Alexander Payne is ‘Hung’
May 9, 2008
Alexander Payne is turning to TV, signing on to direct HBO’s dark comedy “Hung.”
Payne’s attachment comes as HBO has given the pilot a firm greenlight. Project’s the first lined up at the pay cabler by new HBO Entertainment prexy Sue Naegle (Daily Variety, April 24), and it’s been on the fast track ever since. “Hung” revolves around a well-endowed man who is plodding along in middle age as a struggling father and high school coach. The character was once a high school sports legend, and his luck returns when he figures out a way to use his best asset.
- From Variety
David Chase signs with buddy Brad Grey at Paramount
May 8, 2008
David Chase, creator of “The Sopranos,” has signed on to write, direct and produce his first feature film for Paramount Pictures. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the project is described as an original drama. Chase has a long-standing relationship with Paramount chairman Brad Grey, his producing partner on “The Sopranos.”
- From Variety
Oscar-winning Picturehouse, WIP to close shop
May 8, 2008
Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures are closing, it was announced today by Alan Horn, president & COO of Warner Bros.
In a statement, Horn said, “With New Line now a key part of Warner Bros., we’re able to handle films across the entire spectrum of genres and budgets without overlapping production, marketing and distribution infrastructures. After much painstaking analysis, this was a difficult decision to make, but it reflects the reality of a changing marketplace and our need to prudently run our businesses with increased efficiencies. We’re confident that the spirit of independent filmmaking and the opportunity to find and give a voice to new talent will continue to have a presence at Warner Bros.
- From Variety
Marvel extends Maisel deal, ups Feige
May 7, 2008
Days after the $100 million boxoffice smash opening of “Iron Man,” Marvel Entertainment has extended the contract of Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel through 2010 and promoted Kevin Feige to president of Marvel Studios.
Maisel, who joined Marvel in 2003 and was named chairman of Marvel Studios last year, was responsible for the conception and execution of the company’s film production initiative and for securing a $525 million nonrecourse loan facility to finance the strategy. He also serves as an executive producer on both “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk.”
- From THR
Marvel Super Hero Squad is GO!
May 7, 2008
On the heels of a $102 million opening weekend for “Iron Man,” Marvel Animation is powering up the “Marvel Super Hero Squad.”
The Marvel Entertainment division said it is producing 26 half-hour episodes of a new “super stylized” animated series aimed at 6- to 8-year-olds. It will feature such well-known heroes as Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Thor, Fantastic Four and Captain America; all occupy a caricatured Super Hero City and are thrust into humorous adventures as they thwart the villainous plans of Doctor Doom, Magneto, Loki, the Abomination and others.
- From Reuters
Sony Classics picks up Atom Egoyan’s ‘Adoration’
May 7, 2008
Sony Pictures Classics has picked up domestic and select international rights to Atom Egoyan’s “Adoration.” Pic, starring Rachel Blanchard, Scott Speedman, Arsinee Khanjian and Devon Bostick, will preem in Competition at Cannes on May 22. Release plans are to platform with a bow in the fourth quarter of this year. - From Variety
James Brolin gets ‘Nailed’ by David O. Russell
May 7, 2008
James Brolin is replacing James Caan in David O. Russell’s “Nailed,” with Kirstie Alley and Olivia Crocicchia also boarding the politically charged rom-com. Caan departed the film three weeks ago, in large part because of a spat with Russell about the proper way for his politico character to choke on a cookie. Brolin can turn to his son Josh for advice: The younger Brolin will portray George W. Bush choking on a pretzel in a scene from Oliver Stone’s upcoming biopic. - From THR
Lionsgate moves up Frank Miller’s The Spirit
May 7, 2008
Lionsgate has decided to move the release date of Frank Miller’s adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit up from January 16th next year to Christmas Day (December 25th 2008). Apparently Lionsgate’s president Tom Ortenberg decided to change the release date after he saw the reaction to the film’s teaser trailer at the New York Comic Con. And I’m sure Paramount’s decision to move Star Trek from that date to Summer 2009 (May 8th) had nothing to do with this decision. - From /Film
Picturehouse’s fate at Warner Bros. is cloudy
May 6, 2008
Goodbye, “Pan’s Labyrinth”? That’s the question hanging over Indiewood, as Warner Bros. contemplates the future of Picturehouse, the stalwart independent division of New Line that in its three years of existence helped introduce Americans to unique foreign flavors, winning three Oscars for Guillermo del Toro’s fantastical dream of Franco’s Spain in “Pan’s” and another Oscar this year for Marion Cotillard’s performance as Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose.” - From LATimes
Disney profits up 21% in 2nd quarter
May 6, 2008
Strong growth in the movie studio propelled Disney to a strong second quarter, with operating profit up 21% and revenue gaining 10% over the year-ago period. Studio entertainment profit soared 61% to $377 million due to the marketing and distribution expenses for March 2007 release “Meet the Robinsons” as well as the surprise B.O. showing for the studio’s “Hannah Montana” pic. - From Variety
Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay together again?
