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casting
'Would You Be Willing to Have Unsimulated Intercourse on Screen?'
Peter Greenaway, director of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover and Pillow Book is casting for a new film. Yes it sounds like porn. But artful porn! The NSFW deets: [Fleshbot] -
casting
Sean Penn's Addition to Three Stooges Movie Does Not Make It Oscar Bait
Sean Penn will play Larry, alongside Jim Carrey as Curly and Benicio del Toro in the Farrelly brothers' Three Stooges movie. While some had assumed/hoped this would be a classy biopic, it's not. Just slapstick. More » -
trade roundup
And Now She's Dead: Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Another children's book is ruined, Christopher Nolan plans his next project (yay!), a crazy old rich man gets his day in Hollywood, Mickey Rourke steamrolls on, as does, sigh Sherri Shepherd. More » -
cattle call
Everyone You Used to Love Comes Back for Pilot Season
It's that magical time when many actors clamor for parts that will probably never see the light of day. Scott Wolf, Alyssa Milano, that lady from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. But first, movie casting: More » -
cattle call
Jake Gyllenhaal To Continue His Illustrious Singing Career
Casting has been announced for the movie version of Damn Yankees, the baseball musical. Jake Gyllenhaal will sing! Also in casting news are Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, a Woody Allen movie, and Gossip Girl. More » -
casting
Arnold Schwarzenegger Roped Into 'Expendables' Cameo
With Arnold Schwarzenegger missing the movies more every day, and with first choice Rod Blagojevich out of a job, Sylvester Stallone has offered the governor a role as himself in The Expendables. More » -
casting
Jessica Alba, Cloris Leachman Join Jack Black as Glitzy 'Office' Temps
NBC will leave no stunt unplayed in its attempt to own Super Bowl Sunday, with Jessica Alba and Cloris Leachman now confirmed to appear alongside Jack Black in that night's special hour-long Office episode. -
quentin tarantino
Maggie Cheung Goes French, Samuel Jackson Goes Invisible for 'Basterds'
Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt's Teutonic catalogue-shoot adventure became all the more glamorous today as news leaked that Hong Kong icon Maggie Cheung is preparing to join the cast of Inglourious Basterds [sic]. Not to be outdone, Tarantino alum Samuel L. Jackson finally got around to reading the bootlegged script on his desktop, apparently phoning the filmmaker to lobby for some motherfucking narration up in this motherfucking war movie. And it worked! More » -
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ali lohan
Ali Lohan Mere Inches Away From Her Big Break In 'Worst Movie Ever Made' Remake!
Sometimes we feel the need to get down on our knees and bow down to Mother of the Century Dina Lohan. Not only did she produce the neverending carnival ride that is Lindsay Lohan, but she has managed to do the impossible: get Ali Lohan a job. Sure, Ali was supposed to be a rap star or white hip hop lyricist or something, but a gig is a gig. Proving that one should always be careful of what they wish for, Ali’s desire to “be just like Lindsay” has manifested in the form of a potential starring role in the remake of a 1980s cult not-so-classic. But before congratulating the 15-year old by sending over a giant supply of cokepants and nail polish to Casa Lohan, we’re forced to rain on this pitiful parade by informing you which movie Ali’s Big Break will be in: the remake of Troll. Why this is quite possibly the worst idea in the history of ideas, after the jump. More » -
defamer
By Sheer Coincidence, Tom Cruise's Son Lands Role In Will Smith's Next Movie
The last time we were allowed a brief glimpse into the mysterious lives of Tom Cruise's "other" kids, the news wasn't pretty. Harvey Levin and his TMZ minions were pointing out their awkward adolescence and homelessness, even going as far as to making a crack about their "frizzy" hair. But following in his defiant father's footsteps, 13-year old Connor Cruise is fighting back against all those media meanies by reportedly scoring a plum role in the upcoming Will Smith vehicle, Seven Pounds. And as happy as we are that Connor finally realized playing soccer while surrounded by paparazzi wasn't likely to turn into a full-time career, we're somewhat suspicious of Tom's claims that Connor scored the part of potential Scientologist/Cruise buddy Smith "all on his own"... More » -
