Gracey to helm Hugh Jackman's Barnum pic

JackmanExclusive: Just weeks after signing on to direct Disney's revisionist Snow White pic "The Order of the Seven," commercials helmer and VFX veteran Michael Gracey has become attached to direct Hugh Jackman in 20th Century Fox's P.T. Barnum pic "The Greatest Showman on Earth."Jenny Bicks ("Sex and the City") wrote the original contemporary musical, which Jackman is producing with his former producing partner John Palermo and Laurence Mark ("Dreamgirls"). Project came about after Jackman, Mark and Bicks worked together on the 81st Academy Awards, which Jackman hosted, Mark exec produced and Bicks helped write.Jackman will play Barnum, a showman with a penchant for hoaxing a gullible public who becomes famous for creating the three-ring circus. Musical also focuses on his infatuation with Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, a role that has not yet been cast.Project was announced in Aug. 2009 and will likely remain in development a while longer, as Jackman is committed to filming James Mangold's "The Wolverine" for Fox, and is expected to topline Tom Hooper's adaptation of "Les Miserables" for Universal.Gracey will soon begin storyboarding Disney's live-action, China-set Snow White epic, which aims to start production next year. Helmer was an animator at Animal Logic ("Happy Feet") before he embarked on a commercials career that has seen him directing award-winning spots for Lipton and T-Mobile.Gracey is repped by CAA, Partizan and Hirsch Wallerstein. Contact Jeff Sneider at jeff.sneider@variety.com

Julianne Moore to Get Hooked on HBO's Dope?

Julianne Moore Julianne Moore is in talks to star in HBO's new miniseries Dope, Deadline.com reports. The miniseries - which would reunite Mildred Pierce producers Todd Hayans, John Wells and Christine Vachon - is a period drama set in 1950s New York in which a former heroin addict turns her life around to become a private detective. Julianne Moore to play Sarah Palin in HBO film Moore will next appear as Sarah Palin in HBO's Game Change, a film about the 2008 presidential election.

Henson, Bunim/Murray developing 'History' skein

Bunim/Murray Prods. and Henson Alternative have teamed up with former "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" writer Chris Regan to develop "History Of," a scripted project featuring the Henson puppets. Regan will serve as exec producer and showrunner of the project, which will irreverently reenact pop culture events and also feature celebrity cameos. "We've set our sights on increasing our scripted productions, particularly those that reach the same core 18-49 demo that our reality series do," Bunim/Murray chairman Jonathan Murray said. "Working with Henson Alternative on 'History Of' will allow us to bring iconic pop culture moments to life in an entirely unique and refreshingly humorous way -- with puppets." Said Lisa Henson, CEO of the Jim Henson Co.: "This project has a unique point of view and pop culture sensibility that is perfect for Henson Alternative. Partnering with Bunim/Murray, we'll bring broadcasters an exciting and hysterical take on pop culture unlike any other series on TV." Regan was Stewart's first writer hire on the "Daily Show" and worked there from 1999-2006, with five Emmys and two Peabody Awards to his name. His other credits include "Talkshow with Spike Feresten," "Saturday Night Live" and "Lopez Tonight." Henson, Murray and Gil Goldschein will also exec produce. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

More coin for MarVista

SzewMarVista Entertainment has a new source of funds, and a new movie.The production and distribution shingle has secured capital from an investment group led by Brian N. Sheth, president and co-founder of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. MarVista also announced it will move forward with the telepic "Dangerous Attraction," directed by helmer-cinematographer Michael Lohmann. Pic will star "The Mentalist" thesp Amanda Righetti, "Blue Bloods" actor Will Estes and Eric Szmanda from "CSI."While Sheth and MarVista declined to disclose details of the investment, company CEO Fernando Szew said the new capital will help expand MarVista's production slate and distribution capacity. The shingle averages 15-20 films a year, often partnering with networks or other production entities. "The aim is to be able to double that over a period of time," Szew told Variety.Company, which focuses on features and telepics, was most recently appointed by Saban Brands as the international distributor for the new season of "Power Rangers Samurai" and the more than 700 episodes in the "Power Rangers" library. Jacobs and writer and producer Michael Jacobs, who will exit the company at the end of the year, founded MarVista in 2003. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com

Cougar Town's Nick Zano Joins 2 Broke Girls

Nick Zano Cougar Town and What I Like About You actor Nick Zano has nabbed a recurring role on the new CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls, Entertainment Weekly reports.Zano, 33, will play a street artist and part-time bartender who goes by the name Jpeg and will serve as a love interest for Max (Kat Dennings).2 Broke Girls' broke girls are actually brokeCreated by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings, the series stars Dennings and Beth Behrs as two, well, broke girls from different backgrounds who end up living and working together.Besides Cougar Town and What I Like About You, Zano has also appeared on the Melrose Place reboot and Drop Dead Diva, and starred in The Final Destination.2 Broke Girls premieres Monday, Sept. 19 at 9:30/8:30c.

