George Clooney Leaves Steven Soderbergh's 'Man From U.N.C.L.E.'

George Clooney would most likely alllow for one kick-ass uncle, but sadly, he'll no more function as the guy from "U.N.C.L.E." The Oscar winning actor has lengthy been mounted on Steven Soderbergh's adaptation from the sixties spy drama, but Deadline reviews that Clooney has become walking from the project. It's unclear precisely why he's walking aside, especially because of the frequency that Clooney and Soderbergh have partnered previously, but no matter the reason why, Soderbergh has become left searching for a brand new "U.N.C.L.E." or perhaps is he? Chalk up to serendipitous timing or simply another rehash of the old story, but Soderbergh is once more tooting the retirement horn. Talking to The Brand New You are able to Occasions (through the Hollywood Reporter), Soderbergh repeated his need to retire from film pointing to pursue operate in other styles of art, including painting. "I am thinking about exploring another talent as i possess the some time and ability to do this,Inch he told the Occasions. "I'm going to be the very first person to express basically can not be worthwhile in internet marketing and exhaust money I'm going to be back making another 'Ocean's' movie." Even when retirement is incorporated in the cards, Soderbergh continues to have a lengthy approach to take before shutting lower the cameras: his action flick "Haywire" is simply nearby, he's in pre-production about the stripper drama "Miracle Mike" according to Channing Tatum's existence, he continues to have the Matt Damon and Michael Douglas-starring "Liberace" biopic to create and, obviously, there's "U.N.C.L.E." but without Clooney, is it feasible that Soderbergh will tap out early, or is he going to find another leading guy to celebrate his last hoorah like a director with? Inform us what you believe within the comments section as well as on Twitter!

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Casey Anthony District attorney Book Due In November

Shaun Ashton, charge district attorney within the trial of Casey Anthony for that murder of her daughter Caylee has written the very first insider account from the trial. Imperfect Justice: Defending Casey Anthonyis scheduled for publication in November by William Morrow.our editor recommends10 TV Tests That Shook The Planet: Casey Anthony, OJ Simpson, Rodney KingCasey Anthony Book to become Compiled by TV Doc Keith AblowBarbara Walters Lands First Interview With Casey Anthonys LawyerRelated Subjects•Casey Anthony VIDEO: Nancy Sophistication on Casey Anthony Trial: Things I Must Have Done In a different way News from the book released whenever a listing for this turned up on Barnes & Noble's website. Ashton then confirmed it using the Orlando Sentinel. Past the title, couple of particulars were available concerning the items in it, when Ashton began writing it, or how big his advance. However the November publication clearly appears made to pre-empt Keith Ablow's Within the Mind of Casey Anthony, which Ablow states is going to be released by St. Martins' Press "prior to the finish of 2011." STORY: Casey Anthony, Spencer Pratt are America's Most Hated Celebs (Poll) Ashton would be a veteran Assistant Condition Attorney with 30 years of expertise when he punished the Anthony situation. He upon the market days after Casey Anthony was found innocent of murder but charged on the lesser control of laying towards the police. STORY: Soderbergh turns Casey Anthony saga into play The trial of 25-year-old Casey Anthony taken the country's attention early in the year and early summer time of the year. On This summer 15, 2008, Casey reported the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, probably the victim of the kidnapping by her nanny. Cindy Anthony, Casey's mother told police she'd not seen her daughter in greater than a month. Casey was charged with murder in October 2008. In December 2008, Caylee's body was discovered inside a wooded area close to the Anthony home. Researchers were never in a position to begin a definitive reason for dying or motive for that crime, which destabilized their situation within the eyes of countless jurors. Anthony's acquittal triggered a media outcry, particularly from HLN host Nancy Sophistication, that has lengthy thought Casey killed her daughter. Related Subjects Casey Anthony

