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‘The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman Sued By Former Partner Over AMC Series

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 5:53pm PSTTags: Michael Anthony Moore, Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead

Michael Anthony Moore, alleging he is co-creator of The Walking Dead comic on which the hit AMC series is based, has filed suit against his onetime partner Robert Kirkman, accusing him of promissory fraud, breach of written contract and other charges. Moore claims that Kirkman persuaded him to assign his rights on Walking Dead and other properties to a limited liability corporation controlled by Kirkman, who allegedly hasn’t shared any royalty or other payments for Walking Dead or any of the other works.

Reached by telephone for comment on the suit, Kirkman’s attorney Allen B. Grodsky told Deadline, “It’s pretty ridiculous. Mr. Moore is owed absolutely nothing. There is no fraud. No money owed. No credit.” He suggested that “when all is said and done Mr. Moore is going to end up paying Mr. Kirkman’s attorneys fees.” Additionally, Kirkman’s camp contends that Moore’s credit contractually and in the first six issues of the comic is listed as: penciler, inker, gray tones.

Moore asserts that in September 2005 he and Kirkman entered into the agreement which assigned Moore 60% of comic publishing net proceeds for The Walking Dead and another title Brit, 20% of all motion picture net proceeds for Walking Dead and Brit and 50% of all motion picture net proceeds in connection with another title Battle Pope. Moore says in the suit he was reluctant to enter into the agreement. But he claims Kirkman informed him that if he didn’t assign his rights as specified it would kill the “large television deal on the table” and no one would receive any money. Kirkman allegedly promised to pay Moore royalties and provide regular, accurate accountings. Moore claims that Kirkman has never paid any royalties or provided an accounting of profit or loss.

Moore seeks damages in association with his purported share of any money Kirkman has already received plus his any share of any money outstanding. He’s asking for a court order for Kirkman to provide complete and timely accounting as well as payment of accrued interest and court costs. You can read the lawsuit here.

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Ridley Scott Commits To Next Direct McCarthy’s ‘The Counselor’; Will Michael Fassbender Play Title Role?

By MIKE FLEMING | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 5:24pm PSTTags: Cormac McCarthy, Michael Fassbender, Ridley Scott, The Counselor
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: The Cormac McCarthy script The Counselor might well be traveling on the fastest track toward production of any film in recent memory. I’m told that Ridley Scott has now committed to make The Counselor his next film. Other sources tell me that Scott has been talking to his Prometheus star Michael Fassbender about playing the title role. While a formal offer hasn’t been made, I believe there’s a high likelihood that Hollywood’s hottest actor will star in the film.

Scott is eyeing a May 1 start date, and he is talking to a number of high-profile actors to take part in a film that insiders are describing as “No Country For Old Men on steroids.” Let’s put the whole thing in perspective: McCarthy’s ICM agents, who expected him to turn in a new novel, were surprised that he instead took a detour and turned in his first feature spec script in December. The agents started talks on a rich spec deal with The Road producers Nick Wechsler and Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz. Negotiations started before the end of the year and the deal was done in mid-January. Read More »

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Gavin O’Connor To Direct FX Cold War Drama Pilot ‘The Americans’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 5:01pm PSTTags: FX, Gavin O'Connor, The Americans
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: In a rare TV directing gig, The Warrior helmer Gavin O’Connor has been tapped to direct FX’s Cold War period drama pilot The Americans. The project, created/executive produced by Joe Weisberg (Falling Skies) and executive produced by Justified showrunner Graham Yost, centers on two KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban Washington, DC in the early 1980s. Weisberg, a former CIA officer-turned-novelist-turned-TV writer, Yost and DreamWorks TV’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey are executive producing for Fox TV Studios and FX Prods. CAA-repped O’Connor’s latest feature, Warrior has been garnering accolades for co-star Nick Nolte, including an Oscar nomination.

