‘Hotel Transylvania’ Sets September Record, Debuts With ‘$47.5 Million
Sony’s animated sequel outdid its 2012 predecessor by 12 percent, and finished far ahead of Warner’s The Intern which opened in second at $18.2 million. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials dropped two places from last week and finished third, with $14 million. Everest expanded wide and came in fourth with $13 million, and Black Mass rounded out the top five with $11.5 million. (BO)
‘My Cousin Rachel’ Is Getting a Remake With a Real Actress Named Rachel
Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin will team up for the new adaptation. Roger Michell will direct this new version, and also write the script, which will tell the tale of an orphan who seeks revenge on the woman he believes murdered his cousin and caretaker. The original version starred Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton in the Oscar-nominated 1952 adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s novel. (TP)
Relativity Reveals First Proposed Movie Sale in Bankruptcy: Thriller ‘Collide’
Company has filed court papers seeking to offload the first of its assets in the ongoing bankruptcy process. The Ryan Kavanaugh-fronted studio wants to sell the Europe-set chase thriller to IM Global for a $200,000 payment plus contingent compensation of up to $630,000, according to court documents filed Saturday in New York. In exchange, IM Global would withdraw its previous objection to the bankruptcy. (HESQ)
It Appears That ABC Wants At Least One More Season Of ‘Mistresses’
Hailing from ABC Studios, show is executive-produced by Rina Mimoun, KJ Steinberg, Robert Sertner and Douglas Rae. The story of four female friends and their illicit encounters is based on the U.K. series of the same name created by Lowri Glain and S.J. Clarkson. It stars Yunjin Kim, Rochelle Aytes, Jes Macallan, Brett Tucker and Rob Mayes. Alyssa Milano left the series after the second season when production moved from Los Angeles to Vancouver. (VAR)
It’s Hiring Day In Hollywood! EPIX and Amazon Both Make Key New Additions
Ben Tappan, former SVP at Landscape Entertainment, has been hired as VP for Scripted Programming, reporting to EVP original programming Jocelyn Diaz. Tappan will work on Graves and Berlin Station, which head into production this fall. Meanwhile, Amazon has added Gina Kwon as an executive in its comedy department. Kwon is an independent film producer who has worked with a variety of indie directors. (DH)
Alan Cumming Preps His Post-‘The Good Wife’ Life, Signs Up For New Showtime Comedy
Currently a series regular on the CBS drama, which returns for its seventh season next month, Cumming is set to star in Showtime’s Florent, a dark comedy about New York restaurateur Florent Morellet. Set in New York City’s Meatpacking District in the 1980s, Florent will tell the true story of Morellet, who ran his French restaurant for 23 years. The project is in second position to Good Wife, so it won’t go until after Cumming’s run on the show ends. (TVL)
TNT Orders Drama Pilot ‘Robbers’ From ‘Justified’ Trio
Based on Christopher Cook’s 2000 debut novel, the drama tells the story of two “running buddies” on a crime spree across Texas, the girl who is the complication and the cop who is after them all. The drama is said to be in the vein of Justified and Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men. Cook and Michael Dinner will pen the script. Dinner exec produces alongside Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly’s Timberman/Beverly banner. (LF)
‘Fist Fight’ Gets a Femme Fatale, Adds Christina Hendricks To the Cast
Ice Cube and Charlie Day headline the film, which is being directed by Richie Keen from a script by Evan Susser and Van Robichaux, and also features the big screen return of Tracy Morgan. The story follows Day’s character, a meek teacher, as he is challenged to a fist fight by his much tougher colleague, played by Cube. Hendricks will play a school drama teacher, who has a romantic connection to the teacher played by Ice Cube. (CS)
Trailer Buzz: ‘Jessica Jones’
Marvel and Netflix have released the first teaser trailer for their upcoming followup to Daredevil, starring Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, David Tennant, Rachael Taylor, and Carrie-Anne Moss. The show’s first season premieres in its entirety on the streaming service on November 20th. (COL)
Screenwriters: Writers Room 101 — Producing Your TV Episode
Once a television episode has been written (and rewritten…and rewritten…), soon it’ll be time to rally the troops and actually shoot it. When this happens, one of the show’s writers is dispatched from the writers’ room and sent to participate in the physical production of the episode, working in conjunction with the director, cast, and crew to ensure that the completed episode mirrors the script as closely as possible. Sometimes, that writer is you. (SM)