Jennifer Lopez to Star in Film Adaptation of Isabella Maldonado’s Novel “The Cipher” 

Jennifer Lopez is joining the Bureau

The 51-year-old Puerto Rican star will star and produce the feature adaptation of Isabella Maldonado’s novel The Cipher

Jennifer Lopez

Lopez will play FBI agent Nina Guerrera, who is pulled into a serial killer’s case after he leaves complex codes and riddles online, which are linked to his recent murders.

Netflix optioned The Cipher for Lopez and producing partners Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina.

Liza Fleissig, Ginger Harris-Dontzin, Catherine Hagedorn and Maldonado are executive producing the film.

Jennifer Lopez’s “Shotgun Wedding,” Co-Starring Armie Hammer, Heading to Amazon Prime Video

Jennifer Lopez’s latest project has landed an Amazonian deal…

Jennifer Lopez

Following weeks of negotiations, the 51-year-old Puerto Rican superstar’s big-budget action-comedy Shotgun Wedding, co-starring Armie Hammer, is heading to Amazon Prime Video for a host of major international territories, as well as to some key indie buyers.

Lionsgate will retain the film’s domestic rights.

Lionsgate’s sales division is in final talks to pre-sell the in-demand film to Amazon for UK/Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Benelux and Latin America.

Deals are also being finalized with some foreign buyers, including Leonine in Germany and Nordisk in Scandinavia. Negotiations are also ongoing in most Asian markets.

In Shotgun Wedding, Lopez and Hammer will play a couple who gather their lovable but very opinionated families for the ultimate destination wedding just as they begin to get cold feet about their relationship. If that wasn’t enough of a threat to the celebration, suddenly everyone’s lives are in danger when the entire party is taken hostage.

Jason Moore will direct from a screenplay by Mark Hammer and Liz Meriwether.

Production is expected to begin early next year.

 

Lopez is producing the film through her Nuyorican Productions’ company, alongside Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina.

 

NBC Renews Lopez’s “Shades of Blue” for Third Season

There’s more Blue in Jennifer Lopez’s future…

NBC has renewed Shades of Blue, starring the 47-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer and Ray Liotta, for a third season.

Jennifer Lopez

The announcement comes only two weeks into the police corruption drama’s sophomore run.

Shades of Blue has done okay relocating from Thursday to Sunday, wining its new Sunday 10:00 pm slot. It averages a modest 5.0 million viewers and 1.0 among adults 18-49 in Live+same day, though, in today’s day and age, these are considered solid linear numbers for a serialized 10:00 pm broadcast drama series.

Shades of Blue is boosted by a strong delayed viewing. It adds substantial viewership from time-shifting and video on demand, with the show’s March 5 season premiere growing by 66% in L+3 to a 1.6 rating in adults 18-49, and in total viewers by 2.5 million persons to a total of 7.8 million, accounting for the biggest L+3 lifts of the night on the Big 4 networks.

“We’re so hugely appreciative of everything Jennifer and Ray do, and know it is due to their dedication, as well as the hard work of our incredible cast and producers, that ‘Shades of Blue’ has so clearly and compellingly earned a third-season renewal,” said NBC’s president of entertainment Salke said. “This show continues to mine powerful stories that always leave us hungry for more.”

Harlee Santos (Lopez) is a charismatic single mother and resourceful detective at the heart of a tight-knit crew of Brooklyn detectives, led by enigmatic Lt. Matt Wozniak (Liotta) who often leads the team to step outside the limitations of the law in order to effectively protect their precinct and their own.

The cast of the series, created by Adi Hasak, includes Drea de Matteo, Dayo Okeniyi, Vincent Laresca, Hampton Fluker, Sarah Jeffery and Gino Anthony Pesi.

Showrunner Jack Orman and Lopez serve as executive producers along with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Benny Medina, Ryan Seacrest and Nina Wass.

Shades of Blue is a production of Universal Television, Nuyorican Productions, EGTV, Ryan Seacrest Productions and Jack Orman Productions.

Lopez to Star in NBC’s Live Television Adaptation of the Hit Broadway Musical “Bye Bye Birdie”

Everything’s coming up Rosie for Jennifer Lopez

NBC has slated Bye Bye Birdie as its next live musical, with the 46-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer set as the star.

