Media Bits: Stephen King, 'Grimm', Dr. Suess & 'Percy Jackson' casting

Filmmaker Mark Pavia, who in 1997 helmed a low-budgeted version of the Stephen King short-story The Night Flier, will behind The Reaper’s Image, an anthology film using four of King’s stories that include the title story, along with Mile 81, N, and The Monkey.

On the heels of CBS announcing early renewals for 15 of their scripted series, NBC announced they’ve given an early pick-up to Grimm for a second season. While the fantasy show has not been the break-out hit ABC’s Once Upon Time (which is anticipated to be picked-up as well) is, the show has done respectively well in its Friday Night Death Slot.™

File this under Things That Don’t Need to be Brought Back: Lionsgate is teaming up with WWE Films to reboot the Leprechaun franchise. Yes, just when we thought the mythical figure from Irish lore was done belittling teenagers with bad puns and more outrageous killing, we get to do it all over again. While the first one –and supposedly the best in the franchise- featured the debut of Jennifer Aniston, apparently they’ll not bother with finding someone who can act this time around. I guess when you’re aiming for the lowest common denominator, hiring a wrestler seems more practical. While Warwick Davis played the title character through all 5 films, its unknown if he’ll reprise the role.

 

The surprise box-office hit that was Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment have decided to tackle another tale from the Dr. Seuss catalog. The surprise is that they’ll turn The Cat in the Hat into a 3D CGI-animated film. While Cat is arguably Suess’ most famous story, it sort of regulates Universal’s own 2003 Mike Myers live-action starring version to the dust bin of disappointing adaptations. I guess the consensus is that based on the success of The Lorax and 20^th Century Fox/Blue Sky's Horton Hears a Who, Dr. Suess tales work better in this animated format. 

Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Sea Monsters may have just got a bit more interesting, as fan favorite Nathan Fillion has been cast as the Greek God Hermes, replacing Dylan Neal who played him in the first film. Logan Lerman returns in the role of Percy, along with Alexandra Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson as his friends as they follow in the footsteps of Jason and the Argonauts as they head out in search of the mythical Golden Fleece.

Media Bits: Casting on 2 CW pilots, Jeremy Irons joins 'Creatures', 'Dark Tower' now at Warners

Jeremy Irons and Emmy Rossum (Shameless) has joined the cast of the Warner Bros. adaptation of the young adult supernatural novel series Beautiful Creatures. Richard LaGravenses will direct the film and write the screenplay, based on the first novel written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The plot follows two teenage lovers –the local boy and a mysterious new girl- in small Southern town who uncover dark secrets about their families past. Dark witches and mean girls will abound. Rossum joins already cast Jack O'Connell and Alice Englert, along with Viola Davis and Emma Thompson.

Irish actress Ruth Bradley (In Her Skin) has landed the female lead in ABC’s pilot Beauty and the Beast. Scottish singer-actor Darius Campbell was already cast as the Beast. This is a fantasy re-imagining of the classic Beauty and the Beast tale, which will make it somewhat different from the CW’s grittier, New York City based one. This Belle will have an unlikely connection to a mysterious beast named, Shiro, who is a mercenary bodyguard. 

With a lot of shows on “the bubble” (they’re at a tipping point between being renewed or cancelled, but no one knows which yet)  The River's Paul Blackthorne is covering his bases and has reportedly been cast in Arrow as Detective Quentin Lance, the father of Green Arrow's love interest Laurel. He’ll play the detective who is out to bring Green Arrow to justice on this CW pilot. On the unlikely hood The River gets a second season, Blackthrone would be forced to return to that. Also added is Jamey Sheridan, who’ll play Green Arrow’s father, Robert Queen. Susanna Thompson is playing his mother. Also joining Arrow in a recurring role is British actor Colin Salmon (Resident Evil, GoldenEye), who will play Walter Steele, a former business associate of Oliver’s late father Robert Queen and now married Oliver’s mother.

Hills Have Eyes and Piranha director Alexandre Aja is negotiating to helm Undying Love, an adaptation of the Image Comics graphic novel. The story revolves around an ex-soldier who falls for a vampire, though in order to be with her, he must take on her creator, who is protected by an army of monsters in the Hong Kong underworld. 

Paramount Pictures announced they’re movie the Brad Pitt zombie film World War Z from December 21, 2012 to June 21, 2013. It’s possible that their moving the film from an already crowed holiday season -away from such films as The Hobbit and Django Unchained and The Great Gatsby among others- because they see it as a summer film? Meanwhile, the studio has a set a Christmas Day 2013 release date for their Jonathan Liebesman-directed live action reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Chronicles of Narnia star William Moseley has scored the lead in The CW pilot The Selection. This Hunger Games style plot is set some 300 years in the future and centers on America Singer (Aimee Teegarden), a poor young woman who is chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to marry Prince Maxon (Ethan Peck) and become the next queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads. Moseley will play Aspen, a working class servant who loves her.

