Season Finales of Dexter and Californication Draw Record Ratings December 16, 2008 6:31 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Californication, Dexter, Nielsen TV Ratings, Showtime, Television.add a comment
Showtime’s Golden Globe-nominated series Dexter and Californication each drew record ratings on Sunday night with their respective season finales. Dexter drew a Showtime record 1.5 million viewers (1.99 million when combined with the 11pm encore), while Californication drew a season-best 615,000 viewers (937,000 when combined with the encore).
Dexter and Californication each received Golden Globe nominations last week, including Best Drama and Best Comedy Series, as well as Best Actor Drama for Michael C. Hall (Dexter) and Best Actor Comedy (David Duchovny).
Source: B&C
Giants/Cowboys Matchup Most Watched Game in SNF History December 16, 2008 6:25 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in NBC, NBC Sunday Night Football, NFL, Nielsen TV Ratings, Sports, Television.2 comments
23.1 million viewers tuned in to watch the Dallas Cowboys defeat the Super Bowl champion New York Giants 20-8 on NBC Sunday Night Football this past Sunday. That’s the most viewers ever for a ‘Sunday Night Football’ game and the third-most viewers in primetime this season, behind only the November 16th telecast of 60 Minutes that featured President-elect Barack Obama (25.1 million) and the October 9th season premiere of CSI (23.5 million).
Sunday Night Football is currently averaging 16.8 million viewers over 14 broadcasts. That’s a five percent gain over last season’s average of 16.1 million.
The full press release follows after the jump.
Jessica Alba and Jack Black to Guest Star on NBC’s The Office December 16, 2008 5:53 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Casting, NBC, News, Television, The Office.1 comment so far
NBC has announced that Jack Black and Jessica Alba will both be guest-starring on the hour-long post-Super Bowl episode of The Office on February 1, 2009.
I’ve included both press releases after the jump.
Merlin Renewed for Second Season December 16, 2008 5:37 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in BBC, Merlin, News, Television.1 comment so far
BBC has renewed its successful original series Merlin for a second season. The show premiered in the U.K. in September and received an impressive 28% share, or 6.2 million viewers. The show been picked up in over 100 territories, including the United States, where NBC has the rights.
All 13 episodes of the first season have already aired in the U.K.
Source: Variety
Rob Zombie Confirmed As Director of Halloween Sequel, H2 December 16, 2008 5:23 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Casting, H2, Halloween, Movies, News.add a comment
About two weeks ago ShockTillYouDrop.com reported that Rob Zombie would be returning to direct a sequel to his 2007 film Halloween (click here to read that story). Now Variety has confirmed that Zombie will indeed be returning to direct the sequel, titled H2. Dimension Films hopes to begin production on the film next March.
Halloween debuted August 31, 2007 and grossed $58.3 million domestically. It added $20.2 million from overseas markets for a worldwide cume of $78.5 million.
Not adjusting for inflation, Halloween (2007) is the top grossing installment in the nine-film franchise, just ahead 1998’s Halloween: H20.
New Moon Release Date Set; Transformers 3 in 2011? December 16, 2008 4:51 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, New Moon, News, Release Dates, Transformers.add a comment
Summit Entertainment has announced that New Moon will be released on November 20, 2009. Dark Horizons is also reporting that German release schedules are showing a July 29, 2011 release date for Transformers 3. The date doesn’t seem too far-fetched, considering the first film was released on June 27, 2009 and the second will be released June 26, 2009.
Broadcast TV Ratings for Monday, December 15, 2008 December 16, 2008 4:47 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Broadcast TV Ratings, News, Nielsen TV Ratings, Television.add a comment
New Lost Sneak Peek Clip December 16, 2008 4:35 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in ABC, Lost, Television, Video Clips.add a comment
ABC has released a brand new sneak peek video from “Because You Left”, the fifth season premiere of Lost. The clip features Jack and Ben talking about the passengers who stayed behind on hte island. Watch it below.
American Idol Returns on January 13th December 16, 2008 4:31 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in American Idol, Fox, News, Television.1 comment so far
Fox has announced that the eighth season of American Idol will premiere on January 13th. The eighth season will kick off with three weeks of audition episodes.
Read the complete press release after the jump.
New Clip from Disney/Pixar’s Up December 16, 2008 4:22 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movie Trailers, Movies, Up.add a comment
The official website for Disney/Pixar’s upcoming film Up has been updated with a new video. You can watch it embedded below.
Watch the clip in high definition here.
