Monday, January 12, 2009

Brendan Fraser Joins Ford in Crowley

Brendan Fraser will play the title role in director Tom Vaughan's Crowley, joining Harrison Ford in the film that begins shooting April in Portland.

The drama is based on the true story of John and Aileen Crowley, whose two children had a rare genetic disorder. Rather than give up hope that nothing could help his children, John Crowley found a researcher (Ford) with a potential cure.

Ford also will executive produce the film inspired by a Wall Street Journal article and subsequent book, "The Cure," by Geeta Anand.

South Park Creators Bring How's Your News? to MTV

Matt Stone on Camp Jabberwocky's special news team.

About 10 years back South Park's Matt Stone and Trey Parker put their love and money into a docu-film called How's Your News?, which featured members of an Adults with Disabilities camp, Camp Jabberwocky, hitting the streets as part of a news team and getting a slew of "man on the streets" interviews. Trey and Matt saw some of the footage that was coming out of the camp and, as Matt Stone put it at the recent TCA press tour, "we just loved it. This was back before South Park was on the air." And ever since the feature film in 1999, Matt and Trey have been "kind of Godfathering the project which has changed a lot over the past 10 years," said Stone.

Moving How's Your News? into a TV series on MTV is definitely something that might not have ever seemed possible, especially given the beast that MTV has become and how much the network has changed its focus over time. But Stone was hesitant to try and get it on Comedy Central, mostly out of respect for the participant's disabilities and the humor that may unintentionally grow out of their interviews with celebrities. The TV show itself, however, has more to do with the team, and their own lives, than the previous incarnations of Hows? "This show is really about them. We have a lot of celebrity stuff because we went to LA and New York and Las Vegas, but it's really about them," Stone clarified.

In the 6 episodes of the new series, we follow the reporters, including Jeremy Vest and Sue Harrington, as they cram on board a bus and live along with the camera crew and meet the likes of John Stamos, Sarah Silverman and Jeremy's confessed lifelong hero, Kermit the Frog. And it wasn't just any bus. "It was really fun. It's really amazingly and outrageously orange," beemed Vest. Who was the dream interview for Sue Harrington? The Plain White T's.

Stone was also asked to comment on how he and Trey Parker are able to maintain a respectful portrayal of the How's Your News? reporters, especially since they are, of course, notorious for their off-color and controversial antics of South Park. Stone was really never afraid to be associated with the members of Camp Jabberwocky, he was more afraid for them to be associated with him, given the stigma that might come with the phrase "from the creators of South Park." Jabberwocky Video Teacher and Executive Producer, Arthur Bradford said that the show will be about "this amazing and talented group of people as they travel across the country. Their sense of humor permeates every moment of every episode."

Weekly Ratings: 1/4 – 1/9

Sunday Ratings: Did the Superstars of Dance Have Legs?

7 pm/ET
Trailing the conclusion of Fox's NFL coverage, 60 Minutes placed second with 12.32 million total viewers. The first hour of Saturday Night Live's "Sports Extra" special came in a distant fourth (behind Funniest Home Videos), with 4.48 mil.

8 pm
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition topped the hour with just under 11 million viewers; Million Dollar Password was a close second with 10.4 mil. The SNL Sports Extra surged to 6.88 mil in its second hour. Fox's rebroadcast of 24: Redemption averaged 5.9 mil over its two-hour run.

9 pm
Housewives was No. 1 with 14.33 million viewers, yet down 10 percent from its last fresh outing. Cold Case came in second with 12.66 mil, followed by the first hour of NBC's Superstars of Dance premiere (10.4 mil).

10 pm
NBC's superstar Dancers showed some legs by topping the 10 o'clock hour with 10.07 million viewers, besting The Unit (9.73 mil, up 19 percent from its previous new episode). Brothers & Sisters brought up the rear with 9.16 mil, down 14 percent.

Monday & Tuesday Ratings: Huge Gains for Biggest Loser, Scrubs-on-ABC

The Nielsens this week have experienced delays, so I just had two days' worth of data dumped on my desk. Here are selected highlights:

Monday

• Fox's coverage of the Fiesta Bowl dominated the night with 16 million total viewers.

• NBC's Superstars of Dance (9.59 million) dropped 615K from its Sunday bow.

• The arrival of ABC's new Bachelor averaged 8.7 mil, barely grabbing third at 8 pm/ET and dropping to No. 4 come 9 o'clock.

• Gossip Girl (2.94 mil) more or less matched its most recent audience, while One Tree Hill (2.63 mil) enjoyed a gain of 420 thou.

• ABC's True Beauty debuted to 7.64 mil, placing a distant second behind a CSI: Miami repeat.

