BBC America, Logo design Refreshing 'Absolutely Fabulous' With New Special offers

Two decades after TV audiences were brought to the Britishcomedy phenomenonAbsolutely Fabulous,BBC America and Logo design have struck an offer to create it back.our editor recommends'Absolutely Fabulous' revisit BBC1Fox accumulates 'Absolutely Fabulous' pilot The U.S. channels will launch three all-new special offers, with author-starJennifer Saunders and her counterpartJoanna Lumley reprising their roles as Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone.The happy couple was last seen together in 2006, once the stars teamed for BBC America comedy Clatterford. "Hopefully that, just like a good bottle of champagne we now have grown better as we grow older but lost none in our sparkle... We fully plan to party like it's 1991," stated Saunders. "Whenever we began filming in West London, it had been like time had was still. It had been pouring down rain. Nonetheless we're so pleased to work to have an audience which has grown only a small bit older, like us, but continues to be prepared to let's fall over on television within the title of PR." Added executive producer Jon Plowman, "I'm able to divulge that all people have got a little older, though we are doing good to not show it, and fortunately none people have any smarter. All the originals who're together again again continue to be truly absolutely fabulous and that we hope the new adventures of Edina, Patsy, Saffy, Bubble and Mother, along with a couple of surprising visitors, will entertain both our attempted and reliable U.S. fans in addition to gain us newer and more effective buddies." The offer to bring back the the nineteen nineties series was brokered by Jemma Adkins, SVP of TV sales & co-productions fiction at BBC Worldwide America. BBC Worldwide is the owner of global distribution privileges towards the new special offers, which Logo design and BBC America will co-produce. Both U.S. nets happen to be within the Ab Great business with repeats airing on the agendas. Email: Lacey.Rose@THR.com Twitter: @LaceyVRose Related Subjects BBC America

S.F. film pioneer Graham Leggat dies at 51

LeggatGraham Leggat, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society, died at his San Francisco home on Thursday after an 18-month battle with cancer. He was 51."For nearly six exciting and transformative years, Graham Leggat led the San Francisco Film Society with irrepressible determination, dash and design," said Pat McBaine, president of the Film Society's board of directors. "His vision, leadership, passion, work ethic, tenacity, imagination and daring along with his colorful language and wicked Scottish sense of humor have indelibly marked our organization with a valuable legacy and left it in the best shape -- artistically, organizationally and financially -- in its 54-year history."Leggat was appointed executive director of the Film Society in 2005. During his five years, the staff grew from 11 to 35 and the operating budget was expanded from $2 million to $6 million and was balanced each year.He began working in a temporary job at the New York Film Festival in 1994, followed by executive positions at the American Museum of the Moving Image, the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Leggat served on the boards of Media Alliance and the Association of Independent Film and Videomakers, was a programmer at the New York Video Festival and the Shorts International Film Festival, and helped found the Gen Art Film Festival. He was the associate publisher of Film Comment magazine, contributing editor for Filmmaker magazine and columnist for the New York Daily News.At the 2009 International Film Festival Summit, Leggat received the Director Excellence Award, presented to the film festival director who has made considerable contributions and a lasting impact on his/her film festival and independent film, with an emphasis on festival growth, new programs, organizational structure and overall vision.In early 2011 the French consul general in San Francisco, Romain Serman, made Leggat a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an honor awarded by the French Minister of Culture, in recognition of his significant support of cinema. Leggat is survived by his parents Graham and Marilyn of Niagara Falls, Canada, son William and daughters Vhary and Isabelle, sister Alexandra Leggat of Toronto, partner Diana Chiawen Lee, former wife Ellen Hughes, mother of his daughters and former wife Lillian Heard, mother of his son.In lieu of flowers, donations in Leggat's memory may be made to the San Francisco Film Society. A memorial service, open to the public, is planned for late September. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Jimmy Kimmel's Uncle Frank Dies at 77

Frank Potenza and Jimmy Kimmel Frank Potenza, who often appeared on his nephew's show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, died Tuesday morning, ABC announced. He was 77. A cause of death was not specified. "His kindness and humor will be missed by everyone he touched," the show said in a statement Tuesday. "He was beloved by his co-workers and considered an Uncle to all." Kimmel also confirmed Potenza's passing on Twitter. Potenza was a retired cop and Las Vegas casino security guard whom Kimmel invited to Los Angeles to join the late-night talk show. Thus, "Uncle Frank" was born. He was seen in a number of skits such as "Name That Oscar Winner" below: Potenza is survived by three daughters and a granddaughter. He was married to Kimmel's Aunt Chippy for 28 years.

