News

We’ve learned the sad news today that two-time Oscar nominee Melinda Dillon, known for playing “Mother Parker” in Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story, has passed away at the age of 83.

The actress passed away on Monday, January 9, the family announced today.

Melinda Dillon was nominated for Academy Awards in 1978 and in 1982, first for Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, playing the role of Jillian Guiler, a mother whose child is abducted by aliens. Jillian ends up joining Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) on his adventure.

Later in 1982, Dillon was nominated in the same category – Best Actress in a Supporting Role – for her performance as Teresa in Sydney Pollack’s film Absence of Malice.

Melinda Dillon is also known for her decades-spanning roles in Bound for Glory, Slap Shot, Harry and the Hendersons, Captain America (1990), Magnolia, and Reign Over Me.

Dillon’s film credits also include The April Fools,...

Distributor acquires North America and multiple territories to upcoming Jason Reitman feature.

Focus Features has acquired Tully, which reunites Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody with Young Adult star Charlize Theron.

Focus acquired North America, the UK, Italy, Spain, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.

Wme Global represented North American rights and Sierra/Affinity handles international sales. Tully will open in the Us on April 20, 2018.

Reitman directs from a screenplay by Cody about a mother of three, including a newborn, who forms a bond with a new night nanny gifted to her by her brother.

Joining Theron, currently riding high on the $1bn-plus exploits of The Fate Of The Furious, are Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass, and Ron Livingston.

Tully is a Bron Studios, Right of Way, Denver & Delilah, and West Egg Production.

Bron Studios’ Aaron L. Gilbert serves as producer alongside Reitman and Helen Estabrook for Right Of Way Productions, Cody and [link...

Updated With Full List Of Scripts, Writers, And Reps: Catherine The Great, about the rise and life of the famous (sometimes notorious) 18th-Century Russian monarch, was the top vote-getter among 70 scripts chosen for the 2014 Black List of the year’s best un-produced scripts. The screenplay, by Los Angeles writer and producer Kristina Lauren Anderson, was announced as part of an hour-plus process on Twitter and YouTube this morning.

Each of the 70 screenplays on this 10th annual list was chosen by a group of 250 development executives, agents and other Hollywood insiders as among the year’s best un-produced scripts in a process overseen by Franklin Leonard of http://www.blcklst.com. Anderson’s screenplay received 51 votes.

Other notables in the list include writer/actor/director Kenneth Lonergan with Manchester-By-The-Sea, which is being produced by Matt Damon and Chris Moore. Randall Green had two scripts make the list, The Swimsuit Issue and Cartoon Girl.

Fox Searchlight has acquired Us, UK, Australia/New Zealand, France and Germany while Sony has taken Latin America and other territories on Jean-Marc Vallée’s upcoming romance starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.

CAA represented Us rights while Sierra/Affinity handles international rights and closed a heavy load of territories on the tale of a banker who gets help from a young mother and her unusual son after a family tragedy. Chris Cooper also stars.

Nick Meyer also licensed rights to Sony for Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Iceland and Greece.

Demolition has closed in Benelux (Remain In Light), Canada (Vvs Films), Hong Kong (Lark), India (PVR), Israel (United King), Italy (Good Films), Japan (Phantom), Middle East (Eagle Films), Portugal (Lusomundo), South Africa (Ster Kinekor), South Korea (Main Title), Taiwan (Filmware), Thailand / Vietnam (Ipa) and Turkey (Fabula).

Black Label Media, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Fox Searchlight Pictures co-finance the romance.

Black Label Media’s Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill are producing...

Sierra/Affinity has sold out worldwide on Demolition, the romantic drama from Dallas Buyers Club helmer Jean-Marc Vallee starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts. Gyllenhaal plays an investment banker rallying to rebuild his life after a family crisis with the help of a struggling mother and her unusual son. Fox Searchlight is readying a 2015 domestic debut.

