THURSDAY MAY 7, 2009 « Film News Briefs

May 6, 2009

THURSDAY MAY 7, 2009

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

British helmer Julien Temple (“Pandaemonium”) will direct period crime drama “Gun Girl” for Moonstone Entertainment, with John Strong producing. Story centers on a young woman who assists authorities in bringing down Al Capone. The film is scheduled to go into production in the fall in Halifax, Nova Scotia; New Brunswick; and Winnipeg. Strong, whose credits include “Stormy Monday” and “Heart Like a Wheel,” adapted the screenplay based on the 1932 novel by John Weld.

Adult Swim is looking to clone the success of its highest-rated show, “Robot Chicken,” with “Titan Maximum,” a new comedy series from the creative team behind “Robot” that shares DNA with its predecessor: It too is a stop-motion animation series about robots. “Titan,” which will launch in September with an initial order of nine episodes, was created by “Robot” co-head writer/producer Tom Root and co-creator/exec producer Matthew Senreich. “Robot” co-creator/exec producer Seth Green will voice the show’s villain and exec produce with Root and Senreich. The voice cast of the series also includes “Robot” players Breckin Meyer, Rachael Leigh Cook, Dan Milano and Eden Espinosa. “Titan” is set 100 years in the future, when Saturn’s moon Titan is defended by an elite squadron of young, brash pilots whose spaceships combine to form the giant robot Titan Maximum. Because of budget cuts, the team has been disbanded but must hastily reassemble when a former team member turns rogue and tries to conquer the solar system.

PROJECT UPDATES

Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken and Val Kilmer will star in Code Entertainment’s mob drama “The Irishman.” Jonathan Hensleigh (“The Punisher”) will direct from a screenplay he penned. Project is based on the life of mobster Danny Greene (Stevenson), who lorded over Cleveland’s criminal underworld during the late 1970s. Walken is onboard to play infamous loan-sharking nightclub owner Shondor Birns, and Kilmer will portray a Cleveland cop who befriends Greene. Story was inspired by Rick Porrello’s book “To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia.”

The newly formed Mimran Schur Pictures has signed up Robert De Niro and Edward Norton to star in its debut project, the psychological thriller “Stone.” Mimran Schur was formed by investment veteran David Mimran and former Geffen Records president Jordan Schur. Mimran Schur and Holly Wiersma Prods. are teaming up on the project, with Wiersma, Mimran and Schur producing. John Curran is directing “Stone” from a script by “Junebug” scribe Angus MacLachlan; the story centers on the complicated relationship between a corrections officer (De Niro) and a convicted arsonist (Norton).

Warner Bros. has set Alex Holmes to rewrite and direct “The Interpretation of Murder,” an adaptation of the Jed Rubenfeld novel. Paula Weinstein is producing. Story follows a Sigmund Freud protege who discovers a trail of sadistic murders in turn-of-the-century New York. Chris Kyle wrote the first draft of the screenplay. The novel was published in 2007 by Picador.

Jeffrey Nachmanoff, the writer-director behind “Traitor,” is puffing “Billy Smoke,” signing up to direct the adaptation of the Oni Press comic book for Warner Bros. Matthew Fox is attached to star in the assassin thriller, with Basil Iwanyk’s Thunder Road producing along with Oni’s Eric Gitter, who is producing through the company’s film arm, Closed on Mondays Entertainment. The story centers on an elite hit man who is nearly killed during a botched job. He realizes that his only way to find redemption is to rid the world of all assassins. The comic book series, written by B. Clay Moore and illustrated by Eric Kim, will be published by Oni this year.

Lauren Holly has been tapped to star opposite Rob Lowe in the upcoming Lifetime Movie Network original film “Too Late to Say Goodbye.” Adapted from Ann Rule’s best-selling novel, “Goodbye” centers on Jenn and Bobby Corbin (Lowe), who seem to have the perfect marriage until Jenn discovers Bobby’s affair with a co-worker and hooks up with a mystery man on the Internet. When she is found dead in an apparent suicide, her sister Heather (Holly) sets out to investigate what she believes was a murder, with Bobby and the online suitor the main suspects. Norma Bailey (“The Capture of the Green River Killer”) will direct the movie from a script by Adam Till, Fabrizio Filippo and Donald Martin.

