CAA has signed Aline Brosh McKenna, the prolific screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses, and the recently wrapped Paramount comedy Morning Glory.

Brosh McKenna had been repped by Hohman Maybank Lieb but I heard she took meetings recently before signing with CAA. Brosh has numerous scripts percolating—The Undomestic ... Read More »

An oft-asked question—do reviewers matter anymore--was the subject of lunchtime chatter today in theater circles, after the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Love Never Dies was pummeled by The New York Times reviewer Ben Brantley.

Some wondered if the blows were enough to impact plans for a November Broadway bow of the ... Read More »

Moving Shutter Island worked for Paramount. Will pushing Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps from April 23 to September 24 pay off for Fox?

The fact that Fox announced this decision after Stone started showing the film to Fox execs is enough to set off alarm bells, but insiders said that ... Read More »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 10, 2010
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE CONTINUES TO SOAR;
U.S. ADMISSIONS ON THE RISE
3D gives a boost to box office growth

Los Angeles – The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) today released its annual Theatrical Market Statistics Report for

... Read More »

Last week the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival launched its virtual festival. Today it unveiled a competition slate with virtually no films I’ve ever heard of before.

The hottest title in today’s announcement isn't in competition. It is an in-progress showing of an untitled documentary by Oscar-winner Alex Gibney about the precipitous ... Read More »

Corey Haim is the latest actor to die way before his time. He was 38, and reports suspect an accidental drug overdose, per the LAPD. Haim starred in The Lost Boys and License to Drive but his career waned at a point when most young adults are just getting started. ... Read More »

In February, the new lit agency Verve signed Rob Edwards (writer of the Oscar-nominated film The Princess And The Frog), Alex Litvak (writer of this summer’s Robert Rodriguez-produced Predators), Trevor Munson (creator of CBS show Moonlight), David Silverman (director of The Simpsons Movie, co-director of Monsters Inc, producer on The Simpsons TV show), Rich Wilkes (writer of XXX franchise for Sony).

Seann William Scott has left CAA and signed with ICM. He is currently co-starring in the feature film Cop Out opposite Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis, and recently wrapped the Peter Farrelly/Brett Ratner 2010 comedy project. Seann is best known for the American Pie franchise but also starred in The Dukes Of Hazzard and Dude, Where's My Car? and voiced animated films Ice Age and Planet 51.

On the heels of a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination for An Education, Nick Hornby has signed with WME. It's the first time the British writer has had a U.S. agent. WME will work on film and TV opportunities with U.K.-based Jenne Casarotto. Caroline Dawnay at United Agents makes Hornby's ... Read More »

Look for a Deadline report about The Hollywood Trades. Including news and analysis about Variety shake-up, layoffs, and today's Iron Cross lawsuit. Plus, details about changes at The Hollywood Reporter under its new ownership.

Multichannel News is reporting that Time Warner and other cable operators want the FCC to enact retrans reform. This follows all those recent retrans battles which consumers have to keep enduring. But why the cable providers think the FCC will be on their side is a mystery to me. On the other hand, there's no guarantee that the FCC will be on the side of the Big Mdia programmers, either. I've said it before and I'll say it again: only the consumers reliably lose in these battles as their cable bills keep soaring no matter who blinks first.

"Time Warner Cable is expected to file a petition at the FCC atop a coalition of cable operators and others asking the FCC to reform the retransmission consent process. According to sources, the petition is asking for independent arbitration during retrans disputes and interim carriage during that arbitration... The American Cable Association, which represents small and mid-sized operators, confirmed that it had signed on to the petition." Also said to either be considering signing on to the petition or already on it are Dish Network, DirecTV, Verizon, Mediacom, Charter and Public Knowledge.

A Time Warner spokesperson would not discuss the substance of the petition, but did confirm that it is filing the document this week. The suggested remedies in the petition raise some of the ideas the FCC should consider.

BREAKING NEWS! Robert Halderman, the former Emmy-winning producer of CBS's 48 Hours, appeared in a Manhattan Supreme Court and pled guilty just now to blackmailing David Letterman. Halderman spoke to reporters outside the courtroom and apologized to Letterman, the late night ... Read More »

In a role that might finally give Robert De Niro a chance to summon his inner Raging Bull, the actor has signed on to play Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi. Lombardi will be written by Eric Roth, who wrote ... Read More »

From Deadline|London editor Tim Adler: Observers I’ve spoken to say that the decision to wind down the London office of 19 Entertainment could be the first sign of owner CKX preparing to sell. Staff at 19’s London office have been put under threat of redundancy. It’s not known yet how many London staff could be laid off. Employment law here in Britain is a protracted legal process that can take months. The company behind American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance employs around 60 people in London. CKX has decided to wind down 19’s London office given that 95% of its profits come from US-based TV production. Sister offices in Los Angeles and New York recently both took on staff. The company employs around 160 people worldwide. CKX currently spends $30 million a year on overhead. One New York analyst told me this cost-cutting could pave the way for 19 Entertainment’s assets to be sold on – either to new buyers or back to founder Simon Fuller.

