MOS: Meet Young Clark Kent

Style Weekly reports that 11-year-old actor Cooper Timberline has been cast as the younger version of Clark Kent in Zack Snyder's still filming big budget reboot Superman: Man of Steel

Timberline landed the role of a young Clark Kent in June. “There was a little bit of nervousness, but mostly honor, getting to play that,” he said

“Meeting the actors was really fun,” says Timberline, who’s prohibited from giving any details of the production.

Dylan Sprayberry also plays yonng Clark a bit older than Timberline later in the film.

MOS also stars Henry Cavill Amy Adams Michael Shannon Kevin Costner Diane Lane Antje Traue Christopher Meloni Harry Lennix Laurence Fishburne Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer. Bradley Cooper is said to be in talks to make a cameo appearance as Lex Luthor as a set-up for sequels. But that's not been confirmed. Emmy-winning actor Richard Schiff will play Dr. Hamilton. Jadin Gould is a young Lana Lang.

David S. Goyer wrote the first screenplay draft based on a story he concocted with Christopher Nolan with bro Jonah Nolan taking a crack at the task as well Kurt Johnstad did rewrites

Charles Roven, Emma Thomas Deborah Snyder, and Nolan will be producers on the film.

MOS flies into theaters June 14th 2013.

Trio Voice Toon Me & My Shadow

Kate Hudson, Bill Hader and Josh Gad will lend their  voices to the animated fantasy tale "Me & My Shadow" says Heat Vision.

The story centers on a shadow named Stan (Hader pictured) who yearns for a more exciting life than being attached to a timid human named Stanley Grubb (Gad). When a crime in the shadow community puts both of their lives in danger, Stan is forced to take control of Stanley, thrusting both of them into an adventure.The villain intends to lead a rebellion to take over the human world. Hudson will voice Grubb’s potential real world love interest.

The film will blend animation styles with the shadow world being hand-drawn while the human world will be CG.

Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember are writing the screenplay.

Alessandro Carloni, the head of story on the hit How to Train Your Dragon is set to make his directorial debut on the project

 Melissa Cobb and Jeff Hermann will produce the pic that is currently scheduled for a November 13th 2013 release.

Sandler & Insult Travel To Candy Land

Following the path taken by Stretch Armstrong this week the live-action feature based on the Hasbro board game "Candy Land is seeing new life says The Los Angeles Times.

Created in 1949--The board game took children through wonderful lands made up of candy, such as Peppermint Forest, Lollypop Woods and Gumdrop Mountains.

Sony Pictures has picked up the project from  Universal Pictures making plans to turn it into a live-action film headlined by Adam Sandler

"Enchanted" director, Kevin Lima was previously attached to the film when it was at Universal and remains in the big chair

Back in May of last year, it was reported that screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger ("Kung Fu Panda 2) wwere handed script duties now Robert Smigel--the man behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and the Sandler-stinker You Don't Mess with the Zohan, has come onboard to write a new draft of the script with Adam,

Ugh!!! Groan Groan Groan!!!

 Doug Belgrad, Hannah Minghella, and Brian Goldner will oversee this gag inducing idea....

On The Slate

Here's some Cinema Stew with some January industry bits...

-IMAX Corporation, MacGillivray Freeman Films, and Warner Bros. Pictures have announced that two-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep will narrate "To the Arctic 3D" which will be released exclusively to select IMAX theatres starting April 20th 2012.

-Platinum Studios and producer Mark Canton ("300," "Immortals") are teaming to resurrect their planned live-action film adaptation of the five-issue graphic novel mini-series "Atlantis Rising" reports MSN.

-Is a film version of the ITV1 costume drama Downtown Abbey in the works?

-Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" has surpassed "Mission: Impossible 2" to become the highest grossing film in the franchise says THR

-Albert Torres has been hired to write a script for a film based on the Cartoon Network series "Ben 10"; Rocky Russo and Jeremy Sosenko have been hired to pen a feature adaptation of the graphic novel "Too Cool to Be Forgotten" reports Variety.

-Sony is hosting sneak peeks of never-before-seen footage from "The Amazing Spider-Man" in a global event slated for February 6th. Tickets can be reserved at www.TheUntoldStoryBegins.com for the screenings in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Mexico City, Moscow, Rio, Rome, Seoul, Sydney and Tokyo.

-Say what? Some film goers in the UK did not know that Michel Hazanavicius’s award season favorite "The Artist" is a silent movie according to The Daily Telegraph.

