News

Exclusive: It’s been a while since we’ve had a raunchy female feature comedy– arguably since 2017’s Girls Trip, however, here comes D-Day from Spyglass Media Group with Schitt’s Creek‘s Emily Hampshire attached to star.

The pic, written by One Day at a Time scribes Becky Mann, Audra Sielaff and Andy Roth follows newly divorced and sexually inexperienced Kate, as she’s encouraged by her friends to get back out there. Of course Kate has certain standards so she’s not going to settle for just anyone but she’s determined to make her ex’s wedding day her D-Day.

Betsy Thomas, the creator of TBS’ My Boys, will be making her feature directorial debut here.

Thomas tells Deadline, “I am so thrilled to work with the immensely talented Emily Hampshire to bring this hilariously randy script to life.”

D-Day is produced by Level 1 Entertainment’s Bill Todman Jr and Edward Milstein (Grandma’s Boy). Spyglass’ Chairman and CEO, Gary Barber, and Peter Oillataguerre, President of Production, are executive producing with Oillataguerre and Chris Stone, VP of Production & Development, overseeing the project on behalf of Spyglass. Limor Hakim is co-producing for Level 1 Entertainment.

For six seasons, Hampshire played Stevie Budd on the Emmy-winning series Schitt’s Creek. She can currently be seen in Chapelwaite on Epix and in the upcoming thriller series The Rig on Amazon. Hampshire will release her first graphic novel Amelia Aierwood: Basic Witch in partnership with Z2 Comics this October and is set to co-write, executive produce and star as the title character in the Norman Lear reboot of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

In addition to My Boys, Thomas has also directed episodes of NBC’s Superstore and ABC’s Home Economics.

Mann and Sielaff’s writing credits also include FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Fox’s Raising Hope and ABC’s The Real O’Neals. Roth’s credits include Amazon’s With Love, Netflix’s Paradise Pd and FX’s Anger Management.

Hampshire is repped by Atlas Artists, Paradigm, Creative Drive Artists, ID and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson McGinnis Ryan. Thomas is repped by CAA, Artists First and Jacoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. Mann & Sielaff are repped by Culture Creative and Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light Llp. Roth is repped by Verve and Jacoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. Level 1 Entertainment is repped by Jeff Finkelstein of Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein & Lezcano.

Sk Global is revving up its television development slate with plans for a drama series loosely based on the colorful life of the French nobleman Marquis de Sade.

“For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” is described as examining the life of the writer and philosopher in the period spanning pre-revolutionary France in the late 18th century through the war-torn Napoleonic era. Claire Weaver penned the pilot script and is shepherding the series with film and TV veteran Harley Peyton (“Twin Peaks”).

Bill Todman Jr. and Edward Milstein of Level 1 Entertainment will executive producer along with Sk Global.

The project will be shopped to cable and streaming outlets. The series promises to offer a “frank depiction of sexual intrigue and brutal power struggles” that shaped de Sade’s life.

“We couldn’t be more excited to help bring to life Claire and Harley’s audacious vision for this eternally fascinating character and the explosive,...

Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff’s bestselling young adult sci-fi thriller novel, “Aurora Rising,” has been optioned by MGM Television for development into a TV series.

MGM will serve as international distributor, and MGM Television will produce the series. Bill Todman, Jr. and Edward Milstein (“Ace Ventura”) will executive produce, and Limor Hakim co-produce for Level 1 Entertainment. Kaufman and Kristoff will serve as consulting producers. Showrunners and writers are currently being interviewed.

Per MGM: “Set in the year 2380, Aurora Rising follows Ty Jones, the top cadet of the Aurora Academy, and his unwanted squad of misfits and losers as they slowly realize that the girl they rescued from hundreds of years of cryo-sleep may be the catalyst for a war millions of years in the making.”

Also Read: 'The Haunting of Hill House' Star Oliver Jackson-Cohen Exclusive StudioWrap Portraits (Photos)

“Amie and Jay have created something really special with ‘Aurora Rising.

As we’ve been reporting, Syfy had its Upfront presentation to potential advertisers Wednesday night, and they spent yesterday issuing press releases. It’s a good thing they held the event at a pier, as there is a boatload of information included in the summary press release below. We made sure to get it posted before the weekend, since it will take you the entire weekend to absorb it all.

