The Tracking Board’s Daily Debrief (12.15.16)

The Tracking Board’s Best of Everything 2016

2016 has been a year that’s been all over the place but one thing we can agree on is that it’s also been a year of some pretty spectacular media and pop culture. That’s why this year, we’re listing our favorite things in movies, music, television, books, podcasts, and more. Plus, find out what made our Overall Favorite Thing of 2016!

Julia Roberts Attached to Star in TV Adaptation of Today Will Be Different

Academy Award-winning actor Julia Roberts has been tapped to star in the upcoming TV adaptation of the book Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple, which will be available in October. This will mark Roberts’ return to TV since she starred in Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of the stage play The Normal Heart on HBO.

Will Ferrell & Kristen Wiig Team Up For Everything’s Coming Up Profits Musical

Universal Studios is putting together an all-star team for an original musical based on Everything’s Coming Up Profits: The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals. The film will star Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig with Amblin Entertainment producing and Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman set to write the score.

More News From Around The Web

• Allison Janney has signed on to join the cast of the Tonya Harding film I, Tonya. She will join Margot Robbie and Sebastian Stan in the film based on the infamous figure skater, who was at the center of a huge sports scandal at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. (The Hollywood Reporter)

• Rapper-actor Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has snagged a role in an upcoming crime thriller Den Of Thieves starring Gerard Butler and directed and co-written by Christian Gudegast. (The A.V. Club)

• Enderby Entertainment, aiming to replicate Sweden’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, has signed Daniel Alfredson direct three movies based on Hakan Nesser’s upcoming Intrigo trilogy of novels. (Variety)

• Universal Pictures and Will Packer Productions have acquired rights to 3-1-2, a script from writer Ike Smith about the diverse journeys of hopeful millennials as they seek their true potential while surviving the extreme violence of inner-city Chicago, the 3-1-2. (Deadline)

• Freeform announced it has given a series order to Alone Together, a new scripted comedy from the Lonely Island. The series stars Esther Povitsky  and Benji Aflalo as platonic best friends who always have each other’s backs… because they have no other friends. (Entertainment Weekly)

• Neal Moritz’s Original Film banner has closed a deal for an untitled horror-thriller pitch from writer Todd Kirby. Although plot details are being kept under wraps, the company is eyeing the project as a possible new franchise that would appeal to a global audience. (Variety)

• NBC has put in development an untitled comedy from former Happy Endings writer-produces, brothers Matthew and Daniel Libman, L.A. Clippers star Blake Griffin and The Panthers’ Ryan Kalil. (Deadline)

• Oliver Stone will be honored by the Writers Guild of America, West with the 2017 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement. Stone won an Academy Award in 1979 for Midnight Express and has received multiple nominations. (The Hollywood Reporter)

• Haters Back Off is getting a second season on Netflix. The series follows the origin story of YouTuber Miranda Sings a quirky, tone-deaf wannabe singer, created by Colleen Ballinger in 2008. (Mashable)

• Nikita and Agent Carter star Lyndsy Fonseca has been cast as the lead in Syfy’s upcoming supernatural horror The Haunted, an adaptation of the book by James Frey. Elizabeth Cappuccino will also star. (Den of Geek)

• ABC is developing Lawyer Up, a legal comedy series from Office Christmas Party co-writer Justin Malen and Scott Stuber, Jamie Tarses and Dylan Clark’s Bluegrass FanFare. (Deadline)