News Shorts: Bookie Renewed On Max For Season 2, Gerald Butler Reprises Role Of Hiccup's Father In Live-Action How To Train Your Dragon And Jack Black Boards The Live-Action Minecraft Feature

Bookie returns for season 2

The sports book is reopening after Max renewed Bookie, starring Sebastian Maniscalco, for a second season.

The series, which premiered on November 30, follows bookie Danny (Maniscalco) as he and his partner, former NFL star Ray (Omar Dorsey), romp around Los Angeles trying to keep their illegal sports betting operation in play.

Update on upcoming feature for How To Train Your Dragon

Universal Pictures‘ live-action adaptation of the DreamWorks Animation franchise How to Train Your Dragon is bringing back a familiar face, as sources tell Deadline that Gerard Butler, who voiced Hiccup’s father Stoick in the original movies, will reprise the role. Mason Thames and Nico Parker are set to star as Hiccup and Astrid, with Dean DeBlois directing, writing and producing.

The film is set to bow on June 13, 2025.

Jack Black joins another gaming adaptation

Production is about to get underway on Warner Bros/Vertigo/Legendary’s feature take on Mojang/Microsoft’s Minecraft, and sources are telling us that Jack Black is joining the cast of the Jason Momoa-led movie.

Also starring in Minecraft are Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen. The Mojang sandbox title is the bestselling video game of all time, with 300 million copies sold and nearly 140M monthly active players.

The Minecraft film hails from Vertigo, co-financier Legendary, Mojang/Microsoft and Momoa’s On the Roam. Jared Hess is directing. Producers include Roy Lee, Jon Berg, Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Momoa, Torfi Frans Olafsson, Vu Bui and the late Jill Messick. EPs are Todd Hallowell, Kayleen Walters, Brian Mendoza and Jonathan Spaihts.

SuperSportBET: MultiChoice Launches New Sports Betting Platform

MultiChoice Group has announced the launch of SuperSportBet, a new betting platform aimed at sports fans.

The sport and casino betting platform, developed in conjunction with Nigeria’s KingMakers, is “aimed at being the ultimate destination for sports fans, the betting fraternity and sports lifestyle enthusiasts”, MultiChoice said in a statement on Friday.

MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela emphasised that the platform is designed for “responsible betting experiences”, with “responsible gambling at its core, offering robust tools for gambling control”.

These features include Reality Check, Loss Limit, Timeout, self-exclusion and account closure options.

The platform offers a range of global sporting events, including key sports such as the leading international and domestic football and rugby competitions.

“Sports betting is quickly growing to be a game-changer in the country and on the continent,” said SuperSportBet GM Barrie Swart in the statement. “SuperSportBet will, with its exciting features and its association to a rich brand like SuperSport, set itself apart in a competitive and saturated market.”

MultiChoice acquired a 20% stake in KingMakers, then known as BetKing, in 2020. It later increased its stake to 49%. 

Development Alert: Mr. Bean: The Animated Returns For Fourth Season Season To Various Cartoonito And Boomerang Channels Worldwide

Banijay’s Tiger Aspect Kids & Family has commissioned the series in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery and ITVX, via deals agreed by Banijay Rights.

Executive produced and voiced by Rowan Atkinson, Season 4 will comprise 52 x 11’ episodes, bringing the total number of episodes across all series to 182 x 11-minutes. It will air on Cartoonito and HBO Max across Europe, the Middle East and Africa on Warner Bros. Discovery’s kids channels and streaming services across Southeast Asia and South Asia, and on ITVX Kids in the U.K. and Ireland from 2025, which marks the 35th anniversary of the first live-action episode.

The animation follows the antics of Mr. Bean and Teddy, as they embark on a series of adventures, making plenty of mischief along the way. Produced by Tiger Aspect Kids & Family, managing director Tom Beattie is also an executive producer. Dave Osborne will direct the series, Arnold Widdowson is producer and the head writers are Ciaran Murtagh and Andrew Barnett Jones.

A British icon, the original live-action “Mr Bean,” co-created by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, bowed in 1990. Atkinson voices the animated series, which was launched in 2002. It has been broadcast in 195 territories, with the series in continual distribution for over 30 years. The brand has some 140 million followers on Meta, 72 million subscribers and 19 billion lifetime views across official YouTube channels; 10 million followers on Instagram; and 14.2 million likes on TikTok.

