Radha Mitchell To See Charge In Melissa Rosenbergs ABC Drama Pilot Penoza

EXCLUSIVE: Radha Mitchell is positioned to see charge inside the ABC drama pilot Penoza, written and executive produced by Twilight scribe Melissa Rosenberg. Using the Nederlander format, it concentrates on Martha (Mitchell), the widow from the assassinated criminal who's expected to adopt her husbands role in the crime syndicate to have the ability to safeguard her family. Mitchell, repped by ICM and manager Ron Ax, will next be viewed in Quiet Hill: Thought 3d.

Liam Hemsworth Takes 'Die Hard 5' Near-Miss In Stride

Some things are not meant to be. For Liam Hemsworth, that list includes being Bruce Willis' son in a film, at least. The "Hunger Games" star was reportedly one of two final contenders for the role of John McClane's rebellious son in "A Good Day to Die Hard," the fifth installment in the historic action movie franchise. In the end, he lost the part to Jai Courtney, a relatively unknown name whose biggest credits include "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" and Tom Cruise's upcoming "One Shot." Hemsworth isn't sweating it, though nor should he, considering he has a surefire hit coming up with "Hunger Games," not to mention a separate appearance opposite Willis in this summer's "Expendables" sequel. "It didn't end up happening," Hemsworth shrugged it off when speaking with MTV News about the missed opportunity. "Like a lot of things in this town, sometimes you're right for things, and sometimes someone else is better for the part." Thankfully for Hemsworth and his fans, he was exactly right for the role of Gale in "Hunger Games." In fact, it's a role he might be playing for some years to come assuming this first film does well, there are at least two more movies in the "Hunger Games" franchise, potentially even three, that need Gale's services. Hemsworth isn't counting his eggs before they hatch, though. "Everyones kind of waiting to see what happens with this one," he said when asked about movement on "Catching Fire," the first "Hunger Games" sequel. "And then hopefully we can shoot the second one and the third one." What do you think of Hemsworth missing out on the "Die Hard" role? Tell us in the comments or hit us up on Twitter!

Adele tops chart for 23rd week

Adele's "21" ongoing its extended roll since the 54-week-old album held its No. 1 slot round the U.S. album chart for just about any 23rd non-consecutive week. The Columbia title -- really the only album to occupy No. 1 so far this season -- acquired sales of 247,000 models the other day (off 17%), according to Nielsen SoundScan figures for your week ended March 4. The vocalist's 2008 debut "19" hung tough at No. 7 with 37,000 offered (lower just 6%). Once the British singer's Grammy-winning "21" can maintain its position for the next week, it'll tie 24-week runs within the pinnacle occur the pre-SoundScan era by two best-selling soundtracks, Prince's "Crimson Rain" (1984-85) as well as the Bee Gees' "Saturday Evening Fever" (1977-78). However, "21" will have to prevent challenging inside a couple of days having a heavily marketed era, Bruce Springsteen's politically charged "Wrecking Ball," which showed up at stores Tuesday. In Control has carried out the spoiler before: three years ago, Springsteen's last new studio album "Concentrating On an aspirationInch became a member of at No. 1 getting a 224,000-unit bow, ending a seven-week run within the apex by Taylor Swift's best-selling "Courageous." Despite a tiny bit of 36%, Whitney Houston's "Finest Hits" (Arista/The brand new the new sony) holds at No. 2, monitoring 112,000 copies. The late singer comprises around three game game titles inside the top: her soundtrack for "The Bodyguard" increases one position to No. 5 (43,000 offered, off 9%), while her debut set "Whitney Houston" dips one rung to No. 10 (25,000, lower 15%). Houston, who died Feb. 11, comprises about nine positions among the national best gamers albums now. Only fresh title inside the top might be the self-titled release by WZRD, a rock side project by top rapper Kid Cudi. Set reaches No. 3 getting a 66,000-unit debut stanza. Cudi attracted attention the other day after he excoriated his label Universal Republic on Twitter due to its purported under-shipment in the release. Relaxation in the week's top albums are the "Now 41" compilation (No. 4, 46,000 offered, lower 15%), Tyga's "Careless World" (No. 6, 37,000, off 39%), Drake's "Be MindfulInch (No. 8, 29,000, up 13%) and Rihanna's "Talk That Talk" (No. 9, 25,000, up 9%). Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Super Tuesday: Box Office Edition

