'Flatliners' Revived By Columbia Pictures With 'Source Code' Writer on Board to Script (Exclusive)

Columbia Pictures"Flatliners" Columbia Pictures is bringing Flatliners back to life. The studio is remaking the 1990 drama, which featured a slew of young rising stars including Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland and was directed by Joel Schumacher, and has tapped Source Code writer Ben Ripley to pen the screenplay. Laurence Mark, a veteran producer whose recent credits include Julie & Julia and The Lookout, is producing the redo. Further Films, who produced the original, will also be involved. The 1990 movie, written by Peter Filardi, centered on a group of medical students who bring subject themselves to near-death experiences in order to see if anything lies beyond the big sleep. The members of the group then are revisited by physical manifestations of childhood sins are not sure if what they are facing is real or hallucination. Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin, and Oliver Platt were also in the movie. In addition to Source Code, the twisty sci-fi thriller which starred jake Gyllenhaal, Ripley also wrote a couple of direct-to-video Species flicks. He is repped by Hohman Maybank Lieb. Email: Borys.Kit@thr.com Twitter: @Borys_Kit Julia Roberts Kiefer Sutherland Source Code

Early Edition: Alexander Skarsgard Travels 'East,' 'Last Exorcism' Sequel, More

Good morning from Hollywood. Here's what happened last night while you were dreaming of this weekend's new releases. Alexander Skarsgard will briefly trade in his vampire terrorism for eco-terrorism in Brit Marling's thriller 'The East.' Old exorcists don't die, they segue into sequels: Hot young screenwriter Damien Chazelle (he's 25) will write the screenplay for a second 'The Last Exorcism.' The Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle story will finally be made into a movie, for HBO, with Eric Stonestreet starring. And much more ... Read on. Alexander Skarsgard has another weighty role he can sink his teeth into: The star of TV's 'True Blood' is in talks to join Brit Marling in 'The East,' about a female agent who infiltrates an eco-terrorist group. Skarsgard would play the leader of the group who seeks revenge against unethical corporations. Marling, who has garnered glowing reviews for her 'Another Earth' (which she wrote and stars in) co-wrote the film with Zat Batmanglij, who is directing. Skarsgard plays villains in his next two outings: in Rod Lurie's 'Straw Dogs' remake, which opens Sept. 16, and Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia.' Shooting is scheduled to begin in October and November in Nashville. [The Hollywood Reporter] Last summer's 'The Last Exorcism' apparently won't be the last after all. Though not a gigantic hit, the low-budget film made enough money to cause the producers to move ahead with a sequel -- with the financial blessings of Studio Canal (who was also behind the first film). Damien Chazelle, a rising Hollywood screenwriter (his 'Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench,' which he also directed, premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, he wrote 'The Claim,' which was picked up last October, and just sold a thriller screenplay, 'Grand Piano') has been taped to write the screenplay. The original 'Last Exorcism' was a found footage story about a troubled evangelical minister who agrees to let his last exorcism be filmed by a documentary crew; no word on the plot for the sequel. [THR] The Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle story will finally be made into a movie ... but not for the big screen, where it belongs, but for HBO. And 'Modern Family's' Eric Stonestreet will play the rotund comedian. For those of you who don't know the sad tale of Arbuckle, here's a brief rundown: Arbuckle was a silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter who was incredibly popular during the first two decades of the cinema. But during a wild party at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco during the Labor Day weekend in 1921, one of the female guests, a bit player named Virginia Rappe, became ill and died a few days later. Arbuckle was falsely accused of raping her and, though he was acquitted of the crime, the scandal destroyed his career. The HBO film is titled 'The Day the Laughter Stopped' and will be directed by Barry Levinson. [The Playlist] 'Fast Five' director Justin Lin has signed a two-year production deal with Universal Pictures, which will now be the home of his Barnstorm Pictures. The shingle will develop and produce mainstream tentpole films as well as smaller-budgeted films to give up-and-comers a chance. Lin is set to direct two high-profile projects, another 'Terminator' movie and the Manga-based 'Lone Wolf and Cub.' [TheWrap] Patton Oswalt and Johnny Knoxville will star as "a pair of battling brothers who attempt to honor their ailing father by taking a troop of boys on a last ditch camping trip that goes wildly wrong" in an untitled comedy from Todd Rohal, who wrote and will direct. The film, which begins shooting this week, co-stars Rob Riggle, Maura Tierney and Patrice O'Neal. [SlashFilm] Cody Horn, daughter of former Warner Bros. president/COO Alan Horn, has been cast as the female lead in Steven Soderbergh's 'Magic Mike,' a drama about a male stripper (Channing Tatum) who befriends a young dancer (Alex Pettyfer) and shows him how to hustle both on stage and off. Horn will play the sister of Pettyfer who also winds up in a romance with the titular Magic Mike (Tatum). Horn has had a recurring role on TV's 'Rescue Me.' [CinemaBlend] And, last but not least, Michael Bay's 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' has been digitally transformed into 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon: An IMAX 3D Experience,' and will hit IMAX theaters for a new two-week run Aug. 26-Sept. 8. The film has grossed $348.5 million at the domestic box office and $747 billion overseas.

