Projects Announced
“Weekends with Daisy” Gets The Big Screen Treatment CBS Films has pre-emptively grabbed film rights to the forthcoming memoir “Weekends with Daisy,” written by Sharron Kahn Luttrell. With elements of “The Blind Side,” Luttrell’s story details how as a middle-class freelance journalist in New England she decided to volunteer for an inmate dog-training program. By taking a labrador puppy on the weekends to continue its training in the outside world, Luttrell eventually formed a deepening relationship with both the dog and the male convict who was training her in prison. (Much of the U.S. service-dog population is trained by prisoners.) http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/dog-weekends-daisy-cbs-films-260181 “Harold & Kumar” Director Goes In A “Family Getaway” With Warner New Line’s “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas” opened to $13.1 million this past weekend, and executives at sister company Warner Bros. clearly liked what they saw, because the film’s director has entered early negotiations to take on a hot comedy project for the studio. Todd Strauss-Schulson is being eyed to direct “Family Getaway,” a story of a family that discovers its patriarch is an assassin when a rival killer shows up, turning a vacation into a cross-country car chase. Jeremiah Friedman and Nick Palmer wrote the initial spec. Nick Kasdan worked on the script when he was attached to direct. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/harold-kumar-director-talks-take-257774 F. Scott Frazier Sells His Latest Spec Script, “Autoban” F. Scott Frazier, who wrote “The Numbers Station” and “Line of Sight,” has sold his newest spec script to the British production company/financier Between the Eyes, TheWrap has learned. The price was in the mid-six figures. “Autobahn” is described as “Fast and Furious” meets “Taken.” http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/f-scott-frazier-sells-spec-script-uks-between-eyes-32705 Project Updates
Holly Hunter Signs Up For Dutch Movie, “Jackie” Oscar-winner Holly Hunter has signed on to play one of the leading roles in “Jackie,” a Dutch road movie from director Antoinette Beumer. The film follows Dutch twin sisters who travel to America to look for their long-lost mother, played by Hunter. The siblings are played by real-life sisters Carice van Houten and Jelka van Houten. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/holly-hunter-joins-cast-dutch-260139 Production For Sony’s “Singularity” Hit A Bump Sony has put production of “Singularity,” Roland Emmerich’s big-budget sci-fi film, on hold while the filmmakers revise the script, TheWrap has confirmed. The producers have brought on Ray Kurzweil — perhaps the world’s foremost expert on the futuristic topic of “singularity” — to help. The movie was scheduled to begin production in March and will be pushed back. http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/sony-suspends-production-roland-emmerichs-singularity-32691 Acquisitions/Film Festivals
Sony Pictures Classics Picks Up “Hysteria”
Sony Pictures Classics has closed its deal for all U.S. and South African rights to “Hysteria,” Tanya Wexler’s Toronto Film Festival entry about the invention of the vibrator starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy. The film, penned by Stephen Dyer and Lisa Dyer, also stars Jonathan Pryce, Rupert Everett and Felicity Jones. “Hysteria,” which made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September, is a mischievous romantic comedy based on the surprising truth of how Mortimer Granville came up with the world’s first electro-mechanical vibrator in the name of medical science. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/maggie-gyllenhaal-hysteria-sony-pictures-classics-260270 Business/Legal News
Oscar Plays It Safe And Awesome: Hires Billy Crystal To Host You can breathe easy now: Billy Crystal will host the Oscars in February 2012. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed that the veteran, much beloved comedian – who has hosted the Oscars eight times – would host again next year, replacing Eddie Murphy who withdrew from the job on Wednesday. Crystal was hired by the new producer for the telecast Brian Grazer on Thursday, an individual close to the process said. http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/billy-crystal-will-host-oscars-2012-32695 Starz Sets Its Sights On The Ottoman Empire For New Series Starz is putting its lens on the Ottoman Empire. The male-skewing cable network, through its co-production deal with BBC Worldwide Productions, is developing “Harem,” a potential six-hour series exploring the reign of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire. “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe” scribe Ann Peacock is near a deal to pen the project, which is based on an original idea by Gina Gershon. “Harem” would tell the story of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, the longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire who reconstructed its legal system and presided over the fleet’s annexation of most of the Middle East. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/starz-ottoman-empire-series-260308 “Sister Act” Lawsuit Has Twenty Years In The Making Nearly 20 years after the Whoopi Goldberg comedy “Sister Act” hit theaters, Walt Disney Co. and Sony Pictures are being sued by a woman who claims her autobiography was the inspiration for the film and the subsequent stage musical. The plaintiff is Delois Blakely, representing herself with allegations of breach of contract, misappropriation of likeness, unjust enrichment and other claims. According to the complaint, Blakely was a “young, Black, singing nun serving the street people and youths of Harlem,” who published the autobiography, “The Harlem Street Nun” in 1987. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/sister-act-nun-disney-sony-260274 Misha Collins Causes Sisterly Troubles In “Ringer” “Supernatural” star Misha Collins is set to guest star in an upcoming episode of the CW’s “Ringer.” Collins will star as Dylan, someone from Bridget and Siobhan’s (Sarah Michelle Gellar) past when they were in Tahoe. Dylan plays a pivotal role in the sisters’ lives. As it turns out, he’s part of a reason the sisters had a falling out. http://www.aoltv.com/2011/11/10/misha-collins-to-guest-star-on-ringer/ Website to Watch
https://www.facebook.com/pch?sk=app_250316015003776
Tapping into the upcoming seasonal spirit, Publishers Clearing House, a company that donates 40% of its profits to charitable causes, has come out with this great Facebook campaign encouraging you to help it pick the recipient of its next donation. Called The Give Back, PCH has set up a two-part voting process where you vote on ten different causes ranging from Help the Homeless to Support Our Troops. Then, the top three causes move on to the second round, in which you select one of three charities, each representing a top three cause, to receive a $25,000 donation. The runners-up will receive a donation of $2,500 each. And as if the act of giving wasn’t exciting enough, PCH will also be offering a $5,000 sweepstakes (that’s a lot of turkeys) to every participant. To enter, simply log on, like PCH’s Facebook page and vote.
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