All Posts Tagged With: "Sony"
Groundlings to create digital shorts
West Hollywood improv troupe the Groundlings is expanding their sketch comedy with digital shorts, says Variety. Financed and distributed by Sony, the deal will allow the group to create 50 three- to five-minute shorts over a one-year period. Groundlings is known for introducing such performers as Will Ferrell, Lisa Kudrow and Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens.
MPAA rates Osama Bin Laden
Box Office Mojo discloses the latest ratings the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has granted. The Morgan Spurlock documentary Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? has been rated PG-13 for “some strong language.” Meanwhile, both Hell Ride and, somewhat surprisingly, the Patrick Dempsey comedy Made of Honor have been rated R. Sony is planning to appeal the rating for Honor.
Garth lands lead in Best Friend’s Girl
Jennie Garth will star as the female lead in the CBS pilot My Best Friend’s Girl, says The Hollywood Reporter. Produced by Sony, the show “centers on two best friends and co-owners of a biker shop whose relationship becomes complicated when one (Tim Peper) begins dating the ex-wife (Garth) of the other (Josh Cooke).” Eric Ladin has also been cast in Girl as a worker in the shop, who is “the world’s worst salesman.”
Cutler acquires Comedy at the Edge
Variety indicates that filmmaker R.J. Cutler has purchased the rights to Richard Zoglin’s new publication Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-Up in the 1970s Changed America. The book takes a look at the impact of such comedians as Steve Martin, Richard Pryor and George Carlin. Cutler and Sony-based TV producer Sarah Timberman will produce the documentary adaptation of Comedy.
Sturgess talks Spider-Man: The Musical
IESB recently had the opportunity to ask actor Jim Sturgess about his involvement with the Spider-Man musical currently in the works. In response, Sturgess admitted that he and Evan Rachel Wood helped director Julie Taymor prepare and present to Marvel and Sony the structure of the musical. However, he is unsure at this time whether or not he will star in the actual production.
Dexter video game in development
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Marc Ecko Entertainment and Showtime Networks are teaming for a video game inspired by the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning television series Dexter. The game will be for multiple platforms, including Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360.
Big Screen Roundup: 1/28/08 Edition
Guillermo del Toro is in talks to direct back-to-back installments of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, informs The Hollywood Reporter. Both del Toro and Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson will oversee writing for the films. Co-financed by New Line and MGM, the Hobbit series will have a production budget estimated at $150 million for each feature. At this time, it appears the release date for the first film will be in 2010, with the second one following in 2011.
Director Christopher Nolan has written a touching tribute titled “Charisma as Natural as Gravity” to the late actor Heath Ledger. Available to read at Newsweek, the essay focuses on Ledger’s enthusiasm and work ethic during the filming of Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Meanwhile, Superhero Hype! has collected three new images from the upcoming Batman feature.
Variety records that Universal Pictures and Working Title Films have agreed to a two-picture deal with Atonement director Joe Wright.
Julia Roberts will produce and star in the film adaptation of Margot Berwin’s upcoming novel Hothouse Flowers for Sony’s Columbia Pictures, writes The Hollywood Reporter. The actress will portray “a recently divorced woman who is dissatisfied with her job at a Manhattan ad agency and goes off on an adventure that takes her to places she never expected to go.”
IGN has learned John Cleese is in negotiations to join the cast of the remake for the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day The Earth Stood Still. Cleese’s role would be that of “physicist Dr. Barnhardt, a Nobel Prize laureate who plays a key part in figuring out the mission and meaning of the arrival of the alien Klaatu.”
Coming Soon rounds up sources showing Channing Tatum to have the lead role of Duke in director Stephen Sommers’ G.I. Joe live-action adaptation.The Canadian Press reports that the next project for Robert Redford to produce and star in will be A Walk in the Woods, an adaptation of the bestselling 1998 Bill Bryson book about hiking the Appalachian Trail. Barry Levinson is expected to direct the film.
According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Co. is already considering another installment in the Rambo franchise. An early idea from Weinstein involves “bringing the character back to the United States.”
ShockTillYouDrop.com speaks with Funny Games stars Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet about Michael Haneke’s remake of his own psychological thriller.
Variety indicates that Marlene Forte will be seen s “Chief Transporter” in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. The magazine also reveals Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Dorff and Jason Clarkeas as joining Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in the Michael Mann feature Public Enemies.
Dark Horizons updates readers on release date changes for the following movies: Choke (8/1), Hellraiser (2009), Trailer Trash (no longer scheduled), Youth in Revolt (12/12), The Patriots (11/14) and Towelhead (8/15).
Coming Soon brings readers such exclusives as a clip from the King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters DVD, as well as an interview with Strange Wilderness star Kevin Heffernan.
28Jan2008 | Josh E Armstrong | Continued
