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My Old Ass is a coming-of-age sci-fi comedy-drama film written and directed by Megan Park. The Prime Video film follows Elliott, an 18-year-old who takes mushrooms on her birthday and comes face-to-face with her wisecracking 39-year-old. Soon, she is contacted by her older self who gives her life advice which makes Elliott forces to rethink everything from family to love. My Old Ass stars Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, and Aubrey Plaza. So, if you loved the coming-of-age drama, comedic tone, and compelling characters in My Old Ass here are some similar movies you should check out next.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (Prime Video) Credit – Amazon Studios

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is a sci-fi romantic comedy-drama film directed by Ian Samuels from a screenplay by Lev Grossman. Based on Grossman...

Dale Dickey is not jaded, even after nearly three decades in Hollywood. The actress’ earnest humility, infectious curiosity, and unpretentiousness when talking about her craft and decades-long career would feel refreshing from anyone, let alone someone who has been a successful working thespian in film and TV for nearly thirty years. The Indie Spirit winner has dozens of credits to her name, in projects of all genres and sizes, including “Winter’s Bone,” “Breaking Bad,” “True Blood,” and “Palm Springs.” But now she has a new one to add to the resume: leading lady.

Known for portraying memorable, hard-scrabble women, the character actress is finally breaking untraveled ground with her first on-camera lead role in the tender-hearted indie romance “A Love Song,” director Max Walker-Silverman’s debut feature, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival to stellar reviews. “I’m not complaining, but I’ve never really had the luxury of choosing projects.

With Maria Maggenti’s 1995 picture The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love now in rerelease from Strand Releasing, we’re reprinting our 1995 print issue interview with Maggenti, who has gone on to write and direct Puccini for Beginners, write Before I Fall, and write and write and produce for series such as Motherland: Fort Salem and Supergirl. The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love is currently screening at New York’s Metrograph, where Filmmaker‘s Scott Macaulay will be moderating a conversation with Maggenti and Hall on November 24. The below interview has been lightly reedited to add […]

The post On Screwball Comedy, Making it Work in the Master and Queer Love Stories: Writer/Director Maria Maggenti on The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

If 2021 has been a calvacade of bad decisions, dashed hopes, and warning signs for cinema’s strength, the Criterion Channel’s monthly programming has at least buttressed our hopes for something like a better tomorrow. Anyway. The Channel will let us ride out distended (holi)days in the family home with an extensive Alfred Hitchcock series to bring the family together—from the established Rear Window and Vertigo to the (let’s just guess) lesser-seen Downhill and Young and Innocent—Johnnie To’s Throw Down and Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons in their Criterion editions, and some streaming premieres: Ste. Anne, Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over, and The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love.

Special notice to Yvonne Rainer’s brain-expanding Film About a Woman Who . . .—debuting in “Female Gaze: Women Directors + Women Cinematographers,” a series that does as it says on the tin—and a Joseph Cotten retro boasting Ambersons,...

Outfest has unveiled the dates, venues, and lineup for its 39th film festival, which is returning to in-person screenings more than a year and a half after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival will be held this year between August 13-22.

The 2021 edition of the nation’s leading LGBTQ festival kicks off with an opening night screening of Jonathan Butterell’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. The screening, which is being put on in concert with Cinespia, will mark the fest’s first-ever outdoor gala, taking place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Screening at the Orpheum Theatre on August 22, the closing night film is Fanny: The Right to Rock, a documentary about the female rock band of the same name, which was the first to release an album with a major label.

Nearly 200 films will screen at this year’s festival, including 50 international features...

Marks the first international offshoot of the script development initiative for women and non-binary writers over 40.

The Writers Lab UK and Ireland, the international offshoot of the script development program for woman and non-binary writers over 40, has unveiled its first cohort of screenwriters and projects.

The non-profit organization, that counts Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman among its supporters, has selected 12 participants that will take part in the lab, set to take place online from June 10-13, with additional sessions spread over the following five months.

Scroll down for the full list of participants

Due to the significant number of writers who applied,...

In today’s TV news roundup, Hulu released premiere dates for “Ramy,” “The Great” and “Solar Opposites,” and Variety obtained an exclusive clip from “Duncanville.”

