News

The 1983 horror film The Keep was a box office bomb and critical failure that director Michael Mann is not pleased with due to various issues – the script wasn’t ready when filming began, there were financial issues, a key visual effects designer passed away during post-production, the studio cut the film down from 2 hours to 96 minutes, etc. But we’ve given it a lot of positive coverage here on JoBlo, with a Black Sheep article, a Best Movie You Never Saw article, and a Best Horror Movie You Never Saw video (which is embedded above). So we know there are fans out there who will be very happy to hear that The Keep has gotten a 4K Uhd release, courtesy of Vinegar Syndrome – and copies are available for purchase at This Link!

Based on a novel by F. Paul Wilson, The Keep has the following synopsis: This superb gothic thriller...

Revolving around the storyline of a small-time boxer from Philadelphia, the Rocky franchise breasted a new set of fire into Sylvester Stallone and his repute in Hollywood. The ‘70s saw a meteoric rise in action content and the rise of legendary heroes of the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sean Connery, and Clint Eastwood. Differentiating himself from the rest, the Rocky Balboa star set on quite a different path for his career, one that would have the studio question their faith in him before betting big.

Sylvester Stallone at the 66th Venice Film Festival | Nicolas Genin for Wikimedia Commons

Comprising nine movies, the pop culture-defining action franchise originally had quite a different set of plans than what made it on screen. Additionally, the initial reluctance set forth by the production house could have derailed not only Stallone’s career as a revered action hero but also the mass appeal of the franchise.

Jerry Longarzo, an entertainment lawyer and Grammy winner who co-founded and was managing partner of Longarzo Vance Klevan Llp, died January 11 in Los Angeles after a nearly year-long fight against pancreatic cancer. He was 58.

“Jerry was a force,” Lvk Partner, Christian Vance said today of Longarzo.

“He brought an energy and enthusiasm to everything he did… both personally and professionally,” the lawyer continued. “He left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry and this firm. The team that he built here is committed to Jerry’s client-centric philosophy,” Vance also noted. “The firm remains committed to continue executing on Jerry’s vision, ensuring his legacy lives on.”

After a nine-year stint as a TV Business Affairs SVP at the Walt Disney Company, Georgetown grad Longarzo became an EVP at Newscorp in 2006. In that role he oversaw business affairs, legal affairs, scripted and unscripted production and business development departments for Fox Television Studios,...

Wine has famously inspired feature films and docs (Sideways, Somm). Add in entertainment-themed wines (The Walking Dead wine) and clubs (like TCM’s wine club), and even more celeb-backed bottles swirling around right now, and it’s clear that vino and film go hand in hand.

But it’s likely that no one has ever released a new wine brand alongside producing a wine-focused film. Enter producer Gene Kirkwood (Rocky, The Defiant Ones), writer-director George Gallo (The Comeback Trail, Bad Boys) and Broadway producer Kevin Kinsella (Jersey Boys), who are prepping a canned wine called Chasing Crush alongside a movie of the same name ...

Wine has famously inspired feature films and docs (Sideways, Somm). Add in entertainment-themed wines (The Walking Dead wine) and clubs (like TCM’s wine club), and even more celeb-backed bottles swirling around right now, and it’s clear that vino and film go hand in hand.

But it’s likely that no one has ever released a new wine brand alongside producing a wine-focused film. Enter producer Gene Kirkwood (Rocky, The Defiant Ones), writer-director George Gallo (The Comeback Trail, Bad Boys) and Broadway producer Kevin Kinsella (Jersey Boys), who are prepping a canned wine called Chasing Crush alongside a movie of the same name ...

Deadline has reported that an eight-part miniseries based on the 1984 film The Pope of Greenwich Village is in development, with original producers Hawk Koch and Gene Kirkwood teaming up with Nick Vallelonga (Green Book), George Gallo (Midnight Run), and Chazz Palminteri (A Bronx Tale). The Pope of Greenwich Village centered around two cousins, played by Mickey Rourke and…...

Exclusive: The Pope of Greenwich Village is headed to the small screen.

Hawk Koch and Gene Kirkwood, producers of the 1984 film, have teamed with Oscar-winning writer Nick Vallelonga (Green Book), writer/director George Gallo (Midnight Run), and Oscar-nominated actor/writer/playwright Chazz Palminteri, (A Bronx Tale) to develop an eight-hour miniseries based on Vincent Patrick’s best-selling 1979 book The Pope of Greenwich Village and its 1984 feature adaptation.

The Pope of Greenwich Village film starred Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts and Daryl Hanna. It revolved about two cousins, Charlie and Paulie, played by Roberts and Rourke respectively, who unknowingly rob the mob and face dangerous consequences.

Vallelonga, Gallo and Palminteri are all native New Yorkers, and Vallelonga has a personal connection to the film.

“My father, Tony Lip, who Green Book was about, played the role of Frankie Shy in the opening scene of the original film, and I was an extra in the stickball scene,...

Exclusive: The Defiant Ones, the four-part documentary series from Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, is headed to Peacock.

