HW #10 « I Woander

HW #10

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The phrase “HBO miniseries” alone makes me tingle. True I didn’t watch “John Adams” but it was clearly a critical (23 Emmy nods!) and fan fave. Anyhow, looks like the next historical event to be adapted for the cabler is about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. “Story will focus on the perspectives of lesser-known historical figures that were connected to the assassination and the subsequent media frenzy and manhunt.”

Speaking of “John Adams” and the creative team behind it…”HBO and Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman have engaged scribe Kirk Ellis to craft a series based off of the James Ellroy books “American Tabloid: A Novel” and “The Cold Six Thousand“. The project will present a dark alternative history of the 1960s, following three men and their shifting alliances with the CIA, the Mafia and the Kennedys. The books feature such ’60s fixtures as J. Edgar Hoover, Howard Hughes, Jimmy Hoffa, the Kennedy clan and Frank Sinatra. HBO has held the option on the Ellroy books for years, and the network and Playtone haven’t decided yet whether to adapt them into a regular series or a mini. That decision will be made as Ellis gets a handle on the material in a development process that will begin with a pilot script. Hanks, Goetzman and Ellis will serve as exec producers. Playtone, which brings “Big Love” back for its third season in January, is currently in post-production on the 10-hour, $200 million miniseries “The Pacific,” which Hanks and Goetzman exec produced with Steven Spielberg.”

Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, and John Legend performing. Original songs composed by Adam Schlesinger (“That Thing You Do“, “Music & Lyrics“). Say no more — I’m in. Tune in on Nov. 23 for “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!,” a one-hour musical Christmas special for Comedy Central hosted by Colbert. The special will also bow on DVD via Paramount Home Entertainment on Nov. 25, with part of the proceeds benefiting charity Feeding America. Spartina Prods. is producing, with Colbert and Allison Silverman serving as exec producers.

Brillstein Entertainment Partners Television has cut a new three-year pact with ABC Studios. Previous joint successes: “Samantha Who?” and “According to Jim.” Although the shingle is known primarily for its success in comedy (“The Sopranos” notwithstanding), Brillstein is looking to branch out more than it has in recent years with unscripted shows and cable programming. Its development roster includes:
- an unscripted vehicle toplined by Bob Saget that is in the negotiations stage at A&E
- a remake of an Israeli drama series, “A Touch Away,” set up at HBO with “Six Feet Under” scribe Kate Robin attached
- “The Out-Laws,” an adult family comedy from Kit Boss (“Lucky Louie,” “King of the Hill”)
- “Helping Me Help Myself,” a single-camera half-hour from “Ugly Betty” scribes Tracy Poust and Jon Kinally.

Summit Entertainment has tapped veteran exec Nancy Kirkpatrick prexy of worldwide marketing. She will develop and oversee marketing campaigns for the company’s annual slate of 10-12 wide releases. She spent most of this decade as EVP of worldwide publicity for Paramount, overseeing the campaigns for the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, “War of the Worlds,” “The Longest Yard,” “The Italian Job,” “Mean Girls,” “The Hours” and the “Jackass” films. At Warner Bros., she was SVP of domestic publicity.

Disney’s bitch. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who already starred for the Mouse in “The Game Plan” and most recently completed “Race to Witch Mountain,” will be the main vehicle behind yet another film being developed by Disney, a space movie inspired by Tomorrowland. The studio has set scribes Jon Lucas and Scott Moore to draft an epic-sized action adventure set in space. The scribes most recently wrote the upcoming Matthew McConaughey-Jennifer Garner starrer “The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” from New Line, as well as comedy “The Hangover,” which Todd Phillips will direct for Warner Bros. The film would be produced by Mayhem Pictures partners Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, who produced “The Game Plan.”

Rogen gets the Kato to his Hornet. Stephen Chow (director and star of “Kung Fu Hustle“) will not only star in Columbia’s “The Green Hornet” as Kato but also make his American directorial debut, giving momentum to the project, which has a June 25, 2010 release date. Neal Moritz is producing the project through his Original Film shingle. Original’s Ori Marmur is executive producing. Chow’s Star Overseas film company recently formed a new multifeature collaboration deal with Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, which includes Sony Pictures Releasing International distributing the features worldwide.

The dark side of suburbia never gets old. “The Joneses” centers on a picture-perfect family (David Duchovny, Demi Moore and Amber Heard) that moves into a suburban neighborhood and immediately becomes the toast of the town, loved and envied by all. But the reality is they are a commissioned fake family put together by a marketing company as a way to introduce new luxury-level products to neighborhoods around the world. Duchovny plays the fake father, a man undergoing a crisis of confidence because he is living a lie. Moore is the mother, a career-driven woman who struggles with her growing feelings toward her fake husband. Heard (“Pineapple Express“) plays the fake daughter who is trying to seduce her fake dad while looking for a rich man. Derrick Borte is directing from his own script. Peter Principato and Paul Young are executive producing the film, which is eyeing a mid-October start in Atlanta.

Jamie Chung (“Samurai Girl), Audrina (“The Hills“), and Rumer Willis all in one terrible movie? Wait, they all die? Eh, ok. But shame on you, Carrie Fisher! From “30 Rock” to “Sorority Row,” Summit’s remake of the 1983 horror movie, “The House on Sorority Row”? P.S. Hey Rumer isn’t this your 2nd movie role in a row where you’re in a sorority? What’s with you and “The Rock” and your repetitous characters?

Fox 2000 is drawing on scribes Keith Merryman and David A. Newman to pen the Katherine Heigl action-comedy “Drawn Together.” The film centers on an electronics designer who meets the woman of his dreams, only to find out that she’s not who she seems to be. Heigl will star as well as produce with manager and mom Nancy Heigl under their Abishag shingle. Robert Kosberg and Bruce Nash are executive producing under the Nash Entertainment shingle. Spyglass Entertainment’s Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber and Jonathan Glickman also are producing. Fox 2000’s Rodney Ferrell is overseeing for the studio.