Eva Mendes plays a single mom whose daughter appears headed toward similar circumstances. It co-stars Cierra Ramirez, Matthew Modine, Patricia Arquette and Eugenio Derbez. The Lionsgate release is slated to open April 27.
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Time Warner Cable Vs. MSG: Zero Progress
Madison Square Garden Media still hasn’
Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer Strikes Content Deals To Turn The Xbox Into A Home Entertainment Hub
Microsoft’s making progress with its effort to turn its Xbox gaming console into the central brain for home entertainment. The company said Monday that it has an agreement with News Corp which will provide apps this year to funnel content from Fox Broadcasting, Fox News, and The Wall Street Journal to customers of the XBox Live service — with security to ensure that only pay TV customers see the cable programming. In addition, Microsoft has an arrangement to offer video from Comcast’s Xfinity On Demand, and a deal with Verizon FiOS to create a program guide app. The announcements were part of Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer’s keynote presentation to the 2012 International CES — supposedly his last annual infomercial address to the consumer electronics gathering. With help from American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest, he used the occasion to lay out his vision of a home where people make voice commands to the Xbox to find and call up TV programs, and use its Kinect motion control sensor to interact with TV characters. “We invest for the long term and make exciting things happen,” he said. The company demonstrated its interactive TV capability with Kinect Sesame Street TV; for example, kids can pretend they’re tossing objects that the show’s characters catch, and view themselves on screen engaging with the action.
The entertainment features were only part of Ballmer’s effort to promote the idea that Microsoft is a cutting edge innovator. He talked up plans for … Read More
China May Curb Movie Ticket Prices
Chinese officials are considering imposing limits on the price of movie tickets to make them more affordable, the the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported today. Theaters could be required to schedule more half-price screenings. Movie tickets in China can cost anywhere from the equivalent of about $3.17 to as much as $16 depending on the location. Most recent figures average prices range from $5.30 to $6.40. In the U.S. it’s about $8, according to the Wall Street Journal. Chinese prices represent a significantly larger chunk of the country’s average income relative to the United States. China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, known as Sarft, estimated that 2011 box office revenue in Rose 18% to roughly 12 billion yuan, or nearly $1.9 billion, from 10.17 billion yuan in 2010.
Lindsay Lohan In Talks To Play Elizabeth Taylor In Lifetime Movie
EXCLUSIVE: After emulating Marilyn Monroe in a series of photo shoots, most recently for Playboy, Lindsay Lohan may be taking on another screen legend, Elizabeth Taylor. I have learned that the 25-year-old actress is in early talks for the female lead in Lifetime’s original movie Elizabeth & Richard: A Love Story, chronicling the enduring love of movie icons Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, whose fiery romance was the most notorious, publicized and celebrated love affair of its day. The film, produced by Larry Thompson (Amish Grace) and written by Christopher Monger (Temple Grandin), was originally announced as part as Lifetime’s 2011-12 development slate. Lohan, a child actress who successfully transitioned into young adult roles with Freaky Friday and Mean Girls, has been largely sidelined from her acting career for the past couple of years by stints in rehab, jail, court rooms and recently, a morgue as part of her community service. Lohan’s most recent credits include the features Machete and Labor Pains and an arc on ABC’s Ugly Betty. Lohan has been compared to Taylor. In addition to their physical resemblance, a 2004 Slate story lists a host of other similarities: “Both had domineering stage mothers, little semblance of a real childhood, fame from a young age, substance abuse issues, public … Read More
Fox Picks Up Rob McElhenney Comedy Pilot
Fox has given the green light to one more pilot, a single-camera comedy from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia creator/star Rob McElhenney and the show’s executive producer Rob Rosell. The project, titled Living Loaded, is based on the book of the same name by Dan Dunn. It centers on a loose partying blogger forced to change his career plans when he becomes a radio host. Co-written by Rosell, McElhenney and Dunn, Living Loaded hails from FX Prods. where McElhenn
ey, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton’s company RCG has a rich production deal. McElhenney will serve as showrunner and will executive produce with Rosell, Day, Howeton and 3 Arts’ Nick Frenkel and Michael Rotenberg. Dunn serves as supervising producer. In addition to Sunny and Living Loaded, McElhenney and Rosell are executive producing together FX’s upcoming animated series Unsupervised, which Rosell co-created. This is McElhenney, and Howerton’s second comedy pilot for Fox following the 2009 Boldly Going Nowhere. To sum up, Fox picked up 4 pilots today, comedies Living Loaded and Dana Fox’s Ben Fox Is My Manny, and dramas Guilty from Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim and an untitled serial killer project from Kevin Williamson.
