TNT buys script for Bruckheimer-created drama

EXCLUSIVE: TNT has purchased a script from author Greg Plageman for drama project "Bishop to Pawn.""Pawn" originates from Warner Horizon Television and it is created by Jerry Bruckheimer Prods. Bruckheimer and Plageman would professional produce with Jonathan Littman. KristieAnne Reed is placed as co-professional producer.Pilot would consume a private eye who runs his business from his La pawn shop.Plageman, together with Jonathan Nolan, is presently a co-showrunner on CBS' new Michael Emerson-Jim Caviezel drama series "Person of great interest.Inch Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

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China bans pop songs

BEIJING -- Lady Gaga is a threat to China's "national cultural security," according to the censors at the country's Ministry of Culture. As part of the "regulation of management of Internet culture," music download sites have been told to remove around 100 songs, including 20 foreign songs, or face the consequences, with Lady Gaga leading the list of censored artists with six of her latest album songs, including "Judas." Fearful of the spread of Middle East-style protests against authoritarian rule, and of any destabilizing influences ahead of a change of leadership next year, Beijing has been laying down the law online. The songs on the list had never been submitted for official censorship, the ministry said. Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" and "E.T.," featuring Kanye West, are also censored, and three songs by Natalie Walker. Four songs by Simple Plan are in the list, as is, somewhat obscurely, the Backstreet Boys' oldie "I Want It That Way." The ministry reserves most of its ire for suspect Cantopop from Hong Kong and Mandarin Pop from Taiwan. The campaign is an ongoing one. In January and again in March, the ministry ordered 200 songs to be taken off. There has been a much sharper focus on foreign music since Icelandic singer Bjork shouted "Tibet! Tibet!" at the end of her song "Declare Independence" at a 2008 concert in Shanghai. The post said that all the music listed must be deleted from the Internet by Sept. 15 otherwise the providers will be punished. The latest victim appears to be the microblogging site Weibo, which is hugely popular in a country where Twitter and Facebook are banned. It has 200 million users. Weibo's operator, Sina, a private company, is cracking down on "the spread of false rumors" after the Communist Party told web companies to tighten control over information online. Sina has set up a channel called "Weibo Refutes Rumors" to spread denials of "false" information. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Perry Wins Top Honor at VMAs; Winehouse, Spears Get Touching Tributes; Beyonce Announces Pregnancy?

Britney Spears It was a night of big statements as Lady Gaga dressed like a man, Britney Spears received a soaring tribute and Beyonce alluded to her pregnancy during the MTV Video Music Awards. Check out arrivals on the MTV VMA black carpet Gaga opened Sunday's show in drag, smoking a cigarette, delivering a monologue before taking to the piano and belting out her song "You and I." Later in the night, she presented the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award to Spears after a homage that included her hit songs "Crazy," "Toxic," and the one that started it all, "Baby One More Time." The pair then introduced Beyonce to the stage, who gave a show-stopping performance of "Love on Top." But it was the end of the routine that had fans screaming when she undid her shirt showing off a belly band, alluding to a baby bump. Of course there were also awards handed out. Lady Gaga won the inaugural Best Video with a Message and Best Female Video, both for "Born This Way." Tyler the Creator was crowned Best New Artist and the top award for Video of the Year went to Katy Perry for "Firework." The night also featured a tribute to Amy Winehouse from Russell Brand with never-before-seen footage from her recording with Tony Bennett and a performance by Bruno Mars. The full list of winners: Best Rock Video: Foo Fighters, "Walk" Best Male Video: Justin Bieber, "U Smile" Best Hip-Hop Video: Nicki Minaj, "Super Bass" Best Collaboration: Katy Perry and Kanye West, "E.T." Best Female Video: Lady Gaga, "Born This Way" Best Video with a Message: Lady Gaga, "Born This Way" Best Pop Video: Britney Spears, "Till the World Ends" Best New Artist: Tyler the Creator, "Yonkers" Video of the Year: Katy Perry, "Firework"

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New Hellraiser Trailer Online

