Samuel Baum has signed a two-year exclusive cable writing and producing deal with HBO. The pact comes on the heels of HBO Films greenlighting The Wizard Of Lies, the Bernie Madoff movie starring Robert De Niro on which Baum was a writer. The film about the disgraced financier has been shooting in New York with Barry Levinson directing. Baum recently co-wrote and executive produced the Amazon pilot Cocked. He previously created and executive produced the Fox drama series Li…...
- 10/5/2015
- Deadline TV
Family is like a loaded gun. Especially if you’re Richard Paxson (True Blood’s Sam Trammell) and you left your rural Colorado family and its gun business 20 years ago and vowed never to go back.
After some unfortunate circumstances, the big city corporate exec is forced to return home to help save the family business. But older brother Grady Paxton (My Name is Earl’s Jason Lee), a playboy bachelor and gun aficionado, isn’t so happy to have him back. And his liberal wife and opinionated teenage kids are horrified by the world they have been thrown into. Hilarity, epic fights and emotional breakdowns ensue.
Created by Samuel Baum (Lie to Me) and Sam Shaw (Manhattan – TV series), Cocked is an hour-long dark comedy that also stars Tony award-winning Brian Dennehy (Death of a Salesman), Laura Fraser (Breaking Bad), and Dreama Walker (The Good Wife) – a stellar cast.
After some unfortunate circumstances, the big city corporate exec is forced to return home to help save the family business. But older brother Grady Paxton (My Name is Earl’s Jason Lee), a playboy bachelor and gun aficionado, isn’t so happy to have him back. And his liberal wife and opinionated teenage kids are horrified by the world they have been thrown into. Hilarity, epic fights and emotional breakdowns ensue.
Created by Samuel Baum (Lie to Me) and Sam Shaw (Manhattan – TV series), Cocked is an hour-long dark comedy that also stars Tony award-winning Brian Dennehy (Death of a Salesman), Laura Fraser (Breaking Bad), and Dreama Walker (The Good Wife) – a stellar cast.
- 1/29/2015
- Hollywonk
Jason Lee
Cocked, Season 1, Episode 1: “Pilot”
Written by Samuel Baum and Sam Shaw
Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Released January 15, 2015 by Amazon
Familial strife over business concerns has been a story told often in television and movies, but rarely has the business in question been the gun business in America. Among Amazon’s batch of pilots is a show that aims to tackle that very ground, in the form of Cocked. Looking at a big gun company staring down financial troubles just as an estranged member of the family that runs it is forced to come back home, the episode unfortunately squanders the show’s potential, pairing a celebration of one character and all he represents with poor work fleshing out the rest of the show’s group and the world it’s set in.
The biggest issue with this pilot is the manner it which it appears to implicitly...
Cocked, Season 1, Episode 1: “Pilot”
Written by Samuel Baum and Sam Shaw
Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Released January 15, 2015 by Amazon
Familial strife over business concerns has been a story told often in television and movies, but rarely has the business in question been the gun business in America. Among Amazon’s batch of pilots is a show that aims to tackle that very ground, in the form of Cocked. Looking at a big gun company staring down financial troubles just as an estranged member of the family that runs it is forced to come back home, the episode unfortunately squanders the show’s potential, pairing a celebration of one character and all he represents with poor work fleshing out the rest of the show’s group and the world it’s set in.
The biggest issue with this pilot is the manner it which it appears to implicitly...
- 1/25/2015
- by Deepayan Sengupta
- SoundOnSight
Amazon Studios is once again bringing the public into its version of "pilot season," putting sample episodes of new series online simultaneously and factoring public and critical reaction into its decision of which ones to order as full series. Here are some quick reactions to the new batch of scripted (and, in one case, partly scripted) pilots:Cocked Co-created by writers Samuel Baum (Lie to Me) and Sam Shaw (Manhattan), this comedy-drama about a struggling family-owned gun manufacturer feels like a wannabe-daring premium-cable show. It's not without a certain intelligence and sass, but it tries way too hard to be edgy and "politically incorrect," and it can't seem to figure out what to do with its female characters, who tend to be nags, generic tough chicks, troubled floozies, or nonentities. Brian Dennehy plays Wade Paxson, the patriarch of Paxson Firearms, which is getting stomped in the marketplace by Rayburn, a...