Dates

Showtime announced Mo’nique‘s new standup comedy special, “Mo’nique & Friends: Live From Atlanta,“ will air Feb. 7 at 10 p.m. The hour-long special features a variety of talented newcomers including Prince T-Dub, Just Nesh, Tone-x and Correy Bell alongside veteran comedian Donnell Rawlings. “Mo’nique & Friends: Live From Atlanta” is executive produced by Sidney Hicks and Mo’nique Hicks, and produced by Matt Schuler, Eric Abrams and V.W. Scheich.

Freeform announced “Motherland: Fort Salem” will premiere March 18 at 9 p.m. Set in an alternate, present-day America where witches ended their persecution 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the U.S. government to fight for their country, the show follows three young women through basic training in combat magic into terrifying and thrilling early deployment.

Freeform has dropped the trailer for its upcoming “Motherland: Fort Salem” trailer, and it features an army of witches that you won’t want to mess with.

The network also set the show’s premiere date for March 18 at 9 p.m. Et/Pt.

The drama series was created by “Claws” writer Eliot Lawrence, and is executive produced by “Succession” trio Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick.

Also Read: The Chainsmokers Have a TV Show in the Works at Freeform

Watch the trailer above.

The 10-episode, one-hour drama is produced by Freeform Studios, Gary Sanchez Productions and McKay’s Hyperobject Industries. Laurence, Ferrell, McKay, Messick, Maria Maggenti and Steven Adelson all executive produce the series. The pilot was directed by Steven A. Adelson.

Here is the official description for “Motherland: Fort Salem” from Freeform:

Set in an alternate, present-day America where witches ended their persecution 300 years ago by cutting a...

Freeform unveiled trailers for three of its upcoming shows during the network’s portion of the Disney upfront presentation on Tuesday.

In addition to a trailer for the upcoming “Party of Five” reboot, the cable network also debuted an extended look at the supernatural drama “Motherland: Fort Salem,” which takes place at an academy for witches training to be in the American military, and a trailer for the Josh Thomas-created comedy “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay.”

None of the three series have premiere dates, though they join a growing slate of Freeform originals, which includes the spinoffs “Good Trouble,” “Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists” and the college-set “Grown-ish”; the mermaid drama “Siren,” which was renewed for a third season on Tuesday; “The Bold Type”; Marvel’s “Cloak & Dagger”; and the upcoming Kenya Barris comedy “Unrelated.”

Also Read: Lauren Corrao to Replace Karey Burke as Head of Programming at...

Exclusive: Newcomer Ashley Nicole Williams has been cast as one of the three leads in Motherland: Fort Salem, Freeform’s newly picked up hourlong drama series from Claws creator Eliot Laurence and executive producers Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick. Williams takes over the role played by Kelcey Mawema in the pilot in a recasting.

Set in an alternate America where witches ended their persecution nearly 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the U.S. government to fight for their country, “Motherland: Fort Salem” follows three young women – played by Williams, Taylor Hickson and Jessica Sutton — from basic training in combat magic into early deployment. In this world, the traditional roles of gender and power are flipped, with the more dominant women on the front lines fighting looming terrorist threats that are familiar to our world—but with supernatural tactics and weapons.

Williams’ character is Abigail Bellweather, a driven...

Freeform has put out a 10-episode series order for “Motherland: Fort Salem,” a show about witches in the American military, Variety has learned.

The one-hour drama, which has Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick on board as EPs, was created by Eliot Laurence and is set in an alternate, present-day America where witches ended their persecution 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the U.S. government to fight for their country.

“Motherland: Fort Salem” follows three young women from basic training in combat magic, to the terror of early deployment. In this world, the traditional roles of gender and power are flipped with women on the front lines, while the looming terrorist threat feel strikingly familiar to our world.

“We’re so excited to be able to tell this story rich with female empowerment, complex storytelling and an incredibly creative canon,” said Freeform president Tom Ascheim. “While set in an alternative universe,...

Freeform has given a 10-episode series order to Motherland: Fort Salem, an hourlong drama from Claws creator Eliot Laurence and executive producers Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick. One of the leads in the project is being recast.

Motherland was one of three hourlong pilots at Freeform, along with Party of Five and Breckman Rodeo, all of which have been garnering solid buzz. Party of Five was the first of the bunch to score a series pickup last month, with Breckman Rodeo still in contention.

Set in an alternate America where witches ended their persecution 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the U.S. government to fight for their country, Motherland: Fort Salem follows three young women — two of them played by Taylor Hickson and Jessica Sutton — from basic training in combat magic into early deployment. In this world, the traditional roles of gender and power are flipped, with...

