The Morning Fix: London implodes. ‘The Help’ gets help.
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After the coffee. Before scrapping the idea of ever being able to retire.
The Skinny: Like the rest of the world, Hollywood is nervously watching what’s happening in London, where already Sony has lost a building in the rioting. More remakes of cheesy ‘80s films are in the works. ‘The Help’ gets a boost from the NAACP and Current TV hires a CNN executive to lead its makeover into a liberal political analysis network.
‘The Help’ gets some help. ‘The Help,’ a DreamWorks drama about the complex relationship between Southern white women and their black maids in the South of the 1960s, is getting a marketing push by the NAACP. ‘I ask each of you: Tell your friends, your family, your co-workers, your church. Organize screening parties. Go see this movie,’ Roslyn Brock, chairwoman of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, told members of the civil rights advocacy group last week. A challenge for the film if it wants to overcome its television movie of the week feel will be wooing adults of all races without seeming like it is pandering. More on ‘The Help’ from the Los Angeles Times.
I’d rather this sequel be kept in a corner. As if Paramount’s remake of ‘Footloose’ wasn’t bad enough, Lionsgate is now moving forward with a new version of ‘Dirty Dancing.’ Why must studio executives take movies from 25 years ago and try to remake them for a new generation of kids? How about finding original movies to appeal to teens and 20-somethings. Oh, before I forget, I call dibs on a ‘Flashdance’ remake. More on the DD reboot from Deadline Hollywood.
Spin time. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who has skipped his company’s last few earnings calls with analysts, will be on the line Wednesday to discuss the media conglomerate’s quarterly results. The 80-year-old mogul will probably at least touch on the phone-hacking scandal that has torn through the company as well as the topic of his eventual successor. An advance from Reuters.
Looking for laughs. Sony Television has sold more than a dozen comedy scripts to ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox for the 2012-13 development season.Yes, the new 2011 season hasn’t even started yet and we’re already obsessing on development. Get ready to read about lots of projects that probably won’t see the light of day. The latest from Variety.
London’s burning. The entertainment industry, particularly Sony, has not been spared from the unrest in London. The Hollywood Reporter looks at the rioting through Hollywood’s eyes.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Current TV has a new president. Sandra Bernhard loves the stage.
-- Joe Flint
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