THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE FICTION

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

HEADHUNTERS
Deadline reports that Summit Entertainment has plans to develop an American film based on the Norwegian novel Headhunters. Released in Norway in 2008 and domestically just last month, the international bestseller launched a novel series by author Jo Nesbø, who describes the first book as follows on his official site:
"Headhunters" introduces us to the charming villain Roger Brown, a man who seems to have it all: he is Norway’s most successful headhunter, married to the beautiful gallery owner Diana, owns a magnificent house – and is living larger than he should. Meanwhile, he is playing at the dangerous game of art theft. At a gallery opening, his wife introduces him to the Dutchman Clas Greve. Not only is Greve the perfect candidate for the CEO position of the GPS company Pathfinder that Roger Brown is recruiting for; he is also in possession of ”The Calydonian Boar Hunt” by Peter Paul Rubens, one of the most sought-after paintings in modern art history. Roger sees his chance to become financially independent, and starts planning his biggest hit ever. But soon, he runs into trouble – and it’s not financial problems that are threatening to knock him over this time… The winding, explosive plot takes us from society’s financial and industrial elite to an underworld of contract killers and swindlers, offering Nesbo’s variations on the most spectacular murders, car chases and escapes that the genre has to offer on the way.
Yellow Bird Productions (who produced the original film versions of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy) released a film adaptation of Headhunters earlier this year.

THE AVENGERS
A preview of tomorrow's release of the trailer to Marvel's The Avengers has just aired on Entertainment Tonight and it's already online at YouTube.
Opening in theaters on May 4, the Joss Whedon action adventure stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård and Samuel L. Jackson.
Marvel's The Avengers is the superhero team up of a lifetime. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as SHIELD, finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

DREDD
On Friday, some potentially troublesome word broke through The LA Times that suggested that Dredd director Pete Travis was no longer involved in the film and that writer/producer Alex Garland had stepped in as his post-production replacement. Today, an official update has been issued from both Travis and Garland that reads as follows:
"During all stages of the filmmaking, 'Dredd' has been a collaboration between a number of dedicated creative parties. From the outset we decided on an unorthodox collaboration to make the film. This situation has been misinterpreted. To set the record straight, Pete was not fired and remains a central part of the collaboration, and Alex is not seeking a co-director credit. We are all extremely proud of the film we have made, and respectfully suggest that it is judged on viewing when its released next year."
Set in a dystopian future, the adaptation of the British comic book anthology "2000 A.D." (within which Judge Dredd is a recurring story) focuses on a police force given the power to act as judge, jury and executioner to whomsoever they perceive to be part of the criminal element.
The source material was previously adapted into a film in 1995 with Sylvester Stallone in the lead. This version features Karl Urban as Dredd with a supporting cast that includes Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey.
Dredd is still planned for release in 2D and 3D on September 21, 2012.

WE ARE MORTALS
Tom Cruise is in talks to star in Doug Liman's sci-fi war thriller "We Are Mortals" at Warner Bros. Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter.
Based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's 2004 novel "All You Need is Kill", the story follows a new recruit sent out to fight off an alien invasion and finding himself in a Groundhog Day-esque scenario of dying on the battlefield and being reborn each day.
Five months into this cycle though, he notices something different than the previous versions - a female soldier who may be the key to his escape. Dante Harper adapted the script.
Brad Pitt had previously been offered the role in the "Groundhog Day-meets-Halo" film. No production schedule has yet been set.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2011

WORLD WAR Z
The zombie-filled set of World War Z is suddenly defenseless—because a Hungarian SWAT team recently shut down the production after learning that illegal weapons were being used on set.
World War Z is currently shooting in Budapest, where authorities were notified that a massive amount of "live weapons" were in possession. The police felt that this was "an accident waiting to happen," so they went in and seized a variety of guns, which included sniper rifles and AK-47s. After it was all said and done, they racked up a total of 85 firearms.
The weapons used weren't supposed to be fully functioning, but in this case, they were. Hajdu Janos and Zsolt Bodnar, the director and deputy director of Hungary's Anti-Terrorism Unit, said, "Guns like these are highly illegal to transport even if they were to used as stage guns, which hopefully they weren't."
A World War Z spokesperson told E! News, "We are working with the authorities to resolve the matter and have no further comment at this time."
With a production of this magnitude, carrying fully functioning automatic weapons is a dangerous error that can have life-altering consequences.
The police are currently interviewing witnesses and trying to get to the bottom of this mixup.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2011

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
The Oscar-winning actress is strapping into some serious finery to play the Evil Queen who gives Snow White and her noble prince a run for their money. Oh, and there an overflowing handful of dwarves.
Immortals' Tarsem is directing this still-untitled Snow White flick—not to be confused with Snow White and the Huntsman, starring Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth—with an eye towards being the family-friendly alternative to the darker Huntsman.
The Blind Side's Lily Collins plays this Snow White, and she has nothing but fear for Robert's Evil Queen:
"She gets in character and stays there. ... She's 'Julia' and graceful and an amazing woman, but on-screen, when she turns ... the way she's playing the queen, people feel really bad for Snow White."

SANCTUARY RETURNS
Season-four premiere! With Helen in the past trying to stop Adam and an army of Abnormals from Hollow Earth about to invade the surface, it looks like the Sanctuary team will have their hands full when the series premieres.

DR. SEUSS
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Illumination Entertainment and Infinitum Nihil are developing a live-action movie about the life of classic children's author and illustrator Dr. Seuss (aka Theodor Geisel). Johnny Depp will produce the project with the potential to star as Seuss, and Universal Pictures will distribute. Keith Bunin (In Treatment) has been hired to write the screenplay.
Depp is producing with Infinitum Nihil partner Christi Dembrowski, Illumination's Christopher Meledandri and David Kennedy.
With Depp already having brought to life the Mad Hatter, Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie and Willy Wonka, the iconic Seuss seems a great fit for his chameleonic personality and recent desire to make family films. While producers say that the film is unlikely to take the fantastical CGI-coated style of Alice in Wonderland, which grossed more than a billion dollars worldwide with Depp in the lead, they are not ruling out animated bells and whistles. As some of the most popular works of all time, Geisel's books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide.
Geisel was born in 1904 and spent much of his childhood in Springfield, Massachusetts before going to college at Dartmouth. Throughout his early years, he drew advertising and comic strips, then political cartoons during World War II. By 1950, Geisel was publishing the books that became worldwide classics. He died of throat cancer in 1991.
Universal and Illumination, which paired on last year's $543-million grossing Despicable Me, are in post-production on an animated adaptation of Seuss's The Lorax, which hits theaters in March. The Seuss estate must be happy with their handling of the author's work to open up the man's life to further cinematic interpretation. Universal produced How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and The Cat in the Hat (2003) from classic Seuss works, as well.
The UTA-repped Depp last starred in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which grossed north of a billion this year, and provided the lead voice in the animated film Rango. He will next star in The Rum Diary and the Martin Scorsese-directed Hugo, which opens at Thanksgiving. Depp has Dark Shadows, with frequent collaborator Tim Burton, hitting theaters in May, and a possible starring role as Tonto in a Disney version of The Lone Ranger.
Illumination produced Hop, which was released in April, and it has Despicable Me 2 in production for a Summer 2013 release. The company has projects in the works on The Addams Family, Uglydolls, Curious George and Emily the Strange.

THIN MAN
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Billy Ray, the writer-director of Shattered Glass and Breach, has been tapped to write The Thin Man, an adaptation of the classic Dashiell Hammett novel. Johnny Depp is attached to star and Rob Marshall is attached to direct the Warner Bros. project.
William Powell and Myrna Loy starred in the 1934 adaptation of the book, which centered on former private detective-turned-professional drunkard Nick Charles, his lovely socialite wife Nora and their schnauzer Asta as they investigate a murder involving an eccentric inventor and his bizarre family. The film led to five more movies and a TV series.
The project is a priority at the studio, but it has been putting writers through the spin cycle. Jerry Stahl was initially on board to write. Then David Koepp was brought on, but he left when his vision didn’t line up with Marshall’s, forcing a hunt for a new scribe.
Depp will produce Thin Man with his Infinitum Nihil partner Christi Dembrowski. Former Warner Bros. exec Kevin McCormick is producing via his studio-based Langley Park.
Ray has been on a studio hot streak of late. He is writing Peter Pan Begins for producer Joe Roth and Columbia, where he also has A Captain’s Duty, the story of boat captain Richard Phillips and his days-long ordeal with Somali pirates. (Tom Hanks is attached to the latter.)
Repped by CAA and Management 360, Ray is also working on the 24 movie at Fox, and he is writing an English-language remake of the Oscar-winning 2009 Argentinean thriller The Secret in Their Eyes for himself to direct at Warners.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
Shawn Levy's father-son boxing tale Real Steel has a clear shot at the weekend box office crown on the strength of families and fanboys, while the George Clooney-directed political drama Ides of March will rely on older adults.
Conservative estimates show Real Steel -- starring Hugh Jackman -- opening in the $22 million-$25 million range. Disney is distributing the film. From DreamWorks, the $110 million pic introduces the sport of robot boxing and is set in the near future. Jackman's character, a washed-up fighter, discovers he has an 11-year-old son, and the two bond over a junkyard robot they discover.
The biggest question is whether males under 25 will show up (they've been AWOL from the multiplex in recent months).
Real Steel, rated PG-13, tested best among families in prereleasing screenings. Disney believes Sunday business could be strong, since Monday is the Columbus Day holiday, when 36% of kids are out of school.
Overseas, the DreamWorks pic opens in a handful of major markets, including Mexico, Russia and Australia (Jackman's home country).
In North America, Real Steel opens in 3,440 locations, including Imax theaters. Ides of March goes out in 2,199.
Sony is distributing Ides of March -- starring Clooney, Ryan Gosling and Philip Seymour Hoffman -- for Cross Creek pictures, which fully financed the $12.5 million political thriller.
The well-reviewed Ides of March, set during a presidential campaign, should benefit from its topical subject matter. The film is tracking best among women and men over the age of 25, but Sony expects some younger moviegoers to turn out as well.
At the specialty box office, Emilio Estevez's The Way, starring the director's father, Martin Sheen, opens in 33 locations. The film is being distributing the Producers Distribution Agency.
The Weinstein Co. opens Dirty Girl, starring Juno Temple, in nine locations, while IFC opens sequel Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence in 18.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

GODZILLA
Images of an impressive Godzilla sculpture created by Hector A. Arce are swirling around the monster-verse and if this is what they're eventually going with, this remake project is going to crush all pretenders.
Arce made the artwork several years ago and its retro coolness led to his joining Legendary's design team. According to website Infamous Kidd, aside from a few minor tweaks, this will be the final version used in the movie. Last year, we were given a sneak peek at an anime-style Godzilla poster and a menacing dino-head mock-up based on Arce's rendering that energized Tokyo-trouncing fanatics and gave an idea where the design team was leaning—mean, macho and more scaly spikes. And apparently the use of CGI will be limited, instead relying on the more old-school rubber-suited rendition.
In this era of motion-capture magic, use of rubber-suits seems a bit odd. But director Gareth Edwards did some amazing things on his laptop with the micro-budgeted indie horror flick, Monsters. Wonder what he'll concoct with a much bigger wallet? Godzilla's 2012 return to respectable, King of the Monsters glory hinges on him alone.
We'll have to wait and see if rumors ring true but it's definitely a thudding step in the right direction.

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
The more we see of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, the more we're willing to overlook the whole "dead-eyes" thing and give it a shot.
Maybe it's because this international trailer concentrates a lot more on action than interaction, and as such it summons a pretty heady Indiana Jones vibe, but looking at this, I'm way more inclined to strap in for Tintin than I was before.
It's fast, has a sense of humor and seems to have a flirting relationship with physics as we know it. Looks like fun to me.

NEW X-FILES?
The director of Iron Man and Cowboys & Aliens, the co-creator of Fringe and the co-creator of Robot Chicken assembled together for one project. It sounds like an unlikely superhero team-up, but news broke today that the trio is working on a new sci-fi pilot for ABC, set in the White House. Is this the next big government conspiracy show?
This sci-fi dream team (which also includes X2 co-writer Michael Dougherty and Orci's writing and producing partner Alex Kurtzman) has come together to produce Ex-Comm, a series focusing on a new president and his elite executive committee ("ex-comm") of advisors that focus on strange happenings and "conspiracy theory truths" throughout America. If it sounds like The X-Files meets The West Wing, that's exactly what they want you to think. The idea is to create a sci-fi drama with a sense of humor that blends sci-fi and supernatural suspense with political intrigue.
The idea originated with Green and Dougherty, who then pitched it to Orci and Kurtzman's production company. Orci and Kurtzman got on board, then tapped Favreau while they worked on Cowboys & Aliens together. All four are signed on to be executive producers for the series (along with Orci and Kurtzman's producing partner Heather Kadin and Green's Robot Chicken pal Matthew Senreich), and Favreau himself is set to direct the pilot.
No word yet on when we might see footage from this bad boy, but it's hard not to get excited about a project with this many big names behind it.

BATMAN: YEAR ONE
Batman: Year One is based on the landmark 1987 DC Comics titles from 12-time Eisner Award winner Frank Miller and illustrator David Mazzucchelli. The film depicts young Bruce Wayne’s return to Gotham City in his first attempts to fight injustice as a costumed vigilante. The playboy billionaire chooses the guise of a giant bat to combat crime, creates an early bond with a young Lieutenant James Gordon (who is already battling corruption from inside the police department), inadvertently plays a role in the birth of Catwoman, and helps to bring down a crooked political system that infests Gotham.
Primetime television stars Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Ben McKenzie (Southland, The O.C.), Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) provide the core voices for Batman: Year One. Three-time Emmy® Award winner Cranston gives voice to young Jim Gordon, while McKenzie makes his animated voiceover debut as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Fanboy favorites Dushku and Sackhoff fill the roles of Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Detective Sarah Essen, respectively. Alex Rocco (The Godfather) is the voice of crime lord Carmine Falcone.
Animation master Bruce Timm is executive producer of Batman: Year One. Directors are Lauren Montgomery (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) and Sam Liu (All-Star Superman) from a script penned by Academy Award® nominee Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse).
Here is a new clip just received from the WB:
BatmanYearOne.wmv

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2011

WALKING DEAD
As part of the warm-up for the October 16th premiere of The Walking Dead's second season, AMC hatched Torn Apart, a six-episode web series chronicling one mother's indoctrination to the zombie holocaust.
If I have one critique of these gore-ific gems directed by makeup maestro (and Walking Dead co-executive producer) Greg Nicotero, it's that Torn Apart begins much in the same way that the series did: With our main character waking up to find that the apocalypse began without him or, in this case, her.
Still, these are all very much worth a watch.

http://www.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/videos/the-walking-dead-webisodes-1-a-new-day
http://www.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/videos/the-walking-dead-webisodes-2-family-matters
http://www.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/videos/the-walking-dead-webisodes-3-domestic-violence
http://www.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/videos/the-walking-dead-webisodes-4-neighborly-advice
http://www.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/videos/the-walking-dead-webisodes-5-step-mother
http://www.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/videos/the-walking-dead-webisodes-6-everything-dies.

MORE DISNEY GREATS COMING
Throwing open its vault with unprecedented gusto, Disney has announced it will rerelease four of its classic animated films in 3D, including two Pixar titles -- Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc. and The Little Mermaid.
The sweeping announcement follows the runaway success of the 3D rerelease of The Lion King, which has grossed nearly $100 million worldwide in less than a month. Today, the rerelease jumps the $80 million mark at the domestic box office.
First out of the gate is Beauty and the Beast in 3D, which begins its limited theatrical run on Jan. 13, 2012. The animated film, grossing $377.4 million worldwide, was first released in 1991 and, like Lion King, spawned a long-running Broadway show, as well as regional tours.
Beauty and the Beast is followed on Sept. 14 by Pixar's 3D update of Finding Nemo, first released in 2003 and grossing $868 million to date worldwide.
Pixar's Monsters, Inc in 3D will debut on Jan. 18, 2013, six months before prequel Monsters University on June 21. Monsters, Inc. originally hit theaters in 2001, earning an estimated $524.5 million globally.
The Little Mermaid in 3D goes out on Sept. 13, 2013. It first hit theaters in 1989, and has grossed $211.3 million worldwide. It also was adapted into a musical stage show.
"Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we're fortunate to have a treasure trove of both," Walt Disney Studios president Alan Bergman said.

THE LAST STAND
Jaimie Alexander and Rodrigo Santoro have joined the cast of The Last Stand, reports Variety and Latino Review, respectively.
Already set to star Arnold Schwarzenegger, Peter Stormare and Zach Gilford, the project is the first American film from Kim Jee-Woon (I Saw the Devil, The Good, The Bad, The Weird) and tells the story of an American sheriff battling against a Mexican drug cartel. Jee-woon described the project as follows:
"[I]t's kind of a combination of 'Die Hard' and 'High Noon' where (the latter) was about protecting something very important that needs to be protected, while 'Die Hard' is a very drawn-out, long process that almost kills someone in the process. So my film will be something that has to be very well protected and, in the process, we almost die protecting it in a way."
Alexander, who recently starred as Sif in Marvel Studios' Thor, will play the female lead, a cop named Sarah Torrance. Santoro, best known for 300, will play her romantic interest, another cop named Frank Martinez.

MISTER ED MOVIE?
Fox 2000 has plans to bring the 1960's sitcom Mister Ed to the big screen, says a story at The Hollywood Reporter.
The original series, which ran for six seasons, celebrated the 50th anniversary of its pilot broadcast last Saturday. The show starred Alan Young as Wilbur Post, an architect who winds up owning a talking horse, Mister Ed (voiced by Allan Lane) that tends to speak only to him, constantly putting Wilbur in embarrassing situations.
Jim Mahoney is set to produce the adaptation, of which few details are currently known outside of the fact that Ed will be a real horse with CGI lip movements.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2011

UNIVERSAL SOLDIER REBOOT
Were you a fan of Roland Emmerich's 1992 sci-fi flick Universal Soldier? While we must admit, the the film spawned a few mediocre sequels, there are fond memories of the original one starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. And now it's going to be rebooted for TV.
Deadline has just revealed that there are currently plans to bring Universal Soldier to the small screen:
Those of you who cheered when Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren went mano-a-mano in Roland Emmerich's 1992 sci-flick Universal Soldier will be pleased to know that it is being rebooted as a TV series.
Damian Kindler (Stargate, Sanctuary) is writing the show, which will be produced by FremantleMedia North America, the U.S. arm of the London-based TV producer. Allen Shapiro and Craig Baumgarten, who produced the original movie, will be executive producers.
Shapiro is currently chairman of TV Guide Network and was a founder of Mosaic Media Group, while Baumgarten's movie credits include Hook and Shattered Glass. Baumgarten has a long track record as a studio executive including stints at Paramount, Columbia, Fox and Lorimar.
The film starred a kickass Jean-Claude Van Damme—then at the height of his popularity—as a dead (yes, you read right — dead) Viet-Nam war hero who faced off against another dead Viet-Nam vet who was quite insane (that's 'cause he cut Viet-cong's ears and such things) and was played by Dolph Lundgren.
The basic story went like this: Government uses the bodies of dead soldiers in a secret Army experiment including cryogenics, computer implants and physical alterations to turn them into perfect little soldier boys. Everything goes smooth until two of them (Van Damme and Lundgren) regain their memories. The two were former mortal enemies in Nam a few decades back so they start beating the crap out of each other, again. The good one wins. Ta-da!
We don't know about you, but we think that it's rather a cool piece of news. We just hope they can do something along the lines of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and make a show that's rich in terms of mythology and story.

NOAH
Paramount Pictures and New Regency Productions jointly announced today that Academy Award-nominated director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) will direct the feature film Noah, with Academy Award-nominated screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) coming aboard to re-write the script by Aronofsky and Ari Handel.
"Since I was a kid, I have been moved and inspired by the story of Noah and his family's journey. The imaginations of countless generations have sparked to this epic story of faith. It's my hope that I can present a window into Noah's passion and perseverance for the silver screen," said Aronofsky.
Aronofsky and Scott Franklin will produce the movie.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2011

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros.' inspirational Dolphin Tale took the No. 1 spot in its second weekend with $14.2 million, wresting the box office crown from fellow family pic The Lion King.
Dolphin Tale fell only 27 percent--proving again the clout of an A+ CinemaScore—and ended the weekend with a domestic cume of $37.5 million. The movie's staying power is a victory for Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove's Alcon, the same production company behind The Blind Side, another film that played to both general moviegoers and faith-based audiences.
"It's resonating with audiences everywhere in North America, from big cities to small towns," Warner executive vice president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein said.
Moneyball also stayed in the limelight in its second outing, declining 37 percent to an estimated $12.5 million for a cume of $38.5 million and coming in No. 2.
The Lion King re-release came in No. 3, grossing an estimated $11.1 million for a domestic total of $79.7 million.The weekend’s four new films paled in comparison to Dolphin Tale, Moneyball and Lion King, although faith-based pic Courageous pulled off its own surprise upset in nearly beating Joseph Gordon-Levitt-Seth Rogen cancer dramedy 50/50, and easily besting Anna Faris-Chris Evans R-rated comedy What’s Your Number? and Daniel Craig-Rachel Weisz horror pic Dream House.
50/50 and Courageous ended the weekend in a virtual tie. From Summit Entertaiment and Mandate Pictures, 50/50 grossed an estimated 8.9 million to take No. 4, although Courageous was right behind with $8.58 million. The order won’t be resolved until Monday morning.
"What a great weekend for us, between Moneyball and Courageous. Moneyball had a tremendous hold, while Courageous, only costing $2 million to make, was a huge success. It hit home for that core audience," Sony worldwide president of distribution Rory Bruer said.
50/50 came in on the lower end of predictions, considering it is a critical darling and received an A- CinemaScore. The film skewed slightly female at 53 percent, while 83 percent of the audience was between the ages of 18 and 49. Between reviews and the A- CinemaScore, Summit believes the film will have strong legs.
"While it's true that we came in a little less than expected, I think we will end up in a good place," Summit president of distribution Richie Fay said.
Sherwood Pictures and Tri-Star’s Courageous played in only a fraction of the locations its competitors were and, like Dolphin Tale, received an A+ CinemaScore. The film scored a location average of $7,151, the best of any pic in wide release.
Courageous, about four police officers who grapple with their faith and fatherhood, did big business in the Southeast and Bible Belt. Courageous is the fourth title from the film unit of the Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, and cost $2 million to produce.
Morgan Creek’s Dream House opened to No. 6 with $8.2 million, and received a B CinemaScore. Universal is distributing the pic for Morgan Creek. The film was beset with controversy over conflicts between Morgan Creek and director Jim Sheridan, and wasn’t screened for critics.
New Regency and Fox’s What’s Your Number? opened to No. 8 with an even softer-than-expected $5.6 million. Regency fully financed the R-rated comedy, which had to battle poor reviews, although it drew a B CinemaScore.
What's Your Number was narrowly beat out by holdover Abduction, which fell 48 percent in its second weekend to an estimated $5.7 million for a domestic cume of $19.1 million.
The specialty box office brought mixed results. Sony Pictures Classics' Michael Shannon-Jessica Chastain starrer Take Shelter grossed an estimated $56,171 from three theaters in New York and L.A. for a solid per location average of $18,724.
Kenneth Lonergan's long-delayed Margaret grossed $7,496 from two theaters in L.A. and New York for a muted average of $3,748.
Satirical documentary Sarah Palin: You Betcha!, from Freestyle Entertaiment, failed to whip up much interest in its debut, grossing $7,374 for a location average of $1,229. Freestyle saw more interest for horror pic Munger Road, which grossed $38,855 as it opened in one theater in the Chicago area.
Gerard Butler adventure-drama Marchine Gun Preacher expanded into a total of 33 theaters in its second weekend, grossing an estimated $82,000 for a cume of $140,999 and location average of $2,485. IFC's Weekend moved into a total of six theaters in its second outing, grossing $48,000 for a cume of $91,000 and theater average of $8,000.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2011

. FRIDAY RATINGS
In the second week, many of Friday's original fare dipped, with the exception of the only unscripted offering and a CW action thriller.
Even with A Gifted Man, CSI: NY and Blue Bloods all dropping in Week 2 of the television season, CBS still managed to come out of the night on top, averaging 9.8 million viewers and a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49 in primetime.
A Gifted Man (8.1 million, 1.2) remained the top-rated and most-watched scripted series in its 8 p.m. time slot, sinking two-tenths from its debut. The Patrick Wilson drama improved CBS' average in the time period in total viewership (37 percent increase) and the demos. CSI: NY (9.6 million, 1.6) was No. 1 in all key categories, including adults 25-54 (2.3) and the same could be said for Blue Bloods (11.1 million, 1.8).
Fox's Fringe (3.1 million, 1.2) performed lower in the ratings for its second episode of its fourth season, even though Kitchen Nightmares (4 million, 1.6) remained steady from last week. Fox narrowly edged out NBC to take the No. 2 spot in the demo for Friday, averaging a 1.4.
NBC's Dateline (6.2 million, 1.6) carried the network to third place in the 18-49 demo for the night (1.3). ABC's 20/20 delivered 4 million and a 1.2 rating at 10 p.m.
The CW's action thriller Nikita (1.8 million, 0.6) was steady from its premiere, while Supernatural (1.8 million, 0.7) dropped a tenth.

MARVEL NEWS
According to the Hollywood Reporter, when DC Comics announced that it would be relaunching its titles, longtime followers of its comics were hesitant.
Now, according to the New York Times, DC Comics' gamble seems to be paying off. In the past five weeks, since the first of the DC Comics series, Justice League, was restarted, in the company's effort to grab new readership, have increased exponentially.
For instance, the Justice League's first issue has sold more than 200,000 copies compared to the 46,000 it averaged for the last issues before the restart.
Nine other series, including Action Comics, Batgirl and the Flash, have doubled average sales, selling more than 100,000 copies, the Times reports. That benchmark had not been reached in several years.
DC Comics has also been offering its titles digitally the same day they are released in stores, but according to Brian Hibbs, who owns Comix Experience in San Francisco, that won't be a detriment. “I’m pleasantly surprised by how enthusiastic the demand for print copies has been," he told the Times. But, the Times notes that digital sales figures have not been released.

JEFF CONAWAY'S DEATH RULED ACCIDENTAL
Taxi, Grease and Babylon 5 actor Jeff Conaway's death on May 27 was accidental and caused by major internal infection, according to a coroner's report released Friday.
A toxicology test was not conducted on the actor, who had a history of drug problems, because he had been hospitalized for weeks before his death and his blood would have come back clean, Los Angeles County coroner Craig Harvey told the Associated Press.
When Conaway entered the hospital on May 10, he did register opiates and other drugs in his system. He was put into a medically induced coma a week later and taken off life support on May 26.
Conaway discussed his addiction struggles as part of the VH1 reality show Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew in 2008. He was a team captain for Season 3 of the cable outlet's Celebrity Fit Club in 2006 but struggled and left after three episodes to enter rehab.
Conaway's big acting break came when he was cast at the vain actor/cab driver Bobby on Taxi. He was nominated for Golden Globes in 1979 and '80 but left the show after the third season, though he guest-starred in two episodes during Season 4.
He is perhaps best known for co-starring as Kenickie in the 1978 film adaptation of Grease, in which he's featured prominently in two of the film's most popular musical numbers, which also were released as singles: "Summer Nights," which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Greased Lightnin.'
The actor was notably absent from this year's Emmy Awards' "In Memoriam" tribute.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2011

FIREFLY
Just a progam note. FIREFLY is back on the SCIENCE channel. Be sure to watch episodes all day today.

PUSS IN BOOTS
DreamWorks Animation and Paramount have moved up the release of animated family film Puss in Boots by one week, from Nov. 4 to Oct. 28.
The relocation to Halloween weekend gives Puss in Boots more breathing room before a crush of family pics debut around the Thanksgiving holiday.
Directed by Chris Miller, the Shrek spin-off is an origins pic about the popular feline voiced by Antonio Banderas. In March, the movie was one of the biggest hits of theater owners trade show CinemaCon, where footage was shown for the first time.
Puss in Boots doesn't have to worry about serious competition in its new date (just as it didn't in its old). The other films opening on Oct. 28 are Sony's Anonymous, Fox's In Time, FilmDistrict's The Rum Diaries and Universal's Johnny English Reborn.
Puss in Boots' voice cast also includes Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris. Tom Wheeler penned the screenplay basd on a story by Brian Lynch, Will Davies and Tom Wheeler. Andrew Adamson and Guillermo del Toro executive produced, while Joe M. Aguilar and Latifa Ouaou produced.

DJANGO UNCHAINED
Kurt Russell is reuniting with Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained.
Russell is in talks to join the all-star movie, which includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz. He would replace Kevin Costner, who bowed out last week.
The movie is set in the American South of the 1800¹s and follows a freed slave (Foxx) who partners with a German bounty hunter (Waltz) in order to find his wife.
The bad guy list they encounter is impressive: DiCaprio as a Francophile plantation owner who forces slaves to compete in death matches and Jackson as a vile head slave who works for DiCaprio.
Coming on to the list of antagonists will be Russell, playing a character called Ace, a man who oversees the plantation in a ruthless manner and who relishes punishing slaves.
The Weinstein Co. will distribute the movie domestically while Sony Pictures handles the rest of the world. The movie is due to go into production in November.
Russell starred as a serial killing stuntman in Tarantino's Death Proof, which acted as the second half of the 2007 B-movie combo Grindhouse. The CAA-repped actor hasn't appeared on the big-screen since but has an indie football drama titled Touchback in the can.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

UNIQUE
The Hollywood Reporter writes that X-Files creator Chris Carter is heading back to the small screen.
After several years away from Hollywood despite heavy demand, Carter has reemerged with a female-lead mystery police thriller titled Unique. The project, which is set up at Media Rights Capital, has a supernatural element to it. He is set to write and executive produce.
Carter spent nearly a decade at the helm of the David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson vehicle, which ran from 1993 to 2002. The series not only helped put host network Fox on the map but also define it as a destination for edgy, quality fare.
In addition to a rich ancillary revenue that came from DVD and merchandise, the franchise spawned two feature films, 1998's The X Files and 2008' The X Files: I Want to Believe. Last month, Anderson told an Australian morning show that there's talk of a third X-Files feature. "I hope it happens," she said. "There's talk of it."
Carter, who also created Millennium, which ran on Fox from 1996 to 1999, is repped by ICM.

DEAD ISLAND
Lionsgate, ever on the lookout for properties with movie franchise potential, has optioned the film rights from video game publisher Deep Silver to develop a zombie picture inspired by the viral media sensation Dead Island.
Sean Daniel (The Mummy) and Stefan Sonnefeld will spearhead production through the Sean Daniel Company.
Jason Brown of The Sean Daniel Company and Missy Papageorge for Sonnenfeld’s Sunny Field Productions are executive producing, with Sarah Perlman serving as co-producer.
Alli Shearmur, Lionsgate’s president of motion picture production and development, will oversee the project at the studio with Jim Miller, senior vp of production and development.
The project, announced by Lionsgate motion picture group president Joe Drake, was preceded by a teaser trailer for the Dead Island video game in February 2011 that portrayed a family on a tropical island beset by a mysterious zombie outbreak.
The video game trailer grabbed around 10 million views after two days online, on its way to becoming a viral sensation.
The Dead Island video game from Deep Silver was released stateside on September 6th, and has sold over two million units to date.
Lionsgate is aiming at a Dead Island zombie genre picture that focuses on family ties and non-linear storytelling.
“This is exactly the type of property we’re looking to adapt at Lionsgate – it’s sophisticated, edgy, and a true elevation of a genre that we know and love. It also has built in brand recognition around the world, and franchise potential,” Drake said in a statement.

RED STATION
Red Station, the 2010 novel by Adrian Magson that launched his "Harry Tate" series, has been optioned by Benderspink, says a story at The Hollywood Reporter. The plot of the book is officially described as follows:
Harry is a former soldier, loyal Security Services (MI5) officer and a servant of the State. He does what he's told, fighting the war against terrorism, drugs and high-level criminal gangs.
When things go bad, and two civilians are shot dead during a drugs intercept, he agrees to take an immediate posting to a place called Red Station, to help the agency avoid embarrassing media questions.
All Harry knows is, it's in a remote place where he will be under strict orders to stay off the radar - a No Contact Rule. That includes former colleagues, friends, family - everyone.
What his bosses haven't told him, however, is that Red Station is a punishment posting for washed-out spooks from MI5 and MI6... and that Harry won't be coming home.
Which is where they have seriously underestimated their man. Because the loyal servant has his limits, and when he finds that the set-up behind Red Station is not all that it seems, and his life is in imminent danger, not only from an invading Russian army but a government assassination team known as The Hit, he decides to fight back.
Red Station was followed earlier this year by another Tate adventure, "Tracers", with more books on the way.
No writers are yet attached to the film version of Red Station, but Jake Weiner and Christopher Cosmos are overseeing the project.

NOW YOU SEE ME
According to Variety, Woody Harrelson is in negotiations to join the cast of the upcoming Louis Leterrier film, Now You See Me.
Already set to star Jesse Eisenberg, Melanie Laurent, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher and Morgan Freeman, Now You See Me pits a crack FBI squad in a game of cat and mouse against a super team of the world's greatest illusionists, who pull off a series of daring bank heists during their performances, showering the profits on their audiences while staying one step ahead of the law.
Harrelson would play Merritt Osbourne, a mentalist who joins the team of criminals. He can next be seen in Rampart and, next year, The Hunger Games.
Now You See Me, written by Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt, will be produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci via their Kurtzman Orci Paper Products production banner. Yakin will executive produce along with Kurtzman Orci Paper Products' Bobby Cohen.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

STAR TREK: NEXT GENERATION
Star Trek fans all over the world have been waiting what seems like forever for this news: Star Trek: The Next Generation will beam into our homes on beautiful high-def Blu-ray just in time to celebrate the show's upcoming 25th anniversary in 2012.
The news broke today—on the 24th anniversary of The Next Generation's TV premiere back on Sept. 28, 1987—and first popped up on Star Trek.com. Here's what looks to be their official press-releasey announcement:
Star Trek: The Next Generation will be released in high-definition Blu-ray, starting in January with a sampler of several popular episodes, followed by a season-one set to be released later on in 2012, and subsequent seasons beaming down after that. Each of the 178 episodes spanning The Next Generation's seven seasons will be transferred to true high-definition 1080p for release in the Blu-ray format and, eventually, for runs on television and digital platforms in the U.S. and across the world. Star Trek: The Next Generation will, as fans know, be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2012.
"Fans have been clamoring for a high-definition release of Star Trek: The Next Generation," Ken Ross, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. "Transferring the series to high-definition presented difficult technical challenges, but our team has come up with a process to create true 1080p HD masters with true HD visual effects. We can't wait to show fans how pristine the series looks and sounds with our upcoming Blu-ray releases."
CBS is, in fact, returning to the original film negatives, a mother lode of material encompassing 25,000-plus reels of footage, and editing the episodes together precisely as they were when they originally aired between 1987 and 1994. Visual effects will not be upconverted from videotape, but instead will be recompositioned. The freshly cut film will ultimately be transferred to high definition with 7.1 DTS Master Audio. And all of the work is being done in conjunction with respected, longtime Star Trek figures Denise and Michael Okuda, who are on board as consultants.
The episodes included in the single-disc sampler called Star Trek: The Next Generation—The Next Level are the series' two-hour pilot "Encounter at Farpoint," "Sins of the Father" and "The Inner Light." (Not a bad selection, though we'd have liked to see either "Yesterday's Enterprise" or the "Best of Both Worlds" two-parter as well.) The sampler will hit stores on Jan. 31, 2012.