BUSINESS NEWS

Richard B. Kendall, Laura W. Brill and Robert N. Klieger, entertainment litigators whose corporate clients include CBS and Viacom, have left Irell & Manella to form Kendall Brill & Klieger. Among the major entertainment clients that followed the group to the new firm are Paramount Pictures, MTV Networks and Clear Channel. At Irell & Manella, Klieger also represented director Peter Jackson’s Wingnut Films in its profit participation dispute with New Line Cinema over the “Lord of the Rings” franchise.

60Frames Entertainment is suspending operations due to a lack of funding, according to a source close to the company. The UTA-backed firm, one of the first to specialize in the creation and financing of video programming for the Internet, is laying off its seven remaining employees. 60Frames already dropped six other staffers last October. A spokeswoman for 60Frames declined comment. Oddly enough, the fatal flaw for 60Frames was not a shortage of opportunities. The firm had sold as many webisodes as any of its competitors to top buyers like TheWB.com, Sony’s Crackle and FunnyOrDie. 60Frames had even managed to sell one Web project, “The Carpet Bros.,” as a TV pilot to HBO with former “Saturday Night Live” writer Jeff Piedmont attached. Sources familiar with the company’s travails pinned the problem on the sluggish nature of dealmaking online and on bad timing on the fundraising front. The company was thwarted in its attempt to secure a second round of financing just as the U.S. economy soured.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

The WGA’s efforts to settle a 2005 class-action suit over foreign levies appear to be back on track. The tangled legal action — which covers millions of dollars collected for but not delivered to writers — had hit a roadblock in March when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl West called the case a “mess” and ordered both sides to meet with Judge William Highberger to work out a settlement. But attorneys for both sides told West at a Wednesday hearing that meetings with Highberger had resolved a variety of settlement issues. That led West to order both sides to file a preliminary settlement agreement by May 20 and return to court May 26 for a hearing.

Elected leaders of the Screen Actors Guild may take a stand against the closure of the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s nursing home and hospital. National board member Elliott Gould told Daily Variety that he’s planning to discuss the issue at the Hollywood division board meeting Monday night. He also said he has not finalized the proposal that would go before the Hollywood board, which is dominated by the Membership First faction. Gould’s been one of the most prominent supporters of Membership First, which lost control of the national board last fall.

TECHNOLOGY/MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

The industry group SoundCtrl, which focuses on promoting the convergence in music and digital media, launches today. The group is made up of music industry professionals and senior executives in digital media and technology. Its aims include fostering the New York music and tech scene community and nurturing collaboration, creating awareness, focusing on innovation, identifying emerging trends and best practices and contributing to the growth and prosperity in music and tech. The company will also host a series of monthly events featuring industry leaders and New York based music and technology companies. The aim of the events is to bring the community together through knowledge sharing and networking.

Weta Digital, the New Zealand vfx shop working on James Cameron’s “Avatar” and Steven Spielberg’s “Tintin,” is launching a working group aimed at bringing advanced computer graphics research together with movie vfx production. The new group, Transfx, is headed by Sebastian Sylwan, who has joined Weta as head of research and development. Sylwan was most recently senior industry manager for film and television at software developer Autodesk, where he spearheaded work on stereoscopic 3-D.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.indiegogo.com/

This fascinating site calls itself a “social marketplace where filmmakers and fans connect to make independent film happen.” Certainly a lofty and noble goal, but these guys try to put their proverbial money where their mouths are, pushing filmmakers to create project profiles to pitch their project to the digital world, and bang the drum for funding, be it $10 or $10 million. On the other side of it, fans can check out the Projects Listing page, filter through it and see if anything strikes their fancy. From there, it’s up to them whether or not they want to get involved, by funding it, endorsing it, even giving the project a rating for how interesting it sounds. As far as grass roots efforts go, this one gets high grades.