You are viewing the archive: “Hollywood”

Syfy’s ‘Being Human’ Renewed For Season 3

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 1:36pm PSTTags: Being Human, Syfy
Nellie Andreeva

Four episodes into Being Human‘s second season, Syfy has renewed the drama series for a third with a 13-episode order. To date, Season 2 is running 27% higher in adults 18-49 and 5% in total viewers vs. last season. With women comprising 52% of its audience, Being Human is Syfy’s most female-skewing scripted series ever. “(Showrunners) Jeremy Carver and Anna Fricke have taken this series to new heights this year and we’re excited to see where the third season will go,” said Syfy’s president of original content Mark Stern. Based on the British series created by Toby Whithouse, Being Human stars Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath and Sam Huntington as vampire Aidan, ghost Sally and werewolf Josh who share the creature comforts of home in a Boston brownstone. Executive Producers are Michael Prupas, Jeremy Carver and Anna Fricke, Adam Kane, and Rob Pursey and Whithouse. 

Comments (12)

UPDATE: News Corp Calls Scandal Costs “Substantially Higher” Than Expected, But Touts Digital Initiatives

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 1:07pm PSTTags: News Corp Earnings

UPDATE, 3:05 PM: News Corp CFO David DeVoe had the thankless job today of telling analysts how much of a financial hit the company is taking as a result of the News Of The World hacking scandal. He says that the costs are “substantially higher than the amounts reflected in our guidance” three months ago: News Corp figures it spent about $104M in the six months that ended in December — including the $87M charge it just reported from the last quarter. About 85% of the payments went for professional fees — mostly lawyers. Much of the remainder was used to pay settlements. On top of that, the company expects to lose about $300M this year in its newspaper business — with about half of the loss in the UK, mostly tied to the closing of News Of The World.

COO Chase Carey was a lot more comfortable making the case that this is “a great time to be a content leader.”  He echoed some of the points that Time Warner’s Jeff Bewkes made this morning about pay TV and entertainment companies dragging their feet in launching TV Everywhere. “You can’t spend 3 or 4 years getting someting going,” he told analysts in a conference call. “All of us have to do a better job…It’s taking too much time.” More generally, Read More »

Comments (1)

Alfred Molina To Star In David E. Kelley’s TNT Medical Drama Pilot ‘Chelsea General’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 12:59pm PSTTags: Alfred Molina, Chelsea General, David E. Kelley, TNT
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Alfred Molina is set to star in David E. Kelley’s TNT medical drama pilot Chelsea General. Based on CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta’s upcoming novel Monday Mornings, the project follows the lives of five surgeons as they push the limits of their abilities and confront their personal and professional failings. It uses as a backdrop the hospital’s Monday Morbidity and Mortality conference, considered the most secretive meeting in all of medicine, where doctors gather for a confidential review of complications and errors in patient care. Molina will play Dr. Harding Hooten, the steely-eyed Chief of Surgery at Chelsea General, known for his punishing and outwardly-uncaring ways. He heads up a weekly meeting in which doctors are lauded for their good work, or criticized (even fired) for their mistakes. Also cast in the pilot is Bill Irwin (CSI) as Dr. Buck Tierney, a smug doctor who takes himself very seriously and rubs his colleagues the wrong way. Molina and Irwin join previously cast Jamie Bamber and Jennifer Finnigan. This marks a reunion for Molina and Kelley — Molina recently did an arc on Kelley’s NBC legal dramedy Harry’s Law. He also toplined NBC’s spinoff series Law & Order: LA last season. Kelley and Gupta, who is a practicing neurosurgeon, are executive producing Chelsea General; Kelley’s frequent collaborator Bill D’Elia is set to direct the pilot.

Comments (15)

CNN Suspends Roland Martin For Tweets

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 12:58pm PSTTags: CNN, Roland Martin, Super Bowl, Twitter

CNN has suspended Roland Martin for “regrettable and offensive” tweets the political commentator posted during the Super Bowl. Martin commented on Twitter, “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him.” The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said the remark advocated violence against gays. “CNN today took a strong stand against anti-LGBT violence and language that demeans any community,” said GLAAD’s Rich Ferraro. “Yesterday, Martin also spoke out against anti-LGBT violence. We look forward to hearing from CNN and Roland Martin to discuss how we can work together as allies and achieve our common goal of reducing such violence as well as the language that contributes to it.”