CHAMELEON
The Hollywood Reporter writes that CSI creator Anthony Zuiker has sold his first project under his new three-year overall deal with ABC Studios.
ABC has picked up the drama Chameleon, from World Trade Center writer Andrea Berloff, with Zuiker attached to executive produce.
Chameleon revolves around a female FBI undercover agent is well-versed in changing disguises.
The pickup comes two months after Zuiker jumped from his longtime home at CBS Television Studios, where he developed the flagship series and its corresponding spinoffs.
Zuiker’s shingle, Dare to Pass, will partner on developing projects with Brillstein Entertainment Partners, which is also based at ABC Studios.
Zuiker remains an executive producer on the CSI franchise but does not serve as showrunner on any of them.

PARADISE LOST
Callan McAuliffe, best known for his leading role in Flipped, has joined the cast of Alex Proyas' Paradise Lost according to Variety. The same article also reports that Diego Boneta is likely for a part as well.
Already set to star Bradley Cooper, Benjamin Walker, Djimon Hounsou and Casey Affleck, the film is an adaptation of John Milton's 17th-century English poem about the epic war in heaven between archangels Michael (Walker) and Lucifer (Cooper), and will be developed as an action vehicle that will include aerial warfare, possibly shot in 3D.
McAuliffe will play the role of the Archangel Uriel while Boneta, if he signs on, will play the first man, Adam. It was also recently reported that Camilla Belle is likely to take on the role of the first woman, Eve.
In addition to Flipped, McAuliffe has appeared in I Am Number Four and will be featured as a supporting character (a younger version of Leonardo Di Caprio's Jay Gatsby) in the upcoming The Great Gatsby. Boneta, meanwhile, is set to appear in the upcoming musical, Rock of Ages.

GODS AND KINGS
Deadline reports that Warner Bros. is planning an epic adaptation of the life of Moses. What's more, the site claims that Steven Spielberg is being courted to become the project's director.
An important figure in a number of faiths, Moses is considered in religious texts to be a prophet and a spiritual leader. He is credited with writing the Torah and The Book of Exodus details Moses leading the Israelites from Egypt by parting the Red Sea. After their journey begins, Moses receives the Ten Commandments and delivers them to his people, spending the next four decades wandering the desert in search of the Promised Land.
Though Moses' tale has been adapted for the screen before (most famously in the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille epic, The Ten Commandments), Gods and Kings is said to be a wholly new take from screenwriters Michael Green and Stuart Hazeldine. The former contributed to Warner Bros.' Green Lantern while the latter worked on the script for the upcoming Paradise Lost.
Dan Lin and Matti Leshem are set to produce and Spielberg's interest in the project at the moment is said to be tentative at best, though discussions are likely to begin in earnest in the very near future.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

MARVEL NEWS
While DC's relaunch has suffered from week after week of controversy, there's no arguing with the numbers. With several of the new 52 breaking 200,000 copies sold, it seemed like Marvel would inevitably follow suit with a relaunch of its own. Today, it looks like we're getting the first glimpse of that happening.
Marvel has just announced a one-shot titled Point One that will "set the stage for the biggest stories coming in 2012. Here's the language the press release uses:
"Point One is a massive one-shot of 64 all-new pages of story by the top creators in the business, setting the stage for the biggest stories coming in 2012. It is the starting point to what's in store for the world's most iconic characters and startling events. Point One serves as the launch pad for dynamic new series, the return of fan-demanded characters, and a shocking teaser that will have everyone talking. See how all it comes together in one gigantic epic!"
Point One? Flashpoint? No, those aren't similar at all.
In addition to that, Marvel also has the return of popular time-traveling mutant, Cable, on the loom. It seems as though the solicitations for his appearance are hinting towards something as well. Don't believe us? Well, listen to this:
"How has Cable been reborn? Where has he been since "Second Coming"? And what dark event has driven him to destroy the Avengers? The answers are just the tip of an iceberg that threatens to smash the Marvel Universe to smithereens!"
Add to that the launch of all the new Marvel Ultimate books, X-Men, and Spider-Man, and you've got something that's very much a cousin to the DC relaunch. It's hard to say at this point just how much of an actual reboot Marvel will try to pull, but it's hard to ignore that, at the very least, they're trying to ride DC's coattails.

HARRY POTTER PET
If you like dogs and Harry Potter, here's your chance to have both: The dog who played Sirius Black's animagus, Padfoot, who appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is in need of a good home.
Berry, the black German shepherd who was played in human form by Gary Oldman, is up for adoption. Berry's owner and trainer, stuntman Paul Thompson, told the Sunday Express, "I found myself spending a lot of time away from home. The dogs needed more attention than I could give. It was a difficult decision to make but one I had to accept was best for the dogs."
Note that he said dogs, plural. Berry is not the only doggie in this deal; he can only be adopted along with his pal Porridge, a 13-year-old German shepherd mix who had in a role in the TV drama White Teeth. (Berry is currently 10 in human years.) Currently, they reside in a foster home.
These two former stars need food, water and a good brushing. In exchange, Berry will spill all of his on-set secrets. (Of course, you'll need the canine version of parseltongue to understand him.)
Potential families can inquire at German Shepherd Rescue. Muggles are welcome to apply.

THE WALKING DEAD
It’s been nearly a year since AMC’s zombie drama, The Walking Dead, first premiered, and much has changed in the world created by Robert Kirkman.
Frank Darabont has been replaced as showrunner by the No. 2 he brought in, Glen Mazzara, and the series now has a 13-episode season and a legion of new fans.
Walking Dead returns Oct. 16 for its long-awaited second season, which kicks off with a 90-minute installment followed by AMC’s new Chris Hardwick-hosted post-show Talking Dead wrap up.
During a screening and Q&A with producers, Mazzara noted that Darabont had already mapped out the course for the season and didn’t plan to deviate from that and that his transition to showrunner has been a smooth one.
Part of that plan will see Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his band of survivors looking for a new home after the CDC's fiery destruction in the Season 1 finale.

NEW YEAR'S EVE
The full trailer for the star-studded romantic comedy ensemble New Year's Eve has arrived at iTunes Movie Trailers.
A thematic follow-up to the studio's Valentine's Day, the movie is set in New York and follows intertwining stories of characters trying to navigate their way through romance on New Year's Eve.
The big cast includes Robert De Niro, Ashton Kutcher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank, Lea Michele, Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vergara, Jessica Biel, Sarah Jessica Parker, Katherine Heigl, Zac Efron, Sienna Miller, Josh Duhamel, Ice Cube, Jon Bon Jovi, Seth Meyes, Til Schweiger, Halle Berry and Carla Gugino.

AREA 52
It's been some time since we last heard an update on Area 52, the feature film adaptation of the Image comic book series. Now, Deadline reports that Summit Entertainment has stepped in and taken the screen rights.
Published in 2001, the four-issue miniseries told the story of a secret storage facility in Antarctica that houses the alien technology that Area 51 is no longer studying. The lead character is an army nurse who must save the day after a mercenary attack unleashes a fantastic terror.
The RED and Transformers: Dark of the Moon producing team of Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian will produce alongside JC Spink.
Originally, the film was to be directed by Steven C. Miller with a script from Jack Phillips, based on the Brian Haberlin comic. Now it appears that they'll be working from a new draft with a director yet to be announced.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

DOCTOR WHO
If you've seen ''Closing Time''—the penultimate episode of Doctor Who's sixth season this past weekend—then you're already aware of the shocking twist that took place in the last few minutes and can't wait for that finale to air. In the meantime, you can see what happens between the episodes in this particularly chilling new prequel.
''Tick Tock goes the clock.'' Seriously, children's songs and nursery rhymes have a knack for being utterly creepy at times, and this one is no exception. It's sending cold chills down our little geeky spines. Spoo-keh.
Ahhh, Doctor! We can't wait to see how you'll get out of that jam you're in, impending death and all. (We all know he will, but the fun will be to see just HOW he'll do it.)
In the meanwhile, our lucky colleagues over at SFX have already seen ''The Wedding of River Song'' and are teasing us mercilessly gently with non-spoilery teasers.
So we just thought we'd let you know about 5 of them that stood out for us, though in truth all of them were particularly intriguing:
? It does answer a lot of questions, but some old ones (from Matt Smith's first series) are still left open, and some new ones are posed.
?The denouement is bound to cause some debate. If you like the episode, you'll be able to rationalize it, but if you don't you'll be going, "But hang on, in that episode ... ?" But that's Doctor Who fandom.
? You'll discover a whole new meaning to the phrase "Live Chess" that has nothing to do with Harry Potter.
?The episode title may not be as much of a red herring as you might think. But then again ...
? I can guarantee that some people will go, "Oh I guessed that all along" at one point, but considering millions of fans on thousands of websites have been discussing every possible outcome, it's not surprising that some people will have come across it. I'm happy to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe I'm thick.
What do you think? Are you looking forward to ''The Wedding of River Song''? What are your predictions about the episode?
''The Wedding of River Song'' airs this upcoming Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011, on BBC One, BBC America and Space.

TERRA NOVA
After months of hype and a delayed premiere, viewers finally got their first look at Fox's new drama Terra Nova on Monday night.
The series follows the Shannon family (Jason O'Mara, Shelley Conn, Landon Liboiron, Naomi Scott and Alana Mansour) and other settlers who, threatened with extinction in the year 2149, travel back 85 million years in time to join a prehistoric Earth colony.
After Terra Nova was teased to the media at January’s Television Critics Association tour and then again in a Super Bowl commercial, Fox abruptly announced that its two-hour premiere after American Idol would be pushed back to the fall. The move was a result of executive departures and a shortage of material.
As a result, the show, which counts Steven Spielberg and former News Corp. president and COO Peter Chernin among its many executive producers, was quite possibly the most anticipated -- and scrutinized -- new show of the fall season.
After watching the pilot, viewers hit Twitter to share their reactions, which were mixed.
What did you think of the pilot episode?

NEW THRILLER FROM KEVIN WILLIAMSON
Kevin Williamson, the mastermind behind the CW's sudsy adaptations, The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle, has sold an original hour-hour drama with a put pilot commitment to the network. Williamson will serve as writer and executive producer on the project.
The thriller, from Williamson's Outerbanks Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. TV, centers on a diabolical serial killer who uses technology to create a cult of serial killers, and the FBI agent who finds himself in the middle of it.
Williamson, whose other credits include Scream and Dawson's Creek, is repped by WME.

BRILLIANT
Variety confirms earlier rumors that Australian actor Eric Bana will be the male lead in Robert Luketic's diamond heist thriller Brilliant, being produced by Lakeshore Entertainment based on the first screenplay by Gillian Gorfil, producer of Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond.
Luketic previously directed Legally Blonde, 21, The Ugly Truth and Killers, the latter for Lakeshore.
In the movie, Bana will play a small-time criminal who joins accomplished thieves in a diamond heist.
The other name that's been mentioned but unconfirmed to star opposite Bana is Cameron Diaz.

OBLIVION/HORIZONS
Jessica Chastain has secured one of the leading female roles in Joseph Kosinski's next project (which has been referred to as both Oblivion and Horizons, but which is now officially without a final title).
Tom Cruise set to headline, the film is based on Kosinski's own Radical Publishing comic book series and takes place in a future where humanity has fallen to an irradiated Earth. Cruise plays Jak, a maintenance drone working on the planet's surface alongside another worker, Vika. When a woman, Julia, is discovered in a crashed ship, Jak's whole world is thrown into question and he finds himself strangely drawn towards Julia.
It is uncertain whether Chastain will be playing Vika or Julia, though her name did appear recently on a short list of actresses up for potential parts. The other names included Olga Kurylenko, Brit Marling, Noomi Rapace and Olivia Wilde. Whether the other role gets filled by one of those talents remains to be seen.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2011

REVOLUTION
NBC is developing Revolution, an epic adventure thriller from the uber-producer and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke with details being kept under wraps. If the project, which scored a pilot production commitment, ultimately gets ordered, it would join other Abrams newcomers Person of Interest and Alcatraz, at CBS and Fox, respectively.
Despite Abrams' enviable resume, which includes ABC's long-running Lost, the prolific producer's 2010 effort Undercovers failed to lure viewers to NBC. The CIA series, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe, was only on for a few short months before getting the axe.
The drama thriller, from Warner Bros. TV and Abram's Bad Robot shingle, counts Abrams, Kripke and Bryan Burk (Fringe, Lost) as executive producers. Kripke (Deadman) will also pen the pilot.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
Disney’s 3D re-release of The Lion King remained lord of the jungle in its second weekend, pulling off another surprise upset in beating a number of new players to top the domestic box office chart with $22.1 million.
The 3D version of the animated classic has earned $61.7 million in its first 10 days of play at the domestic box office, exceeding all expectations. Overseas, where it rolled out earlier, the re-release has grossed $16 million for an impressive global total of $77.7 million.
Defying the odds, Lion King trumped Sony’s new Brad Pitt baseball drama Moneyball, which ended its opening weekend in a close race with 3D family offering Dolphin Tale, from Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros.
Moneyball grossed an estimated $20.6 million, while Dolphin Tale took in an estimated $20.3 million. The order of the two films could switch once final figures come in Monday morning.
Even with Lion King, Moneyball and Dolphin Tale scored strong openings in reaching $20 million, reflected in the fact that the domestic box office was up 18 percent over the same weekend a year ago. (Moneyball boasts the top opening of all time for a baseball pic, not accounting for inflation).
Dolphin Tale and Moneyball--an early awards contender, particularly for Pitt's performance--also have the potential to dig in, with moviegoers awarding Moneyball an A CinemaScore, and Dolphin Tale, a glowing A+.
Lionsgate thriller Abduction—Taylor Lautner’s first solo outing—opened to a softish $11.2 million. Playing to younger women, the film received a B- CinemaScore overall and an A- from females under 18.
Abduction was able to best Jason Statham-Robert DeNiro action pic Killer Elite, which rounded out the top five with an estimated opening of $9.5 million. Killer Elite, the first title from acquisitions and distribution company Open Road Films, earned a B CinemaScore.
Moneyball wasn't Sony's only headline--its animated pic The Smurfs jumped the $500 million global mark over the weekend, earning $12.9 million at the international box office for a worldwide total of $502.8 million.
But when it comes to family fare, no one in Hollywood can believe the power of Lion King nearly 17 years after its original release in theaters. Disney attributes the spectacular showing to the property's enduring popularity, whether because of DVD or the live stage show.
Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said there's no doubt that Lion King took business away from Dolphin Tale, but that he expects Dolphin Tale to play well for weeks to come and ultimately take in close to $100 million domestically. The inspirational pic will get a boost when most theaters stop playing Lion King on Oct. 4, the day the Diamond Blue Ray edition of the film is released.
Dolphin Tale drew 50% of its grosses from 3D theaters, a good stat considering this summer's overall decline in 3D attendance.
Dolphin Tale, costing roughly $35 million to make, was financed and produced by Alcon Entertainment, the same company behind box office hit The Blind Side.
"We're thrilled with this opening," said Alcon's Broderick Johnson, "especially considering Lion King, which no one saw coming. It's reminisicent of the The Blind Side, which also received an A+ CinemanScore.
Sony was equally as pleased with Moneyball, a favorite among critics and one of the hottest titles to premiere at the recent Toronto Film Festival. The film cost north of $50 million to produce.
"It feels good that we are getting the sort of love we think this movie deserves," Sony worldwide president of domestic distribution Rory Bruer said.
Moneyball, based on the real-life story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, played decidedly older, with 64 percent of the audience over the age of 35, but played relatively evenly among men and women. Sony believes the pic will ultimately do four times its opening number. The studio launched Moneyball in roughly the same frame it used last year to open The Social Network, which debuted to $22 million on its way to earning $97 million in North America.
Abduction was the clear choice for younger women and teenager girls who are Twilight fans. Nearly 70 percent of the audience was female, while 56 percent were under the age of 25. There's been intense focus on the film because of Lautner, and whether he and other Twilight stars can have a career outside that franchise.
"The film will be profitable for Lionsgate, and that's great for Taylor," said Lionsgate executive vice president of domestic distribution David Spitz, adding that the pic opened in line with pre-release expectations.
Abduction, costing $35 million to produce, is off to a strong start in Australia and Latin America, although Lionsgate didn't yet have numbers.
Killer Elite opened slightly lower than other recent Jason Statham pics, and likely lost male eyeballs to Moneyball.
Open Roads CEO Tom Ortenberg said he was pleased with Killer Elite's performance. In acquiring the film, Open Roads only put up marketing costs.
"We're happy that we're making money with our first release," Ortenberg said.
At the specialty box office, Relativity Media's Gerard Butler drama Machine Gun Preacher opened in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, grossing an estimated $44,000 for a per location average of $11,000. Relativity said the film scored strong marks especially from women. On Sept. 30, the pic expands into an additional 15 markets.

MAN OF STEEL
Deadline reports Ayelet Zurer will now take on the role of Lara, Kal-El's birth mother, in the upcoming Man of Steel.
Zurer, who will appear opposite Russell Crowe in the role of Superman's Kryptonian father, Jor-El, is best known for appearances in films like Angels and Demons and Munich.
Now filming, Man of Steel's cast also includes Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue, Christopher Meloni, Harry Lennix and Laurence Fishburne. It is targeting a June 14, 2013 release.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

FRIDAY NIGHT RATINGS
The first Friday of the new TV season made for moderate debuts, at best, for returning series. CBS's freshman drama "A Gifted Man" was a success with 9.3 million viewers.
While FOX had its best fall premiere Friday in six years, the "Fringe" season premiere was down 21% from last year's season opener -- which, of course, was on a Thursday. It was up from last year's finale, though, which is good news, because the FOX execs have made it clear that they don't expect the "Fringe" audience to grow.
The CW's openers were lackluster. The premiere of "Nikita," moved from Thursday, tied its series low. "Supernatural," while on par with its Season 6 finale, was down 25% from its Season 6 premiere.
In average viewers, CBS won with 10.6 million viewers and a 6.9 rating/12 share in households. With only reruns and "Dateline," NBC took second place at 5.7 million (4.0/7). ABC (3.7 million, 2.6/4) and FOX (3.6 million, 2.3/4) were quite close, with The CW trailing with 1.9 million and a 1.2/2 share.
In the adults 18-49 demographic, CBS won with a 1.7. FOX and NBC tied at 1.6, with ABC pulling a 1.0. The CW averaged 0.7.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

ZERO HOUR
According to the Hollywood Reporter, ABC has picked up a high-profile project from Prison Break creator Paul Scheuring revolving around the mysteries surrounding the Twelve Apostles.
Titled Zero Hour, the ABC Studios project is described as an epic adventure revolving around a skeptical everyman who is swept up in one of history’s greatest conspiracies. His passion leads him on a dangerous journey around the world as he collects clues that will unlock a mystery surrounding the Twelve Apostles but also clues to his own identity.
Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Dan McDermott are attached to executive produce the project through their Di Bonaventura Pictures Television shingle.
Scheuring, who created the 2005 to 2009 Fox drama Prison Break, will pen the script and executive produce.
The project marks the latest this development season from Di Bonaventura’s shingle. The producer, via his deal with ABC Studios, also has a pair of comedy projects as well as dramas Golden Gate and a Walter Mitty-type project with The Blind Side scribe John Lee Hancock set up at the network.

THE SECRET LIVES OF ROAD CREWS
Chris Columbus is negotiating to direct The Secret Lives of Road Crews, Deadline reports.
First announced back in 2007, the film was originally set to be released through DreamWorks, but is now housed at Paramount. Written by Kevin Lund and T.J. Scott with rewrites by Craig Mazin, the sci-fi action comedy involves a road crew going up against a race of underground aliens.
Columbus most recently directed Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Though that film is planning a sequel, Columbus is likely to only be involved as a producer. He was also recently attached to the Korean remake, Hello Ghost. Which project he'll tackle first remains to be seen.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

THOR 2
The Internet's been buzzing all day with news about Marvel's upcoming Thor sequel. For the most part, the story for Thor 2 has been kept under wraps—but Marvel's head honcho Kevin Feige has spilled the beans about a few plot points.
This past summer, Thor grossed over $400 million at the worldwide box office, so no one's surprised that Marvel wants to capitalize on its success. The first film established Thor as a character, gave him relationships and left us with an open ending. So what happens next?
Kevin Feige told EW:
"[We're going to] take Thor literally to other worlds. ... [It will] primarily be the journey of that character, of he and Jane Foster and how the new dynamic with his father is working out, as well as what are the broader stakes for The Nine Worlds."
The idea of exploring The Nine Worlds and the danger amongst them seems like a major CGI fest waiting to happen. Asgard itself was a shiny, yet beautiful undertaking. We can only imagine what the SFX team will do for Vanaheim, Alfheim, Nidavellir and the others.
On a side note, earlier today it was revealed that Patty Jenkins is in talks to direct Thor 2. She's best known for directing Charlize Theron's Oscar-winning performance in Monster and the pilot episode of AMC's The Killing. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but we're keeping a close eye on the story.
Thor 2 is scheduled to hit theaters July 26, 2013.

DOCTOR WHO -- NOT UNTIL 2012
The trouble with Time Lords is they're always jumping around the calendar, but we probably can't blame the Doctor for this. We've seen it coming for a while, and now it's confirmed: Doctor Who season seven won't premiere until autumn 2012.
Doctor Who Magazine has confirmed what's been suspected for quite some time about the Doctor's next set of timey-wimey adventures. There's no clear-cut schedule from the BBC yet, but it's clear that Doctor Who won't be returning for a good long while. Season seven won't even begin shooting until early next year, so everything is still very murky in terms of details, but fan site Doctor Who TV offered this schedule prediction:
2012
Easter Special
Autumn - Series 7 Part 1
Christmas Special
2013
Spring - Series 7 Part 2
Autumn - Series 8
Christmas Special
So, that's a little glimpse in the spring followed by a handful of episodes, one special, and then another handful of episodes. Those are just predictions, but it seems likely that the BBC's official schedule will look something like that. It's a bummer, but it could be worse.

STAR WARS ON BLU-RAY
The Force has certainly been with Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment during the first week of the Star Wars: The Complete Saga's release on Blu-ray.
The nine-disc set took in $84 million globally since its launch on Sept. 16, selling 515,000 units in North America, and making the set the highest-selling and most pre-ordered title in Blu-ray history.
Fans got a preview of some of the added features at Comic-Con this summer, where some of the deleted scenes were screened.
Despite the warm commercial welcome, the release has caused some grumbling among fans, who are upset over tweaks to the original films, including the adding of a Darth Vader line to the climactic scene of Return of the Jedi.
Along with the six feature films, the set includes making-of documentaries, popular Star Wars spoofs, deleted and alternate scenes, and interviews.

PARADISE LOST
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Casey Affleck is in negotiations to star as the angel Gabriel in Paradise Lost, Legendary Pictures’ action-heavy adaptation of the John Milton’s epic poem.
Alex Proyas is directing the movie, which focuses on the Lucifer rebelling against God, causing a war to break out between angels and demons. Bradley Cooper is set as Lucifer, while Ben Walker is portraying Seraphic Angel Michael. Also in the cast is Djimon Hounsou.
Gabriel, an angel with six wings, was created by God to serve as His messenger and initially to work alongside Michael for Lucifer. He and Michael team up to fight Lucifer.
Legendary's Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni are producing along with Vincent Newman.
The movie is eyeing a shoot in Sydney, Australia in January 2012.
Affleck appears in Universal’s Ben Stiller comedy Tower Heist. He last appeared in The Killer Inside Me.

THE CAVES OF STEEL
Deadline reports that 20th Century Fox is planning to adapt another Isaac Asmiov novel. Henry Hobson will direct The Caves of Steel with a script from John Scott 3.
Published in 1954, the book tells a sci-fi detective story set roughly 3,000 years in the future. In it, a police detective, Elijah Bailey, joins forces with a robot, R. Daneel Olivaw, to solve a murder case of a "Spacer" Ambassador before it becomes an intergalactic incident. In the world of the book, Spacers are those who have chosen to leave the Earth for colonies on new worlds, creating a rift between those who remain on the overpopulated Earth.
Bailey and Olivaw (or elements thereof) reappear in subsequent Asimov stories, including The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn and Robots and Empire.
The Caves of Steel was previously adapted as a British telefim in 1964 and some have criticized Fox's previous Asmiov-based hit, I, Robot for borrowing the basic setup, as the human detective/robot pairing was not a story told in the original 1950 I, Robot anthology.
Hobson and Scott, as announced earlier this year, are working on their first theatrical project, Maggie, about a teenage girl's gradual transformation into a zombie.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

NEWS ON THE DVD FRONT
The floodgates have opened. Studios are pushing out new DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases as the fourth-quarter selling season nears, with one or two summer tentpoles, and a handful of other high-profile new releases, slated to arrive in stores each week from now through Christmas.
Not surprisingly, then, all but one of the 10 top-selling discs on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart for the week ending Sept. 18 are new releases, topped by Paramount Home Entertainment’s Thor, the big-budget fantasy that grossed $181 million in U.S. theaters over the summer.
Thor pushed the previous week’s best seller, fellow summer tentpole X-Men: First Class, from 20th Century Fox, to No. 2. Fox also snagged the No. 3 spot on the chart with Star Wars: The Complete Saga, featuring all six films in their Blu-ray debut. The package lists for $139.99, which makes its No. 3 debut all the more spectacular.
Rounding out the top 10 on the First Alert chart are seven other new releases, including the latest season sets of popular TV shows The Big Bang Theory (No. 4), Glee (No. 6), Supernatural (No. 7), Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (No. 8), Grey’s Anatomy (No. 9) and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (No. 10). Joining them in the top 10 is Universal Studios’ Barbie: Princess Charm School (No. 5), the latest installment in the popular direct-to-video series about the iconic doll.
Thor also topped Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc chart, with Star Wars coming in at No. 2 and X-Men: First Class slipping to No. 3. Blu-ray seems to be enjoying a bit of a surge, with Thor generating 61 percent of its sales from the format and X-Men: First Class, 54 percent.
Home Media Magazine’s rental chart for the week, Thor easily nailed the top spot as well, while the No. 2 position went to the Warner comedy Something Borrowed, which just came off its 28-day holdback from Netflix and Redbox. Universal’s Paul, the previous week’s top rental, slipped to No. 4, right behind Lionsgate’s Everything Must Go, which remained at No. 3 for the second consecutive week.

FRINGE DIGITAL COMICS
To gear up for the launch of the fourth season of Fringe, a digital comic series by DC Entertainment written with series star Josh Jackson has debuted.
Beyond the Fringe, featuring cover art by Drew Johnson, will explore pivotal events that take place between the third and fourth seasons of the Fox sci-fi drama, and will also look at alternative scenarios.
The new digital comic will alternate every two weeks between two shorelines for 14 chapters. "A" storylines look at things that are directly related to the show, while "B" storylines explore the alternative scenarios (ex: how things might be different if some elements are out of balance).
Jackson is penning Peter and the Machine, an arc that will consist of the first three "A" issues.
Beyond the Fringe marks the third comic series based on the show. The first issue is available for download at read.dccomics.com or through the DC Comics app on mobile phones.
Fringe premieres Friday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. on Fox.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Columbia Pictures has just debuted, through iTunes Trailers, a new, extended trailer for director David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright, Yorick van Wageningen and Joely Richardson.
Opening in theaters on December 21, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first film in the studio's three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson's literary blockbuster "The Millennium Trilogy." The movie is based on the first novel in the trilogy, which altogether have sold 50 million copies in 46 countries and become a worldwide phenomenon.

THING IN COMIC FORM
In conjunction with the upcoming Universal Pictures film, The Thing, Dark Horse Comics has announced a special digital comic that will serve as a prequel to the October 14th release (which, in itself, is a prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter film).
The comic will be released in three parts, beginning today and continuing each Wednesday until the film's release. Full details of the comic are as follows:
"The Thing: The Northman Nightmare" tells the origin story of pioneering Norsemen who discover a shape-shifting creature that is hiding in a desolate village with few human survivors.
In December 1991, Dark Horse Comics first published The Thing From Another World #1. In the style of Aliens, Predator and Terminator, Dark Horse Comics picked up where John Carpenter’s classic 1982 film left off. Now, 20 years later, Dark Horse shares a much earlier story about this creature from beneath the ice.
Taking us into frigid Greenland, the comic introduces us to a group of Norsemen who find themselves caught in a game of survival when they discover a terrifying creature. The shape-shifting monster has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman. And it hides somewhere in a desolate village with few human survivors, among them a strange group of women...
Said editor Scott Allie: “This property consistently generates much excitement from fans, which made it easy to round up an incredible team for this prequel comic. This is a sincere horror story by guys who know how to knock it out of the park.”
"The Thing: The Northman Nightmare" is written by Steve Niles (Criminal Macabre), with art by Patric Reynolds (Serenity), colors by Dave Stewart (Hellboy) and a cover by Menton3 (Silent Hill). The Thing: The Northman Nightmare comes to readers as a prequel to Universal Pictures’ upcoming prelude to John Carpenter’s classic 1982 film of the same name.
“Steve Niles and Dark Horse have done it again, truly an amazing book,” said Menton3. “I am extremely proud to be a small part of it.”
Read the first part online now at Digital.DarkHorse.com or via the free Dark Horse Comics mobile app.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

SUPERNATURAL
Out with the old, in with the new is the motto for the seventh season on Supernatural. The CW series returns this week and features a loopy Sam, a frustrated Dean and a badass Castiel. Everyone's favorite angel has gone rogue.
"The Castiel you knew is gone!" That's what Sam and Dean's former ally says after they ask for his help. In Supernatural's premiere episode, "Meet the New Boss," Castiel has gone through some serious changes and his priorities have shifted drastically.
There's a lot of bad blood amongst the demon-hunting group, with Castiel being the man scorned. His portrayer Misha Collins doesn't think Castiel really cares for the Winchesters anymore, especially Sam. He says, "No, he wants Sam to suffer for a while. Sam's basically f***ed." Yeesh! Has Castiel gone completely insane? Will he ever return to his old self? Collins says he hopes so.
"I've grown affectionate for him and developed an affinity for him over the years, and of course, I probably identify with him more than anyone," says Collins. "I definitely want him to be redeemed. I love him; of course I want to see that."
Supernatural premieres Friday, Sept 23.

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES
The final six episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures, completed before star Elisabeth Sladen's death from cancer in April, are set to begin airing Oct. 3. But the new trailer for the show's final season isn't about Sarah Jane's curtain call.
You might expect some kind of goodbye theme for these episodes, even though they were completed quite some time before Sladen's death. It wouldn't be out of the question for the show's creative team to package them as a kind of final farewell to one of the longest-serving characters in the Doctor Who—and by extension BBC—universe. But the way it's done here, as the continued story of an uncommon woman who never stops having adventures, turns out to be better.
We've known for a while that the final six episodes are three two-part serials, the final pair featuring Sarah Jane's son Luke (Tommy Knight). Long-serving Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures writers Phil Ford and Gareth Roberts get to close out the series with their stories. It's all very fitting for the end.
But the trailer gives no indication that we're about to see the final episodes of the series, or that Sarah Jane herself is in some way gone. The trailer is about the adventures, about all the fun sci-fi madness that will befall Sarah and her little extended family as the show comes to an untimely end. There will no doubt be some sort of tearful farewell all over again when the final episode airs, but with these stories—as far as this trailer is concerned, anyway—we can think of Sarah Jane as living on, still on an adventure somewhere in our heads.

THE RAID
Following a successful debut at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month, Gareth Evans' The Raid is likely for an American remake. The Hollywood Reporter has word that Screen Gems is interested in developing an English-language version of the Indonesian action film.
Though Evans is expected to make an American film his next project, he reportedly turned down the offer to remake The Raid himself.
Starring Iko Uwais, Doni Alamsyah, Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian and Ray Sahetapy, the original film took place in the slums of Jakarta and featured a police raid of a criminal safe house.

IMMORTALS
A new TV spot for Tarsem Singh's Immortals has debuted at Fandango.
Opening in 3D and 2D theaters on November 11, the fantasy action adventure stars Henry Cavill, Stephen Dorff, Isabel Lucas, Freida Pinto, Luke Evans, Kellan Lutz, John Hurt and Mickey Rourke.
In the film, the brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Rourke) and his murderous Heraklion army are rampaging across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. With the invincible Bow, the king will be able to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and become the undisputed master of his world. With ruthless efficiency, Hyperion and his legions destroy everything in their wake, and it seems nothing will stop the evil king’s mission.
As village after village is obliterated, a stonemason named Theseus (Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion's raids. When Theseus meets the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man's future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity.

CATWOMAN AT NY COMIC CON
Warner Home Video, Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation proudly present an action-packed hour of first looks at DC Universe Animated Original Movies properties on Friday, October 14 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. at New York Comic Con.
Central to the panel will be the world premiere of the animated short Catwoman, starring Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse) as the voice of title character. The 15-minute short will be included on the release of Batman: Year One, which streets October 18 on Blu-ray, DVD, for Download and On Demand.
The panel will also include the very first footage to be seen from Justice League: Doom, the highly-anticipated next entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.
The panelists, which include the ultimate voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, DCU executive producer Bruce Timm and casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano, will offer a glimpse into the 2012 DC Universe Animated Original Movies slate, give away some exclusive prizes to inquisitive audience members, and quite possibly welcome a few surprise guests to the stage.
An autograph session with the panelists will immediately follow the panel.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

J. EDGAR
“Even great men can be corrupted,” says Leonardo DiCaprio’s J. Edgar Hoover in the trailer for Clint Eastwood’s highly anticipated biopic.
And there are plenty of great men in the Warner Bros. film: Oscar winner Clint Eastwood directs, Oscar-nominated actor Leonardo DiCaprio stars, and the screenplay was written by Dustin Lance Black, who won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for 2008's Milk. With such a stacked deck, the Warner Bros. film has already been generating plenty of Oscar buzz, due to its very stacked deck.
Although there’s been months of hype, the trailer that premiered Monday is the first hint we’ve gotten as to what the film actually looks like. J. Edgar follows the mysterious life of the man who started and ran the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
The film, which will debut at the AFI fest on November 3, also stars Armie Hammer, Judi Dench, Naomi Watts, Josh Lucas and Ed Westwick. It is set for a November 9 release.

EXPENDABLES 2
According to Variety, Liam Hemsworth is the latest name to join the cast of The Expendables 2. There's no word on his role quite yet, but he marks a surprisingly youthful addition to the cast of seasoned action stars, already slated to include Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Co-written and directed by Stallone, the original Expendables also starred Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas, Giselle Itie, Charisma Carpenter, Gary Daniels, Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke. Who among those that may be returning for the second film (this time directed by Simon West) has yet to be confirmed, though newcomers Nicolas Cage and John Travolta are also said to be in talks.
Hemsworth is set to appear early next year in The Hunger Games and will play a leading role in the upcoming AWOL as well.
The Expendables 2 will begin filming next month in Bulgaria and is planning an August 17, 2012 release.