defamer
Javier Bardem's Next Role To Turn Your Milk Chocolatey
This pairing of actor and sugar-coated-horror material isn't yet on any studio production slate (it's rather the brainchild of a rogue Photoshopper answering Cracked.com's call for ill-conceived movie monsters), but that doesn't mean the idea is entirely without its merits. For once every comic book superhero has been plundered and replundered, producers of overbaked summer blockbusters will be forced to draw from other beloved, hand-drawn characters of our youth. And hey, once we're fantasizing about Oscar-winning talent like Bardem in the lead, there's no reason why we couldn't shoot for the moon in rounding out the rest of the cast of The Brown Knight: Count Chocula Begins: Philip Seymour Hoffman as Franken Berry, and Jake Gyllenhaal in the role of their dreamy-eyed sidekick, Boo Berry. More » -
casting
'90210' Finds Its New Dylan
The new 90210 has its first cast member, and (yipee!), he's got a blog. Here's what we know so far about 22-year-old Dustin Milligan, who previously played the CW series lottery with a starring role in Runaway: More » -
casting
Dawson is 'Mother's' Latest Stunt
Despite reports that How I Met Your Mother has already ridden the Britney ratings train to fourth season security, the show can't ... stop ... stunting! In a season that's already given us the varied guesting talents of Enrique Iglesias, Mandy Moore, Heidi Klum, Vanessa Minnillo, Sarah Chalke and, of course, Miss Spears herself, E! is reporting that James Van Der Beek is now paddling himself out of the increasingly swampy confines of Obscurity Creek and into the Land Of Laugh Tracks. More » -
casting
A frustrated, out-of-work actor has taken to Craigslist in search of "alternative methods" to prepare for an upcoming audition: "One of my friends suggested I get into white magic, but I think I should find a expert or someone who knows what they are doing...if you could write me with whatever idea/spell you have to help me that would be great, because like I said I have never done this before." It's actually not the craziest idea we've ever heard, but we'd caution that this sort of thing isn't for the casual dark arts dabbler; properly casting a casting spell is a science, if anything, requiring just the right measurements of eye of lapdog, hair of Andy Dick, and breath of 1st AD. [Craigslist] -
defamer
Michelle Trachtenberg has proven herself the ideal go-to actress for naughty TV guest appearance: When she portrayed Sarah Michelle Gellar's "normal" little sister on Buffy, she had a penchant for kleptomania, on Law & Order: CI, she masterfully outwitted the cops and the media by staging an online kidnapping, and she perfected the demanding pop star character of Celeste on Six Feet Under. So it's no surprise that the actress's upcoming guest appearance on Gossip Girl will feature her wreaking havoc on fellow rehabber Serena. We're not sure possessing the natural ability to portray bitchy sidekicks is a blessing or a curse, but in Michelle's case, we always find her small-screen bad-girl characters are ones worth rooting for. [THR] -
defamer
'Notorious' Hopefuls Shot Down By Fox Searchlight After Disingenuous Casting Call
Ramping up the Oscar-season stakes following the exploitation of Abigail Breslin's dimples in 2006 and Diablo Cody's clothes-allergic antics in 2007, Fox Searchlight appears to have gone the way of using low-cost (read: free) young acting hopefuls in its early push on behalf of the Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious. Today's New York Times suggests that Brooklyn rapper and brave ass-shooting survivor Jamal Woolard was essentially already cast as the slain hip-hop star when Searchlight welcomed more than 100 would-be Biggies to itstime-wasting, dream-devouring publicity stuntopen casting call last fall: More » -
