Beals to to create 'Vinyl' jazz pic

"The L Word" star Jennifer Beals is placed to topline and convey "The The almighty of Vinyl," an indie jazz pic which will mark the directorial debut of Dennis Bartok, who authored the script as well as produce with Patrick Cunningham ("Martha Marcy May Marlene"). Story follows the bittersweet existence and comic despair of the lonely fortysomething Angeleno who's obsessive about jazz and hides in the disappointment around the globe inside the good thing about music. He suddenly finds themself exploring the potential of new love by having an discontentedly married publish office manager (Beals) just like he attempts a reconciliation together with his estranged 11-year-old daughter, now coping with his ex-wife and former closest friend. A significant plot point involves the potential of just one making it through recording through the enigmatic "godfather of jazz," New Orleans music performer Buddy Bolden, who inspired Louis Remedy before he died inside a Louisiana mental hospital in 1931. Bartok formerly authored and created Lionsgate's anthology horror film "Trapped Ashes," which tested in the Cannes and Toronto film fests in 2006. Cunningham is originating off a completely independent Spirit Award nomination for creating Fox Searchlight's "Martha Marcy May Marlene" with Chris Maybach and Borderline Films. He lately created Sean Baker's "Celebrity," which premieres at SXSW this month. Beals, who lately starred on Fox's "The Chicago Code," is better noted for starring in "Flashdance," along with the Denzel Washington photos "It of Eli" and "Demon inside a Blue Dress." She's repped by APA, Greenlight Management and Production and Loeb & Loeb. Contact Shaun Sneider at shaun.sneider@variety.com

Jonah Hill to Receive Israel Film Festival's Achievement in Film Award

Jonah Hill will be honored with the 2012 IFF Achievement in Film Award at the 26th Awards Gala of the Israel Film Festival, which will be held March 15 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood.Yossi Madmoni's "Restoration" also will screen that night as the festival's opening night film. The film stars Sasson Gabai as an older man trying to keep his antique restoration workshop open and wasnominated for 11 Ophir Israeli Awards, was named best film at Jerusalem Film Festival and won the Screenwriting Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.The festival, which runs through March 29 at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills and the Laemmle Fallbrook in the San Fernando Valley, will showcase more than 30 new Israeli films.Hill, nominated for a best supporting actor Academy Award for his work in "Moneyball," will next be seen in Sony's "21 Jump Street," opening March 16."We are very pleased to honor such a dynamic and multi-faceted talent like Jonah Hill," Festival founder and executive director Meir Fenigstein said. "We are excited to present the IFF Achievement in Film Award for his remarkable accomplishments and his support for Israeli filmmaking." The Hollywood Reporter

Pilot Season: Heroes Alum Milo Ventimiglia Joins Frank Darabont's TNT Pilot

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ioan Gruffudd Wedding bells may soon be chiming on Ringer. Exclusive: Ringer lands Awkward's Nikki DeLoach for sexy role "Siobhan" (Sarah Michelle Gellar), aka Bridget in sibling disguise, and Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd) are getting re-married, which means Bridget may actually wed her sister's husband! Oh Bridget, what have you gotten yourself into? Their news pales in comparison to what the actual Siobhan finds out in next week's episode. Watch the sneak peek below to get the scoop: Ringer airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

The Help, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer Win At NAACP Image Awards