Back in September, Sierra/Affinity took the pic co-financed by Black Label Media, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Fox Searchlight Pictures out to international buyers at Toronto; the company closed out final territories at Afm last month. The project, based on a Black List script by Bryan Sipe, also stars Chris Cooper. It was produced by Black Label Media’s Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill, Sidney Kimmel and Mr. Mudd’s Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith. Thad Luckinbill, Right of Way’s Jason Reitman and Helen Estabrook, John Malkovich, Ellen Schwartz, Ske’s Carla Hacken,...

Jason Reitman is set to team with Nick Hornby on a bank heist film for Fox Searchlight. Reitman will direct and Hornby is onboard to adapt I Would Only Rob Banks for My Family, a true-life story based on a Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth. The story revolves around a seemingly ordinary Texas family who pulled off two bold heists before they were caught attempting a third. The family-themed project marks a father-son reteaming of Reitman, who also will produce the film through his Right of Way banner, and his father, Ivan Reitman, who is producing via

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Intense music drama Whiplash, already a big winner at Sundance and the Deauville American Film Festival earlier this year, should drum up plenty of audience interest in its debut this weekend, even though it faces a crowded specialty market that also features several other notable newcomers, including the Bill Murray comedy St. Vincent, Hilary Swank‘s You’re Not You and Jeremy Renner‘s Kill the Messenger. All are what I’d call “big” specialty releases, with big names attached that should attract big attention.

The weekend also includes what I’d call some “small” releases, including documentaries The Overnighters (another Sundance winner) and I Am Ali, about the former heavyweight boxing champion, alongside the Mormon Church-backed Meet the Mormons. All will be clawing for attention in a market that’s seen more than 30 films debut in the past three weeks.

That said, Whiplash should be a real career turner...

Two-time Oscar nominee Naomi Watts is in negotiations to star opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in “Demolition,” which is slated to be the next film from “Dallas Buyers Club” director Jean-Marc Vallee, an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap. Black Label Media is financing and producing the movie with Mr. Mudd, whose Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich and Russ Smith will produce with Black Label's Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill and Trent Luckinbill. Right of Way's Jason Reitman and Helen Estabrook will executive produce with Nathan Ross, who is Vallee's producing partner and manager. Also read: Jake Gyllenhaal First Look as ‘Nightcrawler’ Surfaces in.

Never one to rest on his laurels, acclaimed director and producer Jason Reitman has added The Possibilities to his large slate of projects, snapping up the new novel before it has even been published.

The Possibilities is the second novel from Kaui Hart Hemmings – whose 2007 debut The Descendants was adapted into an Academy Award winning screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash for Payne’s 2011 movie of the same name. Indian Paintbrush Productions, along with Reitman’s Right Of Way production company, have optioned Hemmings’ follow-up and attached Reitman to direct – though it will not arrive in bookstores until May 2014.

Set in a Colorado ski-resort, the story centres on a small-town talk show host who is grieving for her adult son, recently lost in an avalanche. In her loss, she is supported by her son’s estranged father, her own, live-in father, and her best friend – although this...

Sony Pictures Classics has paid around $3m for North American, Australian, New Zealand and German rights to Bold Films’ jazz drummer drama. Separately, Pivot and Univision News have acquired Cesar’s Last Fast.

Miles Teller and Jk Simmons star in Damien Chazelle’s Us Dramatic Competition entry, which stirred Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions to acquire select territories in a separate deal on Friday (17).

Bold Films came on board to finance the film before casting got underway. Blumhouse Productions and Right Of Way Films produced with Bold.

Jason Blum of Blumhouse, Helen Estabrook of Right Of Way and Michel Litvak and David Lancaster of Bold served as producers, while executive producers are Jason Reitman of Right Of Way, Gary Michael Walters of Bold, and Couper Samuelson and Jeanette Brill of Blumhouse.

Chazelle adapted the feature from his award-winning Sundance 2013 short. Wme Global and Bold represented the filmmakers in the deal with Spc, which concluded...

Sony Pictures Classics has paid around $3m for North American, Australian, New Zealand and German rights to Bold Films’ jazz drummer drama. Separately, Pivot and Univision News have acquired Cesar’s Last Fast.