With the “Elseworlds” crossover now behind us and winter hiatus almost at its end, the time will soon come for Supergirl to resume business as usual. If you’ll remember, “Bunker Hill” saw Agent Liberty publicly unmasked as Ben Lockwood and incarcerated, yet he’s somehow emerged from the situation a hero. And if that weren’t enough, the Girl of Steel has been fired from the Deo because she won’t reveal her secret identity.

From the look of it, the Lockwood situation will take a backseat for the time being. Well, at least for the midseason premiere, that is. The reason I say that’s because all promo material for the appropriately titled “Suspicious Minds” deals with Kara Zor-El now having a target of sorts on her back.

In fact, the latest exhibit comes in the form of a new photo gallery, which can be viewed below. There’s nothing too spoiler-ish here,...

From VancouverFilm.Net, Sneak Peek new footage, plus images from the "Supergirl" episode "Parasite Lost", written by Maria Maggenti, Aadrita Mukerji and directed by David Mcwhirter, airing November 11, 2018 on The CW:

"...Colonel Haley' (April Parker Jones) makes a surprising decision regarding 'Supergirl' (Melissa Benoist), as 'Kara' writes s series of articles highlighting other-worldly aliens in 'National City' in the hopes that humans will stop being so fearful of them.

"Unfortunately, the article puts some of the creatures in harm's way..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Supergirl: Parasite Lost"...

Delia Harrington Oct 19, 2018

Anti-alien sentiment exploded overnight on Supergirl after the world found out the president is an alien.

When we first met the Deo in season 1 of Supergirl, it was a hardline anti-alien agency. In the intervening years, however, Supergirl, J'onn J'onzz and Alex Danvers have transformed it into a justice-oriented policing organization (if such a thing can exist) with aims toward tolerance and harmony between all peoples on Earth.

But according to this exclusive clip from this Sunday's episode, "Fallout," that mission just became infinitely more difficult.

Here's the episode description:

Chaos In National City — A shocking revelation causes chaos in National City. Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) sets out to capture Mercy Graves (guest star Rhona Mitra), while Alex (Chyler Leigh) takes control at the Deo. Back at CatCo, Kara decides to write an investigative story on Mercy and asks Lena (Katie McGrath) if she can interview her as...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Before I Fall (Ry Russo-Young)

Harold Ramis certainly didn’t invent it, but his Groundhog Day made the narrative loop device a mainstream mainstay, lovingly aped in everything from Source Code to Edge of Tomorrow to 50 First Dates. In Before I Fall, the loop treatment is utilized rather intelligently by director Ry Russo-Young, from Maria Maggenti screenplay adapted from Lauren Oliver‘s novel. – Dan M. (full review)

Where to Stream: Amazon,...

Before I Fall Open Road Films Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Showbiz Grade: B Director: Russo-Young Written by: Maria Maggenti based on Lauren Oliver’s novel Cast: Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, Logan Miller, Kian Lawley, Elena Kampouris Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 3/1/17 Opens: March 3, 2017 Some say that if you had your life to do […]

The post Before I Fall Movie Review: Another Imaginative View of Life in High School appeared first on Shockya.com.

Imagine having to relive the same day for an undisclosed period of time. Now imagine if that day was filled with snotty, self-obsessed, failed Mean Girls prototypes. Cringing yet? Then you’ll loooove Before I Fall, a Ya adaption that misrepresents the easiest of messages. Themes are simple – be excellent to one another! Except in order to do so, characters must first act like morally reprehensible, astonishingly plastic high school stereotypes. Because, redemption? Except director Ry Russo-Young resets the same day ad nauseum, so what’s to say characters change based on one freaky Friday? And then there’s – sorry, wait. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start small.

Wow – what the hell did I just watch?

Zoey Deutch stars as Samantha Kingston, a privileged suburban teenager who takes life for granted. Her squad of betches live it up like queen bees, kissing the hottest boys and attending the raddest parties.

The premise of Groundhog Day, as well as some of its plot points and lessons are recycled for the chick-lit tear-jerker Before I Fall. Zoey Deutch plays Sam, a high schooler forced to relive the same day again and again but the new film has a more somber tone than the beloved Harold Ramis/Bill Murray classic, since what sets in motion Sam’s string of “daily do-overs” is her own death.

