Lifetime will continue its Seven Deadly Sins movie anthology franchise Saturday (April 8) with its latest film, Pride.

The film, produced by Bishop T.D. Jakes, stars Grammy-winning R&B singer Stephanie Mills as an aging bakery owner and reality TV star whose pride and past secrets threaten the enormous success she has achieved, according to Lifetime. 

Along with Mills, Pride: A Seven Deadly Sins Story stars Thomas Miles, Erica Atkins and Keeya King.  

Pride is the fifth movie of Lifetime's Seven Deadly Sins franchise – inspired by novels from author Victoria Christopher Murray – following Lust, Envy, Wrath and Greed. Thus far the franchise has attracted nearly 7 million viewers since its launch in 2022, according to the network.

“From a performance perspective the Seven Deadly Sins franchise has been extremely successful, and Pride is a continuation of the anthology,” Jakes told Multichannel News. “The Seven Deadly Sins concept fits very well with the network – they do not shy away from complicated, dramatic stories. It really fits their brand and our brand as well.” 

For Mills, best known in an acting role for her performance as Dorothy in 1970s Broadway musical The Wiz, the movie and the Seven Deadly Sins franchise offers value-themed content not regularly seen on the small screen. “We live in a content, fast food world and not a substance world, especially with social media ... so I hope that Pride captivates the audience,” she said.  

Pride co-executive producer Shaun Robinson added that the series reflects an opportunity to create content that not only entertains but also carries a message for viewers. Robinson, who also hosts TLC's reality series 90-Day Fiancé, added she hopes to finish the franchise with the final two sins, gluttony and sloth.

“When you put movies together like this you first want them to be entertaining, but also with the films being tied to the morality tales of the Seven Deadly Sins, at the end of the movie we would like people to be able to really think about and examine the effects of certain behavior,” she said. 

Jakes, who has also produced such theatrical films as Jumping The Broom, Sparkle and A Dog’s Way Home, also said he hopes to continue to work with Lifetime to produce content that showcases Black characters and storylines. 

“There is a great affinity in the Black community to produce content where we can tell our own stories and narratives, and we’re grateful that Lifetime has created the platform to allow African-American actors and producers to have a stage to share our talents not only for the Black community but with the rest of the world,” he said. 

Showtime has released the original trailer for  its new original drama series, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, which premieres February 27. 

Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber stars  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kyle Chandler and Uma Thurman, tells the story of one of Silicon Valley’s most successful and most destructive unicorns, Uber, according to the network. 

The season pivots on Travis Kalanick (Gordon-Levitt), Uber’s hard-charging CEO who was ultimately ousted in a boardroom coup, and his sometimes tumultuous relationship with his mentor Bill Gurley (Chandler), the plainspoken, brilliant Texan venture capitalist who bets his sterling reputation on Uber’s success – and then has to live with the consequences, said Showtime.

Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber is the first installment of the anthology series in which each season will explore a story that rocked the business world and changed culture. Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber is executive produced by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Beth Schacter, Paul Schiff, Stephen Schiff and Allyce Ozarski. ■ 

HBO in July will debut the fourth and final season of its drama anthology series Room 104 for a fourth and final season, the network said Tuesday.

The series, which tells a unique and unexpected tale of characters who pass through a single room of a hotel, will debut 12 new episodes beginning July 24, said network officials. 

AMC will welcome Star Trek actor George Takei to the second season of its anthology series The Terror, the network said Tuesday.

Takei will serve as consultant and series regular for The Terror, which stars Derek Mio. 

Additional casting includes Kiki Sukezane (Lost in Space), Miki Ishikawa (9-1-1), Shingo Usami (Unbroken) and Naoko Mori (Everest). The sophomore season of the series will debut on AMC next year with 10 episodes, said network officials.

The Terror will focus on a series of bizarre deaths that haunt a Japanese-American community, and a young man's journey to understand and combat the entity responsible, said the network. 

Season two of the series is co-created and executive produced by Alexander Woo (True Blood) and Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla). Ridley Scott, Dan Simmons, David W. Zucker, Alexandra Milchan, Scott Lambert and Guymon Casady also serve as executive producers.

HBO Wednesday released the video trailer for the second season of its anthology series Room 104.   

