Trade Round-Up: Tom Hanks To Impatiently Explain Difference Between Grande and Venti
· Universal picks up the rights to the forthcoming memoir How Starbucks Saved My Life, about an ad exec who loses his job and becomes a professional macchiato slinger, with the intention of having Tom Hanks don the green apron. Of course, the book's author was in his 60s during the personal crisis, but fudging the age downward should make the whole story that much more poignant as the humbled, middle-aged Hanks struggles to master the frappuccino blender. [THR]
· Nicole Kidman and writer Simon Kinberg will "team up" (can't you see them high-fiving after he delivers some rewrites?) for a spy thriller already acquired by Regency Enterprises and 20th Century Fox. Think the Bourne Identity, but with a hotter—and more female—Matt Damon. Those killing-machine superspies are always losing their memories! [THR]
· Walken. Ping pong. Balls of Fury. Choppy grammar meant to express overwhelming excitement. [Variety]
· Think the underdog-filled Final Four totally screwed your brackets? Think about what they might do to CBS's ratings. [THR]
· SAG members have "strongly backed" a strike against cable TV over residuals, threatening to shut down Monk, Nip/Tuck, The Shield, and whatever other shows we should be watching when we're killing our souls on Blowout reruns. [Variety]