- 1/15/2015
- by Matt Zoller Seitz
- Vulture
Get ready to watch, rate and review Amazon’s just-released pilots – a slate of 13 original comedy, drama, docuseries and kids offerings now available on Amazon Instant Video.
The pilots come from a talented creative roster that includes both newcomers discovered through Amazon Studios as well as highly-acclaimed veterans such as Ridley Scott (Blade Runner), Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files), Carlton Cuse (Lost), Randall Wallace (Braveheart), Shawn Ryan (The Shield), Brad Silberling (Jane the Virgin, Lemony Snickets…), Mark Waters (Mean Girls), Academy and Emmy Award winning director Alex Gibney (The Armstrong Lie), Angela Santomero (Blue’s Clues), and Carol Greenwald (Arthur).
Over the course of the next four weeks, viewer feedback will ultimately help to decide which of them get picked up to full series. So your opinions matter! You could help choose the next Golden Globe-winning series, after all.
Check out the synopsis of each of them below, and start watching them here today.
The pilots come from a talented creative roster that includes both newcomers discovered through Amazon Studios as well as highly-acclaimed veterans such as Ridley Scott (Blade Runner), Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files), Carlton Cuse (Lost), Randall Wallace (Braveheart), Shawn Ryan (The Shield), Brad Silberling (Jane the Virgin, Lemony Snickets…), Mark Waters (Mean Girls), Academy and Emmy Award winning director Alex Gibney (The Armstrong Lie), Angela Santomero (Blue’s Clues), and Carol Greenwald (Arthur).
Over the course of the next four weeks, viewer feedback will ultimately help to decide which of them get picked up to full series. So your opinions matter! You could help choose the next Golden Globe-winning series, after all.
Check out the synopsis of each of them below, and start watching them here today.
- 1/15/2015
- Hollywonk
Amazon Studios announced Tuesday it will unveil a new slate of pilots starring performers such as Brian Dennehy, Paget Brewster and Steve Zahn on Jan. 15. The company has been aggressively shuffling its programming lineup early in the new year. The pilot announcement came only a day after the company revealed it kiboshed a series order for Chris Carter's "The After." Despite getting strong viewer feedback and a series greenlight, only the pilot of "The After" was produced. Still, Amazon is keeping faith with its viewer feedback model. “We look forward to seeing our customers’ response to these new projects," Roy Price, Amazon Studios vice president, told Variety. “We are working with great storytellers on some fascinating ideas for the year’s first pilot season." The seven new primetime pilots, which include a documentary series titled "The New Yorker Presents," and six new kids pilots will debut on Amazon Instant Video,...
- 1/6/2015
- backstage.com
Amazon Studios’ first pilot season of 2015 will debut Thursday, Jan. 15, unveiling seven drama and comedy projects as well as a half-dozen kid-centric pilots.
Already due to debut via Amazon Studios this year are the first full seasons of Bosch, Hand of God and Red Oaks, plus Season 2 of Transparent. (Chris Carter’s The After meanwhile just had its series order scrapped.)
The dramas and comedies are as follows (click photos to zoom):
Cocked | Created by Samuel Baum (Lie to Me) and Sam Shaw (Manhattan), this drama stars Sam Trammell (True Blood) as a man who 20 years ago left his...
Already due to debut via Amazon Studios this year are the first full seasons of Bosch, Hand of God and Red Oaks, plus Season 2 of Transparent. (Chris Carter’s The After meanwhile just had its series order scrapped.)
The dramas and comedies are as follows (click photos to zoom):
Cocked | Created by Samuel Baum (Lie to Me) and Sam Shaw (Manhattan), this drama stars Sam Trammell (True Blood) as a man who 20 years ago left his...
- 1/6/2015
- TVLine.com
Amazon Studios has announced a January 15th premiere date for its first batch of 2015 pilots. As usual, the company will make series greenlight decisions based on viewer feedback.
Four dramas and two comedies are on offer, most notably the remake of British black comedy series "Mad Dogs" which Shawn Ryan ("The Shield," "Last Resort") is producing. Steve Zahn, Billy Zane, Romany Malco, Michael Imperioli and Ben Chaplin star in this version of the show about a group of underachieving forty-something friends who visit a friend's Belize villa - a holiday that turns into a nightmare of lies, deception and murder.