Some of it is information we’ve already posted, like the Ringworld and Childhood’s End development and the High Moon pilot production, some of it we posted about fairly recently, like Ronald D. Moore‘s Helix, some of it we haven’t heard about in quite some time, like Orion, Proof, and Dominion, and some, like the nonscripted shows, the anthology, and some of the projects announced, are news to us.

You’ll also see ratings info and other...

Earlier this week, Syfy announced a number of new projects that would premiere later this year, along with the renewal of Being Human. Continuing reading for details from the official press releases, including more information on the upcoming anthology horror series from Jamie Foxx:

“Syfy and Chiller President Dave Howe today unleashed the imagination of the advertising community by announcing an original programming slate featuring Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx (Ray, Django Unchained) executive producing, writing and directing a horror anthology series, a trio of new reality series – Joe Rogan Questions Everything, Cosworld and Fandemonium – and 19 scripted and reality development projects, including The Jim Henson Creature Shop, a creature competition program.

Howe further announced a groundbreaking strategy of major quarterly multiscreen events showcasing new high concept programs, including Ringworld, a miniseries based on Larry Niven’s classic novel; Helix, an epic thriller from Battlestar Galactica’s Ronald D. Moore; the scripted...

Here’s more news from Syfy‘s Upfront presentation Wednesday night. Syfy is the source of some of my favorite miniseries, so it’s always great news to learn that more are coming. This press release announces book-to-miniseries adaptations of Larry Niven‘s Ringworld and Arthur C. Clarke‘s Childhood’s End.

It also references previously-announced Stephen King‘s Eyes of the Dragon and Philip K. Dick‘s The Man in the High Castle, a nice reassurance that those projects remain on Syfy‘s development slate.

Syfy Developing Two Classic Science Fiction Novels To Miniseries Larry Niven’S Ringworld From MGM Television And Universal Cable Productions Arthur C. Clarke’S Childhood’S End With Michael Deluca As Executive Producer And Universal Cable Productions

New York – April 10, 2013 – Syfy announced today it is developing miniseries based on two of science fiction’s greatest novels: Larry Niven’s Ringworld and Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End.

A four-hour miniseries based on Larry Niven’s Ringworld, and Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End from producer Michael De Luca join the Syfy development slate announced today at its upfront presentation in NY. The network’s previously announced longform projects include Philip K. Dick’s The Man In The High Castle, Stephen King’s Eyes Of The Dragon, and Darkfall. The network also said today it is renewing its drama series Being Human for a fourth season. The Season 3 finale aired Monday. Related: Syfy On Galaxy Quest With Order To Bryan Fuller Pilot, Other Space Series In Development In Ringworld, a team of explorers travels to the farthest reaches of space to investigate a mind-blowing alien artifact called Ringworld, an artificial habitat the size of 1 million Earths. They discover the remnants of ancient advanced civilizations, mysteries that shed light on the origins of man and, most importantly, a...

Exclusive: Level One’s Bill Todman Jr and Edward Milstein have teamed to option A Vintage Crime, a Vanity Fair.com article by Michael Steinberger about Rudy Karniawan. A shadowy figure who zoomed to the center of the rare collectible wine game, he is suspected of perpetrating what might be the largest known wine fraud in history. They will look for a writer quickly. The article focuses on the curious ascension of Karniawan, a 31-year old collector from Indonesia who, from his perch in Los Angeles, began buying and selling large quantities of rare Burgundy wines in 2003 and soon became the world’s most prodigious wine collector. Vague about his origins and armed with an impeccable knowledge of wine and a discerning palate, Karniawan helped drive up the prices of rare grape, and then sold $35 million worth of wines in two auctions. Many of them turned out to be counterfeits.

Laughter is definitely an endangered species where Strange Wilderness is concerned.

An exceptionally lame comedy about the loser son of a late wildlife program host who hopes a close encounter with Bigfoot will save the program from imminent extinction, this first feature by former Saturday Night Live scribe Fred Wolf plays like one giant outtake reel.

Despite luring an ensemble of bright young comic actors, including Steve Zahn, Jonah Hill and Justin Long, this presentation of Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Prods. went out over the Super Bowl weekend without any advance exposure to critics.

Word-of-mouth should effectively do the job for them.

Having effectively driven his dad's beloved nature show into the ground since he took it over, Zahn's Peter Gaulke (he happens to share his name with Wolf's writing partner) needs a big ratings stunt to keep it on the air.

