Hulu Orders J.J. Abrams-led “11/22/63” thriller from Stephen King

Hulu has placed a direct-to-series order for “11/22/63,” a nine-hour adaptation of Stephen King’s time-travel novel about the Kennedy assassination, from J.J. Abrams and Warner Bros. Television.

The miniseries, based on King’s best-selling 2011 novel published by Simon & Schuster imprint Scribner, follows high school English teacher Jake Epping, who travels back in time to try to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on the fateful date in American history.

A premiere date for “11/22/63,” to be released as nine hour-long episodes, has not been set. Meanwhile, Hulu has not determined whether it will make the full series available exclusively to Hulu Plus subscribers, or whether some episodes will be free on Hulu.com.

Executive producers are King, Abrams through his Bad Robot Prods. (“Person of Interest,” “Fringe,” “Lost”), Bridget Carpenter and Bryan Burk. Carpenter will write the teleplay. Bad Robot’s Kathy Lingg is co-executive producer, and Athena Wickham is producer.

In announcing the pact, Stephen King said: “If I ever wrote a book that cries out for long-form, event-TV programming, ‘11/22/63’ is it. I’m excited that it’s going to happen, and am looking forward to working with J.J. Abrams and the whole Bad Robot team.”

The deal marks first original programming collaboration between Hulu and WBTV. Hulu will be the U.S. home for “11/22/63,” and Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution will distribute “11/22/63″ for the rest of the world.

The “11/22/63″ project for Hulu is a limited “event series,” but there will be opportunities for future subsequent seasons based on the story. Hulu’s pickup of “11/22/63″ stands to be a critical component in the streaming service’s ability to attract subscribers with high-profile originals, as it vies with the likes of Netflix and Amazon.com.

“J.J. Abrams and Stephen King are two of the most celebrated storytellers of our time, and we are excited to be working with them and Warner Bros. Television to bring this unique take on one of the most seminal historic events of the 20th century to Hulu,” Craig Erwich, Hulu’s SVP and head of content, said in a statement. “’11/22/63′ already resonated with audiences as a best-selling novel, and we are looking forward to bringing the riveting story to the screen.”

Erwich, prior to joining Hulu in April 2014, had overseen Warner Horizon Television development, production and business operations.

Stephen King has published more than 50 books over a career spanning four decades, which have been adapted for movies and TV series more than 50 times. Repped by Paradigm, King is currently an executive producer of CBS series “Under the Dome,” based on his novel of the same name.

Filmmaker and producer J.J. Abrams is currently writing, producing and directing Disney’s “Star Wars: Episode VII,” slated for 2015 release, as well as producing the next installments of the “Mission: Impossible” and “Star Trek” movie franchises. “I’ve been a fan of Stephen King since I was in junior high school,” Abrams said in a statement. “The chance to work with him at all, let alone on a story so compelling, emotional and imaginative, is a dream.”

Carpenter’s TV credits include writing/executive producing Sundance Channel’s “The Red Road,” writing/co-executive producing NBC’s “Parenthood” and “Friday Night Lights,” and writing/co-producing Showtime’s “Dead Like Me.”  She called Stephen King “one of my literary heroes” and said creating the miniseries is “a dream come true. My dad, a lifelong Stephen King fanatic, still cannot believe it.”

Hulu is owned by 21st Century Fox, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Disney.

SOURCE: Variety.com

Gene Simmons of KISS tells depressed people to ‘kill themselves’

SOURCE

KISS rocker Gene Simmons has built a career on controversial antics, but has he gone too far this time?

In a recent interview with journalist Roger Catlin on Songfacts.com, Simmons made some extreme comments regarding suicide and depression that now threaten to have long-term effects on his band’s career.

Asked whether he still keeps in touch with original KISS members who left the band over the years, Simmons launched into a shocking tirade:

“No, I don’t get along with anybody who’s a drug addict and has a dark cloud over their head and sees themselves as a victim. Drug addicts and alcoholics are always: ‘The world is a harsh place.’ My mother was in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. I don’t want to hear f**k all about ‘the world as a harsh place.’ She gets up every day, smells the roses and loves life. And for a putz, 20-year-old kid to say, ‘I’m depressed, I live in Seattle.” F**k you, then kill yourself,” Simmons said.