Hurricane Irene Suspends One Tree Hill Production

One Tree Hill Production on a single Tree Hill, which shoots in Wilmington, N.C., an expected target of Hurricane Irene, was shut lower Friday prior to the storm, Entertainment Weekly reviews. VIDEO: Did One Tree Hill's creator shoot another ending again? "Like a preventive measure as well as in thought on our cast and crew, One Tree Hill production has shut lower for today and tomorrow because of Hurricane Irene. We'll still monitor the problem within the next couple of days," a repetition for that show told EW. OTH star Austin Nichols tweeted multiple occasions about the storm. On Friday, he stated, "Shutting lower production tomorrow. Can't wait to bop with this particular large lady known as Irene." After which on Saturday: "Hello Everybody. Just gonna grab a fast shower plus some coffee before I mind to go looting. #HurricaneIrene," and "Irene could not fly out my birthday candle lights." CW boss on a single Tree Hill's future Irene hit New York 'life was imple', departing almost 200,000 houses (many within the Wilmington area) without electricity, based on the Connected Press.

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For Hope Davis, Stage Fright Feeds Her Performances

Although Hope Davis, star from the new comedy feature "The Household Tree," was nominated to have an Emmy along with a Golden Globe for playing Hillary Clinton within the Cinemax film "The Special Relationship" as well as an Emmy for playing Mia on HBO's "In Treatment" and was named best actress through the New You are able to Film Experts Circle on her operate in "American Splendor" and "The Key Lives of Dental practitioners," theater is her first love. Despite a lot more than 380 performances on Broadway as well as in La as Annette in "God of Carnage"that she received a Tony nominationDavis states she was sad to determine the show finish. That might be surprising for somebody who claims that they had stage fright so bad, she considered giving up acting.Back Stage spoken with Davis about her anxiety about who audition, how she got regarding this, what inspired her being an actress, what she considers the approaching film version of "God of Carnage" (which she's not in), and just how one easy bit of acting advice has tied to her a lot more than every other.Back again Stage: When have you realize you thought about being an actress? Hope Davis: After I visited London for my junior year of school. I required this theater studies program and analyzed with assorted instructors in the RSC [Royal Shakespeare Company]. I simply thought it might be a very interesting existence. I figured it can't be boring for any minute, and actually it has not been. It simply unfolded after that. That year working in london, I saw millions of plays. I saw Anthony Hopkins on stage and Tony Sher and Roger Rees and Helen Mirren, and that i just thought it was the area to become. Obviously, I have never been in the London stage during my entire career. Although that could change next spring.Back Stage: Why? What's happening next spring? Davis: There is a chance "God of Carnage," the play that people did on Broadway as well as in L.A., we may get it done working in london as well as in Paris next spring. Back Stage: What exactly happened after college? Davis: I did not feel quite ready for brand new You are able to. I figured I'd just sink there' did not wish to visit completely from college. And So I gone to live in Chicago with several buddies. In Chicago in those days, la Steppenwolf, you might start a theater company in a kind of black box, any store spaceanywhere, reallyand people will come. I remained in Chicago for 4 years total and did a lot of theater there, in the Goodman with various theater companies, so when I felt like I'd some wind behind me, I found New You are able to. There' was lucky enough to get study with Uta Hagen for a few years at HB Studio before she grew to become really unwell. I Quickly analyzed with Victor Garber, who got me among my first theater jobs in New You are able to.Back Stage: Remember the way you got your SAG card? Davis: Yes, it had been for that movie "Flatliners." I'd done a David Mamet play in Chicago known as "Speed-the-Plow." Joel Schumacher, a movie director, had directed the play, after which he requested me to stay in this movie. You need to discover a method to earthworm your means by [to SAG]. You cannot aspire to just walk lower the roads of recent You are able to City or L.A. and obtain discovered. You need to create a little path on your own. You need to form an agenda, a way of arriving the rear door. So