Entertaining Posts

Monday, March 21, 2011

Jeff Daniels eyed for new Sorkin television drama

By Lacey Rose

Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:34pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In a high-profile plot twist, Aaron Sorkin's TV pilot is close to nabbing actor Jeff Daniels as its star.

The hotly anticipated drama pilot, tentatively titled "More As the Story Develops," is set behind the scenes of a nightly cable news show.

Similarly, Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was a behind-the-scenes look at a "Saturday Night Live"-type sketch comedy show, and "Sports Night" was a similar take on a "SportsCenter"-like sports news program.

Sorkin spent time with high profile cable newsmen, including Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, among others, to better understand the world he planned to recreate.

Daniels, 56, is currently negotiating for the lead role, which was originally written for as a character in their 40s.

If the project goes to series, it will mark the actor's first foray into regular series television. Previous TV credits include several telefilms, including 2008's "Sweet Nothing in My Ear" for Hallmark Channel.

Daniels is better known to stage and film audiences for a prolific career that includes "Dumb & Dumber," "The Squid and the Whale" and "State of Play," among others.

For Sorkin, who won an Oscar last month for his screenplay for "The Social Network," the project will be his first in cable. His earlier series, "Sports Night," "The West Wing" and "Studio 60" aired on broadcast networks ABC or NBC.

Scott Rudin, who worked with Sorkin on "Social Network" and will also serve as an executive producer on the HBO project, dabbled in series television only once in the mid-1990s, when ABC adapted "Clueless," which he had produced for the big screen.

U2, Rihanna featured on new album to aid Japan

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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Justin Bieber passes Michael Jackson at box office

By Pamela McClintock

Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:37pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The Biebs hasn't disappointed on the big screen.

Paramount's "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" has now surpassed Michael Jackson This Is It to become the most successful concert-themed movie at the domestic box office.

Through Sunday, Justin Bieber had earned $72.2 million at the domestic box office. Sony's "This Is It" grossed $72.1 million domestically.

However, This Is It still holds the worldwide record, having grossed $189.1 million overseas for a global total of $261.2 million. Usually, concert films don't travel well.

"Never Say Never" has grossed $10.8 million at the international box office, a solid number, considering that the Jonas Brothers' concert film grossed only $4 million internationally, while "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" earned $5 million. "Hannah Montana" grossed $65 million domestically.

Paramount insiders believe Justin Bieber could ultimately earn $20 million internationally. So far, the movie has done best in Latin America, where star's fan base is strongest.

Justin Bieber was produced by Paramount's low-budget division Insurge Pictures. The studio has shied way from calling the film a concert movie, since it delves into Bieber's childhood and rise to pop icon status.

Paramount also took the unprecedented step of updating the movie with new footage early in its theatrical release, so as to encourage repeat business. The move worked.

Friday, March 18, 2011

No script. All riff. Sheen tour details trickle out

LOS ANGELES | Fri Mar 18, 2011 8:00pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Charlie Sheen plans to "riff like an artist" from memory rather than use a script on his 21-date "Torpedo of Truth" tour next month, delivering a mostly spoken word performance of about 80 minutes, according to one of the show's producers.

Joey Scoleri told E! News in an interview on Friday that audiences would also get to ask questions of the fired "Two and a Half Men" actor, and he promised a "wild ride of highs and lows and dark and light and laughter and being surprised."

Few details have so far been released of the tour, which sold out quickly in several U.S. cities after the massive publicity enjoyed by Sheen's bizarre rants and his exit from the most-watched comedy on television.

The description on the Ticketmaster website for "Charlie Sheen's Violent Torpedo of Truth Defeat Is Not an Option" show reads merely; ""Will there be surprises? Will there be guests? Will there be mayhem? Will you laugh? Will you scream? Will you know the truth? WILL THERE BE MORE?!?! This IS where you will hear the REAL story from the Warlock. Bring it. I dare you to keep up with me."

Scoleri told E! News that Sheen was not using any writers.

"It's all Charlie. I don't think it's a script, as much as he is going to riff like an artist...He will probably do most of it from memory, he's that talented."

"There will be some multimedia, but largely just him and a microphone and he's going to talk, and having heard some of the stuff he is going to say, people are going to be pleasantly surprised. There will be some things that are shocking and provoking, but you're going to laugh," he added.

Sheen, who has been in and out of drug and alcohol rehab in the past year, was the highest paid actor on U.S. television before he was fired on March 7 because of what executives called his "dangerously self-destructive conduct".

Sheen fired back with a $100 million lawsuit against Warner Bros. Television and the show's producer Chuck Lorre claiming he was wrongfully terminated.

Scoleri said Sheen could make "several hundred thousand" dollars from each of his live shows but declined to give precise figures.

Celebrity website TMZ on Friday estimated he could rake in $7 million from ticket sales, merchandising and after-parties -- the equivalent of his salary for about four episodes for playing a skirt-chasing bachelor on "Two and A Half Men."

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Jackson dad renews call for new probe of son's death

By Tracy Rucinski

MADRID | Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:19pm EDT

MADRID (Reuters) - A week before jury selection begins in the manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, the late singer's father renewed calls for a federal probe into his son's death based on his belief a conspiracy was at work.

Joe Jackson, in Madrid to promote a worldwide tour of the hit Spanish musical "Forever King of Pop," said on Friday he believes Dr. Conrad Murray was acting on behalf of other people involved in Michael's career and said Michael had warned his family he would be killed over the publishing rights to hit songs such as "Thriller" and "Billie Jean."

"I want to get the other people that's involved, not just Dr. Murray. That's why I'm trying to get a federal investigation, so they can grab them all," Jackson said.

He characterized Murray as "just the fall guy," in an interview with Reuters, but declined to say who else he thought might be to blame in the death of his superstar son.

"I'm not calling names, but they know who they are," said the patriarch of the family of Jackson singers who helped define the Motown sound of the late 1960s and '70s.

"Michael knew that something was going to happen to him before it happened," said Joe Jackson, who wore his customary black fedora and gold chains.

Michael Jackson, dubbed the King of Pop for his many hits, died in 2009 at age 50 in Los Angeles of a drug overdose only days before he was to begin a series of comeback concerts in London. Murray was hired by concert promoters AEG Live to care for the singer as he rehearsed, and he was giving Jackson the anesthetic propofol to help him sleep at home.

But propofol typically is used in hospitals, not as a sleep aid. Coroners have ruled propofol was the key drug that caused Jackson's death and prosecutors have charged Murray with involuntary manslaughter for improperly administering it.

Murray has pleaded not guilty, and lawyers begin jury selection next week for a trial set to begin in Los Angeles on May 9.

JACKSON'S LEGACY

Joe Jackson was in Madrid to present an agreement between the Jackson Family Foundation and the Summum Music production company for a worldwide tour of the hit Spanish musical "Forever King of Pop," which the Jackson family has chosen "to represent Michael's legacy across the world."

Earlier this week Jermaine Jackson, the brother of Michael and a member of the Jackson Five singers, reached a deal with Crown publishing to release a memoir detailing his brother's life and promising to leave "no subject off limits."

In his life, Michael Jackson had claimed his father was abusive.

On Friday, Joe Jackson declined to comment on Jermaine's book, saying he was working on his own. He did not give details of his memoir, other than saying it would look at his "hard times" early in life, raising a family, working many jobs and molding his sons into the pop stars they eventually became.

Jermaine Jackson's book, titled "You Are Not Alone: Through a Brother's Eyes," is set for release in fall 2011.