ITV Confirms Simon Cowell Returning To Boost Britains Got Talent

Deadline contributor Tim Adler files this international report: Simon Cowell will return as one of the judges on next years Britains Got Talent, ITV boss Adam Crozier has confirmed. The X Factor impresario will resume his seat on the talent show following the recent exits of judges David Hasselhof and Michael McIntyre. Speaking to press this afternoon in London, the ITV boss also hinted that ITV Studios may be in the market to buy an American production company, pointing out that the US is the second-liveliest market for independent TV producers apart from the UK. For now though, Crozier is concentrating on wiping out the 612 million worth of debt he inherited by year-end. When you inherit something that isnt working, the worst thing you can do is start bolting things on, he said. The ex-UK postal service CEO was self-deprecating about the size of the task facing him in turning ITV around. Group turnover rose 4% to 1.5 billion over the first 9 months of the year. If this was a school report, I would summarize it as, good solid progress but plenty more needs to be done, he said. Were about one third of the way to where we need to get to. Regarding Cowell, Crozier ruled out flying him in next fall to perform a rescue mission on The X Factor which is losing out to BBC rival Strictly Come Dancing (aka Dancing With The Stars in the US) almost every Saturday night. Crozier shrugged off mutterings that British audiences are finally tiring of The X Factor, which is in its 8th season. X Factor is still the most watched television show when you combine the Saturday and Sunday viewing figures, he said. He was keen to talk up the success of ITVs in-house production division, ITV Studios (which is seen by observers as a millstone round ITVs neck because the broadcaster has to keep commissioning ITV Studios rather than throw open the commissioning process completely for independent producers). So far, ITV Studios has increased its share of all shows commissioned this year to 55% compared to 47% in 2010. Half of those shows have been sold overseas including the Titanic miniseries airing on ABC that’s gone to 57 territories. Titanic is a very good example of how we work now, Crozier said. The program was in profit before we started making it.

Yahoo Shutters Four Entertainment Blogs

Disney and Pixar's 2009 animated film Up featured a colorful home with a lot of character The house was so inspiring to some that they build a replication of it.our editor recommends15 Movies That Made The Grade: A+ CinemaScore PosseAnimated, Documentary and Foreign: 3 Key Oscar Categories Analyzed The Utah home has been bought by two Disney fans, Clinton and Lynette Hamblin of Petaluma, CA, completing their long search for a home that had similarities to the one in the movie. PHOTOS: 15 Movies That Made The Grade: A+ CinemaScore Posse The couple had been looking mainly in California for a home that had either a colorful exterior or a bright blue kitchen like the one in the film. They then learned about the home in the Salt Lake City suburb of Herriman, Utah, that was built based on the film. The home, which was officially recognized by Disney as the Up house, had a $400,000 price tag on it. "We just love the message of the movie - adventure is out there," Lynette Hamblin told The Salt Lake Tribune. STORY: Hollywood Studios Accused of Pushing Liberal Agenda Through Children's Films The home in Up is basically another star of the film. It is the home of Carl and Ellie Frederickson after they get married and as they navigate the trails and triumps of their lives together. After Ellie dies, Carl becomes a curmudgeonly hermit, spending most of his time alone in the colorful home until he sets out on an accidental adventure with a young member of the "Wilderness Explorers." Adam Bangerter built the Utah home, telling The AP that he chose to replicate the movie home because it played such a memorable role in the film. "It illustrates what homeownership really is, and it's not an investment. It's part of the American dream to have a house to care for, to improve and to make part of your family," Bangerter said. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery 15 Movies That Made The Grade: A+ CinemaScore Posse Related Topics Pixar

Judd Hirsch to star in 'Robin'

Producers of "The Red-colored Robin" have drawn on Judd Hirsch, Ryan O'Nan, C.S. Lee, Jaime Ray Newman, Caroline Lagerfelt and Frederick Lyle Taylor to star within the mental thriller. Film writer Michael Z. Wechsler will direct and convey. Professional producers are Jonathan Sanger, Ron Porras, Shawn Singh and Wendy Herst, with Terry Keefe co-creating. O'Nan, who starred in "The Brooklyn Siblings Beat the very best,Inch will have the adopted adult boy of Hirsch's character -- a famous mental health specialist concentrating in trauma who had been rumored to possess done some private work with the CIA throughout the Cold War. A household reunion around the psychiatrist's dying mattress spirals into chaos once the father's charged with implementing his large group of children for that reasons of dark experiments in your mind control. O'Nan also lately starred in "Self employed" and it is set to shoot "The Frozen Ground" and "The Iceman." "The Red-colored Robin" starts production outdoors Philadelphia a few days ago. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