Sam is a 17-year-old girl who has it all: beauty, popularity, jock boyfriend Rob (Kian Lawley), a loving and wealthy family, and a trio of mean beauties as best friends (Halston Sage, Cynthy Wu, and Medalion Rahimi). Valentine’s Day is shaping up to be another perfect day in Sam’s perfect life. She plans to lose her virginity to Rob that night and has many roses get delivered to her in class, including one from Kent (Logan Miller...

Bill Murray may not be around to wisecrack, but Zoey Deutch (“Why Him?”) shows plenty of versatile, captivating teen turmoil in the “Groundhog Day”-like scenario that is “Before I Fall,” the latest beloved Ya novel to get the glossy big screen treatment. With a construct that has a popular high schooler mysteriously reliving the same turbulent and invariably tragic day over and over, director Ry Russo-Young (“You Won’t Miss Me”) and screenwriter Maria Maggenti (adapting Lauren Oliver’s book) find plenty of sincere emotion and stylish suspense amidst the melodrama and expected platitudes. Though it’s decidedly a Hollywood product in its.

It would be easy to write off Before I Fall as the Groundhog Day of teen weepies – but something raw keeps breaking through the formula to pull us in. In adapting Lauren Oliver's Ya bestseller, director Ry Russo-Young (Nobody Walks), working from a script by Maria Maggenti, lets glints of honest feeling break through the brick wall of teen formula. Zoey Deutch (Everybody Wants Some!!) excels as Sam Kingston, a high-school mean girl who dies in a car accident. Then she gets up the next morning to repeat the...

by Peter Belsito

Zoey Deutch Halston, Sage Logan Miller in “Before I Fall” by Ry Russo-Young

To begin about this film is to say it is a ‘Ground Hog Day’ story.

The lead character, a popular high school girl, has an unremarkable — if a bit troubling — life, including difficult friends, challenging social life, some boy / sex issues and some big questions for her as to “what’s it all about?”

But why? Toward what end? How to resolve?

As the story begins Sam is one lucky teenager. She’s beautiful, rich, and popular, with the hottest boyfriend and the most loyal friends.

But she and her posse can be cruel and heartless; since elementary school they’ve relentlessly bullied one of their unfortunate female classmates.

On Friday, February 12th, driving home from a party, Sam is in a dramatic car crash.

This mysterious car wreck at the end of her day leads to her — what?...

Harold Ramis certainly didn’t invent it, but his Groundhog Day made the narrative loop device a mainstream mainstay, lovingly aped in everything from Source Code to Edge of Tomorrow to 50 First Dates. In Before I Fall, the loop treatment is utilized rather intelligently by director Ry Russo-Young, from Maria Maggenti screenplay adapted from Lauren Oliver‘s novel.

It’s February 12th, and high school senior Samantha Kingston (Zoey Deutch) is excited for what Cupid Day may bring. She and her fellow students exchange roses, all determined to be gifted as many as possible. Before long, it becomes clear that Sam and her friends are the mean girls at their high school. They are popular and pretty, but mean and petty. Sam’s got the hunky jock boyfriend, Rob (Kian Lawley), who doesn’t care and the clever childhood friend, Kent (Logan Miller), who really cares. Her best friend, Lindsay...

It’s like Groundhog Day, but with a lot more romance and less comedy.

Zoey Deutch stars in this young-adult romantic thriller Before I Fall as a teenager who wakes up to only relive her terrifying day over and over again.

Here’s the official synopsis:

What if you had only one day to change absolutely everything? Samantha Kingston has everything: the perfect friends, the perfect guy, and a seemingly perfect future. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, Sam wakes up with no future at all. Trapped reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was. As she begins to untangle the mystery of a life suddenly derailed, she must also unwind the secrets of the people closest to her, and discover the power of a single day to make a difference, not just in her own life, but in...

Edge of Tomorrow, Groundhogs Day, two examples of how living the same day over and over make for a great film. And now we have our first look at a new installment that looks to be a great film.

The Sundance Film Festival is home every year to countless amazing films. It's an event I hope to one day cover. This year is no exception. With so many incredible films already announced to debut, Before I Fall is on a lot of critics watch lists. Directed by Ry Russo-Young (Nobody Walks) brings to life the best selling young adult novel of the same name, written by Lauren Oliver.

Vampire Academy and Everybody Wants Some!! breakout star Zoey Deutch stars as the films lead Samantha Kingston who is stuck reliving the same terrible day over and over. A story point we've seen before, but if used properly makes for a very...

