December « 2008 « Film News Briefs

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http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997744.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i13db0577bde6c55bd5f0ac3d005f1fc1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997749.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

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Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Clive Owen and Mark Cuban are heading to Colombia. The “Children of Men” star is attached to “Cartagena,” a story about an undercover agent amid Colombian drug cartels, for Cuban’s 2929 Prods., overseen by veteran producer Marc Butan. Nick Wechsler and Management 360 also are producing. Gersh-repped Michael Ross, who penned the Fox Atomic horror pic “Turistas” and recently was signed to Overture’s remake of Icelandic thriller “Jar City,” has been attached to write the screenplay. “Cartagena” centers on an undercover agent who gets caught in a complex plot and must elude drug dealers and international agents if he hopes to survive. The project is named for a city on Colombia’s northern coast that has a colorful history featuring wars, robust economic activity and tourist development.

BUSINESS NEWS

In the lead-up to the release of the next Bruce Springsteen album on Jan. 27, two exclusive deals involving the Boss have been struck. Wal-Mart will be selling a “Greatest Hits” album beginning Jan. 13 and f.y.e. stores will be offering Springsteen cards and posters to consumers who pre-order “Working on a Dream.” The 12-track hits package is all Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band recordings, which differentiates it from the 1995 “Greatest Hits” release. Album includes “Rosalita,” “The Rising” and “Radio Nowhere.”

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Facing growing internal dissent, leaders of the Screen Actors Guild have postponed SAG’s divisive strike authorization vote for two weeks. SAG national exec director Doug Allen declared that SAG’s national board must meet first in order to present a united front before sending out strike ballots. In a surprise announcement Monday night, Allen notified members that the vote — which had been set to go out on Jan. 2 and be tabulated on Jan. 23 — would be delayed until after an emergency meeting of the board on Jan. 12 and 13. Allen said in the missive that he and SAG president Alan Rosenberg had agreed to delay the authorization vote — which requires a 75% approval from members who cast ballots — to “address the unfortunate division and restore consensus.”

Even as it preps for a strike authorization vote regarding features and primetime work, the Screen Actors Guild is planning to begin joint negotiations with AFTRA soon on a new contract with the ad industry. The drama over a possible SAG strike has shifted the town’s attention away from the upcoming commercial negotiations. A start date for the talks has not been set, but the SAG-AFTRA contract with commercial producers, which has been extended twice, expires March 31. The talks on the commercial contract will mark a return to solidarity at the contract table for the two thesp unions, which battled each other publicly earlier this year after negotiating separately with Hollywood’s majors on the feature-primetime contract. AFTRA members inked a new contract with the studios in July, while SAG has been mired in a months-long impasse and is attempting to secure the strike authorization from members next month.

TECHNOLOGY/MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

Internet comedy site FunnyOrDie, supported by Will Ferrell and seeded by Sequoia Capital, has raised $3 million in cash from a single, undisclosed investor. The financing also includes an additional $3 million commitment for “in-kind contributions for marketing, publicity and promotional support for programing,” according to a regulatory filing. It is not clear if the regulatory financing augments a $15 million investment reported by Portfolio Magazine earlier this year, or if it is a tranche of that financing.

JOB OPENINGS/POSTINGS

Talent manager seeks assistant for busy office in Beverly Hills. 1 yr. experience in the industry preferred but not required. Knowledge of Final Cut Pro or InEntertainment a plus. Duties includes answering phones, scheduling appointments, and submissions. Must be able to handle high volume of phone calls and VERY organized. Please send resume and cover letter to mgmt.talent@gmail.com

Major talent management company seeking intern! This is a great opportunity for a motivated individual to learn about management, or for someone who just wants to learn about the industry. Usual duties include answering phones, filing, setting up auditions, and general office organization. Flexible scheduling, M-F availability preferred. Please email resume to: mgmt.talent@gmail.com

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.beanelf.org/

The U.S. Post Office was forced to temporarily shut down the 96-year-old Operation Santa program this week in New York and several other U.S. cities after a disturbing “privacy breach” occurred. The program gives volunteers at post offices the opportunity to answer letters written by needy kids to the jolly fellow at the North Pole and send back gifts. A not-for-profit group has launched this website to create an online solution to the problem and build out a nationwide network of gift giving. The group is working to develop new software to allow children to securely post their letters to Santa online. When a member of the public prints out a child’s letter from the site, they would never see the child’s home address, but only a bar-coded shipping label. Google approved a grant for the site earlier this year but it is still seeking donations to help get the word out about the program via search advertising on Yahoo and MSN.

SOURCES:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3id8413b8aaa263321d0a78b39a43e116a

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997721.html?categoryId=16&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997728.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997723.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/technology/news/e3id8413b8aaa26332121ca2fc511acbc11

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Monday, December 22nd, 2008

MONDAY DECEMBER 22, 2008

BOX OFFICE

Weekend Estimate

December 19-21, 2008 (*millions)

FILM GROSS

1 Yes Man (2008) $18.2M

2 Seven Pounds (2008) $16M

3 The Tale of Despereaux (2008) $10.5M

4 The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) $10.2M

5 Four Christmases (2008) $7.75M

6 Twilight (2008/I) $5.23M

7 Bolt (2008) $4.26M

8 Slumdog Millionaire (2008) $3.15M

9 Australia (2008) $2.33M

10 Quantum of Solace (2008) $2.15M

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

HBO has sealed a deal with thesp Maria Bello (“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”) to develop and star in a new series for the pay cabler. Untitled hourlong project will be created and penned by Gary Lennon (“The Shield”). Bello is set to star as a woman who’s forced into a life of crime to support her three teenage sons after her husband is killed. Bello’s character employs her sons as henchmen, leading them all down a destructive road.

Arcana Studios is developing a feature version of the comicbook series “Paradox,” which centers on a police detective using unorthodox methods of investigation in a world powered by magic. Aaron L. Gilbert of Bron Management and Sean P. O’Reilly of Arcana Studios produce. Christos Gage, who wrote Arcana Comics’ three-issue limited series, also penned the script with Ruth Fletcher Gage.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Even with much of the town now on vacation, the feverish battle over the SAG strike authorization vote will continue through the holidays. Over the weekend, opponents added John and Ann Cusack, Jeff Garlin, George Lopez, Virginia Madsen, Susan Sarandon and Charlie Sheen to the roster of stars urging a no vote. As of Sunday afternoon, 1,373 members had endorsed the No SAG Strike petition, written three weeks ago by Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. Ballots go out to SAG’s 110,000 dues-current members on Jan. 2 and will be tallied Jan. 23. If the authorization’s affirmed by 75% of those voting, SAG could then go on strike if its national board — set to meet Jan. 24 — approves. For its part, SAG’s planning to send a “vote yes” message to members as early as today, along with setting several more town hall meetings and adding video pitches from high-profile supporters to its website. SAG president Alan Rosenberg and national exec director Doug Allen have been warmly received at two Hollywood town halls but were vilified at last week’s raucous New York gathering.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.nhl.com/

Hockey fans looking forward to the highly anticipated outdoor Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks at Wrigley on New Years Day will be sad to hear the game is already sold out. Unlike the first NHL “Heritage Classic” in 2003, this game will be televised again nationally on NBC. And it will also be available on this site to NHL Gamecenter Live subscribers, the league’s newly-revamped streaming video service powered by NeuLion. In addition to original on demand shows like The Hockey Show, the service offers live streaming of every out-of-market game for $40/month or $126 for the season. Unlike MLB, which was streaming games online when most folks still had dial up connections, the NHL waited to launch live streaming and it’s a good thing they did. The quality of the experienced has improved to the point where you can actually see the puck – an important part of the action. It’s actually a terrific way to watch hockey if you’ve got a fast connection. The interface allows you to toggle between a smaller screen with handy team rosters next to the screen or full screen, streamed at up to 1200 Kbps. Click the multiscreen tab to watch up to 4 games at once. Check it out for yourself: NHL.com is offering the service for free on Saturday, Jan. 3 to attract more subscribers, who are up 230% year over year according to the league.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997700.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997703.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997705.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

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Friday, December 19th, 2008

FRIDAY DECEMBER 19, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

“Valkyrie” co-writer and producer Christopher McQuarrie is fast becoming a go-to guy for Tom Cruise. The scribe is now working on three post-”Valkyrie” projects designed as potential star vehicles for the actor. New Regency has set McQuarrie and Mason Alley to write “Flying Tigers,” based on the volunteer fighter squadron formed to help the Chinese fight the Japanese before the U.S. entered World War II. Cruise isn’t formally attached. The “Top Gun” star has long wanted to return to the skies, and several years ago was attached to “The Few,” a Paramount project about the first American pilots to battle Germans in WWII, with director Michael Mann and scribe John Logan. McQuarrie also is writing and producing with Guillermo del Toro the previously announced United Artists project “The Champions,” penning the script with an eye toward hammering it into a Cruise vehicle. The British TV series transfer concerns a team of government agents rescued from a plane crash in the Himalayas by an advanced civilization and given superhuman abilities. MGM brass has long felt that the project was UA’s strongest chance for a big-ticket franchise vehicle that could star UA co-owner Cruise. But the Cruise-McQuarrie collaboration with the most urgency is Spyglass espionage drama “The Tourist.” McQuarrie is rewriting for Cruise to star with Charlize Theron in the Bharat Nalluri-directed remake of the 2005 French thriller “Anthony Zimmer.” Julian Fellowes originally scripted the redo.

“The Office” stars Rainn Wilson and Jenna Fischer have been moonlighting outside of their Dunder Mifflin cubicles. Each thesp has set up scripts in recent weeks at the Peacock through Universal Media Studios. Wilson has partnered with scribe Adam Braff to create “Hump Tulips,” a single-camera laffer about a lawyer who winds up in a small Washington town in pursuit of the woman he loves. Braff and Wilson will write and exec produce. Braff’s credits include partnering with his brother, “Scrubs” star Zach Braff, last season on the Fox pilot “Night Life.” Fischer, meanwhile, will serve as the nonwriting exec producer on an hourlong comedic drama about a lumber salesman who solves a crime and becomes a private eye, along with a ragtag group of pals. Project is based on the life of San Antonio P.I. Charlie Parker, who played a part in the August New Yorker profile “The Chameleon.”

Barely a week after the arrest of Bernard Madoff, alleged mastermind of history’s largest Ponzi scheme, Random House has bought a proposal for a book about his rise and fall. Richard Behar, a 25-year vet who has been a staffer at Time, Fortune and Forbes, will make Madoff the subject of his first book. Random plans to publish it in 2010. Behar’s investigative work has garnered major awards such as the Daniel Pearl, Loeb, Polk and National Magazine nods. He has also contributed to several broadcast outlets. In 2005, he launched Project Klebnikov, a global media alliance aiming to shed light on the murder in Moscow of Forbes editor Paul Klebnikov.

PROJECT UPDATES

There’s been another change in the “Hornet” nest: Stephen Chow has dropped out as director of “The Green Hornet” but will still play Kato in Columbia Pictures’ latest bid to get the crimefighter to the bigscreen. The studio and producer Neal Moritz are in the process of setting a new director to keep the picture on track to begin production by spring. Chow, who directed and starred in “Kung Fu Hustle” and “Shaolin Soccer,” signed in September to direct the film and play the role originated in the TV series by Bruce Lee. He stepped out as director over creative differences. The film was scripted by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and Rogen is starring as the masked crime fighter. The script will likely be polished, and a director could be in place by year’s end.

ACQUISITIONS/FESTIVAL NEWS

Baz Luhrmann may jump from pre-WWII Australia to America’s Jazz Age. The “Australia” helmer has purchased the rights to “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tome of the Roaring Twenties. While a script does not yet exist, Luhrmann intends to focus on it after “Australia’s” awards run. No studio is attached yet. Fitzgerald’s novel of American excess has spawned a Broadway play and multiple films, including Jack Clayton’s 1974 pic starring Robert Redford and scripted by Francis Ford Coppola.

BUSINESS NEWS

Macrovision Solutions Corporation has reached an agreement to sell its TV Guide Network properties including TVGuide.com to Allen Shapiro and One Equity Partners for approximately $255 million plus up to an additional $45 million earnout payable through 2012. The company sold the TV Guide print publication to OpenGate Capital in October and had originally planned to keep TV Guide Online. Macrovision acquired Gemstar-TV Guide back in May for $2.3 billion in cash and stock and has retained Gemstar’s Interactive Program Guide businesses.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

SAG president Alan Rosenberg’s not backing down from seeking strike authorization despite blistering criticism that’s mounted over the past week. He’s remained upbeat in interviews and in front of members, putting the best face on prospects that the authorization may not receive the required 75% support among SAG members who cast ballots in the upcoming referendum. Labor observers have grown increasingly skeptical that SAG members will vote up the authorization amid a declining economy and growing dissension within the guild. But in interviews Thursday after hosting the SAG nominations announcement, Rosenberg indicated he’s still expecting the vote will pass muster — even as a No SAG Strike petition topped 1,000 endorsers, including high-profile signers such as George Clooney, Russell Crowe and Tom Hanks.