How 'Grey's Anatomy' Star Ellen Pompeo, HBO's Sue Naegle Help Foster Kids at Thanksgiving

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills castmemberLisa Vanderpump --the British transplant who owns, with her husband,Ken Todd, Villa Blanca in the Golden Triangle and Sur restaurant in West Hollywood -- has over the past two months rolled out Sur Lounge in an adjacent address.our editor recommends'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Premiere: What Critics Say'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Season 2 Premiere Up 42% From Last Year'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Premiere: Cast Members Discuss Russell Armstrong Suicide on 'Today' (Video)'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Premiere: First 10 Confrontations of Season 2 "We're right in the middle of what I call the Pink Triangle, with Cecconi's, which is rather straight, on one end, and [perennial gay bar] the Abbey further up Robertson on the other," she says. VIDEO: Emmy Reality Roundtable The couple has a long history of running nightlife venues like Lupo and Mai Tai back in London, but this is their first local after-dark effort now that they are based in L.A. "It's easier in London because of the foot traffic," Vanderpump admits. "You just create a beautiful space and people will see it and stop in." As usual, Vanderpump handled the décor herself, unleashing her signature multicultural-glamour-explosion style that results in bejeweled European chandeliers sharing space with massive Asian religious sculpture. STORY: 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills': Keep your Friend's Friends Close "I took a bit from here, a bit from there," she says."There are some industrial elements mixed with little velvet mushroom stools that I had made. Huge, extra-long leather Chesterfields. Lots of plants. Things I've bought during my travels and brought in. I was looking for an eclectic feeling. Is it Vietnamese? Balinese? French? I wanted you to not be able to put your finger on it." When the 2,500-square-foot space came up for sale, Vanderpump says that she and Todd knew they had to have it. More 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Coverage on THR "If I missed it and someone else got it I would've regretted it," she says. "[The venture] is not a risk. Even in this market, it's a given." Her crowd, she claims, has already come calling: "Agents, fashion aficionados, Miley Cyrus. It's a hotbed. I knew it would be." 612 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, 310.855.0880, surlounge.com Related Topics Miley Cyrus The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Dining Lisa Vanderpump

CW Buys Treasure Hunter Drama, Couples Comedy

The CW is joining the treasure hunt trend this development season with Golddigger. The project, from Bill Haber’s Ostar Prods., centers on a young female treasure hunter who tracks down artifacts for a variety of mysterious and interesting clients. Lauren Horowitz is writing, with Haber and Stephanie Germain executive producing. With Golddigger, the CW is putting a young female twist on a genre that has been pretty hot this pitch season. NBC bought an untitled adventure drama from John Glenn. Described as Da Vinci Code meets National Treasure, it centers on a young NYPD beat cop who, along with his family and friends, embarks upon the greatest treasure hunt in history. NBC also is developing an updated version of the 1984 action-adventure romantic comedy film Romancing the Stone, whose plot kicked off with a romance writer played by Kathleen Turner receiving a treasure map. Mark Friedman is writing. And in another book adaptation, ABC recently bought the Michael Seitzman-penned The Seven Wonders, a treasure hunt show in the spirit of Raiders of the Lost Arc and National Treasure based on the Jack West Jr. series of adventure books by Australian author Matthew Reilly. Swordfighting, whose deal is still being finalized, is part of new CW president Mark Pedowitz’s efforts to re-introduce comedy series on the network with sellected few half-hour projects his team has put in development this season. Written by Ben McMillan and Josh Greenbaum, Swordfighting revolves around two young couples who have been best friends and neighbors for years and whose friendship is put to the test when when the two wives reveal they’ve fallen in love (with each other). Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are executive producing the project, which will be produced by CBS TV Studios.