Two years after Robert Redford’s last Sundance Film Festival onscreen appearance with Nick Nolte in A Walk In The Woods, the founder of the Utah gathering is back with The Discovery, it was revealed today as the Premieres, Documentary Premieres, Midnight, Spotlight, Kids and Special Events programs were unveiled.

Co-starring past Sundancer Jason Segel and Rooney Mara, the Charlie McDowell-helmed and co-written pic is one of 18 dramas making their world debut at the festival, set for January 19-29. Additionally, Sundance 2017 sees performances by Cate Blanchett, Kevin Spacey, Holly Hunter, Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Mary J. Blige, Salma Hayek, another trip to Park City for Adam Scott and Alison Brie, Toni Colette, Game Of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway, another film with the deceased Anton Yelchin, Shirley MacLaine, plus the return of 2016 Sff alums Armie Hammer and Riley Keough, among others. Empire co-creator Danny Strong’s directorial debut portrait of J.D. Salinger,...

How To Talk To Girls At Parties

Ruth Wilson, Jessica Plummer, Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, Alex Sharp and Matt Lucas have joined the cast of John Cameron Mitchell's "How To Talk To Girls At Parties" at A24. The film is based on a short story by Neil Gaiman while Howard Gertler, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman are producing.

The story follows a shy teenage punk rocker in 1970s suburban London, and his two closest friends. One night they all sneak into a party where they meet a group of intensely attractive, otherworldly girls; at first they think they're from a cult, but eventually come to realize the girls are literally aliens with nefarious plans. [Source: Deadline]

Ashes in the Snow

Jonah Hauer-King and Bel Powley ("Diary Of A Teenage Girl") have come onboard Marius Markevicius' World War II drama "Ashes In The Snow" in the leading roles. Ben York Jones...

“Tracking Shot” is a top of month featurette here on Ioncinema.com that looks at the projects that are moments away from lensing. This November, we’ve got a fivesome of projects that we feel are worth signaling out, but before we put the focus on those, the previous month was a rather fruitful one for mostly indiewood film productions. Films that we’ll be seeing in 2016 and which are for the most part still filming include: Mark Williams‘ workplace drama The Headhunter’s Calling (with Alison Brie, Gretchen Mol, Gerard Butler, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina), Philippe Falardeau‘s bio boxing drama The Bleeder (with Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Elisabeth Moss), Taron Lexton’s coming-of-ager In Search of Fellini (with Ksenia Solo, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Maria Bello), Kevin Tent‘s Black List scripted rom-com (with Domhnall Gleeson, Christina Applegate, Thomas Haden Church, Nina Dobrev), Sophie Brooks‘ NYC set Euro-fizzled comedy,...

Kian Lawley, who first gained fame for his YouTube videos, is building up his feature film resume, one credit at a time. The 20-year-old social media celebrity is one of five actors who have been added to the cast of Before I Fall, an upcoming feature film produced by multi-channel network AwesomenessTV.

Before I Fall, which will play out as sort of a morbid, high school version of Groundhog Day, will follow a teenager (Zoey Deutch) who must relive the last day of her life over and over again. It is based on a young adult novel written by Lauren Oliver, and its script, written Maria Maggenti, earned a spot on the 2011 Black List, which noted the year’s best unproduced screenplays. In addition to Lawley, other actors joining the film’s cast including Halston Sage, Logan Miller Diego Boneta, and Elena Kampouris.

AwesomenessTV announced Before I Fall in September...

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Wondering what you’ll watch when The Hunger Games franchise is over? We’ve got some ideas…

As well as sequels, remakes, and comic book adaptations, there’s one kind of movie you can feel fairly sure is going to keep popping up at a cinema near you: young adult adaptations. Stories about teenagers are still doing big business in the book trade, and thanks to Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games, Hollywood is convinced of the genre’s appeal, too.

A couple of new franchises have already been kicked off – there’s still at least another Divergent sequel on the way, and another Maze Runner sequel – but what’s more interesting is the list of Ya novels that have been optioned and may soon be taking over the box office. Now, not all of the adaptations on this list will see the light of day,...

Bourne 5

Ato Essandoh ("Vinyl," "Elementary") has joined the cast of the Matt Damon-led fifth film in the Jason Bourne franchise. Paul Greengrass returns as helmer for the movie which recently began filming.

