John Madden News

Spike TV is partnering with top game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), for a live, commercial-free telecast of the company's press briefing at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the game industry's leading trade show on Monday, June 4 at 4:00pm ET/1:00pm PT.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and ESPN announced today that Calvin Johnson, Jr., wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, was selected by millions of fans across the country to grace the cover of Madden NFL 13, which will hit store shelves August 28.

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced that movie star Jake Gyllenhaal will be making his American stage debut in If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet, a comedic drama by Nick Payne at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre this fall. The play will be directed by Michael Longhurst, with three additional actors and the design team to be announced shortly.

Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor Beau Bridges and Emmy Award winner Margo Martindale have joined the SHOWTIME drama pilot MASTERS OF SEX. Bridges will play University Chancellor Barton Scully, William Masters' boss, while Martindale will guest star as Miss Horchow, Masters' very by the book secretary. Directed by Academy Award nominee John Madden ('Shakespeare in Love'), the pilot will begin production in New York next week. Acclaimed actors Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan were recently cast as the leads - 1960's human sexuality pioneers William Masters and Virginia Johnson. Actress Caitlin Fitzgerald ("It's Complicated," "Gossip Girl") has also been cast as William Masters' wife Libby.

Winner of 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow and Best Supporting Actress - Judi Dench, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is noted playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard's imaginative restaging and reworking of the story of William Shakespeare which proceeds to present a thesis for how he came to write many of the finest dramas and comedies written in the English language. Boasting gorgeous costumes, breathtaking sets and an unmistakably Shakespearean atmosphere, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE has aged considerably well and looks even more rapturous and resplendent on Blu-ray than it ever has before. The new Blu-ray also comes with a fascinating slew of special features, the most appreciable of all being the two commentary tracks, one from director John Madden and another from assorted cast and crew members. Boasting an all-star cast to best even the Bard's vaunted coterie of performers themselves, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is lousy with pedigree - and nearly every actor makes his or her mark over the quite tight, terse running time of the film. In addition to the aforementioned Oscar-betrothed leading lady and supporting player, the cast of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE also boasts recent Oscar-winner for THE KING'S SPEECH, Colin Firth, in a memorable role, as well as a charismatic lead performance by Joseph Fiennes as the titular playwright. Additionally, British stage stars Simon Callow, Antony Sher, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson and Tony Award-winning Australian leading man Geoffrey Rush all make solid impressions in their smaller roles. Yet, as with all of the greatest works of William Shakespeare, the text is the star, and Stoppard's precise and exacting script is much like a modern Shakespeare play in the way it juggles moments of levity, intrigue, history, comedy, tragedy and love into the drama of the film. While SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE may have been somewhat derided at the time for being too light to win over that year's favorite, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, time has been kind to the theatrically-tinged film, and, dare I say, it is even more enjoyable and entertaining now, on Blu-ray, than it may have even been at the time of its release fifteen years ago. All the world may be a stage, by SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is a Hollywood film relating to Shakespeare worth your time, attention and investment.

Acclaimed actor Michael Sheen and actress Lizzy Caplan have been cast as the leads in the SHOWTIME drama pilot MASTERS OF SEX, where they will portray 1960's human sexuality pioneers William Masters and Virginia Johnson. Directed by Academy Awardnominee John Madden ('Shakespeare in Love'), the pilot will begin production in New York in March.Michelle Ashford (THE PACIFIC), Judith Verno, and Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly (JUSTIFIED) are executive producers. Michael Sheen and Tammy Rosen will serve as producers. MASTERS OF SEX is produced by Sony Pictures Television.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, the 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard is coming on Blu-ray on January 31st.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, the 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard is coming on Blu-ray on January 31st.

Variety reports today that the latest Disney Theatrical undertaking will be a stage adaptation of Shakespeare In Love by original film scribe Tom Stoppard. The media giant will be partnering with Sonia Friedman productions on the production, which will be directed by Jack O'Brien and designed by Bob Crowley. The play is expected to premiere in London. No dates or production timeline has been announced.

Working Title Films has commenced production on Joe Wright's epic love story Anna Karenina, adapted from Leo Tolstoy's classic novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love). The film will shoot in the U.K. and Russia. Focus Features will distribute the movie domestically, and Universal Pictures International (UPI) will distribute the movie internationally.

The Public Theater announced the first Public Forum of the 2011-2012 season, 'The 9/11 Decade: New York and America After the Towers.' Moderated by Alec Baldwin, the discussion will immediately follow the 7:30 p.m. performance of Richard Nelson's Sweet and Sad at The Public Theater on Thursday, September 8. Additional guests to be announced at a later date.

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Joey Parnes Interim Executive Director) has announced the line-up of the best-selling author and journalist Kurt Andersen, Pulitzer Prize-winner Carl Bernstein, and the playwright and director of Sweet and Sad Richard Nelson, for the first Public Forum of the 2011-2012 season, 'The 9/11 Decade: New York and America After The Towers.'

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Joey Parnes Interim Executive Director) is proud to announce the line-up of the best-selling author and journalist Kurt Andersen, Pulitzer Prize-winner Carl Bernstein, and the playwright and director of Sweet and Sad Richard Nelson, for the first Public Forum of the 2011-2012 season, 'The 9/11 Decade: New York and America After The Towers.' Hosted by Alec Baldwin, the discussion will take place at The Public Theater on Thursday, September 8. Single tickets to this special event, which includes the 7:30 p.m. performance of Sweet and Sad and The Public Forum immediately following, are $25, and can be purchased by calling (212) 967-7555.

The espionage thriller The Debt will be distributed for Miramax by Focus Features and Universal Pictures International (UPI).

The Public Theater will begin previews for the world premiere of Richard Nelson's new play SWEET AND SAD on Tuesday, September 6. The first show in the 2011-2012 Public Lab season, SWEET AND SAD takes place over Sunday brunch on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 with a cast that features Jon DeVries, Shuler Hensley, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robins, Jay O. Sanders and J. Smith-Cameron.

The Debt, a crowd-pleasing thriller, will begin previews in Great Neck - August 22nd