EXCLUSIVE: American Idol host Ryan Seacrest is taking on a new role for Fox — a matchmaker. I’ve learned that the network has quietly greenlighted Dream Date, a dating competition series from Ryan Seacrest Prods. Details about the top-secret project — now shooting on location — are scarce, but I hear it revolves around a group of women looking for love and features a celebrity element. There is no airdate yet but a late fall/midseason bow is a possibility. While Seacrest is best known for his stint on a reality competition series, Fox’s Idol, the new show marks a rare competition series for Ryan Seacrest Prods. which has built its unscripted brand on docu-reality series like the Keeping Up With The Kardashians franchise and Shahs Of Sunset. On screen, Seacrest next is hosting NBC’s live competition series Million Second Quiz.
Fox Greenlights Dating Competition Series Produced By Ryan Seacrest
NBC Nabs Detroit Auto Company Comedy From Justin Spitzer & Aaron Kaplan As Put Pilot
EXCLUSIVE: From Scranton to Detroit. Former The Office writer-producer Justin Spitzer is doing another single-camera workplace comedy, this time set at a Motor City auto company. NBC has given a put pilot commitment to the project, from Aaron Kaplan‘s Kapital Entertainment and Universal TV where Spitzer is under an overall deal. UTA-repped Spitzer joined The Office at the beginning of Season 3, rising to co-executive producer. Last year, his comedy script Holding Patterns went to pilot at NBC. Additionally, he has comedy Start-Up in development at USA Network. Kaplan’s broadcast sales so far this season include The Mysteries Of Laura, which has a production commitment at NBC; a bowling comedy at NBC executive produced by Krysten Ritter; and The Henchman, which has a put pilot commitment at Fox.
Relativity TVs EVP Elizabeth Porter Exits
Elizabeth Porter, Relativity Television‘s EVP Development and Series, has left the company after less than a year in the job. A source close to the company confirmed that Porter departed in the past couple of weeks for personal reasons. Search is underway for a replacement. Porter joined Relativity’s TV division last November, overseeing series and pilots for unscripted and tasked with spearheading a push into scripted content. Porter previously was SVP Specials and Talent Development at Comedy Central and VP Alternative Programming at USA Network.
Are CBS & Time Warner Cable Getting Closer To Agreement?
The coincidence was not lost on anyone who has caught a glimpse of ESPN’s wall-to-wall coverage of the U.S. Open tennis championships this week. The chairs of the umpires on the televised courts are splattered with the Time Warner Cable logo on all sides, making it visible in virtually any wide shot from the tournament — an awkward reminder that some of the biggest U.S. Open matches may not be available to TWC customers as the other network of the major, CBS, has been blocked on TWC in a carriage dispute since August 2. The first day of CBS’ coverage is tomorrow, and for now it doesn’t look like a deal between the network and TWC is imminent.
But there have been positive signs over the past few days with active conversations between the two sides, sources say. The talks got a push today by a resolution by an LA City Council committee, which urged the FCC to step in to the drawn-out dispute. The committee is asking that CBS and TWC be invited to speak on the issue when it goes to the City Council on Tuesday. The biggest impetus for reaching a deal will likely not come in the form of a resolution, however, but rather from CBS programming that millions of TWC customers will be furious about losing. Next weekend … Read More »
Hot Trailer: ‘Ass Backwards’
Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael wrote and starred in the low-brow comedy Ass Backwards which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was acquired in July by Gravitas Ventures. Here’s the first trailer for the pic, in which they star as self-proclaimed stylish New Yorkers with a fragile grip on reality who take a road trip back to their hometown to claim the beauty pageant crown that eluded them as children. Alicia Silverstone, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jon Cryer, Brian Geraghty and Bob Odenkirk co-star, and Chris Nelson directed. It’s set for a VOD release September 30 and a theatrical rollout November 8.
