Flotsam & Jetsam

Warrior Angel Dan Brown Hovers Over A Roiling Hollywood

Bad news for Fox Atomic, good news for power-mad Ari Emmanuel. Bad news for people who are wise to Dan Brown’s tomfoolery, and good news for those who aren’t. Plus, the good/bad on pilot season.

After a string of smash successes like The Hills Have Eyes II, The Rocker, and Turistas, Fox has decided to shutter its genre label Fox Atomic. The two-year-old shingle has some higher-profile stuff like I Love You, Beth Cooper and Jennifer’s Body set to bow this summer, but I guess it wasn’t enough. Head exec Debbie Liebling will return to regular Fox, while the other Atomic suits are awaiting word of their fate. [Variety]

Oh dear. Columbia has begun pre-pre-production on The Lost Symbol the as-yet-unpublished Fear Street: For Religion! novel by hackity hack hack Dan Brown. So that’s good. Angels & Demons hasn’t even come out in theatres yet, but we can already predict that sweaty dollars will be exchanged hand over grubby fist. It’s the only financial prediction that makes any damn sense anymore! [Variety]

Among the buzzed-about TV pilots for next season: Eastwick, Cougar Town, Happy Town, Flash Forward, and Human Target. Probably one of them will last past week three. [THR]

WMA and Endeavor have basically merged into one seething agency monster, with Ari Emmanuel likely to reign as CEO of the amalgamated war machine. [THR]

Idris Elba, Zoe Saldana, Jeffery Dean Morgan, and Columbus Short are all set to star in an action movie together. The sad, telling title? The Losers. [THR]

Not exactly from a trade, but: Richard Jenkins to play sexy-pex Brazilian opposite Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love? Heh. [P6]

Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)

  • Flabby

    Julia seems a little old for the eat pray love character. Wasn't she like 30 when she did her little self-discovery thingie?

    Flabby

  • Theravada

    Dan Brown is the worst writer to be granted the moniker of "author." Ever.

    Theravada

  • Itsjustcatnip

    @Sproing: The illiterati say you need to say the secret passwurd before we can answer that question.

    Itsjustcatnip

  • Itsjustcatnip

    @MisterHippity: It helps if you listen to them, instead of reading and trying to hold back from using a red pen.

    Itsjustcatnip

  • sarrible

    @Terrafractal: If I had a giant pool of money that I could swim in, I would totally build secret passageways in my house. The better for Bobbsey Twins/Babysitters' Club-style shenanigans.

  • MisterHippity

    @contradicto: Of course you enjoyed it. That's because his books are fun to read!

    He's a horrible writer, prose-wise. And the "ideas" behind his stories are pure horseshit. But his plots are like a really good ride a Disney World ... you just need to turn off your brain and go "whee!"

  • DahlELama

    @contradicto: I won't let you stand alone in shame. I, too, enjoyed Angels & Demons. God knows I didn't want to, and boy did I resist liking The Da Vinci Code, but there's only so much Dan Brown I can disdain.

    DahlELama

  • Terrafractal

    @TableNine: My mom knows the contractor building his house up here in New Hampshah. Apparently Brown requested secret passageways. So I guess this makes him a dorky Scrooge McDuck, intent on fantasizing about international religopolitical intrigue even when he's not writing.

    Terrafractal

  • Tart of Darkness

    @Sproing: I think that has a corollary in the Oprah Winfrey Book Club.

  • NoelleBlue

    There's some confusion out there about what chara Jenkins is supposed to play... I read elsewhere it was the guru-esque older texan dude who she befriends in an ashram, not the sexy sexy Brazilian who she hooks up with?
    Which makes much more sense, methinks.

    And I only am aware of all this because I finally caved to various pressures and read the damn thing a couple of weeks ago.

    NoelleBlue

  • contradicto

    @bytememehard: I never lie. Jesus tells me not to.

  • bmoreDLJ

    Running around Rome with brands III. Ugh...I truly wish he'd stuck to singing.

  • TRexstasy

    I don't guess that disappointing premiere has anything to do with the fact that "Sit Down and Shut Up" looks excruciatingly bad and that the "edgy" animation style looks really dated.

  • TableNine

    Dan Brown hasn't published anything in six years, so you just know he's been putting a lot of work into that new novel he's been writing, Faster Than The Speed of Love.

    Either that, or he's been swimming in a big vault full of middle America's money, like Scrooge McDuck.

    TableNine

  • Cecil's Wielder

    They're bringing back Flash Forward? Who will play the Ben Foster part?

    Cecil's Wielder

  • Sproing

    The Dan Brown Paradox: Why do illiterates buy books?

    Sproing

  • bytememehard

    @contradicto: You're lying.

  • A_Joyful_Sophist

    I used to work in publicity at a regional boutique office for Fox Atomic and I found them to be the nicest, most east to work with studio (of the 13) that we represented. Good luck F.A. gang!

  • contradicto

    Confession time. I recently read Angels & Demons and thoroughly enjoyed its mindlessness. But only because it helped with my Ewan MacGregor/priest fantasies.

Post Your Comments

Got something to say? There are two ways to comment:

1. Guests

Click here to comment instantly.

2. Facebook Users

Click below to comment using your Facebook account.

We're looking for comments that are interesting, substantial or highly amusing. If your comments are excessively self-promotional, obnoxious, or even worse, boring, you will be banned from commenting. All comments are moderated.