'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Director Talks Possible Sequel

'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' is less than a week old but people are already discussing the sequel -- and the idea director Rupert Wyatt has for it sounds pretty frickin' cool. Get this: it would be 'Full Metal Jacket' with apes. "There's so much we could do... The ideas I've had are all sorts of things, ranging from Full Metal Jacket with apes ... You could start this story again eight years from where we left off," Wyatt told Bleeding Cool. "The next generation of apes, those that have come from our protagonists, perhaps going in to a conflict with humans and showing real fear, in the same way as going into war for young soldiers in this day and age, telling their story." We can already imagine the scene: an ape voiced by R. Lee Ermey shouting instructions at apes trying to build their own guns. [Bleeding Cool via Movieline] Image courtesy of Fox

Credit where credits are due

'Boardwalk Empire'Some TV shows have dumped main title montages completely, others are so mundane that you can't get past them fast enough. Then there are those that are just breathtaking, week after week.Whether leading an audience into a critical documentary or a gripping drama, the best title designers find a visual language that communicates the most salient and significant qualities of a show in just a few minutes, and keeps you coming back.This year's Emmy nominees in the main title design category were faced with doing just that for an incredibly wide range of shows: gangster drama "Boardwalk Empire," thriller "Rubicon," financial drama "Too Big to Fail," character drama "Any Human Heart," and historical adventure "Game of Thrones." But regardless of the show and its theme, the challenge is the same."The fun of doing these main titles is getting to distill the main themes of the show into concentrated bits of filmmaking," says Karin Fong, who is nominated for both "Rubicon" and "Boardwalk Empire." "You're trying to communicate the emotional pull of the series with just a few images."And that inspiration can take many forms. In the case of "Boardwalk Empire," Fong focused on the main character, Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, and his ability to remain untouched by the law. So he is seen at the beach but never getting dirty, despite the swirling surf nearby. In "Rubicon," Fong relied on a more graphic ideas meant to show a character trying to draw connections from things as seemingly unrelated as a crossword puzzle and a want ad in a newspaper.Sometimes, one sequence isn't enough. Angus Wall, who is nominated for "Game of Thrones," decided that four title sequences, each one showing areas on a map where that particular episode takes place, would best suit the show."You're moving on the inside of a globe, and there are different title sequences depending on where the story of that episode takes place, so the audience gets a sense of where they'll be going this time," says Wall. "You also see buildings rising and falling, which is meant to show the changing nature of things as time goes on."The idea of a journey played a part in the title design for "Any Human Heart." Paul McDonnell wanted to give the audience a sense of the main character's trek through the tragic loss of his son as well as his eventual triumph over sadness."We show him always walking toward the sun," says McDonnell. "Even when he's walking alone and hunched over, the sun is always in front of him, so you have the sense that he will find his way through things."Faced with the task of conveying the progress of the recent financial meltdown, Michael Riley put together a title sequence that also becomes a primer for "Too Big to Fail." Utilizing news footage taken from a few years ago as well as some specifically shot for the sequence, the goal is to prep the audience for what became the bailout talks."You're always trying to give the audience enough information so they know where they are in a show, and in this case we're dealing with complex ideas about finance, so that was very important," says Riley. "I think we got there by focusing on human emotion which, when you've just got a few minutes, it's always a good place to start."ROAD TO THE EMMYS: THE NOMINEESEnsembles reign among Emmy nominees | href="http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118040968">Broadcast comedies on rise as dramas fall | Network-by-network Emmy roundup | Credit where credits are due | PBS feels validated by Emmy haul Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Kutcher Will Play Internet Billionaire on 'Men'