-Vinessa Shaw, Ebon Moss and Daniel Gimenez Cacho have joined the cast of "Child's Play", a Spanish language remake of the 1976 thriller "Who Could Kill a Child?" says Screen Daily. Shaw plays a pregnant woman whose remote island getaway is terrorized by possessed children.

-Disney Pictures has picked up an untitled space adventure pitch from "Chronicle" scribe Max Landis says Variety. The story revolves around the emotional journey of a brother and sister as they undertake an epic adventure.

-Scott Marshall is set to direct the sports comedy "The Million Dollar Man" says Variety Alexander Schrader penned the story of an underdog story of a man who finds a magical opportunity to turn his life around when he is chosen to perform at the Super Bowl.

-DC Comics writer Geoff Johns was recently asked via Newsrama if the long in development Captain Marvel movie was dead. He says "There's always a possibility for Shazam!. There's always talk about Shazam!. And I can't get into the specifics on that, but yeah, there's hope for Shazam"

-Director Joe Wright and Keira Knightley's third film based on a period literature adaptation, Leo Tolstoy's classic "Anna Karenina", is gonna be quite unique according to Empire Magazine (via The Playlist)

They Must Have Enjoyed Working Together

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are set join the period  drama "Serena" says Vulture.

Based upon author Ron Rash's 2008 novel--the action takes place in 1929 North Carolina, the story follows two young newlyweds, George and Serena Pemberton, who are building a timber empire and aren't afraid to kill or destroy those who oppose them. The pair soon turn against each other when Serena learns she can't bear children and launches a deadly vendetta against her husband's illegitimate son.

"In a Better World" helmer Susanne Bier directs the pic from an adapted script by Christopher Kyle

Mark Cuban Paula Mae Schwartz Steve Schwartz Todd Wagner and Nick Wechsler will produce

Cooper and Lawrence also co-star in the upcoming "The Silver Linings Playbook" hitting theaters on November 21st.

Farmiga Hearts The Drummer

Vera Farmiga ("The Departed," "Up in the Air") will play singer-songwriter and "Fleetwood Mac" member Christine McVie in Randall Miller's  biopic "The Drummer" says Screen Daily.

The script written by Jody Savin details the last six years of  The Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson's (Aaron Eckhart) life, prior to his death in 1983.

Wilson and McVie had a passionate relationship, becoming each other's muses and confidantes

Eckhart serves as executive producer on the film and will record his own renditions of some of Wilson's songs. Farmiga will use her classical piano training in the production and will sing in a number of duets with Eckhart.

Brad Rosenberger, Randy Miller and Savin are producing,

Shooting kicks off in Southern Georgia on June 15th.

Peck & Ransone Head West In The Timber

Josh Peck and James Ransone, have joined the cast of the apocalyptic Western-thriller "The Timber" says Variety.

Set against the backdrop of the 1898 Yukon Gold Rush, the story revolves around two brothers torn from their family who set out to find their violent father, a twisted man who has turned the Yukon Territory into his own personal hell.

Director Anthony O'Brien also co-wrote the story with Colin Ossiander and Steve Allrich.

Scott Einbinder and Patrick Newall will produce.

Benson Goes From Liar To Breaker

The star of TV's Pretty Little Liars, Ashley Benson has joined "Spring Breakers" says Deadline.

The story follows four college girls (Benson, Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez and
Rachel Korine) who rob a fast food restaurant to afford spring break in Florida. Upon arrival, they get mixed up with a shady criminal (James Franco) who entices them to kill his arch-rival.

The writer/director Harmony Korine ("Mister Lonely," "Trash Humpers") who is best known for writing the controversial "Kids" will oversee this pic.

Emma Roberts was also attached but dropped out of the film

David Zander, Chris Hanley, Charles-Marie Anthonioz and Jordan Gertner will produce

Production kicks off next month in Florida. 

Langella is Working For The Time Being

Frank Langella has joined Nenad Cicin-Sain's indie "The Time Being" says Deadline.

The story follows a struggling artist (Wes Bentley) who accepts a series of bizarre commissions from a dying, eccentric millionaire (Langella) who may not be what he seems. Is he a monster out to destroy the artist's life, or someone who'll teach him the true meaning of art.

Richard N. Gladstein and director Cicin-Sain co-wrote the script.