Even the Producers of Transmorphers Were Wary of Cowboys & Aliens

Since its release at the end of July, Cowboys & Aliens has grossed around $110 million worldwide. That’s not a washout on the level of The Worst Movie Ever!, but it’s still a big enough disappointment to possibly dissuade future Hollywood genre mixes — especially ones that deal with cowboy hats. Not that anyone should have been surprised by this underwhelming result — even the guys from The Asylum stayed away from Cowboys & Aliens. Speaking with Adult Swim, the mockbuster mavens behind such films as Transmorphers, Snakes on a Train, Almighty Thor and Battle of Los Angeles, revealed that they kicked the tires on a Cowboys & Aliens film, only to pass. “People ask why we didn’t do Cowboys & Aliens,” The Asylum’s Paul Bales said, “and we considered it for a while, but in the markets we have, genre-mixing doesn’t work.” About those markets: Bales cited Europe as particularly interested in disaster films, rather than creature features. Perhaps that means audiences can expect Fright Night to get the mockbuster from The Asylum in three-to-four months. Ding! Tip your waitress. · How to Make a Mockbuster (in Five Easy Steps) [Adult Swim]

Fall TV First Look: James Spader on The Office

The Office "I can assure you I did not win some sort of contest to replace Steve Carell," insists James Spader, who joins the cast of The Office as Sabre CEO Robert California in the September 22 premiere. "I just thought, this show is fun, this character is strange and NBC asked me to sign on, so I said, 'Absolutely.'" How's life in the office so far? "It's probably the funniest group of people I've worked with." For more first looks at fall TV - including The Good Wife, Vampire Diaries and Grey's Anatomy - pick up this week's issue of TV Guide Magazine on newsstands Thursday, August 25! Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

McGregor helps in UNICEF appeal

McGregorLondon-- Ewan McGregor has joined forces with three of the UK's leading cinema chains to support UNICEF's emergency appeal for the children of East Africa. Odeon, Vue and Picturehouse cinemas are showcasing a 40-second UNICEF film, fronted by McGregor, on over 1000 screens from Aug. 12, ahead of movies such as "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," "Super 8" and "Mr Popper's Penguins." McGregor, who serves as UNICEF's UK ambassador, is asking movie audiences to donate 5 ($8) by sending a text from their cellphones, in order to help relieve the famine in Somalia. The unprecedented breadth of support from UK exhibitors for this charity appeal reflects the severity of the crisis in East Africa, where half a million children are at risk of starvation. Lyn Goleby, managing director of City Screen/Picturehouse Cinemas, said, "What we are doing seems so small in the face of this scale of tragedy, but if we can help communicate the situation to our audiences, then hopefully it can make a difference." Digital Cinema Media, which books commercials into cinemas, arranged the screenings. The ground-breaking initiative was conceived by Hamish Moseley, senior vp of theatrical sales at distrib Momentum Pictures, whose partner works for UNICEF. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Shocker! Disney Halts Johnny Depp's 'The Lone Ranger'

