Exclusive: Academy Award and 3x Emmy winner Bill Conti (The Right Stuff) has been tapped to pen the score for Roselli’s Way, a new biopic on Italian American pop singer Jimmy Roselli.
The film scripted by J.D. Zeik (Ronin) will watch as Roselli looks back on a career, in which he was forever the underdog in comparison to contemporary Frank Sinatra, among others.
Michael Besman, James Deutch, Roger Birnbaum and Mark Kimsey will produce for Emp Productions, along with Spike Seldin and Neil Jesuele of Remarkable Media, and veteran music exec and record producer Ron Fair, who will also serve as music supervisor. James Ivory and Stephen Dembitzer will serve as exec producers. A director is not yet attached to the project, though the casting search for its title character is now under way.
“The story behind one of the greatest voices of his era needs to be told,...
The film scripted by J.D. Zeik (Ronin) will watch as Roselli looks back on a career, in which he was forever the underdog in comparison to contemporary Frank Sinatra, among others.
Michael Besman, James Deutch, Roger Birnbaum and Mark Kimsey will produce for Emp Productions, along with Spike Seldin and Neil Jesuele of Remarkable Media, and veteran music exec and record producer Ron Fair, who will also serve as music supervisor. James Ivory and Stephen Dembitzer will serve as exec producers. A director is not yet attached to the project, though the casting search for its title character is now under way.
“The story behind one of the greatest voices of his era needs to be told,...
- 1/30/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Call Me By Your Name Oscar winner James Ivory is behind a new biopic about Italian American pop singer Jimmy Roselli, who was a competitive voice at a time when Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Dean Martin were dominating.
J.D. Zeik, screenwriter of Robert De Niro pic Ronin, has penned the screenplay. Roselli grew up in Hoboken five houses down from Sinatra, some considering his vocal talents superior to Sinatra’s. Frank’s mother Dolly privately considered Jimmy her favorite singer. But due to his combative personality and refusal to yield to mob pressure to control him and his earnings, Roselli’s career suffered greatly.
This earned him powerful enemies and in his heyday of the 1950s and 60s led him to be blacklisted from the most important clubs, performance venues and his records banned at most radio stations. Self-sabotage may have hurt Roselli the most. He had a seven-show commitment on Ed Sullivan,...
J.D. Zeik, screenwriter of Robert De Niro pic Ronin, has penned the screenplay. Roselli grew up in Hoboken five houses down from Sinatra, some considering his vocal talents superior to Sinatra’s. Frank’s mother Dolly privately considered Jimmy her favorite singer. But due to his combative personality and refusal to yield to mob pressure to control him and his earnings, Roselli’s career suffered greatly.
This earned him powerful enemies and in his heyday of the 1950s and 60s led him to be blacklisted from the most important clubs, performance venues and his records banned at most radio stations. Self-sabotage may have hurt Roselli the most. He had a seven-show commitment on Ed Sullivan,...
- 12/13/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Ron Perlman (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio), Yolonda Ross (The Chi) and Daniel Diemer (The Midnight Club) will star opposite Liam Neeson in the mob thriller Thug, reteaming the Oscar nominee with Cold Pursuit director Hans Petter Moland.
The film from Sculptor Media and Electromagnetic Production, which is currently shooting in Boston, revolves around an aging Boston gangster (Neeson) who attempts to reconnect with his children and rectify the mistakes in his past, though the criminal underworld won’t loosen its grip willingly.
Tony Gayton (Hell on Wheels) wrote the screenplay. Sculptor Media’s Warren Goz and Eric Gold are producing alongside Roger Birnbaum (Rush Hour franchise) and Michael Besman (About Schmidt) for Electromagnetic Productions, as well as Force Majeure (Copshop). Mark Kimsey is exec producing along with James Masciello, Matt Sidari and Mitchell Zhang of Raven, which has a slate financing and production partnership with Sculptor Media and is financing Thug.
The film from Sculptor Media and Electromagnetic Production, which is currently shooting in Boston, revolves around an aging Boston gangster (Neeson) who attempts to reconnect with his children and rectify the mistakes in his past, though the criminal underworld won’t loosen its grip willingly.
Tony Gayton (Hell on Wheels) wrote the screenplay. Sculptor Media’s Warren Goz and Eric Gold are producing alongside Roger Birnbaum (Rush Hour franchise) and Michael Besman (About Schmidt) for Electromagnetic Productions, as well as Force Majeure (Copshop). Mark Kimsey is exec producing along with James Masciello, Matt Sidari and Mitchell Zhang of Raven, which has a slate financing and production partnership with Sculptor Media and is financing Thug.
- 10/19/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (Power Book II: Ghost) stars in and produced the upcoming horror film Skill House, and now Deadline has broken the news that Jackson is teaming up with genre regular Eli Roth to produce three more horror movies, a three-picture deal they have secured with 3BlackDot. The movies they’ll be producing are titled The Gun, Trackmaster, and Creature House. Deadline notes that these projects come from “a diverse group of writers whose stories focus on increasing Bipoc representation.”
The Gun comes from the mind of Kirkland Morris (Power Book IV: Force). The synopsis: When a young man with a bright future seeks to get revenge for his father’s murder, he finds a gun that is haunted by an evil force.
Trackmaster has been written by Justin Calen-Chenn (Bel-Air). The synopsis for this one: A burgeoning rap duo uses a beat of mysterious origins in their new...
The Gun comes from the mind of Kirkland Morris (Power Book IV: Force). The synopsis: When a young man with a bright future seeks to get revenge for his father’s murder, he finds a gun that is haunted by an evil force.
Trackmaster has been written by Justin Calen-Chenn (Bel-Air). The synopsis for this one: A burgeoning rap duo uses a beat of mysterious origins in their new...
- 9/30/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson‘s expansion in the horror movie space with Eli Roth, as part of their three-feature film deal with 3BlackDot, will feature the following newly announced projects: The Gun, Trackmaster, and Creature House. Electromagnetic Productions will now also produce alongside Jackson’s G-Unit Film & Television.
The movies hail from a diverse group of writers—Kirkland Morris (Bmf; Power Book IV: Force), Justin Calen-Chenn (Bel-Air, Limited Edition), Dallas Jackson (Blumhouse’s Thriller; The System), and Kevin Grevioux (King of Killers; Underworld)—whose stories focus on increasing Bipoc representation.
“It was extremely important to me that through my horror slate we focus on increasing Bipoc representation. I feel like I have the best team in place here to do so,” said Jackson in a statement to Deadline.
“I’m a huge fan of 50 as an artist and producer and am so excited to bring these stories to life.
The movies hail from a diverse group of writers—Kirkland Morris (Bmf; Power Book IV: Force), Justin Calen-Chenn (Bel-Air, Limited Edition), Dallas Jackson (Blumhouse’s Thriller; The System), and Kevin Grevioux (King of Killers; Underworld)—whose stories focus on increasing Bipoc representation.
“It was extremely important to me that through my horror slate we focus on increasing Bipoc representation. I feel like I have the best team in place here to do so,” said Jackson in a statement to Deadline.
“I’m a huge fan of 50 as an artist and producer and am so excited to bring these stories to life.
- 9/30/2022
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Liam Neeson is set to star in thriller Thug, reuniting with his Cold Pursuit director Hans Petter Moland, who will direct the film for Sculptor Media and Electromagnetic Productions, with Mossbank and CAA handling sales at next week’s Cannes market.
