It's Official: 'Moonrise Kingdom' will open Cannes

AndersonWes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" is placed to spread out the 65th Cannes Film Festival.Cannes delegate general Thierry Fremaux introduced Thursday the film have been selected for that fest's exclusive opening-evening slot, although it remains unclear whether or not this will have in or from competition.Cannes begins May 16, within 24 hours "Moonrise" is slated to spread out in French theaters through Studiocanal. A Croisette berth has appeared likely since Focus Features introduced the pic would open May 25 Stateside.An ensembler occur sixties Colonial and including Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDorman, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman and Bob Balaban, "Moonrise Kingdom" is Anderson's live-action follow-as much as his 2009 stop-motion toon, "Fantastic Mr. Fox."Fest has tended to spread out with U.S. studio/niche-division game titles recently, for example Disney-Pixar's "Up" (2009), Universal's "Robin Hood" (2010) and The new sony Classics' "Night time in Paris" (2011).Fest runs May 16-27. Contact Justin Chang at justin.chang@variety.com

Big spoiler slips out at 'Housewives' trial

Spoiler alert! The biggest revelation to come out of former "Desperate Housewives" actress Nicollette Sheridan's wrongful termination trial on Thursday was that she won't be the only primary character killed off from the show. Under questioning from one of Sheridan's lawyers, one of the show's executive producers George Perkins, revealed that James Denton's character Mike would be killed off in Sunday's episode. When he blurted it out, there was laughter in the courtroom. "Should we quarantine the press?" Adam Levin, Marc Cherry's attorney, asked half jokingly. "I can't issue those" orders, Judge Elizabeth Allen White responded. The revelation essentially ruins of the element of surprise, but it actually could bolster Cherry's case that the killing off of even primary characters was not out of the question. Sheridan sued Cherry and Touchstone television, claiming that her character was killed off from the show in retaliation for complaining about a confrontation with Cherry. At a break in the proceedings, Cherry just shrugged at the idea that a secret was blown in open court. Denton testified earlier in the day that he was "always" concerned his character would be killed off. Contact Ted Johnson at ted.johnson@variety.com

Songkick can get boost from Sequoia Capital

U.K.-based music startup Songkick has become $tens of millions of in funding from VC firm Sequoia Capital. The funding was created by Boss/co-founder Ian Hogarth in the company blog, who noted: "We opting for a lengthy-term undertake this industry, which we understand that to actually make concerts for everyone, there is available a lot of work before us." The service, which compiles records for live music occasions and sends alerts to clients when shows utilizing their favorite bands are introduced, was started in 2007. Ever since then, it's grown to five million monthly clients, apparently which causes it to be the second most broadly used live music site after Ticketmaster. Songkick has forged a flurry of partners in the last couple of years, different from Vevo and YouTube to Spotify, and launched its apple apple iphone application last summer season. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

RoboCop lead offered to The Killing's Joel Kinnaman

Joel Kinnaman, best known for his role in the US version of The Killing, has been offered the lead role in another remake: Jose Padhila's reboot of RoboCop.Michael Fassbender has been linked to the RoboCop role for some time, although it seems as if he never officially entered talks for the role.Kinnaman recently signed on to Arthur & Lancelot (playing the latter), and he has previously had small background roles in some fairly big movies (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Safe House, The Darkest Hour).While we haven't quite seen enough of Kinnaman to assess his leading man potential, his name won't exactly be a box office draw.Without the popularity of a Fassbender-type, it's difficult to know if audiences will accept a remake of an '80s movie that still plays exceptionally well today.RoboCop (the remake) is currently awaiting a release date, which we expect to find out once a star is locked in place.