Character and plot details are under wraps. Julia Stiles, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones also star in the film. [Source: Heat Vision]

Marvel's Luke Cage

Though long rumored, Marvel has finally confirmed Alfre Woodard has joined the cast of its third Netflix series "Luke Cage". Woodard will play Mariah Dillard, a local Harlem politician and cousin to Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes (Mahershala Ali).

Her life is thrown into turmoil by Harlem's super-strong newest hero Luke Cage and Cottonmouth's nefarious acts. The series premieres in 2016 on Netflix. [Source: Twitter]

The Gifted

Jenny Slate ("Married") will star opposite Chris Evans in the Marc Webb-directed drama "Gifted" at Fox Searchlight. Octavia Spencer, Lindsay Duncan and McKenna Grace also star and filming begins this Fall.

Exclusive: Zoey Deutch has been tapped as the star of Awesomeness Films’ next feature film project Before I Fall, the adaptation of the 2010 Ya novel by Lauren Oliver that originally was set up some time ago at Fox 2000. Now it’s at Awesomeness Films, the movie division of multichannel platform AwesomenessTV that has already seen digital success with this year’s output Smosh: The Movie and last year’s Expelled. Ry Russo-Young will direct Maria Maggenti’s Black List…...

Former island dwellers Mark Pellegrino and Henry Ian Cusick have signed on to new sci-fi pilots from The CW.

Pellegrino has been cast as The Tomorrow People‘s Big Bad and Cusick will play an adventurous apocalypse survivor in The Hundred, our sister site Deadline reports.

The Tomorrow People, a superhero drama pilot from Greg Berlanti (Arrow) and Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries) is adapted from the 1970s UK series and follows several young people from around the world who represent the next stage in human evolution.

Related | TVLine’s Guide to Pilot Season 2013: Get the Scoop on All...

Former Legend Of The Seeker star Bridget Regan has been tapped as a lead in ABC’s hourlong pilot Murder In Manhattan, executive produced by Ryan Reynolds. Written by Maria Maggenti and directed by Cherie Nowlan, Murder In Manhattan is a dramedy set in New York centering on mother Blythe and daughter Lex (Regan) who team up as amateur sleuths. The sassy Lex works in the Mayor’s office by day, and works as sleuth with Blythe by night. Reynolds and Allan Loeb’s DarkFire TV co-produces the pilot, which will film in New York, with ABC Studios. Murder In Manhattan reunites Regan with ABC Studios, which also produced the cult syndicated fantasy series Legend Of The Seeker. Regan, repped by Tmt Entertainment and Gersh, recently recurred on the CW’s Beauty And The Beast. Angelique Cabral has been cast as the female lead in Fox’s single-camera comedy pilot Enlisted.

Bridget Regan (Legend of the Seeker), Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aprhodite) and Jesse Lee Soffer (The Mob Doctor) and among the latest faces scoring pilot roles.

Related | Pilots 2013: Your Guide to This Fall’s (Possible) Newcomers and Who’s In Them

A recent guest star on Beauty and the Beast, Regan has landed the role of Lex in ABC’s Murder in Manhattan drama, in which a New York-based mother and daughter team up as amateur sleuths. Maria Maggenti (Without a Trace) is exec producer.

Oscar winner Sorvino, meanwhile, is set to star opposite Jim Gaffigan in a CBS comedy...

As usual, lots of comedy pilots will focus on the family — including one headlined by Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. But this development season is not without a few welcome surprises, like the addition of Bridesmaids’ breakout star Rebel Wilson to one project, or CBS’ coup in nabbing House Bunny Anna Faris for her first-ever starring role in a network comedy.

As is the case with any pilot, not every one is assured a pickup come May when the networks announce their fall TV lineups in New York. See if you can guess what is likely to make the...

Robot cops, international conspiracies, spinoffs, and illegal love are just a sample of what networks are cooking up for fall. Only the best (and most marketable) shows will get on the air. Can you pick the winners based on these titles, writers, and loglines? Here’s the current list of broadcast drama pilots (we’ll post the comedies next week):

ABC

S.H.I.E.L.D. (Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen). Based on the fictional and secret law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Universe as seen in the film The Avengers. Marks Whedon’s return to series TV, also expected to resurrect Agent...

ABC is making a rather interesting and eclectic choice with Tuesday's (Jan. 29) pilot orders. The picks range from a show based on the Big Thunder Mountain ride in the Disney theme parks to the monsters of gothic novels (like "Frankenstein") come to life. Altogether, four drama pilots were ordered.

