Seth Rogen on Spirit Award Nom: 'I'm Trespassing in Indie World'

Getty ImagesRicky Martin Ricky Martin could go where Gwyneth Paltrow has gone before. The singer-actor is in talks to guest star on Fox's musical dramedy Glee, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. PHOTOS: 'Glee' Season 3: The Episodics As first reported by TV Line, the former General Hospital star would play a musically inclined Spanish teacher in an episode slated to air in late January. The guest gig would also see Martin headline two big musical numbers. STORY: 'Glee's' Mark Salling Teases Puck-Quinn-Shelby Triangle Martin, who will star as Che in April's Broadway revival of Evita, would join Paltrow (and Idina Menzel) as high-profile guest stars who have played teachers on Glee. Hours after news surfaced that the show had its eye on the singer-actor, Martin tweeted, "I hear McKinley high has an opening for a Spanish teacher... Maybe I'll apply." Paltrow played sub Holly Holliday in three episodes of the series, picking up an Emmy for guest star in a comedy last year. Broadway vet Menzel, meanwhile, is currently reprising her role as substitute math teacher Shelby. Glee airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox. Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit RELATED: 'Glee': 5 Things to Know About 'I Kissed a Girl' (Videos) PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery 'Glee' Season 3: The Episodics PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery 'Glee' 300th Musical Performance Celebration Glee Ricky Martin TV Casting

Mediaset confirms Endemol bid

ROME -- Italian TV giant Mediaset has confirmed its bid for a majority stake in Endemol in tandem with Italo private equity firm Clessidra."We have made our offer with Clessidra," said Mediaset vice prexy Pier Silvio Berlusconi, who did not specify the amount, but called it "a good offer for the creditors and the future of the company." Pier Silvio Berlusconi added that Mediaset, which already owns a third of Endemol, "will not participate in an auction, if it were to come to that."In 2007 a consortium comprising Mediaset, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Cyrte, the investment company in which Endemol co-founder Jon de Mol is a minority shareholder, paid some $3.5 billion for Telefonica's controlling stake in Endemol in a three-way split.But they largely used leveraged loans that now weigh heavily on the Dutch unscripted TV giant best known for "Big Brother," whose other formats include "Deal or No Deal" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."Endemol recently decided to put Time Warner's $1.4 billion bid for Endemol on hold because its creditors think the content company is worth more money, according to sources.Creditors, which include private equity funds Apollo Management, Centerbridge and Providence Equity Partners, also reportedly extended their capital restructuring deadline to Dec. 13.Endemol is now pushing ahead with talks to secure a debt-for-equity swap that would cut its current $3.7 billion debt to about $670 million.Mediaset and Italian equity fund Clessidra have reportedly offered to inject $268 million in Endemol to raise their current 33% stake to 51%, with lenders owning the remaining minority interests.Mediaset has reportedly warned Endemol that the outcome of the restructure could affect the companies' relationship, telling Endemol that it intended to renegotiated all existing agreements, as well.The larger debt for equity swap now on the table would instead dilute Mediaset's stake to an estimated 10%-12% share. Contact Nick Vivarelli at nvivarelli@gmail.com

Cast looking for 'Recruiting Officer'

Published: Thu., November. 24, 2011, 4:00pm PTBy Screen and stage thesp Mackenzie Crook ("Work,Inch "Jerusalem") and Olivier award-champion Nancy Carroll ("Following the Dance" ) lead the Donmar Warehouse cast of "The Prospecting Officer."Producing George Farquhar's 18th-century military and marital comedy, which starts the tenure of incoming a.d. Josie Rourke, also stars Mark Gatiss, Tobias Menzies and Rachael Stirling. Rourke's production runs February. 9-Apr. 14, having a February. 14 press evening.The Donmar also introduced purchasing a 19th-century warehouse near to the theater to become testing, education and work place on the 112-year lease. It will require up residence in 2014. This follows the theater's 2008 acquisition of its Covent Garden home from the current landlord Ambassador Theater Group. Michael Grandage stated Thursday, "In present day marketplace, it is not quite enough to give a theater having a strong status, it must have security too. I'm delighted that whenever nearly ten years in the helm, I leave the Donmar financially confident. From possessing nothing, the Donmar now looks towards the future using its own theater, testing space, education space and work place taking up both of these prime sites in Covent Garden." Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Oscar Index: Hurricane Meryl Makes Landfall; Artist, Hugo Surge Toward Top

