I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post includes blurbs on Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told, and Nikka Costa
- Hulu has released the official trailer and key art for the highly anticipated documentary "Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told." The film will premiere Thursday, March 21, only on Hulu. From Executive Producers Luke Campbell, Jermaine Dupri and 21 Savage, and masterfully crafted by Mass Appeal & Swirl Films, Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told is a celebratory exploration of the boisterous times of Freaknik, the iconic Atlanta street party that drew hundreds of thousands of people in the 80s and 90s, helping put Atlanta on the map culturally. What began as a Black college cookout, soon became known for lurid tales of highway hookups and legendary late-night parties that ultimately led to the festival’s downfall. At its height, Freaknik was a traffic stopping, city-shuttering, juggernaut that has since become a cult classic. Rooted deep in its history of Civil Rights, thriving Black leadership, and focus on the uplifting of Black culture and education, Atlanta became the only place a festival like this could grow and thrive. Though it ceased over two decades ago, the infamous legacy still resonates through nostalgia and a new generation’s longing for a care-free platform that celebrates and promotes Black excellence, joy and fortitude.
- The LA-based soul and funk singer Nikka Costa returns with her first new music “Dirty Disco” in six years and announces her upcoming album Dirty Disco to be released this June 7th. Known for her powerful vocals, dynamic stage presence, and diverse musical influences, Nikka Costa returns from a musical career break with future-forward disco-inspired sounds. The lyric “Everyone is welcome, everyone’s an Avatar” denotes a place where anyone can go to be themselves and let their freak flag fly!’ and sets the tone for her disco and soul fused, progressive album, which is recorded with and produced by Justin Stanley (Prince, Jamie Lidell, Beck etc). Along with the talents of versatile musicians such as Brandon Coleman (Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Donald Glover, Flying Lotus), Greg Phillinganes (Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder) and Kaveh Rastegar (John Legend, Beck), Nikka Costa brings you in her “Dirty Disco” immersive world.
Next month marks three years of Paramount+ and we are proud to continue to be a premiere streaming destination for news, sports and a Mountain of Entertainment.
In March, viewers will be transported through time to the opulence of the 1920s in the page-to-screen adaption of A Gentleman in Moscow starring Ewan McGregor. Hearts will soar when Little Wing, a family film about a young girl and a very special bird, takes flight. And sports fans will cheer as they stream both the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship games on CBS and UEFA Champions League matches that determine this year’s quarterfinalists.
For a closer look at all the entertainment coming to Paramount+ in March, check out the latest edition of View from the Peak.
This month, sports fans live streamed all the action of Super Bowl LVIII on Paramount+, delivering the most-streamed Super Bowl in history with an increase of +52% in Average Minute Audience over the previous year.
Streaming engagement was at an all-time high when viewers tuned in for the game, Usher's halftime show and Reba McEntire’s national anthem. Paramount+ scored the most minutes consumed for a Super Bowl stream with 2.64 billion minutes, making it the first Super Bowl stream to generate more than 2 billion minutes of consumption.
Fan excitement was over-the-top, and Super Bowl LVIII is the #1 most social telecast in history with a total of 62.8 million interactions, up 27% year-over-year.
Live sports such as the NFL ON CBS is one of the top sign-up drivers for the service. Once viewers tune in to watch a live event, they tend to stay to enjoy our variety of content that extends across genres. In fact, almost 90% of the viewing hours during these subscribers' lifetimes come from non-sports content. In particular, following the Super Bowl, Halo, which returned to the service for its second season just days before, saw strong engagement.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor and Alexa Goodall in A Gentleman in Moscow.
Next month, A Gentleman in Moscow, the highly anticipated adaptation of The New York Times best-selling novel by Amor Towles, debuts for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers. Set in post-revolutionary Russia, the limited series stars Ewan McGregor as Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, an aristocrat sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest at The Hotel Metropol.
Rostov’s imprisonment meant that the hotel itself needed special attention throughout the series, so the production team built its version of the iconic building from scratch. “The Metropol Hotel is our world and it’s integral to the story,” said showrunner Ben Vanstone. “We stayed within the bounds of the hotel so it had to have the color, life and dynamism to keep our interest.”