The streamer has acquired the exclusive U.S. rights to the series, which launched on HBO in 2017. It is currently available on HBO Max and HBO’s other existing digital services.

It will launch on NBCUniversal’s nascent service on September 4.

Written by Allen Hughes, who directs, Lasse Järvi And Doug Pray and produced by Sarah Anthony, Steven Williams, Fritzi Horstman and Gene Kirkwood, The Defiant Ones tells the story of Beats co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine across four decades.

It tells the pair’s individual stories as well as how they worked together a number of times before selling their headphone company to Apple for $3B. Dre was a founding member of Fuck The Police stars Nwa before venturing out on his own, while Iovine produced the likes of Tom Petty,...

Exclusive: Nick Vallelonga, who co-wrote Green Book with Brian Hayes Currie and Peter Farrelly, has set his next film. Vallelonga will direct his script That’s Amore!, and he will produce it with Gene Kirkwood.

There is symmetry in the project. Vallelonga based Green Book on testimony he drew from his father, Tony Lip Vallelonga, and Dr. Don Shirley about their 1962 road trip through the Deep South, and then he honored the wish of the latter that no attempt be made to turn it into a film until both men were dead. Tony Lip, who is played by Viggo Mortensen in the film, got to know Kirkwood when he played a small role in The Pope of Greenwich Village, which Kirkwood produced. It was one of many great New York-based films where Lip logged screen time, with The Godfather and Goodfellas ranking among the others, along with a recurring role...

Exclusive: Annaleigh Ashford, who won the Tony in 2015 for You Can’t Take It With You and appeared in American Crime Story: Versace, has scored the lead role in Smart Blonde, a timely movie about about Oscar-winning actress Judy Holliday.

Gene Kirkwood, a producer on the original Rocky who more recenlty produced HBO’s four-

part Dr. Dre-Jimmy Iovine docu The Defiant Ones, is producing.

The film will focus on Holliday, a nightclub singer who in her early acting career in the 1940s fought back against the overt sexual advances of studio mogul Darryl F. Zanuck during her time as a day player at Fox. She later went on to star on Broadway in Born Yesterday, then won the Best Actress Oscar for George Cukor’s big-screen adaptation starring alongside William Holden and Broderick Crawford.

Holliday paid the price for being outspoken, eventually blacklisted in Hollywood as a communist. She...

Rock may not be dominating radio, but it's seeing a resurgence onscreen.

Nick Cassavetes is the latest to join the band, signing on to adapt and direct the indie I Slept With Joey Ramone. Based on the 2009 memoir by Ramone's brother Mickey Leigh, the story revolves around the birth of the punk movement. With debut album Ramones in 1976, Ramone became the poster boy of disaffected youth in the 1970s and '80s, influencing the counterculture for decades to come. Gene Kirkwood (Rocky) is producing and putting together the financing.

No stranger to music-themed projects, Kirkwood exec produced HBO's ...

Rock may not be dominating radio, but it's seeing a resurgence onscreen.

Nick Cassavetes is the latest to join the band, signing on to adapt and direct the indie I Slept With Joey Ramone. Based on the 2009 memoir by Ramone's brother Mickey Leigh, the story revolves around the birth of the punk movement. With debut album Ramones in 1976, Ramone became the poster boy of disaffected youth in the 1970s and '80s, influencing the counterculture for decades to come. Gene Kirkwood (Rocky) is producing and putting together the financing.

No stranger to music-themed projects, Kirkwood exec produced HBO's ...

Movies about the blacklist aren’t common, probably because as Robert Vaughn wrote, the period produced no happy stories, ‘Only Victims.’ Robert de Niro, Annette Bening and George Wendt give a bite of immediacy to the way the blacklist upset careers and blighted lives. Few of us would like to be publicly branded an Enemy of the People, but doing so seems to be America’s number one spectator sport.

Guilty by Suspicion

DVD

The Warner Archive Collection

1991 / Color / 1:85 enhanced widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date May 12, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 17.99

Starring: Robert De Niro, Annette Bening, George Wendt, Patricia Wettig, Sam Wanamaker, Luke Edwards, Chris Cooper, Ben Piazza, Martin Scorsese, Barry Primus, Gailard Sartain, Robin Gammell, Brad Sullivan, Tom Sizemore, Stuart Margolin, Gene Kirkwood, Illeana Douglas, Adam Baldwin.

Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus

Film Editor: Priscilla Nedd

Original Music: James Newton Howard

Uncredited writer: Abraham Polonsky

Produced by Arnon Milchan

Written and...

The documentary film and television community came together to honor their own at the festive 33rd Annual Ida Documentary Awards celebration Saturday night at the Paramount Studio Theatre. The evening’s top prizes went to Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini’s Sundance-jury-winning love story “Dina” for Best Feature, and Laura Checkoway’s Oscar-shortlisted “Edith+Eddie” for Best Short.