The bleary-eyed minions at Movieline’s Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics have shoved off for the long holiday weekend, leaving it to me to sort out the hectic awards scramble as we head into the third month of this year’s Oscar Index. And by “hectic,” I do mean hectic, with a lead change at the top of two categories, a neck-and-neck tie atop another and plenty of feverish competition foreseen in another. Read on for a closer look. [Click the graphs for full-size images.] The Leading 10: 1. The Artist 2. The Descendants 3. War Horse 4. The Help 5. Midnight in Paris 6. Hugo 7. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 8. Moneyball 9. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 10. The Tree of Life Outsiders: Margin Call; The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn; My Week With Marilyn; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; J. Edgar; Shame What a run for The Artist, which followed last week’s concerted effort to upstage The Descendants with this week’s total eclipse. It was pretty much pure Weinstein mojo: It all started Monday night at the Academy when the mogul roped in Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughters Carmen and Dolores — all the way from Paris — to “host” a screening on the film’s behalf. “The Artist holds a special importance for us because we had the privilege of intimately experiencing the culture of black and white silent films which forever left its mark upon us as artists,” the Chaplins said in a joint statement announcing the screening, which was also attended by director Michel Hazanavicus, co-star Brnice Bejo, Uggie the dog (who, Pete Hammond noted, “was forbidden by the Academy from taking part in the Q&A”) and a significant cross-section of both guild and Academy membership. “The film has a universal dimension crossing boundaries of language, challenging our expectations, and breaking commercial convention by returning to the purest form of film-making.” Damn. The Descendants, meanwhile, fought back a bit with a superb box-office showing in limited release, but that wasn’t enough to repel a developing backlash among critics and awards pundits alike. Even with 91 percent positive reactions on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the intense, concentrated distaste of detractors like J. Hoberman (“[I]t’s being touted by industry savants for a Best Picture Oscar because it’s the sort of movie that, in resolving a tragically irresolvable situation, encourages audiences and studios to feel good about themselves. […] The pathos is as unearned as the protagonist’s privilege”) and our own Stephanie Zacharek (“There’s nothing surprising or affecting about it. Not even Clooney, who works wonders with the occasional piece of dialogue, can save it”) among others hinted at the film’s possible perceptual shortcomings among awards voters (especially writers and directors) persists. Meanwhile, Grantland’s Oscar oracle Mark Harris — himself not a Descendants fan — weighed in with a typically clear-eyed glimpse at the film’s curse of seasonally high expectations: Whatever you think of The Descendants, it probably should not have had to open with the burden of what the NY Times’ David Carr used to call all of us “Oscar ninnies” having spent months announcing that it’s a front-runner, or of reviews that bandy about words like “perfect” and in one case even suggest that “perfect” sells the movie short. Very few films […] can keep from buckling a little under the adjectival decoration that’s lavished on them during awards season. They’re like racehorses weighed down with garlands before they even get out of the starting gate. And it only gets worse. If you think The Descendants has it hard, consider the challenges faced by War Horse and The Iron Lady and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which don’t open for a month and will have to pass through literally dozens of awards announcements before you can actually buy a ticket. Well, yes and no. For a guy whose awards column debuted in mid-September, Harris doth protest a smidge too much. He knows as well as the rest of us the business we are in, and studios know exactly what they’re getting into by planting their prestige crop for a late-fall harvest. It’s never pretty when a freeze hits, but under ideal conditions you’ll be eating all winter. But he also alludes to a crucial point about what we can gain from a — gasp! — year-round awards harvest. It’s no coincidence, for example, that Warner Bros. has exhumed Contagion for a late Oscar bid; the studio’s J. Edgar is toast, they’re hiding Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close for as long as it can (we’ll get to that in a second), and it’s not like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 stands a legitimate chance at nominations outside a few craft categories. Harris himself suggested this tack two months ago, largely because he had the benefit of having, you know, seen the film. That’s why The Artist may be Harvey Weinstein’s boldest stroke of genius ever. By acquiring a Cannes Film Festival darling way back in May, the buzz was already out. No coastal interests would face hurt feelings for being shut out of a first wave of November/December screenings; no life-or-death premieres would ensue at Venice, Toronto or AFI Fest. The worst that could happen would be peaking too early, but even that wasn’t an awards-season dealbreaker. After all, Harvey entitled awards influencers and prognosticators — who loathe, more than anything, acknowledging they could ever have a wrong read on a film — to stand by their sight-unseen darlings J. Edgar, War Horse or Extremely Loud all the way through December. As the darlings fell off, which they always do, those observers could naturally come back and sat they were behind The Artist all along. Which, technically, they were. Everybody wins. The flipside, again, is when the studios get their prestige release dates right. I give Warners a lot of credit for withholding Extremely Loud from the NY Film Critics Circle’s advanced voting deadline — not because I have anything at all against the NYFCC (of whom Stephanie Zacharek is a member), but because the decision — assuming the studio and producer Scott Rudin stick to it — expresses old-fashioned faith in a product to speak directly to its audience, up to and including the Academy. Rudin, Weinstein and Extremely Loud director Stephen Daldry did something similar with The Reader back in 2008, which was rushed into a qualifying run without any interest in the December awards circus. The last word mattered more, and that investment paid off with five nominations and one win. On the other hand, the principals may just be protecting a surefire also-ran — a noble gesture in itself, at least from the perspective that finds The Descendants overexposed and limping into December. Either way, it beats the reverse-psychology strategy of suggesting your movie has “too much anal rape” for the Academy — but only by a little. Of course, all of this overlooks the dizzying ascent of Hugo, which goes head-to-head with The Artist this week in terms of both hype (e.g. two NYC guild screenings last weekend, attended by everyone from Martin Scorsese to Sacha Baron Cohen to Chloe Moretz and more, followed by a Manhattan megapremiere) and hosannas (e.g. a critical reception only slightly off the stunning pace of The Artist’s own). Not to be outdone, DreamWorks and Disney are sneaking preview screenings of War Horse into 10 cities this weekend, with Steven Spielberg attending a Q&A in NY on Sunday night — and that’s not even counting the industry previews unspooling over the next few days. All of this commences what we might as well call War Horse Week, which will culminate in the film’s junket and world premiere on Dec. 4. I’ll let you know how that’s going when we reconvene here next Wednesday, assuming I haven’t narcoleptically tumbled into some desk-borne stupor by then. To be continued… The Leading 5: 1. Alexander Payne, The Descendants 2. Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist 3. Steven Spielberg, War Horse 4. Martin Scorsese, Hugo 5. David Fincher, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Outsiders: Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris; Bennett Miller, Moneyball; Tate Taylor, The Help; George Clooney, The Ides of March; Tomas Alfredson, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Clint Eastwood, J. Edgar Despite the increasingly public face, charm and acclaim Hazanavicius brings to The Artist — to say nothing of the staggering creative accomplishment his film represents — he’s still “Michel Hazanavicius.” That’s totally surmountable in a profile sense (ask Tom Hooper), but there’s something about some of the reported responses to The Descendants’ Academy screening last week — “Clearly, it is the type of film that will probably stick with you and people will think back on,” one viewer mentioned, while another added, “I wouldn’t read it as they think it’s the best of the year; more likely positioning it as one of the top contenders” — that suggests a faction perfectly happy to wait and see how each film fares commercially and against the rest of the remaining 2011 contenders. Thus I’m not ready to downgrade Payne yet, but nothing suggests he’s especially safe up there. In any case, try as he and Hazanavicius and Spielberg and Fincher (especially Fincher) might, there may be no slowing Scorsese down if Hugo takes off with audiences. He’s already got James Cameron in his pocket. Who’s next?

