Daily Variety back issues from October 2007:
MGM herds web flock to 'Lambs'.(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.)
Oct 01, 2007; ... MGM is going to let the masses spread the word about "Lions for Lambs," United Artists' first release under Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner. In an effort to build buzz for the drama, which bows Nov. 9, the Lion has inked a deal with Google and YouTube to launch a competish for ...
Quarterback sneak: Game swipes B.O. crown from 'Kingdom'.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Walt Disney Pictures came up with the winning play at the weekend box office as its comedy "The Game Plan" filled a void in the marketplace for family fare and easily grabbed the keys to the palace from Universal's Middle Eastern action-thriller "The Kingdom." "Game Plan," ...
B'way averts lockout, extends talks.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Looks like Broadway can breathe easy--at least for now. Rialto producers and the legit stagehands union agreed Friday to continue contract talks in meetings tomorrow and Thursday, thereby avoiding a work stoppage that looked possible for today. The current agreement ...
Duo decipher thriller 'Code'.(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas are set to star m caper drama "The Code" with Mimi Leder helming and Nu Image's Millennium Films producing. Lensing begins in mid-October in Sofia, Bulgaria, at Nu Boyana Film Center, owned by Nu Image. Producers are Boaz Davidson. Danny ...
Auds brew 'Darjeeling'.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Laughter and lust ruled the specialty biz B.O. over the weekend as Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited" and Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" both enjoyed robust openings. Awards ballots won't be cast for weeks to come, but a wide variety of films are already staking out positions in ...
CBS rings 'Jingles' bell.
Oct 01, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CBS has ordered eight episodes of "Jingles," a nonscripted skein from Mark Burnett in which contestants compete to dream up memorable melodies on behalf of real products. In what may be Burnett's most Madison Avenue-friendly program since "The ...
Fall TV preems.(Only at Variety.com)
Oct 01, 2007 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ABC's much talked-about comedy "Cavemen" is one of ...
WGA nod a vidgame strategy.
Oct 01, 2007; ... The WGA has created an award for videogame writing, with the inaugural trophy to be presented at the Writers Guild Awards on Feb. 9. Guild said the new nod's been spearheaded by its New Media Caucus "to encourage storytelling excellence in videogames, to improve the status of ...
BMI board elects Sander prez.(Jack Sander)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007 ... Jack Sander, broadcasting biz veteran and former vice chairman of Belo Corp., has been elected chairman of BMI's board of directors. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sander will serve a three-year term as chairman of the board governing the performing rights org that reps more ...
Playhouse' creator dies.(Obituary)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Martin Manulis, the television producer who worked with John Frankenheimer, Arthur Penn, Rod Serling and George Roy, Hill early on in their careers as the creator of CBS' "Playhouse 90," has died. He was 92. Manulis died Friday of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, ...
'Potter' tops U.K. kudos.
Oct 01, 2007; ... The inaugural National Movie Awards on Blighty's terrestrial web ITV got off to a flying start thanks to popular home turf wins for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." "Casino Royale" and "Hot Fuzz" and a healthy dose of star wattage. Nominees in the new kudofest are ...
Lights, camera ... factions.
Oct 01, 2007; ... THERE'S GROWING ALARM about the toxic relations between management and the talent guilds, and with good reason. The Hollywood community increasingly is taking on some disturbing characteristics of Iraq. There are hints of tribalism where once there was unity, and the rhetoric has taken on ...
Pushing Daisies.(Television program review)
Oct 01, 2007; ... (Series; ABC, Wed. Oct. 3, 8 p.m.) Filmed in Los Angeles by Jinks-Cohen Co. and Living Dead Guy Prods. in association with Warner Bros. Television. Executive producers, Bryan Fuller, Barry Sonnenfeld, Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen; producer, Graham Place; co-producer, Livia Hanich; ...