Tuesday

• NCIS netted 19.07 million viewers, its second-largest audience ever (trailing only this past Dec. 16). That set up The Mentalist for yet another series high, 19.56 mil.

• The Biggest Loser: Couples debuted to 11.82 mil, the series' biggest premiere ever and a 51 percent increase over the Families opener.

• The ABC premiere of Scrubs averaged 6.7 mil across two episodes — a 25 percent improvement upon the sitcom's NBC send-off.

• Both 90210 (2.78 mil) and Privileged (1.74 mil) dipped 150K.

• Without a Trace scored 13.2 mil, down 1.5 mil from its last fresh episode (which delivered a season high). SVU (10.65 mil) slipped 250 thou.

Thursday Ratings: BCS Game, Private Practice Are Night's Only Winners

This Thursday, as Fox's coverage of the BCS Championship game 'tween the Gators and Sooners dominated the night with some 24 million total viewers....

8 pm/ET
Ugly Betty placed third (behind a CSI: NY repeat) with an audience of 7.5 million, down 900K from its last fresh outing. Both NBC's Earl (5.5 mil, down 17 percent) and Kath & Kim (4.15 mil, down 22 percent) suffered serious blows.

9 pm
Grey's claimed the No. 2 spot with 13.7 million viewers, down 10 percent from its last new episode. Leading out of an Office repeat with what I posit was its best episode of the season, 30 Rock (5.24 mil) plunged 30 percent.

10 pm
Private Practice benefitted from its new après-Grey's time slot, surging 36 percent (from its last Wednesday outing) to 9.03 million viewers. Trailing an Eleventh Hour repeat, ER scored 7.32 mil, down, 18 percent.

Friday Ratings: CBS' Flashpoint Is Back with a Bang

How did Friday's fare fare? Allow me to tell you via American Flight 3 to Los Angeles, where Mickey, Tim and I will be covering the Golden Globes and this week's Winter TCA Press Tour. (Thanks, GoGo in-flight wireless!)

8 pm/ET
Ghost Whisperer topped the hour as well as the night with an audience of 10.63 million total viewers, up 450K from its last fresh outing. Howie Do It did 7.68 mil to place second ahead of Wife Swap (4.77 mil).

9 pm
CBS' Flashpoint kicked off its second season with an all-time high audience of 10.06 million viewers (up 400K from its Sept. 18 finale). Trailing Supernanny (5.6 mil) and the second hour of Fox's Bruce Almighty, Lipstick Jungle's last scheduled episode delivered 4.08 mil, dipping 150 thou week-to-week. Did the sudsy sophomore series finish strong enough to make NBC reconsider its swing of the axe? Stay tuned....

10 pm
Numbers (10.08 mil) notched a 10 percent increase from its last new episode, easily besting 20/20 (7.89 mil) and Dateline (4.86 mil).

Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino Tops Box Office

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend.

Clint Eastwood's new drama Gran Torino took first place at the box office with an estimated $29 million, a new record for the 78-year-old actor, topping the $18 million his Space Cowboys made in 2000. The movie increased its theater count from 84 theaters to 2,808 this weekend and averaged an impressive $10,337 per location. Since opening on December 12 in New York and Los Angeles, the film has earned $40.1 million so far. The Warner Bros. release, directed by, produced by and starring Eastwood, cost about $33 million to make.

Two other newcomers also opened with more than $20 million. 20th Century Fox's new comedy Bride Wars, starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson, opened to $21.5 million from 3,226 theaters, while Rogue Pictures' new supernatural thriller The Unborn, directed by David Goyer and starring Odette Yustman, was close behind in third with $21.1 million from 2,357 theaters.

Fox's Marley & Me dropped down the fourth but added another $11.4 million in its third weekend to bring its total to $123.7 million.

Paramount Pictures' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button rounded out the top five with $9.5 million. After three weeks, the David Fincher fantasy drama starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett has reached $94.3 million. It carried a budget of about $150 million.

Sixth place belonged to Disney's Bedtime Stories, which earned $8.6 million for a total of $97.2 million after three weeks. Bryan Singer and Tom Cruise's Valkyrie added $6.7 million in its third weekend for a total of $71.5 million. Jim Carrey's Yes Man made $6.2 million in its fourth weekend for a sum of $89.4 million.

TriStar Pictures' Not Easily Broken also opened in 724 theaters and earned $5.6 million.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Lil Wayne to Record Rock Album

Rap superstar Lil Wayne acts and lives like a bonafide rock star. But now it seems the New Orleans-bred emcee is switching his music to match his lifestyle and will record a rock'n'roll album!

