AWARDS HEADLINES
Awards 2016: ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Writers Andrea Berloff & Jonathan Herman – ‘If We Can Be a Conduit to Help Change Things, Then it’s Worthwhile’
There are biopics, and there are biopics. The former are the staid, standard kind, maybe a period piece, with lots of pomp and circumstance and self-importance about the subject that makes the film pretty much just another movie. Then there are the latter. These are the kind that actually make you sit up and take notice. Straight Outta Compton is a biopic. (SSN)
Oscar Talk: What, Exactly, Can We Expect To See From Academy Awards Host Chris Rock?
When Chris Rock signed on to host the 2016 Academy Awards, he couldn’t have anticipated the enormity of the #OscarsSoWhite fallout. The controversy over the lack of diversity, for a second year in a row, has played out like a Hollywood movie ever since the nominations were first announced on January 14th — and now, all eyes are on Rock to see just how far the plot will go. (HRA)
A Heads Up For Los Angeles Denizens, a Complete List Of Hollywood Street Closures For Oscar Night
It’s that time of year again. You might want to avoid the area around the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood and Highland for the next couple of weeks … (AL)
OTHER HEADLINES
TV Development For 2/16/16: Daniel Craig Boards ‘Purity’, Nasim Pedrad to Play Middle Eastern Teen Boy, New ‘LEGO Star Wars’ Series
Lots of other interesting stuff on the docket this week, including a harrowing new unscripted series from A+E, an adaptation of the YA novel 99 Days, an animated series based on the music of The Beatles, and a brand new Betty Boop series. Click on the link to read on. (SSN)
‘Good Times’ Cast Crowdfunds Original Movie, Says It Doesn’t Need Sony TV Signoff
The original cast of Norman Lear’s ground-breaking 1970s sitcom is behind the project. The Original Good Times Cast Movie brings together all the original stars (sans Esther Rolle, who died in 1998). The project, which Jimmie ‘DynOMite’ Walker calls a docu-drama-comedy, is being done to give fans closure on what happened to Lear’s fictional Chicago family. The cast is doing this together outside of rights owner Sony. (DH)
Fans Of ‘Ant-Man’ Can Relax, as Adam McKay Will Definitely Be Involved With the Sequel
The filmmaker who has earned two Oscar nominations for co-writing and directing The Big Short was a co-writer on the Marvel film and is working with co-writer and star Paul Rudd as well as writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari to work out the story for the sequel, Ant-Man and The Wasp, which is scheduled to hit theaters July 6th, 2018. (COL)
Weinsteins Sit Out Berlin, Claiming Production Delay On the Only Film They Were Bringing To Sell There
The Weinstein Company surprised buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market with the cancellation of sales activities from its suite at the Grand Hyatt hotel. On the eve of the festival, the company sent out emails to key distributors informing them that it would not be going ahead with previously scheduled meetings, a move that prompted chatter about the company’s state of health. Now, co-chairman Harvey Weinstein said that production delays were the reason. (VAR)
Joel McHale Will Star in ‘The Great Indoors’ on CBS; McHale Will Play ‘Joel’
The Community and The Soup star has been cast in the new CBS multi-cam pilot, in which he will play an outdoorsy, sardonic guy’s-guy reporter for The Great Outdoors magazine. He has climbed mountains, confronted bears, and just generally led a life of excitement and adventure, but after an injury, he is forced to take a desk job in the digital department at the mag, surrounded by millennials. (VUL)
Brad Falchuk Re-Ups With 20th TV in Another Rich Overall Deal
Falchuk is staying put at 20th Century Fox Television, inking another rich overall deal with the studio after his last three-year pact in 2013. The incredibly prolific executive producer, who shares creator credit on FX anthology American Horror Story and Fox’s Scream Queens, will continue to work on both series (he serves as showrunner on Scream Queens) as well as future iterations of recent FX launch American Crime Story. The deal also finds him focusing on developing new projects for broadcast and cable. (LF)
Trailer Buzz: ‘Pee Wee’s Big Holiday’
Netflix has released the newest look at its upcoming original feature film, starring Paul Reubens returning to the role that made him a sensation. Written by Reubens and directed by John Lee, the film will make its debut first at South By Southwest Film Festival in mid-March, before becoming available to stream on Netflix beginning March 18th. (IW)