TECHNOLOGY/MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

Comedy Central has greenlit “Secret Girlfriend,” a scripted half-hour skein based on a successful Web series. Cabler has ordered six episodes of “Girlfriend,” which features the viewer as the “star” of a twentysomething dating satire, with all the actors addressing the camera as if it were the lead. Skein, which is produced by FremantleMedia North America, originates from a Web-based series developed by the conglom’s Atomicwedgietv.com channel. Eric Weinberg (“Scrubs,” “Californication”) will serve as showrunner and exec producer. Jay Rondot and Ross Novie, who created the Web series, are also listed as exec producers. Series will be recast for television.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.fearzone.com/

You may be asking yourself, “Does the world really need another horror website?” Of course it does! This one is good.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997617.html?categoryId=21&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997629.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997639.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

Http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997630.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997638.html?categoryId=2431&cs=1

http://www.cynopsis.com/content/view/4081/53/

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997619.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997573.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

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Thursday, December 18th, 2008

THURSDAY DECEMBER 18, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

United Artists has teamed with StudioCanal to turn Fritz Leiber’s 1952 novel “Conjure Wife” into a feature film. Billy Ray has been set to write the script and direct. The novel is a supernatural thriller in which a man discovers that his recent career successes are the result of his wife’s dabbling in witchcraft.

Barry Sonnenfeld will direct and produce action comedy “The How-To Guide for Saving the World” from BenDavid Grabinski’s script. Story’s centered on an instruction manual for saving the world left behind by a secret group that protects the Earth from alien invaders but is wiped out.

Adam Shankman is in final negotiations to develop and direct “The 8th Voyage of Sinbad,” Columbia’s retelling of the classic myth featuring Sinbad the Sailor. Neal Moritz is producing through his Original Film banner. The story centers on Sinbad and his crew, who are marooned off the coast of China and embark on a quest to find the Lamp of Aladdin. Along the way they meet a beautiful empress and do battle with fantastical creatures and a rebellious Chinese general who threatens the kingdom. Cormac and Marianne Sellek Wibberley wrote the most recent draft.

AMC has pacted with Warner Horizon to produce the pilot for a third original dramatic series on the cabler’s sked. Referred to by AMC only as “UPT,” or untitled political thriller, the project will star Miranda Richardson and James Badge Dale. It begins lensing in late January in Gotham. Jason Horwic (NBC’s “Medical Investigation” and FX’s “Pentagon Papers”) created and will exec produce. The skein “focuses on an analyst at a national think tank who discovers that his employers are not who they seem to be,” said an AMC statement.

New Regency has snapped up Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett’s original pitch “The Family Hitchcock,” which they will write, direct and produce. The Fox-based production and financing outfit came out on top of a bidding war that involved five studios, paying low- to mid-seven figures for the family adventure. The duo’s elaborate pitch visually outlined the entire film with 234 cards, creating a map of the story. Plot follows a family in danger after they house-swap with another in Europe.

PROJECT UPDATES

Gold Circle Films has acquired “Naked,” a comic script about an insurance salesman who vows to run from Santa Monica to Studio City to prove himself to his wife and save their failing marriage. Matthew Chapman wrote the script, which Gold Circle’s Paul Brooks acquired in turnaround from Sony Pictures.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Sony Pictures has upped Rory Bruer to prexy of worldwide distribution in a move that puts him in charge of international operations as well as domestic distribution, which he has headed since 2002. In turn, Sony Pictures Releasing Intl. prexy of distrib Mark Zucker has been given the new title of SPRI prexy. He will work closely with and report to Bruer, instead of to Sony chairman of worldwide marketing and distribution Jeff Blake. Bruer, who will continue to report to Blake, becomes the first major studio distribution topper to be put in charge of both domestic and international.

Filling the void left by last week’s departure of longtime HBO exec Harold Akselrad, 27-year company vet Tom Woodbury has been upped to general counsel and exec VP at the premium cabler.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

The Screen Actors Guild’s battle of endorsements has moved into high gear. The no side in SAG’s strike authorization has gained more star power with Russell Crowe, Michael Chiklis, Hilary Duff, Alyssa Milano, Julianne Moore and Seann William Scott coming out against the vote. As of midday Wednesday, some 750 members had endorsed the No SAG Strike petition, written two weeks ago by Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. The online effort debuted Monday as more than 130 stars announced their opposition, including George Clooney, Matt Damon and Tom Hanks.

TECHNOLOGY/MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

Action star Maggie Q (“Live Free or Die Hard”) has joined the cast of “King of Fighters,” an English-language, live-action adaptation of a bestselling Japanese vidgame now lensing in Vancouver. Helmed by Hong Kong’s Gordon Chan, pic also stars Sean Faris, Ray Park, Will Yun Lee and David Leitch, who doubles as action choreographer.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://beta.espn.go.com/

ESPN is ready to roll out a freshly redesigned web portal on Jan. 5 and the network has released the beta version of the site to the general public. Let’s say the move is not a moment too soon for the undisputed leader in U.S. sports, as its traffic numbers have remained relatively flat for the past year according to ComScore’s Media Metrix. The first thing you’ll notice is that there is far less jammed onto the home page, giving your eye an actual fighting chance to absorb the content. The endless number of tabs at the top have been replaced with 7 principle categories (subcategories come up when you wave your mouse over them.) Each major sport still has its own tab below the main menu, with minor ones being relegated to the More Sports category. The old school video player has been swapped out with a 16×9 formatted one and, thank goodness, the autoplay video on the home page is finally gone. You can browse for video by latest (the default setting) by TV show, by sport or by original video. The myESPN option gives you much snazzier customization features, including a cool Flash roll-over that allows you access to your favorite teams, players, sports, or custom headlines. It also provides one-click access to fantasy games – a necessity in keeping fantasy nuts loyal. The redesign was a long time coming; ESPN’s digital team has been working on it for more than a year. But it’s been worth the wait. Users will find the site much easier to navigate and advertisers should enjoy much more impact from their ad placements.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997567.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997577.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ic41d147829e712a64ad7f562eb5f753d

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997565.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997581.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997542.html?categoryId=1350&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997538.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997576.html?categoryId=30&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997569.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997533.html?categoryId=1079&cs=1

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Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 17, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Tracy Morgan will star in and produce the comedy “Freshman Roommates” for Montecito and Paramount Pictures. TJ Miller (“Cloverfield”) will also star in the film that is inspired by the proliferation of email scams purporting to be sent by a Nigerian prince looking for help in accessing his fortune. “Freshman Roommates” asks the question what if one of the emails isn’t a scam. Story kicks off when a young man answers one such email during a drunken stupor. Soon thereafter, the spoiled son of a deposed African dictator (Morgan) shows up at his door, looking to secure his inheritance.

New Regency has acquired “Mr. Romance,” a pitch for a comedy that will be helmed by “Four Christmases” director Seth Gordon. Jeff Roda (“The Siege of Fulton Avenue”) will pen the script. Regency has acquired rights to a Joshuah Bearman article commissioned by GQ magazine. Tower of Babble’s Beau Bauman will produce with Gordon. The pic will be a comedy about a cynical guy who is forced to enter the Mr. Romance competition to win back the love of his life. The competition, which finds hunks whose photos grace the bodice-ripping covers of romance novels, is a real event.

Universal and “Pirates of the Caribbean” helmer Gore Verbinski have acquired a 2007 Wall Street Journal article they will use as the basis for a film about the online fantasy role-playing world and its detrimental impact on the real lives of players. Verbinski will develop the film as a directing vehicle; Steven Knight (“Eastern Promises”) will pen the script. The article by Alexandra Alter focuses on a married man who spends as many as 20 hours a day on a computer, existing through an avatar who is a thriving, musclebound entrepreneur. In reality, he is a diabetic, chain-smoking 53-year-old.

PROJECT UPDATES

Tom Fontana has returned to NBC’s midseason drama “The Philanthropist.” Fontana replaces David Eick, who will now focus his attention on the “Battlestar Galactica” spinoff “Caprica,” which just scored a series order from Sci Fi. Move reps a major reversal for Peacock execs and Fontana, who parted ways in April. Fontana and producing partner Barry Levinson exited “The Philanthropist” after NBC decided to make a creative change on the show.

Peter Chelsom will helm romantic comedy “The Perfect Man” for the Film Department and Di Novi Pictures. Based on Italian film “L’uomo perfetto,” pic follows a woman’s plot to break up the marriage of her two friends. Colleen McGuinness is adapting the script.

Paramount Pictures has set Harrison Ford and is negotiating with Rachel McAdams to star in “Morning Glory,” a comedy J.J. Abrams will produce. Roger Michell is set to direct. McAdams would play an aspiring news producer who tries to save a failing morning show by getting control of its feuding anchors. Ford will play one of the anchors, and the female thesp playing the other anchor will be set shortly. Aline Brosh McKenna (“The Devil Wears Prada”) wrote the script.

Jason Reitman and producing partner Daniel Dubiecki are exec producing “The Wedding,” a romantic comedy that visits the perils and peccadilloes of young love. Jesse Eisenberg is attached to star in the project as a young man who crashes the wedding of a 30-ish woman he is infatuated with. Anna Friel, who stars on ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” and in Universal’s upcoming adventure tale “Land of the Lost,” plays the bride. Max Winkler is penning the script for “Wedding.”

Scott Charles Stewart has signed to direct “Priest,” a horror Western that Michael De Luca and Stars Road Entertainment’s Josh Donen are producing for Screen Gems. Mitchell Peck will also produce. An adaptation of a TokyoPop comic book, the story is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampire and follows a warrior priest who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece. Cory Goodman (“The Brood”) wrote the screenplay.

BUSINESS NEWS

Endemol USA is looking to achieve in the scripted arena the kind of success it’s found in reality TV. Under the oversight of senior VP Jeremy Gold, Endemol has set up a dozen drama and comedy projects at the broadcast and cable nets. Scripts in the works include a Western at AMC, a family laffer at Fox, a femme-driven comedy at HBO, an animated skein at Comedy Central and a nanny-themed project at the CW.

A Los Angeles federal judge has moved the trial for “Watchmen” back two weeks to Jan. 20 after declining to issue a ruling on whether Fox or Warner Bros. controls the rights to the project. Judge Gary Allen Feess set the new trial date Monday, noting that he’s required to handle a criminal matter on Jan. 6. He also refused to make a pre-trial summary judgment — as requested by both sides — because, he said, the contracts between Fox and “Watchmen” producer Larry Gordon are so open to interpretation that a trial is required. Warner Bros. has not backed off a release date of March 6 for “Watchmen,” directed by Zack Snyder and starring Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley.

Oprah Winfrey’s new media frontier? Pay cable. After 20 years at ABC, Winfrey’s Harpo Films has inked a three-year exclusive deal with HBO to develop and produce scripted programming, including series, miniseries, movies and documentaries.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Is it a question of changing policy, or simply saber-rattling? On Tuesday, News Corp. said it would not rule out switching its current TV series from SAG to AFTRA contracts. SAG immediately blasted back, saying the company was using illegal “scare tactics.” While the drama is unending in SAG negotiations, the plot twists are arriving ever more quickly these days — underlining the fact that emotions are running high as Hollywood rethinks some longstanding ways of doing business with the guilds. Fox announced at midday it was exploring a shift of existing series from SAG to AFTRA but retracted that statement a few hours later after both unions blasted the move.

TECHNOLOGY/MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

Interscope Records is looking to capitalize on the Internet craze over Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em with the label’s first webisode effort based on the rap artist. The characters in “Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em: The Animated Series” will be introduced in the first music video that follows this week’s release of Soulja Boy’s second album.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997500.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997490.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997496.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997494.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997478.html?categoryId=19&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997467.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i6fbc6343575b26e10d43967ba205cf59

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i6fbc6343575b26e1bd2265370e25bc24

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997501.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997498.html?categoryId=22&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i19be8968005c5b8c6ec32e884ea170c0

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997503.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/technology/news/e3i6fbc6343575b26e1972f5bca59e2d6e1

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Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

TUESDAY DECEMBER 16, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Helmer James L. Brooks is set to team with Reese Witherspoon on an untitled comedy for Columbia Pictures. Brooks, who has directed only five films during his career and hasn’t helmed one since 2004′s “Spanglish,” has been holed up writing the screenplay for the film, which is described as an ensemble project that boasts at least three major characters — a hallmark of such Brooks films as “Broadcast News” and “Terms of Endearment.” Witherspoon is the only lead to sign on so far. Logline is being kept under wraps on the film, which has the working title “How Do You Know?” Studio is eyeing a March start date.

Lionsgate has acquired screen rights to “Loving Frank,” a historical novel about architect Frank Lloyd Wright by Nancy Horan. John Burnham Schwartz (“Reservation Road”) has been set to write the script. “Frank” tells the pre-WWI story of the affair between Wright and Chicago society matron Mamah Borthwick Cheney.