Other winners included Dan Lindsay and Tj Martin’s Oscar-shortlisted “La 92” for the ABC News VideoSource Award, PBS’ Independent Lens for Best Curated Series, HBO’s “The Defiant Ones” for Best Limited Series, BBC’s “Planet Earth II” for Best Episodic Series, The New York Times Op-Docs for Best Short Form Series (which boasts three Oscar-shortlisted shorts), and Joel Fendelman’s “Man on Fire” for the David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award.

Charles Burnett presented the Emerging Filmmaker Award to Yance Ford, winner of the Sundance Special Jury Award for Storytelling,...

The documentary film and television community came together to honor their own at the festive 33rd Annual Ida Documentary Awards celebration Saturday night at the Paramount Studio Theatre. The evening’s top prizes went to Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini’s Sundance-jury-winning love story “Dina” for Best Feature, and Laura Checkoway’s Oscar-shortlisted “Edith+Eddie” for Best Short.

Other winners included Dan Lindsay and Tj Martin’s Oscar-shortlisted “La 92” for the ABC News VideoSource Award, PBS’ Independent Lens for Best Curated Series, HBO’s “The Defiant Ones” for Best Limited Series, BBC’s “Planet Earth II” for Best Episodic Series, The New York Times Op-Docs for Best Short Form Series (which boasts three Oscar-shortlisted shorts), and Joel Fendelman’s “Man on Fire” for the David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award.

Charles Burnett presented the Emerging Filmmaker Award to Yance Ford, winner of the Sundance Special Jury Award for Storytelling,...

Rocky producer Gene Kirkwood has acquired life and some music rights for the late Oscar winner Judy Holliday and will turn her story into the biopic Smart Blonde.

The actress was a 22-year-old day player at Fox when she stood up to mogul Darryl F. Zanuck's aggressive sexual overtures. "Her agent scheduled her for the notorious '4 o'clock meeting' and ordered her to stuff her bra," says Pulitzer-nominated playwright Willy Holtzman, who is writing the screenplay.

At the meeting, Zanuck locked the door, unzipped his pants and pushed Holliday onto the couch as...

The International Documentary Association has announced its initial round of nominees for the 2017 Ida Documentary Awards, including special mentions and nods for limited series, curated series, episodic series, and more. Nominees for Best Feature and Best Short, and awards for creative recognition, will be announced on November 1. The Ida will honor director Marcel Mettelsiefen’s “Watani: My Homeland” with the Pare Lorentz Award. Also receiving a special mention in the category is Joe Berlinger’s “Intent to Destroy.”

Other standouts from this first list of nominees include Bryan Fogel’s controversial “Icarus,” Ryan White’s Netflix series “The Keepers,” Ken Burns’ revelatory miniseries “The Vietnam War,” and many more of the year’s best in documentary offerings.

Read More:Joan Didion and Arthur Miller Get the Documentary Treatment From Family Members, And That Makes All the Difference — Nyff

The 33rd edition of the annual ceremony will take place Saturday, December...

Exclusive: MGM has hired Sascha Penn to write the latest version of The Idolmaker, the remake that has Craig Brewer attached to direct and Justin Timberlake circling to star. Hawk Koch and Gene Kirkwood are producing and Cassidy Lange is overseeing for MGM. The 1980 Taylor Hackford-directed original starred Ray Sharkey in a story about the life of rock promoter/producer Bob Marcucci, who discovered Frankie Avalon and Fabian; Koch and Kirkwood produced that one too. Penn is currently writing an untitled firefighter project at Lionsgate, which has Jeff Chan attached to direct and he sold the pitch Yakuza Vs. Mafia to […]...

Craig Brewer, who directed Hustle & Flow and Footloose, is set to direct MGM’s reboot of The Idolmaker with Justin Timberlake, Hawk Koch and Gene Kirkwood producing.

In the original 1980 film Ray Sharkey starred as a mercenary music promoter who takes on two boys with the intent of turning them into teen idols. The story was based on the life of the life of rock promoter and manager Bob Marcucci, who discovered and promoted Frankie Avalon and Fabian.

According to Variety, the film was “one of the MGM library projects that were put into development in 2011 after the storied studio went through a pre-packaged bankruptcy in late 2010.” The studio began working on reboots like RoboCop and Poltergeist, and now The Idolmaker.

Brewer does have experience directing reboots, as he did with 2011′s Footloose. Now the question is, will Timberlake also star in the film he is producing? What do you think?...

If you.re like MGM, you.ll agree that cinema just doesn.t have enough remakes of thinly veiled biopics that aren.t biopics. In that respect, you should be happy to know that their upcoming update of 1980.s The Idolmaker has landed a director with his own history of music-infused filmmaking. Footloose director Craig Brewer will stand at the helm for an all-star trio of producers: Justin Timberlake, Hawk Koch, who produced the original, and Rocky producer Gene Kirkwood. (Fun fact: Kirkwood also produced the remake-defying Uhf!) Even though it isn.t clear in Variety.s story in what capacity this remake is coming, Brewer is a strong choice for the job. He bumped a lot of car trunks with his 2005 breakout drama Hustle and Flow - a film that is infinitely rewatchable to me for some reason - and followed that up with the bluesy Southern drama Black...