Miles Teller and Jk Simmons star in Damien Chazelle’s Us Dramatic Competition entry, which stirred Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions to acquire select territories in a separate deal on Friday (17).

Bold Films came on board to finance the film before casting got underway. Blumhouse Productions and Right Of Way Films produced with Bold.

Jason Blum of Blumhouse, Helen Estabrook of Right Of Way and Michel Litvak and David Lancaster of Bold served as producers, while executive producers are Jason Reitman of Right Of Way, Gary Michael Walters of Bold, and Couper Samuelson and Jeanette Brill of Blumhouse.

Chazelle adapted the feature from his award-winning Sundance 2013 short. Wme Global and Bold represented the filmmakers in the deal with Spc, which concluded...

The first buzz title unveiled at Sundance on opening night, rookie director Damien Chazelle's adrenaline-pumped performance anxiety nightmare "Whiplash," starring an incendiary J.K. Simmons as an abusive college music professor and Miles Teller as a young jazz drummer, has landed at Sony Pictures Classics after rave reviews and fierce bidding from other buyers. Spc acquired U.S. rights (reportedly for around $3 million, however) after Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group had already picked up many foreign territories before the festival.  Producer Jason Blum ("Paranormal Activity") had admired Chazelle's jazzy semi-autobiographical feature screenplay "Whiplash," and teamed with Right of Way producers Helen Estabrook and Couper Samuelson to create a three-scene short directly lifted from a sequence in the script. Chazelle's short won the 2013 U.S. Sundance Short Film Jury Prize. Less than a year later, with production and financing support...

The first buzz title unveiled at Sundance, Damien Chazelle's adrenaline-pumped performance anxiety nightmare "Whiplash," stars a top-notch Miles Teller as a young college jazz musician ("The Spectacular Now") who aspires to be a memorable drummer on the order of Buddy Rich. He's isn't there, not by a long shot, as his jazz band instructor--read toxic drill sergeant--played in fierce "Oz" mode by J.K. Simmons ("Juno"), keeps reminding him at top volume (think "Full Metal Jacket"). Teller, one of the more promising young actors working today, holds his own with Simmons, who calls up that one teacher who inspired dread and awe, who you desperately wanted to please and never could. Producer Jason Blum ("Paranormal Activity") had admired Chazelle's jazzy semi-autobiographical feature screenplay "Whiplash," and teamed with Right of Way producers Helen Estabrook and Couper Samuelson to create a three-scene short directly lifted from a sequence in the script....

An Original Voice

“We didn’t get mad, we got smart,” HBO CEO Michael Fuchs said about hitting The Wall, looking back at HBO stalling in 1984 from the vantage of the early 1990s. Actually, a lot of the rank and file didn’t get mad or smart; we’d seen 125 of our friends and colleagues get shown the door when the company had suddenly flatlined after eight years of phenomenal growth, and what we got was scared.

But it’s to the credit of HBO’s execs that whatever anxieties they may have had, they showed no panic or even nervousness in public. Instead, they poured any concerns into energetically and immediately addressing the question of, “What do we do now?” The world we knew had changed and there was no going back to the Gold Rush days of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company required a humongous...

Jason Reitman has written and plans to direct “Men, Women & Children,” an adaptation of Chad Kultgen’s novel that is shaping up to be Reitman’s next film, multiple sources familiar with the project have told TheWrap. Indian Paintbrush is expected to finance the film and produce with Reitman’s Right of Way banner. Story follows the sexual frustrations of junior high school students and their parents in the digital age. Reitman has a solid track record of landing the top-tier actors he wants for his movies, and reportedly has his eye on Adam Sandler, Jennifer Garner, Rosemarie DeWitt and Cameron Diaz to star.

Breaking: Jason Reitman, who’ll launch his film Labor Day in Toronto and preside over a reading of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights script there, is fast mobilizing his next film. I’m told that Indian Paintbrush is looking to finance an adaptation of the Chad Kultgen novel Men, Women and Children, with Adam Sandler, Jennifer Garner and Rosemarie DeWitt circling the lead roles. There is talk that Cameron Diaz might take part as well in a film that is eyeing a November start. Related: Telluride: Jason Reitman’s ‘Labor Day’ Debut The book focuses on a family with junior high school students and deals with the navigation of sexual awakenings in a digital age where the Internet has made pornography, blogs and social networking just a few clicks away. If the pieces come together the way I’ve described them, this would amount to a reteam of the parties that made Labor Day,...