Fox Greenlights Kevin Williamson & Greg Berlanti/Marc Guggenheim Drama Pilots
Fox has picked up two more pilots, both dramas that had put pilot commitments — a serial killer project from Kevin Williamson and a legal drama from Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim. Both projects are produced by Warner Bros. TV where Williamson and Berlanti are based.
The untitled Williamson project is described as an edge-of-the-seat thriller about a diabolical serial killer who uses technology to create a cult of serial killers, and the FBI agent who finds himself in the middle of it. Vampire Diaries co-creator/executive producer Williamson, whose writing debut was the 1996 serial killer/horror smash Scream that launched the movie franchise, wrote the script and is executive producing.
The Berlanti-Guggenheim project, entitled Guilty, centers on a brilliant, morally questionable defense attorney who, after being falsely convicted of fraud and stripped of his legal license, uses his unorthodox methods to solve the cases he’
Marcia Gay Harden To Star In NBC’s Comedy Pilot ‘Isabel’
Marcia Gay Harden has been tapped to star in NBC’s comedy pilot Isabel. Inspired by the French-Canadian series Le Monde De Charlotte, Isabel centers on an otherwise normal, angry middle-class family that wrestles with the challenges of everyday life while raising daughter Isabel (Sophia Mitri Schloss) who has magical qualities. Oscar and Tony winner Harden will play the mom, Francis. This is the second consecutive season, in which Harden stars in a comedy pilot. Last year, she did ABC’s half-hour Smothered.
Will Keith Olbermann Control All Election Coverage On Current TV Or Won’t He? He Gets Channel To Blink – But It’s Just A Wink
EXCLUSIVE: This week there was a rift. Then tonight what looked like an outright win for Keith Olbermann over his current employer Current TV. But now the rift is back on after the channel is ”doing a complete 180,” sources tell me. Here’s what happened: Earlier tonight Olbermann was assured by Current TV that it was giving him ”carte blanche” to plan and program and book participants for the entire 4-hour block of New Hampshire GOP presidential primary coverage this coming Tuesday night. And that wasn’t all. “It can be said that Current has seen the light. It can be assumed that Keith will have control over election coverage going forward,” one of my sources assured me. But later tonight Current TV changed its mind and now is refusing to give Olbermann the time slot. Stay tuned. I have a feeling this is going to seesaw throughout the weekend between Current TV and its chief news officer/controversial liberal commentator.
It’s no coincidence that the channel’s waffling follows lousy reviews of what the Internet pundits called Current’s fiasco coverage of the Iowa Caucus on Tuesday night. It featured Current founder Al Gore as well as two new Current hires, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, and former MSNBC host Cenk Uygur. Now Current had a unique opportunity to make a splash by having the former VP as part of its election mix. So the channel should have ensured that Gore was surrounded by a deep bench. But one especially vicious media … Read More
B.O. Angel! Cheap ‘Devil Inside’ Opens With $12M Friday For $25+M Weekend
FRIDAY 7:30 PM UPDATE: Even rival studios tonight are saying hooray for a Hollywood winner. Paramount acquisition The Devil Inside is looking at a big $12 million today, including $2M midnights. The exorcism genre film should surge past $25M for the 3-day post-holiday weekend. And the pic More later.