May 6, 2008
It may happen at HBO, on a Warner Bros. TV drama series project loosely based on the 2006 docu “Cocaine Cowboys.”
If a deal comes together, series would revolve around the drug trade in Miami in the 1980s. Instead of the flash of Crockett and Tubbs, skein would focus on the cutthroat world of drug dealers and the Colombian cocaine kingpins who set up shop in the once-sleepy Florida city. Bruckheimer and Bay, who collaborated on a string of blockbusters in the 1990s including “Bad Boys,” “The Rock” and “Armageddon,” would serve as exec producers.
- From Variety
Universal picks up ‘Knights Templar’
May 6, 2008
Universal has picked up the mantle of “The Knights Templar,” acquiring a spec script by Adam Torchia and Justin Stanley, for filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov and Marc Platt to produce. The script, a period actioner, revolves around the Knights Templar, who fresh from the Crusades fend off an invading vampire army seeking to destroy the Holy Grail.
From THR
Miramax, NetFlix team up for a ‘Reprise’
May 4, 2008
Miramax Films and Netflix’s Red Envelope Entertainment have nabbed U.S. rights to executive producer Scott Rudin’s drama “Reprise.”
Red Envelope also joined Samuel Goldwyn Films and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group this week to acquire U.S. rights to Lakeshore Entertainment’s drama “Elegy,” starring Penelope Cruz and Ben Kingsley.
Joachim Trier’s “Reprise” centers on the longtime friendship between two young, aspiring novelists (Anders Danielsen and Espen Klouman Hoiner) and the many dramatic twists and turns in their lives. The film won the Discovery Award at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.
- From THR
Hollywood actors and studios extend labor talks again
May 3, 2008
The Screen Actors Guild and major Hollywood studios said on Friday they had agreed to extend their contract talks again, this time on a day-by-day basis, with the aim of closing a deal by next Tuesday.
The announcement, coming as the parties neared a previous self-imposed deadline, revived hopes they could avoid renewed labor unrest in an entertainment industry still recovering from a 100-day screenwriters strike that ended in February.
The current three-year SAG contract covering 120,000 film and TV actors expires on June 30. But the union is under strong pressure to reach an early settlement in order to dispel strike jitters that continue to disrupt the film industry.
Via Reuters
Regency books ‘Dangerous Days’
May 3, 2008
New Regency has preemptively scooped up bestselling author James Patterson’s upcoming young-adult novel “The Dangerous Days of Daniel X.” “Daniel X,” which is set to hit shelves in July, will be the first book in a series for which Regency also acquired the rights. A graphic novel will follow in the fourth quarter.
Described as an action adventure, “Daniel X” chronicles the adventures of a conflicted yet extraordinary teen who yearns to discover secrets about himself and his family as he battles alien outlaws who threaten life on Earth.
From Variety
Nicole Kidman is Dusty Springfield
May 2, 2008
Nicole Kidman is tuning up for a film based on the life of British pop singer Dusty Springfield for Fox 2000. Kidman will produce and star in the project, which will reunite the actress with scribe Michael Cunningham, who penned the novel “The Hours.” Cunningham is currently writing the Springfield screenplay.
Kidman is producing the untitled project through her Fox-based Blossom Films banner. Kidman’s Blossom Films partner Per Saari will serve in some producing capacity.
Universal is developing its own Dusty Springfield biopic with Kristin Chenoweth attached to star. That project is being written and directed by Jessica Sharzer. Madonna also flirted with a smallscreen project based on the singer.
Via Variety
Rick Yune leads Ninja Assassin
May 2, 2008
Rick Yune has been cast as the antagonist in “Ninja Assassin,” the Wachowskis-produced action film James McTeigue is directing for Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. Joel Silver is producing via Dark Castle, while Grant Hill is producing.
Also boarding the production are Naomie Harris as the female lead and Ben Miles.
The martial arts extravaganza stars Korean actor-singer Rain, who also appears in the siblings’ “Speed Racer,” as a man brought up in an orphanage functioning as a ninja farm. The man turns his back on his tradition to make his way in the modern world, which brings him into conflict with a ninja (Yune) from the clan.