Dramas From Kerry Ehrin/Nikki Toscano, Pam Veasey/Bruckheimer Land At CBS, Fox
CBS has bought a terrorist drama from Bates Motel executive producer Kerry Ehrin, series’ writer Nikki Toscano and Universal TV. Meanwhile, former CSI: NY showrunner Pam Veasey is reuniting with series producer Bruckheimer TV for a cop drama based on Jonathan Kellerman’s
Alex Delaware series of books that has gone to Fox. Both projects have script commitments. Read More »
Kurt Russell In Talks for ‘Fast & Furious 7′
Universal is in negotiations with Kurt Russell to star in Fast & Furious 7, the latest in the lucrative series. The studio already set a July 11, 2014 release date for the pic, which follows the franchise-best box office haul for Fast & Furious 6 this summer.
Harvey Weinstein Giving Telluride Sneak Peek At Shane Salerno’s ‘Salinger’ Docu
EXCLUSIVE: I’m hearing there will be a surprise late entry to the Telluride lineup that was announced earlier this week. There will be a sneak screening of The Weinstein Company-distributed documentary Salinger on Monday, September 2. I’m told that the film’s director Shane Salerno is on the way there with others involved in the film. The Telluride sneak screening, which is the first public showing of the docu,
will be followed by a Q&A with the director before he heads to New York for the film’s premiere the following night. Salinger already elicited the bombshell revelation that J.D. Salinger left behind several literary works he wrote in seclusion which he directed be published after his death. There is more where that came from. The film opens in New York and Los Angeles next Friday, and begins broadening to other cities beginning the following week. I could not get confirmation from TWC, but trust me, you can dress for this one.
Related: Telluride: No Jackman Or Gyllenhaal For �Prisoners’ Special Screening
Hot Toronto Trailer: ‘The Husband’
EXCLUSIVE: The black comedy from Canadian indie helmer Bruce McDonald centers on a disgruntled Toronto ad-agency employee who struggles with his rage and raising his infant son alone after his ex-teacher wife is imprisoned for sleeping with her 14-year-old student. The Husband was written by Kelly Harms and Maxwell McCabe-Lokos and stars McCabe-Lokos, August Diehl, Sarah Allen, Jodi Balfour and Stephen McHattie. It is set for its world premiere September 9 at the Toronto Film Festival. Here’s the first look at the trailer:
Angela Workman Tapped To Adapt ‘Longbourn’ For Focus Features & Random House
EXCLUSIVE: Focus Features has found a writer for Longbourn, the period pic based on the novel that reimagines Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice from the point of view of the servants at the Bennet family estate. Angela Workman has come aboard to adapt the Jo Baker
novel that Focus acquired rights to in February to co-produce with Random House Studio. The book is set to be published this fall by Transworld in the UK, Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S., and Random House in Canada. Workman, repped by Gersh and UK-based Sayle Screen, is no stranger to the adaptation game. Her credits include Snow Flower And The Secret Fan, based on the Lisa See novel, and she wrote the script based on Diane Ackerman’s nonfiction best-seller The Zookeeper’s Wife for Annapurna Pictures. She also penned the historical tale Bronte for DreamWorks, and she is just wrapping work on an untitled biopic of Depression-era photojournalist Dorothea Lange.to be produced by David Fincher and directed by Leslie Dektor. Read More »
Series Adaptation Of ‘Westworld’ From J.J. Abrams, Jonathan Nolan & Jerry Weintraub Gets Pilot Production Commitment At HBO
In one of the biggest commitments ever for HBO, the pay cable network has nabbed Westworld, a drama series inspired by Michael Crichton’s 1973 sci-fi movie. The project, from J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot, Person Of Interest creator Jonathan Nolan, producer Jerry Weintraub and Warner Bros TV, has received a pilot production commitment. It marks the first major cable sale for Bad Robot, which had been focused
on broadcast TV for the past few years with such series as Fringe, Person Of Interest, Revolution and the upcoming Believe. Written by Nolan and Lisa Joy (Burn Notice), Westworld is described as a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin. WME-repped Nolan is set to direct the pilot, which he and UTA-repped Joy will executive produce with Abrams, Weintraub and Bryan Burk. Kathy Lingg is co-executive producing, while Athena Wickam serves as a producer. Warner Bros TV is producing with Bad Robot, Jerry Weintraub Prods. and Kilter Films. Read More »
Bradley Cooper Confirmed For ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ Role
Bradley Cooper has made his deal with Marvel Studios to join Guardians Of The Galaxy to voice furry gun-toting hero Rocket Raccoon. The news was made official on Marvel’s website just now. Talk first surfaced last week that Cooper and Marvel were in deep negotiations. The casting marks Cooper’s first foray into the superhero world and his debut voicing an animated character.
