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Cillian Murphy Boards ‘In The Heart Of The Sea’
23 minutes ago
Exclusive: Cillian Murphy jas joined the cast of In The Heart Of The Sea, the Ron Howard-directed adaptation of the Nathaniel Philbrick book for Warner Bros and Village Roadshow Pictures. Brian Grazer is producing with Joe Roth, Paula Weinstein and William Ward, with Palak Patel exec producing. Murphy will play Matthew Joy, second mate on the whale ship Essex. Citing reports of cannibals in the Society Islands, Joy and first mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) convince first time Captain Pollard (Benjamin Walker) to sail to South America after an enraged sperm whale rams and sinks the Essex, leaving 21 crew members adrift in small boats, 3,000 miles from land. The film begins shooting around London in mid-September. Murphy is currently at work on Wally Pfister’s Transcendence with Johnny Depp in New Mexico. He wrapped Cry/Fly, an indie opposite Jennifer Connelly and Mélanie Laurent and this fall stars in Peak Blinders, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Sam Taylor-Johnson To Direct ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’
3 hours ago
Exclusive: Sam Taylor-Johnson, whose directorial debut was 2009′s Nowhere Boy about the early life of John Lennon, has been secured to direct Fifty Shades Of Grey, the sizzling novel adaptation from Universal Pictures and Focus Features. Fellow Brit Kelly Marcel has written the script for the movie, based on El James’ bestseller that follows the relationship between 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey and college student Anastasia Steele. Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca are producing alongside James. “Sam’s unique ability to gracefully showcase complex relationships dealing with love, emotion and sexual chemistry make her the ideal director to bring Christian and Anastasia’s relationship to life,” said De Luca. “El James’ characters and vivid storytelling require a director who is willing to take risks and push the envelope where needed, and Sam is a natural fit.” This is a hot job, and rumors have been flying about directors like Gus Van Sant, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
CAA Signs Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, Oscar-Winning Helmer Of ‘The Lives Of Others’
6 hours ago
Exclusive: Filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has returned to CAA. Henckel von Donnersmarck blazed on the scene after the German filmmaker wrote and directed 2006′s The Lives Of Others, which won him the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and generated $77 million at the worldwide box office on a $3 million budget. A bright man who speaks five languages, he was expected to soar in Hollywood, but that ascent has been a slow one. He has bounced in and out of numerous project since then, and directed the Angelina Jolie-Johnny Depp film The Tourist, which disappointed in the U.S. comparative to that star power but grossed a solid $278 million worldwide. He had most recently been at UTA. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Hot Short Film: ‘Tonight I Strike’
7 hours ago
Exclusive: After getting his start doing VFX work on projects including District 9 and The Watchmen, Canadian filmmaker Dan Gaud has his eye on directing. Here is a look at his calling card, Tonight I Strike, is a $15,000 futuristic short with about 60 VFX shots that he executed on a laptop computer in a short he shot in seven days. The money was raised by his manager, Jewerl Ross, who signed Gaud off another short that he had made for $500. Gaud’s hope from this short is to sign with an agency and either make a feature that is set in the world this short presents, or maybe the plethora of no-budget features that producers like Jason Blum are minting money with as counter-programming to the big budgeters. What do you think? »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Joy Bryant Returns To Longtime Agent Steve Alexander At Resolution
7 hours ago
Exclusive: Joy Bryant has signed with Resolution Agency, reuniting her with a team led by her longtime CAA agent, Steve Alexander. Bryant, whose breakout came in Antwone Fisher, can currently be seen in her role as Jasmine Trussell on NBC’s Parenthood and will next be seen in the feature film About Last Night, starring opposite Kevin Hart and Paula Patton. She continues to produce and appear on the Reserve Channel’s web series Across the Board. She continues to be represented by Brian Young at Killer Moxie Management. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Jonah Hill Signs For Management With Lbi
21 hours ago
