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Punch-out! Mike Tyson Documentary Coming to Theaters
Sony Weighs In: At last, some sexy action at Cannes! Sony Pictures Classics is in final negotiations to distribute James Toback’s boxing documentary, Tyson. The project intersperses archival footage of Mike Tyson with interviews taken specifically for the documentary. Toback wants “a release timed around the November elections,†which weirdly implies that Mike Tyson is a deciding factor on the road to the White House. All things considered, biting off McCain’s ear could be the best October Surprise ever. [Reuters, HR]
Bow Wow Gets an Entourage: Actor-rapper Bow Wow, né Lil’ Bow Wow, has joined the fifth season of HBO’s Entourage as a new standup-comedy client represented by E. “After 16 years in the music industry and six successful albums, I’ve decided to shift my energy to something else I’m passionate about, acting. I’m going to try to be the next Will Smith.†Fair enough! Start by consistently opening movies at number one every summer for the rest of your life. [HR]
Bender Heads to Motown: Lost director Jack Bender will helm ABC’s drama pilot The Prince of Motor City, starring Andie MacDowell (so that’s what she’s been up to!). Story follows a family in the world of Detroit’s auto business. It’s said to have Hamlet undertones, which might be code for “everyone dies at the end of the pilot.†If so, awesome. [Variety]
Happy Birthday, Randolph: United Artists has tapped Charles Randolph to adapt Stanley N. Alpert’s The Birthday Party. Our first thought: Birthday parties are boring. Our second thought: Oh wait, this is the guy who survived a 25-hour kidnapping on the eve of his 38th birthday. That wasn’t boring at all. [HR]
Neill Lost at Sea: Sam Neill, Sean Bean, and Joss Ackland have joined NBC’s action series Crusoe, based on Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. The series will focus on Crusoe and his guy Friday, lost on an island with flashbacks to fill in the story. So now in addition to being “part MacGyver, part contemporary morality tale about race and personal discovery, part comedy, and part Cast Away meets Survivor,†it’s also Lost. [HR]
Three Before 24: Eric Lively (Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively’s brother), Gil Bellows (Ally McBeal), and Tony Todd will round of the cast of Fox’s 24 prequel, the story of how Jack Bauer battled an international crisis in Africa. And thanks to his daring exploits, all of Africa’s problems got solved. [HR]