Thursday April 3, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

• William Monahan has teamed with Quentin Curtis to acquire rights to the Ken Bruen novel “London Boulevard.” Monahan has nearly completed the script, and plans to make his directing debut on the crime drama this fall. “London Boulevard” revolves around a South London criminal who, after release from prison, tries to give up the gangster life by becoming a handyman for a reclusive young actress. Monahan will produce with Curtis, with whom he also acquired the John Pearson book “The Gamblers,” with Monahan planning to write that script for Warner Bros.

• Universal is developing a feature called “Kill the Messenger” based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb. The San Jose Mercury News reporter committed suicide after being the target of a smear campaign when he linked the CIA to a scheme to arm Contra rebels in Nicaragua and import cocaine into California. Peter Landesman will write the screenplay, based on the two books the studio optioned: “Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion,” by Webb, and Nick Schou’s “Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb.” Scott Stuber will produce with Nick Wechsler; Naomi Despres and Landesman will be exec producers.

• Sundance Channel has landed Elvis Costello as host of a weekly music-variety talkshow to kick off in December, signing Elton John as an executive producer. Called “Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…” the series emerged as the highlight of an upfront press briefing in New York by Sundance, which also said that it would renew its music series “Live From Abbey Road” for another 12 hours and its two-celebrity interview series “Iconoclasts” for a fourth season of six fresh hours. As host of the news conference, Larry Aidem , president and CEO of Sundance, forestalled any questions about the proposed sale of Sundance by joking that some of the potential buyers include Wal-Mart, Denny’s and US Air. Sundance executives have neither confirmed or denied the reports that Sundance is on the market for between $400 million and $500 million, with rumored purchasers including

• Bosnian helmer Danis Tanovic (”No Man’s Land”) is preparing his next pic, “Triage,” which again deals with dilemmas in times of war, this time about the allocation of medical resources. Pic’s main producers are Ireland’s Stradbrook Prods./Parallel Films, along with France’s ASAP and Spain’s Freeform Films. “Triage” has snatched 650,000 euros ($1.1 million) from pan-European funding body Eurimages, which at its latest award session distributed $5.6 million for 10 projects.

• Four years after she made her debut with hit movie “The Ketchup Effect,” helmer Teresa Fabik is prepping her soph effort. Written by Fabik, “Princess” centers around an overweight 18-year-old girl whose size makes it tough for her to be socially accepted. Pic is produced by Sandra Harms for production company Breidablick. Fabik is scouting the country for a lead actress for the production to start in the summer. No budget is disclosed yet, according to Harms.

PROJECT UPDATES

• Al Roker could soon be ready to play the “Feud.” The “Today Show” weatherman has been in negotiations with FremantleMedia North America about hosting its upcoming celeb edition of “Feud” for NBC. He’d follow in the footsteps of ayem colleague Meredith Viera, who hosts the syndie version of “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire”. Roker’s reps have been talking to Fremantle for more than a week. However, as of late Tuesday, reps for both the Peacock and the studio insisted no deal was in place.

• Billy Crudup has been set to play FBI director J. Edgar Hoover in “Public Enemies,” the Michael Mann-directed crime drama for Universal that stars Johnny Depp as John Dillinger. Mann has also set Stephen Lang to play Winstead, the leader of the Texas Rangers who joins the manhunt for John Dillinger and his gang. Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard also star.

• Thomas Haden Church will star with Kate Hudson in “Big Eyes.” Church will play Walter Keane, who became a celebrity in the 1950s and ’60s because of a series of paintings of big-eyed children that became a mass-market phenomenon. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski will direct the fact-based drama from their own script.

• Animated family fare “Alpha and Omega,” about two kidnapped wolves trying to get back their pack, has cast Justin Long and Hayden Panettiere as the two lupine lead voices, with Christina Ricci, Danny Glover, Dennis Hopper and Larry Miller also set. Pic is directed by Anthony Bell (”The Boondocks”) and Ben Gluck (”Brother Bear 2″) from a screenplay by Chris Denk based on a story by Steve Moore (co-creator of “Open Season”).  “Alpha” marks first team-up of Lionsgate and Crest Animation Productions for multi-picture deal.

• Paul Schneider and Kerry Fox have joined the cast of Jane Campion’s “Bright Star,” a period pic about English poet John Keats and his secret love affair with the girl next door. “Bright Star” is an ill-fated romance toplining Ben Whishaw as Keats and Aussie thesp Abbie Cornish as Fanny Brawne, the poet’s muse. The passionate relationship was cut short when Keats died aged just 25. Schneider will play Keats’ best friend, Charles Armitage Brown, and Fox will play Fanny’s mother.

ACQUISITIONS/ FESTIVAL NEWS

• The Wachowskis will bring “Speed Racer” to close this year’s Tribeca Film Fest on May 3. “Speed Racer” blends the Wachowskis’ signature visual effects into a family-friendly action pic starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox and John Goodman. Joel Silver, who previously teamed with the Wachowskis on “The Matrix” trilogy, is producer for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow. As previously announced, fest will open April 23 with Universal’s Tina Fey comedy “Baby Mama.”

• Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset has picked up a package of Hollywood pics from Milan-based distributor Mondo Home Entertainment.  The deal, which shows the broadcaster’s appetite for product despite recent four-year output deals with Warner Bros. and Universal, includes DTT rights that will feed the group’s recently launched Mediaset Premium Gallery channels. Package includes “Hairspray,” Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” and “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.” Besides titles that have already played theatrically in Italy, the 12-pic deal includes options on the upcoming releases of its subsidiary Moviemax, including “”Nim’s Island,” “Gracie,” “Shrooms,” “King of California” and “Incendiary.” Guglielmo Marchetti of Mondo said the agreement was “confirmation of the profitable and satisfactory collaboration” between the two companies that begun in 2002, besides being proof that Mondo has been acquiring its Hollywood product wisely.

• Paris-based sales company Celluloid Dreams has taken worldwide rights outside North America to “Nerakhoon” (The Betrayal) the directorial debut 23 years in the making of highly-regarded d.p. Ellen Kuras. A three-time Sundance cinematography winner, renowned for her hand-held shooting style, Kuras has worked with Rebecca Miller (“Personal Velocity”), Martin Scorsese (“No Direction Home: Bob Dylan”), Julian Schnabel (“Lou Reed’s Berlin”), Spike Lee (“Summer of Sam”) and Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Be Kind, Rewind”). Co-directed and edited by Thavisouk Phrasavath, “Betrayal” is narrated by Phrasavath, who tells stories about his mother’s and his own life in war-ravaged Laos and their experiences as immigrants in New York.

BUSINESS NEWS

• One of the boldest moves in Gotham exhibition this decade is taking shape along a quiet stretch of West 23rd Street. The Clearview Chelsea West Cinemas, a somewhat unlikely center of gravity for the film biz in recent years, has been acquired by the School of Visual Arts. The school, which signed a 26-year lease to operate the site, is renaming it the Visual Arts Theater and renovating inside and out under the guidance of noted designer Milton Glaser. Tonight’s premiere of “Cook County” in the Gen Art Film Festival, will mark the end of the 1963 theater’s days as a commercial house. After several months of rehab, a new repertory/special event venue will hope to satiate the screen-starved Manhattan industry.

• “Alvin and the Chipmunks” bounded off shelves Tuesday to become the fastest selling DVD of the year. Fox Home Entertainment said it sold more than 2.6 million “Chipmunk” discs its day in stores. That tally outpaced first-day DVD sales for “I Am Legend” and “Enchanted.” “Alvin and the Chipmunks” generated more than $350 million at the worldwide box office. Fox is promoting the disc with a Get Munk’d mall tour, which is averaging north of 2,500 fans, a Fox rep noted. The stage show concert series is skedded for 8 additional markets including Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Atlanta, St. Louis, San Diego and Salt Lake City.

• Italian television regulator Agcom has ordered Silvio Berlusconi’s Tg4 channel to end broadcasting bias in favor of the former premier, or face a $400,000 fine. The warning comes just two weeks ahead of the country’s general election in which the media tycoon is seeking re-election, this time as head of the new center-right PDL (People’s Party for Freedom). Tg4, which is part of Berlusconi’s Mediaset broadcasting empire, has been criticized before over political bias. In the latest incident, Agcom found “disparites in the treatment” of the PDL and its main rival, the Democratic Party, while surveying output between March 18 and March 26. Agcom said it had “formally ordered” the channel to “correct the imbalance that it detected between coverage of the PDL and the PD (the Democratic Party).” Mediaset declined to comment.

STRIKE NEWS/ LABOR ISSUES

• The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists will launch negotiations with the majors for a new primetime contract on April 28 — less than two weeks after the Screen Actors Guild starts bargaining, saying the window gives SAG “significant time” to work out a deal. The move adds pressure on SAG leaders to make hefty progress during the next few days in their informal discussions with News Corp. prexy Peter Chernin and Disney CEO Robert Iger. Those talks, which have been in progress over a few weeks, are aimed at sorting out the sticky issues and establishing the parameters for the formal negotiations to follow. Chernin, Iger and SAG brass met Wednesday for a candid where-do-we-go-from-here sesh. Previous meets aren’t believed to have been notably productive as guild toppers held back specifics of SAG’s proposal. With AFTRA staking out April 28, SAG could pay a steep price if formal bargaining, which starts April 15, bogs down. The Writers Guild of America had that problem when the majors opted to focus on cutting a deal with the Directors Guild after talks with the striking writers imploded. Chernin and Iger played a similar behind-the-scenes role in helping smooth the way toward the directors and writers pacts in January and February, respectively. Biggest sticking point is expected to be SAG’s push for sweetened DVD residuals, something that was sought but proved a non-starter for the WGA and DGA in their bargaining. The AFTRA announcement, made Wednesday afternoon by president Roberta Reardon, comes a day after SAG announced its start date with the AMPTP and four days after the angry bust-up of the 27-year SAG-AFTRA bargaining partnership.