'Bullets' aims for Broadway

Woodsy Allen is tuning up a stage version of "Bullets over Broadway," adapting his 1994 pic right into a musical that aims to land around the Rialto in 2013. Allen pens it in line with the script he co-written with Douglas McGrath. Show will incorporate period tunes in the 20's, the era throughout that the Gotham-set story happens. Plotline follows a youthful playwright who must cast a mobster's talent-free moll in the latest play to be able to obtain the show created. The 1994 Miramax film starred John Cusack, Jennifer Tilly, Chazz Palminteri and Dianne Wiest, whose perf like a demanding diva gained her an Oscar. Show's producers, Julian Schlossberg and Letty Aronson, make a practice of backing Allen's stage endeavors. Additionally they created this season's "Relatively Speaking," a trio of 1-functions that incorporated a seg by Allen, in addition to 1995 Off Broadway show "Dying Repel Functions," another assortment of one-functions that Allen led. Further particulars about "Bullets" -- including casting, creative team and song list -- still be set. Exact Broadway dates and theater are also up in mid-air. Aronson is among the producers of Allen's newest bigscreen outing, "Night time in Paris," that is up for four Academy awards a few days ago. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

VIDEO: The Actual Average women of O.C.'s Gretchen Describes Fallout with Vicki

The Actual Average women from the O.C. Who would have thought The Actual Average women of Orange County's Gretchen and Tamra would be buddies? Over the past three seasons from the Bravo series, the castmates happen to be each and every other peoples throats. From Tamra probing into Gretchen after which-fiancé Jeff's relationship, to Gretchen's famous "evil eye" comment, the ladies have barely been not opponents. When Season 7 accumulates, which will finally change. "I had been beyond shocked [we reconciled], but simultaneously I truly went in to the season knowing I needed to maneuver past it," Gretchen informs TVGuide.com. However with Gretchen and Tamra cool down, the drama gets hotter with Vicki. (Just watch the finish of the clip.) Watch the job interview below for additional on their own approaching showdown and what set Gretchen within the edge. The Actual Average women of Oc airs Mondays at 10/9c on Bravo.

Saoirse Ronan to star in Disney's 'Seven'

RonanSaoirse Ronan is at final predicts star in Disney's "Order of Seven," an activity that was initially developed just like a Kung Fu retelling of "Snow White-colored as well as the Seven Dwarfs." The pic has since been reworked just like a standalone action adventure that's cut all ties for the classic tale. A Control Button House first began developing the project about 10 years ago. Ronan would play Olivia Sinclair, an british expat in 1800s Hong Kong, who seeks the safety from the centuries old quantity of gamers, now a jaded quantity of outlaws. Following a reemergence from the ancient evil empress, Sinclair helps the gamers reclaim their future and noble roots. Disney hopes to boost the world advantage of the pic by casting the roles in the gamers with well-known stars in China, Russia and Japan, creating a global team of heroes. Studio professionals are actually making excursions to people areas to begin talks with local talent. Ads helmer and visual effects supervisor Michael Gracey is positioned to produce his directorial debut round the fantasy pic that Andrew Gunn is creating through his Disney- based Gunn Films banner ("Race to Witch Mountain," "Freaky Friday"). Production starts this fall. The newest version in the script was put together by Jayson Rothwell and Michael DeBruyn. Project was composed by Michael Chabon, if the was setup as "Snow as well as the Seven" and incorporated more aspects of "Snow White-colored," plus a murderous stepmother and magical mirror. Film has existed development at Disney since 2002. In 2005, "The Matrix" trilogy and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping was installed on direct. Ever since then, numerous company company directors came and gone, including Francis Lawrence, along with scribes Michael Arndt ("Toy Story 3"). Natalie Portman happen to be circling the project when Lawrence was installed on direct. Avoid "Snow White-colored" needs to be smart for your Mouse House thinking about that Relativity's "Mirror Mirror" and Universal's "Snow White-colored as well as the Huntsman" are bowing this year. Ronan ("Hanna") can be a voice in "The Important Thing Arena of Arriety," that Disney is disseminating for Studio Ghibli is installed on Neil Jordan's vampire pic "Byzantium" and may star in Andrew Niccol's "The Host," based on "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer's novel. Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

