Sony Pictures

[SONYESP]

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

JURASSIC PARK 4---Colin Trevorrow (SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED) will direct the latest sequel with Steven Spielberg as co-producer.




NAPOLEON---Steven Spielberg is developing a miniseries based on the unfilmed Stanley Kubrick biomovie script.

VERONICA MARS--Warner Bros. has approved the movie based on the Kristen Bell tv series after over $3 million in donations was raised by fans to help finance the movie.




FIREFLY---Joss Whedon commented on the possibility of another sequel financed by fan donations similar to the VERONICA MARS movie, "I've said repeatedly that I would love to make another movie with these guys, and that remains the case. It also remains the case that I'm booked up by Marvel for the next three years, and that I haven't even been able to get Dr. Horrible 2 off the ground because of that. So I don't even entertain the notion of entertaining the notion of doing this, and won't. Couple years from now, when Nathan 's no longer Castle and I'm no longer the Tom Hagen of the Marvel Universe and making a giant movie, we might look and see where the market is then."

THE JUDGE---Robert Duvall and Vincent D'Onofrio will co-star with Robert Downey, Jr. in this movie about a lawyer who returns to his hometown to attend his murdered mother's funeral. His estranged father, a judge, is the main suspect.

CHILD 44---Joel Kinnaman (THE KILLING) is in talks to co-star with Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace in this movie based on the true story of a Soviet policeman who is investigating a series of child murders.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES---co-creator Kevin Eastman commented on the Michael Bay reboot movie, “From everything that I've seen in the script and the development and everything they've asked my input on specifically, it's gonna be an awesome, familiar, solid Turtles movie. It'll have everything that fans are gonna want and then some.
It's all based solidly on the Turtles foundation, but they've hit the reset button. They've taken it back to the first episode, with the Turtles’ first time above ground after many years of training with Master Splinter. They're making a Turtles origin that is firmly rooted in Turtles history, but a slight tweak here and a slight tweak there.”

TYRANT---Oscar-winner Ang Lee will direct the pilot for this FX series from Howard Gordon (HOMELAND, 24) about a US family caught up in a Middle East country's turmoil. Lee is also the top candidate to direct the Warner Bros. Moses biblical epic GODS AND KINGS after Steven Spielberg passed on it.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY---Dave Bautista will star as Drax the Destroyer.

THE ADVOCATES---Mandy Moore and Henry Bird will star in this CBS lawyer series pilot about an ex-district attorney and an ex-con who team up to help underdogs who were failed by the criminal justice system.

MURDER IN THE FIRST---Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson have joined the cast of this Steven Bochco/TNT series pilot about two San Francisco police detectives who are investigating the murder of a Silicon Valley bigshot.

[SONYESP]

MONDAY, MARCH 18

THE WALKING DEAD---spoiler alert (see below).




THE EXPENDABLES 3---Sylvester Stallone said the latest sequel will have more humor and commented on rumors of Steven Seagal and Jackie Chan joining the cast, "EX3 needs NEW blood and more humor...The films were always meant to be more on the humorous side with moments of drama...No S. Seagal, sorry, but maybe we get lucky with J. Chan!" Then he added the sequel will have a younger cast, "some young bloods!!! By young I mean 22 to 27. Not big bruisers but tech wizard, super brains and a young woman who is not a sex symbol but funny, tough, REAL."

CHUCK---Zachary Levi said a fan donation campaign similar to Kirsten's Bell's VERONICA MARS movie may be upcoming for a movie version of CHUCK, "1st, congrats to @IMKristenBell & @RobThomas for helping move entertainment a little closer in the direction I've always hoped it would go...2nd, to you Chucksters, believe that this news only bolsters my faith that I can help bring you a #ChuckMovie. Be patient. Stay tuned."




50 SHADES OF GREY---Emma Watson tweeted her comments about rumors of her starring in the movie, "Who here actually thinks I would do 50 Shades of Grey as a movie? Like really. For real. In real life."

24---director Anton Fuqua said the movie based on the tv series appears to be dead, “Yeah, that’s not happening. I don’t think it’s gonna happen at all, definitely not with me. I met with Kiefer , Fox wanted to do it, it was a matter of his schedule before he went off to do his new show [’Touch‘]. I don’t think he was able to get a proper [budget:d76e3ce0] agreement with Fox. The time just passed, and I went off to go to what I was doing.”