defamer
Casting The Inevitable Eliot Spitzer CBS Movie Of The Week
We guide you now to Gawker for complete coverage of the shocking—simply shocking!—sex scandal in which New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer currently finds himself embroiled, as all we at Defamer are interested in is who should play Eliot and wife Silda in the inevitable CBS Movie of the Week: More » -
defamer
We never could have anticipated the groundswell of interest that would follow our noting of crank-calling recidivist Thelma Dennis, whose addiction to dialing 999 has thrown all of Britain under a state of fake-bomb-threat siege. While we took your many casting and title suggestions for the inevitable MOW into serious consideration, one in particular, courtesy of commenter Gwendolyn, was particularly inspired, sending us directly to the Defamer Side-By-Side-O-Tron 2000 to whip up the above illustration. Ladies and gentlemen: Brian Posehn IS Thelma Dennis. We thank everyone else for coming out to the audition. [brianposehn.com] -
defamer
Great news for aspiring actors residing in the greater Pittsburgh area who just so happen to also be inbred: A casting notice for Julianne Moore thriller Shelter seeks background players to play the famed deformed mountain folk of West Virginia. Or, as they put it, "Extraordinarily tall or short. Unusual body shapes, even physical abnormalities as long as there is normal mobility. Unusual facial features, especially eyes... 9-12-year-old Caucasian girl with an other-worldly look to her...Could be an albino or something along those lines — she's someone who is visually different and therefore has a closer contact to the gods and to magic. 'Regular-looking' children should not attend this open call.'" [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] -
trade roundup
Upfronts, Peacocks And Low-Grossers
· Good news, advertisers, entertainment journalists, and fans of overblown montages of new shows that will likely be canceled before December: The upfronts are back on! The networks may continue them in some modified form, but it seems as if they're planning on maintaining the most crucial part of the tradition: free booze. [Variety] More » -
trade roundup
Trekkies Rip Off Rubber Vulcan Ears In Disgust Following Announcement of Five Month 'Star Trek' Release Delay
· Paramount breaks the hearts of the millions of Trekkies who thought they'd be spending Christmas at the multiplex with Kirk, Spock and Uhura, delaying their J.J. Abrams directed Star Trek from this December 25 until May 8, 2009 in hopes that they can wring more money from the franchise during the summer blockbuster season. Also, DreamWorks is moving Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder from this July 11 to August 15, a change that Stiller's fans will endure without complaint. [Variety] More » -
defamer
Producer Surnow Leaves '24,' Tired Of Thinking Up Ways For Jack Bauer To Violate The Geneva Convention
· 24 co-creator/primetime-torture advocate Joel Surnow is leaving the series to follow his muse, having previously ceded day-to-day control of the show to fellow executive producer Howard Gordon. Surnow explains his decision to officially pass on Jack Bauer's interrogation-speeding belt-sander to his colleagues: "I've done seven years, almost eight years at the same place with the same great group of people. During the strike I started thinking about different things I'd like to do independently, and decided it was time to see if there were other opportunities I wanted to pursue." [Variety] More » -
trade roundup
The Coen Brothers Meet The Yiddish Police
· In what could be a dream match of creative team and quirky literary material, Joel and Ethan Coen will adapt Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union for Columbia, a "noir-style murder mystery in which a rogue cop investigates the killing of a heroin-addicted chess prodigy who might be the messiah" set in a Jewish settlement in Alaska. (Are we allowed to get pre-excited about this one?) [Variety] More » -
defamer
Is Exiting MTV President Norman Leaping Into Oprah's Embrace?