The Help accumulated more accolades tonight with the NAACP Image Awards naming it Best Motion Picture, and Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer were chosen Best Actress and Supporting Actress. Ceremonies at the Shrine Auditorium were hosted by Sanaa Latham and Anthony Mackie. In addition, the Founding Members of the Black Stuntmens Association received the NAACP Presidents Award. A list of winners in motion picture and TV categories follows: MOTION PICTURE Outstanding Motion Picture “The Help” (DreamWorks Pictures/ Participant Media/ Touchstone Pictures) Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture Laz Alonso – “Jumping the Broom” (TriStar Pictures) Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Viola Davis – “The Help” (DreamWorks Pictures/ Participant Media/ Touchstone Pictures) Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Mike Epps – “Jumping the Broom” (TriStar Pictures) Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Octavia Spencer – “The Help” (DreamWorks Pictures/ Participant Media/ Touchstone Pictures) Outstanding Independent Motion Picture “Pariah” (Focus Features) Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture “In the Land of Blood and Honey” (FilmDistrict) DOCUMENTARY Outstanding Documentary – (Theatrical or Television) “Sing Your Song” (HBO Documentary Films) WRITING Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series Salim Akil, Mara Brock Akil – “The Game” – Parachutes….Beach Chairs (BET) Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series Lolis Eric Elie – “Treme” – Santa Claus, Do You Ever Get the Blues? (HBO) Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture – (Theatrical or Television) Ann Peacock – “The First Grader” (National Geographic Entertainment) DIRECTING Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series Leonard R. Garner Jr. – “Rules of Engagement” – The Set Up (CBS) Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series Ernest Dickerson – “Treme” – Do Watcha Wanna (HBO) Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture – (Theatrical or Television) Salim Akil – “Jumping the Broom” (TriStar Pictures) TELEVISION CATEGORIES Outstanding Comedy Series “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” (TBS) Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series Malcolm-Jamal Warner – “Reed Between the Lines” (BET) Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series Tracee Ellis Ross – “Reed Between the Lines” (BET) Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Nick Cannon – “Up All Night” (NBC) Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Keshia Knight Pulliam – “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” (TBS) Outstanding Drama Series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (NBC) Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series L.L. Cool J – “NCIS: Los Angeles” (CBS) Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Regina King – “SouthLAnd” (TNT) Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series James Pickens, Jr. – “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Archie Panjabi – “The Good Wife” (CBS) Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special “Thurgood” (HBO) Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Laurence Fishburne – “Thurgood” (HBO) Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Taraji P. Henson – “Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story” (Lifetime) Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series Emerson Brooks – “All My Children” (ABC) Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series Tatyana Ali – “The Young and the Restless” (CBS) Outstanding News/ Information – (Series or Special) “Unsung” (TV One) Outstanding Talk Series “Oprah’s Lifeclass” (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network) Outstanding Reality Series “Dancing with the Stars” (ABC) Outstanding Variety Series or Special “Oprah Presents: Master Class” (OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network) Outstanding Childrens Program “I Can Be President: A Kids-Eye View” (HBO) Outstanding Performance in a Youth/ Childrens Program – (Series or Special) Keke Palmer – “True Jackson, VP” (Nickelodeon)

How To Land Your Very Own Guido: Love Tips From the Girls of the Jersey Shore

Snooki, J-Woww and Deena Nicole In the spirit of Valentine's Day, we talked about love, dating and sex with three girls who have plenty of experience: Jersey Shore's Snooki, JWoww, and Deena. The ladies abide by many hard and fast rules, and they were kind enough to impart their wisdom to us. "Definitely don't do sex on the first date," Deena says.Check out the video below to hear more:

Strong winter for Broadway

The Phantom of the Opera hit 10,000 performances on Feb. 11. Chandra Lee Schwartz and Jackie Burns in Wicked at the Gershwin.Winter, believe it or not, has been kind to Broadway this year. Sure, last week's box office numbers may not have given legiters much to get excited about, but for a mid-February frame, it wasn't so bad. And measuring from the start of the calendar year, the current annum is well ahead of 2011 both in terms of sales and attendance. According to numbers put together by the Broadway League, this year's B.O. cume hit $112.3 million vs. the $87.6 million logged for the same weeks in 2011. Attendance reached 1.3 million, compared to the 1 million theatergoers who turned out during the same window last year. A number of factors contribute to the uptick, not least of which is the higher number of productions running this year than over the same six weeks in 2011. There are also Street-wide promotional deals, under the banners Broadway Week (which ended Feb. 4) and Kids' Night on Broadway (Feb. 5-9), helping to heat up winter biz, and on top of that, the unseasonably warm winter hasn't yielded a single blizzard to scare off auds. In a week when some shows were up and others were down -- and none of the fluctuations were attention-grabbing -- the biggest news of the frame was possibly the 10,000th performance of "The Phantom of Opera" ($604,378) on Feb. 11. The week's tally was down a bit from the prior sesh in part because half the inventory at that landmark perf on Saturday was donated to an Actors Fund charity event. Also down was "Porgy and Bess" ($818,346), in a dip possibly attributable to the four-show absence of above-the-title thesp Norm Lewis. A far more worrying decline was posted at "Sister Act" ($426,152), which saw attendance slide below 48%, as well as at soon-to-close play "Stick Fly" ($196,337), another show that played to less than half of capacity. Among those reporting gains over the prior week was "Wicked" ($1,508,501), which reclaimed the top spot on the charts ahead of last week's leader, "The Book of Mormon." The latter, however, still did just fine, breaking yet another house record at the O'Neill Theater with a weekly tally of $1,485,740. "Spider-Man: Turn of the Dark:" ($1,378,970) and "The Lion King" ($1,349,837) rounded out the frame's millionaires' club. Among the other productions to see a sales bump were the ones most likely to have gotten a boost from the Kids' Night campaign, including youngster-friendly "Mary Poppins" ($667,272) and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" ($656,165), whose star, Nick Jonas, was promoted as the Kids' Night ambassador. Overall sales climbed about $600,000 to $15.6 million. That's higher than the $15.1 million posted during the same frame last year, but last week's attendance of 177,602 was a bit below the 179,000 from 2011. Joining the fray last week was the commercial transfer of last fall's nonprofit staging of "Venus in Fur" ($346,117), reporting solid numbers for a play that's technically still in previews ahead of a Feb. 29 re-opening. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