Another high-profile title is a pilot for a series based on Philip K. Dick’s Hugo Award-winning 1962 alternative history story "The Man in the High Castle". Set twenty years after the Nazis won World War II, the U.S. is now divided between Japan and Germany and tensions between the...
Four dramas and two comedies are on offer, most notably the remake of British black comedy series "Mad Dogs" which Shawn Ryan ("The Shield," "Last Resort") is producing. Steve Zahn, Billy Zane, Romany Malco, Michael Imperioli and Ben Chaplin star in this version of the show about a group of underachieving forty-something friends who visit a friend's Belize villa - a holiday that turns into a nightmare of lies, deception and murder.
Another high-profile title is a pilot for a series based on Philip K. Dick’s Hugo Award-winning 1962 alternative history story "The Man in the High Castle". Set twenty years after the Nazis won World War II, the U.S. is now divided between Japan and Germany and tensions between the...
- 1/6/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Get ready for our first pilot season of 2015, launching January 15th, when seven new primetime and six new kids pilots will debut on Amazon Instant Video. As with previous pilot seasons, viewers in the Us, UK and Germany will be invited to watch, rate and review them all over the course of four weeks, ultimately helping to decide which of them get picked up to full series.
The new pilots come from both highly-acclaimed and newly-discovered creators, and a legion of talented actors, directors and producers signed on to bring the pilots to life. Here’s a brief summary of each:
Primetime Pilots
The Man in the High Castle – Based on Philip K. Dick’s award-winning novel, and executive produced by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner), The Man in the High Castle explores what it would be like if the Allied Powers had lost WWII, and Japan and Germany ruled the United States.
The new pilots come from both highly-acclaimed and newly-discovered creators, and a legion of talented actors, directors and producers signed on to bring the pilots to life. Here’s a brief summary of each:
Primetime Pilots
The Man in the High Castle – Based on Philip K. Dick’s award-winning novel, and executive produced by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner), The Man in the High Castle explores what it would be like if the Allied Powers had lost WWII, and Japan and Germany ruled the United States.
- 1/5/2015
- Hollywonk
Just last week, Legendary Pictures retitled their Kong prequel pic and pushed back its release by several months. While the reason for the shift in both date and title weren’t offered, it seems production is still steaming ahead. Courtesy of a Deadline report, we’ve learned that Whiplash‘s hard-hitting mentor, J.K. Simmons has signed on for a role in the renamed, Kong: Skull Island.
Simmons will be joining comic book veteran, Tom Hiddleston, for the trek to Skull Island – home to cinema’s iconic giant ape, King Kong. Set to establish an entirely separate timeline from the events of other Kong films, this rebooted take will follow a gang of explorers who decide to venture deep into the island. Apart from that simple outline, there’s no details on who precisely Simmons will be portraying.
A long-standing character actor, this year Simmons received widespread critical acclaim for his...
Simmons will be joining comic book veteran, Tom Hiddleston, for the trek to Skull Island – home to cinema’s iconic giant ape, King Kong. Set to establish an entirely separate timeline from the events of other Kong films, this rebooted take will follow a gang of explorers who decide to venture deep into the island. Apart from that simple outline, there’s no details on who precisely Simmons will be portraying.
A long-standing character actor, this year Simmons received widespread critical acclaim for his...
- 12/15/2014
- by Gem Seddon
- We Got This Covered
As Netflix continues to assert itself as a major television company with such acclaimed series as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, Amazon Studios is racing to catch up by ordering series it hopes will be equally well-received. So far, Amazon has scored one big hit in the form of Jeffrey Tambor-led dramedy Transparent, and it hopes to find some more in the new lineup of pilots, which will be made available for viewing as part of the company’s first pilot season of 2015.
Enclosed are descriptions of all seven pilots, courtesy of Deadline. The talented involved on all of them is impressive, to say the least. Mad Dogs comes from Cris Cole (The Bill) and Shawn Ryan (The Shield), while The Man In The High Castle hails from Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files). Carlton Cuse (Lost, The Strain) and Randall Wallace (Braveheart) are behind Point Of Honor,...