Dimension Films and Rob Zombie are teaming for another chapter of “Halloween,” and he’s racing to scare up the pic for release in October. Zombie will write and direct “H2,” the sequel to his 2007 reinvention of the John Carpenter horror classic. Production will begin in March. The new film picks up right as the first remake ended, following the aftermath of Michael Myers’ murderous rampage through the eyes of the sister he hunted. Zombie said it won’t resemble the original second installment, as the “House of 1000 Corpses” helmer continues to take the franchise in different directions.

Jennifer Lopez has signed on to star in the fertility-themed romantic comedy “Plan B” for CBS Films. Penned by Kate Angelo, story centers on a single woman (Lopez) who turns to artificial insemination to answer her ticking biological clock only to meet the man of her dreams on the same day as her positive pregnancy test results. Producers and CBS Films are looking to tap a director for the project by the end of January, if not sooner.

“Frost/Nixon” playwright and screenwriter Peter Morgan is lining up his directorial debut, a film that would be the third movie in the Tony Blair trilogy launched in 2003 by Stephen Frears’ British TV movie “The Deal” and followed by “The Queen.” “Deal” tracked the rise of Tony Blair, played by Michael Sheen. Frears and Sheen then reteamed for “The Queen,” which also starred Helen Mirren in her Oscar-winning turn. Morgan earned an Oscar nom for best original screenplay on the pic as well. The third movie, tentatively titled “The Special Relationship,” will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and will again star “Frost/Nixon” thesp Sheen as Tony Blair. Morgan initially planned to focus the pic on George W. Bush as well as Bill Clinton, but decided to narrow its scope to the intimate relationship between Blair and Clinton between 1997 and 2000. The writer researched the picture in Washington, D.C., and Little Rock, Ark., last summer.

PROJECT UPDATES

Olivia Wilde has landed the female lead in Disney’s “Tron” sequel. Few details are known of the character the actress will play in the pic, titled “TR2N,” to be helmed by commercial helmer Joseph Kosinski. But Jeff Bridges will return in the role he played in the 1982 original, about a hacker who is abducted into the world of a computer and forced to participate in a series of gladiatorial games. Disney plans to release the pic sometime in 2011.

Writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez has set Carla Gugino to star in “Elektra Luxx.” Pic is a sequel to “Women in Trouble,” an ensemble comedy about one day in the lives of 10 Los Angeles women that has yet to find distribution. “Elektra Luxx” picks up the travails of the characters a month later, again covering a full day. The original starred Gugino, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Adrianne Palicki, Marley Shelton, Connie Britton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Simon Baker. Tim Olyphant, Alicia Silverstone and Justin Kirk have been tapped to play characters in “Elektra Luxx,” and many of the actors from the first film are reprising their roles. Elektra Luxx (Gugino) is a porn star whose life is turned upside down when she discovers she’s pregnant. Gutierrez is planning a third installment tentatively titled “Women in Ecstasy.” Filming of the first sequel is under way, and all three pics are financed independently and produced by Gutierrez’s Gato Negro Films.

Brittany Robertson has landed the lead in the CW’s hourlong pilot “Light Years.” The Liz Tigelaar-penned “Light Years” is a family dramedy centered on a 15-year-old girl (Robertson) who, seeking emancipation after growing up in foster homes, tracks down her birth parents who had given her up for adoption when their one-night stand resulted in pregnancy. The girl connects with her mother, a morning radio show host with a fear of commitment, and father, an immature bar owner, and the trio form a modern-day “It Takes a Village”-type family. Gary Fleder is directing the project, which is produced by CBS Par TV after originating at ABC Studios.

BUSINESS NEWS

Fox has exhibited glee for “Glee,” picking up 13 episodes of the hourlong comedy from “Nip/Tuck” creator Ryan Murphy. Net hopes to schedule the show — which is set in the world of high school glee clubs — as soon as this spring, in order to take advantage of the “American Idol” juggernaut. Fox showed interest early on in “Glee,” giving the project a pilot commitment — as well as an order for four additional scripts — in July. “Glee” stood out to Fox Entertainment prexy Kevin Reilly and chairman Peter Liguori during Fox’s recent screening of four pilots in contention.

IMDB is getting some mojo at the B.O. Amazon-owned film credits database has acquired Box Office Mojo, the popular website that tracks film grosses. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, indicating it’s not financially significant for the online retailer’s earnings. Purchase should enhance the relatively sparse box office data on the ultra-popular IMDB. Amazon may also integrate some of IMDB’s data onto the Box Office Mojo site.

Looking to replicate the box office success that “Twilight” has enjoyed after debuting over Thanksgiving, Summit Entertainment will release sequel “New Moon” on Nov. 20. The film franchise most associated with Thanksgiving is Warner Bros.’ “Harry Potter.” But there are only three films left in that series — and only one bowing over Thanksgiving, in 2010. Summit caught a lucky break when Warners decided to push back the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” from Thanksgiving 2008 to summer 2009. There are four books in Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling “Twilight” franchise.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Brillstein Entertainment Partners has hired Stacy O’Neil to open the management/production company’s first full-service New York office. O’Neil, who became available after the Firm partners Rick Yorn and Jeff Kwatinetz split to form new ventures, brings with her a client list that includes Amy Adams, Vin Diesel and Rachel Weisz. O’Neil, who started her career as Stacy Boniello, spent eight years at the Firm. She started in the UTA mailroom and became a manager at Banner Entertainment before joining the Firm.

Andrew Gumpert has been upped to president of business affairs and administration for Columbia Pictures. In his new post, Gumpert will not only oversee deal negotiations and administration for the studio but will be integrally involved in the budgeting and financing aspects of all of Columbia’s theatrical releases. He will work closely with Columbia presidents Matt Tolmach and Doug Belgrad as well as Peter Schlessel, prexy of worldwide affairs for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Looks like the “no” side is mobilizing the star power. As SAG called off its emergency Friday board meeting, more than 130 stars — including George Clooney, Matt Damon and Tom Hanks — have strongly urged SAG members to vote down the guild’s strike authorization. The list also includes Alan Alda, Jason Alexander, Alec Baldwin, Steve Carell, Billy Crystal, Cameron Diaz, Sally Field, Morgan Freeman, Jeremy Irons, Helen Hunt, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Kevin Spacey and Charlize Theron, along with former SAG presidents Patty Duke, Melissa Gilbert and William Schallert. In a letter sent Monday to leaders of the Screen Actors Guild, the stars said a strike would create more economic hardship and called for SAG to unite with other Hollywood unions in three years. Doing so would be a way to “take the high road,” they added. The letter was issued shortly before guild president Alan Rosenberg spoke before an overflow crowd of several hundred at a townhall meeting Monday night at the Westin Times Square. Prior to the meet, New York board member Paul Christie described New York members as “ticked off” about the strike authorization.

TECHNOLOGY/MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

HBO will kick off the second season of “Flight of the Conchords” on FunnyorDie.com. Full-length sneak peek of the comedy series’ second-season premiere episode will be available for viewing on the site from Wednesday through Sunday. Select highlight clips from “Conchords’ ” first season also will be available. The series will make its official season bow on HBO Jan. 18.

New-media startups looking to bring entertainment insights to the masses are ramping up. Entertainment site HitFix will launch this week. Founded by ex-Reed Business Information development execs Jen Wilhelmi Sargent and Arash Hadipanah and ex-Latimes.com and MSN.com film editor Gregory Ellwood, the startup offers the calendar application Forecast, which enables consumers to track and customize upcoming entertainment options based on their zip code and tastes. Last week the HitFix team made the rounds of studios to talk about advertising to their target 18-34 demo as well as access to new trailers, sets and talent.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://evernote.com/

This extremely handy multimedia note-taking application allows you to capture text, photos and voice notes and catalog them for seamless sharing and easy access. The company was quick to produce an iPhone app that works flawlessly; it’s perfect for taking a picture of a map or making a quick note about something that you don’t want to forget. The problem with it is that the iPhone camera is limited. Now Evernote has partnered with SD memory card maker Eye-Fi to enable users to send photos over Wi-Fi directly into their Evernote accounts. Now you can simply snap a photo with a more robust digital camera then transmit it wirelessly into the Evernote interface.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997422.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997403.html?categoryId=2431&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997402.html?categoryId=2429&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997431.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997432.html?categoryId=2554&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i728e28adf80ba3aa56559ebbc3a69896

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997437.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997426.html?categoryId=2429&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997434.html?categoryId=1300&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997423.html?categoryId=1009&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997408.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997391.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997429.html?categoryId=30&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997396.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997443.html?categoryId=1009&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997435.html?categoryId=1009&cs=1

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Monday, December 15th, 2008

MONDAY DECEMBER 15, 2008

BOX OFFICE

Weekend Estimate

December 12-14, 2008 (*millions)

FILM GROSS

1 The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) $31M

2 Four Christmases (2008) $13.3M

3 Twilight (2008/I) $8.01M

4 Bolt (2008) $7.51M

5 Australia (2008) $4.29M

6 Quantum of Solace (2008) $3.8M

7 Nothing Like the Holidays (2008) $3.5M

8 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) $3.25M

9 Milk (2008) $2.64M

10 Transporter 3 (2008) $2.25M

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment have set Preston Whitmore to write and direct “Zoom,” a music-themed film that teams “8 Mile” producer Brian Grazer with musician and music producer Pharrell Williams. Grazer and Williams will produce. Williams will compose the score and soundtrack. “Zoom” is the story of a troubled West Virginia youth who attends a music academy and finds his voice and a place in the world.

“The Crow” will fly again. Stephen Norrington has signed on to write and direct a reinvention of “The Crow,” based on the comic created by James O’Barr. Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media is negotiating with producer Ed Pressman to acquire the film franchise and finance the film. Pressman produced the 1994 Alex Proyas-directed screen transfer, in which rock musician Eric Draven is murdered trying to rescue his girlfriend from thugs, and returns from the dead one year later to exact vengeance. Though the original became a gothic-style hit that grossed nearly $100 million worldwide, it is primarily remembered for a tragic accident in which star Brandon Lee was killed during filming.

Graham King’s GK Films has acquired the life rights of John Martorano, a former enforcer for James “Whitey” Bulger’s Boston-based Winter Hill Gang. King will produce the film through his GK Films banner. Martorano was a killer for the mob, murdering 20 people over a decade. After he discovered his compatriots, including Bulger, were government informants all along, Martorano became a government witness who exposed corruption and collusion between the mob and the Boston office of the FBI. Bulger fled and is still a fugitive. Martorano was released from prison in 2007 after serving 14 years.

The Terminator will be back. Halcyon Co. toppers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek are developing a fifth instalment of the man-vs.-machine franchise. Helmer McG, who directed the upcoming fourth pic, “Terminator Salvation,” is working with the Halcyon duo on the latest project.

Now in post on their first feature together, Gold Circle Films and Spanish filmmaker Luis A. Berdejo are reteaming for “POD,” a sci-fi thriller that Berdejo will write and direct. The film is described as an intergalactic tale of discovery, love and adventure and epic in scope.

Guy Nattiv and Erez Tadmor are pulling back the curtain on a piece of Mossad history, writing an untitled project centering on the Israeli intelligence agency for “La Vie en Rose” producer Alain Goldman. The duo also might direct. The film will follow the true story of the investigation into the disappearance of a 9-year-old boy from the streets of Jerusalem in the early 1960s. The case, known as the Yossele Case, took on major importance in Israel — still in its nascent stages as a country — which was making its mission to be seen as a country that would provide a safe haven for Jews throughout the world. The police proved to be ineffectual, and the prime minister called on the Mossad to step in. Goldman is hoping to move fast on the project, with a spring shoot being eyed.

Danny Comden is back at ABC and ABC Studios. The actor-writer has inked a deal with ABC Studios for “Temps,” a multicamera comedy set up at ABC. Comden will write and star in the project, described as a modern-day “Taxi” set at a temp agency. The deepening recession is making the project topical and relatable as companies that lay off employees often resort to temp agencies to fill vacant positions, Comden said. “Temps” also explores the plight of overqualified and underemployed immigrants who held high academic or professional positions in their native countries but often work manual labor jobs in the U.S. The show is set at the agency’s office and will also follow the temps on their assignments. It centers on a 10-year veteran temp (Comden).

BUSINESS NEWS

Paramount Pictures laid off an undisclosed number of marketing executives Friday in an effort to streamline its marketing and distribution efforts as the studio prepares for a smaller slate of films in 2009. Cuts were part of the Dec. 3 announcement by parent company Viacom that it was slashing 7% of its workforce across all divisions. At the time, Paramount wouldn’t confirm how many staffers were being let go, but it was believed to be about 100. Though the pinkslips were supposed to be handed out by the end of the day Dec. 5, the studio waited an extra week to notify the marketing execs affected. Paramount declined comment, though an insider said the delay was simply for logistical reasons.

