By Patrick Frater According To The variety)  “Successor,” a comedy drama film that has taken the Chinese box office by storm, is set for an international roll-out from early next month. Rights to the film have been picked up by CMC Pictures, the Chinese studio behind “The Meg” monster shark franchise. It will handle theatrical releases in North America, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and Benelux, rolling out from Aug. 2. “Successor” charts the ups and downs of a poor dad and a hardworking mom, living in a broken yard and seemingly having fallen behind others on the road to prosperity. The film only opened officially in Chinese theaters on Tuesday (July 16) and earned an estimated $21 million. But it finished its first day with an $89 million cumulative, thanks to wide-sc...

By Michael Schneider         According To The variety)  Lori Petty and Bobby Moynihan have been added to the cast of CBS’ upcoming “NCIS” prequel series “NCIS: Origins.” The thesps will join a cast that also features Austin Stowell, Kyle Schmid, Tyla Abercrumbie, Michael Molino, Diany Rodriguez and Caleb Foote, with Mark Harmon serving as narrator. In the series, Petty will play Dr. Lenora Friedman, “a seasoned pathologist at the San Diego Medical Examiner’s Office. As comfortable around the dead she is the living, her passion for the job is infectious.” And Moynihan joins as Woodrow “Woody” Browne, “the wildly overworked senior chemist and director of the NIS Forensic Lab, who compensates for his lack of sleep with an offbeat sense of humor.” “NCIS: Origins” b...

By Ethan Shanfeld According To The variety)  The Yorkshire Moors are about to get freaky. Emerald Fennell is teasing her own film adaptation of “Wuthering Heights,” the famed 1847 gothic novel by Emily Brontë about two families living in northern England. The “Saltburn” filmmaker posted about the project on social media, sharing a graphic that reads, “Be with me always – Take any form – Drive me mad,” a line from the novel. Insiders tell Variety that the filmmaker will reteam with MRC, the studio behind her hit “Saltburn.” There have been a handful of screen adaptations of “Wuthering Heights” throughout the years, including William Wyler’s 1939 film starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon; Robert Fuest’s 1970 movie with Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder-Mars...