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17 articles
Delay At The Altar On Tina Fey-Steve Carell Comedy ‘Mail Order Groom’
28 March 2013 5:15 PM, PDT
Exclusive: The Warner Bros comedy Mail Order Groom has been pushed to next year. The film, which will re-team Date Night stars Tina Fey and Steve Carell, has been postponed because of scheduling conflicts with other film commitments Fey and Carell have. Fey will next star for Warner Bros in This Is Where I Leave You, the adaptation of the Jonathan Tropper novel that Shawn Levy will direct in May. She has been filming The Muppets…Again! for Disney. Carell will next star in Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, the adaptation of the Judith Viorst children’s book that Miguel Arteta just committed to direct for Walt Disney. Carell is currently reprising his role as weatherman Brick Tamland in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. He and Fey will return to Mail Order Groom in 2014. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Is Christopher Nolan Giving ‘Interstellar’ Lead To Matthew McConaughey?
28 March 2013 1:47 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Here’s an intriguing casting possibility to chew on going into the holiday weekend. I’m told Christopher Nolan has offered the male lead of his next film, Interstellar, to Matthew McConaughey. The character’s name is Cooper and while there is no deal yet, who says no to Nolan? The project is a co-production between Paramount and Warner Bros. Interstellar was originally set up in 2006 by Steven Spielberg, when Paramount owned DreamWorks, and after Spielberg became intrigued by Caltech physicist and relativity expert Kip S. Thorne and his scientific theory that wormholes exist and can be used for time travel. It was Spielberg who set Jonah Nolan to write the script, which made it easy for Christopher Nolan to come aboard after Spielberg left the project. After all, the Nolan siblings have a collaborative track record, with Jonah hatching the short story that became Christopher’s first hit Memento, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
CAA Signs ‘Game Of Thrones’ Sophie Turner
28 March 2013 12:56 PM, PDT
Exclusive: CAA has signed actress Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark on HBO’s Game Of Thrones. That series returns to the air this weekend. Her character, spurned by the inbred King Joffrey (who had her father Ned Stark beheaded), finds an intriguing new role in the kingdom’s dynamic as the show builds intrigue. Turner makes her feature film debut later this year starring in Isabel Coixet’s Panda Eyes from Fox International. That film is a psychological thriller based on the Cathy MacPhail novel Another Me, and Turner plays a young woman haunted by a secret past alongside a cast including Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Rhys Ifans, and Claire Forlani. Turner is co-represented by Jane Epstein at Independent Talent Group in the UK. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
No Joke: Tribeca Fest Closing Nighter Is 30-Year Old ‘The King Of Comedy’
28 March 2013 11:22 AM, PDT
So the Tribeca Film Festival has found a film to close its 2013 fest. It’s Martin Scorsese‘s The King Of Comedy, with a restored print that of course stars festival patriarch Robert De Niro. I find myself often critical of Tribeca for never really finding a niche that defines rivals like Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, and even upstarts like SXSW. So while most of those fests would move heaven and earth to land a closing night film that is unseen and has a high degree of wanna-see, the idea of closing the fest with a film released in 1983 seems a bit wacky. But that movie has so many classic scenes with De Niro, Jerry Lewis, and Sandra Bernhard and the theme of Rupert Pupkin’s fan obsession is so twisted (“Rupert, what are you doing down there?” “Mom!”) that I have to say, I’ve finally found a film worth »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Forest Whitaker Takes Over Richard Pryor Biopic, Producing With Comic’s Widow
28 March 2013 9:59 AM, PDT
Exclusive: Fresh from producing the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner Fruitvale, Forest Whitaker has taken over the nearly 20-year effort to bring the turbulent life of stand-up comedy legend Richard Pryor to the big screen. Whitaker is teaming with the late comedian’s widow, Jennifer Pryor, to produce the film through his Significant Productions shingle. Whitaker will develop a new script with input from Jennifer Pryor, and Significant Productions’ Nina Yang-Bongiovi, will also produce. The Pryor biopic has been attempted numerous times, and the most recent version had Bill Condon poised to direct Marlon Wayans in the starring role for Sony Pictures, where Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison had set the project. Condon was certainly passionate about Pryor, but everything took a back seat when he signed on to helm the final two Twilight Saga installments. The project languished. This was just the latest of many prior incarnations. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Update: Fox Wins Rights To Matthew Vaughn’s Next Pic ‘The Secret Service’, Sets November 2014 Release Date
27 March 2013 4:35 PM, PDT
Fox has just confirmed Deadline’s earlier scoop and set a November 14, 2014 wide release date for The Secret Service.