Thug revolves around an ageing San Pedro gangster (Neeson) who attempts to reconnect with his children and rectify the mistakes in his past, but the criminal underworld won’t loosen their grip willingly. Tony Gayton wrote the screenplay.
Principal photography is slated for October, 2022, in Los Angeles.
Sculptor Media’s Warren Goz and Eric Gold are producing the movie alongside Roger Birnbaum (Rush Hour franchise) and Michael Besman (About Schmidt) for Electromagnetic Productions, and James Masciello’s Force Majeure (Copshop).
Executive producers are James Masciello, Matt Sidari and Mitchell Zhang of Raven, which has a slate financing and production partnership with Sculptor Media and is financing Thug.
Mossbank,...
Thug revolves around an ageing San Pedro gangster (Neeson) who attempts to reconnect with his children and rectify the mistakes in his past, but the criminal underworld won’t loosen their grip willingly. Tony Gayton wrote the screenplay.
Principal photography is slated for October, 2022, in Los Angeles.
Sculptor Media’s Warren Goz and Eric Gold are producing the movie alongside Roger Birnbaum (Rush Hour franchise) and Michael Besman (About Schmidt) for Electromagnetic Productions, and James Masciello’s Force Majeure (Copshop).
Executive producers are James Masciello, Matt Sidari and Mitchell Zhang of Raven, which has a slate financing and production partnership with Sculptor Media and is financing Thug.
Mossbank,...
- 5/10/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Peter V. Brett’s international bestselling sci-fi horror fantasy novel, The Warded Man, is being developed for TV by Rush Hour and The Hustle producer Roger Birnbaum and Mark Kimsey under their Electromagnetic Productions (Emp).
The idea here is to build a long-term franchise out the 15-year old Warded Man World five-novel series, including traditional and digital merchandising.
The Warded Man is set in a distant future where humanity is plagued by terrifying demons that emerge at night with supernatural powers and an all-consuming hatred of people. They are barely held at bay by the ancient and magical art of warding, where locals paint mysterious symbols on houses and posts. With the fate of humanity hanging by a thread, one man takes it further, tattooing his body with the lost battle wards to teach humanity how to fight back from the verge of extinction.
Part one of the five-part Demon Cycle series,...
The idea here is to build a long-term franchise out the 15-year old Warded Man World five-novel series, including traditional and digital merchandising.
The Warded Man is set in a distant future where humanity is plagued by terrifying demons that emerge at night with supernatural powers and an all-consuming hatred of people. They are barely held at bay by the ancient and magical art of warding, where locals paint mysterious symbols on houses and posts. With the fate of humanity hanging by a thread, one man takes it further, tattooing his body with the lost battle wards to teach humanity how to fight back from the verge of extinction.
Part one of the five-part Demon Cycle series,...
- 4/29/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures has acquired global rights to Ghost Boys, Jewell Parker Rhodes’ 2018 novel for young readers that weaves genres to explore what happens after a Black child is killed by a white police officer.
Amy Baer and Michael Besman have come aboard to develop and produce a feature film based on the New York Times bestseller. Baer’s associate Chris Ceccotti will executive produce along with Esmp’s Allen, Carolyn Folks and Jennifer Lucas. The project is now out to writers to adapt.
The novel, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, tells the story of 12-year-old Jerome, who is shot by a Chicago police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, Jerome can see the impact the tragedy has on his family and his community.
Amy Baer and Michael Besman have come aboard to develop and produce a feature film based on the New York Times bestseller. Baer’s associate Chris Ceccotti will executive produce along with Esmp’s Allen, Carolyn Folks and Jennifer Lucas. The project is now out to writers to adapt.
The novel, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, tells the story of 12-year-old Jerome, who is shot by a Chicago police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, Jerome can see the impact the tragedy has on his family and his community.
- 8/9/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is jumping into the horror movie space by inking a 3-feature film deal with Eli Roth and indie studio 3BlackDot.
The actor, producer and rapper’s G-Unit Film & Television banner is partnering with Arts District Enterainment — the production company headed by Roger Birnbaum, Roth and head of development Michael Besman — while 3BlackDot will act as the financier and studio behind the film slate deal.
The deal also creatively pairs the Power executive producer for Starz with Roth, a horror film icon best known for directing and producing titles like Cabin Fever, Hostel and Hemlock Grove, and ...
The actor, producer and rapper’s G-Unit Film & Television banner is partnering with Arts District Enterainment — the production company headed by Roger Birnbaum, Roth and head of development Michael Besman — while 3BlackDot will act as the financier and studio behind the film slate deal.
The deal also creatively pairs the Power executive producer for Starz with Roth, a horror film icon best known for directing and producing titles like Cabin Fever, Hostel and Hemlock Grove, and ...
- 10/16/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is jumping into the horror movie space by inking a 3-feature film deal with Eli Roth and indie studio 3BlackDot.
The actor, producer and rapper’s G-Unit Film & Television banner is partnering with Arts District Enterainment — the production company headed by Roger Birnbaum, Roth and head of development Michael Besman — while 3BlackDot will act as the financier and studio behind the film slate deal.
The deal also creatively pairs the Power executive producer for Starz with Roth, a horror film icon best known for directing and producing titles like Cabin Fever, Hostel and Hemlock Grove, and ...
The actor, producer and rapper’s G-Unit Film & Television banner is partnering with Arts District Enterainment — the production company headed by Roger Birnbaum, Roth and head of development Michael Besman — while 3BlackDot will act as the financier and studio behind the film slate deal.
The deal also creatively pairs the Power executive producer for Starz with Roth, a horror film icon best known for directing and producing titles like Cabin Fever, Hostel and Hemlock Grove, and ...
- 10/16/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Producer and recording artist Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is partnering with Eli Roth and entertainment studio 3BlackDot for a three-picture feature film deal. The deal expands Power player Jackson’s G-Unit Film & Television in the horror film space.
Jackson’s G-Unit will team with the Arts District Entertainment, Roth’s banner with Roger Birnbaum and Michael Besman. The deal, according to G-Unit and 3-BlackDot, involves an “8-figure investment in 50 Cent and G-Unit Film & Television from 3BlackDot.” The latter will act as financier and studio across all the films.
The three entities will collaborate on each film, while utilizing 3Blackdot’s in-house resources in gaming, publishing, and merchandise to build out entertainment properties. A statement announcing the deal says the film IP will be leveraged using Jackson, Roth and 3Blackdot “to platform into a 360-degree experience across video games, publishing and merchandise.”
“The newly formed film partnership is predicated on producing...
Jackson’s G-Unit will team with the Arts District Entertainment, Roth’s banner with Roger Birnbaum and Michael Besman. The deal, according to G-Unit and 3-BlackDot, involves an “8-figure investment in 50 Cent and G-Unit Film & Television from 3BlackDot.” The latter will act as financier and studio across all the films.
The three entities will collaborate on each film, while utilizing 3Blackdot’s in-house resources in gaming, publishing, and merchandise to build out entertainment properties. A statement announcing the deal says the film IP will be leveraged using Jackson, Roth and 3Blackdot “to platform into a 360-degree experience across video games, publishing and merchandise.”
“The newly formed film partnership is predicated on producing...
- 10/14/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Spyglass Entertainment has acquired Covenant, an Elizabeth Bear science fiction short story that will be written by the 10 Cloverfield Lane writing team of Josh Campbell & Matt Stuecken. They are keeping the logline under wraps.