11th COMMANDMENT
New Franchise Media Inc. has announced plans to adapt the Jeffrey Archer bestseller, The Eleventh Commandment, into an ongoing television series. Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, "The Walking Dead") is attached to produce through Valhalla Entertainment. The official description for the series is as follows:
In The Eleventh Commandment, Connor Fitzgerald is the CIA's most deadly assassin, hiding the details of his career from his family. Only days from his retirement from the Agency, he comes across an enemy he cannot handle, the Director of the CIA, bent on making Connor the fall guy for a phony assassination on a Russian presidential candidate that could inadvertently trigger World War III.
"Jeffrey Archer's storytelling is compelling, character driven and perfect for television-full of fast-paced, high-stakes danger," Hurd announced in the press release, "I'm thrilled to bring his books and the adventures of Connor Fitzgerald to life for audiences."
“Like Jeffrey Archer’s page-turning novels, which are always a guaranteed good read, this TV series will entertain with its unexpected twists and compelling characters that will keep you hooked,” added NFMI CEO Jeffrey Steiner, “We plan for event television with that must-see factor.”
Archer himself also weighed in with his thoughts on seeing his book brought to the small screen:
“Gale Anne Hurd's amazing pedigree in bringing action-oriented entertainment to the screen puts her among the best in the business," he said, "I am delighted to be working with her."
There is currently no announced timeline for production, but a pilot could be prepared to air as early as next year.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2011

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

PRIMEVAL
While we're impatiently waiting for season five of Primeval to air over here in North America, news of a spinoff of the U.K. sci-fi series has just emerged.
Titled Primeval: New World will be a Canadian production from our friends over at SPACE, and it will be set in the same anomalies-filled universe we all know and love.
This is the announcement:
We're excited to announce today that SPACE has ordered a new original drama series known as Primeval: New World!
The series will run 13 one hour long episodes and will build on the UK Primeval mythology, taking place in the same universe that we've come to know and love. The story will centre on a new Canadian team of animal experts taking on whatever past or future creatures come through the anomalies that are now appearing around the world.
The creative team behind New World boasts an all Canadian team of writers, and takes place in Vancouver, continuing the SPACE tradition of creating top quality original Canadian genre programming!
SFX seems to have a bit more news about the Primeval spinoff, saying:
This new series will be "darker and scarier" than the original and it will have a younger, sexier cast and lots of gory special effects to go with it; as a result of this the new show will air at the later time of 9pm [hmmm... do they mean UK time?].
Production is set to start in the winter of 2012 and the show will be filmed mostly in Vancouver. The special effects of the show will be dealt by Impossible's London group. Jonathan Drake, managing director of Impossible says that this is not a continuation of Primeval but rather "a bigger, better, badder re-imagining of the show".
The two stories seem to contradict themselves a little bit here, with SPACE calling it a spinoff and SFX calling it a re-imagining, but as soon as we know more, we'll let you guys know.
There's also no news yet on whether the new Canadian production will involve any of the original ITV series' creators, much as the U.S. version of Being Human involved the original U.K. series' own creator, Toby Whithouse.
Season five of Primeval will air on SPACE on Nov. 10 and should come to BBC America early next year.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

THE THING
The Thing is coming! The prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 horror flick is heading to theaters and it's creepier than ever. Universal has released a new TV spot for the film that's dominated by special effects ... and lots of paranoia.
What's "The Thing" and how the heck does it survive inside an ice block? That's the question the crew of this unfortunate expedition have to ask themselves. The movie takes place in Antarctica at an isolated outpost that's home to scientists and researchers who discover a deadly, shapeshifting creature.
Unlike the first trailer for The Thing, the TV spot only shows a couple of the people that get attacked, instead of the whole roster. We'd love a trailer that doesn't reveal any of the victims ... but we digress. They've got to show off the CGI effects somehow.
Speaking of the team, Mary Elizabeth Winstead leads the group as a paleontologist named Kate Lloyd who visits the region to get the scoop on their new "find." She's joined by Joel Edgerton (Warrior), who plays Carter, a pilot that has an eerie Kurt Russell vibe. If his hair was longer he'd be a spitting image!
Overall, The Thing looks like it can stand on its own in the thriller department. But do you think it can live up to its famous name?
The Thing hits theaters Oct. 14.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
In Drive, a film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, Ryan Gosling plays a stunt driver opposite Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston and Christina Hendriks.
Meanwhile, Sarah Jessica Parker portrays a woman dealing with motherhood and the pressures of her career in the domestic comedy I Don't Know How She Does It. The movie's cast also includes Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear and Christina Hendricks.
Straw Dogs, directed by Rod Lurie, is a remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 original. The movie stars James Marsden, Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgard.
And the Disney classic The Lion King is returning to the big screen this weekend, this time in a 3D version.
See what THR's critics have to say about the movies opening this weekend:
Drive
Bottom Line: Tasty, if sketchy, modern noir with car chases and bloody action that should turn the trick for genre-seeking audiences.
I Don't Know How She Does It
Bottom Line: Sarah Jessica Parker gets the job done in this briskly workable, if thoroughly conventional, domestic comedy.
Straw Dogs
Bottom Line: Remake of Sam Peckinpah's controversial original retains the sensational violence but loses character depth and ambiguity.
Restless
Bottom Line: Goopy doomed teen romance looks to appeal mostly to impressionable adolescent girls.
Granito (opened Wednesday)
Bottom Line: Meaty, self-reflexive doc about the tragic history of Guatemala.
Jane's Journey
Bottom Line: An engaging, often personal look at the great primatologist-turned-conservationist Jane Goodall.
The Mill and the Cross (on Wed.)
Bottom Line: This attempt to explore and dramatize a masterpiece of 16th-century art falls flat.
My Afternoons With Margueritte
Bottom Line: A gentle French comedy that evokes both compassion and humor.
Also opening are The Weird World of Blowfly, Muran and Back Door Channels.

THE PIG WITH THE FROGGY TATTOO
Disney is doing its best to up the Muppets' hip quotient in advance of the The Muppets movie coming this November. But the latest attempt pushes the family-friendly characters into edgier territory than they've ever entered before with a new trailer parodying David Fincher's dark and violent upcoming thriller The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.The trailer features a parody of the Trent Reznor-Karen O cover of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song and even name checks Fincher's film, so the similarity is not coincidental. This version is referred to as The Pig With the Froggy Tattoo.This isn't the first Muppets trailer to parody the marketing of an adult-themed movie. Earlier this summer, a teaser trailer was released referencing the ad campaign for the R-rated comedy The Hangover Part 2.
The question is, if the trailer clicks with young Muppet fans, will any kids be wanting to see the very R-rated thriller?

SOURCE CODE COMING TO TV?
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Mark Gordon is bringing his feature film Source Code to the small screen.
His Mark Gordon Company, which is locked into an overall deal at ABC Studios, has sold a TV version of the sci-fi thriller to CBS with a meaningful penalty. The news marks ABC Studios' first off-network sale of the development season.
Like the film on which it is based, the action/procedural follows three former federal agents who are part of a top-secret program. Each week, they'll use "Source Code" technology to jump into the consciousness of people involved in tragic events.
Gordon (Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds) will produce the project, with Vendome Pictures' Philippe Rousselet serving as a consulting producer. Steve Maeda (Lie to Me, Lost) is on board to write.
This follows a flurry of development season deals for Gordon's company, including a contemporary Miami Vice-style crime drama Untouchable, a Crazy Stupid Love-esque emotional procedural Winging It and an adaptation of Candace Bushnell's One Fifth.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
CW has plans to reboot the television series "Beauty and the Beast", says a story at The Hollywood Reporter.
The original, which ran for three seasons beginning in 1987, was created by Ron Koslow as a reimagining of the fairy tale. Ron Perlman starred as Vincent, the leader of a group of deformed beast-men that lived beneath New York City. Through a psychic bond, he developed a relationship with Catherine (Linda Hamilton), a District Attorney in the city.
The series follows the release earlier this year of the theatrical film Beastly, which also retold the fairy tale in a modern day setting. ABC, meanwhile, is planning their own episodic take on the story while Emma Watson is attached to headline a currently untitled film version, to be directed by Guillermo del Toro.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

SHERLOCK HOLMES
Sherlock Holmes is one of pop culture's most enduring characters, so it's no wonder that every generation takes its stab at updating the great detective. But on the heels of the Doctor Who mastermind's superlative BBC revamp, why would CBS even try?
If you haven't seen Moffat's updated take on Arthur Conan Doyle's sleuth for the ages, then you're missing out on almost six hours of television glory, with the impeccably cheekboned Benedict Cumberbatch as the sociopathic detective and Martin Freeman as Watson, the distraught, distressed veteran of the Afghan wars. It perfectly captures Holmes' old school mania while dragging it into a world of text messaging, blogging and electronic surveillance. After a three-episode first season—oh, the British—Sherlock has just wrapped another batch of mysteries.
And that hit airwaves after Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law had their way with Holmes and Watson in 2009's gazillion-dollar-grossing feature—the sequel to which, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, unspools this December.
In other words: The Holmes-space is already rather full. But CBS is plunging forward with a pilot script by Medium and Tru Calling's Rob Doherty anyway.

THE SPECTRE TV SERIES
Deadline reports that Fox has bought the rights to The Spectre, a drama series to be based on the DC Comics character co-created by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily. The character first appeared in a next issue ad in "More Fun Comics" #51 (January, 1940) and received his first story the following month, #52.
The site says that Brandon Camp ("John Doe") will write the adaptation and executive produce with Bill Gerber (Gran Torino).
According to Deadline, the show will center "on a former cop serving time in afterlife limbo who hunts down earthly criminals on behalf of the dead — and mortals soon to be dead, if ultimate justice is not served."

DRIVE
Bryan Cranston Behind-The-Scenes Featurette
We're pleased to share a cast featurette from FilmDistrict's DRIVE! Opening in theaters this Friday, the fast-paced, action-packed thriller stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, with Oscar Isaac, and Albert Brooks!

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

WALKING DEAD - SEASON 2
Another season, another opportunity for AMC to create a totally terrifying poster to promote its zombie hit, "The Walking Dead."
Again, the central figure is Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), the Georgia lawman who finds himself the unlikely leader of a ragtag band of survivors of a zombie-pocalypse. But where season one's poster had him atop a horse headed into a decimated Atlanta, this year's image telegraphs the show's shift in focus to a rural setting.
Grimes runs along a dirt road toward a farmhouse with storm clouds lowering overhead and, we can only assume, zombies not too far behind.
Yes, we got chills.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

MEN IN BLACK 3
IMAX Corporation and Sony Pictures Entertainment today announced that the action comedy Men in Black 3 will be released to IMAX theatres simultaneously with the film's worldwide release on May 25, 2012. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, Men in Black 3 is the first in the franchise to be released in IMAX.
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back in black in Men in Black 3. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld from a screenplay written by Etan Cohen, based on the Malibu Comic by Lowell Cunningham, the film is produced Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald and executive produced by Steven Spielberg and G. Mac Brown. The film also stars Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, and Emma Thompson.
"Releasing a film in IMAX 3D signals an event release, and 'Men in Black 3' on Memorial Day weekend certainly qualifies in a big way. We couldn't be more excited about how MIB 3 will look and sound in IMAX theatres," said Rory Bruer, president of Worldwide Distribution for Sony Pictures Releasing.
"Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Barry Sonnenfeld have made the 'Men in Black' franchise a fan favorite and we're excited to feature the return of this iconic title in IMAX," said Greg Foster, Chairman and President, IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "'Men in Black 3' is another strong addition to our 2012 film slate and we're looking forward to continuing to work with the talented team at Sony Pictures."
The IMAX release of Men in Black 3 will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX 3D Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX's customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

MAMA
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays the devious Jaime Lannister in HBO’s Game of Thrones, will star opposite Jessica Chastain in Mama, a Guillermo del Toro-executive produced horror movie being distributed by Universal.
The movie tells the story of a couple – Chastain and Coster-Waldau – who take in their long-lost young nieces and nephews. The kids were found after living in the forest for five years but now murderous events begin to unfold and it becomes clear that a supernatural force is intent on claiming the kids.
Andres Muschietti is directing, expanding the story he first told in his 2008 Spanish-language short. Neil Cross rewrote the script based on an original draft by Muschietti and his sister-partner Barbara Muschietti.
Miles Dale and Barbara Muschietti are producing. The movie will begin shooting October 3 in Toronto.
Coster-Waldau, repped by WME and Impression Entertainment, is also starring in the hot Scandinavian crime thriller Headhunters.

13: GAME OF DEATH
TORONTO—Financing and sales company IM Global has set Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism) to direct the English-language remake of Thai horror-thriller 13: Game of Death.
Stuart Ford said Stamm is currently working with writing partner David Birke to adapt the screenplay, and that they hope to go into production early next year.
A cult favorite, the original Game of Death is a macarbre satire of media culture that follows a financially strapped salesman who receives an anonymous phone call informing him he's on a hidden camera game show, and that if he complete 13 tasks, he will receive a multi-million cash prize.
But, entrapped within the horrors manipulated by unseen spectators, the protagonist's need to complete the game escalates as the tasks grow more extreme, to a devastating point of no return.
Ford and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones of Automatik, IM Global's production joint venture with Alliance Films, will produce alongside Kiki Miyake.
“Daniel is one of the most talented young genre directors in the business and we're really excited to see what he and David can do with such darkly riveting source material,” Ford said.
Miyake's Little Magic banner initially brought the widely pursued project to IM Global's executive vice president of acquisitions Amal Elwardi. IM Global collaborator Jason Blum Paranormal Activity, Insidious) and Somsak Techaratanaprasert of Sahamongkolfilm (producer of the original Thai movie) will executive produce.
IM Global and Automatik are currently in production or post-production on 10 features they are producing and/or financing with various partners, including action-thrillers Safe (Jason Statham), Bullet to the Head (Sylvestor Stallone) and Welcome to the Punch (James McAvoy), and genre titles The Bay, from Barry Levinson, Scott Derrickson’s Sinister and Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salems.
Stamm is repped by CAA and Undergrounds Films & Management; Birke, by Paradigm and Madhouse Entertainment.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

BREAKING DAWN
Summit Entertainment has just unveiled a new poster for its upcoming The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1.
The poster features stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in an embrace.
It's much more intimate pose than was featured in the previous poster, released in mid-August, which pictured the entire main cast, including Taylor Lautner, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, Elizabeth Reaser, Peter Facinelli, Ashley Green and Jackson Rathbone.
Breaking Dawn -- Part I, which hits theaters Nov. 18, centers around -- spoiler alert for those who haven't read the books or pretty much any Twilight coverage in recent months -- on the wedding between Bella (Stewart) and Edward (Pattinson) and ensuing pregnancy.
Part 2 is slated for a Nov. 16, 2012 release. Both films are directed by Bill Condon.

364
Ron Howard has lined up another project in the form of 364, an original superhero drama from David Guggenheim, Deadline reports.
The film centers on a man who has superpowers only one day a year.
Set up at Universal with Imagine Entertainment producing, 364 represents a new addition to the already packed slate of potential Howard directing projects. Following the now-in-production Formula One biopic Rush, Howard has attached himself to the Jon Krakauer adaptation Under the Banner of Heaven and the MAD Magazine comic strip adaptation Spy vs. Spy. He's also still attached to the Stephen King multi-tiered film and television version of The Dark Tower, but that project is currently without a studio, following Universal's decision to pass on the property.
Guggenheim is the writer behind the upcoming action thrillers Medallion and Safe House.

LES MISERABLES
According to reports in Deadline, Russell Crowe has joined the cast of Tom Hooper's Les Misérables. He'll play Inspector Javert to Hugh Jackman's Jean Valjean.
Based on Victor Hugo's 1862 novel, the hit Broadway musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg opened in 1985, beginning one of the longest runs for a musical ever. Set against the backdrop of the 19th Century French rebellion, Jackman's character is a man who ends up in jail after stealing bread to feed his sister and ends up becoming the guardian of a young woman named Cosette. The musical has been adapted for the screen by William Nicholson.
Hooper is going to be following up his Oscar win for The King's Speech with the adaptation, set up at Working Title and Universal Pictures.
The movie will be the first time that Jackman, who has sung and danced on Broadway in his Tony-winning role in "The Boy From Oz" as well as host of the Oscars and Tonys, would perform in that capacity on screen. The film will likewise mark the first big screen musical for Crowe, who sings for his band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.
Lining up a diverse series of projects, Crowe will soon also appear in RZA's directing debut The Man with the Iron Fists, Allen Hughes' Broken City and Zack Snyder's Superman reboot, Man of Steel. Though currently shooting, that film will actually be released after Les Misérables, which is planned to hit theaters on December 7, 2012.

CHARLOTTE DOYLE
Morgan Freeman and Pierce Brosnan are attached to star in a film adaptation of children's author Avi's bestselling book "The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle" reports Screen Daily.
The story follows an adventurous young girl who braves the high seas aboard a ship with a ruthless captain and a mutinous crew, set in 1830. Saoirse Ronan was previously attached to the role of Doyle.
Danny DeVito directs from a script he adapted and shooting is scheduled to begin in Ireland in 2012. DeVito, Lori McCreary, Michael Weisler and Beau St.Clair will produce.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

ALPHAS RENEWED FOR SECOND YEAR
Looks like Alphas—which, along with Eureka and Warehouse 13, recently helped give Syfy its best Monday night in a decade—will be back for more superhuman investigating. Because 13 more episodes of the drama have been ordered and will be coming our way in 2012.
Here's Syfy's official press release:
SYFY RENEWS ALPHAS FOR SECOND SEASON
13 EPISODES OF SUPERHUMAN DRAMA SERIES FROM UNIVERSAL CABLE PRODUCTIONS AND BERMANBRAUN TELEVISION ORDERED FOR 2012
NEW YORK - September 7, 2011 - Syfy's new super-powered original drama series Alphas, featuring a team of superhuman investigators, will be returning for a second season, it was announced today by Mark Stern, President, Original Content, Syfy, and Co-Head, Original Content, Universal Cable Productions. Syfy is ordering 13 episodes of the breakout scripted summer hit from series producers Universal Cable Productions and BermanBraun Television to air in 2012.
"Alphas' smart, innovative approach to a superhero franchise has clearly caught on with our audience," said Stern. "From the first-rate writing to the outstanding cast lead by David Strathairn, we're very proud of what was achieved in its first season and look forward to seeing this series fulfill even more of its creative potential in a second season."
Alphas debuted on July 11th and became Syfy's most-watched original scripted series premiere in two years. To date, premiere episodes which air Monday nights at 10PM ET/PT have averaged 3.3 million total viewers (including all available Live +7 DVR data).
Comparatively, in both key demos, Alphas has outperformed other new and returning scripted series this season including Teen Wolf, Rescue Me, Hawthorne and The Killing. Alphas also tops Memphis Beat in Adults 18-49.
Alphas has scored impressive numbers with on demand viewers since its July launch averaging over 240,000 plays within 7 days per episode. Alphas is also Syfy's most popular series in digital downloads.
Alphas, airing Monday nights at 10PM ET/PT on Syfy, follows a clandestine group of ordinary people whose unique neurological condition equips them with extraordinary physical abilities. Led by preeminent neurologist and psychiatrist Dr. Lee Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn (Temple Grandin, Good Night, and Good Luck) and operating within the Defense Department, the team investigates cases involving other Alpha activity. The ensemble cast also stars Malik Yoba (New York Undercover, Why Did I Get Married?), Warren Christie (October Road), Azita Ghanizada (Castle), Ryan Cartwright (Bones) and Laura Mennell (Watchmen). Valerie Cruz is a recurring guest star.
Notable guest stars this season include Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Garret Dillahunt (Raising Hope), Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman), Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Rebecca Mader (Lost) on September 12th and John Pyper Ferguson (Caprica) on September 26th.
Created by Zak Penn and Michael Karnow, Alphas is a production of Universal Cable Productions and BermanBraun Television.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

"Supernatural" fans, the premiere photos are here! Hey, these Winchester boys may be miserable, but they sure make it look good, don't they? When Season 7 begins on Sept. 23 at 9 p.m., we're yet again going to see a very different Sam (Jared Padalecki) -- he's not drinking blood, and he's got his soul back, but his terrifying memories of hell are blurring his reality.
As always, Dean's (Jensen Ackles) biggest concern is his brother -- oh, and saving the world from the new wrathful God, Castiel (Misha Collins). As Castiel seeks vengeance on the angels who betrayed him during the civil war in Heaven, he believes he's on a righteous path -- but the consequences of his mission could be terrible.
Dean calls on Death (Julian Richings) to stop Castiel -- after all, Death had the power to retrieve Sam's soul when no one else could -- but when plans go awry, Death turns his anger on Dean.

WORLD WAR Z
A new set video has appeared for the film adaptation of Max Brooks's acclaimed book, WORLD WAR Z and it shows just how the movie's zombies operate.
Watch as the video someone managed to capture from the filming in Glasglow shows an infected man twitching into a spastic undeath that includes headbanging the side of a mini van.
What is even more apparent is that the high-speed zombie attack seems to be a departure from Brooks' novel due to the creatures' ability to run and the quick change-over rate from bite to zombie mode. This is something sure to annoy Brooks loyalists if they weren't already annoyed to begin with.
A press release for the film already showed a massive deviation from the film's plot. Instead of Brad Pitt's character traveling around the world collecting survivors' accounts of a global zombie plague that brought civilization to a halt a decade earlier in order to gain perspective on the events, the film feels more like typical Hollywood fare about the sprint to stop an outbreak.
The release says, "The story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity, itself."
There also seems to be a love story involving Lane getting back to his wife Karin (played by Mireille Enos) and their two children.

NEW WEINSTEIN LABEL LAUNCHED
The Hollywood Reporter writes that the Weinstein Company is launching a new label that will deliver films through digital distribution channels. Magnolia exec Tom Quinn and legal consultant Jason Janego have been named co-presidents of the yet-to-be-named shingle and will run it out of New York. They will report to TWC co-chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein.
Quinn and Janego will oversee acquisitions, productions and distribution of label content, with the Toronto International Film Festival their first hunting ground. Their goal is to release a film by mid-2012.
“It’s an exciting time in filmmaking; technology has made film a more democratic medium than ever, for artists and audiences," said the Weinsteins. "There are just so many great movies being made all over the world, and the new digital platforms make it possible for more people than ever to see them."
While at Magnolia, Quinn launched its genre shingle, Magnet Releasing, and acquired films such as Man on Wire, Jesus Camp, Let the Right One In, Page One, Monsters and Trollhunter. Janego has worked as an executive at Big Beach Films, Miramax Films, Cinetic Media and Magnolia Pictures, where he and Quinn were among the first to explore day-and-date strategies with movies such as Bubble, Two Lovers, 13 Assassins and Client 9.
“Our experience in digital distribution has been eye-opening and inspiring; we see it as a new frontier for studios and for independent filmmakers of every stripe," said Quinn and Janego.
The Weinstein Company most recently released Our Idiot Brother and Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World. Upcoming releases include My Week With Marilyn, The Artist, Butter and The Iron Lady.

SOLACE
According to Variety, Anthony Hopkins is in final negotations to headline New Line Cinema's Solace.
Originally announced for development in 2008 with Mark Pellington (The Mothman Prophecies, Arlington Road) directing, the project deals with a clairvoyant doctor who is enlisted by the police to help catch a serial killer. Hopkins would play the doctor, John Clancy.
Pellington is no longer attached, but Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm are still producing alongside Matthias Emcke and Thomas Augsberger. When the project was originally announced, the script had been written by Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin with rewrites by James Vanderbilt. It has since been rewritten by Peter Morgan.
Hopkins most recently starred in Thor and is likely to reprise his role in some capacity for the 2013 sequel.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2011

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
Horror-thrillers Apollo 18 and Shark Night 3D remain in a dead heat at the Labor Day box office, while The Help and Helen Mirren starrer The Debt continue to trump both in an end-of-summer upset.
The final race between Shark Night and Apollo 18 wont’ be called until Monday morning, when updated numbers for the four-day holiday weekend come in.
The Help will easily win the Labor Day contest with a projected four-day cume of $18 million; it’s three-day cume is an estimated $14.2 million—representing only a 3% drop from last weekend. The $25 million film will cross $120 million in domestic grosses sometime on Monday, besting all expectations. From DreamWorks Entertainment and Participant Media, The Help is the first film since last year’s Inception to top the box office chart for three consecutive weekends. Disney is distributing director Tate Taylor’s pic, based on Kathryn Stockett’s runaway bestseller.
“We continue to add theaters—we have each week—it’s getting us into smaller towns and more rural areas,” said Disney executive vice president of worldwide distribution Dave Hollis. “We’ll slow that expansion of theaters as demand slows on the picture, but we’re hopeful that we’ll continue to play well on into the fall.
The Help began its rollout at the international box office this weekend, opening to a solid $1.7 million in Australia, despite its uniquely American theme.
From Focus Features and Miramax, The Debt is expected to reach $12.2 million for the four-days, putting its six-day launch (the adult drama-thriller opened Wednesday) at a stellar $14.1 million. For the three-day weekend, the John Madden-directed pic is estimated to gross $9.7 million.
The Help, playing in far fewer theaters than its competitors, is overperforming in much the same way The Constant Gardener did, which Focus successfully launched over Labor Day in 2005 (the independent distributor is famous for using the holiday for adult fare).
For genre titles—the traditional staple of Labor Day—the holiday isn’t bringing much good news this year.
Found-footage sci fi thriller Apollo 18, from the Weinstein Co., and Shark Night, from Incentive Filmed Entertainment and Sierra/Affinity, grossed an estimated $8.7 million and $8.6 million for the three-day weekend, respectively.
Projections show Apollo 18 squeaking by Shark Night for the four-day weekend with a cume of $10.7 million, versus a projected $10.5 million for Shark Night. Neither film seemed to particularly please audiences: Apollo 18 received a dismal D CinemaScore, while Shark Night drew a C (The Debt drew a B).
Heading into the weekend, tracking showed Apollo 18 grossing $11 million to $14 million for the four-day weekend, while Shark Night—which didn’t show the same level of heat as Apollo 18—was expected to earn $7 million to $8 million.
Apollo 18 only cost $5 million to produce, so the Weinstein Co. isn’t financially at risk; however, it’s the third weekend in a row that the company has seen one of its film underperform.
As expected, Apollo 18—produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Ron Schmidt—appleaed heavily to males, who made up 59% of the audience, while 64% of those buying tickets were over the age of 25.
Apollo 18 is impressive for coming together in less than a year; Dimension and Bekmambetov introduced the project to foreign buyers at last November’s American Film Market.
Director David R. Ellis’ Shark Night, fully financed and produced by Incentive Filmed Entertainment and Sierra/Affinity, is relying on younger moviegoers. Exit polling showed that 57% of Friday night’s audience was under the age of 25, while 53% of the audience was male.
Relativity put up all marketing costs for Shark Night, while Sierra/Affinity covered much of the pic’s production budget (just under $30 million after tax rebates) through foreign presales. The movie begins its international rollout this weekend when opening in Russia.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes placed No. 5 for the three-day weekend (Fox didn’t provide a four-day estimate) grossing $7.4 million for a domestic cume of $160 million.
Sony’s Zoe Saldana action pic Colombiana did the best among the three films playing in their second weekend, grossing an estimated $7.4 million for the three days for a cume of $22 million. Sony projects the movie will earn $9.3 million for the four days. Our Idiot Brother, from the Weinstein Co., grossed an estimated $5.1 million for the three-day weekend, followed by FilmDistrict’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark with $5 million (four day numbers won’t be available until Monday).
Sony’s The Smurfs rounded out the top 10 chart, and jumped the $400 million mark over the weekend at the worldwide box office.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2011

REVENGE
The Hollywood Reporter writes that in an effort to lure potential viewers to the ABC mystery Revenge, ahead of fall's TV crush, the network has opted to dole out the series' pilot script to passengers aboard the Hamptons-bound buses this Labor Day weekend. The script will also be available for free download at the Kindle store until Sept. 21, the date the Hamptons-based series premieres.
The get-out-the-word campaign will continue on Sept. 3 with the dissemination of Revenge towels for beach-goers in the Hamptons, Jersey Shore and Los Angeles. Jitney riders will received towels in addition to scripts.
Revenge, which ABC entertainment Group Paul Lee called one of “our internal favorites” during August's Television Critics Association tour last month, is billed as a contemporary reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo.
The drama centers on a mysterious young woman, played by Emily VanCamp, who is welcomed into a rich Hamptons community filled with people who don't know she's there to exact revenge on the people who had destroyed her family.
“We’re dealing in a particular time right now in American history where I think the average American is going to want to see a takedown of the rich,” says star Madeleine Stowe.
Added creator/executive producer Mike Kelley, “Revenge is such a great story engine. It’s really a jumping off point.”
The series, which will use pieces of the book as "sign-posts," began with executive producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, who were interested in telling a Hamptons-set story of haves and have-nots. When ABC brass suggested they layer in a story engine, Bowen decided to pull from Monte Cristo as inspiration. The decision to do so from a female point of view lead to the hiring of Kelley, whose credits include One Tree Hill and The O.C.
“It feels great to be so firmly on brand at ABC,” said Kelley, acknowledging that that wasn’t the case on some of his past projects, likely referencing his time on CBS’ short-lived Swingtown.
In an era of limited attention spans and infinite options, he was quick to dispell any concerns of lingering story lines. Instead, Kelley said he plans to answer all of the questions that he sets up in the pilot during the show's first 13 episodes.
“I want to satisfy viewers,” he said, noting that ultimately there will only be one way to wrap up a series about revenge. "It will be Emily and Victoria with a sea of bodies between them and they’ll have to forgive. That’s the only way out of this series."

KITE
Variety reports that David R. Ellis, whose Shark Night 3D hits theaters today, has signed on to direct a live-action adaptation of the Japanese OVA Kite.
Released as two halves in Japan, the 1998 anime was directed by Yasuomi Umetsu and told the story of a sexually abused orphaned schoolgirl, Sawa, who becomes an assassin.
The original famous for its high level of sex and violence, Kite has been planned for a live-action version for some time. In 2008, it was announced that Mexican directors Jorge and Javier Aguilera were attached, though nothing significant developed.
Production on Kite is expected to begin in early 2012.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

SECRET STASH
AMC announced the addition of two new shows to its line-up:
The unscripted series "Secret Stash" -- set in Kevin Smith's comic book shop, Jay and Silent Bob''s Secret Stash, promises to "capture the world of the neighborhood comic book store and fanboy culture." We love it, but we're going to go ahead and predict this as appealing to a niche market. The show is set to debut in February 2012.
"JJK Security" will be centered on a small, family run security business and is (a la "Walking Dead") set in Georgia. AMC describes it as a "Southern gothic workplace dramedy." So "The Office" meets "True Blood"? Expect to see it air in summer 2012.

WOLVERINE WOES
First, the director quit. Then the location for filming had to be changed. Now the script for the new Wolverine movie is getting a rewrite.
Variety reports that Mark Bomback, whose credits include the upcoming Total Recall remake and director Bryan Singer's fantasy Jack the Giant Killer, has been hired to rewrite the script for The Wolverine that was originally turned in by Christopher McQuarrie way back when Darren Aronofsky was still directing this thing.
After all, since shooting is delayed until 2012 anyway, why not have some dude who wrote Live Free or Die Hard come in and tinker with what's reportedly a good script already?
The synopsis for the movie says that the story "will find Wolverine suffering from amnesia and searching for answers about his past in the Japanese criminal underworld where he finds both love and tragedy."
At least we know the picture is still set in Japan, meaning it's still related somehow to the classic comic book arc created by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. In fact, Variety adds that the entire cast will consist of Japanese or Japanese-American actors with the exception of Viper, who's the secretary for Japan's Minister of Justice. It's not clear if this is the same Viper who becomes Madame Hydra in the Marvel comic book universe.
Production will take place mainly in Vancouver, with some filming to be done in Tokyo, and will start early next year with James Mangold directing and Hugh Jackman, of course, returning as Wolverine. No release date yet, but if you put your money on summer 2013 you'd probably win.

FRINGE NEWS
Olivia, Walter and (M.I.A.) Peter dominate the latest Fringe poster—but they're not alone. The trio is joined by not one or two, but FOUR of those pasty, beady-eyed Observers!
The poster's tagline is "New Beginning. New Dimensions," which proves producers Jeff Pinkner and Joel H. Wyman's statement about season four being like "a pilot episode." In a way, the characters are starting over, which attests for the new beginning part. But what about the dimensions?
So far, the Fringe team has only worked with one alternate universe, so why is "dimension" plural? Is there another one out there as well? Or are they just referring to the two? And what the heck are the Observers hiding besides Peter's existence? They're up to their fedoras in this mess!
As for the heavy ripple effect used in the poster, it obviously illustrates the aftermath of Peter's disappearance. But judging from the last promo trailer, Olivia has a feeling that something's off. Her Petey sense is tingling and it's only a matter of time before she realizes what happened.
Fringe premieres Friday, Sept. 23, at 9 p.m.

BIG DEAD PLACE
Former ‘Sopranos’ Actor James Gandolfini is developing drama Big Dead Place, based on Nicholas Johnson’s memoir about his work in the U.S. Antarctic Program.
Breaking Bad writer Peter Gould, who recently teamed with the premium network on Andrew Ross Sorkin's telepic Too Big to Fail, is on board to pen and executive produce the project. Gandolfini will executive produce the project, which could also become a starring vehicle for him.
Gandolfini’s managers Nancy Sanders and Mark Armstrong as well as actor Brian Swibel and Mosaic’s Jimmy Miller are also attached as EPs. Sam Hansen will serve as an co-executive producer.

WONDERDON MOVING TO ANAHEIM
The move for next year's show rumored for some time, Comic-Con International has officially confirmed that WonderCon 2012 will be held in Anaheim, California rather than in the San Francisco Bay Area, where it has been held since it began in 1987 (first at the Oakland Convention Center and, since 2003, the Moscone Center). The official announcement about the move appeared on the organization's official site and reads as follows:
WonderCon, part of Comic-Con International's (CCI) family of conventions, today announced that the 2012 show will be held March 16-18, and Anaheim, California, will play host to the long-running comics and popular arts convention. San Francisco's Moscone Center, WonderCon's traditional venue, will undergo renovations in early 2012, leaving the 25-year-old show in the unenviable position of either being canceled or finding a new venue.
In a move to help alleviate an overcrowded calendar, ReedPop's C2E2, which has been waiting to announce dates for its own show in March 2012, will now seek alternative dates while Wizard World has announced that it will postpone its April 2012 Anaheim show.
"It certainly was not our wish to move," commented David Glanzer, director of marketing and public relations for the nonprofit event. "However, when faced with the prospect of canceling the show for a year or moving locations, after careful consideration we decided to keep WonderCon on the 2012 calendar at a venue that could accommodate our needs."
"We fully understand the challenges of trying to secure dates at any venue, let alone one undergoing renovation," said Lance Fensterman, Group Vice President of ReedPop. "In an effort to minimize the impact on exhibitors and attendees we are currently looking to shift C2E2 from our traditional March dates."
Gareb Shamus, CEO of Wizard World offered a unique solution to offset any potential conflict for fans and exhibitors: "All of us who produce conventions know securing dates can often be a frustrating experience especially when you find yourself having to move to a new city." Shamus continued, "Because of their long history, Wizard World has decided to accommodate WonderCon and postpone our April 2012 Anaheim show."
"We appreciate the efforts of Lance and Gareb for going above and beyond in making the WonderCon transition more manageable," said Glanzer.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

DIE HARD 5
According to the Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Fox has settled on studio mainstay John Moore to direct Die Hard 5, the latest in the decades long Bruce Willis action franchise.
Moore is now in negotiations to helm the movie, which will see Willis return to star as John McClaine.
The move is not a surprise as Moore's name kept surfacing even as the studio looked at names such as Fast Five helmet Justin Lin, Nicolas Refn of Drive and Attack the Block's Joe Cornish. The derby was set in motion when Noam Murro, who was slated to direct, left to take on Warner Bros.'s 300 sequel 300: Battle of Artemisia.
The new Die Hard movie has a script by Skip Woods and is said to feature McClaine's son, with some saying Fox may be setting up a passing of the baton.
All of Moore's features - which begin with 2001's Behind Enemy Lines starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman, include Flight of the Phoenix and a remake of The Omen, and end with Max Payne - have been for Fox.