According to up-and-coming Canadian hip-hop artist Drake, Lil Wayne has been hard at work on a rock-oriented follow-up to last year's blockbuster Tha Carter III. "Wayne's coming out with a new album, it's a rock album. A complete rock album," Drake said, before explaining his new direction was partially inspired by Kanye West's ambitious new record, 808s and Heartbreak.

"It's something different in just that whole '808s and Heartbreak,' just throwing individuals off."

EXCLUSIVE: Danny Elfman To Score ‘Terminator Salvation’

Cast your expectations aside for the score to May’s “Terminator Salvation.” Danny Elfman has confirmed exclusively for MTV News that he will be composing the music for McG’s new post-nuclear-holocaust Terminator installment of the blockbuster franchise.

“I just started yesterday,” Elfman told MTV News from the red carpet of the Critics’ Choice Awards. The Academy Award nominated composer from films like “Good Will Hunting,” “The Corpse Bride” and “Batman” indicated that the original “Terminator” theme by composer Brad Fiedel was not in use yet; nor is there mandate to incorporate the classic symphonic hook. He did, however, leave the door open for its appearance.

“I think if it comes up and it seems appropriate, we will [use it],” Elman said. “And if it doesn’t, we [won't]. I never really know what to expect when I begin other than just kind of get into it and have fun. Especially a movie like “T4” – just have fun. So that’s what I intend to do.”

Last month we brought you exclusive word that the “Salvation” soundtrack will also include a track by the film’s star, hip-hop artist Common. The rapper plays the role of Barnes, a freedom fighter who battles Skynet alongside John Connors.

Elfman has the magic touch when it comes showcasing the monumentally bizarre and violently solemn moments on screen in his music. Right now, it’s obvious “Terminator: Salvation” will be breaking out the big sound guns for its score. And the sentiment was definitely echoed in Elfman’s response to the screening he recently saw.

The composer for all three “Spider-Man” films had one word for it: “Exciting.”

Mad Men Gears Up for Summer Return

The fate of AMC's Mad Men has been a bit dicey these days, but fans can rest assured it will most definitely return for its third season — with or without creator/executive producer Matthew Weiner.

The series, which centers on the high-powered world of advertising during the 1960s, will return this summer despite the prolonged contract negotiations between Lionsgate TV and Weiner, according to Variety.

"As long as we get the writers' room up and running over the next few months, we're fine [for a summer launch]," said AMC president Charlie Collier during their Television Critics Association panel on Thursday. The network head added that he is very optimistic the negotiations with Weiner will be settled soon.

The Season 3 premiere of Mad Men is scheduled to lead into the launch of The Prisoner, a six-part series remake of the classic '60s British drama of the same name.

Mother Cast Makes More Money

How I Met Your Mother is on a ratings roll, and now the cast is reaping the rewards with salary bumps.

After several months of renegotiations, Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan have each signed new deals with 20th Century Fox, according to The Hollywood Reporter. But despite strong ratings and syndication sales, a rough economy has prevented the gang from hitting the mother lode that was expected.

Though their new salaries of $90,000 — $120,000 per episode is about two to three times more than what they were taking in before, it's still lower than what the cast of other comedies, like The Office, were making at similar points in their run (not they're complaining about six figures an episode or anything).

Along with the cash flow increase, an extra year was also tacked on to their original seven-year contracts.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Leonardo DiCaprio Will Beat the Reaper

New Regency is acquiring screen rights to "Beat the Reaper," eyed as a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio, reports Variety.

The protagonist in the novel written by Josh Bazell is a Manhattan emergency room doctor, whose life becomes complicated when a mobster recognizes the doc from his former life as a hitman who went into the witness protection program.

Julie Yorn will produce with DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran. The film will be a co-production between Appian Way and the new production/management venture recently launched by Rick Yorn.

Kevin James Developing The Zookeeper

Earlier today, ComingSoon.net attended a roundtable interview with "King of Queens" star Kevin James for his new movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop. During the interview, he talked a little about what might potentially be the next project on his plate, The Zookeeper, a film that MGM has been developing from a script by Jay Scherick and David Ronn (and then Scot Armstrong). It had been mentioned as a possible project for James last year, though nothing was ever confirmed until James talked to us today and mentioned it as something he's developing:

"We're working on a movie now called 'Zookeeper,' I play a zookeeper—another guy in a uniform, no moustache in this one, we may go very bushy sideburns—I don't even know, but it's in the beginning stages of that. There'd been a draft of it and there'd been writers on it but we're rewriting and working on it now, and I hope to have my fingerprints on it and bring what I can to it. I'm not touching anything slimy, I can't do snakes."

Check back next week for our full interview with James talking about Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which opens on January 16.