Linsanity Continues! What Do You Think of Jeremy Lin?

Jeremy Lin It's only been seven days since NY Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin made his first career start, but after leading the team to their fifth consecutive win Saturday, it's safe to say Linsanity doesn't look like just a passing fad. Lin, 23, scored a combined total of 89 points for his first three career starts - the most for any player since the National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association merged. On Friday, he scored a career-high 38 points against the Los Angeles Lakers - days after Lakers star Kobe Bryant told the press he was completely unaware of Lin's recent stats - and scored 20 points in the Knicks' win over the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday despite a lackluster second half. Catch up on today's latest news It's hard to believe, but Lin's hot streak comes less than a month after the Knicks demoted Lin to the Erie BayHawks of the D-league (he was recalled three days later after scoring 28 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in a single game). Lin, one of the few Chinese Americans to play in the NBA, played basketball for Harvard after making waves as the captain of his high school basketball team in Palo Alto, Calif. He was not drafted immediately out of college, but signed a two-year contract with his hometown team, the Golden State Warriors, shortly after graduating in 2010. However, the Warriors released Lin after his rookie season shortly before he went to the Knicks. He averaged just 2.6 points a game during his first year. So what do you think of Jeremy Lin? Are you or is someone you love currently suffering from the Linsanity?

'7500' Trailer: Ghosts (Or Something) On A Plane

Up in the sky! It's a plane! It's a supernatural forces on a plane! It's Flight 7500! The new trailer for the upcoming horror film "7500" shows something systematically terrorizing the passengers on a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. Check out the trailer above and learn more about whatever might be eating Jamie Chung after the jump! After viewing the trailer, two major questions remain unclear. First off, we have no idea what's causing all the trouble on the plane. It could really be anything from the world of horror movies. The little we see from the trailer leads us to believe that a ghost may be responsible, but then there's that mysterious man and the wooden box stowed safely under the seat in front of him. Secondly, what's Turtle from "Entourage" doing on that flight without the boys? My theory: the ghost of Jerry Ferrara's extra belly weight has come back to haunt its former host. It's as sound a theory as any other, and I have little else to go on. A third scenario could be a possible ghostly demon, along the lines of what we've seen in the "Paranormal Activity" movies. The mysterious box definitely has the look of something that could house a demon. Then again, everyone knows that a demonic presence would never make it past the TSA. "7500" hits theaters on August 31 and stars Leslie Bibb, Jamie Chung, Ryan Kwanten and Amy Smart. What did you think of the trailer for "7500"? What's in the box? WHAT'S IN THE BOX?! Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!

Bruce Willis stars inside the Cold Light Of Day trailer

What can you obtain if you synergy Superman with John McClane? A whole bucket-load of ass-whupping, that's what... particularly if you're a cabal of shady government types who've kidnapped their family members.That's the set-up (with no Superman bit, clearly) in new action thriller The Cold Light Of Day, through which Henry Cavill's family holiday is disrupted with the abduction of his mother and siblings and siblings. Fortunately, his some guy (Willis) remains to become, but sadly, he's the primary one using the competitors.Take a look within the new trailer, below... In truth, if Bruce Willis may be the father, you have to be ready for the actual fact that lots of people may decide to kill him. Still, Cavill seems to evolve adequate, getting hold of the nearest gun and raising somewhat hell that belongs to them.Targeted by JCVD helmer Mabrouk El Mechri, the film looks a little missing the Bourne-standard of secret service actioners, but Sigourney Weaver looks a pleasingly chilled presence inside the Joan Allen ice full mould. And that we have always got time for Bruce Willis smashing heads through vehicle home home windows...The Cold Light Of Day opens inside the Uk on 6 April 2012.