SUPERMAN
Superman has a brand-new costume and thanks to newly released images from the set of Man of Steel, fans are getting their first chance to study it in detail.
The new costume, worn by actor Henry Cavill, appears to be keeping in line with the revised version of the character soon to be seen in DC Comics' reboots of the Action Comics and Superman series next month. The red briefs and yellow belt are gone; replaced by blue briefs. And from the looks of the photos, the omnipresent red cape is now optional.
A previous photo of the Man of Steel was released earlier in August, but the image was dim and moody and didn't give fans a sense of what the costume would look like in action.
Warner Bros.' Superman reboot began filming outside of Chicago in early August.

ROMANCING THE STONE
Deadline reports that a remake of Robert Zemeckis' 1984 adventure film Romancing the Stone has been relatively quiet since it was first announced nearly three years ago. Now plans have changed and, rather than being set up as a feature film, the property will be developed by NBC as a television series with Shawn Levy producing and potentially attached to direct the pilot.
The original film starred Kathleen Turner as a romance novelist and Michael Douglas as an American soldier of fortune who team together to try and save her missing sister. The new version is said to expand on that premise, swapping the sister character for a brother.
The series plans to head to the network with Mark Friedman (Home of the Brave, "The Forgotten") writing. Levy is said to be interested in directing, though his upcoming slate is looking to be quite full. His next, Real Steel is hoping to launch a franchise and his name has been brought up in connection to Fantastic Voyage and 20th Century Fox's Untitled Frankenstein Film, among others.

THE DOUBLE
The trailer for the thriller The Double has come online. Directed by Michael Brandt and written by Derek Haas and Brandt (the duo behind Wanted, 3:10 to Yuma and 2 Fast 2 Furious), the film stars Richard Gere, Topher Grace, Stana Katic, Stephen Moyer, Martin Sheen and Odette Annable.
In The Double, opening in theaters on September 23, the mysterious murder of a US senator bearing the distinctive trademark of the legendary Soviet assassin "Cassius" forces Paul Shepherdson (Gere), a retired CIA operative, to team with rookie FBI agent, Ben Geary (Grace), to solve the crime. Having spent his career chasing Cassius, Shepherdson is convinced his nemesis is long dead, but is pushed to take on the case by his former supervisor, Tom Highland (Sheen). Meanwhile, Agent Geary, who wrote his Master's thesis on Shepherdson's pursuit of the Soviet killer, is certain that Cassius has resurfaced. As Shepherdson and Geary work their way through crimes both past and present, they discover that Cassius may not be the person they always thought him to be, forcing both to re-examine everything and everyone around them.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011

TRON 3
At a recent convention, Bruce Boxleitner confirmed Tron 3 is entering full resolution and well on its way toward a 2013 release.
Brainstorming sessions began last January for a third installment of Disney's Tron franchise when Tron 2 was teetering over $300 million and the merchandising juggernaut was providing a glittering stream of ancillary revenue. Supporting the cyberscape love-fest, Disney XD's awesome-looking upcoming cartoon series Tron: Uprising is gathering gigabytes of followers. One of the ideas being juggled around for the next sequel is reintroducing the character of Yori, played by Caddyshack vamp Cindy Morgan in the 1982 original.
Joseph Kosinski, director of Tron: Legacy, revealed a potential plot for the screenplay earlier this year. Rumored to be called Tron: The Next Day, the film picks up where Legacy ended, with Quorra in the real world, continuing the exploits and adventures of Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund).
A six-pack of alternative storylines have been in consideration since last winter. Several of them feature the character of Laura, who would be married to Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner's Tron character). Cillian Murphy is also said to be onboard the film, should it proceed, playing two pivotal characters.
Jeff Bridges is not confirmed to return as Kevin Flynn. But don't count the fantastic Mr. Flynn out yet.
Originally budgeted at $170 million, Tron: Legacy opened on Dec. 17, 2010, and, after surviving a wave of mediocre reviews, churned on through the holiday season to rack up over $400 million worldwide. That's nothing to rattle a fistful of quarters at.

DYNAMIC DUO-SPIELBERG/KING
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Stephen King and Steven Spielberg are at it again.
The duo who previously teamed on The Talisman are developing a drama series based on King’s 2009 novel Under the Dome.
The project, which will be produced by DreamWorks Television, revolves around locals a Maine locale who battle each other when a force field surrounds their town and cuts them off from the remainder of the world.
King will executive produce along with DreamWorks TV’s Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. No writer is currently attached.
DreamWorks TV also produces Spielberg’s TNT alien invasion drama Falling Skies, which was recently picked up for a second season, and had the Toni Collette dramedy United States of Tara at Showtime.
King and Peter Straub’s fantasy novel The Talisman was published in 1984, which TNT developed into a six-part miniseries in 2006; the project was ultimately scraped due to budget concerns.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2011

from Bleiberg Entertainment on Vimeo.

BISHOP TO PAWN
TNT is getting into the pawn business. The cable network has picked up Bishop to Pawn, a script from Person of Interest writer Greg Plageman.
The drama project revolves around a private investigator who runs his business out of his Los Angeles pawn shop and has Jerry Bruckheimer is attached to executive produce through Jerry Bruckheimer Television in association with Warner Horizon Television.
Jonathan Littman (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) will also executive produce, with KristieAnne Reed (The Whole Truth) on board as a co-executive producer.
Bruckheimer and Reed also have an hourlong 1980s wrestling project in development at NBC and a put-pilot commitment from CBS for a character-based procedural from Heroes scribe Aron Eli Coleite.
Plageman's Person of Interest premieres Sept. 22 on CBS.

ARGO
According to variety, Ben Affleck's next has added three new cast members, namely Tate Donovan, Nelson Franklin and Taylor Schilling in the upcoming Argo.
The trio join Alan Arkin, John Goodman and Affleck himself in the true espionage story about a 1979 CIA team that, working with the Canadian government, moved to rescue six U.S. diplomats who had been taken hostage at an American embassy by a group of Iranians. Working undercover, the team pretended that they were part of a Hollywood film crew scouting a movie called "Argo."
Schilling, who most recently appeared in Atlas Shrugged and who will star in next year's The Lucky One, will play wife to Affleck's CIA Agent with Donovan an embassy consulate and Franklin a journalist.
The screenplay was adapted by Chris Terrio from Joshua Bearman's April 2007 Wired magazine article, "How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue American from Tehran" and it's being produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov's Smoke House to be released by Warner Bros.

APOLLO 18
The Weinstein Company has released a new trailer for their upcoming Apollo 18, which hits theaters this Friday.
Shot in a "found footage" documentary style, Apollo 18 pretends to unearth lost footage from Apollo 18's undocumented and covert mission to the moon, revealing disturbing new evidence of other life forms.

OLD BOY
Deadline reports that Josh Brolin has been cast in the upcoming remake of Park Chan-wook's Old Boy.Brolin, who next appears on the big screen in Men in Black III, will play the part of Joe (Dae-su Oh in the original), a man who, on the day his daughter is born, is captured and imprisoned in a hotel room for over two decades (15 years in the original) with no understanding as to why. When he is suddenly released, he's told that he has just four days to determine the reason for his imprisonment and, if he cannot, his daughter will be killed.
Originally a late '90's manga series by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, the American version will apparently, as in that series, go by that two word title rather that the single world Oldboy that Chan-wook's version used.
Spike Lee is set to direct the film with a script from Mark Protosevich and is eyeing an early 2012 production start.

MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2011

DOMINION
Reports in the Hollywood Reporter indicate that Zoe Saldana has signed a deal to produce and star in Paramount Pictures' supernatural thriller Dominion.
Little is known about the plot specifics, but the pitch arrives from relative newcomers Chester Hastings and Dean McCreary and concerns a half-human, half-angel. The project bears no relation to the unproduced DreamWorks project, Dominion or the recently announced Barry Sonnenfeld/Grant Morrison project, Dominion: Dinosaurs Versus Aliens.
Saldana headlines this week's Colombiana and is soon expected to return for two major sci-fi sequels, Star Trek 2 and Avatar 2.

IN TIME
An international trailer for Andrew Niccol's In Time has come online. Opening in theaters on October 28, the thriller stars Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Muphy, Vincent Kartheiser, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Galecki, Olivia Wilde and Matthew Bomer.
In Time presents a world where time has become the ultimate currency. You stop aging at 25, but there's a catch: you're genetically-engineered to live only one more year, unless you can buy your way out of it. The rich "earn" decades at a time (remaining at age 25), becoming essentially immortal, while the rest beg, borrow or steal enough hours to make it through the day. When a man from the wrong side of the tracks is falsely accused of murder, he is forced to go on the run with a beautiful hostage. Living minute to minute, the duo's love becomes a powerful tool in their war against the system.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2011

Good day to curl up with a good book, your DVDs or VHS copies of BABYLON 5 -- whatever you have to keep you inside andaway from harm -- for at least those of you on the East Coast! Not a bad prescription for anyone really -- as long asthe electriciity holds out.

Take care everyone!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

BOX OFFICE WEEKEND
On Friday, Zoe Saldana, Jordi Molla and Lennie James stars in the bullet thriller Colombiana, directed by Olivier Megaton.
Meanwhile, Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce and Bailee Madison star in the horror flick Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. The movie is written by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins and directed by Troy Nixey.
Also opening Friday is the family comedy Our Idiot Brother, directed and produced by Jesse Peretz and starring Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks and Zooey Deschanel.
Here is what The Hollywood Reporter's critics have to say about those films.
Colombiana
Bottom Line: Another Besson bash of bullets, bodies and broads.
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Bottom Line: A scary film where the scares peter out far too quickly.
Our Idiot Brother
Bottom Line: Dysfunctional family comedy ambles instead of snowballing and treats its good-hearted hero pretty shabbily.
Circumstance
Bottom Line: Stunning debut lifts the veil on life in Iran.
Brighton Rock
Bottom Line: The story is a typical Greene tale of good versus evil.
Chasing Madoff
Bottom Line: A riveting yet maddeningly stylized doc looking into a whistleblower whom no one listened to.
Higher Ground
Bottom Line: A rare American film that explores the born-again experience without mockery or condescension.

DEADMAN
The CW is getting back into business with Supernatural creator Eric Kripke.
The network is developing an adaptation of DC Comics' Deadman, by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino, with Kripke writing and executive producing.
Deadman centers on the spirit of a trapeze artist, Boston Brand, who is murdered, and continues to live on by inhabiting other people's bodies and helping them resolve conflicts and issues in their lives. He first appeared in October 1967. Deadman will be produced by Warner Bros. TV.
Kripke exited his day-to-day duties as showrunner on Supernatural at the end of the fifth season, with executive producer Sera Gamble taking over. Supernatural is entering into Season 7 this fall.
Earlier this year at PaleyFest, Kripke told The Hollywood Reporter that the TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman was "not in the works, at least for this season" but he hoped that "we can do it again in the future." In September 2010, WBTV named him its top choice to develop the series.

R.I.P.D.
James Hong, the veteran Asian-American actor who has appeared in cult classics such as Blade Runner and Big Trouble in Little China and more recently did voicework Kung Fu Panda 2, has joined the cast of Universal’s R.I.P.D., the supernatural action movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges.
The story centers on a murdered cop (Reynolds) who is recruited to work in the Rest in Peace Department, a police force comprised of ghosts who battle spirits unready to depart this world.
Hong will play “Grandpa Chen,” Reynolds’ avatar, the form humans see when Reynolds’ character goes about his business.
Marisa Miller just joined the cast as Bridges’ avatar.
Also in the cast of the Robert Schwentke-directed pic are Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, and Stephanie Szostak.
Hong, with a career dating back to the mid-1950s, has astoundingly appeared in over 500 movies and television roles and will next be seen in the Jason Statham action movie Safe. He is repped by Stage 9 Talent.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2011

MAN OF STEEL
A series of pictures taken on the set and posted at the Man of Steel Facebook page appear to show quite definitively that Cavill is not wearing the red trunks that have been part of Superman's costume since the very beginning.
So now we can guess why that initial photo deliberately kept Kal-El's midsection in the shadows—director Zack Snyder and the film's producers (who include Christopher Nolan) wanted to keep the full costume a mystery and not necessarily set off alarm bells with Superman purists.
Of course, it's not just the new movie that's messing with the Man of Steel's iconic outfit: DC Comics has also revealed that Superman's red underwear is going to be a thing of the past when the publisher reboots its entire line of titles next month.
By the way, if you can get over the shock of the new Superman outfit in those set pics, you might also notice that they give us our first (sort of) view of female Kryptonian villain Faora (Antje Traue), who looks for our money a lot like Ursa from the first two Christopher Reeve Superman flicks. And is that Michael Shannon as Zod in the mo-cap suit??
But more importantly, are you okay with Superman losing the red undies for Man of Steel? Or is Zack Snyder committing comic book sacrilege with Supes' new look?

HIDE
Legend of the Seeker's Bridget Regan has been tapped to play Annabelle Granger in the TNT telepic Hide.
The project, which will debut Dec. 6 on the Turner-owned cable network, is based on Lisa Gardner's book of the same name. Regan joins Carla Gugino, who will play Boston Police Detective D.D. Warren, who is called to investigate the remains inside a buried chamber at an abandoned mental hospital.
The case leads Gugino's character to Annabelle (Regan), a young woman who moved around a lot as a child, changing identities and hiding from things and people she knows nothing about. Warren uses clues from Annabelle's upbringing to unravel the mystery behind her twist family history.
Filling out the cast are fellow stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Kevin Alejandro. Hide is being penned by Janet Brownell (Eloise at the Plaza), with John Gray (Ghost Whisperer, Helter Skelter) and Stephanie Germain (The Day After Tomorrow) attached to direct and executive produce, respectively.
The telepic is part of the net’s lineup of original movies under its upcoming TNT Mystery Movie Night franchise, which will feature six procedural dramas. The series kicks off Nov. 29 with Scott Turow's Innocent, starring Bill Pullman, Marcia Gay Harden and Alfred Molina.
Regan, whose past small screen credits include stints on Six Degrees, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and The Black Donnollys, is repped by Gersh.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2011

SUPERNATURAL PREVIEW
SPOILER WARNING!
The CW has released a new The CW has released a new "Supernatural" promo spot... and it makes us a little sad.
We love that the show is veering in an unexpected direction -- the game-changer at the end of Season 6 turned the series' formula on its head and kept us on our toes -- but we're going to miss Castiel.
"The Castiel you knew is gone," he warns the Winchesters in the preview. When we last spoke with Misha Collins, he confirmed that the character has been stripped of his humorous angle -- there won't be any more fumbling with technology, learning via porn, or accidental double entendres with Dean.
"I'll spoil this right now for you -- he does start the season as both a wrathful and vengeful god," Collins told us earlier this month. Don't expect a redemption before Castiel exits in episode 2, titled "Hello, Cruel World." Details as to where Castiel is going will be revealed on Sept. 30.
While Collins welcomes the opportunity to return to the series, he hasn't yet booked any future episodes beyond those first two. We're still holding out hope for a comeback later in the season.
As for the Winchesters, Sam (Jared Padalecki) will continue to struggle with his crippling memories of hell. He says that the challenge of portraying a man with the worst PTSD ever has been an interesting one. "I'm still figuring it out. It's difficult to understand," he tells us. He's chosen to focus on the smaller moments of Sam's experience in hell, rather than the greater picture, because 100 years of torture isn't exactly relatable.
"When you tell somebody '6 million people died between the years, blah blah blah,' you're kind of like, 'Whoa,' but you can't grasp it. If you then say, 'One person had every nail pulled out and his nose cut off, and salt poured in' ... thinking about specifics, that's where you can go," he says.
As for Dean -- we hear you, Dean girls! There's been a bit of an uproar in our comments section when it comes to Dean's storyline this season. When the show returns on Sept. 23, Dean will be occupied with keeping Castiel at bay, while grappling with the fact that Castiel was arguably his best friend before he turned against the Winchesters.
However, as it has been since we first met Dean at four years old, his primary concern will be his brother's well-being. "Sam is dealing with more of a personal issue than Dean," Jensen Ackles told our friends at E! when they visited the set. "Essentially the big topic [this season] is there's a new evil in the world and the boys are going to have to combat it by pooling their [meager] resources...It's going to be a difficult situation for both guys."

SYFY FOR THE FALL
If you're looking forward to finding out how the current seasons of Eureka, Alphas, Haven and Warehouse 13 will end, or learning how Peter Pan and Captain Hook began their epic rivalry, then check out what Syfy has in store for us this fall.
Check out Syfy's officlal press release:
SYFY'S FALL PROGRAMMING FEATURES PREMIERE OF PARANORMAL WITNESS, GHOST HUNTERS, HALLOWEEN LIVE AND 31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN
RETURN OF FACT OR FAKED: PARANORMAL FILES, SANCTUARY AND SCARE TACTICS
4-HOUR MOVIE EVENT NEVERLAND STARRING RHYS IFANS, ANNA FRIEL AND OSCAR NOMINEE KEIRA KNIGHTLEY AS TINKER BELL

NEW YORK - August 23, 2011 - Syfy will take the chill out of the air with a robust fall programming lineup featuring the series premiere of Paranormal Witness, the annual spook-a-thon 31 Days of Halloween culminating with Ghost Hunters Halloween Live telecast, and the 4-hour movie event Neverland, an original prequel to Peter Pan featuring Oscar nominee Keira Knightley as the voice of Tinker Bell.
Syfy's fall primetime schedule will also include the return of hit series Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, Sanctuary, Scare Tactics, and the Saturday Original Movie Zombie Apocalypse, as well as the season finales of the hit scripted series Eureka, Alphas, Haven and Warehouse 13.
Highlights of Syfy 2011 Fall Programming (All Times ET/PT)
SEPTEMBER<br> PARANORMAL WITNESS (NEW ORIGINAL SERIES)
Wednesday, September 7 at 10PM - Paranormal Witness teams with 9PM lead-in Ghost Hunters to anchor the fall's Wednesday prime paranormal programming block. This tense, filmic and high-octane drama-documentary series brings to life the real stories of people who have lived through paranormal experiences that defy explanation. Using a mixture of intimate first-hand testimony, actual home video and gritty realistic drama, Paranormal Witness transports viewers into a world turned upside-down by extraordinary, terrifying and sometimes life-threatening paranormal events.
The season premiere episode showcases two stories with spine-tingling, first-person narration. The episode begins with "Emily the Imaginary Friend," a story about a young Baltimore family whose life is turned to chaos when they move into a new home and their 5-year-old daughter makes friends with an invisible girl named Emily. At first, Emily appears as a harmless playmate. Then, signs of mischievous behavior and household items moving or breaking start to occur in the house. The parents initially assume this could be uncharacteristically naughty behavior from their daughter, until the mischief turns increasingly more sinister and threatening towards the family members. The second story is "The Lost Girl," where a mother and daughter relive an unexplainable encounter along a rural dirt road in Florida with a mysterious girl who carries a shocking secret.

SCRIPTED SERIES SEASON FINALES
Eureka Season 4.5 finale -- Monday, September 19, 8-9PM
Alphas Season One finale -- Monday, September 26, 10-11PM
Haven Season Two finale -- Friday, September 30, 10-11PM
Warehouse 13 Season Three two-hour finale -- Monday, October 3, 9-11PM

To accompany the season finales, Syfy will air the following marathons:
Alphas Season One -- Monday. September 26, 11:30AM-10PM
Haven Season Two -- Friday, September 30, 8AM-6PM
Warehouse 13 Season Three -- Monday, October 3, 11AM-9PM
OCTOBER
31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN and GHOST HUNTERS HALLOWEEN LIVE
Saturday, October 1, through Monday, October 31 -- 31 Days of Halloween will unleash nearly 600 hours of bloodcurdling programming with original series, Saturday Original Movies and theatricals as well as ghoulish celebrations on Chiller and Syfy.com.
The month-long fright fest culminates with the annual six-hour Ghost Hunters Halloween Live telecast on Monday, October 31 at 7PM (ET/PT).
This year Syfy will partner with NYC & Company, New York City's official tourism, marketing and partnership organization for 31 Days of HalloweeNYC. The joint venture will bring the popular 31 Days of Halloween to the streets of New York City.
SANCTUARY (SEASON 4 PREMIERE)
Friday, October 7 at 10PM (ET/PT) -- The 13 all-new episodes of Season 4 change everything. With the arrival of the Hollow Earth refugees, the balance between Abnormals and humans is severely upset. In order to keep the peace, Magnus and team must throw out the rulebook. But forging their own way means they're not just dodging dangerous Abnormals anymore, now they've got world governments and new villains nipping at their heels. Sanctuary stars Amanda Tapping as the brilliant Dr. Helen Magnus, Robin Dunne as forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman, Agam Darshi as Kate Freelander, Ryan Robbins as Henry Foss and Christopher Heyerdahl as John Druitt. Created by Damian Kindler (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis), Sanctuary is produced in association with Syfy and is distributed by Tricon Films and Television. Season four of the series is executive produced by Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, Keith Beedie and Tricon Films.
SCARE TACTICS (SEASON 4.5)
Monday, October 10 at 9 pm (ET/PT) -- Hosted and executive produced by actor/comedian Tracy Morgan, Scare Tactics is a hidden camera show with a sci-fi twist. The show conspires with friends and family members to lure those close to them into outrageous scenarios. Unsuspecting victims find themselves in shocking situations from alien abductions to brushes with the living dead, taking advantage of the age-old practice of friends playing practical jokes on each other. In the premiere episode, "Tracy the Tour Guide," Tracy Morgan is on hand when one of his ancestors comes back to life in the form of a bloodthirsty mummy.
FACT OR FAKED: PARANORMAL FILES (SEASON 2.5)
Wednesday, October 19 at 10 pm (ET/PT) - Fact or Faked continues its red hot second season with six all-new episodes featuring former FBI agent Ben Hansen, lead scientist Bill Murphy, journalist Jael de Pardo, tech specialist Devin Marble, stunt expert Austin Porter and photographer Lanisha Cole. To date, new episodes this year have averaged more than 1.5 million viewers, up 57% from its first season.
Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files uncovers the truth behind supernatural and unexplained occurrences that have been caught on camera. In each episode, the team searches for the most intriguing images, videos and unnatural phenomenon found online and around the world. After selecting the most compelling cases, they head into the field, attempting to recreate the video, carrying out key experiments and questioning eyewitnesses. The team investigates all the clues and evidence with the most advanced techniques and tools at their disposal, and their objective is to answer the question, "Is this real?"
ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (SATURDAY ORIGINAL MOVIE)
Saturday, October 29 at 9PM (ET/PT) -- Months after a zombie plague has wiped out 90 percent of the American population, a small group of survivors fight their way cross-country to a rumored refuge on the island of Catalina. Stars Ving Rhames. A production of The Asylum.
DECEMBER
NEVERLAND (ORIGINAL 4-HOUR MOVIE EVENT)
Sunday, December 4 at 9PM & Monday, December 5 at 9PM (ET/PT) -- Neverland, an original prequel to author J.M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan, sweeps in time from the turbulent seas of the pirates of the Caribbean and the back alleys of Dickensian London to a world of pure imagination. The film stars Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man) as James Hook, Keira Knightley as the voice of Tinker Bell, Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) as Captain Elizabeth Bonny, Oscar nominee Bob Hoskins as Smee (who previously played the character in Steven Spielberg's feature Hook), Raoul Trujillo (Tin Man) and Charlie Rowe (Pirate Radio) as one of literature's most cherished characters, Peter Pan. Neverland is produced by Dublin-based Parallel Films on behalf of MNG Films, in association with Syfy and Sky Movies HD, and will be distributed by RHI Entertainment.

DOCTOR WHO RUMORS
The saga regarding Doctor Who's seventh season has been ongoing and terrifying for fans of the good Doc. Thankfully, both Steven Moffat and Matt Smith have gone on record, once again, to say that we'll have a full season coming in 2012—we're just going to have to wait a little longer to get there.
When asked if budget concerns would lead to a shortened season next year, Moffat responded quite adamantly to the contrary, saying, "Absolute nonsense. First of all, we are airing in 2012. The only thing that's happening is that we're moving a bit later. There's lots of reasons for that that will become clear quite soon. It is certainly not a reduced episode count. Do you think the BBC would really let that happen? With an average audience of 10 million? ... Doctor Who's international profile is huge. It's never been more successful. You're not going to reduce a show like this. The opposite is going to happen, in fact."
Matt Smith, too, has recently confirmed that he will return for 14 additional episodes, saying, "I'll shoot 14. It'll be the whole thing—a Christmas special and, yeah, a 13-episode series."
It's sometimes hard to distinguish the fact from the fiction. Depending on the moment and whom you ask, the situation with Doctor Who's future, much like its titular character, seems to change from day to day. After all, many of the actors are going on to other projects, and rumors have abounded as to whether the Ponds would return next year. But the optimist in us is happy to accept the idea that the story is merely being delayed and not reduced.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2011

USA RENEWALS
If you're itching to see what happens with Annie Walker following the summer run of "Covert Affairs," you won't have to wait all that long. The same goes for Michael Westen and "Burn Notice."
USA will bring both series back in early November to complete their current seasons. Their fall runs will join the previously announced sixth season of "Psych," which premieres Oct. 12.
The cable channel will also air two films on Sunday, Sept. 11, to mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The drama "The Space Between," starring Melissa Leo, airs at 9 p.m. ET and will be followed by the Oscar-winning documentary short "Twin Towers." Both will air commercial-free.
"Covert Affairs" will begin a six-episode run to end its second season on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Annie (Piper Perabo) will continue to take on far-flung missions for the CIA but also must deal with the fallout of revealing her job to her sister (Anne Dudek).
"Burn Notice" will also get a six-episode fall run beginning Thursday, Nov. 3. Lauren Stamile will continue her guest role as Agent Pearce, and Jere Burns ("Justified," "Breaking Bad") and Ian Anthony Dale ("The Event") are also set to guest-star alongside Jeffrey Donovan and Co.

GAME OF THRONES
"Game of Thrones" will expand its world in Season 2 by expanding the number of locations where it films.
HBO announced Monday (Aug. 22) that the series, whose primary location is Belfast, Northern Ireland, will also film scenes in Croatia and Iceland this season. (Portions of the first season were also shot in Malta.)
Sites in Croatia will serve as Southern locations in Season 2. Iceland, unsurprisingly, will be the home to scenes set in the uncharted land beyond the Wall in the north of Westeros.
Season 2 of "Game of Thrones," which has also added a host of new cast members, has been filming for about a month. It's scheduled to premiere in early 2012.

PIXAR NEWS
Everyone's favorite animation studio may have a full slate ahead with the fantasy film Brave and Monsters University (sequel to Monsters, Inc.) on the way, but that doesn't mean they're resting on their laurels. Instead, they used the D23 Expo to reveal the existence of two new projects that sound like nothing the studio has attempted before.
Both are as-yet untitled, but the descriptions are enough to get our animation-loving hearts racing. The first is from Bob Peterson, who wrote and co-directed Up, and features a world in which the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs never happened, meaning the creatures coexist with humans. The second, to be directed by Pete Docter, is being called "an inventive new film that explores a world that everyone knows but no one has seen: inside the human mind."
It's probably not Psychonauts: The Movie, but it sounds pretty intriguing. Expect the dino-flick in November 2013, with the brain-bending production to be released in May 2014.

THE EAST
Alexander Skarsgard appears likely to join the cast of The East, says a story at The Hollywood Reporter. He would appear opposite Brit Marling, who co-wrote the project alongside Zat Batmanglij, who will also direct.
The film is said is to focus on a group of eco terrorists led by Skarsgard's character. Marling would play a law enforcement agent who goes undercover to infiltrate the group.
Skarsgard is best known for his role as Eric on HBO's "True Blood". He'll soon appear on the big screen as well in Straw Dogs, Melancholia and next summer's Battleship.
Marling, meanwhile, is now in theaters in the just-released Another Earth and will soon headline Sound of My Voice, both of which she also co-wrote and the latter of which is directed by Batmanglij. She's also slated to appear in Robert Redford's The Company You Keep.

THE LAST EXORCISM
A sequel to the 2010 "found footage" film The Last Exorcism is in the works, says a story at The Hollywood Reporter. Damien Chazelle has just boarded the project to provide the screenplay.
Little is known about the direction that the sequel will take, especially given the surprise ending of the first film.
Chazelle, who wrote and directed Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, has also sold a Hitchcockian spec script entitled Grand Piano that will be produced by Adrian Guerra and directed by Eugenio Mira (Agnosia).

REAL STEEL
DreamWorks Pictures has released a new "Main Event" featurette for director Shawn Levy's action drama Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Dakota Goyo, Anthony Mackie and Kevin Durand.
In the film, hitting conventional and IMAX theaters on October 7, Jackman stars as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

BYZANTIUM
According to Variety, Caleb Landry Jones (Banshee in X-Men: First Class) will play the male lead in director Neil Jordan's Byzantium.
He's joining Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton in the film, based on Moira Buffini's play. According to the trade, the actresses play a "mother and daughter who are vampires and arrive in a small British town revealing their secret to the town. Jones plays a teenager dying of leukemia which in turns forces him to struggle with his mortality, causing Saorsie Ronan's character to struggle with her own immortality."
Buffini also wrote the script with Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley producing.

HYDE
ABC has picked up a potential new series called "Hyde."
This spin-off of the classic "Jekyll and Hyde" follows a man named Grant Hyde who, after experimenting with a drug to improve his vision, turns into something else after he falls asleep.
Sheldon Turner is writing with Jennifer Klein. Turner penned Up in the Air, but his horror credits include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and a bit of rewriting on The Amityville Horror.
Classic monsters are seeing a resurgence on the small screen. NBC just ordered up a modern version of Frankenstein.

MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2011NEW ADDITIONS TO SERIES
NBC's midseason drama "The Firm" has recruited Tricia Helfer ("Battlestar Galactica") for a recurring part. She'll be playing a character named Alex Clark, a senior partner in the law firm that hires Mitch McDeere (Josh Lucas) after he's been in witness protection for the better part of a decade.[TV Line}
"Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston will lend his voice to an episode of "The Simpsons" in the coming season. He'll play a Hollywood spy named Stradivarius Cain (awesome) who helps Homer -- who's suffered a head injury and is hallucinating the character -- become irresistible to Marge. [EW]
The final season of "Desperate Housewives" has added a pair of recurring guest stars: Andrea Parker ("Less Than Perfect," "The Pretender") will play Tom's (Doug Savant) new girlfriend (Jessica Hecht had initially been in talks for the role), and Miguel Ferrer ("The Protector," "Crossing Jordan") will play an artist teaching a college class that Susan (Teri Hatcher) is taking. [TVLine/Deadline]
Bravo is re-editing the coming season of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" in the wake of Russell Armstrong's suicide. Network head Frances Berwick doesn't offer specifics, but presumably the changes will de-emphasize his presence and any conflict he may have had with wife Taylor Armstrong. Berwick also says Bravo hasn't decided whether to delay the Sept. 5 premiere. [Variety]
Ryan Rottman ("Gigantic") is moving from TeenNick to The CW this fall. He'll recur on "90210" as a gay man who's "confident in his identity and committed to fighting for marriage equality." So ... a possible love interest for Trevor Donovan's Teddy, then? [EW]
Frankie (Patricia Heaton) has mentioned her sister on "The Middle" before, but we're about to meet her for the first time. The ABC comedy has cast Molly Shannon as the sibling in question; no word yet on when she'll make her first appearance. [TVLine]

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
DreamWorks and Participant Media’s The Help continued to overperform in its second weekend, beating a new round of competitors in grossing $20.5 million and coming in No. 1 at the domestic box office.
Distributed by Disney, The Help has racked up $71.3 million in its first 10 days of release. The pic fell less than 22% from its opening weekend, when it came in No. 2. To rise to No. 1 is an unusual feat, and reflects the film's great buzz.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, from 20th Century Fox, also remained a worthy contender in its third weekend, falling only 41% to an estimated $16.3 million for a domestic cume of $133.8 million and coming in No. 2.
Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D, from the Weinstein Co./Dimension, did the best of the bunch, coming in No. 3 and grossing an estimated $12 million.
"We were within range of our expectations. Yes, it was on the low end, but given the market conditions, we're okay with this number. We're going to be in good shape with this movie, and it will play for the rest of the summer, since there's no other family film coming in," Weinstein president of distribution Erik Lomis said.
Yet the family pic, receiving a B+ CinemaScore, fell notably short of the $33 million earned by the last Spy Kids in its July 2003 debut.
Nu Image/Millennium’s big-budget Conan the Barbarian, distributed by Lionsgate, and DreamWorks’ Colin Farrell-Anton Yelchin vampire remake Fright Night both fell well short of expectations, grossing $10 million and $8.3 million, respectively, to come in No. 3 and No. 4.
“It was a rough weekend, and disappointing for the new films,” Lionsgate executive vice president of distribution David Spitz said.
“Historically, August has always been a challenge, but we at Lionsgate have certainly enjoyed plenty of success with titles like The Expendables and The Last Exorcism,” Spitz continued.
Marcus Nispel’s Conan and Craig Gillespie’s Fright Night, both based on 1980s properties, ended up appealing largely to older moviegoers (also, both are rated R).
Of Fright Night’s audience, 60% was over the age of 25; Conan, 67%. The two pics—each receiving a B- CinemaScore--also vied for males. Males made up 76% of Conan’s audience, and 60% of Fright Night’s.
Conan was fully financed by Nu Image/Millennium Films and cost upwards of $70 million to produce. Fright Night cost far less, or just under $30 million, but the pic’s soft performance is still a disappointment for DreamWorks. Disney is distributing Fright Night.
Conan and Fright Night, along with Spy Kids, were released in 3D, meaning a deluge of 3D titles. Spy Kids cost $27.5 million to produce.
Elsewhere at the domestic box office, Focus Features’ romantic One Day, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, grossed $5.1 million to come in on the low end of expectations. Based on the best-selling book by British author David Nicholls, One Day had a limited footprint, only playing in 1,721 theaters.
Focus, which produced the film per its deal with Random House, said it is pleased with the result. One Day opens next week in the U.K., where it should do strong business.
In the U.S., One Day likely struggled to lure moviegoers otherwise intrigued by The Help, with both films based on books and drawing older females. Of those buying tickets for One Day, 72% were females, while 73% were over the age of 25. The film drew a disappointing B- CinemaScore.
While DreamWorks and Disney are perplexed by Fright Night's tepid debut--the film received great reviews and played well in screenings--the two companies are elated over The Help's great start.
"We hoped that The Help would be a breath of fresh air at the end of a busy summer, and that has turned out to be the case," Disney executive vice president of distribution Dave Hollis said.
In other headlines, Sony's The Smurfs placed No. 6 for the weekend domestically, grossing an estimated $8 million for a cume of $117.7 million. Even better, the hit family film crossed the $300 million mark worldwide over the weekend, ending the session with a cume of $329 million, inlcuding an international total of $211.4 million.
Sore spots incuded Fox's Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, which tumbled to No. 15 in its second weekend, declining 69% to $1.8 million for a domestic cume of $10.5 million.
At the specialty box office, documentary Senna made a strong showing as it expanded to 14 theaters in its second weekend, grossing an estimated 169K for a strong per screen average of $12,071 and cume of $280K. Producers Distribution Agency is distributing the pic.
Kevin Smith's Red State made its debut in Los Angeles, grossing $25,800 for a cume of $1 million.
And the Weinstein Co.'s Sarah's Key continued to score strong returns, grossing $783K as it expanded into a total of 201 theaters for a domestic cume of $3.1 million.
Domestic Box Office Top 10 (Aug. 19-21)
1. The Help (2,690): $20.5 million
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (3,471): $16.3 million
3. *Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D (3,295): $12 million
4. *Conan the Barbarian (3,015): $10 million
5. *Fright Night (3,114): $8.3 million
6. The Smurfs (3,057): $8 million
7. Final Destination 5 (3,115): $7.7 million
8. 30 Minutes or Less (2,888): $6.3 million
9. *One Day (1,721): $5.1 million
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love (1,940): $5 million

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2011

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2011

AMERICAN HORROR STORY
Ryan Murphy, the man behind Nip/Tuck and Glee is moving into darker territory with FX's American Horror Story. This teaser promo is circulating on the Internet, and the show looks like a mix of The Addams Family, True Blood and Dark Shadows.
American Horror Story centers on the Harmon family, which consists of parents Ben and Vivien (Dylan McDermott and Connie Britton), teen daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga) and the many ghosts that live in their house. The family is haunted by its fair share of nasty demons, whose sole purpose is to torture them.
From what we've heard from critics, American Horror Story sounds like the FX version of True Blood, thanks to its campy nature. Linda Holmes from NPR said, "It's very, very over-the-top, but I also found it wildly entertaining." Doesn't that sound True Blood-ish to you?
It's definitely an ambitious show, and we're interested in seeing if it will find a hardcore audience. They've already got the perfect headlining couple. Who can go wrong with Bobby from The Practice and Tami from Friday Night Lights? That's an awesome combination.
American Horror Story will debut Oct. 5 on FX.

GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGENCE
Nic Cage may still be in the driver's seat as Johnny Blaze, but this sequel sees a whole new team behind the scenes in the form of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who are best known for the high-octane Crank films. That's the reason those of us disappointed by the first film are holding out hope that the sequel might be better.
Ghost Rider, as a concept, is a little over-the-top on its own. We think the best way to deal with that in movie world is to just embrace it. Parts of this trailer seem to do just that. There's a heavy focus on adrenaline-infused violence and intense action. Plus, Ghost Rider pees fire. No, really. In fact, for better or worse, that might be the best part of the trailer.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is due out Feb. 17, 2012.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2011

UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING
After three movies of vampires versus lycans, the first trailer for Underworld: Awakening reveals that we normals are now the hunters, while our friends both fanged and furry are now the prey.
Kate Beckinsale is back in her tight leather outfit for the movie, reprising her role as the "death dealer" Selene. She awakens 12 years in the future after being held captive in stasis, only to find that the tables have turned on the world stage. Now, as one of the last of her kind, Selene's re-emergence will shake up this new world order of humans vs. vamps vs. Lycans. And of course she needs to solve the mystery of what happened to her Lycan/Vamp hybrid lover, Michael.
The film is being directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, with series creator Len Wiseman producing. Underworld: Awakening, which will be released in 3-D on Jan. 20, 2012.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
On Friday, Jason Momoa, Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang and Rose McGowan star in the rebooted Conan the Barbarian, directed by Marcus Nispel.
Meanwhile, David Nicholls’ One Day, a best-selling romantic novel, has been adapted for the big screen. The movie, from director Lone Scherfig, stars Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess and Patricia Clarkson.
Also opening this weekend is Fright Night, a remake of the 1985 vampire-themed original. It's directed by Craig Gillespie and stars Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
Below is a snapshot of what The Hollywood Reporter's critics have to say about those films -- and others opening this weekend -- and find out how well they are expected to perform at the box office.
Conan the Barbarian
Bottom Line: Nonstop blood-and-guts action aimed at game boys and emotionally stunted lovers of adolescent fantasy.
One Day
Bottom Line: An unusual but ultimately successful piecemeal approach to romantic drama that follows a couple on the same day for each of 20 years.
Fright Night
Bottom Line: This decent remake of the ’80s vampire favorite should satiate horror fans.
Amigo
Bottom Line: Good looking, atmospheric and steeped in the culture of the rural Philippines of the time, Amigo follows what happens when a U.S. platoon occupies the village of San Isidro deep in the rice paddies far from Manila.
Flypaper
Bottom Line: Although tempting enough to initially attract audiences, this caper comedy may have trouble getting them to stick around, despite a starry cast.

NEW BLADE RUNNER MOVIE
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Ridley Scott is returning to the futuristic world of Blade Runner, his iconic 1982 film, for a new feature for Warners-based Alcon Entertainment.
Adapted from Philip K. Dick’s story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,” Scott’s original film -- with its mix of rainy, neon-lit exteriors, its human-like androids call replicants, and its shadowy, controlling corporation -- established a template for dystopian views of the future. In 2007, it was named the second most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society.
While the new movie is being described as a “follow-up” to the first film, the filmmakers have not yet disclosed whether it will function as a prequel or a sequel to the original. One thing it won't be, though, is a re-make, Alcon co-head Andrew Kosove said. "We very fortunate that Ridley Scott has decided to come back to one of his seminal movies," he added. "And with Ridley, I can tell you it will be fresh and original."
With no screenplay in place at the moment, the producers are currently meeting with writers. Kosove declined to say what direction the project would go it, but did say he didn't expect Harrison Ford, who starred in the original movie as a retired cop who hunts down replicants, to be involved.
Alcon, the financing and production company behind movies like The Blind Side and The Book of Eli, recently partnered with producer Bud Yorkin to produce new Blade Runner films as well as TV and interactive productions based on the property. Alcon hasn't decided yet if it will finance the entire production itself or whether it will bring in partners like Warners, through which it will release the movie.
Alcon co-founders and co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Kosove will produce the new film with Yorkin, Cynthia Sikes Yorkin and Scott. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEOs of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers.
Scott is currently completing another sci-fi feature Prometheus, which has connections to his 1979 movie Alien, and which will be released by Fox on June 8, 2012.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011

SUPERNATURAL
"Supernatural" welcomes Joss Whedon alum Jewel Staite as a guest star in its third episode of Season 7, and E.P. Sera Gamble isn't stopping there. "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" star Charisma Carpenter revealed on her Twitter that she'd be guest starring in a "Supernatural" episode this season.
Now, TVLine confirms that it gets better. She'll reunite with her "Buffy" co-star James Marsters in an upcoming episode that films August 22.
The episode, entitled "Shut Up, Dr. Phil," features Carpenter and Marsters as a married couple on the outs. She's a witch, so when they were happily married, their life was terrific -- but when he falls out of favor with her, his luck changes, big time. Gamble describes the episode as "'Bewitched' gone wrong."

DOCTOR WHO
The BBC has just released more clips for the next Doctor Who episode, ''Let's Kill Hitler.'' Hold on to the TARDIS, because we think this one's gonna be one heck of a mad, wild ride!
The new clips — feature actress Karen Gillan, who plays companion Amy Pond, the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his faithful companions Amy and Rory (Arthur Darvill) in ''Let's Kill Hitler.''
This is the official episode synopsis:
In the desperate search for Melody Pond, the TARDIS crash lands in Thirties Berlin, as the time-travelling drama returns for the second half of the series shown earlier in the year.
The Doctor comes face to face with the greatest war criminal in the Universe. And Hitler.
Old friendships are tested to their limits as the Doctor suffers the ultimate betrayal and learns a harsh lesson in the cruellest warfare of all. As precious time ebbs away, the Doctor must teach his adversaries that time travel has responsibilities. And he must succeed before an almighty price is paid.
The Doctor is played by Matt Smith, Hitler by Albert Welling, Amy by Karen Gillan and Rory by Arthur Darvill.

THE NEW 52
Let it never be said that DC isn't throwing their promotional weight behind their super hero relaunch. In addition to all the print press so far (and there's been quite a bit), they have finally begun releasing trailers to the general public to hype them up for the 52 number one issues due out starting August 31st. Are they effective?
Motion comics are nice to look at, that much is true. They are also a way to try and pull in new readers who aren't used to reading comics, but enjoy traditional animation. The trailers themselves focus on DC's three most famous characters - Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, but also give brief glimpses of the additional catalog. That's the good.
The less-than-good is that there is still very little incentive to pick these issues up. Why not a focus on how this is the perfect entry point for new fans? We get that the artwork looks good and is worth spotlighting, but it still doesn't tell people new to DC what the big picture is.
What we're saying is, there should have been more. If the motion comic route is the path they want to take, why not go whole hog and actually release five-minute-or-so shorts, including voice acting, to introduce some of the heaviest hitting new issues? In fact, why not do the same for the relatively unknown titles, too?
As it stands, we doubt very much this latest round of advertising will change anyone's mind. If you were planning to read it, you still will. If you were angry or didn't care, you probably won't feel any more inclined to give the relaunch a try.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH
Variety reports that Michael Gracey has been named as the director of the long-in-development 20th Century Fox project The Greatest Showman on Earth.
Set to star Hugh Jackman in the lead, the film will offer a musical take on the life of P.T. Barnum, specifically focusing on the creation of his three-ring circus and his infatuation with "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind.
Originally announced two years ago, the plan was to team Jackman with his former Academy Awards singing partner Anne Hathaway and the script (From Sex in the City writer Jenny Bicks) was being prepared for her to play the Lind part. Whether she remains interested is currently unclear.
Gracey only recently signed on for the Walt Disney live-action "Snow White" tale, The Order of the Seven, which he'll film first. Jackman, meanwhile, appears in the upcoming Real Steel and is slated to headline both The Wolverine and Les Miserables.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2011

IMMORTALS
A new trailer for Tarsem Singh's Immortals has been released.
Immortals is a "clash of the titans" story that once again features a man saving the world from supernatural forces. But instead of it being man against gods, it's titans against gods, with some much-needed help from man. It's slightly confusing, but good stuff.
The latest trailer offers up plenty of new footage, including a couple of golden gods kicking butt and taking names. One of the helmet-wearing immortals appears to be Athena, who's played by Australian actress Isabel Lucas (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen).
Aside from all the kicking and punching, this trailer features a lot of spear throwing. It's very obvious that the spear was the weapon of choice back in those days. Overall, the action looks pretty solid, but the gods vs. titans vs. man triangle is the film's real selling point.

MAGIC MIKE
VARIETY EXCLUSIVE: Matthew McConaughey is set to join Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer in Steven Soderbergh's indie drama "Magic Mike."
Tatum stars as the title character, a stripper and dancer who takes Pettyfer's character under his wing and mentors him on how to hustle both on and off the stage.
McConaughey will play Dallas, a former exotic dancer who now owns and operates Xquisite, the club where "Magic Mike" works.
Pic draws on Tatum's experiences working as a teen stripper in Tampa.
Nick Wechsler and Gregory Jacobs are producing with Tatum and his 33andOut Prods. partner Reid Carolin, who's also writing the script.
"Magic Mike" marks the fifth straight indie McConaughey has done since wrapping Lionsgate's "The Lincoln Lawyer." He's currently filming Lee Daniels' thriller "The Paperboy" and recently signed on to play the title character in Jeff Nichols' drama "Mud." Thesp next stars in Richard Linklater's "Bernie" and William Friedkin's "Killer Joe."

PHANTOM
Following up on a project from earlier in the summer, the haunted submarine project Phantom has now found financing through the RCR Media Group. Variety reports that they'll produce the thriller, which is set to star William Fichtner, Andy Garcia, Ed Harris and Natascha McElhone.
Todd Robinson will direct the film, which takes place during the cold war on a Soviet submarine. The captain soon learns that there's something aboard the vessel that is trying to take control.
Phantom will shoot this fall in Long Beach and is said to be budgeted at $18 million.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2011

MIRKWOOD
Earlier this year, J.R.R. Tolkien was at the center of a hot debate—and it had nothing to do with The Hobbit. Have you ever heard of Mirkwood? It's a novel that features the late author as one of its primary characters, and after months of legal wrangling, it's being made into a movie.
Author Steve Hillard has gone back and forth with Tolkien's family regarding the use of his likeness in Mirkwood. The book features six characters. Five are fictional and one is Tolkien himself. Hillard's big defense was that Mirkwood was nothing more than literary criticism, a defense that Tolkien's family originally didn't buy.
After months in court, both sides reached a settlement and agreed that the novel could be released if it was tagged with the disclaimer "This is a work of fiction which is neither endorsed nor connected with The J.R.R. Tolkien Estate or its publisher."
With the lawsuit out of the way, Hillard is looking for new ways to cash in on Mirkwood's story. He just signed a deal with EMO Films to turn the novel into a movie.
He says the film "will delve considerably deeper into Tolkien's little-known back story, such as his original plans to become a codebreaker in World War II up through the writing of his enduring works."

THE MERCURY MEN
Remember those old TV serials, like Flash Gordon, where each episode ended in a cliffhanger? Well, Syfy's new online web series, The Mercury Men, made that old format new again with a black-and-white tale involving glowing aliens, a moon-crashing plot to destroy the Earth and a raygun-equipped aerospace engineer named Jack Yaeger.
(The Mercury Men premiered July 25 and now all 10 episodes are online at www.syfy.com/rewind/mercurymen.)
Creator Chrisopher Preksta, who made the 10-part serial for a mere $7,000, admits, "I just want to shoot something with rayguns, because I knew there was no way I was going to get rayguns into a feature script." And in fact, "anything with a jetpack instantly wins my heart."
The retro raygun-filed web series takes place in Pittsburgh in 1975 and is about a drone of a government employee named Edward Borman (Mark Tierno), who suddenly finds himself in the middle of a plot involving murderous glowing men from Mercury who are attempting to crash the moon into Earth. Helping Edward survive the invasion of his government building—and save the Earth—is aerospace engineer and all-round hero Jack Yaeger.
"It's a throwback to the old serials of the '40s and '50s," said actor Curt Wootton, who plays Jack. "Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers ... It's really just a great old-fashioned adventure story. A great story about a man (aka Edward) coming to his own and pretty much having to go through the trials, and is he going to save the world or what? There's a lot of Star Wars elements and Indiana Jones elements."

THE CROW
“As the crow flies” may denote the shortest route from one place to another, but the movie version of The Crow is proving to be less than a straight shot.
Relativity is remaking the supernatural action movie based on the 1990s comic and has set Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to direct.
Bradley Cooper was to have played the title character but sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that he has now exited due to scheduling conflicts. Cooper has David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook shooting this fall and then dives straight into Legendary’s Paradise Lost, which shoots first quarter next year…the exact time Relativity plans on making the high-priority Crow.
But akin to the project’s rock musician who is killed and resurrected, two new names have surfaced as possible replacements: Channing Tatum and Mark Wahlberg.
Walhberg has a previous association with the Crow; he was offered the part last fall but a deal never materialized. But there is a question as to whether he wants to revisit the role, and last week he signed on to Universal's 2 Guns action pic.
Tatum is best known for his work in G.I. Joe and the weepie Dear John.
It’s too early to tell what will happen with either Tatum or Walhberg, or whether other actors join the fray, although Relativity is keen on not wasting time.
The studio also is embroiled in litigation with The Weinstein Co. over distribution rights to the film. Harvey and Co. believe they have a deal to release the film but Relativity argues that the Weinsteins forfeited their right by, among other things, botching the release of the expensive Relativity-backed flop Nine. That case is currently in arbitration.
Crow, created by James O’Barr, centered on a musician who is murdered while trying to save his fiancée from thugs. He is brought back from the dead by supernatural forces and seeks revenge. The role was originally played by Brandon Lee, who was killed by a freak accident during production of the original movie in 1993.
The new film is being produced by Edward R. Pressman, Jeff Most, Relativity's CEO Ryan Kavanaugh and Apaches Entertainment's Enrique LopezLavigne and Belen Atienza.

J. EDGAR
Warner Bros. Pictures has released the first images of J. Edgar, the Clint Eastwood-directed movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the legendary FBI director.
The movie also stars Naomi Watts as Helen Gandy, Hoover’s longtime secretary, who is pictured alongside DiCaprio in the first photograph.
J. Edgar, written by Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black, aims to explore the public and private life of one of the most powerful, controversial and enigmatic figures of the 20th century.
The rest of the cast includes Armie Hammer as Hoover’s protégé Clyde Tolson; Judi Dench as Hoover’s overprotective mother, Anne Marie Hoover; Josh Lucas as legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh, whose son’s kidnapping changes the public profile of the FBI; and Ken Howard as U.S. attorney General Harlan F. Stone.
The movie, produced by Malpaso and Imagine, is set to open in limited release Nov. 9 and expand wide two days later.

THE GRAY MAN
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Brad Pitt is negotiations to star in The Gray Man, a New Regency action project being directed by James Gray.
The script, by Adam Cozad, was on the 2010 Black List, which ranks the best unproduced script in Hollywood.
If a deal is made, Pitt will play a CIA operative-turned-assassin targeted for elimination, forcing him to elude teams of killers while trying to save the lives of the daughters who don't know he exists.
Plan B's Dede Gardner will produce along with Stephen Garrett of Shine.
Pitt will next be seen in Moneyball, which premieres at the Toronto Film Festival and is shooting World War Z for Paramount.

5 DAYS OF WAR
ComingSoon.net brings us the first look at a clip from Renny Harlin's 5 Days of War, starring Rupert Friend, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Richard Coyle, Andy Garcia and Val Kilmer.
Opening in theaters on August 19, the R-rated action thriller is a vivid account of a renegade American journalist, his cameraman and a local woman caught behind enemy lines, and determined to not only survive, but tell the world what was happening, during the swift but devastating 5-day war between Russian and the Georgian Republic in 2008.

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2011

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Twentieth Century Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes stayed at No. 1 in its second weekend with $27.5 million, while DreamWorks and Participant Media’s The Help exceeded predictions in grossing $25.5 million for a second place finish and stellar five-day debut of $35.4 million.
The big casualty of the domestic box office race was Fox’s Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, which came in No. 11 in its debut, grossing just $5.7 million. The financial sting is minimized by the pic’s modest $9 million budget, but perception is a separate issue, considering how popular the TV show is.
Those who turned out did like what they saw, giving Glee the Movie—which is only playing in 3D theaters—an A CinemaScore (moviegoers under the age of 25 gave it an A+). The concert pic played heavily to younger girls, with females making up 82% of the audience, while 66% were under the age of 25.
Fox took solace in the fact that Rise of the Apes jumped the $100 million mark at the domestic box office in its second frame, dropping only 50%. Overseas, it grossed $40.5 million from 40 markets over the weekend for an international total of $75 million and worldwide haul of $180 million.
“We have a movie that is a broad, mainstream commercial hit. It’s remarkable to only drop 50% and do $27.5 million worth of business, despite $60 million worth of new movies coming into the marketplace,” Fox senior vice president of distribution Chris Aronson said.
Disney, which distributed The Help for DreamWorks and Participant, also was ebullient. The female-driven movie, based on Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling novel about white women and their maids in the Jim Crow south, drew an A+ CinemaScore, virtually guaranteeing a long and healthy run.
“The fact that audiences are responding this way couldn’t make us any happier,” Disney executive vice president of distribution Dave Hollis said.
The Help, directed by Tate Taylor (Stockett’s childhood friend), played especially well in African-American theaters and upscale commercial theaters, such as the Landmark and ArcLight in Los Angeles, and Lincoln Square in New York.
The movie's large ensemble cast is led by Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer and Bryce Dallas Howard.
While 74% of Friday night’s audience was female, that stat dropped to 69% on Saturday, indicating that more older men were showing up.
“It gives us a great deal of hope that more and more people will be exposed to it,” Hollis said.
The Help, costing $25 million to produce, was co-financed by DreamWorks and Participant, while 1492 Pictures produced the movie with Brunson Green and Taylor's film company.
Faced with competition from Rise of the Apes for male attention, Final Destination 5 and Ruben Fleischer’s R-rated action-comedy 30 Minutes or Less opened to ho-hum results.
Final 5, from New Line and Warner Bros., opened at No. 3, grossing $18.4 million and receiving a B+ CinemaScore. Heading into the weekend, box office observers thought the 3D pic, costing $45 million to produce, would open north of $20 million. The last title in the franchise, The Final Destination, debuted to $27.4 million in August 2009.
The good news: Final Destination drew 75% of its grosses from 3D locations.
"In a summer of light 3D performances, to do 75% is huge," said Warner Bros. executive vice president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein.
30 Minutes or Less, headlining Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari and Danny McBride, grossed $13 million for the weekend. The pic received a B CinemaScore, with men making up 58% of the audience. Nearly 70% of those turning out were under the age of 25.
Media Rights Capital fully financed 30 Minutes, which cost $28 million to produce. Like Glee the Movie and Final Destination, 30 Minutes doesn't need to do big box office business, since its production budget was relatively modest.
Elsewhere at the box office, Sony's The Smurfs continued to shine, jumping the $100 million domestically and winning the international race with a weekend gross of $60 million. Through Sunday, the pic's global total was $242 million, including a domestic cume of $101.5 million and international cume of $141 million.
Domestic Box Office, 8/12-8/14
1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (3,691 theaters): $27.5 million
2. *The Help (2,534 theaters): $25.5 million
3. *Final Destination 5 (3,155 theaters): $18.4 million
4. The Smurfs (3,427 theaters): $13.5 million
5. *30 Minutes or Less (2,888 theaters): $13 million
6. Cowboys & Aliens (3,310 theaters): $7.6 million
7. Captain America: The First Avenger (2,835 theaters): $7.1 million
8. Crazy, Stupid, Love (2,635 theaters): $6.9 million
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2,414 theaters): $6.87 million
10. The Change –Up (2,913 theaters): $6.2 million

FACES IN THE CROWD
An international trailer for Julien Magnat's psychological thriller Faces in the Crowd has come online.
The film chronicles the account of elementary school teacher Anna Marchant (Milla Jovovich) who is attacked by a serial killer known only as Tearjerk Jack and survives, but is left to struggle with a neurological disorder commonly referred to as face-blindness (prosopagnosia).
Only able to recognize voices she fights to adapt to her diagnosis and the ever-changing faces of those around her. Working with Detective Kerrest (Julian McMahon) Anna race's to identify her attacker. All the while the killer is closing in determined to eliminate this potential witness. Only Anna has seen his face – and he could be anyone.
Michael Shanks, David Atrakchi, Sarah Wayne Callies and Marianne Faithful co-star.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 2011

THE FINEST HOURS
Deadline reports that Disney has secured the rights to Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman's The Finest Hours,. Based on a true story, the 2009 best-seller is described as follows:
In the winter of 1952, New England was battered by the most brutal nor'easter in years. As the weather wreaked havoc on land, the freezing Atlantic became a wind-whipped zone of peril, setting the stage for one of the most heroic rescue stories ever lived.
In the early hours of Monday, February 18, while the storm raged, two oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer, found themselves in the same horrifying predicament. Built with "dirty steel," and not prepared to withstand such ferocious seas, both tankers split in two, leaving the dozens of men on board utterly at the Atlantic's mercy. The Finest Hours is the gripping, true story of the valiant attempt to rescue the souls huddling inside the broken halves of the two ships.
The spellbinding tale is overflowing with breathtaking scenes, as boats capsize, bows and sterns crash into one another, and men hurl themselves into the raging sea in their terrifying battle for survival.
Not all of the eighty-four men caught at sea in the midst of that brutal storm survived, but considering the odds, it's a miracle—and a testament to their bravery—that any came home to tell their tales at all.
Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson (The Fighter) are attached to adapt the book, re-teaming with producer Dorothy Aufiero. Jim Whitaker is also attached as a producer.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2011

VAMPIRE DIARIES
Just a little over a month until "The Vampire Diaries" Season 3 premieres on Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. on The CW. The first episode, "The Birthday," takes place on Elena's 18th -- but she's having a tough time celebrating with her friends while her boyfriend is indulging his monster instincts all over the country.
The new trailer released is positively sizzling and gives away some juicy moments from the first episode. In it, we see Damon tell Elena, "Stefan's gone, Elena. You can forget about him. He's not coming back."
Has Damon given up on Stefan? Here's what Ian Somerhalder had to say:
"Damon knows this cycle with his brother," Somerhalder said. "He's seen it before, totally. He says to Elena, 'Stefan's not coming back. Not in your lifetime.' I mean, she's young, but human beings only live maybe eighty years. For Stefan and Damon, that's nothing. Unless Klaus rips their hearts out, they're going to live for another thousand years."
Damon still has some hope that Stefan will eventually be Stefan again, but in the meantime, he's been tracking his brother's progress with newspaper clippings that hint at the havoc that Stefan and Klaus are wreaking. In the beginning of the season premiere, though, Damon isn't actively searching for Stefan.
"I don't think that Damon's focus is really to save Stefan, because he understands that if Stefan doesn't want to be found, he's not going to be, and in some weird way Damon respects that. He's been there, too, not very long ago," he says.
Despite everything, though, Somerhalder says that Damon isn't aggressively pursuing Elena in his brother's absence. "He wants Elena to be happy and he wants her to be safe," he explains, "and she'll try anything crazy to find Stefan, so he's looking out for her."
Judging by the trailer, Damon and Stefan aren't exactly giving each other man-hugs when they do finally reunite. "Oh, make no mistake about it, Damon's pissed off at Stefan," Somerhalder laughs. "For two seasons he tried to get Stefan to do exactly what he's doing now, to drink blood, with Damon. And now he's running off doing exactly that thing, but with some a**hole that Damon can't stand. A guy that tried to kill Damon and everyone they care about."
Is Damon feeling a little jealous of Klaus, perhaps? "Stefan's left Damon here in Mystic Falls. Now he's got to protect this girl that he loves, but that he can't have, because it's his brother's girl -- and even though it's Damon, he can't do that to his brother," Somerhalder says. "And even if he could, she doesn't love him anyway. She wants his brother. So when he finally sees Stefan, it's like, 'I tried for two seasons to get you to do this and now you're off running around with this idiot.' That's all Damon wanted in Season 1, was his brother to run around with him and munch on sorority girls and bring down the house wherever they went, and Stefan said no. Now he's left Damon here all by himself, to fend for himself, and protect this girl who is 150 years his junior. He's not happy about it."
On some level, Stefan is enjoying the ripping -- he had to work so hard to be noble and good for so long that giving in to his weaknesses now takes a bit of a weight off his shoulders. As you'll see in the first few episodes of the season, Stefan doesn't plan on coming back for Elena. He thinks she's better off without him... and when he's in this state, he's probably right.
There's been a definite role reversal -- though we will say that Stefan's "ripper" rampage is much bloodier than the spree of killings we saw from Damon in Season 1. Does Somerhalder miss that part of the role?
"I do, a lot, but I realize that there are ebbs and flows," he says. "This is a hundred-episode arc of a character, and he can't just be one dimensional. I was worried that Damon was becoming this hero, and Kevin [Williamson] said 'No, he's not the hero. He needs to be, but he's the anti-hero, because he's supposed to be not hurting people, but that's not his nature.' So he slips, and his response is 'Screw this.' Now, I think that struggle, that push and pull for Damon is what's going to make this season interesting for me as an actor and interesting for Damon as a character. I don't want to lose that quote-unquote 'bad' side of Damon."
He pauses, then adds, "You're not going to see Damon crying this season. Trust me."

LEVERAGE GRABS A RENEWAL
TNT has picked up a fifth season of "Leverage," which will continue pulling cons through 2012.
The pickup -- like that of Syfy's "Warehouse 13," which was also renewed on Friday (Aug. 12) -- isn't a huge surprise. "Leverage" is on track to record its most-watched season yet this year, as both its total-viewer and demographic numbers are up over last year.
So far this summer, the series is averaging 4.8 million total viewers (including DVR playback), a 10-percent jump over last season. Its adults 18-49 (1.9 million) and adults 25-54 (2.3 million) audiences have grown by 6 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
"'Leverage' has defied the odds and continued to climb," says Michael Wright, TNT's head of programming. "More and more viewers are discovering this weekly joy ride through wonderfully complex schemes and con games, all brought to life through smart writing, sharp directing and a terrific cast."
Season 5 of "Leverage" is set to premiere in summer 2012 and will run 15 episodes.

HOMELANDERS
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Miles Chapman has been hired to pen Summit’s adaptation of Homelanders, a young-adult book series by Andrew Klavan. Screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, best known as the showrunners of TV’s Smallville, are working with Chapman in developing Homelanders and, while no deals are made, are in talks to make their directorial debut on it.
Lorenzo Di Bonaventura is producing while Di Bonaventura Pictures’ David Ready is exec producing.
The books, described as The Bourne Identity crossed with Disturbia, centers on a high school student who wakes up to find himself tied to a chair, not knowing where he is or how a whole year has passed. After he manages to escape, he embarks on an adventure to find out why terrorists and the authorities are after him.
Summit and the filmmakers are inserting a sci-fi element to the story.
Two Homelanders books have been published - The Homelanders: The Last Thing I Remember and The Homelanders: The Long Way Home. The books are the first young adult novels by Klavan, who is known for writing thrillers, two of which have been adapted: True Crime, directed by Clint Eastwood, and Don't Say a Word, a Michael Douglas vehicle co-starring Brittany Murphy.
Summit, home of the Twilight blockbusters, is looking at Homelanders as another possible teen franchise.
For Chapman, the deal reunites him with the studio that picked up his spec The Tomb, which currently has Antoine Fuqua attached to direct and Bruce Willis attached to star. The scribe, who first worked with di Bonaventura on a ABC pilot titles Priceless, just rewrote back to back action projects Four 50s and Slipknot, both for Relativity.
Gough and Millar, who are showrunning ABC's fall Charlie’s Angels TV series and have worked on movies such as Spider-Man 2 and Shanghai Noon, are also helping to develop an adaptation of comic Existence 2.0, now called Upgrade. They are not attached to direct Upgrade.

BOX OFFICE PREVIEW
There’s something for everyone at the multiplex this weekend. Four new movies compete for attention, not to mention that 20th Century Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes will remain a formidable opponent in its second outing.
Most box office observers believe Rise of the Apes has every chance of staying at No. 1, and expect the pic to gross $26 million to $28 million, following its $54.8 million debut last weekend. Through Wednesday, Rise of the Apes’ domestic cume was a healthy $73 million.
New Line and Warner Bros.’ franchise installment Final Destination 5 could have the best chance of beating Rise of the Apes if it exceeds expectations and grosses north of $25 million. The Final Destination, the last title in the franchise, opened to $27.4 million in August 2009.
Steve Quail, who has worked with James Cameron, directed Final Destination 5.
DreamWorks and Participant Media’s female-driven The Help is something of a wild card, since it opened midweek and could be front-loaded. Box office observers believe it will gross in the high teens to $20 million for the weekend itself.
That would put The Help’s five-day debut at $27 million or more, considering it grossed a stellar $5.5 million on Wednesday and was on track to gross at least $3 million on Thursday.
Disney, which is distributing The Help, is being conservative in its estimate, considering how volatile the marketplace has been, but there’s no doubt the movie—earning a rare A+ CinemaScore—could open higher than expected, much as Rise of the Apes did last weekend (that film received an A- CinemaScore). It's even possible that The Help could compete with Final Destination 5 for No. 2.
Sony and Media Rights Capital enter the fray with Ruben Fleisher’s R-rated action-comedy 30 Minutes or Less, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari and Danny McBride. Sony is counting on great word of mouth and a long run, versus a big opening, and predicts a $15 million to $17 million launch. The pic’s core demo is young men.
Ben Stiller's Red Hour Films produced the $28 million movie, with MRC financing and then selling the project to Sony. Both 30 Minutes Less and Final Destination 5 will vie for younger males.
The fourth new film of the weekend is Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, from Fox's film and television studios. Tracking has been sluggish for the concert pic, and Fox is predicting an opening in the high single digits, far less than earned by Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($29.5 million) and Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour ($31.1 million) in their debuts.
It’s hard to gauge how Glee will do, since it’s based on a weekly television show, and not centered around one personality. Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience did far less than Never Say Never and Hannah Montana, opening to $12.1 million.
However, there’s no denying the fervor of Glee fans, known as “Gleeks.”
Glee the Concert Movie is only playing in 3D theaters, and goes out in 2,040 locations.
One thing the four new movies have in common—all were modestly budgeted, relatively speaking. Final Destination 5 cost $45 million to produce, followed by 30 Minutes or Less at $28 million. The Help, co-financed by DreamWorks and Participant Media, cost $25 million, while Glee the Concert Movie cost $9 million.

THE LONE RANGER PRODUCTION HALTED
Walt Disney Pictures has halted production on The Lone Ranger, Deadline reports. This comes as surprising news as the project has been fully cast and was planned to begin shooting this fall.
Described by Verbinksi as "'Don Quixote' told from Sancho Panza's point of view," the film was to star Armie Hammer as the titular western hero with Johnny Depp as his Native American sidekick, Tonto. The supporting cast was to include Ruth Wilson, Dwight Yoakam, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and Barry Pepper.
The reason for the move is said to be due to ballooning production costs and an increasingly expensive upcoming slate for the studio. Still, the most recent collaboration between Depp and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, has grossed more than a billion dollars internationally. That film also belonged to a franchise launched by Verbinski.
Though planned for a December 21, 2012 release, the future of The Lone Ranger is now uncertain.
UPDATE: Variety is now reporting that Disney still plans to move forward on the project but is in the process of bringing down costs in order to do so. Whether this will result in a delay of production remains to be seen.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2011

STAR WARS LEGAL COINS
It's no secret that Star Wars is George Lucas' biggest cash cow. The property is so successful, it's literally given him a license to print (or should that be mint?) money. Specifically—coins.This IS the $$ you're looking for: NZ mints legal Star Wars coins.
The folks of New Zealand are taking their love of all things Star Wars to the mint. The South Pacific island of Niue is grabbing characters from the sci-fi series and turning them into legal tender.
The New Zealand mint is producing a set of 40 coins that will have a face value of NZ$2 (£1). They'll feature color depictions of Luke, Leia, Darth Vader, Yoda and the rest of the gang on one side, while a sketch of Queen Elizabeth II will appear on the other.
Now you might be asking yourself, "Who would actually spend a Star Wars coin?" The people of Niue are aware that no one in their right mind would exchange Star Wars money for actually goods. That's why they're targeting collectors and investors in hopes that they'll pay money to get money. It's all part of an effort to help boost their struggling economy.
If you're interested in adding the coins to your collection, sets of four (each containing 1oz. of silver) will sell for NZ$469 (£235).

THE STAND
Harry Potter is one of Hollywood's most successful movie series, earning Warner Bros. critical acclaim and seven and a half billion dollars. Now the studio wants to do it all over again—this time with Stephen King's The Stand. And Harry Potter will be a big part of it.
Specifically, Warner Bros. wants to put Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves and director of the last four movies David Yates on the job.
According to HitFlix, "Warner Bros. is in the process of finalizing the deals for David Yates and Steve Kloves to re-team for a multi-movie version of Stephen King's epic The Stand."
Obviously, Warner Bros. is confident in Kloves' ability to adapt pop culture for the screen and Yates' prowess with maintaining a film's tone over years of work. In other words ... they want these geese to keep laying golden eggs.
The Stand is about the survivors of a military-created biological weapon, as well as a struggle between good and evil. It was written in 1978, revised in 1990 and turned into a made-for-TV miniseries in 1994.
We don't know how many movies The Stand will become, but a trilogy makes sense considering the book is split into three major sections.
The news of a movie series of The Stand almost (but not quite) makes up for the loss of The Dark Tower, which would not only have become multiple movies but also been continued as a television series. (Universal Studios heartbreakingly canceled the project over budget issues.)

