Topic Studios and Playground are developing States of America, an hourlong dystopian drama written by Tom King, a former CIA officer turned bestselling author and comic book writer, as a television series. States of America is set in a deeply divided U.S. that with an unprovoked act of war has been forced to suffer…

Colin Callender’s Playground and Sonia Friedman Productions are teaming for a contemporary TV movie version of King Lear, with a starry ensemble led by Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. The duo is reuniting after seminal early ’90s collaborations Howards End and The Remains Of The Day. Richard Eyre will helm the…

Colin Collender’s Playground has optioned the rights to David Enrich's new narrative nonfiction book The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History, for series development. Author and Wall Street Journal business editor Enrich won…

Colin Callender’s Playground (Wolf Hall, The White Queen) has promoted Scott Huff and Elyse Dolbec as part of the company’s push to expand its television slate in the U.S. The company also is providing a glimpse into its current slate of projects in development and production. Huff will become SVP of Development and…

BBC One has greenlit a long-gestating miniseries adaptation of Howards End, based on the classic EM Forster novel which was turned into an Oscar-winning Merchant Ivory feature in 1992. The four-part drama is produced by Colin Callender’s Playground in association with City Entertainment and KippSterEntertainment. As…

The three actors who will lead Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, the West End play that’s been referred to as the eighth part of the series, have been revealed in London. Stage veterans each, they will play older versions of the Boy Wizard, and his best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. In order, the actors…

When we last saw Harry Potter at the end of Deathly Hallows Part 2, he was an adult, seeing off his own son to Hogwarts from King’s Cross’ Platform 9 3/4. Harry Potter And The Cursed Child will pick up from there. Details were revealed today about the stage play that’s based on a story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and…

Colin Callender's Playground Entertainment has been steadily expanding its UK television team with Tom Leggett the latest to join. A former Film4 Senior Development Editor, Leggett will now be Director of Development, Playground Television UK. He will work in the London office alongside Managing Director of Playground…

Wolf Hall won’t make its way to PBS’ Masterpiece until April 5, but it did kick off last night on BBC Two in the UK. The six-part adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning historical fiction novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, bowed to strong ratings and five-star reviews (see trailer below). The…

Amid rapid expansion, Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment has hired Sophie Gardiner as Creative Director of Playground Television in the UK. Gardiner will develop and produce original British dramas and will assume an active role in the company’s existing and future co-productions. The exec is the former…

Colin Callender has brought in All3Media executive Louise Pedersen as Managing Director of UK operations for his production…