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OWN to Adapt Darlene Love’s Memoir as TV Movie

By goodblacknews on February 10, 2014
Darlene Love
Darlene Love (Shahar Azran/WireImage)
OWN has acquired the rights to Darlene Love’s memoir, and will adapt the book as a TV movie with Oprah Winfrey executive producing.  Love’s memoir, titled My Name is Love: The Darlene Love Story, will be OWN’s first original telepic. Love is also exec producing alongside Morgan Neville.
“The fantastic life journey of music great Darlene Love is the perfect choice for our first original scripted movie,” said Sheri Salata, president, OWN.  “From her first hit song to her darkest days cleaning houses in Beverly Hills to make ends meet, to the triumphant comeback that made rock and roll history, Darlene is a true living legend who worked with many of the greatest talents in music from Elvis Presley and Tom Jones to Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Bruce Springsteen.”
OWN has also licensed the first broadcast window on cable TV for backup singer documentary Twenty Feet From Stardom, which was helmed by Neville and features Love. Broadcast window begins next year.
article by AJ Marechal via Variety.com

Indie Music Publisher Kobalt Gets Into the Miles Davis Business

By goodblacknews on February 7, 2014

Miles Davis

In a deal that reflects both the continuing initiative of the Miles Davis estate and the growing mini-major status of the Kobalt Music Group, the two parties recently struck a deal for the independent music publisher to administer the entire catalog of the late jazz icon. Kobalt’s global synch licensing and creative teams will take over worldwide administration of Davis’ music, previously overseen by the Universal Music Group, and aims to “develop new creative opportunities” as well as tap Davis’ works for use in films, television, advertising and other media. Kobalt’s clients include Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Thom Yorke and such jazz artists as Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Pat Metheny.
“As a jazz enthusiast and sax player myself, listening to his music has been a major part of my life,” said Willard Ahdritz, founder and CEO of Kobalt, in the statement. “So it’s especially meaningful to me and an honor for everyone at Kobalt to be working with the Miles Davis Estate and their great team including Erin Davis, Cheryl Davis, Vince Wilburn, Jr. and Darryl Porter.”  For its part, Miles Davis Properties LLC called Kobalt a “forward-thinking” company that “puts the artists’ needs at the forefront.”
The Davis family has been quite busy as of late, overseeing several reissues the the jazz/fusion pioneer, including the upcoming Miles at the Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3, being released March 25 via Columbia/Legacy; a lavish hardcover book of paintings by Davis called Miles Davis: The Collected Artwork published by Insight Editions; and a Davis biopic titled Kill the Trumpet Player directed, co-written by and starring Don Cheadle as the man with the horn that’s said to be scheduled for production in the coming year.
article by Steve Chagollan via Variety.com

Oprah Winfrey Eyes "’Night, Mother" for Broadway Debut

By goodblacknews on February 6, 2014

Oprah WInfreyOprah Winfrey is in talks to make her Broadway debut in a revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play ’Night, Mother, starring opposite Tony-Award winner Audra McDonald as a mother struggling to stop her daughter from killing herself, according to two theater executives familiar with the plans.  Tony winner George C. Wolfe (Lucky Guy) would direct the production, which is being aimed for the 2015-16 Broadway season. The two theater executives spoke on condition of anonymity to share details about a production that is currently confidential.
The lead producer of the project, Scott Sanders, confirmed on Thursday that he was in discussions with Ms. Winfrey to make her Broadway debut, but he declined to identify the play or discuss other details.
“Oprah has had a longstanding desire to act on Broadway,” Mr. Sanders said. “She understands how unique and challenging performing live on stage will be as an actress. She and I have been looking at a number of plays and roles in order to find material and a character that truly resonate with her. We’ve recently read something that we’re both excited about but are not yet ready to officially announce the specifics.”
Ms. Winfrey and Ms. McDonald read ’Night Mother together last year with Mr. Wolfe in Mr. Sanders’s apartment, according to the two theater executives, and all involved were happy with the results. The 2015-16 timing is driven by scheduling availability, according to the theater executives.  Ms. Winfrey, who delivered an acclaimed film performance in Lee Daniels’ The Butler last year, and Mr. Sanders are currently working together on a Broadway revival of the musical The Color Purple, possibly for the 2014-15 theater season. They produced the original Color Purple production on Broadway in 2005; the new version would be the stripped-down production that the Tony winner John Doyle directed to much praise in London last summer.
Ms. McDonald, a five-time Tony winner who was last on Broadway in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, and whose last Broadway play was A Raisin in the Sun in 2004 (for which she won a Tony), has theater projects and other work planned for the 2014-15 season. ‘Night, Mother was written by Marsha Norman, who worked with Ms. Winfrey and Mr. Sanders as the book writer on The Color Purple.
The two-character drama originally opened on Broadway in 1983 and ran for a year, earning Tony nominations for best play and best actress for both stars, Anne Pitoniak and Kathy Bates. There was a short-lived revival on Broadway in the 2004-5 season starring Brenda Blethyn and Edie Falco.  Representatives for Ms. Winfrey did not return requests for comment; a spokesman for Ms. McDonald declined comment.
article by Patrick Healy via nytimes.com