As the world moves on, Rostov’s opulent domain remains unchanged. “It’s kind of a gilded cage that he’s in,” Vanstone said. “We wanted to have a sense that, while it may look beautiful with fantastic lights, decorations, plants and flowers, ultimately it’s still a prison.”
Lock yourself away when A Gentleman in Moscow premieres on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME on March 29.
The upcoming Paramount+ Original movie Little Wing introduces viewers to Kaitlyn (Brooklynn Prince), a teen looking to help her mother (Kelly Reilly) save their home. We recently sat down with Prince to learn about how she prepared for the role and her introduction to the unusual world of pigeon racing, which is central to the story.
Tell us a little bit about your process for finding this character.
The first thing I did was make a Kaitlyn playlist. I downloaded music I thought the character would like, which included artists like Green Day, Evanescence, No Doubt, Kathleen Hanna, The Ramones and many more. I also worked very closely with my mom, who also is my acting coach, on the approach we wanted to take with her. We felt that Kaitlyn needed a perfect blend of sass and vulnerability; she has so many layers that needed to be seen to make her feel like a real teen.
Before working on this film had you ever heard about pigeon racing?
It was something I never even knew existed. I thought it was fascinating how you can release all these pigeons that eventually find their way home. It shows you how intelligent they are and how home really has an effect on all of us.
Did you have any favorite pigeons you worked with on the set?
OMG! YES! I really connected with a few of the pigeons, but Apollo (who played the Granger) really stole my heart. Honestly, he’s the true MVP of the whole movie; sorry Brian [Cox]! Our bird handlers, Lauren and Roland, were so amazing and patient with me since I was nervous with the birds, at first, but I’ve grown to really love pigeons!
This film has such a phenomenal cast. What was it like working with everyone, especially legends like Brian Cox and Kelly Reilly?
Legends is right! Working with such great actors sometimes is super scary, so I just always felt the need to rise to every occasion to make them proud of me. Kelly was so much fun; she brought girl power to the set every day. There was a lot of testosterone on set, so it was nice to have her there. Brian and I got to spend a lot of time together, and I enjoyed every second. He told me so many amazing stories about his life and the theater and gave me a lot of advice. I feel so blessed by this cast.
Is there anything else you want to share about Little Wing?
Little Wing is a story for everybody. Everyone in the family is able to connect to a character. I hope it allows families to talk about mental health so that we, as human beings, can understand each other. Being a teen is hard, and everything feels big when you’re my age. I also think the movie is a great reminder to adults of what it feels like to be young and experience huge emotions.
Race to Paramount+ when Little Wing premieres on March 13.
Football season has ended, but fĂºtbol fans are more than ready to stream CBS Sports’ coverage of UEFA Champions League round of 16 matches. These games determine which teams will head to the quarterfinals for soccer's most prestigious annual trophy.
Paramount+ is the only place to watch every English-language UEFA Champions League match live in the U.S., and this year is already our most-streamed season ever. Notable matches to watch out for include Bayern Munich vs. Lazio on March 5, Real Madrid vs. RB Leipzig on March 6 and Barcelona vs. Napoli on March 12.
In celebration of Women’s History Month, our Women Who Move Mountains collection shines a light on the real and fictional ladies who inspire us. New additions to the curated collection include June, a documentary that showcases the many talents of country-music legend June Carter Cash; Elsbeth, the brand-new The Good Wife spinoff, which sees the return of Carrie Preston as fan-favorite lawyer Elsbeth Tascioni; Special Ops: Lioness, which features powerful performances by Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira and Nicole Kidman, and many more shows and films that tell women's stories.
The fictional town of Hiddenville is poised for some big adventures when The Thundermans Return premieres on the service. In the film, super-powered teens Phoebe and Max are sent back to their hometown to lie low, but a nefarious supervillain has other plans. While fans wait for the new movie, they can relive the Thundermans’ earlier adventures with all four seasons of the hit Nickelodeon series, available to stream now.
