News for 2/8/2005


Weekend Boxoffice


'Boogeyman' Tops Weekend Box Office


LOS ANGELES (AP) - It was anything but a frightful weekend at the box office for the horror movie "Boogeyman," which took the top spot with $19 million.

The top 20 movies at North American theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. and Nielsen EDI Inc.:

1. "Boogeyman," Sony/Screen Gems, $19,020,655, 3,052 locations, $6,232 average, $19,020,655, one week.

2. "The Wedding Date," Universal, $11,129,580, 1,695 locations, $6,566 average, $11,129,580, one week.

3. "Are We There Yet?," Sony, $10,614,455, 2,790 locations, $3,804 average, $51,272,367, three weeks.

4. "Hide and Seek," Fox, $8,906,932, 3,005 locations, $2,964 average, $35,714,609, two weeks.

5. "Million Dollar Baby," Warner Bros., $8,515,365, 2,025 locations, $4,205 average, $34,436,002, eight weeks.

6. "The Aviator," Miramax, $5,427,739, 2,530 locations, $2,145 average, $75,895,720, eight weeks.

7. "Meet the Fockers," Universal, $4,807,635, 2,504 locations, $1,920 average, $265,163,545, seven weeks.

8. "Sideways," Fox Searchlight, $4,657,390, 1,786 locations, $2,608 average, $46,665,695, 16 weeks.

9. "Racing Stripes," Warner Bros., $4,282,291, 3,003 locations, $1,426 average, $40,370,403, four weeks.

10. "Coach Carter," Paramount, $4,233,812, 2,574 locations, $1,645 average, $59,338,414, four weeks.

11. "In Good Company," Universal, $3,341,960, 1,943 locations, $1,720 average, $40,770,682, six weeks.

12. "Andrew Lloyd Webber's the Phantom of the Opera," Warner Bros., $2,609,040, 1,515 locations, $1,722 average, $42,804,436, seven weeks.

13. "Finding Neverland," Miramax, $2,528,704, 1,411 locations, $1,792 average, $39,410,213, 13 weeks.

14. "Hotel Rwanda," MGM/UA, $2,316,416, 821 locations, $2,821 average, $11,225,811, seven weeks.

15. "Assault On Precinct 13," Focus, $1,803,566, 1,370 locations, $1,316 average, $17,868,500, three weeks.

16. "Alone in the Dark," Lions Gate, $873,102, 2,124 locations, $411 average, $4,663,908, two weeks.

17. "White Noise," Universal, $864,230, 1,340 locations, $645 average, $55,146,170, five weeks.

18. "National Treasure," Disney, $488,004, 458 locations, $1,066 average, $168,373,373, 12 weeks.

19. "Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events," Paramount, $441,354, 630 locations, $701 average, $116,652,720, eight weeks.

20. "Elektra," Fox, $413,965, 568 locations, $729 average, $23,808,949, four weeks.



'Slavery' Looks Beyond 'Roots'

By John Cook


PBS introduces viewers to "the Founding Fathers you never knew" in "Slavery and the Making of America," an ambitious four-hour documentary miniseries airing on consecutive Wednesdays, Feb. 9 and 16 (check local listings).

Actor Morgan Freeman narrates the presentation, which examines the institution of slavery from its origins in the 17th century, when African workers toiled under conditions not all that different from those experienced by European indentured servants, through its evolution into an institution based solely on race.

The miniseries makes heavy use of re-enactments to help personalize and make more immediate these accounts drawn from both academic sources and journals kept by slaves themselves.

What emerges is an engrossing, complex and often self-contradictory history as befitting the actual events that unfolded in a country that declared itself to be based on fundamental tenets of freedom, yet whose economy was largely bolstered on the shoulders of African slave labor.

"Slavery was no sideshow in American history. It was the main event," says historian James Horton, co-author of a companion book to the PBS miniseries.

"The series is structured in loose chronological order, because one of the overarching ideas of the series is that slavery changed over time," Horton explains. "The slavery that we were taught in school is a little, tiny swipe -- I call it the 'slavery as a scene in "Roots"' -- of the history of slavery.

"There are some stories that you can't not tell. I mean, how do you not tell the story of Harriet Jacobs, who escapes from slavery and spends seven years hiding in an attic above her grandmother's house? There are certain stories that just tell themselves."