Synopsis
From Disney/Pixar comes ‘UP,’ a comedy adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. From the Academy Award-nominated director Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.), Disney/Pixar’s ‘UP’ invites you on a hilarious journey into a lost world, with the least likely duo on Earth. ‘UP’ will be presented in Disney Digital 3-D in select theaters.
Up hits theaters on May 29, 2009.
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Movie Poster December 16, 2008 4:09 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movie Posters, Movies, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.add a comment
UGO has a brand new poster for Screen Gems’ upcoming Underworld prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Click the image on the right hand side to enlarge.
Synopsis
The Underworld series gets the prequel treatment with this third outing that fleshes out the story of the ancient war between the vampiric Death Dealers and their werewolf counterparts, the Lycans. F/X technician Patrick Tatopoulos (Godzilla, Independence Day) steps out of the effects lab and into the director’s chair with this entry, which sees stars Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy returning, with series newcomer Rhona Mitra also joining the cast.
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans hits theaters on January 23, 2009.
Abrams Talks Star Trek + New Banner December 16, 2008 4:00 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Images, Movies, News, Star Trek.add a comment
Abrams conducted a short interview with MTV where the Star Trek director discussed several aspects of the film, including its humor, Leonard Nimoy’s involvment and the difference between his ‘Trek’ and Trek films of the past.
Paramount also released a new banner of the crew, which you’ll find posted above. Click to enlarge.
Here’s some of the interview, click here to read the rest.
MTV: Having been fortunate enough to view a few scenes recently, do you think fans will be surprised by the amount of humor in the film? [Editor’s note: In one sequence, an allergic reaction to medication results in massive swelling of Kirk’s hands and face … think “Nutty Professor.”]
Abrams: It’s funny, because when you see a quarter of something or less, it’s easy to draw conclusions about what the whole thing is. The thing with the hands is probably the most extreme sort of borderline-silly thing that happens in the movie. But the humor in the movie is constant within the wit of the characters. And I think when you look at the original “Star Trek” show, there was actually a great deal of humor.
MTV: We’ve seen Nimoy delivering his classic “Live long and prosper” line in the trailer. Is he fundamental to the story line, or is it more or less a glorified cameo?
Abrams: No, it’s no cameo. He’s in the movie, and his role is critical. I always think “cameo” feels like a role that the movie could exist without. This is critical, emotional and also a story element.
MTV: When you look at the other “Star Trek” films, what are they missing that you wanted to bring to yours?
Abrams: There are a number of things that I think are unique to this movie. There’s a level of relevance that I think is really because of the actors playing the part. I didn’t want to just re-create or reset everything, I thought going back to those characters was important. [In previous films] when we met those characters, we met them pre-established. They’d already been working together, they already knew each other. They had this history. And for some reason, the origin of those relationships of those characters was something that probably would have helped me, at least, connect to them and understand why I should care about them and who they were.
So on those fundamental levels, none of the movies have had that before. But on a much more practical level, “Star Trek” has never had the opportunity, nor the resources, to be realized in this way. Things like the ships and the battles and the planets and the chases and the action sequences … and do them in a way that felt thrilling and terrifying and entertaining in a way that the show and the prior movies simply couldn’t afford to do. I feel we were able to bring to life, in a way we’ve never seen before, what it is to be a member of Starfleet. And that’s kind of cool.
Norrington to Remake The Crow December 16, 2008 3:52 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News, The Crow.add a comment
Stephen Norrington (Blade) has signed on to write and direct a remake of The Crow, based on the comic book created by James O’Barr. Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media is currently negotiating with produce Ed Pressman to acquire the film franchise and finance the film. Pressman produced the 1994 Alex Proyas-directed film.
Norrington told Variety: “Whereas Proyas’ original was gloriously gothic and stylized, the new movie will be realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style”.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer December 16, 2008 3:39 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movie Trailers, Movies, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.add a comment
20th Century Fox has officially released the new trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine online. Watch it embedded below.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
You can watch the trailer in high definition at MySpace.
Synopsis
The gruff, steel-clawed Marvel superhero Wolverine strikes out on his own in this X-Men spin-off starring series regular Hugh Jackman. The film is set up as an origin tale for the character, and will find him sharing the screen with Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), John Wraith (will.i.am), Victor Creed/Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber), and Col. William Stryker (Danny Huston). Academy Award-winning director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) films a screenplay penned by Troy scribe David Benioff (Troy). Daniel Henney and Lost’s Dominic Monaghan round out the supporting cast.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits theaters on May 1, 2009.