New Underworld Poster Online

Kate Beckinsale has returned having a vengeanceUnderworld: Awakening, the 4th instalment within the goth-rocking Underworld franchise, is going to be here within the year. Following a recent trailer, here is a new poster, which oddly enough sees Kate Beckinsale's selene ditching her usual look towards a twinset and pearls, plus some sturdy orthopaedic footwear. We jest, obviously it is the usual guns and PVC. Ho ho, visitors.Things to say? Slightly videogamey turn to the less than photo-real central Seline, further strengthened through the poster's slight Assassin's Creed vibe. Which fiery rain puts us in your mind from the Max Payne movie.Additionally, there are "Vengeance Returns" because the saying. We do not recall Seline being about vengeance before she was much more about being away from home, wasn't she? But "Getting away Runs Again" does not seem nearly as good, so we are taking "Vengeance Returns" to imply that she's back and this time around she's pissed off. The "Returns" bit is mentioning to Seline's prolonged slumber (see below), and Beckinsale's not getting experienced Rise From The Lycans, that was a prequel with Rhona Mitra.Underworld: Awakening is placed 15 years afterUnderworld: Evolution, and seescatsuited vamp Seline being released ofa coma to locate that they includes a daughter (India Eisley):a vampire/werewolf hybrid, who's the merchandise of this sudden tryst between Beckinsale and Scott Speedman at the back of a van.Michael Ealy, Stephen Rea and Charles Dance will also be on-hands, Guys Marlin and Bjorn Stein (Shelter) are pointing from the script by John Hlavin and J Michael Straczynski, andUnderworld: Awakening 3Dwill be launched on The month of january 20.

