Joel Silver's Ben 10 Finds A Writer

Albert Torres gets the gigIn case you missed the news last year, action maestro Joel Silver is putting together a live-action Ben 10 movie with the Cartoon Network. You know, for kids. And the movie just got a little closer to fruition this morning, with the news that Albert Torres is now hard at work on a screenplay.Ben 10, for those not down with the kids, is a hugely successful series that began in 2005. Our hero, Ben Tennyson, has a watch-like device that allows him to transform into ten superpowered aliens (one at a time). With the help of his cool granddad and younger sister, he's already used his unusual abilities to fight evil across three separate series and two spin-off TV movies directed by Bill and Ted's Alex Winter. Lee Majors played Grandpa Max, in his retirement from being the unknown stuntman who made Eastwood look so fine.For his big screen incarnation, Torres is tasked with turning Ben into a "big-budget, tentpole, action driven adventure", presumably with the weight to kick off a new arm of the franchise. Torres' previous work has often been somewhat adult-oriented:he was involved with Very Bad Things, and has a script in development based on Chuck Palahniuk's Survivor. But he also wrote the lighter Henry Poole Is Here, and was recently one of several writers to take a stab at Warners' Akira. Maybe that means his head is currently in the right place to come up with a huge live-action FX extravaganza based on an animation.*Ben 10 doesn't have a studio yet, but everyone's expecting Silver to find it a home at Warner Bros. He promises it won't be like Speed Racer. We didn't actually think Speed Racer was that bad.*And yes, we know Akira is a six-volume manga as well as a famous anime, but you take our point.

New Mirror Mirror Trailer Online

Tarsem Singh's take includes a new promoWhen the very first trailer for Snow Whitened tale Mirror Mirror showed up, it's fair to express that people were not exactly pushed off our ft. Despite the fact that a few of the comic tone still results in as a tad too crazy here, this second promo is really a definite improvement. Have a look below. Directed by Immortals' Tarsem Singh, Mirror Mirror is striving to become the sunshine, bubbly, family-friendly option to the disaster-laden action of Snow Whitened And Also The Huntsman. The plot here follows more across the familiar lines from the Grimm brothers' story book, with Snow (Lily Collins) because the youthful princess whose claim that they can the throne is usurped through the evil enchantress Full (Jennifer Aniston).Things certainly have a turn for that worse when Snow catches the attention from the handsome Prince Andrew Alcott (Armie Hammer), and also the Full banishes her towards the forest, in which a nasty animal awaits. But our heroine finds out that is less than what it really appears, and she's befriended by seven ingenious, pint-sized rebels (brought by Danny Woodburn and Martin Klebba) who accept help her retake her kingdom.With Singh giving everything his typically stylistic sheen, you will find moments that also feel a bit an excessive amount of just like a panto (however it's Snow Whitened) and that we could do with no comedy seem effects / Three Stooges slapstick. We are still not convinced through the "puppy love" scene, though full marks to Roberts and Hammer for resolve for the concept. Overall, though, we are a lot more confident concerning the movie's chances following this. Mirror Mirror was set to reach on March 16, although the US release date was lately pressed to March 30...

Matt Damon Shedding Directorial Debut

Update: Gus Van Sant will direct insteadUPDATE:The Playlist recommended, and Deadline Hollywood has confirmed, that Gus VanSant may be the guy to walk into Damon's footwear as director and lead that one towards the screen.Anticipate seeing additional factors fall under place and filming start soon......Following within the actions of bestest bud Film Clip, Matt Damon continues to be plotting his first crack at pointing a movie for age range now. But although it looked in October he might finally make the leap to hoisting a megaphone by having an untitled drama for Warner Bros., the Hollywood Reporter presently has it that Damon has made the decision to ditch that job.He's still likely to star within the movie, that is covered with some secrecy but apparently concentrates on a salesperson who arrives in a tiny town and finds his existence transformed in unpredicted ways. Damon cooked in the idea alongside McSweeney's overlord/In Which The Wild Situations Are author Dork Eggers and also the Office's John Krasinski coupled with written the script with Krasinski, who's also because of have a role.But as they had meant to shepherd it towards the screen themself, it appears that arranging issues (likely associated with reshoots on District 9 director Neill Blomkamp's Elysium) have stored him from having the ability to prepare correctly. Variety drops reference to script issues, which appears odd given Damon continues to be so directly involved. Still, it in all probability means a mix of both, using the pair fine-tuning the script until it's perfect. Warners and also the producers are actually around the search for any alternative director.Damon will next be observed in Cameron Crowe's We Purchased A Zoo, which arrives here on March 16.

