Tag Archives: HBO

HBO expresses interest in ‘Bored to Death’ movie, series creator Jonathan Ames on board

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Bored to Death is making a comeback. The critically acclaimed entertaining neo-noir series from Jonathan Ames has a development deal at HBO Films that could result in a feature-length TV-movie airing on the premium cable channel. Ever since its cancellation in December 2011, a Bored to Death revival-as-a-movie has been rumored and now the project is swimming much closer to reality.

The logline goes like this: “Jonathan, Ray, and George reunite to fight crime, commit crime, lose their minds and fail at love in a Bored to Death feature-length slapstick adventure.”

Ames will pen the script and serve as executive producer along with Sarah Condon and Stephanie Davis. Stars Jason Schwartzman, who played a fantastical version of real-life Jonathan Ames as a novelist and private eye, Zach Galifianakis, who played Jonathan’s best friend Ray, and Ted Danson, who played Jonathan’s pot-smoking boss George are not officially signed on for the project yet, but all three have expressed interest to team up again and bring these characters back to life.

More as this exciting, slightly unexpected story develops.

[Via THR]

Behind the scenes: ‘Game of Thrones’ season 3 [Update: cast photos]

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As we sprint toward spring the next season of Game of Thrones looms on the horizon. Here is a behind-the-scenes look at season 3 with commentary by the cast and the producers. “This is the rise and fall season because there are so many characters who come into the season with power of some kind who lose everything, and other characters who enter with almost nothing and achieve great power,” says executive producer David Benioff. “It’s still very much about power and very much about family,” adds Benioff partner D.B. Weiss. “I also think that this is a season of tremendous reversals of fortune. I think you will be pleasantly surprised and horrified in equal measure.” Star Peter Dinklage says, “The show keeps expanding and breathing more deeply.”

Game of Thrones returns March 31 at 10PM on HBO.

Update (1/25): HBO has released a slew of cast photos from the upcoming season. See new faces and old in the gallery below.

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TV reminder: ‘Girls’ season 2 premieres tonight (1/13) at 9PM on HBO (trailers inside)

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The (mis)adventures of Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna continue when the critically acclaimed HBO series Girls from creator/executive producer/writer/star Lena Dunham returns for its second season tonight (1/13) at 9PM. The season 2 poster features Dunham up-close-and-personal with the perfect tagline “Almost getting it kind of together.” In an interview with EW Dumham said, “If you loved what we were doing last season, then we’re speaking right to you. If you hated it, then I’m afraid things aren’t going to change.”

After the break, get a taste of what’s in store and watch two trailers containing new material from the upcoming season. There you’ll also find a “Girls on Guys” featurette, or a primped Dunham conducting a fun conversation with Girls guys Adam Driver, Alex Karpovsky, Christopher Abbott, and Andrew Rannells (who is performing double duty this year working on this show and Ryan Murphy’s The New Normal).
 Continue reading TV reminder: ‘Girls’ season 2 premieres tonight (1/13) at 9PM on HBO (trailers inside) →

TV teaser: ‘Game of Thrones’ season 3

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Don’t expect to see any new footage from the third season of HBO’s fantasy series in this recently released teaser for Game of Thrones. Still, it is intriguing nonetheless. It features the three-eyed raven from Bran’s dreams flying over a modern cityscape. Pretty sure this has nothing to do what unfolds in the story. I haven’t read the books but I don’t think we’ll be seeing the Starks and the Lannisters discovering a portal to 2013. “Their world returns to ours” is what the promo is trying to say, meaning we will be transporting to Westeros soon when the series returns March 31. Allow “The Rains of Castamere” to soothe your soul and click play above.

‘Game of Thrones’ season 3 to air longer episodes; plus a series-inspired beer is in the works

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March might not feel so close right now, but I’m about to make the wait a bit more bearable. Today EW broke news that the third season of Game of Thrones will feature longer episodes than ever before. Showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff explain the situation thusly. “There’s almost another full episode’s worth of extra minutes spread across the season,” says Weiss. “One of the great liberties with HBO is we’re not forced to come in at a specific time. We can’t be under 50 minutes or over 60, but that gives us a lot of flexibility.” So what are we talking about exactly? “Last year we had a lot of 52-minute episodes. This year is a lot of 56, 57,” adds Benioff. This should come as a pleasant surprise for not only fans of the show but also the readers of the books on which the series is based. Season 3 plans to cover approximately the first half of George R.R. Martin’s thickest Song of Ice and Fire novel, A Storm of Swords. “A super-sized season, as befitting Storm of Swords,” Benioff exclaims. Additionally, EW reports that a jam-packed season 3 finale will likely exceed an hour in length provided HBO gives the fantasy series the go-ahead. In sum, though HBO still caps the episode count at 10 it will feel like there’s 11 when all is said and done. “So for people clamoring for another episode, it’s in there,” Weiss elaborates. “It’s just been cut into tiny pieces.”

Game of Thrones premieres March 31, 2013. To learn about the series-inspired beer, jump after the break. Continue reading ‘Game of Thrones’ season 3 to air longer episodes; plus a series-inspired beer is in the works →

First look: ‘Game of Thrones’ season 3 (video)

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It’s not an epic trailer, but here is our first look into the next season of Game of Thrones. The two minute clip takes you behind-the-scenes of production on the third season of HBO’s fantasy series based on a series of books by George R.R. Martin. In it you’ll hear from the series showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, as well as some of the cast including Richard Madden (Robb), Maisie Williams (Arya), and Emlia Clarke (Daenerys). Peter Dinklage also makes a brief appearance and you get to see how Tyrion’s permanent scar looks. With new locations, characters, and an upgraded wardrobe being introduced next year, the upcoming season of Thrones “is the season [we’ve] been anticipating from the very beginning,” says Benioff. Clarke will get your blood pumping with her closing remarks: “The game’s been upped. There’s so much more danger. There’s so much more risk.”