Jennifer Lopez

Lopez will executive produce with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Benny Medina, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and her company Nuyorican Productions will produce with Universal Television.

Harvey Fierstein will write the television adaptation, with the special set to air in 2017.

The original Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie won the Tony Award in 1961 for best musical. It starred Dick Van Dyke, who also won a Tony for best actor in a musical, as Albert Peterson, the manager of rock star Conrad Birdie, and Chita Rivera as Rosie Alvarez, Albert’s girlfriend and secretary. When Birdie is drafted into the Army, Albert and Rosie concoct a plan to have Birdie give “one last kiss” to a small-town high school girl live on The Ed Sullivan Show before heading off for induction.

The show was adapted into a 1963 feature film starring Van Dyke and Janet Leigh. A short-lived 2010 Broadway revival starred John Stamos and Gina Gershon.

Lopez, who stars in NBC’s Shades of Blue, will play the part of Rosie in the NBC version. No other casting has yet been announced.

Under Greenblatt, NBC has made a tradition of airing live musicals in December, where the network believes the holiday time is a fertile ground for family-friendly co-viewing. The first, Sound of Music Live! starring Carrie Underwood, aired in 2013 and was watched by 18.6 million viewers. That effort was followed by Peter Pan Live! starring Allison Williams and Christopher Walken, and The Wiz Live! starring Queen Latifah and Shanice Williams.

Zadan and Meron have served as exec producers on all four NBC live musicals, and Fierstein previously wrote the television adaptation for The Wiz Live! and wrote the adaptation for NBC’s upcoming Hairspray Live!, which will air on December 7.

HBO Developing Film About Drug Lord Griselda Blanco Starring Lopez

It’s a case of black & Blanco moment for Jennifer Lopez

HBO is developing a film about notorious drug lord Griselda Blanco to be played by the 47-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer.

Jennifer Lopez

The film, from Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions and LBI Entertainment, focuses on the rise and fall of Blanco (Lopez), the drug lord known as “The Cocaine Godmother” who revolutionized the U.S. drug trade during the 1970s and 1980s and became the most powerful female cartel member of all time.

Lopez will executive produce with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas via Nuyorican Productions. Benny Medina also will executive produce with Julie Yorn and Rick Yorn for LBI Entertainment.

Griselda Blanco

“I’ve been fascinated by the life of this corrupt and complicated woman for many years,” said Lopez. “The idea of teaming with HBO felt like the perfect fit for finally bringing Griselda’s story to life.”

Lopez stars in NBC’s drama Shades of Blue, recently renewed for a second season, which she executive produces with Goldsmith-Thomas and Medina.

Nuyorican Productions’ other credits include the Freeform series The Fosters and the Universal movie The Boy Next Door.

Lopez’s Police Drama “Shades of Blue” to Premiere in January on NBC

Jennifer Lopez will be feeling blue in January…

NBC has announced the premiere date for Shades of Blue, starring the 46-year-old Puerto Rican singer, actress and American Idol judge.

Jennifer Lopez 

The straight-to-series police drama, which also stars Ray Liotta, will debut on Thursday, January 14 at 9:00 pm with a two-hour premiere episode directed by Barry Levinson.

The show will then move to its regular 10:00 pm timeslot behind The Blacklist the following Thursday, January 21.

There, Shades Of Blue will succeed new fall drama The Player.

“From a marketing perspective, the January 14 date takes advantage of both solid Sunday Night Football games and strong holiday programming through the first week of January,” is how NBC’s head of scheduling Jeff Bader explains the rationale behind the premiere date choice. “Also, in one of the most-watched weekends of the year (January 9-10), we have the NFL Wild Card game and Golden Globes, both of which make for great promotional opportunities.”

Shades of Blue 

Shades Of Blue centers on Harlee Santos (Lopez), a charismatic single mother and resourceful detective at the heart of a tight-knit crew of Brooklyn detectives, led by enigmatic Lt. Matt Wozniak (Liotta) who often leads the team to step outside the limitations of the law in order to effectively protect their precinct and their own. As a big illegal job looms on the horizon, the FBI catches Harlee in the act and pits her against her own unit. As a newly turned informant, Harlee struggles to safeguard her on-the-job family and avoid arrest in order to stay with her daughter.

