CNN REVIVES THE SEARCHING FOR FRANCHISE WITH NEW CNN ORIGINAL SERIES EVA LONGORIA: SEARCHING FOR SPAIN
CNN LAUNCHES AMERICAN VERSION OF HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU UNDER CNN ORIGINALS BANNER
CNN FILMS AND OWN ACQUIRE LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH FROM DIRECTOR DAWN PORTER
CNN ORDERS A SECOND SEASON OF CNN ORIGINAL SERIES UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL WITH JAKE TAPPER
NEW YORK – (May 15, 2024) – CNN unveiled highlights of their new premium nonfiction content from CNN Originals for 2024-2025 as part of the Warner Bros. Discovery upfront presentation.
CNN Worldwide offered a sneak peek into CNN Originals’ 2025 programming slate, announcing new projects from CNN Original Series and CNN Films, including the return of the Primetime Emmy® Award-winning CNN Original Series Searching For franchise that will launch with Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain.
CNN Films, in partnership with OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, will premiere Luther: Never Too Much from director Dawn Porter (CNN Films John Lewis: Good Trouble). Produced by Jamie Foxx and Colin Firth and presented by Sony Music Entertainment, the documentary chronicles the story of the vocal virtuoso Luther Vandross. Earlier this year, CNN Films joined DC Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO and Max in a company-wide acquisition of Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, following its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
CNN has also picked up the highly rated CNN Original Series United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper for a second season that will debut in 2025. Additional CNN Original Series include Breaking Bird: The Rise and Fall of Twitter (w/t), and Lockerbie.
Adding to the brand’s successful portfolio of premium nonfiction content, CNN Originals will launch an American version of the long-running BBC series Have I Got News for You that will be produced by Hat Trick Productions. The limited series will premiere this fall and air on Saturday nights on CNN.
Additional details about upcoming 2024-2025 titles for CNN Originals include:
Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain – This new CNN Original Series follows Longoria on a gastronomic pilgrimage across the rich tapestry of Spanish cuisine. Spain is an international culinary mecca with its rugged coastlines and fishing ports, countryside vineyards and alpine mountains bearing fruit to world-class produce and the finest quality ingredients. From homemade tapas, fresh regional seafood delicacies, rustic paellas and beyond, Longoria will enjoy some of Spain’s most iconic traditional dishes and explore how innovative Spanish cuisine is propelling the future of fine dining.
Have I Got News for You – CNN Originals will launch an American version of the long-running BBC series Have I Got News for You that will be produced by Hat Trick Productions. Have I Got News for You delivers comic observations from the satirical to the surreal through the lens of a news quiz show. An institution in Britain, Hat Trick Productions has been producing Have I Got News for You since 1990 – and this an award-winning comedy series is now invading America! Always relevant and topical, the series serves up a smart, silly, opinionated, and edgy take on the news of the week featuring a rotating collection of comedians, pundits, politicos, and entertainers. The limited series will premiere this fall and air on Saturday nights on CNN.
Luther: Never Too Much – Produced by Raindog Films and Foxxhole Productions for Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Music Publishing, in association with Trilogy Films, and produced by Colin Firth and Jamie Foxx, the film follows the iconic artist, Luther Vandross, as he charts his own course, becoming one of the most decorated and influential R&B artists of all time. From award-winning director Dawn Porter (CNN Films John Lewis: Good Trouble), Luther: Never Too Much chronicles the story of a vocal virtuoso. Using a wealth of rarely seen archives, Vandross tells his own story with assistance from his closest friends and musical collaborators including Mariah Carey, Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson and Roberta Flack. The film takes an intimate look at revealing moments of unrequited love and health scares from Vandross’ personal life, all while reliving the many stunning moments of Vandross’ Grammy® award-winning musical career and his lifelong battle to earn the respect his music deserved. CNN Films, in partnership with OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, will premiere Luther: Never Too Much in 2025 on CNN, OWN, and Max.
United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper – The CNN Original Series goes behind the headlines with CNN Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper to investigate some of the most outrageous and iconic controversies of the modern era. Produced by The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC), a part of Sony Pictures Television, United States of Scandal examines what drives someone to break the rules and what happens when they are caught. Featuring his signature wit and Emmy® Award-winning reporting, Tapper decodes the truth from spin in these legendary tales of ego, corruption, and collapse.
Breaking Bird: The Rise and Fall of Twitter (w/t) – From Candle Media and Bitachon365, Breaking Bird: The Rise and Fall of Twitter (w/t) transports audiences deep into the inner workings of one of the most influential tech companies ever founded. The four-part series features exclusive access to key players including the founders’ personal stories and aspirations, coupled with insights from former staffers who played central roles in the platform’s creation and explosive growth. From Twitter’s auspicious beginnings to its infamous $44 billion sale, this CNN Original Series charts the rise and fall of one of the most consequential companies of the 21st century. Breaking Bird: The Rise and Fall of Twitter (w/t) is a co-production with the BBC.
Lockerbie – BAFTA-winning series Lockerbie is a gripping look at the deadliest terror attack on the US before 9/11 – the 1988 bombing of flight Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, with the death of 270 people, 190 of whom were US citizens. With access to victims’ families, investigators, intelligence officers and other key figures who have not spoken until now, this revealing four-part series is the dramatic account of the bombing, its aftermath and the investigation that followed, and ultimately who was responsible. Lockerbie is produced by Mindhouse in association with Sky Studios and CNN Original Series.
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About CNN Originals
The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of Talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Presents, and the newly formed CNN Studios, an internal production studio which creates long-form programming for CNN’s global platforms. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 45 multi-part documentary series and 60 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 110 awards and 445 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films’ first Academy Award® for Navalny. Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico; the Emmy® Award-nominated “Decades Series”: The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The 2000s, and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars, directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; Grammy® Award nominee Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart; This is Life with Lisa Ling; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television, executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper; and Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?. CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, and for pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.
About Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film and streaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, discovery+, CNN, DC, Eurosport, HBO, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, Max, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Film Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit www.wbd.com.
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