James Lassiter, Will Smith and Ken Stovitz’s Overbrook Entertainment has reupped its first-look deal with Columbia Pictures for five years, keeping the shingle at the studio through 2013. Based at the studio since 2001, Overbrook has become one of the most successful star-driven banners in showbiz, producing such recent Sony hits as “Hancock” and “Hitch.” Before Sony, Overbrook had been based at Universal Pictures. However, the relationship yielded no films. Casey Silver and Ron Meyer had been the U execs responsible for bringing Smith and Lassiter into the studio fold. But within six months of Overbrook’s signing, Silver and Meyer were replaced by Stacey Snider, who eventually let Overbrook defect to Sony.

Dave Hemingson and ABC are at it again. The network has handed the writer and 20th TV a pilot order for an hourlong legal project. This past development cycle, Hemingson penned ABC/20th TV’s untitled legal dramedy pilot, an ensemble about a law school grad (Matt Long) from a blue-collar background who joins a Los Angeles boutique law firm. The pilot had solid buzz but missed the cut for a series pickup in August. Still, the network is said to have liked Hemingson’s writing, the law firm setting and some of the actors, including Long. It is understood that the new project would be more dramatic and emotional in tone. It isn’t clear whether any cast members of this year’s pilot will stay on for the new one.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Civil war has broken out at the Screen Actors Guild. Gotham leaders of SAG are demanding that the guild’s plan to seek a strike authorization vote be called off due to the faltering economy, and they want the guild’s contract negotiating committee replaced in the hopes that new blood will help end the guild’s months-long stalemate with the majors. SAG president Alan Rosenberg responded by setting the emergency national board meeting for Friday at SAG’s Hollywood headquarters — but he insists that the New York guild reps attend in person. Rosenberg blasted SAG’s Gotham toppers for their “extraordinarily destructive and subversive” action. A guild spokeswoman said SAG would not comment on why the emergency board meeting is a “face to face” session. New York reps indicated that requiring cross-country travel on short notice, when videoconferencing equipment is readily available, can only be interpreted as punitive and designed to hold down attendance by opponents of the guild’s Hollywood leadership. The skirmish that erupted after the New York board, headed by prexy Sam Freed, spoke out against the strike authorization vote on Friday afternoon widens the gulf between SAG leaders in Hollywood and the rest of the country. New York board member Mike Hodge had already publicly criticized the decision to seek the strike authorization vote, while Gotham board member Richard Masur, a former SAG prexy, has been a longtime foe of the guild’s current Hollywood leadership.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997364.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997365.html?categoryId=1350&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997367.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997377.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i1ccc5c91366de3d984e82ab4c1dd964e

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ia42e757920d92779fc163fc7e2c79ffe

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i1ccc5c91366de3d983afe3c39a545397

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997368.html?categoryId=3284&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997369.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ia42e757920d927797c8b14f961dac35e

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997375.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

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Friday, December 12th, 2008

FRIDAY DECEMBER 12, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard have booked roles in the upcoming Off Broadway production of Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” at Classic Stage Company. Duo joins a cast that includes Denis O’Hare (“Take Me Out”) in the title role, Mamie Gummer (“Les Liaisons Dangereuses”) and George Morfogen. Sarsgaard is appearing in Chekhov’s “The Seagull” on Broadway in a run ends Dec. 21. Gyllenhaal’s stage credits include a staging of Tony Kushner’s “Homebody/Kabul” that played L.A.’s Mark Taper Forum in 2003 and went on to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2004.

“Gilmore Girls” star Lauren Graham is looking to make the leap back into primetime. ABC has given a production commitment to a new comedy starring Graham, who will play a self-help guru who teaches women how to live a stress-free life — but struggles to follow her own advice when her boyfriend dumps her. Untitled half-hour comes from scribe Alex Herschlag (“Will and Grace”), who will exec produce along with the folks behind the Tantamount shingle — Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum and Mitch Hurwitz. Hagada Hey and Tantamount will produce, while Sony Pictures TV — where Tantamount is based — is the studio. Graham will also serve as a producer on the sitcom.

PROJECT UPDATES

Paul Giamatti and Anthony Mackie will star in “Babylon,” an indie film set to begin production in February in Jamaica. Ian Stone wrote the script, and Andres Baiz (“Satanas”) will direct. Stick N Stone will finance, with Stone Douglass and Mickey Barold producing. Mackie will play a Rasta from the isolated hills of Jamaica and Giamatti will play a British minister, both of whom accompany a 12-year-old Jamaican boy from the Kingston ghetto as they try to outrun gangsters.

ACQUISITIONS/FESTIVAL NEWS

Screen Media Films has picked up all rights to Sten Olssen’s political thriller “An American Affair” starring Gretchen Mol and Noah Wyle, slotting it for a Feb. 27 domestic release. Set in 1963, pic traces the Kennedy years through the eyes of a teenager watching JFK’s (Wyle) affair with his neighbor (Mol). The indie distrib also has the Alec Baldwin starrer “Lymelife,” which is unspooling in Sundance’s Spectrum program, and the drama “Spinning Into Butter” starring Sarah Jessica Parker.

BUSINESS NEWS

Fox’s half-hour space comedy “Boldly Going Nowhere” and the hourlong musical comedy “Glee” appear close to series pickups. As part of its split development season, Fox brass are viewing four pilots: the 20th TV-produced “Boldly,” “Glee” and “Ernesto” and UMS/BermanBraun’s “Virtuality.” The execs are said to be very high on “Boldly” — which hails from the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” trio of Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton — and on Ryan Murphy’s “Glee,” whose cut-down 44-minute version of the pilot is being well received. Meanwhile, the Wilmer Valderrama-starring drama “Ernesto” is not expected to go forward. Co-star Nick Zano recently landed a new regular gig on USA’s pilot “Operating Instructions.” The two-hour backdoor sci-fi pilot “Virtuality,” might stay in consideration for May and be reworked as a more mainstream drama.

Summit has decided to postpone the release of Rian Johnson’s quirky con-man pic “The Brothers Bloom” just a week ahead of its limited release. The company will move the buzz title out of the Dec. 19 slot and open it in limited release May 15, widening the film two weeks later. The film originally was slated to widen Jan. 16. Summit has had one of the fall’s biggest breakouts in “Twilight,” which has generated a significant amount of revenue and become a priority for the company. A spokesperson, however, said the decision to move “Bloom” was not influenced by “Twilight” but by the glut of specialized titles during the holiday season.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Turner Networks has promoted Michael Wright to exec VP, head of programming, for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies. Move, which expands Wright’s purview to acquired programming, comes as Ken Schwab readies his move to Discovery Channel next month as senior VP of programming. Schwab is credited with bringing off-net laffers including “Family Guy” and “My Name Is Earl” to TBS and dramas including “Cold Case” and “Bones” to TNT. In addition, the Los Angeles-based Wright will also now oversee Turner’s Atlanta-based program planning and scheduling department.

Dark Horse Entertainment, with a term deal at Universal, has hired Keith Goldberg as senior vp production. Goldberg will be based in the Portland, Ore.-headquartered company’s Los Angeles offices and oversee the first-look relationship with Universal as well as bring in new film projects. The Universal deal, signed this year, gives the studio access to the Dark Horse library of characters and properties while giving Dark Horse the opportunity to distribute its own movies through Universal.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Leaders of the Screen Actors Guild have admitted they’ll probably have to accept the congloms’ final offer if members don’t approve the strike authorization. SAG national exec director Doug Allen and president Alan Rosenberg made the disclosure in response to questions Wednesday during a meeting to brief publicists and managers about the authorization campaign. For SAG leaders to be able to call a strike, 75% of those voting would have to vote affirmatively on the authorization. According to people with knowledge of the confab, the guild toppers conceded that if the authorization isn’t voted up, they would likely agree to the deal proposed five months ago by the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. SAG’s leaders have insisted repeatedly that the offer’s unacceptable, particularly in three “threshold” areas — new-media residuals on ad-supported streaming, new-media jurisdiction and retaining force majeure protections.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.bebo.com/

This AOL site introduced a host of new features collectively dubbed a “social inbox,” scheduled for release in early 2009. They are outgrowths of its Open Media platform announced at this time last year. Social feed aggregation will allows users to aggregate multiple email accounts and social media feeds from across the web including Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, AIM and Del.icio.us. A new Media Favorites recommendation engine (powered by recent acquisition SocialThing) will point users to video, music, groups and games they might like based on user preferences and other data including what friends are watching and subscribing to. (Now Moms will really have to watch whom their kids are spending time with online, and avail themselves of all of Bebo’s parental filters.) Such intuitive learning and sharing abilities could help media companies unlock more value from social networks and help Bebo catch up with its rivals in the U.S.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997230.html?categoryId=15&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997265.html?categoryId=1300&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997240.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997225.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i4c4c27b6bb76d9d195ca28519abc8aca

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i4c4c27b6bb76d9d1c07713bca080c60c

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997252.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i4c4c27b6bb76d9d16b00672422aa2646

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997249.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

1 Comment »

Thursday, December 11th, 2008

THURSDAY DECEMBER 11, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

HBO will air a live telecast in the spring of Will Ferrell’s Broadway show “You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W Bush.” The cable net’s special will be directed by Marty Callner, who also has helmed HBO comedy segs starring Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams and George Carlin. Exec producers are Callner for Funny Business as well as Ferrell, Adam McKay and Jessica Elbaum for Gary Sanchez Prods. HBO is now a producing partner of the stage show itself, joining a team that includes Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and Steve Traxler, who count plays “August: Osage County” and “Speed-the-Plow” among their Rialto credits. An exact date for the HBO airing has not been confirmed, although it seems likely it would come toward the end of the run of “You’re Welcome America” to prevent the telecast from cannibalizing ticket sales for the Broadway engagement. Limited Rialto stint is slated to end March 15.

Lifetime is set to unleash “Maneater,” a four-hour adaptation of a bestseller from “Starter Wife” mastermind Gigi Levangie Grazer that will star Sarah Chalke. Chalke will play a well-to-do social climber approaching her 32nd birthday — midlife in Hollywood socialite years — and eagerly looking for a husband. Mini is produced by Sony Pictures Television, with Suzanne Martin handling the adaptation and Timothy Busfield directing. In addition to penning the adaptation, Martin will serve as exec producer, along with Grazer and Stephanie Davis for 3 Arts Entertainment.

It looks like Oliver Stone enjoys being in the company of presidents. The helmer is following up his Bush biopic “W.” with a documentary about Venezuela’s controversial President Hugo Chavez. Stone has been working on the untitled doc for six months and is hoping to have it ready for next year. Stone was with Chavez in February during the dramatic rescue of hostages that Chavez helped to broker from the militant Columbian FARC group. The doc will not focus on the rescue but rather the opposition Chavez has faced at home and abroad, especially from the Bush administration, which has been vocal in its distaste for the populist socialism espoused by Venezuela’s president.

PROJECT UPDATES

Ben Stiller is set to replace Mark Ruffalo in “Greenburg,” a comedy-drama Noah Baumbach is writing and directing. Scott Rudin is producing the project, whose logline is being kept under wraps but which is expected to center on the intimacies of relationships in the manner of Baumbach’s other films. Amy Adams was set to star opposite Ruffalo, but she, too, is said to have fallen off; talks are being held with a number of other actresses.

Thor Freudenthal is coming aboard to direct “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” the story of a junior high wiseguy that Nina Jacobson is producing for Fox 2000. “Wimpy” is a live-action story based on Jeff Kinney’s illustrated tales about the life of pre-adolescent Greg Heffley, a smart aleck who frequently gets caught up in escapades at school and with his family. Kinney’s characters began life in a Web comic before migrating to print tomes; a new “Wimpy” book is due out next month. The Gersh-repped Freudenthal has been a sought-after helmer for movies aimed at younger audiences. He directed “Hotel for Dogs,” Paramount’s Emma Roberts-toplined canine comedy, and has signed on to direct Warner Bros.’ young-adult fantasy “Measle and the Wrathmonk.”

ACQUISITIONS/FESTIVAL NEWS

Roadside Attractions has nabbed U.S. rights to R.W. Goodwin’s comedy sci-fi pic “Alien Trespass” ahead of its preem at the Palm Springs Intl. Film Festival. Roadside will open the film in 22 markets on April 3. Starring Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”), film is a homage to alien invasion films of the 1950s. Goodwin is no stranger to the genre, having helmed and exec produced multiple episodes of “The X-Files.”