L.A. prod'n increases 5.7% this season

Hollywood's offlot output of features rose 5.7% this season but TV activity slid 2.7% due to a disappointing fall production season as runaway production needed its toll on local shoots. Enabling agency FilmLA reported Tuesday that overall offlot production elevated 4.2% a year ago to 45,484 permitted days. FilmL.A. leader Paul Audley mentioned the place can't depend on television being shot in La. "When we are relieved to find out annual gains in overall production days, we can not take any growth without any consideration,In . Audley mentioned. "We ought to fight to help keep and obtain more movies and-value television series to keep our vendor companies and deckie's working and our region's economy afloat." Feature production totalled 5,682 days while using 5.7% yearly boost due largely with a 50% surge inside the third quarter fourth-quarter production walked 26%. Films that qualified for your California Film & Television Tax Credit Program created 652 days inside the La region a year ago -- 11.5% in the annual total. The highest feature to shoot in La was "Magnus Rex" -- truly the place status for Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Dark evening Increases." Other films of note to shoot in your town incorporated "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III," "Argo," "Damaging the Girl," "Cyber Planet," "Decoding Annie Parker," "Gangster Squad," "My Mother's Curse," "Savages," "Seven Psychopaths," "Sports Camping," "Think As being a Guy," "That Is 40," "We have Your Husband" and "Thank you for going to People." Television -- the greatest component of offlot production -- declined by nearly 500 days to 17,349 days. The fourth quarter represented the finest decline, posting a ten.6% drop due to losing 10 one-hour TV drama series along with other states, with FilmL.A. watching the health of NY gets accurate documentation TV season since it provides a lot more than four occasions the amount of funding accessible in filming tax credits than does California. L.A.-area production inside the ads category elevated 4.4% to 7,079 days, setting a yearly high by topping the 2005 record by 96 days. The "other" category, which inlcudes musicvids, rose 12.% to 15,374 days. Overall offlot production still lags the 2008 total of 47,117 permitted days but has enhanced within the 2009 total of 37,979 days. Calfornia Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes is developing legislation which will extend California's film production incentive program, which he mentioned he expects introducing a bill inside the approaching legislative session. Some-year-old program has allocated $400 million of credits and may allocate another $100 million within this summer time plus another $100 million being allocated within this summer time 2013. California's program, providing you with a maximum rebate of 25%, is much smaller sized than people of other states. NY introduced in August the record 23 series were lensing inside the condition round the heels of the legislature's five-year renewal in the film incentive tax program there, providing you with a 30% refundable condition tax credit, designated at $420 million every year NY City offers an additional 5% refundable credit, designated yearly at $Thirty Dollars million. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Brandi Gets Married in Vegas

Brandi Glanville The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Brandi Glanville got married in Las Vegas, she announced on Twitter. "Follow my new husband! @darinharvey. Getting my ring tomorrow! Yes I did really do it!," she wrote on Sunday. "He is my best friend but after some beer and strippers he is now my husband! No joke!" VIDEO: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' newbies say watching the show is traumatizing The 39-year-old Glanville, who joined the Bravo series this season, was married to Eddie Cibrian - who starred in this season's quickly canceled The Playboy Club - but the two divorced after he left her for singer LeAnn Rimes. Glanville, who admits the nuptials were unplanned, added that she and the mixed martial arts manager may get an annulment. "We may not stay this way, #thankucoffeepatron," she wrote. "We may annul." Watch our interview with Brandi about the season:

Change at Elizabeth Banks inside the Hunger Games

With Lionsgate's marketing push for your Hunger Games arriving a gear, a completely new image remains released showing Elizabeth Banks' Effie Trinket in many her shocking pink majesty.However, this new image doesn't come like a production still or teaser poster rather it's part of a commercial for just about any new Hunger Games cosmetic change from China Glaze.The range is entitled "Capitol Colours" (see whatever they did there?), while using Trinket-endorsed nail polish asking clients, "What exactly are you wearing for the opening occasions?"As cynical as it can certainly to research the face of things, it's actually a significant clever little tie-in, which we ought to see more recent and much more effective glimpses of other figures weight reduction adverts emerge.As was noted the other day, the hundred days countdown for the film's release has started, while using Hunger Games arriving Uk cinemas on 23 March 2012. Now, we ought to stop typing for just about any minute to permit these dry...

Hollywood has its own crosses to bare

The Passion of the Christ made an impact and big bucks worldwide. Now that the "war on Christmas" has been declared, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.I never quite figured out what that "war" was all about, but the talkshows dote on it and Rick Perry complains that the mere act of throwing a Christmas party invites a media firestorm. Most of the Fox News pundits agree with him, thus spurring Jon Stewart to declare his personal (and presumably facetious) war on Christmas.Most of us steer clear of Christmas controversies, but they confront us in specific areas. Should our cards explicitly wish friends a Merry Christmas, or duck into the blur of "happy holidays"? The corporate HR types urge a blur but a minority of folks still go for Christmas (including Jerry Bruckheimer, but he's a Republican so it doesn't count).I checked into my own cards and they are 50-50, but I don't know whether this reflects political correctness or disorganization.All this is relevant to Hollywood because it has long had a vested interest in Christ, from the days of Cecil B. DeMille to Mel Gibson. Only last week Chris Columbus acquired the rights to the Anne Rice tome "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt," which focuses on the 7-year-old Jesus and his return to Nazareth. In the course of the story Christ discovers the truth about his birth and defines his life purpose.According to John A. Murray, an academic who has studied this realm, Hollywood's forays into religion have been bountiful financially but also have had a major cultural impact around the world, introducing millions to Christianity. DeMille's "King of Kings" was viewed by some 800 million people by 1959, asserts Murray. As a silent film, "Kings" was useful to Protestant and Catholic missionaries in selling the gospel in non-English speaking territories.Even a flop like the Warner Bros. film, "Jesus," in 1979, was ultimately translated into 1,000 languages, making it perhaps "the most watched film in history." (Missionaries tabbed it lovingly "the Jesus film.")While "The Greatest Story Ever Told" remains the most famous Hollywood film in this genre, Mel Gibson's effusion, "The Passion of the Christ," was surely the most profitable (it grossed more than $500 million worldwide). To be sure, "Ben Hur" performed mightily as well thanks in part to Charlton Heston playing Judah Ben Hur (the movie related Jesus' birth, ministry and death but didn't have time for his resurrection.)DeMille always reiterated that his films were simply "translations of the Bible to another medium," thus overlooking the reality that the words of the Bible are themselves subject to varying interpretation. Writing in the NY Times, Nicholas D. Kristof noted recently that the Bible offers contradictory positions on such issues as homosexuality, divorce and even the naughty behavior of the people of Sodom.Mark 10 envisions a lifelong marriage of one man and one woman, but King Solomon gloried in his 700 wives, and still other references suggest that the most practical approach for men was to remain stolidly celibate. Rather than obsessing about homosexuality, Kristof points out, "early commentators were very concerned about sex with angels as an incorrect mixing of two kinds."Every ideologue supplies his own Biblical references. Tony Perkins, head of the right-wing Family Research Council, pointed out recently that Christ would have condemned the "Occupy" movement because the Bible establishes Jesus as a "free marketer." (So much for God's approval of the 99%.)I'm pleased that a healthy reciprocity exists between Hollywood and Christ. Even as Hollywood has spread the word, Christ has helped spread the wealth. This puts me in a much cheerier mood as I sign my Christmas cards.Column Calendar: Monday: Peter Bart Tuesday: Peter Caranicas/Cynthia Littleton wednesday: Brian Lowry Thursday: Andrew Barker/David S. Cohen Friday: Tim Gray/Ted Johnson Contact Peter Bart at peter.bart@variety.com