Roger Birnbaum, Eli Roth and Michael Besman will produce for Arts District Entertainment. Spyglass VP Production Chris Stone will oversee the project.
Campbell and Stuecken’s contained thriller Horizon Line, starring Allison Williams, is currently in post production with Stx. The writers are repped by Verve, Lit Entertainment Group and attorney Jeff Frankel.
Covenant was first published in the anthology series Hieroglyphs: Stories and Visions for a Better Future.
Spyglass Media Group launched as a partnership between Gary Barber and Lantern Entertainment co-presidents Andy Mitchell and Milos Brajovic, with strategic investment backing from Warner Bros Pictures, Eagle Pictures and Cineworld Group.
Roger Birnbaum, Eli Roth and Michael Besman will produce for Arts District Entertainment. Spyglass VP Production Chris Stone will oversee the project.
Campbell and Stuecken’s contained thriller Horizon Line, starring Allison Williams, is currently in post production with Stx. The writers are repped by Verve, Lit Entertainment Group and attorney Jeff Frankel.
Covenant was first published in the anthology series Hieroglyphs: Stories and Visions for a Better Future.
Spyglass Media Group launched as a partnership between Gary Barber and Lantern Entertainment co-presidents Andy Mitchell and Milos Brajovic, with strategic investment backing from Warner Bros Pictures, Eagle Pictures and Cineworld Group.
- 5/4/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: In a hot button moment where many are scrutinizing the paucity of females in the Oscar nominations, Gigi Saul Guerrero continues to establish herself as a new voice in genre, a space usually haunted by men. She has just been set by Orion Pictures to direct the horror thriller 10-31, about a young woman who takes her niece and nephew trick-or-treating and discovers a note inside a candy wrapper informing her there’s a killer loose on her block.
The script was written by Ian Shorr and Peter Gamble, based on a story by Laurie Ashbourne and screen story by Kathy Charles. Eli Roth is producing alongside Roger Birnbaum through their Arts District Entertainment, and John Zaozirny through Bellevue Productions. This comes after Guerrero was set to direct an untitled film based on the mythology of Santa Muerte for Screen Gems. Guerrero is under a first-look film and TV deal with Blumhouse,...
The script was written by Ian Shorr and Peter Gamble, based on a story by Laurie Ashbourne and screen story by Kathy Charles. Eli Roth is producing alongside Roger Birnbaum through their Arts District Entertainment, and John Zaozirny through Bellevue Productions. This comes after Guerrero was set to direct an untitled film based on the mythology of Santa Muerte for Screen Gems. Guerrero is under a first-look film and TV deal with Blumhouse,...
- 1/14/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Enquiring minds want to know what’s behind the renewed fascination with The National Enquirer. The supermarket tabloid has made a lot of news recently on everything from owner David Pecker’s dealings with President Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos’ private war to prevent the publication of X-rated images, and the recent documentary Scandalous: The Untold Story of the National Enquirer from director Mark Landsman.
Rambling Reporter has learned that there’s more where that came from.
Arts District Entertainment — the production company headed by Roger Birnbaum and Eli Roth with head of development Michael Besman — has optioned Paul David ...
Rambling Reporter has learned that there’s more where that came from.
Arts District Entertainment — the production company headed by Roger Birnbaum and Eli Roth with head of development Michael Besman — has optioned Paul David ...
- 11/30/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Norwegian filmmaker André Øvredal is in very early talks to direct The Last Voyage Of The Demeter for Amblin Partners, Deadline has confirmed. The film is based on Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula about seminal vampire’s sea voyage to England aboard The Demeter. The initial screenplay is by Escape Room scribe Bragi Schut. Mike Medavoy, Brad Fischer and Arnold Messer, the producers behind such films as Black Swan, Shutter Island, and Zodiac, are producing the project. Øvredal’s most recent directorial outings include the Lionsgate horror thriller, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and The Autopsy of Jane Doe. THR was first to break this story.
Orion Pictures has obtained the rights to 10-31, a horror script from screenwriters Ian Shorr (Infinite) and Peter Gamble (Office Uprising) with Eli Roth and Roger Birnbaum attached to produce under their Arts District Entertainment shingle alongside John Zaozirny’s Bellevue Productions.
Orion Pictures has obtained the rights to 10-31, a horror script from screenwriters Ian Shorr (Infinite) and Peter Gamble (Office Uprising) with Eli Roth and Roger Birnbaum attached to produce under their Arts District Entertainment shingle alongside John Zaozirny’s Bellevue Productions.
- 10/1/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Orion Pictures has acquired “10-31,” a sought-after horror script from screenwriters Ian Shorr and Peter Gamble.
The script is based on a story by Laurie Ashbourne and screen story by Kathy Charles, and will be produced by Eli Roth and Roger Birnbaum’s Arts District Entertainment, alongside John Zaozirny’s Bellevue Productions. Michael Besman will serve as executive producer on behalf of Arts District Entertainment.
“Very rarely do you get a script that grabs you by the throat, holds you until the last page, and gives you nightmares after,” Roth said. “I don’t want to reveal too much, but this is one of the best, scariest premises for a horror film that I have read in years. Slasher films are my favorite subgenre of horror, and this script has all the ingredients of a new classic. We are very excited to make this film with Orion, who we have a long relationship with,...
The script is based on a story by Laurie Ashbourne and screen story by Kathy Charles, and will be produced by Eli Roth and Roger Birnbaum’s Arts District Entertainment, alongside John Zaozirny’s Bellevue Productions. Michael Besman will serve as executive producer on behalf of Arts District Entertainment.
“Very rarely do you get a script that grabs you by the throat, holds you until the last page, and gives you nightmares after,” Roth said. “I don’t want to reveal too much, but this is one of the best, scariest premises for a horror film that I have read in years. Slasher films are my favorite subgenre of horror, and this script has all the ingredients of a new classic. We are very excited to make this film with Orion, who we have a long relationship with,...
- 10/1/2019
- by Justin Kroll
- Variety Film + TV
In today’s film news roundup, “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas” is in the works, the NFL has made a documentary about female team owners and D Street Pictures has signed Kenny Gage and Devon Downs to direct the dance feature “Move.”
Holiday Project
Miramax has acquired film rights to Lauren Iungerich’s holiday-themed screenplay “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas.”
Iungerich is set to direct, as well as produce, alongside Eli Roth and Roger Birnbaum under their newly-formed Arts District Entertainment; Jamie Dooner; and Miramax’s Bill Block. Jennie Frisbie, Michael Besman and Miramax’s Michael Lachance will executive produce. Production is slated for June and will be supervised by Lachance.
The film marks Iungerich’s feature film directorial debut. The story focuses on a 16-year-old woman who spurns her family to go skiing with her new boyfriend over the holidays. After he unceremoniously breaks up with her before the trip,...
Holiday Project
Miramax has acquired film rights to Lauren Iungerich’s holiday-themed screenplay “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas.”
Iungerich is set to direct, as well as produce, alongside Eli Roth and Roger Birnbaum under their newly-formed Arts District Entertainment; Jamie Dooner; and Miramax’s Bill Block. Jennie Frisbie, Michael Besman and Miramax’s Michael Lachance will executive produce. Production is slated for June and will be supervised by Lachance.
The film marks Iungerich’s feature film directorial debut. The story focuses on a 16-year-old woman who spurns her family to go skiing with her new boyfriend over the holidays. After he unceremoniously breaks up with her before the trip,...