It might seem like the GOP primary season has been stretching on since the day Barack Obama entered the White House with the seemingly endless blather about socialism-inspired domestic initiatives and terrorist-sympathizing foreign policy, about how gay marriage will destroy the moral fabric of society, about how asking for heath care-provided contraceptives makes you a slut it's only just beginning. Because today is Super Tuesday the biggest, baddest day on the GOP nominating calendar. Primaries and caucuses in 10 states (Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia) will be held today. 419 GOP convention delegates are up for grabs. Mitt Romney is vying to re-solidify his front-runner status. Rick Santorum is hoping voters will coalesce around a guy with a 1950s moral compass and a 21st-century hatred of government. And Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are still hanging around because, well, what else have they got to do? It's exhausting to try and keep track of all this stuff. It's depressing, too. Which is why on Super Tuesday, I'll be fleeing to my favorite escapist wonderland: the multiplex. In that spirit, let's take a look back at Super Tuesday as it applies to the box-office: the 10 highest-grossing Tuesdays in movie history (all figures come from Box Office Mojo). 10. "Night at the Museum": $13,506,030 (12/26/06) Days after opening with a $30.4 million weekend, Ben Stiller's fantastical romp through the American Museum of Natural History continued to dominate on its way to becoming the comedian's second highest-grossing film of his career. Stiller's number-one slot belongs to "Meet the Fockers," proving that, much like in the voting booth, there's no accounting for taste at the movie theaters. 9. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen": $13,510,024 (6/30/09) With many kids freshly out of school for summer break, the second "Transformers" out-grossed the first-Tuesday haul of "Dark of the Moon" by just $80,000. Both films went on to trounce the total domestic gross of the original, but neither could touch the first one's super-fantastic first Tuesday, for reasons that will become clear below. 8. "National Treasure: Book of Secrets": $13,656,128 (12/25/07) Perhaps our most politically relevant film on the Super Tuesday list, insofar as its focused on the American presidential past and present and doesn't take place on Pandora, "Book of Secrets" became a surprise $200-million blockbuster in '07. Rumors abound about "National Treasure 3," but there's been no solid news about the project since early in 2011. 7. "Toy Story 3": $15,123,212 (6/22/10) The only animated movie on the list owned the competition for the final two weeks in June of '10. Even its first Thursday gross would have been high enough for Woody's third adventure to kick "Night at the Museum" off the list. 6. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2": $15,388,166 (7/19/11) What's initially surprising isn't how well the final "Potter" flick performed on its first Tuesday of release, but that other films in the franchise haven't even come close to matching that B.O. booty. "Deathly Hallows - Part 1," though, hit theaters in November (good for #25 on the list), when kids were still stuck in school, and "Half-Blood Prince" nabbed a Wednesday release in the summer of '09 (hanging on at #39), meaning fans had six days to peep the film before Tuesday rolled around. 5. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest": $15,731,919 (7/11/06) The second film in Johnny Depp's series may have been a patience-trying mess, but by the time anyone had noticed, "Dead Man's Chest" had run off three-straight number-one weekends. The public wouldn't be suckered again: both subsequent franchise films didn't touch either the first-Tuesday bounty or the total box-office haul of "Dead Man's Chest." Fool me once 4. "Avatar": $16,086,461 (12/22/09) Both a geek and a liberal's dream movie (or, depending on your political persuasion, proof of Hollywood's hippie, pinko bleeding heart), "Avatar" pivoted from a relatively disappointing, blizzard-afflicted opening weekend and stormed into the work week impressively. A few billion dollars later, it was the highest-grossing movie of all time. 3. "Avatar": $18,290,628 (12/29/09) What's crazy about this is the second Tuesday of release did better than the first Tuesday. Shoot, the second Wednesday did better than the first Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Positive word of mouth thrust "Avatar" to the front of the pack. If only Santorum could work such magic. 2. "The Dark Knight": $20,868,722 (7/22/08) The second installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman series ranks as the comic-book adaptation with the highest slot on the Super Tuesday list. No surprise, then, that it's also the biggest comic-book movie ever. 1. "Transformers": $27,851,016 (7/3/07) In box-office numbers, as in politics itself, not everything is fair. "Transformers" blew away the Super Tuesday competition because it was lucky enough to premiere on a Tuesday in fact, the day before July 4th. Impressive stuff, no doubt, but its record-setting Tuesday was still well behind the Wednesday debut of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"($68.5 million) and the Thursday premiere of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" ($50 million). So yes, "Transformers" is the most super of Super Tuesday releases, but Romney and Santorum are going to have to metaphorically outpace that robot epic if either man wants Super Tuesday to deliver true political momentum. Tell us what you think in the comments section or on Twitter!

SAG, TV Land pact on King Street shows

In a move kept under wraps for six months, the Screen Actors Guild has signed a deal with TV Land for coverage of shows made by its King Street Prods. with potentially fewer residuals than other SAG-covered shows on basic cable. SAG confirmed the signing Sunday night after the SAG Watchdog website disclosed the deal, which was signed in August. "SAG negotiated a deal with TV Land's inhouse production company, King Street Prods., that covers all programming it makes for TV Land," a guild spokesman said. "The agreement expands SAG's coverage in television and utilizes an exhibition day formula for lower-budgeted programs." SAG refused to provide further details. The "exhibition day" formula allows reruns to be shown on 12 nonconsecutive days within one year of the first airing of the episode. Once the 12 days have been used, or the year has lapsed, a residual formula would apply. The deal does not cover TV Land shows such as "Hot in Cleveland" and "The Exes," which are already covered by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. SAG and AFTRA are seeking member approval of a merger, with ballots due March 30. The approval came from a SAG standing committee rather than the national board and was not submitted to the membership for approval. The SAG Watchdog posting by site operator Arlin Miller asserted the deal was not negotiated as part of the "basic cable negotiations" but as a separate deal, deviating from the SAG practice of negotiating national uniform contracts. "Of course, this is the way they've always done business at AFTRA and now, for first time, SAG too," Miller wrote. Leaders of the two unions battled over provisions of cable deals in 2007 over free reruns on 30 cable shows covered by AFTRA such as "Dirt," "Zooey 101," "Hannah Montana" and "The Sarah Silverman Show." SAG's Membership First faction -- which took control of the guild board in 2005 -- banded together as AFTRAartists to run for slots on the AFTRA national board, the Los Angeles board and as delegates to the national convention on the platform that AFTRA should only sign deals equivalent to SAG's. The move didn't result in a change in AFTRA policy, however. AFTRA's contention at the time was that if the shows are shot on digital, either union could go after the program since that area had never been defined and that AFTRA should make these deals with cable networks to avoid producers going non-union. SAG leaders also clashed with AFTRA that year over the latter's refusal to reduce its 50-50 participation on the negotiating committees for film-TV and on commercials -- despite accounting for far less of the overall earnings. SAG's complained that AFTRA had been offering producers cheaper contracts in basic cable, while AFTRA accused SAG leaders of being radical and inflexible, asserting that its "one size fits all" approach to contracts resulted in fewer union jobs. The Membership First faction began losing power in 2008 when the Unite for Strength faction began running on a platform that SAG and AFTRA should merge, partly to prevent such jurisdictional disputes. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Universal dates 'Identity Theft'