And then there are other aspects to the story of slavery in America that may come as eye-openers to many viewers, such as the conditions that prevailed early on in New Dutch Amsterdam (later New York City), where Africans and other workers of mixed race or culture mingled freely with one another in pubs, had some legal rights, and could take their masters to court and even earn wages, although the work they undertook was harsh and demanding.

As the first hour of the PBS miniseries reveals, however, in time the Africans became more valuable for the work they provided than for their inherent value as human beings -- or at least that was the growing if unspoken attitude among their masters, especially in the Carolinas. There, the slaves not only provided the labor but the native know-how to raise such cash crops as rice.

One dramatic harbinger of things to come rose out of the case of John Punch, a black indentured servant working on a small Virginia tobacco farm in the 1640s alongside two white indentured servants, Scotsman James Gregory and a Dutchman known only as Victor. When the three were captured after an unsuccessful attempt to flee their master, the two white men had several more years added to their terms of servitude, while Punch -- who had committed exactly the same crime -- was sentenced to a lifetime of indentured servitude.

"Initially, there wasn't much difference between an enslaved African or a white indentured servant," series producer Dante J. James says. "But over the course of our first hour, we see [slavery] evolve to a system that is defined and legally codified along the lines of race, the idea being that there were conscious decisions being made in terms of who was going to be enslaved and why they were going to be enslaved."

"Slavery" executive producer William R. Grant refers to the enslaved as "the Founding Fathers you never knew ... nameless, faceless people who [are] very important to our history, and we've never been taught it."

That consideration gave Grant and James a notion for how to use re-enactments to lend these personal histories a greater and more intimate impact.

"Re-creations are fairly common in history films now," Grant says, "and the convention we broke was to [show] the faces of the people. Scholars thought it was very important portraying a people for whom there is no photographic record to actually see their faces and for them to have personality."

"The idea was that we want viewers to see the enslaved as human beings first and enslaved people second," James adds. "In order for that to happen, we felt very strongly that visually we had to come up with a new approach and show people as full-fledged human beings -- show their faces, show their reactions and emotions, and show them in the light of the dignified human beings that they were."



Cusack & Freeman Take The Contract

Source: Variety


John Cusack and Morgan Freeman will star in Bruce Beresford thriller The Contract. Variety says the film begins production this spring.

Budgeted at $37 million, The Contract is the story of a family outing that turns deadly when a grandfather, son and grandson stumble across the path of a hired killer. Stephen Katz and John Darrouzet wrote the script.

Cusack is currently shooting Must Love Dogs opposite Diane Lane for Warner Bros. Pictures. His next release is Focus Features' The Ice Harvest opposite Billy Bob Thornton.

Freeman is currently shooting Lucky Number Slevin. He recently completed Edison, with Kevin Spacey and Justin Timberlake.



UPN Has New Queen of the 'Hill'


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Entering its production homestretch with its future very much up-in-the-air, UPN has recruited Samantha Corbin-Miller to serve as executive producer and showrunner on freshman drama "Kevin Hill" for the rest of the season.

Corbin-Miller joins Alex Taub, Bruce Davey and Nancy Cotton in the "Kevin Hill" production team for the show's final four episodes of its 22-episode order. Despite ample critical buzz, a charismatic leading man in Taye Diggs and the finest time slot UPN can offer -- behind "America's Next Top Model" for much of the season -- "Kevin Hill" has averaged only 3.13 million viewers through its first 17 airings.

"It's definitely appealing to be able to work on a show with a smart, strong Africa-American lead in primetime," Corbin-Miller tells The Hollywood Reporter. "That's definitely a rare thing, especially in the drama world. It's also not just a legal procedural case of the week -- we're able to explore the personal stories of this character."

Previous writer-producer credits for Corbin-Miller including NBC's "ER" and "Crossing Jordan" and ABC's "Gideon's Crossing."



Different 'Boston,' Same Character for McBride


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) "Boston Public" Principal Steven Harper is rising from the TV ashes.

ABC says Chi McBride, who played Harper for four seasons on FOX's "Boston Public," will reprise the character for an episode of "Boston Legal" next month. In addition to sharing a locale, both "Boston" shows are produced by David E. Kelley.

The "Boston Legal" episode, scheduled for Sunday, March 13, finds Harper in legal hot water after he bans "certain network news coverage" at his school, the network says. ABC is also calling the episode "controversial," for what it's worth.

