• Elizabeth Banks will star with Russell Crowe in the thriller The Next Three Days. Paul Haggis (Crash) will write and direct, likely with a heavy hand.
• Two writers have been enlisted for the Hancock sequel. Will Charlize Theron return? Can Hancock shake his drinking habit? Will it start strong and go horribly off-the-rails in its second half like the first installment?
• The fourth Bourne movie looks to have signed a new writer. At this rate, we'll likely see it about, oh, 2020.
• Brad Pitt's manager claims the Inglourious Basterds star did not call Tom Cruise's Valkyrie "a ridiculous movie."
• Gene Simmons of KISS has recorded the "howling voice" for Joe Johnston's The Wolfman. That's some serious type-casting there, considering how closely Simmons resembles a werewolf these days.
• Gus Van Sant is in talks to direct Restless, a contemporary love story produced by Ron and Bryce Dallas Howard. Funny, "restless" is also how audiences were during Van Sant's Gerry.
BIZ
from The Hollywood Reporter - Music by By Katy Bachman, Mediaweek
Radio revenue remained stuck on the bottom in second quarter, leading industry pundits to declare that the low point had been reached. Local and national advertising was down 25% to $3.4 billion in second quarter, according to figures released late Friday by the Radio Advertising Bureau.
FESTIVALS
Tool, Linkin Park and Alice in Chains at the Epicenter Festival
Tool, Linkin Park and Alice in Chains are among the bands
shaking it up at the festival in Pomona.
AWARDS
Film News: Guild to main out ballots on Dec. 1 -- The Directors Guild of America has selected Jan. 30 as its date for its 62nd Annual DGA Awards.
FILM
Box Office: Glo(u)rious "Basterds" For Weinsteins; Potent
"Passing"
from indieWIRE News
According to estimates provided by Rentrak earlier this afternoon, Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" greatly exceeded expectations this weekend, grossing a stellar $37,602,000. That marks a career high opening for Tarantino, and was just short of breaking distributor The Weinstein Company's opening weekend record. Expectations had been in mid-$20 million range.
'Jennifer's Body' borrows from 'Juno'
Film News: Soundtrack mixes teen pop with cutting-edge acts -- As a hungry demon in horror comedy pic "Jennifer's Body," Megan Fox craves a yummy human snack, but she's not the only one in the movie with bite.
Gus van Sant in negotiations for 'Restless'
from Entertainment Weekly's News Briefs by Margaret Lyons
Gus van Sant is in talks to direct Restless, a new film from
rookie screenwriter Jason Lew to be produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and
Bryce Howard.
'28 Weeks Later' director in talks to helm 'Bioshock'
adaptation
from Entertainment Weekly's News Briefs by Simon Vozick-Levinson
28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is in talks to direct video-game adaptation Bioshock, Variety reports.
The Last Airbender Trailer For Christmas
from /Film by orfilms@gmail.com (slashfilm.com)
For those of you curious about when you might possibly see a full trailer for M
Night. Shyamalan's big screen adaptation of The Last Airbender, we now
have an answer.
Avatar Sets New Apple Trailer Record, Toys and Video Game
Trailer Revealed
from /Film by orfilms@gmail.com (slashfilm.com)
The teaser trailer for James Cameron's Avatar created a lot of debate online, and left many over-hyped film fannatics disappointed. But 20th Century Fox is left with bragging rights as the Avatar trailer has become the most-viewed trailer in Apple.com history with over 4 million streams in the first day.
from Hollywood Reporter by By Steven Zeitchik
Black List scribe Ryan Condal has been hired to write a draft of "Queen & Country," the action franchise that's set up at Fox.
TELEVISION
What to Watch for week of August 24 to August 30, 2009
from EW.com: TV
By Clark Collis
A day-to-day guide to notable programs*
Political Talk Shows Talk Themselves Out of Ads
from Advertising Age - MediaWorks by bsteinberg@adage.com (Brian Steinberg)
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- After the recent controversy over Glenn Beck, marketers
seem to be considering pulling ads from the politically oriented cable news
shows that have helped NBC Universal's MSNBC and News Corp.'s Fox News Channel
thrive in the ratings -- no matter what their political leanings.
There's Real Business in Funny Business as Nets Pile on Sitcoms
from Advertising Age - MediaWorks by bsteinberg@adage.com (Brian Steinberg)
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- When you get right down to it, there's nothing funny
about a bumper crop of sitcoms slated to launch in the 2009-2010 TV season;
stone-cold worries about the bottom line are driving the networks to look for
the next half-hour hit.
