27 Jan 2015 12:03 AM PT
We will be providing briefs of what comes out of the studios or independent project development on a daily basis and summarizing them in daily posts. These will be a quick way to attempt to keep everyone updated on movement of projects. This post is updated throughout the day. So check back for the latest updates.
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ABC/DISNEY/AMC FAMILY
According to Deadline Hollywood, Disney is looking to revive the Indiana Jones franchise after buying rights from Paramount in 2013. The studio is looking at Chris Pratt to play the swashbuckling archeologist (made famous by Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark) in the new franchise. Disney has refused to comment so should be filed as rumor at this point.
AMC NETWORKS
eOne Television‘s CEO, John Morayniss signed new long-term cotract with Entertainment One to continue was Chief Executive Officer of eOne Television. eOne television has a multi-year distribution agreement with AMC Networks for all original scripted series from AMC and Sundance TV. Read More
BBC just signed on Jeremy Clarkson for another three years of Top Gear. Richard Hammond and James May are close to agreeing to a three-year contract renewal with BBC as well. Their current contracts end in April.
Amid all the controversy in 2014, led to some demands that Top Gear and Clarkson to be axed from long-running BBC2 (and BBC America). But all indications are that a contract with BBC Worldwide will be renewed shortly and is likely to run for three years. BBC Director-General, Lord Hall backed the show today saying to Radio Times “It’s a programme loads of people love and its important the BBC doesn’t just have one voice.”
CBS/CW/CBSFILMS/SHOWTIME
Katie Holmes just joined Showtime‘s drama Ray Donovan for it’s third season. Holmes will play the daughter of billionaire producer Andrew Finney (played by Ian McShane) who is described as shrewd and chic who will enlist Ray’s service. Her character name is Paige. Also joining season 3 is Guy Burnet (Mortdecai) as a character named Casey who is Finney’s prodigal son.
CW The Flash villain Andy Mientas says he is definitely open to a Pied Piper Spin-off saying he feels he is one of the “more fascinating characters he’s seen in the DC universe and a fan favorite because he is so different than everyone else.” Mientus who plays Hartley Rathaway aka villain Pied Piper, makes his debut on the CW’s The Flash on Tuesday. No word whether a spin-off is in the planning stages or not. Read More
CBS has ordered a medical drama, Code Black to pilot. The pilot, based on Ryan McGarry’s 2014 feature documentary of the same name, will see the ER staff confront their ideals, a broken system and their patients. If ordered to a series, it will be the sole medical drama on the CBS slate. McGarry with Michael Seitzman and David Semel will Executive Produce the pilot, as well as Marti Noxon and Linda Goldstein-Knowlton. Semel will direct and Sietzman will write the pilot script.
CBS also ordered a new multi-camera comedy to pilot called Half of It which revoles around a newly divorced father who is thrilled that he gets to keep half of his stuff, more than he ever had when he was married. Half of It will be penned by Mike Gibbons and CBS Television Studios. Gibbons also is the head writer and co-Executive Producer of the Late, Late Show with James Corden which begins airing in March.
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION (AOL, AMAZON, HULU, NETFLIX, YAHOO)
Yahoo announced it will spin off a new entity with Alibaba Holdings (worth about $40 Bil). The new entity will have no debt and will leave Yahoo with is primarily ad-supported Web businesses plus the 35.5% stake in Yahoo Japan. See More
Netflix released a teaser for Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp – reuniting the movie cast to the Netflix series. The 1981-set movie alums that were reunited include Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Ian Black, Janeane Garofalo, et al. for the limited 8 episode series that is due to begin in Summer 2015.
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS (DISCOVERY CHANNEL)
Discovery Channel Chief rich Ross announced today that Paul Pastor is the new Executive Vice President of Network Strategy, Revenue & Operations for the Discovery Channel. Pastor will report direct to Ross. Read More
FOX/20th CENTURY FOX (TV & FILMS)/FOX SEARCHLIGHT
20th Century Fox released this Marvel Comics Fantastic Four Teaser today. Miles Teller plays Reed Richard/Mr. Fantastic, Michael B. Jordan plays Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Kate Mara plays Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman and Jamie Bell is Ben Grimm/The Thing. The film is due to release August 7, 2015.
Roger Michell (Notting Hill) will write and direct My Cousin Rachel for Fox Searchlight. My Cousin Rachel is an adaptation of the class Daphne Du Maurier novel of same title, which evolves around Philip a young orphan who believes his mysterious and beautiful cousin Rachel may hve been responsible for the murder of his well loved guardian Ambrose who was also a cousin of theirs. Philip begins to plot his revenge but he finds his feelings complicated as he falls under Rachel’s beguiling spell. A casting call is out for the project.
HBO
HBO has just ordered a musical period drama pilot, Virtuoso from True Blood Creator, Alan Ball and musician Elton John. The series will be a period drama about musical prodigies set in 18th Century Vienna, following a class of musicians from all across Europe at the Academy of Musical Excellence. The pilot will star Peter Macdissi (Six Feet Under, True Blood), who will also Executive Produce the pilot along with Ball, John, David Furnish and Steve Hamilton Shaw. The pilot will be written by Macdissi, Shaw and Ball.