Kelley has had characters from his shows cross over between networks in the past, notably staging a FOX-ABC, "Ally McBeal"-"The Practice" stunt in the spring of 1998. McBride also appeared as Harper on an episode of "The Practice" in 2001.

In addition to his "Boston Legal" guest spot, McBride will be seen in several episodes of FOX's freshman drama "House" later this season, playing a hospital board member who irritates Dr. Greg House (Hugh Laurie).



Award-Winning Actors Leap to 'Stargate'


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Sci Fi's two-headed franchise of "Stargate SG-1" and "Stargate Atlantis" has landed an Emmy-winning regular, an Oscar-winning recurring star and one of the most familiar faces from recent sci fi television. Beau Bridges, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Mitch Pileggi have signed on for appearances on the two shows, which are both set to begin production in March for summer premieres.

Bridges ("The Fabulous Baker Boys"), winner of a trio of Emmys, will become a regular on "Stargate SG-1," one of Sci Fi's most successful original series as it enters its ninth season. Bridges will play General Hank Landry, the new head of Stargate Command. Bridges' character will also cross over into a few episodes of "Stargate Atlantis."

An Oscar winner for "An Officer and a Gentleman," Gossett will take a recurring role as a Jaffa leader who vies with Teal'c for political control of the new Jaffa nation. That last sentence is bound to be meaningful to fans of the show.

Pileggi, a veteran of FOX's "The X-Files" and The WB's "The Mountain," will appear on "Stargate Atlantis" in the recurring role of a hard-nosed colonel who runs afoul of Dr. Weir (Torri Higginson) and Major Sheppard (Joe Flanigan).



News for 2/2/2005


Lee, Hart Nab Pilot Roles


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Kevin Hart and Jennifer Westfeldt are joining the cast of NBC's "Dante," while Jason Lee will take the lead in the network's comedy pilot "My Name Is Earl," sending that script to pilot.

"Dante," from Steve Levitan ("Just Shoot Me!"), stars Morris Chestnut as a football star whose celebrity on and off the field has left him oblivious to much of the realities of the world. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hart, who starred in last spring's ABC comedy "The Big House," will play the best friend of the lead character. Westfeldt, who co-wrote and starred in the indie hit "Kissing Jessica Stein," will play his agent.

Tony Cox ("Bad Santa") was already signed to play Uncle Goldey.

"Earl" focuses on a petty crook (Lee) who wins the lottery and decides to write the wrongs he made in his life. Greg Garcia ("Yes, Dear") wrote the script and will executive produce. The casting of Lee lifts the contingency hold from the pilot.

If "Earl" goes to series it would mark Lee's debut as a television regular. The former professional skateboarder has developed a cult following for his work in five films -- most prominently "Mallrats" and "Chasing Amy" -- with writer-director Kevin Smith. Lee's other credits include "Almost Famous" and "Dreamcatcher." The actor was heard last year as the voice of the villainous Syndrome in the Pixar smash "The Incredibles."



'Ray' Director Grabs NBC's 'Ring'


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Oscar-nominated "Ray" director Taylor Hackford is making a foray into TV, signing on to direct the Jerry Bruckheimer pilot "E-Ring" for NBC. Two other fairly well-known helmers, Stephen Hopkins and Mick Jackson, have also taken on pilot duties, at NBC and ABC.

Hackford, who was also nominated for a Directors Guild award for best picture nominee "Ray," comes to "E-Ring" via his acquaintance with producer Bruckheimer and the pilot's co-creator, David McKenna ("Blow," "American History X"), the Hollywood trade papers report. The show is a "West Wing"-style ensemble drama set in the Pentagon's corridors of power.

The pilot will be Hackford's first directing assignment for television. His other feature-film credits include "An Officer and a Gentleman," "Proof of Life" and "The Devil's Advocate."

Also at NBC, Hopkins will direct the pilot for "World of Trouble," a drama about an FBI unit that investigates crimes against Americans outside the country's borders. He earned an Emmy nomination in 2002 for directing "24" and a DGA nod this year for HBO's "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers."

Jackson, coming off the pilot for "Numb3rs" at CBS, will helm "In Justice" for ABC. The drama about lawyers who help those wrongly convicted of crimes comes from Touchstone TV and the team of Stu Bloomberg, Robert King and Michelle King.

Jackson's credits also include "L.A. Story," "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "Live from Baghdad."



