‘Grand Budapest’ Leads BAFTA Nominations, SXSW Announces First Batch Of Films, Willis Reacquires ‘Bandits,’ Del Toro Joins ‘Carnival’

The BAFTA Nominations Have Been Announced, and It’s a Big Day For Wes Anderson

The Grand Budapest Hotel earned 11 nominations, more than any other film. Birdman was next with 10, while Boyhood earned five. Selma and Unbroken were the big snubs, and Timothy Spall failed to earn a Best Actor nod. (DH)

SXSW Has Announced Its First Batch Of Titles For This Year’s Fest

Among the films announced are the festival opener, Ondi Timoner’s Russel Brand doc, the North American premiere of Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, starring Oscar Isaac, and Michael Showalter’s new comedy, Hello, My Name Is Doris, with Sally Field. (SX)

If At First You Don’t Succeed: Bruce Willis Regains Option Of Elmore Leonard’s ‘Bandits’

The actor had originally purchased the rights to the book upon its publication in 1987, but let them lapse and they were in turn picked up by Quentin Tarantino. When the rights came up again, Willis scooped them up, and now Mitch Glazer will adapt the project. (COL)

The Comic Book ‘Zombies Vs. Robots’ Will Be a Movie Called ‘Inherit the Earth,’ and Now Has a Director

Shrek and Chronicles of Narnia helmer Andrew Adamson will take the reins of the project for Sony and Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes. The current draft of the script is by Oren Uziel, after previous drafts by J.T. Perry. (VAR)

Years Ago, Guillermo Del Toro Was Going To Direct a Movie Called ‘A Killing On Carnival Row,’ and Now It’s an Amazon Pilot

The script was originally sold by Pacific Rim writer Adam Beacham as a spec. The project passed through the hands of several different directors before Legendary picked it up last year and repurposed it as a TV pilot, with del Toro re-writing along with Beacham and Rene Echevarria. (SF)

Ease Entertainment Has a New CFO, and His Name Is Craig Dougherty

The payroll and software services firm announced the appointment of several key executives and team members. Dougherty will oversee all financial aspects of the company and will report to founder/CEO Mike Rose. (TW)

Matt Damon and Reese Witherspoon Are Getting Impressive Company In Alexander Payne’s Next Film

Alec Baldwin, Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Sudeikis have all joined the cast of Downsizing, which will be produced and financed by Megan Ellison’s Annapurna shingle, and has an eye for an early 2016 start of production. (THR)

Because Hollywood Is Rebooting Everything, History Channel Is Going To Reboot ‘Roots’

Initially announced in 2013, the project is now moving forward, and Allen Hughes has been tapped to direct it. The plans are for an all-new eight-hour mini-series, though no shooting date or casting news has been announced. (SAA)

The Online Revolution Continues: David Cross’ Directorial Debut Will Be a Pay-What-You-Wish Affair

The movie, called Hits, premiered at Sundance last year, will be released on the BitTorrent site on Friday, February 13th. Audiences will be able set their own pricing in theaters at pay-what-you-want screenings in theatrical markets throughout the U.S. and Canada and on VHX. (IW)

Screenwriters: ‘A Room With a View’

An undated, unspecified draft of the 135-page, Oscar-winning script by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, based on the novel by E.M. Forster. (DS)