SSN ORIGINALS
Film & TV Deals for 9/23/15: Altice Buys Cablevision, Marlon Wayans Inks Deal with Uni TV, WB Joins Forces with China Media Capital
Lots of action this week, with a new production company launched by British filmmakers Anand Tucker and Sharon Maguire, Fremantle Media buying a big stake in Naked Entertainment, a couple big first-look and overall deals signed on the TV side, and plenty of other stuff. Click on the link for more. (SSN)
Rep Moves for 9/23/15: CAA Signs Vine Star Liza Koshy, Marc Forster Scooped Up by WME, CAA Signs YouTube Brand What’s Up Moms
Creative Arts Agency has a big week, as does UTA, as the standard comings and going from one agency to another, and the signing of entirely new talent as well, continues. (SSN)
OTHER HEADLINES
Amazon Sets Six Fall Pilots, Including Comedies from Louis C.K., Sacha Baron Cohen
Online streaming and shopping service — and now multiple Emmy-winner — has three half hour comedies and three hour-long dramas. Comedies are Highston, One Mississippi and Z, and the dramas are Edge, Good Girls Revolt, and Patriot. Additional talent behind the shows includes Bob Nelson, Diablo Cody, Tig Notaro, Nicole Holofcener, Tim Blake Nelson, Shane Black, and Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. (VAR)
Today In Celebrity Lawsuits: Sean Penn Is Suing Lee Daniels For Saying He Beats Women
The actor has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the co-creator of Fox’s Empire, after the latter mentioned in an interview that Terence Howard’s ongoing issues with domestic abuse “ain’t done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he’s some f—-in’ demon. That’s a sign of the time, of race, of where we are right now in America.” (UR)
‘Primer’ Director Shane Carruth Goes Hollywood with Nautical Adventure ‘The Modern Ocean’
The writer/director/cinematographer/producer/actor/composer behind Primer and Upstream Color has signed with WME, and the agency is helping him to get his big-budget, nautical action film off the ground. Lawrence Inglee’s Blackbird will produce it alongside Carruth, in partnership with financier Gideon Tadmor. (COL)
Wasting No Time At All, the ‘John Wick’ Team Will Film the Sequel This Fall
Keanu Reeves will be reprising the title role, while directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski and screenwriter Derek Kolstad are also returning. John Wick 2 will be released through Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment and will be produced by Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk, who also produced the first film. (CS)
Nick Nolte Needs a New Co-Star For His Epix Series, Graves, as Susan Sarandon Drops Out
Premium TV network/VOD service said in a statement today that the Oscar-winning actress has left the show due to the infamous “artistic differences.” She had been set to play the wife of former U.S. President Richard Graves (Nolte), who decides to follow her own political ambitions just as her husband embarks on a Quixotic journey to right the wrongs of his administration two decades after leaving office. They are seeking her replacement. (DH)
Trailer Buzz, Part One: ‘The Big Short’
Paramount Pictures has released the first look at the upcoming drama, based on the book by Michael Lewis. Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt and directed by Adam McKay, it opens in theaters Christmas Day. (YT)
Trailer Buzz, Part Two: ‘Angry Birds’
Sony has released the first look at its video game adaptation, which will feature the vocal talent of Jason Sudeikis, Peter Dinklage, Bill Hader, Keegan-Michael Key, Josh Gad, Maya Rudolph, Danny McBride, Danielle Brooks, Ike Barinholtz, Kate McKinnon, Tony Hale, Jillian Bell, and Hannibal Buress. It will open May 20th, 2016. (FC)
Screenwriters: ‘The Flintstones’
The 123-page script by Steven E. De Souza, based on the characters created by Joe Barbera and William Hanna. Draft is labeled “Early Draft — September, 1987.” (DS)