“Tracking Shot” is a monthly featurette here on Ioncinema.com that looks at a dozen or so projects that are moments away from lensing and with September being a major production month for the fall, most projects listed here are thinking of film festival submissions between Cannes and fall fests for 2014. Here are some productions worth signaling out.

On the American indie front we’ve got the latest from Alex Ross Perry (helmer behind 2011′s The Color Wheel) and who we might catch at Tiff as he recently dabbled as an actor and writer for Raya Martin & Mark Peranson’s La última película. His NYC set drama Listen Up Philip focus on titular character played by Jason Schwartzman and those affected by his poor decisions — in particular his successful art-photographer girlfriend Ashley (Elisabeth Moss). Damien Chazelle (Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench) will be taking his 2012 Black List script,...

Paul Reiser has signed on to star opposite Miles Teller in Whiplash. Bold Films is financing the movie, which is being written and directed by Damien Chazelle. The drama centers on a talented young drummer (Teller) who strives for perfection under the instruction of a ruthless band conductor (J.K. Simmons). Reiser will play the character the father of Teller's character. Bold Films, Blumhouse Productions and Right of Way Films are producing Whiplash, which is a feature-length adaptation of Chazelle's 2013 Sundance Short Film Jury Award winner (Simmons starred in the short). Bold Films' Michel Litvak and David Lancaster are producing alongside Blumhouse's Jason Blum. Right of Way's Helen Estabrook also

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The savage Sundance-winning short Whiplash, about a young drummer facing down a brutally antagonizing music instructor, is about to become a feature film.

Writer and director Damien Chazelle adapted the 18-minute short from several scenes in the full-length script with the hope that it would attract investors for the complete version.

Now Bold Films, the production company behind Drive and the upcoming Only God Forgives, has stepped forward to fill out the undisclosed budget. The company will make Whiplash as a joint production with Right of Way Films and Blumhouse Productions, who teamed up to create the short.

In the video above,...

Exclusive: Bold Films, Blumhouse Productions and Right of Way Films are teaming up to bring Damien Chazelle‘s Sundance Prize-winning short Whiplash to the screen as a feature. Bold Films will fully finance the film. Chazelle was basically dared by Right of Way and Blumhouse to direct a short based on his Black List script about a talented young drummer who strives for perfection under the instruction of a ruthless band conductor. That short was produced by Reitman’s partner Helen Estabrook and Blumhouse Evp Couper Samuelson, along with Nicholas Britell and was awarded the 2013 Sundance short film jury prize. J.K. Simmons will reprise his role from the short and star in the feature. Wme Global is repping domestic rights and Sierra/Affinity is selling offshore territories. Jason Blum will produce the feature for Blumhouse and Estabrook will produce for Right of Way. Michel Litvak and David Lancaster will produce on behalf of Bold.

TV Spot and Clip from Jeff, Who Lives at Home, starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms. First up, catch a new TV Spot called "Want a Better Life" from the Mark and Jay Duplass-directed and scripted comedy/drama produced by Jason Reitman, Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith Then, in the new clip under that (courtesy of Yahoo Movies), Ed Helms' character Pat shows off and gets into all sorts of trouble with the Porsche. The Paramount Vantage and Indian Paintbrush presented film, produced by Right of Way, in association with Mr. Mudd, opens March 16th in limited locations. On his way to the store to buy wood glue, Jeff looks for signs from the universe to determine his path. However, a series of comedic and unexpected events leads him to cross paths with his family in the strangest of locations and circumstances. Jeff just may find the meaning of his life.

