BBC Greenlights ‘Ladies Paradise’ Series Based On Emile Zola Novel

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday May 16, 2012 @ 4:00am PDTTags: BBC One, Ladies Paradise
Nellie Andreeva

BBC One is moving ahead with Ladies Paradise, an eight-episode series loosely based on Emile Zola’s novel Au Bonheur Des Dames. Set in England’s first department store, the series tells the rags-to-riches story of Denise Lovett (Joanna Vanderham, Above Suspicion), a young girl who works in the store and gets caught up in the charms of the modern world. Denise is a 19th-century Working Girl – big-hearted, smarter than she’s taken to be and more ambitious than those pretty eyes suggest. BBC One put the series on the fast track a year ago with the hire of Bill Gallagher (Lark Rise) to write it. Marc Jobst is set to direct. Vanderham is with WME.

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Paramount & Dreamworks Animation Open Cannes: Sacha Baron Cohen’s Traffic Jam

By PETE HAMMOND | Wednesday May 16, 2012 @ 3:44am PDTTags: Alec Baldwin, DreamWorks, Paramount, Rise Of The Guardians, Sacha Baron Cohen, The Dictator
Pete Hammond

The 65th Cannes Film Festival officially kicked off today with dual press events by Paramount for The Dictator and DreamworksAnimation for Rise Of The Guardians (distributed by Paramount) that provided the only real visible major Hollywood presence. Leave it to Sacha Baron Cohen to cause major trouble and a massive traffic jam as he marched down the Croisette with camel in tow in character as Admiral General Aladeen. An army of paparazzi followed his journey from the Carlton Hotel, to the Le Voilier brasserie across the way (where the entire entrance is plastered with signage from the movie), to Ralph Lauren’s shop next door (where the camel and photogs were left outside). Of course, staging a major Cannes photo stunt like this is expected with his movie opening in the U.S. today. What better way to drum up publicity than to launch a takeover of the Croisette? Like what happened at the Oscars and Cinemacon, things threatened to get out of control as traffic snarled in both directions as far as the eye could see, and the Gendarme grew nervous. But that didn’t faze Baron Cohen who stopped to shake hands with DWA’s Jeffrey Katzenberg at the Carlton’s outdoor cafe. Reaching out to Baron Cohen who was a voice actor in DWA’s Madagascar 3 premiering here Friday, Katzenberg was heard yelling “Mr. Dictator! Mr. Dictator!” Never believing too much publicity is enough publicity, Baron Cohen was also scheduled for a Carlton Beach press conference later to continue The Dictator’s international push…. Read More »

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Samuel Goldwyn Films Acquires ‘Grassroots’

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday May 16, 2012 @ 3:36am PDTTags: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Mike Fleming

Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired U.S. rights to the Stephen Gyllenhaal-directed Grassroots, a character driven comedy about the power of the people and the virtues of standing up for what you believe in. Jason Biggs, Joel David Moore, Lauren Ambrose, Cobie Smulders, Tom Arnold, Christopher McDonald and Cedric The Entertainer star.

Gyllenhaal and Justin Rhodes wrote the script and Peggy Raiski, Michael Huffington, Matthew R. Brady, Bren Stiefel and Peggy Case produced. Goldwyn has slated a June 22nd release.

Pic is set in pre-Twitter 2001, as a political unknown named Grant Cogswell (Moore) decides he must take down
Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver (Cedric the Entertainer). Grant has only one dream, but it’s a big one: an elegant monorail gliding silently above the city’s wet streets, with only a tiny footprint – “like a kids’ lemonade stand!”
– on the ground. He is apoplectic with rage over McIver’s mass transit proposal: a ground rail train he thinks will destroy lower class neighborhoods, wreak environmental harm on the local salmon population, and destroy the city. Grant has no chance until he lures recently fired alternative-weekly reporter Phil Campbell (Biggs) to run his campaign, who recruits an army of young people to spread the word.