News for 1/30/2005


Weekend Boxoffice


'Hide and Seek' No. 1 at Box Office

By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Robert De Niro's fright flick "Hide and Seek" had a strong debut in its opening weekend, taking in $22 million to become the top movie and fending off a rush of Academy Awards contenders.

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Ice Cube's road-trip comedy "Are We There Yet?", slipped to second place with $17 million, lifting its 10-day total to $39.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Director Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" led Oscar hopefuls with $11.8 million, coming in at No. 3 during its first weekend of wide release and raising its total domestic gross to $21.1 million.

Cashing in on its seven Oscar nominations last week, the boxing drama expanded to 2,010 theaters, up about 1,800 the previous weekend.

"Million Dollar Baby" is in a neck-and-neck race for best picture and director at the Oscars with Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator," which was No. 6 for the weekend with $7.5 million, pushing its total to $68.2 million.

"The Aviator," a film biography of Howard Hughes that leads the Oscar field with 11 nominations, was in 2,503 cinemas, an increase of 242.

Eastwood won top honors over Scorsese Saturday from the Directors Guild of America. Eastwood also earned the Golden Globe directing prize, while "The Aviator" won for best dramatic film at the Globes.

In its 15th week of release, best-picture nominee "Sideways" broke into the top 10, coming in seventh with $6.3 million as it expanded to 1,694 theaters, up about 1,000. The road-trip comedy has taken in $40 million playing in relatively narrow release.

The weekend's only other new wide release, Tara Reid and Christian Slater's scary movie "Alone in the Dark," bombed with just $2.5 million, finishing well out of the top 10. Viciously trashed by critics, the movie stars Reid as an anthropologist and Slater as a paranormal investigator battling mutant monsters.

"Hide and Seek" also received harsh reviews, but like many other fright films, it drew the faithful horror crowd, which is rarely dissuaded by critics if a movie looks like it has some decent scares.

Horror films often nosedive in their second weekend, but De Niro's presence could give "Hide and Seek" more staying power, said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, which released the movie.

De Niro plays a father in the film coping with the potentially murderous "imaginary friend" of his daughter, played by Dakota Fanning.

"Because of the cache of De Niro, which makes it quite a bit above the normal things-that-go-bump-in-the-night movie, I think we'll fare well," Snyder said.

Among other key Oscar nominees:

_ The J.M. Barrie tale, "Finding Neverland," which earned seven nominations including best picture, grossed $2.7 million to raise its total to $35.9 million. The film widened to 1,258 theaters, up 389.

_ "Hotel Rwanda," with a best-actor nomination for Don Cheadle and supporting-actress nomination for Sophie Okonedo, took in $1.8 million in 417 theaters, 98 more locations than the previous weekend. The genocide drama lifted its total to $8.1 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Hide and Seek," $22 million.
2. "Are We There Yet?", $17 million.
3. "Million Dollar Baby," $11.8 million.
4. "Coach Carter," $8 million.
5. "Meet the Fockers," $7.6 million.
6. "The Aviator," $7.5 million.
7. "Sideways," $6.3 million.
8. "In Good Company," $6.2 million.
9. "Racing Stripes," $6 million.
10. "Assault on Precinct 13," $4.2 million.



Eastwood Wins Directors Guild Honor

By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Clint Eastwood was declared filmmaker of the year by his peers on Saturday, winning the Directors Guild of America honor for the boxing saga "Million Dollar Baby."

The award solidifies Eastwood's prospects to win his second best-director prize at the Academy Awards on Feb. 27. He previously won the Academy Award and guild prize for 1992's "Unforgiven," which also was that year's best-picture champ at the Oscars.

Eastwood's triumph dashed fellow nominee Martin Scorsese's hopes yet again. With the Howard Hughes epic "The Aviator," Scorsese earned his sixth guild nomination for best director, but he has lost every time.

"Million Dollar Baby" stars Eastwood as a curmudgeonly boxing trainer and reluctant mentor to a scrappy fighter (Hilary Swank) who becomes a champion in the ring before her life takes a tragic turn. Morgan Freeman co-stars as an ex-boxer and resident sage of the gym where Swank's character trains.

Eastwood offered gracious thanks to Swank and Freeman, saying their presence made his job as director a delight.

"I've just got to say that this is a real pleasure," Eastwood said. "I've worked with Hilary and Morgan, just fabulous people to be making a picture together. All I have to do is just sort of stand there and guide it."

