Defamer: Trade Roundup

Ellen Page Hoping Endeavor Can Make Her More Famous

Seth — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:05:00 PDT

· In a defection sure to cause at least one WMA partner to disembowel their assistant, then themselves, with the nearest People's Choice Award, Ellen Page has left the agency for Endeavor's Ariesque embrace. All-purpose power-lesbian Kelly Bush will continue to oversee management and publicity duties. [Variety]
· Apparently there's a shortage of prestige material so far for the 2008 Oscar race, but that could change just as soon as the Academy drastically alters the rules to give Camp Rock full eligibility in all categories. [Variety]

· Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge, Vondie Curtis Hall, Shawn Hatosy, Denzel Whitaker and Xzibit join Nicolas Cage in Werner Herzog's ~~remake~~ ~~reimagining~~ ~~updating~~ sequel-with-none-of-the-original-characters to Abel "Who?" Ferrera's Bad Lieutenant. [THR]
· Strike.tv is a new original-content site that launches this summer. Its first three months of profits are earmarked for the Entertainment Assistance Program of the Actor's Fund, which "helps anybody in the entertainment community in need of assistance." [THR]
· Physical album sales are down 11% from last year, and digital sales are up. A flowers, candles, and teddy bear memorial has begun to form outside Amoeba. [Variety]

Hollywood 4% Filthy Richer

Seth — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:40:00 PDT

· Who wants good news? We do! Us too, please! Hollywood business is up 4% from last year. Isn't that fantastic?! Go ahead, major studios—spend some of that extra money on something nice for yourselves. You've earned it. [Variety]
· X-Files 2: You Had Me Until The Anal-Probe Business star Gillian Anderson will produce and star in a biopic about Martha Gellhorn—not that girl from 6th grade who made your life a living hell, but "a trailblazing female war correspondent who covered conflicts from the Spanish Civil War to Vietnam." [Variety]

· Tom Cruise CareerCoolingWatch: Clear and Present Danger director Phillip Noyce is "negotiating" to join Edwin A. Salt, which Cruise has been attached to for several drafts now—one of which will surely join the rest of his leatherbound keepsakes in the Tom Cruise Produced-Screenplay Library and Museum at Telluride. [Variety]
· The Incredible Hulk's shirtless psycho (where you been hiding those pecs, mister?) Tim Roth will make the leap to TV on Fox's Lie to Me, in which he'll play "a human lie detector." We're seeing Moment of Truth femmebot-V.O. crossover potential! [Variety]
· Christopher Guest has joined the cast of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, thus ensuring for a few months at least that he'll be unable to produce another improvised endurance-test as wretched as For Your Consideration. Hooray! [THR]

Clooney Sells Showtime On A Suicide Comedy

Seth — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:02:48 PDT

· George Clooney's production company Smoke House has set up a pilot at Showtime called The Fall of Bob, a comedy about a guy whose life flashes before his eyes as he jumps off a building. We bet we know how the series finale ends! [Variety]
· Vin Diesel VehicleWatch! 20th Century Fox has bought Rip X, a pitch for an action movie in the vein of The Fast and the Furious. [Variety]
· Ready for the next Ugly Betty? Tough! Fox has ordered a pilot based on the hit Argentinian telenovela Lalola, about a "womanizer who is transformed into a woman — and must endure the same kind of abuse he used to dole out." [Variety]
· Laurie Metcalf joins the cast of The CW's Easy Money, and Anne Archer will star on Privileged on the same network. No word yet on what actresses they are looking at for coming-of-age teen drama Gobs and Gobs of Really High Currency. [THR, THR]
· Hilary Duff joins Winona Ryder, Sean Astin, Chevy Chase, and Jon Cryer (definitely a dream cast in some era), for Stay Cool, a "knowing-your-age comedy" from the Polish Brothers. [THR]

'Camp Rock' The New, Annoying Thing Your Kid Is Obsessed With

Seth — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:25:00 PDT

· Disney may have another "bankable tyke-and-tween franchise" (why does that phrase sound vaguely offensive and child-pornish?) in Camp Rock, says Variety, with 8.9 million viewers tuning in to watch the Jonas Brothers sing their newest hit, "(Yuck!) There's A Mosquito in My S'mores." [Variety]
· DreamWorks bought a comedy pitch called Home Schooled, about a 30-year-old man who was home schooled and is now heading off to college. The clash of cultures is sure to yield hilarious results! [THR]
· Tom Hanks sides with AFTRA in the escalating SAG-AFTRA feud. [Variety]
· Plastic pony fetishist Sloane Crosley's book of short, personal essays, I Was Told There'd Be Cake, was purchased by HBO for development into a possible series. [Variety]
· Supernatural EP Eric Kripke has signed a two-year deal with Warner Bros.TV, which—get ready to be spooked out—secures his showrunner duties on the shows upcoming fourth season on The CW. [Variety]

Set-Mule William Hurt Makes The Leap To TV

Seth — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:50:00 PDT

· Anhedonic The Incredible Hulk star William Hurt brings his unparalleled work ethic to FX's Damages for his first-ever regular TV series role. [Variety]
· Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman will helm the movie version of Gears of War, which he'll accomplish by pressing L2 while firing X repeatedly and holding down the triangle button. [Variety]
· Kevin Spacey will play a pothead "shrink to the stars" in Shrink. [Variety]
· SAG head Alan Rosenberg proposed an official debate with AFTRA, promising the most scintillating back-and-forth about online clip consent and jurisdiction over low-budget made-for-Internet productions in the history of inter-acting-guild debates. Yeah, this doesn't look good. [THR]
· ER added four more regular cast members to its upcoming final season. More characters=more deaths=more ratings! [THR]

