Darren Criss Returns With New Musical Comedy Royalties

The new show is set for streaming service Quibi

By Chris Harnick Jul 10, 2019 5:11 PMTags
Darren Criss, 2019 SAG Awards, WinnersKevin Winter/Getty Images for Turner

Darren Criss is following up his award-winning turn in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story with a musical. The Emmy winner will executive produce, star in and write songs for Royalties, a new musical comedy for Quibi.

Royalties is described as a "satirical take on the oft-untold story of songwriters behind the world's biggest hits." The show follows the rise of songwriting duo Sara and Pierce (Criss), as they make their way through the various challenges of writing a great song. Each episode will feature real-life music stars playing fictitious and absurd pop stars. The original songs are penned by Criss.

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Darren Criss "Hopes Actors Know How Much He Loves Them"

Criss isn't doing this alone. He's working with his Team Starkid co-founders Nick and Matt Lang on writing the series. All three are executive producing with Gail Berman, Hend Baghdady, Joe Earley and Ricky Rollins.

Criss shot to fame with Glee and cleaned up with acting awards when he reteamed with Ryan Murphy for the second season of American Crime Story.

The new series will be on Quibi, a mobile-first streaming platform that will be home to projects designed for on-the-go watching. See what else Quibi has in the works below.

Royalties

Darren Criss will star, write and executive produce a new musical comedy opposite Kether Donohue. The series will take a satirical look at songwriters in Hollywood.

Survive

Sophie Turner will follow up Game of Thrones with Survive, a thriller series that sees Turner playing a woman who survives a plane crash, but is stranded on a remote snow-covered mountain.

Cup Of Joe

Joe Jonas will star in a new travel series that features him exploring cities while on the Happiness Begins tour with the Jonas Brothers. Look for local guides to show him the ropes.

Benedict Men

This docuseries about high school basketball comes from Stephen Curry.

Floored

Hosted by hilarious YouTuber Liza Koshy, each episode showcases two teams of skilled dancers competing on an insane dance floor with a life of its own. Watch the trailer here.

Elba vs. Block

Idris Elba and Ken Block team for this new car stunt series.

Beauty

Tyra Banks will star in and executive produce the new docuseries. In every episode, Banks will tackle different topics about the beauty industry, aiming to take down barriers and challenge norms.

Dummy

Anna Kendrick will star and executive produce the comedy about an aspiring writer and a sex doll. Donal Logue and Meredith Hagner also star.

Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake is slated to star in a series where he'll ask singers about what song and singer inspired them to get into the business, then he'll sing a duet with them.

You Ain't Got These

Lena Waithe is dipping her toe into unscripted programming with a series about sneaker culture.

Kill the Efrons

Zac Efron and his brother, Dylan, are sent to a remote location with no tools to survivor, just the cameras following them. Can they make it work?

A "Creepy" Steven Spielberg Show

Steven Spielberg is writing the series that's a "super scary story" that will only be available to watch at midnight on Quibi.

Chrissy's Court

Chrissy Teigen will preside over her own courtroom series. She'll adjudicate real small-claims cases. Her mom, Villaluck "Pepper Thai" Teigen, will serve as bailiff.

Don't Look Deeper

This sci-fi drama series is directed by Catherine Hardwicke and stars Don Cheadle, Emily Mortimer and Helena Howard. The series is set "15 minutes into the future" and follows a high school senior who can't shake a feeling that something isn't right…and she's not human.

Mapleworh Murders

Paula Pell, who starred in Wine Country, will play Abigail Mapleworth, a murder-mystery writer who solves the crimes in her small town. Each episode of this comedy features guest victims and suspects. 30 Rock's John Lutz is also starring in the project. Both Pell and Lutz are writing.

Punk'd and Singled Out

These classic MTV shows are getting a new life. Each received a 20-episode order with episodes coming in under 10 minutes in length. Punk'd is back pranking celebs, this time with even better technology. Meanwhile, dating series Singled Out will allow singles to find love no matter their sexual preference. Despite co-creating the series, Ashton Kutcher is not involved in the new version.