Steve Harvey-Hosted "Family Feud" Continues Ratings Surge, Tops All Gameshows in Demo

By goodblacknews on February 6, 2014
Family Fued Steve Harvey
Look out “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy,” because “Family Feud” is on a ratings roll.  The Steve Harvey-hosted show, from producer FremantleMedia North America and distributor Debmar Mercury, hit another milestone the week ending Jan. 26, rising to Nielsen heights the show hasn’t seen in at least 25 years. It also edged out the venerable “Wheel” as the top syndicated gameshow in some key female demos.
According to Nielsen estimates, the nationally syndicated “Family Feud” averaged  a 6.1 household rating — the first time the gameshow has surpassed the 6.0 ratings threshold and its highest number since the advent of Nielsen People Meters in 1988. It was up 7% week-to-week (5.7) and a big 20% vs. the comparable week a year ago (5.1). Overall, the show is up a monster 336% since Steve Harvey became host in September 2010.
“Feud” was similarly up in total viewers, according to Nielsen, with its 9.235 million a 19% gain vs. a year ago (7.789 million). Among gameshows during the week, it was more competitive with the big boys, “Wheel” (12.571 million) and “Jeopardy” (11.555 million), both of which were up by single-digits vs. last year.

LeBron James-Produced Comedy Series Gets Picked Up by Starz

By goodblacknews on February 5, 2014

LeBron JamesStarz has given a series order to the basketball comedy from NBA star LeBron James.  The half-hour scripted series, Survivor’s Remorse, is set in the world of professional basketball and, according to the series description, “explores the comedy and drama of an experience that everyone reads about but few understand — what truly happens when you make it out.”  The comedy was announced last September and the shot clock is ticking fast, with a fall premiere being eyed. For the premium channel that has steadily crafted a brand of sweeping period dramas, Survivor’s Remorse marks a toe-dipping back into the comedy waters.

It centers on Cam Calloway, a basketball powerhouse in his early 20s who must navigate the limelight after inking a multimillion-dollar contract with a professional basketball team. Something the Miami Heat star might know something about.  James serves as an executive producer, alongside Tom Werner (Roseanne, That ’70s Show), Maverick Carter, Paul Wachter and Mike O’Malley (actor on Glee, writer on Shameless), who will also write.

“Ever since I got cut from the freshman hoop team at Bishop Guertin High School in 1980, I’ve wanted to write about my love and hatred of basketball,” O’Malley said in a statement. “Starz has given us great freedom to explore an authentic world inspired by Maverick and LeBron. Tom’s legendary TV career and his experiences as a professional sports owner combined with Paul’s wealth of business and entertainment industry relationships have given this team a truly strong foundation to build a successful series.”

