Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenberg have nabbed the leads in The Social Network (aka "the Facebook movie"), a drama written by Aaron Sorkin , according to Variety.
Eisenberg will play Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg; Timberlake will play Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster who became Facebook's first president. They are joined by...
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Aaron Sorkin by Steve Granitz/ WireImage.com
Check your newsfeed Facebook is coming to the big screenProlific writer and producer Aaron Sorkin is penning a film based on the creation of the social networking site according to the The Hollywood ReporterAnd as a true Facebook user would Sorkin announced his celluloid plans on his account prefacing by insisting hes the real Aaron SorkinI understand there are a few other people using Facebook pages under my name which I find more flattering than creepy but this is me he said I figured a good first step in my preparation would be finding out what Facebook is so Ive started this pageThe Emmy winner goes on to ask users to share their experience with the site to serve as inspiration and research for the filmSo go ahead friend him Joyce Eng
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Calista Flockhart, Dave Annable and Sally Field in Brothers & Sisters by Craig Sjodin/ABC
How’s this for irony? All last week, trying not to get too depressed about what a protracted writers’ strike might mean for the TV season and the industry at large, I was secretly looking forward to a weekend getaway: catching former Alias star Jennifer Garner’s Broadway debut in a revival of Cyrano, opposite Kevin Kline and Rescue Me’s Daniel Sunjata. Unfortunately, my tickets were for Saturday night, by which time the stagehands’ union had initiated their own sudden walkout and work stoppage.At this rate, I might actually finish the book I’ve been reading since mid-October.(Thankfully, I was lucky enough to catch Aaron Sorkin's new play, The Farnsworth Invention, before the strike. It was scheduled to have its official opening night later this week, but when it reopens, I predict a healthy run for this fascinating, entertaining play recounting the birth of television.)While consumers of TV, movies and even theater wait for unions and producers to reac...
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Tunnels cover art courtesy Scholastic, Inc.
Who will spellbind young moviegoers once Deathly Hallows has come and gone? Warner Bros. has picked up the big-screen rights to the seven-book Septimus Heap series, while Relativity Media has acquired Tunnels, a children's fantasy series out of the U.K.... Also per Variety, Aaron Sorkin is penning three films for DreamWorks, kicking off with The Trial of the Chicago 7, which Steven Spielberg hopes to direct.... Per the Reporter, Naomi Watts will star opposite Clive Owen in the thriller The International.... Tim Robbins and Martin Landau have joined the fantasy feature City of Ember, starring Bill Murray.
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The self-explanatory (although probably unnecessary) Idol: The Musical, a satirical comedy about a "cult-like club that meets daily in a garage that doubles as a shrine to Clay Aiken," opens off-Broadway next month. Apparently, it earned raves in Syracuse. Seriously.... Licking his wounds after the whole Studio 60 debacle, West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin trades the small screen for the stage when The Farnsworth Invention hits Broadway this fall, says Playbill.com. Previously seen at the La Jolla Playhouse, the drama — about the (glorious) invention of the TV set — marks Sorkin's return to the Great White Way after almost two decades. — Reporting by Raven Snook
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Question: Exactly how mad will you be when Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip scores multiple Emmy nominations, including best drama, best actor (Matthew Perry), best supporting actor (Bradley Whitford) and best actress (Amanda Peet). I know it's going to confuse me much as the Russian translation at the end of Rocky IV did. But based on Aaron Sorkin's track record, the show's continued critical support and the cast's star power, I just know it's going to happen. Plus it fits that Emmy mold so perfectly, despite its many obvious and pointed flaws. If it takes a nomination away from Friday Night Lights, I just won't know how to react.
Answer: Continued critical support? Who are you reading? Beyond that, what are you smoking? I suppose there's an extreme outside chance that one or more of these high-profile actors may get a nomination, but talk about your dark horses. And Sorkin for writing? Maybe for the pilot, before it all fell apart, but even that will be tainted by the show's unhappy fate.
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Amanda Peet by Art Streiber/NBC
As previously reported, NBC is bringing back Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, albeit on Thursday, May 24, the day after sweeps ends. Still, if all goes well, steadfast fans of 30 Rock's more serious big brother will get to see the first season's five unaired episodes.Pondering the surprising fate of a show with such a solid pedigree — crafted by Aaron Sorkin, and populated by the likes of proven TV draws Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford — Amanda Peet shrugs off talk that S60 tried to be too smart for the room. "It was definitely very ambitious," she tells TVGuide.com, "but a part of me wonders if, had it been an unknown writer-creator instead of Aaron Sorkin, we would have had more time to find our tone and focus. Because we were under a microscope from the moment we arrived, it was very difficult for the creators to feel free to follow the strengths of the show and see that through."Peet can next be seen starring alongside two other members of the Underappreciated TV Show...
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Question: Is it just me, or does it seem like the days are behind us when a show creator/writer with a pretty good quality track record like David E. Kelley or Aaron Sorkin could snap their fingers and get a network to commit to a new show? Will the ratings troubles for The Wedding Bells and Studio 60 make it more difficult for talented people like Kelley and Sorkin to get show commitments in the future? And when new fall shows are announced next month, do you think the networks will focus more on the pedigree of the producers, the name recognition of the actors involved or the show concepts that can be described succinctly to the audience?
Answer: As I often say, if it's more about the deal than about the show, that's a recipe for disaster. Every successful TV producer is well acquainted with failure. (I'm surprised you didn't mention J.J. Abrams, whose name was associated with recent duds like Six Degrees and What About Brian.) So I doubt it will be any more difficult for talents like
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Question: Is this the unceremonious end for Studio 60? Suddenly preempted by Donnellys whatever? Studio 60 is intelligent, fast, terrifically funny; the stars are great, etc.. My friends and I eagerly anticipated every show. Is there any chance for it? How frustrating, how maddening, how sad if it's been removed forever. Replaced by yet another show with violence as one of its main characters. Nuts.
Answer: Unceremonious, to be sure. Studio 60 was probably always going to take a spring breather to give some mid-season show a tryout, but when NBC rushed The Black Donnellys on the air a week early, it was clearly time to start preparing the eulogy. (Never mind that Donnellys is such a botch it makes Studio 60, whatever its faults, look like a winner.) I won't give you false hope on Studio 60's chances, but you never know if NBC will take a gamble on a star producer like Aaron Sorkin, not to mention that cast, and give it more rope, hoping it will redeem and not hang itself. Still, ...
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Question: I know I am in the minority when I say that I like Studio 60. I know it doesn't hit the mark 100 percent of the time, but no show does, and I still find it to be entertaining. I really hope the most recent episode wasn't its last. It is hard for me to believe that a show with so many amazing people working on it, both in front of and behind the camera, can't become a great show if given enough time. My question is: Do you think this show is being judged more harshly by both critics and viewers because it comes from someone responsible for two beloved shows, The West Wing and Sports Night? If Aaron Sorkin had done this show before those, would it still be considered such a huge failure without the comparison? If this show were to return, do you think there is anything that could be done to save it?
Answer: As I noted in Friday's column, I don't see how this show could be salvaged at this point. People didn't cotton to it as a backstage show, and they seemed less inclined to
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