Can Zachary Quinto Act Without Prosthetic Ears?
Zachary Quinto, aka Spock, will play George Gershwin in a Steven Spielberg-directed biopic. Sundance ended, Jersey Shore is back for sure, and Indian-themed comedies are hot like a homemade chicken curry. Welcome to the Roundup: Care for a hot toddy?
•Deadline hears that Heroes and Star Trek star Zachary Quinto is starring in a new Steven Spielberg biopic of George Gershwin. Shooting to begin in April. According to Deadline, Quinto will be provided with accent and dialogue coaches by Dreamworks. We have listened to an embarrassingly little amount of Gershwin's work, but do recognize Rhapsody in Blue as that song from Manhattan. So, there's that. [Deadline]
•Sundance is Sundone: 10 deals were made. This might not sound like a lot of deals, but it is as many deals as were made last year. One deal per day. The controversial, super-violent-against-women thriller The Killer Inside Me sold for more than $1 million to IFC Films. Other late-breaking deals: Winter's Bone, a thriller directed by Debra Granik was picked up by Roadside America after the film won the dramatic film jury prize. The Oprah Winfrey Network acquired the documentary Family Affair about the filmmaker Chico Colvard as he tells his family about the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father as child. All in all, sales were brisk, goodie bags were full and Foster hated Twelve (another deal-getter) without even seeing it. [THR]
•Here is a trend, according to The Hollywood Reporter: "Indian-themed" comedies! That means, shows about and/or starring Indians. From India! Three is a trend, and the three projects THR cites are Fox's sit-com Nirvana and the NBC sit-com Outsourced One TV exec THR talked to says that popular Indian-themed film Slumdog Millionaire has something to do with it. We're not sure about anything except we could use some garlic naan right about now. [THR]
•Ginnifer Goodwin ("Big Love") is in talks to star in 2S Films' romcom Something Borrowed. The film is based on the Emily Giffin novel of the same name, and Goodwin will star as "a Manhattan attorney who becomes involved with her best friend's fiance following her 30th birthday." [Variety]
•This is old news, but important news: Jersey Shore is definitely coming back for a second season. Late Friday night, white smoke poured forth from MTV headquarters in the universal signal that contract negotiations had ended and the entire gang would return for twelve more glorious episodes starting later this year. [TheWrap]