Tom Cruise Talks Top Gun Follow-up

First Launched: December 20, 2011 11:07 AM EST Credit: Getty Premium La, Calif. -- Caption Tom Cruise attends the Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol within the Ziegfeld Theatre in NY City on December 19, 2011Will Maverick and Iceman be one anothers wingmen once again round the silver screen? According to Tom Cruise, his occasions of fighting MiGs is most likely not over! Access Hollywood taken up while using star within the NY premiere of Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol on Monday evening, where he revealed the chatter of a follow-up for the 1986 blockbuster isn't being removed. You understand, Tony which i and Jerry, we i i never thought relating to this. We i i never thought we are in a position to, Tom mentioned, mentioning to Top Gun director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. However love coping with people males and weve been exploring tales, the actor ongoing. Arrived at enter people planes on top Gun. That might be fun. Once we could figure that out, thatll be fun. And just how about 1996s Jerry Maquire, which in fact had audiences within the customers hands from the hands at hello? We must talk to [director] Cameron [Crowe] relating to this, Tom added. Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, that's already playing in IMAX and selected theaters, opens wide on Wednesday. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore to Reunite at SAGs

Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore Dick Van Dyke will reunite with his former co-star and TV wife, Mary Tyler Moore, at the SAG Awards, where he'll present her with the guild's 48th Life Achievement Award, executive producer Jeff Margolis announced Wednesday.Modern Family dominates SAG nominationsThe 86-year-old Van Dyke and Moore, 74, played Rob and Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66) before she went on to star in The Mary Tyler Moore Show.Moore, who earlier this year appeared on Hot in Cleveland, has seven Emmys and Tony. Past recipients of SAG's Life Achievement Award include Betty White, Clint Eastwood and Elizabeth Taylor.Mary Tyler Moore to receive SAG Lifetime Achievement AwardThe 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be broadcast live Sunday, Jan. 29 at 8/7c on TNT and TBS.

William Morris Headquarters Sold for $47.8 Million (Exclusive)

Donald Trump announced that he is backing out of moderating a Republican debate in Iowa on Dec. 27.our editor recommendsDonald Trump Scolds Michele Bachmann as Debate Implodes, Teases Return to Presidential RaceDonald Trump's GOP Debate: Rick Perry Becomes Fourth Candidate Who Won't Participate Why? Because the billionaire says he may still run. "It is very important to me that the right Republican candidate be chosen to defeat the failed and very destructive Obama Administration, but if that Republican, in my opinion, is not the right candidate, I am not willing to give up my right to run as an Independent candidate," Trump said in his statement. "Therefore, so that there is no conflict of interest within the Republican Party, I have decided not to be the moderator of the Newsmax debate." PHOTOS: 10 Hollywood Players That Will Make a Difference in the 2012 Elections Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were the only Republican candidates who had agreed to appear at the Dec. 27 debate moderated by Trump. After the announcement came that Trump would be moderating the Dec. 27, some of the candidates, including Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman, expressed their belief that the debate was just for spectacle and refused to attend. "This isn't about ratings for Donald Trump; this is about jobs for the American people," Huntsman told CNBC when he announced he would not participate. Several prominent Republicans have reportedly urged candidates to skip the event. They predicted it would be a media circus and a distraction from important issues. PHOTOS: The Movies and Stars Dems vs. GOPers Love (and Love to Hate) On Tuesday morning, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Trump, who admitted that he was wavering on his decision to moderate the debate. "The problem is the Republicans are afraid that if I run as an independent candidate, they don't want to have a debate and then have me announce that I'm running as an independent candidate," Trump told THR. Trump also told THR that he is still considering a run for president as an independent candidate. He told THR that he wouldn't make any announcements until after the finale of The Celebrity Apprentice. The new season premeires on Sunday, Feb. 12 and the finale airs May 20. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Box Office Politics: The Movies and Stars Dems vs. GOPers Love (and Love to Hate) Related Topics Donald Trump Politics

Mindy McCready Claims She Took Son To Save Him From Abusive Guardian

First Published: December 10, 2011 4:01 PM EST Credit: Getty Images LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption Mindy McCready is spotted at the World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on June 8, 2008Following the recent dramatic turn of events for Mindy McCready, the country singer has spoken out about what she claims really happened last week when authorities reported the singer and her 5-year-old son, Zander were missing. Im not a kidnapper, Im not an unfit mother, Im not a drug addict, Im not an alcoholic Im none of these things that have been said about me, McCready told Andrea Canning in an interview on Fridays 20/20. The singer also claimed she and the boy were sitting on a couch when U.S. Marshals entered the Arkansas home of her boyfriend and not in a closet as initially reported by law enforcement. [Zander] was screaming, Please dont touch me, please dont touch me, please dont touch my mommy. Leave me alone. I wanna be with my mommy, she said. McCready claimed officers entered the home in SWAT fashion, wearing riot gear. Were guns drawn? Canning asked. Yes, assault rifles, McCready answered. Zander saw all of it. As for what drove the embattled star currently six months pregnant with twins to take her son from her mother Gayle Inges custody, McCready said she was fed up with the court system and was willing to risk her freedom for the sake of her son. I have tried to comply, I have tried to follow the rules of the court, I have tried to be heard through the system. I did what the system told me to do in overabundance. I did it for four years, she said. And after four years do you know what I got? Nothing. I didnt even get unsupervised visitation. I would risk anything my life, my freedom I would risk for my child, she added. When asked if she knowingly broke the law, McCready replied, No, I do not at this moment and will not ever think that me taking my own child that I carried for nine months, that I gave birth to in the hospital by myself would ever be breaking the law and what I did was to protect my child. And theres not a person in the world thats ever gonna tell me that that is wrong. The singer went on to claim that Zander is miserable in the care of her mother, who has legal custody of the boy. He says that nana thats what he calls my mom is so mean, that her heart is black, McCready said, beginning to cry. And that shes so mean, she doesnt know how to be nice anymore. And shes not alone in her fears. In a signed affidavit obtained by 20/20, Inges mother (McCreadys grandmother) reportedly swore she had witnessed Zander being subjected to harsh discipline at the hand of Inge and that she feared that Zander would be physically harmed permanently. There are scars on Zanders back, McCready alleged. There are scars on his bottom and his legs from [a wooden] spoon. Inge denied the allegations, telling 20/20, I have been Zanders guardian for four-and-a-half years. There has been all kinds of scrutiny. He has never been abused in our care. The singer said that despite the drama of the last few weeks, she recently received good news regarding Zanders future. Oh gosh, I wish I could tell you, but everything is sealed, she told Canning, when asked what went down in a recent hearing before an Arkansas judge. Ill put it this way: Zander is in Arkansas and thats where hes going to stay for the time being. Youve had a rocky road to get to this point where you are right now. How can anyone trust you that you will continue to be a good mother and stay on this path that you are on? Canning asked. I have vigorously gone out and tried to learn from my mistakes and tried to better myself in every way possible, McCready said. Theres nobody that wants to be better at being me than me. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Yoko Ono Speaks Out on Anniversary of John Lennon's Death

Executives at OWN think they may have found a way to salvage Oprah Winfrey's struggling network: By catering more to an African-American audience. That may help ratings, but it would mean a dramatic shift, and one that could put the channel at odds with Winfrey's own brand.our editor recommendsSuze Orman's OWN Series Gets a Premiere DateDiscovery Communications CEO David Zaslav Urges Patience For OWN LaunchAnne Sweeney Tops THR's 2011 Women in Entertainment Power 100 ListGayle King Addresses Oprah Winfrey's Letter to Wendy Williams: Not Real PHOTOS: Hollywood's Top Earners According to OWN president Erik Logan and Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav, the silver lining in an otherwise bleak performance record for the network since its launch last January is that it's performing particularly well among its African-Americans audience members-especially with a reality show called Sweetie Pies that premiered in October. "Anytime you have a program that pops like Sweetie Pies did, you start looking at what drove it," Logan tells Adweek. "And we saw that the African-American audience really had a connection with that show. . . . We're going to look at ways to nurture and grow that." OWN has an average prime-time viewership of around 216,000 people, but Sweetie Pies enjoys an average audience of around 418,000, making it the highest rated show on the network by far. VIDEO: The 5 Best Clips From 'The Oprah Winfrey Show 'According to Logan, OWN executives will be taking the success of Sweetie Pies in that market into consideration when making future programming decisions, as well as trying to pitch OWN's success with African Americans to new advertisers. "We now have a new opportunity to tell the story to different advertisers that didn't think about buying OWN if you're trying to market your clients in an African-American marketplace," Logan said. "Our ad sales team now has the ability to open up those conversations." Discovery Communications launched OWN last January to much fanfare, but the network has been flagging since. In the face of dismal ratings, OWN ousted CEO Christina Norman, a veteran of MTV, in May, and installed Winfrey in her place in July. Discovery has also pumped millions into the network-around $254 million as of September-using that money to fund big-budget shows like Dr. Oz, with Oprah Winfrey Show alumnus Mehmet Oz, and Rosie O'Donnell's The Rosie Show. PHOTOS: Oprah Through the Years If indeed OWN does begin programming around the relative success of Sweetie Pies and catering to the African-American audience more specifically, it would be a dramatic departure from the formula for Winfrey's success, which she built with a wide, diverse fan base. "Oprah is a brand that goes far beyond the African-American market" said Tuna Amobi, senior media and entertainment analyst in Standard & Poor's U.S. Equity Research Services. "I don't know that it would be a good thing for OWN to so narrowly define its target." As he pointed out, the biggest potential pitfall for OWN would be that its advertising base could shrink. "The advertisers they would attract are different," he said. "It will be a narrower base." OWN's Logan insists the network is not embarking on a large-scale refocusing. "We're not going to sell out and just chase one demographic or segment," he said. "We're going to nurture the success we had with Sweetie Pies. . . . [But] it is our job to strike a balance. The Oprah brand is not niche. The Oprah brand is very broad. How we translate that to the screen is the challenge we have." PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Oscar Show Moments Related Topics Oprah Winfrey Discovery Communications

