· When Mike Tyson goes on Italy's version of Dancing with the Stars, you don't teach him choreography. You just let him skip out and flop around like either a) a dead fish, or b) a drunken marionette, smile when he angrily points to you, and hope he doesn't punch anyone. Molto bene!
more »
After 29 years, MTV has finally slashed the "Music Television" from its name. The change was long overdue, considering that by 2008, the network was only playing three hours of music videos per day, a number that plunged even further once Total Request Live went off the air. MTV also altered their logo slightly (at left) while their sister network, VH1, is sticking by its slogan "Very Humiliating." [THR]
Are you a Movieline reader based in New York City? Not quite up for crashing the Academy's official Oscar fête at the St. Regis yet again? You're in luck! Movieline is happy to announce its inaugural Oscar Viewing Party, scheduled to overtake Tribeca on March 7. Please join us and a few special pals as well -- more details after the jump! Operators are standing by!
more »
Courthouses were packed today in Aspen and Los Angeles as Charlie Sheen and Conrad Murray both arrived to face the music. Sheen was charged with felony menacing, misdemeanor 3rd degree assault and misdemeanor criminal mischief stemming from his Christmas Day arrest in Colorado, but his wife's protective order was relaxed so the two can reconnect. Meanwhile, Murray was arraigned and charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of Michael Jackson. He pled not guilty. [TMZ]
· Fringe's Anna Torv strips down for Esquire. I hope Walter has some sort of explanation for why she has to wear those riding boots?
· Up in the Air frenemies Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner picked up USC's Scripter Award over the weekend, given to the best filmic adaptation of a book.
· "The Who Thought Super Bowl Performance Was Just 'OK'" writes Us. The Movieline agrees.
· Mr. and Mrs. Smith found no traction as a TV pilot, but Akiva Goldsman is still trying to mount another cinematic iteration on the formula with new actors.
· Our Favorite Franco has some advice for the next, youthful cast of Spider-Man: "Bring a lot of reading material or your DVD set of Lost, because when you do the effects you'll be sitting around for a long time."
This morning, Howard Stern sent shivers through the parents of tweens nationwide with confirmation that he is considering replacing Simon Cowell as head judge on American Idol. Stern, whose five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius Radio expires at the end of this year, seemed excited at the prospect of leaving radio, declaring, "There's not a better job on the planet than judging that f***ing karaoke contest." After deciding on-air that he would probably take the job for $100 million (for four months of taping), the King of All Media discussed how he would bulldoze the franchise many viewers have grown to love and resurrect a new, Stern-friendly version in its place (beware, Ellen and Ryan). Click through for the the complete audio, as well as Stern's desired changes.
more »
Movieline was on the scene late last week at a press gathering for Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and while the event on the 61st floor of the Empire State Building was classy and featured unquestionably the best city view of any junket ever, it bears noting that things got a little... weird. And awkward. And fast, with the topics of sexual tension, drug interludes, Roman Polanski and Pinocchio all arising in quick succession. (To say nothing of CGI-centaur Pierce Brosnan's blue-tights-wearing anecdotes.) Needless to say, it was everything we go to PG-rated film junkets for in the first place.
You can't swing a barbell in this town without hitting a new Taylor Lautner project. Every studio wants to be in business with the almost-legal teen superstar, and since New Moon, Lautner's lined up project after project, including the action movie Cancun, the pilot drama Northern Lights, and the rubbery franchise Stretch Armstrong. The only actor who could possibly rival Lautner's sudden ability to get a movie greenlit is Avatar's Sam Worthington, who got cast in several tentpoles before Avatar had even come out. So why is Worthington getting a pass, while Lautner's come in for criticism?
Last night's Super Bowl may have been a sentimental victory for New Orleans, but let's take a moment to honor the other disaster survivors who celebrated a win: David Letterman and Jay Leno. Both parties, recovering from a year of scandal and weeks of monologue warfare, shocked viewers by appearing side-by-side (well, with Oprah lodged in between) for a spot promoting the Late Show with David Letterman. The commercial, which easily trumped anything starring a Simpsons character or even a mud-soaked Betty White, "wasn't done to help Dave or to help Jay" but "to entertain people," maintained Late Show producer Rob Burnett, shortly after the commercial aired last night. Regardless of Burnett's statement, the ad was obviously a boon for both Letterman and Leno -- but which host came out on top of this PR goldmine? Movieline analyzes the power plays after the jump.
In an era of splintered viewership and hundreds of channels, the Super Bowl has managed something remarkable -- it's actually set all-time records each of the last two years. Yesterday's game pulled in a 46.4 households rating and 68 share, up 10% from last year's game and, potentially, the only entertainment program other than the M.A.S.H. finale to win over 100 million viewers. (UPDATE: It surpassed even that!) Let me break it down for you: This country has now seen enough talking babies in advertisements that if you laid them end to end, you could reach Saturn. Bravo. [THR]
When is a TV studio not just a TV studio? If the network that owns it takes a sledgehammer to the short-lived legacy of its previous inhabitant -- as NBC appears to have done in photos from the ravaged set of Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show -- then that's probably your first sign that there's something a little personal going on.
This is precisely the kind of shameless thing celebrities say to get pullquoted on Web sites, so I guess consider January Jones's mission accomplished in foretelling the imminent end of Mad Men. "It may be the last one," Jones was quoted as saying about the series' upcoming fourth season, which begins shooting in April. "I'm a firm believer in quitting while it's hot. Besides, it can't go on for ever: I don't want to see Betty in Spandex in the 1980s." Fine -- but what about seeing Joan Holloway Harris in Spandex? Eh? Now who's hoping for season 28? [Stella via ONTD]
· Nepotism is still alive and well in Hollywood, with Ami Canaan Mann preparing for her feature The Fields, co-produced by her father Michael Mann. The family ties wouldn't usually bother me except for the grotesquely hard sell Pops is doing on his daughter's behalf, whether it's noting Sam Worthington's participation as the lead in the Texas-set detective drama, or literally priming Berlin Film Festival buyers for the film's pre-sale availability this week: "Sam will play Jake, this tough-minded misanthropic Texan, who with his partner Brian wind up waging something of a war against these unknown assailants, a ferocious battle to save each other and the life of this young street kid." Next stop: Craigslist. [Deadline]
Valentine's Day gets a spinoff, Taylor Lautner gets a franchise, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
Dear Jake,
For seven long weeks, you've been the only soldier for me. I'll always cherish those long rolls on the boardwalk, when we'd get ice cream cones (you loved chocolate!) and plan our future together. But I have to be honest with you, Jake. Since you've taken off on a dangerous secret mission, stationed at some godforsaken outpost somewhere in the cosmos, I feel as if we've been steadily growing apart. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think it would be best if we start seeing other movies. I hope you understand.
Fondly,
America
The burning question of what film would ever -- if ever -- unseat Avatar from box-office supremacy has finally been answered, and it's not likely the successor anyone would have guessed. The Channing Tatum/Amanda Seyfried romantic weepie Dear John is absolutely killing this weekend, drawing $13.8 million on opening day and eyeing a three-day total of at least $30 million by Sunday night. That's more than double what Avatar earned on Friday and more than $10 million in front of the John Travolta thriller From Paris With Love. Also noteworthy: Crazy Heart fared well in its Oscar-race expansion, while The Blind Side... enh. Not so much; it remains just on the outside of the Top 10 looking in for the third straight week. Read on for the full list.
more »
FILM NEWS 