Obtaining a map of Bigfoot's jungle lair from his dad's survivalist friend Joe Don Baker), Gaulke and his partner, one Fred Wolf (Sandler movie regular Allen Covert), gather a crew together for the biggest expedition of their lives.

Unfortunately, they forgot to pack anything resembling jokes.

It should come as no real surprise that Wilderness originally took the form of a decade-old series of short wildlife-show parody videos penned by Wolf and Gaulke (the real guys, not their screen alter egos), seeing as the whole thing feels like a dated "SNL" sketch stretched to the breaking point.

The result is a slacker comedy that goes slacker by the second, trying hard to be rude and crude but suggesting an old John Candy-Dan Aykroyd movie with bongs and more swearing.

It's evident that Wolf's cast -- which also includes Harry Hamlin, Ernest Borgnine, Broken Lizard sketch troupe member Kevin Heffernan, Robert Patrick and Ashley Scott as the honorary female member of the frat pack -- has been encouraged to improvise wherever they see fit, which only serves to accentuate the negative.

There's a slapdash quality to the entire production, which gives the impression that it was made for one of Peter Gaulke's (the character, not the writer) shoestring budgets.

At least there was enough left over to pay for composer Waddy Wachtel, whose retro, guitar-heavy score summons up the requisite toasted '70s effect.

STRANGE WILDERNESS

Paramount Level 1 Entertainment presents a Happy Madison production

Credits:

Director: Fred Wolf

Screenwriters: Peter Gaulke & Fred Wolf

Producer: Peter Gaulke

Executive producers: Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, Glenn S. Gainor, Bill Todman Jr., Edward Milstein, Paul Schwake

Director of photography: David Hennings

Production designer: Perry Andelin Blake

Music: Waddy Wachtel

Costume designer: Maya Lieberman

Editor: Tom Costain

Cast:

Peter Gaulke: Steve Zahn

Fred Wolf: Allen Covert

Cooker: Jonah Hill

Bill Whitaker: Kevin Heffernan

Cheryl: Ashley Scott

Danny Gutierrez: Peter Dante

Sky Pierson: Harry Hamlin

Gus Hayden: Robert Patrick

Bill Calhoun: Joe Don Baker

Junior: Justin Long

Ed Lawson: Jeff Garlin

Milas: Ernest Borgnine

Running time -- 87 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

This review was written for the festival screening of "Rendition".Toronto International Film Festival

TORONTO -- In "Rendition", a major moral and political issue confronting the American public runs up against the filmmakers' commercial agenda. There is a crying need to publicly explore the U.S. government's policy of "extraordinary renditions," the abduction of foreign nationals deemed security threats and their transportation to overseas prisons for brutal interrogations. But "Rendition" tackles the concern in a heavy-handed thriller with simplistic characters and manipulative story lines.

The film, directed by Gavin Hood in his first outing following the Oscar-winning "Tsotsi", aims for none of the moral ambiguity of Steven Spielberg's examination of Israeli anti-terrorism in "Munich". Rather he settles for a contrived melodrama, emotionally jerry-rigged to ensure audiences arrive at the proper conclusion.

The well-produced film, due for release October 19 by New Line, will attract considerable attention and commentary from non-entertainment media, so along with a solid cast of bankable young actors such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Reese Witherspoon the film should enjoy good boxoffice numbers opening week. Disappointed word-of-mouth, though, may prevent much carry over into the following weeks.

"Rendition" does little to resolve and even shed light on a program most Americans find morally repugnant but are divided on when it comes to its potential for preventing terrorist attacks. In the fictional case in question, the CIA clearly has the wrong guy from the get-go but, ratcheting up the emotional manipulation even more, the guy is an American green card holder who lives in Chicago with an American wife and child -- make that a pregnant wife -- whose only crime apparently is his Egyptian birth.

Meanwhile, the CIA head of anti-terrorism, played by Meryl Streep at her devilish worst, and the North African torturer (Igal Naor) are cartoon villains with just enough personality quirks to make them seem almost human. A thriller may have been the wrong way to go here because screenwriter Kelley Sane feels the need to up the tension and emotional ante further by playing a trick on the audience with the story's structure and sequence of events.

A suicide bomb goes off in an unnamed North African city square, claiming as one of its victims a CIA case officer. The bewildered CIA has no real leads but nevertheless snatches a U.S. resident, Egyptian-born chemical engineer Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally), from the Washington, D.C. airport moments after he arrives on a flight from Cape Town, South Africa. Their only evidence is a possibly coincidental use of cell phone number.