Carpoolers.(Television program review)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Carpoolers (Series; ABC, Tue., Oct. 2, 8:30 p.m.) Taped in Los Angeles by ABC Studios. Executive producers, Bruce McColloch, Barry Frank, Justin Falvey, David Miner, Anthony and Joe DeRusso; producer, Dan Kaplow; directors, Anthony and Joe Russo; writer, McColloch; camera, Jimi ...
Fox TV still home to 'Middle' man.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Three-time Emmy winner Todd Holland is remaining with 20th Century Fox TV, signing a new two-year, seven-figure deal at the studio. Pact reps a nice raise for Holland, who's best known for his successful career directing single-camera laffers (he's scored Emmys for "Malcolm in ...
APA shuffles percenters.(appointment of Hayden Meyer )(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... APA has tapped Hayden Meyer to head up its alternative TV department and added former ICM agent Marc Kamler to its staff. Promotion of Meyer comes less than a year after he joined the tenpercentery from UTA, where he had been for 13 years. Meyer will lead a department whose ...
Power hour hitters: 'CSI,' 'Grey's' top Thursday.
Oct 01, 2007; ... For one week anyway, the race in television's hottest hour has gotten tighter. As "Grey's Anatomy" began life without last season's regulars Kate Walsh and Isaiah Washington, the medical drama saw its advantages in the young-adult categories shrink, while rivals "CSI" on CBS ...
Indie shingle setting sail on CGI 'Ark'.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Indie financer Unified Pictures ("Bob Funk") is launching development of $35 million CG-animated feature "Noah's Ark"--to be told from the point of view of the animals in the ark. Unified has signed Philip LaZebnik ("The Prince of Egypt," "Mulan," "Pocahontas") to script. The ...
Thesp keen on 'Soloist'.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Catherine Keener has signed on to co-star in DreamWorks' music pic "The Soloist." Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. have already boarded the project, which "Atonement" helmer Joe Wright will direct starting in January. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The story ...
ICM unearths horror helmer.
Oct 01, 2007; ... ICM has signed Rob Zombie, the musician-turned-writer/director who just ,scripted and helmed the hit remake 'Halloween" for Dimension Films. Zombie had been agentless. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Zombie previously wrote and directed ...
Martin Starr.(Players)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Martin Starr ("Superbad") has joined the cast of Miramaxs "Adventureland" for helmer Greg Mottola, Cast includes Jesse ...
Denis O'Hare and Katie Chonacas ("Standing in the Shadows of Motown") have signed on to Jon Avnet's "Righteous Kill," starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.(Players)(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Denis O'Hare and Katie Chonacas ("Standing in the Shadows of Motown") have signed on to Jon Avnet's "Righteous Kill," starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. ...
Foreign Oscar mire: Indian, Israeli selections in question.
Oct 01, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Today is the deadline for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' foreign-language Oscar entries, and already there's static about some of the selections. An Indian court on Saturday called the selection process that named "Eklavya--The ...
Canucks honor Polley debut.(Brief article)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Sarah Polley's feature helming debut, "Away From Her," took top feature film, and Polley was named top director at the fifth annual Directors Guild of Canada Awards, handed out at a Saturday ceremony in Toronto. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Based on a short story by ...
Fox to load biz net site.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Fox Business Network is rolling out a promotional microsite on Oct. 8, a week before the net goes live Oct. 15. Site, at Foxbusiness.com, will include video clips of on-air talent, including managing editor Neil Cavuto and news veep Alexis Glick, talking about their approach to ...
First Look sets pair for preem.
Oct 01, 2007; ... First Look Studios has acquired ensemble comedy "The Amateurs" and military drama "Day Zero" and set release dates of Nov. 30 and Jan. 18, respectively. "The Amateurs," written and directed by Michael Traeger, centers on a small town brought together by the common dream of ...
Richard II.(Theater review)
Oct 01, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (Yale Repertory Theater, New Haven, Conn.; 480 seats; $58 top) A Yale Repertory Theater presentation of a play in two acts by William Shakespeare. Directed by Evan Yionoulis. Sets, Brenda Davis; costumes, Melissa E. Trn; lighting, Ji-Youn Chang; ...
