The Passion of the Christ star Jim Caviezel (pictured) will join Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings) in a remake of the ’60s sci-fi series The Prisoner for AMC that will premiere next year. The network will turn the classic into a six-part miniseries that will feature Caviezel in the title role of Number Six, which was once played by Prisoner creator and writer Patrick McGoohan. McKellen will play Number Two. The original series, which bowed in 1967, told the story of an ex-British government agent who is kidnapped and taken to a mysterious village where his captors try to extract information from him. AMC will adjust the plot to address 21st century issues such as security and surveillance.
Archive: June 2008 (1-10 of 54)
Jim Caviezel to join Ian McKellen in a remake of 'The Prisoner'
Jeffrey Tambor talks about a possible 'Arrested Development' movie
Bluth family lovers, rejoice! Former Arrested Development costar Jeffrey Tambor has confirmed published reports that a movie version of the Emmy-winning Fox comedy is in the works. “After months of speculation, I think we have finally figured out for sure that we are indeed doing an Arrested Development movie,” Tambor told EW.com at the premiere of Hellboy II on Saturday, the closing night of the L.A. Film Festival. “I am very excited about that. I love that cast and crew and I felt like we had more to say.”
The series, which aired for three seasons, starred Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Walter, Will Arnett, and Michael Cera. The single-camera comedy was beloved by critics, but was never a ratings bonanza for Fox, which canceled the show a year after it won the Emmy award for best comedy. (Additional reporting by Carrie Bell)
Advertisement
SAG update: Will there be a deal before Monday's deadline?
It doesn’t appear likely the Screen Actors Guild will make a deal
with producers before tomorrow’s deadline, but the union seems determined to
demonstrate that it hasn’t given up at the bargaining table. In a
statement released today, SAG President Alan Rosenberg reassured
Hollywood that the union has yet to call for a strike authorization from its
120,000 members and that any talk of a “strike or management lockout at
this point is simply a distraction.” Said Rosenberg, “The Screen Actors
Guild national negotiating committee is coming to the bargaining table
every day in good faith to negotiate a fair contract for actors.”
'Brothers & Sisters': Get ready for some May-December lovin'
Looks like we can expect lots of romance on season 3 of Brothers & Sisters — and we’re not just talking about the possibility of a Justin-Rebecca hookup. One of two male actors who will join the cast this fall will embark upon a May-December romance with Sarah (Rachel Griffiths, pictured). Eric Christian Olsen (Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd) and Will McCormack (Dirt) will both play young careerists who begin working with Sarah in some capacity. The producers have yet to decide which actor will ultimately fall prey to Sarah’s cougar. In the meantime, the drama is also expected to introduce a new love interest for Nora (Sally Field), now that Danny Glover’s Isaac Marshall is out of the picture. Her new beau may have ties to the mysterious son who was revealed in last season’s finale.
'Boy Meets World' star appearing on 'Chuck'
Following news this week that Nicole Richie would be guest-starring on the upcoming season of NBC’s Chuck, EW.com has learned that Boy Meets World’s Ben Savage has been cast as Richie’s spouse on the spy series. Fred’s younger brother will return to the small screen as the neurotic husband of Richie’s character, a former high school classmate of Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski). If Chuck producers are interested in raiding World alums, we think Topanga (Danielle Fishel) would make a great femme fatale. Just a thought.
Advertisement
Bunim-Murray in talks with 'Project Runway'
Project Runway meets…The Real World? Bunim-Murray Prods, the company behind the long-running MTV series and the more recent Living Lohan, is in serious negotiations to take over Runway once it moves from Bravo to Lifetime this fall, according to a key insider. The producing gig opened up in May after Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz of Magical Elves announced they were stepping down from Runway after season 5 (beginning July 16) because they signed an exclusive first-look deal with NBC/Universal. News of their deal came less than a month after Lifetime announced that it nabbed future seasons of Runway away from Bravo. Cutforth and Lipsitz had been responsible for the award-winning Runway since its inception.
Blake Lewis talks about split with Arista
“Leaving Arista is a positive,” Lewis tells EW.com about his recent split with the label. “The industry is eating itself and I’m not trying to eat off their plate.” Yesterday, the American Idol season 6 runner-up blogged about the news, and how he became aware of it, on his MySpace page, writing: “I was just wishing they would
have put the word out to me over the last couple months, because let’s
face it…. Waiting SUCKS!!!! Oh well. I guess the right
time was now. No biggy. I’m still with 19 Recordings and I got a tour
and new record on the way. Now all I need is a home for my music. Some place warm and tropical…”
Lewis is already hard at work on a follow-up to Audio Day Dream, which he’s co-producing with Seattle drum ‘n’ bass master KJ Sawka, a longtime friend and collaborator. On his way to an all-day drum session for the album, Lewis told EW.com the new music is like “Massive Attack meets Zero 7.” Meanwhile, there’s actually still life in ADD: The track “How Many Words” is currently number 39 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play chart.
Fantasia dropped by 19 Management?