It'll tear your sides apartIf you understood it had been happening whatsoever, your anticipation for that ninth instalment within the original Hellraiser franchise might have been somewhat low. Prepare to decrease them further, should you dare to have a look in the trailer for Hellraiser: Facts. In conclusion, this can be a stopgap release from Dimension, to avoid their privileges lapsing before Patrick Lussier could possibly get happening his reboot, which needs to be a larger deal. Facts was knocked together in a short time span on the small budget (believed at within million dollars), conditions it's apparently tried to circumvent by going the found-footage route to some degree. Sadly, about this evidence, still it plays just like a fan film, an impact not assisted by Stefan Cruz Collins' karaoke Pinhead. Doug Bradley, most likely sensibly, wasn't interested. Nick Eversman (Vampires of the underworld Suck) and Jay Gillespie (2001 Maniacs) star as Steve and Nico, hikers in Mexico searching for dodgy new encounters and, natch, tripping over the famous Hellraiser puzzlebox. Victor Garcia (Mirrors 2, Go back to House on Haunted Hill) may be the director, and also the script is as simple as Forex make-up guru Gary Tunnicliffe. Original Hellraiser author and director Clive Barker required towards the Twitter-sphere over the past weekend to blast the development: I wish to placed on record the flick available while using word Hellraiser isn't any fuckin' child of mine! I've nothing related to the fuckin' factor. When they claim it's 'from your brain of Clive Barker', it is a lie. It isn't even from my butthole. Given an extremely brief theatrical run in america included in a double bill using the equally wretched Kids of the Corn: Genesis, Hellraiser: Facts will to any or all intents and reasons go right to DVD there over time for Hallowe'en. The final three Hellraisers (Hellseeker, Deader and Hellworld) still weren't launched within the United kingdom whatsoever (although R2 Dvd disks can be found from Europe), therefore we may never view it here. Tragic loss? Discuss below.

Conan The Litigator? Rights Holder Thinks Lawsuit Is Frivolous

As if Conan the Barbarian didn't have a rough enough weekend finishing in fourth place with a $10.5 million gross for Lionsgate and Millennium (see Autopsy Report: LG's Conan the Barbarian), the rights holders at Paradox Entertainment awoke to read a report that Stan Lee Media Inc is suing to recapture the rights to the Robert E. Howard-created character, reportedly based on the notion that a transfer of rights from the bankrupt company to Conan Properties constituted fraud and a breach of fiduciary duties. Paradox bought the rights from Conan Properties and owns all 800 stories and poems that Howard created. While Paradox has not been served with the suit, Paradox general counsel Fred Fierst gave the company's position to Deadline. In a nutshell, they feel the beef has nothing to with them. "We have not yet been served with a copy of the Stan Lee Media lawsuit so it is certainly premature to comment in detail," Fierst wrote me. "We did however manage to review a copy of the complaint online. Frankly it was the first anyone connected with Paradox Entertainment, Inc., or its parent company Paradox Entertainment AB (collectively Paradox), had ever heard of the dispute between Stan Lee Media and the other defendants which it seems has been going on for ten or more years. Suffice to say that Paradox had nothing to do with Stan Lee Media and when Paradox acquired the stock of Conan Sales Co, LLC. and thereby the ownership of the Conan intellectual property over a series of transactions in 2002 and 2003 it did so for fair market value, paid in cash, and in reliance on the 2002 Federal Bankruptcy Court Order approving the return of that stock, and therefore the Conan intellectual property, from SLM to CSC. Since acquiring the Conan intellectual property Paradox has spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars perfecting its worldwide trademark and copyright registration program, and we stand firmly behind our chain of title. "Our litigation counsel will respond to the complaint, once we are served. At this time we believe that the allegations against Paradox and its CEO are frivolous, and will most likely be dismissed on statute of limitations, and other, grounds. In the interim we dont think it would serve any purpose for us to comment further at this time."

'Harry Potter' Leavesden Galleries Tickets Continue Purchase This October

Mark October 13 in your calendars after which begin saving your pennies, "Harry Potter" fans, because Warner Bros has introduced that tickets to "Warner Bros. Studio Tour London The building of Harry Potter" goes on purchase on that day. Stars Evanna Lynch and Warwick Davis made the announcement Tuesday in the Empire Giant Screen Event working in london. Although the tour still does not come with an official opening date -- Warner only has because of the very vague Spring 2012 period -- I am placing my bets that pre-order tickets become unattainable within 24 hrs. Above is really a rendering of the items the outside of the studio may be like upon completion. It certainly looks a little Disney-fied and not so like the Leavesden we all know and love, but that's type of the purpose. Tickets could be reserved through this official site and can cost 28 for grown ups and 21 for kids. That's about $46 and $35, correspondingly, and the majority less than I had been personally expecting. The tour is three hrs lengthy and involves travelling the studio's 150,000 sq ft, including two soundstages. The Truly Amazing Hall, Dumbledore's Office, Hagrid's hut and also the Gryffindor common room are probably the actual sets that'll be displayed about the tour. There is also a Animals Effects workshop which will show how effects artists could turn figures like Aragog, Fawkes, Buckbeak and also the "Chamber of Secrets" basilisk to existence. Would you intend on purchasing tickets towards the tour? Inform us within the comments section below or on Twitter!