Filmmaker Craig Brewer ("Hustle and Flow," "Footloose") is in negotiations to team with Justin Timberlake on the remake of "The Idolmaker" at MGM.

Timberlake is producing and could potentially star in the Brewer-helmed project based on Taylor Hackford's 1980 drama.

The original followed a legendary music promoter and manager who discovered talented acts such as Frankie Avalon and Fabian. He sets out to turn two teenage boys into the next big stars.

Ryan Gosling was attached to the remake when it was first announced back in 2011, but that's no longer the case. Hawk Koch and Gene Kirkwood will produce.

Source: Variety...

Hustle & Flow and Footloose director Craig Brewer is set to helm an upcoming remake of Taylor Hackford's 1980 musical The Idolmaker , Variety reports. Producers on the project include Gene Kirkwood, Hawk Koch and Justin Timberlake. Scripted by Edward Di Lorenzo, the original film served as a loose biopic of music promoter and producer Bob Marucci (Ray Sharkey's Vincent Vaccari in the film) who, in real life, discovered legendary music talent like Frankie Avalon. The plot follows Vaccari as he tries to turn two unknown teens into stars. You can check out the trailer for the original film in the player below:...

Gene Kirkwood is one of those true originals which are hard to come by these days within the film industry. A legend in his own right, he’s produced the likes of Rocky, New York New York, the Pope of Greenwich Village, The Keep and Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Originally an actor, Kirkwood then moved into producing and intends to do it “’til [he] drops”. Recently he and producing partner Ross Elliot folded their production company into Bitesize Networks, with the intention to create cutting-edge new content across a variety of platforms.

Kirkwood’s view on the industry is a refreshing one, and in the interview was prone to go off on tangents this writer was enjoying too much to divert. Read on for an insight into a fascinating personality that celebrates everything British, his admiration of Harvey Weinstein, his slew of exciting new projects and reveals things about the...

Oscar-winning cinematographer Caleb Deschanel is set to direct the Elvis Presley biopic "Growing Up Graceland" for BiteSize Entertainment.

The story focuses on the relationship between Presley as he returns from military service and meets his young step-brother for the first time.

Robert Boris penned the script based on David E Stanley and David Gruder’s book "Conversations With The King: Journals Of A Young Apprentice".

David Stanley, Gene Kirkwood and Ross Elliot will produce. Shooting begins later this year.

The project marks Deschanel's third film following 1982's "The Escape Artist" and 1988's "Crusoe". In the 25 years since "Crusoe," Deschanel has helmed episodes of TV shows ranging from "Twin Peaks" to "Bones".

Source: Screen...

Caleb Deschanel will direct BiteSize Entertainment’s Elvis Presley biopic Growing Up Graceland.

Los Angeles-based BiteSize Entertainment founder and CEO Ron Bloom made the announcement. The project is based on Robert Boris’ screenplay adaptation from David E Stanley and David Gruder’s book Conversations With The King: Journals Of A Young Apprentice.

Gene Kirkwood and Ross Elliot of BiteSize’s production arm will produce alongside Presley’s step-brother David Stanley through his Impello Entertainment.

Principal photography is expected to begin later this year. The story focuses on the relationship between Presley as he returns from military service and meets his young step-brother for the first time.

Deschanel’s has earned five best cinematography Oscar credits including The Right Stuff, The Patriot and The Passion Of The Christ. His body of work includes Being There, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Jack Reacher.

Deschanel’s directorial debut was The Escape Artist in 1982 and he followed that up with Crusoe...

It looks like the producers of Zoe Saldana's Nina Simone biopic have begun marketing efforts for the film, which suggests that we might be getting our first look at it soon, and a release date will be set. In an interview with The Grio, published yesterday, director Cynthia Mort and executive producer Gene Kirkwood (maybe the first one in many months), plenty is discussed, and you're encouraged to read the full piece yourselves. The most interesting item to me in the entire piece is the revelation by Kirkwood that he's chasing Dr Dre to compose the film's score. A bit of a head-scratcher, but Dre does have skills as a music producer. He just wouldn't have been the first name I...

Conversations With the King: Journals of a Young Apprentice is a memoir written by David E. Stanley.

Stanley held a 17-year relationship with Elvis Presley, first as his stepbrother then as an aide.

BiteSize Entertainment, a brand new company launched at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, will adapt the book into a film.

The film’s tentative title: Growing Up Graceland.

Producer Gene Kirkwood:

“After meeting David Stanley, reading his book and listening to his stories, I realized there is another side to the Elvis phenomenon, a bigger story, and one that has never been told. If Elvis was alive today, in this time of revolution in mass communication, I believe he would be one of the most inspirational individuals in the world.”

Imagine if Elvis had died in the age of Twitter?

People would have kept re-tweeting the same phrase over and over again, never once believing it: “The King Dead,...