Gladstein will produce the pic

Les Misérables Adds Blagden & Original Cast Duo

George Blagden, soon to be seen in the March 30th 3D mythology pic Wrath of the Titans, the sequel to Clash of the Titans, has been cast as student revolutionary Grantaire in Tom Hooper's big screen adaptation of Les Misérables says Up and Comers

As a bonus original London stage cast members Colm Wilkinson and Frances Ruffelle have small roles in the film as a kindly bishop and a "fabulous whore" respectively.

The pic would take the world famous musical--based on Victor Hugo's book--and make it sing once again.

The story follows the struggle by ex-con Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) to outrun his past and his relentless pursuer - the uncompassionate police inspector Javert (Russell Crowe). Sacha Baron Cohen has been cast as a villain Thenardier in the pic. Offers are on the table for Taylor Swift and Amanda Seyfried to play Eponine and Cosette respectively. Eddie Redmayne ("Black Death," "My Week With Marilyn") will play the role of Marius Aaron Tveit will play Enjolras, a character responsible for a student rebellion in the streets of Paris. He’s best known for ordering Javert’s execution in the story.

The script for this adaptation was penned by William Nicholson, which Cameron Mackintosh will produce. This time dialogue has been introduced in the script--amidst the singing.

Rehearsals begin this week ahead of filming in March.

The film hits theaters on December 7th 2012.

Before Supes Henry Sees The Light

The first full length trailer for the April 6th action thriller "The Cold Light of Day" has hit.

The story follows a young Wall Street trader (Henry Cavill) whose family is kidnapped on a vacation to Spain. With only hours to find them, he uncovers a dangerous conspiracy behind their abduction which relates to something in his father's (Bruce Willis) dark past.

Sigourney Weaver, Joseph Mawle, Caroline Goodall, Jim Piddock, Rafi Gavron, Óscar Jaenada, Shira Scott Astrof and Roschdy Zem also star.

Mabrouk El Mechri ("Jcvd") directed the film from a script by Scott Wiper and John Petro

Trevor Macy and Marc D. Evans produced the film.



At least we can see that the star of Zack Snyder's still filming big budget reboot Superman: Man of Steel has the whole "leap tall buildings" thing down...

X-Class Reunion Everybody Is Back

The sequel to last Summer's X-Men: First Class is officially a go according to Deadline.

The entire cast is set to reprise their roles, including James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), and Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert), January Jones (Emma Frost) and Nicholas Hoult (Beast).

Matthew Vaughn will call action again and Bryan Singer is returning as producer.

Simon Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes) is on board to pen the screenplay. All we know about the story is New Mutants will be part of the fun

X-Men: FC was the least earning pic in the X-Men film series--it did pull in $353 million worldwide and  Fox hopes the current attention surrounding Fassbender and Lawrence as actors will propel this next installment to higher revenue.

No set start date has been announced yet.

Stretching The Facts

The long gestating (still ill-advised) Stretch Armstrong movie has found a new home but looses its star says THR.

Taylor Lautner no longer stars as Stretch. At last report director Rob Letterman (Monsters vs Aliens, Shark Tale) had signed on to direct the live-action 3-D pic based on the classic toy.

 Nicholas Stoller of Forgetting Sarah Marshall fame was doing a rewrite of the original screenplay that was penned by Steve Oedekerk. Brian Grazer was set to co-produce the pic.

Now the project has jumped from Universal Pictures to Relativity Media.

Ryan Kavanaugh, Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir are producing while Tucker Tooley is exec producing the film with Letterman who vacated the big chair anyway.

They have even set an April 11, 2014 release date for the tentpole

Ugh!

Bertino Trains A Mockingbird

"The Strangers" director Bryan Bertino is in pre-production on a found footage thriller currently titled Mockingbird says STYD.

The story follows a couple who receive a video camera with a document of strict instructions. If they don't follow the rules then someone will die.

Jason Blum is producing the pic

Shooting will kick off at the end of February

Bertino also wrote the script for The Strangers 2 but that film remains trapped in development limbo.

Carnahan's Wish

Commig off the weekend success of  The Grey director Joe Carnahan has been hired to write and direct a reboot of the Death Wish film series says The Los Angeles Times.

Might this lead to a third film with Liam Neeson?....

The original Death Wish with Charles Bronson from 1974 followed an architect whose wife is raped and murdered and his daughter savagely beaten by three hoods. He then becomes a one-man assassin killing criminals on the New York streets.

Jeff Goldblum, Denzel Washington and Saul Rubinek have small roles as Criminals in the first pic, as does filmmaker Christopher Guest who plays a cop.

