Photo: Getty Images; Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin
Scott Rudin to Make Movie Out of Book
Miramax Likes Maynard: Scott Rudin and Miramax have acquired Rudolph Delson’s Maynard & Jennica, a novel in oral-history form about a relationship set “before, during, and after Sept. 11.†Up-and-coming New York playwright (The Mistakes Madeline Made) Liz Meriwether will pen the script. Meriwether’s involvement is news, but didn’t everyone already know about Rudin’s option way back in October? [Variety]
Mitchell a Surrogate: Radha Mitchell joins Bruce Willis in Jonathan Mostow’s action-thriller, Surrogates, based on the bitchin’ Top Shelf comic by Robert Venditti. Set in a future where people experience the world without ever leaving home via robotic surrogates, a cop (Willis) investigates the murder of a surrogate and actually has to go outside. Spoiler alert: Bruce Willis’s character is ALREADY DEAD. [ComingSoon]
The Circus Comes to Broadway: June 16 marks the Broadway premiere of Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy at the Broadway Theater. According to creator and director Neil Goldberg, the European circus show “transcends imagination and leaves its narration to the eyes of the beholder.†In other words, it looks great, but it’s boring as hell. Hey, it worked for Cats. [Playbill]
ABC Checks its Handbook: ABC has greenlit The Bad Mother’s Handbook, a comedy pilot by Undeclared writers Jennifer Konner and Alexandra Rushfeld. Story focuses on a single mother who takes care of both her aging mother and her teenage daughter, based on the Kate Long novel — not the Lynne Spears parenting book. [Variety]
Will Arnett Joins the Roman Bozo Train: Will Arnett will lend his rapier sarcasm to the cast of Disney’s When In Rome. He joins, um, a bunch of other dudes who fall in love with Kristen Bell. Asks little orphan Tommy: “Vulture? If God really cares about us, then why does he let movies like this get made?†We don’t know, Tommy. We just don’t know. [HR
Dolph is in Command, Now: Karate champ turned actor Dolph Lundgren will star in and direct Command Performance, a script he also co-wrote. Lundgren describes it as Die Hard at a rock concert, where bad guys take over the show, but luckily the drummer is an ex-Marine. For real, Dolph says he “got the idea from Madonna.†Asks little orphan Tommy: “Vulture? Will this be the best movie ever made?†Yes, Tommy. Yes, it will. [HR]