Universal has set a May 10, 2013 release daet for Seth Gordon's crime comedy "Id Theft."Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy are affixed to star with Scott Stuber to create through his Stuber Pictures banner, alongside Bateman and Peter Morgan for DumbDumb. Pic involves a guy whose identity is stolen with a lady.Universal used exactly the same weekend this past year for that opening of "Bridesmaids," that McCarthy received an Oscar nom."Id Theft" will open against Warner Bros.' sci-fier "Off-shore Rim," directed by Guillermo del Toro within the tale of the alien attack threatening our planet's existence. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

Jennifer Lawrence And Josh Hutcherson Open In 'The Yes/No Show'

It's that time again, folks! We're back for the next round of After Hours' "The Yes/No Show," and this time around around it's starring the best the famous stars in the approaching film "The Hunger Games." When you fans of "The Yes/No Show" knows, host Josh Horowitz offers fans an interesting have a look at their preferred stars they may possibly not have seen otherwise. The newest sufferers site visitors are Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, that are possibly more searching toward standing on this program than others we view. So yes, you'll be able to call Lawrence "JLau" and Hutcherson "The Hutch." No, JLau doesn't think she'll pummelled among "The Twilight Saga's" vampires of the underworld from the underworld. In addition to -- and perhaps most disturbingly -- all of "The Hunger Games" stars agreed they'd kill and eat Horowitz once they would face off against him in the future Hunger Games. Maybe he should watch his later on interviews?

Hub to unveil live-action series, figures at upfront

'Kaijudo: Rise in the Duel Masters'Kidvid cabler the Hub is adding three new toon series towards the programming selection, additionally to reruns of vintage sitcoms "The Particulars of Existence," "Mork & Mindy" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."At its upfront presentation on Thursday, the Hub, a partnership of Discovery Communications and Hasbro, may even unveil the live-action series "Spooksville," using the popular tween book series from author Christopher Pike. Jane Startz is positioned to produce.InchCelebration of 5Inch thesp Scott Wolf will lend his voice to animated series "Kaijudo: Rise in the Duel Masters," from Hasbro Art galleries. Set to create inside the summer season, "Kaijudo" can be a fantasy series that follows the adventures from the youthful hero getting a chance to befriend and duel fantastical creatures in the parallel dimension.Other original toon series coming this year are "Care Bears: Thank you for going to Care-a-Lot" and "Littlest Pet Shop.""We're developing a slate of programs for your 2012-13 season that continues our way of showing series based on well-known names and beloved characteristics," mentioned Hub prexy Margaret Loesch. "We're confident this feature will further define us since the entertainment place to choose kids in addition to their families."Searching to broaden its live-action slate, Hub will give you repeats of family-friendly sitcoms "The Particulars of Existence," "Mork & Mindy" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" inside the second quarter of year.Completely, internet has nine series and special deals returning, incorporated its top-rated "Transformers Prime" and "My Little Pony Friendship Is Miracle."The Hub, which bowed in October 2010, still faces a continuing climb in competing against dominant kidvid shops Disney Funnel and Nickelodeon. Ratings for your Hub elevated 10% this season compared to 2010 among kids 2-11 for total programming day, nevertheless it still averaged only 33,000 audiences. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

Moth Diaries Trailer Flies In

Lily Cole vamps it upYou might expect a moth's journal to contain entries like "11pm: Flew into lightbulb," but you'll find no such nonsense in Mary Harron's psychological horror The Moth Diaries, the trailer for which has just arrived online. This is the tale of Rebecca (Sarah Bolger), sent to boarding school ("My father had just died; my mother was a wreck") and having her world rocked by the darkly mysterious and obsessive Ernessa (Lily Cole). "Cooped up here, you girls all get so close, and all that emotion can turn toxic," says English teacher Scott Speedman.Think that sounds like 19th century Gothic novella Carmilla? Well done, take a house mark. That's exactly what's going on here. The girls are studying Sheridan LeFanu's spooky classic in their English class, so the parallels are entirely deliberate, although whether The Moth Diaries is actually a vampire story remains ambiguous.This might all sound like LeFanu for the Twilight tweens, but, at least from the look of the trailer, the emphasis seems to be on proper psychological tension and chills, and the clip makes sure we know that Mary Harron was the writer and director of American Psycho. We're promised sex and blood, withCole explaining that, "Some people find great joy in the prospect of death"."My mother she butchered me, my father he ate me," Cole sings. We don't get to hear what her sister did. US audiences will possibly get to find out on April 20. We're still awaiting a date in the UK.If you fancy reading Carmilla, it's in LeFanu's In A Glass Darkly. Or it's online at Project Gutenberg.

