Here’s a new trailer for the stop-motion animated ParaNorman from Focus Features and LAIKA. Instead of the song that played with the teaser we showed you before Halloween, this adds dialogue and new scenes. It opens August 17.
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Relativity Signs With Senator To Handle Distribution In Germany
Relativity Media has partnered with German independent producer-distributor Senator Entertainment for all future Relativity movies to be released by Senator in Germany. The deal extends Relativity’s distribution to most major territories except for Japan, Korea and Italy. Under terms of the arrangement Relativity also becomes a significant shareholder in Senator, the companies said. The movies Senator will release include Hunter Killer, Nicholas Sparks’ 
Safe Haven and Afterburn. Also under the deal the Amsterdam-based investment group Sapinda Holding, which has provided re-capitalization for Senator, is also a potential investor in what the announcement described as Relativity’s “future strategic initiatives.” Relativity co-president Tucker Tooley described the agreement as “much more than an output deal, it’
USA Developing Drama About America’s First Female Detective Kate Warne
EXCLUSIVE: USA Network, the network of top female spy Annie Walker from Covert Affairs, is developing a drama series about Kate Warne, U.S’ first female detective who also worked as a spy for the Union government during the Civil War. The project, which will be written/co-executive produced by Adam Sussman and produced by Sony Pictures TV, is described as stylized with a contemporary feel. In 1856, Warne became America’s first female detective when she joined the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency. Along with Allan Pinkerton, Warne did work for the Union government. She was part of the Pinkerton team that uncovered a plot to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln, events that will be at the center of the pilot script. Pinkerton had received an unconfirmed tip about a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln on his way through Baltimore to Washington DC to take office. Warne went undercover as a rich southern lady visiting Baltimore to try to corroborate the information. She infiltrated secessionist social gatherings in the Baltimore area as a flirting “southern belle” and not only verified that there was a plot to assassinate Lincoln but also uncovered details about the plan and later played a key role in the covert operation to safely take Lincoln to DC. The project is executive produced by John Glenn, along with Deb Spera and Maria Grasso though their Sony TV-based One Two … Read More
Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus’ One-Sheet
Here’s Fox’s new one-sheet for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. Because Tom Rothman has made clear his feelings about what the movie is not, we’ll leave that alone for now. What do you think?
Summit Sets Sacha Gervasi To Adapt Novel ‘Headhunters’ By Jo Nesbo
EXCLUSIVE: Sacha Gervasi has been set by Summit Entertainment to adapt Headhunters, the English language adaptation of the Jo Nesbo novel. Marianne Gray, Ole Sondberg, and Berna Levin will produce via the Yellow Bird production banner. Yellow Bird produced the Swedish adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy and is a producer of the upcoming Hollywood trilogy that begins with the David Fincher-directed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Similarly, Headhunters was first made into a Norwegian film by director Morten Tyldum, with Yellow Bird among the producers. In the wake of the success by Larsson, the Norwegian author Nesbo’
Spike Jones Jr., Carole Propp Re-Team As WGA West Awards Producers
Spike Jones Jr. returns as executive producer for the 2012 Writers Guild of America West awards show Sunday, February 19, 2012 at the Hollywood Palladium. Talent producer Carole Propp also returns as part of Jones’ SJ2′
Wikipedia Founder Considers Site Blackout To Protest Stop Online Piracy Act Advocated By Showbiz
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales blogs that he is considering a blackout of pages on the popular site to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act. Wales has asked users and editors of Wikipedia to weigh in with their opinions before he makes a decision. The entertainment industry wants the government to take stronger action against “digital theft” and has lobbied heavily in favor of SOPA, while Internet companies, the Consumer Electronics Association and others have argued that the measure is goes too far and is too vague. They fear that SOPA and to a lesser extent its companion Senate measure Protect IP Act would grant U.S. law enforcement sweeping powers to shut down websites and online services accused of facilitating piracy — or even sites media companies simply don’t like — potentially without due process. Google chairman Eric Schmidt says it amounts to a license for corporate censorship. Wales came up with the idea for his protest because “the Italian Wikipedia community made a decision to blank all of Italian Wikipedia for a short period in order to protest a law which would infringe on their editorial independence. The Italian Parliament backed down immediately,’