'The Artist' tops DGA Awards

"The Artist" director Michel Hazanavicius has won the Directors Guild of America feature film award. The French director topped Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris," David Fincher for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Alexander Payne for "The Descendants" and Martin Scorsese for "Hugo." "It's maybe the highest honor I could hope," Hazanavicius said in his acceptance. "I love directors, I honor directors so this is an honor for me."The black and white silent -- described by the helmer as a "love letter" to Hollywood -- is set in the days during the transition to talkies."It's strange to compare films and say which one is best but I'm very happy to get this," Hazanavicius concluded in his acceptance speech.The trophy was presented Saturday night at the Hollywood and Highland ballroom by Tom Hooper, winner of last year's DGA award for "The King's Speech." James Marsh won the documentary trophy for "Project Nim," centered on a chimpanzee's life among humans. The comedy series trophy went to Robert B. Weide for "Palestinian Chicken" episode of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." "Modern Family" had won the category for two years in a row.Patty Jenkins won the dramatic series award goes for the pilot of AMC's "The Killing."The DGA win came on the first nomination for Hazanavicius - and marks the first time that a silent film has won the DGA trophy.The winner of the DGA Award has matched the Oscar winner in all but six years since 1948, including last year, when Tom Hooper took both trophies for "The King's Speech." The last divergence came in 2002, when Rob Marshall won the DGA Award for "Chicago" and Roman Polanski received the Academy Award for "The Pianist."Amy Schatz won the DGA Award for childrens programming for "A Child's Garden of Poetry"Noam Murro won the DGA commercials award and got a big laugh with his two-word acceptance -- "Thank You"Daytime serials award went to William Ludel for "General Hospital." The reality award went to Neil P. DeGroot for "The Biggest Loser."Woody Allen was a no-show as usual but received big laughs on his videotaped speech for receiving a DGA nom -- "This is somewhere between the top, the Nobel Prize, and the bottom, the Republican primary." Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Frst trailer arrives for Brake

A preliminary trailer remains released for claustrophobic thriller Brake, through which Stephen Dorff's secret service agent stimulates to discover themselves in a corner from the vehicle, with no method of escape together with a timer counting lower to God knows what.For your first a couple of seconds roughly, it seems as if this can most likely be an affordable knock-from Ryan Reynolds' ordeal in Hidden, but since the trailer progresses, it may be apparent that Brake will probably be taking a slightly different route than Rodrigo Cortes' clever thriller.Take a look within the trailer below... It seems as though Dorff's prison might be a modern-day when compared to a simple coffin, along with his captors posting him to numerous both mental and physical torture to have the ability to extract the information they're after.It's also worth watching a clip appears to demonstrate Dorff up adding to outdoors his vehicular prison, and then we can believe that eventually, he'll make his escape. Whether that's just a component of the terrorists' plan remains to look.Targeted by Gabe Torres, Brake will probably be released in the usa on 23 March 2012, getting a Uk release date not been confirmed. Anyone to avoid if you're claustrophobic...

Criminal Minds' Paget Brewster: Prentiss and Hotch Could have a "Nice Little Moment"

