Welcome to B.H.โs Screen Time, where every week, weโll give you the cliff notes on whatโs happening in the entertainment industry. From various stages of development chatter and our take on the newest releases, to a fun throwback worth revisiting, think of it as an insiderโs digest meets movie club.
Coming Soon
The big headline in entertainment development news this past week is the Kobe Bryant biopic cooking at Warner Bros.
As confirmed by Variety, the studio has now acquired a speculative script based on the dramatic true story of how the late great NBA icon joined the Los Angeles Lakers. Penned by Alex Sohn and Gavin Johannsen (and tentatively titled With The 8th Pick?), insiders familiar with the screenplay have described it as Moneyball and The Social Network meets Matt Damon & Ben Affleckโs Air.
But funnily enough, Bryant was selected with the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets (not the 8th), before being traded to his Lakers for Vlade Divac.
โWith the 8th Pick is said to focus on the New Jersey Nets and then-general manager, John Nash, who held the eighth pick in the draft and considered taking Bryant out of high school,โ notes McKinley Franklin & Ryan Gajewski of The Hollywood Reporter.
โThe future Hall of Famer ended up being taken by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th pick before he was traded to the Lakers, where he would win five NBA championships and become an icon of the cityโฆ [itโs] said to detail the pivotal process during which slightly different decisions could have changed the NBAโs future.โ
Much like Air, given the larger-than-life mythology that anyone paying to see this will no doubt already be familiar with, choosing to focus on the early days and origins seems like a smart move: leaning on the sentimentality of a legend in the making will likely make for more impactful viewing than trying to cram all 20 seasons into two hours.
The partnership with Shaq, five championships, Team USA Olympic redemption glory, as well as the tragic helicopter crash that claimed his and 13-year-old daughter Gigi Bryantโs lives (along with the lives of eight other passengers) feels more like miniseries territory.
It also skirts around the anticipated dilemma of certain criminal allegations lodged by the sheriffโs office of Eagle, Colorado, the discussion of which is already in full swing on X (formerly Twitter). Because of course it has.
Keep an eye out on B.H. for potential updates on Warner Brosโ Kobe Bryant biopic (casting, release date, trailer, news, etc.).
From the creator of Mare of Easttown comes another Pennsylvania-centric HBO crime thriller, this one starring Mark Ruffalo as seasoned FBI agent Tom, and simply titled Task.
Ruffaloโs lawman is charged with leading a task force (hence the name) to โend a string of violent robberies undertaken by an unassuming family manโ named Robbie, the latter of whom is portrayed by Tom Pelphrey (Ozark, Outer Range, Mank).
The aforementioned are joined by Emilia Jones as Maeve, Thuso Mbedu as Aleah, Raรบl Castillo as Cliff, Jamie McShane as Perry, Sam Keeley as Jayson, House of the Dragonโs Fabien Frankel as Anthony, plus Alison Oliver as Lizzie. And by all accounts, itโll be the Sunday for US/Monday for AU HBO viewing event weโve all been sorely missing.
Task release date (Australia): September 8th, 2025, via HBO Max.
On the sci-fi front, one of the genreโs most astounding accomplishments in recent history (thanks to Denis Villeneuve) is finally getting a follow-up in Amazon Prime Videoโs Blade Runner 2099 seriesโฆ which now has a 2026 release window.
With franchise progenitor Ridley Scott returning in an executive producer capacity and Silka Luisa (Shining Girls, Halo) serving as showrunner, the upcoming expansion of the Philip K. Dick-inspired universe is led by the Academy Award-winning Michelle Yeoh as Olwn, a Replicant facing the end of her life, and Euphoriaโs Hunter Schafer as Cora.
In terms of story, not much else is known apart from the fact that it takes place 50 years after the 2017 Villeneuve sequel starring Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, and Ana de Armas. And, as per the running motif of Blade Runner media, examine what it means to be human.
In light of Amazonโs recent treatment of other beloved IP, cards on the table: weโre a little nervous. This six-episode affair has a lot to live up to, and after witnessing the disappointment that was HBO Maxโs Dune: Prophecy, weโre also unsure whether these kinds of expansions are a good idea unless you go full Game of Thrones (and even that can be a perilous pursuit at times). Still, we remain cautiously optimistic.
Blade Runner 2099 release date (Australia): 2026 via Amazon Prime Video. Stay tuned for a specific release date.
They Donโt Make โEm Like They Used Toโฆ
For Heat and Miami Vice auteur Michael Mann, it all began with Thief. This neo-noir masterpiece would put the celebrated director on the map, and not just simply because it marked his feature-length debut.
With a sharply written script, James Caanโs swaggering charisma as a professional safecracker, and those moody nocturnal visuals thatโd quickly become a Mann signature (achieved with the assistance of another future great in cinematographer Donald E. Thorin), this heralded a new era of taut, intelligent crime thrillers.
Dare I say it, without Thief, not only would there be no Heat or Manhunter (and in turn no Silence of the Lambs), there wouldโve also been no Drive, The Town, Nightcrawler, or even True Detective. And thatโs being conservative! The blueprint is clear.
