Regular Ghost Bullshit: Will Smith is exec-producing Unfinished Business for the Sci Fi Channel, along with Overbrook Entertainment and a few other non-famous people. The drama — about an ex-cop who helps the dead resolve their lingering issues after seeing flashes of their memories — will air first as at two-hour movie, with an option for a series order. The channel is trying this “backdoor pilot†routine with a few other shows, which is an interesting strategy; it is also changing its name to Syfy in June, which is not. [HR]
Potter Kettle Black: Monica Potter has replaced Diane Farr on NBC’s Parenthood pilot, playing Peter Krause’s character’s wife. The show revolves around four siblings, to be played by Krause, Maura Tierney, Erika Christensen, and Dax Shepard, and their parents, Bonnie Bedelia and Craig T. Nelson. Farr had to drop out because of her commitment to Californication, which we’re going to assume means she’s on that show, and not just that she doesn’t ever miss an episode of it for any reason. [HR]
Anvil Rising: Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the heartwarming doc about a heavy-metal band that never stopped rocking, has only opened in New York, L.A., and Toronto so far, but is already making Anvil mini-rock-stars. The band is currently touring, with dates in London and Dublin booked and a more extensive tour in the works; they’re also talking about releasing a soundtrack with the movie’s DVD release and perhaps re-releasing all thirteen albums in their back catalogue. And maybe most promising for their long-term success — they’re gonna be in Rock Band! This is awesome. [Billboard]
Anvil Rising: Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the heartwarming doc about a heavy-metal band that never stopped rocking, has only opened in New York, L.A., and Toronto so far, but is already making Anvil mini-rock-stars. The band is currently touring, with dates in London and Dublin booked and a more extensive tour in the works; they’re also talking about releasing a soundtrack with the movie’s DVD release and perhaps re-releasing all thirteen albums in their back catalogue. And maybe most promising for their long-term success — they’re gonna be in Rock Band! This is awesome. [Billboard]
Terrorisimo: Front Line — an Italian film about the domestic terrorism of the country’s late seventies and early eighties “years of lead†— is just now in production but is already under attack. The movie is based on Prima Linea cell leader Sergio Segio’s memoir and focuses on a 1982 incident in which the outer wall of a penitentiary was blown up to spring fellow terrorists, including Segio’s girl. The public is mostly pissed that Front Line has government funding to potentially glorify the killings and kidnappings; some have specifically voiced complaints that lead actor Riccardo Scamarcio will be too much of a “cool and hunky terrorist.†[Variety]
Monkeying Around: Famed Chinese TV producer Zhang Jizhong is planning to make a Hollywood-scale big-screen trilogy based on the classic folktale Journey to the West, with an estimated $300 million budget. The 500-year-old story is a fictional telling of a monk’s pilgrimage to India to retrieve Buddhist scriptures in the seventh century, with the breakout star a member of his entourage, the rebellious and mischievous Sun Wukong, a.k.a. the Monkey King. Man, Damon Albarn’s gonna be pissed. [Variety]