Atkinson said: “I have always enjoyed this iteration of the Mr. Bean character and the particular freedoms he has in animated form. We can take him into space or down a tin mine, without me personally having to suffer the consequences. The animation process creatively is always fascinating and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into the new series very much.”

Beattie added: “It’s a real pleasure to have the opportunity to go back to such a special series. ‘Mr. Bean’ is an iconic comedy legend and it’s an honor to work with Rowan to create this physically funny series.”

Cathy Payne, CEO Banijay Rights, said: “One of the most loved characters in television comedy history, Mr. Bean’s amusing escapades are cherished by children and families across the world. So we’re thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership with Warner Bros Discovery and ITV on this wonderful animated series which captures Bean’s world so brilliantly.”

Zia Sands, lead content acquisitions, partnerships and co-productions, kids, EMEA, Warner Bros Discovery, said: “Mr. Bean’s comedy antics continue to resonate universally, and we are excited to bring our audiences more of what they love.”

Reminder: Disney's FOX Channels Seen In Portugal And On MultiChoice's DStv In Angola And Mozambique Rebrand To Star This February

The creative and graphic concept of the new brands was developed in Portugal. This work will be implemented in all countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East where Fox channels are present.

From February 7th, the Fox channel will become Star Channel, maintaining the same programming and position on the operators' schedules, announced Walt Disney. 

The remaining Fox channels will also change their name and image: Fox Life will be Star Life, Fox Crime will be Star Crime, Fox Movies will be Star Movies and Fox Comedy will be Star Comedy. The date was advanced on Wednesday simultaneously with the launch of the multimedia campaign “A Brilliant Change”, which was developed and implemented by the creative studio and marketing and communications team at The Walt Disney Company Portugal (TWDC). 

The campaign will be present until February in digital, television, out of home (OOH), cinema, radio, press, press office and content creators. “The Star Channel brand continues the Fox legacy, presenting itself as bold, confident, current and inclusive. With a bold and contemporary voice, the channels will continue to be the destination for major international series and films, maintaining the most watched titles on pay TV in Portugal, the same distribution, the same position on the operators' schedules and the same positioning in the market that they currently have Fox channels”, says in a press release. 

The creative and graphic concept of the new brands that replace Fox channels were developed in Portugal by the TWDC Portugal creative studio in collaboration with local agencies and studios, with the visual concept focusing on “an original detail of the logo , the central cut, which inspired the creation of a luminous 'shooting star', which will guide the public through the channels' programming.” 

This Portuguese work will be implemented in all countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East where Fox channels are present, “thus exporting Portuguese talent throughout the region”.

New Series Alert (Rumour): eMedia Investments Reportedly Acquired Rights To Bollywood Based Drama Yeh Pyaar Nahi Toh Kya Hai, Might Rollout As This Is Love

In the wake of eExtra's repeat padded lineup and faulty EPG, eMedia Investments might be looking to air Yeh Pyaar Nahi Toh Kya Hai under the title This Is Love. This was after a viewer had spotted an Openview advert pertaining to the show's possible debut.

This Is Love was critically acclaimed for its crisp story line and ensemble cast's performance. Set in Delhi, it followed Anushka Reddy who returns home after spending seven years in the US with Siddhant Sinha is a budding lawyer, belongs to middle-class family from Bihar.

It starred Palak Jain as Anushka Sinha, Namit Khanna as Siddhant Sinha, Manish Choudhary as Krishna Kanth "K.K." Reddy, Shahana Verma as Nita Reddy, Vishal Malhotra as Shrikant "Anna" Reddy and Suparna Krishna as Riddhi Reddy and Ankit Raj as Kartik Reddy.

Produced by Bindu and SJ Studio Productions, the Bollywood based drama premiered from 19 March to 31 August 2018 on Sony Entertainment Television (SET) in India and since it's inception had produced 120 episodes each with a duration of 22 minutes.

eMedia Investments hasn't responded to any enquiries regarding the rollout of This Is Love on eExtra. But if we had to guess the show is likely to surface in the timeslot of Surrender In Love.