WIRE Buzz: Avenue 5 soars to S2; Amazon nabs The Map of Tiny Perfect Things; more

The Avenue 5 will keep on Trekking through the Stars. The HBO comedy starring Hugh Laurie as the put-upon captain of the titular spacecraft has been renewed for a second season as the sci-fi adventure attempts to navigate humor and disaster all at once. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, this reinvestment in creator Armando Iannucci (Veep) is particularly quick, showing confidence in a show that’s earned mixed reviews despite a stacked comedic cast including Josh Gad, Suzy Nakamura, and Zach Woods. Only four episodes have aired so far of the “futuristic cruise gone awry” series.

"We've loved every minute of Avenue 5's inaugural voyage,” said HBO Programming executive vice president Amy Gravitt. "Armando Iannucci and his team are masters of smart and incisive comedy, and the ensemble cast, brilliantly captained by Hugh Laurie, is second to none. We can't wait to see what's in store for our hapless heroes in Season 2."

Avenue 5 also stars Rebecca Front, Lenora Crichlow, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ethan Phillips, and Himesh Patel. The next episode of the sci-fi comedy, "He's Only There To Stop His Skeleton Falling Over," airs on Feb. 16.

Next, Groundhog Day is going YA for Amazon. Or Happy Death Day is getting less violent. Or, perhaps Russian Doll is getting a romantic turn courtesy of the studio. Either way, days will be repeated thanks to the upcoming film The Map of Tiny Perfect Things.

Variety reports the project, directed by Ian Samuels (Sierra Burgess Is a Loser) and written by Lev Grossman (who also wrote the short story it’s based on), will be about a teen that’s happy living the same day over and over again...until he runs into a girl that’s in the same loop cycle as he is. It’s a love story all about if and how they choose to escape their repeating lives — with each other.

Now Amazon has boarded the project, which will star Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies) and Kyle Allen (American Horror Story) as its central duo. “We believe this fun, hilarious story will resonate with our global Prime Video audiences and we’re looking forward to director Ian Samuels bringing the story to life,” said Matt Newman, film co-head at Amazon Studios.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, which is in production right now, also stars Jermaine Harris, Anna Mikami, Josh Hamilton, and Cleo Fraser.

Finally, despite the Academy Awards handing out its Oscars already, awards season isn’t quite over: there’s still the Kids’ Choice Awards! Yes, Nickelodeon’s own awards show has released its nominations and surprise, surprise, Avengers: Endgame put up the biggest numbers.

According to a release, the MCU juggernaut earned 11 nods: Favorite Movie, Favorite Actress (2), Favorite Actor (2), and Favorite Superhero (6). Ok, that last category seems like cheating if they’re going to tally up total nominations, but it is the Kids’ Choice Awards after all. It’s not like too many of them were going to vote for the R-rated Joker. The distant second place was taken by Frozen 2, which earned four nominations, and is also a kid-friendly Disney product.

Fans can find out which MCU stars will win (because, just probabilistically, they will) when the Kids’ Choice Awards air on March 22.