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CBS Picks Up Comedy Pilot Produced By Melissa McCarthy Starring Her Husband

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 4:30pm PSTTags: Ben Falcone, CBS, Melissa McCarthy
Nellie Andreeva

CBS has given a late pilot order to an untitled multi-camera comedy written by actors Larry Dorf and Ben Falcone and co-executive produced by Falcone’s wife, Mike & Molly star Melissa McCarthy. Falcone, originally not attached as an actor, will also star in the project, about a single 37-year-old man (Falcone) who loses everything he has in the real estate collapse and finds himself back home in the house he grew up in….with his parents. Warner Bros. TV is producing. The project was a last-minute spec buy by CBS made only 3 weeks ago. Falcone, who also had another comedy pilot script with McCarthy in contention at CBS this season, had a cameo in her blockbuster feature comedy Bridesmaids. This is the latest comedy pilot written/co-written by an actor this season where the actor is recruited to also star as part of the pilot order or shortly thereafter following recent acting deals for Josh Gad on NBC’s 1600 Penn and Mike O’Malley on Fox’s Prodigy Bully.

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Benderspink, Arcana Launch Film-Friendly Comics Line

By MIKE FLEMING | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 4:22pm PSTTags: Arcana Comics, ArcanaBenderspink Comics, Benderspink, JC Spink, Sean Patrick O'Reilly
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Benderspink and Sean Patrick O’Reilly’s Arcana Comics are launching ArcanaBenderspink Comics, a label that will publish under the Arcana brand. The idea: hatch comics that can be turned into movie and TV properties. The partnership comes out of JC Spink and Sean O’Reilly’s strong relationship after setting up the Arcana comic book Continuum at New Line. “What I thought made this a great partnership was that Sean not only knows how to make a great comic but he’s actually produced movies,” Spink said. “I don’t know any comic publishers that have his producing experience.” Benderspink partner Jake Weiner said that the comics label is a byproduct of the company’s increased focus on generating intellectual properties. “This is one of five IP creation deals we are entering into along with deals in mobile content/apps, Y/A publishing, videogames, and toys.”
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Marvel Studio’s Tim Connors Defects To Legendary As COO; Marvel’s Rob Steffens & David Galluzi Take On More Responsibility

By NIKKI FINKE | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 4:16pm PSTTags: Legendary Entertainment, Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Studios

I hear Marvel is fine with this move to Legendary Entertainment. Tim Connors has been there from the beginning but “it was time for him to move on,” an insider tells me. I’ve just learned exclusively that taking his place at Marvel Studios will be David Galluzzi whow as recently promoted to chief counsel and now will be assuming Connors’ business affairs role, too. And the remainder of Connors’ duties will be assumed by Rob Steffens who is EVP Of Operations And Planning for Marvel Entertainment and is General Manager of Operations And Finance for Marvel Studios. This move bolsters Steffens’ role at Disney where I hear he’s well-liked and being groomed for bigger things. None of this is in the Legendary press release below:

Burbank, CA, February 9, 2012 – Legendary Entertainment has appointed Tim Connors to the role of Chief Operating Officer for the company, it was announced today by Legendary’s Chairman and CEO, Thomas Tull. Connors, who arrives at Legendary from Marvel, will report to Tull and manage day-to-day operations for the company including business affairs working closely with President and Chief Creative Officer, Jon Jashni.

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CW’s ‘America’s Next Top Model’ To Return Feb. 29 After Last Cycle’s Scandal

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 4:15pm PST
Nellie Andreeva

What a mess last cycle was when the production  had to recut some of the finale’s final scenes after one of the three last contestants was disqualified without explanation. It made for an extremely bizarre and unsatisfying ending. But The CW’s veteran reality series America’s Next Top Model will return on February 29. And low-rated midseason reality show Remodeled, which was designed to serve as a bridge between the 2 cycles of Top Model, will air 2 more episodes for a total of six, before being replaced by Top Model. Tyra Banks’ series will continue to air with One Tree Hill, which will have 7 episodes of its final 13-episode season left to be paired with Top Model. The fate of the remaining 2 originals of Remodeled is unclear, with summer run a possibility.