'Cowboys And Aliens' Already Targeted For Negative Alien Stereotyping

Seth — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:55:00 PDT

· Robert Downey Jr. is in talks to star in DreamWorks/Universal's Cowboys & Aliens, which is actually about cowboys and aliens, not the Bush regime's immigration policy. [THR]
· Indiana Jones and Iron Man brought Paramount Pictures International to the $1 billion box office grosses milestone six weeks earlier than last year, celebrated by Viacom Ringwraith Sumner Redstone hoopin' and hawin' over the studios in his fire-breathing skull-dragon, much to the dismay of the Star Trek cast and crew. [Variety]
· More reasons to love Eva: Eva Mendes is close to signing onto Werner "Abel Who?" Herzog's Bad Lieutenant continuationing.
· AMC is producing pilots based on Glen David Gold's 1920s magician novel Carter Beats the Devil, and Ice, about a family who works in New York's diamond district. [Variety]
·Mark an "X" on June 24th, which pits Celebrity Family Feud vs. the premiere of Wipeout vs. Kitchen Nightmares vs. America's Got Talent vs. I Survived a Japanese Game Show. (The "X" is there to remind you what day the world is ending.) [THR]

Unencumbered By Boob-Job Drama, George Clooney Mulls His Next Step

Seth — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:45:00 PDT

· Warner Bros. is developing the spy thriller novel The Tourist as a potential George Clooney vehicle which will explode in the first reel and set the entire plot in motion. What about the goat movie? When does that one come out? [Variety]
· The WGA will hold a referendum next month to simplify its credit procedures, hopefully eliminating screenwriter name-gumbo like this. [Variety]
· If you're currently in production, we hope you're shooting in Waiverland, as SAG head Alan Rosenberg doubts any agreement will be reached by the deadline date of June 30. [Variety]
· Jack Black has dropped out of Borat-writer/director Todd Phillips's Man-Witch, a movie about a man who's a witch, supposedly because Black is concerned Phillips will shoot another movie called Hangover, about a bachelor party who wakes up in Vegas and realizes they lost the groom, first. May the best wacky premise win! [THR]
· Universal buys a comedy spec called Raindrops All Around Me, about "a socially inept high school teacher who learns to 'dumb it down' in order to fit in with the people around him." Said a Universal rep, "We think after a few more drafts to broaden the humor, Middle America will really eat this up!" [THR]

Hollywood 2: Ladies Still Rising

Seth — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:05:00 PDT

·Chickflicks has secured $100 million to make "two to three pics annually," funds that before SATC might have been earmarked for a male-oriented "indie production shingle," like Burrrrrrp Studios or Scratch Myself Productions. [Variety]
· Continuing with the Dynasty metaphor we recently employed to fully illustrate the level of catty infighting going down between rival actor's unions SAG and AFTRA, SAG-Alexis has just pulled AFTRA-Krystle into the Carrington estate pool by her feathered hair, as "The Entire Industry"-Blake looked on helplessly. [Variety]
·A 23-year-old stuntman was killed, and six others injured, on the set of "China’s biggest movie of all time"—John Woo's The Battle of Red Cliff—prompting Sharon Stone to observe in a sing-song voice, "I'm not going to say the word, but this sure sounds to me a lot like bad HAW-haw..." [Variety]
·Get ready for Judge Al: Former New York senator Alfonse D'Amato is currently shooting a pilot for a small-claims court show here in L.A. for Twentieth Television. [THR]
·American Idol winner David Cook will put his trademarked, grungemo spin on the national anthem at Game 3 of the NBA Finals, while his friendly rival David Archuleta will continue his important work distributing jelly beans to the citizens of Care Bear Island. [Variety]

SAG The Alexis To AFTRA's Krystle

Seth — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:22:52 PDT

· The 24th day of negotiations brings us no closer to SAG-deal closure, as the actors' union refuses to endorse the AFTRA deal signed last week. (And that despite all the sexy progress AFTRA made in negotiating "online clip consent and jurisdiction over low-budget made-for-Internet productions!") Meanwhile, time is running out for SAG to petition its 120,000 members for strike approval in time for the June 30 deadline. [Variety]
· Ben Silverman shoots, he scores! The Stanley Cup finals score NBC a second-place finish, inspiring the gimmick-happy network head to his greatest idea yet: The Biggest Loser on Ice! [Variety]
· Former House of Blues president Joseph C. Kaczorowski will partner with Grosvenor Park, a film financing company which offers pre-sale, gap, tax financing, and several other services that instantly render us glazed over with boredom. [Variety]
· It's a light-ethnic-stereotyping showdown at the box office this weekend, as Kung Fu Panda and You Don't Mess With the Zohan face off for your mindless-summer-moviegoing dollars. [THR]
· Jimmy Smits will join Season 3 of Showtime's Dexter, playing Miguel Prado, an "ambitious, charismatic assistant DA" who nevertheless suffers from the same stultifying inability as the rest of the cast to tune in to Dexter's highly damning, V.O. narration. [THR]

Matt Damon To Don Thigh-Baring Shorts For 'Human Factor'

Seth — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:00:00 PDT

· Celebrity nape-haver Matt Damon will play South African rugby star Francois Pienaar in Clint Eastwood's Human Factor. Accent time! [Variety]
· Chuck creator Josh Schwartz declares "computer geeks...the new doctors and cops of television," by which he means a clichéd profession conspired upon by lazy writers and unimaginative network executives to oversaturate the TV landscape. [Variety]
· SAG is churning out more and more waivers with indie producers, guaranteeing production won't be interrupted after June 30 should something go horribly wrong with the negotiations. It's a limbo agents are referring to as "Waiverland," named for the union spokesman who signs the interim agreements, Kenneth Waiverland. [Variety]
· Bruce Willis will star in Kane & Lynch, a lesser-beloved-videogame adaptation for Lionsgate. [THR]
· Brian DePalma goes to the serial-killer well once more with The Boston Stranglers, written by former Diff'rent Strokes and Head of the Class writer Alan Rosen. No word yet on whether or not they'll throw Dan "Arvid" Frischman a bone. [THR]

Loophole Renders 'Family Guy' Eligible For Best Hair, Makeup, And Miniseries Emmys