Paget Brewster, Criminal Minds Paget Brewster was already bracing for your fan reaction."There's a pleasant little moment between Prentiss and Hotch inside the episode," she notifies TVGuide.com of Criminal Minds' 150th installment airing Wednesday. "I realize the fans who wish Hotch and Prentiss together will probably go nuts! They're totally gonna lose it. I am in a position to already picture it. People would like them so far for reasons uknown but this could just furthermore.InchExamine out photos from Criminal MindsUnfortunately for Hotch (Thomas Gibson) and Prentiss (Brewster) 'shippers, a romance isn't likely - for the moment no less than, particularly together with his budding relationship with Jesse (Bellamy Youthful) - but that doesn't increase the risk for duo's moment any decreased. Really, it's a major level in Prentiss' existence as she finally processes coming back within the "dead" after Hotch and Qq (A.J. Prepare) photoshopped her dying to evade her IRA enemy Ian Doyle (Timothy V. Murphy) last season. "When she returned this year, she got back to working, and Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Morgan (Shemar Moore) were angry about being lied to [about her dying], to make sure that will be a concern on her behalf,In . Brewster states. "She's not had time to really address Doyle stabbing her and being 'dead.'" To date. When Hotch receives her final report from her mandated counselor, who removed Prentiss, they are fully aware not wake up. "He sees the incongruencies and is dependant on them. He's like, 'You're not dealing it, but sooner or later you'll, so let me know.AInch Tomorrow comes when the BAU heads to Houston to pursue "The Piano Guy," a rapist who's attacking his previous sufferers. Among people sufferers, Regina Lampert (Dina Meyer), tries to turn the tables on him. "She eventually eventually ends up safeguarding herself to Prentiss and Prentiss is type of faced with [Regina saying], 'Oh, you've been attacked?'" Brewster states. "Plus it evolves from the stranger. In my opinion that's type of how things work. You find that when you're upset about something otherwise you separate with someone, you continue it inside and someone you don't know states, 'Hey, are you currently presently OK?' and you also completely lose it? You are trying to stay on the surface of it also it hidden. This is actually the dynamic here. Then Prentiss discloses to Hotch that she's not OK. This can be a large deal on her behalf. It did profoundly affect her and he or she was trying not to deal with it." Watch clips from Criminal MindsHow Hotch might help Prentiss be ready for her trauma - lest we forget, he was attacked with the Reaper inside the Season 4 finale - may have out for your relaxation of the year. But it'll be strictly on professional and innocent levels. And Brewster hopes it remains by doing this. "In my opinion [the show] would jump the shark [once they met up]," she states. "Inside the real existence, that you have 24 several hours daily rather than 44 minutes to see an account, In my opinion people in the office connect. Thomas which i joke relating to this constantly, however when you have to capture serial killings, when are you currently presently making out? And the way is always that appropriate? ... In my opinion the authors and producers as well as the stars are very alert to the particular Behavior Analysis Unit that individuals wouldn't wish to be false on their behalf. I like people hooking up up in, like, a hospital drama, however it doesn't really work with a dark tone. I really deeply love the little moments we have though that you see most of us hooking up or doing something aside from work and acquire a consider our life-style.InchPrentiss' moment with Hotch, clearly, wouldn't be possible otherwise for your Doyle arc, which was only concocted after CBS demoted Brewster before Season 6. The network also let Prepare go, but rehired both full-time with this particular year. Brewster asked for the authors to kill her off then, they did but amended last-minute.Criminal Minds: Top 8 Prentiss moments"My last scene where I used to be in Paris will be a surprise in my opinion. They were like, 'We might want you to definitely certainly return.' I mentioned, 'All right, I'll shoot it, but I'm not showing my face.' I felt like if you'd like me in the show, kill me, however when you will need a high high cliff-hanger, OK, I'll do that. I shot an plane pilot also it didn't go, plus they mentioned, 'You're back!' I'd another year in my contract which i didn't find out about, therefore i required to return! I mentioned, 'Hey, I kinda want an apology and possibly a rise.An Advantage these were enjoy, 'No, we'll sue you!'" Brewster states getting fun. "The whole factor was, sadly, chaos. It absolutely was dumb. They thought they'd spend less by getting rid of us ... and ultimately got us back. However loved the Doyle plot. Timothy Murphy is actually a great actor and therefore enjoyable. The authors reached behave different, which i acquired to behave different."Though her contract determined her return, Brewster wants making it apparent that she's very happy to return along with her work group of history six years, and she's forever grateful for the fans who petitioned on her behalf and Cook's rehirings. "It was not like they cut my arm off making me return," she states. "I buy to go to work each day with people I love. That crew is actually funny. It's a classic household there, that's bad and the good. Sometimes you have to f---ing kill them! In an ideal way. As well as the best factor was the fans approaching in my opinion whole time. That was the most effective.InchTogether together with her contract up this year, would she consider coming back for Season 8? "Whether or not this computes, yeah," Brewster states. "I like everyone here which is just nice to experience a job. Really the only reason we have [season finale] high high cliff-wardrobe wardrobe hangers is because of our contracts, so possibly [Prentiss are available in risk this year. I merely kind of have to wait and discover. They formerly fired me once!"Besides, if she doesn't return, "the Hotch and Prentiss dream would die - I am unable to allow that happen again!"Criminal Minds airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on CBS.