It’s Official: Amy Powell Is Paramount’s New President Of Digital Entertainment
Amy Powell has been officially named president of digital entertainment at Paramount Pictures, which fills the position that opened back in September when the studio parted ways with former digital chief Tom Lesinski. That move came as part of a restructuring at Paramount that created a Home Media Distribution division to streamline operations and maximize the studio’s library and new content for TV, pay and home video. At the time, the Lesinski-run Paramount Digital Entertainment was folded into other divisions of the studio, and Powell, the EVP Interactive Entertainment, added the creation of content for digital and online games to her responsibilities. Now she adds digital president as well as the title of president of micro-budget film studio Insurge Pictures. For digital entertainment, Powell reports to Paramount Pictures vice chairman Rob Moore. For Insurge, she reports to motion picture group president Adam Goodman. For interactive marketing she continues to report to marketing and distribution president Megan Colligan and chief marketing officer Josh Greenstein.
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STUNNER! Legendary Pictures Postpones January Start Of Alex Proyas-Directed ‘Paradise Lost’
EXCLUSIVE: Legendary Pictures has halted plans to begin production early next year on Paradise Lost, the epic-sized Alex Proyas-directed film about the battle between good and evil that is inspired by the John Milton poem. Bradley Cooper had been set to play Lucifer, Benjamin Walker to play the archangel Michael, and Diego Boneta playing Adam and Camilla Belle Eve, with a host of other actors lined up for the action epic. I’m told that the film isn’t scrapped; rather, Legendary’s Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and producer Vincent Newman will continue developing it to rework a budget that had passed the $120 million mark by 10% or 15%. The picture has crewed up for an Australia shoot and the talent and below the line is learning about the postponement right now. Films including Moneyball and American Gangster had their plugs pulled within a month of production and bounced back, but it is always a shock when a large film has its start date scratched so close to production, even if it is temporary.
I’m told by insiders that this process is being likened to The Lone Ranger, which Disney had originally scheduled to begin production last fall, until Deadline revealed last August that it had been unplugged abruptly, with Disney threatening to scrap it because the studio feared the budget would turn into a runaway train … Read More
AFTRA-SAG Merger Update: 4th Round Of Face-To-Face G1 Meetings Set For Jan. 7
AFTRA-SAG’s merger appears on schedule. The boards of both unions had asked Group for One Union (G1), the committee in charge of merger negotiations, to present them with a framework for a SAG-AFTRA union in January 2012. In preparation for that, G1 has scheduled the fourth of 4 planned face-to-face meetings for Jan. 7. At the marathon session, which will last through Jan. 15, the 6 working groups will give updates on the progress they have made. G1 laid the groundwork for those discussions in a two-day meeting yesterday and today. The next SAG and AFTRA board meetings are slated for the last weekend of January, the week of the SAG Awards.
Anastasia Griffith To Co-Star In BBC America’s Drama Series ‘Copper’
EXCLUSIVE: Anastasia Griffith, who recurs on ABC’s Once Upon A Time, has landed a co-starring role in BBC America’s first scripted series, drama Copper. The 10-episode series, from Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson, is produced by Canadian-based Cineflix Studios. Co-created by Tom Fontana and Will Rokos, Copper centers on an Irish cop operating in the immigrant communities of 19th century New York, a role that has not been cast yet. British actress Griffith, repped by Paradigm, Untitled and UK’s Ken McReddie Assoc., will play his wife. Fontana, Rokos, Barry Levinson and Cineflix’s Christina Wayne are executive producing the series, which is slated to begin production at the end of January. Griffith, who plays a woman locked into a love triangle with Snow White and Prince Charming on Once Upon A Time, also has been recurring on USA’s Royal Pains. She previously co-starred on NBC’s Trauma and FX’s Damages.
