Projects Announced
Did Bernie Madoff Ask, “You Talkin’ Ta Me?” No? Well, Maybe He Will Now Robert De Niro has played gangsters, mafia dons and sociopaths, and now he’s set to take on the biggest white-collar villain of them all: disgraced Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff. HBO, in collaboration with De Niro’s Tribeca Productions, has purchased the rights to the book “Truth and Consequences: Inside the Life of the Madoff Family.” John Burnham Schwartz will write the screenplay. http://www.aoltv.com/2011/11/07/robert-de-niro-bernie-madoff-hbo-movie/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Ftvsquad+%28TV+Squad%29 Helen McCrory Has Decided She’s Ready To Be “Flying Blind” Helen McCrory, recently announced as part of the cast for the upcoming James Bond film “Skyfall,” has joined the cast of “Flying Blind,” a microbudget movie shooting in Bristol, England. McCrory stars alongside Kenneth Cranham, Najib Oudghiri and Tristan Gemmill in the project that marks the directorial feature debut of Polish helmer Kasia Klimkiewicz. Naomi Wallace, Bruce McLeod and Bristol-based writer Caroline Harrington penned the script, billed as a post 9/11 love story. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/helen-mccrory-flying-blind-uk-258242 “Where’s Waldo?” Brings A Rich Literary Tradition To The Movies MGM has secured rights to Classic Media’s “Where’s Waldo?,” giving the lanky, striped-shirt wearing character his first movie ever. The “Where’s Waldo?” movie will be a live-action family adventure, with MGM’s vp of production, Cassidy Lange, overseeing the project, which will be exec produced by Mike Gornall. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/wheres-waldo-movie-mgm-258250 Project Updates
Brian K. Vaughan Heads To Showtime, “Under The Dome” “Lost” scribe Brian K. Vaughan has found his next TV gig. The well-known comic book writer (”Y: The Last Man”) has been tapped to adapt Stephen King’s 2009 novel “Under the Dome,” which is in development at Showtime. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/lost-scribe-tapped-showtimes-under-258398 “Paradise Lost” Reunites The Team From “Dark City” Rufus Sewell is joining up with director Alex Proyas again, having last worked together on “Dark City,” to star in “Paradise Lost.” Sewell joins the adaptation of the epic 17th century English poem by John Milton as Samael, Lucifer’s partisan who urges him to begin the rebellion in heaven. The movie is produced by Vincent Newman under his Vincent Newman banner along with Legendary Entertainment’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni. The cast already boasts a male-skewed heavyweight cast which includes Bradley Cooper, Ben Walker, Casey Affleck, Sam Reid and Djimon Hounsou. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rufus-sewell-paradise-lost-bradley-cooper-258259 Acquisitions/Film Festivals
The Weinsteins Are Keen To Sing A “Song For Marion” The Weinstein Company acquired U.S. distribution rights to Paul Andrew Williams’ feature film “Song For Marion,” starring Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton, Vanessa Redgrave and Christopher Eccleston. Written and directed by Williams, the feature was produced by Philip Moross from Coolmore Productions and Ken Marshall from Steel Mill Pictures. Film is a London-set comedic drama, about grumpy pensioner Arthur (Stamp) who is reluctantly inspired by his beloved wife Marion (Redgrave) to join a highly unconventional local choir. At odds with his son James (Eccleston) it is left to choir director Elizabeth (Arterton) to try and persuade Arthur that he can learn to embrace life. http://weinsteinco.com/ “Lovely Molly” Makes An Impact At Image Entertainment Image Entertainment has picked up U.S. rights to “Blair Witch Project” co-creator Eduardo Sanchez’s “Lovely Molly,” the company said Monday. The horror film about a newlywed who descends into evil and psychosis after returning to her long-abandoned family home debuted in the Midnight Madness section of this year’s Toronto Film Festival. Newcomer Gretchen Lodge stars in the title role. http://thewrap.com/movies/column-post/image-entertainment-picks-blair-witch-co-creators-lovely-molly-32560 “Flowers Of War” Closes In On A Release Date Chris Ball’s new independent distribution company Wrekin Hill Entertainment is close to sealing a deal to release Xhang Yimou’s ambitious Chinese epic “Flowers of War” — starring Christian Bale — in the U.S. Insiders say Wrekin Hill will wage an awards-qualifying run in U.S. theaters in December. Film is set during the Japanese occupation of Nanking in 1937. Producer Zhang Weiping financed the $90 miliion-budgeted film through his New Pictures Film Banner. The movie already is China’s official Oscar entry for best foreign language picture, but once it gets a U.S. release, it can be submitted in other categories, including acting and directing. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/christian-bale-xhang-yimou-flowers-war-wreckin-hill-258304 Business/Legal News
FX Has Enough Pride In Its “Sons” To Give It One More Hour There’s so much going on in the current season of “Sons of Anarchy” that some fans have wondered whether the show would be able to wrap everything up in 13 episodes. The good news is, “SOA” won’t have to tie everything up in that time span. FX executives have decided to give the fourth season an extra episode; the season will now consist a total of 14 hours. Given that the “Sons” fourth-season saga will get another hour, the season finale will now air on Dec. 6, instead of Nov. 29. There’s no word yet on whether the finale will be 90 minutes long, as some “SOA” finales have been in the past. http://www.aoltv.com/2011/11/07/sons-of-anarchy-gets-an-extra-episode-will-finish-season-with/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Ftvsquad+%28TV+Squad%29 Get Ready For A Suit In A Box. A Lawsuit, That Is “Saturday Night Live” is facing allegations it stole material for two sketches, including an Emmy Award-nominated short featuring Andy Samberg and pop star Rihanna. In a lawsuit filed in New York federal court on Thursday, Aleric Banks (aka “Rick tha Ruler”) and Monique Hines say they created the music that would form the basis of two skits on “SNL,” including “Shy Ronnie” and “Like A Boss.” The two plaintiffs are a St. Louis-based production team. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/andy-samberg-rihanna-snl-shy-ronnie-258197 First Superman’s Dad, Now A Soap Legend Joins “Glee” The Evans family is taking hold on Fox’s “Glee.” Days after former “Smallville” star John Schneider was tapped to play father to Chord Overstreet’s Sam Evans, former soap opera star Tanya Clarke has been cast to play the “Trouty Mouth” singer’s mother. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/glee-soap-vet-play-chord-258372 Well, Jeez, Who WOULDN’T Want To Fake Date Mark-Paul Gosselaar? Peter Bash’s love life is going to heat up on TNT’s “Franklin & Bash.” Kat Foster has booked a recurring role on Season 2 of the buddy legal drama. Foster will play Wendy Cowell, a smart and beautiful police officer who arrests a friend of Peter’s (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) at the beach. Following an unusual cross-examination, Wendy agrees to go on a date with the legal ace. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/franklin-bash-til-death-star-258356 A Time Travelling Musical? What’s Not To Like? After years of producing similar angst-ridden teen dramas, The CW is heading in a slightly different direction with its new time traveling musical project. The network has bought the rights to “Danny Hollywood,” an hour-long project based on the successful Israeli half-hour series of the same name. http://www.aoltv.com/2011/11/07/time-travel-musical-danny-hollywood-the-cw/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Ftvsquad+%28TV+Squad%29 Janet McTeer Signs Up For Some Final “Damages” “Into the Storm” Emmy nominee Janet McTeer has been cast as a regular on the fifth and final season of “Damages.” McTeer will play Kate Franklin, a former colleague of Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) who aims to take on her old boss by working for rival Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne). http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/damages-enlists-janet-mcteer-258350 Well, Of Course Starz Wants More “Spartacus” Starz has renewed “Spartacus” for a third season. The network announced Monday that production on the as yet untitled third season of its original franchise will begin early next year in New Zealand. The renewal comes days after the male-skewing network announced the Jan. 27 premiere date for spinoff “Spartacus: Vengeance” and more than a month after Starz inked Spartacus showrunner Steven S. DeKnight to a two-year overall deal. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/starz-renews-spartacus-third-season-258258 Michael Eisner Looks At The Funny Side Of Restaurants ABC is back in business with Michael Eisner. The former Disney chief has sold an untitled comedy set in the 1980s. The single camera project will chronicle the early days of restauranteers Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger’s unique business partnership and friendship. Jeff Greenstein is attached to write and produce the project, with Eisner, Noel Bright and Steve Cohen on board as executive producers. Fenifer and Miliken will serve as non-writing executive producers on the project. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-eisner-sells-comedy-project-258299 Industry Moves
Lifetime Entices An NBCU Exec Into The Fold Lifetime has tapped former NBCUniversal executive Meghan Hooper as vp program acquisitions. Starting Nov. 14, Hooper — who was director of program acquisitions and administration for NBCUniversal — will oversee all program acquisitions for Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network and Lifetime Real Women. At NBCUniversal, Hooper managed acquisitions and inventory of all films and series for USA Network and its emerging sister networks Cloo and Universal HD. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lifetime-taps-nbcuniversal-exec-as-258241 Technology/Multi-Platform Content
Well, It Appears There Is Yet Another Way To Find Shows On The Interwebs Another online premium video site with an odd name launches today. This one, called TumTiki, has 700,000 movies and TV episodes to choose from, courtesy of relationships with Hulu, Amazon.com and a slew of other outlets. TumTiki is a creation of Frontier Communications, one of the country’s largest providers of high-speed Internet, voice services and satellite video. Frontier is hoping that consumers are tired of checking out numerous sites on the Internet to find the video they seek, so they’ll gravitate to TumTiki as a one-top-shop for not only mainstream movies and TV series but also Web shows and local television. For the latter, just click on a map of the U.S. and options for local programming appears, including news and even high-school football games, in some cases. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tumtiki-becomes-newest-destination-tv-257850 Kalika - Off The Wall
Crumb Snatchers, The New A-List A couple weeks ago, we posted an op-ed by a filmmaker named Kalika which we thought was very entertaining. Apparently, more than a few of you agreed, so we decided to give her a regular forum in this space. Starting this week, you'll be able to read her take on the entertainment industry. Let's just say it's a different one than you're probably used to. So, please welcome her to our team by clicking on her link and reading her first column.
http://filmnewsbriefs.com/2011/11/kalika-off-the-wall-crumb-snatchers-the-new-a-list/ Website to Watch
http://documentaryguide.com/
Today in cool things that also have a significant purpose, check out this site, a new one that has catalogued tens of thousands of social documentaries, websites, schools and festivals for the purpose of offering the viewer an extensive library of documentary films and content, for free. The open search database was created to provide filmmakers, educators, students and any other interested group a place to find socially relevant resources and content. So whether you're a film buff, simply love documentaries, or want to find something to help you learn or teach, this is not a bad site to have at your arsenal. Additional Source:
www.cynopsis.com | 
No comments:
Post a Comment