SSN EMMY COVERAGE
Mini-Series/Movie
Inside the Revolution: How Mini-Series and Made For TV Movies Boast an Intriguing Shared Legacy
Over the years, no television formats have experienced more of a roller-coaster ride — in terms of their popularity with the public and their classifications at the Emmys — than made-for-TV movies and miniseries. (TR)
Can a Cannes Cast-Off About Princess Grace Actually Take the Emmy For Best Movie?
Once a staple with numerous and memorable Emmy-winning movies to tout, such as That Certain Summer, The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman and other landmark films, the Outstanding Television Movie category — which now stands on its own apart from Mini/Limited Series —seems awfully hard to fill. (AL)
SSN ORIGINALS
Film & TV Deals for 8/26/15: Netflix Lands In Japan, IATSE Ups Safety Training, ‘Supernatural’ Creator Shifts To Sony
Members of 13 Hollywood locals of the IATSE have signed a new film and TV contract, Kenya Barris has signed a three-year overall deal with ABC Studios, Bravo, E!, and Oxygen have launched a cross-network partnership with mobile app Dubsmash, and plenty more action occurred this week, so click on the link o read more. (SSN)
OTHER HEADLINES
The Inevitable Has Finally Happened: Universal Clears $2.113 Billion, Breaks the Domestic Box Office Record
Four months before the end of the year, the studio surpassed the $2.105 billion that Warner Bros. made in 2009. Universal still has several more films coming out before the end of the year, including M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit, the real-life adventure film Everest, Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs; Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak; Angelina Jolie Pitt’s By the Sea; and Krampus, the horror-comedy from Legendary, so $2.5 billion seems in easy reach. (THR)
Jennifer Lawrence Announces a Project She’s Making With Amy Schumer, Just About Breaks The Internet
During an interview about the upcoming final chapter in the Hunger Games series, Mockingjay, Part 2, Lawrence casually revealed that she and Schumer, as well as Schumer’s younger sister Kim Caramele, have been working together on a new screenplay. The only details she would reveal are that the film will be a comedy, that Lawrence and Schumer will play sisters, and that the script is almost complete. (NYT)
Anne Hathaway to Star In and Produce Alien Invasion Comedy ‘The Shower’
Project is described as being tonally in the vein of This is the End, Attack the Block and Bridesmaids. The story begins with a bright baby shower when the guests find themselves under darker skies: a meteor shower. These meteors, however, turn men into blood-hungry aliens and the women must fight to save the world. The project is in the packaging phase, with the plan to get a director and actors before taking it to financiers or studios. (HV)
Christopher Guest Is Getting the Whole Gang Back Together For His New Netflix Film, ‘Mascots’
Guest will be writing and directing the mockumentary, his preferred filmmaking style, and today, it was announced that he’s asked some familiar faces to return, including Jane Lynch, Bob Balaban, and Parker Posey. Jennifer Coolidge and John Michael Higgins have also been included in the cast, and there’s been talk that Chris O’Dowd might be joining the gang as well. Film centers on a gaggle of sports mascots trying to make it big. (COL)
Joaquin Phoenix, M. Night Shyamalan Reteam for Jason Blum-Produced Project
The actor and writer-director previously worked together on Signs in 2002. As with any Shyamalan project, plot details are under lock and key, but the project will likely include elements of the supernatural. Given Blum’s involvement, the project’s budget will probably be relatively small, which would be more on par with Shyamalan’s “The Visit,” another Blum-produced pic that bows next month. (VAR)
Shawn Ryan and Eric Kripke Time-Travel Action Drama Lands Big NBC Commitment
The duo are behind Time, an action adventure drama that sparked a bidding war among the Big Four networks. The project, from Sony Pictures TV and studio-based Davis Entertainment, ended up going to NBC with a pilot production commitment. Described as “Back to the Future meets Mission: Impossible”, show is a high-octane hour about an unlikely trio traveling through time to battle unknown criminals in order to protect history as we know it. (DH)
Kurt Sutter Has a ‘Sons Of Anarchy’ Spinoff Brewing Over At FX
Few details are known about the offshoot, other than it would focus on the Mayans motorcycle club. One year ago, with an eye on Sons‘ final run of episodes, Sutter said there had been serious conversations about a prequel series, perhaps chronicling the origins of the gang, while at the same time he pooh-poohed the idea of a spinoff per se. Now, he seems to have changed tack. Sutter’s period drama The Bastard Executioner, debuts in September on FX. (TVL)