When the CIA understandably gets no information from him at the airport, he is hooded and dragged aboard a secret flight to the very country where the bomb went off for an appointment with a talented torturer.

This is where the movie ensnares itself in a particular sticky set of connections and circumstances of scant credibility. Anwar's distraught wife (Witherspoon) just happens to have an old college friend -- more than a friend, the movie implies -- in Alan Smith (Sarsgaard), who is top deputy to her Illinois Senator (Alan Arkin), who just happens to be on a committee briefed weekly by the CIA anti-terrorist head (Streep) who ordered the rendition. So he is in prime position to learn all sorts of dirty state secrets for the wife.

Anwar's torturer (Naor) just happens to have a rebellious daughter (Zineb Oukach) who is romantically involved with an Islamic militant (Moa Khouas) who is connected to the attack. It gets better. The dead CIA case officer is temporarily replaced by an analyst, Douglas Freeman (Gyllenhaal), who is so new to this game he still has a conscience and becomes sickened over the water-boarding and electric shocks delivered to a man who has no information to surrender.

Characters make political statements and stake out fierce positions that are meant to ponder the issue of torture in the name of anti-terrorism. Yet these arguments are mostly loaded by clearly appalled, liberal-minded filmmakers.

The reality of these situations is much messier. Victims seldom if ever have friends in high places. They are not U.S. residents, nor are they always guilt free. The real questions, touched upon ever so lightly here, concern the value of any information so derived, the violation of constitutional law by outsourcing dirty work and the potential for radicalizing moderate Islamic elements through these tactics.

The film also contains an unappetizing whiff of anti-Arab sentiment. The good Arab, the film's victim, is thoroughly Westernized. But the old country Arabs are either American lackeys and therefore backward and sadistic or terrorists and therefore brainwashed fundamentalists and bigots.

The film benefits from good location work in Marrakech, Morocco, along with D.C. and Cape Town, a slick (perhaps too slick) production and a score infused with North African musical themes.

RENDITION

New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema presents in association with Level 1 Entertainment an Anonymous Content Production

Director: Gavin Hood

Writer: Kelley Sane

Producers: Steve Golin, Marcus Viscidi

Executive producers: Toby Emmerich, Keith Goldberg, David Kanter, Keith Redman, Michael Sugar, Edward Milstein, Bill Todman Jr., Paul Schwake

Director of photography: Dion Beebe

Production designer: Barry Robison

Costume designer: Michael Wilkinson

Music: Paul Hepker, Mark Kilian

Editor: Megan Gill

Cast:

Douglas Freeman: Jake Gyllenhaal

Isabella El-Ibrahimi: Reese Witherspoon

Sen. Hawkins: Alan Arkin

Alan Smith: Peter Sarsgaard

Anwar El-Ibrahimi: Omar Metwally

Abasi Falwal: Igal Naor

Corrinne Whitman: Meryl Streep

No MPAA rating, running time 121 minutes...

Toronto International Film Festival

TORONTO -- In "Rendition", a major moral and political issue confronting the American public runs up against the filmmakers' commercial agenda. There is a crying need to publicly explore the U.S. government's policy of "extraordinary renditions," the abduction of foreign nationals deemed security threats and their transportation to overseas prisons for brutal interrogations. But "Rendition" tackles the concern in a heavy-handed thriller with simplistic characters and manipulative story lines.

The film, directed by Gavin Hood in his first outing following the Oscar-winning "Tsotsi", aims for none of the moral ambiguity of Steven Spielberg's examination of Israeli anti-terrorism in "Munich". Rather he settles for a contrived melodrama, emotionally jerry-rigged to ensure audiences arrive at the proper conclusion.

The well-produced film, due for release October 19 by New Line, will attract considerable attention and commentary from non-entertainment media, so along with a solid cast of bankable young actors such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Reese Witherspoon the film should enjoy good boxoffice numbers opening week. Disappointed word-of-mouth, though, may prevent much carry over into the following weeks.

"Rendition" does little to resolve and even shed light on a program most Americans find morally repugnant but are divided on when it comes to its potential for preventing terrorist attacks. In the fictional case in question, the CIA clearly has the wrong guy from the get-go but, ratcheting up the emotional manipulation even more, the guy is an American green card holder who lives in Chicago with an American wife and child -- make that a pregnant wife -- whose only crime apparently is his Egyptian birth.

