Brooke Bunny
1. Mandy Moore has exited the ABC sitcom “Pulling”.
2. Joseph Gordon Levitt’s directorial debut has been renamed “Don Jon” (from “Don Jon’s Addiction”).
The actor announced the title change on Facebook :
“Hey everybody,
So, as you might’ve heard already, I wrote and directed a movie last year, and it’s coming out later this year. Which is absolutely crazy, and I still kinda can’t believe it. Anyway, I’m posting this today to let you all know that I’m changing its title. It’s now called… DON JON. I decided to change it, first of all, because DON JON is just so short and simple, and if you know me, you know I’m a fan of brevity. Second of all, it felt to me like the old title, “Don Jon’s Addiction” was throwing some people off a bit from the point of the movie. People were assuming it was a film about porn addiction and sex addiction, which really isn’t true. That’d be sort of like saying “The Maltese Falcon” is a movie about a statue of a falcon. DON JON is a comedy about how men and women treat each other, and how the media we consume can create unrealistic expectations that we put on one another. That’s why the story centers around a relationship between a young man (played by me) who watches too much pornography and a young woman (played by Scarlett) who watches too many romantic Hollywood movies. It’s a topic I personally find fascinating and hilarious.
And while I have your attention, I figured I’d show you the first production still we’re releasing of Jon’s father, played by none other than Tough Tony Danza. More to show soon. We’re just starting to work on the trailer now. And I’m heading down to SxSW with Tony this weekend with the film, so I’ll see some of you in Austin!
thanks again.. J”
3. Sam Raimi won’t be directing the recently-announced “Oz : The Great & Powerful” sequel.
4. Frank Coraci (“The Wedding Singer”) will direct Adam Sandler’s next, an untitled romantic-comedy about “a couple who, after disastrous blind date, are stuck together in a family resort with their children from previous marriages.”
5. Jay Roach (“Game Change”) will direct a biopic on Lance Armstrong’s teammate, Tyler Hamilton, for Warner Bros.
6. Briga Heelan and “Pitch Perfect”‘s Skylar Austin will star in “Ground Floor”, a new TBS sitcom which “centers on Harvard grad and master-of-the-universe-in-training money manager, Brody (Astin), who falls hard for feisty and intelligent maintenance supervisor Jennifer (Heelan), whose education ended after high school — a Romeo/Juliet pairing that could rattle their class divisions to the foundations.” Former “Scrubs” star John C.McGinley is already cast.
7. James Remar (“Mortal Kombat : Annihilation”) will star in the new “Hatfields & McCoys” series with Rebecca De Mornay.
8. “Queen of the Damned” star Stuart Townsend will star in ABC’s new drama pilot “Betrayal”, which “centers on Sara (Hannah Ware), a beautiful but unhappily married female photographer who begins a torrid affair with Jack (Townsend), a charming, quick-witted lawyer for a powerful family that raised him when his parents died in an accident. When he turns out to be defending a murder suspect who is being prosecuted by her husband (Chris Johnson), the relationship and the case begin a spiraling series of betrayals with cataclysmic results for everyone involved. Further complicating things is the fact that Jack is married to his boss’ daughter (Wendy Moniz).”
9. Joss Whedon tells Deadline that there is no “World War Hulk” movie in development, and in fact he opposes the idea of any film project that doesn’t feature Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner (and only The Hulk alter-ego).
I didn’t actually read World War Hulk so I’m not sure how I’d adapt it.
Mark and I loved the Hulk and went over and over the concept of rage and how it should manifest, and that part of it was fascinating to both of us. But when it comes time for the Hulk he has to put on the silliest damn pajamas you ever saw, a tiara made of balls, and a bunch of dots on his face and growl around like an idiot. The real heart of the experience ultimately becomes playing Banner, and the thing that people fell in love with was Banner because I think Mark has you from the first time he shows up.
The Hulk is the most difficult Marvel property because it’s always about balance. Is he a monster? Is he a hero? Are you going to root for a protagonist who spends all his time trying to stop the reason you came to the movie from happening? It’s always a dance. I don’t think the first two movies nailed it, but I don’t envy them the task. It was easier to have him in a group than to build everything around him. I don’t think there would be any problem getting a movie together that had enough Banner, even if there was also Hulk. But if he was only Hulk for the entire movie I think Mark at some point would go, why am I here? I would be less inclined to pursue a storyline where the Hulk is only ever the Hulk.
10. George Lucas has as good as confirmed Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher’s involvement in “Star Wars Episode VII”.
We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison—or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, ‘Look, this is what’s going on.’ ” He pauses. “Maybe I’m not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them.” Then he adds: “I won’t say whether the negotiations were successful or not.”
