2 articles
‘Star Trek’: Bryan Fuller Named Showrunner of New CBS Series
6 hours ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
“Hannibal” creator Bryan Fuller has found his next mission: showrunner and co-creator of CBS’ new “Star Trek” series.
A longtime fan of science fiction, Fuller began his career writing for “Star Trek: Voyager” (1997-2001) and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1997).
“My very first experience of ‘Star Trek’ is my oldest brother turning off all the lights in the house and flying his model of a D7 Class Klingon Battle Cruiser through the darkened halls. Before seeing a frame of the television series, the ‘Star Trek’ universe lit my imagination on fire,” said Fuller. “It is without exaggeration a dream come true to be crafting a brand new iteration of ‘Star Trek’ with fellow franchise alum Alex Kurtzman and boldly going where no ‘Star Trek’ series has gone before.”
The new series is set to bow on CBS in January 2017, then move to CBS’ All Access digital subscription service. It will »
- Debra Birnbaum
‘Mozart in the Jungle’ Renewed by Amazon for Season 3
9 hours ago | Variety - TV News | See recent Variety - TV News news »
Amazon has renewed “Mozart in the Jungle” for a third season.
The comedy is returning, the streaming site announced on Tuesday, following its Golden Globe wins last month for best TV series (comedy or musical) and best actor in a TV series (comedy or musical) for star Gael García Bernal.
Bernal’s conductor character Rodrigo and the show’s other musicians will head to Europe in the new season, which begins production later this year.
“‘Mozart in the Jungle’ bursts with creativity and passion, and offers audiences something truly unique,” said Joe Lewis, Amazon Studios’ head of half-hour series. “Amazon is proud to have two of the most risky and enthralling comedy series on television today.”
Based on Blair Tindall’s memoir “Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs and Classical Music,” the show is exec produced by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Paul Weitz.
It follow the New York Symphony, »
- Maane Khatchatourian
Shailene Woodley’s Final ‘Divergent’ Movie Loses Director
20 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Robert Schwentke is exiting as director of Lionsgate’s fourth and final “Divergent” film after directing the second and third films in the franchise.
The move comes two months after Lionsgate decided to move the fourth film — “The Divergent Series: Ascendant” back from March 24, 2017 to June 9, 2017. That opened the spring break date for its “Power Rangers” movie.
The third film in the Woodley franchise, “The Divergent Series: Allegiant” is scheduled to open on March 18. The first two films — “Divergent” and “Insurgent” — have grossed nearly $600 million worldwide after opening in the late March slot.
Neil Burger directed the first film, “Divergent,” and decided not to do the second before the first film opened.
Lionsgate had no comment on Schwentke’s departure. A source close to the production said that the director, who is based in Los Angeles, felt that he needed a break.
The shoot on the fourth film will take place in Atlanta this summer. »
- Dave McNary
Warner Bros. Shifts 'Ready Player One' Away from 'Star Wars: Episode VIII'
3 hours ago | Box Office Mojo | See recent BoxOfficeMojo.com news »
Warner Bros. has adjusted their release schedule following Disney's decision a few weeks ago to move Star Wars: Episode VIII from May 26, 2017 to December 15, 2017. The move put the next episode in the Star Wars saga directly opposite Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One, which left WB no choice but to search for a new date. As it turns out, they decided March 2018 would pretty much be all theirs. Ready Player One is now set for a March 30, 2018 release date where it will currently face off against one of Universal's upcoming Monster Universe films, believed to be the new incarnation of The Wolf Man. The studio previously had what they're referring to as an Untitled DC Film (though largely believed to be The Flash) set for a March 23 release, but with the decision to move Ready Player One into the same month they've moved The Flash forward »
- Brad Brevet <mail@boxofficemojo.com>
‘Playmobil’ Movie to Be Directed by ‘Frozen’ Animator Lino Di Salvo (Exclusive)
8 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Berlin — “Frozen’s” head of animation Lino Di Salvo has come on board to direct “Playmobil: Robbers, Thieves & Rebels,” the $75 million animated feature film based on the iconic toy brand.
Di Salvo, who spent 17 years at Disney Animation, was head of animation for “Frozen,” which scored more than $1.2 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Di Salvo also served as animation supervisor on “Tangled” and “Bolt.” He joined Paramount Animation as creative director back in 2014.