COLOSSUS---Ed Solomon (MEN IN BLACK) is rewriting the script for the remake of the 1970 sci fi movie COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT.

TOM SIZEMORE---the actor (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, BLACK HAWK DOWN) revealed in his autobiography, titled BY SOME MIRACLE I MADE IT OUT OF HERE, that he had an affair with Elizabeth Hurley, his co-star in PASSENGER 57, while she was also seeing Hugh Grant. He moved in with Hurley but had to leave each time Grant would drop in to see her. Sizemore said he was seduced by his NATURAL BORN KILLERS co-star Juliette Lewis when she was 19 and he was 32. They were both doing drugs and Brad Pitt, her ex-boyfriend, approved of their relationship by telling her, "I'll drive you there! I want to be your agent on this one!" Sizemore said he first used cocaine with Robert Downey, Jr., but gave it up for heroin. He said Hollywood madame Heidi Fleiss was a steady source for hookers and drugs. Sizemore said he's been drug-free for the last two years.




ELIZA GRAVES---Kate Beckinsale stars in this movie based on Edgar Allen Poe's "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" in which a doctor gets a job at an insane asylum, falls in love with another doctor and discovers the patients have taken over the asylum.

DIVERGENT---movie underway starring Aaron Eckhart, Ray Stevenson, Jai Courtney, Kate Winslet and Maggie Q based on the novel about a teenage boy and girl who rebel against a society divided into five groups: honesty, selflessness, bravery, peacefulness and intelligence.

EXODUS---Christian Bale is in talks to play Moses in this Ridley Scott biblical movie epic.

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST--director Bryan Singer said Daniel Cudmore is returning, and new cast members are BooBoo Stewart and BingBing.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY---Ryan Murphy said Season 3 will be titled AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN with witches being the villains. Kathy Bates has joined the cast as Jessica Lange's adversary.

JEOPARDY---Alex Trebek's contract expires in 2016 and, reportedly, Sony Pictures TV has been in talks with four candidates to replace him: Matt Lauer, Anderson Cooper, Brian Williams and Dan Patrick. Supposedly, Lauer is the top candidate. Cooper "likes the idea", but another source denied he's been contacted. Trebek's representative refused to comment on the reports.

BACKSTROM---Rainn Wilson stars in this CBS tv pilot based on the Swedish detective novels. it will be set in Portland, Oregon.

ANATOMY OF VIOLENCE---new cop CBS series from Howard Gordon (HOMELAND, 24) starring Skeet Ulrich and Amber Tamblyn in which an FBI criminal psychiatrist and a female cop with a dark past team up to solve crimes.

THE WALKING DEAD---in next week's episode, Rick must decide if they should give up Michonne in exchange for a truce with the Governor in order to avoid a war. Rumors are that two major characters will be killed off. Also, a question and answer session with Robert Kirkman.

Q: Now that the Governor has Andrea, will his plans change for Michonne?
A: "I don't really think so. He still hates Michonne just as much and he's still just as invested in the prison as he was before...The Governor is hitting a new level of his dastardliness and there's still a little bit of room to go from here."

Q: Will the viewers see Andrea and Michonne in the Governor's rape room?
A: "It's entirely possible. There's no limit to the lengths that this guy will go to. He's thrown all caution to the wind here in these final days leading up to the conflict. Things could get pretty terrible moving forward."

Q: Is Milton safe in Woodbury?
A: "He's certainly not on The Governor's good side, which is certainly not a great place to be (laughs). We've seen in this episode that Milton and the Governor definitely have a history; that could be something that the Governor takes into consideration when he decides to deal with Milton or punish Milton for what he's done. He's certainly aware of Milton acting against him to a certain extent. There's an element of friendship there that I think is very important."

Q: Is Tyreese buying into the Governor's scare tactics?
A: "The Governor is a very good manipulator and certainly seems convincing to me. Whether Tyreese falls for that, we have to find out in the next couple episodes.

Q: Is the Governor's creepy whistling a nod to Alfred Hitchcock?
A: "It's hard to do a horror show without having some kind of nod to Alfred Hitchcock at some point during the show. There's definitely an element to that."

Q: Why was he whistling into the tape recorder, and does he record the events in the rape room?
A: "He's a mysterious guy who does mysterious things. I wouldn't want to ruin an upcoming storyline revealing what's going on there. He could have possibly been testing his recorder for later use. That's certainly a possibility."