The series co-stars Warren Kole, Drea de Matteo, Dayo Okeniyi, Vincent Laresca, Hampton Fluker and Sarah Jeffery.

It is executive produced by Jack Orman, Adi Hasak, Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Benny Medina, Ryan Seacrest and Nina Wass.

Lopez to Pen Her First Book “True Love”

Jennifer Lopez is adding “author” to her already impressive resume…

Celebra, a division of Penguin Group (USA), has announced plans to release the 44-year-old Puerto Rican singer, actress and American Idol judge’s first book — titled True Love — on Tuesday, October 28.

Jennifer Lopez

A hardcover edition of the book will be published simultaneously in English and Spanish.

In True Love, Lopez will write about what is being described as “one of her life’s most defining periods – the transformative two-year journey of how, as an artist and a mother, she confronted her greatest challenges, identified her biggest fears, and ultimately emerged a stronger person than she’s ever been.”

The book will include never-before-seen photographs and will be written like a personal diary with lessons and recollections.

“Writing True Love has been a deeply cathartic, personal, and vulnerable experience,” said Lopez. “If it were not for the love and courage given to me by my children, this story wouldn’t have been possible.  While I struggled with the decision of whether or not to release this book, I recognized that if it could touch even just one person then it would honestly become one of the most fulfilling endeavors of my life.”

A portion of the book’s proceeds will go to benefit The Lopez Family Foundation, dedicated to improving the health and well-being of women and children.

The news of her memoir comes a day after Lopez was honored with the Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.

Celebra publisher Raymond Garcia acquired world rights from Benny Medina at The Medina Co.

“Jennifer Lopez is a remarkable author who fully invested her heart and soul into every page of her book,” said Garcia. “She channeled her unparalleled work ethic, fearless honesty, perpetual creativity, and artistic vision to realize an absolutely beautiful story that will surely touch and inspire readers around the world.”

 

Celebra also is home other high-profile authors including Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Rita Moreno, Ricky Martin, Mario Lopez, Victor Cruz, La La Anthony, George Lopez, Soledad O’Brien, Juanes and Thalia.

Lopez Feted with Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards

Jennifer Lopez is not only an American Idol judge… She’s also an American icon

The 44-year-old singer/actress and current judge on Fox’s reality singing competition received the 2014 Icon Award at Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards, which were broadcast live from Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Jennifer Lopez

“You continue to break down barriers and inspire girls,” Rihanna said in a video montage, which included other noted artists, including Britney Spears, Ricky Martin, Pitbull and Taylor Swift, sharing their thoughts on la Lopez and her remarkable career.

Before accepting the award from presenters, Ricky Martin and Iggy Azalea, Lopez took the stage for the second time in the night to offer a live debut performance of “First Love,” the second single from her upcoming album A.K.A.

Lopez kept the audience on her feet as she stepped back onto the stage to receive the Icon Award. “Oh my God! What the heck?” Lopez said as she held the award. “Music has always been my first love.”

She continued to thank God, her fans, family, friends, management (Benny Medina), Latinos (“para mi gente“) and wished for the “little ones” who were watching from home to follow their dreams.

Lopez is the first women to receive the BBMA accolade. Past winners of the Icon Award include Neil Diamond, Stevie Wonder and Prince.

Earlier in the night, Lopez took the stage with long-time collaborator and friend Pitbull and Claudia Lette, to premiere the official anthem of this year’s FIFA World Cup, “We Are One (Ole Ola).”

Lopez’s NuvoTV Reportedly Outbids Sean “Puffy” Combs for Fuse TV

Sean “Puffy” Combs has blown a fuse with his ex Jennifer Lopez.

The 44-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actress and American Idol judge has beat out her ex-boyfriend Sean “Puffy” Combs in the quest to acquire cable music channel Fuse TV, according to sources close to the situation.

Jennifer Lopez

NuvoTV, the English-language cable channel where Lopez serves as a minority owner and the network’s chief creative offer, has reached an agreement with Fuse owner, the Madison Square Garden Company.

“Things are in that 99.9 percentile,” says a source familiar with the negotiations, which began when NuvoTV reportedly offered cash and equity valued at more than $200 million.

“It’s getting done,” says another source familiar with the situation.