Hugh Grant's Family 'Hounded' After He Spoke Out About Phone-Hacking

LONDON - The mother of Hugh Grant'sbaby daughter was hounded and threatened by the press because the actor has spoken out on phone-hacking, the Leveson Inquiry heard Wednesday.our editor recommendsHugh Grant Becomes A FatherHugh Grant Joins 'Cloud Atlas' Cast Alongside Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess and Ben WhishawHugh Grant To Be Given Alleged Phone-Hacking Police Investigation PapersHow Hugh Grant Helped Expose News Corp.'s Phone-Hacking Scandal The wide-ranging Judicial Inquiry into British press standards and intrusion - launched in the wake of the News of The World phone-hacking scandal - heard that the harassment was direct retribution for Grant's decision to speak out against phone-hacking in a public campaign. The claim was made by David SherborneQC, the barrister representing a large number of phone-hacking victims at the Inquiry. His clients include Grant, the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, the parents of murdered toddler Madeline McCannand motorsports boss Max Mosley. Sherborne told the inquiry that he had had to apply for an injunction to protect the woman, who had sustained "a campaign of appalling harassment" and has "received threats because of the fact that the father of her child has spoken out against the press." The harassment included abusive calls Sherborne said, though he did not claim to know who the calls were from. "..Whilst Mr Grant was appearing on Question Time, discussing the closure of the News of the World, Rupert Murdoch and press standards generally, she received a barrage of telephone calls ... when she finally answered she was threatened in the most menacing terms, terms which should reverberate around this Inquiry: 'Tell Hugh Grant he must shut the fuck up.'" Outlining a further litany of incidences of press harassment from a whole range of British newspapers - not just the News of The World - Sherborne told the inquiry that he believed press behaviour was partly responsible for the suicide attempt of singer Charlotte Church's mother. The singer's mother took an overdose after lurid details of her husband's affair were exposed. And he said that his client Max Mosley - whose sexual tryst was exposed by the News of The World- believed that his son's suicide was in part because of the effect of exposure on his family. Earlier, the Inquiry heard from Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger that News Corporation's power and influence had been a force of intimidation in British life. "Did people, both internally and externally, feel a fear of News International? Was its influence across many aspects of British political and cultural life simply too dominant? How did News Corp leverage its commercial, political, journalistic and (as we now know) outsourced criminal muscle?" he asked. The Leveson Inquiry has heard opening statements from various participants in its first week of hearings and will hear from Hugh Grant, JK Rowling,Max Mosley, Charlotte Churchand Steve Cooganfrom next week. A second phase of the Inquiry will focus directly on criminal revelations at the News of The World, hearing evidence from, among others, Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch. Earlier the inquiry heard from Neil Garnham QC, representing the Metropolitan Police, that it "could not be assumed" that all 28 names found in the notebooks of investigator Glenn Mulcairewere those of News of The World staff. "Some of them probably are. For many others it's impossible, at least thus far, to say if they were or not." News International's lawyer Rhodri DaviesQC had told the Inquiry on Tuesday that the number was disputed. Related Topics International Hugh Grant Phone Hacking Scandal

Is Fincher's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Too Extreme for Oscars?

Over at Entertainment Weekly, David Fincher plays coy joking about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s Oscar chances. [Some spoilers follow, though they’ll come as no surprise to those familiar with Stieg Larsson’s book or Niels Arden Oplev’s 2009 film adaptation.] How likely is is that the Academy will be so turned off by the extremes seen in Fincher’s film that they’d pass it over come nomination day? Mild spoilers follow; excerpt from EW: “There’s too much anal rape in this movie” to get nominated, he says, half-jokingly. “I think we’re very safe.” Over at Awards Daily, Sasha Stone concurs, less jokingly, zeroing in on the idea that films with anal sex may get nominated, but they have a harder time winning. “He’s right, you can’t win. The internet is a Greek chorus that monitors and judges ALL behavior.” True; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is very, very rapey. It’s the rapiest film to come along in a long time, especially given the high profile and awards season positioning that Fincher’s production and recent Oscar cred carries with it. But those violations are also unavoidable and key to the plot and larger themes, and hopefully Fincher’s stayed true to the extreme, semi-unbearable nature of said events in Larsson’s tale; without having to endure (and avenge) them, a key character wouldn’t be complete. As one counterpoint to the rule, Brokeback Mountain won Oscars including Best Director and Screenplay, though Best Picture that year went to Crash. Dragon Tattoo, however, is far more difficult material then most. It’s not your average feelgood mainstream tale, by a long shot, and one driven by the ugliness of men. (Its original title, translated from Swedish: Men Who Hate Women.) So maybe Fincher’s right. And judging from his cautiously pessimistic comment, maybe he’d just playing the Oscar game safe, hoping to be pleasantly surprised by Academy voters. [Awards Daily, EW]