[SONYESP]

TUESDAY, MARCH 19

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK---another remake attempt of the classic 1981 John Carpenter/Kurt Russell movie is underway by producer Joel Silver (DIE HARD, LETHAL WEAPON, THE MATRIX, PREDATOR). Silver hopes it will be the first of a trilogy. Previous remakes involving directors Len Wiseman and Breck Eisner were abandoned.




THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.---Tom Cruise is in talks to star in the Guy Ritchie movie remake of the spy tv series that ran on NBC from 1964-1968 which starred Robert Vaughn and David McCallum.




MAD MEN---spoiler alert (see below).

VERONICA MARS---creator Rob Thomas said about the movie based on his tv series, "It's fan funded, and because of that, I'm going to keep it very much like the series. In other words, we're not going to be Spinal Tap playing 'Jazz Odyssey'. We're gonna play 'Big Bottoms,' 'Sex Farm Woman,' all the hits." As for Veronica 10 years after high school, Thomas said, "The important thing to know is that Veronica left Neptune and quit her work as a P.I. shortly after our final episode aired. This movie will be about Veronica returning to her roots." He added, "I hope to have all your favorites in there...It's why I'm building it around the high school reunion. But Kristen and I were the only people locked into the movie before we launched the Kickstarter drive, so I can only promise Kristen and I are doing the movie. That said, I've talked to all the actors. Everyone wants to do it. We want everyone. We just need to get actors into deals so we can promise them."
Thomas commented on a possible on a second VERONICA MARS tv series, "We couldn't relaunch a TV series off of the money we're raising on Kickstarter. TV series cost a lot. Also, Kristen is already in a series and networks don't usually let the stars of their shows do multiple series." But he added, Trust me, though, if Netflix is reading this, and they want to do a VERONICA MARS series, I'd do anything to make it happen."

BUNKER HILL: A CITY, A SIEGE, A REVOLUTION---Ben Affleck is interested in directing the Warner Bros. movie based on the nonfiction book about the famous Revolutionary War battle.

GODZILLA---Ken Watanabe (LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, INCEPTION) has joined the cast of the reboot movie which includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Juliette Binoche, Elizabeth Olsen and David Strathairn.

HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS---the sequel is underway although it's not known if Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arteton are returning.

THE COLONY---movie starring Laurence Fishburne, Bill Paxton and Kevin Zegers which is set in the future after a second ice age has frozen Earth. Survivors live in two underground colonies. One colony sends out a team to rescue members of the other colony who have been attacked by cannibalistic survivors from above ground.

TORCHWOOD---John Barrowman was pessimistic about the series returning, "It's in limbo in a sense," Barrowman recently told a British radio show. "Something could be done in five years, something could be done in 10 years. But if I'd have sat around and waited for the last two years, I would have been bankrupt and unemployed, so I've moved on." He is currently appearing on ARROW.

SIX YEARS---Hugh Jackman will star in the movie based on the latest novel by Harlan Coben in which a college professor loses Natalie, the love of his life, to another man. Six years later, he attends the man's funeral but the widow is not Natalie. He attempts to solve the mystery of who and where Natalie is.

A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST---Sarah Silverman is in talks to play a hooker in this Seth McFarlane comedy Western movie.

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE---director Jon M. Chu wants Dolph Lundgren for a cameo in the reboot movie.

TAKE DOWN---movie underway about a school for the rebellious children of billionaires that is taken over by a gang of sophisticated criminals. The students band together to battle the criminals.

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO---the latest movie based on the Alexandre Dumas novel will be directed by David Goyer (BATMAN BEGINS).

CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR---erotic thriller movie underway about a man who has an affair with the wife of a prominent investment banker only to become a suspect when the banker is murdered. Nick Jonas and Isabelle Lucas star.

MAD MEN---the two-hour premiere on April 7 will answer the question about Don possibly cheating on Megan, will have two deaths, a wedding and Betty's dramatic physical transformation.

[SONYESP]

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

STAR WARS: EPISODE VII---Harrison Ford commented on reports he's returning for the latest movie, "I'm looking forward to it. It's not in the bag yet, but I think it's happening." Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill are also in talks to return.




THE WALKING DEAD---new photos from the next episode were released.






ENLIGHTENED---HBO canceled the Laura Dern comedy series.

