Laceywagnerevents

Jonah Hill has taken on management. He has signed with LBI Entertainment, where he will be repped by a team headed by Ian Montone and Rick Yorn. They will rep him in all areas, along with WME and attorney Karl Austen. Hill continues to surprise as he evolves from the fro-headed kid in Superbad to a lead in ribald stoner comedies like This Is The End, to serious roles like his Oscar nominated turn in Moneyball, and the upcoming Martin Scorsese-directed The Wolf Of Wall Street. In the Rupert Gould-directed Plan B-produced True Story, Hill next plays disgraced New York Times reporter Michael Finkel, who was sacked just as a suspected killer on the FBI’s Most Wanted List who was using his name got caught, and would only talk to the journo at a time his life was crashing down around him. James Franco plays the killer.
Hill also has a 21 Jump Street sequel after getting story credit on the original hit he starred in with Channing Tatum. And let’s not forget his other pivotal recent screen credit, Bag Head #2, in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.

FilmDistrict is nearing a deal to acquire U.S. rights to Rocketman, the Michael Gracey-directed biographical musical film about Sir Elton John. The script is by  Billy Elliot‘s Lee Hall, and Tom Hardy is circling to play the lead role. This film was the talk of Cannes, where it was shopped by UTA, which structured the financing. It was there that UK-based Icon’s production arm AI Film agreed to come aboard to co-finance the film during the Cannes Film Festival. I’m told that FilmDistrict is betting big here, with Peter Schlessel’s distribution company paying around a $10 million minimum guarantee for a guaranteed wide theatrical release and size-able P&A. There is also a generous gross corridor after the film recoups.
The film follows John’s journey from 5-year old musical prodigy who by age 11 won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, to a young man who rebelled against his strict upbringing, wore outrageous costumes and became a global icon who teamed with songwriter Bernie Taupin to sell more records than just about any musical artist of his era. John’s musical catalog is part of the mix, so this is going to be a major film. Steve Hamilton Shaw and David Furnish are producing the project along with Lawrence Bender for AI Film. Sir Elton John and Access Industries’ Len Blavatnik are executive producing the film, along with Icon/AI Film CEO Aviv Giladi and FilmDistrict CEO Schlessel.
Gracey is separately booked to direct Fox’s The Greatest Showman On Earth with Hugh Jackman attached to star and Disney’s The Muppet Man, produced by the Jim Henson Company. Rocketman will feature fantastical choreographed sequences around Elton John’s biggest hits. Gracey’s well known for his dance-filled commercials work. “Everyone knows and loves Elton John’s music, but the true story of his life is so incredible that it can only be described as a fantasy,” Gracey said, when I wrote about this project after I reported that he became the director. “His journey from impossible dreamer to stardom and uncontrollable excess is something only a musical film can capture, and I’m so excited to be the one to tell his story.”
They are searching to cast the child Elton John, and that search is being conducted by Jessica Ronane, whose credits include Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Billy Elliott The Musical and Matilda. The hope is that Hardy will take over that role in adulthood, with CAA repping him. Rocket Pictures is the film and TV company hatched by Elton John and his partner David Furnish to focus on family and music-themed projects for multiple platforms. That includes the 3-D animated movie Gnomeo & Juliet for Disney, which had original songs by John and grossed near $200 million worldwide. Rocket Pictures is at work on the sequel, Sherlock Gnomes, directed by Kung Fu Panda‘s John Stevenson; and Will Gallows And The Snake Bellied Troll, written and to be directed by Shrek 2‘s Kelly Asbury. CAA reps Gracey and Hardy, the latter of whom is also repped by UK-based Lindy King.

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are reteaming after crashing a couple weddings back in 2005 for "The Internship," a workplace comedy that casts them as interns at the tech giant Google. The duo is up to their usual shenanigans, but as they told MTV News’ Amy Wilkinson at Google HQ, there’s also a heart to the story that makes it important right now.

"The movie is really about what’s going on now," Vaughn said. "A lot of young people who are entering the workforce — there’s a lot of fear about what kind of jobs are out there, and people who are older are losing jobs. So I think the movie really takes people who are put in a position that feels fearful or things have gone against them, that they’re willing to kind of humble themselves and not give up on a dream and try to believe in themselves even when things present themselves not to be so easy. And I think that’s something that all of us can really relate to."
Watch more of their interview in the video above!