INDUSTRY MOVES

Former New Line marketing topper Chris Carlisle has been tapped president of Fox21, the alternative production arm of 20th Century Fox TV. Carlisle reps the division’s first-ever prexy. Jane Francis, who had headed up the unit, will remain as senior VP of creative affairs. Hiring comes as Fox21, which was first launched by 20th four years ago, is on a roll, having secured a renewal for biker drama “Sons of Anarchy” at FX and the move of “Beauty and the Geek” (which it produces with Katalyst) to MTV, which is prepping a celebrity version.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Hollywood could face an actors strike by the end of January if Screen Actors Guild members vote to give their leaders strike authorization. SAG announced Wednesday that it had set Jan. 2 as the date for sending its strike authorization ballots out to its 120,000 members. Results will be announced Jan 23 — a full month before the Feb. 22 Academy Awards. More than 75% of members voting will be needed for SAG to go on strike. Final say over calling a strike will come from SAG’s national board of directors. SAG president Alan Rosenberg said in the announcement that a yes vote will force the congloms back to the table. The companies have insisted that they won’t change their final offer to SAG, which they made on June 30 as SAG’s contract expired.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

This BBC feature, which launched around this time last year, has quickly become a rousing success in UK – serving more than 35 million programmes (as the Brits spell it) or 1 million streaming video requests per day on average in November. Not bad for a public broadcaster’s online catch-up service. It’s success has had much to do with the ubiquity of the player’s availability. After being widely criticized at launch for only working on Windows XP computers, the BBC quickly added support for Mac, Linux, Vista and later for a range of portable devices including the iPod, iPhone and Nintendo Wii. Another 61 million requests were made for iPlayer programming thorough Virgin Media in Oct., which offers access to the interactive portal to its cable subscribers. Interestingly the success of the iPlayer has coincided with the rapid improvement of connection speeds in the UK – increasing from 4.1 Mbps in Jan. to 5 Mbps in Oct. 2008, according to broadband test analysis tool Speedtest.net. These two factors – ubiquitous distribution and rapid, affordable connectivity – are crucial for multiplatform programmers going forward. The iPlayer is so admired, it seems that calls for the BBC to pick up the tab for its increased bandwidth usage have even abated.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997179.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997194.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/VR1117997180.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3idb5a7226525deea8428d34dab0067f23

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3idb5a7226525deea826aca27f76f2bd16

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997207.html?categoryId=1061&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997204.html?categoryId=30&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997167.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

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Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 10, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

New Line has won an auction for screen rights to “Rock of Ages,” a stage musical that does with ’80s rock anthems what “Mamma Mia!” did with Abba tunes. Chris D’Arienzo, who wrote the book for the Off Broadway tuner, will write the screenplay and direct the film. The storyline takes place at a Sunset Strip rock club called Rock of Ages, where a man and woman fall in love but get torn apart by the rock lifestyle. The show is propelled by signature ’80s rock anthems popularized by Journey, Twisted Sister, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Bon Jovi and REO Speedwagon.

Paramount has set “We Own the Night” helmer James Gray to direct “The Lost City of Z.” Gray will adapt the David Grann book for Brad Pitt to star in as British soldier and spy Percy Fawcett. The nonfiction book by Grann, a staffer at the New Yorker, will be published in April by Doubleday. Paramount acquired it earlier this year for Pitt to produce through his Par-based Plan B banner. Fawcett left Victorian society to explore in the Amazon, and he became obsessed by the idea of an advanced civilization he called Z, which he believed existed in the depths of the jungle. Along with his son, Fawcett headed into the jungle in 1925 in search of Z and was never seen again.

PROJECT UPDATES

John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei are in talks to star in an untitled Mark and Jay Duplass comedy for Fox Searchlight. The Duplass brothers will make their studio directing debut on the pic, formerly known as “Safety Man,” from a script they penned. Story centers on a recently divorced man (Reilly) who meets the woman of his dreams (Tomei). She has a teenage son (Hill) who has no interest in sharing his mother with a new man. Scott Free is producing. Shooting is skedded to begin in January.

Julian Farino, best known for his work on “Entourage,” is in final negotiations to direct “Oranges,” an indie comedy being produced by Anthony Bregman. MRC is producing and financing. Written by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer, the script focuses on a man who has a romantic relationship with the daughter of a family friend, turning his life and everyone else’s in the family upside down.

Betty Thomas has signed on to direct “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel,” Fox 2000 and Regency’s follow-up to the surprise 2007 hit featuring the lovable CGI-animated singing rodents. Although plot details are being kept under wraps, the new movie will introduce the Chipmunks’ female counterparts, the Chipettes. Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney are returning to respectively voice the parts of troublemaker Alvin, intellectual Simon and chubby Theodore. It is unclear whether Jason Lee is returning. Casting of the Chipettes is under way.

BUSINESS NEWS

A noted guitarist has sued members of Coldplay, claiming the band’s smash hit “Viva La Vida” copied parts of one of his songs. The copyright infringement lawsuit by Joe Satriani was filed Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles. The 52-year-old claims Coldplay copied “substantial, original portions” of his 2004 song, “If I Could Fly.” The Coldplay hit, which was nominated for a Grammy this week, has topped charts around the world and been used to sell iPods in commercials. Representatives for the band and their label, Capitol Records, did not return calls seeking comment on Friday. Satriani wants a federal judge to order an accounting so he can determine how much money he may be owed, or else stop using the song.

Disney is certainly feeling the financial squeeze, but its cutbacks during the downturn likely will be less dramatic than those at other media congloms, according to chief financial officer Tom Staggs. The Mouse House is seeing some erosion in attendance at theme parks — off about 4% for the current quarter, with only international visits holding steady. But discount offers have helped parks avoid serious slippage. Hotel bookings have dropped 6% over the first and second quarters, which is better than the 10% falloff management predicted in November.

The worsening economy has claimed another big media victim, as Electronic Arts on Tuesday announced it will significantly miss its guidance for the current fiscal year. The nation’s top videogame publisher said the poor performance was due to a number of factors, including retailers cutting back on inventory, a greater concentration of consumer spending on the top 10 titles, and lower than expected sales for several key holiday titles.

The mood promises to be grim Wednesday at Yahoo, where 1,500 staffers are expected to get the boot under previously announced layoffs. In October, the struggling Netco said it would trim 10% of its workforce by year’s end, but the company didn’t want to do it too close to the holidays. Yahoo, which plans to shift some of the jobs overseas to Eastern Europe and Asia, expects to trim $400 million from its budget with the downsizing.

Marking major changes to next year’s slate, Universal Pictures has pushed back the release of horror franchise hopeful “The Wolfman” from April 3 to Nov. 6 and taken Ridley Scott’s “Nottingham” out of 2009 entirely. Also, U’s “The Fast and the Furious 4″ will now open on April 3, instead of June 12. “Nottingham,” toplining Russell Crowe, will open in 2010, but U did not set a specific date. U said the reshuffling was the sensible thing to do, considering that “Fast 4″ is completed, while the Brian Grazer-produced “Nottingham” won’t start lensing until February or March. And moving “Wolfman” — a reboot toplining Benicio Del Toro — to Nov. 6 gives the film more of a high-profile release, as well as ample time for post-production. Pic is directed by Joe Johnston.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Screen Gems has upped Nick Phillips to senior VP of production. Phillips will oversee production on “Straw Dogs,” “Boulevard,” “The Crossing,” “The Big Chill” and “The Untitled Hamptons Comedy,” among others. He will continue to report to Screen Gems prexy Clint Culpepper. Phillips, who most recently served as VP of production at Screen Gems, oversaw production on last year’s “This Christmas” and the Ice Cube starrer “First Sunday.”

Marvel Studios has upped Tim Connors to chief operating officer of the film arm of comicbook giant Marvel Entertainment. Connors will manage the day-to-day operations as well as oversee the business transactions for all studio productions. Those include “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” “The First Avenger: Captain America,” “The Avengers” and “Ant Man.” He previously served as Marvel Studios exec VP of business affairs and operations, a position he held since late 2006.

Former Rogue Pictures co-president Andrew Rona has been named president of Warner Bros.-based Silver Pictures. Joel Silver made the announcement Tuesday. The move had been anticipated for the past month, partly due to Universal’s plans to close a deal to sell Rogue and its assets to Relativity by year’s end. Rona will also join Steve Richards as co-president of Silver’s genre arm, Dark Castle Entertainment. He’ll start in both slots after the first of the year.

HBO co-president Harold Akselrad is ankling the cabler after 25 years, most of them as chief counsel. Akselrad joined the company in 1983 as associate counsel for litigation. After a series of promotions, he was upped in 2002 to general counsel-exec VP, legal, business affairs and film programming. In June 2007 he was promoted to co-president, responsible for the network’s legal, business affairs, film acquisition and technology groups while continuing in his capacity as general counsel.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Ramping up its strike authorization campaign, the Screen Actors Guild has scheduled a third town hall meeting Dec. 17 at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel — aiming to assure members that they won’t be turned away. And SAG president Alan Rosenberg has moved to reassure the biz that leaders view a strike as a last resort amid the nation’s financial crisis. SAG held its first town hall meeting Monday night at the Harmony Gold and will stage a second confab Monday in New York. The event at the Harmony Gold drew an enthusiastic capacity crowd of 450; the ballroom booked at the Hollywood Renaissance has a capacity of 600. SAG leaders have insisted they need the strike authorization — which requires 75% of those voting to approve — in order to force the congloms to resume contract talks. The last round of talks cratered on Nov. 22 amid a blizzard of accusations after a federal mediator was unable to bring the two sides back to the table.

NEW GRAPHIC NOVELS

PHONOGRAM 2: THE SINGLES CLUB #1 (Image): The critically-acclaimed PHONOGRAM returns with seven issues of stand-alone Phonomantic stories, each set in the same night at a single nightclub. First up, Penny B wrestles with the big questions: Will she get the boy? Will the DJ play her record? Why was her gin and tonic so expensive? In a world where music is magic, she’ll discover just how deep shallow actually gets.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.tvloop.com/

Popular social network TV and sports fan widget maker Watercooler launches its first standalone destination site today. It’s a social networking hub for anyone who wants to hang out with like-minded fans of shows they are passionate about. Post comments, test your knowledge with trivia games or view clips and full-length episodes from select shows. The experience is very community-oriented; before watching a video TVloop asks if you’d like to share it with friends, along with personal comments or ratings. It may seem late to launch another TV fan site but Watercooler has been busy for the past 18 months amassing a sizeable community on Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, Bebo and Friendster around 250 shows.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997084.html?categoryId=15&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997141.html?categoryId=2431&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997125.html?categoryId=1953&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i064db40204ec9865f964d6bdd51d4502

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i064db40204ec9865414572a0aa49d1c5

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996984.html?categoryid=16&cs=1&query=Satriani

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997131.html?categoryId=3284&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997143.html?categoryId=20&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997151.html?categoryId=1009&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997153.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997144.html?categoryId=30&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997142.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997145.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997140.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997130.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

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Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

TUESDAY DECEMBER 9, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Miramax Films has begun development on “Arizona,” a fact-based drama that is being shaped as a potential directing vehicle for Ben Affleck. Pic is based on a true story that began with the death of Don Bolles, an investigative reporter for the Arizona Republic. In 1976, Bolles was killed in a car bomb explosion as he was investigating the infiltration of organized crime into state government. Bolles was a co-founder of a group called the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), whose members rallied to his cause shortly after his death, completing the work that Bolles had begun. Miramax has hired Sheldon Turner to write the script and Sean Bailey to produce. Cori Stern will exec produce.

Twentieth Century Fox has optioned rights to “How to Talk to Girls,” a newly published advice guide written by Alec Greven, a 9-year-old expert on the subject. The first of a four-book series, “How to Talk to Girls” was published Nov. 25 by HarperCollins, the publishing house that is a sister company to Fox. The film deal encompasses all four volumes. The studio hasn’t set a writer yet or assigned a producer, but 20th production co-president Alex Young sparked to the story of Greven, who was 8 when he began writing the book as an assignment for his third-grade class, to help classmates break the ice with members of the opposite sex. The result was a pamphlet that sold at his school’s book fair for $3. HarperCollins is selling the first of the four editions for $9.99.

Keanu Reeves will star in “47 Ronin,” an epic period film for Universal Pictures based on the true tale of a band of samurai swordsmen who avenged the death of their master in 18th century Japan. Chris Morgan, who co-wrote “Wanted” and penned the upcoming “Fast and Furious” for Universal, is writing the script and tailoring it so that Reeves — who’s half-Asian — can fit the role as one of the swordsmen. Scott Stuber will produce through his Stuber Prods. banner. Reeves will play one of the swordsmen; the group and their master are revered in Japan for their revenge attack on Dec. 14, 1702. The film will tell a stylized version of the story, mixing fantasy elements of the sort seen in “The Lord of the Rings” pics, with gritty battle scenes akin to those in films such as “Gladiator.”

Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler are in negotiations to topline an untitled bounty hunter project at Columbia. “Hitch” helmer Andy Tennant is attached to direct the comedy, which centers on a bounty hunter (Butler) hired to retrieve his ex-wife (Aniston), who has skipped bail. Sarah Thorp, whose most recent bigscreen credit is the Ashley Judd starrer “Twisted,” penned the script.

Producers Chris Adams and Steve Kearney are joining with producer-director RJ Cutler to create a feature documentary about a true-life love story that played out on YouTube.com. The film will follow the romance of teenage video blogger Daniel Meadows, an Austalian who fell in love with an American teen, Shannon Jones, online, where they documented their relationship. The two young lovers’ efforts to meet were thwarted, however, when Meadows traveled to the U.S., where he he was detained by Homeland Security on suspicion of terrorism. The plan is to fashion a documentary out of a combination of existing YouTube footage and added footage.