Nicolas Cage keen on making Ghost Rider 3

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance smashes into UK cinemas this Friday, and its star Nicolas Cage is apparently already looking to get back in action for a third round as the flame-skulled anti-hero."I know Nic wants to do it, he's very pumped about it," says co-director Mark Neveldine. "We'll just wait to see how well [this] does."Cage was famously keen to get the Ghost Rider series back on the track after the disappointing original, and he seems to have found the ideal duo for the franchise in Crank helmers Neveldine and Bryan Taylor.The love appears to be mutual. "He's such an incredible force," says Taylor. "When you've got a weapon like that, you don't want to leave anything on the table."From what we've seen so far of Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for these three to get together again for a third round of comic book action. Watch this space.Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance opens 17 February 2012.

Edinburgh Film Fest returns honours

The Edinburgh Intl. Film Festival has reinstated several major honours, including best worldwide feature film by a growing director, best performance inside a British feature film and also the Michael Powell Award for the best British feature. In the past years in the fest, the Michael Powell Award honored the very best British feature film selected in the British Gala section inside a significant switch to the 2012 edition, documentaries may also be qualified. The performance award will be provided for an individual for exceptional operate in a U.K. feature-length production. The worldwide feature film to have an emerging director kudo may also be available to paperwork. Both British and worldwide competition sections is going to be judged by worldwide juries. Qualifications for that honours is going to be in the artistic director's discretion it will likewise be feasible for worldwide and British features to screen included in the program but from competition. Fest artistic director Chris Fujiwara stated inside a statement, "I'm delighted to re-introduce these honours for that Festival this season and am very happy to give both documentary and fiction films the chance to win the honours. Personally i think very strongly that getting significant honours is essential to have an worldwide film festival. Honours can stimulate creative dialogue and most importantly help shine the spotlight on emerging talent, that is area of the mission of EIFF." Contact Carole Horst at carole.horst@variety.com

Strong winter for Broadway

The Phantom from the Opera hit 10,000 performances on February. 11. Chandra Lee Schwartz and Jackie Burns in Wicked in the Gershwin.Winter, surprisingly, continues to be kind to Broadway this season. Sure, last week's box office amounts might not have given legiters much to obtain looking forward to, however for a mid-Feb frame, it had not been so bad. And calculating from the beginning from the twelve months, the present annum is well in front of 2011 both when it comes to sales and attendance. Based on amounts come up with through the Broadway League, the 2011 B.O. cume hit $112.3 million versus. the $87.six million drenched for the similar days this year. Attendance arrived at 1.3 million, in comparison towards the a million theatergoers who switched out throughout exactly the same window this past year. Numerous factors lead towards the uptick, most famously of the greater quantity of productions running this season than within the same six days this year. You will find also Street-wide marketing deals, underneath the ad banners Broadway Week (which ended February. 4) and Kids' Evening on Broadway (February. 5-9), assisting to warm up winter biz, and in addition, the unseasonably warm winter has not produced just one blizzard to discourage auds. Per week when some shows were up yet others were lower -- and no fluctuations were attention-getting -- the greatest news from the frame was probably the 10,000th performance of "The Phantom of Opera" ($604,378) on February. 11. The week's tally was lower a little in the prior sesh simply because half the inventory at this landmark perf on Saturday was contributed for an Stars Fund charitable organisation event. Also lower was "Porgy and Bess" ($818,346), inside a dip possibly due to the 4-show lack of above-the-title thesp Norm Lewis. An even more worrying decline was published at "Sister Act" ($426,152), which saw attendance slide below 48%, in addition to at soon-to-close play "Stick Fly" ($196,337), another reveal that performed to under 1 / 2 of capacity. Among individuals confirming gains within the prior week was "Wicked" ($1,508,501), which reclaimed the very best just right the charts in front of last week's leader, "It of Mormon." The second, however, still did all right, breaking another house record in the O'Neill Theater having a weekly tally of $1,485,740. "Spider-Guy: Turn from the Dark:" ($1,378,970) and "The Lion King" ($1,349,837) rounded the frame's millionaires' club. One of the other productions to determine a sales bump were those probably to possess become a lift in the Kids' Evening campaign, including kid-friendly "Mary Poppins" ($667,272) and "How to achieve Business Without Really Trying" ($656,165), whose star, Nick Jonas, was marketed because the Kids' Evening ambassador. Overall sales rose about $600,000 to $15.six million. That's greater compared to $15.a million published throughout exactly the same frame this past year, but last week's attendance of 177,602 was a little beneath the 179,000 from 2011. Joining the fray a week ago was the commercial change in last fall's nonprofit staging of "Venus in Fur" ($346,117), confirming solid amounts for any play that's technically still in previews in front of a February. 29 re-opening. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

Pilot Season: Melrose Place's Jessica Lucas to Star in CW's Cult

Jessica Lucas Jessica Lucas is returning for the CW. The prior Melrose Place reboot star has showed up charge role inside the new drama pilot Cult, TVGuide.com has confirmed. Deadline first reported what is the news. Pilot Season: Have the scoop! The project concentrates on Skye (Lucas), an inquisitive, youthful female production assistant around the very popular tv series referred to as Cult. Carrying out a rash of disappearances together with a likely murder, Skye joins a journalist blogger in considering the rabid fans in the series who might be re-creating crimes seen round the type in real existence. Rockne O'Bannon will write and executive-produce alongside Gossip Girl duo Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and Len Goldstein. Lucas' credits have J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield, 90210 and NBC's short-were living Pals With Benefits.