A project based on Big Thunder Mountain will be set in a mining town in the 19th century. A brilliant New York City doctor and his family relocate there, where a mysterious tycoon runs the show. All will not be what it seems. Jason Fuchs and Chris Morgan wrote the pilot and will executive produce.

"Gothica" is a supernatural, gothic, soapy drama set in the present day but featuring many of the monsters of the 19th century. Legendary figures like Dracula, Dorian Gray, Frankenstein (not sure if it's the monster or the man), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde all feature.

ABC on Tuesday took a trip to the happiest place on Earth, ordering a drama pilot based on Disneyland’s famed ride Big Thunder Mountain. The network also moved forward with three additional projects, including Gothica, a dark soap from Grey’s Anatomy producer Mark Gordon’s company.

From Ep Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious) and scribe Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift), Big Thunder centers on a late 19th century New York doctor and his family who relocate to a frontier mining town run by a powerful, but mysterious tycoon. Unfortunately, they quickly realize that not everything in the titular...

Update 4:15 Pm: ABC has picked up two more hourlong pilots, thriller Reckless, executive produced by Martin Campbell, and gumshoe dramedy Murder In Manhattan, exec produced by Ryan Reynolds. That brings today’s ABC tally to four, all from sibling ABC Studios. Reckless, written/exec produced by Mad Men co-executive producer Chris Black, centers on a resourceful problem solver who, when his wife is unjustly imprisoned during a political uprising overseas, resorts to entering a world of political intrigue, dangerous alliances and high emotional stakes in order to get her out. This marks the second ABC pilot order for Campbell, who is under a deal at ABC Studios, along with Killer Women. Murder In Manhattan, written by Maria Maggenti, is an hourlong dramedy set in NYC centering on a mother and daughter who team up as amateur sleuths. Ryan Reynolds and Allan Loeb’s DarkFire TV co-produces with ABC Studios.

ABC executives are queuing up for the network’s Big Thunder Mountain project. ABC just gave a pilot order to Big Thunder, which is inspired by the 1979 Disneyland theme park mine ride.

“When a brilliant, late 19th century New York doctor and his family are given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to relocate to a frontier mining town run by a powerful, but mysterious tycoon, they quickly realize that not everything in Big Thunder is as it seems,” goes the show’s logline. Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift) has the task of writing the pilot. Chris Morgan (The Troop) will executive produce.

Breaking: Scribe Maria Maggenti has made an MGM pitch for One Red Paper Clip, based on the nonfiction book by Kyle MacDonald. It’s the true story about a man who wins his girlfriend’s heart by trading up from a red paper clip in hopes of getting a house for them to live in. Through a series of trades, he gets the home and the happy ending. Laurence Mark is producing alongside Motion Theory’s Sean Sorensen and Matthew Cullen. Maggenti separately sold the TV pilot Park And Lex to ABC for DarkFire and Ryan Reynolds to produce. Maggenti is repped by Paradigm and Madhouse. Canadian Kyle MacDonald used a red paper clip to start a series of Internet trades in the hopes that it would lead to home ownership. He got there, and got the book deal, with a slow building series of trades. The movie has followed the same track.

Exclusive: Fox went All In, handing a put pilot commitment to a single-camera comedy written by Allan Loeb, who is executive producing with his producing partner Ryan Reynolds. All In, from 20th Century Fox TV and Loeb and Reynolds’ studio-based DarkFire TV, is a character-driven comedy centering on Tommy Vigorish, a compulsive gambler trying to get back in the game with the help of his family… as long as that game does not involve the exchange of money. Reynolds and Loeb executive produce the project with DarkFire TV’s two other principals, Jonathon Komack Martin and Steven Pearl. This marks the first live-action writing effort for Loeb since the launch of DarkFire TV last year. He is co-writing with Reynonds And Then There Was Gordon, an animated comedy in the works at Fox. Loeb, co-creator of the high-concept 2008 Fox drama New Amsterdam, had been focused largely on features for the past several years,...

