Groundbreaking comedian Phyllis Diller died at her L.A. home surrounded by family at 95, TMZ is reporting . She had recently fallen, injuring her wrist and hip and her health had been deteriorating since the incident. Diller received a pacemaker following a 1999 heart attack. She began her long career in 1952, rising to fame with her television specials, starring with Bob Hope in the 1960s. Her signature laugh became a staple of her various appearances. In 1998, Diller provided the voice for the queen in Disney/Pixar’s animated movie A Bug’s Life and in 2005, she was one of the contemporary comics featured in the indie box office hit documentary The Aristocrats (2005). But she’ll be most remembered for her onstage persona. Diller typically combined her wild-hairdos and act as an eccentric housewife as a backdrop to self-deprecating jokes about her age and appearance, terrible cooking, and a husband named “Fang.” She also would don a cigarette she’d pretend to smoke from a long holder. In 2005, she wrote her autobiography titled Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse / A screenplay based on her early years as a stand-up is in pre-production with Patricia Clarkson slated to play Diller, according to Wikipedia. Diller was born Phyllis Ada Driver in Lima, Ohio on July 17, 1917. [ Sources: TMZ , Wikipedia ]
Paul Dano intends to rock you — musically and emotionally — this fall. In the So Yong Kim-directed For Ellen , the indie-film darling plays Joby Taylor, a rock musician who puts aside his fading dreams of stardom to fight for custody of his six-year-old daughter Ellen, played by newcomer Shaylena Mandigo. After the struggling Taylor agrees to sign divorce papers in order to make some needed cash from the sale of his marital home, he discovers that the agreement requires him to forfeit custody of his child to his estranged wife (Margarita Levieva). Unable to reverse the decision, he negotiates a visit with Ellen to determine whether he is able to walk away from his little girl. Napoleon Dynamite star Jon Heder and Jena Malone ( Into the Wild ) round out the cast as, respectively, Taylor’s attorney and girlfriend. Here’s an exclusive look at the poster for the film, which Tribeca Film will release in select theaters starting September 5 and nationwide On Demand starting September 19. For more on the movie, check out the official website and Facebook page . Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Paul Dano intends to rock you — musically and emotionally — this fall. In the So Yong Kim-directed For Ellen , the indie-film darling plays Joby Taylor, a rock musician who puts aside his fading dreams of stardom to fight for custody of his six-year-old daughter Ellen, played by newcomer Shaylena Mandigo. After the struggling Taylor agrees to sign divorce papers in order to make some needed cash from the sale of his marital home, he discovers that the agreement requires him to forfeit custody of his child to his estranged wife (Margarita Levieva). Unable to reverse the decision, he negotiates a visit with Ellen to determine whether he is able to walk away from his little girl. Napoleon Dynamite star Jon Heder and Jena Malone ( Into the Wild ) round out the cast as, respectively, Taylor’s attorney and girlfriend. Here’s an exclusive look at the poster for the film, which Tribeca Film will release in select theaters starting September 5 and nationwide On Demand starting September 19. For more on the movie, check out the official website and Facebook page . Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Also in Wednesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, Paramount Pictures signs a deal with Chinese platform to sent titles for VOD; the SXSW Film Festival is accepting submissions and registration; Selena Gomez to star in a new indie; and Josh Gad boards The Internship . Producer Hawk Koch Elected Academy President Koch was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Tuesday night by the organization’s Board of Governors. Koch, who is beginning his ninth year as a governor representing the Producers Branch, has served as first vice president of the Academy during the past year. He previously served three one-year terms as treasurer and one term as vice president. Koch’s producer credits include Losing Isaiah and Gorky Park . He recently served as executive producer on Source Code and is executive producer on the upcoming Very Good Girls . SXSW Film Festival Accepting Submissions and Registration Submissions and registrations for the 2013 event are now being accepted. Filmmakers are invited to submit their new features, short films, music videos and title sequences to the annual event, a renowned destination for discovery. Last year the SXSW Film Festival featured 132 features and 12 shorts programs, with 74 world premiere features. The next event takes place March 8 – 16 in Austin, TX. More information at their website . Paramount Pictures Titles to Head to Chinese VOD Titles including the Mission Impossible series, Transformers , Breakfast at Tiffany’s and more will be available via Pay-Per-View and Video On Demand platforms through YOU On Demand Holdings in China. Around the ‘net… Lee Daniels to Direct Martin Luther King Jr Film Daniels is teaming up with Hugh Jackman for the conspiracy theory drama Orders to Kill revolving around the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Jackman will star as William Pepper, the lawyer who argued for decades that King was assassinated by unseen forces including the U.S. government, The Guardian reports . Selena Gomez Joins Parental Guidance Suggested Gomez will star in the indie film opposite Nat Wolff in the coming-of-age comedy. Austin Stowell ( The Secret Life of the American Teenager ) will co-star as her overbearing boyfriend. Based on the 2000 novel While I’m Dead…Feed the Dog , the story revolves around 16 year-old Ric Thibault (Wolff) and his crush Nina Pennington (Gomez) as they begin a rock ‘n’ roll odyssey, THR reports . Book of Mormon ‘s Josh Gad Boards The Internship Gad will join Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in the 20th Century Fox comedy about two middle-aged men who start over as interns with Shawn Levy directing, Deadline reports .