It’s hard to imagine anyone but Harrison Ford in the role of Han Solo, but picture this: Al Pacino could have played the "Star Wars" hero instead.That’s what the actor told a crowd in London at "An Evening with Pacino" this weekend, where he revealed that George Lucas offered Pacino the role of the swashbuckling pilot of the Millennium Falcon. It would have been a great coup for Lucas, an up-and-coming filmmaker with only a handful of credits to his name, to work with Pacino, who had come off Oscar-nominated turns in classics like "The Godfather" films and "Serpico." The pair were connected through Lucas pal and "Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppola, and Pacino considered the part, but ultimately decided to pass."It was mine for the taking," he said this weekend, "but I didn’t understand the script."Ford ultimately won the role of a lifetime when he was cast as Solo, though Pacino wasn’t the only obstacle on his pathway to stardom. Lucas initially didn’t want to cast Ford because he didn’t want to hire the same actors he’d worked with previously (the pair collaborated on 1973′s "American Graffiti"), and considered Jack Nicholson, Bill Murray, and Chevy Chase for the part, too.Despite the wild speculation that picturing Pacino in the part elicits, we’re confident that everything worked out for the best. Though if Pacino did indeed portray Solo, we’re guessing there would have been less of a debate about who shot first.

EXCLUSIVE: More depressing news for humans who can’t get a Hollywood movie made. Grumpy Cat, the cranky-faced kitty voted Meme of the Year at the 2013 Webby Awards, has a shot at getting her famous sourpuss on the big screen. Broken Road’s Todd Garner and Sean Robins, and Grumpy Cat’s reps (manager Ben Lashes and rep Al Hassas) have teamed up to produce and assemble a package for a Garfield-like feature film with the famous frowning feline at the center. Here, Grumpy Cat (real name Tardar Sauce) will be given the power of speech. How much movie potential can a Grumpy Cat have? Well, she has been scratching at the door of fame in a big way. Among the indicators: Grumpy Cat was named the most influential cat of 2012 by MSNBC, a most important Meme of 2012 by Mashable, and has appeared on such TV shows including Today, Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, Anderson Cooper Live, VH1 Morning Buzz and The Soup. In March, Grumpy Cat was deemed the star of South by Southwest-i by news outlets. The appearances drew lines of thousands of people that spanned for blocks. Grumpy Cat received more social mentions in four days than anyone else at SXSWi.The cat’s official Facebook has more than 930,000 likes and a weekly reach well over 2 million. The official YouTube Channel has over 120,000 subscribers and over 20 million views. Grumpy Cat stars in a collection of webisodes in partnership with Friskies and the Will Kitty Play With It series. Grumpy Cat merchandise sells at Walmart, Hot Topic, Thinkgeek and many other retail stores. Licenses include Chronicle Books, Gund, Ripple Junction, Buckle Down, T Line, ATNY, Ultra Pro, 99 Cent Brains and more.
If you need more convincing: the catalyst for the movie action is Garner, who optioned the story and life rights of a bunch of adult men who hold a cross-country game of tag. That project is now a priority at New Line, with Mark Steilen writing and Will Ferrell and Jack Black coming attached to play two of the main characters. Garner believes this crotchety critter will be catnip for the family-film crowd.
“This started off as a picture of a cat, but rare is an image that evokes that much comedy,” Garner said. “You read all of the memes and the comments, and one is funnier than the next. We think we can build a big family comedy around this character.”

What is up with all this haters? Seriously, it makes me want to laugh because they’re so ignorant. Some people here are saying: "Worst Batman film ever", or: "I prefer watching Adam West Batman than this mess." Wow, just wow. Anyways, enough complaining, this is one of the greatest conclusions in film trilogies history. No worry, this is a spoiler free review. The film is almost 3 hours long and the impressive thing is, the movie is NEVER dull, it’s always keeping you interested because if its smart dialog and action and Welcome to visite site. The story is great too. Bruce Wayne has stopped fighting crime as the Batman for 8 years after the Joker wanted to terrorize Gotham. But now a new threat has arrived, Bane. His plan is to burn Gotham to ashes and the Batman is the only one who can stop him.

Now the cast in this movie is really good. Christian Bale is a great Batman as always. Michael Caine deserves an Oscar nomination as best Supporting character for his amazing performance as Alfred Pennyworth. Anne Hathaway really impressed me as Catwoman. She steals any scene she’s in. Tom Hardy as Bane is a great villain in this film. My favorite villain since the Joker. Joseph Gordon Levitt as John Blake delivers a good performance as well. Also Morgan Freeman and Marion Cottillard were good as well.

I love Trilogies, this trilogy is in my top 5 and ranks #2 right behind The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. In conclusion this is an amazing trilogy, the best of superheroes films and the second best trilogy of all time. All I have to say is, thank you Mr. Nolan, thank you. 10/10.