Seth — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:15:00 PDT

·Family Guy figured out a way around the Emmy policy that has always forced them to identify their show as either an animated or comedy series: They've classified their hour-long Star Wars parody episode as a "special," allowing them to now lose in both categories. [Variety]
· Overblown U.S. summer movie product continues to dominate the planet, as Indy 4 and SATC pull in $71.5 million and $39.2 million, respectively, and European boys and girls start showing up to school emulating Greaser LaBeouf and oversexed, 40-something fashion-whores. Oops—never mind. They always dressed like that. [Variety]
· Rob Marshall bid adieu to ICM, and headed directly into CAA's jazz-hand-shaking embrace, a deal consummated over a delicious babies, lox, and cream cheese brunch. [Variety]
· The Simpsons' cast met Fox half-way, accepting $400,000 per episode for the next four seasons. We'd like to take this moment to remind you that money doesn't always buy happiness, however, as evidenced by the unmistakable sadness behind Dan Castellaneta's eyes. [THR]
· Bryce Dallas Howard is close to signing on as John Connor's wife in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, a role vacated by Charlotte Gainsbourg due to a "scheduling conflict"—a loose translation of a French idiom literally meaning "to wake up to the stench of a money-lined outhouse and finally come to your senses." [THR]

Michael Patrick King DreamWorks' Bitch Now

Seth — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:40:00 PDT

· Variety reports: "DreamWorks has fashioned a first-look deal for 'Sex and the City' writer-director-producer Michael Patrick King. The deal gives the studio first-look at King's next film project." Is that how those work? We always thought it just meant he gets to keep whichever outfit he wears out of the Barneys dressing room first. [Variety]
· Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann and James Spader will star in Robert Rodriguez's family comedy Shorts, about a suburb thrown into chaos when an 11-year-old boy is "hit in the head with a rainbow-colored rock that grants wishes to anyone who holds it." [Variety]
· How I Met Your Mother showrunner Greg Malins signed a two-year, mid-sevens deal with Fox, the direct result of Malins having been hit in the head with a rainbow-colored rock that grants wishes to anyone who holds it. [Variety]
· British TV buyers left L.A. without committing to anything, noting, "Blimey! They've repackaged all the programmes we already got on the telly! Life On Mars? Bollocks." [Variety]
· Donnie Darko SequelWatch: Shut The Fuck Up and Dance host Elizabeth Berkley has signed on to play a "speed freak-turned-Jesus freak" in the blaspheming second chapter of the beloved cult classic, sure to bring down a rain of passenger jet engines upon the homes of all involved. [THR]

Month Of May Latest Victim In 'Caspian' Finger-Pointing Volley

Seth — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:55:15 PDT

· Excuse-making for the lackluster Prince Caspian rides all the way up the corporate flagpole, with Disney president Bob Iger blaming the month of May. Sure, Bob—blame lunar cycles! Those made your movie suck. [THR]
· Live Nation has signed a deal with Facebook that will allow users to purchase concert tickets directly through their social networking site, with bonus features that allow you to status update ("...is loving the Stones despite Keith's left arm just falling off,") right from the event. [Variety]
· The search for America's Next Street-Smart Business Mogul is on, and 50 Cent will be your Tyra. Ooh, look everyone! Fitty Mail! [Variety]

· ABC orders Border Security, which they'll eventually sexy-up with far more intriguing title, To Catch a Potential Low-Wage Job-Jacking Predator. [Variety]
· Rainn Wilson will co-star in Transformers 2, in a part that will require him to bend over in a crop-top and low-riders to check the transmission of a Camaro, rendering Shia LaBeouf involuntarily tumescent with desire. [THR]

31.7 Million 'Idol' Fans Could Possibly Be Wrong

Seth — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:27:40 PDT

· After a season of slumping ratings, Idol's finale matched last year's, pulling in an estimated 31.7 million viewers—roughly the same number of people who revisited their own gag reflexes upon hearing Mike Myers's pedophilic suggestion the David Archuleta would soon sprout "hair in weird and wonderful places." [Variety]
· We mourn the death of the once great and mighty television movie with news that the Tiffany network is "dumping" two long-completed examples of the genre—Mary-Louise Parker in Vinegar Hill and a Jessica Lange-starring remake of Sybil—in the Saturday night TV burial ground. RIP CBS MOW. [Variety]

· Former NY Times theater critic and op-ed columnist Frank Rich will serve as a creative consultant to HBO, an "informal" position that might involve him "picking up the phone and saying, 'What do you think about meeting with this writer or picking up this property,'" said network co-president Richard Plepler. It's an exciting arrangement that might well lead to the sexually explicit take on Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music we've long wanted to see. [Variety]
· Sam Neill and Sean Bean join the cast of NBC's Crusoe. [THR]
· Marvel heard your anguished and outraged cries over the lack of worthy superheroines in overblown, overstuffed CGI blockbusters, and seeks to snuff this evil with an adaptation of Runaways—a relatively new title about a group of troubled, super-powered teens who split from their supervillain parents and band together. Jesus Christ, the Lohan jokes write themselves. [THR]

Jonathan Demme Does Scorsese A Solid

Seth — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:30:00 PDT

· Jonathan Demme has stepped in for the departing Martin Scorsese on the authorized Bob Marley documentary project. This is the movie Marley's estate want released before the Weinstein's Bob biopic, a scheduling snafu that caused an irate Harvey to whip a can of Diet Coke at an assistant's head as he taunted the incapacitated call-roller to, "C'mon, Josh! Get up, stand up. Stand up for your rights!" [Variety]
· More legend docs! Spike Lee told a crowd at Cannes that he's hoping to bring a feature-length documentary about Michael Jordan to the festival next year, contingent of course on Denzel playing Michael. [Variety]

· Miss Guided casualty Jude Greer was cast in Barry Sonenfeld's HBO pilot Suburban Shootout, about a woman who finds "herself caught between two rival gangs of homicidal housewives as they vie for control of their idyllic town." [THR]
· For the first time, Fox was the overall winner of the strike-marred 2007-08 TV season. [Variety]
· Sony Pictures Releasing launched the Hot Ticket, which will distribute live shows to digital-cinema-equipped movie theaters, giving musical theater lovers who can't be bothered to catch the touring production a viable, Rent-seeing alternative. [THR]