EXCLUSIVE: In a stunning development, Disney has shut down production on The Lone Ranger, the Gore Verbinski-directed period Western that was to star Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the title character. Jerry Bruckheimer is the producer and the script's by Justin Haythe. I'm told this all just happened, and Disney pulled the plug because the budget, which I've heard the filmmakers were trying to reduce from $250 million--I've heard from insider that they'd gotten down to $232 million, but whatever the number, it wasn't close to the $200 million that Disney wanted to spend. This had to be an incredibly tough call for Disney's Rich Ross and Sean Bailey, but they have several huge live action bets on the table already. John Carter, the Andrew Stanton-directed adaptation of John Carter of Mars with Friday Night Lights' Taylor Kitsch in the lead role, has a budget that has ballooned to north of $250 million because of extensive re-shoots [a studio insider said the number is lower], and The Great and Powerful Oz, the Sam Raimi-directed James Franco-starrer has a budget is hovering at $200 million. Lone Ranger wasn't starting production until October, and and even though money has been spent as the picture is in pre-production (Depp is pay or play), but it was the easiest one on which to apply the brakes. The shoot was set for New Mexico. Between Depp, Bruckheimer and Verbinski, the gross outlay on the film is substantial. The film was still casting up, with Ruth Wilson, the serial killer from the BBC's Luther series, set for the female lead. This becomes the second major Western-themed project to bite the dust, after Universal halted a mammoth adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Is it coincidence that The Lone Ranger halted right after another Western, Cowboys & Aliens, proved to be a pricey disappointment for DreamWorks and Universal? The development is stunning because the principals have minted money when they've worked together for Disney. Bruckheimer is the long time cornerstone producer on the Disney lot and because Depp has starred in the studio's all time biggest films, including Alice in Wonderland and the four Bruckheimer-produced Pirates of the Caribbean films. Depp and Verbinski teamed for three Pirates installments, grossing billions of dollars for the studio. Verbinski most recently directed Rango, the Paramount film that is a front runner for Best Animated Film Oscar and which grossed $243 million worldwide. Disney has four of the 10 all-time top worldwide grossing films in Hollywood history, and three of them starred Depp. That includes Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which Verbinski directed and which grossed $1.066 billion. The most recent Pirates installment also cracked the $1 billion mark this summer, and Disney's only other film on that All-Time Top 10 list is Toy Story 3. Lone Ranger was scheduled to be released December 21, 2012, smack up against The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which opens December 14, and the Brad Pitt-starrer World War Z, which was just slated for December 21. It's unclear whether that factored into the decision. The studio and filmmakers are trying to figure out the next step, which would either be to shop it elsewhere or put it back together at a later date at a lower budget. Calls to Disney were not returned. The Lone Ranger has a long history, but Disney counted on Depp to make it relevant. The series began on radio in 1933, became a TV series that ran from 1949-1957, and both were wildly popular as the masked Lone Ranger and Tonto fought crime in the Old West, with the Lone Ranger calling out Hi Yo, Silver! Away!, as his horse took off. Halting the movie is shocking because of the participants involved, but it certainly is happening with more regularity in Hollywood lately. Universal recently halted production on a version of At the Mountains of Madness that Guillermo del Toro was going to direct with Tom Cruise starring, and it also halted an adaptation of King's The Dark Tower that Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman were ready to do, in a trilogy of movies and two limited run TV series. And just this week, DreamWorks halted Southpaw, a boxing drama that has Eminem set to star in his first role since 2002's 8 Mile, with Antoine Fuqua directing. This happened after the failure of Cowboys & Aliens. While Southpaw's $30 million budget was small compared to those other cancellations (other suitors are circling for the picture), it's clear that studios are making their bets more shrewdly. Even if it means bruised feelings from stars, directors and producers accustomed to having it their way.

FishBowl To Produce Animated Web Series Starring Dave Coulier And Richard Kind

EXCLUSIVE: Vin Di Bona and Bruce Gersh's FishBowl Worldwide Media has begun production on a pilot episode for The Potts, an original animated web series. The show, whose voice cast includes Dave Coulier and Richard Kind, follows a family in search of fame and fortune who will do just about anything to get on reality TV. David & Goliath founder and Illustrator Todd Goldman and How I Met Your Mother executive producer Chuck Tatham created The Potts, which is being executive produced by DiBona, Gersh and FishBowl EVP Creative Affairs Susan Levison. The series will launch on YouTube where FishBowl's 2010 Web series CuteWinFail has received 25 million viewers. Talks with additional digital distributors are underway.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes Director Considers 'Full Metal Jacket with Apes' Sequel Idea

Over at Bleeding Cool, director Rupert Wyatt spitballs about ideas for a sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the first-week critical and commercial successes of which seem like good indications that sequels will indeed happen. Wyatt’s idea for the next film in his Apes reboot? “Full Metal Jacket with apes.” Oh, yes. [Spoilers follow] “You could start this story again eight years from where we left off,” Wyatt told Bleeding Cool. “The next generation of apes, those that have come from our protagonists, perhaps going in to a conflict with humans and showing real fear, in the same way as going into war for young soldiers in this day and age, telling their story.” Wyatt envisions a sequel in which apes learn about human culture by interacting with the remnants of human environments. His idea echoes shades of the original Apes series, which involved human survivors retreating to underground pockets, but with developments that pick up years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes concludes. “Spies [are] in the employ of the apes, working against humans and humans maybe existing underground,” he continued, “because that’s a way they can avoid the virus, coming up above ground wearing gas masks, and maybe that’s what dehumanizes them.” Screenwriter and producer Rick Jaffa previously hinted that they’d planted seeds in Rise of the Planet of the Apes as potential clues to where the rebooted series could go in subsequent new films. A nod in the film to Charlton Heston’s character’s spaceship, the Icarus, from the original 1968 Planet of the Apes “opens up great possibilities for coming back in time into what, hopefully, we’ve set up — to bring back some of the other ape narratives and mythologies,” Jaffa told IGN during a RotPotA set visit. Thoughts, Apes fans? Which direction(s) should Wyatt and Jaffa go in for the next installment of their franchise reboot? Sequels To Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes: Director Rupert Wyatt’s Ideas [Bleeding Cool]

