executive producer

50 Cent’s Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs documentary gets a Netflix release date

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s documentary about Sean Combs finally has a release date.

Netflix announced Tuesday that it would release “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” a four-part docuseries about the disgraced mogul directed by Alexandria Stapleton, on Dec. 2. Jackson, who serves as an executive producer, first revealed he was working on a documentary about Combs and his alleged abuses nearly two years ago.

The synopsis describes the series as a “staggering examination of the media mogul, music legend, and convicted offender” and touts that it will feature “explosive, never-before-seen materials, including exclusive interviews with those formerly in [Combs’] orbit,” such as “his former associates, childhood friends, artists, and employees.”

“Born with an insatiable drive for stardom and a knack for spotting talent, Combs made a quick ascent through the ranks of the music industry with Bad Boy Entertainment and was crucial in bringing hip-hop to the pop masses and launching the careers of dozens of generation-defining artists like The Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, and Danity Kane,” reads the synopsis. “But along the way … something darker began to color his ambitions.”

In July, Combs was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution after a seven-week federal criminal trial in New York. He was cleared of the more serious charges related to racketeering and sex trafficking. The former rapper is serving a four-year sentence.

Jackson, who had long feuded with Combs, often took to social media to troll the Bad Boy Entertainment founder as the various allegations against him mounted and even through the criminal trial’s aftermath.

But the “In Da Club” rapper, whose work in TV also includes serving as executive producer on Starz’s crime thriller “Power,” told Netflix’s Tudum that he’s “been committed to real storytelling for years through G-Unit Film and Television.”

“I’m grateful to everyone who came forward and trusted us with their stories, and proud to have Alexandria Stapleton as the director on the project to bring this important story to the screen,” he said.

Two other documentaries about Combs were released earlier this year: Peacock’s “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy” and Investigation Discovery’s “The Fall of Diddy.”

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‘Gremlins 3’: Steven Spielberg, Chris Columbus to reunite

More Mogwai mayhem is on the way.

A third “Gremlins” movie is officially in the works and eyeing a theatrical release ahead of the 2027 holiday season, Warner Bros. Discovery President and Chief Executive David Zaslav announced Thursday during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. The upcoming project is set to hit theaters Nov. 19, 2027, and will reunite original “Gremlins” scribe Chris Columbus with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, which produced the first two “Gremlins” films.

Columbus will direct and produce the film and Spielberg returns as an executive producer, Zaslav said. The new “Gremlins” film will be franchise’s first movie in more than 30 years. Columbus will write the script with “Final Destination Bloodlines” directing duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein.

Oscar nominee Columbus introduced audiences to the mysterious and maniacal ways of the Mogwai — furry, wide-eyed bipeds with giant ears — with the release of “Gremlins” in 1984. The first film, directed by Joe Dante, established the three nonnegotiables of Mogwai care: Don’t get them wet, don’t feed them after midnight and don’t expose them to bright light. Both the 1984 release and its 1990 sequel, also directed by Dante but written by Charles S. Haas, tracks the havoc that arises when the first two rules are ignored, from unstoppable spawning to unruly mutation into Gremlins.

The “Gremlins” films starred Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Howie Mandel as the voice of two-toned Mogwai Gizmo and Frank Welker as the voices of the films’ antagonists.

Though it has been decades since the last “Gremlins” movie hit the big screen, the furballs got their own spotlight in the 2023 animated prequel TV series “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.”

The series, from showrunner and executive producer Tze Chun, took a deep look into its namesake creatures’ origins, briefly hinted at in the first film by shopkeeper Mr. Wing (played by the Chinese American actor Keye Luke). “Secrets of the Mogwai” zooms in on Mr. Wing’s relationship with Gizmo, who became a through line in the “Gremlins” movies.

Series executive producer Brendan Hay told The Times in 2023 that setting “Secrets of the Mogwai” in 1920s China was “a chance to own the somewhat throwaway origin that the Mogwai have in the films.”

“In the films, it’s clear that they’re of Chinese origin, but it’s not that developed,” Hay said. “This is our chance to tell that story and really embrace it [by] actually try[ing] to find a place for Mogwai that fits into Chinese mythology, or at least builds off of existing Chinese mythology, and have fun in that world.”

Galligan hinted this summer that a new “Gremlins” movie was in the works while appearing at Comic-Con Manchester. According to a TikTok, the actor said “they’ve come up with a script” and that Warner Bros. was “incredibly interested in doing it, apparently it’s waiting upon Mr. Spielberg to read it and approve it.”

“Gremlins” is the latest beloved title rebooted at Warner Bros. Discovery in recent years. Others include “The Lord of the Rings,” “Harry Potter” and “Practical Magic.”

Times staff writers Tracy Brown and Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.



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