· Possibly sandwiched between the theoretically imminent end of the writers strike and a potential June 30 walkout by SAG, studios are rushing to get their high-profile projects into production during that slim window of opportunity, hoping to get enough movies in the can to fill out their late 2009 release schedules. Still on the studios' limbo lists due to deadline-rushed scripts: Angels & Demons, Thomas Crown Affair 2, Fame, The Grind and Death Wish. [Variety] More » -
defamer
Desperate Academy Begs WGA For Oscar Answers
· Anxious that the Oscars are approaching and he still has no real idea of whether or the WGA—obviously a little preoccupied with their own issues—intends to grant a waiver for their awards ceremony, Academy president Sid Ganis begs the Guild for answers so that complicated logistical issues can be resolved. "We're running out time! [desperate punctuation ours]," wails Ganis, pleading for the sweet release of either a simple "yes" or "no." [Variety] More » -
defamer
Val Kilmer Replaces Will Arnett As Voice Of K.I.T.T. Due To Conflict Of Truck-Pimping Interest
In an unexpected development sure to rock the sentient-sportscar-voiceover world, Variety reports NBC has announced that it's had to make an 11th hour substitution in its casting of KITT for the network's soon-to-debut Knight Rider movie, rushing last-minute savior Val Kilmer (Val Kilmer!) into the studio to redo all of the dialogue already recorded by outgoing Mustang-inhabitor Will Arnett. More » -
casting
McG Wonders Where All The Killing-Machine Cowboys Have Gone
With the fourth installment of The Terminator franchise (discounting, of course, that new Fox series Tween Terminator: The Jailbait Killing-Machine Chronicles) in pre-production, director Joseph "McG" McGinty Nichol, still euphoric from landing Christian Bale in the pivotal role of Adult Eddie Furlong, now has some serious, Governator-sized shoes to fill for the sequel's time-traveling robomercenary. From the213.net interview: More » -
defamer
Jon Stewart Risks Wrath Of Boss Redstone By Abandoning Hosting Gig
· In a move that "might" be related to the strike, Jon Stewart pulls out of a Paley Center fundraiser honoring unkillable Viacom overlord Sumner Redstone; presumably, the possibility of having to cross WGA protesters to host an event celebrating a man who's previously pledged to "live long enough to watch every last one of those greedy, scribbling serfs die on the picket line" suddenly made the gig seem less savory. [THR] More » -
trade roundup
NBC Greenlights Second Season Of Just-Successful-Enough 'Celeb Apprentice'
· Encouraged by the good-enough numbers generated by viewers lured to Celebrity Apprentice by the depressing lack of programming alternatives, NBC greenlights a second season of Donald Trump's salvaged franchise. Calls are already flooding in from other lesser-Baldwins, starving reality-show alumni, and aging supermodels hoping to fill out the next installment's roster of semi-recognizable names. [Variety] More » -
defamer
Oscar Nominee Cotillard Cashing In With Depp/Bale Gangster Flick
· La Vie en Rose Oscar nominee Marion Cotillard tries to parlay some of her awards-season heat into a role alongside Christian Bale and Johnny Depp in Michael Mann's Public Enemies, playing gangster John Dillinger's "torch singer girlfriend." [Variety] More » -
defamer
Fiscal Insanity Returns To Sundance With Rumored $10 Million 'Hamlet 2' Deal
· NBC's Jeff Zucker has been strongly hinting that his network's upfront presentation to advertisers may be scaled back this year, if not eliminated entirely; in lieu of the customary "dog and pony show," Zucker may instead ask lieutenant Ben Silverman to show a 30-second clip of American Gladiators injuries to a ballroom full of media buyers, then circle the room with a burlap sack into which they can place the portion of their ad budgets they'd like to spend on the Peacock's new primetime schedule. [Variety] More » -
defamer
A Nervous Hollywood Asks: Where The Hell Is This DGA Deal Everyone Says Is On Its Way?
