HBO buys stake in Ferrell's Funny or Die
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That's what executives at
HBO must 've said after This Just In, a comedy website developed jointly with AOL, shut down last year. Today, the cable network announced it had bought a small stake in
Will Ferrell's Funny or Die. Launched two years ago, Ferrell's site combines user-submitted video with celebrity submissions from the likes of Judd Apatow, Vince Vaughn and Ferrell himself, and according to
Variety has averaged about 3.2 million unique visitors per month during the past few months (numbers that in all likelihood dwarfed those of its onetime rival). As part of the deal, Funny or Die will develop 10 half-hour episodes of programming for HBO, and there is talk of working together on live comedy tours or even a programming block on one of HBO's channels.
Labels: Funny or Die, HBO, Will Ferrell
Casting/development roundup
-- Chris Noth will reprise his role as Mr. Big in the feature-film adaptation of
Sex and the City. He'll join a cast that already includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, the stars of the
HBO series. "Chris Noth assures me that Mr. Big is alive and well and ready to report to the set in September," director Michael Patrick King said in a statement.
-- Anne Hathaway, Bill Irwin, Anna Deveare Smith and Debra Winger will star in
Dancing With Shiva, a comedy based on a screenplay by Jenny Lumet (daughter of Sidney). Jonathan Demme will direct and produce; shooting is scheduled to begin mid-August in Connecticut.
-- Smoke House productions,
George Clooney's production company, is developing a script for
Escape from Tehran, based on a
Wired article about a CIA agent who rescued six Americans from Iran during the hostage crisis. If approved for production, the film may get Clooney to direct and star.
Labels: Anne Hathaway, Chris Noth, Dancing with Shiva, Debra Winger, Escape from Tehran, George Clooney, HBO, Jonathan Demme, Sex and the City