Activision's Q4 revenue at $1.4 billion

Despite a struggling year for the videogames biz, the industry's largest publisher showed no signs of weakness as 2011 wrapped up. Activision Blizzard reported stronger-than-expected fourth quarter revenue of $1.4 billion for the period that ended Dec. 31, boosting profits to $99 million, after recording a loss of $233 million during the year-ago frame.For the full year, Activision took home net revenue of $4.76 billion, up from $4.45 billion. Net income came in at a whopping $1 billion, up from $418 million in 2010.Digital channels generated $1.6 billion, accounting for a record 34% of the company's total net revenues for the year, made up of subscriptions and memberships, licensing royalties, downloadable content and digitally distributed products.Activision easily claimed "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" as the best-selling game of 2011, moving more than 16 million units by the end of the year, helping it dominate as the top console and handheld game publisher in the U.S. and Europe.Title became the first game to pass $775 million in sales in its first five days of release and crossed the $1 billion mark in 16 days. It took previous installment, "Call of Duty: Black Ops" a month before reaching that milestone. Game eventually sold more than 25 million copies.Activision releases the first "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection," a compilation of content previously released to "Call of Duty Elite" premium members, for Microsoft's Xbox 360 in March.Its online service for the war actioner, "Call of Duty Elite," now has 7 million registered users, including 1.5 million annual premium members. "Call of Duty: Black Ops" was still the fifth-bestselling title, in terms of revenue, last year.Company also successfully launched "Skylanders Spyro's Adventure" as a game-toy hybrid, that has sold more than 20 million products to date, becoming last year's top kids videogame."'Skylanders' was the biggest new IP launch in Activision's history and it is on track to become an important and sustainable franchise," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard.Meanwhile, Blizzard's "World of Warcraft," which is facing some competish from Electronic Arts' "Star Wars: The Old Republic," in the MMORPG arena, claims 10.2 million subscribers, as of the end of 2011.This year, Activision will release its next game in the "Call of Duty" franchise, grow its online "Call of Duty Elite" biz, and launch "Skylanders Giants." Blizzard has tentpole titles "Diablo III" forthcoming. Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

Pilot Season: Supernatural's Alona Tal Returns to CW With Cult

Alona Tal Alona Tal will still be hunting down the bad guys again on The CW. The former Supernatural actress, best known for playing the ill-fated hunter-bartender Jo, will play a cop in the drama pilot Cult, TVGuide.com has learned. Supernatural photos: See Sam clown around with his worst nightmare But there's a twist: Tal will be playing an actress named Kelly Collins who is in turn portraying a young LAPD detective on a wildly popular television show called Cult. It's suspected that fans of the series are re-creating crimes on the program in real life. Former Melrose Place reboot star Jessica Lucas was previously announced to play, Skye, a young production assistant on the show who joins a journalist blogger investigating the fans. Pilot season: Melrose Place's Jessica Lucas to star in CW's Cult Rockne O'Bannon will write and executive-produce alongside Gossip Girl duo Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and Len Goldstein. Tal's credits also include Veronica Mars, The Killing, Pretty Little Liars and Monk.

Box Office: Chronicle Edges Out The Woman in Black For Top Spot

Chronicle A magical wizard fell short to three superheroes at the box office, as Chronicle edged out The Woman in Black for the top spot, Box Office Mojo reports. Chronicle, about three teenage friends who gain superpowers, grossed an estimated $22 million in its opening weekend. The Woman in Black, starring Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe, drew $21 million to take second place. The Grey leads the pack at the box office At No. 3 was last weekend's top film, The Grey, drawing $9.5 million. The weekend's third new wide release, the whale drama Big Miracle, ranked fourth with $8.5 million. Underworld: Awakening completed the top five, attracting $5.6 million. One For the Money fell to No. 6, grabbing $5.2 million. Red Tails was close behind in seventh place with $5 million. Rounding out the top 10: The Descendants (No. 8, $4.6 million), Man on a Ledge (No. 9, $4.5 million) and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (No. 10, $3.9 million).

