Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
AWARDS HEADLINES
Critics Choice Awards – The Complete Winners List
Sharon Stone handed the best picture statue to Spotlight while Leonardo DiCaprio and Brie Larson took home major acting awards. “The critics are more valuable than ever. We need professional sifters to pan for the gold,” said host T.J. Miller. (VAR)
Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer Had Something to Say at the Critics Choice Awards
Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer didn’t miss the opportunity to make some memorable speeches while accepting their statues in Santa Monica at the Critics Choice Awards. Click here to watch- you won’t be disappointed. (VL)
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Wins Big at the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards
Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay win acting trophies for marital drama 45 Years, while George Miller’s action reboot races away with the prize for film of the year. Here’s the full list of winners. (TG)
OTHER HEADLINES
Box Office: ‘Ride Along 2′ Dethrones ‘Star Wars’ While ’13 Hours’ Battles it Out for No. 4
Elsewhere, awards frontrunner The Revenant approaches $100 million in North America; Star Wars: The Force Awakens becomes only the fifth film in history to cross $1 billion internationally for a global total of $1.86 billion. (THR)
Pilot Season Update: How Many Pilots Is Each Network Ordering?
Extended by the Martin Luther King holiday, this is shaping up to be the biggest reading weekend for top broadcast executives who are going though stacks of pre-selected pilot scripts so the nets can kick pilot orders into high gear this week. (DL)
‘Simpsons’ Creator Matt Groening Circling New Animated Project at Netflix
The creator of The Simpsons, Matt Groening, is in talks with Netflix to develop an animated series. Details of the project are being kept under wraps. Netflix is understood to be considering a two-season order of 10 episode apiece. (VAR)
Fox’s ‘X-Men’ Spinoff in Peril as Showrunners Exit to Reboot ’24’
Fox’s X-Men drama Hellfire is making a change at the top. Writers Evan Katz and Manny Coto, who co-created the project, are exiting to shift their focus to Fox’s 24: Legacy. A search is underway for a new writer. (THR)
Are Tina Fey and Ronda Rousey the New Dynamic Duo? Universal Thinks So.
Universal Pictures has acquired a comedy pitch from Sisters scribe Paula Pell titled Do Nothing Bitches in a high-six-figure deal, with Pell’s Sisters co-star Tina Fey set to star alongside Ronda Rousey as the MMA fighter continues to extend her brand into Hollywood. (DL)
Tracy Morgan Back in Action, Teaming with Jordan Peele on a Comedy Project for FX
The 30 Rock alum is set to develop and star in a half-hour comedy pilot written by Jordan Peele and Eastbound & Down‘s John Carcieri. Morgan will play a career criminal who is released from prison after 15 years, hoping to reintegrate into a society that long ago left him behind. (THR)
Screenwriters: Your ‘TV Guide’ to Adaptation
These days it seems selling a feature or TV pilot can be more about finding good source material than about writing a good script. Writers are adapting everything from overseas TV formats to novels to comic books for the big and small screen. But don’t trip — you can still try your hand at an adaptation without letting rights stop you. (SM)