All three performers earned acting nominations for the Oscars.

"Million Dollar Baby" emerged as a last-minute awards contender. Eastwood did not begin shooting the film until early last summer, and distributor Warner Bros. had expected it would not be ready for release until 2005.

When Eastwood showed a cut of the film last fall, studio executives loved it and went into overdrive to get it ready for December release to qualify for the Oscars.

The Directors Guilds award is one of Hollywood's most accurate forecasts for the Oscars. Only six times in the 56-year history of the guild honors has the winner failed to go on to receive the directing Oscar.

"Million Dollar Baby" and "The Aviator" split key honors at the Golden Globes. "The Aviator" took the Globe for best drama while Eastwood received the directing prize for "Million Dollar Baby."

"The Aviator" is considered the nominal front-runner for best picture at the Oscars, and before the guild awards, Scorsese had been viewed as a sentimental favorite for the directing Oscar. But a similar split between the two films is possible on Oscar night, or even a sweep of both the best-picture and director honors for "Million Dollar Baby."

Scorsese received a lifetime-achievement honor from the guild two years ago, the same year he had been considered the sentimental favorite to win both the guild's directing prize and the Oscar for "Gangs of New York."

First-time feature-film director Rob Marshall wound up winning the guild honor for "Chicago," while the Oscar went to Roman Polanski for "The Pianist."

Scorsese has been nominated for the directing Oscar four times previously, losing each time, and his films also have never won a best-picture Academy Award.

In other guild directing honors, "The Story of the Weeping Camel" won the documentary prize over Michael Moore's political hit "Fahrenheit 9/11." Directed by Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni, "The Story of the Weeping Camel" chronicles a crisis over a camel calf belonging to a family of Mongolian nomads.

"Ray" director Taylor Hackford lost the feature-film contest for his Ray Charles portrait, but TV winners included Bruce Gowers, who won the musical variety honor for "Genius: A Night for Ray Charles."

Among other TV recipients were Walter Hill, honored for series drama for the pilot of the Western "Deadwood"; Timothy Van Patten, chosen for comedy series for the "Sex and the City" finale; and Joe Sargent, winner of the small-screen movie prize for the medical drama "Something the Lord Made."



TV Celebrates Black History Month

By John Cook


While the commercial networks look predominantly to what looks like safe ratings winners during February, PBS and several cable channels have a diverse list of movies and specials lined up in acknowledgment of Black History Month.

Showtime gets a jump-start on the month on Sunday, Jan. 30, with a double bill of the hit movie comedies "Barbershop" and "Barbershop 2: Back in Business," then launches things officially on Tuesday, Feb. 1, with Black Filmmaker Showcase, an anthology of the following short films: "Gift for the Living," directed by Tamika Miller and starring Irma P. Hall; "Get Home Safe," directed by Lyndon McCray, about three black teens in New York trying to persuade a cabdriver to take them home to Brooklyn; "Out of Body Experience," directed by Van Elder, in which a man (Chris Spencer) dreams he is eight months pregnant; "Hope's Choice" by filmmaker Garrett Thompson, in which a young man is torn between gang life and the desire to create a stable home with his pregnant girlfriend; "Red Eye," Kevin Gordon's meditation on racial stereotyping; and "Shook," in which a wife (Robinne Lee) discovers that her husband is having a homosexual affair on the "downlow."

On Saturday, Feb. 5, The History Channel unveils the first of its black history specials with "Go Tell It on the Mountain: The History of Black Preachers," a documentary study of religious leaders who have united and inspired their community during times of hardship and adversity. The film features interviews with such prominent black ministers as Jesse Jackson, Eddie Long and Calvin Butts, as well as re-enactments of famous sermons.

Showtime presents an encore telecast of "Deacons for Defense," an original civil rights drama starring Forest Whitaker, Jonathan Silverman and Ossie Davis, on Tuesday, Feb. 8, then PBS premieres one of the month's crowning highlights, "Slavery and the Making of America," on Wednesday, Feb. 9. Morgan Freeman narrates this chronicle of American slavery starting with the arrival of English settlers in Virginia in the early 1600s and running through Reconstruction and the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The four-part presentation concludes Wednesday, Feb. 16.