Little French Comedy To Be Drained Of All Charm By Will Smith

Seth — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:20:00 PDT

· Will Smith will produce the U.S. version of Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, a little French comedy sleeper about a post office manager banished to the boonies. "There are only 65 million people who live in France, and $191 million seemed to defy all logic," explained producer Ken Stovitz, his eyes rolling to the back of his head and passing clear out as he did some quick calculations and came up with an opening weekend domestic total of $1.2 billion. [Variety]
· John Grisham's novel Playing For Pizza, about a slice of pizza who gets recruited by a high-power law firm only to find itself caught up in a web of corruption and intrigue and eventually eaten by a hungry sanitation worker, has been optioned by Phoenix Pictures. [THR]
· John Woo will tackle 1949—a "a big budget romancer," that is not, to our knowledge, a sequel to the 1979 Steven Spielberg film picking up eight years into the high-flying adventures of Cpt. Wild Bill Kelso and friends. [Variety]

· A deal has yet to be signed with The Simpsons's cast, putting the 20th season in jeopardy. Right now, the superstar voice actors make $360,000 per episode; they're asking for $500,000. $11 million for working in sweeeatpannnts....arghghllhghllrlll...
· NBC has picked up Kings—an updated take on the David vs. Goliath story set in "a metropolis under siege," and starring Ian McShane. If it's a hit, expect a whole slew of updated-Bible-story ripoffs, including The CW's short-lived Sam's Son, starring Jesse Metcalfe as the long-tressed hero and Mischa Barton as his wicked seductress. [THR]

Ripley Joins The Lifetime Family

Seth — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:40:00 PDT

· Sigourney Weaver, whom we love (but not enough to see Vantage Point) will star and co-produce Prayers for Bobby for Lifetime, in which she plays a religious woman who questions her beliefs about homosexuality after her son commits suicide. Lifetime: Television For Women Reconsidering Their Views on Gays.[Variety]
· Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon will star in The Greatest, about a family trying to keep it together following the death of their son. Obviously, dead sons have replaced pregnancy as the hot new movie plot device. [Variety]

· Iron Man swoops around overseas for his last few glory laps before Indiana arrives on Shia's hog to dominate this weekend's box office. [Variety]
· Gersh TV lit department head gary Loder has left the agency with his client list tucked under his arm. Jack Dytman and Rob Golenberg will take his place. [THR]
· My Name is Earl EP Bobby Bowman signed a seven-figure deal with 20th Century Fox TV, requiring him to stay on as Earl's showrunner and develop new shows for the network. Yes, seven figures is pretty nice—but wake Seth MacFarlane up when you crack eight. [THR]

Clooney. Goats. Do The Math.

Seth — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:28:29 PDT

· "George Clooney to 'Stare at Goats.'" You know what, George? That sounds like a terrific idea. [Variety]
· William Morris has spearheaded a $100 million fund to produce features, which they know they should spend wisely on a number of sensible, moderately budgeted indies—but which they'll totally blow on one blockbuster stinker about the Alien Space Rabbit Olympics! [Variety]
· Well, that's the end of upfronts—a spectacular week of press releases, little get togethers at studio offices, and at least one Fox fondue party that the boys from Procter & Gamble are still buzzing about! Now it's time for the networks to wave goodbye to all that East Coast glamour, roll up their sleeves, and deliver on all the delicious promises they've made! [Variety]

· Rob Estes gets work—on 90210, no less!—which should keep the paychecks rolling in until his network gets canceled. [THR]
· Pitch Perfect, comedy based upon the book of the same name about the competitive world of college a cappella groups, will be An Elizabeth Banks Production for Universal. Go Whiffenpoofs! (The only one we can name off hand.) [THR]

New J.J. Abrams Series 'Fringe' Billed By Fox As 'Felicity With Smoke-People'

Seth — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:35:00 PDT

· Fox's fall schedule announcement introduces only two new shows: a comedy called Do Not Disturb (formerly The Inn), and J.J. Abrams's new series Fringe, which will air Tuesdays at 9 after House. Details on Fringe are being kept under close wraps, but based upon a slew of promotional images over at TV Week, we think it revolves around a conspiracy discovered by a quality control technician at a menthol cigarette factory, played by Joshua Jackson. Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, meanwhile, and new animated shows Sit Down, Shut Up and The Cleveland Show won't air until mid-season. Executed: Back to You, Canterbury's Law, K-Ville, Nashville, New Amsterdam, The Next Great American Band, The Return of Jezebel James and Unhitched. [Variety]
· Daniel Day-Lewis may be taking over the role vacated by Javier Bardem in Rob Marshall's movie of the musical Nine. Bla bla milkshake jazz-hands bla bla. [Variety]

· Jason Reitman's next movie will be an adaptation of Walter Kirn's Up in the Air, about a frequent-flyer-mile-accrual-addicted HR worker. [Variety]
· Michael Fassbender, whom you might recall as the guy with a bunch of arrows sticking out of his kickin' abs in 300, will play the role of Heathcliff in John Maybury's Wuthering Heights adaptation. Bet you're sorry for dropping out of the project now, Natalie Portman! What's that? You're perfectly happy with your penis-nosed musician boyfriend? OK, never mind. [THR]
· In an attempt at beefing up their interactive arm, CBS paid $1.8 billion in cash for CNET Networks. Explained Les Moonves, "As we've made the case so many times before, there's no profit to be made online, so we thought we'd dump two billion cash into this doomed, money-losing venture just for shits and giggles." [Variety]

TNT Announces 'Will & Ed' At Upfronts

Seth — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:05:00 PDT

· TNT's upfronts at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York announce three new original series to premiere in the coming year—Steven Bochco's Raising the Bar, Dean Devlin's Leverage and Truth in Advertising, starring Will & Grace's Eric McCormack and Ed's Tom Cavanagh. Will's totally going to get laid this time, we can feel it! [Variety]
· Michael Moore is prepping a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11, picking up where the last one left off. This time, he's parting ways with the Weinsteins, and producing with Overture Films and Paramount Vantage—a slap in the face to Harvey, who's locked himself inside his office and has been playing with his Fraggle Rock dolls since the deal was announced. [Variety]
· My Big Fat Greek Wedding writer and star Nia Vardalos will repair with her screen husband John Corbett for anti-romantic comedy I Hate Valentine's Day.This reunion is like Sex and the Movie 2! Minus people caring! [Variety]
· American Idol is your boo: Final-three competition dominates Tuesday ratings. [THR]
· Take some solace in the fact that your Cannes hotel room is costing you $12,000 per night with the knowledge that our weak economy means more potential international sales. Yay. [THR]