- 3/26/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Miramax has secured the film rights to I Won’t Be Home For Christmas, a holiday film written by Lauren Iungerich, who is also set to direct the feature as her first directorial outing. Iungerich is best known as the creator behind MTV’s Awkward series, which ran for five seasons, and co-creator of Netflix’s coming-of-age comedy, On my Block, which will launch its second season this month.
Iungerich is producing I Won’t Be Home For Christmas alongside Eli Roth and Roger Birnbaum, under their new Arts District Entertainment banner, Jamie Dooner, and Miramax’s Bill Block.
The plot centers on sixteen-year-old Grace who is given the golden ticket to forgo having to spend the holidays with her crazy family and instead go skiing with her new boyfriend Tad. When Tad unceremoniously breaks up with her before the trip, Grace must return home humiliated with a broken heart...
Iungerich is producing I Won’t Be Home For Christmas alongside Eli Roth and Roger Birnbaum, under their new Arts District Entertainment banner, Jamie Dooner, and Miramax’s Bill Block.
The plot centers on sixteen-year-old Grace who is given the golden ticket to forgo having to spend the holidays with her crazy family and instead go skiing with her new boyfriend Tad. When Tad unceremoniously breaks up with her before the trip, Grace must return home humiliated with a broken heart...
- 3/25/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Miramax has acquired screen rights to the Erica Ferencik novel The River At Night. The project will be shaped by Kevin Williamson and Eli Roth, teaming for the first time after each had an illustrious genre past with the original Miramax. Williamson and Ben Fast will produce through their Outerbanks banner and Roth is producing with Roger Birnbaum. Roth is eyeing this as a potential directing project. Melanie Toast is in talks to write. She burst onto the scene with her first script Shut In, a contained thriller that is in serious play.
For Roth and Birnbaum, this marks the first project for The Arts District, their new production label that has been staked to a first-look deal by Miramax chief Bill Block. Michael Besman is the company’s head of development. Williamson and Fast already tethered Outerbanks to Miramax for movies.
Stifled by a soul-crushing job, devastated by...
For Roth and Birnbaum, this marks the first project for The Arts District, their new production label that has been staked to a first-look deal by Miramax chief Bill Block. Michael Besman is the company’s head of development. Williamson and Fast already tethered Outerbanks to Miramax for movies.
Stifled by a soul-crushing job, devastated by...
- 3/6/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Veteran film producer Michael Besman (About Schmidt) will head up the new L.A. office of Caryn Mandabach Productions, the Hollywood headquarters for the U.K.-based producer whose credits include That 70s Show, Nurse Jackie and Roseanne. Besman, whose studio credits include Batman, As Good as It Gets and Seven Years in Tibet, will be charged with developing and producing high-end TV content for the U.S., U.K. and international broadcasters. Caryn Mandabach Prods. is one of a group of pan-Atlantic outfits looking to produce premium series targeting the global market. The group's most recent show
read more...
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- 12/10/2013
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Producer Michael Besman is coming aboard Caryn Mandabach Productions, the company behind Nurse Jackie, to run its West Coast shop. The film exec segues into television with the move and has a mandate to develop and produce premimum content for the U.S., UK and international markets. Mandabach, which also has offices in Britain, is currently in pre-production on the second season of Peaky Blinders. That BBC2 period gangster drama was recommissioned in October and will return in 2014. Created by Steven Knight and starring Cillian Murphy, Sam Neill and Helen McCrory, it has been optioned by The Weinstein Company. Mandabach is also in active development with comedy and drama series for the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK; and HBO and USA Network in the States. Among Besman’s credits are About Schmidt, Seven Years In Tibet, The Opposite Of Sex and Bounce.
- 12/10/2013
- by NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor
- Deadline TV
Jack Black moves over from one comedy to another as he sinks his teeth into Michael Winterbottom's new feature "Bailout." The upcoming film is based off the novel "The Financial Lives of The Poets" written by Jess Walter who also ended up writing the script for the adaptation. Producing the film is Melissa Parmenter, Ben Cooley, Michael Besman, Priyanka Mattoo under Ealing Metro International and Jack Black."Bailout" centers on the story of one man's attempt to come back from the brink of financial ruin after meeting a couple of losers in a late night supermarket. Winterbottom will begin shooting "Bailout" this August somewhere in the United States.Michael Winterbottom is best known for his directing work in films like "24 Hour Party People," "A Mighty Heart" and "The Killer Inside Me." He's the same director who's handling the World War II-set film "The Promised Land" with a cast that includes Colin Firth,...
- 5/13/2011
- LRMonline.com
Jack Black and filmmaker Michael Winterbottom are set to team on the depression-themed comedy "Bailout" for Ealing Metro International and Prescience says Screen Daily.
Based on Jess Walter's novel "The Financial Lives Of Poets", Black plays a man who finds himself unemployed, crippled with debt, convinced his wife is having an affair and two weeks away from losing his home.
Michael Besman, Melissa Parmenter, Black, Ben Cooley and Priyanka Mattoo will produce. Shooting aims to kick off in August.
Based on Jess Walter's novel "The Financial Lives Of Poets", Black plays a man who finds himself unemployed, crippled with debt, convinced his wife is having an affair and two weeks away from losing his home.
Michael Besman, Melissa Parmenter, Black, Ben Cooley and Priyanka Mattoo will produce. Shooting aims to kick off in August.
- 5/12/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Jack Black is set to star in "Bailout," an indie comedy directed by Michael Winterbottom, Deadline.com reports from Cannes. The film centers on the recently unemployed, debt-ridden Matt Prior (Black), who suspicious of his wife's fidelity. Seemingly at the end of his rope, Prior encounters two strange men at the supermarket who extend him a mysterious business opportunity. "Bailout" was written by Jess Walter, based on his own novel "The Financial Lives of The Poets." Ballyhoo's Michael Besman is producing along with Melissa Parmenter of Revolution Films, Black and Ben Cooley and Priyanka Mattoo of Electric Dynamite. Black is in Cannes...
- 5/12/2011
- by HitFix Staff
- Hitfix
Jack Black is set to star in a comedy from director Michael Winterbottom called Bailout. The film is being financed by Ealing Metro International. They financed The King's Speech, and will sell worldwide rights. The film is based on the Jess Walter novel The Financial Lives of The Poets. Walter adapted his novel, which follows the "misadventures of Matt Prior (Black), who loses his job, is crippled with debt and is convinced his wife is having an affair. He's two weeks from losing his home when he meets two losers at the supermarket who offer him a strange business opportunity and his last chance to save himself." The project is being produced by Michael Besman of Ballyhoo along with Melissa Parmenter of Revolution Films, Black and Ben Cooley and Priyanka Mattoo of Electric Dynamite. Production is slated to begin in August.
This sounds like a great project for Black. I...
This sounds like a great project for Black. I...
- 5/12/2011
- by Tiberius
- GeekTyrant
Ealing Metro International and The King's Speech financier Prescience will finance and sell worldwide rights on Bailout, a Michael Winterbottom-directed comedy that will star Jack Black. The film is based on the Jess Walter novel The Financial Lives of The Poets. Walter adapted his novel, which follows the misadventures of Matt Prior (Black), who loses his job, is crippled with debt and is convinced his wife is having an affair. He's two weeks from losing his home when he meets two losers at the supermarket who offer him a strange business opportunity and his last chance to save himself. Michael Besman of Ballyhoo is producing with Melissa Parmenter of Revolution Films, Black and Ben Cooley and Priyanka Mattoo of Electric Dynamite. Shooting will begin in August. Wme reps Black and Winterbottom, ICM reps Walter.