'High School Musical' Star Corbin Bleu Pulled Into Suit Over Unsuccessful Racing Film

Jason Kempin/Getty Images Bankers from the box office explosive device Free Style are searching to gather from producers and Senior High School Musical star Corbin Bleu. On Thursday, Third Eye Capital and Strative Capital filed a $12 million suit alleging fraud, breach of contract and misrepresentation. The claims were filed in LA Superior Court against Samuel Goldwyn Films, Del Marly Entertainment, many other producers and Bleu, who had been designed to translate the success he loved in reaching teenage women on Senior High School Musical to some film in regards to a youthful guy chasing after a national motocross championship. Rather, Free Style, which arrived on the scene in 2008, has produced just $1.3 million all sources, including its theatrical run, foreign distribution and DVD sales. The suit alleges the revenue produced fell well lacking the $8.57 million loan the litigants set up, that was to pay for P&A costs. The loan companies blame alleged misrepresentations and poor promotion for his or her investment going sour. Bleu has been prosecuted while he allegedly unsuccessful to recognition a contract that known as for supplying interviews to aid the film. Based on the complaint, Bleu and the reps had already made the decision he "could be taking his career inside a different direction in the teen romance works by which he'd formerly been involved (including Freestyle), coupled with made the decision that Mr. Bleu would no more promote individuals types of projects." The moneymen also claim producers fooled them about the amount of screens the film would open on countrywide, a "grossly inflated and false P&An advertising and marketing budget," and money allegedly being set up by other banks. Third Eye Capital now's seeking a lot more than $12 million in damages, punitive damages, and legal costs. The complaint was filed by attorney Jeffrey Wruble. E-mail: eriqgardner@yahoo.com Twitter: @eriqgardner Corbin Bleu

9 Ways Warner Bros. Can Make an 'Edgier' Green Lantern Sequel

Studio boss Jeff Robinov confirmed this week that Warner Bros. and DC Comics have every intention of exploring a sequel to Green Lantern, this despite a meager $53 million opening, a disappointing global gross around $160 million, a budget rumored to be well north of $200 million (plus $100 million in marketing) and — insult, meet injury — a fusillade of scathing reviews. “We had a decent opening so we learned there is an audience,” Robinov told the Los Angeles TImes. “To go forward we need to make it a little edgier and darker with more emphasis on action…. And we have to find a way to balance the time the movie spends in space versus on Earth.” Huh. “Edgier”? “Darker”? But how? Time to put on our Green Lantern 2 development thinking caps! 1. Hire a new, younger, hungrier director Legendary and Warners did it before with Christopher Nolan. Sony hopes they did it with Marc Webb. Fox thought it did it with Matthew Vaughn. Sources (and common sense) have all but confirmed that Martin Campbell — a bloat hog who made an exceptional hour of a James Bond film once — is out. Who should take over? Two words: Rian Johnson. OK, two more: Duncan Jones. 2. Alternatively, hire Lars von Trier I mean, obviously. 3. Deploy one of those “edgy” semi-numerical titles To paraphrase Sean Parker’s sage counsel to Mark Zuckerberg: “Green Lantern 2 isn’t cool. Green Lan2ern is cool.” Or… something. 4. Jam Ryan Reynolds in a box by himself for 90 minutes It worked in Buried! 5. Avoid a hideously disfigured villain I’m sure Warners et. al thought they were going edgy and dark with Hector Hammond’s lumpy, oblong visage. But from the first time anyone laid eyes on Peter Sarsgaard as the deformed mad scientist, it was clear that this was not going to be a character you wanted to spend any time with. I mean, the Joker was scarred. Red Skull had his face burned away. But they didn’t give grown men nightmares. 6. Come up with a better pre-release scandal I mean, Blake Lively is gorgeous and all, but reported nude-photo leaks are so… Miley. Everybody knows mysterious pregnancies and/or topless publicity stills are the way to go with comic-book heroines in 2011. 7. Add Smurfs First of all, they’re no more ridiculous than Sinestro. Second of all, you know what’s the one phrase you haven’t heard from anyone around Hollywood in the last four days? “Hoo boy, The Smurfs. What a disappointment.” Third of all, Harrison Ford decapitated Papa Smurf not because he hates him, but rather because deep down the actor knows that only one of them remains relevant at the movies. Guess which. 8. Have Odd Future compose a soundtrack album Let hip-hop’s outrageous teen sideshow carry the day with critics and hipsters alike. You know you want it. 9. Release it in 2-D A radical move? Sure. But sometimes looking good is worth the risk. · Warners: ‘Green Lantern 2 will be edgier; Flash has solid script [LAT]