PROJECT UPDATES

The writer-director pair behind the road-trip comedy “Sex Drive” are shifting gears — sort of. Sean Anders and John Morris are in final negotiations to direct “Hot Tub Time Machine,” a high-concept male comedy that’s set up at MGM. Jason Heald is writing the screenplay, which revolves around a group of adult male friends who, bored with their lives, visit a hot tub where they once partied. After knocking a few back, they find it can transport them to a time two decades earlier and to their younger, raunchier selves.

BUSINESS NEWS

Jay Leno won’t be departing NBC after all. Peacock is prepped to announce on Tuesday that the “Tonight Show” host will take over the 10 p.m. weeknight slot starting next fall – a blockbuster move that had been rumored as a possibility for months, but something NBC had believed was a real long shot until recently. Decision to strip Leno at 10 p.m. solves one of the most pressing issue facing NBC in the coming year: How to keep ratings leader Leno at the network, and away from the competition. By putting Leno in the 10 p.m. slot, NBC U topper Jeff Zucker has just completely altered the primetime landscape going into next season. With 10 p.m. now filled by Leno – not to mention Sunday Night Football consuming four hours on Sunday and repeats on Saturday – NBC may program as few as ten hours of traditional primetime fare next fall. With some of those hours likely to be reality shows, there’s not much room left for scripted fare.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Scott Lambert has left the William Morris Agency to join Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media in the dual posts of president of the Business group and executive VP of production. Lambert began his new job this week. Lambert is a 14-year veteran agent at WMA who repped actors such as Kiefer Sutherland and Scarlett Johansson, and specialized in packaging independent films powered by WMA clients. He announced internally his plans to leave the agency last month

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Amid growing worries about an actors strike, leaders of the Screen Actors Guild have been amping up their campaign to persuade its members to endorse a work stoppage. SAG has scheduled a second town hall meeting next week in New York — where the reception’s probably going to be much chillier than in Hollywood. SAG national exec director Doug Allen and president Alan Rosenberg will host the two-hour evening confab next Monday at the Westin Times Square. The guild toppers, in a town hall meeting Monday night in Hollywood, disclosed the strike authorization would be sent out to members.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997030.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997056.html?categoryId=2431&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997052.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997055.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3iea59cb79796a9dff260d1fef25cacc82

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3iea59cb79796a9dff65e6546c116bc519

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997051.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997060.html?categoryId=30&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997044.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

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Monday, December 8th, 2008

MONDAY DECEMBER 8, 2008

TONIGHT’S FILM NEWS BRIEF PARTY

In delightful downtown New York City, we’re looking forward to seeing you at our first annual Holiday Party. For details, please go to www.filmnewsbriefs.com/party, and you can RSVP at party@filmnewsbriefs.com. See you tonight!

BOX OFFICE

Weekend Estimate

December 5-7, 2008 (*millions)

FILM GROSS

1 Four Christmases (2008) $18.2M

2 Twilight (2008/I) $13.2M

3 Bolt (2008) $9.7M

4 Australia (2008) $7M

5 Quantum of Solace (2008) $6.6M

6 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) $5.1M

7 Transporter 3 (2008) $4.5M

8 Punisher: War Zone (2008) $4M

9 Cadillac Records (2008) $3.5M

10 Role Models (2008) $2.62M

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

David R. Ellis will direct “Six Days Till Midnight,” a Mark Bacci-scripted thriller set for an April start. Pic is about a wealthy businessman who encounters a stranger who says he has six days to answer one question. For each day he doesn’t get the answer, a loved one will be killed, ending with the businessman’s death at the end of the sixth day.

PROJECT UPDATES

Summit Entertainment has wasted no time moving ahead with the next installment in Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling “Twilight” series, “New Moon.” But in an unusual move after the successful launch of a franchise that has already generated $138.6 million, the upstart distrib is not bringing director Catherine Hardwicke back to direct the picture. Summit and Hardwicke cite Summit’s wish to rush the movie into production as one reason for their split. Summit wants to release the picture, which will demand substantial CGI work, by the end of 2009 or the start of 2010. A former production designer, Hardwicke wanted more prep time. “Twilight” scripter Melissa Rosenberg handed in a draft of “New Moon” the weekend that “Twilight” opened. Hardwicke wanted more time to work on it; Summit announced it was going ahead with “New Moon” on November 22, with no director attached. Negotiations lasted two weeks before Hardwicke formally passed on the film Saturday.

ACQUISITIONS/FESTIVAL NEWS

First Run Features has pacted for North American distribution rights on docu feature “America Betrayed.” Pic will hit select theaters in the spring, followed by a homevideo release. It also will be made available immediately to educational and institutional buyers via First Run’s new nontheatrical division. “America Betrayed” exposes disaster profiteering by the powerful and connected after the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq war. It is helmed by Leslie Carde and narrated by Richard Dreyfuss.

BUSINESS NEWS

Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment have thrown their support behind slate financing partner Ryan Kavanaugh, who is facing charges stemming from a drunken-driving arrest. Both studios spoke out after news surfaced Friday that Kavanaugh was cited in October in connection with drunken-driving, speeding and driving with a suspended license. At the time of the arrest, Kavanaugh was on probation for a previous conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol. He will be arraigned Friday in Beverly Hills.

Bets on movie box office have been placed for decades, but Hollywood Stock Exchange parent Cantor Fitzgerald is ready to launch an actual financial market for domestic B.O. Cantor has filed for federal regulatory approval for a new commodities venue called the Cantor Exchange. It would allow people or institutions — including the very industry figures making and releasing films — to buy contracts pegged to the first four weeks of a film’s gross. If all goes according to plan, Cantor Entertainment, a subsid run since May 2007 by former Nielsen exec Andy Wing, will start auction activity in January and then officially ring the trading bell in March.

Magical Elves, the production shingle that had been behind “Project Runway” until its move off Bravo, is getting back into the fashion biz. The Elves — Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz — have signed a talent deal with fashion PR diva Kelly Cutrone to create a show about the fast-paced behind-the-scenes world of Cutrone’s publicity shop, People’s Revolution.

Atlas Entertainment, the production company behind “The Dark Knight,” has pacted with Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media to produce at least six films over the next three years. Steve Alexander, who recently joined Atlas from CAA, will oversee all the projects on behalf of Atlas and serve as producer on some of the films. The first title covered under the new arrangement is the supernatural thriller “Season of the Witch,” which reteams Nicolas Cage with “Gone in Sixty Seconds” director Dominic Sena. Produced by Atlas’ Charles Roven and Alex Gartner, the film began shooting Nov. 6 in Austria and Hungary.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Ben Smith will leave ICM to become president of the production arm of Ludlum Entertainment, the Universal-based company that produces “The Bourne Identity” series and has first crack at 25 other Robert Ludlum books that haven’t yet been tapped for the screen. The move comes after Ludlum Entertainment made an overall deal that gives Universal exclusive rights to the Jason Bourne character for future films, and will seek to build film packages out of other Ludlum titles and original projects. The Bourne trilogy — which has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide for Universal — has gone beyond original intentions to span three films. The studio is working on a fourth installment for a 2010 release, with Frank Marshall, Jeffrey Weiner and Patrick Crowley producing, George Nolfi writing, Paul Greengrass directing and Matt Damon reprising his role as the amnesiac government assassin.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

The Screen Actors Guild, with its upcoming strike authorization vote in the spotlight, will take the town’s temperature via a pair of meetings to update members, publicists and managers. SAG’s leaders will hold a town hall meeting tonight at the Harmony Gold Theater in Hollywood about the vote, expected to be sent to members around Christmas. Guild toppers also will meet Wednesday in a bicoastal gathering at SAG headquarters in Hollywood and New York with personal publicists and managers. The confabs should give the guild guidance as to the support among its 120,000 members for its current strategy. SAG’s insisted that voting “yes” for the authorization doesn’t mean a strike, while the congloms have derided that idea and asserted that SAG will strike if it achieves the required 75% support among those voting.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996999.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997013.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997000.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996993.html?categoryId=1970&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996994.html?categoryId=1009&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996996.html?categoryId=1071&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996998.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997014.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997012.html?categoryId=1066&cs=1

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Friday, December 5th, 2008

FRIDAY DECEMBER 5, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

The CW may utilize an episode of “Gossip Girl” later this year to test the spinoff waters. According to netlet insiders, one of the hit teen skein’s segs later this season may double as a backdoor pilot for a “Gossip Girl” spinoff. Such a move would save in pilot costs, and allow the CW a chance to gauge viewer reaction before moving forward on such a companion show. Rumors of a “Girl” spinoff have been percolating for some time, in part because Alloy Entertainment’s “Gossip Girl” book series — from which the TV show was based — already has a spinoff of its own, “The It Girl.”

Open Heart Open Mind Prods. has launched development of Chris Bohjalian’s “Buffalo Solider” and tapped Russell Schaumberg to adapt. Stu Pollard is producing with Open Heart’s Scott Shea and Emily Cline (“Morning”), who’s also attached to star. Story centers on an African-American foster child taken in by a couple whose twin daughters have drowned.

Twentieth Century Fox has acquired screen rights to Adena Halpern’s novel “The Ten Best Days of My Life” and will develop it as a star vehicle for Amy Adams and potential directing vehicle for Shawn Levy. Adams will play a woman who dies and goes to heaven but is in danger of being demoted to a lower level of paradise unless she can prove herself by recounting her 10 best days. The novel was published by Penguin last May. Adams will make her debut as a producer on the project alongside Levy and his 21 Laps banner. Tom McNulty of 21 Laps will also be involved in a producing capacity.

“Smallville” creators Al Gough and Miles Millar will make their feature directing debut for Disney on “Salisbury,” a script the duo wrote as a spec. Gough and Millar will produce the film in a package deal worth seven figures. The pair have a first-look deal with Disney, and they just produced “Hannah Montana: The Movie” for the studio. Disney and the scribes are keeping the plot under wraps, but the title refers to a fictional town. The plot revolves around a young cast and a supernatural element. The film is expected to cost around $40 million.

John H. Williams and his Vanguard Films have picked up rights to the cult comic book series “Emo Boy,” setting Kyle Newman to direct the adaptation. Stephen Edmond, the comic’s writer-artist, is penning the screenplay. Emo is a fashion and music style as well as emotional description of someone who is overly sensitive or angst-ridden. Published by Slave Labor Graphics, the satirical comic followed the travails of the most self-dramatizing young man in the history of the world, whose emotions were so intense he even had “emo powers.”

Capitalizing on her “House Bunny” hit, Anna Faris has set up two projects, including one that reunites her with the “Bunny” crowd. Paramount has picked up an untitled pitch from Faris, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith that will produced by Happy Madison. At the same time, Columbia has acquired the romantic comedy “20 Times a Lady” to act as a starring vehicle for Faris. Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan wrote the script, which is based on the book by Karyn Bosnak. Contrafilm’s Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson are producing. The untitled Paramount project is a female buddy comedy following two estranged sisters who team up to land a husband. McCullah Lutz and Smith are writing the script and will exec produce with Faris. “Lady” centers on a woman who goes on a trek through her sexual past in an effort to find Mr. Right, exploring the idea of a person’s sexual quota and whether those numbers matter.

PROJECT UPDATES

Len Wiseman has signed on to direct a bigscreen adaptation of the apocalyptic sci-fi comicbook “Atlantis Rising” for DreamWorks. Wiseman, who directed the “Underworld” series and “Live Free or Die Hard,” also recently signed on to helm another DreamWorks project: the thriller “Motorcade.” Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who brought the project to DreamWorks back when the company was within the Paramount fold, are producing. Created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, “Atlantis Rising” is a five-part miniseries published by Platinum Studios. Story kicks off when seismic disturbances at sea force world militaries to investigate the deepest part of the ocean, where an underground civilization emerges to engage in war with planet Earth.

ACQUISITIONS/FESTIVAL NEWS

Vets including Richard Gere, Jim Carrey, William Hurt, Billy Bob Thornton, Kevin Spacey, Uma Thurman, Mickey Rourke and Robin Williams, and new generation performers such as Kristen Stewart, Zooey Deschanel, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal and Ashton Kutcher are among those toplining the Premieres set to unspool at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, which runs Jan. 15-25 in Park City, Utah. Tightened to 16 entries from last year’s 24, the Premieres rep some of the higher-profile films at Sundance, often coming with known directors and casts and occasionally with distribution already in place. Premieres section is based at the fest’s largest venue, the Eccles.

Vivendi Entertainment has nabbed all rights to Chris Stokes’ hip-hop dance film “Boogie Town,” currently lensing with Marques Houston in the lead. Vivendi will release theatrically in the summer. Stokes and Houston worked together on the hip-hop themed “You Got Served,” a sleeper hit released by Screen Gems in 2004. Set in a near-future New York where dancing is outlawed, “Boogie Town” follows the rise of illegal “battle dancing” in the underground world of the title.