It didn’t end there.

“I always call them on their bluff. I’m the guy who says ‘Jump!’ when there’s a guy on top of a building who says, ‘That’s it, I can’t take it anymore, I’m going to jump.’ Are you kidding? Why are you announcing it? Shut the f**k up, have some dignity and jump! You’ve got the crowd,” he said.

Simmons’ comments have drawn condemnation from other legendary rockers. Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx yesterday denounced Simmons on his radio show, Sixx Sense.

“It’s pretty moronic because [Simmons] thinks everybody listens to him, that he is the God of Thunder. He will tell you he is the greatest man on earth, and to be honest with you, I like Gene. But in this situation, I don’t like Gene. I don’t like Gene’s words,” Sixx said. “There is a 20-year-old kid out there who is a Kiss fan and reads this and goes, ‘You know what? He’s right. I should just kill myself.’”

Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx (at left) has publicly denounced Simmons’ comments.

Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx (at left) has publicly denounced Simmons’ comments. Source: Supplied

The backlash has reached all the way to Australia, with Triple M today announcing they would remove all KISS songs from their playlists nationwide.

In a statement published on the Triple M website, network head Mike Fitzpatrick labelled Simmons’ comments “misguided and insensitive.”

“Depression and suicide are not topics he should be using to further his notoriety or sell records. His desperation to use mental health issues to find relevancy in a modern age is sickening. I can only put it down to a brain fade on his part. The Triple M Network can’t and won’t be playing or supporting this d***head’s music. I put the challenge out to other stations across Australia and North America to also drop any of this nudnik’s songs until such time as he reconsiders his thoughtless and insensitive position.”

Simmons comments were published on the Songfacts website on July 31, and it appears that, in the wake of actor Robin Williams’ tragic suicide this week, the KISS bassist may already have softened his views on those dealing with depression:

Screen Shot 2014-08-15 at 8.48.22 AM

Simmons also retweeted the following (US based) information for those struggling with depression following Williams’ death:

Screen Shot 2014-08-15 at 8.48.34 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: News.com.au

 

Webtastic Wednesday: The Gunfighter

The Gunfighter

Directed by Eric Kissack (erickissack.com)
Written by Kevin Tenglin (kevintenglin.com/)
Produced by Sarah Platt
Shot by Jon Aguirresarobe (jonaguirresarobe.com/)
Costumes by Kate Mallor
Art Direction by Paul McConnell

Starring
Nick Offerman
Shawn Parsons
Scott Beehner
Eileen O’Connell
Timothy Brennen
Jordan Black
Brace Harris
Circus Szalewski
Travis Lincoln Cox
Schoen Hodges
Chet Nelson
Keith Biondi
Read Mor

Lauren Bacall, Dead at 89

SOURCE: Variety

Lauren Bacall, the sultry blonde siren who became an overnight star via a memorable film debut at age 19 opposite Humphrey Bogart in Howard Hawks’ “To Have and Have Not,” died Tuesday at her home of a suspected stroke. She was 89.

The Bogart estate tweeted the news.

Much later in life, she was Oscar-nommed for supporting actress for her role as Barbra Streisand’s mother in 1997’s “The Mirror Has Two Faces.”

Born Betty Joan Perske, “a nice Jewish girl from the Bronx,” she stunned audiences in the forever-after-famous “you know how to whistle” scene in the 1944 romance “To Have and Have Not,” in which she was as flirtatious as possible within the parameters of the Hays Code.

Audiences were impressed; her co-star, the 44-year-old Bogart, even more so. They were soon married and remained devoted to one another for the next 12 years, until Bogart’s death in 1956.

It wasn’t until almost 20 years later that Bacall would emerge from the shadow of being Bogart’s wife/widow and hit her stride, this time onstage, where she scored successes in the comedy “Cactus Flower” and then won two Tonys in musicals “Applause” and, later, “Woman of the Year.”

Her gravel-voiced, sultry persona, however, immediately transformed her into a celebrity. The voice was said to have come from a year shouting into a canyon. Regardless, “the Look,” her slinky, pouty-lipped head-lowered stare, influenced a generation of actresses.

