Friday Box Office: Muppets Chomp at Twilight's Heels

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Beginning may have held to the #1 slot throughout the Thanksgiving frame, but holiday buzz lifted individuals plucky Muppets to some strong second place showing with $24.7 million over 72 hours, Jason Segel, Kermit, and Co. should ride the Rainbow Connection completely to some excellent pile of eco-friendly by weekend’s finish. Meanwhile, Happy Ft Two is constantly on the slide and Aardman Animation’s fellow wintry offering Arthur Christmas opened up having a modest $4.5 million Friday. Martin Scorsese’s 3-D fall family flick Hugo, however, loved a powerful debut on a small fraction of the screens. Maybe audiences weren’t quite prepared to ring within the yuletide cheer? (And don’t count the charming black and whitened quiet film homage The Artist, which first showed in limited release in only four theaters for any one-day take of $75,000, calculating $18,750 per screen…) 1. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING Beginning PART 1: $16,900,000 ($196,178,000) 2. THE MUPPETS: $12,275,000 ($24,775,000) 3. HAPPY Ft TWO: $5,130,000 ($35,503,000) 4. ARTHUR CHRISTMAS: $4,550,000 ($8,800,000) 5. HUGO: $4,532,000 ($8,545,000) [Figures via Box Office Mojo]

NBC Builds up Imagines Sarah Silverman Comedy To Pilot

EXCLUSIVE: NBC continues its aggressive push this development season with early pilot orders. The newest project to obtain the eco-friendly light might be the comedy starring Sarah Silverman, the network showed up in August carrying out a investing in an offer war getting a hefty put pilot commitment. The half-hour, from last century Fox TV and Imagine TV, can be a pet project of Imagine principal Ron Howard. Loosely based on Silvermans existence, the untitled single-camera comedy stars the comedian just like a lady readjusting for the single existence carrying out a decade-extended live-in relationship. Silverman written the script with Serta Sterling and Jon Schroeder, who've been author-producers on her behalf account self-titled Comedy Central series. Silverman, Sterling and Imagine’s Howard, John Grazer and Francie Calfo are executive creating, with Schroeder becoming co-professional producer. A purchase for your Sarah Silverman project follows NBC’s recent pilot pick-ups for Beautiful People, a advanced drama by Michael McDonald, and comedies Isabel and Save Me, which are now casting. In addition, the J.J. Abrams/Eric Kripke adventure thriller Revolution and crime drama Blue Tilt have pilot production obligations within the network. NBC now houses 3 female comics recognized for their raunchy, no-holds-barred standup: Silverman, Whitney Cummings, creator and star of her eponymous comedy series, which has received an entire-season pickup with the network, and Chelsea Handler, who's behind the midseason series Are You Currently Presently There, Chelsea?, that is coupled with Whitney.

Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview

A Truly Indie/Nerd TV/Furnace/John Gau Prods. presentation. Produced by Gau, Paul Sen.Executive producers, Robert X. Cringely, Ted Mundorff. Directed by Paul Sen. Written by Robert X. Cringely.With: Steve Jobs. Narrator: Robert X. Cringely.Recovered just after Steve Jobs' untimely death, the mogul's longest TV interview appears in unexpurgated form in this 69-minute docu. Appearing relaxed, confident and expansive, Jobs is seen in a single fixed-camera shot in a Redwood City TV studio in 1995, reflecting on his personal interest in the computer, the birth of Apple, his bitter clash with Apple CEO John Sculley, and his then-latest venture, Next. Landmark Theaters' limited nationwide release is perfectly timed to the global fascination with Jobs, whose fans will hang on every word. Jobs enlisted as an interview subject for the tube series "Triumph of the Nerds," hosted by writer-interviewer Robert X. Cringely, who explains the context of the conversation in a brief prelude. Excerpts were included in the aired show, but the complete interview was thought to have been lost in transit in the late '90s. According to Cringely, the show's director, Paul Sen, recently found the tape containing the 67-minute interview; for the purposes of narrative flow in this theatrical presentation, the frame often freezes while Cringely's oddly echo-y voiceover narration sets up the theme of the following segment. At 40, and with an outlook of observing Apple from afar (he had been booted out of the company by Sculley a decade prior and had subsequently founded Next), Jobs is able to bring a perspective he couldn't have provided at a younger age. Moreover, this p.o.v. wouldn't have been possible soon after the interview, since Jobs sold Next to Apple six months later and became Apple CEO a year after that. Thus, he's able to say here that "Apple is dying," and explain why: While the Macintosh computer, which he fundamentally created, had once been 10 years ahead of the PC and other competition, that advantage had dissolved over time because "the understanding of how to create new products evaporated," and Apple's wasted R&D money was severely draining corporate coffers. This observation bears considerable urgency for Apple's future condition in the here and now. The docu having shown that a Jobs-less Apple could fall behind and lose its creative momentum, an obvious question is certain to linger in viewers' minds. With visible excitement and pleased nostalgia, Jobs recalls his sighting of the world's first personal computer at Hewlett-Packard's HQ in then-nascent Silicon Valley, and how he and tech buddy Steve Wozniak devised the "Blue Box," which allowed callers to make long-distance phone calls for free. The pair's creation of the first Apple computer is a well-known tale, but will prove a thrilling entrepreneurial story for younger viewers. As anyone who ever heard him speak knows, Jobs was exceptionally articulate and focused in his responses to questions, while generally framing them in a personal context. This is exemplified by his summary of the making of the sublime Apple II computer, the product of Wozniak's ambition to feature color graphics and Jobs' desire to produce the first packaged computer with intact hardware. He's just as direct, and blunter, in his description of how Sculley "systematically destroyed" the values of Apple. In the interview's closing section (and echoed by Walter Isaacson's new Jobs biography), Jobs stresses that Apple was fashioned from a liberal-arts perspective, in which "it all comes down to taste," something he sees constant rival Microsoft as utterly lacking. Ultimately the docu shows Jobs, as always, ahead of his time: Extremely keen on the Internet, whose social impact in 1995 was then barely being felt, the mogul correctly predicts the Web will be the "defining technology and social element" of the future.Camera (color, video), John Booth, Clayton Moore; editor, Nic Stacey; sound, Gene Koon; re-recording mixer, Greg Gettens;. Reviewed online, Montreal, Nov. 16, 2011. Running time: 69 MIN. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Twilight Writer Melissa Rosenberg To Pen Drama Project For ABC & Endemol Studios

EXCLUSIVE: Melissa Rosenberg has teamed with ABC and Endemol Studios for an U.S. adaptation of Endemol’s Dutch drama format Penoza. The Twilight scribe will write and executive produce the project, one of two dramas based on international Endemol formats that Endemol Studios has set up at ABC and ABC Studios, along with Spirited, which will be written by Chris Black (Desperate Housewives) and Henry Alonso Myers (Chuck). These are the first 2 sales for Endemol Studios, which was launched by Endemol USA in August. For Rosenberg, this is the second project this TV development season. She also executive produces Afterthought, a murder mystery drama at NBC written by Evan Daugherty (Snow White and the Huntsman). The Rosenberg-penned Penoza centers on a widow of an assassinated criminal who is suddenly forced to adopt her late husbands role in order to protect her family. Rosenberg, who will serve as showrunner, is executive producing with Alon Aranya (The Naked Truth) and Howard Klein. Penoza was originally created by Pieter Bart Korthuis for Endemols NL Film & TV and producer Alain de Levita. The series is now filming its second season for KRO in the Netherlands. Rosenberg is the second highest-grossing female screenwriter of all time, having written all movies in the blockbuster Twilight franchise based on the novels by Stephanie Meyer, including Breaking Dawn Part 1, which opens tomorrow. On the TV side, she most recently served as an executive producer on the hit Showtime drama Dexter. Penoza falls into Rosenberg’s mission of tackling film and television properties with strong, female protagonists. Rosenberg has another project in that mold at ABC and ABC Studios: AKA Jessica Jones, a drama based on the Marvel Alias comic books by Brian Michael Bendis. The project, originally put in development last season, is still in consideration at the network. It is one of several projects Rosenberg is shepherding through her production company Tall Girls Prods. That includes NBC’sAfterthought, about an unconventional team within the FBI that uses the six-hour window between clinical death and cellular death to solve murders by entering the memories of the recently deceased. On the feature side, UTA-repped Rosenberg has Earthseed at Paramount, an adaptation of Pamela Sargents sci-fi novel about a group of teenagers who grow up on a spaceship headed for a new planet and have to face a mysterious foe they didnt know existed. Spirited tells the story of Suzy Darling, a recently divorced mother of two whose life is forever changed through her unexpected relationship with Henry Mallet, the ghost of an 80s English punk rock star. Chris Black and Henry Alonso Myers will write and executive produce the project based on the series created in 2009 by Claudia Karvan and Jacquelin Perske for Endemol’s Southern Star for Foxtel in Australia. It is enormously exciting that we have such rich material to bring the network from the Endemol teams in Australia and the Netherlands and we look forward to working with Melissa on Penoza, Chris and Henry on Spirited,” said Philippe Maigret, CEO of Endemol Studios. The two projects bring the number of scripted sales for Endemol Studios to 3, joining Low Winter Sun at AMC, a modern gothic tale of murder, high-level corruption, deception and cold-blooded revenge based on the 2006 two-part British drama. Additionally, prior to the launch of Endemol Studios, Endemol USA developed and is executive producing the AMC drama series Hell On Wheels. All 4 projects have been spearheaded by Jeremy Gold who serves as Head of Creative Affairs at Endemol Studios.

Muppets Twilight Parody Posters Online

Emo romance for Kermit, Piggy & Rowlf The run of Muppet parody trailers has officially finished now, but to accompany Breaking Prawn, here are some Twilight-y posters. We couldn't possibly imagine why they've been timed just so...This trio of Muppet Saga banners gives us Dame Piggy as Bella Swine, who is presumably given to swooning over re-readings of Muppeting Heights. We're inferring that she's also torn between romantic trysts with the vamphibian Kermit, and were-pianist Rowlf. Kermit doesn't look especially sparkly here, but Rowlf, who doesn't wear clothes anyway, is appropriately shirtless.{Muppets Twilight Parody Posters Online}We're not sure the central drama of Breaking Dawn quite translates here though, since The Muppet Christmas Carol teaches us that the pig and the frog can procreate with no trouble at all...Lucky Americans get The Muppets for Thanksgiving, but it's out in the UK in February.

CBS Interactive Again Charged with Adding to Piracy

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images Eccentric billionaire Alki David has returned, because he guaranteed, with a brand new suit that alleges CBS Interactive assisted within the massive violation of movies and music by helping legitimize and popularize file-discussing tools for example Lime Wire on its CNET subsidiary. David,whose companyFilmOnis the topic of ongoing lawsuit introduced bymajor broadcast systems,first filed the category action in May after which dropped it in This summer, telling a legal court he was along the way of filing a significantly bigger amended suit. The complaint has indeed been amended.Could it be bigger? A few of the named litigants will vary. Rather than people of two Live Crew and Ying Yang Twins, there's 2 Live's Luther Campbell, Sugar Hill Music, as well as other stylish hop and R&B artists. The complaintant's lawyer differs. Rather ofMichael Zeller, an IP star that has symbolized Google, eBay, and Disney, the brand new counsel is Jaime Marquart at Baker Marquart. But overall, it's pretty similar. The litigants continue to be declaring that CBS shown massive hypocrisy by decrying copyright simultaneously as in operation that are making money by pointing customers to P2P software. The suit still looks to hold the defendant on a single ideas of secondary and vicarious liability the defendant assisted establish in the past legal actions against file-discussing technology companies. And also the suit still largely eschews any sort of identification of infringed material. David takes the chance to press his primary point again: "The actual irony within this situation is the fact that, despite its endemic inducement from the violation of litigants' tunes, accused' parent, CBS, doesn't hesitate to cast itself like a defender of intellectual property privileges with its very own financial interests. For instance, accused' parent company, CBS, routinely harasses people and small websites which publish small servings of its very own programming with 'cease and desist' letters threatening crushing lawsuit. When that doesn't work, it doesn't hesitate to file a lawsuit.Inch CBS didn't immediately react to request comment, however in a reaction to the first suit, the organization stated the claims were a "desperate attempt todistract copyright holders like us from ongoing our rightfulclaims" which the litigants wouldn't prevail. Here's a duplicate from the new complaint. E-mail: eriqgardner@yahoo.com Twitter: @eriqgardner CBS Interactive

Viola Davis On Young Girl Genesis: Shes Awesome

First Launched: November 13, 2011 5:57 PM EST Credit: Getty Premium La, Calif. -- Caption Viola Davis reaches ELLEs 18th Annual Women in Hollywood Tribute locked in the 4 Seasons Hotel La at Beverly Slopes in Beverly Slopes, Calif. on October 17, 2011 Viola Davis and husband Julius Tennon, who recently welcomed a daughter for his or her family through adoption, snuck in the little couples time on Saturday evening even though baby Genesis was in your house for your evening, the completely new parents couldnt contain their pride over their bundle of enjoyment. Shes awesome. I'm speaking about, I realize all parents states the kid rocks !, but shes awesome, The Help star told Access Hollywood within the 2011 Governors Honours in La, where James Earl Manley, makeup artist Dick Cruz and also the famous host the famous host oprah Winfrey were honored with the Academy of motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Yeah, shes really fantastic, Julius added. Viola confessed she finds it tough to invest a while from her daughter, who already knows precisely how to see on her behalf account feelings. Shes so pretty and he or she [states], Mama, Im your son or daughter! Thats how she states it, Viola mentioned, explaining her kids technique to get mother to stay home. Because the couple is loving motherhood, the actress revealed she and Julius keep their relationship strong by considering making time together important. There exists a great deal of date nights, she told Access. Even being while using babys to begin dating ? evening. Really. Baby snoozes at eight oclock its date evening in your house, Julius agreed. While using Oscars nearby, Viola that's been the subject of plenty of nomination buzz on her behalf moving performance inside the Help mentioned that whenever it calls for red-colored-colored carpet fashion, spend allow it to relaxation around professionals. Oh my gosh God, I do not look for style, she mentioned, when asked for if shed been hunting magazines for style ideas. I let someone else do that! That could be an actual overload. Adding, Its so nerve-wracking. If perhaps people may be throughout my shoes you understand, everything you imagine to ensure that it's and exactly what it is really. Its just very nerve-wracking. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.