Tuesday, January 31, 2012

VIDEO: Watch Kristen Bell Have a Sloth-Induced Meltdown

Kristen Bell, The Ellen Show Kristen Bell's 31st birthday was a dream come true - even though she spent part of it crying.Here's the thing: The House of Lies star loves sloths - she Googles baby sloths multiple times a week. So for her birthday last July, fiancé and Parenthood starDax Shepard decided to surprise her with a real, live sloth. But before he even brought the creature in, Bell sensed its presence and did what any sloth aficionado does during such a momentous event: have an emotional meltdown.Check out photos of Kristen Bell"I was sitting on my bed, knowing that my sloth is here, and I start to have a full-fledged panic attack," Bell told Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show Tuesday. "I don't know how to compete with all this emotion, so I just kind of crawl up on the bed and I'm crying so hard. Dax knocks on the door and he has a video camera and he's like, 'Surprise! I want you to come out into the ... are you all right?!' And he sees me basically fetal on the bed."Because words do not do it justice, Bell shared the footage of her hysterical breakdown: video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Public sets park season

An outside staging of Stephen Sondheim's fairy-tale tuner "In to the Forest" along with a reunion of helmer Daniel Sullivan and thesp Lily Rabe take presctiption tap for that 2012 Shakespeare around the block season from Off Broadway's Public Theater. Frequent Shakespeare around the block director Sullivan ("Twelfth Evening," "All's Well That Finishes Well") will helm Rabe in "As You Desire It," using the actress cast because the mix-dressing central character within the Bard comedy concerning the daughter of the exiled duke and her rustic adventures within the Forest of Arden. Sullivan formerly directed Rabe within the Al Pacino-toplined manufacture of "The Merchant of Venice," which bowed included in Shakespeare around the block before moving to Broadway to have an uber-lucrative limited engagement. Rabe was nommed for any Tony on her perf. "In to the Forest," helmed by Timothy Sheader, have been rumored like a likely candidate for Central Park for any couple of days now. Sheader formerly helmed a significantly-famous outside staging from the musical this year at London's Regent's Park Outside Theater. New Gotham version, co-helmed by Liam Steel, is going to be created by a team of U.S. creatives and star a united states cast. Tuner, with tunes by Sondheim and book by James Lapine, follows several fairy-tale figures past the happily-ever-after resolutions of the familiar tales. The 2012 edition of Shakespeare around the block will repetition the disposable summer time theater initiative's 50th year. The annual slate, staged each year in the open-air Delacorte Theater in Central Park, is frequently devoted towards the Bard canon, but has from time to time incorporated other well-known works including "The Seagull," "Mother Courage and her Children" and also the 2008 revival of "Hair" that gone to live in Broadway for any effective run. "As You Desire It" is specific for any June opening, while "In to the Forest" will begin perfs in the finish of This summer, with exact dates to become introduced. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

'Chinglish' to seal on Broadway Jan. 29

"Chinglish," David Henry Hwang's play a great American businessman coping with translation and romantic problems in China, will close on Jan. 29, the producers introduced on Monday. The play, which formerly went at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, might have given 128 performances within the Longacre Theatre. Back Stage critic Erik Haagensen referred to as show a "smart and uproarious comedy" and designated Angela Lin who plays two supporting roles, as giving among his ten memorable NY theater performances of 2011. "Miracle/Bird," Eric Simonson's new play about basketball tales Earvin "Miracle" Manley and Ray Bird, will begin preview performances within the Longacre on March 21 just before an April 11 opening, producers introduced on Tuesday. Two other Broadway shows "Around the Apparent Day You Will See Forever" and "Relatively Speaking" may even close on Jan. 29.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