- 5/12/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
In a competitive-bidding environment, DreamWorks Studios has picked up a pitch from screenwriter Andrea McCloud titled "I Saw You."
Based on a comics anthology edited by Julia Wertz, the pitch revolves around four intersecting love stories derived from missed-connections ads. George Tillman Jr. is attached to direct and produce through his State Street Pictures with Robert Teitel. Wertz also will produce.
The pitch sale was in the mid-six figures.
Wertz's "I Saw You ..." collected comics based on real-life missed-connection ads on Craigslist and in local papers. Random House's Three Rivers Press imprint published the trade paperback in February.
The ensemble romantic comedy has become a subgenre unto itself of late, with such films as "Love Actually," "He's Just Not That Into You" and the forthcoming "Valentine's Day" using the intertwining-story format.
As it moves back into production, the newly independent DreamWorks is fashioning several potential comedy projects. The studio has...
Based on a comics anthology edited by Julia Wertz, the pitch revolves around four intersecting love stories derived from missed-connections ads. George Tillman Jr. is attached to direct and produce through his State Street Pictures with Robert Teitel. Wertz also will produce.
The pitch sale was in the mid-six figures.
Wertz's "I Saw You ..." collected comics based on real-life missed-connection ads on Craigslist and in local papers. Random House's Three Rivers Press imprint published the trade paperback in February.
The ensemble romantic comedy has become a subgenre unto itself of late, with such films as "Love Actually," "He's Just Not That Into You" and the forthcoming "Valentine's Day" using the intertwining-story format.
As it moves back into production, the newly independent DreamWorks is fashioning several potential comedy projects. The studio has...
- 12/13/2009
- by By Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
DreamWorks has bought the rights to the action-comedy “Wife vs. Ninja” project from Michael Besman (”About Schmidt, “The Opposite of Sex”), about a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful intern who seduced her research scientist husband away from her is actually a ruthless ninja assassin intent on stealing his work and claiming it as her own. Besman will produce the project as well as write the script, alongside Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen. No casting or directing news has been announced yet. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more from”Wife vs. Ninja” and Dreamworks. By Costa Koutsoutis (Source: Variety)...
- 12/11/2009
- by Costa Koutsoutis
- ShockYa
DreamWorks has bought producer Michael Besman.s action/comedy pitch .Wife vs. Ninja.. The story centers on a Long Island housewife who makes the discovery that the young intern who stole her scientist husband away is really a ninja assassin trying to steal his life's work.According to Variety, Besman will produce the film and write the script alongside writers Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen.
- 12/11/2009
- by Adnan Tezer
- Monsters and Critics
What do you do when your husband leaves you for a younger woman? You fight the little homewrecker, right? But what if she's professionally trained in martial arts? That appears to be the question that spawned Wife vs. Ninja, a high-concept idea just bought by DreamWorks, according to Variety.
The pitch comes from Michael Besman, producer of About Schmidt and The Opposite of Sex, and specifically involves a woman whose scientist hubby ditches the married life to be with his intern. But the wife learns the young woman is actually a ninja assassin on a mission to steal the husband's secret formula for a new hair tonic or burger sauce, or whatever it is he's working on. So, if the title is any indication, the wife then fights the girlfriend for the life and love of her undeserving man.
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Dreamworks
Continue reading Get Ready for 'Wife vs.
The pitch comes from Michael Besman, producer of About Schmidt and The Opposite of Sex, and specifically involves a woman whose scientist hubby ditches the married life to be with his intern. But the wife learns the young woman is actually a ninja assassin on a mission to steal the husband's secret formula for a new hair tonic or burger sauce, or whatever it is he's working on. So, if the title is any indication, the wife then fights the girlfriend for the life and love of her undeserving man.
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Dreamworks
Continue reading Get Ready for 'Wife vs.
- 12/10/2009
- by Christopher Campbell
- Cinematical
Much like the words "love" and "hate," the word "awesome" has been used to the point that it has been rendered almost meaningless. When you use the word to reference a band made up entirely of Star Wars characters it makes sense (Chewbacca on drums? Full of awesome!), but then a thirteen year old uses it to describe Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and it the word again becomes worthless. It is because of this problem that I am happy that projects such as Wife vs. Ninja exist. Michael Besman's pitch about a Long Island housewife squaring off against a shinobi has been picked up by Dreamworks, according to Variety. The story will follow the housewife as she discovers that a "beautiful young intern" is actually a ninja assassin who has kidnapped her husband, and she takes it upon herself to get him back. While the idea has the...
- 12/10/2009
- cinemablend.com
Sure it’s silly, but I suppose that’s the point. DreamWorks has snatched up the action-comedy pitch from Michael Besman, and if Spielberg doesn’t immediately attach himself to direct, he’s nuts. Or smart. Either/or. “Wife vs. Ninja” will tell the action-packed tale of a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful young intern who stole her scientist husband is actually a bloodthirsty ninja assassin intent on stealing his work. Hilarity, as they say, ensues. Besman, a producer by trade, will produce and co-write the script with Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen. But more importantly, what does a real Ninja have to say about this, and other topics of interest? Maybe a review of “Ninja Assassin”, perhaps?...
- 12/10/2009
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
At this point it's no secret that Ninja Assassin was an abysmal work of ninja-ness, but Hollywood seems intent on trying again. This time, instead of Warner Bros. letting The Wachowski's Matrix-up the beloved genre, it is Dreamworks who is going rogue. And from the looks of things, it sounds like a pretty bitchin' ride. Dreamworks has picked up the Michael Besman pitch Wife vs. Ninja, says Variety. The story follows a Long Island housewife whose scientist husband is abducted by a beautiful young intern, who just so happens to be a bloodthirsty ninja assassin. The movie is said to be full of both action and laughs. I'm in love. A sexy ninja kidnaps a nerdy scientist and his badass New Yorker wife sets out to beat some ass? Are we sure that this isn't some b-movie pitch over at The Asylum? No? Awesome. I can't think of any possible scenario in which this movie is not...
- 12/10/2009
- by Neil Miller
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Simply because there are days where I am looking for an excuse to waste a few minutes on Photoshop putting together a crazy picture...
Dreamworks has nabbed Michael Besman's pitch "Wife vs. Ninja," which centers on a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful young intern who recently stole her scientist husband is actually a bloodthirsty ninja assassin intent on stealing his work.
Go on. Have at it. You know you want to.
Dreamworks has nabbed Michael Besman's pitch "Wife vs. Ninja," which centers on a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful young intern who recently stole her scientist husband is actually a bloodthirsty ninja assassin intent on stealing his work.
Go on. Have at it. You know you want to.
- 12/10/2009
- Screen Anarchy
DreamWorks has just picked up Michael Besman's pitch for an action-comedy called "Wife vs. Ninja."
Here's the premise: a Long Island housewife discovers that the young woman who recently stole her away her scientist husband is actually a ninja assassin in disguise, focussed on stealing the man's work.
Like JoBlo, I have a hard time imagining exactly why any wife would care what kind of career her husband's mistress had, but hey Besman also produced "About Schmidt" and "The Opposite of Sex," so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Source: JoBlo...
Here's the premise: a Long Island housewife discovers that the young woman who recently stole her away her scientist husband is actually a ninja assassin in disguise, focussed on stealing the man's work.
