AWARDS HEADLINES
Awards 2016: The Academy Narrows Down Its VFX Finalists, Names the Final 10 Contenders
The list includes films that were mostly expected to be there, including Ant-Man, Ex Machina, Jurassic World, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, while such films as Bridge of Spies, Chappie, Everest, Furious Seven and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 all failed to make the cut. (IC)
With This Year’s Oscar Race So Clearly Wide Open, No Holiday Breaks Are Planned For Those In Contention
If it seems the town should be starting to slow down with the Christmas/New Year’s break just about upon us, think again. Because this is such a wide open Oscar race, everyone seems to be going down to the wire trying to win Oscar voter attention as balloting begins on December 30th, right in the sweet spot of the holidays. (AL)
OTHER HEADLINES
Exec Shuffle For 12/21/15: Mark Burnett Named President of MGM TV & Digital, CAA Ups Several Agent Trainees, Multiple Shifts at A+E Networks
Even as we enter the week before Christmas, there are still deals aplenty happening. Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group has a new EVP of Strategy, MCN Fullscreen has launched a new SVOD service and hired three executives, and Julie Holland has earned a promotion at Endemol Shine North America, among plenty of others. (SSN)
‘Star Wars’ Helps Disney Make the Big Leap Into the $5 Billion Club For the First Time
Propelled by the intergalactic juggernaut that is The Force Awakens, Walt Disney Studios will top $5B is worldwide grosses today for the first time. The J.J. Abrams-helmed behemoth is providing only the latest rocket boost for Disney, which has reached stratospheric heights with such 2015 fare as Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Inside Out, Cinderella and Ant -an. (DH)
Avast! Pirates Leak ‘The Hateful Eight’ and ‘The Revenant’ Online In the Days Before Their Release
Screener copies of the Oscar contenders have leaked online, according to TorrentFreak. The films have already found their way into the top 10 most-pirated films of the week, with Revenant being the fifth most-downloaded film and Hateful Eight the tenth most. A copy of Hateful Eight, which had no time stamps or watermarks, had been downloaded 220,000 times as of this morning, while Revenant had been downloaded 300,000 times. (HRT)
It Might Not Be a Critics Choice Award, or a Golden Globe, but ‘The Martian’ Just Won a Pretty Prestigious Prize
Ridley Scott’s sci-fi adventure won the inaugural Sloan Science in Cinema Prize from the San Francisco Film Society, presented in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which celebrates outstanding achievement in the depiction of science on screen. (TOH)
Since He Still Does Not Have Enough On His Plate, James Franco Teams With Lifetime for ‘Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?’ Remake
Franco penned the story for the remake, with a script written by Amber Coney. Melanie Aitkenhead will direct, and Franco will exec produce with Vince Jolivette, Diane Sokolow and Rachel Verno. The remake hails from Sony Pictures Television in association with Rabbit Bandini Productions, and will air in 2016. (LF)
Ridley Scott Finds His Female Lead For ‘Alien: Covenant’
Katherine Waterston — who is on a pretty big hot streak, what with her recent roles in Inherent Vice, Steve Jobs and next year’s Fantastic Beasts and How To Find Them — will star opposite Michael Fassbender in the upcoming Prometheus sequel/Alien srequel, which is set to start filming in March and hit theaters in summer of 2017. (EMP)
Seinfeld Snags a Big One: President Obama to Guest Star on ‘Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee’
As he enters the final year of his presidency, Obama will guest star on Jerry Seinfeld’s internet talk show. He will be the first guest star of Season 7, which premieres Wednesday, Dec. 30th. Along with the President, other guest stars for the new season include Will Ferrell, Steve Martin, Garry Shandling, Kathleen Madigan and Sebastian Maniscalco. (VAR)
Bad News For Fans of ‘Banshee’ Eagerly Awaiting the Final Season: You’re Going To Have To Wait a Couple Extra Months
Cinemax announced that the show’s final season has been delayed from its initial premiere date of January 29th to April 1st. Show creator Jonathan Tropper made the announcement on Twitter. As a sort of apology to fans, the cable network released a new trailer. (COL)