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04:30 - Training Day - Christina Vidal Joins Cast as a Series Regular
Christina Vidal has booked a series regular role opposite Bill Paxton and Justin Cornwell on the upcoming CBS drama Training Day. Based on the 2001 feature film from Warner Bros Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, Training Day is a crime thriller that begins 15 years after the events of the movie. It centers on an idealistic young police officer (Cornwell) who is appointed to an elite squad of the LAPD where he is partnered with a seasoned, morally ambiguous detective (Paxton).
Vidal will play Detective III Valeria Chavez, the best investigator in Robbery Homicide Division, which puts her in the running for the best investigator in the world. Minus the LAPD raid jacket and handcuffs, you might take her for a soccer mom, but you’d do so at your extreme peril. Vidal most recently had recurring arcs on CBS series Code Black and Limitless. She’s repped by BRS/Gage Talent Agency, Meyer/Downs and McKeon/Myones Entertainment.
Source:
Deadline
04:30 - Roadside Picnic - Martin Donovan to Co-Star in WGN America's Alien Pilot
Martin Donovan is set to co-star opposite Matthew Goode in WGN America’s alien saga pilot Roadside Picnic, based on the famous novel by top Soviet/Russian science fiction writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
Written by Transcendence scribe Jack Paglen, with Alan Taylor attached to direct and Neal Moritz producing, Roadside Picnic explores a near-future world where aliens have come and gone, leaving humankind to explore the wondrous and dangerous mysteries left behind. The story also explores the social ramifications of their visit, as seen through the eyes of Red (Goode), a veteran “stalker” who has made it his mission to illegally venture into the once inhabited zone and scavenge the abandoned remains of the alien culture.
Donovan will play Dr. Vanlentine Pillman, head of a government institute that studies and attempts to maintain control over six zones where the aliens made earthly contact.
Donovan recurs on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Freeform’s upcoming series Beyond.
Source:
Deadline
04:30 - MOVIES: Curious George - Andrew Adamson in Talks to Direct & Co-Write Live-Action Adaption
EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Adamson in negotiations to direct and co-write Curious George, a live-action adaptation for Universal Pictures based on the children’s book series written by Margret & H.A. Rey. Adamson, who showed a flair for family fare in directing, producing and scripting the first two installments of The Chronicles of Narnia series, will executive produce. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard will produce for Imagine Entertainment, alongside David Kirschner and Jon Shapiro. Imagine’s Erica Huggins also will produce. Universal first turned Curious George, with the adorable primate and the man in the yellow hat, into an animated feature.
Adamson also directed Shrek and Shrek 2, and scripted the second film. He exec produced the third one. Curious George was hatched by Houghton Mifflin in 1941 and has been a globally branded book series for 75 years, selling more than 75 million copies. In addition to the animated film, it was also turned into the Emmy-winning kids animated series on PBS. Senior production veep Kristin Lowe will oversee for Universal and Adamson is repped by UTA and Nelson Davis, LLP.
Source:
Deadline
04:30 - MOVIES: Friday the 13th - Breck Eisner In Talks To Direct Reboot
Breck Eisner is in talks to direct the feature reboot of the beloved horror franchise Friday the 13th which is being brought back to life at Paramount Pictures, a studio that has had some great success re-imagining franchises such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As with Turtles, Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes will be producing the project. The film is expected to be released sometime next year.
What’s interesting about this is that Eisner’s father Michael ran Paramount during the days when the Friday the 13th rights were acquired. Since then, it has become probably one of the most well-known horror franchises in film history and very lucrative. The rights were originally acquired for producer Frank Mancuso, Jr. who also launched a television series back in the 1980s.
Over the past 36 years, the Friday the 13th IP would go on to spawn a number of films and television programs. Writer/director David Bruckner had been previously attached to helm the film at Paramount. The last writer was Nick Antosca (Hannibal [writer on the TV series], Channel Zero). That incarnation, however, fell apart after Adam Goodman exited his executive post at the studio.
Eisner’s other credits include The Crazies, Sahara and The Last Witch Hunter. The new Friday the 13th project is being produced by Platinum Dunes’ Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form.
Source:
Deadline