The series, from creators and executive producers Mark and Jay Duplass, returns for its 12-episode sophomore campaign Nov. 9, according to the network. Room 104, which is set in a single room and tells a different story of the assorted characters who pass through it in each episode, will feature such actors as Mahershala Ali, Joel Allen, Stephanie Allynne, Katie Aselton, Frank Birney, Josephine Decker, James Earl, Marlene Forte, Abby Ryder Fortson, Ginger Gonzaga, Judy Greer, Brian Tyree Henry, Anita Kalathara, Jennifer Lafleur, Tom Lenk, Phil Matarese, Sheaun McKinney, Natalie Morales, Kent Osborne, Zane Pais, Leonora Pitts, Mark Proksch, Pia Shah, Michael Shannon, Onur Tukel, Dolly Wells, Jud Williford, Rainn Wilson, Mary Wiseman, Charlyne Yi and Katya Zamolodchikova.

Room 104 season two directors include Patrick Brice, Josephine Decker, Mark Duplass, Gaby Hoffmann, Liza Johnson, So Yong Kim, Jonah Markowitz, Natalie Morales, Lila Neugebauer, Ross Partridge and Julian Wass, said the network.

The World According to Netflix

TWIN: Netflix has already conquered the U.S. subscription VOD market, now it is setting its sights on beefing up its international presence.

MCN Take: According to Sanford Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger, Netflix could nearly double its global subscribers to 300 million by 2026, an estimate even he says is conservative.

Read the full story at Broadcasting & Cable.

Netflix Renews '13 Reasons Why' for Third Season, Despite Controversy

TWIN: The third season will commence sometime in 2019, according to Netflix. The controversial series, about a high school girl who commits suicide, has received a torrent of complaints from parents groups since its 2017 debut, claiming it glorifies teen suicide and bullying.

MCN Take: Despite the criticism, the show is one of Netflix’s most popular. The second season, which debuted May 18, drew an average audience of more than 2.6 million viewers, with viewers watching an average of more than four episodes of the 13-episode series during its first weekend, according to Nielsen data.

Read the full story at Multichannel News.

Netflix to Adapt Dolly Parton Songs for Series

TWIN: The country music icon will executive produce an anthology series for which Parton’s songs will supply the plot. Eight Parton songs will be adapted into standalone episodes.

MCN Take: It won’t be the first time a Parton song will be adapted for video – her song "Coat of Many Colors" has been adapted for NBC’s Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors in 2015 and a 2016 follow-up, Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors.

Read the full story at The New York Times.

Rock Tells Obamas to Make Money Elsewhere

TWIN: Comedian Chris Rock commented on the reported 8-figure development deal former President Barack Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle, made with Netflix, telling The Hollywood Reporter that he did not want to “live in a world where President Obama is worried about his Rotten Tomatoes score.”

MCN Take: Rock, who signed his own $40 million deal with the streaming service two years ago, said he wanted the former President and First Lady “above that at all times,” adding he wants the Obamas to make money, just not like that.

Get the full story at The Hollywood Reporter.

Netflix Announces 'Orange Is the New Black' Season 6 Premiere Date

TWIN: The sixth season of the Jenji Kohan-helmed drama will drop on July 27, a little more than a year after its Season 5 debut, which depicted a riot at the minimum security women’s prison after one of its own, Poussey, played by actress Samira Wiley, was killed by a corrections officer. In a cryptic trailer for the new season, a wrecked prison cafeteria is shown, followed by a prison bus under the header "To the Max," suggesting that the women could find themselves in the maximum security section of the facility.

MCN Take: Kohan signed a multi-year deal with Netflix in November – she also is behind female wrestling-themed series Glow, whose second season will air June 29. Orange Is the New Black continues to be one of the most popular series on the streaming service.

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Read more at Deadline.com.

FX’s anthology series American Horror Story: Cult drew 6.9 million viewers on a Nielsen Live +3 basis for its Sept. 5 premiere, said network officials.

The Ryan Murphy-produced series – the seventh iteration of the American Horror Story anthology franchise – also drew 4.5 million adult 18-49 viewers, making it the second most-watched basic cable entertainment program of 2017 year-to-date in both the demo and on a total audience basis behind AMC’s The Walking Dead, said network officials.

Including non-linear viewing, the series averaged 6.91 million total viewers for its premiere telecast, said FX.