Exclusive: Jonah Hill has taken on management. He has signed with Lbi Entertainment, where he will be repped by a team headed by Ian Montone and Rick Yorn. They will rep him in all areas, along with Wme and attorney Karl Austen. Hill continues to surprise as he evolves from the fro-headed kid in Superbad to a lead in ribald stoner comedies like This Is The End, to serious roles like his Oscar nominated turn in Moneyball, and the upcoming Martin Scorsese-directed The Wolf Of Wall Street. In the Rupert Gould-directed Plan B-produced True Story, Hill next plays disgraced New York Times reporter Michael Finkel, who was sacked just as a suspected killer on the FBI’s Most Wanted List who was using his name got caught, and would only talk to the journo at a time his life was crashing down around him. James Franco plays the killer. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Toldja! ‘Dumb And Dumber To’ Proves No-Brainer For Universal; Studio Locks Deal For Farrellys, Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels Pic
22 hours ago
Exclusive: Universal Pictures has closed a deal for domestic distribution on Dumb And Dumber To, the sequel to the classic comedy that brings back Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, with Peter and Bobby Farrelly directing their rewrite of the script by Sean Anders and John Morris. Wolf Of Wall Street financier Red Granite is stepping up to finance the $35 million budget film and sell foreign territories. Deadline reported this is how it would likely go after Warner Bros finally stepped away from the project, after hovering over it like a dark cloud since January. That studio will retain a participation stake in the film, but its exit made all this possible. All this is going down as we speak, and now the scheduling will begin for a movie that will find its way into production very quickly, with Conundrum’s Bradley Thomas and The Farrellys producing with Charlie Wessler. The »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Salma Hayek’s Animated Passion Project ‘The Prophet’ Draws Liam Neeson, John Krasinski, Quvenzhane Wallis And Others
23 hours ago
Exclusive: Liam Neeson, Salma Hayek, John Krasinski, Frank Langella, Alfred Molina and Quvenzhané Wallis have all joined the voice cast of Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet, the animated feature film written and directed by Roger Allers, whose animation credits include directing Disney’s The Lion King and Open Season and whose writing and storyboard work encompasses such films as Aladdin, Beauty And The Beast, and The Little Mermaid. The film is being produced by Hayek, Clark Peterson, and Ron Senkowski. Participant Media and Doha Film Institute are financing and are exec producers. Allers’ script was inspired by The Prophet, the iconic book that is one of the biggest sellers in history, north of 100 million copies in over 40 languages since it was first published by Alfred Knopf in 1923. Allers is directing the narrative story, while individual chapters based on Gibran’s poems are being helmed by animation directors from around the world, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Relativity Moves Scott Cooper’s ‘Out Of The Furnace’ Into Heat Of Oscar Season With November 27 Limited Release
23 hours ago
Exclusive: Sensing it has a movie that can create heat during Oscar season, Relativity is moving the Scott Cooper-directed revenge thriller Out Of The Furnace from October 4 to a limited release on November 27, expanding that run beginning December 6th. The film stars Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard and Willem Dafoe. Crazy Heart helmer Cooper wrote the script with Brad Ingelsby. Bale plays a simple man in a blue collar job at the local steel mill, who cares for his terminally ill father at night. His brother (Affleck) returns from Iraq and falls in with a ruthless crime ring. When he disappears, that simple man takes matters into his own hands, and sets out to seek justice for his sibling. Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Killoran produced with Scott Free’s Ridley Scott, with Michael Costigan also producing with Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Russell Crowe Sets ‘The Water Diviner’ For Directing Debut
18 June 2013 3:11 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Hot off the opening of the Superman reboot Man Of Steel in which he plays Jor-El, Russell Crowe has firmed his long-held plans to make his feature directorial debut. He is in talks to helm and star in The Water Diviner, a film scripted by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios that will shoot in Australia and Turkey later this year. It is set in 1919, and an Australian father travels to Turkey to find his two sons, who are missing after the battle of Gallipoli. The film will be produced by Troy Lum and Andrew Mason for Hopscotch Features and by Keith Rodger for Fear Of God Films. Over the years, Crowe has considered several films for his directing debut, and they have all been Australian stories that have included The Long Green Shore and Bra Boys. He has been on quite a roll. After Les Miserables, he will star »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Paramount- Montecito Sets Black List Scribes Eyal Podell & Jonathan Stewart To Script ‘Juliet’
18 June 2013 10:36 AM, PDT
