“BMF” got a second season renewal from Starz. The first season, which kicked off Sept. 26, was the No. 1 premiere of the year on the Starz app, and also scored on OTT platforms. The drama is based on two brothers who escaped poverty in Detroit in the 1980s by becoming one of the most influential crime families in the U.S., involved in both the drug trade and the world of hip-hop.
Here are additional deals and projects:
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“Dead & Beautiful” will premiere on Shudder on Nov. 4 in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The film is written and directed by David Verbeek (“Full Contact”). In “Dead & Beautiful,” five rich, spoiled Asian 20somethings (Gijs Blom, Aviis Zhong, Yen Tsao, Philip Juan, Anechka Marchenko) search for excitement — until they wake up after a night out to discover they have vampire fangs and a thirst for blood.
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Brad Pitt and George Clooney will co-star in an Apple Studio untitled thriller. Jon Watts (“Spider-Man”) will write and direct the film. Pitt and Clooney previously starred in “Ocean’s Eleven” together. They also co-starred in the play “8,” Dustin Lance Black’s 2012 play about the battle to overturn California’s gay marriage ban.
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Anthony and Joe Russo’s AGBO will team with Netflix for a heist movie starring Regé-Jean Page and written and directed by Noah Hawley, based on an original idea from the “Fargo” and “Legion” creator. Page played Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings on “Bridgerton,” also on the streamer. Hawley made his film directorial debut with “Lucy in the Sky,” starring Natalie Portman in 2019.
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Discovery+ has commissioned “The Men Who Sold the World Cup.” The two-part film, streaming Oct. 17, from directors Daniel DiMauro and Morgan Pehme (“Get Me Roger Stone”) explores how soccer’s biggest competition was sold to the highest bidders. The awarding of the World Cup had been plagued by bribery, corruption, global politics, backroom deals and greed. It exploded when the 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar — a desert nation with baking summer temperatures, zero world-class stadiums, a population indifferent to soccer… but lots of money.
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Film executive Bird Runningwater, who spent two decades at the Sundance Institute, has signed a first-look deal with Amazon Studios, where he will produce television and film projects for Amazon Prime Video. A member of the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache Tribal Nations, Runningwater has been the director of Indigenous programs, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and artist programs at Sundance.
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Roku Channel will debut three horror-themed Roku originals, “When the Street Lights Go On,” “50 States of Fright,” exec produced by Sam Raimi, and “The Expecting,” starring Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, as a run-up to Halloween. It’s all part of the streamer’s “Freakout Friday” campaign.