BUSINESS NEWS

Further cuts at NBC News and elsewhere around NBC Universal were carried out Thursday, including layoffs in the Dallas and Burbank bureaus. There are as many as 500 layoffs being carried out, which totals to about 3% of the work force. That included as many as 50 cuts at the local media group, 70 on the Universal side of the operations including the film studio but also the parks and distribution; as well as at least 30 at NBC News. There were somewhere under 80 positions cut at CNBC as well as the idling of the primetime show “The Big Idea With Donny Deutsch.” At the broadcast network and the cable side, the cuts are said to be minimal.

More than a dozen layoffs hit the editorial staff of the Hollywood Reporter on Thursday. The layoffs amount to a significant reduction in the paper’s reporting staff. Also cut were a number of senior editors, including long-serving managing editor Harley Lond, lead TV critic Barry Garron, Hy Hollinger, a veteran editor in the international department and New York-based features editor Randee Dawn Cohen. The film department bore the brunt of the layoffs among reporters. Film and tech writer Carolyn Giardina and film reporter Leslie Simmons were among those let go, along with New York-based film reporter Gregg Goldstein and television reporter Kimberly Nordyke. Cuts were also made among copy editors, graphics and other support areas. Reporter Lauren Horwich of the Reporter’s sister publication Backstage was also pinkslipped Thursday.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Paramount Vantage has taken another hit with label president Nick Meyer’s exit. Meyer, who had been co-president, took on the top Vantage spot solo in January when John Lesher was promoted to president of Paramount Film Group. Thursday’s move is the latest in the specialty label’s metamorphosis from an artist-friendly boutique that produced such films as “No Country for Old Men” and “Into the Wild” into an acquisitions-only outfit. In June, Vantage’s marketing, distribution and physical production units were merged into Paramount proper. The next month, dozens of Vantage employees were laid off. Guy Stodel, who joined Vantage in July as executive vp production and acquisitions, will continue as topper but with a narrowed scope that covers acquisitions and international co-productions.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

The battle for the hearts and minds of SAG actors has kicked into high gear with both sides warning of apocalyptic consequences from the upcoming strike authorization vote. Thursday’s brawling saw the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers snipe at SAG by pointing to the economic meltdown while touting the merits of the 5-month-old final offer to the Screen Actors Guild. And it called for Hollywood to study the offer to determine if the deal’s terms justify “a debilitating strike in the middle of a historic national economic crisis.” Meanwhile, SAG national exec director Doug Allen hammered the majors in a new message on the guild website in which he accused the congloms of trying to eliminate residuals. “Management wants you to give up your right to residuals in new media, which very likely could be the end of residuals,” he added. SAG can’t go on strike unless 75% of those voting endorse authorization, and with ballots due to be mailed in three weeks, the campaigning’s certain to become more contentious and bitter during the rest of the year.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.jokes.com/

Comedy Central relaunched this site with a treasure trove of 12,000 text-based jokes and 5,000 standup performances from the network’s 10-year-old programming vault. It’s look is a bit pedestrian but the MTV Entertainment Digital team deserves points for building in as many touch points as humanly possible. Search the routines of comedians such as Dane Cook, Jeff Dunham, Jim Gaffigan and, one of our favorites, Zach Galifianakis, or sort by most popular clips, comedian’s name, TV show or most recently added video. Look for jokes from 72 different categories. There are 770 jokes tagged in the pop culture category alone. The site will also function as the central hub for all Comedy Central stand-up events, tours, shows and live comedy entertainment. UGC content and more social tools are needed to make it a truly vibrant comedy portal but the depth of professional content on the site provides a terrific base to start with.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996875.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996879.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996855.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996856.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i607260fdc2070f66ff337b677134d06c

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ia94437f59a5754cadbb3a2ad6bbde376

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996869.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996817.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996845.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i9292a5081d36be078385a0e7f67493b3

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996873.html?categoryId=21&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i607260fdc2070f66609172bbc194e4d1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996847.html?categoryId=1066&cs=1

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Thursday, December 4th, 2008

THURSDAY DECEMBER 4, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Paramount Pictures has acquired rights to a recent New York Times article about a 12-year-old aspiring food critic who has charmed his way into posh eateries on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn will produce the feature adaptation through the Michaels Goldwyn Co.

Russell Brand might soon be caught between the moon and New York City. The British comedian is developing a remake of “Arthur,” the 1981 comedy that starred Dudley Moore, for Warner Bros. as a potential starring vehicle. Brand is meeting with scribes to write the screenplay, which will be produced by MBST’s Larry Brezner, whose credits range from “Good Morning, Vietnam” to HBO’s recent “Little Britain USA.”

Fox is bringing “Romancing the Stone” to the big screen again, swinging into development a remake of the 1984 adventure movie and tapping Daniel McDermott to write it. The original movie helped launch Robert Zemeckis as a director, turned Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito — then best known for their TV work — into film stars and established Kathleen Turner as a romantic lead. McDermott, a former head of DreamWorks Television who segued to screenwriting, most recently co-wrote the DreamWorks thriller “Eagle Eye.” He is developing a contemporary adventure movie for Tom Cruise at UA titled “Adventurer’s Club” and working on a remake of “Soylent Green” for Warner Bros.

Zone Film is delivering a slice of horror with Jeff Welch’s “Piecemeal.” Zone’s Daniel Roby and TCB Film’s Simon Trottier will produce the tale of a teen who struggles to control his rage while living the life of a brutally abused young man in recurring nightmares.

John Carpenter’s cult 1988 film, They Live, is getting the remake treatment from Universal and studio-based Strike Entertainment, which are in negotiations to acquire the film rights with rights holder Les Mougins. Strike’s Marc Abraham and Eric Newman will produce, while Shep Gordon of Les Mougins and Carpenter will serve as executive producers. The original film, part sci-fi thriller and part social satire, told the story of a down-on-his-luck construction worker (Roddy Piper) who discovers glasses that let him see aliens walking among us and controlling humanity. The man races against the clock to find a way to stop them.

PROJECT UPDATES

Hilary Swank will star in “The Resident,” a thriller set to shoot next May under the reconstituted Hammer Films banner. Antti J. Jokinen will make his feature directing debut from a script he co-wrote with Robert Orr. Erin Cressida Wilson (“Secretary”) recently turned in a rewrite. Swank will play a doctor who moves into a Brooklyn loft. Becoming suspicious that she’s not alone in her new home, she discovers her landlord is a stalker.

Jay Baruchel is negotiating to play the title role in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” for Walt Disney Pictures. He joins Nicolas Cage, who plays the sorcerer in the Jon Turteltaub-directed live-action pic. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing. Baruchel, who co-starred in “Tropic Thunder,” next plays the lead in the DreamWorks romantic comedy “She’s Out of My League.”

ACQUISITIONS/FESTIVAL NEWS

Thematically, the lineup for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, announced Wednesday, marks a noticeable generational shift. So says fest director Geoff Gilmore, who will preside over the presentation of 118 feature-length films, including 91 world premieres. Sundance will unspool Jan. 15-25 in Park City, Utah. Entries in the four competition categories, which were announced Wednesday, were selected from among 3,661 submissions (up slightly from 3,624 a year ago). Of these, 2,038 narrative features were considered for the U.S. and world dramatic competitions, and 1,623 domestic and foreign documentaries were submitted.

BUSINESS NEWS

Germany’s Studio Babelsberg has inked a five-year, 15-pic co-production pact with producer Joel Silver. Pics will be produced under the Dark Castle Entertainment label, and will be distribbed by Warner Bros. Carl Woebcken, topper at Babelsberg, would not specify how many of the pics would shoot at the company’s studio facilities, located just outside Berlin, but said the first project is expected to shoot there in the spring.

“ER” will conclude its 15-season run with a two-hour finale in the middle of March sweeps, while “The Office” has secured the plum post-Super Bowl slot. Those are among the latest scheduling moves announced by NBC, which revealed the rest of its midseason plans Wednesday. Net also quietly cut its episodic order on “Knight Rider,” which will end the season early – on Feb. 25. NBC had picked up a full season of “Knight Rider,” but the show’s ratings haven’t improved. As a result, the Peacock’s “Knight Rider” season order has been trimmed from 22 to 17 episodes. Net stresses that “Knight Rider” isn’t canceled – but the downsized order isn’t a good sign for the remake. Meanwhile, with “ER” retiring, NBC has given the 10 p.m. slot to newcomer “Kings.” “ER” will say farewell with a two-hour send-off on Thursday, March 12 at 9 p.m.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Veteran exec Danny St. Pierre has been named senior VP of distribution services for Lionsgate as part of the minimajor’s continued growth of its global distribution infrastructure. He’ll continue to report to Bob Wenokur, exec VP of post-production and delivery services.

TECHNOLOGY/MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

Continuing to bolster its online portfolio, Comedy Central has relaunched its Jokes.com site. Broadband destination will now support more than 5,000 video clips from the cabler’s library of standup material. More than 12,000 text-based jokes are also on offer.

Since Proposition 8 passed in California, much of Hollywood has been up in arms. Now, they are singing and dancing, too, in a new Web video called “Prop 8: The Musical.” The video was posted Wednesday on FunnyOrDie.com, the video site co-founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. The site has found a niche in getting professional talent to quickly create topical comedy videos. “Prop 8: The Musical” may be a 3-minute Internet video, but it has a blockbuster cast — including Jack Black (who plays Jesus), Neil Patrick Harris, John C. Reilly, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph, Margaret Cho, Rashida Jones and others.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.jinni.com/signin.html

Hulu and Pandora meet in this new movie and television recommendation site where users can search for entertainment content by mood, plot, genre, time period, place, praise, people, and more – or all at once. Jinni is all about creating a viewing experience to suit your every whim, even if that means you are looking for an action packed romance with a horror edge. In the age of “entertainment debt”, Jinni ensures that you won’t waste your time on bad content.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996763.html?categoryId=2431&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i5a49077a0f8280a0c4eb32b9d1edda97

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i5a49077a0f8280a08e435398c83bf7dc

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i5a49077a0f8280a00f2d58d7c67d6310

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i5a49077a0f8280a031ce1d89cd323f17

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996761.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996771.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996739.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996744.html?categoryId=19&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996755.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996780.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996786.html?categoryId=20&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/technology/news/e3i5a49077a0f8280a0630e21b0ef758c3c

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Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 3, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Warner Bros. has tapped John Brownlow to pen its remake of the classic swashbuckler “Captain Blood,” produced by Bill Gerber. Project’s being developed by Philip Noyce with an eye toward directing. Warner is developing “Captain Blood” as a possible U.K./Australian co-production. Errol Flynn starred in the 1935 original, directed by Michael Curtiz, as a doctor wrongly sentenced to slavery in the Caribbean, where he and his comrades become avenging pirates. It was nominated for the best picture Oscar.

“Samantha Who?” scribe Marco Pennette has a trio of projects in the works, including a music-based drama at ABC. Hourlong drama “The Romeos” will center on four young men in the 1960s who eventually become the nation’s biggest rock stars. Period piece will be loaded with tunes, written by Broadway composer Jeff Marks (“Avenue Q”). ABC Studios, where Pennette is in the midst of a two-year overall deal, is behind the project. Also at ABC, Pennette is developing the half-hour laffer “Straight Up and Dirty,” based on the book by comic Stephanie Klein. Pennette also is expanding to stage: Scribe is close to signing on to write the book for a musical based on “The Flintstones.” The legit production, aimed at Broadway, will come from Warner Bros. Theater Ventures. Pennette was brought in by Marks, who’s writing the music and lyrics with Jake Anthony. Gary Griffin (“The Color Purple”) is directing.

Johnny Depp’s production company Infinitum Nihil has acquired screen rights to the Nick Tosches novel “In the Hand of Dante.” The novel will be developed as a potential star vehicle for Depp. Depp will produce with his Infinitum Nihil partner Christi Dembrowski. The company, which has a first-look deal with Warner Bros. and Graham King’s GK Films, optioned the book with its own coin. Book revolves around Dante’s masterwork “The Divine Comedy,” and tells parallel storylines involving Dante in 14th-century Italy as he tries to complete the work, and a contemporary storyline involving Tosches, who is asked to authenticate what might be Dante’s original manuscript. Depp would play Tosches. The novel was published in 2002.