Big Screen: The Kill List Panel

And Del Toro isn't Afraid Of The DarkWe've already seen Kill List, so believe us when we tell you that it's one of the scariest films you'll ever see. And so it proved when the Big Screen crowd was presented with some effectively chilling clips from the film this morning during the Optimum presentation, before director Ben Wheatley and stars Neil Maskell and MyAnna Buring. The trailer is already out there, but nevertheless got the wiggins up when presented on the big screen, and we followed that with a look at how the two central hitmen, Jay (Maskell) and Gal (Michael Smiley) take just one last job (and surely hitmen and robbers and all such criminal types should have learned by now never, ever to take a last job). Between the eerie soundrack and the creepiest tracking shots since The Shining, the (relatively) innocent scene became thoroughly freakish when their employer sealed the deal the old-fashioned way: in blood. You have to love how Gal finished with a "Fuck, that was dramatic!", however, diffusing the tension nicely. "Is that your wanking hand?" he followed up. "They're just everyday guys who happen to have the job of murdering people," Wheatley describes his (anti)heroes. "It's kind of a hitman film, but it's also a film that concentrates a lot on hotels. This is another hotel based scene, and this next one is actually based on something that happened to me. " He followed that with a scene wherein Jay confronts a merrily singing band of devout Christians in a restaurant. Clearly treading carefully to avoid spoiler territory, Wheatley followed that up with a scene wherein Jay and his wife Shel (Buring) find the remains of a rabbit their cat has apparently killed in the back garden, and he decides to cook it up. Said Wheatley, "This is a bit more of the domestic side of Kill List. This is the more upbeat, cheerful side of Kill List. You've got the family life, being on the road, and then you have these action bits. "Speaking of which, the third clip finds the two hitmen shuffling down an apparently underground passageway to find a dead end. They kick through, but next thing there are several figures - naked women in masks? - running towards them, hands clawed. "These [images] come from a lot of different places: recurring nightmares when I was a kid that I wrote down. I thought if it consistently scared me it would scare everyone. Then it starts with casting, and I worked with Michael and Leane and Neil before on other stuff and I wanted to get them together on something, so I wrote the parts around them. ". Said Maskell, We worked on a sketch comedy together, really really different, and an internet viral of a drunk falling down some stairs. I don't know why he thought of me really. We spoke about this when we were filming the viral in Romania - in a Jacuzzi actually. Well, trust us when we say that this doesn't look like a film born in a jacuzzi. Kill List is out in the autumn. After that, Guillermo del Toro introduced several extended clips from Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark, the Troy Nixey-directed film which he co-wrote and produced. This is a movie that I've been pursuing for 16, 17 years, explained del Toro. I started chasing the rights based on the memory of the TV movie I saw as a child and that I considered the scariest movie I ever saw. This is not a gory horror film, it's more a classic horror movie. It's more about scary creatures. It was originally planned as a PG-13 movie, but the MPAA gave us an R-rating for pervasive scariness, which I'm very happy about. " The scenes he showed saw the little family at the heart of the movie - young Sally (Bailee Madison), her dad (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend (Katie Holmes) - finding a hidden basement under the house that Pearce's character is renovating. Of course it's creepy and a bit gothic, and Sally hears strange whispers from behind the iron grating to one side. That was followed with two really disturbing scenes. Sally, in her bedroom, finds that her electronic talking teddy is apparently talking of its own accord - only there are creatures behind it manipulating the mechanism. Even more bizarre is the following scene where she takes a bath, only for the malign little creatures to switch off the light and creep out around the room. Check your wiggins at the door, people, or you're going to be freaked out. Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark is also out later this year.