Ever since Universal dropped the Ron Howard’s proposed film-trilogy-and-TV-series adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower books due to the huge price tag, his Imagine Entertainment have been trying to find someone to pick-up the movie part of the franchise –Brian Grazer said back in October the 2 season of 22-episode TV element would be produced through HBO. Now it looks like it could find a home at Warner Bros., as word has come that screenwriter Akiva Goldman Has been hired by the studio to “polish” up his script –which Deadline says might be a studio code for “make it cheaper.”

Leonardo Cimino, who spent more than 60 years as an in-demand character actor -which included roles as gangsters, grandfathers, the pope, Vincent van Gogh - died on March 3 at his home in Woodstock, N.Y. at the age of 94. In television, he appeared in the original version of the science-fiction mini-series V and in shows like Kojak and Law & Order. His many movies included Dune, The Freshman and Moonstruck. He played the pope in the 1982 film Monsignor and the “Scary German Guy” in The Monster Squad.

***SPOILERS*** 'Doctor Who' season 7 info

Rumors are not only a Fleetwood Mac album, but it’s also what has over taken Doctor Who for the last few years. With the revived series never more popular outside its native UK and rogue PBS stations, fans are eager for any news about the upcoming 7^th season. 

Production has begun, with work on episode 2 and 3 proceeding at a good pace, even though Matt Smith has said they’ll film through December. Little is known about the structure of this season, though anyone can probably infer a few things that have become public information. What is known is that there will be 14 episodes, but they’re probably going to be split over 2012-13 TV season. Speculation is the show will return in mid-November and air the final 4 episodes that involve Amy and Rory, and then air the fifth episode, the traditional Christmas Special on, well Christmas. After that, what happens to the back nine is unknown. Theoretically, they can begin airing in early to mid-January and air through early to mid-March 2013, just as the 8^th series–the Golden Anniversary season- begins filming. But we’ll not know fully for months on what the BBC’s intention is on the broadcast schedule. 

As mentioned, filming began on what is now known to be episode two in mid-February. This will be the show that stars Harry Potter alumni Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley) as Rory’s Dad, Brian Williams (either that, or the NBC news commentator). Location footage seemed to be the first block of production on that episode, with filming at Southerndown Beachon, a location used before, along with scenes outside the Pond’s home. Then, production shifted onto the third episode, the western genre-themed episode (with what is assumed to be the working title of) The Gunslinger, which meant a location shoot in Spain. According to the BBC, it was actually cheaper to film there than build sets in Cardiff. The crew is filming at Fort Bravo Studios, in Almeria, using sets made famous by legendary Spanish director Sergio Leone with his spaghetti westerns that also made Clint Eastwood a household name. This episode also features a guest star from Farscape actor Ben Browder –who might or might not be- playing a cyborg gunslinger stuck in the 19^th century. Interiors for both episode 2 and 3 will then film back in Cardiff. 

We know that two villains from TOS are supposed to appear, with rumors still persisting that they’re the Yeti and the Ice Warriors. One other tenacious speculation that seems not to be going away is that Sophia Myles, who turned a marvelous performance as Madame de Pompadour in 2006 episode The Girl in the Fireplace, will be the new companion. Steven Moffat started that fire back in January when Myles got a Twitter account based on Moffat’s insistence. Now, it’s being reported that Myles is –coincidently- also in Spain while the crew is filming there.  

To be continued…

Media Bits: Casting on 'Doctor Who' 'Arrow' and end of 'Terra Nova'

The Seventh Son, the latest novel by author Orson Scott Card (beyond Ender’s Game) to go before the cameras, has added British actress Olivia Williams (The Ghost Writer, The Sixth Sense) to its cast, joining Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore. The film is about a teen who learns the art of wizardry after discovering that he is the seventh son of a seventh son. 

Emmy Rossum (Shameless) has joined the cast of the Warner Bros. adaptation of the young adult supernatural novel series Beautiful Creatures. Richard LaGravenses will direct the film and write the screenplay, based on the first novel written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The plot follows two teenage lovers –the local boy and a mysterious new girl- in small Southern town who uncover dark secrets about their families past. Dark witches and mean girls will abound. Rossum joins already cast Jack O'Connell and Alice Englert, along with Viola Davis and Emma Thompson.

