WB relationship Tom Cruise for 'A Star is Born'

CruiseBeyonceWith executives buzzing about his performance being an 80s rock star in Warner Bros. and New Line's approaching musical "Rock of Age range," Tom Cruise finds themself being courted by WB to topline Clint Eastwood's "A Star comes into the worldInch together with Beyonce. Cruise begins shooting Universal's untitled, Frederick Kosinski-directed sci-fi pic in a few days, and after wrapping production on that film, he's skedded to star in Doug Liman's "You Just Need Kill" for Warners. While there weren't any discussions, not to mention an offer, the studio continues to be speaking to Cruise to gauge his curiosity about the project, a prospect that Cruise did not immediately reject, given the opportunity to use Eastwood the very first time. It's unclear whether WB could be prepared to accommodate Cruise's schedule, but should he pursue the project, he'd play an over-the-hill music performer who falls for any youthful singer who he's trying to make a star. In the last year, WB has eyed Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and Leonardo DiCaprio for that plum part. Contact Shaun Sneider at shaun.sneider@variety.com

'Unforgettable' sells to Asian webs

'Unforgettable' continues to be offered to many Asian webs.LONDON -- The new sony Pictures Television has offered hit crime drama skein "Memorable" to many leading tv stations within the Asia-Off-shore region.One of the webs using the show are Wowow in Japan, Star in India and TVNZ in Nz. The series, which airs on CBS in the usa, continues to be offered to webs in additional than 150 nations, including Nine around australia, CTV in Canada and BSkyB within the U.K.Additionally, it airs on Fox Crime in Italia, AXN in The country and OCN in Columbia."Memorable" stars Poppy Montgomery as Barbara Wells, an ex-cop who is able to recall everything she's familiar with perfect detail. It's professional created by Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, John Bellucci and Erectile dysfunction Redlich, and it is created by Timberman/Beverly Prods. and CBS Television Galleries in colaboration with SPT. Contact Leo Barraclough at leo.barraclough@variety.com

Mass Hysteria reaches 'Boiling Point'

Mass Hysteria Entertainment has acquired rights to approaching action thriller "The Boiling Point." Project's put together by Joshua Courtade and Ryan Leeder, with Warren P. Sonoda installed on direct and Daniel Grodnik creating for Mass Hysteria. Craig Brooker and Stan Wertlieb professional produce for Grindstone Entertainment. Story follows a gangster designated to obtain a mob informer -- his ex-girlfriend, who disappeared years earlier to the witness protection program. Production is tentatively scheduled for late spring. Sonoda might be the director in the recently released "Unrivaled," starring Rashad Evans, and "5ive Women," starring Ron Perlman. Grindstone Entertainment has acquired all U . s . States rights. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

Dane Prepare To Star In NBC Comedy Pilot Next Caller Please

Dane Prepare is placed to star within the NBC’s single-camera comedy pilot Next Caller Please. The Lionsgate/Universal TV project, compiled by Stephen Falk, focuses on Cam Doherty (Prepare), a brash, hard-consuming, no-filter maverick DJ of the satellite radio show whose world is rocked using the arrival of perky, feminist new on-air co-host Stella Stoobler (Collette Wolfe). Prepare’s casting comes from the NBC development deal he signed last fall. Prepare most lately guest starred around the Forex comedy Louie and made an appearance within the features Solutions to Nothing, Detention and Guns and Women & Gambling. UTA-repped Prepare includes a very effective stand-up career: He's offered out arena venues for example Madison Square Garden and Staples Center, launched several multi-platinum comedy albums and Dvd disks and starred inside a slew of cable standup special offers.

Pilot Season: CBS Orders Martin Lawrence Comedy

Billy Very, The 84th Annual Academy awards It's almost here! The 84th Academy awards are happening Sunday. Let's be realistic: Hollywood's finest evening might be overwhelming, do not worry! TVGuide.com and tv Guide Network possibly you've covered and that means you won't miss only one moment.Beginning Sunday at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, you'll be able to catch our Academy awards Preview, featuring interviews with nominees and experts' picks for who'll collect the gold.Have a look finally year's Oscars fashion hits and missesOur Academy awards Red-colored-colored Carpet Countdown follows at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT with hosts Maria Sansone and Tim Kash, who'll give audiences a sneak look in the early action outdoors the Hollywood & Highland Center.At 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT, Chris Harrison will host Academy awards Red-colored-colored Carpet, where he'll interview the finest stars and nominees simply because they make their way lower the red-colored-colored carpet. TVGuide.com will at the same time stream Fashion Cam coverage in the celebrities' arrivals, and fans will have a way to go over their preferred looks via Facebook.All through the Oscars telecast (8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT on ABC), you'll be able to follow along after we live-tweet the whole show. Among the scheduled presenters: Halle Berry, Bradley Cooper, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Chris Rock, last year's acting individuals who win Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Colin Firth and Natalie Portman - along with the Muppets, Kermit and Miss Piggy.Have a look whatsoever last year's Oscar arrivalsFinally, we'll leave behind honours season on Monday at 8/7c with this particular Academy awards Red-colored-colored Carpet Fashion Wrap. Ali Landry and her team of experts, including Tabatha Coffey, Camille Grammer and Nick Verreos, will discuss the night's best and worst styles and title the most effective fitted star.

Banderas to see Picasso

BanderasPicasso in the Paris cafe, circa 1950.Madrid-- Antonio Banderas may have Pablo Picasso in Carlos Saura's approaching "33 dias" (33 Days), in regards to the painter's emotional turmoil while he done masterpiece "Guernica.""33 dias" means time Picasso allotted towards the mural, which taken his reaction to the destruction of Basque capital of scotland- Guernica in 1937 with the Nazi Luftwaffe through the The the spanish language language Civil War.Picasso "can be a character that has attacked me for just about any very very long time which i usually rejected. He warrants plenty of respect because I am from Malaga, which i had been produced four blocks where he was produced,Inch Banderas mentioned inside an interview launched Sunday through the the spanish language language newspaper El Pais. French and also the the spanish language language language-shoot will roll next summer season in Paris and Guernica.Project re-teams Carlos Saura with vet The the spanish language language producer Elias Querejeta.Saura and Querejeta composed the script alongside French author Louis-Charles Sirjacq.Allotted over Euros6 million ($7.9 million), pic is produced by Bilbao-based Idem 4 and co-produced by Cinevedas, which has offices in France, Canada and India.Triple Academy Award-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro ("Apocalypse Now") is at advanced predicts join the project.Inside the film, Saura shows how painting "Guernica" shown near salvation for Picasso in just a minute of non-public crisis. Pic focuses on Picasso's relationship along with his lover, French artist Dora Maar. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Trippin' to yesteryear

If last year's best picture race at the Oscars ended with the triumph of the past ("The King's Speech") over the here-and-how ("The Social Network"), the current contest has chosen sides from the get go, with Academy members casting their votes for movies that enthusiastically idealize bygone days.Of the nine best picture nominees, only "Moneyball," "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" and "The Descendants" take place in the 21st century, and even those films, to one degree or another, ruminate over themes of legacy, history or a time when, say, a scrappy team like the Oakland A's could challenge the mighty Yankees for baseball supremacy.Yes, Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" begins in modern times, but the bulk of the film focuses on the magical trips that its Allen stand-in, a screenwriter named Gil (Owen Wilson), takes back in time to a Jazz Age Paris where he meets the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein. Gil has long dreamed of living in this particular slice of the past, and those around him deride him for his longing."Nostalgia is denial, denial of the painful present," lectures Paul, a former flame of Gil's fiancee. "The name for this denial is Golden Age thinking, the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one one's living in. It's a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present."And, yes, Paul is a world-class bigmouth, but he has a point, one that Allen himself makes late in the film when Gil and his 1920s French girlfriend skip back to the Belle Epoque era. "I'm from the '20s, and I'm telling you the golden age is la Belle Epoque," she tells Gil, much to his dismay.The other movies nominated for best picture -- "The Artist," "Hugo," "War Horse," "The Help" and "The Tree of Life" -- are also strongly infused with nostalgia, and, as Paul might argue, come from places of discomfort or uncertainty with modern times. Contrast the present-day images of a brooding Sean Penn trapped in a steel city in "Tree" with his idyllic recollections of a childhood spent in the Great Outdoors. "The Help" tidily remembers past civil rights triumphs, perhaps an easier task than examining the racial issues that exist today.The remaining trio turn their gaze inward toward the medium itself. Steven Spielberg styled "War Horse" on the epic films of John Ford and Victor Fleming, its outsized music, visual grandeur and languid pacing recalling classical Hollywood. "The Artist" and "Hugo" go back even further, celebrating the early days of cinema at a time when motion picture film cameras and celluloid itself is on the verge of extinction."We do lovingly look back at silent cinema, it's true," says 'Artist' writer-director Michel Hazanavicius. "But the movie is really about a man who finds himself out of the game. Technology has changed and left him behind. And that's relatable now, no?"Relatable, yes. Judging from the nostalgic late of best picture nominees, it seems that, yes, Academy members can appreciate the man's dilemma.Eye on the Oscars: Best Picture PreviewTrippin' to yesteryear | Moody key art set tone for kudo contenders | Poster children for a year of reflection, uncertainty Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Honours tea off

Variety prexy and BAFTA/LA chairman Neil Stiles with Leonardo DiCaprio Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory Charlize Theron and Julia Verdin flank Emily Watson. At Saturday's BAFTA/LA tea party, Kate Flannery ticked from the occasions she'd attended previously week. Then she offered some practical advice for newcomers around the honours circuit."Keep an additional set of comfortable footwear nearby," Flannery stated in the Four Seasons in BevHills.Ariel Winter recommended, "Be stress-free and do not bust out,Inch while her "Modern Family" co-star Nolan Gould stated he "sneak snacks from mother's purse, since it is a very lengthy show and that i get really hungry."Leonardo DiCaprio, who posed for photos using the pair, stated he was reminded of their own start growing up actor. "I really like my movie, I really like representing it and this is an excellent time for you to meet up with old buddies."

Watch My Show: Once Upon a Time's Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis Take Our Showrunner Survey

Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis Getting offered as executive producers on Lost, Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis are experts in alternate mobile phone industry's, shocking twists and also the fight between good and evil. Because the designers of ABC's story book-designed new hit Not so long ago, they found a different way to spin individuals types of yarns. It's working: When 7 days of Digital recording device usage are incorporated, Once earnings 13.8 million audiences along with a 4.8 rating among grown ups 18-49. Just in case you have not checked it yet (the show returns The month of january 8), Horowitz and Kitsis clarified our showrunner questionnaire hoping that you will soon book a vacation to Storybrooke. TV Guide Magazine: I possibly could sit both at home and read a story book. Why must I be careful about your show rather?Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis: Because what we are trying to complete isn't retell favorite anecdotes but let you know the various components of these you won't ever understood - to reinvent them through our very own sensibilities after which mash all of them up with techniques we have never witnessed before and that we hope the crowd has not imagined. TV Guide Magazine: What goes on as we don't be careful about your show?Horowitz and Kitsis: Then your show finishes. And that we are sad. TV Guide Magazine: Provide us with an formula for the show.Horowitz and Kitsis: We do not understand math. This is exactly why we grew to become authors. TV Guide Magazine: What is the best factor anybody has stated or discussed your show?Horowitz and Kitsis: It built them into pleased to watch, it moved them somewhere enjoyable to have an hour. TV Guide Magazine: Were they right?Horowitz and Kitsis: We drive them at their word. Who're we to evaluate? TV Guide Magazine: ABC encourages your Lost credits. Which past credit whenever they avoid offering no matter what?Horowitz and Kitsis: Hot Tonight. It had been a public access sketch-comedy show we did in Madison, Wisconsin. We thought i was funny. We write drama now. TV Guide Magazine: How's it going making use of your energy of TV permanently?Horowitz and Kitsis: We are attempting to talk about the energy of hope currently of uncertainty. Also, it's used by us to battle crime. TV Guide Magazine: What's another title for the show? Horowitz and Kitsis: A Fistful of Fairy Dust. TV Guide Magazine: Showrunner battles are extremely popular nowadays. Choose a rival show, any show, to begin a battle with.Horowitz and Kitsis: an hour. We have viewed your show. We have timed it. Without advertisements, you are only 43 minutes. TV Guide Magazine: Let us scare the network. Inform us a concept that did not allow it to be from the writers' room.Horowitz and Kitsis: You will find there's show with fairies, dwarves, speaking crickets and dragons - we are unsure they are terrified of anything any longer. TV Guide Magazine: Let us say you can perform a crossover episode with any Television show ever. Which show, and what can the episode actually cover?Horowitz and Kitsis: The Charmings. And it might be Snow and Charming facing Snow and Charming. Fighting towards the dying over who's really... Snow and Charming. TV Guide Magazine: Of the cast people, who'd fare best on Celebrity Apprentice?Horowitz and Kitsis: Rumplestiltskin. He drives a tough bargain. TV Guide Magazine: Since you are popular, what kind of Hollywood-ant factor are you going to demand?Horowitz and Kitsis: We do not think about ourselves like a hit we are just happy to have the chance to inform more tales. Nevertheless, we have requested ABC for any dwarf entourage. TV Guide Magazine: What can a Not so long ago ride at Disneyland seem like?Horowitz and Kitsis: You'd hop in Emma's Yellow Bug, race through Storybrooke, and escape the curse before being deposited in Story Book Land.This is where, obviously, the picture could be drawn in the Miracle Mirror.And you'd need to walk-through Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop to be able to buy souvenirs.Or barter your kids for that location of the parking place, which you've lengthy since forgotten due to the dizzying ride. Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

New DVD Releases: Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012

Justified Justified Season 2 Timothy Olyphant is back as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in this three-disc set featuring all 13 episodes from the second season. Available on both DVD and Blu-ray, the set includes two featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, and a Blu-ray exclusive feature, "Talking Shop: Roundtable Discussion." (Buy the DVD)(Buy the Blu-ray) Mildred PierceBased on the James M. Cain's 1941 book, HBO's latest renowned five-episode miniseries starring Kate Winslet is availableas a two-disc DVD set, or a four-disc combo Blu-ray/DVD set. Bonus material includes commentary tracks, a menu-based "series index," previews of all five parts, and Blu-ray exclusives that include "Inside the Episode" pieces, and "The Making of Mildred Pierce." (Buy the DVD) (Buy the Blu-ray) Royal Pains Season 3, Volume 1This two-disc set includes the first 10 episodes from the third season, just in time for the midseason premiere on Jan. 18. Featuringsuch great guests as Henry Winkler, Matt Lauer and Wilmer Valderrama, the set also includes a commentary track, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. (Buy the DVD) View the complete list of releases for January 3 at TVShowsOnDVD.com.

James Franco in Talks to Play Hugh Hefner in Linda Lovelace Biopic

James Franco as Hugh Hefner?The actor, who last starred in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," is in talks with Millenium/Nu Image to appear in a cameo as the iconic founder of "Playboy," in "Lovelace," the biopic of Linda Lovelace.Lovelace sees Amanda Seyfried as the woman who starred in one of the most famous pornos of all time, "Deep Throat." Also in the cast are Peter Sarsgaard as her husband, Chuck Traynor, and Hank Azaria as Jerry Damiano, the director of "Deep Throat."Bobby Cannavale and Chris Noth are set for the respective roles of the film's financiers, Butchie Peraino and Anthony Romano, while Robert Patrick will play Lovelace's father, John.Also in the cast are Sharon Stone, Juno Temple, Wes Bentley and Romeo Brown.Franco, who was at one point in talks to play Traynor before stepping aside, would appear in the Hef cameo only if dates work out. The actor and his reps have been dancing with producers around the timing of a one-day shoot, but so far a consummation remains elusive.The production, under the direction of Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, began shooting in Los Angeles this week. The Hollywood Reporter

Jersey Shore's Snooki Hit with Multimillion-Dollar Suit

Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi Snooki remains hit getting a suit. Certification company SRG Endeavors has filed a $7 million suit in the lately super skinny Jersey Shoreline star and her management company, the NY Publish reviews. The business was hired by Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi to create Snooki-related merchandise a year ago. Jersey Shore's Snooki unveils dramatic fat loss In October, the Publish reviews Polizzi prosecuted to complete the partnership, proclaiming that SRG didn't fulfill its finish in the contract if the not successful "to land her enough dough or branding partners.Inch SRG's counterclaim is always that Polizzi "sabotaged the sale by settling with brands behind SRG's back" and needed considerable time sealing within the deals SRG did bring her, including Snooki-high quality school supplies, watches, shoes and lingerie. A repetition for Polizzi told the Publish: "Ms. Polizzi disputes SRG's version in the particulars and seems toward her day in the courtroom.Inch

Robert Downey Junior.'s 'Sherlock Holmes' Accent Is Ideal, Unlike Robert Downey Junior., Guy Ritchie States (VIDEO)

Get Robert Downey Junior. and Guy Ritchie in the room and supply them the freedom to go over anything they need, as Moviefone did for that latest edition of Unscripted, and you'll expect a freewheeling discussion about 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game Title Title of Shadows,' when the pair will synergy for future, non-Sherlock, projects, and RDJ's British accent. Does Ritchie think Downey Junior. does the director's home country proud? Uncover, additionally as to the Mister Arthur Conan Doyle would consider 'Sherlock Holmes' and why any youthful actor with sights on overpowering for Downey as Holmes afterwards might want to think carefully about challenging the A-lister. Watch Moviefone Unscripted: 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game Title Title of Shadows' above. For just about any bonus, have a look where character RDJ has more fun "getting fun withInch: Tony Stark or perhaps a Virtual Detective. 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game Title Title of Shadows' is at theaters on Friday. Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook Embed inside your site:

Kenneth Branagh 'My Week With Marilyn' Live Q&A: Today at 2 P.M. EST!

In the event you loved 'My Week With Marilyn,' here's what's promising: today at 2 p.m. EST, star Kenneth Branagh -- who plays Mister Laurence Olivier inside the new film -- will be a part of an energetic web chat from Sweden where he'll answer questions. Curious exactly what it was like round the number of 'My Week With Marilyn'? Have to know Mister Kenneth's applying for grants his co-star, Michelle Williams, who plays the luminous Marilyn Monroe? Or just request him something about his extended career? Here's the time. Fans can participate by delivering in their own personal questions -- mind to Huffington Publish to register or watch the streaming event below. 'My Week With Marilyn' is at theaters now. To uncover a little more about the film, visit Facebook. [Photo: TWC] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

ABC Pulls Guy Up!

Guy Up! ABC has drawn its battling newcomer comedy Guy Up!, effective immediately. The sitcom is going to be changed with reruns of Tim Allen's Last Guy Standing, before the premiere of labor It on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Browse the relaxation from the day's news on TVGuide.com Guy Up opened on March. 18 and it has seen a stable rankings decline since. Tuesday's episode hit a set low having a 1.6 rating among 18-to-49-year-olds, and 4.8 million audiences - lower in the 7.7 million that updated to the premiere.

PGA taps five for doc prize

The Producers Guild of America has drawn on a quintet of nominees because of its documentary feature award.The nominated films, introduced Friday, are ''Beats, Rhymes and Existence: the Travels of the Tribe Known as Mission,'' ''Bill Cunningham NY,'' ''Project Nim,'' ''Senna'' and ''The Union.''Winners is going to be introduced Jan. 21 in the PGA Honours events in the Beverly Hilton.The PGA also stated Friday that Producers Guild arbitrations for individual producer credit determination for those film and tv groups continue to be going ahead. Television series nominations is going to be introduced Wednesday and all sorts of other nominations is going to be introduced Jan. 3. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

Meghan McCain, Chelsea Clinton and TV's Shameful Love Affair with Political Daughters (Opinion)

This story appears in the Dec. 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Wanted: Reporter for regular feature segments on NBC Nightly News. No journalists need apply. NBC sent its viewers a miserable message about its brand with the addition of Chelsea Clinton (qualification: onetime residency in the White House, boldface parents) as a reporter for Making a Difference, its segment about volunteerism and community service. The quality of journalism that we deliver, NBC News implicitly states, is of such a low standard that a rank amateur is qualified to stand in front of our cameras, just as long as she has a famous last name. Chelsea the newswoman joins colleagues Meghan McCain, whose father was the Republican nominee for president, and Jenna Bush Hager, a double threat as both former first daughter and first granddaughter. NBC News did not initiate this trend: Former first son Ron Reagan's qualification to be a contributor for ABC's Good Morning America during the 1980s and '90s was as a professional dancer (and that famous name). PHOTOS: The Clinton Foundation's Decade of Difference Fundraiser This Clinton scion's hiring means that every former president since 1980 has a network TV journalist in the household or extended family. Why? The urge to hire from political families is an example of what NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen calls the "quest for innocence" in the political press. News organizations try to square a circle by asserting that they are inside players with access to the corridors of political power while at the same time remaining neutral outsiders, "innocent," without a partisan ax to grind. Hiring someone whose access derives from blood rather than political activism solves this problem. Clinton certainly has an insider's knowledge about West Wing crises, but as a reporter, she carries none of the ideological baggage that hiring a converted political operative (Tim Russert), onetime White House press secretary (George Stephanopoulos), former presidential aide (Diane Sawyer) or ex-speechwriter (Chris Matthews) entails. The other benefit of hiring a political heir is the freshness of telegenic youth: Chelsea, 31, is less grizzled than James Carville and has a less risque résumé than Eliot Spitzer. Nightly News likely hopes to improve its aging demographic with an on-air face in the target demo, a shift from 15 years ago when inspirational segments were filed by another nonjournalist impostor, "Stormin' " Norman Schwarzkopf. Nevertheless, this particular choice is peculiar: Clinton might know what an inside-the-White-House crisis feels like, but she has zero knowledge of how such a crisis -- or any news event, for that matter -- is covered by working journalists. Her parents kept her in a reporter-free bubble throughout her childhood; she stonewalled reporters when she stumped for her mother during Campaign 2008; and as recently as 16 months ago, she tried to block the press from covering her wedding, keeping the location secret in an attempt to thwart the paparazzi; and she wouldn't even give interviews in connection with her hiring by NBC. STORY: Chelsea Clinton Joins NBC News as Special Correspondent And the hiring of the hedge fund alumna reveals NBC News to have a particularly tin ear at a time when mainstream media stand accused by Occupy Wall Street of being complicit in an undemocratic political system as members and mouthpieces of the "one percent," rather than watchdogs scrutinizing corruption. NBC News has enough baggage with its CNBC brand; now imagine Clinton and Andrea Mitchell appearing on Nightly News during coverage of the next financial crisis: the daughter of the president who deregulated high finance with the wife of central banker Alan Greenspan, who allowed it to run amok. NBC News is reporting from that worldview rather than on it. You could say Clinton, Hagen and McCain are being exploited as eye-catching props by powerful men projecting an image of insider access. You could say this amounted to their being "pimped out" -- unless, of course, you happen to work for NBC News, in which case you would be suspended. Just ask David Shuster, who was suspended from MSNBC in 2008 for using that phrase in connection with Clinton. There is one group of professional journalists that should feel gratified by her arrival: field producers. Their reporting chops are all the more indispensable as the figures in front of their cameras become purely symbolic. Andrew Tyndall is publisher of Tyndall Report, which monitors network TV news. Related Topics NBC ABC News Good Morning America Today

Bella and Edward's 'Breaking Dawn' Mishap, and Other Movie Honeymoons Gone Awry

ZOMG, Bella and Edward are getting married! Their love has overcome all obstacles, and these two crazy kids (OK, one crazy kid and one sparkly old guy in a crazy kid's body) are finally gonna make the ultimate commitment in 'Breaking Dawn, Part 1.' To be followed, of course, by an extra-romantic super-sparkly honeymoon. Or not. Yes, as everyone who's read the books knows, it's not exactly smooth sailing for Bella and Edward as they head off on their romantic retreat to the private island of Esme. Their starry-eyed honeymoon comes to an abrupt halt when Bella realizes there's a little monster kicking inside of her belly. That's right -- a little half-human, half-vampire bundle of joy. Since it's not your average fetus, Bella's pregnancy accelerates at a rapid rate, effectively serving as a major buzzkill for their honeymoon as Edward frets about the effects on Bella's body. They have to say goodbye to exotic Esme early and rush back to scenic Forks. Bummer, huh? But theirs isn't the first movie honeymoon to go awry. In fact, movie honeymoons rarely go smoothly. Remember when Charlton Heston got totally sidetracked by work on his honeymoon in 'Touch of Evil'? It completely ruined their romantic getaway, and even put his lovely new bride (Janet Leigh) in danger! Bella and Edward's preempted honeymoon got us thinking about other movie honeymoons that don't go as planned. Movie Honeymoons Gone Awry Edward and Bella aren't the first movie newlyweds to have their honeymoons cut short. Don't you just hate it when candlelit dinners and walks on the beach are ruined by creepy propositions, flesh-eating zombies and murderous psychos? A Perfect GetawayZombie HoneymoonThe Heartbreak KidHaunted HoneymoonHoneymoon in Vegas See All Moviefone Galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Lionsgate Wants Gary Ross, Slumdog Writer for Hunger Games Sequel Catching Fire

The jury’s still out as far as I’m concerned on whether or not director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) was the right director to helm Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, even with the mostly-satisfying first trailer debut earlier this week. Lionsgate, however, seems more confident in Ross, as they want him to return to helm the second Hunger Games installment, 2013’s Catching Fire, with writer Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) reportedly in the running to script. From Deadline: I’m told that Gary Ross, who directed The Hunger Games, is coming back for the sequel. He originally intended to write the outline for the second film and script it with author Suzanne Collins (they teamed to do a lot of writing on the first film), but the post production schedule on The Hunger Games has made that difficult. The highly anticipated trailer debut on Monday revealed a solid visual sense for the world inhabited by teenage heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a working class girl in a future dystopia who winds up competing in a televised death match against 23 other youngsters. The trailer teased the events leading up to said Hunger Games and showed fans of Collins’ novel glimpses of the characters they know well, including Katniss, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Gale (Liam Hemsworth), and Cinna (Lenny Kravitz). What remains to be seen is if Ross and Co. capture the internal drama within Katniss as she begins to navigate the worlds of politics, love, and responsibility while trying to stay alive, not to mention how well Ross is able to evoke a sense of real danger and brutal violence in his tween and teen-oriented adventure. A more daring director would have been my preference — say Joe Wright, building off of the visceral action and style he lent to Hanna earlier this year — but Ross might be just safe enough to help make this the next MTV-safe franchise, a la Twilight. The Hunger Games as a story sets up the world of Panem and the inciting annual battle royale, but Catching Fire, the first of two sequels, expands Katniss’s world so much, and in such specific ways, that scripting it both for an established audience and for non-readers will be a trickier job. So while Collins adapting her own novel for the first film is a boon in many ways (a vote of confidence in the project, insurance against taking too much creative license or deviating from the material), it might take someone with more of a cinematic bent to translate the plot turns of Catching Fire to the screen. Is Beaufoy the right writer for the job? I don’t see why not; he’s notched solid films thus far, even if, as with Ross, there’s nothing in his resume that suggests he’s a particularly good match for a dystopian action adventure about a lethal teenage girl. Of course, Beaufoy’s Oscar statuette (and two additional writing nods) would give the Lionsgate series an added sheen of Oscar cred on top of Ross’s three nominations, so there’s that. Lionsgate Courts Simon Beaufoy To Script ‘The Hunger Games’ Sequel [Deadline]

Exclusive: Meredith Baxter to Guest-Star on Switched at Birth

Meredith Baxter Meredith Baxter will guest-star on ABC Family's Switched at Birth, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively. Baxter may have Bonnie Tamblyn Dixon, mother to Jum Thompson's character Kathryn and biological grandmother to Daphne (Katie LeClerc). Sparks fly and tension arrisses when she arrives for just about any family visit. ABC Family sets return dates for Pretty Little Liars, Lounging Game plus much more The guest place also marks a reunion between a few Michael J. Fox's imaginary moms Baxter was his mother on Family Ties while Thompson carried out his mother with the spine for the Future. Baxter look in one episode when the show returns Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 8/7c.