Terminator Salvation Sequel Moving Forward December 16, 2008 2:22 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News, Terminator Salvation.add a comment
Variety is reporting that Halcyon Co. execs Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek are working with Terminator Salvation director McG on a fifth installment of the popular franchise.
Terminator Salvation was always planned to be the first in a new trilogy, but the announcement to move forward with another installment was originally expected to be withheld until the release of the film next summer, but positive studio, fan and media reaction to recently released footage of the film has encouraged Halcyon to move forward ahead of schedule:
“We feel the time is now to start shaping the next part of this,” Kubicek said.
The announcement was made at the Dubai International Film Festival, where McG was in attendance.
Christian Bale is already signed on for the role of John Connor in all three films.
Robert Carlye Cast in Stargate Universe December 16, 2008 2:09 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Casting, News, Sci Fi, Stargate Universe, Television.add a comment
Robert Carlyle (24: Redemption) has been cast as Dr. David Rush in SCI FI Channel’s new series Stargate Universe. ‘SGU’ is the third installment in the network’s successful cable franchise and comes from Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis co-creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper. Both producers will write and executive produce the new series. The show is expected to receive a 20-episode first season order.
“We couldn’t be more excited to set Robert Carlyle for Stargate Universe. He brings a depth, intelligence, and complexity to his roles, which will fit perfectly with the fresh, new reinvention of this franchise, ” said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Original Programming for SCI FI & Co-Head Original Content, Universal Cable Productions.
The full press release follows after the jump.
Chris Weitz to Direct New Moon December 16, 2008 1:49 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, New Moon, News, Twilight.1 comment so far
Summit Entertainment has confirmed that Chris Weitz has been hired to direct New Moon, the sequel to the studio’s highly successful film Twilight. Chris Weitz replaces Catherine Hardwicke, who Summit announced last week would not be continuing with the franchise. The announcement was made by Erik Feig, Summit’s President of Production.
“We love Stephenie Meyer’s fantastic ‘Twilight’ series. Thinking long and hard about how to turn ‘New Moon’ into the amazing movie we know it will be, and working with Stephenie Meyer to find the right candidate, we are thrilled to announce Chris Weitz as director of the film. Chris very much understands the world of ‘New Moon’ and has the skill set required to bring the book to glorious life as a movie. We think he will be an excellent steward of Stephenie Meyer’s vision.”
“I am honored to have been entrusted with shepherding ‘New Moon’ from the page to the screen,” said Weitz. “The extraordinary world that Stephenie has created has millions of fans, and it will be my duty to protect on their behalf the characters, themes and story they love. This is not a task to be taken lightly, and I will put every effort into realizing a beautiful film to stand alongside a beautiful book.”
Twilight has grossed an impressive $150 million domestically since its release, and has added another $35.3 million from overseas markets for a worldwide cume of $185.3 million. The film’s production budget was just $37 million.
Source: Summit Entertainment (via ComingSoon.net)
Frank Miller Provides Updates on 300 Spin-off And Sin City 2 December 16, 2008 1:20 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in 300, Movies, News, Sin City 2.add a comment
Frank Miller recently sat down with Superhero Hype! to discuss his upcoming film The Spirit, but the director also chatted about other projects that he has in the works, including sequels to Sin City and 300.
Miller confirmed to the site that he has “written a story that’s not a prequel” to 300:
“It’s definitely a further story in the Greco-Persian Wars, and it involves some of the same characters but I’m not sure exactly how far along it’ll get and again, until it’s on a marquee, I don’t believe in it.”
Miller also spoke about plans to get moving on a second Sin City and responded to last week’s news that Mickey Rourke was hesitant on returning for the sequel due to long hours in the make-up chair: “He has a pretty big role. I hope Mickey plays it.” Miller also confirmed that although he directed The Spirit solo, he would prefer to once again team-up with Robert Rodriquez for the Sin City sequel:
“I hope to work with Robert. We’re talking it over and trying to work out the mechanics of actually getting it made. It’s always tricky with movies. I believe that a movie’s going to come out as soon as I see its name on a marquee.”
And finally, Miller hinted that he may publish a Sin City or 300 comic or graphic novel ahead of the release of either film.
Read the rest of the interview here.
Kenneth Branagh Talks Thor December 16, 2008 1:04 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News, Thor.add a comment
It’s been more than two months since news broke that Kenneth Branagh was Marvel’s choice to bring Thor to the big-screen and the director has been quite silent on the project. No more. While doing press for his upcoming film Valkryie, the actor/director spoke to MTV about the upcoming film:
“I am directing “Thor” or “The Mighty Thor’ as you might like to call it,” he said with a smile before clarifying what the title of the film will be. “I think it will be ‘Thor.’”
