Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts tagged as “Sony Pictures TV”

Lifetime Greenlights Gabby Douglas Biopic, Regina King, S. Epatha Merkerson to Star

By goodblacknews on September 16, 2013


Lifetime has greenlit a biopic on the life of two-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas, tentatively titled The Gabby Douglas Story.  The movie will follow Douglas from childhood, when she began formal gymnastics as a 6-year-old, to the present; and so 2 actresses will play her – Sydney Mikayla will be Gabby Douglas as a child, and Imani Hakim will be Gabby Douglas in her teens, eventually becoming a member of the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won gold medals in both the individual and team all-around competitions.
Regina King will play her mother, and S. Epatha Merkerson will be her grandmother.  Douglas will also appear in the film herself, which is produced by Sony Pictures TV.
From the press release description:

A prodigy from a very young age, Gabby Douglas originally made her mark on the world of competitive gymnastics at age eight. She won numerous state championship titles in her age group throughout her early competitive career. While her star was fast rising in the arena, Gabby and her family faced economic challenges at home and she made the difficult decision to leave her mother Natalie (King), three siblings and grandmother (Merkerson) in Virginia Beach and move to Des Moines, Iowa, to train with renowned coach Liang Chow (Brian Tee, The Wolvernine) to pursue her dream of Olympic glory. Buoyed by her early success, dedication and unyielding love from her family, Gabby made it onto the 2012 U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team, with whom she faced intense competition in the London Games. Her sacrifice and perseverance were triumphantly rewarded with Team Competition and Individual All-round gold medals, placing Gabby and her teammates – known as “The Fierce Five” — among the world’s all-time greats in gymnastics.

The telepic will be directed by Gregg Champion (Lifetime’s Amish Grace) from a script written by Maria Nation(Lifetime’s The Two Mr. Kissels).  Zev Braun and Philip Krupp (also Lifetime project alums) will serve as executive producers, with David Rosemont producing.  The Gabby Douglas Story will film in Manitoba, Canada, and debut in 2014. 
article by Tambay A. Obenson via ShadowAndAct

CBS Lands Eddie Murphy and Shawn Ryan Redo Of "Beverly Hills Cop"

By goodblacknews on September 5, 2012
The revival of “Beverly Hills Cop,” which landed at CBS Tuesday with a pilot production order and hefty penalty if not picked up to series, started with talk last fall between Eddie Murphy and Brett Ratner of doing a fourth installment of Paramount’s action-comedy franchise.
Murphy and Ratner had finished working on “Tower Heist” earlier in the year and were preparing to team up for the Oscars (though that was not to be for either man). But even before “Tower Heist” opened to underwhelming B.O., Murphy had reservations about bringing his Axel Foley character back to the big screen. He did, however, think it could work as a TV series if the storyline centered around the character’s son, also on the Beverly Hills police beat.
As Murphy’s reps at WME helped him shape the concept, they suggested a range of comedy writers to execute the next-generation concept. But Murphy’s focus was very clear: He didn’t want a comedy writer, he wanted a seasoned cop writer. Enter Shawn Ryan, creator of “The Shield” and one of TV’s most sought-after showrunners.
Ryan pounced on the idea within minutes of being pitched the idea on the phone by his WME rep, and he and Murphy clicked at their first lunch meeting.

CBS Lands Eddie Murphy and Shawn Ryan Redo Of “Beverly Hills Cop”

By goodblacknews on September 5, 2012
The revival of “Beverly Hills Cop,” which landed at CBS Tuesday with a pilot production order and hefty penalty if not picked up to series, started with talk last fall between Eddie Murphy and Brett Ratner of doing a fourth installment of Paramount’s action-comedy franchise.

Murphy and Ratner had finished working on “Tower Heist” earlier in the year and were preparing to team up for the Oscars (though that was not to be for either man). But even before “Tower Heist” opened to underwhelming B.O., Murphy had reservations about bringing his Axel Foley character back to the big screen. He did, however, think it could work as a TV series if the storyline centered around the character’s son, also on the Beverly Hills police beat.

As Murphy’s reps at WME helped him shape the concept, they suggested a range of comedy writers to execute the next-generation concept. But Murphy’s focus was very clear: He didn’t want a comedy writer, he wanted a seasoned cop writer. Enter Shawn Ryan, creator of “The Shield” and one of TV’s most sought-after showrunners.

Ryan pounced on the idea within minutes of being pitched the idea on the phone by his WME rep, and he and Murphy clicked at their first lunch meeting.