HBO joins the lineup of special programming with the premiere of "Lackawanna Blues" on Saturday, Feb. 12. Originally a one-man off-Broadway theatrical tour de force starring Ruben Santiago-Hudson, this TV movie adaptation employs a sprawling ensemble cast that includes, besides the original star, S. Epatha Merkerson, Mos Def, Louis Gossett Jr., Ernie Hudson, Delroy Lindo, Macy Gray, Jimmy Smits, Liev Schreiber and Patricia Wettig as characters living in 1960s Lackawanna, N.Y. That same night brings the History Channel premiere of "Voices of Civil Rights," an episode of "Save Our History" that recounts the civil rights struggle through those who actually lived through that turbulent time.

Also on History, the Tuesday, Feb. 15, episode of "Modern Marvels" is devoted to a profile of George Washington Carver, the visionary whose creative ideas led in time to peanut butter (of course), as well as such contemporary applications as soy plastics and biodiesel fuel. That same night, Showtime presents an encore presentation of "Crown Heights," with Mario Van Peebles and Howie Mandel playing characters caught up in that community's race riots.

One of the month's brightest highlights arrives Sunday, Feb. 20, as Bravo presents "The Sarah Jones Show," a one-hour showcase of the chameleonic actress who recently took New York by storm in her one-woman show "Bridge & Tunnel." An electrifying actress and storyteller in the tradition of Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg and Anna Deavere Smith, Jones brings a colorful array of characters to life, crossing boundaries of age, class and ethnicity. She's definitely a talent to watch.

Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover star in an encore Showtime telecast of the dramatic "Good Fences" on Tuesday, Feb. 22. Directed by Ernest Dickerson, the TV movie presents a searing portrait of an upwardly mobile black family for whom the American dream becomes a nightmare.

While these titles are the highlights of the month, it bears mentioning that other noteworthy programming is on the horizon after Black History Month ends.

Oscar winner Halle Berry stars in an Oprah Winfrey-produced adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God,' premiering Sunday, March 6, on ABC, while Ving Rhames revives one of the most popular characters in American cop show history as "Kojak," for a new USA Network series also premiering in March.

New York stage sensation Sarah Jones gives a multitude of characters life in the performance special "The Sarah Jones Show," premiering Sunday, Feb. 20, as part of Bravo's Black History Month coverage.



News for 1/27/2005


LaBelle-Kitt pic the 'One' for Pan African fest

By Borys Kit
The Hollywood Reporter


"On the One," starring Patti LaBelle and Eartha Kitt, will close the 13th annual Pan African Film and Arts Festival, and "Constellation," directed by Jordan Walker-Pearlman and starring Billy Dee Williams, Gabrielle Union and Hill Harper, will have its world premiere as the festival's centerpiece. "Lackawanna Blues" will open the fest, to be held Feb. 10-21. Other highlights include a special screening of MGM's "Beauty Shop," starring Queen Latifah; Wolfe Video's "Brother to Brother"; and Lions Gate's "Diary of a Mad Black Woman." The 12-day event, which will screen 150 films, will be at the Magic Johnson Theatres, 4020 Marlton Ave., Los Angeles; and the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.

Click here to visit the Pan African Film & Arts Festival website.



Will Smith in the Pursuit of Happiness

Source: The Hollywood Reporter


Will Smith will star in Columbia Pictures' Pursuit of Happiness, says The Hollywood Reporter. The project is based on the true-life rags-to-riches tale of investment banker Chris Gardner.

Gardner's story, has gained national attention and was hotly pursued by several Hollywood producers and studios. It is a real-life tale of survival over life's toughest challenges. After a chain of circumstances left Gardner jobless and homeless at age 30, he found himself and his baby son living in a bathroom at a San Francisco train station.

Despite the negative situation, Gardner continued to fight toward his goal of becoming a broker, eventually landing a job as a trainee and rising through the ranks at such companies as Dean Witter and Bear Stearns to his current standing -- partner and owner of the Chicago-based minority brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co. and self-made millionaire.

The film is being produced by Overbrook Entertainment's Smith and James Lassiter and Escape Artists' Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch. Escape Artists' David Alper is an executive producer. Marc Clayman, who originally brought the story to Escape Artists, will serve as an executive producer. The project is being overseen at Columbia by Matt Tolmach, Doug Belgrad and Amy Baer. Steve Conrad, who penned "Weather Man" for Escape Artists, wrote the script. Smith is repped by CAA and next stars in "Hitch," also for Columbia.



