SSN ORIGINALS
TV Development For 5/3/16: John Krasinski is the Next Jack Ryan, Johnny Depp Developing ‘Muscle Shoals’, John Boyega in for ‘Watership Down’
Among the other moves happening this week, a new series with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer on board as EPs of a new Nat Geo series, a new role for Alec Baldwin as game show host, and Sylvester Stallone taking his first ever TV role. As usual, there’s plenty more, so click on the link to read on. (SSN)
SSN Events Calendar: Cannes, BookExpo America As Well As ‘Captain America’, ‘X-Men’ & ‘Angry Birds’ Battling At the Box Office in May
Welcome to the merry month of May. Summer movie season officially opens this year with the hotly awaited Captain America: Civil War, releasing on Friday, May 6th. May is also the month of Cannes, which will runs in France this month. But that’s not all as SSN has compiled a list of events for you including all the film releases, TV premieres, events around LA and NYC, book fairs and film festivals. (SSN)
OTHER HEADLINES
NewFronts: Kristen Stewart, Gabourey Sidibe, America Ferrera Join Refinery29’s New Programming Slate
Company announced the partnerships and unveiled more than a dozen original series at its Digital Content NewFronts presentation last night. Refinery29 also announced the launch of VR29 Studios, a virtual-reality production studio, along with two dedicated YouTube channels — comedy channel RIOT and Brawlers, covering women in sports — as well as programming queued up for Facebook Live and Instagram. (VAR)
Scarlett Johansson Gets a Lot Of Very Funny Company In Her New Comedy, ‘Rock That Body’
Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell and Ilana Glazer are all aboard the project, which ollows five friends who rent a beach house in Miami for a bachelorette weekend that builds to an insane crescendo. Sony has Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello, collaborators with Glazer on Broad City, writing the script. In addition, Downs will appear in the film and Aniello will direct. Zoe Kravitz is also part of the cast, and the cameras should be rolling this August. (EMP)
Emilia Clarke and Jack Huston Land Lead Roles In New Thriller, ‘Above Suspicion’
Philip Noyce will direct the film, adapted from the book of the same name by New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey and based on a true story. Film tells the chilling true story of a newly married FBI poster-boy assigned to an Appalachian mountain town in Kentucky. There he is drawn into an illicit affair with an impoverished local woman who becomes his star informant. She sees in him her means of escape; instead, it’s a ticket to disaster for both of them. (CS)
Warner Bros. Finds a New Director For ‘Monsterpocalypse’
Fede Alvarez — who helmed 2013’s Evil Dead remake — is set to take the helm, and now Warner Bros. has won a bidding war is underway over DreamWorks, and Sony to acquire the package, which has Alvarez set to direct and co-write with his writing partner Rodo Sayagues. Project is apparently similar to Pacific Rim in that it features humans in robot suits fighting monsters. (COL)
‘Twilight’ Author Stephenie Meyer Casts Her New YA Film Franchise
Meyer is returning to the world of YA supernatural romance with the new film franchise Anna Dressed in Blood starring Maddie Hasson and Cameron Monaghan. Meyer, who saw wild success as her Twilight series was adapted into five movies, is developing a new film franchise based on Kendare Blaker’s popular two-book series through her production company Fickle Fish Films. (EW)
Miles Teller’s Boxing Film ‘Bleed For This’ Lands Fall Release Date
Movie tells the true story of boxer Vinny Pazienza, who won two world title fights only to be taken down in the prime of his career by a car accident that severed his spine. Trainer Kevin Rooney (played by Aaron Eckhart) works with Vinny to not only get him to walk again, but get him in the ring. It will get a limited release on November 4th, followed by a wider one on the 23rd. (THR)
Financiers Spark To Edison-Westinghouse Pic ‘The Last Days Of Night’; Graham Moore & Morten Tyldum To Reteam
Bids are expected to start coming in today on a hot package sent out to financiers earlier this week. Moore has adapted his upcoming novel and Tyldum has attached himself to direct. Moore won the Oscar for scripting and Tyldum was Oscar nominated for directing The Imitation Game. Moore has adapted his own book, which Random House has set for September 20th publication as a lead fall title. Nora Grossman and Ido Ostrowsky are attached as producers. (DH)
Trailer Buzz: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2’
Paramount Pictures has dropped the latest look at the upcoming sequel. Starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Danny Woodburn, Tony Shalhoub, Stephen Amell, Tyler Perry, Gary Anthony Williams, Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly, Fred Armisen, it hits theaters June 3rd. (SF)