Sylvester Stallone previously tried to mount a reboot five years ago but it didn't get past the talk stage.

Jules Daly will produce the remake

Perry Sets Cast For Next Madea Film

Denise Richards, Eugene Levy and Romeo Miller will star in Tyler Perry'a next film"Madea’s Witness Protection" says The Hollywood Reporter.

Levy will play a wealthy Connecticut man who is put into witness protection with his wife (Richards) and family, their new residence being Madea’s home in the South Perry reprises the role of the gun-toting, sassy-mouthed Madea. Miller will play a man who believes Levy is responsible for his church’s investments being wiped out and wants to take the law into his own hands.

Doris Roberts, Devan Leos, Tom Arnold and Danielle Campbell also star

Paul Hall and Ozzie Areu will produce.

Production kicks off in Atlanta next week.

Mara Taking Lively's Pill

Rooney Mara will replace Blake Lively in Steven Soderbergh's sexual thriller "Side Effects" aka The Bitter Pill according to Deadline.

Mara takes over starring as a troubled, depressed and often medicated woman who gets into a relationship with another doctor (Jude Law). She is medicated to help her deal with the anxiety surrounding the pending release of her husband (Channing Tatum) from prison. 

Catherine Zeta-Jones also stars as another Doctor.

Scott Z. Burns wrote the script.

Greg Jacobs and Lorenzo di Bonaventura are producing

Filming begins in April.

Quintet Are Channeling

Taylor Handley, Dominic Devore, Kate French, Skyler Day and Christian Camargo have joined the cast of indie thriller "Channeling" says Variety.

The pic follows various characters who seek validation by broadcasting their lives to as big an audience as possible.

Drew Thomas wrote the script and is directing the movie.

Thomas, Laila Ansari and Gerry Santos are producing.

Sounds very interesting given the world in which we live today--where society collectively feels the need to share all aspects of every waking moment

Production is happening in Los Angeles as this posts

Jarmusch's "Loves" His Cast

Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska are all set to star in Jim Jarmusch's vampire romance meets horror drama Only Loves Left Alive according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film is described as an unusual love story between two vampires who have been in love for centuries.

Hiddleston is replacing previously attached Michael Fassbender.

Jarmusch is also producing "Alive".

Production will start in western Germany later this year.

SAG 2012: The Winners

Members came out to honor their peers at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards showcasing the best performances in both film and TV from the past year...

SAG Awards Red Carpet Arrivals

The great Dick Van Dyke presented the 48th Lifetime Achievement Award to the equally great Mary Tyler Moore halfway through the show, taking the opportunity to explain why she chose to use her middle name to separate herself from the six other Mary Moore's already on SAG's roster in the early stages of her Hollywood career--Friends of Mary Tyler Moore Reminisce About the Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree

The Help won big picking up Supporting Actress, Actress and Best Film Cast

The Film Winners:

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Supporting Role

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Leading Role

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Leading Role

Viola Davis, The Help

Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture

The Help

Outstanding Performance By A Stunt Ensemble In A Motion Picture

Harry Potter and the Deahtly Hallows: Part II

Here's the complete Winners List including the best in TV

The Winners' Reactions

Michel Hazanavicius on 'The Artist's' SAG Awards Nominations, DGA Awards Win

SAG President Ken Howard Extols AFTRA Merger at SAG Awards

THR's Best (and Worst) Moments of SAG Awards 2012

The Grey In The Green

This weekend the late blooming as an action star Liam Neeson's reunion with director Joe Carnahan- The Grey took #1; Katherine Heigl's latest rom-com does better than it should have at #3 One For The Money indeed; The Sam Worthington led thriller Man on a Ledge ends up disappointing in 5th place...

Pamela McClintock of THR:

Liam Neeson's The Grey--cementing the actor's relatively new-found status as action star--raced past expectations to gross $20 milion in its debut at the domestic box office.

The Grey, directed by Joe Carnahan, led another good weekend at the box office. So far, 2012 revenues are running nearly 10 percent ahead of 2011 as moviegoing continues to pick up the pace.

Tom Ortenberg's Open Road Films is distributing The Grey, about a group of men stranded in the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash (the cast also includes Frank Grillo and Dermot Mulroney). The $25 million pic was produced by Liddell Entertainment and Scott Free Productions.

Audiences gave the action-thriller a B- CinemaScore, with males making up 60 percent of the audience. Heading into the weekend, tracking suggested the film would open in the low to mid teens.

