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‘My Beautiful Coma’ Comes To Life (Exclusive)
5 hours ago
Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini have come on board to direct indie romance-comedy “My Beautiful Coma” for Mandalay Vision and Rat Entertainment.
Producers are Cathy Schulman and Matt Rhodes of Mandalay and Brett Ratner of Rat Entertainment. John Cheng will exec produce.
Springer Berman and Pulcini will rewrite Chris Downey’s script, centering on an estranged couple who, after a car accident, find themselves side by side in the hospital, in comas. While “sleeping,” they each escape into their own alternate-reality where they are able to live out their every whim and fantasy, free of the banal details of real life — but when they cross over into each other’s coma-worlds, trouble ensues.
“Shari and Robert are terrific directors and I think they will bring their special brand of comedy to this,” Schulman told Variety.
Jennifer Berman will oversee the production for Mandalay and produce in some capacity.
The »
- Dave McNary
Kelsey Grammer to Play Villain in ‘Transformers 4′
5 hours ago
After playing a hard-ass politician in Starz’s “Boss,” Kelsey Grammer is looking to keep that edge as he has signed on to play a villain in the Paramount’s Transformers starring Mark Wahlberg.
Pic also stars Jack Reynor and Nicola Peltz. Deadline Hollywood broke the news.
Bay, who’s helmed all three “Transformers” pics, is directing the next installment with Ehren Krueger penning the script.
Plot details are unknown except that it will not be connected to past installments and have a whole new cast of characters.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Don Murphy, Ian Bryce and Tom DeSanto will produce. Paramount has slated the pic for June 27, 2014.
Grammer is repped by UTA and manager Brian Sher. »
- Justin Kroll
Lionsgate Stock Hits Another All-Time High
5 hours ago
Wall Street’s bullishness on Lionsgate has lifted the stock to another all-time high on optimism over its young-adult film franchises.
The stock rose 35¢, or 1.4%, to $25.16 in trading Wednesday in the wake of an aggressive price target hike by analyst Alan Gould of Evercore to $30 from $24.
Gould also raised his earnings per share estimate for the quarter ended March 31 to 48 cents from 42 cents based on strong new film results, the homevid release of the final “Twilight” and the availability of “The Hunger Games” in the pay TV window.
“The film lineup looks strong led by ‘Catching Fire’ in late November, currently projected to be the second highest grossing film in 2013 by Hsx.com at $373 million during its first 4-weeks,” Gould said in his report. “Other key upcoming films are ‘Red 2′ starring Bruce Willis in July, ‘Ender’s Game’ starring Harrison Ford in November and ‘Divergent,’ another hot young adult »
- Dave McNary
Tribeca Film Review: ‘Teenage’
5 hours ago
It’s hard to reconcile, considering the degree to which adolescents now dominate popular culture, but the idea of the teenager is a uniquely 20th-century invention, born out of advances in psychological theory, changes in child-labor laws and a boom in leisure-time activities for the under-20 set. A feat of both editing and blurring-of-the-edges nonfiction technique, Matt Wolf’s mesmerizing, scrapbook-style “Teenage” conveys the transition in how the world perceived this emerging in-between stage via a series of first-person portraits of exceptional individuals set amid a whirlwind of vintage footage. Ironically, the demo in question seems least likely to appreciate the pic’s arty, innovative approach.
The conventional thinking goes that until roughly World War II, society and scientists alike thought of life as two distinct stages, divided between children and adults. The former were patronized and sheltered up to a certain point, then shuffled off to work in factories at a young age. »
- Peter Debruge
Warner Bros. to Distribute Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Inherent Vice’
6 hours ago
Coming off its flood of “Argo” awards, Warner Bros. is boarding another pic with prestige elements, coming on to distribute and finance Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Inherent Vice.”
Joaquin Phoenix is set to star with Anderson writing and directing.
Based on the 2009 Thomas Pynchon detective tome, the story is set in 1960s Los Angeles and follows the drug-fueled detective Larry “Doc” Sportello as he investigates the case of a kidnapped girl. The plot is less convoluted than many of Pynchon’s labyrinthine novels, with the New York Times calling it “a simple shaggy dog detective story.”
Anderson has not a major studio release since 2002′s Sony-distributed “Punch-Drunk Love.”
Cigarettes & Red Vines broke the news.
While WB has never released an Anderson film before, New Line distributed and financed his first two films, “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia.”
It’s unknown if New Line will have a part in the production.