EXCLUSIVE: Paramount could have another Paranormal Activity mega-profit project in theaters today. That found footage exorcism pic The Devil Inside acquired for $1M opened with $2M midnights from 1,400 theaters. It goes wide into 2,300 theaters today. Funny enough Steven Schneider from the Paranormal Activity team is exec producer on this pic as well. The genre film plays very young and very ethnic so it will probably be frontloaded. But it’s rare for a studio to recoup its cost from just the midnight shows.
NBC Launches Big Push To Help ‘Smash’ Find An Audience: TCA
Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s coverage of TCA.
NBC’s multimillion-dollar, Steven Spielberg-produced new musical drama Smash rolled out at TCA this afternoon, carrying with it the primetime hopes and dreams of struggling NBC. To generate maximum sampling and word-of-mouth in advance of the show’s February 6 premiere, the network has launched an extensive promo campaign. It includes consumer screenings in 10 major markets next week, digital downloads over Apple iTunes and Amazon Video, VOD and in-flight screenings on American Airlines. (Fingers crossed that American’s declaration of bankruptcy won’t be a bad omen.) NBC.com and Hulu also will stream portions of Smash from January 23 through February 6. The heavy marketing push is understandable given the stakes for an expensive series whose pilot reportedly cost $7.5 million. And there’s its heavyweight pedigree ‘
NBC Hopes Viewers ‘Awake’ To Series Possibilities: TCA
Diane Haithman is contributing to Deadline’s coverage of TCA.
Producers and stars of the new series Awake, created by Kyle Killen (Lone Star), tried to reassure journalists today at TCA that the storyline ‘
Rhona Mitra To Join Cinemax Action Drama ‘Strike Back’ As Female Lead In Season 2
EXCLUSIVE: I’ve learned that Rhona Mitra is finalizing a deal to land the new female lead on Cinemax’s Strike Back in the action drama’s upcoming 10-episode second season. She will play the beautiful, cunning and ultimately ruthless Capt. Rachel Dalton of the British military who is offered the position of head of Section 20 after a long stint working in North Africa. Mitra’s character is expected to fill the void left by the demise of Amanda Mealing’s Col. Eleanor Grant in the first season finale of Strike Back. The series, whose second season is slated to begin filming soon in South Africa, is produced by Cinemax/HBO, Left Bank and Sky, which airs the series in the U.K. Strike Back stars Sullivan Stapleton and Philip Winchester. Season 1 told the story of a charismatic former U.S. Special Forces operative (Stapleton) who joins with a stealth British military unit when a resourceful international terrorist group plots a major attack. British-born Mitra, whose series credits include The Practice, Boston Legal and Nip/Tuck, is repped by Gersh, Untitled and UK’s Ken McReddie.
Actress Who Is Suing IMDb Now Has A Name
A U.S. District judge in Seattle last month ordered the anonymous actress suing IMDb for age discrimination to use her name on the lawsuit ‘
The Two Stars Of NBC ‘Are You There, Chelsea?’ And Where Did Vodka Go: TCA
Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s coverage of TCA.
There was some playfully feigned confusion this afternoon as to who the star of the new NBC multicamera sitcom Are You There, Chelsea? is. Chelsea Handler, on whose bestselling memoir Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea the show is based, is featured prominently in the promos for the series, which premieres later this month. Are You There, Chelsea? centers on a twentysomething bad-girl version of Handler who is played by Laura Prepon while Handler appears in seven of the 13 episodes as her Born-Again Christian sister. Handler, who executive produces the series, was quick to set the record straight. “We want people to know that I’m part of the show but that this is the star of the show,” Handler said, motioning to Prepon. She stressed that any advertising for the show should be crystal clear. “We don’t want anyone to get confused or think I’m the star… It’s a lot more fun for me to play my sister than it would be to play myself. (Handler has a sister in real life). It’s a lot more challenging … But it’s Laura’s show ultimately… I’d love to be in it as often as possible, but I seriously don’t have the time. I like my E! show, I like being under the radar.” The last comment evoked some groans as it came out as a jab at the cable network.
