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Exclusive: CAA has signed Robert O’Hara, the New York-based playwright and director of Jeremy O. Harris’ Tony-nominated Slave Play.

O’Hara, whose production of Jelly’s Last Jam ran at New York City Center Encores! in February, has also directed his own plays, including Mankind, Bootycandy, and Insurrection: Holding History. His other plays include This Fire This Time, The Etiquette of Vigilance, Antebellum, and Zombie: The American.

In addition to Slave Play, his other world premiere directing credits include Nikkole Salter and Danai Gurira’s In The Continuum, Tarell McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays Part II, Colman Domingo’s Wild With Happy, and Kirsten Childs’ Bella: An American Tall Tale. He has received the NAACP Best Play and Best Director Awards, the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play, two Obie Awards, and the Herb Alpert Award.

O’Hara is next set to direct the feature adaptation of his play Barbecue starring Colman Domingo,...

Exclusive: Diane Lane (Feud: Capote’s Women) has signed with CAA for representation.

Lane is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actress who will next star opposite Naomi Watts in the second season of FX’s anthology series Feud, titled Feud: Capote’s Women. In the series written by Jon Robin Baitz, directed by Gus Van Sant and produced by Ryan Murphy, she will play Nancy ‘Slim’ Keith.

The actress is currently in production on David E. Kelly’s upcoming Netflix limited series A Man in Full, starring opposite Jeff Daniels, with Regina King co-executive producing and directing.

Lane earned her first Oscar nomination in 2003 for her leading role in Adrian Lyne’s thriller Unfaithful, securing Emmy noms for the CBS miniseries Lonesome Dove and the HBO TV movie Cinema Verite in 1989 and 2011, respectively. She’s otherwise best known for turns in films like Under the Tuscan Sun and Must Love Dogs,...

Exclusive: David Mamet will direct 2 Days/1963, a drama scripted by Nicholas Celozzi that purports to tell how his great uncle, the notorious Chicago mobster Sam Giancana, arranged the assassination of President John F Kennedy as revenge for trying to bring down organized crime after the mob helped put JFK in the White House. Mamet, the twice Oscar-nominated scribe and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, will do a rewrite on Celozzi’s script. The film will be produced by Celozzi through his Monaco Films, with VP Michael Sportelli also producing. Bonnie Giancana, daughter of the late mobster, will be a consultant and executive producer.

The drama will focus on previously untold events that took place during the 48 hours before the assassination of America’s 35th president in November 1963. Some of Celozzi’s information comes from his late Uncle Pepe — Giancana’s brother — who, Celozzi said, told him about the mob’s complicity in the killing.

Exclusive: David Kushner’s bestselling book Levittown: Two Families, One Tycoon, and the Fight for Civil Rights in America’s Legendary Suburb is in the works for the small screen. Independent studio wiip has optioned the rights to the book and partnered with The Gotham Group to develop as a limited series. BAFTA-winning screenwriter and director Amma Asante is attached to pen the series adaptation and direct the pilot. Emmy winner Thomas Schlamme is on board to produce.

Per the description: The book chronicles the true account of the explosive events that transpired when the first African American family moved into the iconic whites-only suburb of Levittown, Pa. While the harrowing conflict that unfolded would transform an entire nation, at its heart, Levittown is really the story about three families: The Levitts, second generation immigrants turned real estate titans with an empire fueled by scrappy ingenuity and sibling rivalries; the Wechslers,...

Lenny Kravitz, D’Arcy Carden and Cheech Marin have joined the cast of “Shotgun Wedding,” the romantic comedy that stars Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel.

Selena Tan, Desmin Borges and Alex Mallari have also joined the cast of the film, which will be directed by Jason Moore for Lionsgate.

“Shotgun Wedding” is the story of a couple that gathers their very opinionated families for a destination wedding, even as they begin to get cold feet. But they must then work together to save the wedding party after the whole group is taken hostage. The screenplay comes from Mark Hammer and Liz Meriwether.

Kravitz in the film will play J Lo’s ex-boyfriend, while Marin will play her father, and Carden will play Marin’s new wife. Duhamel recently joined the cast to replace Armie Hammer, who left the project amid a social media firestorm of accusations about his private sex life,...

Known for his professional career as a magician and his roles in films like Boogie Nights and the HBO series Deadwood, Ricky Jay has died. He was 70.

Details about Jay’s death have not been revealed, but his attorney Stan Coleman confirmed his death while his partner at Deceptive Practices, Michael Weber tweeted, “I am sorry to share that my remarkable friend, teacher, collaborator and coconspirator is gone.”

Richard Jay Potash was born in Brooklyn, New York and had an impressive resume of films. In addition to Boogie Nights and Deadwood, Jay appeared in films such as Magnolia, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Spanish Prisoner, Mystery Men, and, appropriately, the magician drama The Prestige. He was also the subject of PBS’ American Masters in 2015 and was the first magician to be profiled in the series. He was also the subject of the documentary Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay.

Ricky Jay, a master magician who also acted in films and TV shows such as “Boogie Nights,” “House of Games” and “Deadwood,” has died. He was 70.

His attorney Stan Coleman confirmed his death. Further details were not immediately available. His partner in the Deceptive Practices company, Michael Weber, tweeted, “I am sorry to share that my remarkable friend, teacher, collaborator and co-conspirator is gone.”

A New Yorker profile called him “the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive,” and Jay was also known for his card tricks and memory feats.