Steve Martin And Diane Keaton To Bicker At A Cineplex Near You

Seth — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:30:00 PDT

· Paramount bought Steve Martin's pitch From Zero to Sixty, which legend has it he apparently sold with three words: "Steve. Diane. Lamborghinis."[Variety]
· Will & Grace star Megan Mullally returns to sitcomdom playing opposite Alicia Silverstone in ABC sitcom pilot Bad Mother's Handbook. [Variety]
· American Gladiators tanked in the ratings, leading the order, "Skimpier costumes! NOW!" to reverberate out of Ben Silverman's office. [THR]
· CBS gives that show with Christine in the title and How I Met Your Mother full-season pickups. [THR]
· ABC is only ordering two new series, including a final, 13-episode order for Boston Legal.

It's A Network Pickup Orgy!

Seth — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:00:00 PDT

· Fox has picked up J.J. Abrams's Fringe, about a female FBI agent who "tackles unexplained medical and scientific phenomena," and Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, both for mid-season debuts meant to be bolstered by American Idol's return, an effect Fox internally refers to as "the Drunk-Paula Boost." [Variety]
· The CW makes it official: The Beverly Hills, 90210 spinoff is a go, with Jennie Garth reprising her role as Kelly Taylor. New York magazine will eventually go on to declare the series "mankind's greatest single achievement since the Wright brothers perfected human flight." [THR]
· ABC, meanwhile, has ordered "quirky sci-fi thriller" Life on Mars, a new animated series from Mike Judge called The Goode Family, and Ashton Kutcher reality show Opportunity Knocks. Unlike last year's Cavemen, none are based on an insurance commercial—though Allstate, a "drama with supernatural elements" starring Dennis Haysbert as a creepy guy who has a way of always showing up at highway accidents, is said to be a possible mid-season replacement. [Variety]

· As for NBC, Saffron Burrows has been cast opposite Christian Slater in My Own Worst Enemy, and Battlestar Galactica EP David Eick is in talks to take over showrunner duties on The Philanthropist, about "a renegade billionaire who uses his wealth, connections and power to help people in need no matter what the risks or costs," a sort of gender-reversed, serialized-drama take on Paris Hilton's life story. [THR]
· CBS ordered the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced Eleventh Hour, The Mentalist (starring Simon Baker) and The Ex-List (about a woman who tries to figure out which or her exes is the one a psychic told her she was meant to marry), as well as sitcoms Worst Week and Project Gary, and John Turteltaub's Harper's Island, a "horror drama." [THR]
· And in movie news, The Hills background player and self-leaked nudie-photo-scandal-victim Audrina Patridge will make her feature straight-to-DVD debut with Into the Blue 2: Even More Into The Blue for MGM Home Entertainment. [THR]

'Bioshock' Eludes Uwe Boll's Kiss Of Hacky Death

Seth — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:15:00 PDT

· We're not really sure how studios divvy up video game titles, deciding a Postal or Bloodrayne needs to land on the pile with flies buzzing around it marked "For Uwe," while saving a property like Bioshock for a crowd-pleasing effects wizard like Gore Verbinski, but there you have it: Verbinksi will direct Universal's big-screen adaptation. (We know, we know: It's a classic. Release it from its Microsoft shackles, so we can at least all be on the same page.) [Variety]
· Alexander Payne has been attached to direct the buzzed-about pilot Hung—featuring a well-endowed protagonist who "figures out a way to use his best asset"—for HBO. His agents are currently awaiting their package fee. Rimshot! [Variety]

· Stephen McPherson has signed a "multiyear deal" as president of ABC Entertainment. A Snookies basket, card attached reading, "Congrats on the re-up, D-girl! Love, Ben" is on its way as we speak. [Variety]
· The Gong Show is coming back, in a revival on Comedy Central set to be hosted by Dave Attell. On a personal note, this comes as thrilling news to us, as we've not yet found a wide enough platform with which to thrill millions with our "Have You Got a Nickel?" act. [Variety]
· MTV has purchased a competitive reality show from Justin Timberlake and FreemantleMedia called The Phone, which is based on a Dutch format (what is it with those Dutch and their wacky reality show ideas!) that "[plunges] the contestants into a real life Bourne Identity." We're not sure what that means, but we hope it involves having them break each other's windpipes with the spine of a paperback. [THR]

Craig Ferguson To Recall All The African-American Congressmen He's Bedded In Upcoming Memoir

Seth — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:30:00 PDT

· Craig Ferguson is writing his memoirs for HarperCollins, detailing his years as a "punk rocker, a dancer, a bouncer and a construction worker." Working title: The Village People in My Head: The Craig F. Story. [Variety]
· No strike talks are going to scare ABC away from casting their pilots: Morena Baccarin (Joss Whedon nerds know who she is) was cast as the lead in "untitled Dave Hemingson drama pilot," and Steve "Reba" Howey and Lee "Nothing You've Likely Seen" Thompson Young have jobs—for now—on comedy pilot Five Year Plan. [THR]

· AMC series Breaking Bad, about what happens when Malcolm's father has to start manufacturing and dealing meth just to put food on Lois's table, gets a second-season pickup. [Variety]
· Oscars-host-montage snubbee Whoopi Goldberg will preside over the Tonys, as CBS attempts to break a broadcast world record by earning a Nielsen rating of "true zero," or not a single home viewer. Best of luck to them. [Variety]
· Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel have signed on for 500 Days of Summer, an "an anti-romantic comedy" from Fox Searchlight. We're looking forward to seeing these two get it on. [THR]

Common To Battle Growing Army Of Robot Killing-Machines

Seth — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:20:00 PDT

· Common has joined the cast of the PG-13-rated Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, as a "freedom fighter and member of [John] Connor's inner circle," who lends the future world savior the much-needed dose of hip-hop cred he'll require in battling the rising machine army. [Variety]
· Paul Dano and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's agent Warren Zavala has left Gersh for CAA's Death Starry embrace, where the new agency is planning on drinking up his client list. They drink it up! Along with babyshakes. But that's nothing new. [THR]