RAKE---Greg Kinnear is the star and Sam Raimi is the director of this Fox/Sony Pictures TV pilot remake of an Australian series about a rambunctious and successful criminal defense lawyer.

DOUBT---Steve Coogan stars in this ABC pilot as an ex-cop lawyer.

ONCE UPON A TIME---spin-off series about Alice in Wonderland is underway with writers Jane Espenson (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, TORCHWOOD) and Zack Estrin (PRISON BREAK).

GANG RELATED---Terry O'Quinn (LOST) stars in this Fox pilot as a chief of police who directs an anti-gang task force. Jeff Fahey, another LOST star, will play a cop on UNDER THE DOME, the CBS series based on the Stephen King novel.

RAY DONOVAN---James Woods will co-star with Liev Schreiber in this Showtime series about a problem-solver for Hollywood's rich and famous.

JAMES BOND---MGM ceo Gary Barber said about the next Bond movie, "We look forward to developing the script soon and signing a director. We are hoping within the next 3 years it will be released."

THE FANTASTIC FOUR---Jean-Claude Van Damme commented on appearing in the reboot movie, “I read that Chris Hemsworth would like me to co-star in The Avengers 2. It would be fun to play one of these types of amazing comic book characters again. By the way, I am a big fan of Marvel's superhero Silver Surfer and also another heroic fictional character known as Doc Savage - the Man of Bronze!"

PETE'S DRAGON---remake is underway of the 1977 Disney animated movie.

GOOSEBUMPS---Rob Letterman (MONSTERS VS. ALIENS) is in talks to direct the movie based on the book series.

EX MACHINA---movie underway in which a billionaire computer programer has one of his male employees spend a week in his mansion alone with a new female robot. Alex Garland (28 DAYS LATER, DREDD) is the director.

[SONYESP]

THURSDAY, MARCH 21

FOX---the network has two "event series" underway.
1. SHOGUN---based on the James Clavell novel which was a 1980 NBC miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain.
2. THE RUN OF HIS LIFE: THE PEOPLE VS. O.J. SIMPSON---based on the best-selling book about the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.






THE TONIGHT SHOW---The NEW YORK TIMES reports Jay Leno's much-publicized jokes ridiculing NBC management are motivated by NBC's plan to have Jimmy Fallon replace Leno no later than the fall, 2014 and move the show from Burbank to New York.

VACATION---Christina Applegate is in talks to co-star with Ed Helms in the reboot of the NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION franchise. Applegate would play the wife of the adult Rusty Griswold who is played by Helms.




TRANSFORMERS 4---an early synopsis of the sequel set four years after the third movie, "As humanity picks up the pieces, following the conclusion of Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, Autobots and Decepticons have all but vanished from the face of the planet. However, a group of powerful, ingenious businessman and scientists attempt to learn from past Transformer incursions and push the boundaries of technology beyond what they can control – all while an ancient, powerful Transformer menace sets Earth in his crosshairs."

POMPEII---Keifer Sutherland will play the villain in this movie about a slave who is in love with his master's daughter who has been promised to a corrupt Roman senator as Mount Vesuvius erupts. Kit Harington, Emily Browning and Jared Harris also star.

VERONICA MARS---creator Rob Thomas gave more details on the movie based on his tv series. Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried) is not returning, it will be set at Mars' 10th high school reunion in Neptune and will have a PG-13 rating, "I want to make the movie accessible for people who haven’t watched Veronica Mars before. All you need to know is that Veronica was a teenage private eye and she’s given it up. And there will be a moment early in the movie that will bring her back to Neptune and make her give being a private detective one more shot.”

EMMA WATSON---the Harry Potter star will appear nude in the environmental book NATURAL BEAUTY along with other celebrities including Elle MacPherson, Christy Turlington and Brooke Shields.




CSI---CBS renewed the series for Season 14 with Ted Danson, Elisabeth Shue and George Eads returning.

HERCULES---Rufus Sewell will co-star with Dwayne Johnson in this Brett Ratner movie about the mythological strongman.

ANNIE---Justin Timberlake is in talks to play Daddy Warbucks in this Sony Pictures movie produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z.

HOT IN CLEVELAND---TV Land renewed the series for Season 5.