INDUSTRY MOVES

• Rick Sands ended his two-plus year stint at MGM by stepping down from his chief operating officer post Wednesday. The studio said Sands is leaving to pursue other opportunities in entertainment and content. Sands declined comment. The move had been expected ever since Mary Parent took the reins of MGM’s worldwide motion picture group earlier this month, thus taking over many of Sands’ duties (Daily Variety, March 26).

• The Argentinean government has named Gabriel Mariotto chief of the federal broadcasting regulator Comfer, effective April 1. Previously the No. 2 at the federal government’s Media Department, Mariotto replaces Julio Barbaro, who resigned after four years for undisclosed reasons. The government is trying to improve administration at Comfer by moving it under the umbrella of the Media Department, which oversees state media company Sistema de Medios Publicos. Latter controls pubcaster Canal 7, a radio broadcaster and a newswire.

• China’s top search engine Baidu has announced two top-level hires in China as the Nasdaq-listed firm continues its expansion in the world’s fastest-growing major Internet market. Baidu said it has appointed Ye Peng as chief operating officer, effective April 25. Late last month, Baidu named Jennifer Li as chief financial officer, following the death of previous CFO Shawn Wang in an accident during the Christmas holidays. Ye joins Baidu from Apple China, where he served as country general manager. He previously worked for SatCom as managing director and for Motorola Mobile Business North Asia, as well as Nortel China and Nortel.

• Continuing its expansion, Los Angeles- and London-based sales company IM Global has added IM Global Television to its roster of international sales operations, with Gavin Reardon as prexy of the new division. The unit will acquire and license a wide range of TV and digital broadcast content, including made-for-TV movies, miniseries, episodic, reality and animated programming for international distribution. IM Global TV also kicks off with a film library of more than 100 titles. Reardon was most recently prexy of … And Action! Distribution.

TECHNOLOGY/ MILTI- PLATFORM CONTENT

• For signs of lingering impact from this year’s Writers Guild strike, look no further than NBC’s 2008-2009 lineup. Now that issues revolving around scribes and the Internet have been cleared for the time being, NBC Digital Entertainment is moving Peacock properties online in a big way. Net announced plans to run original “Heroes,” “Chuck” and “The Office” webisodes beginning in July. Net also announced a “30 Rock” online initiative — dubbed “30 Rock 360″ — that mirrors web platforms for “The Office,” “Heroes” and “Lipstick Jungle.”

• MTV Networks Latin America is launching preschooler-targeted channel Nick Jr. in the region. The likes of “Dora the Explorer,” “Go Diego,” and “Go! The Wonder Pets!” will be on 24 hours a daystarting in July. MTV has clinched carrier deals with Cablevision and satcaster Sky TV in Mexico. Other pacts, still under negotiation, will be announced shortly. “Nick Jr. programs had a two-hour block on Nickelodeon, but it made sense to expand it to 24 hours when we saw that 70% of preschoolers in the region already recognized Nick characters,” said MTV Latin America prexy Pierluigi Gazzolo. “Moreover, we found that most preschoolers prefer to watch their programs over and over again.” Launch will coincide with the debut of Nick Jr.’s broadband site, NickTurbo Jr., designed to offer children a multiplatform “Nickelodeon experience” through online and broadband content Nick Jr. will be the first channel to offer multiplatform content via online, video on demand and broadband to preschoolers in Latin America.

WEBSITES TO WATCH

http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/

Don’t forget to check out the 8-minute catch up reel of Battlestar Galactica on SciFi.com before the final season begins on Sc Fi on Friday night at 10 pm ET. It’s inspired, of course, by the 7 minute Sopranos.

http://www.joinred.com/

Environmental journalist Simran Sethi, host of Sundance Channel’s multiplatform The Green initiative, has created a new web series set to launch on Earth Day (April 22) called The Good Fight, muckraking into local environmental issues. Also look for digital tie-ins to the new Elton John/Elvis Costello series Spectacle: Elvis Costello with …, including a partnership with Product RED to raise awareness and funds for The Global Fund.

http://m.tvguide.com/

Web-enabled mobile phone users can enjoy a much improved TV Guide WAP site this week, designed to bring many of the customizable features and much of the editorial content from TV Guide.com to mobile handsets. Highlights include breaking news, show previews and recaps of shows set by the users.

http://www.deadcelldeadfriend.com/

Jessica Rose, no doubt lonely since her stint as LonelyGirl15 ended, landed another acting gig on a web thriller on the way from 60Frames called Blood Cell. It looks like what the Blair Witch Project might have been if David Cronenberg directed it.

http://www.riverwired.com/

Social Networking community RiverWild is greening up its act with a selection of best-of-web environmental content including top-rated videos, award-winning games and articles from some of the web’s more talented writers, bloggers, photographers, videographers and filmmakers.

SOURCES:

www.variety.com
www.cynopsis.com