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Cannes: Hot Film Titles For U.S. Buyers

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday May 16, 2012 @ 3:23am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Hot Titles For U.S. Buyers
Mike Fleming

Domestic distributors will have a wide variety of choices at Cannes this year, from completed films in competition, to packages that have begun production or are only at the script stage with loose commitments from filmmakers and stars. Most of the buyers I spoke to claim they are in no rush to bid up the joint, but the pace of buying usually depends on several variables.

Will Harvey be buying? Last year, Harvey Weinstein, coming off a Best Picture win for The King’s Speech, reloaded with awards caliber films that included eventual Best Picture winner The Artist, as well as The Iron Lady, Lawless (which is in competition) and the Paul Thomas Anderson-directed The Master. The Weinstein Company comes in with a full slate for 2012, as do distributors like Fox Searchlight, Sony Pictures Classics and Focus Features. But all are looking for 2013 product. Some other variables: will CBS Films, which made the big buy of last Toronto with Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, be aggressive here? FilmDistrict is back after restaffing its executive roster after the exits of Bob and Jeanne Berney; will Peter Schlessel’s division be as hungry for product as last year, when it acquired Looper? And how will upstart distributors like Mickey Liddell’s LD Entertainment factor into the mix as that company looks to fill the pipeline? The final variable will be the element of surprise: after unveiling their intention to make Inside Llewyn Davis with no domestic distributor, will Joel and Ethan Coen walk away … Read More »

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John Woo To Direct ‘Day Of The Beast’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday May 16, 2012 @ 3:06am PDTTags: Day of the Beast, John Woo, Terence Chang

(Cannes) May 16, 2012 –– John Woo and Terence Chang’s Lion Rock Productions and Nikkatsu Corporation will co-produce DAY OF THE BEAST, a remake of Seijun Suzuki’s 1963 classic Youth of the Beast centering on the dealings of Yakuza, the Japanese mafia. Woo (Mission: Impossible II, Face/Off) will direct and produce the script by Rob Frisbee along with Terence Chang, and Nikkatsu’s Naoki Sato. Lori Tilkin, Aki Sugihara and Yoko Asakura are executive producing. The English language production was announced as Nikkatsu, Japan’s oldest major movie studio, celebrates its 100th Anniversary this year.

John Woo said, “This remake is my salute to the great films and filmmakers produced by Nikkatsu’s 100 years in cinema history. It is exciting for me as well as an honor.”

Read More »

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Cannes Roundup: New Projects To Star Jude Law, Steve Coogan, Peter Mullan

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday May 16, 2012 @ 2:57am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Jude Law, Steve Coogan

HanWay and BBC Films are partnering on Don Hemingway, a black comedy that will star Jude Law and Richard E. Grant. The Matador’s Richard Shepard is directing the London-set pic about a larger than life safecracker with a short fuse. Jeremy Thomas’ Recorded Picture Company is producing with shooting to start in the fall. HanWay is handling sales.

Steve Coogan has signed on for Northern Soul, a film about the underground music movement in 1970s England. Coogan is best known to US audiences as the director who gets blown up in Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder – and for his Michael Caine impression in last year’s The Trip. In the Loop director Armando Iannucci is also prepping a feature based on Coogan’s UK TV personality, Alan Partridge. Elaine Constantine is directing Northern Soul which will be produced by Debbie Gray. Elliot James Langridge, Josh Whitehouse, James Lance, Christian Mckay, Roisin Murphy and singer Lisa Stansfield also star. The Little Film Company is handling sales in Cannes with shooting to start in June. Read More »

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Bill Block’s QED Gets Cash Infusion From Media Content Capital; Cannes

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday May 16, 2012 @ 1:20am PDTTags: Bill Block, Cannes Film Festival, Media Content Capital, QED
Mike Fleming

Media Content Capital has made an 8-figure investment and will become a shareholder of QED International, the financing and sales company run by Bill Block. The funds will be used to ramp up development, sales and financing operations as QED produces and or acquires four to seven films a year and grows to handle third party productions. The investment will allow Block to pay minimum guarantees to acquire offshore rights to completed film.