yeah, getting my SAG card wasn't so difficult. Back Stage: With "God of Carnage," you probably did a lot of performances on Broadway after which in La. What's your very best advice for stars to keep a performance fresh every evening? Davis: For individuals people who fought nerves throughout the audition many stage fright, it will type of feed you ultimately. I had been never the one who could joke around backstage after which hit happens and knock it from the park. I am always very nervous. I have to concentrate. I had been an extremely nervous auditioner after i is at my 20s. I had been almost paralyzed with nerves, to the stage where I figured of quitting a few occasions. I simply found the entire idea so daunting. But that type of matches your needs having a play like "God of Carnage." A play like this really demands that you simply be really awake as well as on, because two seconds later you are going to possess a signal plus you've got to follow it. That play can also be very uniqueit's greatly fun to complete the cast will get along superbly all people gave our all every evening, so there is nobody which was sleepwalking through it. Really, with this play you could not. It certainly is challenging to repeat something again and again, but we all do discover the play really funny and interesting, which certainly helps a great deal. I am sure you will find playsyou wouldn't wish to accomplish "Peer Gynt" that lots of occasions. [Laughs]. And it is only 85 minutes lengthy, that also helps. I believe my stage fright always keeps it interesting for me personally. Back Stage: So you are saying you'll still get stage fright now? Davis: I do not have shaking hands any longer, however i never feel blas concerning the curtain rising. I am always a bit upset before. Back Stage: Have you find yourself getting over your anxiety about who audition? Davis: Used to do, really. It required us a very long time. When you are first beginning out, you believe you may be proficient at [acting] however, you don't fully realize if you're, and there is all that to deal with, together with only the intense competition and just how so many people are available. I'd say at some stage in my 30s, I type of recognized it had been something I had been proficient at. It's whenever you attempt to prove yourself and nobody knows youit just feels especially painful. But it is like this for everyone, and you just need to proceed. I loved [acting] a lot, I could not quite quit. I simply type of muscled all things in it. That did disappear, fortunately. You will find some items of sophistication that include growing older. [Laughs]Back Stage: Are you currently interested whatsoever in seeing the film version of "God of Carnage" that Roman Polanski is pointing? Davis: You realize, I can not say that i'm. I've youthful kids, and it is pretty hard that i can arrive at the movies because it is. I can not really know how it is going to work. I am talking about, individuals are wonderful stars: Kate Winslet, I really like. Jodie Promote, seriously, she's fantastic. But Roman Polanski creating a comedy? I'm not sure. The one thing in my experience that's funny relating to this play is watching four people moving interior and exterior one another's spaces, what goes on once they get near each other, and exactly what the other a couple do when someone's speaking. I am unsure how they are likely to capture it on film. I imagine it will likely be only a completely different animal. I'm not sure. Whether it will get great reviews, I'll visit it. Back Stage: What's the most crucial acting lesson you have ever learned? Davis: It is so simple. Actor William Petersen is at "Speed-the-Plow" beside me, the play Joel Schumacher directed. He was requested an issue by someone inside a talk-back following the play one evening. He stated, "I'll let you know what acting is: You need to be the man.Inch I must say, through the years which has really resonated for me personally. You are not attempting to show the man or indicate the man or explain the man or seem sensible from the guy you need to be the man. Function as the person who the script is suggesting to become. You cannot judge it and also you can't change it out you need to you need to be it. To have an actor, that is just smart. I must say I have considered individuals words on / off through the years, and they have really assisted. Lots of occasions I believe stars become overanalytical, especially stage stars, when you are performing these great parts or these great figures, and ultimately you need to just surrender towards the words which are about the page.