He appeared in several David Mamet movies, including “House of Games,” “The Spanish Prisoner,” “Things Change,” “Redbelt” and “State and Main.”

In the 1997 James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies,” Jay played a cyber-terrorist to Pierce Brosnan’s Bond.

He also provided the narration for movies such as Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia.” His one-man Broadway show, “Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants,...

Diane Lane has signed with Wme in all areas.

An Oscar nominee for Unfaithful and two-time Emmy nominee, Lane next appears in Season 6 of Netflix’s House of Cards and Amazon’s new Matthew Weiner series The Romanoffs. She also co-stars with Matthew McCaughaghy and Anne Hathaway in writer-director Steven Knight’s Serenity, which hits theaters January 25.

Her list of credits ranges from the recent films Tully, Justice League and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice to Under the Tuscan Sun — for which she scored a Goden Globe nom — The Perfect Storm, Judge Dredd and Streets of Fire. She also appeared on the small screen in the telfilm Cinema Verite with James Gandolfini and the miniseries Lonesome Dove.

Lane, who had been with UTA, continues to be repped by attorney Stan Coleman of Weintraub Tobin.

After years of developing the Philip Reeve book series Mortal Engines, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh have set the project at MRC and Universal, with their Hobbit VFX protege Christian Rivers making his feature directorial debut. Production will begin next spring in New Zealand. MRC and Universal will co-finance what they hope will spark another potential franchise for Jackson and Walsh, who adapted the script with Philippa Boyens, their writing partner on both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Scholastic published the first book in 2001 and four followed in the sci-fi fantasy series.

It is the first project for Jackson and Walsh at Universal since 2005’s King Kong, and then Jackson followed by creating King Kong: 360 3-D for Universal Studios Hollywood in 2010. Since completing The Hobbit, Jackson has busied himself on running Weta Digital and Stone Street Studios, and helping to design a war museum in Wellington to commemorate the thousands of Kiwis who fought and died during World War I. Jackson and Walsh first got involved in Mortal Engines back in 2009, when it was speculated he might direct. Instead, he has given that task to Rivers, who has a close 25-year association with Jackson that started with Story Board artist. He graduated to visual effects positions on all Jackson’s pictures. On The Hobbit trilogy, he was Splinter Unit Director (Andy Serkis was Second Unit Director and Rivers headed another unit) and most recently Rivers was second unit director on Pete’s Dragon. Rivers won an Oscar in the Best Achievement in Visual Effects category for King Kong. This is the first script collaboration by Jackson, Walsh and Boyens that Jackson hasn’t directed himself.

“Christian is one of my closest collaborators,” says Jackson in a statement. “The combination of emotion and jaw-dropping visuals in Mortal Engines makes this the perfect movie for his move into feature directing. What Christian intends to do with Philip Reeve’s terrific story is going to result in an original and spectacular movie. I wish I could see it tomorrow!”

Reeve’s book has a storyline that sounds a bit like Mad Max: Fury Road; only here, it’s the geography that moves in a post apocalyptic world. It’s a distant future where the cities of earth roam the globe on huge wheels, consuming smaller towns and processing all reusable materials to create power to run the engines that make the cities mobile and able to gobble up more and more of the planet’s dwindling resources. London’s mayor has bigger plans than the domination of a small town and several young people try to stop him. Universal will distribute worldwide. Ken Kamins, longtime manager of Jackson, Walsh and Boyens, brought the book to MRC, which now has another big post apocalyptic franchise to go along with its Sony-based adaptation of the Stephen King novel series The Dark Tower. Zane Weiner, Amanda Walker and Deborah Forte will produce along with Walsh and Jackson, while Kamins will exec produce and Boyens will be co-producer.

Said Rivers: “Mortal Engines is one of those stories that was made for the big screen. A fantastical, futuristic world that has to be seen to be believed. At its heart though, it’s a beautiful love story and a richly complex character driven adventure. To be the director who gets to bring Philip Reeve’s incredible universe to life is a dream come true.”

Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley called the filmmakers “all visionary storytellers with the gift of turning their passion projects into beloved blockbusters for a worldwide audience. The studio is proud of our longstanding relationship with MRC and these tremendous filmmakers, and we are looking forward to collaborating on this cinematic re-imagination of Philip’s bold and fantastical novel.”

The deal was lawyered by Nelson Davis for Jackson’s team, Stan Coleman for Scholastic and the author is repped by Philippa Milnes-Smith at Lucas Alexander Whitley Ltd in the U.K.

New Line Cinema has picked up the rights to Meg, Steve Alten's horror adventure about a prehistoric shark, with Jan de Bont on board to direct. The story features a 80-foot-long prehistoric shark -- scientifically known as Carcharodon megalodon and believed by some to be an ancestor of the great white shark -- which terrorizes the California coast. Two men from opposite points of view are forced to come together to neutralize the threat. Alten's Meg was published in 1997 and originally was set up at Walt Disney Pictures' Hollywood Pictures label. The book spawned two sequels, The Trench and last year's Meg: Primal Waters. Shane Salerno is rewriting Alten's script. Producing are Ken Atchity, Nick Nunziata, Guillermo Del Toro, Larry Gordon, Lloyd Levin and Chi-Li Wong. New Line's Jeff Katz and George Waud, who brought the project into the studio, are the execs in charge, along with NL president Toby Emmerich. The studio is putting the project on the fast-track. De Bont most recently directed Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. His credits include The Haunting, Twister and Speed. He is repped by ICM, Marty Bauer at the Bauer Co. and attorney Stan Coleman.