Two nights before Cillian Murphy won the Best Actor Oscar for the Universal Pictures blockbuster Oppenheimer, the studio completed a preemptive acquisition for the Mark A. Bradley book Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America. The film will be scripted by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth as a starring and producing vehicle for Murphy. This is an epic story of a corrupt union leader who murders a rival and is taken down by the lawyer son of the slain coal miner. Murphy will play Chip Yablonski, the labor attorney who made it his life’s mission to get justice for his father. >>>Tailor-Fit Role |
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UTA-Kassan, Round 3 - Ex-MediaLink CEO Michael Kassan's lawyer Sanford Michelman suddenly announced in a press conference that the Jeremy Zimmer-run UTA had tried to strike a deal to keep the controversial exec on board after he resigned on March 6 or (depending on who you ask) was fired on March 7. UTA's counsel had a different take. >>>"A Pathological Liar "
MIP On The Move - The organizers of MIPTV are setting up a new event in London, relocating from the market's historic home in Cannes. MIP London will be based in The Savoy hotel and an adjoining space, the IET London, in a seismic change to the international TV calendar. The new event will run concurrently with the hugely successful London Screenings. >>>A More Boutique Set-Up
'Blippi' Ages Up - Moonbug Entertainment, the owner of the lucrative CoComelon franchise, is plotting European expansion and has launched its first channel for older children, Blippi & Friends. >>>Spin-offs Targeted At 4-8 Demo
CBS Eyes More Globes - Two months after the Golden Globes aired on CBS for the first time in more than four decades, the network has closed a new five-year deal to continue to broadcast the awards show and stream it live on Paramount+. >>>Contrast To Last Year Changing Of The Guard - Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of the hugely successful CSI TV franchise, has signed with boutique management firm Literate after the death of Zuiker’s beloved manager of over 25 years, Margaret Riley. >>>The New ‘Team Zuiker’
Sony In For The ‘Save’ - Following a competitive auction, Sony Pictures has landed the highly-coveted spec How To Save A Marriage from Ross Evans with Robert Pattinson on board to produce. >>>Potential Star Vehicle?
Alloy Founder Strengthens WB TV Ties - Leslie Morgenstein, founder and president of You producer Alloy Entertainment, is staying in business with Warner Bros. Television and has scored a new title. Morgenstein has also been named Chief Creative Officer at Alloy, which has been part of Warner Bros. since 2012. >>>900+ Hours Of TV
In Brief - Joe Henderson & Lee Garbett launch comic The Big Burn… TriStar buys romcom Man’s Best Friend… Wild Card Creative Group teams with BlueMoon AI |
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Exclusive
Sources say that 20th Century Studios and Ethea Entertainment are in pre-production for an untitled film inspired by the story of Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and former CEO of Bumble. Lily James is on board to play the lead role and produce.
Scarlett Johansson is in talks to join the Gareth Edwards-directed Jurassic World reboot at Universal.
Exclusive
Searchlight has set five more for major roles in its Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet: Boyd Holbrook (The Bikeriders), Scoot McNairy (Argo), Dan Fogler ( Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Will Harrison (Daisy Jones & The Six) and Charlie Tahan (Ozark).
In Brief - J.K. Simmons among final additions to SNL 1975... Seth Rogen’s The Studio series casts up... Keith Urban joins The Voice as mentor... Michael Jackson biopic adds 7 to cast |
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More News 👸 Stephen Colbert dedicated two minutes of his late-night show to an apology for jokes he made about Kate Middleton conspiracy theories shortly before she divulged a cancer diagnosis.
🌉 After a cargo ship slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore's harbor and sent the entire mile-long span crashing down into the water, authorities were still searching for six missing construction workers this morning.
📺 The writers and actors strikes crippled scripted television and the movie industry last summer. However, reality shows, variety series and game shows were able to continue filming thanks to operating under a different contract – the Network Television Code Contract. SAG-AFTRA is now setting the stage for renewal talks over its 2024 contract.
💶 Investment in movie production in France rose 13.6% in 2023 to $1.45B (€1.34B), according to an annual report published by the country’s National Cinema Center on Monday. The CNC said that $1.19B of the $1.45B investment hailed from France-based backers, in their third highest contribution after 2016 and 2021.
✖️ The first two episodes of Disney+ series X-Men ’97 launched on March 20, and, according to the company, it is now the most viewed full-length animated series premiere on the streamer since What If…? Season 1. |
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Obituaries
🕯 Paula Weinstein, who produced dozens of films including The Perfect Storm and The Fabulous Baker Boys, exec produced Grace and Frankie, won Emmys for Truman and Recount and was a former studio and Tribeca Enterprises executive during a nearly 40-year career, died Monday morning. She was 78. 🕯 Ron Harper, whose career in TV spanned several decades with roles in Generations, Planet of the Apes, Land of the Lost and Another World, died March 21 of natural causes in West Hills, CA. He was 91. 🕯 Eli Noyes, the pioneering stop-motion animator who scored an Oscar nom for his short film Clay, or The Origin of Species and worked on the MTV series Liquid Television and HBO’s Braingames among other credits, has died at age 81. 🕯 Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2024 Photo Gallery |
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On the Radar
Wed - Jerry Seinfeld on Fallon |
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Best Dressed - While actors Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Dan Stevens all walked the red carpet at the Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire world premiere, it was two people dressed as the film's titular stars who stole the show. |
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