2011 Holiday Movie Season: The Greatest ever?

The holidays is really a Hollywood hotspot for large movies. Using the Academy awards right nearby the ones taking extended holidays, the month of December has turned into a breeding ground for galleries searching to focus on their finest films of the season, but this winter is shaping as much as be probably the most crowded seasons in recent memory. In present day NY Occasions, author Michael Cieply compares the approaching slate of projects within the next two several weeks. His conclusion? You will find lots of movies being released! As Cieply highlights, there have been four major studio releases around or on Christmas Day this year, and three last year. This season, six major movies can come out "having a total production and marketing cost approaching $1 billion, from company directors who've 25 past Oscar nominations included in this.Inch This list includes 'The Girl Using the Dragon Tattoo,' 'Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol,' 'The Adventures of Tintin,' 'War Equine,' 'We Purchased a Zoo' and 'Extremely Noisy and extremely Close.' Additionally, Meryl Streep's 'The Iron Lady' is going to be launched on December 30. The finish of the month might find the premiere of much more long awaited movies: 'The Artist,' My Week With Marilyn,' 'The Muppets' and 'Hugo' to title a couple of. Will the crowded slate of movies be an excessive amount of for audiences to deal with? With the amount of films being released, you would need to assume a minimum of a couple of large budget projects will stumble. Either that, or even the holidays will break Hollywood from its two-month lengthy box office malaise. If you are still confused at things to see, our Holiday Movie Preview below may help. Or you might always stay home watching the TNT 24-hour marathon of 'A Christmas Story.' [via NY Occasions] Moviefone 2011 Holiday Movie Preview 'Tower Heist''A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas''J. Edgar''Jack & Jill''Immortals''Happy Ft Two''Breaking Beginning Part 1''The Descendants''Arthur Christmas''Hugo''The Muppets''The Artist''My Week With Marilyn''A Harmful Method''Shame''New Year's Eve''The Sitter''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''W.E.''Young Adult''We Have to Discuss Kevin''Alvin and also the Chipmunks 3''Sherlock Holmes: A Game Title of Shadows''Carnage''Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol''The Adventures of Tintin''The Girl Using the Dragon Tattoo''We Purchased a Zoo''In the Land of Bloodstream and Honey''War Equine''Extremely Noisy and extremely Close''The Iron Lady' See All Moviefone Art galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Broadway's 'Godspell' is Paradise-Sent due to its Cast