Cinemax Renews Luck for Season 2

Luck Cinemax has restored Luck for any 10-episode second season, the network introduced Tuesday.The horce-racing drama, brought by Dustin Hoffman, will begin production on Season 2 in the finish of Feb, by having an eye for any The month of january 2013 return.Is HBO's equine-racing series Luck a large gamble?"We could not become more thrilled using the critical reaction to this beautiful good article and that we are extremely looking forward to where David and Michael intend to take these incredible figures." Michael Lombardo, leader of Cinemax programming, stated inside a statement.Following a special sneak look in December, Luck opened Sunday to at least one.a million audiences.

A few of preference options

On Jan. 11, TV stars centered the red-colored-colored carpet within the People Choice Honours, with Kat Dennings and Jesse Behrs acquiring honors for "2 Broke Women" and Neil Patrick Harris being named favorite TV comedy actor. Backstage within the Nokia, Harris held court about among his fave Tv shows, "The Particular Regular folks of Beverly Slopes," saying, "Isn't it crazy to check out that relate this season? It becomes clear that clear on individuals dies, then one visits rehab. It's as being a murder mystery when you're conscious what will take place in the conclusion.Inch Emma Stone, who nabbed two movie honours, mentioned she was overcome because when large the Nokia Theater. "It kind of felt like putting on a concert where I'm half almost crying whole time.Inch -- Todd Kushigemachi Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Richard Schiff joins 'Man of Steel'

SchiffRichard Schiff has grew to become part of the cast of Warner Bros.' "Guy of Steel," playing a personality named Dr. Hamilton.The Zack Snyder pic remains lensing in Vancouver and Chicago.Schiff, an Emmy champion for his role on NBC's "Free Air travel Wing," has most recently guested on numerous TV skeins, including ABC's "Not such a long time ago," NBC's "Up With The Evening" and USA's "White-colored Collar." Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Ratings: The Firm Sets An All-Time Low for an NBC Regular Season Drama

Josh Lucas, Molly Parker No terra firma for The Firm. Its two-hour debut stands on this shaky ground - 46 percent below the demo rating of The Cape's premiere a year ago, making it the worst all-time start of an NBC regular season drama. Quite telling: the show lost viewers with each succeeding half-hour. Surely, the network is missing Sunday Night Football already. Preliminary Nielsen data also showed that Once Upon a Time came back strong - 28 percent above its last first-run episode on Dec. 11. And CBS enjoyed a big boost from the one-play overtime heroics of Tim Tebow leading the Denver Broncos to an upset over the Pittsburgh Steelers, pulling in 25.23 million viewers with is overrun into the 8 o'clock hour. It gave CBS its highest-rated Wild Card game in 24 years. In the 7 o'clock hour, the game had 41.89 million viewers and a 14.8 rating among the industry-prized 18-to-49-year-olds. Catch up on today's news 8 p.m.CBS: 60 Minutes 25.23 million viewers (7.9) {skewed by NFL overrun as are the rest of CBS overnight numbers}ABC: Once Upon a Time 10.33 million (3.7)Fox: The Simpsons 5.1 million (2.3); The Cleveland Show 4.37 million (2.1) {8:30 p.m.}NBC: Dateline NBC 7.42 million (1.5) 9 p.m.CBS: The Good Wife 12.68 million (3.0)ABC: Desperate Housewives 8.79 million viewers (3.0)Fox: Family Guy 6.04 million (3.0); American Dad 4.59 million (2.1)NBC: The Firm 6.29 million (1.4) [9-11 p.m.] 10 p.m.CBS: CSI: Miami 10.76 million viewers (2.7 demo rating)ABC: Pan Am 4.04 million (1.3)