TV Spot and Clip from Jeff, Who Lives at Home, starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms. First up, catch a new TV Spot called "Want a Better Life" from the Mark and Jay Duplass-directed and scripted comedy/drama produced by Jason Reitman, Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith Then, in the new clip under that (courtesy of Yahoo Movies), Ed Helms' character Pat shows off and gets into all sorts of trouble with the Porsche. The Paramount Vantage and Indian Paintbrush presented film, produced by Right of Way, in association with Mr. Mudd, opens March 16th in limited locations. On his way to the store to buy wood glue, Jeff looks for signs from the universe to determine his path. However, a series of comedic and unexpected events leads him to cross paths with his family in the strangest of locations and circumstances. Jeff just may find the meaning of his life.

TV Spot and Clip from Jeff, Who Lives at Home, starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms. First up, catch a new TV Spot called "Want a Better Life" from the Mark and Jay Duplass-directed and scripted comedy/drama produced by Jason Reitman, Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith Then, in the new clip under that (courtesy of Yahoo Movies), Ed Helms' character Pat shows off and gets into all sorts of trouble with the Porsche. The Paramount Vantage and Indian Paintbrush presented film, produced by Right of Way, in association with Mr. Mudd, opens March 16th in limited locations. On his way to the store to buy wood glue, Jeff looks for signs from the universe to determine his path. However, a series of comedic and unexpected events leads him to cross paths with his family in the strangest of locations and circumstances. Jeff just may find the meaning of his life.

Exclusive: Paramount has come aboard to distribute Labor Day, the adaptation of the Joyce Maynard novel that was scripted and will be directed by Jason Reitman, who is making this his next film. The studio joins Indian Paintbrush and Reitman’s Right of Way to produce the romantic drama, which stars Kate Winslet as a single mother who takes in a stranger with a dangerous past, played by Josh Brolin, and she falls in love with him over the course of Labor Day Weekend. Production is expected to start in June 2012. Paramount and Indian Paintbrush already have partnered on Like Crazy and Jeff Who Lives at Home, the latter of which is playing here at Toronto. Update: Paramount just made it official with a release: Hollywood, CA (September 9, 2011) – Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush jointly announced today they will co-produce, and Paramount will distribute, Academy Award®-nominated writer / director Jason Reitman...

Paramount distributes Labor Day adaptation of Joyce Maynard novel. Stars Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet Indian Paintbrush produces the film which is scripted by Jason Reitman, and tells of an escaped convict (Brolin) seeking shelter with a single mom (Winslet) and her young son over the Labor Day weekend. Producing Labor Day alongside Reitman and Helen Estabrook of Right of Way are Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith of Mr. Mudd Productions. Variety reports that Indian Paintbrush are serving as co-financiers with Steven Rales and Mark Roybal in executive producer roles. Paramount distributed 2009's George Clooney starrer Up in the Air and are on board as well for his Young Adult...

Paramount distributes Labor Day adaptation of Joyce Maynard novel. Stars Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet Indian Paintbrush produces the film which is scripted by Jason Reitman, and tells of an escaped convict (Brolin) seeking shelter with a single mom (Winslet) and her young son over the Labor Day weekend. Producing Labor Day alongside Reitman and Helen Estabrook of Right of Way are Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith of Mr. Mudd Productions. Variety reports that Indian Paintbrush are serving as co-financiers with Steven Rales and Mark Roybal in executive producer roles. Paramount distributed 2009's George Clooney starrer Up in the Air and are on board as well for his Young Adult...

Labor Day is an upcoming Jason Reitman‘s adaptation of Joyce Manard’s novel of the same name, and a project that we already wrote about.

So, I’m sure you all know that Josh Brolin will play the lead in the whole thing, but, according to the latest reports, Kate Winslet will join him as the female lead as well.

Jason Reitman wrote the screenplay and will direct the drama which will tell us the story of a lonely mother whose 13-year-old son convinces her to take in a drifter who turns out to be a convicted murderer.

Not hard to guess who will star as a murderer and who as a lonely mother, right?

The project is set with Indian Paintbrush and Reitman’s Right Of Way, and they will now set it with a distributor, Deadline reports.

Labor Day is set to start shooting in New England in 2012.

As usual,...

