The Newsdesk 06.24.09 – Fincher Could Helm Facebook Movie; First Avatar Footage Screened
• David Fincher is in talks to direct The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin’s script about the creation of Facebook. Fincher promises to blow the lid off the harrowing world of “how well do you know me?” quizzes and “super-pokes.”
• 24 minutes of James Cameron’s Avatar were screened at the CinemaExpo in Amsterdam. Word is it’s the first movie to properly utilize 3D technology. Well, after Jaws 3-D, of course.
• Katherine Heigl will star in the drama Life as We Know It for director Greg Berlanti.
• Adam Sandler, Cher, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau and Sylvester Stallone are among the performers supplying animal voices in the Kevin James comedy The Zookeeper. Let me guess… Cher’s playing a peacock, right?
• Zac Efron will drop his nice guy image to star in an untitled thriller for Mandate Pictures. Recommended title: “High School Murder-cal.”
• Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick welcomed twin girls. Now which one’s a “Carrie”?
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is on pace to beat its predecessor at the box office. But will it out-do the first outing in terms of John Turturro mugging?
BIZ
MTV ups development as it cuts staff
from Hollywood Reporter by By Nellie Andreeva
MTV Networks has trimmed the staff of its MTV Music Group
and Logo division.
Paramount Pictures needs fixing
A business analyst calls the studio “a perennial
disappointment.”
Media Decoder: Nikki Finke, Hollywood Blogger, Gets Her Payday
from NYT > Movies by By BRIAN STELTER
Hollywood blogger, Nikki Finke, sells her Web site to
Mail.com Media Corporation.
FESTIVALS
Cinema by the Bay fest kicks off in Oct.
from Hollywood Reporter by Staff report
The San Francisco Film Society will present the inaugural Cinema
by the Bay festival, a three-day fest featuring new work produced in or about
the San Francisco Bay Area, from Oct. 23 – 25.
Toronto unveils first festival titles
from Hollywood Reporter by By Etan Vlessing
The Toronto International Film Festival on Tuesday unveiled a
slew of premieres, mostly out of Cannes and Berlin.
Johansson set for LA Shorts Fest
from Hollywood Reporter by Staff report
Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, a short film titled
“These Vagabond Shoes,” starring Kevin Bacon, will premiere as part
of the opening night of LA Shorts Fest ’09, which runs July 23-31 at the Sunset
5 Laemmle Theater in West Hollywood.
‘Patrik’ tops Provincetown fest
from Hollywood Reporter by Staff report
Ella Lemhagen’s “Patrik, Age 1.5” and Megumi
Sasaki’s “Herb & Dorothy” earned the HBO Audience Awards for best
narrative feature and best documentary, respectively, at the 11th annual
Provincetown International Film Festival, which concluded Sunday in
Provincetown, Mass.
MOVIES
Daily Box Office: Monday, June 22, 2009
from Box Office Mojo – Current Box Office Results
The Proposal tops Monday’s box office with $4.7 million
Cher set for return to the big screen
from Entertainment News – UPI.com
LOS ANGELES, June 23 (UPI) — U.S. singer and actress Cher has signed on to
star in the contemporary musical “Burlesque,” marking her first lead
role in a movie in nearly a decade.
Peter Bart: Sacha Baron Cohen needs a new shtick —
Universal has banned reviews of “Bruno” for another week, but the
blogosphere is already steeped in commentaries and rumors: Is the film being
re-edited? Are scenes being reshot?
from Entertainment Weekly’s Hollywood Insider by Nicole Sperling
Zac Efron continues to take charge of his career. Capitalizing
on the success of 17 Again — and recently following his decision to decline
the starring role in Footloose — Efron has joined forces with Juno producers
Mandate Pictures
Exclusive: David Fincher is in talks to direct Aaron Sorkin’s
Facebook script
from Entertainment Weekly’s Hollywood Insider by Nicole Sperling
David Fincher is in early talks to direct Aaron Sorkin’s
Facebook script for Sony Pictures. Sources tell EW that producers are very high
on securing the acclaimed director’s involvement on the project, which centers
on the drama behind the Harvard…
Giant Robots Take Over The Box Office
from Forbes.com: Media News by Dorothy Pomerantz
Paramount prepares to rake it in with ”Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen.”
Will ‘Transformers’ be a record-breaker?
from Hollywood Reporter by By Gregg Kilday
The Autobots and Decepticons begin slugging it out at the
boxoffice Wednesday as “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” opens
for business.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Reviewed by Owen Gleiberman | —
from /Film by orfilms@gmail.com (slashfilm.com)
Over the weekend, the biggest news in Hollywood was that Sony chief Amy Pascal
had put the brakes on Steven Soderbergh’s baseball stats movie Moneyball,
which had been set to begin shooting yesterday with Brad Pitt in the lead.
Katherine Heigl in the ‘Know’ at Warners
from Hollywood Reporter by By Borys Kit
Warner Bros. has picked up “Life As We Know It,”
setting Katherine Heigl to star and “Everwood” creator Greg Berlanti
to direct the drama. Barry Josephson and Gold Circle’s Paul Brooks are
producing.
‘Avatar’ footage in action at Cinema Expo
from Hollywood Reporter by By Carl DiOrio
James Cameron unveiled the first publicly shown clips from
his $300 million 3-D sci-fi actioner “Avatar” on Tuesday at Cinema
Expo.
Peter Morgan leaves ‘Relationship’
from Hollywood Reporter by By Nellie Andreeva
Peter Morgan has pulled out as director of the HBO Films/BBC
Films movie “The Special Relationship,” about the unique and
sometimes turbulent political relationship between newly installed British
Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s.
Zhang Yimou remaking Coens’ ‘Blood Simple’
from Hollywood Reporter by Associated Press
Zhang Yimou has started shooting a remake of the Coen
brothers’ debut “Blood Simple,” the “Raise the Red Lantern”
director’s first film since designing the opening and closing ceremonies of the
Beijing Olympics last year, a publicist said Tuesday.
TELEVISION
from Hollywood Reporter by By Nellie Andreeva
AMC is crossing “Rubicon,” picking up the
political thriller starring James Badge Dale to series.
The Summer People Stopped Watching Network TV
from Defamer by Richard Lawson
Already in a down-trend this whole year, network television is suffering from
drastically low ratings this summer. ABC, for example? They just posted their
lowest. ratings. EVER–ever!–in the 18-49 demographic. Other nets aren’t doing
much better.
‘Jon & Kate’ going on hiatus until Aug. 3
from EW.com: TV
By Kate Ward
TLC: ”The family will take some time off to regroup, and then a modified
schedule will be in place to support the family’s transition,” the network
tells EW
‘Glee’: Whitney Houston passes, Eve in
from EW.com: TV
By Michael Ausiello
Michael Ausiello confirms exclusively musical series casts Eve in role of
no-nonsense girls’ choir director from a rival school
Audrina Patridge show on MTV: Exclusive
from EW.com: TV
By Tim Stack
EW learns network picks up ”Hills” star’s own reality series, set to focus on
her personal and professional life
Teresa Giudice talks about the show, her style and how much
she hates Danielle.
MUSIC
Report: Twitter users buy more music
from The Hollywood Reporter – Music by By Antony Bruno,
Billboard
A new NPD Group study finds that active Twitter users buy
77% more digital music downloads on average than non-users. Additionally, 12%
of those who have bought music in the last three months also report having used
Twitter, versus 8% of overall Web users.
Silversun Pickups line up summer tour run
from Top Stories from LiveDaily.com
Alt-rockers Silversun Pickups [ tickets
] are heading into a busy summer road stretch as they continue to back their
most recent studio set, April’s “Swoon.”
Rapper Lil Wayne appears in Yuma, Ariz., court
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 … by By TERRY TANG
PHOENIX (AP) — Rapper Lil Wayne appeared in court for a
pretrial update on the investigation into drug possession and weapons charges
he faces in Yuma County, Ariz….
Coroner: Pain killer killed ex-Wilco member
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 … by By DAVID MERCER
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Former Wilco guitarist Jay Bennett
died of an overdose of a pain killer, a coroner said Tuesday, and authorities
are viewing his death as accidental….
3 Dallas Cowboys sign heavy metal record deal
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 …
DALLAS (AP) — NFL offensive linemen bang heads all the
time. A trio of Dallas Cowboys linemen are now professional head-bangers,
too….
Roots To Debut New Single On ‘Jimmy Fallon’
from Billboard News – All by Mariel Concepcion, N.Y.
The Roots will debut the title track from their upcoming
album, “How I Got Over,” tomorrow (June 24) on “Late Night With
Jimmy Fallon,” where they currently serve as the house band.
Beastie Boys’ ‘Hot Sauce’ Due Sept. 15
from Billboard News – All by Evie Nagy, N.Y.
The Beastie Boys have confirmed that their eighth studio
album, “Hot Sauce Committee Part 1,” will be released Sept. 15 by
Capitol.
Jet Prepares To “Shaka Rock” With New Album
from Billboard News – All by Jason Lipshutz, N.Y.
As Australian rockers JET prepare to unleash their highly
anticipated third album, “Shaka Rock,” drummer Chris Cester sat down with
Billboard to discuss some of the disc’s standout tracks.
Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall Join For Jazz Album
from Billboard News – All
Barbra Streisand has joined forces with Canadian jazz
singer-pianist Diana Krall on her first studio album in four years, which is
set for release on September 29, her record label said on Monday.
ETC…
from EW.com: Today’s Latest Headlines
Longtime ”Tonight Show” sidekick had been receiving
treatment for pneumonia for several weeks
from Entertainment News – UPI.com
LOS ANGELES, June 23 (UPI) — The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
has criticized Hollywood gossip blogger Perez Hilton for using anti-gay slurs
in a recent online video.
Perez Hilton not backing down for using gay slur
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 …
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Perez Hilton isn’t apologizing for using
a gay slur, and says he’s never claimed to be a spokesperson for the gay
community.
‘View’ co-host Hasselbeck is accused of plagiarism
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 …
BOSTON (AP) — Elisabeth Hasselbeck, a co-host of ABC’s
“The View,” has been accused of plagiarism.
A fearless advocate for Islamic women
Shohreh Aghdashloo decries stoning, the topic of her latest
film.
M Night Shyamalan Launches Official Website/Interactive
Experience
from /Film by orfilms@gmail.com (slashfilm.com)
Director M Night Shyamalan has finally launched his official website.