Fueled by older women, Katherine Heigl starrer One for the Money also beat expectations in grossing $11.8 million, although it lost the No. 2 slot to Screen Gems holdover Underworld: Awakening, which earned a strong $12.5 million in its second outing.

One for the Money--based on the popular Stephanie Plum detective novels by author Janet Evanovich -- was fueled by fans of the book, i.e., older females. Females made up 79 percent of the audience, while 74 percent were over the age of 25. The pic received a B- CinemaScore.

Lionsgate raised eyebrows among some of its rivals when pacting with Groupon to offer discounted tickets for One for the Money. Roughly 20 million Groupon members were offered the chance to buy one ticket for $6, and $12 for two tickets. Lionsgate said 225,000 tickets were redeemed, although they weren't all used this weekend, since they are good for the entire run of the film.

As with Underworld: Awakening, the George Lucas-produced Red Tails did strong business in its second weekend, grossing $10.4 million for a domestic cume of $33.8 million. Awakening has now earned $45.1 million, a franchise best at this point in its run.

Red Tails took the No. 4 splot, followed by the weekend's third new film, action-thriller Man on a Ledge, starring Sam Worthington and Elizabeth Banks. The Summit Entertainment pic grossed a so-so $8.3 million. However, the pic scored the best CinemaScore of the three new films, a B+.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradin produced Man on a Ledge, about a hard-living police negotiator (Banks) who tries to talk down an ex-cop and fugitive (Worthington) who is standing on the ledge of a New York high-rise.

One twist -- Lionsgate and Summit dated Man on a Ledge and One for the Money long before Lionsgate bought Summit (the marriage was consummated earlier this month). Normally, one company wouldn't date two films on the same weekend.

Summit also offered discounted tickets for Man on a Ledge via Living Social.

Among the nine Oscar best picture contenders, Warner Bros.' Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close generated the most business, grossing $7.1 million from 2,630 theaters for a cume of $21.1 million. The film, opening in six theaters on Christmas Day, waited until Oscar noms before expanding nationwide.

Fox Searchlight's best picture contender The Descendants also impressed as it added more than 1,400 theaters back to its run, grossing $6.6 million from 2,001 locations for a domestic cume of $58.8 million and coming in No. 8.

Awards frontrunner The Artist moved up the chart to No. 12. From the Weinstein Co., the pic also expanded this weekend, grossing $3.3 million from 897 theaters for a cume of $16.7 million.

Top 10 Weekend Domestic Box Office Jan. 27-Jan. 29

1. The Grey (1), Open Road Films/3,185, $20 million

2. Underworld: Awakening (2), Sony/3,078, $12.5 million, $45.1 million

3. One for the Money (1), Lionsgate/2,737, $11.8 million

4. Red Tails (2), Fox/2,573, $10.4 million, $33.8 million

5. Man on a Ledge (1), Summit/2,998, $8.3 million

6. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (6), Warner Bros./2,630, $7.1 million, $21.1 million

7. Contraband (3), Universal/2,650, $6.5 million, $56.4 million

8. The Descendants (11), Fox Searchlight/2,001, $6.6 million, $58.8 million

9. Beauty and the Beast (3D) (3), Disney/2,145, $5.3 million, $41.4 million

10. Haywire (2), Relativity/2,441, $4 million, $15.3 million

Next: Daniel Radcliffe sees the mysterious Woman In Black; Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski witness one Big Miracle in a true life whale tale; And you can Chronicle what happens when three Portland teens (Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan and Alex Russell) get super powers in this found footage pic.

Sundance '12: Winners, Deals & Interviews

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival wrapped up with its awards presentation Saturday night during a ceremony in Park City.

As the event has unfolded I have been collecting the news via the Hollywood Reporter and decided to put it together in one (long) post rather than do the as it happens thing. The stories are presented in descending order with the most recent stories first. There are some cool interviews mixed in with the deals and buying frenzy...

The top jury awards went to Beasts of the Southern Wild (drama) and The House I Live In (documentary). Beasts, a breakout feature from director Benh Zeitlin about a six-year-old girl living with her impoverished father near the Mississippi delta, has been picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight. House, from director Eugene Jarecki, explores the injustices of America's 40-year war on drugs.

Audience awards went to The Surrogate, the drama starring John Hawkes as a man in an iron lung who attempts to lose his virginity, and Searching for Sugar Man, the documentary about a quest to figure out what happened to an elusive rock star. Both movies found domestic distributors at the festival, with Fox Searchlight paying $6 million for Surrogate and Sony Pictures Classics grabbing Sugar Man for a mid-six figures price tag.

