By Romeo San Vicente
Latifah likes 'Single Ladies'
She may have just purchased a new home with her personal trainer Jeanette Jenkins, but "Just Wright" star Queen Latifah must still have fond memories of "Living Single," because she's producing an updated spin on the sitcom called "Single Ladies." Yes, the title is a shout out to the Beyonce hit and, as such, also a clever bit of crossover marketing. Set to star "Clueless" alum Stacey Dash and up-and-comer Lauren London ("ATL," "This Christmas"), the show is about four 20-something female friends, all unlucky at love. And Latifah is not only the producer, she also wrote the pilot of the VH1 show, so add screenwriter to her multi-hyphenate title. "Ladies" is currently in production in Atlanta, so look for the inevitable "Real Housewives" cameo when the series finally hits the small screen.
'Pictures' is gonna be in pictures
Gay Entertainment Weekly journalist Mark Harris's 2008 New York Times bestseller "Pictures at a Revolution" explored both the behind-the-scenes stories about the making as well as the cultural impact of the five films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1967: "Bonnie and Clyde," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "In The Heat of The Night," "The Graduate" and "Doctor Doolittle." The diverse batch of films highlighted both the shifts in the cultural landscape and in how Hollywood made and marketed its product. And now indie-film distributor Oscilloscope is partnering with Specialty Films to develop a feature-length documentary based on "Pictures." Filmmaker Marina Zenovich ("Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired") will direct, and the movie is planned for a limited theatrical release that will qualify it for the Oscars itself. If it winds up nominated, how meta will that be?
'E'gad,' Ian McKellen's a zombie
Thank both YouTube and the Cannes Film Festival for Ian McKellen's upcoming role as a zombie, because that's where the project, titled "E'gad Zombies," is creating both buzz and finishing funds, respectively. The low-budget British black comedy is from director Matthew Butler, who put an excitement-stirring preview of the film on YouTube and then took the small amount of footage he's got in the can across the Channel and to the famed film festival in the hopes of beefing up his budget. Set in the 18th century in the fictional town of Upper Trollop, the movie is being described (we're guessing with a wink) as a "Shaun of the Dead" meets "Gone With the Wind." Will the upstart indie trump the bigger-budget period horror-comedy "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by making it into theaters faster? Or will it just inspire a glut of gory comedies about fancy undead Brits? If it's the latter, Romeo votes for Judi Dench to star in at least one of them.
Alan Ball and Oprah bring 'Henrietta Lacks' to HBO
Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under, True Blood") and Oprah Winfrey are teaming up with HBO Films to bring Rebecca Skloot's non-fiction bestseller "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" to TV. The story of a very unusual cancer case, Henrietta Lacks's "immortal" cells are fascinating as both a medical mystery and as a historical comment on the treatment of black Americans in the 20th century. Lacks was a poor woman whose cancerous cells were taken without her knowledge or consent and then used to pioneer huge advancements in modern medicine. But along with these achievements came difficult consequences for her family. All that's set in place right now is the deal, with casting and production dates to come later. Stay tuned.
