The History Channel, where old soldiers never die — they just air in repeats — is getting help from some contemporary stars. Morgan Freeman, Benjamin Bratt, Danny Glover and Rosario Dawson are among the A-list celebrities reading letters, speeches and text from famous and not-so famous Americans in “The People Speak,” a documentary coming this fall that celebrates America’s interpretation of democracy.

Matt Damon and Marisa Tomei, above, two of the contributors, were on hand Wednesday to talk with critics about their love affair with a project that was rejected by Fox TV 10 years ago and later died during development at HBO.

“I’m an actor. I’m used to being rejected,” said Damon, who also serves as an executive producer. The film also features intimate musical performances by Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan of some Woody Guthrie classics.

From Star Tribune

Shortly after his mammoth graphic novel “The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto” was released by Image Comics in 2007, Scream Award-nominated director Rob Zombie told MTV News that the animated version of his “superhero monster sex comedy” was finished as well. The comics-friendly music maestro and White Zombie founder who recently contributed to the “Punisher: War Zone” soundtrack now says that the feature film’s release date is still up in the air and has no problem throwing down some harsh words to express his frustrations behind the scenes.

“The movie is f—ing awesome,” Zombie told SlashFilm. “[T]he f—ing behind-the-scenes stuff on that movie has been so f—ed up. You would not believe the sh– that has been going on.”

Though the horror film — featuring such stars as Paul Giamatti, Rosario Dawson, and Danny Trejo — had been tagged for a 2009 release, the “H2″ and “Devil’s Rejects” director sounded skeptical that his cartoon gore-fest would make it out to theaters by this fall.

“There are rumors about releasing it in the fall,” he said. “But the company that owns ‘El Superbeasto,’ the problem is, that company has changed hands, like, at least five times since I started. So, every time we’re near release, it gets sold, new executives come in, and it derails the project.”

Zombie still sounds as enthusiastic as ever about getting the project out in the public, however, reiterating earlier claims that his Adult Swim style take on classic looking animation meshed with blood-splattering madness will break new ground.

“It’s really unlike any movie,” Zombie described. “It’s very adult. I don’t know. I like to say that it’s Scooby-Doo meets NC-17.”

From MTV

Rosario Dawson and Steve Coogan will run the underworld in the Greek mythology-infused adventure film “Percy Jackson.”

Chris Columbus is directing the adaptation of Rick Riordan’s best-selling fantasy-adventure book series, which involves the world-saving quest of Poseidon’s half-human son, Percy, in modern America.

Catherine Keener, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Melina Kanakaredes, Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson already have been cast.

Coogan will play the nefarious Hades, and Dawson will play his imprisoned wife, Persephone, who has a flirtation with Jackson’s character, Grover, Percy’s best friend. Only the role of Ares, God of War, is yet to be cast.

The Fox 2000 film, which Columbus and Craig Titley adapted from the first book in the series, “The Lightning Thief,” is scheduled for a February 12 release.

Dawson most recently starred in “Seven Pounds” and “Eagle Eye.”

Coogan most recently appeared in “Tropic Thunder” and “Hamlet 2.” He returns as Octavius in the comedy-adventure “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” which hits theaters May 22.

From Reuters

Robert Rodriguez has dropped a few more hints about ‘Sin City 2′, including some storyline details and a confirmation it will definitely be made.

Rumors have been swirling for quite some time about whether or not “Sin City 2″ would ever be made – the questions were mostly about whether anyone wanted to finance it, but it always seemed to me that a sequel was inevitable – surely strong and repeat DVD and Blu-ray sales worldwide make the franchise attractive still. But nonetheless, it would not be the easiest sequel to bring about considering the number of popular actors involved, the production challenges, and licensing costs/terms. Not to worry though, because Director Robert Rodriguez recently spoke very positively about the film to IGN:

“People have been talking about Sin City 2 since the first one came out,” Rodriguez said. “Whenever I’m out and about, people say, ‘When’s Sin City 2 coming? When’s Sin City 2 coming?’ They’ve been asking that for years. So this probably will add to that, certainly.”