Kate Winslet is looking to star in Jason Reitman's new feature "Labor Day" for Indian Paintbrush and Right Of Way says The Hollywood Reporter.

An adaptation of the Joyce Maynard novel, Winslet will play a single mother of an awkward and isolated young son who takes in a stranger.

He turns out to be an escaped convict and ends up teaches the boy life lessons, while she falls in love with him over the course of Labor Day Weekend.

Josh Brolin is already committed to also star in the project. Shooting kicks off sometime next year.

Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin are set to star in Jason Reitman's Labor Day, an adaptation of the Joyce Maynard novel. Reitman penned the script about "a single mother (Winslet) of a young son who takes in a stranger with a dangerous past (Brolin). She falls in love with him over the course of Labor Day Weekend." 

Winslet recently finished Steven Soderbergh's Contagion and Roman Polanski's Carnage, the adaptation of the hit play God of Carnage, and just finished filming HBO's Mildred Pierce. Brolin is currently filming Men In Black III. Labor Day is currently looking for a distributor and is being produced by Indian Paintbrush and Reitman's Right Of Way. 

I have been a fan of Winslet since Heavenly Creatures and really liked Brolin's performance in No Country for Old Men. Reitman did great with Juno and Up in the Air. What are your thoughts on this casting news?...

Exclusive: I'm hearing that Kate Winslet will be set shortly to star in Labor Day, the adaptation of the Joyce Maynard novel that was scripted and will be directed by Jason Reitman. The Oscar-winning Winslet, who's just coming off HBO's Mildred Pierce, will play a single mother of a young son who takes in a stranger with a dangerous past. She falls in love with him over the course of Labor Day Weekend. The project is set with Indian Paintbrush and Reitman's Right Of Way, and they will now  set it with a distributor. CAA-repped Winslet just wrapped the Steven Soderbergh-directed Contagion and Carnage, the Roman Polanski-directed adaptation of the hit play God of Carnage.

“Juno” was one of my favorite movies of 2007, so I was really happy to see director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody team up again for a new movie. The name of the film is “Young Adult” and will feature Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, and Elizabeth Rease. Theron will play a writer of young adult novels who comes back home to the small town she grew up in, to relive her past glory and win back her married sweetheart, who will be played by Wilson. Official Synopsis From Paramount: “Young Adult” Paramount Pictures and Mandate Pictures Present A Mr. Mudd Production In Association with Right of Way...

Exclusive: In a move that signals billionaire Steven Rales' intent to step up his output of auteur-driven prestige films, he has hired Mark Roybal to become president of production of his Indian Paintbrush banner. Roybal spent the last 14 years working for producer Scott Rudin, the last 5 as Rudin's president of production. During that run, Roybal was executive producer of the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men and a producer on Doubt and brought in such projects as Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the Rudin-produced 9/11-themed drama which will go into production early next year with Stephen Daldry directing Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks. Rales, an industrialist who regularly makes the Forbes list of richest men in America, started the Santa Monica-based Indian Paintbrush in 2006. The company has made an overhead deal with Up in the Air director Jason Reitman's Right of Way banner, and has produced the Wes Anderson...

Jason Reitman and Charlize Theron are in talks to direct and star in, respectively, "Young Adult," a Diablo Cody-penned script set up at Mandate.Mandate picked up the script in March, but the latest development marks Reitman's first return to the director's chair since helming "Up in the Air" and also reunites a good portion of the team behind the boxoffice and critical hit "Juno." The story, a dark comedy, follows a thirtysomething, divorced, young-adult fiction writer (Theron) in Minneapolis who returns to her hometown to chase the ex-boyfriend, who's now married with a kid, that got away.Mr. Mudd's Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith are producing along with Mason Novick and Cody. Reitman will likely act as a producer, while Steven Rales -- the principal of Indian Paintbrush, which co-created Reitman's Right of Way production banner -- may act as exec producer. Mandate president Nathan Kahane and...

Jason Reitman and Charlize Theron are in talks to direct and star in, respectively, "Young Adult," a Diablo Cody-penned script set up at Mandate.

