TV Development For 3/8/16: Disney Greenlights ‘Big Hero 6’ Series & ‘High School Musical 4’, Julia Louis-Dreyfus Behind HBO Mini ‘Soldier Girls’
Meanwhile, Freeform (formerly ABC Family) fires up a new take on Cinderella, TNT goes into business with Luc Besson, Cindy Crawford signs on for a new show on Amazon, and a couple new shows for Nickelodeon, along with a bunch of other stuff. Click on the link to read on. (SSN)
Tribeca Film Festival Unveils Second Half of Feature Film Slate, Including ‘Elvis & Nixon,’ ‘Hunt For the Wilderpeople’ and More
Last week, the New York City festival announced the first half of its 2016 slate, including such titles as High-Rise and Equals, along with world premiere works from a batch of up-and-coming filmmakers, and now they’ve rounded out the rest of their lineup. This list includes entries in the Spotlight, Midnight, Special Screenings and Works in Progress sections, along with the films that will screen as part of both Tribeca and the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival. (IW)
David Fincher Adds Another Piece To His New Netflix Show, ‘Mindhunter’
Director cast Jonathan Grod in an unspecified role in the show, which will be based on John Douglas and Mark Olshaker’s 1996 book Mind Hunter: Inside The FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, will follow an FBI team tracking some of world’s most notorious serial killers and rapists. It’s all based on Douglas’ very real career with the bureau. Fincher is developing the project with Charlize Theron, with both acting as EPs on the project. (EMP)
‘Transparent’ Creator Jill Soloway to Direct Coming-of-Age Film for Amazon Studios
Emmy-winning show runner will co-write and direct Ten Aker Wood. Sarah Gubbins will pen the coming-of-age film with Soloway, with Andrea Sperling and Robin Ruzan producing. The deal follows the entertainment arm of Amazon signing an overall deal with Soloway to develop television projects exclusively for its Prime Instant Video streaming service. (THR)
Tom Cruise Gets Some Company In His Take On ‘The Mummy’, as Jake Johnson Signs On
New Girl star will play a military character role written expressly for him in the June 9th, 2017 release. He is joining Cruise, Annabelle Wallis and Sofia Boutella, who is playing the title monster in the film. The storyline is expected to be set in modern day with Cruise’s character to be a special forces soldier. Film is directed by Alex Kurtzman, who also produces alongside Chris Morgan and Sean Daniel. Jon Spaihts wrote the screenplay. (CS)
We Now Know the Running Time Of ‘Captain America: Civil War’, and It’s Marvel’s Longest Movie
AMC Theaters has posted the runtime for the highly anticipated film, and it shows that the runtime (with credits included) is 2 hours and 27 minutes, which makes it the longest Marvel movie to date. The previous record holder was Avengers: Age of Ultron, which ran at 2 hours and 21 minutes. In comparison to The Winter Soldier, the newest Cap movie is 11 minutes longer. (COL)
‘Where’s Waldo?’ Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg Want To Find Out, On the Big Screen
Writing/directing/producing pair is set to produce a feature film adaptation of Martin Handford’s timeless series of books with MGM. With his iconic red-and-white striped shirt, pom-pom-topped beanie, and walking stick, Waldo will taunt a new generation of children with a movie vehicle, though the specifics are still murky, as how the producers might structure a film around a character whose absence is his defining characteristic is unclear. (TB)
‘CSI’ Alum George Eads Returns To CBS as One Of the Leads In Network’s ‘MacGyver’ Reboot
Actor is the first one cast so far. Additionally, David Von Ancken will take over for James Wan and direct the pilot. (Wan has a scheduling conflict and is in postproduction on The Conjuring 2, but he will remain an executive producer on the potential series.) Reboot follows a 20-something MacGyver as he gets recruited into a clandestine organization where he uses his knack for solving problems in unconventional ways to help prevent disasters from happening. (LF)
Craig Robinson Joins the Cast Of Award-Winning ‘Mr. Robot’ For Season Two
The Office alum has been cast as a recurring guest star in the highly-anticipated second season of USA Network’s acclaimed drama series. Robinson will play Ray, a neighborhood local who reaches out to Elliot in his time of need. Show stars Rami Malek as Elliot, as well as Christian Slater, Portia Doubleday, Carly Chaikin, Grace Gummer, Michael Cristofer and Stephanie Corneliussen, and hails from writer and executive producer Sam Esmail. (SAA)
Kids Upfront: TV Networks Pitch Ad Buyers on Immersive Experiences
When the big three kids’ TV programmers make their upfront pitches to media buyers and advertisers in the coming weeks, the focus will be less on one or two high-profile series and more on introducing opportunities for marketers to be part of immersive experiences across screens. (AA)