The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett's epic novel, is coming to television, with production headed up by Ridley and Tony Scott's shingle.The best-seller tells of the birth of Gothic architecture and the building of a cathedral in 12th-century Kingsbridge, England, a fictional town where war and religious struggles are the daily norm. Published in 1989, Pillars has sold nearly 15 million copies worldwide and recently zoomed to the top of the New York Times Paperback Trade Fiction list. (Shop Amazon.)The Scotts (with Tandem Communications) this past fall brought to TNT the miniseries The Company, based on Robert Littell's page-turner about the CIA. — J.R. Whalen
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TNT on Monday revealed its ambitious plan to change most of its weekday prime-time schedule to original fare by the year 2010. (Popular movies will still be the cabler's bread-and-butter on Fridays/weekends.) Here's what's on tap.Already greenlit for production:• Raising the Bar, a Steven Bochco drama about a public defender (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), his boss (Gloria Reuben) and an imperious judge (Jane Kaczmarek). Teddy Sears and Melissa Sagemiller also star. • Leverage, in which a former insurance investigator (Timothy Hutton) assembles a team of highly skilled thieves, hackers and grifters.In consideration:• Truth in Advertising, an ad-biz drama starring Eric McCormack, Tom Cavanagh and Monica Potter.In development (scripted):Generations (from Robert Redford, a drama following three generations of the same family living in a house); an untitled family drama set in 1950s Indiana; a series based on Tess Gerritsen's crime novels; The Genie Chronicles (about... a genie i...
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Gerard Butler (300) has bowed out of the Escape from New York remake, citing "creative differences".... Also per Variety, Spider-man 4 has tapped James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) to pen the script, which unlike No. 3 will feature two baddies, max. Neither Tobey, Kirsten nor director Sam Raimi have yet to sign on.... Ridley and Tony Scott are producing Tell-Tale, a psychological thriller inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe short story, says the Reporter.... Saw IV baddie Tobin Bell is a good-guy sheriff in a big-screen adaptation of the graphic novel Bump.
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Question Much has been made about Paul Greengrass handheld-camera work in The Bourne Ultimatum and the fact that both Supremacy and Ultimatum have been hits makes me certain that filmmakers will keep doing it But I cant be the only person who gets nauseous watching these films The incessant movement is difficult to watch Rarely does the camera stop long enough for the viewer to process a shot even the quietest moments cant be still Matt Damon is great and Id like to say I enjoyed the movies but when I have to go home and take something for headache and nausea that cant be good Am I alone in this DarylFlickChick Youre far from alone some critics and a lot of moviegoers have complained about the restless shaky handheld-camera work and superfast editing in The Bourne Ultimatum 2007 in particular and movies in general Filmmakers generally use restless jittery camera work to establish a you-are-there atmosphere sometimes its meant to look as thoug
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It's the perfect equation for success. Val Kilmer is reuniting with Top Gun director Tony Scott for the Season 4 premiere of Numbers, airing Sept. 28. "It’s a double whammy!" says series star David Krumholtz. "We've had a lot of great actors on the show, but Val takes the cake. We've got to thank Tony for bringing him in." And Kilmer, who also worked with Scott on True Romance and Déjà Vu, is no stranger to mathematical plotlines. "Val played the original math and science genius in Real Genius,” reminds Krumholtz. "That was shot at Cal Tech, which is where we shoot our show. Val is revisiting his old roots as an actor.” Though Krumholtz doesn’t have any scenes with Kilmer, he’s psyched to have the star onboard. “He’s one of the most provocative actors,” he says. “It proves our show is a cut above the rest to attract actors like him. Hopefully this will get more eyes on our show.” And that means bigger numbers. — Repor...
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