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HBO’s The Wizard Of Lies, which premiered this past Saturday, has drawn the network’s most views in 4 years for film. Directed by Barry Levinson, the original feature stars Robert De Niro as infamous fraudster Bernie Madoff.
According to Deadline, the initial showing logged 1.5 million viewers for its 8 PM linear premiere. Additional views over the weekend via network reruns and SVOD platforms HBO GO/NOW increased the film’s total premiere weekend view count to 2.4 million. The significant figures top that of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (1.1 million), which also recently premiered, and makes the film the network’s most watched premiere for an HBO movie since 2013’s Behind the Candelabra. It is also HBO’s third most watched film premiere since 2010.
In other news…
2oth Century Fox has cast Jack Kesy as a major villain (possibly “Black Tom”) in director David Leitch’s forthcoming Deadpool 2 premiering June 1, 2018. If he is to play that role, his character would bond and project energy through plant life and would be a nemesis to Ryan Reynolds’ lead character. [Deadline]
Netflix has released a set of new movie posters for its forthcoming live-action remake of the popular Japanese manga, Death Note. The Adam Wingard-helmed original film centers on a high school student (Nat Wolff) who attains a supernatural notebook with powers to kill and premieres August 25:
Sundance Now’s original series Take 5 premieres today for free via the platform and features notables like Van Jones, Colin Kaepernick and Nate Boyer among others. According to a press release, the series is a collection of six short (5-10 min.) documentaries, which features independent filmmakers exploring patriotism in America.
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam recently confirmed rumors that the company plans to launch an over-the-top TV streaming service later this year. The cable-like platform will likely feature channel bundles and mirror existing platforms such as Sling TV and DirecTV Now. [BGR]
Michael is a music and television junkie keen on most things that are not a complete and total bore. You can follow him on Twitter — @Tweetskoor