BBC Worldwide ink PBS deals

Released: Tue., Jan. 17, 2012, 11:11am PTBy JON WEISMAN BBC Worldwide has completed the acquisition more than 260 several hours of programming to PBS stations inside the U.S., layed out with the docu series "Good status for Science." The deals were began within the annual BBC Showcase Distribution event October in New Orleans. Furthermore to "Good status for Science," PBS affiliate entrepreneurs may even air such programs as "Pleasure and Discomfort," "The Queen's Palaces," "New Techniques," and "Space Shuttle: A Horizon Guide." Other BBC Worldwide game game titles licensed for third and 4th home home windows by PBS affiliate entrepreneurs include "Himalaya with Michael Palin," "Wild Indonesia" and "Hannibal and Krakatoa: The Ultimate Days." "BBC Showcase occasions give our sales force invaluable face time with clients," BBC Worldwide Us citizens sales and co-productions professional veep Matt Forde mentioned, "and ultimately get yourself a better grasp from the products they are trying to find. This allows us to focus on the information this is actually the ideal for their audience." The BBC stages showcases employed in brighton, England and Rio p Janeiro, while BBC Worldwide has furthermore held them in China two occasions, including a year ago. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Ready For Horrible Bosses 2?

New Line has hired the writersHorrible Bosses might not have been a critical favourite last year, but it certainly caught on with audiences, earning a surprising $209 million worldwide. So what are the probably not-so-horrible bosses at New Line doing now? Looking to make a sequel, of course!The first step down that road has been taken, with the executives locking in Bosses writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein to start kicking around ideas for a follow-up to the story of three workers planning to kill their awful supervisors. And the studio types will also be digging into the coffers for enough cash to tempt stars Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day back to the lead roles.Also likely to return is director Seth Gordon, who brought the original in for around $35 million and is seen as a key part of the film's success.Daley (who is a regular on US forensic TV show Bones) and Goldstein, a telly writing stalwart, have been in demand recently. In addition to Bosses, they've also worked on Steve Carell comedy Burt Wonderstone and have been cranking out a sequel to 'toon hit Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.The big question for any Bosses sequel is where the plot will go this time, especially since the stories of antagonistic monsters Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey and, particularly Colin Farrell wrapped up pretty neatly in the original. Perhaps they could switch the focus and have Sudeikis, Bateman and Day as the dreadful employers this time, trying to stop new workers offing them?

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Legendary East splits with Huayi Brothers

Legendary's Chinese venture Legendary East has parted ways with Chinese distributor Huayi Brothers. The split could lead to renewed investor interest in Legendary East's fundraising efforts, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions.On Friday, news broke that Legendary investor Paul Y. Engineering Group of Hong Kong put its proposed $220.5 million investment on hold due to shaky financial markets. Part of that shakiness came from investors, say sources with knowledge of the fundraising effort. Under the original proposal, PYE planned to take a 50% stake in Legendary East. Thomas Tull's Legendary Entertainment would have a 40% stake in Legendary East and the Huayi Brothers would take the remaining 10%. But the Huayi Brothers' share proved too large for some financiers to swallow, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions, and contributed to Legendary East's decision to let lapse its self-imposed deal deadline of Dec. 31. Legendary East had originally imposed an arbitrary deadline, and the company's relationship with Huayi Brothers dissolved when that deadline passed. Several U.S. companies including Legendary and Relativity are working hard to get a toehold in the massive Chinese market, but the tough financial climate is making some deals harder to finalize. In a statement on Friday, PYE said it intended to restructure the proposal and re-launch the transaction in the new year."We maintain that diversification with an investment in Legendary East is beneficial to PYE," PYE chairman James Chiu stated in the release.PYE, a publicly traded company on the Hong Kong stock market, is attempting to raise the Legendary East funds by placing new company stock with private equity firm AID Partners, and through UBS AG, to other institutional and individual investors. With its 10% stakeholder out and terms of the deal being reworked, sources with knowledge of the discussions say that investors appear more interested in closing a stock arrangement. Since 10% proved unpalatable for investors, it's likely that multiple distribs could replace Huayi's exclusive arrangement.Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull paired up with Chinese-born Hong Kong media and finance entrepreneur Kelvin Wu to create Legendary East in June. The parties proposed making one or two big-budget pics a year, beginning next year, with commercial appeal both in China and worldwide. Company would accomplish this in part by producing mainly English-language pics that feature themes based on Chinese history, mythology or culture.A spokesperson for Legendary and Legendary East declined to comment, but released a statement last week that confirmed the latter would relaunch its planned fundraising effort. "Legendary East will issue a formal announcement when the new structure and transaction is solidified."Huayi Brothers could not be reached for comment. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com