Samuel Jackson locked to 'Django Unchained'

Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. Jackson is confirmed for "Django Unchained," re-joining together with Quentin Tarantino for that fifth time. Jackson have been expected for a while to experience Stephen, a home slave and also the right-hands guy of the sadistic slavemaster. Thesp's publicist confirmed his attachment Tuesday. He'll be busy meanwhile: The "Pulp Fiction" star opens in mid-October on Broadway in "The Mountaintop," representing Martin Luther King, Junior., opposite Angela Bassett. The play runs until mid-The month of january and he'll join the "Django" production immediately after that in New Orleans. Jamie Foxx is anticipated to star in "Django Unchained" within the title role of Django, a freed slave who teams having a German fugitive hunter to defend myself against an evil plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio) to retrieve his lengthy-lost love. The Weinstein Co. will distribute the pic Stateside The new sony Pictures will handle the discharge overseas. Jackson is repped by ICM. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

VIDEO Exclusive: Neil Patrick Harris Rocks On Penguins of Madagascar

Penguins of Madagascar Neil Patrick Harris has introduced his effective pipes to the level,the web and just how I Met Your Mother, however he's taking his singing voice to Nickelodeon's animated Penguins of Madagascar special, "Blowhole Strikes Back." Within the hourlong special (airing Friday at 8/7c), Harris returns because the penguins' sinister enemy, Dr. Blowhole. Within the exclusive clip below, Harris works the energy ballad "Mutant Disaster," among six original tunes in the movie. Browse the clip. Does Harris create a good monster, even just in animated form?

TNT Accumulates Carol Mendelsohns Drama Scent From The Missing To Pilot

EXCLUSIVE: TNT has given an airplane pilot order to Scent from the Missing, a drama project co-written and executive created by CSI: Crime Scene Analysis executive producer/showrunner Carol Mendelsohn. In line with the book by Susannah Charleson, the project, created by CBS TV Galleries, focuses on an adrenaline junkie leader of the canine search-and-save teamassists various police force agencieswith her closest friend and partner, a golden retriever. Mendelsohn co-authored the script with CSI authors/co-executive producers Melissa Byer and Treena Hancock. The 3 are executive creating with Craig Josephson and Julie Weitz, with Diane Nabatoff and Shelly Glasser co-executive creating. The project was initially introduced in May included in TNT’s development slate. Scent from the Missing joins Western Gateway, that was given a cast-contingent pilot order by TNT recently. WME-repped Mendelsohn, who is constantly on the steer veteran CBS crime drama CSI because it makes its way into its12th year, is getting an active development season. She's executive creating two drama projects setup at CBS, with a few pitches still in play. The CBS projects are Two Badges, a lady-centered procedural compiled by Ted Humphrey according to Mona Ruiz’s memoir in regards to a female former gang member who turns into a police detective as well as an untitled project composed by David Hubbard in regards to a decorated detective that has lost three partners within the type of duty and can serve as a mans estimate the lives of his fallen partners’ families. This marks the 2nd pilot order for CBS Galleries’ cable division in the future following the recent departure of former mind Bela Bajaria, who left to operate Universal Media Galleries, together with Showtime’s pickup of comedy Gurland on Gurland.

Former FremantleMedia The United States PR Executive Manfred Westphal Joins APA

EXCLUSIVE: Two days after FremantleMedia North Americas PR mind Manfred Westphal abruptly resigned his publish as SVP communications and marketing in the reality TV indie giant, he's joining talent agency APA as mind of PR. At APA, Westphal will assume a recently produced senior-level communications position, using the agency’s current PR person, Alexis Amonic, remaining onto work under him. The appointment is a component of the ongoing expansion at APA, that also lately bought an adjacent building, adding 17 new offices. Westphal puzzled many 2 days ago when he silently removed his office over the weekend, departing merely a resignation letter for FremantleMedia The United States Boss Cecile Frot-Coutaz on his desk, which his assistant found after he didnt appear for work Monday. The organization is yet to title a alternative. Westphal have been at FremantleMedia The United States since 2007 and was marketed to SVP last year. Before that, he spent 5 years at Vital Domestic TV.

MTV VMAs: Lady Gaga Opens Show as Alter Ego Jo Calderone (Video)

Lady Gaga opened the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards as her alter ego Jo Calderone. Dressed in black Brooks Brothers pants, white t-shirt, black jacket and smoking a cigarette, the singer did a spoken word routine for several minutes before even singing a note, talking mostly about Lady Gaga.our editor recommendsLady Gaga Debuts 'You and I' Single ArtMTV VMA Preview: Katy Perry, Adele Battle for Moonmen, Lady Gaga to Perform With facial hair drawn on her face, she said of Gaga, "She gets out of bed, puts on heels, she comes out of the bathroom dripping wet, she still has the heels on. And what's with the hair?" PHOTOS: Lady Gaga's MTV Evolution The audience appeared that it didn't know what to make of the Jo Calderone routine: Britney Spears watched with mouth agape, Katie Holmes stared with amused confusion, and Justin Bieber, wearing glasses, had a blank expression on his face as Gaga/Calderon carried on. Gaga eventually took to the piano and segued into a dance routine for "You and I." She opened what appeared to be a beer, took a swig and shook it on the crowd. She then introduced Queen guitarist Brian May for a guitar solo, which Dave Grohl stood up and cheered for. PHOTOS: VMAs Most Outrageous Red Carpet Fashion After the performance, comedian Kevin Hart took the stage and called Gaga's routine "a little weird." Jo Calderone, supposedly a mechanic from Sicily, first appeared on the September 2010 cover of Japanese Men's Vogue. 2011 VMA - Music - Lady Gaga Related Topics Dave Grohl Lady Gaga Video Music Awards

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A Sentimental Journey: The Story of Doris Day

Sally Hughes plays the 1950s icon in the biographical tuner A Sentimental Journey: The Story of Doris Day. A Mill at Sonning production of a musical in one act by Adam Rolston directed by Alvin Rakoff.Doris Day - Sally Hughes Alma Kappelhoff - Elizabeth Elvin Terry Melcher - Conor Michael Sheridan George Weidler/ Frank Sinatra - Tom Sellwood Marty Melcher - Nick WaringWith perfect timing Doris Day has released her first album in 17 years just as U.K. theater the Mill at Sonning prepares to takes its bio-drama about the '50s icon to El Portal Theater in Los Angeles after a successful run on the Edinburgh Fringe. Like Day herself -- or at least her public persona -- the tuner is pleasant, inoffensive and well intentioned, giving auds an excuse to hear the old hits sandwiched between brief vignettes about her life. The low-budget production by helmer Alvin Rakoff, a two-time Emmy winner, is neither demanding nor inspired, but it has a good heart and does some justice to the easy-listening originals. The book by Adam Rolston is a straight-forward run-through of the life of the singer born Doris Kappelhoff in Cincinnati in 1924. It is narrated by Terry Melcher (Conor Michael Sheridan), Day's son by her first husband, trombonist Al Jorden. The show doesn't shy away from the domestic abuse that prompted Jorden's departure, but neither does the episodic script dwell on it. Whatever the dramas in Day's life, another breezy song is never far away. This is not a show that requires our emotional investment; even the death of Melcher, an unusual fate for a narrator, passes swiftly by. Before that point, we get brisk scenes in which Doris marries a fickle George Weidler, then a controlling Marty Melcher, before settling with Barry Comden. There is an early talent contest and the railway-crossing accident that nearly ended her career, as well as the ups and downs of her Hollywood years. For the most part, Rolston writes these snapshots efficiently, even if the credibility of his dialogue sometimes sinks under the weight of factual information. The songs are well integrated, with the exception of "Que Sera Sera" which Day's mother (Elizabeth Elvin) introduces with a clunky, "What will be will be, Doris." It's a self-consciously cheesy line that's not typical of the show as a whole: In general, the songs are well matched to the mood, so "Day by Day" sets out the journey ahead, "Pretty Baby" is about Terry's arrival and "Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps" responds to the uncertainty of Day's relationship with a shy boyfriend. Crucially, tunes are played with a low-key lack of fuss that this pre-rock 'n' roll music demands. Sally Hughes is an unhistrionic Day with a feel for the honey-voiced girl-next-door charm of a star whose music gave away no secrets about her volatile private life. Supported by a four-piece band, she is the unshowy center of a modest and unpretentious production.Musical numbers: "Que Sera Sera," "Tea for Two, Day by Day," "Canadian Capers (Cuttin' Capers)," "Pretty Baby," "Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps," "You Oughta Be in Pictures," "It's Magic," "Love Me or Leave Me," "The Deadwood Stage," "Secret Love," "Move Over Darling," "Young at Heart," "It's Been a Long Long Time," "These Days," "With a Song in My Heart," "Sentimental Journey"Set, Eileen Diss; costumes, Jane Kidd; choreography, Joseph Pitcher; musical direction, Jo Stewart; lighting by Matthew Biss. Opened Aug. 3, 2011. Reviewed Aug. 23, 2011. Running time: 1 HOUR, 20 MIN. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Anthony Quinns Son, Francesco, Dies at 48

Francesco Quinn, son of legendary Oscar winner Anthony Quinn, died Friday night near his Malibu home. The actor, 48, was reportedly running in the street with his son Max when he collapsed, according to a neighbor who attempted to revive him. "There was a moment where we thought that we were making progress, that we started to sense that this could work," neighbor Tim Lawrence told Malibu Patch. "We were working feverishly at it. But at a certain point it turned, and there was no response." Paramedics came to the scene, but Quinn was pronounced dead at the hospital, the local Patch site reports. Francesco was born in Rome on March 22, 1963, to Anthony Quinn and his second wife, Iolanda. He had a role in Oliver Stone's 1986 Oscar-winning film Platoon, as drug dealer Rhah. He later appeared in several TV shows, including The Young and the Restless, NCIS, ER and 24. He is survived by his wife Valentina Castellani-Quinn and three children. "Francesco was my soulmate and the best father for Sofia, Michela and Max," Valentina told Malibu Patch. "I will love him forever." Related Topics Obituaries