NFL's new TV deals worth billions yearly

CBS, Fox and NBC will probably be needing to pay much more for your Nfl under prospective deal renewal and possess to learn to purchase this. The Nfl is poised to produce off another explosion inside the sports TV rights boom, closing in on contract extensions with CBS, Fox and NBC that by themselves would generate greater than $3 billion in annual revenue from 2014-21. As Sports Business Daily first reported, NBC, CBS and Fox are poised to resume their current rights handles payment increases more than 60% -- only slightly less percentage-wise in comparison to massive "Monday Evening Football" extension the Nfl and ESPN signed in September. ESPN went from $1.1 billion to $1.9 billion yearly if the restored its Nfl deal. A comment in the new broadcaster deals is predicted later on this month or early next season. Network sources did not browse the deals, but speaking within the UBS Global Media and Communications summit in NY today, CBS Corp. Boss Leslie Moonves alluded on their behalf. "The price of poker is booming,Inch Moonves mentioned, "(but) a poor football game outrates most programming." Due to the improved requirement for live programming inside the Digital video recorder age, the charge increases aren't surprising, though they really are daunting. Fox (whose current Nfl package is regarded as the pricey, at $720 million yearly through 2013), CBS ($620 million) and NBC ($603 million) will all approach or shoot past the $1 billion-per-year mark inside their next deals. "It'll be tough for your broadcast systems to produce this lucrative," SNL Kagan senior analyst Deana Myers told Variety. "In the good year, it's basically break-even or unprofitable." Nevertheless the systems have little choice, because nothing can replicate everyone else figures the Nfl produces. Even on broadcast leaders CBS and Fox, Nfl viewership surpasses the large the majority of their shows. Too for NBC, there's no contest: "Sunday Evening Football" is regularly the Peacock's only program besides "WorkInch inside the primetime top 30. The Nfl required to safeguard against labor strife this summer season to acquire itself back round the playing area, but permanently reason. If you mix the arrival broadcast network handles people of ESPN and DirecTV Sunday Ticket, the league earns additional than $6 billion in TV revenue from 2014. Now, the systems should try to learn how you can pay it. "By using this large from the rise without getting that large of the rise in advertising, (the systems) are likely gonna need to have a look at stations for just about any greater cut of retrans costs," Myers mentioned. Because the expectation is clients could eventually absorb the cost in the rights increases, Myers noted the growing chance of pushback in the systems. "More often than not there's talk on sides," Myers mentioned, "in regards to the network wanting more earnings to pay for more programming, as well as the operator side saying, 'We shouldn't purchase this.' Especially if you are a over-the-air network, people will get that totally free once they want. ... In my opinion there's apt to be debate and turmoil surrounding license costs and retrans costs." That's before adding a completely new Thursday-evening package of eight games, the chance of expansion around the the spanish language language-language nets or even the chance that later on, how big the Nfl regular season will expand from 16 to 18 games. Myers signifies there is a place where the sports rights rocket ship will plateau. "In my opinion there should be considered a restriction,Inch she mentioned. "You can't get increases every year which are hooking up a lot more than inflation. You've had a troubled economy and several pushback from comsumers." Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

Heyman will get Film Showman recognition

Hollywood publicists have drawn on David Heyman, producer of Warner Bros.' Harry Potter films, to get their Film Showman of the season award. The kudo will be provided in the 49th annual Publicists Honours Lunch to become held in the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February. 24. The publicists, repped with the Intl. Cinematographers Guild, made the announcement Tuesday through ICG leader Steven Poster and Henri Bollinger, honours committee chairman. Heyman's creating Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity," starring Robert Downey Junior., and "The Curious Incident from the Dog within the Evening-Time," to become scripted and directed by Steve Kloves. John Lasseter won the recognition this past year. Other recent those who win include James Cameron, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, Judd Apatow and Amy Pascal with Michael Lynton. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

ABC Family renews 'Liars'

ABC Family people have restored hourlong drama "Pretty Little Liars" for just about any third season. "Liars" received a 24-episode order for season three, expected once again to begin in June. Greater than 2.5 million audiences have up-to-date normally throughout its second season, which resumes Jan. 2 getting a switch from Tuesdays to Mondays. The series features an ensemble of Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Carol Marie Hair hair combs, Lucy Hale, Ian Harding, Laura Leighton, Chad Lowe, Shay Mitchell and Sasha Pieterse. I. Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick and Leslie Morgenstein professional produce "Liars" for Alloy Entertainment in colaboration with Warner Horizon Television. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