Mandate picked up the script in March, but the latest development marks Reitman's first return to the director's chair since helming "Up in the Air" and also reunites a good portion of the team behind the boxoffice and critical hit "Juno."

The story, a dark comedy, follows a thirtysomething, divorced, young-adult fiction writer (Theron) in Minneapolis who returns to her hometown to chase the ex-boyfriend, who's now married with a kid, that got away.

Mr. Mudd's Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith are producing along with Mason Novick and Cody. Reitman will likely act as a producer, while Steven Rales -- the principal of Indian Paintbrush, which co-created Reitman's Right of Way production banner -- may act as exec producer.

Mandate president Nathan Kahane and...

No word on whether or not he will direct but Jason Reitman has bought the film rights for Simon Rich's novel Elliot Allagash. Reitman's Right of Way production company will produce the film along with Indian Paintbrush who will finance the film. Rich is going to adapt his own book to film. 

"Allagash," which offers a satiric take on private schools and the excesses of the rich, centers on Seymour Herson, a boy who is regularly picked on at his private school. He is taken under the wing of the book's title character, a teen who regularly gets drunk and enjoys villainy.

Looks like I'll have to add Rich's books to the list of books to read now. ...

But may only end up producing the film version. Jason Reitman and his Right of Way Films banner have optioned movie rights to "Elliot Allagash," a novel by Simon Rich. Rich, now a writer on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," will tackle adapting "Allagash." Right of Way's Helen Estabrook will executive produce. Reitman intends to produce the adaptation; whether he intends to direct hasn't been determined. "Allagash," which offers a satiric take on private schools and the excesses of the rich, centers on Seymour Herson, a boy who is regularly picked on at his private school. He is taken under the wing of the book's title character, a teen who regularly gets drunk and enjoys villainy. "Charlie Bartlett." "Assassination of a High School President." "Rocket Science." These are just some of the films that have come out in the past few years that sound similar to this book. They may...

Jason Reitman and his Right of Way Films have optioned movie rights to Simon Rich's novel "Elliot Allagash." Right of Way will produce with Indian Paintbrush, which will also finance the film. Rich will adapt "Allagash." Right of Way's Helen Estabrook will executive produce. Although Reitman plans to produce the film, there have been no indications as yet whether he will direct. "Allagash" is a satiric look at private schools and the excesses of the rich. The story focuses on Seymour Herson, a boy who is regularly picked on at his private school. He is then taken under the wing of the "Allagash," a regular drunkard who enjoys being villainous. Random House published the book this May.

Jason Reitman and his Right of Way Films banner have optioned movie rights to "Elliot Allagash," a novel by Simon Rich.

Reitman co-created Right of Way with Indian Paintbrush, the financing and production entity run by billionaire Steven Rales. Right of Way will produce with Indian Paintbrush, which also will finance the film.

Rich, now a writer on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," will tackle adapting "Allagash." Right of Way's Helen Estabrook will executive produce.

Reitman intends to produce the adaptation; whether he intends to direct hasn't been determined.

"Allagash," which offers a satiric take on private schools and the excesses of the rich, centers on Seymour Herson, a boy who is regularly picked on at his private school. He is taken under the wing of the book's title character, a teen who regularly gets drunk and enjoys villainy.

Random House published the book in May.

Rich, a former president of Harvard Lampoon,...

Looks like won't be the be all and end all for The Duplass brothers, as Jason Reitman's Right of Way Films and John Malkovich's Mr. Mudd have signed on as producers for Mark and Jay Duplass' new project entitled, Jeff Who Lives at Home. - Looks like won't be the be all and end all for The Duplass brothers, as Jason Reitman's Right of Way Films and John Malkovich's Mr. Mudd have signed on as producers for Mark and Jay Duplass' new project entitled, Jeff Who Lives at Home. Lensing begins next month, with Jason Segel and Ed Helms in the leads and Paramount sniffing around to eventually distribute the film. This follows in the footsteps of Cyrus, the Fox Searchlight project that allowed the Duplass duo from shoestring budget days of The Puffy Chair and Baghead to keep the same directing...