Like JoBlo, I have a hard time imagining exactly why any wife would care what kind of career her husband's mistress had, but hey Besman also produced "About Schmidt" and "The Opposite of Sex," so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Source: JoBlo...
- 12/10/2009
- by Christina Warren
- AMC - Script to Screen
It's not the most obvious of face-offs, perhaps - hardly up there with Alien vs. Predator or Superman Vs. Batman - but Wife Vs. Ninja is set for the screen with DreamWorks, and it actually sounds kinda fun.This is the story of a Long Island housewife whose scientist husband leaves her for a beautiful young intern. Our heroine discovers that said intern is in fact a ninja assassin out to steal her husband's work, and has to find a way to get rid of the bitch before the latter can accomplish her goal and (presumably) leave the cheating, lying husband dead in a ditch somewhere. Why the wife cares about his fate we're not sure, but it's still a great premise.Producer Michael Besman (Seven Years in Tibet, Georgia Rule) came up with the story, is producing and will write the script with debutant screenwriters Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen.
- 12/10/2009
- EmpireOnline
DreamWorks Pictures has picked up Michael Besman’s action comedy pitch "Wife vs. Ninja" says Variety.
The story centers on a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful young intern who recently stole her scientist husband is actually a bloodthirsty ninja assassin intent on stealing his work.
Besman will produce the project and co-write the script with Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen.
The story centers on a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful young intern who recently stole her scientist husband is actually a bloodthirsty ninja assassin intent on stealing his work.
Besman will produce the project and co-write the script with Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen.
- 12/10/2009
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
DreamWorks Pictures has picked up Michael Besman’s action comedy pitch "Wife vs. Ninja" says Variety.
The story centers on a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful young intern who recently stole her scientist husband is actually a bloodthirsty ninja assassin intent on stealing his work.
Besman will produce the project and co-write the script with Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen.
The story centers on a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful young intern who recently stole her scientist husband is actually a bloodthirsty ninja assassin intent on stealing his work.
Besman will produce the project and co-write the script with Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen.
- 12/10/2009
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
No, it's not April Fool's Day, and no we're not drunk. Believe or not, DreamWorks has purchased Michael Besman's pitch for a new movie called Wife vs Ninja, which centers on a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful young intern who recently stole her scientist husband is actually a bloodthirsty Ninja assassin intent on stealing his work (via Variety). And you thought all the good original ideas were gone! Besman will write the high-concept action-comedy with writers Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen and we'll just pretend that DreamWorks actually picked up a good idea to add to their upcoming slate instead. Studio co-president of production Holly Bario explains: "We fell in love with the mix of action and laughs in [the story]." I'm surprised they didn't laugh Besman's ass right out of the meeting after hearing that title alone. This concept sounds mind-numbingly stupid unless the film is intentionally...
- 12/10/2009
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Variety says that DreamWorks has bought Michael Besman's pitch Wife vs. Ninja , which centers on a Long Island housewife who discovers that the beautiful young intern who recently stole her scientist husband is actually a bloodthirsty Ninja assassin intent on stealing his work. Besman ( About Schmidt , The Opposite of Sex ) will write the script with newcomers Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen. Besman will also produce. "We fell in love with the mix of action and laughs in (the story)," said co-president of production Holly Bario.
- 12/9/2009
- Comingsoon.net
Lauren Ambrose and Adam Kaufman lead the cast of "Unorthodox," a new Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation for CBS.
Susie Essman, Ricki Lake and Mercedes Ruehl co-star in the film, now in production in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Based on P'nenah Goldstein's play "Loving Leah," "Unorthodox" centers on Jake (Kaufman), a 30-year-old Washington D.C. doctor whose estranged older brother, a rabbi in a close-knit Hasidic community in Brooklyn, N.Y., dies. Jake is asked to marry his late brother's 26-year-old widow, Leah (Ambrose), honoring the ancient levirate marriage law.
To keep their mothers (Ruehl, Essman) at bay, Jake and Leah decide to enter a pretend marriage, living separate lives out of Jake's D.C. apartment. That proves challenging, especially after they start to fall for each other.
Lake plays a Washington rabbi who befriends Leah. Also cast in the film is Christy Pusz as Jake's girlfriend.
Susie Essman, Ricki Lake and Mercedes Ruehl co-star in the film, now in production in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Based on P'nenah Goldstein's play "Loving Leah," "Unorthodox" centers on Jake (Kaufman), a 30-year-old Washington D.C. doctor whose estranged older brother, a rabbi in a close-knit Hasidic community in Brooklyn, N.Y., dies. Jake is asked to marry his late brother's 26-year-old widow, Leah (Ambrose), honoring the ancient levirate marriage law.
To keep their mothers (Ruehl, Essman) at bay, Jake and Leah decide to enter a pretend marriage, living separate lives out of Jake's D.C. apartment. That proves challenging, especially after they start to fall for each other.
Lake plays a Washington rabbi who befriends Leah. Also cast in the film is Christy Pusz as Jake's girlfriend.
- 9/24/2008
- by By Nellie Andreeva
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This review was written for the theatrical release of "Georgia Rule". A multigenerational dramatic comedy about a fractured family, Garry Marshall's "Georgia Rule" proves to be more prone to malfunction than dysfunction.
Despite its three solid leads -- Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan (yes, this was the production that inspired Morgan Creek chief James G. Robinson to write the latter a little letter) -- the film fails to make a connection to its audience, or itself for that matter, as it constantly struggles to find a suitable tone.
The director in the past has demonstrated a bankable knack for mixing light comedy with more serious elements, but the decidedly darker elements of Mark Andrus' script never jibe with Marshall's breezier instincts, and the awkward results are all too apparent.
Universal obviously is aware of those problems, dropping the picture into a market that's stoked for upbeat summer escapist fare. As a result, "Georgia" is unlikely to be on the minds of many moviegoers.
Screenwriter Andrus ("As Good as It Gets") drew upon his Mormon upbringing to tell the story of Rachel, a trouble-making California teen (guess who?) who is sent to a small town in Idaho by her alcoholic mother, Lilly (Huffman), to live with her strict, rule-enforcing grandmother, Georgia (Fonda).
The caustic, impudent, promiscuous Rachel is a real piece of work, but she's nothing Grandma hasn't dealt with before, and Georgia's got an endless supply of mouth-washing soap to prove it.
It's soon revealed that Rachel is a rebel with a cause, but even when the audience is asked to view her in a different light, her character's subsequent abrupt behavioral shifts make her tough to embrace.
But the bigger problem with "Georgia Rule" is that the troubling subject matter required a gutsier, take-no-prisoners approach (think Todd Solondz or Catherine Hardwicke or any number of Sundance-approved directors) rather than the safely mainstream balancing act that Marshall tries unsuccessfully to achieve.
The more Marshall sugarcoats those jagged emotional edges with homey small-town humor, the more uncomfortably unconvincing the film becomes.
His three female leads deliver the required goods with Fonda, particularly, in fine, feisty form.
Although no real fault of their own, the supporting characters, including Dermot Mulroney as a sympathetic veterinarian and Cary Elwes as Huffman's smug husband, tend to come across more like script devices than real, three-dimensional people.
Production values are up to Marshall speed here, with California subbing for fictional rural Idaho, but again, a little less polish and a little more grit might have helped make this wayward story of redemption a bit easier to forgive.