For a moment there, we thought we might actually get a trailer for the new Johnny Depp/Gore Verbinski/Jerry Bruckheimer collaboration without the trains that have dominated every other teaser and promo for The Lone Ranger. But they rattle along soon enough… Check out the latest footage for the movie over at Apple.Of course, when Team Ranger has funnelled so much into beautiful steam locomotives and designed a series of impressive set pieces around them, it’s natural they’d want to show them off, like a child with a brand new Hornby kit. And a lot of the running around/riding horses on/or swinging through speeding carriages is indeed a lot of fun.Armie Hammer stars as John Reid, freshly graduated lawyer who agrees to tag along with brother Dan (James Badge Dale) as part of a posse. When the rest of the party is gunned down, John is recovered, near death, by Native American warrior Tonto (Depp), and swears to track down the people responsible. Amongst those he targets are William Fichtner’s evil Butch Cavendish and Tom Wilkinson’s scheming business type Latham Cole.With Ruth Wilson, Barry Pepper, Helena Bonham Carter and James Frain also among the cast, The Lone Ranger ambles in on August 9. Check out one of the earlier trailers below.

The first purely American entry in the 2013 Cannes Film Festival competition (opening nighter The Great Gatsby was Out of Competition), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen‘s terrific Inside Llewyn Davis had its first press screening Saturday night to strong response and big buzz on the very rainy Croisette. This tale of a talented folk singer unable to balance art and commerce, and  who never quite hits the big time in the late 50′s/early 60′s emerging folk scene, is pure Coen Brothers with a winning mixture of brilliantly observed comedy and darker moments that give it an edge most reminiscent of Coen movies like Barton Fink, which won the Palme d’Or on their first try at Cannes in 1991. Joel Coen also took the Director award that year and again for The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) among the seven previous times they have been in the Cannes competition. 1994′s The Hudsucker Proxy, 1996′s Fargo, 2000′s O Brother Where Art Thou, 2004′s The Ladykillers and 2007′s No Country For Old Men represent their other numerous chances to reap a second Palme d’Or since Barton Fink but none of them did the trick.
Judging from initial reaction, at least among the press, Inside Llewyn Davis probably makes them an early front-runner for that second Palme. We say early since the film doesn’t have its official black tie premiere at the Palais until Sunday night, only the fourth day of the competition. But with its superb acting including leading man Oscar Isaac, as the morose but oddly engaging Llewyn and a great supporting cast including Carey Mulligan, John Goodman (just great), Justin Timberlake, Stark Sands and a scene stealing cat (or cats? – you’ll see) among others, plus the Coens’ knack for catching this era in all its glory, I suspect this will remain a contender for the entire week of debuts to come. The musical score, supervised by T.Bone Burnett is also truly exceptional, perfectly capturing the period just as O Brother also did. One quibble is the full screen appearance of a movie poster for Disney’s 1963 The Incredible Journey near the end of the film. That would be fine but purists may quibble since Llewyn Davis is supposed to be set in 1961. That error aside, the Coens have clearly hit it out the park again and Cannes, which keeps bringing them back for more, has to be happy they are regular visitors to the South Of France whenever the timing works.

Amazon Studios is getting in the upfront spirit. As the broadcast and some cable networks are announcing their new series pickups this week, I hear Amazon too is deciding which of its pilots will go to series. I hear the company has started notifying the projects that are getting series orders. Details are sketchy but I hear among those looking good are Alpha House starring John Goodman and written by Garry Trudeau; Zombieland, based on the hit movie, written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick; and Betas, produced by Michael London and written by Evan Endicott and Josh Stoddard. I also hear positive things about The Onion Presents: The News, starring Jeffrey Tambor, from The Onion’s Will Graham & Dan Mirk. I’ll update with more as I hear. These would be the first original series orders for Amazon, coming out of the company’s inaugural slate of 14 pilots — eight comedies and six kids shows — that were made available online on April 19. At that time, Amazon said the series pickup decisions will be based on how many people watched each pilot, how many watched each pilot from start to finish, how many shared it on social media as well as feedback from an online panel and traditional offline focus groups.

I’ve learned that Barbara Walters will announce her retirement on The View tomorrow. As we first reported in March, the TV icon this spring made the decision to get off the air after 52 years, and had been mulling the timing of her announcement. It will come tomorrow, in the middle of May sweeps. Walter is expected to leave her duties as The View co-host and ABC News contributor in summer 2014 but will keep some behind-the-camera presence, including serving as executive producer of The View, which she co-created. But before she hangs up her microphone, Walters will host one more 10 Most Fascinating People special and another Oscar special, among other appearances on ABC and her hosting duties on The View. Walters will be given a big sendoff on the network culminating with a retrospective special, likely next May.
Walters has been a trailblazer for female TV journalists, becoming the first woman to co-host a news program when she got behind the Today desk in 1974 and the first co-anchor of a network evening news broadcast when she joined ABC Evening News in 1976. She also anchored ABC News’ primetime news magazine 20/20 for 20 years. The View will have a whole year to replace Walters. More pressing is the search for a successor to Joy Behar, who announced in March that she will leave this summer. Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s future remains unclear with continuous speculation that she may also depart.