The first source declined to discuss where NuvoTV and Lopez are getting their financing, or whether they sweetened their deal since Combs, backed by billionaire supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, had reportedly made a similar $200 million offer.

A spokeswoman for Combs referred Billboard to Madison Square Garden Company spokeswoman Kimberly Kerns, who responds: “As we have stated, we are exploring strategic alternatives for Fuse and will have no further comment.”

The assumption in the industry that Lopez and Combs, who owns the fledgling Revolt TV cable channel in partnership with Comcast, were interested in acquiring Fuse to convert the struggling network to their respective programming formats and gain access to Fuse’s 74 million cable households. (NuvoTV and Revolt reportedly reach in the neighborhood of 34 million households.)

But in an interview that took place on Wednesday, before the deal was reached, Lopez’s manager Benny Medina, in a conversation about JLo’s entrepreneurial branding strategy, said that if NuvoTV emerged the victor, there were no immediate plans to change Fuse’s format. “We do look at these channels as two different companies with two different identities, audiences and goals,” Medina said. “And these shall remain intact.”

The plan to maintain Fuse’s format for the time being may have to do with something called a “definition of service” clause that cable operators can include in their contracts with the services they carry.

According to one cable television-industry source, the clause enables operators to drop a network or decrease the fees paid for carriage if the network’s ownership or programming format changes. This could prove to be a synergistic stumbling block given that Fuse’s music-video heavy programming does not bear much resemblance to NuvoTV’s largely non-musical slate of programs, which include reruns of Dexter and the new boxing reality show Knockout.

Asked if Lopez and Combs’ competing bids for Fuse was a coincidence or a residual effect of their two-year affair that began in 1999 — Combs once likened his tumultuous relationship with Lopez to Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner’s romance — Medina replied, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” but added that it had nothing to do with their past history.

 

“In many ways, Jennifer and Sean are cut from the same cloth,” Medina said. They’re both passionate artists of the same generation who think on a grand and global scale. They were two superstars seeking to build their brand, who happened to be Jennifer and Puffy.” (They’re also both 44 years old.)

He says that Lopez’s transition from the recording studio to the boardroom of NuvoTV “is a conscious move” and part of a larger strategy to build businesses around her that can sustain a lot of what she does as an entertainer and actor.” In addition to her music and acting career, Lopez sells her Jennifer Lopez fashion line through the Kohl’s department store chain and collaborates with Coty on a number of fragrances.

“We’re in an age and time now where artists have to be a lot more involved, invested and creative in marketing and promoting themselves, whether its fashion brands and fragrances that speak to who they are — or a cable TV network. It’s about building a business around the art.”

Despite Lopez’s evolution as an entrepreneur, Medina says her recording career has not taken a backseat. “She is working on her 10th album,” he says. “Her first love is music.”

Lopez’s Nuyorican Prods. Signs First Look Deal with Universal

Jennifer Lopez could start bringing more scripted and reality projects to life real soon…

The 43-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actress’ production company, Nuyorican Prods., has entered into a first look production deal with Universal Television to develop new scripted and reality projects.

Jennifer Lopez

As part of the deal, Priscilla Porianda, who joined Nuyorican Prods. last year, has been named Head of Development.

“I am thrilled to have Nuyorican partner with NBC Universal and I am happy to announce Priscilla Porianda as our Head of Development,” Lopez said. “She will work closely with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Benny Medina and I in expanding our brand into scripted and unscripted television. Our goal at Nuyorican has always been to create edgy, timely and relevant programming.”

The company has breakout new ABC Family drama The Fosters, about a lesbian couple raising children, which was recently renewed for a second season.

Porianda serves as a co-producer on The Fosters as well as Nuyorican’s upcoming feature with Universal/Blumhouse Boy Next Door, which stars Lopez and Ryan Guzman.

“We are so lucky to have someone as smart and creative as Priscilla to work with us as our partner and friend,” Goldsmith-Thomas said. Porianda will split her time between New York and Los Angeles to “try to access the great talent pools on both coasts.”

Prior to joining Nuyorican, Porianda worked at Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci’s K/O Paper Products. Simon Fields, who previously served as Nuyorican president, is no longer with the company.

In addition to The Fosters, Nuyorican has reality series South Beach Tow,  entering a third season on TruTV.