Family Film Guide: 'The Help' Is really a Weepy Mother-Daughter Date

'The Help' Director: Tate Taylor Ranked: PG-13 for thematic material Starring: Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Emma Stone , Octavia L. Spencer Good Sense Media rating: On for 11+ Moviefone Mama States: Moms (and fathers) be cautioned -- this film will need using a Kleenex, sleeve, or concessions' napkin. Such as the allow the tissue requirement help you stay away, because at least a film isn't just as worthy because the book which it's based, it is a fantastic method for families with middle and high-schoolers to go over prejudice and humanity and what it really way to be a united states. The performances in Tate Taylor's adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's debut novel are divine there isn't an inadequate link within the cast, in the ambitious and slightly misfit Stone towards the please-give-her-an-Oscar Davis towards the evil-with-a-smile Howard and also the hilariously mischievous Spencer. Choose the cast, stay for that story, and then leave feeling just like a good cry and conversation. Are You Aware?: Octavia Spencer outperform a large number of interested -- and much more famous -- black stars for that role of Minny. However the odds were in her own favor, because not just is she a detailed friend from the author, Kathryn Stockett along with a housemate from the director Tate Taylor, she was really Stockett's inspiration for that character. Parent Concerns: The problem of Jim Crow racism within the Deep South is not exactly an easy-and-easy subject, and there's some from time to time salty language and reference to domestic abuse, the murder of political figures and Civil Privileges activists, premarital pregnancy, miscarriage, and (clearly) racist behavior and comments. Listed here are three speaking points to increase your moviegoing experience. 1. Wake Up, Operate: Although Skeeter is definitely an early catalyst for which happens using the service personnel of Jackson, ultimately this story goes to "the assistance.Inch Frequently movies concerning the Civil Privileges movement target the outlook during an outsider, but 'The Help' is just one-third Skeeter's tale. One's heart from the matter is exactly what Aibileen and Minny have undergone coping with the whitened families that utilize them. Besides Skeeter, cure goodies the service personnel like fellow people? How's that character diverse from another women within the movie? Do you consider May Mobley will develop any less racist than her mother? 2. Lesson In History: It's not hard to forget that simply a couple of decades ago, the colour of the epidermis determined virtually all you were titled, particularly in states that adopted segregationist laws and regulations which were militantly defended. This film is a vital indication to audiences too youthful to possess resided with the Civil Privileges Era there was previously more racist Hilly Holbrooks in areas (like Mississippi) than open-minded Skeeters. What lengths are we come if this involves prejudice and discrimination? Do your children still witness in however in subtler ways? 3. See Clearly & View It: Kathryn Stockett's best-selling debut novel is among the most widely used "book club picks" at this time, so why wouldn't you host your personal small-book club along with other parents and teen visitors? Browse the novel and discuss the variations using the movie. What changes made sense because of the visual medium, and which plot elements do you want have been incorporated within the movie? Which figures are nearest for their written alternatives? Three to determine: More Race-Relations Movies That Matter: 1. 'To Kill a Mockingbird': Considered among the best page-to-screen adaptations available, this really is Harper Lee's seminal story of youthful Scout Finch and her father, the righteous defense attorney Atticus Finch (the inimitable Gregory Peck), arrived at existence. Essential-see for those. 2. 'Glory': Denzel Washington and Matthew Broderick give amazing (as well as in Washington's situation Oscar-winning) performances within this brilliant but sometimes-violent depiction from the Union's all-black 54th regiment, brought by Robert Gould Shaw (Broderick). 3. 'Remember the Titans': Within this inspiring but humorous sports drama, Denzel Washington plays the very first black football coach inside a recently desegregated Virginia high-school visiting terms with integration. Great soundtrack, impressive youthful cast it is a fun family pick.

Exclusive Sneak Peek: La La Gets Musical About Weight Loss on Full Court Life

La La Anthony It's rare to find a woman who will weigh herself on national TV. Luckily, La La Anthony has no such qualms and confronts the scale for all the world to see in the premiere of La La's Full Court Life. If anything, it's La La's friend, Dice, who must be convinced to face the numbers as she, La La and Po start their group quest to lose weight. "Dice is not a person who ever tripped out about scale and numbers, so for her to be acting like this right now is throwing me for a loop," La La tells the camera. Watch video from La La's Full Court Wedding Like every girl has done at one point or another, La La must cheer up Dice post-weigh-in and succeeds thanks largely to a catchy acoustic song we like to call "Sew Your Mouth." Watch La La's hilarious performance here: Get More: La La's Full Court Life, Reality TV Shows, Reality TV Shows 6 La La's Full Court Life premieres on Monday, Aug. 22 at 9/8c on VH1.

'Jersey Shore' Draws 8.8 Million In Exchange

The growing season premiere of MTV's mega-hit Jersey Shore's Italia-based Season 4 attracted an enormous 8.8 million total audiences as well as an 8.2 rating in persons 12-34. It was probably the most-viewed season premiere from the reality franchise, up 4% in the Season 3 debut. It had been MTV's third-most-viewed series telecast ever behind two Jersey Shoreline Season 3 telecasts. Within the 12-34 demo, the growing season 4 premiere was on componen using the Season 3 opener.

Medavoy plows past for projects

Mike Medavoy, at the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, resided in China for seven the child years.To be able to catch a glimpse into Mike Medavoy's future, one only need take a look at his past.Like the Shanghai-born, Santiago-bred Medavoy is focusing his energy on three projects -- two in China and something in Chile -- that bring him full circle together with his youth."They are my roots," states Medavoy, who spent seven years in China along with a decade in Chile before immigrating towards the U . s . States. "They're clearly combined with my years in the usa. But they're memorable since they're my childhood. Like most of us, we do not ignore our childhood."First of all may be the six-hour miniseries "Tears from the Sparrow," which stories the Jewish experience of Shanghai throughout World war 2, when lots of Russian Jews like the Medavoys fled the pogroms of the homeland and settled in China."Tears" finds him reteaming with old comrade Nicholas Meyer, who just finished penning the script. (Former Orion honcho Medavoy greenlit Meyer's directorial debut "Again And Again" a lot more than 30 years ago, although the two never worked with again so far.)Meyer will quickly segue to writing the Medavoy-created feature "The Cursed Piano," depending on Chinese author Bei La's novel. The "Dr. Zhivago"-esque love story from a European Jew along with a Chinese piano student can also be set from the backdrop of The Second World War-era Shanghai, once more encompassing the era that forms Medavoy's earliest reminiscences."When he offered me the shot, I hopped," states Meyer. "Clearly they are two projects which means that a great deal to Mike."Medavoy, who quips he is among the favorite sons of Shanghai, is joining up using the Shanghai Film Group on China projects -- a knowledgeable move because of the tight limitations positioned on U.S. films entering the lucrative Chinese marketplace."China only enables 20 films annually,Inch states Medavoy. "What's obvious is this can be a trade problem. I am just watching about the sidelines. But that is a primary reason why I made the decision to cooperate using the Chinese making something that'll be seen, hopefully, worldwide."It's not only Medavoy's future on the line. The filmmaker with five decades of expertise is quick to notice the entire market is facing an adapt-or-die moment."The question almost everyone has to request is how would be the marketplaces? How can we maximize our profits? The Web has challenged everybody to try and steer clear of the disaster that befell the background music business."Clearly, Phoenix's model runs counter as to the Medavoy sees like a current studio system with unmanageable excel spreadsheets that may rival the government budget's Huge have a problem with constraints."If you are making 12-15 films annually, and you are which makes them in a $200 million, $300 million, $400 million cost -- and also you add another $100 mil in P&A -- you are chasing after some escalating amounts," he states. "And meanwhile you are offering a large a part of your profits (to outdoors co-financing partners) because you are searching for a method to limit taking a loss just in case it does not work. Chasing after individuals high amounts will make me nervous basically needed to make individuals choices. It is a harmful game."He sights the way in which Fox Searchlight-promoted "Black Swan" like a type of prudent investing. "They went slow and determined in which the market was," he states of his newest creating effort. "The image most likely cost the studio $6.5 million, in the event that much, and also the investor another $6.5 million. And it is made $328 million worldwide. I am sure everybody would really like that ratio." Meanwhile, the The spanish language-speaking Medavoy has high desires a large-screen adaptation of Heraldo Munoz's memoir "The Dictator's Shadow," which goes into Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's brutal reign."I think about existence like a lengthy-term chance to learn,Inch Medavoy states of his have to revisit his past. "The training finishes whenever you take your last breath. My way through between is essentially a lesson."Billion-Dollar Producer: Mike Medavoy Worldwide guy of mastery Medavoy plows past for projects For Medavoy, politics are personal Mike Medavoy's highlight reel Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Phone-Hacking Scandal Casts Shadow On Piers Morgan, U.S. Political Landscape

The burgeoning News Corp phone-hacking scandal continues to make waves for Rupert Murdoch in the UK, and increasingly they're crossing the Atlantic. Today, CNN anchor Piers Morgan's efforts tobattle allegations that he was involved in phone hacking while editing News Corp.'sUK tabloidsNews of the World and the Daily Mirror suffered a setback. Paul McCartney's ex-wife, Heather Mills, leveled her own accusation against Morgan in an interview with BBC Newsnight. Mills claims that a journalist with the Mirror Group, which owns the Daily Mirror, admitted to her that he hacked into her voicemail in 2001 and listened to a message McCartney left her after she'd left for India in the wake of a fight. The BBC notes thatwhile the journalist in question wasn't Morgan, the CNN anchor did tell the Daily Mail in 2006 that he had listened to a "heartbreaking" message McCartney left Mills while she was in India following a "tiff." While not accusing Morgan of engaging in phone hacking himself, Mills points a finger at the former Daily Mirror editor. "There was absolutely no honest way that Piers Morgan could have obtained that tape that he has so proudly bragged about unless they had gone into my voice messages," she said. Morgan, whoalso serves as a judge on NBC's reality competition show America's Got Talent, denied the allegations in a statement. Meanwhile,the spiraling crisis is threatening to spill into American politics. It has providedtalking points to Democrats andcould become a key weaponfor President Barack Obamas re-election campaign asFox News, whose evening lineup features some of the most powerful voices of conservative opposition, is now being investigated by the Obama administration. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed the ongoing investigation into allegations that News of the World reporters hacked into the telephones of Sept. 11 victims, setting an Aug. 24 meeting with 9/11 family members. U.S. politicians have generally avoided open combat with Murdoch,but with the media mogul suddenly appearing mortal, his foes may be emboldened. Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes is going to be hamstrung, Murdoch biographer and AdWeek editor Michael Wolff told Politico. Ailes operates independently, but in this context, he will not be able to operate independently: This is going to be in the hands of lawyers and higher PR officials, and it will not be about whats good for Fox, itll be whats good for News Corp and for an ultimate settlement. A Fox spokeswoman dismissed Wolff as a gadfly and didnt respond to a question about the News Corp scandals impact on the network. None of the American outlets have been implicated in the illegal reporting that brought down News of the World, and some observers said they doubted that management would tinker with the lucrative cable network that continues to dominate the ratings. The same cannot be said for News Corp.s newspapers, which could be spun off into a new company to insulate more valuable assets from further damage. EvenThe Wall Street Journal, a powerful conservative voice in its editorials, could again be on the block. The Journal on Wednesday reported that"about 35 privacy-invasion lawsuits" have now been filed against the News of the World, up from two dozen in April. The Journal alsosaid that News International, News Corp's British publishing arm, has allotted $24.4 million-$32.6 million to cover potential litigation.