GEORGIA RULE
Universal Pictures
James G. Robinson presents a Morgan Creek production
Credits:
Director: Garry Marshall
Screenwriter: Mark Andrus
Producers: James G. Robinson, David Robinson
Executive producers: Guy McElwaine, Michael Besman, Kevin Reidy
Director of photography: Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Production designer: Albert Brenner
Music: John Debney
Co-producer: Bonnie Timmermann
Costume designer: Gary Jones
Editors: Bruce Green, Tara Timpone
Cast:
Georgia: Jane Fonda
Rachel: Lindsay Lohan
Lilly: Felicity Huffman
Simon: Dermot Mulroney
Arnold: Cary Elwes
Harlan: Garrett Hedlund
Running time -- 111 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Despite its three solid leads -- Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan (yes, this was the production that inspired Morgan Creek chief James G. Robinson to write the latter a little letter) -- the film fails to make a connection to its audience, or itself for that matter, as it constantly struggles to find a suitable tone.
The director in the past has demonstrated a bankable knack for mixing light comedy with more serious elements, but the decidedly darker elements of Mark Andrus' script never jibe with Marshall's breezier instincts, and the awkward results are all too apparent.
Universal obviously is aware of those problems, dropping the picture into a market that's stoked for upbeat summer escapist fare. As a result, "Georgia" is unlikely to be on the minds of many moviegoers.
Screenwriter Andrus ("As Good as It Gets") drew upon his Mormon upbringing to tell the story of Rachel, a trouble-making California teen (guess who?) who is sent to a small town in Idaho by her alcoholic mother, Lilly (Huffman), to live with her strict, rule-enforcing grandmother, Georgia (Fonda).
The caustic, impudent, promiscuous Rachel is a real piece of work, but she's nothing Grandma hasn't dealt with before, and Georgia's got an endless supply of mouth-washing soap to prove it.
It's soon revealed that Rachel is a rebel with a cause, but even when the audience is asked to view her in a different light, her character's subsequent abrupt behavioral shifts make her tough to embrace.
But the bigger problem with "Georgia Rule" is that the troubling subject matter required a gutsier, take-no-prisoners approach (think Todd Solondz or Catherine Hardwicke or any number of Sundance-approved directors) rather than the safely mainstream balancing act that Marshall tries unsuccessfully to achieve.
The more Marshall sugarcoats those jagged emotional edges with homey small-town humor, the more uncomfortably unconvincing the film becomes.
His three female leads deliver the required goods with Fonda, particularly, in fine, feisty form.
Although no real fault of their own, the supporting characters, including Dermot Mulroney as a sympathetic veterinarian and Cary Elwes as Huffman's smug husband, tend to come across more like script devices than real, three-dimensional people.
Production values are up to Marshall speed here, with California subbing for fictional rural Idaho, but again, a little less polish and a little more grit might have helped make this wayward story of redemption a bit easier to forgive.
GEORGIA RULE
Universal Pictures
James G. Robinson presents a Morgan Creek production
Credits:
Director: Garry Marshall
Screenwriter: Mark Andrus
Producers: James G. Robinson, David Robinson
Executive producers: Guy McElwaine, Michael Besman, Kevin Reidy
Director of photography: Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Production designer: Albert Brenner
Music: John Debney
Co-producer: Bonnie Timmermann
Costume designer: Gary Jones
Editors: Bruce Green, Tara Timpone
Cast:
Georgia: Jane Fonda
Rachel: Lindsay Lohan
Lilly: Felicity Huffman
Simon: Dermot Mulroney
Arnold: Cary Elwes
Harlan: Garrett Hedlund
Running time -- 111 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Diane Keaton is set to star in Da Vinci's Mother, a drama that Michael Besman and casting guru Bonnie Timmermann have set up at Fox Searchlight. The Oscar-winning actress will play a woman who sets out on a journey to get to know her son after he commits suicide. She takes a job where he waitered, spends time with his friends and girlfriend and in the process makes some major discoveries about herself. Timmermann and Besman are producing. Zola Mashariki and Claudia Lewis are overseeing for the studio. Penned by Jude Baas, the project was first brought to Fox by way of Jim Sheridan, who is working on an HBO anthology with Timmermann.
- 5/19/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Diane Keaton is set to star in Da Vinci's Mother, a drama that Michael Besman and casting guru Bonnie Timmermann have set up at Fox Searchlight. The Oscar-winning actress will play a woman who sets out on a journey to get to know her son after he commits suicide. She takes a job where he waitered, spends time with his friends and girlfriend and in the process makes some major discoveries about herself. Timmermann and Besman are producing. Zola Mashariki and Claudia Lewis are overseeing for the studio. Penned by Jude Baas, the project was first brought to Fox by way of Jim Sheridan, who is working on an HBO anthology with Timmermann.
- 5/19/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Variety reports that Revolution Studios has optioned Tim Farrington's novel The Monk Downstairs for Julia Roberts' Red Om Films. A romantic dramedy about a single mother who rents a room to a man who's just been in a monastery for 20 years, the novel is being adapted by Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) and will be produced by Michael Besman and Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas. No director or cast has been set.
- 5/30/2003
- IMDbPro News
In a pre-emptive bid, Columbia Pictures has optioned Chris Van Allsburg's picture book The Sweetest Fig, which Mark Andrus will adapt as a feature film. Michael Besman, Bill Teitler and Van Allsburg are producing. The project reunites Andrus and Besman, who wrote and produced, respectively, the studio's 1997 feature As Good as It Gets. Fig also reunites author Van Allsburg with the studio as the author wrote the book Jumanji, which Columbia released as a feature film in 1995. Fig, published in 1993, is the story of a villainous dentist who is given a pair of magic figs by a patient who can't afford to pay cash. The figs have the power to make dreams come true, which he disbelieves but discovers to be true after eating the first one. He makes plans to eat the second fig to become the richest man in the world, but in a turn of events, his oppressed terrier Marcel gobbles it up and reverses the master-slave relationship. Besman brought the book to the studio's executive vp Amy Baer, who will oversee. Columbia co-presidents of production Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach lobbied aggressively to acquire the material for Andrus to adapt.
There isn't much bounce to "Bounce". Dramatic contrivances and manipulation stain a tissue-thin plot in Don Roos' romantic drama about two people brought together by the tragic death of a third person. Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow give likable performances, with each wearing emotional vulnerability like a badge of honor. But the film never finds its footing on that slippery slope where fate and destiny make everything happen.
The film should appeal to female viewers. Otherwise, this Miramax release looks primed for a subpar boxoffice performance. The film may ultimately prove more attractive on the small screen.
"Bounce" is yet another example of the strange -- and somewhat perverse -- romantic subgenre that has emerged recently with movies such as "Return to Me" and "Random Hearts". In such films, couples meet through the deaths of one or both of their spouses, then must make sense of their fateful attraction.
In "Bounce", Affleck plays Buddy Amaral, a fast-rising Los Angeles ad exec who embraces a shallow lifestyle with relish. A chance barroom encounter at Chicago's snowbound O'Hare Airport with hot-looking businesswoman Mimi (Natasha Henstridge) and affable family man Greg (Tony Goldwyn) results in Buddy giving Greg his boarding pass for a Los Angeles-bound jet. Greg takes the ticket so that Buddy can spend the night with Mimi.
That plane crashes, killing all aboard. Buddy is so badly shaken by this whim of fate that he turns into a brooding, temperamental alcoholic. One year later, he checks out of a rehab clinic. After getting his old job back -- it
doesn't hurt that he owns 20% of the company -- he looks up Greg's widow. This is Abby Janello (Paltrow), a winsome mom with two young boys. Abby is currently trying her hand at real estate.