BiteSize Entertainment has optioned the film rights to David E. Stanley and Dr. David Gruder’s "Conversations With the King: Journals of a Young Apprentice" says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story focuses on Stanley’s 17-year relationship with Elvis Presley, his stepbrother and mentor. Stanley moved into Presley’s home at Graceland when he was 4 years old, and Presley quickly became his father figure.

He grew up to become of one Presley’s aides, and Presley is said to have confided in him his spiritual search for meaning during the final years of his life.

The film itself will go by the title "Growing Up Graceland". Gene Kirkwood and Ross Elliot will produce.

Looks like we might be getting a movie about Elvis Presley sometime in the near future. BiteSize Entertainment just acquired the rights to a book about him called Conversations With the King: Journals of a Young Apprentice, which was written by David E. Stanley and Dr. David Gruder.

According to THR the movie "will focus on Stanley’s 17-year relationship with Presley, his stepbrother and mentor. Stanley moved into Presley’s home at Graceland when he was 4 years old, and Presley quickly became his father figure. He grew up to become of one Presley’s aides, and Presley is said to have confided in him his spiritual search for meaning during the final years of his life." Producer Gene Kirkwood had this to say in a statement,

After meeting David Stanley, reading his book and listening to his stories, I realized there is another side to the Elvis phenomenon, a bigger story,...

The King of Rock 'n' Roll is coming back in a new film from BiteSize Entertainment. Ron Bloom's multi-platform entertainment studio announced on Tuesday that it will adapt "Conversations with the King: Journals of a Young Apprentice," a book detailing David E. Stanley's 17-year relationship with Elvis Presley, into a feature film. Stanley moved into Graceland at the age of four, and Elvis, his stepbrother, served as both father figure and mentor. Stanley and David Gruder then turned his story into "Conversations." Gene Kirkwood and Ross Elliot, who lead BiteSize's film production studio,...

BiteSize Entertainment has optioned the rights to David E. Stanley and Dr. David Gruder’s Conversations With the King: Journals of a Young Apprentice and plan to adapt it into a movie about Elvis Presley called Growing Up Graceland. The film will be produced through BiteSize’s feature film production arm, led by Gene Kirkwood and Ross Elliot. The movie will focus on Stanley’s 17-year relationship with Presley, his stepbrother and mentor. Stanley moved into Presley’s home at Graceland when he was 4 years old, and Presley quickly became his father figure. He grew up to become of one Presley’s aides,

read more...

Washington, June 10: Hollywood director Rob Cohen is set to write a screenplay for an action movie in which Sir Isaac Newton will be portrayed as a detective and head of the British Mint.

Cohen, 63, has partnered with producer Gene Kirkwood, who executive produced 'Rocky' back in 1976, to develop a franchise based on Newton, the historical figure that is known for his work in the fields of physics and mathematics.

Newly.

On any average week, one can usually expect news on one or two sub-standard projects to surface into development and production, but as studios frantically look for big-budget pap to quickly fill next year’s summer calendar, three new films have quickly announced their journeys into bafflingly misguided being.

After finding a director in Tim Burton, its leading man in Jim Carrey, and a sizable Paramount dime to the tune of $175 million, the biopic production of “Ripley’s Believe or Not” still managed to fall through just weeks before filming began in China. That project may have died a quick death shortly thereafter, but fear not, because Warner Bros. have recently announced negotiations to bring the “Guinness Book of World Records” to life as an action-adventure film. One can only wonder at the feat-based shenanigans writer Danny Chun (“The Office”) has been hired to supply, or whether he’ll mine...

Director Rob Cohen hasn't exactly delivered the best films from the original Fast and the Furious to xXx and the flop that was Stealth. However, the guy does know how to direct action, and now he's going to bring some of that to a somewhat head-scratching project. Variety has word that Cohen is working with Gene Kirkwood (who has produced the classic Rocky but also the terrible Get Rich or Die Tryin') to develop an action adventure film focusing on Sir Isaac Newton. That's right, folks. One of the world's most brilliant minds is being turned into an action hero with a graphic novel that is coming in conjunction with the film. No story details are known, but Cohen is writing the screenplay himself (his only good work on the page seems to be for Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story) and will guide the design of the graphic novel that...

You've heard of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but have you ever considered Sir Isaac Newton: Action Man? xXx director Rob Cohen has, and THR reports he and Gene Kirkwood, who executive produced Rocky, are developing a proposed franchise with the legendary mathematician and physicist at its center. I can imagine the teaser now: an apple falls from a tree limb, but rather than it knocking Newton's noggin and inspiring his gravity theory, it's snatched mid-air by Newton's powerful fist and hurled at the camera with a furious might! Cohen will pen the screenplay, which posits Newton as a detective and head of the British Mint. BiteSize Entertainment, a recently minted multiplatform studio, is backing the project, and will be behind its cross-media branding, including a graphic novel whose design will be overseen by Cohen. Kirkwood described this multi-pronged media approach, saying "We see this as a real opportunity to redefine...

