Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Today is pretty light on the news mainly due to the holiday weekend (here in the States). I sure hope everyone who celebrates the holiday enjoyed themselves and that the first day back to work, school or whatever it is you do, isn’t too crazed.

Here are the news items for the day:

TELEVISION

Eddie Murphy will host the 84th Annual Academy Awards. (The LA Times)

Actress Marilu Henner will guest star on the new fall CBS drama Unforgettable. She will play the aunt of the character played by Poppy Montgomery, who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Actor Neal McDonough and Cary Elwes will guest star on the TNT series Perception that stars Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) as an eccentric neuroscientist/university professor who helps an FBI agent (played by Rachael Leigh Cook) solve criminal cases. McDonough will appear in one episode as the CEO of an agricultural technology company. His character enlists a code-breaker (Elwes) to decipher the messages of a serial killer who is murdering his business acquaintances. Actress Sheryl Lee (Twin Peaks) will also appear in an episode of the new drama, playing a woman who for 26 years has suffered from anterograde amnesia, ever since surviving a serial killer’s attack. Actress Pamela Reed will play her mother. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Scott Cohen (Necessary Roughness) will appear in the new fall ABC series Pan Am, playing Everett, a Pan Am higher up, for a three-episode arc. He has a quirky mistress named Ginny Saddler (Erin Cummings). Pan Am is a ’60s soap following the lives and loves of a team at the legendary airline. The show premieres on September 25. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

HBO has picked up the Jonathan Franzen best-selling novel The Corrections as a new project. The story is about a Midwestern clan whose children have moved to the East Coast to begin a life of their own. (NY Mag, Variety and The Futon Critic)

Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson have booked a potential drama at The CW called Musketeers 3.0, which is to be about three outstanding but out-of-control New York detectives who meet their match when a sexy, young rookie is assigned to their team. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Cara Buono, Ally Sheedy and Samantha Futerman are set to co-star opposite Eric Stoltz in the Lifetime’s dramedy pilot called Modern Love that will weave actual stories from New York Times columns to explore the state of modern relationships. It follows newspaper science editor Simon McElvane (Stoltz) as he faces a deteriorating marriage, the ramifications of potentially starting over and balancing his relationship with his adopted 15-year-old daughter (Futerman). Unexpectedly handed the job of editor of the newspaper’s Modern Love column, Simon discovers he has a lot to learn about life and love. Buono will play the ambitious Styles Editor at Simon’s paper who is torn between her career and her family. Sheedy will play the paper’s ballsy and no-nonsense Assistant Managing Editor. Also, actress Alice Ripley will have a recurring role as Simon’s wife. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

The creator of the ABC Family series Greek – Patrick Sean Smith is developing an hour-long drama/adventure series for FOX that is set in the world of young international travelers, tentatively titled Wanderlust. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Here is the list of the top 10 movies for the long holiday weekend according to Exhibitor Relations, Box Office Mojo and E! Online:

1. The Help – $19 million
2. The Debt – $12.6 million
3. Apollo 18 – $10.7 million
4. Shark Night 3D – $10.3 million
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – 10.25 million
6. Colombiana – $9.4 million
7. Our Idiot Brother – $7 million
8. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark – $6.1 million
9. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D – $6.6 million
10. The Smurfs – $5.6 million

That’s it. Enjoy!