Bluebird

Simon Russell Beale stars in Atlantic Theater Companys transfer of Simon Stephens 1998 play Bluebird.An Atlantic Theater Company presentation of a play in one act by Simon Stephens. Directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch.Jimmy - Simon Russell Beale Clare - Mary McCannFinally, a chance to see Simon Russell Beale, one of the finest actors drawing breath, up close and personal in a play that suits his astonishingly subtle technique -- and the damned show is sold out. The Atlantic Theater Company has done the industry a favor by importing "Bluebird," Simon Stephens' strangely fascinating 1998 play about a London cabdriver and the intimate if unsolicited exchanges he has with his fares. Now the industry should acknowledge the favor by putting the show into commercial production. To say that Beale -- a stalwart of the National and the RSC, but, despite having kicked up his heels in "Spamalot," a relative stranger to these shores -- is a minimalist is to say that birds fly. But, like flying, a minimalist performance style is still amazing. For a long stretch, Beale's demeanor as the London cabbie Jimmy MacNeill is so understated that he doesn't seem to be doing anything at all -- just sitting stoically in his Bluebird taxi, listening in near-silence to the babble coming from the back seat. There's not a whole lot to see in Gaye Taylor Upchurch's minimalist (what else?) production, either -- the elongated brick walls of Rachel Hauck's set, broken up by pitch-black alleyways; phone booths in harshly lighted alcoves; flashes of neon to cut the darkness; a few chairs to define the seating plan of the taxi interior. But there is definitely something going on in that urban wasteland, much of it created by sheer design. The changing rhythms of Mark Bennett's musical background and the ambient noises of Darron L. West's soundscape carry Jimmy's cab through distinctly different neighborhoods as, cued by Ben Stanton's lighting, the night grows deeper and darker. Slowly, Jimmy becomes caught up in the stories coming at him from the back of the cab. ("I like stories," he admits, when pushed. "I don't mind listening.") It's not exactly something that he says but the subtle changes in Beale's posture, the slight turn of his head, the faint flicker of interest in his eyes, that signal the ever-widening break in the invisible wall he's thrown up between himself and the rest of suffering humanity. At some point it finally dawns that Beale has turned Jimmy completely around, from a sullen grouch into a fully engaged and deeply compassionate confessor figure. Simon Stephens is a talented young favorite of the Royal Court (for plays like "Wastewater" and "Motortown," among others), and for the most part, he's chosen a nice cross-section of London natives to get under Jimmy's skin. Some of these character studies are fully polished (and smoothly played): a very drunk and extremely woeful upper-class toff (Michael Countryman) whose last line ("What's going to happen to us all?") is gut-wrenching; a young hooker (Charlotte Parry) with too much spirit to be broken; an exhausted subway engineer (Todd Weeks) who's seen too much to sleep without having nightmares. Others are one-off sketches -- some of them startlingly sweet or funny, some of them time-wasters, begging to be cut. And something should really be done about the first passenger, a motormouth who cracks stupid jokes and rambles on to no point or purpose. Not a good opener for an audience trying to adjust to the variety of London accents. While Stephens has scattered some decent clues that Jimmy has troubles of his own, nothing quite prepares us for the extended scene at the end of the play when the now-vulnerable Jimmy finally connects with Clare (Mary McCann), the woman he's been calling all night. Brilliantly matched with the heartbreaking McCann in this poignant scene, Beale finally lets us know what it's like to drive a cab through living hell. Sets, Rachel Hauck; costumes, Sarah J. Holden; lighting, Ben Stanton; sound, Darron L. West; composer, Mark Bennett; dialect coach, Stephen Gabis; production stage manager, Kasey Ostopchuck. Opened Aug. 22, 2011. Reviewed Aug. 16. Running time: 1 HOUR, 40 MIN.With: Tobias Segal, Michael Countryman, Todd Weeks, Charlotte Parry, Mara Measor, Kate Blumberg, John Sharian. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Kim Kardashian Wedding: The Hollywood Associates Who Attended