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UPDATE: Warner Bros Lawyers Dig In Garbage Over ‘The Last Samurai’ Lawsuit; Judge Hearing Oral Arguments Monday

By NIKKI FINKE | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 3:57pm PSTTags: Daniel Petrocelli, Hollywood lawsuits, O'Melveny & Myers, The Last Samurai

UPDATE: It’s like a scene from a John Grisham movie: $800-per-hour attorneys for O’Melveny & Myers in posh Century City law offices trash-picking for used soda cans, torn candy wrappers, and dirty paper napkins. But this is a real-life legal case about the 2003 movie The Last Samurai that’s heating up. A federal court judge will hear oral arguments in the case on Monday. The reason for the rubbish rooting is clear: according to Warner Bros’ filings, “as much as $100 million in potential liability” is at stake here about the film that reportedly made $700M from theatrical grosses and DVDs. The proceedings began in 2005 when brother screenwriters Aaron and Matthew Benay filed suit in federal court against the studio Warner Bros and the film’s director Ed Zwick, writer Marshall Herskovitz and John Logan, the Zwick-Herskovitz production company Bedford Falls for breach of implied contract. The Benays contend that their copyrighted script The Last Samurai became the film The Last Samurai with the same fictional character and premise, and, surprisingly, the same title. In 2010, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court ruled that the “similarities are substantial for purposes of an implied-in-fact contract under California law”. The case is set for trial on March 20th. Read More »

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Upstart Shingle Radius Acquires Redo Rights To Nic Refn’s ‘Pusher’: Berlin

By MIKE FLEMING | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 3:52pm PSTTags: Nicolas Winding Refn, Pusher, Radius
Mike Fleming

Weinstein Co Names New Shingle Radius, Acquires Sundance Comedy ‘Bachelorette’

This is the second deal for Tom Quinn and Jason Janego’s Radius after they acquired the Sundance comedy Bachelorette. Here they will release the remake of Pusher, the 1996 debut film by Drive helmer Nicolas Winding Refn. The film’s about a London drug pusher grows increasingly desperate over the course of a week after a botched deal leaves him with a large debt to a ruthless drug lord.

New York, NY, February 9, 2012 – The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that its new label, Radius-TWC, has acquired from Gaumont the U.S. and Caribbean basin distribution rights to PUSHER, an English-language remake of the 1996 cult hit directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (DRIVE) and written by Refn and Jens Dahl. Refn was closely involved in the production of the remake, which is directed by award-winning young filmmaker Luis Prieto (BAMBOLEHO) and written by Matthew Read. PUSHER is produced by Rupert Preston for Vertigo Films, and by Christopher Simon and Felix Vossen for Embargo Films. Nicolas Winding Refn is the executive producer. The announcement was made by Radius-TWC Co-Presidents Tom Quinn and Jason Janego.

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Mike O’Malley To Co-Star In His Fox Comedy Pilot ‘Prodigy Bully’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 3:40pm PSTTags: Fox, Mike O'Malley, Prodigy Bully
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Mike O’Malley, writer/co-executive producer of Fox’s half-hour comedy pilot Prodigy Bully, is taking on another role on the project, this time in front of the camera. The actor, who originally was attached only as a writer-producer, has closed a deal to co-star in the project executive produced by John Wells. Based on the Prodigy Bully one-minute movies by Hank Perlman, the Warner Bros./John Wells Prods. comedy centers on a young boy genius who uses his brains and brawn to get whatever he wants. O’Malley will play the boy’s father. With the casting, O’Malley could potentially be on 2 Fox series next season — he is also recurring on the network’s dramedy Glee, which is expected to be renewed. The move is reminiscent of that on the NBC comedy 1600 Penn, where co-creator Josh Gad also was only attached as a co-writer/executive producer but ultimately agreed to co-star, sealing the project’s pilot pickup. Prodigy Bully and 1600 Penn join 3 other comedy pilots this season, which star their writers/co-writers: Roseanne’s Downwardly Mobile at NBC, Sarah Silverman’s untitled NBC project and Mindy Kaling’s medical comedy at Fox. This extends a trend that started last season when a whopping 4 series headlined by actors who wrote them made it on the schedule: NBC’s Whitney and BFFs, CBS’ How To Be A Gentleman and ABC’s Man Up!

