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Shirley MacLaine Returning To ‘Downton Abbey’, 6 New Cast Members Join

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday March 2, 2013 @ 7:45am PSTTags: Downton Abbey, Shirley MacLaine

Shirley MacLaine will be returning to Downton Abbey next season as Martha Levinson and six new cast members will be joining the show as well, Carnival Films and Masterpiece on PBS announced this morning. Opera star Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is joining the cast as a guest who sings in the house, as confirmed last night among three other new cast members including Tom Cullen who will play Lord Gillingham, an old family friend of the Crawleys who visits as a guest for a house party. Plus Dame Harriet Walter arrives as Lady Shackleton, an old friend of the Dowager played by Maggie Smith and Julien Ovendon comes aboard as aristocrat Charles Blake. Additions revealed in this morning’s announcement were Nigel Harman who joins the household as Green, a valet, and Joanne David who has a guest role as the Duchess of Yeovil. Downton Abbey is a Carnival/Masterpiece Co-production, created and written by Julian Fellowes. Gareth Neame and Fellowes are exec producers.

Related: Another Key ‘Downton Abbey’ Loss: Siobhan Finneran Leaving O’Brien Role

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Shirley MacLaine & Christopher Plummer Join ‘Elsa & Fred’

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday October 31, 2012 @ 1:30pm PDTTags: Christopher Plummer, Shirley MacLaine

Oscar winners Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine will star in the English-language remake of Elsa & Fred. Based on the 2005 Spanish-Argentine … Read More »

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‘Downton Abbey’ Season 3 Debut Pulls In More Than 8.6M UK Viewers

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday September 17, 2012 @ 2:38am PDTTags: Downton Abbey, ITV, Shirley MacLaine

Shirley MacLaine rolled up to Downton Abbey last night to trade barbs with Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess in the show’s Season 3 UK premiere. ITV1 drew 8.64M viewers to the 90-minute opener. The hugely-anticipated return of the Crawley … Read More »

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Shirley MacLaine Honored With 40th AFI Life Achievement Award

By PETE HAMMOND | Friday June 8, 2012 @ 4:01am PDTTags: Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, TV Land
Pete Hammond

“Welcome to the longest night of Warren Beatty’s life,” said Sony honcho and AFI  Board of Trustees Chair Howard Stringer as he opened the evening for the 40th Annual AFI Life Achievement Award to Shirley MacLaine last night at Sony … Read More »

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Shirley MacLaine, Robin Williams And Oliver Cooper To Star In ‘A Film By Alan Stuart Eisner’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday June 6, 2012 @ 3:55pm PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Mike Lobell, Shirley MacLaine
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Writer/director Andy Bergman has re-teamed with producer Mike Lobell on A Film By Alan Stuart Eisner, an ensemble comedy which so far has Project X‘s Oliver Cooper, Shirley MacLaine and Robin Williams attached, with Rob Reiner making a cameo, Lobell … Read More »

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Meryl Streep To Present Shirley MacLaine With AFI Life Achievement Award

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 22, 2012 @ 7:23pm PDTTags: AFI, Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine

LOS ANGELES, May 22, 2012 — AFI Life Achievement Award honoree Meryl Streep will present Shirley MacLaine with the American Film Institute’s 40th Life Achievement Award – America’s highest honor for a career in film. The private black tie

… Read More »

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Shirley MacLaine In ‘Mother Goose’ Talks

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday May 8, 2012 @ 7:20pm PDTTags: Downton Abbey, ICM, Shirley MacLaine

EXCLUSIVE: Shirley MacLaine is in negotiations to play the royal title character in Mother Goose. The Oscar winner, who earlier this year joined the upcoming third season of U.K. costume drama Downton Abbey, would play the Queen … Read More »

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Dimension Films Acquires ‘Wild Oats’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday April 9, 2012 @ 2:10pm PDTTags: Alan Arkin, Dimension Films, Jacki Weaver, Shirley MacLaine
Mike Fleming

New York, NY, April 9, 2012 – Dimension Films continues its acquisitions streak with the pick up of the road-trip comedy WILD OATS featuring a talented cast including Academy Award® winner Shirley MacLaine, Academy Award® nominee Jacki Weaver and Academy Award® winner Alan Arkin . The film is directed

… Read More »

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Shirley MacLaine Joins ‘Downton Abbey’ Cast

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday January 30, 2012 @ 12:08pm PSTTags: Shirley MacLaine

Shirley MacLaine Downton AbbeyShirley MacLaine is joining the cast of Downton Abbey, the ITV series that airs in the U.S. on PBS’ Masterpiece Theater and just won the Golden Globe for best miniseries. Our colleagues at TVLine report … Read More »

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Shirley MacLaine In Talks For Fox’s ‘Walter Mitty’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday January 13, 2012 @ 10:30am PSTTags: Ben Stiller, Fox, Shirley MacLaine, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Shirley MacLaine is in negotiations to play the mother of Ben Stiller’s lead character in Fox’s The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. Stiller also is directing the pic, on which he came aboard after sparking to a new script … Read More »

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Shirley MacLaine To Receive AFI Life Achievement Award On June 7th

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday October 9, 2011 @ 12:33pm PDTTags: AFI Awards, Movies, Shirley MacLaine, Warren Beatty

Shirley MacLaine has been named the 40th recipient of the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award. The 77-year-old MacLaine will receive the tribute during a gala ceremony next June 7 that … Read More »

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TOLDJA! Jack Black Pic ‘Bernie’ Acquired By Millennium Entertainment