Without letting her know his role in her husband's death, Buddy works a stealth deal that lets Abby receive a sizable commission on a real estate deal engineered by his firm. This, he figures, will square things a bit with her and relieve him of at least some survivor's guilt.
Only he doesn't figure on fate intervening once more, this time in the form of his match-making assistant (Johnny Galecki) and Abby's misreading of his well-intended signals. The two fall in love and eventually, of course, must face the dilemma of their divided feelings when Buddy's dark secret is revealed.
"Bounce" is writer-director Roos' second feature, following his eye-opening debut with the dark comedy "The Opposite of Sex". Clearly, Roos is a filmmaker who wants to enter the dramatic world of his movies from unusual portals. He also wants to create romantic and sexual tensions from a welter of conflicting, even confusing motivations.
Self-discovery is the dominant theme in both movies. Yet where "The Opposite of Sex"'s off-kilter comedy appealed to one's sense of the outrageous, "Bounce" is surprisingly conventional in its exploration of the dynamics between hero and heroine. These dynamics unfold in coy comedy involving Abby's kids and the family dog. The romance is predictable, even standard issue.
Roos seems to have skipped over several crucial episodes in his tale. What exactly did Affleck's ad guy go through in his year of living dangerously? Survivor's guilt, so well explored in Peter Weir's 1993 "Fearless", is a mere plot contrivance here. And Paltrow wears her widowhood too lightly, perhaps in anticipation of the comic moments soon to come.
Roos has publicly aired his grievances with Miramax over 30 minutes of "studio-suggested" cuts to his film, which probably explains those gaps in story and character development. Certainly, the actors acquit themselves nicely scene by scene. But taken as a whole, the film fails to illuminate their characters' lives.
Paltrow is especially good as a woman trying not to let emotions get the better of her. Affleck's character remains too callow throughout the movie, but he puts much energy and grit into this performance.
Jennifer Grey has a couple of telling scenes as the airline attendant who accommodates the switched boarding pass. Galecki, as Buddy's sharp-tongued assistant, and 10-year-old Alex D. Linz, as the older of Abby's two boys, enliven their every scene.
Technical credits are pro, though the Los Angeles on display here is nearly the same one seen in countless TV shows and previous movies.
BOUNCE
Miramax Films
A Steve Golin and Michael Besman production
Producers: Steve Golin, Michael Besman
Director-screenwriter: Don Roos
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein,
Harvey Weinstein, Bob Osher, Meryl Poster
Co-producers: Alan C. Blomquist, Bobby Cohen
Director of photography: Robert Elswit
Production designer: David Wasco
Music: Mychael Danna
Costume designer: Peter Mitchell
Editor: David Codron
Color/stereo
Cast:
Buddy Amaral: Ben Affleck
Abby Janello: Gwyneth Paltrow
Jim Weller: Joe Morton
Mimi: Natasha Henstridge
Greg: Tony Goldwyn
Seth: Johnny Galecki
Scott Janello: Alex D. Linz
Janice Guerrero: Jennifer Grey
Running time - 105 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
The film should appeal to female viewers. Otherwise, this Miramax release looks primed for a subpar boxoffice performance. The film may ultimately prove more attractive on the small screen.
"Bounce" is yet another example of the strange -- and somewhat perverse -- romantic subgenre that has emerged recently with movies such as "Return to Me" and "Random Hearts". In such films, couples meet through the deaths of one or both of their spouses, then must make sense of their fateful attraction.
In "Bounce", Affleck plays Buddy Amaral, a fast-rising Los Angeles ad exec who embraces a shallow lifestyle with relish. A chance barroom encounter at Chicago's snowbound O'Hare Airport with hot-looking businesswoman Mimi (Natasha Henstridge) and affable family man Greg (Tony Goldwyn) results in Buddy giving Greg his boarding pass for a Los Angeles-bound jet. Greg takes the ticket so that Buddy can spend the night with Mimi.
That plane crashes, killing all aboard. Buddy is so badly shaken by this whim of fate that he turns into a brooding, temperamental alcoholic. One year later, he checks out of a rehab clinic. After getting his old job back -- it
doesn't hurt that he owns 20% of the company -- he looks up Greg's widow. This is Abby Janello (Paltrow), a winsome mom with two young boys. Abby is currently trying her hand at real estate.
Without letting her know his role in her husband's death, Buddy works a stealth deal that lets Abby receive a sizable commission on a real estate deal engineered by his firm. This, he figures, will square things a bit with her and relieve him of at least some survivor's guilt.
Only he doesn't figure on fate intervening once more, this time in the form of his match-making assistant (Johnny Galecki) and Abby's misreading of his well-intended signals. The two fall in love and eventually, of course, must face the dilemma of their divided feelings when Buddy's dark secret is revealed.
"Bounce" is writer-director Roos' second feature, following his eye-opening debut with the dark comedy "The Opposite of Sex". Clearly, Roos is a filmmaker who wants to enter the dramatic world of his movies from unusual portals. He also wants to create romantic and sexual tensions from a welter of conflicting, even confusing motivations.
Self-discovery is the dominant theme in both movies. Yet where "The Opposite of Sex"'s off-kilter comedy appealed to one's sense of the outrageous, "Bounce" is surprisingly conventional in its exploration of the dynamics between hero and heroine. These dynamics unfold in coy comedy involving Abby's kids and the family dog. The romance is predictable, even standard issue.
Roos seems to have skipped over several crucial episodes in his tale. What exactly did Affleck's ad guy go through in his year of living dangerously? Survivor's guilt, so well explored in Peter Weir's 1993 "Fearless", is a mere plot contrivance here. And Paltrow wears her widowhood too lightly, perhaps in anticipation of the comic moments soon to come.
Roos has publicly aired his grievances with Miramax over 30 minutes of "studio-suggested" cuts to his film, which probably explains those gaps in story and character development. Certainly, the actors acquit themselves nicely scene by scene. But taken as a whole, the film fails to illuminate their characters' lives.
Paltrow is especially good as a woman trying not to let emotions get the better of her. Affleck's character remains too callow throughout the movie, but he puts much energy and grit into this performance.
Jennifer Grey has a couple of telling scenes as the airline attendant who accommodates the switched boarding pass. Galecki, as Buddy's sharp-tongued assistant, and 10-year-old Alex D. Linz, as the older of Abby's two boys, enliven their every scene.
Technical credits are pro, though the Los Angeles on display here is nearly the same one seen in countless TV shows and previous movies.
BOUNCE
Miramax Films
A Steve Golin and Michael Besman production
Producers: Steve Golin, Michael Besman
Director-screenwriter: Don Roos
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein,
Harvey Weinstein, Bob Osher, Meryl Poster
Co-producers: Alan C. Blomquist, Bobby Cohen
Director of photography: Robert Elswit
Production designer: David Wasco
Music: Mychael Danna
Costume designer: Peter Mitchell
Editor: David Codron
Color/stereo
Cast:
Buddy Amaral: Ben Affleck
Abby Janello: Gwyneth Paltrow
Jim Weller: Joe Morton
Mimi: Natasha Henstridge
Greg: Tony Goldwyn
Seth: Johnny Galecki
Scott Janello: Alex D. Linz
Janice Guerrero: Jennifer Grey
Running time - 105 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 11/17/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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