Insiders also add that Annapurna Pictures, »
- Justin Kroll
James D’Arcy, Nina Dobrev to Ride Along on Fox’s ‘Cops’ Pic (Exclusive)
7 hours ago
James D’Arcy and Nina Dobrev have apprehended roles in Fox’s “Let’s Be Cops.”
Pic stars Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr., with Luke Greenfield helming.
The comedy follows two friends who impersonate cops for fun but everything goes wrong when they mess with a real-life mobster.
D’Arcy will play the mobster while Dobrev plays Wayans’ love interest.
Greenfield is producing with Simon Kinberg.
D’Arcy has been on the scene quite a bit playing Anthony Perkins in Searchlight’s “Hitchcock” and several roles in “Jupiter Ascending.” His show for A&E, “Those Who Kill,” was recently picked up for series.
Dobrev continues to be seen on CW’s “The Vampire Diaries.”
D’Arcy is repped by CAA, Management 360 and Markham, Frogatt and Irwin. Dobrev is repped by CAA and Brillstein. »
- Justin Kroll
Allyn Rachel Joins ‘Million Dollar Arm’ (Exclusive)
7 hours ago
Allyn Rachel has joined the cast of Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm” baseball pic opposite Jon Hamm and Alan Arkin.
Mayhem Pictures and Roth Films are producing with shooting set for Mumbai, India and Atlanta.
“Lars and the Real Girl” helmer Craig Gillespie is directing from a script by Tom McCarthy (“Win Win”). Hamm will portray real-life sports agent Jeff Bernstein who discovered professional pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel through a reality show he staged in India with cricket players.
Rachel, who performs regularly with the Upright Citizens Brigade, will play the fiercely loyal, hard-working assistant. She recently sold a single-camera comedy to Fox based on her web series “Couple Time” with Ellen DeGeneres’ A Very Good Production producing.
Rachel is repped by CAA and managed by Melanie Truhett of Truhett Garcia Management. Her attorney is Lev Ginsburg. »
- Dave McNary
‘The Way, Way Back’ to Close Los Angeles Film Festival
8 hours ago
The Los Angeles Film Festival has tapped Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s “The Way, Way Back” as the closing night film on June 23.
The coming-of-age story stars Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Annasophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph and Liam James. Fox Searchlight is releasing “The Way, Way Back” on July 5.
The festival, now in its 19th year, also announced Wednesday gala screenings for Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” from the Weinstein Co. and the North American premiere of Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Only God Forgives” from Radius-twc. James Ponsoldt’s “The Spectacular Now,” David Lowery’s “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, ” Ava DuVernay’s “Venus Vs.” and Lake Bell’s “In a World …” will also screen as part of the summer showcase series.
The festival had previously announced that Pedro Almodovar’s “I’m So Excited!” will be its opening-night selection on June 13.
The festival, which takes »
- Dave McNary
Dubai Film Bizzer Tim Smythe Dead at 54
9 hours ago
The United Arab Emirates film community is mourning the death of Tim Smythe, who was known in Hollywood as the Dubai go-to guy for pics including “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” “Syriana,” and “The Kingdom.”
Smythe, who had moved from South Africa to Dubai where he set up his Filmworks company in 1998, died April 16 following a battle with cancer. He was 54.
Besides being instrumental to luring Hollywood shoots to the UAE, Smythe also played a crucial role in building the local industry. He produced the first Emirati feature, F. Mostafa’s Dubai-set romancer “City of Light,” a local hit which held its own against yank blockbusters at the home box office.
Smythe is survived by his wife Julie and three daughters, Kaya, Maya and Livia. »
- Nick Vivarelli
‘Fast & Furious’ Franchise Casts a Diverse Array of Vehicles
10 hours ago
When it comes to Universal’s “The Fast and the Furious” franchise, the cars have been as much of a star attraction as the actors behind the wheel.
That comes with the territory when your films are based around the culture of street racing.
But instead of the typical Hollywood car chase line up of foreign luxury or exotic sports cars, the “Fast” films have put the spotlight on American muscle cars of the 1960s and ’70s.
See Also: Justin Lin: ‘Fast & Furious’ Filmmaker Finds Even Better Luck Tomorrow
Dodge in particular has benefitted from the series’ success and is again prominently featured in “Fast & Furious 6″, which races into theaters on May 24.