Since her 2004 American Idol win, Fantasia Barrino has weathered her fair share of music business shake-ups, surviving mergers and the recent repositioning of her mentor Clive Davis, who signed her to J Records. Though she still has her contract at J, EW.com now hears that as of today, Fantasia has been dropped from 19 Management. The reason for the split, according to sources, is that age-old saw "creative differences." However, like many other Idol contestants, Fantasia remains on the label 19 Recordings and will continue to share music sales profits with the company.
Given the poor climate for record sales, and the lackluster sales of many Idol releases, Fantasia’s albums have done fairly well. Her debut, Free Yourself, sold almost 2 million copies, and the follow-up, 2006’s Fantasia, went gold and garnered three Grammy nominations. She also starred in her own Lifetime TV biopic, authored a book about her rags-to-riches story, and received top billing in the Broadway production of The Color Purple. Says one executive and Fantasia defender: "She’s a star and so multi-talented in every area. Sometimes you have to sever a relationship in order to move forward, but there’s no doubt that Fantasia is accomplished and has proven herself. Someone will want to represent her."
A rep for 19 declined to comment, but assured EW that management deals for David Cook, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Jordin Sparks, and Blake Lewis remain intact. 19 also represents Annie Lennox and The Spice Girls.
Advertisement
Coldplay enjoys another huge bow
When it rains, it (perhaps only briefly) pours. If Lil Wayne hadn’t just last week posted the best one-week album sales figures in over three years, this week we’d be talking about Coldplay as the temporary saviors of the record business. And maybe we should anyway, since they’re racking up sales in a genre that’s been harder pressed for big bows. The band just sold 721,000 copies of Viva la Vida, the best one-week sales tally for any rock group since — you guessed it — Coldplay’s last album, X&Y, which opened with 737,000 in 2005. In this sales climate (and considering that the album leaked on the Web weeks in advance), selling on par with their blockbuster last effort can only be seen as a serious uptick in fan interest.
Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III experienced the expected decline from its stunning million-plus debut, falling to second place with a 69 percent decrease in sales and a still-healthy 309,000 units. Third place belonged to the tween set, via the soundtrack to the smash Disney Channel telepic Camp Rock, which bowed with 188,000 sales. You have to wonder if it might have done even better if it had been marketed as containing new Jonas Brothers material, but the label played that down to help maintain anticipation for the new Jonas album due in August. Self-avowed girl kisser Katy Perry, also did well, coming in at No. 9 on the Nielsen Soundscan/Billboard chart with 47,000 sales of her One of the Boys album. The Offspring closely trailed at No. 10 with 46,000 units, followed by Judas Priest’s Nostradamus at No. 11 with 42,000.
Rihanna easily had the biggest chart jump this week with the re-release of her Good Girl Gone Bad record, which was was sold as a deluxe edition with additional tracks, including the current hit “Disturbia.” The repackaged disc sold 63,000, allowing RiRi a leggy leap from No. 124 to No. 7.
Meanwhile, even as they commandeered the album chart, Coldplay ceded singles dominance to Katy Perry, a Capitol Records labelmate, as “I Kissed a Girl” replaced “Viva la Vida” in the top spot on both Billboard’s Hot 100 and Soundscan’s Digital Songs. The track’s sales for the week were up 7 percent to 235,000, for a total so far of 988,000. Debuting in second place on the digital download list was a song from Camp Rock, “This is Me,” by Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato, which sold 135,000. Coldplay’s title track slid down to No. 3 now that fans are more interested in buying the entire album. “7 Things,” the teaser track from Miley Cyrus’ upcoming album, was finally made available across all digital platforms and as a result moved from No. 48 up to No. 4, selling 130,000 for the week. That’s two Cyrus kids in the digital songs top 10, by the way — Miley’s brother, Trace, is in the band Metro Station, whose “Shake It” currently sits (or shakes) at No. 10.
Next up for the music industry: a return to earth. This week’s most promisingly commercial album releases are new efforts from Motley Crue and Three 6 Mafia, neither of which is likely to sell in the multiple hundreds of thousands right out of the gate. The two-week return to the 1990s-era music-biz gold rush was fun while it lasted…
Jon Krakauer's Pat Tillman book delayed indefinitely
Looks like Jon Krakauer’s Pat Tillman narrative has vanished into thin air. Publishers Weekly reports that the Into the Wild author has withdrawn his manuscript about Tillman — the professional football player who was shot and killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004 — from publisher Doubleday, as he is apparently not happy with the copy. (Doubleday reps confirmed the book’s postponement with Publishers Weekly and said they support Krakauer’s decision.) A future release date has yet to be scheduled. The book was originally slated for publication in October, but now it seems unlikely that Krakauer fans will see it hit shelves anytime before 2009. We’re guessing Doubleday is hoping to release the book sooner than later, however: with 500,000 copies scheduled to be released in the book’s first printing, the book is likely to become a bestseller list staple.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- Next
Featured Video
OscarWatch TV: 'Avatar' as underdog?
Dave Karger and Missy Schwartz on the rise of ''Hurt Locker,'' Sandra leapfrogging Meryl for Best Actress
More 
Today's Most Popular
-
-
-
-
-
Doc Jensen on 'Lost' 'Lost': 'Kate' expectations
Special Coverage
Totally 'Lost'!
Get up to speed for the final season:
New theories and news from Doc Jensen, exclusive video, photos, trivia, and more
More
