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‘Jane Got A Gun’ Has A New Bad Guy; Bradley Cooper Filling Jude Law Role
5 April 2013 5:09 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Bradley Cooper is poised to join the cast of Jane Got A Gun, stepping in to play the bad guy role that Jude Law exited shortly after We Need To Talk About Kevin helmer Lynne Ramsay‘s abrupt exit. Cooper joins Natalie Portman and Joel Edgerton in the film that Warrior helmer Gavin O’Connor took over. Related: ‘Jane Got A Gun’ Loses Director Lynne Ramsay On First Day Despite a tough start, the film is now two weeks into production. The producers, including Scott Steindorff, Portman, Terry Dougas and Aleen Keshishian, have pulled off a minor miracle here. As Deadline revealed exclusively, the cast and crew found out the morning of the first day of shooting that Ramsay had withdrawn from the film. They managed to keep the crew and cast from scattering until they could set O’Connor. Then Law exited, because he wanted to work with Ramsay. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Brewing A Franchise, Fox 2000 Nabs Rights To Sally Green Witch Novel ‘Half Bad’
5 April 2013 3:18 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Fox 2000 has acquired film rights to Sally Green’s debut book Half Bad, a contemporary supernatural thriller. The film will be produced by Karen Rosenfelt, whose recent films include Twilight Saga, Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters, and The Book Thief. Half Bad starts a trilogy taking place in a world inhabited by covert witches; one faction is good and the other evil. They are divided by hatred and united by one thing only — fear of a boy descended from both sides. The Ya title will be published under the Penguin imprint in spring 2014. The book was a hot title at Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and since then, Zosia Knopp, Penguin Children’s Rights Director, concluded a six-figure U.S. rights deal at auction, along with Ken Wright, VP and Publisher of Viking, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group. Pre-empts have been accepted from Brazilian publisher Intrinseca and Israeli publisher Kinneret. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Michael Pena Joins David O Russell Pic
5 April 2013 9:25 AM, PDT
Exclusive: Michael Pena is the latest name to join David O Russell‘s next film, which already stars Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence. The Sony Pictures drama, formerly known as American Bullshit, is inspired by a true story of a notorious financial con artist and his mistress/partner in crime, who were forced to work with an overly ambitious federal agent to turn the tables on other con artists, mobsters and politicians. Russell is working with original scribe Eric Warren Singer on a rewrite, and Sony has set a December 13 release. Pena, whose recent credits include co-starring in David Ayer’s End Of Watch and Gangster Squad, recently completed voice work on DreamWorks Animation’s Turbo due out in July and also just wrapped the Diego Luna-directed Chavez. He is repped by CAA, Management 360 and Rick Genow. Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Tom Stoppard Signs With Paradigm
5 April 2013 9:00 AM, PDT
Exclusive: Screenwriter and playwright Tom Stoppard has signed with Paradigm, re-joining longtime agent Robert Bookman. That means in two consecutive days, two Oscar-winning screenwriters have followed Bookman from CAA to Paradigm. The Silence Of The Lambs scribe Ted Tally joined yesterday. Stoppard most recently scripted Anna Karenina. He’s best known for co-scripting Shakespeare In Love, and his credits include Enigma, Empire Of The Sun and Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. He won the Oscar for Shakespeare In Love and was nominated for Brazil. On the TV side, he just got nominated for a BAFTA for the HBO miniseries Parade’s End. Paradigm is repping him for screenwriting. As playwright, Stoppard has won four Tony Awards for Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, Travesties, The Real Thing and Coast Of Utopia. He directed the movie version of Rosencrantz And Guildernstern Are Dead, and wrote the script. He most recently wrote Dark Side, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
‘Silence Of The Lambs’ Scribe Ted Tally Follows Agent Robert Bookman To Paradigm
4 April 2013 1:06 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Ted Tally, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Silence Of The Lambs, has followed his longtime agent Robert Bookman to Paradigm. Bookman left CAA to go to work for Sam Gores’s agency a month ago, and Tally becomes the first big Bookie client to make the move. Bookman has been among a number of well established CAA agents who’ve recently moved on to other agencies, and the question is always whether their star clients will follow suit. Bookman had close relationships at CAA with the likes of Cameron Crowe, Paul Greengrass, Jim Sheridan, Martin McDonagh, John Hillcoat and Martin Campbell. No word yet on other talent, but landing Tally is a coup for Paradigm. His other credits include Red Dragon, Before And After, The Juror and All The Pretty Horses. He won the National Review Award for scripting that Cormac McCarthy adaptation. As playwright, Tally won an Obie »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Hot Trailer: Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Great Gatsby’