· "Deal or no deal?" Variety asks cheekily of the final day of SAG negotiations. Yeah, it won't be so cute when the only thing on TV is Howie Mandel's brain and a bevy of 80-year-old models, clutching titanium spacecases containing amounts from $.01 to $1,000,000,000 in NBC's 70th Anniversary Salute to the idiot-proof game show that still keeps them afloat. [Variety]
· A Two and a Half Men penned by the writers of CSI won the Monday 9 p.m. slot, in which the invisible semen-stains covering Jon Cryer were finally revealed by black light. [Variety]
· Susan Sarandon, Bill Pullman, and Josh Lucas have joined the cast of Cillian Murphy-plays-husband-and-wife thriller, Peacock. [Variety]

Finally, 'Sea-Monkeys: The Movie'

Seth — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:10:00 PDT

· Baby-faced Freaks and Geeks (and Bones) star John Francis Daley and writing partner Jonathan Goldstein will rewrite Hours of Fun for Disney, a great premise about what happens when all those back-of-the-comic-book novelty items actually live up to their promises. Oh man, Sea-Monkeys: The Movie! We're so there. [THR]
· So beyond four more years of Family Guy and its offspring, what else does Seth MacFarlane's $100 million deal mean for you? How about a Family Guy movie?! Don't say you came out of this empty handed. [TV Week]
· Jennifer Love Hewitt's legendary, spirit-channeling rack will live on the syndicated afterlife, as Sci Fi Channel and WE have jointly acquired rerun rights to the CBS drama. [Variety]
· Worried that a PG-13 rating will water down Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, the next installment of the cyborg-killing-machine franchise? Says Salvation-producer Victor Kubicek, "The PG-13 has increased in intensity." [Variety]
· This is great: An FCC ruling has deemed TMZ and The 700 Club "bona fide newscasts," making them exempt from political equal-time requirement laws. We guess that makes Harvey Levin the Walter Cronkite of the exposed ladyparts generation? "And that's the way it's shaved." *Long sip from sippy cup.* [Variety]

Kidman Vs. Chenowith: Battle Of The Dustys

Seth — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:55:00 PDT

· It's the battle of the dueling Dusty Springfield movies! In one corner, weighing in at...not much...is Nicole Kidman, in a Fox 2000 release written by Michael Cunningham. In the other, weighing in at even less, is Universal's own take, with Kristin Chenoweth attached to star. Will this go the way of the two competing Janis Joplin projects—Pink's vs. Renée Zellweger's—that produced nothing? Or is it going to be a Capote/Infamous scenario, with more Springfield biopic options than we really wanted in the first place? [Variety]
· Official reason given for Toni Collette's departure from Untitled Sam Mendes Romcom By Dave Eggers and His Wife: "Scheduling delays." She'll be replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal. [Variety]

· Collette's pilot for Showtime, meanwhile, is looking like a go, as is Edie Falco's. The beat-maintaining premium network officially ordered a series from British comedian Marc Wootton, and re-ordered Tracey Ullman's (sort of funny, but enough with the hamfisted Andy Rooney stuff?) State of the Union. [Variety]
· Renée Zellweger will produce Living Proof for Lifetime, the story of the doctor who developed the breast cancer drug Herceptin 2. It will star Harry Connick Jr., who apparently is now starring in Lifetime movies. [THR]
· Catherine O'Hara is close to signing on to play the lead in Good Behavior, one of the many pilots Rob Thomas has cooking at various networks. This one is set up at ABC.

For Whom The SAG Strike Bell Tolls

Seth — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:45:00 PDT

· This just in! A tensely worded rehashing of Variety's SAG strike doomsaying piece from Monday! Twelve days into things, progress looks "negligible." Need we remind the Powers That Be of that full-page trade ad taken out by George, Tom, Meryl and Bob back in February? For the love of God, Alan Rosenberg! Just. Talk. [Variety]
· The Young & the Restless and Sesame Street lead the Daytime Emmy nominations, though the two long-running series will only face off in one category: Outstanding Performance By An Actor or Math-Obsessed Vampire. [THR]

· More 90210 spinoff casting confirmations! (Does anyone care about this? Do we care about this?) Jessica Walter, aka Lucille Bluth, will play Tabitha Mills, the "former Hollywood star grandmother [with] alcohol problem." (OK, now we're fully invested.) Ryan Eggold will play Ryan Matthews, "a cool English lit teacher at West Beverly High whose unorthodox teaching style puts him at odds with his fellow teachers and sometimes too close with his students." [THR]
· With all its hit series back on the air, ABC earned a solid second-place finish to Fox, who've won their 16th consecutive week since Idol's new season began. Stunningly, the fate of the TV universe hinges on a woman so plastered she can't count to two. [Variety]
· Just ten days to go before the non-upfronts, and we still no next-to-nothing about what networks plan to put on the air, save Fox's practically-a-sure-thing pickup of Family Guy spinoff, Cleveland. [THR]

Mel Gibson To Don His Actor's Hat Once More

Seth — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:20:00 PDT

· Mel Gibson has signed on for his first acting job since Signs and We Were Soldiers back in 2002. In Edge of Darkness, a feature based on a BBC miniseries from the '80s, he'll play "a straitlaced police investigator whose activist daughter is killed, probably by the Jews." [Variety]
· Could one-half of the lusty network coupling responsible for siring struggling, bastard offspring The CW be missing their former identity? Warner Bros. just launched TheWB.com, where you can catch streamed episodes of old programming and newly launched online series. [Variety]

· Tom Wolfe's sex-at-college novel I Am Charlotte Simmons (how's that for distilling 752 pages into one compound modifier?) will be directed by music video vet Liz Friedlander, to be eventually followed by Medusa's Pom Pom, a tell-all exposé detailing what went wrong behind the scenes of the box office dud. [THR]
· Closing arguments in the Pellicano trial begin today. [THR]
· Les Moonves pledged this morning that Showtime "would not miss a beat," despite having lost output deals with Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate to a new, yet-to-be-named premium cable channel, as that decision has effectively "freed up $300 million" to lavish on "more original programming like the one with all the lesbians going at it." [THR]

How Do You Say 'Friendo' In Italian?