Director Rob Cohen (Fast and the Furious, xXx) has teamed with producer Gene Kirkwood (Rocky) to develop an action film franchise based on Sir Isaac Newton, the historical figure best known for his work in the fields of physics and mathematics. Cohen will write the script, which will focus on Newton as the chief detective and head of the British Mint. He also will oversee the design of a graphic novel based on the script. This is the first projects under the new BiteSize Entertainment company, which is described as a multi-platform studio. "We see this as a real opportunity to redefine the concept from day one, using multiple channels and outlets to more creatively develop and extend the characters and storyline while generating huge excitement in advance of the theatrical release," said Kirkwood.

Rob Cohen is developing a film based on Sir Isaac Newton. The action adventure will focus on the legendary physicist's time as warden of the Royal Mint, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Newton was appointed as warden in 1696. He took his role very seriously, campaigning against corruption and inefficiency within the Mint. The Fast and the Furious director Cohen has partnered with Rocky executive producer Gene Kirkwood on the project for the newly-launched BiteSize Entertainment. "I've wanted to work with Gene since (more)...

We've got a vampire-hunting Abraham Lincoln, now how about one of history's foremost scientists as an action hero?

Rob Cohen ("Stealth," "The Fast and the Furious") is set to direct an action tentpole feature based on the life of Sir Isaac Newton for BiteSize Entertainment says Variety.

The 17th century physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian is credited with laying the foundations for most classical mechanics.

Cohen will pen an original screenplay as well as guide the design of a graphic novel based on part of Newton's life when he served as chief detective and head of the British Mint. Gene Kirkwood ("Rocky") will produce.

Rob Cohen, director of "The Fast and the Furious" and "XXX," is working with Academy Award-winning producer Gene Kirkwood ("Rocky") to develop a new action franchise based on the life of famed physicist Isaac Newton for BiteSize Entertainment. Cohen will write the screenplay and guide the design of a graphic novel based on a lesser-known part of Newton's life – his time as chief detective and head of the British Mint. "Working with someone of Rob's creative reach gives us the opportunity to go beyond the traditional concept of a movie franchise...

Get ready for Sir Isaac Newton, action star. Director Rob Cohen has partnered with producer Gene Kirkwood, who executive produced Rocky back in 1976, to develop a franchise based on Newton, the historical figure that is known for his work in the fields of physics and mathematics. Newly launched entertainment banner BiteSize Entertainment, described as a multiplatform studio, is behind the project and made the announcement. Photos: '80s Action Stars: Where Are They Now? Cohen will write a script, which will focus on Newton as the chief detective and head of the British Mint. He also will oversee the design

read more...

What better way to honor one of the most genius minds in this history of mankind then setting him up with his own action franchise? I’ve got an answer: have the guy that made The Fast and the Furious, xXx, Stealth and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (in succession, mind you) spearhead the project.

Variety reports Rob Cohen is doing just that, as he teams with Rocky and Get Rich or Die Tryin’ producer Gene Kirkwood on a blockbuster attempt to chronicle the life of physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian (thanks, Wiki) Sir Isaac Newtown . Script duties will be handed to Cohen, who also plans to create a graphic novel to help sell the film (as we’ve seen many other directors do, including Darren Aronofsky for his upcoming Noah).

Considering Cohen’s downward spiral as director (hopefully it will go the other way this fall with the ridiculous-looking,...

Following a busy week of sales and acquisitions at Cannes, here's a round-up of some of the more interesting and noteworthy projects that were recently added to IMDbPro's database of in-development titles:

A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole's popular posthumous tale of a cynical slob named Ignatius J. Reilly has been one of those "development hell" projects we thought would never get made. But, we said the same thing about The Watchmen once and Karouac's On the Road, which recently premiered at Cannes. So, never say never. Muppets director James Bobin is reportedly in talks with Paramount to finally bring this book that once had Steven Soderbergh attached to helm, to the big screen with Zach Galifianakis as the lead.

Jane Got a Gun – Natalie Portman is set to star in this Western drama for Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin). Written by Black List finalist Brian Duffield, the film centers on a woman trying to defend her homestead when a posse comes after her outlaw husband.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen – Colin Firth's taking on yet another historic role, albeit a more whimsical one than King George VI. The Oscar winner has been tapped to play British playwright and showman Noel Coward in this comedy about the entertainer's stint as a Vegas performer (filling in for an ailing Liberace) during the 1950s. Ross Elliot and Gene Kirkwood produce with a script by Willy Holtzman.

Untitled Wes Anderson Project – Hot off his Cannes' standing ovation for Moonrise Kingdom (and a record-breakingdebut at the box office) indie maven Wes Anderson plans to reunite with his old pal Owen Wilson in his next film, which has already been written and hopes to begin filming by the end of the year.

Bone In The Throat – On the eve of landing his CNN-hosting gig, bad boy chef, world traveller and Kitchen Confidential scribe Anthony Bourdain has optioned his latest best seller to Dignity Film's Maggie Monteith to produce along with Lenny Beckerman and Peter Heslop.

