CW Picks Up Welling's "Hellcats"

Actor Tom "Smallville" Welling's executive producer stint on the Vancouver-lensed TV pilot "Hellcats" has paid off with a pick-up by the CW Network.

The college 'cheerleading' comedy-drama pilot, was shot April 2010 by director Allan Arkush ("Heroes") and lensed by "Smallville" DP Glen Winter.

The pilot starred Alyson Michalka and Ashley Tisdale, following a college girl from 'the wrong side of the tracks' who, after losing her scholarship because of budget cutbacks and her mother's chronic irresponsibility, joins the 'Hellcats', the college's competitive cheerleading team.

The show is based on the book "Cheer: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders" by journalist-author Kate Torgovnick.

And just to put you in touch with all things 'cheerleader', Sneak Peek the 2010 Toronto Argos Cheerleading Team tryouts...

Monster Mash With "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"

Sneak Peek the new banner posters supporting the Vancouver-lensed teen horror romance "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse".

The Summit Entertainment sequel is scheduled for release June 30, 2010, based on author Stephenie Meyer's "Eclipse" novel.

The third installment of "The Twilight Saga" film series, follows 2008's "Twilight" and 2009's "New Moon".

Directed by David Slade, "Eclipse" stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as 'Bella Swan', vampire 'Edward Cullen' and werewolf 'Jacob Black'.

"...As Seattle is ravaged by a string of crimes and a malicious 'vampire' continues her quest for revenge, 'Bella' once again finds herself surrounded by danger.

"In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for the vampire 'Edward' and her friendship with the werewolf 'Jacob' — knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between the two races of monsters...."

"Eclipse" will be the first "Twilight" film to be released in IMAX.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"...

Sook-Yin Lee: "Year Of The Carnivore"

Sneak Peek the new poster supporting the Canadian feature film "Year Of The Carnivore", directed by Sook-Yin-Lee.

The romantic comedy follows a female grocery store detective with a crush on a boy who rejects her because she has 'too little' sexual experience.

The film is Lee's feature directorial debut, premiering @ the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival as a 'Canada First' selection.

Produced by Trish Dolman, "Carnivore" stars Cristin Milioti as 'Sammy Smalls', Mark Rendall as 'Eugene', Will Sasso ("MadTV") as 'Dirk', Ali Liebert as 'Sylvia', Sheila McCarthy as 'Mrs. Smalls', Kevin McDonald as 'Mr. Smalls' and Patrick Gilmore as 'Todd'.

Click the images and Sneak Peek "Year Of The Carnivore"...

"Splice": She's Not Human...Not Entirely

Sneak Peek the new poster supporting the Toronto-lensed sci fi horror feature "Splice":

Angelina Shakes Up "Salt"- July 23

Sneak Peek the new poster supporting the Columbia feature "Salt", starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The action thriller was directed by Phillip Noyce ("Clear And Present Danger") from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer and Brian Helgeland.

"...In Columbia Pictures' 'Salt', Angelina Jolie stars as 'Evelyn Salt', a CIA officer who swore an oath to duty, honor, and country. When she is accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy, Salt goes on the run to clear her name and ultimately prove she is a patriot. Using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative, she must elude capture and protect her husband or the world's most powerful forces will erase any trace of her existence..."

Principal photography took place mostly on location in New York and Washington, DC March to June 2009.

Jolie spent time training to perform her own stunts, but on May 29 filming was temporarily halted after she suffered a minor head injury during an action sequence and was taken to hospital as a 'precautionary measure'.

"She's the only one who could bring this character to life", said Noyce about Jolie's performance.

"Salt" opens in North America July 23, 2010.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Salt"...

Canton Makes A Splash With "Gidget"

Producer Mark Canton ("300") has teamed with Pterodactyl Productions to reboot the teen surfer character 'Gidget' for both TV and feature films.

The name 'Gidget' is a combination of 'girl and midget'.

The character was created by author Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel "Gidget, The Little Girl With Big Ideas", written in the first person, based on the accounts of his daughter Kathy and the surf culture of Malibu Point.

Kohner, a prolific screenwriter with one Academy Award nomination, published seven sequels to his first "Gidget" novel, including "Cher Papa" (1959), "The Affairs of Gidget" (1963), "Gidget in Love" (1965), "Gidget Goes Parisienne" (1966) and "Gidget Goes New York" (1968), plus two novelizations based on films including "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (1961) and "Gidget Goes to Rome" (1963), based on original stories by Ruth Brooks Flippin.

Barney Cohen is in charge of the new projects, working with "Gidget" rights holder Gidget Worldwide.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Gidget"...

CBS Books "Hawaii Five-0"

CBS has reportedly picked up a remake of the cop drama "Hawaii Five-O", based on an impressive pilot, shot on location in the Pacific islands.

Based on the 1968-1980 TV series "Hawaii Five-O", the pilot was written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Peter Lenkov.

The original series, created by Leonard Freeman, focused on an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police, answerable only to the governor.

Kurtzman and Orci, co-creators of Fox's Vancouver-lensed drama "Fringe," also wrote the screenplay for J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Hawaii Five-O"...

Producers Prep For "Combat!"

Producers Steven Jay Rubin, Steve Mitchell and Dana Walker continue to develop a $35 million feature version of "Combat!", the 1960's ABC TV series about an American infantry squad fighting in France:

Love At First Sight, Happens Every Night

"Speed-Dating", a new romantic comedy feature, opening June 4, follows three bachelors.

"...When it comes to the opposite sex, it’s about the 'chase' and 'finish line” as 'Dog' and 'Beaver' spend their last dime on a nightclub, while 'Too Cool' devises the ultimate scheme to get women and money, via 'speed-dating'..."