Seth — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:55:00 PDT

· The Coen brothers' Burn After Reading, a "dark spy comedy" starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Frances McDorman, and Tilda Swinton, will open the Venice Film Festival August 27, and open in the U.S. on September 12, whereupon everyone will agree that it lies somewhere between Intolerable Cruelty and No Country For Old Men in quality. [Variety]
· ABC won its 10th consecutive Sunday in a row, thanks to new episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers and Sisters. [Variety]
· The Simpsons writers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein will executive produce a new animated series for Fox, called Sit Down, Shut Up. Originally written by Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz, it's based on a live-action Australian sitcom, and revolves around "the lives of seven staff members at a dysfunctional high school in a small northeastern fishing town." Oh God, another one?! [Variety]
· THR has had some drastic plastic surgery, and we're having a hard time adjusting. We've never seen them happier, though, so just smile and tell them they look great! [THR]
· 90210 casting confirmation! Living MILF legend Lori Loughlin will play former Olympics cycling champion mom Celia Mills. [THR]

Ewan McGregor Still Committed To Making Bad Movies

Seth — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:03:25 PDT

· Ewan McGregor is close to signing on for The Da Vinci Code sequel Angels & Demons, the least anticipated sequel of all time. (Don't even try to argue this. It is futile. It's even less anticipated than Ice Cube's Next Monday, Not This Monday Coming, But The One Like A Week From This Monday.) [Variety]
· Rogue Pictures purchased Drill Team, a "female-driven teen dance movie set in the competitive world of high school drill teams" for low six-figures, eventually going on to usher the catchphrase "You've been drilled!" into the popular lexicon. [Variety]

· Noted ménage-à-troisist Tilda Swinton will star in Italian romantic drama Io sono l'amore, or I Am Love. [Variety]
· Edgy, arched-browed teen-movie heartthrobs that time forgot work! Christian Slater and Wes Bentley will star in Dolan's Cadillac, an adaptation of a Stephen King short story. [THR]
· Lifetime is making a movie called Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story. [THR]

'What Happens In Vegas' Meant To Elicit Laughter From Paying Audiences

Seth — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:20:00 PDT

· A bumper crop of comedies are set for release in the coming months, including Baby Mama, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, Sex and the City, What Happens in Vegas, and Made of Honor, some of which could actually be classified as comedies! [Variety]
· An "intimate upfront...at Soho house" unveiled Oxygen's new tagline ("live out loud," whatever that means), as well as their new logo ("the black, lower-case 'oxygen' inside the yellow letter 'O,' which is tilted to one side"). Save it for your iVillage blog, Zucker. [Variety]

· Mariah Carey's "E=MC2" sold 463,000 copies in its first week, earning her her sixth #1 album, and us a whole new crop of Stairmaster anthems! [Variety]
· Dancing With the Stars gives ABC a "boost" (translation: still trailing Idol, but a little less pulverized than usual) Tuesday, though let's not forget the contribution of those "two According to Jim episodes as its lead-in." [THR]
· As hopes for a pickup on Cashmere Mafia unravel, showbiz survivor Lucy Liu secures an attractive backup deal in which she'd join the cast of Dirty Sexy Money. [THR]

D-Listers To Fly Through The Air With The Greatest Of Difficulty

Seth — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:45:00 PDT

· Here's what we can tell you about NBC's Celebrity Circus, possibly the most significant televised amateur circus event in recent history: Joey Fatone will be ringmaster. Scheduled to appear: Christopher Knight, Rachel Hunter, Antonio Sabato Jr., Blu Cantrell, and Jason "Wee Man" Acuna, whom we'll assume will be fired at some point from the Lil' Caesar's Cannon of Doom™. [Variety]
· Fox is sitting atop the big studio heap entering into the summer box office season (OMG! It's almost the summer box office season! Who's excited?!), but Warner Bros., with its one-two-three punch of Speed Racer, Get Smart, and The Dark Knight should comfortably take the lead. (Especially when you look at Fox's roster: Eddie Murphy's Dave and The X-Files: I'm Trying As Hard As I Can To Buy This Alien Mumbo-Jumbo, Mulder.) [THR]

· The Groundlings, birthers of good comedy thing Kristen Wiig, have struck a deal with Sony to produce digital comedy shorts of their sketches. [Variety]
· George W. Bush appeared on Deal or No Deal last night, and no one gave a shit. [THR]
· Sam Mendes's untitled romcom, written by Dave Eggers and his wife and starring Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski, starts production in Connecticut this week, with the sublime Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara also on board. Can we get this thing a title already? A Heartwarming Love Story with Staggering Credentials? [THR]

Spike TV Unveils Their All Cong-Gutting 'Rambo' Schedule

Seth — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:00:00 PDT

· "What's our name?!" "Spike TV!" "And who do we serve?" "Men!" "And what do men like?" "Rambo!" "So what do we do?" "Air all the Rambos! Aarrghghhhh!!!!" [Variety]
· Rob Schneider, Kristin Cavallari, and Rumer Willis will star in Wild Cherry: "When she finds out the boyfriend's only interested in her for the sake of the team's 'bang book,' she and her best friends plan their revenge inspired by the Greek play 'Lysistrata,'" a source we're certain its cast is intimately familiar with. [Variety]

· The Week in Unnecessary Terminator Remake News: Moon Bloodgood (now that's a name) has been cast in McG's Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, while Fox picks up another 13 episodes of Terminator: The Jailbait Killing Machine Chronicles. [THR, THR]
· Like type 2 diabetes and things with your girlfriend lately, SAG negotiations have become "much more serious." [Variety]
· The founder of the Hell's Angels (the very fact that that person is still alive fills us with awe) is suing HBO over their pilot 1%, saying the Donald Logue series about an Arizona motorcycle club was his idea. [THR]

Wait--There's Another 'X-Files' Movie?