The Voice Rules! (But Listed Below Are 6 Items That Will Make It Better Yet)

The Voice This past year, nobody, not necessarily the forces that attend NBC, expected The Voice to pose an authentic threat towards the The American Idol Show Show. Simon Cowell had taken his talents for the X Factor and involving the two shows, Fox would out-yell and outspend almost every other music competitions. Nevertheless The Voice which is large red-colored-colored swivel chairs which is panel of feisty, funny idol idol judges surprised everyone. Rather than repurposing the Idol formula, The Voice gave America a considerably-needed break from painful auditions, "dawgs," "tunes that inspire" week, and idol idol judges critiques that ranged from "you really handled to obtain your personalInch to "that was beautiful, perfect." The show also beat X Key to the punch to get idol idol judges work as mentors for the participants, too as with organizing several participants of all ages and races and - most considerably - singing styles. The Voice Season 2 scoop: More blind audition models, bigger teams, savvier participants And therefore, The Voice not only increased being NBC's 2011 sleeper hit, furthermore, it reinvigorated a format that Idol in 10 seasons had made tired. Just what now? Executive producer Mark Burnett features slight tweaks for Season 2: each coach could have a team of 12 (up from last year's 8), and both initial blind audition models as well as the mind-to-mind fight models will probably be extended. The show has furthermore hired new social media correspondent Christina Milian, who replaces Alison Haislip. Auditions were shot last summer season, as well as the fight models are actually recorded, but that doesn't mean there's not time to consider some constructive feedback! Our hopes and desires for Season 2: We view the ballroom ballroom dancers - which we do not require them. At first, they were shiny and new. Now, after also watching lots of these stomp around participants around the Voice as well as the X Factor, they're just annoying and help help remind us a lot of a Vegas evening club (not just a compliment). Besides, nobody sounds good trying to sing and booty shake concurrently. The Voice: Ignore nice idol idol judges and particulars round the new experts Really? Greater than four times of fight models? Love the neon boxing ring. Love the duets. The problem while using fight models is the participants who appear because first week go MIA for an additional a few days - and is nice luck to audiences who is able to remember them ultimately that time. We are, ultimately, talking about starting with 48 functions this season. Footage remains shot, but maybe all of us perform a much more than four battles hourly-extended episode? Will we hear less in regards to the tweeting? Quit removing valuable minutes from showing us how a coaches mold their entertainers only to prove the show is interactive. What show isn't nowadays? Because the X Factor allowed people to tweet their votes, Twitter-capable shows are a smaller amount impressive now. Do audiences worry that @SheltonFan98 thinks among his participants did a rockin' job? If you'll probably keep the social media lounge around, which we assume you'll, transform it into a real part of the show. Maybe let audiences election on song choice, or pick better fan questions for your participants and coaches to resolve? Adam and Carson should forget about share a wardrobe. Or, at least, they can't share the identical stylist. Our suggestion? Carson, proceed and doing the T-shirt-black leather jacket combo you would like perfectly. Adam, it's not necessary to placed on a jacket ever. The Voice names Christina Milian as new social media correspondent Ignore second chances. Last season, producers were expected to let several rejected hopefuls sing again when the show went from potential participants through the blind auditions. This strikes us as unfair. In case your singer can't push the coaches' buttons the first time - see that which you did there? - then would they have a very shot at winning? Adam should have taken Casey her first-time. We comprehend the blind auditions are actually shot, but we're positive the show's recognition last season made a decision to get this to a non-problem next time around. Awesome it while using come-ons, Christina. Unlike people other excessively encouraging female idol idol judges, Christina has not been afraid to speak her mind, even if what this means is reducing another coaches. Which is really a-Confident with us, but sometimes you please quit to obtain every youthful factor which hits happens? X-Tina, everyone knows you want to flaunt that which you have, but let's let grand dad Steven at Idol enjoy the title of TV's sleaziest singing judge. Exactly what are your hopes and dreams for your year in the Voice? Reveal inside the comments below and search for a preview within the premiere, which airs Sunday following a Super Bowl on NBC:

Ian Abercrombie dies at 77

British-born actor Ian Abercrombie, who memorably carried out Mr. Pitt, Elaine's wealthy, persnickety boss, on "Seinfeld," died Thursday, Jan. 26, in La from complications of kidney failure. He was 77 and recently happen to be recognized with lymphoma. Lately Abercrombie had recurred becoming an 800-year-old wizard on Disney Channel's "The Masters of magic of Waverly Place," did voicework for "Alien: Clone Wars" as Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Sidious and will be a series regular on "Wild wild birds of Prey" (as Alfred Pennyworth, Batman's butler). But because they will be a near-constant presence round the smallscreen since the late sixties -- with 127 TV credits, in line with the IMDb -- and came out in a lot of films, Abercrombie considered themselves a stage actor to begin with. Born in Grays, Kent, Abercrombie began his showbiz career just like a dancer onstage throughout Second world war. Later he gained his U.S. stage debut in the 1955 output of "Stalag 17" with Jason Robards and completed in plays in summer season stock, regional and Off Broadway venues. Drafted to the U.S. Military in 1957, he offered in Special Services situated in Germany, pointing a output of "Separate Tables" and turning up with Olivia p Havilland in their touring show. The actor settled in California after his Military stint. Stage credits within the last 4 decades include "Mary Stuart," with Marsha Mason "Crucifer of Blood stream," with Charlton Heston "The Wrong Box," with Bill Hutton "Bent" "The Vortex," with Rupert Everett "Lettice and Lovage" "Sweet Prince," with Keir Dullea "A Doll's House," with Linda Purl and "The Arcata Promise" opposite Anthony Hopkins. The actor came recognition from the primary one-guy show "Jean Cocteau -Body Image" and carried out Alfie Doolittle in "My Fair Lady." After making his smallscreen debut in 1965 on "Burke's Law," Abercrombie ongoing to produce guest looks on "Dragnet" and "Get Smart" on "Columbo," "Barnaby Manley," "Cannon" and "The 6 000 0000 Dollar Guy" and, through the eighties, on shows including "Quincy," "Happy Days," "Fantasy Island," "Three's Company," "L.A. Law" and "Moonlighting." Through the decade more youthful crowd stood a recurring role round the NBC cleaning cleaning soap "Santa Barbara," which he guested on primetime sudsers including "Falcon Crest" and "Empire," while later he came out on "General Hospital" and "Occasions in our Life-style.Inch Through the the 19 nineties he came out on "The Nanny," "Murphy Brown," "Northern Exposure," "Blossom," "Touched by an Angel" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," to title only a few. Recent credits incorporated "Desperate Regular folksInch and "Generate An Income Met Your Mother." Abercrombie's film credits include "Military of Darkness" (through which he carried out Wiseman), "Wild Wild West," "Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School" and David Lynch's "Inland Empire," which he did voicework on animated photos including "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" and last year's "Rango." The actor will be a founding member and former board part of BAFTA-LA additionally to some board member for your Stars Fund. Abercrombie is managed to get by three brothers and sisters. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

GSN blesses 'Bible' pilot

GSN has greenlit hourlong pilot "The American Bible Challenge," with Michael Davies, Tom Forman professional creating. GSN programming professional veep Amy Introcaso-Davis stated the show "remembers America's adoration for the Bible within an entertaining, unconventional format which makes (it) more available to everyone.Inch Teams will compete to win money to aid their belief towns. Relativity Real (Forman) and Embassy Row (Davies) are creating together with Journey Systems. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

Steven Spielberg's Moses: Casting The Biblical Icon

Steven Spielberg is reportedly very close to signing on to direct a biopic of the biblical hero Moses, and that makes this Good Jewish Girl very happy. Of course Mr. Spielberg, VIJ (Very Important Jew), can be trusted to tell the story of Moses with his usual brilliance. But who will be the lucky fella to portray the man who shepherded his people to freedom? Below, some casting suggestions! 1. Liam Neeson: He defied the Nazis in Schindlers List, bravely battled the seriously scary Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and stared down flesh-hungry wolves in The Grey. Who better to challenge the evil Pharaoh than Neeson? 2. Tom Hanks: Moses was the quintessential Everyman, frequently doubting his own ability to lead a nation to the Promised Land. Hanks is Hollywoods Everyman, so hed be a natural choice to play the guy who parted the Red Sea while he and his fellow Hebrews fled Pharoahs army. Run, Moses, run! 3. Daniel Craig: A blond-haired, blue-eyed Moses? Sacrilege! But they said the same thing about Bond, and they were proven wrong. Also, theres nothing improper about presenting a gritty, muscled Moses hey, it worked for Charlton Heston. 4. Benedict Cumberbatch: With roles in War Horse, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Hobbit and J.J. Abrams upcoming Star Trek sequel, Cumberbatch is definitely having a moment. Why not add another prestige project to his CV? Hes certainly got the acting chops to go head-to-head with a burning bush. 5. Haley Joel Osment: Hes been mostly MIA in recent years, but a role as juicy as Moses could revive his movie career in a big way. Cant you just imagine him whispering into the dark, echoing chambers of the Egyptian palace, I see my people let them go! All of these actors have worked with Spielberg before so they have the benefit of familiarity. But he may very well choose an unknown actor to fill Moses sandals and thats certainly his prerogative he is Spielberg, after all. Who do you want to see as Spielberg's Moses movie? Tell us in the comments section and on Twitter!