The full list of winners:

World Cinema Jury Special Prize, Documentary: Searching for Sugar Man, Malik Bendjelloul

World Cinema Documentary Editing: Indie Game: The Movie, Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky

World Cinema Jury Prize, Documentary: The Law in These Parts, Ra'anan Alexandrowicz

World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Prize:, Can, Rasit Celikezer

World Cinema Cinematography Award, Drama: David Raedeker, My Brother the Devil

World Cinema Cinematography Award, Documentary: Lars Skree, Putin's Kiss

World Cinema Directing Award, Documentary: Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, 5 Broken Cameras

Best of Next Audience Award: Sleepwalk With Me, Mike Birbiglia

Audience Award, Shorts: The Debutante Hunters, Maria White

Audience Award, World Cinema Documentary: Searching for Sugar Man, Malik Bendjelloul

Audience Award, World Cinema: Valley of Saints, Musa Syeed

Audience Award, U.S. Documentary: The Invisible War, Kirby Dick

Audience Award, U.S. Drama: The Surrogate, Ben Lewin

World Cinema Jury Prize, Drama: Violeta Went to Heaven

World Cinema Directing Award, Drama: Teddy Bear, Mads Matthiesen

World Cinema Screenwriting Award, Drama: Young & Wild, Marialy Rivas, Camila Gutierrez, Pedro Periano, Sebastian Sepulveda

World Cinema Jury Prize, Documentary: The Law in These Parts

Special Jury Prizes, U.S. Documentary: Love Free or Die and Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Independent Film Producing: Jonathan Schwartz and Andrea Sperling, Smashed and Nobody Walks

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Acting: The Surrogate

Excellence in Cinematography, U.S. Documentary: Chasing Ice, Jeff Orlowski

Excellence in Cinematography, U.S. Dramatic: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Ben Richardson

U.S. Documentary Editing Award: Detropia, Enat Sidi

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Safety Not Guaranteed, Derek Connolly

U.S. Directing Award: The Queen of Versailles, Lauren Greenfield

U.S. Directing Award: Middle of Nowhere, Ava DuVernay

Grand Jury Prize, Documentary: The House I Live In, Eugene Jarecki

Grand Jury Prize, Drama: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin

The festival previously announced that 'Robot & Frank' and 'Valley of Saints' Awarded Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize

VIDEO: THR's Sundance Film Festival Lounge

Buys/News

Star-Studded 'Lay the Favorite' Sells to Weinstein Co. for $2 Million-Plus

Controversial Drama 'Compliance' Sells to Magnolia Pictures

Madmen Entertainment Takes Rights to 'Marina Abramovic' Doc Down Under

Magnolia Pictures Wrapping Up Deal for 'Nobody Walks' (Exclusive)

ATO Pictures Acquires North American Rights to Clive Owen-Gillian Anderson's 'Shadow Dancer'

Participant Media, AFFRM Partner for 'Middle of Nowhere'

IFC Films Acquires North American Rights to 'Simon Killer'

 Musician-Turned-Filmmaker Quentin Dupieux on Hitting all of the Right Notes with 'Wrong' (Q&A)

Sundance Selects Grabs 'How to Survive a Plague' (Exclusive)

National Geographic Channel Nabs Doc 'Chasing Ice'

Entertainment One Acquires 'Wish You Were Here'

IFC Midnight Acquires 'The Pact'

Magnolia Pictures Acquiring Horror Flick 'V/H/S' for North of $1 Million (Exclusive)

IFC Films Acquires Josh Radnor's 'Liberal Arts'

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, Samuel Goldwyn Films Pick Up 'Robot and Frank'

Richard Gere's 'Arbitrage' Sells to Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions for $2 Million-Plus

Robert De Niro Thriller 'Red Lights' Sells to Millennium Entertainment

Institute-Backed Films Score 7 Oscar Nominations

'Celeste and Jesse Forever' Sells to Sony Pictures Classics

Focus Features Buys 'For a Good Time, Call ...'

MPAA's Chris Dodd Calls Piracy Defeat a 'Watershed Event'

Fox Searchlight Buying 'The Surrogate' for About $6 Million

Doug E. Fresh Rhymes in 'Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap' (Exclusive Video)

Lizzy Caplan Talks 'Party Down' Movie, Going Bridal at Sundance in Two Wedding Comedies (Q&A)

Mike Birbiglia on Turning His 'Sleepwalk' Stage Show Into a Film (Q&A)

5 Bidders Vying for Festival Breakout 'Beasts of the Southern Wild'

Joel Edgerton on Avoiding Hollywood's 'Crap Movies' and His Hunt for Bin Laden With Kathryn Bigelow (Q&A)

Protagonist Sells U.K. and Aussie Rights to 'Sugar Man'

Julie Delpy on '2 Days in New York' and Funny Intellectuals (Q&A)

Stephen Frears on His Sundance Comeback, 'Lay the Favorite' (Q&A)

Thriller 'Black Rock' Acquired by LD Distribution for North of $1 Mil

Bradley Cooper's 'The Words' Sells to CBS Films After Heated Bidding

Seth Rogen's Better Half Premieres in Park City With 'For a Good Time Call' (Q&A)

'I Am Not A Hipster' Has Musician's Touch

Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures Partnering With ro*co prods. to Adapt Docs Into Dramas

Screaming, Anger at Tension-Filled 'Compliance' Premiere

New Online Hub Slated Launches (Exclusive)

Ice-T Talks Filmmaking and His Festival Debut (Q&A)

Tears and Anger as Peter Jackson's 'West of Memphis' Premieres

Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim Skewer 'Douchey' Hollywood in Their 'Billion Dollar Movie' (Q&A)

Magnolia Buys 'Queen Of Versailles' Documentary

Antonio Campos Returns to Park City After a 'Huge' Year with "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

Rashida Jones on Her Screenwriting Debut, 'Celeste and Jesse Forever' (Q&A)

Content Film and Preferred Content Cut Six-Film Production Deal

Spike Lee Talks 'Red Hook Summer,' His Feature Debut at the Festival (Q&A)

Melanie Lynskey on the Rise of Female Protagonists and Which Screenings She Hopes to Catch (Q&A)

Behind the Scenes of 'Compliance' (Exclusive Video)

Doc 'ME @ THE ZOO' Acquired by HBO Documentary Films

Join The Avengers Twitter Chat This Tuesday!

The Avengers writer/director Joss Whedon and cast members Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg will take part in a Global Twitter Chat on Tuesday, January 31st 2012 at 11 a.m. US-PST.

Fans around the world will be able to participate in the Q&A on the social media site by using the account @Avengers and the #Avengers hashtag. There will also be a 10-second peek of the 30-second Super Bowl 46 TV spot that will air on Feb 5th

Participants will also have a chance to answer Avengers trivia for a where you may win Avengers prize packs.

Meanwhile some higher res pics of previously released photo scans as well as some brand new ones from the superhero team up have been released. Click here to check them out.

Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans Chris Hemsworth Scarlett Johansson Samuel L. Jackson Jeremy Renner Mark Ruffalo, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, and Amanda Righetti and Paul Bettany star in the May 4, 2012 release.

Copper Lands In "Paradise" By June?

Delayed indefinately back in December--due to budget issues--it seems Paradise Lost might shoot by the Summer. Unlike some other projects whose delay would portend that the entire project was being dropped, there was never any doubt that 'Paradise' would not get going again.

The film takes John Milton's classic 17th century poem "Paradise Lost" story and reimagines it with a family friendly, action-oriented slant that might be shot in 3D.

The story follows the fallen angel Lucifer (Bradley Cooper) who, after being cast out of Heaven, mounts an army that battles the forces of good. Michael (Benjamin Walker) Lucifer's brother and the leader of said good forces.

Cooper tells The Playlist: "We're going to hopefully start in June. Everything's going great. I mean, nothing's done until we're up and shoointg"

Casting had been set before the delay Camilla Belle and Diego Boneta will pair up as Adam and Eve Casey Affleck will play the part of Gabriel, the chief of the angelic guards who watch over Paradise Djimon Hounsou has been cast as the Angel of Death Callan McAuliffe will play the role of the Archangel Uriel, one of the first seven archangels created by God and the dedicated second-in-command to Michael who leads Heaven's army against Lucifer's rebellion. Dominic Purcell will portray the angel Jerahmeel who falls in love with Lucifer and is renamed Moloch after becoming his right-hand man. Rufus Sewell will play Samael, Lucifer's partisan who urges him to start the rebellion in Heaven.

Alex Proyas is directing the pic.