THE FANTASTIC FOUR
The Fantastic Four has been around for 50 years. In that time, other than a few temporary lineup changes, the core four have always remained intact—until the recent death of Johnny Storm (the Human Torch, that is). Is it possible that, in less than a year, he's back?
Marvel has been teasing a major issue of FF recently, which has been confirmed as Fantastic Four #600. Today we got to see one of the covers—which includes the Human Torch and Spider-Man. It's been pointed out that this particular image first appeared at last May's Dallas Comic Con as an exclusive. Does that mean that the image doesn't relate to the story within? Or has Johnny's return been planned out all along?
We're a little confused, considering that this particular death, much like Peter Parker's in Ultimate Spider-Man, was billed as being something that wouldn't be taken back. It's not that resurrecting comic book characters is surprising, or that it's even the first time it's technically happened with members of the Fantastic Four ... we just thought it would take a little longer.
Still, we might be looking at a retrospective and not a present-day return of the character. Or could there be a new Human Torch?

WAREHOUSE 13 RENEWED
Syfy has renewed Warehouse 13.
The Syfy series, starring Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly, will return for a fourth season with 13 episodes set to air next year, The Hollywood Reporter confirms.
Created by Jack Kenny, Warehouse 13 has been a solid performer in the ratings so far this season, averaging 2.3 million total viewers. This season of Warehouse 13 saw an addition to the cast with Aaron Ashmore as Steve Jinks.
In May, THR broke the news that Syfy, which recently axed plans for a sixth season of Eureka, was developing a potential spinoff starring Warehouse 13 character H.G. Wells. At Comic-Con last month, Kenny talked about the status of the project, saying that it is in "very early planning stages" but has "gotten Syfy interested in the notion."

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2011

HAVEN'S TWITTER EPISODE
NEW YORK - August 10, 2011 - Syfy's popular series Haven will become the first television series to create a storyline that flows between the show itself and the micro-blogging service Twitter when it launches a special seven-episode arc beginning Friday, August 12, at 10PM (ET/PT).
"The Haven writers and producers have done an amazing job of crafting a story line that seamlessly moves between the TV show and Twitter," said Craig Engler, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Syfy Digital. "Although there have been simple integrations before, no one has fully and organically integrated Twitter into the fabric of the show in the way Haven is doing. If you watch Haven and use Twitter, you're in for a real treat."
In the story, Vince (Richard Donat) and Dave (John Dunsworth), who run the newspaper in Haven, join Twitter as newcomers to the medium. Viewers who follow their characters (@VinceHaven, @DaveHaven) will see them interact with a mysterious Twitter user (@ColdInHaven) who knows more about Haven - and Vince and Dave - than anyone should.
Said Executive Producer Lloyd Segan: "Although Twitter has been featured in TV shows before, this is the first time a storyline from a television series has been fully integrated with the popular online service. The story has been created in such a way that viewers who don't follow the Twitter plot can still enjoy the show. For those that do, there will be a special meaning to events in Haven during these seven episodes."
As the special plot unfolds on Twitter, viewers will catch glimpses of it in the show itself, where they'll be directed to follow the Twitter conversation through special promos. The outcome to the Twitter story will be revealed in the second-season finale on Friday, September 30.
"Twitter has become the default platform for TV fans to talk, in real-time, about the shows they love," said Robin Sloan, manager of media partnerships at Twitter. "Syfy has embraced that conversation, and now it's breaking new ground with this Haven storyline. It incorporates Twitter more deeply into the show's plot than anything we've ever seen before."
Viewers can follow the story on Twitter with the hashtag #HavenNews as well as on www.syfy.com/haven.
Syfy and Twitter will be working together during the seven-week event to measure viewer engagement around the Haven Twitter storyline. The findings will be shared in an online case study, with best practices for any network to use when integrating Twitter directly into a storyline.
Now in its second season, Haven, starring Emily Rose, is based on The Colorado Kid from renowned author Stephen King. The series follows FBI agent Audrey Parker (Rose), who takes up residence in the small town of Haven, Maine, and soon discovers the town's many secrets.
A longtime refuge for people with an eclectic range of supernatural abilities, Haven also holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of Audrey's lost past. Among the townspeople are Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant), a handsome local cop with his own supernatural affliction, and Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour), a smuggler and reluctant aide in solving Haven's troubles.

CAPTAIN AMERICA COMIC BOOK - RECORD SALE
Do you have old comic books in the attic or basement? Ever wonder if they are actually worth money? The answer isprobably not. But if you happen to have a copy of Captain America #1, however, well ... that's a little different.
First appearances of heroes like Batman and Superman do sometimes turn up at auction, but, much like the comics themselves, these events are very rare. Timing is everything, though, and it's not surprising that a copy of Captain America #1 (which famously shows the good Cap punching Adolf Hitler in the face a year before the U.S. even entered World War II) would show up during the same summer of his latest and greatest theatrical feature.
The copy in question, which was graded at 9.2, may not be the highest-quality copy ever sold (the best physical copy was graded at 9.6 a decade ago), but it still broke the record books by selling at a whopping $343K.

THE STAND
Reports indicate that Warner Bros. is planning a massive adaptation of the 1974 Stephen King novel The Stand. Now, HitFix says that the studio has a creative team in mind and that negotiations are underway to bring aboard David Yates as director and Steve Kloves as screenwriter.
Previously adapted as a television miniseries in 1994, "The Stand" tells the story of a full-scale apocalypse, driven by the accidental release of a biological weapon and the ensuing struggle of good versus evil carried out by the world's final survivors.
Yates and Kloves, who previously collaborated on the final three Harry Potter films for the studio, would plan to bring The Stand to life as multiple films. The original version of the book is, after all, famously massive, checking in at 823 (for the 1978 edition) pages and 1,141 in a "complete and uncut" edition released in 1990.

NOW YOU SEE ME
According to Variety, Morgan Freeman (upcoming The Dark Knight Rises) is in talks to join Jesse Eisenberg, Melanie Laurent, Mark Ruffalo and Amanda Seyfried in Summit Entertainment's Now You See Me.
To be directed by Louis Leterrier (Clash of the Titans, The Incredible Hulk, the thriller pits a crack FBI squad in a game of cat-and-mouse against a super-team of the world's greatest illusionists, who pull off a series of daring bank heists during their performances, showering the profits on their audiences while staying one step ahead of the law.
The trade says that Freeman will play Thaddeus, an ex-magician who has made a career out of exposing other magicians' illusions, making him a despised figure within the magic community.
Ruffalo will play the main FBI agent, while Eisenberg is set to play an arrogant but brilliant magician who's the leader of the Four Horsemen. Seyfried and Laurent co-star on opposing sides of the law.
Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt wrote the film, to be produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Yakin will executive produce along with Bobby Cohen.

THE GREY
Open Road Films announced today that Joe Carnahan's The Grey will hit theaters on January 27. Also scheduled for that date are The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes and One for the Money. Here is the press release:
Open Road Films will release the highly anticipated, action-packed survival thriller, The Grey, in theaters nationwide on January 27, 2012. The Grey stars Liam Neeson and is directed by Joe Carnahan (A-Team, Smokin’ Aces, Narc); it was produced by Liddell Entertainment. The announcement was made today by Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films.
In The Grey, Liam Neeson leads an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks when their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements – and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt – before their time runs out.
The Grey also features Frank Grillo (upcoming Warrior and Lay The Favorite), Dermot Mulroney (Burn After Reading, About Schmidt), Dallas Roberts (“The Good Wife," 3:10 To Yuma), Joe Anderson (Across The Universe, upcoming ABC series "The River"), James Badge Dale (upcoming World War Z, The Conspirator, HBO’s “The Pacific"), Nonso Anozie (upcoming Conan The Barbarian, Atonement, RocknRolla).
The Grey is produced by Jules Daly, Joe Carnahan, Ridley Scott and Mickey Liddell. Executive producers are Tony Scott and Jennifer Hilton as well as Jim Seibel, Bill Johnson and Marc Butan of Inferno Entertainment.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2011

STAMPS
Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone, has been honored with a U.S. postage stamp. Homer Simpson as well. So we're happy to hear that Tarzan and his creator are getting some U.S. Postal Service love, too.
Edgar Rice Burroughs and the King of the Jungle will be featured next year on a forever stamp drawn by Sterling Hundley and based on a 1934 photo taken by Burroughs' son, Hulbert Burroughs.
Stephen Kearney, executive director of Stamp Services, said:
"The Postal Service is proud to honor Edgar Rice Burroughs, one of the most popular and prolific authors of the early 20th century. ... Best known for inventing the iconic character Tarzan, he wrote more than 70 books, including historical fiction and several popular series of science fiction tales."
The stamp is being issued to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the publication of the John Carter story "Under the Moons of Mars" and the first Tarzan story, "Tarzan of the Apes," both of which appeared in All-Story Magazine in 1912.
The Post Office is making collecting stamps fun again.

TERRA NOVA - ONLY 13 EPISODES?
Late last week at the Fox TCA, Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly stated that Terra Nova's first season was being planned for 13 episodes only, and not the 22 it might otherwise get if it got good ratings, due to the complex production.
However, executive producer Brannon Braga said in a recent interview that, "If they tell us they want nine more, it'll be incredible. But we're up to the challenge. I might have a nervous breakdown, but ..."
Braga admitted, though, that when it comes to the number of episodes in any given season, "those decisions are made by people far above ... the emperors. I'm just in the trenches over here. I have no idea ... We're designing it like the first season will be 13, but one never knows."
The show's rigorous production—involving the creation of realistic dinosaurs and shooting in Queensland, Australia—has cause delays which pushed the planned airing of the two-hour pilot from May to Monday, Sept. 26.
"It's a massive production," said Braga. "We're very far away from it physically, and we have a lot of special needs that no other show in history has really had in terms of scope and visuals and the kind of visual effects we're doing. And we've managed to pull it off. We're nearly done, certainly, writing the first season. And we're about over halfway done filming. "
According to Braga, their special-effects team has had to create new technologies to "do dinosaurs on a television schedule."
As for what Terra Nova is going to look like, I got a chance to see the first hour, and that initial hour is rich and awesome and takes the viewer from a dystopian far future to a lush and dinosaur-enriched past.
"Wait till you see hour two. Things get real scary. But [we didn't] want to lose the sense of spirited fun. And I think that's what we've been doing, and that's certainly what Steven Spielberg has brought to it. It's very Spielberg-esque," he said about the show's most high-profile producer.
With Spielberg (Jurassic Park), Braga (Star Trek) and several other talented producers behind the scenes, along with actors Jason O'Mara (Life on Mars) and Stephen Lang (Avatar) leading the cast, talk about the show's difficult production will likely vanish if Terra Nova performs well for Fox.
And if Terra Nova does hit big, when it comes to that 13-episode order, as Braga says, "One never knows."

NEW BEWITCHED
The Hollywood Reporter writes that CBS could be in the market for a Darrin.
The network has ordered a script from Sony Pictures Television for a potential remake of Bewitched.
Miss Congeniality scribe Marc Lawrence has been tapped to pen the script and executive produce. Husband-and-wife team of Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher – who produced the 2005 feature film starring Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman – will produce through their Red Wagon shingle.
The script order for Bewitched joins a growing number of classic TV series returning back to the small screen. ABC’s Charlie’s Angels – also from Sony Pictures Television -- will premiere in September, and CBS’ Hawaii Five-O returns for its second season in the fall.
Bewitched ran for eight seasons on ABC, from 1964 to 1972 and starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, a witch who marries Darrin, a mortal (Dick York and later Dick Sargent), and attempts to become a typical suburban housewife.

BIG SCREEN CHALLENGES
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the zombie war will begin on Dec. 21, 2012 and it could be a blood-letting at the box office.
Paramount has dated World War Z, which it describes as a geo-political thriller, to open four days before Christmas Day. The move puts the Bratt Pitt movie on a collision course with Disney’s The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, as well as Fox’s Tobey Maguire drama Life of Pi. And it’s only a week after the release of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which opens Dec. 14.
But the Christmas holiday has proven to be the most lucrative time of the year, with the market able to support multiple films.
World War Z, currently in production, is being directed by Marc Forster and adapts Max Brook’s novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. The movie stars Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale and Matthew Fox.
The studio says the “story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.”

NEW CHUCK GUESTS
As Chuck is apparently pulling out all the stops for its upcoming final season, its already rampant fan base will be joined by the very devoted fans of series past, The CW’s Smallville and ABC’s Lost.
An NBC spokesperson confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that Justin Hartley and Jeff Fahey are appearing on Episode 2 of Season 5 as brothers.
Fahey (pilot Frank Lapidus on Lost), plays the allusive Karl Sneijder, who runs a diamond company with mines in South Africa. The CIA has kept a watch on him for alleged criminal activity, but it hasn’t been able to collect enough evidence to charge him.
As Karl's younger brother, Wesley Sneijder, Hartley (Smallville's Oliver/ Green Arrow) plays an anthropologist who has successfully kept himself away from his brother’s shady dealings. That will change when Karl’s enemies kidnap him and the older brother hires the newly formed spy business, Carmichael Industries, to help free Wesley.
Apparently, Hartley had a good time on set. “Couple of days on the show Chuck this week,” he tweeted on Tuesday. “Great people over there. Fun times.”
Chuck’s final season moves to NBC Fridays starting on Oct. 21 at 8 p.m.

LUCASFILM AND SONY PICTURES IMAGEWORKS RELEASE ALEMBIC 1.0
Alembic 1.0, the open source project jointly developed by Sony Pictures Imageworks and Lucasfilm Ltd. was released to the public today, it was announced at ACM SIGGRAPH conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Alembic is the computer graphics interchange format developed by the two entertainment giants last year and focused on efficiently storing and sharing animation and visual effects scenes across multiple software applications. It was designed to handle massive animation data sets often required in high-end visual effects and animation, which are routinely developed and produced by companies such as Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic and Lucasfilm Animation Ltd and Sony Pictures Imageworks. The studios each saw the need for a tool like Alembic, something that would fit within existing pipelines and allow for customization at the facility level without impeding the ability to share work.
The code base for Alembic is available for download on the project's Google Code site and more information can be found online at: http://www.alembic.io

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

GODZILLA
Remember Roland Emmerich's regrettable Godzilla reboot? Here's something to whett your appetite -- a couple of minutes of Godzilla the way it's supposed to be. But unfortunately, it looks like a couple of minutes is all we're gonna get.
If you are like us, you'll wish that this taste was an appetizer for a full-length movie to come. Sadly, it's only a dream sequence being experienced by a Godzilla-loving character in the Japanese comedy Always Zoku Sanchome no Yuhi (which translates as Always: Sunset on Third Street 2).

UPCOMING MARVEL MOVIES
Sony announced last week that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 would be released on May 2, 2014, before they even have any idea whether we like the first film in the rebooted franchise. But that's not all Marvel has in store for us in 2014.
Disney announced today it would be releasing TWO more Marvel movies in 2014—one on May 16, 2014, two weeks after the coming Spidey sequel, and another on June 27, 2014—but they're not saying a word about just which superheroes will be invading theaters two summers from now.
By then, we'll have seen Avengers (May 4, 2012), Iron Man 3 (May 3, 2013) and Thor 2 (July 26, 2013)—so where does that leave us?
Will it be time for a return of one of the superheroes we've already seen on screen, maybe a Captain America 2? Or will we get to see someone new, like Dr. Strange or the Guardians of the Galaxy?

THE BRICKLAYER
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Gerard Butler is set to headline a feature adaptation of Noah Boyd's novel The Bricklayer. Released early last year, the novel is officially described by the publisher as follows:
"The Bricklayer" is the pulse-pounding novel introducing Steve Vail, one of the most charismatic new heroes to come along in thriller fiction in many years. He's an ex–FBI agent who's been fired for insubordination but is lured back to the Bureau to work a case that has become more unsolvable—and more deadly—by the hour.
A woman steps out of the shower in her Los Angeles home and is startled by an intruder sitting calmly in her bedroom holding a gun. But she is frozen with fear by what he has to say about the FBI—and what he says he must do. . . .
A young agent slips into the night water off a rocky beach. He's been instructed to swim to a nearby island to deposit a million dollars demanded by a blackmailer. But his mission is riddled with hazardous tests, as if someone wanted to destroy him rather than collect the money. . . .
Vail has resigned himself to his dismissal and is content with his life as a bricklayer. But the FBI, especially Deputy Assistant Director Kate Bannon, needs help with a shadowy group that has initiated a brilliant extortion plot. The group will keep killing their targets until the agency pays them off, the amount and number of bodies escalating each time the FBI fails. One thing is clear: someone who knows a little too much about the inner workings of the Bureau is very clever —and very angry—and will kill and kill again if it means he can disgrace the FBI.
Steve Vail's options —and his time to find answers—are swiftly running out.
Hanna Weg, who wrote the planned Zelda Fitzgerald biopic, The Beautiful and the Damned, will adapt the novel for the screen.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 2011

SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2011

Cowboy & Aliens
, which fell 64% on its second Friday.
Both Change-Up and Cowboy were trounced by Sony’s surprise hit The Smurfs, which grossed $6 million Friday for a domestic cume of $61.2 million. SmurfsNo. 2.
Sony’s holdover The Smurfs remained a strong contender, coming in NNo. 2 for the day and grossing an estimated $5.7 million.
Sony’s holdover The Smurfs remained a strong contender, coming in No. 2 for the day and grossing an estimated $5.7 million.
Universal and DreamWorks’ Cowboys & Aliens
tumbled more than 60 percent, grossing roughly $4.7 million, although it’s possible Change-Up could pull ahead of Cowboys once final Friday numbers are calculated.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2011

MAN OF STEEL
Laurence Fishburne has a new job ... and it's at the Daily Planet. Move over Morpheus, see you later CSI, this Oscar nominated actor has bigger fish to fry in Metropolis!
Fishburne has officially joined the cast of Zack Snyder's Superman reboot Man of Steel as the hard-hitting, no nonsense Perry White. He's the editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet and the workhorse boss of Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.
In the past, White has been played by a plethora of talented actors including Jackie Cooper, Frank Langella and Michael McKean, so Fishburne's in good company. This news comes shortly after he left his role on CSI, which left us wondering what was next.
There must be something in the water over at Warner Bros., because not only did they scoop Fishburne, but they also cast Christopher Meloni five seconds after he left his 12 year gig on Law & Order: SVU. It sounds like Superman is the new hot ticket in town ... again.
Man of Steel's growing cast now includes Fishburne, Meloni, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Julia Ormond and Russell Crowe.

MARVEL ONE-SHOT: THE CONSULTANT
After playing second fiddle to Nick Fury, Tony Stark and Thor, Phil Coulson is finally getting his just desserts. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent stars in a new short film aptly titled, Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant.
The first clip from The Consultant features footage that fills in the gap of time between Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk. [Spoilers ahead] Do you remember when Tony Stark made a surprise visit to General Ross? Were you wondering why they sent Stark instead of somebody—anybody else? Here's your answer.
The Consultant fun doesn't stop here—there's more to come. Marvel also has a soon-to-be-released short called A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer. In it, Coulson and a few supporting characters will bridge the gap between the action in Iron Man 2 and Thor.
Agent Coulson might not have the prestige and honor of Nick Fury, but at least he gets a mini-movie highlighting his cool, behind-the-scenes antics.
Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant will appear on the DVD, Blu-Ray and 3D Blu-Ray of Thor, which hits shelves on Sept. 13.

TWIXT
Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola is back—and he's taking a creepy turn with his latest film, Twixt. The first trailer for the movie has been released and it features witchcraft, vampires, satanic worship, murder, Gothic makeup and narration by Tom Waits.
Twixt centers on a third-string writer (Val Kilmer)—the bargain basement Stephen King—and a creepy sheriff (Bruce Dern) who's more interested in gaining fame than solving crimes. The duo are joined by several "imagined characters," namely V (Elle Fanning) and a very convincing Edgar Allen Poe (Ben Chaplin).
Kilmer's character Hal Baltimore is in need of some serious cash, so he's forced to write a new horror story to make ends meet. It's within his writing process we're introduced to all the crazy, seedy, underhanded things that his small hosting town has to offer.
You might be asking yourself, what's Francis Ford Coppola doing making such a convincing yet confusing horror-thriller? Granted, Twixt is very different from most of his works, but he did direct Dracula and he produced 1994's Frankenstein, Sleepy Hollow and Jeepers Creepers. Plus, one of his mentors is Roger Corman, so are we really surprised by this shift?
Twixt will debut at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, which runs from Sept 8-18.

GREEN LANTERN 2
Fans and critics agree: Green Lantern wasn't the bestest-ever movie based on a comic book. But that's not stopping the president of Warner Bros. from considering a potential sequel.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Warner Bros.' head honcho Jeff Robinov has said:
"We had a decent opening so we learned there is an audience. To go forward we need to make it a little edgier and darker with more emphasis on action. ... And we have to find a way to balance the time the movie spends in space versus on Earth."
Green Lantern received a mere 26 percent approval rating on the aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes. But more importantly, the movie has so far earned only $154 million out of the $200 million it cost to make.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2011

GRIMM
The cast and producers on NBC’s Grimm faced reporters at the Television Critics Association (TCA) on Monday and tried to explain what exactly the show was about.
The series re-imagines the classic Grimms’ fairy tales as if its fantastical creatures actually existed and the stories were meant to be like that of a police profiler’s files.
“It takes the police procedural and kind of turns it on its head,” executive producer David Greenwalt (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) explains. “And it takes the storybook fairy tales and fractures that.”
The problem is that there seems to be some mixed messages coming from Greenwalt and his fellow EPs as to which element is more important, especially as reporters continued to search for some kind of solid explanation as to how audiences should view the show and how it fits into NBC’s stable of programming.
When faced with the question of the numerous other upcoming shows and movies also based off fairy tales, like ABC’s Once Upon a Time, and the two upcoming Snow White movies, executive producer Todd Milliner backtracks a bit on the fairy tale aspects.
“It is odd,” Milliner says of his show’s emergence as part of the trend. “There’s a lot of movies and shows about fairy tales, but ours is so not about the fairy tale. It’s a police procedural with a hint of fairy tale.”
So, what is Grimm about again? Maybe, it will help to go back to how the idea was born in the first place – with fairy tales.
Milliner and fellow exec producer, Sean Hayes (Yes, of Will & Grace fame – he also EPs Hot in Cleveland), was looking for something to base a new series on, but the source material would have to be in the public domain (meaning it wouldn’t have to be licensed). Grimms’ Fairy Tales fit the bill and additionally offered something like 200 possible stories the series could “fracture.’
This season, the series will repurpose “The Three Little Pigs,” but with wolves instead. And it plans to do something with the "Cinderella" story, renaming her “Finderella.” In addition, there will be a take on "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."
So, what parts of the show make it more crime procedural than a parody of fairy tales? The producers will try to make sure that the episodes are “digestible” with cases closed each episode.
It follows Det. Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), who finds out he’s a descendent of the Brothers Grimm and inherits their unique talents for seeing mystical creatures, and his very classically trained police partner, Lt. Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby) as they solve tough cases and figure out each other’s quirks.
Again, there was a lot of talking in circles as if the show’s producers weren’t quite sure themselves how the series will shake out and which side, the fantasy or the procedural, will ultimately end up defining the series.

SPACELESS
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Cary Fukunaga, who last directed Jane Eyre, is heading into sci-fi territory for his follow-up.
The director has closed a deal to helm Universal's Spaceless, and will also rewrite the screenplay based off the original spec by Jeff Vintar. Gore Verbinski is producing the project through his BlindWink Productions. Vintar is executive producing.
The story centres on an assassin who wakes up inside a spacesuit tumbling helplessly through space, with a computer designed to keep him company until his air runs out. He must try to solve the mystery of his death, which began when he broke into an orbiting space station to carry out a hit. The man, however, begins to question his reality, unsure if he is succumbing to madness or in an artificially created environment
Fukunaga has been eager to mix up genres with every directorial outing he’s taken.
His debut was the award-winning immigration drama Sin Nombre, which he followed up with the adaptation of Emily Bronte’s Eyre, a period social drama.
Peter Cramer and Sara Scott are overseeing the project for the studio.

NON-STOP
The sky’s the limit for Dark Castle, which has picked up Non-Stop, an airplane thriller spec from writers John Richardson and Chris Roach. Jeff Wadlow is set to direct.
Joel Silver, Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman are producing.
Plot details are being kept under wraps but the project is described by those in the know as a contained, gritty action thriller centering on an air marshall flying on a domestic flight.
Wadlow discovered the first-time writers, who are unrepped, and worked with them to develop the script.
Dark Castle, which made its early name on supernatural and horror thrillers, is moving to develop more stright thrillers in the realistic action sphere after the success of Unknown, its thriller starring Liam Neeson, which grossed $130 million worldwide on a reported budget of $30 million.
The deal puts WME-repped Wadlow, best known for helming Never Back Down, back in business with Silver, this time on a feature level. Silver was a producer on Hail Mary, a CBS pilot Wadlow created and wrote, and the two also worked on the CBS pilot The Odds.

WRATH OF THE TITANS!
For the past few months, director Jonathan Liebesman (Battle: Los Angeles) has been working hard in England and other locations to create the sequel to Warner Bros' 2010 hit remake Clash of the Titans, working on the movie under the rather clever working title of "Clash of the Titans 2." Surely, no one thought that title would stick and with a lot of different choices to go for, the filmmakers have finally picked a title, and according to ERC Box Office, that new title is...
Wrath of the Titans!
So far, it's been confirmed that Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson and Danny Huston are all back, joined by Bill Nighy, Toby Kebbell and Rosamund Pike, and now they have a title, all they have to do is finish the movie in time for its release date of March 30, 2012.

MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2011

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - Part 2
Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has become part of the elite billion dollar club, while Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon should become a member within days.
Before this summer, only seven movies in history had grossed $1 billion or more at the domestic box office.
There’s now nine, between Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Deathly Hallows 2, the first film in the franchise to reach the milestone. Dark of the Moon will make it ten.
Through Sunday, Deathly Hallows has earned $1.01 billion, including a domestic total of $318.5 million and international cume of $690 million. The pic tied the record for the fastest climb to $1 billion, accomplishing the task in only 17 days.
Deathly Hallows 2 also is the top grossing film in Warner history worldwide.
“What’s truly astounding is that these kind of numbers are being achieved so early in the film’s release,” said Warners president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman, who announced the milestone with president of international distribution Veronikia Kwan-Rubinek.
Dark of the Moon’s worldwide cume rose to $983 million over the weekend, including a domestic total of $337.9 million and international haul of $645 million. As with Deathly Hallows 2, Dark of the Moon will become the first title in its respective franchise to hit $1 billion in global grosses.
Here's how the billion dollar winners rank: Avatar ($2.8 billion), Titanic (1.8 billion), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.11 billion), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1.07 billion), Toy Story 3 ($1.06 billion), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (1.03 billion), Alice in Wonderland ($1.02 billion), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($1.01 billion) and The Dark Knight ($1.00 billion).

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures are both claiming their new films, Cowboys & Aliens and The Smurfs, earned $36.2 million at the weekend box office, making it impossible to determine which of the two films won the weekend until the final figures come in on Monday. Cowboys & Aliens opened in 3,750 theaters and averaged $9,653 per theater while The Smurfs debuted in 3,395 theaters and averaged $10,663. The former also cost $163 million to make, not counting marketing costs, and the latter was budgeted at $110 million.
Director Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens features a cast that includes Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, Noah Ringer, Keith Carradine, Clancy Brown, Ana de la Reguera and Abigail Spencer. The Smurfs stars Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, Anton Yelchin, Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Paul Reubens, John Oliver, Kenan Thompson, B.J. Novak, Jeff Foxworthy, Wolfgang Puck, Gary Basaraba and Tim Gunn.
Last week's champ, Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios' Captain America: The First Avenger dropped to third place and 61.7% in ticket sales to take in $24.9 million its second weekend. The $140 million comic book adaptation has earned $116.8 million domestically so far.
Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows - Part 2 added $21.9 million domestically to push its total to $318.5 million after three weeks. The epic finale passed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office on Saturday.
WB's new Crazy, Stupid, Love rounded out the top five with $19.3 million from 3,020 theaters. Starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon, the film averaged $6,391 per theater.
In its second weekend, Screen Gems' Friends With Benefits dipped 50.1% in sales, collecting $9.3 million for a total of $38.2 million. The romantic comedy cost $35 million to make. Also costing that amount was New Line's Horrible Bosses, which added $7.1 million its fourth weekend for a total of $96.2 million.
Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon earned $5.97 million its fifth weekend to bring its total to $337.9 million domestically. The Paramount release cost $195 million to make.

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

HAWAII FIVE-O ADDITION
William Baldwin is the latest addition to the ever-growing cast of recurring characters on CBS drama "Hawaii Five-O."
Baldwin will join the cast for a multi-episode arc, reports TV Guide, as a former homicide detective who was kicked off the force for corruption. He enters the story as a sort of ringleader for a band of dirty cops.
Previously announced guest star Tom Sizemore will play the head of Internal Affairs who wants to put Baldwin, his former partner, behind bars.
Also joining the cast this fall: "Lost's" Terry O'Quinn, Richard T. Jones and Lauren German.

LEAF MEN
20th Century Fox has scheduled Leaf Men for release on May 17, 2013.
Based on the children's book "The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs" by William Joyce, the animated film will arrive in 3D under director Chris Wedge (Robots, Ice Age).
The story in the book involves a troop of noble bugs that, in an effort to protect a garden from the evil spider queen, summon the mythical Leaf Men to their aide.

SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2011

CHUCK NEWS
"Chuck" has cast a love interest for Adam Baldwin's character, and she should be more than up to the task of keeping pace with John Casey.
"The Matrix" star Carrie-Anne Moss has signed on for a multi-episode run on the NBC series' final season, EW reports. She's the second big guest star to join Season 5 of the show; it was announced at Comic-Con that Mark Hamill will appear in the season premiere.
Moss will play a character named Gertrude Verbanski, who despite her ungainly name is a ruthlessly efficient spy. She runs a private firm that competes with Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah's (Yvonne Strahovski) newly launched enterprise.
Gertrude also has a history with Casey, and though they've been professional rivals they have clicked personally. That sound you may have just heard is a bunch of "Chuck" fans squee-ing.
In addition to the "Matrix" trilogy, Moss' credits include "Memento," "Disturbia" and the upcoming "Silent Hill: Revelation." Earlier this year she starred in a Lifetime pilot called "Normal," but it didn't go forward.
"Chuck" begins its final season on NBC Friday, Oct. 21.

TORCHWOOD FUTURE IN QUESTION
"Torchwood: Miracle Day" has performed fairly well for Starz in its first few weeks, and it's earned mostly positive reviews. But its future is anything but assured.
Starz CEO Chris Albrecht says the show's future will depend largely on creator Russell T. Davies and whether -- and how soon -- he wants to return to the material.
"'Torchwood' is not one of the shows we went into thinking about a yearly return," Albrecht told reporters Friday (July 29) at the Television Critics Association press tour. Davies, he notes, "has a lot of things on his plate. If 'Torchwood' is at the top of his list, that will affect the future of 'Torchwood.'"
A longer-than-typical wait between seasons of "Torchwood" wouldn't be unprecedented: Two years passed between the airing of "Children of Earth" and the premiere of "Miracle Day." In his former gig as head of HBO, Albrecht also dealt with protracted delays between seasons of shows like "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
Jon Favreau’s big-budget Cowboys & Aliens ended up in a relatively close race with Sony’s 3D kids pic The Smurfs for the Friday crown, and possibly the weekend.
Observers say Cowboys and Smurfs both looked to gross $13 million to $13.5 million for the day, with Cowboys -- from DreamWorks and Universal -- falling short of reaching its projected $15 million opening day take.
Cowboys may now gross roughly $38 million for the weekend, less than expected. If Smurfs continues to do overperform, it could come close to the $38 million mark as well.
Coming in No. 3 at the domestic box office on Friday was Paramount and Marvel’s holdover Captain America: The First Avenger, which was on track to gross $7.5 million for the day and roughly $25 million for the weekend.
The third new film of the weekend, Warner Bros.’ Steve Carell-Ryan Gosling comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love got off to a solid start, likely grossing $6.5 million on Friday and $18 million or $19 million for the weekend.
Cowboys, starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, couldn’t have better pedigree. Stacey Snider and Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks oversaw production and co-financed the $163 million pic with Universal and Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment also produced the film.
But original stories are always a risk, not to mention mixing the Western and sci-fi genres. Westerns generally draw older moviegoers, and Cowboys has indeed been tracking best among males over 25, followed by males under 25, who are Favreau and sci-fi fans.
Cowboys grossed a soft $700,000 in midnight runs Thursday night, suggesting that younger fanboys weren’t rushing to see the film.
Earlier this summer, Super 8 grossed $13.1 million on its first Friday, along with $1 million in special sneaks the previous Thursday night. Super 8 went on to post an opening weekend gross of $36.5 million.
The big difference between the two movies is their price tags. J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 reportedly cost $55 million to make. DreamWorks financed half of Cowboys’ pricey $163 million budget, while Universal and Relativity Media each put up 25%.
Smurfs cost $110 million to produce.

FRINGE NEWS
Earlier this week, Fox released a new Fringe teaser asking Season 4's biggest question: Where exactly is Peter?
Showrunners Jeff Pinkner and Joel Wyman spoke to The Hollywood Reporter after the show's Comic-Con panel last weekend and what they said was mind-blowing and head-scratching.
Joshua Jackson joked to THR that he would like his alter ego to return to the cult sci-fi drama in a "flash of light," when the time came. Wyman, however, wasn't as giving. "You know, that is an assumption," he replied when asked about how Peter would return to the series. "He will not be another identity."
"For us, we are really using Peter's story this season to explore a lot of the basic rules of the show, which are choices and connection," Pinkner added.
But Wyman and Pinkner were adamant in dispelling any theories that questioned whether the events in the season finale actually happened.
"It really happened," Wyman reassured. "What we are trying to do from a conceptual standpoint is have the audience understand that it happened and you know it did happen. We watched it and there has been a catastrophe and it needs to be righted. It will either right itself properly or it will go in a very negative way. Now you have to understand what those repercussions are going to mean."
He added, "Peter sacrificed himself. He was a selfless hero. There are sacrifices; a sacrifice wouldn't be hard if it was easy."
Before they decided to go ahead with the finale, there were discussions about the events that unfolded that would affect the trajectory of the series.
"Before we decided to actually pull the trigger and do that season finale, we convinced ourselves that it happened and we were willing to play with consequences," Pinkner said. "I think it ends up in a place that is really kind of beautiful."
"When we were toying with it, it is analogous to this," Wyman explained. "In Fringe, we get to tell the quintessential kidnapping story, not about a kidnapping but about crossing universes. We get to tell the love triangle with two people who are the same person. We get to reinvent these trite situations."
Pinker agreed: "And we have characters that really hold up a mirror to themselves, having a second Walter and having a second Olivia really exposes sides of their characters that you wouldn't otherwise get."