Exclusive: Montecito and Paramount have tapped scribes Eyal Podell & Jonathan Stewart to write Juliet, based on the book by Anne Fortier. Tree Line’s Cathy Konrad will produce with Montecito. The project was set up in fall, 2011 for James Mangold to direct. In the book, a young woman learns that the legend of Romeo & Juliet is actually real, and that Shakespeare’s version was simply the most popular retelling. More compelling is that she is Juliet’s direct descendant, but was kept in the dark to protect her. Podell & Stewart are coming on the project hot after having their script Seuss reach the second slot on the latest Black List. They are represented by Verve and Industry Entertainment. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
‘Bioshock’ Creator Ken Levine Takes On ‘Logan’s Run’ Script For Warner Bros
18 June 2013 10:08 AM, PDT
Exclusive: If you’ve grown weary waiting for the Logan’s Run remake because of all the talent that has fallen in and out, here’s news that will give the languishing film a jolt. Warner Bros has tapped Ken Levine, creator of the Bioshock video game franchise, to write the screenplay for a remake of the 1976 cult classic science fiction film. Jon Berg is overseeing it for the studio. Levine began his career as a screenwriter and a playwright before he became one of the most influential figures in the video game industry. He’s making a rare appearance outside of video games because Logan’s Run has been such a passion project for him. The film was based on the 1967 book by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, about a dystopian society set in the year 2116 in which all people must be willingly executed at age 21 as a means of population control. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Has Summit Pulled A Rabbit Out Of The Hat With Dean Parisot And Houdini?
17 June 2013 8:10 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Summit Entertainment is in early negotiations with Dean Parisot to direct the Noah Oppenheim-scripted feature about Harry Houdini that Summit has been developing the project for several years. It’s based on the William Kalush and Larry Sloman book The Secret Life of Houdini, The Making of America’s First Superhero. The tale paints Houdini as more than a master illusionist: He was a spy and a true renaissance man across the globe. This project had Hunger Games helmer Gary Ross involved for a bit, but he fell off the project. There have been several Houdini projects in development, including at DreamWorks, but like a lot of magic movies, they’ve faltered. I’ll tell you more when I know it. Wme-repped Parisot just wrapped the Summit Entertainment sequel Red 2, with Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren returning, and Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones among the new castmembers. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Scoot McNairy Shores Up ‘Black Sea’ Role
17 June 2013 6:47 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Scoot McNairy is set star with Jude Law in Black Sea, the underwater adventure film for Focus Features that Kevin Macdonald is directing. Law plays a rogue skipper who gathers a crew and a submarine in order to search for sunken treasure in the Black Sea. McNairy plays an American who convinces the captain to undertake a mission, even though the skipper has been double crossed before and knows it could be a set-up. McNairy just wrapped David Michod’s The Rover with Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson, and he starred alongside Michael Fassbender in Frank. The Argo star also has Twelve Years A Slave wrapped and just starred in the AMC pilot Halt And Catch Fire. McNairy is repped by Wme, The Group and Jackoway Tyerman. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
New Myth, Toonz Ent. Help Launch Epiphany, A $200 Million Film Fund
17 June 2013 6:31 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Well, it didn’t take long to find out where New Myth will be finding the money to make tentpole-sized movies. A group of investors and distributors led by New Myth and Toonz Entertainment Pte Ltd have launched Epiphany, a $200 million film fund that intends to strategically build a content platform and invest in a slate of event films with an eye toward global appeal. Epiphany aims to get involved as producer and co-financier of franchise films with major studios. It starts with New Myth and Toonz and also in the investor group is European distributor A-Company, an affiliate of Ar Film in Russia. Related: New Myth Forms With ‘X-Men/Transformers’ Tom DeSanto; Goal To Hatch Tentpoles New Myth is a Hollywood-based production company founded by principals Tom DeSanto, David Ranes, Grace Oppenheimer and Wayne Duband. Epiphany will co-finance its projects. Toonz is one of the largest animation and VFX studios in Asia, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Lotus Entertainment Lands Thriller Spec ‘Revelation’
17 June 2013 6:16 PM, PDT