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Cinedigm Fiscal Q3 Loss Grows, But With An Explanation

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 3:18pm PSTTags: Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp, New Video, Technicolor

Business school students who want to test their accounting skills should check out today’s fiscal Q3 report from Cinedigm Digital Cinema. The official numbers look scary, with a net loss increasing to $10.6M from $4.1M in the period last year, on revenues of $19.8M, up 23%. But Cinedigm is in the middle of a corporate transformation to focus on providing alternative programming such as sports events and concerts to digitally equipped movie theaters. That loaded $8.1M in non-cash and one-time charges to the books — some of it due to the company’s decision to sell its physical and electronic distribution business to Technicolor for an undisclosed amount. Wipe that away, and you’re left with what CEO Chris McGurk says is a “strong” report with figures that “reflect the progress we’ve made.” Cinedigm shares have been a roller coaster ride since he took over early last year but are up 31% over the last 12 months — including a 50% spike in just the last two weeks following the announcement of a deal with New Video to bring more independent films to theaters.

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EXCLUSIVE: Summit’s Erik Feig To Be Named President Of Production Of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group

By NIKKI FINKE | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 2:40pm PSTTags: Alli Sheamur, Erik Feig, Lionsgate, Summit

EXCLUSIVE: There’s more movement on the Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate film front now that the two companies have become one. I’ve just learned that Summit Entertainment’s President of Worldwide Production and Acquisitions Erik Feig will be named President Of Production of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. Feig has worked at Summit for the past 11 years. Then 2 years ago Walt Disney Studios boss Rich Ross tried to woo the billions-dollar-franchise Twilight Saga guru away from Summit. But Feig stayed loyal and, besides, he was still under contract and has been a partner at Summit since 2007. As for Lionsgate’s Joe Drake and Alli Sheamur, their positions remain the same for now although I hear that Sheamur is talking to Lionsgate about her future role at the company. “She’ll continue to focus on the movies shes working on,” an insider tells me, “and they’re trying very hard to keep her there.” Read More »

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Bridget Regan, Ethan Embry, Randall Park & Jake McLaughlin Among Pilot Additions

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 2:39pm PSTTags: Chris Smith, Nick Kocher, Randall Park, The Frontier
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: NBC has cast most of the lead roles in the period Western pilot The Frontier, written by Shaun Cassidy and to be directed by Thomas Schlamme. The Sony TV/Prospect Park-produced pilot chronicles the journey of a group of disparate travelers from Missouri to the West Coast in 1840. Jake McLaughlin will play Cooper, a handsome and driven young farmer who fights like a soldier. Bridget Regan, repped by Gersh and TMT Entertainment, will play Hannah, who is traveling with her husband but becomes close with Cooper. Al Weaver will play a writer assigned to chronicle the journey. Gina Bramhill will play Emily, who is on her way to her fiancee whom she has never met. Ethan Embry will play DJ Jackson, who pretends to be married to Payton (Megan Ferguson) but both are secretly gay. Read More »

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CAA Names Jeff Berry New CFO

By MIKE FLEMING | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 2:10pm PSTTags: CAA, Jeff Berry
Mike Fleming

LOS ANGELES (February 9, 2012) – Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the world’s leading entertainment and sports agency, announced today the appointment of Jeff Berry as Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he will oversee the company’s finance and accounting functions, and play a leading role in the company’s strategic planning.

“Jeff’s depth and breadth of financial experience will be invaluable to us as we continue to grow,” said CAA Managing Partner Michael Rubel. “In addition to his business intellect, Jeff’s collaborative nature is a great cultural fit with CAA, and we are thrilled to have him join us.”

Berry comes to CAA with 20 years of experience in corporate finance, strategic planning, and business development. He most recently served as CFO for publicly-traded cosmetics company, Physicians Formula Holdings, Inc., beginning in 2009.

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Contemporary Reboot Of 1970s Sci-Fi Series ‘Space: 1999′ In The Works

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 2:00pm PSTTags: Space: 1999, Space: 2099
Nellie Andreeva

ITV Studios America and HDFilms have teamed to develop Space: 2099, a reimagining of the 1970s British sci-fi series Space: 1999 created by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson. HDFilms’ Jace Hall, who recently executive produced ABC’s reboot of another sci-fi franchise, the 1980s mini-series V, is executive producing the new project.