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday September 29, 2011 @ 10:37am PDTTags: Bernie, Jack Black, Los Angeles Film Festival, Matthew McConaughey, Richard Linklater, Shirley MacLaine
Mike Fleming

Deadline revealed in July that Millennium Entertainment was buying U.S. distribution rights to the Los Angeles Film Festival’s opening film Bernie, the Richard Linklater-directed movie that stars Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey, for a low-seven-figure minimum guarantee and $1 million P&A commitment. Millennium has finally confirmed the deal. Here’s the official announcement: Read More »

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Millennium Buying ‘Bernie’ With Jack Black

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday July 14, 2011 @ 6:51pm PDTTags: Avi Lerner, Bernie, Cinetic, Graham Taylor, Jack Black, John Sloss, Los Angeles Film Festival, Mark Gill, Matthew McConaughey, Millennium Films, Richard Linklater, Shirley MacLaine, WME Global
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: A deal is near for Millennium Entertainment to acquire U.S. distribution rights to the Los Angeles Film Festival opening-night pic Bernie. I’m told that it will be the first significant grab for former Film Department co-head Mark Gill since … Read More »

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HAMMOND On L.A. Film Festival Opening: Can It Ever Challenge Toronto Or Telluride?

By PETE HAMMOND | Friday June 17, 2011 @ 3:05am PDTTags: Bernie, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Drive, Jack Black, James Franco, Los Angeles Film Festival, Ryan Gosling, Shirley MacLaine
Pete Hammond

Although the Cannes Film Festival just ended three weeks ago, there’s always another film fest around the corner trying to steal its thunder and become part of the cinematic conversation. On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Film Festival, now in its 17th year, opened with the world premiere of the Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Dazed and Confused) comedy Bernie, with stars Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey joining its writer-director in introducing the film at downtown L.A.’s LA Live Regal Cinemas, where the fest moved last year. Not that it’s easy navigating the Los Angeles freeways at rush hour to get downtown, an off-the-beaten track place to premiere your movie, but the unapologetic black comedy and true-life tale of a small-town undertaker who caters to the much-hated Texas town’s matron until he reaches for a gun was worth the herculean effort navigating the annoying traffic jams and $25 parking fee (I didn’t read the signs carefully) just to see this splendid trio of actors deliver terrific performances backed by a great supporting group of locals who won big laughs throughout.

Bernie is an acquistion title and likely will be snapped up immediately by some enterprising distributor even though it’s not an obvious commercial hit. It is Black’s best work in some time. It could develop a following on the indie circuit though, and it certainly had the crowd (which included well-wishers like Linklater friend Steven Soderbergh and wife Jules Asner) buzzing at the crowded after-party on the L.A. Live parking garage rooftop.

Film Independent (which runs the fest as well as the Spirit Awards) board members I spoke to at the premiere are hopeful Bernie could become the fest’s first big breakout acquisition title, and reps from many indie distribs were in attendance. In fact, the fest delayed announcement of its opening film until after the Cannes festival was over because producers did not want to be inundated with calls about acquiring the film during that market and wanted to wait until it could premiere cold in L.A., a big tribute to the growing clout of LAFF. Read More »

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A 14-Year ‘Gambit’ Finally Provides a Big Payoff For Producer Mike Lobell

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday May 5, 2011 @ 6:58am PDTTags: Aaron Sorkin, Adam Ripp, Ben Kingsley, Cameron Diaz, CBS Films, Colin Firth, Ethan Coen, Hugh Grant, Jennifer Aniston, Joel Coen, Meg Ryan, Michael Caine, Michael Hoffman, Mike Lobell, Reese Witherspoon, Rob Paris, Roeg Sutherland, Sean Penn, Shirley MacLaine
Mike Fleming

Production begins today on Gambit, a caper comedy that stars Colin Firth as a London art curator who plans to con England’s richest man into buying a phony Monet painting. To do it, he enlists a Texas steer roper (Cameron … Read More »

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CBS Films Acquires Colin Firth-Cameron Diaz Redo ‘Gambit’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday March 9, 2011 @ 4:51pm PSTTags: Adam Ripp, Cameron Diaz, Colin Firth, Ethan Coen, Gambit, Joel Coen, Michael Caine, Michael Hoffman, Mike Lobell, Rob Paris, Shirley MacLaine
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: CBS Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Gambit. The film has a script by Joel and Ethan Coen, and Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz are set … Read More »

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Cameron Diaz Joins Colin Firth In ‘Gambit’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday February 1, 2011 @ 12:09pm PSTTags: Adam Ripp, Cameron Diaz, Colin Firth, Colin Firth Gambit, Joel and Ethan Coen, Michael Caine, Michael Hoffman, Mike Lobell, Movie Deals, Movies, Rob Paris, Shirley MacLaine
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Cameron Diaz is attached to star with Colin Firth in Gambit, the Joel and Ethan Coen-scripted remake that will be directed by The Last Station’s Michael Hoffman. The 1966 original starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. Mike Lobell is … Read More »

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Taraji Henson To Star In A Lifetime Movie

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday July 13, 2010 @ 5:24pm PDTTags: Biopic, Jeremy Irons, Joan Allen, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie, Movie Casting, Shirley MacLaine, TV Movie
Nellie Andreeva

taraji-hensonEXCLUSIVE: Lifetime has tapped Taraji P. Henson to star in its next original movie, Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story. While the network has being able land big-name feature talent for its recent biopics, Shirley MacLaine in Coco Chanel and … Read More »

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