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In a milestone moment for 21st Century Fox, the long-awaited generational transition of the Murdoch family is under way as James and Lachlan Murdoch will formally be handed the management reins of their father’s media and entertainment empire. In an exec overhaul to be unveiled shortly, James Murdoch will be named CEO of 21st Century Fox while Lachlan Murdoch will become executive chairman alongside their father, Rupert Murdoch.
(VAR)
CBS Corp. has set a leadership transition at the pay cable network, with Blank passing the CEO title and duties to network president Nevins as of January 1st, 2016. At that time, all Showtime senior management will begin reporting to Nevins. Blank, who has served as chairman and CEO of Showtime Networks since 1995, will continue in his role as chairman.
(DH)
Chris Hemsworth has joined the cast of the highly anticipated comedy, which stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. Hemsworth will play the Ghostbusters’ receptionist, embodied in the first two movies by the inimitable Annie Potts. The film has begun shooting and will hit theaters next summer.
(COL)
Studio has picked up
Only Love Is Real, the bestselling non-fiction book from psychiatrist Dr. Brian Weiss. Michael Petroni, the scribe behind
The Book Thief, is on board to pen the adaptation that will be produced by Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill. Temple Hill is the company behind hit adaptations ranging from
The Fault In Our Stars to the
Twilight series.
(THR)
Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions and Oyelowo's Yoruba Saxon are producing the film, with Disney in negotiations to come on board to make it happen. The project stems from a spec script by Emma Needell. The story revolves around Gunner, who tries to find the legendary The Water Man, whose power to cheat death might help save his dying mother. Oyelowo would take the role of Gunner's father, Amos.
(TP)
Production shingle is eyeing the
Training Day and
Southpaw director to helm the dramatic thriller
Orders To Kill, which recounts the conspiracy surrounding Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Fuqua was previously in talks for the biopic before
The Butler‘s Lee Daniels came on board to helm in 2012, when Hugh Jackman was still attached to star. However, with both men no longer involved, Millennium has begun conversations with Fuqua to return.
(TB)
Less than a week after its Season 2 debut, the crime drama has been renewed for a 10-episode third season, the premium cabler announced yesterday. The show’s June 6th season premiere brought in 1.4 million total viewers — tripling its June 2014 series debut, and delivering the largest audience ever for a Starz season premiere. Production on Season 3 will begin in Brooklyn this September, with a premiere slated for 2016.
(TVL)
Alphabet network sets
Shark Tank spinoff
Beyond the Tank Tuesdays at 10 p.m. and fills the void that was created when
Quantico moved to Sundays to replace
Kings and Prophets. The spinoff will remain in the slot until Oct. 27th, when anthology
Wicked City takes over the period. For a full list of the network’s plans, click on the link.
(TLF)
The Weinstein Company has released the first look at its thriller, starring Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson. Alejandro Amenabar directs the film, which hits theaters August 28th.
(IW)
Fiction feature-film screenwriting is a very specific form of storytelling – one centered on a conflict between a protagonist and an antagonist that escalates continuously until it reaches a point of climax, catharsis, and resolution that brings about a permanent transformation in the protagonist. Scripts that lack that story structure will fail to gel into a cohesive and satisfying whole.
(SM)