Written/directed by Joseph A. Elmore, "Speed-Dating" stars Wesley Jonathan, Chico Benymon, Leonard Armond Robinson, Mekita Faiye, Vanessa Simmons, Holly Robinson Peete and Nick Chinlund.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Speed-Dating"...

Hamill Directing "The Black Pearl"

Actor Mark Hamill ("Star Wars") will direct an adaptation of the comic book "The Black Pearl", from a screenplay by Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson.

"At first glance it's a drama, but it has dark humor", said "Black Pearl" creator Hamill, who is going for an 'R' rating with his movie take of the "dark, edgy thriller".

"My two co-writers wrote a David O. Russell film for Paramount, and now they're very hot. So there are people who are willing to give us $30 million to make the movie. But if we took that deal, I wouldn't get to direct.

"If you go over about $8 million, you have to start getting foreign sales before you start shooting. But if you stay in the $5-to-$7 million range, you don't have to do presales and you can maintain much more creative control."

Published by Dark Horse Comics in 1996, the five-issue series was co-written by Hamill and Eric Johnson, illustrated by H. M. Baker and inked by Bruce Patterson/Dan Schaeffer.

Premise follows 'Luther Drake', a troubled man who becomes a costumed vigilante 'hero' by accident and media pressure.

Click the images to enlarge...

NBC Gets Into "Undercovers"

NBC has picked up the new spy drama series "Undercovers" from creator J.J. Abrams ("Alias"). Abrams wrote the script with Josh Remis ("Felicity") for Warner Bros. TV and Bad Robot productions.

Premise of "Undercovers" follows the lives of two 'spies', husband and wife, who work together while getting involved with the dangers and intrigue of living a spy life.

"I think the fun of this new show is that it is lighter and comedic in terms of a sweeter approach," said Abrams. "It is not an out and out comedy necessarily but it is combining a genre that I love with an attitude and a tone that I have not seen before. So that will be at least a fun experiment."

Abrams directed the opening episode of "Undercovers", which will be the first episode he has directed since the 2004 "Lost" opener.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Undercovers"...

NBC Cuts To The "Chase"

NBC has picked up "Chase", its fifth scripted series pilot for the 2010-11 season. The new action drama is from Emmy Award-winning executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("CSI") and executive producer Jennifer Johnson ("Cold Case").

"'Chase' has all the undeniable elements of a thrill ride that you would expect from a Jerry Bruckheimer action series," said NBC. "Equally important, it also features a great cast. Kelli Giddish is a breakout star as the lead."

"..."Chase" is a fast-paced drama that drops viewers smack into the middle of a game of cat-and-mouse as a team of U.S. marshals hunts down America's most dangerous fugitives. Kelli Giddish ("Past Life") stars as 'US Marshal Annie Frost', a cowboy boot-wearing deputy whose sharp mind and unique Texas upbringing help her track down the violent criminals on the run...".

Cole Hauser ("K-Ville"), Amaury Nolasco ("Prison Break"), Rose Rollins ("The L Word") and Jesse Metcalfe ("Desperate Housewives") also star as members of Frost's 'elite' team.

"Chase" is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc., in association with Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Warner Bros. Television. Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman and Johnson serve as executive producers, with KristieAnne Reed co-executive producer.

David Nutter ("The X-Files") directed and is executive producer of the pilot.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Chase"...

Fincher Focused On Facebook

Sneak Peek the new poster supporting the feature "The Social Network", focusing on 26-year old Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, currently worth $4 billion for his invention of the popular website.

"The Social Network", directed by David Fincher ("Fight Club"), from a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing"), adapts the novel "The Accidental Billionaires (A Tale Of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal") by author Ben Mezrich,

Set for release October 2010, the feature is told in flashbacks recalled during a court hearing, opening on the night of February 4, 2004 when Zuckerberg, then 19, is dumped in a Harvard university bar by his girlfriend, Erica.

In the screenplay, Erica tells him he will "go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a tech geek", but in reality, she says, "I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won’t be true. It’ll be because you’re an asshole."

In the film Zuckerberg retreats to his college dorm where, in a drunken fever, he writes a computer code turning Harvard’s collection of student photographs/biographies into a website where he and his male friends can rank Harvard women.

Produced by actor Kevin Spacey ("Glengarry Glen Ross") , "The Social Network" follows Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), dropping out of college and moving to Silicon Valley in California where he builds Facebook with 'Sean Parker' (Justin Timberlake), co-founder of music piracy site Napster.

The early Facebook operation was funded by twins 'Cameron' and 'Tyler Winklevoss', but according to the film, Zuckerberg cuts them out, leading to the court battle.

Click the images to enlarge...

NBC Picks Up "The Cape"

NBC has picked up the one-hour superhero drama "The Cape" as a series for next season, from Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun productions. Executive producers are creator Thomas Wheeler, director Simon West ("Human Target"), Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein.

The series stars David Lyons as 'Vince Faraday', an honest cop on a corrupt police force, who finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead. Forced into hiding, Faraday leaves behind his wife 'Dana' (Jennifer Ferrin) and son, 'Trip' (Ryan Wynott).

"...Fueled by a desire to reunite with his family and to battle the criminal forces that have overtaken 'Palm City', Faraday becomes 'The Cape' -- his son's favorite comic book superhero -- and takes the law into his own hands..."

Also in the cast are James Frain as billionaire 'Peter Fleming', Keith David as 'Max Malini', ringleader of a circus gang of bank robbers who mentors Faraday, Summer Glau as 'Orwell', an investigative blogger who wages war on crime and Dorian Missick as 'Marty Voyt', former police detective and friend to Faraday.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Cape"...