That had less to do with her acting assignments than with her social and political reputation — lying long-legged on President Truman’s piano, bravely protesting with her husband against the House Un-American Activities hearings as early as 1947, campaigning for Adlai Stevenson (twice), or hosting the Rat Pack in Holmby Hills with Bogie and later, in New York, with another famous husband, actor Jason Robards Jr. It has been suggested that her career — she was under contract at Warners for several years — was harmed by her political outspokenness. Bogart did some of his best work in those years, but then, he was Bogart.

Her fierce independence caused her to be suspended from Warners no fewer than seven times. Backed by Bogart, she justifiably complained about the poor material she was handed. That independence sometimes crossed over into diva territory and became more pronounced as time passed.

At AMPAS’ first Governors Awards ceremony in November 2009, Bacall was one of four honorees. Anjelica Huston saluted her by quoting Bacall as saying, “Stardom isn’t a career, it’s an accident,” though Huston said Bacall’s ascendance was not accidental.

Bacall expressed surprise at her own career, saying, “It’s quite amazing the people I worked with — some of the all-time all-time greats.” And she admitted that when Hawks told her he wanted to pair her with either Bogart or Cary Grant, she said she wasn’t impressed with the dese-dem-dose quality of Bogart and said of Grant, “Now you’re talking!”

Bacall’s fierce ambition to achieve stardom began at Julia Richman High School in Manhattan, from which she graduated at 15. By that time she was already doing department store modeling. She studied acting and dancing and enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she remained only one term. She quit modeling on Seventh Avenue to become a theater usher and got herself a walk-on in “Johnny 2 x 4” in 1942 and an ingenue role in George S. Kaufman’s out-of-town failure “Franklin Street.”

Harper’s Bazaar editor Niki de Gunzberg hired her to model for the magazine, and a 1943 cover photo came to the notice of Hawks, who screen-tested Bacall and put her under contract (which he later sold to Warners). The studio coached her for a year, and then she was slipped into “To Have and Have Not,” where Hawks found that “when she became insolent, she became rather attractive.”

Bogart’s marriage to Mayo Methot was on the skids, and Bacall soon became his fourth wife, bearing him two children over the next dozen years. They appeared together in movies three more times, most memorably in “The Big Sleep” and then in “Dark Passage” and “Key Largo.”

Otherwise, when she wasn’t turning down assignments, she was agreeing to appear in mediocre ones such as “Young Man With a Horn” and “Bright Leaf.” At Bogart’s urging, she bought herself out of her contract shortly before Warners shaved its roster in the wake of the TV boom of the early ’50s.

One of her better assignments, “How to Marry a Millionaire,” teamed her with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable, and “Woman’s World” again utilized her glamorous, stylish persona to dress up the proceedings.

On television she co-starred with Bogart and Henry Fonda in a live production of “The Petrified Forest,” which Bogie had done on film in 1935 with Bette Davis and Leslie Howard. She also starred with Noel Coward and Claudette Colbert in the TV production of Coward’s “Blithe Spirit.”

When Bogart succumbed to throat cancer, Bacall threw herself into her work, again in A pictures, but with mixed results. There were impressive efforts like “Written on the Wind” and “Designing Women” and considerably less impressive ones like “Blood Alley” and “Flame Over India.”

After a serious affair with Frank Sinatra, she moved east and appeared onstage in the comedy “Goodbye, Charlie.” She met and married Robards, whose star was on the rise, and they had a son. His drinking problems contributed to their breakup and divorce in 1969.

In 1967, she was the toast of Broadway in Abe Burrows’ comedy “Cactus Flower” (a role she lost to Ingrid Bergman onscreen). She appeared in the comedy for two years, and then starred in a musical stage version of “All About Eve,” called “Applause,” in the Margo Channing role originated by Davis. For it she won a Tony Award, and she played the role in the London version too.

