Latest news with #PhoebeWaller-Bridge
The Guardian
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Octopus to Long Way Home: the seven best shows to stream this week
Phoebe Waller-Bridge's post-Fleabag career has been somewhat eccentric and this two-part documentary, which she narrates and executive produces, is another left turn. It's essentially an oddball love letter to the octopus – with its powers of transformation, bizarre mating habits and general air of underwater alien strangeness. But the series soon transcends its ostensible subject matter and becomes an exploration of some of the people who have devoted their lives to the celebration, study and preservation of these charismatic creatures. These include environmentalists, scientists ... and 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan, who is charmingly and volubly obsessed with them. Prime Video, from Thursday 8 May Bikes revving and dad-rock blaring, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman embrace their inner Partridge as they return for another grand tour. This time, they're exploring northern Europe – once the tortuous and overlong process of selecting and equipping their bikes has taken place. It's a slightly gauche middle-aged male fantasy, albeit given extra poignancy by the serious accident in which Boorman was involved in 2016, and the care with which McGregor helps him along on his first major expedition since. While the travel element is pretty basic, it's a cheerful portrait of male friendship. Apple TV+, from Friday 9 May May the 4th be with you and all that: following the release of Andor, this spring also sees another six-episode anthology delving deep into the criminal underground of the Star Wars universe. These stories are beautifully animated in an angular, hyperreal style and flesh out the backstories of bounty hunter Cad Bane and, particularly excitingly for devotees, Asajj Ventress, who was presumed dead after the novel Dark Disciple. Ventress finds herself on the run with an unexpected ally, while Bane meets an old friend now on the other side of the law. Disney+, from Sunday 4 May 'There's always this line between being a prankster and going too far,' says former NBA star Gilbert Arenas. 'And I was on that line.' Most people would probably contend that introducing handguns into a sports dressing room is some way over the line, but this startling documentary does its best to explain the dispute between Arenas and team mate Javaris Crittenton. Its origins are obscure but its destination became tragically clear: in 2015, Crittenton was sent to prison for the murder of mother of four Jullian Jones. Did his disagreement with Arenas set him on the road to ruin? Netflix, from Tuesday 6 May Sign up to What's On Get the best TV reviews, news and features in your inbox every Monday after newsletter promotion A fittingly apocalyptic scenario for the final season of this inventive animation series which has shrewdly demonstrated that, in a world constantly longing for new superheroes, Greek mythology boasted some of the most exciting characters and epic stories ever told. The goddess Gaia is issuing a bloodcurdling warning about an emerging era of chaos. Her prophecy soon starts to come true as the terrifying, scythe-wielding Cronus (voiced by Alfred Molina) sets about enacting his plan for domination. An explosive showdown seems inevitable. Netflix, from Thursday 8 May Her gloomy ending is something of a spoiler alert in waiting, but as we rejoin the soon-to-be last queen of France in this lavish series, she has produced a male heir and ruled for a decade. However, clouds are gathering – signs of poverty abound on the streets and, while Marie has yet to alight upon her unpopular cake-based solution, she definitely inhabits a different world. Meanwhile, Louis is struggling to hide the dire state of the nation's finances. A nicely realised period drama that establishes a distinctively dreamy if sinister tone. BBC iPlayer, from Thursday 8 May More highly choreographed 'real-life' escapades from Love Islander turned businesswoman Molly-Mae Hague. Her stormy on-off relationship with Tommy Fury is once again among the main focuses of the series; with the couple's daughter Bambi celebrating her second birthday, Molly is open to rebuilding their family but this strains her relationship with her sister Zoe, who was left to pick up the pieces after their last breakup. In the meantime, Molly continues to work on her Maebe clothing brand, with Paris fashion week on the horizon. Prime Video, from Friday 9 May
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Octopus! OTT Release Date: When and where to watch nature documentary by Emmy-award winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Octopus! OTT Release Date: Just in time for Earth Day season, Emmy Award winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge returns with something far more unexpected: a nature documentary that's as strange as it is stunning. On May 8, Prime Video will release Octopus!, a two-part documentary narrated by Waller-Bridge herself, exploring the mysterious world of one of the most intelligent animals on the planet - the octopus. But don't expect a typical underwater documentary. This series blends science, personal stories, surreal humour, and emotional depth into something entirely unique. From tales of love, loss, and obsession to strange encounters in Mexico and a unicorn sighting, Octopus! is a quirky, emotional rollercoaster that uses the octopus as a lens to examine the human experience and our connection to creatures that seem almost alien. The docuseries will drop globally in over 240 countries and territories and is included with any Amazon Prime membership. That means no extra fee to watch, just click and stream. Octopus! is directed by Niharika Desai and produced by Waller-Bridge's own Wells Street Films, alongside Amazon's MGM Studios and Alex Gibney's Jigsaw Productions. Waller-Bridge in the wild Best known for creating and starring in Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge is now stepping into the world of nature storytelling. But in classic Waller-Bridge style, this is far from ordinary. What she brings to Octopus!, is a feeling. You'll get to meet scientists trying to save them, divers trying to understand them, and even celebrities like Tracy Morgan who are obsessed with them. These personal narratives are stitched together to show just how deeply one species can touch so many lives. With only two episodes, Octopus! is a quick binge, but one likely to leave a lasting impact. Sounds exciting? Drop your thoughts @indiatimes.
Daily Mail
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Crashing: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
The lives and loves of six twenty-somethings living together in a disused hospital. 2016 Certificate: 15 Before Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge created this six-episode sitcom about a bunch of twentysomethings making their home in the most affordable housing they can find - a disused hospital where they get cheap rent in return for keeping the building safe. As an ensemble comedy it's a very different animal to the personal, confessional style of Fleabag, but the romantic and sexual chaos and toe-curling scenarios are there, as are the frank dialogue and moments of melancholy. Joining Waller-Bridge are Jonathan Bailey (aka Viscount Bridgerton) and new Bergerac's Damien Molony. (Six episodes)
Telegraph
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
$100 million, zero TV shows: Why Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Amazon deal hasn't paid off
Less than 48 hours after dominating the 2019 Emmys – with four wins for her hit series, Fleabag – Phoebe Waller-Bridge was confirmed in her status as the world's hottest TV writer. Amazon proudly announced that it had signed her up to a lucrative 'golden handcuffs' deal, worth a reported $20 million (£15 million) each year, to create new series for Prime Video. Jennifer Salke, then the head of Amazon Studios, hailed the Fleabag creator as 'clever, brilliant, generous and a virtuoso on multiple fronts'. That deal was renewed in 2022, and again (albeit on looser, less lucrative terms) in the past few months. Yet in the six years since she initially signed with Amazon, nothing Waller-Bridge has made as part of her contract has yet made it to air. The 39-year-old has earned the sharp end of $100 million without any real achievements to show for it. Her first big project was a new version of 'married spies' thriller Mr & Mrs Smith, in which she would write with and act opposite Donald Glover, but that soon foundered amid reports that the two stars did not see eye-to-eye. Waller-Bridge was replaced on screen by Maya Erskine, and she did not even get a writing credit, suggesting none of her material had made the cut. 'Amazon stuck with him and moved her out,' says an insider. 'Maybe that is somewhat indicative of where she is with Amazon at the moment.' Unfazed by the setback – plus the fact that Waller-Bridge helped rewrite Daniel Craig's swansong as James Bond, No Time to Die, and starred in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny outside her deal – Amazon later announced that Waller-Bridge would create a series based on the Tomb Raider video games. It should have been the perfect combination: Waller-Bridge was a keen gamer growing up and idolised the no-nonsense protagonist Lara Croft, who has been played in film versions by Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander, but wanted to put a new twist on a character often accused of being a cartoonish male fantasy of a female hero. 'She had an attitude. She was very deliberate in what she wanted to do,' Waller-Bridge told Vanity Fair in June 2023. 'The opportunity to have… a female action character…. Having worked on Bond and having worked as an actor on Indy, I feel like I've been building up to this. What if I could take the reins on an action franchise, with everything I've learned, with a character I adore, and also just bring back some of that 1990s vibe?' The only vibes around the series at this point are negative. Puck News, one of the most reliable Hollywood outlets, reported last month that the project had 'gone through two writers' rooms and tens of millions of dollars in development costs', but still has no script. Some reports have suggested that Amazon has shelved Tomb Raider entirely, but The Telegraph understands that the streamer is still committed to the project with Waller-Bridge at the helm. When Waller-Bridge's deal was originally renewed, in 2022, without anything to show for the previous three years, a TV executive told The Hollywood Reporter that the streaming service was guilty of 'star-f—ing' – i.e. chucking cash at big names without any overarching strategy – and only signed her up again to save face. For years, Amazon executives have been faced with questions about what exactly Waller-Bridge has been doing to earn her keep. In a 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Vernon Sanders, Amazon's TV chief, 'bristled' when asked what she was up to. 'Phoebe has not only fully embraced Tomb Raider and I think is feeling very committed to it, but she's in a writers room right now working on it,' he said. 'She's a perfectionist, so she absolutely wants to make sure that what she does is great and right, but she's proven that when she does deliver, she delivers.' That was more than two years ago, and still nobody seems quite sure about what, if anything, Waller-Bridge has completed. Prime next-day delivery it ain't. For her part, Waller-Bridge does not like being described as a perfectionist. 'Happy to be called creatively controlling,' she told Vanity Fair two months after Sanders's comments. 