Seth — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:45:00 PDT

· The second X Files movie is called I Want To Believe, rendering the project even more inscrutable, but still holding steady at about a decade too late. [Variety]
· Ashley Tisdale has set up a "first-look deal" with American Idol producers FremantleMedia, and is in talks to star in a nose-contingent remake of Teen Witch for United Artists. [Variety]
· The people behind lonelygirl15 have renamed their production company EQAL, and have collected "a $5 million Series A round of financing," or enough money to produce approximately 178,900 lonelygirl15s. Just wait 'til the Series B money comes in! [THR]
· Unfazed by Quarterlife's poor ratings, NBC picks up another online series: Gemini Division, starring Rosario Dawson. Each 50-minute episode will be available for streaming on NBC Universal websites, and only take 3 hours to watch after factoring in buffering issues. [THR]
· A 17-year-old's big break in a Wes Craven film is felled by mono. Mono sucks! [THR]

'Biggest Loser' Bulges NBC's Ratings

Seth — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:35:00 PDT

· The two-hour season finale of The Biggest Loser earns NBC the runner-up spot on Tuesday, rousing Ben Silverman later that night with the 4 a.m. inspiration for a companion series: The Biggest Gainer will be a gluttonous exploitainment the likes of which the network hasn't seen since Feed The Bears. [Variety]
· Smugly vicious Idol judge Simon Cowell rendered all the more so by his The X Factor winner Leona Lewis's No. 1 position on Billboard—a first for a British artist. Also: Michael Johns lost because he has no personality. And: Randy Jackson has a boner. Further: Paula Abdul is drunk. [Variety]

· Sony marketing and distribution chairman Jeff Blake will stay with the studio through 2012, the last piece of a prized top-brass chess-set their Japanese overlords can place around a life-sized, Hollywood-themed game board until at at least 2011. [Variety]
· 21 writer Peter Steinfeld will turn to another odds-game scam story, adapting lottery scam memoir Money for Nothing for Warner Independent. [THR]
· DreamWorks has optioned five-part comic book series Atlantis, about malevolent aliens living in the deepest part of the oceans. (Isn't destroying the Earth kind of counterproductive in that case?) They'll tantalizingly dangle the property before Paramount execs, before cruelly snatching it away and snapping, "Not so fast, ex-Mrs. DreamWorks!" [THR]

A Lone Crusader in a Dangerous World

Megan Lynn — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:25:00 PDT

· Knight Rider gets a new showrunner to champion the cause of the cynical, the bottom-line watching and the ruthless, Las Vegas creator Gary Scott Thompson. He's hiring right now, so dust off your best car puns. [THR]
· The Sundance Channel announces new music-variety series Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..., executive produced by Elton John. We anticipate every interview to end with Costello wishing he could stop his guests from talking when he hears the stupid things that they say. [Variety]

· Curse ye, Jericho fans! First peanuts, then Mars Bars, and now blood: Moonlight followers take a preemptive stance against the vampire drama's unlikely cancellation, pledging a pint each. [THR]
· Peabody Awards honoring the best in electronic media go to 30 Rock, Mad Men, Dexter, and Project Runway among others. Boy Sherman awards to be announced later in the day (please, provide your own slide whistle sound effect for that one). [Variety]
· Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer, he's a demon with ad sales. He's a demon and he's closing the Tribeca Film Fest. [THR], [Variety]
· Hayden Panettiere finally lands herself a non-cheerleading role, in Fox Atomic's adaptation of Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (Something Milo Ventimiglia clearly has never compiled). [Variety]

Brad Pitt Unfazed By Ex's 'Echo'

Megan Lynn — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:10:00 PDT

· Brad Pitt's shingle, Plan B in name only (we're looking at you, Aniston), buys rights to David Grann manuscript, "Lost City of Z," for Pitt to produce and star in. [Variety]
· Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer replace Meryl Streep and Anthony Hopkins in Tolstoy biopic The Last Station, putting the production down two Oscars but up two Golden Globes (wink!). [Variety]

· Writers strike yields a spec script boom, particularly for untested scribes with Diabo Cody-esque backstories. Really makes those days on the line worth it, huh? [THR]
· TNT loves Raymond, picking up Romano's pilot (penned with Mike Royce) Men of a Certain Age, a comic drama akin to Sideways about three men in their forties in midlife crisis. Is one of the manifestations misrepresenting one's age? Because last we checked, Romano was over 50. [Variety]
· Steven Soderbergh puts Matt Damon's box office draw to the test, casting Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Mike O'Malley and Melanie Lynsky opposite the Bourne actor in dark, comedic thriller The Informant. [THR]

Ben Silverman To Whisk You Away From Society's Ills

Seth — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:15:28 PDT

· NBC is close to unveiling their very fantasy- and action-heavy 2008-09 lineup, including a pickup of Knight Rider, and Robinson Crusoe, an "'adrenaline-charged' update of the classic tale." Said Ben Silverman, "We just wanted to give audiences a viable alternative to all the really, really gay stuff Steve McPherson seems to love so much over at ABC." [Variety]
· The heirs of Superman creator Jerome Seigel have won a lawsuit against Warner Bros. that could cost the studio millions. This all comes courtesy of attorney Marc Toberoff, who's pursued similar claims against the studio on such other projects as Wild Wild West, Dukes of Hazzard, Smallville, and Get Smart, earning him the nickname "The Copyright Crusader," or, as WB execs refer to him, "Ass Tumor." [Variety]
· The first organized protests by a Fanboys fan group called the 501st are not likely to elicit any pants-soiling from Harvey Weinstein: "The 501st claims 14 members showed up in New York and, when confronted by two security guards, chose to go inside and pay to see 21 instead." They are now planning a 21 demonstration for later in the week, protesting the film's "lack of quality Kate Bosworth boobage." [THR]

· Parents of the Bride Steve Martin and Diane Keaton re-team for One Big Happy, a "comic pitch" purchased by Paramount from the creators of Party of Five. All we need is the return of Martin Short's Eurogay party planner, Franck Eggelhoffer, and we're really onto something here! [Variety]
· ICM welcomes Showgirls director Paul Verhoeven and Dude, Where's My Car director Danny Leiner into the fold, where they promise to find both filmmakers "the kinds of craptastic projects that will really let them shine." [THR]