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Ensemble Cast Joins Smiths Comedy ‘Shoplifters Of The World’

By BRIAN BROOKS | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 11:40am PSTTags: Lorianne Hall, Shoplifters Of The World, Stephen Kijak, Stones In Exile

Jessica Brown Findla, James Frecheville, Jeremy Allen White and Thomas Brodie Sangster have signed on for the indie comedy Shoplifters Of The World, from Stones In Exile director Stephen Kijak. Shooting will begin in early June. Set in 1987 on the day British band The Smiths broke up and inspired by real events, the film revolves around a lone gunman who tries to win the affections of his crush and breaks into a heavy metal radio station demanding the DJ plays Smiths songs for 24 hours straight. He ignites a New Wave resurgence for four hours before police manage to arrest him.

Approval for 20 Smiths songs were secured for the project, which will help to guide the story’s narrative. Perihelion Entertainment’s Lorianne Hall will produce. The title is a riff on the The Smiths’ 1987 single “Shoplifters of the World Unite.” Skylar Astin, Zosia Mamet and Will Poulter have also been cast. Kijak’s credits include the BAFTA-nominated music doc Scott Walker 30 Century Man and the Rolling Stones doc Stones In Exile, which played in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar in Cannes in 2010.

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OSCARS Q&A: Brad Pitt On ‘Moneyball’, His Status As A Multiple Nominee And Being A “Director Whore”

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 11:31am PSTTags: Awardsline, Brad Pitt, Moneyball, Oscars, The Tree of Life

Brad Pitt is on a roll, even for Brad Pitt. Arguably the world’s No. 1 male movie star, he is at the top of his game, enjoying widespread critical acclaim for his 2011 output Moneyball and The Tree Of Life — which he both starred in and produced through his Plan B production company. Both scored Best Picture Oscar nominations but were troubled projects that likely would not have seen the light of a camera if not for Pitt’s determination and ability to make them happen. He has already won New York Film Critics Circle and National Society of Film Critics awards for best actor in Moneyball, and now he’s up for an Oscar for that role as Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane. He has smartly created a lasting career by working with some of the best directors around — he calls himself a “director whore” — and has become a first-class producer in the process. He sat for a wide-ranging conversation with Deadline Awards Columnist Pete Hammond that took place a few days after he learned of his multiple Oscar nominations.

AWARDSLINE: What was it about Moneyball that you knew, you just had to make this movie?
PITT: These guys (the Oakland A’s) are trying to survive in an unfair game, going up against conventional wisdom, starting from scratch and asking the questions “Why do we do what we do? Does it still make sense to us? Because we thought it made sense 100 years ago.” It’s a story of value, our own self-worth and this individual’s (Billy Beane) search for his own value in the process. It was such a relevant story for our time. I really hooked into it. Unconventional, difficult and unique and yet at the same time it had these undertones of what I loved in ’70s films. I put two years into this project and it went away and then put another year into it and it went away and I just couldn’t stand to see that happen on this one again. And Amy (Pascal, co-chairmen of Sony Pictures Entertainment) stuck with this: She is our patron saint at the end of the day. ’Cause she doubled down at a big risk. Read More »

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Series Adaptation Of ‘Legion’ With Feature’s Director Scott Stewart In The Works At Syfy

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 10:27am PSTTags: Legion, Syfy
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Syfy is developing a series version of the 2010 supernatural thriller Legion, which starred Paul Bettany. The feature’s director/co-writer Scott Stewart is set to direct and executive produce the TV adaptation, which will be written by Vaun Wilmott (Sons Of Anarchy). Sony Pictures TV, the TV sibling of Sony’s Screen Gems division that distributed the film, is producing the series project. The movie, produced by Bold Films, chronicled human race’s battle for survival against God’s legion of angels sent by him to bring on the Apocalypse. The people get an unlikely ally in Archangel Michael (Bettany), who disobeys God’s order and decides to help them. Bold Films’ David Lancaster and Michael Litvak, who were producers on the movie, will serve as executive producers on the potential series alongside WME-repped Stewart. ICM-repped Wilmott co-executive produces. Budgeted at $26 million, the movie grossed $68 million worldwide.

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Nu Image-Millennium Appoints John Fremes

By BRIAN BROOKS | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 10:04am PSTTags: John Fremes, Mark Gill, Nu Image/Millennium Films

International sales executive John Fremes has been named Head of International at indie production and sales group Nu Image/Millennium Films. He will report to company principals Avi Lerner and Trevor Short. Fremes will work in tandem with Mark Gill, who in June was named president of Nu Image’s production arm Millennium Films, and will oversee international sales, distribution and marketing of Millennium’s produced projects. Gill will manage development, financing and production of the company’s slate of eight to 10 projects annually. Fremes recently oversaw international sales, distribution and business affairs as president of worldwide distribution at Essential Entertainment, working on titles including Barney’s Version, The Expatriate and Defiance. Before that, he was president of Element Film International. Fremes founded Fusion International Sales Corp in 1999 and was founding president of Le Monde Entertainment Sales Corp, a division of Alliance Atlantis Communications.

Fremes is currently attending the Berlinale with Nu Image/Millennium’s project slate including Lovelace with Amanda Seyfried and Peter Sarsgaard, The Iceman with Michael Shannon and Winona Ryder, Killing Season starring Robert De Niro and John Travolta and The Expendables 2 starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Jet Li.

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OSCARS: ‘Help’s Emma Stone To Present

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 10:03am PSTTags: 84th Academy Awards, Emma Stone, Oscars

Beverly Hills, CA – Emma Stone will present at the 84th Academy Awards® ceremony, telecast producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer announced today. It will be her first time presenting on the show. Stone appears in the Best Picture nominee “The Help.”

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Ratings Rat Race: ‘The Office’ & ‘Wipeout’ Down To Season Lows, ‘Grey’s’ & ‘Idol’ Up

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 9:44am PSTTags: American Idol, Ratings, The Big Bang Theory, The Finder
Nellie Andreeva

The two big Thursday rivals this season, Fox’s American Idol and CBS’ The Big Bang Theory (5.5/16), both inched up last night. But Idol (5.7/6) went up more to break the shows’ tie over the past two weeks and claim the top spot for the night in 18-49 outright. Big Bang still won the head-to-head contest from 8-8:30 PM (5.5 vs. 5.2). With the resolution of the Wednesday night cliffhanger (the girl that fell of the stage was OK, got a “yes” too), Idol was up 6% from last Thursday’s fast national, and Big Bang was up a tenth. Fox’s The Finder (2.3/6) slipped a tenth from last week. Fox (4.0/11, 12.2 million) won the night in 18-49, CBS (3.6/10, 14.3 million) in total viewers. CBS’ Rob (3.4/9) was up a tenth from last week, Person Of Interest (3.3/8, 15.1 million) matched its series high from last Thursday, and The Mentalist (2.9/8, 14.4 million) was flat in 18-49 and posted a season high in total viewers. Read More »

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Content Groups Urge Feds To List Canada Among Major Foreign Piracy Supporters

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 9:28am PSTTags: International Intellectual Property Alliance

Hollywood may have lost its effort to persuade Congress to toughen anti-piracy laws. But the MPAA and other trade groups for content producing companies believe that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative can do more: The International Intellectual Property Alliance just filed a report to the agency documenting what it says is “rampant online and physical piracy of copyrighted works and severe market access barriers” in 41 countries — and asked to have Canada and 9 other countries put on the government’s Priority Watch List. The designation is part of a process that could lead the government to determine that a country has violated certain trade agreements, Read More »

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John Stamos Set To Star In Fox Comedy Pilot ‘Little Brother’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 8:58am PSTTags: Fox, John Stamos, Little Brother
Nellie Andreeva

John Stamos Circling Fox Comedy Pilot ‘Little Brother’

John Stamos has closed a deal to star in the Fox comedy pilot Little Brother. The actor has been actively involved in tweaking the pilot with its writer, Everybody Loves Raymond alum Mike Royce, and director Shawn Levy. The project, ordered to pilot in September, cast actor-comedian T.J. Miller as one of the two leads in November but had been having difficulties casting the other lead until it approached Stamos. The single-camera comedy, from 20th TV, Marty Adelstein and Levy’s 21 Laps/Adelstein Prods and Hat Trick, is about a man (Stamos) who finds out that he has a half-brother (Miller) he never knew who also happens to be an ex-con. Stamos, who had been eyed for multiple pilots this season, starred in the Super Bowl commercial for Dannon Yogurt’s Oikos brand, which has generated a lot of buzz, landing on a number “best of” lists. He is with WME and Brillstein Entertainment.

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Samuel Goldwyn Films Takes Rights to ‘The State Of Illusion’

By BRIAN BROOKS | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 8:33am PSTTags: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Scott Cervine’s People V. The State Of Illusion was picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Written and produced by Austin Vickers, the film explores the science and power of perceptions and imagination reminiscent of 2004′s What The Bleep Do We Know!?? – also a Goldwyn title. Set in a New Mexico penitentiary, the story centers on Aaron Roberts who is convicted of claiming a woman’s life, forcing his daughter to become a ward of the state. An attorney learns of her plight and decides to represent her in an innovative and emotionally compelling case against the state. Vickers, a professional speaker in the field of emotional intelligence and self-awareness, will appear at the film’s premiere in cities across the country to conduct audience Q&As. Goldwyn acquired U.S. rights and plans a March release.

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Lionsgate Calms Investors With Talk About Charlie Sheen, ‘Hunger Games’ And ‘Twilight’

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 8:15am PSTTags: Anger Management, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Stock, The Hunger Games, Twilight

Based on this morning’s nearly 6%-plus pop in Lionsgate’s share price, you’d never know how badly the company’s fiscal Q3 report released last night fell short of analyst forecasts. The market is forward looking, though, and Lionsgate execs filled their morning conference call with upbeat talk about their movie and TV plans. CEO Jon Feltheimer has high hopes for Charlie Sheen’s upcoming series on FX, Anger Management. The first 10 episodes begin production March 19. If they do well, then it “will be one of our most profitable series ever,” Feltheimer says, adding that Sheen ”resonates with audiences around the world.” The company expects to have Anger Management double run in syndication much earlier than usual, and to have repeats on FX within 2 1/2 years. “We would be shooting it about twice as fast as you’d typically shoot a network show,” Feltheimer said. Now that its acquisition of Summit Entertainment has closed, the company is also cheering tonight’s home video release of Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1; the second-to-last Twilight installment will be out earlier than usual to coincide with Valentine’s Day. Lionsgate expects it to sell about as well as the previous film from the series, Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Many stores, including several Walmarts, will stay open past midnight to accomodate fans who can’t wait. Trailers for Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 2 will debut at showings of The Hunger Games beginning on its opening night. Not surprisingly, Lionsgate co-chair Rob Friedman says that if author Stephenie Meyer wants to write another Twilight installment, then “we’ll be there to support her.” Read More »

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Detective Show Starring Bill Engvall In The Works At TNT

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 8:10am PSTTags: Bill Engvall, John Tinker, TNT
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Bill Engvall is back at Turner. The actor-comedian, who headlined his won sitcom on TBS, is set to star in and executive produce an hourlong project in development at sibling TNT. John Tinker is set to write, executive produce and showrun the project, which centers on a fish-out-of-water detective from Texas (Engvall) who transfers to the NYPD. JP Williams of Parallel Entertainment will produce. This marks Tinker’s return to TNT where he recently served as executive producer/showruner on medical drama Hawthorne. Engvall is one of the country’s most popular comedians as a solo act and part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour with Larry the Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy. Engvall and Tinker are with Paradigm.

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OSCARS Q&A: Mike Fleming Interviews Fox Searchlight’s Steve Gilula And Nancy Utley

By MIKE FLEMING | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 7:17am PSTTags: Fox Searchlight, George Clooney, Nancy Utley, Steve Gilula, The Descendants, The Tree of Life
Mike Fleming

Even though Fox Searchlight co-presidents Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley have turned “challenging films” like Slumdog Millionaire, Black Swan, Crazy Heart, Once, Juno, and 127 Hours into awards-season successes, they are the lowest-profile indie moguls you will find. At a time when they are steering two Best Picture nominees — the Alexander Payne-directed The Descendants and the Terrence Malick-directed The Tree Of Life – they tell Deadline about the struggles, glory and disappointment that is part and parcel of the indie distributor’s mission of finding audiences for prestige films. When it works, it’s wondrous. Slumdog Millionaire, a $15 million film that was nearly relegated to a direct-to-video fate by Warner Bros, won eight Oscars including Best Picture, and grossed $141 million domestic and $378 million worldwide; Black Swan, a $13 million film that flatlined several times during the 10 years it took to get made, grossed $107 million domestic and $329 million worldwide and won Best Actress for Natalie Portman; Once, an obscure Irish film that cost $150,000 to make, won Best Song and grossed $9.4 million stateside and $20.7 million worldwide; Crazy Heart, a $9 million film about a drunk singer, won Best Actor for Jeff Bridges and grossed $39 million domestic and $47 million worldwide; the $7.5 million Juno won Best Screenplay for Diablo Cody, and grossed $143 million domestic and $231 million worldwide. Here, they lay out how it’s done and why voters should consider The Descendants and The Tree Of Life for Best Picture and other honors. 

DEADLINE: Fox Searchlight has eight nominations, with two Best Picture candidates. Make a case why Alexander Payne’s The Descendants is a worthy best picture winner.
UTLEY: The Descendants is a remarkably beautiful and accomplished film that is in the vein of Oscar movies from a little bit further back, like Kramer Vs. Kramer, Ordinary People, Terms Of Endearment, even On Golden Pond or To Kill A Mockingbird. It is in the sort of subtle character-based, humanistic, realistic story-telling tradition. Sometimes it’s a little frustrating because our movie isn’t flashy, it doesn’t have a lot of showy or bling kind of elements in it. It’s highly naturalistic. But I think those kind of movies are important to moviegoers because they reflect their lives and issues. This is a movie that is going to stand the test of time. People will be watching this movie in 10 years, 20 years, in 30 years. That’s an important part of what should be considered in Best Picture.
GILULA: It’s also a film that has really resonated all the way from the rarefied world of the film critics and journalists out to the mainstream: the public. The major studios are making almost none of those kinds of films anymore and it’s not easy for us either. But the fact is that the material is so good, and you have one of the very best directors and some of the best actors telling what on paper is a very simple story but achieves the highest level of the art. Read More »

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Hasbro Licenses ‘Star Trek’ Toy Rights

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 6:48am PSTTags: Hasbro, Star Trek

PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) announced today it has entered into agreement with CBS Consumer Products to manufacture and globally market a variety of products based on the STAR TREK property beginning in 2013. The toy line will launch in support of the STAR TREK movie sequel from Paramount Pictures, which will open May 17, 2013.

Read More »

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Christophe Gans Takes On ‘Beauty And The Beast’ With Vincent Cassel, Léa Seydoux

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 12:17am PSTTags: Christophe Gans, Lea Seydoux, Vincent Cassel

Beauty And The Beast is having quite the resurgence these days. There are 2 TV pilots in the works with the fairy tale as source material and now there’s going to be a new film adaptation courtesy of Christophe Gans. The picture marks a return to the big screen for the Silent Hill director after a six-year absence. France’s Eskwad and Pathé are teaming on the project to star Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux (who’ve both found steady work at home and in Hollywood). Richard Grandpierre is producing with principal photography to start in October this year. Gans has a pretty big cult following. He was part of a “new” new wave back in the late ’90s in France with Brotherhood Of The Wolf. On this film, he says he wants to “unleash” his imagination and “surprise the audience by creating a completely new visual universe never experienced before.” Pathé will sell the film internationally.

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‘Marley’ Doc Sold Ahead Of Berlin Bow

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 11:29pm PSTTags: Berlin Film Festival, Bob Marley, Kevin Macdonald, Marley

Universal Pictures Intl. Entertainment has just acquired the Bob Marley documentary Marley, for all rights within the UK and Scandinavia. Lucky Red has picked up rights for Italy and Avalon Distribution has Spain. Magnolia Pictures previously acquired U.S. rights to the Shangri-La Entertainment/Tuff Gong Pictures production. Directed by Kevin Macdonald, the film is scheduled for theatrical release in North America and the UK on April 20th, then will roll out worldwide throughout the summer to coincide with the 50th anniversary year of Jamaican Independence. Macdonald, Rohan Marley and longtime Bob Marley collaborator Neville Garrick will be in Berlin to present the film on February 12th. Filming took place in Ghana, Japan and the UK as well as in Jamaica and the U.S. It’s the first time Marley’s family has authorized use of their private archives. Directors of photography include Alwin Kuchler and Mike Eley. The editor is Dan Glendenning.

Fortissimo Films has also sold South Africa (Nu Metro), Portugal (Lusomundo / Film & TV House), Germany & Austria (Studio Canal Germany), Poland (Best Film), France (Wild Side Films), Latin America (HBO Latin America Pan Regional Pay TV), Australia & New Zealand (Roadshow Films PTY Ltd), Benelux (E1), Middle East (Front Row) and Switzerland (Elite Film A.G.).

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Film School Diplomacy: State Dept., USC Select Movies For U.S. Outreach Initiative

By BRIAN BROOKS | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 10:51pm PSTTags: David Lynch, Food Inc, HBO, USC

The U.S. State Department and the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts selected 29 films for an international cultural outreach initiative dubbed the “American Film Showcase.” The worldwide series of events, also in conjunction with Film Independent and the International Documentary Association will feature documentaries, narratives, animated shorts and more. The showcase is an extension of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s concept of “smart power diplomacy.” The idea is to showcase U.S. ideals through a range of soft diplomatic tools that “reflect diversity” in contemporary American life.

In addition to screening the 29 films to overseas audiences, the program will involve filmmakers and experts who will participate in lectures, master classes and in other settings focusing on filmmaking, digital technology and emerging media. “American film is a unique way in which we can engage audiences, especially youth, worldwide,” according to a statement by Ann Stock, assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. ”For generations, film has opened the doors to dialogue. This international exchange initiative harnesses the power of film. The American Film Showcase brings people together and strengthens those relationships for the benefit of the global community.” Read More »

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OSCARS Q&A: ‘The Artist’s Jean Dujardin On His Doubts About The Black-And-White Silent Film And The Joy Of Taking Risks

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 10:28pm PSTTags: 84th Academy Awards, Awardsline, Jean Dujardin, Oscars, The Artist

It’s easy to pass off Jean Dujardin’s swath through awards season as the stuff manufactured by Weinstein machines. Hardly so. When SAG awarded its best acting prize to the unknown French actor Stateside over Hollywood fave George Clooney, it was clear that the status quo voted with their hearts. The Academy felt the same way, bestowing upon him his first Best Actor Oscar nomination. While Clooney morphs his dramatic essence from Michael Clayton through The Descendants, Dujardin — a Clooney-type in his homeland — trumps with his bygone set of dancing and mime skills. Dujardin admits he was daunted by challenges of portraying Hollywood silent film actor George Valentin — a composite of Douglas Fairbanks and Gene Kelly, topped off by the French actor’s uncanny Clark Gable mug. But he’s just being modest: Check out his previous collaboration with The Artist helmer Michel Hazanavicius, the 0SS 117 franchise, and it’s obvious that the actor’s physical talents were already there, the local comedy a mere warm-up before his graduation to silent black-and-white shtick. He spoke with AwardsLine’s Anthony D’Alessandro via a translator about his awards-season run.

AWARDSLINE: I understand you were hesitant before committing to The Artist because it was a silent movie. What worried you?
DUJARDIN: The unknown. I didn’t know King Vidor’s movies and I was worried that Michel would ask me to uphold the entire film. I didn’t want to do a sub-category of Chaplin. Chaplin is unique, but there’s only one. Michel said “No, I want to make a love story.” And he told that with the camera. But there was a short week of doubt of “What am I getting myself into?” Then I regretted ever thinking like that because I never think of the completed film, rather the adventure of what I’m about to live. Read More »

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Oscar Venue Balks At Dropping Kodak Name

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 9:51pm PSTTags: Kodak Theatre

Bankrupt Eastman Kodak Co. shouldn’t be permitted to abandon naming rights to the Hollywood Boulevard venue that hosts the Academy Awards, the property’s management CIM/H&H Media asserted in a Manhattan Court filing. The 20-year agreement under which the Kodak Theatre bears its name is worth $72 million over the life of the deal, according to CIM/H&H, but Kodak wants out 11 years into the contract. CIM/H&H says backing out “is not practically feasible” with the Oscars slated for February 26.

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Report: Fox Business News Cancels Primetime Lineup

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 9:20pm PSTTags: Fox Business Network

Fox Business Network scrapped its entire primetime lineup today, the New York Times reported. Beginning February 20, a repeat of the 5PM to 8PM block of shows fronted by Gerri Willis, Neil Cavuto and Lou Dobbs will replace political programming in the 8PM to 11PM slot. The Willis, Cavuto and Dobbs programs tend to feature Republican politicians and conservative commentators as guests, but they are less overtly political than shows they are replacing. Those programs are Freedom Watch with Andrew Napolitano, Power & Money with David Asman and Follow the Money with Eric Bolling. All three will remain contributors in other regular slots. Fox Business News last year had an average of 54,000 total viewers in primetime. Rival CNBC had an average of 228,000 primetime viewers.

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