Irish actress Ruth Bradley (In Her Skin) has landed the female lead in ABC’s pilot Beauty and the Beast. Scottish singer-actor Darius Campbell was already cast as the Beast. This is a fantasy re-imagining of the classic Beauty and the Beast tale, which will make it somewhat different from the CW’s grittier, New York City based one. This Belle will have an unlikely connection to a mysterious beast named, Shiro, who is a mercenary bodyguard. 

With a lot of shows on “the bubble” (they’re at a tipping point between being renewed or cancelled, but no one knows which yet)  The River's Paul Blackthorne is covering his bases and has reportedly been cast in Arrow as Detective Quentin Lance, the father of Green Arrow's love interest Laurel. He’ll play the detective who is out to bring Green Arrow to justice on this CW pilot. On the unlikely hood The River gets a second season, Blackthrone would be forced to return to that. Also added is Jamey Sheridan, who’ll play Green Arrow’s father, Robert Queen. Susanna Thompson is playing his mother. Also joining Arrow in a recurring role is British actor Colin Salmon (Resident Evil, GoldenEye), who will play Walter Steele, a former business associate of Oliver’s late father Robert Queen and now married Oliver’s mother.

John Barrowman -Captain Jack Harkness on Doctor Who and Torchwood- has joined the cast of ABC’s new series Gilded Lilys, which more or less confirms that Torchwood is indeed done for now. The new show is from Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. The series is set in 1895 and set in a lavish hotel in New York. He’ll be playing the playboy son of the owners. Whether the openly gay actor will be the same on the show is not known. 

Meanwhile, another former Doctor Who companion, Freema Agyeman, has been cast in the pilot for The CW’s The Carrie Diaries, a prequel to the hyper, über-gay popular HBO series Sex and the City. She’s playing Larissa, the editor who works at Interview Magazine and Carrie Bradshaw’s mentor. I wonder if the CW can convince anyone from the original series to appear on this prequel if it goes to series. While Carrie’s mom is dead in the book series, it does not mean Sarah Jessica Parker can’t appear as an aged aunt or grandparent, old friend or just a bitchy crazy person. Wait, that role could go to Kim Cattrall, potentially earning her an Emmy and SAG nomination. I mean, if Jessica Lange can do it, why not her? And with this potential series, does this indicate The CW is upping its gay demographic beyond The Vampire Diaries, 90120 (which may end being cancelled), Supernatural, and America’s Next Top Model? 

Speaking of Doctor Who, filming on season seven continues, with a location shoot in Spain. Apparently the episode is set in the American Wild West –the first time the series has had western themed episode since the First Doctor visited the OK Corral in The Gunfighter’s serial from 1966. This will be the third episode to air, and is written by Being Human creator Toby Whithouse. Stargate SG-1 and Farscape actor Ben Browder is guest starring. Also confirmed is the Chris Chibnall scripted episode is the second story of the season. That’s the one that features Harry Potter actors Mark Williams playing Rory’s Dad and David Bradley. And since they’re filming in Spain (and on sets created some decades ago when Sergio Leone made his classic spaghetti westerns), rumors that they’ll film other scenes for another story (which they did when the series filmed in Croatia 2 years ago) is coming to head. Suggestions are these other areas of Spain will be used as remains of Skaro. So, basically the season opener has yet to begin filming. But considering it is filmed in blocks, with two episodes shooting simultaneously {these two under director Saul Metzstein}, it would seem the opener will be made after filming completes on episode 2 and 3; meaning episodes 1 and 4 are part of another block to be directed by Nick Hurran and both are to be written by showrunner Steven Moffat. And there is also a suggestion that these 4 stories will make up the only ones (beyond the Christmas episode?) to air in 2012. 

The FOX Network made it official and has pulled the plug on the expensive, but moderately-rated Terra Nova. At TCA in January, FOX’s entertainment president Kevin Reilly told the press “If this is all we make (of Terra Nova), we made money on it, the studio made money on it, and it seems to have resonated with the family audience,” he said. “There is a show, which if we are to bring back, there’s an audience there. But creatively, the show was hunting (for its identity). If we had more holes in our network, we’d be thrilled to lock that right in.”  But since 20th Century Fox built a semi-city in Australia, they’ve decided to try and shop the series somewhere else. This begs the question what network -beyond the other three broadcast ones- can actually afford it? SyFy, which is owned by Universal, would need to pay a license fee to Fox (well, all would actually), plus whatever the cost of each episode is –though since it does film Down Under, there are already some built-in cost savings. Plus, considering SyFy is cutting back on budget’s and looking for more cheaper-to-produce reality and game shows, the odds they’ll pick this show is pretty slim. The truth of the matter is that these types of expensive shows don’t have the luxury of a waiting period to build a large audience; they need to be huge hits from the start. And from a creative point, it took far too long for this show to find its sea legs –though I would argue it never did. That is why I don’t see any cable network picking up the show.