Enclosed are descriptions of all seven pilots, courtesy of Deadline. The talented involved on all of them is impressive, to say the least. Mad Dogs comes from Cris Cole (The Bill) and Shawn Ryan (The Shield), while The Man In The High Castle hails from Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files). Carlton Cuse (Lost, The Strain) and Randall Wallace (Braveheart) are behind Point Of Honor,...
- 11/12/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
A close-up look at a family torn apart by the start of the Civil War. An adaptation of Phillip K. Dick’s alternate history of the United States post-World War II. A satire of new age yoga culture in west Los Angeles. And a docu-series based on America’s most award-winning magazine.
Get ready for our first pilot season of 2015, when seven new series will debut their first episodes in January on Amazon Instant Video in the U.S. and U.K.. As with previous pilot seasons, you’ll be invited to watch each of them and provide feedback on the ones you’d like to see become full series.
The seven new pilots come from both highly-acclaimed and newly-discovered creators, and an impressive roster of talented actors have signed on to bring each pilot to life. Here’s a brief summary of each:
Cocked — A big city corporate lapdog...
Get ready for our first pilot season of 2015, when seven new series will debut their first episodes in January on Amazon Instant Video in the U.S. and U.K.. As with previous pilot seasons, you’ll be invited to watch each of them and provide feedback on the ones you’d like to see become full series.
The seven new pilots come from both highly-acclaimed and newly-discovered creators, and an impressive roster of talented actors have signed on to bring each pilot to life. Here’s a brief summary of each:
Cocked — A big city corporate lapdog...
- 11/11/2014
- Hollywonk
In its first three pilot seasons, Amazon has mainly focused on half-hour comedies, hour-long dramas, and dramedies that fall somewhere in between. Now, the online-retailer-turned-video-platform has announced its latest wave of original pilots, and they are quite a diverse bunch. Included among the seven pilots are two historical dramas, two dark comedies, two sitcoms, and a docu-series. By offering seven pilots, Amazon is increasing its output; previous pilot seasons contained five entries each. As per usual, some of the pilots come from recognizable names. One of those names is Ridley Scott, who is one of the executive producers of The Man In The High Castle, a series based off a Philip K. Dick work. The pilot explores an alternate history where the Axis Powers won World War II, and it could be Amazon's answer to 11/22/63, the alternate history book adaptation Hulu plans to distribute. Of course, given Scott's recent history with online video,...
- 11/11/2014
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
Amazon is entering pilot season strong with seven pilots for shows with big names attached. The pilots will include hour-long shows Cocked, Mad Dogs, The Man in the High Castle, and Point of Honor, half-hour shows Down Dog and Salem Rogers, and the half-hour docu-series The New Yorker Presents. Cocked is the hour-long dark comedy from Lie to Me's Sam Baum and Manhattan's Sam Shaw. It stars Sam Trammell as Richard Paxson, a man who returns to his rural Virginia family after leaving acrimoniously 20 years ago. Now, Paxson returns with his liberal family to the dysfunctional family he left behind,...
- 11/11/2014
- by Teresa Jue
- EW - Inside TV
Amazon's 2015 pilots will premiere early next year, the company announced today. The newest slate has seven shows — four hourlong scripted series, two half-hour scripted series, and a half-hour kinda-sorta-documentary series. Behold:Cocked: An hourlong dark comedy about a gun-loving family whose liberal prodigal son returns. True Blood's Sam Trammell plays the son who swore he'd never come back to Virginia; Jason Lee plays the son who never left. Down Dog: A hunky yoga instructor's life starts to crumble in this half-hour sitcom. Paget Brewster plays his boss/ex, and Kris Kristofferson also appears. Mad Dogs: In the slightly higher-profile department, this hourlong dark comedy stars Steve Zahn, Billy Zane, Romany Malco, Michael Imperioli, and Ben Chaplin as a group of high-school friends who reunite in Belize — and then things get a little out of control. The show's based on a U.K. series, and The Shield...
- 11/11/2014
- by Margaret Lyons
- Vulture
At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, the world was transfixed by Marvel’s typically-grandiose Hall H presentation. However, they weren’t the only studio on hand to deliver bombshells to the film industry in attendance. During their spot in the limelight, Legendary Studios revealed plans for a King Kong prequel titled Skull Island.
