AWARDS HEADLINES
Looking For Early Betting Odds For the Oscars? Vegas Has You Covered
Sin City oddsmaker America’s Line released its initial Oscar odds, with The Revenant proving to be an early favorite in multiple categories. While Spotlight came in as a best picture favorite at 4 to 5, The Revenant is only a slightly riskier bet at 6 to 5. At 1 to 5, best actor nominee Leonardo DiCaprio is the biggest individual favorite, though Brie Larson also is heavily favored. (IC)
George Clooney Becomes the Latest To Speak Out About the Academy’s Lack Of Diversity
Oscar-winning actor weighed in on the controversy regarding the lack of diversity among this year’s Oscar nominees by saying “we are moving in the wrong direction.” In an interview, the Clooney says part of the problem is Hollywood’s poor track record with hiring minorities. (VAR)
‘Hoop Dreams’ Director Steve James Getting Career Tribute at Hot Docs Festival
Oscar-nominated filmmaker, whose Roger Ebert appreciation film Life Itself was snubbed 20 years after his 1994 film Hoop Dreams was also left off the Oscar doc shortlist, is to be feted at the upcoming Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. James is to receive North America’s largest doc festival’s outstanding achievement award and a film retrospective at the April 28th to May 8th, 2016 event in Toronto. (HRA)
OTHER HEADLINES
Colorblind Casting In Effect as Jennifer Lawrence Lands Role as Fidel Castro’s Lover
Oscar-winning actress will star in Marita, Sony’s movie about Marita Lorenz, who had an affair with Fidel Castro and was involved in the CIA’s assassination attempt on the Cuban leader. Sony has acquired Lorenz’s life rights. The studio acquired a pitch from Eric Warren Singer that was developed with a quartet of producers — Lawrence, Scott Mednick, Andre Rouleau and Matt Tolmach. (COL)
Nat Faxon and Jim Rash Set Up Their Next Comedy At Fox
Studio has acquired Dead Mall, a pitch that will be written and directed by the duo, who shared the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay with Alexander Payne for The Descendants and wrote and directed the Sundance sensation The Way Way Back. Several studios bid on it. The pitch is a comedy-horror movie set in a dead mall. (DH)
The Hot List: 10 Films At Sundance That Are the Most Likely To Sell
Just how hot was Sundance 2015? Last year’s indie film market featured three mega-sales thanks to Brooklyn, Dope and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl — with the trio fetching a combined $24 million. But with the latter two films falling flat at the box office, the backlash could be more chilling than a Mount Timpanogos wind gust. (THR)
Family TV Viewing May Be Undervalued, According to Facial Recognition Research
MediaHub, the media arm of Mullen Lowe, partnered with TVision Insights last spring to test their facial recognition technology, which promises to analyze second-by-second viewer engagement and attention during TV programming and commercials. The test found that audiences were more likely to pay closer attention when co-viewing a program. As the number of people in the room increased, the number of distractions from the program decreased. (AA)
First Look: ‘Justice League’
Warner Bros. has released the first concept art of the upcoming Justice League movie, revealing the first look at what the characters of Cyborg and The Flash will look like. The film, which will star Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg and Ezra Miller as The Flash, will be directed by Zack Snyder. Justice League Part 1 will hit theaters in November, 2017. (HV)
Trailer Buzz: ‘Suicide Squad’
Warner Bros. has released the new full-length trailer for its upcoming comic book adaptation, starring Will Smith, Joel Kinnaman, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Cara Delevingne, Karen Fukuhara, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jay Hernandez, Adam Beach, Viola Davis, Jared Leto, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, Raymond Olubowale, Alex Meraz, Jim Parrack, and Common, is written and directed by David Ayers, and hits theaters August 5th. (CS)
Screenwriters: ‘The Wedding Crashers’
The 111-page screenplay by Steve Faber & Bob Fisher. Unspecified draft is dated August 1st, 2003. (DS)