Movieline's Interactive Shame Map: Explore NYC With Director Steve McQueen

comments: 3 || add yours Among the most admired (and controversial) films of 2011 is also one of the most striking NY-set movies in years: Shame, director Steve McQueen’s unflinching glimpse inside the life of Manhattan professional Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender) as he struggles with sex addiction and his reckless sibling Sissy (Carey Mulligan). The quotidian nature of Brandon’s routine — subway commutes, nondescript office work, late-night jogs — not only mask his emotional freefall, but belie the everyday tensions, pleasures, challenges and privileges associated with living in one of the world’s most intoxicating cities. Now you can tryst where Brandon trysts, drink where Brandon drinks, and brood where Brandon broods thanks to Movieline’s interactive Shame location map. McQueen, who first visited NY as a child in 1977, said his ensuing trips to the city commenced an enduring fascination with the its inhabitants and functions. “I remember Elvis dying and the blackout,” he recalled in a recent chat with Movieline. “But the thing about Brandon — and it was very meticulous — was where he would live, where he would work, how he would travel to work, what he would eat, where he would eat, take-out, where he would do his laundry… etcetera, etcetera. So that was, for me, very important to me. By coincidence, people talk about it being a ‘NY movie,’ but really, it was about his ritual. That was it.” After developing international renown as both a visual artist and a feature filmmaker (his debut Hunger, also starring Fassbender, won the Cannes Film Festival’s Camera D’Or prize in 2008), McQueen returned to NY for his second film — but only after he was essentially rebuffed in his first choice of London. “No one would talk to us,” McQueen said. “I think it was a time when sex addiction was very much in the media, and I think people just went underground. Of course, people very wary of the British media in London, and I think people thought we were a part of that, and that therefore they couldn’t talk to anyone. So it was myself and Abi Morgan who flew to NY and talked to two experts in the field who happened to live here. Then they in turn introduced us to people who had the addiction or were recovering from the addiction, and I thought to myself, ‘Well, why don’t we just shoot it in NY?’ And that was it.” McQueen’s sense for the city only translated so far to its practical locations, however. Enter David Velasco, a veteran location manager and scout and native NYer. “I’d already known of Steven off of Hunger,” Velasco explained. “I was a big fan of that film, and that immediately piqued my interest. And when he explained the subject matter, that extra-piqued my interest. So when I got the script, I gave it a read-through, and right after the first read, I called him back right away and was like, ‘I’d love to do this. What do you need me to do to get on this project?’” Working in concert with McQueen, cinematographer Sean Bobbitt and production designer Judy Becker, Velasco helped pin down a list of sites to evoke not just Brandon’s story, but Brandon himself. In the tradition of our interactive Drive map from earlier this fall, click on the map below for more information on each Shame location, and see each in action when Shame rolls out this Friday, Dec. 2, in limited release. (WARNING: Some spoilers follow.) Brandon’s ApartmentAddress: 9 West 31st Street, 15th FloorMcQueen: “Something that’s fascinating to me about NYers is that they live and work in the sky. It’s amazing. They live and work in the sky. And what it does, of course, is [introduce] a situation where there’s always a huge bloody window. There’s always a huge vista on the city, and you’re always framed by the city. I think it’s kind of interesting, because being framed by the city, you’re always in perspective of the city — and your own perspective of the city. It can actually be quite lonely in a way — to have that view all the time and be in the frame of this huge metropolis. What are you within that metropolis? What am I? Who am I? You’re always questioning in this view.”Velasco: “The apartment is actually an empty apartment that we scored in the building. It was a one-bedroom, empty, on the market. Luckily we came across it. It was one of those fluke things where it happened to be available. I immediately jumped in there and talked to management and was able to secure it and hold it for the span of a month, and luckily there was another apartment that freed up for logistical purposes to use as a staging space. As you can imagine, it was a super-tight location to shoot in.”McQueen: “Logistically it’s helpful to have everything in the same location — less time-consuming, to be honest. But also, I don’t see the reason why you’d want to make it any different. It is his building. This is Brandon — this is a way we identify with him, get to know him. This is it. It’s integral to the film, the same way that music he picks to play — the Glenn Gould — is integral to Brandon, too. There’s no way around that. I’m not making a TV commercial; I’m making a movie.” Velasco: “All the other units were occupied; there were people across the hall, down the hall… We were surrounded by people. [Did you encounter any problems?] I kid you not: Not one complaint from one neighbor the entire time we were there. If anything, people were super-curious. At that point, Michael was starting to get some serious press because of the upcoming X-Men movie that was coming out. If anything, people were starting to poke around and catch a glimpse; they heard, ‘Oh, Michael Fassbender’s in the bulding.’”↑ Brandon’s Apartment The Flatiron bachelor pad occupied by our protagonist and his sister. Read more 28 St N/R Address: Intersection of Broadway and West 28th StreetMcQueen: “It’s like rituals — it’s like tai chi: You follow the movement, and wherever the movement leads you, you go to it. Some place we wound up shooting were very ugly — the lot where Brandon runs back to his apartment or wherever. But you work with it, because those kinds of limitations are beautiful to me because I have to work with that. Again, I am not making TV commercials about being in a beautiful spot, and ‘This is gorgeous,’ and, ‘Oh, isn’t this great?’ None of that. It is about how people move and operate in the city. Like the subway. He takes the subway. It is what it is. Do you know what I mean? And I love that because it’s limiting, but it gives me so much. That’s the thing: It gives you so much that you have to deal with. Sometimes it’s a huge problem to have to deal with it, but it’s like… No. It gives you shit.”Velasco: “The interesting thing with Steve from the very beginning was that his whole thing was, because of the nature of the material, Michael’s character has to be relatable — real, authentic — for the audience to make a connection. So when we started to lock down this world — like when we picked his apartment for instance — that’s why that train got picked. Right away, Steven said, ‘Well, if Brandon lives in this neighborhood, what train would he take to get the work?’ And Judy and I are from NY; we know it inside and out. So we said, ‘Yeah, 28th Street. Totally.’ Or in the jogging scene: ‘What direction would he go jogging in?’ Well, he would go toward the Hudson River. The train wound up being closest to his apartment building.”↑ 28 St N/R Brandon’s nearest subway stop, where he leaves each day for work and returns with a strange premonition after his all-nighter. Read more Brandon’s officeAddress: Citigroup Center, 601 Lexington AvenueVelasco: “There was a floor controlled by a legal company, and Judy had actually shot something there in a corner office not that long ago, but she remembered there had been this whole other wing to the floor that she had been on that nobody had bothered to do anything with. So we went up there with Steve and checked it out — checked out the sightlines — and made a deal. If I’m not mistaken, a couple months after we started shooting there, the legal company that owned the floor was in the process of gutting it out. So what you see on the screen no longer exists. I believe that might have been on the 33rd floor.”↑ Brandon’s office Where our protagonist works at an undisclosed job and crashes his computer with porn; seen only from the interior. Read more Sissy’s performance/Brandon and Marianne’s trystAddress: The Standard Hotel, 848 Washington StreetVelasco: “Steven had spent time at The Standard when visiting NY, so during the process of him writing the script with Abi Morgan, he had always pictured that scene with Carey being there. Originally we thought we’d think about The Standard, but maybe we’d go find something else. But as time went on, and the more discussions we had, we said, ‘Well, if The Standard is where you want to be, and it’s what you imagined when you wrote it, why don’t we just do it there?’ It took some finagling with the hotel; they’re very particular about who does what there. Most of what they’ve ever allowed at The Standard is photo shoots. I think the only thing other than Shame that ever shot there was a piece of an episode of Gossip Girl — and that was like two people in a corner booth somewhere. You never even knew it was The Standard; it was just like this throwaway thing. […] The only reason that even happened was because one of the higher-ups on the board at The Standard was a fan of Steven’s — not just his movie work, but his work as a visual artist. It was for that reason that the door was cracked open and we were able to slip in.”McQueen: [Was the impulse again about being in the sky?] “I kept on being up in the sky. I had just come off this plane; I was stuck in the sky. NYers tilt their head to one side and look at me and say, ‘Is this guy crazy?’ But the views — when you look out at that broken jetty from The Standard Hotel? It’s amazing. It’s like people: some submerged, some with their heads just above water. It was that. The ordinary for me here is extraordinary. That’s what it was about. But at the same time, I’m not going for shots. I’m looking at how people move.”Velasco: [On The Standard’s reputation for guests having sex in the windows] “What’s interesting about all that is when Steven first wrote the script, and I met with him and his producer Iain [Canning], I casually mentioned, ‘It’s interesting reading these scenes, because that’s actually happened at The Standard.’ And they looked at me kind of confused at first and asked, ‘What are you talking about?’ And I literally Googled ‘Standard Hotel’ and some other configuration for images and said, ‘Yeah: People have actually had sex against the glass, and it’s caused problems with the city.’ They were unaware that was a situation with the hotel. [Did the hotel management have apprehensions about the scenes or the subject matter?] Talking to the hotel about it, it’s something they really can’t control. People will complain and call the city, but going into it we were very clear about laying out exactly the nature of what we were trying to do with regard to the script. We didn’t sugarcoat anything, but we also made a point of saying, ‘It’s not a gratuitous thing.’ […] Of all things, the one thing that got the hotel rep nervous was that moment where Fassbender does a line of cocaine. ‘Oh my God — he’s actually gonna do coke?’ And I was like, ‘The coke bothers you, but everything else is OK? All right; that’s interesting.’” ↑ The Standard Hotel Sissy performs “NY, NY” at the hotel’s top-floor nightclub; Brandon and Marianne tryst on the 12th floor. Read more Business drinks (and “Shots!”)Address: Flatiron Lounge, 37 West 19th StreetMcQueen: “David was a genius. I spoke to him about bars that people go to and what not. We talked about that, and that was it. He did his research. That bar was perfect — the first bar he goes to with his boss to pick up girls. It’s just one of those things where you walk in and say, ‘This is good; this makes sense.’”Velasco: “We searched for that for a while. It needed to feel like the kind of place that Brandon and his boss would go to after work, so we looked at a lot of different options for that. We came across that right as we were going into our last two weeks of preproduction — it’s one of the last things we settled on. It has some interesting detail to it, interior-wise. I believe we were there for actually two days.”↑ Flatiron Lounge Brandon and his boss have business drinks with clients and exchange tequila shots with a trio of women. Read more Broken pedestrian signalAddress: Corner of West 31st Street and 7th AvenueVelasco: “That’s kind of an interesting story. When we arrived there that night to shoot that run — which wasn’t an easy thing to get the city to allow us to do, but they relented — there was a food cart guy on that corner. Obviously he was in the shot where we wanted Fassbender to land before he crosses Seventh Avenue. So we actually asked him, ‘Can you move your cart?’ And the guy was nice about it; he’s like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ But he was kind of flaky, because he backed his cart up into the post, and apparently broke the signal. It was just hanging there. But Steve liked it: ‘Hey, let’s just leave it there.’ ‘All right; it’s your movie.’”McQueen: “We could have put it back, but I left it like that. It was perfect. It was gorgeous. He knocked it down, and was like, ‘The police…’ ‘No, no, leave it. It’s fantastic. Wonderful.’ It was hand-in-glove for us. Perfect for that moment when Brandon is jogging on the spot before he crosses. It was genius.” ↑ Broken pedestrian signal The corner where Brandon interrupts his fraught late-night jog. Read more Brandon’s thinking spotAddress: Pier 54, Hudson River at West 13th StreetVelasco: “The pier where he’s at when he’s looking at New Jersey at night, that’s the one he goes back to during the day — the exact same spot as before. Basically, Steve wanted that because in the story, [Brandon]’s from New Jersey. So he’d go down there occasionally to look at where he grew up — for whatever reason. That’s why he ends up going back down there toward the end.”McQueen: “The thing about Brandon — and it was very meticulous — was where he would live, where he would work, how he would travel to work, what he would eat, where he would eat, take-out, where he would do his laundry… etcetera, etcetera. So that was, for me, very important to me. By coincidence, people talk about it being a ‘NY movie,’ but really, it was about his ritual. That was it.” ↑ Pier 54 Brandon visits the Pier for a smoke before dinner with Marianne — and a breakdown after seeing Sissy in the hospital. Read more InotecaAddress: 98 Rivington StreetVelasco: “Judy and Steven both liked the intimacy of the location for one; two, the neighborhood it was in felt right.” [The server is vaguely incompetent, but isn’t that place renowned for knowledgeable servers and sommeliers?] Well, as far as the whole waiter part of it… We scouted a lot in preproduction — it was myself, Steven, Sean and Judy in a minivan going all over the city looking at location options. And in the course of that, we would always trade stories, especially Judy and myself, about going out to dinner, or great waiters or terrible waiters. And apparently it made an impression, because the next thing you know we’re watching them play this scene out and seeing the waiter do his thing, and we just started to laugh. He would do that a lot: Ask us or pick our brains, because again, he always wanted to draw from something real.”↑ Inoteca The Lower East Side eatery where Brandon takes his coworker Marianne on a date. Read more Brandon’s beatingAddress: Parkside Lounge, 317 East Houston StreetVelasco: “It’s a great bar. They’ve got that pool table in the back. We were there for I think one day of shooting. I remember taking Steven there for the first time; the minute he looked at it, he said, ‘This is great; this is where we want to do it.’ So that worked out perfect. [Where does he get beaten up?] That’s the corner right outside. The camera is facing Houston; you’re actually right next to the bar. It’s right there as soon as you walk out.” ↑ Parkside Lounge Brandon makes a new friend and a new enemy before taking a beating from the latter outside. Read more The nightclubAddress: Quo (exterior), 511 West 28th Street; The Eagle (interior upstairs), 554 W. 28th Street; Le Trapeze (interior downstairs), 17 East 27th StreetVelasco: [What’s the club that shuts Brandon out?] “That’s not even a club; that’s just an industrial storage locker. That’s the best way to describe it. It’s just some random guy who stores propane tanks in there. That’s technically the club entrance. [And then he crosses the street to a place called Quo?] That was one of the only times we actually did a Frankenstein and just created a location. It was such a specific thing that Steven wanted. It didn’t even start out that way: The bar he winds up in is Quo, which was on 28th Street. But when he walks in — that blackened room he walks into with the neon and he’s following the guy? That’s a leather bar also on 28th called The Eagle. And then we cut to the inside of one of the last active sex clubs in NY City — a place called Le Trapeze. That’s where you find him going through that blood-red labyrinth. They have this hidden upstairs area; we didn’t even know it was there. We were just about to leave, and Judy noticed some spiral stairs. ‘Hey, what’s that?’ And we walk upstairs and go, ‘Oh, this is nuts.’ And then he winds up in that booth — that booth was actually the only thing we built on a stage. Judy built that to mirror the labyrinth that we saw. So really it’s four different pieces that made up that one location.” ↑ The nightclub Shut out of his first choice after the beating, Brandon stakes out the gay club across the street. Read more Also see: Williamsburg BridgeAddress: Delancey Street at FDR Drive ↑ Williamsburg Bridge Brandon and his Flatiron Lounge conquest go for a quickie against a wall beneath the bridge. Read more Delancey F/J/M/Z subway stopAddress: Intersection of Delancey Street at Essex Street ↑ Delancey F/J/M/Z Brandon walks Marianne back to the train after their dinner and conversation. Read more Fulton St. ExchangeAddress: Intersection of Fulton Street at William Street ↑ Fulton St. Exchange Brandon follows the nameless redhead from the subway off the train and up the stairs. Read more To read more on Steve McQueen’s Shame, click here. Tagged: carey mulligan, david velasco, judy becker, michael fassbender, sean bobbitt, shame, steve mcqueen

Rachel Weisz Joins The Railway Man

She's on for the Colin Firth dramaColin Firth already has the benefit of a compelling story for his next film, The Railway Man, and now he's getting some superb acting support in the shape of Rachel Weisz.Jonathan Teplitzky is directing the real-life tale of World War II veteran Eric Lomax. Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson have adapted Lomax's eponymous autobiography, which charts his capture and torture by the Japanese army and his forced work on the notorious "death railway" in what was once known as Burma.War Horse's Jeremy Irvine has been cast as the younger Lomax, and Weisz will play the older version's wife, Patti. While earlier reports had Lomax going after his captors in order to get some vengeful closure, Variety now more accurately reports that he actually makes peace with his former torturers with the support of his wife.Teplitzky will kick off shooting this coming February in Australia. Weisz was last seen in Dream House (though she probably wants to forget that) and will next be seen in Terrence Malick's latest, still-untitled project and The Bourne Legacy. She's also been busy working on Oz, The Great And Powerful.

Sarah Palin Angered Roger Ailes by Not Announcing Presidential Campaign Plans on Fox News (Report)

Sarah Palin upset her bosses at Fox News when she decided to announce her decision not to run for president on the cable news network, NY Magazine reported, citing anonymous sources.our editor recommendsSarah Palin Calls For Hanging of Jerry Sandusky During Fox News Appearance (VIDEO)Orlando Jones Apologizes for Advising Liberals to 'Kill Sarah Palin'Sarah Palin Book Publisher, Author Under Fire After Personal E-mails LeakLevi Johnston and Sarah Palin Book Debuts Bomb The Fox News commentator -- and former reality star and governor of Alaska -- reportedly angered network chief Roger Ailes by choosing to announce her intentions on Mark Levin's talk-radio show Oct. 5. The reveal came after months of speculation about her plans and got a bit lost amid the news of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' death. PHOTOS: 10 Hollywood Players That Will Make a Difference in the 2012 Elections Later that night, she gave a follow-up interview on Fox News' On the Record With Greta Van Susteren. Ailes was reportedly so upset by Palin's handling of the announcement that he considered refusing to put her on the air again and letting the remainder of her $1 million contract expire in 2013. PHOTOS: 10 Entertainers Democrats and Republicans Love to Hate "I paid her for two years to make this announcement on my network," Ailes is said to have told Fox News executive vp Bill Shine at the time. Shine then called Palin's reps, who discussed the matter with Palin, who then apologized. PHOTOS: Actors Who've Played Politicians As for why she reached out to Levin to make her announcement rather than Fox News, Palin is said to be upset that Fox News regularly employs Karl Rove as a contributor. The two have a history of feuding with each other. Meanwhile, the NY Magazine reports that Palin and Ailes' relationship is still tense, with Palin not providing the ratings boost he was expecting when he hired her. Related Topics Sarah Palin Roger Ailes Fox News Channel Politics

Quincy Manley to chair Asia Acad of Music

JonesThe Asia Academy of Music Arts & Sciences, launched in June like a kind of Asian counterpart to NARAS situated in Singapore, has named Quincy Manley as chairman of the board of governors. "I have developed some wonderful associations while using music and business cities in the region,In . mentioned Quincy Manley, who told Variety that he's been going to Asia as well as the Off-shoreline Rim since the late '50s. "Once I was approached to participate the board in the AAMAS, I felt it absolutely was a good chance to hold onto collaborate while using artistic community there and mentor their youthful artists,Inch added the 27-time Grammy champion, who offered as artistic director for your 2008 Summer season Olympics in Beijing with Ang Lee, and co-written the theme song in the recent World Expo in Shanghai with Tan Dun. Furthermore, Manley assists as professional producer of "Meet Up,Inch AAMAS's maiden event designed to gather the most effective talent from different nations in Asia to complete together. The show will probably be recorded live in Hainan, China and broadcast throughout Asia in April. Beverly Slopes-based management company ROAR, which reps Manley and AAMAS, introduced the parties. "The music activity and abilities of Quincy Manley have defined multiple decades of artists and fans around the globe,In . mentioned Robert Farina, co-founding father of AAMAS, in the statement. "His leadership and counsel as chairman within our board of governors will probably be invaluable which we're honored by his commitment and passion for the growth and development of the music activity industry throughout Asia." AAMAS -- made up of roughly 11,000 recording artists, composers, producers, label professionals and specialists -- calls itself Asia's "first-ever peer driven Academy established to recognition and award excellence inside the arts and sciences of music, also to promote collaboration between all industries in the music business across Asia as well as the world." Located in Singapore, AAMAS' make-up includes Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Nz, Philippines, Singapore, Columbia, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. Contact Steve Chagollan at steve.chagollan@variety.com

New Line A Weight Rampage

Classic video game will get new lifeSince monsters both large and small continue to be a hot property for galleries to shape films around, and game titles remain a resource of inspiration, it had been only dependent on time before Half way Games' eighties classic monster mash Rampage was specific for cinematification.Rampage follows three humans who're mutated right into a giant ape (although not King Kong), a huge lizard (although not Godzilla) along with a giant werewolf (very few giant werewolves have legendary status, so that they did not have to be worrying a lot about that certain) and hang about wrecking city blocks as the military naturally attempts to stop them. The item of the overall game ended up being to cause just as much destruction as you possibly can. Fun!As the title continues to be up-to-date through the years, the classic 8-bit and arcade version is the one which likely still remains within the minds of individuals from the right age to possess loved the destruction.New Line has set Final Destination/Horrible Bosses producer John Rickard the job of getting a creative team to create the film version to existence, most probably finding some relatable human story among all of the madness...

Jeffrey Wright moves to 'Broken City'

Jeffrey Wright has grew to become an associate of cast of Allen Hughes' "Broken City," joining Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe inside the NY City crime thriller. Wahlberg stars just like a Brooklyn detective hired having a effective politician (Crowe) to identify his wife's lover, who's subsequently found and destroyed. Wright may have police force commissioner which has a more sophisticated history while using Crowe's character. Justin Chambers, James Ransone and Griffin Dunne recently grew to become an associate from the cast, including Catherine Zeta-Manley, Craig Pepper and Alona Tal. Pic was packed by Emmett/Furla, scripted by John Tucker which is skedded for release on Jan. 18, 2013 by last century Fox. Wright, repped by CAA, was last noticed in "Ides of March." He'll also appear in Stephen Daldry's "Very Noisy and very Close," which Warner Bros. opens in limited release on Christmas. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

Horsedreams

Michael Laurence, Roxanna Hope and Matthew Schechter in "Horsedreams" A Rattlestick Playwrights Theater presentation of the play in a single act by Dael Orlandersmith. Directed by Gordon Edelstein.Desiree - Roxanna Hope Loman - Michael Laurence Mira - Dael Orlandersmith Luka - Matthew SchechterNY City was junkie paradise (and hell) within the seventies, a period that Dael Orlandersmith sights from an unconventional perspective in "Horsedreams." The dope addicts within this harrowing tale aren't any hopeless ghetto lowlifes, but high-flying Wall Street yuppies who recklessly have fun with fire simply because they think they are invincible. Although there's natural drama in watching the disintegration of the youthful husband and wife who become totally hooked on hard drugs, the possible lack of theatricality within the presentational style proves deadly. With what is basically a long aria, a red-colored-headed beauty named Desiree (Roxanna Hope) takes us with the steps of her descent from the party girl having a nose for blow to some pathetic junkie having a hot needle in her own arm. After Desiree's harsh dying, her husband, Loman (Michael Laurence), a effective corporate lawyer with both ft around the steps for success, accumulates the narrative with another endless monologue chronicling their own descent into junkie hell. Both thesps sweat it, under Gordon Edelstein's direction, to create some nuance to Desiree and Loman. But both figures are extremely shallow, so missing in self-awareness, it's nearly impossible to operate up some sympathy on their behalf. With everybody speaking in monologues, there is not any drama to talk of before the playwright introduces various other two figures: the couple's preternaturally intelligent 10-year-old boy, Luka (a superbly natural performance through the amazing Matthew Schechter), and Luka's nanny, Mina (given a sincere performance through the playwright). Luka and Mina are ready (and wise enough) to challenge Loman's delusion that he's just "using the edge off" his anxieties and it is "totally in charge" of his drug habit. But rather than letting Loman from the leash so he may finally communicate with another individual, Orlandersmith keeps him in aria mode until he works in speaking themself to dying. The raw material with this piece is strong stuff. However it cries out for any more dramatic form.Sets, Takeshi Kata costumes, Kaye Voyce lighting, Marcus Doshi seem, Ryan Rumery production stage manager, Sunneva Stapleton. Opened up November. 17, 2011. Examined November. 16. Running time: one hour, 25 MIN. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Stor Fisk's 'Fungi' goes Awol

BARCELONA -- Stor Fisk has licensed most worldwide sales privileges on toon series "Fungi" to Julie Fox's Paris-based Awol Animation. Mango Distribution, that is co-possessed through the Philippines' Top Draw Animation and Australia's Sticky Pictures, is selling Australia, Nz and Asia, outdoors Japan. Awol will handle Europe, U.S. and Latin America. A Barcelona-based pre-school and youngsters toon studio, Stor Fisk is creating "Fungi" with Catalan pubcaster TV3 and Top Draw. First program sales to Latin America and Germany have been in the whole shebang, stated Stor Fisk's Pablo Jordi. Directed by SF partners Jordi and Veronica Lassenius, the 26-seg "Fungi" narrates the mystery-fixing adventures of two kids -- Max, a music performer, and also the imaginative Frida. Both of them live at Fungihouse, an ebullient community of Undergrounders, where everyone uses fungi -- truffles -- for food, clothing, medicine as well as hats. Targeted at 4-8s, "Fungi" mixes fantasy with realism along with a Scandinavian style -- Lassenius is really a Finn Jordi acknowledged the influence of Scandinavian picture books -- having a cosmopolitan air. One family's accents vary from American to British to Scandinavian. "This mixture is original, but quite realistic. 'Fungi' is occur an illusion setting but offers realistic situations," Jordi told Variety. First full episodes is going to be ready by next Feb. A flagship toon production from Catalonia, "Fungi" comes off energetic condition financing within the North-east The spanish language region from both pubcaster TV3 and also the ICIC Catalan Institute of Cultural Industries, stated Jordi. TV3 plows about 3 million ($4.a million) each year into local animation production annually. It's co-creating 24 productions, stated TV3 animation co-producer Oriol Sala Patau. Five Catalan TV toon projects tested at September's Cartoon Forum: "Funghi," "The Mint Fairy," "Perfect Teeth," "Evening Breeds" and "Wilbur Willmore." "Fungi" has attracted lower a motivation from Spain's ICAA The spanish language Film Institute, plus development gold coin in the EU's Media Program. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Last Man Standing Enlists Reba Showrunner to Replace Series Creator

Last Man Standing Last Man Standing will soon have a new man in charge, Deadline reports. Series creator Jack Burditt has asked to leave the Tim Allen comedy after suffering a family tragedy earlier this year. Kevin Abbott is set to take over following the Thanksgiving holiday. Reba McEntire plots return to TV on ABC comedy Burditt had been on an extended leave of absence. Abbott, who previously took over as showrunner of Reba midway through its series run, is currently setting up a new pilot for Reba McEntire. He'll serve as showrunner on both shows if the McEntire project, Malibu Country, is picked up for the 2012-2013 TV season. Abbott is just waiting to get approval from TV Land, where he is under contract and serves as a consulting producer on Retired at 35.

Oscar turmoil: Murphy's out, Grazer in?

Eddie Murphy won' more host the Oscars, while his 'Tower Heist' producer John Grazer (left) may a part of for your recently departed Brett Ratner. The status in the Oscar telecast is at an ailment of flux Wednesday, with Eddie Murphy tugging out as host the morning after producer Brett Ratner walked lower over his usage of an anti-gay slur. AMPAS came out being scrambling for quick substitutes, with John Grazer's title emerging early since the Academy of motion Picture Arts and Sciences' top producer choice, Variety confirmed.AMPAS wouldn't discuss the Grazer gossips after leader Tom Sherak introduced Wednesday morning that Murphy has withdrawn as host in the 84th Academy awards."I appreciate how Eddie feels about losing his creative partner, Brett Ratner, which all of us wish him well," mentioned Sherak.Stated Murphy, "To begin with If only to condition which i understand fully and support each party's decision regarding a large change of producers with this particular year's Academy awards ceremony. I used to be truly searching toward being a component of the demonstrate that our production team and authors were just beginning to develop, but I know the completely new production team and host will perform a similarly champion.InchMurphy's announcement finishes four occasions of dialogue that began when Ratner mentioned "Practicing is ideal for fags" inside a Q&A session carrying out a screening of his "Tower Heist" in Hollywood, a sexually explicit phone interview on "The Howard Stern Show." Furthermore, it leaves the Academy in the start gates for your 2012 telecast, even though org is predicted to announce a completely new producer soon. Typically, the telecast producer makes up about organizing several, with input within the Academy, which describes why Murphy bowed out quickly. Whoever is called the completely new producer -- whether Grazer or any other person -- works together veteran live-TV producer Don Mischer, who remains in place. Reps for your "J. Edgar" producer did not immediately return messages.You will want to explain the Academy's business of supplying 24 Oscars on Feb. 27 occupies a lot in the three-hour telecast any host and producer is thought to experience a little under 40 minutes of your energy for just about any monologue and showing the presenters.When Ratner was named producer in August, he quickly triggered Murphy as host, with whom the director done his latest film, "Tower Heist" -- which Grazer appeared to become a producer. Contact Christy Grosz at christy.grosz@variety.com

Surprise! Brett Ratner Out As Oscar Producer

Brett Ratner Describes His Oscar Resignation Academy Statement On Brett Ratner’s Resignation GLAAD Plans Public Forums On LGBT Images Brett Ratner Likely To Participate UPDATE: The Academy is not departing comments beyond the statement it launched about Brett Ratner’s resignation, however’m told the search will begin quickly for the next producer to participate Don Mischer in putting together the Oscarcast. The expectation is appropriate now is always that Eddie Murphy will hang in as Oscar host. It is also apparent that although AMPAS leader Tom Sherak pledged to back Ratner as extended while he didn’t ruin again, a chorus of Academy people, stars and filmmakers, were so upset by Ratner’s homophobic comment and also the lewd comments round the Howard Stern radio demonstrate that the Academy was under extreme pressure to lower him. EARLIER: Brett Ratner has walked lower as Oscar producer, carrying out a slew of dumb public claims that put the Academy in the terrible situation. This comes several hours after Academy leader Tom Sherak mentioned he banded behind Ratner despite his while using the word “fag” in the Q&A to market Tower Heist, and speaking graphically about his sex existence round the cable tv show Attack in the Show as well as in a mobile phone interview while using Howard Stern show. From a few things i’m told, the Academy board met and backed Sherak’s decision to manage behind Ratner, nevertheless the filmmakers finally put inside the towel. I doubt anybody tried to speak him from this. Now, the finest question for you is: Will Eddie Murphy stick to as Oscar host? I wouldn’t be blown away any time Tower Heist‘s lackluster box office and many types of this maelstrom, Murphy might question why he ever mentioned yes to start with, which he features a perfect out. Another question for you is, who'll end up being the new Oscar producer? The Academy could make its list quickly. I’m told that they're searching carefully at NY stage producer Scott Sanders before they provided the surprising decision to supply the job to Ratner. Maybe they'll go back to him or one of the other producers who’ve done the show before, an inventory including Joe Roth and Laurence Mark. This really is really the statement: Beverly Slopes, CA Today, Brett Ratner published his resignation just like a producer in the 84th annual Academy awards to Academy Leader Tom Sherak. Ratner then launched an empty letter for the entertainment industry through which he referred to his decision. “He did the very best factor for your Academy too for themselves,” Sherak mentioned. “Words have meaning, and they have effects. Brett is a superb person, but his comments were unacceptable. Most of us hope it is really an opportunity to boost awareness in regards to the harm that's triggered by reckless and insensitive remarks, regardless of intent.”

Indies find opportunities at AFM

Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper in "The Words." D'AmicoFordAs the 32nd American Film Market wraps, the indie sector is feeling optimistic about the Hollywood studios' move away from mid-budget projects, though sellers are feeling the pinch from worldwide economic woes. "We are continuing to filling a void for what used to be studio projects," noted Myriad Pictures CEO Kirk D'Amico after his sales-financing banner came on to co-finance Neil LaBute's "Seconds of Pleasure," with Mike Figgis to direct a cast including Matt Dillon, Julia Stiles, Brendan Fraser, Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Hendricks."Seconds," due to go into production next summer, was developed and is produced by Scottish broadcaster STV. Myriad's already sold Switzerland and Turkey but hasn't sold major markets since buyers want to review LaBute's script."It's not like the old days, when you could get a director onboard and start making deals on selling territories," D'Amico noted. "Everyone's much more careful. The European financial crisis has created volatility, and that doesn't help this market, but for Myriad, AFM has been a continuum of the good Sundance and Berlin, a very solid Cannes and a very positive Toronto."Stuart Ford of IM Global reported more than respectable response on a quartet of new projects -- Jason Statham actioner "Hummingbird"; "Dead Man Down," starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace with Neil Moritz producing; "Blood," starring Paul Bettany, Brian Cox and Stephen Graham; and 3D musical "Walking on Sunshine.""Performance has been very solid on new big titles," Ford told Variety. "There were no big surprises -- and anyone who came in expecting a bumper market was going to be disappointed because the economic situation in Western Europe has been impacting pricing. The buyer appetite is there, but they're also limited by economic restrictions."That's the emerging consensus at the end of AFM -- sales were solid but not spectacular, particularly given the high level of sales earlier in the year at Cannes. "People bought so much earlier in the year that a lot of their slots for 2012 are already filled," noted Camelot Entertainment prexy Jessica Kelly, who closed a deal with U.K.'s Showbox Media Group for "A Warrior's Heart," "Attack of the Herbals" and "Norman."Production spurtOne of the brighter developments at AFM came as the fest was winding down as Joni Sighvattson's Palomar Pictures ("Killer Elite") has launched a partnership with Grosvenor Park on a package of three films -- remakes of "Joseph and the Girl" and "Elliot" and an adaptation of Stephen King's "Rose Madder," all slated to go into production within 18 months.Palomar is the first producer to sign on with Grosvenor Park since the latter announced plans during the Toronto Film Festival to resume financing films after a three-year absence. Grosvenor Park's aiming to provide a "one-stop shop" financing solution for independent films in the mid-range budget level via senior, gap and tax lending."We're attempting to fulfill the need in the market for films in the $20 million to $35 million range," Grosvenor Park chairman Don Starr told Variety. "There aren't enough of those available. At that budget range, you can get the cast and directors you need to make the film get the returns it needs."Exclusive Media sales prexy Alex Walton reported major interest in racing drama "Rush" -- which has already sold to StudioCanal for the U.K. -- in the wake of Ron Howard meeting with buyers on the first day. Walton said buyer interest in "Rush" (expected to cost about $50 million) was on a par with last year's interest at AFM in Exclusive's "Ides of March," another mid-budget project."Studios are not really in that business any more, so the indies are embracing it," Walton noted. "If a studio were making 'Rush,' it would cost $100 million, but we're doing it at a price where foreign buyers can recoup."Lisa Wilson of Parlay Films reported strong sales for literary drama "The Words" and financial thriller "Arbitrage" to most European markets."It really has gone according to script," she noted. "What people are looking for is something that 'ticks the boxes,' which means that it's reliable, particularly with DVD down and VOD not quite significant yet. It means that there's a predictability of performance -- it will have X number of admits in Y territory with free and pay TV -- based on factors like the director, cast and similar films."Theatrical pushFor many attendees, AFM is an opportunity to move forward on projects. Steve Sexton, topper of HSI Films said that, given the uncertainty of the DVD business, buyers and financers have been particularly focused on films that can open theatrically. "We've been finding that it's actually easier to finance bigger movies these days," he added.HSI's sales slate included "Answers to Nothing," "Carnaval" and "Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best." "Carnaval," starring John Cusack and Johnny Knoxville, will shoot in Brazil in January. Ford expects that there will be an uptick in strong new titles at Berlin, including two new projects from IM Global. He noted that new financing is challenging but pointed to several positive developments -- Japan has rebounded strongly, Russia's pricing has become attractive for sellers, and China and Brazil have become increasingly significant.And he agrees that indies have plenty of opportunities to move on what used to be studio projects."We're spoiled in terms of what we're being offered," Ford mused. "There are about half a dozen established companies that can do projects between $25 million and $40 million. There are lot of films in turnaround or with studio level producers like Neal Moritz attached."More buyers this yearThis year's market saw the number of buying companies rise 8% to 718 from 664 in 2010; buying executives up 7% to 1,523 vs. 1,417 a year ago; and overall attendance climb 4% to 7,988 vs. 7,695 in 2010.Michael Massangkay, VP of Cinemavault, said the market's seen a profound shift in how buyers are willing to view product. "We still ship DVDs, which takes four or five days, but we also tell buyers that they can view it in our online screening room, so now I'm up at 2 a.m. responding to that -- and making deals much faster," he noted.Barry Gordon, CEO of XLrator Media, said the opportunity to use digital platforms has energized this year's AFM, on the heels of partnering with ARC to acquire North American rights to the urban thriller "96 Minutes." "This is my favorite market because it's the best place to discover genre films," he added. "I love coming here and seeing an awesome poster."Gordon also noted that he hasn't found anyone who supports a possible move of AFM to downtown Los Angeles in 2013 -- particularly since the weather stayed sunny for most of the market."Most people feel like if it's not broke, why fix it?" he noted. "People who come from cold places really enjoy being next to the beach when they're here." Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Drifters (Gli sfiorati)

A Fandango production along with Rai Cinema. (Worldwide sales: Fandango Portobello, London.) Produced by Domenico Procacci. Directed by Matteo Rovere. Script, Laura Paolucci, Francesco Piccolo, Rovere, good novel by Sandro Veronesi.With: Andrea Bosca, Miriam Giovanelli, Claudio Santamaria, Michele Riondino, Asia Argento, Massimo Popolizio, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon.The tests and struggles of attractive youthful Italians give you the photogenic subject for contempo comedy-drama "Drifters." Based on Sandro Veronesi's Rome-set novel, helmer Matteo Rovere's sophomore effort benefits of its media-friendly depiction from the new social group, the titular gli sfiorati -- much like extended as nobody recalls it had been really launched in 1990. More questionable value might be the pic's incest story, likely to end up downplayed in Italo distributor Fandango's marketing come the film's spring release. Overseas, the sister-lust position might assist material that's otherwise vulnerable to being too slight for effective export to foreign arthouses. Handsome, 30-ant Mete (Andrea Bosca) posseses an apartment in Rome's attractive historic center, a stimulating (if unlikely) job just like a handwriting analyst plus an alluring, correctly hedonistic social existence. Less felicitously, his 17-year-old half-sister, Belinda (Miriam Giovanelli), to whom he's inconveniently attracted, just moved into his living room. As Mete's father, Sergio (Massimo Popolizio), a soccer star-switched-sports pundit, belatedly prepares to marry Belinda's mother, Virna (The the spanish language language-Italian actress Aitana Sanchez-Gijon), the two half-siblings and siblings negotiate their problematic closeness restrictions. Put together by Rovere, Laura Paolucci and Francesco Piccolo, the script effectively juggles several elements, particularly a fascinating subplot including nutty guy-eater Beatrice (Asia Argento, in the change-of-pace role that will earn her plenty more comedy castings). Meanwhile, a committed perf from Michele Riondino as Mete's real-estate-agent buddy Damiano can't disguise the stock-comedy part of this generic lothario character. In this particular follow-around his 2008 teen drama "Not gioco da ragazze," Rovere works in showing sister sex in the lighthearted context that never teeters into heavy problem-movie terrain a framework device, which places a lot of the experience lately, can also help auds accept whatever they might otherwise resist. However, the film's look for the "drifters," known to by Mete's fellow graphologist and friend Bruno (Claudio Santamaria) as "a completely new unforeseen category," is less assured. This liquid, glancing kind of existence, more a mindset when compared to a specific demographic, probably won't be challenging the type of Decades X and Y too for sociological supremacy. Tech credits are professional. Andrea Farri's score, with full confidence fusing orchestral and electronic elements, reps a substantial plus, as well as the appear mix is offered some showily effective moments in one nightclub scene. Picture-postcard Rome locations don' harm, with Sergio and Virna's wedding particularly giving a enjoyable whiz across the city in the vintage convertible, Colosseum and many types of.Camera (color, widescreen), Vladan Radovic editor, Giogio Franchini music, Andrea Farri production designer, Alessandro Vannucci set decorator, Cristina Del Zotto costume designer, Monica Celeste appear (Dolby Digital), Maricetta Lombardo supervisory appear editor, Gianluca Carbonelli re-recording mixer, Marco Cappolecchia visual effects supervisor, Rodolfo Migliari line producer, Ivan Fiorini assistant director, Matteo Albano casting, Francesca Borromeo. Examined at London Film Festival (Cinema Europa), March. 26, 2011. Running time: 111 MIN. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Dish profit increases 30%

Dish Network, the greater compact in the nation's two satellite television stations, saw profit and revenue rise last quarter but lost 111,000 clients, stating intense competition -- including heavy discounting by rivals -- an insufficient housing marketplace reducing discretionary trading by clients. The Englewood, Colo.-based company, that have nearly 14 million subs by Sept. 30, mentioned profit rose 30% to $319 million on lower costs from adding less clients. Revenue was up 12% to $13.6 000 0000. "Since the pay TV industry matures, we and our rivals progressively must goal to draw in a bigger proportion of latest clients from one another peoples existing customer bases rather than from first-time clients of pay TV services," the business mentioned. "Lots of our rivals are actually especially aggressive by supplying reduced programming and services for brand new and existing clients. Furthermore, programming offered on the web is increasingly common because the standard and speed of broadband systems have enhanced." Boss Joe Clayton mentioned that continuing to move forward Dish expects to build up the momentum of the Blockbuster-high quality programming service, which allows its clients to stream movies and tv shows and receive Digital video disks by mail. The quarter was the first one to completely incorporate Blockbuster, which Dish acquired from personal personal bankruptcy for approximately $240 million. Within the finish in the three-month period, Blockbuster still operated over 1,500 stores inside the U.S. Dish mentioned it's talked about flexible termination provisions inside the rents more than 900 of individuals stores. Bigger rival DirecTV the other day mentioned it added 327,000 clients inside the third quarter, due only to the exclusive Nfl Sunday Ticket. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Yup, He's Back: Arnold Schwarzenegger Tweets Photo from Set of The Last Stand

· Arnold Schwarzenegger was kind enough to tweet a snapshot from the set of Kim Jee-woon’s The Last Stand, his first starring film role in seven years. He’s flanked by a motley trio: Luis Guzmn, Jaimie Alexander and a truly befuddled Johnny Knoxville. Also in Buzz Break: Madonna’s amazing 1979 letter declaring her movie star ambitions, the fate of Robert Pattinson’s Bel Ami, and a Willy Wonka legend passes away. [FilmDrunk] · In an amazing handwritten letter from 1979, Madonna wrote to A Certain Sacrifice director Stephen Lewicki and said, “By the time I was in the fifth grade, I knew I either wanted to be a nun or a movie star. 9 months in a convent cured me of the first disease.” Now I have sympathy pains for W.E.. [Madonnarama] · I think we can all agree that the 21 Jump Street movie needs a new title. [Jezebel] · Robert Pattinson’s dandy-licious new movie Bel Ami landed a distribution deal with Sony. [Deadline] · Here’s the most depressing news of the day: Leonard Stone, who played Violet Beauregarde’s speedtalking, car salesman father in Willy Wonka and the Chcolate Factory, has passed away just shy of his 88th birthday. The violets are turning violet in his honor. [People]

First '21 Jump Street' Trailer: Jonah Hill Loves Getting Hit by Cars

.post-content img {display:none;} Continuing Hollywood's current obsession with everything 1980s, the first trailer for '21 Jump Street' is here, and it's actually pretty hilarious. Not to say we didn't have any faith in this movie, but... yeah. Anyway! Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star as Schmidt and Jenko, two cops who go undercover as high school students in order to break up a drug ring. In the process (or at least in the three-minute clip), Hill manages to get stabbed and hit by a car -- something that also happened to him in 'Superbad' -- while Tatum dry-humps a suspect in custody and does the worm at a house party. And, wait a minute: Ice Cube and Nick Offerman are in this movie, too? Sign us up! The only thing that's missing from this clip is that Johnny Depp cameo (one of Depp's first roles was in the original TV series). '21 Jump Street' hits theaters March 16, 2012. [via 21 Jump Street Facebook page] [Photo: Columbia] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Weight Reduction Comedy From Chris ODowd & Port/Wiseman Lands At NBC With Penalty

EXCLUSIVE: Following a extended four-way putting in a bid war among ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS, Large Males, a comedy from Irish actor-comedian (and Bridesmaids standout) Chris O’Dowd and author-producers Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, has arrived at NBC having a script commitment plus significant penalty. Setting the only-camera project in the network from the Greatest Loser appears appropriate because it involves several males who meet at an appetite suppressant clinic. O’Dowd will write the script according to his idea, with Port and Wiseman aboard as showrunners. The 3 will executive produce with 3 Arts’ Dork Becky and Nick Frenkel for twentieth century Fox TV. O’Dowd have been taking pleasure in a good acting career within the U.K., including starring around the popular series The IT Crowd. His career moved into high gear this summer time together with his breakout performance within the runaway hit Bridesmaids. This marks O’Dowd’s American writing debut. In Great Britan, he lately produced and co-authored Moone Boy, a comedy series for Sky TV inspired by his childhood, that is now filming. Younger crowd is penning a comedy feature funded through the Irish Film Board. UTA-repped Port and Wiseman, who're under a general deal at 20th TV, function as co-executive produces around the red-colored-hot new comedy series New Girl. Last season, they produced the Fox comedy pilot Family Album. Coincidentally, additionally they authored the U.S. version from the IT Crowd, which visited pilot at NBC. O’Dowd is by using UTA and United kingdom agent Donna French. Scripted shows about individuals with unhealthy weight have grown to be extremely popular in the systems previously few years with projects such as the CBS comedy series Mike & Molly along with a&E’s pilot Large Mike.

In Honor of Anonymous, 5 Reimaginings of Shakespearean Classics with Today's Auteurs

This week’s new feature Anonymous is alluring for two reasons: It explores the possibility that Shakespeare didn’t write his masterworks, and it looks unintentionally hilarious. If I could dress up for Halloween as Vanessa Redgrave’s line-reading of “None of your plays will ever carry your name,” I would. In tribute to this dubious drama, let’s explore what the Bard’s plays would sound like if they were written or retooled by current auteurs. Ready for Why Did I Get Jealous Too? Judd Apatow’s Richard III A pathetically self-deprecating, but cunning man (Russell Brand) walks with a limp and seems pretty hopeless as a lame L.A. romantic. But after a few of his detractors die, Richard catches the eye of a snappy newsmagazine correspondent (Leslie Mann), who helps assist him in his rise to prominence. As he gains recognition and takes hold over the entertainment industry, he becomes increasingly self-conscious about his decrepit state and adopts the name McLimpin’. It’s about a half hour too long. Tyler Perry’s Othello AKA Why Did I Get Jealous Too?. Tyler Perry’s version of the Venetian moor’s plight removes most of the paranoia and fear from Shakespeare’s tale and replaces them with pesky marital woes. Othello (Perry) and Dez (Taraji P. Henson) have a functional marriage, but their flippant next door neighbor Iago (Whoopi Goldberg, crossdressing and doublecrossing!) finds a way to interject mistrust into their relationship using rhyming slams, vaudevillian mockery of their weaknesses, and a “green-eyed monster” (her disruptive terrier who jumps on the furniture). Will Othello and Dez survive? Or will they smother each other with comic exasperation? Next: Tyler Perry’s Euripides’s Medea. Quentin Tarantino’s The Tempest Forget Julie Taymor: Quentin Tarantino’s version of The Tempest takes the island of weirdos and throws them in a kickass retelling of Pearl Harbor. This time, the magical Prospero uses his spells to thwart Japan’s attack, and the monster Caliban is a legendary, hairy surf champion who doesn’t mind beating up some terrorists if the timing’s right. Prospero’s daughter Miranda will not participate in her father’s tricks until she walks out of this throwback cabana with a hula trophy. Nancy Meyers’s Twelfth Night It’s a case of mistaken identity as a wealthy Los Angeles yoga instructor named Viola (Diane Keaton — in traditionally androgynous attire) decides to become an apprentice to a wealthy L.A. architect named Orsino (Steve Martin). She falls for Orsino, but he’s in love with a wealthy cartoonist named Olivia (Meryl Streep). He sends the smitten Viola over to Olivia as an emissary, but Olivia immediately falls for Viola’s winsome and gallant appeal. That hat! That vest! Those magician tails! It’s just about complicated. Darren Aronofsky’s Macbeth An unwitting protagonist descends into a dizzying, phantasmagorical vortex of power and visibility dotted with mysterious deaths and paranormal events. Actually, Macbeth should just be called Requiem for a Black Swan.

Either Way (A annan veg)

A Mystery Island, Flickbook Films production with support from the Icelandic Film Center. Produced by Arni Filippusson, David Oskar Olafsson, Hreinn Beck, Tobias Munthe, Theo Youngstein, Sindri Pall Kjartansson. Directed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson. Screenplay, Sigurdsson, Svein Olafur Gunnarsson.With: Hilmar Gudjonsson, Svein Olafur Gunnarsson, Thorsteinn Bachmann. (Icelandic, German dialogue)Two highway maintenance men in the barren wilderness of 1980s Iceland find themselves at a figurative crossroads in the small but beguiling character-driven dramedy "Either Way." Wisely employing the harshly beautiful landscape as the third principal character, tyro helmer Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson highlights human vulnerability and the struggle to create something meaningful and lasting. Boasting gorgeous visuals that belie its low budget, genial pic is accumulating mileage on the fest circuit, and marks Sigurdsson as a talent to watch. Repping two different types of manhood, Finnbogi (co-writer Svein Olafur Gunnarsson) and callow, hot-to-trot Alfred (Hilmar Gudjonsson) gall each other as they perform their hard labor far from other human contact. Ultimately, their barely civil tolerance evolves into real friendship as they support each other through romantic travails, but not before a drunken comic interlude that makes the slender material feel padded. Smooth Red One lensing by Arni Filippusson favors long takes, wide frames and moving shots that allow the thesping to carry the story. The Icelandic title translates as "Another Way," playing with the fact that matters turn out differently than expected and functioning as an older synonym for "road."Camera (color, DV, widescreen), Arni Filippusson; editor, Kristjan Lodmfjord; production designer, Halfdan Pedersen; costume designer, Margret Eindarsdottir. Reviewed on DVD, Chicago, October 23, 2012. (In San Sebastian, Reykjavik, Thessaloniki, Turin film festivals.) Running time: 81 MIN. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Attorney: Judge Finalizes Christina Milian Divorce Using The-Dream

First Released: October 24, 2011 6:21 PM EDT Credit: Getty Premium ATLANTA, Ga. -- Caption Christina Milian gets to this years American Music Honours held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Reside in La on November 21, 2010A judge has completed singer Christina Milians divorce from singer-songwriter-producer The-Dream. Milians attorney Randy Kessler stated Monday the judge in Atlanta signed the ultimate documents this month. Milian and also the-Dream, whose real title is Terius Nash, were married last year and separated in This summer 2010. The 2 come with an infant daughter together. Kessler stated the divorce was resolved by mutual agreement. Milian is better noted for tunes for example Dip it Low. The-Dream, whose hits include Shawty is really a 10, has created for artists including Mariah Carey, Beyonce and Britney Warrior spears he won two Grammys for his focus on Beyonces Single Ladies (Put A Diamond Ring onto it). Copyright 2011 through the Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Audra McDonald Sings Through 'Porgy and Bess' Mess

NY (AP) As deliberate as Audra McDonald is about picking songs for her concerts, what she says in between singing them is anything but considered."I just talk, which sometimes is good and sometimes is not good at all," she says, laughing. "I find that keeps me at my most honest, which then keeps me in the right frame of mind for each song."The four-time Tony Award winner has even surprised herself by suddenly talking about shoes or what she ate for lunch. "For some people it's like, 'Oh, dear. I didn't know all that about you, and I didn't want to hear all that about you. I just wanted to hear your voice.'"That voice is currently in the middle of her first concert tour in four years, which lands in NY's Carnegie Hall on Saturday and then takes McDonald to Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Pennsylvania by the end of November.After that, McDonald will be heading to Catfish Row to help restart a new production of "Porgy and Bess" on Broadway. The reworked opera, now called "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess," had a controversial out-of-town tryout this fall in Boston.Directed by the American Repertory Theater's Diane Paulus and adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and Deidre L. Murray, the show generated headlines when Stephen Sondheim complained that an American masterpiece was being violated.McDonald, who will play Bess opposite Norm Lewis as Porgy and David Alan Grier as Sporting Life, has taken the controversy in stride. While surprised to see NY critics showing up in Boston to review a musical that is still being worked on, she understands."People have such passionate feelings about this piece," she says. "It's been part of our cultural language forever and it's just one of those things that everybody feels a bit of ownership in their own way. And God bless them all, as far as I'm concerned. Seriously."Paulus says McDonald has thrown herself into the role of Bess with every fiber of her being. "Audra is the kind of actress who investigates every moment she is living on stage and she is relentless in her search for truth on stage," Paulus says.The controversy has found itself in McDonald's song selections for her concert, which usually include show tunes, classic songs from movies and pieces written expressly for her. But she won't be singing hits from "Porgy and Bess" such as "Summertime" and "It Ain't Necessarily So" because most of Bess' songs are duets.One song that McDonald, 41, has picked is "Go Back Home" from "The Scottsboro Boys," a musical that closed abruptly in December after playing just 49 performances following protests from people who never saw it.The John Kander and Fred Ebb musical frames the 1930s-era story of nine black teenagers wrongfully put on death row as a minstrel show but then immediately subverts it by having an all-black cast. Some performances of the show drew protesters who refused to see it and claimed the musical was actually embracing the minstrel convention."I think about people reacting to 'Porgy and Bess' because of what they've heard without necessarily seeing the show, and what happened to 'Scottsboro Boys,'" she says. "Walk into the theater and see it. Then if you've got issues, yes, then by all means, march out of there and protest."She also plans to sing a Sondheim song, "Moments in the Woods" from "Into the Woods" after discussing it with the composer, a sign that their relationship hasn't been destroyed over "Porgy and Bess.""I know how passionate he is about that particular piece. That's no surprise to anybody," she says, then adds diplomatically about the musical: "We disagree in certain areas."The creative team, she says, has condensed the four-hour opera into a two-and-one-half-hour musical, eliminated a lot of the repetitiveness and tried to deepen the characters. "We're just trying to focus it more on the characters and the story," she says. "For me in the end, if people are talking about theater, that's a great thing."The opera-turned-musical tells the story of Porgy, a beggar from the slums, who tries to rescue Bess from her violent lover, Crown, and a drug dealer, Sporting Life.To play Bess, McDonald has researched drug addiction and the life of women during the 1930s in South Carolina, where the writers based their work. She and Paulus have talked a lot about Bess' past, what gives her joy and why she falls in love with Porgy. Two books also have helped: Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God," which follows the fortunes of a black woman living in a small Florida town; and the DuBose Heyward's novel from which the opera is based and which McDonald often consults."I carry that thing around like a bible. Mine looks like some college student's textbook. It's highlighted within an inch of its life," she says. "I read a passage from it every night before I go on stage."When she hits the Carnegie Hall stage, it will mark her 17th appearance there but she still remembers her first. It was the season's opening night concert in 1998 and she sang selections from the "Porgy and Bess" opera with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. "It was thrilling. It was scary. I had never sung that high in public before," she says. "I had a ball and I loved it."Raised in Fresno, Calif., and trained at The Juilliard School, McDonald is the older of two daughters and is one of those performers who earns raves for whatever she touches. She won three Tony Awards before the age of 30 for "Carousel," ''Master Class" and "Ragtime" and a fourth in 2004 for "A Raisin in the Sun."She has two Grammy Awards, four albums and thinking of a fifth, two Emmy Award nominations and has just finished four seasons on TV playing Dr. Naomi Bennett in ABC's series "Private Practice." She also appears in the new Woody Harrelson film "Rampart," playing a bar fly with a thing for cops who has a steamy love scene with Harrelson."It was fun to step out of my comfort zone," she says.Her decision to join a TV show was done for the same reason. "I've always been afraid of the camera really afraid. I thought, 'Well, a TV show is certainly a way to learn how to get over that fear,'" she says. "I wanted to be as comfortable in front of a camera as I am on stage, even though they're completely different muscles."McDonald's Emmy nominations were earned in the HBO version of "Wit" in 2001 and for reprising her Broadway role in "A Raisin in the Sun" in a 2008 made-for-TV adaptation. She was also in the series "Kidnapped" and "The Bedford Diaries."The commute from NY to the set of "Private Practice" in Los Angeles was punishing and McDonald estimates that she spent 720,000 miles flying back and forth. "The airlines miss me," she says. She was at airports so much that she befriended TSA agents.Ultimately, the long days away from her 10-year-old daughter, Zoe Madeline named after McDonald's "Master Class" co-star Zoe Caldwell and actress Madeline Kahn became too much. The death of McDonald's father in a 2007 plane crash has also put her in a reflective mood."I have noticed that a lot of the songs that I've picked this time have been about being in the present and really holding onto to what's important in life," she says. "It forces you to take stock and learn what's most precious. I think I've learned that lesson the hard way losing my dad."McDonald is an outspoken proponent for marriage equality her Twitter handle is AudraEqualityMc and she sits on the advisory board of the gay-rights advocacy organization Broadway Impact.She may discuss her stance in between songs on her concert tour, even if it upsets her audience. "Sometimes I get quiet reactions and tepid applause. And sometimes I get raucous response to that," she says. "That's also part of who I am. I'm not going to hide that."Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Katherine LaNasa Snags Roles Opposite Will Ferrell, John Cusack