Paramount+’s The Lodge is back with a new cross-country tour, including a pop-up at SXSW in Austin from March 8-11. Featuring new interactive experiences, The Lodge brings iconic Paramount+ franchises and beloved characters to fans and new audiences. Find more information about the tour schedule here.
Kevin James, Leah Remini and Jerry Stiller in The King of Queens
Next month, fans can expect lots of laughs when all nine seasons of the beloved CBS sitcom The King of Queens debuts on Paramount+. The series centers on Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie Heffernan (Leah Remini), a middle-class couple living in Queens, NY who must contend with both modern life and Carrie’s cantankerous father Arthur (Jerry Stiller).
Speaking of classic comedies, some of our favorite laugh riots are joining the service in March including Airplane!, Airplane II: The Sequel, Coming to America, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, Wayne’s World, Not Another Teen Movie, Raising Arizona and more
ORIGINALS, EXCLUSIVES, PREMIERES & EVENTS
3/1: War Pony premiere* Bound by their shared search for belonging, two young Oglala Lakota men growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation grapple with a world built against them as they navigate their unique paths to manhood.
3/6: Raging Grace premiere* Winner of the Grand Jury Award at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, this film follows the struggles of an undocumented Filipina immigrant who takes a job caring for an extremely wealthy but terminally ill old man.
3/7: The Thundermans Return premiere The epic adventures of a superhero family, introduced in the hit Nickelodeon series, continue in a brand new movie. When one save goes wrong, the Thundermans are sent back to Hiddenville.
3/12: Never Seen Again, season five premiere In this gripping true-crime series, family members recount the last time they saw their loved ones before they vanished into thin air.
3/13: Little Wing premiere Inspired by The New Yorker article by Susan Orlean, Little Wing follows Kaitlyn, a teen who is reeling from her parents’ divorce and the pending loss of her home. When stealing a valuable bird, Kaitlyn forms a bond with the owner that leads her to a new outlook on life.
3/29: A Gentleman in Moscow premiere* An adaptation of Amor Towles’ internationally best-selling novel, A Gentleman in Moscow follows Count Alexander Rostov who, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, is sentenced to house arrest in the opulent Hotel Metropol.
3/30: Beyond The Aggressives: 25 Years Later premiere* In 2005, the groundbreaking film The Aggressives showcased the remarkable stories of queer BIPOC individuals Chin, Octavio, Trevon, and Kisha. Now, nearly 20 years later, the same four protagonists reunite to reflect on their past and envision new futures.
LIBRARY SHOWS
March 6
Air Warriors (Season 11)
March 7
CBS News Specials: State of the Union Address
March 8
Blaze and the Monster Machines: Blaze of Glory Blaze and the Monster Machines: Race to the Top of the World!
March 13
America's Hidden Stories (Season 3) Black Ink Crew Los Angeles (Season 2) Black Ink Crew New York (Season 10) Peppa Pig (Season 9) The Amazing Race (Season 36)**
March 20
The Last Cowboy (Season 4)
March 25
The King of Queens (Seasons 1-9)
March 27
Behind the Music (Season 2) LL Cool J Presents: The Rock the Bells Festival - Celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop Ten Steps to Disaster (Season 2)
MOVIES
March 1
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Airplane II: The Sequel Airplane! All About the Benjamins An Elephant's Journey* Angela's Ashes At Any Price Awakenings* Black Sheep (1996) Blood Out* Burnt* Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Coming to America Deception (2008) Disturbia Drugstore Cowboy* Enough Said Flatliners (1990) Flyboys* Footloose (1984) Frank Miller's Sin City* Freelancers* Guns Akimbo* Happy-Go-Lucky* In Bloom* In Too Deep (1999) Inside Llewyn Davis Jagged Edge Lizzie* Miller's Crossing Noah (2004) Not Another Teen Movie Once Upon a Time in America Raising Arizona Requiem for a Dream* Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse Seabiscuit Sleepy Hollow St. Elmo's Fire* The Abyss (1989) The Big Short The Brady Bunch Movie The Dictator The Drop The Gift* The Girl Next Door The Good Girl The Outsiders (1983) The Vatican Tapes* The Warriors (1979) Tommy Boy Wayne's World William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet
* Title is available to Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers.