Kim Kardashian's wedding to National basketball association player Kris Humphries featured a guest list which was 500 people strong.our editor recommendsKim Kardashian-Kris Humphries Wedding Photos Cost $1.5 MillionCriticisms About Kim Kardashian Wedding SurfaceKim Kardashian Wedding Visitors: What Participants Say Concerning the Large DayKim Kardashian Expresses Happiness on Big Day, Thanks Fans for his or her Support As you may expect, several in Hollywood were among individuals scoring invites to Saturday's wedding. PHOTOS: Inside Kardashians Corporation. The Hollywood Reporter has found that the guest list incorporated two professionals from E!'s original programming and series development department -- senior vice president Damla Dogan and vice president Jason Sarlanis -- in addition to E! PR professional John Rizzoti famous attorney Howard Weitzman WME's Lance Klein and Ivo Fisher APA's John Dow Jason Binn, chairman and founding father of magazine writer Niche Media talent manager and music executive-switched-movie/Broadway producer Freddy DeMann PMK/BNC's Jill Fritzo attorney Robert Shapiro, who defended O.J. Simpson alongside Kardashian's late father, Robert Kardashian and former talent manager Shaun Wald. STORY: The Company Behind Kim Kardashian's TV Wedding Other visitors incorporated Today co-host Kathie Lee Gifford, Demi Lovato, Avoi Longoria, Lindsay Lohan, recording artist/producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Fox News Funnel's Greta Van Susteren, Ryan Seacrest and Julianne Hough, Brody Jenner (Kardashian's stepbrother) and Avril Lavigne, Mario Lopez, Ciara, Women Gone Wild mastermind Joe Francis, George Lopez, tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams and TV personas Lara Spencer and Maria Menounos, former National basketball association star Scottie Pippen, former boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard. VIDEO: Kim Kardashian First Wedding Footage Hits the web The pair married with an 11-acre estate in Montecito, Calif. The only real cameras permitted inside throughout the ceremony were from E! Entertainment, that will air a 2-part special, Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event, on March. 9 and 10 included in a lucrative cope with Kardashian. One of the entertainers were Stevie Question and Earth, Wind and Fire DJ Cassidy also spun tunes. STORY: Kim Kardashian Wedding Backlash Illuminates Twitter THRreported that exclusive photos of Kardashian's wedding to Humphries were offered to individuals for $1.5 million, based on associates. The glossy compensated $300,000 towards the couple for his or her engagement announcement in May. British magazine OK! compensated $100,000 for that exclusive bridal shower coverage. Saturday's wedding continues to be believed to cost a minimum of $500,000, but individuals pricing is offset by products just like a free $20,000 Vera Wang wedding dress and also the lucrative media deals. Related Subjects Kim Kardashian

Andy Cohen: We're Looking at How to Proceed with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Russell Armstrong Bravo is still mulling the fate of Season 2 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills following the suicide of Russell Armstrong, according to Andy Cohen.Russell Armstrong, husband of Real Housewives' Taylor, commits suicide"We're all still trying to process yesterday's very sad news, and looking at how to proceed with the series, which has finished primary production and was set to premiere on Labor Day," Cohen, the Bravo executive who oversees the Housewives franchise, wrote in a blog post Wednesday. "We'll let you know what we decide when we do. In the meantime, we're sending our thoughts and prayers to Taylor and the rest of Russell's family."Armstrong, the estranged husband of Taylor Armstrong, was found dead Monday night - three weeks out from the second season premiere. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bravo is waiting at least 24 hours from when the news broke Tuesday to make a decision on the show, whether it be a postponement or re-editing footage with Armstrong. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Taylor Armstrong splits from husbandThe Armstrongs, whose marital woes were documented last year, were expected to be a big story line in the new season, as the trailer promoted the ensuing drama surrounding the couple's pending divorce. "Taylor Armstrong is devastated by the tragic events that have unfolded," the reality star's lawyer said Tuesday. "She requests privacy at this time so that she may comfort her young daughter. Her thoughts and prayers are also with Russell's 11- and 13-year-old sons."

China's Tudou preps Nasdaq IPO

BEIJING -- China's second largest online video website, Tudou, has priced its initial public offering on the Nasdaq in New York at $174 million, in a deal that values the site at $822 million. Tudou intends to offer six million American Depositary Shares for $29 each in its Nasdaq Global Market IPO. The Shanghai-based site offers pics, skeins and its own content, as well as user-generated videos. The IPO was covered multiple times over, and values Tudou at around one third the size of market leader Youku.com, which listed last year. Tudou had around 14% of the online video ad market in China at the end of the second quarter, down from 17% at the end of last year, while rivals Youku increased 2% to 23% and Sohu.com rose 5.1% to 13%, according to data from Beijing-based Analysys International. Tudou saw its IPO plans stalled last year due to a lawsuit brought by the former wife of the company's chief exec. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

AFTRA launches tracks contract talks

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has released discussions using the major record labels on the successor agreement towards the seem tracks contract.AFTRA introduced Tuesday the opening round occured in New You are able to City between its seem tracks settling committee and reps from The new sony, UMG, Warner, EMI, Disney and many of the subsidiary labels. AFTRA National Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth is chief negotiator.The seem tracks pact expires 12 ,. 31 so they cover performers, royalty and non-royalty artists, announcers, stars, comics, narrators and seem effects artists who focus on tracks in most new and traditional media and all sorts of music formats, additionally to audio books, comedy albums and cast albums. Anything creates a lot more than $140 million yearly in earnings and benefits for artists and session performers.AFTRA had introduced recently it would launch the talks now after its national board approved its package of plans on This summer 20. The union stated Tuesday that discussions are required to carry on through this month with negotiating periods both in New You are able to and La.The present contract was discussed in 2007 having a June 2010 expiration however the pact was extended by 18 several weeks. That extension deliver to a rise in the labels' contributions towards the AFTRA Health insurance and Retirement Funds "enhanced communications" between AFTRA and also the record labels to see recently signed royalty artists of the guaranteed medical health insurance benefits and AFTRA member services re-determining the size of a "side" or perhaps a recorded song from three 1/two to four 1/2 minutes and development of the AFTRA/Recording Industry Committee to solve contractual issues.A start date for that network code talks is not set with this pact -- AFTRA's biggest contract with more than $400 million in annual earnings -- expiring November. 15. The internet code covers work outdoors primetime and includes "Hello America," "The Vista,Inch "The Cost is appropriate,Inch "Times of Our Way Of Life,Inch "Saturday Evening Live," "Dwts,Inch "The American Idol Show,Inch "Monday Evening Football," "Survivor," "20/20," "Deal or No Deal" and "The Late Show with David Letterman." Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

Sex and also the City Prequel Might Get Gossip Girl Treatment in the CW

Sex and also the City Be careful Blair Waldorf! A brand new, fashionable full bee might be entering your territory. The Barbara Journals, the youthful adult novel prequel to Candace Bushnell's Sex and also the City, might be modified in the CW by Gossip Girl executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, Deadline reviews. It is also likely that Amy Harris, who had been a author about the Cinemax series and presently creates for Gossip Girl, will handle the script adaptation. Fall Preview: Get scoop in your favorite coming back shows Within the novel, youthful Barbara Bradshaw is really a senior high school senior inside a Colonial town. She's about the go swimming team and - more to the point! -- is all of the her buddies to be a virgin. However she catches the attention from the rakish (and without doubt good-searching) Sebastian Kydd. It will be interesting to ascertain if the variation stays in keeping with the novel -- by which Barbara may be the earliest of three women who accept their widowed father -- in order to the Cinemax Sex and also the City adaptation, which stated that Barbara was an only child whose father abandoned her and her mother. No deals happen to be signed yet, but it is expected the CW's more youthful, female-skewing demographic helps make the network the likeliest candidate to get the show. This month in the Television Experts Association fall previews, Sex and also the City showrunner Michael Patrick King stated he will not have a submit any project associated with a prequel. "I am not focusing on any Sex and also the City prequel whatsoever," he stated. "I've not read Candace Bushnell's books." Browse the relaxation of present day news "My Barbara Bradshaw began at 33 and that i required her to 43 -- I do not even need to know who Barbara Bradshaw's parents are ... the thought of going backward, making her less developed, is one thing which i can't even imagine doing." Can you watch The Barbara Journals? Do you consider it is a fit for that CW?

VIDEO: Dennis Rodman Fights Back Tears During His Hall of Fame Speech

Dennis Rodman Who knew Dennis Rodman was such a softie? After being inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame on Friday, the man formerly known for his outlandish style and multiple tattoos gave an emotional speech. "I could have been dead; I could have been a drug dealer; I could have been homeless - I was homeless," the five-time NBA champion said. "A lot of you guys here in the Hall of Fame know what I'm talking about, living in the projects and trying to get out of the projects. I did that, but it took a lot of hard work and lot of bumps along the road." Add your favorite teams to your Watchlist - and know when and where you can next watch them on TV, online or on demand Rodman, who was walked to the stage by his two children, donned a sparkly scarf and a jacket emblazoned with his two teams, the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls. "I didn't play the game for the money; I didn't play the game to be famous. What you see here is more just the illusion that I love to just be an individual that is very colorful," he said. Choking up, Rodman finished by saying, "I was really burning both ends of the candle for a long time ... I'd like to set the record straight just for the time being that, and maybe in the future, I can try to be somewhat of a good individual and a good father to my kids." His Bulls coach Phil Jackson and teammate Scotty Pippin were among those in the audience. Dennis Rodman 2011 Hall Of Fame Speech (VIDEO) by 3030fm

Brett Ratner Signs New Overall Deal With 20th TV, Taps Chris Conti As President

EXCLUSIVE: Director-producer Brett Ratner has closed a new overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television where he has been based for the past 7 years. He is being joined by former NBC development executive-turned-producer Chris Conti, who will serve as president of Ratner's Rat TV. "It's impossible not to love Brett," 20th TV chairman Dana Walden said. "He is a great entertainer, has such love for the business and has the most commercial sense of any creative person I've ever worked with." She praised Ratner for directing the pilot for the Fox drama Prison Break, which "helped reestablish what the 20th Century Fox TV brand is around the world." But for the past 7 years, Ratner has directed only one other 20th TV pilot that has gone to series, CBS' short-lived CIA dramedy Chaos. He has developed and produced a total of 3 series, Prison Break, Chaos and ABC's Women's Murder Club. That is mainly because Ratner has been busy working on a wide range of other projects, from directing and producing features, to producing documentaries and TV specials to now producing the Academy Awards. Bringing a seasoned development executive like Conti is expected to keep development and production at Rat TV going full-speed even when Ratner is not around. "Chris is bringing a lot of formidable relationships in the community and will be able to focus Brett in a meaningful and successful way," Walden said. Following a 15-year stint at NBC, rising from a page to head of drama development, Conti segued into producing in 2005 with a deal at the network's sister studio. While at NBC, he had taken pitches from Ratner but didn't know him personally until the two were recently introduced. "He wanted to grow his company and make it close to what Jerry Bruckheimer and John Wells have built," Conti said. At the same time I was getting frustrated schlepping along without a company and not having a partner." He and Ratner are already meeting with writers and are expected to focus on 3-5 drama ideas this development season, gradually expanding into comedy and reality. As for Ratner's duties as an Oscar producer, Walden said that they will not impact Rat TV's development, especially now that Conti is on board. Directing-wise, Ratner won't be able to helm an hourlong pilot because he will be in the final stages of Oscar preparations but could direct a half-hour pilot after the Academy Awards. At Rat TV, Conti is replacing former president Martha Haight who has since loved to CBS TV Studios to run Mark Harmon's company. Ratner recently produced hit feature comedy Horrible Bosses, Showtime's Nick Cannon: Mr. Show Biz special and PBS' American Masters: Woody Allen documentary. His next movie as a director, comedy Tower Heist, opens in November.

The Odd Life Of Timothy Green Trailer

He's a force of nature.... The Odd Life of Timothy Green posits a very different answer to the question of what a childless couple would do if they had tried everything to conceive without success. Instead of going down the adoption or fostering route (or, say, getting a dog), the film finds Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton writing all their wishes for their dream kid on pieces of paper and, er, burying them in a box in the backyard. Can you guess what happens next? Even if not, the trailer provides the answer below. We're pretty certain co-writer/director Peter Hedges and co-writer Ahmet Zappa were aiming for a uplifting, cockle-warming family fantasy confection, but this trailer, even with the charm-heavy presence of Edgerton and Garner, has moments that feel almost more like a horror movie. After all, how would you react if a lad, who had seemingly crawled out of the ground, arrived at your back door one night covered in mud and started calling you mum and dad? Chances are it would not end in a mug of cocoa and a round of hugs, but a swift summoning of the local constabulary...Still, we're sure as we see more footage, the heartstring-tugging moments will become clear. Disney hasn't set an official UK release date for this one just yet, though it's likely to arrive next year.

'Sons of Anarchy' Kurt Sutter Talks Emmy Snubs and Season 4