[SONYESP]

FRIDAY, MARCH 22

THE EQUALIZER---Anton Fuqua (TRAINING DAY) is in talks to direct the Denzel Washington remake movie based on the CBS tv series that starred Edward Woodward.




CHILD 44---Gary Oldman joins Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace in this movie based on the novel about a Soviet police detective seeking to catch a serial child killer that the government refuses to admit even exists.

DOCTOR WHO---a British tabloid reports that Matt Smith is leaving the series after the 2013 Christmas special. His contract expires in November, and the tabloid claims Smith has said he won't renew it. The BBC replied to the report, "Sorry folks but even we don’t know what’s going to happen at Christmas. It’s not been written yet! But Matt loves the show and is to start filming the unmissable 50th anniversary, and the new series starting on Easter Saturday." The same tabloid reported six months ago that Smith was returning to the series.




GAME OF THRONES---George RR Martin commented on his latest novel and the tv series, "Well, I’m writing book 6, THE WINDS OF WINTER. I’m starting to worry because everybody keeps asking me, “What are you going to do, if David [Benioff:012c96e5] and Dan and the show catches up to you?,” and I didn’t think it was a problem before, but they’re moving faster than I am and it’s beginning to scare me.
I have not failed to notice this. I feel sometimes as if I’m laying track for a railroad and I can hear the locomotive coming up behind me. It’s building speed and I see the smoke and I hear the whistle coming, and I better keep laying that track pretty fast ‘cause I’ll get squashed, if the locomotive comes.
But, I still have a pretty considerable lead, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. Season 3 is only the first half of book 3. Season 4 will be the second half of book 3. And then, I have book 4 and book 5, and those are gigantic books which have to be recombined because they’re actually parallel. I’m hoping those will be at least two seasons, maybe three.
That will give me some time to finish book 6. By the time they’re doing that season, I’ll be writing book 7. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it."
Martin added he is working on possible prequels to the tv series, "I have been writing for a number of years a series of novellas set in the same world, the world of Westeros, but a hundred years earlier, about two characters called 'Dunk and Egg'. I published three of those novellas, 'The Hedge Knight', 'The Sworn Sword' and 'The Mystery Knight', and I have in mind about nine or 10 more novellas about the adventures of 'Dunk and Egg'.
So we have been playing with the idea of doing those as prequels. They would be prequels, in a sense, they're a hundred years earlier but in the same world. They're somewhat lighter in tone than the main series, a little more adventurous. But my fans love them and I love the two characters too, and it all ties into Westeros history. So maybe that will be what we'll do."

PACIFIC RIM---photo from the Guillermo del Toro movie showing a huge pile of excrement from a Kaiju monster. Charlie Hunnam (SONS OF ANARCHY) stars.




HERCULES---Ian McShane, Joseph Fiennes, John Hurt and Rebecca Ferguson will co-star with Dwayne Johnson in the Brett Ratner Greek mythology movie. Johnson said he may also star in a spin-off of FAST & FURIOUS.

REBECCA---movie underway based on the Daphne Du Maurier novel which was made into the 1940 Oscar-winning Alfred Hitchcock movie that starred Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.

DIVERGENT---Kate Winslet joins Shailene Woodley, Aaron Eckhart and Ray Stevenson in this sci fi movie about two teens who rebel against a society comprised of five classes.

THE INTERVIEW---James Franco may star with Seth Rogen in this Sony Pictures comedy movie about a talk show host and his producer who get involved in a plot to assassinate North Korea's prime minister.

[SONYESP]

MONDAY, MARCH 25

WORLD WAR Z---new trailer and poster released for the Brad Pitt zombie movie based on the Max Brooks novel. Premiere is June 21.

Trailer link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EC7P5WdUko




CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER---Robert Redford is in talks to co-star as an older member of S.H.I.E.L.D.

HOT IN CLEVELAND---a reunion show of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW with Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper (who is suffering from brain cancer), Cloris Leachman, Betty White and Georgia Engel will air in August. It is the first time the five stars have appeared together since the series finale in 1977.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES---the Michael Bay live-action/CGI reboot movie will have Alan Ritchson (SMALLVILLE, THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE)as Raphael and Megan Fox as reporter April O'Neil.




DALLAS---Lee Majors will guest star as Sue Ellen's ex-boyfriend for three episodes beginning tonight.

DEATH WISH---Gerardo Naranjo (MISS BALA) is in negotiations to replace the departed Joe Carnahan to direct the remake of the Charles Bronson vigilante movie.