Via THR
‘Badass’ comedy spec to New Line
May 2, 2008
New Line has made its first purchase since being downsized, plunking down $500,000 against $1 million for “Dan Mintner: Badass for Hire,” a comedy spec script by Chad Kultgen.
Contrafilm’s Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson are producing along with Mason Novick.
“It’s a homage to ‘Cobra,’ ‘Predator,’ ‘Missing in Action,’ ” Flynn said. “The baddest dude in the world in supertight jeans, chewing on a matchstick, stuck in the ’80s but kicking ass in the present day.”
Via THR
‘Simpsons’ director signs for ‘Pet’
May 1, 2008
David Silverman, who most recently helmed “The Simpsons Movie,” has signed on to develop and direct “The Pet,” a live-action sci-fi family comedy for Disney. Scott Rudin and Craig Perry are producing.
The project, written by Matt Lieberman, centers on an everyday guy who becomes the pet of a group of aliens.
Via THR
The latest Plan B for Brad Pitt
April 30, 2008
Paramount Pictures and Plan B have acquired pic rights to the David Sheff memoir “Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction” and the Nic Sheff memoir “Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines.”
Studio and producer will use the recently published books to frame a movie about drug addiction from the perspective of a young meth addict and the father who finds himself helpless to stop his son’s downward spiral.
Both Sheff books were published in February and became bestsellers. Houghton Mifflin’s “Beautiful Boy” is being sold in Starbucks locations around the country as part of the Starbucks Select book series. The movie will be produced in association with Starbucks.
Before Plan B, the production shingle run by Brad Pitt, moved from Warner Bros. to Paramount, the company acquired the James Frey memoir “A Million Little Pieces,” a fast-tracked project that stalled after Frey acknowledged that he significantly embellished his story of addiction and recovery. WB and Plan B are still developing that project in conjunction with Warner Independent Pictures.
Via Variety
Phillip Noyce wants ‘Money’
April 29, 2008
Phillip Noyce is in negotiations to direct “The Art of Making Money,” a DreamWorks project about a notorious counterfeiter who printed more than $10 million in fake bills.
The DreamWorks project centers on Art Williams, the alias of an audacious Chicago counterfeiter who printed fake $100 bills using cutting-edge techniques and continued to do so even after he had been caught by the FBI. Last year, he was sentenced to seven years in federal prison.
The project is based on Jason Kersten’s 2005 profile of Williams in Rolling Stone, with Kersten and Williams also under contract to write a book about the counterfeiter’s colorful life.
Via THR
Steven Soderbergh has a ‘Girlfriend’
April 29, 2008
Steven Soderbergh will direct “The Girlfriend Experience,” a feature that focuses on the world of prostitution from the vantage point of a $10,000-a-night call girl.
Brian Koppelman and David Levien will write; the pair hatched the project when they and Soderbergh were working on “Ocean’s Thirteen.”
Pic will be financed by 2929 Entertainment partners Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner through their HDNet label. It will become the second film — after “Bubble” — in the six-picture pact they made for Soderbergh to direct low-budget films that get distributed simultaneously in theatrical, on cable TV and on DVD.
Via Variety
Universal options ‘Resurrection’
April 28, 2008
Universal has optioned “Resurrection,” an Oni Press comic book series written by “Eli Stone” co-creator Marc Guggenheim.
Universal-based Scott Stuber is producing the project along with Eric Gitter of Closed on Mondays Entertainment, the producing arm of Oni Press.
“Resurrection” begins where most other alien invasion movies end, centering on a group of survivors trying to take back control of the planet after an apocalyptic invasion.
The comic, illustrated by Dave Dumeer, was first published in October. The third issue in the series was just released.
Via HR
Warner Independent equips ‘Arsonist’
April 28, 2008
Warner Independent Pictures has signed “House” executive producers Garrett Lerner and Russel Friend to adapt Brock Clarke’s best-seller “An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England.”
The dark comedy from John Wells Prods. centers on Sam Pulsifer, a man who accidentally burns down Emily Dickinson’s home and kills two people in the process. After 10 years in prison and a series of personal and professional disasters, he returns home to live with his parents, only to discover that he’s suspected in a series of nearby fires at historical landmarks. He attempts to find the real criminal and uncovers some family secrets as the mystery unfolds.
Via HR
J.J. Abrams is Hot for Teacher
April 28, 2008
Branching out from his recent sci-fi/action oeuvre, Abrams has picked up the spec script HOT FOR TEACHER to produce at Paramount. The film is described as a SUPERBAD-like comedy that follows a high school senior who makes it his mission to have sex with his teacher before he graduates.