QED burst on the scene several years ago with the sleeper hit District 9 and the Oliver Stone-directed W. Among the films QED is currently financing and producing are the action thriller Ten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which Open Road recently acquired for U.S. release; the Neil Blomkamp directed Elysium, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster for Columbia Pictures; and the crime thriller I, Alex Cross, starring Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Rachel Nichols and Ed Burns for a Lionsgate/Summit release this October.

On the investment, Block said it “gives us the balance sheet to support filmmakers in getting their movies made and allows us to expand our business and platform to better serve our clients and the creative community.”

Said Media Content Capital’s Sasha Shapiro: “We believe content is increasing in value around the world. QED’s risk mitigation approach to financing new films is appealing to us. We look forward to working with Bill and the QED team in growing the business.”

 

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FilmDistrict Acquires ‘Oculus;’ Cannes

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday May 16, 2012 @ 1:18am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, FilmDistrict, Oculus
Mike Fleming

FilmDistrict has acquired Intrepid Pictures’ horror feature Oculus, to be directed by Mike Flanagan from a script he co-wrote with Jeff Howard based on Flanagan’s acclaimed short film. Trevor Macy and Marc D. Evans will produce and are fully financing the project and the company’s Anil Kurian will executive produce. International sales are being handled by Focus Features International at Cannes. Production is set for a late summer start.

The logline: Ten years ago a horrifying family incident left two young children orphans. Although authorities charged the brother with murder, his sister believed that the true culprit was a haunted antique mirror. Now completely rehabilitated and in his twenties, the brother is ready to move on but his sister is determined to prove that the haunted mirror was responsible for destroying their family.

“When we read the script for Oculus and saw Mike’s short, we were excited about his potential to create a film that would deliver real scares to horror fans,” said Schlessel. “We look forward to working with Trevor and Marc and their team at Intrepid on the project.”

 

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Veteran Sales Execs Flood Croisette With Films And New Companies: Cannes 2012

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 9:00pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Gerard Butler, Matthew McConaughey

The slow recovery of the independent distribution business took a giant step at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, which featured a fast and furious flurry of big-money deals made for partially completed films whose sellers brought sizzle reels and scripts. The Iron Lady, Wettest County In The World (retitled Lawless and in competition), Looper, Great Hope Springs, Killer Elite, The Host, The Artist and Megan Ellison’s whopping $20 million buy for Terminator rights were among the films snapped up by product-hungry domestic and offshore distributors.

This year, there will be way more pictures to be bought in the Cannes market. Agents say there will be dozens of packages, promo reels and scripts for talent-attached packages. And there will be way more upstart international sales companies hawking them. Some buyers, and sellers for that matter, are looking at the list of packages — including multiple films starring the likes of Gerard Butler and Matthew McConaughey — and wondering if some of those new sales companies will have reputations tarnished if some of those proposed films don’t make it into production because the sales aren’t there.

Related: Can Cannes Make A Major Mark On The Oscar Race Two Years In A Row?

One thing for sure: The pace of buying will be slower. Aside from more product, there are … Read More »

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TV TEASER: FX’s ‘Anger Management’ With Charlie Sheen

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 7:09pm PDTTags: Anger Management, Charlie Sheen, FX
Nellie Andreeva

Charlie Sheen embraces his train wreck reputation in the latest trailer for his upcoming FX comedy series Anger Management. The network is yet to show actual footage from the multi-camera sitcom, which premieres on June 28. It stars Sheen as anger management therapist with anger issues.
rtmp://streaming.deadline.com/ondemand/video/Anger_Train_30.flv

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Warren Buffett Adds To Viacom Stake

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 6:34pm PDTTags: Viacom, Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett gave Viacom a modest vote of confidence, raising his total stake in the company to around 1.59 million shares, valued at $75.5 million as of March 31, when the quarter ended, according to an SEC filing. It’s not a large stake for Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which also announced it currently holds 10 million shares of GM, but it could be an indication that Buffett and his team believe there is growth potential in Viacom stock, which is down 5.9% in the last year. This comes on the heels of Berkshire Hathaway making an investment late last year in Liberty Media, the first time Buffett’s company has invested in John Malone’s media empire. Berkshire Hathaway doubled that investment in the first quarter of this year. The Omaha-based company also increased its holdings in DirecTV in the first quarter.