Charlie Sheen’s New Sitcom Makes First International Sale To Canada’s CTV
UPDATE 6:20 PM: CTV parent Bell Media just issued a release announcing the pickup of the Charlie Sheen sitcom Anger Management. Release below the story:
PREVIOUS 6:05 PM: As the expansion of Charlie Sheen’s recent comedy tour to Canada proved, the actor is very popular north of the border. So it’s not surprising that the first international territory to commit to Sheen’s new series, Anger Management, is Canada. I have learned that, in a competitive situation, Canada’s Bell Media has landed the rights to the new series for its CTV network. Sheen is expected to make the announcement on the leading Canadian broadcaster tonight. Like FX, which picked up the project in the U.S., CTV also carries Sheen’s previous series, Two And A Half Men. The license fee for Anger Management is said to be at the high end of expectations. Anger Management, inspired by the 2003 movie by that name, is being produced by Lionsgate TV, with Lionsgate subsidiary Debmar-Mercury handling domestic sales and Lionsgate International TV in charge of international distribution. The international deals for the series are significant because they call for the networks to commit to 100 episodes outright without having seen
a single frame of the show. Under the Debmar-Mercury model, FX has committed to an initial order of 10 episodes. If that run … Read More
Winona Ryder To Play Killer’s Wife In Indie ‘The Iceman’
EXCLUSIVE: Winona Ryder has just committed to star with Michael Shannon and Chris Evans in The Iceman, the Ariel Vromen-directed drama based on the Anthony Bruno book about Richard Kuklinski, a family man who secretly carried out contract killings for the mob. Millennium Films/Nu Image is financing. Shannon is playing Kuklinski, aka The Iceman, and Evans is playing his mentor, Robert Pronge. Ryder, most recently seen in Black Swan and The Dilemma, will play Kuklinski’s wife, Deborah, who did not know that he was a contract killer. Gersh-repped Ryder just wrapped the indie The Stare opposite James Franco.
Another Weak Weekend: ‘New Years Eve’ #1 But Underperforming, ‘The Sitter’ Feeble #2
FRIDAY 11:30 PM: I sound like a broken record because it’s another disappointing domestic box office. And the second weekend in a row where the overall movie total won’t make more than $80M for possibly 2011′s lowest haul. It’s also down 8% from last year. No surprises in the Top 10 since Warner Bros’ New Years Eve was expected to unseat Summit’s Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 after three straight weeks at No. 1. But what is alarming is that the latest in this holiday-themed franchise is coming in way less than the studio predicted — between $5.3M and $5.8M –especially with all those name actors and actresses cast. Showing yet again that in 2011 stars don’t mean much to audiences anymore. Audiences gave it a ‘B+’ CinemaScore. “Not much champagne for that opening,” one rival exec snarked to me. Fox’s The Sitter came in second but worse than the lowered expectations going into this North American weekend. Audiences gave it only a ‘C+’ CinemaScore. Good thing this Jonah Hill pic cost next to nothing. Full analysis in the morning when Deadline Hollywood will be holding its movie awards season ‘The Contenders’ event this Saturday and Sunday:
1. New Years Eve (Warner Bros) NEW [3,505 Theaters]
Friday $5.5M, Estimated Weekend $16M
2. The Sitter (Fox) NEW [2,750 Theaters]
Friday $3.5M, Estimated Weekend $9M
3. Breaking Dawn Part 1 (Summit) Week 4 [3,605 Theaters]
Friday $2.4M, Estimated Weekend $7M, Estimated Cume $258.8M
4. The Muppets (Disney) Week 3 [3,328 Theaters]
Friday $1.7M, Estimated … Read More
AFTRA Reaches New Network TV Code Deal
After a month of negotiations, AFTRA has reached a tentative 3-year agreement with the Big 4 broadcast networks and other producers for a new Network Television Code, which covers all programming except network scripted primetime series. The most recent one-year extension to the previous AFTRA Network Television Code expired on Nov. 15. The new agreement, which runs from Nov. 16, 2011 through Nov. 15, 2014, calls for a 1% increase in employer contributions to the AFTRA Health & Retirement Funds upon ratification as well as a 2% wage increase every year. Here is the announcement with additional details:
LOS ANGELES (Dec. 9, 2011) ‘
Global Showbiz Briefs: UK, Bangladesh
Jeremy Clarkson Strikes Again, Fry’s A Gentleman
The BBC has put an episode of Stephen Fry’
Lifetime Cancels Drama ‘Against The Wall’
Neither of Lifetime’s freshman series will make it to a second season. Following the September cancellation of The Protector, Lifetime recently quietly opted not to renew Against the Wall. The cop/family drama, which drew largely positive reviews, premiered with soft 1.8 million viewers, on par with The Protector‘s 1.9 million. Neither series showed growth throughout their freshman run, leading to Lifetime’s decision not to go forward with either of them. In light of that, the network recently ordered 10 more episodes of veteran Army Wives to use as a launching pad for new shows, along with Drop Dead Diva. Lifetime has on tap The Client List, based on the successful movie, with Jennifer Love Hewitt reprising her role, as well as pilots Modern Love starring Eric Stoltz, American Housewife starring Melanie Griffith and movie/backdoor pilot Sworn To Secrecy starring Neve Campbell.
LA Filmmaker Charged With Movie Tax Credit Fraud In Massachusetts
News reports say writer-director Daniel Adams was arraigned today with defrauding Massachusetts of about $5 million in inflated tax credits he obtained for The Golden Boys and The Lightkeepers. Adams appeared this morning in Boston Municipal Court and ordered held on $100,000 bail. He was arrested Thursday and charged quickly because authorities want to keep him from flying back to Los Angeles. His attorney said officials had rushed to judgement. Production companies are eligible for a 25% tax credit for payroll and filmmaking expenses incurred in Massachusetts. Prosecutors allege Los Angeles-based Adams intentionally inflated expenses when completing forms for the tax credit and the state overpaaid some $4.7 million to his production companies. One of Adams’ alleged false claims was paying Richard Dreyfuss $2.5 million for The Lightkeepers when the actor’s actual fee was $400,000. Maximum penalty if convicted is five years in prison. Both movies were written and directed by Adams and set in the early 20th century along the Cape Cod coast. The Golden Boys (2008) starred David Carradine, Rip Torn and Bruce Dern. The Lightkeepers (2009) starred Dreyfuss, Julie Harris, and Blythe Danner. Adams most recently directed The Big Valley, starring Jessica Lange as the matriarch of a California family based on the TV series that starred Barbara Stanwyck.
George Clooney And Sony Pictures Plan Feature On TV’s The Smothers Brothers
EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures and Smokehouse partners George Clooney and Grant Heslov will turn the story of 60s comedians Tom and Dicky Smothers into a feature film. They’ve optioned the David Bianculli book Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story Of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and they’ve set Brian Hecker and Craig Sherman to write the script. Clooney and Heslov will produce. It’s too early to determine whether or not Clooney will star or direct.
The show ran from 1967-69 on CBS, and the brothers, who famously squabbled on and off screen, were transformed by the period’s social upheaval. They went from squeaky clean comics to counterculture troublemakers. They were aided by a writing staff that included Steve Martin, and Rob Reiner and they were the first to introduce liberal hippie politics into the mainstream, as well as cutting edge rock acts like The Who, Jefferson Airplane and The Doors. All this earned them a spot on President Richard Nixon’s enemies list and ultimately got them fired by CBS.
Hecker and Sherman most recently scripted Atari, a Black List script about 27-year old rebel genius Nolan Bushnell, who created the video game industry and Atari, gave Steve Jobs a job, and paved the way for the computer age. Paramount … Read More