NY (AP) One was waiting tables inside a Occasions Square ocean food restaurant. These guys at Disney films and also on tour while using Jonas Brothers and sisters. Another had completed at Carnegie Hall, but wondered when she'd land theater's finest prize.The Three George Salazar, Anna Maria Perez p Tagle and Celisse Henderson are overjoyed being making their Broadway debuts this month in the revival of Stephen Schwartz's "Godspell.""Personally, it's a dream be realized,In . states Perez p Tagle because the others jerk.The trio is an element from the 10-person cast that stars Hunter Parish, whose credits include Showtime's "Weeds" and Broadway's "Spring Awakening," as Jesus but furthermore is loaded with lots of youthful artists making their first foray onto a Broadway stage. The fashionable musical retelling in the New Testament's Gospel of Matthew opens Monday within the Circle inside the Square Theatre.The Tony-nominated score features the tunes "Daily,Inch ''Turn Back, O Guy," ''Prepare Ye the means by whichInch and "Light round the globeInch as well as the story up-to-date with modern jokes, including references to Kanye and Occupy Wall Street hits a contagious, hopeful tone."Godspell," which was an off-Broadway and Broadway smash inside the seventies and was converted to a film in 1973, is really a mainstay of chapel groups, high schools and schools since. Artists for instance Jeremy Irons, Zach Braff, Gilda Radner, Madonna, Full Latifah, Alice Ripley and Jon Hamm were in productions as youthful people.Inside an interview deep underneath the theater, Salazar, Perez p Tagle and Henderson laugh and joke simply because they describe how they each needed different paths to complete up singing and dancing together."Most likely the most amazing causes of in this group is always that everyone involved is actually unbelievable grateful being here, for whatever reason,In . states Salazar, 25.The Three may also be consuming media attention: They've been in "Late Show With David Letterman," taken photos of for Vanity Fair and were transformed into cartoons for just about any recent Broadway-designed episode of "South Park."Salazar, who arises from Kissimmee, Fla., was serving drinks and dinner within the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Occasions Square when he got a telephone call this summer season in regards to the "Godspell" auditions. No problem, he thought: He'd experienced the second national tour of "Spring Awakening" combined with in the bank a few go-to tunes.But there's a catch. His manager mentioned producers in the musical were also asking artists to arrange their unique improvised to experience a Bible parable. And Salazar had short amount of time to arrange his audition was the very next day.InchRight here I am with shrimp on trays and drinks throughout my hands, and i'm going, 'When can one do this?AInch he recalls.Three several days and five auditions later plus a nerve-racking one before Schwartz, who also composed the music activity and written the lyrics for "Wicked" Salazar learned he'd showed up employment when his phone rang."I dropped it. I used to be a sweaty, crying mess inside the hallway on the ground. It absolutely was one minute I'll remember,In . according to him. In recognition of the moment, Salazar states he'll be wearing special Nikes on opening evening featuring the total amount "08-26" August. 26 your entire day he was cast.Perez p Tagle, the newborn in the group just 20, was flying into NY for just about any marketing event from her home in La when her manager suggested she go to the "Godspell" audition.She'd begun her career on stage in regional productions of "Cinderella," ''The Wiz" and "The King which iInch and lately had came out round the Disney Channel's series "Hannah Montana," too as with such films as "Fame" and "Camping Rock 2: The Best Jam." A year ago, she along with while using Jonas Brothers and sisters and Demi Lovato.But her heart was on stage, even if she wasn't familiar then with "Godspell.". Multiple callbacks incorporated travel arrangements from La made that dream possible now she's happily gone after NY and started a completely new existence."This complete journey, using these amazing people, is honestly the most effective component that ever happened," she states, her voice cracking with emotion. "I'm different now. Which is all because of them."Henderson's route remains a lengthy and several tortured. She was among three stars inside an earlier output of "Godspell" completed at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse in 2006. It absolutely was to produce the jump to Broadway couple of years later, nevertheless the economic crash made that impossible.A nearby of Concord, Calif., 27-year-old Henderson has gathered varied credits: She was seen off-Broadway in "On The HighwayInch stood a recurring role on "The Electrical Company" reaches a national touring company of "Wicked" and released her debut album "Show and Tell" a year ago. But Broadway was elusive. To date.InchIt is type of can be found in a stylish in time my existence. I've been working in the market since i have have was 17," she states. "Now it's end up being the best factor that's ever happened in my opinion.InchThe 3 stress how fun and close the cast has become, a feeling perfectly in tune getting a musical that's about 10 individuals who're declaring back their pleasure. "It is not like use us. It's playing," states Perez p Tagle. "It is so enjoyable.InchInchYou will discover no egos, you will discover no personality clashes. Everyone works so well together which you will find there's lot fun," adds Salazar. "Hopefully that you've a real extended healthy run because, I'd rather not cease working here."Copyright 2011 Connected Press. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

News Corp. Posts Strong Earnings in a Politically Tumultuous Quarter

Strong results at film and television helped propel News Corp. to impressive revenue in itsfiscal first quarter of 2012 despite distractions from scandals that the company has had to deal with.our editor recommendsOccupy Wall Street Protesters to Target News Corp. Shareholder Meeting PHOTOS: 9 Highest Paid Entertainment CEOs News Corp. said Wednesday that revenue rose 7 percent to $7.96 billion while analysts expected the company to post revenue that rose 4 percent to $7.4 billion. Net income of $738 million was down from $775 million a year ago and translated to an adjusted 32 cents per share, which also exceeded what analysts had anticipated.News Corp. shares rose 2 percent on Wednesday and another 2 percent after the closing bell. PHOTOS: News of the World's Top 10 Scandals Some of the company's top executives are scheduled take questions from the press and Wall Street analysts during a conference call Wednesday afternoon. While the analysts will most likely use the opportunity to delve into the numbers, guidance and the economy at large, reporters might focus on the News of the World phone-hacking scandal and other accusations of corruption at Rupert Murdoch's company, topics that dominated an Oct. 21 shareholder meeting at the Fox Studios lot in Los Angeles. Executives also might be asked if they have an interest in buying the Dodgers, a Major League Baseball team they owned a decade ago and is available for purchase again. Related Topics Rupert Murdoch News Corp. News of the World