**All Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers can live stream CBS titles via the live feed on Paramount+. Those titles will be available on-demand to all subscribers the day after they air live.
True Detective: Wait, the dead lady broke their toy so they all
gang stabbed her? What an absolutely
stupid ending. Disappointing they are
letting that writer take another stab at the property.
Death and Other Details:
Just when I thought this show could not get any worse, the chick who cannot act
tried to act like Manny Patinkin for half the episode.Ooof.
The Challenge: Battle
for a New Challenge:Oooof, after all
that Emmanuel wins.He is maybe the least
deserving winner in the history of the show.Please stop casting people who first language is not English.
Halo:Maybe this show should just skip the lore are
any resemblance to a plot and just do action sequences every week.
I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post includes blurbs on Extraordinary, Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Kahan, True Detective, The Thread, Grouplove, Modern English, Kid Cudi, Eddie Vedder, and Chad Powers.
- Multi-Platinum singer-songwritersOlivia RodrigoandNoah Kahan team up on a special live recording that will be available at participating independent record stores as part of the celebration of Record Store Day.Olivia Rodrigo “Stick Season”/Noah Kahan “Lacy” - FROM THE BBC RADIO 1 LIVE LOUNGEwill be released onApril 20viaGeffen/Mercury/Republic. The 7-inch colored vinyl features three-time GRAMMY® Award winner Rodrigo covering Kahan’s breakout hit “Stick Season” on Side A and GRAMMY® Best New Artist nominee Kahan delivering a stunning rendition of “Lacy” from Rodrigo’s chart-topping sophomore album, GUTS, on Side B. “Stick Season,” the lead single from Kahan’s 2022 album of the same name, has been certified 2x Platinum in the U.S. “Lacy” was named as one of the best songs of 2023 by Variety, which noted, “Rodrigo makes poetry out of insecurity like nobody’s business.” More information and participating stores at recordstoreday.com.
- Get on the case and catch up on all the clues from HBO’s riveting Emmy Award®-winning limited series, as Warner Bros Discovery Home Entertainment releases True Detective: Night Country on Digital now, and on Blu-ray & DVD July 9. Fans and newcomers alike can binge on all 6 thrilling episodes from Season 4, while they search for answers and go behind the scenes with bonus content. True Detective: Night Country is available now to purchase Digitally from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more. The series will also be available on Blu-ray & DVD by purchasing online and in-store at major retailers on July 9. Pre-order your copy now.
- Life Stories, a nonprofit media organization that produces and distributes films about people whose lives inspire meaningful change, announced it will stream THE THREAD, a new documentary interview series on YouTube in which exceptional individuals share the different paths they have taken to lead meaningful lives. 16 episodes of THE THREAD will premiere weekly from March 4 - June 17, 2024 and feature interviews with Gloria Estefan, Martin Sheen, Kurt "Big Boy" Alexander, Tony Hawk, Katie Couric, Mitt Romney, and other notable figures. THE THREAD will be made available to the public through the Life Stories website (LifeStories.org), Life Stories YouTube channel, and as a podcast across all major platforms. THE THREAD: Season One trailer can be seen here: https://youtu.be/jE6blJo48Sw
- GRAMMY® Best New Artist nominee and multi-platinum singer-songwriter Noah Kahan’s global smash hit “Stick Season” enters the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart this week following the release of the long-awaited, final installment of the Stick Season series, Stick Season (Forever). Released on February 9th via Mercury Records / Republic Records, Stick Season (Forever) debuted in the Top 3 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, and upon release, “Stick Season” immediately rose to #1 on the Spotify Top Songs USA Chart. Not to mention, this week following his two sold-out shows at London’s Wembley Arena, Kahan achieved a rare album and single charts double in the UK as Stick Season (Forever)toppedthe UK Official Albums Chart for the first time and “Stick Season” held the #1 position on the UK Official Singles Chart for the seventh consecutive week. Noah joins the likes of Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Adele as a select group of superstar artists to have accomplished this incredible achievement.