Universal pulls Hasbro's Ouija from trash heap

After jettisoning most of the Hasbro-branded projects, Universal has decided to try and give Ouija another try –at a helleva lot cheaper price. The old version, which had McG on board as director, had a budget north of $100 million -this new one is said to be around $5 million or so. Universal is looking at the success of Chronicle and Project X –the new sub-genre of “found” footage films- to give Ouija another try. Both Chronicle and Project X were moderately budgeted films, $15 million and $12 million respectively, with no recognizable named actors. Both made their money back on the opening weekends, with Chronicle taking in $22 million and Project X $21 million. So with those films successes in mind, Universal will create a “found” footage story around Hasbro’s classic game. Which is just fine by me, by the way, ‘cause I’ll probably not see it anyways. After the Blair Witch Project, I swore I never see one of these types of films again. That was until Chronicle, and I swore again. While I give kudos to the actors for trying their hardest to make us care for anyone, anybody, the scripts weakness comes through because the story never made clear who the main protagonist was –Andrew or Matt? Along with another character’s death, which came across as pointless, and extremely confusing –giving me the impression that it was either a late add-on or just poorly edited. Project X just looks ugly in both content and execution, designed to fulfill 15 year-old boy’s misogynistic fantasy that women are objects to be degraded and that men will always get their way. Of course, there are women here who allow them to be treated this way, which is just another sad bookmark in the pages of history about the mistreatment of women by men and their fellow women.

Judas Kiss: Behind the Scenes

The art of the negotiation and time management are put to the test on any film.This is why its very important that everyone works together, communicates and explain, in a moderate amount of detail, what is required for each shot, and how long between the set-ups to get them.

That's where First Assistant Director Mike Drobinski (far right) comes in handy. Director J.T. Tepnapa (center) tells Director of Photography David Berry (far left) about the set-up, and DP Berry will analysis how long is will take before they can actually shoot. They negotiate, bargain and eventually First AD can tell the actors when they're needed. Of course, in this picture, it looks like Mr. Berry is trying to hypnotize Mr. Drobinski. And Mike is telling David that his Jedi mind tricks will not work on him. 

Director J.T. Tepnapa talks to actor Timo Descamps as filming is about to begin. In the background is First AD Mike Drobinski and Second Second AD Bryan Campbell.

Director JT Tepnapa talks to actors Sean Paul Lockhart, Julia Morizawa and Richard Harmon. Wonder where he learned those Jedi mind tricks from.

photos: Sean Anderson

LJ Smith dumped as 'Vampire Diaries' author

Writer LJ Smith has found out why self-publishing –despite its hazards- is a better route. The author, who has been penning the popular Vampire Diaries series since 1990, has basically been fired from writing anymore of those books. While her name will remain on them, any future novels in the series will be ghostwritten by others. 

She explains:

"You’re probably wondering how this can happen, since I write the series and have done so since 1990. But the truth is simple. When I got a call asking me to write a vampire trilogy for Harper, it wasn’t Harper who was calling me. It was a book packager, now called Alloy Entertainment, calling on Harper’s behalf. Their job was to take authors’ work, put blurbs and covers on it, and sell it to a publisher. When I wrote the first Vampire Diaries trilogy it was called “work for hire.” By the time I found out what that meant it was too late. What it means is that the book packager, Alloy Entertainment, owns the books, not me. Even though they are copyrighted to me, I still can’t write them without Alloy’s permission. And they really hated any Delena content—as well as the many scenes I had given to Bonnie, which they wanted to cut. They demanded only Stelena. And now they’ve gotten an anonymous ghostwriter to do the books, the way a ghostwriter does Stefan’s Diaries.” She added “unlike most writers who work with book packagers, I was not submissive, meek, and eager to please them. Instead, I had my own vision of the books.”

Which is fine, you wanted to write Damon/Elena storylines, but you found out that they wanted Stefen/Elena and you did not do what they asked, so they fired you. Still, I doubt Smith will be hurt by this and after 22 years as a writer, she should be able to land on her feet and get published. But this might be the opportunity to self-publish her own ideas; property that she’ll have complete control over. 

It’s also a cautious tale of budding authors who sell their souls just to get published. As a writer-for-hire, no matter how many books you write, in the end, you own none of it.