Kyle Richards Branches Out With New Book, TV Pilot

First Published: January 6, 2012 10:35 AM EST Credit: Access Hollywood Caption Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards stops by Access Hollywood Live on October 11, 2011NY, N.Y. -- Paris Hilton may have put her familys name on the reality TV map, but her aunt Kyle Richards is hot on her tail with a new book and a TV pilot about her life. Richards outspoken personality served her well as a child actress growing up in Hollywood, going head-to-head with her feisty castmates on Bravos The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and most recently dishing out relationship, fashion and lifestyle advice in her new book, Life Is Not a Reality Show: Keeping It Real With the Housewife Who Does It All, published by HarperOne. In the book, Richards, who has been married for 17 years and is the mother of four girls, offers tips on everything from dealing with infidelity to how to get her signature silky locks. In a recent interview, she discussed her new projects, her sister Kim Richards stint in rehab and her biggest Housewife blowout. AP: How did you come up with the idea for your book? Richards: I grew up in a house of all women. You know, my mom, my grandmother and my sisters (Kim Richards and Kathy Hilton). And every time they would come home, my mom would flip the light on and would say, OK, tell me everything you did from the date, from beginning to the end. I used to lay there and pretend I was sleeping and listen to every little crumb what they did wrong, what they didnt do. It was the best education you could ever get. And once I started the show and people saw my relationship with my husband, I got so many comments and questions on Twitter that I really thought it would be fun to talk about things that worked for me. AP: What is one of the biggest mistakes that women make in relationships? Richards: A lot people want love, but they dont give it. I see so many of my friends with their husbands; they dont think that they need the same attention as we do. I want my husband to feel like no one is going to love and adore him like I do. Youd be surprised when you give that how much love you get in return. AP: Do you have any regrets about this season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? How about your argument with castmate Brandi Glanville on Game Night? Richards: Brandi and the Game Night thing is probably my biggest regret of everything weve done on the Housewives. Even more so than the limo fight with my sister (Kim). Because in the limo with my sister, even though I got a lot of heat from that, people were angry, thats what I was feeling but with Game Night, thats just not who I am, period. I was not being true to myself and to me thats the worst thing that could happen. AP: How is Kim doing in rehab? Richards: Shes good. You know, there are rumors that she had left rehab, she did not. Shes doing really well, and Im just really happy and proud of her for making that decision. AP: So whats next? Richards: I just sold a pilot, a half-hour sitcom. I cant say which network, but its about my life. Its basically my life being a juggling mom, wife and being on a reality show. AP: If you dont play yourself, which Hollywood starlet would you like to play you? Richards: I would want it to be somebody thats really funny and could capture the humor of being a mom and all the humor that comes with being on a reality show, so maybe Jennifer Aniston or Jenny McCarthy. I dont know, someone really funny. Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Arnold Schwarzenegger to see an angel in Black Sunday

Arnold Schwarzenegger takes his movie comeback seriously.Together with the Expendables 2, Arnie may also be filming Last Stand, and he's presently planning employment in Black Sunday (formerly introduced as Black Sands).Because the film had formerly been known to love a western of sorts, with critiques to Guy Burning and Flatlands Drifter stated, Arnie has thrown a curveball by telling website TheArnoldFans (with the Playlist) that he's playing an angel inside the movie."I'm a kind of angel," he mentioned, adding, "I'm not able to presently say a little more about this film."His comments are actually taken literally rather than figuratively, along with his avenging angel considered to become some type of holy creature.This returns rather iffy recollections of Finish Of Days, though when the gives Arnie the opportunity to spout more golden lines like "Including the idea and my Glock nine millimeter, I'll proceed and take Glock" and "You're a fucking choir boy in contrast in my opinion!In . than the might be something from the guilty-pleasure watch.The Expendables 2 opens on 17 August 2012, with Last Stand following on 18 The month of the month of january 2013.