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Aaron Sorkin To Script ‘Steve Jobs,’ Based On Walter Isaacson Book For Sony

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 5:54pm PDTTags: Aaron Sorkin, Sony Pictures, Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson
Mike Fleming

CULVER CITY, Calif., May 15, 2012 – Academy Award® winning screenwriter Aaron
Sorkin will adapt Steve Jobs, a motion picture based on the best-selling
biography of the legendary Apple co-founder by award-winning journalist Walter
Isaacson, it was announced today by Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures
Entertainment, and Doug Belgrad, President of Columbia Pictures. The project is
being produced by Mark Gordon, Scott Rudin and Guymon Casady.

Published late last year, Steve Jobs was Amazon’s best-selling book of 2011. In
addition, the biography ranked #1 among bestselling hardcover books by a 2:1
margin, with sales of 2,246,569 in 2011, according to Publisher’s
Weekly.
Commenting on the announcement, Pascal said, “Steve Jobs’ story is unique: he
was one of the most revolutionary and influential men not just of our time but
of all time. There is no writer working in Hollywood today who is more capable
of capturing such an extraordinary life for the screen than Aaron Sorkin; in his
hands, we’re confident that the film will be everything that Jobs himself was:
captivating, entertaining, and polarizing.”

AARON SORKIN won the Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work
on The Social Network. His other screenplays includeMoneyball, Charlie Wilson’s
War, The American President, Malice, and A Few Good Men. He has also acquired
the motion picture rights to The Politician, the best-selling book by Andrew
Young about the downfall of former Senator John Edwards. He will adapt the book
and make his directorial debut with the film, which he will

… Read More »

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Lachlan Murdoch Accused Of Possible Breach Of Oz Broadcasting Laws

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 5:50pm PDTTags: Australia, Lachlan Murdoch

Freelance journalist Don Groves is a Deadline contributor, based in Sydney.

Another day, another media controversy for the Murdoch clan. Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son Lachlan has been accused of a possible breach of Australian broadcasting laws. Avaaz, a New York-based global campaign organization that boasts more than 14 million members, today called on the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to launch an investigation into Lachlan’s Australian media holdings. Avaaz claims more than 300,000 members in Australia. It wants ACMA to determine whether the Murdoch scion is in a position to  exercise control of News Corp.’s Australian arm News Limited,  as he is a director of News Corp. The group contends that it would create an “unacceptable three way control situation” in breach of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, which forbids anyone from controlling a commercial radio licence, a commercial TV licence, and a newspaper  in the same licence area (in this case, Sydney). Murdoch is the chairman and a major shareholder in Network Ten and in the DMG Radio Australia network. News Limited controls 70% of Australia’s newspapers including the Sydney Daily Telegraph and the national broadsheet The Australian and owns 25% of the dominant pay-TV provider Foxtel.
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Sophie Curtis Joins Cast Of ‘Innocence’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 5:00pm PDTTags: Innocence, Sophie Curtis

Sophie Curtis has been cast as Beckett in the Hilary Brougher-directed psych thriller Innocence about a moody teenager who discovers her elite private school is home to a coven of beautiful vampires. The young actress joins Kelly Reilly in the cast. The film is produced by Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler’s Killer Films along with Bankside Films. Curtis was previously seen in Nicholas Jarecki’s Arbitrage with Richard Gere, Ramin Bahrani’s At Any Price with Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron and Craig Zisk’s The English Teacher with Julianne Moore and Lily Collins. She is repped by Steve Fisher and Theresa Peters at UTA and Emily Gerson Saines at Brookside Management in New York.

