Do Fence Him In: Denzel Washington and that handsome mug of his will hit Broadway next April in a revival of Fences, August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Washington will play Troy Maxson, a baseball player turned garbage man and the patriarch of a working class black family in Pittsburgh. Here’s hoping his “ungenerous, unkind and knowingly hurtful†personality goes over better on Broadway than it did in Hollywood. [Variety]
12 Step Movie: Winona Ryder and Barry Pepper plan to slum it in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story. The film is based on the true story of Lois Wilson, the founder of Al-Anon, and her relationship with her husband Bill Wilson, who founded AA. The couple was rich and prosperous in the twenties until drinking led to their downfall. Just like Winona, who was rich and prosperous in the nineties until stealing led to her downfall. [Variety]
Liberty Belle: PBS has brought on Halle Berry to host For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots, a celebration of black veterans set to air in February. The show will use letters, diaries, speeches and military records to document the accomplishments of black soldiers as far back as the Revolutionary War. “Our goal is to raise public consciousness about this extraordinary and little-known aspect of our nation’s history,†said producer, co-writer and director Frank Martin. If they’ve got to provide a little Halle Berry eye candy to accomplish that, so be it. [Variety]
It Came from Canada: Sony has acquired the rights to remake Fathers and Guns, a French-Canadian box office hit. The film revolves around a father and son cop team who cannot stand each other. When they have to infiltrate an outdoor adventure therapy group for fathers and sons, things go horribly awry. As Jean K. Jean would say: Incroyable! [Variety]
Bottom Chef: In an effort to inspire terrible cooks around the world, the Food Network has greenlit a new reality show called Worst Cooks in America. The show will split contestants into two teams who will receive instruction on how to stop being such terrible cooks. At the end, the cook who sucks the least will win a bunch of money and the title of best worst cook. [Variety]