ABC’s Anthony Anderson/Kenya Barris Pilot Adds Larry Wilmore As Showrunner

By goodblacknews on February 4, 2014

wilmoreWhat do you do when you have a show about what it means to be black in today’s society that is in a need of a showrunner? You turn to an expert. ABC’s untitled Anthony Anderson/Kenya Barris comedy pilot (formerly Black-ish) has tapped The Daily Show’s senior black correspondent Larry Wilmore as executive producer/showrunner. Written by Barris and loosely based on his personal experiences, the project centers on an upper-middle-class black man (Anderson) who struggles to raise his children with some sense of cultural identity despite constant contradictions and obstacles coming from his liberal wife, old-school father, and his own assimilated, color-blind kids. Wilmore tackled similar issues on his Fox comedy series The Bernie Mac Show. The Anderson/Barris pilot hails from ABC Studios, Laurence Fishburne‘s Cinema Gypsy and Principato Young, with Wilmore executive producing alongside Anderson, Barris, Cinema Gypsy’s Fishburne, Helen Sugland and Tom Russo as well as PYE’s Peter Principato, Paul Young and Brian Dobbins. Fishburne may also guest star.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com

Vanity Fair's 2014 Hollywood Issue Features Biggest Display of Diversity in its Cover History

By goodblacknews on February 4, 2014
Julia Roberts poses with (fromt lef) Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba and George Clooney on the March cover of Vanity Fair.
Julia Roberts poses with (front left) Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba and George Clooney on the March cover of Vanity Fair. (ANNIE LEIBOVITZ EXCLUSIVELY FOR VANITY FAIR)
Vanity Fair released a sneak peek of its 20th annual Hollywood Issue on Monday, and it may be the most groundbreaking one yet.  The magazine has apparently taken steps toward emphasizing the diversity of Hollywood. For the first time since it began putting out the annual special in 1995, six of the 12 celebrated thespians gracing the 2014 cover are not white.  The magazine has come under fire in the past for an apparent lack of diversity. Just a few years ago, as Buzzfeed has pointed out, a 2010 the cover featured nine actresses — all white, thin and under 40 years old.
Over the years the annual selection has included one or two minority actors — such as Angela Bassett in 1995, and Lucy Liu and Salma Hayek in 2004 — but this year’s edition shows how expansive the African-American film scope has grown across several genres.
(From left): Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julia Roberts, Idris Elba, George Clooney, Michael B. Jordan, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong’o, Naomie Harris, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Margot Robbie and Léa Seydoux.
From left: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julia Roberts, Idris Elba, George Clooney, Michael B. Jordan, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong’o, Naomie Harris, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Margot Robbie and Léa Seydoux. (ANNIE LEIBOVITZ EXCLUSIVELY FOR VANITY FAIR)

Among those featured on the three-panel foldout are many of Hollywood’s most heralded actors of the past year, including Oscar nominees Julia Roberts, for August: Osage County, Jared Leto, who is the front-runner in his Best Supporting Actor category for Dallas Buyers Club, and Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong’o from 12 Years A Slave.

Pharrell Williams to Perform Oscar-Nominated Song "Happy" at Academy Awards

By goodblacknews on February 4, 2014

Pharrell Williams

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday that Pharrell Williams will perform his Oscar-nominated song “Happy” at the 2014 Oscars.
“Happy,” which Williams wrote and produced for the animated film Despicable Me 2, is nominated for the original song category alongside “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, “Let it Go” from Frozen and “The Moon Song” from Her.
“I wanted to send a reminder: There are lots of reasons to smile,” the 40-year-old told the Los Angeles Times in an interview in December on his nominated song. “You can be resilient with your smile. Why is it so cool to be mad all the time? Some songs, everybody’s so upset.”
The song “Happy” has a “lyric version” — a video featuring the film’s minions making mischief around the song’s words in bold fonts. It also has a website launched for the song, 24hoursofhappy.com, where the song is played on repeat for 24 hours straight.
“Each take starting every hour is me,” he told The Times. “So I did 24 four-minute takes of ‘Happy.’ From 1:00-1:04, I perform ‘Happy.’ Then at 1:04, the next person does it. We picked all kinds of people, all types. Every hour is 15 takes.”
Williams, a seven-time Grammy Award winner, was named Billboard’s producer of the decade in 2010. Most recently, he collaborated on two of 2013’s top Billboard hits: Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines,” which he co-wrote and produced, and Daft Punk‘s “Get Lucky,” which he co-wrote and also sang.
The Oscars, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, will be held March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and broadcast live on ABC.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-pharrell-williams-oscars-20140204,0,5694271.story#ixzz2sONfjm7t

