Suzannah Pearce
1. Lonely? Watch ”Friends”. Lonely and bored? Watch ”Hollywood Game Night”. One of the original Friends, Matthew Perry, is lining up alongside an impressive group of actors including Amy Poehler, Jason Bateman, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Minnie Driver, Kal Penn, Martin Short, Kristen Chenoweth and new parents Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard in the upcoming hour-long game show series EP’d by Sean Hayes (Will and Grace). Each episode features two regular contestants playing games alongside celebrities, with the contestants vying for a cash prize. Glee’s Jane Lynch is already signed to co-host so this could be a winner for NBC.
2. Can’t get enough period drama? Look out for Mouseton Abbey; the book is set for an August release. Yes, you read that correctly. Mouseton Abbey. With mice.
3. Theatrical-on-demand distribution has had another win with indie doco Girl Rising picked up by Regal Cinemas. The film generated over 17,000 screening requests on crowdsourcing site Gathr.
4. Aussie actor Luke Arnold is lining up to play Aussie singer Michael Hutchence in the Aussie TV two-parter Never Tear Us Apart: The INXS Story.
5. Vale Milo O’Shea. The Irish character actor, known for his work in classics such as Barbarella and Ulyssses, has passed away at the age of 86. He started on stage in Dublin, and later guested on US series including ”Cheers”, ”Frasier”, ”The Golden Girls” and ”The West Wing”.
6. The film is dead. Long live the film! With the digital era well and truly upon us, Fujifilm has officially discontinued production of their film lines including colour and B&W positive film, colour and B&W negative film and sound recording film. Photographic film products are set to see a “double-digit” price increase due to a decrease in demand.
7. Season 4 of ”Arrested Development” will premiere on Netflix on May 26, with 15 episodes planned.
8. “Game of Thrones” is set to become the most downloaded series of the year, and we’re only one episode in. The season 3 opener generated the largest BitTorrent swarm on record.
9. 3D animated feature film ”Khumba” has added Laurence Fisburne to its cast.
10. Bryan Singer’s ”Jack the Giant Slayer” is on track to lose up to $140 million for Warner Brothers and Legendary pictures. That puts it in ”Battleship” and ”John Carter” territory.