Comments 49

‘Bridesmaids’ Most Popular VOD Of All Time

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 12:27pm PST
Mike Fleming

Universal Pictures announced today that Bridesmaids is the No. 1 most ordered VOD title of all time, with over 4.8 million rentals in just over four months of release according to Rentrak’s OnDemand Essentials. Bridesmaids, which will be available on VOD through February 29, has grossed over $24 million to date.The studio estimated that through all digital platforms including internet video on demand, pay-per-view, hotel viewings, and electronic-sell-through transactions, Bridesmaids has totaled more than seven million orders with grosses of $40 million domestically. The struggle between the major studios and exhibition chains to figure out a way to allow movies to play on VOD weeks after its theatrical bow remains at a stalemate. But the success of the day and date title Margin Call, and the prospect of Mel Gibson going straight to VOD on the action film Get the Gringo, and now this news about Bridesmaids, is sure to broaden this increasingly important revenue generator. Imagine what premium price Universal could have charged for the adult-oriented comedy a few weeks after it became a hit in theaters? It was Universal that tried to test a VOD release of Tower Heist in a couple markets for $59.99 three weeks after the film opened in theaters. I still think that studios and exhibitors will find a way to cut the latter into the ancillary revenue stream, bringing theatrical distribution into the 21st Century.

Comments (14)

Summit, Emmett-Furla Confirm Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mikael Hafstrom For ‘The Tomb’

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 12:07pm PSTTags: Arnols Schwarzenegger, Mikael Hafstrom, Sylvester Stallone, The Tomb
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: The prospect of Mikael Hafstrom directing Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Tomb–something Deadline floated in early January–has now become fact. And just in time for Berlin. The drama, backed by Emmett/Furla Films and Summit Entertainment, puts action heroes Stallone and Schwarzenegger back together after Expendables 2. In the drama that was scripted by Miles Chapman, got a rewrite from Jason Keller and now has Chapman working on the latest draft with Hafstrom, Stallone plays a man who has designed a high-tech prison that is said to be escape-proof. When he is set up and sent to the prison he created, he essentially must go up against himself to escape and find retribution. Schwarzenegger plays a fellow inmate a complex guy whose tough exterior hides the reality he’s an okay guy who fights to keep the prisoners from losing their humanity.

The pic’s produced by Atmosphere’s Mark Canton, Randall Emmett, George Furla, Robbie Brenner and Kevin King-Templeton. Emmett/Furla is financing and Summit holds worldwide distribution rights and will release in North America.

Hafstrom’s credits include last year’s The Rite and 2007′s 1408 and he’s repped by WME and Management 360.

Comments (19)

SXSW Film Festival Unveils Genre And Shorts Lineup

By BRIAN BROOKS | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 12:00pm PSTTags: Jarod Neece, Mumblecore, SXSW

The SXSW Film Conference and Festival released its genre-centered Midnighters and short films lineup Wednesday. Eleven features will screen in the section though the festival will screen genre work throughout its sections including the previously announced opener The Cabin In The Woods which will kick off the festival March 9th. SXSW unveiled its competition and other lineups earlier this month.

“The most innovative work is happening in genre filmmaking,” SXSW senior programmer Jarod Neece told Deadline Wednesday. “Filmmakers are able to be more creative and it’s outgrown the Midnighter program itself.” Asked if he sees genre plateauing any time soon, Neece said that a reaction to movements in indie film are common, citing the Mumblecore group of films that came out of the festival several years ago as an example. For now though filmmakers are continuing to ride the genre wave. “There may be some genre backlash at some point. But at this point there are some very strong genre filmmakers,” said Neece who added that overall half the features are with distribution and about half are from emerging filmmakers.

The 2012 SXSW Film Festival takes place March 9-17 in Austin, TX.

MIDNIGHTERS
Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally
curious.

The Aggression Scale
Director: Steven C. Miller, Screenwriter: Ben Powell
4 hitmen + $500,000 of stolen cash + 1 family = WAR
Cast: Fabianne Therese, Ryan Hartwig, Dana Ashbrook, Derek Mears, Jacob Reynolds, Joseph
McKelheer, Boyd Kestner, Lisa Rotondi, Ray Wise (World Premiere)

CITADEL (Ireland, Scotland)
Director/Screenwriter: Ciarán Foy
An agoraphobic father teams up with a renegade priest to save his daughter from the clutches of a
gang of twisted feral children.
Cast: Anuerin Barnard, James Cosmo, Wumni Mosaku, Jake Wilson, Amy Shiels (World Premiere)