Lifetime’s “The Gabby Douglas Story” Earns 3.8 Million Viewers

By goodblacknews on February 3, 2014

the gabby douglas story
Imani Hakim as Gabby Douglas in Lifetime’s “The Gabby Douglas Story” (Source: Lifetime)

This past Saturday, Lifetime aired The Gabby Douglas Story. And apparently many were anxious to see it. The cable network movie pulled in 3.8 million viewers according to Nielsen Research. And immediately after her Lifetime movie debuted, the network broadcast a documentary called Beyond the Headlines: The Gabby Douglas Story, which averaged 3 million viewers.
In addition to views, according to Nielsen SocialGuide, the cable movie premiere was also the most-tweeted program of the night across all of television, excluding sporting events. The Gabby Douglas Story stars Regina King as Gabrielle’s mother, S. Epatha Merkerson as her grandmother and Imani Hakim (Tonya from Everybody Hates Chris) as the teenaged Douglas.
article by Veronica Wells via madamenoire.com

Kevin Hart/Ice Cube Comedy "Ride Along" Scores Rare 3rd Straight Top Box Office Finish With $12.3 Million

By goodblacknews on February 2, 2014

Ride Along Movie

Continuing its high-flying ride at the domestic box office, Universal’s stalwart holdover Ride Along posted its third straight weekend victory, estimating $12.3 million for a Stateside cume of $93 million and counting.  The Super Bowl weekend’s only two wide releases — Focus Features’ That Awkward Moment and Paramount’s Labor Day, both of which are targeted squarely at female audiences — underperformed, grossing $9 million and $5.3 million, respectively.
Internationally, Disney had another standout weekend with its toon all-star Frozen, which grossed an estimated $24 million from 45 territories, representing approximately 90% of the overseas market place.  So far, the film has collected north of $504 million internationally, with $360 million Stateside (pic’s sing-along re-release contributed $2.2 million out of a total estimated $9.3 million this weekend), making Frozen the second-highest grossing original toon of all time globally, behind Finding Nemo.  Domestic totals managed to stay in line roughly with this time last year, down just 2%, though first-quarter 2013 box office was especially mopey.
As the clear highlight so far this year, Ride Along’s third-straight win at the domestic box office matches what only three films total managed last year — The Butler, Gravity and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smug — none of which bowed during the first quarter.
Speaking of Gravity, Warner Bros.’ large-screen re-release of the Oscar-nominated 3D epic earned more than half of its $2 million three-day gross in Imax. Gravity has cumed nearly $264 million domestically in over four months.  Among the other Academy Award contenders, both American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street became milestone box office achievements for their respective directors: Hustle now stands as David O. Russell’s highest-grossing film, with $133.6 million, while Martin Scorsese’s Wolf is the director’s third-highest, at $104.1 million, surpassing The Aviator.
Film (Weeks in release): 3-day gross*; Locations; Per-theater average; Cume*; Percentage change

  1. Ride Along (3): $12.3; 2,867; $4,295; $93.0; -42%
  2. Frozen (11): $9.3; 2,754; $3,381; $360.0; +2%
  3. That Awkward Moment (1): $9.0; 2,809; $3,208; $9.0; –
  4. The Nut Job (3): $7.6; 3,472; $2,193; $50.2; -37%
  5. Lone Survivor (6): $7.2; 3,285; $2,180; $104.9; -44%
  6. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (3): $5.4; 2,907; $1,858; $39.0; -41%
  7. Labor Day (1): $5.3; 2,584; $2,051; $5.3; –
  8. American Hustle (8): $4.3; 2,216; $1,940; $133.6; -39%
  9. The Wolf of Wall Street (6): $3.6; 1,607; $2,209; $104.1; -35%
  10. I, Frankenstein (2): $3.5; 2,753; $1,279; $14.5; -59%

article by Andrew Stewart via Variety.com