Later screen roles consisted of cameos and character parts in films including “Harper,” “Health” and “Murder on the Orient Express.” She appeared in John Wayne’s last film, 1976’s “The Shootist.” A rare starring opportunity, “The Fan,” was a dismal failure, and Bacall returned to Broadway in another musicalization of a classic Hollywood film, “Woman of the Year,” which had starred Katharine Hepburn.

Bacall’s 1978 autobiography “By Myself,” written without the aid of the usual ghostwriter, translated that gravel voice onto the written page and became a bestseller. She also penned “Now,” in which she wrote about her career, family and friends since ’78 but which she declined to call an autobiography. In the book, she wrote, “I’m called a legend by some, a title and category I am less than fond of.”

She continued to work on stage and screen and television, doing a TV remake of “Dinner at Eight” and taking a small role in “Misery.”

In 1997, she received the Kennedy Center Honors; in 1999, the American Film Institute voted her one of the 25 most significant female movie stars in history.

Bacall was among the stars of Lars Von Trier’s “Dogville” and “Manderlay,” made a cameo on “The Sopranos” as herself in April 2006 and appeared in the 2012 film “The Forger” with Josh Hutcherson and Hayden Panettiere.

But mostly she continued to be Lauren Bacall.

She is survived by her two children by Bogart, Stephen and Leslie and her son by Robards, actor Sam Robards.

Actor/Comedian Robin Williams Found Dead

Source: Variety

Veteran film and television comedic actor Robin Williams was found dead on Monday. He was 63.

The cause of death is believed to be suicide via asphyxiation, according to the coroner’s office in Tiburon, Calif. He was found in his home.

His publicist said the actor had been battling depression of late.

“This is a tragic and sudden loss,” his publicist Mara Buxbaum said in a statement. “The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time.”

Williams is best known for both comedic and dramatic roles in movies including “Good Will Hunting,” for which he won a Best Supporting Actor in 1997. In addition, he won several Emmys, Golden Globes.

Williams’ film career was bookended by TV roles including his breakout role on the ABC sitcom “Mork & Mindy” in 1978. He returned to TV on CBS last season, “The Crazy Ones.”

“So You Think You Can Dance Australia” Solo Defies Laws of Science

“So You Think You Can Dance” doesn’t kick off its latest season here in America for another few weeks, but the Australian adaptation has spurred a dance solo that is sure to go viral. Check it out below and prepare to set aside any laws of science you may know because this is bound to make your jaw drop!

SYTYCD kicks off Season 11 in America on May 28 at 8/7c on Fox!

Wife Says Columbus Short Threatened Murder/Suicide

“Scandal” star Columbus Short has been thrown out of his house and his wife has filed for divorce … after he allegedly put a knife to her throat last week and threatened to kill her and himself.

According to a new restraining order — obtained by TMZ — Short got into it with his wife April 7 at their Chatsworth home, where she claims he came into her room intoxicated with a wine bottle in hand, acted like he was going to hit her with the bottle and then unloaded the wine on her.

Tuere Short claims Columbus then ran to the kitchen for a knife, pinned her to the couch and began choking her. She says he then demanded they play a game he called “Truth or Truth.” He allegedly said if she lied he would stab her in the leg.

She says he then started naming men he believed she was having affairs with. She denied them all but he allegedly then put the knife to her throat and threatened murder/suicide. As she tried escaping she says he slashed her tire.

The restraining order requires Columbus to move out of the house. We’ve learned cops were there today to ensure the peace as he moved out.

Tuere also filed for divorce Tuesday, citing irreconcilable differences and asking for sole custody of their 2-year-old daughter.

In addition to the incident April 7th, Short has been charged with criminal domestic violence and child abuse for allegedly abusing Tuere while their child and his son were in the house. He pled not guilty. And he was arrested for yet another alleged domestic violence incident a few weeks earlier.

It’s interesting … just last month — after the first 2 domestic violence arrests — Columbus and his wife put on a united front at The Grove in L.A.

School of Rock Reunion!

How fun! The cast of School of Rock, including Jack Black and Miranda Cosgrove got together recently for their 10 year reunion and… performed their hit song “School of Rock” for the crowd. Remember how they looked back then?SchoolOfRock

 

Here they are now:

schoolofrockreunion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like they had a lot of fun at the get together! Watch the video performance below: