MAMMA MIA
Tom Hanks and producing partner Gary Goetzman are finalizing plans for a big screen version of the Broadway musical Mamma Mia! for holiday 2007 release. Playwrite Catherine Johnson, is writing the screenplay. Show producer Judy Craymer had rebuffed film offers for years but liked what Hanks, Goetzman, and Rita Wilson had done to turn Nia Vardalos' one-woman stage show into My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

ME, ME, ME
New Line is developing Johnny Rosenthal's comedy Me, Me, Me. Shawn Levy (Pink Panther) will direct and produce. The story centers on the world's most obnoxious narcissist, who wishes people could be more like him and then enters a living hell when his dream becomes a reality.

DEATH AT A FUNERAL
MGM has gotten behind the comedy Death at a Funeral. Frank Oz is direct from a screenplay by Dean Craig. Matthew Macfadyen, Peter Dinklage, and Ewen Bremner will star. The story revolves around a dysfunctional Brit family as they gather to mourn the passing of their patriarch, but a sober, heartfelt goodbye turns into calamity.

LARKLIGHT
Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to British author Philip Reeve's fantasy-adventure Larklight for Denise Di Novi to produce. Larklight is the first in a Victorian-era space adventure trilogy in which a brother and sister team with a band of renegade space pirates to save the world from destruction at the hands of a madman.

TENDERNESS
Russell Crowe has signed to star in director John Polson's indie thriller Tenderness, adapted by Emil Stern from the Robert Cormier's novel. The tale follows a violent teenager whose life intertwines with a 16-year-old runaway who can't resist his charm. Crowe will play a cop who sets out to unravel the teen's complex past.

CASE 39
Renee Zellweger has signed on for Paramount's horror-thriller Case 39. The screenplay by Ray Wright centers around a social worker who saves an abused 10-year-old girl from her parents, only to discover that the parents are not the real problem. Kevin Misher and Steve Golin are producing. The studio is still looing for a director.

NORBIT
Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding Jr, and Eddie Griffin join Eddie Murphy in DreamWorks' Norbit. Brian Robbins (Smallville) is directing. John Davis, Mike Tollin, and Eddie Murphy are producing. The comedy focused on a meek guy (Murphy) pressed into marrying a monstrous woman (also Murphy), only to meet the woman of his dreams (Newton). Gooding plays Newton's boyfriend, with Griffin as a retired pimp.

Source: Variety

KIDNAPPED
Angel co-creator David Greenwalt has signed onboard as showrunner for NBC's Kidnapped. The Michael Dinner-helmed drama pilot -- starring Jeremy Sisto and Dana Delany as kidnapping experts who works outside the legal system -- received early greenlight with a 13 episode commitment of the skein created by Jason Smilovic. Greenwalt will work closely with creator Jason Smilovic, who exec produced the pilot. Each season of the show will feature a different kidnapping victim.

THE DARLENE WESTGOR PROJECT
Comedian/writer Carol Leifer has partnered with Nick at Nite to create an original sitcom -- The Darlene Westgor Project, based on the life of Westgor, who won Nick at Nite's "Search for the Funniest Mom in America" last year. Westgor will star as herself in the pilot, to be directed by legendary sitcom director Gil Junger (Soap, Benson, Golden Girls).

AMPED
Spike TV is locking in former X-Files scribes Frank Spotnitz and Vince Gilligan for the new drama Amped, an event series about a mysterious epidemic that hits Los Angeles.

AMERICA'S NEXT TOP GIRL BAND
Four members of 1980s pop groups The Go-Go's and The Bangles -- Kathy Valentine, Charlotte Caffey, Susanna Hoffs, and Vicki Peterson -- are teaming with the CW for a reality show designed to launch America's next top girl band. The project is in development for the CW's inaugural 2006-07 season. Unlike Pop Stars -- the pioneering WB reality series -- this project will search for aspiring femme rockers who can also play their own instruments.

HD-DVD players and software went on sale Tuesday at Best Buy and other select retailers, and a trickle of early adopters came to buy, even though only three movies are available. "The only people who bought are the hard-cores," one industry observer said. More high-definition titles will begin hitting stores next week, but with only three -- The Last Samurai, Phantom of the Opera, and Serenity -- in stores when players hit the shelves, there was hardly a stampede of consumers.

Toshiba, in the process of shipping about 10,000 players to retailers, had no firm first-day sales tally. Marketing VP Jodi Sally would only say, "Retailers who have received players to date have reported very positive sales. I am very pleased to see the demand for high-definition content being fulfilled to the early adopters with our HD-DVD players." Meanwhile, elaborate kiosks with huge widescreen TVs, explanatory boards and a handful of players and movies are going into about 100 Wal-Mart stores during the next two weeks, an unusually aggressive move by a retailer focused on the masses. The discount chain didn't begin selling DVD players until spring 1999, two years after the DVD format was launched. Wal-Mart also has begun selling the cheaper of the two Toshiba players, the HD-D1, on its Web site, listing an anticipated delivery date of Friday. The player is on sale for $498, one dollar off the list price.

Source: Reuters

Tuesday was a big birthday for a trio of high profile babies.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes welcomed daughter Suri, weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces. "Both mother and daughter are doing well," publicist Arnold Robinson said in a prepared statement. The name Suri has Hebrew origins meaning "princess."

Brooke Shields and husband Chris Henchy welcomed 7 pound daughter, Grier.

Completing the hat trick is my niece Aubrey, the smallest of the trio, at six and a half pounds.

Happy Birthday ladies!

In other baby news, singer Melissa Etheridge and actress Tammy Lynn Michaels are expecting twins this fall. "To answer the obvious question: we used an anonymous donor from a (sperm) bank." The Grammy-winning singer has two children from her relationship with former partner Julie Cypher: daughter Bailey Jean and son Beckett. Cypher had the children through artificial insemination using the sperm of rock legend David Crosby.

JOEY: COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

Available on DVD May 30, from Warner Home Video

Goodbye Broadway, Hello Hollywood! Joey: The Complete First Season, features Emmy-nominee Matt LeBlanc in the first 24 episodes of this spin-off that continues the beloved Friends tradition.

SYNOPSIS
Joey leaves New York for Hollywood in order to take his acting career to the next level. He also says goodbye to a time when his friends were his family and welcomes the chance to turn his family into his friends. After reuniting with his high-strung sister Gina (Drea de Matteo), Joey moves in with his 20-year-old nephew, Michael (Paulo Costanzo), who is literally a rocket scientist. However, what Joey lacks in book smarts he makes up for with people smarts -- making him the best new friend his nephew could ask for. Joey also copes with his sexy but uptight neighbor Alex (Andrea Anders) and his tact-challenged agent Bobbie (Jennifer Coolidge).

BONUS FEATURES
* None

BASICS
Price: May 30, 2006
Street Date: $39.98
Video: 1.33:1 full screen
Audio: Dolby 2.0 Surround (English)
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Run Time: 525 min

THE CLOSER: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

AVAILABLE ON DVD MAY 23, FROM WARNER HOME VIDEO

The Closer, cable television’s most watched television series of the year, is coming to DVD just prior to the start of the highly anticipated second season on TNT. The four-disc collector’s set features all 13 episodes of the critically acclaimed first season as well as 22 minutes of deleted scenes, for $39.98.

SYNOPSIS
An offbeat personality, a tough-as-nails approach, and track record as one of the country’s leading investigators – these are just a few of the traits exhibited by television’s next great detective, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. The CIA-trained detective has been brought from Atlanta to Los Angeles to head up the Priority Murder Squad, a special unit of the LAPD that handles sensitive, high-profile murder cases. Brenda is tapped to lead the team because she is a world-class interrogator, and when it comes to obtaining confessions, she is a closer. But her quirky attitude and hard-nosed approach to her job sometimes rub her colleagues the wrong way, as does the fact that she is a tough-minded Southern woman in a department dominated by men.

BONUS FEATURES
* Deleted Scenes

BASICS
Price: $39.98
Street Date: May 23, 2006
Video: 1.78:1 widescreen
Audio: Dolby 2.0 Surround (English)
Subtitles: French, Spanish
Run Time: 602 min
Not Rated
4 Discs

Toshiba sees strong start to HD DVD players at Best Buy, Sears, and Wal-Mart

Despite a shaky start, Toshiba reported strong first day sales as it began rolling out its HD DVD players Monday. Hardware began to reach Best Buy, Sears, and Wal-Mart stores, with most retailers expected to get players by the end of the week. Previously expected to hit shelves in late March, Toshiba players were delayed to coincide with the launch of the first HD DVD titles. Toshiba product will be stocked in about 800 Best Buy stores, 500 Wal-Mart stores, 600 Sears stores and other regional retailers for a total reach of 3,000 stores. While the company hasn’t released exactly how many players are being shipped, but distributors and retailers say they’ve heard estimates of 10-15,000. As of Monday, Serenity was Amazon.com’s top April 18 HD DVD title. Amazon.com and Target.com, among other retailers, are accepting pre-orders for May 9 releases.

Source: Video Business

Universal Studios Signaling the Beginning of a New Era in Home Viewing

Universal Studios Home Entertainment delivers the first of its next generation High Definition DVD (HD DVD) titles, marking the official arrival of the superior-quality offerings in stores nationwide. Futuristic action-adventure Serenity is the first in the progressive rollout of flagship titles available in the new format. Doom and Apollo 13 are slated to follow on April 25, with Cinderella Man, Jarhead, and Assault on Precinct 13 on May 9. A fourth wave of releases on May 23, 2006 includes The Chronicles of Riddick, Van Helsing, U-571, and The Bourne Supremacy. Each of the ten releases is priced at $34.98. Universal will continue its rolling introduction of HD DVD titles on a monthly basis.

Capitalizing on HD DVD’s robust technology, The Bourne Supremacy introduces an all-new interactive feature called "Bourne Instant Access," a feature-length picture-in-picture presentation that simultaneously transports viewers behind-the-scenes with the cast and filmmakers, all without leaving the movie experience. Additionally, all Universal HD DVDs will showcase enhanced interactive menus that allow viewers to easily navigate and access any menu option at any time while the movie is playing. “Home entertainment has reached a new pinnacle with the arrival of HD DVD technology,” said Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment. “With best-in-class picture, sound quality, and interactivity, consumers can now experience on a very tangible level the unprecedented and unparalleled advantages that only HD DVD offers.”

Tough Guys Collection

Bullets or Ballots ~ Each Dawn I Die ~ G Men ~ San Quentin ~ City for Conquest ~ A Slight Case of Murder

Available on DVD July 18, from Warner Home Video

Six new crime genre classics that make their DVD debuts on July 18. The collection includes Bullets or Ballots, Each Dawn I Die, ‘G’ Men, San Quentin, A Slight Case of Murder, and City for Conquest with the original prologue intact for the first time since the film was released. The collection will be available for $59.92. Each title is available separately for $19.97. All six films have been fully restored and digitally remastered with special features including historian commentaries and new making-of featurettes. Each disc also contains an exclusive “Warner Night at the Movies” segment which recreates moviegoer attractions such as newsreels, comedy shorts, cartoons and trailers from the years each film was released.

Bullets or Ballots (1936)
When Warner Bros.’ Depression-era gangster movies began to draw protests, the studio reinvigorated the genre with stories emphasizing law enforcers instead of lawbreakers. The swift, sturdy Bullets or Ballots reflects that, with Edward G. Robinson (as Blake) siding with the good guys for the first time in a gangland saga. Humphrey Bogart plays the short-fused Fenner. And Joan Blondell and Louise Beavers, in an unusual story element for the times, are thriving numbers operators whose grift is usurped by the mob.

BONUS FEATURES
• Warner Night at the Movies 1936 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
- Vintage Short George Hall and His Orchestra
- Classic cartoon I’m a Big Shot Now
- Theatrical Trailer The Charge of the Light Brigade
• New featurette Gangsters: The Immigrant’s Hero
• Commentary by Dana Polan
• How I Play Golf by Bobby Jones No. 10: Trouble Shots
• Breakdowns of 1936 studio blooper reel
• Audio-only bonus: 4/16/1939 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast with Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart
• Original Theatrical Trailer

Each Dawn I Die (1939)
Framed for manslaughter after he breaks a story about city corruption, reporter Frank Ross is sure he’ll prove his innocence and walk out of prison a free man. But that’s not how the system works at Rocky Point Penitentiary. There cellblock guards are vicious, the jute-mill labor is endless and the powers Ross fought on the outside conspire to keep him in. Two of the screen’s famed tough guys star in this prison movie that casts a reform-minded eye on the brutalizing effects of life in the slammer. James Cagney “hits a white-hot peak as the embittered, stir-crazy fall guy” (Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide). And George Raft (Cagney’s friend since their vaudeville days) portrays racketeer hood Stacey, who may hold the key to springing Ross.

