Spike Lee Wants Your Kickstarter Money
Today in showbiz news: Spike Lee tries to raise money for his next movie, Mike Myers is making a documentary, Jeremy Piven, and more.
.Today in showbiz news: Spike Lee tries to raise money for his next movie, Mike Myers is making a documentary, Jeremy Piven, and more.
[Note: Richard Lawson is on a Before Midnight-inspired Greek vacation for this week, and I will do my best attempting to fill the void.]
Kickstarter might have finally its first artistically legitimate celebrity film project. Inspired by the fan service Veronica Mars film and Zach Braff's wholly unnecessary Garden State followup, Spike Lee is launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise $1.25 million for the tentatively titled "Newest Hottest Spike Lee Joint," about people addicted to blood. Aren't people addicted to blood technically vampires? That's a pretty weird premise for Spike Lee movie, no? [The Hollywood Reporter]
Jeremy Piven, world's most unlikely Masterpiece Theatre star, is returning to for a second season of his British drama Mr. Selfridge. Maybe this will usher in an era of Entourage cast members appearing on PBS: Turtle can appear in the next season of Downton Abbey while Vincent Chase narrate an episode of Nova. Actually, those guys are probably ready, willing, and able to take those jobs. [Deadline]
Mike Myers is emerging from his Shrek money cave to do something that probably only appeals to Mike Myers: making his directorial debut on a documentary Supermensch about his friend Shep Gordon, who managed the likes of Alice Cooper and Blondie. Is it a cultural victory if Mike Myers makes something called Supermensch and it is not an ill-advised, stereotype-laden comedy about a Jewish superhero? [Deadline]
If you saw mid-90s science-fiction film 12 Monkeys and wished it had worse writing, acting and special effects, you are in luck. Syfy, home of Sharknado and a litany of other terrible fare, is working on a television series based on the Oscar-nominated Terry Gilliam and Brad Pitt film. This marks the first time that "Syfy" has appeared in such close proximity to the words "Brad Pitt" and "Oscar-nominated." [The Hollywood Reporter]
TLC, once known as The Learning Channel, announced new plans to further dishonor its origins as an educational service founded by NASA and will air its first scripted comedy program called Surviving the In-Laws later this month. Okay, this probably isn't as low as airing Sarah Palin's Alaska, but that is like steroid-addled baseball player of terrible things to air on cable television and everything else seems like a rookie shortstop in comparison. [Variety]