4 April 2013 6:38 AM, PDT
Warner Bros has released a new trailer for the Baz Luhrmann-directed The Great Gatsby, which opens May 10 and also is the curtain raiser at the Cannes Film Festival. We’ve all read and loved the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, and damn, I hope that this movie is good and gets it right with a killer cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton and Jason Clarke. When I see bragging here about 3D and music provided by Beyonce, Lana Del Ray and Florence + The Machine, I worry that Gatsby will lose its period charm by injecting too much contemporary feel. But this trailer sure looks good to me. Watch this video on YouTube. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
‘The Heat’ Scribe Katie Dippold Makes 7-Figure Sale To Chernin Entertainment
3 April 2013 6:01 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Chernin Entertainment and Fox are so convinced they have a hit in the Paul Feig-directed comedy The Heat with Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock that they moved the picture right into the heat of the July 4th holiday corridor. Now, Chernin Entertainment has closed a low-7-figure deal with that film’s writer, Katie Dippold, for another comedy that she will write as a directing vehicle for Feig. I’ve heard it described as a mother/daughter action comedy, but all parties are keeping the logline under wraps beyond that. Dippold makes her feature debut as a screenwriter on The Heat, which stars McCarthy and Bullock as mismatched crime fighters in an unabashedly R-rated comedy. This new deal will be her second project. Where did she come from? Dippold was a writer and co-producer of the NBC sitcom Parks And Recreation, and before that she was a writer »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Waiter, Can I Get A Club Sandwich And A Rewrite On This Tom Hardy Film?
3 April 2013 4:23 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Here’s why I still love movies, even though it has been so many years since I moved from the vaudeville beat at Variety to cover the talkies. Nobodies can become somebodies in the blink of an eye and it happens often enough to give anybody with talent a puncher’s chance. Warner Bros has just made a deal with Tom Shepherd to rewrite Cicero. Since this film has Tom Hardy attached to play Al Capone and is a priority studio project, this is a pretty big break for Shepherd. He has been making a living as a waiter, waiting for his writing career to take off. John Lesher is producing Cicero, and Adam Kassan is exec producing with Leonard Ackerman. It takes a bold new look at the life of an American icon, chronicling the rise of Capone from lowly pimp to the feared gangster called Scarface, who consolidated control over Chicago, »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Demian Bichir Set To Make Helming Debut On ‘Refugio’
3 April 2013 3:27 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Since his Oscar-nominated heartbreaking turn as an illegal immigrant father in A Better Life, Demian Bichir‘s acting career has decidedly been on the upswing. Now, he’s set to make his debut as a screenwriter and director on the indie feature Refugio. Alex Garcia and Lucas Akoskin will produce Refugio for their company, Bn Films. Bruno Bichir of Escarabajo Productions (Crónica de un desayuno) will co-produce. Principal Photography will begin this fall in the U.S. and Mexico. The film tells the story of a young dreamer, born in the circus, who embarks on a search to find his long lost true love. An emotional journey from boyhood to manhood, from Mexico to the United States, the film is about hope, redemption and fate. Bichir next stars in the Paul Feig-directed Fox/Chernin Entertainment comedy The Heat with Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, and the upcoming FX series The Bridge. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
‘Justified’s Timothy Olyphant, ‘House Of Lies’ Ben Schwartz Join ‘This Is Where I Leave You’
3 April 2013 1:41 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Just after completing the latest season as U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens in the FX series Justified, Timothy Olyphant has joined the Shawn Levy-directed Warner Bros pic This Is Where I Leave You. Ben Schwartz, from House Of Lies, has also joined a cast that now consists of Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Corey Stoll, Rose Byrne, Kathryn Hahn, and Adam Driver. In the adaptation of the Jonathan Tropper novel, Olyphant plays Horry, the next-door neighbor of Fey’s character, Wendy. They had been madly in love as teenagers only to see their life together shattered by a tragic accident. She is now married to someone else and he lives with his mother as a result of his brain injury. Schwartz plays the local rabbi who tries to act much cooler than his job title suggests. Olyphant is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Schwartz by Wme, Haven Management and attorney Lev Ginsburg. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Brad Pitt To Star In David Ayer’s World War II Movie ‘Fury’