BONUS FEATURES
• Warner Night at the Movies 1939 short subjects gallery:
- Documentary Short A Day at Santa Anita
- Oscar-Nominated classic cartoon Detouring America
- Theatrical Trailer Wings of the Navy
• New featurette Stool Pigeons and Pine Overcoats: The Language of Gangster Films
• Commentary by film historian Haden Guest
• Breakdowns of 1939: studio blooper reel
• Bonus cartoon Each Dawn I Crow
• 3/22/43 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast
• Original Theatrical Trailer

‘G’ Men (1935)
In 1931, James Cagney helped jump-start the gangster genre as “The Public Enemy.” In 1935, he wages on-screen war against the nation’s public enemies. Outcries against movies that glorified underworld criminals put Cagney on the side of the law in ‘G’ Men. Emphasis may have changed but elements are the same. ‘G’ Men builds to a fury of bold escapes, siren-wailing pursuits and frenzied shootouts. Here, a punchy hot-off-the-presses account of the pursuit and capture of John Dillinger provides the story inspiration as tough-guy Cagney gives it to ’em good in a movie that’s “fast, gutsy, as simplistic and powerful as a tabloid headline.”

BONUS FEATURES
• Warner Night at the Movies 1935 short subjects gallery:
- Comedy short The Old Grey Mayor starring Bob Hope
- Classic cartoon Buddy the Gee Man
- Theatrical Trailer Devil Dogs of the Air
• New featurette Morality and the Code: A How-to Manual for Hollywood
• Commentary by Richard Jewell
• How I Play Golf by Bobby Jones No. 11: Practice Shots
• Things You Never See on the Screen: Breakdowns of 1935 studio blooper reel
• Original Theatrical Trailer

San Quentin (1937)
Do the crime, do the time. But what happens during the long years spent behind the walls of San Quentin? The penitentiary’s new yard captain wants to make those years a time of rehabilitation rather than punishment. But not everyone’s buying it. Humphrey Bogart portrays Red, continuing his climb to stardom in this brisk film that’s one of a string of Depression-era works combining gangster-movie elements with a Big House setting. Studio mainstay Pat O’Brien plays Steve Jameson, whose carrot-and-stick reforms begin to change Red’s thinking. An inmates’ strike and a scripture-quoting con who swipes a rifle are among the troubles Jameson faces. And Red is another as he reverts to his old ways and makes a violent break for freedom.

BONUS FEATURES
• Warner Night at the Movies 1937 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
- Oscar-nominated Broadway Brevity short The Man Without a Country
- Classic Cartoon Porky’s Double Trouble
- Kid Galahad Theatrical Trailer
• New featurette Welcome to the Big House
• Commentary by Patricia King Hanson
• Breakdowns of 1937 studio blooper reel
• Original Theatrical Trailer

A Slight Case of Murder (1937)
Prohibition’s ban on booze is over, and that means bootlegger Remy Marco must make some changes. Don’t call his beer-peddling enterprise a racket. It’s now a business. Employees are no longer lugs or palookas, they’re associates. And don’t refer to Marco as da boss. Use sir. He’s gone legit, see? Edward G. Robinson plays Marco, spoofing his Little Caesar persona in a comedy spree based on Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay’s Broadway play. Lloyd Bacon, director of Robinson’s gangster sendups Brother Orchid and Larceny, Inc., guides with screwball flair as corpses, creditors, the swellest of swells and more mayhem descend on Marco.

BONUS FEATURES
• Warner Night at the Movies 1938 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage newsreel
- Oscar-nominated drama short Declaration of Independence
- Classic cartoon The Night Watchman
- The Dawn Patrol Theatrical Trailer
• New featurette Prohibition Opens the Floodgates
• Original Theatrical Trailer

City for Conquest (1940)
This heart-tugging melodrama has been restored to its original running time, with its prologue intact for the very first time since the original 1940 theatrical release. Subsequent theatrical reissues, TV and home video versions have always been edited. The movie’s story involves ex-Golden Gloves fighter Danny Kenny, who has it all worked out. He’ll turn pro to bankroll his brother’s dream of writing a symphonic paean to the teeming city where they both live: New York. But life pulls the sidewalk out from under Danny when he’s blinded during a brutal 15-round welterweight title bout. James Cagney stars as Danny, along with co-stars Ann Sheridan, Anthony Quinn, film-debuting Arthur Kennedy and, in a rare acting turn before his directing career, Elia Kazan.

