Dreams of being cast in your first U.S. cable series can come true -- if you are a beautiful woman romantically attached to George Clooney at least. Elisabetta Canalis, the Italian actress and TV presenter best known in the states for walking her beau down the red carpet, has been cast in her first U.S. television show. Elisabetta will guest-star in five episodes of TNT's Leverage, opposite lead Timothy Hutton, as a mysterious woman named "The Italian." [People]
The NY Times weighed in today with its assessment of the utter shitshow that is Variety, assaying a nicely observed survey from a few thousand feet above what appear to be the lawsuit-addled, staff-hemorrhaging, cash-poor trade institution's death throes. Sure, there are a few generally insane disclosures here, like the part about editor Timothy Gray removing that infamous Iron Cross pan "after a lawyer for the director and producer, Joshua Newton, objected, but reposted it after viewing the film and deciding to 'stand by the review as it was written.'" But for my money, let's go directly into the newsroom for a profile in abject terror from an anonymous staffer.
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Production is about to begin on the Ryan Reynolds superhero movie Green Lantern, and director Martin Campbell has filled the last two important roles in the cast. New Zealand filmmaker/actor Taika Waititi (Eagle vs. Shark, Boy) will play the hero's best friend, while fellow Kiwi Temuera Morrison (Once Were Warriors, Attack of the Clones) has been cast as the pivotal, ring-bestowing Abin Sur. All this, and it's not even shooting in New Zealand or anything! (The tax break-granting New Orleans has the honors.) [THR]
This just in from a horror panel over the weekend at SXSW: Against all odds, the MPAA ratings board has upheld the stomach-turning integrity of Ti West, director of the upcoming The Innkeepers: "In figuring out how he was going to get a prosthetic member discharging pus past MPAA, he recalled shooting three different scenes only to see the most graphic version slip right by. 'I want to hate them, but I don't,' said [West]." That does it: I never want to hear the "automatic-R for smoking" argument ever again. [THR]
Since last week narrowly missed Movieline's quota for outlandish critic-related scandal, please find below yet another rousing bit of gossip involving a publicist, a "respected New York film critic," and the cryptic, curious case of a review that borrowed a little too liberally from another writer. Which is about all anyone knows -- or all anyone's telling, anyway.
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If you ever thought theater chains in the States were extortionate, check out what's happening in Denmark, where Copenhagen moviegoers are paying double the standard 10-euro ticket price to watch Avatar in 3D. That amounts to about $28 -- not a whole lot more than what they're paying in Slovakia (eight euros) or around the rest of Europe on average (seven euros). I mean, Land of the Lost probably could have shattered global box-office records at those prices. And people still line up to pay them! Brutal. [Deadline]
It's been a long career for Mel Gibson, and you know just as well as he does that there is likely no way to follow his Viking adventure epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio. As such, you probably won't be surprised to hear that the actor/director/dead-language-cinema impresario might not even bother trying.
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· Robert Downey Jr. is the latest star said to be interested in director Alfonso Cuarón's 3D sci-fi spectacle Gravity. He would play an astronaut spacewalking with a female crewmate when the rest of their peers are wiped out in a tragic asteroid-vs.-space station mishap. Downey would shoot this summer before heading back to Sherlock Holmes; Angelina Jolie was supposed to be the front-runner for the female lead, but now it's reported she's fallen off the project. Come on, Alfonso -- just give it to Gabourey Sidibe. You know you want to. [Deadline]
David Fincher hedges his bets, Alexander Payne bulks up in Hawaii and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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Sad breaking news, as the LAT reports actor Peter Graves was found dead in his Pacific Palisades home today at age 83, of natural causes. I recently spoke with Graves on the eve of receiving his long-overdue star on the Walk of Fame for what would turn out to be one of his last in-depth interviews. As suave, austere and considered in person as he is on screen, Grave reminisced on everything from working in early classics like Stalag 17 and The Night of the Hunter, to his string of low-budget sci-fi efforts from the '50s, to his iconic work as Jim Phelps in Mission: Impossible and Airplane!'s Cpt. Oveur. He also expressed interest in reprising Phelps in the upcoming Mission: Impossible 4. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.
The highest-rated Academy Awards in years was perhaps all it took to remind the public of what it is they weren't missing, because aside from the mighty Alice in Wonderland, this weekend's box office came smothered in weak sauce. Even an 88% increase for Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker amounted to no more than $828k, or about half of what The Blind Side, the other Oscar winner to enjoy a post-awards bump, earned in the same frame. More results are on the next page.
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Moviegoers had a wealth of new options to choose from at the box office yesterday, and they responded with a resounding "Meh." Alice in Wonderland yet again took the top spot, and the returns in the next three slots were positively brutal: Green Zone at $5 million, Remember Me at $3.5 million, and She's Out of My League at $3.4 million. Matt Damon and Robert Pattinson, you're on notice.
The full figures:
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As another post-Oscar hangover wound down, Movieline this week got on with the difficult process of adjusting to life without awards season. Judging by the collection of news after the jump, I think you'll agree we're making progress. Have a wonderful weekend, and don't forget to spring forward Saturday night!
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· Carla Gugino sings in Electro Luxx, written and directed by her boyfriend, Sebastian "I Wrote Snakes on a Plane" Gutierrez. Ah, the things we do for love. [MCN]
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In case ninety-second previews of actual films daunt their gluten-clogged brains, this week's Commenters of the Week win an 11-second trailer to another trailer of their choosing! Following the precedent set by Eclipse this week, you might choose a 10-second romantic stare between Rick and Ilsa, or a blinding blitz of every Scarlett O'Hara tantrum that clocks in at just under eight seconds. Cinematic treats for the commenter on the go! So, who's getting the tiniest preview in all the land?
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Apparition, the small U.S. distributor bringing you the pre-riot grrrl pop confection The Runaways next weekend, is back in the Kristen Stewart business, having paid a reported seven figures for domestic rights to Welcome to the Rileys -- the first second feature from Jake Scott (Ridley's son) that, like Runaways, also debuted at Sundance.
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