Liam Hemsworth boards 'Expendables 2'

Hemsworth'The Expendables'"The Expendables 2" gets a youth infusion that may pay significant returns in the box office, as "The Hunger Games" star Liam Hemsworth just been cast alongside Sylvester Stallone in Millennium Films' action extravaganza, which is launched by Lionsgate.Simon West is pointing the star-studded follow up, which finds Stallone coming back as team leader Barney Ross. He's likely to be became a member of by past co-stars Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Deck hands and Randy Couture, in addition to beginners Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris. Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger will also be to expand on the cameos in the first film.Hemsworth, who'll soon be viewed as Gale Hawthorne opposite Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games," will have a sniper in "Expendables 2," which begins production the following month.Australian thesp, the more youthful brother of "Thor" star Chris Hemsworth, formerly toplined "The Final Song" with Miley Cyrus and lately wrapped the indie drama "AWOL." He's also mounted on star in Chuck Russell's "Arabian Nights."The initial "Expendables" made a lot more than $275 million worldwide.Hemsworth is repped by WME and ROAR. Contact Shaun Sneider at shaun.sneider@variety.com

'Lion King' Outraces 'Drive' At The Box Office

FROM MTV MOVIES: What's old was new again as Disney's iconic "The Lion King" became the #1 movie at the box office over the weekend, taking in an estimated $29.3 million with a souped-up 3-D redo of the 1994 original. "Drive," one of the year's best-reviewed films, was #3 in its weekend debut, while the poorly reviewed remake of "Straw Dogs" and Sarah Jessica Parker's even-worse-reviewed "I Don't Know How She Does It" both flopped in their debuts. Last week's #1 movie, "Contagion," dropped to #2 this week. "The Lion King" 3-D re-release earned more than the other three new releases combined. The film's original-run, IMAX re-release (back in 2002) and the past weekend's numbers pushed "The Lion King" from #25 to #17 on the all-time domestic box-office chart, according to Box Office Mojo. The animated tale, which has also quite successfully been adapted for Broadway, has made $357.8 million in the United States to date. Read the full story at MTV Movies!

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Hollywood Contributions May Be Lost As Sen. Dianne Feinstein Fraud Case Unfolds

The authorities are still sorting out just how much of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s $5.2M re-election war chest may have been hijacked by her former campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee. But contribution records show that Hollywood has a stake in the case. Among organizations that sent money to her campaign are IATSE ($30,000), Sony ($17,200), Disney ($16,600), News Corp ($15,625) and the MPAA ($14,700. First California Bank, which is holding the campaign funds for Feinstein and others involved in Durkee’s alleged fraud, will not allow anyone access to the accounts without signing a release that indemnifies the bank against lawsuits.Hundreds of thousands of dollars have allegedly been misappropriated, according to the FBI.

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'Point Break' remake in the works

Alcon Entertainment has set a remake the 1991 action-thriller ''Point Break.''Alcon co-founders and co-CEO's Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove announced Monday that they had secured rights to the project -- on the week of the original film's 20th anniversary -- from RGM Media, John McMurrick and Chris Taylor. Kosove and Johnson will produce along with Michael DeLuca, John Baldecchi, Chris Taylor and Kurt Wimmer, who also wrote the screenplay. RGM Media principal Devesh Chetty and investor John McMurrick, Chairman of Marloss Entertainment, will executive Produce. Alcon said the film is being fast tracked, with the filmmakers set to take the project out to directors soon. ''The new version is set in the world of international extreme sports, and like the original involves an undercover FBI agent infiltrating a criminal ring,'' Alcon saidm.Other plot points beyond that have not been revealed by the filmmakers.In addition to the feature rights, Alcon has also secured television and gaming rights.The Katherine Bigelow original, starring Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze and Gary Busey, was produced by Largo Entertainment and released by Fox.Alcon's next release is ''Dolphin Tale,'' a 3-D family film starring Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd and Kris Kristofferson. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

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Mel Gibson Plans To Produce Film On Jewish Hero