Meanwhile, the CIA head of anti-terrorism, played by Meryl Streep at her devilish worst, and the North African torturer (Igal Naor) are cartoon villains with just enough personality quirks to make them seem almost human. A thriller may have been the wrong way to go here because screenwriter Kelley Sane feels the need to up the tension and emotional ante further by playing a trick on the audience with the story's structure and sequence of events.

A suicide bomb goes off in an unnamed North African city square, claiming as one of its victims a CIA case officer. The bewildered CIA has no real leads but nevertheless snatches a U.S. resident, Egyptian-born chemical engineer Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally), from the Washington, D.C. airport moments after he arrives on a flight from Cape Town, South Africa. Their only evidence is a possibly coincidental use of cell phone number.

When the CIA understandably gets no information from him at the airport, he is hooded and dragged aboard a secret flight to the very country where the bomb went off for an appointment with a talented torturer.

This is where the movie ensnares itself in a particular sticky set of connections and circumstances of scant credibility. Anwar's distraught wife (Witherspoon) just happens to have an old college friend -- more than a friend, the movie implies -- in Alan Smith (Sarsgaard), who is top deputy to her Illinois Senator (Alan Arkin), who just happens to be on a committee briefed weekly by the CIA anti-terrorist head (Streep) who ordered the rendition. So he is in prime position to learn all sorts of dirty state secrets for the wife.

Anwar's torturer (Naor) just happens to have a rebellious daughter (Zineb Oukach) who is romantically involved with an Islamic militant (Moa Khouas) who is connected to the attack. It gets better. The dead CIA case officer is temporarily replaced by an analyst, Douglas Freeman (Gyllenhaal), who is so new to this game he still has a conscience and becomes sickened over the water-boarding and electric shocks delivered to a man who has no information to surrender.

Characters make political statements and stake out fierce positions that are meant to ponder the issue of torture in the name of anti-terrorism. Yet these arguments are mostly loaded by clearly appalled, liberal-minded filmmakers.

The reality of these situations is much messier. Victims seldom if ever have friends in high places. They are not U.S. residents, nor are they always guilt free. The real questions, touched upon ever so lightly here, concern the value of any information so derived, the violation of constitutional law by outsourcing dirty work and the potential for radicalizing moderate Islamic elements through these tactics.

The film also contains an unappetizing whiff of anti-Arab sentiment. The good Arab, the film's victim, is thoroughly Westernized. But the old country Arabs are either American lackeys and therefore backward and sadistic or terrorists and therefore brainwashed fundamentalists and bigots.

The film benefits from good location work in Marrakech, Morocco, along with D.C. and Cape Town, a slick (perhaps too slick) production and a score infused with North African musical themes.

RENDITION

New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema presents in association with Level 1 Entertainment an Anonymous Content Production

Director: Gavin Hood

Writer: Kelley Sane

Producers: Steve Golin, Marcus Viscidi

Executive producers: Toby Emmerich, Keith Goldberg, David Kanter, Keith Redman, Michael Sugar, Edward Milstein, Bill Todman Jr., Paul Schwake

Director of photography: Dion Beebe

Production designer: Barry Robison

Costume designer: Michael Wilkinson

Music: Paul Hepker, Mark Kilian

Editor: Megan Gill

Cast:

Douglas Freeman: Jake Gyllenhaal

Isabella El-Ibrahimi: Reese Witherspoon

Sen. Hawkins: Alan Arkin

Alan Smith: Peter Sarsgaard

Anwar El-Ibrahimi: Omar Metwally

Abasi Falwal: Igal Naor

Corrinne Whitman: Meryl Streep

No MPAA rating, running time 121 minutes...

Fred Wolf will make his directorial debut in Level 1 Entertainment and Happy Madison Prods.' Strange Wilderness, a comedy written by Wolf and Peter Gaulke. 20th Century Fox will distribute the film in the U.S., U.K. and Italy. Steve Zahn (Chicken Little, Sahara) and Allen Covert (Grandma's Boy, 50 First Dates) have signed on to star in the film, which starts shooting Nov. 10 in Los Angeles. Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo and Covert are producing, while Level 1's Bill Todman Jr., Edward Milstein and Paul Schwake are executive producing along with Glenn S. Gainor.