Exclusive: ABC has put in development Between Park & Lex, a dramedy written by Maria Maggenti (Monte Carlo) and produced by ABC Studios and Ryan Reynolds and Allan Loeb’s DarkFire TV. As the title suggests, the hourlong dramedy is set in New York City. It centers on a mother and daughter who team up as amateur sleuths. Highlighting the complex dynamic and humor of a mother/daughter relationship, they balance their day jobs and regular lives with solving crimes on the side. Maggenti, Reynolds and Loeb executive produce with DarkFire’s two other principals, Jonathon Komack Martin and Steven Pearl. The project falls outside of Dark TV’s first-look deal at 20th Century Fox TV. Under that deal, the CAA-repped company recently set up two comedy projects at Fox: a live-action half-hour from writers Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay and an animated show from writers Mark Torgove & Paul Kaplan and Ash Brannon.

Update: Kenny Ortega's Dirty Dancing remake just stumbled. Lionsgate is putting the redo on hold for one year, realizing it has too many films in the works after its merger with Summit Entertainment. It's too bad because in the Men in Black III single "Back in Time," Pitbull revives one of the classic songs used in Dirty Dancing, Mickey & Sylvia's 1950 hit "Love is Strange" (the "Baaa-by" hook).

Source: Variety

April 9, 2012 -- "Glee" co-creator and writer Brad Falchuk will rewrite the screenplay for the remake of Dirty Dancing. Maria Maggenti wrote the first pass of the reboot (rewrites by a different screenwriter is normal in the movie biz). High School Musical director Kenny Ortega is still planning to direct the film which will include songs from the original Patrick Swayze starrer as well as other 1960s classics and new original songs.

Source: Variety

Aug. 9, 2011 -- Kenny Ortega, the director and...

EW has confirmed that Lionsgate has pushed back its remake of Dirty Dancing. Original Dancing choreographer Kenny Ortega (High School Musical, Michael Jackson’s This Is It) is set to helm this new iteration, and Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk will write the screenplay with Maria Maggenti (Monte Carlo). The movie was originally slated to hit theaters July 26, 2013, but now won’t open until 2014.

Casting decisions slowed the process and caused the delay, Deadline first exclusively reported. Among the stars up for the roles of Baby and Johnny (first played by Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze): Glee warbler Lea Michele,...

Lionsgate has pulled the remake Dirty Dancing from its 2013 release slate due to casting issues.

We reported back in November that the studio was set to release the remake on July 26, 2013. Now the drama won't hit theaters until at least 2014. Kenny Ortega is still attached to direct, working from a screenplay by Glee creator Brad Falchuk. We reported in April that he was reworking an original draft by Maria Maggenti. This remake is also said to use classic songs from the 1960s, songs from the original movie, and contemporary tracks.

The original Dirty Dancing made stars out of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in 1987. Kenny Ortega served as the dance choreographer in the original classic, which took in $215 million worldwide.

Dirty Dancing comes to theaters in 2014. The film is directed by Kenny Ortega.

I’m not sure what to think about this news, but what the hell – Dirty Dancing was really a piece of something, so it’s no surprise to hear that a remake of the whole thing is coming. The latest reports say that Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk is already set to rewrite Maria Maggenti’s screenplay for [...]

Continue reading Brad Falchuk to Write Dirty Dancing Remake on FilmoFilia.

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If the attachment of High School Musical director Kenny Ortega to Lionsgate’s “musical reimagining” of Dirty Dancing didn’t clue you into the type of movie the studio is trying to make, then the film’s latest screenwriter certainly will. Here’s a hint – this thing looks to be going right for the teen-buck. Variety reports that Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk has been hired to rewrite the film’s script as first written by Maria Maggenti. While we don’t know too much beyond that this new film will likely hedge to the side of “inspired by” the Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey-starring new classic, we do know that it will “incorporate classic songs from the 1960s, hits from the original film and brad new compositions.” So, pretty much what Glee does (and not nearly as well as it used to) every week? You know it. For the sake of the project, let...

Although Maria Maggenti was tapped to write the Dirty Dancing remake, Lionsgate now wants a new pass from someone that isn’t the Monte Carlo scribe. Variety has just reported that the company has now hired Glee co-creator Brad Flachuk to rewrite the screenplay.

High School Musical helmer, Kenny Ortega, will be directing the remake which will “incorporate classic songs from the 1960s, hits from the original film and brand new compositions.” Ortega also worked on the original classic as the film’s choreographer. Elanor Bergstein, who wrote and co-produced the original musical, will also be producing the remake alongside The Princess Diaries‘ Martin Chase.

I think it’s a pretty smart move to hire Flachuk considering the success Glee has had over the past few years and his rising stardom in Hollywood. He obviously understands the intended demographic as well as the musical aspect that the film calls for.