Chi McBride to Guest-Star in House

Source: Fox


Chi McBride (Boston Public) will guest-star in five episodes of the critically-acclaimed FOX series House. McBride plays Edward Vogler, a wealthy businessman who donates $100 million to the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and becomes Chairman of the Board. He runs up against the prickly Dr. House who has even less tolerance for hospital officials than he has for his own patients. Vogler quickly decides that the unorthodox Dr. House and his entire team – the Department of Diagnostic Medicine – are a waste of money, time and hospital resources.

McBride has started production on the episodes which are scheduled to begin airing in March. House airs Tuesdays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Chi McBride followed up a four-year run as Steven Harper in the FOX series Boston Public with many feature film roles. In 2004, McBride starred in two of the summer's biggest films, first in Steven Spielberg's The Terminal, starring opposite Tom Hanks, followed by the action thriller, I, Robot, opposite Will Smith. This year McBride will be seen in three new films including Roll Bounce with Bow Wow, Nick Cannon and Mike Epps, Waiting and the recently wrapped film Annapolis, opposite James Franco and Tyrese.

House is a one-hour scripted medical drama about Dr. Greg House, a brilliant physician with a brutally honest demeanor whose unconventional thinking and flawless instincts make him a hero to his patients as he and his team of specialists save lives and solve the medical mysteries others can't.



Wright to Co-Star With Stiller in Play


NEW YORK (AP) - Jeffrey Wright will join Ben Stiller in the world premiere of "This Is How It Goes," a new play by Neil LaBute about an interracial love triangle set in small-town America.

It begins performances March 8 at the Public Theater.

Still to be cast is a woman, Arlene Kriv, a spokesman for the theater, said Wednesday. Kriv said the role would not be played by Renee Zellweger, who had been in talks with the Public to appear in the production. Those reports first surfaced Tuesday on the Web site, www.broadway.com.

Wright is a Golden Globe winner for his role in the TV version of "Angels in America." He also won a Tony Award for the same role on Broadway.

Stiller is the star of the current box-office success "Meet the Fockers." Among his other movies are "Dodgeball," "Meet the Parents" and "The Royal Tenenbaums."

"This Is How It Goes" will be directed by George C. Wolfe, who departs this season as artistic head of the Public, one of the nation's pre-eminent nonprofit theaters.

No opening date for the play has been set.



Chris Rock Hip-Hops Into Oscar Gig

By BETH HARRIS
Associated Press Writer


BURBANK, Calif. (AP) - Chris Rock's eyes darted around the room, studying the chattering group of international print journalists. He licked his lips, clasped his hands ... and only dropped one F-bomb as they questioned him in a variety of accents.

"I'm never proper or careful, but I never curse in front of my mother, either," Rock told the writers. So he's not worried about getting bleeped on worldwide TV when he hosts the Feb. 27 Oscar ceremony.

"I don't think people are nervous," Rock said later during an interview with The Associated Press. "I just came off tour in America, a million people came to see me. They weren't nervous."

Shooting a glance at Oscar show producer Gil Cates, he asked, "Are you, Gil?"

Cates didn't flinch.

Neither has the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, although having the acerbic Rock as host is certainly a change of pace. The academy is known for its sedate style and the predominantly older, white membership that fills the Oscar night audience.

Rock mimicked the typical question he gets these days: "Oh, a black comic, how are you going to make it whiter? I'm like, `Dude, look around, can you get any whiter?'"

He honed his off-the-cuff style during a three-year run on "Saturday Night Live," plus the club circuit and hit HBO specials.

"How do I say this without sounding like an egomaniac?" he said. "I don't know a comedian that sells more seats than me in the red states and blue states, so I don't see where I have to change that much."

At least some of Rock's cockiness stems from the positive response he received during his recent "Black Ambition" tour.

"When I'm in West Palm Beach, Fla., there are old Jewish people at the show," he said. "When I'm in New Mexico, it's Mexicans. Wherever I'm at, the people show up."

Hip-hopping into the traditional footsteps of such Oscar emcees as Billy Crystal and the late Johnny Carson appealed to Rock, although he revealed he turned down the chance to host the Oscarcast several times before, believing it was "an old man's gig."

But he's 39 now, and it feels right.

"I like the tradition of the Oscars," he said. "I like that some of the greatest comedians ever have hosted the show."