He mentioned that there are a few other commitments he has to meet before getting to work on the film but added, “I actually had a phone call with some of the players in it today, but I was on a plane so I missed it,” he said. “So next week we’re going to talk about it some more and get a timing on when we’d be doing it. But there’s a lot of people who are interested in it. … We are definitely going to do that one“

Rodriguez also said in the interview that he hoped the film could start filming as early as next year. Regarding the plot of the sequel, Rodriguez said that it will include “A Dame to Kill For”, to feature Rosario Dawson heavily in one of the original Sin City stories, as well as new additional material written by Frank Miller. More of Rosario and new material from Frank? We’re already sold.

Rodriguez continued “There’s a lot of stories. That was sort of the approach I took to it. That’s why there’s three stories in the [first] movie, because I thought, ‘I love this material, but gosh, what happens if it’s not successful and I don’t get to make a part two and part three. I still want to see “The Big Fat Kill” and “That Yellow Bastard.”‘ So I wanted to put them all in one movie so I could at least get some of these stories out of my system. But there’s still so many books and so many stories to do.”

From The Cinema Post

This week, the Environmental Media Association’s Young Hollywood Board is putting on the gloves and digging deep in support of organic gardening in Los Angeles-area schools. Celebs on the Board, including Nicole Richie, Lance Bass, Rosario Dawson, members of Maroon 5, Amy Smart, Matthew Rhys, Emily VanCamp and Emmanuelle Chriqui, will each adopt an area school, help with the planting, and check in with their gardens during the school year, explains People.

The project is the product of a newly-formed partnership between the EMA and the Los Angeles Unified School District’s School Gardens program, and personal care brand Yes To Inc. The launch event is scheduled for tomorrow morning at Hollywood’s Helen Bernstein High School, and the program will take root over the next several months.

Just how much dirt Richie et al will actually get under their fingernails remains to be seen, but Bass for one is pretty stoked: “Organic gardens are so important, especially in urban areas where many students would otherwise never see any greenery. I hope that the support will help them to grow and flourish in Los Angeles.”

From LAist

Today, May 9th, is Rosario’s 30th birthday! I would love to wish Rosario an amazing day filled with her loved ones. Thank you for being such an inspiration to your fans all over the world!

‘GEMINI DIVISION’ PREMIERES ON NBC.COM AND SCIFI.COM ON AUGUST 18TH
50 Webisode Online Series Stars Rosario Dawson

Groundbreaking Series From the NBC Universal Digital Studio Uses New Business Models and Sets New Standards in Branded Entertainment, Interactivity and Distribution

BURBANK, Calif. – August 12, 2008 – The NBC Universal Digital Studio today announced August 18th as the premiere date of its first original online series “Gemini Division,” starring Rosario Dawson and Justin Hartley. Debuting on NBC.com, SCIFI.com, GeminiDivision.com and an unprecedented number of mobile, gaming and VOD platforms, the series is the first production from the recently created Studio. The announcement was made by Cameron Death, Vice President, NBC Universal Digital Studio.

“The combination of talent and the incredible storytelling and production value that ‘Gemini Division’ brings to our viewers provides a broad canvas for Intel, Cisco, Microsoft, Acura and UPS to explore new ways for viewers to connect with brands in a meaningful and organic narrative,” said Death. “Leveraging the storytelling history of NBC Universal provides users with an unparalleled branded entertainment experience, available across multiple digital platforms.”

“There has been a huge spike of consumers who are now viewing their favorite TV shows on the Internet – especially when away from home and on-the-go. Entertainment fans using cutting-edge notebook PCs with Intel® Centrino 2 processors – with blazing fast performance, long battery life and loaded with high-def video and audio technologies — are getting stunning TV experiences online,” said Heather Dixon, Intel’s Consumer Marketing Director. “Intel Xeon-based servers were also instrumental in the digital creation of Gemini Division, and future technologies such as ultra mobile PCs and internet devices are integrated into the fabric of the online show, which all combined, provide the viewer a great entertainment and technology experience.”

The first webisodes will premiere on August 18th on NBC.com and SCIFI.com, with new webisodes rolling out weekly. Webisodes will also be available weekly on VOD via Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS and DISH Network, in addition to EST (Electronic Sell-Through) via Amazon Unbox, Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE and Zune, NBC Mobile and several online video portals.

Set in the not too distant future, “Gemini Division” follows NYPD vice cop Anna Diaz (Rosario Dawson) who, while searching for the truth behind her fiancée’s murder, is drawn into a secret war between a race of artificial life forms know as SIMs and the covert agency charged with hunting them down.

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It’s a quintessential Hollywood moment: a star on a soundstage, the focal point of every person and every piece of equipment in the room. The star on this particular January day is Rosario Dawson, the 29-year-old actress who earned her cred as an Uzi-wielding prostitute in Sin City. She’s being filmed against a greenscreen in extreme close-up, highlighting her sculpted cheekbones and olive skin. “We’ve got this joke in vice,” she murmurs in a voice that’s uncommonly sultry for a police detective. “Love costs 10 bucks. True love costs 20.”

In her studded black tunic and high-heeled boots, Dawson is apparently Tinseltown’s idea of how to clean up the streets. “She looks like she can kick some ass,” observes Brent Friedman, the chief screenwriter, who’s watching on a nearby monitor. But even though we’re in a Hollywood zip code, this is no film or television shoot. The rented space looks more like an oversize garage than a studio soundstage. Instead of the usual army of grips and gaffers, the production is staffed by a skeleton crew. And the parking lot outside? Barely big enough for 20 cars.

All of which can mean only one thing: another Web production. Two years after the success of Lonelygirl15 — the groundbreaking YouTube serial that turned out to be not the DIY diary of a 16-year-old girl but the work of three wannabe auteurs in Beverly Hills — Web video has finally captured Hollywood’s imagination. Last year, former Disney chief Michael Eisner launched Prom Queen, a daily 90-second teen drama; Judd Apatow has joined Will Ferrell on Funny or Die, a sort of YouTube for comedy; producers Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz had a modest success with Quarterlife, a Web show about self-obsessed twentysomethings, only to see it flop on TV. But Gemini Division, the sci-fi serial Dawson is shooting today, will be the first Web series to feature a bona fide Hollywood star.

Sure, the YouTube explosion was fueled by amateurs, but it will be showbiz professionals who cash in on Web video. That’s because most big corporate advertisers want a safe, predictable environment — not the latest YouTube one-off, no matter how viral. Once the major brands get on board, millions of ad dollars will follow. Which is why when the writers’ strike idled most of Hollywood last winter, talent agents fielded calls from clients eager to try their hand. At the same time, the fact that a three-minute clip can be shot for as little as $2,000 means Web video will be more open to ambitious neophytes than television ever was — witness the guys behind Lonelygirl15, who now have a second hit Web series called KateModern and a deal to develop more for CBS.

So far, however, this is a gold rush without any gold. Nobody knows how the business is supposed to work — what kind of stories to tell, whether to tell them in 90 seconds or 20 minutes, whether to build a destination site or distribute episodes across the Net, how to generate revenue, how to do it all on a shoestring. The Gemini team is betting they can figure it out. “People ask, ‘What’s your business model?’” says the director, Stan Rogow, during a lull in the shoot. “And I say, ‘This morning’s or this afternoon’s?’ It’s only partly a joke.”

A wiry figure who wears his long silver hair brushed straight back, Rogow is dressed in softly faded jeans and an extravagantly collared white shirt open halfway to the waist, a set of aviator glasses tucked neatly into the V. In an earlier life he was “the king of tweens,” the producer who made Lizzie McGuire for Disney and turned Hilary Duff into a star. Gemini Division is the first of eight Web serials he has in the works at Electric Farm Entertainment, the production company he’s formed with Friedman, the writer, and Jeff Sagansky, a former copresident of Sony Pictures Entertainment and head of CBS Entertainment before that.

Right now they need a distributor, and they’ve been talking with everyone from NBC Universal to MySpace about putting Gemini Division on their sites. Whoever they partner with would sell advertising and maybe even help fund the production. MySpace isn’t offering money up front, but it does sell ads and split the revenue with producers. Eisner partnered with MySpace on Prom Queen, as did Herskovitz with Quarterlife, but Rogow is hoping for a more lucrative arrangement — which is why he has spent half the afternoon squiring around a pair of suits from NBC. The deal he’s discussing would put Electric Farm well on its way to recouping the $1.75 million or so it will cost to make the 50 three-minute episodes Rogow plans to shoot. But the deal’s not done yet.

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