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) Ashton Kutcher will play "an Internet billionaire with a broken heart" when he arrives as the new star of "Two and a Half Men" next month.CBS Entertainment Nina Tassler shared this tidbit about the much-anticipated cast change for TV's biggest sitcom during a session with television reporters on Wednesday. Kutcher, of course, will fill the void left by Charlie Sheen, who made a stormy exit from "Men" last season.Kutcher's character will be named Walden Schmidt, confided the CBS boss, who added that Schmidt has no family connection to the characters played by continuing stars Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones. They portrayed the brother and nephew of Sheen's departed character.Tassler would not confirm or deny reports that the new season of "Men" begins with the death of Sheen's character, Charlie Harper, and a funeral."The mystery is part of the marketing," she said."Men" begins its ninth season on Sept. 19 with the first of a two-part kickoff that establishes Kutcher's character.Predictably, Tassler voiced excitement about the show's new star.Kutcher, she said, "is an extraordinarily professional, talented, funny, gifted actor who comes with a tremendous amount of commitment and enthusiasm.""The show will be as irreverent as it has ever been," she promised. "Our Program Practices people are already on high alert."Even so, Kutcher and his "Men" co-stars were conspicuously absent from Wednesday's sessions of the Television Critics Association, which was visited by cast members from several of CBS' new fall shows as well as from "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," the veteran crime drama that is welcoming Ted Danson to the fold for its upcoming 12th season.Asked why the "Men" gang wasn't on hand, Tassler replied that the show is in production. It resumed shooting Monday, and a break for a meeting across town with reporters would have been too disruptive, she explained."There is a tremendous amount of energy and focus and attention," Tassler said. "I would be lying if I didn't say when everybody walked on that set on Monday, you could cut the air with a knife."Kutcher's first week on the job begins a new chapter for "Men" after a tumultuous conclusion to Sheen's eight-season run as a fast-living, womanizing cad. Sheen's portrayal drew inspiration from his own life of sex sprees, serial marriages and substance abuse, which spiraled into clashes with the show's studio as well as its creator, Chuck Lorre, and CBS. He was fired in March and the season was shuttered early.Tassler was asked what she had learned from that experience."Oh, where do I begin?" she replied with mock weariness, but hastily insisted she preferred to look forward, not behind.Then, when asked if, in the future, CBS might introduce new policies for casting actors who are known for erratic behavior, she cracked, "That would probably be every actor in the business."Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. By Frazier Moore August 4, 2011 Ashton Kutcher PHOTO CREDIT Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) Ashton Kutcher will play "an Internet billionaire with a broken heart" when he arrives as the new star of "Two and a Half Men" next month.CBS Entertainment Nina Tassler shared this tidbit about the much-anticipated cast change for TV's biggest sitcom during a session with television reporters on Wednesday. Kutcher, of course, will fill the void left by Charlie Sheen, who made a stormy exit from "Men" last season.Kutcher's character will be named Walden Schmidt, confided the CBS boss, who added that Schmidt has no family connection to the characters played by continuing stars Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones. They portrayed the brother and nephew of Sheen's departed character.Tassler would not confirm or deny reports that the new season of "Men" begins with the death of Sheen's character, Charlie Harper, and a funeral."The mystery is part of the marketing," she said."Men" begins its ninth season on Sept. 19 with the first of a two-part kickoff that establishes Kutcher's character.Predictably, Tassler voiced excitement about the show's new star.Kutcher, she said, "is an extraordinarily professional, talented, funny, gifted actor who comes with a tremendous amount of commitment and enthusiasm.""The show will be as irreverent as it has ever been," she promised. "Our Program Practices people are already on high alert."Even so, Kutcher and his "Men" co-stars were conspicuously absent from Wednesday's sessions of the Television Critics Association, which was visited by cast members from several of CBS' new fall shows as well as from "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," the veteran crime drama that is welcoming Ted Danson to the fold for its upcoming 12th season.Asked why the "Men" gang wasn't on hand, Tassler replied that the show is in production. It resumed shooting Monday, and a break for a meeting across town with reporters would have been too disruptive, she explained."There is a tremendous amount of energy and focus and attention," Tassler said. "I would be lying if I didn't say when everybody walked on that set on Monday, you could cut the air with a knife."Kutcher's first week on the job begins a new chapter for "Men" after a tumultuous conclusion to Sheen's eight-season run as a fast-living, womanizing cad. Sheen's portrayal drew inspiration from his own life of sex sprees, serial marriages and substance abuse, which spiraled into clashes with the show's studio as well as its creator, Chuck Lorre, and CBS. He was fired in March and the season was shuttered early.Tassler was asked what she had learned from that experience."Oh, where do I begin?" she replied with mock weariness, but hastily insisted she preferred to look forward, not behind.Then, when asked if, in the future, CBS might introduce new policies for casting actors who are known for erratic behavior, she cracked, "That would probably be every actor in the business."Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.