ABC orders 'Beauty and the Beast' pilot

Steinberg Let the battle of the "Beasts" begin.ABC announced Tuesday an order for a pilot based on the "Beauty and the Beast" legend--one week after the CW did same, albeit with a different take on the story.From ABC Studios, ABC's "Beast" is a fantastical reimagining of the classic fairy tale set in a mythical, dangerous world wherein a beautiful and tough Princess discovers an unlikely connection with a mysterious beast.The project is from Jon Steinberg ("Jericho"), who will executive produce with Mojo Film's Gary Fleder and Mary Beth Basile.The CW's "Beast," from CBS TV Studios, is loosely based on the CBS drama from the late 1980s. It's described as a modern-day romancer "with a procedural twist." Jennifer Levin ("Without a Trace") and Sherri Cooper ("Brothers and Sisters") penned the pilot and exec produce with Paul Witt, C. Anthony Thomas, Ron Koslow and Bill Haber. Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com

U.K. awards for National fare

The National Theater emerged triumphant at the U.K.'s Critic's Circle Drama Awards, taking five of nine available nods. In a show of strength, the venue's haul was spread across four productions. Benedict Cumberbatch took the actor kudo for Danny Boyle's production of "Frankenstein," which also garnered the design nod for set designer Mark Tildesley. Richard Bean's Gotham-bound "One Man, Two Guvnors" won for new play, while Mike Leigh took the director trophy for his own play "Grief," and the Peter Hepple Award for musical went to experimental tuner "London Road," by Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork. Remaining four awards reflected the diversity of London theater, with spoils split between commercial, not-for-profit and fringe venues. Sheridan Smith, winner of a 2011 Olivier for her perf in "Legally Blonde," nabbed an award for her highly praised turn in Trevor Nunn's Theater Royal Haymarket revival of Terence Rattigan's "Flare Path." Eddie Redmayne picked up the John and Wendy Trewin Award for Shakespearean perf for "Richard II" at the Donmar Warehouse. In the new talent categories, the promising playwright laurel went to Tom Wells for "The Kitchen Sink" at the Bush Theater, and the Jack Tinker Award for promising newcomer went to helmer Blanche McIntyre for her productions of "Accolade" and "Foxfinder" at the Finborough Theater. Contact David Benedict at benedictdavid@mac.com

Nominee reaction: Brad Pitt

PittAlthough he's been nommed twice before, Brad Pitt feels his lead actor bid for "Moneyball" is a little more meaningful to him because of all that he and the filmmakers went through to get the baseball pic to home base. It's been a "really nice ride so far and I was really happy to see 'The Tree of Life' get in there as well as 'Moneyball' because we thought we were all but forgotten," said Pitt. "This one (the nomination) was a little more special because of the uphill battle to get ('Moneyball') made. In the past people would have run for the hills when things went wrong but (Sony Pictures chief) Amy Pascal really doubled down and made sure this film happen. So I think this nomination for me carries a little more (significance) more previous ones." Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com

Sundance Leads To A-List And Indies Stars

While using kickoff in the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, as many A-listers are likely to Park City, Utah as industry beginners. The fest is surely a place for established stars and filmmakers to branch out and go indie for just about any movie or two. We've seen the scheduled tests and set together all of the a couple of from the celebrity participants as well as the projects they're representing at Sundance this year. Healing For Healing For Peter Jackson "The Hobbit" director Jackson is walking from Middle-earth and into Park City to assist "West of Memphis," a completely new documentary he produced in regards to the West Memphis Three. The doc tales the convictions of teens Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley for your 1993 killings of three boys in Arkansas, unearths new evidence implicating another suspect inside the killings, and follows by way of the August 2011 relieve the three males after 18 years jail time. Jackson and also the creating partner Fran Walsh were positively mixed up in effort to prove Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley's innocence. John Krasinski Krasinski is not any stranger for the streets of Park City, getting taken his directorial debut "Brief Interviews with Hideous Males" to Sundance last year. He returns this year just like a actor in "Nobody Walks," where he plays a husband and father tempted with the lady residing in the pool house, carried out by Olivia Thirlby. "WorkInch star has always maintained his great deal of indie cred, with "Nobody Walks," he's as being a progressively more familiar face within the festival. Robert DeNiro Among Hollywood's most legendary stars has lost some his esteemed lately. (He's at "New Year's Eve," afterall.) There's however room like Sundance to earn numerous that back. He'll star in "Red-colored-colored Lights," director Rodrigo Cortés' follow-around his 2010 festival favorite, "Hidden." The film follows a mental health specialist who checks paranormal activity together with a global-famous psychic. DeNiro leads a thrilling-star cast including Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy and Elizabeth Olsen. Bradley Cooper Every once in awhile, you'll find a Sundance entry by getting a b-list cast that rivals most major studio releases. Bradley Cooper leads a cast including Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde and Dennis Quaid in "What,Inch a drama in regards to the fallout carrying out a author claims the task of one other his or her own. The film will represent a considerable change of pace for Cooper, Wilde and Saldana who've made names by themselves recently with large budget studio pictures. Kirsten Dunst Dunst experienced a little of labor boost a year ago round the festival circuit with "Melancholia," at Sundance this year, she'll use start a hot streak with "Bachelorette." The film also stars Isla Fisher and Lizzie Caplan and sounds from most explanations as being a deeper version of last year's marriage ceremony hit, "Bridesmaids." Dunst came some serious honours speak with "Melancholia," and this may be the next phase to the height. Zac Efron The prior "Secondary School Musical" star has spent the ultimate few years attempting to re-establish themselves just like a legitimate leading guy with roles in "Charlie St. Cloud" and "The Lucky One." So Sundance seems like the natural place to choose your kind of new job. Efron will star alongside Sundance-breakout Elizabeth Olsen and author-director Josh Radnor in "Liberal Arts." The film follows a college professor who falls in a single of his a lot more youthful students. Spike Lee One of the pioneers of recent-day independent film returns to Sundance getting a film inside the vein of individuals that made him famous. "Red-colored-colored Hook Summer season" brings Lee to Brooklyn, the setting of his monumental "Carry out the Right Factor." But Brooklyn isn't the main character returning from "Carry out the Right Factor." Lee's character Mookie is creating a feel and look too. Stick to MTV Movies for all that you should find out about Sundance 2012.