Girls Against Boys
Director/Screenwriter: Austin Chick
A psychological thriller about two girls on a killing spree. With edgy and ironic humor and a darkly meditative tone, it is also a coming-of-age story about a girl learning how the world really works.
Cast: Danielle Panabaker, Nicole LaLiberte, Liam Aiken, Michael Stahl-David, Andrew Howard
(World Premiere)

Intruders (Spain, UK)
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Screenwriters: Nicolás Casariego, Jaime Marques
The haunting story of two children living in different countries, each visited nightly by a faceless being
who wants to take possession of them.
Cast: Clive Owen, Carice Van Houten, Daniel Brühl, Pilar López de Ayala (U.S. Premiere)

Iron Sky (Finland, Germany, Australia)
Director: Timo Vuorensola, Screenwriters: Michael Kalesniko, Timo Vuorensola
In 1945 the Nazis went to the moon; in 2018 they are coming back.
Cast: Julia Dietze, Götz Otto, Christopher Kirby, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul, Tilo Prückner, Michael Cullen, Udo Kier (North American Premiere)

John Dies At The End
Director & Screenwriter: Don Coscarelli
On the street it’s called “soy sauce,” a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. Suddenly, a silent otherworldly invasion is underway. Can college dropouts John and Dave save humanity? No, they can’t.
Cast: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown, Glynn Turman

Modus Anomali (Indonesia)
Director/Screenwriter: Joko Anwar
A man tries to save his family who go missing during a vacation in the forest.
Cast: Rio Dewanto, Hannah Al Rashid, Izziati Amara Isman, Aridh Tritama, Surya Saputra, Marsha Timothy, Sadha Triyudha, Jose Gamo (World Premiere)

[REC] 3 GENESIS (Spain)
Director: Paco Plaza
Screenwriters: Luiso Berdejo, Paco Plaza
Koldo and Clara’s wedding is horrifically interrupted when some of the guests start showing signs of a strange illness. Before they know what’s happening, the bride and groom find themselves in the middle of a hellish ordeal, as an uncontrollable torrent of violence is unleashed on the wedding.
Cast: Leticia Dolera, Diego Martin (World Premiere)

Super Secret Screening
Be the first to see this feature film coming to theaters near you.

The Tall Man
Director/Screenwriter: Pascal Laugier
When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.
Cast: Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen McHattie, William B.Davis (World Premiere)

Read More »

Comments (2)

TV CASTINGS: Trio Cast In Pilots, Movie

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 11:59am PST
Nellie Andreeva

Daisy Betts (Harry’s Law) has joined the cast of ABC’s drama pilot Last Resort starring Andre Braugher. The Sony TV-produced project centers on the crew of the U.S.S. Nevada, a nuclear submarine, who, after disobeying a suspicious order, become fugitives. They land on the island of Sainte Marina, where they take over the NATO Listening Station and declare themselves an independent nuclear nation. Betts will play a member of the crew, Lt. Grace Shepard, the daughter of an Admiral father who is new to the sub and to command positions.

Alona Tal been cast in the CW drama pilot Cult. The project, from Warner Bros. TV and Fake Empire, centers on Skye (Jessica Lucas), an inquisitive, young female production assistant on a wildly popular television show called Cult who, after a rash of disappearances and a likely murder, joins a journalist blogger in investigating the rabid fans of the series who might be re-creating crimes seen on the program in real life. Tal, repped by Innovative & McKeon Myones, will play an actress portraying a young LAPD detective on the show.

Jonathan Patrick Moore (Savages) is set to co-star opposite Tori Spelling and Tia Mowry in The Mistle-Tones, ABC Family’s holiday movie which will anchor the network’s next ‘25 Days of Christmas’ event. The actor, repped by Greene & Associates & Management … Read More »

Comments (3)

Ron Burkle Investing In Duncan Heath’s London Talent Agency: But Why?

By NIKKI FINKE | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 11:31am PSTTags: Duncan Heath, Ron Burkle, talent agencies

UPDATE: Duncan Heath responds to what I wrote: “So I guess you don’t like me. That’s OK. On a personal level, one probably has to bite the bullet — that’s just life. But I cannot keep quiet when it involves Independent Talent and its finances. The company did not need a ‘financial rescuer’ and never has. The finances of the company are incredibly robust. As our press release clearly states, we want to expand the business, and Yucaipa and Ron Burkle are going to help us do just that.”

PREVIOUS: I’d heard a few months ago that London tenpercenter Duncan Heath and investor Ron Burkle were talking. But when it comes to the agent, that’s all he ever does is talk, talk, talk. He’s been looking for a financial rescuer for his Independent Talent Group (aka Independent Talent Agency, formerly ICM-UK) for seemingly forever — something Heath’s own statement accompanying today’s news readily admits. Frankly, I washed my hands of Heath a long time ago after he flunked my truthfulness test. So now he and Burkle’s Yucaipa  Companies have consummated a deal. Exactly how Burkle is picking his showbiz partners remains a real mystery to me and others. Ryan Kavanaugh? Duncan Heath? Who’s next — James Robinson? Elie Samaha? David Bergstein?

Comments (12)

Chelsea Handler’s Borderline Amazing Hires Tasha Brown As VP Development

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 10:35am PSTTags: Borderline Amazing, Tasha Brown
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Tasha Brown has been named VP of Development and Production for Chelsea Handler’s Borderline Amazing Prods. Brown was most recently VP of comedy development at Peter Chernin’s Chernin Entertainment where she helped develop the company’s first hit series, freshman Fox comedy New Girl. At Borderline, Brown will work with Handler, her partner Tom Brunelle, and co-executive producer Brad Wollack in overseeing the company’s slate. Borderline is expected to ramp up its development under Handler’s rich new overall deal with E!, which includes a first-look pact for her company with NBC Universal. Borderline currently produces Chelsea Lately and After Lately for E!, and Are You There, Chelsea? for NBC.

Previously a writer on FOX’s Grounded for Life and ABC’s Married to the Kellys, Brown segued to the executive ranks as director of development at BBC Worldwide Prods. “Tasha has a writer’s mind and an executive’s know how,” Handler said. “Plus, she’s a smart, British woman, so she marginally makes up for all of the idiots I already have on staff,” Handler said.

 

Comments (7)

Magnolia Takes Rights To Rob Reiner’s ‘Magic Of Belle Isle’

By BRIAN BROOKS | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 10:29am PSTTags: Magnolia Pictures, Morgan Freeman, Rob Reiner, The Magic Of Belle Isle

U.S. rights to Rob Reiner’s The Magic Of Belle Isle have been picked up by Magnolia Pictures. Magnolia plans a theatrical and VOD release in its Ultra VOD program in the summer. Starring Morgan Freeman, Virginia Madsen, Madeline Carroll, Kenan Thompson, and Fred Willard, the film revolves around Monte Wildhorn (Freeman) a famous Western novelist whose struggle with alcoholism has sapped his passion for writing. He takes a lakeside cabin for the summer in picturesque Belle Isle, and befriends the family next door including a single mother (Madsen) and her young daughters who help him find inspiration again. Magnolia SVP of Acquisitions Dori Begley and Head of Business Affairs Chris Matson negotiated the deal with John Sloss and Dana O’Keefe for Cinetic Media, and Martin Shafer of Castle Rock.

Comments (2)

Go Digital Takes ‘Unraveled’ To The US

By BRIAN BROOKS | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 10:18am PSTTags: Ambush Entertainment, Go Digital, Unraveled

Go Digital nabbed U.S. rights to Unraveled, Marc H. Simon’s documentary feature about disgraced attorney and philanthropist Marc Dreier. The film will roll out theatrically and on day and date/VOD April 13th. Showtime and CNBC acquired TV rights to the film, produced by Simon, Matthew Makar of Elementary Films, Steven Cantor of Stick Figure Productions and Miranda Bailey of Ambush Entertainment. Shortly before the famed Bernard Madoff Ponzi scandal hit the news, prominent Manhattan attorney Marc Dreier was arrested for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that netted hundreds of millions of dollars from hedge funds. Unraveled debuted at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival.

Comments (0)

Hot Trailer: ‘The Bourne Legacy’

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 10:06am PSTTags: Jeremy Renner, Matt Damon, Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Legacy, Tony Gilroy
Mike Fleming

Universal has just released its first trailer for The Bourne Legacy, the Tony Gilroy-directed spinoff of the studio’s blockbuster Bourne Identity series. This time, Jeremy Renner takes center stage as the protagonist. Coming off The Hurt Locker and Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol, Renner’s growing into action hero mode. Will the film measure up to the original trilogy that starred Matt Damon? Well, Gilroy’s writing in boiling down Robert Ludlum’s novels into such compelling films was as much the backbone of the series as Damon’s performance as Jason Bourne, or the efforts of directors Paul Greengrass and Doug Liman. Here’s the trailer:

Comments 50

OSCARS: Angelina Jolie Added As Presenter

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 10:05am PSTTags: Academy Awards, Angelina Jolie

Beverly Hills, CA – Academy Award®-winning actress Angelina Jolie will present at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony, telecast producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer announced today.

In 1999 Jolie took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Girl, Interrupted,” and she received a nomination in 2008 for her lead performance in “Changeling.” Jolie recently made her writing and directing debut with the film “In the Land of Blood and Honey.” She will be seen next in “Maleficent.” Jolie’s other film credits include “Kung Fu Panda 2,” “The Tourist,” “Salt,” “Wanted,” “A Mighty Heart,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “Taking Lives” and “The Bone Collector.”

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Comments (0)

Sundance Kubrick Doc ‘Room 237′ Lands At IFC Films

By BRIAN BROOKS | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 10:00am PSTTags: 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Room 237, Stanley Kubrick, The Shining

Exclusive: IFC Films has picked up Sundance ’12 Stanley Kubrick doc Room 237. A world premiere in the festival’s New Frontier section, the experimental documentary directed by Rodney Ascher explores the numerous theories about the “real meaning” of Kubrick’s film The Shining. Word has it the film will screen this Spring in the New Directors/New Film series in New York and Cannes is a likely bet to debut the film across the Atlantic. IFC Films will roll out the film later this year via a theatrical/day and date VOD release.

Comments (10)

E! Will Carry ‘The Voice’ Reruns Again

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 9:59am PSTTags: E!, NBC, The Voice
Nellie Andreeva

For a second consecutive year, E! Entertainment will air same-week reruns of NBC’s hit music reality series The Voice. Last year, opening a second window for the NBC series on E! was one of the first synergy moves for the newly merged NBC Universal and Comcast. Fox used to do the same with American Idol on its cable sibling Fox Reality Channel until it was rebranded to Nat Geo Wild 3 years ago. The Voice‘s second season will launch on E! Saturday.

Comments (3)

It’s Official: ABC Family Picks Up ‘Bunheads’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 9:43am PSTTags: ABC Family, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Bunheads
Nellie Andreeva

ABC Family Picks Up ‘Bunheads’ To Series, Passes On ‘Intercept’ And ‘Village People’

BURBANK, CA (February 8, 2012) – ABC Family continues to expand its original programming slate, giving the greenlight to the new drama series “Bunheads” (working title), it was announced today by Michael Riley, president, ABC Family.

Executive-produced by Amy Sherman-Palladino (“Gilmore Girls”) and headlined by Tony Award-winning actor Sutton Foster, “Bunheads” is the tale of a Las Vegas showgirl who impulsively marries a man, moves to his sleepy coastal town, and takes an uneasy role at her new mother-in-law’s dance school. “Bunheads” joins ABC Family’s recently announced new original series, comedy “Baby Daddy” and unscripted “Beverly Hills Nannies.” All three series will begin production in Spring 2012.

Kate Juergens, executive vice president, Original Programming and Development, ABC Family added, “Amy and I had a great collaboration on ‘Gilmore Girls,’ which continues to find new fans here on ABC Family, and I look forward to this new partnership being just as successful. Her vision for ‘Bunheads’ aligns beautifully with our brand and is a wonderful addition to ABC Family’s original programming slate. I know our Millennial audience is going to fall in love with Sutton Foster the same way Broadway has.”

Comments (7)

‘Star Wars 3D’: LucasFilm Bribing Moviegoers To See Jar Jar Binks Again

By NIKKI FINKE | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 9:30am PSTTags: Jar Jar Binks, Lucasfilm, Star Wars 3D, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Comments (10)

Time Warner Chief Urges Investors To Focus On Digital Growth Instead Of Rising Costs

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 9:25am PSTTags: Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner, TV Everywhere, UltraViolet

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes channeled his inner Les Moonves in a conference call with analysts this morning to deliver one of the most relentlessly cheery infomercials he has ever presented for his company. But he wasn’t able to duplicate the CBS chief’s ability to mesmerize investors: Time Warner shares dipped sharply during the presentation after opening up on the company’s strong 4Q results and announcement of a new stock buy-back plan. The drop was due to the company’s warning that corporate expenses will rise in 2012. Execs also acknowledged that the film studio — which won’t have a new Harry Potter film — faces difficult comparisons with the 2011 results.

Still, Bewkes hammered on his theme that “our best years are ahead of us” — especially due to TV Everywhere and business models that promote digital distribution. “We’re at the vanguard of the industry” in promoting them, Bewkes says. For example, the HBO Go app soon will be available for Microsoft’s XBox. The company also is developing apps so pay TV subscribers can Read More »

Comments (0)
More Deadline | Hollywood »
« Previous Deadline | Hollywood