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Fox Networks Ups Pair In Marketing Unit

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 4:29pm PDTTags: Bonnie O'Donnell, Fox Networks, Jody Vogelaar, Sol Doten

Fox Networks marketing executives Bonnie O’Donnell and Jody Vogelaar have been promoted to Vice President, Distribution Marketing for Fox Networks (FN), it was announced today by Jamia Bigalow, Senior Vice President, Distribution Marketing, to whom both will report. These moves split the responsibilities of the vacated position formerly held by Sol Doten, who recently moved into a new role within FN as Vice President, Communications. Ms. O’Donnell will oversee distribution marketing strategy for the sports networks and their non-linear extensions including FOX Sports, FSN and 20 regional sports networks, SPEED, SPEED2, Big Ten Network, FUEL TV, Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus and Fox College Sports. Additionally, Ms. O’Donnell will play a significant role with the distribution marketing strategy of Fox Global Networks (FGN). Mr. Doten, an 18-year veteran of Fox, is segueing from marketing to a new role working with Fox Networks Group’s head of communications, Scott Grogin.

 

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Warner Bros Tops $1B At Global Box Office

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 3:25pm PDTTags: Box Office, Warner Bros

The studio reached $1B in 2012 global box office in less than 5 months, topping by 10 days its 2010 record for fastest to the mark. It’s the 12th consecutive year Warner Bros has surpassed that total. In 2011, the studio earned $2.87 billion internationally, and it is trying for a fifth year overall exceeding $2 billion with The Dark Knight Rises, Rock Of Ages, Argo and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey still to come.

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CBS Update: ‘Rules Of Engagement’ Talks Down To The Wire, ‘Mentalist’ On The Move

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 3:16pm PDTTags: CBS, Elementary, Rules of Engagement, The Mentalist, Vegas
Nellie Andreeva

Rules Of Engagement RenewalThe renewal of CBS‘ long-running sitcom Rules Of Engagement is going down to the wire. Less that 24 hours before CBS’ upfront presentation tomorrow, the network and Rules producer Sony Pictures TV continue to be deep in negotiations on a pickup. The two sides are still going back-and-forth on a number of issues, including the size of a potential seventh-season order, but there appears to be a will on both parts to make it happen. The show needs 13 episodes to get to the 100-episode mark. CBS only ordered two new comedy series for next season, so, as this season proved, having a reliable performer like Rules on the bench could come in handy. Read More »

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ABC First Look Teasers: 2012-13 New Shows

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 2:31pm PDTTags: 666 Park Avenue, ABC, How To Live With Your Parents (For The Rest Of Your Life), Last Resort, Malibu Country, Mistresses, Nashville, Red Widow, The Family Tools, The Neighbors, Zero Hour
Nellie Andreeva

ABC’s The Neighbors - Comedy
Produced by ABC Studios. From writer/executive producer Dan Fogelman and executive producers Aaron Kaplan, Jeff Morton and Chris Koch. Directed by Chris Koch (pilot):

ABC’s 666 Park Avenue – Drama
Produced by Bonanza Productions in association with Alloy Entertainment and Warner Bros Television. From writer/executive producer David Wilcox and executive producers Matthew Miller, Leslie Morgenstein, Gina Girolamo. Directed by Alex Graves (pilot):

Read More »

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Waterstone Enlists Chris Pine And Pals For Indie Comedy ‘Mantivities’

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 2:30pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Chris Pine, Mantivities, Star Trek, Waterstone Entertainment
Mike Fleming

Chris Pine MantivitiesBREAKING: Star Trek‘s Chris Pine has co-written and will star in Mantivities, a comedy that has been set up with Waterstone Entertainment heads Jeff Kalligheri and Stephen Bowen. Pine wrote the script with his buddies Will Greenberg, Drew Howerton, Robert Baker, Ian Gotler and Tony Liebetrau. Michael Patrick Jann is attached to direct. The comedy focuses on a group of friends in their early 30s, all in various stages of permanent adolescence. They get together with the aim of helping one of them grow up. Pine will produce with Sarah Babineau, Jordan Foley and Waterstone’s Kalligheri, Bowen and Steven Garcia.Waterstone Mantivities“I couldn’t be happier to begin the adventure of making Mantivities knowing how much fun we all had writing it,” Pine said. “‘Somehow I get to laugh with my friends and call it work.” Read More »

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