Sony, Moritz pursue Uziel actioner

Sony has set up an action-comedy at Neal H. Moritz' Original Films, snapping up an untitled pitch from "Kitchen Sink" scribe Oren Uziel. Plot details are under wraps other than being described as "Die Hard" meets "Home Alone." Ori Marmur will oversee the project for Original while Lauren Abrahams will oversee for the studio. Moritz is a producer on Sony's upcoming "21 Jump Street," New Line's "Jack the Giant Killer" and Universal's "R.I.P.D." It's the second project that Uziel has set up at Sony following his spec sale of the alien-invasion comedy "Kitchen Sink," set up with Matt Tolmach. Uziel also is writing New Line's reboot of "Mortal Kombat" with Kevin Tancharoen after the duo collaborated on web series "Mortal Kombat: Rebirth" and penned the adaptation of Cat Patrick's "Forgotten," set up with Josh Schwartz' Fake Empire for Paramount with Hailee Steinfeld attached. Uziel is repped by WME and Circle of Confusion. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Exclusive First Look: Stephen Colletti and Chelsea Kane Get Hot and Heavy on One Tree Hill

Stephen Colletti and Chelsea Kane It didn't take long for One Tree Hill's Chase to get steamy with someone new. In our first-look photo, Chelsea Kane begins her multiple episode arc as Tara, the new girl getting extremely cozy with recently single Chase (Stephen Colletti). One Tree Hill's Lisa Goldstein: Millie struggles to confront Mouth about his weight gain In addition to having an on-screen romance, Colletti and the former Dancing with the Stars competitor are dating in real life. Colletti told TVGuide.com he loved welcoming her into the Tree Hill world, adding, "The character was fun for her and something people aren't used to seeing from her." One Tree Hill's James Lafferty: Nathan actually needs Dan in his life this season But Tara won't have a warm welcome into the group as she's the owner of the just-opened rival restaurant across from Karen's Café. "There are some fun little escapades that Haley and Brooke go on trying to do right by the name of Karen's Café," Bethany Joy Galleoti, who plays Haley, told TVGuide.com. "She stirs some stuff up," Colletti added. Kane's arc begins airing on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 8/7c on The CW.

Five Ways The SAGs Predicted The Oscars

A great deal switches into predicting and ultimately identifying Oscar nominations that it's not easy to find out which award shows to consider and which to disregard. This week's Oscar nominations, however, shown that particular award show particularly can be very useful in predicting a couple of from the Academy's more surprising picks. The Screen Stars Guild Honours introduced their nominations days just before the Academy's and shown their picks should not be overlooked throughout award season. SAG both honored and averted the majority of the same performances the Academy shocked and snubbed this year's week. Here's our breakdown. Demián Bichir The "A Far Greater Existence" actor had continued to be just outdoors the award conversation for almost all the growing season, producing some recognition with critics' circles, but never snagging a sizable jerk. That changed while using SAG honours, which gave Bichir recognition the Academy echoed days later. Michael Fassbender Most likely probably the most daring roles in film this year didn't yield award returns for the guy who bared everything, Michael Fassbender. He may have acquired a Golden Globe nomination for his role just like a sex addict in "Shame," but Fassbender didn't repeat for your Screen Stars Guild and was ultimately ignore within the Oscars. It really proves that nudity doesn't imply honours. Jonah Hill Once the Golden Globes nominate a sizable star, it's rarely a warranty the Academy Award nomination follows. While Hill will be a more likely jerk than Bichir was just before the Oscar nominations, he was definately not a lock. The SAG nomination certainly aided bolster his chances, then when the Academy's jerk came days later, it absolutely was a more compact quantity of the surprise. Albert Brooks Throughout award season, Brooks made a well known fact in the campaign to acquire him a nomination for his villainous role in "Drive." He joked freely and sometimes about his nominations and wins, however, if he missed on the SAG nomination, the laughing stopped, as well as the conversation changed. The Academy snub now came as basically a mildly surprising disappointment. Melissa McCarthy The "Bridesmaids" breakout experienced numerous pros and cons throughout her campaign for just about any nomination. The thrill across the role as well as the film's recognition skyrocketed McCarthy to the conversation, but a snub within the Golden Globes made some doubt the Academy would recognize a comedy role. Fortunately for McCarthy, she rode the wave in the SAG nomination and switched it into her ticket to Oscar evening. Reveal everything you think about the SAGs inside the comments section and also on Twitter!

Jakub Gierszal: Finds fame in 'Room'

Jakub GierszalSoon to graduate from the National Theater Academy of his native Krakow, 23-year-old Jakub Gierszal made his screen debut in 2008, in Jacek Borcuch's "All That I Love," and followed it a year later with a supporting role in Andrzej Kondratiuk's "One Million Dollars."But it was his first lead role, as the rich, sexually conflicted Dominik in Jan Komasa's "Suicide Room" (which preemed in Panorama at last year's Berlinale) that propelled him to international attention.Since that breakthrough, he's toplined in Piotr Mularuk's "Yuma" (in post), and is working on "Lasting Moments" for Borcuch, opposite Spanish thesps Angela Molina and Juanjo Ballesta."I like watching old movies and the veterans of filmmaking," Gierszal says. "And I really look up to personalities who are known today as 'classics' -- people like Marlon Brando, James Dean, Robert De Niro. But the strongest influence on me personally was one of my teachers at the drama school I attended in Krakow, because of the unique ability he had to name the exact psychological process going on while I was onstage." As befits his somewhat peripatetic upbringing -- he spent part of his childhood in Hamburg, and lives between Krakow and Berlin -- he is fascinated by travel, and the opportunity for artistic collaboration it affords: "For me, it's very important to get together. To work with sympathetic people, to gather together to stop reality for a moment and try to create something that might be interesting, astonishing, touching or whatever."Without the people I've met, I wouldn't be the guy that I am today. The wider the range of your footsteps, the more you get to learn. That's why I'd really appreciate the opportunity to work outside my home country."Return to the Berlin Preview >> Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Sundance: Searchlight taming 'Beasts'

EXCLUSIVE: Fox Searchlight is in active talks to acquire Ben Zeitlin's ''Beasts of the Southern Wild,'' emerging from a swarm of suitors who've been circling the Sundance hit.No deal is in place, and sources caution that other buyers are still in the mix. But multiple people familiar with the negotiations say Searchlight is intent on bagging its quarry, the tale of a six-year-old girl (Quvenzhan Wallis) who lives in a southern Delta community at the edge of the world.WME Global is selling domestic rights to the pic, which has seen a flood of interest come in since its debut at the Eccles Theatre on Friday. Though the unusual pic has its detractors, the reception from critics and bloggers has been glowingly positive.Sony Pictures Classics, Focus Features and The Weinstein Co. had all been circling the film, which Zeitlin co-wrote with Lucy Alibar.Fox Searchlight was an active buyer at last year's Sundance, where they purchased high-profile acquisition titles such as ''Another Earth'' and ''Martha Marcy May Marlene.'' Sources believe that the distrib is likely to close on ''Beasts'' soon.Zeitlin, who two weeks ago was named one of Variety's 10 directors to watch, is currently without representation, though there's likely to be an agency feeding frenzy after the festival for the young director who created the film via Sundance Labs.''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' will screen on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at various locations. Contact Jeff Sneider at jeff.sneider@variety.com

More shows = more panic

Remember swag bags? That former staple of legit parties has largely evaporated since the fiscal crunch, but the Brooklyn Academy of Music kept the tradition alive, handing bags out to guests at the Jan. 18 gala perf of Kevin Spacey starrer "Richard III." Pretty posh for a nonprofit, but then, the org is celebrating its 150th anniversary, as well as the final production of its successful trans-Atlantic co-producing endeavor, the Bridge Project. The gala wasn't the only thing the arts org has spent money on: Arriving patrons had walked by nearby construction that will yield a third performance space for BAM to program. BAM leadership, including exec producer Joe Melillo, got an excited gleam in their eyes when they described the additional, exciting work they hoped to bring to the venue. In the eyes of BAM staffers, however, the talk of 14 additional shows on the org's fall slate yielded a gleam that looked more like panic. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Mobile phones, iPad hikes BBC viewing

LONDON -- The BBC's online domestic catch-up service, the iPlayer, is progressively getting used by Britons who own wise Televisions, mobile phones and pills. In December this type of iPlayer usage spiked 1,000% to seven million program demands on connected Televisions in comparison to the year before, per the BBC. Cell phones and pills recorded 13 million and ten million demands correspondingly, year-on-year increases of 163% and 596%. Nonetheless, two-thirds of demands for iPlayer-shipped shows were made on computer systems throughout 2011. Daniel Danker, BBC Future Media's gm, programs and when needed, stated: "While 2011 would be a amazing year for BBC iPlayer overall, the actual story was development of iPlayer on Televisions, cell phones and pills, outpacing PC growth many occasions over. "Getting established itself like a must-have application for smartphone customers and also the gold-standard for TV on the run, we have seen huge possibility of BBC iPlayer around the family room occur 2012...as audiences switch onto the advantages of connected TV." Overall, the BBC stated the catch-up service hit record-breaking amounts this past year, with 1.94 billion Radio and tv program demands across all platforms. Increased apparently by Britons giving wise-phones and pills as Christmas presents, the iPlayer registered its best-ever week within the publish-festive period. From 12 ,. 26 to Jan. 2, 29.7 million demands for Television shows were made. Usage peaked Jan. 2 having a record 5.4 million demands. "Sherlock," starring Benedict Cumberbatch, was probably the most-viewed show, with 623,000 audiences -- the greatest quantity of demands for just about any one program in one day because the service bowed on Xmas Day 2007. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Fandom fodder for film-flam

Additionally to attacks on popular culture, vidgames, 'life was imple' cartoons and just about all fond childhood reminiscences, the masterminds behind "Robot Chicken" also take are designed for Hollywood. Even Oscar-winning classics aren't safe from the experience-figure mockery.'Toy Story 4' "One Travelled Within the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Toy Story" Only Robot Chicken can make an unholy merger from the 1975 best pic champion and Pixar's Oscar-winning franchise. Andy comes back home from college with a brand new girlfriend, traumatizing the toys together with his new playmate and compromising Buzz along the way. Woodsy and Buzz's final moments parody "One Travelled Within the Cuckoo's Nest" because the toy cowboy does the only real factor he is able to to help ease his friend's discomfort.'Smurfatar'"Avatar" James Cameron's blue-tinted opus would be a mainstay on "Robot Chicken" after its release. "Smurfatar" follows Gargamel's attempts to adjust to village existence one of the Smurfs after breaking through the whitened-hat culture from the three-apple-high clan inside a Smurf body.'Tastes Like Rotten Smurfberries' "Saving Private Ryan" The Smurfs seem off against their less-popular, hard-to-merchandise cousins, the Snorks, inside a parody that utilizes "Saving Private Ryan" fight moments (along with a little "Braveheart" tossed in permanently measure).'Million Dollar Direct TV Baby'"Billion Dollar Baby" Inside a lampoon from the DirecTV advertisements by which stars break both character and also the 4th wall to shill straight to ad viewers, the ultimate scene from the 2004 Oscar champion has Maggie Fitzgerald using her final moments to market the feevee's new package sans tongue.'The Surrealer Life' & 'Gandalf Game Show'"The The almighty from the Rings" trilogy Ron Jeremy, Corey Feldman, MC Hammer along with other household people of "The Surreal Existence" receive the job to eliminate the main one Ring. Feldman pulls a Gollum within the final moments, heading down using the ring and asking audiences to keep in mind him only from part one of "The Lost Boys." In "Gandalf Game Show," Gandalf the Gray includes a difficult time using the clues on "The $10,000 Pyramid."'Cut Me, Mick'"Rocky" The 1976 Oscar champion turns gory as Mick's front row skill having a edge requires a turn for that gross.'At the Movies' "Driving Miss Daisy" The 1989 Oscar champion will get a follow up with Jason Statham's "The Transporter" playing negligence Hoke, who must turn to high-speed aerial maneuvers to obtain his employer towards the Piggly-Wiggly.'At the Movies' "Schindler's List"In "Schindler's Pissed," Liam Neeson returns towards the role like a machine-gun yielding action hero who's "making a listing, checking it two times, gonna discover who's Nazi or nice."'Robot Chicken' 100th EpisodeA beak in to the future Team reps rapid rise of nerd processors Fandom fodder for film-flam Initial production hurdles were absolutely nothing to cluck at Contact Erin Maxwell at erin.maxwell@variety.com

Sound minds

Whether as mixers, editors or designers, these pros helped shape the soundscapes of some of the season's Oscar contenders.Anna Behlmer"Thor," "Super 8" and "Puss in Boots" mixer has "It" factorSound mixer Anna Behlmer has worked with premier helmers including Michael Mann and Steven Spielberg. In 2011 alone the 10-time Oscar nominee's work could be heard in "Thor," "Super 8" and "Puss in Boots." And she really wishes she could tell you that she always wanted a career in sound.Behlmer came in contact with sound work when her then boyfriend and now husband, Curt, was working as a sound engineer. While visiting him at work, someone suggested she get a union card and start working in sound, so she jumped in and never looked back.Since then, Behlmer has worked at notable sound houses like Todd-AO and at Fox's sound department. Soon she'll start work at the new Technicolor facility on the Paramount lot. She's also had a longtime collaboration with fellow sound mixer Andy Nelson, with whom she shares Oscar nominations. But she sees legendary Richard Portman as an a pivotal figure in her early career."I don't know if there was a moment when I knew I could be a good mixer," says Behlmer. "But Richard Portman, who had worked on 'The Godfather' and 'Deer Hunter,' taught me a lot about mixing and he said to me one day, 'I've trained a lot of people and you know when someone has it and when they don't. And you've got it.' "Craig BerkleyQuirky noises in favorite films inspire "Tree of Life" sound designerCraig Berkey favors the sorts of small, quirky and singular sounds he heard in his favorite films, long before he'd ever worked as a sound editor or mixer. "In 'Barton Fink' there's this sound of a bell that you hear through the entire hotel when the main character is trying to get someone's attention," says Berkey. "I remember thinking at the time how great that was because it set the mood and showed you something new about the character."These days Berkey is a regular on Coen brothers projects. He was their sound designer and sound re-recording mixer on "A Serious Man" and "True Grit," the latter of which brought him Oscar noms in both sound editing and mixing.Berkey's sound sensibilities have also made him a frequent collaborator of Terrence Malick on such projects as "The New World" and "The Tree of Life." He is now beginning work on Malick's latest film."Doing a film with Terry (Malick) is great because he really wants you to be honest with him and tell him what you think, even when you don't like something," says Berkey. "The hard part comes when he asks you to come up with a sound that signifies consciousness."Karen Baker LandersHearing-impaired father taught editor the importance of soundAs the daughter of a man with severe hearing loss, Karen Baker Landers was keenly aware of the power of sound. "My dad loved the sound of a thunderstorm," recalls Landers. "He loved all the crackles, wind noises and the sound of the rain. So shortly before he died, when he had almost completely lost his hearing, I gave him a recording of a storm that he would listen to over and over again on his headphones."Landers, who took home an Oscar along with longtime collaborator Per Hallberg for sound editing 2007's "The Bourne Ultimatum," was given a tape recorder to play with as a child. She instantly loved capturing all the sounds around her and being able to play them back. Now a supervising sound editor with Soundelux in Hollywood, Landers has worked on films as diverse as "Ray" and "The Proposal." In 2011 year her work could be heard in "Green Lantern" and "I Am Number Four."However, there's one type of film she'd still love to do."I'm dying to do a horror film like 'The Sixth Sense' because you really get to play with the way sound can get an audience ready for a big scare and then scare them even more when something happens," laughs Landers.Tom MyersThree-time Oscar nominee thrives at Skywalker SoundTom Myers knew he'd landed someplace special when he started work at Skywalker Sound. "There was just this attitude here of sharing ideas and giving feedback on each other's work," says Myers, a three-time Oscar nominee. "You can walk down the hall and you have the legends of sound like Gary Rydstrom and Randy Thom right there if you want an opinion on something."Myers, whose work can be heard in 2011's "Cars 2" as well as past Pixar hits "Toy Story 3," and "Up," went to film school thinking he'd become an editor. During his studies he realized the huge impact sound had on the overall outcome of a film. He was hooked.Upon arriving at Skywalker, Myers soon learned that it wasn't about using sounds that were a precise reproduction of the noises made by whatever was on screen at the time. It was more important to use sounds that made dramatic sense, regardless of their actual origin."On 'Cars 2' and 'Cars' at first there was this idea of using the sound made by the exact make and model of car that was in the scene at first," says Myers. "But it wasn't quite working and we ended up adding other sounds that felt right for the story instead."Eye on the Oscars: VFX, Sound & EditingLong pics spur sly tricks | Oscar lacks home for 'designers' | Sound minds | Bakeoff buzz: Heart trumps hardware | Shorter vfx reels demand new strategy | 'Bridesmaids' editors took long view Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Game on for that new the new sony handheld Vita

The brand new the new sony isn't ready to give around the mobile gaming biz at this time around.Keen for just about any popular handheld version of the Ps 3 videogame console, The brand new the new sony revs up an advertising blitz today within the Electronic Products Show, in Las vegas, due to its Vita coming at U.S. retailers on Feb. 22. The handheld gaming device replaces the PSP, which didn't gain popularity with clients round the new the new sony had wanted seven in the past, and already bowed in Japan in December. Timing is an problem for Vita's success, however.The Vita, listed from $249 to $299, has come about as more clients are adopting cheaper options comparable to their cell phones and pills to see affordable games for instance "Angry Wild wild birds," "Words With Pals" and "The Sim cards Social." Consequently, experts question if there's still a business for just about any devoted gaming device when other cell phone models are packing bigger screens online and cell service.The brand new the new sony isn't frustrated. It's offered nearly 80 million PSPs and PSP Go items since late 2004. And Producers remains doing brisk business having its DS-kind of handhelds, which first demonstrated the identical year."The mobile companies are ripe for just about any new gaming chance," mentioned John Koller, director of hardware marketing for that new the new sony Computer Entertainment America. "We view it the most effective handheld gaming device ever launched."The brand new the new sony is obviously copying its claims. The business is predicted to pony up its greatest marketing campaign for your Vita since beginning the Ps 3 and PSP.Which is adopting CES to produce a large splash for your product through demos within the The brand new the new sony booth, where it has around 30 Vitas to see with."CES is definitely an very critical platform for people,In . Koller told Variety throughout occur Buenos Aires, Argentina, to film a commercial for Vita's approaching campaign. "The possibility it presents to talk about while using media but furthermore experts and key partners is unmatched." The brand new the new sony used CES to showcase the PSP in 2005. The brand new the new sony will need the hype. Throughout its first week of sales in Japan, the Vita moved 320,000 models, 72,000 models in week two and 42,648 models inside the third, although experts aren't disappointed with this result. Nintendo's 3DS offered 370,000 models within the first week, losing to 210,000 within the second. It's since moved greater than 4 million models in Japan, carrying out a cost cut from $250 to $170 inside the U.S. Mobile is important to PlayStation's future just like a brand, thinking about that it is core gamers spend 80% of your time outdoors the home inside the U.S., Koller mentioned. "We come across mobile and handheld gaming as considerably important overall, but within Ps it's uber important. We must have a very forum to hold onto supply Ps content where they are going.InchThere is unquestionably plenty of ground for that new the new sony to produce up. With the finish of 2011, nearly 58% of portable games inside the U.S. were carried out on mobile items that actually work on Google's Android or Apple's iOS platform, according to research firm Flurry Statistics. Nintendo's DS line possessed 36% in the market, while using PSP testing out a corner at 6%, lower from 9% this season and 11% this past year.Around the revenue basis, an thought $3.3 billion was allotted to portable games this season, according to Flurry, with Producers producing $1.2 billion and cell phones consuming $1.9 billion. This can be a switch from $1.9 billion this past year for Producers and $500 million for Google and Apple that same year.In creating the Vita, The brand new the new sony associated with a familiar format -- it resembles the PSP but includes a better screen and graphics, along with other capabilities."We asked for ourselves, 'How can we create content that's connected with Ps that is not a tablet?'" Koller mentioned.Although naysayers inside the games biz worry the new the new sony is outpricing itself while using Vita which is games, SCEA features a certain consumer in your thoughts. It sights the Vita just like a "premium product" that falls within the handheld gaming and mobile investment investment portfolios. 5-inch OLED touchscreen features HD resolution that's more colorful and in comparison to PSP and senses motion and allows for augmented reality action, because the items includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and optional third generation. The Vita drops PSP's UMD dvd disks for costly memory stays, or perhaps the Ps Vita card, to see movies and store information. Top game game titles to create, and listed between $40-$50, initially include "ModNation Racers: Journey," "Uncharted: Golden Abyss," "Reality Fighter," "Military Corps of Hell," WipeOut 2048," " Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational" "Michael Jackson: The Understanding,Inch "Plants versus. Zombies," "Ultimate Marvel versus. Capcom 3" and "FIFA Soccer." That kind of capacity includes a greater cost."The Vita, in several ways, can be a Ps 3 in the bank,In . Koller mentioned. "It'll be most likely the very best cell phone in the marketplace for an additional few years which will have a way to stream movies, music and photos by having an HD screen." AT&T is delivering the Wi-Fi and third generation convenience, through which The brand new the new sony desires to eventually offer high-finish, graphically wealthy games -- the kind that are familiar to PS3 entrepreneurs.It learned that lowering the price of their PSP too soon decreased the normal ages of its typical user."The PSP consumer was somebody that aged lower very quickly" to have an average ages of 12-14 within two-and-a-half years, Koller mentioned.While using Vita, SCEA is concentrating on Ps 3's core consumer of males inside their mid-20s with many different discretionary earnings and so are typically early adopters, rabid for completely new technology."Reaching them relating to this device where they may spend their funds is vital,In . Koller.Like Vita will make use of the growing pot of digital dollars the gaming marketplace is progressively adopting. When attending a baseball game, for example, the Vita will unlock jerseys left for fans at various arenas. Programs may even enable clients to consider treasure tracks inside a city or venue, although some will disclose other players in the area in addition to their capabilities.The Vita "was produced just like a social medium but it'll be used by doing this,Inch Koller mentioned.The PSP wasn't. The brand new the new sony is careful not to replicate what went down while using PSP, which wound up being named "Ps Personal" because clients "weren't reaching anybody," Koller mentioned.Naturally, the Vita may even incorporate video services like Netflix and Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Skype. But programs will probably be tweaked to match with Sony's push for social interaction. "Vita is built to be completely the choice,In . he added. "We're not considering throwing something that's already inside your phone onto Vita. We wish programs being unique to Vita. If you proceed and take Vita out in the world it affects your gaming and what you are getting fun with and fascinating with."Either in situation, that social element is predicted being a lot of Vita's marketing campaign and message being launched of CES and also the focus of the conferences with designers, application makers together with other content partners through the show."We don't always can satisfy wonderful them and fly around the globe,In . Koller mentioned. "CES provides that chance."Game on for VitaSony wants a bigger little bit of Nintendo's handheld gaming biz since it tries to launch a mobile version of the Ps 3 console with Vita.Producers DS149 million models offered since November 2004Nintendo DS Lite93.4 million models offered since March 2006 The brand new the new sony PSP71.4 million models offered from December 2004-September 2011Nintendo DSi25.6 000 0000 models offered since November 2008Nintendo DS XL11.millions of models offered since November 2009Nintendo 3DS8 million models offered since February 2011 Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com