Ford, Wesley join Prescreen board

Prescreen, a startup movie marketing and distribution platform, has tapped IM Global topper Stuart Ford and Blockbuster exec Tim Wesley as members of its newly formed board of advisors. Ford founded IM Global in April 2007, originally in partnership with Internationalmedia AG, and three years later sold a majority stake in the company to Reliance Entertainment. Wesley co-founded Milestone Entertainment and has worked at Paramount, Sony, Maverick Films, Ripe Digital Entertainment Inc. and Neustar Media. Prescreen also said its VOD rental showcase has been expanded to feature a total of 15 Sundance selections from previous years on its site. Prescreen says its the only website which includes all the available trailers for this year's festival selections. Partners for the Prescreen Sundance Festival include Kino Lorber; Monterey Media; Strand Releasing; First Run Features; Indie Blitz and Film Movement. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Summit, Lionsgate to work through foreign

The way the Summit-Lionsgate merger plays out overseas is going to be interesting both when it comes to its foreign sales operation and Summit's existing output deals across a raft of areas. Because it stands, sources indicate that Summit's and Lionsgate's sales procedures continues out of the box for that relaxation of 2012, with both procedures (Summit's headed by David Garrett and Lionsgate's by Helen Lee Kim) confirming to Patrick Wachsberger. As Summit's entire operation grown from worldwide sales, dealmakers appear keen for that sales arm to remain intact underneath the eye of the Summit professional. For output deals, Summit includes a raft of contracts placed in nations including Blighty (eOne), The country (Aurum), Australia (Hopscotch/eOne), Russia (Central Partnership) and Germany (Tele Munchen). Additionally, Summit funnels its very own productions in South America through IDC Films, a partnership with NuVision founder-director Pedro Rodriguez. Associates demonstrate that, at the moment, these existing deals is going to be satisfied before the finish of 2012 a minimum of. How existing contracts will pan out next remains to appear. EOne and eOne/Hopscotch both restored output deals this past year for 3 years while exclusive six-year results with Central Partnership and Tele Munchen along with a three-year output with Aurum were inked pre-AFM in November. While these deals could be seen as attractive assets to Lionsgate, Summit's greatest cash cow worldwide has unquestionably been the "Twilight" franchise, along with other Summit product generally carrying out tepidly in the box office. In Blighty, the 4 "Twilight" payments have produced a lot more than $150 million for distrib eOne (including $16.3 million in the first installment with Contender, before eOne's acquisition) during The country the franchise has made a lot more than $95 million. Moving forward, the organization can decide to which banner to greenlight photos and whether Summit will be the most attractive option given a current an output deal. The territory which will most have the affects from the merger within the long term may be the U.K., where Lionsgate already includes a thriving distribution hub. Following the three-year contract with eOne sometimes appears through, it might be preferable for the organization to funnel production through its very own operation. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

PM Demands More Mainstream Filmmaking

David Cameron visits 007 studioNow, we usually steer clear of politics on Empire's newsfeed. It's not because we don't care or carry opinions; more because we're planning our own Equilibrium style dictatorship and don't want to play our hand too early. David Cameron, by contrast, has made no bones about opinionating on British film industry prior to Lord Smith's review on the government's film policy.Ahead of a visit to Pinewood Studios, the prime minister praised the British film industry for its "incalculable contribution to our culture", but tempered his words by claiming that British filmmakers need to be more ambitious and "aim higher"."Our role, and that of the BFI, should be to support the sector in becoming even more dynamic and entrepreneurial, helping UK producers to make commercially successful pictures that rival the quality and impact of the best international productions," said the man with Armageddon on his DVD shelf.Cameron continued: "Just as the British Film Commission has played a crucial role in attracting the biggest and best international studios to produce their films here, so we must incentivise UK producers to chase new markets both here and overseas."How this will translate into the BFI's distribution of lottery funds remains to be seen, but it's surely not good news for anyone hoping to make films like Tyrannosaur (£200k of lottery funding) or Hunger (£250k) in the years ahead.Cameron has forgotten that nobody could have predicted big box-office hits like The King's Speech and Slumdog Millionaire, Ken Loach told BBC Breakfast. "This is a travesty. If everybody knew what would be successful before it was made, there would be no problem," said the veteran filmmaker."What you have to do is fund a lot of different, varied projects and then some will be successful, some will be original, some will be creative, and you will get a very vibrant industry."Loach expressed a concern "that this review signally will fail to challenge" was "the ongoing monopoly of multiplexes where you get a very narrow range of films". Ken, we've got five words for you: The King's Speech 2: Speech Harder.