He continued excitedly, “There’s science fiction and science fact and fantasy all woven into one. It’s based on Norse legends which Marvel sort of raided in a brilliant way.
Branagh also spoke to the rumors that Kevin McKidd would be starring as Thor:
“There’s been lots of talk [about casting] — I sound like a politician — but we are too early at this stage. We’re getting the story and the visual effects together and all of that is very exciting. Someone sensational is going to play the part but it is early days.”
Thor is scheduled to hit theaters on July 16, 2010.
Battlestar Galactica: The Face of the Enemy December 16, 2008 12:46 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Battlestar Galactica, Sci Fi, Television, The Face of the Enemy.add a comment
SCI FI’s new 10-part Battlestar Galactica web-series is now online. The Face of the Enemy premiered last Friday afternoon and will be posted on SCIFI.com at 12PM Eastern every Monday and Wednesday up through the on-air return of the series on January 16, 2009.
“The Face of the Enemy” follows the action and suspense inside a stranded Raptor carrying a group of passengers, including Lt. Felix Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani) and a Number 8 Cylon (Grace Park). When passengers suddenly start dying in alarming ways, fear, panic and chaos erupt within the confines of the small ship as suspicion grows that there is a killer among them. Michael Hogan (Col. Tigh) and Brad Dryborough (Lt. Hoshi) also star.
Here’s the full schedule:
- Friday, December, 12: Chapter 1
- Monday, December, 15: Chapter 2
- Wednesday, December, 17: Chapter 3
- Monday, December, 22: Chapter 4
- Wednesday, December, 24: Chapter 5
- Monday, December, 29: Chapter 6
- Wednesday, December, 31: Chapter 7
- Monday, January, 5: Chapter 8
- Wednesday, January, 7: Chapter 9
- Monday, January, 12: Chapter 10
SCI FI also released a new poster advertising the new season of Battlestar Galactica. Which I have posted to the right. Click to enlarge
Watch the first two episodes after the jump.
Hugh Jackman to host Oscars December 16, 2008 11:57 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in 81st Annual Academy Awards, ABC, Movies, News, Television.2 comments
Actor Hugh Jackman (“Australia”, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”) has been tapped to host this year’s Oscar telecast on February 22, 2009. Laurence Mark and Bill Condon, producers of the awards show, called the Australian actor “a consummate entertainer and an internationally renowned movie star.”
“He also has style, elegance and a sense of occasion,” Mark and Condon said in a joint statement. “Hugh is the ideal choice to host a celebration of the year’s movies — and to have fun doing it.”
Jackman had the following to say in a statement:
“Thirty years ago when I was in Sydney watching Johnny Carson host the Oscars with my family, I never imagined that I’d one day have the chance to be up on that stage myself,” Jackman said. “I am very grateful to the Academy for giving me this opportunity. And, excited to be working with Larry and Bill on what I know will be a fun and memorable celebration.”
The 81st Annual Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, February 22nd on ABC.
Knowing Movie Trailer December 16, 2008 11:41 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Knowing, Movie Trailers, Movies.add a comment
Summit Entertainment has released the first full-length trailer for Alex Proyas’ upcoming sci-fi thriller Knowing. Watch it embedded below.
Watch the trailer in high definition at Apple.com
Synopsis
Academy Award® Winner Nicolas Cage (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Leaving Las Vegas) stars in KNOWING, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future—and sets out to prevent them from coming true. In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures to be stored in a time capsule. But one mysterious girl fills her sheet of paper with rows of apparently random numbers instead.
Fifty years later, a new generation of students examines the capsule’s contents and the girl’s cryptic message ends up in the hands of young CALEB KOESTLER. But it is Caleb’s father, professor JOHN KOESTLER (Nicolas Cage), who makes the startling discovery that the encoded message predicts with pinpoint accuracy the dates, death tolls and coordinates of every major disaster of the past 50 years. As Ted further unravels the document’s chilling secrets, he realizes the document foretells three additional events—the last of which hints at destruction on a global scale and seems to somehow involve Ted and his son. When Ted’s attempts to alert the authorities fall on deaf ears, he takes it upon himself to try to prevent more destruction from taking place.
With the reluctant help of DIANA WAYLAND (Rose Byrne) and ABBY WAYLAND, the daughter and granddaughter of the now-deceased author of the prophecies, Ted’s increasingly desperate efforts take him on a heart-pounding race against time until he finds himself facing the ultimate disaster—and the ultimate sacrifice.
Knowing hits theaters on March 20, 2009.
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