Cooper would also be the final addition to the James Gunn-directed pic, which has already started filming in the UK. He joins Chris Pratt, Benicio Del Toro, Zoe Saldana, Glenn Close, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker and John C. Reilly in the cast, and Vin Diesel has been talking about coming on board to voice the tree-like Groot. Disney is set to release Guardians on August 1, 2014. Cooper, who earlier this month joined Warner Bros’ Lance Armstrong pic as a producer and potential star, is repped by CAA. He’s next up in Sony’s American Hustle in December, a pic that reunited him with his Silver Linings Playbook director David O Russell. Cooper earned an Oscar nom for that pic.
Related: James Spader Joins Marvel’s ‘Avengers’ Sequel As Ultron
Hot Festival Clip: Donald Rumsfeld In Errol Morris’ ‘The Unknown Known’
As the U.S. and others weigh intervention in Syria, a documentary relating to the Iraq War has scored a triple-play of berths at Venice, Telluride and Toronto. Errol Morris‘ The Unknown Known is a portrait of former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Oscar-winner Morris (The Fog Of War) interviews Rumsfeld in the pic and below is a clip parsing one of the politician’s so-called “snowflake” memos. Rumsfeld says of Morris’ terming him obsessive, “I’m not. I’m cool, I’m measured.” Radius-TWC will release Stateside later this year.
Toronto: Showtime Acquires Jay-Z Concert Documentary ‘Made In America’
Showtime will premiere the documentary Made In America on October 11. The pic chronicles the two-day music festival put together last September by Jay-Z that included performances by Kanye West, Pearl Jam, Run-DMC and other chart-toppers. Jay-Z then partnered with Imagine Entertainment to produce the pic, which will have its world premiere at Toronto on September 7 and follows the people and artists surrounding the one-off event. Imagine’s Ron Howard directed, and RadicalMedia and Participant Media also produced. The deal was negotiated by CAA on behalf of the production. “As soon as we saw this film we knew it was a perfect fit for Showtime,” Showtime president of entertainment David Nevins said. “Ron Howard and Jay-Z have crafted an inspirational portrayal of American resilience, drive and creativity, interwoven with an incredible showcase of musical talent.” Check out the trailer:
Universal Delays ‘Dracula: Year Zero’ Release Amid Legendary Talks
The origin pic Dracula: Year Zero had been set for an August 8, 2014 release but is now being shifted back to October 3, 2014, Universal Pictures said today. The news comes a day after it was learned the studio and new producer-financing partner Legendary Entertainment were in talks to have Thomas Tull’s company come aboard the genre pic — it would be the first project for Legendary at Uni since their wide-ranging tie-up was sealed in July. Luke Evans stars in the story of the man who became Dracula. Gary Shore is directing and Michael De Luca is producing. Delaying the release of the pic would make sense if Legendary was coming aboard, as it might need more time to put its stamp on the movie.
Related: �Dracula: Year Zero’ Could Be First On Legendary’s To-Do List
Meanwhile, Universal also said it will release the comedy Search Party on September 12, 2014. Writer Scot Armstrong (Road Trip, Old School and The Hangover: Part II) makes his directorial debut in the story of a man (Thomas Middleditch) who in 24 hours goes from standing at the altar next to the love of his life to shivering in just a pair of gold leggings in the Mexican desert. The only men who can save him are his best friends (TJ Miller, Adam Pally).
EMMYS Q&A: Bill Hader
Anthony D’Alessandro is Managing Editor of AwardsLine.