After scrapping with Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox has just closed a deal for worldwide distribution rights to The Secret Service, the next directorial outing by Matthew Vaughn, who most recently helmed X-Men: First Class for Fox, and Kick-Ass. Vaughn has already completed the script for this film with his writing partner Jane Goldman, and his Marv Films will finance and produce the film, based on the comic series by Kick-Ass creator Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. Fox is going to date it quickly for next year, and production will begin in August. The drama closely follows the comic, about a veteran secret agent who leads a young protege into the shadowy business. Back when Deadline broke news that Vaughn was handing the directing »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Kate Mara Joins Johnny Depp Alcon Pic ‘Transcendence’
27 March 2013 10:50 AM, PDT
Breaking: The directorial debut of Christopher Nolan’s longtime Dp Wally Pfister continues to get more interesting. He’s added Kate Mara to the cast of Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany and Rebecca Hall in Transcendence. The pic is being financed and produced by Alcon Entertainment‘s Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove. Scripted by Jack Paglen, the screenplay was developed by Annie Marter and Straight Up Films, whose company principals include Marisa Polvino, Kate Cohen and Regency Boies. Polvino, Marter and Cohen will produce along with David Valdes, Johnson and Kosove. Boies will co-produce. Nolan, Emma Thomas and Aaron Ryder are serving as executive producers. Mara is currently starring with Kevin Spacey in House Of Cards, the Netflix series whose second season will shoot in the spring. She is repped by UTA and attorney Neil Meyer. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Dianne McGunigle Leaves CAA To Join The Schiff Company
26 March 2013 2:36 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Dianne McGunigle, who for the past decade has been an agent in CAA‘s comedy department in New York, is leaving the agency. She will move to Los Angeles to become a manager at The Schiff Company. McGunigle has worked with such clients as Donald Glover, Aubrey Plaza, Adam Pally, Jemima Kirke, and Abby Elliott, among others. She was hired by David Schiff, who told Deadline that she “has an accomplished track record for having nurtured the careers of uniquely talented comedic writers, actors and performers, many of whom Dianne was among the first to discover. We are really excited that Dianne has chosen us as her landing spot to transition to management where we know she will have great success.” McGunigle will relocate and start the new job in early May. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
‘Boardwalk Empire’s Jack Huston Joins Killer Cast Of David O Russell Pic
26 March 2013 11:21 AM, PDT
Exclusive: Boardwalk Empire‘s Jack Huston has just joined the cast of David O. Russell‘s untitled corruption drama, the one that has been known as American Bullshit and more recently the Abscam project. Huston joins Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence. Huston, who plays the scarred Wwi vet Richard Harrow who continues to be one of the most riveting characters in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, will next be seen starring opposite Daniel Radcliffe, Elizabeth Olsen and Dane DeHaan in Kill Your Darlings, which Sony Pictures Classics acquired at Sundance. He also stars in the Bille August-directed Night Train To Lisbon, which screened at Berlin, and Posthumous opposite Brit Marling. Huston was last seen onscreen in the David Chase-directed Not Fade Away. He’s repped by UTA, Untitled and Ken Mcreddie Associates. The Russell-helmed pic (he has been working with original scribe Eric Warren Singer »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Paramount, Scott Rudin Land ‘Annihilation’, First Installment Of Southern Reach Trilogy
26 March 2013 11:06 AM, PDT
Exclusive: Paramount Pictures and Scott Rudin Productions have optioned the Jeff VanderMeer novel Annihilation and the two subsequent books in what he is calling his Southern Reach trilogy. I’m told this was a sizable deal. Rudin and Eli Bush will produce. World rights for the books were bought at auction by Sean McDonald at Farrar Straus & Giroux. The trilogy movie rights were optioned within hours in a deal negotiated by Joseph Veltre at Gersh, on behalf of Sally Harding at The Cooke Agency Inc. Slated to be published early next year, Annihilation tells the story of a biologist who, in seeking answers to her husband’s tragic disappearance, volunteers for an expedition into an area sealed off by the government for the last 30 years as an environmental disaster zone. A secret agency known as the Southern Reach has sent in 11 expeditions over those years to discover the truth about Area X, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Participant Media Hires Robert Kessel As Senior Veep Of Production
26 March 2013 10:14 AM, PDT
Robert Kessel has joined Participant Media as Svp Production. He’ll report to Evp Production Jonathan King and help manage the development, production, and acquisition of narrative films for the company. Kessel most recently was Svp Production at Sony-based Matt Tolmach Productions, working on such films as the upcoming genre mash-up Kitchen Sink. Prior to that he was an exec at Overture Films, and before that was a partner and production head for seven years at Hart Sharp Entertainment, where he oversaw production and development for numerous high-profile projects. He served previous roles at Miramax and New Line. “Robert and I have known each other since we worked together early in our careers,” King said. “His sensibilities are well-aligned with Participant’s mission, and the breadth of his experience and the quality of his relationships will be huge assets as the company continues to expand.” »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Resolution Signs Michelle Yeoh