While news has been on the slow side, there are a few elements firmly in place. From the offset, Godzilla scribe Max Borenstein was brought on board to work on the script, which seemed to have satisfied the studio as they granted the pic a 2016 release date. Moving on a few months and news landed that Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston, had signed on to take the leading role under the direction of Jordan Vogt-Roberts.
Today’s news, which Deadline broke earlier, now reveals that Borenstein is off the project as he’s busy penning the sequel to Godzilla.
While news has been on the slow side, there are a few elements firmly in place. From the offset, Godzilla scribe Max Borenstein was brought on board to work on the script, which seemed to have satisfied the studio as they granted the pic a 2016 release date. Moving on a few months and news landed that Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston, had signed on to take the leading role under the direction of Jordan Vogt-Roberts.
Today’s news, which Deadline broke earlier, now reveals that Borenstein is off the project as he’s busy penning the sequel to Godzilla.
- 10/30/2014
- by Gem Seddon
- We Got This Covered
Marvel fans who can’t get enough of the demigod Loki may be drawn to the massive monster franchise Legendary is cooking up, as it’s just been announced that Tom Hiddleston will play the lead role in the upcoming King Kong origins movie, Skull Island. A new director has also been attached to the film that will explore the seemingly prehistoric island teeming with colossal creatures.
Legendary announced today that Jordan Vogt-Roberts will direct Skull Island off a screenplay by Godzilla scribe Max Borenstein. Skull Island was revealed at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con during a surprising teaser video that concluded with an amped-up King Kong. In late July we reported that Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) had been offered the director’s chair for the project, but now it is Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) who will helm the large-scale adventure.
Tom Hiddleston (Only Lovers Left Alive...
Legendary announced today that Jordan Vogt-Roberts will direct Skull Island off a screenplay by Godzilla scribe Max Borenstein. Skull Island was revealed at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con during a surprising teaser video that concluded with an amped-up King Kong. In late July we reported that Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) had been offered the director’s chair for the project, but now it is Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) who will helm the large-scale adventure.
Tom Hiddleston (Only Lovers Left Alive...
- 9/16/2014
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
The reaction for the King Kong reboot Skull Island at Comic-con back in July was at best a confusing one; but now that we know some more information, it’s sounding like a solid project that caught a lot of people off guard. It’s official now that Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) will direct Skull Island and Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers) is set to star. Godzilla writer Max Borenstein will hand in the script for the movie that is set to open November 4th, 2016.
The film will apparently take place almost entirely on the island and the official press release below touches on some more details:
Legendary announced its plans to make a feature film based on the cinematic origins of King Kong during this year’s San Diego Comic Con with an original draft of the script by Max Borenstein. Previous works have touched on the island,...
The film will apparently take place almost entirely on the island and the official press release below touches on some more details:
Legendary announced its plans to make a feature film based on the cinematic origins of King Kong during this year’s San Diego Comic Con with an original draft of the script by Max Borenstein. Previous works have touched on the island,...
- 9/16/2014
- by Graham McMorrow
- City of Films
At San Diego Comic-Con this past summer, Legendary Pictures made the surprise announcement that a new King Kong movie was in the works. Titled Skull Island, the film will delve into the location of the iconic giant gorilla’s origin and will hit theaters on November 4th, 2016.
At the time, no other information about Skull Island - including plot details and the creative team that would bring it to life – were given. Legendary remedied that this morning though by announcing that fan-favorite actor Tom Hiddleston (Thor: The Dark World, Only Lovers Left Alive) is in talks to star in the action flick, with Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer, You’re the Worst) in the director’s chair.
Both Vogt-Roberts and Hiddleston have a lot on their plates right now, as the former is also attached to Sony’s Metal Gear Solid adaptation, and the latter is in contention for...
At the time, no other information about Skull Island - including plot details and the creative team that would bring it to life – were given. Legendary remedied that this morning though by announcing that fan-favorite actor Tom Hiddleston (Thor: The Dark World, Only Lovers Left Alive) is in talks to star in the action flick, with Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer, You’re the Worst) in the director’s chair.
Both Vogt-Roberts and Hiddleston have a lot on their plates right now, as the former is also attached to Sony’s Metal Gear Solid adaptation, and the latter is in contention for...
- 9/16/2014
- by James Garcia
- We Got This Covered
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