Mike Gyllenhaal in predicts join 'Motor City"

GyllenhaalWith Dominic Cooper diminishing due to organizing conflicts, Warner Bros. and Dark Castle have labored fast to discover a new leading guy for "Motor City." Mike Gyllenhaal is at discussions to star. Amber Heard and Gary Oldman are actually aboard and to star with Albert Hughes set to helm. Story follows a felon who, after being released from prison, begins trying to find the males who presented him. Chad St. John composed the script with Silver creating through his Dark Castle shingle, along with Andrew Rona. Ethan Erwin and Doug Urbanski are professional creating. Since joining WME just like a client, Gyllenhaal has already established his in time finding his next project. The thesp was last noticed in Summit's "Source Code" and may be viewed next in "Finish of Watch" which Open Road just acquired to distribute. Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com

Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose Engaged

Oprah Winfrey Our top moments of the week: 11. Spell It Out for Us Award: On Celebrity Apprentice, the teams have to create a show for restaurant chain Medieval Times, so project manager Lisa Lampanelli taps Victoria Gotti as creative director and asks her to research medieval language. Gotti fires up Google and types in... "mid-evil." "The freakin' stationery of Medieval Times is sitting right there and you can't freakin' copy it?!" a flabbergasted Lampanelli says in her confessional. Hey, Victoria, can you spell "fired"? Because that's what you are. 10. Best Teamwork: On the final night of The Voice's blind auditions, Christina Aguilera is the last coach to fill her team and she holds out until she hears just the right voice. Sera Hill's rendition of Mary J. Blige's "I'm Going Down" not only gets Aguilera to push her button, it even inspires her to take the stage and duet with Hill on the chorus of the song with the full band behind them. Favoritism much? 9. Second-Best Mocking: Did Jennifer Lopez have a wardrobe malfunction at the Oscars or didn't she? If you ask Steven Tyler, she did. During yet another round of tiresome banter among American Idol's judges, Tyler abruptly sneezes and pulls open his shirt to reveal his left nipple. "Who am I?" he asks. "I don't even know what to say to that!" a stunned J. Lo replies. "That was an Oscar re-enactment," Ryan Seacrest announces for anyone living under a rock. Lopez gets the last word: "There was no nipple!" Nice send-up, Steven, but at least we're sure we saw Angie's bare leg. 8. Best New Start: Leave it to nice-guy Ted to be so literal about "moving on." With Robin shacking up with Marshall and Lily on How I Met Your Mother, Ted tries to figure out what to do with Robin's old room. He's at a loss when a meat-smoking room and a woodworking studio don't pan out, but he knows exactly what to do after Robin tells him how unhappy Marshall and Lily are on Long Island. He texts them to come over, and when they arrive, they find an empty apartment and Robin's old room painted blue with a crib and a note: "The apartment is now yours," Ted writes. "I need a change and I think you do too. This apartment needs some new life. So please, make our old home your new home." Now where is Ted off to? His house in Westchester? Barney's? Patrice's? 7. Most Surprising Departure: With Peter about to testify on Neal's behalf on White Collar, Peter learns that his old mentor at the FBI plans to throw enough charges at Neal to keep him in a police anklet for the rest of his life. Peter chooses Neal over the FBI and gestures for Neal to run away. Cut to a few moments later, where Neal - sans anklet - sits on a flight next to longtime partner-in-crime Mozzie, glancing out the window at the life, and the bond with Peter, that he may never be able to have again. Don't forget to write! 6. Sweet Dreams Are Made of These Award: After Dave gets his mobile liquor license on Happy Endings and turns his food truck into a hipster-esque speakeasy, his turpentine-infused Whore's Bath cocktail causes his pals to have sex dreams about him (brilliantly scored by Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street") - everyone, that is, except for Alex, who hasn't sampled Dave's wares, literally or subconscious. She's on a cleanse, you see, but after it ends, she orders up her ex-fiancé's signature drink and has her own erotic fantasy. "Thank God, it was just a dream," she says, as she bolts upright in bed, before seeing a snoozing Dave lying next to her. "Oh, boy." So are we heading into Ross-and-Rachel territory with these two? And what exactly is the recipe for a Whore's Bath? (Our friend wants to know.) 5. Most Intrepid Reporter: Zac Efron stops by Today to promote his movie The Lorax, but don't think Matt Lauer will let the whole interview go without bringing up the actor's embarrassing red carpet mishap. At the film's premiere Sunday, Efron accidentally dropped a condom. "I never really had a pocket-checking policy prior to going onto the red carpet before, but now we've fully instated one," a sheepish Efron tells Lauer. When the Today co-host presses him to be more specific about what happened, he stumbles over the word condom. "That was really hard for you to say!" Efron teases. "It's better to be safe than sorry," Lauer replies. Yes, it is, Matt, but it's not better to fail to ask the all-important follow-up: With whom was he going to use the condom? Journalistic fail. 4. Best Regression Therapy: After Crosby learns that Adam met with a potential buyer for the Luncheonette without him on Parenthood, he replaces Adam as his best man and yells at him in front of their parents, siblings and Adam's own children. "Billy's an idiot, just like you, so it should work out perfectly," Adam yells about his replacement before his inner 10-year-old pleads, "Mom, I didn't do anything! It's all him!" Adam jostles Crosby's beer as he storms out, and Crosby retaliates by emptying it on Adam's back. As the two hit the floor in a full-on grapple, Adam breaks away and grabs a giant bowl of salsa, which he dumps over his brother's head as the rest of the family squawks incessantly. If this is how the Bravermans plan a wedding, we'd hate to think what the bachelor party looked like. 3. Best Fistfight: After two seasons of building tension, The Walking Dead's Rick and Shane finally come to blows - and their knock-down-drag-out fight is a doozy. Although the episode begins with the duo peaceably talking through their issues (Shane's affair with Rick's wife Lori, Shane's questioning of Rick's leadership), things get heated when the pair disagrees about whether to kill the straggler Rick has brought into the group's midst. The bloody, bone-crunching brawl that ensues comes to an abrupt halt when the ruckus wakes a bunch of walkers and forces the men to team up in order to survive. While the former partners both ride back to Hershel's farm alive, we can't help but think that a Round 2 is imminent. 2. Quickest Reveal: After months of keeping fans guessing about who lost their life on the beach, Revenge wastes no time in showing us just who shot who: Daniel shot Tyler in self-defense before he was quickly knocked out by Emily's mysterious sensei, Takeda, who then fired two more bullets into a barely breathing Tyler. Now if they would just reveal that Tyler isn't really dead - we hate to say it, but we miss the sociopath! 1. Funniest New Shows: Everyone knows that Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network is struggling, so Jimmy Kimmel has some new program ideas, which he pitches to her on his show's post-Oscars episode. There's Oprah Repos Her Favorite Things ("I get a caaaaaar!"), The Jimmy & Oprah Interview (in which they simultaneously ask questions) and Oprah After Dark (Jimmy seduces a bubble bath-taking Oprah). But our favorite is Book Club Fight Club - a brutal, furniture-smashing twist on O.'s famous segment since, as Jimmy says, "reading is the most boring thing in the world." The first rule of Book Club Fight Club is: Never question Oprah's knowledge of To Kill a Mockingbird - she will throw down! Boo Radley! What were your top moments?

Paramount channel preems in Spain

MADRID -- Viacom Intl. Media Networks has chosen Spain as the first country to launch Paramount Channel, a free-to-air TV service dedicated to movies. It will bow in April, the fruit of a pact Viacom made with Spanish media conglom Vocento in January. Viacom will roll out Paramount Channel across other markets, the company said Thursday. The 24-hour, ad-supported channel will feature pics from Paramount Pictures' vast catalogue and Spanish indie distributor Tripictures, part of Vocento-controlled production-distribution holding Veralia. Programming will also include documentaries and behind-the-scenes features. In Spain, the new channel replaces Vocento's family-oriented TV service La 10, which closed Jan. 1. Paramount Channel will face-off with La Sexta 3, a niche web which averages a 1.4% audience share since it launched February 2011, consolidating as a significant outlet for movies in Spain's free-to-air TV market. Viacom's close relationship with Vocento kicked-off in 2009, when Vocento inked to air Viacom library films on its regional TV channels. Last year, Viacom's MTV bowed in Spain's free-to-air market using one of Vocento's four nationwide TV licenses, which it controls via holding Net TV. Disney Channel has operated another of Net TV's services since 2008. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Amended suit versus. merger seeks trial, damages

With ballots beginning hitting members' mail boxes, rivals in the SAG-AFTRA merger have amended their suit against SAG to request any jury trial and financial damages. Move comes each week following a four-count civil complaint was filed in La. Litigants allege the Screen Stars Guild which is leaders are attempting to merge while using American Federation of Television and Radio Artists "without carrying out the needed research." SAG has labeled the suit "a apparent work for balance circumventing the need in the membership" and "a pr stunt" and contains gone after write them back.Plaintiffs' attorney David Casselman of Wasserman, Comden, Casselman & Esensten told Variety that SAG is trading greater than $2.5 million round the merger. Ballots are increasingly being mailed to 120,000 SAG people and 70,000 AFTRA people, providing the combo as giving artists more settling clout. Being approved, the merger must receive no less than 60% in the votes from each union.The suit is specific at preventing SAG from counting the votes on March 30. The amended complaint alleges the litigants had requested a delay in trading until SAG satisfied its fiduciary rules."The individual accused deliberately and knowingly rejected to follow along with the SAG constitutional needs, board resolutions in addition to their fiduciary obligations for the people," the complaint mentioned. "They need to easily be obligated to pay for SAG for individuals funds consumed, whether by staff or else, for money and time connected using this unnecessary and improper merger effort."The suit, filed by greater than 60 SAG people including Martin Sheen and Erection dysfunction Harris, also indicates that SAG is breaking its rules by not carrying out a comprehensive analysis of mixing the SAG and AFTRA pension and health plans -- which are operated individually within the unions and overseen by union-industry boards. The unions' overview of the feasibility study, that consists of opinions of seven lawyers with experience with the region, noted that 100s of multi-employer pensions have merged within the last 25 years or so which there is no legal obstacle to merging the SAG and AFTRA pension and health plans.Monday's filings with the rivals incorporated a declaration by Alex H. Brucker, an attorney with 3 decades of expert knowledge in worker pension and health plans, that blasted SAG for stating that merging the unions as well as the plans would "only benefit" participants which "merger may be the simplest approach to safeguard our benefits.""These bankruptcies are not supportable claims of fact," Brucker mentioned.Merger backers contend that mixing SAG and AFTRA makes it better to mix the plans just like a foundation fixing the problem that artists face to make contributions for the separate plans then not meeting the earnings qualifications. Brucker mentioned within the declaration the question of merging SAG and AFTRA is "indistinguishable" within the question of merging the plans and cannot be regarded individually."In my opinion, based on my thought on the issue, the plan merger boosts complex issues, could create serious problems and conflicts and may cause insufficient benefits for SAG and AFTRA people," Brucker mentioned. "The particular impact on plan benefits (or needed member and co-sponsor contributions) can not be properly examined without any ERISA (Worker Retirement Earnings Security Act) Impact Report."SAG people switched lower merger plans in 1999 and 2003 while AFTRA people supported both combinations.Casselman also filed a declaration by Patrick Byrnes, leader of Actuarial Consultants, who mentioned the present SAG monthly pension is "relatively stronger plus much more beneficial" to SAG people, in comparison to existing AFTRA plan. "Generally, based on my experience, it is sometimes complicated to merge an idea with greater benefits together with an agenda with lower benefits and (without additional funding) produce a joint plan delivering identical to the greater benefit formula for individuals participants," Byrnes mentioned. More youthful crowd mentioned by using no study to discover how a pension plans might be merged, there's no approach to predict the particular outcome. "But, for me, odds are the mix from the present SAG and AFTRA plans will either require additional funding or SAG benefits will have to be reduced," Byrnes added.SAG did not have comment Monday in regards to the amended complaint. Both sides asked for U.S. District Court Judge James Otero for just about any hearing on March 26.The guild filed pleadings Monday to dismiss the suit a pleading fighting the rivals lack standing to launch plus an anti-SLAPP (proper suit against public participation) motion. Furthermore, it filed a declaration by SAG national professional director David White-colored, including his assertion the merger remains spoken about on numerous websites, web pages on well-known social networks, blogs, together with other online communication automobiles devoted to internal SAG issues a couple of which are member driven, many of which are maintained with the Guild and AFTRA, some by professional-merger groups, some by anti-merger groups, and several that take no official position."Thus, the folks of SAG and AFTRA have numerous shops to consider the sights and understanding of others round the merger question, and contributetheir own for the debate," he mentioned. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

Oscars Winners List 2012: The Artist, Meryl Streep, Jean Dujardin, Michel Hazanavicius, Midnight In Paris, The Descendants, The Muppets, Christopher Plummer, Rango, Hugo, Octavia Spencer

Nikki Finke: Live-Snarking The Oscars OSCARS: Who Wore What On The Red Carpet OSCARS: Wins By Studio OSCARS: Wins By Film Backstage At The Academy Awards Best Picture “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) A La Petite Reine/Studio 37/La Classe Amricaine/JD Prod/France3 Cinma/Jouror Productions/uFilm Production, Thomas Langmann, Producer Actress in a Leading Role Meryl Streep “The Iron Lady” (The Weinstein Company) Actor in a Leading Role Jean Dujardin “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Directing Michel Hazanavicius “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Short Film (Animated) The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore A Moonbot Studios LA Production, William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg Documentary (Short Subject) “Saving Face” A Milkhaus/Jungefilm Production,Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Short Film (Live Action) “The Shore” An All Ashore Production,Terry George and Oorlagh George Screenplay (Original) “Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Woody Allen Screenplay (Adapted) “The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash Music (Original Song) Man or Muppet from The Muppets (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie Music (Original Score) “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Ludovic Bource Actor in a Supporting Role Christopher Plummer in “Beginners” (Focus Features) Visual Effects “Hugo” (Paramount) Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning Animated Feature Film “Rango” (Paramount) Gore Verbinski Documentary (Feature) “Undefeated” (The Weinstein Company) A Spitfire Pictures Production, TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas Sound Mixing “Hugo” (Paramount) Tom Fleischman and John Midgley Sound Editing “Hugo” (Paramount) Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty Film Editing “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall Actress in a Supporting Role Octavia Spencer in “The Help” (Touchstone) Foreign Language Film “A Separation” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Dreamlab Films ProductionIran Makeup “The Iron Lady” (The Weinstein Company) Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland Costume Design “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Mark Bridges Art Direction “Hugo” (Paramount) Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo Cinematography “Hugo” (Paramount) Robert Richardson

Watch Kevin Kline and Mike Myers in Marginally Funny 'Oscar Etiquette' Promo

Another Oscars promo video, another vain try to exhibit some personality and pep with the Academy this time around around across the Oscars have attracted on Mike Myers to accomplish an uppity butler type completely from the discards in the Austin Forces supporting character brainstorming boards, who shows Oscar champion Kevin Kline the easiest method to hold his statuette. If the kind of humor tickles you silly and allows you to definitely set your TV calendar for Sunday, then keep your pants and chill a few cans of Ensure! We are looking for a riot, people. I'm speaking about, what states amusing and relevant greater than KEVIN KLINE and MIKE MYERS?? Sigh. It is not even funny to joke about how precisely unfunny these bits are. I will not believe this really is really the most effective that Funny or Die can use the Oscars. Due to the option, I election "Die." Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

Fall 2012 TV Scorecard: Which Shows Are Returning? Which Aren't?

This week's episode of Alcatraz was short on new mysteries, but it did raise a few questions. Namely, now that the prisoners and guards of Alcatraz are returning to present day, will they start aging again? The returning '63 this week, Johnny McKee (Adam Rothenberg), poisoned 70 people, mostly because they weren't nice to him. In the present day, he works in a bar and a hotel pool to root out bullies and make them pay. To track down McKee, Rebecca (Sarah Jones) turned to his former cell neighbor, Jack Sylvane (Jeffrey Pierce), who offered up five words that could be essential in figuring out the story of the '63s. See which other new mysteries this week's Alcatraz raised: Read More > Other Links From TVGuide.com Jeffrey PierceLeon RippyParminder NagraSam NeillJorge GarciaSarah JonesDavid HoflinAdam RothenbergAlcatraz