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Mel Gibson, who reportedly made anti-Semitic remarks during a drunken driving arrest five years ago, is now producing a film about the life of Jewish hero Judah Maccabee. Gibsons publicist, Alan Nierob, told The Associated Press Friday that Gibson is working on a deal with Warner Bros. to develop the film through his company, Icon Productions. What Gibsons exact role will be whether he might direct or even star in the film hasnt been determined. Warner Bros. would like him to direct, Nierob said. He is the first choice for the studio to direct it, but until theres a deal in place and a script thats finished, it will be his choice as to whether to direct it or not. Joe Eszterhas of Basic Instinct and Flashdance fame is writing the script. No timetable is in place for it to be completed and for production to begin. But Gibsons involvement with bringing Maccabees story to the screen in any form has angered some Jewish leaders. Maccabee, whos acclaimed as one of the greatest warriors in Jewish history, helped inspire the celebration of Hanukkah. We would have hoped that Warner Bros. could have found someone better than Mel Gibson to direct or perhaps even star in a film on the life of the Jewish historical icon Judah Maccabee, Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement. As a hero of the Jewish people and a universal hero in the struggle for religious liberty, Judah Maccabee deserves better. Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said: Casting him (Gibson) as a director or perhaps as the star of (a film about) Judah Maccabee is like casting (Bernard) Madoff to be the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or a white supremacist as trying to portray Martin Luther King Jr. Its simply an insult to Jews. The American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants said: Holocaust survivors are aghast that a major Hollywood studio would join with Mel Gibson in this venture and view it as an affront to all victims of anti-Semitism, intolerance, and sexism. Nierob declined to respond to the backlash from Jewish leaders. Warner Bros. had not responded by Friday afternoon to a request for comment on the project itself or the negative reaction it has drawn. Gibson, the Oscar-winning director of Braveheart, has defended himself against accusations of anti-Semitism ever since his 2006 drunken driving arrest, in which a deputys report revealed Gibson made Jewish and sexist slurs while in custody. Last month, he reached a $750,000 settlement with his ex-girlfriend, Russian musician Oksana Grigorieva, and agreed to continue providing housing and financial support for their young daughter to resolve a bitter legal fight that followed sexist, racist rants attributed to the actor. His last project was The Beaver, a drama in which he starred opposite director Jodie Foster as a man who sinks into such a deep depression, he can only communicate through a beaver hand puppet. Gibson earned strong reviews for his performance but the film itself, which came out in May, only made about $6.4 million worldwide. Copyright 2011 by Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CAA Signs Entourages Kevin Connolly

Together with his Cinemax series Entourage visiting an finish after eight seasons, Kevin Connolly has shaken some misconception and signed with CAA. Connolly is going to be searching to construct work past the series that released him, by which he plays Vincent Chase’s childhood friend-switched-manager. Connolly is going to do it both being an actor along with a director. He’s been observed in Secretariat, He’s Simply Not That Into You, The Ugly Truth and also the Notebook. He directed the 2007 indie feature Garden enthusiast of Eden, and helmed the 2nd-to-last episode of Entourage. He’ll next direct the comedy Adrenaline, scripted by Justin Ware. Connolly have been at WME. Principato/Youthful is constantly on the manage him.

Broadway back after Irene

Broadway retrieved effortlessly from Hurricane Irene a week ago, with grosses rebounding and each production look out onto a complete eight-perf week. But there is early proof of the approaching September downturn, with a few shows posting receipts that did not achieve the levels more abundant frames the 2009 summer time. Still, five tuners made a lot more than $a million each a week ago, and also the one show presently in previews, "Follies" ($806,857), acquired enough steam to land within the top ten the very first time. This is a solid pre-opening require the revival of the musical that's much more serious-minded than the majority of the Street's other available choices. Production, toplined by Bernadette Peters, will turn to develop that foundation because it heads toward its Sept. 12 opening. Whereas new-minted juggernauts for example like "It of Mormon" ($1,272,792) and long lasting chart-cake toppers for example "Wicked" ($1,602,104) remained robust, other productions demonstrated more susceptible towards the late-summer time slippage. Take "Mary Poppins" ($761,321), which did not hit exactly the same levels the family-magnet show published in the most popular summer time frames. A trio of shows performed their final perfs over the past weekend, exiting just before the difficult back-to-school sales climate which hits Broadway after Labor Day. But no three -- "Catch Me If You're Able ToInch ($600,545), "Baby It's You" ($407,517) and "Master Class" ($346,806) -- drenched a notable increase in last-minute biz. Regardless, each and every production about the boards was up in comparison towards the prior, partially hurricane-dim frame, with "Anything Goes" ($781,412) jumping a huge 150% and "Billy Elliot" ($711,702) doubling its figures in the previous sesh. Overall sales rose $6.8 million to $18.5 million for 23 shows about the boards, outpacing exactly the same week from last season, which arrived at $16.7 million for 22 shows. With three tuners now gone and something more, "Hair" ($337,645), playing its final frame now -- as well as the periodic sales downturn -- Broadway B.O. continues to deflate for the following couple of days prior to the onslaught of fall openings starts. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

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