GIRL MEETS WORLD---William Daniels is joining Brad Savage and Daniele Fishel in this BOY MEETS WORLD spin-off pilot.

ZOMBIELAND---Amazon Studios approved the Sony Pictures TV pilot based on the zombie movie.

LADIES NIGHT---Charlize Theron is the star/producer of this movie about a woman and her friends on a final night out on the town before she moves to New York because her boyfriend refuses to make a commitment. Fred Savage (THE WINDER YEARS) is in talks to direct.

SEEKER---Sony Pictures movie trilogy underway based on the novel about a girl who is trained to be an assassin

[SONYESP]

TUESDAY, MARCH 26

ENDER'S GAME---poster released for the moving starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford and Hailee Steinfeld which premiers on November 1.




GAME OF THRONES---Natalie Dormer said about the new season which premiers on March 31, "[It's] the season of the rise and fall; reversal of fortunes. The people who start off with nothing suddenly get dealt an incredible hand and powers shift considerably and vice versa. There are some really traumatic losses within the show."

REVOLUTION---spoiler alert (see below).

JAMES BOND---producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson said they want SKYFALL director Sam Mendes back for another Bond movie after he said earlier he wasn't interested in returning. Broccoli said, "We haven’t given up hope... Maybe not for the next one… but we will get him back again." Wilson added, "We are working on him. We hope that maybe he will have gotten inspired to come back."

ANGER MANAGEMENT---Lindsay Lohan will film a second bedroom scene with Charlie Sheen on the sitcom following their first scene in SCARY MOVIE 5. Lohan plays a patient who is attracted to her therapist played by Sheen. Also, James Franco commented on reports he refused advances from Lohan, "She was having issues even then, so you feel weird. Honestly, she was a friend. I've met a lot of people that are troubled and sometimes you don't want to do that. He added, "Let's say I'm dating. I'm getting older. I would like a long-term relationship."




KAREN BLACK---the star of FIVE EASY PIECES and EASY RIDER is raising money to fund cancer treatments in Europe after she was diagnosed with cancer. Her husband, Stephen Eckelberry, said, "We have nothing left...And the European treatment is not covered by insurance." Black weighs only 96 pounds compared to 156 pounds before the cancer was diagnosed. Their webpage is GoFundMe.com.




THE AMAZING RACE---CBS apologized for the recent episode in Hanoi in which a sign saying, "Amazing Race Double-U-Turn" was placed in front of the wreckage of a B-52 bomber that was shot down during the Vietnam War. Also, contestants had to learn a propaganda song performed by Vietnamese children standing in front of a portrait of Ho Chi Minh. The lyric subtitles were, "Vietnam Communist Party is glorious. The light is guiding us to victory."

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER---UFC champ Georges St-Pierre will play villain Batroc the Leaper.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES---Jeremy Howard (GALAXY QUEST) will play Donatello, Pete Ploszek (PARKS AND RECREATION) will play Leonardo and Noel Fisher (THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN-PART 2) will play Michelangelo.

BURTON AND TAYLOR---Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter will play Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor when they starred in the failed 1983 play PRIVATE LIVES in this tv movie from BBC4 and BBC America.

COUGAR TOWN---TBS renewed the series.

REVOLUTION---in the April 1 episode, Danny is killed off, the explanation for why the global loss of power is revealed and Rachel claims she can restore the electricity if a power source can be found.

[SONYESP]

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27

INDEPENDENCE DAY---director Roland Emmerich said the sequel will be two movies titled ID FOREVER PART I and PART II. He added, ”The humans knew that one day the aliens would come back. And they know that the only way you can really travel in space is through wormholes. So for the aliens, it could take two or three weeks, but for us that’s 20 or 25 years. It’s a changed world. It’s like parallel history. have harnessed all this alien technology. We don’t know how to duplicate it because it’s organically-grown technology, but we know how to take an antigravity device and put it in a human airplane.” Emmerich said Bill Pullman is returning, but Will Smith has not signed to return as Capt. Steven Hillyer. Instead, the sequels will focus on Hillyer's stepson, Dylan, and other younger characters, "It's still some of the same characters, but also new younger characters; it's a little bit like the sons take over. The first
one ends on a little success, but only enough to give the humans hope. And then in the second one they free themselves again ." The sequel scripts by Emerrich and Dean Devlin are being rewritten by James Vanderbilt (WHITE HOUSE DOWN).




ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK---Tom Hardy and Jason Statham are reported to be the candidates to play Snake Plissken in the remake of the 1981 John Carpenter/Kurt Russell movie. A source said, "Studio Canal wants to make sure they get one of the two men before the summer." Joel Silver (DIE HARD, LETHAL WEAPON, THE MATRIX) intends the remake to be an origin movie and the first of a trilogy.




SENSE8---new Netflix sci fi series from the Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski (BABYLON 5) will premiere in late 2014. No plot details were announced.

ANGER MANAGEMENT---photo released of Lindsay Lohan in bed with her therapist played by Charlie Sheen.




TRANSFORMERS 4---Nicola Peltz (BATES MOTEL, THE LAST AIRBENDER) was confirmed as the female lead for the reboot movie.

PUSHING DAISIES---a fan-donation campaign similar to the VERONICA MARS movie is being considered for a movie based on the canceled Bryan Fuller series. Fuller cautioned that it would require $10 million-$15 million. A FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS movie is also a possibility for a fan-donation campaign.

ATLANTIS---new BBC ONE 13-part series from the creators of MERLIN about the mythological city and a "new generation". Mark Addy and Juliet Stephenson star.

EDEN---new sci fi movie underway by Olatunde Osunsanmi (THE FOURTH KIND) in which mankind has been enslaved by aliens and survivors escape via a freedom path.

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS---was renewed by ABC Family, and a spin-off titled RAVENSWOOD is underway.

[SONYESP]

THURSDAY, MARCH 28

THE WALKING DEAD--spoiler alert (see below).




JUSTIFIED---FX renewed the series for Season 5 and announced it's developing a new network, Fxx, for the 18-34 age group.

PROMETHEUS---writer Damon Lindelof denied reports there is friction between him, Ridley Scott and 20th Century Fox over the sequel,
“As to whether Ridley and Fox are ‘freaking out’ about me not working on a sequel, well that’s news to me. I retain awesome relationships with both. More importantly, the idea that there aren’t many, MANY writers out there capable of taking the reins is sort of ridiculous. I did not map out a trilogy and then walk when the going got tough. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know me and doesn’t know the truth.”

GODZILLA---Akira Takarada, who starred in the original 1954 movie, will have a cameo in the reboot movie which is currently filming.




SECRET SERVICE---20th Century Fox bought the movie rights to the comic book. Matthew Vaughn is the director/co-writer.

THE VIRGINIAN---Ron Perlman and Trace Adkins will star in the movie which is the latest Hollywood version of the Western novel by Owen Wister.

DREDD--producer Adi Shanker denied reports of a sequel, "It’s because the movie totally bombed & R-rated movies are a tough sell to begin with. If DREDD becomes a cult hit it will be awesome. Last September was a terrible month: DREDD bombed and then LOOPER became a massive hit a week later!" He added that he is working on a short film version of DREDD.

TOMB RAIDER---MGM confirmed it is developing a reboot movie based on the video game.

OSCAR PISTORIUS---biomovie underway of the South African paralympian who is accused of murdering his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Ryan Gosling and Charlize Theron are rumored to be candidates to star.

SOUTHERN REACH---first movie From Paramount Pictures in a planned trilogy based on the novel ANNIHILATION in which a secret government agency has sent expeditions for thirty years to investigate a deadly region known as Area X that has been sealed off. Some of the expeditions never returned and others report nothing unusual.

HEMLOCK GROVE---new Netflix supernatural series about two young men who investigate a gruesome death in their small town. Premiere is April 19.

LAGGIES---Anne Hathaway, Sam Rockwell and Chloe Moretz are attached to this movie about a young woman who gets a surprise marriage proposal from her boyfriend and decides to spend time with her younger sister

THE WALKING DEAD---Laurie Holden said about the next episode, "There will be more death." When asked if that included her character, Andrea, she replied, "I'll tell you one thing, Andrea is a fighter, and she's not ever going to be a victim." David Morrissey, the Governor, added, "It's a spectacular finale. There's a real conclusion to some stories. But in the real tradition of the show, it's full of surprises. When we read the episode, we were all, ‘How are we going to shoot this?' It's big. It's massive. It's a big ole movie, actually. It's got everything you want from a WALKING DEAD episode."