Weather Channel flies into 'Hurricane'

The Weather Channel has greenlit four halfhour episodes of ''Hurricane Hunters,'' with a premiere set for July. ''Hurricane'' will be a character-driven nonfiction series centered on pilots from a Mississippi-based Air Force squadron who fly into hurricanes to gather meteorological data. For many of the pilots, it is a moonlighting job amid complicated day-to-day lives. ''The appeal of shows like this for the Weather Channel is that these are real people, and the type of work they do helps safeguard people and potentially saves lives,'' said network and content EVP and g.m. Bob Walker. Christian D'Andrea, Aleco Bravo and Rich Battista will produce in association with High Noon Entertainment. The next premieres for the Weather Channel will be in March: ''Lifeguard'' and ''Braving the Elements.'' Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

MTV Movie Brawl 2012: 'Hobbit' Versus. 'Woman In Black'

The MTV Movie Brawl 2012 is formally on! Following the initial play-in, wild card and Sweet 16 models, only eight movies still compete in a number of mind-to-mind single elimination matches within our March Madness-style bracket. Ultimately, only one of these simple movies could be crowned the can't-miss movie of the season, and also the option is entirely your decision. Which movie will win the brawl for this all? Election at MTV Movies Blog making your decision known! Discover scared of "The Lady in Black," you ought to be. Rated at number seven around the east side from the MTV Movie Brawl 2012 bracket, the Daniel Radcliffe starring horror film shocked viewers by dethroning "Snow Whitened and also the Huntsman," considered a popular within this competition because of the Billy Burke group of followers and also the film's crossover appeal with genre and fantasy fans. To refer to it as an upset is a little of the understatement. But Radcliffe's latest continues to have its work eliminate for this as "Lady" takes an "Unpredicted Journey" for the first installment of Peter Jackson's two-part "Hobbit," that has seen a significant quantity of support from fans desiring coming back visit to Middle-earth. Thinking about that Radcliffe used to be rumored to defend myself against charge role of Bilbo Baggins within the "The almighty from the Rings" prequels, this might shake to be rather the grudge match.

Teen Mother 2's Leah Messer Pregnant With Twins Again

Leah Messer Pregnant Leah Messer may have two new play pals on her behalf twin women, Alianna and Aleeah. The Teen Mother 2 star looks like it's pregnant with twins, according to In Touch Weekly. The dad is Messer's new guy and fiance Jeremy Calvert. Teen Mother 2's Leah files for divorce "She just discovered the other day,In . an origin notifies playboy. Messer, 19, is "absolutely thrilled." The foundation also claims that Messer sees her incoming twins in order to enjoy better paychecks. "She thinks the babies might help her get her spin-off show," states the insider.""Meaning a considerably bigger salary... Sherrrd like her series and her brand, similar to Kate [Gosselin]." Messer had her first number of twins with ex-husband Corey Simms. The Two declared divorce in April after being married for six several days.

Fox's 'Chronicle' cues QR code blitz

Using its ticking clock and located footage-style hooks, a clip for Last Century Fox's "Chronicle" produced lots of internet buzz if this first showed in October. Now, the studio is striving to grow on that interest throughout Sunday's opening round from the National football league 2010 nfl playoffs. Fox Network will air a five-second "billboard" clip of the QR code throughout the Atlanta Falcons-NY Titans wild-card game. The code, which may be scanned on mobile products, links the consumer for an online clip from the Max Landis-composed film. "We are really looking forward to the film, so locating a different way to interract using the audience is definitely the aim,Inch Fox prexy of domestic theatrical marketing and chief marketing officer Oren Aviv told Variety. Aviv stated that the quantity of social-media buzz produced through the pic's trailer led to the choice to provide the film an additional push on Sunday. Studio is expecting a lot more than $ 30 million individuals to begin to see the billboard. "Facebook stated they'd never witnessed anything enjoy it,Inch Aviv stated, observing the online networking site told the studio it saw about 15 million interactions round the movie. "When Facebook states 'Wow,' you listen." "Chronicle" is docu-style account of three Tigard teens who develop superpowers after being uncovered to some mysterious substance within the forest. Pic also offers attracted attention for exhibiting the talents of numerous fresh faces. Film marks the feature directorial debut of Josh Trank and stars relative beginners Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly and Dane DeHaan. Author Landis offered the project to Fox this past year. Scribe also optioned spec "Good Time Gang" to Robin Schorr's RCR Pictures and it is presently at the office on the Frankenstein work for Fox-based Davis Entertainment. "Chronicle" opens February. 3. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com