Versus buys rugby tale.
Oct 01, 2007; ... Comcast's Versus cable network has bought "South Sydney Story," a multipart docu series detailing Russell Crowe's real-life role as owner of an Australian pro rugby team. The series, which will run on Wednesday nights on Versus over five weeks in October and November in its U.S ....
The Drowsy Chaperone.(Theater review)
Oct 01, 2007; ... (Elgin Theater, Toronto; 1,500 seats; C$100 ($100) top) A Kevin McCollum, Roy Miller, Bob Boyett, Stephanie McClelland, Barbara Freitag and Jill Furman presentation of a musical in one act with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, book by Bob Martin and Don ...
Five Days.(Television program review)
Oct 01, 2007; ... (Limited series; HBO, Tues. Oct. 2, 8 p.m.) Filmed in the U.K. by HBO Films in association with the BBC. Executive producers, Simon Curtis, Hilary Salmon; producer, Paul Rutman; directors, Otta Bathurst, Curtis; writer, Gwyneth Hughes; camera, Florian Hoffmeister; editor, Sarah ...
Then She Found Me.(Movie review)
Oct 01, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A ThinkFilm release of an Odyssey Entertainment presentation of a Killer Films production in association with Blue Rider Films and John Wells Prods. Produced by Pamela Koffler, Katie Roumel, Christine Vachon, Helen Hunt, Connie Tavel. Executive producers, ...
Showbiz stocks: Friday, September 28, 2007.
Oct 01, 2007 ... <Pre> Showbiz Stocks Friday, September 28, 2007 YTD Name Tkr PELast Chg %Chg AccessIT AIXD ... 5.60 +.06-35.8 AcmeCm ACME ...33.87 -.03...
'Chuck' shows int'l pluck.(WORLD WATCH)(Chuck and Larry)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Adam Sandler's "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" edged "The Bourne Ultimatum" with $9.3 million at 2,512 play-dates in 38 territories to land the top weekend spot in a mild frame at the foreign box office. Frame also saw Ang Lee's erotic "Lust, Caution" open with a socko ...
Kelli Garner.(Players)
Oct 01, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Kelli Garner ("Lars and the Real Girl") has been added to the cast ...
Said Taghmaoui.(Players)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Said Taghmaoui will join Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce in "Traitor" for Overture Films. He'll play a high-ranking operative within ...
Kyle Gallner.(Players)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Kyle Gallner ("The Shield") has booked a role in Gold Circle-Lionsgate horror pic "The Haunting in Connecticut." Virginia Madsen ...
Brendan Sexton III.(Players)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Brendan Sexton III ("Boys Don't Cry") has booked a role in TNT drama pilot "Family Man" with William H. Macy. ...
Ron Melendez.(Players)
Oct 01, 2007; ... Ron Melendez has booked a guest shot on "Grey's Anatomy." Thesp, a regular on SoapNet's ...
WGA prods its troops.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Ratcheting up the tension on the labor front, the Writers Guild of America is asking its members for strike authorization. In a Monday message to its 13,000 members, guild leaders said they've been forced into asking for approval of a work stoppage because studios and networks ...
Law & new order: Wolf running with comicbook pack.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Dick Wolf is teaming with "Disturbia" helmer D.J. Caruso and scribe J.H. Wyman to mount an ambitious comicbook style drama that will use the same greenscreen technology utilized for hit pic "300." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Trio is putting together a skein based on ...
Yankees to play ball with CAA.
Oct 02, 2007; ... As they prep for a 13th straight postseason appearance, the New York Yankees announced they have signed with CAA. The percentery will pursue a range of business opportunities for the team, most notably corporate sponsorships for its stadium opening in 2009. The ballpark, being ...
Pub will open books for pics.(Random House Inc. Random House Films contracted with HarperCollins Publishers Inc.)
