5 Leading Ladies Line Up to Woo Tom Cruise

Oh that lucky Tom Cruise. Not only has he acted opposite some of Hollywood's most attractive leading ladies, he's dated and married some of them too (See Tom Cruise's Ladies, Past and Present: Oh, the Horror!). And though his career may wax and wane, the boyish actor still draws the females. Witness his latest endeavor, the Universal sci-fi thriller formerly titled 'Oblivion' that's now called 'Horizons.' A bevy of hot Hollywood actresses are lining up to co-star with Cruise in the Joseph Kosinski ('Tron: Legacy') project. According to Variety, Jessica Chastain, Olivia Wilde, Brit Marling, Noomi Rapace and Olga Kurylenko are testing Saturday -- though others are still under consideration. The film takes place in a future in which an alien race has all but wiped out humanity. Cruise plays Jack, a drone repairman who lives in the clouds above the Earth and periodically travels to the planet to repair the robots that protect human remnants from further attacks. There are two female leads in the story -- Julia, Jack's fiancee before the alien invasion, and Victoria, Jack's right-hand woman and lover who watches his back when he's on repair missions. Cruise is keeping busy: His 'Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol' opens this holiday season, he's just wrapped a supporting role in 'Rock Of Ages' and he's getting ready to begin work on the crime thriller 'One Shot.' William Monahan and Karl Gadjusek wrote the 'Horizon' script based on Kosinski's upcoming graphic novel; Michael Arndt ('Little Miss Sunshine') recently did a polish. Universal has set a July 19, 2013, release date for the film.

After Bidding War, ABC Nearing Deal to Keep Country Music Association Awards

After a three network bidding war, the Country Music Association Awards is nearing a deal to stay put on ABC. The kudofest has been a valuable ratings driver for the Disney owned network, which snatched the show away from CBS six years ago. The award show nabbed more than 17 million viewers last fall, and lured another 7 million to a CMA music festival on a slow Sunday in August. ABC declined to comment on the show's status. PHOTOS: 44th Annual CMA Awards In an fractured landscape where event television is among the few ratings draws, a program able to cut through was of extreme interest to NBC and CBS as well, as Vulture first reported. What's more, country music's profile has been raised in recent years, as evidenced this past spring by the success of such artists as The Voice's Blake Shelton, his wife Miranda Lambert and American Idol winner Scotty McCreery. According to one insider, CBS made an aggressive push to get the show back on the Tiffany network. The net, which laid claim to the CMAs for 34 years, is said to have highlighted everything from its most-watched network status to its foothold in the music award show business (CBS airs both the Grammys and the Academy of Country Music Awards). STORY: Miranda Lambert Debuts New Single 'Baggage Claim,' Talks 'For The Record' Collaborations Over at NBC, the campaigning is believed to have gone all the way up to NBCUniversal chief executive Steve Burke's level. The network, which is light on major award shows (outside of the Golden Globes), was willing to shell out big money and stress the synergistic potential of its many cable networks (from E! to Bravo to Style), said one source. The race was believed to be between NBC and CBS, with ABC initially uninterested in shelling out as much as the CMA team was asking to re-up its contract. But according to an insider, the Disney network swooped in at the last minute, ultimately playing up the incumbent angle to success. Related Topics ABC CMA Awards NBC CBS

'Bones' Casts Ben Savage in Guest-Starring Role

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Former Boy Meets World star Ben Savage is headed to Bones. The actor has arrived a guest-starring role about the Fox drama series, which stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz. STORY: Fox Entertainment Chief on the way forward for 'House,' 'Bones,' 'Terra Nova,' and much more He tweeted concerning the gig Wednesday mid-day. "First day about the group of Bones," he authored. "Great show along with a very gifted cast!" Savage is placed to experience an old shipping store worker who becomes a part of an analysis. He'll be featured within the approaching season's 4th episode, that will air in December. Bones begins its year November. 3. VIDEO: Comic-Disadvantage 2011: 'Bones' Highlight Reel Hits the net Since Boy Meets World ended its seven-season run in 2000, Savage has most held guest-starring roles such series as Chuck and With no Trace. He also is at ABC's comedy pilot Which Makes It Legal which was in contention for that 2007-08 season but didn't move forward. Ben Savage David Boreanaz Emily Deschanel Bones FOX

Universal Scraps 'Ouija' Movie as Studios Eye Budgets Closely

Ouija, the supernatural adventure movie project based on the Hasbro board game, has been scared off the Universal lot, with budgetary reasons to blame. The project is being produced by Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes shingle and had McG on board as director. And it's one of the six titles based on Hasbro games that were set up in 2008. Insiders say the studio, when it came time to move forward with a greenlight, came to the conclusion Ouija wasn't right for the company at its current price (the budget hasn't been revealed but it is described as "tentpole level"). Meanwhile Hasbro, very protective of its brand and image, had a threshold number for the project in order to make a movie it believes will build up the property, not tarnish it. The producers, which also include Hasbro's Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir, will shop the project to other studios, several of which have expressed interest. The team has already taken it to Paramount, where Platinum Dunes has its deal. Paramount is expected to make a decision today. Another possible home could be Fox, for which McG recently directed This Means War, the upcoming action comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine. Sources at Universal and Hasbro insist the relationship between the two companies is strong. Indeed, the two are still working on developing Candyland and Stretch Armstrong, and the have the big-budget Battleship coming out next summer. (Clue was put into turnaround almost a year ago.) If anything, the turnaround, first reported by Vulture, shows how closely studios are eyeing budgets and becoming averse to taking risks. Disney in recent weeks put the brakes on its high-profile Johnny Depp project The Lone Ranger, and other projects are in the crosshairs. Universal already has some big-budget movies shooting:­ Snow White and the Huntsman, 47 Ronin ­and Battleship, which is budgeted around the $200 million mark. The studio's big bet (with DreamWorks) this summer, Cowboys & Aliens, didn't pan out. So when it came to a project about a game conjuring up spirits from the dead, the answer, like in the game itself, pointed to "No." Michael Bay McG

Pixar's Pizza Planet delivering to medieval Scotland?

It is a well-known proven fact that a Pizza Planet truck seems in each and every Pixar film except The Incredibles (even though it is incorporated in the Incredibles videogame for individuals searching for an added bonus point at quizzes). Same goes with that trend continue?Requested throughout a Q&A if they'll start tossing the truck's cameo in at the beginning of a film to have it taken care of as Hitchcock eventually did together with his cameos, a panel of Pixar mind honchos were sure it can't reach that time.InchNo, we are getting a significant amount of fun doing that," John Lasseter told a crowd at Disney's D23 Expo."It happened totally organically. It had been on the Bug's Existence and that we needed to beg, borrow or steal whatever we'd already built therefore it began there because we needed that vehicle.""So here's the process its you: Brave, medieval Scotland. Try to look for a Pizza Planet truck there! It's there, we are not suggesting where," Lasseter offered. "We provides you with $1m!" added Brave director Mark Andrew. "Play money, Wacky dollars." This time around the coming year Rodney, we'll be Wacky riches.

Emmys 2011: Comedy Actress Nominees Recall Their Favorite Funny Moments

Not to take away from the demands of working in series TV, but after talking to seven of this season's nominated comedy actresses, we say they all have it pretty damn good. And why shouldn't they? Among this throng are two Broadway veterans (Edie Falco, Martha Plimpton), a movie star in the making (Melissa McCarthy), dueling co-stars (Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara), a 2010 winner hoping for a repeat (Jane Lynch) and a legend so beloved that giving her another Emmy seems too understated a gesture to show her how we really feel (Betty White, of course). Here, these very different women offer candid insight into how a simple flub of a line can elicit a tidal wave of laughs, why it's a wonderful thing to work on a show where it's customary to lick the showrunner's face and how really, truly, some actresses (OK, at least one) are happy just to be nominated. our editor recommendsAwards Watch: Emmy Roundtable -- Comedy ActressesAwards Watch: Emmy Roundtable -- Comedy Showrunners Edie Falco Nurse Jackie (Showtime) "It wasn't actually a funny line in the script that got me; it was one of those hours of the day when all the stars align for a perfect, hilarious moment. Me and Stephen Wallem, who plays Thor the nurse, and Paul Schulze, who plays Eddie the pharmacist, were doing a little kind-of-nothing scene. Stephen messes up one line, and it was absolutely intoxicating, can't-stop-laughing funny -- not to mention incredibly unprofessional because we were holding everything up. It was just a stupid, immature little bungling of words! It was long past the point where the crew was laughing, but it didn't matter. We were a bunch of grown-ups finding a moment funny and simply could not stop. You really, really do want to stop, but it's out of your control at that point. We'd really try to pull ourselves together, but it just wasn't going to happen. We laugh our heads off. For that reason alone, I am the happiest person in the world to have this job." Betty White Hot in Cleveland (TV land) "We all love each other so much, so we're constantly positioned to crack up. We try not to make eye contact any more than we have to because once our eyes lock, it's over. There was one scene where we were sitting around the table in the kitchen, and Valerie accidentally says some sort of tongue-twister. We had to close down -- we literally had to stop filming. We had to start all over again because we were all a mess. There are so many lines to learn, and sometimes, all of a sudden, you realize it's going to be your line coming up -- and for the life of you, you can't remember it. That happens a lot. When you get your cue, usually the line pops out. But then, every once in a while, you get there and it isn't there. And you just have to stare at each other. That's when we lose it because you can read somebody's eyes and know that they're in trouble. But I'd say the toughest moment to get through without cracking was when Carl Reiner and Tim Conway were on the show. They were 'fighting' over my character and had a fistfight. It was easily the silliest fistfight you ever saw in your life. Trying to get through that and play it straight, that was the toughest moment of all." Julie Bowen Modern Family (AbC) "The 'wedge salad' episode was a particular favorite of mine, where Phil [Ty Burrell] and I are fighting, but he doesn't know what we're fighting about -- and I know we're actually fighting about the fact that he finally admits he likes wedge salad, and I've tried to get him to try it 1,000 times. I end up outside and having to crawl in through the doggie door. He sprays me with the fire extinguisher -- so pretty much a typical workday for me. I love physical comedy. I think the writers know I feel very comfortable being an idiot. There was another great episode where I go to the mall, a real mall in Topanga, with my dad [Ed O'Neill], and I get a back massage and essentially have a When Harry Met Sally ... ecstasy moment in the massage chair, like, 'Oh ... my ... God.' I'm there moaning in public. And Ed says to the crew, 'I think you've gotten what you need.' They're like, 'No, I got to get another shot.' But an episode we could not get through without laughing was one with Ty and me when his character says that to remember people's names, he uses mnemonic devices -- but Ty said 'nenemonic' instead, on purpose, over and over again. There is a 10-minute gag reel of us just lying on the ground laughing. He is so deeply funny. I'm very happy to be fake-married to him." Melissa McCarthy Mike & Molly (CBS) "The toughest thing for me is, I'd never done much multicamera work before Mike & Molly. In Bridesmaids, you're playing to one camera, which I just found natural coming from the theater because there was so much improv -- like a lot of the stuff in the movie on the airplane with the air marshal played by my husband, Ben [Falcone]. There's something to that first take. Another tough thing: On Mike & Molly, everyone comes down to watch the rehearsal: the writers, associate producers, network people. I was like: 'What is happening? Why are they watching a rehearsal?' I'm kind of an on-the-day girl -- I'll get it when there's an audience and the cameras are going. It's funny to be rehearsing something that will probably be tweaked and changed, yet there's a room full of people watching it. And everyone watching moves their chairs! If you go to the kitchen scene, they drag their chairs to the kitchen; if you go the bedroom, they drag their chairs to the bedroom. It's 175 people dragging chairs. It's a very awkward practice to get used to. It makes me feel like a laser's on my forehead, like someone's aiming at me." Martha Plimpton Raising Hope (Fox) "The funniest things that happen on the set usually involve Cloris [Leachman] and the things she does to drive everybody crazy: licking [show creator] Greg Garcia constantly, eating shaving cream and all manner of morale-boosting insanity. That's one of the things I love about the show. It's madcap and it's weird and it's kind of off, but it comes from a very sort of decent, guileless place. There is no cynicism in it. We were in our first season, so I don't think we were at the stage yet where we're bored enough to start needing coping mechanisms like practical jokes. None of those yet! I like working in TV because I am able to work in TV -- there is a lot of different stuff for women like me to do. I've never been a regular on a half-hour comedy before, so that presents its own set of learning experiences. It's an ensemble situation, and you are working with a solid, brilliant cast week after week, and you are developing a shorthand and a performance style with them and the writers. It's very similar to working in theater. Maybe it's the best of both, but I don't like to get too precious about it. That's definitely not funny." Jane Lynch Glee (Fox) "[Show co-creator] Ian Brennan and I really are of one mind. He's got this inner mean girl, and he brought her into Sue Sylvester. I have taken every extreme I have ever played the past 10 years -- Best in Show, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Role Models -- and said, 'I am going to take all these people and push them to the limit in Sue Sylvester.' I have a mouthful to say, so I always have to have Matt [Morrison] look away from me so I can actually get the lines out. 'Don't even look at me!' I crack myself up all the time. Either I crack up or sometimes Matt will. I could see him really hoping that I would get it out this time, and it's like, 'I would rather act looking at the wall because I am working so hard to get this long, run-on sentence out of my mouth.' Personally, I love when Eric Stoltz directs. He did a scene between Jayma Mays and Matt, and I was supposed to enter and ruin this sweet little moment. They are both seeing other people, and there is so much unspoken, and Eric really slows that down. So it turned from a scene that was just a little uncomfortable for these two characters to a really emotionally devastating scene. It was wonderful to watch. And how am I going to handle my Emmy show-hosting roles, being nominated and maybe winning? Oh, with aplomb! If I forget my speech, I will have an excuse: I was too busy hosting." Sofia Vergara Modern Family (ABC) "There have been like four times that I've almost had a serious accident on the set. I have fallen down stairs. One time last season, I leaned on a column while I was talking with Ed [O'Neill], and I totally forgot where I was. I leaned on the column, and the column fell, and I fell over. Of course, we were all laughing. It wasn't when we were filming, but it helps the scene because everybody is in a good mood. I'm excited that at the Emmys, we are all going to be together. I don't think we are doing any of this individually. If anyone wins, we all win. We really are like a family. I don't know that much about awards. I never had thought about the Emmys until last year. You know, I never thought I was going to be nominated. I already feel like I won just being able to attend!" -- Additional reporting by Tim Appelo and Sarah Ewald Related Topics Emmy Awards Glee Betty White Edie Falco Jane Lynch Julie Bowen Martha Plimpton Modern Family Mike and Molly Nurse Jackie Raising Hope Hot in Cleveland Emmys 2011

Neon Movie Posters Are Much Better Than Regular Movie Posters

Last week, we showed you Empire's weekly Movie Poster Mashup where users submit their own takes on their favorite posters. Now, thanks to Reddit, we've stumbled on an even cooler collection. Courtesy of Mr Whaite on Tumblr, we have a sweet new set of neon movie images, proving that everything is cooler when it's in neon. You have to visit the site to really do the posters justice, as they all have their own awesome animation effects (for example, if you watch 'The Shining' poster on the right, it eventually morphs into something a bit more horrifying). Since these posters are neon-themed, we'd love to see some made for Vegas-related movies next.

TNT Renews 'Rizzoli & Isles' for Season 3

TNT TNT has drawn the trigger on the third season of Rizzoli & Isles. The cable network has purchased 15 episodes, that will launch in summer time 2012. The Angie Harmon-Sasha Alexander procedural has carried out well on Monday nights at 10 p.m. within the rankings for TNT, which lately acquired another season of Steven Spielberg's Falling Skies and greenlit the Dallas reboot. Rizzoli & Isles released its sophomore season this summer time with 8.six million audiences. "This summer time, Rizzoli & Isles has proven that last year's record-breaking rankings were where it starts of the show's amazing history," stated Michael Wright, executive v . p . and mind of programming for TNT, The best spinner's and Turner Classic Movies. "Having a terrific cast, a high-notch production team and also the type of tales TNT fans crave, Rizzoli & Isles is poised to carry on its success alongside blockbuster TNT series such as the Closer and Falling Skies." The hourlong drama will return with new episodes from the second season in November and December. Rizzoli & Isles follows Jane Rizzoli (Harmon), a difficult Boston police detective, and Maura Isles (Alexander), a fortunate medical examiner as well as their friendship/working relationship. Email: philiana.ng@thr.com Angie Harmon TNT

Polish Bar

An Ionic Investments, Queen Neferatari and Aijsa presentation of a Duly Noted production. Produced by Effie T. Brown. Executive producers, Mark Brockbank, Cynthia Stafford, Jermaine O'Neal. Co-producers, Ben Redgrave, Victor Symris, Michael Mento, Deddrick Faison. Directed by Ben Berkowicz. Screenplay, Berkowitz, Ben Redgrave.With: Vincent Piazza, James Badge Dale, Meatloaf, Golden Brooks, Dov Tiefenbach, Howard "Chingy" Bailey, Richard Belzer, Judd Hirsch, Maury Cooper, Maestro Harrell, Pamela Shaw, Sara Krukowski, Matthew Gold, Andrzej Krukowski, Joe Minoso.Arriving 12 years after their first film, 1999's "Straightman," director Ben Berkowitz and co-scenarist/producer Ben Redgrave's sophomore feature "Polish Bar" is a much slicker affair. But this similarly Chicago-set drama loses some of that first film's raw honesty amid a cluttered narrative agenda whose surplus of subplots are unevenly developed. Tale of a young club DJ torn between his conservative Jewish family, musical aspirations and criminal associations is consistently watchable if ultimately less than satisfying. Patrons are more likely to step up to this "Bar" in home formats than via limited theatrical exposure. The filmmakers starred in "Straightman," which had a raw truth redolent of both past Cassavetes and future mumblecore pics. "Polish Bar" shares "Straightman's" focus on the Windy City's slummier side, but this time Berkowitz and Redgrave remain offscreen, replaced by a solid professional cast amid improved production values. Reuben Horowitz (Vincent Piazza) has a chip on his shoulder, having grown up in the shadow of a deceased father, and regarded as a black sheep by his primly disapproving mother (Pamela Shaw, with Richard Belzer as her more tolerant second husband) and hectoring Uncle Sol (Judd Hirsch). He's gone from mild juvenile delinquency to a job at Sol's watch store, chafing under his uncle's constant criticisms. But Reuben also deliberately provokes their disapproval by moonlighting as a DJ in the titular strip club run by sleazebag Joe (Meatloaf), as well as courting the approval of local hip-hop kingmaker Fat Moe (Howard "Chingy" Bailey). Nor is his choice of friends exactly family-approved: The closest thing he's got to a best mate is fellow club worker Tommy (James Badge Dale), who's a loose-cannon "Mean Streets" De Niro to his brooding Keitel; he's bedding big blonde emigre stage talent Edyta (Sara Krukowski) but seems more interested in another stripper, Ebony (Golden Brooks). Hoping to accrue enough cash to really launch his music career, Reuben is working on one last, major drug deal that's sure to go wrong. When things eventually hit bottom, the pic reaches a murky catharsis that allows Ruben to reconcile with his heritage (and gives mom an "I hef no son!" moment, a la "The Jazz Singer"). But that central conflict is just sputteringly articulated, best in scenes where Reuben banters with his Orthodox cousin (Dov Tiefenbach), visiting during their ailing grandfather's (Maury Cooper) last days. Generally, there are simply too many characters cluttering the pic's background with their own underexplored dramas, including Tommy's violent denial of his possible homosexuality and Ebony's home life with a younger brother (Maestro Harrell). This overpopulated canvas bleeds any real suspense from the crime theme, even as it ensures "Bar" has nary an idle or dull moment. Berkowitz and Redgrave have an instinctive grasp of different milieus and their disparate speech rhythms, though the long interim between features may have left this one burdened with more ideas than it can comfortably handle. Perfs are good, packaging polished while sustaining the required gritty atmosphere. A highlight is the propulsive soundtrack of mostly local recording artists.Camera (color, HD), Tommy Maddox-Upshaw; editors, Craig Hayes, Julie Janata; music, Ralph Darden; production designer, Merje Veski; set decorator, Adri Siriwatt; costume designer, Sarah Staskaukas; sound, Blair Scheller; re-recording mixer, Eric Lalicata; supervising sound editors, Lalicata, Mandell Winter Mpse; sound designer, Ryan McBride; assistant director, Kwame Amoaku; casting, Matt Lessall. Reviewed at San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, July 23, 2011. Running time: 96 MIN. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

10 Things to understand about 'Whitney'

NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt introduced stand-up comic-switched-TV starWhitney Cummings at Monday's TCA presentation as "the 2010 'it' girl."It is a jerk to her role as both an both executive producer/star of NBC comedy "Whitney" as well as an executive producer on CBS comedy "Two Broke Women," a balanced exercise that they calls "surreal."Throughout an end in the semi-annual press tour, Cummings, together with her cast and crew, opened up up concerning the NBC comedy and it is inspirations. Listed here are the ten things you need to know prior to the show's Sept. 22 premiere.1. Whitney Cummings authored the pilot with co-star Chris D'Elia in your mind. The happy couple had show up together as operate comics in La, with Cummings joking that "he's probably the most gifted youthful comedian working, besides me." 2. Don't be prepared to see Whitney and D'Elia's Alex character get betrothed in the near future. "Marriage would pop this device,Inch describes showrunner Betsy Thomas, observing the show is about the figures trying to puzzle out if marriage is essential. 3. "This is an incredible time to become a lady in comedy. It feels as though its much more of a benefit than the usual disadvantage," gushes Cummings of the era where the large and small screen is centered by funny women including Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph and Christina Applegate.4. Cummings credits actor-comedian Paul Reiser because the inspiration on her operate career. It had been his book, "Couplehood," that they states permitted her to determine "the cracks within the pavement." Likening operate comics to journalists, Cummings states the gig is about watching and looking at, an art that her producers add continues to be particularly useful as she creates this show.5. Should you let Cummings and her producers tell it, the character's committed but non-married relationship is a very common and contemporary one. "This relationship is really a modern relationship.. its balanced... this is the relationship that reflects the way in which we live our way of life,Inch notes Thomas.6. You will find bits of Whitney in "Whitney." Included in this: "Her personality is really a ball of one's and often she will start out towards the extreme. We have used that to inspire some of what she does," Thomas states, adding that her operate background findings happen to be similarly useful within the authors room.7. Mutli-cam comedies might not be en style, nevertheless its the format of preference for stand-up comics Cummings and D'Elia. "Alive audience... keeps you honest and i believe celebrate all of us better," adds Thomas. 8. Cummings will continue doing operate gigs. "I write on stage and [it's] where I recieve my ideas... it's what we should love,Inch she states, acknowledging the difficult 80-plus tour date schedule that they did this past year is no more achievable.9. Cummings confesses that they bought a set of Barbara Bradshaw-style Christian Louboutins on her ending up inInchIntercourse and also the City's" Michael Patrick Kingto discuss -- and ultimately accept collaborate on -- CBS'"Two Broke Women." She jokes that they decided to come back the footwear the very next day, but could not when she recognized she'd sweat through them.10. Cummings gets confident with a balanced exercise. She stays her days at theWhitneyset, and her nights in your own home flowing over"TwoBroke Women"notes. "It's surreal," she states, of the career and lifestyle that they never "thought is at them.InchInchWhitney" will premiere on NBC Thursday, Sept. 22 at 9:30 pm. The Hollywood Reporter