If there are large shoes being left behind on Saturday Night Live this coming season, they belong to Bill Hader. For seven seasons, he’s been the impersonator extraordinaire, hitting high notes with his take on Al Pacino, Clint Eastwood and Vincent Price to name a few, but also with his non-celeb eccentrics such as Italian TV host/motor mouth Vinny Vedecci and, of course, effeminate “Weekend Update” New York City correspondent Stefon
(whose Anderson Cooper wedding send-off was actually planned a year in advance by Hader). Unlike some SNL alums who overstay their tenure on the show and segue to limited opportunities, Hader is departing in his prime and looking at blue skies. Similar to Steve Carell in the wake of The Daily Show, Hader is delicately balancing the comedic persona he carved on SNL with dramatic feature roles in The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby: His And Her and with Kristen Wiig in The Skeleton Twins as well as voice-over fare in the Hulu series The Awesomes and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2. He already has a 2009 Emmy win for best animated program (under 30 minutes) under his belt as a producer on South Park; however, his recent Emmy nomination for best supporting comedy actor comes as his second in a row for SNL. Hader spoke with us about his departure from the show, its comedic mechanics and what lies ahead.
Telluride: Robert Redford Tribute – “I Just Keep Going”
The undisputed star so far of the 40th Telluride Film Festival, Robert Redford received his second packed-to-the-rafters tribute this morning on top of the mountain at the Chuck Jones Cinema (each tributee must do two of these here — the Coen brothers and T Bone Burnett are up next tonight and Saturday morning). Considering he just went through the two-hour program 14 hours earlier and this one started at 9 AM, Redford was in great form and perhaps more introspective about his life and career than
I have heard him in this kind of setting. At Friday night’s version of the tribute he was presented with the festival’s Silver Medallion (by surprise guest Ralph Fiennes, who starred in his Quiz Show). Of course Redford is being talked about in a big way for the Best Actor Oscar for his tour-de-force one-man starring role in J.C. Chandor’s All Is Lost, so a look back at his remarkable career can’t hurt. Although it wasn’t mentioned this morning, Redford incredibly has only been Oscar-nominated once as an actor, for the light-hearted The Sting (1973). He does have Oscars for his 1980 directorial debut, Ordinary People and an Honorary Oscar for his work with Sundance.
The first hour was devoted to a wide-ranging clip-by-clip look at his acting career beginning with the live TV production of The Iceman Cometh to such iconic film roles as Barefoot In The Park, The Candidate, Downhill Racer, Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were, The Sting, Three Days Of The Condor, All The President’s Men, The Electric Horseman, Brubaker, The Natural and Out Of Africa. Of his nine films as a director the only clip shown was for A River Runs Through It which starred a young Brad Pitt — the one actor along with George Clooney whose career trajectory seems closest to Redford’s consistently intelligent and high-wattage movie star course over the last half century. Read More »
A&E’s ‘The Glades’ Cancelled After Four Seasons
There will be no fifth season for A&E‘s veteran drama The Glades despite the series hitting season highs in its most recent season finale. Glades appeared unlikely to continue, and I hear the network made the call this morning. Like its companion Longmire, Glades posted season highs in its finale earlier this week, averaging 3.4 million total viewers, 1.1 million adults 18-49 and 1.3 million adults 25-54. But year-to-year, Glades was down double digits in key demos while Longmire posted gains, likely contributing to A&E’s decision to renew Longmire and end Glades. Still, The Glades, from Fox TV Studios, performed respectably over its run. It was the first A&E scripted series to stick and helped establish the network’s scripted brand.
Related: �Longmire’ And �Glades’ Finales Hit Season Highs
Pitch Meeting Spoof Cuts Deep: Video
The latest episode of The Tinsel Zone, a web series created by current Hollywood assistants, is described by its makers as a pitch meeting run by an Ari Emanuel-inspired Hollywood boss (down to the “tan skin, Chicago accent, etc” they write). Director Zach Copeland works at 1821 Pictures and series creator Charlie Wachtel toils for director and WME client Stephen Kessler (Vegas Vacation). We’ll see if either Wachtel or Kessler can get in WME’s front lobby after this:
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