THE MIGHTY
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Drew Pearce, who created the British superhero TV satire No Heroics, has been tapped to write Paramount’s adaptation of DC Comics title The Mighty.
Created by former DC editor Peter Tomasi and artist Keith Champagne, Mighty centers on a godlike and Superman-like hero and his relationship with a police officer who lands the plum job of being the man’s human handler. The relationship begins to fray when the officer begins to suspect that the hero adored the world-over is behind a series of ghastly murders.
Mary Parent, Cale Boyter and JC Spink are producing.
Paramount was able to get the book from DC and its parent company Warner Bros. since the book was creator-owned and not set in the DC Universe.
Pearce, repped by WME and London’s PBJ Management, created, wrote and produced No Heroics, which featured superheroes milling around a local pub; ABC commissioned a pilot for an American version but it didn’t get picked up.
The show led Pearce to Hollywood gigs, with the scribe landing gigs to pen Marvel Studios’ adaptation of their teen comic Runaways and to work with Shane Black on Iron Man 3.

RED TAILS
After many delays, George Lucas' long-discussed Red Tails has finally received a release date.
The film, which details the plight of the first team of African American fighter pilots (the Tuskegee Airmen) to fly in combat during World War II, has been something the Lucas, who is billed as both story writer and executive producer, has talked about making for years. John Ridley was tapped to write the screenplay in 2007 and the film was cast in 2009.
On Friday, Lucasfilm released a trailer for the war epic (directed by Anthony Hemingway), now set to hit theaters January 20, 2012.
Judging from the trailer, movie-goers can expect to watch star Terrence Howard tussle with Bryan Cranston's prejudiced Major William Mortamus and deliver a number of motivational speeches set to soaring music which will inspire his courageous team of fighter pilots (which include musicians Ne-Yo and Method Man and up-and-comer Nate Parker (The Secret Life of Bees)).
If successful, the film could serve as a comeback of sorts for Cuba Gooding Jr. who plays a military Major (if nothing else, his prior experience playing characters in dramatic-yet-uplifting war films Men of Honor and Pearl Harbor will have come in handy, not to mention a TV movie he made in 1995 called...The Tuskegee Airmen).
The cast also includes Daniela Ruah (NCIS: Los Angeles), Michael B. Jordan (Parenthood), Tristan Wilds (90210) and Josh Dallas (Thor).

TREK NATION COMING TO SCIENCE CHANNEL
With the 2011 Comic-Con International in San Diego as the backdrop, SCIENCE announced its partnership with science fiction royalty, Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, and Roddenberry Entertainment on the upcoming feature-length special, TREK NATION, scheduled to air in fourth quarter 2011. TREK NATION explores the popularity and appeal of Star Trek through the man who created it all – the late Gene Roddenberry.

FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2011

GAME OF THRONES
If you've been holding back from getting too invested in Game of Thrones because you've worried that HBO would kill the series before it could play out its storyline—which is what the network did with Carnivàle and Deadwood—you can stop now.
After the show's first successful season on HBO, the network has announced that they plan on riding the Stark-Lannister train until the wheels fall off!
Amidst the annual TCA press tour, HBO executives were grilled about Game of Thrones and its foreseeable future. While some shows have a predetermined amount of seasons set at the beginning, Games of Thrones has the potential to stay on a LOT longer. We're talking Gunsmoke and the original Law & Order long.
"I hope it lasts for 20 years," says HBO programming president Michael Lombardo of the show. "I promise you we won't stop it before it's ready to stop ... There's a great relationship fans have with the show and we appreciate that."
And if you're worried about certain storylines getting the short end of the stick, you shouldn't. Even though George R.R. Martin continues to actively write entries in the book series, HBO plans to go tit for tat with the author. "We told [author George R.R. Martin] we'd go as long as he keeps writing," said HBO co-president Richard Plepler.
It sounds like the network is in love with Game of Thrones just as much as we are.

COWBOYS & ALIENS
Cowboys & Aliens hasn't opened yet, but if the movie's stars are to be believed, they've already got their eyes set on a possible sequel.
We took a trip to the Paws Up Ranch in Missoula, Mont., where Olivia Wilde told us why Jon Favreau "can't be out-geeked," Favreau explained how a film can be both a cliche and a commentary on what came before, and Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford hinted that they've already been thinking about revisiting their Cowboys & Aliens characters.

WALKING DEAD
Ever since we learned Tuesday that Frank Darabont, the creator and executive producer of AMC's The Walking Dead, might not be back as the series' showrunner, we started to worry. Could the show continue to be a success without Darabont's zombie brains?
Well, now that Glen Mazzara has taken over for Darabont, AMC wants us to know it has everything under control.
Here's the official statement the network just released on the matter:
The Walking Dead's Glen Mazzara, writer and executive producer, is expanding his responsibilities to assume the role of showrunner. AMC is grateful to executive producer, writer and pilot director Frank Darabont whose contributions to the success of The Walking Dead are innumerable. We continue to discuss his ongoing role with the series.
Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead graphic novels, executive producer and writer on the series, will remain in this role and will continue to steward the brand. Gale Anne Hurd will remain in her role as Executive Producer. The production continues on schedule for an October 16th premiere.

THE KARMA COALITION
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Trevor Cawood is in negotiations to direct The Karma Coalition, a thriller being produced by Lin Pictures at Warner Bros.
The move sets into motion a project that Warners picked up in 2008, plunking down $750,000 against $1. 5 million for the spec by rocker-by-day/scribe-by-night Shawn Christensen.
The story centers on a professor who engages in a game of cat and mouse with a corrupt detective after he's told his dead wife of five years might still be alive. He uncovers the existence of a secret organization responsible for faking her death but suffers the consequences of that knowledge.
Lin Pictures' Jon Silk and Mark Bauch are co-producing.
Cawood, repped by WME and Anonymous Content, is a Canadian helmer who is a co-owner the visual effects house the Embassy, which has worked on movies such as Cowboys & Aliens and District 9.
Cawood made a name for himself with his shorts and commercials. One that caught Hollywood’s eye was an arty and unique film titled Terminus and featured a man haunted and followed by an inner representation, a stone figure. Among his commercials are a spot for Clone Wars, featuring two droids at a skate park, and a spot for Citroen, featuring a car transforming into a running robot.
His work is marked for the way it uses real settings and brings inanimate objects to life.
Karma will be Cawood’s directorial debut.
Jesse Ehrman and Andy Fischel is overseeing for the studio.

GANGSTER SQUAD
Robert Patrick has signed to join the cast of Ruben Fleischer's Gangster Squad, Variety reports. He will take over the part of Officer Max Kennard, which had been rumored to go to Bryan Cranston.
Adapted from a series of L.A. Times articles, Gangster Squad explores the true story of a band of secret "off the record" police task force who went after Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen, a high-profile gangster who was a member of the "Jewish Mafia" in the 1940's.
Patrick will be joining Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Holt McCallany and, still in negotiations, Emma Stone, in the crime drama.
Though no reason has been given for Cranston not signing on, it likely has to do with a busy schedule. In addition to his leading role on "Breaking Bad," Cranston will appear in some major upcoming projects, including John Carter and Total Recall.

R.I.P.D.
According to Variety, Kevin Bacon looks to be joining the cast of Universal Pictures' supernatural action film R.I.P.D. (short for "Rest In Peace Department"). The trade reports that the actor is in final negotiations for the part.
The project, based on Peter Lenkov's Dark Horse comic about a police department of the dead, will be directed by Robert Schwentke (RED) and will feature the team-up of Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges. Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi are writing the screenplay with Mike Richardson, founder and President of Dark Horse, producing alongside Lawrence Gordon and Neal Moritz.
Bacon's most recent appearance was also as a comic book villain, playing the part of Sebastian Shaw earlier this year in X-Men: First Class.
R.I.P.D. is scheduled to begin production soon, planning a June 28, 2012 release.

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

WALKING DEAD - NEW SHOWRUNNER
Just a day after Frank Darabont stepped down from his perch as showrunner at "The Walking Dead," writer Glen Mazzara will reportedly take over the top behind-the-scenes spot at AMC's zombie-pocalypse hit.
Mazzara ("Hawthorne," "The Shield") joined the show as a writer/producer in its second season, currently filming in Georgia.
"We hired Glen Mazzara as our Number 2 in the room," Darabont said in a June Deadline.com interview. "We consider him our head writer and he's just a fantastic asset."
According to Deadline, production of the show has not been interrupted and, as per Darabont -- who participated in the show's Comic-Con panel and pressroom -- the writers already had eight of 13 shows written with the rest of the season in outline.
The premiere date, announced at Comic-Con, remains Oct. 16.

THE HULK
Kevin Feige and Marvel really want us to like the Hulk's new look. In a recent interview, he spoke about a few changes they've made to the character and how Mark Ruffalo's casting has influenced his facial design. It sounds like the Hulk's getting a makeover!
For the most part, the Hulk has been nothing more than a CGI fest that's required little to no input from his Bruce Banner alter ego. But that type of laziness won't slide in The Avengers.
"The most important thing is that face," said Feige. "As you can already see in that concept painting, it is—more than any Hulk that's ever been done in live action—a Hulk that lets you see the actor in there. You will be able to see Ruffalo in there. That was a big revelation for us. It's just a concept painting, but in that you can see the [influence of Marvel Comics pioneer and original Hulk artist Jack] Kirby, as people have already pointed out, but also, and equally important in this case, Ruffalo's eyes and his cheek structure. It is him."
The rest of the Hulk's body has also gone through some changes. He might not be as big and brawny as we've seen in the past.
According to Feige, "He'll be about the same size he was in The Incredible Hulk [which was about 9 feet tall], or maybe a little bit smaller. His muscles won't be quite as cut. We figure he's been the Hulk now for a few years and [his physique is changing]. He's not as cut or as ripped as he was in The Incredible Hulk."
This tidbit of info gives us high hopes for what to expect next summer. Even though we haven't seen any finished footage of the Hulk in action, it sounds like they know what they want and how to get it. They're definitely going in a new direction, and we like it!

THE IDES OF MARCH
The trailer for George Clooney's upcoming movie The Ides of March hit the Internet on Wednesday.In the movie, Ryan Gosling plays a young press secretary who falls prey to dirty backroom politics in the film. Clooney portrays the candidate for whom Gosling's character works.
Clooney directed the Columbia Pictures drama and co-wrote the script with his Smoke House Pictures partner Grant Heslov.
Clooney, an outspoken liberal, says he made his character a Democrat to bypass any claims that the film had a personal agenda.
Ides, which also stars Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Evan Rachel Wood, is set for wide release Oct. 7 via Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The film also screens at both the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival in September.

NEW TALES FROM THE CRYPT
A new "Tales From the Crypt" is planned for television, Deadline reports, though it will offer a very different take on the property than the one featured in the well-known HBO series that aired 1989 through 1996 (later spawning two feature films, Demon Knight and Bordello of Blood)
Gil Adler, who produced the HBO version will team with "Eureka" co-creator Andrew Cosby to develop the project which, rather than offer an anthology slant, will feature ongoing characters inspired by the original EC Comics from the 1950's.
Planned as an hourlong show, "Tales From the Crypt" is being set up to pitch to broadcast and cable networks, though an alternate plan is also being devised that could see the series funded independently before finding a network home.

FROZEN GROUND
According to Variety, Nicolas Cage and John Cusack are in talks to headline the $27 million thriller "The Frozen Ground" for Emmett Furla Films and Amber Entertainment.
The story centers on the investigation of Robert Hansen (Cusack), a respected family man who systematically abducted some two dozen women and flew them into the Alaskan wilderness where he released and then hunted them.
Cage would play the Alaska State Trooper who cracked the case after finding one of Hansen's victims alive on the street. Hansen was arrested in 1983 and is currently serving a 461 year sentence in prison.
Randall Emmett, George Furla, Mark Ordesky and Jane Fleming are producing. Scott Walker will make his feature directorial debut from his own script with filming to begin October 10th in Anchorage, Alaska.

WILL GALLOWS
Deadline reports that the team behind "Gnomeo & Juliet" are coming back together for the live-action and CG-animated combo feature "Will Gallows and the Snake Bellied Troll."
Based on the first in Derek Keilty's series of books, the story follows a young cowboy who seeks justice in a world that mashes together fantasy and the Wild West.
Elton John's Rocket Pictures will produce and the film will feature strong musical elements. 'Gnomeo' writer/director Kelly Asbury will return in the same capacities here.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011

VAMPIRE DIARIES
Sarah Michelle Gellar is returning to TV this fall, but it looks like there's a new vampire slayer in town. TVLine reports that "The Vampire Diaries" producers are introducing Eric, a hunter who is like "Indiana Jones with a stake instead of a whip." He'll be middle-aged and good-looking.
Our question is this: What about Alaric (Matt Davis)? He was introduced as a history teacher by day, vampire hunter by night. Still, we haven't seen him do too much slaying aside from that time he killed Elijah, which didn't exactly stick. We're guessing that Eric won't be easily swayed to Team Salvatore, especially with Stefan (Paul Wesley) back on the sauce.
Speaking of the ripper, our favorite Mystic Falls residents will have a singular focus when Season 3 begins on Sept. 15. "We've got a lot of stuff to kick us off, the first of which obviously being, where Stefan is," executive producer Julie Plec tells us. "Is he alive? Is he dead? How can we find him? How can we help him? How can we save him? And ultimately, can he be, or does he want to be saved?"

RINGER
The first time you see Sarah Michelle Gellar's "Ringer," when it premieres Sept. 13 on the CW, you'll probably be struck by the dramatic New York backdrop.
There are bird's-eye views from the tops of palatial Upper East Side estates, a black tie party in the Museum of Natural History and jaunts out to Long Island. But after getting picked up to series, "Ringer" settled into its new home in Los Angeles, where shooting recently began.
While at Comic-Con, co-creators Nicole Snyder and Eric Charmelo and producer Pam Veasey eased fears that the series might loose some of its style in the transition from one coast to the other.
"I promise you you'll see it," assures Veasy, who also produces another New-York-in-Los-Angeles series. "Because I've worked on 'CSI: New York' -- and still executive produce that -- we have mastered the talent of finding New York in Los Angeles. Our inside joke used to be 'add a water tower.'"
But there will be more than just water towers. "Ringer" has brought on production designer Steven Wolff, who's previously created elaborate New York sets for shows like "Dirty Sexy Money."
"You'll feel like you're in New York," says Veasy. "He has created shows that so reflect the Upper East Side. We've all wanted to move into our sets."
Still, they don't want to dwell to much on what's happening behind the scenes. "The characters tell the story," Veasy adds. "It's where they're from, it's not where you are. You can definitely tell a New York story in LA."

THE WALKING DEAD
Just days after taking the stage and speaking with reporters at Comic-Con, Frank Darabont’s days as showrunner on AMC’s The Walking Dead have come to an end.
Sources confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Darabont, the creator, executive producer and director of the zombie hit based on the comics by Robert Kirkman, is stepping down as showrunner. Whether the former feature film director will stay on with the series remains unclear.
After the drama’s six-episode first season wrapped, Darabont toyed with the idea of using freelancers to script the series, but nixed that plan and opted to hire a full writing staff, with Glen Mazzara brought in to serve as Darabont’s No. 2.
“This year we have a room full of writers who know the show now as fans of it, having seen the first little half season, they came into the room going wow, we get to do The Walking Dead,” Darabont said during the Friday session in San Diego. “The first six episodes, nobody knew what the hell we were doing. … It was an unknown quantity as a TV show.”
Darabont gave no indication that he was considering stepping down during his panel at Comic-Con, noting that conversations were currently under way to cast three major roles for the upcoming second season.
In late May, however, Darabont told THR that he feared budget cuts would hurt the series but he had no other creative complaints at the time.
“Creatively I have no complaints thus far,” Darabont said at the time. “But I believe if they do move ahead with what they’re talking about [with budget cuts], it will affect the show creatively ... in a negative way. Which just strikes me as odd. If you have an asset, why would you punish it?”
Season 2 of The Walking Dead premieres Sunday, Oct. 16 at 9 p.m.

BOURNE LEGACY
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Joan Allen and Albert Finney are in negotiations to join Universal's The Bourne Legacy, the latest installment in the successful Bourne spy series.
While Matt Damon is not headlining this installment of the franchise -- instead, Jeremy Renner will star as a new operative -- Allen and Finney will step back into the roles they created in the previous chapters. Allen will again be seen as the CIA agent she played in 2004's The Bourne Supremacy and 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum. Finney, who was seen as the head of a behavior modification program in Ultimatum, will pick up where he left off as well.
Tony Gilroy, who was a writer on the first three Bourne movies, is both writing and directing this time around.
Legacy will also star Rachel Weisz, Oscar Isaac and Edward Norton.
Frank Marshall, Captivate Entertainment's Ben Smith and Jeffrey Weiner, and Pat Crowley are producing. Jennifer Fox is exec producer.

TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2011

RINGER
Production recently started on Sarah Michelle Gellar's new CW thriller, "Ringer," and one character from the pilot looks a little different.
TVGuide reports that the role of rebellious teen Juliet Martin (originally Caitlin Custer) will now be played by Zoey Deutch.
Deutch is the youngest daughter of "Back to the Future" star and TV vet Lea Thompson -- Mrs. McFly, get it? -- and has a resume that includes a part on Disney's "The Suite Life on Deck" and guest roles on "NCIS" and "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior."
There's still no telling how big of a role Juliet, the daughter of Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd) and stepdaughter of Siobhan (Gellar), will play on the series -- but in the pilot, her character clearly doesn't get along that well with her stepmother.
... or, as it were, her stepmother's twin sister posing as her stepmother.
"Ringer" premieres on the CW, Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 9:00 p.m. ET.

EUREKA
Syfy's series "Eureka" is planning another holiday-themed episode for December, but this one will look a little different than last year's special.
OK, a lot different: The holiday episode will be animated.
The story for the show has a machine designed to turn Eureka's Main Street into a postcard-perfect winter setting going haywire, turning everyone into cartoon versions of themselves. Other rules of cartoon worlds will also apply, so get ready for talking animals and inanimate objects.
The episode, titled "Do You See What I See," will also feature several guest voices. "The Big Bang Theory" star Jim Parsons will provide the voice of Sheriff Carter's (Colin Ferguson) Jeep; Edward James Olmos ("Battlestar Galactica") will play the leader of a pack of sled dogs; and Chris Parnell ("30 Rock") will reprise his role from last year's holiday special as Dr. Noah Drummer.
Curious Pictures ("Codename: Kids Next Door") will produce the animation segments, in styles ranging from anime to stop-motion to CGI. An airdate hasn't been scheduled yet.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
If you are like me, you wonder what projects actors get into after starting for years in projects like STARGATE SG-1. Christopher Judge has landed a gig in one of the biggest movies of 2012—The Dark Knight Rises!
The Dark Knight Rises is currently in production, but when has a silly thing like shooting ever stopped casting? After rumors started circulating that Judge might pop up in the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, he took to Twitter to clear the air.
He wrote, "I can finally confirm: I have been cast in The Dark Knight Rises." Now, who will he play? We have NO idea, but isn't that how Nolan rolls? The director is known for casting familiar faces in bit parts, so Judge could be another Michael J. White or Anthony Michael Hall for the new film.
The cast of The Dark Knight Rises is already pretty big. Aside from major players Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine, they've got Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Juno Temple, Josh Pence, Daniel Sunjata, Matthew Modine, Tom Conti, Brett Cullen, Chris Ellis and Josh Stewart.
The Dark Knight Rises opens in theaters everywhere July 20, 2012.

DOCTOR WHO
Doctor Who fans who were in attendance at the Comic-Con panel Sunday got a first exciting look at the trailer showing what's coming up for the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his TARDIS companions in the second half of season six. And we're now bringing it to you. Hitler and all.
Doctor Who is set to return on Aug. 27 on BBC America, so we can assume it'll also return on the same date on BBC One in the U.K. Only four (very painful) weeks to go.
Cybermen! Weeping Angels! The return of Winston Churchill! The Silence! River Song (Alex Kingston) looking like eye-patch lady! We're thinking: What the heck is that about? And about the eye-patch thingy? Take a very close look at the trailer, because there's a lot going on there.
But the prize goes to the look on the Doctor's, Rory's (Arthur Darvill) and Amy's (Karen Gillan) stunned faces when a grateful Hitler says he thinks they just saved his life. Major oops.

ARTHUR & LANCELOT
Warner Bros. has wasted no time in dating David Dobkin’s Arthur & Lancelot, which hits theaters on March 15, 2013.
Last month, Warners emerged the victor in a heated biding war for an untitled King Arthur spec script written by Dobkin, who is set to direct and produce the project. Univeral and Fox were among the other interested suitors.
Arthur & Lancelot, a modern-day retelling of the classic King Arthur tale, marks a departure for Dobkin, who has primarily worked on comedies, including The Change Up, which opens Aug. 5 and stars Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman.
So far, Arthur & Lancelot has the date to itself. A week earlier, Disney opens Oz: The Great and Powerful.

MARGIN CALL
The trailer for the Sundance hit Margin Call has arrived online, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies.
Starring Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Demi Moore, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell and Aasif Mandvi, the J.C. Chandor film offers a fictionalized take on modern economics.

SUNDAY, JULY 24, 2011

COMIC-CON NEWS
MARK HAMILL ON CHUCK
The final panel ever for "Chuck" at Comic-Con certainly didn't skimp on the goodies for fans.
The show is entering its last season on NBC, so Saturday (July 23) was likely the last chance for the cast to take in the admiration of its most devoted fans. They didn't disappoint, giving the cast and co-creator Chris Fedak a standing ovation at the end.
"Chuck's" fans were in turn rewarded with a big piece of news -- Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, is guest-starring in the season premiere -- and the video below, featuring Josh Gomez (and Jeffster!) attempting to get himself in shape for Morgan having the Intersect at the start of Season 5.
As for Hamill, Fedak says he'll play a villain in the season premiere, which starts filming next week. The new season will feature Chuck and Sarah (Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski) running their own, Volkoff-funded private spy outfit, which will bring them into conflict with both the CIA, some past foes and, apparently, Hamill's character.
And, of course, they'll have to deal with Morgan having the Intersect. We hope it's going better than the video below -- which also features fine comic work from Ryan McPartlin -- would indicate. "Chuck" premieres Oct. 21 on NBC.

GHOST RIDER
Columbia Pictures kicked off its multi-hour Comic-Con panel with a first-look at Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, a sequel to the fiery, motorcycle-driving demon anti-hero pic. Not surprisingly, the movie promises much flame-filled action.
In fact, the directors, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, were shown in a production video on bungee cords, rollerblades and motorcycles operating cameras as they shot in-your-face action.
Neveldine said the duo make a promise to their stuntmen -- "if you get hurt doing a shot, that shot is going to be in the movie.”Added Taylor: "You will see real bones breaking in Ghost Rider.
Star Nicolas Cage, meanwhile, made the case for a movie that, while a hit, wasn’t exactly embraced by fans.
"In a day and age where we are making comic book movies all the time, you need to have a couple of bad boys in there,” he said. “And Ghost Rider provides that.”
"I wanted to go in scarier direction. The first one was like a Grimms’ fairy tale. This one I wanted to embrace the nightmare aspect of the character. I wanted a shot at that and I’m glad I got to do it with these guys.”

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
The game of one-upmanship between Universal and Relativity over their competing Snow White movies ramped up at Comic-Con—and Universal now has the edge.
A day after Relativity released a first-look photo of Lilly Collins as Snow White in its untitled movie, Universal arrived in San Diego with a swath of character photos from Snow White and the Huntsman, including Kirsten Stewart holding a sword and shield as Snow White, Charlize Theron looking menacing as the dagger-wielding Evil Queen, Chris Hemsworth as the hunky Huntsman and Sam Claflin as a prince.
And while its movie doesn’t start production until August, Universal still made a big impression with a well-received presentation of test footage and director Rupert Sanders’ commercials to get audience excited.
All this compared to Relativity’s Comic-Con no-show for its Snow White, which has been in production in Montreal since June.
The panel began with Sanders, a noted commercials director making his feature debut on Snow White, as well as producers Joe Roth and Palek Patel, talking about the origins of their project. Roth said that after the $1 billion success of Alice in Wonderland, “to be in the big picture business, you have to come up with a big idea that is known across several generations and several languages.”
The fact that there are two Snow White features racing to theaters (Relativity’s is scheduled for release in March, Universal’s in June) quickly came up, and though Roth was respectful toward the other project, he (and Universal) quickly made moves to set their project apart.
“Our movie is on the scale of The Lord of the Rings, in terms of size, scope and appetite,” he said, promising a “tough, rough, active male-female picture.”
“From the pictures,” he continued, referring to Relativity’s Snow White, “the other looks like a softer version.”
Roth tried to soften the gap between release dates—Huntsman comes out June 1, 2012 while Relativity’s movie opens March 16. “We are 10 weeks apart. In the movie business, that is a lifetime,” he said.
The presentation then featured three Sanders-directed commercials —for video games Call of Duty and Halo 3 as well as Monster.com—which conveyed to the crowd that 1) the man can direct action and war scenes, 2) he can create fantastical worlds with strange characters and mean, dark settings.
After the cast, consisting Stewart, Theron, Hemswoth and Claflin, came on stage, Roth, Sanders and company unveiled a proof-of-concept reel that was initially presented to the studio when the moviemakers were selling the project.
Sanders said it was shot in three days, describing it as “down and dirty” and “more of stylistic piece.”
The footage revealed a beautiful princess in a forest surrounded by fauna, but it quickly became dark and fantastical as a monologue asked what kind of a person you would be when tested by evil.
Sanders’ footage surprised and impressed with its shots of a fairy emerging out of the blackbird’s breast and Snow White surrounded by trees that are part men (in a way that was much more human than the trees seen in Lord of the Rings). Two knights were shown clashing swords, one getting cut in half and disintegrating into a million pieces.
Sources have told THR the reel cost around $100,000 to produce, but it seems worth it because the footage clearly shows what kind of movie this Snow White project aims to be. The crowd left the panel believing this is something unique that might show audiences things they haven’t seen before.

FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2011

LOGAN'S RUN
What do you get when you mix a present-day chase flick with a little Logan's Run-type twist? In Time, starring Justin Timberlake.
In Time is set in a not-too-distant future where time has replaced money as the currency of society. The more time you earn, the longer you live. But once you hit 25, if you don't have any more accrued time, you die a year later.
Timberlake plays a man from the wrong side of the tracks who inadvertently comes into a large amount of time from a deceased friend. But certain elements of society (i.e. the wealthy) don't want a guy like him having so much time on his hands, so to speak, and he becomes a fugitive. Amanda Seyfried plays the daughter of a high society figure who gets caught up in Timberlake's plight.
Instead of glowing lifeclocks in their palms like the characters in the film version of Logan's Run (where death was enforced at the age of 30), everyone in In Time has a countdown clock imprinted on their arm ... once that clock hits zero, you drop dead.
Timberlake, Seyfried and writer/director Andrew Niccol joined moderator Damon Lindelof onstage at San Diego Comic-Con for a few brief words about the film, with Timberlake saying, "Getting into this world with Andrew was a trip because he had such a complete, detailed vision. A couple of weeks after we finished filming, I kept looking at my forearm where we had these dots where the clocks would be. I held onto a lot of idiosyncratic behavior for a while after making this movie."
The trailer really said it all though.

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK
Guillermo Del Toro made the first of three panel appearances at Comic-Con on Thursday afternoon ... and surprisingly, had no surprise announcements to make.
Del Toro has a habit of announcing new projects at Comic-Con, as he did last year when he revealed that he was working on a film based around Disney's Haunted Mansion. But this first panel, for the indie company FilmDistrict, featured Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, which GDT produced and co-wrote—and which received its own panel at last year's con.
As a matter of fact, the panel spotlighted both Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and an upcoming crime thriller called Drive (which looks awesome, by the way), with cast and filmmakers for both movies onstage at the same time. A good deal of the panel was devoted to Del Toro and Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn praising each other's work, with a lot of attention focused on Drive and Refn.
The panel did have a number of peripheral sci-fi references, however: one of the stars of Drive in attendance was Hellboy himself, Ron Perlman, while one of Refn's upcoming projects is the long-in-the-works remake of Logan's Run, with Drive star Ryan Gosling as Logan (that movie was mentioned only in passing).
But other than that, a few words from star Guy Pearce about playing the dad in Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and a showing of the movie's new trailer, Del Toro had nothing new to reveal ... yet. He's got two more panels at Comic-Con this weekend, including an early look at his upcoming sci-fi epic Pacific Rim, so we might still here something from the man between now and Sunday!

PROMETHEUS
20th Century Fox delivered the goods Thursday, giving a packed Hall H a first glimpse at Prometheus, director Ridley Scott’s return to the science-fiction genre. The Prometheus look began with a production video the combined Scott talking about the project and, more tantalizingly, quick shots from the movie, still nearly a year away from release.
The footage teased a star-spanning epic with massive sets, mystery, distrust and maybe (hopefully) horror. There was a shot of Charlize Theron telling someone to stay back, then obliterating the person with a flamethrower. Next came a spaceship, looking puny as it streaked past a massive planet, and an astronaut walking past a wall of alien hieroglyphics. A room full of alien pods reminiscent of Scott's landmark Alien film appeared, then several shots of Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender (with bleached blond hair) and Idris Elba.
Scott spoke to the audience via a live feed from the movie's Iceland set, perhaps a Comic-Con first, and was able to explain that the reason he took so long to return to sci-fi was that he was simply busy exploring other genres.
What bought him back was a desire to answer a mysterious question that he was surprised no one had ever asked about the Alien movies.
“That [question] could be the centerpiece of what we just completed. That said, that is the only DNA from the first Alien,” Scott said. Huh? So is Prometheus a prequel to Alien or not?
“You’ll hopefully understand what I mean in the last few minutes of the movie,” Scott said.
“So do I,” quipped Fox panel moderator (and the movie’s writer) Damon Lindelof.
“So does Fox,” snorted Scott.
Scott also discussed the massive sets, why he limited his use of CG and his first foray into 3D.
“I’ll never work without it again,” he said, referring to the 3D format. “It opens up the universe even for the small scenes."
When Lindelof asked if the movie was going to have an android (the Alien series featured synthetic humans), Scott revealed there “may be two” and hinted at something more.
“Robots and androids and replicants have become so much of the landscape, so you have to come up with something that hasn’t been seen before," he said. "You have to find a notion that makes something fresh.”
Rapace (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) also joined Scott from the Iceland set, while Theron appeared on stage. Theron described her character as “a suit."
“In the third act, you see her strip her from her skin and you see what her bones are like and what she’s doing there,” she said.
Fox has said the movie would be rated PG-13, typical for most summer action blockbusters. But Scott said that could change to an R rating.
“I’ve got a responsibility to my studio and [studio co-chief] Tom Rothman, but I always make sure I have both options,” he said. “We will both look at it and decide which is the best way to go.”

MAN OF STEEL DELAYED
Superman fans waiting for Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel to fly into theaters will have to wait six months longer than they originally expected.
Warner Bros., which initially penciled in the movie for a tentative December 2012 release, announced Thursday that the movie now has an official opening date of June 14, 2013.
The move appears to come as the studio reviews its overall release slate. It had never committed the Superman tale to a specific date in 2012 and now that it also has Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey set to open on Dec. 14, 2012, it decided to space out its tentpoles and move Man of Steel into 2013.
The Warners/Legendary Pictures production starts filming this summer with British actor Henry Cavill playing Clark Kent/Superman. The cast also includes Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe.
Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film, which will be distributed worldwide by Warners. The screenplay is by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.

RINGER
The CW presented Comic-Con attendees today with this first look at "Ringer," the new series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as Bridget and Siobhan, Kristoffer Polaha as Henry, Ioan Gruffudd as Andrew Martin, Nestor Carbonell as Agent Victor Machado and Tara Summers as Gemma. "Ringer" premieres on September 13 and is described as follows:
Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as a woman who, after witnessing a murder, goes on the run, hiding out by assuming the life of her wealthy identical twin sister – only to learn that her sister's seemingly idyllic life is just as complicated and dangerous as the one she's trying to leave behind. Bridget is six months sober and starting to turn her life around when she is the sole witness to a professional hit. Despite the assurances of her FBI protector, Agent Victor Machado, Bridget knows her life is on the line. She flees to New York, telling no one, not even her Narcotics Anonymous sponsor, Malcolm. In New York, Bridget reunites with her estranged twin, Siobhan. Wealthy, pampered and married to the strikingly handsome Andrew Martin, Siobhan lives what appears to be a fairy tale life – a life where no one knows that Bridget exists. The sisters seem to be mending their frayed relationship, until Siobhan disappears overboard during a boat trip, and Bridget makes the split decision to take on her sister's identity. She discovers shocking secrets, not only about her sister and her marriage, but also about Siobhan's best friend, Gemma, and Gemma's husband, Henry. And when someone tries to kill Bridget in her sister's penthouse, she realizes she is no safer as Siobhan than she is as herself.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2011

THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2011

SPIDER-MAN
It's official: The new Spider-Man trailer is out for all of us to enjoy without fear of takedowns. That leaked trailer we posted yesterday? Yeah, we know it's not playing. But this one is, and it's a whole two and a half minutes of intense Spidey action.
As we mentioned yesterday, this is a darker take on Peter Parker's origin story. Also, it gives us something that we rarely get to see in a Spider-Man retelling: his parents. We know that Peter was raised by his kindly Aunt May and Uncle Ben, but here we get a tiny slice of life before they died. (Was it a plane crash? Marvel has never been clear on the subject.)
For those of us who feel that this reboot is too soon after the last movie in the Raimi trilogy, Spider-Man 3 in 2007, yeah, you're right, it's too soon. But it's still another year in the making. This version of Spider-Man won't be released until July 2012.

GAME OF THRONES-SEASON TWO
Things are gearing up for the second season of Game of Thrones as the Emmy-nominated HBO fantasy series, based on George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire novels, casts three more actors in important lead roles.
British actor Stephen Dillane (John Adams, King Arthur) has been cast in the role of Stannis Baratheon, King Robert Baratheon's eldest brother (and brother of Renly, the youngest Baratheon brother, who also wants to be King), Lord of Dragonstone and one of the pretenders to the Iron Throne.
Stannis is a humorless, authoritative man with a strong moral code. And he strongly believes he is the true heir to the throne. He really does.
Dutch actress Clarice van Houten (Black Book, Valkyrie, Black Death) has been cast in the role of Melisandre, a powerful sorceress and priestess of R'hllor who counsels Stannis in his quest for the Iron Throne. She's a seductive woman possessing prophetic powers, and she's more than willing to impose her monotheistic religion on the people. She'll slowly have Stannis under her spell, so to speak.
Melisandre is also called the Red Priestess, as she always dresses in red and has red eyes. Should be a stunning sight to behold on TV.
And last but not least, awesome actor Liam Cunningham (Camelot, Outcasts, Centurion) has been cast as Davos Seaworth, a family man and former smuggler who's also known as "the Onion Knight" because he managed to get food into Stannis Baratheon's besieged castle during the war that got Robert the Iron Throne.
Davos received a knighthood from Stannis for his efforts, but this one also had some of his fingers shortened as punishment for his criminal past (with friends like these). Davos will help Stannis wrest the Iron Throne from that very bad King Joffrey.

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Andy Serkis, who brings Caesar to life through motion capture the same way he did for Gollum from Lord of the Rings, sets up the clip, this one spotlighting his character's "ingenious escape," eventually leading to a revolution.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters Aug. 5.