- Indie rock mainstays GROUPLOVE release their frenetic new single “Chances” to kick off their headline North American tour. With the band’s vocalist/keyboardist Hannah Hooper at the helm, the new offering is an overstimulated, hallucinogenic, aggressive singsong. A band that transcends their ever-shapeshifting genre, GROUPLOVE too has evolved over the last decade, channeling their ecstatic energy into the deepest tensions of the human psyche, all while playing with the contradictions and complications of existing — Stream “Chances." With this new single following their 2023 album I Want It All Right Now, and smashing the bottle on the ship of the Rock And Roll You Won’t Save Me Tour, GROUPLOVE will spend the next month on a massive headline run with support from Bully. VIP packages for the tour include access to an intimate pre-show soundcheck performance and Q&A, as well as an exclusive fan zine designed by the band. The months of May and June will also see the band make stops at Wildflower! Festival and Bonnaroo. See all upcoming tour dates here and below.
- Modern English is excited to announce the release of 1 2 3 4,the legendary British new wave/post-punk band’s first album of new material in eight years. Produced by Mario J. McNulty (David Bowie, Lou Reed, Nine Inch Nails), mixed by Cenzo Townsend and mastered at Abbey Road, 1 2 3 4retains the intrinsic spirit of these early post-punk days, and is also a sterling sonic example of what Modern English have always done best.The album encompasses seething songs with a punk bite (“Long in The Tooth,” “Plastic”), keyboard-forward melodic rockers ("Not Fake,” "Crazy Lovers") and simmering, darkwave-meets-post-punk gems (“Exploding,” “Out to Lunch”). With a touch of subtle themes lifted from After the Snow (1982) and Ricochet Days (1984)that include the environment, aging, failed relationships, love, politics and more, 1 2 3 4 finds the legendary band delving into nostalgia but, as always, exploring new creative territory. Stream the band’s new single, “Not Fake,” on YouTube HERE.
- Building out an artistic realm without comparison, GRAMMY® Award-winning multi-platinum sonic visionary, artist, producer, actor and directorKid Cudiunveils a brand new offering entitled,INSANO (NITRO MEGA), out now viaRepublic Records. He has magnified the world of his 2024 ninth studio album,INSANO, with18 brand new tracksonINSANO (NITRO MEGA). As such, he delivers not just a spiritual successor, but a fully realized body of work in its own right and, asCudiput it on Twitter,“a continuation, a elevation of the vibes.” Listen HERE. It notably includes a like minded cohort of talent, namely Wiz Khalifa, Lil Yachty, Bone Thugs & Harmony, Chip The Ripper and more. Check out the full tracklisting below.
- The second annualReportin’ For Dutytook place last weekend, honoring the late Leslie Jordan’s life of service by raising over $1 MillionforEB Research Partnership (EBRP), an organization close to his heart that is dedicated to funding research to treat and cure Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). The night featured intimate performances fromPost Malone, EBRP Co-FounderEddie Vedder,The War And Treaty,Jelly Roll, Ruby Amanfu, Jake Wesley Rogers and Dan Spencer. Watch Post Malone and Eddie Vedder perform “Better Man”Taking place atHumble Baron at Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville, TN, the concert and live auction helped support EBRP, which funds innovative and life-saving rare disease research projects.
- Hulu announced the series order for half-hour comedy “Chad Powers,” from co-creators and executive producers Glen Powell and Michael Waldron. Eli Manning serves as executive producer along with Omaha Productions’ Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz, Ben Brown and ESPN. Waldron and Adam Fasullo are producing for Anomaly Pictures. The series stars Powell, who is also co-creating, co-writing and executive producing under his production co-banner Barnstorm Productions. It hails from 20th Television. When bad behavior nukes hotshot QB Russ Holliday’s college career, he disguises himself and walks onto a struggling Southern football team as the talented, affable Chad Powers. Based on the sketch produced by NFL Films and Omaha Productions that aired on ESPN+ as part of the Eli's Places series, the half-hour comedy from 20th Televison will stream on Hulu. Powell and Waldron co-wrote the pilot.