Robert Schwentke Steps Into 'The Poison Kitchen'

COLOGNE, Germany - Robert Schwentke (R.E.D., Flightplan) will direct the Nazi-era drama The Poison Kitchen based the best-selling nonfiction book Explaining Hitler by Ron Rosenbaum. Matthew Sand (Ninja Assassin) will pen the screenplay for Kitchen, which is based on the chapter of the same name in Rosenbaum's book. In it, he tells the story of the newspaper the Muncher Post, which campaigned against Adolf Hitler and the rise of his Nazi party in the 1920s and 1930s. After the Nazis assumed power in 1933, the Muncher Post was shut down, its printers smashed and its journalists arrested. German-born Schwentke is currently in pre-production on comic book adaptation R.I.P.D., an action comedy about an undead police force starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges.our editor recommendsRyan Reynolds Gets a Wife for 'RIPD' Constantin Film's Robert Kulzer, whose The Three Musketeers reboot bows in Germany later this month, is producing The Poison Kitchen together with Margo Klewans. Constantin film head Martin Moszkowicz is executive producing. The shoot is planned for 2012. Related Topics Jeff Bridges Ryan Reynolds International Red

Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis Try to Make Grave Robbing Funny in 'Burke and Hare' Clips

Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman made grave robbing hilarious in 'Young Frankenstein,' now Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis give it their best shot in 'Burke and Hare,' the new horror comedy from 'An American Werewolf in London' director John Landis. Landis's first movie in 13 years tells the story of real-life 19th century criminals William Burke and William Hare, who graduated from grave robbing to murder in supplying bodies for doctors to autopsy. The ghoulish subject's been treated as straight horror with Boris Karloff in 'The Body Snatcher' and the lesser-known 'The Doctor and the Devils.' For his humorous take on the same tale, Landis assembled a comedic cast that includes Isla Fisher, Tom Wilkinson and Tim Curry and horror legend Christopher Lee to boot. See the clips after the jump. The film received less-than-enthusiastic reviews in its UK release, where critics dismissed it as "unpleasant" and "excruciating." It opens in the U.S. on September 9 and is already available online at SundanceNow.com and on VOD. As you can see in the clips below, it does seem to be a rather uneasy mix of the two genres: Clip 1: Burke and Hare deliver a body in a herring barrel to Dr. Knox (Wilkinson). Clip 2: Former prostitute Isla Fisher wants to put on the first all-female production of 'MacBeth' Clip 3: Burke and Hare target a portly gentleman What do you think? Is it worth your six pence? [via Movieline]

Ashton Kutcher Takes a Bow at First 'Men' Taping (Pic)

Ashton Kutcherwrapped taping of his first episode as the new star of Two and a Half Men on Friday. He took a bow with fellow cast members Marin Hinkle, Jon Cryer, Holland Taylor, Conchata Ferrell, and a slimmed down Angus T. Jonesat the end of the night dressed in character in a t-shirt, pants and red flip-flops. PHOTOS: Ashton Kutcher's Career Through the Years It was revealed earlier this week that Kutcher's character is a broken-hearted Internet billionaire named Walden Schmidt. CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler said during the network's Television Critics Association press tour presentation that the role "is a unique character" for "the talented, funny and gifted actor." Taking a bit of a potshot at Charlie Sheen, who was fired from the series in March, Tassler said, "We have an extraordinary actor in Ashton Kutcher. You have someone who is committed to doing their job and is incredibly professional." PHOTOS: Charlie Sheen's Colorful Career The new season of Two and a Half Men reportedly begins with the funeral of Sheen's playboy character Charlie Harper. The episode will air on Sept. 19. Ashton Kutcher Charlie Sheen Two and a Half Men

Sade- Live Performance

This impressive record of Sade's 1994 live peformances reminds us of simply how much her distinctive seem combines languorously emotional pop with lightweight but musically fulfilling cocktail jazz. As fine because the voice is, we never can forget that Sade's backing band are sidemen instead of mere accompanists, as well as in some of the 18 amounts ideas get solos of real virtuosity. Picking a tunes includes a lot of Sade's hits--"Cherry Cake," "Smooth Operator," "Your Ex RulesInch--plus some less well-known tunes in the albums, for example "Red-colored Eye" and "Jezebel."