Game of Thrones returns March 31, 2013.

TV poster: ‘Game of Thrones’ season 3 [Update: promo teaser inside]

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This official poster serves as a reminder that HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones returns for its third season on March 31, 2013.

Update (11/19): A promo teaser joins the promo poster after the jump. There is no actual footage from the upcoming season; what we get is this fiery and icy quote: “The great war is between death and life, ice and fire. If we lose, the night will never end.” Continue reading TV poster: ‘Game of Thrones’ season 3 [Update: promo teaser inside] →

Movie trailer: Anthony Hopkins is ‘Hitchcock’

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Is Alfred Hitchcock rising from the grave? No, but you might make a double take when you watch this trailer for Hitchcock, a biopic that follows the famed director as he attempts to get one of his most adored films Psycho into theatres. Directed by a Brit Sacha Gervasi, the movie is based on Stephen Rebello’s non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho and it stars Anthony Hopkins as a convincing Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Helen Mirren as Hitchcock’s wife Alma Reville and Scarlett Johansson and James D’Arcy as the leads of Psycho, Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The good-looking cast appears up to the challenge in this premiere trailer, and with a November 23 release date the movie will be up for contention at this year’s Oscars.

With Hitchcock releasing next month, the master of horror is getting the star treatment this year if you also factor in HBO’s upcoming TV film The Girl. This one stars Toby Jones as Hitchcock and it explores his questionable relationship with actress Tippi Hedren, the girl who starred in his films The Birds and Marnie, played by Sienna Miller. The Girl airs Saturday, October 20th at 9PM on HBO. The trailer sits after the break. Continue reading Movie trailer: Anthony Hopkins is ‘Hitchcock’ →

‘Entourage’ movie update: Creator Doug Ellin is almost done with the script!

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If you thought you’d never see the boys again, you thought wrong. Entourage creator Doug Ellin spilled to Deadline that his plans to bring back Vince, Drama, Turtle, E, and Ari for one last big screen hurrah are chugging along at a brisk pace. As of this past Wednesday he claimed to be on page 110 of the screenplay and that he has hopes to finish it by this Sunday. Though the plot is being kept under wraps, Ellin teased what’s in store for fans of the hit HBO series. If you recall, during a post-credits sequence agent Ari Gold received an important phone call from John Ellis asking if he would succeed him as the head of a studio. “There are interesting developments about Ari as a studio head, and that’s still the first page for me,” said Ellin. “But foremost is the friendship between the guys who are still hanging out and going to fun parties, and it continues with the same characters.”

And now we wait with bated breath for HBO to greenlight Entourage: The Movie. When there’s more, you’ll know. For now, smoke more weed Turtle, seriously.

[Via Deadline]

Comic Con 2012: ‘Game of Thrones’ season 3 lands a March 2013 premiere date, new cast members introduced

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Game of Thrones season two just ended last month so what better way to bide your time than by marking your calendars with the season three premiere date. Ready? Here it is: March 31, 2013.

Other than announcing this special day, the Game of Thrones panel at Comic Con moderated by author George R.R. Martin included a five-and-a-half minute recap of the epic second season and a brief introduction to (a whopping) 14 new characters we will be forced to know next season. The former video is embedded above while the latter one hangs after the break. Under that video there’s a listing of all the new characters explaining how they’re each tied to the ones we already know. Continue reading Comic Con 2012: ‘Game of Thrones’ season 3 lands a March 2013 premiere date, new cast members introduced →

HBO renews Aaron Sorkin’s ‘The Newsroom’

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Jeff Daniels’ epic monologue was worth it; after two episodes had aired HBO renewed Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom for a second season. The June 24 series premiere attracted a healthy 2.1 million total viewers. The drama follows network anchor Will McAvoy (Daniels) and his newsroom staff led by executive producer MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer) as they attempt to revamp the way news is reported to viewers whilst weaving their way through personal entanglements. The premiere was solid and typical Sorkin: dialogue-heavy, which can be dizzying but at the same time quite invigorating. Have you seen his previous TV effort The West Wing and his award-winning recent screenplay in The Social Network? The Newsroom is intellectual and highly entertaining; if anything it’s an uplifting look into the chaotic world of reporting. If you missed the premiere you’re only two episodes behind; catch up because this isn’t one to miss.

In related HBO renewal news, True Blood is coming back for a sixth season (but without series creator Alan Ball because he’s moving onto a new show for Cinemax called Banshee) and Eastbound & Down will swing once more in season four (the network ordered eight more episodes).

The Newsroom airs Sunday nights at 10PM on HBO; True Blood precedes it at 9PM.

[Via Deadline 1, 2]

‘Bored to Death’ movie in the works!?

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After three seasons and twenty-four episodes on HBO, the Jonathan Ames series Bored to Death starring Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis, and Ted Danson was cancelled. The critically-acclaimed detective-noir themed series lived a life too short, but now there’s speculation that a TV movie is in the works. Vulture scooped that Danson told French journalist Pierre Langlas that there is a good chance of a 90-minute film being made. HBO reps have reached out to Vulture and The Hollywood Reporter to say that early discussions are being had regarding the revival of Bored to Death as a made-for-TV movie. That’s all there is for now, but rest assured I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground and will report back if any of this becomes more substantial.

Long live Jonathan Ames, novelist by day, moonlighting private eye by night.