The automaker has appeared in the franchise since its 2001 debut and has used the series to hype its redesigned Charger and Challenger nameplates. Vin Diesel’s glossy black 1969 Charger, nicknamed “the Judge,” serves as the series’ signature hero car, »
- Marc Graser
Justin Lin’s Early Praise From Roger Ebert
10 hours ago
Justin Lin’s feature debut as a solo helmer, “Better Luck Tomorrow,” hit Sundance in 2002. Its subject matter wasn’t too unfamiliar: a group of high-achieving Asian-American high school kids who lead parallel lives of crime.
But like many films at the festival, it drew some jeers as well as cheers. One famous jeer-and-cheer exchange involved the late, great film critic Roger Ebert.
After the film’s third screening, an audience member stood up, praised Lin & Co.’s filmmaking, but asked, “Why, with the talent up there … would you make a film so empty and amoral for Asian-Americans. . .” and asked the filmmakers why they don’t “really look inside and see what matters to you and the writers.”
See Also: Justin Lin: ‘Fast & Furious’ Filmmaker Finds Even Better Luck Tomorrow
Oh no he didn’t! Those remarks ignited a heated discussion between the filmmakers onstage and others in »
- Carole Horst
‘Fast & Furious’ Franchise Finds Family
11 hours ago
Hardly a low-budget actioner in 2001, when it was made for around $38 million, “The Fast and the Furious” sequels now cost Universal Pictures north of $125 million for. The sixth installment opens May 24, with a seventh to follow in 2014, and U is aiming to spin off Dwayne Johnson’s character into his own franchise.
With Justin Lin in the director’s chair, the “Fast” franchise has thrived by steering away from the first three films’ narrow focus on street racing and urban car culture in the U.S., which appealed to a limited audience, and reframing the series as stories about a close-knit team that pulls off daring heists around the world.
See Also: Justin Lin: ‘Fast & Furious’ Filmmaker Finds Even Better Luck Tomorrow
“At Justin’s core and what makes him a really special filmmaker, he’s always a champion of the underdogs,” says Troy Craig Poon, president of Lin’s production company, »
- Marc Graser
Justin Lin: ‘Furious’ Filmmaker Finds Even Better Luck Tomorrow
11 hours ago
Imagine that you are 42 years old, your last three films earned over $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office, you have transformed a sagging franchise into a robust film series, and you are a native Mandarin speaker at a time when Hollywood is hungry to plant a flag in the Chinese market.
In short, it’s a great moment to be Justin Lin.
Yet the unassuming man who sits on a sofa in his editing suite on the Universal Studios lot on a recent afternoon might easily be mistaken for the UCLA grad student he once was rather than one of the movie industry’s prime directors. Fresh-faced and attired in a Nike golf shirt, he politely excuses the acrid aroma of fermented soybeans emanating from the take-out container on his lap.
When he first embarked on the “Fast & Furious” franchise, there were days when Lin had trouble getting past the »
- Scott Foundas
Cinando Users to Trial Movie Chainer Film Financing App
12 hours ago
Paris – Movie Chainer, a cloud-based app that allows right-holders of films to model and track the legal and financial structure of their film projects, is joining forces with Cannes Film Market’s web platform Cinando to enable members to get a free registration, valid for three projects.
Users who log onto Movie Chainer for the first time will be able to test the app for one project. Past the free-trial, the app will be accessible via a $99 monthly subscription including 10 films.
The good news: there’s no need to be a geek to make it work. Once contract information is filled in, the app automatically generates waterfall charts and comes up with right-holders’ revenue splits for all territories and media.
“What sparked my interest in Movie Chainer is that it fulfills a growing need for producers to find economically-viable solutions: libraries have expanded, the contracts are increasingly complex; while the »
- Elsa Keslassy
Justin Lin’s Perfect Storm Ready to Thunder
12 hours ago
Perfect Storm has been building quietly, but look for it to break loudly in the weeks and months to come.
Justin Lin’s production company, formed in January 2012 as a joint venture with Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Film Studio, has opened offices in Los Angeles, New York, Beijing and Shanghai.
It initially focused on film and TV, but has acquired a range of intellectual property for various media. Its prexy, Troy Craig Poon, says, “We’re evolving into a larger entertainment and media company.”