3 April 2013 1:32 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Brad Pitt is in final negotiations to star in Fury, the David Ayer-directed drama that will start production in September. This is the Ayer script that Bill Block‘s Qed International paid $1 million to acquire back in February. It was Qed’s biggest spec deal ever, and when an indie company hooks a star like Pitt, it’s money well spent. Fury is a WWII script by the End Of Watch writer-director, and Qed will produce with John Lesher and his Le Grisbi Productions banner. Ethan Smith, Block and Lesher are producing and they are eyeing a fall production start. Qed is selling foreign. The action takes place in 1945 as the Nazi regime collapses and the five-man crew of an American tank called Fury battles a desperate German army. Ayer and Qed reteam after the action thriller Ten, which Ayer directed and which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington and Mireille Enos. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Liam Hemsworth Is So ‘The Raven’
3 April 2013 12:13 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Studio is not confirming, but I’m hearing that The Hunger Games‘ star Liam Hemsworth is close to being set for the lead in The Raven, which Ricardo de Montreuil is set to direct at Universal Pictures from a script by Michael Gilio and Justin Marks. The film is based on the helmer’s short film, the one that took wing when it went viral and won all kinds of awards in 2010. The feature is a sci-fi conspiracy thriller, set in the near future. Prep has begun for a June production start. Stephen Levinson and Mark Wahlberg are producing and Oly Obst is exec producer. Hemsworth is repped by Wme and Roar. Below is the short that got it all started: »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Three Actresses Testing To See If Glass Slipper Fits For ‘Cinderella’ Lead
3 April 2013 12:04 PM, PDT
Exclusive: After getting a no from Harry Potter‘s Emma Watson for Cinderella, Disney and director Kenneth Branagh are testing three young actresses this week in London. One of them will likely walk away with the title role. I’m hearing that Wme-repped Bella Heathcoate, UTA-repped Lily James and CAA-repped Margot Robbie are testing. Heathcoate most recently was seen in Dark Shadows and Not Fade Away, while James was in Downton Abbey and Wrath Of The Titans and Robbie was in Pan Am and The Wolf Of Wall Street. Cinderella has Cate Blanchett attached. Once Branagh lands Cinderella he’ll move on to the handsome prince. That list is just being compiled, but I’m told that Wme-repped Richard Madden is on it. He plays aspiring king Robb Stark in HBO’s Game Of Thrones. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Catherine Hardwicke To Helm ‘The Age Of Miracles’ For River Road
3 April 2013 11:27 AM, PDT
Exclusive: River Road Entertainment‘s Bill Pohlad has set Catherine Hardwicke to helm The Age Of Miracles, an adaptation of the Karen Thompson Walker bestselling debut novel. Seth Lochhead (Hanna) has adapted the screenplay and Pohlad will produce. Set amidst an advancing catastrophe after the Earth’s rotation mysteriously slows, The Age Of Miracles is a suspenseful and romantic snapshot of one young girl’s adolescence, a poignant family drama, and a heartrending glimpse into the everyday tragedies and triumphs that define what it is to be human in a world that might just be ending. Hardwicke, who helmed the first Twilight pic, just wrapped Plush, a thriller she co-wrote with Arty Nelson. The film will star Emily Browning, Cam Gigandet, and Xavier Samuels. She is directing CBS’ drama pilot Reckless, from a script by Dana Stevens. River Road’s Christa Zofcin negotiated the deal with Hardwicke’s reps at Manage-ment and CAA. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Toldja! Matthew McConaughey Confirms He’ll Star In Chris Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’
3 April 2013 11:19 AM, PDT
Matthew McConaughey has confirmed he’ll star in Christopher Nolan‘s Interstellar for Paramount and Warner Bros, which Deadline told you exclusively a week ago. The actor doesn’t say much about the role, just that he’s doing it. Having veered from the rom-com, he’s having a nice second wind to his career. Now, you might think it douchey of me to feel the need to remind that Deadline broke the story, but there are so many online sites creating businesses by swiping our stories, many with no credit, that we need to drop reminders of who’s putting in the work and turning over the hard ground. These aggregating sites are getting more brazen. The one that has been grating on me lately is Slashfilm. I don’t see a lick of original reporting, and I don’t think that site would exist without Deadline or the »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
GLAAD Media Awards To Honor Bill Clinton, Top Hollywood Attorney Steve Warren