Exclusive: It has begun to feel like that pre-holiday slumber time, but here is a spec script that just sold in a competitive situation. Lotus Entertainment has landed the rights to Hernany Perla’s spec, Revelation, for a low to mid six figures. Circle Of Confusion’s David Alpert and Stephen Emery will produce with Anil Kurian. Lotus Co-Chairmen Jim Seibel and Bill Johnson will executive produce. D.J. Guggenheim brought in the spec and will oversee the project for Lotus. It’s a high concept thriller with time travel and murder, I’m told. Hernany previously sold the feature spec Day One at MGM and his producing credits include Ghost Team One and the upcoming feature Eden. He was an exec at Lionsgate before the writing took off. Hernany is repped by Original Artists and Madhouse Entertainment. Lotus has been getting aggressive. At Cannes, the label sold out international »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
New Myth Forms With ‘X-Men’/'Transformers’ Tom DeSanto; Goal To Hatch Tentpoles
17 June 2013 5:30 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Tom DeSanto has teamed with David Ranes, Grace Roeder Oppenheimer, and Wayne Duband to form New Myth Entertainment. The intention is to hatch tentpole fare, along with some filmmaker driven small films. DeSanto’s writing and producing credits include X-Men and Transformers, and he was right there at the inception of both of those projects which have done billions in box office and merchandising. DeSanto is currently writing and producing his re-imagining of the millennium-old Chinese story, Creation Of The Gods, with YiSang Media, with plans of it being his next global film franchise. New Myth is currently developing several big properties that include Faces, a high concept action thriller, with DeSanto and Ranes producing. “When a young genius invents infallible facial recognition software he uncovers a millennia old global conspiracy that threatens to throw the planet into chaos and a new World War,” DeSanto said. Update: New Myth, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Lionsgate Acquires Pulitzer Prize Winner ‘Devil In The Grove;’ Seminal Civil Rights Case For Thurgood Marshall
17 June 2013 5:02 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Lionsgate has acquired screen rights to Devil In The Grove: Thurgood Marshall, The Groveland Boys, And The Dawn Of A New America, the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Gilbert King about the effort of Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP’s legal team to save the lives of four black men falsely accused of raping a white woman in Florida in 1949. Adam Cooper & Bill Collage will write the script. Allison Shearmur is producing. The project is high priority at Lionsgate where production president Erik Feig and production and development director Jeyun Choi are overseeing it. Devil In The Grove will yield a great role for a fortyish African-American actor to play the iconic Marshall, in a case fought to the Supreme Court before he made history with Brown Vs. Board of Education, which finally eliminated segregation in public schools. The scribes are also planning a strong role of Mabel Norris Reese, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Neil Patrick Harris Takes ‘Hedwig And The Angry Inch’ To Broadway
17 June 2013 1:08 PM, PDT
Producer David Binder is thrilled to announce that Neil Patrick Harris will star in the Broadway premiere of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s musical Hedwig And The Angry Inch in the Spring of 2014. The remaining creative team members, additional casting, and the theatre will be confirmed at a later date. The announcement that Neil Patrick Harris will play ‘Hedwig,’ follows his recent triumphant engagement as the host of the 67th Annual Tony Awards® (the highest rated Tonys® broadcast in more than a decade). Harris said, “I am simultaneously ecstatic and terrified to be stepping into Hedwig’s heels. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime role and I can’t wait to begin the journey.” John Cameron Mitchell who wrote the book and starred in the original stage and film productions of Hedwig said, “Who better to pass the wig to but the finest entertainer of his generation?” and composer Stephen Trask said, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Colin Quinn’s Stage Show ‘Unconstitutional’ To Open At Cherry Lane Theatre July 4
17 June 2013 1:04 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Following a five week run at The Barrow Street Theatre in New York City last month, Colin Quinn Unconstitutional will be re-opening at The Cherry Lane Theatre on July 4. Quinn, the former Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live, wrote and stars. Rebecca A. Trent directs him. It is presented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Mike Lavoie. Basically, Quinn tackles 226 years of American Constitutional calamities in 70 minutes. The reviews were strong in its first limited run. The show will also hit the road, with Quinn starring in a tour that starts with the 13 original American colonies, sometime in the fall. Quinn’s last one man stage show, Colin Quinn Long Story Short, debuted in 2010 with Jerry Seinfeld directing. The show received a Drama Desk nomination as well as an Emmy Award for the HBO broadcast of the play. Onscreen, Quinn will next be seen in Grown Ups 2 for Sony, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
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