'What I look for in something is that little bit of electricity, of danger or saying something, doing something that hasn't been done before. If I don't feel that, I can plow and plow and plow, I just won't make it.' She also said that Amazon bosses understood why things have not moved more quickly. 'They've been with me along this process where I'm like, 'I'm getting there, but I want it to be f—ing amazing.' ' Salke appeared to confirm this in October last year. 'When we look at a long-term commitment to a creator like Phoebe — we're so happy now that we retained her,' she told Variety. But Jeff Bezos's lieutenants will not wait around forever. Salke was abruptly dismissed last month amid a litany of failings, not least the slow progress on a new James Bond film, for which Amazon now has full creative control. One of Salke's last acts was to sign Waller-Bridge up to yet another deal, though this one is said to be much less lucrative and not on an exclusive basis. It is part of a trend in the industry as money becomes tighter for creatives to be paid when projects are delivered, rather than in these 'golden handcuffs' agreements. From those heights at the 2019 Emmys, when Waller-Bridge won gongs for both her acting and writing, there is a sense that she has become lost and fallen behind fellow star writers, such as James Graham, Jack Thorne and Sharon Horgan. 'She's become very rich out of it but I feel sorry for Phoebe,' says one senior TV executive. 'She's a once-in-a-generation British talent. She was clearly developing stuff and Amazon was knocking it back. The viewer isn't gaining out of it, are they?' By this executive's telling, much of the problem must lie at the feet of Amazon, which remains a retail giant with a streaming service bolted on. 'It feels like it's part of an old world: where global streamers pay stupid money to take people off the table,' he adds. 'Their most important thing is selling stuff, they don't seem focused on creating a really coherent content strategy.' Though Amazon has a large, and growing, roster of Prime Video staff in the UK (which has launched hits such as Clarkson's Farm) Waller-Bridge has reported to those in the American mothership as they sought a global mega-hit that would provide a large return on the investment in her. 'When people talk about global shows, what they really mean is shows that are big in the US that become big in other territories around the world,' says an insider. 'The size and scale of those output deals… it is not worth doing a niche, UK public service broadcaster-style show. You are really swinging for the fences on high value international global franchisable formats. 'The US really wanted to find something to break her in America. She had a ton of ideas but none of them really materialised in a big manner that the US thought, 'We would take that, make it better and get US audiences on board with it',' they add. 'I think they were thinking 'What is the US version of Fleabag?' It becomes a Friends or Curb Your Enthusiasm-type show. I don't think that is a direction she was very interested in.' None of which is to say that Waller-Bridge's creative abilities have deserted her. 'It is certainly true that had she been in the UK making shows, you would have imagined another Killing Eve, Fleabag-type project would have come pretty quickly. For whatever reasons her projects just haven't met Amazon's view of what they expect from a global property.' Waller-Bridge's hunt for an international hit goes on. As well as Tomb Raider, Waller-Bridge is also said to be working on an adaptation of Sign Here, the 'darkly humorous' debut novel by Claudia Lux about a man in hell who needs to collect one more soul to win freedom. And the fruits of Waller-Bridge's labour will become apparent next month. She has narrated and executive produced a two-part documentary series called Octopus! about Pacific cephalopods. It launches on Prime Video on May 8.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Phoebe Waller-Bridge Re-Ups With Amazon, Shifts to First-Look Deal
Phoebe Waller-Bridge is sticking with Amazon, shifting from an exclusive overall deal to a new first-look deal with the streamer, TheWrap has learned. The 'Fleabag' creator's new agreement comes a year after Prime Video greenlit her adaptation of 'Tomb Raider,' which will star Sophie Turner as Lara Croft. Waller-Bridge is the latest to shift to a first-look deal, following J.J. Abrams striking a similar pact with Warner Bros. in December. She first signed an overall deal with the tech giant in 2019, which was subsequently extended in 2023. The move comes as Amazon MGM Studios head Jen Salke was ousted from her role at the studio last week and will transition to a producing deal. Salke will not be replaced at the studio. Instead, Mike Hopkins, head of both Amazon MGM and Prime Video, will take full command, with theatrical/streaming film chief Courtenay Valenti and TV chief Vernon Sanders reporting directly to him. News of the re-upped deal with Waller-Bridge was first reported by Puck. The post Phoebe Waller-Bridge Re-Ups With Amazon, Shifts to First-Look Deal appeared first on TheWrap.
