Thompson on Hollywood

Howl Finds a Home, Will Smith Looks at Sequels, Live Baseball on PS3, Mags See Uptick

Adam Yauch's Oscilloscope Laboratories has finally acquired U.S. distribution for Sundance opener Howl. O-scope had three nominations at the last Oscars, so the Jeffrey Friedman/Rob Epstein Beat biopic adds a little wind to the distrib's sails. James Franco plays Allen Ginsberg in this historic evocation of the young poet's obscenity trial and off-beat lifestyle.

By Cameron Carlson
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April 22, 2010 7:12 AM
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Jim Carrey at Crossroads

Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol and Yes Man were box-office disappointments and indie gay romance I Love You Philip Morris is currently on the shelf, caught in a distribution quagmire. What should the 48-year-old comedian do? In my ongoing Inside Movies column, I take a look at his career, from Ace Ventura to a bunch of projects that are in stall mode, from Ripley's Believe It Or Not (with Chris Columbus at Paramount) and The Three Stooges (stuck in development at beleaguered MGM) to Damn Yankees --Todd Graff is doing a rewrite and is set to direct for producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.

By Anne Thompson
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April 22, 2010 6:58 AM
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New York Vulture Adds West Coast Editor Adalian, Newsweek.com Adds Exec Editor Snyder

New York Vulture has made a huge play in its ongoing onslaught on the online entertainment trade space: it has hired ex-Variety television reporter Joe Adalian and his TV MoJoe blog (started at TV Week) to be west coast editor. Adalian is the best-read reporter at Sharon Waxman's TheWrap, which has been seeking additional investment and potential partners. The move suggests that Adalian felt more secure (and presumably, well-paid) moving to a more established media entity.

By Anne Thompson
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April 21, 2010 9:21 AM
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Senate Committee Passes Wall Street Transparency Act Banning Box Office Trading

Whew! Even though the Fed has approved the existence of two companies seeking to market wagers on box office futures, the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday could set back the financial ventures by passing the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act, reports the LAT, which includes a provision that bans trading on the box office:

By Anne Thompson
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April 21, 2010 7:30 AM
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SNL Presidents Reunion Funny or Die Video

If you missed this Funny or Die Presidents Reunion video starring Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey, Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd as ex-presidents lecturing Obama, it is hilarious (one reason why it's so good: it's directed by narrator Ron Howard):

By Anne Thompson
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April 21, 2010 7:22 AM
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Ted Turner to Speak at Producer's Guild Conference

The Producers Guild has booked Ted Turner, founder and chairman of the UN Foundation, to speak at this year's Produced By Conference to be held June 4-6 on the Fox lot. Turner will share ways to involve the creative community in important social and cultural causes on Saturday, June 5th at 11:30 AM PST. Participants can register here.

By Anne Thompson
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April 21, 2010 6:42 AM
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Disney Sale of Miramax to Burkle Not Closed, Three Miramax Films Hung Up

It's all in the spin.

By Anne Thompson
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April 21, 2010 2:58 AM
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Cannes Update: Fortnight, Critics Week, Carlos, Tree of Life

The Cannes Film Festival is still in motion.

By Anne Thompson
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April 20, 2010 8:09 AM
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Promo Reel: John Woo's Reign of Assassins

Currently filming Reign of Assassins looks like a robustly commercial action epic for John Woo and co-director Su Chao-Pin. The way to go these days for Woo and producer Terence Chang is to line-up production finding from several Asian countries, as they did on Red Cliff. (Fortissimo Film Sales is selling the world.) This one stars Michelle Yeoh and Jung Woo-Sung, the hunky action star of The Good, The Bad and the Weird and lots of aerial wire combat--one scene is shot in the dark with flaming swords. Yes!

By Anne Thompson
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April 20, 2010 7:04 AM
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Treme Week Two: Read At Your Own Risk!

Spoiler Alert: Tim Appelo and I are so delighted by David Simon's latest HBO series, Treme, that we're going to write about each new episode every week. So read on only if you have seen both episodes one and two at this point, and please join the conversation thread.