Relativity Finds a New Investor Ready To Pump $29 Million Into Bankrupt Company
A court filing in the wee hours of yesterday morning shows that Joseph G. Nicholas, founder of a Chicago firm that analyzes hedge funds, will pump that money into Relativity — money that will go to pay off senior lenders and allow Ryan Kavanaugh to maintain his leadership of the company, minus its television division. The same court papers show that Kavanaugh will commit $1 million toward completing the transaction. (VAR)
U.S. Government’s Ill-Fated Fast and Furious Gun Scandal Heading to the Big-Screen
Lionsgate is aiming to bring the story of the ATF’s gunwalking scandal to the big-screen. The studio has picked up the rights to The Unarmed Truth: My Fight to Blow the Whistle and Expose Fast and Furious, a memoir written by ATF agent John Dodson, and has set Matthew Carnahan to pen the adaptation. Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce the adaptation, which will be titled River of Iron, with Josh Bratman and his Immersive Pictures banner. (THR)
Jim Carrey Looks Like He Might Be Ready To Commit ‘True Crimes’
Actor is set to replace Christoph Waltz in the film, which is drawn from David Grann’s 2008 New Yorker article about the slaying of advertising company manager Dariusz Janiszewski, whose body washed up in Poland’s Oder River in December 2000. A detective tracked Janiszewski’s missing cell phone to an eBay auction. Seller was Krystian Bala, whose sado-sexual novel was published after Janiszewski’s death, featuring a plot eerily similar to the killing. (EMP)
Today In Reboot News: Paramount Sets Sail With ‘Jason and the Argonauts’
Susan Landau will produce, with a script penned by Christopher Hollier, who is known for his work on series such as Elementary and Alias, currently serves as a co-executive producer on The CW series The Originals. The plot of the film will follow the myth’s classic quest, following Jason and his band of heroes as they search for the Golden Fleece. The journey is in an effort to grant him the authority to command the throne of Iolcus and banish his tyrannical uncle. (TB)
Edgar Ramirez Circles Male Lead Of ‘The Girl On the Train’
Actor would portray Dr. Kamal Abdric in the Tate Taylor-directed adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ bestselling thriller that came out this year. The therapist character is involved in an affair with the married Megan (Haley Bennett), and becomes a suspect in her disappearance – which is the heart of the novel and the film. Emily Blunt and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’s Rebecca Ferguson are also in the pic with the Sicario actress playing a hard-drinking recent divorcee. (DH)
Fox Puts New Orleans Cop Show Based On New York Times Article Into Development
Drama is based on the story “Who Runs the Streets of New Orleans?” and explores what happens when an enigmatic tech billionaire makes a deal with a bankrupt, dying city to provide a privately owned and operated police force. Person of Interest co-EP David Slack will pen the script and exec produce the 20th Century Fox Television drama alongside Len Wiseman, who will direct the pilot should the drama move forward. (LF)
The New ‘Power Rangers’ Movie Has a Red Ranger and a Pink Ranger, and Now Has a Black Ranger, Too
On the heels of the announcement that Naomi Scott and Dacre Montgomery have joined the cast comes word that another unknown, Ludi Lin, is on board to play the Black Ranger. There are still the Blue and Yellow Rangers to be cast before the film starts shooting in early 2016, for a January 2017 release. (CB)
Tears and Terror: The Disturbing Final Years of Mickey Rooney
He was one of Hollywood’s greatest actors, someone whose estate could have been worth hundreds of millions when he died in summer 2014. Instead, he endured beatings, humiliation and poverty at the hands of his eighth wife and one of her sons, both accused today of elder abuse and destroying a legend. (THR)
Trailer Buzz: ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’
Sony has released the first trailer from the upcoming film adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s parody of Jane Austen’s classic novel. Starring Lily James, Ellie Bamber, Millie Brady, Bella Heathcote, Suki Waterhouse, Matt Smith, Jack Huston, Douglas Booth, Sam Riley, Lena Heady, and Charles Dance, and directed by Burr Steers, the film opens February 5th, 2016. (COL)
Screenwriters: ‘Angel Eyes’
The 129-page screenplay by Gerald DiPego, labeled Seventh Draft/Polish, and dated October, 1999. (DS)