A CABIN IN THE WOODS
Lionsgate has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the horror movie The Cabin in the Woods from MGM, which had originally scheduled it for release way back in 2009. The movie is now set to open April 13.
Co-written by Joss Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, and Drew Goddard, who wrote 2008’s Cloverfield, the movie marks Goddard’s directorial debut.
Chris Hemsworth, who’s a bigger star now than when he shot to the film thanks to his starring role in Thor, plays a young professional who visits a quaint cabin in the woods with a group of friends where he discovers something horrifying. Whedon, who also produced the movie, has described it as “the horror movie to end all horror movies.” And the fact that the movie, which had been sidelined in the midst of the MGM bankruptcy, is now scheduled to hit theaters in the spring will be good news to the legion of Whedon fans.
Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Kristen Connolly, Brian J. White, Amy Acker, Fran Kranz and Jesse Williams also star in the film.
The acquisition was announced Wednesday by Joe Drake, president of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group, and Jason Constantine, president of acquisitions and co-productions. Lionsgate will distribute in North America and the U.K., with Lionsgate’s international sales team handling international sales.
Negotiations on behalf of Lionsgate were overseen by Constantine along with Lionsgate senior vp acquisitions Eda Kowan and executive vp business and legal affairs Wendy Jaffe.

THE HOBBIT
Peter Jackson has posted the third production video for The Hobbit which you can now watch below! Jackson also posted the following note about the fact that the films won't be presented at this year's Comic-Con:
Good news and bad news today. Bad news is that we won't be doing any Hobbit presentation at Comic Con in San Diego this year. New Line and Warner Bros were very happy to support a presentation, but I declined, simply because I felt it was too early. There's so much more of the films still to shoot. I just wanted to get that out there, because I've seen various references to the possibility of something Hobbity at Comic Con. Hate to disappoint anyone. But something tells me we will be there in force next year.
Now for the good news...
We've just finished a new video blog, covering a little more of the first block of shooting. So please enjoy this—at least you don't have to travel to San Deigo to see it!
I've been on the go since wrapping the first shooting block, but I'm about to settle down and get into the much delayed 20 Questions. I've a few half-written and will get those done very, very soon! I promise!
Cheers,
Peter J

SHRAPNEL
According to Variety, Hilary Swank will star in and produce a big screen adaptation of "Shrapnel" at Radical Pictures. Nick Sagan and M. Zachary Sherman wrote the comic book, which is based on an original creation by Sagan and Mark Long.
The comic is set in the year 2250 and follows a former Solar Alliance Marine (Swank), who spearheads an uprising on Venus, the last free colony, against an oppressive solar government in order to fight for the freedom of her people.
Toby Wagstaff will write the script for the sci-fi film.
Radical president Barry Levine will produce with Swank and Sean Daniel (The Mummy) of the Sean Daniel Co., while Radical executive VP Jesse Berger will executive produce with Untitled Entertainment partner Jason Weinberg and Long.
"Hilary came to Radical excited to find a project with a strong female protagonist that could show off her abilities to do action films," said Levine. "With Hilary being an actor's actor, 'Shrapnel' will give a whole new definition to that type of role."
Swank added: "I am a fan of the work that Barry Levine and Radical Pictures are doing in the comic and action arena. 'Shrapnel' and specifically the character of Sam offer me the opportunity to dive into an exciting character with many layers and depth that are rarely found in this genre."
"'Shrapnel' takes core elements of classic Westerns and brings them into a futuristic epic. We are excited to be working with Hilary to create a cutting edge heroine for a new generation," said Daniel.

DOCTOR WHO
After much waiting, we've finally seen our first little snippets from the upcoming second part of Doctor Who's season six, and what we saw looked pretty darn cool, a bit spooky, and funny as heck.
The trailer's a bit strange (as you'll see): But that's only because the great people over at Doctor Who TV took that itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny short bit of Doctor Who that was part of a new, longer "Original British Drama" trailer from the BBC, and then proceeded to slow it down so we could see those awesome Doctor Who scenes better.
While we're completely wowed by Amy Pond's (Karen Gillan) newfound ninja/samurai-like fighting skills (she did get to do some sword fighting in "The Curse of the Black Spot," even if she was a clone), it's that little exchange between returning fan favorite Craig Owens (James Corden, "The Lodger") and the Doctor (Matt Smith)—while the two of them are getting a bit too close for comfort, if you ask us—that had us almost choke on our coffee with laughter:
Craig: "Doctor, are you going to kiss me?"
The Doctor: "Yes, Craig. Yes I am."
(Notice the exchange takes place while the Doctor's playing with his sonic screwdriver's settings. Absolutely. Brilliantly. Priceless.)

POWERS
"Supernatural" and "Veronica Mars" star Alona Tal has been cast in FX's superhero pilot "Powers." Writer Brian Michael Bendis confirmed the news on his official Twitter account and revealed she will be playing Zora.
"Powers" is based on the comic book series by Bendis and Michael Avon Oemig and follows detective Christian Walker (Jason Patric) and his partner Deena Pilgrim (Lucy Punch), who investigate crimes against superheroes.
In the comics, Zora appears to have immortality and possesses a great capacity for memory. She also has an interesting history with Walker.
Tal isn't the only "Supernatural" alum to join the project -- AOL TV recently reported that Titus Welliver -- a.k.a. War -- will play Triphammer.
Tal most recently appeared on AMC's "The Killing" and ABC Family's "Pretty Little Liars."

SECOND SON
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Warner Bros. has picked up Second Son, a sci-fi spec script from newcomer Justin Rhodes that has Scott Aversano attached to produce.
Rhodes worked in the low-budget film world editing shorts, and in 2009 he wrote and directed a low-budget action movie called Contract Killers. Focusing on writing, he penned a well-regarded script that got him representation with ICM and manager Kevin Donahue.
In between supporting himself and his family by working at his dad’s accounting firm, he then set about writing his next project, Second Son. ICM hooked him up with Aversano, the former Nickelodeon president-turned-producer (The Last Airbender, the upcoming Safe House), who was looking for something in the genre, and the producer helped Rhodes further develop Son.
Last week, Warners preemptively bought it. The studio is keeping the logline under wraps but sources say the story is an adventure set on another planet with twists.
Warners creative exec Chris Gary brought the project in. Sarah Schechter will oversee.

THE RED STAR
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. is in negotiations to pick up the Soviet-themed sci-fi fantasy comic book series The Red Star, which had been put into turnaround by Universal.
Neal Moritz and his Original Films banner are attached to produce as is Jason Netter of comic-centric shingle Kickstart Productions.
The lavish comic, created by Christian Gossett, first appeared in 1999 and is set in an alternate USSR where futuristic technology and magical elements co-exist. The main character is a soldier in the Red Fleet and his wife, who become keys to defeating a former brutal ruler and his minions.
While at Universal, the project was being developed as a vehicle for Timur Bekmambetov, with Matthew Sand penning a script and Mark Platt producing.
The Warners deal is just getting underway and at this stage has no creative attachments.
Moritz, who is coming off the success of Fast Five, is in production on the Columbia’s remake of Total Recall and New Line’s Jack the Giant Killer. His Ryan Reynolds-Jason Bateman comedy The Change-Up opens Aug. 5.
Netter was a producer on the 2007 Angelina Jolie comic book movie Wanted. He is developing adaptations of Preacher, set up at Columbia with D.J. Caruso attached to direct, and The Boys, based on the Garth Ennis comic.

THE COMPANY YOU KEEP
Shia LaBeouf and Robert Redford will headline the political action thriller The Company You Keep, Voltage Pictures and Wildwood Enterprises announced Tuesday.
Redford will also direct from a script by Lem Dobbs (The Limey), based on the novel by Neil Gordon. Redford will play a former Weather Underground militant, wanted by the FBI, whose identity is exposed by a young reporter, played by LaBeouf.
Redford, Bill Holderman and Nicolas Chartier are producing, with Craig J. Flores as exec producer. Redford's Wildwood Enterprises originally acquired the novel and developed the screenplay with Voltage, which is selling the picture internationally. Filming is set to begin in Vancouver in September.
Both LaBeouf and Redford are repped by CAA.

CAPTAIN CANUCK
TORONTO – Not wanting to be left out of the superhero movie game, Canadian indie producer Minds Eye Entertainment has acquired the movie adaptation rights to the classic Captain Canuck comic book series.
Captain Canuck is the Canadian masked crusader launched in 1975 as a comic book by writer/creator Richard Comely and, after the second issue, by fellow artist George Freeman.
The Captain Canuck franchise has been optioned many times over the years as a possible TV series or movie, most recently by Sinking Ship Entertainment.
Now Mind’s Eye will look to develop a live action movie for international movie screens.
“I have always been a big fan of Captain Canuck, and we are honored to be working with Richard on bringing Canada’s greatest Superhero to the big screen,” Mind’s Eye topper Kevin DeWalt said Tuesday.
No word on which Canadian actor will don head-to-toe in figure-hugging rubber to play the Captain Canuck character, but Canadian-born stars Hayden Christensen, Ryan Reynolds and Ryan Gosling have been rumored as possible leads.
Recent credits from Mind’s Eye include the action drama The Tall Man, starring Jessica Biel, the thriller Faces in the Crowd, with Milla Jovovich and Julian McMahon, and Stephen King’s Dolan’s Cadillac, starring Christian Slater.

UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN
One day after their high-profile adaptation of The Dark Tower was tumbled by Universal, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are leading the charge of another adaptation, Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer.
The rights to the book is in the process of being acquired by Warner Bros. and the plan includes having Dustin Lance Black, who wrote Milk and Warner¹s J. Edgar, pen the screenplay.
Imagine would produce and Howard would direct.
Heaven was published in 2003 and centered on the terrible murders committed by two brothers who were members of an extreme group of Mormonism. Claiming to act under order from God, the two brothers killed the wife and infant daughter of their youngest brother.
At the same time as telling that story, the book also traced the origins and rise of Mormonism and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Sarah Schechter will oversee for Warners.

GARGOYLES
Variety reports that Disney has been trying to get a Gargoyles project to fly for some time now.
The proposed film isn't tied to the animated series or the made-for-television flick of the same name. Instead, this is a new property the Mouse House hopes to exploit across various platforms - film, television, video games, theme parks, etc.
That said, Variety reports Disney has hired writers David Elliot and Paul Lovett to pen a script. They're the duo that gave us G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
Lauren Shuler Donner will produce. The film is being considered for live-action.

TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2011

THE DARK TOWER
The hugely ambitious adaptation of "The Dark Tower" that director Ron Howard is shepherding is no more at Universal Studios. But it's not entirely dead, at least not yet.
That's because Howard's company, Imagine, still retains the rights to Stephen King's series of novels and is now free to try to set up the project elsewhere. It's probably a long shot -- potentially risky (and expensive) projects rejected by one studio aren't exactly easy sells at others -- but Howard, producer Brian Grazer and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman do have a fair amount of pull in Hollywood.
According to Deadline, which first reported the news, Universal balked at the idea of committing to making three films and two seasons of TV to tell the sprawling story in King's seven-book series (an eighth is due next year), which centers on a gunslinger named Roland Deschain (Javier Bardem was reportedly attached to star). The studio only wanted to do the first film (the site says some at Universal dispute that notion), but the filmmakers wanted to do at least that plus the first batch of TV episodes in one big shoot.
Regardless of what exactly happened at Universal, "The Dark Tower" is now in limbo. Goldsman's production company, Weed Road, is based at Warner Bros., and Deadline and others mention it as a possible destination for the project. Warner Bros. has certainly had success with big stories -- it's behind the "Harry Potter" movies and is currently financing a two-movie adaptation of "The Hobbit."

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Finally, the first official look at "The Dark Knight Rises" has arrived.
The clip debuted over the weekend ahead of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2." Not a bad move, considering the film's box office-shattering record.
It's awesome in that it's, umm, the first look at "The Dark Knight Rises" and we get a peek at Christian Bale back in the bat suit and tantalizing voice-over from Liam Neeson as Ra's Al Ghul. Not to mention the scary shots of Tom Hardy as Bane.
But, alas, we get no preview of Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Marion Cotillard.
What we do get is a clip of Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) asking "The Batman" to come back to fight "this evil" (aka Bane).
Meanwhile, Neeson intones "If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, then you become something else entirely. A legend, Mr. Wayne, a legend."

AMERICAN HORROR STORY
"Glee" creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk are taking their creative mojo back to FX with "Amercian Horror Story." FX on Monday (July 18) announced that it placed a 13-episode order for the show about a family of three who "move from Boston to Los Angeles as a means to reconcile past anguish." The horror!
Murphy and Falchuk previously scored a big win for F/X with "Nip/Tuck."
"American Horror Story" has signed on an ensemble cast of big-time talent: Dylan McDermott, "Friday Night Lights'" Connie Britton, Jessica Lange, "Six Feet Under's" Frances Conroy and Taissa Farmiga (yep, Vera's younger sister).
"Our cast is extraordinary and we can't wait to get started on production," said Murphy, who wrote the pilot along with Falchuck, in a press release.
"American Horror Story" is set to debut in October.

IRON MAN NEWS
Here's a rumor for you. We may get to see our favourite non-superhero redhead, Iron Man's Pepper Potts, in The Avengers after all.
Right in the wake of that leaked Avengers teaser clip found at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, we've also learned that actress Gwyneth Paltrow may have already reprised her role as Tony Stark's love interest, Pepper Potts, in the Joss Whedon-directed film.
This was suggested by the people over at Dis Fan Review, who claim that "sources" have confirmed to them that Paltrow had already filmed her scenes for one of the most highly anticipated films of 2012:
According to our sources the famous Hollywood leading lady made an extremely quiet entrance into New Mexico on Monday or Tuesday and was said to have definitely departed by Thursday, making an equally quiet exit. A source close to the production say's that somewhere in that time frame Mrs. [Paltrow] spent two entire days shooting her appearance in the film. Our sources also indicate that her part in the film is more than just a glorified cameo. However, our sources were unwilling to reveal much more than that.
As with every rumor, it should be taken with a grain of salt (as we're sure you already are)—though Pepper Potts' actual appearance in the film would both make sense and be truly awesome.
In the meanwhile, we'll just be crossing our fingers and toes that we'll get some sort of official confirmation (or denial) before or during Comic Con. Or at least soon. Before they turn blue.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN
Prepare for an epic bloodbath of Cimmerian slaying in the latest UK trailer for Conan The Barbarian. Thereis plenty of blood and gore to go around.
The British get to hoist a pint and cheer the bloody wrath while the damn yankee Puritans in the United States get the tamer, more civilized versions on the trailer-go-round. Lucky Redcoats! This adults-only, red band wonder amps up the action in anticipation of next month's worldwide release and showcases enough broken bones and severed limbs to fill two sequels.
The 3-D Conan The Barbarian pic stars Jason Momoa, Ron Perlman, Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang and Rose McGowan and mercilessly attacks on August 19.

JOHN CARTER: WORLD OF MARS
Walt Disney Pictures has revealed, through Comic Book Resources, their plans for a prequel to their upcoming John Carter, to be published by Marvel Comics.
The film version, hitting theaters on March 9, 2012, marks the live-action debut of director Andrew Stanton who brings to the screen the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, which celebrate their centennial next year. The film stars Taylor Kitsch as the title hero and Lynn Collins as the Martian Princess Deja Thoris with roles for Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Hayden Church and Willem Dafoe as well.
The prequel, entitled "John Carter: Worlds of Mars" will run as a four-issue miniseries by Peter David and Luke Ross. Launching this October, it will feature the diverse characters of Burroughs' worlds in adventures that set the stage for the film version, going back as far as fifty years before the events of John Carter.

MONDAY, JULY 18, 2011

HARRY POTTER OPENING WEEKEND
Warner Bros.’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 grossed a massive $476 million in its worldwide debut, by far the best showing of all time.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the previous crown holder at $394 million.
Deathly Hallows 2’s opening overseas clocked in at $307 million, while it earned $168.8 million in North America.
Earlier this summer, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides scored the biggest debut of all time at the international box office when opening to $262 million. Deathly Hallows safely beat that number as it rolled out in 59 countries.
Domestically, Deathly Hallows raced past the $158.4 million opening of The Dark Knight to score the top three-day weekend debut of all time.
“The phenomenal result is a true testament to the universal and timeless appeal of J.K. Rowling's beloved books. Whether in German, Russian, Spanish, Japanese or any other language, fans everywhere have embraded the finale," Warner Bros. president of international distribution Veronika Kwan-Rubinek said.
"We thank the filmmakers, cast and crew for this amazing film, as well as our teams and partners in exhibition for bringing this epic story to its conclusion on big screens all over the world," she continued.

MERLIN GOES TO SEASON FOUR
Fans of the Arthurian legend should feel better about this news after Starz canceled its series, Camelot. Merlin, a more lighthearted, family-oriented version of the tale, will be back on our sets in 2012.
A Syfy spokesperson confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that the network has picked up the series for a fourth season, as first reported by TV Guide Magazine.
The series follows the iconic legend through the point of view of the magician Merlin (Colin Morgan) in his younger years. Bradley James also returns as young Arthur along with costars Angel Coulby, Katie McGrath, Anthony Head and Richard Wilson. John Hurt also reprises his role as the voice of the Great Dragon.
Originally aired on BBC, Merlin has been picking up steam with American audiences. Season 3 averaged 1.9 million viewers an episode for Syfy, an increase of 12 percent over the previous season. Season 4 begins airing in the UK in the fall.
FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) distributes and licenses The Adventures of Merlin, as its known outside the U.S. FME has invested in the Merlin series alongside BBC One. The show is produced and created by Shine TV whose producers were inspired to create the series after seeing what Smallville did with Superman.

WALKING DEAD
AMC has delivered as promised, dishing the gory goods with a sneak peek of The Walking Dead season 2. This clip aired during the season premiere of "Breaking Bad".
You're going to hear a lot about "TWD" this week. Comic-Con coverage strikes this Wednesday, with a "TWD" panel planned for Friday!

SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2011

HARRY POTTER
Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is making box office magic, earning a massive $92.1 million on Friday to easily score the biggest single day gross of all time domestically.
Overseas, the pic earned another $75 million on Friday for a three-day international total of $157.5 million, bringing its worldwide cume to a record-breaking $249.6 million.
By all accounts, Deathly Hallows 2 is on track to score the biggest worldwide opening of all time, beating the $394 million earned by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in its debut. Domestically, it's expected to eclipse the record-breaking $158.4 million grossed by Warners' The Dark Knight in its opening weekend.
Domestically, the previous single-day best belonged to The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which earned $72.7 million on its first day.
The final Harry Potter pic also fueled the biggest Friday ever at the domestic box office, with all films grossing a combined $117 million, smashing the $107 million record set on Nov. 20, 2009.
Friday’s $92.1 million domestic tally for Deathly Hallows 2 -- which received an A CinemaScore--included a record-breaking $43.5 million in midnight grosses.
Deathly Hallows 2 ’s stunning performance continues the enormous popularity of the Potter franchise, with the first seven films grossing $6.4 billion worldwide, the most successful series of all time.
Sentiment is running at red-hot levels as the last title hits the big screen. The final installment also has the advantage of playing in 3D for the first time in the series, upping earning potential.
Deathly Hallows 2 marks another enormous success for Warners, home studio for the boy wizard.
Elsewhere at the Friday box office, Disney Animation Studios' Winnie the Pooh was off to a solid start, grossing $2.9 million on Friday and on track to gross $7 million or $8 million for the weekend. The film looks like it's succeeding in luring tots too young for the PG-13 Potter. It received an A- CinemaScore, with those under 18 giving it an A+.

JUDGE DREDDBleeding Cool has posted this new image of Karl Urban in Dredd, the Pete Travis-directed adaptation also starring Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey.
Dredd takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd (Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot - if necessary.

SNOW WHITE
"Game of Thrones" star Sean Bean is in final negotiations to play Snow White's father in director Tarsem Singh's Untitled Snow White Project, which is currently shooting in Montreal.
In the Relativity Media film, an evil Queen (Julia Roberts) steals control of a kingdom, and an exiled princess (Lily Collins) enlists the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright in a spirited adventure comedy filled with jealousy, romance, and betrayal. The film also stars Armie Hammer as the object of their affection, Prince Andrew Alcott, and Nathan Lane as the hapless and bungling servant to the Queen.
The movie is scheduled for a March 16, 2012 release.

SATURDAY, JULY 16, 2011

AKIRA=NEW LEASE ON LIFE
The live-action adaptation of the classic manga Akira has a new director, a new budget, and a new release plan for bringing this cyberpunk saga to the big screen. Originally optioned for production in 2008, Akira has suffered its share of pre-production pitfalls, losing two directors (Ruairi Robinson and Albert Hughes), being turned down by potential lead Keanu Reeves, and going through several writing teams and script drafts. At one point, Warner Bros. was planning to tell the tale of a far-future biker and his hunted psychic friend in two films with a total budget of $250 million. Now, we're looking at a completely different animal: One film. A $90 million budget. And a director known for delivering bang for the buck. The man in question is Spaniard Jaume Collett-Serra, best-known for the 2009 horror flick Orphan and the 2011 Liam Neeson-starring thriller Unknown. Collet-Serra has apparently built a rep in Hollywood for delivering his movies on time and under budget, which must be music to the ears of the folks at the WB and producer Leonardo DiCaprio. So, will Akira finally see the light of day? And when it does, will its modest budget relegate it to the middling territory occupied by the likes of, say, Aeon Flux? Or is the source material strong enough to carry the day?

MORE HOBBIT NEWS
Thirteen dwarves make up the company that Bilbo and Gandalf join on the quest to take back the Lonely Mountain, and, you know, get the gold in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. Now here are two more!
The newest pic shows Balin, played by Ken Stott, and Dwalin, played by Graham McTavish. Below is Warner Bros' description of the characters:
"Dwarf Lords in their own right, Balin and Dwalin are close relatives of Thorin. Beyond this, these brothers are two of his most loyal and trusted friends. An old warrior, Balin has lived through hard times and fought many battles, yet he harbors doubts about the wisdom of the quest to retake the Lonely Mountain. Dwalin has no such forebodings - his belief in Thorin's leadership is unshakeable. A powerful and bruising fighter, with a natural tendency to distrust anyone who is not a Dwarf, particularly anyone who might be an Elf, Dwalin is not someone to cross lightly."
Balin and Dwalin — the first two to arrive at Bilbo's house at the start of The Hobbit — are now joining Oin and Gloin, Dori, Nori and Ori, Fili and Kili and Bofur, Bombur and Bifur in the mighty dwarves' lineup.
Twelve dwarves down, one more to go — Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). Saving the best (he's the leader, after all) for last.
Interesting spoilery fact: Of all the dwarves, Balin's fate is the one The Lord of the Rings trilogy viewers will be most familiar with. In The Fellowship of the Ring, our main characters discover Balin's tomb in the Chamber of Mazarbul in Moria.

300: BATTLE OF ARTEMISIA
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Warner Bros. has zeroed in on Noam Murro to direct its 300 spin-off, 300: Battle of Artemisia (formerly known as Xerses).
The Israel-born director, who helmed the 2008 film Smart People, was vying for the gig with Jaum Collet-Serra, the director of this year’s Liam Neeson thriller Unknown. But Warners, which liked both directors, in Solomon-like wisdom divided up gigs for the filmmakers, yesterday handing Collet-Serra the adaptation of Akira. An official offer to Murro is expected to be made early next week.
Artemisia is based on Frank Miller’s upcoming graphic novel that takes Xerxes, the Persian leader who is an antagonist in 300, and turns him into more of a pivotal figure. He's a man in search of godhood after the death of his father, battling an Athenian warlord named Themistocles. The story takes place over the course of several years, but the focal point is the battle of Artemisium, which occured in 480 BC.
Zack Snyder, who directed 300, wrote the script with his 300 partner Kurt Johnstad.
The aim is to shoot Artemisia in the same stylized vein as Snyder did with 300.
Artemisia would be a change of pace for CAA and Management 360-repped Murro, whose Smart People was an indie drama that starred Dennis Quaid as a widower dealing with his adopted brother (Thomas Hayden Church), his overachieving daughter (Ellen Page) and possible new love in the form of Sarah Jessica Parker.
The movie caught Hollywood's eye and got Murro lined up to direct the in-development Die Hard 5 movie.

MONSTER MAN
Syfy has given a six-episode order to Monster Man, a docu-series revolving around a Hollywood creature-making family, the network announced Friday.
Monster Man goes behind-the-scenes of Cleve Hall and his unique family business: a monster prop-building workshop.
Production begins in Los Angeles this month and is expected to premiere in January 2012.
“We are entering the creative world of a very eccentric, artistic family,” said Mark Stern, president of original content at Syfy and co-head of content for UCP. “Cleve and his team will give our viewers a rare behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to bring monster props, puppets and costume pieces to life. But they’re also a family business, so the unusual dynamic between them is half the fun.”
Hall is a veteran in the business, entering prop design since he was a teenager. He has created props for films for Paramount, DreamWorks, Warner Bros. and Disney, including Ed Wood, and Yo Gabba Gabba.

FRINGE SEASON OPENING TEASER
The first official teaser for the upcoming fourth season of Fox’s cult sci-fi drama has hit the web and it doesn’t answer any looming questions. In fact, it raises the biggest one: “Where is Peter Bishop?” Is he in an alternate dimension? Does he even exist? Is this all a dream?
No new scenes from the upcoming season of Fringe were featured, so where did the scene in the 10-second teaser from from? A Season 1 episode titled “The Arrival.”
Like many out-of-this-world conundrums and situations the Fringe gang find themselves in, the scene still has its intended effect after the shocking third season closer, which left many viewers questioning Peter’s true existence.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Fringe showrunner Jeff Pinkner admitted that the inevitable questions about Peter would be difficult to answer, especially during its Comic-Con panel next Saturday. “We’ll probably be faced with hose questions. Our answer will probably be, 'Who’s Peter?,' " Pinkner joked.
Fringe returns for its fourth season on Friday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. on Fox.

FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2011

JOHN CARTER
John Carter isn't the first adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel A Princess of Mars—that was a 2009 direct-to-DVD Asylum studio film starring Traci Lords. But even from a one-and-a-half-minute trailer, we see the newest adaptation from Disney looks far more faithful to the 1917 book.
If you've read A Princess of Mars, you know that Edgar himself explains how he came into possession of his (fictional) uncle John Carter's manuscript. Carter, a Civil War veteran-turned-prospector, tells the tale in first person: While fleeing an Indian attack, he hid in some caves and mysteriously found himself transported to Mars. There, with a newfound super strength, he tries to restore a conflicted, dying planet.
The trailer, featuring Friday Night Lights alum Taylor Kitsch in all his sweaty glory, has it all. Burroughs learning about his uncle's demise, and Carter waking up on Mars and battling various foes on Barsoom (the native word for "Mars") as well as meeting his love interest, Princess Dejah Thoris. John Carter looks like something we want to see.

EMMY NOMINATIONS
The 2011 Primetime Emmy Award nominations have been announced, and fantasy fans can raise a tankard to HBO's Game of Thrones, which snagged 13 nods!
Of the nominations bestowed on the denizens of Westeros, several were expected—that Main Title sequence is pretty sweet—but several were of the hoped-for-but-not-guaranteed variety, including the citing of producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss for writing the episode "Baelor," the coveted Best Drama Series category, and our personal favorite, Peter Dinklage for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Unfortunately, the competition in some of these categories is stiff, with shows like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire providing perhaps the greatest threat to Thrones' chances. The Best Drama category is a murderer's row featuring the above-mentioned behemoths as well as critical faves Friday Night Lights, Dexter, and The Good Wife.
Can a swords-and-sorcery epic compete with the likes of Don Draper? We're not sure...but if Peter Dinklage doesn't bring home the prize for his perfect portrayal of Tyrion Lannister, then something in the system is just broken. The full list of Game of Thrones nominations is here:
• Best Drama Series: Game of Thrones
• Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
• Writing in a Drama Series: David Benioff and Dan Weiss for "Baelor"
• Direction in a Single-Camera Series: Timothy van Patten for "Winter is Coming"
• Casting in a Drama Series: Nina Gold and Robert Sterne
• Costumes for a Drama Series: Michelle Clapton and Rachael Webb-Crozier for "The Pointy End"
• Hairstyling in a Single-Camera Series: Kevin Alexander and Candice Banks for "A Golden Crown"
• Main Title Design: Angus Wall, Robert Feng, Kirk H. Shintani, and Hameed Shaukat
• Non-prosthetic Makeup in a Single-Camera Series: Paul Engelen and Melissa Lackersteen for "Winter is Coming"
• Prosethtic Makeup in a Series: Paul Engelen and Conor O'Sullivan for "A Golden Crown"
• Sound Editing for a Series: Stefan Hendrix, Tim Hands, Michelle McCormack, Steve Fanagan, Andy Kennedy, Jon Stevenson, Robin Whittaker, Caoimhe Doyle, and Eoghan McDonnell
• Special Visual effects for a Series: Adam McInnes, Angela Barson, Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor, Raf Morant, Henry Badgett, Damien Mace, Stuart Brisdon, and Graham Hills
• Stunt Coordination: Paul Jennings
You can get the full list of nominations at the official Emmys site. We'll find out if winter can come to the Emmys stage when the little statues are handed out Sept. 18.

FALL TV PREMIERE DATES
In two months you'll get a chance to finally feed your Vampire Diaries addiction. However, you're going to have to wait 'til late October to check out the final season of Chuck.
The five networks have announced their fall TV schedules and so we've put together a list of the sci-fi, fantasy, weird mystery shows that might be sci-fi and spy-fi shows. We also threw in a couple of cable shows, just because we had premiere info.
Here's our list of fall TV shows by premiere date.
Death Valley (MTV) — Series premieres Monday, Aug. 29 at 10:30 p.m.
The Vampire Diaries (The CW) — Season three premieres Thursday, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m.
The Secret Circle (The CW) — Series premieres Thursday, Sept. 15 at 9 p.m.
The Big Bang Theory (NBC) — Season five premieres Thursday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m.
Person of Interest (CBS) — Series premieres Thursday, Sept. 22 at 9 p.m.
A Gifted Man (CBS) — Series premieres Friday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.
Nikita (The CW) — Season two premieres Friday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.
Fringe (Fox) — Season four premieres Friday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
Supernatural (The CW) — Season seven premieres Friday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
Terra Nova (Fox) — Series premiere Monday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.
The Walking Dead (AMC) — Season two premieres in October
Bedlam (BBC America) — Series premieres Saturday, Oct. 8 at 9 p.m.
Chuck (NBC) — Season five premieres Friday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m.
Grimm (NBC) — Series premieres Friday, Oct. 21 at 9 p.m.
Once Upon a Time (ABC) — Series premieres Sunday, Oct 23 at 8 p.m.
Alcatraz (Fox) — Series premieres in midseason on Mondays at 9 p.m.Touch (Fox) — Series premieres in midseason
Awake (NBC) — Series premieres in midseason

THE THING
Something's hiding in the Arctic, and it wants Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton's bodies. The first trailer for The Thing has finally debuted, and it's filled with freaky, shapeshifting craziness. The Thing centers on a paleontologist named Kate Lloyd (Winstead) who travels to Antarctica to investigate an eerie find: Some explorers have stumbled across a strange ship encased in ice, and they have no idea what it really is or where it came from. (Hint: it's not from Earth). Little do they know the ship holds a dangerous shapeshifting creature that starts picking them off one by one. There's nothing like being trapped, isolated and scared for your life with an alien creature on the loose. That's what we call suspense! For those of you worried about this being a remake, The Thing is actually a prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 film. Therefore, you shouldn't be too worried about it stomping on anyone's creative toes. Aside from Winstead and Edgerton, the cast of The Thing includes Jonathan Lloyd Walker, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Eric Christian Olsen. Matthijs van Heijningen directed The Thing, which opens everywhere on Oct. 14. COMIC-CON UPDATE
According to Hero Complex, Steven Spielberg will show up at the San Diego Convention Center on Friday, July 22 (in the cavernous Hall H, of course), marking the first time he's ever set foot at the massive fan culture event.
Spielberg will be there to receive the Inkpot Award, which Comic-Con has been giving since 1974 to giants in the fields of comics and genre entertainment (previous recipients include folks like Jack Kirby and Ray Bradbury), and also to present footage from his upcoming motion-capture fantasy adventure The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.
Tintin opens in December and is in some ways one of the riskiest projects Spielberg has ever taken on. It's his first voyage into the tricky waters of feature-length motion capture, which has met with mixed reactions at the box office in films like Beowulf and The Polar Express, and it's based on a series of European comics that are largely unknown to American audiences.
Still, if anyone can pull it off, Spielberg can (plus he's got Peter Jackson along as a producer). We're sure he'll have plenty to say about Tintin in Hall H, not to mention the rest of his illustrious career and perhaps even his upcoming adaptation of the best-selling novel Robopocalypse.
Jaws, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind ... the man who brought us some of the greatest genre films of all time will finally be at Comic-Con, so if you're down there, get in line early for this!

BATMAN: YEAR ONE TO PREMIERE AT COMIC-CON
BATMAN: YEAR ONE will premiere at Comic-Con International in San Diego on Friday, July 22 at 8:00 p.m. in Ballroom 20. The premiere screening will be followed by a panel discussion amongst voice cast membersBryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Ben McKenzie (Southland), Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) as well as executive producer Bruce Timm, casting/dialogue directorAndrea Romano and directors Lauren Montgomery & Sam Liu.
Here's a video clip from the DVD:
http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/us/whv/med/batmanyearone/tvspots/BYO_12_YEARS_TSR-FINAL-STEREO-PRORES422HQ_300.asx

NEW THRILLER HAS ETHAN HAWKES
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Ethan Hawke has signed on to star in Scott Derrickson’s untitled horror-thriller pic, from Insidious and Paranormal Activity producer Jason Blum.
Blum’s Blumhouse/Possessed Pictures is producing the genre film with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones’ Automatik Entertainment, a joint venture of Alliance Films and IM Global. Charles Layton is executive producing.
Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) begins shooting the micro-budgeted horror-thriller on Sept. 19 from a script he co-wrote with C. Robert Cargill. The logline is being kept under tight wraps.
Most recently, Hawke wrapped production on a television adaptation of Moby Dick, starring opposite William Hurt in the role of first officer Starbuck. The two-part Encore telepic premieres on Aug. 1.
The actor’s other upcoming projects include Pawel Pawlikowski’s The Woman in the Fifth. Hawke stars opposite Kristin Scott Thomas as a college lecturer who flees to Paris after a scandal costs him his job.
Hawke also makes a cameo appearance in Len Wiseman’s remake of Totall Recall, starring opposite Colin Farrell and Bryan Cranston.
Derrickson co-wrote and directed The Exorcism of Emily Rose, a sleeper hit that grossed more than $140 million worldwide. His other credits include the recent remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
He’s also set to direct Goliath for Relativity Media.
Blum’s Blumhouse Prods. recently signed a three-year first-look deal with Universal Pictures. Blum is among only a few Hollywood producers who have succeeded in making low-budget films that have also worked at the box office.

HUGO
Paramount Pictures has revealed the first trailer for director Martin Scorsese's Hugo, opening in 3D and 2D theaters on November 23. The film stars Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee, Helen McCrory, Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Emily Mortimer and Michael Stuhlbarg.
Hugo tells the story of an orphan boy living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station. With the help of an eccentric girl, he searches for the answer to a mystery linking the father he recently lost, the ill-tempered toy shop owner living below him and a heart shaped lock, seemingly without a key. Based on Brian Selznick's award winning and imaginative New York Times bestseller, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," this magical tale is Scorsese's first film shot in 3D.

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011