· Keri Russell might rejoin the television ranks for her first regular role since Felicity. The potential project, Wilde Kingdom, is Fox's latest comedy pilot from Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz, which already stars Will Arnett as a Beverly Hills jackass. Russell would play a tree-hugging woman whom Arnett's character falls in love with -- only to realize that she does not feel the same way about him, his lifestyle or his values. Hurwitz will direct the single-cam pilot, which he co-wrote with Arnett and Development writer-producer Jim Vallely. [THR]
Judy Greer and Jason Biggs find comedy pilots, Mr. T. shatters Seth MacFarlane's dreams, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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I had the weirdest dream last night. I really wanted a new Conan O'Brien show, and I thought I was about to get it. I don't even know what it was called. It wasn't The Tonight Show, it wasn't Late Night, it may not have even been a show. It seemed like just some environment, Pandora without the towering blue Species That Shall Not Be Named or those six-legged horses or the floating iridescent mollusks tumbling out of the sky, but you know. That kind of stage-lit extraterrestrial space. Halogen and hairspray, a desk, and there was Triumph, chomping, chomping.
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There's not anything inherently fresh and vital about doing a remake, but Cary Fukunaga's upcoming take on Jane Eyre may buck that trend. The 32-year-old director of the art house smash Sin Nombre is regarded as one of Hollywood's most promising new talents, and he's lined up two other up-and-comers to star in his adaptation of the Charlotte Brontë novel: Alice in Wonderland heroine Mia Wasikowska, and Michael Fassbender of Inglourious Basterds and Fish Tank. This weekend, Fukunaga spoke to Movieline about what he's got planned for the film.
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· It's kind of surprising it took this long, but Warner Bros. is reportedly contemplating a remake/updating of The Wizard of Oz. The studio is said to have its choice of two projects that would revive the 1939 classic: The first, simply titled Oz, is set up at New Line by the production company behind Twilight, while the other -- with a screenplay by Josh Olson (A History of Violence) -- is an untitled, modern-day story about a clash between Dorothy's granddaughter and evil forces that have overtaken Oz. Which one can only assume means vampires. In 3D. Neither apparently has the development edge at this point, but considering what we saw last weekend from Alice in Wonderland, expect a breakthrough soon. [LAT]
John Krasinski gets Borrowed, Ralph Fiennes recruits a veteran pair for Coriolanus, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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Oy. Sad news this morning out of Burbank: Corey Haim has died of what appears to be an accidental overdose. He was 38. KTLA reports that Haim was found unresponsive in his apartment around 3:30 a.m. PST; his mother was home at the time. Haim was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Medical Center shortly thereafter. That's about all anyone knows right now about the Lost Boys and Two Coreys star's demise; expect more to follow here throughout the day as details and condolences trickle forth. Feel free to leave yours in the comments. [KTLA via LAT]
· Ron Howard's getting started on the 2011 Best Documentary Short race with this Funny or Die clip starring concerned citizen Heidi Montag. In the video, Montag pokes fun at herself, stopping short of literally poking her own frozen epidermis. At any rate, Opie has a trenchant message about the economy, I think, and he's using reality stars to drive it home. I'm a little worried, too. [FunnyOrDie]
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Though he's still technically an NBC employee thanks to the magical, snafu-inducing language of network contracts, Andy Richter co-hosted Live! With Regis and Kelly today and took full advantage of the platform. "Do you have any ill feelings toward NBC or Jay?" Kelly Ripa asked him. Short answer: Um, yes! Slightly longer answer: "It's very frustrating when someone says... 'I'm going to hand this over'...and then doesn't," he said. "Multimillionaires are always being forced to do things they don't want to do." Longest answer: the full clip, after the jump.
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Yes, another Oscar story, but you'll like this one! I promise. Guru-ish awards reporter Pete Hammond viewed Sunday's Oscarcast at the "Night of 100 Stars" Party -- which usually turns out more like the "Night of 12 Stars, 58 Character Actors, 17 Has-Beens, 12 People You Secretly Expected to See in the 'In Memoriam' Montage, and Pete Hammond" Party, except this year there was news. And it may be the Rosetta Stone to help decode where Avatar went wrong on its march to Best Picture.
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Last night's massive ABC special The Bachelor: Jason and Molly's Wedding united two troubadours of love. We had Jason Mesnick, who once valiantly tried to marry someone else, and his new bride Molly Malaney, who was still available for his call. Movieline's TVLine department had much to say about the epic, rain-drenched nuptials.
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Starz has been anxious to get underway on the second season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand (even renewing the series before it premiered), but the network may have to wait a little longer. Star Andy Whitfield has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and will begin treatment immediately, pushing back the start of production, which was set to begin in just a few weeks. Between Whitfield's diagnosis and the Hodgkin's lymphoma that Michael C. Hall has battled, it's a scary season for pay-cable leads. Get well soon, guys! [EW]
Conan O'Brien's Twitter account has garnered 600,000 followers since its February 24 debut, meaning he's the most beloved canceled TV star since at least Tony Danza. Any Twitterer who bequeaths us the line, "Hey gang! Look for me at the Oscars tonight. I'll be in the parking lot, wearing my prom tux and listening on the radio" is a worthy Internet institution. But on March 5, Coco added to his legacy by randomly choosing one Twitterer to follow -- a Michigan native named Sarah Killen. Since then, two things have happened to Ms. Killen. 1) She's picked up 18,000 followers. 2) She's picked up everything she ever wanted.
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Passionate sex. Cigarette smoking. Gun violence. Fistfights. Frank dialogue. Adult themes. F-bombs. The "twist" ending (don't worry, no big spoilers here). Robert Pattinson's new film Remember Me plays out with all the salty, sultry vigor of the New York summer in which it's set. Yet somehow, director Allen Coulter and distributor Summit Entertainment trimmed and tucked enough of that vigor to avoid the R-rating that would keep the film from its Pattinson-rabid teenage fan base. It was a job that likely meant the difference between a $25 million and a $50 million opening or maybe even more -- not to mention one that, as Coulter told Movieline recently, he almost refused to do.
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Though most of the contenders for the title role in Captain America are buff pretty boys, producers have signaled an interest in offbeat casting choices -- just look at rumored frontrunner John Krasinski, for example. However, no one had any idea how horrifyingly far afield the casting net had gone until last night, when stand-up comedian and enthusiasm monger Dane Cook tweeted that he had auditioned for the role.
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The most awkward moment from Sunday night's Oscar telecast was the acceptance speech hijacking from one Music by Prudence key player, Roger Ross Williams, to another, Elinor Burkett, or as Jon Stewart ID-ed her, "the woman who runs the snack counter at my synagogue's Purim festival." But there is only one person in Hollywood who could present Roger Ross Williams with the opportunity to re-do his speech on live television and then, miraculously, make the moment only more awkward. And that person is Larry King.
After the jump, Movieline breaks the awkwardness down into seven cringe-worthy components.
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In a skin-crawlingly mean-spirited rant delivered on his radio show yesterday, Howard Stern, egged on by sidekick Robin Quivers, laid into Oscar-nominated Precious star Gabourey Sidibe. Calling her "the most enormous fat black chick I've ever seen," Stern predicted that "she's never going to have another shot. What movie is she going to be in? Blind Side 2? She can take out the whole front line...Listen honey, now you got a little money in the bank, go get yourself thin. You're going to die in like, three years."
Audio, and delicious comeuppance, after the jump.
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