PROJECT UPDATES

Fresh from the success of “Twilight,” Kristen Stewart is set to portray Joan Jett in “The Runaways,” the rock ‘n’ roll biopic of the 1970s all-girl band. Video director Floria Sigismondi wrote the screenplay and is directing, while John and Art Linson and River Road Entertainment’s Bill Pohlad are producing. Jett will act as an executive producer. The Runaways were hugely influential as the first successful all-girl hard rock band; its members included guitarists Jett and Lita Ford, drummer Sandy West, singer-keyboardist Cherie Currie and bassist Jackie Fox. The band was brought together in late 1975 by impresario Kim Fowley, who thought a novelty act of teenaged girls performing in leather and lace would be an easy sell, but the girls ended up proving to be serious and influential musicians with songs like “Cherry Bomb.” The band lasted about four years together, falling apart over management and money issues.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

SAG’s “Get Your Money” program is a sham, according to a misconduct complaint filed against SAG president Alan Rosenberg and secretary-treasurer Connie Stevens. But SAG general counsel Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, who’s also named in the complaint, called the charges bogus and said SAG’s accountability on the issue has been “exemplary.” The complaint — filed Monday by 42-year SAG member Eric Hughes — challenges SAG’s authority over $93 million it’s holding in trust for members and accuses the guild of lying to members about how it’s been handling those funds — mainly, that SAG is just now revealing these funds, which it’s held for years. The 23-count complaint, which also names national board member Kent McCord, goes to SAG’s national board for a possible hearing.

Are the congloms now using guilt to get their way? A SAG strike will cost members $2.5 million a day — or $250 million if the guild matches the WGA strike and stays out 100 days, according to their calculations. The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers issued the estimate Tuesday, based on earnings reported to SAG’s pension and health plan. As a result, the estimate doesn’t include the portion of earnings from individual members who take in more than $230,000 annually, since P&H contributions are capped at that figure. The AMPTP posted the loss estimates on its website at amptp.org. The site continues to include a calculator estimating how much SAG members have lost in salary gains — now at over $35 million — since the contract expired June 30. In another development, leaders of SAG have told their 120,000 members that they don’t want to strike — even though they’re seeking an authorization from members to do so. SAG made the declaration late Monday in a fiery message to members in response to the “open letter” by eight CEOs, accusing the guild of being elitist and unrealistic in its approach to negotiations.

TECHNOLOGY/MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

China-based games developer NetDragon has inked a deal with Disney to launch a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) based on characters from the Mouse House. The game, “Disney Fantasy Online,” is planned for a Spring 2009 release, and will see players completing adventures in a Disney-themed magic land.

Atari has bought North American publishing rights to the videogame version of “The Tale of Despereaux,” Universal’s upcoming toon about a heroic mouse. Game was set to be released by Brash Entertainment, the film adaptation-focused publisher that went out of business last month. Along with its own versions, Brash also planned to distribute one for Nintendo’s handheld DS produced by Universal, the studio’s first self-funded videogame. “Despereaux” game was complete when Brash went out of business, but Brash and U had to rush to find another publisher to release the title before the pic’s bow Dec. 19.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.5min.com/

This how-to website thinks it has come up with a solution to speed the flow of syndicated video content across the web. The start-up is introducing a new semantic video platform today dubbed VideoSeed, set up to push relevant video content to sites by integrating with individual sites’ content delivery network rather than just their existing video players. 5min publishes and curates lifestyle-themed video primers from a number of known producers including Britannica, Big Think, Next New Networks, WatchMojo and Road & Track. VideoSeed combines a network of general sites such as Answers.com with vertical publishers including Backyard Gardner, which have a contextual interest in the content. By providing an integrated text and video solution, publishers can use the system to deliver relevant clips around text-based articles, which is how so many websites are organized to begin with. Building a library of videos is great, but let’s face it – users search for information in a text-based environment. It’s much more realistic to think of video content as an enhancement to articles on the web rather than a brand new medium with which to replace text.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996728.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996719.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996716.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ia662814697fe501652b788ba55048ff0

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996722.html?categoryId=1066&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996721.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996727.html?categoryId=1079&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996709.html?categoryId=1009&cs=1

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Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

TUESDAY DECEMBER 2, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Sci Fi Channel has greenlit “Caprica,” the much-anticipated prequel to hit series “Battlestar Galactica.” “Caprica” will star Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Paula Malcomson and Polly Walker, and will be set 50 years prior to “Galactica’s” seminal attack on human civilization by those dreaded ‘droids the Cylons. Family-drama-themed series will focus on the Earthlike planet of Caprica as two rival families deal with, among other topical issues, the broader implications of their society’s emerging artificial intelligence technology sector.

GC Corp. has bought rights to Israeli TV series “Danny Hollywood,” assigning it to the venture capital fund’s production unit, Killer Films. Story follows three time-traveling journalists investigating the mysterious death of a pop star. Killer will reset the skein in 1960s America. TV project is the first such joint effort for the newly united Killer and GC. GC bought a 50% stake in Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler’s indie film outfit last month and plans to aggressively increase output. GC’s Joseph Grinkorn and Adi Cohen say the fund is currently capitalized at north of $100 million.

Overture Films and A Bigger Boat are going short, developing an untitled feature produced by Peter Farrelly and Charles Wessler consisting of two dozen short comedy films in the vein of “The Groove Tube” and “Kentucky Fried Movie.” Directors already in talks include Brett Ratner, Todd Phillips, Mike Judge, Josh Gordon and Will Speck. Farrelly also will direct two of the shorts.

PROJECT UPDATES

Paramount Pictures has set Shia LaBeouf to play the title role in the bigscreen version of John Grisham’s upcoming legal thriller “The Associate,” which the studio has just acquired rights to. Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing. LaBeouf will play a student who’s about to graduate from Yale Law School when he’s manipulated into accepting a job at a prestige law firm and given privileged information about a multibillion-dollar lawsuit.

Ray Stevenson, who opens Friday in the title role of “The Punisher: War Zone,” has joined Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis in “Book of Eli,” the Alcon-financed drama that Warner Bros. will distribute. Allen and Albert Hughes will direct the pic, which begins shooting in February. Stevenson will play an enforcer dispatched to kill Eli (Washington) as he fights his way across the American wasteland, protecting a sacred book that may hold the key to saving humanity.

Hunter Parrish, one of the stars of the Broadway musical “Spring Awakening,” has joined the cast of Michelle and Kieran Mulroney’s “Paper Man.” The coming-of-middle-age comedy chronicles the unlikely friendship between a failed author (Jeff Daniels) and a Long Island high school girl (Emma Stone) who teaches him about growing up, all under the disapproving eye of his long-suffering wife and imaginary superhero friend. Parrish will play the girl’s 18-year-old working-class boyfriend. The cast also includes Ryan Reynolds and Lisa Kudrow.

Courtney B. Vance and Jack Davenport are the first actors cast in ABC’s hot drama pilot “Flash Forward,” which is rumored as a potential companion to “Lost.” “Flash Forward,” from David S. Goyer, Brannon Braga and ABC Studios, is based on Robert J. Sawyer’s sci-fi novel and chronicles the chaos that ensues after everyone in the world blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds and has a mysterious vision of the future that changes lives forever.

ACQUISITIONS/FESTIVAL NEWS

Here Films has acquired the North American distribution rights to the doc “Sex Positive.” Helmed and produced by Daryl Wein, the pic was acquired from Roco Films and sister company Regent Releasing. Here will bow it in limited release March 13. The doc looks into the life of Richard Berkowitz, an AIDS activist in the 1980s, who had a hand in advancing the use of safe-sex practices.

BUSINESS NEWS

CBS’ “Eleventh Hour” has just been given five more. The Jerry Bruckheimer thriller scored the “back five” pickup late Monday afternoon. “Eleventh Hour” has performed so-so for the Eye, holding on to only a portion of its strong “CSI” lead-in — hence the smaller-than-usual full-season order.

Four film veterans are combining forces to form production banner Wildfire Films. Writers Anton Diether (“Moby Dick”) and Mark Hacker, producer-director Leon Rodriguez (“Double Tap”) and production designer Jesus Carrera are forming the Austin- and Los Angeles-based banner to develop and produce film, TV and digital-media projects. The company has a partnership with producer Fred Roos and will co-produce and develop “16 Minutes” for Overture as well as an urban-flavored “Les Miserables” with Eriq La Salle’s Humble Journey Films.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Hollywood’s labor brawl has turned ugly, with the majors accusing the Writers Guild of America of pushing SAG to strike by “blatantly” sabotaging the guild’s last round of negotiations. In a fiery blast at the Writers Guild, the congloms said Monday that the WGA had deliberately undermined the Nov. 20-21 SAG talks, held under supervision of a federal mediator. The anger is so fierce that any good will that may have lingered between the WGA and the congloms at the end of the writers strike last February has dissipated. At issue is the WGA’s Nov. 19 announcement accusing the companies of not paying new-media residuals and contending that the companies had reneged on the deal terms. The WGA insisted Monday that the timing of its announcement was coincidental and unrelated to the SAG talks — which cratered after two days — but the companies aren’t buying that.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://beta.sling.com/

Slingbox’s own site emerged from private beta to enter the video portal fray. Like countless other destinations, it features a video player streaming full episodes and clips from a broad cross selection of premium and web-only brands including Hulu, CBS, Discovery, Warner Bros., Sony, 60Frames, NHL, CollegeHumor and Break.com. The cool thing here is an integration with the handy place shifting Slingbox device. Sling.com’s Live TV allows you to view broadcast and cable content directly through Firefox or Internet Explorer (with Mac support planned for the near future.) Until now you needed to install a client app, which is problematic if you’re on a public computer. The secret sauce of Sling.com may be social features allowing users to create profiles of their viewing habits for others to follow. The EchoStar subsidiary has served some of the nation’s most tech-savvy early adopters; building a community around them could prove valuable for testing and incubating new applications.

SOURCES:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996647.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996639.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996627.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996646.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996667.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i2b831046707ffd2536731fe24637bf29

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i2b831046707ffd253574bc91019cf8d4

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996670.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996665.html?categoryId=1417&cs=1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i2b831046707ffd25fc2e68c83c3e0fd7

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996663.html?categoryId=18&cs=1

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Monday, December 1st, 2008

MONDAY DECEMBER 1, 2008

BOX OFFICE

Weekend Estimate

November 28-November 30, 2008 (*millions)

FILM GROSS

1 Four Christmases (2008) $46.7M

2 Twilight (2008/I) $39.5M

3 Bolt (2008) $36M

4 Quantum of Solace (2008) $28.1M

5 Australia (2008) $20M

6 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) $19.6M

7 Transporter 3 (2008) $18.5M

8 Role Models (2008) $7.81M

9 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008) $2.19M

10 Milk (2008) $1.87M

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Benderspink has acquired film rights to “The Straw Men,” a crime thriller by Brit author Michael Marshall Smith, along with rights to the comic adaptation by Zenescope Comics head Joe Brusha. The book, the first in a trilogy, follows a detective brought out of retirement to solve a series of bizarre murders connected by dark conspiracy.

PROJECT UPDATES

Lakeshore and MGM have tapped Debbie Allen, Charles S. Dutton, Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally and Bebe Neuwirth for the roles of instructors and supervisors in the upcoming “Fame” remake. Production begins Wednesday, with Kevin Tancharoen directing. As with the 1980 original, the remake follows dancers, singers, actors and artists from auditions to graduation at the New York City High School of Performing Arts. “Fame” has been set for release Sept. 25. Mullally’s a graduate of the School of American Ballet and will portray a voice instructor; Grammer, who attended Juilliard, will play an orchestra maestro; Dutton, a graduate of Yale School of Drama, will portray an acting teacher; Neuwirth, a Tony winner, will play a dance instructor. Allen, who made her feature debut in the original “Fame,” has been cast as the school’s principal.

ACQUISITIONS/FESTIVAL NEWS

The exclusive format of the Gen Art Film Festival (GAFF), which showcases only 7 features and 7 shorts, assures individual attention that no other renowned festival can offer, and now the call has gone out that the deadline for submissions to the 2009 festival is this Wednesday, December 3. Entering its 14th year, GAFF introduces the audience to films by emerging North American filmmakers. These films are hand selected, each chosen for their individuality and creativity, with the intent to keep the slate as diverse as possible. The festival also presents audience awards for both best short and feature, and an award to recognize an emerging actor.

INDUSTRY MOVES

A quartet of talent spent the holiday weekend hunting for new representation. Adrien Brody signed with Paradigm right before Thanksgiving. UTA signed writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and scribe Julian Fellowes. Endeavor signed Anthony Hopkins. All four had been repped by CAA, though Brody had been agentless for the past nine months. He signed with Paradigm after being courted by several agencies.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

SAG’s strike threat has kicked off a heated holiday-season spin battle between the guild and the majors — with each side blaming the other for being greedy during the nation’s financial crisis. Both sides launched major PR offensives over the Thanksgiving weekend in the battle over the upcoming strike authorization vote, with ballots due to be sent out this month to 120,000 SAG members. In a letter than went out on Thanksgiving eve, SAG president Alan Rosenberg blasted the corporations for harping on the bad economy. Eight Hollywood CEOs fired back angrily on Sunday in an open letter to the entertainment industry, accusing SAG of being elitist and stressing that the majors have closed six other master contracts with the town’s other major labor unions this year (the DGA, WGA, IATSE, casting directors and two with AFTRA). The letter is running as an ad in today’s L.A. Times.

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