Additional cast include Alex Lawther (The Imitation Game) as Battista, Francois Civil (Rosemary’s Baby) as Isidoro; Nico Mirallegro (Upstairs Downstairs) as Franz; Lindsay Farris s Heinrich; and Iva Babic as Leonid. Production of Virtuoso begins this Spring and will be filmed in Budapest.
HBO just announced it has renewed Togetherness for a second season.
NBC/UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
LIONSGATE
Craig Ferguson just signed a mutli-year deal with Lionsgate Television with his Green Mountain production company to develop scripted and unscripted series for the studio. Ferguson could be writing, directing or acting in various projects. Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury distribution unit distributes Ferguson’s syndicated Celebrity Name Game, which just was renewed for a second 2015-2016 season. See More
Dave Franco and Emma Roberts are set to star in the YA novel adapation of Nerve for Lionsgate. Nerve will be directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost and Jessica Scharzer has penned the adapted screenplay. Allison Schearmur and Anthony Katagas are producing the film with Erik Feig, Jeyun Choi and Jessica Switch overseeing for Lionsgate and VP at Allison Shearmur Productions, Stephen Meinen will oversee the production.
The thriller follows a good girl, Vee (Roberts) who breaks out of her shell after playing an online truth-or-dare game, Nerve. She plays the game with a sexy and mysterious Ian (Franco). But the initial thrill starts to take a dark turn as the stakes increase and the game begins to become personal. She learns just how far she will go to win Nerve.
PARAMOUNT STUDIOS
Paramount has rescheduled its horror and paranormal films around. The next installment of Friday the 13th which had been scheduled to release November 13 has been pushed further back to release now to May 13, 2016. Meanwhile, Rings is set to release on November 13. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension originally was scheduled to release this March 13 is now pushed back to open on October 23rd.
SONY/TRISTAR
Sony Pictures Ghostbusters franchise and director Paul Feig are in negotiations with Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones to play the foursome to reboot of Ghosbusters. The news came via a tweet by Feig. The script is being written by Katie Dippold and production is being considered for this year.
Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) is currently in discussions with Sony Pictures for Passengers, written by Jon Spaihts. Passengers is a Sci Fi love story set in deep space. A spacecraft transporting thousands of people to a distant colony planet has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, only a single passenger is awakened 90 years before the rest of the passengers on the craft. Not wishing to grow old and die alone, the awakened passenger decides to wake up another passenger, which initiates what becomes a unique love story.
The Passengers project is being overseen by production president, Michael DeLuca and produced by Neal Moritz and Ori Marmur (both from Original Films) and Michael Maher for Start Media and Stephen Hamel of Company Films.
Sony Pictures Animation has named DreamWorks Animation veteran, Krstine Belson as President, a newly created post at Sony Pictures Animation. Belson will report direct to Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group. Belson received an Oscar nomination for The Croods. See More
Jeff Robinov’s Fosun-backed Studio 8 and Bona Film Group, a Chinese distribution company, have joined TriStar to partner with Tom Rothman (Sony) and Film4 to adapt Ben Fountain’s novel Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk which Ang Lee will direct. Casting is currently underway and the project is schedule to begin principal photography in mid-April 2015. See More
Sony Pictures announced that it will release Will Smith’s drama, Concussion, for a December 25, 2015 release. Concussion is about Dr. Bennet Omalu who is a forensic neuropathologist that made the first discovery of football-related brain trauma in a pro player and fought to increase public awareness. The film was based on the GQ article ‘Game Brain’ by Jeanne Marie Laskas and is written and directed by Peter Landesman (Parkland). Ridley Scott, Giannina Facio, David Wolthoff, Larry Shuman and Elizabeth Cantillon are producing the film with Executive Producers Davidc Crockett and Michael Schaefer. Cast includes Alec Baldwin, Luke Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Arliss Howard, Paul Reiser, David Morse and Albert Brooks.
WARNER BROS.
Warner Bros. Team Downey (Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey) have attached Tate Taylor to direct and Mike Jones to pen a script to their untitled project on the USS Indianapolis. The yet to be named project will tell a story of a WWII shark tale made famous by the chilling speech Robert Shaw’s character Quint delivers to shipmates Roy Scheider and Richard Drefuss in Jaws. Learn More
INDIE
Blueprint Pictures and BBC Films has cast Colin Firth, who will be directed by James Marsh (The Theory of Everything) in a film based on the true story of amateaur sailor Donald Crowhurst and his attempt to win the first round of the 1968 World Yacht Race. Firth will play the lead character, Crowhurst. Shooting is due to begin in Spring 2015. Producers are Pete Czernin, Graham Broadbent and Scott Z. Burns, as well as Galatee‘s Nicholas Mauvernay and Jacques Perrin. The script was penned by Burns and developed with Christine Langan from BBC Films and Studiocanal. See More
WGA study shows that more than 60% of indie filmmakers are not receiving initial compensation or backend payments for their movies. See More