LaToya Jackson named guest co-host of 'The View'
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ...
NEW YORK (AP) -- ABC says LaToya Jackson will be a guest co-host on "The View" Sept. 16 and 18. Having previously co-hosted the ABC daytime talk show in 2003, Jackson is the latest celebrity to be named as a substitute for Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who is on maternity leave until mid-October.
Johnston, not Abdul, joining 'Betty' cast
from Entertainment News - UPI.com
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Kristen Johnston is to take over a recurring role for which Paula Abdul was originally considered on the U.S. comedy series "Ugly Betty," Usmagazine.com said.
'I Love Money 3': VH1 says no go
from EW.com: TV
By Ken Tucker
Network says it won't air show featuring accused murderer, now dead Ryan
Jenkins; the right call?
HBO mulling 'Savage Love' series
from Hollywood Reporter by Editor and Publisher staff report
HBO is considering a show based on "Savage Love," the sex advice column syndicated in alternative weeklies.
Lawmaker wants subway station renamed for Jackson
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ...
NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York City lawmaker wants to see Michael Jackson honored at a subway station where the star made the music video for "Bad."
MJ's body had lethal quantity of propofol
from Entertainment News - UPI.com
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Lethal levels of the anesthesia propofol were found during an autopsy of U.S. singer Michael Jackson's body, court papers said.
Vampire Weekend bites into something new
The name "Vampire Weekend" describes the band perfectly: distinctive and eccentric.
Aerosmith breakup rumors on the rise
from Entertainment News - UPI.com
BOSTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A string of health setbacks and rumored internal bickering is fueling speculation that U.S. rock band Aerosmith is breaking up, observers say.
30 Seconds To Mars Plot 'Massive' Next Single, Short Film
from MTV News
Group is still undecided on album title, Jared Leto says.
Karen O Unveils Where the Wild Things Are Song "All is
Love"
from Paste Magazine
It's been a long, long road to travel toward the release of Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are, but it's finally seeming like this flick is going to hit screens. And it'll have a killer soundtrack.
T-Pain Explains Why He's Been Hiding From Diddy
from MTV News
'I don't know what the hell to expect from that guy right
now,' Pain says of Last Train to Paris.
Cameron Crowe's Video for Pearl Jam's "The Fixer" Premieres
from Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily by Daniel Kreps
In May, Pearl
Jam played a secret show at Seattle's Showbox in anticipation of their
new album Backspacer. Now, the result of that surreptitious concert has
been revealed in the Cameron Crowe-directed video for the new LP's first single
"The Fixer."
"Grace" Remembered: 15 Years Since Jeff Buckley's Masterpiece
from Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily by Daniel Kreps
Yesterday, August 23rd, marked the 15th anniversary of Jeff Buckley's classic
debut -- which is also sadly his last album.
Bon Iver to Play Sunrise Show at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
from Paste Magazine
In what will likely be the most memorable stop on his fall
tour, Bon Iver will visit Los Angeles for a special performance
at the Hollywood
Forever Cemetery next month.
R.E.M. accelerates to live release
from The Hollywood Reporter - Music by By Gary Graff, Billboard
R.E.M.'s 2007 "working rehearsals" in Ireland for
its latest studio album, 2008's "Accelerate," are the subject of the
group's new live album, "R.E.M. Live at the Olympia," which comes out
Oct. 27.
Kiss Announce 35th Anniversary Tour
from Spin magazine's Daily Noise by Matt Kiser
Even after 35 years, it seems New York quartet Kiss can still rock'n'roll all night, and the costumed crusaders will do just that on a new 41-date fall tour, dubbed "Kiss Alive/35." The jaunt kicks off September 25 in Detroit, where the band will perform their entire 1975 classic, Alive!.
Jay-Z To Play Madison Square Garden On Album Release Day
from MTV News
Jay expected to announce New York show for September 11, the day The Blueprint 3 drops.
ETC...
Julia Child's cookbook is a best-seller
from Entertainment News - UPI.com
NEW YORK, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Julia Child's 48-year-old culinary bible "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is to make its debut at No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list Aug. 30.
Jennifer Aniston Steps Out With Gerard Butler
from Entertainment on HuffingtonPost.com by The Huffington Post
News Team
Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler were seen "hand in hand" this
weekend at The Jane Hotel in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, a source tells
PEOPLE. The two are currently filming The Bounty in New York City.