Summer movie season is here, and once again talk turns to Olivia Wilde . Olivia’s career started skinfully enough with her topless scene in Alpha Dog (2006), but (as you may recall) last summer she faked us out (twice!) with CGI flames covering her seat meat in Cowboys & Aliens (2011) and full-on faux CGI nudes in The Change-Up (2011). We haven’t heard much from Olivia since these crimes against BOOBmanity, but now it appears she’s attempting to make amends with a nude role in the indie art flick Deadfall (2012) . Olivia plays Liza, a thief and con woman on the run from the law with her brother Addison ( Eric Bana ), and according to early reviews she bares her moneymakers…for real this time. They don’t have the budget for CGI nudity in this flick: “Liza (Wilde)…in short order is showing her breasts because this is an “arty” movie and not “TRON Legacy, ” critic Drew Taylor writes in his review for Indiewire . Jerry Cavallaro of We Are Movie Geeks is less cynical in his review, saying her ” loved the hell out of ” the movie and that “the film has plenty of other great things going for it like some wonderful visuals, thrilling action set pieces, the beautiful Kate Mara, and unnecessary Olivia Wilde nudity.” We only have one small correction: when it’s Olivia Wilde we’re talking about, all nudity is completely necessary. Deadfall hits theaters September 7 , so tide yourself over with pics and clips of Olivia Wilde nude in Alpha Dog (2006) right here at MrSkin.com!
Also in Tuesday afternoon’s round up of news briefs, Magnolia Pictures and Strand Releasing each pick up a 2012 Tribeca Film Festival title, while Monique Gabriela Curnen and Kathy Baker join an indie thriller. Marina Abramovic nabs a French festival prize, Mark Cuban gives his two cents at a producers conference over the weekend and what to do about those pesky website responses… The British have an answer. Magnolia Pictures Nabs U.S. Rights to Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie The documentary about the seminal talk show host is directed by Ironbound Films’ Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger. Downey exploded made a splash onto the late ‘80s talk show circuit, uprooting the traditional format by turning debate of current issues into a brouhaha, earning the title “Father of Trash Television.” The film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, will be released theatrically by Magnolia in the first quarter of 2013. Tribeca’s Yossi Heads to Strand Releasing North American rights to Tribeca Film Festival debut Yossi are going to Strand Releasing. The follow up to the successful Yossi & Jagger , the film follows the main character, Yossi played again by Ohad Knoller as he lives a solitary existence as a workaholic doctor in Tel Aviv. Strand’s Jon Gerrans negotiated the deal with Films Distribution’s Nicolas Brigaud-Robert. Monique Gabriela Curnen and Kathy Baker Join Model Home The actresses have joined indie the indie thriller to be directed by Patrick Cunningham. Cunningham co-wrote the screenplay, which marks his feature debut, with William Frank. The story explores the little-known practice of “live-in staging,” where recently evicted families are recruited to live in unsold properties. Marina Abramovic Takes Top Prize at 1st Champs-Elysées Film Festival The Sundance world premiere won the audience prize for feature-length film from the U.S. The audience prize for best short film from the U.S. went to Motherland by Shariq Siddiqui while best French short went to It’s a Miracl’House by Stéphane Freiss. Created by Sophie Dulac, the festival programmed some 50 films enabling Parisian audiences to discover the variety of productions available from France and the United States. Around the ‘net… Universal Talks with Duplass Bros for Same Time, Next Year Re-do The studio along with producers Walter Mirisch and Scott Rudin plan a remake of the 1978 romantic comedy and are negotiating with Mark and Jay Duplass to write the script with the possibility to direct the feature, Deadline reports . Common to Star in New Version of Truffaut’s The Man Who Loved Women He will lead the cast in an “urban update” of Francois Truffaut’s 1977 romantic comedy classic The Man Who Loved Women for writer and director J. Kevin Swain. Swain’s version will be set in Buenos Aires, Shadow and Act reports . 9 Best Things Mark Cuban Said at Producers Guild Conference Produce as long as you can market; TV triumphs over online in revenue; Online numbers are deceiving and so is Facebook… Indiewire details some of the mogul’s proclamations. Websites to be Forced to Identify “Trolls” by Brits Websites will soon be forced to identify people who have posted defamatory messages online. New U.K. government proposals say victims have a right to know who is behind malicious messages without the need for costly legal battles, BBC reports .
Robert Pattinson has a lot riding these days. He traveled to Cannes for the world premiere of David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis in which he plays a multimillionaire on a 24-hour odyssey through New York City (mostly in his limo) and he stars in Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod’s Bel Ami in which he portrays a man grabbing power by manipulating Paris’ most wealthy women. And of course there was his most recent annual win for Best Kiss at the MTV Movie Awards last weekend (he and Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart have taken the “prize” for four years straight – those sexy things). Pattinson spoke with CBC host George Stroumboulopoulos about his latest pursuits and more. The actor talks about Twilight type-casting, how Ryan Gosling inspired him, his feelings about Heath Ledger and his run-in with singer Adele. Cosmopolis opens in Cronenberg’s native Canada in the next few days (it is slated for the U.S. this year) while Bel Ami will debut Stateside this weekend. (Video of the Robert Pattinson George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight interview is below and airs Thursday, June 7, at 11:05 pm on CBC television – Interview re-printed with permission by CBC). You know, post- Twilight franchise , you were trying to go down different roads? Was this legitimately part of your planning? Robert Pattinson : This was not part of the plan at all. I just thought I was totally oversaturated everywhere, I wanted to do little tiny parts or maybe no parts at all. I got this three weeks before I was finishing the last Twilight movie, and I was really, really determined to find ensemble pieces or anything small just so I didn’t have to be in everybody’s face and annoying everyone. And then this thing came up. Is this a new experience for you though, to watch your film back and go, oh wait a minute, how do I promote this movie? RP: Ah, completely. It reminded me, I watched this interview with Ryan Gosling once, and he said when he did The Believer a few years ago, and people were saying – cause he’d done Young Hercules for three or four seasons – and then he did The Believer and everybody was asking about his craft. And it’s the most, most confusing thing. I was in Cannes doing these interviews, and I was really fighting to not look pretentious for years, and someone gives you one inch of the possibility of being pretentious, and you’re like grabbing it so hard, going around being the biggest douchebag. And now I’ve kind of reined it in again. The one thing I imagine that you’re dealing with is aside from your close circle of friends — actual humanity, actual human conversations, the connections we all crave as a person, it’s harder and harder for you to find, isn’t it? RP: Yeah, but I just remember, I think I was pretty similar before. Like I would be one of those people who was desperate to go to a party and then they go to the party and just stand in the corner with the people they came with and refuse to acknowledge that anyone else is there. So I don’t really miss anything. And you kind of, you have all these fantasies if I wasn’t famous I’d meet all these random people in the street all the time. But you don’t meet random people in the street. Most of the time you’re trying to avoid everybody even if you’re not famous. Actually I had this argument with Adele, which is probably the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever said. I was saying, “you know, you can really just like reach for it,” and she was like, “you do realize I am like the biggest-selling female artist ever?” And I just for some reason just decided to get into an argument with her. How does that happen, at two o’clock in the morning somewhere? R.P. Yeah, and then waking up and kind of really, really regretting every word I said. Do you think much about the fact that when this franchise goes away, that you need that second act to your career? Do you think about that? RP: The only thing I ever thought about was thinking, I don’t want anyone to think that I somehow got trapped by something, you know. And I don’t know if anyone really does, the general public, about Twilight – but the amount of times you get asked, “oh, are you worried about being typecast?” I’m just worried about people saying, like, “What happened to that guy?” And also, you think, you want to do something at least a little bit worthwhile with what kind of power you’ve been given, through luck. And not just keep trying to extend the same thing for as long as possible. I’m not very scared of it going away at all. If I could somehow maintain a career in which I keep making movies like Cosmopolis , than I think it would be amazing, because not very many of them are made. You know, I always thought after The Dark Knight , for instance, it makes tons and tons of money, and Heath is doing something just outside — and people understand what he’s doing, it’s not like he’s not doing something totally crazy, but it’s just slightly outside the box of what people are used to seeing, and I really thought that was going to change everything as to how the big budget movies are made. But it didn’t, at all. If every single actor wasn’t afraid of trying to do something slightly abstract and not concerned about their movie making tons and tons of money, then eventually the industry would change. But then you and other guys in your position, can you make these kinds of films, then? And not just as actors? RP: I think you can once. I don’t know how many other times. I’m desperately trying to get a superhero movie now.
Also in Wednesday afternoon’s quick news roundup, The Hobbit is set to premiere in Down Under later this year, Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch complete a “secret” indie and Captain America 2 appears to have found its directors. Also up is news on a network starring Asian Americans and Universal chief Ron Meyer heads to UCLA festivities. IFC Midnight Takes Rights to Antiviral U.S. rights to Brandon Cronenberg’s Cannes debut Antiviral have been picked up by IFC Midnight. The film, also with a screenplay by Cronenberg, stars Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Douglas Smith and Malcolm McDowell. The film follows “Syd March, an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to rabid fans. Syd supplements his income by selling illegal samples of these viruses on the black market,smuggling them out of the clinic in his own body. When he becomes infected with the disease that kills superstar Hannah Geist, Syd becomes a target for collectors and obsessed fans. Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions of Sundance Selects/IFC Films negotiated the deal with Gregory Chambet of TF1 International. Asian Americans Take Spotlight in Network’s Film Fest Mnet , the first national, 24/7 English-language television network in the U.S. for all things Asian, kicks off the third season of Short Notice with a film festival that allows fans to select their favorite short film created by and starring Asian Americans . As one of Mnet’s original programming series, the show premieres on Wednesday, June 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT with new host George Wang. Universal Chief Ron Meyer to Deliver UCLA Commencement Ron Meyer, Universal Studios President and COO, will be the 2012 Commencement Speaker for this year’s UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s (TFT) commencement ceremony. Recipients of TFT’s 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards are director and screenwriter Penelope Spheeris for Film and Shirley Jo Finney, the award-winning international director/actor, for Theater, both of whom will receive their awards at the ceremony. UCLA Names New Chair of Dept. of Film, Television, and Digital Media William McDonald, award-winning cinematographer and professor, has been appointed the new Chair of the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media (FTVDM) at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT) and will assume his new position on July 1st. GKids Takes Rights to Japan’s From up on Poppy Hill GKIDS is handling theatrical, home video, television and VOD rights and will qualify the film for the Academy Awards in the Best Animated Feature category. Directed by Goro Miyazaki, the film is set in Yokohama in 1963, about a high school couple’s innocent love and the secrets surrounding their births. The story takes place in a Japan that is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics. GKids plans a March 2013 release. Around the ‘net… Elvis will Appear in Film and TV – Virtually CORE Media Group, which owns the Elvis Presley brand, has signed a deal with digital production company Digital Domain Media Group to develop, produce a series of “virtual” Elvis Presley apparitions for film and TV projects, Deadline reports . The Hobbit to Debut November in New Zealand The screening at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre will take place two weeks ahead of the film’s release on 14 December. Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson said it was fitting to hold the premiere “where the journey began.” Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit is set 60 years before the Lord Of The Rings trilogy of films, BBC reports . Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch Complete ‘Top Secret’ Indie The actors worked on Prince Avalanche by writer-director David Gordon Green, based on Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurosson’s Icelandic comedy Either Way . The film revolves around two men whose lives intersect while working on a road striping crew together. Green and his longtime collaborators Lisa Muskat and Craig Zobel produced the film with James Belfer and Derrick Tseng, Variety reports . Russo Bros. Appear to be Headed to Captain America 2 Anthony and Joe Russo are close to signing on to direct the Captain America sequel for Marvel. The Russo’s credits include You, Me & Dupree and NBC’s comedy Community , THR reports .
Also in Wednesday afternoon’s quick news roundup, The Hobbit is set to premiere in Down Under later this year, Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch complete a “secret” indie and Captain America 2 appears to have found its directors. Also up is news on a network starring Asian Americans and Universal chief Ron Meyer heads to UCLA festivities. IFC Midnight Takes Rights to Antiviral U.S. rights to Brandon Cronenberg’s Cannes debut Antiviral have been picked up by IFC Midnight. The film, also with a screenplay by Cronenberg, stars Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Douglas Smith and Malcolm McDowell. The film follows “Syd March, an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to rabid fans. Syd supplements his income by selling illegal samples of these viruses on the black market,smuggling them out of the clinic in his own body. When he becomes infected with the disease that kills superstar Hannah Geist, Syd becomes a target for collectors and obsessed fans. Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions of Sundance Selects/IFC Films negotiated the deal with Gregory Chambet of TF1 International. Asian Americans Take Spotlight in Network’s Film Fest Mnet , the first national, 24/7 English-language television network in the U.S. for all things Asian, kicks off the third season of Short Notice with a film festival that allows fans to select their favorite short film created by and starring Asian Americans . As one of Mnet’s original programming series, the show premieres on Wednesday, June 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT with new host George Wang. Universal Chief Ron Meyer to Deliver UCLA Commencement Ron Meyer, Universal Studios President and COO, will be the 2012 Commencement Speaker for this year’s UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s (TFT) commencement ceremony. Recipients of TFT’s 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards are director and screenwriter Penelope Spheeris for Film and Shirley Jo Finney, the award-winning international director/actor, for Theater, both of whom will receive their awards at the ceremony. UCLA Names New Chair of Dept. of Film, Television, and Digital Media William McDonald, award-winning cinematographer and professor, has been appointed the new Chair of the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media (FTVDM) at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT) and will assume his new position on July 1st. GKids Takes Rights to Japan’s From up on Poppy Hill GKIDS is handling theatrical, home video, television and VOD rights and will qualify the film for the Academy Awards in the Best Animated Feature category. Directed by Goro Miyazaki, the film is set in Yokohama in 1963, about a high school couple’s innocent love and the secrets surrounding their births. The story takes place in a Japan that is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics. GKids plans a March 2013 release. Around the ‘net… Elvis will Appear in Film and TV – Virtually CORE Media Group, which owns the Elvis Presley brand, has signed a deal with digital production company Digital Domain Media Group to develop, produce a series of “virtual” Elvis Presley apparitions for film and TV projects, Deadline reports . The Hobbit to Debut November in New Zealand The screening at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre will take place two weeks ahead of the film’s release on 14 December. Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson said it was fitting to hold the premiere “where the journey began.” Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit is set 60 years before the Lord Of The Rings trilogy of films, BBC reports . Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch Complete ‘Top Secret’ Indie The actors worked on Prince Avalanche by writer-director David Gordon Green, based on Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurosson’s Icelandic comedy Either Way . The film revolves around two men whose lives intersect while working on a road striping crew together. Green and his longtime collaborators Lisa Muskat and Craig Zobel produced the film with James Belfer and Derrick Tseng, Variety reports . Russo Bros. Appear to be Headed to Captain America 2 Anthony and Joe Russo are close to signing on to direct the Captain America sequel for Marvel. The Russo’s credits include You, Me & Dupree and NBC’s comedy Community , THR reports .
Also in this afternoon’s edition of Biz Break: Woody Allen’s next adds another actor to its growing ensemble, Kathryn Bigelow picks up another cast member of her own for Zero Dark Thirty , and more… Penn State Doc Gets Green Light From A&E Indie Films Amir Bar-Lev and John Battsek, the director and producer who previously collaborated on The Tillman Story and My Kid Could Paint That , will re-team for the just-announced A&E Indie Films project Happy Valley . The documentary will look back at the trials and tribulations of the titular community during the child sexual abuse scandal that rocked its beloved Penn State football program. Production begins this month. Around the ‘net… Natalie Portman/Lynne Ramsay Western Stirs Buzz at Cannes A bidding war is underway for Jane Got a Gun , screenwriter Brian Duffield’s tale of a woman who turns to an ex-lover for protection when her outlaw husband returns home nearly dead from gunshots. Portman would play the lead with director Ramsay ( We Need to Talk About Kevin ) behind the camera. THR reports . Cannes Auteurs Take a Shine to Americana In related news, while studios may embrace the world downplaying American culture in order to win global box-office cash, auteurs outside the studio system are embracing the United States’ cultural flavor in such Cannes offerings as Lawless, Mud and Beasts of the Southern Wild . LAT’s 24 Frames reports . Mark Duplass Boards Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty The filmmaker ( Jeff, Who Lives at Home ) and actor ( Your Sister’s Sister ) will have a “key supporting role” in the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s drama about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Deadline reports . Bobby Cannavale Added to Woody Allen Project He’ll star along with Cate Blanchett, Bradley Cooper and Alec Baldwin in the comedy, Deadline reports .