26 March 2013 8:32 AM, PDT
Exclusive: Resolution has signed actress Michelle Yeoh. One of Asia’s biggest stars, Yeoh will figure in Resolution’s international strategy, which is a priority for Jeff Berg’s upstart agency. Yeoh who starred as Aung San Suu Kyi in Luc Besson’s critically acclaimed The Lady and recently voiced a role in Dreamworks animated hit Kung Fu Panda 2. The former Bond girl is best known for her roles in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Rob Marshall’s Memoirs Of A Geisha, Roger Spotiswoode’s Tomorrow Never Dies and Danny Boyle’s Sunshine. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
SXSW: Oscilloscope Acquires ’12 O’Clock Boys’
26 March 2013 8:12 AM, PDT
Oscilloscope Laboratories acquired North American rights to Lotfy Nathan’s debut feature 12 O’Clock Boys, which premiered at SXSW. It is next slated to screen at the Hot Docs and Full Frame documentary festivals, among others. O-Scope will continue to roll the film out to more festivals before its theatrical, DVD, and digital releases. The 12 O’Clock Boys are a notorious urban dirt bike pack in Baltimore. Converging in groups and invading the streets, they dangerously — yet magnificently — make their presence known as they pop wheelies and weave in and out of traffic at excessive speeds, all the while taunting the police who must obey a self-imposed “no chase” rule for fear of endangering the public. Nathan frames the three-years-in-the-making narrative through the eyes of the adolescent Pug — a kid from the Westside eager to join the 12 O’Clock Boys’ ranks. Pug reveres the Boys’ every move, and Nathan follows »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Brady Corbet Lands Key Role In ‘Paradise Lost’
25 March 2013 11:47 AM, PDT
Exclusive: Brady Corbet, who stars in the upcoming IFC release Simon Killer, has signed on to star with Benicio Del Toro and Josh Hutcherson in Paradise Lost. The drama is about notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and it was written and marks the directing debut of Andrea di Stefano. Corbet plays the brother of Hutcherson’s character. Hutcherson’s character visits Colombia, meets the love of his life, only to see things go awry when he meets her uncle Pablo. The film will begin production in Panama in March. Corbet is repped by Wme and KillerMoxie. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Deadline Lifts The Shell Off The Ninja Turtles
25 March 2013 10:01 AM, PDT
Exclusive: Last week, I broke that Paramount Pictures had set The Hunger Games: Catching Fire newcomer Alan Ritchson to play Raphael in the reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Allow me to lift the shell off who’ll be playing the other three turtles. I’m told that Pete Ploszek will play Leonardo, Jeremy Howard will play Donatello and Noel Fisher will play Michaelangelo in the Jonathan Liebesman-directed film. Now, the turtles in the original movies were kind of interchangeable, stuffed into those cheesy costumes, but this is supposed to be a more sophisticated Avatar-like approach. It should give the quartet better exposure, especially since Paramount views this as a franchise. Megan Fox was already set as female lead, and they will lock the bad guy Shredder shortly. Paramount has already dated Ninja Turtles for June 6, 2014. Ploszek came out of the USC Masters program and has done guest appearances »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Toldja! The Weinstein Company Finds Oscar Candidate In ‘Grace Of Monaco’; December 27 Limited Release Set
25 March 2013 8:37 AM, PDT
Breaking: The Weinstein Company has confirmed the scoop Deadline Hollywood broke on Oscar morning, that while most people were getting dressed for the Oscars, Harvey Weinstein was wrapping up one of two deals that could give him Oscar contenders for the next race, sewing up distribution rights to Grace Of Monaco. Later, Deadline reported Weinstein closed a deal for the Shane Salerno-directed Salinger, after getting an exclusive first look at that docu on J.D. Salinger the same weekend his team closed the Grace Of Monaco deal. TWC has set a December 27 limited release for Grace Of Monaco, and Salinger will be released September 6. I reported that TWC wrapped up a deal to acquire domestic rights to Grace Of Monaco, the Olivier Dahan-directed drama that stars Nicole Kidman as actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly, and Tim Roth as Monaco’s Prince Rainier III. I’m hearing that TWC has made a big bet, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
‘Today’s Matt Lauer Takes On Thorny Issue Of Penn State Pedophile Jerry Sandusky
25 March 2013 8:20 AM, PDT
Today‘s Matt Lauer this morning interviewed filmmaker John Ziegler, who has spent a year poring through evidence in the Penn State pedophile scandal to make a documentary he hopes will clear the name of the late legendary head coach Joe Paterno. Now, Paterno’s only alleged transgression was not being aggressive when a graduate assistant (who’d later become a coach) brought to his attention an “encounter” in the football showers between former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and an underage boy that sounded like molestation. We’ve written numerous stories on the subject, breaking stories about a feature film in the works that will likely re-team Scarface director Brian De Palma and Al Pacino for Happy Valley. That is the working title of a film based on Paterno, the book written by Joe Posnanski. Paterno was unceremoniously fired after the scandal shocked the nation, and the Ncaa took unprecedented actions against the school, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
17 articles
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