See Also: Justin Lin: ‘Fast & Furious’ Filmmaker Finds Even Better Luck Tomorrow
The first fruits of that evolution were streaming VOD channels in Asia. Then, last week, Danielle Woodrow was tapped to lead Perfect Storm’s Television division, which already has a first-look deal with Sony TV. In the coming weeks it will announce its development slate — those announcements savvily timed to coincide with the buzz for Fast 6, »
- David S. Cohen
Global Village: India Gets Tough on Smoking, Italy Tough on Pirates, More
15 hours ago
India
A Tough Tobacco Road
A recent study by researchers in India and the U.K. has reinforced a strict anti-smoking campaign begun last year by the central board of film classification that requires any actor who portrays a character seen smoking in a film or TV program to make an anti-smoking video. Bollywood audiences have been exposed to more than 14 billion images of tobacco use every year, according to the paper, by Delhi Ngo Hriday and London’s Imperial College, titled Tobacco Imagery in Bollywood Films: 2006-2008. The study analyzed 44 top-grossing films released in that period. The central board’s campaign stipulates that the anti-smoking vids, each 20-seconds long, must in the case of a movie run before the start of the film and at intermission (all films released in India have intermissions). In addition, an anti-smoking message must be displayed during the smoking scene.
Indonesia
Sony TV’s »
- Variety Staff
Int’l Executive: Marcos Scherer’s Imagem Filmes Fuels LatAm Surge
15 hours ago
Some people have all the fun. Marcos Scherer — CEO of Brazil’s Imagem Filmes, a big distributor in an ever bigger market — hunkers down to work each morning in Florianopolis, an Atlantic island city featuring more than 40 beaches, a high standard of living, a low crime rate and a reputation as a party destination.
Imagem has cause to party. Scherer predicts the company’s seven 2013 local releases will generate an impressive $70 million in box office. Its latest, comedy caper “Vai que da certo,” about five dorks bungling a security van heist, bowed March 22, and has scored $12 million through April 21, helping to drive a 17% uptick in the nation’s first-quarter B.O. What’s more, Imagem has proven quite adept at production, marketing and distribution in Brazil, currently the No. 12 world film market and climbing.
The company can tap into the country’s tasty tax rebates, levied at 70% of minimum guarantees »
- John Hopewell
Celluloid Dreams, uMedia Tie Knot
18 hours ago
Paris — Hengameh Panahi’s Paris-based Celluloid Dreams, one of Europe’s most respected sales companies, and Brussels’ uMedia, a burgeoning Euro mini-studio, have tied the knot on an alliance that ranges across film financing, production, acquisition and international sales.
The partnership marks out uMedia’s status as one of the Europe’s fastest-growing go-to movie companies for European and U.S. indies alike. It also gives Celluloid Dreams the bigger company backing that specialty film sales agents, however well connected, now crave in tougher times.
UMedia’s sales arm uConnect and Celluloid shared offices at Berlin, with uConnect taking joint responsibility with Celluloid Dreams for the sale of Celluloid Dreams’ slate. Now sealing a long-term expanded alliance, uMedia and Celluloid Dreams can explore fully the options on an enviable range of film operations.
Raising a reported Euros110 million ($145 million) in tax shelter coin last decade, uMedia has diversified rapidly from 2010 into production, »
- John Hopewell and Elsa Keslassy
Melissa McCarthy Pic ‘Tammy’ Release Set for July 2, 2014
30 April 2013 7:02 PM, PDT
Warner Bros. has dated Melissa McCarthy road-trip comedy “Tammy” for July 2, 2014.
The New Line project, which also stars Allison Janney, Susan Sarandon and Mark Duplass, is on track to begin shooting in May with McCarthy starring and co-directing with spouse Ben Falcone. McCarthy and Falcone are also producing from a script they co-wrote.
Pic follows a women who, after losing her job and learning that her husband has been unfaithful, hits the road with her profane, hard-drinking grandmother (Sarandon). Janney will play the mother of McCarthy’s character.
“Tammy” will open against Disney’s fantasy “Maleficent,” starring Angelina Jolie, and Sony’s comedy “Sex Tape,” starring Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz. »
- Dave McNary
Singer-Actress Deanna Durbin Dead at 91
30 April 2013 6:53 PM, PDT
Singer-actress Deanna Durbin, who was the highest-paid female star in Hollywood in 1947 but permanently exited the movie biz the next year at the age of 26, has died, her fan club announced Tuesday. The announcement did not give a date or cause of death. She was 91.
Durbin initially landed at MGM after a successful audition for a part in a planned biopic of opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink. She actually made her film debut in the 1936 MGM short “Every Sunday,” with Judy Garland (the two were only six months apart in age), and the opera film was never made. Soon thereafter Universal signed Durbin to a contract.
Her first film at U was “Three Smart Girls” (remade decades later as “The Parent Trap”). That big box office hit, in which she played the perfect teenage daughter, paved the way for many more of the same, and Durbin was credited with saving the studio from bankruptcy. »
- Carmel Dagan
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