Katherine LaNasa, which has spent the higher part of the past decade making various television looks, has reserved roles opposite major stars inside a couple of high-profile movies.LaNasa has nabbed the role of Will Ferrell's wife in "Dog Fight," the Warner Bros. political comedy which stars Zack Galifianakis. She'll also play John Cusack's wife in "The Frozen Ground," a serial killer thriller which stars Nicolas Cage.Jay Roach is pointing "Dog Fight," once known to as "Southern Rivals," with Gary Sanchez Prods. and Everyman Pictures creating. The comedy notifies the storyplot of two rival people in politics inside a small congressional district in Sc. Sarah Baker, another actress which has extended labored in television, was cast as Galifianakis' wife this year's week."Frozen Ground" particulars the actual story in the capture of serial killer Robert Hansen in Alaska. Cage is certainly an Alaska condition trooper monitoring Hansen, carried out by Cusack. Randall Emmett and Mark Ordesky are coming up with the indie, which starts shooting now in Alaska. LaNasa, repped by IFA Talent, has came out on shows for instance "two and a half Males," "Large Love"and "Knowing Amy," but her recently found warmth may be due to be employed in "Jayne Mansfield's Vehicle" for author-director Billy Bob Thornton LaNasa snagged that role if the was restricted to Robin Wright. The Hollywood Reporter

Police: NY Burglars Took Tips From Ben Afflecks The Town

First Published: October 19, 2011 1:35 PM EDT Credit: FilmMagic / Getty Images NY, N.Y. -- Caption Ben Affleck and Rebecca Hall hit the set of The Town, Boston, Mass. October 1, 2009 Police say a prolific burglary crew in NY City has taken cues from the bank heist drama The Town, splashing bleach on ATMs and cash drawers to try to destroy DNAevidence. A NY Police Department spokesman said Tuesday several burglary suspects told detectives theyd watched the bad guys in the Ben Affleck-directed film do the same thing. The suspects were arrested over the weekend. The 2010 movie stars Affleck as leader of a crew responsible for a string of Boston bank and armored-truck holdups. Jon Hamm portrays an FBI agent pursuing them. The real bandits are suspected in 62 burglaries at delis, discount stores and pizzerias in Brooklyn and Queens. Police say they made off with $217,000. Four suspects are awaiting arraignment. A fifth is already behind bars on an unrelated weapons charge. Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Electric Entertainment COO Kearie Peak To Go Away

EXCLUSIVE: Kearie Peak, COO of Dean Devlins Electric Entertainment, is going to be departing the organization where she's been for eight years. Peak was among four key professionals at Electric together with chairman and Boss Devlin, Marc Roskin and Rachel Olschan. She was involved with changing the organization from the studio-based production entity for an full-fledged indie that's financing its series, including TNT’s Leverage, that is in pre-production on Season 5. Peak, who offered being an executive producer on Leverage in addition to a co-producer on Electric’s effective TNT movie franchise The Librarian, stated that “the time is appropriate to pursue other avenues” and thanked “Dean and everybody at Electric to have an amazing run. Stated Devlin: Kearie has performed a huge role within the evolution of electrical Entertainment. Im grateful on her dedication to the organization and desire her positive results in her own new endeavors.

Michael Shannon on 'Take Shelter': A Movie of His Own About Fears of His Own (Video)

Michael Shannon -- like Philip Baker Hall, John Hawkes, Eddie Marsan, Michael Kenneth Williams, and only a select few others -- is an actor whose name is only vaguely familiar to the general public, but whose face always rings a bell, and whose consistently strong performances over the course of decades on stage, TV, and film have earned him the reverence of his peers. Unlike those other great "character actors," though, Shannon, 37, has been given the chance to play the principal role in a movie that will get a pretty wide release, at least in terms of the art-house circuit, and with it a chance to show a larger audience what he is capable of. The film is Jeff Nichols's Take Shelter -- it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, played at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, and opens in theaters tomorrow -- and Shannon doesn't disappoint. PHOTOS: Emmy Nominations 2011: Snubs and Shockers Shannon, one of our four kids, was raised in Kentucky by his mother after his parents divorced and his father moved to Illinois. Not especially gifted athletically or academically, he was at a loss for things to do after school until, one day during high school, he came across a flyer for the "speech team." Intrigued, he stopped by a meeting and was given a monologue to study. "I remember it clear as day," he says. He had never memorized anything in his life, but he practiced it, learned it, and was intrigued. He never rose to higher than an alternate on the team (although he did fill in one day for an absent extemporaneous speaker), but his interest in the dramatic arts was piqued. After finishing high school, Shannon moved in with his father in Chicago, perhaps the theatrical capital of the country outside of NY, and began pursuing acting. He did his first serious play while still a teenager -- he can still recite the review from memory: "Michael Shannon is a semi-attractive youngster who thinks acting is rubbing his eyebrows and flapping his arms like a bird" -- and ultimately hooked up with the prestigious Steppenwolf Theatre Company, among others. His reviews soon got better, and he today regards his early experience in the theater as an invaluable resource for his more recent work in films. "Most people probably don't know as much as they should before they start doing this," he notes. STORY: Emmys 2011: 'Boardwalk Empire's' Michael Shannon Skipping the Show His first film opportunity arose when Groundhog Day (1993) began shooting in town. He won the small role of a newlywed who is having marital issues until Bill Murray intervenes, and consequently earned his SAG card. Rather than moving out to Los Angeles, though, he returned to NY, where he was cast as the lead in Tracy Letts's off-Broadway play Killer Joe ("which now is a feature film apparently, which I really want to see"). Through that, he met Lee Daniels, who has since become widely known as the director of Precious (2010), and who, at the time, set him up with a few film auditions that panned out and then encouraged him, "Time to go west, young man!" Shannon reluctantly relocated to L.A. where, for the next three years (1999-2001), during which he "worked pretty much constantly." Highlights of that era include appearances in three Jerry Bruckheimer movies -- Pearl Harbor (2001), Bad Boys II (2003), and Kangaroo Jack (2003) -- and Curtis Hanson's 8 Mile (2002), among others. He acknowledges that "most of the time, I was, like, third guy on the left or whatever," but also feels that he "got a lot of experience" and came to appreciate that "it's your responsibility to learn how to be valuable... you can't just stand on set and be like, 'Why aren't people paying more attention to me?'" VIDEO: 'Premium Rush' Traile: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Races Through the Streets of NY With Mysterious Envelope He ultimately returned to NY to appear in Letts' play Bug. While based there, he also appeared in a few high-profile movies, including Oliver Stone's World Trade Center (2004), which ultimately led to an audition for the small but significant part of a mentally disturbed truth-teller in Sam Mendes's Revolutionary Road (2008), which he bagged. For his eight unforgettable minutes of screen time opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, and Kathy Bates, Shannon was rewarded with a best supporting actor Oscar nod, which might well have resulted in a win had his competition not included the late Heath Ledger for his final performance in The Dark Knight (2008). Shannon, whom I last interviewed shortly after that nomination was announced, remembers it as a crazy time. "It was such an avalanche. The nomination happened and I got Boardwalk [the important role of Agent Nelson Van Alden on Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter's hit HBO show Boardwalk Empire] at the same time." More than anything else he has done, he says, people now recognize him for his work on that show. Which brings us to Take Shelter. Nichols wrote his first feature, Shotgun Stories (2007), with Shannon in mind for the lead after Nichols's college professor, who had worked with the actor, showed students a clip of his work. At Nichols's request, the professor passed along the script to Shannon. The actor was blown away by it and agreed to star in it for virtually nothing (which is about all Nichols could offer him). The film was not seen by many but was well-received by most of those who saw it, so Nichols grew apprehensive about what to do next. Eventually, he asked Shannon to take a look at Take Shelter. "The first time he showed it to me," Shannon says, "it wasn't like, 'Hey, I want you to be in this!' He said just, like, 'Here's my next script. Do you think it's any good?'" STORY: Feinberg Forecast: Christopher Plummer, Glenn Close, Brad Pitt, Viola Davis, Leonardo DiCaprio in Hunt for First Oscars Shannon ended up loving it and agreeing to be a part of it. Unlike Revolutionary Road or most of the big screen projects of which he's been a part before -- with the big screen adaptation of Bug (2006), Shotgun Stories, and The Missing Person (2009) being notable exceptions -- his part calls for him to appear in almost every scene. "When I read the movie, I was like, 'This is really good, but I feel sorry for whoever plays Curtis because that's gonna be a drag!" As he has many times before, Shannon plays a guy who is hard to read -- in this case, Curtis, a young husband (of the great Jessica Chastain), father (of an adorable deaf child), and son (of an institutionalized woman). Curtis begins to experience increasingly apocalyptic visions and nightmares that leave him with two great fears for hsi beloved family, one of which has to be true: the first, that he is growing mentally ill, or the second, that what he is prophesizing (like a young Harold Camping) might actually come true. (Spoiler alert: the film's ending is deliberately ambiguous and leaves that question unanswered.) Shannon says he took the part because he has fears of his own. "I can identify with Curtis," he says. "I find the world very threatening. I think it's really crazy what's happening right now on so many different levels. It's not a political thing -- I'm not gonna go there -- but we live in an incredibly fragile, crazy world. And, to me, this film was an opportunity to express that. It's a poem about that... it's not 'an investigative study of one man's journey into mental illness' or something. It's just about this feeling. I look around and I think, 'Man, I must not be the only person who feels this way!' But that's the thing, is that Curtis thinks maybe he is the only person that feels this way, you know, that something, kind of, bad might happen pretty soon." For Shannon, though, it seems that only good things are happening at the moment. He was in Los Angeles for only a whirlwind visit when we spoke, because he was due back in Canada to shoot his next scenes for Zack Snyder's greatly anticipated reboot of the Superman franchise, entitled Man of Steel, in which he will play the villainous General Zod. (The film, which also stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, Christopher Meloni, and Diane Lane, will hit theaters in the summer of 2013 and is expected to be a huge blockbuster.) Shannon tells me, "I was on the set of Man of Steel a couple of days ago, and I looked around at this huge set, you know, on this soundstage -- like, mind-blowingly gorgeous -- and I had one of those moments where I looked around and I was like, 'Holy shit. I'm here. I'm here, and I'm doing this, and all these people seem to want me to be here.' It was very bizarre. Not anything you anticipate, you know?" Michael Shannon Take Shelter