BONUS FEATURES
• Warner Night at the Movies 1940 short subjects gallery:
- Vintage Newsreel
- Oscar-Nominated short Service with the Colors
- Classic cartoon Stage Fright
- Theatrical Trailer The Fighting 69th
• New featurette Molls and Dolls: The Women of Gangster Films
• Breakdowns of 1940: studio blooper reel
• Audio-only bonus: 2/9/1942 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast
• Commentary by Richard Schickel
• Original Theatrical Trailer

BASICS
Street date: July 18, 2006
Price: $59.92 (Collection), $19.97 SRP (Individual)

The Film Noir Classic Collection: Volume Three

Border Incident ~ His Kind of Woman ~ Lady in the Lake ~ On Dangerous Ground ~ The Racket

Coming to DVD July 18, from Warner Home Video

The third time’s the charm when Hollywood’s legendary tough guys and femme fatales collide once again in The Film Noir Classic Collection Volume Three. The Collection includes five smoldering suspense thriller classics, all new to DVD: Border Incident, His Kind of Woman, Lady in the Lake, On Dangerous Ground, and The Racket. In addition, available exclusively with the set, will be a bonus documentary -- Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light -- a vital companion piece that contains an elucidating overview, complete with clips and expert commentary.

Border Incident (1949)
This steely thriller stars Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy as agents from each side of the Mexico-California border. Their job: catch the thieves, murderers and moneymen who prey on illegal aliens desperate to make a few American dollars sweating as farm laborers. Anthony Mann (Winchester ’73, The Naked Spur) directs, turning his lens to the beauty and the terror of stark desert wastelands. Blending classic film noir with a surprisingly contemporary plot, Border Incident is a relentless, cutting-edge gem of the genre.

BONUS FEATURES
• Commentary by film historian Dana Polan
• Theatrical trailer

His Kind of Woman (1951)
His Kind of Woman is a film-noir fan’s kind of movie: dark, sassy, surprise-filled. Robert Mitchum plays Milner, who finds the romantic stakes raised when he meets a self-proclaimed heiress (Jane Russell, in the role that launched her devoted friendship with Mitchum). The mystery is twisted, the sets are astonishing, the cast is large and talented. But what makes this cult favorite stand apart is Vincent Price’s hilarious turn as a self-absorbed, gun-collecting Hollywood star. Mitch gets the girl. But Price steals the movie.

BONUS FEATURES
• Commentary by film historian Vivian Sobchack

Lady in the Lake (1946)
Robert Montgomery stars in and directs this snappy adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled detective mystery. Montgomery portrays Marlowe, private eye. As director, he’s also the film’s private eyes, using a subjective camera presenting the action from Marlowe’s point of view. The case begins when Marlowe sets out to find the missing wife of a publishing magnate. Several smack-arounds, one dead gigolo, a few angry cops, a booze-soaked frame-up and one dame in the lake later, Marlowe finds the killer…and finds he’s looking at the business end of a gun.

BONUS FEATURES
• Commentary by film historians Alain Silver and James Ursini
• Original Theatrical Trailer

On Dangerous Ground (1952)
Jim has seen it all on the city’s shadowy streets: killers, thugs, pimps, sadists. And the experience has cost him his soul. Ironically, his redemption may come in his next case, a brutal murder that brings him into the open sky and white light of the countryside…and into the arms of a beautiful blind woman. Directed with intensity by Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) and featuring a haunting score by Bernard Herrmann (Psycho), On Dangerous Ground is a taut, rapid-paced manhunt with two fine stars at its tortured heart. Noir master Robert Ryan captures Jim’s agonized self-hatred. And Ida Lupino burnishes the screen as the sightless angel whose compassion gives him one last chance at life.

BONUS FEATURES
• Commentary by film historian Glenn Erickson
• Original Theatrical Trailer

The Racket (1951)
Nick Scanlon (Robert Ryan) is an old-fashioned kind of gangster. If someone crosses you, settle it with a fist or a bullet. Tom McQuigg (Robert Mitchum) is an old-fashioned kind of cop. Grab the bad guy, not the bribe. But they’re both living in a corrupt new world of smooth operators on both sides of the law, efficient green-eyeshade types who run a crime ring like a corporation. They won’t mind if Scanlon and McQuigg square off… if they bring each other down. Ryan and Mitchum, who co-starred in the groundbreaking Crossfire (part of Warner’s Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 2) reteam for another tense, character-driven, twist-laden film noir.

BONUS FEATURES
• Commentary by film historian Eddie Mueller
• Original Theatrical Trailer

BONUS DISC (EXCLUSIVE TO THE SET)
• Documentary: Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
• Vintage Shorts
• Women in Hiding
• You, the People
• Forbidden Passage
• A Gun in his Hand

BASICS
The Film Noir Classics Collection Volume Three
Street date: July 18, 2006
Price $49.92 (Collection)
Video: All films are standard version presented in a format preserving the aspect ratio of their original theatrical exhibitions.
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono (English)
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish