Movie and Television News (Wizbang Pop!)

Tilda Swinton is attached to take the lead in Lynne Ramsay's big-screen adaptation "We Need to Talk About Kevin." Based on Lionel Shriver's novel, tells the story of an educated New York mother who does her best to raise a son she never wanted in the first place. He turns out to be extremely difficult and is at the center of the woman's marital breakdown before going on a killing spree at his high school with a crossbow.

Mickey Rourke has signed on to star in a remake of the classic 1980s Bob Hoskins/Cicely Tyson gangster pic "Mona Lisa." Rourke will play an ex-con who takes a job as a chauffeur for a high-class escort. 007 babe Eva Green is in advanced negotiations to star opposite him.

Monica Bellucci ("Matrix Reloaded") has joined the cast of Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." She will play Veronica, a sorceress and the long-lost love of Nicolas Cage's character, Balthazar Blake.

- ABC announced a string of shows set for fall and they all have one thing in common... Not a one of them is full season approved.

Scrubs: No ones quite sure why, but the show's ninth-season has been scheduled for a 12 ep mid-season bow next fall. Zack Braff will only appear in 6 of those.

Cougar Land: The new Courteney Cox show, has, not surprisingly, been picked up.

V: The reboot of the classic 80s series has been picked up... but only for six episodes (at the moment).

The Forgotten: Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, this new procedural drama - combining the victims' flashbacks with the team's emotional drive to bring them justice - has been picked up.

Awesome Hank: Kelsey Grammer's latest sitcom, this one about a Wall Street executive who loses his job and reconnects with his small-town family, has been picked up.

Comments (1)

SCRUBS continues to surpris... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by Paul Hooson | May 19, 2009 3:21 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Paul Hooson:

SCRUBS continues to surprise me. It was never a favorite of mine, although I enjoy sight gag humor. But it has pretty good staying power in syndication. I always thought MY NAME IS EARL was a far better and funnier show, yet it's being cancelled. But economics have a lot to do with that. by ordering just 12 or 13 episodes, NBC could save money by paying less than cost for the shows, and asking the producers to recover money in syndication and DVD sales deals. Probably ABC can do the same with SCRUBS and buy 12 episodes at a bargain price, which fills a hole in the schedule for little money. With 21 to 23 episode deals, it's much harder for the networks to get such a cheap deal on shows, and generally they have to pay above cost when they make such a deal.