3 April 2013 10:46 AM, PDT
Exclusive: The 24th annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles has set its honorees: former President Bill Clinton will receive GLAAD’s first Advocate for Change Award; and Steve Warren, the top Hollywood attorney, will receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award. The event will be held at the Jw Marriott on April 20 and there will be more excitement than usual in the air as this is right in the midst of Supreme Court deliberations regarding the constitutionality of Prop 8 and Doma, which will have profound impact on gay marriage and whether equal protections extend to gays and lesbians. That landmark decision is expected to be delivered in June. Big star power is expected at the event. Among the confirmed presenters so far are Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron and Jennifer Lawrence. They are all Warren’s clients. Clinton is being honored for a long track record of pressing tolerance. In 2011, Clinton »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Big Beach, De Line Pictures Nabs Vera Herbert Black List Script ‘Don’t Make Me Go’
3 April 2013 9:49 AM, PDT
Exclusive: Big Beach and Donald De Line’s De Line Pictures have made a deal for Don’t Make Me Go, the script by Vera Herbert that made last year’s Black List. It tells the story of a single Dad who, after learning he has a serious illness, takes his teenage daughter on a road trip to find the mother who abandoned her years before. In the process, he seizes his final opportunity to teach her essential life lessons. De Line will produce with Big Beach’s Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf. Big Beach will finance the film. Leah Holzer of Big Beach and De Line’s Jacob Robinson will oversee development. De Line, Saraf and Turtletaub confirmed the deal. They said in a statement: “It’s rare to find such honest, mature and truly hilarious material, especially from a writer in her early 20′s. Vera brings a wisdom »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
ICM Partners Signs SXSW Helmer Jacob Vaughan
3 April 2013 9:36 AM, PDT
Exclusive: ICM Partners has signed Jacob Vaughan, whose directorial debut Milo played at SXSW. The agency repped the flm and brokered a distribution deal with Magnolia genre division Magnet, and now the agency has brought the writer-director into the percentery fold. Vaughan is a longtime collaborator of Mark and Jay Duplass, who are among the producers of the film, along with Adele Romansk, Gabriel Cowan and John Suits. The Duplass duo were exec producers along with John Norris, Kerry Johnson, Dallas Sonnier, Jack Heller and Floren Shieh Productions’ Clay Floren and Aimee Shieh. Vaughan edited the Katie Aselton-helmed horror-thriller Black Rock, as well as Jeff, Who Lives At Home and Cyrus. He produced and edited Dear Pillow and In Search Of A Midnight Kiss. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Espn’s Rutgers U Expose Prompts a Fleming Ncaa Sports Rant
3 April 2013 9:24 AM, PDT
Kudos to Espn for raising the psycho behavior of Rutgers University hoops coach Mike Rice, who was fired today as a result of the sports network’s report. Though I am a huge pro sports fan, watching Rice’s abusive behavior toward his young student athletes makes me glad I made a conscious decision years ago not to follow Ncaa sports. I just couldn’t wrap my arms around the notion that while everybody associated with big college sports is making fortunes — from networks like CBS and Espn, to broadcasters to coaches, and everyone in between — student athletes make this big business possible and only get scholarships that are paltry compensation compared to the proceeds their efforts generate. And since these kids work as hard at their sports endeavors as pro athletes do, graduation rates are understandably not high; imagine how little time and concentration powers a teenager has left »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Tim Burton To Direct ‘Big Eyes’; The Weinstein Company Putting Finishing Brush Strokes On Deal For Painting Saga
2 April 2013 4:49 PM, PDT
Exclusive: Tim Burton will direct Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams in Big Eyes, the film that Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski scripted. At the same time, The Weinstein Company is closing a deal to fund and distribute. This is a major development on a project that has followed a long development track. Of all the development projects I’ve written about over the years, this is my favorite that has not yet gotten made. And the casting seems so promising. The film will be produced by Alexander and Karaszewski and Burton, with Electric City Entertainment’s Lynette Howell. This will be Burton’s next film, and production will begin this summer. Waltz, who’s coming off another Oscar turn in Django Unchained, and Adams, nominated for The Master, will play Margaret and Walter Keane, whose paintings of large eyed children became one of the first mass marketed art sensations in the 50s and 60s. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
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