· Warner Brothers allows its options on the Justice League cast to lapse, putting the project on "indefinite hold," though the studio has assured its roster of mostly no-names that it still would eventually like to see what they all look like in their cute superhero costumes. [Variety] More » -
trade roundup
Baftas Crazy In Love With 'Atonement'
· Like Mr. Tumnus having his way with Keira Knightly in a darkened family library, the BAFTAs make sweet, desperate love to Atonement, lavishing 14 nominations on the film; runners-up No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood (nine nods each), like adolescents wandering in on the lovers in mid-thrust, stare with a mix of jealousy and immature incomprehension at the act of carnality unfolding in front of them. (We now end this incredibly labored run of Atonement analogies.) [Variety] More » -
trade roundup
Viewers Stubbornly Refusing To Abandon Writerless Leno
· For at least their first three nights back on the air, the writerless Jay Leno has triumphed over WGA-sanctioned rival David Letterman in the Nielsen wars. In another sign that the TV apocalypse may finally be upon us, shows like Wife Swap, Supernanny, The Biggest Loser, and Celebrity Apprentice are so far either posting the same numbers as or outperforming the scripted shows they've replaced for their networks. [Variety] More » -
defamer
Actress Plucked From Obscurity, Granted Bond Girl Immortality
· Unknown actress Gemma Arterton has been anointed as the newest Bond girl, with her agent confirming her "nice-sized role" in Bond 22, though it's still unclear whether her part will fall into the "superspy sexual conquest" or "extremely attractive, but sexually unavailable, Mi6 functionary" categories of 007-supporting females [THR] More » -
trade roundup
Leno, Conan Win First Round Of Late-Night Ratings Fight Without Writers
· Overcoming the apparently mild inconvenience of putting on shows without their striking writers, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien still triumphed over fully staffed talk-show rivals David Letterman and Craig Ferguson in Wednesday night's Nielsen battle. In fairness to the WGA-approved programs, however, it should be noted that many viewers might have chosen to tune in to Leno out of irresistible curiosity about how unfunny the host would be on his own. [THR] More » -
trade roundup
Record-Breaking Six Studios Join This Year's Billion Dollar Club; Cries Of Impending Poverty To Follow
· While the AMPTP's member companies insist that internet will remain a revenue-deficient wasteland in perpetuity, they seem to be doing quite well in their multiplex-based lines of business, as an unprecedented six major studios have crossed the $1 billion threshold in 2007. Fox joined Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney, Sony, and Universal in the Billion Dollar Club behind this weekend's Alvin and the Chipmunks performance, while the 'Mount won the overall market share title thanks to DreamWorks-supplied Shrek and Transformers. Congratulations to all of the faceless corporate entities further enriched by the bad taste of the American moviegoing public! [Variety] More » -
casting
Defamer Casting: Kim Delaney And Edward James Olmos Bring The Benazir Bhutto Tragedy To Life
It was with heavy heart that we learned of Benazir Bhutto's assassination today in Rawalpindi, Pakistan at the hands of a suicide bomber firing a gun while riding a motorbike into a crowded political rally (sheesh—they don't fool around there, do they?), and while we acknowledge such a monumentally tragic event has no place amongst the frivolous goings on at Defamer, we still feel compelled, as is our custom, to offer some casting suggestions for the inevitable CBS Movie of the Week depicting the events. More » -
trade roundup
Jimmy Kimmel Joins Late Night's Back-To-Work Parade
· Following NBC's Monday announcement that it's sending Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien back to work without writers, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel is the next late-night domino to fall, as he'll join his competitors in producing scribe-free shows on January 2nd. The now-obligatory "I support the cause but I don't want the rest of the staff losing their jobs" back-to-work statement: "Though it makes me sick to do so without my writers, there are more than 100 people whose financial well-being depends on our show. It is time to go back to work. I support my colleagues and friends in the WGA completely and hope this ends both fairly and soon." [THR] More » -
defamer
Tom Cruise Won't Get His Shot At Killing Hitler Until October
· Bad news for those who were aching with anticipation over Tom Cruise's turn as the cutest little would-be Hitler-killer in all the German army: United Artists and MGM are pushing Valkyrie's release date back from the Fourth of July holiday weekend until October. The official reason cited for the move is the need to find a new location for a pivotal, still-unshot battle scene, not a desire for the skittish studio to get the film as far away from summer blockbuster competition as possible. [Variety] More »










































