from the night before in Dubai… only to discover she is lying next to a dead body. The novel is being adapted by ‘Supernatural’ writer/producer Steve Yockey, and is a co-production between Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Production, Cuoco’s Yes, Norman Productions and Warner Bros.
Gremlins: Secrets Of The Mogwai
‘Gremlins: Secrets Of The Mogwai’ is an animated television prequel to the movie franchise where we travel back to 1920s Shanghai to reveal the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing (future shop owner Mr. Wing in the 1984 movie) met the young Mogwai called Gizmo. Along with a teenage street thief named Elle, Sam and Gizmo take a perilous journey through the Chinese countryside, encountering, and sometimes battling, colourful monsters and spirits from Chinese folklore. On their quest to return Gizmo to his family and uncover a legendary treasure, they are pursued by a power-hungry industrialist and his growing army of evil Gremlins.
Love Life
‘Love Life’ is a half-hour romcom anthology series with the first season starring Anna Kendrick (‘Pitch Perfect’ franchise). The show is described as the journey from first love to last love, and how the people we’re with along the way make us into who we are when we finally end up with someone forever. Each season will follow a new protagonist on their search for love. The show comes from Lionsgate TV and Paul Feig’s Feigco Entertainment and will be written and directed by Sam Boyd (‘In a Relationship’).
Made For Love
‘Made For Love’ is an adaptation of Alissa Nutting’s novel of the same name directed by S.J. Clarkson (‘The Defenders’, ‘The Game Of Thrones Prequel’). The dark half-hour comedy follows Hazel Green, a 30-something woman who gots on the run to escape a suffocating marriage to a controlling (and possibly sociopathic) tech billionaire. Unfortunately for her, she discovers he can track her and knows her every thought & feeling, due to a monitoring device he implanted in her brain! Patrick Somerville, the writer of Netflix’s wonderfully bonkers ‘Maniac’, is writing the adaptation.
Station Eleven
‘Station Eleven’ is another novel adaptation, this one based on the award-winning bestseller from Emily St. John Mandel. The post-apocalyptic drama spans multiple timelines and tells the stories of survivors of a devastating flu epidemic as they attempt to rebuild and reimagine the world anew while holding on to the best of what’s been lost. Patrick Somerville (‘Maniac’, ‘The Leftovers’) is also writing this one, along with serving as showrunner for the series, with Hiro Murai (‘Atlanta’, ‘Barry’) set to direct and exec produce.
Tokyo Vice
Based on Jake Adelstein’s 2009 memoir, ‘Tokyo Vice’ stars ‘Baby Driver’s Ansel Elgort as an American journalist who embeds himself into the Tokyo Vice police squad to root out corruption. The series will chronicle his daily descent into the neon-soaked underbelly of Tokyo, where nothing, and no one is truly what or who they seem. The drama is being written by Tony-winning playwright J.T. Rogers, and is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (‘Short Term 12’).
The, currently unnamed, WarnerMedia Streaming Service will have a “soft launch” later in 2019, which will include a huge back catalogue of shows from WarnerMedia’s various brands including HBO, Cinemax, and various Warner Bros. properties such as ‘Seinfeld’, ‘The Big Bang Theory’, and ‘Friends’. The original series mentioned above will start to appear when the service fully launches in 2020. As we said at the start of the article, it’s extremely unlikely we are going to get the streaming service in the UK, however, it is quite possible a number of these shows will get picked up by other broadcasters over here. We’ll let you know when we have more news!