At last report the parties involved were attempting to cut 10% and 15% of the proposed $120 million budget for "Lost" a heavily motion-capped live-action film. If the eight week shoot begins in June, Cooper would likely go into"The Hangover Part III " which he's previously suggested would begin filming in September.

Hancock Catches The Partner

John Lee Hancock ("The Blind Side," "The Rookie") will both write and direct a film adaptation of John Grisham's best-selling book The Partner reports Deadline.

The story penned in '05 follows Patrick Lanigan, a young partner in a white shoe Biloxi law firm with a wife and newborn daughter. Trapped in a burning car one night, he died, leaving behind only ashes. But Lanigan is disillusioned enough by his life to fake his death and steal $90 million from his firm. He just has to hope the wrong people don’t catch up with him as he goes on the run.

Arnon Milchan will produce the pic, making this his fourth Grisham based film after "A Time To Kill," "The Client" and "Runaway Jury".

Python Troupe Will Do "Absolutely Anything"

Former Monty Python members members John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, and Michael Palin are all signed on for the sci-fi comedy "Absolutely Anything" reports Entertainment Weekly.

Based on a story by fellow alum Terry Jones the action follows a group of aliens who use an earthling as their plaything and will combine CGI and live action.

Robin Williams is tipped to lend his voice to play a wry talking dog named Dennis and perhaps a live-action role as well.

Jones is also expected to direct the pic.

Mike Medavoy ("Life of Brian") will be producing. 

As for the remaining Python? “Eric  [Idle] knows about the project” but isn’t confirmed yet says fellow producer Chris Chesser.

Banks & Reubens In; Winslet Not Frank Or Francis

Elizabeth Banks has joined Charlie Kaufman's musical/comedy "Frank or Francis" says THR.

Paul Reubens has also joined the cast of the film.

The story centers around an online war that develops between a successful filmmaker (Steve Carell) and a movie blogger (Jack Black). Nicolas Cage also stars as The Emcee, an actor known for commercial successes such as Fat Dad, and Kevin Kline stars as the director's brother. Catherine Keener also stars.

Kaufman will direct his own screenplay.

Banks will play a highly-regarded actress making formulaic comedy bombs who is having an affair with Carell’s Frank. Reubens will play an old-school film critic.

Despite earlier reports the trade confirms that Kate Winslet is NOT in the cast.

Anthony Bregman is producing the satire

Production is expected to begin later this year for a 2013 release.

After Trims War Gets PG-13 Rating

Within 24 hours of losing its appeal for a PG-13 rating for action rom com "This Means War" Fox and helmer McG made further cuts to the film in order to avoid the R-rating according to THR.

Tim Dowling ("Role Models," "Midnight Run 2") and Simon Kinberg wrote the script which follows two best friends (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy) and veteran spies who fall for the same woman (Reese Witherspoon) who has moved into their spare room. They end up fighting for her affections using their black-ops warfare tactics, a fight which literally demolishes much of New York City along the way.

To obtain the rating and attract a bigger pool of potential viewers, the studio will cut a number of lewd jokes made by co-star, Chelsea Handler.

Will Smith and James Lassiter produced the pic.

War opens on Valentines Day

Rio 2 Will Happen?

Sérgio Mendes, whose song "Real in Rio" heard in the CG animated film "Rio" recieved an Oscar nomination, told The Press Association that a sequel is almost certain.

"Fox has been talking about (it) and it looks like it's going to happen. We're going to have a meeting I think next week and Carlos  [Saldanha, Director] is coming to town to tell us the story, and it looks like it's a go" 

Saldanha may also want to tie in the sequel to the 2014 World Cup™  taking place in Brazil.

No script or deals are in place.

Updating DA's Noah

Cinematographer Matthew Libatique recently talked with Hollywood Elsewhere columnist Jeffrey Wells about Darren Aronofsky's "gritty" take on the biblical tale of "Noah" .

Talking about that chat on the latest Oscar Poker via (The Playlist, Wells says "he was telling me about 'Noah' and what the script is like. They're going to start shooting in July in New York and Iceland and he says it's really a good script."

Aronofsky & Ari Handel, wrote the original script for "Noah," but they evenually handed re-writing duties to John Logan (The Last Samurai, Gladiator). Aronofsky and Scott Franklin will produce the movie.

Wells goes on to say "They're really doing the story of Noah, a very unlikely subject you might think for a cutting edge fellow like Darren Aronofsky, but that's what they're doing. It's going to be more likely a Fall 2013 release."

The issue of casting both the 40-something title role and the main villain has been problematic for the production team