How did Cates choose Rock as host? "Billy is doing a show in New York," he said, "Steve Martin is doing a movie_"

Rock cut him off. "Ellen DeGeneres has crabs. Jay Leno's got a gig. They got to the R's. Burt Reynolds said no."

Creating an immediate buzz on Oscar night is Rock's No. 1 challenge.

"A great monologue does it," he said. "The secret to hosting awards shows is like sports _ get a big lead and run out the clock. Then kind of hand off the ball and assist the show."

As a kid in Brooklyn, N.Y., Rock tuned in the Oscar show for the host's monologue, then tuned out.

"Any black people nominated? No, oh, back to bed," he said.

Not the case this year. Jamie Foxx is a best actor nominee for "Ray" and a supporting actor nominee for "Collateral" _ two of this year's record five acting nominations for black performers.

"If he doesn't win, I will steal the sound editing Oscar," Rock declared.

Cates reminded him that award usually has multiple winners.

"They're all punks," Rock shot back.

Rock isn't a member of the academy, despite acting in "Head of State," "Bad Company," "New Jack City," "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka!" and, of course, "Pootie Tang."

Why not?

"If you're darker than a paper bag, you can't get in," he said.

Working a live audience is Rock's forte, a good thing since the Oscars are broadcast in real time around the world. ABC has not yet decided whether there will be a delay on the broadcast to protect against stray profanities, as there was in last year's post-Janet Jackson crackdown.

An Emmy-winning writer himself for his cable specials, Rock hired his own writing staff, and expects contributions from famous pals David Spade, Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy.

"I've been kissing --- for years and now I'm going to reap the rewards," he said, cackling. "I've been paying for a lot of dinners and now I want jokes, damn it!"

How will Rock know if he's killing the Kodak Theatre audience on Oscar night?

"I'll probably pay more attention to the musicians in the pit than the stars because they're the closest you're going to get to normal people in the audience," he said.

"If I can get them laughing, I know I got the whole world laughing."



News for 1/26/2005


Lee's 'Sucker Free City' Finally Gets Airdate


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) The long-gestating Showtime project "Sucker Free City" will finally see the light of day next month.

The pay-cable network has set an airdate of Saturday, Feb. 12 for the Spike Lee-directed movie, which tells the story of several young people -- white, African American and Asian American -- caught up in San Francisco's gang culture.

The premiere has been a long time coming. The project started out as a series pilot, which Showtime ordered in 2003. Early last year, Showtime Entertainment president Robert Greenblatt, who had just taken over the job, told reporters the network was considering turning "Sucker Free City" (which was also going by the title "SFC") into a limited-run series.

Now, it appears that the pilot will air as a stand-alone movie, with no other episodes set for production.

Written by Alex Tse, "Sucker Free City" stars Ben Crowley ("Glory Days"), Anthony Mackie ("Million Dollar Baby") and Ken Leung ("Red Dragon") as small-time criminals and gangsters whose paths cross in San Francisco's Hunters Point and Chinatown neighborhoods. Kathy Baker ("Picket Fences"), John Savage ("Carnivale") and T.V. Caprio ("She Hate Me") also star.



ABC Opens 'Eyes' in April


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) ABC will try to extend the success of its Wednesday drama lineup by another hour in the spring with a twist on the private-eye show.

"Eyes," a show about the problem-solvers at a high-tech investigative firm, will premiere at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, April 13, joining "Lost" and "Alias" in ABC's rejuvenated schedule. Current timeslot occupant "Wife Swap" will have finished its season by then.

The show centers on Harlan Judd (Tim Daly, "Wings") and his employees at Judd Risk Management, a company that discreetly handles cases for powerful clients who don't want law enforcement involved in their business. Given the nature of their business, they're also prone to spying on one another.

Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon ("NYPD Blue"), Laura Leighton ("Melrose Place"), Rick Worthy ("Push, Nevada"), Natalie Zea ("The Shield"), Eric Mabius ("The L Word") and A.J. Langer ("My So-Called Life") round out the cast. John McNamara ("Fastlane") created the series.

"Eyes" will have the benefit of strong lead-ins in "Lost," which averages close to 17 million viewers a week, and "Alias," which is drawing 14.7 million people. However, it will also face some stiff competition in NBC's venerable "Law & Order" and CBS's "CSI: NY," both of which rank in the top 25 in total viewers this season.