PHOEBE GALLAGHER
1. Trey Songz and Taye Diggs have joined the cast of “Baggage Claim”. Paula Patton, Derek Luke, and Djimon Hounsou are already onboard the film which tells of “a 35-year-old flight attendant determined not to show up to her baby sister’s engagement party without a fiance of her own and begins searching for a man while on the job.” (UPDATE! Variety says former “The OC” star Adam Brody is also onboard).
2. Sacha Baron Cohen is developing “The Lesbian” at Paramount, a comedy “based on the story of the Hong Kong billionaire who offered $65 million to any man who could marry his homosexual daughter.”
3. Paramount has picked up a secret found-footage project called “Almanac”, which Michael Bay will produce. Newbies Andrew Stark and Jason Pagan wrote the script; Dean Israelite is attached to direct.
4. NBC’s “The Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives” has cast Kiwi actor Martin Henderson (“Torque”) in the lead role of “Kyle Dunn, a former flight surgeon and astronaut who returns from a long absence to finds something is different about the life he left behind.” The soap is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
5. The CW has picked up a post-apocalyptic pilot, written by Jason Rothenberg. “The Hundred is set a hundred years after mankind destroyed itself. Space-bound survivors take the first step to re-colonize Earth as 100 juvenile delinquents are released to the surface of a wildly changed planet, with the survival of the human race entirely in their hands.”
6. ”Homeland” co-creators and executive producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa have inked a TV deal to shepherd a new crime drama called “Anatomy of Violence”. The CBS drama centers on a female FBI agent who starts working with a mysterious psychiatrist with whom she shares a past connection.”
7. Nathan Phillips and Daniel Henshall will star in apocalyptic thriller “These Final Hours” for first time feature writer-director Zak Hilditch. ”Phillips plays a self-obsessed young guy who makes his way to the party-to-end-all-parties on the last day on Earth but ends up saving the life of a young girl who’s searching for her father. The cast also includes Australian actresses Jessica De Gouw (Kath & Kimderella) and Sarah Snook (Lionsgate’s Jessabelle). ”
8. Emmett/Furla (“The Expendables”, “Righteous Kill”) will produce three films based on Hasbro Properties over the next few years. The first film is “Monopoly”. “Randall and George bring enormous passion and commitment to moviemaking,” Hasbro’s Schneir said. “We’re pleased to be partnering with them to bring great stories and entertainment to audiences around the world.” “We are thrilled to be working with Hasbro. Their iconic brands have translated into great entertainment enjoyed by audiences of all ages worldwide” said Randall Emmett. “We look forward to a very successful partnership and to bringing Monopoly to the big screen.””Monopoly”, based on the best-selling board game. (UPDATE! The other two Hasbro properties that Emmett/Furla will do films of are “Action Man” and “Hungry Hungry Hippos”.)
9. “X-Files” alum Chris Carter is doing “The After”, a new thriller series that’s set up at Georgeville Television. ”Written by Carter, The After is a thriller which revolves around a mysterious, unexplained event. In the vein of The X Files, The After incorporates elements of science fiction, suspense, and real-world fear and paranoia. “Chris has woven his mythology magic within a very human, grounded story about the moment when we realize all of our worst fears about the world and its future,” said Georgeville CEO Marc Rosen, who co-founded the company earlier this year with Leon Clarance of Motion Picture Capital, the financing arm of Reliance Entertainment.”
10. Demian Bichir and Emilia Clarke will join Jude Law in director Richard Shepard’s “Don Hemingway”, which tells of a “larger-than-life safecracker who’s back on the streets of London after 12 years in prison and eager to collect for keeping his mouth shut.”