Another … Read More
‘Hunger Games’ Orchestrator To Picket Lionsgate On Behalf Of His Musicians Guild
EXCLUSIVE: Talk about embarrassing a studio and a guild simultaneously. Tomorrow the American Federation of Musicians will 
picket Lionsgate because the studio is not using AFM musicians on The Hunger Games. Since that movie is now in post-production and AFM President Ray Hair has made Lionsgate the target of picketing, Thursday’s protest is happening at the Lionsgate TV show Mad Men‘s downtown LA location shoot. Further complicating the situation is that one of tomorrow’s picketers is expected to be Hair’s chief lieutenant, Recording Musicians Association Of Los Angeles President Pete Anthony who sources tell me “scabbed” as an orchestrator on The Hunger Games. (Anthony is a conductor for James Newton-Howard who is the composer for The Hunger Games.) Here’s what Hair says is AFM’s problem with Lionsgate:
“The American Federation of Musicians is moving to organize the independent film studio Lionsgate, and we are working right now toward securing AFM coverage for all musicians who might be employed on their upcoming movie, The Hunger Games,” Hair recently told AFM members. “The director, cinematographers, editors, actors, writers, and many others are all receiving union wages, benefits and protections for this U.S.-filmed movie, and so it should be for the musicians. Unfortunately, we currently have no motion picture contracts on file for the movie The Hunger Games, although we know that post-production music work has begun on this film domestically. Our goal … Read More
PBS Talks Covering Presidential Races: TCA
TCA: PBS Chief Paula Kerger Plays Defense Over Programming
TCA: PBS Unveils Premiere Dates, New Antiquing Competition
Diane Haithman is contributing to Deadline’
‘Star Trek’ Sequel Hires Hot British Actor
EXCLUSIVE: Here’s another update on writer/director J.J. Abrams’ much anticipated Star Trek sequel — which is really No. 12 among the Captain Kirk/Mr Spock 
star fleet movies – coming out on May 17, 2013 from Paramount. I’ve learned that hot British film actor Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast in a lead role in the film. No word yet on whether he’ll be a hero or villain. But Cumberbatch landed some sought-after roles recently in War Horse (as ’Major Stewart’) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (‘Peter Guillam’). He will also portray ‘Smaug the Dragon’ through motion capture and voice the ‘Necromancer’ in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There And Back Again. The 35-year-old London-born thesp is a veteran of both theatre and TV, most notably as ‘Sherlock Holmes’ in the 2010 modern BBC adaptation series Sherlock).
He also starred as ‘Stephen Hawking’ in 2004′s Hawking and received a nomination for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor and won the Golden Nymph for Television Films ‘
Keith Olbermann Weighing Legal Options In Dispute Over Current TV Election Coverage
At issue is whether Keith Olbermann controls the 8:00 PM (ET) time slot on Current — or just his show, Countdown With Keith Olbermann, which typically fills the hour. I’m told that the commentator and his powerhouse lawyer Patricia Glaser are reviewing his contract to decide how to procede after Current preempted his show last night to cover the Republican caucuses in Iowa with Al Gore, Jennifer Granholm, and Cenk Uygur. Olbermann isn’t on board yet to contribute to next week’s coverage of the New Hampshire primary, although Current still wants him to participate. But something would have to give: The control issue was a big deal for Olbermann last year when he left MSNBC and joined Current as an anchor and chief news officer. Current also believes that it has the right to shape its coverage of special events, and has a unique opportunity this year to make a splash by having Gore — a former vice president, and the channel’s co-founder – as part of the mix.
The rift has been building since mid-November when Current President David Bohrman broached the idea of having Olbermann lead the network’s team coverage. The commentator opted to have Countdown run per usual and said on his December 22 broadcast that he’d be back after the holidays “live, live, live” for the Iowa caucus results. Olbermann continued with his plan until yesterday when Bohrman told staffers in a memo: ”There will be NO stand-alone Countdown tonight. … Read More