If you know of something in the works, please consider submitting it for listing it via our online submission form.

Although still reeling from the failed domestic launch of “Battleship,” Universal still believes in the premise of toys-as-movies, and has entered negotiations to acquire the rights to Lego's robotic toy line Hero Factory. The writing duo behind 2010’s “Predators,” Michael Finch and Alex Litvak, will pen the script. [THR]

Brett Ratner is the latest filmmaker to head to Asia for his next project, teaming up with South Korea-based Cj Entertainment to develop an East-meets-West buddy action-adventure franchise called “The Golden Age.” He’s looking to produce and direct the first entry, titled “The Golden Age: The Lost Treasure of Zheng He.” [Variety]

“Act Of Valor” co-director Scott Waugh is adding to his slate, planning to helm the adaptation of the video game series “Need For Speed” for DreamWorks. The film, written by George Gatins, is being positioned as a tentpole franchise in the vein of the “Fast and the Furious” films.

New entertainment venture BiteSize Entertainment announced its launch Friday in Cannes with several feature-film projects, including a movie about embattled News Corp. exec Rebekah Brooks. The company also is developing the Bob Odenkirk-directed dark comedy "Girlfriends Day" and the Willy Holtzman-penned drama "Mad Dogs and Englishmen," which will star Colin Firth as Noel Coward during his two weeks at The Desert Inn in Las Vegas in 1955. BiteSize is the creation of Mevio chairman and CEO Ron Bloom and producers Gene Kirkwood and Ross Elliot, whose Kirkwood-Elliot Productions banner will supply films for theatrical release. The new company aims to become "a modern, vertically integrated entertainment studio that spans multiple platforms," according to a release, including everything from short films and series to feature-length content that can be leveraged using Mevio’s pre-existing online network. BiteSize plans to produce four to...

From King George VI to… Noel Coward. Rare is the instance in which those two are grouped together, but Colin Firth will act as the binding tie with Mad Dogs and Englishmen, a biographical picture, of sorts, that Ross Elliot and Gene Kirkwood are producing through their newest business venture, Bitesize.

But you don’t care all too much about the producing credits. What you’ll want to know — and what I’m about to tell you — pertains to the screenplay, written by Willy Holtzman, and which focuses on the legendary actor’s time in Las Vegas performing a two-week cabaret show, an opportunity that was only made possible by the unforeseen injuring of Liberace. Dramatically-speaking, the meat of the film will emphasize relationships Coward had with both his agent and piano teacher; a certain tax evasion on the actor’s part — the whole reason he agreed to this job — might also create some conflict.

The story of Rebekah Brooks, the former newspaper executive who is to face criminal charges over the phone hacking scandal, is to be made into a feature length film.

Details of the picture focusing on the ex-News International chief executive were announced in Cannes during this year's film festival, The Hollywood Reporter said.

It is in development as one of the first projects of BiteSize Entertainment, a multi-platform entertainment studio unveiled by Ron Bloom, chief executive of online video site Mevio, and producer Gene Kirkwood.

News of the Rebekah Brooks film was announced at Cannes

Brooks publicly stated this week that allegations that she, her husband and four others plotted to hide evidence were "an expensive sideshow and a waste of public money".

The 43-year-old former Sun and News of the World editor and her racehorse trainer husband Charlie were charged following a police investigation into phone-hacking, computer hacking and corruption.

The producer behind Rocky is set to turn former British tabloid editor Rebekah Brooks' fall from grace into a big screen movie.

Brooks quit as CEO of media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News International company in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking scandal last year. She had previously edited the defunct title as well as daily newspaper The Sun.

She was charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice earlier this week (begs14May12), and now there are plans to turn her meteoric rise to the top of British media and the subsequent demise of her career into a film.

Gene Kirkwood, who produced Sylvester Stallone's hit Rocky, insists he was drawn to Brooks' life story due to its comparison to Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations.

He says, "She's a great story. Her rise is almost like Great Expectations - with a moral. (The film will be) a porthole into Murdoch's world. I see it as a Citizen Kane approach."

The project will start rolling when the phone hacking scandal reaches some sort of conclusion. Kirkwood adds, "As soon as there is an ending, we're going forward. Murdoch might retire - who knows?"...

The story of Rebekah Brooks, the former CEO of News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper unit that is at the center of the phone hacking scandal, is in development as a feature film. The film is one of the first projects of BiteSize Entertainment, a multiplatform entertainment studio unveiled in Cannes by Ron Bloom, CEO of online video site Mevio, and producer Gene Kirkwood (Rocky, New York, New York). Photos: Cannes 2012: Day 2 in Pictures Kirkwood and producing partner Ross Elliot are folding their independent film production firm Kirkwood-Elliot Productions into the new venture and making it the

read more...