The animated feature is being produced by Dimitri Rassam and Aton Soumache’s On Animation Studios, the Paris-based shingle behind Mark Osborne’s “The Little Prince.” France’s powerhouses Wild Bunch and Pathe are handling international sales, with Pathe set to distribute in France.
“I’ve learned most of my skills by growing up in the Disney system; I was very fortunate to work on films like ‘Tangled’ and ‘Frozen,'” said Lino Disalvo. »
- Elsa Keslassy and John Hopewell
Martin Scorsese’s Vinyl Might Be the Year’s First Must-See Show
11 hours ago | Vulture | See recent Vulture news »
The pilot for the musical drama Vinyl is one of Martin Scorsese’s best films, an explosion of amplifier feedback, nose candy, wide-lapeled shirts, and borderline chaos; the next four episodes are almost as good, and on the basis of the first half-season, it already feels like the first new must-see series of 2016. It’s set in New York City in 1973, when crime was rampant, rock and roll was sputtering, disco was ascendant, and hip-hop was in its embryonic stage. Its main character, Italian-American record producer Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale), is a consummate Scorsese hero-narrator-scumbag, furtive, wild-eyed, and sweaty, a compulsive liar, a man of bottomless hunger and unrealistic dreams. He’s trying to shepherd the sale of his label, American Century Music, to the German media conglomerate Polygram while staying up for days at a stretch and partying with clients who double as connections. “I’m in a business »
- Matt Zoller Seitz
China Has Biggest Ever Day At Box Office
12 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
China recorded its biggest ever day of theatrical takings on Monday, the first day of the Chinese New Year.
Gross takings amounted to RMB660 million ($100.5 million) according to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. The previous highest day was July 18, 2015 according to the bureau, when takings hit RMB425 million.
Topping the chart was Stephen Chow’s “The Mermaid,” which earned $40.5 million (RMB270 million) according to the Sapprft. Local box office tracker Ent Group, showed that “The Mermaid” enjoyed 73,400 screenings at the nation’s theaters.
In second place was “The Man From Macau 3” (aka “From Vegas to Macau 3”) directed by Wong Jing and starring Chow Yun-fat. It achieved $25.9 million from 57,500 screenings.
Third was Soi Pou-cheang’s “The Monkey King 2” with $24.6 million from 55,800 screenings.
Chinese New Year (aka Lunar New Year and Spring Festival in different parts of Asia) has in the last couple of decades become a »
- Patrick Frater
‘Frozen’ Musical Headed for Broadway in 2018
17 minutes ago | The Wrap | See recent The Wrap news »
“Frozen” is finally headed for the Great White Way. A stage adaptation of Disney’s 2012 monster hit will hit Broadway stages in spring of 2018. The show will be from the same people behind the film, songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, responsible for such songs as “Let It Go,” with a book by Jennifer Lee, who wrote the screenplay and co-directed the movie. Also Read: 'Frozen's' Olaf to Appear on Disney Channel's 'Sofia the First' (Photo) Alex Timbers will direct the stage adaptation, with Peter Darling on choreography. New York-based Disney Theatrical Productions division is planning to mount »
- Linda Ge
Film Review: ‘Wedding Doll’
19 minutes ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
In what amounts to a contemporary Israeli take on “The Light in the Piazza,” a mentally handicapped young woman’s dreams of love and marriage are stymied by her overprotective mother in “Wedding Doll.” A big winner at last year’s Ophir Awards, documentarian Nitzan Gilady’s first narrative feature may have its international commercial travel somewhat hampered by a story that eventually grows more downbeat than viewers might expect (or feel necessary). Nevertheless, this well-crafted, engaging drama should rack up healthy offshore sales to specialty distributors. A U.S. theatrical retlease is planned for April.
Pretty, buoyant Hagit (Moran Rosenblatt) is a 24-year-old living in a small city in the Negev Desert region. But her mild mental disabilities have invited ridicule her whole life; even now, she’s regularly terrorized by a bullying little girl at her apartment complex. Nonetheless, she’s gainfully employed at a small local toilet-paper »
- Dennis Harvey
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