Oct 02, 2007; ... HarperCollins is taking a page from Random House Films, inking with Gotham producer Jeffrey Sharp. Deal essentially amounts to a first-look pact for Sharp, with the producer interacting with editors on new titles that have development potential, as well as combing the ...
U, helmer nab Getty kidnap pic.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Universal Pictures and Peter Berg will develop a drama about the 1973 kidnapping of oil heir Jean Paul Getty III. Studio has acquired screen rights to the John Pearson book "Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Berg Paul Getty." ...
WIP's hiring a 'Gun' man.(contract to Peter Travis by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Warner Independent Pictures)(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Peter Travis has been set by Warner Independent Pictures to direct "Man Without a Gun," a fact-based drama. Stuart Beattie ("Collateral") wrote the script about the U.N. hostage negotiator who successfully brokered the release of long-held hostages from their Lebanon-based ...
Third Blair pic primed.
Oct 02, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Peter Morgan has started work on a follow-up to "The Queen" that will dig into former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair's relationships with U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The movie will focus on Blair's reaction to the handover ...
Fun for everyone.(Only at VARIETY.com)
Oct 02, 2007 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nintendo's "Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass" ...
A Catered Affair.(Theater review)
Oct 02, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe, San Diego; 606 seats; $79 top) An Old Globe presentation, by special arrangement with Jujamcyn Theaters, Jordan Roth, Harvey Entertainment/Ron Fierstein, Richie Jackson, Daryl Roth, ...
Night Over Taos.(An Intar)(Theater review)
Oct 02, 2007; ... (Theater for the New City; 99 seats; $35 top) An Intar Theater presentation of a play in three acts by Maxwell Anderson. Directed by Estelle Parsons. Sets, Peter Larkin; costumes, Michael Krass; lighting, Howard S. Thies; original music, Yukio Tsuji; sound, Erich Bechtel; props, ...
The Beebo Brinker Chronicles.(Theater review)
Oct 02, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (Fourth Street Theater; 72 seats; $20 top) An Hourglass Group presentation of a play in one act by Kate Moira Ryan and Linda S. Chapman, based on the books by Ann Bannon. Directed by Leigh Silverman. Sets, Rachel Hauck; costumes, Theresa Squire; ...
ABC'S winning week: net has top three shows.
Oct 02, 2007; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ABC delivered the three highest-rated entertainment programs among young adults on the opening Sunday of the season, putting the net in position to claim the opening frame of the season. Net's "Desperate Housewives," "Brothers & Sisters" and ...
Neufeld exits news net.(Victor Neufeld employee of Cable News Network)(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Victor Neufeld, the veteran producer hired by CNN two years ago to turn around "Paula Zahn Now," is leaving the network. CNN is developing a show for Campbell Brown for the 8 p.m. timeslot and is expected to hire an exec producer to oversee it. The parting was ...
Saget rises for 'Drowsy'.(LEGIT BITS )(Bob Saget will act in The Drowsy Chaperone)(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Bob Saget will sit down in the Broadway production of "The Drowsy Chaperone," taking over the tuner's central narrator role, Man in Chair, originated by Bob Martin and recently played by John Glover. Saget, the host of NBC gameshow "1 vs. 100" who's best known for his sitcom ...
Elizabeth Franz will play the lead role in "The Piano Teacher," the new play by Julia Cho ("Durango") that opens this fall at Off Broadway's Vineyard Theater.(LEGIT BITS)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Elizabeth Franz will play the lead role in "The Piano Teacher," the new play by Julia Cho ("Durango") that opens this fall at Off Broadway's Vineyard Theater. Franz, who won a Tony for her performance in the 1999 revival of "Death of a Salesman," portrays the titular teacher, ...
There's no end to "Happy Days.".(LEGIT BITS)
Oct 02, 2007; ... There's no end to "Happy Days." Goodspeed Musicals, which produced a workshop production of the legit tuner based on the popular sitcom, will bring back the stage show to open its mainstage season next spring at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. The ...
'Mary' pops as Broadway banks uptick.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Few Broadway shows saw sales rise drastically last week, but most were up, with the total cume for the 24 productions on the boards climbing about $375,000 to $14.3 million. "Mary Poppins" ($884,744) saw the largest bump of the week, stepping up more than $85,000, while "Spring ...
Macy finds 'Room' for a Plum role.
Oct 02, 2007; ... Gotham shingle Plum Pictures will produce high-school comedy "Bart Got a Room" and has signed William H. Macy to topline the project. Cheryl Hines will also star in the movie, which centers on a teen trying to find a prom date amid the tumult of his parents' failing marriage ....
Spyglass eyeing 'Brood'.(Spyglass Entertainment gets the right ot remake The Brood)(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... Spyglass Entertainment has acquired the rights to remake David Cronenberg's horror classic "The Brood." Cory Goodman has been tapped to pen the screenplay. Based on a pitch by Goodman, the psychological/supernatural thriller centers on a woman who undergoes medical treatment ...
'Alexandra' finds a home.(Cinema Guild Inc.)(Brief article)
Oct 02, 2007; ... The Cinema Guild has picked up "Alexandra," the latest film from "Russian Ark" helmer Alexander Sokurov, and plans a limited U.S. run early next year. The Cannes competition film is now screening as part of the New York Film Fest. It centers on a Russian grandmother (played by ...
Shipwrecked! An Entertainment--The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself).(Julianne Argyros Stage)(Theater review)
Oct 02, 2007; ... (Julianne Argyros Stage, Costa Mesa, Calif.; 336 seats; $62 top) A South Coast Repertory presentation of a play in one act by Donald Margulies. Directed by Bart DeLorenzo. Sets, Keith E. Mitchell; costumes, Candice Cain; lighting, Rand Ryan; original music and sound, Steven ...
The Home Place.(Guthrie Theater)(Theater review)
Oct 02, 2007; ... (Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis; 700 seats; $59 top) A Guthrie Theater presentation of a play in three acts by Brian Friel. Directed by Joe Dowling. Sets, Frank Hallinan Flood; costumes, Monica Frawley; lighting, Matthew Reinert; sound, Reid Rejsa; dialect consultant, Cathal ...
Showbiz stocks: Monday, October 1, 2007.
Oct 02, 2007 ... <Pre> Showbiz Stocks Monday, October 1, 2007 YTD Name Tkr PE Last Chg %Chg AccessIT AIXD ... 5.59 -.01-35.9 AcmeCmACME3 3.97 +.10-20.9 ActvsnATVI ...
Happy Days--A New Musical.(theater review)(Paper Mill Playhouse)(Theater review)
Oct 02, 2007; ... (Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, N.J; 1,200 seats; $92 top) A Paper Mill Playhouse presentation of a musical in two acts, with music and lyrics by Paul Williams, book by Garry Marshall, based on the Paramount Pictures television series. Directed by Gordon Greenberg. Music ...
Top 10 films in Manhattan: for the weekend of September 28-30, 2007.
Oct 02, 2007 ... <Pre> Top 10 Films In Manhattan For the weekend of September 28-30, 2007 % change vs. last Week Rank Wknd. B.O. Film (distributor) wknd. No.Engmnts.1. $309,558 ...
Broadway top 10: Sept. 24-30 2007.
Oct 02, 2007 ... <Pre> Broadway Top 10: Sept. 24-30 2007 Week's ShowNet Receipts $Change (Theater)(Prod. Category)Potential Prev Week's Avg. (Seats) Net Receipts Net Receipts ...
Exclusives report: for the weekend of September 28-30, 2007.(movie distributors)(Statistical data)
Oct 02, 2007 ... <Pre> Exclusives Report For the weekend of September 28-30, 2007 NEW YORK NEW THIS WEEK Weekend Film (distributor)CircuitTheater, City B.O. gross ...