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Central Casting Taking Sides In SAG-AFTRA

By NIKKI FINKE | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 1:51pm PSTTags: Central Casting, SAG AFTRA Merger

EXCLUSIVE: As the leading background actors casting company in the United States, Burbank-based Central Casting is one of the largest employers of union actors. It was established back in 1925 initially as a wing of the major Hollywood movie studios, and by the 1970s came to dominate the field of extras casting. Last Thursday was ‘Union Day’ at Central Casting, so the pro and con SAG-AFTRA merger camps headed there to stage informational meetings with background actors about the merger. Naturally both sides of this dispute wanted to present their case directly to these background actors because, since 1992 when the Screen Actors Guild absorbed the Screen Extras Guild, they have made up SAG’s most taken-for-granted voting block. But here’s what happened, according to my eyewitness accounts: Central Casting invited the pro-merger camp inside its building for an extended lobbying session. But Central Casting ejected the anti-merger camp from the headquarters. I’m told that a complaint was made after the incident to the U.S. Department Of Labor. This matter raised disturbing questions about just who is for and who is against a SAG-AFTRA merger and why. “If both SAG and AFTRA are loudly claiming that employers are afraid of merger, why did one of the largest employers of union actors open up their business to SAG and AFTRA staff and leadership to tout the ‘benefits’ and ‘leverage’ of merger?” one perturbed actor at the meeting emailed me afterwards. “And, secondly, why is Central Casting getting involved in union business?”
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Ellen Barkin To Co-Star In Ryan Murphy/Ali Adler’s NBC Comedy Pilot ‘The New Normal’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 1:43pm PSTTags: Ellen Barkin, NBC, Ryan Murphy, The New Normal
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: I’ve learned that Ellen Barkin is in final negotiations to co-star in The New Normal, NBC’s comedy pilot from the Glee duo of Ryan Murphy and Allison Adler. The single-camera project, co-written by Glee co-creator Murphy and Adler and to be directed by Murphy, is described as a heartwarming comedy about a blended family of a gay couple, with Andrew Rannells playing one of the guys, and the woman who becomes a surrogate to help them start a family. Barkin will play the splashy role of the surrogate’s mother. 20th Century Fox TV is producing the project, with Murphy, Adler and Dante Di Loreto executive producing. Barkin was most recently seen in the indie Another Happy Day and making her Broadway debut in The Normal Heart, which earned her her a Tony Award last year.

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Discovery Pacts With Colombia On TV Production

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 1:40pm PSTTags: Colombia, Discovery Communications

Discovery Communications is boosting its stake in Colombia, where it recently opened an office to explore co-production opportunities. The company today announced a co-production partnership with the country’s Ministry of Information Technology and Communications to create content for and about Colombia and spur training programs there. The projects are intended to “contribute to the development and promotion of Colombian culture, reflecting the country’s current reality and history”, according to the parties. The accord — the first-ever between the nation and a media company — was signed in Bogota. The first project is set to hit public television there this year.

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Jon Voight & Elliott Gould Join Showtime’s ‘Ray Donovan’ Pilot

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 1:37pm PSTTags: Elliott Gould, Jon Voight, Ray Donovan, Showtime
Nellie Andreeva

Jon Voight and Elliott Gould have joined the cast of Showtime’s drama pilot Ray Donovan starring Liev Schreiber. Created and executive produced by Southland creator Ann Biderman, executive produced by Mark Gordon and Bryan Zuriff and to be directed by Allen Coulter, the Showtime-produced project takes a novelistic look at contemporary Los Angeles. A dark family drama with comedic undertones, the show centers on Ray (Schreiber), a professional “fixer” for LA’s rich and famous who can make anyone’s problems disappear, except the ones created by his own family. Oscar winner Voight, repped by CAA, will play Ray’s father Mickey Donovan, a newly freed ex-convict who heads to Los Angeles with suspicious intentions to reconnect with his estranged family. Oscar nominee Gould, repped by APA, will play the recurring role of Ezra Goodman, senior partner at a law firm who is Ray’s mentor and confidante, yet is showing signs of early dementia.

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