CKX chairman and CEO Robert Sillerman told me that CKX will be examining every aspect of his business “to see the best way to grow shareholder value”. CKX’s share price is currently $4 compared with $14 in June 2007. Sillerman recently told analysts that he was open to selling American Idol or 19. American Idol is supposed to be worth $25 billion as ... Read More »

From Deadline|London editor Tim Adler: Katie Taylor, a veteran comedy executive, has been picked to run the BBC’s entertainment department. This is the first time a woman has been chosen for one of the most important jobs in British broadcasting. BBC Entertainment handles all of the BBC’s “shiny floor shows” -- those talent competitions which fill TV schedules these days. It used to be drama executives looked down on light entertainment. After all, it was drama that had the deep pockets. Today it’s talent shows that cost up to £1.5 million ($2.3 million) per episode. The budget ceiling for drama over here is around half that.

Taylor, who will take up her role later in the spring, has a long comedy background. She used to work at Channel 4 before she joined the BBC, where she developed a relationship with chat show host Graham Norton. The BBC is now grooming Norton to take over from Jonathan Ross as its top chat show presenter. One TV executive who knows Taylor told me that she’s great with talent and can spot a hit. Oh, and in this age of Perrier-sipping Beeb execs, it’s a relief to know that she likes a drink.

Taylor takes over the job from Jon Beazley, who quit last month. Guy Freeman, former music and events controller at ITV, was also in the running for the job.

Universal City, March 9, 2010 - The global market leader in browser-based Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG), Bigpoint, (http://www.bigpoint.com/) will be demonstrating the next generation of client-free PC gaming at Game Developers Conference 2010. Leading its product slate for 2010 will be Battlestar Galactica Online, a tactical space combat and adventure MMOG based upon Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica series. The game, inspired by one of the most popular science fiction series in television history, will launch worldwide exclusively this fall on Syfy.com for a 30 day period.

The Unity co-developed MMOG will offer state of the art graphics that can be played directly in an Internet browser. The teaser website for Battlestar Galactica Online is available at http://www.bgo.bigpoint.com and Bigpoint will be discussing this announcement at booth 2038 at Game Developers Conference, March 9th-12th. Battlestar Galactica Online is licensed through Universal Partnerships & Licensing, on behalf of the NBC Universal Television Consumer Products Group.

"Battlestar Galactica is a supremely gameable intellectual property, with compelling character classes, a fantastic array of ships and weaponry, multiple worlds, and a dramatic storyline," said Bill Kispert, VP & GM, Digital Platforms, Universal Partnerships & Licensing. "We are excited to work with Bigpoint - and our partners at Universal Cable Productions and Syfy - to bring an epic, accessible, and ‘always on’ BSG experience to fans of the franchise and online gamers alike."

"Cooperation between Bigpoint and NBC Universal

... Read More »

UPDATES 'Basterd' Christoph Waltz To Play Circus Nazi

From Deadline|London editor Tim Adler: Remember Mike Fleming’s story last month about Christoph Waltz, who won the Best Actor Oscar on Sunday for his portrayal of a Jew-hunting Nazi, being lined up to play another psychopath in Water For Elephants? Well, it turns out that in going for that role, he dropped out of playing one of the most influential Jews in history. Waltz was going to star as Sigmund Freud in David Cronenberg’s The Talking Cure, due to start filming on May 17 for 10 weeks. Based on the play by Christopher Hampton, the pic is about the conflict between Freud and his pupil Jung.

Waltz’s departure left the producers scrabbling for a replacement. There were fears they would have to scrap the German/Canadian co-production completely. “You’d have thought Waltz wouldn’t want to be typecast as a sadist,” one of the filmmakers grumbled to me. Happily, Viggo Mortensen, who worked so memorably with Cronenberg on Eastern Promises, has just replaced Waltz. Mortensen will star as Freud opposite Michael Fassbender as Jung. Keira Knightley will play Sabina, a disturbed young woman brought to see Jung by her father. Jung and Sabina have an affair, and the producers are promising me “lots of spirited sex”. (Viggo had that other spirited sex scene with Maria Bello in Cronenberg's A History Of Violence.)

If the movie’s going to be as ... Read More »