HBO is launching a music-themed interview show hosted by British rock musician Dave Stewart. The pay cable network has ordered six half-hour episodes of the show to air early next year. Described as "musicians on musicians," the still-untitled project will feature Stewart interviewing fellow musicians about their craft. He already has approached several of his big-name rock-star friends to appear on the program, sources said. The guests also are expected to perform on the show, which Stewart will executive produce with Interscope Geffen A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine, Gene Kirkwood, Howard Klein and Jonathan Prince.

Like the Eminem starrer "8 Mile", "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", starring rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, takes many elements from the rap star's real life and folds them into the contours of a quasi-fictional film that charts the entertainer's path through poverty and despair to stardom. Both stories are similar in that this path is littered with daunting obstacles, which its true-life hero did overcome. The difference here is that for all its biographical truth, "Get Rich"'s journey into a ghetto of hustlers, gangstas and mindless violence is all too familiar.

Stretching back to blaxploitation in the '70s to recent films by John Singleton, Ernest Dickerson and others, we've moved down these mean streets, watched drive-by shootings and witnessed drug deals and gang feuds ad infinitum. Fortunately for the film's boxoffice, it will draw from two distinct demographics. Director Jim Sheridan has a definite following in major urban markets, colleges and special venues thanks to such films as "In America" and "My Left Foot", while 50 Cent, of course, has a huge following among rap fans and blacks. So boxoffice looks strong.

Sheridan and writer Terence Winter, once a staff writer on "The Sopranos", do have several things going for them to partially offset the been-there, done-that feeling. One is a ruthlessly unsentimental and nonjudgmental approach to a life mired in poverty, where crime seems the only way out. The film offers no emotional pleas or social messages; rather, its makers deliver an unblinking distillation of the urban experience for far too many young black males.

Another positive is 50 Cents himself. There should be no surprise that rappers such as Eminem and 50 Cent prove talented actors. As performers onstage, performers who have renamed themselves, they have long played a character based on but not to be confused with their own personas. They are actors.

50 Cent's range is not as wide as Eminem's, but he creates plenty of empathy for the fatherless boy, here called Marcus, whose drug-dealer mom (Serena Reeder) dies when he is 12. Marcus' grandparents take him in, but the boy heads down the only path he sees open to him when he gets into crime just like his mom.

The film hits all the well-publicized highlights of the life of 50 Cent in his ascension in a gang of drug dealers, their war with Colombian dealers, a flirtation with rap that never takes hold since crime seems so much easier and finally the nine gunshot wounds that miraculously failed to take his life.

In cinematographic terms, Winter's screenplay is always in intense medium close-up, never pulling back for a wider angle of society or even New York. Does his character really have no other options than crime? Does society take any blame? Could his grandparents (Viola Davis and Sullivan Walker) have intervened? The film doesn't even ask. It just barrels ahead with a life heading for tragedy that, again miraculously, takes a detour into creativity. That it leads to musical success is merely gravy. For the portrait here is one of creativity winning the day and saving a life -- or maybe several -- when Marcus' girlfriend (Joy Bryant) gives birth to his son and he accepts responsibility for his family's well-being.

As with all Sheridan movies, this one contains fine acting. The suddenly hot Terrence Howard stands out as Bama, a fellow ex-con and friend who encourages Marcus' move into rap and winds up as his manager. London-born Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje brings an icy chill to his portrait of a gangsta whose friendship can turn lethal in a moment.

Veteran Bill Duke enters "Godfather" territory with his heavy-limbed, dignified portrait of a ruthless drug kingpin. Newcomer Reeder shows exceptional talent and beauty as Marcus' mother.

And, as with many Sheridan movies, the director demonstrates a fascination with how family units function and flourish under adverse conditions. It is especially attentive to the changing attitudes of its lead character, who is marvelously played as a child by Marc John Jefferies until 50 Cent can take over.

The soundtrack is not, fortunately, chockablock with music and rap. Music is used discreetly for dramatic impact, though there is more than enough to guarantee huge album sales. Declan Quinn and designer Mark Geraghty, both of whom worked with Sheridan on "In America", definitely capture the grit and seemingly omnipresent darkness of the South Bronx.

GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN'

Paramount Pictures

An Interscope/Shady/Aftermath/MTV Films production

Credits:

Director: Jim Sheridan

Screenwriter: Terence Winter

Producers: Jimmy Iovine, Paul Rosenberg, Chris Lighty, Jim Sheridan

Executive producers: Gene Kirkwood, Stuart Parr, Van Toffler, David Gale, Arthur Lappin, Daniel Lupi

Director of photography: Declan Quinn

Production designer: Mark Geraghty

Music: Quincy Jones, Gavin Friday, Maurice Seezer

Costumes: Francine Jamison-Tanchuck

Editors: Conrad Buff, Roger Barton

Cast:

Marcus: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson

Bama: Terrence Howard

Charlene: Joy Bryant

Levar: Bill Duke

Majestic: Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje

Keryl: Omar Benson Miller

Justice: Tory Kittles

Grandma: Viola Davis

Young Marcus: Marc John Jefferies

Antwan: Ashley Walters

Katrina: Serena Reeder

Running time -- 112 minutes

MPAA rating: R...