Movies
Entourage's faux Pablo Escobar biopic — which ran into plenty of trouble
last season — isn't the only victim of Hollywood's labyrinthine
development process. Two competing (and actual) projects about the
Colombian drug lord have been trying to get off the ground since last
year, and they've both hit plenty of roadblocks. Director Joe Carnahan's
Killing Pablo was slated to feature Javier Bardem in the leading role,
but last week the actor told EW that he's no longer attached to the
project: ''Joe has great material and it's going to be spectacular, but
we just couldn't find a time when we could both work.'' Meanwhile,
director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) and producer Oliver Stone will
have to wait a little longer to make Escobar, which has been delayed
because of last winter's writers' strike, directing commitments for
Fuqua and Stone, and a current financial dispute with sales partner
Essential Entertainment.
Now things have gotten knottier: According to Killing Pablo producer Bob
Yari, negotiations have begun with Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez (The
Bourne Ultimatum) to replace Bardem, and Carnahan is done scouting
locales in Colombia and Mexico with an eye on an October start date.
''We've been scrambling,'' says Yari. ''We looked at a lot of actors. We
will be very happy if we can get Edgar.'' Oddly enough, the Internet once
hummed with news that Ramirez was also on the short list for the
competing Escobar, though producer Jason Felts says that's not true. In
any case, Yari and Carnahan's strategic poach could prove to be the
winning move. And if that falls through too? Hey, maybe Entourage's
Adrian Grenier is free!
— Nicole Sperling
Music
Though he's been spotted this month getting his kicks on a road trip
along the old Route 66, fans may be most intrigued by a detour Paul
McCartney took to Branson, Mo. — home to Yakov Smirnoff, the Oak
Ridge Boys, and, possibly, a Beatles museum. A source says Macca visited
Louise Harrison, the sister of George Harrison. No word on what the two
discussed, but an obvious topic would be the Beatles museum Harrison has
long planned to open in the tourist town, using her own memorabilia
collection. Harrison's partners say the museum might open this fall.
Branson has been trying to upgrade its kitschy image; could a blessing
from an actual Beatle be the city's ticket to ride?
— Shirley Halperin
TV
The departure of CBS' reality programming guru Ghen Maynard last week
underscores the difficulty of finding another big-tent hit like
Survivor. Not since ABC launched Dancing With the Stars waaaay
back in 2005 has a network created a reality show that has finished the
season in the top 10. ''It's harder than it looks,'' laments a network
insider. ''All the genres are very familiar to audiences.'' Maybe they're
looking in the wrong place, says Mark Itkin, William Morris' cohead of
worldwide TV. ''When naysayers question whether we're tapped out, that's
a moment to start looking elsewhere.'' Even if it's thousands of miles
away: Itkin is currently bullish on Japan, where he is about to close
two deals and found the hilarious Human Tetris-like game show Hole in
the Wall, which he sold to Fox (it bows next month). ''Buyers have to be
willing to take chances.''
— Lynette Rice
