Michael Bay News

STARZ announced today the casting of Toby Stephens in the lead role of 'Captain Flint' in the upcoming Michael Bay-produced original series 'Black Sails,' which is expected to air on STARZ in 2014. The eight-episode first season of the pirate adventure centers on the tales of Captain Flint and his men, and takes place 20 years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic 'Treasure Island.'

TNT has ordered pilots for three scripted drama series: King and Maxwell, a new scripted drama based on bestselling author David Baldacci's popular private-investigator characters; Legends, a suspenseful, action-packed drama based on a novel by Robert Littell; and Trooper, a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama about a divorced mother of three working as a state trooper.

TNT has ordered pilots for three scripted drama series: King and Maxwell, a new scripted drama based on bestselling author David Baldacci's popular private-investigator characters; Legends, a suspenseful, action-packed drama based on a novel by Robert Littell; and Trooper, a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama about a divorced mother of three working as a state trooper.

The 60th edition of the San Sebastian Festival will this year bestow its Donostia Awards on actors John Travolta, Ewan McGregor and Tommy Lee Jones and the Special 60th Anniversary Donostia Award going to director Oliver Stone. In 1969, Jones made his Broadway debut in John Osborne's A Patriot for Me. His other Broadway appearances include Four on a Garden and Ulysses in Nighttown.

ESPN today announced the launch of the ESPN Fantasy Football app, making its debut on Windows Phone for the first time exclusively on Nokia Lumia smartphones.

Oprah Winfrey has topped Forbes' list of the highest-paid celebrities in 2012. The media mogel earned $165 million between May 2011 and May 2012. While the earnings mark a decline of $125 million from last year, Winfrey continues to hold on to the top spot due to the final season of her long-running talk show, as well as earnings from her magazine, her new network OWN, her spin off shows, including Rachel Ray and Dr. Oz, and a radio deal with Sirius.

TNT has ordered a pilot for the action-packed drama series The Last Ship, based on the popular novel by William Brinkley and executive-produced by blockbuster filmmaker Michael Bay (Transformers). The project comes to TNT from Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, whose credits include A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with showrunner Hank Steinberg (Without a Trace) and Steven Kane (The Closer) also serving as executive producers. Steinberg and Kane wrote the pilot script.

Four men in a pool. Wearing speedos. For 90 minutes. Sometimes, plays are just destined to be successful. PENELOPE shows through June 17th at the Winningstad Theatre!

Two of cable's most successful brands are once again paving the way to the future with a bold, industry-leading strategy. According to the vision laid out by executives during the annual Upfront presentation today in New York, TBS and TNT will undertake a major transformation over the next two years, evolving from linear television networks into branded video destinations.

Starz Chief Executive Officer Chris Albrecht announced the straight-to-series greenlight of BLACK SAILS (working title) from executive producer Michael Bay. The new STARZ Original series is expected to air in 2014.

Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom, Inc., announced today it has signed a first-look deal with veteran producer Ian Bryce. Additionally, Bryce has announced the hiring of Rebecca Rajkowski, who joins the new shingle as Director of Development.

'Monk' star Tony Shalhoub and his wife actress Brooke Adams made a special trip into New York to catch a preview of NAACP Image Award winner Kenyetta Lethridge's social drama 'Innocent Flesh' at the Off-Broadway Actors Temple Theater. The piece focuses on teen sex slave trafficking as told through the eyes of four young girls.

Adam Sandler leads the list of nominees for the 32nd Annual Razzie Awards with a record-breaking 11 nominations including nods for his work as an actor, a writer and a producer. His films from this past year included Jack & Jill, Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star and Just Go With It.

Variety reports that comedian Russell Brand will join the cast of Paramount Picture's upcoming film THE HAUNTREPRENEUR.

Stage and screen superstar Scarlett Johansson is known to most theatre fans for her tremendous work in the recent revival of Arthur Miller's A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, directed by Gregory Mosher and co-starring fellow InDepth InterView participant Liev Schreiber, for which she rightly took home the 2010 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress In A Play. Before then, Johansson was perhaps best known for her leading role in Sofia Coppola's moving contemporary drama LOST IN TRANSLATION, co-starring Bill Murray, as well as for her featured roles in some big-budget Hollywood films with top-tier talent and directors - THE PRESTIGE with Christopher Nolan (co-starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman), THE BLACH DAHLIA with Brian DePalma, THE ISLAND with Michael Bay (co-starring Ewan MacGregor), THE SPIRIT with Frank Miller; as well as a string of quirky and unique independent films such as GHOST WORLD, A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG and her unforgettable work in THE HORSE WHISPERER under the guiding force of director Robert Redford. Since then, she has become a franchise superhero superstar thanks to her role in the international smash hit IRON MAN 2, co-starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson, both of whom she reteams with in this Spring's tent-pole entertainment attraction THE AVENGERS, directed by BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and occasional GLEE-helmer Joss Whedon, which also features Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner and Chris Evans as the classic Marvel comic book heroes. Today marks the opening night of her newest feature film, WE BOUGHT A ZOO, directed by Cameron Crowe and co-starring Matt Damon and Thomas Haden Church, which finds Scarlett back in familiar territory - after all, she is celebrated by many entertainment enthusiasts for her sterling, unsurpassed work in three highly-acclaimed and endlessly enjoyable Woody Allen films: MATCH POINT, SCOOP and VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA. In celebration of WE BOUGHT A ZOO, today we shall shine a special solo spotlight on one of the brightest stars on Broadway or in Hollywood who is sure to delight us in theaters and on screens for many years to come - she has already been legitimately acting for nearly 20 years of her 27 on earth, after all. So, whether stage or screen, comedy or drama, music or mime, Scarlett Johansson can clearly do it all and we will sample some of the best clips from her career so far as we look forward to WE BOUGHT A ZOO, THE AVENGERS and everything else that is next for her in her rise to the top ranks of Broadway and Hollywood.

'If you want to shape the future of great LGBT films, please join us this weekend for the Great Gay Screenplay Finale weekend at the Hoover-Leppen Theater at Center on Halsted.

Weekend movie box office estimates: July 15-17, 2011.

Weekend movie box office estimates: July 8-10, 2011.

Weekend movie box office estimates: July 1-3, 2011.

In celebration of Paramount Pictures' TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, MTV and VH1 will broadcast a special performance of Linkin Park's new single, 'Iridescent,' across its screens on Friday, June 24th.